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cherry-valentine · 3 years ago

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Summer 2021 Anime Season

What I’m Watching:

Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is one of the cutest, sweetest series I’ve seen in a while. The plot sounds rather dark, following a young duke who has been cursed by a witch so that anything he touches, from plants to animals to people, will die. Touching through clothes has the same effect. This naturally isolates him, to the point that his own family have shunned him and he’s forced to live in a separate home out in the woods, with only two servants who are kind (or crazy) enough to stay with him despite the danger. One is an elderly butler who takes on a fatherly role, and the other is the beautiful, busty maid named Alice. And this is where a show that could have gone really dark brightens up to an adorable romantic comedy. Alice is not the least bit afraid of the duke’s curse, and her teasing, cheerful disposition practically forces him to open up. Speaking of Alice, I really enjoy the way her character is handled. Just as the show could have gone dark, it also could have gone sexist and gross. Alice is very busty, as I mentioned, and the show does have some fanservice, but the WAY this fanservice is done makes all the difference. Alice is a flirty character who always seems to be an enthusiastic participant in whatever fanservice we see, rather than being an object to be leered at. She’s very much in control of her body and her sexuality, which I appreciated. Also, there’s a lot of restraint on display here. There are so many ways they could have ruined this by going too far, but they didn’t. The fanservice is restricted to some cleavage shots and Alice occasionally flipping up her own dress to display her stockings. It comes across more as “sexy fun times” than “male gaze oggling a woman”. Because Alice is an interesting and well-written character in her own right. On the surface, she’s unflappable, facing a dire situation with limitless patience and optimism. But we get a few small, brief glimpses of the emotional toll it all takes on her, which is refreshing. The duke himself is a fun character, forever flustered by Alice’s antics but clearly not wanting her to stop. There are some amusing side characters as well. The animation has been criticized quite a bit, as it’s CG. It’s not the best looking CG animation I’ve seen, but it’s far from the worst. For a simple, cute show like this, it’s fine. Recommended if you like romantic comedies with a somewhat dark setup.

Vanitas no Carte is based on a manga by the woman who did Pandora Hearts, so you have some basic idea of what you’re getting into: extravagant period costumes, gothic European scenery, dark and violent themes mixed with goofy humor, and a very complicated web of character relationships. This series features a vampire society that’s being plagued by “curses” which turn the vampires into mindless beasts that can only be saved by mercy killing them. That is, until a human named Vanitas shows up with the power to cure the “curse bearers” using a legendary book that most vampires doubted the existence of. He teams up with Noe, a kind and naive yet physically very strong vampire who has been tasked with finding said book and determining whether its power is real. The result is a bizarre buddy comedy with touches of gruesome violence and gorgeous art. Of the two protagonists, Noe is my favorite. He’s sweet and good-natured, naive but not stupid. He has a disturbing back story (as most of the characters do) but he can still look at the world with excitement and wonder. He also has a hilarious and adorable cat named Murr. Vanitas, on the other hand, is an insufferable asshole. And I don’t mean in the fun way. I mean he literally makes the show hard to watch when he’s onscreen. I normally like the smug bastard types in anime, but Vanitas really pushes the limits of my tolerance. In an early episode he forces a very deep, very long kiss on a woman he has rendered immobile and unable to defend herself, groping her all the while. I found the scene very troubling, and was even more troubled when I read the comments on the episode, almost all of which calling the kiss “sexy” or “hot” or, worst of all, “romantic”. It’s extremely obvious that the woman did not want or enjoy the kiss, but aw, she was all blushy and embarrassed afterward, so it was a cute scene, right? Ugh, no, gross. The woman, named Jeanne, was established as a very powerful, badass vampire. Yet she’s quickly reduced to a red-faced, crying mess by this absolute garbage character sexually assaulting her in front of several other characters. The whole scene was so bothersome I almost dropped the series entirely, because Vanitas never faces any consequences for this act. He just grins smugly after it’s over. However, I kept watching because, aside from Vanitas, the show is amazing. The art and animation are breathtaking. The plot is highly interesting. The characters, Vanitas excluded, are compelling. And then we have Noe, who is pretty much the opposite of Vanitas. Honestly, if Vanitas was the only protagonist, I would have dropped it, but he’s one of two. So... recommended, but with caution. Your mileage may vary on how much Vanitas you can stomach.

Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is.,. not something I expected to enjoy. It has a visual style that reminds me of Kill la Kill, a show I absolutely loathed. The overall vibe of the show is a little off-putting for me, but somehow I got myself hooked on it. The basic set up is that, hundreds of years ago, giant monstrous demons roamed the earth. All the gods of the earth got together, defeated the demons, and sealed them away, leaving one young god named Rin behind to watch over the seal and train newly born gods to fight, should the seal ever be broken. Flash forward to the present day, where Rin has only been able to train a very small number of gods because most of them can’t handle Rin’s absolutely brutal training (it mostly consists of her murdering them over and over and letting them regenerate, as they’re essentially immortal). Unfortunately, some demons have come back, and they’ve taken the appearance of humans. This revelation motivates some of the younger gods to resume their training with Rin. And that’s about all I can say for the plot without getting into some bizarre subplots. There’s a lot I don’t like about the show. I’m not crazy about its cartoony look given the subject matter. I don’t like that there’s basically a whole subplot that revolves around human women being repeatedly raped (side note: rape is never graphically shown, though it is made extremely clear what is happening and we see the lead up to it, also this is a rather small subplot that gets little attention after the first episode). And I absolutely hate that a character involved in this subplot, who encourages it, is presented as a character we should actually like. But! There are some things I really enjoy about it as well. I think the setup is really cool. The gods, and their role in the world of the story, are super interesting. They’re practically indifferent to humans, not even taking the slightest bit of interest when one country invades another and slaughters innocent civilians, because to them, it’s like a human intervening when one animal fights and kills another in the woods. So long as humans aren’t completely wiped out, they don’t get involved. Which is a neat concept. I also like the battles, which are frenetic and a blast to watch. And I totally love Rin, who is just a straight up badass in every single way. She’s one of those ridiculously overpowered characters we sometimes get in anime, most of which are usually male. Rin is so absurdly powerful that other absurdly powerful characters are terrified of her to the point that the mere mention of her name triggers panic attacks. Watching her fight is pure joy. Also the music is great, with an absolute banger of an opening theme. Recommended if you like wild, imaginative action anime and aren’t triggered by rape.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

To Your Eternity Boku no Hero Academia Shaman King

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

Best Opening Theme: Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi

Best Ending Theme: Vanitas no Carte

Best New Male Character: Noe (Vanitas no Carte)

Best New Female Character: Alice (Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid)

#Anime #Anime Reviews #Anime Recommendations #Summer 2021 Anime #Seasonal Anime #Text #tw: rape #Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid #The Duke of Death and his Maid #Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi #Not tagging Vanitas because I talked shit about the character lol #This is the smallest number of shows I've followed in a long time #Maybe I'm getting more picky

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stillness-in-green · 4 years ago

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Idk if anyone told you but the MVA OST leaked, with themes for both the League and the MLA. If you haven't listened to it yet, please do! And if you have, what are your thoughts? I think Mine Woman and RE-DESTRO slap for 2 characters that got shafted hard by canon so I appreciate them a lot.

I have listened to them, and I like several of them! I feel like I need to lead with that, because I'm about to add some criticism about my previous responses to BNHA's score for context, so it's important to know that I genuinely do enjoy quite a few of these.

So, I haven't listened to a lot of Yuki Hayashi's scores, but he's definitely done work I've liked! He composed the music for several of the more recent PreCure shows, including their movies; I particularly loved his finale for the 15th anniversary film, which prominently featured a truly delightful medley of every team's opening theme. I'm also very fond of some of his pieces for Kiznaiver and Welcome to the Ballroom.

His BNHA work, though, I feel like suffers from two main problems: the tracks are too short to work up a good head, and yet, despite that short length, they sometimes feel exhaustingly over the top. (Did Shigaraki's theme really need crying children to get across the point that he's bad news?) I've long felt that the BNHA anime wants me to feel like everything is way more Epic and Stirring and Dramatic than I actually find the material to be, so curiously, the music winds up having a distancing effect rather than drawing me in. This is frequently compounded by placement choices that feel so staggeringly poor that I'm often left wondering whether the staff chose the music out of a hat! (Seriously, why does a fairly rote test of character in Nighteye's office warrant doom choirs?)

As to the MVA tracks specifically, I wish there could have been tracks that sounded a bit more fun or heroic, given that the League in MVA really are the heroes for the arc, complete with Shigaraki suddenly having access to Shonen Nakama Tropes and getting all these little comedic reaction takes. It'd be nice if the music could cue in and let the League have some aural triumph without being all doom all the time ("Oh, no! The villains are winning!" Yes, they are; let them have this for one arc, would you?)

But that said, I do rather like most of these! There are some that I do suspect will fall prey to the This Is Too Much Drama, Would You Please Ratchet Back? problem, but there are also some that I can imagine playing better in the context of the show than they do in isolation, and some that feel like they could even be exactly what I was dreaming about, if they go where I hope they will. For some individual thoughts, see below:

The Mission of the Stealth Hawks: A reasonable enough little tense atmospheric piece. Doesn't jump out at me.

Different Ability Liberation Army: I always approach the MLA as styling themselves as an army, but in reality being more of a sect--far more cult than militia-- I appreciate that if they can't have a good dramatic march despite having Army, like, right there in the title, I'm glad I could get church bells instead. On the whole, though, this is a good example of the first problem I mentioned having with Hayashi's work for BNHA--his pieces tend to be pretty short, and it takes them so long to land on a melody that by the time they find one, there's hardly any time to develop it before the song ends. Even a lot of the hero pieces are like that, and the villain songs, even more so. That said, I do like the horror strings that creep in around the 1.25 mark, blossom at 1.45, and float on through 2.10. I just wish they went on longer. Admittedly, "erratic church bells and horror strings" is still not the choice I would have made for the MLA's main theme. I really would have preferred something with a more militant air; as it is, this sort of feels like it scores a creepy prologue that plays before the opening credits kick in and then the episode proper starts. Which isn't a bad description for the way the dinner scene played in the manga, but thanks to the anime's decision to reshuffle everything, I don't think that dinner scene's going to maintain that feeling of "prologue" when we finally get to it.

My Villain Academia: Better on the melodic front; I enjoy the drama at .43, the dancing tension at 1.05, and particularly the minor strings from 1.25 that just keep climbing until everything else drops out around 2.10. I do wish it found a better place to end rather than noodling on for a further thirty seconds, but the melody will get a more central, and more bombastic, treatment in the final track, so it's probably okay for it to trail off here. (It's also apparently a reprise of a villain theme from the very first season's OST, which is rad. More on that in the Track 11 blurb.)

Second Coming: This is a bizarre one because, while I complained that Hayashi's BNHA tracks are usually short, this one is a full six and a half minutes--except that it falls clearly into movements of about a minute each, with clear lulls in between. I wish it was twelve minutes and everything was twice as long! As it is, I'm highly doubtful that we're going to hear this one played in its entirety anywhere, since I can't imagine what scenes would require this specific sequence of musical passages at this length. 0.00 - 1.01: I love that the song kicks in comparatively quickly; the first minute's passage has a great, thrumming drive that very nearly hits major key towards the end. 1.02 - 1.53: The drive picks up pace in the second minute before the chorus arrives, and for once, I am very prepared to love a BNHA choir piece. I hope this is what plays when Deika's going up in ash. 1.54 - 3.01: I love the melodic line being carried by the intentionally hard to distinguish violin and whatever brass instrument the violin's trading off with in the third minute. It's bit out of place with the rest of the track, but I like it quite a bit on its own, and it does have a similar sound as some of the "dirty" brass in RE-DESTRO and Mine Woman. It's probably too long for RD's childhood flashback, but I wonder if it'll play for an MLA character somewhere? 3.02 - 4.07: The fourth minute has some very fun drums, but otherwise doesn't jump out at me as much of the rest of the track. I'm very curious to know when this will play, though. 4.08 - 5.32: The fifth minute, god bless, has some proper march drums--I like this passage a lot, particularly when it come back in the sixth minute accompanied by the choir. I like this because the key is minor but it's not "oooo scaaaary" minor; it's more dramatic, a bit tragic, but triumphant too--pretty much perfect for Re-Destro, Spinner and Machia's moment of revelation in the crater. I wish it were longer. 5.33 - 6.36: And here for the end we're back to the driving guitar and some fun low-thrum strings and percussive chain sounds. Like the fourth passage, it's fun, but jumps out at me less, particularly as the song's finale.

Gigantomachia: This is an extremely boss kaiju song. Seriously, that brass in the opening could come right out of a Toho flick. Extremely good walking calamity number, love that distorted synth stuff towards the end. It's going to sound great when (if) it plays over Machia leaving the villa, the hand rising up through the floor behind Toga, Momo and the other students surveying the desolation left in his wake, and so on. (I know that's all Season Six material, shhhh. I hope they use this piece there.)

Mine Woman: This is so fun. And so extremely superior that that awful Christmas insert song! I'm glad Curious got this at least, and I love the moment the beat drops at the one-minute mark, and that interwoven sax. So good. It's hard to imagine the fight between Toga and Curious being paced to this song, mind, but it's real good, anyway.

TOGA's Nature: This one showcases the other problem I have with Hayashi's BNHA work, especially his stuff for the villains: it feels very on the nose in a way that tips over into being Too Much. The birdsong, I think, is on the nose but in an effective, playful way, with the natural beauty of the birds undercut by the lovely but ominous piano/synth melody. I am considerably less kindly disposed to the creepy child laughter, which just feels on the nose in a thuddingly obvious way--though I do like the way it slides in when the birdsong fades. I like, too, the sort of cloudy roaring reprise of the melodic line that kicks in around the 1.10 mark. It feels like an effective echo of Toga--cute but creepy as a young girl, and then, after she snaps, creepy in the same way but now you can't ignore it.

Symbol of Fear: The beginning doesn't do much for me, but I enjoy the howl that gives way to the organs at 1.15; while it's too action-heavy to be Tenko, the transition does still put me in mind of Tenko wandering the streets, internally crying for anyone to help him, and the person who finally does is--well. I like that the organ nurtures that howl into something considerably more dire, though you still get a return to that guttural cry periodically. While it is, again, difficult to imagine this scoring the scenes between AFO and Tenko's first meeting and Tenko being formally named Tomura--it's much too bombastic--it does still feel like an excellent representation of AFO sculpting Tomura's formless, aimless rage into something that really could tear down the world.

I Don't Kill My Friends: It would have been really nice if they'd let the most significant, unadulterated personal triumph of the arc sound actually fun. Why does the Sad Man's Parade song sound so upset?? @aysall predicts that it'll play over Twice's confrontation with Hawks and death scene, and I can see it working extremely well there, but it's a pretty weird call for the Dead Man's Parade bit, if that is indeed what this is intended to evoke. Quibbling about the title aside, I do like the way this pulses and throbs, something like an exposed wound, which is not a bad description of poor Jin's mentality. I still hope this isn't what scores his breakthrough, though. As I said previously, the villains are the heroes for just this one arc, and it'd be nice if the score could reflect that at least a little.

RE-DESTRO: I like this one a lot. I love the interwoven layers of that dirty sax and the Big and Dramatic orchestral strings + brass, but both of them undercut with that regular, machine beeping that could almost be a heart monitor, but mostly isn't--right up until the long beep at 1.52/1.53. It feels like a strong illustration of the titular character's different personas--his attempts at casual, friendly villainy (like menacing Giran or chatting with Shigaraki on the phone), him when he's thundering full-volume about the weight of his legacy at people (THE BLOOD OF DESTRO FLOWS THROUGH THESE VEINS I AM RE-DESTRO), and, beneath it all, the constant little thread of stress that Rikiya can never escape (right up until Shigaraki). I probably wouldn't love it so much in isolation, but I'm easy to win over with the right character association. XD

Paranormal Liberation Front: Very fun grubby guitar intro. It also has much the clearest melodic throughline, which inclines me towards it. What inclines me to it even more is the knowledge (per @aysall again) that it's the same main melody as the track Villains Theme from the very first season's OST. That track already having used its allotted Doom Choir quotient, this track makes do with less synth and a lot more orchestra and chunky bass backing, which is much to its benefit, I feel. I do wish it had any of the MLA's theme in it, to represent the merger, but admittedly, it'd be hard to make that very audible when the MLA theme has…next to no central melody, percussive rhythm, etc. Still, as an evolution of the League to something bigger, classier, and far more dangerous, it's real good--just long enough to develop into itself and explore its central leitmotif. Probably my favorite track simply on its own merits.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I'd listened to the tracks once driving around for work, but sitting down with them properly gave me a greater appreciation for them, and now I'll definitely have an ear out for them when we get to this material in the anime…

….whenever that winds up being. *sob*

#bnha #music #stillness answers #my villain academia #reviews?#league of villains #meta liberation army #shigaraki tomura #yotsubashi rikiya

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snkpolls · 4 years ago

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SnK Episode 72 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 61 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

RATE THE EPISODE 61 responses

Unlike the last couple of weeks, this episode brought in a higher amount of 5-star rankings, indicating the episode was overall well received.

crazy intense crazy edge of seat

10/10

It was too short. I need more. Can't wait for the next episode❤️

WHICH MOMENT AT LEVI AND ZEKE’S LOCATION WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 61 responses

There were many focuses this episode, so we opted to split up the favorite moments into a few separate parts. Though Levi and Zeke’s scenes didn’t talk up the bulk of the episode, they were still prominent. 60.7% most enjoyed watching as Levi agonized over the deaths of his comrades after hearing Eren had escaped from prison, doubting whether the deaths had meaning or not in the end. Far behind that, at 16.4%, was Zeke and Levi’s banter about whether or not Levi is popular. 9.8% were happy to get the story about what happened to Connie’s village back in episode 26.

WHICH MOMENT INVOLVING FALCO, GABI, THE BLOUSE FAMILY AND NICOLO WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 61 responses

When it came to the moments where Gabi, Falco and the others were the main focus, the fandom (at 41%) most appreciated the moment where Sasha’s father talks about why he believes Sasha died, choosing not to punish Gabi for her misdeed. 23%, on the other hand, were happy to see Nicolo reveal the truth about Gabi to the Blouse family as he held Falco hostage. 13.1% enjoyed the altercation between Gabi, Falco and Nicolo beforehand. 11.5% enjoyed the overall tension between Nicolo and Gabi arguing over the circumstances of Sasha’s death.

I really liked the scene where Niccolo reveals the truth about Gabi and Falco. I wasn’t sure how the reveal would end up happening/when it would happen, but every beat was so satisfying.

WHICH MOMENT INVOLVING THE SURVEY CORPS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 60 responses

The Survey Corps inadvertently get involved in the restaurant drama and manage to drag in the Yeagerists with them. Though, when it comes to moments that involved the Survey Corps, Eren showing up to menacingly greet Armin and Mikasa was at the top of 65% of respondents’ lists.

floch epic smile

Eren literally stole the episode with that casual greeting.

Eren just dropping his existence on Armin, Gabi and Mikasa.. nice moment.

ZEKE ACCUSES LEVI OF BEING UNPOPULAR. LEVI DENIES THIS. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 61 responses

During their conversation in the forest, Levi accuses Zeke of being guitless over the fate of Ragako village, to which Zeke retorts by saying Levi must not be popular. 44.3% of respondents aren’t sure whether or not Levi is or ever has been popular, but got a good laugh at seeing him get so defensive over the accusation. 24.6% feel that he must be popular… he is humanity’s strongest, afterall. 19.7% think if he is popular, it’s only among the Survey Corps.

Petra and Levi crumbs!!!

Well he’s popular in the real world.

He just don’t care

PAPA BLOUSE SAYS THAT IT IS UP TO THE ADULTS TO SHOULDER THE SINS OF THE PAST, AND TO “KEEP THE CHILDREN OUT OF THE FOREST.” WHAT DO YOU THINK? 59 responses

This question had a little less to do with the content of the anime, but more where viewers stand from a general worldview when it comes to what Papa Blouse had to say. The majority, at 57.6%, do feel that it’s the adult’s responsibilities to do everything they can not to burden children with the problems created in the past. 22% feel the opposite, however, and believe that children are no exception when it comes to dealing with the problems the world faces. 18.6% are somewhere in the middle, agreeing that ideally children wouldn’t be forced to bear the brunt of our sins, but that it is regrettably unavoidable.

All problems in AoT are there because of children inherting their parents/ancestors sins. Stop it, listen to Mr. Blouse

WERE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE EXPLANATION OF WHAT HAPPENED IN RAGAKO VILLAGE? 60 responses

We appeared to finally get an answer about what happened in Connie’s village 4 years ago. Overall the majority of the fandom has accepted it as fact, with 55% feeling that it really cleared things up for them, while 11.7% accepted it but felt that it was a cheap explanation. 31.7% feel that it was a lie fabricated by Zeke and want to see if any other explanation surfaces in the future.

I felt like they went over it very fast, would have like a more in depth explanation

DO YOU THINK THAT ZEKE CARES ABOUT THE SURVIVAL OF THE ELDIAN RACE? 59 responses

Zeke claims his actions have all been for Eldia’s sake. Levi is sure suspicious of this statement, but what about the fandom? 45.8% don’t want to say one way or another if Zeke is being genuine about this claim and want to wait and see how things unfold. 32.2% are absolutely positive that this is a lie, and that Zeke would rather see the Eldian race perish. Only a small handful feel the opposite, and believe Zeke genuinely wants to see Eldians thrive.

i think yes, but only for their use as possible weapons as titans?

LEVI AND ZEKE BOTH SEEM TO AGREE THAT THE MILITARY IS WASTING TIME. BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU? 59 responses

57.6% landed somewhere in the middle on this question, feeling that it’s possible the military is taking too long to make a move on, well, anything… but that they also can’t just leave caution to the wind when it comes to their delicate situation. 35.6%, on the other hand, feel they are taking too long and there is really no excuse for it (other than, perhaps, incompetence). Only a sliver of respondents think that they aren’t wasting time and doing the best they can to get things under control.

They are in stand-by for too much time, time and events are catching up with them

They should be listening more to Eren and prepare for Marley's inevitable attack. Marley and the Warriors are the true enemy, not Eren.

KAYA SEEMS TO THINK THAT SASHA AND NICOLO WERE IN LOVE. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 60 responses

58.3% of respondents believe Kaya is right, and that Nicolo and Sasha had mutual romantic feelings for each other. On the other hand, 38.3% feel that the romantic feelings were purely one-sided on Nicolo’s part. We may never know for sure without Sasha’s perspective.

We haven't seen Sasha interact with Nicolo expect when eating his food so it's hard to tell

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NICOLO ATTACKING GABI AND FALCO? 60 responses

Nicolo wasn’t at all welcoming of Gabi bragging about taking Sasha’s life, and in his anguish tried to attack her. 56.7% feel that while this isn’t particularly excusable, it was an understandable thing to do, given the circumstances. 38.3%, on the other hand, were only disappointed that Falco got in the way. One respondent feels the opposite, and hopes that Nicolo gets some kind of karmic justice for his action.

Falco always takes for Gaby I'm sad

Attacking Falco, big nope. Attacking Gabi, TWO THUMBS UP!

Glad Nicolo got to punch Gabi, but I'm disappointed he was talked out of it with talk no jitsu. Shoulda killed Gabi on the spot.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT MIKASA’S COMPASSION TOWARD GABI? 59 responses

After Papa Blouse’s speech, Mikasa checks on Gabi and asks to see her wounds. This is quickly followed up by her outright protecting Gabi from Kaya’s rage. 37.3% were just happy to see her get any focus that wasn’t centered around Eren, while 30.5% have nothing but praise for our heroine. 23.7%, on the other hand, wish she hadn’t intervened at all and let things play out as they may.

Bad Mikasa, bad! I’ve lost ALL love and respect for her now!

Gabi should have died and I will forever hate Mikasa and Artur for not letting her die

Hating Mikasa forever for stopping Kaya

AFTER SEEING GABI’S EMOTIONAL RESPONSES OVER THE BLOUSE FAMILY’S GRIEF, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HER? 60 responses

We got a colorful pie chart with this one. 26.7% felt happy to see her finally getting some (hopefully) positive character development, while 23.3% felt the complete opposite - that they don’t think she truly feels anything about it and that they still don’t enjoy her character. 21.7% are happy to see she feels some remorse, but it’s not enough to make them like her. However, 16.7% are starting to feel more warmly toward her.

i dont like her, but i like that shes developing as a character. If she finally made the connection that all of them, as human beings, shouldnt be carryign the burdens of their past and defining eaxh ither by the mistakes of their ancestors, creating a never ending cycle of violence, which she is shown as on the brink of umderstanding, then i might begin to like her character a little more

I love seeing Gabi’s slow realization that the islanders aren’t “devils”. Girl needs some kindness, and I’m glad that they can forgive her.

I still hate Gabi. No development will ever change that.

NICOLO SAYS THAT YELENA GAVE THEM INSTRUCTION TO SPIKE THE WINE. DO YOU THINK SHE IS THE ULTIMATE MASTERMIND BEHIND THIS SCHEME? 58 responses

Changing focus here, we move onto the wine plot. 39.7% believe that Zeke is the ultimate mastermind behind the wine plot. 20.7% don’t want to say for sure who exactly was in charge of it, and 17.2% believe it is purely Yelena’s doing. 10.3% think it may be someone else that we are unaware of just yet.

I think Yelena is definitely cooperating with Eren.. but not Zeke?

i think she got something from zeke, but then continued on to do what she thinks that zeke would want, in zeke's name

FLOCH IS AWARE OF THE SPIKED WINE. DO YOU THINK EREN IS AS WELL? 61 responses

When it comes to Eren’s possible awareness of the wine plot, 42.6% believe that he definitely knows about it, while only 27.9% think that he’s completely oblivious to it. 21.3% didn’t want to say one way or another, and the remainder have already been spoiled on this.

WHY DO YOU THINK THE WINE WAS SPIKED WITH ZEKE’S SPINAL FLUID? 58 responses

Nearly half of respondents (48.3%) believe the wine was spiked with Zeke’s spinal fluid as an insurance in case Paradis does anything to threaten Zeke. 13.8% feel it is on a lesser scale, and that he is simply being cautious about Eren and his intentions. 17.2% believe it’s not related to a potential betrayal at all, but rather the ability to have pure titans available should Paradis be attacked.

He wants to wipe out the higher ranks to control Paradis himself

I really don't know but I'm sure he has a great plan in mind

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN TO FALCO? 58 responses

The majority of the fandom feel more confident than not about Falco’s future, feeling that though he may become a titan, he will be saved by one of the titan shifters. 10.3% believe that he won’t actually be titanized at all, with another 10.3% stating they’re simply not sure. Only a small handful actually feel more bleak about Falco’s fate.

WHY DID NICOLO CONFESS? 59 responses

45.8% of respondents feel that Nicolo felt pressed to confess about the wine due to multiple factors. 30.5% believe he did so because he didn’t want to lie about the ramifications to his friends in the Survey Corps. 10.2% believe he was moved by the Blouse family’s compassion, and 6.8% felt that he knew the jig was up, and another 6.8% believe he simply felt guilty for attacking Gabi and Falco.

WHAT DO YOU THINK EREN WANTS TO TALK TO ARMIN AND MIKASA ABOUT? 59 responses

37.3% believe that the contents of EMA’s conversation will revolve around what Eren’s goals are. 13.6% believe that he’s there to negotiate with them about something or another. 11.9% believe that he’s going to try to get them on board with his plan and try to recruit them as Yeagerists. 10.2% aren’t sure what he’s seeking out, and only one person thinks he’s going to threaten them. The rest have all been spoiled.

I think he gonna tell tem he is the new final boss of the game 😂

all of the above except threaten snd ive been spoiled

possibly the first two, i think hes going to ask them to join him after letting them have a little bit of insight, and possibly somehting about their past as friends

DO YOU THINK EREN WILL COME TO “UNDERSTAND” WHATEVER IT WAS MIKASA AND ARMIN WANTED TO SAY TO HIM? 56 responses

Though it’s not clear what Armin wanted to say to Eren beyond trying to figure out what his goal is, 46.4% believe that Eren won’t be having any of it and will not come to an understanding. 41.1%, however, feel the opposite and think that Eren will come around to whatever it is Armin and Mikasa want. The remainder have been spoiled.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Voice acting on the revelation that Gabi is the one who killed Sasha is so superb! I like how our characters want to stop the cycle of revenge even if they appear as unrealistically kind. And Floch, he looks like a demon! It looks like he just feels so great to be in control and I just want things to turn around for him. And Levi's popularity with the ladies? I like the little comedy sprinkled into these episode. I just feel for him the irony of the situation that the person they protected with their all turned out to be like that.

It was sooooo good. The scene with Gabi and Nicolo had so much emotion in it. And I paused and said "holy shit" out loud when Eren appeared

Caused lots of conflicting feelings towards characters and provided a lot of character development

The wine was definitely sus

Super looking forward to the next episode...I feel like something absolutely crazy is gonna happen! thanks MAPPA<3

Nicolo could have easily been the MVP of this chapter. Then he backed down because of that coward Artur Braus's cringe speech. Shame.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 59 responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to send in your vote for up to 5 favorite characters for our 2021 character popularity poll!

#snk poll #snk polls #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot #snk spoilers #snk s4

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years ago

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Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)

Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...

Moriarty 8

(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)

Moriarty 9

If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.

These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…

I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.

Moriarty 10

Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.

Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!

White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?

I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.

Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)

“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…

Moriarty 11 (FINAL)

Last ep. before spring 2021.

LOL, kabedon.

The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…

Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.

Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…

Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.

“Duram” (sic).

Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.

Chloral (hydrate…?).

The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.

What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?

Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait…Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.

HypMic 12

“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!

…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.

I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?

Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)

Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.

When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.

This is not the time for fighting one another!!!

Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.

“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?

*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!

LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.

“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?

Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)

You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).

My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)

That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.

Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.

…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.

I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.

…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.

HypMic 13 (FINAL)

This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…

This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.

One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…

…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*

(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!

This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?

According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.

Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…

There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.

…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?

Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.

Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).

Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.

I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.

Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.

It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.

Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?

…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.

“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.

“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!

…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!

*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!

I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…

Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.

*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!

Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.

…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.

…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!

Taiso Samurai 7

Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.

This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.

Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.

Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).

LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?

LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.

…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.

Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.

I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.

Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).

Taiso Samurai 8

Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.

Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…

They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!

Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.

Britney! F*** you, Britney!

Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.

Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.

Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.

Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.

The Hoover mission.

“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.

LOL, “Nyapoo!”

*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.

LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.

There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.

Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.

Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.

Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.

LOL, a shoebill.

“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.

…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.

LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.

You said it, Rei. You said it.

Taiso Samurai 9

Lausanne, Switzerland.

I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.

Someone encoded the video funny…

LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.

Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.

LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.

Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.

Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.

Akudama 9

I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?

Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.

“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor

Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?

Marker? What marker?

Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.

…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.

…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.

See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.

I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.

How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)

They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!

Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).

…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)

Akudama 10

万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.

Babel.

That police chief is such a mood, LOL.

I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…

You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?

“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*

Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)

Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.

Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?

Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)

In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).

Akudama 11

One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.

I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.

“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/”afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).

The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.

…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.

Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.

I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.

War Games. Now the title makes sense!

…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)

Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)

“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.

“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”

“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.

Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.

Akudama 12 (FINAL)

This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.

The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.

“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.

…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?

Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!

Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.

LOL, “s*** guy”.

I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.

Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.

There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…

…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?

Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!

Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!

#simulcast commentary #akudama drive #Chesarka watches Akudama Drive #taiso samurai #Gymnastics Samurai #HypMic #Hypnosis Mic #Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle - Rhyme Anima #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #Chesarka watches Yuukoku no Moriarty #Chesarka watches HypMic #Chesarka watches Taiso Samurai

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seirity · 5 years ago

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Part 3: The aftermath

I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long write this post. Originally, I was just going to write this post about the aftermath and then another one regarding Taichi’s character development, but in the end, after much deliberation, I decided to combine the two posts into one. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

This is the third part of my post regarding episode 23 of Chihayafuru 3. If you would like to read the first two parts of this series, you can find them here and here.

So, it’s been at least a few days since Taichi’s confession and there’s clearly some tension between the two. We aren’t explicitly told how much time has passed exactly, but it seems at least five days have passed based off of the number of times their clothes have changed. It’s surprisingly how no one has made a comment about it, since Chihaya and Taichi are clearly not talking to each other.

It’s interesting to see how Suetsugu-sensei makes this evident by covering both Chihaya and Taichi’s eyes.

Suetsugu-sensei has also done this before in episode 21 when Chihaya was trying to figure out why Taichi always has to do things by himself.

I’ve noticed it before, but there is such a clear focus on eyes in Chihayafuru. Suetsugu-sensei uses them for a variety of purposes. She uses them to inform us when Chihaya is serious about her match and is going to play without holding back. She also uses them to tell when there’s going to be a change of pace within a match or when Chihaya is having pivotal moments during her self-reflections.

When she realizes she’ll have to figure out why Taichi does what he does after the tournament:

When she wonders whether or not this will be the start of something new for herself after witnessing Shinobu-chan fall apart emotionally only to pick herself up again, Harada-sensei’s passion, Suou-san’s strength, Arata’s determination, and Taichi throwing down the gauntlet:

When she realizes Taichi had created a placement just to play against her:

When she realizes that Taichi loved her all this time:

These are just a few examples that come to mind when I think of Suetsugu-sensei’s inclination of focusing on eyes to get the audience to focus on certain key pivotal moments or emotions the characters are feeling at that point in time.

It’s so iconic that even the live-action uses this framing technique.

But I digress.

It’s not until the start of the new year that something actually happens: Taichi quits the karuta club.

Only Nikuman-kun and Tsukue-kun are aware that this is going to happen. None of the girls in the club know. Funny enough, it’s Chihaya who realizes something is amiss when Taichi is no where to be seen before it’s her turn to introduce the karuta club.

Interesting, huh?

It’s only when Miyauchi-sensei comes to make a revision to Chihaya’s script that all the girls realize what has happened.

The framing used here is beautiful and once again Chihaya’s eye is visible.

The sound effects in this particular scene gave me the chills. I loved how the fact that Madhouse suddenly made the introductions from the other clubs and the accompanying applause audible. I could literally feel my heart drop during this scene.

I also liked how they added an animation to make the image drop, since you could also visually see the moment when Chihaya’s heart just drops.

While this particular scene isn’t in the actual manga, I feel like this addition definitely had an impact. It’s almost as if you can see the wheels turning in Chihaya’s mind as she’s processing this sudden change.

Once again, eyes anyone?

It’s only after she’s vocalized how many members are in the club that she’s finally processed what has happened. The audience can feel time stop and my heart just breaks. I felt myself tearing up as tears began to well up in Chihaya’s eyes.

As tragic as this scene is, it is also done really well. Madhouse timed everything perfectly. From the moment where she stops to the poignant climax the soundtrack comes to when tears well up in Chihaya’s eyes, and even when she finally drops the microphone. The animation for this scene is amazing, and even though my heart breaks, it’s still one of my favorite scenes in this episode because of how well it was executed.

Chihaya rushes off to catch up to Taichi as he leaves school and tells him that she doesn’t want him to quit the club. She’s desperate and completely distraught over the fact that he’s quitting the club. She can’t even comprehend him not being a part of the club anymore.

Chihaya’s reaction to the news is not a surprise when we consider how selfish and self-centered she can be. What’s different here is the desperation you can hear in her voice and the way she basically throws herself at him to make him stop walking away.

Now we’ve reached the second most controversial part of this episode: the kiss.

The scene is so powerful all on it’s own that they simply chose to have nothing in the background, except for Chihaya’s crying. It’s only when Taichi takes a hold of her sleeve and brings her face closer to him that you hear a chime-like sound effect, almost like an eureka moment of sorts. The only difference is this time Chihaya is actually realizing how Taichi is not as calm as he has seemed to be since his confession.

I love the use of silence here and to be honest simplicity is best in these kinds of situations.

As controversial as this scene is, I think the fact that Taichi starts to kiss her, but stops himself from completely doing so is extremely significant.

While on one hand, Chihaya did technically earn a kiss as a prize for winning the tournament on Taichi’s birthday, I’m sure this wasn’t really what she had in mind when this happened.

Eyes!

As funny and ironic as this may seem, I digress.

For me, this kiss is NOT something that Taichi TRIES to force on Chihaya, but something that happened in the spur of the moment. He’s at the end of his rope and seeing Chihaya absolutely devastated because of him is something that’s never happened.

From Taichi’s point of view, it only looks like Arata has the power to sway Chihaya’s heart or to have an impact on her. Taichi always thinks he is insignificant and that she will be fine without him.

There’s only so much someone can take before they reach their limit and realize that they need to just focus on themselves. It’s why he asks Chihaya this particular question:

Taichi is only human. He can only take so much and it hurts for him to be near her so shortly after his confession.

As conflicted as he may feel, Taichi’s eyes here are animated in such a manner where you can feel the intensity of his gaze. His eyes appear to be burning here with how intense his feelings are and the audience is naturally drawn to them.

Other than being something that he did in the spur of the moment, a part of me also feels like Taichi almost kissed her to get Chihaya to actually realize what him loving her means. Or in other words: to make her realize that even though he is a gentleman, he is STILL a man. In general, Chihaya has little to no qualms about invading someone’s personal space. In Taichi’s case, she has no concept of what personal space is for him, especially since they are childhood friends. As a result, I feel like the kiss is his self-control finally breaking and he suddenly has the urge to kiss her because she is so close to him. However, Taichi’s resolve returns before he can completely kiss her, hence why he stops midway. He stops because he knows it’s wrong and that once he crosses that line, he can never go back. It’s the point of no return.

Once again his eyes are covered and the audience is unable to see his true emotions.

The inner-turmoil that he feels is apparent here by how he clenches Chihaya’s shoulder, but suddenly let’s go of her.

And tells her that all 100 cards are completely pitch black to him.

These screen shots don’t do this scene justice, but I love how the flashbacks that are used in the background are ALL crucial moments of Taichi’s life where karuta was involved.

By saying the cards are completely pitch black to him, Suetsugu-sensei is letting the audience know how devastated Taichi is after confessing to Chihaya.

In English, we often say the world looks a little brighter when you’re in love. In Japanese culture, there is a similar saying that can literally be translated along the lines of “adding color to one’s world.” I can’t remember where I’ve read this, but I did see it somewhere that in Asian culture “dyeing/adding color” to someone else’s or one’s world also has a sexual connotation. For me, this makes a lot of sense since I always hear lines like 「世界に色が付く」 (literally: to add color to the world) or 「貴方が私の心を朝焼けに染めた」 (You’ve dyed my heart with morning glow/You’ve dyed my heart red like the sky as the sun rises) in Japanese love songs whether they’re happy or sad ones. As a result, no matter what culture you come from, the fact that love is often associated with colors is universal.

Thus, Taichi saying the cards are completely pitch black to him now is the equivalent of saying he feels like he’s lost the one thing that played a key role behind his motivation to play karuta: his love for Chihaya.

This isn’t to say that he doesn’t love her anymore, but more the fact that his heart is broken, which makes it feel as if his love for her is completely gone.

Notice that I’m NOT saying his love for Chihaya was the sole reason why he plays/played karuta. While Chihaya was definitely the reason why Taichi started and was one of the reasons as to why he worked so hard at karuta, she is not the sole reason why he played.

At this point in time, he just doesn’t know it.

DISCLAIMER: this includes spoilers for those who only watch the anime, so please proceed at your own risk.

There are scenes in the manga that allude to how Taichi has come to enjoy playing karuta over the years. Despite the fact that all 100 cards look completely pitch black to him, he continues to play with Suou-san after quitting the club. If his sole motivation to play karuta was Chihaya, then why play karuta without her at all? He has to enjoy playing it on some level, even if he himself doesn’t realize it or is in complete denial.

Yes, I know there is a huge scene where Sudou essentially calls Taichi out on the fact that Taichi always looks like he’s ready to throw in the towel and quit playing karuta forever, but then why continue to try to get better after leaving the club?

The answer lies in a scene that happens long before Taichi has that match with Sudou at the Queen/Meijin qualifying matches of Taichi’s senior year. This particular scene is when Suou-san tells Taichi that it was admirable how Taichi continued to play karuta and tried so hard at it, despite not liking it. That he loved those who played karuta so much that he continued to play, while essentially sacrificing his own happiness and enduring such hardships for their sake. Taichi himself even acknowledges the fact that he doesn’t like karuta, but could never say that because he wouldn’t be able to stay by their side anymore. Instead of just leaving things as they are and essentially admitting that Harada-sensei’s words and the days he spent with the Mizusawa karuta club turned into a curse, he refuses to continue believing that everything was for naught. For me, this is the moment where Taichi starts playing karuta, not for Chihaya or for all the people he loves, but honestly for himself. It’s unclear what actually happens after this sudden realization, but I have a feeling he runs after and catches up with Suou-san.

But, I digress.

END SPOILERS

Anyways, the symbolism here is just beautiful.

As Chihaya realizes what Taichi is truly saying, her eyes widen and the second half of poem #46 flashes across the screen.

‘Where, over the deep of love, The end lies, I do not know “

行く方もしらぬ恋の道かな

This scene isn’t in the manga, but I love how the animators did this since it just reiterates what happened: Despite not knowing where this love would lead him, Taichi look the chance and told her how he felt anyways.

Episode 23 ends with this haunting scene: Taichi walking away from Chihaya as she stands there in complete shock in the background while the black cards flutter in the foreground.

To be honest, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Taichi to force himself to stay in the club until the start of the new school year. It’s tortuous: Wanting to be near here because he’s in love with her, but at the same time wanting to run away from her because it’s a reminder of what happened/what he thinks he’s lost.

Yet, it’s almost as if him not being first in his class was the excuse he needed to quit the club and end this long, endless cycle of suffering. My heart bleeds for him. He put himself out there to tell Chihaya how he felt, even when he wasn’t really sure how it would turn out.

Confessing to Chihaya is very significant to Taichi’s character for two reasons. The first is by doing so, he is no longer a coward. He’s put his feelings out there and he’s stopped taking the easy way out. It’s easier for him to be a coward and simply maintain the status quo by not confessing to Chihaya. Not telling her how he feels would allow him to stay by her side, but he would be forever making himself the martyr. He would never truly be able to be happy, especially if she ends up with Arata because he never took a chance to see what would happen if he told her how he felt.

It’s only with Sumire’s confession and her plead for Taichi to tell Chihaya how he feels that Taichi is finally able to take that leap of faith and muster up the courage to finally do it.

However, by confessing to her, he’s made the declaration that he doesn’t want to be a coward and take the easy way out, which is to simply maintain the status quo. He confessed to Chihaya because it was something that he had to do in order to become someone who wasn’t a coward.

"It doesn’t matter how this looks to other people. If this is something that you got to do, then you do it." (Geraldine Hughes)

There are people who would argue that Taichi confessing to Chihaya now is simply because he’s being selfish and that he’s only doing it because he doesn’t want to stay her friend. It is really selfish if we are simply doing something because we don’t want to live with regret of what could have been if we had done what we wanted to do? Perhaps it is on some level, but haven’t we all felt this way before? If you must condemn Taichi for confessing to Chihaya because of this, then you too must face the same fate for doing something that you want to do because you didn’t want to live with regrets for the rest of your life.

Honestly, this same logic can be applied to Arata’s confession in the sense that wanting Chihaya to see him as something more than a friend is also selfish. Just the act of confessing your feelings and watching someone else to see you as more than a friend is fundamentally selfish on some level.

The second reason is that by confessing to Chihaya, Taichi is now living for himself. This sounds very similar to the first point I’ve made, but there is a very subtle, but crucial difference: he’s no longer putting his needs on the back burner and he’s prioritizing himself over others, especially Chihaya. This is also why it makes sense for him to leave the club and to focus on his studies. He has to start thinking about his own future and needs to stop focusing on Chihaya. Not to mention the fact that seeing her right now is completely painful for him. Up to this point, Taichi has managed to flawlessly maintain his grades, support the Mizusawa karuta club, and be there for Chihaya in whatever capacity she needed him to be.

I will probably get around to doing a post regarding Taichihaya in the most recent chapters of the manga. There’s still quite a bit I wanted to say, but I feel this is a good place to end things.

Anyways, that was an extremely long post. I hope it all made sense! Thank you to everyone who have read this entire series of posts! As always, please let me know your thoughts!

#chihayafuru #ayase chihaya #mashima taichi #taichihaya #taichi x chihaya #chihaya x taichi

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chibimyumi · 5 years ago

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That Demon, Seducer

Dear @gisellehexen89,

First of all, thank you for your kind words and interesting ask!

Indeed, the musical version of this scene is quite different from its 2D counterparts for several reasons. The shortest comparison I can make is that the musical version is, as you say, more unsettling, whereas the 2D counterparts are creepier.

But! I think nobody ever sends me asks because they think I’m good at short answers (if you did, I hope y’all learned by now that I just am not XD), so here comes another loooong post to live up to my notorious reputation!

This post will be a three-parter:

Manga and Anime

Musical - Noah’s Ark Circus 2.1. Step 1. Listening 2.2. Step 2. Connecting 2.3. Step 3. Advance

Conclusion

1. Manga and Anime

In order to understand the difference, let us first look at the manga and anime before we compare it to the musical.

In chapter 28 Beast is very upset. Sebas sneaks up on her, and the first thing he does is touch her scarf. Beast is understandably enraged at Sebastian’s assumptions of her feelings despite not even having had a proper conversation yet. “What do you understand!?” she challenges, and Sebas makes a countermove: “nothing, yet,” basically announcing that he is going to pry Beast open.

When Beast fights back, the demon immediately grabs her by the wrist and arm, pulling her closer.

Sebas gives her no time at all to consent, and already puts a hand to her belly, moving upwards presumably past her breasts before grabbing her by the most vulnerable part of any animal, the throat. Hereby, Sebas has demonstrated to Beast how the power-balance is entirely on his side, leaving her entirely at his mercy.

Sebas’ anime counterpart takes it even further. We see how Beast tries to run in episode 6, but Sebastian uses the fence to his advantage, blocking Beast’s body between the metal and his own body.

Beast attempts to fight Sebas off, and just like in the manga, Sebas yanks her arm to stop her escape. Anime!Beast offers more resistance than in the manga, and Anime!Sebas also responds with greater aggression. Here we see him not only grab her arm, but also seemingly pulling it behind her body, almost like how a police officer arrests a suspect.

The camera starts low and tilts upward in a suggestive metaphor of ‘moving up her skirt’. Sebastian’s hand does more than just holding Beast in place, he is touching up on her.

More explicitly thanks to the animation, we also see how Sebas is caressing Beast’s skin while she wears an expression of terror on her face. Just like in the original, Anime!Sebas also dramatically banks the power balance to his side.

Touching Beast’s scarf may not seem much of a deal on surface level, but this scarf was wrapped around her by Joker. And judging from how Beast immediately pressed her face into it, the scarf symbolises some type of comfort to her.

By touching that scarf unsolicited, Sebas was making an uncalled move on Beast’s last comfort.

In the manga, this assault on Beast’s metaphorical comfort was taken to yet higher levels by showing us how the scarf drops to the ground. Here, Beast’s comfort was metaphorically undone, literally leaving her exposed to Sebastian’s advances.

2. Musical - Noah’s Ark Circus

Now we have studied Sebastian’s advances in the manga and anime, it is time to move on to the musical.

First of all, the setup of this scene is incredibly different and therefore also calls for different approaches from the performers. This scene in the musical can be split into three parts.

Step 1. Listening

In the manga and anime it is mostly Sebas who does the talking, making advance after advance. In the musical however, most lines were given to Beast, while Sebas is the listener and only speaks in response.

In my opinion, this choice is by far the most clever change, because Beast would naturally not be interested in Sebastian’s rambles; all she wanted was to be heard. Sebastian’s goal in turn, was also to win trust and information from Beast.

I very much doubt anyone would open up to someone who imposes himself onto them the way anime and manga Sebas did. Had the target been someone who’s already horny beyond reason, seeing such an attractive seducer MIGHT have been enough, but that was not Beast’s situation. She was already emotionally vulnerable, and therefore I suspect what manga and anime Sebas did would only cause someone to shut close even further.

In the musical version, Beast starts her emotional pour-out, stating: “no one could ever understand my pain.” Yunbastian’s lines differ from the manga: instead of shutting Beast down with the line “I don’t understand anything, yet,” he actually accepts the woman’s words, and simply replies: “shall I wipe away your tears?” in the softest, cooing voice ever leaving his lips.

Beast does not humour Sebastian’s offer with a reply, and instead continues to pour out her frustrations and pain. Sebas continues to listen silently until Beast says that she’ll “only get hurt,” to which he replies: “I shall help you forget.”

In stark contrast with his manga and anime counterparts, the first time Sebastian touches Beast, it was in a gentle, assuring manner, only touching her shoulder as a sign of support.

Step 2. Connecting

Beast’s singing becomes more frantic, and she turns to face Sebastian. As it turns out, Sebastian had been listening so well that the moment she faces him, she hears him say the very words that she had been building up to: “a one time liberation.” There. The ‘understanding’ she previously believed the man incapable of giving. Their minds connected.

Yunbastian backs away to give her space, indicating that all he does is make the offer, but that Beast is the one who has the say in whether she grabs this ‘liberation’.

Now that Beast knows that she is being respected, she literally and figuratively moves towards Sebastian.

Even with full confidence that his prey is now in his hands, Yunbastian still does not touch Beast’s body, fully respecting her autonomy. Yunbastian merely follows Beast’s steps, never interrupting her. This was a very important action, because Sebastian needed Beast to feel like she can talk to him; “talking to him”, after all, was exactly what he wanted her to do.

Here ⇊ is a zoomed-in, slow-motion capture of this ⇈ moment where Yunbastian shows the audience how he knows he’s been successful in luring in his prey. His eyes communicate very clearly his inner thoughts: “hook, line, and sinker.”

Beast and Sebastian’s dance duet begins, and we see Beast being the one to make the first move while Sebastian follows. This too is a very important nuance, because by following Beast instead of making her comply with him, Sebas shows her that SHE is the one who matters here, that SHE is the protagonist of their story.

Step 3. Advance

For the first time Yunbastian makes his advance. Here he also follows Beast in her movements. He does not take Beast, but gently guides her hand into his.

Once Beast grabs hold of Yunbastian’s hand, the music plays up and they engage in a synchronised dance. Still here, Yunbastian only touches the hand and arm Beast had given him herself.

Then suddenly, Beast seems to think better of it, and attempts to walk away. Alas, it is too late, Sebastian’s already got her.

Unlike in the manga or anime, this is the first time Yunbastian touches Beast’s scarf - her symbolic comfort. He does not try to undo the scarf or pry away the fabric to touch her skin however. His hand is firmly pressed onto her throat, but the hand that is in Beast’s vision tells a different - albeit misleading - story.

Where the 2D Sebastians tighten their grip over their prey, Yunbastian loosens his. The effect however, is the opposite. It is like Beast is entranced by the demon, and can’t help but walk straight into the trap despite being fully aware that it is one.

It is like it had sunken into Beast’s mind what Sebastian is after only now. The moment the man moves, Beast grabs for the hem of her coat, pulling it down in an attempt to protect herself.

Now Yunbastian loosens his grip in his other hand which held her throat as well. It is only now that Beast relaxes and let’s go of the hem.

Yunbastian guides both Beast’s hands into his own, and pays immaculate attention to their height difference. He bends down and holds the woman’s gaze from below her. When he made sure that she would not resist, he made his final move.

“Skilfully, sweetly, silently...”

These were the keywords to Sebastian’s tactics, and it is indeed exactly what Yunbastian had done.

This part of the song is the reprise of the demon’s theme at the very beginning of the musical, ‘contract’. We see a man making a romantic advance on a woman, taking all steps to respect the her autonomy. But in the end all these respectful actions were but a means to an end.

This reprise should be understood as non-diegetic: obviously Yunbastian was not actually loudly betraying his manipulation tactics to his prey. He was singing the audience. Therefore he had dropped the angelic high tone he used to coax Beast and returned to his usual low voice. By giving **these lines to Sebastian and have him sing this in reprise of ‘contract’, it is like he is warning all of us against the pretenses of kindness.

Beast finally lets her guard down entirely. Sebas turns to the audience, grimacing “just as planned” so triumphantly, it would make ‘Death Note’s’ Light realise that Sebas is the actual OG here.

**TLN: These lines were originally William’s.

Now is where Yunbastian’s specialty comes in; the skin-crawling demon. Right after showing us Just-As-Planned!Sebas™, he makes a show out of pulling that concerned face before turning back to Beast. He won’t allow her to suspect that he is anything other than concerned for her well-being.

This ⇊ compassionate face is the only face Beast would know Sebastian by. Until she later learns of the truth of course, but then it was already too late...

Before this scene blacks out, we catch a last glimpse of Yunbastian pulling his leg backwards preparing for a descent to his knee. This tells us that he is going to carry through with this respectful and compassionate act, all the way until the end.

3. Conclusion

Now I have made an extensive comparison between the three media types, we can produce the following chart which compares the tactics between the Sebastians.

As I said in the introduction, I personally find the 2D Sebastians ‘creepier’, as he represents aggressive masculinity. The achievement the 2D Sebastians made did not necessarily require a demon’s skill; all it seemed to take was exceptionally good looks. It is beyond my understanding how he would have succeeded in getting Beast to talk (other than using actual demon powers, a.k.a. Yana’s divine decision).

The musical version is much more ‘unsettling’, because Yunbastian employs his experience from studying humans over the course of centuries. He knows the mechanism of ‘fear’ in and out, and is capable of bending this inborn protection mechanism all us humans have TO HIS advantage.

Yunbastian presents the face he wants you to see, masking the monster he is underneath. Instead of using brute force, he uses a far more insidious power. Yunbastian was the aggressor, but in the end, it still looks like it was Beast who talked to him, Beast who gave him her hands, her body, and Beast who chose to trust him.

Please click here for the AWESOME behind the scenes facts of this scene!

I hope this analysis was not disappointing. Thanks for reading this loooooong post until the end (*´▽｀*)ノ

#I am usually not SUPER enthusiastic about the script writers of these musicals #but this was the BEST change EVER #Kuroshitsuji #Black Butler #Kuromyu #Noah's Ark Circus #NAC #Musical #Sebastian Michaelis #Beast #Sebabeast #That Demon - Skin Crawling #tw manipulation #Yunbastian #Furukawa Yuta #Yun #Tano Asami

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o-w-quinlan · 4 years ago

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Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 7 reaction (and over-analysis)

Our introduction to one mess of a human boy and an overcompensating seal-thing. Protect them both.

We got our introduction to Jou and he's one over-stressed mess of a human being. We’ve been talking about how much more well-adjusted the children seem this time around, but that is most definitely not the case with Jou. He's constantly talking about needing to be in control of his actions (because he feel he has no control?), talks about being a doctor as an obligation, establishes himself as the oldest as soon as he can, and reacts pretty badly when the camp is mentioned (it's not focused on, but he did go off the rails with the question right after Sora brought that up). Also, apparently he hits first his things and then himself pretty hard when overwhelmed. That's... dark. Even at the end, when he feels confident enough to joke about his exams, he's still talking about needing to be in control. If I'm allowed to over-analyze (and I am), the dude is studying geometry in the dark. It's like he wants to sabotage himself. He's also a bit self-centered, initially only caring about the other children insofar as they can help him get back to the Human World, and refusing to join on the grounds of not knowing if it'll help him (which is actually a valid point, and we'll probably see it later). Of course, part of this is that he feels he won't be of any use. So... yeah, he's a mess. I like it. Interesting choice that the child whose biggest problems in the original was the pressure society put on him is the only one who does not seem better off in the 20-year-later-reboot.

Gomamon himself felt like he was overcompensating when proposing himself as bait. He gave the impression of being ashamed through the entire episode until he and Jou finally talked. He intially seemed like he was ashamed of Jou but then it turns out he's ashamed of himself, presumably because he feels he can't help Jou. Good stuff. Back in OG Adventure, he was the chill one, so while he apparently has the same personality, the focus has changed. I hope we'll get more relaxed stuff from him now that their issues with each other have been solved.

As for how they interact with each other... flashbacks show them getting along extremely well when focusing on other things, but the main action itself had Gomamon trying to convince Jou of joining the group by appealing to his ego (he mentions having an special role) and Jou acting like he's tired of hearing Gomamon talk about it and giving excuses while refusing to address his actual problems. It's only when they're honest with each other that the evolution can actually happen.

So, up to now, it's the most dynamic partnership in the group. Same as before, only very different this time around.

The fight with Gesomon was well made, competing with the Kabuterimon one for my favorite after the first 3 episodes. I also thought the music was used very well during this episode. Just listen to how it drops in volume during the fight, when focusing on Gomamon and Jou behind the rock, and immediately goes up again when refocusing on the fight. Animation is per the standards of the previous 2 episodes, which I find perfectly good.

Other minor notes (because I rewatch these episodes with a notebook next to me):

Mimi and Palmon have relaxed enough to continue their "queen-butler" roleplay. Mimi is apparently familiar with quality tea. No one has any problem with Mimi making herself more comfortable (or luxurious) than the others, and in fact seem charmed. She repeats the advice of her grandfather when applicable. She says what everyone is thinking about Jou ("do we really need him?") but no one else dared to say. The stereotypical European OST they used last episodes is back, apparently to be Mimi's leitmotif.

Sora finally gets some worthwhile characterization, noting how peaceful it is (because it's been nothing but fight for her since arriving) before immediately worrying about whether they're wasting time or not, even after Mimi's advice. I can already see her getting overwhelmed by all the fighting and pressure at some point. Just to clearly differentiate this Sora from the original, she is shown as being very comfortable with showing how much she cares for Piyomon.

Birdramon is perfectly capable of dodging Gesomon's attacks... until Sora falls. Then she gets hit immediately.

Taichi gets more leader stuff. When talking to Jou, Sora is the one who explains the situation and Mimi talks about their mission as something someone else told them to do, while Taichi is the one who explicitely asks Jou to join. Later on, he tries to appeal to Jou by referring to their mission as a responsibility (not an special role like Gomamon had said) and he clearly understands Jou's reasons for refusing, even if he disagrees. He's the one who brings up that they need to do something about Gesomon, and also the one who comes up with the plan. During Gomamon's part of it, he's focused on how successful he is while Mimi is cheering Gomamon on. When Jou shows up, Taichi doesn't question why he's there, just tells him to get Gomamon to safety. Tomioka has talked about getting inspiration from V-Tamer Taichi, and it shows, though I do think this version is a combination of both Manga and Anime Taichi, though more serious than either of them.

More efforts from the writing team to make the partner digimon feel like genuine characters with their own lives. Palmon knows exactly where the ocean is, Gomamon is the one who tells them of Gesomon, the 2 partner digimon look on sympathetically when Gomamon is rejected by Jou, Taichi talks to them as equals during the planning, etc.

During the Human World scene, it was further established that, despite the blackouts, some electrical equipment remained on, this time the TV. Probably because it's complex information and thus part of the "Network", which the antagonists want to keep working.

The evolution sequence was shortened, and Palmon got her own (even if it was clearly just a retool of last episode’s). Poor Piyomon gets shafted once again.

Either the Chosen Digimon were jobbing or that Gesomon is truly top-tier. They did show some great skill and raw power, as well as being excellent at deflecting attacks... so they gets defeated by a homing one. They leaves a smokescreen while running away, like an octopus would.

The partner digimon eat normally, unlike the Tuskmon last episode.

Next week, the reunion of the 6 Chosen Children, Yamato with what may be a cape ala V-Tamer Taichi, Taichi putting on his goggles dramatically once again, the gang seemingly getting in over their heads, and more plot reveals.

#digimon #Digimon Adventure:#Digimon Adventure 2020 #Jou Kido

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digimonnetwork-project · 4 years ago

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Episode IV

Previous Episode

Leo’s Pride

Isamu was having lunch with the transfer student today.

Aki glanced over at Masato, noticing this fact as well. Mastato tapped his foot under the table, yeah, he knew Isamu had the right to sit wherever he wanted and talk to whoever he wanted, but he was spending an awful lot of time with the new girl.

“Do you think he’s going to stop hanging out with us?” Aki asked, worriedly adjusting his glasses with a disappointed frown, it wouldn’t have been the first time this happened to the duo.

Masato tapped his foot faster, “The least he could do is give us a proper ‘bye guys’ instead of this silent treatment.” The long haired boy huffed and tossed glare over at Imasu and Ju as they ate lunch together, “What does she have that we don’t?” He was more upset than Aki about this, he’d genuinely liked Isamu and believed that he’d stick around. After all the time they’d spent practicing for soccer and tryouts coming up soon...

Can’t be right all the time, Masato supposed.

Their comments did not go unheard, however, as it just so happened that Kaiyo Nakano was passing by their table with her bento box, “She’s got charm and wit, for one thing,” The brown haired girl said as she stopped and sat at their table with them, “And he’s smart and nice. Maybe they like each other.” She suggested.

“They’ve known each other for less than a week.” Masato pointed out, with an unimpressed sigh, “How could they possibly like each other that much?”

Kaiyo smiled and took a bite of her rice, “I haven’t known either of them very long, but I like them both just fine.” She announced.

Aki brushed some of his blond hair behind his ear, “That’s different, Nakano, you like everyone.”

“Just call me, Kaiyo. And I don’t see how that matters, there’s no waiting period to see if you like someone- unless” She started to snicker, “You thought I meant like-like!” Kaiyo giggled and broke into a laugh, “I just meant- he- she-! Haha guys and girls can just be friends you know!”

Masato and Aki stared at her, blushes rising to their cheeks as they realized how they’d misinterpreted her comment. Kaiyo wasn’t done teasing them though.

“Oh! But wait, what if they are in love!? Maybe they were star crossed lovers in a past life, bound to meet again and again in each lifetime, always to be torn apart, haha! It’s just like a Shoujo manga! Ha! Oh, don’t tell me, one of you is the reborn rival; here to win Ju away from him-wait not, it’s Isamu you’re upset about losing! Is he the love interest then?!”

“Th-that’s enough!” The pair sputtered in unison, making a few heads turn in their direction, but Kaiyo did manage to calm herself down before they drew too much attention.

Kaiyo chewed another bite of rice before speaking up again, “I don’t know Isamu very well, but when he served that detention for Ms. Mazawa, he couldn’t stop talking about meeting you two at the park. He didn’t even mention that you were practicing soccer until I asked him, he just wanted to hang out with you.”

“R-really?” Aki asked, “Soccer is his favorite thing, he didn’t mention it at all?”

“Nope.” Kaiyo answered, “I know he’s been spending a lot of time with Ju the last few days, but she’s still adjusting to living in Japan, once she’s settled maybe Isamu will introduce the three of you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like her too. Lord knows you boys could use a girl or two in your friend circle.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Masato asked, Kaiyo giggled and continued her meal instead of answering.

Isamu and Ju stood from their table and started outside without emptying the remains of their lunch in the garbage bin. Masato stood up too, and started to follow them, leaving his lunch untouched on his table while Aki scarfed down a few bites and went after Masato, properly disposing of his lunch waste as he passed the bin.

Left alone at the table, with Masato apparently not hungry enough to care, Kaiyo reached into his bento box and swiped his dessert, “Well if he doesn’t want it.” She grinned.

Aki followed Masato into the court yard where they spotted Isamu and Ju sitting on a bench, looking over a nearby bush. More than anything, Aki wanted to tug on his friend’s sleeve and tell him to go back inside- whether it was just because whatever Isamu and Ju were doing was none of their business, or because he didn’t want to find out that Kaiyo was wrong about the situation, he wasn’t sure.

But he also knew that Masato wouldn’t stop, even if he did tug on his sleeve and insist they leave Isamu and Ju alone. They’re backs were to the approaching boys, both of them had put their lunch down and it looked as if they had decided to finish eating outside while the weather was still nice. Only Ju had her laptop resting on her knees, and Isamu appeared to be dropping bits of food into the bush.

Aki heard Ju speaking, “The Admins are all Tamers too, but they don’t access the Network like everyone else, they program all city events, create new games, organize tournaments for the coliseum and monitor for bugs, all from the outside.”

“Do Tamers become Admins when they get too old?” asked a voice that came from the direction of Isamu, but didn’t sound like Isamu.

Ju shook her head, “No, Admins…I don’t really know actually, what qualifies someone to be an admin, I heard that the youngest admin is only seventeen.”

What in the world were they talking about?

Aki might have asked, but Masato was faster and bolder than him, and reached to tap Isamu on the shoulder, but in doing so came into Ju’s eye line. She gave a startled screech that made Isamu jump and shout in surprise. He whirled around, eyes wide searching for whatever had made Ju scream and his gaze settled on Masato and Aki, immediately relaxing.

However, it seemed he was not the only one looking. From the bush, three shapes leaped out at them, Aki screamed as a brown and red furry…thing knocked him to the ground, Masato gave a similar cry as two creatures, black and white dog-like animals, did the same to him.

“It’s alright Ju, we’ve got it, prepare the Digital con-” The white one on top of Masato started, but cut off when it realized that he was human and not…whatever it was expecting.

The creature on top of Aki noticed this detail too, and hopped off him, wide eyed and flashing a guilty look at Isamu. The brown haired boy fiddled with his goggles awkwardly “Er, Aki, Masato, I can explai-”

Aki didn’t give him a chance, once the initial shock was over he scrambled to his feet with a scream and made a break for the sports field. If he could make it passed to the road, maybe he could flag down a car or something. It flashed through Aki’s head that maybe he was being a bit of a wuss, but any thoughts about turning back to hear what Isamu had to say were dispelled the moment he realized Masato was running too.

Well, at least they were being wusses together.

“What the hell were those things!?” Aki shouted as he ran.

“I don’t know, I don’t care, just keep moving!” Masato replied.

Behind them, Aki heard Isamu call after them, “Guys wait!” They turned their head slightly to see that Isamu and Ju were both chasing after them, along with the three strange creatures that had jumped out of the bush at them.

It was the one that had landed on Aki, the cat-like animal with a red mohawk that shouted at them, “Watch out for the Digital gate!”

The what? Aki saw Masato turn his head back, and skid to a halt, but Aki wasn’t fast enough to stop and ran into him. The force made them both tumble forward, into a strange distortion in the air he hadn’t seen until they were right on top of it. “Guys!” He heard Isamu shout before all sounds were cut off entirely.

Masato’s face planted into the ground, and was smooshed deeper into it when Aki landed on top of him. Dazed and confused it took Masato a moment to realize that he was not on school property anymore. Aki gave a terrified gasp at their surroundings.

All around them was blackness, a series of lines and dots lit the floor, going through a slow rainbow gradient. What Masato initially thought was a building, on closer inspection just seemed to be a block with no doors or windows. It almost looked like a Microchip. In the distance, Masato could just make out an outline of what appeared to be real buildings, a city of some sort.

Aki squeaked suddenly as Masato stared in awe, “Yeah, I’m seeing this, where are we?”

“N-no, Masato-” Aki tugged his sleeve and pointed across the strange space where a large furry creature stood glaring at them, “What is that thing?”

In response, the monster snarled, “Call me a thing, do you? I am Apemon! And I will crush all human parasites in the name of my Lord Nabermon!” The monster rushed them, as his name implied he was very apelike with wild yellow fur and a large bone strapped to his back.

“Masato!” Aki cried, clutching his sleeve.

The longer haired boy yanked him to his feet, “Run for it Aki!” He yelled, dodging to their right as the monster leaped into the air and brought his bone down like a club, completely obliterating the section of the floor they’d dropped onto only seconds ago and revealing more circuit-like lights underneath. Masato pushed Aki ahead of him, ducking behind one of the smaller block structures for momentary cover. “Go that way, I’ll draw it’s attention this way” Masato told him, pointing off in the direction of the distant city “When it’s clear you head back toward that gate thing Isamu mentioned!”

“”What about you!?” Aki gasped, clearly already out of breath from their previous flight.

Used to running for far longer, Masato waved his hand, “I can outlast you any day of the week, if I stay behind I can buy you enough time to get home and get help.”

“Like Isamu and the transfer student?” Aki asked.

Masato remembered the creatures that were with them, Isamu and Ju hadn’t seemed bothered by the presence, and, now that he was thinking about it, they must have been feeding them behind the bushes. Maybe those creatures could help. “Yeah, go find them, they can’t be far behind us.”

Right on cue, as if summoned by their names, Isamu, Ju and the creatures that accompanied them appeared through the gate. Apemon still stood between them and the two boys.

Isamu looked around in awe, “Is this the Digital world?” he asked.

“No,” Wemicmon replied, and pointed toward the far off city, “That’s the Network, over there, this entire plane is the dimension between our worlds. The Digital World is below us somewhere, I think.”

“Actually,” Ju corrected and pointed to a gateway across from the one they’d just come through, “The Digital World would be through there.”

Both of them fizzled in the air for a moment, they would close soon. Isamu feared for a second that if they missed their chance they might get stuck, but remembered that they could return to the real world through the Network.

“Where do you learn this stuff?” Isamu asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“I’ve been a Tamer for three years.” She reminded him with a smirk. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up.”

There was no need to open a Digital Construct in this space, so Isamu and Ju kept one eye on the battle while they searched the nearby area for Aki and Masato. It didn’t take long to find them, and give a brief explanation of where they were and what the Digimon were.

“But if we’re friends with these guys, why does the big one want to kill us for that lord Nabler- Nobba…” Aki struggled to remember the name that Apemon had called out earlier.

Isamu didn’t have the first clue what he meant, but Ju’s eyes narrowed as she thought about it, “Nabermon?” She asked.

“Yes!” Masato nodded, “That’s the one. Who is he?”

Ju didn’t answer, just pointed back to the Gate, “You two need to get back to the real world now. Isamu, you and I should lure the Digimon closer to the Network so we can call for backup.”

“What? Why, what’s happening?” Isamu asked, pulling down his goggles to scan the enemy Digimon.

Apemon was a champion level Vaccine Digimon, who used the bone club as his primary weapon. He didn’t seem that much different than the first enemy he and Wemicmon had faced together.

“Because if he’s with the Court of Demons we can’t afford to underestimate him.”

“The Court of what?” Masato asked.

“I’ll explain later, just get to the Gate!” Ju lifted her D-Gauntlet and punched in a code, activating a speed boosting item she had won in the Network. Cannismon and Leptomon began running faster, easily dodging Apemon’s attacks.

Isamu punched in his own code, he’d only played a few games at the City and mostly got more Digicures, but he did get one item that would be of use at the moment. Apemon wasn’t stupid, and realized that he would never catch the twins and turned on the much slower Wemicmon, the bone club swung down on him, but Isamu’s item activated a shield that deflected the blow.

The inventory menu on his D-Gauntlet had told Isamu that the basic shield item he won was only good for a single use in battle, he hoped they could get help on time.

“Fever claw!” Wemicmon shouted, slicing Apemon across the face and leaving a mark over his eye.

“Moon Surge!”

“Sun Blast!” The twins attacked from either side of the yellow animal Digimon.

Their team attack usually worked like a charm, since their target could not defend against both attacks at once, but Apemon ducked low, “Metallic Fur!” He snarled, and the hairs on his body hardened to needles, shooting out and knocking the two canine Digimon out of the air.

Still on the ground, Wemicmon was spared the assault, but was also helpless to do anything to help his friends as Apemon’s fists caught flame next, “Magical Monkey Punch!” He shouted as he pumped them with his fire attack.

“Cannismon! Leptomon!” The golden haired Digimon shouted, his whole body began to glow “Lynx Fla-”

“Mega Bone Stick!”

Too slow to get out of the way in time, Wemicmon was thrown to the side by the blow. Cannismon and Leptomon were pinned to the ground by the needles and with Wemicmon out of the way the path was clear for Apemon to reach the children.

Wemicmon hopped back to his feet and dashed back toward the battle, but his Tamer knew he’d never make it in time.

Isamu swallowed hard, “Run!” he urged the others.

He grabbed Ju’s hand and dragged her away, they didn’t have time to call the Network for help they needed to get out of here and find a place to hide.

There wasn’t time for that either, and Isamu knew it, but if he could just buy a few seconds, maybe Aki and Masato could make it out. Apemon’s shadow loomed over him, he pulled on Ju’s arm and threw her ahead of him, hoping that maybe she could get out too.

“Isamu!” Wemicmon shouted, and his claws lit up for an attack but Isamu knew he was done for. He raised his hands to hide his face, it wouldn’t help but some instinct deeply rooted into human nature made him throw his arms up to block the attack. He knew he was going to die.

At least until his D-Gauntlet started reacting!

The light from his D-Gauntlet blinded Apemon, and the large Digimon stumbled back away from it. The device beeped wildly, and the boy shut his eyes against the light.

“Isamu! What did you press?” He heard Ju call over the beeping.

“I didn’t press anything!” He answered, Masato was running back toward them, reaching to pull Isamu back so they could escape, but Aki was staring out passed Apemon.

He pointed out where Isamu had last seen Wemicmon, “What’s happening to the cat guy?”

Isamu squinted, trying to see Wemicmon through the light of his D-Gauntlet, but couldn’t see him anywhere. It took him a moment to realize that the reason why was because Wemicmon was now glowing the same as his D-Gauntlet.

“Wemicmon Digivolve to…!”

A shape grew out of the smear of light that Wemicmon had become, growing taller, and bigger, the light quickly faded to reveal a new creature, similar to what Isamu had seen become of Scrofamon his first night in the Network.

“Nemaemon!”

The light faded from Isamu’s D-Gauntlet, and even Apemon had turned to see the new Digimon. He was the same color as Wemicmon, larger with a full mane, looking more like a lion. He had a belt wrapped around his torso that was keeping shoulder armor on Nameamon’s left arm, clothlike tendrils sprouted from his back between feathery patches of fur.

“His horn disappeared.” Isamu gaped, noticing that Wemic-no, Nemaemon’s face was far more cat-like than ever.

“Not going to comment on all those belts he’s suddenly wearing?” Ju blinked.

“How about that he’s got to be like ten feet tall!?” Masato shouted in a near panic.

This detail was what Aki noticed too, and he shrunk back, “He’s not going to hurt us, is he?”

Apemon seemed to lose interest in the humans at the sight of the new challenger. Isamu dropped his goggles over his eyes again to read the scan data on his partner’s new form. Nemaemon, mythical Digimon, Data type, Jungle Troopers. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, this was Wemicmon? How cool!

“Metallic fur!” Apemon shouted, shooting needles toward Namaemon, who simply ducked low and his new shell deflected the attack.

Nemaemon rushed the enemy, dropping to all fours and now fast enough to keep up, “Inferno Bane!” He said, body slamming the other Digimon, raising back to two feet and holding Apemon down while breathing fire into his face.

Apemon grunted with pain and picked up his bone.

“Mega Bone Sti-”

“Eclipse Snare!” Everyone had been watching Nemaemon in awe, and hadn’t noticed the twins recover from the attacks they’d endured. Apemon was bound tightly by the beams of light and darkness that Cannismon and Leptomon wrapped around him, “Nemaemon, now!” Cannismon hissed.

The lion-like Digimon didn’t need to be told twice, “Leo’s Pride!” He raised a fiery fist, the flames shot out and took the form of a lion, running toward the trapped digimon and engulfing him in the fire.

“-Lord Nabermon, grant me-” Apemon dropped midsentence, knocked out completely, Isamu raised his D-Gauntlet and entered the sequence to convert Apemon to scan Data.

The Digimon pixelated and was drawn into the device, but more than that, the computer voice of the D-Gauntlet had an announcement, “Conversion completed. Map piece detected, would you like to view?”

“Um, not now.” Isamu said, Nemaemon stomped over to them and shrank back down to Wemicmon.

Isamu was a little disappointed at seeing his partner return to normal so soon, but at the same time, he knew he was having a hard enough time hiding Wemicmon, he’d never be able to keep Nemaemon out of sight.

He scooped up Wemicmon, “Let’s get out of here!” He said.

Nobody argued, Ju led the way out and the Digital gate closed behind them.

After the kids disappeared, a set of shadowy figures looked down at the former battle field, “You weren’t ever going to grant him the blessing of a Demon Lord were you?” The female figure said, almost with a laugh.

The bestial Digimon only grumbled in response, the clearest no that he could be bothered to give. That seemed to be enough because the woman did start to laugh.

“I thought so. So his mission was nothing but a wild goose chase them?” Again her companion did not give a real answer, but that didn’t seem to matter to her, “Oh well, those Tamers didn’t seem to be too experienced. Only one of them evolved their partner. A Digimon who cannot beat such fledglings is not worth of the scum beneath our feet, let alone our blessing”

“Indeed” The other replied, speaking for the first time, and turning away, “Come then, Mephistomon will want a real candidate selected soon…”

Back in the real world, Masato resisted the urge to drop to the ground and start kissing the grass after their close call. Aki said nothing, but his face was still white as a sheet, so Masato put on a brave face and was the first to speak as they started to wander back to where Isamu had Ju had been feeding their Digimon.

“So...A Digital Gate, huh?” It was sort of a pathetic question, but at least it wasn’t total awkward silence.

Isamu continued to carry Wemicmon, who yawned sleepily in his arms, “Yeah, they connect our world to the one we just came from” He said, and nodded to Ju, “She knows more about it than I do, I’ve only been a Tamer for a little while.”

“That’s pretty much the gist of Digital Gates. It's kind of weird, though...” She commented, “I’ve never seen two Digital Gates open up so close together. Back in Beijing they always appeared months apart.”

They reached the bench and Isamu set Wemic down so he could rest after his battle. He lifted his D-Gauntlet in amazement, he’d been able to make Wemicmon Digivolve to champion. That was incredible! Ju said that she’d had her partners for three years and she hadn’t been able to do that.

The corners of the screen glowed in sequence, a new code he needed to memorize, Isamu mouthed along with it, top right, top left, left, bottom right, top loft again.” He fished his pen out of his pocket and wrote that sequence down on his hand so he could transfer it to his notebook later.

He’d ask Ju about that after school maybe, but right now they had a lot of questions to answer from Aki and Masato, and not a lot of time to explain. Lunch break would be over soon. Even with the two of them telling the story together it was clear that the boys didn’t fully understand, Isamu didn’t blame them, he had first had experience as a Tamer and he still wasn’t sure he understood it all.

“Could we be Tamers?” Masato asked excitedly, as he paced back and forth in the courtyard “Where do we find Digimon partners?”

“How do we get the D-Gauntlets?” Aki pushed his glasses up, showing extreme interest in this, which was sort of a surprise for him.

“There’s always Digimon in the Network who are looking for Tamers.” Ju said, “Maybe you could talk to them sometime this weekend, you might get lucky.”

“Can they get into the Network without an ID?” Isamu asked as Aki and Masato quietly celebrated the idea of maybe becoming a Tamer like their friend.

Ju shrugged, as they reached the bench they’d started at “I don’t know, but I didn’t want them running off to go looking for a partner. We have until the weekend to figure something out.” She checked the time on her D-Gauntlet and slung her bag back off her shoulders, pulling her laptop out to check her email.

“So what kind of Digimon are there in the Network?” Masato asked, “I want to partner with someone cool, like Nemaemon.”

“Aw, shucks, I’m not that cool.” Wemicmon blushed, Isamu rolled his eyes and ruffled his Digimon’s mohawk earring a squawk of protest.

“All kinds of Digimon,” Ju shrugged, “But remember I said you might get lucky, just because you meet someone cool doesn’t mean you’ll get to be partners. I’ll talk to a few of them tonight and see if anyone’s interes-” She cut off suddenly and her eyes narrowed at the sight of something on her screen, “Isamu, have you checked your email recently?” She asked.

“No, why?” Ju pointed her screen toward him, Aki and Masato exchanged confused looks.

Isamu read the email out loud.

Urgent, do not enter the Network. All Digimon and Tamers be advised that the Court of Demons is planning a strike against the Network this week. A new Firewall is being programmed to shield most damage, but as a precaution, if you are not an Admin, please do not put yourself at risk by coming to the Network.

Gray.

He glanced at Ju, with a startled blink “Gray, like, as in the legendary Tamer, Gray?”

She nodded, “This is the same email he contacted me from three years ago.” Ju went back to her inbox where several more emails with subject lines warning them to stay out of the Network were waiting.

“The Court of Demons,” Aki repeated, “You said something about those guys earlier…who are they?”

The bell summoning them back to class rang, cutting short their conversation. Ju stood up, closing her laptop and putting it back in her bag, “The bad guys.” She said, “No one’s going to the Network until we get an all clear. Being a Tamer isn’t a game, so you’d better think hard about if you really want to do it.” She added with a note of finality and packed up so they could go.

Aki and Masato turned to Isamu for an explanation, but this was the first he had heard of this Court, the Digimon looked frightened though.

“We should head back.” he said, moving Wemicmon back into the bush,Cannismon and Leptomon ducked into it too, where they would hide until school was out and their Tamers came to pick them up.

As they passed by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, the trio continued to talk quietly about the Digimon and failed to notice a small shape swimming in the water. A small furry face poked out to stare after the group, at a particular boy.

“I found him!” A feminine voice said, and brown eyes sparkled happily, “My Tamer!”

Next Episode

#Digimon #Digimon fanfiction #Digimon fanseries #Digimon FDD #chapters

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luckycheesefoodie321 · 5 years ago

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Ok so what the three-month time skip ending of The Prince of Tennis ~Match! Tennis Juniors~ tells me (SPOILERS):

All the implied and canonically mutually affectionate couples within the show... and how unsubtle they are with like ALL OF THE GAY... it’s that old God meme?? “A cup of tennis, a spoonful of The Power of Friendship, and just a tiny dash of gay- oh no *spills all the gay*”

SO, and this is completely according to the final ep 40...

We start with the brothers Zhou: with Zhou Zi, romantic love will forever come second to his affectionate doting love for his brother Zhou Yu... no complaints. It is pure and precious.

Qiao Chen and Yu Xing Zi.... IS BEATEN OUT BAI-CHEN AND YALL CAN FIGHT ME ON THIS: Qiao Chen is debating whether or not to text Xing Zi to hang out, Xing Zi instead invites him to an anime convention BUT THEN BAIYANG STEPS IN AND REPLIES FOR HIM THAT QIAO CHEN WILL BE BUSY ON THE WEEKEND PRACTICING WITH HIM!!! Like yes I know y’all got into nationals...and practicing is important... but the ENTIRE SHOW Baiyang has been stubborn about practicing by himself (even if he has given in to training with others, especially Zhiming and QC) so him actively and forcefully ensuring QC joins him and doesn’t go out with Xing Zi heavily reads as jealoussss... AND THEN when QC says Baiyang will be single forever, BY says that’s fine!! Because at least then they’ll be single togetherrr (о´∀`о)

Tang Jiale and Chi Da Yong: our resident old couple. Bickering like they’re married. Which they are. I take no criticisms. They are married and so secure in their relationship that they can tease each other about breaking up. And pretend to be jealous. But actually for real be jealous. Don’t lie Chi Da Yong WE ALL KNOW YOU STILL SALTY ABOUT JIALE AND QIAO CHEN! Like idk y’all pick any hetero couple and use JL and DY’s dialogue and it’s so heavily couple-y that there’s physically no other way to read their relationship

He Xing Long and Ya Jiuxin: old friends estranged as they grew up and their skill and goals changed only to face each other again as rivals and gruff allies... and while one has always loved the sport, the other grew disillusioned and bored due to a lack of competitor, but is moved by the formers determination... is this not Aomine and Kuroko??? XL and JX will become co-parents to Liu Xia and the lil fluff ball Yi Tai and that is that.

Yan Zhiming and Liu Lian: I mean nerd bros for life amirite??? Bickering from childhood to adulthood about the correct way to solve math equations, bonded over data tennis AS DOUBLES PARTNERS (and we know how I feel about doubles partners in this show), didn’t even let their match affect their friendship?? NOT TO MENTION LIU LIAN FOUND ZHIMING ONLINE AND WAS DROPPING HINTS IT WAS HIM AND INSISTED THEY MEET UP and it was legit the first time you ever see Ah Yan dress up so nice hehehe

THEN... the only hetero pairing I will accept (also bc it reinforces my point that they paired up the COUPLES excepting the Zhou bros) - Lu Xia and Qi Ying: I think it has been well established the feelings are mutual and their scene only proves it. Qi Ying, mah gurl, is getting nervously confessed to by another dude. Enter Lu Xia, who reads the situation perfectly, and doesn’t even hesitate to intervene. SAYS HER DAMN NAME (like third time total in 40 episodes!!) Makes up some excuse that the Coach needs her AND THEN JUST WALKS AWAY. AND THEN JUST TO MAKE SURE HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN INTERRUPTING THE LOVE CONFESSION, THE BOY CROUCHES BEHIND SOME BUSHES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STEPS WATCHING HER. Oh how the tables have turned. What a fool in love. Obviously he gets caught. And now Qi Ying knows he’s totally into her. As if the fish wasn’t enough of an indicator.

So basically what I’m saying to y’all is. Sports anime/manga/and now apparently Cdramas that have adapted sports anime/manga refuse to be any less than their true gay potential, and I appreciate that...

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natsspammityspamspamham · 5 years ago

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Dino Watches Anime (April 26)

I haven’t made one of these for a while, and after the first draft went and deleted itself, I wondered whether it was worth making another one (I make these primarily for myself then get really surprised whenever people notice these). During harsh times like these, I find myself being drawn to the cheesiest and the most cringe-inducing shows, but maybe I just like them because you can put them on double-speed without missing a thing because you know what’s going on. It’s like instant noodle broth: satisfying, warming, but you know it’s going to kill your insides with self-crisis. Seriously, I didn’t come to terms that I really, really like romance as a genre until a little while ago.

With that being said, I want to take a short break from romance now.

I often ask myself, “Why are you watching these when you can be watching really good anime?” Well, that’s probably because I don’t want to have my analytical brain on right now. I want to watch an anime that takes two brain cells to enjoy. I only have two. Once I garden some more, maybe then will I get into the stuff I know I will enjoy like Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Things that I just started but couldn’t get into

NHK ni Youkoso! (1/24)

For one, I didn’t want to watch this before because it would’ve hit too close to home. The show’s about a NEET aka a freeloader (not in employment, education, or training), and I’m... almost that description (but that’s mostly because of the pandemic). Really, this show is riddled with paranoia, and it wants you to really know that with its changing art styles to its cynical script lines to its main character honestly needing some help (seriously, he needs help). I read further (aka spoilers) and realized that I probably won’t have fun with this anime right now, and I will never touch the manga because that stuff is even more insane than its adaptation. NHK ni Youkoso is about people who fall between the cracks of normal standard society and their desire to seek their own normal by any means necessary, and during stressful times, I think it belongs on the backburner.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2/12)

After seeing how much I enjoyed Kakushigoto (which will be mentioned later, I just thought, “Wow, I want to see that other really famous work!” I didn’t enjoy it at all. I forgot why I put the series on-hold. It’s about a suicidal teacher who will stop at nothing to die then ask people why they almost killed them. Through a bunch of errors, he ends up becoming some sort of a harem king to his students (and he attracts the weirdos). I enjoyed the lengths Studio Shaft went to to make this anime appear the way it does (which helps in a lot of ways), but I just can’t continue with it until a much later date.

Appare-Ranman! (2/?)

I just lost interest after looking at the rest of the cast. I’m all for being vibrant and out there, but some of those character designs imitate more of a “racial stereotype/caricature”. I’m not saying that I dropped the show only because of that (I’m quite dense when it comes to that), but I didn’t like the characters either. I can’t get behind a show that won’t let me enjoy it a single moment over two episodes.

I’ll pick it up again later (probably)

Free! (5/12)

I feel like they’re shoving fanservice a lot. I try to skip every fanservice scene, and I managed to watch up to episode 5 in less than an hour, and I didn’t even get through them all. But I will say that ending is stuck in my head now. (humming)

This show has taken me at least two attempts to watch so far. Let’s see how many more it takes before I finish/give up!

Darker Than Black (18/25)

I’ll probably finish this one for the sake of finishing it. I just find that the episodic nature gets stale after a while, and the overarching story is often disregarded. In exchange, we do get some fun side stories, character development, and world building, but I’d like to settle down too, you know?

Clannad (1/23)

Yeah, I’m doing that now. I’m going to see whether my feels bones are as strong as they were before... after I take a hiatus because I’m not sure if I’m in the appetite for that kind of romance now that I’ve watched two shoujo in a row.

Sousei no Onmyouji (20/50)

I bet you, someone was like, “Let’s throw all these shounen cliches into a pot then see what comes out!” Bruh, this is bordering that story I wrote when I was 14, and I’m not even dissing this anime. I enjoyed it but need a break now. It’s very cliche, predictable, and honestly, I can see why it has such a low rating. Studio Perriot likes cutting corners sometimes with their long-running series (*stares at Naruto*), and this anime is no exception. Sometimes, it feels like a visual novel. “We don’t need to animate anything if she’s so fast that no one can see her.” Dang, but it gets repetitive. It also has a magical girl power that only works when the main couple does it? Cool, but that also gets repetitive. I just didn’t see myself watching the same thing another 30 times (at least right now).

Maison Ikkoku

I’m actually on the fence about continuing this one. It’s really sweet, but I’ve had my fill of romance. I have been wanting to watch some more Rumiko Takahashi works though. There’s no reason for me not to continue this. It gives me strong Princess Jellyfish vibes (which I should also finish).

Recently Finished

Itazura na Kiss

Just... end my suffering. It’s not worth it. The thing about shoujo anime is that I watch it late at night when my brain is at its worst when it comes to analyzing or taking in any emotional circumstances. Then I asked myself, “Would I want any young, impressionable people to watch this?” And my first thought was “F**K NO!” This anime was an absolute trainwreck. As my Discord friend put it “It’s so bad, yet you can’t look away!” But what makes this anime unique? What sets it apart? It shows life after high school. Just like Clannad, it shows that life is more than your secondary education. There is more to life than just being a teenager. I’m not saying these characters ever grew though because that’d be a FAT JOKE.

Episodes 1-13: Girl gives boy a love letter. He laughs and doesn't even want it and goes "no thanks". Girl gets upset. Then they find out they're living under the same roof after the girl's dad made them a house out of popsicle sticks (because the dads are childhood friends). She keeps trying to push herself onto him, and his mom joins in and is plotting so much more than you'd expect. The best part is that this main girl already has a childhood friend who's like "please marry me. I'll cook for you, work for you, take a bullet for you, slice my head off if it means you won't chip a nail--" then the girl replied by chasing after the guy who calls her stupid on a daily basis and genuinely believes she can't do anything.

Episodes 14-25: Guy gets dragged to his own wedding and generally does not care for the girl unless she’s either not looking or is on death’s bed. He practically deserts her every other time, and we’re supposed to think it’s romantic when he finally gives a crap about his wife (even when she’s pregnant). The show constantly reminds you that even other characters have doubts that our main character cares about anyone other than himself and his aloofness. They have a bunch of missed affairs including a hoe that tries to leave her husband on her honeymoon to get with Mr. Aloof and a nursing student that genuinely cares about MC and the fact that her husband doesn’t care about her at all.

The moral of the story of this anime: If you chase after somebody long enough, they will cave in and marry you even if they don’t like you, want you, insult you, bully you, or generally show all the signs of an unwilling partner.

Anyway, this anime is crap. I can’t believe I watched it. I want those few hours back (I fast-forwarded a lot, okay?) I can’t believe I finished it. Looking back makes me want to press undo. Having this under my history is a shame to my family. Even if I was sleepy and generally out of it, that’s no excuse for choosing this. Sayonara

I will say that Daisuke Hirakawa and Nana Mizuki did give good character voices despite the circumstances. That, and I haven’t heard from Hirakawa besides those couple of scenes from School Days (which... is a different type of romance), Free! (which I dropped when his character joined), that gumball scene from Jojo, and that introduction to him being the new Demon Slayer villain. I didn’t realize he was that old though.

Special A

This is one of the anime that my sister watched, and I thought, “I need to be reminded of what a somewhat healthy relationship can be” I wasn’t disappointed because the last anime left such a bad taste in my mouth that literally anything could’ve soothed the aching wound which was bad decision making. Even under regular circumstances, I probably still would’ve enjoyed it, but since it came at the right time, I give it an extra nod of approval. I also never realized that the second opening was inadvertently drilled into my brain because I kept overhearing my sister watching it. Now that I’ve grown up, I realize I was listening to the voices of some of my favourite seiyuu. Go figure.

The story was really sweet with characters that I genuinely liked by the end (not my favourite cast by a very long shot, but it was slightly above average). It was slightly above average for me in a lot of ways (ironically), and it was enjoyable. The art is very fitting for its time, the music was very... ordinary, and the story was simple enough that you knew exactly what was going to happen at any given moment. This show should be titled: Special A(ppreciation for those brave people who have fallen in the friendzone; we’ll get ‘em next time).

Akatsuki no Yona OVAs

Unlike the actual TV series, this stuff actually ends conclusively without ending on the CLIMAX OF THE BIG ARC. SERIOUSLY, I WAS ROBBED. You can say, “There’s a perfectly good manga right there.” Shut up. I want my fight scenes animated with a big helping of a strong female lead. It gave me a sudden appreciation for Hiro Shimono and his character Zeno who literally just inserted himself in last minute in the anime (but these OVAs perfectly explain everything). You probably shouldn’t watch the anime without watching these OVAs because they’re canon, funny, and touching at times. It enhances the series.

According to the animation, we know it can do fight scenes. Give us another season, cowards! Actually, it’s Studio Perriot, so if we ever get it, it might be two stickmen duking it out.

Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2

You know, I really enjoyed the movie. The first one. This one? Not so much. Actually, I felt so done. I was looking forward to this so much. It’s like going to a restaurant, expecting really good pasta, and then being served some leaves from the weeds out back. Eventually, it tastes better when you add some dressing and cheese, but it still isn’t a bowl of pasta. This show casts aside everything I like about it (present-tense because they didn’t kill everything of it) and leaves one little inkling of its valued ideas. Instead, we get a romance-chasing movie that feels a bit more like an amnesia fiction that’s slightly higher quality than usual. I can’t say I regret watching the movie. There were some redeeming qualities, but they jumped from a 9/10 to a high 6/10 that managed to squeak itself into an overall 7/10.

(This gif is from the first movie, but I can’t find any from the second movie anyway)

Currently Watching (Not Seasonal)

Samurai Champloo

This anime is a staple of Shinichiro Watanabe, and after this, I will probably watch Cowboy Bebop, Carole & Tuesday, and Space Dandy. I did enjoy Sakamichi no Apollon and Zankyou no Terror.

Plus, after all that romance, I need some samurai slaughter. The fight scenes and the music get me every time. I don’t even need to say anything else about the anime. The fight scenes are enough to watch alone.

#dino watches anime

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animeperspectivism · 5 years ago

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“Smile Down the Runway” Anime Review, Winter 2020

One of my FAVOURITES of this Winter season is Smile Down the Runway, or Runway de Waratte. Based on a manga by Inoya Kotoba, it is an anime focusing on two protagonists in the fashion world, Chiyuki, who dreams of being a super model on the Paris runway, and Ikuto, an aspiring fashion designer and dress maker. But, of course, there are hurdles that they must surpass. The two have a really great chemistry, and their stories are especially heartbreaking and inspirational. The anime has spread out the episodes really well so far, covering both characters as they endure and overcome issues that are beyond their control. I’m halfway through the series, so this review will be as far as episode 6. So far, it is amazing. I would recommend this if you have an interest in drama, unique topics, fashion, or even sports anime. This is as thrilling as it gets!

The manga is actually published in the Weekly Shounen Magazine, so while it does focus on the rather feminine world of fashion, it’s still exhilerating and “sports-esque” in the ways that their passions are portrayed. The characters do face adversity, and in the first episode, we see Chiyuki as a small child. Her parents own a rather successful modeling agency, and that’s where Chiyuki begins her career, but it’s short lived. She dreams of being a super model, heading to Paris and strutting on the runway, but the thing is...she’s much too short. Her height has stopped at 158cm (5’2″), when the ideal height of a model is 175cm (5′9″). Her parents end up dissappointed, and drop her career, not willing to put their money behind her. But she pesists, and we see her applying to many different agencies, specifically one that sends their models to runway shows. She goes in and interviews every day, showing her endurance and drive. I found this to be really amazing, because it proves her character as more than a ‘model’, which could be the case, especially when the show starts to have more Ikuto-focused episodes. But Chiyuki does get the job, and it’s because of a piece that Ikuto ends up designing and creating.. just for her. This anime is rather empowering, as Chiyuki isn’t the only one working towards her seemingly impossible goal -- the girl can’t grow 17cm-- Ikuto also has hurdles to overcome. It turns out that his family is not the most fortunate. He has two older sisters, one who excels at school work, and the other who is a sports star, but they also have a baby sister. Ichika is 4 or 5 years old, and everyone is pressured to care for her because their mother has been in the hospital. We don’t find out what is wrong with her yet, but she seems to be kept there long term. So the money is tight. I don’t know how their bills are paid, especially rent for their tiny apartment, but all of the kids work part-time. The older sibilings don’t only realize that the most that their family can afford is to send one kid to university, but they all have aspirations for their futures. In some episodes, the anime is really family-centred, so it must be a running theme that we’ll see agin. But honestly, this was the saddest thing so far. The kids want it to be their baby sister, Ichika, to be able to go to college in the future, and even when their mom pushes them to do what the want, they tell her, “no, I’d rather just work when I graduate”. So of course, we get the scene where Ikuto asks Chiyuki, rather abruptly, of whether he could become a fashion designer without going to college. She kind of tells him that she’s never heard of a designer not coming out of school somewhere, and leaves it at that. Later on, she realizes that she sounded just like her parents, as well as every other person who has told her that her dream is impossible, based on something that she can never change. She has felt the pain of wanting to be in control of something so bad, but has come to terms that to achieve it, she has to find another way to sell her career. There are a few more sweet scenes where she apologizes to Ikuto and he realizes that creating that dress for her made him feel so happy. So they agree on a dream that they can both achieve: She will only wear the clothes that he makes for her once he becomes a designer with a brand.

I think that the poverty aspect of the story is really compelling, as in later episodes it does return, as it’s an essential part of Ikuto’s character. Sometimes, in manga and anime, there are interesting aspects to a character like this specifically, but it’s waived off as soon as the plot of the story gets going. It kind of reminds me of Yuusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho, where he has the backstory of having an alcoholic mom that doesn’t really go anywhere (I’m only on episode 77, his mom has been almost forgotten lol). So this is really refreshing to me. The commentary is interesting too, because it talks about the circular trap that impoverished people can find themselves in. The only way to get a “good” job that makes a decent amount of money, especially if you have 3 siblings and a hospitalized mom to take care of, college and university are the only options. But, they also cost money. I’m not knowledgeable on the sorts of scholarships and student loans that the government of Japan offers (I wonder if Kotoba explores this in the manga), but hopefully there is some hope for poorer people. But, of course, when student loans are concerned, they aren’t particularly helpful for a family who is already running low on funds. It’s a trapping system, and when you have three especially talented kids who are preparing to graduate highscool, it would be a major investment if you could send all of them to a college of their choice so that they can earn the big bucks. Unfortunately, Ikuto’s sisters may simply find work where they can, bringing home little more than they already are. Hopefully we get a conclusion to this story that isn’t too goddamn sad.

Anyway, this is a rather quick review that I’ve wanted to write out and publish so that I can work on the next one. I’ve been dying to write about The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, but I figured that I need to watch the first two episodes again to write a really concise piece on it. But look forward to that!

#smile down the runway #runway de waratte #review #smile down the runway review #anime review #poverty #adversity #anime #winter 2020 #seasonal review #funimation #impression

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duhragonball · 6 years ago

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Dragon Ball Z 143

One of my favorite things from the dub is when Cell uses the Kamehameha for the first time, and Dameon Clarke makes the second “me” syllable as creepy as possible. Doesn’t really happen that way in the Japanese version, but it’s still cool.

Anyway, Piccolo manages to dodge the blast easily enough, but Cell gets the drop on him and grabs him from behind. I’m kind of wondering if that wasn’t the point all along. Cell already used the Special Beam Cannon and got nowhere with it, so it makes sense that his Kamehameha was only a feint.

Also what is up with Cell’s feet? They look enormous.

Cell tries to impale Piccolo with his tail, but Piccolo manages to twist so that it hits his arm instead. Cell doesn’t seem to mind, since Piccolo won’t be able to escape.

Back at Kame House, there’s a news bulletin about the armed forces being sent in to deal with the crisis in Gingertown. The town is referred to as a suburb of West City, which seems odd to me. If it’s so close, why didn’t Cell just start his killing spree in the metropolitan area?

Suffice to say, the tanks are only a minor annoyance to Cell, who defeats them all, even while holding Piccolo with most of his limbs. Would it surprise you to learn that the tanks were all filler?

And the pain of getting his arm consumed is pretty intense. For a moment, we see Kami screaming too.

Piccolo manages to bonk Cell with the back of his head to free himself, but his left arm has been reduced to a withered husk. Cell points out that he can’t possibly win or escape in this condition, and Piccolo concedes defeat.

But Piccolo’s last request is to know what this creature is, and Cell decides to oblige him, since he’s going to kill him soon anyway. Okay, so here we go. First, his name’s Cell, and he was created by Dr. Gero, just like the Androids.

Here again, this is where the Androids/Cyborgs/Jinzoningen thing falls apart. Some of Gero’s creations are androids and some of them are cyborgs, but Cell is clearly neither, nor do I thin the label “Artificial Human” really applies.

Cell was part of a separate project in which Dr. Gero was trying to use the DNA of the most powerful warriors on Earth to create his own fighter. So I’m pretty sure that makes Cell purely biological. He’s more of a genetics experiment, much like how Serpentor from G.I. Joe was created using the genes of history’s greatest leaders, villans, and tyrants, and also Sergeant Slaughter.

Unlike Serpentor, though, Gero’s concept took far too long to produce, so he programmed a supercomputer to complete the work in his absence.

“To hell with this.” -- Dr. Gero, apparently.

What I’m not so clear on was whether Gero intended for the computer to keep working on this as a backup plan, or if he just neglected to shut it down. Either way, the computer kept working on Cell, even after Dr. Gero’s death.

So whose cells were used in the process? It depends on which version you watch. The Funimation dub just went nuts and went with Nappa, Gohan, Piccolo, Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and “others”. I’m pretty sure this was only because the montage that played during this scene showed Nappa and Gohan in the flashback. As for the “others”, we see Cell use different techniques later in the story, so maybe Funimation just decided that it made sense.

However, in the Japanese version, and in the manga, Cell states only Piccolo, Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and King Cold were used in his design.

Cell also mentions that Trunks might have been sampled as well, but the computer decided there was no need for additional Saiyan DNA. This all looks like a continuity gaffe to me, since Cell is supposed to be from the timeline where Goku killed Frieza and his father, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Piccolo asks how the samples were harvested without anyone knowing, and Cell explains that it was a tiny spy robot that would have gone unnoticed. I’m not sure if this is the same robot that Gero mentioned back in Episode 127.

That machine only observed Goku and the others in battle, and recorded relevant data. This other one apparently scrapes small tissue samples as directed by Gero’s computer. Piccolo destroys it as soon as Cell points it out, but that won’t change anything.

Because Cell, the one standing here now, is from the future, when the computer has already completed the work. I think Cell’s math is off here. He came back from the year Age 788 to 763, and it’s 767 now. So it’ll be 21 years before he’s completed, not 24.

In any case, Piccolo’s actions can only interfere with the computer’s work in this timeline. He points out that Gero’s laboratory was already destroyed (back in Episode 134). Cell says that the computer was in the basement, so it doesn’t matter.

Piccolo asks why he waited so long to make his move. Remember, Cell arrived in the time machine four years ago. Cell explains that he couldn’t fit in the time machine as he is now, so he had to revert to an egg. When he arrived in the past, he hatched, left the time machine, and burrowed underground to wait until he was re-matured.

So why’d he come back in time? Cell explains that his goal is to achieve his perfect form, and the computer told him that he could grow stronger by consuming humans, but he would only attain perfection by absorbing two specific targets: Androids 17 and 18. However, when Cell awoke in Age 788, 17 and 18 no longer existed.

Fortunately for Cell, Trunks had a time machine, so he just killed him, and used it to go into the past.

Cell’s destination in the time machine always confused me. Why go back to Age 763 specifically? In all versions of this story, Cell claims that the controls were already set, so all he did was start it. But that makes no sense, because why would Trunks want to go back to Age 763? If he visited the Z-Fighters in that year, they wouldn’t know who he was. Piccolo assume that this Future-Future Trunks must have beaten the androids in his own era, and he must have been planning to travel back in time to tell the Z-Fighters of this timeline the good news. But that only makes sense if he planned to travel to this year, Age 767.

I’m thinking Cell must have at least dialed the date back a few years, because he knew that he’d need time to mature into his adult form before hunting down the Androids. If he had gone directly to Age 767, it would be Age 771 before he could start looking for the androids, and that might be too late. But Cell apparently knows that 17 and 18 were activated in 767, so he knew that if he had a four-year head start, he could be ready to find them before anyone else could have a chance to destroy them.

Cell also adds that the computer told him that his perfect form would be invincible. Piccolo asks him why that should matter to Cell. What does he need all that power for? In the dub, he pointed out that Cell was already the strongest being in his own era, especially since he killed Trunks.

But Cell, like the androids, is basically a creature who does what he’s told. The computer designed him to achieve his perfect form, and that’s what he’s going to do. It also doesn’t hurt that he was based upon warriors who craved greater strength. So this could be a matter of instinct for Cell. Either way, he can’t be satisfied until he’s perfect.

With that answered, Cell figures it’s time to finish Piccolo off...

But then Piccolo just rips off his bad arm and sprouts a new one.

Turns out Piccolo was just feigning surrender in the hopes of getting Cell to tell his story. And Piccolo might have needed time to regenerate his arm, although he’s been pretty speedy about this in the past.

He also mocks Cell for falling for that trick. If he’s based on Piccolo’s cells, then shouldn’t Cell be aware of that ability? My guess is that Cell was too high on his apparent victory that he didn’t bother to question Piccolo’s willingness to surrender. In Cell’s mind, surrender was the only logical thing to do, so it never occurred to him that Piccolo might resort to deception.

It’s also possible that Cell genuinely didn’t know about this. Gero knew all sorts of things about the Z-Fighters, because he’s studied the data from his spy robots. Some, if not all of that information, was programmed into 16, 17, 18, and 19. They all know what senzu beans are, for example, so they probably know about Piccolo growing back his arm during fights with Goku and Raditz. However, Cell may not have been given access to those files. He seems to know a great deal, and he knows Piccolo’s tecniques, but he may have learned the Special Beam Cannon through instinct. Powers like Namekian regeneration may not have been explained to him by Gero’s computer.

In any event, the fight is back on, and now Cell doesn’t have the shroud of mystery to compensate for Piccolo’s power advantage.

#dragon ball #cell #imperfect cell saga #imperfect cell #2019dbliveblog #piccolo #trunks #yamcha #master roshi #oolong #gohan #goku #vegeta #frieza #dr gero

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minikitti123 · 5 years ago

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Hey guys, Long Anime Post Here

Hi everyone! This post is gonna be extremely long, so please buckle up! I recently finished watching The Promised Neverland, and I thought it was amazing! I decided to head over to MyAnimeList and take a look at some of the discussions that were going on, and I came across one that I disagree heavily with. The person tries to show inconsistencies within the show, and many of them made no sense to me. I felt compelled to put my arguments and reasons as well. I really enjoy discussions about anime as well as analysis, so I had fun writing up my criticism of this posters problems with the show. I thought the show was awesome, but i know some disagree. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me as well!

The link to the original post on MyAnimeList is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1774785

My original response is here: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1823693

MyAnimeList is here if you wanna check it out as well: https://myanimelist.net/profile/Minikitti123

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME THE PROMISED NEVERLAND (NO SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA, THOUGH i HAVE READ IT. THIS IS A WARNING. IF YOU PROCEED, YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE SPOILED.)

(The original Poster is in Bold, my answers are in regular.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Everyone saw her leave with bunny, then next scene bunny is gone and magically in dinning hall. Nobody in the show questions that's strange we just saw her leave with bunny. How did it magically get there? Instead, they contemplate what to do and decide to go drop off bunny. As we’ve seen, Isabella keeps several toys from the children over the years, so it would make sense that she took the bunny from Conny before leaving (whether or not Conny knew she took it is another question altogether, but something tells me that Isabella took it without saying anything and Conny didn’t notice). Ray most likely knew this and set the bunny out of purpose. Whether that was a smart move on Ray’s part, I don’t know. I agree that there were probably better ways to do this but I think that it causes tension, there wouldn’t be as much stress watching a scene if everything went to plan, would it? Also, they may be top scorers, but they are still CHILDREN. Even some of the smartest people I know make mistakes in highly stressful situations, and some people overlook simpler, better answers to problems because they’re too busy making it difficult. “Even tho they are characterized perfect intelligence test scorers, they forgot an important scene that happen couple mins ago. You know what you need in intelligence test? A good memory. It's as if some fairy casted an amnesia spell on all these characters to forget what they just saw. Everyone on this forums said it would be explained and the plothole disproved; however, later episodes only further proves the plothole and ruins the characterization as well.” I don’t necessarily see how this RUINS their characterization. I know several very smart people with a problematic memory. And even if they aren’t, it doesn’t ruin them completely, it just honestly makes them feel more relatable to me, they are incredibly smart but still forget occasionally, ect. Either way though, it is logical to assume that Conny could have set the bunny down before leaving for Isabella to grab. Conny is seen as a little slower on the uptake, so it isn’t that hard to believe she might have absentmindedly set it down and forgot to retrieve it. She is 6, after all. The other characters know that about Conny too. Emma looked shocked that the bunny had been left behind, probably because she DID see Conny with it, and might have been wondering why she set it down. (Sidenote: In the manga, Conny isn’t carrying her bunny in that scene, the anime might have been better off going that route but whatever.) Later, in the story reveals Mother is trained to be high IQ and meticulously collects the toys. Why wouldn't she ask about the bunny from Connie that she just saw? Why would she let bunny be in house, so other kids could find out and thus revealing everything? It goes everything against the character. Isabella could have done that, but it honestly makes more sense for her to just take it without Conny’s knowledge to me. Conny is seen as absentminded, so she most likely wouldn’t have noticed, and if she did, Isabella could have lied and told her it was in the suitcase. Isabella most likely hid the bunny, but Ray would have known where to look and set the bunny out. To be honest, this could have been done better but I don’t necessarily think it ruins anything. Isabella might have thought she didn’t hide it well enough? Not sure, but that’s what I think. Lastly, how come Ray let Emma and Norman leave with bunny, which exposes him trying to ruin Mother because he did nothing to stop them. Ray's suppose to be smart and top scorer. Mother would have figured out Ray betrayed her. 200iqbtw I mean, there’s no reason for Emma and Norman to go without having to take it to Conny, and I’m not sure if Ray could have convinced Emma and Norman to go to the gate for no reason except curiosity. Maybe Norman, but I think that would be against Emma’s character to do that. It could have been done better, but with Emma’s stubborn attitude, would Ray have realistically been able to stop her from going to give the bunny to Conny if she really wanted to? Also, Ray wasn’t meaning for them to leave Little Bunny behind. If they had come back with the toy, Isabella would not have found out and Ray could have probably put the toy back where he found it. That was a mistake in the plan, and was used to create tension. I quite liked it actually. Realistically, Ray should just told them and show them hiding behind bush. Or they finally question Mother's authority and go stalk mother see what happens to Connie. Avoiding the whole bunny plothole situation. Is the writer so desperate for drama to create a betrayal/spy reveal that they have dumb down Ray and Mother? Right, the characters are only smart enough when the plot needs them to be and dumb enough to create shallow forms of tension. This is just one of many inconsistencies. Think about how much Emma loves Isabella, and how much she loves the house. Do you honestly think, with her stubborn, loving personality, that she would have believed Ray? She most likely would have had a similar reaction to Don, and with no proof to back it, what could Ray do? Also, Ray is shown messing around with Emma in the first episode, so Emma could see this as him trying to trick her. Norman I can see a little better, because of his curious nature. Plus, where would they hide? There weren’t really bushes, and hiding in bushes is pretty unrealistic anyway. The demons could smell them, and they barely got away. That would be extremely dangerous for the kids. The writer desperate for drama? He has to create suspense, that’s part of what makes a good story. It’s his job as a writer to make us as the audience feel these things, so yes, that’s the effect he was going for. I don’t see how this dumbs down the characters, and if they hadn’t left Little Bunny, Ray’s plan would have been fine. This is not make the characters “dumb”, it makes them more relatable. Also, Isabella has been working with Ray for 6 years. Ray has never before caused a stir, and has watched his siblings die all this time, all the while spying on them all. What reason does she have to suspect him now, after all this time? If Ray’s plan had gone perfect, there would be no reason except for maybe Emma and Norman’s reactions in episode 2. 1. Ray is given instant camera with Polaroids that works. Who is still working in factories making Polaroids in 2045 during demon apocalypse? Also, why would the mother give Ray a instant camera, a potential threat of proving demons are real. She suppose to have 200iq, where is it??? This is a spoiler for the manga, so I won’t go into this too much, but Krone did say that there were humans other than the ones at the farms, ones that are equal to those of demons. Also, Ray mentions in episode 5 that all the machines he got were “older models”, so realistically, they were probably just old relics and might not even be in make anymore. They don’t make quite a few old video game consoles anymore, but you can still buy them, can’t you? Isabella is shown to be close to Grandma, so she might have special privileges to get items like that. As for you thinking Ray would take a picture of the demons, the next shipment after he received the camera was to be his own. The demons don’t show up unless it is for shipment. He wouldn’t have gotten away with that, period. The most he could have done was take a picture of Isabella’s secret room, but that would have been dangerous and could easily be explained. Isabella is probably thinking, “what’s the harm?” She also has a soft spot for Ray, so in my mind it actually does well for her as a character. 2. The children have complete access to metal utensils, poisons, scalpels, medicine supplies, tools, etc.In what reality would you give your children any access to these. Does no one remember elementary school???? Utensils were plastic, scissors were blunt, desks and chairs corners are blunt, you play with soft balls, glass were plexiglass, and you most certainly had no access to chemicals/poisons lolollllololollllooool. While they do have access to utensils, they have to get a key for the medical supplies and scalpels, so they don’t technically have complete access to it in Isabella’s mind. They were able to access those items because of Krone’s help. Isabella never “gave them access”. Plus, this isn’t elementary school. These kids all do chores, cook, help around the house, ect. The poison was made from standard items kept around the house, like detergent or soap, so it wouldn’t have made much sense to hide these from the older children, who have to do their chores and such. Plus, if Isabella is killed, the kids would be in danger from the signal set off by Isabella’s chip, which Norman and Emma find out from Krone. 3. The kids have unlimited linen rope making all obstacles pointless. Norman first showed the magical rope when he was going to climb wall. The rope turned from only 25 meters rope only enough to tie around tree, then to over 100 meters+. It was so poorly animated and ridiculous. At that point, I thought might as well give the kids ladders. Also, what was the point in having cliff reveal climax, if they can just zipline across with infinite linens? I don’t know if they’re unlimited, but given how many kids there are I don’t think it is that far out there for them to have that much linen. It miht have been a bit more out there as a scene, but it makes at least a little bit of sense. He used the higher altitude of the tree branch in order to create tension on the rope and the gravitational force gave him the momentum to get up the wall. He is very intelligent, so he would have known this was his best way of getting up the wall with his lack of physical ability. A bit far out there? Yes. But this is an anime with demons, is it really all that deep? The cliff reveal was to create even more tension, thinking that there’s no way they can escape unless it’s through the very dangerous bridge, in which Norman figures out another way. 4. Ray steals several canisters of lamp oil. There's still people working oil rigs in 2045 in post apocalypse to get lamp oil???? Mother doesn't even notice nor cares something that is precious. They seem to have plenty of lamp oil, considering Isabella and the other children are seen using them throughout the series. Ray has had 6 years to prepare, taking one or two at a time would not be nearly as noticeable as you think. Like I said before, manga spoiler, but Krone does mention other humans besides those in the farms. 5. Endless supplies of food, when they plan their escape on the end of shipment date. How can you have more food at the last day of shipment date, when you spend all those resources training and exercising. You have to eat ton food to build muscle; otherwise, your body starts to eats itself. Also, how does mother not notice food supply being used rapidly? Literally, a huge indicator they are training. She suppose to be smart and monitoring supplies, so she can request more. They never claimed to have an infinite amount of food, but if every kid took a little from every meal every single day for more than two months leading to the escape, that could build up to quite a bit very quickly. They most likely at about the same, probably just a little under to be able to save food. Gaining muscle wasn’t necessarily their goal, it was more to become faster, more vigilant, faster at making decisions, ect. Isabella was busy keeping her eyes on Emma and Ray, and possibly even Don and Gilda, but she had absolutely no suspicion about any of the other children, making the build up of food a lot more reasonable and realistic. They most likely don’t take enough for her to notice, taking in small increments. -Unlimited access knowledge, despite them being sheltered and demons don't censor. How nice of them. I wouldn’t call their knowledge infinite or unlimited, and I’m sure the demons do slightly sensor, but this is supposed to be an “orphanage”. What sense would it make for the kids not to know a single thing about the outside world, wouldn’t that make them more curious? They are supposed to grow up happy and healthy, with hopes and dreams and aspirations. It makes sense for them to at least have a tiny bit of understanding about the outside. a. Norman knows how to lockpick, when it is convenient for the plot to make rope. It is convenient, I’ll give you that. But he might have learned it from a book, who knows? b. Ray knows rfid chips and how to make small taser. Why would demons give them information on rfid chips or how to make a taser???? I’m sure the demons didn’t just give children all the information to make a taser, but Ray is more in the know about everything because of his memory. He has Isabella to give him occasional information and machines, so he experiments. Ray is shown as being excellent with machines and is very intelligent. c. They know to look for cameras, listening devices, and even Morse code in 2045. The demons are smart enough to conquer the human species, but too dumb to notice pattern codes being written on books? It’s not that the demons aren’t smart enough to notice the codes, they probably just don’t bother checking. They most likely consider the children to be just meat, even if they are incredibly intelligent meat. They are underestimating them BECAUSE the demons have the upper hand. They probably think that there’s no way that a mere human could get the best of them. None of this makes sense why would the demons give them the world's information and not censorship. Majority of dominant groups in history censors information from the losing side. Because, like I stated, this would make them even more curious. Even just not being allowed past the gate gives the characters reason to be curious and to try looking outside. To an extent, I am sure they are censoring, just not as much as you might think they should. Also, The demon goal is develop high iq kids not knowledgeable ones. Instead, the books would be filled with math questions, probabilities, puzzles, and other problem solving to increase IQ. It shouldn't have the world information because that would make them curious about the world and want to explore outside of the farm. The writer seems doesn't understand the difference between high IQ and being knowledgeable. I’m sure they have plenty of books like that, but the demons are underestimating the abilities of the children so they think it couldn’t possibly hurt. I personally think NOT having the information would make them even more curious. I’m sure the writer understands just fine, thank you. -constant last minute flashbacks to gain pitty pts, instead of a natural character building from the start. How am I suppose sympathize wit 2d characters in a contrived scenario with demons and now you develop them when they are dead or their story arc is over. Why didn't you develop them from start, so I get to be immerse how real characters are? It is like building a house's foundation last and walls fall apart. I like how you say “last minute” flashbacks like this isn’t employed in basically any shounen anime ever. This technique is used all the time in anime, and are not really even constant. If you don’t like the flashbacks that’s cool, it’s your opinion, but I happen to like what it does for a character. The characters are developed well, in my opinion, even without the flashbacks. Sorry, just my opinion, I think it works (overuse is kinda monotonous though, to be fair). -Plot armor Plot armor Plot Armor. This show should be called Plot Armmor a1. Mother breaks Emma leg, but can't kill her cause Plot armor. There is no real threat in this show because of plot armor this show established. I’m sorry, what? Do you know how many problems that would cause for Isabella? Even if Grandma is on her side, I doubt all the demons would be so forgiving of her mess-up. She would have taken a serious hit in her reputation at the very least, especially since Emma is so valuable as merchandise. The threat is real, because now Norman can’t run away without leaving Emma behind. Plot armor is a no here, because there is a very good reason for Isabella not to kill Emma. a2. Norman no death scene when red shirts are given. Can't kill main character offscreen that's bad writing, so he has PLOT ARMOR. Making all flashbacks pointless. It isn’t necessarily bad writing, it just makes the audience wonder a little more and the ends are a bit looser, it leaves room for interpretation. I don’t know why you would see this as plot armor, that makes no sense. a3. Don going ziplining without a safety rope. Ofc he get it first try cause he has plot armor. To an extent, this is a fair point. However, the kids are shown practicing ziplining using rope, so doesn’t it maybe make sense he would have practiced with slinging the rope and sliding on the same rope? If he didn’t get it first try that night, he would be dead, but it most likely wasn’t his first practice. a4. The constant empty threats or glances, when they have plot armor. You know they aren't going to kill the main characters early. What makes it even worse is that they know they have plot armor established in episode 2, when Norman calculates their value. They had to kill 36 kids to get 3 perfect scoring kids. To an extent the threats are empty, but Emma got her leg broken and Norman was sent off, and Ray was next. Ray would have gone through with his plan to light himself up if not for Emma and Norman. Just because those other children aren’t perfect scorers, that doesn’t mean they weren’t highly valued. I’m sure there were several older, intelligent kids who made it to 12 as well. So, to an extent, I see your point, but I disagree. This why Asian horror films and older horror films don't put their characters under threat early. It's insulting and gimmicky because once you see one horror film with jumpscares/fake tension moments and nothing happens then you know gonna be same for rest films. I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make here, so I’m just gonna leave this one alone for the most part. I think it does very well at building up tension and some of the jump scares genuinely shook me a little bit. Instead, they spend time developing their characters first. So, that viewers emotionally attach to them, when shit goes down in end you care for them. This is why the whole crux of decent horror/thriller/psychological show is character development, which this show has major problems in. I don’t agree that the characters are developed badly, so there isn’t much point on me commenting on this part. mom -conflict of character empathy b1. 1st ep shown hugging Connie picture alone implying she does have empathy for kids. However, 2nd ep kids figured out she has murdered at least 36+ kids possibly even 60kids, and she goes so far as collects kids toys that were shipped. How does it make sense for her to show no signs of trauma, have no coping mechanisms, nor she is emotionally disconnected? She continues to try emotionally connect with the kids. You would have to be a psychopath to have a remainder of all kids she watch die and go on as if nothing happened or committed suicide along time ago. The toys would constantly trigger her traumatic events. I don't understand how can people say she is realistic. 36+KIDS!!! PEOPLE!!! NOT EVERYONE REACTS THE SAME WAY TO TRAUMA. Sorry, I just had to get that part out. Isabella, having been in that place herself, obviously does have empathy for the kids, because she understands what it’s like to be in the dark and to later on have to face the horror of it herself. But, even in real life, sometimes people do what they have to do to survive. And that’s what Isabella does. In my opinion, her even showing empathy and emotion at all is proof that it fucks with her at least a little. For example, the longing way she touches the photograph Ray takes of her, or her face when Norman asks if she is happy in episode 10, both show her as affected by it all. She sings that lullaby constantly, almost like an anxiety crutch. Emotionally connecting with the kids is her wish, even if she does have to kill them later. Despite it being really screwed up, she really does want them to be the happiest they can be before death. After all, there’s not a single thing she can do to stop it. Is she a psychopath? I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe? The whole reason for her being a mom is to survive, everything she has gone through, why would she kill herself? Like I said, everyone deals with trauma differently. - 200iq btw perfect scores c1. Mother brings in krone, who trains and gives tons info to kids on how to escape. It completely backed fired for mother. How did she not see this coming, when becoming nanny is competitive field. The reason Isabella brought Krone was because she was already actively suspicious of Ray, and wanted to deter him with a force he couldn’t control. Ray is used to knowing everything and being able to control a situation, but this is not something he was prepared for. She might have seen it coming, but she most likely thought the kids wouldn’t get anywhere either way, so she was underestimating them. She killed Krone either way, so I guess it doesn’t matter. c2. She does literally nothing, which exposes Ray as spy. Why didn't she do anything to protect his cover? Why didn't she do anything to reinforce her side of story??? Up to this point in the story, she is most likely at least a bit suspicious of Ray. She probably figured it wouldn’t matter if his cover was blown, because Emma would never leave him behind regardless. c3. She lets them go to wall all the time and only caught them once, let's them train, gives them tons information to help their escape, she let's them tell other kids exposing her, let them plan, and in end she even let's them escape. Only time she catches them is to break Emma's leg, which is sign of desperation. After completely losing the information game for doing nothing, she begs for help from grandma to deal with krone, which was her mistake to begin with. How is she 200iq and playing 10d chess again? Like I said, she is underestimating them. With all the difficulties like the wall, the younger children, getting over the cliff, the security near the bridge, ect, she probably just thought it wasn’t possible. She might have been desperate and only caught them this time to break Emma’s leg because of Norman’s upcoming shipment. She needed to ensure none of them would go anywhere. She didn’t really beg grandma for help, she knew grandma would take her side and gave Krone the chance to not betray her, even though Isabella knew she would. Pretty decent strategy, but not perfect. c4. She wasted all her time on radio and signaling demons, which is bad idea because why would tell your 0 tolerance boss, who eats humans, that you majorly fucked up. Instead, she could have used that time to catch up to Emma break her leg again and forcing all kids back home again. She even caught up to them in end. Imagine not wasting that time on radio. Honestly, I completely agree with this one. Maybe she wasn’t thinking straight because she was panicking? I don’t think she could have forced all the kids home, but they wouldn’t have left Emma, so that would have definitely been the better option for her to take. Maybe she wanted them to escape after all? She seemed fine letting them go in the end scene, maybe she was giving them time or just genuinely didn’t think about it? But honestly, would it have really mattered? The kids might have been able to overpower her together, and even if they killed her, they would probably have enough time to get away before demons showed, and the tracking devices were now null, so.. idk. krone d1. krone copes through violence and beating doll. She is only character that is consistent with her story. However, she is a useless character for the story and actually ruins the other characters. I don’t think she is useless, she is another take on the trauma and stress of going through what Isabella did, and was good for creating tension and giving the children information. I quite liked her, actually. Her death scene was haunting to watch, and it could maybe show that this is what would happen if Isabella messed up as well? Who knows. -mom loses development because time spent on krone. -mom looks like a moron. krone trains kids and give them tons info. This also weakens the kids characters, instead of the kids the opportunity to prove their smart. Mom actually gains because of Krone. She is shown as business woman, no nonsense, though she is also seen bragging about her children to Krone, showing she does actually care a little. It gives Isabella more edge to be even scarier later on. It doesn’t weaken the kids’ characters, because half the information they asked, they already knew the answer. They were trying to test Krone to make sure she wasn’t going to lie. They needed the information, and they got it. Not stupid on their part to use an opportunity freely given to them. Always make use of what you have before it’s gone. d2. Her flashback of them learning martial arts made no sense. Seeing how moms never use it. In the ten years, not once she used it and only gets dull over time. Also, the kids would never fight 1 on 1 lolol this isn't a fighting anime. To an extent, it makes sense, but I agree with your point a bit. However, I think Isabella used her fighting knowledge to successfully make a clean break in Emma’s leg, so there is a tiny reason for why this is in there at least. d3. ep 3 or 4 krone shows tracking device shows kids location during hide and seek. ep 7 the first thing krone shows kids tracking device only shows 1 dot , when emma and norman are there. In ep 11, they show that there were kids behind door overhearing whole convo to prove moms selling them to demons. Krone should have saw all bright dots on tracking device of all kids behind door. However, none of them show up on tracking device. Even tracking device only allowed to show kids when plot needs it. This is actually a very good point, and one I hadn’t really thought of. norman e1. 2nd episode he has trouble climbing tree, so emma has to climb for him. forgot episode #, but he runs up perpendicular to wall lolololo. He defys the laws of gravity, yet jumping to otherside of cliff is impossible for him lol. Bad writing because it ruins the climax reveal of the cliff, since he can obviously just jump over. Also, they could just escape that night. They built up that cliff reveal by having viewers being curious as why is security lax, only to be ruined by previous scene norman running up wall defying gravity. Norman doesn’t defy laws of gravity, he uses the gravitational pull of the higher branch to gain momentum enough to swing himself up, in like an arc. Is it a little crazy? Yeah, but it’s an anime, and it fits his character well enough at least. Obviously he can’t just jump to the other side, he doesn’t have the strength of Don to throw far enough, and the area he was at first wasn’t the area they crossed anyway. This does not at all ruin the reveal in my opinion. e2. He's shown to care about kids, but connie death traumatic experience but shows nothing afterwards. That's not how first time experiencing trauma works. They would be having nightmares involuntary screaming for at least a week. You can't just magically alter your body's reactions. Norman is shown having nightmares later on, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t having any about Conny before that scene is shown. Not everyone screams in their nightmares, some people twitch, gasp, or just sweat and lie still. I’m just saying, everyone has different reactions. e3. He's curious to go to wall all time, but never curious to lockpick the gate and see whats outside the wall or open all doors in house find mother lying even more. He already knows Mother is liar, when she said going to wall is dangerous. Why wouldn't he want to explore more? Again he's curious, but never questions the following: -why can't they go past line mother said not to - which first episode they prove she is lying and at the gate during day looks like 5 years old. -why they never allowed to go to outside -why do they never meet the parents adopting -why have they never gotten any letters from kids that are adopted -why they are labeled numbers on side of their neck If he was realistically this smart, then he would have question everything mother has lied about and realized sooner they're in a prison with numbers labeled on them. There’s a simple reason for this, and it’s that he trusts her enough not to look into it too far. Plus, none of the rooms give anything away, only the gate, the fence, and the secret room, which he does not know about at that time. Young people, even if they are curious, place heavy amounts of trust in the words of adults, and he has no reason at this point not to trust in Isabella. He suspects she lies, but most likely thinks that it is for his own good. The letter thing is more suspicious, but I highly doubt he is gonna disobey just for that. Norman has been in this place since he was a baby, and all his siblings have numbers, so it makes sense to just think of them as normal. Even though he is curious, he is placing trust in Isabella as his caretaker, which several children, even ones who are victims of abuse, do as well. It’s just a kid thing. e4. He shows off to krone that he can run faster than her. He is characterize as mature and strategist, yet shows off all strategies and proves he's faster than krone. Basic strategy 101 don't give your enemy all your strategies and don't showoff proving your capable. When you are strong, pretend you are weak. To create doubt and uncertainty. Krone would have most likely known Norman was holding back on purpose. Norman is still more nervous about Isabella than he is of Krone. That strategy would work, but I think Norman has it to not hold back. Krone might have gotten a little more slowed due to having already been sprinting for 20 minutes. e5. doesn't even contemplate on capturing or murdering mother. Killing mother eliminates the threat, who knows them. 2nd reveals the demons response time to situation, how far is reinforcements, and that moms tracking device signals them. Ray and Norman contemplate this in episode 3, but it is revealed by Krone in episode 7 that killing Isabella would set of an alarm to the demons. Norman is playing everything safe and planning before launching an attack. He is planning ahead rather than being impulsive. e6. Capturing is best option before they escape. So, mother doesn't warn or goes after them like it did in finale. It was so bad. She could went after them and break their legs again. Capturing her might have worked, but think about how strong Isabella is. It would have been difficult. Emma tried to hold Isabella back and got her leg broken. Don is one of the strongest and I have my doubts he could have taken down Isabella. e7. Why did Norman plan on escaping on last day of shipment, when food supplies are depleted, as noted above. Also, the demons will know they are escaping because no one shows up for shipment. The best time escape is a month in so they have 1month of food reserves to start a new life and the demons wouldn't know. How are you going to survive with low food rations?? Are chickens just gonna magically appear and feed them? What kind master plan is this? Food supplies are not depleted, they are being stored. Waiting until the last minute was a good idea so they could gather until the very end. They stored food for months for this. The demons wouldn’t have known without Isabella letting them know that night, and being the night before shipment, that gave them an entire day to get gone before the demons came after them. ray f1. exposes himself to mom doing nothing to stop norman or emma from going to gate and delivering the bunny. He could have said he can deliver the bunny and the rest can stay in house. Mom should known ray betrayed her and stop giving stuff. Ray should known this exposes him. I gave my answer to this above, but to summarize, it could have been done better, but if all had gone to plan, it would have definitely worked. Isabella has a soft spot for Ray I think, so she allows him closer to her regardless. f2. Only wants them three to escape, when having groups people spread increases his chances for survival. if they escape in all directions, this is best chance of them surviving. Also, more cannon fodder/ red shirts to protect main characters. Ray should know this by reading all his books. Larger groups don’t necessarily mean increasing chances of survival. In fact, the more people, the worse it would be to get them all out safely. They would never want to split up the entire group, there’s no way. I hate to say it, I wanted them all to get out, but when Ray said it was impossible I found myself agreeing a little bit. The plan worked and I am very happy it did, but it could have easily gone wrong. The “cannon fodder” comment is gross and I’m just not gonna touch that one. f3. gives away info that don and gilda knows the truth, when they can be potential wild card. Why give enemy info?? Now, Mom knows to watch them, but of course she doesn't cause of plot. They get away training and building ropes. He does, but Isabella was smarter and caught him. Isabella doesn’t watch them as closely because of Emma and Ray being the more dangerous to look out for, and she probably didn’t think Don and Gilda could do it on their own. What Isabella didn’t know was that there were more children involved. f4. Fetus memories Not fragmented memories. Fully detailed fetus memories of bridge and being close to demon hq lololo. Again deprives ray demonstrating his genius and instead given knowledge by the writer. Why didn't he share any info on bridge being demon hq, beforehand? He doesn’t have fully detailed memories, just snippets. He doesn’t know everything, just where he came from and a bit about the demons and other children. If he had full details he would have known all about the best way to escape, but he didn’t. He didn’t know about the bridge, just that the babies came from headquarters and they came through the gate. f5. Escaping at night is dumb strategically wise. Because of poor vision and they are running. If one of them trips, someone sprains their ankles. It's over. Of course that won't happen because that's realistic. Also, if the demons have Helicopters or Predator drones with thermals, they are fucked. He's suppose to be the Technology expert btw. This is a fair enough point. It would be very dangerous. But, to be fair, during the day they would have had no chance of getting away without alerting Isabella. The fire would have only really worked as a plan at night. The demons may be capable of that, but they were watching the bridge, not the cliff. Ray was planning on being a distraction so he thought the kids would make it to the bridge before Isabella could alert the demons. emma g1. there's no backstory about her or any explanation for her behavior. There's literally nothing. You see glimpses of the dynamic between her, Ray, and Norman in Norman’s flashback, and the one fron the very beginning. She is characterized as being stubborn (she keeps trying to see and talk to Norman while he is sick), but kind and fun-loving, just through those flashbacks. There is something, but obviously you weren’t looking hard enough. g2. emma cutting her ear was pointless and only delayed mother like 10 seconds. She even caught up to them, despite her wasting all her time on radio and not going after them. She could just met up in forest with other kids like mother told her to, then taser the device in the forest before going to the wall. Her cutting her ear only told mother that she is escaping. If she didn't cut her ear, mother would assume she was with kids. Perfect test scorer btw. Emma did not have the time to very carefully cut the tracker out, and the other children had the taser, so this was honestly the best way to make time for herself and the children. What you said could have worked, but I also think that Emaa cutting her ear placed a lot of pressure on Isabella, distracting her and possibly making her lose focus, which is possibly why she made her dumb decisions. I think it was a good move, but maybe not a completely 100% necessary one. g3. let's ray going thru suicide plan, instead of telling him norman's plan. At no point she just tells ray the plan before he lights the match. She suppose to be caring. Why would she risk matching lighting up. Another pointless dramatic scene for sake of being melodramatic. They had all this time to train, hid food, tell other kids, but can't tell ray cause drama. Emma could have told him Norman’s plan, very true. But then it wouldn’t have been as exciting to watch, it wouldn’t have the same tension, the suspense. I think this moment actually places even more personality to Ray as well. Plus, Ray might not have agreed and found it too risky, he wanted to die anyway, had since the beginning. This was Emma’s best shot at saving Ray’s life. The writer’s job is to make drama. Just saying. g4. Experiences traumatic experience even goes so far to puking on Connie's death, then nothing. Ptsd patients take therapy and even necessary meds. Next day just gets over it and everything is fine. Realistically, she would be having nightmares for month and screaming involuntary at night waking up whole house. It's like they forgot traumatizing experience seeing Connie's dead body. Of course, because Connie is just another plot device shock value. Emma doesn’t just “get over it”. She has nightmares, she is probably constantly thinking about Conny, she wants to save the other kids because of what happened to Conny, which is why she keeps mentioning her in the first couple episodes. She still has trouble putting up a wall around mom, and she is so determined partly because of what she saw. I don’t know how you can honestly say that Emma doesn’t care, it’s ridiculous. Also, forgot to talk about demon scene saying it's ok to kill the kids. This is bad writing because brain dies off first in couple minutes. This why you are taught in middle school health class, taken cpr, or watch medical dramas past 6mins and they are brain dead. 3mins in and the brain is already suffering severe damage. How can demons live off dead brain mush, when they been culling off kids for an intelligent brain. why does pointing out terrible writing matters? Because you are lowering the writing standards for horror/psychological/thriller genre. The only thing going for this genre has is the quality of writing. It's not fighting or boobie anime, where you can have shitty writing, but amazing fighting choreography and as anime connoisseurs call it "artwork". The millions dollars that is spent on this anime could been spent to help bigger budget with other better animes or even help Japanese films for better productions. Or instead of giving them money for a fake 2d emotional abuse children scenes, actually donate the millions of dollars to real abused children charities. Your point here is ridiculous, plenty of people love this anime (me included). I could say the same thing to you, I’m sure you enjoy a show that I don’t. Why waste money on that, donate to charity instead! Let me tell you, I donate to charity every single month. What people do with their money and budget is THEIR business and not yours. If someone wants to use their money on making a shitty movie or something, let them. It’s their money. I had fun writing my opinion on your critiques, but this makes you sound tepid and shallow. This would makes sense for superhero shows that have awful heavily edited action scenes, but is high rated cause the viewership is bunch 5 year olds, who can't think yet. However, people here watch 100+ animes, read tons of mangas, and write long descriptive reviews and not realize the bad writing in this show? What's worse is that 62,587 believe this show writing is perfect and complete masterpiece. 97,932 think the writing is actually good. This is far more horrifying than demons. Does it make you feel better to discredit other people’s opinions? I really enjoyed this show, and you didn’t. That’s fine. But what you’re saying is that people shouldn’t enjoy the show, and even call them five year olds, and that is ridiculous. Grow up. I know you aren’t gonna read this, but I had fun, and I hope people liked it. Please feel free to put your opinions! I’d love to chat about them!

#the promised neverland #spoilers #anime #myanimelist #yakusoku no neverland #emma tpn #ray tpn #norman tpn #isabella tpn #anime spoilers #anime analysis #don tpn #gilda tpn #sister krone

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swiss-cheeze · 6 years ago

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Anime || Gwilym Lee x reader

Request: can you make a Gwilym Lee fanfic were the girl is one big anime addict and Gwilym learns about lupin iii from her?

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Warnings: might have swearing I can’t remember

A/N: I’m so sorry this took so long!

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Requests: open!

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Anime had been a big part of (Y/n)’s life since she was a kid; Pokémon, Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh, all that good stuff. As she got older, all the newer anime just didn’t stick. She had heard of all the famous ones; Black Butler, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, but none of them looked interesting or sparked her enough for a watch. So she stayed with the retro stuff. When Gwilym found out about (Y/n)’s anime likings he couldn’t help but let a smile slip when she got giddy over some old things she had found; whether it be original drawings, figurines, buttons, toys, posters or even the original books or special DVD collection.

“Babe look!” (Y/n) said with a grin suddenly pulling Gwils hand in another direction, she came across an anime shop, “can we go in? Can we? Can we? Can we?” the girl pleaded.

“It’s your choice babe” Gwil said with a chuckle and smile. (Y/n) grinned and quickly ran into the shop, heading straight for the manga and DVD section while Gwil held back and slowly walked around looking at everything.

“Sweetheart!? HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME!?” (Y/n) called out from wherever she was.

“I tell you every night. WHY” Gwil answered as he slowly made his way to his girlfriend. Gwil turned the corner and came face to face with a grinning (Y/n).

“They have the whole collection of Lupin the Third!” (Y/n) quickly said, “Please can we get them?” she asked, “this was my childhood and I was only able to watch the episodes!” she said quickly, hoping to con the man in front of her, Gwil chucked softly at (Y/n)’s antics before nodding.

“Yes we can” he said through his grin. (Y/n) quickly threw a thank you to Gwil before walking to the front desk and happily placing down the collection as Gwil trailed on behind, stopping quickly to grab a book and then placed it down on top of (Y/n)’s manga. ‘Manga for Dummies’ it read. (Y/n) cast a quick glance to Gwil before deciding against it and opting to later question him. Gwil paid for the books as (Y/n) happily bounced next to him with anticipation.

“Thank you” the person behind the counter mumbled as (Y/n) and Gwil started walking out of the store, plastic bags filled with Manga in hand. The door made a small dingle as the girl opened it to walk out and took Gwils hands, looking to the right she immediately saw a few people with cameras.

“Gwil, they’re back” (Y/n) said with a little sigh, she just wanted a nice, quiet day out with Gwil and her manga but that wouldn’t be achieved right now. A group of three teenage girls walked up to the Gwil and (Y/n).

“Could we have your autograph Gwil?” one girl asked shyly pushing a ballpoint marker towards the man, Gwil simply smiled warmly.

“Of course!” Gwil said happily, the other girls let out a breath as they grabbed pieces of paper or old receipts. Gwil signed the girl’s phone case, another girl’s receipt and the final one held out a Robin Hood book making Gwil chuckle softly at the irony. As Gwil signed the book he was given the girls looked to the bag that was wrapped around your elbow.

“Did you just come from that anime store?” one of the girls questioned as Gwil handed back the book to the one who wasn’t speaking.

“Yeah we did, Gwil was kind enough to let me buy some manga” (Y/n) said with soft confidence and a happy smile (which was contagious seeing as it made Gwil smile too) but the girls looked at each other before bursting out in fits of giggles and laughter. The smile was quickly wiped from (Y/n)’s face, as was Gwils.

“Y-you have a weeabo as a GIRLFRIEND!” one of the girls cackled as she doubled over for a second with her hand over her mouth. The paparazzi down the street started clicking their cameras even more now and opted for the flash on their cameras a well.

“SHES PROBABLY A FURRY TOO!” another one yelled. That comment made (Y/n) flush and tears spring in her eyes but she blinked them off; and made Gwil flush with anger.

“It’s none of your business what my girlfriend is or isn’t” Gwil said quickly. His grip tightened on (Y/n)’s hand, “now if you’ll excuse us. We have some light reading to do” he said before quickly walking away, tugging (Y/n) along slightly. The girls gaze stayed looking at the floor as the pair walked to the car only another street away. The car ride home was silent and thick with unwanted tension; Gwil was angry at the girls for saying such rude things to his beloved while (Y/n) couldn’t help but think that maybe Gwil didn’t like her having such a liking and addiction to anime and manga, she didn’t want to bring it up in case he ended up hating her and wanted her to move out. So she quickly got out the car when they got home and raced to the shared bedroom as Gwil brought in their bags form earlier, Gwil understood (Y/n)’s feelings and wanted the girl to feel comfortable so he let her go and didn’t chase, it would most likely only make things worse between them.

Gwil placed the bag of manga outside the door to the closed bedroom and knocked on the door, “your books are out here babe, I’m going to start dinner and I’ll call you when it’s done. Come out whenever you’re comfortable my love” the man grabbed his own book before heading off into the kitchen to make dinner. The door opened behind Gwil and the plastic bag was moved from the hall into the bedroom along with the sound of the door shutting quickly, at least she’s happy was all Gwil thought as he started on her favourite dinner.

Ding!

Gwils phone went off.

From: My Lover ❤

I hope I don’t embarrass you with my anime obsession…or whatever you are wanting to call it. I understand if you don’t want me to be around anymore, I can have my bags packed by morning.

Needless to say Gwil was shocked and sent a quick message back.

To: My Lover ❤

Darling its okay I promise. I don’t want you to leave me. Not ever unless it was an actual reason. And I promise you this isn’t a reason. Anime and those books make you happy and as long as you’re happy I’m happy; that’s why I also got that book, so I could understand and be happy with you. Not that you don’t make me happy anyway! But you get what I mean.

Gwil didn’t get a message back but continued with making the dinner.

---

The smell of (f/d) wafted through the house as Gwil set the table and lit some candles in the middle, it wasn’t meant to be romantic but (Y/n) deserved it after today. Since locking herself in the room (Y/n) had been storming through her manga and was already onto the last book before Gwil knocked on the door.

“Love? Dinners ready. If you want to eat in the room you can” Gwil said softly. (Y/n) got up from the bed and shoved a bookmark in the manga as she trudged to the door and unlocked it. Gwil stood before her in the same clothes as before but his hair was messier, he looked slightly pale and exhausted, probably worried about me (Y/n) had thought, her head dropped low and looked at the ground.

“I’m sorry” (Y/n) said softly, Gwil gave the girl a tight lipped smile.

“It’s alright, have some food and you can come back and keep reading” Gwil said softly, he kissed the girls head before walking off back to the table he had set up. A candle stand stood in the middle as the candles let off the only light, the smell was amazing as (Y/n) walked to the table, and a small smile graced her lips as she immediately recognised the smell as her favourite dinner to be served. Gwil stood behind her chair as the girl sat down and pushed it in for her before walking to his and sitting down, he looked to (Y/n) sheepishly. “I used your parent’s recipe” he mumbled softly, “I hope its okay”

“I’m sure its lovely Gwil, thank you” (Y/n) said softly before digging in, it tasted the same as it used to when she was a child; it was perfect.

“Would…” Gwil started before pausing a second, “would you teach me about the anime and manga you like?” he asked. (Y/n) stopped her chewing as she looked to the man in front of her.

“You want me to…teach you?”(Y/n) asked.

“I guess? Or watching and read. I’m not sure…” Gwil answered before continuing with his food, “it makes you happy and I don’t want those things the girls said to get to your head. It wasn’t right” Gwil said.

“We can watch it if you want” (Y/n) mumbled softly through a mouthful of food, she had covered her mouth with the back of her hand out of respect but it still came out a little muffled as she tried not to spill her food.

“Yeah? You wouldn’t mind?” Gwil asked, not knowing what he even meant by ‘you wouldn’t mind’.

“Why would I mind?” (Y/n) asked chuckling softly as Gwil shook his head.

“I don’t know” Gwil said through his smile as he continued eating.

“Well, which one did you want to watch first?” (Y/n) asked as she took a sip of her drink.

“Whichever is your favourite” Gwil said softly, this made (Y/n) shift slightly in her seat.

“Lupin the Third is my favourite” the girl mumbled softly.

“Yeah? What’s good about it? Whys it your favourite?” Gwil asked with a smile, trying to coax the girl into opening up more about this.

“W-well…Arsène Lupin III is the grandson of world-famous thief Arsène Lupin, and he's living up to his grandfather's memory as a high-profile thief himself. But because of this, Lupin III attracts the attention of the Inspector Zenigata of the ICPO, as well as other criminals. Lupin III's criminal lifestyle even seeps into his love life!” exclaimed a little with a smile remembering some bits of the show, “the main woman in Lupin III's world is Fujiko Mine, who Lupin III can never tell is working with or against him. Lupin even has a gunman partner called Daisuke Jigen!” (Y/n) finished with a smile.

“Well” Gwil said as he finished his food and put his utensils down with a smile, “sounds interesting, when can we start?” he asked and (Y/n) it her lip softly and shrugged.

“You know, whenever I guess I don’t mind” the girl said.

“How about after dinner?” Gwil asked with a knowing glint in his eyes. (Y/n) looked up with a smile and nodded, “then is settled!” Gwil said happily, “now, desert?” he asked.

“I would love some desert” (Y/n) said as she finished her last mouthful of dinner, “that was lovely Gwil. Thank you, for the food and help with the girls” (Y/n) said as Gwil took their plates. As Gwil set the plates so they wouldn’t drop while carrying them he bent down and kissed (Y/n) softly.

“My pleasure doll” he said softly before walking off.

#bohemian rhapsody #gwliym lee #gwilym lee x reader #x reader #fanfiction #anime #anime addict #queen

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