It's their time to shine now

The Iceberg of Online Manga - A Reading List and Print Wishlist

We get a lot of manga in English, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. We get a hell of a lot of fan translated manga, but even that doesn't cover the whole thing. Separated by language and culture, the "untapped" potential of manga is foreign to a lot of readers, myself included really. But it's because of that deficiency that I decided to start taking a look at interesting fan translated titles to find series to recommend to publishers (and potentially read), so this is a sneak peek into my ever-growing list.

It's also an open request for people to share their favorites from the online manga sphere! As a single person it's impossible to find all the hidden gems, so being able to share titles between one another can really help widen horizons.

Sui and Neri of the Twilight Planet / Tasogare-Boshi No Sui To Neri

In a way, it reminds me of Girls Last Tour, a sunsetting planet that explores the oddity of a du in their life. Not quite as bittersweet or contemplative through what I've seen so far, but still very pretty and detailed. Lots and lots of hand drawn background art, and some really good layouts and paneling.

Poison Poison Forest Forest /Doku Doku Mori Mori

Mushroom on Mushroom violence, with a healthy side of grim visuals. It's got all the punch you could expect, and has a pretty novel approach to what you could consider a revenge story. Still early on so not a mountain of stuff to go off of, but at the very least what there is is good.

Captain Momo's Secret Base / Momo Kanchou No Himitsu Kichi

Tsuruta Kenji, the mastermind behind the art of Emanon (and other series), need I really say more? Regardless, with Tsuruta's art behind a lighthearted and curious series of a woman travelling through space alone with a cat, it's an undeniably enjoyable ride. Though do be warned, there is quite a bit of nudity featured as Momo prefers going commando to wearing clothes.

Every Every Night / Yona Yona Yona

An incredibly strikingly designed robin hood-esque story, Yona and her crew go on nightly missions to try and steal back art that was originally stolen by a corrupt police force. Creative, expressive, fun, and impressively detailed and unique, it's got quite a bit of potential!

The Feared Witch of Tasihou / Taishou Kitan Majo

Mixing the Western practices of Witchcraft with a Taishou-era Japan setting? A cultural combination that I'm truthfully surprised we haven't really seen yet. Add onto that the incredibly unique and sketch-like art style (and the wonderful color pages) and it's just a super easy pickup.

Welcome to Hotel Metsäpeura / Hotel Metsäpeura e Youkoso

A little hard to explain succinctly, but this is the story of a trio, two men and a teenager who they find standing outside their hotel in the Finnish wilderness in the middle of Winter. Characters with... interesting pasts, it's a story about providing not just a house, but a home to this young boy on his own.

The Ends of A Dream / Yume no Hashibashi

This is one that I'm really quite desperate to get in print. It's an emotional story of a pair as they retrace their forbidden romance through the years that have evaded them as they reach the end of their lives. A painfully beautiful concept that I really hope to see licensed someday.

Will You Clean This For Me? / Kirei Ni Shitemoraemasuka

Alright, something a little more light and fun! A story of a laundry (though it's really sorta general cleaning) shop as they go about their daily life, even offering a few tips and tricks to better cleaning things. Simple idea that has some pretty clear care put into it, and is just the right thing to relax with.

Amber Days and Golden Nights / Kohaku no Yume de Yoimashou

Let's keep the good vibes rolling! Another specific interest series, this time about craft beer. Kenzaki Nana's a burnt out employee at a Kyoto advertising firm, but happens to stumble across the Shirokuma bar. With just one night she ends up pulled into the world of craft beer, and our story begins! Very fun and light, and a really cool area to see explored by manga.

The Dragon, The Hero, and The Courier / Ryuu to Yuusha to Haitatsunin

Nothing like some good old comedy at the expense of someone else. Yoshida, a half elf, is a mail carrier for the Imperial City of Idazig that will deliver mail to anyone, anywhere. With the breadth of fantasy and middle-ages history expressed early on, there's a lot of creative potential for humor alongside the really wonderfully scratchy and sharp art.

Deep Sea Aquarium Magmell / Magmell Shinkai Suizokukan

My friend Phantom would kill me if this wasn't on the list. Anyways, it's a series about a deep sea aquarium employee in Tokyo. Very cool, very informal, and incredibly beautiful. I love how much they work with blacks and darkness in the art.

A Coffee Shop in the Unwaking Town / Samenai Machi no Kissaten

I love stories that are incredibly odd and quiet, and this is no exception. Suzume one day finds herself unable to wake up, stuck in the unwaking town Lutetia. It's in this town that she works at the coffee shop known as 'Quatre'. From the moment I laid eyes on it I knew I'd enjoy it, a unique concept paired with standout art, it has such a comfortable feeling to its experience (as well as offering a few recipes).

Living In an Antiquarian Bookstore of The Karakida Family / Karakida-ke no Kosho Gurashi

A simple story about three girls inheriting their grandfather's shop in the heart of the largest collection of used bookstores, Kanda-Jinbouchou. A very calm and borderline mundane story that is supplemented with some truly beautiful art.

And that's all this list has in it for now! Of course I've got more I can chat about, but I thought these to be the most promising in my perusing of the internet. Best of all though? All of these are available (to some degree) on MangaDex! If you want to give them a shot they're there. And really, do feel free to add to this list with your own online finds, I'd love to find all sorts of unique and creative manga that we don't get to hear about in the English sphere!

My Top Reads of 2022

Not totally back yet for another day, so I'm posting about reading rather than BTS. lol feel free to skip over it if you'd rather! I just wanted to share some of my favorite reads of 2022. I read 159 books this year (24 of them during my tumblr break the last few weeks!), here are just a few that I loved! If you want more opinions over these or perhaps over books I didn't love as much, I'd be happy to talk more about them!

In no particular order:

He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon (5 stars):

Content warnings for violence, mentions of cannibalism and death

A LitRPG style fantasy novel that is both high stakes but Still light hearted at the same time. I loved seeing the mayhem happen and the characters grow. It left me so excited to see how the over arching story continued to evolve. Plus I loved the friend groups dynamics here too! It's a little unpolished and times, can be a little slow, told through a flashback. But I loved Jason for the most part and loved hearing his adventures. Super funny and enjoyable.

The Deepest of Secrets by Kelley Armstrong (5 stars)

Content warnings for murder, gun violence, animal attack and mentioned animal death, sexually explicit scenes

Book 7 and the final installment of the Rockton series, but with the promise of a spin off that makes my heart soar. I love this series an unhealthy amount. Amazing characters, amazing writing, fast paced, engaging, one of my all time favorite OTPs. Thriller novels that aren't terrifying but kept the suspense flowing the whole time too. Can't wait to see where Casey and Eric go next. Book 1 in the series is called City of the Lost.

One for All by Lillie Lainoff (4 stars)

Content warnings for ableism, SA, bullying, death of a parent, grief

I was so excited for this one! It was a little predictable and I honestly think it mightve been better If the romance was left behind all together. But the romance portion still wasn't bad. It was excellent for a debut novel. The representation for POTS here was amazing. I loved the strength in the MC, the friendships were all top tier and so sweet. I absolutely loved it! Especially well done for a debut novel too!

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (3 - 5 stars through the books)

Trigger warnings, like ALOT of them. Full list can be found here

Had a billion friends begging me to read this one and I finally did! The author is the definition of why authors don't always belong in fandom spaces and is a bit of a mess, but I did enjoy these books! The first one started off super slow and was clearly a set up novel, but they just got better and better as they went. I wasn't a huge fan of her writing in other books, but it worked super well for this series. Massively character driven series and so much fun. The magic system was amazing. The friendship between Blue and the boys was top tier. I cried and I laughed and I had a blast. Not a huge fan of the ending, which felt like a bit of a cop out to me, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment enough to not still give it 5 stars at the end. Lol

Spy x Family Manga (4 - 5 stars)

Content warnings for violence, gun violence

This one was recommended by my sister snd I fell in love so fast. Lol I also then watched the anime after. Very slice of life cuteness, mixed with spy and assassin shenanigans. Chaos incarnate and adorable. The trails of parenthood were hysterical, especially as a parent myself too. Lol although I'm not mixing parenthood with Spy work 😂

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei (4 stars)

Content warnings for alcohol, blood, depression, suicidal ideation, homophobia, drugs, racism, sport related violence, sexually explicit scenes

Sports Hockey Romance mlm and so cute and so good! What a great representation for living with bad depression too. MC going through so much, but his relationship with his sisters is amazing, his budding relationship on his team is so good. Rivals to Lovers trope that's perfection too! I loved it so much! Fast and easy and fun to read and enjoyable every second!

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan (4.5 stars)

Content warnings for Ableism, Amputation, Castration, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Misgendering, Murder (child) , Sexually Explicit scenes, starvation, torture (non-graphic), violence

This was INTENSE. But so freaking good. Historical meets fantasy. Mulan vibes, but way more grown up and based in more history. And it's queer. Fun, thought provoking, intense, and so well written too.

The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)

Content warnings for death and violence

This is the 7th book in the series and every book in it is AMAZING. Released this year and wow what an epic conclusion. I laughed and I sobbed and I loved every second. Binged it in a day. These covers are so ugly lol but the stories are so good. So thought provoking. Fast paced but every freaking word counts. Engrossing and amazing story telling. The intricate plot contentions through the entire cosmere had me feeling a conspiracy theorist in the best way

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (5 stars)

Content warnings for Misogyny & femicide, Rape mentioned, Physical & emotional abuse, Suicidal ideation, Alcoholism, Blood & gore depiction, Murder, Torture

This was so good!! So good! It could have used some more flushing out on the world building, magic system and character arcs, but overall I loved every second of it. It's giving me the morally Grey heroine and cast of characters I've always wanted. I loved that it set up with a fairly classic love triangle, but only to give us a bisexual polyship triangle! Badassery the whole way through too! Had me pretty consistently on the edge of my seat.

^the line to end love triangles with all efficiency lmfaoo had me rolling!

Happy New Year! For those who enjoy reading as much as I do too, I hope the new year brings you lots of new good books to read and enjoy!

When Mc gets sick

Lucifer:

will scold the hell out of you

"didn't I tell you to take care of yourself?"

you can have only a slight cold and he will insist on you staying in bed for the rest of the week

humans are weak and die easily, and you're apparently stupid on top of that for getting sick even after his warning

will constantly sigh, scold and act like it's a huge nuisance taking care of you

says he doesn't care

actually cares a lot

keeps his brothers away from you, so you have peace and silence to recover

if your condition worsens he will grow panicked, he doesn't want to lose you!

will take you to a human world doctor so you can get the right treatment

after your recovery, he will be so paranoid and overprotective for the first few weeks, will wrap you up in blankets, constantly makes sure you drink and eat enough, will put his coat over your shoulders if he even just gets the idea you might find it cold

Mammon:

"that's your own fault!"

someone like the great Mammon would never get sick

leaves the room only to come back half an hour later panting and packed with bags full of medicine and other stuff you might need

he didn't know what you need so he got one of all

there isn't the right thing among it? oh well no worries he'll get you whatever you say

after all he cares a lot for his human, even though he denies it

he will keep you company and try to distract you from your pain through telling you about his new money making schemes, or try to get you to laugh through telling you about stories where he failed and received Lucifers punishment

he doesn't like that you  have to go through this so he tries to help you however he can

if you'll ask for some quiet time, he will struggle, it's not like he doesn't want you to have some rest to recover, it's just he is so worried and confused, he feels more at ease when you talk to him or laugh about his stories, if you answer that is prove you're still alive and breathing

once you've recovered everything goes back to normal, Mammon will be confident in his ability to take care of you...for now that is, it's probably diffrent once you're actually sick again

Leviathan:

stupid normie! An otaku like him doesn't get sick, because he never leaves his room and avoids interactions with others

he, of course, secretly cares though

"Mc? I brought you these anime that we can watch together to pass the time"

"oh and in case you want to rather read something in silence, I brought you some manga recommendations, but please don't sneeze all over them..."

does the online RAD lessons with you as he stays at home almost everyday anyway, so he can show you how they work and help you

he will awkwardly sit next to you on the bed, trying to keep a small distance between the two of you A) because he is shy and nervous and B) because he can't get sick, he would miss all his in-game raids

will ask if you want to play games as well, but soon realizes that you two won't be making much progress with your current reaction time, so he chooses an easy and fun game for you

he wouldn't admit it but he might have set the game to the easiest settings and he himself plays slower for you

he is actually kind of disappointed when you recover so quick, he will miss you now that you visit RAD again instead of doing the online lessons with him, but he is glad you're feeling better again...maybe you could stay home more often with him though?

Satan:

he will buy and read every single human medicine book so he can find the best solution to your illness

will obviously read them in your room, because he can't leave you alone in this state

makes sure to keep you warm and makes you herbal tea depending on your symptoms

will skip school in favour for your well-being, especially keeps this behaviour up when Lucifer gets mad about it

will yell at everyone who dares to try and enter your room while your still sick, how dare they disturb your rest

will get embarassed about yelling and actually being the disturbance to you himself, will apologize and leave your room to keep reading somewhere else, still checks up on you occasionally and brings you light novels to read so you don't get bored

will come in stumbling into your room with the perfect medicine to cure you, only to find that you're already feeling better

gets embarassed yet again, but says it was worth reading all these books as he can now react faster the next time you get sick

will keep a check on your health and make sure you're always taking care of yourself

Asmodeus:

keep your snotty face away from him, but also come cuddle

he is very conflicted, because getting sick is not good for his skin, but he also wants to make you feel better with his hugs

will wear a mask so he doesn't get infected that easily

Asmo doesn't know much about medicine but he knows that certain herbs are good for your health, so he'll make you a nice herbal bath to boost your healing

also will take over your skin care routine and adjust it while your sick so your skin doesn't get worse, says he will only buy a refreshing face mask, comes back with more stuff though... I mean what did you expect from him?

will stay in bed with you and constantly cuddle so you don't feel lonely

he will most definetly whine if you ask him for some space or alone time, but does comply...fo at most half an hour, look this is hard on him too! His darling is sick and he can't do anything but be a moral support for you

if you thought he stops to cling to you once you've recovered, then you're mistaken, he will give you so many kisses and hugs having missed being able to do that

Beelzebub:

"Will food make you feel better?"

"You don't feel like eating?"

the poor boy is so confused, you're going to die if you don't eat! He will ask Satan what humans need when they're sick

will make yoou the perfect meal based on your symptoms, he'll even hold back on eating from it

he has a huge smile on his face while he watches you eat what he prepared, he is so proud that you like what he made you

eat as much as you can, Beel will eat everything you can't, all this boy wants for you to eat at least a bit so you have enough strength to recover

you get cold? cuddle time!

there is no way Beel will leave your side for as long as you're sick, he'll hold you close and share all his warmth and food with you

is so happy when you're better again. Will celebrate it with inviting you to a restaurant

Belphegor:

being sick is like being sleepy right?

he will just go back to sleep next to you as if nothing happend

wakes up because of your coughs and pretends to be annoyed, but is actually worried

will leave the comfort of the bed to get you some medicine, before wrapping you up into a blanket burrito and cuddling into you

don't expect to be getting up any time soon, he wants to sleep...you better not have to go to the bathroom

sleeping is best medicine but Belphie takes this a bit to literally, you two will almost only sleep

once you're better he will still want to sleep using you as a pillow, good luck getting out of that situation

Diavolo:

"Are you dying Mc?"

"Barbatos turn back the time before Mc got sick! -Wait you're going to be okay?"

Don't scare him like that! He is always ready to save you from death!

He will let you live at the castle for the time being and appoints the best doctor to take care of you, because he still isn't completly convinced you're going to make it

Does his work in your room, so he can keep a check on you

will not do much work much to Barbatos dismay, Dia is just so worried about you and will constantly ask if you need anything

his breaks consist of hugging you gently and drinking some tea with you

he will literally cry and almost crush you in his hug, when you're finally healthy again. This man was so anxious about losing you, even thugh he could've commanded Barb to just turn back time

Barbatos:

*smiles*

he knew you were going to get sick, so he's prepared

knocks on your door in the house of lamentation, before you're even able to tell anyone that you're sick

made himself a very strict schedule for everything so he can help you and still attend to his duties as a butler

gives the brothers various tasks so they can indivdually take care of you in the time he isn't able to be there for you

he will get back to you in the evening after having finished all his work for the day

will make you a light dinner and sit next to your bed

stays with you until you fall asleep stroking you hair and holding one of your hands, when you wake up the next morning Barb await you with a small breakfast, if he stayed over night or left and came back in the morning will stay a secret of his

is relieved and at the same time sad when you've recovered, will miss coming over and seeing you, maybe you can return the favor and visit him at the castle sometimes...

Solomon:

is a human so he knows what to do...

but magic is quicker!

he tries to heal you with a spell, but he just end up making it worse

"Oh no Mc I'm so sorry! Let me make it up by taking care of you!"

undefined matter soup a la Solomon, "eat this", he said, "You'll feel better", he said ...you don't feel better...

the brothers will get so angry and throw him out of the house, he is only allowed to come back once you've recovered, actually scratch that he's not setting foot anywhere near you again if it were for the demons

but Solomon finds his way into your room through your window...will stay over the night, cuddling you and constantly apologizing

will laugh about the whole ordeal once you've recovered

Simeon:

he is so calm, like yeah? Humans get sick, but they recover soon if taking care of correctly

Simeon is just the best!

he knows the right food to make for you, will give you the best medicine and make sure you're taking it at the right time

will make sure you're always comfortable

bored?  "let me get you a book!"

tired?  "let me fluff your pillow so you can sleep better!"

he will sit next to you the whole time looking so calm and confident

he will pray for you to get better quick so you don't have to suffer too long

promises you to take care of you again if you get sick in the future, this man just wants to be there for you

Luke:

"Are you dying Mc?" Version 2.0

no seriously are you? Will you become an  angel? We can live together in the celestial realm and bake desserts for Micheal!

Mc why are you so angry? No you misunderstood I don't actually want you to die!

Is so sorry he couldn't protect you from getting sick, he will feel so helpless

Simeon and you will cheer him up and tell him there wasn't anything he could have done to prevent it

Luke will bake you light desserts so you can eat some sweets while recovering

will visit you daily with Simeon after school and tell you about the day

crushes you in a big hug once you're healthy again

Yen Press Announces New Manga and Light Novels for November 2021

North American publisher Yen Press has big plans for later this year, with nine new releases revealed for November (and one for October). Among the latest licenses are six manga—including Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc—and four light novels, so dig into the details below.

  MANGA

  The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time Story by Kizuka Nero Art by Yamo Yomoya (This one is listed for October)

    Kaito has been summoned into another world as a hero, and though all goes well for a time, one day, his entire party betrays and mercilessly kills him. So when he suddenly gets a chance to redo his life, starting from the point he was first summoned to this world, he swears to exact vengeance on everyone who stabbed him in the back...

  The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time is a dark isekai tale based on a Yen On light novel scheduled for an October 2021 release. Fans of dark fantasy manga are sure to enjoy this upcoming release that does an amazing job adapting the highly-anticipated light novel.

  Let This Grieving Soul Retire  Story by Tsukikage Art by Rai Hebino Character Designs by Chiko  

  This man—is he an extraordinary hero or an ordinary person?

  "What I'm seeking is to be the world's one and only strongest hero."

  Cry had made an oath together with his childhood friends to become the strongest hero, but he realized right after that he has no talent.

  Nevertheless, for some reason, the expectations of those around him keep rising rapidly every day. And (at least according to Cry), things will always head in an outrageous direction!?

  Let This Grieving Soul Retire is a manga adaptation of the fantasy light novel series by Tsukikage, the creator of Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer) and The King of the Dead at the Dark Palace by Yen On. This comedic adventure about a reluctant hero appeals to fans of the recently released Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin.

  Namaiki Zakari

Story and art by Miyuki Mitsubachi

    Basketball club manager Yuki has a secret—she’s in love with the team captain! But when Naruse, her cheeky kouhai, discovers her big secret, she’s in a tight spot! Just how long is he going to keep teasing her about it!? Stupid pretty playboy…

  Namaiki Zakari is a gorgeous romantic comedy shojo filled with charming boys and love triangles. With a story filled with adorable romance and school-life elements, much of which revolves around the events of the characters’ basketball team, Namaiki Zakari will surely be shojo fans’ next favorite series!

  I’ve Been an Omega Since Today

Story & Art by Maiki Sachi

    It all starts with your typical childhood friend love story—average Kanade pining after his dandy best friend, Munechika. There’s just one big problem with their high school romance—Kanade’s a Beta and Munechika’s an Alpha! And everyone knows that Alpha/Beta pairing just aren’t compatible…on a physical level. But when Kanade goes into heat as an Omega for the first time, will Munechika be there to give him a helping hand?

  Fans of boys love rejoice! Following hot new releases, such as Sasaki and Miyano and I Cannot Reach You, Yen Press is releasing I’ve Been an Omega Since Today. This standalone title is filled with beautiful artwork and omegaverse elements—truly irresistible to the growing boys love fanbase!

  The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid

Story and Art by Yugata Tanabe

    Sumire, a “nekomata” phantom, has lost her beloved master. After wandering alone, she stumbles into…a foreign demon world!? Now Sumire serves under the president of a company, alongside an undead named Rose and an android named Ivy. In order to get back that “certain someone,” Sumire’s splendid work begins!

  The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid is a fantasy slice-of-life manga surrounding the events of maids in the demon world. With art and story that are both beautiful and very unique, this series is reminiscent of the likes of Black Butler and Kaori Mori’s Emma.

  Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc

Story by Magica Quartet

Art by Hanokage

    All the witches in the universe, past and future, may have disappeared, but in their place, emotion-eating “wraiths” prey on humanity. The magical girls fight to protect Mitakihara City once more…

  Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc is a spin-off of the iconic manga and anime property, one which takes place between the events of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion, with much of the story told through the perspective of fan-favorite Homura Akemi. This series debut follows the recent omnibus release of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story.

  LIGHT NOVELS

  Magical☆Explorer

Story by Iris

Illustrations by Noboru Kannataki

    Reincarnated as a character in the legendary eroge title “Magical☆Explorer,” our hero ends up as an unlucky side-character instead of the game’s lady-killer protagonist. Not to worry, though! Armed with his deep knowledge of the game (not to mention a few cheat codes), he’ll do whatever it takes to win the hearts of the game’s heroines and emerge as the most accomplished student at the Sorcerer's Academy. 

  Magical☆Explorer is an isekai light novel series that involves a protagonist using his expertise of visual novels to dominate the world when reincarnated within the game. Fantasy isekai and romantic comedies are among the most popular genres in the world of light novels, making Magical☆Explorer a series that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

  Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie

Story by Hiroro Akizakura

Illustrations by Dangmill

    Reincarnated as a villainess in an Otome game, Cecilia realizes that as the heroine’s rival, she’ll die no matter what route she takes. Convinced that she can avoid her death flag by becoming a man, she crossdresses and takes on a new identity. In the process, however, she ends up replacing her brother-in-law as the knight charged with protecting the heroine! Now the prince who should be condemning her to death wants to hang around her all the time...?! Cecilia will do whatever it takes to achieve a peaceful and carefree life, but if her guise ever slips, it’s Game Over! 

  Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie takes the isekai concept of being reincarnated in the world of an otome game and turns it on its head! In order to save her life, our protagonist masquerades as a man—a choice which leads to a whole lot of chaos in this fun-filled light novel series!

  The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend

Story by Kennoji

Illustration by Fly

    While on his way to school one morning, high school second-year Takamori Ryo saves his childhood friend Fushimi Hina from a sexual harasser on a crowded train. Although the two are practically opposites in appearance and popularity, not to mention the fact they haven't spoken since middle school, Hina finds herself smitten with the oblivious Ryo. A frustratingly sweet, zero-stress romantic comedy!

  The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend is a sweet slice-of-life light novel that tells the story of love interests who reconnect in high school after years of separation from their middle school days. This rising star in the light novel world is written by Kennoji, the author of Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin, and illustrated by Fly, the artist of Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki.

  Rust-Eater Bisco

Story by Shinji Cobkubo

Illustrations by K Akagashi and mocha

    In the far future, a disaster known as the “Rusty Wind” has transformed the majority of Japan into a barren desert and left civilization in tatters. After his teacher falls prey to the rust, the roguish Bisco Akahoshi embarks on journey through the sandy wastes to obtain a mushroom known only as the Rust Eater, rumored to cure the ailment. Together with the dashing young doctor Milo, the pair will have to contend with the unforgiving environment and their fellow wanderers in order to make it back alive.

  Rust-Eater Bisco is a compelling, post-apocalyptic light novel series with excellent world building complemented by amazing illustrations. An anime adaptation of this award-winning series was recently announced for future release.

  Source: Press release

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his comics at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.

By: Joseph Luster

I'm curious, who do you ship in Otome Game no Hametsu Flag?

Oh Boy, get ready for a lengthy answer, that’s a lot longer than you ever wanted. 

I pretty much ship Katarina with everyone in the harem, except Keith and Sophia.

Even though Keith is in love with Katarina, they have such a pure sibling dynamic. I would hate for Katarina and Keith to lose their sibling, even if they gained a romantic partner out of it.

Sophia and Katarina have such a wonderful platonic relationship that I just adore. I know Sophia loves Katarina like the rest, but their whole dynamic is the most friendship based, especially for a certain big reason. I prefer their friendship with one another than a romance.

Here’s who I ship and in what order.

1. Katarina x Geordo

I love their dynamic and relationship and just everything about them. The setup for these two works for me on every level. Their scenes are my favorite and I’m always looking forward to seeing them interact with one another.

The juxtaposition of Geordo clearly being in love with Katarina and her having contingency plans in case he exiles or attacks her is just amazing. It’s so goddamn funny.

Plus, that juxtaposition provides such wonderful tension between the two, which is very enjoyable to see and explore.

It’s also interesting that their dynamic was established first, which makes me think that the rule of first guy/girl might apply to the story. Especially, since their engagement is a factor to a lot of the other love-interests’ feeling towards Katarina.

While it hasn’t been developed that much (at least in the Manga) something about Geordo being a black-hearted prince and not the fairytale prince he presents himself as is, for me, a very rich mine that has yet to be explored. The fact that Katarina is also very aware of that side of him, because of her secret knowledge, makes it all the more intriguing.

There are just so many possibilities for these two.

While this might ruin the harem aspect of it all, I think there could be a very interesting new dynamic if Katarina returned Geordo’s feelings –

(1) But she was completely unaware of her own feelings.

(2) If she were aware, would completely think Geordo is not in love with her.

(3) Katarina wonders and panics if her wanting to be with Geordo confirms that she is the villainess. Is she getting in the way of him and Maria or him and someone else? Is she just sealing her own doomed ending by being in love with him?

OR what if Geordo did break off his engagement with Katarina, because he has to be engaged to someone else (or thinks he does). And Katarina, to her own surprise, became sad.

Because then I can imagine a whole Ouran Highschool Host Club like-scenario, with Katarina going after Geordo but some other group or force tries to stop her.

Then whole harem helps her get to him, each letting her go in the process, because of their feelings (not despite) they all want Katarina to be happy.

There are so many possibilities for these two, so even if it’s not what I imagine, I’m just excited to see what is to come for these two. 

They just won over my little shipper heart.

2.  Katarina x Mary

I greatly enjoy Mary and Katarina’s friendship and whole dynamic. I love their scenes together. Seeing them together as friends, an unrequited love, a couple – is perfection for me.

They have such wonderful chemistry together and I’m always hungry for more. 

I love Mary having that bit of an edge to her (apparently more so in the Light Novels). And combined with Katarina’s density you have the makings of a great comedic dynamic.

In the game it seems like Mary was just the perfect lady – outside and inside. There wasn’t a darker shade or ulterior aspect to her (though that could just be the game’s limited view of the world).

But our Mary, she is more than willing to fight for Katarina.

That girl has an extensive profile on all of her rivals and is closely monitoring all their relationships with Katarina. Mary would cut a bitch is what I’m saying.

Which is very similar to Geordo, which is why I think Mary is so appealing to me as a love interest for Katarina. What I like about Geordo and Katarina, Mary and Katarina also have that factor.

Also, since Katarina is best girl and Mary is also best girl then clearly the two should be together (I’m sorry, Sophia and Maria – I love you two as well).

If Mary got the girl in the end, I would be over the moon.  And that’s what shipping is all about.

3. Katarina x Maria

I enjoy their relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic.

I was curious when I began to read the Manga if Maria was going to become the villain, since Katarina became the heroine. I was pleased that was not the case – hell, far from it as Katarina romanced her too.

They’re just so cute and sweet. And I love that when everyone else is exasperated with Katarina, Maria is just smiling all lovey-dovey, not even bothered. That’s great.

It also seems like Katarina saved Maria from her loneliness in a way that the game never really explored with the four main love-interests, so there’s that whole aspect to their relationship, which I am intrigued by and really like. 

If I’m being honest, though, I do think they are missing that good romantic tension that I think all good romances need. I want more of a bite to them and their relationship. So, they’re not quite there for me as a couple, at least not yet. 

Nonetheless, Katarina is lovely and wonderful. Maria is lovely and wonderful. So, the two of them together would be lovely and wonderful. 

4. Katarina x Alan

I guess with the kind of character Alan is, I thought we would have gotten more of his relationship with Katarina than what we actually get (in the Manga so far).

When I started reading the manga, I just assumed he was going to be the main rival to Geordo. So, when that didn’t happen, I was surprised. A part of me feels like there’s something missing with these two that I’m not being shown, which piques my imagination.

I like that the anime has elaborated on Alan and Katarina’s relationship, with what we’ve been given so far, because their relationship was lacking.

I love the drama of Alan falling in love with his brother’s fiancée and all that jazz. They also have a unique dynamic as friends and once rivals which is nice.

While Katarina is dense as all hell, Alan is not too far behind – especially when it comes to feelings and how to act on them. So, their combined density might just kill everyone else if combined– which would be a lot of fun.  

Overall, I do ship them less because of what we’ve been given so far, but more because of their potential.

5. Katarina x Nicol

Unfortunately, for Nicol there’s not all that much of him in comparison to the others.

I like his and Katarina’s relationship from his side - he’s cool and reserved to pretty much everyone (except Sophia), but quickly loses all that calm when it comes to Katarina. 

I do love his whole I’m prepared to walk an appropriate distance behind you, while you become the wife of my dear friend and prince and maybe my future King. That’s just some good romantic angst there.

It’s also nice how they both love Sophia and that is the basis of their entire foundation. 

There is something so underrated about a person falling for another, because of how they interact with their family. 

Oh, and Sophia rooting for these two, is just too cute.

6. Katarina x Raphael

Honestly, these two just comes across as though Katarina adopted a new little brother – even though he’s older. But I’m not opposed to their dynamic if it got more development. I’m really more in love with their friendship than anything else, though. 

Non-Katarina Ships (Gasp, can it be?)

7. Alan x Mary

I really like their dynamic as it currently is – and it would hilarious to me that while these two are engaged and both in love with Katarina – that somehow amongst all of that mess they started to develop feelings for one another.

In the game, Alan didn’t have any feelings for Mary (which how is that even possible - she’s Mary).

But, boy did he get jealous in this timeline when he thought Katarina was stealing away his fiancée when they were kids (which, yeah, that was 100% the case).

It feels like there could definitely be something between these two, which I’m not oppose to, as long as it feels organic and not just them being paired off together to tie up loose ends. 

8. Maria x Raphael 

I don’t know why, but I just really like the idea of these two together. Maybe because it feels like opposites coming together with their magic.

I think it would be fun if one of Maria’s romance-targets became a romantic possibility for her in this time-line. I just like them - romantic or not.

9. Keith x Maria

I think they would be sweet. Out of the four main romance-targets these two just work the best with how they are in the current timeline, in my opinion.  

10. Keith x Nicol

I saw a fan comic of these two and I liked it…

Keith being charmed by Nicol (as we have seen men are also affected) is nice. They also have the whole, I will do anything to protect my sister thing, going for them.

So, that’s some nice shared ground between the two of them. 

11. Keith x Sophia

They’re both very sweet and adorable younger siblings. It would be cute.

12. Mary x Maria

Honestly, why not. There’s not a real reason here, other than – why the hell not?

 --

And that’s who I ship in Otome Game No Hametsu Flag. 

This is just my personal opinion of who I ship. No judgement on anyone else or what they ship or who their favorite ship is. 

Also, sorry for the length. I have a lot of feelings and opinions on Hamefura. 

Manga or Anime, which one is better?

How many of you did ask themselves or maybe discussed with others which one was better: the anime or manga?

And often there is a distinctive winner and at other times you just simply cannot decide.

Why is that?

Why can we sometimes not decide what is the better option?

While everyone has their preferences there are a section of three people: the ones who only watch the anime and therefore reject reading the manga (whatever the reason is), the ones reading the manga and prefer it over all costs, and last but not least the good middle who may prefer one side but also favor the other at times.

In this blogpost we will discuss the big question: Which one is better, Anime or Manga? as we delve into the topic of what makes both amazing in their own ways but also their shortcomings, seeing which one is better in the end, also considering the three types of people.

Anime

Probably most of you started their journey into the world of Anime and Manga through the former rather than the latter.

Usually it’s even the case that some people watch only anime while others who may have liked the anime so much would consider reading the Manga afterwards.

Yet what makes anime so distinctive and wonderful?

What aspects catch our eyes and would let you choose it over manga?

There are many things that you can only enjoy when you watch the visualization of a series you enjoy, whether you have been a Manga reader who waited for an animation of the so-desired series or a newcomer who never had something to do with the series yet get caught up in it.

In comparison to the Manga who may have visual aspects as well when speaking about panels, Anime gives us the ease of not having to put up together movements such as fights, escapes or other scenes by ourselves but we get to see them right in front of use without using much of our brain.

While in Manga one attack can stretch over several panels and even pages, we get to see that in one smooth movement on the screen and not only that is an aspect that stands out on top of that the same scene we can read silently is now connected to auditory feedback as well.

Characters having a voice, sound effects being represented with actual sound rather than writing a word to make the readers imagine the sound themselves and even background music known as OSTs do give the scene a whole atmosphere for itself.

Despite watching something absent-minded or subconsciously our brain intakes all the information we get on the screen and proceeds with voices especially the character becomes more real as he/she becomes more distinctive through voice and movement that most of the people use to distinguish between others next to facial features and appearance.

But there are always the negative aspects that come along, especially if you fall into the category of being a Manga reader that waited for the anime’s airing, usually our brain automatically fills in holes of information which means voices that didn’t exist for a reader may have been chosen differently than expected, which distorts the image of the character that was built up through reading and filling the hole.

In some cases the anime even derives from the original plot and doesn’t go along with the manga storyline anymore, for the better and in sadly most series for the worse. Also since the episode count is already determined many scenes get left out due to the lack of time that the episode has in store or some of the most relative scenes get shortened to an extent that if not for the Manga some watchers would be utterly confused about what is happening on the screen context-wise. One good example would be the latter seasons of Tokyo Ghoul.

But what if you are not necessarily someone who doesn’t know a thing about the manga and the series is completely new to you?

There are stories which take a while to unfold their full potential and become therefore much more interesting towards the middle, yet if you don’t know what motivates you to watch until that point?

If it wouldn’t be for recommendation or people who are a bit familiar with the plotline some might even drop some anime due to the frustration of a slow plot development which might be worth the wait, yet could stay unknown therefore being a Manga reader or at least knowing people who did could give you that safety net of not wasting your time on a bad plot under the condition the Anime sticks to the manga for the better.

Manga

Next to games, light novels and webtoons usually Mangas get adapted a lot, therefore they are valuable source which make it possible to derive amazing anime from it as we see that anime with no adaption source usually don’t get as much recognition or don’t have a thought-through plotline (or at least it seems like that).

Usually the Manga covers much more scenarios than the anime and is in some cases even completed while the anime is still airing or almost finished airing. Other ones are still on-going because they are much more extensive than the anime.

Now what are the perks of reading the manga?

Since the series from a reader’s perspective

starts much earlier prior the anime release it feels like you are bonding with the manga much more before the release comes out, it gives you the feeling of being early and already much familiar with the series.

Do you know the feeling of reading a manga for years and then suddenly seeing the anime adapting that very gem you are reading? The excitement and anxiety of how the studio will implement all of the details or what they might leave out?

It creates a kind of longing but also the feeling of nostalgia as you remember “ah yes that very scene, I have read it in the manga it was so good.”

With some manga even updating weekly or others with more pages but monthly, as a manga reader you have much more content you can look forward to over a certain period of time, not only that but you get a lot of details along with it.

Scenes which usually take a lot of time to understand and rewinding it many times on the screen can seem much more comprehensive in the manga when seeing the things step by step, usually we also get insight of other people’s thoughts through thought bubbles which were left out in the anime or even little details far in the background of the panel that are something like an easter egg provided by the author.

On top of that you get to see little extra comics of some of your favourite characters or a little talk from the author who might from time to time drop some old concepts or original plot ideas that were discarded for the later chapter releases.

Since the manga basically is only visuals with no voices or sounds, for people who might lack a bit of imagination it might be quite tiresome to fill the holes of not having that provided or is bland, yet for other people it gives them the advantage of imagining the characters having the voices how they want them to sound.

Unlike the anime the manga also needs a bit more attention and therefore usually we tend to be a bit more aware or focussed on other things in the manga then in the anime, of course only generally speaking since there are other anime where you are supposed to constantly think along such as Danganronpa or Steins Gate.

There also characters which are manga-only meaning that the character is either not introduced at all as if they never existed or they come in so late that many people won’t even know about them who only watched the anime, in Ouran Highschool Host Club for example we have another Love interest for one of the host boys who was never introduced in the anime but plays a role in the manga, since we are also talking about Ouran, the ending of the anime heavily derives from the manga plot as there was no such scene which means a major change occurred to get a got final episode.

On top of that many backstories and secrets let’s take the former example, we have Tamaki’s, Kyoya’s and even the twins’ story revealed. Yes, you might say, wait, the Hitachin story was revealed in the anime? but many details and a lot of scenes that are relevant as to why they have become what they are, are left out.

Usually story-wise the plot gets deeper and much more complicated, to a point that the reader just cannot stop reading but sadly the anime only covers the inception of a much bigger problem that awaits the characters, but watchers only would never know about that another two examples would be Toiletbound Hanako and Gakuen Alice.

As Gakuen Alice might even come off as a children series if you start watching the anime the manga surely refutes that impression, the anime with 25 Episodes is something like a character introduction compared to the manga where the major events happen and you later on might ask yourself if not for the title and characters: is this the same series I watched on screen? That’s crazy.

So which one is better?

Now the question we have been waiting for after establishing pros and cons on both sides: Okay, I got it but which one is better?

Plottwist:

There is no universal answer to it.

You might take it as a joke or not, but it’s a preference thing yet I encountered many people who actually favoured the Manga due to the reasons stated.

Usually when the anime ends many fans, regular readers or first timers, tend to read the manga at some point because when does the sequel come?

Or will there be a sequel?

Maybe there was a scene that seemed lacking and you heard the manga outdid it.

Whatever the reason is most people tend to have at least a look or two into the manga.

Fans of Attack on Titan, Haikyuu or Jujutsu Kaisen for example just simply couldn’t wait for a sequel and went straight to the manga even though they hate reading in general, since the tension built up just wouldn’t fade away and sometimes that results in people suddenly liking manga more and becoming a regular reader.

Yet there are people who would rather wait for the next episodes and refuse to read from the adapted source, even in the case where the anime obviously is badly adapted or even altered to a point where the story is becoming confusing due to the plot holes that come from the many changes.

It all depends which type of person you are: Watch anime only, Manga over everything or the good mix of both?

Because in the end if you hate reading then the manga surely wouldn’t give you the same experience when you are also a fanatic of amazing soundtracks, animations and so on.

Which one is your preferable source: Manga or Anime?

Which type of people did you already meet?

Meanwhile as I await your comments let me see what the tea brings.

-Makii

FAQs [Nozakibento, 16th October 2010]

Original post in Japanese

I collected together some of the questions I'm often asked.

 Basic Information

Name: Nozakibento

Date of Birth: 28th April 1986 (Showa 61)

Height: 177.5cm (as of 2018)

Weight: approx. 60kg

Blood Type: A

Home prefecture: Hokkaido. I was born in Sapporo. I also lived in Tokachi and Kushiro.

Current location: Tokyo (I moved there from Hokkaido in the year I turned 30)

Occupation: A 33 year old amateur idol

Hairstyle: I used to wear a wig, but now I mostly go for a messy style

Visual Acuity: Both eyes are around 1.5 without glasses

Characteristics: Nozakibento

Likes and Dislikes

Favourite food: Sliced senmai (boiled tripe), vegetables in general, meat in general (especially meat sashimi), seafood in general (especially octopus and oysters), anything cherry blossom flavoured, anything yuzu flavoured, rice, miso soup, soba, udon, niboshi ramen, yakuzen herbal soup, grated yam, tofu, shiokara, sushi, sashimi, seaweed, mochi, rice flour dumplings, wheat gluten cakes, keihan rice, oyster soy sauce, slow-boiled eggs, Indian curry from Tokachi, ice cream (especially citrus, mint chocolate, watermelon and vanilla flavours), hard gums, mini Ramune candy, agar jelly, almond tofu pudding, oroblanco

Least favourite food: None.

Favourite drinks: Tea in general, kale smoothie, scented but not sweetened sparkling water, vegetable juice, tomato juice, soba water, miso soup, dashi, non-alcoholic beer, ginger ale, black coffee

Favourite alcoholic drinks: Campari-based cocktails (especially Spumoni), Violet Fizz

Favourite animals: Daring crabs, spotted garden eels, owls, sea urchins when they eat cabbage

My type: Someone with a big heart, who isn't rude and doesn't complain all the time. Decisive, speaks logically and is a fast worker

Favourite scents: Bergamot, yuzu, oroblanco, lemongrass, lemon and lime, eucalyptus, vanilla, incense, hinoki cypress, the smell of hot springs, medicinal water, struck matches

Favourite sports: Table tennis, endurance running, non-competitive swimming, walking

Favourite instruments: When I listen to bands, I tend to focus on the drums, bass and keyboard. If I go to see a symphonic orchestral concert or something, I tend to watch the percussionists. I myself can't play any instruments.

Hobbies: Gaming, listening to game soundtracks, table tennis, reading, darts, being enveloped in aromas, checking my daily electricity bill using a bill management app

Special skills: Ability to work as a librarian, can sing The Tortoise And The Hare starting from different positions, a little bit of competitive eating (can eat up to about 2kg)

Qualifications: Librarian, teacher's licence (for primary, middle and high schools), certified member of the Sports Boy Scouts (link in Japanese), Kanji Aptitude Test Level 2, driving licence (for manual cars)

Person I most respect: My mother

Favourite subjects: Japanese (especially modern Japanese), contemporary society, ethics, politics and economics

Favourite season: The shade in midsummer

Favourite phrases: 

80% Preparation 20% Performance (dandori hachibu)

The early bird gets the worm (sente hisshou)

Niche business (sukima sangyou)

Information, Communication, Discussion (houkoku renraku soudan)

Easier said than done (iu wa yasuku okonau wa katashi)

Haste makes waste (tanki wa sonki)

Drink if you want, but be swallowed up (sake wa nondemo nomareru na)

The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean (i no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu)

A picture is worth a thousand words (hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu)

Stress-free

Favourite Japanese poem:

'If I live long,

I may look back with yearning for these painful days -

The world that now seems harsh

May then appear sweet and good!'

By Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, translation by Peter McMillan

Favourite place to hang out: Inside a game

Favourite characters: Domo-kun (NHK), Moji-kun (Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan), Zushi Hokki (official mascot of Hokuto city in Hokkaido), Jack Frost (Megami Tensei series), Morgana (Persona 5)

Favourite anime: Eureka Seven

Favourite manga: Love Roma by Toyoda Minoru

I Wonder If I Can Make 100 Friends by Toyoda Minoru

Yoake no Toshokan by Nonou Tao

Other manga I like: Nangoku Shounen Papuwa-kun, PAPUWA, Final Request, Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho, Revelations: Persona, Mind Assassin, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Arakawa Under The Bridge, Fushigi Yuugi, Ranma 1/2, Psychometrer EIJI, The Kindaichi Case Files, Rakudai Ninja Rantarou, Soul Hunter etc.

Favourite game: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Other games I like: Shin Megami Tensei 1-4, Shin Megami Tensei 4 Final, Shin Megami Tensei if, Persona 1-5, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha 1 and 2, DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA Avatar Tuner 1 and 2, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 1 and 2,  Little Magic, Jake Hunter: Let Time Pass By, LIVE A LIVE, Final Fantasy 5 and 8, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Schoolhouse Horror Story, Banshee's Last Cry, Jungle Wars 2, Ranma 1/2: Hidden Treasure of the Red Cat Gang, Renegade, The New Hot-Blooded Tough Guy: The Eulogy of Kunio and Co., Puyo Puyo, Puyo Puyo 2, Saga Frontier, Monster Farm, Monster Farm 2, KOF98, SAMURAI SPIRITS, vib-ribbon, Clock Tower 2, Clock Tower Ghost Head, Maria: Kimitachi Ga Umareta Wake, Double Cast, Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die, Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan, RPG Maker Series, etc. As for social network games, I like Kuroneko no Wiz Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei Revelation, and Ensemble Stars!

What I most want right now: Time

Do I smoke? Never. But I have nothing against those who do. I don't mind if someone smokes next to me.

Things I struggle with: Exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, English, mental arithmetic, making other people cross.

What I like about myself: Large earlobes

What I don't like about myself: The fact that I easily neglect my work if I lose focus.

Do I like nurses? I like them if they're good at giving injections.

Favourite way of heating things up in a microwave: 2 minutes at 500W

Ideal way to spend a day off: Sleep like I've melted into the bed, do the cleaning and laundry when I wake up, play games like I'm bathing in them, sleep again.

Novels I’m glad to have read and why: There's a lot, so I'll just list what I can remember off the top of my head.

★ Criss Cross - Konton no Maou by Takahata Kyouichirou, published by MediaWorks. This was the very first book that made me interested in reading novels.

★ Natsu no Niwa - The Friends by Yumoto Kazumi, published by Shinchousha. When I felt down, I read this and my heart was cleansed.

★ Rirekisho by Nakamura Kou, published by Kawade Shobou Shinsha. Because it gave me courage.

★ Tsubasa wa Itsu Made Mo by Kawakami Ken'ichi, published by Shuueisha. I simply thought that it was a really good book, and reading it made me want to read more books like it in the future.

★ Tsumetai Kousha no Toki wa Tomaru by Tsujimura Mizuki, published by Kodansha. This was the book that reminded me that I wanted to keep reading novels forever.

NicoNicoDouga and Dance covers

When did you start using NicoNico? 2007, in the earliest days of the RC version.

What kind of videos do you watch on NicoNico? Anything.

Were you learning how to dance? I've never learnt how to dance.

Why did you start dancing? I wanted to take part in the first large-scale Cirno meeting. (T/N: An event where a whole bunch of people from NND get together to dance to Cirno's Perfect Math Class. Here's the 2009 version.)

What's the average production time for a single video? It varies.

What's been the most fun thing to dance to so far? Ren'ai Hunter

Which of your own dance videos are you most satisfied with? Domo-kun's dance to MERRY GO ROUND

Where you happy to be chosen in the Geiran videos (A series where a gay man ranked dancers on NND)? I was.

Which version is your current Domo-kun?

Hokkaido and Tokyo version: Tiramisu (Original version. Mainly stays at home. On active duty)

Osaka version: Chocolat (Retired)

Fukuoka version: Fondue (Retired)

Tokyo version: Belgium (Retired)

Tokyo version: Demel (Retired)

What kind of expressions do you make and what feelings do you have when dancing as Domo-kun or in the blue full bodysuit? None

What would happen to you if you drank a strange potion? I'd become aggressive.

Aren't you going to wear a wig anymore? I'd like to wear one again some time soon.

Other

Were you in any clubs during middle school? I was in the table tennis club for all 3 years. My high school club is a secret.

Do you have a girlfriend? It'd be annoying to have to update this page if I got a girlfriend or if we broke up so that's also a secret.

What are your dreams and goals? To make the people I love happy. I want to live in a way that I can look back when I die and think that I lived a good life.

What are your habits? Looking at the ingredients and nutrition facts labels on food. Looking at the ingredients labels on shampoo. Moving around unsteadily. Clicking my tongue without any thought behind it.

What are your typical phrases? Okay (ii yo), I see (naruhodo), Why?! (nande dayo), hahahaha, hah hah hah hah, HAHAHAHA

What are your main principles? To always live calmly, and to never miss an opportunity

Does your Roomba have a name? It's called Junpei.

When did you first meet Domo-kun? A friend gave me a Domo-kun plushie for my birthday and the rest is history.

What was it that drew you to Domo-kun? His loveliness.

Where did you get such a large number of plushies from? Some of them I bought, some of them I received. A few of them I got from a crane machine.

What do you want to do right now? Sleep.

What part time jobs have you done in your life? Waiter at a sushi restaurant, library work, private tutoring.

If you have a child in the future, what book would you absolutely want them to read? You Are Umasou by Miyanishi Tatsuya, published by Poplar

Do you have any rivals? No (because no-one will compete in the same ring as me).

What's your image of the ideal human? Someone who can do fundamental things reliably.

What's your motto? Stress-free

What's the reason for your name?

Nozaki → Named after Nozaki Megumi from the idol group CHECKICCO

Bento → My inspiration

 -------------

First published 16th October 2010, updated 1st December 2019

Thoughts on Sarazanmai Episode 8: “I Want To Connect, But We’ll Never Meet Again”

Hey Ikuhara, do you take constructive criticism on your posts? :) I JUST WANT TO TALK :)))

I’d seen vague stuff on twitter recently about how devastating this episode was gonna be, and honestly I think that actually under-sold how messed up and tragic this episode was, on so many levels. I was actually worried that I’d end up being a little disappointed in it after how strongly people were talking about it, but hahaha nope. I am officially dead now :)

Thoughts under the cut.

OK first of all I may as well point out that I, and also lots of other people, totally saw that starting scene coming. It’s a lot more obvious if you’re familiar with Ikuhara’s writing style and the sorta tropes he likes to use, but it felt pretty inevitable that Toi and Kazuki would have had a prior connection we didn’t know about before now.

I was a bit confused about the timeline of it at first, but by the end of the episode it became pretty clear that it must have happened shortly after Toi shot that gangster dude. I guess it also must have happened shortly after the whole incident with Haruka, since Kazuki talked about ‘not being connected to anyone’, but I vaguely remember Kazuki looking older in the flashbacks to that whole sequence of events than he did in this episode’s flashback.

Even though this all makes sense and just ties everything together, I’m curious about why Enta has been saying that he was the one to give Kazuki the micanga. I mean, I think the initial story was that Enta gave it to him, but I can’t actually remember now. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s still a little more for us to find out about how Enta and Kazuki first met and became friends.

Over the last few days I’d been preparing myself for the possibility of Chikai becoming a kappa zombie and getting erased from existence, and on the one hand I guess I’m happy that didn’t happen, but on the other hand I feel like what happened instead was even more tragic.

I’d been waiting for the inevitable part where the main trio would come into direct conflict with Reo and Mabu, and oh boy did that sure go in the worst possible way. Reo’s out there looking like a horror movie villain, and now Enta’s dead? Maybe? The fact that it looks like the severity of the gunshot wounds is censored so much actually makes it hard to get a feel for how fatal it’s meant to be. When they shot the first gangster dude earlier in the episode, it was so clean and bloodless that I honestly thought it was more like a magical tranquilizer dart so they could drag him to their police box to use the desire extraction machine on him, but I guess we’re meant to think that it was a straight up regular fatal gunshot.

To address the whole elephant in the room, I’d be very surprised if Enta’s actually permanently dead, when we have three whole episodes left. I know Ikuhara likes killing off his characters, but I feel like that tends to happen much closer to the end of the show. And since we already have a whole wish-granting system in place, anything’s possible. And going by what Mabu said at the end, and how one of the ep9 preview images seems to be of Kazuki in a hospital, I have a feeling that Enta might still be alive, but on the brink of death.

I’ve been on the Enta Defense Train [tm] from day one, and I hope that this episode helped people understand that he really is a good boy who doesn’t deserve the shit he’s gotten. The whole bit with him saying at the end that even after everything that happened, he couldn’t make himself say that he hated Kazuki was high-key heartbreaking.

And on top of all that, I honestly wasn’t expecting Toi to actually end up leaving with his brother. Well, mostly because I expected Chikai to die in this episode, but still. I imagine Kazuki will find a way to get back into contact with him soon enough, but the fact that Toi had also left them sure puts Kazuki in an even more tragic spot.

I hope I’m not the only one who’s getting the feeling that Kazuki’s quickly developing a crush on Toi, with how fast they’ve been bonding and how severely he’s reacting to Toi’s departure. It’d at least throw a whole new wrench in things if it’s true.

In spite of how Reo and Mabu’s actions in this episode are pretty straight-up indefensible, especially if we’re meant to think that Reo actually just outright shot both Enta and the gang member dude, I still can’t help but like them. Reo in particular is being driven out of loneliness and desperation, and also tbh it’s kinda hard to take his scary moments too seriously when they’re so over the top, and when we also know what he’s like in his day to day life, lol. At the very least I’d much rather people criticize them than Enta, considering that the worst thing Enta’s done so far is be a petty and jealous 14-year old with a crush, whereas Reo and Mabu are literally serial killers at this point.

And on the note of them, it sounds like the anime might never get around to adapting the short chapter from the first light novel volume that goes over how the two of them first met, which would be kinda sad since, now that I’ve read it, it’s really good and helps contextualize why Reo feels so strongly about Mabu and is doing so much for his sake. I’d say that the material from the manga and the twitter account is actually more ‘plot important’ and necessary to truly understanding them as characters, but still.

Vaguely related to them, we also got another scene with Sara and Keppi in this episode, which seems to spell out more explicitly that they’re both on the side of the kappas and are working against the otters, to the point of Sara whipping out some anti-otter technology. I still have no goddamn idea what to make of her as a character at this point, especially since this episode really makes it seem like she doesn’t remember Reo and Mabu, even though we’ve already been told that the ReoMabu manga is, one way or another, canon to the anime.

I initially wasn’t sure if Keppi getting frozen was meant to have consequences or just be a silly thing, but I saw someone point out that if he stays that way for a while, then Kazuki won’t be able to transform into a kappa, which could be a problem.

I think I said in the last episode post that it looks like things are heading straight into the climax, and that seems to be the case now. A lot is probably going to hinge on who gets to use the plates to make a wish, and what they use it for. I’m curious to see if Reo and Mabu only have the four plates that Enta had stolen, or if they also got the fifth one that the trio would have gotten after the ball zombie fight. It’d probably make more sense if Rreo and Mabu only have four of them, so they can’t immediately make a wish with it.

The more the show goes on, the more things pop up that seem like really good and necessary places to use the wish on, so it’s getting harder to tell how I think that’ll all end up. At this point the situations going on with Toi and Enta seem a lot more severe and in need of outside help than Reo and Mabu’s situation.

Even with just three episodes left, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. Mostly I just hope it manages to stick the landing. I’m kinda worried that, at the very least, Reo and Mabu’s characters might end up being too reliant on material from outside of the anime to really flesh them out, but at this point I think the main trio and their development will be handled in a satisfying way.

I said before that I thought we’d be in for another whole round of secret reveals, but with how this episode went, and the possibility of Kazuki not being able to even turn into a kappa in the short term with Keppi being out of commission, I think the pattern is completely broken at this point and we might not get any more secret leaking sequences. At least not via the whole sarazanmai transformation thing.

If there’s any one specific thing I really want them to address before the anime ends, it’s the whole connection between Reo, Mabu, and Sara, since that hasn’t come up at all yet in the anime, and it seems really important. But we’ll see.

One way or another I think we’re in for a lot more tragedy before this ends, lol.

Sankaku no Kyori wa Kagiri nai Zero 1

Official English Title: Bizarre Love Triangle

Author: Misaki Saginomiya

Illustrator: Hiten

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 10 May 2018

A high school romance with a heroine with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I usually don’t like High School love triangles because they bore me but I’m always looking to try to broaden my horizons when it comes to fiction and this one has been popular so I thought I’d give it a try and it was way more readable than I thought it was going to be. It was quite interesting and I liked all the little touches here and there that added to the characters and the protagonist was likeable and relatable. I did think that the heroines were a bit unbalanced though, with Haruka receiving a lot more focus than Akiha but it ended up being a surprisingly engaging love triangle and I will be reading the second volume. Recommended for people who enjoy High School romances and love triangles.

Story:

Genre: Drama, Romance, High School setting, Love triangle

Yano is a high school boy who is used to putting on a mask in front of others. One day, he meets Minase, a girl who has recently transferred to his class and he discovers that she has Dissociate Identity Disorder. Having fallen in love with one of her personalities, Akiha, during their first meeting, he agrees to help them keep their secret.

For me the biggest issue in this volume was that it didn’t feel very balanced between the heroines. Haruka, the other personality, felt like she got far more screen-time than Akiha and I feel that the climax could have worked a lot better if we had spent more time with Akiha. There were also some parts where Yano has some sexual thoughts about Akiha and, while it doesn’t go past thoughts and he never does anything without her consent, these parts were a bit awkward for me to read. I guess it makes sense since he’s a teenage boy and these parts are few and far between but, yeah, it was a bit hard for me, personally, to read. As for how the Dissociative Identity Disorder is handled, it’s mostly just a gimmick to try to make the series stand out over other series in this genre and it isn’t taken very seriously, as of yet. It’s treated as more of an incovenience than anything else. I do think that it’s a somewhat clever gimmick, given that it makes the events less predictable since you don’t know which heroine it is in the colour illustrations and it means less character designs for the artist.

Otherwise, this volume was really well-written and I often lost track of time while I was reading it. The writing style is so smooth and it makes it a breeze to read. You can tell that the author has a lot of experience with writing. There are a lot of little touches that I liked as well such as the exchange diary and how all three characters write the date differently in it. Little touches like that helped make the characters feel alive and distinct from one another. This volume was also far less predictable than I was expecting it to be and I found that I was guessing until the end and I still don’t know how things are going to end up in the long term but I’m excited to see how it does.

Character:

Yano is a suprisingly interesting protagonist. He creates his mask not out of maliciousness but because he believes that is his gloomy personality is unsuited to dealing with other people and he feels really bad about lying to others about it. I found him pretty relatable and he’s a good protagonist. Akiha and Haruka are pretty likeable heroines though, again, I would have liked to see more Akiha. I do like Haruka’s relationship with Yano but Akiha feels very underdeveloped so far. It’s said that Akiha developed DID when she was going through a rough time and I wouldn’t mind knowing more about that and how she initially reacted to Haruka and how her parents deal with her DID. Stuff like that could be really interesting and I hope the series deals with it at some point. As for the side characters, I found Sudou, one of Yano’s friends, to be a bit memorable but couldn’t care much for the rest. None of them appear much, anyway and the series is really focused on the leads.

Adaptation Notes:

The manga is ongoing with 1 volume currently released and is illustrated by Kasumi Morino (who also worked on the manga adaptations of the Konosuba Megumin spin-offs). It’s a faithful adaptation and hasn’t made many changes to the source material yet. The only cut I’ve noticed so far is one of the scenes where Yano thinks about Akiha sexually and I’m glad that was cut. The art style suits the series and I’d like to read more of it in the future.

Recommended for:

People who enjoy love triangles and high school romcoms with a bit of a twist. Also, if you’re learning Japanese and are looking for an easy light novel to practice on, I’d recommend this one as there’s plenty of furigana and not a whole lot of hard words.

I will be reading volume 2 very soon.

Boku No Hero Academia Light Novel Vol. 3 -- Unofficial English Translation -- Chapter 1: “Cheers”

T/N: I saw Aitai’s translation of the Fantasy AU today and decided to throw this out there... an unofficial translation for the first chapter of the BNHA Light Novel Vol. 3. I haven’t read the other light novels, so I apologize if this isn’t how they usually read. This is a Chinese > English translation, so some of the translations could be paraphrased or totally different from the actual Japanese version.

(The following occurs around Chapter 96-97 in the manga, where Aizawa and All Might go on home visits for 1-A. You should definitely reread those chapters and at least the wiki page for the Hideout Raid Arc so you understand what’s happening. Anyways, Aizawa and All Might agree to go out for drinks afterwards, so here they are.)

Chapter 1: “Cheers”

Hoping to better his relationship with Aizawa-sensei (despite their strong differences in personality), All Might strikes up a conversation. Unfortunately, Aizawa's responses are curt, and the atmosphere remains awkward. Though All Might can’t partake in alcohol himself, he plies Aizawa with drinks in the hopes that the man will relax and open up to him. Yet Aizawa, despite quietly finishing off several drinks, appears totally unaffected! Perhaps Aizawa has been accidentally drinking All Might’s own non-alcoholic beers? All Might despairs, but suddenly remembers Midoriya and the vow he’d made to himself on his home visit – to protect the boy and his dreams. Now he’s even more determined to better his relationship with Aizawa, who’s also a mentor for Midoriya.

“Aizawa-san,” All Might begins, “I’d like to ask you something. Can you tell me about the mindset of a teacher, or tips for teaching, or something to that effect? I’m still very new to teaching, after all.”

 All Might had hoped to kill two birds with one stone: become closer to Aizawa while also gaining some insight on teaching. But the silence stretches out awkwardly, Aizawa scratching his head.

 Finally, Aizawa replies. “If some secret teaching method existed, I’d ask for it myself. Personality, home environment, personal growth rate are totally different among the students. If there was a universal way to successfully mentor everyone, we’d live in a world with no villains at all.”

 “Well said,” All Might mumbles, abashed. The conversation lulls.

Mulling over Aizawa’s words, All Might muses that youths nowadays were growing at an almost alarming rate. It felt like just yesterday the Young Midoriya had been chasing after All Might’s shadow, but now the boy was hurtling forwards all on his own.

 Aizawa, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly chides All Might for favoring Midoriya too much.

 All Might is eager to restart the conversation, but Aizawa’s phone suddenly rings.

 It’s Present Mic, who’d called to let Aizawa know that he’d be over in 5 minutes once the secret meeting was over, and wanted Aizawa to save a spot for him.

 Mic and Aizawa have a great relationship, despite their stark differences in personality. How did they become friends in their school years, All Might asks? Mic cheerfully exposes Aizawa’s student life.

 “Aizawa in his school years?” Mic snickers. “He’d always doze off as soon as class ended. He’d never do anything beyond the bare requirements. For a while, his nickname was ‘Energy-Saver’.”

 Aizawa shoots him a warning glare. But All Might looks surprisingly interested, so Mic continues. “First he was ‘Sleeping Prince of Relaxation’, which got shortened to ‘Sleep Prince’, and eventually became ‘The Master of Sleep’.”

  “Stop saying unnecessary things.” Aizawa puts Mic in a firm chokehold. “It’s impossible to get this guy to shut up any other way,” he says to All Might’s dubious look.

Thirteen and Midnight suddenly come bustling in. Mic immediately complains to Midnight that he’s being bullied, but Midnight scoffs – Mic had clearly been shooting off his mouth again, and could only blame himself for his suffering. In the end, Thirteen kindly comes to Mic’s defense, imploring Aizawa to let him go.

 Midnight settles in next to Mic, and Thirteen takes a seat by All Might. Since All Might coming out for drinks was a rare occurrence, Thirteen passes up on his usual tea and orders some alcohol as well. Midnight, who can hold her alcohol, picks something extra strong for tonight.

 “Time to get wasted!” Midnight yells at Mic. “I’ll positively drown you in alcohol.”

 “Do it,” Aizawa agrees.

 Mic gasps. “Oi - my friend! How could you betray your own friend like this? Oh my friend! I was the one who gave you your hero name! I made you! You wouldn’t be a cool hero without me!”

 **bold = originally in English

 “If my hero name means I have to be nice to you, I might as well change it,” Aizawa retorts.

 “…”

“… So you’ll switch to Energy-Saver?”

 “Shut it.”

**Add-On 2--> Missing scene **Add-On 3--> Nickname mistake and missing line

Meanwhile, Thirteen and All Might are chatting animatedly about the Yaku cedar, a shared interest. But being too excited makes Thirteen’s body heat up, which makes him thirsty, which means he drinks even more! Thirteen finishes off his drink. All Might warily eyes the now-tipsy Thirteen and advises him to have some water. Thirteen immediately goes off on a spiel about the delights of water.

 On the other side, Midnight has mixed together a terrifying concoction of alcohol and cajoles Mic into tasting it. He grimaces, for once speechless, after she forces him to take a huge gulp of the monstrosity. All Might looks on, a bit horrified. “A drink that tastes so bad that even Mic shuts up? How scary! It’s a good thing I can’t drink.”

All Might sweeps his gaze over the high-spirited bunch – with the exception of Aizawa, who still appears perfectly sober. Feeling rather out of place and not wanting to be a bother, he decides to head back home. As he attempts to quietly sneak away, Aizawa grabs his hand.

 After letting go, Aizawa scratches his head. “Stay a while longer, okay?”

 “Um,” All Might flounders a bit. “But…”

 “There’s something I need to tell you today,” Aizawa presses on.

 “Oh. What is it?” All Might concedes.

 All Might is expecting Aizawa to tell him off again, perhaps tell him he’s not qualified to be a teacher.

 “Because you fought out there, I can continue to protect my students. So… thank you.”

 ** This refers to the Hideout Raid Arc. Summary

All Might feels a rush of warmth in his chest. Finally, he and Aizawa are getting closer. There’s just one thing, though…

“Aizawa… that’s the Buddha…”

The whole time, Aizawa has been talking to the Buddha statue behind All Might.

“What are you going on about? I’m being serious,” Aizawa insists.

“No, we’re all pretty certain that’s a Buddha statue.”

“Aizawa’s quite drunk,” Mic confirms wryly. “He’s the sort of drunk that doesn’t remember a single thing the day after.”

When you don’t recall ever getting drunk, that means you just don’t remember all the times you’ve been drunk, All Might speculates.

 But since Aizawa already roped him into staying longer, All Might can only sit back down. It’s rather difficult for him to fit into the group, since this is the first time he’s been out for drinks. And for some reason Thirteen’s called up some other teachers to join them.

** Add-On 1--> Alternate translation of above scene

** (2/15/2018) “Buddha statue” should’ve been "Daruma figure” 

Once the other teachers are thrown into the mix, it truly becomes a shitshow. People are crying, people are singing, people are arguing (Aizawa and the Class-B homeroom teacher compare their students), people are puking (Thirteen).

 All Might, the only sober one, just wants to go home. To collect his thoughts and give himself a breather, he escapes to the restroom. As he’s pondering whether or not he should just up and leave, Mic comes into the restroom as well.

 “Everyone usually gets this wasted, huh? It’s a little scary…” All Might ventures.

 Mic blinks. “Usually?”

 “Eh?” All Might responds, “Isn’t this the usual behavior?”

 “Oh no,” Mic laughs. “Today is totally out of the ordinary! The people who usually don’t drink are making an exception, and the people who do drink are going especially hard.”

 Seeing All Might’s incredulous look, Mic smiles gently at him. “We get the chance to drink with the hero of heroes, All Might! Even among heroes, we all look up to you. Of course we’re celebrating the occasion.”

 All Might stands in the bathroom for a few long moments, astounded. Finally, he heads back towards the others. Hesitating in the hallway, he peeks at everyone else. They wouldn’t actually notice if he was gone, right?

 “Hold up, where did All Might go?”

 “Isn’t he right here?”

 “Aizawa, that’s the Buddha.”

 “Eh? He didn’t head out, did he?”

 And so All Might returns to the rowdy group. He’s immediately accosted by his colleagues, who quickly encircle him and welcome him back.

 With the exception of Aizawa, who scoffs. “I told you All Might was right here.”

 Someone, in their flailing, knocks over the Buddha statue.

 “Ah!” Aizawa cries. “All Might has fallen over?!”

 “Seriously, that’s the Buddha.”

 The other teachers, completely drunk and all vying for his attention, finally drag All Might back to his seat.

 Seriously... for real… I’m never going out for drinks again! All Might swears fervently.

 -- End of Chapter 1 --

Chapter 2

Later Edits:

Add-On 1--> Alternate translation: Aizawa and All Might have a heart-to-heart

Add-On 2--> Missing line: Aizawa never gets drunk...

Add-On 3--> Energy-saver Shou-chan nickname correction + missing line & Add-On 3 correction

(3/5/2018) Add-On 4--> Missing scenes: (1) Awkward conversation between Aizawa and All Might, (2) Midnight offers Aizawa a drink, (3) Aizawa and Blood King argue over students

2/15/2018--> the Buddha statue is specifically a Daruma doll. You can see this in Japanese fanart for the chapter (e.g. here, here, and here) and explained in Japanese in a tweet by azxxxxxxx. Terribly sorry, this was my mistake!

Extra manga context for the last section

Full Light Novel Vol. 3 Translations Masterlist

Fanart compendium for Light Novel Vol. 3 at /fanworks. 

puyo asks GO! - witch, rulue, satan, carbuncle, lagnus, amitie, sig, klug, rider, lemres, baldanders, popoi, risukuma, ally, o, zed, ai, oshare

Witch - this is probably gonna be a recurring theme in this, but definitely fever 2. i just love the personality that all the songs (actually, the game as a whole really) have

Rulue - klug + sig in ppt. in 20th, strange klug, black sig, red amitie

Satan - my first puyo game was actually dr robotnik’s mean bean machine, specifically on sonic mega collection plus, but the game that properly got me into puyo later on was ppt. i just saw all the cutscenes from it online and watched it out of sheer curiosity

Carbuncle - carbuncle!!! gugu

Lagnus - i’ve actually been into puyo for just over a year now! i got into it june of 2017, days before strange and sig’s birthday

Amitie - hm…. favourite game. as much as I like almost everything about fever 2 i don’t like the actual fever gameplay. aesthetic/story/character wise i like fever 2, but gameplay wise it has to be 7/20th. I’m not sure why, but i just really like transformation in 7, and not only for the forms. …actually, is it cheating to say 20th? eh whatever

Sig - strange klug is my absolute favourite. i just love his colour scheme, and i seem to just like edgy characters a lot lately. maguro however is my least favourite but only because people in the fandom ruined him for me and honestly that just isn’t fair of me to not like a character because of people that like him

Klug - i haven’t read a lot of the manga or light novels but sig’s secret is probably my favourite of the light novels. it gave us a lot of exposition and character for sig that we’ve pretty much just not seen since fever 2.

Rider - i like the sharp edges that the style for fever 2, 7 and 15th have quite a lot, and the solid colours just feel very satisfying to me. more of that style please sega

Lemres - i may be a bit biased considering they’re some of my favourite characters but i really like klug and strange klug’s attack animations. in strange’s case his fever 2 ones are really cool, especially his last spell animation. it just looks so spooky i love it

Baldanders - sparking klug and yellow strange klug for favourite individual cards, not only because they’re fests of my favourite characters, but I just absolutely love their designs. I absolutely love spacey and glow in the dark stuff, which is all over sparking klug’s design. yellow strange’s cape is absolutely glorious and he has my favourite shade of blue/grey on him. for series, it would have to be the entire magic swordfighter series. let the children fight

Popoi - yes yes i do. klug and sig’s ones are so bad they’re good and schezo’s one is a banger

Risukuma - my puyo otp is strange klug x amitie/red amitie. i dont know why, i just absolutely love them and think they’d be really cute together. hell, I shipped it before i even liked amitie as a character! i also really like klug + sig/black sig being best friends because i think that’s cute too

Ally - i don’t think i know many obscure facts about puyo off the top of my head, sorry!

O - I really like the space backgrounds found in 20th and quest, they’re nice…. the caves in 20th are also really pretty too

Zed - oh boy this is gonna take some explaining. basically, i headcanon that red amitie is actually a goddess ancestor of amitie, who was in love with the demon that sig and strange klug used to be and would take care of him and such.for a non ship-related one i like to think that there’s just a whole line of people that look like sig in his family, and they all like to make silly “shiiiguu” noises when happy. it’s silly but i think it’s really cute

Ai - strange klug in fever 2/7. that is all

Oshare - … strange klug. i’m sorry i find him just really hot. his appearance, his voice…. just wonderful

Last Stop

For: @yankasmiles

Pairing: TsukkiYama

Word Count: 3.4K

Rating: G, with absolutely no triggers

Summary: Tsukishima’s commute to and from work used to be boring. But recently a man who always rode until the last stop of his night bus captured his attention. Dressed mostly in black and heavily pierced, the man was beautiful—and Tsukishima was falling for him.

*Alternatively, a punkguchi and preppyshima adult au with lots of christmas romanticism. 

Read on Ao3

It was the same routine every day: wake up at six, get to work at eight, leave at seven, and make it back home at nine. Nothing really changed aside from Tsukishima’s day-to-day attempts to vary his lunches and…him.

He was a mystery—a man also in his early twenties who was always in Tsukishima’s night bus. Part of Tsukishima’s commute was a forty-five minute bus ride from the train station to his apartment complex in the boondocks. Every weekday he got off in the second to last stop, leaving this man to ride alone to the last one. Tsukishima didn’t know for how long they had been taking the same bus since he had a habit of putting on his pink headphones and sticking his nose in a book to block out the world. But about three months ago, when he got to a good place to pause in his book, he decided to look outside from his window seat on the bus, but instead of the snow covering everything in white, his eyes caught that man's reflection from across the aisle. He was...different.

With long mossy-brown hair that hit his shoulders and was styled half-up half-down to expose the many piercings in his ears, an affinity to the color black, and a spiky leather jacket—he drew a lot of attention, Tsukishima's included. But he paid no mind to the eyes burying into him. He simply leaned against the window with his earbuds on and trained his eyes on his phone screen for the duration of the ride. Not that Tsukishima would watch him for the whole forty-five minutes! He'd just peek over occasionally, when the scene in his book allowed him a breath, and took note of small details regarding this man.   His hands were long and delicate, nails rounded into an almond shape and always painted black. He liked to stack rings on his fingers, and would mix and match different types of black and silver bands. Sometimes his mouth would break into a smile while staring at his phone, and soon after a sweet, muffled laugh would follow. Tan freckles dusted his nose and cheeks and they were beautiful—he was beautiful.   Today, though he was still wearing his iconic leather jacket, he had also donned a burgundy beanie and a big black scarf. It was the middle of December after all, at one point he had to get cold. The fact that it took him this long baffled Tsukishima, who had already busted out his scarf and extra layers back in November. Just looking at him made Tsukishima shiver, and he sunk deeper into his light blue knit scarf and thick camel coat. He set his book to the side and rested his head on the window; his coworkers had dragged him out of work early to get drinks and he was tired from all the forced social interaction and the alcohol. There was still a long way until his stop so closing his eyes for a little bit…wouldn't…hurt.   “...Hey. Hey.”   Tsukishima felt a hand softly shake his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and found round brown ones staring at him. It took him a few seconds to recognize the owner of those lovely eyes, but the moment he did, he sat up with a jolt.   “Uh—”   “I was afraid you’d miss your stop.” The man gave him warm smile. His freckles looked even more charming when sitting on top of his smiling lips. “It was a shame to wake you when you’d been sleeping so peacefully, but your stop is coming up.”   “Yeah.” Tsukishima nodded, a bit speechless from the sudden interaction. “Thanks.”   “No problem…”   The man looked like he wanted to say something else, but at that moment the bus halted and the bus driver announced his stop. Tsukishima hurriedly grabbed his bag and shuffled out of his seat, giving the man yet another awkward nod before leaving the bus. And all the while walking to his apartment building, opening his door, and taking off his shoes, he thought about how dumb he must have looked during the interaction. He decided the best way to repair that horrible first impression was to thank him again on Monday, this time with more than one word.   Tsukishima reached inside his bag for his phone and the book he was trying to work through before falling asleep on the bus. He found his phone, but after thoroughly looking through his bag a realization struck him: he forgot the book on the damn bus.   “Fuck…” he muttered under his breath.   Now, most people’s only concern with leaving a book behind on the bus is a bit of sadness that it might be lost forever. For Tsukishima the former didn’t bother him at all, he could just get another copy from his workplace. What did concern him was that the man might have noticed that Tsukishima left his book behind and looked inside to see what he was reading. Because what he was currently reading, well, truthfully, what he was almost always reading was a very sappy and romantic shoujo manga.   Tsukishima started liking shojou manga when he was in college. Growing up he had read shounen like every other boy, but soon got bored of the seemingly repetitive plots. He chalked it up to having “outgrown” manga in general and moved on to novels. But one day while aimless browsing the library shelves, he picked up the first volume of Lovely Complex, and that was the start of his secret obsession. When he graduated college he applied to many office jobs, one of them being the editorial department of his favorite manga company, Shogakukan. Though the hiring manager apologized that their only editorial position was in the department responsible for making Ciao, one of the most popular shoujo manga magazines in Japan, Tsukishima quietly thanked the gods and accepted the position.   Only his family and closest friends knew of his love for shojou—and that’s solely because it was going to be more trouble hiding it from them than just being honest. And he didn’t tell his coworkers outright, but they were slowly getting the sense that despite Tsukishima’s indifferent expression, he actually enjoyed working in their department. Tsukishima wasn’t necessarily ashamed of it, but he did feel self-conscious of being a grown twenty-two year old guy reading shojou. He didn’t want people judging him solely based on his hobby. So he always put a book sleeve on his manga when he read them outside.   Except a freaking book sleeve was not going to stop that guy from looking inside and finding out he was reading shoujo. The same guy Tsukishima was trying to save face with by thanking him again for his good deed (and who he found highly attractive). Just his fucking luck.   But…maybe he didn’t look inside. Maybe he didn’t even notice Tsukishima dropped the book and the proof of his shame was lost forever. This stubbornly positive thought was the only thing helping Tsukishima get through the weekend and Monday work hours without growing more and more mortified. When it came time to ride the bus, he sat in his usual seat and hyper-vigilantly watched the door. Once they reached the stop that the man usually boarded the bus on, Tsukishima held his breath to see where the man would sit. The man saw him, gave him a tiny smile, and sat right next to him. Tsukishima had never wanted so badly to have the power to dissolve into the seat and disappear from this earth.   “Hello.”   “Hey.”   “Um, you dropped your book last time.” The man opened his pin covered messenger bag and took out Tsukishima’s book, handing it to him. “Here you go.”   Tsukishima took the book and held it in his lap. “Thank you, uh, for this and for waking me up last time.” He stared down at the pale green book sleeve and rubbed his finger against the soft surface.   The man turned a bit toward him and cleared his throat. “I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi…I noticed we’re always on the night bus together. I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while now.”   Tsukishima looked up and met the man—Yamaguchi’s—gaze for the first time. It was curious and incredibly warm. “I’m Tsukishima Kei.” He also had wanted to talk to him for a long time, but he wasn’t brave enough to say it.   “Tsukishima, huh.” Yamaguchi grinned to himself.   “…” Tsukishima simply stared at him. He was never really good at talking to strangers and was a bit star struck by how close Yamaguchi was sitting. Every detailed he had noticed from across the bus these weeks prior were just a few inches away, calling to him.   “So, I know it was rude of me, but I took a peek inside.” Yamaguchi furrowed his eyebrows and put his hands together apologetically. “Sorry, curiosity got the best of me.”   Tsukishima sighed, shrugging a bit. “What did you think? It’s weird that someone like me is reading shoujo, isn’t it?”   “What? No, actually—” Yamaguchi paused, biting his lip and tucking hair behind his ear as he lowered his gaze. “I think it suits you well.”   “You’re the first person to say that,” Tsukishima muttered and laughed through his nose.   “I like it too, you know.”   “What? Shoujo?”   “Yeah.” Yamaguchi pulled out his phone and tapped a video streaming app. “You probably won’t believe me but I was in the middle of watching the first season of the series you are reading. Kimi ni Todoke, right?” Yamaguchi showed Tsukishima his progress.   Tsukishima looked down at the phone and then up at Yamaguchi again. “Why wouldn’t I believe you?”   “Well, because…” Yamaguchi shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket. “Forget it, it’s dumb.”   They were silent for a while. Tsukishima stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked through the window at the trees, rice fields, and tiny houses they were passing by. He could feel Yamaguchi staring at him so he turned around again, and gave him his attention.   Yamauchi tugged at the rips in his black jeans. “How long have you liked it?”   “Since college.” Tsukishima thumbed through the pages of the book in his lap. “But I actually work for a shoujo manga magazine, so I’m always reading it now.”   Yamaguchi’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s awesome! Editorial department?”   “Yeah…” Tsukishima looked at him suspiciously. “Did you guess that because of the glasses?”   Yamaguchi chuckled and stuck out his tongue. “Pretty much.”   God damn, he was so endearing. Tsukishima hoped he wasn't being obvious in his ogling. What was he even supposed to do now? He should probably ask him about himself since so far Yamaguchi was the only one doing the asking. Yeah, he’d do that.   “What about you? What do you do?”   Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Eh, on the weekdays I’m a gallery assistant. And on some weekends I’m in an amateur rock band that plays in coffee houses and clubs, places like that.”   “Oh…that makes sense.”   “You mean the whole punk look?” Yamaguchi smirked. “Yeah, that started before the band thing.”   Tsukishima pushed up his glasses and looked down at his book again. His heart couldn’t take much more of this guy smiling at him. “What do you play?”   “I play some guitar, but I’m mostly their vocalist.”   “That’s cool.” Tsukishima couldn’t help but think that he wanted to hear what Yamaguchi sounded like. Not that he would tell him that.   “You should come hear us play.” Yamaguchi sifted through his bag again and took out a leaflet. “If you’re not doing anything on Christmas Eve, we’re having an event at the café in the station.”   Tsukishima looked at the leaflet, slid it into his book, and put the book away in his bag. His stop was coming up so Yamaguchi got out of his seat to let him by. “I’ll come,” Tsukishima replied.   “You will?”   “Sure.” Tsukishima shrugged, “I have nothing to do on that day anyhow,” and gave him a quick wave as he stepped off the bus. His usual walk home felt strangely warm.   They sat together everyday until the night of the Christmas Eve event. Often they would talk about what happened at work that day, or current things they were in charge of. There were times Yamaguchi would convince Tsukishima to watch the first episode of the anime version of a shoujo manga they had both read. In those moments Yamaguchi would offer an ear bud, and Tsukishima would lean close, touching shoulders, to watch from Yamaguchi’s phone screen. But he wasn’t really paying attention—his mind was busy making note of the sweet scent of Yamaguchi’s cologne and musical note to his laughter.   Sometimes Yamaguchi would sit there listening to his music while Tsukishima read whatever manga he was currently enjoying. If the workday had been a tough one, Tsukishima would wake up on Yamaguchi’s shoulder, having fallen asleep without noticing. He’d give a short apology, ears turning red from embarrassment, and Yamaguchi would shake his head with a soft smile.   “Don’t worry. I’ve also done it.” He’d reply.   And it was true, there was one time he had fallen asleep on Tsukishima’s shoulder. They were watching a video on Yamaguchi’s phone and Tsukishima felt a weight on his shoulder. He didn’t mind; having Yamaguchi this close to him was comfortable. He paused the video and stared at the back of the seat in front of them, listening to Yamaguchi’s soft breath and thinking about how hard he was falling for him.

Tsukishima felt very out of place in this Christmas event. The café was mostly filled with other people that had an affinity to black or had an actual interest in the kind of music that was blaring from the stage. Tsukishima was neither. He sat in a table all the way to the left, with his favorite lilac cardigan and a white button up, and a completely disinterested face. It wasn’t that the music was necessarily displeasing, it was just the sole purpose for him coming to this thing was to see Yamaguchi. So he was going to be grouchy until he did.   Luckily, Tsukishima didn’t have to wait much longer. Yamaguchi’s band, Harken Spear, was the main act and there had only been two opening acts before they took the stage. Yamaguchi walked to the microphone and addressed the cheering crowd while his band members settled into their instruments. He had a messy bun, perfectly winged eyeliner, and was wearing a grey distressed muscle tee, a plaid long sleeve around his waist, and tight black skinny jeans. He looked so good—he always did— but even more so up on that stage. With the microphone by his lips and all the eyes on him, he was radiating.   The first song was upbeat and loud, but even with all the things that would usually distract Tsukishima, he was completely focused on Yamaguchi’s voice. It was a bit scratchy yet also smooth and alluring. It had the perfect balance of roughness and charm, with great countertenor to baritone range. And it wasn’t only his voice, the way he worked the microphone and moved around the stage was enrapturing. The crowd sang along passionately to every song. And Tsukishima continued to sit there with his eyes trained on Yamaguchi, hands sweating, and heartbeat louder than the band’s drums.   Harken Spear ended the night with a mellow song heavy on vocals and soft on drums and guitar. It used the wide range of Yamaguchi’s wonderful voice and was easily Tsukishima’s favorite of the night. As the song reached its end, the soft drums and guitar still playing in the background, Yamaguchi spoke to the audience.   “This was dedicated to that magical chance encounter you may have had this year or will hopefully have next year.” Yamaguchi glanced towards Tsukishima’s direction and gave him a wicked smile. “Merry Christmas.”   Did he look directly at him? It was possible that he was just imagining what he wanted to have happened. But if it really was directed at him then that could mean…   Tsukishima spent the next twenty minutes with these thoughts whirling in his head.   “Hi.” Yamaguchi said as he walked to Tsukishima’s table. “Thanks for coming.”   Tsukishima snapped out of it, looking around him to see that most of the café had emptied out while he was having his internal crisis. “No problem…” Tsukishima put on his coat and scarf, standing up to talk to Yamaguchi face-to-face. “You were really good,” he admitted.   Yamaguchi’s face went red and he quickly looked down at his shoes to hide his expression. “Thank you…I’m really happy you think that.”   Yamaguchi was unbearably cute like this—he was increasingly more precious with every expression and action he made. Tsukishima wished he could lower his pride for two seconds to tell him so. But instead he only pushed these feelings further down his throat and checked his watch. “The last bus should be coming soon.”   “Oh.” Yamaguchi looked up again, his blush faint but persistent. “I’m also heading home. Do you want to walk there together?”   “Yeah.” Tsukishima stuffed his hands in his coat. “I do.”   Yamaguchi grinned. “Okay. Let’s go.”   The café was in the opposite side of the station than the bus stop so they had quite a bit to walk. They talked about their plans for tomorrow, and it pretty much consisted of food and family for the both of them. Yamaguchi led them diagonally across the station, but took an efficient but often-unused walkway running on the outside left wall off the station. It had an overhead covering but the piling snow blew about around them.   Tsukishima burrowed further into his scarf. “You know we could have kept walking inside, right?”   “I do,” Yamaguchi replied and stopped walking.   Tsukishima also stopped, somewhat miserable but also curious as to why Yamaguchi was biting his lip and taping his leg so nervously.“…”   “Uh, um.” Yamaguchi took a step closer to Tsukishima and retrieved a small rectangular gift from his bag. “I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks but this is for you.”   “Huh?” Tsukishima looked down at the gift. “But I have nothing for you.”   Yamaguchi shook his head. “It’s fine. Please open it.”   “Okay.” Tsukishima carefully unwrapped the box, hands shaking from the cold and his own nerves, and opened it to reveal a pair of light blue gloves.   “They match your scarf. It was surprisingly hard to find the exact shade but I hope they are close enough.” Yamaguchi took another step closer. “There’s one more thing—”   “—I like you,” Tsukishima muttered and then shortly realized what had come out of his mouth. He snapped his head up, face and ears burning red. “I-I mean, what I meant was I like the gloves,” he clumsily tried to correct himself.   “I can’t believe you beat me to it,” Yamaguchi laughed, face burning up with equal intensity to Tsukishima’s. “I also like you—I mean, the gloves.”   “That smug look makes me want to take it back,” Tsukishima grumbled, eyebrows furrowed.   “Please don't,” Yamaguchi whispered, gaze locked to Tsukishima’s.   Tsukishima glanced around them and returned his gaze to Yamaguchi’s face, eyes unconsciously traveling to his lips. “…Can I kiss you?” He had wanted to for so long.   Yamaguchi nodded, reaching for Tsukishima’s free hand. It was icy, but warmed up quickly when intertwined with Yamaguchi’s warm one. Tsukishima leaned forward to gently press their lips together for a few moments; Yamaguchi’s lips were incredibly soft, and felt good on his own. Yamaguchi placed his other hand on Tsukishima’s cheek and slowly moved his lips against Tsukishima’s, breaths exchanging, and the freezing temperature long forgotten.   After a few minutes Yamaguchi pulled away with a blissful smile. He squeezed Tsukishima’s hand just slightly before letting it go. “We should head to the bus or we’ll miss it.”   “Yeah…” Tsukishima replied, somewhat dazed. He looked at his gift box for a second and carefully put it inside his bag.   “You’re not going to put it on now? We still have a little bit to walk.”   Tsukishima smirked and grabbed Yamaguchi’s hand again, leading them towards the bus. “When I’m with you I don't need it.”

@haikyuusecretsanta 

Summer anime 2017

 All the summer anime has premiered now, except for Hell Girl season 4 (7/14) and The Reflection (7/22), and I'm going to be away this weekend, so I might not watch Hell Girl until next week anyways. So it seems like a good time to write up some brief thoughts on the shows I watched, which is nearly all of them. The exceptions are:

HiDive exclusives, I didn't want to get another subscription

Netflix shows which won't be available legally for months (fuck you Netflix for that, at least I have the Kakegurui manga)

Sequels I hadn't watched the original of

Symphogear, which hasn't been announced by anyone yet (as of 7/13)

I didn’t actually finish the first episode of all of them, but I tried. 

This ended up super long, because there are a lot of shows.

I’m going to go through these in order of premiere date, anything else is too hard to keep track of. I’ll include a note for the full length shows I didn’t watch as well.

Hina Logi: From Luck & Logic (on Crunchyroll, Saturdays at 12:00 am EDT)

This is a spinoff of Luck & Logic, which I didn’t watch, and I didn’t watch this version either. I really don’t know anything about this, you can check out the reviews on ANN.

Fox Spirit Matchmaker (on Crunchyroll, Saturdays at 9:30 am EDT)

I bailed out of this one less than 10 minutes in. It’s a bad romcom with bad animation, and I didn’t like any of the characters. I can’t recommend it at all, even if you like straight romcoms.

Kakegurui (Netflix, so probably all the episodes will be availabe early October)

First watch the OP (Sayo Yamamoto worked on it) right now: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5sahqn 

I couldn’t actually watch the show, since it’s a Netflix license, but I’ve read the manga up to the latest chapter and I love it! (It’s the source of my icon). It’s very trashy, and often gay. There is a male MC, but he doesn’t really do much, and mostly exists to be the person who gets everything explained to him. Also because we never get Yumeko’s (the female MC) point of view. I highly recommend the manga and the anime.

Fate/Apocrypha (Netflix, it was announced at AX that the first batch of episodes would be available November 7th)

This is yet another Fate show, but I’ve been hearing good things. Apparently the source for this one isn’t written by Nasu, which is a point in it’s favor. I don’t really have much more to say, if you want to get into Fate stuff, I recommend Fate/Zero. I never really got into other Fate stuff.

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu (on Crunchyroll, Saturdays at 1:00 pm EDT. Also on Anime Strike but why would you choose that over crunchyroll???)

I watched some of Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru last fall, but it didn’t really grab me. I definitely prefer the bloody action of Katsugeki to the slice-of-life comedy of Hanamaru. I also can’t keep track of the huge number of characters the game has, so Katsugeki’s focus on a small number really helps. If you like bloody action, I recommend it. It’s one of my favorites this season.

Symphogear AXZ (no announcement yet, hopefully Crunchyroll)

This is the fourth season of Symphogear, the first 3 are on Crunchyroll. I’m currently part way through the second season. It’s magical girl action with a music focus, and I enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would. The premise for this fourth season seems like it could go some bad places (read: could get very transphobic), so be warned. I’d recommend checking out the first season at least, though.

Knight’s & Magic (on Crunchyroll, Sundays at 11:00 am EDT)

This definitely wins a prize for the worst punctuation in an anime title I have seen. That being said, I enjoyed the first episode, but gave up partway through the second. It’s an isekai story based on a light novel, which is not a setup that inspires much hope in me, but I liked that the MC was reborn(?) as a child, rather than simply transported. If you like mecha shows check it out I guess?

Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun (on Crunchyroll, Sundays at 12:30 pm EDT)

This is a comedy sports anime that actually really surprised me. I’m probably not the best person to talk about it, so I highly recommend reading this review at Anime Feminist. I liked it, and I’m currently partway through the 2nd episode, and I think I might stick with it.

Battle Girl High School (on HiDive, Sundays at 12:30 pm EDT)

Not willing to get a HiDive subscription yet, and it doesn’t sound like this show is worth it. If you’re curious, check out the reviews at ANN and Anime Feminist.

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (on Crunchyroll, Mondays at 11:30 am EDT)

This is a supernatural slice of life comedy, and while it’s not amazing in anyway, it’s not really bad either. If you really like this sort of comedy I’d recommend checking it out, but I’d probably recommend Inu x Boku Secret Service first.

LOVE and LIES (on Anime Strike in the US, and HiDive in some other territories, Mondays at 12:00 pm EDT)

I did not like this show. It wasn’t actually painful to watch, so I finished the first episode, but I will not be watching more. The premise is based on the idea that Japan starts assigning marriage partners when kids turn 16 based on some sort of compatibility in order to fight dropping birthrates. Actually, the show specifically mentions genetic compatibility, and the whole premise has a very eugenics feel to it. On top of that, this setting is being used for a romcom. There are probably some interesting stories that could be told with this setup, but a straight romcom is not one of them. All this being said, I’m definitely watching people’s twitter reactions to the show going forward, because I’m sort of curious what kind of trainwreck this might become.

Restaurant to Another World (on Crunchyroll, Mondays at 2:05 pm EDT)

This show was definitely very nice to look at, but I just couldn’t get invested in it. If you want a peaceful show about a restaurant that opens to a fantasy world once a week, then check it out. My favorite part was the dragon lapping stew from a pot, tiny in comparison to her.

Aho Girl (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 11:30 am EDT)

(short-form, 13 minutes) Even though this is a short, I still couldn’t make it all the way to the end of the first episode. It’s very 2000′s style super fast comedy, and feels super mean spirited.

Tsuredure Children (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 11:45 am EDT)

(short-form, 13 minutes) I finished this one, which was mostly cute vignettes about straight highschoolers in love, but the 3rd one made me feel really uncomfortable. Not planning on watching more.

Fastest Finger First (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 3:30 pm EDT)

This is a show about kids doing quiz bowl, which wasn’t a thing at my school, but this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to a math competition anime. The main character was likable enough, though the girl was more interesting. This feels like it might become a girl who is experienced at x teaches boy how to x, and he is the best ever at x, sort of thing. I do want to check out the second episode though. An interesting thing to me was the voice of the girl. She’s apparently a rookie voice actress, and sounds very different from the typical anime high school girl voice.

Netsuzou Trap -NTR- (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 8:30 am EDT)

(short-form, 9 minutes) This show is super super SUPER trashy yuri, and I loved it. I can’t really recommend it, but I’m definitely sticking with it. 

Saiyuki Reload Blast (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 11:00 am EDT)

This is an adaptation of the latest Saiyuki manga. I have never read or watched any Saiyuki before, but I watched this episode. It had a very 00′s feel to it, from the character designs to the dialogue. I imagine that this is the sort of thing that you watch if you already like Saiyuki, or maybe if you miss the feel of anime from the early 00′s. I’m not sticking with it.

Dive!! (on Anime Strike, Thursdays at sometime, anime strike is bad at sharing details)

I wanted to like this show, but it just wasn’t good. It’s very clearly trying to get the Free! crowd, but is hindered by bad animation and boring story. It’s this season’s Noitamina show, by the way. The most notable thing about it for me, was that it actually managed to trigger my fear of heights, which I don’t think has ever happened to me with an anime before. I think it must be because diving (off a 10 ft board) was a real thing I was too scared to do (and probably still am too scared to do).

Convenience Store Boy Friends (on Crunchyroll, Thursdays at 3:05 pm EDT)

This feels like the most boring possible show you could make from it’s title. You could have personified stores, personified products, but instead it’s just a quite boring highschool romance. They don’t even work at a convenience store! They just occasional stop by there! Also the guys working there looked way more interesting than any of the main characters. Possibly the most boring premiere I watched all the way through.

Action Heroine Cheer Fruits (on HiDive, Mondays at 9:00 am EDT)

I didn’t watch this one because it was a HiDive exclusive, but I’ve actually read a lot of good things about it, which is not what I would have expected with that name. Still not worth the HiDive subscription though. You can check out the review at ANN and Anime Feminist.

Made in Abyss (on Anime Strike in the US, and HiDive in some other territories, Fridays at 10:00 am EDT)

This was a super beautiful premiere. It’s a really gorgeous looking fantasy series. It didn’t completely grab me, but I think that’s because it requires me to be in a mode where I can actually give it full focus, which makes it harder to watch. I can’t recommend this show yet, however, because I have heard that the manga goes really bad places. I’ve heard that the first episode already removed some of the skeevy stuff, but I can’t recommend this until I can see where it goes.

18if (on Crunchyroll, Fridays at 10:00 am EDT)

I gave up about 10 minutes into this one. It’s a very dream sequency show, but it doesn’t have the animation quality or pacing to make it work for me. If you like surreal stuff in general, I’d say check it out to see whether it grabs you, but know that it might just feel really boring.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (on Anime Strike in the US, and HiDive in some other territories, Fridays at 11:00 am EDT)

I fucking loved this!!!!! It’s my favorite premiere so far, and I can’t wait for more. It’s not a good show, but it’s super fun. This review at Anime Feminist explains what I like about the show. It has the feel of some of my favorite stuff from the early 00′s, and it’s super campy, and I love it.

Chronos Ruler (on Crunchyroll, Sundays at 3:00 pm EDT)

This is not a good show. It has super bad animation, convoluted plot, overly expository and over dramatic dialogue (ok, half these things were also true of Vatican Miracle Examiner, I admit). I finished the whole episode, but I really have zero interest in watching more. It just isn’t offering anything that other shows aren’t doing better this season.

Altair: A Record of Battles (on Anime Strike, Fridays at sometime)

This is a very good show, but on that I really need brainpower to watch, which means that I will probably drop it at some point. It’s very nice looking, and I love political intrigue, but it doesn’t feel like easy watching. Check it out if you enjoy political intrigue stuff.

Hitorijime My Hero (on Anime Strike in the US, HiDive in some other territories, Saturdays at 11:00 am EDT)

This was decent BL. Not good, but not terrible either. The main couple is a student-teacher relationship, so be warned of that, I guess. It just felt super plain  to me. Also super confusing. The first episode felt like it jumped around a lot chronologically, and it was really hard to understand what order things happened in. I’m not continuing with it.

Welcome to the Ballroom (on Anime Strike, Sundays(?) at sometime)

I watched the early premier of this on Twitch, which had desynced subtitles, which was super annoying. I don’t know if that’s still true of the version up on anime strike, but it’s frustrating that this is still a problem for them. And with a hyped up premiere as well!!! The show itself is a shonen sports anime about ballroom dancing. The character designs are very lanky and weird looking, but I sort of like the style. It just didn’t really grab me. I think I didn’t like the main character enough to care about him. And that I don’t care about ballroom dancing at all.

A Centaur’s Life (on Crunchyroll, Sundays at 10:30 am EDT)

This was a sort of weird show. It starts off with a lesbian kiss, and does a school comedy sort of things for the first half. The second half is that plus world building, which brings in a bunch of weirdly dystopian elements. Like talking about past injustices being illegal. So I’m going to keep on watching this for the little gay bits and to see where the hell it’s going.

Princess Principal (on Anime Strike in the US, HiDive in some other territories, Sundays at 10:30 am EDT)

I really loved this. It’s a spy show about girls, so I’m not at all surprised, but it’s still a nice feeling. The OP has hints of gayness, which is good. And the show in general is a fun spy show. It’s like what I wish Joker Game had been. I really recommend checking this one out. It’s another one of my favorites.

Angel’s 3Piece! (on Crunchyroll, Mondays at 8:30 am EDT)

This most frustrating thing about this is how good is was for a lot of it. Like I wasn’t expecting anything from the summary, but then the first half of the show was pretty neat, and the music was good, but it’s by the author of Ro-Kyu-Bu, which should have told me everything I needed to know. As should the episode title: “Heart Throbbing for Elementary School Kids!” That title probably says everything you need to know.

In Another World with my Smartphone (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 9:00 am EDT)

I gave up on this one super quickly. I just don’t care about another dude dying and going to a fantasy world and suddenly getting a harem. I just don’t.

New Game!! (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 10:00 am EDT)

Sequel to New Game!, which I never finished. It was a cute show about women making games though. Maybe I should try to watch more of it sometime. ANN has a review of the first episode of this.

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 12:30 pm EDT)

(short-form, 3 minutes) I guess this is related to The Irresponsible Captain Tylor? I never watched that either. I watched this, but didn’t really pay much attention. I guess if you watched the original thing check this out???

Magical Circle Guru Guru (on Crunchyroll, Tuesdays at 2:05 pm EDT)

So apparently there was an older version of this that aired in 1994, but this is a complete reboot, not a sequel, so you don’t need any familiarity with the original. The sense of humor reminded me a lot of Senyu, with a heavy focus on classic rpg video game elements as well. It’s a very fast paced shouty sort of humor, but it was a fun first episode. It didn’t really do anything I haven’t seen before, so I’m probably dropping it.

Light of the Clione (on Anime Strike, Tuesdays(?) at sometime)

(short-form, 9 minutes) I was interested in this one based on what I read of the premise, but so far it’s been two students feeling sorry for, but not helping, a girl getting bullied. Since it’s a short, it has a much lower bar to clear for me to stick with it, so I probably will. The character designs feel sort of off, though, and the animation isn’t very good.

Ikemen Sengoku: Bromances Across Time (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 10:45 am EDT)

(short-form, 5 minutes) CG short about a dude who gets transported back in time. Based on an otome game, apparently. Otome games need more full length adaptations, they keep on getting these short form series instead. Anyways, this show doesn’t really have anything to recommend it.

Nora, Princess, and Stray Cat (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 11:15 am EDT)

(short-form, 4 minutes) Cute short that has a harem set up, accept someone transformed the boy into a cat, and no one knows how to turn him back. Funny, cute, and short enough for me to keep watching.

My First Girlfriend is a Gal (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 11:30 am EDT)

This show is not good. You should watch Please Tell Me! Galko-chan instead. Seriously, the most interesting part of this show is the bedazzled censorship objects. I bailed out about five minutes in, because I couldn’t stand the main character and his friends. There is nothing to recommend this show. Even if you want weird censorship items, you can watch Seven Mortal Sins instead.

Classroom of the Elite (on Crunchyroll, Wednesdays at 12:00 pm EDT)

I was expecting to quit out of this show partway through, since it really didn’t look at all interesting to me. I also hated the first five minutes or so. But I actually really liked the rapport between the two main characters, probably because it reminds me of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. I curious to see where the main plot heads as well. I think it’s worth getting through the opening to see what the show has to offer, because it definitely got better after that.

GAMERS! (on Crunchyroll, Thursdays at 11:30 am EDT)

This is another show I was expected to not make it all he way through, but instead I really liked it. It’s about a high school gaming club, and the super popular girl trying to recruit the main character to join. I think what really worked for me was how relatable the main character felt at times. He’s a “casual” gamer, and feels really intimidated by how intense the club members are. I really understand that feeling. I’m looking forward to more of this show.

And that’s it! I’ll probably wait to write about Hell Girl and The Reflection until after both of them air, at which point I’ll also have a better idea of what shows I’m actually going to keep.

Manga the Week of 9/8/21

SEAN: It’s ALWAYS September, somewhere in manga land.

Airship has two digital first debuts. I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (Ore wa Seikan Kokka no Akutoku Ryōshu!) is from the author of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, and is about a guy who lost everything in his previous life resolving to be evil this time. In space.

ASH: I’m beginning to see another trend emerging.

ANNA: I wonder if there are skeleton lords of space.

SEAN: The other debut is A Tale of the Secret Saint (Tensei Shita Daiseijo wa, Seijo dearu Koto wo Hitakakusu). A knight on the verge of death recalls her past life… no, not from Japan. She was a powerful Saint, a profession that’s almost extinct. A very dangerous profession. Now she has to hide her reawakened skills… but they’re simply too useful! This looks good.

ANNA: This does sound interesting!

SEAN: In print, Airship debuts My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s, which we discussed before.

They also have Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 2.

Cross Infinite World gives us The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor 2. (It got bumped.)

Ghost Ship has Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 15.

Two new novel series from J-Novel Club. The first is Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers (Lv2 kara Cheat datta Moto Yuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life), which makes me ill just typing it out. Guy has weak powers. Everyone hates him. Then he hits level 2. Suddenly he’s really strong. Men respect him. Women love him. Repeat as needed.

J-Novel Club’s second light novel debut is My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer (Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S Rank ni Natteta), the story of a dad who watches as his adopted daughter grows up to be really, really strong. For those who see “daddy” and “adopted daughter” and run away screaming, we have been assured this title is free of *that* sort of thing, and it’s complete in Japan, so they were able to double check this time.

ASH: It does seem like it could be promising, then.

SEAN: Other light novels (Japanese or German) out next week: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 12, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 37, Jessica Bannister 2, Record of Wortenia War 12, Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons 2, and The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman 7.

The one digital manga title is Sweet Reincarnation 5.

Kodansha, in print, has Battle Angel Alita 2 (this is the reprint omnibus of the original series), and… that’s it.

Digitally, of course, there is much more. The debut is Sweet Sweet Revenge, and that’s its Japanese title as well. It runs in Kodansha’s Aria, and is by the author of Stupid Love Comedy, though I will try not to hold that against it. A girl has come to school to get revenge against 5 popular, handsome guys who did her wrong. Can she do it? This only ran two volumes, so signs pointing to no.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ASH: Maybe she’s just very efficient.

ANNA: I could be inefficient and just read Boys over Flowers again.

SEAN: We also get A Condition Called Love 8, Girlfriend Girlfriend 5, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 2, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 8, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 4, Smile Down the Runway 20, Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 10, With the Sheikh in His Harem 5, and Ya Boy Kongming! 4.

MICHELLE: I should get caught up on A Condition Called Love. I enjoyed what I read of it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has only one title: the 14th volume of Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō.

Tokyopop debuts Springtime by the Window (Madogiwa no Aoiharu),a rare non-BL title from them these days. It’s shoujo from Shufu to Seikatsusha’s Comic PASH!, so add them to the list of publishers still speaking to Tokyopop. It’s a high school romance with multiple couples.

MICHELLE: Hm. Also two volumes, so presumably TOKYOPOP will manage to release the whole thing.

ANNA: *Pours one out for unfinished TOKYOPOP series, again.*

SEAN: Lastly we have Viz, whose debut is Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance. This is a manga-ish title that’s more of a tie-in, but I’ll count it because the artist also did Tiger & Bunny.

Also out from Viz: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 12, Dr. STONE 18, Dragon Ball Super 14, Love Me Love Me Not 10, Mashle: Magic & Muscles 2, My Hero Academia 29, Prince Freya 5, Snow White with the Red Hair 15, Twin Star Exorcists 23, Undead Unluck 3, and Yakuza Lover 2.

ASH: I need to get a move on some of my reading before I fall even further behind!

ANNA: Me too, I’m excited for more shoujo and the insanity that is Yakuza Lover.

SEAN: What manga makes you yearn for the days of AOL?

By: Sean Gaffney

@brinnanza here is a list of CR shows that I think you might enjoy, as listed when I scroll by it on their shows by popularity page:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - I suspect you’ve already seen this, or maybe the previous non-brotherhood anime. IMO it is a large improvement on the first anime although not by as much as some people say, though the finale is a thousand times better and much more integrated into the show as a whole, and there is so much less filler thank goodness. Anyway it has a lot of blood and violence and death and existential scary shit so YMMV but if you are up to that you will likely enjoy.

Fairy Tail - look it’s a hugely long running ridiculous shonen show with entire episodes where people just power up BUT it has a huge cast of colorful characters with some good humor and some interesting fantasy concepts and if you are looking for some Background Anime then by gum you’ve got it. Also has talking, flying cats and dragons who are also your mom

Log Horizon - an actually good show that investigates the question “what if real people got sucked into a MMORPG and had to live actual lives there” and there’s some good stuff about personhood and self determination and some really geeky stuff and also friendship!!!!

Toriko - an even more inexplicable shonen show all about bizarre food and hunting for rare ingredients in insane fantasy lands and the freaky society that has developed around this strange priority system. It is like, if you took that phase when kids draw impossible made up animals and plants and animated it and wrote a whole world around them taking them very very seriously, plus a large dash of EXTREME FRIENDSHIP between the very muscly blue haired protagonist and his best friend the teeny tiny skinny chef and their adventures, all while getting reeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllyyyyyyyyy high

Cowboy Bebop - I’m gonna assume you’ve watched bebop, if not, what’s the matter with you go do that

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash - super solid high fantasy show with great character writing, sadly too short, based on a series of light novels so maybe there will be more

Uta no Prince Sama - I LOVE THIS STUPID SHOW ABOUT A GIRL WHO GOES TO MUSIC SCHOOL AND CAN GET IT WITH ANY OF A WHOLE CAST OF BEAUTIFUL BOYS WHO ARE IN AN IDOL GROUP FIGHT ME

Sound! Euphonium - Band Camp The Anime but more extra than that, delightful girls being awesome and playing large brass instruments

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun - wonderfully funny show about an obviously autistic manga-ka and the girl who is into him and the dorks he bases his characters on and it’s just so funny and defies summaries and is one of those rare instances of humor that is entirely good hearted

Gurren Lagann - there was a whole year where i was OBSESSED with this sketchy giant robot show

Digimon Adventure - do you want to cry about your late 90s childhood? Well do I have the throwback for you

SKET Dance - if iCarly were an anime. no but srsly it is a cute comedy show about teens who have to do a club activity so they make a club whose purpose is “to hang out and help other clubs with their issues” which leads to Shenanigans. Large cast of cute characters and silliness but also genuine Feels about growing up and friendship and stuff.

Cardcaptor Sakura - if you havent watched CCS then what are you doing even talking to me

Tegami Bachi Letter Bee - a weird little show with some very interesting concepts about love and metaphors and stuff, also monster girls who are actual girls and a disabled character who refuses to be woobified

Bodacious Space Pirates - this is a show for queer girls, don’t let the title fool you. it is hella funny and also strange and the space pirates are indeed pretty bodacious

Symphogear - badass magical girl show about fighting monsters with the power of POUNDING BEATS AND PURE POP SOUNDS, also some v. v. compelling baby gay girls being like I LOVE YOU no I LOVE YOU and also like wonky world building secret not so secret organization stuff and it’s all neon bright and girlfriends, idk, i love symphogear and feel it is highly underappreciated

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Gorgeous giant robot show about what happens if you took transcendental humanism and fucking ran with it and also mixed with waterworld only good and also AI vs AI and also a show where everyone doesnt conveniently just speak japanese and it’s pretty great! and also there’s a moral about treating disabled people like people and also some great female characters with power. CAVEAT there is some really shitty stuff about trans people but it’s only a couple minutes in the whole show and I TRIED to get the translator to mitigate it in english but if anything it’s worse than the original ugh ugh ugh. But seriously other than that it’s a really good show :/

RIN-NE - an adorable show about dead people, but don’t worry it’s so cute you wont even notice! But seriously it is charming and beautiful in a cartoonish way and the characters are so funny and it has some stuff about crappy parents being crappy and also love and friendship and ghosts who do funny stuff and demons who are sooooo extra and it’s just great fun, why didnt this show get more traction, what is wrong with everyone

Silver Spoon - An anime about learning about farming! It’s great, no, seriously, it’s SO GREAT

Time of Eve - DO YOU WANT TO CRY ABOUT ROBOTS? CRYING ABOUT ROBOTS ALREADY AND NEED TO BE HEALED? WATCH TIME OF EVE. NO, SERIOUSLY, DO IT. Time of Eve should be considered one of the finest pieces of contemporary science fiction out there today and i dont understand how or why everyone isn’t talking about it and including it in college courses and shit. it’s so good, like solidly fantastically good, and the creator of it is such a huge nerd, wow, it really shows it’s SO GOOD.

Kids on the Slope - a beautiful period piece about jazz and Japan as a nation recovering from war and it’s incredible, Required Viewing imo

Library War - when this show came out it was a bizarre concept: what if librarians had to become soldiers to defend knowledge? like with guns and stuff? NOWADAYS it’s almost too scary and on-point. Fuck fuck fuck. Anyway it’s good though, I should rewatch it. Y’know, like how everyone is reading 1984 these days.

Galaxy Express 999 - Do you like trains? Do you like space? Do you like trains in space?? No but seriously Galaxy Express 999 is in my top ten favorite shows of all time. Not favorite animes. Favorite shows. It’s got EVERYTHING I love all in one thing and every episode is different and beautiful and it’s just... siiiigh. Retro classic, if you watch it you will see examples of so many things that became tropes because of it. And the leading lady is one of the best characters ever. God, I love Galaxy Express 999

Rose of Versailles - A classic shoujo show about a girl who was raised as a boy. It’s just... pearls and flowers and French “history” and fashion and dueling and y’alllllll classic gay girl stuff

OKAY THAT’S ALL I GOT FOR CRUNCHYROLL i have Mixed Feelings about Funi so idk if i am up to doing a rundown of their offerings even though they host a lot of good shows because, well. Reasons I can’t and won’t get into that also cause me to have anxiety flashbacks SO you know how it is. But like, yeah. Some Shows For You To Enjoy