#also three different anime/manga references in eight seconds
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Basketball in East Asia
By: Jithin Manikonda
Growing up, basketball has been one my most favorite sports to play and watch! Although the sport of basketball has its roots in the US, globalization has allowed the sport to become popular all throughout the world, including as far away as East Asia.
The history of basketball spans back to 1891, when James Naismith hoped to invent a game to help young men in Springfield College located in Springfield, Massachusetts find a way to pass time. This school had many different names, one of which was “YMCA.” Even though basketball was just slowly gaining traction as a sport in the US, it did not take much longer for the sport to spread to Asia as a result of YMCA missionaries. Specifically in China around the 1920s, the sport started to become popular and about a decade later was declared a national pastime. In fact, China created an Olympic team for the sport in 1936 and used the sport to spread ideas of team work and the “friendship first, competition second” among children. This importance of basketball beyond friendship is still practiced today: NBA Asia managing director Scott Levy and many other generous philanthropists frequently hold camps and other events in East Asia to enrich the lives of aspiring kids.
Similar to the National Basketball Association, there is a basketball league in East Asia called the East Asian Super League, or EASL. This year, the East Asia Super League’s season will tip off in October 2022, just like the National Basketball Association. The EASL, however, has eight teams representing much larger areas: Greater China, Korea, Philippines, and Japan. From these areas, professional teams, including TNT Tropang Giga, San Miguel Beermen, Utsunomiya Brex, Seoul SK Knights, Taipei Fubon Braves, Ryukyu Golden Kings, Bay Area Dragons, and Anyang KGC. These teams will face each other in a home-and-away fashion until March 2023, where they will have a Final Four playoffs in order to determine the victor for the basketball season. However, there are many other leagues and clubs where basketball is played at many different levels, showing the willingness of East Asia to feed the love for the sport for everyone.
Basketball in East Asia has even been expressed in popular culture, such as anime and manga. For example, there are three animes that many anime-lovers and sports-lovers may have heard of: Slam Dunk, Kuroko’s Basketball, and Ahiru No Sora. All these anime deal with the hardships, competitive nature, and teamwork that come with basketball. For many sports lovers, these animes have undoubtedly had an impact on the increasing popularity of basketball within East Asia.
There are many players of East Asian descent that have made an everlasting impact on the National Basketball Association, the highest level of professional basketball in the world. To name a few, Jordan Clarkson, Jeremy Lin, and Yuta Watanabe are a few players that are still playing today. Although he has retired, Yao Ming, who is often referred to as the basketball G.O.A.T. of Asia, has undoubtedly made an impact on basketball all around the world and is undoubtedly recognized as one of the greatest big men to ever play the sport. There are also many players from the NBA who join leagues in East Asia, such as Lance Stephenson, Jalen Green, and Jared Sullinger.
There are so many more fun aspects to basketball that I can just keep talking on and on about! So if you love basketball like me, next time you visit East Asia for an elongated period of time, you should really consider going to one of the game of the EASL or see how basketball is played in different neighborhoods of East Asia and come back to this post and let me know how it went!
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Why I Believe Deku Fails as a Character (Part 2 of 3)
SPOILERS FOR THE MHA MANGA (OFA reveal, last completed arc, Chapter 307)
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Not only were we robbed of a compelling character with a mental illness — which we so desperately need in the media — but we were also robbed of anything about Deku that could make him an interesting character in other ways.
Now, a compelling character should have a quirk (not a Quirk) that separates them from the rest of the characters (because who likes when all the characters all act the same?) and makes them more relatable. Everybody’s got something about themselves that sets them apart from their friends and families. It could be a dialogue quirk — common examples would be someone who references movies constantly or never uses contractions — or just a habit they have that nobody else has. In Deku’s case, it’s his muttering and his hero analysis notebooks.
However, one of the first rules of good writing that a writer will be taught is the phrase “show don’t tell.” And it’s good advice, for the most part. (Some things are better left told, but that rant isn’t relevant to this one, so I’ll hold back on that.)
For Deku, his mumbling is never really shown to us. Yes, it’s shown through the word “mutter” that appears on screen whenever he’s muttering, but that’s actually telling. We don’t ever get to decide for ourselves that Deku mutters a lot. No, the show decides for us, telling us to believe he mutters often and talks too much by the way it always accompanies his muttering with the word “mutter” surrounding him on screen or in the manga panel. He certainly does talk a lot, but it’s ruined by the fact that the anime/manga constantly needs to tell us that he talks a lot.
The reason why showing rather than telling is so important is because the audience needs to be able to figure out aspects of the plot or characters on their own. If they’re simply told everything, they aren’t going to believe it. If the author tells you that Person A hates Person B, but A never shows any animosity towards B through their dialogue or actions, the audience won’t believe it. (Think of the tip from Billy Wilder, which tells screenwriters to make the audience add up two plus two— don’t give them four. Give them two plus two, let them do the math themselves, and they’ll love you forever.)
This is mostly a nitpick, yes. Still, it’s a blatant example of when showing (and not telling) is necessary. In this case, the telling ruins it, and by telling, it negates the unique aspect of Deku’s characterization that would’ve helped make him a more realistic — and therefore more relatable — character.
Which brings me to another point: what about his hero analysis notebooks?
I mean, hell, he’s got thirteen of those things. By now, he should be able to look at a villain’s Quirk and, in the matter of a minute or two, come up with a plan to take that villain down.
Those notebooks could’ve made Deku such a unique character— with thirteen notebooks worth of analyzing already in his repertoire, he should be able to analyze Quirks like there’s no tomorrow. And people, too. Wouldn’t it have been so interesting to see Deku be able to just look at someone and know what they’re planning, thinking, or feeling?
(As a questionably relevant side note, there are accounts of people who have experienced traumatic things such as abusive households who have told stories of how they can look at people and instantly know what they’re thinking. It’s a defense mechanism to prevent themselves from provoking someone, because they knew if they accidentally provoked their past abuser, they would face the consequences. See? It could all tie together.)
And if that seems like it could make Deku overpowered, it really doesn’t have to. There isn’t a single overpowered power you can give to a character that will, without fail, make them overpowered. At least, not at first. We just need a character to earn their overpowered-ness, because we love a character who earns their strength over time. You just have to give the power drawbacks in whichever way makes sense and actually impacts the character.
Deku with All For One’s Quirk, one of the most overpowered Quirks in the anime/manga to date? Using multiple Quirks at the same time makes him pass out from exhaustion. Using too many at once could give him permanent brain damage like what you see with the Nomu. Having a villainous Quirk like AFO makes his bullying even worse as a child, leading to permanent self-esteem issues that keep him from ever wanting to use his Quirk to begin with. (Last one courtesy of Shinsou’s backstory!)
Deku with seven Quirks courtesy of One For All, the other most overpowered Quirk in the anime/manga? Same thing as the first two examples in the paragraph above. Or the burden of having to carry out the wills of the eight users that preceded him, all of whom have differing opinions on Deku’s best course of action for any given battle. The previous users never had to so readily accept him as their successor. Why not have them reject Deku for deeming him too soft to do what’s best, or any other reason?
Deku with Overhaul’s Quirk? Uh-oh, looks like he accidentally killed a classmate the first time he used it, and now he’s forever afraid of it. But, uh-oh, if he wants to be a hero, he has to use it. Or what if the Quirk only works on organic matter, meaning it’ll only work on people or plants? That would kinda suck.
See? No power is automatically overpowered unless you make it that way.
Maybe Deku can analyze anything if given enough time, but he can’t exactly sneak off in the middle of a fight to come up with the best strategy. This could be quite reasonable, considering Deku would have been able to think long and hard before writing anything down in his hero notebooks. And all his training could culminate in the main climax of the series, where Deku creates and executes the perfect plan in a matter of seconds thanks to his analyzing skills.
Or what about All For One, the big bad of the series? (You can argue it’s Shigaraki too, but in the recent chapters, it’s made obvious that AFO is actually controlling him. Therefore, AFO’s the guy Deku should ultimately be putting a stop to. He is essentially Deku’s fated enemy in terms of Quirk backstory, after all.)
What if AFO turned out to be the one person Deku couldn’t analyze, couldn’t read at all, because his face is so disfigured that it’s impossible to tell what emotions he’s experiencing through facial expressions? What if AFO was such a masterful manipulator that Deku couldn’t read the tone of his voice because AFO purposefully kept it unchanging?
The extreme fear that Deku could experience just by being unable to tell what AFO was thinking could make AFO into such an intimidating villain. He’d be the one villain that Deku just might not be able to best, and the audience would fear for him, like they’re supposed to do.
And, at least for me, I haven’t been fearing much for Deku. As of Chapter 307, it looks like he’ll be fighting Muscular again. But where exactly are the stakes of this fight? Sure, it’s a good way of showing how far Deku has leveled up after the time skip, but we already know he’s going to win. I mean, he beat the guy in season 3. He better win, or what the hell, right? It would’ve been much more impactful to have him lose against Muscular the first time and come back again in Chapter 307 to kick his ass.
It’s just... Deku always seems to win. His first major loss that comes to mind is his fight with Todoroki, but the loss only proved how good of a person Deku was. His second fight against Bakugou couldn’t even be considered training— Deku had nothing to lose. And what about Deku’s arms? Again, as of Chapter 307, it looks like he can still use them perfectly fine despite absolutely destroying them in his fight against Shiggy. What was it that doctor said? If he keeps abusing them the way he has, he’ll paralyze himself? Sure, he said two or three more times, but Deku was abusing the hell out of them again and again just to make Shiggy take any damage with his regeneration Quirk. Doesn’t seem like his arms are even slightly stiff at the moment. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.
I don’t know. It just seems like nothing goes wrong for Deku unless it doesn’t have any truly negative effect on him. His fight against Shigaraki is an exception, I suppose, but it was also the fault of every other hero who failed to stop Shigaraki from freeing AFO and the villains from all of those prisons. Whenever it’s just Deku, it seems like he never really loses when it would actually mean something if he did.
This is another flaw of Deku’s characterization, but it ties into my second point about Deku’s analyzing skills, too.
Creating a foil for Deku in AFO by making AFO unreadable would help give the conflict some oomph, if you know what I mean. Because, currently, AFO is really only Deku’s foil because of his Quirk and because he wants to take OFA. If Deku was portrayed as a master analyzer...
Think about it— All For One, the master manipulator with AFO, up against Izuku Midoriya, the master analyzer with OFA.
This is the fancy-schmancy dichotomy that we could’ve gotten. The heightened tension that would’ve made Deku’s story so much more interesting to read/watch, that would’ve made me wait for each new chapter on the edge of my seat.
But, once again, Deku’s potential to be an interesting character is wasted.
Horikoshi could have made him interesting with his muttering if he hadn’t shoved it down the audience’s throat.
And while he had set up for Deku to be a master strategist, he didn’t follow through, making Deku seem pretty stupid for having so much experience in analyzing and yet having so little to show for it. Because Horikoshi does try to show it, but only when it doesn’t matter, like when Deku analyzes the fights for the sports festival up in the stands. Why not have him do it when it matters, like when he fights against villains at the USJ or when he fights Shigaraki in the more recent chapters?
Not to mention the fact that he missed a fantastic opportunity to make All For One more of a villain. (Because All For One is kind of a sucky villain at the moment, considering it just seems like he’s a villain because he wants to be. Sure, there’s a little snippet of why AFO does what he does, but it’s subpar at best.)
Honestly, I just wish Horikoshi had done a better job with Deku like he did with Bakugou. But he didn’t, unfortunately, and that’s what makes Deku fall so flat.
#bnha#boku no hero academia#mha#my hero academia#mha analysis#bnha analysis#deku#mha deku#bakugou katsuki#bnha shinsou#shinso#my hero manga
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Gochiusa BLOOM episode 7 impressions
Previously: 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
In real world Halloween might have been a month ago, but in the world of Is The Order a Rabbit it’s exactly the season for all things spooky. And maybe things become a little too supernatural for a slice of life show. In the last episode we’ve seen how BLOOM symbolizes the growth of the characters. And as we enter the second half of the season, another meaning is revealed...
But first let’s visit Ama Usa An, where horror-loving Chiya is decorating the traditional Japanese teahouse for Halloween. Since Halloween is decidedly not a traditional Japanese holiday, it looks kinda surreal, but Chiya’s grandmother is more worried about souls of the dead coming back to life, especially that of Chino’s grandfather (see season 2 episode 9 for more of their backstory). Of course the soul of Chino’s grandfather isn’t actually dead, but is inhabiting the body of a rabbit. It’s not clear how exactly this happened and Cocoa might have been involved.
Speaking of Cocoa, we see her practicing with the magic set she bought in the first episode of the season. She tries to make something appear in her hand, but nothing happens. Clearly you can’t just learn to summon matter into existence in Gochiusa world, or can you? Anyway the shot focuses on a candy laying on a table before the opening sequence cuts in. This must be the object Cocoa has tried to summon and it’s also clearly a foreshadowing for something.
Meanwhile, Maya and Megu are trick-or-treating in matching werewolf(?) outfits hoping to score some free candy. Interestingly the tradition of giving out candy on Halloween has descended from a medieval practice of sharing so-called “soul cakes” which represented the souls of the dead.
Meanwhile the staff of Rabbit House are dressed as vampires. The theme of vampires fighting werewolves brings up to mind the Twilight series although I’m sure the idea came up many times throughout history. If you look closer, you’ll notice that Cocoa, Rize and Megu have fake fangs (I think Maya’s is natural), although they’re not consistently drawn between scenes, even though in the manga they’re drawn correctly. Maybe they’ll fix this in BD. The only one whose fang is not shown is Chino, and ironically she is the one who actually bites somebody.
Also the flashback of Chino “roaring” at the mirror reminded me of the scene from Celestial Method where Noel (also voiced by Minase Inori) roars at a dinosaur standee. To be fair it sounds completely different but I just can’t help but compare them.
Also while I was browsing through my copy of volume 6 I found a cute illustration card that seems to be relevant to this episode, but includes Mocha and Cocoa as the wolves and Chino as the vampire (here’s a highres version).
I think I bought this particular volume in Japan on the day it was released. Good times...
Next MaMe go to Fleur de Lapin and are greeted by Sharo dressed as Little Red Riding Hood (bunny version). This costume appeared earlier in an illustration for the rabbit chapter from the previous episode.
This is also a rare scene where other employees of Fleur de Lapin can be seen, as usually Sharo is shown working there alone. Even in the manga, Sharo is the only employee shown in this scene. In the end it turns out that Sharo is a wolf in disguise and craving for some meat. Which is weird because Sharo hasn’t been shown eating or cooking any meat before.
Anyway, next stop is Ama Usa An, which is called the Witch’s Mansion now. Chiya mentions the beginning of the Sabbath, and the manga chapter’s title 今宵は甘兎サバト also mentions the Sabbath. This might be confusing because in Judaism and Christianity the Sabbath is the day of rest and happens weekly (on Saturday or Sunday). However since we’re talking about witches, this actually references the Wiccan concept of sabbat, or one of eight festivals in the Wiccan calendar. In particular, Samhain, one of the four Greater Sabbats pretty much coincides with Halloween and celebrates the beginning of winter.
Chiya does this thing where the protagonist’s hand hurts only to awaken their dark powers, I’m not really sure where this trope comes from but I’ve seen it referenced in anime before and it’s a common chuunibyo stereotype. In this case, Chiya did really just hurt her hand. There’s also some sort of runic circle drawn on her bandages, but if you look closer it says shiratama anmitsu matcha parfait in hiragana.
Maya and Megu agree to help Chiya, and become her “familiars”. Even though familiars are better known as a video game mechanic today (which is what the “level up” scene references), witches were associated with familiar spirits since medieval times. A familiar often took form of a small animal, such as a cat. Unfortunately MaMe don’t even know which animal they are, so clearly they didn’t take their backstory as seriously as Chiya did. Their ears and tails look canine to me, so I can see Megu being a fox spirit, but Maya being a cat is less believable. Also during their confrontation Megu confirms that Maya’s fang is her yaeba (snaggle tooth).
As a revenge for the trick MaMe pulled on her, Chiya gives them a selection of pumpkin tarts, one of which is laced with wasabi (which she calls ”Russian roulette”). This seems like a common thing for her, since she did the same with botamochi in season 2 episode 6, and with green tea in season 2 episode 7 (except she used aojiru instead of wasabi). However this time, it was Chiya’s grandmother who put wasabi in two of the tarts, unbeknownst to Chiya. By the way in the manga it wasn’t shown that Chiya got one of the wasabi tarts.
Chiya goes shopping for some pumpkins, but is helped by Rize, and later Sharo gives her anti-pain medications, reminding her of how Chiya tended for her when she was sick in season 1 episode 12. It’s not mentioned in the anime, but Rize also had a “motivation” for helping Chiya, as she hurt her leg before (see season 2 episode 2). Chiya invites Rize and Sharo to dinner and brings up the wasabi-laced pumpkin tarts. According to Chiya the probability of getting wasabi is 1/3. Initially there were 7 tarts, of which 2 had wasabi. Megu, Maya and Chiya eat one each, with Chiya’s having wasabi in it. That leaves 4 tarts with 1 wasabi, so either Chiya’s calculation is incorrect, or somebody ate one more tart.
Apparently last day was just a warm up to Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve’s Eve?), so next day Megu and Maya come to Chiya again and try to summon something. A larger and slightly different version of the runic circle previously seen on Chiya’s hand starts glowing and we see that the 3 white rabbits correspond to three people holding hands. There’s also Anko corresponding to the black rabbit in the middle. By the way, in the manga the sign on Chiya’s hand was just a hexagram, and the summoning ritual didn’t have any visible symbols.
Anyway, they want to summon a messenger from demon world/hell, and coincidentally Cocoa and Chino come in (dressed as vampires) and try to attack (cuddle) them. Chiya, Maya and Megu form New Chimame-tai which works because Chiya and Chino have the same first syllable. However Chi is written with kanji instead of katakana in this version (because Chiya’s name 千夜 is one of the few given names among Gochiusa characters that’s always written with kanji). This defeats Chino, and Chiya consoling Chino like a big sister defeats Cocoa as well.
Ok let’s move on to part B, which is the really important part of the episode. The streets of the town are filled with people dressed in various costumes. Cocoa’s classmates can be seen among the crowd, and Aoyama and Rin are enjoying a boat ride on River Sanzu.
Our main character have also prepared some new costumes for the occasion. First we see Chino, dressing up as Phantom Thief Lapin, while Rize is going as a police officer. Soon Chiya and Sharo join them, who somehow independently of each other also went with a Lapin costume. At least Sharo had a good excuse. For Chiya, Lapin’s gloves obscure the bandage on her hand, so maybe that’s why she chose this costume. But what about Cocoa?
Well, she kinda got lost and we find her at the location that you will recognize if you read my episode 5 review. Cocoa says it looks a little different than usual, almost like a different world (isekai). Well, there’s a lot of evidence to support this hypothesis. First, in a scene that parallels episode 1, Cocoa finds a lost child and tries to calm her down with a magic trick. However you might notice that the child’s head is literally a pumpkin with a moving mouth.
And her mother is also a pumpkinhead. Cocoa doesn’t encounter any other people during this segment, even though you’d think a spot that overlooks the town like this would be quite popular. Well, she does encounter one more person, a mysterious masked magician with an angora rabbit on her head. She also wears a G-clef pendant indicating some sort of music connection.
Now, since y’all had already watched the episode, it wouldn’t be a spoiler to say that this is the ghost of Chino’s mother, Saki. The rabbit on her head is the ghost of the original Tippy before its body was taken over by Chino’s grandfather. The original Tippy was a female rabbit, by the way, a fact established early on in the series. In Sing for You OVA (for which I wrote a not-very-detailed review by the way) it’s established that Saki was a singer and even had a record released.
Anyway, as a ghost, Saki doesn’t speak (although she still can giggle and such) and doesn’t physically interact with Cocoa (only indirectly, by casting candies at Cocoa). Nevertheless she does teach Cocoa how to do the candy trick correctly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group tries to call Cocoa’s phone but she doesn’t answer. This is another evidence for isekai theory. Cocoa is just out of range, you see. Rize and Sharo swap their costumes (the most unrealistic part of the episode) and Sharo starts “policing” the Lapins on how the real Lapin would talk. Chiya has a bright idea to shout out for Cocoa and call her big sister. However Cocoa would obviously only react if Chino calls her that, so Rize encourages Chino to say it louder (referencing her training for the choir in Sing for You).
Cocoa and Saki hear Chino, and Saki looks at her daughter from the terrace. Chino also looks up... but doesn’t see anything. She does get a hunch that there’s something up there though, so the group finds Cocoa eventually. Meanwhile Saki feels like her time is up and makes for a quick exit, literally disappearing.
This is where Cocoa returns to the “real world”, as the current Tippy calls out for her. Why was Tippy with Cocoa anyway in the first place? Cocoa looks around and there are in fact lots of people there as expected.
Cocoa thinks that Tippy speaking is an evidence of a ghost, despite her interacting with a real ghost just a few moments before. The 3 Lapins arrive and start arguing who is the real Lapin. Chino says that it’s the one who gets away with everything in the end, implying she will take the whole Cocoa for herself. However Sharo arrests Cocoa for making everyone worry.
On the way back, Chiya recalls the legend which was also mentioned by her grandmother at the beginning of the episode about the spirits of the ancestors coming back for this one day and then returning to heavens. Chino looks up to the sky, while Tippy gives her a solace in the fact that he was once again turned away, implying that he expected to return to heaven with the other spirits.
Tippy also seemed to know what Cocoa was talking about in an earlier scene where Cocoa said she forgot to give thanks to somebody. Just what’s up with Tippy and why is he not allowed to enter Heaven is a big mystery here.
Cocoa also notices Chino being distressed and shows her the magic trick with the candy. It turns out Chino remembers this trick from her childhood, and we get to see a full flashback with Chino’s mother even getting a few speaking lines (delivered by none other but Nana Mizuki). Since the candy was probably a part of the magic set, it’s no coincidence that it has the exact same wrapper in the flashback. The color of the candy matches with Chino’s clothes at the time but you can also think of it as a combination of Saki’s white and Chino’s blue.
By the way, in the manga Cocoa conjures up two candies, and they have a plain wrapping so there wasn’t One Specific Candy like in the anime. Also in the flashback, Chino is carried by her grandfather. His face is not shown, but Takahiro is seen in the background (with Rize’s dad) so by exclusion it had to be him. And in the current scene Chino is the one carrying Tippy like this.
The episode ends with Cocoa asking Chino to tell her more about her mother, while a star is seen rising in the sky, presumably symbolizing Saki’s spirit.
Let’s go back to Cocoa meeting Saki scene one more time. Like I explained, it’s heavily implied that Cocoa isn’t really in the same world as the other characters when she meets Saki’s ghost. Of course Gochiusa had supernatural elements from the start, such as a certain talking rabbit who happens to be Chino’s grandfather. But now we have a ghost of Chino’s mother and Cocoa is the only one who can see her, but Chino can’t? Just what the heck is going on here?
But wait, there is a rational explanation for all of this! Cocoa had a hallucination triggered by all the Halloween celebrations. She imagines helping a lost child just like Chino did before (and told Cocoa about it later) and then imagines the ghost of Saki teaching her magic, because subconsciously she wants to be like Saki. She had seen Saki before on a photograph, but haven’t heard her speak, which is why the ghost can’t talk to her. Hearing Chino call her onee-chan brings Cocoa back to her senses. But how did Cocoa learn the trick if it was just her imagination? Well, consider the fact that she was practicing this exact trick at the beginning of the episode. By the time she shows it to Chino, she has already practiced it a lot of times, but maybe she only realized the crucial part (feint) during the hallucination. Either way, the blue striped candy wasn’t given to Cocoa by Saki, she had it from the start, as part of the magic set! The candies that Saki uses to show the trick to Cocoa all disappear when Cocoa returns to reality.
Saki appears one more time in the bar time scene with Takahiro, who is listening to her record Silver Spoon from Sing for You OVA and then calls her by name. I think this is the only time the name “Saki” is mentioned in the show itself, and it’s not mentioned in the manga at all (unless maybe in some recent chapters which I haven’t read yet). The first time it was revealed was during April Fool’s day Clockwork Rabbit event, as a solution to a “puzzle”. Her name is written in katakana as サキ, however one of possible readings of the word “saki” is 咲き which means “bloom”. Now consider how the last few seconds of the opening animation it cuts from a blooming field of dandelions to Saki:
The dandelions connection to Saki was previously seen in season 2 episode 1 and Sing for You. Saki’s character design doesn’t really say “blooming of dandelions” to me, but consider that a dandelion turns into this:
Now that’s more like it! Although it reminds me of Tippy as well. Anyway, that was a very mysterious episode of Gochiusa BLOOM and let’s see what happens next! Only 5 episodes remain...
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BNHA/MHA OP 6 by Blue Encount
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WE SERIOUSLY NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT
And more especially the covers made by AmaLee and NateWantsToBattle because they will help us to understand better the opening. You may get spoilers from the manga so if you’re not following the manga don’t read that post, stop it here. Also theories in coming for Bakugou and the movie Heroes Rising.
LET’S START THE ANANLYSE OF THESE BEAUTIFUL COVERS. I’m starting with AmaLee cover...
youtube
AmaLee’s cover of the opening 6 is focusing mainly on the storyline of season 4 of the anime.
Let's start with the two first line of the song
On that day I swore I would keep you safe, it's a promise I have made in my heart.
The promise is referring to the one that Mirio and Midoriya made, the one to save Eri and protect her from anyone who would like to harm her. And it's still the case in the manga.
If I had to give my world to save a life I would, I'd sacrifice everything and wouldn't even thinking twice.
The heroes participating to Eri's rescue operation know they could lose big and not only their lives. ( Thanks a lot bullets who can destroy the quirk factor of a human being.) However and since it concern the life of a little girl they don't really have a plan they've just went into the yakuzas hideout and planned to take them down by fighting. This line can make a parallel with All Might and his will to save and help everyone and he always done this without a plan, it's probably something Sir Nighteye had reproached him when he was sidekick and it went like this when All Might choose Midoriya as the next wielder of One For All. After all, Nighteye didn't hide his displeasure as the choice made by All Might. The next line amplify the idea of sacrifice...
Every day somebody makes a sacrifice and that's why we're able to continue on fight and live our lives.
Fat Gum, Red Riot and Sun Eater are the first ones to fight the members of the Eight Precepts of Death. They choose to stay behind and fought those villains to permit to Sir Nighteye, Eraserhead and the rest of the team to save Eri from Overhaul. However like we have seen Tamaki and Kirishima are both out and severely injuried and Fat Gum is on a better shape than his interns but it won't be able to join the others so they have to count on the others. But I'm afraid my dear anime watchers only, those three aren't the worst when the fight against Chisaki will be over.
I won't run away and hide in the past, I will become the me that I'm striving to be.
The first time they've met Eri, Lemillion and Deku couldn't save her and they have regrets which haunted them but once they knew what Chisaki was doing to her, we could feel their powerless and possible uselessness but they turned it into a new determination and renew at the same time their interior promise which is to save Eri but also to accomplish their respective goals.
Even if is nothing more than a hopeful wish, I hope I can reach you just a little bit.
Deku is the first one to have touch Eri with his right hand (the scarred one after his fight against Todoroki, this right hand is a 100 % bless by god himself) and he realized she was trembling in his arms. He tried to do anything to sve her but you know how it turns the first time. But Aizawa told Midoriya that his hand has reached the little girl and he is fucking right because a few seconds later we see Eri and her thoughts and it was the first time someone touched her with a warm hand which is different from all the others contact human she had before.
Even if the fading light is all we know let's go.
The problem with this operation is that while the heroes have to fight the obstacles put by Chisaki, Overhaul is escaping with Eri so Deku and the others has to hurry up before it's too late but they're still hope since Mirio went ahead however it doesn't mean he will hold long against Chisaki... If he catch him...
I've finished with AmaLee's version so that means...
Time to Analyse of the cover made by NateWantsToBattle.
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First of all, I wanted to say that I realize something... Polaris can also help us to understand the movie Heroes Rising. Yep you've read this well even if the opening 6 isn't the theme song for Heroes Rising. And like someone said it on a Tumblr post, NateWantsToBattle said BakuDeku rights, well dude you don’t know how much you’re saying the truth. The first part concern Midoriya until the end of the first chorus then the second verse and second chorus talked about Bakugou and maybe his intimate thoughts towards Midoriya and the third verse it’s the two of them or at least I think. (Maybe the movie will be divided in different parts: one centered around Midoriya, an another with Bakugou, the third part will be the class and BakuDeku to finally finish with Katsuki beating the crap out of Nine by using One For All.)
Before I start with this cover, I want to precise that in the second part I will make theories about Bakugou’s behavior towards Midoriya, if you don’t like what I’m gonna to say then there’s no need to show your displeasure in the comments of this post or by reblogging.
I’ve decided I will follow my heart, Promise yours will always be right near me
Midoriya’s actions are always due to the fact he wants to save people, it’s what he always wanted to do since he was 4, he wanted to become a hero. All Might has been the first one to believe in him after he said that the true heroes are always the one who moved their legs before they could think. And Midoriya never forgot who had help him to become what he is (even though it was all thanks to the hard work he did) and he eep those memories everywhere.
What if you could take the chance to save a life but you, you could only save them by losing everything ?
Bakugou and Midoriya has to protect two children (seriously what is the thing with children ? First Kota, then Eri and now those two... What Nine wants from them ? Their quirks ? They must be pretty OP then.) from Nine, the villain of Heroes Rising and we can clearly see in the trailer that Midoriya is the one who will loose everything. At multiple times, it will be One For All but for different reasons, first it will be Nine who will try to steal it:
I doubt it will be the only time would want to steal Deku’s quirk.
Then by giving it temporarily to Bakugou:
Then we can suppose it will Izuku’s life who will be in danger because he will be in a critical situation
Maybe he will “die” because of too much injuries or maybe because he lose One For All. Like @thebroccolidragon has said in this post maybe because One For All have reamains of the souls of the previous holders inside the vestiges then maybe by stealing One For All to Midoriya, Nine is forcefully absorbing a part of Midoriya’s soul. And if Izuku is really passing One Fo All to Katsuki then it will explain why we can see Bakugou’s silhoutte inside the One For All in a few pages of the manga. You want a proof ? Go see this post of @half-for-all .
If I fall you know I would swim through oceans of my tears to be with you
All his life, Deku admired All Might but also Bakugou because he is Izuku’s image of victory. Even if Bakugou is one of his bully, he still have admiration for him and when One For All was transferred o him, his goal was to catch up his childhood friend, to be on the same level and become his rival. Which he made it. But it doesn’t mean Izuku didn’t suffer during all these years when he was Quirkless which means he had to put eforts to become a hero and be respected by his pairs.
Say Goodbye, I don’t have the strength to let it all end.
Izuku is so persistent he didn’t perceive Katsuki as his bully but as his childhood friend and probably best friend, he even kept the nickname “Kacchan”. And U.A. was a chance to improve their relation which went south when Deku has been diagnosed as Quirkless. His efforts finally pay after the Provisional License exam when they fought and revealed what they have in the heart and now they are rivals.
All I wanted was you to stay and not disappear.
I think Izuku can’t imagine his life without Bakugou being involved somehow whatever it is in a platonic way, as friends or maybe as a couple (everyone have their own preferences) and that’s why he has been so shocked when the League Of Villains managed to capture Bakugou. For him, it was unthinkable that someone captured Katsuki successfully because in Midoriya’s mind, Bakugou wouldn’t allow it without a fight. Hell, I’m sure Bakugou prefers to die than to be a prisoner or an hosage. Somehow Deku needs to be near to Kacchan to be stronger.
It feels like every day I’m fighting for my life
Bakugou sees everything and everyone has a challenge so he push his limits to be stronger. And we don’t forget his quirk which can hurt his arms when his body can’t endure the explosions anymore. However his biggest challenge is Midoriya but maybe not for the reasons we think...
But I, I’m never backing down I’m gonna prove I’m strong for you.
Since they've met, Katsuki and Izuku wanted to become a duo of heroes but a lot of things has change since Bakugou got his quirk: he was praised by his teachers and his comrades, he just has to wait for Izuku to manifest his quirk which never came. And what if Bakugou's reason to become a hero was to protect Midoriya from the villains or from the danger because he knows how much his childhood friend is followed by problems. But because of how the society worked and how they disrespect Quirkless, his thoughts has been twisted and he shown his protective side with violence which has been perceive as bullying by Deku. The only way Katsuki has found to protect his friend was to first train his quirk and become stronger for Izu sake and to show the cinnamon roll how dangerous the world of heroes can be when we are Quirkless. But U.A. changed everything, suddenly his friend developp a quirk, become stronger, seems to have All Might favors and beat him which frustrated Katsuki because he realized Izuku doesn't need to be protected by someone and of course Bakugou felt useless. However he gave him a new reason to become stronger: He has to make sure to be ahead of Izuku if he really wants to protect his friend. But he has to do it too because he saw the damage of Midoriya's quirk on his friend body and he realized something when Izuku kept breaking his bones.
I don't think I'm afraid to lose and fail a fight, I was always so afraid I might be losing you.
He can't live in a world without Midoriya because if Midoriya dies then he doesn't have a reason to become a hero anymore. Personnally, I don't remember Bakugou losing a fight and his victories are always so small if he compared them to Izuku. I mean... He just stop Kurogiri while Izuku literally break his legs in purpose to save All Might at the U.S.J., his fight against Todoroki in the Sports Festival wasn't serious only Deku pushed Shoto to use his fire, during the internships he was just patrolling while Midori fought Stain along with Iida and Todoroki then came my favourite part, the practical exam and the training camp.
Let's start with the practical exam: Bakugou has been paired with Midoriya, we know both of them has been surprised but maybe Bakugou was already forming a plan to make sure the green bean boy was safe but all hope may have been crushed when it was decide their enemy was All Might himself. Katsuki brain went into absolute protective mode and that's why he told he preferred to lose the fight than to ask help from Deku meaning I prefer to lose the fight than to see my only friend being hurt by you or by using his quirk. But it isn't the only moment in the exam. He asked Deku to run until he reached the finish line while he was distracting All Might, Katsuki's job was to make sure Izuku was safe no matter the consequences for him.
And it's exactly what happened in the forest when Dabi grabbed his neck and he saw Deku running towards him to stop the LOV to capture him. He told Izuku to not come and he said it with a worried tone. If that doesn't mean he doesn't care about Izuku then I wonder what it was then.
The same thing seems to happen in Heroes Rising and how many do we bet he will be more angrier than usual when one) Izuku wants to give him One For All two) his friend will fall unconscious or will die if he doesn't hurry up to beat Nine and bring Izuku to doctors. Which explained hos shocked face in the trailer after we see Midoriya finger with blood on it, probably with the purpose to pass on One For All because Midoriya too will think it's over for him, he wouldn't be anymore to save people with a smile just like his idol.
You won't ever see me running away cause this smile, it means more than everything. All I ask stay right next to me and don't disappear.
I'm pretty sure Katsuki wants to protect Midoriya because of this:
In reality, he doesn't want to admit it but Bakugou is a tsundere, only logical explication...
He knows Izuku smile a lot and more when he saw All Might on TV when they were children, maybe this image stay in the mind of the explosive blond and make stronger his determination to protect Izuku. He thought maybe if he became a hero and kept safe All Might, it will reassure Izuku.
I'm not strong for the power or the fame or the glory, those don't mean a thing. I just wanted to be stronger so I could hold you closer next to me. Even if I end up losing everything I won't ever forget I had you.
Both Izuku and Bakugou are strong but not for the same goal however their goals completes each other: Izuku wants to be strong and be a hero to save people with a smile on hos face while Bakugou wants to be strong, be a hero to beat villains because he wants to protect Deku while the green haired boy do his part of the job. Which came back to the two famous line of the trailer: Win To Save and Save To Win. But they wants to be stronger because the presence of the other reassured them and make them act not the same as usual. However even if something bad happen to one of them, the other will still remember his friend because they have so much impact on the life that they can't forget, it will be almost a crime.
Even in the darknest night, I feel your heart it lights my way !
Personnally I think it correspond to Bakugou. If Bakugou really have One For All for a moment in the movie, I think he will feel Deku's soul accompany him and guide him during the fight, they will be together to defeat an enemy with the power of All For One and it will make him confiant because maybe he will believe Deku is still alive but not for long.
#bnha#mha#bnha heroes rising#mha heroes rising#bnha spoilers#spoilers#analysis of the opening 6 of bnha#theories#midoriya izuku#bnha midoriya izuku#bakugou katsuki#bnha bakugo katsuki#character development
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If you have only watched episode 31 of Bungou Stray Dogs and have not read chapter 39 of the manga, this is definitely worth reading. If you only watch the anime you are missing out.
If you’re not convinced check out my analysis under the cut.
Bungou Stray Dogs is more than just an anime series full of supernatural powers, action scenes, and tension between a detective agency and the mafia. The series is based on world famous literary figures, and by doing so invites its readers to compare BSD to the beloved authors and literary masterpieces it features. You are supposed to look closely at the characters, their backgrounds, development, and compare them to the authors and literary characters who inspired them. You are supposed to look closely at the plot, dissect it, notice foreshadowing, and analyze how events are sequenced and presented. Asagiri Kafka, the author of BSD, has obviously written the series in a way that gives bibliophiles a chance to compare, analyze, and dissect the series to their heart’s content.
The anime does a great job of making the characters Harukawa35 created move and interact in a beautifully animated world. The voice actors put everything they had into their performances and as a result the characters have very distinct voices that reflect the characters’ personalities and traits and draws audiences deeper into the world and story of BSD. The action scenes and moments of suspense are amazing to watch with a heart pounding soundtrack to match. Visually and audibly the series is superb.
However, if you only watch the anime then you are missing out on a lot of the details that make BSD so intricate and adds all the depth to the series. The anime has only so much time, and as a result various moments, scenes, and characters get cut. The anime also has a tendency to prioritize certain characters above others, so anime viewers see a lot of a handful of characters but don’t get to see the other characters’ scenes, backstories, and character development in their entirety. As scenes and characters are changed or left out in the anime the world of BSD gradually drifts away from the manga until ensuring the continuity of the anime means the series becomes more of its own entity and less connected to the manga. Of course the anime has not moved so far away from the manga that it has become its own entity, but there are distinct differences and unique atmospheres that are not shared between the anime and manga.
And that brings me to how the material in chapter 39 was presented in episode 31. There are three important facts in the chapter that makes it so powerful and memorable to readers:
Atsushi’s experiences at the orphanage: In season 1 on the anime there are various short flashbacks to when Atsushi was living at the orphanage. All are very brief, focus on Atsushi sitting helplessly as verbal abuse is heaped on him, and they are shown repeatedly to emphasize how deeply these experiences have affected Atsushi. Because of that when you see a new moment from Atsushi’s past you instinctively pay attention and notice how it is different from the flashbacks you had seen before. In chapter 39 the flashbacks are more than a mere few seconds where a few words are spoken and we see a helpless Atsushi; these flashbacks are complete stories about very specific instances where Atsushi was blamed, ridiculed, beaten, publicly humiliated, forced to have his foot nailed to the floor, had an unknown liquid injected into his system, was locked up, and taught some very important lessons that he didn’t understand at the time but would make him into the amazing protagonist he turned out to be. Episode 31 did not show any of these scenes in their entirety, condensing them into eight seconds of minute representations of the horrors Atsushi experienced, and only showed one part of an exchange between the young Atsushi and the Headmaster. Considering that Atsushi is the series protagonist it is strange that so much information that is vital to understanding Atsushi’s character was condensed into one third of an anime episode (while Kyouka’s backstory took up two thirds of the same episode).
The way Atsushi views his relationship to the Headmaster compared to how Akutagawa and Dazai view it: Chapter 39 shows Atsushi’s initial reaction the the Headmaster’s death as a kind of manic joy, which is also accurately portrayed in episode 31. Tanizaki, in both the manga and anime, is obviously concerned that Atsushi would be so overjoyed at someone’s death, even if it is the Headmaster who caused Atsushi to suffer so much. However, it is only in chapter 39 that Atsushi admits that he knew very little about the Headmaster and only knew “that he was the king of that small, small country,” the orphanage. That is the first hint that the way Atsushi remembers the Headmaster is skewed because he was so young and ignorant at the time. To Atsushi it is only natural to hate the man who he believed disliked him and tortured him because of it, but to outside parties like Akutagawa and Dazai the situation looks different. It is only in the manga that Dazai helps with the case by contacting an informant and sending Atsushi to meet them. The informant turns out to be Akutagawa. Atsushi and Akutagawa are foils, so while they are opposites they also complement each other which makes Akutagawa the perfect person to throw a wrench in Atsushi’s way of thinking. Akutagawa proves through the information he gathered that the Headmaster was not in Yokohama to do any harm to Atsushi, but to sell a gun in order to buy something and that there was no foul play that lead to his death. Akutagawa is also the only person to point out that while Dazai taught him, the Headmaster taught Atsushi and says he will let Atsushi off the hook today because it is “the anniversary of [his] mentor’s death.” Later when Atsushi doesn’t know how to feel after learning that the Headmaster had come to Yokohama to give him flowers and congratulate him on the person he had become, Dazai is the one to refer to the Headmaster as Atsushi’s father. It is only after this that Atsushi understands the role the Headmaster played in his life and he is finally able to cry and face his emotions and confusion surrounding the Headmaster’s death.
How the Headmaster’s past influenced the way he raised Atsushi: If you only watched the anime then you would have absolutely no idea how amazing and complex a character the Headmaster is! He didn’t just happen to become the Headmaster of an orphanage. When he was a child he grew up in an orphanage, “experienced a hellish life” that made the orphanage Atsushi grew up in “seem like heaven,” graduated from the orphanage only to join the criminal underworld, and he watched as all his friends from the orphanage died and he was the lone survivor. After becoming the Headmaster he, because of his past experience, recognized Atsushi had an ability and hid it from the rest of the orphanage until Atsushi was 18 in order to protect him. He knew how Atsushi would be hunted down and mistreated because of his ability and did the best he could, considering the horrible upbringing he had himself, to teach Atsushi to hate those who would hurt him and do everything he could to survive. The Headmaster taught Atsushi to be who he is and enabled him to have the will and determination to become the person who would save a drowning man while he himself is nearly dead from hunger, throw himself over a bomb to try and protect people in a detective agency he doesn’t know, risk his place in the Agency in order to save Kyouka and rescue her from a hopeless situation, and risk his own life to stop the Guild and become the hero who saved Yokohama. Can you imagine how proud and relieved the Headmaster must have been to learn that Atsushi was not only alive but had saved countless lives? How comforted he must have been knowing that his worst fears of Atsushi being killed, resorting to crime and living in a worse hell than the orphanage, or being tortured or used because of his ability had not become a reality! How could he be considered anything other than a proud father who wants to find and congratulate the son he raised? In my opinion, the absolute worst thing the anime has done is deprive its viewers the Headmaster’s complex and incredible character. Without knowing him there is no way of understanding what Atsushi truly felt and how much he grew to understand himself and his place in the world as a result of learning about the Headmaster’s past and what he had risked and sacrificed for him.
To me the anime’s biggest disappointment is how they treat the protagonist. The most important chapter for understanding Atsushi’s character and what makes him protagonist material has been squeezed into 7 minutes and 43 seconds of an anime episode (about 1/3 of an episode). As the protagonist he at least deserves his own episode explaining his backstory, or the two thirds of an episode that Kyouka got for her backstory. Asagiri Kafka and Harukawa35 took the time to create a vivid portrayal of Atsushi’s childhood and him learning what role the Headmaster really played in raising Atsushi. The writing in this chapter was superb. The characters were deep and fleshed out. The plot and the way evidence and memories were presented were so powerful people were dreading seeing it play out in the anime because it had that big of an effect on them. After getting ready for the most emotional chapter in the series to be animated, actually watching the episode was a major let down in so many ways.
I will always remember chapter 39 and what it taught me about humanity, perspective, and the influence one person can have on another. Reading it changed me as much as reading No Longer Human has, and I am just as fond of it as I am of Dazai Osamu’s works. What Atsushi and his battle to overcome his past represents has already helped me overcome some of my own demons. I hope more BSD fans will read the manga, and I mean really read it the way you would a work of literature, and allow the characters and writing to really sink in as they read. The manga is just that powerful and that relatable, because all of us have felt like the outcast, all of us have had our own demons from out past that haunt us even after they are dead, and all of us are looking for a place to belong and the power to conquer ourselves.
#chapter 39#dazaiscans#episode 31#analysis#just me on my soap box#bungo stray dogs#bungou stray dogs#bsd
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Okay I need to talk about this dream I had today that I want to do art for later, and will get to eventually hopefully BUT
If you love Dragalia and you love Magi, strap in, this one’s for you.
Basically in my dream, there was a new facility event (logically it was probably one of the crossover events like FE or Megaman, both of which I could not play because my phone is old lol) but it was weird because we got Alibaba as a free 4* unit; he was a fire dagger. There was an accompanying pull, which consisted of Aladdin as a 4* wind wand, Morgiana as a 4* fire lance with specific special animations, and Sinbad as the 5* fire unit.
Aladdin and Morg acted as normal adventurers, where when you paired them with a dragon they would just transform into it. Aladdin had a shielding skill and even though he was a wand he acted as a healer, and again Morg had special actions where even though she attacked with the same range and force strike as a lance, instead of stabbing she did kicks and punches. Kinda like Veronica I guess? Where she has the book but you still get to choose her weapon but she never holds it lol
Anyway the fun part of the dream was Alibaba and Sinbad. So Alibaba was the free 4*, and he could be equipped with a dragon to get the stats BUT, instead of having the dragon next to him to transform, it was Amon’s face. So when you transformed, he went into his full Djinn Equip, and was roughly the size and model of one of the human-like dragons like Apollo or Marishiten. So SINBAD, being the 5*, was like this but ELEVATED. Because it was a fire event, Sinbad’s base element was fire, but like that other post I made about Daoko, he switched attributes depending on what team he was on. And like Alibaba, he had the same system of “gets stats from dragon but transforms into Djinn.” BUT BECAUSE HE SWAPPED ATTRIBUTES, HE HAD FIVE DIFFERENT TRANSFORMATIONS IT WAS SO COOL. So every time he swapped attributes, the Djinn that showed up in the transformation button next to his face was different akfslf
In my dream he had Focalor for fire, which I think was just the color similarity, but thinking about this later, Sinbad would be a 5* fire sword and his Djinn in accordance to attribute would be: Focalor for wind, Valefor for Water (cuz ice like Lily and Fiorm), Baal for light (cuz he’s lightning, like Albert), even though he was never shown in the anime Crocell for fire, and then because he has no where else to fit Zepar for dark (although Furfur, similarly not shown, is Actually the Djinn of ‘Rending Darkness’ soooo). Their moves would all summon the eight pointed star when used haha, and For Sure Baal’s attack would be Bararaq Inquerad Saiqa, and Focalor’s would be Cleaving Wind haha. Valefor’s Stagnation would probably just freeze all enemies on map for a second, which is not how he works in the manga/anime BUT it would be good for cheese LOL
While I was telling my gf about this this AM, I was also thinking how good it would be to have the Ren kids too. Like Kouen as a 5* fire blade or sword with Astaroth and his flaming dragon (and maybe his other skills reference his other Djinn, like he has a healing move for Phenex), Hakuryuu as a wind bow with Zagan or a dark lance with Belial, Kouha as a dark axe with Laraje, Kougyoku my GIRL as a water sword with Venea, and Hakuei as a wind wand or sword with Paimon. Maybe like a prt. 2 of the event or something haha
It’ll never happen, but I think this could work as a really cool event. Especially because I think Alibaba and Euden would get along with each other, and Elly/Morg would probably bond over protecting their idiot blonde fire princes haha Clau and Hakuryuu cooking together, and Aladdin/Kouha/Luca/Ranzal hitting it off and playing pranks. Kougyoku and Hakuei would probably enjoy chilling with Elly and Clau over tea; but also considering how much Vanessa and Yachiyo like to fight, Kougyoku would have a great time sparring them so it would just be Hakuei and the other two sitting by and watching while those three go to town on each other LOL And it would be cool to see Euden learning from both Sinbad and Kouen (and maybe in the end deciding that they’re extreme opposite sides of the same coin, and deciding to continue to pursue something in the center even if it’s harder but it’s because as a ruler he believes it’s what’s right for his people. Sinbad could say something like “that’s how a true king could think,” and Kouen could be like “lofty ideal, but admirable” or something haha)
#dragalia lost#magi#magi the labyrinth of magic#crossover#gdiwes#gdiwes talks#euden dragalia#cleo dragalia#elly dragalia#elisanne dragalia#alibaba magi#sinbad magi#aladdin magi#morgiana magi#ren hakuryuu#ren kouen#ren kogyoku#ren hakuei#ren kouha#luca dragalia#ranzal dragalia
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The Best Transmigration and Isekai Mangas/Manhwas/Manhuas I’m Reading Right Now
Does anyone care about this list? Probably not, but I’m making it even if it’s only for my reference. So here they are, in no particular order.
* English Title: I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss
* Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou nanode Last Boss wo Kattemimashita
* Mangaka: Nagase Sarasa (story), Anko Yuzu (art)
* Summary: “Avoid the BAD END! That's the goal of the villainess in this plot-twisting story!!
She has been reborn into the world of an otome game as the villainess, Irene. Using her memories of her former life, she recognizes flags indicating she's en-route to the bad end, so she makes a plan to conquer the last boss (the evil king Claude), make him her lover, and see if she can open up a new route!” (MyAnimeList)
* Why I Like This One: Irene is a very fun character! I love her sheer determination in everything she does. Her love interest (Claude) is nothing special imo - classic misunderstood character - but his relationship with Irene is pretty sweet. There are some interesting twists in the plot, too!
* Title: Miss Not-So Sidekick
* Creator: Ellianyang
* Summary: “Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!” (1stKissManga)
* Why I Like This One: Latte isn’t actually interested in romance! She would much rather watch how the narrative plays out than take an active role in it. Therefore, she decides to befriend the protagonist. However, just by virtue of being herself, Latte seems to have thrown the narrative off-course! (Not that she realizes that it’s her fault.) The developing relationships are fun to watch. However, this is very much a slow burn.
Another fun thing about this manhwa is how Ellianyang throws in all sorts of references to other works such as Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Detective Conan!
* English Title: Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony!
* Japanese Title: Mochiron, Isharyou Seikyuu Itashimasu!
* Mangaka: Soy (story), Mutou Tamura (story)
* Summary: “"I'll annul our engagement!" my fiancé suddenly declared?! Apparently he's in love with the recently transferred count's daughter and is planning on making me the villain in order to annul the engagement. Although I have no lingering attachments about the engagement, I do have to claim a hefty consolation fee, don't I?” (MyAnimeList)
* Why I Like This One: “Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony!” does something very fun in that the otome novel that is being referenced exists within the story. The protagonists are very aware of this and the main heroine is most definitely willing to work within and with the narrative to turn things to her advantage.
* English Title: I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess With Only Destruction Flags...
* Japanese Title: Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta...
* Mangaka: Yamaguchi Satoru (story), Hidaka Nami (Art)
* Summary: “ Katarina Claes is the eight-year-old daughter of a duke. One day, she hits her head and recovers the memories of her past life, and she comes a horrifying realization—she is in a world similar to that of an otome game she once played, and she is the main villain! To make matters worse, in every possible conclusion, whether exile or death, she is met with a terrible end.
Using her knowledge of how the game unfolds, Katarina must now do whatever it takes to change her fate. Whether she must cultivate her skills as a farmer or befriend every character that comes her way, nothing is ever too much for her to handle.
As the years go on, everything seems to be going as planned. However, Katarina realizes that she made a mistake in her previous life, as she never actually finished the game before death; and so a new, secret route may just prove to be her undoing.”
* Why I Like This One: This is the quintessential isekai! Katarina is a stubborn yet naive character. She is doing all she can to change the narrative, but she is always surprised by the results! Still, I like that the creators aren’t shying away from making lovely female characters besides Katarina. There were also some twists that I really wasn’t expecting from a manga like this!
An anime adaptation is coming soon.
* English Title: Endo and Kobayashi’s Live Commentary on the Villainess!
* Japanese Title: Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endo-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san
* Mangaka: Enoshima Suzu, Sakakiri
* Summary: “She’s always putting on that grumpy face even though she’s not actually that upset! Oh, why can’t she just be honest with herself…!? She is a tsundere, after all? When her embarrassment levels exceed a certain limit, she will explode into anger. However, the point that she’s suppressing under the surface is that she wouldn’t mind that sort of thing if it were in a less public place? As Endo-kun passionately reacts to the antics of Lady Liselotte, the villainess of an otome game, Kobayashi-san provides a painstaking breakdown of her tsundere behaviour. Suddenly, one person could hear their voices; Liselotte’s fiancée, Prince Siegward. That is where this story begins.” (MangaGo)
* Why I Like This One: The characters within the narrative, Liselotte and Siegward, actually interest me way less than Endo and Kobayashi. I can’t wait to see how they handle this sudden change in their lives! And it seems that there is someone behind this magic game but the game wasn’t their intention? I’m curious.
* English Title: The Death Mage That Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time
* Japanese Title: Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi
* Mangaka: Densuke (story), Kojima Takehiro (Art)
* Summary: “Amamiya Hiroto is unlucky. His life consisted of misfortune after misfortune, culminating in an unlucky death during an incident on a school boat trip, trying to save a girl he barely knew. After death, he met a god of reincarnation who requested that the hundred or so dead passengers—one of them being the girl he tried in vain to save—be reincarnated into another world.
Yet a series of unfortunate events forced Hiroto to reincarnate with even less luck than before, starting with nothing but a tremendous amount of Mana. His second life, far worse than his first, came to a cruel end.
However, upon meeting the god a second time, he was informed that there would be yet another reincarnation—one that had already been set in motion and could not be stopped. Not wanting Hiroto to endure a third life filled with suffering, the god cursed him before he was reborn in the hopes that he would either die quickly or commit suicide.
Hiroto was reborn once more as a half-vampire, half-dark elf. A dhampir. Not wanting a fourth life, he is determined to live this third life with the only things remaining from his previous lives—Death Magic and his enormous Mana pool. “ (Light Novel Bastion)
* Why I Like This One: Holy crap, those first chapters were dark. This manga is certainly proving that isekai isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Honestly, the real thing that keeps drawing me back is the found family dynamic. I could do without all the fanservice though...
* Title: Cheating Men Must Die
* Creator: The King
* Summary: “One moment oppressing scum yields a moment of satisfaction. Continuously oppressing scum yields continuous satisfaction. Our female main lead, Su Lüxia is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds. Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and bitches. Su Lüxia: “Only a cheating bastard's tears of remorse, and the pained moans of a bitch unable to get what she wants bring me solace.” System: “Has my host tapped into her humanity today? Nope.”” (Manga Rock)
* Why I Like This One: This manhua is just a long ride of schadenfreude. The story goes in arcs, and there is no doubt that Su Lüxia is going to trample those cheaters, but how she does it is always a surprise! The art is beautiful and the story wildly entertaining. Readers beware, however, as this manhua features themes such as sexual assault, suicide, and abuse.
* English Title: Though I May Be a Villainess, I’ll Show You I Can Obtain Happiness!
* Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou Desuga, Shiawase ni Natte Mesemasu wa!
* Mangakas: Hoshino Osome, Nekomata Doremi, Sorakura SHIJIKI, Yuuki Satoru, Kuroe Yui, Reiga Utsuhou, Yamashiro Umemayuge, Mafuyubi, Oshitsuji Ei, Mizuno Saaya
* Summary: "Annuled Engagements, Take That’s, Condemnation Events, Doting, Royals, Reincarnated Heroines, Banishment Endings…it’s fully loaded with all the charms of Villainess’!!
A comicalization of 5 popular villainess stories from Shousetsuka ni Narou!!
An anthology of 5 oneshots with happy endings!!” (IsekaiScan)
* Why I Like This One: This is an anthology and all the stories are very different. My personal favorites are “The Tale of the Noble Girl who will go to a Monastery after her Engagement Annulment,” “Shall We Walk Hand in Hand Down the Flowery Path of Evil?” and “The Villainess Trifles with the Second Prince’s First Love.”
* Title: IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone
* Creators: Soo-Wan Yoo (author), Hye-Yi Yoon (artist)
* Summary: “ The husband was in love with her cousin and the family was taken away by cigar. The moment I fell into despair and to end my life; the memory of my past life came to my mind.The life of a white-haired worker in Seoul, returning to the past, she decided. “I will not be abandoned by them again. Now I will forsake them!”Ian stare full gazed at Iris’ eyes, “Do you remember what I said the other day? Are you asking for a different fee?”“Yes. I want to get it now.” Iris, was a woman who had nothing. “I did not have a strong parent like other noble princess, nor did I have much money.”“What do you mean by yourself?” Iris blinked. He laughed and said. “Let’s have a relationship with me.” The eldest son of the line, the best of the empire, the best dancer Valencia is the perfect husband. The rope for the revenge makes me crave for more.” (1stKissManga)
* Why I Like This One: Iris’ evolution is a delight to watch. The smartphone hasn’t actually played much of a role at this point, but the importance of it’s existence in Iris’ world is slowly being revealed. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful art and story!
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KH3 Plot Holes and Analyzing the Weapon Names of Organization XIII (Part 1)
After beating KH3, I was immensely disappointed. All I could think of was how poor the story was, how many plot holes there were, how many questions I had that should have been answered, how unsatisfying so many character arcs felt, and how little closure we got on so many topics Nomura previously promised answers to. Almost all the issues that felt unsatisfying or poorly explained are now being tied to the next game, when by all rights they should have been resolved in this one. And most of these subplots are now being tied to Union X, when they had no foreshadowing that they involved that game’s lore or original characters ever before.
One of the main topics I felt NO closure on was Ansem’s six apprentices, as well as Lea and Isa’s connection to them. We know Nomura originally intended 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage to be a full-volume game, and that it would have made the characters “more complicated”. Given the scenes chosen in Blank Points, it seems we would have learned much more about the apprentices and their fall to darkness. Here are the things Nomura said in interviews that indicate how much more we were supposed to learn about the original Organization XIII:
What sort of people were Organization members 3-8 as humans?
We know now that they had ordinary lives in Radiant Garden. In BbS we’ve seen one part of Xigbar’s past, as well as members 3-8. 3-6 were apprentices under Ansem the Wise and did things like act as guardsmen, but Axel and Saïx were just young boys who were friends.
What happened to Ansem the Wise?
He is left wandering in the Realm of Darkness. Ansem the Wise, who had been banished to the Realm of Nothingness by his six apprentices, in KHII, wanted to release the Kingdom Hearts made from people’s hearts that the Nobodies of his apprentices had made. The machine that he used for that ended up exploding, taking him with it. It looked as though he died, but we know from the secret event in BbS that he was sent into the Realm of Darkness. Ansem tried to encode the heart’s form into data with his machine, but it didn’t go as planned and the machine went berserk. Ansem the Wise was thrust into the Realm of Darkness, forgetting all of his memories except those concerning Sora.
Did Apprentice Xehanort really lose his memories?
Master Xehanort commandeered Terra’s body, and became Ansem the Wise’s apprentice. According to Secret Ansem Report 1 From KHII, the young man asked to become a test subject for Ansem’s research so he could get his memories back. After that they began the study of darkness, but did he really lose his memories? And are those memories Terra’s or Master Xehanort’s?
Why is Xemnas searching for The Chamber of Waking?
To find Ventus. The Chamber of Waking is the room where Aqua leaves Ventus sleeping in Last Episode, and is a part of Castle Oblivion. As you can see from Xemnas calling Aqua’s armor his “friend”, it seems Xemnas has Terra’s memories and he is searching for Ventus, making the other Organization members look for the Chamber of Waking. The only one who can solve the mysteries of Castle Oblivion is Aqua, though, so the Organization was never able to find it.
What are the details of Ansem’s apprentices fall into darkness?
Most of what had happened with Ansem’s apprentices before their fall into darkness is unknown, aside from what was touched upon in Secret Ansem Reports. And the mystery of “the plan that was decided on after Axel and Saix entered the Organization” that was talked about in the Secret Reports in Days still remains. According to Nomura there is still much about the Organization’s humans that has yet to be said.
Where is Master Xehanort’s keyblade?
As was stated in Secret Ansem Report 13 in KHII, while studying darkness the young Xehanort opened the door to the heart of Radiant Garden. This would have been possible if he had a keyblade, but according to the Ansem Reports 4-8 in KH, he did not yet know about the keyblade at the time. In Last Episode Master Xehanort used his keyblade up until going to the world of darkness, but what happened to it after that...?
Roxas, the "Sora + Ventus" Nobody, was able to use a Keyblade. In contrast Xemnas, the "Terra + Master Xehanort" Nobody, wasn't able to use a Keyblade. Why is this?
I'd rather that point remain a mystery. It's possible that he intentionally wasn't using one.
The King seems to come in contact with Kairi, the heroine from Kingdom Hearts I.
Because the story takes place before Kingdom Hearts I, the part about Kairi couldn’t be ignored. However, the cause for her going to Destiny Island and her detailed history are not revealed. It draws on the mysterious special existence.
Why did Kairi end up with Sora and Riku?
It has to do with Aqua’s “magic”. Nine years before KH, Kairi was thrust into the outside world, and found herself on Sora and Riku’s world. Ansem Seeker of Darkness thought that she had been able to search for a keyblade wielder, but what actually saved her was the magic spell Aqua had put on her.
Lea and Isa also lived in Radiant Garden apart from the Organization members up to No.6.
That’s right, however they are merely residents at this time. They’re just innocent Frisbee playing boys.
Where did the Organization’s coat and mark come from?
Xemnas remembering his human years. One year after BbS, Xehanort as well as five other apprentices toss aside their hearts. Then the Nobody Xemnas was born, and the Organization which he creates takes a lot of things from his memories as a human. But as Xemnas had two people who he was, Terra and Master Xehanort, he takes from both of their memories.
In KH BbS, Master Xehanort's goal behind opening Kingdom Hearts was to "create a new world." But in this game, he says it is to "reset the world." Why the difference?
What was revealed in this game was another piece of the truth: his goal was "this world is no longer any good, and we have to recreate it from scratch."
We are interested in why Xehanort would come to such a conclusion.
At first, I did want to use a next game to dig down into how Xehanort went from that simple boy playing the chess-like game to an admirer of the darkness. But, if I do that, then the Dark Seeker Chronicle wouldn't have ended with KH3 after all (laughs.) Some ideas had solidified to a degree, but it's shelved for now.
The Dark Seeker arc has concluded, but since when have you been thinking about the conclusion?
The Dark Seeker arc has been a concept ever since KH2. In those days, I just kind of threw together and decided an outline. I was often told by the manga artist that they felt "the characters come alive however they want", and some parts did change from their original conceptualization, but in the grand scheme of things not much changed.
Emphasis mine on the mention of things changing from their original conceptualization. There are many details I suspect were changed, while keeping the overall grand scheme the same. I believe there was supposed to be way more backstory to the Organization than what we actually got. So I decided to look for possible clues in the story. 358/2 Days revolves around Organization XIII and I noticed that the names of their weapons are very unique and interesting. They may very well shed light on what the members’ backstories could have been.
In Days, the weapons are sorted into specific Gear types. The are three types that are the most interesting and most defining for the character. The first is Pandora Gear, “a formidable weapon with exceptional capabilities.” For Organization members, this Gear grants them two of their most powerful weapons; the color scheme is the same for all of the Organization's weapons provided by the Pandora's Gear, consisting of black, gold, and blue or red.
The second is Zero Gear, “a powerful weapon that draws forth its wielder's true worth.” The Zero Gear is emblazoned with the Nobody insignia, signifying that for the Organization members, as well as others who wear the Black Coat, this gear produces that character's signature weapon.
And finally, perhaps the MOST interesting is Mystery Gear “a weapon that draws forth its wielder's personality.” When equipped, it transforms the user's weapon into one that "draws forth its wielder's true personality.” Were these weapons a hint at the mysteries of Organization XIII’s true personalities? I will analyze all of Organization XIII’s weapons, but not necessarily in order.
No. IX - Demyx (Melodious Nocturne)
Prefers to kick back with his sitar, and leave the dirty work to the water under his command.
Not all the Organization members have weapon names that are super interesting, possibly indicating a fleshed out backstory was not thought of for all of them during the creation of 358/2 Days.
Most of Demyx’s Sitars are named after musical or rock and roll terms. Basic Model, Tune-Up, Quartet, Overture, Old Hand, Da Capo, Power Chord, Fermata, Interlude, Serenade, Songbird, Rise to Fame, Rock Star, Eight-Finger, Concerto, Harmonics, Million Bucks, Fortissimo, Up to Eleven, Arpeggio, and Prince of Awesome (joke weapon). The joke weapon is a tennis racket and its name is a reference to the "Prince" brand of rackets, which have the general shape of Demyx's sitar. It may also refer to the anime and manga series, The Prince of Tennis.
Demyx’s Pandora Gear is Sanctuary, a reference to the English version of Utada Hikaru’s opening song. His Zero Gear is Arpeggio; musically, an arpeggio is the playing of notes from a single chord in rapid succession. Dance water, dance! His Mystery Gear is After School, a broom. It is probably a reference to after-school clean-up of a classroom, which is common in Japanese schools. For some, this assignment may have been given as punishment for getting caught sleeping in class. Because it brings out Demyx's true personality, it may be a reference to his tendency to "sweep things under the rug" or evidence that he was a rather ordinary person compared to the rest of the Organization.
No. XII - Larxene (The Savage Nymph)
Wields sharp knives and a sharper tongue. Her lightning strikes as quick as her temper.
All of Larxene’s knives have French names relating to storms and heavenly bodies. Her weapon names translate to Sharp Edge, Thunderstorm, Whirlwind, Tempest, Carmine, Meteor, Star, Irregular, Dissonance, Eruption, Setting Sun, Indigo, Wave, Flood, Squall, Typhoon, Eradicate, Southern Cross, Luminous, Moonlight, and Damselfly (joke weapon).
Some of her weapon names seem like a reference to Final Fantasy games. Squall, Lightning, Typhoon (summon) and Luminous (the engine). Other than that, they seem to describe a stormy femme fatale personality. The Tempest is a play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s. When the play begins, Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, and his teenage daughter, Miranda, live on a remote island where they have been stranded for the past twelve years. Unbeknownst to them, the storm is the work of Prospero, who aims to shipwreck them on his island. It is a tale of magic, deception, revenge, and marriage. The main political theme of the play is gaining power and control over others. A reference to her role in Castle Oblivion?
Her Pandora Gear is Vol de Nuit or Night Flight in English. Vol de Nuit is the name of a book from the French author Antoine de Saint Exupéry, in which a pilot is trapped in a storm. A major theme of the novel is whether doing what is necessary to meet a long-term goal is more important than an individual's life. Her Zero Gear is Lightning. Her Mystery Gear is Light Bulb. The light bulb is the symbol of invention, intelligence, and a great idea. Perhaps Larxene was a lot more complex and intelligent than we have gotten a chance to see.
No. XI - Marluxia (Graceful Assassin)
In the arc of his scythe, flowers grow and all else perishes. His pretty face hides ugly motives.
All of Marluxia’s weapons are named after flowers along with a typically negative adjective. The only exception is the Stirring Ladle, one of his joke weapons. His weapons allude to some tragic backstory, as well as his inner resolve.
The rest of his weapons are Fickle Erica, Jilted Anemone, Proud Amaryllis, Mad Safflower, Poor Melissa, Tragic Allium, Mournful Cineraria, Pseudo Silene, Faithless Digitalis, Grim Muscari, Docile Vallota, Quiet Belladonna, Parting Ipheion, Lofty Gerbera, Gallant Achillea, Noble Peony, Fearsome Anise, Vindictive Thistle, Fair Helianthus, and Solemn Magnolia.
His Pandora Gear is Hallowed Lotus.The lotus flower is regarded in many different cultures, especially in eastern religions, as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. His Zero Gear is Graceful Dahlia. The dahlia is known to represent one who stands strong in his/her sacred values. His Mystery Gear is Dainty Bellflowers or Dainty Liliies-of-the Valley in Japanese. Bellflowers symbolize unwavering love. The Lily of the valley means "return to happiness" and most often symbolizes chastity, purity, happiness, luck and humility. It does apparently indicate that Marluxia was not conceived as an evil character, even as early as 358/2 Days’ writing.
No. X - Luxord (Gambler of Fate)
Life, to him, is just a game to be won...and he has all the time in the world to do it.
Nearly all of Luxord’s weapons are named after tarot cards, with the exception of his joke weapon. His joke weapon is Finest Fantasy 13, which takes the appearance of many compact discs; an obvious reference to how the PS1 Final Fantasy games came on multiple discs.
The rest of his cards are named after the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The Fool, The Magician, The Star, The Moon, Justice, The Hierophant, The World, Temperance, The High Priestess, The Tower, The Hanged Man, Death, The Hermit, Strength, The Lovers, The Chariot, The Sun, The Devil, The Empress, and The Emperor.
His Zero Gear is Fair Game, his main weapon from Kingdom Hearts II and not related to the Tarot. His Mystery Gear is High Roller’s Secret. Instead of being related to the Tarot, its name and design is drawn from the superstition that four-leaf clovers are blessed with good luck. His Pandora’s Gear is The Joker. The Joker is often compared to The Fool in the Tarot deck. They share many similarities both in appearance and play function.
Nomura said that the “Wild Card” that Luxord gave Sora while he was fading away will come into play later and that perhaps it holds the key to Sora's revival. The Fool Arcana is often also called the Wild Card in Tarot decks. The Fool represents new beginnings, having faith in the future, being inexperienced, not knowing what to expect, having beginner's luck, improvisation and believing in the universe.
Luxord wrote a report in 358/2 Days indicating he admires children for some reason:
“I find myself envying the children. Perhaps some fundamental difference exists between those who become Nobodies as adults and otherwise. The longer you have lived, the more you are positioned to lose with such a gamble. But a child can look forward, unafraid even in the face of immeasurable odds. I doubt they even see life as a gamble the way we do.”
#anti kh3#kh spoilers#kh meta#kingdom hearts meta#larxene#kh demyx#kh larxene#kh org#organization xiii#kh3 spoilers#marluxia#luxord#kh3#kingdom hearts#kingdom hearts 358/2 days
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What is your rank of the Jojo OPs?
Oooooh, that’s tough. It’s hard to rank them because Jojo openings are kind of different from your standard “song by some popular band set to formulaic generic cool anime shots”, so like, music-wise I like Bloody Stream but Sono Chi no Kioku is cooler as an opening for example... How about instead of ranking them from best to worst, I’ll critique them all instead! I’ll put it under a cut because this gets long.
Sono Chi no Sadame
Music: ★★★★☆ - It’s really good, and Tommy’s singing is always great because you can always tell he’s having lots of fun. That being said, it’s a little bit of an acquired taste. If someone who normally listens to pop music put on Sono Chi no Sadame in front of someone who doesn’t know Jojo, that other person would probably be very confused and might not like it. (As a side note, depending on my mood I sometimes prefer the metal version from the anthology CDs, but they’re both so good...)
Animation: ★★★☆☆ - It’s pretty cool, and I love the use of manga panels especially the split second where you can see Jolyne. It’s very well synced with the music, like the part where they shoot Dio? Holy shit dude... I also like the part where Dio walks up the wall. That being said, the stage feels a little cramped, and since this was the first of the 3D Jojo openings it’s not quite as polished as the others. I feel like the models look a little weird at times, and I’m not so fond of the shade of teal used for Jonathan near the end...
Jojolity (to borrow the term from EoH): ★★★★★ I would have honestly ranked this one a little lower, but I mean, come on. It’s Sono Chi no Sadame. It’s iconic! While the lyrics don’t have as many direct references to the series as some of the other openings, I like the frequent references to the Joestar legacy (both in the lyrics and at the beginning of the animation). And as I mentioned, Tommy’s singing is so fun it’s infectious. Plus this opening deserves a whole extra star just for the iconic “JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOJO!”
Bloody Stream
Music: ★★★★☆ - This is definitely one of my favorite Jojo openings, but again, it’s a little weird compared to most anime music. It’s not as energetic as Sono Chi no Sadame, and the lyrics aren’t all that imo. The bridge (or whatever, you know the “kyoumei suru / unmei no hamon / kokoro ni) part is kind of weird tbh. But still, I really like this one.
Animation: ★★★★★ - I absolutely love the visuals on this one. I love the Battle Tendency aesthetic in general, and this opening practically oozes that aesthetic. The way they combined 2D and 3D is really cool, and I love the use of color, patterns, and silhouettes. The typography is really cool too! I love that while it does manage to incorporate some story elements like the other openings, it’s mostly at the end, and overall it’s a lot more abstract and focused on the main characters as individuals. I also really love the beginning, with Joseph kind of walking onto the scene and getting ready to show off, like it’s his turn now! Welcome to part 2! However, with all this being said, why the thing with Lisa Lisa... why. I’m so tired of Jojo fanservice moms.
Jojolity: ★★★★☆ - This is a great opening that, while certainly different from the others and not as connected with the series as a whole, couldn’t suit part 2 better. It’s not just another Jojo opening, you watch this one and you KNOW it’s Battle Tendency. There’s a lot of fitting use of patterns and motifs in the animation- stars and the manga’s “JOJO” for Joseph, plus the brief foreshadowing of Hermit Purple, then for Lisa Lisa we’ve got some swirls and ripples, and Caesar has the Zeppeli family checkerboard/harlequin pattern. And of course, the blood bubble, the bandana, and the scream at the end are fantastic(ly painful).
Stand Proud
Music: ★★☆☆☆ - It’s good, but it doesn’t really stand out among the other Jojo songs. It’s a lot more generic sort of sound, like a normal anime opening. Even as a song on its own, I don’t think it’s especially noteworthy. Maybe that’s just personal taste though. That being said, I like the lyrics a lot! And I don’t know if everyone realizes this in English, but the “alright now, alright now, alright now” part is pronounced in Japanese like “ora now, ora now, ora now”, so it’s kind of a neat pun, even if I feel like it sounds better when it’s pronounced closer to English. (You’ll notice the “ora” a lot more if you listen to that one clip of Daisuke Ono singing it.)
Animation: ★★★★★ - This is the third of the CGI openings, and the experience shows. The models are a lot smoother and nicer looking than the first two openings, imo. The camera angles are pretty cool, and it manages to have a good blend of overall story scenes with more character-focused, “cool factor” type visuals. The colors are nice, the space theme is really cool, and my favorite part is the bit where Jotaro’s kneeling at the bottom of a sort of Joestar family tree.
Jojolity: ★★★★★ - While this is not my personal favorite opening, the animation and the song do a fantastic job of living up to the series. Part 3 imo is sort of the “big finale” of Jojo (even if it’s only the third of eight parts, it’s one of if not the most popular, and sort of the culmination of the Joestars vs. Dio rivalry), and Stand Proud- both in animation and music- is suitably badass, as well as connected to Jojo as a whole. There’s a lot of references to the Joestar legacy, both in the lyrics and a lot of visuals that literally show past Joestars and lead up to Jotaro taking his place in the spotlight and carrying on the family destiny. There’s also some pretty cool references to manga art.
Sono Chi no Kioku
Music: ★★★★★ - There’s really no term to describe it other than “grand”. It’s almost orchestral or like an opera, very dramatic and cinematic in a way, but still has a rock style to it as well. The use of a heartbeat-like sound at the beginning is cool. The lyrics are great, and I love that not only is it sung by the singers of the previous three openings, but if you listen to the full version, in the bridge they all make references to their respective openings (”The destiny of light and darkness” “the swirling history is bloody” “an inheritance of undying pride”). And of course, my favorite part is where they yell “STAAAAAAAAAR PLATINUMMMM!”
Animation: ★★★★★ - I don’t have too much to say about this one, since it’s pretty much the same quality as Stand Proud, but it’s also full of little blink-and-you-miss-them details and foreshadowing; You can actually briefly see stylized examples of how every character dies, and if you watch very, very carefully during the shot with Jotaro frozen in time, the finger on his right hand twitches. I like the bit on the stairs with the Egyptian god silhouettes, and the broken clock motif is also really cool, while at the same time it ties in with the space theme of Stand Proud.
Jojolity: ★★★★★★★ - This, to me, is the ultimate Jojo opening. It’s so dramatic, so part 3, so very Jojo, and in a lot of ways it really is the culmination of everything that came before it. The animation and the music are both fantastic. Then on top of all that we have the unforgettable “ZA WARUDO” edition, which to this day is absolutely the coolest thing I have ever seen any anime opening do, by far. Sono Chi no Kioku is absolutely perfect for the end of part 3 and does a great job of embodying “This is it, everything has been leading up to this, this is the final resolution of 100 years of Dio tormenting the Joestars, this is where it all goes down.” I love this opening so much and I don’t know if any anime opening will ever live up to it, for me.
Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town
Music: ★★★★☆ - Dude, this one gets stuck in my head SO easily. It’s a lot of fun.
Animation: ★★★☆☆ - It’s really unimpressive after the amazing CGI openings, and doesn’t even have as much movement as most anime openings. But the colors are really fun, and it definitely shows of Morioh, with scenery from all over town as well as montages of Morioh’s residents.
Jojolity: ★★★☆☆ - It’s just pretty disappointing compared to the first four openings. It doesn’t have nearly the same level of dramatic action, nor as many references to the actual story. It’s much more mellow. Overall, it feels less like a story about Jojo, and more like a random dance party. However, one might argue that that’s perfect for part 4; with no more vampires and a protagonist who wasn’t raised as a Joestar, part 4 has much less to do with Jojo overall than the previous three parts, and is a lot more slice-of-life, so a Morioh dance party makes sense. I’ll also say that I do genuinely like Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town, and both the music and the animation remind me a lot of Bloody Stream. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but either way, I feel like it’s a great homage to the fact that Josuke is Joseph’s son.
Chase
Music: ★☆☆☆☆ - While I like the song itself decently enough, it’s even more generic than Stand Proud, and the only direct references to the series in the lyrics are the use of the word “arrow” in two lines. Also, the singer doesn’t sound especially passionate, and holy shit dude take a cough drop. You’re killing me here. I’d actually like this song if I could stand the singing at all.
Animation: ★★★☆☆ - It’s much more drab than Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town, but it does have a lot more action and movement to it, and more references to the story. I like the Killer Queen emblem thing, too. I feel like at times it’s not very well synced with the lyrics. However, Reimi is in it, so there’s that. I love you Reimi
Jojolity: ★★☆☆☆ - It just doesn’t feel like a Jojo opening. Jojo should be weird, fun, colorful, fashionable, and Chase just... isn’t. It’s dull. It’s generic. Where are the funky trumpets? Fun patterns and colors? Keywords like “stand” or “destiny” dropped into the lyrics? There are none. If you replaced the characters, you could use this as an opening for Death Note. A Jojo opening should be very unique to Jojo. That being said, at least the darkness of both the music and the animation are very fitting for the horror of knowing that Kira is out there somewhere, and it’s cool how they throw in things like the fingernails or the Killer Queen emblem as if he’s watching everyone.
Great Days
Music: ★★★★☆ - Now THIS is a Jojo opening. It’s no Sono Chi no Sadame, but it’s fun, hopeful, and has plenty of references to the story. Not to mention that right of the bat, it incorporates the main theme from the OST, which is awesome.
Animation: ★★★★☆ - Again, it doesn’t live up to the CGI openings, but it’s got some cool angles and such. There’s a nice balance of plot-appropriate darkness and Jojo fashion aesthetic, and it shows off the town and also includes story elements. There’s some cool emblems and poses, too. Not to mention that Reimi is right at the forefront of this opening! I love you Reimi
Jojolity: ★★★★☆ - Like Sono Chi no Kioku, this one definitely has a sort of “penultimate” feeling, especially due to the use of the main theme. It’s really fun and suited to both the part 4 finale and Jojo as a whole, and the pointing pose is straight out of the manga. And then of course we’ve got the “Bites the Dust” version, like The World and Sono Chi no Kioku. Great Days is perfect for the end of part 4.
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Notes for Reading- Week 6
Artists
# Bodies. Surrogates. Emergent Systems #
Ken Feingold
Keyword: Bionic
(The second work: Sinking feeling, here is the link: https://youtu.be/GitKKzsG-2M )
At first I saw his work. I think the artist is ambitious in carrying out his eternal life plan. He used his face as a symbol and used technology to create countless new life. It is like an infinite clone. After millions of years, he still achieved infinite life.
After careful understanding, I found that the most interesting details in his work are: conversation and listening.
His copied faces play different roles. They are not just playing the artist. They represent the audience and represent all living things, human characteristics such as fear. But when the audience and the "they" have a dialogue, everything is generated in real time by computer programs, and even some sentences are exceptionally smooth, as if those moving their heads really have life. I still think he has a lot of ambitions, he using his face to symbolize the general behavior of all human beings. [ In addition, in the work of three skulls, he mentioned, "the mind of animals, plants, minerals." I am a little confused. I considered the commonality between the three types of element and “humans”, maybe they are all organic life? (This part is a little bit complicated, I will continue to think) ]
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Stelarc
Antunez Roca
Keyword: Mechatronics performance & Mechanical aesthetic
I will discuss the works of these two artists together. Their works have obvious commonalities: expressing the contradictory emotions of mechanics and technology through performances.
Why is it contradictory? Their emotional details can be divided into: the pursuit of mechanical beauty and the "hate" of mechanical control.
First, from the artist's creative intentions. The two artists allowed the audience to manipulate the machinery and control their body, thus stimulating the visual expression of the pain in the body: the massive control of modern science and technology. Second, from the point of visual effect. The two artists personally performed on stage. Their bodies are not beautiful and have no muscles. They combine their full of weakness body and twisted face with metal and wires. This is a straightforward expression of mechanical aesthetics. The combination of machinery and human body, visual impact, prediction and pursuit of cyberpunk world.
# Development of the topic #
1. Since the era of mechanization, people have left traditional materials, wood, stone, etc. Metal, and electronic technology permeated into human life. And it brings convenience for people's daily life while controlling people in subtle ways . People are too dependent on mechanization, which makes many people worry about whether the value of human beings will be weakened at the end of the development of things. Where is the human right to autonomy in the state of mechanical mastery? This is indeed an objective fact worth discussing, but whether this situation can change, what the mechanical dominance will look like, we have not been able to know for centuries, unless we can live longer.
2. Why do people always want to transform their bodies? From the most basic behavior: dressing, hair dyeing, jewelry, tattoos, these can be said to be changes to human body, but very few people can really transform their own body with blood but I believe that everyone has this potential desire, becoming more beautiful base on their standards.
Why people are unusually infatuated with mechanical creatures? The reason for people relying on mechanical equipment is the same: strength, speed, appearance, and so on.
Movie: Alita
In addition to the works of these two male artists, I also thought of a Japanese manga: Alita, which has a great influence on me. This cartoon was born very early, but it has been made into a movie in recent years. After the film was aired, there was a popular saying on the Internet: Every girl wants to be Alita. Why? Because of the extremely beautiful metal made body, the power that can erupte at any time, and an immortal life.
All in all, both the works of the two artists and the films I mentioned show a very special kind of psychology of human beings. On the complex emotions of science and technology, on the one hand, a lot of voices, humanities, artists, protest against science and technology, but sometimes The pursuit of human mechanical beauty has reached morbid psychology, which is a special product of the times. Plus, personally I don't like to discuss technology to control life is not right, the most terrible third hand is not technology but the social class itself. In general, I love the beauty of machinery. The truth is that I am looking forward to the advent of the era of mechanical dominance. My personal prediction is that at that time, the relationship between humans and technology will be very special, and human autonomy will not disappear, as long as they want.
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Chris Burden
Physical body
This man with a beautiful face and body but who has really done a lot of crazy behaviors, when he was young. I am really confused, why is he hurting himself most of the time? If we disassemble his work, the process: behavior - injury；the result: scars. So what is his beginning, and the central idea? He always refers to the word “liberation of mind”. He tangibly conveys this idea with crazy behavior and vision that I think is extremist. However, in his works, the human body and the spark meet are beautiful, and with painful and irritating visual expression has become an art genre, just like Frida Kahol's paintings divide her own body into two parts with a machine gun, I think that It is very beautiful.
After this reading, I start to think about when people began to use crazy method, showing and changing their bodies? I found out my art history book. At the beginning, human body sculpture in the ancient era, started to show the beauty of the human body. After a period of social reasons, the theme of the Renaissance was humanity. I think that in contemporary art, the performance artist is the most straightforward continuation of the human body and the humanity concept.
In addition, I admire people who dare to transform and challenge their bodies. Everything about the human body is extremely beautiful and mysterious. Not only artists, I remember a transgender woman who changed herself into a dragon. I respect her words: "I don't want to die with the appearance of human beings". Also, like many surrealist painters, I prefer to add wings or fangs on my body in my self-portrait. If I can live for a thousand years, and live in the mechanical dominance era, I want to see if I can have the spider's metal eight limbs.
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Thoughts on the “Sailor Moon Crystal” English dub. Season two episode eight.
its funny how there’s only so many episodes left and yet I feel like there’s a lot of content to cover
kitty at a com
“why does everyone keep leaving me behind, its driving me crazy!?” to be fair this wasn’t an arc where Venus had much to do
for what its worth Mamoru didn’t do much plot wise during the Infinity Arc
“you’ll never be able to return!” just watch him
what a convenient conversation to overhear
yeah being in Demade’s presence would make me wanna drop dead too
it is weird that Demande just lets her go running, I suppose he just thinks its futile
remember when Saphir died in the 90s anime and we all felt like crap? well that ain’t happening here
I do like his voice though
and yeah Wiseman was such an obvious bad guy that I’m surprised no one resisted him
the Black Moon Clan was kinda stupid like that, though I guess everyone was just following Demande which is still stupid
“the entire universe is your’s for the taking” lawl no
also who does Wiseman’s nails? they’re flawless
“he’s possessed and he doesn’t even realize it” no your brother really is just an asshole
blaming the woman for the man’s piggish behavior, of coarse
Naoko was so ahead of her time she predicted the fuck boy. twice.
also in the manga Saphir is choking her, I guess they wanted to make this less violent?
but this anime is more geared at an older audience anyway
Black Lady in the house!
she is still played by Sandy Fox and I’m happy she genuinely sounds different because again she naturally talks in a similar voice to Chibi-Usa’s despite being my mother’s age so I wasn’t sure how this would work
thankfully it works great, she has a lot of personality to how she plays her
and yeah they aren’t doing the vocal distortion the Dic dub gave us, I understood why they did it but it got annoying fast
also can I say I’m happy we don’t have a Black Lady transformation like the 90s anime? if only for the fact that I think that transformation was pretty sexualized considering we’re watching a kid become an adult
Usagi just vaporized Saphir’s minions without actually attacking, its gorgeous
she ain’t fucking around, I love this song
more transforming, again I know the 90s anime was guilty of this too
I like how Black Lady always had this slight playful nature to herself
in a way its weird referring to her as separate from Chibi-Usa since unlike Mistress 9 she isn’t a separate being implanted within her, but a highly manipulated and heightened aspect of her own personality and insecurities (without them she would not have been created) but she is still her own thing in spite of that
I always loved Sailor Moon/Neo Queen Serenity laying the smack down like this
also how do these three know who Neo Queen Serenity is? I guess Demande just never shuts the fuck up about her, pathetic
so Wiseman leaning into Demande’s ear like that is weird because he kinda doesn’t have a face
“I’m not about to stick around and die here” I never would have pegged Rubeus as the most entertaining character for this arc, but he is
“I see through your camouflage” says the man in camouflage pants
“ahahahaha such a coward!” “who?” “you, who else?” OOOOOOOHHHHH SHIT
the new sass master approaches
goodbye Roobs, we will always have your grandiose speech pattern and one liners
also his death in the manga was more...it was more
seriously did Naoko turn his third eye sideways just to be different?
“Sailor Moon your power is truly awesome” its totally radical man
ah yes the second Mamoru is Brainwashed as a Plot Device
I swear in the manga it doesn’t happen nearly as often as the 90s anime, thank fucking God
I am immediately uncomfortable
for an unconscious body Neo Queen Serenity sure has some perfect lashes going on
the power of rock candy keeps her makeup lasting all millennia
this music is really good
tune in next time for the return of the Electra Complex
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Winter Anime* 2017 Lightning Review
*just the shows I watched of course
Shows included - ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka, Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends, Akiba’s Trip The Animation, All Out!!, BanG Dream!, Chain Chronicle, Chaos;Child, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, ElDLive, Fuuka, Gabriel Dropout, Gintama., Hand Shakers, Kemono Friends, Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon, KonoSuba S2, Kuzu no Honkai, Little Witch Academia, Masamune-kun no Revenge, Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu, Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume, Nobunaga no Shinobi, Nyanko Days, One Room, Onihei, Piace: Watashi no Italian, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Sangatsu no Lion, Seiren, Spiritpact, Urara Meirochou, Youjo Senki
Settle in for some long reviews, and probably the worst reviewed season since I started doing this! Wow!
ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka
It’s a MADhouse production, so I went in pretty sure I would like it. I was a bit wrong on my first impression; I thought it would be a man on the run type show, but it was actually a more nuanced, spy-that-doesn’t-know-he’s-a-spy type story. I liked the character design. It reminded me of some of the manga series in the “non-moe art” tag on Dynasty Scans. I was in love at first sight with Director General Mauve, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko, Ghost in the Shell), and hoped she would play a bigger role than she actually did. I was completely taken off guard by Jean’s confession of his feelings for Grossular at the end, which Mauve had in common. If it had to be someone, I would have guessed it to be Niino, in the old ‘observer falls for subject’ cliche. Still, a welcome, and very low-key revelation that is certainly welcome. The music is really great in this series, especially the intro and outro themes. I would have like for some of the female cast members to have more to do; there were seemingly more women in the show, but they hardly ever had any relevancy. Also, a bit more action or urgency would have been nice. It felt towards the end like this would be called “the hipster’s anime”. Definitely recommended. 9/10
Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends
Just as ridiculous as ever, though it had some oddly serious parts in some episodes as well. I am appreciating more and more the bit during the credits of each episode where an alpaca recounts an awkward tale of the life of the mangaka who writes AMM. I think the randomness is wearing thin now though. 7/10
Akiba’s Trip The Animation
I had never played the game before so I didn’t really have any idea what this was about besides being located in Akihabara. It had a lot of parallels with Punch Line, which I noted in my first impression, just chock full of references and insider humor that I think ended up being lost on a lot of the Western viewers (including me, obviously.) I enjoy the first eight or so episodes, but right when most probably thought it got interesting, for me it was like I just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore. I ended up skimming through the last episodes, but honestly, unless you are REALLY into Akihabara as a culture or just otaku interests in general, I would pass on this show, sadly. Having to watch the idol performance more than once was torture. 6/10
All Out!!
The not-so-subtle pattern that is emerging in my anime viewing habits, is that I will start a sport or game series, as soon as it becomes entirely focused on the sport or game itself, I lose interest almost immediately. The same unfortunately happened here; as soon as they hit training camp, it was like I was watching a completely different show, and just couldn’t stand to even skim through it at the end. They can’t all be winners, and even MADhouse can’t be perfect all the time. Dropped
BanG Dream!
My first impression was pretty much right on the nose; this is literally what would happen if the people behind Love Live adapted K-On. The melodrama of Love Live with similar archetypes to K-On. Unfortunately, no super gorgeous teacher steps in to help, and instead of a school they have to save the local girls-only concert venue by playing a pop rock version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I wish I were kidding. Not horrible or offensive, but just felt like a phoned in effort from the waifu buffet factory. 6/10
Chain Chronicle
Sadly I just kind of forgot this show was even on, even though it showed signs of promise, I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough to catch up on it. Dropped
Chaos;Child
The edgiest of edge. It made me appreciate the GOOD parts of Occultic;Nine that much more. I might have watched more if the adaptation of the prequel (episode zero) wasn’t just about the most boring thing I’ve watched in years. Dropped
Demi-chan wa Kataritai
Top 3 of the season. It definitely felt less wacky than the manga, but I was okay with that. Satou-sensei stole the show, but Machi held her own in my opinion. It was funny to see how fast people tried to turn on the show when Hikari made Machi’s body hug Sensei and he was embarrassed because her boobs pressed into him when he wasn’t expecting it. However with a certain maid being INCREDULOUS, that movement died out before the next episode even came out. It was a good adaptation, and I think may just be my “comfy” show of the season, though again, a certain maid gave it a run for it’s money there too. 9/10
ElDLive
I stand by my previous Space Patrol Luluco comparison. It was silly for the sake of being silly, but tried to add various chuuni and action tropes in to spice it up. To be quite honest this was a bit of a stinker, and only watched it for Misuzu to see if she grew any over the season (she did, but just the tiniest bit.) 4/10
FUUKA
This was basically KimiKiss Pure Rouge but flipped love interests and included music to make more money off of the property with. It doesn’t do anything new or interesting, and it wasn’t satisfying at all. Like even knowing that Fuuka would end up being the girl the protag had feelings for, I still thought that maybe, just maybe she would do SOMETHING endearing in the least, but no, she just kind of was a brat at all points. Everything was really pretty, but zero substance. 3/10
Gabriel Dropout
I think I started reading the manga for this before reading Demi-chan or Maid Dragon, so it’s kind of a surprise that of those three, this felt like the weakest effort. Something was lost in translation to animation to take away the magic presented in print. It was still enjoyable, it just didn’t have the punch I was expecting it to have, and I don’t know if it’s the low key music or the voices or what. Calling it a disappointment is going too far for me, but I certainly thought it would be better. 7/10
Gintama.
Top 3 of the season. Pretty much just the adaptation of a single story arc, but an important one. Also, a super kick-ass, pulls no punches season. Loved the hell out of this show before, but this took it to a whole new level. I mentioned in my first impression that the period was a bit scary, but I now see that it was more of an affirmative statement, “GINTAMA, period.” 10/10
Hand Shakers
This was really bad. Like, it’s a known thing that this show is bad. It was excruciating to give this show three whole episodes, but I managed it somehow. As admirable as it is that they went out on a limb to make their own original series, that doesn’t save it from being an over-designed, poorly thought out mess of a show. Dropped
Kemono Friends
I just want the record to show that I was on board with this show from the very beginning, whereas the MAL user score was as low as 4.2 at the start of the season. It’s the innocence of Serval mixed with the goofiness of the friends, rounded out by the mystery of Kaban that give this show it’s oomph. The character design is really great too. Basically what it boils down to is that this show has four or five things that the internet typically hates when it comes to an anime, yet somehow captured the hearts thousands, from 4chan to tumblr and everywhere in between. It’s hard to imagine this not getting a second season of some kind, whether it’s a continuation of this season or an adaptation of the manga. 9/10
Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon
Top 3 of the season. A loving relationship between two adult women, albeit each loves the other in a different way (or do they?) A nurturing and caring relationship between an office worker and a young girl she adopts on sight. A family unit of two moms and a daughter that works. A dragon woman with giant boobs teasing a young boy that meant to summon a demon. Well, okay that last one isn’t exactly the squeaky-cleanest thing to happy this season, but the people who demonize this show because of it are missing out on an other wise great and potentially important series. I was surprised to find this was a KyoAni series; they tend to work in a very specific style, so the fact that this turned out looking anything like the manga is a miracle of it’s own, I think. Once I knew it was KyoAni though, I could see their thumbprints everywhere; the suddenly very poignant moment with great lighting and super appropriate music is something they’ve managed to perfect almost to a fault (to where it feels forced), but the couple examples in this show just added to the already cute moment that was happening. I am writing this the week before the finale, which features the dreaded anime killer Big Boobs Loli, but having read what comes after her initial appearance, I think that, should this get a second season, people will understand her character once the story moves forward (though the big boobs thing is kind of ridiculous, admittedly.) A wonderful, lovely, heart-warming supernatural comedy. 10/10 highest recommendation
KonoSuba S2
I may get some flak for this, but I felt there was a noticeable drop in quality between seasons. The writing was still good, and the performances as always were hilarious, but the animation seemed to have worsened quite a lot. I haven’t read any BTS for this series but it seemed like some of the more involved shots were rushed. Darkness continues to steal the show for me, even though I know Megumin is everyone’s waifu. I think it’s because I tend to always gravitate towards the girl in a show like this that has the least chance of ending up with the protagonist (Nisekoi, Toradora, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.) Not bad by any means, but I’m concerned for a season three should it happen. 8.5/10
Kuzu no Honkai
Despicable trash. Soap opera level characters with midnight softcore love scenes between teenagers, some of which are borderline rape at best. Not even the legit lesbian love interest could keep me watching this show, that should tell you everything. Five episodes makes about 90ish minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Dropped, avoid
Little Witch Academia
This didn’t quite get the hype I thought it would, but it still seems most people that watch it are enjoying it immensely. However, I feel like it may be losing steam a bit, which is worrisome since it still has 12 episodes left to go through. It’s a bit frustrating to watch sometimes as someone who watched the first two movies/OVA, waiting for things like Ursula to be revealed as Chariot, and for Akko to get to a respectable level of magic use, things like that. I do enjoy the extra development that Lotte and Sucy have gotten, and I hope it extends to Diana, Amanda and some of the more prominent girls too. Continues!
Masamune-kun no Revenge
The show had a bit of a twist on the usual formula, but by the fifth or sixth episode it was pretty clear it was the same old contrived tsundere harem romance series. When the guy seems to have some redeeming qualities, I can stomach a show like that for the sake of decent characters and performances, but this just ended up being a chore to watch. Even the debut of a late game older woman/love interest’s retainer wasn’t enough to save the show for me. I can’t see myself tuning in to a second season of this without some kind of huge plot twist like a female rival that the love interest is actually interested in (ha ha HAHAHAH) 5/10
Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu
In my first impression of this show, I wondered if it would be as dumbed down as the previous season’s cycling anime whose name I’ve already forgotten. It is. It’s basically the same show but with more characters. Has a good, cute sensei, but also has generic foreign student trope character, which was insufferable because she was basically the same character as the foreigner in Akiba’s Trip. Dropped
Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume
The amateurish charm I thought I saw in the first episode of this show quickly dissolved into frustration. If it had been a high school clubs project, then I would have supported them whole heartedly, but this seems like a bad mobile game cash-in, and unfortunately it came out in a season that had a GREAT mobile game cash-in. Dropped
Nobunaga no Shinobi
The first season ends, but the second season starts in like two weeks, so I’m tempted to not even include this, because it’s silly that it will be considered separate seasons. It’s a charming, and surprisingly bloody show about feudal Japan and for those that have studied the history of that time period, there are some great gags pertaining to certain figures not shown in the best of lights. 8/10
Nyanko Days
Once again, this was just a cute fluff series that hopefully paves the way for Nukoduke. If you need a cuteness shot in the arm between heavy shows, this is a good choice. 8/10
One Room
My hopes that they would keep the viewer genderless were dashed pretty quickly with a onsen episode early on, and then the sickening imouto arc in the middle. The final four episodes featuring the childhood friend chasing her dreams was the redeeming factor here, I would recommend just watching those episodes to be honest. 6/10
Onihei
One of the better shows of the season. It has a different vibe to anything else on at the moment, probably because the source was originally published fifty years ago. There is very little that is lost in translation, and I think it plays well to the modern audience. There is a bit of a problem with character design, which @fucktsunderes pointed out to me, that because there’s more realism to it, some of the characters end up looking pretty similar. Actually, not just some, but a lot. To the point where I wasn’t sure if a character that died was a character that I liked or not until they showed up in a later episode. Other than that though, a great crime thriller action show. 9/10
Piace: Watashi no Italian
After an incredible year of short form series in 2016, it’s an odd feeling to only have Piace as a stand out show this season. It was just the right about of silly and cute, while also being about food and food service. A highlight is the outro being sang by two different cast members each week, with the finale having everyone singing. 9/10
Pokemon Sun & Moon
The most fun I’ve had watching pokemon since I was a kid, fantastic show. I am somehow even more in love with Japan’s Musashi than America’s Jesse. I am definitely on the Mao/Lillie ship. Also the only theme song this season that I listened to for every single episode, it is so awesome. Continues!
Sangatsu no Lion
As I covered in my review for All Out, when a show has a game or sport in it, if it becomes too focused on that game or sport, I lose interest quicker than a hiccup. It’s a good show, but the shogi was just not the good part of the show for me. I enjoyed Rei’s interactions with his sister and the three Kawamoto girls the most of the whole season. It’s when the show felt the most alive and relatable to me. Not to mention Momo is just too darn cute. Shaft does cute very well, and also does cold depression very well, too. A spinoff with the Kawamotos as the star would be the ideal second season for me, but I will continue to watch just about anything Shaft decides to gift to us. 8/10
Seiren
I should have dropped this show, but I didn’t for some reason. The middle arc was definitely the best, the epilogue was really cute too. Not really much to say about this series, it just kind of was there every week. One of those “each path of the romance vn is animated” shows, so your mileage may vary. 6/10
Spiritpact
Yaoi bait adapted from a Chinese comic iirc. The main characters were both unbearable, and the way they treated the first significant female character in the show was gross, so I dropped this quicker than a hot rock. Dropped
Urara Meirochou
Controversial opinion time: This show would have been better without Nono and Koume. They added nothing to the story that couldn’t have been done by either Kon or Chiya, and honestly the four girls thing is so over-done that I end up comparing it mentally to all the shows I’ve already seen before I even watch the first episode. The teacher and the... morals officer? Whatever Saku was stole the show, with some great late game performances from Kon’s mother. It was a cute show, and I’ll watch another season if it gets one, but I’d like it to be a bit more focused on the divining stuff going forward, or at least more focused on Kon and Chiya. 8/10
Youjo Senki
Not really sure about this show. I spent the first half of the season mistakenly thinking it was glorying the third reich, but even after being corrected, I still didn’t really understand who I was meant to support or sympathize with. I end up rooting for Tanya a lot of the time because I understand a lot of the anti-theological sentiment she has, but I’m not sure that’s really the intent... Like in the last episode, we see the young daughter of the man who was killed by Tanya after encountering more than once enlisting in what is the equivalent of the American army. Rather than sympathy and compassion for what is obviously a scared young woman going for revenge, I felt pity, because I know far too many people in real life who FROG it up big time (that being ‘full relying on God’, btw) when any sort of hardship comes their way. I don’t really think I could watch a second season of this, it would have to be more than just ‘Tanya pushes back against Being X, BX recruits someone else, etc’, like, if Tanya went the whole season pushing back but never heard a peep out of BX, and started to wonder how much of it was just in her head, and began to doubt the things she remembered from her past life, that would be intriguing, but I don’t really see it heading that way. Also, not nearly enough Visha screen time for my taste. 7/10
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My Current Thoughts About My Life:
So, I haven`t really been on Tumblr in awhile. How have you all been? I hope that you`ve all been doing well, and that the new year has been treating you all well, so far. <3
I just currently feel like expressing my current thoughts while I`m on here. Disclaimer, this is a long post. Once I start writing/typing, my mind thinks up a lot of things at once that I would like to add...Whoopsies... (/_\)’*
Okay, let’s see. Where to start?
So, currently I am unemployed. I was working for quite awhile in an office type place, I guess as a personal assistant. I would just help out with paperwork, such as invoices and packing slips, and various other things that needed to be done within the workplace itself. I was let go, but not by choice by the person who told me the news (the only reason why I got said job in the first place was because my friends parents work there). I think due to the new year, and the more higher positioned (?) people didn`t want me on the payroll for the new year (I`m assuming by the conversation I had over the phone). Getting jobs now a days is all about connections sadly (I`ve applied to so many places within the last year or so, and only got jobs due to connections (a food industry, that I will not name was by far the worst, and only if need be will I work at a place like that again). I also have dyed hair now (which I dyed on December. 19th of last year), and I don`t want to spend hundreds of more dollars that I can`t afford to spend on dying my hair back to my natural hair colour (dark brown), or a natural hair colour because anything else will be “Distracting to costumers”, because you know, my hair is getting the job and not me as a person... *Sighs* I’m planning on going back to college in September for a Photography program (I may upload some of my photos on here), but that costs money, especially when it’s a three year program. This would make it my third time going to college. Third times the charm, right? *Fingers Crossed*
To help make some money in the meantime (although I know it won’t be much), I was thinking about starting an Etsy store, and selling stickers of @cryaotic‘s Sup Guy character (for example) because he is fun and easy to draw. If/when I do decide on this idea, and end up making some samples (besides some sketches that I have in mind in my sketchbooks), I’m going to try and get in contact with Cry, and ask for his permission, since I obviously don’t own the rights to this character. I’m more than happy to give him some of the profit, but again that’s a whole thing in itself. I know there’s the whole fair use thing, however I want to try and get permission for these types of things when I can. However with this, I want to have things ready before moving forward, if anything.
Side Note:
[If you don’t know who Cry is, he is a gamer on YouTube and he does Twitch streams quite frequently. He’s an amazing person, and he’s the second YouTuber that I subscribed to over four years ago on YouTube. I will leave a link to his YouTube channel, as well as his Twitch, just in case any of you are interested and would like to check him out. Obviously, I would recommend him and his content. They are on the lengthier side, but they are worth it, in my opinion. (^_^)’* <3]
Links:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ChaoticMonki
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/cryaotic
I’ve also been considering selling some of the photos that I took during my photography course in college last year on Etsy as well (I would make prints on different kinds of papers with various different sizes, possibly different colour filters and/or schemes as well). There are a select view photos that I actually really do like. Again, these are just some thoughts that have been forming within my brain recently.
Technically, I did graduate from my one year program last year (I started in January of last year, so I did the semesters backwards). It was only for a certificate, which I didn’t know about until way later on into the second semester. I was in the program called Foundations in Art and Design. I’m definitely more of a sketcher than anything. I would say that I’m pretty decent at sketching. For me, I do need a reference to work off of, or my drawings will look like chicken scratch (putting it politely). After playing Final Fantasy XV, I had the realization about how much I really do like photography. Prompto’s side quests were so fun for me to do (if anything, I looked forward to his side quests the most), and I looked forward to all of the photos that he would take during the day(s) before you go and rest somewhere. Whether at a motel, safe haven, etc. The ending hit me like a ton of bricks. I hope that I can take at least one picture that’ll impact somebody in the same way that the ending impacted me. <3
Side Note:
[I actually have so many ideas for Final Fantasy XV for contents that they could add to the game itself. I know that this is a shot in the dark, but if anybody has any idea(s) on how I can get in touch with the creators please let me know. I would appreciate it greatly. (^_^)’* <3
Should I do a video and/or post on my ideas? Hhhhmmm... *Pounders Thought Deeply*]
I also really want to get back into making YouTube videos. I really do miss making videos. I’ve also been thinking about voice acting, or at the very least trying to do something similar to how Cry does his Cry Reads series (Link to his playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL100E6F8D8D47702F). I think that would be a great way to start off, and see how it goes from there.
I still really want to do charity live streams in the future, especially as many twenty four hour ones that I can. I have a few charities already in mind, I just now need to make time, figure out how to record everything, figure out what to do and how to go about it all, and get/save money for certain equipment's. Again, fingers crossed I can do this sometime in the near future. *Fingers Crossed*
I’m twenty one, and I’m going to be twenty two next month, and I still don’t know what my life is even about currently. I would love to move out someday soon (nothing is wrong with my household or anything like that, I just would like to move out), travel the world and take photos (I should probably get my driver’s license... *Sighs* (So many idiots on the roads now a days that I would rather not deal with, although I know that it is inevitable to avoid them... *Even More Sighing*)), play more video games, and continue where I left off on YouTube (for those of you who have been supporting me during my absence, thank you so much. It all really does mean a lot to me, and I really do appreciate every single one of you. (^///^)’* <3). Charity live streams are something I want to do in the very near future, and I want to continue sketching and taking photos (My goal this year is to take a photo for everyday of this year (I completely forgot to take one yesterday, so I’m going to take two today!). I do miss singing and acting (I took Vocals and Drama all throughout high school, and I enjoy and miss writing as well. I have so many interests, but it’s just deciphering the hobbies/interests from what I would like to do with my life career wise. I have a good handful of things that I’m good at, but nothing that I really exceed at. I know that things don’t happen overnight, and that practice does improve skill sets greatly. I also like to cook and bake, and I like to dance as well...man, I just like a lot of things... xD xP
Side Note:
[This has nothing to do with anything career wise, but I really would also like to watch more animes. I’m currently on episode ten of the first season of Danganronpa (I would also love to play the games and read the manga’s involving this series!), and I watched the first episode of Yuri!!! On Ice recently (earlier this morning before going to bed). I really like the horror genre, but I’m not opposed to other genres of anime. If you really like anime and/or you would like to watch some great and interesting people, I have four amazing YouTubers that I think you should check out! I will leave there YouTube channels and Twitch links below. (^_^)’* <3
Links:
The Anime Man (Joey (Congratulations on reaching over one million subscribers recently, Joey. You truly do deserve them all, and more. (^_^)’* <3)):
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ETCazlHenpXEsrEJH-k5A
Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgJZxXviSbPbEMrsO6DpuQ
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/thean1meman
Akidearest (Congratulations on almost reaching eight hundred thousand subscribers, Aki. You truly do deserve them all, and more. Here’s to nine hundred thousand, and soon one million. (^_^)’* <3)):
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1HVMnw-610qx54iEiWk7A
Second Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSMpnI56rm5Iu-lKEas-fKQ
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/akidearest
Lost Pause (Noble (Congratulations on reaching almost one million subscribers, Noble. You truly do deserve them all, and more. (^_^)’* <3)):
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/LostPause
Second Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrtg2R3JEs9z06_sfkO_t7g
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/lost_pause_
Misty/Chronexia (Mathieu (I know that this is on the later side, however congratulations on reaching one million subscribers, Mat. You truly do deserve them all, and more. Also, congratulations to both you and Jess on the news of your baby *Spoiler Alert* girl! I can’t wait until she’s born, and I know that the two of you will be great parents. (^_^)’* <3)).
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ChronexiaMisty
Second Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MistyChronexia
Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/misty_chronexia
...Did I forget anything? I mean, knowing me I probably. If I did, I can always just add the missing points/thoughts later on to this post when they come to mind.
Don’t give up on your passion(s) and your dream(s). If you don’t know what you want to do yet in your life, don’t worry. You’ll figure it out eventually, I mean look at me. I’m planning on going to college for a third time, and if it weren’t for Final Fantasy XV and Prompto’s character, I may not have figured out how much I really like photography, and my last college program had a photography course in it! Prompto will always have a special place in my heart, and in all honesty I do see a lot of me in him and is character. Thank you to the creators and character designers of Final Fantasy XV and Prompto, even though this was clearly unintentional. You will never know how much Prompto’s character means to me, and how much he impacted my life for the better. I hope that one day I can impact at least one person, the same way this all impacted me. <3
Side Note:
[Anyone else think that it would be so cool to voice act for the Final Fantasy franchise? I would love to do something like that someday! *Even More Finger Crossing!]
Trust me, to this day I do feel pressure here an there, but don’t let pressure from others get to you. There is no time limit when it comes to finding your passions and figuring out your life dreams! If you don’t, I believe in each and every one of you. (^///^)’* <3 Meghan Camarena, also known as Strawburry17 on YouTube, made a video called Dreamer over a year ago. I will leave a link to her video, as well to her two YouTube channels. She’s an amazing human being, and this video really did help me out a lot.
Links:
Dreamer Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAY1oY0uurA
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Strawburry17
Second Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeBurry
Gaming Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4IgEVgl6t18-89GPekZtAw
Also, I’m going to add the links to annablutube’s and Damien Dawn’s version of their song, Silent Scream, as well as there YouTube channels. I’ll also have a link for Anna’s song, Where Do I Go?, which is one of the latest songs that has been made. When the official music video comes out, I will add a link to that video as well. They are both really talented musicians and such wonderful people. They also reached their goal on Kickstarter, and I’m so glad that I could be a backer, and help them out with their dreams, and help make them into a reality. Congratulations you two, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you all! (^///^)’* <3
Links:
Annablutube:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/annablutube
Silent Scream Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIlghWDd7RU
Where Do I Go? Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ks1Ly5jDU
Damien Dawn:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/DamienDawn
Silent Scream Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j9mApdBhOI
Anyways, I hope that you’re all having an amazing day or night, wherever you are in the word. Stay safe. <3
Never give up. <3
- Keanna <3
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Eight Literary Allusions in Cartoons: Celebrating National Book Lover's Day
It's National Book Lover's Day, an official-unofficial holiday celebrating literacy and books. People often mistakenly believe that real readers only read novels, especially the literary classics such as The Scarlet Letter or Oliver Twist. That's not strictly true. Whether you read comics or novels, literary classics or fantasy, you are a reader. Books have been opening doors and inspiring people for ages, with broader audiences in the decades since the invention of the printing press in 1440.
In celebration of literacy, here are 8 (because it's August!) cartoons with allusions to some great books! I included a few anime, but unfortunately, my knowledge of Japanese novels and literary works is fairly limited at present. As a result, each of the included anime reference works that I am more familiar with, missing the boat on Japanese works entirely. I didn't find out about National Book Lover's Day until three days ago, otherwise there would be a wider variety of literary works from other cultures.
The Fairly Oddparents
Arguably one of the best episodes of Butch Hartman's ongoing series The Fairly Oddparents is "Shelf Life". I might be a little biased in this opinion, as the episode revolves entirely around books. With summer coming to a close, Timmy realizes with a shock that he forgot to complete his book report for Mr. Crocker's class. He dashes to the library and, to Wanda's perpetual irritation, tries to take the easy way out by wishing the book characters to life.
His misadventures lead to allusions from Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Moby Dick, Frankenstein, Tarzan: Lord of the Drapes Apes, and other well known titles. Fortunately for Timmy, Hartman selected titles that many of his audience members would recognize, so he too was familiar with them.
Detective Conan
After the publication of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet in 1887, the popularity of mystery stories exploded. His works inspired decades of subsequent stories, including the anime series Detective Conan (名探偵コナン Meitantei Konan, with the dub title being Case Closed). This long-running mystery series follows high school detective and mystery enthusiast Shinichi Kudo as he works hard to build his reputation as a detective. Throughout the series, he makes many references to Sherlock Holmes, the famed fictional detective who inspires his work.
In the first episode of the anime, Shinichi gets in over his head following a criminal organization he knows nothing about. When they catch him, they use an experimental poison on him and run away. Instead of killing him, the poison shrinks him into a little kid. Later, he crafts a fake identity for himself under the name Conan Edogawa. He draws the first name from Doyle, and the last name comes from the pseudonym of an accomplished Japanese mystery novelist named Edogawa Ranpo.
Bonus: Kogoro Mouri, the bumbling detective who inadvertently takes Conan in and gains notoriety through Conan's crime solving, gets his name from the detective in Edogawa's novels, Kogoro Akechi.
Steven Universe
Rebecca Sugar packed her groundbreaking series full of subtle, sneaky book references. Many of these are visual, appearing without a word. The season one opening contains one book reference that is easy to miss. When the van zips past Connie by the Big Donut, she's holding a book in her hands. If you take a close look, the cover resembles one of the cover designs for Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. In season two's opening, she's hauling around a different book. Can you recognize it?
Keep an eye on the backgrounds throughout the show, or you'll miss other great literary allusions. In the episode "Maximum Capacity," fans get a look at Greg's literary tastes (or maybe Rose's?). His repertoire includes The Lord of the Flies, among other titles. Another background book reference comes in at the end of "House Guest," where keen-eyed viewers might spot a volume of the Sailor Moon manga on Steven's nightstand.
Read or Die (R.O.D.)
In every iteration of the story, R.O.D. follows operatives working for the Special Operations Division of the British Library who use their paper-based powers to fight the world's evils. Because of the nature of their work, the characters often find themselves interacting with novels. Notable works that appear in the series include Anne of Green Gables, Fahrenheit 451, and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Bob's Burgers
The incomplete book report trope comes in again in Bob's Burgers. Like Timmy Turner, Tina Belcher would rather have fun now and worry about her book report at the last second. In the episode "L'il Hard Dad," Tina's mother helps her fake a book report on Jack London's Call of the Wild. You don't have to be familiar with the novel to enjoy the episode, but anyone who has read it will enjoy how hilariously inaccurate their makeshift story is.
Honorable mention goes to "The Frond Files" in which Gene livens up a few literary works with farts. In his telling of the Frond story, Tina, Louise, and Gene can be seen holding three books: Are You There, God? It's Me, Fart; Huckleberryfart; and Fahrenheit Fart51 .
Family Guy
Considering that the Griffin family's dog Brian considers himself a connoisseur of literature, it should come as no surprise that the series contains ample literary allusions. What is surprising is that not every allusion comes from Brian himself. Seth MacFarlane manages to sprinkle literary works throughout the series in a wide range of situations. A few episodes even parody popular novels, including the episode "High School English." Peter finds himself locked in a family's home library waiting for the police to arrive after crashing his car into their home. In the meantime, he entertains himself (and the audience) by reading three literary classics often studied in high school English classes. He works his way through The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. The man reads astoundingly fast for someone who's infinitely short attention span regularly endangers his family.
Looney Tunes
Older cartoons also get in on the action of scripting scenes and entire episodes around literary works. In "Rabbitson Crusoe," Yosemite Sam finds himself marooned on an island with the antagonistic Bugs Bunny. Several references appear throughout the episode, including a nod to Moby Dick with the appearance of a fierce whale named Dopey Dick.
Another allusion appears in the episode "A Street Cat Named Sylvester." The title itself is the allusion, though the episode bares no resemblance to the play from which it gets its name.
Black Butler
Fans of German literature might recognize the parallels between Black Butler (黒執事 Kuroshitsuji) and the legend of Faust. In the legend, a dissatisfied scholar named Faust makes a deal with the devil. He exchanges unlimited knowledge for his soul. In the moment, he is more concerned with gaining the power of knowledge than with the inevitable future that awaits him. Several versions of the story exist in the literary archives, with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's perhaps being one of the more widely known version today.
In Black Butler, a boy named Ciel Phantomhive exchanges his soul for the unfaltering services of a demon while he works to claim vengeance for violent crimes committed against him (and his family). To cement the allusion, a demon named Claude Faustus appears later in the series.
Those are all of the literary allusions that I have for you today. Do you have a favorite that didn't make the list? Share it in the comments! You can also connect on Twitter at @Popliterature, or send a message.
And as always, if you have a literary device you want to know more about, or a game, comic, show, or movie that you want to see make an appearance on the blog, leave a shout-out in the comments!
#literary allusion#literary study#literary studies#national book lover's day#national book lover's day 2017#book#books#read#reading#animation#cartoons#anime#allusion#english language arts#english class#english class help#black butler#kuroshitsuji#case closed#detective conan#family guy#read or die#R.O.D.#looney tunes#bob's burgers#steven universe#the fairly odd parents#literacy#literacy matters
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