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midnight-in-town · 9 months

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Frances Midford : The Mentor, a summary

To follow with my post about fighting against misinformation, here’s a first topic.

Ciel’s remaining aunt is often viewed by the fandom as a mean lady who doesn’t care, because of a) all the mysteries around the family that Ciel doesn’t know about and b) the use of comic relief in Kuroshitsuji often used to hide some relevant clues, as previously demonstrated in this post. This is actually far from what her character really is about and I intend to demonstrate it now with a (long) recap post.

I have talked about Frances a lot in the past, about her caring about our!Ciel and about her possibly knowing, like Tanaka, that he was lying about his identity. While the former is undeniably true, the latter is still up for debate. [X][X][X][X] However, with the upcoming adaptation of the Weston arc (probably) in 2024, I don’t want the old discourse to come back, so without further ado...

What Yana has said about Frances’ character

Besides our!Ciel, Frances is the last remaining Phantomhive (not counting real!Ciel as a BD). She’s Vincent’s younger sister, they both have the same parents (that is to say Claudia P and Cedric K. Ros) and she married out of the family (implying that maybe the Phantomhives have distant relatives still alive), becoming Lady Midford.

According to Yana, Frances takes after their dad while Vincent takes after their mom and the same is true for her kids, meaning Ed takes after her (thus takes after his maternal grandfather) while Liz takes after Alexis.

As far as her relationship with our!Ciel is concerned, here’s what Yana said in the guidebook : “Frances' strength of character is why Sebastian chose her as a role model Ciel should follow”. Since her relationship with Lizzie is sometimes also viewed negatively, I’d like to add that both in the guidebook and on twitter, Yana said that “Liz thinks her mom is kind and strong so she looks up to her mom as a role model she aspires to become”, hence the similar hair style.

TL;DR Yana’s overall description of Frances is that a) she’s kind and strong which is why b) she’s Lizzie’s role model, as well as the role model Sebastian thinks our!Ciel should follow.

Now that this is established, here’s what the canon story gives us, to illustrate Yana’s words. Spoilers for the entire manga series and long read below the cut.

Frances’ introduction

Frances is introduced in ch14 and, boy, what a generally misunderstood chapter by some parts of the fandom. xDD

Contextually, ch14 is Ciel’s birthday, meaning it is also the anniversary of the massacre of the previous household and Madam Red just died, after trying to kill him. For those who might wonder, the guidebook confirmed that our!Ciel was quite saddened by Ann’s death (obviously), so really, what a fun 13th birthday in perspective. Cue Liz and Frances.

The comments on her strength aside, Frances’ introduction is otherwise often misread as her nagging being inappropriate but I beg to differ. As mentioned by @akumadeenglish and @chibimyumi, Yana is Japanese author who likes to explore writing tropes in depth. Though it’s also important to remember that, before the curry arc, Yana didn’t know how long the series would run so everything had less intent, because the story was initially supposed to end quickly.

In other words, Frances’ introduction really is initially to be read as the severe mother-in-law (based on Japanese comical stereotypes) coming to check on how he handles his household, which is why Seb is so stressed out when everything goes bonkers. But that’s only the surface.

Most importantly though, Frances showed up because it is Ciel’s birthday and, as said above, there’s a lot of negative and dreadful memories associated with this day. So...

...let’s change his mind, shall we?

Phantomhives love games and Frances is a Phantomhive too, the last one besides our!Ciel, so she knows her nephew and chooses an activity she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.

Ch14 also introduces two important facts that are still relevant as plot points, especially as far as the Blue Revenge arc is concerned. The first one is that our!Ciel protected Lizzie from that bear, so Frances said she owes him.

Secondly, as stated by Frances herself, she knows the ropes of the “game” (aka acting as the Watchdog) better than our!Ciel (”you’ve still got a decade to go before you can even think of winning against me”).

In fact, like our!Ciel with real!Ciel, Frances was probably raised as Vincent’s spare [X][X], but compared to our!Ciel who knew next to nothing about his father’s real job until 3 years ago (at the time of ch14), Frances is an experienced veteran...

And that’s why Seb chose her as a role model for our!Ciel.

Therefore it is my opinion that ch14, despite being written back when Sensei didn’t know how long the series would be published, is still relevant as heck when it comes to Frances’ role in the series, aka acting as a mentor for our!Ciel (and for Lizzie, as Yana also stated). Kuroshitsuji is a slow story though, with a lot of build up and it’s why some fans still fail to see how significant Frances is to the plot and to our!Ciel’s development.

Campania arc

Liz is the one who comes to ask our!Ciel to come with her whole family (thus introducing Alexis and Edward) on a cruise, but it’s also very important to note that she conveyed that Frances thought that our!Ciel should take time off of work:

This led some of us fans to theorize that maybe Tanaka used to send updates to Frances about our!Ciel’s wellbeing and how he fared as the Watchdog: the timing of the cruise works well with Frances’ remark, considering that the Queen just sent Charles Grey as a merry punishment for Ciel’s deeds during the Circus arc.

This arc mostly highlights Frances’ bravery and strength : she didn’t hesitate to fight for countless of passengers unrelated to her (something that UT said isn’t very typical of Phantomhives, during Weston)...

More importantly, we finally get into Lizzie’s personal motivations and we indeed have the confirmation that...

...Frances is a big key to Lizzie’s strength, confirming the role model/mentor position that she holds in Lizzie’s eyes. I’d like to also point out that Frances completely trusts in her daughter’s abilities, which highlights a very positive mother/daughter dynamic.

Lizzie’s flashback gives us this very important bit...

...a part that’s unfortunately often overlooked by the fans complaining that Frances is too severe with our!Ciel and Lizzie. This scene however makes way more sense once we find out, after the Weston arc, that Frances lost her mother Claudia (the Watchdog before Vincent) when she was probably about 12 or 13 years old (Vincent being 15 years old then).

To me, this is a big explanation as to why Frances is as serious about training as she is:

Indeed, she lost at least her mom (and later her brother) so, since her daughter is betrothed to the future Watchdog, she wants Liz to be strong enough to survive. All I see in the former panel is a mother saddened by the burden on her child’s shoulder and desperate to imagine that she will be exposed to a lot of danger as an adult.

Side point there, but it’s likely there’s a very relevant reason Frances’ only daughter was betrothed to Vincent’s heir when they were young kids. We’ll dive into it later, but I believe the answer is tied to the Phantomhive lineage introduced in ch103.

Lastly, our!Ciel’s flashback also gave us another important bit to explore...

...which is that our!Ciel directly applies what Frances once told him to his current path for revenge:

Also note the allusion again to Vincent “losing the game”, creating a parallel with Frances telling our!Ciel in ch14 that “he still has a decade to go before he can even think of winning against her”, because he has a lot to learn from her, especially since even he admits that he knows next to nothing about his own family.

The previous spare teaching the spare. How fitting. :D

Weston arc

Even if Frances only appears in this arc during the cricket game, I think there is a lot to be deduced from it. First, I’ve said it long ago and I’ll say it again: I strongly believe Frances played a part into Vincent’s victory during the first blue miracle.

Mind you, Tanaka basically confirmed that Vincent cheated to win (since he knew what Seb and Ciel were up to) and I could totally see Vincent asking his strong little sister to crossdress in order to destroy the Green team. xDD Besides, she certainly seems uneasy whenever the topic is brought up and she also wasn’t fooled by Ciel’s act when he won, haha!

This is silly, but this shows (imo) that Frances and Vincent had a good sibling dynamic, with Frances supporting her brother as the Watchdog as much as she could, which is heartwarming because this means Frances would have no reason not to support her brother’s sons after his death.

Tanaka (who, according to Yana, was already in the household taking care of Vincent and Frances as children) and Frances happily dancing together at the end of the tournament also confirms this. Vincent and Frances having a strong sibling bond would also explain why, despite Claudia’s death, Frances would agree to the betrothal between Lizzie and Vincent’s heir (and would keep it that way, even after Vincent’s death).

All that to say, I’m sure the cricket game confirmed to Frances how similar our!Ciel is to Vincent on some aspects (the second blue miracle attests to that), which probably makes him somewhat predictable (and reassuring?) to her.

One thing that I also believe is important is Ed’s mini flashback during the game. On this topic, Yana has said that she couldn’t draw his backstory in detail, so she’ll probably expand on that in the future, which makes me think that there is some foreshadowing in there.

TBH I think it’s ironic that Ed would consider himself as “ordinary”, considering the whole lineage thing introduced one arc later. xDD But also, if we consider that the tale of Vincent’s first blue miracle is supposed to hint that Vincent and Frances were close as siblings, it’s nice that Ed, who takes after his mom the most, would also have his own flashback about loving and looking up to his sister a lot, despite his small inferiority complex. Considering that Liz sees their mom as her role model though, I guess that means Ed also sees his mom as a role model (though the Campania arc already made that pretty clear).

During the Weston arc, Frances also managed to surprise Sebastian, both by recognizing him (lol) and by stopping him despite his intent to leave, which is, according to the demon himself, no small feat:

Like the usual nagging she does towards Seb though, it’s played for laugh, but as introduced in this post, I believe overused comic relief is a way to foreshadow some hints and we’ll dive into it with the next arc.

Last but not least, during this arc UT commented that our!Ciel was different from his ancestors when he willingly put himself in danger to save Joanne...

...but as presented during the Campania arc, it seems it’s a trait he shares at least with his aunt, furthering the parallels between them and the fact that she would definitely make a good mentor for our!Ciel, because they’re quite alike and can probably understand each other.

Green Witch arc

The only relevant part of this arc with Frances’ character is the introduction of a special lineage in the Phantomhive family by German Shinigamis...

...something that might explain why our!Ciel was able to notice them, when even Seb didn’t. So this begs the question: who else in his family shares this lineage? And obviously, Frances and her kids might !

My personal opinion is that the lineage thing is old and is probably why the Phantomhive family became the Watchdogs, many generations ago. But also, if our!Ciel can notice Shinigamis thanks to it, could it explain why Frances was able to detect and catch Seb during opening ceremony before the cricket game at Weston? And why she always nags him about his appearance (both hair and face)? That remains to be confirmed, but...

...at the very least Bravat in the recent arc confirmed that some gifted people like himself can “sense” that demons are different. Just like animals [x][x], apparently. Bravat is irrelevant besides being a small scale villain though, so I take it as a hint for a more plot significant character, such as Frances, whose nagging behavior towards Seb is way too overused as comic relief anyway.

The lineage thing is yet one more family topic on which Frances probably has answers to give to our!Ciel (the only other people who might know about it being Tanaka and UT).

Bonus : if what Vincent said below about strong-willed women in the family line (from a side story “With Father”) is a hint towards the lineage thing...

...then it’s probably why Vincent wanted Lizzie to be betrothed to his heir in the first place and why Frances agreed.

Blue sect & blue revenge arcs

I already mentioned that Bravat’s innate ability to recognize Seb as a demon was a hint that other characters, like Frances, might be able to guess that Seb is a demon as well, so moving on to ch151 :

This chapter confirms that UT has known Frances since she was very young (which is a hint to the UT = Cedric theory of course), which also explains why, knowing about her strength, UT went on with the whole BD massacre on the Campania despite the presence of our!Ciel and the Midfords on board.

Also, while this chapter neither confirms nor denies if Frances knew about our!Ciel lying about his identity (like Tanaka and UT did), she didn’t show anger nor disbelief about the situation, just her incomprehension.

More than anything, this chapter strongly hints that our!Ciel will at some point seek his aunt for a talk before the final confrontation with UT and real!Ciel, because both are seeking answers to their different questions (our!Ciel needs to find out about UT & his grandmother and the lineage thing, while Frances will want to know what’s the deal between the twins). Speaking of which, a talk between Lizzie and Frances is probably also in order, before Lizzie can choose our!Ciel’s side again.

Lastly, ch151 hinted that Frances doesn’t fully believe that real!Ciel’s return is “natural”...

...and, i mean, why would she? She faced the Bizarre Dolls on the Campania and, for all we know, Edward told her how the Weston arc ended so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ considering that UT has been involved every time, the Midfords probably aren’t far from connecting the dots about real!Ciel being already dead.

To sum up !

Outside of the narrative, Yana said that Frances was Lizzie’s role model and that Seb also wanted her to be the model our!Ciel should follow. And, in my opinion, the entire series so far (as I tried to present in this post) is slowly building up to that because :

our!Ciel and Frances are very similar: both the spares & both survived their parents’ and brothers’ death

both saved folks unrelated to them despite being Phantomhives, meaning that they are a bit alike and can understand each other

our!Ciel literally built his path of revenge following the advice Frances told him about how to counterattack an opponent

Again, to understand who targeted his family, our!Ciel needs to find out about his grandmother, about the lineage and about why his dad had to be killed amongst other things. The only people who can answer him are UT, Tanaka and Frances.

I believe UT and Tanaka are more connected to Claudia, but also both are by real!Ciel’s side for now, making them less accessible for a talk. This leaves Frances for the time being and, as Vincent’s sister and Claudia’s daughter, it seems appropriate that answers would be coming from her.

Also, in shonen series, usually the hero(es) have a mentor figure who will help them “unlock their potential” through training. Kuroshitsuji is not your usual shonen and I doubt our!Ciel can become better at fighting lmao, but Frances can certainly help him better appreciate the massive scale he’s bound to face when seeking his revenge. Especially if it all goes back to events from 3 generations ago and a worldbuilding full of supernatural elements, as well as a world war he doesn’t entirely comprehend yet.

Frances acting as a mentor/role model for her own kids also foreshadows that they’ll follow our!Ciel on his journey and, like him, they’ll definitely need her wisdom/knowledge to be able to reach the necessary level for survival by his side.

As to when all that is going to happen, well, I’d say Frances will probably take on a more active role in the plot when, to quote Seb in ch14, "[our!Ciel] will overconfidently believe that he cannot lose and that it will be necessary for him to carry himself with humility while striving for his goal". Because by then, "an adult who will be firm with him is what he'll need".

If that doesn’t foreshadow the current conflict between the twins, I don’t know what does. xD

Thanks for reading!! As always, let me know if I’ve forgotten anything !

#kuroshitsuji #frances midford #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #tanaka #undertaker #elizabeth midford #edward midford #2CT #vincent phantomhive #phantomhive dynamics #claudia phantomhive #yana toboso #kuroshitsuji theory #my analysis #as of:#kuro202

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vashtijoy · 5 months

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fic excerpt: goro and his mother

I keep needing to refer to this one, so here it is. WARNINGS for childhood abuse (poor, poor Mamakechi is not at her best here).

* * *

The summer Goro turns six, his mother packs their few things into plastic laundry bags, and she ties up their futon and quilt with string, and the two of them leave their single room in Shinjuku for a single room some way to the east, in a place called Yoshiwara. Asakusa and the huge red lantern of Senso-ji Temple are nearby to the south, but Goro and his mother don’t live anywhere so rarefied.

The other rooms in the house hold students, casual workers, foreigners. Goro peeps out of their door to talk to them all. Some ignore him, and he ignores them in return. Others are nice—the older boy who lends him manga, the girl who gives him sweets and ties ribbons in his hair, the foreigners whose words he only sometimes understands. And then there’s the old lady who lives on the top floor by herself.

Her name is Migata-san. She has her own kitchen and her own bathroom, when the rest of them have to share, just like in Goro’s old home. She wears a puffy, quilted vest all the time, and sits in front of her TV. Goro doesn’t have a TV any more; in the winter his mother took it away and it never came back. And since the landlord—who is strident and impatient and everything Migata-san is not—shouts at him when he sees him, Goro often finds himself creeping straight upstairs to Migata-san’s tiny apartment.

His mother leaves him there every afternoon anyway. He reads anything he can find, or takes his borrowed manga, or he sits in front of the TV, and Migata-san feeds him riceballs and cake. The TV rotates through daytime dramas, talk shows, adverts and news, but when something good comes on, Migata-san will let him watch it. Fly, Feather Swan! No, Grey Pigeon, I won’t forgive you!

“I could do that,” he tells Migata-san, watching the Feathermen fly about against a painted-looking stormy sky, and she laughs at Goro while he scowls.

“Oh, no,” she tells him, in the stupid grown-up voice. “Those things only happen on television. How about some milk?”

He accepts the milk, still sulking. But he doesn’t drop the idea.

* * *

When his mother finally comes home in the evenings, she’s tired and seems sick; things aren’t like they used to be. Instead of talking to him while she makes soup and rice over a tiny electric ring, she brings frozen boxes from the konbini and puts them in the microwave. They eat side by side in silence, sitting on the rolled futon.

Goro eats his frozen curry steadily, glancing sideways to his mother. She’s picking at her food like she doesn’t want it. “Why are you sad?” he dares to ask, afraid of upsetting her.

His mother doesn’t look at him. “I’m not sad, Goro-chan. Eat your food.”

He looks back to his bowl. The curry is bright orange. He picks some into his mouth: little red chopsticks, with the rubber grip holding them together. It tastes of a lot, but he doesn’t complain, not when she’s sad.

Are we going home soon? He can’t ask her that, either. He tries to think of something to tell her, making his slow way through his curry. Nothing that will make her lonely. Nothing that will make her cry. Nothing that will make her—

“I’m going to be a superhero,” he says brightly.

She glances to him. She looks right into his eyes and she smiles. “Is that what you’ve been doing today?”

“Mm-hm,” he tells her, riveted to that tiny, flickering smile. “Then you won’t have to work all the time, right? I’ll do everything. I’ll look after you and I’ll fight evil”—sharp eyes staring from a soapbox, a face he used to point out on the TV before the TV vanished, a name he still remembers with a child’s fascination—“and I’ll keep you safe for always, and I’ll always win!”

He runs out of breath and laughs, caught up in the brilliant future he’s painting for her, that he more than half believes in. He only remembers the point of it all when she laughs too, leaning back against the wall. “My little hero,” she tells him. And, still as if she’s terribly tired, she reaches for Goro’s blanket—a new, soft, blue blanket, small enough for him to wear around his shoulders, one of the new things that has made its way into their room.

She removes the brooch pinned at her collar, a glittering snowflake left from their old life, and she pins the blanket around his neck, folding the excess down into a collar. One thin hand gentles his hair aside, strokes his face; he presses against her like a kitten, and she lifts his bowl from his suddenly precarious lap.

Goro feels her happiness like his own. “There,” she says, glowing. “Now you have a cape.”

He beams at her. “Is it a bird cape? I want to be a bird superhero. Like Feather Hawk.”

“Ah, that depends,” his mother says, taking his chopsticks and propelling some curry into his mouth. “Can you fly?”

Goro opens his mouth to reply, and she closes it with her free hand; that’s another thing that’s new. He chews dutifully and swallows. “Of course I can fly,” he dictates. “All the Feathermen can fly.”

“Are you sure?” she asks him. “Maybe you aren’t as good as Feather Hawk, hm?” And then she pops another scoop of curry into his mouth, so he can’t even protest, other than through closed lips; she laughs and kisses him on top of his head.

“I am as good as Feather Hawk,” he informs her when he can talk. “I’m better.”

“Of course you are,” she tells him, with another kiss, feeding him the last of his curry. Her own bowl lies half-full beside her. “You’re my little boy. And you’re going to save the world.”

* * *

After that, Goro plays hero a lot. He wraps himself in his blanket cape and shouts Feather Wing Star Formation!, until the landlord knocks on the door. His mother sleeps all morning, while Goro reads the manga she brings him herself now, and she vanishes to work in the afternoon, when Goro goes upstairs to Migata-san; upstairs to wonder where his mother is, why he can’t stay alone in their room when she works any more, like he always did.

One morning, while his mother is dead asleep, Goro finishes his manga and looks around for something else to read, eventually pulling his mother’s glossy magazine from the table. He isn’t supposed to read it, for reasons that to him seem wholly arbitrary, so he’s careful to leaf through the pages as quietly as he can.

The magazine is creased and old-looking like his manga, and full of tiny text, much of which Goro cannot understand. So he guesses the words he doesn’t know: stories about fashion models and clothes and makeup and dragons, although something tells him he’s read “dragons” wrong. The whole thing smells like his mother. At least—it smells like his mother used to smell, like her perfume. These days she just smells of soap and sweat.

She doesn’t send Goro out by himself at night any more, either. That’s probably good, he thinks uncertainly; it was scary to run down the back alleys by himself, scarier to hide behind the bins so the police wouldn’t see him. But he misses the bathhouse. He misses Boss, who'd let Goro sit up front as his assistant, who’d set out piles of coins for him to count and watched him in the bath.

Looking down unhappily, he spies a piece of paper poking out from under the unrolled futon.

Part-curious, and very bored, he gives it a tug. It moves. Another, more careful tug, and the paper is in his hand. It’s a letter in his mother’s writing. A date, on the left—he knows from Migata-san’s TV that it’s yesterday’s—and a name, lots of big kanji, he can’t begin to make them out. But he sees his mother’s name right next to it, Akechi Mari, half of his own name right next to her loopy kana. At the top, there’s something about frost, and then the writing gets much worse—fortunately most of it is still kana.

The letter talks to somebody called Masa-sama. She talks about their room, he thinks, and about her job; she makes them sound bad. We have no money, he reads, over and over. Goro is a beautiful boy. He’s obedient and clever. Any man would be proud to call him his son. He reaches out, with one tentative hand, to touch those words.

The letter has been crumpled into a ball, and then unfolded; he tries to flatten it, with careful strokes of his baby hands. He reads it again, and again, and again. Any man would be proud to call him his son.

He has no idea his mother is awake. Not until a hard hand grabs his shoulder and shakes him, tearing the letter from him. “Give me that!” his mother yells as she hits him, right around his head, hard against his ear with the flat of her hand. Goro screams and falls to the floor, clutching the side of his head, and as he dissolves into tears and confusion he sees his mother crying too, tearing the letter like a typhoon, smaller and smaller and smaller pieces that she throws and screams at and hurls into the bin.

* * *

Before long, Migata-san comes downstairs, and she knocks on the door, and without a word she takes Goro upstairs, still sobbing, while his mother sobs in a heap on their floor. He sits on his usual cushion, still hiccuping sobs, as Migata-san clucks to him and washes his face and hands.

“There we are,” she says, beady eyes like a bird. “How about some hot milk? And a cake?” Goro nods his head yes, not meeting her eye.

He’s clever. You’d be proud of him. Was that letter to his father?

Your father is a monster! he remembers her shouting, back at the old room when he was small. She had hit him then, too.

Why is his mother writing to a monster? When even talking about him makes her so upset she cries and she hits Goro? They must be in terrible trouble. Is that why she’s asking Goro’s father for money?

… has his father got money?

Goro doesn’t realise that he and his mother are poor. But he knows they aren’t rich, that his mother works every day, works so hard she sleeps all the time and has no time for him. He adds it to his picture of his father: a monster, a rich man. A man who’s somewhere else when he should be with Goro and his mother. A man his mother calls Masa-sama, like he’s a king.

And that evening, when he’s finally home, when his mother is in the toilet and not coming out, he sneaks the fragments of paper with his father’s name out of the bin.

#persona 5 #things i write #goro akechi #mamakechi #masayoshi shido

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popponn · 8 months

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things about isagi yoichi

i'm keeping a list about isagi for reasons (mostly personal amusement) (please do feel free to add or correct them). contains possible spoiler for manga up to chapter 230 so far and light novel. will get longer, probably, as time goes on. (update, it gets longer and up to uber match ending as of today.)

considerate. almost like a people pleaser. actual people pleaser at first.

pragmatic. thinks very calmly, even when angry it seems, but his words still sometimes get too much.

think things through, sometimes too much.

is confident, but not unaware of his own weaknesses

start pretty insecure.

seems to be sheepish - happy when someone praise / support / pay a large attention to him (pretty humble) (interview, that one kid in station, his family)

how he acts depends on who he is interacting with

switch to a more polite speech pattern whenever nervous (pretty obvious in japanese text, like in the interview scene after bm vs mc).

seems to be less competent on other things other than soccer

looking at his favorite manga / song / shows (most are medias with children as the main audience in mind), either really loves his childhood or doesn’t pay attention to many things after soccer. seems like the latter.

a really healthy family dynamics. his parents are very supportive of his dream.

loves katsu curry.

is a pretty 'normal' high school guy it seems. tissues near the bed, thigh fetish, read manga. speaks normally.

i really don't get why he has a habit of making sure his ahoges stand up in v before a match but god thats cute.

can be really rude and impatient sometimes

is good with people, but seems to enjoy alone time too. seems to be an introvert.

at least on screen, never really talk about how it was in ichinan with the blue lock guys. either it didn't bother him that much consciously or is the type of person who gets along with everyone but no one really knows the background of in details. (put it simply might be more introverted than he appears to be, especially considering how he usually is with people)

seems to be uncomfortable with new people in his personal space (early bachira + kaiser)

while doesn’t ‘like’ rude people, seems to grow ‘used’ to them and even openly admire them (barou + rin)

does not seems to easily prejudice / be judgmental to someone. is really patient (respect to barou, that one chapter with tada from ichinan, still praises kaiser despite the antagonism between them)

his fashion sense is pretty... this is very subjective as i don't have the word for it yet, but yeah, is either not good or pretty old fashioned. (in anime official arts)

when it comes to soccer often looks angrier expression wise

really egoistic. unsurprisingly.

sometimes is pretty self centered in the way that “this is my fault” sometimes, rather than focusing on someone else. but most of the time his self centeredness comes out as “i want this and i will get this”.

on some moments also seems to focus more on what he is not satisfied with rather than what he is satisfied with. might be caused by the storytelling beats, but if taken into consideration how he always wants to improve, it's not unsurprising.

seems to be more goal / result oriented, but is not dismissive towards the process.

whenever he sees someone better than him or something seems to be ‘impossible’ for him, most of the time his responds are ‘i have to work harder for it’. sometimes there are moments of insecurity, but they are fleeting and always went back to ‘i will overcome this / him’ as a respond.

very!!!! competitive. but it’s blue lock.

both in and outside soccer, seems to be very independent

seems to be more analytical by nature rather than intuitive, especially in learning style. complete opposite of nagi.

often starts noticing things from little things and details first before going and getting the bigger picture. detail oriented person? at least in soccer.

yeah soccer nerd.

if the 0 valentine choco, his reaction to seeing live two women getting played in karaoke, and how he didn't immediately went to girls in bowling alley—yeah. definitely 0 experience with girls.

is not wishy washy. knows what he wants and is not the type to change his preference because of his surroundings. did just act as if his preference is different / just doesn't say a thing or walk away when it isn't, back in ichinan these habits are obvious. in blue lock, he doesn't actively try to make other people uncomfortable and even still accommodate some out of the field, but clearly has become more outspoken in his preference or for his comfort. boy really grew more confident (and i love him for it).

he asks santa for ps4 and other than yeah normal highschool boy behavior idk how to dissect or overanalyze this yet give me a sec or a year.

like treats!!!! seems to be partial to sweets, but he also enjoys sour candies according to egoist bible.

doesn't like being ignored. and it kinda shows.

his beef with kaiser is hilarious—but it make sense because kaiser obviously bring it up even out of field (that locker room scene after yukimiya isagi argument), taunts isagi every chance he got (vs barcha, vs mc), and whatever happened in the match. isagi better than some bluelockers and me fr frfr considering he still did not try to punch kaiser's mug.

which bring the point doesn't seems to enjoy fistfight. either shitty at it or just chose not too. but looking at his trend of being shitty at things that are not soccer and his canonically low stats especially before blue lock. yeah might be shit at fistfight (with also a bit of the latter because how do one not try to sock kaiser in the face after *gestures wildly* all that. footnote, i admit the bias). (karaoke, shidou vs rin duking it out pt.1—my guy was dying and he wasn't the one duking it out)

tidy, but not overly tidy to barou level. but realistically comparing it to stereotypes of high school boys? real tidy. (could be seen in blue lock exhib's display of his u20 arc locker and team white bedroom)

wants lil sis or big sis because of my neighbor totoro. idk how to dissect this either but—yeah not a rare thing for an only kid to say, actually.

seems to be more of a street smart kinda guy.

his tenacity in befriending or at least interacting with rin is admirable. shipping lense or not it really is.

he gets along with almost everyone. shipping lenses or not, also amazing especially for an introvert.

he says the wildest shit on field like uh yeah things he said with yukimiya was said to be cencored a little because in jp someone said he was calling yukimiya something else i don't know to say in english.

but is actually not an absolute asshole in field, saw yukimiya broke down and bro actually took a second to pay attention and moved on. until he got provoked, that is.

actually rarely become the one who approach other people first (kira, bachira).

can really got extreme when in high tension (shoving chigiri off, that 100℅ kill you @ kaiser).

turns out he talks about the thigh stuff bashfully. (it's cute.) but i still wonder why he likes lobster. like i feel like something is there. why is his taste in everything that is not soccer makes me wonder what the fuck is up with him. favorite song? cm jingle. fashion sense? honestly casual, but his sense in pattern and color is genuinely so bad im hurting. this point is so full of personal bias feel free to skip it.

seems to be pretty oblivious to things about not-soccer. especially his surroundings. not to the dense point but seems like it stems more from his focus at soccer. but this trait seems to go hand in hand with his self centered tendencies.

(this is bordering to hc, but) it seems like while is indeed obsessed with soccer, more than "oh he is only good at soccer", is more of a "if he wants it he will find a way to get it". but taking in account how his personality used to be in ichinan / pre blue lock, it's unsurprising that he doesn't want that mamy things. even in soccer that he is passionate about, he didn't back then. there is also the fact that he seems to have tendency to hyperfocus into something (i.e.: while still taking into account of others in soccer, think more of them as 'factors' than 'people'), so it may seems like the reason he got or became good at something is like "oh isagi is lucky / specialized in that", but it seems hard work and dedication really does put a big role into it, unsurprisingly. could reach that level in soccer because he is dedicated into it, tldr.

this part also became quite visible if taking into account he wants to play specifically as a striker. he is focused in this very specific thing he wants, that's why he managed to get it / improve in it.

if i did not miscount, he directly has a conversation with ego twice. and in both he is extremely impolite, calling ego names in one (u20 arc). while the other happened after he lost against rin in 4v4, and seems like he is still not happy with the loss. ans it shows. he is pretty rude when ego talk about luck which he himself noted was a big factor there. (man hold grudge.)

so yeah, seems like rather than "possessed in field" it could also be "possessed in everything related to soccer", though fudther research is to be conducted.

is pretty introverted even in blue lock. while sometimes he shares his insight to other people about his play, sometimes he also did not do this (recently you can see this the most in his interactions with ness). but yeah, this is the thing he shares about the most, something related to playmaking and soccer. but other than that nothing—at least on screen.

his pretty peaceful and uneventful background could be factored into, however ichinan highschool is pretty much his tragic backstort and not a peep about that to even bachira it seems. a possibility is that he is hyperfocused towards soccer. not to say his self centered part that is more of "what can i change about myself for this situation" and "i can't change others' way of thinking".

however seeing how that one meeting tada goes (post u20 break) and he said nothing to correct tada, even though he secretly disagrees—then also his parents who seems pretty oblivious to his soccer performance and how he casually acted about his lost against kira despite crying and screaming on public just before that—yeah, seems like a pretty private person. it's not that he is oblivious or do it out of malice, but mostly seems like he just doesn't comment about it and more of the listening type. and even when someone close ask the right question it seems like he doesn't try to show much expression or how he actually feels.

personal bias but yeah this is no longer """being polite""", this is actually being private to a very concerning degree. like the time he opened up about his worry, and still pretty related with soccer, that is completely visibly vulnerable seems like it was with nagi after 3v3 with rin (and see how that ended up. tho this make the fact that he and nagi became pretty close afterwards in such a short time a bit unsurprising. this two indeed kinda have quite a lot bonding moments outside and inside the field, shipping lens or not). like no wonder this guy snaps in soccer field, it's pent emotions fr.

but if how he is after u20 any indication, it seems like he really is very reserved outside of field that it kind of resembles how he was before blue lock. (who knows after nel arc (still bm vs uber rn when i write this, tho the match seems like ending), because boy seems grumpier there. not blaming him tho, it's battle royale inside that team.)

doing a little skimming but it seems like when talking about something he really never put focus on his feelings. it's either what's going on, others' feelings, or an opinion of his but if there are any feelings most of them stays in monologue and thoughts only.

adding to that nagi note, personally found it funny that he nearly get into same team with nagi TWICE (pre u20 team selection, nel choice where he is conflicted between german or england) but he never followed thru with it. this probably has more to do with nagi's motif & such rather than his, which this post wasn't here for sry nagi, and the fact that both that they are protagonists in the main and spinoff. but yeah, personally? it's funny it happened twice. especially factoring the fact they are close enough to have each other's number and isagi admits he has a nice chemical reaction with nagi.

i genuinely wonder how he interacts with kaiser outside of field. like. dude. i know it's funny.

might also add now that it seems the four people he is closest with is bachira and chigiri. was, with kunigami too but yeah. bachira especially, with the two keep being called two side of a coin/a soul. again, shipping lens or not, they are pretty close and isagi really seems to have come to a point where he is okay with bachira's habits no matter how odd. (personal bias, really sweet considering bachira has no friends before this and isagi while is friend with tada WE KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT). with chigiri, seems like the type of friends who look out for each other (isagi once shown checking his knee and messaging him, while chigiri is the first one jumping into action when shidou nearly kicked him). then you also add that chigiri only ever, on screen at least, opened up about his past to isagi and honestly yeah. shipping lens or not, these two definitely the looking after each other dynamic. kunigami come back, or at least interact with isagi more pls.

WHICH ALSO, seems like isagi is the only one reo kind of opened up to with his insecurities after the 2nd selection—kunigami and chigiri seems to get it too, but at least it was never shown on screen that he opened up the more vulnerable side of his anger at nagi and isagi to them. these two has a pretty good relationship it seems after that screening room scene. (might revise or at to this when epi nagi reach this part)

but this seems unsurprising in some ways because isagi really seems like the listening type. some people said these type of people is good when it comes to getting people opening up. also seems like isagi really never run his mouth so good choice actually. (look at him even he doesnt open up his own emotion how could he do that with other people's emotion. what is this a sign of pent emotion or just a sign of actual limited emotional intelligence when it came to processing them? who knows. blue lock's highly stressful and intense environment is also a factor here but hey, look at how isagi was in ichinan. might be old habits)

he is scarily cold and detached to his bonds when it came to soccer, it seems? like, he is still capable of sympathy even during the heat of the moment, unless you make him angry (both cases: yukki). but for the sake of his play his priority really is on "this is the play that i want" rather than friendships and stuff. on one side, professionality. on the other, yeah egoist.

outside of field doesn't seem to go out of his way to dig up about someone's backstory in "asking and digging and wanting to talk about feelings with them", but will listen if told. (i.e. chigiri acl convo, reo opening up, casually talking about soccer again after noa ego relationship bomb drop, etc.) seems to be more as 'minding his own business and being not nosy', which is kind of in line with his politeness.

then you bring soccer and his ideal play and it gets really cold. he really think of soccer as 'cruel' and it kind of shows with how little he thinks of outside-of-field-relation during a game. (really shows if you compare how most characters personal story, rin and reo for example, has a huge impact on their play) his brain really has an on and off switch with the niceness.

at some point in blue lock, his closest circle is bachira, chigiri, kunigami (could be canon or could be due to the fact these four are kind of the quadruplet of bllk). he is pretty much the guy most of everyone knows and has at least spoken with once after u20 tho.

but other than those 4, it seems that the one he have more highlighted rivalry are niko, barou, rin, and nagi, with yukimiya coming in later in bm. it's funny how isagi seems pretty attached to them in a pretty friendly manner in some ways. barou and rin is just on another level of "i will kill you" getting answered with "sure, okay, geez" (and it's hilarious. with barou, isagi shared meals, was a roommate, and went bowling together once. with rin, he did yoga, laughed at his death threat, and was pissed because rin was impolite. i can go on but moving on). nagi and isagi canonically get along pretty well out of screen. isagi is roommate with yukimiya—i didn't except this combo back then but i really want to know their interactions in that room, especially during and after their conflict.

then there is hiyori, kurona, and nanase's case whose relationship with him is more on the 'supporting side'. with reo, it seems to also fall into the rivalry category—but this guy's relationship with isagi is kind of more about reo-nagi relationship than with isagi himself. with aiku, it's rivalry between defender and attacker (resembles niko the most but the things these two said to each other is way wilder). then there is kaiser—i will wait til nel arc is done.

there are crumbs with some other charas like sae—but these two didn't interact (yet?) in canon. with noa, it's admiration and respect, to put it simply, but it seems it's leaning more into actual mentorship that is more casual compared to how most of bm is with noa (imo, take this part with a grain of salt). with ego, it's...surprisingly complicated on a meta level from my perspective at least.

isagi clearly agrees and thrives with ego's philosophy, but other than taking ego's words/guidance isagi was rude to him. then there is stuff like some part of their design being similar to each other (v hair, eyes on some panels tho this also happens with other charas, beta isagi sketch) and how during nel ego - isagi similarities get commented by noa and snuffy (tho on snuffy case is more of barou - isagi is like ego - noa, who is who tho we don't know for sure). it feels like there is more on these two for the future.

with his family, it's just sweet. his family is proud and supportive of him. and seeing how isagi is pretty independent as in his attachment style is very secure in blue lock, even with how ichinan basically turned him into a people pleaser, yeah definitely and canonically a good family there. he greets them every morning as part of his morning routine, and he is the only character who mention this in said trivia.

enjoys his alone time, based on his trivia. the introvert part is loud and clear.

he doesn't really get jealous easily. like rather than envy, it's more of frustration directed towards himself or straight up being pissed because said someone played a factor in why he couldn't make a goal. but most of the time, when he sees someone's strength, it came out more as an admiration and "i should do more and stand out more too!!!" rather than comparing himself and feels negativity. this especially never happen to his perception towards his capabilities. the closest thing we ever get to him feeling envy is perhaps the parts where he goes "i don't have weapon like them" when talking about chigiri's speed, kaiser impact, and others' specialities. but even then it never really lingers.

and from that probably also shows that isagi is really good at looking someone's strength or specialities. but this seems to also happen in looking at weaknesses and chances. he really does tries to take into account tendencies, skills, blind spots, etc. honestly thinking about this make sense why he immediately collapsed after vs mc, the information loading must be insane. but all in all, the main point is that he is pretty good at reviewing and observing stuffs indeed.

high achiever with an amazing durability. as said word by word by kaiser himself, this guy look at something way more amazing than himself and keep taking it as a challenge. aka his mental strength is insane—or his competitiveness is just that crazy. no wonder he thrives in blue lock where so many people want to him eat alive.

after thinking for a bit and connecting it with the 'not teaming with nagi during the u20 tryouts', it seems like also the guy who avoids his comfort zone, in area of skills and plays in this case. he seems to actively challenge himself.

seriously the type of guy who do and chase what he wants. egoist indeed.

but thinking about that, it also speaks of his adaptability and flexibility. while the part that definitely carries more tension, seriousness, and definitely didn't take shit came out so much in soccer, the way he interacts with those who are friendly with him is so different with those who are antagonistic with him. though so far, with the exception of kaiser it seems, he at some point ended up in a pretty good relationship with some of those—rin and barou are most telling. the antagonism is back on when they are in seperate team tho, but hey this is blue lock.

his moment of satisfaction is really fast—as in he like cheers for a bit, most of the time, then focus on the next challenge. this could be caused by: 1) blue lock highly competitive and rapidly changing environment; 2) it's just how he is build.

#blue lock #bllk isagi #isagi yoichi #isagi #bllk #bluelock #this is like character study #if character study is literally studying a character who lives rent free in your head for three months and counting #so still #character study #i guess #ehe 👍#for my own sake im putting this tag #im just rambling at this point but hey

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lovelylittlewordsmith · 2 months

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#I’m just really curious to see when most manga readers started reading #this series has gone on so long #I think I started when the green witch arc was currently going on #hard to believe that was well over five years ago #kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #yana toboso #Kuroshitsuji 209 #black butler 209 #Kuroshitsuji 210 #black butler 210

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jariten · 2 months

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Manga I've read that were licensed in english in 2022-2023

Meant to do this roundup forever but I some pleasant surprises the last 2 years when I saw these titles I enjoyed in Japanese be licensed/re-released in English and wanted to do a very short roundup. I unfortunately can't attest to the quality of the print editions or the translations as I haven't been able to justify a double purchase just yet but still recommend these as fun and interesting reads. (Also using the JPN covers since the pub websites and store listings have kind of bad image quality lately....)

Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger by Emboss [Seven Seas, trans. Nan Rymer] (Furry and human cast, gay but not because of any overt romance)

Thermae Romae: The Complete Omnibus by Mari Yamazaki [Yen Press, trans. Stephen Paul] (Time slip comedy connecting ancient roman and Japanese bath culture, semi-recent anime adaption on Netflix, sequel manga series currently on Jump+)

One More Step, Come Stand by My Side by Toryumon Takeda [Yen Press, trans. Jason Moses] (One shot collection, impressive art, wide span of themes and settings, most of the stories were originally self published)

The Secret of Friendship by Kazune Kawahara & Aiji Yamakawa [Seven Seas, trans. Hana Allen] (High School setting, exploration of friendship and romance and how it might conflict, little gay if im being honest)

Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom by Nao Iwamoto [Seven Seas, trans. Alan Cheng & Rowena Chen] (The sweeping tale of rivaling kingdoms, adapted into an acclaimed anime movie in 2023, imo we need more Nao Iwamoto translated she's kinda brilliant)

#roundup #recommendation corner #my scans

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aiura-stan · 7 days

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Here we go, the first proper chapter of the Saiki K manga, 1-1!

Manga Saiki my beloved. How I missed you. I won’t comment on every single panel because I don’t want to spend —that— long talking about trivial things in this manga. But I’ll do my best to be annoyingly thorough in this re-read. Since I figure it will probably be my last proper re-read from end to end, sequentially. (Because quite frankly this manga is long. And I have other things to do. Hopefully.)

I’m not sure “lax” is the word I would use here? But I don’t like the anime’s use of “airheaded” much either, so?? “Considerably low key” maybe? In any case, the next panel sums it up “They both were the type not to think that deeply about things.” Let’s see… it says かなり緩かった. That seems to be about right, translation wise.

incheresting.

Also, it implies hypothetical strict parents of psychics exist, which… ironically enough, simply doesn’t exist in the Saikiverse. Come on Asou sensei. Give us an official continuation so we can meet some new psychic kid who meets this requirement of having grown up with strict parents.

I love how the very first page shows Saiki committing some selfless act with his powers. And yet he still gives us the spiel about how much psychic powers suck with his signature chronic >:(. Yes; Saiki has been a tsundere since the very beginning.

Saiki’s tsundere-ism aside, I have always liked how Asou sensei explains how psychic powers might be a significant drawback as much as a strength. The metaphor of a domestic dog who is fed and therefore doesn’t have the skill to hunt for itself, and the spoiled child who is given everything and thus robbed of agency, are both particularly good ones. (The curry and spoons one just makes me think of Mob psycho. Do you think One sensei read Saiki k???)

Saiki just lists all of his powers here. That certainly saves time. Though people who have already read the oneshots have the advantage of knowing exactly how these powers work (if we assume them properly canon.) There’s details about Saiki’s powers that get changed from the oneshots to the manga proper, like the timer on his spirit-body separation ability and his “clairvoyance” being called x-ray vision. Wait, no, that was the oneshot. Well, my point still stands.

I also like this part about a sense of achievement being impossible for him, since everything is too easy. It’s rather depressing if you think about it too much. Saiki definitely doesn’t belong in the “normal” life role that he forces himself into. But given his alternatives (Allow himself to become a government lab rat and subject himself to experimentation? Become a worldwide celebrity who fixes the problems of the world and maintains peace, essentially becoming a human god?? hang out with his amoral genius older brother who hates him???) his attempts at normalcy are understandable. And very entertaining.

No extreme emotions… I hope Asou sensei knew the can of worms he was opening by having Saiki say this. But I’m guessing he didn’t.

And the first of Kusuo’s problems in his titular disastrous life is the very normal problem of having to unlock the door for his father, who locked himself out of the house. But at this point, we the readers have no idea the extent of his powers and just how much his full potential is underutilized.

why doesn’t Kurumi have a job..? their mortgage is probably expensive and her son is an older teenager and fully capable of taking care of himself… i guess she just wants to be the doting mom for her son.

Ah!? Is that where Saiki gets his standards for how he uses his powers? Makes sense.

Sigh. watching your parents wrestle while waxing eloquent about coffee jelly. Never change Saiki. (and he never does.) He is really making me crave coffee jelly.

so cute.

XD his father’s thoughts are so ~kawaii~. Teehee.

Also, I never see anyone use forced telepathy in fics! More stuff that has so much damn potential… note to future me reading this.

The word used here in the manga is “psi user.” Let’s see… In Japanese, it is 超能力者(chyounouryokusha). Exactly what I expected; the same term as used on the cover. And that’s the word he uses in the anime, too, but in the subtitles, it’s translated as simply “psychic.” For those wondering, he says: 見せてやろう…超能力者の力おな… ‼︎ I am too low level to properly translate this, but I’d say it’s something like, “I’ll show you… a psi user’s power!”

Our translators: “I shall show you… the power of a psi user…!” (and they keep the punctuation and spacing used in the original Japanese.)

:,) He smiles… I love it when he smiles with the sparklies and the shine comes into his eyes. He doesn’t make this expression but a few meager times in the comic. And one of them is at the very end.

Papa also has a temper?? Ugh. He’s such a spoiled child. I can’t blame Kusuo for being a brat when his dad is like that.

And then Kusuo immediately smashes every window in the house using his psi powers out of coffee jelly induced jealousy. Another turn of events that just doesn’t make sense in the anime!!!

The translator note at the end is very sweet. I feel lucky that such a good scan team took on Saiki k; they really put effort into it, even the untranslatable stuff.

Alrighty, (wii fit meditation announcer guy voice) that’s… the end. It took me the better part of four hours to read and touch type all of this on my smartphone. Time well spent. (though I really should have used my computer. No, actually I’d better not, or all of my posts are going to be the length of 0-6…)

end of 1-1💫

#read-saiki #read-saiki 1-1 #for those of you wondering #I started learning Japanese for the express purpose of being able to read the Saiki k manga… there is no other reason.#My love for this series is very large indeed. 私の斎木楠雄の災難への愛は素晴らしいです。

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loveephia · 1 year

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hey lovely! I saw ur fluff prompts + HQ boys post so I wanted to request a few:

"Don't be stubborn, try it!" + Osamu Miya

"I can't get over how many months ago I wanted to learn your name and now you're having breakfast with me in my sweater"+ Osamu Miya

"No it's just like I can't believe your actually wearing my clothes" + Iwaizumi Hajime or Kuroo Tetsurou

"Your bed head is really cute" + Oikawa Tooru

"My friends/teammates get so annoyed by how much I talk about you sometimes" + Oikawa Tooru

"Shh stop fussing , I'm trying to braid your hair" + Sugawara Koshi

These are just some ideas if you wanted too write them ! Loving your writing btw <333

SWEET PIE | osamu miya

prompt: "don't be stubborn, try it!"

content: (🦷) tooth-rotting fluff, reader is a baker but she tries to actually cook for once, osamu is skeptical (of course), you're both married here timeskip.

⚠ warning/s: it's mentioned that reader hurts herself while cooking, but no in-depth detail of it actually happening. + manga spoilers.

note: ngl, it was hard to pick which prompt to do from the list you gave me, so i'll also do: "shhh.. stop fussing, i'm trying to braid your hair." with koushi sugawara in a separate post! ENJOY READING!!! :D

osamu miya came home to the aroma of food. not of your delightful pastries, but of curry. chicken katsu, to be exact. now, that doesn't happen very often (ever) because osamu was always the one who cooked dinner.

there's nothing wrong with you making dinner, of course, osamu just.. happened to remember that one time you brought him a seemingly innocent bento back in high school. one bite in, and he physically couldn't bring himself to take another!

osamu can still taste the clashing flavors of sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, and salty on the tip of his tongue. it came all at once, ever so brutally. he didn't even know that was possible..

ever since that incident, you focused on baking instead.

"oh! hi, 'samu. welcome home." you greeted him warmly from the kitchen. osamu's worries are immediately wiped away just from your little smile and apron that he simply can't get enough of.

"hey, hun." osamu replies, taking his shoes off and switches to the ones that are fit for his own home. he walked over to you and the.. mini mess you made on the kitchen counter. "what are ya cookin'?"

"don't be mad, but i made chicken katsu curry for dinner tonight! a- and i know you usually do the cooking, but i noticed how tired you've been from work lately, so i wanted to try and give you some rest.." you rambled. osamu found you so cute right now.

and.. you weren't wrong. far from it. the more people knew about osamu's restaurant, the busier he'd get. finding employees who could master the recipes right was difficult. finding employees who could treat the customers nicely was difficult. man, just keeping both eyes open at work was difficult!

"..you didn't haf'ta do all this." osamu mumbles.

"but i wanted to! it was the least i could do." you remarked, scooping some of the curry up in a tablespoon. "open up, 'samu."

osamu sweatdropped. "h- hold on—!"

"don't be stubborn, try it!" you said.

osamu looks at your determined face, then.. your fingers that held up the tablespoon. there were small cuts, probably from you trying to carefully slice the ingredients. you worked really hard for this, osamu can tell.

osamu mentally prepares himself before eating from the spoon. his eyes lit up. the flavor wasn't like last time. it wasn't suffocating, and there wasn't a clash.

"this.. is actually really good." osamu stated.

"were you expecting a repeat of history?" you asked, suspiciously squinting your eyes at your husband who whistled innocently to the side, avoiding any eye contact with you.

"come on, have some more faith in me..!" you whined at his reaction. osamu chuckles, pulling you close by the waist, "will do, hun."

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saiyansweetheart45 · 11 days

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Soma wasn't initially one of my favorite characters. If anything, I used to find him a bit annoying. But after re-watching the anime, re-reading part of the Manga (and no spoilers, but the poor guy goes through HELL in the later chapters) and now seeing him in this season, he's actually kind of grown on me. It's funny how he can be several years older than Ciel and yet he's so innocent and adorable, if more than a little naive. But, while it still gets annoying at times, it's gotten to the point where, in my opinion at least, it's endearing. Love this little purple-haired curry bun!

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #public school arc #weston college arc #soma asman kadar #prince soma #such a sweetheart #hes adorable #he and Ciel really could be friends if Ciel would meet him halfway

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akirasarchives · 1 year

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[ʜᴄ] 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐤𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐮

sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs: what having akira as your boyfriend is like!

⤷ ᴀ/ɴ: gn reader // this is old like pre-royal old..

— RELATIONSHIP OVERVIEW

listen..max charm akira? you’re gone. poof. so smooth

akira is so thoughtful and i mean it! he spends a lot of his money on you instead of buying things from the clinic to go the palaces and such

pls he was gonna give you the luck stone from the fortune teller then he got scammed

hopeless romantic! morgana can’t help but poke fun at him for it

BONUS! sojiro adores you! he’s constantly giving you things on the house

he will literally heal you / throw himself in front of you if you’re about to get hit with a critical attack he does NOT care

(morgana then proceeds to throw himself in front of akira)

— BEFORE THE RELATIONSHIP

LISTENNN!!! he buys so much gifts for you but when he gets the guts to actually give them to you..you’re getting gifts all of the time

like..akira?? we’re still friends here!!

tbh when the guys (yusuke, ryuji and akira) were in the bathhouse he mentioned how he liked you and they’ve forever been teasing him since

mostly ryuji

with the odd comment from yusuke

especially if you’re in the monabus and he sits next to you!!

you didn’t even know he liked you! since akira is so quiet himself it just seemed normal for him to be quiet around you,, and when he did speak you just figured it was how he naturally spoke to you

when you text him to hangout..he’s dropping everything. like finding the treasure? it can wait a day! (if it can)

— ASKING YOU OUT

definitely read a lot of things to increase his charm before he asked you out! you only deserve the most romantic “courting” (as morgana and yusuke would describe it as)

he definitely splashes out on gifts from the underground mall! chocolates, bracelets, lipsticks, perfumes, cd’s etc.!

he read some books too! although it was a literal embarrassing to purchase a book called “asking out the person of your dreams 101!”...it helped him a little even if he had to cover the name on the train

but even so he was sweating buckets when he invited you to a popular date spot for couples he’s read about in a magazine

he set up such an adorable picnic (with what he could afford) and although morgana was shoved into the basket he made the best of what he could

of course you said yes! not only was the weird mixture of his nervousness and charm prompting you to say yes but you’ve already pined after the messy haired boy for a few months now

— IN THE RELATIONSHIP

he can fluctuate between super-attentive, nerdy bf to charming, go with the flow kinda bf

esp with morgana whispering ideas into his ear .5 seconds of the day

akira deffo is such a sucker for video games/manga’s so i’d imagine a lot of arcade and cafe dates where you two are chilling reading manga’s or doing hw

the rest of the group adore your relationship esp the girls

they love asking the two of you about your dates!! ann esp loves capturing candids of the two of you to send to the gc and fawn over

ann: look at these cuties!!

futaba: shame ryuji’s face ruins the photo

haru: wah… true love ❤️

ryuji… he’s asking akira some unhinged shit ngl

yusuke deffo asks to follow you and akira on a date so he can capture the feeling of love irl… turns out it’s kinda weird to have someone follow you and ur bf around

like… he doesn’t even speak to yous… just a shadow

n e way!!!

sojiro… he gives akira some pocket money sometimes 😭😭 (like £10 but shhh)

“go buy [y/n] something nice, kid” BROO

free coffee is normal for you, esp when you’re waiting for akira to get his bag together at the cafe

wins arcade plushies for you when he’s busy with shinya! if it weren’t for shinya helping his phantom thievery then he’d solely be there to win plushies

when he learns how to make curry and coffee, that’s all your eating when you’re over

and honestly…

now you’re a curry and coffee connoisseur

#persona 5 headcanons #persona 5 fanfiction #persona5 x reader #persona 5 x reader #p5 x reader #akira kusuru x reader #akira x reader #ren amiyama x reader #p5 headcanons

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kaitou-archive · 6 months

Text

Otomedia June 2016

(Below is a cleaned up machine translation. Please note that due to the nature of machine translation, the text may not be wholly accurate or may read oddly. Japanese is included after English for reference. The text was lifted from the images using this site, and though there's been care taken to make sure everything is correct, there is a chance of unintentional typos.)

With the Only one prince + superb honeymoon in paradise♡

Only oneの王子様と+楽園で極上ハネムーン♡

▼ Spade offers a handkerchief to Joker, who is soaking wet from the rain. Phoenix is in a panic because of the rain, which he doesn't like!

▼雨でびしょ濡れになったジョーカーに、ハンカチを差し出すスペード。フェニックスは、苦手な雨に大慌て!

Joker dressed up as a woman to participate in the World Bride Grand Prix. The exotic dress suits him ♪

世界花嫁グランプリ出場のため、ジョーカーが女装した姿。エキゾチックなドレスがお似合い ♪

--Producer Mabuchi Yoshiki Interview

Joker and new characters such as Phoenix (Akai Tsubasa) and members of the "Devil Fang" organization led by President D continue their unpredictable adventures in "Kaitou Joker" Season 3. I'm sure your hearts are racing with excitement, but how about another thing that makes your heart flutter♥

This time, we have a fantasy of newlywed life with Joker and friends ♪ We also have special cooking tips for the future brides. Of course, the excitement will be even more intense in the full-length anime! We received the following secret information from producer Yoshiki Mabuchi of Shin-Ei Animation! The main highlights are Phoenix and Hosshi. Their mysteries will be gradually revealed during the 16 episodes between Season 3 and the upcoming Season 4. In Season 1 and Season 2, the story was rather complete, but in Season 3 and Season 4, the mystery will be solved by watching all the episodes. Also, the tricks this time were supervised by a real magician, RYOTA, who came up with the ideas for the tricks.

Let's explore the charms of Season 3 from various angles, such as the concepts of new characters and the event report manga, with Producer Mabuchi still with us. ♪

赤井翼ことフェニックスやプレジデントD率いる組織「悪の牙《デビル・ファング》」のメンバーなど、ジョーカーと新キャラクターたちの予測不可能な大冒険が続く『怪盗ジョーカー』シーズン3。ドキワクの連続にみなさまの心は高鳴りまくっていることと思いますが、ここで一つ、胸キュンなトキメキもいかがでしょうか♥

ということで、今回はジョーカーたちとの新婚生活をたっぷり妄想♪未来の花嫁のために、ジョーカーたちから料理にまつわる特別コメントも入手しました。もちろん、アニメ本編でもドキドキはさらに加速!シンエイ動画の馬渕吉喜プロデューサーからは、こんなマル秘情報をGETいたしました!!! 「要注目はフェニックスとホッシーです。シーズン3の全16話と次のシーズン4 にかけて、彼らの謎が徐々に明かされます。シーズン1・2ではわりと1話完結に近い形で物語が進んでいきましたが、シーズン3・4では全編を通して観ることで謎が解かれる仕掛けになっています。また、今回はトリックもリアルマジシャンのRYOTAさんに監修していただき、アイディアを出していただいています」

馬渕Pにまだまだお付き合いいただき、新キャラクターの設定やイベントレポートマンガなど、さまざまな角度からシーズン3の魅力を探っていきましょう♪

--Character Question

Do you prefer to cook or to eat food cooked for you? 料理は作るのが好きですか食べるのが好きですか?

Joker: "Of course I prefer to eat, Hachi makes the best curry~! My specialty is cup ramen! I'll treat you to some another time, okay?"

ジョーカー : 「もちろん食べる方が好きだな!ハチが作るカレーは最高なんだぜ~!得意料理はカップラーメンだな! 今度ごちそうしてやるぜ?」

Tsubasa: "Hm, I've never cooked before… Well, here's the question: if I were to cook, what would it be? 1. Super spicy curry, 2. Super spicy mapo tofu, 3. Konpeito Southern Cross style (very spicy). By the way, I like very spicy food."

翼「料理は作ったことがないな〜。さて、問題。僕が作るとしたら何料理でしょう? 1激辛カレー、 2 激辛マーボー豆腐、 3金平糖サザンクロス風 (激辛)。ちなみに僕は激辛料理が好物だよ」

Spade: "I guess it's hard to decide between cooking and eating. Dark Eye makes delicious food, so I leave it up to him, but when I'm stuck in a writing dilemma, sometimes I just make French food."

スペード: 「作るか食べるかの優劣はつけがたいかな。ダークアイが美味しいご飯を作ってくれるから任せきりだけど、執筆に煮詰まった時はひたすらフランス料理を作ることがあるよ」

--Mabuchi P (Producer Mabuchi Yoshiki) prediction

Mabuchi P big prediction★ What if you let the phantom thieves do your housework!?

馬渕P大予想★ 怪盗たちに家事を任せるなら!?

Joker "Likely has the ability to select good things, so it could be shopping."

ジョーカー「良い物を選別する力があると思うので、ショッピングでしょうか」

Hachi "All the housework. He's the ideal wife that everyone wants (laughs)"

ハチ「家事すべて。もはや誰もが欲しがる、理想の嫁ですね (笑)」

Phoenix "He's sleeping all the time, so I feel like he's going to be a lazy house-husband (laughs)"

フェニックス「ずっと寝ているので、ダラダラした主夫になりそうです (笑)」

Shadow "He seems to take good care of people, so I guess it would be picking up the kids and taking out the trash."

シャドウ「面倒見は良さそうなので、子どものお迎えやゴミ出しでしょうか」

Spade "He's also a novelist, so perhaps he might not do well with housework."

スペード「小説家もやっているので、家事向きではないかもしれないですね」

--Mini Talk

Reverse Proposal Tips! Phantom Thief Mini Talk ♪ What gift makes you happiest?

逆プロポーズのヒント!? 怪盗ミニトーク♪ プレゼントされて一番嬉しいものは?

Joker & Tsubasa: "A game!!" Spade: "You guys are so in-tune…" Joker: "No way! Okay, if you like games, let's play an action game!" Tsubasa: "That sounds fun!" Spade: "I'll pass. You really do like that sort of thing, you're like children." Tsubasa: "You just don't like losing, do you?" Joker: "Yeah, right!" Spade: "That isn't the case! Fine then, let's do it!" Wings: "By the way, what's an action game?" Joker & Spade: "Eh……"

ジョーカー&翼 : 「ゲーム!!」スペード: 「キミたち気が合うね……」ジョーカー : 「あわねーよ! よぉし、ゲームが好きだって言うなら、アクションゲームで勝負し「ようぜ!」翼: 「おもしろそうじゃないか」スペード: 「僕はパス。本当に好きだね、子どもみたいだよ」翼: 「そんなこと言って、負けるのがイヤなだけなんじゃないのかい?」ジョーカー : 「そーだそーだ!」スペード: 「そんなことあるわけないだろ! やってやろうじゃないか!」翼: 「で、アクションゲームってなんだい?」ジョーカー & スペード: 「え・・・・・」

--Pg 58-59

Mabuchi P's Big Prediction ★ What kind of brides will the female phantom thieves be!? "Queen is rough around the edges and wants to do the housework but often fails. She will need someone like Roko to follow her through. Ai is versatile, and she also cooks when in her Dark Eye form, so I think she will make the best bride. Rose seems surprisingly caring; However, she has been asleep for a long time, so I think she will be studying and learning modern common sense."

馬渕P大予想★ 女怪盗たちはどんな花嫁になりそう!? 「クイーンは大雑把なので、家事をやりたがるけど失敗することが多そうです。ロコのような目線で、フォローしてくれる人が必要ですね。アイは多才で、ダークアイの姿のときには料理もしていたので、一番良いお嫁さんになるのではないでしょうか。ローズは、意外と世話焼きな気がします。ただ、眠っていた期間が長かったので、これから勉強して現代の常識などを覚えていくのかなと思います」

--INTERVIEW Producer Yoshiki Mabuchi

What is the main theme of Season 3?

The characters are fundamentally the same as in Seasons 1 and 2, but we asked Miho Shimogasa to design them with a slightly more adult or "cool" look in mind. Phoenix, Hosshi, and "Devil Fang" became the main characters at the suggestion of director Yukiyo Teramoto and series director Dai Sato. Originally, the original author, Hideyasu Takahashi, had an idea for the Phoenix and the Divine Beast, and we pulled the concepts from a rough draft of that idea. There are still many mysteries about President D, but by creating an organization called "Devil Fang" and having rival thieves belong to it, it became easier to bring out various characters in the anime. There are many fascinating characters in the original story, and we want to include them in the anime as much as possible.

In Season 3, you seem to have included a number of concepts that are original to the anime.

Yes, that's right. The concept of Hosshi eating treasures and laying eggs, where key items of the story come out of, is also an original concept of the anime. On the other hand, Akai's three-choice questions are a concept that existed in the original story, and we decided to make use of it in the anime as well, so Akai always says the three-choice question every time he appears in the story. Mr. Sato raised the bar himself, saying, "I want the questions to rhyme nicely" (laughs). He had a hard time thinking about it.

Speaking of originality, Kaneko transformed into a murderous woman in episode 30. I was surprised because this was an idea that Director Teramoto had mentioned in the August 2015 issue of Otomedia.

It was an idea that Director Teramoto had been working on for a long time. The transformation scene was quite forced, but since it was a gag episode, I thought it would be okay (laughs). The next episode, episode 31, "Shadow and Eyes and Fakes" was also a gag episode, and everyone on the staff wanted to do it. Shadow also made an appearance for the first time in a while, and he too became more of a gag (laugh). We also introduced Fake Silver Heart and fake Roko, who were not in the original work. Fake-Silver is a robot and Fake-Roko is a skunk. In the original, Fake-Queen is the character who farts, but in the anime, we switched that concept to Fake-Roko. The cast is also spectacular, with Kenichi Suzumura as fake Joker, Toshiyuki Toyonaga as fake Spade, and Kaori Nazuka as fake Queen. The casting was done after asking Ayumu Murase, who plays Joker, who he would like to play a fake version of his character.

The opening and ending sequences were just as impressive as the previous and the OP was storyboarded by Takashi Otsuka, who also directed the previous season's OP, to match Arukara's "Miracle Shounen Boy 2" with an emphasis on coolness. Tasuke Inamura, the vocalist of Arukara, came up with the idea for the intro of the song, which includes the call "Hachi!" The ED is innovative, with Joker in red and the Hachi in blue, each running on a road in their image color. The ED is sung by Fuki Commune and fits perfectly with the song "Welcome to the Shining Night!"

What are the upcoming episodes and characters?

There are stories featuring DJ Peacock and Ali Baba. Stay tuned for a rendition of "Ali Baba and the Four Detectives." The story of Rainbow Justice will also involve the Devil Fang. In addition, watch for the original anime episode "The Sky Joker in Peril"! The story and tricks are completely original, and it takes place on Joker's airship, the Sky Joker. You will also see Joker's treasure room and learn about the inside of the ship.

INTERVIEW 馬渕吉喜プロデューサー

シーズン3のメインテーマは?

根本的にシーズン1・2と変わらないのですが、少し大人向けというか、カッコよさを意識して、しもがさ美穂さんにキャラデザインをしていただきました。フェニックスやホッシー、「悪の牙《デビル・ファング》」が主軸になったのは、寺本幸代監督とシリーズ構成・佐藤大さんの提案です。もともと、原作者のたかはしひでやす先生のほうでフェニックスと神獣に関するアイディアがありまして、そのラフ案から設定を引っ張らせていただきました。プレジデントDに関してはまだ謎が多いのですが、悪の牙《デビル・ファング》という組織を作ってライバル怪盗たちを所属させることで、いろいろなキャラクターをアニメに出しやすくなりました。原作には魅力的なキャラクターがたくさんいるので、できるだけアニメでも登場させたいと思っています。

シーズン3では、アニメオリジナルの設定が多数盛り込まれていますね。

そうなんです。ホッシーがお宝を食べるとタマゴを生んで、中から物語のキーとなるアイテムが出てくるというのも、アニメオリジナルの設定です。逆に赤井が三択問題を出すのは原作にあった設定で、アニメでもそれを活かしてみようと思い、赤井が登場する度に必ず三択問題を言うようになったんです。佐藤さんが、「きれいに韻を踏んだ問題にしたい」とご自分でハードルを上げていて(笑)。考えるのに苦労されているようです。

オリジナルといえば、第30話でカネ子が殺子に変身しました。オトメディア2015年8月号で、寺本監督が語っていたアイディアだったので驚きました。

寺本監督がずっと温めていたアイディアだったんです。変身シーンはかなり強引でしたが、ギャグ回なので大丈夫かなと(笑)。続く第31話「影と瞳と偽物と」もギャグ回で、スタッフみんながやりたがっていたエピソードでした。シャドウも久しぶりに登場して、彼もだいぶギャグ色が強くなってきましたね(笑)。原作にはいない、二セシルバーハートや二セロコも登場させました。ニセシルバーはロボットで、ニセロコはスカンクですね。原作だとニセクイーンがオナラをするキャラクターなのですが、アニメではその設定をニセロコに持っていきました。キャストも豪華で、ニセジョーカーを鈴村健一さん、二セスペードを豊永利行さん、ニセクイーンを名塚佳織さんが担当しています。これはジョーカー役の村瀬歩さんたちに「ご自身の担当キャラの偽物をやってもらうなら誰がいいか」と希望を聞いて、キャスティングした形です。

本編と同じく、オープニングとエンディングの映像もとても印象的でした。OPはアルカラの「怪盗ミラクル少年ボーイ2」にあわせ、前シーズンでもOPを担当していただいた大塚隆史さんに、カッコよさを全面にだして絵コンテ演出をしていただきました。アルカラのボーカルの稲村太佑さんのアイディアで、イントロに「ハチ!」という掛け声が入っているんですが、そのタイミングでハチが画面に登場していますよ。EDは斬新でジョーカーなら赤、ハチは青と、各イメージカラーの道の上を走る構成です。 Fuki Communeさんが歌う「輝く夜へようこそ!」ともピッタリ合っていますよね。

―今後の注目エピソード&キャラは?

DJ・ピーコックがメインのお話や、アリババが登場するエピソードがあります。「アリババの4人の探偵団」の描写は、ぜひご期待ください。レインボー・ジャスティスのお話には、悪の牙《デビル・ファング》も絡んできますよ。そして、アニメオリジナルエピソード「スカイジョーカー危機一髪」にも注目です! ストーリーもトリックも完全オリジナルで、ジョーカーの飛行船「スカイ・ジョーカー」が舞台になってます。ジョーカーのお宝部屋なども出てきて、スカイ・ジョーカーの内部が分かりますよ。

#kaitou joker #otomedia #2016 #kaitou archive scans #magazine

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