#yuma design is my own also !!

[gaydexvocaloid]

my first yuma cover ^_^

credits in tags!!

[pixelatedraindrops]

Baby Makoto AU Doodle Dump🐣

Hiya everyone! So, I’ve been busy working on some art of this new little concept of mine. It’s been in my head for a while. Ever since I found out Makoto is in fact canonically 3 years old. And then thinking of Number One being a doting single parent to his tiny homunculus clone whom he adopts to keep safe from further experimentation and raises as his own 🥺💕

I’ve seen other people (specifically on twitter) come up with this thought as well. Makoto as a 3 year old child with Yuma as his parent. Honestly other than drawing my favorite characters being sick, drawing them as little kids also brings about a nostalgic comfort to me. Not nearly as much joy as drawing sickies brings me, but it was fun to draw the all powerful CEO as a little toddler curious about the world. He's just a little baby <3

Now I am actually a bit shy and insecure about this idea. Mainly due to people possibly confusing it with infantilization and/or age regression. This is neither of those things. It’s an AU where he just happens to be a toddler. If anything I picture little Makoto to be similar to Anya from Spy x Family. (and the fact they both share a Japanese VA makes this connection even cuter, and he's only one year younger than her x3)

Anyway, I hope you all will indulge in me as I share the art I’ve done of this tiny little homunculus. I probably won’t talk about this au or draw it often due to feeling shy about it, so I just made a full on thread of the doodles if you want to see. I keep them under a read more to prevent spam (and I know not everyone is a fan of this concept)

But if you look, I hope you enjoy!

A little reference of sorts I made of my toddler Makoto design. (though he wears different clothing in every art I do of him lol this just connects his normal purple flowery attire) He is exactly 2 feet shorter than his usual height making him pretty small for a toddler. (but yuma is pretty short too lol and I want him to be able to carry him ;w;)

He has 2 special toys that connect to his other mask designs in the concept art. The teddy bear is his very special possession that Yuma gave him as a present, and the puppet teruteru-bozu is something he made together with Yuma when crafting on a rainy day. (he is so talented preparing him for the future when he actually develops products for the company he will run) The melon ball is based on his favorite fruit, and he has socks and a fuzzy blanket with the pattern of his mask.

In this AU, Yuma retains his Number One persona. He’s not meek apologetic and unsure, he has the confidence of the ultimate detective. But is he confident as a parent? Not in the slightest. But taking care of Makoto teaches him more about being kind and empathetic towards others, and eventually over time he becomes super protective and even at times doting towards Makoto.

Making his personality a bit more bright and pleasant, much like the kind and gentle Yuma that we all know and love. Parenthood causes the serious detective to soften up a lot. And of course this causes Makoto to love and depend on Yuma in return and never want to cause him trouble. (So he puts on a tough act a lot ;w;) However, he almost never calls Yuma dad. He just calls him Yuma. Its very rare that he refers to Yuma as his dad but this is perfectly okay by Yuma. (But when Makoto does call him dad? Yuma feels such unexplainable emotional discord that he almost cries.)

Some more doodles :3

Such a silly little family. I love them so much <3

Why did I think of this AU? Because I want Makoto and pre-game Yuma to not be lonely, be happy together, and for Makoto to have a childhood. Honestly Makoto seems a bit childish and playful in canon too so...

I think I'd like him to have an actual childhood where he grows up comfortable and happy. And in the care of someone who loves him 💜

[milliemuus]

Wanted to get my thoughts out on Project Venus!Kieran's design and how it is comparable to canon Pecharunt. It's all in images from my twitter bcoz I didn't feel like typing it:

Anyways finishing up Mochi Mayhem that specific design choice with Pecharunt made me realize that Dokutaro (Pecharunt in PV) will most definitely look the same regardless of if he's truly added in there fully or no (I may add my own Mochi Mayhem Epilogue, idk. Most of what happens in canon Mochi Mayhem PV!Kieran makes happen in canon nefore you fight him, esp with the possession stuff.)

I also thought using mochi, or kibidango, was smart since Momotaro used that to gain the stead of the dog, the pheasant and monkey. In Project Venus, Kieran uses the toxic chains on his headband, kinda like ghostly chains. The only example I can think of is Shinigami from Rain Code being BOUND TO Yuma, but being able to drag him around by invisible chains. That being said, much like PV!Kieran, it takes control of their mind and body, though Kieran is only somewhat aware of his actions since he is the host for Dokutaro, and merely needed to get to Area Zero.

Anyhow, much to think about and I need to develop more on Project Venus. Thought this was rlly cool how much canon Pecharunt and PV!Kieran resembled one another esp since it'a based off the same thing.

[kazinsblog]

Thank You for Participating

With that! Yuma month has officially come to an end! *⸜(* ॑꒳ ॑* )⸝*

Thank you for all your hard work \(❁´∀`❁)ﾉ𖤐´-

I had to wait an extra day to post this due to timezone reasons XD and this post is also the reason why I didn’t say much in my Day 31 post as well, I tried to keep it a surprise.

Thank you to everyone who participated and for the kind words as well ;w;. I'm truly grateful, I didn’t think a lot of people would want to participate since monthly challenges are quite daunting. I love seeing all of your works and various interpretations of the prompts as well. It made me look forward to seeing them the next day!

I hope Yuma month was fun and everyone also had the chance to try something new! 

If you still want to draw or write prompts or give it a try some other time, you can tag me and I’ll still reblog it! I’d love to see more entries! :3 

This is also the first time I’ve held this kind of prompt challenge event as well. If there’s anything you’d think that could improved or be changed please let me know~! You can leave a comment, ask, or DM me here on this blog or on my main blog. I’m always open to suggestions :D If I were to make another Yuma event next year I’d probably change it to a Yuma Week. A monthly challenge may have been a bit too much XD (I apologize if I stressed anyone out ;w;)

Long post on the Thank you art itself and other stuff I wanna talk about

I designed this Yuma Month Thank You art based on all the prompts and elements everyone showed in their pieces. Sadly I couldn’t include all of the prompts due to the image being overly cluttered but I did squeeze in most of them.

The NDA and Makoto plushies stand out a bit because I noticed they were featured a lot in some prompts throughout Yuma Month so they get their own little spotlight as well :3c

And I thought Yuma doing a little bow is a nice way to end Yuma Month~ the design was also based on my Makoto Month prompt too XD I thought it would be a nice contrast to my last entry for Makoto month and the thought of Yuma bowing and thanking everyone is a nice way to end the event in my opinion :3c

Once again I’m super grateful to everyone who participated ;w; it really makes my day when I see you post a Yuma Month prompt. I also apologize (again) if I caused any stress or pressure to you during Yuma Month orz…

[galaxygirl-katie27]

Vector Redesign

Tap for better quality

Notes under the cut!

-Okay so first of all, I had to finally figure out his nationality, so that it would make sense with the story. Which led me to my headcanon of Vector being Turkish-Persian mixed, with his father being Turkish and his mother being Persian. But ultimately he would be the prince, later king, of Persia. I‘d like to make a full post about this topic specifically later, but in short: His father was the second Turkish prince, so in order to be king himself, he married into the persian royal family, who had no male heir, so he could have his own kingdom. So that later, Vector could jut walk through Türkiye with his army to attack Nasch in Greece, because of his blood-relation to their royal family without any problems.

-To the design. I gave him a ponytail, just to try it out, but I just liked it so much, that I had to stick with it.

-He has big eye bags from Insomnia, because of many nightmares almost every night. He has major PTSD from his past, that sill haunts him.

-He has a tooth gap (where he actually lost a tooth) and many scars and bandaids, because this boy is just always hurt (most of it because of the Ray-Way). I once read a headcanon, that all of Ray`s clumsiness wasn’t even acted, Vector is just like that. He still bumps into all kinds of furniture post-series.

-Also he ruined all his pants at one point because of his clumsiness and because the others (Nasch) don’t want to buy him new ones, he just patched them up himself, and yes he did poke himself with the needle multiple times.

-FRECKLES. No elaboration needed.

-Big father issues. Also no elaboration needed.

-This boy never ties his shoes, which also doesn’t help his clumsiness. Also he wears mismatched shoes, but they match enough for him and he just doesn’t think anyone notices. Everyone notices.

-He is one of the people with the most Trauma. If you ask him how he‘s doing he‘d say: „I take antidepressants.“ And he does! He got them perscribed, after an… incident. I wont go into detail, but I think you can guess what happened. And while most of the barians still don’t exactly like him, they don’t want him to die. He also refuses to go to proper therapy. Yuma is his therapy.

-He also has ADHD, which I think he always had, even in his past life. He got it diagnosed post series, when Yuma talked to him about his ADHD (another headcanon of mine) and Vector just heavily related to many things Yuma said and so he proposed that maybe he should get a diagnose. Which tuned out positive.

-Also he‘s a cat owner. I read so many fics, where he just adopts a cat. It’s mostly to spite Rio, when he came across a little kitten box on the side of the road one day. But he got so attached to it, it‘s his family now. It’s a little white female kitten, who is also deaf and her name is Pestilence, Pesty for short. He is also so good at hiding her. The barians only found out about her like 6 months after Vector got her. There was a massive discussion, but in the end Vector got to keep her. She is now his emotional support cat.

-He also reads a bit, but it only consists of the most cliche, sappy, stereotypical romance stories you can find, to make fun of them.

-His past life redesign is like the biggest redesign up until now, since I researched ancient Persian an Turkish royal robes, because even when he‘s the prince/king of Persia, I think his father would still bring some of his Turkish background into the family.

-And since I made him older again (and tanner, because he was more in the sun in Persia than in Japan) I gave him a little goatee

-Also his robes are red to resemble his father, and how he is slowly turning into him (plus the goatee), but he still has blue in his clothes to resemble and respect his mother. I refuse to believe that he stopped loving her after her death. I think he always continued to love her deep inside and actually still misses her post series. He just doesn’t show it.

[xjulixred45x]

I need to ask from morbid curiosity mostly. I have heard of diabolic lovers mostly from top 10 unfortunately not good ones. What are your unadulterated thoughts on the brothers?

I have talked individually of Subaru and Reiji, and there is a post where i Say which Diaboy i HATE the most, but i Guess is therapeutic talk shit about them all :)

in order from oldest to youngest, not in order from worst to """best"""

Carla to me is practically a P3d0, and it's worse if we consider that canonically she likes Yui to call her "Onichan"🤮 and he's such a son of a bitch, he tortured her SO MUCH (along with Shin) that it made her think about COMMITTING SUICIDE. a scourge

Shin is the definition of Carla's lapdog, and since he has the power he feels comfortable mistreating everyone (but if they were stronger? He comes out with his tail between his legs) GOD THE SCENE WHERE HE MAKES YUI LICK HIS OWN BOOTS. just as bad as his brother. Only he's not a fetishist.

Shu just seems boring and bland to me, I'm sorry I can't say much about a character who literally does NOTHING. Her background is fine, but I think she was very wasted on a character in a bad story.

Reiji IS A SON OF A BITCH, he not only decided to kill his brother's friend BUT THE ENTIRE VILLAGE, OUT OF JEALOUSY, and on top of that kill his mother who wasn't even abusive (compared to the other two, she was quite loving). honestly an idiot.

Ayato is unbearable, I just can't stand him, he acts like a little child. apart from the fact that he is the one who objectifies Yui the most and who insults her the most along with Kou. without forgetting that he is considered the "hero" of the franchise😑

Kanato is all of the above combined in an amorphous and delusional mass in believing that he is the victim and that he is right in everything, being also a necrophiliac and cannibal, there is no need for me to say more.

Laito is, sadly, one of the best written in the entire franchise but at the same time he is a FIRST DAMN, he was the first to cause Yui's suicidal ideas, apart from the fact that HE IS a sex offender who should stay away from people .

Subaru is a hothead who gives me certain Incel vibes, he believes that all women are equal and that gives him the right to treat everyone like shit and be physically violent. Even if he has the most "justified" trauma next to Laito, it doesn't make him any less of a horrible person.

Ruki is simply a control freak who, since he is now a vampire, believes he is above everyone else and is honestly a second Reiji but with a cheap background. but he has my eternal hatred for the cat.

Yuma just doesn't catch my attention beyond his design and being just as aggressive as Subaru, he has literally beaten Yui to death in almost all of her endings. I don't like.

Kou is INSUFFERABLE and eager, not only for being so materialistic but for the way he messes with Yui's self-esteem makes my heart bleed.

Azusa is a MANIPULATOR, no matter who it hurts, he literally Guilt Trips Yui to make her hurt him! and then he cuts her! He might be the "Best" but he is still trash.

Kino is similar to Kanato in that he is spoiled and a horrible being at the same time, he has no consideration for those other than him and that makes him DESPICABLE ON HIS ROUTE, he literally killed a child in front of Yui so that he would not try to escape . it's bullshit.

Overall, I think that would be it. They're all trash, but different trash.

____

en orden de mayor a menor, no en orden de peor a """mejor"""

Carla para mi es prácticamente un P3d0, y es peor si consideramos que canónicamente le gusta que Yui le llame "Onichan"🤮 y es tan hijo de puta, la torturo TANTO(junto a Shin) que le hizo pensar en SUICIDARSE. una lacra.

Shin es la definición de perro faldero de Carla, y como tiene el poder se siente comodo con maltratar a todos(pero si fueran mas fuertes? el sale con la cola entre las patas)DIOS LA ESCENA EN LA QUE HACE QUE YUI LE LAMA LAS BOTAS. igual de malo que su hermano. solo que no es un fetichista.

Shu simplemente se me hace aburrido y soso, lo siento no puedo decir mucho de un personaje que literal no hace NADA. su trasfondo esta bien, pero creo que fue muy desaprovechada en un personaje en una mala historia.

Reiji ES UN HIJO DE PERRA, no solo decidio matar al amigo de su hermano SINO A TODA LA VILLA, Por CELOS, y encima de eso matar a su madre que nisiquiera era abusiva(en comparación a las otras dos, era bastante amorosa). sinceramente un imbécil.

Ayato es insoportable, simplemente no me lo puedo aguantar, actua como un niño pequeño. aparte de que es quien mas cosifica a Yui y de los que mas la insulta junto a Kou. sin olvidar que es considerado el "héroe" de la franquisia😑

Kanato es todos los anteriores combinados en una masa amorfa y delirante en creer que es la víctima y que tiene la razon en todo, siendo también un necrofilico y canibal, no hace falta que diga mas.

Laito es, tristemente, uno de los mejor escritos de toda la franquicia pero que al musmo tiempo es un MALDITO DE PRIMERA, fue el primero en causar las ideas suicidas de Yui, aparte de que ES un delincuente sexual que deberia manterse lejos de las personas.

Subaru es un hiracundo que me da ciertas vibras de Incel, cree que todas las mujeres son iguales y que eso le da el derecho a tratar como la mierda a todos y ser físicamente violento. aun si tiene el trauma mas "justificado" junto a Laito, no le hace menos de una persona horrible.

Ruki simplemente es un maniático del control que como ahora es un vampiro cree estar por arriba de los demas y sinceramente es un segundo Reiji pero con trasfondo barato. pero tiene mi odio eterno por lo del gato.

Yuma simplemente no me llama la atención mas alla de su diseño y ser igual de agresivo que Subaru, literalmente ha matado a Yui en casi todos sus finales a golpes. no me gusta.

Kou es INSUFRIBLE y con ganas, no solo por ser tan materialista sino por la forma ej la que se mete con el autoestima de Yui hace que me sangre el corazón.

Azusa es un MANIPULADOR, le duela a quien le duela, el literalmente le hace Guilt Triping a Yui para que lo lastime! y encima después la corta el!

Kino es similar a Kanato con lo de ser un mimado y un horrible ser al mismo tiempo, no tiene consideración por quienes no sean el y eso lo hace alguien DESPRECIABLE EN SU RUTA, literalmente mato a un niño enfrente de Yui para que no intentara escapar. es una mierda.

en general, creo que eso sería todo. Todos son basura, pero diferente basura.

[rindragon-from-twewy]

Mmmm forte swap au brain rot upon ye!

I've already completed designs for everyone at the NDA but I wanna space out the posts a bit cuz I don't think I'd be able to say all I'd want to in just one post!

Ramble about character info below; (+spoilers for all of mdarc)

Obviously this is based on my silly doodles for rain code ship week but I've actually started putting a lot of thought in to this now! (I've had waaaaaaay too much free time recently and I'm blessed with the ability to come up with lore/world building very quickly given enough motivation!)

So first off: Why Storm Cypher? Well cuz it's a protagonist swap! Desuhiko's now the amnesiac trainee being haunted by Shinigami so it made sense in my opinion to make this au's name reflectant of his last name, Thunderbolt. So that's where the 'Storm' comes from. 'Cypher' because it's a form of code and... well I just think it sounds nice basically! I do what I do for my own enjoyment, I don't always need to have a reason - no matter what my teachers say.

Also I decided to change some (Not all) character's last name's to better reflect their newly assigned fortes.

Anyway- It's character info dumping time!!!

Desuhiko, like og Yuma, has absolutely no memory of his past. While his personality remains fairly intact, he boards the Amaterasu Express hoping to figure out who he is along the way. While nobody there knows who he is, he instead finds he have a knack for word-play, puns and pick up lines, leading to accusations of secretly being a circus clown as opposed to a detective. This attitude is only solidified more upon meeting Shinigami, the death god with just as many innuendos to make as he does. They get along almost dangerously well, even more so when he learns she has a humanoid form. After completing the first mystery labyrinth, he decides that being a detective HAS to be his true calling, since solving the case was pretty fun all things considered, and receives his hoodie from The Chief to help keep him dry once arriving in Kanai Ward.

Yuma on the other hand, takes the place of co-star of chapter 2. At first he comes off as cool and charismatic but he breaks down almost immediately at the slightest hint of conflict. He's been a very famous musician for years prior to becoming a master detective, though he finds it hard to fully express himself through anything other then his appearance and music. The anxiety induced from an excess of fans, attention, and not knowing who to trust anymore thanks to his own popularity, he was ecstatic to be scouted by the WDO for his talents in disguises. Once it blossomed into a fully fledged forte and he was allowed to work as a detective properly though... they started regretting hiring him. Chaotic, anti-authoritatian and impossible to track down, he's more of a vigilante then a real detective. He was selected to go to Kanai Ward due to it's predicted high mortality rate, the higher ups hoping to dispose of the troublemaker without being too obvious about it. What does APAB mean you ask? All Peacekeepers Are Bastards!!! The Chief wasn't very happy to see him wearing it but permanent marker is permanent.

I haven't decided if I'll change Shinigami's humanoid design yet. If I do though, it'll probably just be more remenicent of her beta design. I haven't decided if I'll swap the Amaterasu Express detectives either though but... maybe I will. Since its forte swap though, the peacekeepers will all remain the same.

I'm hoping to write a fanfic for this, as opposed to like... a comic. But I'm partial to the idea of maybe doing an ask blog as well? I don't know yet. Either way, I'll probably post more for this tomorrow! <3

[liannelara-dracula]

Kanato Sakamaki NSFW Alphabet Hcs

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

Warning:

nsfw

Links;;;

Azusa

Yuma

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A

Aftercare—What does he do?

Though you may want to help, he doesn't let you.

He prefers that his princess lay down as he cleans up you and him.

“Kanato, I can clean up myself.” You’d say, pushing yourself up to get up in bed only for him to stop you.

“No, I want my princess to relax.” He’d hush, pushing you back on his bed gently.

You can expect kisses to the forehead or on your hairline when he’s cleaning up.

Afterward, he may lay down with you naked and cuddle with pillow talk.

He mostly faces you, admires your facial and body features, and traces your skin.

He'll push your hair out of your face, brush his fingers on your lips, caress your cheek, and look into your eyes.

Sometimes, he will run a bath, which can lead to sex as well. He can’t resist once he’s helping you clean in the tub.

Especially if your heart skips a beat when he touches you, or you shudder/whimper at him touching you.

But even if it doesn’t lead to sex, you can expect him to kiss you in the tub.

Other times, if you have fallen asleep, he just admires you and puts a blanket on you, and does his own thing in his room.

One time, you woke up, still very exhausted, to him eating raspberry pudding on the bed on a silver tray.

You noticed this and sat up in the bed and stared at him, “How can you be eating?” You’d question, your lips parted with confusion.

He’d chuckle seeing your bedhead, which he deemed cute, “I like to have dessert after my meal sometimes.” He'd say nonchalantly, making you shake your head at his attempt to tease you.

“Aren’t you tired?” You’d ask, wondering where he gets all his energy from. 

He’d shake his head ‘no’, “Are you?”

You’d sigh, “I’m exhausted,” before slumping back down on the pillows of your bed.

Putting his dessert tray aside on a table, he climbed closer to you on the bed. “To the point where you’d expose yourself so freely to me?” He’d tease, with a smirk across his face, as he admired the view you gave him of your exposed chest. 

Anal—Is he into it?

No, he's not into it. He prefers things more on the elegant side, and he's not into something grotesque. He likes nasty things, but just not this. It's not exactly what princesses get as treatment.

B

Boobs or Butt—What does he prefer?

Boobs, they are delicate and soft.

There are a lot of cute things that accentuate them, like all kinds of lacy and frilly bras, corsets, bustiers, etc. Even just simple ribbons on your boobs

He especially loves it when you wear clothes he designed or even teddies, especially those--because it’s just straps on your body covering your most private parts.

So he sometimes personally designs you teddies or something he wants you to wear to bed.

And he generally focuses more on the top of the outfit more than anything since he prefers your boobs over your butt.

He probably doesn’t want too much boob, but just a nice set of boobs. But tiny boobs are probably preferred, given that he likes dolls.

He loves watching your nipples go hard when he trails kisses or sucks/ licks your chest.

Also loves it when he feels you get goosebumps from his kisses.

Kanato likes it when you arch your back, too because he’s not only the cause of it but also gets to see your boobs.

Even before removing your clothes, when he makes out with you or sucks your blood, he’s got a hold on your boob.

Body part—Favorite body part?

Not your boobs but an area that is much more private and specific--your vagina

I know it sounds crazy but your crotch area is his favorite place to touch and grab

He really likes the reactions he can get out of you when he’s rubbing your folds or more.

It’s also the most delicate part of you which you only have so much control of

And he just loves how he can easily manipulate you when toying with you there.

Boner—What got him to this?

It’s a bit more difficult than you think, but what can really set him off is the way you eat a piece of cake.

Or have a doe-eyed expression when he says something overly sexual to you.

The sounds you make really get him hard like a whimper, yelp, or even just the sound of you struggling and whining in his control. And surprised gasps when he picks you up to carry you to the bed.

He will not hide his erection from you, but he won’t flat up tell you he’s hard.

You’ll either feel his bulge against the back of you or notice/feel when he guides your hand towards his crotch as he’s kissing your neck or whispering in your ear. “I’ve missed you.”

He has no shame in it and expects that you participate in helping him. No matter how busy or shy you might be.

C

Crotch—Things relating to your crotch

Really loves to touch you here as I’ve said.

Even though it’s considered a wardrobe malfunction he loves any clothes that accidentally highlight your crotch. But only that he’d notice, he would not want others to see.

He really loves seeing it though, it would get him going. And he’d bring it up later.

The best part is if you whimper or moan by his touch or hold on you.

He loves putting a hand there when he’s making out with you or even biting you.

And you can best believe he always has a hand up in your skirt.

Cum—Things relating cum

You cum more than he does because he toys with you in more ways than one.

He loves that he’s the cause of it and that there is a lot.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have plenty to give.

He may be short but he’s not short of having the capability of producing.

Contraceptives—Any protection?

Probably not. If you are, it’s the pill because he wants you to feel his length.

If you can’t get pregnant for whatever reason he’s not worried about protection.

He probably doesn’t want babies but if he’s with his partner who means everything to him and like she is the one.

Then yes, he's not opposed to a baby but he has to be really into his girl.

It’s mostly cause he likes the idea of pregnancy but not so much the baby.

But if you’re important to him then he’ll want the baby as well.

D

Duration—How long is one session itself? Are there rounds?

Being small doesn’t mean anything.

He lasts about 8~10 mins each session.

But it feels even longer with him because he does so much.

Sometimes he’s done 13mins for a session.

In terms of rounds it sorta depends he’ll do at least 2 but usually does like 3~4 rounds.

The time in each session may vary tho.

He makes sure that he’s left you shaking and exhausted to the point where you can’t walk.

You’ll need help from him just to walk to your room. Otherwise, you’ll be stumbling.

Because he does many rounds your time with him can seem lengthy so you may or may not be able to keep up with him. 

Especially as a human, so it’s not surprising if you’ve told him that you don’t think you can go for another round.

Sometimes you’ve assumed he’s done too and he just smirks, “Already done? I just started. I think you can hold on a little more, no, can’t you?”

Your faint mumbles as a response have him amused to the core as he continues and “claims” to be gentle to have you last.

Denial/Dirty secret—Something they won’t admit or a sexual fantasy they won’t share?

He isn’t shy about you giving him pleasure but he wouldn't admit with words 100% how it feels. He’ll be vocal but he won’t say “it feels so good”.

He’d be into food play possibly but he has mixed feelings about it. It would take him a while to bring this to your attention.

I think there have been clues about it before and he could’ve dropped hints but you may have never noticed.

I mean given the way he uses his tongue it’s not surprising if he wanted food to go along with his other food.

Another dirty secret would be that if you are/were in a relationship with one of his brothers he’d love to hear you compare or how they don’t make you feel as good.

Degradation/Dirty talk—Into either one or both? How is this done?

No, no degrading maybe to a bride or doll he doesn’t care for, but for someone he considers special, no.

Usually, when he has sex it’s with a woman he has a genuine interest in, especially when he continues to see her.

I think it’s evident that Kanato loves women and, more specifically, their physical features (hence the doll room and all). If loved and cared for a specific woman, one that he has a high interest in, he’d want to treat her like a princess.

As for dirty talk, not really. He doesn’t say very much, but he will occasionally tease you based on how you react to things he does. Like if you bucked your hips forward he will claim your impatient and needy. Or if you initiate it all by sliding down the straps of his suspenders or unbuttoning his shirt. He’ll find it amusing to say, “I’ll let you be in charge since you’ve missed me.”

E

Experience—Have they done it before?

Plenty of it. It may seem like he wouldn’t but actually in the games he has sex the most out of his brothers tbh. And if you notice he’s more sexual/sensual than you’d imagine. Just read the game translations and manga, you’ll see what I mean.

Bc ain’t no one getting laid as much as this man.

With his experience, I’m sure he’d teach his lover things whether or not she has experience. 

If you were or are in a relationship with one of his brothers, he likes it that you enjoy your time with him more and that it’s allowed you to become better/learn new things.

He’s amused if he learns that his brother or even an ex-partner hasn’t had you explore all that he has.

“And so what have I taught you, my love?” He’d ask, bringing your hand to his lips for him to plant kisses on your knuckles.

F

Fingering—Will they do it? How often? How many fingers?

Quiet often, but less often than his mouth. But he enjoys the hands-on approach of three fingers if possible.

He usually just rubs your area as a tease and for punishment. But if he’s really looking forward to seeing you being pleasured and moaning for him, he likes to finger.

Mostly does it when you are very distracted by other actions he’s doing so that when he slips his fingers in you’ll gasp for sure.

Kanato especially loves it if you try to close your legs to prevent him from continuing because the feeling is too much for you. Or even if you try to shove his hand away or hold onto his wrist for support if you’re telling him to stop.

He’ll remind you to say “please” if you really want him to withdraw. Although sometimes he ignores you, “Just a few more minutes, my doll.”

Fangs—Does he bite you? How often does he use it? Where else does he use his teeth?

It depends, a bride he'd bite for sure.

But one he truly loves and adores, he’d never think about puncturing her skin. Unless she willingly offered and he was desperate, then he may do it.

He may mark her but he’d never bite her for blood, at least not usually. He has other resources for that. And he likes it more if your skin remains pure.

You may feel his teeth when he gives oral or when he’s kissing you though. It would be a small graze or playful nibble, nothing too drastic.

G

Generosity—Are they a giver or a receiver? Or both? Why?

Giver, if there’s one thing you should know is that he spoils the woman he loves.

He likes to receive, but it's quite rare; he really finds himself to be more content when he is giving.

If he doesn’t care about the woman, he’d like to receive rather than give because he doesn’t find her worthy to be pleasured.

H

Hair—How well groomed? Is he okay with body hair?

The less, the better. That goes for both of you.

Although he will allow some minor hair growth on that particular area he’d expect that it is trimmed down and not a mess.

Hickies—Where does he leave marks? Is he okay with being marked?

If you tell him to keep it secret, he will do his best but occasionally bends the rules.

If it doesn’t matter, then he will do as he pleases. And it ranges a lot. It can be the nape of your neck, collarbone, in between your chest, inner thighs, inner side of the knees, calves, and/or ankles. Sometimes he does it on your hips, and above the area of your abdomen which meets the band of your underwear.

And he only lets a woman that means something to him mark him, he loves it if you leave some on his jawline or neck, trailing down to his chest.

His marks on you look quite painful as they are a little large, given how much time he spends on them.

I

Intimate—Is it rough, dirty or sweet?

Rough and definitely on the dirty side, even if what he calls you is always something sweet.

He’s very sensual when he’s not being rough.

This is the only time he’s mean or unfair with you.

Ignorant—Are they able to tell if their partner is giving signals?

Yes, he’s very sharp. The question is will you be able to sense his signals since he usually isn’t very direct?

This man is like the king of eye fucking.

You need to pay attention to his eye contact with you, and his subtle touches or whispers in your ear. 

He likes to keep you guessing.

J

Jerk off—Are they the type?

No, you are enough for him. And he’d wait, because he can keep that energy he’s been saving and put it all on you.

Although if you are the type to touch yourself, he’d be interested to watch or to command you. 

He’d be prone to be watching a chick he doesn’t care for do it.

For a woman he’s truly into he may or may not be into this activity because it’s not super delicate. Though if you allow him to control the situation he probably wouldn’t be opposed to it.

If he walked in on this he may ask you why you didn’t ask for his help and then intervene an help you.

K

Kinks—What are some main kinks they have?

Eye contact--loves to hold eye contact with you, no matter what. Especially, when you’re about to orgasm.

Dominant/Submissive--He’d like to have a submissive partner who occasionally gets dominant with him or at least tries to dominate him.

Pregnancy kink--He likes seeing his lover become pregnant. It's just something about your presence that really turns him on. Perhaps with a vampire baby, there is a change to your aura that makes you more attractive.

Breeding kink--same thing as before, he likes the idea that you could become pregnant even if it is especially difficult for you to become pregnant. 

Sadism--psychological humiliation. He just likes being able to read your thoughts or just guessing what you feeling and knowing he’s right. So you can imagine he will say that you are into something while you’re heavily consumed by pleasure and too bothered to deny him. Or even if you do, it's a weak defense to which he thrives off of. He loves doing anything that makes you weak for him.

Praise kink--Kanato likes to remind his lover how mesmerizing she is. After all he is quite picky so, you’re rather pretty.

Forced orgasms--if you read further down you will see what I mean. He really likes messing with you.

Incoherent speech--Really likes it if you cannot finish your sentences during sex with him. Since this basically means that he’s a distraction.

Tears—While this is somewhat of a turn-on for him when his lover is a little emotional, this can easily become a turn-off as well. He likes a vulnerability but not to the point where she breaks down into tears. But if she gets teary because him penetrating, he’s into it.

L

Lighting—Lights or no lights?

Lights on, whether you are ashamed or not, he does not care. You are not hiding from him, he wants to see every square inch of you.

Although he likes to have sex late evening or night so the moonlight is his friend.

Location—Have a post right here

M

Motivation—Turn-ons

A sad expression or a huff from you

Humming--loves a good voice on a woman. Something delicate and fragile for sure.

Twirling of hair--if you do this or just move your hair out of your face he’s really into that, especially if you have a focused expression.

Bashful eyes--A girl who batts her eyes but not on purpose. Or even just averting her eyes because she’s not one for attention.

Giggle and hand over your mouth

Hair coming undone

Honesty--he hates a women who lie, generally, so if your was honest about what you want and how he makes you feel he’d very much like that.

Dominating him--fucking loves it

Eagerness--loves it if your eager or in a rush to have sex because he tells you there’s no need to hurry, but he also just likes it that you want to be intimate with him.

Walk--if you have an elegant walk of some sort he’d be really intrigued to see you walk.

Whimpers--he gets off to these sounds that you make.

Vulnerable--he loves a vulnerable girl

N

Nudes—Are they the type to send them/ask for them?

Neither one tbh. Why would he do that when he can get the real thing?

No—Turn offs

Doing something that’s not delicate

Taking too much control

Body hair

Needy—he’s okay with being a little needy but not too much.

Toys—he prefers to use his hands and mouth as tools to pleasure you.

Touching him/overstimulating him

Faking an orgasm—don’t you dare.

Babying him

Trying to humiliate him

O

Orgasms—How often do they do it? Is it before or after their partner?

Often but probably not as often as you. Even if you’re not the type to cum so easily, you are now. He always cums after his partner.

With Kanato you may even cum 5~8 times in a night.

Technically a woman can have like 20 orgasms.

Orgasm Denial/Overstimulation—Into it? If so, how often? Is it done to them or done to their s/o?

Yes, this is like one of his favorite things to do to you. This is like all the time.

It is done to you with no questions asked.

He also loves to give you forced orgasms in the sense that you cum earlier then what you’d like because he forces you to reach your high faster with all that he’s doing.

Even if you want to last longer he just wants to humiliate you and see you combust faster because of him. Which he also likes to point out after you two have finished.

Likes ruined orgasm where you orgasm but not to the extent where you feel satisfied.

He just loves teasing you to no end.

Oral—Giving or Receiving? How often?

Giving, he’s all about the giving.

This is like his favorite thing to do to see you shake and get vocal for him.

When he was first having sex with you he didn’t introduce it. It was out of random.

You were both in bed in the morning, exhausted from last nights fun. And you both were talking about certain things and you sat up on the bed with a night gown on (you slipped on after sex that night) and your legs spread apart from you as they were bent up. Kanato was at the end of the bed exchanging conversation but it got silent when he was admiring you and inched closer to the bed where your feet were at.

You furrowed a brow but stilled at him, “what are you doing?” You’d giggle.

He’d look up with his eyes, planting a soft kiss on your ankle and foot. He then grabbed a hold of your feet gently by the ankles and spread your legs wider apart, causing your dress to ride up a bit.

“Kanato!” You gasped in a whisper, remembering that you still didn’t have any underwear on and that you were exposed to him in full. 

He locked eyes with you, his hands wrapped around your calves holding them as he inched down closer to you. “Shhh, it’s fine.” He’d say, you stuttered and mumbled out his name as you tried backing away, not sure of what to do. Before you knew it, he had lowered his head down and teased you with his mouth, causing you to gasp and whimper. 

You of course tried to be still at this new activity which seemed to be enjoyable but for the most part, you were in too much shock since he never talked about doing this and just instead went for it.

He’d pull away slightly to tell you not to close your eyes either. Mostly cause he can sense that as a vampire.

“I want you to tell me how it makes you feel.”

P

Pace—Are they fast and rough or slow and sensual?

Typically slow and sensual, but he can also be rough.

He wouldn’t really be into speed too much because he likes to take his time.

Position—What’s their favorite and most used?

Missionary—because he’s in charge and he can have eye contact with you the entire time.

He doesn’t let you ride him, at least not in the sense that you have control. It would be where he has full control of your body movements and guides you through the whole thing.

He likes this position because he’s a fan of your boobs but he doesn’t use this too often.

Polygamy—Would they have a threesome+?

No, not even with one of his brothers involved. He likes to have you all to himself.

However, if you are in fact seeing one of his brothers whether by force or by will, he doesn’t mind having a sexual relationship with you. I mean if you pique his interest enough, he’ll take it.

Q

Quirks—Something they do that you have to deal with?

Bringing up what you two did in bed together just to have you blush.

“Kanato, enough.” You’d argue, trying to hold back a smile due to your embarrassment.

Surprising you with different things without telling you.

Would screw you with socks on.

He hides your clothes and has you looking for them, for ages till you suspect he has it and you go to him. It’s an excuse for him to see you again and for him to spend time with you. He loves taking something of your lingerie set or even just like a dress or skirt of yours. Even something like a hairpin. It’s that simple. Mostly takes the smaller items bc it isn’t as obvious, and he has plenty of fun when you interrogate him about it.

Loves it, especially when you barge into his chambers, asking him where he’s hiding your things.

“Is it so valuable to you that you need it so badly, my doll?”

“Kanato, this isn’t funny. I really would like to find it.” You’d look at him with your arms crossed with a small pout. 

Quickie—Are they okay with them, or do they only want a full session?

Full sessions only. Unless you said you needed one. But he’ll probably just make you wait. Or he’ll pleasure you a little with just his fingers or mouth and not the rest.

R

Risk—Willing to try something new or open to getting caught?

Yes, he doesn’t care if you two get caught, but if you do, then he cares. And he doesn’t mind trying something new; usually, he introduces something to you. But he doesn’t mind a request from his princess.

S

S/D—Sub or dom?

Dom—like all the way even when you’re riding him you're not in charge.

He has very rarely let you take the reins, only when he’s interested in what you have to show him, whether it’s something new or you request you get to switch places with him.

T

Talkative—Do they talk or have casual conversations with you?

Not during but after. Yes, it’s casual but still sensual.

He holds you in his arms, his fingers trace your skin, and he moves your hair away from your neck.

He whispers, for the most part to you, and sometimes he recites lovely poems to you, some of which are his own and dedicated to you.

Toys—Do they like/use them? On you or on themselves?

No, maybe a blindfold, but honestly, nothing.

Although he blindfolded you once, he had a lot of fun from your reactions. 

He may occasionally bring a blindfold on a special day or when he’s really feeling it.

U

Unfair—How do they tease? How often is it?

In some shape or form, he is always teasing. He loves it most to see blush on your cheeks.

He’ll always go over your sensitive areas with his fingers or mouth, and he does it so slow you get chills.

Is always asking you to tell him how it feels even though you’ll just shy away from admitting it.

V

Vocal/volume—How loud? Moans, groans, or whimpers? 

He’s not too loud but enough for you to hear. You are probably the same in that regard.

Possibly a little louder. Really loves whimpers and moans from you.

The pathetic cries get him rock-hard.

He is mostly a groaner + a moan or two. He’ll sometimes say your name.

W

Wildcard—Some special things they do specifically?

Spreads your legs further apart during your orgasm or just when you deny him something. To the point where it starts to hurt.

He loves testing your flexibility and the gasped expression you give.

He’ll speak to you in a romantic language or say things in his demon language.

Bites your knee.

X

X-ray—How big are they?

5.7 inches, just seemed like the right number

He’s not big because of his body proportions. 

However, I get the feeling he may be the biggest one out of the triplets. And Ayato cannot live with that.

Y

Yearning—Sex drive level

Really damn high. Have you seen how much he gets laid in the games?

You two have sex constantly, and it's mostly because he adores you.

Z

Zzz —Do they sleep after? What do they do?

Typically, he holds you in his arms and lays in bed with you.

Kisses your forehead and reminds you that you are important to him.

Would sing you to sleep. Or carry you into the bath with him.

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˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

RAIN CODE Fan Meeting Report ②

From after the reading play to around the middle of the daytime program.

Previous Post: RAINCODE Fan Meeting Report ①

⚠️This is a looong post! Please read this only if you have the time.

⚠️Contains spoilers!

There is already a report article on famitsu.com, so it may be easier to understand while looking at the photos on there.

Note: I wrote some related topics together and sequentially, so this post is not exactly the same as the actual order of topics in the event.

------

A short introduction of the guests and some of my personal impressions of each of them:

After the reading play by Fukuhara and Suzushiro, the other guests appeared on stage one by one. Most people introduced themselves normally, but Kodaka's greeting was the only quirky one:

He is probably the only person who would say something like that out of the blue at a fan event 😅

------

After that, a segment titled "Inquiries to the World Detective Organization" began, in which messages from fans were read out.

Apparently a lot of messages were supposed to be read during this segment, but a question to the VAs about their memories of the recording session took longer than expected and ended up being almost entirely about this topic.

As for Yuma's voice recording, Yuma was often panicked, frightened, and dismayed, and Fukuhara was repeatedly asked to make such performances more exaggerated. So he used the voice of a certain boy character as a reference. Then the MC immediately asked:

Japanese people can easily recognize it, but there are probably many who don't, so I'll make it clear. He meant the protagonist of Doraemon (JA: Nobita / EN: Noby)! XD

Doraemon itself has no relation to Spike Chunsoft, but since the voice actress of Danganronpa's signature character Monokuma is the voice actress of Doraemon, it is interesting to note that the protagonist of RAIN CODE is a reference to the voice of Doraemon's protagonist.

I will mention this in my future post about the evening program, but as those who have played RAIN CODE know, when Yuma and Shinigami say goodbye at the end of the story, Shinigami makes an emergency exit appear, and the design of the door is actually very similar to a tool that Doraemon often uses! So the developers must really like Doraemon... 😅

------

As for Shinigami, Suzushiro said that she remembered how long the audition process was. There were more auditions than usual, but she was only given vague requirements and told to perform different patterns, so she said she had no idea what the right voice was, but she gave it her all anyway. The reason for this, according to Kodaka, is that he paid special attention to the type of voice. He wanted to avoid sounding completely annoying, because Shinigami has a lot of terrible things to say to Yuma. So he was looking for a voice that could say horrible things without annoying the player.

By the way, around this topic Kodaka joked, "Since RAIN CODE is a detective story, we made sure to check everyone's backgrounds during the auditions." To which Suzushiro replied, "So that's what those people in the back were!" Then "Don't worry. The results of the investigation showed that everyone was innocent." He continued to joke.

Suzushiro being examined during the audition (My own imagination.):

However, she said that she still struggled to find the right voice for Shinigami after she passed the audition. She said that she had originally planned to change her voice between the spirit form and the true form. She was instructed not to be too mascot-like when playing the spirit form, but when she tried to change the voice, she couldn't help but sound like a mascot, so she ended up speaking the same way as the true form.

She also said that Shinigami talks a lot throughout the game, so she was careful not to make it annoying for the players.

The voice recording for Yuma and Shinigami took a very long time, almost two years. During that time, they recorded almost every week. According to Fukuhara, one of the reasons it took so long was that, Yuma often had to scream or cry, so the recording took a lot of energy, and he was always unable to record the target number of words for that day, which was often carried over to the next time. Then the voices recorded at the end were different from the ones recorded at the beginning, so they re-recorded the lines recorded at the beginning.

------

As for Halara, Ishikawa said that the most important feature of Halara's voice was that she had to have a neutral voice, and that she sometimes received instructions during the recording such as, "Now you sounded a little masculine, so let's take it back a little," or "Speak a little cooler".

Kodaka said that Halara's first person pronoun was "boku" (*generally used by males in Japanese) and his/her appearance was masculine, so he adjusted the impression by adding Yui Ishikawa's graceful voice to give it a feminine impression and make it more neutral.

(This is just my personal opinion, but Halara's appearance doesn't look that masculine...🤔 But I am sure Kodaka said something like that. Well, I guess he means that he/she is masculine because he/she is tall?)

------

As for Desuhiko, KENN said that he had originally imagined a slightly higher voice, but was instructed to speak more naturally and closer to his natural voice. Other than that, there were not much many re-recordings.

------

Kodaka and Sakakibara were asked by the MC about the feedback and reactions they received after the release of RAIN CODE, but Kodaka said that he had not received much feedback. (He seemed a bit hesitant to answer when asked, so I personally speculated that he might have had negative feedback in mind and then denied that he hadn't received much...but that's really a personal guess, so it might just be that he feels he hasn't received that much feedback compared to Danganronpa).

When Sakakibara mentioned sales, Kodaka interupted in like this:

Well, maybe the above does not convey the nuance well. I think if I replace "Kodaka" with "Shinigami," it would make more sense:

haha 😂 Sakakibara was just talking about sales, but Kodaka seemed to be making fun of him, like, "See, producers are quick to want to talk about money!" (This itself is not an actual statement. But the statement in the image above, "It's all about money, after all. Producers are money hungry (結局は金なんですよ、金。プロデューサーは金の亡者だからね)," is true.)

Kodaka was obviously rude, but Sakakibara did not seem to care. (Perhaps Kodaka is usually like this 😅)

Then when the topic of sequels and future developments came up:

I don't think it was just because Kodaka pushed him, but Sakakibara told us that he would like to make a sequel or an anime :)

------

The next segment, "Collect Memory Shards of Master Detectives!", looked back at some scenes from the game.

The first scene that was discussed was the one where Halara kicks open a gate in chapter 1. This is the scene where Halara says it is open, even though he/she kicked it down him/herself. When Ishikawa said that she did not expect the scene to turn out like this when she recorded the audio, Kodaka said that the audio for that scene was actually recorded first and the video was made later. According to him, RAIN CODE has many scenes where the video was adjusted to match the audio in this way. I think this was from him talking about when they had a meeting for the promotion, he said that the scene where Halara kicks open the gate was well received when he showed it to people overseas. (Yeah, it's a funny scene for everyone XD)

------ The next scene was Yuma's disguise in chapter 2. Fukuhara was asked to comment on a message from a fan who said Yuma in disguise was so cute:

Fukuhara said that he had noticed that Yuma was rather originally cute, and then Kodaka said that he had actually initially worn more makeup to emphasize that it was a comedy scene. However, when Komatsuzaki checked the sprites on the actual machine, he said that it might be better to make Yuma just normally cute, and then he modified the sprites. Kodaka commented that he thinks that decision by Komatsuzaki worked.

------

The next scene was when Desuhiko was rejected by Shinigami at the end of the Mystery Labyrinth in chapter 2. In a message from a fan who wanted to know Desuhiko's success rate in picking up girls, and when the topic came up, Kodaka replied, "Zero. But he makes all kinds of excuses for himself, and in his mind they are not supposed to have happened." KENN said, "Uh, so he does mind control, right?" Kodaka agreed and said, "Yes, yes."

By the way, it was funny to hear Ishikawa say "It's cool" in a low voice, perhaps in response to the sound of the word "mind control" here. (To which KENN replied, "Is it cool?" 😂):

------

Then, the scene in chapter 5 where the fact that the meat buns were human flesh was revealed was discussed.

The VAs knew from the script that the meat buns sold in the Kanai Ward were made of human flesh, so they had mixed feelings when they saw the in-game tips about the meat buns.

As for Fukuhara, he somehow said that he had dared Yuma to eat meat buns many times, apologizing over and over again in his mind. (This part of the topic was rather fast-moving, so I did not understand the reason why he did so 😅)

According to Kodaka, in his mind, Yuma was never supposed to eat the meat buns. But before he knew it, Yuma was able to eat the meat buns in the game, and he thought, "Huh?...Oh well." lol

When asked by the MC when he first came up with the idea for the human meat buns, Kodaka replied that it had been there from the very beginning, and that he had recently sorted through his file and found the minutes of a meeting with the former producer in which it was noted that this idea might not be favorable for CERO (the rating system). But he apparently left it ambiguous and pushed it through 😅.

(For your information, the former producer he mentioned was probably Yoshinori Terasawa, the producer of the Danganronpa series. In an interview on dengekionline.com, Kodaka says that RAIN CODE was conceived with former producer Terasawa.)

------ After that, there was an advertisement about the event merchandise available at the venue. It was announced that those who bought the OST could participate in an autograph session with Kodaka. I have already posted a short manga about the autograph session in my previous post.

The VAs had left for the next reading, and only the MC, Kodaka, and Sakakibara were left on stage, and as I recall, the sequel was discussed again at that time. So MC asked Kodaka, "What can fans do to ensure a sequel for RAIN CODE?" Kodaka immediately answered, "Pay money! (課金だよ課金！)". 😂 I laughed a lot at his answer.

(It totally looked like this to me):

Every time he makes a statement like this, I am sure that he IS the person who wrote Monokuma's or Shinigami's lines. lol ------

This is finally half of the daytime program! XD

Next:

[ecargmura]

Senpai Is An Otokonoko Episode 1 Review - A Queer-Coded Romcom

What is an ‘otokonoko’? According to some sites, it’s a Japanese term for men who express themselves femininely. Are they trans? Are they a crossdresser? That’s something to figure out for yourself. Because of the ambiguity regarding Makoto’s gender, I’m going to use they/them pronouns when talking about them.

Regardless, Senpai Is An Otokonoko seems to be a romcom story that talks about sexuality, gender and conformity as Makoto Hanaoka is a boy who dresses up as a girl, but only does it at school. Saki Aoi is a girl who fell for Makoto, originally believing them to be a girl, but when they tell her the truth, Saki gets excited knowing that she can like both the boy and the girl versions of them. Congrats on the sudden bisexual awakening? Anyways, Saki is still insistent on pursuing Makoto, so she does whatever she can to make sure she becomes their first love. The only obstacle in her way is their childhood friend, Ryuji Taiga, who is protective of them, but also has a crush on them.

Is this BL? Yuri? I’d say that it is more of a queer-coded story. Makoto clearly likes dressing femininely; Saki is bisexual; Ryuji is gay. Nobody here is straight, not even Makoto. However, I do like it shows the positives and negatives of these kinds of stories. There are people who are accepting of Makoto’s crossdressing like Saki and Ryuji, but there are those who still find it hard to take in like some of Makoto’s classmates and even one of their teachers. However, I do like that the story is not written to make Makoto a joke, but to make them a serious character with internal issues of their own. I’d love to know what caused him to start crossdressing in the first place as its only hinted that he always liked cute things since he was little, but couldn’t lavish in them due to his household being super strict. Why is it that the school allows him to dress like this and why does he have a special locker in the storage room? I’d love to know these types of details.

The visuals are pretty! I seriously love both of Makoto designs! The girl design is beautiful! I love the hair color of their wig! I also like Makoto’s boy design. They may look like a regular boy, but they have a cute and pretty face that helps them stand out from the rest. Ryuji also looks nice with the parted hair and the hoop earrings. Saki also looks so cute with her short bobbed hair! They’re all rather simple designs, but they’re eye-catching!

The characters are fun because they’re in a friendly love triangle. Makoto is a nice person who’s filled with mysteries regarding their actions. I still like that they’re brave to keep crossdressing at school, even if everyone won’t be accepting of it. Saki is so chaotic, but I do like her earnest heart. She’s so bold, which is what Makoto probably needs in his life. Ryuji is also a nice guy but a little overprotective. I do like that he does whatever he can to protect Makoto from weirdos who look at him oddly, but he gets shy whenever the topic of him liking Makoto pops up.

The voice acting is really nice! I’ve never heard Shuichiro Umeda’s performance before, but he has a very cute voice that is perfect for a role like this. Akira Sekine voices another chaotic girl in Saki after voicing the chaos that was Sora Harewataru from Hirogaru Sky Precure. Yuma Uchida plays Ryuji Taiga, making this character the second gay boy he’s voicing this season after Hisashi from Twilight Out of Focus; he’s on a roll with these LGBT characters.

I guess my only gripe is that the art style shifts a lot from the usual to the comical ones that it’s sort of hard to get used to the sudden back and forth. I think it happens way too often that I’m mentioning this. Not that it’s bad but sometimes, it does get a little annoying.

I think people who still struggle with their identity might find some solace in this cute queer-coded story. I wasn’t sure what I was for a long time until I realize that I am most likely pansexual. Yes, this is the first time I reveal my sexuality on this blog, but it’s just a secret that I won’t ever tell anyone in real life because it’s my identity and life; I’m the only one who gets to decide how to live it, after all. For me, gender doesn’t matter; I love people however they are. I honestly can’t wait to see what sort of story this will turn out to be. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[loremaster]

BOBA AU - CHAPTER 1 EXTRAS

I had actually drawn a few more things than could fit within the 30-image-per-post limit. Here are the ones that didn't make the cut, with commentary!

(tw: mild animal abuse, n*zi mention, suggestive themes)

Zilch's animal companions. I named Carmina Burana and Tortellini, Gucci and Bosch were named by my friends - though Bosch was supposed to be called Hieronymus, it just didn't fit on the nametag lol

I wanted to illustrate some examples of Zilch casually mistreating/neglecting the animals but this was as far as I got. I don't think he would be a full on animal abuser, just... the type of person who likes having a bunch of pets to show off but doesn't really think about properly caring for them. He likes the aesthetics of animals much more than the logistics.

This was gonna be the chapter cover and I forgot. Oops.

This was just practice drawing the church characters from their sprites.

Zilch: I must say, it's an unexpected pleasure to run into another kindred spirit around here. I'm Zilch~

This scene was actually cut deliberately. I drew it before I decided exactly what the Nun's issue with Zilch would be and then once I did, I felt like it didn't fit anymore. Zilch is still excited to see someone else with ears and tail like him, but in the final version, he's a lot more derisive about it.

I imagine the Nun is, like, an actual animal-human hybrid whereas Zilch is a furry with a wallet that can afford bioengineered bodymods. (One day, my friends... one day...)

Zilch being flippant and Halara being dismissive/tsundere. Couldn't really find a place to put it but I still like the drawing - even if I did accidentally give Zilch human ears.

By the way, you might notice Zilch hasn't been wearing his cap. There are two reasons. One is to show off that his ears aren't actually connected to it. If I had the time to go back and redraw the prologue with him wearing it - so Halara's "holy fuck" reaction makes more sense here - I would. (Not really worth trying to fix though, not until the rest of the story is done.)

But the other reason is that upon looking closer at Zilch's original design, I thought it was a little too evocative of Nazi imagery and wasn't really comfortable with it. It's not really the same style of hat, sure, but combined with the swastikas in his eyes??? yeah no way is that not intentional. (I redesigned his eye symbols to be catlike slit pupils instead.)

I get he (or, the hitman, I guess) is supposed to be a villain, and a minor one, in the original game... but here I'm gonna flesh him out a bit more. So I guess in that sense the removal of the hat symbolizes his growth as a character beyond his terrible awful fascist upbringing lol (more on that in the Gumshoe Gabs soon)

If I were making this an actual game it would be fun to have Yuma get a fun little added gameplay element of using Zilch's Forte like he does with Halara's. He gets some little animal friends!!!

I imagined Zilch would ask to be carried, but Halara won't do it without getting paid an exorbitant amount. And then Zilch forks over the cash on the spot. Yuma screams internally. If he had that the whole time why were they even trying to negotiate over the coat???!? Why does he still have his own debt to pay if Zilch could just cover the whole thing up front????

Halara has to pretend not to be enthusiastic about this opportunity.

Shinigami is... there, I guess.

Martina my wife driving around her little parasite of a boyfriend. Ms Electro please call me

Was originally gonna have Seth say that out loud but then I remembered he doesn't want to lose his job. (It's okay, he loses it anyway.)

(Also yes this is pre-Vivia-DLC.)

And then the mystery is solved!

Zilch feels indebted to Halara for saving him from the Nail Man, and wants to follow their example, turn it around, treat his animals better... his act of goodwill here is extremely performative, though. But, hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere!

Ultimately I cut this scene after coming up with the cat bed idea. (Was very tempted to have Halara cruelly taking the coat from the boy, but just decided to skip it instead.)

So Zilch kinda idolizes Halara now... which is fine... but then the morning after he really lets his simp flag fly.

Congrats on your furry boyfriend, I guess?????

A doodle from the margins of this comic way back when.... which finally has a place to belong! \o/

Zilch's fursona. His "zursona," if you will.

Thanks again for reading! I love everyone's comments in the tags and I'm so glad you all like my version of Zilch especially. Excited to develop him some more in future chapters >:)

[diacripticcomplex]

My absolute favorite DL characters in no particular order:

🌸 YUI KOMORI 🌸

Never understood the hate towards Yui. Again the anime is a promo for the game and it did not do her character justice at all. The prequel and sequels for some of the mangas did her character justice. She’s a very kind and compassionate person, she’s HUMAN and grew up in a church, she’s a soft girl who doesn’t like violence so y’all can only imagine what this girl has to go thru meeting a bunch of bloody thirsty horny vampire boys, who have severe parental issues and a bunch of other abusive behavioral problems, but she is very patient with each and every brother in all the routes and I love that about her, she’d be a really good therapist too lmao. She’s an Angel, must be protected at all times. I won’t tolerate any Yui hate on this blog.

❤️‍🔥 AYATO SAKAMAKI ❤️‍🔥

Poster boy for the entire franchise. A lot of people find him to be annoying, he is annoying and we love his Aries self for that. While Ayato is a menace to society he’s got a good side to him as well and for the most part knows right from wrong, more than some of the fandom gives him credit for. I also really like his character design, he kinda looks like a mean little bat. They give him a lot of cute and playful moments with Yui and I think that’s beautiful especially in a dark themed game series, they have serious moments but also a lot of light hearted moments and I think that’s important to lighten up the mood sometimes.

👨‍🌾 YUMA MUKAMI👨‍🌾

First off, I absolutely love his character design, the messy long hair and he’s a giant too plus they gave him realistic human hair and eyes to show that he used to be human, maybe I’m thinking too deep on it idk. I absolutely love the identity crisis he had due to his amnesia and the connection with Shu, it brought that twin flame connection back, I love those best friend tropes a lot, his voice actor also is Mako from Free! So I have no choice but to Stan Yuma. Yuma also has a lot more self awareness then the rest of his adoptive brothers and thinks ahead due to his past experiences, he knows that he’s a vampire now but still has a garden for food and has sugar cubes with him at all times, he uses his past experiences and acknowledges that it happened then moves forward he doesn’t dwell on it too much.

🔪AZUSA MUKAMI🔪

He’s a lil creepy, and socially awkward at times but he’s just so relatable sometimes. He’s very soft spoken and he a lil wild with his pain tolerance and some of the out of pocket shit that he says, but I think he’s such a sweetheart, protect him at all costs as well, even his brothers know to protect him at all costs.

🎻 SHU SAKAMAKI 🎻

Shu will forever be my favorite DL boy, he doesn’t like doing anything but can do everything and do it perfectly too. He has severe ptsd, depression, and detachment issues. No you can’t fix him even Yui realizes this and just accepts him for who he is because that’s the only way it’ll work. He’s also hilarious without even trying to be, he says some mean shit at times but it’s so unhinged like damn Shu you don’t have the energy to eat, shower, wipe your ass but you got the energy to completely disrespect all your siblings with a few words. Also his beef with Reiji is somewhat familiar grounds especially if you have a sibling that is constantly irritating your soul. I always felt like I could relate to Shu the most due to him having a hard time getting close to people after losing his best friend, he can’t just get over it either, I don’t like when people would say “oh it happened a long time ago” yes it did but everyone heals at their own pace and it’s important to acknowledge that as well.

[choco-leche]

hey, sorry if this comes outta nowhere but I just wanna apologize for a little something i did.

so back in September I had posted an Octonauts OC of mine named Yuma. they are a non binary coyote from my octonauts mermaid au “reclaimed by nature”

and, well, they look like this

i was… relatively new to the community by a few months, and only around now have i realized they looked VERY similar to an oc of yours (that being pine the bat).

I’m VERY sorry if you condemn this. i don’t check around much—me being busy with school and the like—and I’m pretty embarrassed over this news. i did NOT intend to draw them in a design akin to an already existing OC. it’s an honest mistake.

if you want me to do something about yuma (eg. redesign them), please let me know. again, I deeply apologize for the accidental plagiarism and it will NOT happen again.

- Midori

ps: if you weren’t aware of them until then, I also apologize for that. i just felt guilty on my side and felt like i needed to speak up.

Buddy, no no no, you are fine! Please do not feel guilty, you’ve done nothing wrong. You were new to the community and were just enjoying it to the fullest, you didn’t even know about my character. Yes, there are some similarities but this is not plagiarism. The octonauts community isn’t very big so there are chances characters will be similar and it’s not like you made an exact copy of Pine.

Even so, Yuma is your own original character. If you like their design then please don’t feel the need to change it because of a coincidence in color choices. As long as you’re not taking other creators content and claiming it as your own, you are perfectly fine. No need to feel ashamed or embarrassed, have fun making your characters!

And Welcome to the Octonauts Fandom💕

[yakool-foolio]

see maybe this is just me, but As A Character Designer Myself i think the rain code designs are some of komatzuzaki's best work yet. they're weird and campy and yet they work so well. i do think the characters' personalities shine through on first and second glances. I don't even usually like neon colors but I think the combo of bright neons with understated neutrals is so fascinating and memorable. no one else does it like this. a lot of the small details on the designs are actually packed with symbolic meaning (esp. yakou's - I'd love to see you unpack all that) and the overabundance of logos is evocative of the corpo-cyber-future setting. the rain code designs feel much more cohesive in terms of that setting than the DR designs do - which makes sense bc DR is more about disparate people being united by their circumstances - dialed to 11 in v3 where the designs are at their wackiest. but this ain't about her this is about rain code.

I love that characters you wouldn't expect (zange, fubuki, priest...) have weird facial piercings and tattoos. I love that the animal ears are never explained. I love desuhiko's tboy swag and yeah, the golden yellow and the dirty blonde and the neon yellow accents don't look great together - and I think the clashing colors work wonders to establish his personality. this kid dressed himself and thought it would make him look cool. you idiot. aphex's hat is stupid. zilch's ears are stupid. vivia's bandages-instead-of-clothes are stupid - and yet reading into that choice is very insightful. (he puts on a lazy air but if he was really lazy he'd just put on an oversized emo band tee instead of wrapping himself up like a mummy every day. he actually does care about how he comes across to people.)

there's a few videos about fashion YouTubers judging the DR fits, and at one point they brought in Yuma and shinigami and they hated yuma's outfit so much because it's dorky and they wouldn't wear it. but like!!! that's the whole point is that it's dorky!!!! his little trainee shorts. his stupid fkin bowl cut making him look like a little boy whose mom still cuts his hair. (which of course turns out to be a meaningful deception. his haircut influences how the audience and other characters see him to great effect.) and yet he has the coolest fkin shoes ever and when he puts his hat and cape on he's got such an iconic silhouette. teru teru bozu lookin ass /pos.

anyway yeah. i wasnt a fan of komatzuzaki's designs in the beginning but over the years ive come around. I'm a firm designer that a character design doesn't necessarily have to look good to be a good character design. I like it when they aren't afraid to make the characters look cringe - I love cringe. I eat it up. thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

Even more perspectives! I think your take of 'bad-looking designs can be good actually' is a great way to look at Rain Code's characters. To put it simply, it's unique! 'Nobody does it like Komatsuzaki'-kind of campiness. Honestly, Rain Code's designs remind me a lot of Danganronpa 2's designs in terms of color. That cast is full of much brighter colors compared to the lesser saturation of DR1 n V3's cast colors. And it makes sense cause it's a brighter game overall in terms of setting and upping the ridiculousness of the killing game in every way! Rain Code sorta follows that with its own designs by crankin' up the neons to really ride the idea home that this game is wacky right from the get-go and it's a Resident Evil game in disguise! And y'know what Resident Evil loves to indulge in? Campiness! Rain Code wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and that's totally chill.

As a sidenote to your sidenote regarding Yakou's clothing details, I have actually written a bit about how he might perceive them, but I haven't yet written about what they could truly mean in terms of how they relate to him narratively. The meaning of the phoenix patterns are painfully obvious though heh. And I also greatly appreciate the recognition that Vivia really does care about his appearance despite his 'laziness'. His hedonistic lifestyle includes his own attire, wearing whatever he pleases no matter the effort! Like I've preached before, Vivia has the energy, he just prefers to use it only when necessary.

Thank you for the TED talk *golf claps*

[shitpostingkats]

Yu-Gi-Oh Review Roundup: Zexal!

Favorite main character: Astral

Yeah, I like the funny little autism alien. Everyone contain your shock.

But aside from the fact that there is a main character who is a glowing floating non-human, Astral is such a well written character. He starts with some of the barest foundations of a personality, being literally an amnesiac with no idea what is going on. Over the course of the show, you watch him slowly learn about the world around him and his place in it. Same with his relationship with his co-protagonist, Yuma! They start off very combative, but then learn to rely on each other, then a blossoming friendship, until they grow into fully loving and protective best friends. And we get to see that! All the little moments of their friendship is onscreen from day one. 

And aside from Yuma, Astral is just???? Hilarious??? He has this very dry sense of humor that is so anachronistic to the rest of his general naivety and it makes me smile EVERY TIME. He’s FUNNY. 

A personal pet peeve of mine is the assumption that autistic coded characters don’t understand jokes, and the only way to make them work in a comedy setting is to have the audience laugh at them. No!!! Astral’s just got his own wacky sense of personal humor! Even as he grows closer to Yuma, he still has his witty jabs, but this time they’re affectionate. This really is the way he talks, not just some consequence of amnesia and social bluntness. I love him. He’s clever and funny and caring and learning to love and awkward and awesome.

Also, he glows and floats. 

Favorite antagonist: Vector

Vector may not be the most consistently written character, but GOD IS HE FUN.

About 80% of my love of Vector is just in the visual appeal of his design and animation. The black and grey, almost like a gargoyle, with pink accents, plus his chrysalis/butterfly/alien duel disk? Mwah. Because barians don’t have mouths or eyebrows, their facial animation has to be really exaggerated to convey expressions. Vector’s face is made entirely of squash and stretch.

Add on top of that the dub’s pitch perfect and very fun vocal performance, and I just grin every time he comes onscreen. The actor manages to sell how this guy is a wildcard and just evil for the FUN of it. The giddiness in his voice whenever tormenting someone with evil cardgames. Every one of the barian emperors is like “And then there’s this guy. What a weirdo. We’re not 100% sure why we keep him around, but he is OUR little office chaos gremlin and he is a VALUED MEMBER OF THIS TEAM.” 

 When Shark is introducing all the emperors after reclaiming his title, his literal words when he gets to Vector are just: 

“Vector! Need I say more?” 

And even after trying to kill Nash like three times, he’s still in the final Friendship Lineup for the duel of three worlds, his monster used with complete honor and seriousness, complete with a special summoning chant and battle cry. 

THEY GIVE HIM A SPACE IN THE FRIENDGROUP AFTER HE TRIES TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE WORLD.

Favorite side character: Nistro

Check it off the Spk Himbo Bingo, everyone. 

Dextra and Nistro are honestly some of the highlights of the show for me. I love it when yugioh side characters are allowed to recur and get minor character arcs that don’t subtract from the plot but still have an overarching development. The two of them show up in the duel carnival, first working security, then resigning and entering the carnival as competitors. While Dextra, professional, focused, does not make any major changes to her appearance, Nistro seems to revel in the chance to finally wear his full length flame/fur coat. It’s a subtle characterization, but it makes his ultimate turn to WWE wrestler completely believable. 

He’s excitable, hot-headed, and values his relationship with Dextra; the two play off each other very well, somewhat paralleling the dynamic between Yuma and Astral. And, I cannot stress enough how much I loved having a male and female relationship that was just. Good. Dextra is an equal and he cares for her completely, and they work well together, both in chemistry and in their literal jobs. It’s just. Nice. To have this background duo with no drama or yugioh-female-character weirdness.

Nistro just happens to be my personal favorite because he decided the best way to confront an alien hostile was to hit a baseball at them, then casually lean on the bat and smirk. 

Favorite duel: Yuma vs. Eliphas

Basically the entire show, Astral World is this big question mark in the lore. So when we finally got to see and go there, I was excited. Like, kicking my feet and flapping my hands excited. (This is yugioh, after all. It wouldn’t be completely out of the question to just never explore this cool alien world that holds a ton of answers to questions in the plot.) Also, because at this point we had been missing Astral for several episodes, and I was ready for Yuma to have his funny alien bestfriend back. 

But first he’s got to duel for it.

And boy is it a good duel.

Eliphas is a great antagonist, his archetype being based around not only being powerful, but on being levels of power far above his opponent. In one duel, we get the whole deal of Astral world: toxic superiority. His monsters are all wonderfully creatchury, tapping back into some DM era egyptian aesthetics, and just delightfully weird. Etheric Amon is also a highlight. I especially love how it calls to mind the silhouette of Monster Reborn, and the pillar fading near the base gives it a trippy optical illusion effect. 

Being the first person besides Yuma and Astral we see use Shining Draw, it’s an excellent and immediate threat that instantly ratchets up the tension. Same with the New Order numbers using exactly the same summonings and sound cues as regular numbers. The magical powers our protagonists have been slowly mastering through the entire course of the series? Child’s play. Not even anything special.

Yuma v. Eliphas also kicks off the longest chain of duels that I unilaterally love that I have so far seen in yugioh. From this to the duel on the moon, it’s just all bangers.

Favorite arc: Mythyrian Numbers War

Zexal is the first show I’ve really agreed with the general consensus on the quality curve: It gets better as it goes on. Part 2 is just exponentially stronger, and with every episode grows more into its potential. That said, I kinda like the funky monster of the week format the pre-duel carnival had.

So the search for the mythyrian numbers feels like the best blend of those two flavors. It’s basically an arc of cleverly delivered build-up for the main villains, introducing each barian emperor’s backstory one at a time. Plus, some broader worldbuilding about Astral and Barian, which after over a hundred episodes of no answers, was sorely needed. 

It gives the villainous coterie some personality. Dumon’s quiet honor and chivalry, Alito’s brash competitive streak, Girag’s raccoon-based military career. The emperors are a highlight of Zexal, and it’s in large part to this time spent fleshing out each one’s personality and past. And we still get to bounce around to wacky locations and weekly boss monsters. Then, with the mini arcs of Astral World and the three barian mercs, it just encapsulates all of my favorite parts of this series. 

Greatest strength of the series:

*points at Yuma and Astral on the cover art*

It’s them.

My controversial yugioh opinion is I didn’t really love DM. I found the pacing boring, the duels awkward, and that it never delivered on some of its strongest ideas. The basic premise, two souls in one body, one foreign and confused, contrasted by the plucky average joe? Awesome idea. How do they interact? How does that partnership develop, literally sharing a headspace? What sort of adventures do the two of them get up to, racing around the world to uncover the secrets to the amnesiac’s past?

What does this have to do with Zexal?

Yuma and Astral is everything I wanted from Yami and Yugi, and more.

While I found the number of Yami & Yugi interactions in DM frustratingly few, I liked the idea of dual protagonists, and was curious what a well written version of that dynamic would look like. Zexal makes having two protagonist really work. They’re just a delight. From the stumbled irritation of first meetings, then the unsteady alliance of companionship, to straight up would-die-for-each-other partners. They both share the spotlight, learning from each other as the show goes on, and compliment in all the right ways. Their banter feels organic and refreshing, you truly believe these two are the best of friends. When they lose each other it’s painful, when they reunite, it’s cathartic. Their bond is literally the foundation of the show, in a way that I didn’t really see in Yami and Yugi, or the criminally little time we got with Jaden and Yubel. The first time we see Astral smile is when Yuma calls him a friend. There’s a billion little moments like that. The two of them speaking in tandem the first time they work in sync. Astral’s pure delight at getting to experience food for the first time as Zexal. Yuma’s desperation when he thinks he’s misplaced the emperor's key. A massive chunk of the show goes to building up these two, and, by the end, it’s far and away the biggest success of Zexal.

Weakest Points:

A good chunk of the writing effort apparently went into perfecting Yuma and Astral’s dynamic, because other characters suffer from a distinct lack of consistency. 

Shark, love him though I might, spends 2/3rds of the plot having no real reason to be there, then hard pivots into a heelturn that’s really cool, but breaks down the more you think about it. His entire motivation for the duel carnival arc was getting back at the person who hospitalized his sister, then he helps out with the fight against the barians for supposedly the same reason? Despite them having kind of next to nothing with Rio’s injuries. You could make the argument that his hatred of the barians is motivated by suppressed memories of Vector being responsible for his sister’s death when they were humans, except the second he recovers those memories, he turns around and goes back to leading them without so much as an unkind word to Vector. 

He’s not the only villain of the series to suffer from some questionable motives. Vetrix is also a mess, wanting to avenge Kazuma and himself by *checks notes* Opposing Kazuma’s son and abusing his children. Dr. Faker is equally comically antithetical, committing warcrimes for the sake of his sons yet treating both horribly.

Yes, there’s explanations given, but nothing that feels real to the character, just last minute plot twists. Vector’s appealing because he’s a loose cannon, yes, but he has the strength of performance and writing where that’s a believable aspect. His consistency is he’s inconsistent, and takes great delight in being so. Every other main villain feels like they’re just being jerked around into the shape the plot requires of them.

Also, for how exciting it feels to get answers in the latter half of Zexal II, it’s a bit much, even for yugioh, to hold the basic worldbuilding in such a stranglehold until then. Heck, no one even asks why the barians and astrals are fighting until like, episode one hundred. Even characters where it feels in-character to ask, to investigate, they simply. Don’t. For a series this long, I’d love to see that aspect worked into a more reasonable drip-feed of information.

Most yugioh moment: 

“Pack your bags, galaxy-eyes. We’re headed to the moon.”

He says this so seriously. Does he really mean for galaxy-eyes to get its little dragon suitcase and get ready for their trip? Is this a little joke, between an eighteen year old and his emotional support piece of cardboard? HE’S SO CASUAL ABOUT JUST. HEADING TO THE MOON. They need to have a card game on the moon for the sake of the world that is the single most yugioh plot beat of all time.

[thehandwixard]

um . could u give me the rain code pitch . i am still cursed with the dream specter and think i might need to play it to exorcise this

hi. so. this is going to be pretty long and slightly stream of consciousness, because i am always much worse about giving concise pitches than i think. i am also clicking my heels together in joy. its going to be very obvious that i love this game a lot... like. elevator pitch, i would give the game a solid, respectable 6/10 if ranking it purely in gameplay feel, overall execution, and the like. maybe edging closer to a 7 with its updates to performance since launch.

However, what is clear about raincode is that it as a 6 year long labor of love, and this endears me to it in the way that energy endears me to trigger happy havoc despite its flaws, its clunkiness, and its relative shortness. I would give it an easy 9/10 for the heights it strives for and the effort that went into the making of the world, the emotional resonance of the main characters, the story, the aesthetic. the psychic effects it has had on me, finally, cannot be measured. i need to find articles about gay bathouse culture for this game. thats not even a queer theme i think kodaka intentionally put in this game and trust me he puts stuff in intentionally, thats just one i keep thinking about. thats the headspace the game puts me in.

now,

THE (master detective archives/enigma archives) RAINCODE PITCH.

The danganronpa games, you know them. Kazutaka Kodaka, the writer of the games, you may or may not know that guy. I like his writing a lot since i got deeply into danganronpa in 2020. this is one of the only games i have preordered in years. He made a new game that's a 3-d mystery-adventure game. The soundtrack designer and character designer from those games are also here, and spitting. 

Raincode is a mystery-adventure game set in a unique world with what are described as “psycho-noir” aesthetics, referencing the heightened fantasy of the setting’s visuals compared to the (already electric) DR.

You play as Yuma Kokohead, an amnesiac trainee detective sent (along with several other, far higher ranking detectives) to the autonomous zone ‘Kanai Ward’ to investigate its never ending rain, its complete isolation, and the corporation that controls it: Amaterasu Corporation, its faction of ‘peacekeepers’, and its systematic refusal to let investigations be done inside or out.

The bulk of the game IS this detective work, even when you’re not working on a case. The city has several districts (with very clear class associations) that you are free to walk around in, and it uses cyberpunk aesthetics in a way that’s very pleasing to me. Kinda think splatsville but neon, its that design of.. an area thats still maybe a little too polished for a city but it has a genuine eye to how a city actually tends to look and the ways people use it and exist in it. there are quite a few incidental npcs, and i think they work well to make the city feel alive. One of my favorite aspects of the game is the goal to present a multinational setting, with stuff like signage in latin alphabets, cyrillic, kanji, and the character’s names.

I could go on about the design for a while and i have more notes about it later just. The World Is Really Cool. you know what the master detectives are? Theyre detectives sanctioned by the World Detective organization, given the title of master because of their innate psychic abilities that have been honed into forensic and investigative tools. The reason the trainee detective Yuma is an amnesiac is probably because he made a pact with a death god that links them “body and soul”, for purposes he can no longer remember and she is unable or unwilling to tell him. This pact, however, gives him his own edge in investigating. Obviously the game is centered around solving murders, though in a less personal way than in DR. Also like and unlike DR, the way you are guided into solving these murders is through a series of minigames (in a pocket dimension that is the mystery given form (called a mystery labyrinth where the psychedelic design starts to come out crazy hard)) which are. The minigames are fine, i do generally enjoy the non-stop debates from danganronpa more, but theyre well-designed and fun. The mysteries themselves are Bangers, i made it a goal for myself to at least try to solve all of the main ones by myself to test if they were good mysteries where u were given all possible information to piece together, and i never felt cheated when i didnt get it exactly right. Again, it misses some of the intense personal connection you get with some of the murders in dr with it not happening in a closed cast, but i think that the story of them is done very well. Smiles. 

And coming back to yuma, thats the other thing about this game. Danganronpa dealt heavily with exploring themes of student burnout, critiquing the justice system in specific areas like trial and (capital) punishment, etc with its characters, and where Raincode really shines in similar areas, but a little to the left. 

If danganronpa was essentially about teenagers who really didn't have much to gain from the system but useless power over other teenagers and the costs of punishing deviance from norms, raincode is grappling with power structures where adults do have a lot to gain from upholding them, especially through the politics of information. Misinformation, hiding information, even the collection and use of info. Like DR, it also has a lot of very interesting things to say about ‘giftedness’ and the way it can alienate people, though again with a strong eye in considering people without these gifts, and/or people who do not have “average” abilities and how they have to navigate this world. 

The themes are strong. I would argue the game is also edging into being about being disabled and the guilt of burdening or even just interacting others with characters like Yuma, Fubuki, and Pucci. Its really highly interesting and, thankfully Kodaka’s bottom-line touch is one of understanding. The duality of being othered by ability and othered by disability.

I think one of the things i like most about Raincode is its unflinching way it depicts the ebb and flow of our protagonists', Yuma and Shinigami’s, morals, goals, and convictions. It has a lot to say about what depending on other people means, the good and the bad of it, the ways you can be taken advantage of, and all of yuma’s relationships with the other characters showcase this heavily– how he feels about himself in relationship to them, what he wants them to feel about him, how they support him or use him. Its a game where, very plainly, you do not have all the information and are playing against sharks who will take every chance they get to puppet you around. 

and what helps, obviously, is that yuma and shinigami are delightful protagonists to follow. their dynamic is written with a lot of care and nuance and is also just. really funny.

I clear my throat. Addendum. Some things to note, about this game. We have some one piece type shit in here. What i mean by that is I respect komatsuzaki as a character designer but he makes a lot of weird choices in character design that i am unable to really understand the reason for at times. Kodaka is not getting off the hook for the writing of the characters of color, but its unclear how much.. Direct correlation kodaka’s writing and the designs have. Wont get too much into it.

The other thing i mean by that is. Transmisogyny but i put a huge “EXCEPT-” sign up. One of the best chapters of the game centers the transmisogynistic plot device of two male characters having to disguise themselves as girls to investigate a murder in a girl’s school. I am not a trans woman, but what i will say in my perspective being familiar with this trope in even recent stuff like mob psycho is that like. The characters generally can and will say edgy, really rude shit but i personally feel the game takes the stance that theres nothing wrong with crossdressing, yknow? And also the pervert character is explicitly trans-positive. That helps. Its a thing that looks bad head on and makes the pitch kind of hard because obviously its not something one expects to be any better than it looks.

Also the game is almost fully voice acted with only some incidental interaction dialogue not being voiced. The english voice actors do a fantastic job, and from what i understand many of the japanese voice actors have a lot of love for the game too (i can't speak on their performances lol)

(also theres a lot of extra material for the game in the form of dlc stories and collectable story interactions in the main game. these are difficult to know the correct time to experience them and are a bit clunky in that way but are very worth looking up when the time is right)