#we need 2 kill the manga artist

[blueskittlesart]

Hi, I’m a huge fan of your art and I wanted to know a little bit about your comics. About how long does it take you to make one, and how do you stay efficient about it? Also, how do you decide which parts are black, which are white, and which are gray? And are any parts of the process particularly difficult? I think it’s really beautiful how you can get so much across in your comics without crowding too much in each panel, like in manga for example. Also how most of them are entirely black and white. I’m asking all of this because I have a story I’ve written, and I want to turn it into a comic, which I’ve done before. But I’ve always become discouraged when I overshoot and make it way too detailed from the beginning and not be able to get that same amount of quality with more complicated panels. Thanks if you answer this.

HIIII. so the time that it takes to do like one page of comic varies for me depending on the level of finish i put into it, but i'd say not counting the scriptwriting or layout, the actual art for one page usually takes between 1-2 hours to finish. any more than that is too much for me, personally, but one of the things i've learned at art school is that i work INSANELY abnormally fast, so that kind of pace might not be sustainable for you. (i'm currently doing 5 pages a week for my thesis which is the kind of pace that kills people. it might kill me. we'll see.)

my best advice for b/w/g placement is to have an idea of what you want your finished panel/page to look like BEFORE you start drawing it. if you're just drawing the lineart and then filling in the black and gray after the fact, it's going to be much more difficult and you're going to run into problems like tangents and legibility issues with your color placement. especially when working with a limited palette, knowing roughly where each color will go before even beginning the project helps a lot. I'd also suggest trying to limit your use of gray to like, 3 tones max. I usually only use 1 or 2 if i use gray at all. this helps keep things in high-contrast and therefore more legible. Line weight is also especially important when you're only doing black and white, because it helps create depth and ground us in space when there's no color to do so. in general, don't be afraid to go for big blocks of black, but try to think about where and why you're using them!

As for your comment about overshooting, my advice is to ration. we joke sometimes about how manga artists will use a much more simplified style up until like, a big climactic scene and then suddenly lock in, but that's a genuinely useful tactic sometimes. You don't necessarily need a background in every panel if the background isn't the focus of a scene, and that leaves more energy for you to go all out when you DO need a big fancy establishing shot or some complex perspective or whatever. obviously you shouldn't just be totally phoning it in on less complex panels, but don't try to kill yourself over the less important details. focus on what's most important to get your point across in whatever situation you're working with!

[byghostface]

Daminika asking game

Questions for Daminika/Flamian Shippers! a Thread ♥️🫀 by @ damiandefenderr on Twitter(X)

1. What’s your favorite panel/moment of them?

Need them to hold hands again please…

-[Robin(2021)#7/#11]-Artist: Gleb Melnikov-

Also this one panel of reunion hugs from the newest issue🫶♥️

-[Batman and Robin(2023)#6]-Artist: Nikola Čižmešija-

2. What was your initial reaction to them getting together?

Tears of joy + stayed up late drawing out of excitement, cuz I've been rooting for them since the Robin(2021) # 7 issue.

3. What song/lyric reminds you of daminika?

♪-We could be together, you could stay forever

We could waste time baby, nothing else matters

Oh, when I look into your eyes

I wanna bury you by my side-♪

-BURY YOU by Ari Abdul

4. How do you think their first date would go?

They catch up with each other 's life while having a meal and doodling on Damian's sketchbook at his favorite Arab restaurant.

5. What’s your headcanon for Nika regarding Damian?

She likes to listen to Damian talking about his original story and ideas, and his plans to present them with different forms of media( art, acting, music ).

//

Nika thinks Damian's an interesting and straightforward person and likes his pride in himself in the first introduction he has on Lazarus Island. Think he's an honorable and fairly challenging fighter. Plus the mystery ghost(Alfred) that keeps appearing around him intrigues her. After stealing back his manga from XXL and giving it a good read, she wanted to know more and more about him.

6. What’s your headcanon for Damian regarding Nika?

He likes to text Nika from time to time, and when he doesn't know what to say he sends pictures of his pets to her, Nika sends back pictures of her own pets(cat, insects, reptiles) and the activity she is doing or the sunset view that is outside of her room window.

//

Damian is angry with Nika at first but realizes that he can only blame himself for being impatient to learn the Death Tournament's rules, thus letting her get the upper hand. Damian thinks Nika is a quick wit, bold and resilient person. He admired her fighting skills from afar and was secretly pleased that she kept seeking him to talk and be friendly with him, and still kept a respectful personal space for him.

7. If you could publish a daminika mini, what would it be about?

daminika sketchbook tour (about their daily life inspirations, choice of art styles, their views on people who are around them), and they have doodles/comments cameo on each other's pages occasionally.

8. What do you think Bruce & Taila's reaction would be to Damian & Nika being official?

Bruce is wary about Nika but can’t say much to Damian because of his own dating/lovers history, later on, realizes what Damian has seen in her.

//

Talia tells Damian a few times how she is unimpressed by Nika, but Damian doesn’t hear a word from her after he introduces Nika to her in person.

9. What’s a trope that you think fits daminika?

Sent to kill each other (secret mission) but fell in love unintentionally when they met and learned more about one another.

10. How do you think their relationship would be like?

It’s both their first ever relationships, so they are cautious and consider each other’s feelings a lot. Damian is serious about it and mentally initiated. Nika is much more relaxed and physically initiated.

1．2 (dates and activities)．3 (taking care of each other, sleep habits, gifts) ．pet names．art styles．asking game

[batbabydamian]

🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #5 rambling and a conspiracy theory lol

tbh this is the most exciting issue for me since…the first one 💀 i’m going to talk about the story and art separately because Nikola Cizmesija’s one of my favorite action focused comic artists so this issue’s a treat 😭

Alfred used to mediate during a lot of Bruce and Damian’s early relationship, so it’s refreshing to see Bruce take more initiative involving himself in Damian’s life even if it’s for a case lol

a couple instances of Alfred’s fatherly support on behalf of Bruce and Damian from Batman and Robin (2011) #2, 4, 39 and Teen Titans (2016) #1

Damian seems to take Bruce's involvement more as a sign he’s not reliable rather than Bruce finally just. being around to help him. which is fair 😭

this is complementary to Cizmesija’s art, but i love this half of the page so bad 😭 the negative space and the shaded foreground with Damian mid-run gives this feeling of time kinda stopping for us to really feel the impact of Damian’s entrance AND the effect it has on Bruce, like!! that wide eyed expression in the below panel!! 😭

Bruce’s quiet “you can do it, son” to A FULL BODY CHEER OF “GO, DAMIAN!” Bruce witnessing Damian be great outside of Robin, and on top of that it’s just another mundane moment that Bruce has wanted with Damian 😭

this is such a goofy bully line sdfgh though the whole “broken” bit might be a callback to Batman and Robin (2011) #1, in that Bruce is really trying to do his job as a father here or i'm likely reading way too into it

SO the “shocking ending” of Zach being Zsasz’s kid was definitely a surprise but then got me wondering what is up with Williamson doing reveals of new kids for villains lol otherwise, the hints in the issue were neat!

the tally marks!! at least tallying blocks is pretty innocent compared to kills 😭

and Damian would recognize how Zsasz moves, since he’s personally fought him before in Streets of Gotham (2009)!! very much not in a sport, but uh maybe it was to Zsasz

the art!! first a shoutout to the colorist Rex Lokus for giving Damian his green eyes and maybe melanin (it didn’t look consistent throughout so i say maybe)!! 😭 also a Talia by Cizmesija!! even though this panel calls her a ��not great” teacher…💀

SUCH A FUN PAGE 😭 i’ve been into montage scenes lately lol and i love how quickly Cizmesija establishes Damian’s routine - Tues, Wed, and Fri are the funniest for me!! Damian grumpily getting lectured by his teacher in the foreground while his classmate’s still visibly steaming from the hit he took LOL, DAMIAN’S BUG EYED STARE WITH HIS SUNGLASSES UP, and then Damian looming. stealthily. in a tree. while some kid is blatantly pointing him out HAHA 😭

Cizmesija’s use of motion lines and effects when conveying movement is so cool!! the shonen manga vibes jumps out!! the smoke/dust trails following the movements; the limbs and soccer ball having a sort of blur effect with the motion lines. V COOL.

which leads to my favorite part of Cizmesija’s work - HIS IMPACT SHOTS!!

more motion lines and effects!! the splatter effects!! the arcs!! the jolting impacts!! GRRAAHH!! the setup to that impact shot of Zach's block is so great, and then following with Damian's reaction!! i almost wish that "???" wasn't there, just because that expression of stunned silence already feels so loud!!

last thoughts about Cizmesija's art is that i'm really hoping for a showdown between Damian and Zach next issue because i need to see a Damian fight scene in Nikola Cizmesija-fashion 😭 we get a taste of it with Orca and soccer but i NEED MORE LOL for now, dropping the moment when Damian overpowers Zsasz, in Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 since it was such an epic moment

okay SLAPPING MY CONSPIRACY BOARD!! so on another note Principal Stone being Shush is starting to feel like a red herring and Ms. Heather Hall could actually be Shush. Shush’s main point about Damian as his instructor was emphasizing how much potential he has, but the “wrong” influence could affect that

Stone and Hall have made the same observation about Damian’s potential, but the difference is how they address that - one wants Bruce to be more involved while the other wants Bruce to back off

Stone acknowledged Damian can take care of himself but still wants Bruce to step up in Damian’s life; Hall says it’s okay to be a helicopter parent BUT implies giving Damian space (which we already know Bruce has given so much of after Alfred’s death to the point of neglect 😭)

Hall even suggests moving Damian on to college, which would estrange Damian further. also idk how Damian kicking his teammates/bullies asses at soccer is really “making friends” lol

and of all the subjects she’s teaching, it’s AP Biology - according to the current case Batman and Robin are working on, which is centered around DNA-sequencing, it makes Hall the perfect accomplice to Langstrom

this is where my brain started reaching because i laughed at first at how specific that comparison is, but then it just made me think of how Shush’s first introduction was sniping Bruce LOL anyway, Bruce’s reaction is me 😭

one more Cizmesija appreciation panel - the lil running effects behind Damian :)

[some-mari-thoughts]

im ootl, whats up with the manga? i havent been reading

Nice! Probably its best u dont

From ok to bad:

Events have been rearranged to unknown extent to adapt to faster pace.

We start with the christmas memory dream instead of headspace, and we are introduced to everyone that way. The dream is very very short.

We then go to start 3 days left skipping the phobia fight for its unneeded at this point, and see kel, basil and aubrey (no mention of their friend groups)

Sunny freaks out and leaves to white space right upon ending Aubrey fight (after seeing a photo of Mari) and thats where we meet mari properly

That said, Mari. In the dream/memory she is introduced via visual horror, stress rising as soon as she comes into frame and when we see her face it is already kinda terrifying! Her name and sight alone continues to scare sunny into panic for the entirety of chapter. Almost as if he is scared of her rather than anything else

We dont feel any easier as we meet Dream Mari either because she sneakily guilt trips us about taking too long and making her wait

Sunny is treated a bit better but he is freaking out almost the entire time we see him and his reactions seem a bit misplaced. I am also pretty sure he doesn't even get to throw up the steak. He does get several gay tension moments which shippers are extatic about but for me doesnt make it literally any at all better or easier. Just raises my brow higher. Seems like its the only place where manga will have any success. The sunburn lovers are also happy bc in the dreamworld omori gets to help aubrey out instead of kel

Other events have been slightly changed. We start with not seeing any of the hooligans which leaves us with aubrey alone. So she alone is doing a lot more bullying than she originally was doing. Then she also focuses on bullying sunny alone and verbally hitting where it'll hurt, also reminding him that mari is dead here instead of church (which causes him to collapse and then slice her with the knife)

What does not help is the artist consistently fails to make a good line of motion or guide the viewers eye where it needs to go, so 90% of people will first miss that 1 - aubrey doesnt hit basil in the head with her bat, but trips him instead; 2 - she then seemingly misses at kel and aims to hit sunny straight across with the bat; 3 - Easily missable detail that sunny stops freaking out as he handles the knife, either bc of smth abt him or bc of omori (unclear, sunny is the one drawn there), 4 - Sunny looks like he is trying to kill Aubrey; 5 - Unclear who is panicking and thinking "no" as Sunny readies the knife

The manga is not at all beginner friendly and in theory can only be enjoyed by a member of the fandom. Well. It fails at that too bc only very specific ppl will be actually happy abt this retelling. (Shippers. And another subset of ppl who are there for different reasons)

The artstyle is making anyone with good internet background tense and for good reason too (shotacon/CP classic artstyle) People have spoken out about more evidence to the manga's artist drawing messed up things (including for OMORI fandom) not too long ago. Omocat's rep is once again in shambles and i cant and wont defend her til we get a goddamn good explanation

[fave-fight]

ROUND 1, MATCH 44

NO MAGIC, POWERS, WEAPONS, OR ADDITIONAL HELP FROM OTHERS

Chuuya Nakahara:

“He’s the top martial artist in the entire mafia (without using his ability), and on to of that he’s the most powerful ability user (that we know of) in Bungou Stray Dogs. If this is a normal fist fight, he could probably win without using his ability unless his opponent has some form of magic/supernatural assistance. And if they do, he could kill the pretty much instantly using his ability.  Also. I’d really like to see him win for once, because in BSD the author has to keep coming up with highly specific scenarios to justify why he’s not just wiping everyone out. Some of those scenarios include: 1) he’s just not there in the first place (he was canonically out of the country for the entire beginning of the series) 2)he gets trapped in the BSD-equivalent of an alternate dimension* (ie someplace you can’t just break out of with brute force) 3)the only guy he regularly fights has the ability to be immune to all abilities AND is the top strategist in BSD (and even so Chuuya still beats him in terms of combative skills) 4)fights that he’s about to win get interrupted by other things, causing both him and his opponent(s) to go “well I guess we could just stop fighting and call it a stalemate 🤷‍♂️  5) (spoilers for the current manga arc) he’s currently being mind controlled as a vampire (BSD vampires and the equivalent of other media’s zombies. They’re mindless or mind-controlled beings who go around biting people). He would have solved all the problems by now but the author was like “nope!” and yoinked away his free will and autonomy.  *for any BSD fans who wanna check me on calling Poe’s ability an alternate dimension, I mean in the same way other subspace-type abilities are “alternate dimensions” as Rimbaud described (counting Rimbaud, Poe, and Lucy for this type of ability), rather than referring to “alternate universes” as in Beast.”

Kevin:

“He has killed before and he will kill again. He is immune to the ol' "go for the eyes" trick some opponents might pull, because he doesn't HAVE eyes. He can still see just fine because he's granted Vision by the Smiling God. Despite the mention of his "smile knife" in the Mudstone Abyss arc, I think Kevin doesn't entirely NEED weapons because I fully believe he will bite anyone and not hold back. He'll rip a chunk off you if he has to, he'll go fucking apeshit. His whole motif is teeth and gore and devouring. And he'll be so upbeat and sunny the whole time. Now if he could GET a weapon, he would prefer that, but if he absolutely has to fight somebody unarmed, he could manage against the average person off the street. However, caught off-guard, he is easily defeated. There's a part in canon where he believes he's having a diplomatic discussion (it was actually pretty fucked up and evil but Kevin's sense of normalcy is hella skewed), and a (presumably human) character just suddenly grabs him and slams him through a portal. So it can be assumed that if someone lands an unexpected attack on Kevin, he'll get his ass kicked easy. Kevin is also probably not formally combat trained. Someone with actual fighting skills would probably beat him. He's just reliant on bizarre violence more than actual skill, in my opinion.”

“hes gods favorite freak. he wrote a whole freak bible about bugs and teeth. also he should get to bite people like that anon said”

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Movie 2: Super Hero (2/5)

This line might just encapsulate the entire movie. "Yeah, sorry, folks. They made me the star of the movie this time, so it probably won't be as good. Why are you all cheering? Did Goku walk by or something?"

Last time, we set up the main villains of the story. Now, it's six months later, and we find Piccolo sparring with Pan near his house. Yeah, Piccolo has a house now. I remember when they revealed the house in an early promotion for the movie, and everyone was nuts about it. Piccolo has a house! What's inside? Look, he has a mailbox! What kind of mail does he get? What a time to be alive.

So Pan is three years old, according to this movie, so I think the idea here is that this is set just before the 25th Budokai and the finale of Dragon Ball Z. So Super Hero represents a turning point for the franchise. Up to now, every story told under the Dragon Ball Super brand has been set during the ten-year-gap between DBZ Episodes 288 and 289. But now we're at the end, which means the next movie, anime, or manga arc has to make a big decision:

A) Set the story after the 25th Budokai, and work around Goku's decision to train Uub at his home village.

B) Ignore the "End of Z" continuity altogether and just keep trucking along like it doesn't matter.

C) Just keep telling stories in the small time interval between Super Hero and the 25th Budokai and hope no one calls attention to it.

D) Jump back to the beginning of the ten-year-gap and tell stories out of chronological order.

I think A or B is the most likely option, since they wouldn't have jumped this far forward in time for Super Hero if they were worried about staying inside the ten-year-gap. I also suspect that they'll try to respect the "End of Z" lore, if only because they've mentioned Uub a few times in the DBS anime, and Uub actually had a cameo appearance in the manga.

But no matter what happens, Things Are Going To Be Very Different. In theory, Toei/Shueisha can do just about anything with the franchise now. They could kill Bulma, or give Majin Buu a whole new transformation. I guess they could try to steer the storyline towards the events depicted in Dragon Ball GT, but I'm pretty sure that ship sailed when they turned the Pilaf Gang into children. The point is that anything is on the table.

But back to the matter at hand. Pan's whole deal now is that she trains with Piccolo at his house every morning, then runs off to attend preschool until 1pm. Piccolo thinks she's showing great promise as a martial artist, even more than Gohan did when Piccolo first trained him, and Gohan was a year older back then. Pan thinks that qualifies her to learn how to shoot energy blasts like Goten and Trunks, but Piccolo says she has to master the fundamentals first, which means Pan has to learn how to fly, among other things.

This is Pan's character arc for the movie. She's not a major player in this story, but she still has an obstacle to overcome, and by the end of the movie, she succeeds. This is a big leap forward from the Pan we saw in GT, who remained static through the entire series. I guess she sort of learned a life lesson in the TV Special, but she was 110 in that story, so I think the implication is that GT Pan was a bossy twerp for a full century, which isn't exactly satisfying.

The weird thing is that we saw Pan fly all the time when she was a baby. In the DBS anime Baby Pan flew out into space, and she'd float around the house and such. I guess she forgot how to do it, or it got harder as she grew up and gained some weight.

Pan asks if it's true that her dad (Gohan) could be even stronger than her grandfather (Goku) if he tried. Piccolo says that used to be true but he isn't so sure anymore. Pan says she's never seen Gohan in action, and Piccolo explains that he hasn't had to fight, but if the need arises, Gohan will fight when necessary. Then he sends her off to preschool. A short time later, he gets a phone call from Pan's mom, Videl.

Okay, so let's unpack all of this. Piccolo has a cell phone, but he just leaves it in his house while he's training outside, because his Namekian hearing can pick up the ringtone from hundreds of yards away. Also, he holds it like a weirdo, dangling it from his fingers like he found it at a crime scene. Also, the case looks like a cartoon character. This is Penenko, an in-world fictional character that seems to be very popular. Its like a cross between a penguin and a cat, and it has a green tie like Yogi Bear, which I think is a classy touch.

As for Videl, she needs Piccolo to swing by the preschool this afternoon to pick up Pan. This is because Videl teaches a combat sports class, and they're having a tournament today, so she can't make it. As for Gohan, he's too busy working on a scientific presentation, and he hasn't come out of his study in days. Piccolo is annoyed with this, but he agrees to pick Pan up. Videl offers to buy him lunch, but he reminds her he doesn't eat food, so Videl considers buying him a Penenko plushie instead. Piccolo doesn't want one, though, because he already has a pile of them in his house. Presumably those plushies represent a whole bunch of past favors he's done for Gohan and Videl.

Okay, more importantly, let's talk about Videl. This is her only appearance in the movie, save for a still image in the closing credits where she comes home to find the house has been damaged. Still, this conversation tells us a lot about what Videl's been doing ever since she and Gohan got out of school. She's teaching a "combat sports class". This makes sense to me, as she must have given up the vigilante work around the time she was pregnant with Pan. But teaching students how to fight would be easier for her, since she could set her own schedule and arrange for the students to train independently when she's not available. It's the perfect career for the new mom with a talent for whippin' ass.

The thing is, Videl's not just any martial artist. She knows basic ki techniques, but besides that, she's the daughter of a world famous celebrity buttkicker, and she earned a reputation of her own as a crimefighter. So this can't just be any old "combat sports" class. I mean, they're participating in a tournament for goodness sakes.

So this is my Videl headcanon: She's teaching people to fight crime. And not just any crime, but the rocket-launcher-weilding maniacs she used to fight when she was in high school. Videl stepped away from that life to focus on her family, but she's still got one foot in that world. It started as a self-defense class for women, and then she decided she could show them more advanced techniques, until eventually she had a cool stable of badasses.

The tournament she's talking about isn't some fun little romp, although to her it would be, and it's barely beneath Piccolo's notice. But to everyone else, it's some kind of hardcore mixed-martial-arts event. Videl brings her students in and they're all wearing kick-ass uniforms to represent their school. What kind of uniforms? Here's a hint:

GTH. That's the name of Videl's dojo. The Go To Hell Combat Club, so-named because you have to go to hell to learn the combat style of Mr. Satan's daughter. Imagine going to some indy wrestling show and instead of wrestlers out comes a bunch of MMA guys all dressed like Pan from this movie. It probably looks cooler on grown adults, which is why Pan likes to wear it.

So what's Videl wearing when she leads her squad to the competition? Oh, we already know the answer to that question, because we saw her return home from the tournament.

I mean, it makes so much sense when you think about it. remember, we saw Videl wearing regular clothes when she called Piccolo. She must have changed into her Battle of Gods red-devil dress specifically for the tournament. She might have a different outfit for fighting, but this is what she wears when she's in the corner for her students. She's like a sexy ECW manager, which explains the red leather dress, black tights and white go-go boots. She's so over-the-top with this thing that it makes the Great Saiyawoman outfit look dull by comparison, because she's trying to get over this image of smash-mouth combat supremacy. It's the same reason Mr. Satan wears the cape.

This is a weird tangent, I know, but for so many years I've heard fans lament the way Videl was depicted in Dragon Ball Super, and they're absolutely right, but I'm a "yes and" kind of guy when it comes to this stuff. There's nothing wrong with having Videl be a housewife as long as it doesn't preclude some other, cooler lore from happening off-screen. And Super Hero seems to be holding out an olive branch to the fans. Yes, Videl has a life outside the home. She teaches martial arts, so she clearly hasn't given up fighting altogether. How and how much she fights is left to the viewers imagination, and I can imagine a lot.

Anyway, I need to commission some art of the GTH school looking cool. Videl's in the center of the group with a riding crop or something. Gohan's in the background with a snack tray. He made Chex Mix for the whole class because he's a sweetie.

Back to business, Piccolo decides to head for Gohan's house and confront him over this. He knows Gohan won't answer the door, so he just flies to the window of his study and scrapes the glass with his fingernail to get his attention. This fucking rules.

Gohan's working on a study of a newly discovered ant species that glows yellow when threatened, like a Super Saiyan. Piccolo isn't even a little impressed, but he agrees to pick Pan up from preschool anyway. He asks why Gohan never trains anymore, and Gohan gives the stock answer about how nothing bad will happen, and even if it does, Goku and Vegeta will surely deal with it. I mean, that is what happened in the last movie, but they cut it pretty close in Resurrection F. Piccolo uses his clothes-altering powers to make Gohan wear his old training outfit, but that's about all he does.

I don't really understand this constant back-and-forth about whether or not Gohan trains enough in DBS. Obviously, Gohan let himself go in Res F, and then Gohan asked Piccolo to train him again to get him back in fighting shape. Then they made it look like he'd slacked off again leading up to the Tournament of Power, except he did really, really well in that arc. And now it's like he's slacking off a third time.

I mean, there's time for that. We're talking about a five or six year period here. It just seems odd to me that no one mentions we've been through this cycle before. I think the disconnect is that Gohan trains, just not often enough to satisfy the likes of Piccolo or Vegeta. He'll stop training for months or years at a time, so that he can concentrate on his biology career, and then he whips himself into shape when he has the time. This movie pretty much confirms that pattern, but each time it comes up, the characters always act like we haven't been here before.

Gohan offers him another Penenko plushie as thanks for picking up Pan, and Piccolo insists that he never liked them. I think it is very likely that Gohan and Videl do this to him on purpose. I mean, Videl knew this tournament was coming up, and she could have made other arrangements, but this way Piccolo feels obligated to be involved with their family. If they just invited him over to things, he'd probably decline, but this way he feels like they need him and he can act all put-upon, but he still gets to spend more time with Pan and such. Also they might be trying to fix Piccolo up with Pan's teacher, but we'll get to that later.

So now Piccolo just has to get in as much training as he can until 1pm, right? Wrong, because as soon as he sits down to meditate, some new guy shows up and attacks him. He refuses to identify himself, but the Red Ribbon pack on his uniform pretty much gives it away. Plus, this guy has no ki signature, so he must be an android or cyborg like Gero's creations.

So they fight, and it doesn't go well for Piccolo. At one point he asks why he can see words appear whenever he gets his. I thought this was a cute fourth-wall-breaking joke, but in fact this new guy has a holographic projector that makes the comic book sound effects appear behind him.

The mysterious attacker only refers to himself as a super hero, and after he blows up the butte Piccolo is on, he flies back to his base, thinking Piccolo is vaporized. But Piccolo escaped unseen, and he decides to trail this guy and find out who he's working for.

This leads Piccolo to a secret base inside what I believe is a crater. It looks like the crater is full of lakewater, but it's actually a holographic illusion. Piccolo finds a goon in his size and swipes his uniform.

Inside, he finds the bad guy command center, where the new android reports to Magenta and Hedo. Piccolo learns that his name is Gamma, and there's actually two of them. Hedo already watched Gamma 2's attack on Piccolo via a remote feed from 2's eyes, and his only feedback is that 2 should have done a cool pose after killing Piccolo. Gamma 1 is more concerned that Piccolo might have survived because 2 was too sloppy to check for a body.

Sure enough, 1 reviews the footage and discovers evidence that Piccolo escaped. And since Magenta insisted that the Gamma's wear RR patches on their costumes, there's a real risk that Gamma 2 tipped their hand to the enemy. Gamma 2 isn't worried, though, because he still overpowered Piccolo, and the end goal is to defeat Dragon Team, so if this escalates the conflict, then so much the better.

And that pretty much sums up the Gammas' characters. They both play the superhero role they were designed to resemble, but 1 is more cautious and responsible, while 2 is more carefree and funloving. Earlier in the film, we see pictures of Hedo at some sort of autograph signing, and there's a character who looks almost exactly like the Gammas there, so I assume he designed his androids to look just like that character. Hedo doesn't seem too concerned with originality.

Carmine agrees with Gamma 1's concern. Their enemies have the combined power of Goku, Vegeta and Majin Buu, not to mention Mr. Satan. Apparently, the Red Ribbon Army still isn't clear on how powerful he is. If they find out about the Red Ribbon too soon, it could jeopardize everything, no matter how powerful the Gammas might be.

Hedo disagrees. Once he collects enough combat data from 1 and 2, he can simply upgrade them and create even more Gammas until they have enough power to tip the scales.

Apparently, Hedo doesn't think it would take very long to get more Gamma's manufactured, which is why they have these two booths already set up. This makes me wonder if Gamma 3 and 4 are already in there, just waiting for Hedo to activate them.

As for Magenta, all he wants to talk about is Hedo's other project-- Cell Max. This leads to a heated discussion over the value of the project.

Basically, Magenta considers Cell to be Gero's greatest creation, and while the RPC has Gero's notes on how to make Cell, they were too complex for anyone to reproduce the experiement. This isn't much of a surprise, since Gero never finished Cell the first time. When Gero learned that it would take decades to complete the work, he turned it over to his computer and moved on to working on his other plans. That computer never finished, because Krillin and Trunks destroyed it and the embryonic Cell back in DBZ Episode 145. However Magenta got the data on Cell, it must have been sent to him before then, but it would have only represented the earliest stages of the project. No wonder his own scientists couldn't get very far with it.

The only reason Magenta even considers it worth pursuing is because a completed Cell showed up to menace the world. Magenta thinks that Gero must have pulled it off somehow. What he doesn't know is that this Cell came from an alternate future where Gero's computer had time to complete the project. So Magenta knows what the finished Cell is capable of, but he doesn't have a complete recipe to make a new one.

But Dr. Hedo is even smarter than Gero, which is why Magneta hired him. The Gammas are fine machines and all, but what Magenta was really hoping for was that Hedo could take the notes on Cell and figure out how to build a new and improved model. And to his credit, Hedo was able to do that, but not completely. He created Cell Max's body and made him far more powerful than the original Cell, but he's still not done because his brain takes a long time to develop. I don't know if this is like a programming thing or Cell Max needs time for his brain matter to grow complex enough to support his mission.

At any rate, Magenta just wants to turn Cell Max loose right now, because he's so high on the prospect of unleashing such a powerful weapon. But Hedo warns him that they won't be able to control Cell Max the way he is now. If they activate him now, Cell Max might easily run wild and destroy the world, which defeats the purpose of using him in the first place.

Hedo's argument is that they don't even need Cell Max, so instead of wasting time on him, they should focus on the Gammas, who are more than powerful enough to carry out Magenta's plans. They can defeat Dragon Team, then the rest of the world will fall to the Red Ribbon Army, and then Magenta can reveal Cell Max to show off his power to the world. Magneta seems to buy into that idea, at least for now.

The thing is, we really don't know how long it would take for Hedo to finish Cell Max. It took Gero's computer decades to finish the original Cell, so maybe most of that time was spent developing his brain, and yet that Cell never did follow his programming completely. So maybe Cell Max would be uncontrollable too, no matter how much Hedo tinkered with him.

Then again, Hedo built the Gammas in just six months, so he's demonstrably smarter than Gero ever was. It's possible that he could finish Cell Max's brain in a matter of weeks and make him fully obedient. He just doesn't want to spend the time because it's busy work and Max doesn't look like a super hero, so he's not very motivated to complete the project. It kind of makes you wonder what Hedo could have accomplished if he'd given it his full attention.

Needless to say, all of this freaks Piccolo out, so he excuses himself and finds a quiet spot to make a phone call to Bulma. She tells him Vegeta has been away for three weeks now, training on Beerus' planet. And Goku went along with him, so they're both unavailable. Piccolo asks her if she can use that device Whis gave her to call him, and she says she'll see if she can reach them that way.

I just want to pause here to admire Bulma's yellow jumpsuit. This is definitely one of her hottest looks, perhaps because it's so workmanlike and unsexy. She just makes it look cool because she's Bulma. She just got done welding a quantum computer to a ham radio or something.

In the meantime, Piccolo leaves the RR base to go to Korin's Tower and get some senzu beans. He's still in the mindset that Goku and Vegeta will be the ones to take care of things, but he has to do as much as he can in the meantime to improve their chances.

As he flies through the holographic lake, we get a nice exterior shot of the base. So yeah, it does look like a couple of craters, although I'm not sure what the use was in disguising the inside when you can see all this stuff built up around the outside. I guess they have some sort of phony mining operation set up if anyone snoops around.

And that'll about do it for now. I've still got a couple of image spots for this post, so let's show off the photos on Gohan's desk. Pretty cool.

And here's a cool shot of Cell, since he came up in conversation.

[crepes-suzette-373]

Whole Cake Island comments

I'm late to this party, so what I'm posting here is probably old news to everyone, I just want to unload my thoughts.

I've read enough creator interviews to know that sometimes manga artists do things just for the heck of it with no deeper reasons. That's why I often hesitate to read too deeply into the scenes, but it's still there anyway, so I just want to react/ramble.

1) This arc repeatedly says that Sanji's brothers are supposed to be emotionless/heartless. Somehow despite that, they still burst into heart eyes when they see Nami. All of them!

If they're heartless, but they still do this, then what does it feel like for Sanji who isn't "heartless"?

It's to the point that Chopper goes "Are you sure you're not Sanji" at Yonji, and Yonji can't stop ogling at Nami's wanted poster. And they all say they want to take Nami home once the stupid wedding is over with.

Like, those 3 can normally kill people and clobber that poor helpless maid without even twitching a single curly brow, but Nami can still make them explode into heart eyes...

Maybe this is just a joke to laugh at, like "hahaha the quadruplets all have the same taste". Or maybe this was meant to show that deep down the other Vinsmokes aren't that heartless after all. Still...

2) I find it kind of strange that Sanji's injuries under the "skin mask" is drawn to look like the "joke" swollen face Luffy often gets when Nami beats him up for being dumb:

I mean, this scene with Pudding and the scene before that, when Sanji just got clobbered, I'm assuming they're both supposed to show his vulnerability. Then why make it look like the silly swollen faces that are usually meant for laughs and gags?

Compare that to the much more serious injured face Luffy has when Sanji beat him up, or way way back in the Skypiea arc when Sanji faced off Eneru.

If the in-plot intention is just to have him Sanji look so severely beat up that he needs a mask to hide it, why not draw him with the "serious" injured face?

My conspiracy thought was that sensei did that on purpose to make the scene with Pudding look either weird or awkward so that we can't take it seriously.

Like, now that it's all over we know it was a big nothing, but maybe during its initial run this specific art choice was a hint? Especially because later when Pudding revealed the trickery, she made fun of it. Something that probably can't be done with a more serious injured face.

3) Nami gave up so easily because...? She's someone who had literally done the exact same thing in almost the exact same way back in Arlong Park. She has also experienced being on the rescuer side with Robin, where they all eventually find out that there's something suspicious going on.

But somehow this time she took Sanji completely at face value and backed off in a very emotional way. Does it not even occur to her that something might be fishy again? And it's Luffy who saw through the nonsense and is completely not buying it.

Luffy, who is so clueless that he was dead-shocked to find his dad is Dragon, even though Garp already flat out told him so.

I mean, maybe because of the manga's tight schedule, sensei had to run this quickly to heighten the drama/stakes. Maybe there isn't a long plot game being played, and I guess I have a hyperactive imagination, but with a certain slant it can look like Nami gave up because she got heartbroken/jealous of the wedding.

When the group split up and the Sanji Rescue group was leaving from Zou, Zoro and Usopp said this:

They're all still there, the whole group heard it.

Oh no, maybe Sanji is on board with it. And then they actually meet Pudding:

Oh no, she's cute and he did go heart eyes at her. They then find Sanji, but he acts like this:

Oh no, maybe he does want to do the wedding for real after all.

Nami's reaction is such a classic "misunderstanding drama" reaction in romance novels.

4) Generally speaking, I feel like the wedding sham feels like something straight out of romance novels.

The leading lady gets closer to the leading man, then out of nowhere he turns out to be secretly a Very Important Person. His horrible family show up to threaten the leading lady, and he saved her at the cost of himself. Dramatic roller coaster and misunderstandings ensue, often including arranged engagements and/or almost-weddings.

This plotline really hurts my heart (poor baby Sanji), but at the same time I'm so baffled at how it all unfolds, because parts of it honestly kind of reminds me of telenovelas that my mum used to like to watch. Pretty sure I've even seen a couple permutations of this plot with vampires and whatnot during the supernatural romance craze in the Twilight era.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier (Manhua) - Volume 2

I wonder if anyone on tumblr has read this manhua in its physical form since it was only released in Australia. Also, how many manhua/manga are the Aussies hiding from us?? lol

Ch. 8

Oh okay, so in this version of the story digicode is called a "digital password" (for some...reason)

I do like how this artist draws Junpei. He looked cute with his hair all tousled in this chapter.

Ch. 9

Huh. They completely cut out all of the comedy from this "episode." Nothing about Calmaramon being ugly and her fanboys abandoning her and nothing about her spinning out of control and defeating herself...womp womp.

I'm attempting to read this on my Boox ereader to enhance my experience. Maybe it will motivate me to read quicker lol. I'd be curious to hear my mutuals' preferred format/app for reading emanga. I use a big mix of stuff but in this case it's Tachiyomi + eink

Ch. 10

Yikes, that was so disjointed and weird! They went from the fight with Duskmon back to the Calmaramon fight. I thought that the scans were uploaded in the wrong order or something, but nope!

The transition to the real world was so clunky and confusing.

I did like Duskmon's chapter art, that was pretty badass. His mask looks a little funky though (the fangs are more gnarly)

Ch. 11

More cut scenes messing things up: Takuya expresses his guilt for Koji's predicament, but they never bothered to go over Takuya's reckless plan to fight Duskmon, so it's totally unclear why he's guilty in the first place. Also, we see Takuya go to the real world, but we never see his epiphany for why he should go back to the digital world, he just kinda appears in the next fight scene. -sigh- Who needs character motivations or emotions amirite?

At least they cut out the tickle torture scene. Grateful for that decision...

I think this is the most expressive I've ever seen Mercuremon lol. I hope we see more of him in the franchise, his design is so original.

Ch. 12

I'm still not over how unimpressive the Frontier digivolutions are in some cases. Wolfmon and BeoWolfmon are basically the same thing. I think they straight up got Koji's digivolution name wrong here (called BeoWolfmon Garummon), so that made things extra confusing and anti-climactic lol.

A lot of things were so unclear in this chapter: it wasn't clear that Seraphimon was lending his strength, it wasn't clear how Koji realized that Koichi was a human, and the flashbacks were poorly integrated as well. Also, how did the kids end up inside Sephirothmon and not Bokomon and Neemon? Unclear.

I do appreciate how easy it is to tell Koichi and Koji apart. I feel like they did a good job making them very distinct yet still keeping it clear that they're twins.

Ch. 13

Damn, just terrible translation. They kept calling Seraphimon Ophanimon over and over again. At one point they had the wrong name right next to the correct name on the same page!! How is it possible to be THAT careless!? (I noticed that the scanner acknowledged this in their between chapters' note lol).

It was good to get another look at BlackSeraphimon's design. I already said this in my anime commentary, but it would have been way cooler if we got more of these combo designs from villains using heroes powers...

Ch. 14

I don't have many complaints for this chapter, it was done relatively well. I feel like Koichi's grandma was more explicitly negative when explaining what Koichi's father did to him ("abandoned").

The scene where Takuya is like "are you crazy? You should fight him because he's your brother" also felt weird to me. Like, what if they hurt him badly by mistake? Maybe humans can only be killed if you scan their digicode so there's no risk?

[saffroarn]

Spoiler Alert for anime-only.

Seeing that Jigokuraku's fans has started to catch up to the manga till chapter 44, where gabimaru got amnesia & not remembering his wife,

I just decided I want to share my angst thoughts when i first read that part too; imagining if Yui really wasn't real - which actually I find it really hard to believe this sudden change since that plot twist seems quite quick for me, it didn't really give me the impact but it's enough to give other readers doubt, just because of how 'Yui-only-appear-in-flashbacks'-mindsets. I myself can't believe there's still some manga/anime that still has a happy ending, so yeah, this really proved that we all are prepared for the worst, since anime/manga always kills off our fav characters...

And yeah. I was thinking about the possibility of how heartbreaking Gabimaru would feel - and since the arborification actually makes me relate to Hanahaki a little too much,

I couldn't find any fanarts of this idea, so I thought I would sketch it myself, it's not like im an artist, I draw only to satisfy my imagination & this is the best I can do it guys, sorry. (IDK which one looks better. I'm bad at photography)

Btw, I listen to Stitches by Shawn Mendes while sketching this. I cried when the part 'now I'm without your kisses, I'll be needing Stitches' - like, gosh, he wounded so many times, meanwhile, we, readers/viewers knowing that these two has only 1 scene of simple kiss in their flashback, actually make me tear up for no reason, (we all need more sweet gabiyui scenes 😭🤚🏼)

Like - I didn't listen to this song imagining Yui's leaving him. It's more like [what if kaku yuji actually made 'Yuzuriha/Shija was right' plot?] - it would be much worse than killing any character.

Btw, that one part from the song; 'just like a moth drawn to a flame' reminds me a lot of episode 1's scene where 2 moths flying around the candle while Gabimaru in prison scene where he told Sagiri that he got betrayed while in the mission, leading himself to be captured.

[actuallyidontgiveadamn]

Really out of nowhere but I rewatched some of fma03 eps and im gonna rant

I'm just so done with smiling politely saying that fma03 and fmab are both great sorry i cant anymore. Just no

So if you in love with fmab im warning you it probably won't be a good read for you, so feel free to ignore this, block me or idk read this and give it a thought

0. I really dont understand the glorification of manga over anime adaptations. Like people who are making the adaptation are not artists and creators themselves? What makes mangaka better than others and absolutely indisputable, seriously?

1. 'Oh no long introduction and fillers' that actually allowed for Hughes' character development before his death. Seriously if i mention his death among my homies I'll get lots of faces clearly going through some ptsd level flashbacks, it was that impactful. I still need to take a breather when im rewatching before diving into that ep.

2. Nina. Yet again got more time to grow on us and thus aquired higher trauma inducing levels.

3. Ishval massacre and aftermath are WAY MORE VISIBLE in fma03. First of all Ishvalans are depicted as human beings, and not some background, and we get lots more on their sufferings, raids on camps, racism towards them, etc etc etc

4. Scar. Oh boi how do i even go about this. So without raging much about that beefy obviously wrong dude who got 'sense' bitten into him and started working with the oppressing gov in fmab, we have a wronged and tormented survivor of a genocide, who was justified in his vengeance and rage, was depicted as an attractive person of color despite his antagonistic role and was seriously almost cheered on in his actions by the narrartive. His interactions with his people and his moral dilemmas made his character possibly the deepest and most thought out one in the series.

5. The Rockbell doctors being killed by their own government. That's a waaaaay more interesting and damning detail on our government affiliated protagonists than just dumping their murder on a delirious patient.

6. Homunculi had their own will and desires and a way more developed story arc that had a huge impact on protagonists' morals. Being created by the humans who were desperate to bring back their loved ones and both parties are getting tormented by it?? Characters strongly driven by their own goals and staggered by their relations to their creators vs some indifferent goons in fmab. Just compare Sloths and their impact on the stories and protags.

7. Final conflict being a fight with god and his intricate plans in fmab, versus final battle vs a selfish pretty much usual person who had thrown everyone under the bus in pursuit of immortality. Adds so much more desperation flavor. Suddenly your hero journey doesn't end in epic battle for the sake of the mankind, as you would like it to be. It's just to oppose one awful person with too much power and zero care about anyone else. That's raw and that's way more plausible and relatable in our mundane lives.

8. Overall darker tone and themes of the fma03.

9. MUSIC. I dont remember a single track from fmab, but i went really out of my way in my teenage years to find internet access and pirate fma soundtrack and cry listening to it

10. ART. Sorry but don't tell me fmabs flat colors are anything to 03's soft tones and lighting

So yeah sorry, but I'll take the dark and gritty tragedy over just another shounen with doubtful messages each and every time

[rubylarkspur22]

Questions and answers below the cut. All questions for Mirrored Sunset(🔄). Manga spoilers.

1: To the Hashira, what are your crows' names, and your hobbies?

[I don't have any names picked for the Kasugai Crows, so I won't be answering that one]

Michikatsu: I usually meditate, or work on strategy. Or train. That's when I'm not wrangling Nezuko and her friends.

Douma: If I'm not training, or wrangling the kids, then I try to relax. Meditating, the occasional hot bath, whatever I have time for. On certain days, like birthdays or anniversaries, I'll visit Kotoha and tell her about whatever updates I have.

Hakuji: I mostly focus on training, especially with Keizo. But I'm also spending a lot of time with Koyuki and we're preparing for the baby.

Nakime: I usually write music and practice with my biwa. Both for my fighting techniques, as well as to play in public. The extra money from my music is certainly not unwelcome, according to Master Kibutsuji.

Gyokko: Of course, I'm working my hardest as an artist in my spare time! Those pots won't make themselves, and I can never turn down an opportunity to release my creative juices!

Gyutaro: I usually train, and I had a chance to teach Inosuke some of the skills I learned when Ume and I were in Yoshiwara.

Ume: Well, I've been learning how to sew, thanks to Nezuko, so I practice that. And I also like to try new hairstyles, on myself or Nezuko. If it's not that, I'm usually with at least one of my brothers, and maybe training, if I feel up for it.

Enmu: I usually work on perfecting my techniques, or I check in with Master Kibutsuji.

Rui: I'm usually having bonding activities with my family. We like to play games, and stuff like that.

Tamayo: I tend to spend my free time experimenting with my various drugs and poisons. Trying to create the most effective serums I can, and I'm hoping to create something we can use to kill Ubuyashiki.

2: To the Twelve Kizuki, what are your Blood Demon Arts?

Gyomei: Namu Amida Butsu. My blood, when spilled on the earth, allows me to control it.

Sanemi: I control wind. It's easiest to control the currents I create from my wounds, but I can still control normal air currents. Makes it kinda hard for those Slayers to fight when they can't use those breathing techniques of theirs...

Giyuu: Hydrokinesis.

Kyojurou: I have the ability to construct and control flames! I most often use a sword of flames, especially against Slayers!

Muichirou: I create mist... I can't remember what it does, though... [OOC: It has varying effects]

Obanai: I create snakes. Aside from Kaburamaru, of course. They're venomous, and so am I.

Mitsuri: I have so much love for everyone, that I just draw them in! And they're all so sweet, too![OOC: She has a hypnotic aura that draws people to her, and makes them incapable of attacking her.] I can also control my flesh as needed, and I've had little kittens for companions since I became a Lower Moon! They're so cute, and they let me see through their eyes, too!

Tengen: I have the flashy ability to create and use sounds. Mimicking voices, releasing sound waves, though I prefer the latter.

Shinobu: I create butterflies from my blood, and I have complete control over them. When they bite someone, they secrete a deadly venom. It's far from a quick death, if I so desire. And I do quite enjoy watching the effects from time to time! It's so fascinating!

Genya: It's kind of weird. I can get the powers from certain flesh I eat. So I can copy Blood Demon Arts, or use the elements of Slayers' breathing techniques.

Kanao: My Blood Demon Art is similar to Shinobu's, that I create butterflies. Though, mine act differently. Anyone they bite falls under my control, and will follow my orders without question. I've even made Slayers slaughter their allies, and they can't help but follow my command.

Zenitsu: I'm fast, and I also emit electricity. And I can control the output, so I either stun or kill someone.

[thenixkat]

also i like the implications that the people living in this universe think kaiju are evil or actively malicious. The majority of the kaiju seem to be nonsapient but hungry critters but not actively malicious. Granted I dont think most folks who live in a universe were there were living natural disasters that eat people would really care if most kaiju dont seem to have the capacity to be evil rather than just dangerous wild animals

Shinomiya is totally not ecstatic to get her talents recognized and praised by her new substitute dad friend /lying

also the bullets are made of kaiju bits. I'd like to know what part of the kaiju they come from

also Ichikawa really said that he intends to become the strongest b/c he wants to protect Kafka b/c Kafka is the first hero he's met in his life since a kaiju killed his family and Kafka is a nice good guy and he really doesnt want his buddy to get caught killed and turned into weapon parts what a responsible young man. But also, child, you dont have to protect yer adult friend. Its not something you have to deal with

ok that squad leader sounds like she's gonna get some sexual harassment complaints. Lady dont oogle the rookies while yall are being attacked by kaiju

local man just happy to help

yeah I dont like Mina's design. She does not look like a woman that uses bfgs

the artist should have made her beefy i dont care if they have super suits, make that woman jacked

also damn aint nobody got an ass in this

local 27 yr old woman is fucking emotionally constipated and refuses to just communicate her feelings directly

also i like how helmets are not a part of the gear for the Defense Force. folks said they dont need to protect their heads. No need to worry about head trauma yeah no you should not be able to walk on that leg with a chunk that big taken out of you child

also I noticed that the Mushroom actually does have ear holes with the detail in the manga art

local cryptid shooting its own flesh at enemies

oh neat. SO the bullets crom from uniorgan secretions of kaiju. That does raise the question of what do they do if they run out of the specific kaiju's parts to make a certain type of ammo?

no one in this manga has an ass but I'm supposed to belive these sticks are so athletic? yeah the anime should have kept the line about Iharu sending a flare for help b4 coming back makes him look more responsible

the same trick wont work twice on the fungal intelligence

i do very like the idea of characters just straight up praying b/c they're staring down death

I did assume that Iharu is probably in his early 20s. Like 20 in Japan is the age at which you can drink and smoke and such and apparently used to be the age of majority until it got lowered to 18 like in the 2010s (but the mangaka labels Ishikawa and Shinomiya as minors so the mangaka doesnt see them as adults) and Iharu mentioned going to college for 5 yrs. So early to mid 20s probably. I assume most of the recruits are in their early 20s if we only had 2 fuckers too young to drink also imagine 18 and one of yer new adult coworkers decides to declare you to be his rival Kafka said no one picks on and tries to murder his comrades on his watch

and do have to repeatedly state that Kafka's monster form's design is not super consistent in the manga. The shape of his horns differs, the set of his canines, how many spines he has, wether or not he has teh side spines, how craggy he is. SHit is not consistent with him

I will say i prefer his horns drawn in the more crescent shape that makes it clear their extended from his brow ridges. Looks a lot less like rabbit ears

[hopeymchope]

Just your standard tumblr blog manifesto

Hi! Whether you’re new to my dumb corner of Tumblr or a longer-term follower who just hasn’t particularly noticed (or cared) how I’m doing my thing here, I thought I should sum up my basic principles for this blog in a (somewhat?) useful fashion.  1) I try to always post spoiler tags for EVERY piece of official Danganronpa fiction before discussing any spoilery info OR sharing spoilery artwork. Why? Because it only takes a second to tag posts for people, and you never know who is new to the fandom/hasn’t gotten around to everything yet/is trying to still remain pure on certain subjects. For your spoiler-blocking needs, the tags for each are as follows:

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (game/anime/manga) — #dr1 spoilers

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (game) — #dr2 spoilers

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (game/manga) — #drae spoilers

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy/High School (anime) — #dr3 spoilers

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (game) — #drv3 spoilers

Ultimate Talent Development Plan (AU mode/sub-game within V3) — #utdp spoilers

Danganronpa Zero (light novels) — #dr0 spoilers

Danganronpa IF light novel — #drif spoilers

Ultra Despair Hagakure light novel  — #udh spoilers

Danganronpa Kirigiri light novels — #drk spoilers

Danganronpa Togami light novels  — #drt spoilers

Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp (game) — #drs spoilers

2) I reblog (and rarely even do original posts of) A LOOOOT of fan art here, but I make it a point to only share things either posted by the original artist OR which are shared with the permission of the artist. I had it impressed upon me earlier in my Tumblr career that some artists legitimately don’t want their stuff shared on other sites without permission, and I try to always respect that. (And yes, I realize that just saying “permission obtained from the artist” or something is HARDLY a foolproof system. We’re on the honor system here; we can only assume such disclaimers are honest.) If you catch me sharing art that is copied or posted by someone other than the artist without any expressed permission, please let me know — I’ll take it down! 

3) I’ll almost always respond to asks submitted to me, but I’m sorry if it takes a while. I’m typically WAAAAY behind on such things. Sometimes it takes me a few days or even, rarely, weeks. Sometimes I just don’t know what to say at first. But sometimes I’ll respond ASAP because the ask is easy to answer or just ignites a bunch of thoughts within me. Or on rare occasions I’ll, uh, never answer because I couldn’t think of anything to really say (sorry?) or because the ask is basically just a troll. 

4) I sometimes post asks/commentary that are very critical of certain characters as people (as in, not criticizing them as fictional characters or how they were written; criticizing their behavior as good/bad people). If you don’t like seeing your faves harshed on, I tag those criticism/negativity-centric posts for easy blocking, too! So feel free to block tags like #anti-kokichi ouma or #anti-hiyoko saionji or whomever. (But let’s be honest; Those are the two most common ones.) 

5) This Tumblr originated as a Naegiri-focused one, actually. That’s not something that comes up too terribly often these days, but.. you can definitely still expect me to heap extra attention on any Naegiri-centric content I come across (or, in rare instances, create myself). :) So... that’s just a heads-up.  6) If you came across this user handle elsewhere and are wondering if this blog is run by the same person, I can only confirm that the Hopey McHope on AO3 and the HopeyMcHope on FF.net are, in fact, me. Anyone else you see by this name might be the same person as me, or it might not. I guess you should just ask me here.

7) If I blocked you... I probably assumed you’re a bot. If you don’t have ANY posts or ANY reblogs or ANY profile pic or ANY heading wallpaper? I have to assume you’re a bot; it’s a problem around here. If you’re not a bot, please do something, anything to make your account look like a real person’s. Say two words on your blog, change your blog title to be ANYTHING else, give yourself a profile pic or even a header image that ISN’T the default... just, anything. 

[multapohja966]

some fav things this year

Read

Detransition, baby - Torrey Peters' book. just adding a one more assurance that it is just as good as everyone says.

Shopping Star as a semiotechnical code modulating Greek femininity in pharmacopornographic capitalism - fun opulence of hard words discussing interesting things. (article utilising Preciado's analysis tools to discuss (post)recession Greece)

Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw - Rei Mikamoto's insane gory gross, hard to explain, manga about a girl with a chainsaw trying to kill the person responsible for turning her classmates into grotesque minions.

One Piece - caught up finally. yes, it is worth it.

67,292 Things Car Guys Can Teach Transsexuals by Adrian Glenn - part of the 2 Trans 2 Furious zine. as a car guy associate and transsexual i deeply loved this one.

The Shape of Premodern Nonbinarity: A Conversation with Leah DeVun - I'll never stop talking about this article.

Watched

Bronson - Tom Hardy movie, biography of "Britain's most violent prisoner " Charles Bronson. It doesn't completely highlight everything essential about his story (having a less than nuanced view on untreated mental illness and its relationship with incarceration) but it's such a good fucking movie!! And at least artistically very loyal to who it's depicting (insane and absurdist).

this video of jack harlow at a chiropractic appointment - we live such weird fucking times. like it isn't heartfelt but it isn't disgusting either it's just, w-what? eh?

Little chinese everywhere - vlogger Yan who travels though less tourist heavy provinces in China, really respectful look to everyday life in more rural communities. these have given me a lot of peace and joy. a lot of extremely intresting architecture as well.

Inflatables and the adults who love collecting them - by furry youtuber Ash Coyote. Truly a gem of respectful by fandom, of fandom documentaries. Touching and lovely!!

MerPeople - don't touch netflix anymore but this documentary of the mermaid community and industry is incredibly good.

this rose ramdin x html jones vid - the well read terminally online gen z musical artists who get their estrogen money from twitter shitposting are the modern greek philosphers. in the sense that i'd sit on a stone public square step and listen to a convo like this for the whole day.

A normal creepypasta retrospective - there's hope for youtube actually

Cat soup / Nekojiru-sou movie

Earth Maiden Arjuna - early 2000s environmentalist anime series lovers make some noicee. this one is sooo lovely and gorgeous. real hidden gem.

Gigs

Sabaton - as expected, bit of a weird vibe in the crowd demographic :--------D but show itself is an insane fucking spectacle I'm happy I saw. You can really sense these men are swedish, the "my country hasn't been in an active war for two centuries" theater kid energy is wild. Tank on stage.

Death Grips - I'm pretty sure this rebooted my whole brain. Went with close friend, pretty sure my biggest bruise came form her hands.

Antti Tuisku - Farewell gig of the best pop performer in finland. I do not understand how he doesn't pass out on stage with everything he's doing. The jesus allegory album is forever my favorite, it's so genious in how it discusses fame so well while staying funny and self-avare. Neck hurt for the next week due to headbanging.

Suistamon sähkö - small gig yet one of the absolute best this year. (i cried) You need to see these guys live, the vocal ability of the main singers is absurd, it doesn't come through fully in recordings. And they create a very special atmosphere and community within their gigs, literally joined hands and danced in a circle.

[fenrhi]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Hello! Thank you for your ask, I don't often receive stuff in my askbox.

This is a difficult question to answer. I don't really have a "top 10", because my tastes change quickly also I have a fish brain and I forget what I watched/read but I'll do my best.

I'll use 5 girls and 5 guys from stuff I currently like for my list:

LADIES FIRST

1 - Liv (PGR)

In a world ravaged by the Punishing Virus, which destroys human bodies and turns electronic devices into killing machines, Liv makes the decision to fight on the battlefield to protect humanity. Liv is what we could call a "Martyr Archetype": pure, honest, kind and ready to die for others in the blink of an eye. Virtually flawless. This Archetype is not something I'm particularly drawn to and it can get annoying in the wrong hands, but PGR just makes it work. I got attached to Liv ridiculously fast, but more than that, I'm amazed by the care PGR put in her character arc.

We get to see how Liv's sad childhood shaped her as a person, her desperate need to be useful, how meeting her friends Lee and Lucia changed her....And we get to Surviving Lucem, which is the BEST chapter so far in terms of writing, and it's a Liv Chapter. She has to protect refugees against endless waves of monsters, while having a very limited amount of supplies and no exterior help. And it's just..... you can really FEEL the hopelessness of the situation in your bones. You can see the refugees fighting among each other for crumbs of bread. You can see them crying their deceased loved ones, wishing they could join them soon. You can see how Liv curses her own weakness, but still refuses to let anyone under her care die. The problem though, is that her kindness isn't enough. She cannot save everyone. And that realization will eventually lead her to accept a suicide mission, which........she does survive (barely), but the ending of Surviving Lucem implies the side effects are gonna be so bad she's gonna wish she was dead instead.

Such a fun game. 10/10 would recommend to everyone

2 - Selena (PGR again)

Selena is my "sad and pathetic little kitten", as the Tumblr Users say. Selena is first introduced as a young woman with amazing artistic talent. She can write plays, she can sing and play the violon and the flute, and she's quite popular too. In short, she's living her best life. But a meeting with a robotic soldier (Construct) will trigger her descent into hell. The dude in question absolutely tears her to shreds over her play glorifying war, saying she's insulting his dead friends. And Selena, after much agonizing about the place of art in a world destroyed by war and her status of privileged person, goes "okay guess I'll become a Construct to see how war looks like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

AND OF COURSE it goes horribly wrong. What was supposed to be a "simple" mission turns into a nightmare, as Selena watches (and hears) her comrades get cut into pieces. We also get multiple paragraphs of her getting tortured by her enemies, and at some point you just want to tell the writers "ok that's enough :D"

"But does she get saved in the end?" yes, but not before her carcass gets dropped into Evil Red Water, and she turns into some uglyass monster and she receives hundreds of bullets in her face.

Being Selena is suffering. Liking Selena is also suffering.

3 - Dominique (VNC)

Domi is one of the few female characters made by Mochijun that I really like *coughs* sorry my queen I just prefer your male characters, so she deserved a spot on that list. Domi has everything going on for her: smoking hot chara design, flirty and kinky personality, a pinch of sadism, cool ice powers, one-sided romantic feelings for a childhood friend, tragic past involving a twin aaaannnnnd my favorite: intense self-loathing. I considered dropping the manga if Mochijun decided to kill her in the Amusement Park Arc. Thanksfully, she didn't.

And now I wait for more Domi Content

4 - Coco (WHA)

Coco is the main character of critically acclaimed, universally loved manga "Fuck Around And Find Out". After accidentally turning her mom into a stone statue, Coco (previously regular human girl) becomes a witch apprentice in an atelier supervised by Professor Qiffrey, the shadiest man in this manga. What I REALLY love about this manga is how it constantly challenges Coco's opinions, how it forces her change and adapt to the darker sides of Witch Society, how she struggles with the notions of "right" and "wrong". And how, despite everything she saw, Coco still holds on to her desire to help others.

Sometimes you need hopeful and refreshing stories like that just ignore the current arc theres nothing hopeful about it

5 - Miranda (DGM)

Miranda's story really resonated with my lonely, cringefail child self, because it's the story of a woman who's described as a "good-for-nothing" and "a gloomy, weird woman". But Miranda is not just relatable, she's inspiring too! She fails so many times, but she always has the courage to try again. She accomplishes great things and makes friends despite everyone else telling her that was impossible. What an icon

NOW, GUYS

1 - Soushi and Kazuki (SNF)

"Fellas, is it gay for two guys to be the emotional pillar of a show, to represent the central thesis of said show, to symbolize love in its rawest, most devastating form?"

Soukazu permanently altered my brain chemistry at the tender age of ten, so I just HAD to put them on this list. They're a deadly combo of relatable and tragic. They're each other's most important person. They push each other to live on in an apocalyptic world invaded by aliens. Anime waifus and husbandos come and go, but they're eternal.

....I guess this is the part where I say "check the #soukazu tag on my blog for more content"

2 - Kamui and Camu (PGR again)

Aaah, Camumui.... my current obssession....Despiste the fact that PGR very obviously skipped steps when it comes to the development of their relationship, my heart melts every time I see Camu getting really protective of Kamui, and Kamui acting really relaxed and friendly around Camu (for context, Kamui committed Body Theft and Camu wanted to get his body back by killing Kamui). Started from the bottom, now we're here!

What's funnier is that PGR will happily shove Camumui in your face at any given moment, for no reason. Like Kamui mentioning Camu likes ice cream and he's very good at licking (bro what am I supposed to do with that information)

3 - Murray (PGR again)

My Dear Sussy Otoutou-kun! He's probably my favorite NPC in PGR. He's the kind of guy who would willingly walk in a death trap and make deals with enemies to achieve his goals (protecting the brother he's hopelessly fond of). He's been lucky to survive so far, but all his 6D chess moves are gonna bite him in the ass someday. I just hope the writers will have mercy on him (;-;)

4 - Noé (VNC again)

My sweet baby angel to whom I give my life! My cinnamon roll too good too pure for this world! He's handsome, naive, stubborn, he will kick your ass if you piss him off, he has amazing homoerotic tension with every man he meets and he has a tragic past! It's like he was made for me

5 - Oberstein (LOGH)

This is Bebert. He's my little squeak squeak. He has no redeeming qualities and his list of crimes is as long as his cape. I love him and I think of him every day.

[cantovi]

1. Ohh, we got a hand chopper master here, so what I’m hearing is that you can beat Baku on this one?

I see you’re trying to pull me in the card game crowd, but honestly, if I ever come across it I might try it since people say it’s a little easier than other types. Kaji would be like “I’m not one for murder, but I do think we got to kill this guy, mister russian pirate.” by how bad I’d be malding over it.

Oh, it happens in HxH? With more than one antagonist or just one?

2. Fair enough, a re-read of jojo is a lot work no matter how much I love it, it was ages ago for me. Ah, I gotcha you, I didn’t mention Eko on my read because she adds a whole other level to the discussion (it being exemplified by what you just said about her influence on Baku), I keep calling her Echo because of how her ideals (ha!) echo through the story right to the end. I 100% agree with you Baku still needed a lot of fortune to play in his favour for things to work as they did, even if he did account for many possible scenarios and variables, I believe that’s very much in line with the theme around life in Usogui and jojo too, it’s never one thing only presiding and influencing over what happens. And the thing with gravity is that you still have to, I don’t know how to say it, “make an effort to go towards it” in a way, like how Dio had to travel to meet people and how Baku had to create bonds and ask them to help during protoporos.

3. Hehehe, I know, but I’d hate to come off as a Kaji hater this later on.

Yeah, no I agree with you, what I mean, it’s misogynistic that Kishimoto women were either boy crazy or useless like you said that the romance would only feel actually believable between the male characters there (the whole meme where it goes “I’m no gay because I like men, I’m gay because I hate women” but in manga form for me lol). Still marriages of convenience are such a sad thing to me as a mere idea.

Their dynamic as real allies this time around can be so good, I can taste it. If Kakerou was already a powerhouse with just one of them, I cannot imagine how wild things could get in a gamble involving those two given how much they understand each other. Not forgetting that it appears that Souichi is going to be the one gambling for Baku’s heart (look at this gayass sentence, man, I can now imagine a shoujo style fanart of Baku in the center clutching his heart while Souichi and Gonen guy have a staredown).

What also contributed to my Kyara and Baku thoughts was finding this one jpn artist on twitter, but their type of dynamic is bread and butter.

I can see the Kaji and Baku vision (I can bet I know what post you’re talking about too, hehe), a lot of one-sided pinning to be had there.

The thing with Nobuko is so funny to me, I read it as she had a crush on him and Souichi liked her as an ally\friend, because of two very autistic moments he had with her (asking for food while she was showering while not even being fazed at her being naked and the when he corrects her grammar when she was high and flirted with him).

I still have the chapter and page saved if I ever feel like making the edit, I love the “I hauve Covid” thing, truly speaks for the human experience there.

I'm at chapter 136 of Usogui (a.k.a. barely 1/5th through, guess who's losing this time gamble? It's me!) and I can finally say I'm have started to truly enjoy it, let's go!

I'm really enjoying Baku as a character, the guy is what I want from a gambling manga protagonists, smug smart guy who's a wimp at fights. I'm not feeling Kaiji, but we'll see...