Propaganda why Aang is insufferable:

He has some very bad ideas that the narrative never explores and gets rewarded by the narrative for bad behavior.

Mostly just the way he deals with his crush on Katara and kind of forces it on her. It’s honestly really shitty because she never truly reciprocated his feelings and had plenty of moments where she shows she’s just trying not to hurt his feelings with a straight up rejection, but ends up with him in the end just because that’s what he wanted.

Like we know what it looks like when Katara actually has a crush on someone, she wouldn’t let the situation like the war affect how she feels about demonstrating those feelings when she’s so in touch with them. Like how she was with Jet and Haru. I just wish the writing team did a better job of showing Katara developing feelings for Aang way better than they did lol.

Made a series that was otherwise reasonably tolerable impossible to watch. I hate that all the jokes written for his character target 8-year-olds exclusively. Also his little TV show keeps appearing on my dash no matter how many words I block and I hate it

Propaganda why Gregory is insufferable:

This boy is so poorly written, it hurts. In the gameplay, he just acts annoyed and pissed off the whole time. Then, in the endings, he becomes a whole other character who acts scared and sad, which does not match the previous hours of gameplay AT ALL

But that just annoyed me

What really made me hate him was the GGY and Robot Gregory stuff, because OH NO, Gregory could not just be a normal kid who got into this situation by chance, he has to be a robotic recreation of the Crying Child, despite not acting one bit like CC, or, according to the GGY story in the books, he's responsible for multiple murders and is Afton's/the Mimic's apprentice.

Just let this kid be fucking normal!

(Also, unlike a lot of people, I really enjoy what the Ruin DLC did to his character. And don't try to say that's still the mimic, the mimic recycles dialog from the main game. This Gregory uses completely unique dialog, and unless the mimic was able to form new words in his voice all of a sudden, that's still him. He had to make a tough decision, one life or over hundreds and I can respect that)

Suffers from being made into another one of Matpat's ""is actually a robot theory"". It is annoying as hell, especially if its canon. We do not need robot children theories in a game about possession, child murder and serial killers. Especially not dumb theories about him being a 'recreation' of someone with a completely different personality. It has completely ruined any enjoyment I had in that character because we're just going back to the Afton family again

Someone made a good point about how his personality seems to be reminiscent of a certain trend where a video game protagonist has to be snarky even though it would’ve worked better for the horror atmosphere if he was more scared because it would’ve made the player feel his fear. I recall people being surprised about his personality and expecting him to be more scared, and I assume the developers were just afraid of ppl calling Gregory “whiny”, but it still feels like a missed opportunity

kendallgirls are insufferable they thought their nasty man was the protagonist and the protagonist was our poor roro all the time. they're just jealous so keep pressed ugly bitches we're winning this poll and the tournament.

OUR POOR RORO???????

xreader fic trouncing bella swan in the insufferable protagonist poll tournament is funny as hell. I hope it sweeps.

thoughts on red queen ?

Oh god it’s been so long since I read or even thought about Red Queen. I feel like it was a very 2010 kind of story but it came out in 2015 lol. The random tournament in the first book was particularly post hunger games dystopia. But I do feel like it was also one of the main books directly responsible for the larger YA market shift to court fantasy.

The world building basically made no sense. Mare was annoying as shit. (Also what kind of name is Mare?) The Maven reveal was suuuuper obvious from the get go. But also I liked how the twist harkened back to earlier plot holes and like mistakes the protagonists had magically gotten away with which typically never come up again in YA as the evil queen… I forget her name… covering for them. It was a fun gotcha. The ending also went really hard!! All the respect for that. Wasn’t Cal mind controlled into butchering his father? I was not expecting the book to like fully go there. Pulled punches are par for the course in the genre category, but not this time!

Evil!Maven was extremely fun in how utterly unhinged he was. Didn’t he send Mare like a dead baby? With a weird “see you soon babe ❤️” type note on it? I feel like there was a string of corpses actually. Most of their interactions were incredibly fanficcy lol. Was I into it when he had her kidnapped in the castle? ………………….perhaps. Surprising no one I was 100000% into the bathtub scene. No idea how it would hold up anymore though.

But damn @ Victoria Aveyard what the fuck was going on with that leash he had her on 😭 2010s YA writers were really like “…What if I include some light bondage/bondage imagery in my novel? As a treat?”

I did really like Evangeline’s turn around to eventually becoming one of the gang. Cal became completely insufferable as time went on, sorry. The series also just became more and more annoying through Mare’s bargain brand girl on fire arc. When she gave herself a purple streak in her hair lmfaooo. Admittedly I did not read the last book. I was too bored of the series by then.

Anyway I’m like vaguely recollecting something where Maven and Mare were like traveling together? With the intent of him going to… negotiate a betrothal for himself? Am I imagining that? And there was like a particularly charged scene while they were in transit. The worldbuilding was super fucking weird so I couldn’t tell you if they were in a car or carriage lmao. Was that a thing?

Spring Anime 2021: Embarrassment of Riches

So this current anime season absolutely stinks, which just makes the last one look even more impressive. Well, maybe not all of it...

Zombieland Saga Revenge

First off, you don't need to tell me that the following is a severe outlier opinion. We good? Ok. ZLSR is, in a word, subpar. I liked S1 back in the day, but it was already in the process of getting lazy towards the end. S2 continues this trend and is basically just another idol show. And as someone who actually does watch other idol shows I have to say that it's not a particularly good one of those either. The zombie gimmick has mostly stopped mattering and we're just doing what every idol show does, only with the odd occasional sight gag. The alleged subversive qualities mostly amount to a flashback for Yuugiri, which is admittedly the best part of the show but feels like it barely has anything to do with anything. Apart from that, it's a bunch of generic idol plots, rehashed character beats, shoddy attempts at twists (while not connecting to any setups from S1), and the obligatory "idols give us hope" ending, which is terribly hackneyed and flat out bad. Tae gets further memed into the ground, because of course she does. And there's stuff that was simply never good to begin with, like Kotarou and his comedy schtick, which gets truly insufferable now that there's no qualities to distract from it. It really makes me think that S1 wasn't even all that good to begin with and seems like an attempt to turn this surprise success into an easy money longrunner with no edge and no ambitions. "The idol show for people who don't watch idol shows" indeed, but not the way you mean it. 4/10

Bakuten

But not to dwell on the failures, with the second show we're already above the cut — barely. This one got my attention with its really impressive performance scenes early on and it totally sticks to that, which is even more impressive. But besides that? Well, this is by far the most predictable show in a season where I watched an unambitious Kiraralike and put ZLS on blast for having no ideas. The characters are a mixed bag, some are cool (Shida, Asawo), some are very annoying (Mashiro), but those are the supports. The main cast is extremely one-dimensional, which is fine until they try to heap a ton of pathos on their lead, which doesn't go well. But I guess execution matters, and Bakuten is slick enough to get by. Writing this down in stark daylight I feel like I overrated this show somewhat (I actually put it over the next one originally, which definitely doesn't hold up when thinking about it), but I was indeed mostly entertained. 6/10

Yakunara Mug Cup mo

Yeah. Of course Mug Cup definitely doesn't invent or subvert anything either, but it's a pretty good Kiraralike that's always entertaining to watch. Explaining the qualities of such a nothing genre is as difficult as ever, but it mostly comes down to me liking the characters and it having nothing to annoy me. It's shorter than normal, which is a plus for slim shows like this. And yeah, you can make an excessive amount of dick jokes with the clay fondling. That helps too. Looks are just fine, pleasant but nothing out of the ordinary. Comfy low-effort anime. 6/10

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

This one is decent, but sadly still a major letdown. Because the first few episodes of Vivy were excellent and kicked ass, but then it became increasingly clear that the writing can't cash the checks the ideas wrote while the action starts running into severely diminishing returns. Vivy just keeps slowly getting worse and worse as it goes on, not by a huge amount each episode but by the end there's a pretty sizeable gulf between potential and result. Going into detail would probably be a little much for this venue because there's a lot, but from the top level view the issue is that while Vivy has good fundamental ideas and steals at the right places, it just isn't a smart show — it's schlock, and by the end, poorly thought out schlock that tries to smooth out every problem with liberal application of the big feels hammer and le epic twist at that. Yeah, couldn't tell that the Re:Zero dude was aboard here, for sure. That said, it still works pretty well as entertaining schlock that is not to be taken too seriously, and the characters are generally just very fun to watch even when they're doing stupid things. Still, I can't in good conscience rate this higher than Beatless, a show that looks like butt but properly executes on its ideas. 6/10

Super Cub

So this is 100% a Honda commercial, and I got really mad a Yuru Camp last season for being a blatant shill. Yet I'm feeling this, what gives? I think the main difference is that Super Cub is specifically a commercial for one product (and a very iconic product at that), while Yuru Camp is so all over the place that it ends up mostly a commercial for consumerism in general. And when Super Cub goes too hard on the product (which it does), it's at least pretty entertaining. That's something about Super Cub in general: It goes hard. Your regular Kiraralike this is not, because it's uncommonly slow, focused and moody - yes, it almost measures up to Yuru Camp at its best and demolishes it at its worst. Also, it's just extremely amusing to see sadblob Koguma grow a huge grizzly biker beard and become a badass outlaw dad to her goofy wife and cute daughter, all thanks to the power of afforable personal transportation. Needless to say, that can get unintentionally silly, but Super Cub has so much charm that it doesn't matter — it's great when it's good and still funny when it's not. 7/10

Shadows House

Shadows House turned up with a lot of potential, and I have to say it at least delivered on most of it. It has some problems; notably I'm not a fan of how the entire middle turned out to be a tournament arc of sorts that seems curiously inspired by Resident Evil memes, crest-shaped intentations and boulder punching included. I also think that this is a show that would be perfectly fine without explaining much, but I guess it is a shounen manga after all so we got dumped on eventually anyway. At least that came late - close relative Promised Neverland didn't show that much restraint. Shadows House is generally well written though, with great characters, interesting interactions and a great hook. But what really makes it memorable is that it's exceptionally good at the cute/creepy contrast, something that is often tried but rarely works as well as here, with great character designs and very appropriate production. I hope this gets a sequel, because it seems like it's just getting started. 7/10

SSSS.Dynazenon

Coming in with a fondness for Gridman, Dynazenon didn't have to do much to convince me. The surprise though is that it's not a rehash even if it's basically the same show, a character drama where occasionally huge and goofy fights break out. Dynazenon is Gridman done better, and the interesting part is how it accomplishes this - mainly by being far more conventional. I do appreciate that Gridman went for something weird and almost experimental, but that only really paid off towards the end while most of the show was a distraction/holding pattern. It just didn't feel like there was enough material for a full series there, more like a movie maybe, if even that. Dynazenon fixes this by just being a TV show, with an actual cast of characters that each have their own arc. And by spreading the material this way, Dynazenon ends up having a lot more nuance than its intensely focused predecessor, while having the same themes and not actually being any deeper. In a way, Gridman ends up looking like the spinoff in retrospect, while Dynazenon is the full package. 8/10

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3

So how good was this season? So good that Thunderbolt Fantasy doesn't end up at the top, that's how. And all the elements that made Tbolt such a sure thing are still there, big hammy puppets doing stunts and scheming never gets old. However, I do have to note that at this point, the writing appears to have gotten too comfortable. I don't expect it to ever top the amazing S1 ending, but at this point it's like Tbolt has stopped trying to deliver on endings at all and seems in the process of retooling itself into a longrunner instead. Barely anything gets resolved in S3 (the climax is that the climax of S2 is resolved again, for good this time... maybe), and everything else is just setting up plotpoints for the next season. Tbolt is truly lucky that it doesn't actually need to resolve anything to be a great time, but at this point I have to say that I'd appreciate it if they wrapped it up with S4. 8/10

Nomad: Megalobox 2

Speaking of sequels to shows I liked, Nomad doesn't so much improve upon its predecessor but steamrolls right over it. This is a tall order, since Megalobox was surprisingly good for a sports shounen and had a real nice, heartwarming ending that Nomad instantly negates for purposes of drama and everyone being extremely miserable. That sounds like a pretty terrible idea - and it would be, if Nomad wasn't as excellent as it is. To call it not the same show would be an understatement, because it's a true sequel, not just the same characters doing their thing some more, or new characters doing the same thing as the old ones did. Indeed my biggest problem with Megalobox was that it still closely adhered to its genre template and was very predictable; Nomad fixes this issue thoroughly. Nomad is about questioning what being a hotblooded shounen protagonist eventually leads you to, and how to fix everything you screwed up by being one. You could call it a deconstruction, but that term has been so abused for cynical, edgy "thing you like actually sucks" takes that I feel like it doesn't really fit here. Nomad isn't cynical at all, it's just a character drama about some boxers past their prime, and it being a sequel to a show that is indeed rather formulaic just enhances the experience. My biggest issue with it was that I really like what they did with Joe in this story, so the big focus on Mac's backstory felt like a distraction for a long time. But in the end that turned out to be absolutely necessary to make the ending work. The ending's just great, by the way, and I shall say not more about it. 9/10

Odd Taxi

Yeah boy, here's the show that has apparently become somewhat of a "greatest show you didn't watch" meme, which I can feel smug about because I don't need YouTubers to tell me what's good and followed this from day one. Anyway, Odd Taxi is indeed great, the greatest show in a few years even. What starts out as seemingly a relaxed hangout show in the vein of Midnight Diners quickly turns into a psychological murder mystery while never losing its quirky humor. The character writing is outstanding, with even small bit players being on a level that the average anime wishes it could have for leads. And the rollout of the mystery is exemplary, with answers given and new questions raised every episode with a satisfying and logical payoff in the end. This is also the rare anime that has rock solid production from the first to the last second; it's never really flashy but excellently done and highly consistent nonetheless. And the music just owns. I have a few complaints, mainly that there's a few logical weaknesses in the story (which wouldn't even register in a lesser show, but sticks out here since the rest is so immaculately constructed) and that the ending overextends on the emotions when the rest of the show is so reserved and dry in comparison. But those are only the reasons why I didn't give it perfect marks, and I almost did that anyway. 9/10

SF Character Overview: Ken and his Brazilian catchphrase

I mentioned before that the Ryu and Ken rivalry dates back long, long before the games themselves, it treads ground familiar to culture since the days of wuxia. It’s been there since SF1, but the two of them have entirely separate worlds outside of their fistcuffs with each other. Ryu usually wins, but one thing becomes very clear when they are separate:

Ken gets a lot of mileage out of not being the main character, doesn’t he? 

Built as the opposite of Ryu, but not nearly as important to the Street Fighter narrative, tends to give Ken a lot more freedom as a character than Ryu has. His playstyle is flashy, bold, just as accessible as Ryu’s but with tricks that favor newcomers that just wanna steamroll the competition with special attacks instead of patiently learning how to play the match. His clothes are in much better shape than Ryu’s, but he conducts himself with far less grace and humility. His alternate costumes are far more ridiculous. He gets to undergo radical design shifts in each game, since he doesn’t have to stay completely static visually-wise like Ryu. He gets to marry and have a life outside of fighting, he gets an understudy, he has a kid that punches him in the nuts. We make memes about how insufferable he is to fight and how crappy his face and hair look in V. We fight him in stages like boat parties and hotels that belong to him. He doesn’t really need anything more in life, and fights mainly because he likes it. 

In a lot of ways, Ken has undisputably got it better than Ryu in his general life. Which is part of why Ryu will nearly always be the better fighter when they fight. Ken has a life outside of Street Fighter, and he joins the tournaments not for the money or rewards (he doesn’t need it), or even to prove himself (he needs it even less), but because Ryu is there, and he’ll be damned if he lets Ryu keep showing him up without putting on a fight. 

It doesn’t usually fall onto Ken the role of being the main POV character, the one who has to grow and struggle in a narrative. But sometimes it does to unexpectedly great results. 

My main experience with Ken as a character actually has little to do with the games, and instead the Street Fighter II Victory anime.

Street Fighter II Victory was an anime released in 1995 to capitalize on the release of the Street Fighter film, the one starring Raul Julia and no one else. It took a very back-to-basics approach with the storyline, focusing primarily on Ryu and Ken as shonen protagonists, their growth as warriors and their gradual encounters with other SF characters. The show also featured several elements that would later become SF canon, such as Sagat being a good character caught on the wrong side on the law and Chun-Li being brainwashed into working for Shadaloo

The show never achieved much popularity in the US, or in Japan, but I cannot overstate just how popular it became in South America. In Brazil, it’s considered by many to be the absolute peak of Street Fighter as a property, story-wise. The show aired on the same network as Dragon Ball, and on similar time slots. Kids grew up on this show, the scene where Ryu learns to perform the Hadouken was extremely imitated by an entire generation of kids in Brazil. 

And in regards to Ken, here’s something: Have you ever heard of a character who has a famous catchphrase, that is purely an invention of dubbing that only exists in one side of the globe and is completely unknown elsewhere?

Because Ken had one for this show. It was “Ih, ó o cara aí”. 

The closest translation to it I can provide is that it means something like “Yeesh, the nerve on that guy” or “Wew, what a jerk”, but it’s really hard to convey exactly. It’s an extremely informal phrase, bordering on surfer/skater slang, that Ken uses to mock people for being arrogant or pretentious or just anyone he doesn’t like. Picture that “Sonic the Hedgehog wagging his finger at you” kind of attitude, that’s what it conveys. 

It gets brought up so often in Brazilian fan communities dedicated to Street Fighter, it’s become so associated as THE Ken phrase, that it was kinda surprising to visit English pages and discover that this just plain doesn’t exist, outside of Brazil. I can’t think of a similar phenomenon. 

Of course, that’s one half of what people remember most about Ken in the show. The other half is this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwBhESdzaJE

The Ken vs Vega fight, though it may not be to you, is one of those extremely iconic anime fights that even people who don’t remember anything about the show will go “oooh, shit, yeah I remember that one, Ken got fucked to hell and back and then he won”. It’s a harsh, brutal encounter, juxtaposed with the also extremely famous scene of Ryu practicing his Hadouken, aired on the daytime slot usually reserved for kid-friendly cartoons, and where as DBZ fights could get bloody too, the tension was lesser because everyone knew the characters were gods that could survive anything. 

This is just one guy who knows karate trying to survive against a maniac with super speed and poison tipped blades, fighting to save his friend from being sold off to an international crime ring (with the not subtle threat of sexual assault), completely alone, on a countdown due to being poisoned and getting more and more injured. And then he wins.

That’s always gonna be the main thing that appeals to me about Ken, a character I often forget I have strong feelings for until I revisit that scene and other similar moments in other Street Fighter stories. 

Ryu is the guy who overcomes everything, any demons within or outside, to win the fight. He’s always going to win the fight and look cool doing so. He’s always going to be Ryu, doing what he does. 

Ken? He may win, but he ain’t the main character of anything. He has a wholly separate life, loved ones to fight for. He grows his hair and cuts it, he changes his clothes, he gets to lose, even often. He gets to partake in fights where he gets beaten cruelly and harshly in ways Ryu would not, but when he wins, he wins with that fire in his fist and that glint in his eye and the carefree smugness of someone who gets to be rebellious and arrogant because he’s not the main character. 

And because he’s got the best uppercut, give or take a flowchart or two.

Final rating: 4/5

“Red Blood” by Kaitlyn Legaspi

Looking for a new read? Check out this amazing book by @kaitlyn_b_legaspi

Summary: 

     In the fifty-two domains, there exists two groups of people: The bound and unbound, those without powers and those with them. Only the unbound can hold the highest positions in the government: The Card Holders.      When her domain’s Card Holder dies, seventeen-year-old Neela Blydes is forced to participate in a tournament to find the unbound most worthy of leading the Queen of Hearts Domain. But the tournament isn’t as glorious as it seems. It herds unique unbound known as Specialists into deadly combat. Winning by default is nonexistent and killing is permitted.       As Neela progresses through the first few rounds, she realizes the tournament is just one of her worries. The burn scar on her left shoulder suddenly flares up at random times, an elite assassin marks her as his next target, and a frightening connection to the murderous rogue organization comes to light. While trying to deal with all these stresses weighing on her shoulders, one more appears in the form of a white-haired man with crimson eyes.       Dangerously familiar crimson eyes.

Reviews: 

"If you enjoyed Nova Artino’s shenanigans in Marissa Meyer's "Renegades", and rooted for Miles Morales throughout "Into The Spiderverse" (don’t we all), then you CAN'T miss on ‘Red Blood’! The feels were very strong throughout the entire book. Kaitlyn has created a lovely cast of characters you can’t help but love, and if you thought that Haymitch was a lovely trainer-become-fatherly-figure, just you wait for Queen of Hearts’ local ray of sunshine, Brochan. Nearly all of the characters (not you, Redd and Claec, do me a favour and jump off a cliff) are impossible not to love. Neela, in particular, is an incredible protagonist at that—she’s strong and she knows it, but she doesn’t come across as obnoxious, arrogant, or insufferable. I really bonded with her, and I can’t wait to read the rest of her story! Kaitlyn wrote an addictive book here, and I really need everyone to read it so I don't have to fangirl alone!" "I’ve read Kaitlyn’s Dark Irregular trilogy, which was amazing, but this was just a whole other level! The characters are just so real and present and driving to the story. Neela is such a tough cookie and really the ideal protagonist. She’s driven, compassionate, and has a strong sense of right and wrong. All the other characters make a great cast, as well. The world-building is incredibly immersive, and the whole idea behind it is so unique. Between the characters and world-building, I was so engaged in this story from the moment I met Neela all the way through to the thrilling conclusion. I loved how so many different clues are woven into the story, and I'm excited to see how all of them come together throughout the series. This is a fantastic book for anyone looking for adventure, magic, and well-developed characters all brought together in a beautiful story."

"Kaitlyn Legaspi did a wonderful job of bringing the characters and the world to life in this books. I read this as an ARC reader, and I usually avoid reading books with my eyes as much as possible. But Red Blood drew me in and had me forgetting that I don't like reading ebooks! She did such a good job bringing me in to Nella's head. So much so that I got a little moody and pessimistic like she is! I can't wait to see more from Kaitlyn and in this series."

"Neela is a feisty young vigilante, with unbound powers, that’s grown up hiding in the slums. If you enjoy strong females, you’ll enjoy her.Red Blood is full of fast paced action and superpowers. It reminded me a lot of Naruto, but without the school. It’s a fun read. Kaitlyn has put a lot of thought into the magic system and World-building to bring this story to life."

Here’s the link to buy Kaitlyn Legaspi’s books!

https://books2read.com/u/3n8G5P

this season was kind of whack, but at least we had Eizouken

Heya Camp is just kind of a lazy reminder that Yuru Camp exists, and will continue to exist in the future. You remember these characters?? OK good, just making sure. That said, did I immediately feel the tension release in my entire body when I heard the OST? Duh. Did I sing “it’s coffee time” to the ending not knowing these were the incorrect lyrics? The entire time.

I don’t know what to do with Isekai Quartet because like, objectively, I should hate it. I do not enjoy like 2.5 of the shows involved, and the addition of Shield Hero was not a welcome one. Turns out it doesn’t matter anyway because it was just Isekai Quartet and also Naofumi is Sometimes Scowling in the Background and that’s about as much of him as I want to see anyway. And yet? I do enjoy this Disney Channel Original Crossover. There’s something inherently fun about watching these characters from disparate shows interact with each other, and no matter what the original stakes were in their respective series, they’re all just doing homework and getting part time jobs and that shit’s funny when a big skeleton man is doing it.

After its first episode, Asteroid in Love was kind of a slog. This is your typical seasonal CGDGT show, and apart from that, I really can’t think of anything to say about it. I didn’t learn anything about the Extremely Niche Topic these girls are doing, and it wasn’t even that gay. Disappointing. 

I was really looking forward to Toilet Bound Hanako-kun because I am a big fan of the source material, but I was pretty let down by this adaptation. It seems that they prioritized the art style and the color scheme above everything else, but that essentially just meant the entire project ended up being colored manga panels. I wanted to see them move around! There was not a single moment of animation that justified it being an anime. You might as well have been watching a PowerPoint. I can’t think of anything nice to say. Let’s move on. 

Bofuri is my power fantasy. I want to play a video game so cluelessly I break it into tiny pieces and bumble into being the most powerful player in the world’s nicest MMORPG. Maple turns powercreep into powersprint. What Bofuri lacks in character development or plot, it makes up for in outrageous Maple feats. She holds the entire world in the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even know it. She named her OP pet turtle Syrup and then turned into an alien abomination unknown to the world and went on a killing rampage. This anime was Maple Crossing Online. Love you, Maple. Wreck shit, Maple. 

If My Favorite Idol Got Into Budokan, I Would Die walks a thin line and what separates it from being a slobbering idol otaku engine preaching how Cool it is to Be an Otaku and an Idol Show Watamote is the fact that Eripiyo is a girl. That’s it. If you took her and replaced her with your average Joe Schmoe-san, this show would be insufferably creepy. Every time I was waiting for it to topple over, Jenga-like, it managed to right itself and straddle the tightrope. It’s not a particularly subtle piece of media, nor does it do what I was hoping it would do and engage in any sort of conversation about the obsessive nature of idol otakudom, but you know what it does a good job of doing? Portraying being an idol as a job. Just some adults putting on underground shows and selling the same CD of like two songs over and over again. I was also hoping it would address what happened to Eripiyo, maybe talk about why at the beginning she’s dressed like an office worker and apparently gives that all up to follow this kinda-shitty idol group, why this fanatic escapism is preferable, or even maybe address how gay it is? Not in the cards, though. Honestly Budokan was, despite itself, pretty enjoyable? There are some great background lesbians. Also can we talk about how consistently good the production values were on this show? Why did this have such great dance sequences? Why did this look better than Love “Has More Money Than God” Live? Actually no I take everything back this show was kind of just Idol Otaku Watamote

Hey, let’s talk about the other idol show airing this season: the completely unhinged 22/7. This show is Whack. This show operates on an entire different plane of reality. I know nothing about the actual band, so I came into this blind and oh my god. Hey guys, the plot of 22/7 is that a Wall tells some girls to form an idol unit.  A sentient Wall whose orders absolutely must be followed. Why? Dunno! What happens if you don’t follow its orders? Never elaborated on. (Actually, is this a reference to Pink Floyd? I have no fucking clue.) In any case these eight girls, summoned by a letter from the Wall, are all invited to become an idol group, and then they’re magically an idol group. It’s unclear how they become successful, how they book gigs, who’s keeping the lights on at the agency, how they’re getting paid, who HR is, how their gorilla man agent found this Wall and determined that all its directives Must Be Followed, but shit, man. What follows in 22/7 is a one-member-per-episode serial that quite frankly stumbles far more often than it succeeds. One girl’s grandma died and that’s why she came to Japan. One girl had a traumatizing experience where she got lost in the woods for a week and it broke her family apart and now things just suck forever. These things are equal. One poor girl’s entire episode was about how she didn’t want to put on a bathing suit for a photo shoot and how uncomfortable she felt about it, but in the end she was made to apologize for dragging her feet for so long and takes her photo for a pin up. Yuck. Gross. Bad. The only valid girl is Jun, end of discussion. None of this even holds a candle to the finale-- wherein the girls are directed by the Wall to disband, and, defying an order for the first time, the girls return to their agency and throw shit at the Wall until it breaks down. It’s revealed that the Wall isn’t supernatural-- behind it are tv monitors, photos of the girls as children, records of their activities. A person or people are behind this. Why??? Are they being groomed?? Is the Wall a metaphor for the Industry? I’m so concerned. The girls aren’t, though, because after a little side eyeing, they ascend a staircase and wow! A Stage! Our fans are all here for our reunion tour! And then they’re fine and I guess their idol group is back together or something? Did I mention the stage where they perform? It’s at a zoo. I can’t tell if this is the most scathing condemnation of idol culture I’ve ever watched or just completely oblivious. The characters don’t engage in any sort of thought about what they’re being put through, but they are performing their final song, the lyrics of which are about how life is just too hard to keep on living, at a zoo and I don’t think you can have that sort of thing happen unless you’re trying to make a point. Right??? RIGHT?!? Dance and sing, monkeys.

Smile Down the Runway was another show completely divorced from reality. So you got your main character, Chiyuki, whose thing is that she’s Too Short to Be a Model at her father’s very prestigious modeling agency. Which, like, is valid! Let’s see some variation in the modeling industry. Let’s shake it up. Let’s lead the charge for alternative models with bodies outside of the very narrow requirements of the fashion industry. What’s that, Chiyuki? You have no interest in that? You want to be a Hypermodel? I don’t know what that shit is, I think you made it up. Our other protagonist is Ikuto, the destitute, put upon, bobcut boy with a dying mother and 3 younger siblings who is trying to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. Are you beginning to sense the problem here? There is a fundamental imbalance in the presentation of these characters’ goals and situations. Also? Emotions are at an eleven, always. Characters are always acting as if they’ve just seen someone get murdered in front of their eyes even when it’s like. There’s a messed up seam. They are constantly being mortified, crushed, and having their dreams ripped away. One time, two different assholes offered Ikuto magical mom-fixing blood money when he was struggling to come up with funds to pay off his medical debt at the cost of giving up his spot in the fashion show. Wildin’ 

Haikyuu didn’t exactly come in like a lion, but I’m sure it’ll be more organic upon rewatching. We were laying the groundwork for much of this season so I’m expecting it to payoff later, but the beginning definitely lagged. Every time Haikyuu hints at a women’s volleyball tournament, I want a volleyball anime with girls. Man, those ten minutes we got with Kiyoko? Those were great. 

I don’t have too much to say about Somali and Forest Spirit. Abe’s “Make Children” agenda feels at least a little more like a narrative choice in this anime, and I enjoyed Somali and the Golem’s relationship and their travels were in equal turns harrowing and heartwarming. And I did tear up at the end so you got me there, anime. 

In/Spectre has some balls being an anime. It’s existed as a light novel and a manga and those are both superior mediums for it because let’s put all our cards on the table here-- In/Spectre is a show about talking. Five whole entire episodes take place in a car. The finale is winning an argument in an anonymous 4chan chatroom. That said, I have such a fondness for In/Spectre. I think Kotoko rocks. I think a show willing to do nothing but talk at you for two hours is badass. Sitting through this anime is like watching a podcast. I think the show engages in some great dialogue about human nature and how we prefer stories that are theatrical, narratively-driven, and have a logical cause-and-effect, instead of the truth, which is more often than not grim, and disappointing, and illogical. I like that Kotoko’s only function, in-story and out of it, is to bullshit so hard she invents alternate realities. Anyway In/Spectre is good. 

There’s no praise I can lavish on Eizouken that hasn’t already been said. It’s powerful, it’s strange, it’s energetic, and it’s packaged with such love. It’s repurposed the CGDCT template into something deeply affecting. It’s an anime for people who love animation.  I hope everyone watches Eizouken.

MY HERO ACADEMIA! :D

I've only seen up to ep47 so far, so all of this is subject to change :D

the first character i ever fell in love with: DEKU. He's exactly the sort of caring, good boy protagonist trying his best that I'm a sucker for.a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: My feelings have stayed pretty consistent up to now.a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Haha, same as the last two answers - I'm so new to this that so far none of my shipping opinions have changed yet.my ultimate favorite character™: I currently do not have one? There's a lot of characters I like and feel strongly about, but I feel like my ultimate fave hasn't shone through yet. I do like Aizawa, All Might and Deku a lot thoprettiest character: Momo is super pretty I just wish they'd dress her in something that isn't just fanservicemy most hated character: Mineta of coursemy OTP: so far it'd be easiest to just say I like the dekubowl and we'll see which member of the bowl becomes my absolute fave to ship with Deku in time.my NOTP: Mineta/anyone. He's not invited to the dekubowl. He's also not invited near any of the girls.favorite episode: Hmmm idk yet? The pacing in this series is a bit unusual? It feels less like there are episodes and more like each season is one giant episode that the writers just cut up into chunks when they need to break for the next 20min timeslot?saddest death: not a death, but Todoroki's backstory might genuinely be the saddest and most messed up thing I've seen in a long timefavorite season: The tournament season was really good, the first season was really good, the training in the wildness season was really good and the one i'm on rn where bakugou has been kidnapped is really good. I just like most of this series a lot, it has a good balance and even the parts I liked less can be breezed through quickly.least favorite season: For some reason I found the arc where Deku was being trained by that old man really boring? But I dunno why though, since there was a lot of focus on Deku, Todoroki and Iida who I love.character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: Do people like the villains? Cuz I've not been interested in them so far.my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: OKAY SO HERE'S THE THING. Here is. the thing. I went into this series fully expecting to hate Bakugou. He's the kind of character who I usually hate, after all. But so far I've found him really entertaining? I want to hate him, but I can't. I think maybe it's because both the series itself and all the characters in the class are aware of how awful he is and it isn't glossed over. idk I feel like I prefer insufferable asshole characters when the narrative is aware that they're exactly that. So yeah, Iiii kinda like Bakugou. A lot. haha...my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: EVERY FUCKING FEMALE CHARACTER. I'm so mad because for the most part I'm (sadly) desensitised to how anime treats girls, but in this series in particular it annoys me how dishonest it is with it? Like, it'll build up characters like Uraraka and Momo to seem like they're important and are going to get good development, but then they're always shoved to the sidelines and reduced to just fan service. Tsu got a whole episode to herself, but it wasn't connected to the main plot at all and then later on they do that gross blowjob gag with her even though she's a 15 year old kid. Not okay. Also, the two main female pro heroes we've seen so far (Midnight and Mt. Lady) both have powers based on being sexualised. It's frustrating, cuz this series would be near perfect if only it cut out this crappy fan service and let its female cast have plot relevance.my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: ........BakuDeku.............my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: I've recently started shipping Uraraka/Tsu, Uraraka/Iida and Iida/Todoroki, so I'm sure I'll like all of these more as I see more of the characters.

Sigh.

If only right now I wouldn’t hate so fully anything HQ related for the ignoble downhill course (curse works too) that hack of Furudate forced it into (how’s the Furudate’s Fanfiction Special progressing? I have no notion because I stopped to care once MY Sakusa became one of Poisonous Orange Dwarf’s minions but I guess the telltale has surely drawn down into more impossibile ways to glorify that horrid midget. I wonder why all volley teams won’t make their athletes train on the beach? If it is so beneficiary for the skills, tell me why none used it for people actually fit for the sport? Ah, right... because it’s all bull**it and only impaired simpletons could believe it, that’s the reason) this would make my heart happy.

But I haven’t even looked one second of season 4 yet, because I hate so much what these once heart-warming chapters are supposed to lead to I can’t bring myself to watch it.

Man-ga will surely broadcast it too after these OAV and I will record it all. But wait to watch until HQ will finally end and Furudate and his horrid protagonist will be (bad) history. Only after that, consciously aware that all went to garbage after Inarizaki match, I will pick it back up to carefully trash it in one block, and maybe get the tranquillity to accept that what I once loved was completely ruined by the very poor writer and author of it.

Regarding this, honest to Heaven I firmly believe my Lord Kags isn’t a Furudate’s creation: it’s like he tried to create a perfect character under the influence of someone else and once this someone else left his sorry money-hungry ass he stopped to put effort in it, completely ruining said perfect character. I see Furudate is a loser and can only sympathize with losers. Hence the way HQ lost all realistic approach and became a sham to glorify the most banal, not realistic, annoying and insufferable MC ever, the poster (dwarf ) boy for all frustrated losers around who believe in telltales and superpowers to raise their envious spirits and come victorious in self projecting situations against people actually full of skills and talents, things that they cannot manage, comprehend and therefore appreciate or describe.

So... let’s program to save all episodes and OaV. I hope by the end of Summer I will be enough happy for having been in Tokyo for the Olympics and witnessed live the volleyball tournament there I will be calm enough to rewatch it with a detachable soul.

Furudate... you are one of the greatest disastrous disappointments of all time. Remember also my curses do work. Unlike your plots.

Propaganda why Anakin Skywalker is insufferable:

It's less about his character and more about the way ppl talk about him and narrative around him in a lot of current stuff. The way everyone try to bend over backwards to prove how his reasons to turn Darth Vader were somehow noble or good when almost every single bad guy in Star Wars (expect Palpatine and that guy who taught him) have much more sympathetic history and reasons and how he's not a bad person bc he cried a few times while doing atrocities. And how everyone else gets the blame for all his shortcomings ('they did it but never taught him!!!' -he literally parrotos this same lessons to his own student, it's obvious he knows better but chooses to not apply to himself anything that is slightly uncomfortable to him). Like, I love characters being genuinely not good people as much as a next guy but let's not pretend they're good people actually

the guy has zero critical thinking skills, he whines about everything all the time. I love him, but he’s awful to listen to. THIS BITCH. I HATE HIM. NO CRITICAL THINKING. NO SELF AWARENESS. WHINY MURDEROUS ASSHOLE. LIKE SERIOUSLY. He's a JEDI. LIKE. THEY HAVE HISTORY CLASSES!!!! He should have KNOWNNNNNN that when he had prophetic dreams they're not necessarily true!!!!! Also like. In the Star Wars universe, do Jedi just not have imaginations that can create NORMAL dreams when they sleep??? Do Jedi just not usually dream??? If he hadn't gotten paranoid from the dreams of Padme dying in childbirth

BILLIONS OF LIVES WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. FOR THAT MATTER, if you're gonna have A SUPER ILLEGAL SUPER SECRET MARRIAGE, wouldn't you, I don't know, USE PROTECTION SO THAT YOUR WIFE WHO IS SECRETLY AND ILLEGALLY MARRIED DOESN'T GET PREGANANANT????? LIKE LOOK I LOVE LUKE AND LEIA MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF BUT THEIR PARENTS WERE SO FUCKING STUPID. ANAKIN SKYWALKER HATES CONDOMS BECAUSE THEY DONT FEEL AS GOOD I DON'T FUCKING KNOW. Man is an IDIOT. How can you have had a role model and father figure like Obi-Wan for most of your fucking life and grow up to do the shitty, STUPID things Anakin did. Ok this is way too long I'm sorry but I love Obi-Wan so much and Anakin ruined his fucking life and hes just such a little DICK. MURDERED A WHOLE VILLAGE OF SAND PEOPLE. AND DOZENS IF NOT HUNDREDS OF CHILDRENNNNNNNN. ANGSTY WHINY TEENAGER. FUCK HIMMMMMMM

Yes he was probably directed to act that way but the way his lines were written did not help

Propaganda why Tim Jackson Drake is insufferable:

oh man. i've had enough of this duckboy (as the protag, he's tolerable in yj and stuff.) like when tim is the protag every character in the story becomes Worse. lady shiva gets nerfed. steph is turned into jealous hormonal catfight girl. helena is dumbified and too womanly to function (they have a nice dynamic as long as tim isn't the protag). cassie and tim were great in yj98, but as soon as he is The Protag then she is his best friend's girlfriend and they're barely friends anymore. cass is turned into a rapist. dick is turned into a lazy mediocre robin. jason turns into fucky wucky dumb brute yaoi stalker boyfriend who is suddenly obsessed with tim's awesome skills. 10 y.o. damian somehow deserves to be put on a hitlist because he's a savage and tim is civilized. Sometimes the story is bogged own with tim's internal or external lectures about their flaws and how they need to be better (better like him), except for dick HMMMM wonder why that is. probbly wouldn't be so bothered if tim wasn't crammed into the spotlight of every crossover in the 90s and early 00s and then so much of dc and the fandom wave it around as the peak era of comicbooks. like im sorry. he is not a relatable protag. like the editors literally told newspapers that he was created for gen x white dudes who blow their money on comics and merch, the info is on wikipedia.

White twink rich boy who always has to be smartest bestest boy even when he is a part of a whole group of smartest bestest ppl (aka bat family as a whole, like he's literally THE Mary sue of a group of Mary sues) at expense of literally everyone else

His definitive writer is a conservative Republican. His series is full of moral PSAs, *dumb* *hormonal* girls getting into catfights over him, and blatant sexism and racism. He gives anti-marijuana speeches to a standing ovation, he lectures about how babies need a father and a mother, and sex is for marriage. Other characters suddenly become stupid around him so that he looks smart. The other characters talk about how he is the best, nicest, smartest Robin ever and ALL the others were dumber and meaner than he is, even the one that mentored him. He as a grown adult man is canonically still bitter about ""his"" child sidekick role being given to an actual child (fans pretend he is the victim of this on both sides—nope he's the adult fighting a child for the child sidekick role, no adult wanted to replace him). Did I mention that this character is the amazing pure white boy, and his 10-year-old successor is painted as a savage Arab terrorist who needs to be put in his place? T*m is a 5'9""+ adult grown man, not a delicate sensitive baby boy.

Binge-Watching: Yu Yu Hakusho, Day 16, Episodes 98-102

In which the show hits the ground running to prepare for the final confrontation, and we dive into our favorite demons’ troubled pasts.

The Rush to War

These episodes served mainly as table-setting for the big event, in which Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei will clash with their demon overlords to determine the fate of Demon World. We dive into the politics of the situation and the backstories of the players involved, all so we can have the necessary context for the fireworks that will eventually erupt. In that way, it’s a lot like a precursor to HxH’s Chimera Ant arc; a slew of new characters, locations, and concepts that need to be established and fleshed out so that they can all explode off of each other in engaging and epic ways. Here’s hoping the big showdown doesn’t rely so much on an insufferably dry narrator this time around.

What’s interesting about this build-up, beyond all the stuff we learn about our protagonists and their situations, is how incredibly fast it all feels. YYH has always been pretty methodically paced, spending long stretches of time to flesh out and explore the various encounters it places its heroes in. Sometimes that’s been to its detriment- a few of the Dark Tournament fights could’ve been shaved down a bit, I think- but it’s been able to maintain a pretty steady level of engagement without descending into pointless padding for time. Here, in contrast, months rush by in the blink of an eye. Massive, status-quo reshaping plot turns are brushed over in passing. Alliances grow, change, fracture, and reform in just a couple episodes, when building that level of trust might’ve taken an entire arc before. It feels like the show suddenly jerked itself out of a long sleep and immediately started running the marathon, dedicating the majority of its time to fleshing out the past while rushing through the present to reach the inevitable future.

And I’m not quite sure how I feel about this shift in pacing. On the one hand, I’m glad we’re not living through every second of the year-long build-up to the confrontation. This speed allows big moments like Makuro’s bond with Hiei and Kurama overcoming Sachi as second in command to hit swiftly and concisely, building the playing field at a refreshing rate. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel like it leaves some developments without a lot of meat on their bones. Koenma is suddenly back in his daddy’s good graces thanks to bigger threats on the horizon, and it’s tossed of in just a few lines. We find out that Kurama now has a step-brother thanks to his mother re-marrying, and the very next scene is said brother being threatened by one of Yomi’s minions, before we’ve gotten a change to really connect with him at all. It’s also a bit frustrating how so much of the incredibly rich backstories for our two demon pals are delivered through voice-over monologue exposition as well as flashbacks. The whole affair can’t help but feel, however slightly, like the show was getting stretched for time, so they rushed through the exposition to just get to the big fight. It’s far from a deal-breaker, and the information we learn is interesting enough to keep my investment on its own, but perhaps another episode in each character’s little arc might’ve gone a long way into making them feel more complete.

Also, and this is really just a personal gripe, but shame on you for keeping Kuwabara out of the final battle. He deserves so much better.

Hiei’s Death Wish

That being said... yeah, diving into Hiei and Kurama’s pasts was one hell of an experience. Finally, we understand why Hiei has been so unwilling to reveal himself to Yukina as her brother; he should technically be dead. The ice nymphs live in an isolated all-female world, and they have daughters through immaculate conception. But Hiei’s mother had relations with a man on the outside, leading to her giving birth to a boy as well. That’s why he was cast out: like the Amazons of Greek myth, they’d learned the hard way the kind of terrors men could bring. And growing up, he wanted to find his old home and destroy it in revenge. That’s why he got his demonic third eye: to find it, as well as his mother’s lost tear pearl that she gave to him at birth, but was lost in a skirmish with bandits at some point in his life.

But when Hiei got back to the ice village, he realized that these people weren’t worth killing; their lives were already so miserable, they might as well already be dead. In addition his mother had killed herself long ago. The only thing left to do was find and protect his sister, who was lost somewhere in the world. Then, he would have no more purpose. Having done so, he engages in combat, at Makuro’s command, with the surgeon who gave him that eye, hoping to find death in battle after finding some measure of peace with his sister, who still doesn’t know who he really is. But Makuro, who had his lost pearl, refuses to let him die and keeps him alive after his brutal victory. She sees their mutual pain, and believes he can be her greatest ally.

Damn. Just, damn. There is so much going on here, and all of it so rich and fascinating, that it’s impossible to know where to start. And I haven;t even touched on Makuro’s mysterious half-robot body, or Yukina wanting her people dead as much as Hiei once did, or any of the other thousand little details packed into this backstory. Hiei is a man running from pain, trying to find any way to find peace in a life that has been almost nothing but torment. And now, Makuro has a chance to use that pain to groom Hiei into the perfect second in command. I shudder to think what kind of person will emerge from that chrysalis.

Kurama’s Identity Crisis

On the other side of things, we have Kurama, who has a very personal connection to his patron king Yomi. They were bandit buds back in the day, but Yomi was impulsive and got a lot of his allies killed in his pursuit of riches. So Kurama hired a hit demon to blind him and take him out of the equation. Now, a millennium later, Yomi has discovered this treachery, and is using Kurama’s human family as bargaining chips to make him obey. Harsh.

Kurama is a man caught between worlds: the world of humans (Suichi), the world of demons (Yoko), and even the world of his friends who reject that binary (Kurama). He can’t figure out which one is really him, or if they all are to some extent, and they interact and clash with each other in ways that make his life impossibly difficult. For now, he has to fully accept himself as Yoko, the fox demon of so long ago, to survive and thrive as Yomi’s second in command. But it’s increasingly unclear what this will mean for him in the long run, and who he ill be when this is all over. I just hope he can figure it out before this battle forces him to kill his friends.

On a slightly brighter note, HOLY SHIT HE RECRUITED ALL THE BEST BOYS FROM THE DARK TOURNAMENT! Hello, you humbled clown narcissist! Hello, you brat who fights with yo-yos! Hello, you two of the dueling ridiculous accents! I’ve really missed all of these colorful personalities (and I’m still holding out hope for a special appearance from Cat Lady), and I’m glad they’ll provide some fun for the final, brutal showdown.

Odds and Ends

-askjdhads BOTAN WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SUCH A CAT

-I still cannot get over how Koenma is legitimately badass now.

-Wise words, Genkai. Yusuke’s still on the path of self-discovery, and he needs to figure out for himself who he really is.

-”Even his third eye is staring at me” pfft

-”If Yusuke was ever not in danger, he’d up and die of boredom.” Genkai knows what’s up.

-Oh just propose already Kuwabara we all know you love him

-Welcome back, Tates. Never a dull moment with your soft, buttery dulcet tones around.

-“I was born on a treadmill!” Sure you were, Yusuke.

-So how does one compile stats on living beings?

Ten episodes left. Next time? Presumably, we dive into Yusuke’s relationship with his demon ancestor. See you then!

Summer 2017 Anime Overview: My Hero Academia Season 2 and KiraKira Precure a la Mode

We return to our look at the summer 2017 anime. I’ve been reviewing the seven anime I watched from worst to best. Previously I talked about the two weakest anime I watched and an anime that was kind of mixed and middling. Now we’re going to talk about too anime I watched that I consider to be Very Good and would overall recommend (with some warnings and caveats regarding some stuff for one of them). Let’s dig in!

My Hero Academia Season 2

I found the first season of My Hero Academia to be pretty good but nothing to get excited about- but damn, this season officially sucked me in. I am now a Fan. Very unwillingly, I might add, but the show wrestled my doubting heart into submission with its endearing characters. fight-y fun and surprisingly good handling of growth and relationships (for the most part). 

The basic concept behind My Hero Academia is that in a world where most people have some form of superpower, superheroism is considered a legit profession. Nerdy teenager Izuku Midoriya really wants to be a hero, but he’s one of the few people born without superpowers. However, when he encounters his idol, the number one hero All Might, everything changes and he soon finds himself enrolled in the top-ranked superhero academy.

MHA sparked my interest by being a superhero show (I’m a huge comics nerd) and kept me interested by having a legit adorable and sympathetic protagonist (Midoriya is very earnest and also cries a lot, both things I find intensely cute and relatable), good animation and generally solid fights and storytelling. But it wasn’t really until this season that it came into it’s own as an impressive ensemble show. It subverted quite a few expectations I had, in a really good way and delivered on some pretty incredible character work and interesting world building. Also, it has a great soundtrack.

The season opened with a tournament arc, and I usually find those pretty boring in shonen (though still good, they were easily my least fave parts of HXH, for instance) but this one really mixed things up by weaving in some really good emotional hooks for the one-on-one fights and actually *gasp* developing characters and rivalries that WEREN’T focused on the protagonist. 

Rather than going the safe and expected route of having a big match-up be between Midoriya and his intimidating, violent explosion-happy rival, the series showed us a fight between explosion dude and the adorable, sweet main female character (whose superpowers were NOT well-suited for fighting his explosions) and used it to showcase her determination even against incredible odds and further her story along. 

It also explored her motive for being a hero- her family isn’t well off and she wants to make some serious cash so they can live in comfort. She worried this motive was “unheroic” but was reassured it was admirable, which was nice to see, especially considering how female characters are generally discouraged from being ambitious.

But the biggest highlight of the arc was the exploration of one character’s trauma and abuse. An arc revolved around a characrer (Todoroki Shouto) having difficulty using the powers he inherited from his abusive father. The story was heartbreaking and well-done and addressed in a very moving way with a very emotional “you are not your parents, it’s your power and body, not theirs” core- but what really impressed me was that the arc’s acknowledgement that this kid’s recovery would not be instantaneous and it was going to be a long and difficult process involving many other steps.

In most shows, once Todoroki had gotten his weird therapy session courtesy of the protagonist, Midoriya, and had been able to use his powers once, it would have been over, done, he’s fixed and he can totally use them now. But instead, the show acknowledged that being able to overcome his trauma enough to use them for a few minutes didn’t mean he’s now so recovered he can just use them whenever he wants. Todoroki realized that he had a lot of unresolved issues he needed to work through and a lot of steps he needed to take before he could recover enough to be truly comfortable with using his powers all the time. “It’s not that I’ve accepted anything, it’s just that, for a moment, I was able to forget about [my dad]”, as he put it. And the show showed us that it had every intention of following him through that recovery process.

Seeing this over-the-top show about superpowers and fights where people suffer ridiculous injuries actually approach trauma recovery in a realistic and nuanced way really shocked me and also majorly tugged by heartstrings. The whole conflict also added some depth to the show’s world building- Todoroki’s scumbag dad is one of the top superheroes out there, despite being a totally horrible person. When being a superhero is a competitive profession rather than a calling you get people who aren’t necessarily “good” or into “saving people” as much as they are in it to make a profit and show off their powers. Which went nicely with the themes of the arc that followed the tournament arc.

The way the show plays around with typical shonen tropes is also great- the show has the highly gifted, arrogant once-upon-a-time-they-were-friends rival for our main character, but he doesn’t become insufferable like most of those characters because the show makes fun of him constantly. None of the other characters put up with his bullshit or take him seriously, he’s constantly called out and made fun of for his asshole attitude and the main character finds him genuinely unpleasant to be around and tried to avoid him socially. This allows his ANGRY EDGELORD nature to be funny rather than annoying, because the show’s in on it too. 

And while Todoroki also could have also been a brooding asshole rival character, he’s pretty quickly to be revealed as a nice, kinda dorky guy who’s just quiet, awkward and introverted due to trauma and lack of social interaction. The show’s really self aware in how if plays with these character archetypes for the most part, and that makes it a pleasure to watch.

The show continued its solid character work, punctuated by dramatic and well done fight scenes, through the next arc. Almost every single kid on the show got a moment to shine this season, and you got to know them as characters and heroes and I came to realize- hey, I REALLY LIKE most of these characters.They’re being developed in a fun and interesting way, and they have lives and motivations that don’t just revolve around the main character. And the relationships and dynamics between the various characters are fun and heartwarming too.

And this includes the girls, who, while definitely outnumbered by the boys and underutilized compared to them, are really competent, interesting and have some great moments and arcs going. I especially enjoyed the mini-arc where one of the girls lost confidence in her ability to lead and thought a dude would be better at it, only for him to assure her she’s way better suited for it than him. Always nice to see ladies in command being respected by the dudes with them.

But that does bring us to the fact that while it has some good female characters, the show also has some pretty big sexism issues. All the older female heroes we’ve seen so far are basically walking sex jokes/fanservice dispensers and even some of the younger female characters are uncomfortably sexualized (Momo’s got the classic “oh she has to wear a ridiculously impractical costume because her powers require it” aka “I gave this teenage female character these powers specifically so I could sexualize her”). The fanservice gets to the point of distracting from the plot at times.

There’s a huge absence of female mentors so far (I hear that gets better later) and out of the entire teaching staff of the school, only one is a woman (and her character boils down to “bondage joke”) What’s more, while the girls are good fighters, their powers tend to be less offensive and "powerful” than the boys (this is especially obvs if you look at their official stats). Oh and there’s this fucker:

...who routinely sexually harasses and assaults his female classmates and it’s supposed to be funny and harmless. Every single time this asshole comes on screen u have to put up with a deluge of gross-ass comments and seeing the female characters repeatedly be objectified and have their space invaded. And no, them hitting him or other characters saying it’s gross does not make it okay. It’s still allowed, it’s still clearly there to be “funny” and “titillating” and it still uses girls being abused as a “fun” interlude. That’s NOT okay. It’s not funny. He adds nothing to the show, he just grinds everything to a halt and makes everything uncomfortable. It’s jarring, and takes you out of an otherwise well done story. I really want him and this type of “humor” to be ejected from the show.

But yeah, with those major issues in mind (and god I wish they weren’t there), I still really enjoyed MHA and can’t wait until the next season. The plot’s ramping up and I can’t wait to see where it goes next. 

KiraKira Precure a la Mode

Kira Kira Precura a La Mode follows a group of magical girls with superpowers based on both sweets and animals. They run a pastry shop together and protect their city from monsters who want to suck the energy of people who are happily enjoying their favorite confections.

Okay, this is still ongoing, but I think it’s safe for me to say at this point that KiraKira is well on its way to being one of my favorite Precure shows, which considering how I’m a pretty big Precure fan, says a lot.

The writing is solid, the characters are fun and well-developed and the animation and art design is well-done and adorable. 

This season added a few fun new touches to the Precure formula, including having two older girls on the team- a pair of 17 year olds hanging with the 14 yr olds (14 is the typical age for Precure protagonists). This pair is a butch and femme couple pretty clearly patterned after Haruka and Michiru- and yes, that also means they are fairly blatantly a lesbian couple. 

There is in fact an entire episode revolving around Yukari (femme cat magical girl) trying to make Akira (butch dog magical girl) jealous by threatening to marry a prince and making Akira compete with him for her love. All the while, Akira struggles with whether she should share her true feelings with Yukari. This culminates in a big love confession scene that added ten years to my life. Seeing the younger girls aggressively encourage and support their relationship is great too.

So yeah, about as blatant as S-season Haruka and Michiru- which, if you understand that reference, means there ARE some scenes that try to cast ambiguity on the relationship. This one, for instance, where Akira acts flustered in response to the prince’s suppositions about her relationship with Yukari (and his incorrect assumption about her gender), makes sense in the context of a  just forming relationship, but also didn’t add much to show and was likely included so the show could make it seem ambiguous if Yukari and Akira will truly enter a relationship.

However, it has been a long time since we’ve gotten lesbians this blatant in a magical girl show aimed at young girls. Ever since the days of Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, gay subtext and text in magical girl shows has been much lighter (and heck, even fanservicey aimed-at-guys magical girl shows don’t seem to have the guts to have girls kiss). 

So the fact Precure is now deliberately homaging and emulating Haruka and Michiru and doing blatant love triangle/confession scenes IS a big deal and a step in the right direction. It’s sad we haven’t progressed since the days of Sailor Moon, but it’s good we’re at least not regressing anymore. And while Akira and Yukari haven’t gotten the word of god “Yes they are lesbians” confirmation Naoko Takeuchi gave Haruka and Michiru, (at least, not any we’ve heard of in the West), I wouldn’t say it’s outside the realm of possibility that could happen. (I really doubt the “lol we’re having sex” lines similar to what we got in Sailor Moon Stars will happen though, just because Precure doesn’t do sexual innuendo). 

And it’s worth mentioning, we do have an official duet song for Yukari and Akira that’s VERY blatantly romantic. “Koi” is even in the title. 

Yukari and Akira are a censored relationship for sure, and it’s obnoxious and wrong those censors are still in place (though not surprising, considering this is a big corporate studio running Precure). They should be able to kiss, they should be openly dating. However, they are obvious enough that if they were a straight couple, we’d be calling them canon at this point, so I’m gonna. Also, I have to shout out that they’ve poured on Utena references GALORE with these two, and I’m super into that. 

It should also be noted that Akira is allowed to maintain her butchness even after transforming into a magical girl- she gets a frilly PRINCE outfit.  That’s a first for a magical girl show aimed at girls (unless you count Utena, which I don’t for various reasons). She’s never derided for her lack of femininity either (in fact she’s considered cool and attractive) which is a very good affirming message for young girls. There’s also another episode that frames rebellion against enforced traditional femininity as a good thing and has women standing up for and supporting other women who don’t follow gender roles. 

To state the obvious, Precure is a show that exists in a capitalist society. So it’s focused on selling toys to little girls and those toys are often stereotypically hyper-feminine. However, it’s still valuable and positive that this show is casting non-gender conforming heroes in a positive light- if a little girl wants to play as Akira, she might have a pink compact, but she can use it to become a dashing butch prince. The lines are blurring in a good way.

Yukari is also notable as a great character- she’s not the genki girl archetype, but messy, petty and a bit cynical. She’s complex. The episodes where she struggles with whether she’s a “good girl” are pretty inspiring and carry the message girls can be heroes even if they’re not all sunshine and daisies. 

In fact, all the characters in the season are ALL pretty solid. Their relationships are fleshed out and so are their arcs. The dynamic the whole team has is great. The villains redemption arcs are strong as well.  And as always, it’s cute as heck and bursting with lady friendship feels.

My biggest problem with this show would be pacing- it suffers from being two rushed a lot of the time, and often tries to cram way too much in one episode rather than giving conflicts and arcs room to breathe. But that’s my only big issue.

It’s possible KiraPre could have a disappointing finale, but I at least feel confident it won’t end in total disaster. It shows none of the warning signs shows like Hachepre did- there’ve been no love triangles, bland male love interests or anything of the sort shoehorned in, so I don’t feel I have to worry about the worst happening (the “worst” being “the finale revolves around soothing a dude’s wounded ego, with the bond between the magical girls and their power being sidelined for the sake of really uncomfortable and contrived het romance”, if you haven’t seen HachaPre). 

Let’s hope KiraPre’s finish is as strong as the rest of it has been!

Propaganda why Tony Stark is insufferable:

>Makes weapons

>Billionaire

>Made multiple AI Surveillance Robots

>Gaslight a child into fighting a super soldier in a foreign country for him

>His fans are annoying

Portrayed as a hero because? He chose to no longer mass produce war weapons and bombs after suffering the consequences. Huge hypocrite. Doesn't care about anyone but himself. Will backstab people if they believe in human rights when it's inconvenient to him. Seen as a hero while he's the personification of privileged people saying they're not privileged

There’s the usual “he’s a war criminal who only felt bad about it when he realized his weapons were killing white Americans as well as Arab people” reason, and also he’s just super annoying. You had to be there for the original Avengers shitty dialogue a la “we have a Hulk” that had Tumblr in a vicious chokehold. Also he was supposed to FINALLY go away after destroying all his suits in Iron Man 3 but he just… didn’t! Which is bullshit.

Tony is so annoying. When they first meet he straight up bullies Peter into fighting for his personal bullshit, insults and objectifies Aunt May in front of him, spits into his trashcan and is in general being pushy af. He blackmails Peter when he doesn’t wanna come to Germany with him AND HE DOESNT EVEN EXPLAIN WHY HE WANTS HIM TO COME. Uncomfortable vibes lol.

Tony being the one to tell peter “if Captain America wanted to hurt you he would’ve” when Peter was trying to state his case, yet HE’S also the one who put Peter in harms way when he didn’t even want to go with him???

Telling Peter that he should stick to being a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” (stealing his thing once again) when that’s what Peter _was_ doing before Tony took him out of his zone and filled his head with grander things to be apart of….bitch? Die. Ohh waaaait (jkjk) but yeah

Super long, sorry lol

Thinking about how in Homecoming when Peter accidentally caused that boat to get split in half because the Vulture’s gun exploded and Tony was acting like as if Peter was completely in the wrong for going there just because he did it without his permission. He was acting like as if Peter was out of line and “disobeyed him”, trying to act like his father. And then I remember how in CACW he’s the one who scouted Peter in the first place just because he saw he might be useful against a personal squabble between him and Captain America despite knowing that he was a kid and he’s just now acknowledging how dangerous it is because Peter “acted on his own”

Completely hijacking Peter’s superhero story and trying to control his every move (Training wheels protocol and baby monitor thing he put in the suit), acting like Peter should’ve known that Tony would send someone in despite the fact that he’d been ignoring him for 2 months since Civil War and not keeping him updated on anything!!

How the hell is peter supposed to know Tony is going to listen to him when he treats him like a kid instead of a superhero when it’s convenient for him? And when Tony loses his temper after Peter says he’s 15 not 14 like “the adult is talking” bitch he could literally flatten you without your suit!!!

I guess in a way he is acting like a father but like the absentee kind. He’s more like a sperm donor father trying to act like he has any rights over Peter’s life smh.

It’s not that reprimanding Peter for the situation is bad, but the way he makes it seem as if Peter is irredeemable as if Tony wasn't a literal weapons dealer lmfao. He could’ve said what was the truth about it without completely invalidating him saying shit like “no thanks to you” after Peter asked if everyone is okay when it’s literally thanks to Peter finding a lead on those guys in the first place that they were even noticed and it’s not like the FBI being there could’ve in no way caused a similar situation.

And then near the end of the movie when he’s getting crushed by the building rubble screaming and crying for someone to help him where the fuck is Tony?? That scene just proved that he never needed Tony’s suit in the first place to be Spider-Man since he had to use 100% his own strength to lift it off of him. I know he would’ve found the motivation even if Tony hadn’t been involved in the first place to give him the suit, take it away from him and have the words “if you’re nothing without the suit you shouldn’t have it“ echo in his head. Why did Tony even take the suit away? Like as if he expects Peter to stop being spoderman without it??? Holy fuck. This is why you don’t make it out of endgame /j /srs.

When Tony took this suit away from Peter he was like “God I sound like my dad“ shouldn’t that be a red flag to him? Wasn’t he literally just saying that he wished his dad was better than he was?? Lmfao

Propaganda why Victor Frankenstein is insufferable:

Victor Frankenstein is so pathetic not even tumblr could love him. The best parts of Frankenstein are the ones where your blessedly saved from being in his whiny, self deprecating, self centered pov. He’s so conceited that when his creation tells him directly “In revenge for killing the wife you were making for me I’m going to kill YOUR wife to see how YOU like it!”, Victor Frankenstein thinks that the creation is going to kill him and *only* him. (A decision And on top of it, he’s a shitty dad. Truly the worst.

this fucker has zero self awareness, which could maybe be fun to read about! except that 3/4 of the book consists of him constantly woe-is-me-ing about his own mistakes and how he shouldn't be responsible for any of his own actions.

He's not irredeemable, but his refusal to take accountability til it's too late is irritating

Have you ever absolutely loathed a protagonist, either because they are an annoying hypocrite, a terrible person portrayed as a good one or a Mary Sue/Gary Stue?

Then this is the poll for you, where we determine who the most insufferable protagonist is.

The protagonist may be from a book, show, film, game etc.

Disclaimer: You may submit anti propaganda as a rebuttal at any point if you disagree with a MC being insufferable

Inspired by:

@the-worst-bracket @the-robot-bracket @look-how-they-massacred-them @generic-man-in-suit-battle @gentle-giant-swag

@most-canon-non-canon-ship-poll @worstwebtooncouplespoll @jerktournament

@tournament-announcer

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