#with a cameo from goemon

[squid-sona]

Sometimes you have to draw things that only appeal to you. And by sometimes I mean all the time fuck everybody else

[ctrl-lupin]

I was looking back at the ending of Castle of cagliostro and the bit where Clarisse de Cagliostro asked him to bring her along on his journeys even when she admits she doesn't know how to be a theif now when I looked at the hug and kiss I never really saw it as romantic more like he doesn't want to leave but he also doesn't want to jeopardise her life either. The fact we never got to see her again after this movie surprises me apart from a cameo in part 5 episode 1 in your head cannon what do you think happened to Clarisse de Cagliostro as it seems she has feelings for him

Man, oh man. There is enough things to say on the topic to write an entire essay. Personally my interpretation is that

1) Clarisse had some form of misplaced crush on Lupin - he saved her, he's cool and mysterious, he's her knight in shining armour. So of course she wants to follow him, be a thief like him, be a part of his life. Cagliostro's also full of bad memories, she just got freshly traumatised, and while we don't know her age she's probably too young to be ruling a country. It's no surprise she wants to get out of there.

2) Lupin, who is older and knows better, is having none of that. He's very attached to Clarisse and I'd say that the affection he feels for her is probably akin to an older sibling's (I can get into my headcanon of how they're related in another post if you're interested). He wants what's best for her, and he knows that he'd be a bad influence on her, no matter how much he wants to stay with her/for her to stay with him. Maybe he also wants to give her space to grow out of those feelings (we've seen how awkward it can get with Ami Enan... 😬) and out of her desire to be a thief like him.

3) About Lupin wanting to stay (as opposed to taking Clarisse with him), there's also the whole interpretation of Cagliostro as an older Lupin who's considering retirement, which I won't get into for personal reasons (but I'm sure you can find more about that if you dig a little, especially if you look into Miyazaki's own interpretation of the movie).

As for why we've never seen her again, imo that's just because of the franchise's statu-quo - all secondary characters aside from the Main Five are one-off characters who only exist within the bounds of their respective movie or season (admittedly the more recent seasons, P4, 5 and 6 have been breaking that pattern a little). It's the same reason we've never seen Murasaki again despite her being literally married to Goemon (for like 10 hours, but still). I'd like to imagine that Lupin still keeps in touch with Clarisse (and with many others), maybe even visits her. We just don't see it onscreen for Doylist reasons.

(My personal self-indulgent headcanon is that Clarisse is now the ruler of Cagliostro, she's still in frequent contact with Lupin, and she made polyam marriage legal just so he could legally marry his partners there)

[stardustlives]

GOTY 2024

The games keep comin'. Another list of games I played throughout the year I thought could be worth mentioning during a game of the year discussion. This list continues to omit games I've replayed and games I didn't think were good or interesting enough to get a mention.

Games of the Year

1)Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom Now is the era of indie 3D platformers all about insane movement tech. Was utterly elated by the energy and level design in this car based platformer where your primary traversal ability is ramping off of stuff. Please give the demo a shot I think you'll find something really special here.

2)Metaphor: ReFantazio Fantasy Persona. After just being okay with Persona 5, I got completely engrossed with this one and its world. I enjoyed how demanding some later fights became as they had me actually do significant changes to my party and strategy to overcome them. In these times of games that are way too fucking long, this was a rare instance of me getting bummed by seeing the end of the adventure on the horizon.

3)Astro Bot The degree of polish in this thing is on another level. Individual stages feel like an entire event as they'll each treat you to lavish set pieces and elaborate, unique mechanics. A joy to give yourself to while looking for cute cameos from PlayStation's history. Now, concerning those cameos, you might think they would prioritize the recognizable mascots or big sellers, and while those are in there, Astro Bot will also grab you by the shoulders, look you straight in the eye and go: "Arc the Lad." It's awesome.

4)Nine Sols Fresh off of their struggle against Xi Jinping, narrative horror game developer Red Candle Games decided to take a swing at a tight, execution heavy, parry focused, action exploration game. And boy what a swing it is. Its intense action is backdropped by a cool comic book art style that it uses to deliver a beautiful melancholic story about one's time passing. Strong mood and fantastic boss fights.

5)BAKERU The Kirby's Epic Yarn developer made a Ganbare Goemon spiritual successor. Everything's bouncy and joyous. This thing's a non-stop party with regular enemies spread across levels having a silly good time just for the fun of it. The bright colors and bad guys hanging out gave me Ape Escape 3 vibes.

6)Animal Well There used to be a time where video games were occult and mysterious. Not because they didn't have tutorials but because the tutorials were written down inside manuals and we didn't read those. Nevertheless! This feeling of mystery kids make for themselves by being impatient is what Animal Well wants to emulate in its own atmosphere and design. The game refusing to textually explain itself instead presenting you with situations that nudge you towards uncovering its functions yourself leading to great feelings of discovery.

7)Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Elden Ring 2 over here. Loved the new weapon types and its gorgeous environments. Don't got too much new to say about more Elden Ring other than I mostly enjoyed the controversial high difficulty. But, boy, they can ease up with the next one. They gave entire boss move sets to regular respawning enemies. They don't got nothin' to prove it's okay.

8)Tekken 8 Tekken's fucking awesome. As a casual player, the intuitive nature of the controls allows them to be easily expressive. It's a great time at even lower skill levels which is not always the case with highly regarded fighting games. The (on release at least) downright reasonable progression mechanics made me reevaluate Mortal Kombat 1 from the prior year pretty negatively by reminding me that even in a "live" game, progression systems can be about drip feeding game elements and rewards to the player without being entirely about maximizing their time in a microtransaction store.

9)Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines Grapple Dog is back and he's the latest platforming mascot to find an interdimensional portal with an edgier version of himself in it! She's got a gun too, watch out! Develops the design of the first game further with some new powerups that bestow special abilities for the duration of a level.

10)Crow Country A uniquely stylish nostalgia play on your classic Silent Hills and Resident Evils. It has a grainy 90's atmosphere over toy-like characters and environments that seem to either elicit a creeped out "analog horror" vibe for some or nostalgic coziness for others. I lean in the second camp. Either way, a very compelling diorama world to explore.

An Ample Selection of Runners-up

11)Penny's Big Breakaway Era of insane movement tech again. Same developer as Sonic Mania which I'm more critical about than most people. Mania is beautiful and has wonderful music but I frequently felt like I was just holding right and watching the game happen rather than playing it. Not here, this is a very involved 3D platformer with many synergizing movement options. Difficulty can be a bit inconsistent as some challenges give me the impression of having been only tested by people who got very good at the game as members of its development team. While most of the game is pretty chill, it will sometimes spike and demand very sharp execution from you. The high skill ceiling is definitely its own appeal though.

12)UFO 50 I spent the entirety of this thing's development thinking it was going to be 50 minigames so I was like "what's taking so long?" but no, this isn't 50 minigames, it's 50 games. Mostly at the scope of NES games but still. In the 50+ hours I put into it I ended up clearing 11 games and cherry clearing (completionist clearing) 7 of those. There's some meat on them bones and I want to go back to 'em. Getting into specifics for each games would be an essay on its own, but, hey, you want 50 NES games that are almost all at least pretty good?

13)Instruments of Destruction Red Faction: Guerilla developers got together to make a hybrid between Blast Corps and Besiege. In the main campaign you use a kinda shocking amount of unique vehicles to fulfill destruction objectives in various combinations of destroy this, don't destroy that, do it fast, dodge the missiles… always with a new kind of goofy ass car that might just act like a bulldozer or have a giant flipper at the front. Then, in the second campaign, the game fully turns into Besiege asking you to build your own motorized solutions to the blight of upright man-made structures. I fell off of that second one but the Blast Corps style main campaign was great fun the whole time.

14)Dread Delusion A tiny indie team taking on the task of making an entire Elder Scrolls game taking particular inspiration from the odd vibes of Morrowind. Extremely ambitious and inheriting the limitations of its inspirations both in the form of simplistic gameplay and not infrequent technical issues (though they did patch the game heavily and quickly). Limitations or no, I cannot speak highly enough of the creativity that courses through the world and its distinct lands. From its blighted medieval countryside to its, uh, blighted but worse and more fucked up industrialized Siberian snowlands. The real appeal to me is hanging out in the wonderful, imaginative world to learn of its factions and takes on supernatural concepts like ghosts, undead eating habits and relationships to what one might call gods.

15)Children of the Sun Devolver Digital presents: JFK Reloaded. You're a young psychic woman with a Mandy-esque beef against a freaky forest cult. The game has you scout the positions of cultists whom you must then take out with a single bullet whose path you can influence with a small suite of powers. Starting with the ability to "refire" the shot in a new direction after a kill. Each level is a pathing puzzle all about achieving some real grungy Yondu shit.

16)Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Oh boy. I have such mixed feelings here. Remake's excellent combat system is still here as good or even better than it used to be thanks to new playable characters and new mechanics they sorta have to sneak onto the controller. The environments are mostly great (except the jungle which sucks) as well as beautiful but much of the game is spent doing map clearing stuff, uneven sidequests, and mediocre minigames. I find much of this version of the story awkward as well. The pacing suffering most of all both from the sluggishness that comes from the map clearing open world design and the relentless maximalism that comes from the developers' decision to turbo stuff every moment of the story. High highs low lows and a whole lot of mediocre faff in-between.

Something I've thinking about a lot is how much substance is actually present in longer games and how that compares to games of more modest length. My somewhat thorough replay of the original FF7 in 2020 took 60 hours. My similarly thorough playthrough of FF7Remake (covering the 4~7 hour Midgar section of the original) took 40 hours. Rebirth, which runs until the end of disc 1 of 3, took over 100 hours and its mostly mediocre 6 hour final dungeon lasted longer than a full playthrough of my third favorite game Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner and its extra mode, Zoradius, a simple take on a 3D Gradius. Just something I couldn't get out of my mind all the way through that dungeon. The fights against the red dragon and wall monster were very good.

17)Great God Grove You're on your way to vacation in the titular GGG when you come upon the near divine instrument known as the Megapon which allows you to speak to people! Or, more specifically, repeat shit you're told! Wow!! From the same developers as Smile For Me this is also a wholesome little adventure about getting an adorable cast of oddballs to understand each other. If you've any taste for Psychonauts this is absolutely down your alley.

18)Frogun Encore Tiny sequel to Frogun (mentioned in the Catch Up section) with new mechanics and camera perspective. Encouraging even wackier speedrunning tech than the original. Very much worth playing both.

19)Pepper Grinder Handful of tiny games down here. A Devolver published joint in the style of a GBA game all about zooming through dirt with a large drill to collect treasure and perform sick jumps.

20)The Rise of the Golden Idol Outside of some quality of life adjustments to the UI this is mostly more of The Case of the Golden Idol. Which is good because while the original deduction game is very good you kinda can't play it again. You've already deduced everything there is to deduce. Taking its world that's much like ours but not quite to modern times means taking modern technological trappings in consideration while thinking through the incidents.

21)Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door A mostly slightly better version of Paper Mario: TTYD. Still a great game but not different in ways that are excessively worth noting.

22)Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Ups and downs. It has a 6 hour long prologue that is almost lethally boring but once it gets going after the first war segment I enjoyed it. A word I kept coming back to when I was trying to figure out my feelings for it was "cozy". This is sort of the platonic ideal for a PS1 style JRPG and how appealing you find this will depend on how cozy the PS1 JRPG form is to you. Unfortunately, carries over the PS1 JRPG characteristic of a wonky localization where it seems the writer and voice director simply did not speak to each other. Very odd changes ignoring what the original work was going for especially in sidequests. There's group of 4 characters that are clear parodies of shonen archetypes in their dialogue and designs but the voice direction is just doing something else. So similar to Suikoden 2 I might recommend you just play Suikoden 1 then that instead but if you want something comfortable and familiar I enjoyed it as comfort food.

23)Dragon's Dogma 2 Second attempt at trying to "get" Dragon's Dogma. Really loved the skill system but did not vibe with its idiosyncrasies and caprices. I wish its game design had either been way more normal or way weirder. Appreciate that if they're gonna have ridiculous fantasy slut garb the dudes can put it on too.

24)Berserk Boy We will simply never run out of indie takes on Mega Man and we should be grateful, frankly. This one's not the best out there with some frustrating jank, even softlocking me during an optional challenge which turned me off of all of them but it's neat all the same. People who make these have a good tendency to ensure they feature unique ideas and make their games interesting in their own right.

25)Froggo's Adventure: Verdant Venture Teeny weeny little Kirby's Adventure inspired tiny small thing. You're a frog who suspects a witch girl might have maybe stole something from your well so maybe you should go to her house and beat the shit out of her? Maybe! It's less than $1.50 CAD and a good time for it.

26)Nightmare Kart Formerly Bloodborne Kart until Sony said no literally a day from release. Kinda funnier than it's fun but benefits from a "you get what you pay for" valuation as it's free.

27)Starstruck: Hands of Time A meditation on the blurry line between inspiration and plagiarism and the ways one is necessary to enriching an ever developing creative inner world while its nearly indistinguishable sibling is a harbinger of rotten, even apocalyptic, stagnation. This game has right in its main menu a bibliography of inspirations featuring the likes of Chulip, Kare Kano, and Richard Wagner. On that last one, it's impossible and arguably irresponsible to discuss ol' Deutschland Dick without mentioning his influence on Adolf Hitler which the game will momentarily do, awkwardly maintaining a wholesome veneer while non-specifically gesturing towards a "dictator". I'm gonna be blunt here I did not like this one. It has an issue typical of creative projects without much oversight where it eventually ends up with its head a ways up its own ass with the metaphors and references. I spent most of its climax muttering "fuckin' wrap it up" to myself. Some of its gameplay is a not great rhythm game with an uneven soundtrack. "Break the Mold" is the closest it has to Gitaroo Man's Legendary Theme and it sucks ass.

Despite all that it's an interesting text worth interacting with if the word "different" is important to you when used in relationship to video games.

Catch Up

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010) Bastion (2011)

Tyranny: Gold Edition (2017) Tyranny is set in a world where evil has won and you, as an exceptional individual, have been scouted to be a "Fatebinder" a sort of a wandering lawyer/judge/executioner representing the judgement of Archon of Justice Tunon the Adjudicator, highest authority beneath Kyros the Overlord. The game denies you the ability to make a morally clean character as before the game begins in earnest you'll be made to determine your history as mediator between two of the empire's brutal armies: The uncompromising supremacist Disfavored and the infernal snarling horde of the Scarlet Chorus.

Regardless of how many games I play I still have blind spots, CRPGs being one of them. Ahead of playing Baldur's Gate 3 I wanted to get my feet wet and train my ability to lean into roleplaying, play a character whose values differ from mine and accept less than optimal resolutions. I struggled at first but what really unlocked the roleplaying for me was the Reputation system. The first companion who joins you is Verse of the Scarlet Chorus and I utterly hated her. Going through her dialogue tree and learning about her was initially exhausting to me and threatened to make me bounce off of the experience until after a particularly unpleasant story the game gave me the opportunity to bluntly call her disgusting. The way Reputation works in tyranny is that you concurrently build Favor and Wrath with factions and Loyalty and Fear with companions. One does not take from the other like in say, Mass Effect, there's no wrong answer there's just what your character would do. Leaning into my hatred for the Scarlet Chorus committed me to a character which let me have a great time learning about Tyranny's layered world. Sorta peters out in the 3rd act in, what I'm told, is common for CRPGs but the way there was always compelling.

Yuppie Psycho (2019) Demon Turf (2021) Demon Turf: Neon Splash (2022)

Scorn (2022) First person atmospheric adventure all about diving into an H.R. Giger-esque world. Freaky and gorgeous. Many people struggle to get what the combat expects of you which is that as much as possible you do not want to be in a fight. You want to let creatures pass and you only want to hit them so they're staggered enough to let you bail. Worth playing if you want to be in this sort of atmosphere.

Frogun (2022) Adorable platforming adventure with tight levels where you use the tongue of your "Frogun" to zip across gaps. Every level is to be done twice: first as a collectathon and routing exercise and then as a speedrunning challenge where the level design allows and enjoys ridiculous skips that will satisfyingly cut down your time to a fraction of your initial playthrough.

Marvel's Midnight Suns (2022) Okay so the on-ramp is too long and it drags real bad at the end and it's got (pre-mcu) Buffy era style Joss Whedon dialogue you might find grating but hear me out: Once the game gets going for real its system of one-shotting mooks, tossing them into each other, to build Heroism points that can then be cashed in for bigger moves produces a rhythm and strategizing I've never seen in any other tactics game. It's a great time.

Lunacid (2023) I was never really impressed or into creepypasta style horror but this thing marries it to shockingly potent effect with King's Field style pacing and atmosphere. Made by a very small team its got some wonky balancing but the mood is something else. Very high recommendation for anyone who takes pleasure in exploring odd, eerie spaces.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023)

Turbo Overkill (2023) First weapons you get are dual wielded laser magnums followed by laser SMGs that are also dual wielded. A button press will make a chainsaw burst from you cyborg leg and launch you into a high speed slide at no cost. In some ways this thing feels like it's trying to be The Final Boomer Shooter, going for peak stupid meathead video game fun.

Orbo's Odyssey (2023)

Lies of P (2023) My favorite non-FromSoft Souls game. Can Timothee Chalamet become a real boy? Derivative in nonnegligible ways but things like the weapon combining system and Pinocchio theming help keep it apart.

Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) Oh boy I might have played this gigantic thing twice in a row. Spunky little indie sleeper hit you may not have heard of; I gave it a year to truly complete its early access period. I loved it. I loved roleplaying as a Vengeance Paladin struggling against the Dark Urge, I loved the party (except Lae'zel) and loved the build making. My second playthrough was all about goofy multiclasses and gave me a real taste for it.

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (2023)

A More Modest Than Usual Selection Of Retro Games

Jumping Flash! (1995)

Jumping Flash! 2 (1996) Hadn't played this since I was 6 when I got lost in the second world's "maze" level even though these are little games for little babies that a little baby could play. Don't know what was wrong with me. Very neat looking and a fun look back to a time before standardization when there wasn't a set way to make a first person shooter or any sort of game for that matter.

Final Fantasy IX (2000, HD 2017)

The Adventures of Cookie and Cream (2001) FromSoftware experiment in making an entirely co-op game where each player runs through puzzle platforming to allow their partner to make progress. Played through this with a friend and it was a great time.

Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider (2001) Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf outside of North America, a puzzle game based on the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog Looney Tunes cartoons where you as Ralph have to use ACME contraptions to steal sheep from under Sam's nose. I was impressed by its capacity to emulate the cartoon's animation style with PS1 graphics and each stage having unique mechanics that never show up again. There's some real head scratchers in there too.

Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando (2003)

Ratchet: Deadlocked (2005) Going Commando was alright but I was annoyed with every part of it that wasn't just Ratchet & Clank combat. Then I remembered a rental from my childhood, like, hey, you know what game is nothing but Ratchet & Clank combat? All about leveling up your goofy ass guns so they get even goofier. Awesome time.

Call of Duty 2 (2005) You like that? You like me calling Call of Duty 2 a retro game?

Missed games I'd like to get around to when I can make time. The video games… Please... they are too good…

FANTASIAN Neo Dimension Freed from apple arcade, rub and tug diorama Final Fantasy.

Sorry We're Closed Resident Evil: Dead Aim by way of Silent Hill and Grasshopper Manufacture.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown I bought this months ago and never made time for it! Despite being a lifelong Ubisoft and Rayman hater, it's my opinion that Ubisoft Montpellier's Rayman Legends is an all-time great so you can imagine how upset I was when their next highly well received game didn't sell enough for Ubisoft's tastes so they shot the whole team in the back of the head. Eager to play it and complete my mourning period.

Dungeons of Blood and Dream Nasty ass grungy first person roguelite sorta thing.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven I gotta actually sit down and give a SaGa game a real shot and this one sounds way weirder than its art style suggests.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Genuinely not sure if I wanna play this one. It'd be the first Ryu Ga Gotoku game I skip but the length preemptively exhausts me. If I choose to play it, I need to figure out how I want to interact with it.

Flintlock: Siege of Dawn Played the demo which was alright and was intrigued by the exp system which has you gamble a multiplier. You never lose the exp but you might lose the bonus.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Great demo for a well focused, weird game; couldn't make time for it!

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Neat looking "good kind of a 7 out of 10" I don't want to pay for. Maybe after a deep discount or through alternative means once it's fully updated.

Gundam Breaker 4 Don't know if I could make time for it but I love designing robots.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Do I wanna play this? Do I wanna just replay the original?

Judero Whole stop motion world made with old customized figures, I wanna see it!

Slitterhead Demo for this one by the Silent Hill 1 and Siren director was rough but I'm still intrigued.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Need to hear more about this one to know if it's a return to Superstar Saga quality or if it carries the issues of later Mario & Luigi RPGs

Sonic X Shadow Generations They made a good Sonic game? Seemingly titled like a slashfic?

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Want this to be my way to "get" S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Gonna do the same thing I did for Baldur's Gate 3 and give it a year of updates.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Got frustrated at how effusive the reception to this was because it made it something else to add to this bloated list. Good problem to have.

Kura5: Bonds of the Undying A free Boktai fangame that seems very cute.

[retrosofa]

We got a lot of trivia for Cutie Honey episode 22: “My Beloved Paradise Academy.”

Screenwriter: Masaki Tsuji

Art Director: Iwamitsu Ito

Animation Director: Shinya Takahashi

Director: Kazukiyo Shigeno

The animation director for this episode, Shinya Takahashi, has a history of working on Toei Animation’s early majokko series. He previously did the character designs for Himitsu no Akko-chan, Mahou no Mako-chan, Sarutobi Ecchan, and Mahoutsukai Chappy.

Takahashi would later do animation work for the 1995 PC-FX video game, Cutey Honey FX.

The principal of Paradise Academy is based on the grandfather from Go Nagai’s Kikkai-kun manga, which is also where the characters Alphonne and Pochi originated from. Kikkai-kun’s grandfather also served as the basis for the janitor Kiyohiko Todoroki in the Devilman anime.

The principal was voiced by Isamu Tanonaka, who had filled in for Keiko Yamamoto as Pochi in the previous episode. 

Goemon is based on Goemon Abashiri, the oldest son from the Abashiri Family manga. Goemon’s claim to fame is that he’s a “professional pervert.” Go Nagai’s assistant and good friend Ken Ishikawa was the model for Goemon. While he doesn’t appear in the original Cutie Honey manga, one of Honey’s (female) classmates is based on him. Goemon would make cameo appearances in New Cutey Honey, Re: Cutie Honey, and Cutie Honey Universe. 

Shunji Yamada (later known as Keaton Yamada) voiced Goemon in this episode only, while Sanji Hase played him for the remainder of the series. Hase was previously the King of Manaco in episode 16 and the occasional nameless Panther subordinate.

Naojiro refers to Goemon as "senkou" (先公), which is a rude way of saying "teacher." I suppose the best English equivalent is referring to an educator as "teach."

The “Yoshitune” that Danbei sings about is probably Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a military commander from the late Heian and early Kamakura periods.

Danbei’s “adorable nephew” Naojiro is another character borrowed from Go Nagai’s Abashiri Family. In that series, Naojiro was the second oldest son of the Abashiri family. His unique feature was being a cyborg.

In the original Cutie Honey manga Naojiro does not appear as Danbei’s nephew but instead as a girl named Naoko. Naoko is the gang leader of St. Chapel Academy, much like how Naojiro is the gang leader of Paradise Academy in the anime. According to producer Toshio Katsuta, he wanted to introduce Naojiro as a good contrast to Honey, unlike Seiji who he said was “silly and weak.” 

In this episode only, Naojiro was voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka, who previously voiced Demon General Zannin in Devilman and Hebitsubo in Dororon Enma-kun. For the remainder of the series Naojiro is voiced by an uncredited Shoji Nishizaki, who mostly did voice work in tokusatsu series. 

Naojiro would later make a cameo appearance in the second episode of New Cutey Honey.

While Paradise Academy does not appear in the original Cutie Honey manga, it is very much inspired by Go Nagai’s infamous manga, Harenchi Gakuen. Before he was reinventing the concept of magical girls and giant robots, Go Nagai was stirring up controversy with this 1968 series. Harenchi Gakuen or “Shameless Academy” was one of the first manga to be featured in the popular Weekly Shonen Jump. It featured ridiculous Benny Hill-like antics, excessive nudity, lowbrow toilet humor, crucifixion scenes played for laughs and made a mockery of the Japanese school system. There was such outage towards Harenchi Gakuen, PTA groups actually performed public burnings of the manga. Despite the controversies, Harenchi was immensely popular, which led to live action TV series and films. 

Paradise Academy’s name comes from the Abashiri Family manga. Originally, Paradise Academy was a prison-like middle school for aspiring young assassins and served as the setting for an early arc in the manga. A few of Naojiro’s classmates seen in this episode are taken directly from the Abashiri Family manga as well.

While attempting to evade Naojiro, Honey transforms into members of the baseball club, wrestling club and boxing club. As a boxer, she is only wearing shorts, shoes and boxing gloves. This is exactly how Kikunosuke dresses when she practices boxing in the Abashiri Family manga.

The self-proclaimed “Magician of Hell” was originally designed by Ken Ishikawa, who had her sporting more obvious magician motifs such as a giant top hat and bow tie. The “Great” in her name likely refers to a magician’s title.

Great Claw controlling Naojiro’s comrades with spider-like threads is possibly a reference to the Devilman manga. There are a couple of chapters involving a spider-like demon who controls the students of Nakado Academy and forces them to attack Akira and Miki. There is also an episode of the Devilman TV series which features a demon who controls human-like mannequins with spider threads.

This is also the only episode to not feature Panther Zora or Sister Jill.

That's all for episode 22!

[tropicalfreckles]

Oh man I have an Ace Attorney x Lupin III fanfic idea now. I already have the murder victim in mind and the cast (thinking of setting it post game 2 pre game 3 so I have an excuse to add Edgeworth as a the opposing prosecutor) and keeping the cast simple. Just having original characters as props of course (murder victim, 2 or 3 witnesses, the murderer, maybe an accomplice), then Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, Goemon, Zenigata (maybe yata idk) Phoenix, Maya, Mia (via channeling a few times, she doesn't come in too much), Pearl, Gumshoe, Edgeworth and the Judge (maybe a cameo from franziska, haven't decided yet)

and I might have a mini cameo of my Lupin oc cause I'm self indulgent and this is my fic.

I might draw illustrations sometimes for the chapters. I still have the Kiyoko fic I need to finish too (chapter 3 is a slow process for that) but this has been in my head for a year almost.

I decided to leave out Case Closed from it cause I didn't feel like writing that many characters. Maybe I'll do more 3 way crossover drawings later.

I'll have to replay the ace attorney first trilogy to get in character and get inspiration for punny names.

[thistaleisabloodyone]

Okay, I'm rewatching the three MVs we have so far to see what details I can notice. I am updating this as I find information and notice things, so it is incredibly jumbled, I apologize. Any knowledge I have of the Battle of Tokyo plot comes from buchib's livejournal.

The different backgrounds are different important items from the novels - the Mad Jesters have one of the books, Rowdy Shogun has the black diamond, and Astro9 has the mirror.

SherRock tears a page out of his book and lets it fly away - I think that's the page that flies through Justice is Blind and Black Magic. After doing this, he leaves the book behind and Zero picks it up, which is why he has it to compare with Teku in Black Magic.

I'm not sure what's going on with the different color crystals - so far I've seen green, red, white and purple. That's where the cameos from other groups tends to happen the most - In Beautiful Liar, SawaNatsu/Hajime is holding a red crystal, Kazuma/Lupus has a green crystal, Sekai/Teku has a red crystal, Ryoga/Michi has a green crystal.

Leiya/Kagura has shown up in every MV so far. Facing off against Reo/Masato and Hayato/Chatter in Beautiful Liar with Keito/Kane, Shogo/Travis and Shohei/Sarutobi. This scene is repeated in Black Magic, but without the Rowdy Shogun mbrs, which intrigues me. Kagura also ran through Justice is Blind and has a moment with Sarutobi, I think related to the fact both are speedsters. I was going to say that Kane has also shown up in every MV, but I don't think he was in Justice is Blind, now that I think about it.

Different characters are showing up in other group's MVs - every video so far has had a different Dung Beat Posse member.

According to the Exile Tribe wiki, we do have names for all 7 Dung Beat Posse mbrs. This may not be a recent development - god knows my memory is shit - but this is new information to me and maybe to any readers as well. The names are:

Tsurugi is Force, who showed up in the Justice is Blind MV crossing swords with Goemon.

Ryoga is Michi, who showed up in the Beautiful Liar MV. Michi is holding a green crystal, then turns around and walks away with it.

Ren is Ayase, who I don't think we've seen yet and at this rate would have to be in BBZ video tomorrow if they're having a cameo in every MV.

Jimmy is VinceP, who was in Black Magic today.

Kokoro is Haruto, who I couldn't find in the three MVs, but I may have missed it.

Ryushin is Hankichi, who I similarly haven't seen in the three MVs so far, but, again, may have missed him.

Weesa is Malik, who was also in Black Magic today.

I'm not sure why Riku/Bailey is in Black Magic and pocketing a red crystal to boot. The only other person I can remember taking the crystal they're holding is Michi.

[dagmartoons]

Lupin Zero Last Episode Thoughts:

LUPIN IN THE GREEN JACKET MADE ME SO HAPPY

WHY IS JIGEN'S NEW JACKET LEATHER WHERE DID HE GET THAT I MEAN I'M NOT COMPLAINING BUT IT'S STILL REALLY FUNNY TO ME

I LOVED YOKO!! I DIDN'T WANT HER TO DIE

Her last scene there was really sad (was totally expecting Lupin to tear up there)

SHE WORE THE NECKLACE HE GAVE HER AAAAAAAAAAA

Also *flashbacks to that post that was going around yesterday about Lupin being put in the Clarisse role in this series because I DEFINITELY got that vibe from Yoko kissing his forehead*

ALBERT WAS AWESOME (have they officially confirmed that that is the same Albert? I don't think they have but by this point I think it's fairly obvious)

SHINOBU'S OUTFIT AT THE END?! I TOTALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS GONNA BE FUJIKO FOR A HOT SECOND

Speaking of which, no Fujiko/Zenigata/Goemon cameos! I totally thought we were going to get those (or at least one of Zeni)

Also no flash-forward either! Huh

Lupin enjoys cigarettes now aaaaahhhhhhh

Lupin II was great! I'm still probably gonna prefer versions where he's an asshole cause I think that makes for better drama (also they're a lot more common in terms of fanworks) but I'm not gonna pretend this interpretation wasn't incredibly enjoyable. AND HE GAVE LUPIN THE WALTHER! That chase scene was SO fun!

(AND JIGEN'S GOT THE MAGNUM NOW AAAAAAAAA)

Also Lupin II once again disguising as a woman omg

you still can't tell me shinobu isn't lupin's aunt. you can pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands

all in all 10/10 great episode great series my only complaint is that now it's done and there's nothing left to watch. eh at least there's lupin vs cat's eye in a couple weeks amirite?

[fizzingwizard]

lupin zero ep 4 dethrones ep 3 as my favorite! spoilers

This was the sort of episode I was hoping for! Finally Lupin and Jigen feel like children. Finally Lupin doesn't already know everything, but still manages to be cool and silly and utterly Extra. His motivations for wanting to a build a "secret hideout" are both child-like and indicative of who he will become (though... did he really... drill through a roof??)

He's frustrated with his family's control and like any 13-year-old finds freedom and acceptance in his friend. So later he feels betrayed when Jigen, in his Jigen way, isn't 100% on board with his ridiculous plan, and so he scratches his name out on the pipe... but still writes it on the sign in the hideout, because like a kid, his anger doesn't necessarily last long.

I... am just NOT going to get used to Jigen's deeeeeep voice x'D The drunk scene in particular just sounded sooo weird. But Jigen's role in this episode, while predictable, was really good to see. It was good to see him push back, and good to see how much he really enjoys Lupin's company despite/because of how extra he is. The symbolism with the lighter... I actually expected something different, but I like how they went with it. I just hope he remembered to put his cigarette out before he fell asleep too haha

One thing I forgot to mention last time: I'm really enjoying the aesthetic, I think they said it's 70s Japan, although to me it seems a little before that. 50s-60s-70s all blended together perhaps. In episode 3 when they visited the radio bar... I have forgotten the term for them but they used to be a big thing, bars where you went and there were speakers and records playing. It's hard to imagine just going to a narrow little bar to sit and listen to recorded music, but when records were a new thing it was really in. There have been a few really cool nods like that, I rather wish they would gone much further and really dug into the mid-century vibes.

Jigen lives in a house boat of some kind? Supposedly with his dad who we never see. I'm not sure about the history of house boats in Japan. It looks like a proper home inside, not fancy, but there's furniture and a raised floor with tatami I think.

Details like that are so cool which makes me sad that we've only got two episodes left. It sounds like next episode will kick off the finale, which is a relief on the one hand because fitting it all into one episode would probably mean a repeat of episode one in terms of just flying through interesting bits. But on the other hand, wow, this series is so short, it just whets your appetite and leaves you hungry... The fact that I'm disappointed at least means I've liked it (the last two episodes in particular I thought were really great).

But I would not say the story of this series feels like it's reached an ending point. That's my one worry. The question is, how long does the series really need to be? As long as it accomplishes the goal of showing how a young boy decided to chose his path, it doesn't need to keep running, we already know where he goes from that point on. So whether or not that happens will be decided by what goes down in the last two episodes. I could definitely watch a full series just of Lupin and Jigen dumbass hijinks at school, though hahaha.

Basically I think I will be disappointed in a few areas, but my hope is to be overall satisfied. Really wondering if Shinobu will be more relevant in the finale (Lupin II is a given), and if there will be a more pointed reference to Youko being an influence on Lupin's type of girl... Which maybe isn't necessary lol he obviously likes her, but it's just so WEIRD not to somehow reference Fujiko when Youko's clearly filling in for her in this series... I would really love like a 2-second cameo of young Fujiko somehow seeing Lupin on the news or something? show just feels weird without her.

sorry goemon zenigata it feels weird without you too <3 I had hoped to see young zenigata at least, who knows, two episodes left...!

[maryellencarter]

So I just finished watching Part 1 of Lupin III, which was made in like 1969 or something and fucking looks it. It's like 23 episodes, and most of them weren't especially memorable, but I'm enjoying getting some of the little in-jokes that make no fucking sense even if you know where they came from, like Lupin being scared of octopuses. And there are a couple of great moments for feels. I think I better start making notes, because Part 2 is apparently 200+ episodes or some bullshit.

* Jigen is (subtextually) gay as fuck right from episode 2. Lupin is like "Just leave all women-related stuff to me".

* Jigen also really fucking hates it whenever anyone besides him and his friends breaks the laws of physics. Levitation, ghosts, whatever, he is Not Down.

* I still don't understand why Lupin is scared of octopuses but it's delightfully random.

* Episode 4, "One Chance to Breakout", has a moment that absolutely kills me. It's a basic premise that gets repeated in Part 4 and kills me there too for completely different reasons: Lupin is captured and kept in prison for a year, refusing to break out until the time is right. However, while his team in the Part 4 episode, "The End of Lupin III", is basically just put into cameo roles so the episode can do what it wants to do with the two-hander between Lupin and Zenigata (which it does brilliantly), this one has Fujiko and Jigen in larger roles. (Goemon wasn't around yet.)

ANYWAY SO. Basically as soon as Lupin is captured, Fujiko starts trying to break him out, and is prevented in more and more comical ways by Jigen, who tells her Lupin will break out when he's good and ready. A whole year passes, and the day of Lupin's scheduled execution rolls around with no escape.

Jigen finally can't take it anymore and sneaks into the prison himself, disguised as a Buddhist priest who's been visiting the condemned prisoners. He tries to give Lupin a gun, which Lupin refuses, explaining that either he'll get a chance to escape on his own and redeem himself from the humiliation of having been captured in the first place, or he won't. Jigen reluctantly accepts this and starts to leave.

Then Lupin calls out "Hey! Priest!" and asks to be given one last cigarette. Zenigata allows this, and even gives the "priest" one of his own cigarettes and matches, since I guess Buddhist priests don't smoke. And I just...

...I've been thinking about that little snippet of scene ever since. Jigen turning away and leaving the cell, knowing there's a solid chance he'll never see his partner again. Hearing Lupin call out, hoping for an instant that he's changed his mind and will accept the gun that's Jigen's answer to everything. (It's even Jigen's own Magnum revolver, not Lupin's regular Walther automatic, that he offers him, which is a whoooooole other level of feels I haven't even started to tackle yet.)

Lupin's been in a straitjacket for the whole year, so Jigen places the cigarette in his mouth through the bars and lights it for him. And the animation and music aren't nearly up to the task of actually showing the feels, but there's this moment between them where they're just silently thanking each other with their eyes. Lupin for Jigen being willing to put his own feelings aside and allow him agency in the matter of his escape, and Jigen for Lupin choosing to give him one last memory of accepting a small kindness from him, instead of his last memory of his best friend and partner being a refusal of the favor Jigen tried to do for him. It's such a sweet little moment and I am not over it.

* Also in episode 13, "Beware the Time Machine", when Lupin fakes being erased from existence (it's a thing, okay) and in between bitching at Goemon for not preventing it, Jigen just straight puts his head down on his arms and starts sobbing. I fucking love when badass characters show their feelings openly, okay.

[roboraindrop]

Low-key looking at getting a cameo from Lex Lang as Goemon--

[carissimipaixao]

Excluding Castle of Cagliostro what are your favorite Lupin movies?

Well, I enjoyed The Fuma Conspiracy, because it was a movie more centered on Goemon, in a way, as opposed to following the gang as they plan a heist and are stopped by a bad guy. The aesthethic was different but welcomed, and the animation reminded me of Studio Ghibli for its "flow", if that makes sense.

The First is also one of my favorites. I didn't expect the animation to be so smooth, nor did I expect for it to be able to duplicate the same type of animation and movements we see in the 2D series/movies. Although you could say it takes a little bit more of a "family friendly" approach, I believe this movie did justice to all characters (Fujiko wasn't being fanservice 24/7, Zenigata wasn't being a jester and a clown as always, etc.)

The newer three movies that have been directed by Takeshi Koike (that is, Jigen Daisuke's Gravestone, Mine Fujiko's Lie and The Bloodspray of Ishikawa Goemon) are a big difference in tone, compared to the lighthearted Lupin III we know, but it was a welcomed difference. It's as if it's going back to the original, darker roots (I haven't read the manga, though), and I do enjoy darker stories, regardless. I wonder if Takeshi Koike has something else in mind, something else to tell us. From what we've seen, there seems to be a plot connecting these movies, and there was even a cameo done by one of the first antagonists in Lupin III history.

Other favorites are: Voyage to Danger, Episode 0: First Contact, Island of Assassins.

[bethsreverseharem]

Card Game Tomfoolery (A Platonic f/o fic)

Hey, guess who finally wrote something LMAO. Cameo from my pal @rain-selfships and their lover, Jigen! I cracked this out in like an hour in a caffeine-induced insomnia please be nice ;-; also I’m sorry everyone i have no clue how to add a cut rip.

 Word count: 2,553

Beth slams a box down on the hotel room dining table, grinning at the group. “Hey guys, Wanna play a round of Cards Against Humanity?” Lupin perks up slightly, and a smirk spreads across his face. “Yeah, I’m down for a round.” Jigen takes a puff off his cigarette, and replies. “I dunno… do you remember last time? Lupin tried to make it Strip Cards Against Humanity.'' Beth and Lupin chuckle at the memory. “Yeah, but Fujiko isn’t here this time!” Beth points out. Jigen shifts his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other. “Alright, I’ll play.” Beth claps her hands excitedly and looks to Jigen’s lover. “You down?” She asks them. “I’m game!” Rain jests, as they begin to open the game box. “What about you, Goemon?” Rain asks, as they begin to get the cards sorted. “You wanna join?” He thinks for a moment, then tells Rain “As Jigen has already stated, as long as there is no funny business”. The cards get dealt, and Beth reads aloud the first black card. “I have solved politics. My solution? _____!” Beth announces to the party, and she giggles as the white cards pile into the middle. The rest of the group chit-chats as she shuffles the four white cards from the middle. After a minute she begins to read them aloud, progressively laughing more throughout the reading. “I’ve solved politics. My solution? Active listening, Bisexuality, The Pope…” Beth pauses to compose herself as the rest of the party listens expectantly. “My genitals.” She finishes. Laughter ripples through the group, as Beth tries to call their attention. “Who played ‘my genitals’?!” Lupin lets out one of his trademark chuckles. “That was all me!” Beth rolls her eyes, unsurprised, and passes him the black card.  After an hour of rounds, Jigen removes his hand from his lover’s and spreads his 7 black cards across the table. “Read em’ and weep, boys!” He announces, folding his arms smugly. Lupin groans. “Yeah, whatever Jigen. You totally cheated” Goemon gives Lupin a poignant look and replies “Sore losers never prosper.” Beth and Rain both chuckle at the scene, and Beth congratulates Jigen. “Nice one, Jigen!” She raises a hand at him for a high-five, and he unfolds his arms to return it. Rain leans in and gives Jigen a peck on the cheek, and tells him. “Good game, Jigen.” Lupin rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” Beth chuckles. “You know, Goemon is right. Being a sore loser never gets you anywhere.” The group laughs again, and Beth puts all the cards away. She gets up to put the box where it belongs, as the group begins planning their next heist.

[mewkwota]

This is Simon. My companion from Europe. I can’t understand him at all.

Simon’s depiction in his Goemon cameo (at least in the manga) reminds me a whole lot of how he’s depicted in Captain N: haughty, brash, and can’t be taken seriously ever. Which is perfect because it tells me that this is likely how Simon acted around anyone for quite some time, before learning to truly open up.

Who would have thought both an eastern and western crossover including Simon had him acting like a stuck-up jerk. For whatever reason, I just love that.

[justplainsimon]

Highlights from the 50th anniversary lupin special (Spoilers):

Fujiko falls into a trap meant for lupin, that had a tickle torture a.i. built in

Cameos from characters from parts 1-3 that.. you could just have watched an entry level to recognize, (they're all blink and you'll miss them)

Zenigata hits Pycal with a car and goes over a clift (he cries, but Pycals the worst, so i'd give him a medal)

THE TIME MACHINE.

Lupin's scruff when he wakes up with a healed bullet wound

We get an alternate universe where Goemon and Fujiko commit crimes as a duo all while zenigata chases after them

Jigen: "Spare coochie?" (Seeing jigen as a homeless handicapped beggar is actually really sad, kinda makes you think back to all the times him and lupin would've been toast without each other)

The ED i thought was going to be generic filler, but it had a nice blend of the italian game, cagliostro and even island of assassin's ost, (even had abit of tornado put in there)

I personally thought the art style for part 4 was off putting (given how sketchy it was) but i'm surprised that this special was done by the same team, cause i love the designs and character animation of... the characters, expecially fujiko, she hits that perfect balance between part 4 and 5's design in this. I think that sums up the special in a nutshell

3.5.. (maybe 4)/5

It justified having callbacks/references, since the plot involved a time machine, wish it was longer though

[retrosofa]

New Cutey Honey Cameos: Episode 2

Let’s take a look at the cameos in episode two of New Cutey Honey! The post for episode one is here.

The girl at the beginning of the episode is Sayaka Yumi from Mazinger Z.

Lots of cameos in the marketplace scene:

Mr. Obbiyai (Harenchi Gakuen)

Mr. Tobatiri (Dororon Enma-kun)

Okomo and Omorai (Omorai-kun)

Goemon Abashiri (The Abashiri Family)

Big Toenail of Satan (Kekko Kamen)

Naojiro Abashiri (The Abashiri Family)

Akira Fudo (Devilman)

Joan of Arc (Zubaban)

Hige Godzilla (Harenchi Gakuen)

Count Brocken (Mazinger Z)

The girl in purple with the long hair is probably someone but I was unable to identify her.

Not sure if this counts but Honey has a photograph of her father, Dr. Kisaragi, in her bedroom.

Victims of the Jewel Princess include:

Yuka Chigusa (Kekko Kamen)

Kikunosuke Abashiri (The Abashiri Family)

Akebi Kanbara (Iyahaya Nantomo)

Miki Makimura (Devilman)

Daiko Houin (The Abashiri Family)

Sayuri Yukishiro (Susano Oh)

Sayuri actually appears again as Major Light’s secretary in episodes 4 and 5.

[pixie-mask]

Lupin Pt. 5 Ep24// Point-By-Point & Final Thoughts

I’ve got to be honest this season has also been rather obnoxiously political for some reason.

Rebecca!!!

Also that statement seems weird given that she knows about Lupin and Fujiko

Ami looks really cute in that outfit

So that really was an actual flashback! That makes me so happy! 

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS! That’s why! I hope not cause if so that’s bullshit!

Ami sweety why are you still expecting anything from him

But damn that was a nice frame of Fujiko’

Damn it really escalated to that point

Also this seems freaking stupid

Shit! I don’t know that character ;.;

And another under the hat look from Jigen

Okay that split bullet move was stupid awesome

And now all our beautiful filler characters are showing up!

Hey Albert!

Ugh -_-, really

Another amazing Fujiko frame

And now he’s having a dad reaction!

Okay that coffin part aside this series is really acting like Fujiko doesn’t act and pull that shit on Lupin as well, especially since this series acknowledges every previous Lupin series

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait he put it back on? That wasn’t some dumb symbolic gesture?

That shit needs to be explained or it robs the moment

OMG It’s finally being ridicuous like the Lupin series that we know and love like seriously, this is ridiculous

And what the hell and now Enzo’s being a character and acting like he cares, why such a last minute thing

Well there’s Zenigata again and Yata. 

He said it!

Hey another under the hat look (the last of the season?)

That was a sweet enough goodbye

Damn that was corny

OMG a moment where it feels like Lupin and the gang....right at the end though

Someone kill me Zenigata is still trying to take care of Ami ;.;

Woo boy! 

I... I don’t know what to say about this any more. This has been the weirdest back to status quo that I have ever seen. Like I want to say that this was a lot better than I though this episode was going to be; it was fine.

The series as a while is a mess. The arc set up it did was poorly done given how quickly it had to introduce the plot and get it resolved in a satisfying way. The introduction and last arc are the best, especially the last arc overall. The arc where we meet Albert is bad just because it sets up this idea of someone that Lupin hats so much, but we never get an answer as too why and the antagonism that they had ongoing just vanishes into thin air by the end. And no one really gave a damn about the civil war arc. 

The new characters where also pointless. Say what you will about the new characters in Italian Adventure. At least they where seen throughout the series, had personalities, flaws and did things through out that season. Albert is so barely there in his arc, Dolma (i don’t remember the spelling) isn’t that interesting and outside of her arc never mentioned or seen again aside from that quick credit cameo Enzo was interesting until he sort of just stayed in place and then was nicer at the end, and Yata who is just no one until this last arc where he’s still kind of a nobody but he gets a moment to give the audience an insight on Zenigata.

The series wanted to be darker, but only got darker in terms of violence being more explicit at times. Violence in the Lupin series is not uncommon and sometimes there’s an episode-movie-special with a more extreme death than normal, so not much to say about that other than the episode where Jigen killed all the police transporting Lupin and Goemon which felt off to me. I can’t remember if they’ve killed cops before that weren’t corrupt or not actually cops and I can’t help but think about how Jigen just killed a bunch of innocent people.

The biggest flaw of this series though was how it tried to explore Lupin and the relationship that he has with Goemon, Jigen and Fujiko. (Not Zenigata though). Why it fails though is cause this show really wants you to have previously seen the other Lupin series and whatnot. This season does a piss poor to no effort of making the Lupin and Co. feel like a family. There’s just some weird constant disconnect out side of the filler episodes. 

The filler episodes are really the best part of the season, but if it meant getting more time to explore the plots of the arcs and letting get resolved better I would have preferred them not to be there.

So idk. I love Italian Adventure, but this season was really rough. I doubt this will be the end though. They still have some things vaguely set up and I think Blue Jacket might get a little more of a push. Also we still have the special to come out.

But for now the season is done. It had some nice moments but could have and should have been better. I’m done bitching about this.