#watching the end of that ep like. i thought u were supposed to be somewhat smart

[3416]

carlos is so stupid though fr fjkldsklfkldsfj

[chalkchapel]

Vampire Knight: Personal thoughts

I just watched the vampire knight series, so here's my honest review. I really liked it. I guess you just have to be the target audience. Beware of spoilers!

Vampire knight quickly became one of my obsessions lmfao I'm very thankful to my friend for putting me on it. I was crazy about it in 2021 but I never found the time to read the manga. Read tons of comments stating how boring the show is.. For me the first few episodes got me hooked on insanely fast. I was really invested, kept me wanting to watch more and more... It was hard having to control myself to not watch more than 3 eps a day lmfao. Some things aren't explained as well as others, often left me confused and having to pause to think on it. The story is well written and the plot twists were cool. I like that the story takes place in a high school (ignoring the fact that it was pointless). A school was founded with the purpose of fostering harmony between vampires and humans, however, the humans are completely unaware that the students in the night class are vampires?! I guess the explanation is that vampires must learn to not to feed off humans?? Very misleading, but whatever.

I LOVE the art style, it's very beautiful. I didn't quite like how lazily the story progressed in the anime. It felt like 20 filler episodes and 4 eps in which the main plot is actually dug into. At the end Yuki suddenly had to come to her true self, a pureblood princess. It's then revealed that some evil vampire wants to drink her blood. It's also revealed that Kaname is her brother and long destined husband. She had to quickly reconcile with the facts in the last 4 episodes.. The ending really got my heart racing. It's frustrating how Kaname made Yuki rely on him to a large extent, only to suddenly abandon her while she's getting hunted by the evil vampire guy. I suppose he knew Zero had to kill him, but still... What ifff.. maybe only this time there wasnt this unnecessary edging talk and he actually bit her?!?

rip gg

During the whole anime, Yuki was really out of touch with the outside world. She is cherished and protected, but definitely not an independent woman. Very bubbly, happy and in the same time idiotic. All she desires is to uncover the secrets of her past. Kind of plain and boring. Maybe if she wasn't just a walking blood bank for Zero, but an actual useful character the show would've been even more likable. A strong man like zero has 2 powerful guns to protect the day students from vampires... And a braindead kawaii girl like Yuki... got a metal rod?? She's physically incapable of defending herself, let alone protect another. I sympathized with Yuki as she constantly tries to assist my king Zero (u can tell i resonate with him by the way i talk about him lmfao) in overcoming his vampire instincts, but he refuses to confide in her and instead distances himself. He's probably the most interesting character from the series. Born in a family of vampire hunters. Bro's hatred of vampires comes from his parents deaths. Murdered by a pureblood that took his twin brother away. He's also turned into a vampire in the same night. Zero is what he despises. I felt bad for him when all sorts of awful things happened to him. There was no decrease in Zero's suffering as the story unfolded, displaying somewhat of emotional growth and realization while Yuki persisted in her immaturity and sought affection and protection without recognizing her true needs. Zero felt completely shattered and broken over his loss of Yuki and everyone he cared for that when she finally came to him and told him that the old Yuki was eaten by the vampire part of her, he felt like he had no choice but to cling on whatever glimmer of light was left in his world. Knowing he was not her first choice only intensified his anguish. He is torn between adoring her and resenting her, a decision that surely brings him more pain..

Kaname and Zero are simply not on the same level. Kaname is a pureblood with a mission to protect Yuki. He truly loves her. Though I feel like he often manipulates her and indirectly forces her to follow his orders. I get that they're blood related, but it's odd without any context. [as if no one was aware of their relationship at that moment] He frequently disregards her feelings and views her as childish. Zero can simply be a blip on the radar for Kaname. Kaname's like a god. Though his abilities are vague, he just does insane things. Tearing the ground, wiping out memories, demolishing buildings, causing people to explode, you name it. Both were somehow able to help each other. Zero has the duty to protect Yuki. Kaname "helped" Zero break from his endless suffering cycle descending into a level E and helped him understand his powers and realize what hes capable of... Actually, at first I thought Kaname was a bit creepy.. Obsessing over a teenage girl, but now i kinda get it. Maybe it's all a plan of his? Maybe it can all be read inbetween the lines?? He's still a huge mystery to me. His past is also unclear. He's like a book written in a foreign language that I somehow understand. I always feel like i misconceive his intentions. He definitely is the king of nonchalantness.

I also absolutely LOVE the soundtracks. Cherry on top. Making it even better! Really suiting the vibe.

On a final note: These r my thoughts based on the anime only. I don't really care if anyone considers this for some poser shit

[chuffyfan87]

Hiding. Part 42b

Duffy sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. She'd almost dropped off to sleep when she heard giggling.

“Ssh, mummy’s sleepy.” Charlie whispered to Emily, coming back from the toilet.

"Everything OK?"

“Had poo.” Emily declared.

"Well done sweetheart." Duffy chuckled.

“Tummy no urt now!”

"That's good darling."

Emily reached out for her mum.

"Shall we have a little snooze?" Duffy asked as Emily clambered over.

“Ep!”

Once the little girl had gotten comfortable Duffy kissed the top of her head and looked over at the other children. "I'm surprised she's the only one that's woken up."

“Me too. Em’s usually a deep sleeper as well.”

"Probably the change in routine."

“Yeah probably.”

"She's doing so well all things considered." Duffy whispered as she stroked Emily's hair.

“Really well.” Charlie agreed.

"I can't believe she's completed a whole year at school already and that the twins will be going a couple of weeks after we get back."

“I know. It’s scary.” He smiled, “She's doing amazingly well. Better than we thought.”

"She's surpassed all expectations."

“She really has.”

"I still blame myself for all her struggles." Duffy whispered.

“Why?” He asked with a frown.

"I know everyone tells me that there's nothing I could have done differently but it's still there in the back of my mind. Especially these last few months..." She sighed.

“Em was premature because she was stubborn and wanted to meet her parents.” He smiled sadly, “You couldn’t have stopped that from happening. Em takes after you, she’s impatient.”

"I know, I know." She sighed, mentally shaking herself. "I just fear history repeating itself." She admitted.

“If we have another baby?”

She nodded. "We might not be as lucky this time."

“It’s understandable to be scared.” He reassured.

Duffy kissed the little girl's hair and snuggled the child closer in her arms.

“Do you want another baby? Despite all the fears?”

"You're asking me this now?" Duffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.” Charlie tucked her hair behind her ear.

She took a deep breath. "I do. I'm just scared." She sighed. She mustered a small smile. "We can't really change our minds now anyway."

“Not when I’ve come in you, no.” He laughed gently.

"So vulgar!" She rolled her eyes.

“Wouldn’t have me any other way.” He laughed. They ended up falling asleep not long afterwards.

They were awoken a few hours later by the announcement that the plane was preparing to land. Duffy smiled as she noticed that whilst they'd been sleeping Charlie's hand had come to rest against her stomach.

He had a good feeling this time. He smiled shyly when he woke, realising the placement of his hand. “Sorry.”

"Don't apologise. We'll know in a week or two." She smiled shyly.

He smiled brightly, “Fingers crossed.”

"I'm feeling lucky this time." She smiled. She attempted to move Emily without waking her so that she was strapped in ready for the landing.

“Me too.” He smiled and helped strap Emily into her chair.

The next couple of hours passed in a blur as they landed and went through the various checks at the airport. Finally they arrived outside the house where they'd be staying whilst they were in Canada.

“Wow! This place is beautiful.” Charlie commented as he looked up at the house.

"I still can't believe we're here." Duffy replied.

“Doesn’t seem real, does it?”

"Not at all." She turned to look at the kids. "Right, everyone out!"

Everyone clambered out of the car.

They'd barely got the front door open before the kids were charging in to see which bedrooms they had. The boys were sharing one room whilst the girls were sharing another.

The girls giggled before they clambered all over their beds.

"So what's the plan now?" Duffy asked Charlie as they stood in the hallway surrounded by their cases.

“I didn’t get that far in thinking.” He admitted and laughed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" She giggled. She bent down, opened their suitcase and pulled out a box of teabags. "Cuppa?"

“Cuppa.” He answered back.

She went through to the kitchen and fixed them both a drink. "When are we letting Louis know we're here?"

“Tomorrow? He probably already knows because I doubt Baz would’ve kept it a secret.”

Duffy made a rude noise of disgust. "You ask one thing of her..!" She rolled her eyes.

“I know.” He sighed.

"I was hoping she might have decided to put the past behind her by now."

“Me too.”

They walked through to the lounge and had just gotten comfortable when there was a loud bang from upstairs. Followed by a loud cry.

"Oh shit!" Duffy gasped as she put down her mug and made her way quickly to the stairs. Followed by Charlie. Lottie had fallen off the bed and was crying.

"What happened?" Duffy asked the other girls as she checked Lottie hadn't seriously hurt herself.

She hadn’t. She’d just landed on her bottom. “Lottie ell off bed.” Emily replied.

"Fell or did one of you push her?" She asked, eyeballing Tilly in particular.

Tilly frowned. “Not push her! She ell!”

"Matilda Fairhead the truth please!" Duffy warned.

Tilly stomped her foot. “Didn’t!” Lottie shook her head, “Tilly no ush. Ell off, backwards.”

"Lottie?"

“It ruth.” She replied quietly.

"Right, OK. I'm sorry Tilly. Are you OK now Lottie?"

Tilly nodded at the same time as Lottie.

"No jumping on the bed in future and then no-one will get hurt. OK?" She sighed as she got up and walked back to where Charlie stood in the doorway. "Not another girl this time ok?" She muttered with a grimace.

He smirked, “Why not?”

"I can give you three very good reasons..!"

“Go on.” He replied.

"They go by the names of Emily, Matilda and Charlotte."

He laughed gently. “Here’s hoping our final baby is a boy. A son.”

She turned to walk down the stairs, somewhat confident that the girls were behaving themselves again. "Its a cliche but vehicles do seem to equal boys." She chuckled.

He laughed gently. “Hmm, yeah.”

Reaching the lounge she stretched out on the sofa, letting out a sigh as she did.

He smiled as he watched her.

"We made here in one piece." She glanced towards the stairs. "Well, just about..!"

“Yep, just about.” He laughed again.

"Well here's to a q..." She paused and laughed. "Yeh, let's not tempt the fates with that word!"

“Please don’t.”

"Q... U..." She teased.

“Ssh.” He put his finger to her lip.

She licked his finger.

“If only you were licking something else.” He whispered.

She laughed before sucking his finger into her mouth.

“Duffy!” He groaned softly.

She drew back and smiled innocently. "What?"

“You know what.”

"I don't." She gasped, mock offended.

He smirked and gently moved to kiss her neck.

She let out a moan and pulled him down towards the sofa when suddenly the doorbell rang.

He nipped her neck and then groaned hearing the door. “I better go.” He pushed himself back up.

"Who knows we're even here?" She asked, confused.

He shrugged. He went to the door, opening it slightly. “Hello?”

"Daddy!" Louis yelled.

Charlie smiled brightly, “Louis!!” He picked his son up and hugged him tightly. “You’ve grown!”

"Mummy said you were here. Is everyone else here too?"

“Yes everyone's here too!”

Louis craned his head to try and see over his dad's shoulder to spot his siblings.

“They’re all upstairs.” Charlie kissed the top of Louis' head. “Do you want to go and play?”

"Yes!"

Charlie smiled and put Louis down on the floor. He laughed as he watched his son race up the stairs to join his siblings. He turned to Baz. “Hi.”

Hearing the commotion Duffy had come into the hallway.

"Hi." Baz replied shortly.

“Thank you for bringing him.”

"Well, I didn't really have a lot of choice seeing as how you all flew over here." She shrugged.

Duffy sighed. "Would it hurt you to be gracious?" She rolled her eyes.

“We came on a holiday. Is that so terrible for you, Baz?”

"Well, I had been planning to take him on holiday myself." Baz complained.

"We told you as soon as we knew we were coming here Baz." Duffy pointed out, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

“Of course you were.” Charlie replied, “Well, he’s here now. Why don’t you go to work or something?”

“Shut up.” Baz said to Duffy.

"Can't hack it when it's not all about you?" Duffy goaded.

“I’m warning you!” Baz threatened.

"You honestly think I'm scared of a stuck up cow like you?" Duffy asked as she took a step closer.

"You're supposed to keep dogs on short leashes around here Charlie." Baz remarked sarcastically.

“I thought the only dog around here was you, but I was clearly mistaken.” Charlie answered back as his arm came to wrap around Duffy’s waist protectively.

Baz scowled. "I expect MY son home by 8pm." She insisted before storming back to her car.

“Fine!”

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 40: Shenanigans Intensify

Watched this live with @miyukomatsuda, wound up sticking some of my raw comments in here where they’re appropriate.

LETS DO THIS!

-

When last we saw our heroes (and Woz), Momotaros had just given Sougo the Den-O watch. That caused the rest of the ridewatches to warp over to him, and fuse into the Grand Zi-O watch.

TODAY, Yuuto and Deneb (who is wheezing, poor guy) run up, and tell Momo that “HEY! DON’T DO THAT! HE’S GONNA BE EVIL!”

So! Momo! Just! Grabs his watch back!

This causes the Grand Watch to dissolve, much to Sougo’s confusion… and causes Woz to pause time for his Recap. Because Woz.

...Er, Yuuto, I get that you don’t want Sougo & Co interfering, but…. You do know they have time machines of their own, right? Maybe you shouldn’t have said what date you were going to out loud? Just a suggestion.

-

-

Exposition time at 9-to-5! So, Button-up (...does he have a name?) was dating Takuya’s sister, who… oh dear. Yeah, she was a classic case of “ill sister in hospital,” and her condition worsened after button-up took her out of the hospital for a day. Whoops.

...hang on, I’m just gonna…

Okay, Button-up’s name is Yukihiro. Good to know, now I can use that, instead.

Also, it’s nice to know that it is, in fact, still Seiji Takaiwa in the Momotaros suit. It’s a lot easier to have the Imajin make guest appearances than a lot of characters, since they’ve pretty much always got at least two of the suit actors. Seiji Takaiwa is Momotaros, and Eitoku is Urataros, so they just need the VA’s to record lines, which is a lot less time-intensive than face-acting.

Okay, sorry, I. Had to get that out there, since Momotaros is posing it up in the background. Which makes sense, seeing as how his train is a bit… ‘stolen’ at the moment.

...okay, this whole next exchange is GOLD. Momo’s ticked, which is justifiable, since the DenLiner is a bit ‘stolen’ and currently is in 2017. So, since he’s not about to leave it to Yuuto to fix this whole mess, he’s gonna go get it back, and storms out the door – except WAIT NO HE CAN’T! He can’t travel in time without the DenLiner, which is kind of the entire problem here!

Sougo’s look of exasperation when Momo starts heading for the door gives me life. Just taps his fingers, sighs, and looks over his shoulder at Momo. (Finally, someone even more impulsive than him!)

So, Momotaros is ticked, because he’s stuck here. Geiz raises an eyebrow and smirks, and just says that they’re going back to 2017.

Geiz: Yeah, we’re not letting Another Den-O run unchecked. Come on, we’re going to 2017.

Momo: Alright!

(beat)

Momo: ...wait, how?

Geiz: Shut up and come with me.

Sougo sighs towards the end of the exchange. He’s so done with the Imajin, he’s had it.

-

Quick jump to the DenLiner… where the remaining three Imajin are chained up. …Was Junichiro still on the train? Because last we saw him, he was driving it. Where is he?

Takuya’s determined to stop Yukihiro from taking Sayuri – his sister – out of the hospital that day. If he can just do that…

-

TIME MAZINE!

… YES. Geiz is driving his Time Mazine… with Momotaros and Woz on either side of him in the cockpit. There’s not enough room in there for three, especially when one of them is incredibly pointy. Momo tries to TAKE OVER STEERING.

(And he’s wondering why Zi-O didn’t come!)

-

May 11, 2017.

A Mole Imajin appears from Yukihiro. Another Den-O drops down from the DenLiner. Panic ensues in the hospital.

When the first away team shows up, one of the people running out yells about “OH GOD THERE’S A MONSTER OUT HERE, TOO!”

Momo: is offended

Woz: ...So, they’re in the hospital already, then.

Momo: LET’S GO!!

Geiz: Hey, dumbass, you’re just gonna freak ‘em out.

Momo: … OKAY THEN!

Momo prepares to jump into Geiz – again – but Geiz IS NOT HAVING THAT.

NOT DOING THAT AGAIN.

Just SHOVES Woz in the way!

I love Momo!Woz’s hair. They implemented the red streak into his usual pulled-back style really well.

oh god my ears mole imajin was the nails-on-a-chalkboard really necessary?! At least Momotaros agrees with me on the “Cut that OUT already” front.

But the thought of Momotaros with access to GINGA. OH GOD. And of course he’s still using his usual fighting style – aka PUNCH ALL THE THINGS. Pity that Ginga is basically a mage form.

(Momotaros being confused about the cape is excellent, too.)

-

Cut back to inside the hospital… where Another Den-O is… knocking… his past self… to the ground… saying that he’ll protect his sister.

Oh, no, there’s nothing that could go wrong here…

No, 2019!Takuya, there’s no reason that your sister would freak out over a monster saying he’ll protect her, why would you think that?

GEIZ DOING A FLYING KICK, THOUGH~! YESSSSS!

-

Momo!Woz: I don’t have time for introductions today!

Momo!Woz: immediately proceeds to start his introduction

(time pausing sound effect)

Momo: Hey! Why can’t I move?!

Woz: GET OUT!

Woz. Just. KICKED MOMOTAROS OUT OF HIS BODY.

Woz was NOT HAVING THIS.

The catchphrases were TOO EMBARRASSING.

He’s just disgusted oh my god this is beautiful.

Oh, there’s Sougo’s Time Mazine! About time he catches up!

It’s such a shame that Sougo didn’t get to see Momo!Woz, though.

-

In the hospital, 2017!Takuya starts to wake up, and sees Yukihiro and Sayuri exiting her room.

Me: Oh no. Oh no he was getting her out of there Because Of Another DenO

Miyuko: OH NOOOOOO

Miyuko: STABLE TIME LOOP-ALSO HOLY SHIT

Me: Because a monster was saying she was his sister

-

Okay, so. I LOVE Revive Typhoon, now that it’s not killing Geiz to use it. I REALLY love how we’re barely even getting AFTERIMAGES of his attacks right now. There’s just a blur of him moving forward, with an image of him standing there – he’s going back and forth too fast for the camera to bother trying to display it!

Geiz hypercharges the Claw Shot finisher – like, seriously, I can’t even COUNT how many times he hit the button for that – and that attack would DEFINITELY have finished off Another Den-O…

If he hadn’t been immediately blocked by the DenLiner going by.

-

Miyuko: also OWNER I GUESS JUST LETTING THIS HAPPEN

Me: A mook. Hijacked. The train.

Me: OKAY

Miyuko: good lord this ep

Me: When in doubt: shenanigans

-

OH. OH MAN. WE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND THIS WHEN WE WERE WATCHING.

So… it turns out… Sayuri knew she was beyond saving. And that if Takuya knew that, it’s just break him. So… so what Yukihiro did… he brought her out of the hospital…

And it was, at least in part, so that Takuya would have someone to hate. So that he would have someone to blame for her death. Because that would be, in a way, easier for him to have a person to direct his anger at, instead of a formless frustration at fate.

The piano version of ‘Toki No Ouja’ is playing in the background of this scene – where we’re going back and forth from Sougo relating this story in 2017 to Takuya, and Yukihiro telling them in 2019.

You know. The song that’s kind of about how Sougo’s somewhat closed his eyes to potential consequences of his actions, not wanting to think about them, not wanting them to have the effect that everyone says they’re going to have.

...GOD I love ‘Toki No Ouja,’ and I can’t WAIT to have the full OST for Zi-O. This season’s music is so good. I mean, Rider music is always good, but DAMN. Getting this piano version is gonna be awesome.

2019!Takuya is trying to stop Yukihiro, because he doesn’t know that Sayuri’s death is inevitable, and that she’s basically asked to leave.

So 2017!Takuya, with this new knowledge, asks Sougo to stop the future him.

And Sougo is so kind, so of course he will.

Momo: You’re a pretty decent guy, aren’t ya? Where are they going?

Sougo: …well, I… don’t… actually know. Yukihiro said it was a place full of memories...

Momo: That is something you usually ask!

-

Miyuko: MOMO

Miyuko: AYGHAHGAHGA

Miyuko: DON"T SHAKE THE BABY

Me: MOMO no

-

Woz, being absolutely done with the assorted tomfoolery, figures out where they’re going, via a picture on Sayuri’s side table.

...DENEB. DENEB WHAT IS THIS DISGUISE?!

Deneb, sweetie, you are not going to fool anyone with that doctor outfit.

But he is vouching for Sougo, saying that the overlord is actually a good guy!

Yuuto still thinks it’s a charade, because… well, time travel. And he also wants to know what the deal is with Deneb’s outfit.

-

So, we were watching this via a stream on one site, and chatting via discord, and. Well, come the scene change…

Me: Oh no chat has a point

Miyuko: this seems like a BAD plan

Miyuko: what

Me: This is where the grand fight happened

Miyuko: OH FUCK

Miyuko: U RITE

-

That’s a whole lot of Mole Imajin…

OH. HUH. Yuuto tells Momo to give Sougo the watch. It’s not that he trusts him, but he’ll deem him acceptable.

(Besides, he’s already seen this fight. He knows that Sougo is supposed to use Grand here, and since the fight is already happening…)

So, Momotaros tosses the Den-O watch to the future overlord. The other Ridewatches – which, mind you, are in 2019 – show up to once again fuse into the Grand watch.

-

(CHAT LOG APPROACHES)

Miyuko: OKAY HOW THE FUCK

Miyuko: THROUGH FUCKING TIME AND SPACE

Me: You know what-

Me: This is fine

Me: I don’t even care anymore

Miyuko: hahahahaha

Miyuko: i mean sougo has time powers

-

SO! THE GRAND TRANSFORMATION! SURE IS A THING!

A golden fucking CLOCK TOWER rises up behind Sougo, while statues of the Riders in their signature poses rise next to him – all of them with a purplish dust/rock filter over them. They’re all in their signature poses, too.

And Miyuko and I had thought that it was the statues from 2068’s “commemoration of Tokiwa Sougo’s first transformation’ monument, and the opening, especially with how the rock filter flakes away.

Except that they can’t be.

For one, all of those statues are brown before the ‘rock’ flakes away, not purple. And they’re all static poses there, generically standing, and looking down. They’re in a different order, too – going back and forth between each rider, with the phase-two riders being the only ones really visible to us.

But THIS set? Purple covering that flakes away, in their signature pre-asskicking poses. The order is different, too. On one side, from left to right, it’s Kuuga through Decade – Kuuga further back, Decade right next to Sougo. On the other, left to right, it’s Zi-O through Double – Zi-O next to Sougo, and Double in back.

INTERESTING.

AND THEN ALL OF THEM – ZI-O INCLUDED – GET TURNED INTO WINDOW THINGS, THAT APPLY THEMSELVES TO THE ZI-O ARMOR.

And each of those opens up, has the rider do their pose, and then the rider turns into the little figurines that we’ve seen on Grand. And the fact that they are, in fact, figures, as opposed to panels, is just. WOW this form is overkill.

This is so damned extra.

Woz: IWAE!!!!

Woz: ...WAIT, NO, I DON’T EVEN NEED WORDS FOR THIS!

Woz: LET’S JUST RELISH IN THIS MOMENT!!

woz please

-

NEW INSERT TIME!!!

Not that I can hear it, but still.

Okay, so. So Sougo is straight up lifting the riders out of time. He pulls Build out first, from his first episode – and I can tell, because that’s the only one where he launched himself out of the ground to use his kick. Then a time window opens, pulling the rider-kicking Build into this 2017, to kick the heck out of Another Den-O.

Then Kuuga gets pulled in.

Then Sougo taps the Kuuga figure again, and his icon appears briefly.

AND THEN SOUGO PULLS THE TITAN SWORD OUT OF THE FIGURE. SOUGO GIVE THAT BACK. GIVE THEM THEIR TIME BACK.

It’s nice to know that Sougo is going to be doing fighting of his own as Grand, anyway, because he uses said Titan Sword to exchange some blows with Another Den-O.

Next up, OOO – lifted right out of his fight with the Neko Yummy in episode three, as I said two weeks ago. As in, one of the few times he used his Scanning Charge kick. The time where he blasted through a series of broken columns that were in mid-air, and showed up here with him.

As in, the scene we saw when the history of OOO disappeared, back in the OOO arc.

AND NOW THE ZI-O FIGURE REWINDS THAT ATTACK.

YEAH.

THE FIGURE ON HIS HEAD. IS EXPLICITLY THE ONE DOING THAT.

THIS IS FINE.

So now OOO hasn’t kicked Another Den-O anymore, his attack is paused.

AND SOUGO JUST SUMMONS THE FULLBOTTLE BUSTER FROM THE BUILD FIGURE.

He uses that to beat the heck out of Another Den-O some more, and OOO’s kick resumes!

Now Gaim gets pulled into the picture, using his initial sword attack.

Momotaros, being Momotaros, wants to get in the action, too! So he pulls out his pass, and transforms! OR NOT. Because as Woz points out, he just gave his powers as Den-O to Sougo.

Whoops. Don’t worry, Momo, we want to know why that’s a thing, too.

Sougo, being Sougo, has an idea!

“Here, I’ll just use this!”

He summons Den-O out of 2007, who is almost immediately possessed by current!Momotaros. Because OF COURSE he is.

And Momotaros, being Momotaros, ACTIVATES CLIMAX FORM! Thus pulling the other three, who are presumably the ones on the slightly-stolen DenLiner, into the temporally displaced Den-O.

This is amazing.

So, Climax Form Den-O is going to town on the small horde of Moles, and Deneb wants in, so Yuuto goes into Vega form, so now we’ve got both the 2007 Super modes just WAILING on these mooks.

So THAT’S DONE.

Now, for the finale~!

Grand Zi-O summons UPGRADED FORMS of the four Rider’s he summoned earlier. Build Genius, Watermelon Arms, a small horde of GataKiriBa OOO, and… one check of Rider Wiki later, Kuuga in his Pegasus form, riding the Gouram.

Another Den-O attacks them with his really cool slashes, and they all freeze in place – all in mid-air, mid-kick.

Grand Zi-O and Another Den-O trade some blows, Zi-O using his upgraded sword from Zi-O II, before he knocks Another Den-O into the air. At which point…

At which point the Zi-O figurine starts moving again, telling the others to go for it. Again, this is explicitly the figurine doing this.

SO ANOTHER DEN-O JUST TOOK KICKS FROM TWO POWERED UPGRADES, ABOUT 10 COPIES OF GATAKIRIBA, AND BUILD GENIUS, ON TOP OF THE FINISHER SOUGO HAD JUST USED ON HIM.

YEAH. I should HOPE that’s enough to destroy the Another Den-O watch.

-

So, hey, remember the OP? And how it has two sections where the previous Riders are all frozen mid-kick? The one when the OP starts, with Sougo, Tsukuyomi, and Geiz walking among them; and the one later on with Geiz and Zi-O performing their own kick, before the others resume mid-motion?

YEAH.

-

Turns out, Sayuri had asked Yukihiro to bring her to that bridge. She wanted to see it together with him, one last time. She asks Takuya to not hate him for it.

And Takuya – 2019!Takuya, who’s hated his friend for two years, who just became a monster to try and save her – is glad for her. That this was her choice.

And so, he goes to look out at the scenery with them, while the piano of Over Quartzer plays.

…

Yuuto.

Yuuto, while I’m glad that the sub confirms that I heard you correctly while watching live.

Yuuto, what sort of question is this?

“Are you really… Tokiwa Sougo?”

YUUTO. HEY. WHAT?!

YOU CAN’T JUST DROP THAT BIG-ASS QUESTION. AND THEN SAY ‘NEVER MIND’.

HEY. TOEI.

WTF.

YOU DON’T DROP THIS SHIT AT EP 40.

Yuuto heads off, Deneb still apologizing for him. Momo goes to say that ‘Yeah, kid, you’re kinda hot shot, aren’t ya? I mean, not as much as Ryotaro-’

SOUGO WHERE DID YOU GO?!

-

TIME PORTAL.

You know.

The type Kasshin dropped out of in ep 15. (cough bad end Kikai cough)

The type we saw Oma Zi-O through in ep 30.

And now we have Grand Zi-O in a red-hued valley, with a few patches of the ground on fire.

Oma Zi-O’s here.

“Greetings, the Youthful me. I see you’ve obtained the powers of all the riders. However, you’re still no match for me.”

“We’ll see about that. I think I can do this.”

Oma Zi-O just LAUNCHES a pair of Blade cards at him, followed shortly by a green-and-purple tornado.

Sougo doesn’t get knocked down this time around.

We end the episode with Grand Zi-O charging at Oma Zi-O.

-

So, the preview… is made of fear.

Just. Pure. Fear.

Oma Zi-O saying that someone’s changed the flow of time.

Woz calling Hiryuu his ‘new overlord.’

The fact that apparently being Oma Zi-O means you lose ALL fashion sense, given the absurd outfit Hiryuu’s got going on.

Hiryuu’s got the Another Zi-O watch again, and it’s upgraded.

Apparently everyone has forgotten who Sougo is.

-

Me: one guy in the chat: “ALL WE NEED IS DRIVE AND YET YOU GIVE US THIS”

Miyuko: W2G GUYS YOU BROKE TIME

Miyuko: (Also: I THINK UNCLE WAS TRYING TO KILL HIM)

Me: TIMELINE MACHINE BROKE

Me: YEAH

Me: NOT OKAY

Miyuko: NONE OF THIS IS OK

Me: EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE

-

basically: GREAT EP, TERRIFYING PREVIEW!!!

i can’t wait for next week

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E12  Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 487 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 481 Responses

The final episode of the first half of S3 was another banger with positive reactions. Compared to earlier in the season when manga readers seemed more dissatisfied with the adaptation, we are happy to see that the final episodes of the arc turned out to be a much more positive experience!

Considering this episode was essentially just the calm before the storm, I was pleasantly entertained by it. Not the best episode because not a whole lot happened, but still it did what it needed to do.

I was super worried they would change something in this episode but thank Ymir-sama it's okay.

IT WAS AWESOME AND THAT ENDING IS ONE OF THE BEST THING THIS ANIME HAS EVER MADE!

This episode was so good! And funny! And angsty at the end! All the ingredients that make a good AOT episode

Very good, the preview was spooky and the whole episode had humor to lighten the mood, some emotional stuff and High Anxiety Cliffhangers to finish us off. Its gonna be a long 6 months.

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE FIRST HALF OF SEASON 3 AS A WHOLE? 481 Responses

Overall, the first half of season three was satisfying for manga reading poll takers despite the changes.

All in all, absolutely stunning season. From the bottom of my heart, thank you WIT.

It was a really good episode. It followed manga perfectly. Every ep. of Uprising should has been like that. Too bad it wasn't, that why I rated the whole series pretty lowly. Honestly, I expected something better. But that was fine, not the worst. Yet, I would have changed a lot.

Really good way to end this half of the season. Can't wait to see the next half. It was nice to see a "calm before the storm" episode.

It was a brilliant idea to end the first part of season 3 right there, by doing this we were given proper construction to this arc.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SEASON TAKING A BREAK UNTIL APRIL? 481 Responses

About 37% of respondents are sad to see the anime take a break, but nearly half of voters are fine with the break stating that it’s not too bad of a wait, with some who are even looking forward to the breather for a bit (we’re looking forward to having a good rest as well although we will miss the anime!).

I'm okay with it since it means that we will a get a really well made RtS arc. But they really should've said that the break was going to be this long earlier. Or just called it season 4

Waiting is something we SnK fandom know how to do, unfortunately

As a manga reader it's easy to not be too upset since we'll have plenty of chapters during that time.

It's nice to get a breather before shit hits the fan.

I don’t mind waiting 6 months when I know it means the animation will look a lot nicer as a result

I feel like i would have been less upset if they just told us from the start how its gonna be... I hated the uncertainty

If it means a fantastic second cour then I'm all for it. I mean my life is empty and I wish I were dead, but other than that I've accepted it!

6 months for preparing myself to let Erwin rest in peace

I AM NOT READY FOR RTS THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A HIATUS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WIT

WAIT Studio

Does Annie have some space next to her for the next 6 months?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES WERE YOUR FAVORITES? 480 Responses

The Survey Corps’ sendoff was the most favorite moment of the episode, followed closely by Eren and Jean’s nostalgic fight. Levi and Erwin’s talk after the meeting made it to third most favorite scene of the episode, followed closely behind by Eren, Armin and Mikasa’s conversation. Everyone losing their minds over meat was another favorite.

Erwin was so perfect, I loved his little laugh, I thought the whole interaction with him and Levi was done so well... god, I'm gonna miss him so much, it actually hurts.

Good breather episode, comedy gold with the dinner scenes, and the send-off was just as fun as it was touching. Also, the extra scene was creepy and great, but I hope anime-only watchers don't spoil themselves trying to find the meaning to it...

I think they did a really good work with the Erwin x Leviv talk, and EMA talk... Since enfatizing Erwin's reasons, and showing Armin's, It became more clear Levi's choice in future

I loved EMA talk... it made me pretty sad because of the events which now are taking place in the manga. That was good to see them together in the anime.

My Eruri shipping heart was in tatters, I tell you. I've been looking forward to the ""I'll break your legs"" scene for ages now, and shit, watching it was a literal punch to the gut. Erwin's beautiful roar of victory on the wall, his final ""SUSUME"" just... I was in awe.

Sasha nomming on Jean’s hand was even funnier animated

The 104th dinner scene was just perfect! It's been so long since we had a scene of such warmhearted camaraderie, it really brought back all my season 1 feels for the babies. Beautifully done.

Overall great Episode, really liked how they foreshadowed Erwins Demise and his conversation with Levi, EMA talk was great too, and the serumbowl scene made for an amazing cliffhanger

DID THE GLITCHED ENDING SCARE YOU? 483 Responses

The abrupt reminder that SNK is a horror anime definitely seemed to work!  The majority of people were scared by the ending at least a little bit, and some were thoroughly terrified.

"Blink and you'll miss it" my a**

Honestly it reminded me of how horrid the show actually is. I forget it's not all cute and funny scenes with a tinge of "yikes" that happened, but instead vice versa

I knew it was coming in the ED but didn't know WHEN and I was just anticipating it like a dark corridor in a horror movie XD

Moreso that scare me, it got under my skin and just stayed in my head the rest of the day.

Scare is not the right word. The option I'm looking for is FUCKING WRECKED

I learned that apparently a lot of you watch shit alone in the dark. But to answer the question, no, not at all.

It thrilled me to see them cleverly setting up the next half of the season this way

Only the Levi's distorted "you guys". The glitched ending was awesome

I saw some screencaps of it prior to watching so I was somewhat prepared but it was way creepier than i thought it would be, it spooked me

It wasn't actually SCARY, but I fucking loved it. So twisted and creepy

rip ears in that ending, it makes for some great youtube reactions though lol

Well, mark me down as scared and horny

SHOULD ZACKLEY’S ART BE REALIZED? 478 Responses

We suppose the real question is, when will Zackley’s “art” stop becoming something we ask about? :P All in all, most of you agree that it should not be seen or talked about. 21% of you are still finding humor in it.

HOW MUCH DID YOU ENJOY THE SEQUENCE OF EREN AND JEAN FIGHTING? 483 Responses

Most of the viewers enjoyed Eren and Jean’s antics with 84% rating the scene with a 4 out of 5 or higher. 

Mikasa letting them fight and not dragging Eren way is the best part! It's such an important character development for her. Also this Episode was full of parallels to their training days. Great episode.

Eren and Jean bringing the Drama™ (as expected of Eren and Jean)

THE SURVEY CORPS HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED A SEND-OFF LIKE THEY DID IN THIS EPISODE - FAVORITE PART OF THIS SCENE? 481 Responses

The surreal experience of getting a positive send-off like this made Erwin’s smile and shout the overwhelming winner here, and for good reason!  A smaller portion of respondents enjoyed Springlestein being themselves and a few called out Levi’s face in the comments:

All of it. Because it will be the first and the last time we'll see it

YYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Levi looking at screaming Erwin like "WTF Erwin"

Hange smile

LEVI'S SOFT LOOK

I like the manga version better because Levi's smile was softer there

Levi's expression when Erwin did his triumphant shout.

literally everything about it was perfect

WOULD YOU LET LEVI BREAK YOUR LEGS? 480 Responses

While 58% of respondents cannot understand why anybody would want their legs broken by Levi, a small percentage were even asking for it.

THE EPISODE WENT EXACTLY AS THE ORIGINAL MANGA! 478 Responses

So, the story behind this one is that one of the pollsters posted this “question” on our original document as a joke while another one of us was at work. When the one at work got off, they put the question onto the poll form while the person who created the “question” was not online, not realizing it was meant to be an unpublished joke. This was completely overlooked during the final proofread. It was never actually intended to make it onto the poll but since one of us always tries to rush through things, here we are! In any case, we hope you guys had a good laugh, because we all collectively lost it when we realized the mistake much too late!

wow y'all throwin shade with this Q huh

Yes, it is Erwin's birthday celebration after all

Glad that Erwin and the crowd’s screaming was a ‘dialogue’ and that he screamed again.

Makes sense, given how its purpose is to set up the new arc. Not much need to leave things out for the sake of pacing.

They done it so perfectly! I love that episode and love the hope in the air, my man similing and being happy, I love they see people cheering for them. THAT was earned.

It still modified some moments like Armin thinking of Eren and Mikasa instead of the bullies in the manga. Maybe it's better and more consistent with the following events.

Thanks God! The whole series should has been this way. Compared to the sad 1st episode of Uprising, this one was a true masterpiece.

u people need to get the salt in your blood checked, let others be dissatisfied with something they care about? please and thanks

i don't care if it went exactly as the original manga or with some changes as long as the episode is good

THE CHAPTER SIGNIFIED THE START OF A NEW ARC, BUT THE ANIME USED IT TO END THE FIRST COUR, WAS THIS A BENEFICIAL DECISION? 478 Responses

The majority of folks thought shifting the send-off to the end of the cour to create an uplifting cliffhanger was a good way to end the season.  Several people called attention to how much contrast was felt between such a positive ending and the credits scene.

I think it works great, especially the triumph of the send off and the "oh shit, what's happening" moment in the ED

should have been the first ep of the next arc, with the send off as the cliffhanger

It was a nice, fun send off for the arc. Has the suspense of the scouts going towards the foes. The next episode with the next chapter/s will be perfect for getting back into the series after 6 months

WAIT Studio used it as an effective cliffhanger but from an adaptation perspective it's just like the Wall Titan. Something to keep the audience's attention at the cost of the narrative's flow. If the season was going to be split then rushing the Uprising Arc at breakneck speed resulting in one extra episode was pointless.

The opening of 73 is a perfect opening for the second cour, so I knew from the beginning of the season that ending in this chapter would be their aim. The second half won't struggle for content, and they can either push ahead flashbacks (I expect some of Bert's parts from 96 making it into the adaptation of 77) or content that didn't make it in the first half used to extend other parts (Eren's experiments for Armin realizing how to beat Bert in 81)

I think this will help the second part by being on the way to Shiganshina to start it off.

Heck cliffhangers!

LEVI WASN’T EXPLICITLY SHOWN EAVESDROPPING UNTIL THE END OF EMA’S CONVERSATION, DO YOU THINK THIS DIMINISHED THE FORESHADOWING? 478 Responses

The vast majority of respondents agreed that as long as we saw him listening to them, that’s ultimately all that matters. A small few believe that not showing him listening in on them earlier will diminish the overall impact when he makes his decisions later, however.

I don't think it matters, especially if the anime includes a flashcut to this moment post-decision, which will make its important even more obvious for viewers who may not remember this scene at all.

I'm not sure, I guess it did seem more ambiguous here. They'll flashback to it when serumbowl happens though.

Wouldn’t have spent more time on it. This show is about subtle details. I think its ok.

It still worked, but I would have liked it to have been made clear that he saw Armin's expression when he was talking about the ocean

No, but i think it was nice in the manga to see that at the beginning of the conversation he was standing and ended up on the floor by the end of it. Small detail, but i took it like he didn't mean to listen in the beginning but decided to stay in the end because of what he was hearing?

No, because it was a detail it meant a lot more. Subtle details have greater impact in visualities, manga is a different medium and the scene was used properly for its medium.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WIT SHOWING *THAT PART* OF THE RTS ARC AS A TEASER? 480 Responses

38% of respondents believe that the teaser was a great way to keep interest in the series high. 20% specifically feel that it will keep the anime only fans invested. About 21% of respondents combined don’t think it was the smartest choice on WIT’s end while almost 10% are just not ready to see that animated at all.

Even though I already know what will happen, my body *isn't* ready for this shit to come, except for the lightning spears

Honestly, I thought it was stupid as fuck and a cheap way to keep hype up for anime-only people. I would've preferred my anime-only friend to go into RTS completely blind.

I think it's great because it lends itself a lot of hype for the next half as well as leaving it very open ended. Especially because they cut out lines about the serum.

I think this teaser shocked more the manga readers than the anime onlines.

It's the worst part of the manga they could spoil. I'm not sure what they intend to do by showing such a controversial moment

It was brilliant. Anime only watchers don't often get the experience of agonizing over certain cliffhangers monthly, but with this flashforward looming in their head, they have a whole season of suffering ahead of them. SUFFER LIKE US, ANIME ONLIES!

I really liked it but I think they could have shown a part of Bert/Reiner/Zeke’s convo since we saw Bert and Reiner at the end of the episode, and it would have anime-onlies wondering who the glasses guy is

I was shocked and hyped at seeing them include this scene, but at the same time I’m sad that anime-onlies were spoiled that at the very least Mikasa, Eren, and Levi will survive until this scene, destroying any tension of them dying

I'm really conflicted; on one hand, I was very surprised in a positive way, cause it was a ballsy and unexpected move. On the other hand, I understand that anime viewers might be sick of spoilers bc of the scene at the beginning of ep1.

It gave me anxiety lol. Please someone save my babies from their horrible destiny

One hell of a cliffhanger and I can't really imagine anything better to show everything going wrong (Colossal nuke is way too obvious, for example), but the people complaining about spoilers do have a point...

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR RTS’S ADAPTATION? 480 Responses

WHAT SEGMENTS OF RTS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ANIMATED NEXT COUR? 481 Responses

Over half of respondents feel that the Return to Shiganshina arc will be delivered just as well as Uprising was. 37% of respondents feel it will be much better than Uprising’s adaptation. A small few don’t have much faith in the second half of the four.

FUCK ME UP!! R.I.P. ANIME ONLIES

GIMME THE 2ND COUR NOW!

I don't know if I'm emotionally prepared for this arc

I’m going to have 6 more months to mentally prepare myself for the return to shiganshina arc and I still won’t be ready

from an adaptation perspective it's going to be the same as the previous seasons. WAIT Studio excels at certain aspects of packaging SnK into anime, but as a whole it's a bad, rather than amazing, adaptation.

Is there a "NOPE I am not ready for RtS arc" in the questions?

WHAT SEGMENTS OF RTS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ANIMATED NEXT COUR? 481 Responses

The most anticipated segment of the Return to Shiganshina arc is the suicide charge + Levi totally wrecking Zeke. Following closely behind are the basement reveal, the serumbowl, Grisha’s diaries and flashbacks, the ocean and the showdown with the 104th and Reibert. 

Kill me! I cannot believe I have to wait 6 months for RTS. 6 months until I can see Reiner and Bertholdt in action and the FREAKING BASEMENT!!!! I was fine with a 3 months break but 6 is too much ;____; I want to see Grisha's past animated

What everybody is waiting for the RtS Arc: the basement, Reibert fight, Levi soloing the beast titan, the ocean. Me, an intellectual: THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS (and Grisha's backstory)

can't wait to see historia looking graceful as hell in front of the sunrise while the SC goes off to fuck reibert and zeke up

The only thing I can think about is Zeke.... *screams* ZEKE AND EREN! THE JAEGERBROS! AND THE GRISHA FILES! SO MANY JAEGERS *dies*

I'm definitely looking forward to RTS okay, but I'm dreading it more, honestly. But the one thing I'm looking forward to, and really hoping they'll animate, is Levi taking down those Titans on the way to Zeke. I know the focus is on Erwin's last charge in the manga, and rightly so, but DAMN, I want to see Levi do that -I honestly don't think anyone, even Mikasa, could do what he did there.

I have a fever, and the only prescription is Season 3 Part 2

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

A pretty decent choice for a midseason finale. But most important, a pretty good choice for episode 49. Once we're back in April, the series will be celebrating having made it to 50 episodes. Just 2 years ago, we were wondering if we'd ever get episode 26, and now we're getting to a landmark episode that will be exciting and memorable! Nothing between chapters 70-72 could've worked as such a landmark, in my opinion, but chapters 73-74? Absolutely perfect for it.

And my ship finally got some screen time

But damn wit... I almost got a heart attack because of the glitched ending!! Please, I at least want to survive to see manbun Eren animated

For anime watchers: I enjoyed watching your confusion over that ED. May you all be prepared by April 2019.

My heart is filled with so much Eruri that I may cry. You could literally see how much concern Levi had for Erwin in his eyes.

I love Bertoto and Raina more than myself. Guess, I'll die in April.

I'm an Erwin Lover™ and the show is gonna come back right around my birthday so this was Great and I'm Fine

It was out of character to see Eren fully clothed.

The moment when SC were cheered up and Erwin was so confident and happy and then they left into the sunset gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry :') it was a beautiful, strong, encouraging moment for SC!!

Let me just tell you how fucking HYPED I am for the next season after those previews during the ED. HYPED. And Jesus fuck yes, Armin looked like a charred French fry that got left behind in the oil. THANK JESUS. I was afraid WIT might downplay that, but no, my boy gonna be the CRONCHIEST.

The glitches were great and not too spoiler-y but WIT absolutely ruined it with the Eren/Mikasa/Levi scene. They showed too much.

rip ears in that ending, it makes for some great youtube reactions though lol

Erwin looked fine as fuck

Wit, you better be paying for my doctor visit. My ears were bleeding with your little trick you pulled at the end.

This episode. THIS FUCKING EPISODE. Man what a way to end the cour. REALLY, standing ovation to WIT. That glitch ending was just like that tiny Titan-in-the-wall scene at the end of season 1 that made me go looking for the manga. Absolutely brilliant stuff.

Thanks for these polls.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 446 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Uprising Arc poll!

[dollofdeath]

Od(d)agiri - A Rewatch of JG Ep 12

(bestboy.png)

(I-It’s still Odagiri month, r-right?? I-I actually made it on time --)

Anyways, hey there! Originally I said my last analysis was gonna be my last since I wasn’t sure if I could spit out anything more, but you know what, I lied; I remembered how much useless Odagiri analysis/character study/what-have-you I’ve built up. Although I suppose this isn’t much of an analysis as it is more like highlighting aspects of Odagiri in Episode 12, so it’s more or less me just crying over this dear child of mine lol all righty.

Typical disclaimer here: I’m not too well versed in regards to the historical context of the setting which may lead to shortcomings in my analysis. Anyways, without further ado, here I go! (•̀ᴗ•́)و

As I've said before, Odagiri is an anomaly of an anomaly -- neither a common man nor a monster like the other spies -- and we constantly see this in not only what we’re told of him, but in his actions. Whether he means to or not, Odagiri has this tendency to stick out when he’s not supposed to (which is something I find especially interesting in regards to Japanese values of conformity, but I digress; that's a conversation for another time haha).

For example, as I’ve covered in my Episode 1 rewatch, Odagiri most likely tells Sakuma that they game they've been playing was actually the Joker Game out of his own volition. In the context of the anime, the other spies probably let Sakuma believe they were playing a regular poker game for their own amusement but Odagiri decided to have mercy on him and told him what was really going on. To me, this is a bit of a defining moment for Odagiri; here we see his concern -- his humanity -- win out over what he's been trained to do.

Similarly, this is how we’re introduced to Odagiri in Episode 12. Right from the get go, we’re shown his concern for others in the form of him protecting his fellow soldier. Instead of letting them be left to death from their training exercise, he stands up for them, even going so much as to defy their superior.

Although there’s something I find interesting between the two scenes. The Odagiri we’re introduced to in Episode 12 had still yet to undergo spy training -- still a “human,” so to speak. In his introduction scene, he seems completely ready to protect his peer despite the consequences. However, in comparison, Odagiri seems less willing to let Sakuma know about the Joker Game. As I’ve said in my first analysis, he is almost hesitant in doing so, knowing that doing it would earn him some judgement from the other spies.

He knows his concern -- his humanity -- is considered a liability, and any other good spy would’ve left the situation as it is. In the end, however he decided that it was more important to let Sakuma know what was going on. After all his spy training, it must’ve been difficult to arrive at that choice -- a spy is supposed to be a heartless monster, one who shouldn't let their emotions dictate their decisions -- but it was the choice he made nonetheless. As Odagiri says himself, he will never be able truly be like the other spies due to him unwilling to let go of his humanity.

Another thing I find interesting is how Odagiri’s role sort of parallels (or perhaps “contrasts” is a better word to use) Sakuma’s in Episode 1. As we see, Sakuma, the military man whose views oppose the spies’, is absent from Episode 12. In a way, Odagiri, a former military man whose views don’t completely fit in with the other spies’, takes his place.

Similar to Sakuma, the spies give off a condescending vibe towards Odagiri. Throughout his debriefing, it’s clear in the body language of the others that they think less of Odagiri for failing his mission. It’s especially clear with how Miyoshi, Kaminaga, Hatano, and Jitsui voice their objections towards Odagiri’s conclusions. Fortunately, Amari, Tazaki, and Fukumoto are a bit more merciful, but that hardly changes the atmosphere of the room. Likewise, Odagiri looks uncomfortable by being underneath everyone’s scrutiny, knowing that the others are judging him.

This is where things differ, however (hence the “contrast”), between Sakuma and Odagiri’s roles. Whereas it seemed as if the spies sans Odagiri had no hope for Sakuma, they do seem to acknowledge that Odagiri has competency. It may be per Yuuki’s orders, but all the spies report back to Odagiri with the information they got in regards to the mission. Of course, Odagiri is confused by all this but Miyoshi puts it bluntly with “This is your case.”

(reason 34289 as to why Odagiri is #relatable: reacts to being in charge with internal screaming)

I also find that this is another contrast with Sakuma. In Episodes 1 and 2, Sakuma merely masqueraded as the MP Captain, which only gave the appearance of him being in charge of the situation. In reality, Sakuma had nearly been a pawn in the greater scheme of things. Odagiri, on the other hand, hadn't realized that he was in charge of this case, believing that his failure ruined his credibility. What's good is that both boys were able to take control of their respective situations and figure things out for themselves.

Moreover, just as Miyoshi and Sakuma’s dynamic had been given the spotlight of sorts in Episodes 1 and 2, we’re given light to Miyoshi and Odagiri’s dynamic. Already, they have a different foundation than the Miyoshi and Sakuma dynamic. It was probably clear to Miyoshi and the others that Odagiri had been part of the military, and that may have lead to some doubts in Odagiri’s abilities as stated above. However, as also stated, Miyoshi acknowledges that Odagiri is capable of handling himself and the mission to some extent, unlike Sakuma who had to prove himself.

Miyoshi and Odagiri’s dynamic isn’t designed to be a foil like Miyoshi’s and Sakuma’s, but I think it’s interesting to see how Miyoshi pushes Odagiri to reach his potential. As with the above scene, it’s Miyoshi who tells Odagiri that he’s the one in charge of the mission. However, he’s not condescending nor mocking Odagiri like he typically is with Sakuma. He tells it like it is, as if it were obvious and seems frustrated that Odagiri didn’t realize it. In fact, he even looks confused when Odagiri questions him. He knows Odagiri is capable of solving this case and snaps when he doesn’t seem to get it, which brings about Odagiri’s realization. 

(miyoshi: i thought we were friends :c i run the out of context blog, as u can tell,,,)

The next time we see Miyoshi and Odagiri together is towards the end of the episode, after Odagiri sees the play again. The way this scene is set up reminds me of Episode 2, where Miyoshi was waiting for Sakuma to come out of Yuuki’s office. Here, Miyoshi seems to be waiting for Odagiri and it’s Miyoshi who calls Odagiri’s attention unlike Episode 2, where Sakuma noticed Miyoshi. Also in contrast to Episode 2, Sakuma thinks Miyoshi had come to mock him but Miyoshi had actually come to praise Sakuma. Here, Odagiri responds to Miyoshi with confidence and it’s Miyoshi doing the questioning -- but out of genuine curiosity. We also learn that Odagiri had given Miyoshi a lead to follow and Miyoshi listened to him -- a sign, I think, that he trusts in Odagiri’s judgement.

Unfortunately, we’re not given any closure to this scene, but I do like to think it ends somewhat similarly to the one in Episode 2, with Miyoshi having some kind of newfound respect for Odagiri as he did with Sakuma.

Moving away from the characters, I find that Episode 12 resembles Episodes 1 and 2 in general in the way that it’s structured and how some scenes play out, for example:

(While the frames are similar, I do think it’s interesting how Sakuma’s and Odagiri’s resolves are different within their respective scenes -- Sakuma means business, Odagiri’s just been roasted to hell and back and is suffering from low self-esteem (jk)).

(okay i s2g there was like an exact image of this in like episode 1 or 2 but i can’t seem to find it...??)

(I suppose this more of a contrast than a parallel though haha)

A~nd that just about wraps this up. I feel like this didn’t necessarily bring anything new to the table, but these are just some things that strike my interest whenever I watch Episode 12. I project myself onto see a lot of myself in Odagiri, so it’s interesting seeing how he reacts to everything and handles it all, how his relationships with the other spies work, and all that fun stuff.

Anyways, thank you all so much for reading this!!  And once again thank you JGFiles for giving me the opportunity to share all my thoughts in one coherent post haha  ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

[fyodor-dostoyevsky]

That one ice skating anime that took over the world. (And my thoughts on it, because I had to let them out.)

Ajdkhgkh it took me forever to get to here, honestly. I forgot when the last ep of Yuri on Ice even aired? Was it two or three weeks ago? Well, it isn‘t as important, I suppose. Before I delve into my thoughts, I just want to say one thing, though: this is my blog, and this is my opinion. You are allowed to agree or disagree with it, but I ask one thing of you - please be respectful when/if you state your opinion. I won‘t go flaming or bitching over anyone here, and I‘d like to expect the same courtesy back. Thank you!

This has been a trip. At first I‘ve thought I‘d never go through watching this anime at all because the toxicity and negative opinions of a few members of fanbase that I had on my previous blog‘s dash completely turned me off; it got seriously out of control. I literally had no idea how it turned into YOI hate place, and... quite frankly, I hated it; I didn‘t need it, I didn‘t ask for it, neither did I sign up for it. It got far enough for me to block the whole tag altogether for a little while and stop thinking about anime altogether. Which is sad. Because, despite how many flaws the anime does have and I will not deny them/will touch upon them shortly, there is still a sweet and beautiful story hidden within it. There‘re a few aspects of it that could definitely be executed differently, and better, but... I grew to like it, despite its flaws thanks to a few wonderful people on my new dash that raised my interest back and made me love it all over again. I thank you for that, guys! I‘m glad I gave it another chance.

The first couple of episodes definitely hook you up; Yuuri, despite being quite a typical anime protagonist, with his upbeat voice and slightly hilarious personality grows to your heart rather quickly. It‘s really easy to feel for him in these eps, and it‘s really easy to sympathise with him, and how he feels in regards of his skating career, Viktor, and himself. However, I will not ever deny that I did not like Yuuri one bit for a little long after those first couple of eps passed. I do not know if it was because how quick-paced the anime got all of a sudden - his fears, his emotions, his mind process couldn‘t get through and to me no matter what. And I did try to like him, I did try to sympathise, I did try to see what the authors wanted to portray. But I just couldn‘t.

There are many flaws in this anime (with portrayal of Yuuri‘s fears in next ep or two being one of them), but this one was particularly apparent to me - the pace. Everything, every single episode after the third one was just too quick for me to follow; too many characters introduced at once, and I couldn‘t, for the love of anything, get to know them as much as I wanted to or should have. It all took quite a bit of time to settle down, and quite a bit of thought collecting to understand. But despite all that? I still grew to love the anime all the same. Especially because I did grow used to the pace although I did wish for a slower one, and perhaps a filler ep or two of showing what happened between these tournaments so I could feel with these characters more, and sympathise with them more.

Now, you‘re probably wondering why am I bringing up all the negative points if I still loved it so much - my answer to that is simple. I‘m bringing them up because I know they‘re there. I know it isn‘t perfect, and in a lot of ways it didn‘t meet my expectations or made me understand where the whole hype train for it came from. I‘m not going to say this anime‘s the best of the best, because it‘s not. But what I‘ll say is that‘s definitely a very enjoyable and sweet, if you‘re ready to look past its flaws. And I am, and I was.

Anyways, on the matter of Yuuri - I was quite concerned about how this will go through, and if I‘ll even be able to like him after again. My SO, who watched the anime with me, kept me up to date on where should I be careful, and might find him slightly irritating, if I may say so. It was quite amusing, though, because where they‘d told me I‘ll be the most annoyed with him, I actually liked him the most - it was the scene on that (underground?) parking lot, where Victor tells him he‘s going to quit being his coach if he doesn‘t perform up to standards. I‘m not sure which ep that was, I‘m sorry guys! That‘s where the authors, in my opinion, hit the right buttons for me. Up until then, I didn‘t feel Yuuri‘s anxiety and fears, and well as concerns at all, let alone his performances as skater. But after that? It‘s plain as day for me; his performances defnitely shifted around. And all I could think was FINALLY, I‘m able to love this boy (again). Perhaps I was just always a little too harsh on him altogether, expected too much, - but it was really good to see him finally open up and share his fears with the one he‘s supposed to trust the most. Ever since then? He was way easier to watch, and way easier to understand. And now I can proudly say I love him quite a lot. He‘s matured afterwards; it‘s a slow process, but it‘s definitely there.  

I‘ll touch upon russian Yuri second, because I have quite a bit of baggage to drop for Victor, but only a few words for this boy. He‘s been my favorite since very beginning, and it stayed so until last. It was beyond beautiful to see him grow into what he was at the end of the series; I love how he kept his grump. It‘s what makes him, him. And I just, love him a lot haha. (BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT‘S WITH THAT ROMANTIC RANDOM SCENE WITH OTABEK HAHA. It was so cute, don‘t get me wrong. But def a smart shipbait! I mean, I love those two together all the same anyway.~)

Now my dear Victor... I honestly, and truly won‘t ever understand where did all the hate for him come from. Just like any other character in the series, he‘s just a man. With quite a personality, but he‘s h-u-m-a-n, and I‘ll stress that out to everyone. I can understand some may not like him for that, though, I suppose. It‘s really hard to read people who‘re generally desplayed as mysterious, upbeat and cheerful and just outright hilarious (if you ask me, though, part of this was made for a sole purpose of him being somewhat like a comic relief, but there‘s definitely a layer or two besides that).

But like, through each and every ep, I could see him genuinely care for Yuuri (in his own way, but it was there)? He gave him advice (because he knew Yuuri more than anyone else) and Yuuri decided to diss them outright, he dragged him away when he was feeling stressed, he slept on him so he couldn‘t get up and get some rest, he covered his ears so he wouldn‘t listen and rise his anxiety up further - I remember reading a lot of shit thrown at him after he threw an ultimatum at Yuuri about how he wanted to quit being his coach -- but honestly, if you watched closely, if you observed every scene before that one, you could see that was the only thing he could do or think of that he did not do already.

You must understand he is not a professional counsellor, and he did not sign up to be one. He signed up to be a professional ice skating coach, and he had standards to uphold. Besides that, if we just see him as Yuuri‘s boyfriend, he‘s human. He tried everything, and nothing got through Yuuri. So the last thing he thought about is shattering that little that was left (perhaps a wall Yuuri built around himself) -- and guess what, despite some may call it ‚manipulative‘ or ‚abusive‘, it worked on Yuuri. He opened up. He cried. He finally let out everything that worried him. That‘s the most important thing that happened there, more important than how his words came across to some of the watchers (it‘s still all individual‘s interpretation), more important than nitpicking them. He opened up to him. He told him exactly what he wants. And did Victor give him anything else? No. He gave him what was asked of him. It may not have been the perfect confrontation, it may have hurt as hell, but in my opinion, it had to be done. Again, a lot of this would be better and clearer if the series actually showed how much they trained together and everything Victor gave out for Yuuri in that training. But a lot of that was skipped out in favor to progress the series faster, so I can understand how some people could not see the development that happened between.

A lot of hate discussions I happened to read back then were also based on his broken promise to Yuri. If you ask me, he never forgot about it. In my opinion, he‘s too smart to forget about something like that. He may not have been next to Yuri as he said he would be, he may not have watched his every step, but the way I‘ve seen it was that he knew Yuri could do just fine without him/would do even better if he wasn‘t there, next to him. He knew he was strong enough; capable enough. And he knew his debut would be great and it was in the end. He was able to pull it off. Perhaps that‘s just my view on this, and I may as well be wrong - but I‘m absolutely certain he did not just forget about him out there. Episode 10 shows fairly well how much he knows all the skaters - I‘m sure he knew Yuri quite well, as well. I also would like to touch upon the scene that did, indeed, shake me up a little bit (and has again gained Victor lots of hate again, haha). I‘ll say I do not agree with it (though Yuri did kick Victor a few times quite hard himself); the reaction could‘ve as weel been very different; Victor could‘ve taken another route. But in my opinion, this one lays on the writers themselves. It was exectured very poorly, indeed. However, I think what they wanted to represent with it way one of the Victor‘s flaws/the way he can be if someone pisses him off very much. Again, could‘ve been executed a lot better, and maybe they should‘ve taken a different route for this one. But I won‘t defend Victor on this action - I believe, as an adult, he should‘ve taken another route. (We can‘t always get what we want though, and sometimes must accept what we get instead. Will this scene make me love Victor less, though? Likely not. I wanna clarify though, again. I do not support force as an educational action. However, we all know it‘s there; sometimes it can be inevitable. And with that I mean when somebody really messes up - or, I dunno. Perhaps this is just Eastern outlook, though. As someone who comes from one of the Slavic countries and was raised on a few principles that could indeed be questionable elsewhere, I can say I can partly understand Victor here. But then none of the series is truly based on the real world so?? That probably shouldn‘t be an excuse to make for him here.)    

Holy cow, this is getting long, but I suppose I have a lot to say here, though I do think I‘ve covered most of the main points here. Perhaps I could stop by the Victuuri as a ship, and if their relationship is toxic and unhealthy or not. I honestly didn‘t see it as unhealthy (again, my opinion here). More than that, I‘ve probably seen it as a little unrealistic - but beautiful nevertheless. I MEAN, IT‘S FICTION IN THE END. I do not think Yuuri was the one who was dependant on Victor (maybe he was, but only at the begginig) - I think it was actually the other way around, mainly because I believe Victor ran away from all the pressure, from all the expectations he got from all over the world, from everything he had to get through by his own self through all these years to find the love for skating he once had. Yuuri was his solace, his safe haven. And I think I‘m allowed to find that beautiful. Meanwhile, he was a good influence on Yuuri - he gave him that strength he lacked and faith in himself and his abilities, he helped him grow; helped him (partly) overcome his anxiety at least. In the end it wasn‘t just some kind of an unhealthy obsession - if he had to, I strongly believe he‘d do just fine without Victor at this point (but he doesn‘t have to). They both have their strengths and weaknesses, and they balance each other out. And what I love the most out of it all? There‘s no OMFG I‘M GAY WHAT IF HE HATES ME FOR THAT; OMFG HE’D NEVER LOOK AT ME THAT WAY AHHH; OMFG WHAT IF WORLD HATES ME FOR IT stuff that‘s overused in BL content/fetishised in a lot of writing I see around. And man, that‘s refreshing as hell.