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textfromthelookout · 2 months

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Did you hear of the news?

I have. :(

Everyone else has their tributes so, here, a summary of my experience with Dragon Ball.

I was in fourth grade art class. A kid had the February 2005 issue of Shonen Jump, back when Shonen Jump was still physically printed here. I recognized Atem on the front cover because the Blockbuster around the corner from our house had DVDs (I think they were DVDs and not VHSs then since I distinctly remember it having a menu and special features) of some of the later episodes of Duelist Kingdom and my brother and I watched them on repeat. So I was like oh, hey, what's this? They make books of that stuff? I don't remember the conversation but the kid ended up giving me that issue, and I took it home with me.

There were a LOT of significant, groundwork things happening in that issue, now that I think about it. We were just beginning to see Sanji truly in action against Pearl. The Dark Tournament was in it's early stages still with Roto fucking around and finding out against Kurama. Sakura shears off her hair in a move that rearranged sexualities the world over. The reason Atem was on the cover was because Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium World was just debuting its first and second chapter. Bleach wasn't even serialized yet. And Dragon Ball, of course, was also there, about a hundred and fifty chapters ahead of everybody else.

Keep in mind that this was my first experience with manga, period. So my very first experience with Dragon Ball opened on this:

and ended on this:

Yeah. Truth be told, at the time Yu Yu Hakusho piqued my interest more than Dragon Ball (a guy fighting with plants? how creative!) but I never did forget these chapters. I thought the art style was so different from the others.

At some point after this, probably between several months and a year and a half, the TV happened to be on one evening when Toonami was airing Dragon Ball Z. Oh hey, I said, I recognize that art, I know those characters. So I hung around and watched some of episode 281. Two things about watching that episode stick with absolute crystal clarity in my mind to this day. Firstly: Buu choking Vegeta out with his arm freaked me the FUCK out as a child. I could not tell you why I had a fear reaction to it but hey, there you go. The second is this:

Specifically I remember 'You died once. If anything happens to you now, you won't exist anymore. There'll be nothing I can do to bring you back.' Not precisely word for word over the years, but Schemmel's tone of voice on this particular lineread. If I had to guess I'd say it was because at that point in my life, uh, death was kinda permanent? So wait, what do you mean died ONCE. Doesn't that apply to everyone?

This still wasn't enough to get me super invested in it though, it just didn't seem like something that would appeal to me that much. So a couple years go by, I don't think about it all that much, and then of course, TFS hits the scene and drops DBZ Abridged. So you know. As a shithead middle schooler with a shithead sense of humor I thought it was the best damn thing since sliced bread. (My biggest character flaw is that I still think a lot of Season 1 is genuinely funny)

And that was really the extent of my interaction with the franchise for the next several years. Say what you will about DBZA but they did manage to put it all together such that someone who had a nonexistent concept of what the original context was could grok it with not a lot of effort. Some time in high school, I think I was around 15, I decided to bite the bullet and read all the manga, as much to increase the funny factor of DBZA as sheerly for the sake of being able to say I had. Stick it to the other weebs, y'know. Now they can't say I didn't know anything about good anime. This was unfortunately at a time when all that was available online were dirty poor-quality scans and questionable translations, but read it I did. I went 'yep, that sure is about what I expected', and proceeded to get on with my life. GT came and went, I looked up and saw Battle of Gods coming out and went 'oh hey that's still a thing huh', kinda was peripherally aware of all the divisiveness of Super as it was happening, didn't really pay it much attention, just stuck to DBZA and quite a lot of wiki-ing.

And then, this time of year about three years ago now, in the middle of conversation with @prophecydungeon, Dragon Ball somehow came up. Something to do with 'Even though I'm not hugely into DBZ's story or whatever Toriyama does have some great character designs' (yes I was referring to Vegeta and Future Trunks at the time, no i will not stop being predictable, yes i am a parody of myself). They eventually brought up the DBS Broly movie and said, and i quote: 'that was a solid 1.5h of unbelievably fun and wacky animation'. Having seen the Gogeta vs Broly part of it on twitter and been like 'damn that animation's kinda off the hook actually, good for them good for them', my response was to be like. Oh word? I've got a spare hour and a half to kill, sure, fuck it, why not, time to watch DBS Broly.

I think that movie was precision crafted to hit me in the hyperfixation, if we're being honest. Opening on a solid 20 minutes of Lore and Worldbuilding and then having most of the rest of the runtime being mindless slobberknocker fun by way of some of the hardest animation flexes ever? I was done for.

In summation. I have been aware of Dragon Ball for a lot of my life, in that its presence was pervasive and enduring as I grew up. I may have been late to the game of actually wholeheartedly enjoying it, but enjoy it I do. Dragon Ball is the roots of a vast tree of anime, and in reading it I began to understand why that is. I respect it for that, and I love it for that. My current fixation may have shifted, but as far as time devoted to one individual thing goes... it took me a year and a half to watch my way through all of the anime and read all of the manga. ALL of it. So there's something good in there, I'd say.

#rip to a legend #text from the mod #tangentially related: i am not actually dead #it's just that between school and my job and the pirate brainrot #(the previous four months of which was feverishly consumed with a 16k word project)#i have had neither time nor impetus to make dragon ball funnies #there is also the fact that my stupid autism brain is still fuming over the website changes #that have fucked up the Aesthetique of the text posts and made them much more annoying to get in a usable form #thus adding steps to what was a simple and comfortable process #and aforementioned idiot dumb brain has not stopped pitching a bitch fit over the inconvenience.#i know it's a stupid hangup. believe me i am fully aware. but there is so little i can do about it #so i am sorry about my long absence. i really truly am.#especially to the asks that have been chillin in my inbox for all this time now #it's just that they're interesting questions that deserve me giving 100% of my brainpower to them ya feel #i want to devote appropriate attention to these little funnies and not phone it in or half ass it LOL

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basedkikuenjoyer · 1 year

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Let’s let the 700th post spectacular continue with a good ol fashioned Late-Night Togashiposting! This time our quarry is far more insignificant on both fronts, but it’s one that’s stuck with me for a while. This time our focus is on the always energetic and spunky Marianne, aka Miss Goldenweek. Girl has a really memorable power that actually is not a result of a devil fruit which is crazy. Especially since we’ve now seen the paint power fruit in Kanjuro.

But here, what I really care about is Gama. The Yu Yu Hakusho character waving around brushes in the background of the Kurama panel. Gama’s a minor villain, but he’s used to set up our favorite fox boy’s best stretch of the gold standard for Shonen tournament arcs. Team Urameshi is whittled down to only a few team members thanks to shady dealings, so Kurama hopes to step up and take out several in sequence. Great, defining moment for him that really sells the combat tactician side. Gama though, let’s talk a little about his power.

Once again, this dude is not very important in YYH. Honestly, Miss Goldenweek’s a pretty good comparison and even that’s only because Gama has the benefit of being part of a much shorter series. The markings are makeup, you may be able to make out the brushes holstered on his left hip. Now, this is here is an application we never saw in Goldie. Painting himself to increase his power. I do like it, there’s a vaguely kumadori vibe. By which I mean Kabuki makeup and not Mr. Yo-Yoi. Speaking of, trivia time. What’s the first point in One Piece we see a big Kabuki nod?

Not 100% if this is what they’re going for in the manga so maybe a trick question, but the anime is blatant. Even gives us a nice IYO! The debut of The Unluckies, fittingly in Chapter 113. I love these weirdos, Crocodile is honestly giving Luffy stiff competition for weirdest crew and their campy 60s spy villain vibes are to die for. Anyways, Gama. It’s pretty simple. His big ability was makeup that could seal a person. One design physically, one for the magic spirit energy.

And that’s where I really do have to wonder with Goldenweek. The way her clash with Luffy happens, some of the way she moves and the way we show action with a paintbrush have always made me remember Gama from Yu Yu Hakusho. Now that Oda’s plugged it and Togashi’s work it feels worth pondering if the oddball Miss Goldenweek wasn’t at least partially inspired by him. Her Colors Trap does work in a similar fashion, just expanded although the implication is that Gama had more abilities. It’s a pretty unique concept, I can’t exactly think of many other examples in anime. And of course, Goldie is such a wildly different design we’re only really talking about the power. Which of course is one of the weirder ones. Not just for the lack of a devil fruit either. Who could forget the end of the Baroque Works cover serial?

Rainbow of Dreams was an absolutely crazy ability! Affected such a wide range and it’s so thematic for this series. It’s fine if it was just having a little fun with the ending, and of course we circle back to the boys who ended the serial captured in Impel Down, but I’d love to see Marianne become relevant again somehow. And I doubt you’d give this kind of unnecessary spotlight to someone so insignificant if you didn’t at least have some fun personal reason behind their creation. Gama wasn’t a big deal in YYH either, but he was memorable. Goldie’s the same way.

Gotta wonder too...was Luffy’s time under Miss Goldenweek’s spell on his mind when he learned about the curse of the SMILE fruits? Thought it was a pretty cool concept to echo. It’s easy to forget how much of a threat Marianne was, and we do pick up that thread of enemies that are hard for Luffy to fight properly in the New World.

#one piece #late night togashiposting #miss goldenweek #gama #yu yu hakusho

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geometricalien · 9 months

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1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 16, 20, 23, 24 & 27 for Kōki Furihata - feel free to choose just a few from these if you feel these are too much 😊

nah man imma answer them allll thank you for sending your ask!! <3<3

1 - My first impression of them - … I thought he was shallow… HE JOINS A TEAM WITH AMBITIONS TO BE THE BEST BECAUSE OF A WEAK ASS GOAL “a girl said she would date me if I was the best in something lol” !! BOY!!

2 - When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like) - I think I finally warmed up to him when he and the other first years said that they wanted to play on the court too, so that’s around?? The streetball tournament? And then we get to know him more during winter cup and he is hella relatable

3 - A song(s) that reminds me of them -

Hercules by Sara Bareilles, i’ve been obsessed with this since I first heard it over a year, it encapsulates the core emotional drive behind Kouki in my greek wip, “‘cause I have sent for a hero from on my knees, make me a Hercules, I was meant to be a warrior please, make me a Hercules”

Mree’s cover of Face My Fears, it just makes me imagine him walking up this huge staircase to the palace of the emperor preparing to do the unthinkable

Romantic by Lauryn Marie, Kouki is ouuuurrrr romantic

I also have this playlist I made full of songs that either remind me of him or songs I think he would listen to

6 - My least favorite ship of them - oh uh hmm I haven’t thought about this before uh let me pull up a character sheet fjdsklf (I’m not including teams unrelated to the GOM bc I literally don’t remember enough about them to say conclusively one way or the other if a ship would be bad or my new otp (veerryyyy unlikely that would happen but who knows) similarly with minor characters from GOM’s teams- besides seirin and rakuzan) okay, I entertained this for far longer than I should because Kouki is fairly similar to Yamaguchi from haikyuu however while Kouki has the ability for snark he isn’t mean like Yams. so Haizaki and Hanamiya are in the running for least favorite ships. Vibes alone, Hyuuga and Kouki don’t mesh well. Tsuchida has a girlfriend so he’s out. And lastly, I think Kouki is too nice and considerate to be a compelling ship with Midorima. He needs someone who will push him beyond his boundaries and Kouki wouldn’t do that. And that’s what I’ll say on that jfdsakljf

Sidenote: I unexpectedly like the rivalry that could crop up between Kouki and Sakurai in their third year bc I think they would be interesting parallels

10 - Describe the character in one sentence - Unassuming man doesn’t know how beautiful and kind he is in this cruel world.

12 - Sexuality hc! Bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bi bib ib ib ib bibibibibi

16 - A childhood headcanon - Kouki wanted to be a mangaka when he was a kid, he read all the shonen jumps as soon as they came out and had dreams of making the next big manga. He even made some prototype manga chapters full of wobbly characters and overdrawn colors and misspelled words that his mother proudly kept and eagerly plans to show his partner (coughAkashicough) when they come to visit

20 - A weird headcanon - He picks and tears at his fingernails instead of clipping them. It’s half out of nerves and half out of boredom

23 - Future headcanon - Besides him being the captain their 3rd year- When he has a stable job he updates his wardrobe, little known fact, Kouki is very fashionable, so he likes to be on top of fashion trends (cough and when he gets with a certain rich redhead he takes full advantage of their gift giving love language and his little black credit card for certain expensive brands cough) I also think that during the pandemic shut down he went a little crazy trying new recipes and his kitchen was an utter mess with no less than 3 failed dough starters spread across his countertops

24 - What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone? - He deeply enjoys all of the soapy romance dramas his mother watches. He’ll enter the living room on the dot of eight and put up a farce of “what is this? The emperor’s love? Guess I’ll watch this with you… if you insist” His whole family has picked up on this and besides some gentle ribbing from his elder brother, no one blinks an eye. His mother records the episodes now in case his practice runs late. When the girls in his class talk about the shows he has to physically restrain himself from commenting thinking everyone will think its weird that a guy likes those sappy shows (he doesn’t know that being able to share and relate with the girls about something will make him more liked though)

27 - If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet? - is it a cop out answer to say thomas the tank engine? I think he and Yamaguchi would be good friends

#ask box #ask game #furihata kouki #knb #kuroko no basket #thank you!!! <3 #traditional artist

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neonscandal · 1 year

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Manga with Me: Dark Trio Anime Adaptation Edition

Mappa Animators Are Troll Gods and You Can't Change My Mind

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: covers major plot points through JJK chapter 120 and CSM chapter 79. If you want to hear out the essence of this argument, I put spoilers under this ‼️ symbol below the jump so feel free to read along even if you don't intend to read the manga.

I'm going to immediately address what you're already thinking. Hell yea, this is a little bit of Mappa dickriding. Have you seen the cult classic nods in the CSM OP? HAVE YOU SEEN THE UNIQUE CSM EP'S WITH CLASSIC ART ALLEGORIES PERTAINING TO EACH EPISODIC STORYLINE!? 😘👌🏾 Chef's kiss, we are not worthy and so, we ride!🧎🏾‍♀️

To be fair, this initially started as a lil snippet of an observation, a figurative comment under my breath on the internet but the more I think about it, the more I'm like... I need to say this with my whole chest. Mappa has the reigns on adapting the Dark Trio of shonen manga and they are embracing and taking this responsibility with every intention of inflicting as much emotional damage as possible.

If you're unfamiliar with the Dark Trio, it includes Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuji Kaku's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku and Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man. Known for their gritty (sometimes teetering on vile) artwork, macabre rich storylines and overlap with the occult, these works make for an unholy trinity. They are similarly unified by the fact that they tend to subvert typical shonen tropes where the power of friendship ✨ can overpower any foe which generally leads to a happy ending for readers.

In a typical shonen, we kick things off with a weak or underpowered MC (parents, where?). They go through a rigorous training montage, sometimes capped by a tournament of sorts as they always want to be the very best hero, fighter, trainer, athlete, what have you. All while cultivating a found family, typically balanced in a trio that finds strength in rivalry and in one another.

While we may see some similarities to the generic shonen formula, expecting either of these series to stay true to the genre is sure to lead to heartbreak as these series are marked by shocking losses. This is where the Mappa supremacy comes in. Captivating animation aside, they are really and truly digging into what makes these series great and unexpected which is sure to sink the hearts of anime only's (or CSM manga readers because we have all collectively blocked out everything we've read thus far).

My first example of this is not a spoiler, provided you've completed the first season of JJK.

JUNPEI CAMEOS DURING OP

I was an anime only before I voraciously inhaled the JJK manga (because how many rewatches would be enough?). With countless scenes illustrated of Junpei interacting with the main trio, when Yuji was finally introduced to him, it felt like another piece of the shonen puzzle falling into place. Sure, he'd gotten mixed up with Mahito, but a sunshine MC typically helps those who lose their way find redemption. So, imagine my surprise, after the two loners find a natural camaraderie, Mahito actually kills Junpei!? BRUHHHH. Now, having read the manga, that's true to the source material. But Mappa really incorporated him into several "romanticizing high school life" scenes to lull viewers into a false sense of security!

This, this could be overlooked. This could be a coincidence. But as anyone who has read and seen JJK 0, it is not. It is a set up and it's one they use over and over. Anime only's beware, spoilers below (beyond JJK 0). You can assume the heartache now or later, your choice ‼️‼️

NANAMI KENTO IS NOT IN JJK 0

Listen. At this point, we all know Mappa blew their animation budget on glossing Gojo's lips and the ungodly care to lengthen his white eyelashes. Mappa knows what side of their bread is buttered. So one might overlook the fact that Nanami Kento's inclusion in JJK 0 was strictly for the gworls. They literally killed off a bunch of nameless children just so Nanami could stride in like a man with medical insurance and a 401k and be the daddy he is father figure mentor who saves the day. Look, that was fan service and no one can change my mind. His butt even got a cameo, come on and the way he tied that tie!? Perverse. I loved it. I guess it also provided context for the four black flashes he's said to have produced in one fight which isn't covered in the manga... 🙄 but this is no accident. This is, once again, setting us up to believe Nanami is a much bigger character in the rest of the series than he is. In actuality, Nanami is more like a burning star, bright but for a short period of time. 💣

youtube

THERE'S NOTHING ROMANTIC ABOUT DECEMBER IN JJK

IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW. But aside from the obvious JJK 0 reference, this incredibly beautiful EP (including the translated lyrics) is a standalone masterpiece. The way they capture perspective and movement and lend to the overall observation of how the characters innocently relate to one another? This? THIS? Is peak romanticizing high school life. It even encompasses the quintessential beach episode vibe while still being true to Akutami largely not sexualizing their female characters (at least not the students). The only thing about this is that the math truly ain't mathing on this little adventure. If you've made it through the Shibuya arc which takes place the Halloween that Yuji starts at JJT, you know that some of the characters in this sweet vignette don't necessarily survive to frolic on the beach that winter.

SINISTER AKI FAN SERVICE

If there's one thing fans love, it's a single daddy who works (questionable) two jobs, who loves his (non-biological) kids and never stops, with overly detailed hands and the heart of a fighter. It's just too bad that, for all this focus on the Hayakawa family home life and gratuitous focus on Top Knot himself, Aki is very much not a survivor. But he is voted most likely to steal your girl so why not twist the knife until the moment when that final blow lands because his death is particularly heart shattering and sentimental. Special care seems to be given in highlighting features Aki loses along the way which is actually quite sadistic. So I look forward to whatever Mappa has in store, considering.

At the time of this post, I'm caught up on CSM and JJK, though Hell's Paradise is still in my TBR. Given what I've asserted, I think I might complete the first season before I even touch the manga to test my theory. What do you think?

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taki118 · 2 years

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SuyaLight Master Post 2

I really like these two there’s not a lot of content for the fandom as a whole soooo her’s my submission as I get every moment of these two royals who literally share a braincell (and I love them for it) First up this is just on the manga if you are anime only its going to have stuff you havent seen yes even with what the anime covers (so read it) and there will be spoilers so beware. If you prefer Demon Monk/Cleric/Leo (which I don’t really get) I am sorry this isnt for you. Lets go! Part 1 is here

Suya shows up at meeting to talk about her nightmare after trying to get rid of her Twilight relents.

Suya needs a bathroom knowing Twilight has similar needs in that area to her she follows him to his.

Too prideful or embarrassed to just say she needs to pee she says something way worse and confusing. So she uses violence to get her way.

After doing what she needs she falls asleep leaving Twilight in pain.

I just find it funny he finds her fiendish

Suya doesn’t like it though, and to stop her kicks he’s willing to make some changes.

Which leads to the weapons downfall cause he’s such a pushover.

Suya used magic to make herself big and well Twilight is the most observant to catch on.

She decides to carry them and its kinda cute.

Again Twilight tries to see the best in Suya believing she was just as lonely as him growing up (which is later proven true) so he lets her join a schools trip to the demon castle to join in fun she missed out on.

But the chapter makes his belief had to justify.

Though He was wrong in the end she just wanted to play and have nap time, she wasnt as malicious as the other demons feared. Still its a misunderstanding between the two.

They get the princess to act like a proper hostage and its too much for Twilights conscious to bear.

Twilight recognizes that they probably caused more problems for themselves in the long run meanwhile Suya starts a real arc for her, countering the notions she’d be taught about Demons with her experiences and wondering just why they hate each other?

So Suya is trying to escape and no one can stop her so Twilight lays a trap.

No one thinks it’d work but obviously he gets her just a little better than most.

After getting her to tell them the reason for her escape (being she wants to buy something) they try to dissuade her before she says this.

It catches them off guard especially Twilight who’s weak to compliments.

After following Suya around the human town all day and dealing with her nonsense they win tickets to a fireworks show where Twilight lays some lore on us.

He reveals a bit why he does what he does and I do think Suya is taking it all to heart.

They think she wants to leave but instead she shows what she would prefer, offering them alternate designs to the less than demon friendly ones on display. This also shows what her long term goals likely are, to bridge the gap between humans and demons.

But its undercut by Suya falling asleep on the way back and Twilight having to carry her with her new vibrating pillow in high.

Suya shows up unexpectedly in his room.

Suya’s logic is unflappable.

Twilight is so scared though its adorable.

Suya wants to know what will happen at a slumber party and Twilight does his best to explain to the best of his knowledge. He’s so cute in this chapter.

(part of me thinks Suya might be Asexual or Aromantic but thats another post)

Anyway after nearly bombing the room cause she doesnt want to think of the hero Suya has Twilight look more into the party but mostly ignores him.

Suya proves that she does actually pay attention and wants to know more about Twilight.

He tries to dodge and it leads to his downfall.

Suya asks an interesting question that leads to pain for Twilight.

At the actual party Suya recalls Twilights explanation.

It’s Halloween and Suya is shown to be pretty face blind though she mostly recognizes them.

Twilight is pretty numb to Suya’s nonsense, but this prompts them to start their own tournament.

It blows up in his face when Suya joins.

However Twilight has learnt how to deal with Suya pretty well.

He offers her a special item for the hero knowing she’d immediately fall asleep. Thus avoiding being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This still takes place during the anime though there’s segments it didnt adapt.

#sleepy princess in the demon castle #sleepy princess #manga #demon king twilight #Maou-jou de Oyasumi #maoujou de oyasumi #Aurora Sya Lis Goodereste #princess suya #suyalight

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anon-manga-guy-thing · 1 year

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i found a manga about the first osu! tournament

[ osu! Combat Championship ] { "The Osu! combat championship" (OCC!) follows the story of the first combat based osu! tournament ever, featuring the best osu! players in the world, each fighting for their own custom prizes !!! }

i really like the cover.

the chapters that are currently out are genuinely great

#manga

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violettelueur · 3 years

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— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE TWENTY || NONSTANDARD

↳ featuring : basically everyone at this point from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of blood + mention of violence + slight mention of suicide + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 15 april

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.1k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : black flash

↳ next episode : jujutsu koshien

↳ barista’s notes : let me admit, this episode took so long to plan and so long to type out because i did at least 4 drafts and this was the best out of all of them...sorry for the lack of activity today but enjoy this episode and good luck ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5. for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique : hopefully this video is slightly better...

Destructive Curse Spell Number Thirty-Three : Sokatsui (6:00-6:07)

Destructive Curse Spell Number Eighty-Eight : Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho (6:55-7:12)

Domain Expansion : Hanging Evergarden (BLACKPINK DDU-DU-DDU-DU : 2:30-2:42)

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“Mother?” you whispered, as your arms began to gradually become limp causing your polearm to be lowered while you still stared at the woman in front of you with extreme shock residing in your eyes as you both stood at each side of the river.

“Hi there,” your mother replied back with a soft smile on her face while waving her hand to you as if she was just a longtime friend that you haven’t seen in a while when in reality it had been six years since you saw the face that you dearly missed. Yet, for some reason, there was something creepy about the woman standing in front of you right now.

“Is that...really you?” you asked in a stutter trying to make your mind comprehend that the person in front of you was really the person that was announced dead six years ago leading tears to begin welling up in the corner of your eyes which caused your sight to waver slightly.

“Yeah, alive and well in the flesh...I can see that you are also doing well, that’s a nice uniform you’re wearing there,” your mother commented, as her eyes started to travel up and down your body coming to the realisation that you were now wearing a Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College uniform.

“Why?” you then question, ignoring the fact that she was giving an offended look at the clothing you were wearing right now while a plethora of questions began floating around in your mind, trying to understand and process everything that's happening at this current moment in time.

Right now, there was an attack happening right now at your sorcerer school with a veil constructed over the Exchange Event’s location (probably due to the mole telling the intruders where it was going to happen) while currently there was a special-grade curse located at least two kilometres in front of you with Itadori and Todo fighting it with a least three other intruders lurking around due to the faint cursed energies you could sense. However, there was also a minimum of four people being injured, who were Inumaki, Kamo, Fushiguro and Maki with you having no clue about the others due to the tournament that had commenced before the ambush happened and now you were here with the woman, who you thought was dead.

“Recall situations huh? That is the Y/N I know,” your mother mentioned leading you to snap out of your concentrated thoughts to focus back on the other intruder that was now standing with pride written all over her face.

“You didn’t answer the question,” you replied back with a lowered threatening tone, as your arms began to gain back their strength leading you to grip tightly onto the gift the Gojo had given you as if it was something that could give you the comfort you needed right now.

“Which one do you want me to answer dear? Why am I alive? Why did I fake my death? Or why am I attacking Jujutsu Tech right now?” she answered with a smile on her face as if she was mocking you for not already having the answers for yourself.

“ALL OF IT!” you screamed, as the tears began to decline down your face, dripping down on to the earth below you with your shoulders trembling. “Why are you here? Why are you doing this? Why are you on the curses and curse user’s side? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME FOR SIX YEARS?” you yelled out in agony as if you were now releasing all the pain and suffering that you had bottled up with more tears continuously streaming down your faces as if they were waterfalls at this point.

“Why wouldn’t I leave you?” your mother then queried leading your eyes to widen further in shock after what she had just announced.

‘What…’

“What did you say?” you replied back in a whisper-like tone, as confusion and betrayal began to cloud your thoughts, questioning if you were hearing right on what she had just asked you.

“Why wouldn’t I leave you? You’ve grown stronger without me, I think it was the perfect decision to leave you, in my opinion,” your mother commented with the smile on her face becoming a smug smirk until it suddenly turned upside down into a frown as if something just came up in her mind, “well, that was until you got caught and found by none other than Gojo Satoru,”.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? WASN’T IT SUPPOSED TO BE A MOTHER’S JOB TO PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN? WASN’T YOU THE ONE THAT TOLD ME THAT?” you cried out in extreme agony leading your voice to become strained. “What happened? What made you come like this mother?” you whimper as the torment of your mother’s word became evident with the expression you were presenting. An expression you never wished to show anyone.

“I WOULD HAVE PROTECTED YOU IF YOU WERE MY REAL DAUGHTER!” your mother yelled back before freezing once her words began to process in her mind, while you were now just standing in front of her with nothing but complete astonishment written on your face leading your once tightened grip to now completely loosen causing the polearm to fall down with a clung once it hit the ground before rolling off to the side, more than an arm’s reach away due to the small gust of wind blowing against you.

“Huh?” you gasp out as the sudden announcement that was violently thrown at you to as more tears descended, which caused the woman in front of you to start laughing once she had now fully finalised what she just exclaimed at you leading her to cover her face with one hand as she threw her head back with her laughter echoing the whole forest - something that the others could hear if they were still in the forest.

“Ah~ I messed up, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that now~” the woman giggled before facing you again with a smug smirk landing on her face once she witnessed your disheartened face that was painted in both betrayal and confusion.

“Ah, damn it~ this is what I get for breaking the seal of the baby that Lady L/N left for the L/N clan to figure out,” the woman began to mutter under her breath. Although, it was somehow still loud enough for you to hear with the fact that your heartbeat seems to cloud all your senses right now.

With your staggered breathing, you began to aggressively wipe the tears off your face while trying to construct the newfound information that the intruder in front of you just declared before placing your hand on the tree trunk behind trying to balance yourself as you didn’t want your legs to give out.

“What’s the point in hiding it anymore, I’m not your mother Y/N,” the intruder announced as if you needed another reminder leading your breathing to stagger once again, as you struggled to get into a regular breathing pattern.

“Might as well tell you now huh? You are not my daughter...but rather the daughter of the last sorcerer of your inherited curse technique a thousand years ago...the same sorcerer that sealed you away for some reason, leading the L/N clan to flee once Sukuna was sealed away by the same woman,” the woman explained before letting out another fit of laughter as if it was stuck in her throat for a long time and it now needed to be coughed out.

“I am too from the L/N clan, we both are...it’s just...we are not related as you thought we were...but I do wonder how powerful the sealing was? After all...you didn’t age one bit within that sealing crystal,” the woman questioned causing you to turn your head towards her with both distrust and rage within your eyes.

Your body was in pain, mind clouded with uncertainty and heart filled with betrayal. As much as you didn’t want to believe the woman in front of you - you still didn’t, but rather you were indecisive of what to believe - she seemed quite certain to be telling you everything that was nothing but the truth.

Yet, for some reason, you now just felt extremely empty.

“I don’t care,” you muttered under your breath causing your opponent to turn to you with a surprised expression on her face.

“Pardon?” she then asked, in a perplexed tone.

“I..don’t...care anymore...how many of you are there? Four? Five?....Actually, that doesn’t really matter right now huh?” you muttered before taking your hand away from the tree trunk as you processed to turn your body to make it face directly towards the stranger, who now seemed to be worried about what was going to occur.

‘This is going to be quick enough to wipe them out...ah...what a drag...I don’t want to use this…’

Lifting both your arms together, you gently placed your pinky and thumbs together before spreading your other finger, representing what seemed to be like petals on a flower, leading the woman to be more confused about what you were planning to do.

“Domain Expansion,” you announced, causing the intruder in front of you to widen her eyes in shock before lifting her metal tonfas in a complete panic as if they were going to shield her from whatever was going to come towards her.

Just below the ceiling of the veil that was overcasting everyone, there was a sudden construction of a stone square ceiling with pink flowering hanging with their petals downwards leaving a white squared light to shine down towards you, who was now standing on a stone pedestal with empty eyes casting down on the woman in front of you.

“Hanging Evergarden”

You could tell that everyone within the battle right now was confused about what was going on since there was a sudden darkening within the veiled area due to the stone ceiling that you had constructed with your cursed energy. However, they could not have been as more perplexed than the woman was who standing below you, looking fearful of what you had just cast.

“Since you want to play with my heart and the lives of everyone here, I might as well gamble with your life as well as your little friends in the area,” you commented in a deadpan tone, while a few on the pink petals from the flowers above became to fall down gracefully giving the people below an eternally beautiful atmosphere away from the stale yellow coloured view they were in right now.

“By the way, I think you should somehow tell your friends that they shouldn’t let the flower petals touch them in any way…” you announced desolately, as you noticed one of the petals slyly beginning to gently land itself upon your opponent’s shoulder.

“Destructive Curse Spell number thirty-three: Sokatsui,” you chanted, leading to the same flower petal to explode with a torrent of blue cursed energy to which caused you to notice how there were other explosions around the area, noting that the other curses and curse users were also inflicted with the same curse spell.

“Sorry, did I give you the warning too late?” you mockingly asked before looking up to see one of the flowers beginning to slowly fall leading to a small smile appear on your lips. However, it wasn’t one with happiness.

“My domain expansion is barrier less and uses as much space as it can to fill the void that I want it to fill, the flowers are just cursed energy manifested into that shape allowing me to use them at will with any curse spell I cast without suffering the consequences of losing more cursed energy or permanent ones...from what I could remember...there are at least 10,000 flowers with 100 petals each...that means...I can cast up to a million curse spells if I use each petal individually,” you explained as the smoke in front of you began to subside leading to an appearance of a woman with a large gash going from her shoulder to the middle of her stomach with slight burns concealing her whole left arm.

‘Maybe that petal didn’t have as much cursed energy as I thought it did’ you mention internally, as you looked at your opponent in front of you before lifting your arm to lightly grasp on the flower that finally descended within arms reach above you.

“Or...I could use a whole flower with 100 petals to cast a stronger curse spell,” you muttered as you lifted the flower to your face while your fingertips held on to the stem as delicately as possible.

“Pretty right?” you rhetorically asked, as you tilted your head to the side as you began to inspect the flower that you were holding onto right now.

Even with its vast amount of petals, the flower was quite light as the petals were quite small, leading them to be somewhat difficult to detect by your opponent once they had landed on the ground or somewhere upon their body. However, even with the explanation, you had given to your opponent, who was injured to somewhat critical lengths, that wasn’t all you could do with your domain expansion - yet, you weren’t going to hand over that information so easily.

Unexpectedly, there was a sudden change in the colour of lighting causing you to look up to find that the veil was beginning to rapidly deconstruct as the sides began to subside causing your stone ceiling to be the only thing sheiling the entire area, as well as the person who was on top of your stone construction right now.

‘Gojo?’

Steadily, your stone ceiling began to also subside due to you deactivating the structure leading the stone that was starting to gradually crumble from the side to convert themselves into the same petals from the flowers that began to fall down as well leading to a rainfall of the pink flower petals to pour down upon everyone.

Standing above the floral blanket was Gojo, who was floating in the air without his blindfold on, leading you to widen your eyes in surprise since it was one of the first times you had seen them exposed due to the fact you were used to them being covered by his black-tinted glasses.

Suddenly, your white-haired teacher disappeared from your sights leading you to sense his cursed energy from the other side of the area in front of you to which caused you to concentrate on the woman in front of you, who was holding her wound with one hand, which was a futile attempt to halt the bleeding that was dripping down from her large wound.

“I’m retreating! There is no way I am facing both you and Gojo at the same time,” your opponent suddenly announced, causing you to look at her with a deadpan expression painted on your face, as you slowly stepped down from your stone pedestal - which the stone began to crumble while turning into pink petals like your stone ceiling did - with nothing filled within your eyes.

Lifting up the surviving flower in front of the woman (who you used to call your mother), you stare directly into her eyes as a wooden structure begins to enclose around her causing you to come to the conclusion that it was the special-grade curse that was helping her escape.

“Destructive Curse Spell number eighty-eight: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho,” you chanted in a whisper, causing the flower to suddenly fire a gigantic beam of blue electrical and cursed energy leading to anything in front of you to create an impact as flames began to engulf the tree on the other side.

However, your eyes unexpectedly notice an immense purple beam rapidly coming towards you leading you to widen your eyes in shock before your body began to relax even in the current situation you were in.

‘Could I block it? Nah, it’s a technique that convergences and divergences...it probably cancels everything like a black hole...that’s quite nonstandard for him...I don’t care anymore...I guess I can go to sleep again....’

On the other hand, before you could even feel the agonising impact of what was coming towards you, there was a sudden feeling of impact pushing you away from the purple hallow, causing you and whatever had pushed you to just marginally avoid the attack leading you to look over the person’s shoulder with broadened eyes as you didn’t expect someone to save you from the blast that you were willingly going to take.

“What were you thinking?!” Someone shouted at you before painfully grabbing your shoulders to make you look at him, only for you to discover that Gojo was right in front of you with a rare terrified look on his face - but all you could give him was an empty look with wide eyes.

“Why?” you whispered, causing Gojo to now look at you with shock as he didn’t understand why you were asking such a type of question.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” you then screamed painfully as multiple tears began to burst from your eyes as you violently shock your adoptive father, only to finally let your body lose all its strength it somehow maintained as you instantly dropped onto your knee (which the fall was pillowed by the immense amount of petals covering the ground) causing Gojo to come down with you, as he became even more surprised on the sudden tears that were spilling down your face.

“WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?” you cried with agony coating your voice leading Gojo to peer at you with compassion as he then gently pulled you into a hug, letting your painful scream ring into his ear as he allowed you to let whatever you were holding in escape.

Gojo didn’t know the reason why you were crying, nor did he know how he could comfort you at this very moment in time. As much as he told you to call him your father, he never really had that much of an experience of being one, let alone how to even act like one. All he knew was that you were now suffering and he didn’t know why at all.

“I’m sorry,” Gojo muttered before pulling you back to make you face him leading the sorcerer to find you with bloodshot eyes as well as the known wet stains of the tears that were still flowing down as redness covered your whole face.

Pressing his two fingers in the middle of your forehead, you began to subtle notice how your vision was getting hazier causing your mind to be plagued by confusions before your consciousness was suddenly lost leading your head to land upon Gojo’s shoulder before he proceeded to pick you bridal style before gradually making his way back to Jujutsu Tech.

“It’s going to be okay, just rest now”

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captnjacksparrow · 2 years

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I was reading new Boruto chapter and I think Hinata doesn’t have faith in Naruto now because he has lost Kurama. She was never shown before to worry about him before fight but now she is... like really Hinata you don’t believe in your husband?

Actually, Anon... She never stopped worrying about him, you know. Her Love is so pure like a Jade Crystal which can't be tainted by evil souls like us...

But, I am feeling EVIL now... Just like Neji.. This following panel is one of Kishimoto's glorious creation....

Probably the words Hinata and Worrying brought me all my annoyance I felt during my First Watch & Rewatch....

Now get ready to feel the same annoyance..

Hinata worrying about Naruto

In Forest of Death, Second Round...

In Third Round

Planning to throw Kiba under the Drain

As expected she really threw Kiba under the drain

Threw shit on Kiba's face by offering ointment to Naruto first... Despite Naruto felt perfectly alright.... Oh!!! My mistake!!! She was only worrying about her Naruto-kun....

Worrying about Naruto in Chunin Exams Tournament

Her stans usually spouts that she always thought Neji Nii-saan as her own brother from her childhood... But here she is cheering up for a random boy instead of feeling bad for Neji....

Hinata FEELING THE PAIN of her Naruto-kun by coughing up blood... I want to cry too 😭😭🤧

Hinata-sama fainted on seeing her Naruto-kun was covered with Bandages

Hinata worrying about Naruto during his fight with Tobi

Worrying about him during Pain Arc...

More Worrying

Now my Princess is very ready to protect her Man.... Like a Warrior...

That Resolve is something terrifying, isn’t it???

And here she comes....

Oh My God!!! What happened to you Hinata-Sama??? You are the only person in the Entire Manga who got One-Paneled in a Big Battle claiming to protect your man....

Worrying to the point of tripping down on the Battlefield...

All these times, you were worrying about your ‘Naruto-Kun’ right from Chapter 57.... And you kept on annoying me with that name almost to the point of bleeding out my ears.... And Is this all you could do for him????

Even in Boruto Movie as well,

I think Boruto Manga Artist, Ikemoto also follows the same thing....

[[Not at all Sorry for spreading my Evil Energy to Y’all]]

Like I said, Hinata’s love was so pure.... And she always worries about her Naruto-Kun....

But that’s all the only thing she could ever do... From Age 6 or 7.... She kept on Stalking him ,Worrying about him and did nothing that could help Naruto in any way...

And After she got him.... Again she kept on worrying about him and still she is of no use to anyone in anyway... Not even to her Kids.... That Sasuke was the one who was teaching him jutsu and proudly telling stories about Naruto... Something that should be done by Hinata... (Sigh!!!)

And this is what they tout as the Best couple in Narutoverse (**Face Palming**)

#antihinata #anti hinata

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mettywiththenotes · 2 years

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I love how much Trope Bending happens in MHA! The Sports Festival is the best example of this; We'd expect Izuku to win every fight, Bakugo to ruthlessly destroy Ochako who starts crying at the first explosion, we'd expect the tournament to get interrupted and a winner is never declared. BUT NONE OF THAT HAPPENS! Ochako ALMOST WINS and Bakugo ACKNOWLEDGES HER AS A WORTHY OPPONENT BY USING HER NAME not a courtesy he gives Kirishima, Todoroki or Tokoyami, all people who are arguably stronger than Ochako! Izuku doesn't even get to the semi-finals! I loved the Sports Festival Arc and I love the tropes it broke.

It also means it's a lot less predictable to read in fanfics, too. So many MHA fanfics I read that cover the Sports Festival arc and are Canon Divergence will play it in so many unique ways! Sometimes Izuku wins, sometimes he forfeits in the first fight, sometimes Izuku helps someone else win, sometimes someone Quirkless wins or Hitoshi wins or Shouto wins or anything can happen! I love that too!

Yesss I loved it too. It was a really interesting arc specifically, I think, because you couldn't predict how things would go, especially with it being in the early chapters of the manga (not much of a rhythm or rhyme to something that's so fairly new)

I'm sure any other Shonen would have probably gotten Izuku all the way to the very end through Sheer Determination and have him either miraculously win the festival or lose at the last second or smthg (victory so close but lost so quickly)

But I really like that Izuku lost early, but not too early. Like, luck was on his side but you know what else? His brain! He's a smart kid and I think Hori used that well to show that he does have that advantage over people and can come up with alternatives or thought-out plans but Izuku isn't some like. Shonen Whiz who succeeds through determination alone. Kid succeeds but also messes up, sometimes because of that determination (recklessness)

I think the arc was one of those examples of Izuku constantly saying "I'm blessed, I'm lucky" and meaning it, because he did have that advantage of his friends and OFA but also had a blend of his own personality messing him up

About Bakugou, it's funny because the Sports Festival is actually when I started to like him! Before Shiggy got to the top of the list, Bakugou was my favourite and it was all because of how he was treated in the Sports Festival

You're right, we would expect him to be destructive, we would expect him to be unfair or smthg, behave like a selfish bully (like we thought he was before this arc), but the fact that this arc showed a side of Bakugou that we hadn't seen before - or at least wasn't made so clear to us before - was just so interesting to watch! To see him gain respect for Ochako, to see how he respected her stubbornness and her strategy, to use the battlefield against him - It just gave so much more of an insight into how Bakugou works and I love that so much

The best parts about the festival is that nothing went how we thought it would (even the whole thing with Shouto wasn't an I Hate You Dad Goodbye Forever, it was a I Need To Think About What I Want Now But I'm Not Leaving Just Yet, and that was also super interesting) and that's honestly so much more interesting than the standard of Everybody Succeeding Through Sheer Determination imo

Also that whole thing about the pros in the audience. I think that worked so well with 1) our initial perception that heroes are good and respectable and then being shown that, actually, they can be stupid af and uncaring too - which is also shown through Endeavor - and 2) how it challenges your perception again, that Bakugou is just a selfish horrible bully and so everything he does is Bad, but then Aizawa comes in, tells everyone the logic of the situation and to sit back down because the match is still going on

It definitely earns the title of a growth arc, one where it's not unquestionable victory, but a reminder that the kids are still, well, kids! And they will mess up and fail and learn and grow, and even if they succeed, the peak of it is not in some festival, but later, when they get more experience and train harder and become Heroes

I think one of the things bnha does well is that subversion. Like, there may be some things that are predictable, but the fact that some battles and arcs and plot lines aren't is what makes it interesting! If everything were to go exactly how we want it, complete victory and constant success, that'd be so boring to read. Sometimes, those twists are totally needed in order to bring out the gold in a story, and it's one of the reasons why so many people can add their own twist to their own fics I think - bnha has some predictable moments but it does hammer home that anything is possible! Which, you know, is kind of the point of the story anyway! And you can feel that! So it works well with whatever you can come up with

#thank you for the ask!😊#asks with metty #bnha asks #bnha positivity

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dungeon-meshi-tournament · 5 months

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Congratulations to Chapter 47 on winning the title of Best Chapter Cover in the Manga!

You horny, horny people

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #best chapter cover in the manga tournament #chapter 47 #senshi #senshi of izganda #winner

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mesozoic-system · 3 years

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Bakugou Katsuki is not as bad as he seems.

Okay, fine. That's a lie. Bakugou is a loud and obnoxious asshole with little to no character development and will snap at anyone who breathes on him the wrong way.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to why he's like that.

You all know what PTSD is, yeah? If not, it stands for "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". It's something that causes panic attacks, unnecessary aggression, trust issues, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and more. People will develop it after a traumatic experience. It takes years of therapy to recover... actually, most people never recover from it.

Fun fact: Katsuki canonically has PTSD. It's confirmed, and you know what? After everything he's been through, it's not much of a surprise. He's been through one tragedy after another and never seems to get a break.

When we first met Bakugou Mitsuki (Katsuki's mother) in chapter #96, we instantly realized how aggressive she was. I mean come on! She talked smack right in front of him and his teachers- in front of All Might who she knew her son was very fond of. Katsuki may be irritable, but to have your own mother backhand you in front of your own role model is a little much.

Later on in chapter #165 during the Provisual License Exams, we get a little more information that only points towards more abuse- and this time it's not so verbal.

Most people paid no real attention nor gave it a second thought in these panels, but remember when Katsuki suggested to use violence against the kids? Of course, you'd look at it and wave it off as "normal Bakugou behavior", but what he says next took me by surprise:

That's right. He was raised that way.

Which means either Mitsuki or Masaru (or both) had struck him in some way multiple times as he was growing up, and I doubt it was Masaru.

"Spoiled" my ass. He might have a strong quirk, but people don't turn into little monsters just by being praised. It'll definely boost his confidence, but not dramatically. This could also explain his aggression toward Midoriya. He realized how helpless he was and had power over someone else for once. But that's just a theory.

Okay, let's fast forward a bit. He's finishing up his third year of Middle School and is preparing for the UA entrance exams. He's pushed away his childhood friend to follow his own dreams and tells him to jump off the roof.

Literally.

And then he walks out the door only to regret it much, much, muuuch later in the series- y'know. The "character development" I was talking about.

Next time we see him though, he gets what he deserves.

One panel he's tramping through an alley with his friends, and the next, he's being swallowed alive by the most perverted-looking slime monster I've ever laid my eyes on.

While Izuku's dreams are being crushed by his own hero, Katsuki is fighting for his life in the middle of town. He's struggling, but all he could do was look back at all the dozens of fearful eyes...

Right there. Right now. Look at him:

He's terrified. He's humiliated and afraid and hurt and despite all of the heroes that were there, none of them had even attempted to save him.

And this is where it really starts. This is where it all begins. Next thing we know, Izuku's running straight for him... The boy Katsuki's bullied almost all of his life is risking his own in order to save him.

You know the story from there; All Might trains Izuku to withhold his power, they get accepted into UA, and then comes the Sports Festival.

Katsuki's already made up his mind: he's gonna win. He's willing to give everything he has to show the country what he's made of, and this may be his only chance to make up for the mishap several months ago. And Monoma, being a professional at making things worse by opening his mouth, rubs salt in the wound.

It was pretty easy to predict Katsuki's reaction: pissed off and more than ready to prove him wrong. He does, but it cost him his "first place" during the Calvary Battle. But that's okay 'cuz it's not over yet!

Welcome to the next and last stage of the festival: The Battle Tournament, where all the kids get to beat the shit out of each other until only one remains.

Turns out, Katsuki does win. It was a foolproof plan: get Todoroki to go all out on him so he can make a final impression before the end of the day. But it was obvious that Shouto was still unsure of himself, so Katsuki did what he did best:

He had to piss him off.

But instead of getting angry and bursting into flames like he had planned, Shouto threw away the battle at the last second, and everything Katsuki had worked for with it.

No shit he's gonna be upset! He worked his ass off to get where he was, and the whole point was to leave himself a footprint! His entire life had been dedicated to that moment, and it faded away right in front of him.

Midnight put him to sleep and he woke up and threw a temper tantrum.

Now this is was UA did wrong:

Why would you do that?! They were all aware of what happened to him only a few months ago, he obviously hasn't properly recovered from it, and they restrain him in front of thousands of people. They cover his mouth and gag him, lock his hands in a tiny metal box and expect him not to go insane. Helloooo?! Wake up! He's just a kid!

Several months go by and now it's time for camp. Katsuki is tired. They all are. It's been a long day of training and training and training, and suddenly villains come out of nowhere, and nobody is prepared. And who shows up? The League of Villains, and they're after certain students...

Tokoyami escapes safely, but Katsuki isn't so lucky.

Just think about that for a second. When we see Shigaraki holding a picture of him, it's the one where UA tied him up. He knows what this child has gone through and he pities him. To be honest, I think the LoV treated him much better than anyone ever has (except maybe Kirishima). They're hesitant, but they treat him with kindness. They didn't just want him for his quirk. They saw what the heroes did to him and wanted to help him get the revenge he deserved.

But when All Might showed up (more like "burst through the wall like the Cool Aid man"), Katsuki is instantly teleported in the strangest way possible... and the most traumatizing.

He chokes out this weird slime-like substance that devours him within seconds. Thankfully it only last that long, but then again, the Sludge Incident, remember?

Yeah, bet that brings back some memories.

But what must have hurt him the most was All Might's downfall and early retirement. He said it himself:

After several chapters, he finally burst. He's been holding all the pain inside of him until it bubbled over and he couldn't take it anymore. So he went to the only person he could- the person he hated and yet trusted the most.

Maybe the Class 1A concert helped him in a way. It seemed like it brought him down and maybe even relaxed him a little. And something incredible happens. Something we haven't seen from him at all until now...

(From here, I'll try to keep it short to avoid as many manga spoilers as I can. That and I'm tired...)

He began to change; started to support Izuku... in his own twisted way, of course. As chapters went by, he started to open up little by little. He admitted what he had done to Izuku in middle school to All Might, which had brought him some peace of mind. It wasn't quite the apology we had hoped for, but I guess it'll do.

And during the war, he made the greatest sacrifice, finally unlocking his quirk's full potential. Despite being unable to move, he used his quirk to throw himself in front of Izuku without thinking, taking a blow to his stomach. To his stomach.

He was impaled.

Holy shit.

Last time someone had been impaled was Nighteye, and he died from his wounds.

But Katsuki somehow managed to survive... And woke up ready to beat Izuku's ass if he didn't wake up.

Anyway, that's all I have to say (so far). However, I'm excited for Season 5 of the anime series! Can't wait to see our new story animated! I mean, I've been watching the episodes as they come out, but still.

-Blightcon

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bakugou katsuki #kacchan #midoriya izuku #deku #all might #bakugou mitsuki #bakugou masaru #todoroki shouto #Utsushimi Camie #tokoyami fumikage #the thoughtbox

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thekingofwinterblog · 3 years

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Getter Robo Retospective - Getter Robo Part 1 -Ryoma Nagare

So, Iv’e been wanting to do an overall retrospective of the Getter Robo manga franchise for a while now, and since the Getter Robo Arc is nearing it’s finale as of the time of this writing, and will either give it a definite ending, or be the final nail in the coffin that the series will never be finished before Getter Robo falls into public domain, I thought now might as well be the time to do it.

As such, I’ll be doing an overall analysis over the entire collection of Ken Ishikawa’s Getter Robo manga series, it’s plots, themes, characters, and covers the various ideas this crazy and amazing sci-fi series covers.

Also, this retrospective will NOT cover the various anime adaptations, or the behind the scenes stuff that has gone on with Getter Robo over the years, such as Go Nagai being credited as the writer of the original manga despite only having come up with the overall concept and designs for it(the rest was by Ken Ishikawa), or the way that Ken went back and added in some extra chapters in the original two manga to explain some things and to tie the early manga more closely into what came after.

For the purposes of this retorspective, I will be focusing exclusively on the manga itself, and what it has to offer, without going into anything else.

And of course there is no place better to start, than the beginning.

So, what is the story of the original Getter Robo Manga?

Well, the overall plot of the original manga is about the conflict between two sides of a conflict, as laid out rather well in it’s prologue chapter.

The first is our protagonists, the Saotome Institute of Japan, who’s leader and namesake has invented the titular giant mecha, the Getter Robo.

Powered by a revolutionary newly discovered form of energy called “Getter Energy”, this enormous metal behemoth is a fighting machine unlike any other.

This war machine was originally supposed to be used for space exploration, but due to necessity, it has instead been reworked into a fighting machine.

It’s only weakness is that it requires 3 different living pilots to operate it to draw upon its full strength.

Opposing the Saotome Institute, is the forces of the Dinosaur Empire

An empire of humanoid Sentient Dinosaurs that long ago was forced to flee the Earth’s surface after it was bombarded with a strange kind of energy from space that was deadly to their kind, their only way to survive being to use their incredible technology to hide on the only place on Earth where the rays couldn’t reach them. The Earth’s very core.

Now, after millions of years underground, and the rays that forced them beneath the earth to begin with having seemingly ceased, they have finally returned to reclaim the earth’s surface for their own. At it’s disposal, it has incredible technology, and giant cyborg dinosaur monster in it’s quest to wipe out the newcomers, the human race, to achieve total dominance over the Earth.

If you think this premise sounds very generic, and you’ve seen it in some form or another in countless other Mecha series, you are not wrong. Ancient evil group attacking the protagonists, and only the new giant robot can stop it, probably the biggest stock plot in mecha overall, having been done in everything from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Megas XLR in some form or another. The set pieces and details are different, but the overall plot is the same.

However, where Getter Robo fits into this, is that it was one of the first giant robot manga there was, and many, many of the tropes and ideas it pioneered would be used and imitated by its successors.

In fact, I would argue that Getter is the second most influential mecha series in history, only second after it’s big cousin, Mazinger Z.

However, we are not here to detail how it influenced the manga industry, but how Getter holds up on it’s own, and in this regard, despite having a plot that has been overused time, and time again by it’s successors, this isn’t really that much of a problem for Getter Robo. Because like any good Mecha series, Getter’s biggest strength is it’s cast of characters.

Starting off in chapter 1, we are introduced to the first of the Robot’s giant pilots.

Ryoma Nagare.

Each of the pilots of Getter Robo is given an introductory mini-arc to set them up, and Ryoma’s is easily the best of the 3.

We are introduced to the main character of most of the franchise at a very unusual spot to open a main character, especially for a Shonen protagonist.

At the end of a revenge story.

To put it bluntly, Ryoma does not start off this series as a particularly likeable, nor good person, as his introductory scene is him crashing a perfectly legal martial arts tournament and beating the everloving shit out of it’s referee, it’s participants, and the judges who arranged it.

His reasons for doing all of this?

Revenge for his old man.

As it turns out, Ryoma had a massive beef with the arrangers for this contest, as his father, Ichigan Nagare was a pro karate champion back in the day, whose reputation was purposely destroyed by those arrangers.

Now he’s come to take revenge by utterly crushing their disciples on national television, to hammer in the point that his father’s martial arts was superior to theirs for all the world to see.

During this whole thing, we also get a very good look into how Ryoma thinks at this point in time.

When the arranger tries to appeal to the “Sacredness” of the Sport to get him to stand down, Ryoma laughs in his face, proclaiming that there is nothing sacred about combat at all. The only thing that matters is who emerges as the victor.

This is backed up by how he doesn’t show the least bit of compassion or honor to the first of the contestants he defeats, easily smashing him to the ground then gloating over him after having demonstrated the sheer difference in the combat prowess between the two of them.

He is very blunt about the fact that he believes that one should pursue strength for strenght’s sake alone, and never stop until you have crushed anyone who stands before you. Always train to get stronger, and always seek out those who can challenge you and beat them too.

Might makes right.

This is a REALLY good introduction for showcasing Ryoma as a character. How he thinks, his immense near superhuman strength, his ruthlessness, his pride in his own strength.

It also ties in directly into the themes of this series, as this kind of thinking is essentially Evolution itself boiled down to it’s bare core. The survival of the strongest. What is the point of Evolution after all, if not this? Those with the traits to survive and thrive will do so, while those who cannot, will be crushed by those who can, who in turn will pass down what made them successful to begin with.

Of course that is not what the actual message of this series is, but it is a concept that this series is rather blunt about, and it’s not a coincidence that the most prominent of all the main characters of this series began his journey while believing wholeheartedly into that ideal.

All in all this scene is just great, and it sets up Ryoma really well, as well as making it clear that this is a boy who has a lot of growing to do as a person.

And so, having achieved his life’s work that he’s trained for for years and years, Ryoma nagare quietly leaves the arena, leaving behind a dozen bruised, battered and broken men on the ground.

Of course this display of power has not gone unnoticed, as in the audience were two men from the Saotome Institute who came here hoping to find someone strong enough to pilot their giant robot.

As it happened, they just found one that fit the bill rather spectacularly.

Then in the next scene we are showcased Ryoma’s home.

Ryoma Nagare, a fighting genius that at the tender age of 16-17 smashed the greatest karate practitioners in Japan with ease while being outnumbered a dozen to one, lives in a ramshackle part of town, in a rundown old building that has broken windows, a leaking roof, and can at best be called a ramshackle cottage.

It’s a rather brutal contrast to the sight of the prestigious, well made and maintained karate tournament building we were just in.

Inside we find the sight of something else rather unusual for a Shonen protagonist. Having now achieved his goals, and avenged his father’s memory, Ryoma is slowly starting to come to the realization that this has all been one giant waste of time. He hasn’t actually earned anything on this journey. His father is dead, he’s still poor, and his only belongings is this shitty building and the clothes on his back.

As we learn here, Ryoma has spent his entire life being trained in martial arts, to insane degrees even for an adult man, much less for a child. All for the purpose of one day doing what he did today, and avenging his father’s memory.

This scene really hammers in the fact that for all his ridiculous strength, Ryoma is a child, and he has a child’s way of looking at things.

He thinks back fondly on being pitted against stray dogs in death matches, and he reveals here that in his mind, this was all about “Redeeming” martial arts somehow, as if this display would really change anything in the grand scheme of things within the sport.

It wasn’t of course. This was all about revenge. Everything Ryoma ever trained for was for this moment, this moment of what should have been absolute and total triumph as he achieved a truly spectacular victory and proved his father’s fighting style the best in all the land and he has proven that he himself is the strongest fighter in all Japan.

Instead he is coming to the realization that so many people that wasted their lives on vengeance have come to over the years. That it was all a giant waste of time.

Revenge is a suckers game.

Having achieved his goals, Ryoma has found them to be completely empty, and has nowhere to go. This is a really fascinating way to open up a character arc, as usually a character that learns the lesson that David Xanatos knew so well, happens either at the end, or somewhere later down their line. Ryoma however, learns it in the very first chapter, and now has to find something else to live for.

However, his soul searching is then interrupted by a few gentlemen from the Saotome institute.

Who immediately tries to kill him.

Now before I discuss the next part, I wanna praise this overall scene, because it really works great within the context of this chapter.

Ryoma has been introduced as a massive asshole, who firmly believes in the mantra of Might makes right, and he doesn’t feel any regret at having brutalized a dozen of innocent people, just the fact that he realizes that there was no real satisfaction to be had from it. Now the other shoe drops, and HE is attacked in his own home, completely unprovoked for reasons that frankly he has no personal involvement in on his own side. While this attack does have an in universe reason behind it, it main purpose is that it serves as a nice cathartic moment for the reader, as while he’s never going to legally punished for what just happened at the tournament, he is punished by the narrative for his actions, which is something i’ve seen far, far too many stories do over the years fail to do with asshole protagonists.

It also serves to put Ryoma’s current belief in Might Makes Right to the test. After all, aren’t these men doing exactly what he said that those who practice martial arts should do? Seek out those stronger than them, then crush them.

All of this makes it a shame that it is horribly undercut by the one, genuine stain on the original manga. Namely that one of the attackers is this guy.

And it’s at this moment you realise, oh yeah, this was made in 1970’s Japan. The unfortunate fact is that Mangaka of this period generally based their depiction of black people on early American comics(Which had plenty of this kind of artwork), and Ken Ishikawa was unfortunately not an exception to this rule.

He would THANKFULLY not repeat anything like this later down the line(his depiction of black people is far more natural and realistic in later manga), but hot damn is it both uncomfortable and distracting to read the pages with this guy. And it’s a real shame too, because frankly, not only is the following fight scene very good as a narrative punishment for Ryoma, but it’s just a good fight scene in general.

Unlike the Tournament fight, which was mainly a beatdown to establish Ryoma’s ridiculous strength, this is an actual fight, which showcases Ishikawa’s ability to draw energetic, exciting fight scenes where action flows very naturally.

It also shows that for the kind of ridiculous strength Ryoma possess, he isn’t some superhuman, as early in the brawls he’s heavily wounded by the rather mundanity of taking a throwing knife to the shoulder. This is in general something that makes action if Getter Robo stand out from other shonen series too. When characters, or Robots for that matter, takes hits, they rarely shrug them off with no problem, instead taking real, genuine damage that doesn't just instantly go away. They might power through them, but that isn’t the same as them disappearing into the ether.

In any case, the battle ends up outside the house when Ryoma is thrown through the wall.

He’s then forced to do the classic, catch the blade between the palms of his hands trope, which is depicted much more believable than most cases I’ve seen, as despite succeeding, it still left him bleeding from those palms.

Ryoma then redirects the blade into the big guy who is attacking him from behind, killing him. I really love how the artwork sells that this is a desperate move on Ryoma’s part. He is genuinely fighting for his life here, and he’s pulling out every trick he has to to win despite his wounds.

He then follows that up by ripping the blade out, and throwing it at the knife thrower guy. I also like that after doing so, he immediately falls flat on his ass, in a rather realistic manner(he is fighting in the rain after all, so the ground is undoubtedly pretty slippery.), while also showcasing the force of the throw. My only main complaint is that for this one panel Ken forgot to include the wound and the knife on his shoulder, as I think it would really sell just how desperate Ryoma is here if we’re visually reminded in the moment that, oh yeah, he’s powering through and using the arm whose shoulder has a knife in it to to throw this thing.

Thankfully, that missed opportunity for visual grittiness is more than made up for by the next part.

Having now effectively won the battle(I think the swordsman broke his foot in the fall, at least that’s how it looks), Ryoma suddenly realises that, holy shit, he just killed someone. The contrast between here and how he looked as he challenged the tournament fighters couldn’t be more different. The cooky, arrogant youth is completely gone, and you're reminded that Ryoma is just a kid. A kid who just had to kill someone. The bravado is completely gone, leaving only a kid who is tired, confused, in pain, and probably pretty scared.

He is then approached by the man who just had 3 grown ass men jump and attack him, Dr. Saotome.

Wounded, and mentally exchausted as he is, he is in no position to argue as Saotome declares that Ryoma is what he’s been looking for, and as one of his men rips the knife out of his shoulder, Ryoma screams before losing consciousness from the pain. Afterwards he is dragged into a car, and bandaged up.

Then as they're driving, the’re attacked by a giant flying dinosaur that grabs unto the car and flies away with it, Ryoma and Saotome barely managing to get out in time, alongside one of Saotome’s unlucky goons who breaks his neck in the fall.

And so ends Chapter one of Getter Robo.

All in all, other than the horribly racist black guy, this is a really good first chapter, that sets up Ryoma Nagare really, really well, showcasing his way of thinking, his origin, and where he needs to grow, while also showcasing his ludicrous strength, and that he is fully capable of going balls to the wall to win a fight, which will be showcased many, many times in this series. It also ends on a reminder of the fact that oh yeah, this is a series about one side vs dinosaurs, as Ryoma gets his first introduction into the enemy he will be fighting time, and again in this manga. It also gives a distinct first impression of just how ruthless Saotome is, as he is perfectly willing to send 3 dangerous goons on a teenager just to test his prowess in battle, which is absolutely going to come into play in future chapters.

All in all, it’s a good start. Not an amazing beginning, but certainly a good introduction to our first main character.

#Getter robo #getter robo retrospective #ryoma nagare #character study #getter robo manga #dr. saotome

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bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture · 3 years

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Part two of three. Izuku has a new goal for this tournament, and Shouto’s getting a vibe check.

[No. 39 - Todoroki Shouto: Origin]

We start off with a brief flashback from a younger Shouto’s POV, ith Rei saying that that’s fine, he’s not…

Shouto’s narration wonders when he forgot what came after that. In the present, Shouto demands to know what Izuku is planning. Everything he’s got… did his bastard of a father pay him off or something? Shouto is pissed, and dashes forward, thinking that Izuku won’t be able to deal with him at close range. Izuku reacts by dashing forward as well, ducking low as he gets close.

In the stands, Katsuki has also notices Shouto’s slowed down, likely because of the frost covering his body. It’s different than Katsuki’s limits - kind of like magic points in a video game. The scale of that attack against Sero was probably the most he could muster.

Shouto panics just a bit, realizing Izuku had moved the instant he raised his left leg. Izuku himself is furiously muttering to himself about imagining the microwave, don’t let it explode, even as his powered-up right arm comes swinging, landing right in Shouto’s stomach.

Of course, Izuku isn’t entirely unscathed, Shouto managing to get some ice on Izuku’s left arm at the elbow before being flung away by the force of the punch. Present Mic makes a comment on things heating up, while both Izuku and Shouto take a moment to recover from the backlash of that punch. The crowds are shocked at Izuku landing a blow, but also note that he’s the one who can barely stand.

Shouto coughs, commenting on how now Izuku is on the offensive. He’s wondering how (I’m guessing on how Izuku finds the strength to keep going?), sending out another weak burst of ice that Izuku leaps over. Izuku comments on how Shouto’s not just slowing down, but his ice is weakening too.

Cementoss asks Midnight if he should stop the match. It seems like Izuku’s going all out because he knows he can be healed no matter what. And he’s not feeling all the pain he’s in because his adrenaline’s pumping. But those injuries… a single healing session won’t be enough for a full recovery. Even if he wins here, he’ll be in no shape for the next match. Midnight has no reply.

Aizawa thinks back to the quirk assessment, where he told Izuku to learn to control his quirk. In the present, he notes that that control is starting to come, even if it means weaker attacks. He’s not just blindly going wild out there. In order to win, this is the best strategy for him at this point. But… even if he does know he can be healed, putting himself through all that pain takes a hell of a lot of guts.

Toshinori, however, has caught on to what the others have not, wondering what it is that’s motivating his successor. Which is a small little thing that I find neat! Toshinori’s known this kid for just over a year at this point, while the rest of the staff have only known him a few weeks.

Izuku can’t make a fist with his right hand anymore. So when Shouto sends another up-close ice attack, he puts his thumb in his mouth and uses that to flick it, destroying the ice with a crack that is equally likely to be from the thumb as it is from the ice. During all that, Shouto (or Izuku?) thinks back to Izuku’s words, about wanting to be like All Might, and for that, he has to be number one, he has to be the strongest. It might seem like a lame motivation compared to Shouto’s, but.

Shouto asks Izuku why he’s going this far. Izuku dashes in, saying he’s just trying to meet expectations. A smiling, dependable, cool hero - that’s what he wants to be.

Shouto flashes back again for a brief instant, providing enough distraction that Izuku gets in another hit. Izuku states that that’s why he’s giving it everything! For everyone! Shouto’s experiences, his determination - Izuku can’t even begin to imagine what all that is like. But if he becomes number one without giving it his all, then Izuku doesn’t think he’s serious about denying Endeavor everything.

A longer flashback. Endeavor tells his son to get up. He won’t even be able to defeat third-rate villains, let alone All Might, if he gets knocked down by a hit like that. Rei begs Endeavor to stop, that Shouto’s only five years old. Shouto looks up from where he’s kneeling on the floor in his own vomit, just in time to see Endeavor slap Rei out of the way while stating that Shouto is already five, and to get out of his way.

Present Shouto tells Izuku to shut up, his right side absolutely coated in frost.

More flashback. Young Shouto is curled up in his mother’s lap, saying that he hates his father, he doesn’t want to be like him. Someone who bullies mommy - he doesn’t wanna be like that. She rests a hand on his head, noting that he wants to be a hero, right? That’s fine, he’s not…

In the present, Izuku takes another swing, thinking back to… someone’s words about if you have a future you’re striving for, while out loud declaring that that’s why he has to win. Which I guess clarifies the earlier reasons that everyone might think this is about winning the match. Toshinori, however, is cottoning on to what’s actually happening, thinking back to his talk with Endeavor, and how Shouto won’t use his left side because of his conflict with his father, which means Izuku is…

Izuku lands his hit while stating he has to surpass Shouto.

While the other Todoroki children play soccer under the supervision of an elderly lady, Shouto watches on from the window. Endeavor grabs him by the arm and yanks him away, telling him not to look, that his siblings belong to a different world than him.

Shouto stumbles across his mom talking on the phone to her own mother. She states that she knows it’s not right, but she can’t do it anymore. The children, they’re like him more and more everyday. And Shouto, his left side - sometimes she looks at him and hates what she sees. She can’t raise him anymore; she shouldn’t raise him. The kettle rattles as Shouto peeks into the kitchen, nervous and overwhelmed by what he’s hearing. Rei… does not react well.

Shouto, a bandage over his left eye, asks Endeavor where his mom is. Endeavor states that she hurt him, so he had her put away. He calls her a fool, during this crucial time in Shouto’s development, no less. Shouto weeps, furious and upset, stating that he’ll show Endeavor, that it’s all Endeavor’s fault.

In the present, he starts to talk about how he’ll show his father, only for Izuku to interrupt -

Not quite the same line as the anime! Which I was surprised by, to be honest. Like, I get why the line was changed up for that, and both have the same meaning, but there’s… something interesting in the original version of those words as well.

We flash back again, to an All Might interview Shouto is watching with his mother. All Might states that quirks are naturally passed from parent to child. However, that’s not the only thing that matters. It’s not just blood ties - instead, one must recognize and appreciate oneself! That’s what he means when he says it - when he says ‘I am here!’

(Not gonna lie, that bit of All Might interview actually has me thinking. That comment on blood ties makes me wonder whether he’s thinking about Nana, and that line about how one must recognize and appreciate oneself seems like a lesson both Toshinori and Izuku are needing to internalize in the current manga.)

Rei notes that Shouto wants to be a hero, right? That’s fine. Shouto isn’t bound by Endeavor’s blood. He can decide who he wants to become.

Shouto is practically in tears as he wonders when he forgot that. Flames lick at the corner of his eye and cheek, right before his entire left side goes ablaze with great force.

Everyone spectating is in shock. Tenya thinks on how Shouto had stated he’d never use his left side in battle, remarking on how he’s using it now. Toshinori realizes Izuku was trying to save Shouto. Endeavor is elated by this development.

As Izuku flinches back from the heat, Shouto comments on how he thought Izuku wanted to win. So why is he trying to inspire him? Which one of them isn’t taking this seriously now? But he wants to be a hero too. Shouto and Izuku grin at each other, and so this chapter ends.

Not gonna lie, I kind of vibe with this version of The Line. It’s still similar to the more popular anime version, but it’s also just different enough that I am. Thinking. Mayhaps it shall be used one day in a fic somewhere.

Anywho, character sheet incoming. Rest of the Izuku vs Shouto match on Friday. See y’all then.

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #readthrough #chapter 39 #sports festival arc #midoriya izuku #todoroki shouto #aizawa shouta #cementoss #yagi toshinori #todoroki enji #todoroki rei #this hits different in the manga than in the anime #i like it #feels different and new

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engekihaikyuu · 3 years

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View from the Top 2 - Review

Check out the Read More if you’d like to hear about this show! Askbox is open as well if you’d like me to elaborate on anything out of this.

Before I begin my review of the final show, I do want to start with some caveats:

So as I mentioned previously, the production once again went with PIA for their live streaming platform, which means that live streaming this show is very inaccessible for anyone living outside of Japan.

PIA is a ticketing platform that requires a working Japanese phone number in order to finish activating/registering a new account because you must call the number provided to finish account verification. So without a Japanese contact or a Japanese phone number, this platform is basically impossible.

I have a generous friend in Japan who was willing to share her account information with me, which is how I was able to pay for a show and use her log-in to watch the stream. I did not see this show in-person; I do not live in Japan and obviously travel is off-limits. Even if I did live in Japan, I would have qualms about going to the theater.

There are some logistical issues with this show because of the current pandemic, with the most visually obvious one being the small face shields the actors wear on-stage. They basically serve as protection against direct spittle, but obviously they do nothing to guard against aerosol spread; putting on the play is still an incredible risk to the performers and staff. Another difficulty they face is the fact that Tokyo is still continuing to maintain a nightly curfew. Every evening Tokyo performance needed to be bumped earlier so that spectators can leave the theater in time to make it home for that curfew. Keeping that in mind, the show is a surprisingly condensed 2.5 hours long, where I would have expected 3 hours given the amount of content it covered. This does affect the pacing in Act 2 noticeably, and I get the feeling that were it not for covid and the current curfew restrictions, it would feel a little less rushed at the end.

So, with all that said, here are my thoughts on Engeki Haikyuu’s final play, The View from the Top 2!!! This is absolutely not spoiler-free, for both the play’s content and everything that happened in the manga finale, so if you have not finished the series, this is your last chance to turn back.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t written a full review on a show since Fly High, so I’m a bit rusty at this, and I’ll probably leave out a lot so as always, my askbox is open for people’s additional questions!

The absolute main theme of this play (and really of the entire Haikyuu story) is the friendship and rivalry between Hinata and Kageyama, and the theme: I’m not alone. Engeki really did right by our dual protagonists by framing the final show as showing both of their journeys from beginning to end. Act 1 begins with that familiar sequence from the very first show: Hinata seeing the little giant on TV, being inspired to start playing volleyball, his struggle to find a team in middle school, losing to Kageyama in his one and only middle school tournament, and finding him again at Karasuno. They repeated the scene almost exactly as it was in the first show, and I think it was very smart of them to show us Daigo’s version of it, so to speak. That way we have a more cohesive vision of Hinata from the beginning of his journey to the end. Then they absolutely FLOOD the stage with a montage of projections with footage from all of the shows from the past five-and-a-half years. So already it’s pretty emotional for me, seeing how far the play had come as well as how far Hinata had come in the story.

To parallel this, the beginning of Act 2 actually begins with baby Kageyama. Yes, the baby Kageyama flashback with his sister and grandfather and how he started volleyball. We see Kageyama’s volleyball journey from childhood (for this they used a small doll similar to the dolls they used for young Kuroo and Kenma from Revival) to playing at Kitagawa Daiichi, to losing his grandfather, to being labeled the King of the Court, to defeating Hinata, and then having Hinata find him at Karasuno. And then they once again, they flood the stage with projections with past show footage, but this time they are more Kageyama-centric in the way that the previous ones were often Hinata-centric. And it just really highlights how much these two are meant to share the stage as the two main characters.

To see this framework and to know what’s going to come at the end, with the two of them reuniting in the pro-volleyball arena… just the beginning of Act 2 alone had me in tears. Another way they paralleled their respective journeys was to show us who have influenced them. In Act 1, there’s a dance with Hinata, Hoshiumi, and Udai (all little giants… well, Tsukishima’s in there too because he’s feeling a particular competitiveness with Hinata in this part of the match). In Act 2, there’s a dance with Kageyama, Atsumu, and Oikawa, because Atsumu and Oikawa are the setters who have had the most influence on Kageyama, and he’s drawing on what he’s learned from them for this match. They are not alone in their journeys, they have had people inspire them and be inspired by them in addition to having the support of their teammates.

The Karasuno vs Kamomedai match is interspersed with bits of action from the Fukurodani vs Mujinazaka match, so the stage was pretty busy for basically the entire time. The wires are back for some sequences so that both Hinata and Hoshiumi have a chance to fly, and there are plenty of acrobatics and lifts, and the same incredible soundtrack we love. Ryuu’s Hoshiumi is the obvious standout on Kamomedai for how many lifts he had, and they definitely tried to have him running around on the stage about as much as Hinata. It was notable how much they drew on past techniques and music for various parts of this match, since this is meant to be Karasuno at their peak. When Asahi was feeling particularly stuck/trapped against Kamomedai’s defense, they incorporated the tying-up visual they had previously used in Winners and Losers, with Kamomedai basically tying up and holding Asahi in place with ribbon. There was Summer of Evolution music when Karasuno does a great synchro attack, and the extras-wearing-Hinata-masks reappeared to show us Hinata’s “afterimage” as he flashes around the stage. If you’ve seen all the plays, you can’t miss these call-backs.

The flow of the match was fast. They hit the highlight plays and the highlight emotional moments, but we are clearly past the point where they need to narrate the actual volleyball to us. There was more dancing/acrobatics than attempting to place the two teams on either sides of a physical net with more overt volleyball moves. Everything was more intertwined and fluid than that. And actually now that I think about it, they have been sparse with their usage of a physical net in the past few shows, because everything has been a little more fast-paced overall.

They definitely wanted to highlight Karasuno’s rise throughout the game, to show that they were absolutely a formidable team, that they deserved to be at Nationals, and to show us all the ways that Hinata and Kageyama had grown. For most of Act 2 leading up to Hinata’s collapse, it really feels like they could win this. And I think it makes it that much harder for Hinata to accept being benched, because the team is riding this high and doing so well, and even Kageyama’s more visibly having fun. I think Takeda-sensei easily has a third of the best lines in the series. His speech to Hinata during the Kamomedai match is one that was really gut-wrenching to read when those chapters came out, and it was great to hear it said aloud.

And here is something I’ve never been able to point out because I didn’t do reviews for the past two tours, but I think Daigo’s voice is one of the strongest aspects of his Hinata. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the work he’s done as a voice actor, but when he cries or whimpers, it is genuinely the most pitiful noise. A lot of Kenta’s portrayal of Hinata’s frustrations throughout the story had an undercurrent of anger and frustration. He’s upset, but there’s always something behind it that says, “well next time, it’ll be different.” And I think Daigo replaces most of that with pure sadness, especially for this scene. After Takeda-sensei lectures him good and proper, and he accepts that he needs to leave, he just sounds so broken. It doesn’t have that anger and drive underneath, he’s just in despair. And why wouldn’t he be? A part of him understands this is the last match he’ll ever play with this team, his first real team.

We then see Hinata bundled up in a coat and scarf, watching the rest of the match from the tablet that Kenma gives him. Snow begins to fall on the stage as he slowly wanders through it, with Karasuno and Kamomedai finishing out the rest of the match around him. Engeki Haikyuu has always allowed for the losing team in a match to line up at the edge of the stage, say thank you to the audience, bow, and take their leave. It’s so symbolic, and it’s so emotional for the actors and for the audience who are in the theater. It’s a moment that just barely breaks the fourth wall, when they turn to us, the spectators, to say, “Thank you for your support.” And they mean it both in and out of character. And I was so so so sad when I realized that Karasuno would take their final bow as a team without Hinata in the lineup. He’s in the back of the stage, separated from his team, and he does take a bow, but it’s very lonely.

Now, I’m sure people are very curious about the timeskip material, and mostly I just have to preface with: it’s fast. It does not take up as much of Act 2 as you might think. It’s boom, boom, boom, cameo here, pre-recorded projections there, patissier Tendou interview, Kuroo in a suit doing a promotional commercial for the V-League, Kageyama’s curry commercial, a projected Osamu selling his rice balls, get the old team together, fateful encounters in front of the bathroom, GO! The only thing we see of the Brazil arc is Hinata having a brief flashback to tell Kageyama that he met Oikawa while he was in Brazil. It’s very short, and that’s all we get for his time in Brazil. Basically, the play is not the place to see Hinata’s journey and growth from those chapters because he goes through so much of it alone, and there’s just no time. The Brazil arc also brings back a lot of technical details about volleyball itself, especially as Hinata is learning the beach version, and that’s an area where the manga is the best medium to examine the finer details of the sport. I can see why a play version would gloss over the technical details to focus on the emotional arc, which is in this case, Hinata and Kageyama.

Because of how fast the ending is, it definitely feels made for the people who already read the manga; Previous Engeki Haikyuu shows have always presented the story in a way that was very friendly to those who may not have read the manga or watched the anime. You could watch just Engeki Haikyuu and not feel like you were missing out on references/jokes for the most part, but this ending would be way harder to follow for those not familiar with what’s already happened.

It’s difficult because I do feel like Act 2 was overly condensed to wrap up this story, but I also don’t think the timeskip material is enough for a whole play on its own. If we had stopped at the end of the Kamomedai match, and had a whole separate play to cover Brazil and the Jackals vs Adlers match… the pacing would’ve been slow and low energy especially in the first half, and it would be an odd choice for the final show of a series like this. My preference would have been for this play to have been three acts, three hours, so that we could linger on some of those timeskip moments a little more, slow it down, and let them land emotionally. But clearly the covid situation prevents that in this case. That being said, I don’t think any of those timeskip moments could really hit as hard as when I first read them in the manga. Narratively, that Haikyuu timeskip was so unexpected and so outside the normal sports anime formula, that the initial shock is extremely hard to top. It was fun to see how they presented everyone in the future (seeing Noya on that boat catching a giant swordfish, or seeing Ennoshita almost break a patient’s back) in stage form, but it’s unreasonable to expect them to give us the same feeling of ?!?!?!? when we first read that Noya was in Italy of all places after waiting weeks and weeks for him to show up.

I still cried in several places, it’s still a great ending to one of the best 2.5D franchises in existence, and it still feels like the culmination of their legacy. I don’t know how it would be possible for anyone to watch that ending sequence with all of the team flags and the chanting of their names, and NOT cry.

There are no more live streams until they complete the rest of their tour and then there will be a live-stream of the very last show, which I will be watching with a towel in hand for my tears. Feel free to send in any questions if you’d like, and if you would like some Strongest Challengers or Trash Heap merch, I have a sales post that I recently made.

#Haisute #Engeki Haikyuu #Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu #Final Show #View from the Top 2 #review #reviews #2300 word vomit for any who are interested

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oydan · 2 years

Text

Title: Let's Take A Break

Pairing: Sanda Shunpei x OC

Warning: Angst. Family issues. Abandonment. Can be sensitive for those who grew up with toxic family members. However, it's very light reading in the beginning if you would like to read it still.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters let alone the entirety of Ace of the Diamond. I only own the OC characters mentioned.

A/N: Finally able to upload my work for the week and I'm aware it's a bit of slow burn. That was my intention with this pairing since it's a bit of a love triangle. I think it would take a lot of time for OC to really figure out her feelings and also to explain her back story that I didn't want to reveal in my introduction. Also, in this chapter I did a bit of a special guest appearance from another anime/manga I've been watching/reading, called Days. It's an soccer anime and I just thought it would make sense to cross their paths. Something new for me but that doesn't mean I'll do it for my other stories I'm in the process of writing. I'll most likely be doing another special guest appearance from another anime as well called, Clean Freak but it'll be very small. Just more for fun since I don't plan to pick up another storyline for some time. I'll be focusing on the ones I've already set out to do. Anyways thanks so much for reading my work!

Support by liking, commenting, reblogging my work. I do requests as well if anyone out there wants anything specific. Hit that follow button so we can interact.

Masterlist

It had been a while since the last time Emiko had gone out of her way to speak to the first year pitcher. Ever since they were eliminated from the Jingu tournament it came to Sawamura's attention now that all they were doing was training and preparing for their upperclassmen to retire officially. He was normally pretty bad about getting back to people through text and he knew she was the same way from what Miyuki and Kuramochi have said. Yet he was curious as to why she wasn’t around Miyuki at the very least. He would try to catch her during break but with exams in the process his friends/teammates would stop him before he had the opportunity to sneak out of his classroom. So he settled for his last resort.

“Hm, why are you asking about Emi all of a sudden?” Kuramochi answers with his own question instead.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with her lately since the last time I saw her was after the Yakushi game.” It seemed pretty harmless but Kuramochi could never be too safe. Miyuki was an idiot and had no sense sometimes when it came to social cues so it wasn’t a surprise that despite his crush on the pretty girl he was as clueless as his idiot roommate. Sawamura was luckily too much of a baseball nut to even care about relationships and had his childhood friend that liked to message him all the time anyways. “She’s been busy. It’s almost time for the Winter Tournament and she’s been studying with Akari to make sure she doesn’t fail her exams.”

Kuramochi thinks back to just earlier today when Emi tried to sneak out of the classroom during break to get away from a harsh tutoring session at the hands of Akari. She was incredibly disciplined from her years of growing up in a judo household. Sometimes he was confused how the polar opposites became best friends beside the fact they were always in the same class since their first year. Watching the strong blonde drag her friend back to her seat was comical in itself but seeing Emi whine while actually doing her work made him question the dynamic even more. He could practically see the annoyance on the normally passive girl’s face.

Sawamura on the other hand was now content with the answer he received but he was curious about the tournament. She made the time to go to his games when she could so he was curious to see her in action. He still had the magazine cover she left behind from before and he was interested to see for himself just how amazing she really was on the field during a game.

“Are you going to go to her game?”

“We can’t. It’s during winter training.” Kuramochi was already planning on dragging Miyuki with him to her games after the winter week was over. Their winter work outs would end around the time of semi finals so they were going to take the long trip all the way to Kyoto together. They would all be exhausted from the week so taking the loud pitcher was out of question. “It’s so short. That’s too bad.” Kuramochi wanted to leave it at that.

He really wanted to but later that evening during dinner apparently Sawamura wasn’t the only one missing Emi.

“Are you going to watch the girl’s soccer game during the winter break Mochi?” Zono says while sitting down at the lunch table with the rest of their fellow second years.

“They’re only playing during our winter workouts, Zono senpai.” Sawamura states thinking he was given the right information. While Kuramochi wanted to say something to stop the truth from coming out he was cut off by Kawakami. “Ichika told me that she was going to get a room with Hina and Akari during the semi finals. We’ll be done by then.”

The cat-like eyes Sawamura aimed at Kuramochi’s head were piercing. It made him want to kick him once again but he couldn’t blame him for the look. Miyuki just laughed realizing where the confusion was coming from. “Yeah Kuramochi and I were going too.”

That night he didn’t realize his error in judgement until it was too late and had to deal with the loud complaints of the boy. The guilt from earlier eased away though when he got too irritating and it all ended with a head lock.

Meanwhile, Emi had found her opening to get away from her team of disciplinaries. She had been practicing for long hours already at this point and studying for exams was killing her. It was necessary for her sanity to get away for a bit. The pressure to perform during this tournament was already suffocating enough. She wanted to find enjoyment in the sport she loved and lately it seemed like it was getting away from her. So she did what she normally would do and hit the recreational center near home. The one she always went to growing up. It was where she went when she was having a hard time during her first year and it was where she went back to find her first love. This place was her one place for peace.

Being the ace was something she took pride in but it came with it’s down moments. The added pressure from everyone else to the internal warfare. It was difficult to say it was all fun and pride which was why she wasn’t pushing Sawamura to become the ace but she definitely saw the potential. He needed to experience the downfalls before he jumped into the position. It wasn’t made for everyone. Sometimes she wondered if she was even made for this position.

Walking into the old run down building she automatically recognized the front desk worker. The owner's son was a few years older than her and already had a wife that just so happened to be his girlfriend from high school. Emi remembers the pair used to be flirting all the time at the front desk whenever she would come by to play. “Look who’s back, the superstar.” He calls out to the short girl walking in after finishing up speaking to the teen boys in front of her. “Hey Mori. How have you been?”

“Same old. Finishing up my exams and job searching have been the same. It doesn’t help that my dad has been off traveling doing who knows what.” The old man was a free spirit and it was the main reason why she liked coming by in the first place. He was always the funny uncle she used to love visiting. Without him she couldn’t imagine keeping such an interest in the sport. He reminded her constantly what made it fun for her in the first place. The burn out she would feel build up would be released after a match in his center. The memories he created were too pure. She always offered to sponsor him since so many people would ask where she would train in interviews, but he constantly said it would cause more trouble since he didn’t have much help beside his son and his cousin that would just watch the facility during the day.

“Eh, let him enjoy his old age. He’s getting up there.” She jokes with the irritated son. “Are there any matches I can hop in?”

“There were just some kids your age earlier that you just saw.”

“What happened to the old dude league? I don’t mind playing but I’d rather not get into a fight tonight.” She had too many experiences in the past with boys and their hurt egos. She was forced to be tough since so many would play dirty or end up ganging up on her. Sanada was able to get her out of trouble most of the time but that didn’t mean he was able to be there all the time. Playing with boys wasn’t something she generally wanted to do when she was trying to relax, but she would have to scope the game out to make sure.

“Onishi?” A deep baritone voice calls from beside her at the front desk. Looking in the direction where it came from she came face to face with a familiar face. “Mizuki. It’s been so long.” The forward from Seiseki High that she had met a while back here in this very center. She remembers when he first started playing soccer and how the weird kid seemed to grow at an exponential rate. Last time she saw him was during the winter break after her team lost in the first round of preliminaries. She came here to vent her frustrations out when she met the passionate boy. Looking at him now though he was a completely different guy. His aura around him had changed. The puppy dog grew up to be a wolf. His body was a lot more solid and he grew taller. She almost didn’t recognize him. “Yes, it’s been a long while.” He was definitely still as awkward as before.

“What are you doing here? Came to play a pick up game too?”

“Yeah but I came with some teammates this time.”

“Captain!” Another masculine voice called out which surprisingly made him turn his head in response. “Captain? Wow the newbie got good enough to be captain!?”

Her comment made him stiffen up and blush remembering the last time they met he was still learning. In fact she had taught him to control the ball while dribbling. The teammate that called for him wasn’t alone. When Emi looked over to the team she saw five guys staring in shock that Mizuki was speaking to a girl let alone such a familiar face. Anyone in Japan that followed soccer knew Onishi Emiko. She was making major headlines for the last two years of being a potential national member. There were even professional teams showing interest in her as a second year.

Ooshiba in particular has been very open about his affection for the super star. The immature part of him was tempted to throw a tantrum since his captain apparently knew her by the looks of it, but he didn’t want to make a bad impression on the pretty girl. “Hello pretty lady.”

All of the present teammates and Emi froze at the awkward introduction. “Um, hello.”

“Onishi these are my teammates: Usui, Haibara, Inohara, Kimishita, and…Ooshiba.” The hesitance to actually introduce the boy made him snap. “What was that!? Why did you pause!?”

Everyone just ignored them instead they stepped closer to the pair to speak comfortably. “Ignore him. He’s a first year student who doesn’t know how to filter out his garbage.” The silver haired boy speaks up. She could tell he was hiding his irritation and the fact that he was the one that held these interesting personalities by a leash was pretty obvious. “Oh it’s fine I don’t mind. I’m Onishi Emiko, but by the looks of it I guess you know who I am.”

The vice captain watched as she scratched the back of her neck in a bashful manner. She was much different in person than the news coverages done on her. “Of course! Anyone that picks up a sports magazine knows your face. You were asked to play for multiple men’s teams for high school.” Haibara states excitedly, “You were amazing in middle school.”

“Yeah but they wouldn’t have allowed me to play.” It was common sense to know that those coaches were trying to pull something. Not all of them were as close minded but after meeting with a handful of top teams she realized that the invitation was to stop her from growing. She wouldn’t have seen a minute of play time on any team despite the major steps the women’s national team have taken to promote female empowerment. Those titles were nothing to those men. It didn’t help that some coaches were aware of who her father was despite the different surnames.

“It would have been a waste of talent.” Mizuki nods along. While she was able to vent to Sanada she couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t able to understand her completely regarding soccer. Even though the captain was just a newbie and a bit dense, he was able to understand her problems pretty easily. He was constantly belittled for his lack of experience and lack of talent. Emi had both of those things and she was still looked down on. Despite their different circumstances they were able to confide in one another.

The others were just surprised that the clueless boy even understood what was going on. They all could assume that the pair were closer than they led on.

“I was about to go check out the game right now to hop in. You guys going to play?”

“We were actually about to. The other team is already warming up.” Usui says but before he could invite her Ooshiba interrupts, “Would you like to play with me? You’re a great midfielder. I’m a forward so we should be able to work together great.”

“Well…I don’t mind but I thought I could just hop in with your team. Unless the team is just novices.” The group walk into the bright indoor fielding area where the opposing side is waiting. Emi puts her bag down where the others had their own to put on her own turf cleats. “You got a girl playing with you? Are you sure that’s alright?” She could hear one of the guys ask Usui who just waved off their concerns and complaints.

Mizuki just tutted while Kimishita was growing more angry hearing the loud “whispers” that the tiny girl would be a handicap. Emi on the other hand was used to this and just ignored it. She’s always made people acknowledge her by simply showing them how much better she was. Male or female it never mattered. She grabbed a ball to put it at the center of the circle. “You guys go first.”

“It’s all good sweetheart. Ladies first.”

Passing it into his chest with more vigor than she meant set the pair of egotistical boys off. “Go ahead.”

Mizuki along with the rest of the allowed members stepped onto the field as well, ready to watch up close what she was made of.

The match began with the pair attempting to do quick passes to each other but she was too fast. Cutting off the wasted touches on the ball to one another surprised everyone, but the goal from just a few feet away from the halfway line was beautiful. She played as a forward when Mizuki first met her but she changed over to attacking midfielder later on in her first season. Since then she had been the top scorer in the girls division and had been recognized as one of the best playmakers due to her ability to read the field and players. As a fellow attacking midfielder Kimishita admired her play style especially. While he had a golden right foot that hit the mark Emi had two platinum feet. Watching her stand her ground against the overly aggressive boys while keeping the ball attached was beautiful to watch. This wasn’t even a real game.

After that goal she pushed back to her position as a midfielder and worked her magic. Mizuki enjoyed receiving the passes from her since it seemed like the game was played at a much faster pace now. Ooshiba was in awe at how easy it was to put the ball in the back of the net. Everything was dynamic and had run so smoothly that the points just kept adding up.

The score was forgotten and after having such a fun match Emi felt so much better. She loved proving people wrong; it made them shut up.

Water breaks in between and she gets closer to the rest of the boys. They were loud and fun to be around. Made her feel welcomed and like she belonged in their team.

It was a round robin with another couple of other teams that were playing on the other field. Four more matches and she was finally content.

“You should play with us more often, Emi.”

“Sure I would like that. Add my line.” They all added the girl on the app, even Kimishita. When she looked up to walk towards her bag her violet eyes caught sight of her friend. “Shun, what are you doing here?” Everyone turns at the mention of another unknown male. Ooshiba wanted to go confront his potential love rival but Usui held on to the tall idiot.

“I had a feeling you would be around here. You’ve been MIA for a while.” He says sitting nonchalantly on the metal bench. She wondered how long he had been waiting there for in the first place. “Yeah I’m sorry about that. To be fair I’ve hardly talked to anyone besides Akari and my teammates.”

“I know. Preliminaries are coming up for nationals. Which is why you’re here. Akari told me you went missing after practice. You didn’t show up for the tutoring session.”

“I’ve been studying all week. I’m exhausted. I’m not a freakin robot.” She finally plops herself on the seat beside him with her water bottle.

“I know which is why I said I would get you. This is your safe haven so I didn’t rat you out.” A breath of relief and laying her head on his broad shoulder was her response. Everything was too much right now. She knew her friends and teammates meant well but she needed to just get away. Moments like this made her miss the times they would go to the tea shop near their middle school. It felt like a distant memory. “Thanks Shunpei. I know I should stick it out but I need to just get away from my responsibilities for a second.”

“Well that’s fine with me you know that. I used to skip practice to get away from those responsibilities.”

“You were also bored at practice.” The shrug and charming smile to boot was a killer duo. She couldn’t help but think she had a handsome friend. She caught herself pinching his cheek, “You’re a good looking guy Shun. No wonder you have so many fangirls.”

The blush on his cheeks was burning hot and ran down the back of his neck with a fury. He had no time to sputter out a retort since she already got up from her seat to grab her bag. Her melodious laugh echoed in the large space. She was the only one that could cut through his resolve. His cool demeanor was smashed to pieces but it wasn’t like he minded. He followed after the short raven hair with his hands in his pant pockets. He needed to push down his embarrassment since she was walking back towards the group of guys she was originally playing with.

“Thanks guys for letting me play. Let’s set another match up some time.”

“Of course.” Mizuki confirms while nodding in acknowledgment to the acquaintance behind her. They only met a few times when he would come to pick Emi up from practice. There was no real relation between the two boys besides their mutual friend.

Ooshiba wasn’t having it though. “Who’s this!?”

Shunpei just raised an eyebrow at the hot head in front of him. He wasn’t sure where this random act of animosity came from but he had a feeling it was because of Emi. It usually was and he was so used to that being the case that he just smirked. This just set the giant off more but the elbow from Kimishita stopped him in his tracks before he took another step.

“Hi, I’m Sanada Shunpei. I’m Emi’s friend.” First name basis along with a cute nickname. Ooshiba wasn’t that dumb not to be able to put the pieces together. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yuuta Usui. This is Susumu Inohara, Jirou Haibara, Atsushi Kimishita, Hisahito Mizuki, and Kiichi Ooshiba.”

Sanada was a pretty charming and easy going person. He made friends pretty often and he had an aura around him that made people want to follow after him. It was no different with the fun loving group in front of him. Beside Ooshiba who was still sulking at the sight of his lost love of course. Other than that they all got along well enough.

Seeing the time was cutting it close to the last train back to the dorms Emi cut the conversation short.

“I’ll walk you to the train station. I have to make sure you don’t run away again.”

“Yeah I know. Bye guys.” The pair leave the group waving back over their shoulder before leaving the sight of them.

“They really suit each other, huh?” Haibara says out loud before grabbing his bag to head home.

“No they don’t! Just you watch, I'll be catching her attention the next time we see each other.” Ooshiba yells in his own pitiable anger at watching the pair. Yet Kimishita didn’t let the outrageous daydream keep festering. “Get your head out of the clouds. You obviously have no chance.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Oh shut up. You don’t stand a chance against someone like that. Besides, they seem to be pretty close.” They seemed to stick to each other like magnets and the looks they would secretly aim at one another made it pretty obvious there was something there. It was better to make the idiot realize that before he genuinely grew feelings for her.

Sanada and Emi were already part of the way to the station in the meantime. Luckily the center was close enough to the station that she wouldn’t have to go that far into the city.

The silence was comfortable and allowed the pair to each gather their thoughts. Sanada knew that she was having a hard time right now. She was fighting something in herself to feel the need to go back home. He could guess it had to do with the tutoring and even match was a major factor, but there was something else there that made her run away. Unlike everyone else in her life he knew her moods had to do with the added stress from home. To test the theory he decides to break the silence with a question, “So is your mom coming?”

While he continued walking he noticed her smile slip a bit. “…yeah. My dad is coming to watch the finals so she’s taken an interest of course. She’s been offering to buy me new cleats and a donation to the soccer program so we can stay in a better hotel.”

“I’m guessing you denied it.”

“Of course. It doesn’t feel right to take bait from a predator. I’ll just get gobbled up once I’m fattened up and sent to slaughter.” While she laughed off the analogy Sanada knew it was a sarcastic remark that held some truth behind it. He thought she was past the facades but instead she’s just learned to hide it better. At least from people other than himself.

It was silent again this time because she was digging into her own mind. Digging herself deeper into the hole. “You should just accept the offers overseas to play. Everyone thinks it’s just been a discussion only but in reality you just deny them.”

“Nah, my father would just follow after me from America. Who knows if his mistress and kids would come with.”

“He doesn’t bring them to watch you play.”

“Of course not. I hardly let him come watch me. I changed my surname to get away from him. He gets the picture but he wants to take the glory and my mother has no arguments with that. Selfish old bastard until the end.” Her bitterness at the situation was shown on her face. Sanada was no stranger to this face. In fact he was present when that bitterness first plagued her once happy and innocent face. It made him feel sick to his stomach that he could do nothing but listen to her grievances. She hardly spoke on them but when she did, something bad must have happened to bring those memories she buried away up again. From past experiences he knew that he just had to wait.

“Honestly, all I need is your parents and you there. They did a better job at raising me when they didn’t have to.”

That statement was true. Shunpei has been her friend since their diaper years. Their parents were in fact at one point friends back in high school. So it was no wonder the pair's kids grew up to be attached. When Emi’s parents were going through their issues Sanada’s parents did what they could to support the family. Although, in the end they couldn’t do much but try to keep Emi away from their family home to avoid the fighting, a depressed alcoholic mother, and a narcissistic father. It was a mystery what would have happened to Emiko in that environment.

Emi thought back to her time with her father as a preschooler. He was a good father in her eyes at that time but in reality she realized that it was all for show. He was a professional soccer player and while he didn’t have many cameras following him it didn’t stop him from chasing the attention himself. The random outings with her beautiful mother dressed up, picking her up from preschool everyday without fail, the “secret” ice cream shop they would stop by on their way home; even her most cherished moments with her father when he showed her how to play soccer. Everything was a lie.

“My father is having another kid. I guess he’s building a family with his mistress. My mother has been having one of her manic episodes at home. Her work place called me saying she hasn’t been at work and I had to lie and say it was because she became bed ridden from a flu.” Stopping in her tracks on the pavement Sanada looked back to see tears building up. “Why do I have to get called about this? All the time. Why is it me? I’m so tired. I’m tired of having all these responsibilities. I just want to breathe. Even just once just to catch my breath. It’s not like she even cared to have me. She just had me to appease my father and his wishes. When he threw her away she did the same to me so why? Why do I have to be the one?”

Honestly, Sanada had no idea what to say. He had a good upbringing. Nice parents who worked hard to provide for him. When he slacked off as a young kid it was because of that reason. Everything was boring. It wasn’t like he was a privileged kid, his family was middle working class citizens but it was all too easy. Just get decent grades and play baseball to stay active. That was his only goal. Compared to Emiko who had to fight everyday just to stay above the tides that kept knocking her back he had it too easy. So, how could he ever even think about giving her advice?

Instead he settled for a hug. Cuddling her close into his chest while she cried more at the comfort his big arms provided. A sense of protection she didn’t get to experience. Sanada wanted to be the one to protect her for the rest of their lives. Getting stronger so he could finally get the strength to pull her from the waves that crashed into that tiny back of hers.

“Final call for the last train of the day.” The echoing of the loudspeaker caught their attention. She pulled away quickly realizing she needed to rush to get back to the dorms. She would be in deep trouble if she didn’t. “Thank you for listening to me complain once again, Shun.” With a kiss to his cheek she was gone like the wind leaving a flustered ace to stand alone on the empty pavement.

Emi herself was in shock she did that. Her face felt hot and it wasn’t because she sprinted all the way to the train. She set herself back down on one of the seats and touched her lips that felt tingly from the touch. She wondered why this feeling continued throughout the ride. Her head was already a mess but she felt ready to go back and reset. It was a blessing that she got to see an old friend and made some new ones during this outing. Mizuki was always that breath of fresh air she needed and admired. Playing at the old center truly was her good omen. Then having Sanada show up out of nowhere like the old days when he picked her up or joined her at the old warehouse.

A buzz from her bag made her dig into it to retrieve the phone that was vibrating like crazy. “Hello?”

“Don’t ‘hello’ me. Where the hell have you been? Akari has been trying to get a hold of you and that childhood friend of yours this whole time!” Ichiki’s shrill screams were piercing through the speaker. Emi could hold it away from her ear and still hear her clear as day.

With a sigh the raven haired girl just smiled while replying to her concerned friend, “I’m on my way back now. Everyone should just get back to bed. You can all yell at me tomorrow.”

“As if! Everyone was worried sick. They thought you ran away.”

“I suppose I did run away. Don’t worry I’m coming back. I didn’t peg you as the over protective type Ichi. I’m flattered.” Her smug tone must have carried through the phone since all was said on the other side was a quick, “Bite me.” Then a dial tone that said she hung up.

Shaking her head Emi decided to lay back until her phone went off again in a single ring. When she looked down she realized it was a simple Line message from Sawamura. Normally she ignored the messages that would come in since she was always busy; and it showed with the 30 unread messages she received from different people, but Sawamura was one of her favorite people.

There were a couple of messages higher up in the conversation trying to incite a reply but the most recent one made her soften. “I hope you come back to Seido! I don’t know much about soccer but every team needs their ace.”

Emiko didn’t know what would happen this time until the tournament but she had faith in her team. They fought tooth and nail beside her to get to this point. Her pride wasn’t going to let those efforts go to waste.

She wanted to thank her current teammates for reviving her anyway she could. She was lost when she came to realize her attitude was more alike to her father. The current team she had made her realize the fun she had lost in playing soccer. She wanted to repay them back tenfold.

“Don’t worry I’m coming back now.”

7 notes · View notes