#yuri being for the gays (and one of the gays) is just top tier

[dapper-lil-arts]

Do you have any top tier horse yuri fic recs?

Hmm, i got a couple, lemme think

This one is a very sweet slice of life EG Sunset x Scitwi one, its got a lovely interpretation of the characters; With the expected but very welcome pairing of cool punk girl and adorable nerd. and i plan on doing fanart of it! The writer knows her stuff nyeheh =v= This is the best "Rarity and Applejack get drunk together and mushy stuff happens" Fic i seen out there, a trope that is surprisingly recurring, ive seen others like this! But this one is the best, hands down. A mutual of mine wrote it and its just a wonderful time! This one is a super fun horror esque rarijack fic where rarity is haunted and applejack tries to help her. its got fantastic prose and its just damn lovely! I've done fanart of it before, its a sweet one, and its also just a really interesting direction to take Rarity's character that i'm almost sad to not see more of. Overpowered rarity whennnn Although i don't ship twilight and trixie, this fic of this pairing, that is still ongoing, is fucking hilarious. The comedy has wonderful timing, and the takes on the characters are endlessly entertaining

Stay tuned to this wonderful fic of Rarijack anthros (Inspired by the ones i designed, too!!) 'cause its gonna have a sex sequel that i've already gotten a sneak peek or two of, and i'm frotthing at the mouth about it. biting things even (i sketched the cover btw!)

This fic isn't rly horse yuri but its 1000 words of Sunset Shimmer being the utter insane badass i always wished she was; and I will continue writing her like so. I'm glad to see another writer also concidered the same

If you're like me, and think that sex is funny, this fic and it's two sequels are for you. Sunset Shimmer throws a party of deranged proportions that ends in debauchery and indulgence that nearly destroys the fabric of equestria; and it's consequences are hilarious. This is a rly cute short trans rarity fic, and it has a delightful amount of rarijack within. utterly adorbs. Almost sad to see it so short! Finaly, i'd be amiss to not recommend the fics i've written myself; Here are my two biggest and most awesomest i've done: The Return of Midnight Sparkle Is a take on MLP where there is no EG universe, and rather, Sunset Shimmer is brought to the mane 6 per twilight's request, and she absolutely does not feel like she belongs, and its a narrative about her desperate attempts of fitting in; and dealing with the fallout of her failings. I put an inordinate amount of effort on this one, even drawing covers for each chapter. I went DERRANGED with the idea of "what if sunset shimmer was on FIM and also it was gay as fuck." i basicaly wrote an entire season of the show and its finale. If you're a fan of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle as a pairing, cannot recommend enough. Here's some of the art i made for it. Insanely sick chapter covers im super proud of The Princess and the Peasant is an all you can eat buffet for Rarijack enjoyers, I've taken the baseline of the story of "shrek 1" and i made it about Applejack and Rarity; And also expanded upon it and fixed some of the annoyances with the og story (No third act misunderstanding! On the contrary. Third act understanding. SEX.) The humble farmer Applejack has to rescue fair Princess Rarity from a dragon keep, and escort her across Equestria to ensure that her farm and family are safe. Of course, on the journey, those two grow a bit close... Too close. VEry very very veyr close. Here's a comic i've made of one of my fave scenes of it lmaooo Cannot express enough; If you're a fan of rarijack? This fic is EVERYTHING for you.

[g-oblincat]

The other manga I've been keeping up with that recently just ended! And I'm going to talk about it!

Ayaka-chan wa Hiroko-senpai ni Koishiteru (Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!) by Sal Jiang

A lesbian office drama written by a Twitter artist I really like! Ayaka has a crush on her senior at work, Hiroko, and constantly tries to make Hiroko notice her. Hiroko is a lesbian who’s closeted at work and trying her hardest not to fall for Ayaka, who she thinks is an oblivious straight girl. The appeal is the comedy of watching two women made stupid by love freak out over each other, underlined by queer angst.

Things I like about it:

Charming characters! The main couple is SO easy to fall in love with and root for- they are so earnest and funny and have great chemistry. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re drawn REALLY well with fun, expressive faces and cute designs.

Themes of queerness as identity and community! More in the spoiler section, but my favorite scenes in this story take place in in a gay bar with a character’s WLW friendgroup as they talk about being gay. The community is my favorite part of being queer and I never see it reflected in manga, and I love how much fun and love is put into the scenes with the friendgroup.

You can read the official English comic online here! I think this is the most affordable I’ve ever seen a manga actually, so it’s definitely worth a buy! I will admit I am using the Dynasty Scans pages in the spoiler section of this post, since that’s the version I read before finding out about the official English version.

Expanding on my two points above in the spoilers section!

Time for the section where I play show and tell

That’s the premise!

Great characters and chemistry

Ayaka is SO cute. I love pretty femme girls who are kind of bratty, and she’s portrayed in a way where you know the author’s having so much fun with her.

Some random out of order/context Ayaka faces from the earlier chapters! I forgot how cute and sweet she comes off in the earlier chapters, she’s a total goblin later lol

Hiroko is also such a fun character! I love the contrast between a really serious, straight laced, determined-to-not-fall-in-love person at work to uhhhhh womanizer at night lol.

Speaking of fun, a character interaction trope I’ll never get tired of are “characters who comedically overreact when they’re in love with someone” and that fits this couple to a T!

What a cute sequence….

Both characters’ POVs from the same chapter. Hiroko focusing on how hot Ayaka is, and Ayaka imagining wedding bells when Hiroko looks at her LOL.

I could keep showing screenshots of these two until I basically go through the entire comic lol.

But even outside the main two, I really like the side characters as well! A standout is Risa - Ayaka’s colleague who’s also a baby gay and has a crush on her. I’m unusual in that I usually like love triangles, but I do think this one is written really well! She’s sympathetic, her doomed longing for Ayaka is delicious and relatable. (Spoilers) I love how her selfishness and selflessness is balanced- her crush and competition with Hiroko makes her sabotage Ayaka’s crush in small ways in the beginning, but she fundamentally cares for her friend and roots for them in the end. Also, (BIG SPOILERS) she and Ayaka end up dating and breaking up but still remain friends, which is another favorite trope of mine. (HUGE SPOILERS) I love this page, any manga that includes a scene like this is top tier for me…. She feels realistic and her story is really sweet!

(Left) Baby gays smashing braincells against each other and (Right) Risa’s eyes wander….

Queer community and identity

This section has more spoilers than the last one!! If you haven’t read this comic but plan on it, I recommend you not read this part!!

In my last post, I said that Yuri as a genre doesn’t need to have anything about queerness as an identity to be good, but then I realized that most of my favorites did have a focus on identity…. Yeah IDK what to say LOL. But the identity aspect is a big plot point/theme of this story, and it’s written SUPER well.

First of all- Hiroko’s backstory centers on homophobia and her being super closeted at her workplace. I’m iffy on homophobia stories (just cause I’ve read a lot of them and they tend to hit on the same points), but the homophobia theme leads to one of my fav scenes:

Context: Risa knows Hiroko is closeted and rants about it to the bartender at a lesbian bar who knows Hiroko.

I love this focus on how queer people interact with the straight world, and the generational divide between older and younger queers. I can only speak from a US perspective, but progress around LGBTQ acceptance has come so far and so fast the past few years that if I was born a few years earlier or a few years later, I’d have a radically different life experience. It’s something I think about a lot when reading memoirs and articles by older queer people, and contrasting that with my life and the observed lives of people younger than me online. This theme is explored well in this story- the cultural tensions between Hiroko and Ayaka and Risa, how straight people may react more positively to queer people now but it’s still not perfect, and how Hiroko has changed her workplace for the better.

Also speaking of the lesbian bar- I love the girls at the bar lol. Right after the scene with Risa, a gaggle of lesbians come in and comfort her and it’s SOOOO heartwarming and cute. I love how this friendgroup is written- supportive, but also will call you out.

It’s so fun to read these guys gossip, give each other relationship advice, bicker with each other, and be horny at women together.

Hiroko’s relationship with the girls is more bickering, but Risa and Ayaka end up going to them for advice a lot which is so sweet and the elder/baby queer relationship I need (not portrayed because I can’t find a screenshot that doesn’t reveal a big plot twist)

Anyway…that’s it…. If you’ve read this comic please talk to me about it…if you haven’t please read it. Thank you.

[tribow]

2008 is a pretty eventful year for touhou at least in terms of canon. It marks the release of both Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Subterranean Aminism. I think Cage in Lunatic Runagate started releasing chapters around this time as well.

Mountain of Faith released late 2007 so the fanworks for those characters were fleshed out in 08 as well. So what happened in the fanon? Well, a lot did and a lot didn't.

Aya is now a big character from here on out.

Wriggle stays somewhat relevant somehow??? She's doing her best!

Hina is either the nicest character ever who deals with depressing topics/stories or the most evil character imaginable (usually in comedy-focused stories).

Medicine starts to show up more due to Hina existing. I always thought this character was ignored by the community, but she really wasn't.

This is the LEAST stupid year I've seen for Cirno. It's like everyone decided to let her doing something smart this year.

Momiji is commonly depicted as working for Aya (which is super incorrect). Outside of that she doesn't get much focus surprisingly.

Kaguya's antagonistic depiction is slowly getting overshadowed by her being a NEET.

Ran and Sakuya are having a very hard time keeping it together.

I knew Nitori would be into tech, but I didn't expect her to obsess over taking tech apart to see how it works. Aya's camera was in constant danger.

Reisen's PTSD is starting to set in.

Rinnousuke is ripped as hell and nobody cares. (Shoutouts to Rinnousuke being comedy gold when he isn't depicted as a disgusting pervert).

The Aki sisters bicker with each other quite a lot, but always make up with each other by the end.

Minoriko throwing grapes and potatoes at whoever she's angry at is top tier content.

Since the Aki sisters made the seasons relevant again, LETTY IS BACK LETS GOOOOO.

"Yukkuri shiteitte ne!" was 2008???? I thought it was way older!

The family dynamic of the Moriya Shrine heavily reminds me of Minami-ke (there's even a doujin that makes that comparison).

Kanako gets added to the list of "old hags". (Suwako avoids this despite being just as old)

Reimu is somewhat nerfed now. She's clearly still powerful, but the absolute dominance of power she has in fanworks isn't as prominent.

Suwako trying to be the mother she never got to be in past and be the mother Sanae never had hits me right in the feels bro.

Marisa's harem only gets bigger. (Is it because of the faith she gathered?)

Sanae gets sexually harassed a lot. Ya hate to see it.

Sanae is usually portrayed as a very nice, responsible, and innocent young girl which is funny...considering how long that lasts.

Suwako's height varies drastically, but starts being consistently short by the end of the year.

Mountain of Faith as a whole doesn't get much content even in 2008. Maybe it got overshadowed by the other releases, but it was one of the weaker touhou games in general.

Tenshi's masochist joke happens immediately. Also she is supposed to be short canonically, but Twilight Frontier didn't show it well so in fanworks she's a little taller than average for a long time (American sized).

Iku cannot read the room, a joke almost as good as "is that so?".

I'm disappointed that no one made a joke about Patchouli using bean danmaku to beat Suika in SWR. (maybe someone did and I didnt see it)

Iku almost becomes a sadist, but Yuuka existed so her motivation in bullying Tenshi just becomes a yuri thing

Several characters try to eat Tenshi's or Minoriko's hats.

Aki Eda said Parsee and Yuugi were gay for each other and everyone was like, "Yeah I'll add that to my religion" (idk if Aki Eda was actually the first person to ship them, but their doujin released pretty close to SA)

Satori frequently uses super weak spellcards (like Easy Perfect Freeze) exposing that the heroines got hit by them at least once.

Rin will absolutely throw your body in her wheelbarrow even if you're just unconscious.

Koishi's 3rd eye is usually shown to be shut normally...like without stitches. I'm used to seeing stitches.

Aaand that's really it for SA. SA released late in 2008 so anything else I say would be technically about 2009 fanworks. There was honestly way more stuff about older characters than the new ones for this year. The overall fanon for the older characters didn't change much despite SWR giving a lot of material for older characters. (I barely even saw Komachi in 2008!)

Ah well, I know 2009 goes wild. It's about when I started to really pay attention to doujinshi works and not just the games/music. Undefined Fantastic Object comes out and a lot of new stuff in general happens (honestly considering making two posts for it).

[weebsinstash]

Consider reading Steel Under Silk and The Ghost's Nocturne. Both are BL manhwa. Both are kinda similar to Painter of the Night (on the pairing being a Huge Strong Guy With Issues and a Massive Dick X Petite Man) and yet completeley different. Both have noncon. Both are available on bato. to! Steel Under Silk is legit so good, I dont even wanna pitch it to you. The ML is *MWHAH* chefs kiss. You just have to read it and see for yourself. The art style on both are TOP TIER.

Man so like I was kind of indulging in this conversation with someone else earlier but, you know how there was like that cultural movement in like the 2000s onward where a lot of young women were uncritically consuming yaoi content and yeah there were definitely a lot of people being homophobic and fetishistic about it (legit I think the whole "yaoi is fine but yuri is gross" that was common for a lot of young girls was just internalized misogyny bc I was one of those kids and now I'm literally a queer person with a gender identity of Girl But Also Who Gives a Fuck) but like at the core of it it was younger folks being completely unbothered by queer media and even seeking it out, and then there was this reverse whiplash of "oh no only gay men can read these, if you read these you are gross/homophobic/racist" and it's like. I literally turned 26 the other week and even sometimes when im in YouTube shorts watching manhwa clips (believe it or not this can actually be a really good way to find more stories, some people make very high quality edits or clip and the algorithm will just eventually feed you manhwa shit nonstop) and whenever a BL story comes up, there's like, a sense of shame in my heart, like I gotta look away? "Like oh, better avoid that, consuming this media with gay men in it surely makes me fetishistic and creepy" and it's like, the queer community has not clawed its way to having some rights for us to pull this kinds inter-group othering like this 🤦‍♀️ im a fucking adult and im going to read these stories where dudes are gonna fuck and it doesn't mean a damn thing besides me wanting to see people getting Freak Nasty

But anyways yeah I will definitely add those to my recommended 👀 I think one thing I've been having to watch out for is that I will see a series and then I'll read the comments and it might be something like "dont read this, its extremely unhappy, the mc suffers constantly and the ending is sad" and its like. Yeah I like dark content but I have to be careful when it comes to stories that are kind of just straight up tragedy porn? Idk. Like. When I write dark content its kind of contained into like a one-shot or a story with a few chapters, it isn't extremely drawn out to the extent ive seen with a lot of manhwa. I had my eyes on "Broken Promise: Married Man" or whatever the fuck its called bwcause it looked like it had some kinky stuff in it and then I look into it a little and almost everyone was saying "oh no dude don't read this unless you have a strong heart, bad shit CONSTANTLY happens, this man SUFFERS"

Idk its just, sometimes it can be hard to find my personal limits with that kind of thing 🥺 I don't think I've ever dropped anything for messing me up or anything but there are times I've read fanfictions and it made me like depressed the whole day 😅 the hunt for good stories constantly continues!

Also. It isn't a BL but ive heard Finding Camelia is good? It's a manhwa about a girl who is forced to live as a boy because she's the only heir to her family or something and she has to go through a journey of self growth and learn to feel good as herself and a girl again? I dunno, i don't know many details about it but ive seen a lot of people recommend it. Honestly I'm trying not to start too many stories at once but like I can't stop, I find a good story, start reading, oh wait it isn't complete, better find a another story, oh wait it isn't complete, wash rinse repeat ykwim

[yinxiong]

do u have any anime recs?? ive only watched the popular ones like haikyuu, bnha and aot but its kinda overwhelming to look for new ones so im asking u since i know & trust that u have good taste

ooohhhhhh boyyyy im vibrating bc 1) you’re asking me for anime recs 2) yOU SAID I HAVE GOOD TASTE HDJK THANK 🥺💞

okay but being serious here ,,, i’m not sure exactly what genres you’re looking for so i’ll put a list of my favorites + other ones similar to those 3 you might enjoy :))) if you have anything specific in mind lmk !!! i recently compiled a list of everything i’ve watched / tried to watch (it’s quite embarrassing actually) so hopefully there’s something you’ll like on there 😊

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood

genre: shounen, action, fantasy, women characters being badass

very brief summary: two boys learn alchemy and try to get their bodies back, ends up unravelling government conspiracy in the process

this is my all time favorite uhdfdjks

top tier, a masterpiece truly

i'd rate it 100/10 but it surpasses that honestly

it's just really REALLY good

might be a little bit slow in the beginning but trust me it picks up quickly

if you’re interested it’s originally a manga and has some more details the anime left out !!!

assassination classroom / ansatsu kyoushitsu

genre: shounen, school, action, kids being kids but with knives and guns

brief summary: a class of kids are assigned to kill a super monster before he blows up the earth in exactly one year - the catch is that he’s their homeroom teacher :D

basically kids learning how to be assassins but also trying to pass school and it's all very heartfelt and you WILL adopt them all

10/10 i cry every time

honestly watch this first it’s very easy to follow

also a manga with a few storylines the anime left out, not crucial but i recommend anyways since i read it first before the anime even came out and it just has a special place in my heart

noragami

genre: shounen, urban fantasy, gods being literal disasters someone pls help them

brief summary: a girl accidentally meets an unknown god and asks him for his help, slowly learns more about his world (i’m so sorry this is really vague but it’ll all be covered in the first episode trust me)

the gods can find spirits (dead people) and turn them into weapons if that’s cool

sexy animation !!!!!

only big flaw with the anime is that they mess up the main character’s characterization a little bit so you might want to read the manga? also only has two seasons and the manga is further along ,,, but everyone is currently stressed tf out over the plot ohmygod ,,,

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun

genre: romantic comedy but heavy emphasis on comedy, slice of life, literal chaos

brief summary: a girl has a crush on a guy who turns out to be a manga artist, she winds up being his assistant (this barely covers it though)

a bunch of high school kids being chaotic and oblivious

just watch it i can’t really explain it in words you’ll be laughing a lot

only one season so if you enjoy there’s also more chaos in the manga

your lie in april / shigatsu wa kimi no uso

genre: shoujo, classical music !!!!

brief summary: a former piano prodigy who no longer plays because he can’t hear music meets a violinist that brings color into his life once again

look

this is top tier

so beautiful hhdjfdks

i watched this on my new tv and shed real tears

as a pianist/musician i adore it a lot hhhhh the pieces they chose to play are all the favs (i performed a medley with my violinist friend for a show once hahahah)

a little sad tho beware of feels

the opening song is like . so freaking well known omg

akame ga kill!

genre: shounen, action, lots of fighting and blood, war

brief summary: a boy joins a group of assassins who are working to overthrow the shithole government (yea sounds kind of basic but there’s more to it)

mainly just girls with weapons

i mean there’s guys too but the girls are the best characters

the weapons are lowkey magical too

yea this is where my nickname came from lol

the anime gets a 7/10 but the manga probably 8/10

manga is darker, more graphic but better plotwise

no game no life

genre: shounen, a bit of ecchi ugh, lots of mind games

brief summary: two genius gamer siblings get transported to a world where everything is decided by games, they decide they want to beat god

very colorful and pretty animation!!!!

there’s some questionable “fanservice” moments but ignoring that the plot is legit

only one season tho :(( pls it was so popular when it came out where is s2

there is a movie prequel, a lot more angsty but still vv good

ao haru ride

genre: shoujo, the usual high school romance, slice of life

brief summary: a girl meets the guy she used to have a crush on, only to find that his personality has completely changed (she has too though)

insert falling back in love

one of the shoujo classics haha

i binged this in one night a few weeks ago

not sure if it was worth it but i had fun lmao

just a low stakes cute anime

also very pretty

only 12 eps, the manga finishes later

given

genre: just music boys being gay lol (jk it’s kind of sad)

brief summary: a boy learns to move on from his ex by joining a band (this is possibly the shittiest summary ever but i dont wanna give anything away hdjhkjs)

just watch it lmao it’ll make sense

idiot boys

band boys !!!

feels but not overwhelming

the comedy is top notch though

i adore given so much hhjkdf waiting for the movie to come out

THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD

all the songs are on spotify i listen to them way too much

yuri on ice

genre: figure skaters being gay that’s all you need to know

brief summary: a figure skater falls into a slump, somehow winds up with the top skater as his coach (yet another shitty summary sorry)

hmm this isn’t actually one of my favorites but it’s popular enough so why not

i just really love figure skating hfjdks

it’s pretty accurate i’d say! there are even easter eggs of top men skaters irl hahah

definitely dramatized lol

but still pretty fun

bungou stray dogs

genre: shounen, urban fantasy, very dapper mafia / detectives

brief summary: a kid on the run after getting kicked out of his orphanage accidentally saves a detective, shit goes down from there

pretty fun as you learn about their powers, watch them solve mysteries

the fighting is cool too

until the machine guns appear ugh i just tune that part out

oh yea all the characters are named for actual literary figures and i didnt realize until s2 💀

fairy tail

genre: shounen, magic/fantasy, action, friends !!!!!

brief summary: just mages in guilds going on quests lolol what more do you want

fr it’s honestly quite chill

like there’s definitely an ongoing plot and lots of subplots / arcs

but it’s very character driven

so many cool character designs

was OBSESSED w this in middle school ,,, highkey embarrassing omg

one of the big anime/manga, if you like bnha i’m sure you’ll have fun with fairy tail

this was a stupidly long list and im clearly way too excited ,,, if you have any questions or just want to scream about any of these, my inbox is always open ;)))

[senpai-no-lie]

Golden Deer Route

So I finished the Golden Deer Route!

Why I chose Golden Deer: I have already played through Blue Lions, and from what I’ve heard about Edelgard, I figured I’d be more fond of Claude than her. And, well, that’s true, and I can see the appeal of the Golden Deer kids, this route is a bit of a mixed bag.

Who Was My Dancer: Ingrid. I really like Ingrid as a character, and I was torn between her, Marianne, or one of the boys as my dancer. Ultimately chose Ingrid because I remembered her having a pretty good magic stat in my BL playthrough, and I wanted to capitalize on that. She rocked as a dancer and was a fantastic asset to the team. 

What Paired Endings Did I Get:  

Claude & Ingrid (I was trying to get Ingrid with Yuri, but I think I just had Ingrid dance for Claude too much on the final chapter)

Ralpheal & Ignatz (again)

Lysithea & Balthus

Leonie & Seteth (I wanted this last time, so here we go)

Lorenz & Catherine (Whatever to this one)

Yuri & Constance

Ashe & Hapi 

Who Did Byleth Marry: Marianne. I’m fond of her as a character, her Goddess Tower scene was fun, and I think she’d be a great wife. But I’ll be honest, was really torn between her or Yuri.

Which Claude Do I prefer?: Pre-timeskip! I think both character designs are comparable, but I felt that pre-timeskip Claude was a bit less clingy to Byleth. Though, that white wyvern was boss af.

General Thoughts: I liked the route, but I don’t think it was as well-rounded as Blue Lions. This route was a mash of church stuff and Claude stuff, and the back and forth just made everything a bit stranger. Also, the last minute “Edelgard wasn’t that bad; she was a pawn and thanks Hubie for telling us. They’re pretty swell after all” was generally laughable. The only BE character I recruited was Petra, for supports, so it was at least novel to have them all as enemies. 

The Golden Deer Characters:

Before I started this route, in my head I had “Marianne White and the 7 Peers” as the characterization motif for the Golden Deer, and I wasn’t really wrong about their one-note personalities, since the only supports I really needed this round were Claude’s and some of the non-other-route exclusive DLC characters’.

Claude: Sneaky. I can see the appeal of Claude, I really can, but there’s a lot about his that vaguely irritated me. The back-and-forth of him being a shining idealist who wants everyone to get along and then being a sneaky sneakster who the player often is told uses poisons to get his way make it hard to believe either side of him is genuine. I also found Claude to be pushy (about interrogating Rhea and the whole journal incident) and his clinginess to Byleth makes comparatively the least amount of sense, assuming we all accept Edelgard’s position as Boss Babe Waifu Bait legitimizes her behavior around Byleth. Enjoy his supports and Claude as a unit, but Claude screams “I’m not like the other lords, really” a little too hard for my tastes.

Hilda: Lazy (or Whiny works too) I like Hilda, and she’s a heavy hitter! At first I thought she was going to be like Charlotte, who I love, but she’s not lol. I could make petty complaints about Hilda’s mostly unaddressed racism (bigotry, if you want to be generous to her) or her lazy ways, but she never really bothered or stood out to me either way.

Marianne: Snow White. Marianne would probably make my top 10 3H characters. Great unit, great person, and I really like her voice actor.

Lysithea: Angry (or Tsundere-y, if you want to make up words). Let it be known that I am partial to tsunderes of any gender, and as a consequence, me and Lysithea were vibing. In Azure Moon I made her a gremory, but now that I’ve completed the DLC, let me just say Valkyrie is the way to go with her. With that one staff she can get up to 6 range, perfecting her role as a glass cannon.

Leonie:  Sweaty. Leonie, in her supports, at least is somewhat fleshed out and likeable, but damn is she so freaking annoying in the storyline, slamming how much she loves Jeralt down your throat, despite how mostly apathetic he seemed about her existence while he was still kicking. A great unit, but if I took a shot every time she mentions Jeralt, I’d be dead.

Lorenz: Snobby (or M’lady). Hot take but I don’t like Lorenz. Post-timeskip he looks like an angry purple lizardman and he is a white knight fedora tipper. His voice irritates me, his supports irritates me, and his face irritates me. Going through the mage path at least fixed up his speed some and he ended up being a serviceable Dark Knight, at least. 

Ignatz: Sorry (or Artsy, if you’re less mean). Ignatz, much like Claude and Bernadetta, seems to be modeled after some flavor of Tumblr user, which would be socially stunted artsy type. He’s just okay, but I’m kind of allergic to people who apologize for existing. I know people like to say “oh, he gets more confident over the timeskip” but can you really argue that when you can view most of his C-supports post-timeskip? in BL I made him an assassin, but this time I had Ignatz as a Mortal Savant (because I love magic), and it rocked. 

Raphael: Hungry. Not really much to say about him besides that. Not my type and not my character personality template either.

Judith: Take a shot every time she calls Claude “boy” in a way that wouldn’t sit right in modern purity politics lmao. She was okay as the like Rodrigue that doesn’t die character, but I am not so easily smithen for your run-of-the-mill Boss Babe. In a similar vein, Nadar left little to no impression on me, and his presence on that one map irked me because he sniped my Linhardt kill. 

Assorted Bulleted Thoughts:

I really liked the last few maps of this route. They were visually interesting, offered a bit of a challenge while also being fun. 

I’m glad we actually got to interact with Rhea after rescuing her, because that was a let down in BL. (But yeah, settle the fuck down, Claude, on harassing Rhea the second she’s free because your boyfriend Hubie left you a letter)

 I can’t confirm for Petra, but it’ s interesting to note that the only death Edelgard remarks on is Bernetta’s, probably because she sets the bridge on fire. Not a word for anyone else lol

In a similar vein, because my Lysithea had 6 range, stupidly high magic stats, and most of BL are weak to magic attacks, I was able to one-shot everyone but Sylvain (he was too far away) with her on the Grounder map. I rewound time to un-kill them all, because I just wanted to see what they said and how Dimitri reacted. Dimitri shouts Felix’s name, which I thought was real gay.

Speaking of that Gonder fight, lame lame lame lame that there was no animated scene or even a still of Dimitri’s death. Felt cheap, and having Gilbert take Dimitri’s body when he wasn’t even on the battlefield, also lame. 

Last animated scene with Nemesis was real dope, but Claude’s speech was top tier cringe and kind of taking me out of the moment. I would expect Naruto to say shit like that.  

[deltaengineering]

Summer Anime 2018 Part 1: Nurupo

I feel bad for calling last season weak now, since that turned out okay, what with Megalobox, Hinamatsuri and Rokuhoudou (the best show you didn’t watch). Maybe this is a lesson to not be so negative, but all the positivity in the world can’t make this season look good. To balance it out, I’ll be bringing along some hot opinions from people getting paid to see the bright side this time.

P.S. Part 2 is here.

Island

What: A very Frontwing version of When They Cry, apparently. Awesome McCooldude wakes up on an island full of pliant girls and/or dark secrets.

✅  looks alright

❌ story is tryhard mystery nonsense based on convenient amnesia, very unlikely to deliver

❌❌ an absolutely terrible cast of generic VN characters, enjoy your common route hijinks with them

❌❌ Frontwing being Frontwing, please see picture.

ANN sez: “This episode accomplishes the two things that it absolutely must for the series to have a chance of succeeding: it makes the main trio of girls endearing enough and layers on some intriguing mysteries.”

Hanebad!

What: Some girls take badminton very seriously. Somewhere between genocide and extinction level event seriously.

✅  well animated and directed

✅  there appears to be more to the characters than nothing at all, so the overbearing presence of the drama llama might actually pay off

❌ has a tendency to wallow in ostentatious KyoAni-style presentational kitsch

❌ speaking of which, making the cast of Euphonium look like a bunch of carefree slackers by comparison is not a good thing

ANN sez: “From the lush colors of their school's flowers to the alienating saturation and long shots of their gym hallways, every mood HANEBADO strives for is captured perfectly through its visual storytelling, and solidified through fundamentally sturdy dialogue and plotting.”

Senjuushi

What: Touken Ranbu with firearms.

❌ This is a cute boys doing cute things anime set against a backdrop of global thermonuclear war and combining the ultra seriousness of ufotable TR with the slice of life tone of Doga Kobo TR makes for a very, let’s say, “uneven” experience. 

❌  Unsurprisingly, it has the production values of neither of the above and looks like crap instead.

❌❌ The localized title is “The Thousand Musketeers” and given the reckless pace in which it introduces pointless characters, it might actually hit that number in 12 episodes.

❌❌ Mobile game character designs must be stopped, for fuck’s sake

ANN sez: “The story itself has some promise, especially if you're a fan of antique guns.“

Shichisei no Subaru

What: VRMMO light novel garbage about MMO newtypes.

❌ High tier light novel tropes like “u die in the game u die 4 real���, grade schooler magical girlfriends and demigod abilities

❌ Yes, the characters start as grade schoolers and then there’s a timeskip where they become high schoolers. They don’t change at all, which is either cutting commentary on arrested development or an indication of how good this show’s writing is.

❌ Ideas like permadeath in an MMO and giving good players a stake in the game company are hilariously stupid even by this genre’s standards.

❌ You’ve seen this exact cast of characters before, likely in better shows.

❌❌ There’s really no single egregiously bad aspect, but the stank of mediocrity is so overwhelming as to deserve a double minus all of its own.

ANN sez: “This episode banks heavily on the appeal of its mysteries, but those mysteries actually are pretty appealing, and I ultimately respect this episode's choice to introduce so much of its world and characters before getting to the real conceit.”

Banana Fish

What: A well regarded classic manga about New York’s seedy gang underbelly of drugs and violence. And BL.

✅ ✅   Looks good. Like actually, legitimately good. Animation, character design, directing, this show is quality.

❌ Updating the setting to contemporary times seems like a not so great idea since everything about this is deeply steeped in the mid-80s gang violence and drugs panic, no matter how many smartphones get used.

♎ The pacing is ultra fast. While I will admit that I’ll take that over a snoozefest (especially in a seasonal rundown), if this wants to be a legitimate high tier anime it needs to let the atmosphere breathe more. 24 episodes isn’t much for a 19-volume manga.

❌ I’ve praised MAPPA for promising first episodes before, and then I got the likes of Yuri on Ice and Virgin Soul out of it. This is not an anime original so it will be harder to fuck up, but life finds a way - especially given the need for condensing the story as noted above.

❌ Ultimately, just being a classy production with proven writing isn’t the be-all-end-all; quality aside, I still have to like what it does, and I’m not sure what amounts to a homoerotic 80s crime B-thriller is exactly in my wheelhouse.

✅ What else are you gonna watch this season?

ANN sez: “The one negative I can foresee is that one character is portrayed as a fairly stereotypical gay sexual predator, and this story pitches itself consistently as a seedier exploration of its boys' love subject matter, so it's reasonable to expect these kinds of details going forward.”

Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100-nin no Ouji-sama

What: Girls get their wish-fulfilment isekai nonsense too, it’s just a pretty pointless definition when you can just say “basic otome harem” instead. But sure, nondescript girl wakes up in fantasy dream universe where she has a magical trait that makes a large number of princes desire her. Call it what you like.

♎ Successfully avoids the most obnoxious otome harem and isekai tropes, but that just makes it even more bland

❌ lots of exposition about an universe that is hardly complicated and transparently an excuse anyway

❌ Main character is agreeable but exceptionally boring

❌ The princes are all generically princely and very little else

❌❌ combine that with sluggish pacing and this might be the most boring show so far, which is not an easy feat

ANN sez: “There were also some neat details here and there that I particularly appreciated, like the fact that our heroine is actually a working adult, as well as the idea that rather than being “trapped in a new world” she's in truth been returned to her home.”

Back Street Girls

What: A trio of yakuza thugs get a forced sex change because their boss wants to be an idol producer. It’s funny, laugh.

❌ This is not the warm, fuzzy trans acceptance anime you’ve been looking for, to put it mildly. I am not easily offended, but it would have to be pretty darn good to outrun this premise. Yeah, about that...

❌❌ runs its one joke (idols are not supposed to be thugs, like, at all!) into the ground before it exceeds a 3-minute short runtime; is actually 24 minutes long anyway. Hope you really like that joke.

❌❌ the execution of said joke is the pits of anime comedy, nothing but reaction faces and shouting

❌❌ production values are basically non-existent, at most you can say that they took the time to color in those manga panels

❌ learning that Chiaki Kon is directing this pile is just sad, put THAT in your auteur pipe and smoke it.

ANN sez: Nothing, since western licensors mysteriously chose to skip this one. Really a shame because I was looking forward to the outrage.

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu

What: It has “Isekai” and “Maou” in the title so what do you fucking think. What it doesn’t tell you is that it’s also about an MMO, for the full LN shitter nuclear triad.

❌❌ It’s about a loser otaku who gets trapped in his MMO wherein he has the mostest hax, complete with complementary slave pettan catgirl and slave oppai elf

❌❌ This is meant to be funny because he’s too much of a dweeb to put his penis where his mouth is.

❌ Technically better executed than Death March or Isekai Smartphone, so it gets one single minus for effort.

ANN sez: “The idea that Takuma is so insecure about talking to other people that he can only comfortably speak in the voice of his demon lord character is ingenious in a dramatic sense and endearing in a personal one, while Takuma's clear understanding of his personal failings makes him far more sympathetic than the genre's usual snarky protagonists.”

Satsuriku no Tenshi

What: Early teen girl checks herself into Silent Hill General Hospital for grief counselling.

✅  Atmosphere works reasonably well; it’s creepy where it needs to be, which is everywhere and all the time.

❌ The girl is a nonfactor blob and the tough guy she gets paired up with is an annoying chuuni edgelord (it is called 𝔄𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 after all), which is not promising for the long run

❌ So obviously based on a run-of-the-mill spoopy RPGmaker freeware game you can practically see the floor tiles.

❌❌ 24 solid minutes of Getting Cornered By A Rape Metaphor quickly goes from unsettling to incredibly tedious.

❌❌ There’s really nowhere for this to go, given how unoriginal everything is; at best it’s going to be “it was all a dream”, at worst “everyone was dead all along, please feel sad now”.

ANN sez: “The design of the facility is one of those fanciful every-level-is-a-different-setting worlds, but the artistic effort strongly pushes the creepiness factor with a design aesthetic that suggests age, decay, and neglect.“

Harukana Receive

What: Girls play beach volleyball in scenic Okinawa, some light sports drama seems to be on the horizon.

✅  Looks just good enough

✅  Girls are just cute and likeable enough

❌ the sports aspect is weak; maybe I’m just spoiled on Emiya-san’s incredible beach volleyball scene right now, but even when not compared to a top tier studio ostentatiously flaunting the budget of their fucking cooking short the match here isn’t very compelling.

♎ where Hanebad has a bad case of the cereals, this may have the opposite problem of being too cotton candy to be worth it

✅  “good enough” is not a ringing endorsement, but counts for something when being just okay will net you a third or possibly second place of the season.

ANN sez: “This is, of course, all just conjecture right now. ”

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

What: We took Nichijou and replaced the surrealism with video game references and the production values with donkey dung. Let’s see if delta notices!

❌❌ Production values are not optional when you want to be Nichijou; it being astoundingly over the top and imbued with impeccable timing is a (or even the) main part of Nichijou’s appeal. Without them you’re left with basic reactionface manzai over awkward situations, the king of comedy.

❌❌ Suffice it to say, this show is 100% trying to be funny, while also 100% not succeeding at being funny.

❌Asscreed is a more original tentpole to rotate your first episode around than the usual Dragon Quest, but not by much.

♎ neurotic nerd main character that is little more than a bundle of social anxieties will be #relatable to anime professionals, observe:

ANN sez: “Chio's overthinking in this situation is both hilarious and painfully true-to-life, with her furious strategizing coming across as both absurd and very familiar to anyone who's not comfortable in conversation.”

Planet With

Wat: Appears to be a tokusatsu/crypto-mecha show aimed at the younger set, with the gimmick being that our protagonist is (initially?) on the side of the villains(?).

✅  Pretty wacky, actually. It definitely doesn’t neatly fit in your square notions of what an anime is, man (unless you’ve watched FLCL).

❌ It seems very uncertain whether the wackiness is in service of anything. It might be To Be Heroine, or it might just be Heybot with fewer fart jokes.

♎ Furthermore, it wants to be intriguing and sort of is, but merely being intriguing is not that hard - you just make no sense and hope for the best. This has the not making sense part down, do you feel lucky?

❌ tries to build up characters by immediately going for the sad flashbacks, which I never like, especially if the rest of the show is eIDLIVE-level nonsense.

❌ Looks mostly fiiiiiine, but is also full of subpar CG

ANN sez: “So if the heroes are fighting against someone who just wants peace, then what does that make them? And more importantly, if they find out that the bears aren't evil, will they stop?”

Hataraku Saibou

What: A cutesy educational comedy about the workings of a human body.

✅  Well made, characters are cute, topic is interesting.

❌ Educational aspect can get in the way; I’m not suddenly giving heavy exposition a pass just because it’s trying to teach me something, especially if it’s things I basically already know.

♎ Will have to show if it can keep coming up with good scenarios. The lung infection in episode 1 was alright and so will probably be the skin cut in the preview, but beyond that I’m not sure what’s left for red and white blood cells to do. I’m not expecting a show with this tone to tackle things like retroviruses, if you know what I mean.

♎ An actual storyline seems like too much to expect, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but not a positive either.

✅  Doesn’t rock my socks off but is an easily watchable show with a fine idea and high production values, which again is hard to say no to right now.

ANN sez: “But since it culminates in one of my favorite scenes from the manga, visualizing sneezing as shooting a torpedo out your nose, I can forgive the random gendering of cells.”

Ongaku Shoujo

What: DEEN are getting in on the idol mobile game anime biz too.

✅  The main character’s gimmick is that apart from being A Honk, she can’t sing for shit; this is moderately funny.

❌ It might have counted for more if that hadn’t come out seconds before the episode ended. Even if it isn’t a momentous twist, it was more of a point of interest than the incredibly bland leadup to it had.

❌  Yeah, “Ongaku Shoujo” is an entirely indicative name of how generic this show is: Music + girls, indeed. I assume “Idols” was taken.

❌ I’m still not sure what the ideal cast size of a show like this is, but 12 idols is Idolmaster turf and as such too many. They have personalities? I think?

❌ a very small handful of cuts aside, woeful production quality; I know picking on DEEN is 2ez but this is not their finest work. Animation snobs can feel proud that there’s no CG dancing here, for the rest of us it’s an object lesson on why CG is the lesser of two evils.

✅  Tumbling SR cards in the ED (which is probably actually the OP) made me laugh; this show can’t even afford URs.

❌❌ Overall, just another idol show. Large cast plus presence of a P-san marks it as Im@s-type – but if you're in the market for an Idolmaster clone with bad looks, I would recommend Wake Up Girls instead because that’s at least pretty real at points.

ANN sez: They’re out for the weekend, ask again later. I suspect it’s nothing funny.

[variabels]

Shitty Voting Gauntlet Ideas that would destroy the FE fandom

Here are a few gauntlet ideas that would be extremely controversial. These aren’t in any order and were just made for the lolz. I added some explanations, some are more sarcastic and others are more serious. This only includes characters that are currently in Heroes. Feel free to add more.

Top tier heroes vs Bottom tier heroes

This is based off the wiki’s tier list.

The Reindhart, Performing Arts Inigo  Brave Lyn and Hector

VS

Wryyys, Odin, Jakob and Stahl

Why it’d destroy the fandom: You can’t beat Reindhart. Also, Lyn’s too popular to win.

Voting gauntlet winners’ love interest

Lucina’s love interest: Inigo, he’s the only guy, besides Robin, she can S support with.

Camilla’s love interest: Male Corrin, don’t know who else could be here.

Tharja’s love interest: Male Robin, who else?

Elise’s love interest: she’s like 13... So, best friend for her. Sakura.

Female Corrin’s love interest: Leo and Xander are her most popular options, I’d put Leo in for the sake of memes.

Ike’s love interest: Soren, they’re practically canon at this point.

Ninian’s love interest: Eliwood, he’s the only guy she can marry.

Shanna’s love interest: Roy, he’s the only guy she can marry.

Why it’d destroy the fandom: Shipping wars. Lucina isn’t Robin’s waifu, Soren is Ike’s waifu and no one ships Shanna/Roy.

Fates girls vs fates guys

Camilla vs Hinoka and Elise vs Sakura

VS

Xander vs Ryoma and Leo vs Takumi

Alternatively,

Nohr vs Hoshido

Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura

VS

Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise

Why it’d destroy the fandom: A Nohr character will probably win and some fans will be salty that Hoshido keeps getting shit upon. Also, people will be pissed if there are only fates characters.

Main lord ships

Marth/Caeda, canon.

Alm/Celica, canon.

Sigurd/Deirdre, canon.

Roy/Lillina, that’s Roy’s most popular ship that isn’t from SSB.

Eliwood/Ninian, it’s Eliwood’s most popular ship.

Eirika/Seth, it’s the most popular from what I’ve seen.

Ephraim/Tana, Tana is Ephraim’s only love interest who’s in Heroes.

That’s all the space there is. 

If more spaces are added:

Ike/Soren, it’s Ike’s most popular ship and the closest one to canon.

Chrom/F!Robin, they’re both main characters and Sumia isn’t in Heroes.

F!Corrin/ idk Leo, I guess.

M!Corrin/Azura, I guess. Alternatively, you could put Niles.

If they’re added: Leif/Nanna

Why it’d destroy the fandom: Shipping wars. 

Yuri vs Yaoi

Lyn/Florina, F!Robin/Tharja, Celica/Mae and Camilla/Hinoka

VS

Ike/Soren, M!Corrin/Niles, Leo/Takumi, Raven/Lucius

Why it’d destroy the fandom: there’s no way yaoi will lose. You can’t beat yaoi, it always finds a way to win. Now the question is which ship will win.

LGBT 

Female Corrin, she’s bi.

Male Corrin, he’s bi.

Niles, he’s bi.

Leon, he’s gay.

Lucina Masked Marth, he’s actually a she.

Tharja, she loves Robin regardless of Robin’s gender.

Soren, it’s pretty much accepted that he’s in love with Ike.

Ike, no one knows why he’s here. He’s not straight but no one knows if he’s ace, gay or bi.

Why it’d destroy the fandom: Ike’s in it.

Super Smash Bros Gauntlet

Marth, Roy, Ike, M!Robin, F!Robin, Lucina, M!Corrin, and F!Corrin

Why it’d destroy the fandom: if Lucina wins, SSB fans will shit on her for being a boring Marth clone. If Robin or Corrin win, people will say that they only won because they’re from the 3DS games. If Roy or Marth win, people will say they only won because they’re more popular as SSB characters than FE characters. Ike would probably be the least controversial since he’s popular among both FE and SSB fans.

Female Gauntlet Winners vs Male Gauntlet Winner

Lucina, Camilla, Tharja, Elise, Corrin, Ninian, and Shanna

VS

Ike, just Ike. No one else. He is the representative of every FE guy.

Why it’d destroy the fandom: Ike is in it. Also, Shanna will BS her way to victory in an, even more, BS way than the Long hair vs Short hair gauntlet.

[gaypromptos-remade-blog]

hey vinnie i've never watched an anime In My Life but most of my friends are into it so what are some of your favorite animes or recs for someone wanting to get into that sorta thing?

ooo boy i got a lot here so buckle up

i rlly like sports anime for some reason so here are my faves:

haikyuu!! - you’ve probably heard of it before, it’s a really popular sports anime about volleyball. every single one of the characters is great and it honestly changed my life i love it so much

yuri on ice - you’ve probably heard of this too lol, but again its a popular sports anime about figure skating and its very different from other sports anime but its really great and that relationship b/w yuuri and viktor is honestly top tier

kuroko no basket/kuroko’s basketball - this is honestly the most ridiculous sports anime ive ever seen in my life but it so fun to watch. like the shit that happens in this anime is literally impossible but i think its part of it’s charm. and kurokos and kagamis relationship is so good dude

daiya no ace/ace of diamond - this one is about baseball and it’s super long (s1 is 75 eps and s2 is 55 eps) but it’s great to watch. the characters are fun, the development is realistic, its a great show. though i would only recommend watching this if you can actually watch a show thats 130 eps long

if you prefer something with more action, here are my faves: 

boku no hero academia - this show literally changed my life, it is so good. this show is about a world where superpowers are normal and these kids go to a hero school. this show is wonderful, the characters are great, the character development is amazing, and the plot is beautiful. if you’re up for it i highly recommend you read the manga cause wow, its amazing 

hunter x hunter - also another really long one. i only saw the 2011 version which is 148 eps but every single one was amazing. the relationship between killua and gon is so adorable and this show is so cute. of course this show does get dark at times (like at the phantom troupe arc and the chimera ant arc). it is so good i highly recommend it. 

noragami - this show is about a minor god, yato who dreams about becoming more recognized and worshiped. again the characters are great and the animation is really beautiful. (the openings are also top tier lol)

mob psycho 100 - this is a pretty popular show and everything about it is great. its basically about this kid who was psychic powers and every time his emotions rise, it causes an explosion of his powers. this show is absolutely beautiful and mob is such a great kid (also a lot of ppl who seen this anime also saw one punch man but i never finished it so)

assassination classroom - i never talk about this anime but it is really good. its about this strange octopus like creature that ends up destroying the moon into a crescent like shape and says he’ll do the same to the earth and its up to this middle school class to kill him before their graduation but it turns out he’s a great teacher. im pretty sure i explained the plot really shittily, but its a great anime and i love the animation style. its really funny but its also really deep and sad

bungou stray dogs - without spoiling much, this show is basically about detectives with superpowers that fight the mob. this show is really great but i have to warn you that it’s really bloody so if you’re not into that then you probably shouldnt watch it

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood - this is a really popular and with good reason. this show is about 2 brothers, edward and alphonse who try to revive their dead mother with alchemy but ed ends up losing a leg and an arm and al loses his body and his soul is inside a suit of armor. this show really hits you in the heart and every episode is a treasure. i havent seen the original fullmetal series but from i heard i say you should just watch this

no. 6 - ooo boy this anime is so good. its basically a dystopia where everyone lives in 1 of 6 cities and everything seems great until the main character shion meets nezumi and gets a different perspective on their world. this anime also has canon gay characters so…

there are a few romance anime that i do love as well, yes they are het but they are really good in my humble opinion:

yona of the dawn - i dont know if i can count this as a romance anime but its considered a shoujo so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . basically this story is about princess yona and how she lived in luxury until her father was murdered and now has to live on the run with her childhood friend/bodyguard hak and thats when yona learns about the poverty and corruption among her kingdom and aims to change this. the anime is wonderful and i got sucked in by like ep 3. ive only just started the manga but i would recommend you read it as well

snow white with the red hair - this is about a herbalist shirayuki who runs away from her homeland because she didn’t want to be a concubine to the prince and she befriends the prince of the kingdom she runs to. tbh i ended up liking this more that i thought i would and the characters are great. also one of the characters, obi, is canonically bi/pan. however its only shown in the manga and not the anime but i think it was pretty obvious in the anime. 

gekkan shoujo nozaki kun - again idk if i can count this as a romance anime but it doesnt fit in any of the other categories i have so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. its about this girl, sakura who has a crush on this boy nozaki who turns out to be a manga artist and she ends up being one of his assistants. despite the fact that nozaki is literally a romance manga writer, he is painfully oblivious to sakuras feelings and it leads to some really great moments. im pretty sure this was the first anime i saw when i started getting back into anime and oh my god it is so great. this is literally the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life

toradora - this anime is so fucking funny too. its about a girl and boy who hate each other but team up with each other to help them get in a relationship with their best friends but they end up falling for each other. this show is pretty lighthearted but later on the series it gets really wild and deep but i do love the relationship and the characters

anyways im sorry i took to answer this but i hope you enjoy these shows!

[rieshon]

Best of 2018

Holy shit was this a hard year to write this. There were a few standouts that were always going to be at the top of this list, but that second tier of "really good" shows was really dense this year, and some series I absolutely loved weren't able to make the cut. Here are the ones that did.

10: Mitsuboshi Colors ∥ Silver Link. ∥ Dir. Kawamura Tomoyuki: Even as someone who watches children's anime, I have to say Mitsuboshi Colors was the purest celebration of childhood this year. Not only does this series let you see some of the most adorable girls this side of Ichigo Mashimaro, it really invites you to see their world through their eyes, creating a nostalgic and genuinely wholesome experience not common for anime series featuring little girls. Of course, there is still plenty on offer for the lolicons in the audience: Yui is too pure angel, and Sacchan is one of the best bokes of the year. Just remember: in the end, we're all poop.

9: Zombie Land Saga ∥ MAPPA ∥ Dir. Sakai Munehisa: If you told me a year ago one of the best shows of the year would be about moe zombies, even an anime veteran like myself would have been surprised. Yet here we are, where a show about moe zombie idols is not only one of the best shows of the year, but one of the best idol anime I can remember seeing. For what seems like it is going to be a one trick pony of a gag anime, the character development in Zombie Land Saga is shockingly good, from Junko's discovery of her own aidoru-do to Lily's whole thing with being transgender... This show really throws its weight behind its characters and that's what makes the completely-in-earnest idol anime aspects of it work so well. Moe zombies made me cry real tears, and I love anime.

8: Darling in the Franxx ∥ A-1 Pictures & Trigger ∥ Dir. Nishigori Atsushi: This is probably the biggest 'event anime' of the year on this list and it certainly was an adventure. Darling in the Franxx is an epic robot anime very much in the vein of its great predecessors: genuine sci-fi, attempts to be deep, and of course the always relevant themes of "parents just don't understand" and "puberty is hard." The heroines are wonderful, of course, and the characters' rather significant growth over the course of the series is compelling. It's the kind of show you'd expect from someone who had their hands deep in Gurren Lagann. It also features some great hand-drawn(!) robot action--visually, it's overall one of the best shows of the year. But sorry 57th prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, this will not increase Japan's birth rate.

7: SSSS.GRIDMAN ∥ Trigger ∥ Dir. Amemiya Akira: I'm honestly not sure which of the Trigger robot shows I enjoyed more; Gridman might just be higher because it's more recent, but it's probably fair to say it's the more "fun" show, what with it being an Ultra series spinoff and everything. Even though it gets pretty dark and deep towards the end, the series is definitely imbued with the playful spirit of tokusatsu. Hiding behind that, though, is a thematically solid series boasting a couple of fantastic female leads in Akane and Rikka. You're never going to be able to get me to stop shipping it.

6: Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight ∥ Kinema Citrus ∥ Dir. Furukawa Tomohiro: If I was rating series on style alone, Revue Starlight would probably be my anime of the year on the basis of the digital stage lighting effects alone. This show is both a sharp-edged satire of the cut-throat world of Japanese womens' theater and a love letter to the spectacle of the stage. It seems fitting that it would be a protege of Ikuhara Kunihiko's who would take on this project; the show's style is certainly evocative of Ikuhara, and that sort of ostentatious presentation is also perfectly evocative of theater, which is itself an inherently larger-than-life endeavor. Yeah, it's pretentious as hell, but that just makes me like it more. Style aside, there is also a good yuri anime lurking in the background (Japanese womens' theater is gay as fuck so there had to be) and Hikari definitely earns the right to be called "this show's Homura." Lots of good lesbians in this show.

5: Hanebado! ∥ Lidenfilms ∥ Dir. Ezaki Shinpei: Sports anime are not really my thing--I have no interest in watching Slam Dunk, Tennis no Oujisama, or 'the basketball which Kuroko plays,' but even so, is Hanebado! one of the best sports anime ever made? It's hard for me to imagine a better-executed tale of self-discovery through athletic competition. This is certainly the only sports anime I've seen where the audience is made to root against the protagonist in the sport because we're rooting for her outside of it. It also features stellar animation for the badminton parts that really sells the idea of badminton being 'the world's fastest racquet sport." Erena was the best girl though, and she doesn't even play badminton.

4: Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho ∥ Madhouse ∥ Dir. Ishizuka Atsuko: When the end credits finally rolled on Yorimoi, the first words that came to mind were "what a journey." I don't know if I've watched another show that made me feel so much like I had truly gone 'there and back again' with the heroes. The treasure really is the friends we found along the way, and you accompany these friends from the very beginning to the very end of their journey to and from Antarctica, watching them mature and learn things about each other and themselves... The result is a series that is immensely satisfying in a way few others are. Hanada Jukki's usual brand of sentimental melodrama is pitch perfect for a show like this, and I'd be lying if I said this show didn't make me cry on like four or five completely seperate occasions. Please let Ishizuka Atsuko direct more anime.

3: Yagate Kimi ni Naru ∥ Troyca ∥ Dir. Katou Makoto: I went into detail about what makes Yagakimi so great just a couple months ago, but suffice it to say this show is my favorite yuri anime of all time. The characters' relationships are just so genuinely fascinating, especially in a genre where 'will they or won't they' is often as far as the dramatic tension goes. It is really a show about two girls discovering themselves through each other, and it's just so beautifully done, especially when accompanied by Ooshima Michiru's soundtrack. I liked this story so much that I downloaded the manga to read through, and I don't even read manga.

2: Violet Evergarden ∥ Kyoto Animation ∥ Dir. Ishidate Taichi: Figures that a show I was so certain would suck would end up here. Violet is the only show this year that made me cry even more than Yorimoi, and although it's a little hamfisted about it at times, I love the earnestness with which it pursues its themes about loss and love. Violet is not just the interloper who allows us to experience the various stories happening around this world, but also a fascinating character to watch in her own right as she tries to learn what exactly it means to love someone. It's sappy and sentimental as hell, which is why I love it. It also has probably my favorite soundtrack of the year, courtesy of Evan Call, which I've probably listened to over a dozen times.

1: Yurucamp ∥ C-Station ∥ Dir. Kyougoku Yoshiaki: Cute girls taking it easy? Hell yeah. There's nothing on this Earth more comfy than watching these girls go camping in the gorgeous Japanese countryside and just being the best of friends. Shimarin is the best loner who absolutely knows how to live life, and all I want is to ride scooters and eat instant noodles with her. It's a cute girl anime of the utmost quality, and the only reason I still have a will to live is because a second season has already been confirmed.

1. Yurucamp 2. Violet Evergarden 3. Yagate Kimi ni Naru 4. Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho 5. Hanebado! 6. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight 7. SSSS.GRIDMAN 8. Darling in the Franxx 9. Zombie Land Saga 10. Mitsuboshi Colors

Honorable mentions... Hinamatsuri is probably the show I feel worst about not including, given its hilarity and its surprisingly well-done themes on poverty and homelessness, but someone had to be 11th. Asobi Asobase was another comedy I wanted to include, another one which was riotously hilarious at times and also included one of the cutest girls of the year, Olivia. As far as joji anime this year go, Aikatsu Friends exceeded all my expectations to finally be the Aikatsu series I stuck with, and Aine and Mio are the ultimate lesbian idols. I also have to give a shoutout to the Seishun Butayarou show, which is exactly the kind of 'snappy dialogue and adolescence problems' show that makes me love series like Oregairu and ef.

The awards go to...

Best Actress: Ueda Reina as Shinjou Akane, SSSS.GRIDMAN. I've been a big fan of Ueshama's since she turned up as the ridiculous Ajimi-sensei in Pripara. She can do some vocal gymnastics and has a great comedic delivery, but it was fantastic to hear her dramatic chops really leveraged to their full potential in Gridman. I think Ueda has one of the sexiest voices going in the business today, and some of the segments in Gridman where her character tries to seduce the male lead were truly yabai... And of course the more emotional segments with Rikka were also immensely impactful. (Credit to Miyamoto Yume for also doing some great work as Rikka in that series.)

(Honorable mention: Touyama Nao as Shima Rin in Yurucamp. Naobou has been one of my favorites for a long time now but her work as Rin is probably my top role of her's. Her aloof delivery is just so perfect for the character and her voice makes the show even more comfy than it already was. It's like a voice you want to hug.)

Best Actor: Miyano Mamoru as the manager from the moe zombie show I guess. I give up on doing the men every year. Kono baka zombi.

Newcomer Seiyuu of the Year: Shiraishi Haruka. Behind pure acting ability, versatility must be the most desirous trait in a voice actor, and it really feels like Shiraishi can do it all. She's had a couple major roles before this year: Motoba Kirie in the Umaru series, and Ruri in Anhapi, but her three main roles this past year really highlight the breadth of her abilities. She was the cool and collected Asirpa in Golden Kamuy, the impudent loli Misha in Uchi no Meido ga Uzasugiru, and the sexy tsundere Kana in Animayell... Yeah, that's some diversity in performances. It seems like I'm seeing this girl's name pop up everywhere recently and it's easy to see why: she seems to be able to excel in almost any role. She has two more major parts lined up for later this year, and I'm excited to see what she can do yet.

(Honorable mention: Hondo Kaede. Man, it felt like this girl was everywhere this year. Wikipedia counts her as having had no less than eight major roles, and that's following on from a 2017 where she had three leading roles. She certainly has a flair for the dramatic: probably my favorite role of hers was as Kanami in Toji no Miko; in a show where the animation didn't often keep up with the demands of the story, strong voice acting from Hondo and her leading partner Oonishi Saori really helped carry the show. I also really enjoyed her as Kohaku in Irozuku Sekai no Ashita Kara... She doesn't get the award, though, because most of her major roles so far have tended to sound the same. I'd really like to hear her branch out beyond her standard voice.)

[37h4n0l]

1) Don't worry, I (aka the anon who started it all) don't think your reply came off as hostile at all. It's just so tiring when you want to get some things that bother you off your chest and then the obligatory 'but not all xyz do this or that' happens. Yes, I do know that, but it's a generalization. Not all, but enough to make you think it may even be the better part of the fandom. That being said, I agree with all your points against YOI. OK, so the victuuri relationship may be a cute and

(Rest under the cut) (I also hope no one will lynch me for being lazy and putting this out without doing anything about censoring shipnames but I’ll spam it with all the possible anti tags, fear not)

fluffy one that makes you feel good and warm inside or whatever, but is there really a need to write essays analyzing every single gesture or facial expression and then feel proud of your analytical skills, as if you've just discovered a new planet? No, there is not. It's not that deep; it's actually as straightforward a show as it can be. The bashing of otayuri and pliroy is one thing and it has more to do with the general moral poilce anti trend that is spreading everywhere, so I wouldn't attribute it solely to the YOI fandom. Now on the other hand, the bashing of pliroy just because it's contradictory to otayuri, one of the holy doublet of YOI ships, is something that bothers me personally. It's almost as if shipping anything that directly contradicts victuuri/otayuri is a blasphemy in this fandom and generally looked down upon. I've actually seen someone outright ask why would anyone ship pliroy when otayuri exists/is canon/is clearly a better and more healthy option for Yuri etc. So, this and the constant victuuri/otayuri wank, while all the other characters/smaller ships are mostly a background noise to it; it really seems to me as if 5 fanarts out of 10 on my dashboard would feature victuuri, 4 would feature otayuri and there's only one left for other pairings (one-track-mindedness at its finest). And there's of course the fact that most YOI fans seriously think that victuuri is the first canon gay couple in the history of anime, that the anime itself is revolutionary and progressive, that victuuri is a prefect representation, that YOI is the actual anime of the year, because popularity doesn't lie, and if you dare to disagree with all of those, then you're clearly homophobic and whatnot. Plus, there's the invading of the tags unrelated to YOI (not even for the purpose of recommending other titles but to say something along the lines of 'if shit like xyz got a second season, then YOI deserves at least seven' - actually seen something like that with my own eyes) or hijacking of the serious topics (like the oppression of sexual minorities) and making them all about YOI. And that's just the top of the list of what the YOI fandom is guilty of. But hey, it's alright, because it's 'not all' YOI fans. Siigh. Sorry it got so long, but ugh. Sometimes I wish someone would just delete YOI from existence so that we would be spared of all this saltiness. As for 91d, you're probably right about everything but still, I'll never be able to understand why anyone would just voluntarily turn off their thought processes and comprehension skills just because of some personal biases, especially when it comes to a show such as 91d, that requires at least the bare minimum of thinking and analyzing. But whatever, I guess people nowadays are just too used to having everything spelled out to them and handed on a silver plattter (ex. they should've had it explicitly stated on-screen that Avilio and Nero didn't hate each other).

This goes for all the ‘not all’ arguments; the important thing is, as you said, how widespread a behaviour is statistically within a community, but also whether the other members acknowledge that it’s happening or not. I know it’s easy to take it personally when you hear someone complain about a fandom you’re in, but at that point it really only depends on wording (which is deliberately harsh when someone is just venting, it’s just the way it is). 

About meta; yeah, I find a lot of it superfluous as well, as I’ve said before. And by this I don’t mean it should be eliminated from the face of the planet, just that I don’t personally put the 2934892348th detailed explanation on why vn and yk love each other so much in the same ‘tier’ as, say, speculations about the second season or character parallelisms and stuff like that. It’s shipperwankery in the end and I don’t think me making fun of it harms anyone? The only thing I worry about is that it’s hard to separate banter from an actual serious opinion from time to time (could be about how I express myself? Probably yes). No, for the record, I don’t want to exterminate anyone who makes extensive posts about vn’s lustful glare. It’s just... There’s too much of it. Way too much. By the way, the ring controversy and the reaches made there will never not be funny, sorry not sorry.

A bit of a tangent on the otayuri-pliroy conflict; it always seemed so weird to me how similar the two ships are aesthetically? (Considering people keep confusing the two on fanart, I’d say that’s a major fuckup in terms of JJ’s and Otabek’s character design, but that might just be me). I keep getting the impression that they wanted the pliroy bait to go somewhere but then changed their mind for whatever reason and created otayuri as kind of a ‘tamer substitute’. But this is besides the point; it all brings me back to my personal beef with this tendency of positing ‘sugary sweet’ as the only acceptable standard for a relationship because... people are more sensitive nowadays? I can only guess. Viktuuri and otayuri got tied together for some reason, it’s like they come in a package and everyone who ships one has to run with the other as well. 

I grieve for the background characters and smaller ships as well, anon. Just imagine the sheer crack potential; and instead, everything gets pushed in the back in favour of the same things over and over. The things that could’ve been: victurio (the underage ship that tumblr will fucking lynch me for), emil/michele, sara/mila, georgi/yurio (yes I do love my crack), chris/victor, chris/that guy we saw in his room, yuuri’s sister/literally anyone (because I like her) and the list could go on and on. But this is not even always about the ship itself; it’s the dynamics, those are what popularizes things. Even when there are ships in other fandoms that have been popular for a longer time, there’s a tendency on tumblr to make them very mild and fluffy. I’m not saying there’s anything we can do about this, nor that something should be done about it, all I’m in opposition to is people who claim it’s the ‘right’ way to do shipping because it’s ‘healthier’ or something, as you put it.

Because popularity doesn’t lie

Thank you, this is exactly how I’d word it as well. The crux of this issue isn’t yoi being objectively good or bad, it’s whether popularity implies that something is good, or not. Or what ‘good’ even means in this context. My personal (salty) opinion is that there are anime that could be enjoyed just as much as (if not more than) yoi if only they got more exposure. I’m not talking about 91d either because I’ve already explained in detail what the problem with advertising it was in the previous post. And yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re talking about that certain addition to the Chechnya post. I can see it was well-intentioned but it was... well... a little bit out of place, to put it in euphemisms? ‘Too soon’, as they say? But, in the end, I’m sort of glad that yoi exists because if not anything else, it can be considered a massive social experiment, an example of fandom behaviour. And if it made some people happy, then I wish them all the best. The fixation with it will go away with time too, eventually.

[thebloodyheartgirl]

TF2 Vs Overwatch

Cause Fuck it, I want to actually discuss this so let’s do this thing: How I think overwatch compares to TF2. Warning, this is my own personal opinion on the matter and i’ve enjoyed both tf2 and overwatch in the past so don’t get your knickers in a twist if i say i don’t like something.

Firstly, my thoughts on overwatch. It’s not a great game nowadays, from what i’ve heard they’ve managed to fix this somewhat but that doesn’t change the fact that the gameplay feels shallow as hell after a while, there’s only really one way to play each character and the characters are built to counter each other rather than have the characters be well...unique characters in their own right with a variety of kits to make each character stand out. Not to mention the fact that blizzard themselves are so anal towards any possible bad behavior that some pro player got perma’d from the competitive league for trashtalking. I will however admit that I am...very biased on this, I used to be a huge fan of overwatch and played it every single day for like a year and I’ll admit outside of the game the characters have slowly been getting deeper and more interesting, hell they even managed to make d.va go from “Waifu Bait Gamergurl” to someone who was actually interesting with her short. Hell i’ll even admit the gameplay is fun as hell for a while until you eventually realize that there’s really no reason to play competitive outside of getting golden gun skins and wanking about how your alt account is at grandmaster.

That and not to mention i heavily dislike how they handle their cosmetics cause with TF2 you can at least go onto the steam market and buy a cosmetic or weapon you want directly from someone else or just buy it directly from the TF2 store instead of relying on crates to get them. that and TF2 doesn’t pull that bullshit where you can only buy cosmetics with currency that you get from the crates themselves.

TF2 on the other hand is a game that’s managed to have a thriving community for literal years now and has existed way longer than overwatch has, the game is kinda buggy and source engine desperately needs an update but it still manages to be more fun and expressive than Overwatch will ever be due to it’s complexity of gameplay because of the various builds you can make like fat-scout, trolldier, battle engineer, and various other builds. Due to weapons you’re not necessarily locked into only playing one character one way, the cosmetic system as well is much better than overwatch because if you get the right items you can make crazy stuff like a vampire hunter sniper riding an ostrich or a ballerina heavy with a thick beard you can do that. On top of that each class has their own skills, strengths, and weaknesses while also making it to where if you’re paying attention even a class that counters your own class can be beaten somewhat easily based on your skill level rather than having classes built around hard countering other classes. There are custom gamemodes coded and made by the community, countless amounts of community maps, and just shedloads of more content than overwatch could ever hope to have if you look for it. That and valve actively helps the community due to how they handle new cosmetics nowadays.

TF2 has managed to hold my attention for far longer than overwatch has due to the fact that it just plays better and has a less toxic community. Don’t get me wrong, there are subsections of TF2 that are toxic as hell, like the elitism of some of the people who play mann vs machine despite the fact you only use up the ticket when you win, you’re so hyper-focused on winning that if you lose even once you’ll kick the guy who has the least amount of hours on your team and claim that you’re fucking sorry when in reality you’re just pissed that you didn’t win the first time you ran you fucking asshole. If that seems specific that’s because it happened to me at one point. Overwatch on the other hand seems to just...bleed toxicity especially at higher ranks to the point where there’s been entire articles about it, not to mention how the fandom fetishizes the character’s traits to the point of ridiculousness like how people act like the most important part about tracer is that she’s a lesbian. don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of fetishization and gay porn in the tf2 community but...not to this extent. 

Like i guarantee you that 90% of people who think that it’s important that tracer is a lesbian are the same fucking people who fetishize lesbians to the point where none of her other character traits matter so they can draw endless amounts of yuri porn and try to poorly hide the fact that they just have a yuri fetish behind “I-it’s about representation!” The other 10% are the reasonable ones like actual lesbians or sane individuals who relate to tracer because she’s a lesbian while also recognizing that she has an actual character outside of that and being lesbian is just one facet of why they like this character rather than being the whole reason. Meanwhile in the TF2 fandom, no one gives a single rat’s ass about who’s fucking who or who’s gay or not gay because that’s such an unimportant thing to worry about that it might as well be irrelevant.

So in conclusion, TF2 is a better game in my opinion because it has deeper and more varied gameplay, it has better cosmetics, a better community, a better developer, and is just overall much more fun experience in my opinion while Overwatch, in my opinion, is just a game that’s slowly become worse and worse over time due to lack of content, lack of tech that you can actually accomplish in the game due to jeff and his team constantly patching them out, and just a....garbage community that i’m glad i left behind. If you enjoy overwatch, that’s fine, i just don’t personally like it and if you think TF2′s bad because overwatch is a god-tier game that can do no wrong and is the TF2-killer, then i have a very very special place for you.