Feeling nostalgic? Looks like I'm going to ship this couple now.. Look at them - they're so cute and look so good together *crying*
(illustration is mine)
Even if I'm set on having a cool face
My appeal is more than just that
I get more fired up than most
You just can't see it...
Don't work too hard
Your body temperature will go through the roof
I'm agitated! I'm reckless! Hurry and cool me down!
We're two working as one, ready go
You're my irreplaceable partner
We can tell each other anything
Not holding back anymore
Step by step, my dreams for sure draw closer
So let's pave the way
To a stage that we can call peace
It's show time with you
Blue Banana Moon
My personality has changed?!
Those sort of things are staged
I'm a composed adult
All of the time
You're delirious from the fever
Is that why you don't remember?
This is serious! I'm different! Everyday is so thrilling!
It's like we read each other's minds, ready go
You're my supportive partner
Accepting each other for who we are!
We're not exaggerating a little, are we?
I become stronger day by day
And I want to bring you with me
To the stage in a lustrous future
It's a show time for all
Blue Banana Moon
We're two working as one, ready go
You're my irreplaceable partner
We can tell each other anything
Not holding back anymore
Step by step, my dreams for sure draw closer
So let's pave the way
To a stage that we can call peace
It's show time with you
Blue Banana Moon
I'm still waiting for a reunion special... though I understand the timing during the 10th anniversary wasn't ideal because of the controversy with Usada's VA (he cheated on his wife, the extremely popular singer Lisa) and Nick's VA passing away.
I'm glad the cast still seems close, though! They seem to get together and hang out a lot, and they often include Ayame Misaki (Escape) in their meet ups too :))
For the cryptid au, Do you have any ideas for the V3 cast? Who would be the human since there is no lucky student? (I’m guessing Kiibo or Tsumugi but idk)
I HAVE A CHART NOW!**
it took many hours of research (thank you yokai.com and the myths and folklore wiki) and many decisions based on bullshit, but! I now have a finished (sorta) cryptid au chart to go on. More descriptions/explainations below the cut:
**EDIT: Some people raised concerns about cultural appropriation, so I’ve changed Maki to Bloody Mary! I apologize for the lack of research on my end!
Shuichi Saihara - Apprentice Grim Reaper
If Ultimate Lucky Student equals human, then Ultimate Detective equals Death. My working theory is that Shuichi was intended to be Class 79’s resident human, but died on his way to the school and was then taken in by Kyoko as an apprentice.
**Maki Harukawa - Bloody Mary
Specifically the version where she was falsely accused of killing a bunch of kids and then burned alive for it. Now she kills, but only when summoned. Kind of like an assassin!
Kaito Momota - Krampus/Goatman
Kaito really wanted to be viewed like Santa and instead he’s viewed as like. Evil Santa. And he’s sad about it. Also he has a bridge, though I imagine he’d be pretty gung-ho about dancing on it. (I don’t have a good explanation for this either. it’s just vibes.)
Himiko Yumeno - Baba Yaga
More like Baby Yaga, am I right??? I was just going to make her witch, but that’s booooring. I’m probably never going to draw like, Old Lady Himiko, though. Maybe she was just too lazy to age normally.
Tsumugi Shirogane - Lizardperson (Chameleon)
She’s totally plain and normal! Don’t look too closely! You definitely won’t find anything! What is this AU, if not a bunch of monsters cosplaying as humans. And what cryptid would be the best for that, if not a lizard person. As for the chameleon, i like the aesthetic more than just regular lizard face.
K1-B0 - Automaton
Yes, it’s lazy. (Though he’s also in contention for Class Human, specifically so he can claim to be a robot. Because his whole childhood he was gaslit by his “creator” into being told he was a robot. And this is the first school where people hear that and go “yup, that checks out!”)
Gonta Gokuhara - Boogeyman
I really screwed myself over by making Taka Mothman, but I just love that idea too deeply to change it. So, where’d I get the Boogeyman? Well, if we operate under the Oogie Boogie man from The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Boogeyman is basically a sentient pillowcase full of bugs! Sounds good enough to me!
Miu Iruma - Nymph (Dionysian)
Again, I really screwed myself over by using all the horny monsters up on other characters, but I think this works! Dionysian Nymphs are particularly frisky and have a propensity for partying and vulgarity, but maybe the booze will knock a good idea loose every once and a while.
Rantaro Amami - Kelpie
Green hair??? Seaweed??? Hatred of cars??? I got nothing, we really haven’t/didn’t see that much of that boy. This is subject to change of his talent is revealed, in which case kelpie status will probably transfer to Tenko. He’s listed as a possible Class Human because he could be the Lucky Student? But it’s unlikely.
Kokichi Oma - Eldritch Horror
I’m not convinced he’s not an Eldritch Horror in canon, tbh.
Kaede Akamatsu - Sylph
I search high and low, yet found no piano cryptids. So I went with Sylph because they’re air spirits, sometimes depicted as hummingbirds (music theme!) Plus, Kaede can be a little airheaded sometimes.
Ryoma Hoshi - Kappa
This was mostly vibes + I drew a doodle of Ryoma with a Lotad-esc lily pad head and fell in love. Plus, uh, drowning is an essential part of both Ryoma and kappas. Dude would probably be the chillest kappa in existence though.
Kirumi Tojo - Jorōgumo
There’s a lot of Kirumi spider imagery. This seems like a shoo-in.
Angie Yonaga - Living Painting
okay this is mostly just me being on an Ib kick, but it would explain why she’s always smiling. Bonus: Atua was/is the name of her painter.
Tenko Chabashira - Yeti
I…I got nothing for this. I ran out of man-hating monsters, and I wanted something that could beat the shit out of you. It was this or a Chimera. I dunno.
Korekiyo Shinguji - Naga
I only know this because of his FTEs Korekiyo compares himself to Medusa at one point and says it’s his favorite folktale. Unfortunately, gorgon has already been claimed by Miss Celestia Ludenburg, but luckily we can still get that snake monster symbolism. Mask is to cover up that unhinging jaw probably. (Also let’s just say that he isn’t dating his sister for this AU, yeah? I don’t want to deal with that.)
#
Also, some adjustments to earlier cryptids:
Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack: Some people raised concerns that having any sort of cryptid that “played off” Genocide Jack could be considered offensive to those with DID or MPD, so I changed it. And honestly? The Kuchisake-onna works so much better. Woman who’s insecure about her body image and carries around a giant pair of scissors?? If that’s not Toko, I don’t know what is!
Mukuro Ikusaba: I love Mukuro, but I felt like the Waheela was just sort of me grasping for any sort of wolf symbolism, and it didn’t really work. Now she’s an incredibly intimidating curse demon who can control the weather! Much better.
Junko Enoshima: I think she was technically a Wraith before?? but Lich just seemed more fitting. She’s every DND campaign’s BBG.
5 giờ sáng and I want to talk about how the 2016 cast of Rock Musical Bleach is not cut out for their roles in terms of singing. Không phải họ hát không hay, tui có thể đảm bảo điều đó, nhưng họ sẽ không bao giờ bằng được dàn original cast, cũng không phải vì dàn original cast giỏi hơn họ, vấn đề ở đây, the ultimate advantage của dàn original cast, chính là mỗi line riêng, mỗi bài hát riêng, đều được producer đo ni đóng giày cho màu giọng của chính diễn viên đó. For instance chúng ta hãy cùng phân tích bài chủ đề The Dark Of The Bleeding Moon, tui sẽ chỉ mang ra xem xét 3 line riêng của Hinamori Momo, Aizen Sousuke, và Kuchiki Byakuya thôi, tại đây là bài chung, hát đồng ca, nên phân tích line riêng sẽ rõ hơn, với cả đây là 3 line vô cùng iconic, không phải Kumiko, Kengo, và Shuuji thì sẽ không hát ra được.
Đầu tiên, line "Trăng đâu biết trời xanh đến nhường nào" của Hinamori Momo. Giọng của Kumiko hát line này rất cao, xin nhấn mạnh là rất cao, và sáng, trong vắt, như trời xanh không một gợn mây, và Kumiko hát được không một chút gượng ép cố gắng nào, giọng hát như xuyên thẳng qua người tui. Chất giọng đặc trưng của Kumiko là như thế, Kumiko khi đó còn rất trẻ, mới mười mấy hai mươi tuổi, hát lên một cái người tui tràn ngập cảm giác thanh thuần. Còn Miyama Karen diễn hồi 2016 hát không được cảm giác mượt mà như vậy, dù vẫn lên được tới cao độ đó, nhưng có cảm giác phải rất cố gắng. Nghe kỹ âm tiết cuối, chữ "iiiiiii" á, sẽ thấy âm "iiiii" của Karen bị đứt, đang to bị gãy cái cụp, còn âm "iiiiii" của Kumiko ngân nga một hồi mới nhỏ dần, mướt rượt 😩
Tiếp theo là line "Nhưng trời xanh vẫn luôn ngắm nhìn vầng trăng" của trùm phản diện Aizen Sousuke 🥲 Giọng của Ohkuchi Kengo bản chất rất trầm, ấm, và dày, cực dày, dày như cái chăn bông vậy á, ổng hát line này như rót mật vào tai mình nóng hổi. Baba Ryouma không có được chất giọng đó, và tui có ấn tượng rằng Ryoma đã phải literally rặn bằng tất cả sức lực để đạt cái độ trầm của Kengo, mà giọng vẫn không dày bằng nên nghe như Ryoma đang hát Rock, hát Death Metal. Ừ thì vở nhạc kịch này hát nhạc Rock mà you might say, nhưng ironic ở chỗ đó, giọng Kengo sinh ra để hát Ballad, và cái khí chất đó mới lại càng hợp với nhân vật Aizen, thâm trầm, và khác biệt với tất cả mọi người còn lại. Thêm nữa, giọng của Kengo không biết vô tình hay hữu ý, đối lập rất tốt với chất giọng của Kumiko, thành ra lột tả được rất đúng cái dynamic của con thuyền vỡ này 🥲
Và cuối cùng, chiếc line luôn ám trong đầu tôi, "Mắt ngươi đẫm huyết lệ" của Byakuya nii-sama 😭 Giọng của Hayashi Shuuji cũng trầm, nhưn là trầm khào, nếu ai đã từng xem vở Thằng Gù Nhà Thờ Đức Bà có Garou đóng vai thằng gù, sẽ hiểu được trầm khào tui đang nói là như thế nào, dù giọng của Shuuji không extreme tới như vậy, nhưng cái chất chính là cái chất đó. And everyone should know by now that so many things can go wrong with trying to replicate cái chất giọng đó 😩 Giọng Ino Hiroki bình thường tui thấy đã không dày, khi đóng Byakuya ảnh đã rất cố gắng làm dày giọng cho giống giọng Byakuya trong anime và kudos cho ảnh vì ảnh đã làm được, nhưn để hát như Shuuji là cả một vấn đề khác. Thêm nữa, line này đi từ cao xuống thấp rồi lại lên cao rất bất thường, Shuuji không phải gồng giọng nên tạm không sao, còn Hiroki vừa phải gồng cho giọng dày lên vừa phải theo cái melody khó chiều này nên câu hát không được mượt, but he managed just fine I think. Nếu để ý nghe kỹ âm cuối của line là âm "ru", sẽ thấy âm "ru" của Shuuji cắt rất clean và neat, rất tự nhiên, được phát âm đồng đều với các âm khác, không bị chỗi?, tui không biết tui viết từ này đúng không nữa 👀, ừ but you get my drift, còn Hiroki hát bị nhấn vào chữ "ru" hơi mạnh, điều này cho tui cái cảm giác như chữ "ru" là cú kết dứt khoát cho nỗi struggle khi hát line này của Hiroki, it's like him saying "omg I'm done, finally done with it" 🥲
Ừ wall of text thế thôi chắc tại tui lại nghĩ nhiều rồi 🥲 Tui không có chuyên môn gì đâu, tui chỉ có một niềm đam mê với việc so sánh đối chiếu thôi, đây là tui nghĩ vậy, các bạn nghĩ khác thì, òm, kệ 🤡 Mỗi người mỗi gu mà, đọc ý kiến của tui cho vui thôi nghen nothing serious 🥲🙏🏻
GoBusters, easily. It's still my favorite Sentai after... well, almost ten years since I watched it. And judging from the fact that all the main actors for the Rangers have been involved with toku in some capacity in the interim (Katsuhiro Suzuki was Kamen Rider Quiz, Ryoma Baba was in Ninninger, Amazons and Zero-One, Arisa Komiya voiced a villain in Kyuuranger and was in Zero-One, and of course there's Mr. Sentai Ambassador himself Hiroya Matsumoto who was most recently in Revice), I'd say they're probably open to returning as well.
There's a couple of issues where the VAs for the Buddyroids are concerned though. J's VA is Yuichi Nakamura, who is probably going to be busy since he's likely to reprise his role as Kuroo Tetsuro in the final season of Haikyuu, which has already been announced, and his character is going to have a huge role in it. Usada's is Tatsuhisa Suzuki, who may not be invited to return due to his recent controversy (which also lead him to a hiatus that necessitated recasting his role as Gege on Zenkaiger). And Nick's VA, Kenji Fujiwara, unfortunately passed away in 2020.
I haven't played the new Ishin yet so tell me some of your favorite bits about it. My hiatus from Yakuza is creating a hole in my life.
Infodump as much as you want :>
MINEKATA TOSHITAKA
he makes me want to bite metal bars fr 😩 smth about the cadence of his voice when he speaks and the way he holds himself and the way he's a deranged gayboy boytoy babygirl meowmeow fuck makes me feel like i have worms in my brain. the others are cool too
i do like that they included more characters from the mainline series i think it's a lot of fun plus zhao as todo just works so well (sorry baba you'll be missed 🙏)
also one thing that surprised me is how faithful it is to actual historical events?? like obviously a lot of it is fictional like there is absolutely NO WAY the real sakamoto ryoma would join the shinsengumi considering he was a shishi but he did actually help negotiate the satcho alliance (although i doubt it was actually over beers with the boys) and also [REDACTED] getting murked by izo when in reality he was captured by imperialist forces and beheaded and [REDACTED] secretly planning to kill kondo although in reality he was found out and killed by the shinsengumi
but there's also a lot of details that are accurate such as the real saito hajime and hijikata showing up late to the ikedaya incident and the fact that omiya is the name of the inn where the real sakamoto ryoma was killed and how yamanami tried to defect (although in reality he was a vice commander alongside hijikata rather than third division captain) and how most of the high ranking members were from shieikan and lots of other details that are just fun to see and go "hey that really happend!"