Hi!! It's me again 🐸

What are your comic book/book/anime recommendations?

Hello welcome back to my inbox <3

So I don't have much to say in the way of books or comic books sadly. It's been a hot minute since I've read much in the way of novels and short stories, though I've had some recommended to me, so we'll see how those go! I would love to put more words in my eyeballs.

Comic books I've just never really gotten much into outside of manga. Never really had friends that were into them (outside of superhero comics which didn't really interest me too much) and I tend not to involve myself in things on my own that much, it's more fun to have people to talk to about things.

Manga recs

I'll go ahead and spotlight 20th Century Boys. Not only is it unreasonably relatable right now (especially to readers in their upper 20s and above) it's just like, really well told, as a narrative. It's some of Urasawa's best storytelling I think. I'll obviously say to read most of Urasawa's works in general, but if you asked me to pin down one specific manga, 20th Century Boys is it.

Another manga I would recommend reading is Blue Period. It has an anime, but the anime only covers a very small part of the series and doesn't do it justice at all. Blue Period is a beautiful celebration of art and artists and what it means not to know your place in that world and it's so, so good for people who consider themselves creatives. Also it has some really fun character designs.

Lastly for manga I'll recommend Ajin! I can't think of another manga that I've read that has the same kind of glow up in its visual style. The first couple volumes aren't much to look at, but there's a very quick and noticeable uptick in quality that's very impressive to look at. It's worth checking out just for the artwork honestly.

Anime recs

It was really hard to pare down just a couple I think are exceptionally worth checking out, but I've tried to hit some of the best and most enjoyable series, at least for me. I've pared it down to five.

Mushi-Shi is perhaps my favourite anime overall, ever. It doesn't have a single episode or story beat I dislike, and it's got some of the most beautiful background work and soundtracks in anime, and some very smart, mature writing. It's episodic and easy to pick up at a random episode.

Mob Psycho 100 is one I feel like most folk already know of, but I'll put it on this list anyway because it's another near-perfect anime and has the benefit of being newer so it's especially shiny and has impressive animation to go with a very well told story.

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor is a must watch and I wish people didn't judge it for the visual style! It's not a pretty show to watch but it's not meant to be. I would say it has a similar message to Monster with respect to being a bit of a social commentary, but it's a lot more cynical. The message of hope is there, but the world of Kaiji is much grittier and more ruthless. Squid Game wishes it had what Kaiji has.

Eureka Seven is my oldest, fondest love in anime. When I say no OST matches what eureka seven has I am being completely serious; literally nothing can match the sound that anime has. Also it's just an absolutely fantastic story about rebellion against an authoritarian government, fighting to protect the environment, has some of the most compelling romances in all of anime, and it just happens to be packaged in a mecha anime skin. It isn't what I would call a mecha anime, it just happens to involve big mech suits.

Ping Pong: The Animation is a mind blowing experience. It's a bit weird for a sports anime in that it doesn't feel like one. I can't say exactly why, because it does still follow a lot of the classic sports anime story beats, it just also throws in some unexpected narrative beats that make it especially unique. You're really watching Ping Pong for the actual animation, though. Trust me.

I have a lot more anime I could list honestly, there are a ton of really good ones that I didn't put on here, but these would be the top 5 I think people definitely need to check out.

Lost and running coach John OShea prepares for the big Saturday with two chances in the Caulfield Maximal Cup and Benaud.

Bieber gets rid of Kosciuszko’s ‘unfair’ deal for Opal Ridge Luke Pepper is a man of his convictions which is why his superstar Opal Ridge won Saturday’s Tapp-Craig and did not compete in Kosciuszko’s $2 million race next weekend. Two sloths made offerings to Pepper and his companions at The Kosciuszko, which preferred the lucky drawer rather than the men who had paid the bills for the past two years. Opal Ridge has won four of seven starts and has raised over $440,000 in prizes with 2023 big ahead.attributed to him:GT “We made a deal that we thought was fair, where everyone can take part in a horse race that I think will be among the top three at The Kosciuszko,” Bieber said. “But they wanted to push a deal that would see my owners racing for nothing if they didn’t run the competition in the first five, which I thought was unfair. In the end, I did what was best for my owners and my horse, and we can wait for next year.” Opal Ridge is headed toward a winning streak with four wins from seven starts and nearly $450,000 in state championship and group race stakes on the agenda in 2023. “She will get better with a break. She is already a horse that does things I can’t do for others, and I can’t wait to see what she can do in the future,” said Bieber. Leap to fame on the Eureka Trail Leap To Fame looks certain to be the first horse to be confirmed next year’s $2.1 million on The Eureka after finishing sweeping the East Coast classics in an all-out fashion at the Victoria Derby in Milton on Saturday. He has already won the NSW and Queensland derby titles, but Milton will view it as a crowning moment. Head coach Grant Dixon drove the Leap To Fame straight to the front on Saturday night and held off all opponents by 27.5 seconds in the third quarter before scoring 28.8 at home to win with ease. “We kind of like it,” Dixon said. “We’ve thought since the NSW derby that he’s our best horse and hopefully we can take him all the way. “I think he ticked all the boxes. He has great manners, great gait, great speed and great stamina.” Leap To Fame will challenge the NSW Breeders and The Breeders’ Crown to end its three-year campaign before making a plan for 2023. It will culminate with the Eureka Slots race in September, with owners Kevin and Kay Seymour having one of $10 100,000. Williamsburg gets his chance to reschedule Gloaming Gloaming Stakes favorite Williamsburg will line up in the rescheduled Group 3 at Warwick Farm on Wednesday, despite the distance dropping from 1,800m to a mile. Williamsburg jumps outside to win the Dulcify Stakes at Randwick.attributed to him:GT The final goal of the Spring Champion Stakes on October 22 dictates him to run according to co-coach Sterling Alexio. “The landing flight isn’t ideal for us but at least he’ll have hope of coming home from back at Warwick Farm,” Alexiou said. loading “The way he was playing track on Saturday, he had no hope and was going to train. “He needs another round to be ready for the Spring Champion, which is the race we have focused on in this campaign. “I think every runner in the race has the same problem.” Sports news, results and expert commentary. Subscribe to the sports newsletter. Source link Originally published at Melbourne News Vine

I think I figured something out.

What are the brothers' reactions when they find out MC is an angel? Not the angel-demon kind of angel, but a Victoria's Secret angel? (Sorry for the weird idea but I can't get it off my mind)

PROMPT :: “In the Vogue’s Front Page”

Rating: SFW

Words: 900

Characters: Demon Boys + MC / Gender-Neutral Reader 

Notes: Who knew even demons would group themselves up in someone’s den just to gossip about you.~  ヽ(>∀…Or stalk you for that matter? 

“Asmodeus, this atrocious request of coming all together to your… distasteful bedroom should be worth every second.” The eldest tsk for being the first to arrive. It was something he is to blame himself for always taking schedules and time promptly.

He should have taken considerations with how his brothers are, but then, why should he, the Prideful one, compromise to his brother’s lacking awareness?

“ExCUse mE?!”

Before the Avatar of Lust could even sharply reply, clearly offended from the commentary, the great Mammoney puffed and huffed upon reaching the door, gasping with his uniform all drenched with back sweat with his hand by the door handle, unable to keep his composure cool.

A pause lingered around the room.

“Care to explain, Mammon?” Lucifer asked, like a shepherd to his black sheep who is still breathless from all that running.

“Well,” the white-haired boy verbalized, “Asmo said he got some good quality intel and it ain’t something I’ll be bargaining with anything. The problem is, I have to figure out how to get rid of those witches.”

“You do know that running away from them would be insignificant should they summon you, yes?” exclaimed the shortest as he made an entrance, his green eyes scanning the flirt’s quarters, not liking the amount of flora that could have been a place to put more books. “You just could not miss it because it is about our darling human and you most certainly, have an interest in them.”

“Cut it out, Satan! Of all demons, you just gotta join the party?” Infuriated, he was to show no interest to the intel, proving Satan wrong, when Lucifer ended what was supposed to be a starting flame or a firing gun for him to leave, parting the two by placing himself in between;

“That is enough, Satan.”

“You are not my dad, Lucifer.”

“Technically, I am…” 

Pushing his brows together, there was tension and added awkwardness into the mix when a tall, Mt. Everest, ginger hair burst in, a hamburger on his left side and a sleeping sloth on the other. It was a convenient ride for the youngest twin. Plus! He does not need to walk and he could still have more time to sleep.

“You are leaving already, Mammon? Will you get the drinks I ordered in my room?”

“I guess I’ll just stay then..” Mammon grumbled, walking back in as he soon saw Leviathan coming in next, his eyes on the screen, grunting a victory from the nerdy game he has been addictively playing for the past month. It was not cool not having only them to share his “over-the-top” video games. How he wishes he could have the same bond as what they and Levi had…

Oh, what was he thinking.. he was their first!

“It is so unfair how I have to walk the farthest out of all you six… Can you imagine those lost precious seconds I could have used watching The Tale of the Seven Lords?” Levi grumbled, closing the door, marking them all present in the peach boy’s room.

Rubbing his hands together like a mad genius who had his eureka moment, Asmodeus began narrating, moments after furiously shaking Belphegor to wake;

“Let me begin the story then,” Asmodeus says so as the light of the room cast a spotlight on him;

“It was just any other day in Devildom when I noticed our human exchange student strutting the hallways like they own it. For a moment, I thought my popularity poll might be directly affected since I might be having some competition with a human exchange stu–“

“Please Asmodeus. Go directly to the point!” the remaining brothers exclaimed, making their Narcissus form lines in between his brows. It was the second offense of the evening.

“Our little human could tell a shorter story with three dots as a reply.” Satan barked. 

“Fine!”

Reaching out his recent and latest subscription magazine, there their little human was, bold and daring in a two-piece summer outfit beneath the word Vogue with sand touching their bums and hair drenched from a little swim, there was a text italicized just by their toned thighs that the seven brothers hurdled up to take a good look.

Victoria Secret Angel shares secrets on how to be one.

“You gotta be kidding me…” Belphegor exclaimed, making their self-admiring sibling laugh.

“With that body deliciously maintained, what do you mean “you gotta be kidding me?”

“I thought you said there’s food on the group message? Our human friend is not food..” Beel cut in, defending his younger twin when everyone’s disinterest to join in came to a halt, hearing their envious brother type in his little blinky box’ keyboard. 

It was obvious in his facial expression how he was unable to get the best view of the magazine. Especially when Lucifer and Mammon were fighting to get the center.

VICTORIA SECRET FASHION SHOW |

Typing in their human’s name, thousands of videos soon popped out of compilations of them strutting the catwalk with the most adorned lingerie and theatrical feathers as thumbnails… it was enough to raise everyone’s temperature.

And like the light to a moth’s eye, the brothers formed a concave-shape behind him, shouts of putting the video on full-screen shushed by the start of the music.

…

It was all surreal… Their little human was actually a model.

…

And in a bikini as well. 

“Guys?”

Asmodeus scanned his brothers from his left to right. Top to bottom…

“Hey, guys?”

Walking nearer and nearer to the center stage, their lips pouted for a kiss with a wink just before turning their back to the camera.

“Guys!:    

“Don’t you spill your nose-blood on my carpet!”

Recs for recent Tamil and Telugu films .. .. ..

Bahubali is a good film, although I feel as if most people already know about it.

Pelli Choopulu, Fidaa, and Sita are romantic-comedies from the last couple years that were good.

Fidaa leans more towards a slice of life (kind of) since the only conflict is the main leads figuring out their mutual feelings - but its a fun watch.

Pelli Choopulu's plot is mainly about two people who decide to work together & achieve their goals & in the process fall in love. The main leads are engaged to different people - but instead of taking the sad star-crossed lovers route or an overbearingly possessive behaviour - they act like actual adults & support each others dream without expecting more than the friendship they've developed. Which is rare enough in any romance media that it left an impression.

Aadai is a thriller centered around a reporter who wakes up naked in an abandoned building trying to find something to cover herself so she can leave and get help. It doesn't sound like much but its a well-made movie that was interesting to watch and the plot manages to tie-in a bit of social commentary without feeling heavy handed.

Eureka is a murder mystery set in a college. The main lead is the usual brash thug-like guy who's always ready to fight. He finds the body of a guy he had fought with the previous day and decided to find out the real killer before he (main lead) gets convicted for the crime. the female lead is just there to be a love interest & contributes little to the plot. The movie isn't something to write home about but its an ok watch.

Manam isn't a recent film (internet says it came out in 2014) but its good. About a guy whose parents die when he's a kid, several years later when he's an established businessman he sees the reincarnations of his parents and tries to set them up again. Unknown to him, an old man is also trying to set him (the businessman) up with a doctor, as they are reincarnations of his (the old man) parents that passed away decades ago. The movie takes full advantage of the reincarnation trope and is lots of fun.

Special mentions to Seven (mystery-thriller) about 4 different women claiming to be the wife of a man accused of murder - except they all have conflicting stories (its still available on Netflix i think). And Laxmii (horror-comedy)( which is a hindi-language remake of a tamil film) about a man possessed by the ghost of a transgender woman who wants to avenge her murder at the hands of a gang boss.

Hmm .. thats all the films I could think of that I enjoyed recently, hopefully one of these is to your liking? :D

Thank you very much!!!!

[ Interest Check | Perma Starter Call ] - Eureka

Touch this post if Eureka is a muse you’re interested in interacting with.  Time permitted, I may send a meme or write you a starter if you’re new here.

Follow the fake cut for stats and links about Eureka

Stats

Name: Eureka Thurston

Age: 14-16 (PoP), 30-32 (AO)

Affiliation: Gekkostate

Species: Coralian (Click for Infodump)

Status: Alive

Birthday: Unknown

Pronouns: She/Her

Verses

None yet! Feed me AUs!!

Links

Wiki Bio

IC Posts

Starter Calls / Opens

Headcanons

Meta

Art

Musings

Eureka Seven Commentary

Studio Bones Celebrates 21 Years of Excellence!

I watched plenty of anime as a child—Pokémon, Digimon Tamers, Crush Gear Turbo. But much of it I absorbed passively, because my friends were watching it or it was airing on Toonami or because it was based on a video game I loved. I happily consumed all cartoons equally regardless of quality, chronology or origin. Then one day I discovered the manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, which was just then being published in English. After blazing through volumes of the comic, I discovered the Fullmetal Alchemist anime which aired in 2003.

  Just like that, I was hooked. Something in the anime adaptation spoke to me as a teenager: the plaintive choirs of the song “Brothers,” the sadness infecting Ed and Al's rollicking adventures. In the Philippines I sought the series out on Animax and implored by friends (confused by anime) to do the same. Later, in the United States, I would record overnight episodes on my parents's TiVo and watch them on Saturday afternoons with microwaved pizza in hand. To this day I have never seen the whole thing, and there are many other anime series I would rank above it. But in retrospect, the first Fullmetal Alchemist series is the first I understood and loved as an anime, rather than as a cartoon. It was my gateway.

  Then in college, I made a friend who had a similar experience with anime—but not with Fullmetal Alchemist. No, her turning point was Scrapped Princess, another animated fantasy series from 2003. Like Fullmetal Alchemist, Scrapped Princess combined an elaborate fantasy world packed with nested secrets, a constant sense of high adventure, and surprising darkness. Scrapped Princess's heroine, the bratty but well-meaning princess Pacifica, was hunted by her world as an instrument of its destruction; the medieval world she traversed with her friends was a cover-up for its true science-fictional origins. Just like I cried when Colonel Hughes met his end in Fullmetal Alchemist, my friend cried when Pacifica's love interest Fulle sacrifices his life to ensure her safety. And as Fullmetal Alchemist ends with a shocking twist that punches through the rules of its setting, Scrapped Princess wraps its fantasy narrative with robot dragons dueling in space.

  You probably know someone just like me, or just like her. Perhaps the series that turned them into anime fans was the recent Shounen Jump megahit My Hero Academia. Perhaps it was the spooky creatures and slick animation of Soul Eater. Or maybe it was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which in 2009 tackled the full story of the original manga to excellent results. If you're an anime fan like me and you've been following along, you can probably guess the twist here. All of the shows mentioned so far were produced by Bones!

    Today, the famous studio Bones turns 21 years old! Founded in 1998 by Masahiko Minami, Hiroshi Osaka and Toshihiro Kawamoto—all veterans of the legendary mecha animation studio Sunrise—the studio has been releasing both adaptations of popular material and original series all this time. Much has changed in these 21 years: Gainax has fragmented into fiefdoms, Madhouse lost its famous producer, Masao Maruyama, and more anime is being produced than ever before, at a rate that threatens the health and sanity of those creating it. As chaos ravages the industry, Bones has been a rock. It's continued to produce series with ambitious worlds and settings, whether that be the skewed New York fantasia of Blood Blockade Battlefront or the political commentary of Un-Go. It has done so with consistently solid animation quality; famously, Bones chose to split My Hero Academia up into multiple seasons of material separated by breaks, rather than risk a production collapse in the strain of continuous release. If some have blasted Bones for often prioritizing that consistency over more flexible, visually experimental art... well, Bones also produced Space Dandy, which features some of the weirdest individual episodes of the past decade.

Bones has also consistently provided a venue for talented animators and directors to flex their muscles over these twenty-one years. Masahiro Ando directed one of the best action films in the history of the medium with Sword of the Stranger, but was also invited back to direct the eccentric Shakespearean action series Blast of Tempest and the endearing romance Snow White with the Red Hair. Takuya Igarashi set the stage for soon-to-be-legendary action sequences in Soul Eater and Star Driver, and even now is working with his favorite collaborators on pumping out seasons of fan-favorite series Bungo Stray Dogs. Star animator Yoshimichi Kameda rose to fame knocking scenes out of the park in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, most famously where Roy Mustang roasts Lust to a crisp. And of course you have Yutaka Nakamura, who some have claimed to be the most popular and influential action animator currently working today. Nakamura's work reaches across the studio's entire filmography, from the well-choreographed fisticuffs in Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door to multi-level sword on sword combat in Sword of the Stranger, to his current outrageous fights in Concrete Revolutio and My Hero Academia.

  And this only sums up a small portion of their total output! There's also RahXephon, an ambitious reversioning of Neon Genesis Evangelion that classmates of mine in college would insist was superior to its inspiration. You have the two seasons of Show by Rock!!, one of the most bizarre idol shows of all time that happens to feature some very good CG. Then there's Darker Than Black's cryptic worldbuilding and fantastic soundtrack by Yoko Kanno. Also, there's the spiritual sequel to Scrapped Princess, cult favorite Chaika -The Coffin Princess-. And of course, there's the skewed workplace drama of Hisone and Masotan. Even Bones's deep cuts rival the highlights of other studios.

To me there are two shows that most of all define Bones's past and future. The first is Eureka Seven, a big sloppy love letter to mecha series that pulls in elements from Gundam, Macross and Evangelion into a vast and emotional saga. Its complex and fascinating world, fantastic action, grounded character work and blockbuster sensibilities mark it out as what I would say is the studio's defining work, despite the flaws in its construction. The second is Mob Psycho 100, which stands alone as one of the wildest and most cutting-edge action series of the past several years. Yutaka Nakamura contributed some excellent scenes to the first season, but even he was outdone by the work of countless young and talented animators in season 2! Watching the Mogami arc, you can see the next generation of fantastic artists spreading their wings. The exciting future of a medium being stretched to its breaking point by the forces of commerce. May Bones give them the support they need to survive and thrive in the next twenty-one years.

If you would like to learn more about Bones, I highly recommend following @liborek3 on Twitter, and checking out his articles on Sakugablog (starting with this one!) I would also recommend seeking out Kim Morrissy's article on the studio's history, which heavily cites multiple interviews Bones released on their twentieth anniversary. Happy twenty-first birthday to Bones's many employees and graduates! I'll be waiting patiently in the corner for the third season of Mob Psycho 100.

Are you a fan of Studio Bones? Did they help introduce you to the medium? Do you have a favorite production by them? Let us know in the comments!

---

Adam W is a features writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't repeatedly listening to the soundtrack for Eureka Seven Ao, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? Follow him on Twitter at: @wendeego

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

DTE17 asks: Any piece of dialogue and/or description you're most proud of? Any symbolism/parallel you're most proud of? Was there any part/aspect of the chapter that posed the greatest challenge while writing? Was there any particular scene you were most excited to write going into it?

oh i love DTE asks yes yes yes thank you

Any piece of dialogue and/or description you're most proud of? 

James took a shaky step back, the feeling of his vision blurring around the edges sending him tumbling to his knees. There wasn’t time for him to focus on the breath in his lungs, the ground beneath his feet—even when his palms hit the slippery pavement, even when water stained his slacks. Saffron starlight swirled in the depths and immediately they were no more, only the colour that they contained. Yellow, yellow, yellow like a golden ring burning a brand into your finger, yellow like the bells that ring over its stain, yellow like foreboding rulers balanced above your shaking hands, yellow like the absence of air in your lungs. The last colour you see before you’re down, the last colour you see before the pain. The cruelest colour, a warning to run.

When he tried to focus in on the world around him, the Cerulean Gym was long gone. All that remained in its place were stifling estate walls and the click of stilettos on polished marble, spores glittering down like meteors en route to the yielding earth below.

the only thing i’m ever proud of is fucking loose ass purple prosey PTSD but its JUST SO EASY to write someone becoming unhinged as they descend into the shackles of trauma

dialogue-wise it’s that fucking exchange between greninja & meowth, but i already posted that. u can probably pull anything from jessie & misty’s conversation. i like this most:

“So what I was saying before I got all up in my own feelings was,” Misty continued. “You’re a force of nature. You know what you want and you take it. If that was you in my position, you woulda marched right up to the love of your life and proposed to them then and there. And whatever troubles have you and your terrifying trio on edge, they’re gonna disappear in time. Because as much as my younger self would hate to hear me say it, you kinda kick ass, Jessie.”

“Potty mouth,” the woman noted, swimming in her own ego and trying to drown the other implications of Misty’s commentary.

“Is the ex-con gonna tattle on me? Hope you’re patient, ‘cause my sisters won’t be home for another seven months.”

“Touché,” Jessie relented, pushing her thoughts back down. “I suppose you’re right, though. I’ve survived far worse than the sudden and irritating acquisition of human empathy.”

“Arguably the most stereotypically villainous thing you’ve ever said,” Misty pointed out.

“Look at that! And I only had to stop being a villain to say it.”

love my girls

Any symbolism/parallel you're most proud of? 

YES

“Oh…” Misty said, giant petals and cloudy golden spores fading back from buried memories. “That makes sense. So he’s saddled with a pokémon he’s got some issues with because of a bad experience?”

“I’d put it more at ten or twenty experiences, knowing her,” Jessie spat. “It sounds ridiculous on paper. I don’t expect you to understand.”

“No, it… it doesn’t sound ridiculous at all,” the girl attested, her fingertips shakily tracing the keystone that hung ornamental from her hair.

NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! i had a crisis over it when i was OUTLINING it that RUINED MY NIGHT because i thought it was stupid to include and then no one said anything about it and even to 99.9% of the time i am very very happy with my work this is one of the few touches i wove in that i am Sensitive(tm) over cause it felt like such a eureka moment when i realized but the payoff was. not so glorious.

maybe it’s too subtle. i don’t know. maybe people didn’t watch chronicles. but misty literally had Gyarados Trauma (tm) for half her life. the fact that she’s a gyarados user who has mastered its mega evo is so symbolic of all she has become. reclamation like that is 100% what we want weaved into James’ story. it’s the reason we gave them oddish to begin with.

Was there any part/aspect of the chapter that posed the greatest challenge while writing?

all of it but mostly the dissonance between the humans and making clear why suddenly everything was so different. also the fact that like, trauma gets worse the farther u get away from the source of it. so like back when james still had his fiance on his tail he was actually a lot more brave in the face of everything. now that he has like, almost nothing shackling him to his past, he’s in a place emotionally where he’s safer to feel the actual effects of trauma, and it’s. Not Great.

Was there any particular scene you were most excited to write going into it?

honestly this chapter was hard for me cause i wasn’t rly stoked for all of it, but the more i got into the pokemon all talking that night the more i realized it was my fave. i love writing dialogue between them. i worry about them not feeling like a family as much as they are kinda... paired off--growlie & chimecho, arbok & weezing, meowth & wobbuffet, and oddish kinda just trying to find where it fits. but i was like, genuinely so satisfied w/ how that turned out, idk.

Thoughts: Darling in the Franxx

So today marked the last episode of the series ‘Darling in the Franxx’, the show that had been, pun intended, the darling of the last two seasons of anime. People have loved it, hated it, or been wishing it could have been something more. Having now watched it from start to finish, I’m gonna get some general thoughts down after the cut. I honestly could have done this a few weeks ago, as those thoughts haven’t changed, but I wanted to wait until all was said and done until I did so.

If I could sum up Darling in the Franxx in one sentence it would be this: The show didn’t know what it wanted to be.

It is clear that the creators were massive fans of the hit mecha shows of the last decade, and took the parts they liked, threw them in a blender and decided that was the show. Several times during the 24 episodes run I felt the overall thesis, the major point of what Franxx was kept changing.

First I’m thinking it’s a knock-off of Eureka Seven.

Then I’m thinking it’s some weird Evangelion homage.

Then when the Eureka Seven like romance is more or less put to bed by the halfway point, the show decides it’s gonna make a point political point about Japan’s rising birthing crisis.

Then VRIM shows up and everything goes to hell.

Almost all good or decent animes have and use several different themes or ideas, but there is one overall general MO that can sum up what the show is about. 

Full Metal Alchemist: Don’t try and play god.

Naruto: The perseverance of a boy who got a really raw deal in life.

Dragon Ball: Never settling for what you are and always breaking your limit.

Shimoneta: Trying to erase sex and sexuality will never ever work that way you hope.

High School DxD: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Innocence 

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Family and companionship rock.

All of those shows and more can really be summed up by what I have listed. Franxx though? Franxx really never did have any idea what it’s overall message was, and what it wanted to talk about. The closest thing I can think of is again, a commentary on the declining birthrate of Japan (a very real and serious problem they are facing). That’s a great idea, that’s a cool issue to explore and unpack, but Franxx decides to go in knee deep, then completely abandon that premise for a late game ‘aliens did it all along’ twist that feels completely out of left field. Seriously man, like JESUS. While this final episode does go back around to the idea of children and the importance of having them, Franxx drops the ball by not fully committing to that idea.

However, there are some good moments, an, in fact, Darling in the Franxx is a show that is full of great individual moments and episodes. When Franxx wanted to go into the characters and their reactions of the world and events they experienced I was always hooked, but when they tried to string those together into an overall plot, the show just fell apart completely.

Watching the last episode in a vacuum, I left feeling touched and satisfied, but looking at Darling in the Franxx as a whole, I can’t help but feel that it stumbled and struggled to be something it wasn’t capable of being. Maybe they needed more episodes, maybe they needed a better writer, or maybe they just really needed to commit to a single overarching theme. While Hiro and Zero-Two’s relationship could have been that, it stops and starts over too many times throughout the show’s run. (Seriously, it gets resolved at the halfway point, things are good for a while, then we are supposed to get all invested again with no real build up)

I enjoyed Darling in the Franxx the entire way through. It’s not a bad show at all, it’s got good characters, great art, unique mecha designs, a wonderful opening theme and is full of good moments. However many viewers, including myself see the potential it had to become something great, especially in this drought of mecha shows ever since the Isekai (another world stories) boom. In that sense, it’s disappointing, but it not enraging.

So yeah, those are my thoughts on Trigger and A1′s Darling in the Franxx. I enjoyed it, flaws and all, and I hope the writers and animations are able to take on the good they learned and have another swing. They got the stuff, let’s just see what they can do.

Tomorrow I’ll return to my look at Majikoi with my shallow dive into Momoyo, don’t miss it.

Top 10 Biggest Downgrades In Anime

Top 10 Biggest Downgrades In Anime

Date: 2019-09-15 11:00:10

[aoa id=’0′][dn_wp_yt_youtube_source type=”101″ id=”yxmcCSIGXYM”][/aoa]

Sometimes sequels suck. Join Ashley as he counts down shows that just didn’t live up to their originals be it from poor animation, terrible storylines, or lackluster follow-ups. Sometimes anime takes incredible manga and just adapts it poorly…So you can expect disasters like Berserk, Psycho-Pass 2,…

View On WordPress

Anemone, An Enemy, Anemone, An Enemy Anemone, Anne, Nemo, and Another Me

[ So.......Anemone huh? Here’s some loose thoughts after a first viewing, including my takes of H1-Evo #1 and how my opinion has evolved now that this film is in the mix. I’ve seen it through with the JP audio exactly one time and I do wonder if my opinion on this film will change at all on a second viewing or when I get around to the dub. It’s less about plot details and more about review  and general discussion type stuff, doesn’t delve heavy into theorizing just yet. That’s a trip for a different post. Cut because long as fuck even though literally nobody asked. ]

Hi Evolution #1, starring our main man Renton “Only a Miniscule Few Braincells Above Himbo” Thurston, hit me in weird ways which I think is true for most everybody I’ve seen talking about it. Part of my problem with it honestly was that I came into things with the misconception that Hi-Evolution would be a reboot of sorts. A somewhat faithful retelling of the original story with new insight into things we didn’t get to see much of. I don’t know why this is the impression I had other than screencaps and stuff, but if you only watch the first Hi Evo movie you definitely could continue to think that once it’s over. When I thought it would be an encapsulation of the original series, I had intended to use the film to introduce @himbologythestudyofhimbo to the story. She has long known it to be one one of my most favorite anime franchises and I thought a film would be a good way to gauge whether she might find it interesting enough to hit 50 episodes with me.

Ha. Haha. That didn’t work.

I hadn’t seen Hi-Evo when I was like “hey wanna watch this?” so that’s my own fault. I had seen screenshots and thought it looked gorgeous, but that was about it. I was imagining something akin to the Berserk trilogy of movies, mostly faithful to the original story with some new tidbits of information thrown in for old fans.

And again, you could be forgiven for seeing the first Hi-Evo movie and still thinking that’s what you’re in for. It is mostly compliant to the original canon and the parts that aren’t compliant are pretty wishy washy about saying so. Unfortunately what I found out really quickly is that that it’s not at all a good entry point for new fans, and that really disappointed me. I’ve been hoping for years for something to get more young blood in this fandom, BUT ANYWAY--

The whole play forward/play back thing really hinders the flow of the film, as much as I understand the point of it, especially with the Anemone film for more context. Skipping around the timeline harms new viewers in particular. It’s challenging to understand the timeline and flow of events because everything is presented out of order and without context. Sure, the first Hi-Evolution covers a ton of major story beats surrounding Renton’s personal development, but the non-chronological presentation coupled with the utter lack of lead up to key moments from the original series robs this movie of carrying any emotional weight. Who is Renton? What’s the deal with him and wheelchair girl? Are these people his parents or not? Why do we care about this Eureka girl who has been on screen in Renton’s presence for a cumulative 30 seconds. Wait a minute what’s this ship? Where did he leave from again? I thought he had a home and parents? Who are these people and why do I care?

Put bluntly this movie sucks if you can’t answer these questions going in, and even if you can you may feel a bit cheated by it.  As much as I feel the need to talk about how the film is inaccessible for new fans, these films clearly are not for new fans. They function to remind you of events of the original story and then play off of those events with the new content. Even as an established fan, Hi-Evo #1 feels very watered down on its own, but it’s not on its own anymore is it? So let’s finally talk about Anemone.

What becomes clear about these movies is that they are not divided by chronology, but by character. The first movie was about Renton which is why we saw so so little of everybody else even when that robbed the story of needed context and worked to the story’s detriment.  I’m telling myself the reason titular character Eureka was not on screen demonstrating her relationship to the world and to Renton despite it most likely being a central element is because they shoved her scenes into Hi-Evolution 3: Eureka, which will not be released for another year or so. 

I do feel a bit more forgiving toward these movies now that I understand the format they’re going for, but I think most of my previous criticisms still stand despite that.  The character focused presentation may be a deliberate creative decision, but that doesn’t make it an ideal storytelling mechanism. THAT SAID, while a character centric format really harms well developed characters like Renton, it does loads and loads of good for a character like Anemone whose screen time was always hindered by her role as accessory to Renton and Eureka’s story. We don’t get that constant stream of unfiltered perspective from her or really any secondary character, so it’s very interesting to see the world filtered purely through her eyes. I honestly found myself significantly more interested in all the new Anemone content than I ever could have been over watered-down, abbreviated rehashing of Renton’s character arc. I’m much more excited for the last film than I was with just the context of the first Hi-Evolution movie.

Speaking of which, very early on in the Anemone film, the viewer is clued into the fact that this is most certainly AU content, something that was less clear about the first movie. Eureka Seven as a franchise has really been in the 24/7 AU zone for like 10 years, which I think is cool but I also find a little disappointing. I like AU content well enough, but I also think they had a rich world already in the original series and I feel like there are a few more rich veins to explore further in the original world without necessarily needing to wrap it up in a convoluted alternate universe. Not to say I’m against like the AU stuff or anything, I’m okay with it existing, I just want a little more variety in the stuff that’s coming out. Keep up with the AU stuff if you guys wanna but I wouldn’t say no to more backstory and lore, you know?  If they’re gonna pander to old fans instead of attracting new ones, they may as well hit me where it hurts. But I digress. Hi Evolution#2: Anemone’s AUness is pretty central to the story it wants to tell, so it has my full attention there.

Alternate universe characterization is something I’ve had both complaints and praise for in the past, and I’m happy to say that in the case of Anemone I have mostly praise. It’s nice to get a glimpse of an Anemone who isn’t like....as unhinged as her original incarnation. She’s well adjusted comparably, which makes her a decently reliable narrator. While she loses some of the edge that people are drawn to about her, she maintains most of the underlying personality traits you would expect of even the earliest incarnation of Anemone. This is an Anemone who had the opportunity to be socialized. You can relate to her and appreciate her feelings more easily than the Anemone viewers are most familiar with. This is an Anemone with hardships, but she hasn’t been pushed to the same extremes as her PoP counterpart. Likely due to the pretty direct narration and background, there’s also a lot more substance to her than PFoR Anemone in my opinion. It’s not really a chore to like her and take interest in her. She feels very natural in most instances. She’s a real breath of fresh air for fans who love Anemone and wanted to see her living with a healthier mindset and some better outcomes. Good on you, Anemone. Four for you, Anemone.

Most of the other characters--Dominic, the scientists, background people, Anemone’s father, new crew members, etc--are all about what you’d expect from either their previous incarnations or the archetypes they’re filling. None of the new characters or secondary characters are particularly developed, but I don’t really consider that a huge fault of it. I wouldn’t expect a 2 hour movie to meander the way a 50 episode anime can, but in times like this when I am with very few developed characters, I am forcefully reminded of what an asset and a strength the original’s depth and breadth of character writing is.

And then there’s Eureka. I expect her to be polarizing in the reviews, assuming at least some people didn’t straight up hate her in it. Everybody may have just hated it, idk.

As I said earlier alternate universe characterization is something I’ve had both complaints and praise for in the past, often both at the same time. What often comes about is characterization that I don’t necessarily like, but because the character has lived a different life I can’t really say that characterization is wrong. I feel that pull in this film quite a bit. Wrathful Eureka is boring to me. Conceptually, it just is. But does that make it bad?

Man, idk, I guess not. I didn’t like it, but I’ll defend it to a degree. In the original story Eureka was born into violence and conditioned to perpetuate violence early in life. The original Eureka Seven has a dense messaging about propaganda and information and the ways in which society conditions people of all kinds.  Eureka is a docile character in the original but more and more as we learn about her, we realize that this tendency toward gentleness isn’t just a cutesy character trait of hers. It’s a choice that she’s making on a daily basis, even when more forceful options would be easier or make more sense to her. It’s a choice that has come about from a collection of experiences. Eureka becomes pacifistic because she develops her own ideals about the world. She comes to conclusions about what things make her a good or bad person and she makes the decision to be the person she wants to be. There’s weight to it. That’s something that always really drawn me to her as a character. It’s very easy to blow up in the face of something horrible. It’s much harder to keep a cool head and exercise mercy. I just don’t find the Eureka of this world all that compelling.

That said, I don’t necessarily think this read of her is wrong or even impossible. In fact, I think if this read had 50 episodes of development and justification behind it, I might even come to appreciate it. Certainly if anything could drive her to this, it would be losing Renton, so it’s not exactly out of left field for the character given the circumstances she’s in. I feel somewhat similarly about PFoR Eureka. Only somewhat. Eureka in general is a character who would probably be much more in touch with her anger if she had been raised any other way than she was. Even in the original series Eureka has a passive aggressive streak. She’s probably very fortunate that more productive methods of expressing her feelings were accessible to her before any natural tendency toward aggression was. Angrier more volatile reads of Eureka aren’t wrong or even uninteresting necessarily, but to me a lot of her charm is wrapped up in the reasons she works so hard not to be that type of character.

I also think that subversion and role reversal can be an interesting in AU stuff, so I don’t really fault them for using it here. In contrast to our typical unhinged Anemone, Eureka gets to be the one teetering on the edge so that Anemone can shine and show a little more humanity than she typically gets to. I think that’s honestly okay. I want to see Anemone have her day to be the hero. That’s something I’m okay with sacrificing a little of my preferred characterization for. I see a lot of value in a portrayal that allowed Eureka and Anemone to bond and more directly learn together. I think a lot of fans, myself included, wonder about a reality where Eureka and Anemone could have been sources of support for one another rather than pitted against one another.

That isn’t to say that I’m automatically okay with chopping up the writing in arbitrary ways, though. The thing about the reversals and subversions in Hi-Evo #2 is that they’re consistent. Compare to something like Pocketful of Rainbows and you’ll see what I mean. In that movie Renton, for some unclear reason, is the one who can understand Nirvash even though that writing decision doesn’t really serve the story in any meaningful way because Eureka is still the one who isn’t human and still is wanted by the military for....being whatever unclear thing she is in that film. Renton is no longer childish and is in fact the patient one in the story while Eureka is the one with a stubborn attitude and defined temper. Renton is made out to be more of a coward so that he has something to grow from, except for all the many many times he isn’t cowardly pretty much immediately, and the only flimsy defense of this concept that is that he was afraid of adults with guns when he was a literal child.  Meanwhile, Eureka in this film is a much more brash character than we’re used to. Unlike Original Eureka, this one doesn’t want to be led or take orders anymore. She’s a loose canon who takes matters into her own hands except for all the times she cries for Renton to save her both before and after she’s teetering on her own Independence Event Horizon. There are a lot of creative decisions in that film that just plain don’t make sense to me because the writing doesn’t commit to them at all and tends to flounder around between them. I could barely make it through that film because I felt like it was contradicting itself every 5 minutes. It feels less like a new exploration of old characters and more like a bunch of ideas the writing team couldn’t agree on and slapped together anyway. If it wasn’t unclear, I don’t like Pocketful of Rainbows very much.

By contrast, any subversions or reversals in Hi-Evolution 2 fell earned enough. The writing choices are for the most part played straight and well justified. The choices are interesting. Unlike literally anything about the lore of Pocketful of Rainbows, I want to know more about Hi-Evolution. I want to understand what Anemone’s mission is and about Silver Box. I want to know why Dewey is so different from the Dewey I know. As much as I complained about Eureka’s characterization, the portrayal is decently justified by the writing. Eureka believes she killed Renton and seems to be privy to other realities where she turned out much happier. She has good enough reasons to be bitter in this iteration.  

This film has honestly made me way more forgiving of Hi-Evo #1 and given me a lot of reason to take interest in what the last film might be. I’m going to reserve any big overarching judgement until that comes out in 6000 years, but I’m getting the sense that it might be New Order adjacent, in that Renton and Eureka will have to find one another and possibly revisit places that will be nostalgic for fans.I wouldn’t complain if this becomes the flagship verse wherein Eureka and Anemone form a meaningful friendship because they’ve been denied that opportunity in basically every other telling that exists so far.

Also big thank god the last film will be hand drawn because, I hate to be that guy but the GC looked like shitgarbage. I’ve become very forgiving of CG and Mocap recently but I just really disliked it in this film. Animation is a medium I know a lot about, I know compositing is a tricky job, I respect the work put into it, but...oof. I do wonder if that was a stylistic choice or more of an “oh shit the budget is disappearing” choice.

My final word on Eureka Seven Hi Evolution #2 is that....I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it either but I had a nice enough time watching it. I’m realizing I’m having trouble landing in one particular spot on Hi Evolution #2 because I expect the next film will effect how I judge this one in the same way that this film has affected how I judged the first one. If you’re an Eureka Seven fan who is on the fence about the Hi-Evolution trilogy, I’d say give it a watch. You’ll still love your favorite characters even if they’re a little different than you’d hoped. If you’re still feeling iffy maybe wait a year until the last one comes out and binge them all at once. I suspect the experience might be improved that way. Definitely don’t go in expecting the story you already know, though. Doing that set me up for failure here.

Honorable mention for the fansubber who kept translating 勘 as very rude words describing the penis for some reason? That really enhanced my experience.

[ Hi I'm watching the Anemone movie. ]

I’M GONNA PISS?????

Unless there’s some slang meaning of the word  I don’t know of, that is most definitely not what she said. What I think I heard was “私の勘です” which basically means she had a gut feeling. Intuition. It makes way more sense in the conversation she’s having.

Catch me pulling out my dictionary like “wait a minute, wait a minute, I don’t think--”. I mean maybe I’m wrong, I’m not around a lot of slang, but ANYWAY. Point being I was unprepared to read these words.

Unrelated, but boy they really did put talons on her plugsuit, huh?

Eureka “Bless This MRE Ration or I’ll Bust Your Fucking Knee Caps” Thurston

On Coralians: An Infodump No One Asked For ✌

Please enjoy this big old wall of text explaining both the canon and my headcanons about how Coralians work and what bearing these headcanons have on my portrayal. There’s also some tidbits borrowed from the wiki for those not familiar with the universe. Sections have headings for when you inevitably don’t want to read the whole thing.

What is a Coralian?

Coralian is a catch-all term for any creature born of a plant-like intelligent alien life form called Scub Coral. The Scub Coral originally crashed into the Earth's atmosphere sometime in the 21st century. They survived a collision with an artificial satellite (named Eureka) and landed in the Pacific Ocean, fusing with the Ocean’s coral and eventually joining humans as a dominant species on planet Earth.

Tthe Scub Coral are capable of growing into an enormous size in the blink of an eye, which is one of the primary reasons humans fear them. Their tendency toward growth and expansion across the world causes tectonic shifts and disrupts the land regardless of the placement of things like cities and towns.  Their metabolic process produces a particulate matter called Trapar, much the same way plants release oxygen and humans exhale CO2. Trapar behaves like water or strong wind currents and is the basis for flight in both human technologies that use it as an energy source and in animals whose bodies have evolved to reflect it.

So They’re Like Corals but Also They’re...People? Sounds Dumb, Bro.

At this point I would like to emphasize something stated earlier: despite having a plant-like appearance, Scub Corals are an intelligent, conscious life form. Though they cannot speak in their natural form, Scub Corals are able to think and to reason, and every creature born of the Scub Coral has a connection to a central connected consciousness that encompasses all Coralians.

While most Scub Coral are plant-like in appearance, the Scub Coral eventually became capable of growing life forms that resemble types of fauna it has previously fused with. For example, the Scub creates dangerous fish-like creatures called anti-body Coralians to protect the control center of their consciousness from threat.

In much the same way, humanoid Coralians were eventually grown in order to bridge the gap between the Scub Coral and humankind. The purpose of these humanoid Coralians is to be a blank slate that can learn to communicate with humans and be impressed upon by them. Eventually that humanoid Coralian will return to the Scub Coral to relay what they learned.

That’s how creatures like Eureka, Sakuya, and Gonzy came to exist.

It’s also worth noting that Archetypes, the exoskeletons that the cool giant robots are built upon in this universe, are actually alive. Archetypes are the first failed attempts of the scub coral to create a humanoid being.

Traits of Coralians 

Hive Mind

So if these are all the same creature,  how is it that some are coral, some are kaijus, and some are people?  What do they all have in common? Well, for one, they all participate in the Coralian hive mind. In my portrayal, Eureka will have some level of awareness regarding will of her kind at all times.  She may not be actively thinking about it or asking about it, but it’s there.  Coralians do not want to be disconnected from their collective consciousness and humanoid Coralians in particular will become emotionally distressed if at any point that happens. Coralians need to exist in an interconnected group.

It is implied on multiple occasions that Renton has inadvertently accessed  some portion of this collective consciousness in the mine, where he hears Eureka’s voice in his mind when she needs help. He also has conversations with her in his dreams that she later recalls the details of when he is awake.

I have a lot of headcanons about the future utility of this trait--mostly that Coralians can form unions of consciousness with humans, but since humans aren’t built for that it’s not very reliable or constant the way it seems to be between Coralians. You probably couldn’t have a full on conversation with your Coralian friend who is across town, but you’d have no problem calling vaguely out to one another if there was trouble. You couldn’t reliably spend an hour cheating on a test together inside your brains, but you could have the best improv game in town. Maybe you can’t communicate the grocery list without calling one another but you might get the vague sense that you need milk at home. Your coralian friend might be able to accompany you unprompted if you broke out into a spontaneous musical. It’s a great party trick but it doesn’t suffice as a main mode of communication the way it does between coralians.  In general your coralian friend will be extremely adept at picking up on what you’re thinking compared to most people, but only because this method of connection was their first language in a way that is not true for humans.

Eyes

Not all Coralians need to be able to see, but those who have eyes all share the same distinctive eye type which differs from humans. Their eyes are invariably a purple color with a ring around the iris. These eyes are built to be able to see Trapar, a particulate matter that in large quantities is toxic to them. Naturally occurring Trapar is invisible to the human eye, but to a Coralian it takes on a luminescent greenish color that says STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME. 

Wings

Speaking of Trapar, Eureka’s wings are designed not to be flapped against air currents like those of birds or insects. Rather, they are designed like the bodies of skyfish to reflect trapar and glide on top of it.

I honestly hc that she molts the outermost layer on those wings every month or so, the same way reflection film has to be changed on the ships and LFOs in order to keep flying on top of the trapar waves.

That's about everything I can think of right now but if you read this far and want to know any more feel free to ask any questions you might have. Otherwise expect more headcanons surrounding this stuff in the future probably.

Eureka “If You Don’t Say Thanks For the Food I Will Beat You To Death” Thurston

Eureka, who recently figured out what pregnancy is: Wow! Human beings are amazing!! You can carry a new life inside you!!!”

Dr. Mischa: You know you can do that too, right?

Eureka, who probably doesn’t know what sex is: