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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Best Anime Openings Spring 2023

With the Spring season winding down, I thought it might be a fun time to share my favorite openings from this season (may or may not do an endings one as well). Initially I had thought about doing a tier list, but that's far too arbitrary for my tastes at this point, so we're gonna stick with the ones that stood out. I'll just go ahead and get started.

Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers - Magical Destroyer

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I don't really need to say much about this one, I already wrote about it in depth once. But yeah, damn good opening that has the perfect mix of everything Inagawa, and tells a self-contained story about the journey of these magical girls and Otaku Hero. It's a wildly impressive affair from start to finish, though not quite for the faint of heart as the music choice may be abrasive to some (personally, I love it).

Heavenly Delusion - Innocent Arrogance

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Really, this and MAD are interchangeable as my openings of the season/year. In most cases though I give the edge to MAD for the insane style of the latter half, but Innocent Arrogance is far tighter affair. Its themes and stories are more apparent and accessible to fans of the series, and it has a more unique style throughout with the harsh highlights and lighter/softer color palette through most scenes.

Hells Paradise - Work

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I might avoid the anime like it's the plague, but you do have to give credit for the opening. Solid on all fronts, it has a unique style that sells the characters and world incredibly well, all tied together by very fluid and dynamic camera movements. Plus, Millenium Parade on an opening is always appreciated. I would still say it's comfortably below the first two in terms of quality though. The stories told through visuals in the above are just out of this world.

Skip and Loafer - Mellow

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The song title for this one is very fitting. It's an incredibly comfortable, fun, and warm opening that does a lot with how little it shows. As expected, the color design is wonderful and has the perfect vibe for being a slice of life. The icing on the cake though is the dance sequence. Full of energy and joy, it tops off the wonderfully full feeling that this opening gives viewers.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Slash

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Potentially hot take for this one, but while the opening is solid, it's how it teases the story that allows it to be superior. The pieces that are placed in plain view that we're only able to understand in hindsight is where the appreciation for this one comes from. The pieces that aren't directly tied to that comparison are solid, but I wouldn't say they're amazing. The best non-teaser though has to be the scenes of Miorine underwater and in a fractured crystal, as they reflect her mental state without placing anything in front of the viewer to compare it to.

The Legendary Hero Is Dead - Shinda!

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This one really surprised me, between Masayoshi Ooishi performing divorced from the other half of OxT and a relatively unknown pair of directors for the opening, a very impressive effort was given for something incredibly memorable. Aggressive colors and storyboarding, a campy feel that plays right into the spiraling shots and lower quality CGI. It presents something incredibly memorable but without an incredible amount of effort expended in pursuit of it. Great example of a solid OP on a (resource) budget.

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage - Gold

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There's not much to say here other than the geniuses over at WIT did it again. A wonderfully executed opening that chronicles the journeys of our various characters as they join Bojji on his adventures. It's incredibly cute and heartwarming, and one of these days I'd love to break down how perfectly it rehashes the story of Season 1 into an energetic and hopeful opening that punctuates the intermediate stories of this season. Also, WIT is yet to miss on song choices for these openings.

Dead Mount Death Play - Nero

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I think this opening is the one with the most wasted potential out of the ones I've seen this season. There's some really incredible shots and ideas through it with stuff like looking through the eyes of characters and what they see, but at the same time there's quite a few bog standard pieces that fill out the build up to the crescendo of this OP. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed as I wasn't expecting anything out of this world, but I think if the team pushed themselves a little more they could have had a huge creative breakthrough.

Also, you should 100% go watch the MV that was made the song itself. It's animated by a single person and is entirely out of this world in execution. Amazing work.

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And that's about all the very notable ones I have to talk about. There's some I was disappointed with like MahoYome's new OP that was rather restrictive, or the unremarkable nature of Demon Slayer (Zankyou Zanka >>> Akeboshi >> Gurenge >>>> Kizuna no Kiseki ) or Dr. Stone's latest openings. While there was certainly let downs and disinteresting openings, there was also evidently quite a few surprises and dark horses that appeared through the season. Overall, it's really enjoyable seeing how much a lot of newer shows are finding inventive ways to deliver creative and memorable openings.

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bbag-raipur · 2 months

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theocculthero · 2 years

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BNHA x diabetic! S/O

A/N: HELLO EVERYONE! My BNHA x diabetic! Reader imagines are finally done! If you’re an otaku with T1D and starving for representation this is for you. I’m starting with Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo, but I plan on writing for more characters later. Also I intended for these imagines to be just how the guys would react to their s/o’s diabetes, but it kinda got out of hand lmao.

🥦Izuku Midoriya🥦

🥦When you first started at UA you hid the fact that you’re diabetic.

🥦Your whole life people told you you could never be a hero because of your diabetes

🥦Too much of a liability 🙄.

🥦You even stopped wearing your devices because you didn’t want your classmates seeing them in the change room.

🥦During your first year at UA, you became quick friends with the Dekusquad.

🥦The closer you got to Izuku the bigger your crush for him got.

🥦So imagine your horror when one day Isuzu accidentally walks in on you giving yourself an insulin injection before lunch.

🥦 Izuku: 😧

🥦You: “I swear it’s not what it looks like.”

🥦You then proceed to blurt out your whole diabetes journey and why you tried so hard to hide it.

🥦Izuku is immediately empathetic with you because of his own life experiences.

🥦 He even tells you that he was told he could never be a hero growing up because of his quirk.

🥦It was a sweet bonding moment.

🥦You guys start dating soon after.

🥦Apparently, he did a health class presentation on diabetes in middle school and he actually did his research so he knows all about T1D misconceptions and doesn’t ask annoying questions or make assumptions because of your chronic illness. Hey you’re not complaining.

🥦He eventually encourages you to start wearing your devices again.

🥦Alright him and your endocrinologist bc you A1C went up at you last endo appointment 😭😅

🥦You know what that means… Izuku gets to learn about pumps and cgms.

🥦 He’s so interested in them too.

🥦He writes down all the info about them in his notebook about you (yes he has a notebook dedicated to you). It includes your preferred bg range, insulin ratio and correction factor, preferred site locations, etc.

🥦 He loves to help you change your sites too.

🥦Maybe a little too much lmao 😝.

🥦 You like to let him pick out decorative tapes for your cgm and infusion sites too.

🥦You usually end up with All Might inspired tapes or green ones lol.

🥦One time you convinced your endo to give you a saline trial pump and cgm for Izuku to wear to see what it was like.

🥦Izuku immediately jumped at the opportunity to wear the devices so he can better understand what you go though.

🥦It was a nightmare for him.

🥦He’s a restless sleeper, so he kept getting woken up with compression lows at night and the pump was painful for him and it left a bruise at the site.

🥦At the end of the experiment, he realized that wearing devices 24/7 was definitely not something he would want to go through and he has 1000x more respect for you.

🥦You did get some cute couples selfies with both of you showing off your devices though.

🥦Of course you taught him how to take your bg and give you an insulin injection. You usually let him if he asks.

🥦He’s pretty good at mental math so he’s really good at giving you carb counts for meals and he has the carb counts for all your favorite foods memorized in case you forget.

🥦Eventually the whole class figures out you’re diabetic because you start openly wearing your devices.

🥦Partially because your easily hidden site spots were getting pretty scarred from over use 😬.

🥦It leads to some pretty interesting and meaningful conversations with your classmates.

🥦You occasionally have to bust diabetes misconceptions and get asked the occasional thought less question from them🙃.

🥦But your classmates are decent people and willing to learn so once you (or Izuku) correct them they don’t say/ask it again.

🥦Izuku is also hyper aware of you going high or low. It’s like he has a sixth sense.

🥦Like if you go low he’s right next to you with your favorite low snack before you even realized you were low.

🥦If you’re high he’ll give you your space (you tend to get really irritable when you bg is high 🥴), but he’ll check up on you occasionally to see if your mood has improved or if you need anything.

🥦If you ask and you’re up to it, he’ll come with you to an improvised training/workout session to help bring down your bg.

🥦Izuku is there to support you through it all as always 🥰.

🔥Shoto Todoroki❄️

🔥The whole class found out you were diabetic by accident.

❄️One day your cgm alarm went off in class while Aizawa was lecturing because your bg had gone high.

🔥It’s not that you were trying to hide your diabetes from your classmates but you weren’t openly discussing it with them either.

❄️Everyone turned and looked at you. Aizawa just nodded at you letting you know you had permission to leave and do whatever you needed to do because of course he already knew.

🔥Your boyfriend Shoto looked over at you to make sure you’re ok. He helped you calculate your bolus so he would never forgive himself if something happened to you.

❄️So you got up and left the classroom to go to Recovery Girl’s office since you insulin pen and needles were kept there.

🔥So you go do your correction and come back to class with a bottle of water.

❄️ When you sat back down at your desk you winked at Shoto to show him you’re ok and he did nothing wrong.

🔥After class everyone was asking about what happened earlier.

❄️“Was that an alarm to drink water or something?”

🔥 “Are you on birth control?”

❄️You calmly explain that you’re diabetic and you had went high after lunch because you miss calculated the carbs in your meal. But don’t worry you’re fine now.

🔥You even show them the cgm on the back of your arm.

❄️You then explain that you went to Recovery Girl’s office so you could do an insulin shot.

🔥Some of your classmates couldn’t handle the thought of giving themselves a shot. (Mainly Kaminari and Mina)

❄️Kaminari: “I could never be a diabetic. Needles freak me out.”

🔥 You: “Trust me, when it’s needles or die you get over it quickly.”

❄️Once you’ve finally left alone Shoto approaches you.

🔥Shoto: “It’s my fault your blood glucose spiked.”

❄️You: “No it’s not. Diabetes is so unpredictable. I can have the exact same meal on two different days and take the same amount of insulin and end up with very different results. Diabetes is just diabetes sometimes.”

🔥You and Shoto have only been dating for a few months now and he learned about your diabetes fairly early on in a similar manner your classmates did today.

❄️Your cgm alarm may or may not have gone off during an intense make out session. 😬

🔥 Having Shoto freak out because he thinks you’re about to die was the most embarrassing and the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you.

❄️Shoto: “I really do have killer looks.”

🔥He calmed down once you talked some sense into him and explained what’s actually happening.

❄️He’s still haunted by the cgm alarm though.

🔥After finding out about your diabetes he became pretty involved in helping you manage it.

❄️Particularly with carb counting, portioning, and helping you cook meals.

🔥He’s really good and finding new low carb meals to try (not that you need to eat low carb of course but it helps prevent you bg from spiking).

❄️He’s not the biggest fan of needles but he’ll hand you supplies while you’re doing a site change or injection.

🔥He’s also really good at supporting you though high and low blood sugar episodes.

❄️When you’re low he’ll bring you candy, low snacks, blankets, anything you need really.

🔥When you’re high he’ll bring you your insulin pen, water, and cuddle with you if it’s a bad high where you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck.

❄️He’ll also go on a hot diabetic walk with you to help bring your bg down.

🔥It also helps that he’s a heating and cooling pad all in one so he adjust his body temperature to whatever you need.

❄️He’ll also fight someone if they’re being super ignorant about diabetes and/or make fun of your illness.

🔥A boy from general studies once made a comment along the lines of “how can a lazy ass with diabetes get into the hero course instead of me?”

❄️Let just say you would never want to be him once Shoto laid into him. It wasn’t pretty 😬.

🔥Luckily Aizawa let him off with only two days house arrest because he was fighting an ableist so that was at least somewhat heroic. The ablest asshole got suspended for a week like he should 😙.

❄️Again not that you need someone to fight your battles but it’s nice to have someone stand up for you considering most of your life you didn’t.

🔥Overall Shoto is an amazing type three. (A/N: if you don’t know type three is a term type one diabetics occasionally use for their diabetes support person who’s a non diabetic.)

💥Katsuki Bakugo💥

💥It all started because of your phone.

💥Well technically Mineta’s phone.

💥One day Mineta got his phone taken away because he was trying to solicit explicit pictures from girls over social media in the middle of class.

💥Mineta: “How come y/n gets to use their phone all the time in class and never gets their phone taken?”

💥You were immediately embarrassed because you thought you had been discreet when you checked your cgm reading on you phone in class.

💥But being the bad bitch you are you immediately pull your shit together and came up with a quick come back.

💥You: “Perverts really don’t have room to be talking about something they don’t know about.”

💥Aizawa immediately ending the discourse before a fight broke out.

💥 After class a few of your classmates confronts you about what was said in class.

💥Mina: “Yeah, y/n how do you get away with using your phone all the time in class? What’s your secret?” (I’ve literally been asked this before rip 😝)

💥You decide this is a good of time as ever to finally tell everyone about your diabetes.

💥You: “Well, to be honest I thought no one noticed, but I have an accommodation that lets me use my phone in class, so even if a teacher saw me use my phone they can’t take it away. I have type one diabetes and I get my blood sugar reading on my phone from my continuous glucose monitor.”

💥This of course sparks a ton of questions from your classmates.

💥“How did you find out you have diabetes?”

💥“What’s a continuous glucose monitor?”

💥“Do you have an insulin pump?”

💥 “Are you afraid of needles?”

💥“Wait! If your diabetic how were you able to eat Sato’s chiffon cake?” 🙄

💥While you have a low tolerance for bullshit, you can be patient when you want to be and right now you wanted to educate your classmates about your chronic illness. (Mainly so you don’t have to deal with dumb questions/comments later.)

💥So you answer each question honestly and within reason.

💥You: “(insert your diagnosis story here). Just so you know, this is a very personal question, so if you meet anyone else with a disability and/or chronic illness be careful when asking this because this might be a very traumatic event for them.”

💥You: “It’s a sensor that I wear under my skin and measures my bg so I don’t have to prick my fingers all the time.”

💥You: “Yes.”

💥You: “Never had a chance to.”

💥 You: “I took insulin for it.”

💥Bakugo: “Alright extras quit bothering them! “

💥Your classmates instantly changed the subject bc they new how protective Bakugo can be over you.

💥Bakugo: “That shitty grape had no right to say that.”

💥You: “No, he didn’t but they had to find out eventually.”

💥Bakugo the grumbled about Howitzer Blasting that shitty grape as you grabbed his hand and led him back to the dorms.

💥You: “I’m sure you will later sweetie.”

💥Bakugo: “Stop calling me that.”

💥You: “Make me.” 😋

💥So the rest of the afternoon and evening went normally until it was time for dinner.

💥Lunch Rush treated you guys to a ramen night. Everyone was excited because Lunch Rush’s ramen is the best. Especially you since ramen is your favorite splurge food.

💥You were running low on insulin in your pump so you decided to bolus with your insulin pen for this meal since it was going to take quite a bit of insulin to cover.

💥So there you were, minding you business in your dorm, giving yourself and injection in your thigh, when half of class 1-A decides to bust in.

💥You: “WHAT THE HELL?!”

💥 “We saw that Lunch Rush was serving ramen tonight.”

💥“We wanted to ask if you can eat that.”

💥“Or see if you wanted something else. Maybe a salad?”

💥You had to restrain yourself from going off on them. You knew they were coming from a good place but you had already explained all of this to them earlier.

💥You: “You guy realized that I’ve eaten ramen before right? I’ve eaten ramen at every previous ramen night so why do you think this time will be any different?”

💥“We just thought..”

💥You: “Didn’t I explain earlier that I can eat whatever I want and I don’t have to stick to some shitty diet. Or where you just not listening?”

💥Kaminari: “Can you put the needle away and stop waving it around!? It’s freaking me out.”

💥Bakugo finally decided to show up after hearing all the commotion.

💥Bakugo: You extras were the ones who came into their dorm uninvited.

💥The rest of the class left you alone after that.

💥Though you do occasionally feel eyes on you when you’re eating.

💥Now onto bakugo’s reaction to your diabetes and management.

💥When you first told him on your second date (he had taken you out for pizza) he was unphased.

💥His literal reaction was “like that matters.”

💥Didn’t bat an eyelash when you pulled out you pump to bolus.

💥Although he never said it, he really wanted to learn more about type one so he could understand what you go though on a daily basis.

💥He did his own research at first and his YouTube suggested page may or may not be filled with “Day in the life of a Type One Diabetic” videos.

💥You caught on quickly on what he was trying to do so you decided to educate him from time to time on you own management and experiences when the opportunity presented itself.

💥To your surprise, the loud and tough Bakugo is actually really afraid of needles. Like full on phobia.

💥His mom actually told you that they have to use numbing spray for him when he gets vaccinations lmao.

💥So whenever you give yourself an injection you say your gong to go stick yourself with a needle to see him cringe 😝.

💥 You think it’s funny.

💥He tried to watch you put on a site once and tapped out once he saw how long the needle was.

💥It’s the thought that counts you guess.

💥 He is very empathetic about what you go though on a daily basis.

💥Because he sure as hell knows he couldn’t do it.

💥He will kiss you on your forehead and call you his badass when you’re alone.

💥The fact that you can deal with needles everyday and not bat an eye is impressive to him.

💥And if anyone makes a diabetes joke in his presents you know he will go off on them.

💥One time you two went on a date to a museum and you were able to bring your bag in even though no bags were allowed because you carry diabetic supplies. Well, the Karen behind you in line took offense to that because she wasn’t able to bring her bag in. So she cornered you and Bakugo inside.

💥Karen: “You don’t look sick. There’s no reason for you to have special privileges. You’re just abusing the system.”

💥 First, you had to physically hold back Bakugo from blasting this Karen.

💥Next, you pull out a couple of syringes and your lancing device from the front pocket of your bag.

💥You: “If you want to switch pancreases with me I’m 100% down. You know, since you know so much more about my disease than me you should be able to handle it better too.”

💥The Karen walked away with her tail between her legs.

💥It was at that moment Bakugo realized why he was attracted to you in the first place.

💥He even took you out for ice cream and boba after you were done at the museum. He could tell you were still shaken up by the Karen encounter.

💥He’s also really good at carb counting because he’s use to counting his macros during training. Gym bro things.

💥He keeps packs of hero gummies on him at all times in case you go low.

💥He’ll also slip you low snacks in class/training if you need it.

💥He has access to your cgm readings on his phone and he’ll text you funny comments about your bg.

💥 Like your own personal Happy Bob.

💥He’s also the only person brave enough to call you out when you’re cranky from a low/high bg.

💥“YOU’RE FREAKING SHAKING GO EAT SOME FUCKING CANDY RIGHT NOW!”

💥 “YOU’VE BEEN OVER 250 FOR THE LAST THREE HOURS. GO TAKE SOME INSULIN AND THEN WE’RE GOING TO THE GYM!”

💥It’s humbling experience.

💥He’s also really good at graphic design so he’ll help you design decals for your pump and cgm.

💥You usually wear the ones you help design, but occasionally you’ll wear the hero/Dynamight ones he designed if you’re feeling spicy.

💥He even made one to match your hero costume!

💥 Overall, Bakugo is an amazing diabetes support boyfriend!

TAG LIST

@anxiousredspiderlilies @lancaerielcotume

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kierrasreads · 5 months

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2023 Reads!

Thank you to everyone for joining me on my book journey! I'm looking forward to another year of good reads! If you have any recommendations, please let me know.

Without further ado, here are my reads for this year!:

Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, and The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

California Plants: A Guide to Our Iconic Flora by Matt Ritter

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

I Am a Cat Barista (Volume 1) by Hiro Maijima

Koe no Katachi/A Silent Voice (Volumes 2-6) by Yoshitoki Oima

Karakuri Odette (Volumes 1-5) by Julietta Suzuki

Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu/Komi Can't Communicate (Volumes 23-26) by Tomohito Oda

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Horimiya (Volume 1) by Hero

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (Volume 5) by Fujita

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits (Volume 1) by Waco Ioka

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

Skip & Loafer (Volumes 1-3) by Misaki Takamatsu

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san (Volumes 2-4) by Honda

Toshokan no Daimajutsushi/Magus of the Library (Volumes 3-5) by Mitsu Izumi

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories by Sherman Alexie

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Saint Young Men Omnibus (Volume 1) by Hikaru Nakamura

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Insomniacs After School (Volume 1) by Makoto Ojiro

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (Volume 1) by Nene Yukimori

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

Twisted Love (Twisted #1) by Ana Huang

Wind/Pinball: Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball by Haruki Murakami

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) by Lee Child

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas by Megan Shepherd

Muffin but the Truth (Bakeshop Mystery #16) & Catch Me If You Candy (Bakeshop Mystery #17) by Ellie Alexander

A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League, A Case of Identity, The Boscombe Mystery, The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, Silver Blaze, The Yellow Face, The Stock-Broker's Clerk, The Gloria Scott, The Musgrave Ritual, The Reigate Puzzle, The Crooked Man, The Resident Patient, The Greek Interpreter, The Naval Treaty, and The Final Adventure by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (audiobook)

Gokushufudō/The Way of the House Husband (Volumes 1-3) by Kousuke Oono

Grand total: 90

#kierra's reads #bookblr #admin kierra #admin k #manga #fiction #nonfiction #2023 reads

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mixedbagbard · 11 months

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Title: Exploring the Exciting World of Anime: Unveiling the Best Anime Shows, Characters, and More!

Anime has become a global phenomenon, captivating audiences with its unique storytelling, vibrant animation, and diverse range of genres. From epic adventures and heartwarming romances to thrilling action and mind-bending mysteries, anime offers something for everyone. In this blog, we'll dive into the captivating world of anime, exploring the top shows, unforgettable characters, and the ever-evolving anime culture.

• Discover the Best Anime Shows:

Are you looking for your next anime obsession? Look no further! We've curated a list of must-watch anime shows that will keep you hooked from the very first episode. From timeless classics like "Naruto" and "Dragon Ball Z" to recent sensations like "Attack on Titan" and "Demon Slayer," we'll guide you through the most beloved and highly acclaimed series of all time.

• Unforgettable Anime Characters:

Anime is renowned for its memorable characters that have captured the hearts of millions. Dive into the rich character development of iconic figures like Naruto Uzumaki, Goku, Luffy, and many more. We'll explore their growth, motivations, and the impact they've had on both the anime landscape and the fans who adore them.

• The Beauty of Anime Art and Animation:

One of the most captivating aspects of anime is its stunning art style and animation. Discover the visually breathtaking masterpieces that push the boundaries of creativity. From the meticulous attention to detail in Studio Ghibli films to the breathtaking action sequences in "My Hero Academia," we'll celebrate the artistry and craftsmanship behind anime's captivating visuals.

• Anime Genre Guide:

Anime spans a vast range of genres, catering to different tastes and preferences. Whether you're a fan of slice-of-life, romance, sci-fi, or fantasy, we've got you covered. Delve into the various anime genres, uncovering hidden gems and exploring the standout shows that define each category.

• The Impact of Anime on Pop Culture:

Anime has transcended its niche origins and has become a cultural phenomenon, influencing various aspects of popular culture. From cosplay and conventions to viral memes and fan theories, we'll delve into the impact of anime on the global stage and how it has shaped the way we consume media today.

Conclusion:

Anime has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans worldwide, offering captivating stories, unforgettable characters, and stunning visuals. With its diverse range of genres and timeless classics, anime continues to evolve and captivate new audiences. So, whether you're a seasoned otaku or new to the anime world, join us on this exciting journey as we explore the captivating universe of anime

#anime #manga #action #hunter x hunter #yu yu hakusho #shonen #japaneseanime #book blog #booklr #books and reading #adventure #one piece #dragon ball #naruto #attack on titan #demon slayer

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bishie-haven · 1 year

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Happy Birthday Levi! Part 2: “Spooky”

Told ya I had more! The second story I wrote went into the topic of “spooky themes”. While it may seem light-hearted at first, there is eeriness and mystery lurking under the surface. Are you ready?

CW: mentions of blood, mentions of internal organs

“Come on, help a brother out, would you?”

“Sorry Levi. There’s a big game coming up. Gotta train.”

~*~*~

“Don’t you like this whole dressing up thing? Don’t you want all that attention?”

“I’m already getting attention as a judge, so no thanks. Besides, why would I say yes when you showed up like that?!”

~*~*~

“So…that’s a no?”

“If you value standing on your own two feet, I would leave this room, Leviathan.”

~*~*~

“It’s so unfaaaair!” The Avatar of Envy groaned in frustration, landing another fatal blow on the enemy party. As he got angrier, the clicks and snaps of his controller only got louder. “Why did Lord Diavolo have to make that stupid rule? I could have done it fine all by myself!”

“So tell me again,” Another voice next to him started to ask. “What was this about a contest you wanted to enter?” A certain exchange student was watching him play and listening to him vent, but even through it all, they didn’t fully understand the situation.

Taking a bit of a breath, another button was hit, and the pause menu appeared on the screen.

“You know how Lord Diavolo’s birthday is a big celebration, right? Well, this year he wanted to blend in more customs from the human realm and help ‘relations’, or something like that. He said ‘let’s have a costume contest!’, and not very many people were into it. I wasn’t even really wanting to do it myself, lol.”

“So…why did you?”

“Becaaaaaause then he had to mention the prize that could be won! Now half the Devildom’s signed up!”

“What’s wrong with that? I’ve seen your cosplays, they’re top-tier!”

Another frustrated groan left Levi. “The REASON is the rule he added! The entries have to be in pairs, single entries can’t participate! Something about ‘bringing us closer together’ or some fluffy normie talk. It’s almost impossible for an otaku to work together irl! Just asking is hard! I waited by the fridge for days, and Beel said no every time. Asmo turned me down just from the way I came in-“

“Was that why I heard noises in the vent and his high-pitched screaming?”

“NOT THE POINT! Even after being super nice to Lucifer for a week and asking him, he threatened to hang me by the kitchen chandelier! No demon wants to work with a disgusting being like me! The hero’s journey has stopped before he’s even crossed the threshold!”

Wailing in despair, Levi threw his controller to the side, curling in on himself. Even through that long yet very quick explanation, the mortal next to him was able to process it all…and come up with an idea.

“Did they say only demons could participate?”

~*~*~

"Somethin's up, and someone's gonna give me an explanation!" Mammon was stomping through the House of Lamentation's entryway, glaring daggers through every single one of his brothers as they were about to leave for town. Interestingly enough, everyone looked some shade of distressed, whether through anger, fear, or just annoyance.

"Don’t you think that one of us would if that was the case?” Lucifer rubbed his temples, trying to ignore the second eldest’s temper tantrum. He wouldn’t let any of them know, but he was just as wound up.

As much as they would’ve normally enjoyed seeing the head of the house irritated, both of the Anti-Lucifer League members were abnormally engrossed in their phones. “I’ve tried sending messages every 15 minutes,” Satan exhaled, shoving his D.D.D back in his pocket. “Not a single reply, though.”

“I’ve done every 10. Nothing.” For once, Belphie was actually diligent and proactive about something.

And when it came to the topic of phones and messaging… “Not a single post on Devilgram in days! Not even a comment on one of my photos…how is this possible?!” Despite a couple of warped priorities, Asmo was arguably in even more distress than Mammon about the situation.

There were only two of the brothers silent about the situation. Beel was quiet, however while he had the excuse of a roasted flame hog sandwich in his mouth, he was unusually stiff and more on high alert compared to how he usually composed himself.

Levi didn’t have that kind of excuse. While he had his D.D.D in his hand, he wasn’t checking for text messages or stalking social media feeds. Instead he was swiping his thumbs left and right across the screen, almost as if he was playing some sort of rhythm game. The strange thing about it was that he had no sound coming from it, and his headphones were around his neck.

“Levi,” Mammon soon was focused on the last of the older brothers. “You haven’t said a damn word since they went AWOL.” He soon leaned in close. “You got somethin’ to admit? Huh??”

The otaku’s eyes didn’t leave the screen, even with a pair of blue ones boring holes through him. “Why would I?” He spat out, almost indifferent to the whole situation. “Maybe they’ve been busy with something. You never get worked up when I don’t show up to dinner for days.”

“That’s because it’s you, you shut-in!!”

“OH, then maybe I should bring up all the times you-!” Levi was about to throw out some serious dirt he had stored up against his brother, but right at that moment a loud notification came from his silent device. “Eh?”

Closing the game and checking the ping, his eyes widened. “Guys, it’s them!” He almost screamed. Almost instantly, his brothers surrounded him, asking question after question about the exchange student’s whereabouts. “They’ve been at…ugh…Purgatory Hall this whole time? Solomon got worried and wanted to let us know.”

With this revelation, the tension died down a bit. Their mortal guest was in a safe place, and no remains of them would be found at the front door. While many of them were still grumbling about not being able to see them, Lucifer was able to rein them all in, getting them out the door. They all had a deadline to adhere to, seeing as the week of Diavolo’s birthday was fast approaching, and the opening ceremonies had to be prepared for.

Levi was among the group, albeit the last to exit the room. “They’d better show up soon,” He muttered, barely within earshot of the others. “We’ve gotta work on the costume design…”

~*~*~

A week before the anniversary of the prince of the Devildom’s birth, and the ballroom of the castle was absolutely buzzing. Any demon who knew better was there to celebrate, however very few were dressed in formal attire. The majority of the patrons were donning elaborate costumes, ranging from imitations of the realm’s vicious plant and animal life to cosplays of various idols and even some human realm-inspired ghouls and monsters. And of course, being in pairs allowed endless amounts of creativity between them all.

Levi was one of those guests in costume, and he was already shaking. He wanted to win so bad it was almost eating him up! After the party had gone into full swing, Barbatos had taken a mic to gather all the contestants to the front, lining them up in their pairs so they could display their results to the audience. He was the last in line (he might have waited a bit too close to the deadline to sign up), so he tried to tell himself that he had a bit of an advantage.

It didn’t help much.

Even so, he tried to stay calm, watching entry after entry walk up, show themselves off, and funnel the next one in. Specifically, he tried to keep the prop he had steady. It was extremely fragile, and the most important part of all.

On the other side of the entry stage, the panel of judges were watching every pair go through, writing notes and discussing with each other their opinions. There was Diavolo, of course, however others were recruited as well. Two of those judges were Asmo and Simeon, the former for his critical taste of fashion, the other for his discerning eye for effort and creativity.

“Well, at least a few of the demons down here know about good costume design,” Asmo yawned, scribbling down some high points of the last entry. “Some of them looked like they just dove into a trash bag!”

Simeon laughed awkwardly. “I wouldn’t say they were that bad…” Setting his pen down, he turned to the strawberry blonde demon next to him. “Though I’m really excited about the last one. It’s your brother, right?”

“Yeah, Levi’s been geeking out about this for weeks! Though before he found the exchange student I thought he wasn’t gonna even enter. Even now I don’t know how they did it, we haven’t seen them in days!” He crossed his arms, turning to face the angel. “Why were you hogging them, huh?”

“What? I haven’t seen them, either.”

The playful smile on Asmo’s face dropped to the floor. “Huh? But Solomon sent a message saying they were with you.”

“No, Luke’s started to get worried about them. They won’t answer any of our calls.”

“Wha…then…h-how did-” Asmo’s stammers were cut short as Barbatos announced the last entry to the stage. As Levi walked to the center, a smile was on his face. But this smile…it wasn’t forced, yet it wasn’t genuine either. It was unnatural, uncanny…but no one really paid any mind.

Assessing the contestant, Barbatos raised an eyebrow. “Leviathan, you are aware that the young master wanted pairings in this competition, correct?”

Levi’s disposition didn’t change. “They’re here, I just have to explain our costume first.”

The butler was still confused, but he gave the mic to the fellow demon regardless. It wasn’t an issue that needed much explanation; he could be easily disqualified if his partner didn’t show up. “Well then, I look forward to the elaboration of your costume.” While he wasn’t a judge, he did appreciate the handiwork on the suit.

Adjusting his tie, Levi quickly grabbed the mic, his demeanor changing almost instantly from stiff and rigid to dramatic and flowing. That smile still remained, and so did that large silver prop with a lid…

“Everyone here! I know a lot of you act as if demons who shut themselves off from the world live off of frozen meals and convenience foods, but I can tell you that isn’t always the case. There are times when we want to cook amazing meals for ourselves, and sometimes we even want to share. Hehe…that is the inspiration behind my portion of the costume. A simple shirt, pants, and apron, but all of these have the stitching and fabric quality of some of the greats. But, I think you’ll be most impressed by what I’ve made for you all. What I’m holding is something I’ve cooked with the freshest and rarest ingredients, that I bet none of you have ever tasted! Hmm…I guess you could say it’s rare in two different ways, really… ANYWAY! If any of you would like to try, go right ahead! It’s unique…yet also familiar. So now…BEHOLD!”

With the last exclamation, Levi removed the lid from his prop.

~*~*~

“And I thought the scream from the vent entry was loud!”

“Yeah, he totally fainted on the spot! Lol I think some of the judges weren’t far behind.”

“Oh he’s tooootally gonna kill y-HEY!” The next words about to be said were cut off by a splash of water. “Easy there, I’m not as used to washing this off!”

“S-Sorry…” Hands went gentler, trying to get the stains of red and black off of the student’s face. “This makeup is really sticking.”

Shoulders shrugged. “Well, I guess the more real it looks, the harder it is to get off.” Rubbing their face with a towel, the mortal finally was able to see their face. “But no, I never thought that would work so well! I really looked like I was prepped by a crazy cook!”

“Yeah, the knife was kind of tricky to fit you without looking fake, and I don’t know how many spells I used to make the guts around you seem real…”

“Still, it was awesome!” The stained towel was quickly thrown into the laundry basket. “Really though, the plot to hide me away was genius, they really thought I was gone!”

“Took all my willpower to not laugh at how worried they looked. They never knew you were hiding the whole time!”

“No thanks to the pizza you kept giving me in here.”

“HEY, no one noticed the deliveries, and that’s what matters!” Hearing a beep on his phone, Levi started towards his door. “Speaking of deliveries, what I asked for is here!”

“Ooooh, whatcha get?”

“Well, remember when I said that if we won the contest, we could ask for any item we wanted from Lord Diavolo…well, anything ‘within reason’? Well, I was originally gonna ask for the complete box set of all of Sucre Frenzy’s live concert recordings…but…I thought maybe instead to ask for something…w-we could both share together.”

The exchange student smiled happily, almost bouncing with excitement. “What is it, what is it?”

“Thought maybe we could get something themed after our costume.” He carried a large box into the room, right on a little table he had pulled out while cleaning the makeup off. “Ristorante Six was able to get it just like I wanted it. And…m-maybe…we could try making it ourselves sometime.”

And with that, Levi opened the box. What was inside was something the exchange student hadn’t expected, and frankly it turned their blood cold.

Inside was a fresh havoc lamb, very rare and very messy, innards right next to the roasted body. Even the wool was used as a plating decoration, stained with patches of red as it circled the plate. And the only thing that was clean in the box? A shining silver carving knife…

#leviathanbday2023 #obey me!

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serverbagel7 · 2 years

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Anime Couple Finders: Finding Matching Soul Eater Keychains

Finding matching Soul Eater Keychains may not be as difficult as you think. After all, it is just a matter of having the same two characters on your keychains. However, there are so many different anime couples out there that finding two that match can sometimes seem impossible. Luckily for you, we have found the best resource for finding matching anime keychains in this list! A Brief History of Anime Anime is a form of animation that originated in Japan. The word anime is derived from the English word animation. Anime is characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters, and often fantastic themes. Anime has been around since the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that it began to gain popularity outside of Japan. In the 1980s, anime became increasingly popular in the West, with shows like “Robotech” and “Voltron” becoming hits. Today, anime is more popular than ever, with new shows being released all the time. There are now anime fans all over the world, and many of them are looking for ways to show their love for their favorite shows. One popular way for anime fans to express their fandom is through collectibles, such as keychains. Soul Eater Keychains are often brightly colored and feature characters from popular shows. They can be found at most anime merchandise stores, and they make great gifts for fellow fans. If you’re looking for an anime-themed keychain, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, think about what show you want to represent. There are keychains for Soul Eater Keychains Recommendations for Budding Otaku Anime and manga fans know that one of the best ways to show off their fandom is with a stylish keychain. But with so many characters and couples to choose from, it can be tough to decide which keychain is the perfect match for you and your significant other. Luckily, we've got a few recommendations that are sure to please any anime fan. For fans of classic shoujo manga, we recommend the Sakura and Sasuke keychain set. These two iconic characters from Naruto are sure to please any fan of the series. If you're looking for something a little more modern, why not try the Levi and Eren keychain set from Attack on Titan? These two characters have a complicated relationship that's sure to resonate with many fans. For couples who are just starting their otaku journey together, we recommend the Ash and Misty keychain set from Pokémon. These two characters have been through a lot together and their friendship is an inspiration to all. If you're looking for something a bit more light-hearted, why not try the Soul Eater Keychains set featuring Aqua and Kazuma? These two unlikely heroes are sure to make you laugh while also showing off your love for all things anime. Finding Specific Soul Eater Keychains Finding the perfect keychain to rep your fave anime couple can be tough. But never fear! In this post, we'll show you where to find the best anime couple keychains out there. If you're looking for a particular keychain, your best bet is to check out online retailers like Amazon or eBay. You can usually find a wide selection of keychains to choose from, and you can filter your search by price, material, or even character. Another great option for finding anime couple keychains is to attend a local anime convention. These events usually have a wide variety of vendors selling all sorts of anime merchandise, including keychains. You'll likely be able to find exactly what you're looking for, and you might even snag a great deal! How to Keep Your Anime Collection Organized Anime fans love to collect merchandise, and one of the most popular items to collect is keychains. If you're an anime fan who loves to collect keychains, then you know how important it is to keep your collection organized. Here are a few tips on how to keep your anime keychains collection organized: 1. Use a keychain holder or organizer. This will help you keep track of all your keychains and make sure they don't get lost. 2. Store your keychains in a cool, dry place. Keychains can be sensitive to heat and moisture, so it's important to store them in a place where they won't be exposed to those elements. 3. Display your keychains in a way that makes them easy to find. Whether you use a keychain holder or not, displaying your keychains in an organized manner will make it easier for you to find the one you're looking for when you need it. By following these tips, you can ensure that your anime keychain collection stays organized and looks great! Conclusion Anime couple finders are a great way to show off your love for anime to the world. Not only are they a stylish accessory, but they also let people know that you're part of a community of people who love anime. Whether you're looking for keychains for yourself or as a gift, we hope that our list has helped you find the perfect match. Do you have any other suggestions for where to find anime couple keychains? Let us know in the comments below!

#Soul Eater Keychains

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lotusarchon · 4 months

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˚✩彡 a list of all the fandoms I'm in! I'll those that I know lore wise and those that I'm not very familiar with!

ᝰ fully understands lore-wise, familiar with everything in canon: lego monkie kid, journey to the west (JTTW), attack on titan, record of ragnarok/shuumatsu no valkyrie, demon slayer/kimetsu no yaiba, dragon ball, naruto+shippuden, chainsaw man, dororo, genshin impact, hell's paradise, jujutsu kaisen, land of the lustrous, tokyo revengers, kiss him not me, my dress up darling, my hero academia, nezha 2019, the hobbit/lord of the rings, the legend of hei, percy jackson and the olympians, the disastrous life of saiki k, the stranger by the sea, the life of a househusband, tomie, uzumaki, tomo is a girl, mieruko chan, belle, bubbles, heaven official's blessing (tgcf), the scum villain's self saving system (svsss), zom 100: bucket list of the dead, sousou no frieren, madoka magica, hetalia, all tomorrows, i have no mouth and i must scream, onmyoji, dunmeshi

ᝰ familiar with canon plot, have yet to complete or finish: a silent voice, dandanda, get schooled, haikyuu, hell girl, howl's moving castle, hunter x hunter, ijima yabai yatsu, marvel (movies only), obey me, spirited away, spy x family, the infernal devices, wotakoi: love is hard for an otaku, your name, arcana

#𐙚 usagii's abyss #masterlist #navigation #fandomlist

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translationandbetrayals · 7 months

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Demystifying Evangelion - Part 1: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-96)

(This is the first of probably three posts talking about the Evangelion franchise. I don’t know when I’ll make the other two, but they’re on their way.)

Throughout the short history of anime, few franchises have sparked more debate and discourse than Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion. One could call it animation’s equivalent to Bergman’s “Persona”, if not in depth of interpretation, then at least in volume of written work discussing it.

Between the heaps of praise, the mountains of outraged criticism, and more than two dozen death threats sent to the show’s creator, it’s hard to think of many other shows that have caused this much ink—digital or otherwise—to be spilled surrounding it. Rightfully so, as Evangelion stands out as one of the most impactful contributions to the medium. Between the stellar direction, the bleak tone of its story, the all-too relatable characters that live through it, the one-of-a-kind visual design that jumps at you in almost every frame, the soundtrack composed by the now-legendary Shirō Sagisu, an opening that’s set the blueprint for a generation to follow it and its… “cryptic” endings, something’s bound to catch your eye. It’s the kind of media that sticks with you, for better or worse.

You might spend days fuming, coping, and seething about how much you hate the 11th hour turns or spend years mentally spinning your wheels about the journey of its “hero”, Shinji Ikari and how that relates to you, otaku fandom, life or all of the above.

In case the overly-long introduction and the last 27 years of discourse didn’t clue you in already, Evangelion has garnered a reputation for being “complex”, “indescifrable”, and full of interlinking symbolism and metaphors that must be decoded to understand the “real meaning” of. Something only a real anime grenius could ever hope to understand.

I want to come out and say that this is bogus, to not use a word that would get this essay thrown out for improper language. It is the express goal of this post, along with the other two, is to tear down this myth, so that conversations about it will not stop and end about how trippy or complicated EVA purported to be.

For those who haven’t caught up with the material, you can consider these to be equal parts a primer for any Evangelion-related lectures you might attend in the near future, mixed-in with my own critiques and thoughts of it.

For ease of reading, from hereon these essays will refer to the original 1995-96 TV anime as “Neon Genesis” or “NGE”, the 1997 feature film as “End of Eva” or “EoE”, and the 21st Century rebuilds by their number, so “1.0”, “2.0”, “3.0”, and “3.0+1.0”.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, or “that time Anno read Schopenhauer while depressed.”

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a mecha anime produced by Studio Gainax and directed by Hideaki Anno. It ran from October of 1995 until March of the following year.

Even by then, Anno had gained quite the notoriety thanks to his work in both animation, storyboarding and direction for works such as “Gunbuster”(1988), “Super Dimension Fortress Macross”(another show of the same genre), and of course, his part in animating the iconic God Warrior fight scene in Hayao Miyazaki’s “Nausicaä of The Valley of The Wind”(1984).

The show’s story follows Shinji Ikari, a high schooler who lives in a world left shaken by the Second Impact, a cataclysmic event that culled the planet’s population in half. It had been brought on by the Angels, a series of massive and disturbing monstrosities that render all mundane weapons obsolete in the face of their other other-worldly terror.

With that context, Shinji has been contacted by his estranged father Gendo, beckoning him to the city of Tokyo-III. The latter had abandoned the boy shortly after the early and mysterious passing of his mother, Yui. Soon after arriving, Shinji is picked up by Lieutenant Misato Katsuragi, but not before the appearance of one of the aforementioned Angels, who are trying to finish their half-finished extermination from all those years ago.

After being driven to safety in an underground base, it is explained that both Gendo and Misato work for NERV, a secret organization dedicated to fighting off these monsters and allegedly preventing the coming of a Third Impact. How, you may ask? Well, of course, by forcing mentally troubled teenagers to pilot a series of massive robots that bear a striking resemblance to the very angels they fight.

I say “forced to” for comedic effect, but the more accurate term would be “conned into”. The first episode shows Shinji reluctant to enter the uncanny and iconic Unit 01, for obvious reasons. Putting aside the mountains of baggage between himself and his father, in a matter of minutes he goes from a random kid with daddy issues to the one and only hope for humanity’s survival. It is only after Gendo parades the body of the bedridden pilot Rei Ayanami that Shinji decides to get in the robot, and if that sounds manipulative or scummy to you, then let me tell you that that’s not even in the top 5 of the most messed-up ways people get Shinji to pilot a mecha.

It is here that we get our first hint into the fact that something is wrong with Shinji. He is the audience surrogate, that much is undeniable. However, he doesn’t come with the typical “power fantasy” traits we’ve come to expect from the male leads in this role, especially for anime.

Shinji is not a “cool” guy, much less a role model. He’s not even heroic, a fact that will only become more pronounced with each entry in the series. He doesn’t want to pilot his EVA Unit, as displayed by the many, many, many times he complains about it, and he isn’t validated for his efforts the way other protagonists often are.

His father rarely, if ever, recognizes his work or worth; his peers are either distant or even ridicule him for his shortcomings; finally, even his classmates end up unhappy with his heroics. This is shown by our main character getting the stuffing beaten out of him by one of his classmates, Toji. The added irony of this moment coming from a line that immediately preceded it, Misato’s “people will thank you for what you did”.

As the show works its way through the tried-and-tested “monster of the week” formula, it becomes increasingly apparent that Shinji is not as blameless as he’d like to let on. Sure, his circumstances aren’t ideal, and he is being manipulated by… pretty much everyone, but he’s not someone without agency.

At many points in the series, it is shown to the audience that Shinji could just leave. If he refuses to pilot his Unit, then that would be that. His father can radiate as much disappointment as he wants or Misato can give him the most motherly speech imaginable, but that’s where their ability to influence him begins and ends. They can’t force him to get in the robot. And if he ever does refuse, it’s patently clear that NERV can and will find some other way to fight that episode’s Angel. In fact, both characters remind and even suggest Shinji quit at multiple points. However, each time, he willingly chooses to pilot the EVA, and each time, he conveniently exculpates himself from the choices he makes. He’s got a raw deal, but he’s far from a reliable source to explain it.

However, he isn’t just detached from his agency, but from the whole world. Shinji is the character who best embodies the idea of the “Hedgehog’s Dilemma”, a concept the show dissects in its fourth episode.

Originally coined by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, the parable states that human intimacy is analogous to porcupines huddling for warmth in the rain. They want to get closer to each other for heat, but their sharp spines prevent them from getting too close to each other, thus needing to find a middle ground between both extremes where they neither receive the warmth they desire nor are safe from their fellow mammals’ prickly exterior. Likewise, us humans seek companionship from others, but inevitably have to distance ourselves to some level due to our fear of being hurt by others’ “many unpleasant and repulsive qualities and insufferable drawbacks”, as Schopenhauer puts it.

This theory is what inspires one of the main mechanics of the setting, the “Absolute Terror Fields”. Our innate fear of others manifesting as psionic barriers that both the Angels and the EVAs use in battle.

Shinji is this idea taken to its logical extreme. His mother’s death and subsequent abandonment by Gendo have made him so fearful of others and the outside world that he has isolated himself from all of it, to an extent where even he removes himself from even his own actions. He doesn’t talk to others, he doesn’t delve into any of NERV’s machinations, and he doesn’t really try to understand what anyone else is going through. The world and the people who fill it have taken too much for him to risk being hurt again, so he shuts himself off.

Paradoxically Shinji still needs that proverbial warmth. He is dependent on it, more so than anyone else in this show, which is saying something. When he finally finds his reason to pilot the EVA, it’s because he wants his father’s validation. He leans on any and all relationships he can find to derive self-worth. From his budding friendship with Toji, who becomes another reason for him to pilot the mech; his complicated relationship with Misato, who is tasked with acting as the mother he never had; and especially his fellow pilots, first Rei, Asuka, and finally, Kaworu.

Asuka herself ends up being the person Shinji ends up relying on the most. She is everything he’s not, but at the same time, she mirrors his same dilemma.

She’s confident, aggressive and hyper-competent, our protagonist’s natural foil. While the main character struggles to take a step when Unit 01 is introduced to the audience, when Asuka gets in Unit 02, the difference is night-and-day. Her first appearance feels as if it belongs on another show, donning Gundam-sized capes, pulling out Rider Kicks and tossing entire warships around like they’re nothing. No matter what version of Evangelion you’re watching, her fights are a visual spectacle at all times, except for that one time where she goes magma-diving, but I digress.

This pulls double-duty as both spectacle and characterization. Unlike Shinji, she has tied her worth as a human being entirely to her ability to pilot the EVAs. You see, she needs to Style on those Angels with a capital S, because as far as she’s concerned, all she needs is to be the best. As long as she can prove to everyone that she’s the best pilot that’s ever stepped into an Entry Plug, then she doesn’t need anyone or anything else. This rationalization, of course, being a result of her own set of parent-related trauma.

In regards to the Hedgehog Dilemma, she’s almost as obvious a fit for the parable as Shinji. Asuka is what anime fans know as tsundere, perhaps even the most iconic and formative example of that archetype and trope. For academic purposes, let’s go over this one last time.

A tsundere is a popular archetype in anime, generally(but not always) female, who acts aloof or even hostile towards others, but hides a sensitive interior, with the outward attitude often serving as a defense mechanism for the latter. Schopenhauer’s theory made manifest in the form of abusive remarks, crossed arms, pouty faces, the occasional blush, and the trademark “b-baka” at the end of a character-establishing sentence.

Her mere arrival emasculates our protagonist, visually represented by Shinji having to use the more feminine 02 plug suit and then having to wear her clothes in the next episode. The former, combined with the usual brand of teenage hormones, leads him to be viscerally uncomfortable, however, in the latter episode, as the two begin to bond and synchronize with each other, Shinji comes to terms with how Asuka makes him feel. A pretty sweet bit of subtle and entirely visual storytelling, that crescendos in an electrically choreographed fight perfectly synchronized to the beat of “Both of you, Dance like you want to win.”

Now’s as good a time as any to wind back from the heavy-handed use of philosophical pessimism and talk about one of the more universally praised aspects of the show. The fights, and more precisely, the direction that goes into them.

The fights themselves in Neon Genesis tend to be rather simple. Usually, the Angel of the week has a specific gimmick that NERV needs to work around, but that’s as complex as it gets. There’s no secret techniques to keep track of, or even much of a power system to sink your teeth into, as is the case with many shonen anime. The mechas don’t even receive that many accessories, and no one has a cool fused form where all the toys-sorry, all the robots come together into one neatly indestructible package.

Instead, the complexity and the tension comes in the intertwining systems and machinery needed for the fight. Even the act of deploying an EVA takes a laundry-list of checks and procedures, all with their own specialized staff that need to come together in order for humanity to have so much as an outside shot of surviving an Angel Attack. It grounds the action, while heightening the stakes of every week’s encounter, but more than that, it highlights another theme that runs through the director’s filmography.

In NGE, it’s not brightly colored, individually-sold robots that join to defeat the problem of the day. In Evangelion, its the people, like you or I, who come together to combat these massive and seemingly incomprehensible problems that besiege our lives. While this may at first seem superfluous, it’s a theme that persists in other works by Anno, like namely, Shin Godzilla, a movie that I promise I’ll gush about later in a more succinct manner.

Speaking of whom, none of this would be possible without the immense skill that puts these scenes together. Despite the above paragraph, there is nothing more boring to watch than a bunch of people listing off pre-takeoff checks and staring at screens, but Neon Genesis somehow makes this a must-watch activity. Every piece of information that comes from NERV headquarters is framed, animated, and edited with an explosiveness that I’ve only seen matched by Studio Shaft’s Monogatari Series. Adding to this, the all-time great soundtrack accompanying these scenes is used to perfection. Tracks like Shiro Sagisu’s “ANGEL ATTACK” or “DECISIVE BATTLE” are forever burned into my brain, injecting the action with a militaristic tone, but all the same vibrant energy that adds to the stunningly edited sequences.

There’s a real sense of tension to all the fights in Neon Genesis, like you don’t know what’s going to happen next. Not in the sense of characters merely saying that something is impossible or that the odds are inconceivably stacked against them, but we feel it in every encounter. There’s a certain improvisational feeling to the fights in NGE. NERV’s strategies never go as planned, and sometimes even fail outright, needing to be adjusted on the fly, as if these characters are racing against the clock for the fate of humanity. And in this show, the clock is always ticking.

When a countdown appears saying an EVA has five minutes before it runs out of power, they only get five real world minutes. If a data analyst says that something will happen in 12 seconds, then you can bet your bottom dollar that precisely twelve seconds later, it will happen, not a single moment sooner or later.

However, the direction doesn’t stop shining at the fight scenes, as highlighted by the bleak atmosphere of the rest of the show. When it isn’t busy turning NERV HQ into the world’s most exciting voice chat, Neon Genesis is fantastic at getting you knee-deep into the near perpetual funk that is its characters’ downright pathetic social lives. When Gendo does his signature move of “being disappointed at his son” you feel the full bore of that abuse; when Shinji’s melted down into goop and was forced to come to a glimmer of self-actualization, you’re in there; and when Asuka and Rei are forced to share an elevator together, well… just see for yourself.

Everything goes poorly… for everyone.

CW: Suicide.

As the show nears its second half, less screen time is devoted to the monster of the week. Instead, more of it is placed on the interpersonal lives of all main leads catastrophically falling apart.

Rei is revealed to be a clone of Shinji’s mom. A reveal foreshadowed by the fact that she looks and sounds almost exactly the same as her. It probably explains why the boy is so awkward around her.

After seeing her performance as a pilot beginning to drop, Asuka’s synchronization begins to plummet. To keep it simple, synchronization is a stat in the Evangelion franchise that dictates how well you can pilot the mechs. Higher number good, lower number bad, and our German Tsundere’s number is getting real bad. With her aforementioned relation between skill and self-worth, Asuka begins a downward spiral, which in this version, she never recovers from. Her synch rate drops to zero, making her unable to pilot Unit 02, which ends up being such a massive blow to her psyche that she ends up catatonic and comatose for the rest of the show, but not of course before remembering what that bit of trauma I alluded to entailed.

Woof.

Misato begins a romantic relationship with Kaji, an ex boyfriend who’s now taken up the jobs of being Asuka’s surrogate father and double-no, sorry, triple agent spying for and against NERV and SEELE, the global shadow government that bankrolls the operation(just roll with it). It seems that despite their combined efforts to stop the Angels, both organizations have their own plans to covertly bring their own mutually exclusive apocalypses, both under the name of the mysterious “Human Instrumentality Project”. However, just as soon as she rekindles her love for the man, he disappears without a trace, implied to have been killed by one of the two groups.

Apparently, he was killed by the main character of the videogame “Secrets of Evangelion”, but literally who cares about that?

However, by episode 24, the biggest trainwreck in the show is, of course, our hero, Shinji Ikari. After everyone else finished collectively losing their marbles, SEELE had sent a fourth and final pilot to meet our hero. The Fourth Child, a kind-hearted, soft-spoken and mysterious gray-haired and red-eyed boy by the name of Nagisa Kaworu. Surprisingly, he and our protagonist get along remarkably well. So much so that historians have theorized that at some point, they could’ve been “good friends” or perhaps, even “roommates”.

Jokes aside, there’s a real interesting and sweet element to their dynamic. Kaworu is the first person to ever show Shinji the unconditional love he’s been hungering for all of his life. And the reactions he has to him are so flustered that one can’t help but see the queer undertones from a mile away, which for like, an anime from the 90s is pretty impressive.

I won’t touch too much on the subject, both because… have you looked at this? It’s already too long and if I start getting on about Shinji’s potential bisexuality, we might be here for 3000 more words. Moreover, I’m just a boring cishet heterosexual man. I can bet you actual Chilean pesos that there are people with way more interesting perspectives on the matter, people who can better express both their emotional truth and how that relates to this part of the show in way better detail than me.

Back onto the plot, Kaworu is revealed to be the 1st Angel, sent to infiltrate NERV and cause the Third Impact. This forces Shinji to kill the only being to have ever even said the words “I love you” to him. It’s quite a potent scene, especially when you realize what it means in the broader context of Neon Genesis and End of Evangelion. Tonally, this is the lowest point in the show, even EoE’s cruelest moments, things are never this bleak. Reality has crashed down on every character. There is no hope, and worst of all, Gendo reveals that he’s about to unleash his secret plan, the “Human Instrumentality Program”, which is… something I’ll talk about in a moment.

By this point, the show had run for 24 episodes, seeing both commercial and critical success. However, as pretty much everyone knows by now, at the final hurdle… plans changed, to put it lightly.

The story of how episodes 25 and 26 of Neon Genesis came to be has been told so many different times and in so many ways that it has turned into its own modern myth. Some say that the producers at Gainax had run out of money at the eleventh hour, forcing the showrunners to improvise a new ending employing a heavy use of creative shortcuts to make up for lack of funds. Other tellings explain it as a last second script change due to supposed parallels between the intended finale and the real-life Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack that took place mid-airing. Another possibility lies in the dwindling mental health of the show’s director, the fingerprints of which can be seen clear as day on the show’s second half. I’ve even heard rumors of someone at Gainax stealing a sizable chunk of money meant to fund the animation of these two episodes.

Whether any or all of the above is true, the fact of the matter is that the last two episodes of NGE were not what anyone had intended or expected at the start of this show’s production or airing. A massive departure in terms of structure, tone, and even animation style from the rest of the show, making copious use of subtext, metaphor, and recontextualized clips from earlier broadcasts to craft a new ending. One which would forever etch itself as one of the most divisive decisions in the history of the medium.

In a way, the show’s original ending supersedes the rest of it, at least in terms of reputation. No discussion on Neon Genesis can be complete without the obligatory question of “but what about that ending, though?” At time of release, people, especially otakus, were shocked at what played out on their TVs. Following the release of “The Ending World” and “The Beast that Shouted ‘I’ at the Heart of the World”, Hideaki Anno received real death threats from fans of the show. That’s how bad it got.

Following what modern gaming platform, Steam, would call “mixed reviews”, combined with the countless unanswered questions left in the show’s text, Hideaki Anno released two movies to try to better explain himself. “Death and Rebirth”, a recap movie that I will not be talking about, and “Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.”

End of Evangelion follows a different telling of the events following episode 24. It hits a lot of the same emotional and thematic beats as the 1996 broadcast, but does so adding a lot of what was “missing” in it in areas such as drama, spectacle, and most of all, money. However, that story is for another time. Right now, we need to talk about what actually happened in the last 40 minutes of the most influential anime of the 90s.

The End of Neon Genesis Evangelion(not to be confused with Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion)

The last two episodes of the broadcast anime cover a version of the much-anticipated execution of the “Human Instrumentality Project”. A melding of all consciousness, where everyone’s fears and insecurities, the spikes that push our little porcupines away, begin to melt away and give way to a single unified being. There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, but for now, we’ll leave at that, as we get a more detailed explanation of the process in both End of Evangelion and the Rebuilds, and saving this for parts 2 and 3 will give us more to talk about then.

If you want to make sense of what “Human Instrumentality” is, think of it this way. While watching the show, did you, at any point, think “wow, these kids need to see a psychologist?” If your answer was yes, then good news, Hideaki Anno agrees with you. The last two episodes of the show are spent with the entire cast receiving a cosmic therapy session to prime them for the whole “melding 7 billion hedgehogs into one being” bit.

And that is where the text of this anime ends, what happens strictly within the logic of the show, the specific actions characters take, are now secondary to something else. The subtext, which is to say, the ideas those specific actions and events are written to explore, like for example, the Hedgehog’s Dilemma from earlier. From hereon, the themes of the show take over the steering wheel and it doesn’t let go until the movies.

This ending, combined with the show’s vague, but intuitable lore and the heavy use of Christian iconography is what gives the show its infamous reputation. This is where the idea of Evangelion as this impossibly deep puzzle that can only be pieced together by decoding every metaphor to decipher the “real meaning” of it comes from. Its a misguided idea, one that poisons the otherwise fascinating discussions one can have on it. In reality, the ending is pretty straight forward, once you get over the presentation of it. To the point where at many times, it gives up on all the set-dressing of giant monsters and A.T. Fields and it just tells you what it’s about.

By the end of the world’s best therapy session, Shinji realizes that, while life is scary and his fear of being hurt is legitimate, both are shaped entirely by his perception of it. It is only because of him shutting himself off and assuming the worst that his life becomes that frightening. Shinji, and everyone else, is capable, and even deserving of happiness.

Another central theme that the show just straight up tells Shinji about is the matter of self-worth. You cannot derive validation from outside sources. Your parents, your friends, your job, and even your partners, you can’t rely on these to serve as validation for your life. Everyone has their own problems, and well, things happen, people come in and out of your life, relationships can be severed by circumstance, and even death can swoop in at the most inopportune time. The only one who can serve as that barometer is you. Whatever value you derive from this life has to come from within you, no one and nothing else aptly provide it.

All of this is communicated, directly or otherwise, through the final minute of NGE. After the collective cast of the show tell Shinji that it is up to him to correct his frightening perspective only, Shinji finally stands up from his seat and achieves self-actualization. He realizes everything I just said, but in words a 14 year-old can understand. From there, the rest of the world flows outward from within him, including his relationships with his family, friends, pilots, and peers. And it is then, and only then, that Shinji receives the validation he had so desperately sought.

It’s a nice ending, coherent with the themes communicated by the show throughout its runtime, and the story had even left enough for you to piece together a loose chain of events for the story. It’s certainly the kindest ending Shinji gets until the final Rebuild film, and it serves as an interesting contrast to EoE’s telling of these same events.

With all of that being said, though. I have some criticisms of those final episodes. While thematically, I find the resolutions given out by the show’s ending to be thematically resonant and in line with the rest of the show, it does leave something to be desired in terms of drama and how out of left-field it comes. There’s a few teases, then Kaworu dies in episode 24 and BAM! Shinji’s sitting on the proverbial couch. It feels very disconnected from everything else we’ve seen. To use a comparison, I feel it has the same problems as the final acts of Persona 4 and 5. Where after defeating the serial killer or corrupt politician the entire plot was about, the game switches gears and it makes up a massively powerful Shadow at the eleventh hour, so that it can use it to just outright tell you the themes of the games. While I think Neon Genesis is a whole sight prettier than either of those endings, it does share the problem that on its own, it makes you wonder what the importance or connection was with what came before. What were the Angel fights about if it was going to end with the End of the World happening offscreen? I personally think the ending is fine and coherent with the rest of the show, but it by no means sticks the landing.

Conclusion:

At its core, the 1995 anime is about capturing the feeling of loneliness in our age; it’s about feeling less-than, and how we can rise above that; a show that explores how uncomfortable it can feel to open up to others, and how the change needed to do so begins within ourselves. Ideas that resonated with the post-Housing Crisis audiences of late 90s Japan, and ones that are still poignant to this day. It’s not a show where you need to pay attention to blink-and-you-miss-it types of symbollism. It’s not a show where you need a guide on hand to make sense of.it at any given point. And most importantly, its not a show about lore.

That’s what the Rebuilds are about.

FINAL RATING: Neon Genesis Evangelion(1995) - 4,25/5

Nicolás Izaguirre Gallardo.

#Anime #Manga #Japan #essay #submission

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kaarigaricraft · 8 months

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Best phone case

In a world where smartphones are an integral part of our daily lives, the importance of protecting and personalizing these devices cannot be overstated. Kaarigari Craft, a prominent brand in the realm of phone cases, has carved a niche for itself by offering an extensive range of high-quality phone case that not only provide robust protection but also enhance the aesthetic appeal of your beloved gadgets. With a diverse array of categories, Kaarigari Craft caters to the unique tastes and preferences of every individual. In this article, we will explore how Kaarigari Craft delivers the best products to elevate your phone's look and dive into their various categories to suit every personality.

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#phone cover #phone cases #phone case for iphone 14 plus #diwali #sale #phone accessories #anime #gym

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animemeetsculture · 9 months

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Unbreakable Bonds: Luffy's Most Loyal Crew! #onepiece #shortsvideo #anime #AnimeMeetsCulture

Unbreakable Bonds: Luffy's Most Loyal Crew! #onepiece #shortsvideo #anime #AnimeMeetsCulture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNsarWJcKko Unbreakable Bonds: Luffy's Most Loyal Crew! #OnePiece #Shorts #anime Immerse yourself in the captivating world of One Piece as we explore the unbreakable bonds that tie Luffy and his loyal crewmates together! In this thrilling anime analysis, we delve deep into the hearts of Zorro, Nami, Robin, and Chopper to uncover the unwavering loyalty they have for our fearless captain. From their first encounters to the epic battles they've faced together, witness the evolution of these characters' dedication to Luffy. Zorro's loyalty sparked from the moment he crossed paths with our hero, while Nami's unyielding devotion was solidified after Luffy's triumphant victory over Arlon. Meanwhile, Chopper, inspired by Luffy's indomitable spirit on Drum Island, has time and again proven his unwavering commitment to our captain. And let's not forget Robin, whose bond with Luffy deepened during the unforgettable NES Lobby Arc. But the question remains, who else will stand by Luffy until the very end? Join us on this anime journey and share your thoughts on which crew members you believe will remain steadfast allies of our beloved captain. Subscribe to our channel for more captivating anime content, as we explore the intricate tapestry of Japanese art fused with modern animation techniques. Like, share, and let us know your theories, predictions, and favorite moments in the comments section below. Let's create a vibrant community of passionate anime enthusiasts! Thank you for joining us on this adventure through the unbreakable bonds of Luffy's crew. Matane! ##onepiece #luffy #zoroonepiece #sanji #nami #ace #robin #brookonepiece #frankyonepiece #chopper #anime #manga #otaku #cosplay #japaneseanime #shortvideo #animecharacter #animeedit via Anime Meets Culture https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCih03hNq9BNLyGyHfQe5Riw September 21, 2023 at 05:00AM

#Anime #Animereview #Animereaction #Animetheory #Animenews #Animeanalysis #Animetrailer #Animemoments

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allnightlongzine · 9 months

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My Chemical Romance Dissolves Its Bond

ANDY GREENWALD | March 25, 2013 | grantland.com

The first time I met Gerard Way was February 2003 in Chicago. I was fleeing a blizzard on the East Coast and profiling the Used, an up-and-coming screamo band from Utah whose singer, the maniacally disheveled Bert McCracken, was in the news for dating, then dumping, Kelly Osbourne. Gerard’s band, My Chemical Romance, was opening for the Used at the time and he and McCracken were well on their way to forming a chemical-based bromance of their own. One night the two kept me in the room with them until dawn as they drained the minibar, sent the concierge out for smokes, and made increasingly frequent trips to the bathroom. (Gerard later told me that bender was the inspiration for a song called “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison,” which featured the lyric “do you have the keys to the hotel? / ’cause I’m gonna string this motherfucker on fire.”) Onstage, assuming they were able to stumble up to it, the pair were complementary as well: two stringy suburban weirdos peddling punk uplift bruised and blackened with mascara and talk of murder.

There were differences, though, too, and these were key to everything that followed. Flicking boogers and cackling like a banshee, Bert wore fame like a leather jacket. He flashed and strutted, naturally assuming the role of dangerous front man whether he had a mic in his hand or not. Gerard — a scared and sensitive wannabe comic-book artist who formed a band out of either depression or desperation in the wake of 9/11 — wore a leather jacket like a suit of armor. When I interviewed him in Brooklyn, a year later, for the release of what would turn out to be My Chem’s breakthrough album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, he refused to remove the stinking, sweat-stained garment despite the rising temperatures and the concerned looks of the yuppie clientele surrounding us at the coffee shop. It was what he needed to become a rock star, he said, or at least to not feel like a fraud.

It was his costume, the first of many to follow, and it instantly set him apart from the schlocky flock of adenoidal whiners that flooded the charts — and kept me eating! — during the emo boomlet of the last decade. Where other bands bleated about their breakups, My Chemical Romance snarled. Gerard, his kid brother Mikey, along with guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, refused to wallow in self-serving grief. How could they when they so clearly weren’t “o-fucking-kay”? They were misfits and dungeon masters, drama nerds and otakus. Most of all, they were performers, using light humor and heavy makeup to celebrate the majesty and ridiculousness of first feelings: love, death, the pain of piercings both literal and otherwise. They ganked attitude and artifice from Bowie and Queen, stole moves from the ’70s campfest Phantom of the Paradise, and dueted with Liza Minnelli. In the video for “Helena,” a Catholic funeral explodes into a goth Busby Berkeley review. It wasn’t a sing-along, it was a rallying cry. Plenty of bands had angst. My Chemical Romance had style.

Rock critics have long fallen back on superhero mythology to describe musicians; it’s a handy way to add grandeur to what tend to be fairly rote backstories, bending boring arcs of rehab and redemption into the Hero’s Journey, all in a quest to avoid quoting the drummer. But My Chemical Romance was the first group I covered that actually used that mythology for themselves. Gerard called his band “an idea,” labeled his fans an army. From album to album and show to show, MCR reinvented themselves across a multiverse of possibilities: They were soul-reaving vampires exacting revenge, the ghosts of a marching band returned to serenade you home, a gang of outlaw futurists using lasers and jazz hands to free the world from monochrome mediocrity. They had artistic ambition in a rock era that actively discouraged it, and they pursued it passionately without even a dash of irony. In that, they were just part of a great tradition of hardworking, self-made dreamers to emerge from the swamps of New Jersey, a wallet chain that stretches from Springsteen to Snooki. “We’re all about being the escape artists, throwing the fuckin’ straitjackets on, covering ourselves with chains and having somebody push us in the river. And then trying to get out of that,” a bleached-blond, clean-and-sober Gerard told me in 2006. We were sitting on a balcony overlooking Milan at the time, because the music industry was absurd back then and would fly you to places like that to interview people like him. “I think the world is ready for spectacle, for something big,” he said excitedly. “They’re ready for heroes, for something to believe in.”

Parts of the world were, anyway. The ravenous MCRmy spanned the globe, from Mexico City to Manila, a polyglot, multilingual militia that took solace in the band’s underdog triumphalism — and sometimes even took to the streets. I’ve never witnessed such intense fandom, before or since. Still, the resolutely black-clad supporters seemed skeptical of their beloved band’s slow progression into the light. 2010’s Danger Days was, to my ears, a glorious glitter-bomb of panic and disco, effortlessly mixing Detroit boogie with Weimar cabaret, summertime pop radio with Euroclub stomp. Gerard’s hair was a vibrant red — more Kool-Aid Man than arterial blood — and his new stage style was loose and breezy. The album eked out a platinum plaque, but its reception felt culturally inert, as if My Chemical Romance’s creative maturation had somehow skipped the groove of fight-or-flight survivalism that once grounded their fantastic excess. Gerard truly believed he was saving rock and roll by running around in the desert with a ray gun, but it was doubtful he could save his band from suffocation at the hands of a dying industry or the smothering embrace of fan expectation. He still believed in rock stars, but he also very much believed in Batman.

The last time I saw Gerard Way was in October at a comic-book convention in Las Vegas. His hair was its natural black but his mood was bright. He was in his element, there to celebrate his idol turned pal Scottish surrealist Grant Morrison. The event felt like a coming-out party for everything My Chemical Romance had screamed and bled about; it was a peaceful gathering of light-sensitive weirdos held in the shadows of the most garish place on earth. He and Mikey both talked animatedly about the sessions for their upcoming fifth album, which were well under way. But it did strike me that the larger battle had already finished. Gerard has a successful second career writing comics and movies and a pleasant life in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. He’s free to doodle and daydream without worrying about the vagaries of record-label drama, the vast machinery required for global touring, or the fragile egos of increasingly far-flung co-conspirators. It turns out Gerard Way was the hero in his own story after all, and, unlike the “Patient” he played in the Black Parade, he wrote himself a happy ending.

He couldn’t quite manage the same for his band. My Chemical Romance announced their breakup on Friday night. They didn’t die in a gunfight or explode with the intensity of a million suns. Instead they just posted a note on their blog and called it a day. There’s talk of intramural squabbling and adultery scandals — feel free to Google; I’ve no interest in spreading the muck — but to me it feels more natural than reactive. What villains were left to face? What demons left to conquer? My Chemical Romance always aimed for the top, but the top no longer exists; all that remains is a vast, niche-y middle. Rock bands don’t want to be big anymore. Hell, if they’re smart they don’t want to be rock bands at all. In that, My Chemical Romance really were “The Kids From Yesterday,” the more or less last song on their more or less best record. “We’ll find you when the sun goes black,” Gerard sang, but I hope it doesn’t take that long for him to reboot. The thing is, I think the music industry needs a skyscraping fabulist like Gerard Way a lot more than he needs the music industry. For now, all I can do is take comfort in the fact that even Batman died once.

#break up #grantland #outside

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