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lgbtqmanga · 3 years

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New Releases Nov. 23, 2021

Cardcaptor Sakura Collector's Edition vol. 9 by CLAMP

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the all-time classics of the magical girl genre, and the Collector's Edition will be the definitive version of the story, for both long-time fans and readers new to the story. The adventures of the plucky Sakura Kinomoto are as adorably thrilling as ever, as she tracks down the magical...

Clow Cards and plunges headlong into a world of sorcery beyond anything she could've imagined.

Harem Marriage vol. 11 by NON (digital only)

"You see, Miku... Your mommy's a powerful witch."

Kita-Tsubame, the only city in Japan where polygamy (a.k.a. Harem Marriage) is legalized, is hosting a Harem Marrython! Ryu has his eye on a new bride by the name of Misuzu, a single mother who wins over Koharu with her genuine smile and love for her daughter... But behind that smile lies a dangerous past. Now, the Date family must race to determine whether their bride-to-be is a sinner or a saint!"

His Extra-Large, Ever-So-Lovely... vol. 1 by Omoimi (digital only)

Aoi Yamamoto is 20 years old. Determined to get his first girlfriend, he joined a Nihonshu Club...only to find it chock-full of men. Disappointed, Aoi overindulges, and is taken home by a fellow club member to recover. This club member is also a virgin, even though he's had many girlfriends, and when he shows Aoi why, well...Aoi finds he wants to try it out for himself.

Hitorijime Boyfriend by Memeco Arii

"EITHER YOU LET ME MAKE LOVE TO YOU, OR WE END OUR FRIENDSHIP AGAIN. WHAT'S IT GONNA BE?"

Before Masahiro and Kousuke's whirlwind romance in Hitorijime My Hero, there was Hitorijime Boyfriend—and now, the origin of one of manga's biggest franchises is finally revealed! Back in sixth grade, Kensuke had a falling out with his best friend Hasekura that still hurts three years later. Then, one day, Hasekura's suddenly back in Kensuke's life like nothing happened. What, exactly, is going on? And what will Kensuke do when Hasekura wants to take things to a whole other level...?

Hitorijime My Hero vol. 11 by Memeco Arii (early digital)

“You Can Do Whatever You Want to Me”

As they take the dive into “marriage mode,” Masahiro and Kousuke waste no time getting comfy as cohabitants. Just as their issues finally seem to be behind them, Kousuke’s mother disrupts their peace with a single remark: “There’s something we need to talk about.” Is the cat out of the bag…?!

I Think Our Son Is Gay vol. 2 by Okura

With her husband working abroad, mama Tomoko is in charge of raising their two precious sons back on the Aoyama ranch. Keeping her kids fed, clothed, and on schedule is all in a day's work, but Tomoko also watches over them with great love and care...and in the case of her eldest son Hiroki, who's doing a very bad job of keeping his sexuality a secret from his family, a big dose of bemusement. And now Hiroki might have another secret to keep! Lately he's been coming home from school talking enthusiastically about a certain boy, his classmate Daigo! With practically every other word out of her son's mouth being about Daigo, Tomoko can't help thinking Hiroki's crushing pretty hard on his friend!

Magical Girl Site vol. 16 by Kentaro Sato (final volume)

ON THE BRINK OF DESTRUCTION

Humanity has been turned into sperm and taken off planet, earth teeters on the edge of annihilation—and still, the Magical Girls fight on. Do they stand a chance against the tides of darkness or has the battle already been lost? The harrowing final volume of Magical Girl SITE!

My Androgynous Boyfriend vol. 3 by Tamekou

(ANDROGYNOUS) BOYS’ NIGHT!

It’s time for a sleepover! And not just any sleepover—it’s a sleepover at Kira’s gorgeous house. With super fancy food on the menu, luxurious skin care, and late night chats about love, a good time is guaranteed to be had by all. However, the real excitement begins the next morning, when Sasame trips and falls into the burly arms of a mysterious delivery person. Just who is this newcomer?

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc vol. 1 by Magica Quartet, 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…

Restart After Coming Back Home by cocomi

The touching romance that inspired a hit live-action film!

Hotheaded Kozuka Mitsuomi left his home in the country for a sophisticated life in Tokyo. Unfortunately, at age 25, he’s fired from his job and returns home in disgrace. As he tries to rediscover himself, he meets Kumai Yamato, a man about his age who was adopted into his community while Mitsuomi was away. The sweet and even-tempered Yamato is hiding his own pain, and as the two men connect, they start a journey together.

School Zone Girls vol. 3 by Ningiyau

BAD GIRLS IN LOVE

Hiragi has finally escaped the attentions of her bubbly and boisterous classmate Utsugi…so why is the resulting peace and quiet so dang depressing? And why is Utsugi ignoring her in the first place? Meanwhile, thanks to Yatsude’s “help,” Rei is having bra troubles–and not long after, Kei’s bra suffers from the same mysterious ailment. Is anyone capable of behaving in this series?

Sugar Dog Life by Yoriko (digital only)

Sakuraba is a college student, though you'd never know it, with his short height and baby face. Certainly police officer Amazawa thought Sakuraba was a minor, and nearly booked him for being out too late after he was returning from a drinking party. But there's something oddly familiar about him, and the two strike up an odd relationship...

What Did You Eat Yesterday? vol. 17 by Fumi Yoshinaga

This slice-of-life series follows the ordinary lives of a middle-aged, gay couple and the ever-changing, delicious variety of homecooked meals they share.

Shiro and Kenji are now well past their youthful years, and with a stable relationship and a stable career for them both, what could possibly go wrong? But Kenji finds himself in a bind one evening after a few drinks with one of his hair salon regulars. Meanwhile, a mysterious and beautiful woman greets Shiro with a friendly smile on the street during their grocery shopping, and Shiro insists that he doesn’t know her.

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ultraericthered · 3 years

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MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ANIME

In honor of two years of Anime Updates, I’ve reconstructed my now Top 30 favorite anime series’ of all time, and I also have a slew of honorable mentions for anime I also really enjoy and value dearly.

1. Dragon Ball Z Kai (The definitive distillation of everything that was great about the DBZ manga and all that’s great about DBZ in anime.)

2. Digimon Adventure (1999) (An absolute classic of children’s anime that has enough depth and maturity to appeal to its fans years later)

3. Pokemon: The Beginning (It may be cliché to say something in Pokemon was at its best in Gen 1 but...the anime absolutely was.)

4. Neon Genesis Evangelion (Some anime ascend even masterpiece status and become bonafide legends. This is one of the best ones.)

5. Cowboy Bebop (See what I just said above. It applies here too.)

6. Yu Yu Hakusho (Not only a Shonen masterwork, but one where the anime is actually an improvement upon the original manga!)

7. Assassination Classroom (Basically the Yu Yu Hakusho of the 2010s, and bar none director Seiji Kishi’s most astonishing work.)

8. Yu-Gi-Oh! / Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (While the latter faltered more compared to the former, both have undeniable merits.)

9. Sailor Moon / Sailor Moon R (Again, see what I just said above.)

10. The Slayers / Slayers NEXT (This may not have really gone anywhere as a franchise, but I’ll always have a soft spot for it.)

11. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (In only 11 episodes, it tells a captivating and heartrending story that really sticks with you.)

12. Digimon Tamers (Objectively the strongest and smartest written of the Digimon series. It’s like a Digi-Evangelion - what’s not to love?)

13. Star Driver: Takuto of the Radiance (It’s just so - much - FUN. Criminally underrated, but it really was exceptional at what it did.)

14. Love Live! School Idol Project / Love Live! Sunshine!! (The latter more so than the former, but both of them just really delight me.)

15. El Hazard / The Wanderers (While I love the original OVA, I love the TV series version derived from it just as much in its own way)

16. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006) (Madcap chaos and a surprising amount of heart and depth from start to finish.)

17. Digimon Adventure 02 (Yeah, it’s a mess and it fails as a sequel to its predecessor, but it’s heart was always in the right place.)

18. FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (One of the most awe-inspiring and epic achievements of Japanese media, especially for Shonen!)

19. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (I enjoy a lot of what comes out of this franchise, but the original 12 episode story is forever the best.)

20. A Place Further Than The Universe (Who knew a short show about girls on a trip to Antarctica could end up so fucking good?)

21. Pokemon: Sun and Moon (The strongest single series that the Pokemon anime has ever done, with a great cast and stories.)

22. When They Cry: Higurashi (No horror anime can quite compare to this one. Note that this covers Kai & Rei too, but nothing else.)

23. Mobile Fighter G Gundam (The Gundam franchise is diverse and varied, yet no series in it could ever match this one in my heart!)

24. Vinland Saga (A work of historical fiction that is truly epic and compelling on a massive scale that few anime dare attempt.)

25. Excel Saga (In total contrast with the above Saga, this one is just balls-to-the-walls goofy and insane, and I love every second of it!)

26. Death Note (The manga and the film duology do it better, but there’s still much to be enjoyed in the anime adaptation as well.)

27. Pokemon: Best Wishes (The series that’s most to credit with rejuvenating a stale anime property. Shame 'bout that final year, tho.)

28. Nadja of Tomorrow (It’s like a classical, old fashioned novel played out across 50 episodes of anime, and a ride I enjoy a lot.)

29. Hellsing Ultimate (The sole contender to Higurashi in terms of being a superbly done dark and gory horror anime.)

30. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (The Code Geass franchise could never do anime better than in this initial outing.)

Honorable Mentions: Ace Attorney: The Animation, Angel Beats!, Bakugan: Battle Brawlers, Berserk, Black Lagoon, Carole & Tuesday Cours 1, CLANNAD / After Story, Danganronpa: The Animation, Digimon Fusion, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z, Eureka Seven, Fruits Basket (2019), Gintama, InuYasha, Kill La Kill, Little Witch Academia, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, March Comes In Like A Lion, Magic Knight Rayearth, Monster, My Bride Is A Mermaid, My Hero Academia, My-HiME / My-Otome, Nisekoi: Fake Love, One Piece, Pokemon Journeys, Re:Zero, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Rurouni Kenshin, Sailor Moon Crystal: Infinity, School Live!, Shaman King, SSSS Gridman, Tengen Tonpa Gurren Lagann, Tenchi Muyo, The Future Diary, The Promised Neverland S1, Toradora, Wolf’s Rain, and Zatch Bell.

#Anime Update #anime #opinion

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE: 21 Great Anime You Should Absolutely Watch In 2021

Happy Anime Day! With every season bringing a plethora of new series, there are now countless shows and movies, both new and old, to watch. Whether it's adventure, comedy, romance, or drama you're looking for, here are 21 anime series you should add to your watchlist in 2021.

1. My Hero Academia Season 5

When it comes to the next chapter of My Hero Academia, 2021 couldn't come fast enough. Season 4 showed audiences just how high the stakes really are and how dangerous the enemies can be. Season 5, which recently premiered in March, will not only deliver high-level action, but we'll also get more time with the great slate of heroes and villains showcased last season.

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2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train

After hearing the news of Mugen Train dominating the box office, the time has come for North American audiences to experience this highly anticipated film. Mugen Train will be available for digital release this summer and will help fill the void fans of the series have been feeling since the season ended. And we can always revisit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba in the meantime.

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3. The Devil Is A Part-Timer

The Devil Is A Part-Timer! offers lots of comedy with all the appeal of your traditional fantasy series, but it takes place in the modern world. Demon Lord Satan gets transported to Tokyo, and while his original goal was to take over his homeland of Ente Isla, Satan finds a better path to world domination ... climbing the ranks at the local MgRonalds! It's fun, it's wacky, and it's one of those series we never thought would get a second season, until now.

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4. Given The Movie

Talk about a bag of mixed emotions. Like the series, you'll feel proud and happy one minute, and then a pile of mush the next. Given The Movie provides a touching viewing experience following these fractured characters as they navigate their personal feelings, as well as expressing their innermost emotions through music.

5. Hunter X Hunter

2021 marks the 10-year anniversary of Hunter X Hunter. Whether you've never seen this series or you've re-watched it hundreds of times, come celebrate this epic title's milestone!

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6. MEGALOBOX 2: NOMAD

MEGALOBOX brought all the charm of a '90s anime, but with the story of a futuristic society that takes boxing to a whole other level. Gearless Joe made a name for himself in Season 1, and although things have changed and gotten complicated, he's "not dead yet." For Joe, the fire still burns within him, and he seeks to fight once more.

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7. Osamake: The Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose!

Finally, a series where the childhood friend captures the heart of the MC ... I hope? It is a harem after all! Osamake: The Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose! has a whole lot of comedy, a whole lot of shenanigans, and a noticeable amount of ... revenge. It looks like an epic competition is about to get underway!

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8. Chihayafuru

If you're experiencing Haikyu!! withdrawals, then Chihayafuru may be the next best sports anime for you! Now don't be fooled. Although Chihayafuru is all about Karuta, a Japanese card game, it still delivers the same level of development and high-stakes settings as other sports anime. This may be one of those series you always saw around but never watched but if there was ever a time to binge, it's now!

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9. Tokyo Revengers

With the manga receiving much praise, probably one of the most anticipated anime adaptations for 2021 is Tokyo Revengers. Motivated by tragedy, Takemichi Hanagaki finds himself in the past, climbing the ranks of the Tokyo Manji Gang in order to change destiny. He may not appear the toughest, but he's determined to get through the intense situations he finds himself in.

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10. To Your Eternity

Knowing this is a story from Yoshitoki Oima, creator of A Silent Voice, To Your Eternity, will surely be an adventure that tugs on your heartstrings. Audiences will witness an intimate journey of life and death revolving around an emotionless orb with no identity but can take the shape of those around it. There will be elements of time, drama, emotion, plus Hikaru Utada performs the theme? ... Sold! Want to know more? Check out the full manga catalog here.

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11. Shaman King

A Shaman King reboot was the best present fans of the original series could've gotten as the title just marked its 20th year since the show premiered back in 2001. Fans will be transported back to their childhood, all the while looking forward to a new story that reflects the manga. The series recently aired in April in Japan, and fans in North America can expect to watch the series sometime later this year.

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12. Horimiya

If you've been searching for a romance anime unlike any other, then you should watch Horimiya if you haven't already. This series takes everything you know about anime romance tropes, and delivers a series of fresh new twists, making for a warm and cozy viewing experience.

13. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

If in between all the action and comedy you need a good slice of life series about friendship, Anohana is the series for you! The original series aired 10 years ago, but sometimes a trip down memory lane is exactly what you need. Plus a new visual and news of an upcoming project will surely get you pumped to hit play.

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14. The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2

Thinking he'd be the hero in this new fantasy world, Naofumi Iwatani ended up being hated, shunned, and stigmatized at the beginning of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 1. But as he journeyed on, he developed genuine relationships, gained valuable trust, credibility, and gratitude from others. Season 2, airing in October, is ready to continue with Naofumi's journey and progression.

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15. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid has it all! This series draws you in with its cute appearance, but it surprises you with its mature moments and shocks you with some unexpected sizzle. Plus it has dragons, maids, and sweet raps! Be sure to check out the second season's adventures this July.

16. One Piece

If you haven't already committed to the legendary behemoth One Piece, now may be a good time to start. The anime is set to hit its 1,000th episode this year, and while diving into a series that's so far along can seem intimidating, if you've been spending a lot of time binging TV lately, this series could be your next big marathon.

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17. S8 the Infinity

Take the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games, and mix them together with vibrant, aesthetically pleasing animation and cool action scenes and you have S8 the Infinity. Sports anime has been really expanding its catalog lately, and this series is an entertaining addition to the genre.

Image via Hulu

18. The Wallflower

A little bit of nostalgia is nice to mix into your anime watchlist. If you're a fan of Ouran High School Host Club, then you'll love The Wallflower! It's got some handsome boys, a cute and quirky girl with a fascination for all things dark and scary, and all the ridiculous antics of a harem!

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19. Death Parade

Death Parade has stayed under the radar, but it at least deserves to be on YOUR radar. A story about the afterlife where a bar represents limbo and its bartender decides the fate of the souls in front of him whether they experience reincarnation, or disappear into the void by playing a game. This is a psychological, thought-provoking drama with some mystery, as we don't know the true nature of the people in the bar, or what led them to where they are. Those secrets will eventually be revealed as the game plays on.

20. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Like Hunter X Hunter, this year also marks the 10-year anniversary of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Madoka was and to this day still is a defining series that was a real game-changer for the magical girl genre, showing just how much danger magical girls face. It's a must-watch if you haven't already, so make a contract with yourself to watch or re-watch this series sometime in 2021.

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21. How To Keep A Mummy

How To Keep A Mummy is a heartwarming��episodic series to watch when you want to have a feel-good time! Friends and classmates spend time together with their mythical creature companions: A precious, tiny mummy who anytime he holds anything will make your heart melt, a somewhat hot-headed but caring oni, a clever dragon, and a fluffy baku. After catching up on everything on your watch list, have fun with this series to round out 2021.

What anime will you be watching in 2021? Let us know in the comments!

Veronica Valencia is an anime-loving hot sauce enthusiast! You can follow more of her work as a content creator on Twitter and Instagram.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Veronica Valencia

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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yeonchi · 3 years

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Kisekae Insights #19: Madoka Magica Part 2 (Yuki Magica)

(Art by アスカール)

In the last instalment, I talked about Takumi Kamijō and Madoka Magica’s involvement in my project, but I stopped after Gokaiger because things are about to get complicated; there is another story thread that I need to cover before we can continue.

In this instalment, I’ll be talking about another magical boy who became a GARO-esque Kamen Rider. He and his powers have their own backstories which would normally be impossible in the eyes of other Madoka fans (if Takumi’s story wasn’t crazy enough). Basically, I’m the Australian Shinichiro Shirakura and I’m breaking all the rules. Wait, was I supposed to save that joke for the Decade instalments? Oh well, anyway…

One man’s trash, another man’s treasure

In the sixth block of the 50th Anniversary Series, I made an adaptation of The Name of the Doctor but with Hiroki instead of the Doctor. When Hiroki’s timeline gets invaded by a vexatious villain (not the Great Intelligence), he makes a contract with Kyubey to save his past, present and future. He meets Goddess Madoka and becomes a magical boy similar to that of Madoka’s magical girl form. Calling himself the Loveshy Boy, Hiroki enters his own timeline and sends out splinters of himself across his timeline to repair the damage. Zhuge Shu and Nodoka Manabe were among those echoes, along with five individuals whose syllables of their names spelled the syllables of “Nodoka Manabe” and “Madoka Kaname”.

The only other time Hiroki used his magical boy form was in the ninth block when he fought Girl Power and his other enemies in Koshi Castle. He is shot and sent flying in a desperate attempt to save Akari and that is the last we see of Hiroki’s magical boy form – though Walpurgisnacht would influence his next (female) incarnation, he would no longer be a magical boy by the time he moved into his final incarnation.

But by some miracle, Hiroki’s magical boy powers would show up again in 2018, albeit utilised by someone else. How did that happen and why? You’ll find out very soon…

Yuki Yamaki: Secret Inside

Yuki’s timeline is a bit complicated to pinpoint, but it doesn’t matter since this project runs on wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff.

A note before I go on – Yuki’s name would usually be written as Yūki given his Japanese name and my usual habit of denoting long vowels with macrons as per Hepburn romanisation, however I only found his Japanese name recently in an old document I wrote ten years ago, with that same document denoting Takumi’s surname as “Kamijou”. Then again, I didn’t know much about the rules surrounding romanisation back then, so I’ll continue to write Yuki’s name as I have and not bother changing it for the sake of consistency.

Naisho no Tsubomi (Secret Tsubomi) is a manga series that covers topics centred around female puberty and sex education, with a different girl (named Tsubomi) featured in each volume. The first volume was adapted into a three-episode OVA in 2008 and was released in North America by Sentai Filmworks in 2018. Spoilers if you haven’t seen it (but given the premise of Kisekae Insights, you shouldn’t be surprised by now), but based from what I’ve read about in reviews and my own observations, it seems that the character of Saya Endō is likely to be the spirit of a dead girl who reincarnates as Tsubomi’s little sister, or Tsubomi’s little sister who died and came back into the past as a spirit or something. But that doesn’t really matter because this is Doctor Who, what did you expect?

Yuki was born in 2008, the same year as Tsubomi’s little sister, Saya, in a universe where the Third Doctor is the Prime Minister of Australia. In 2018, they joined their universe’s Torchwood at the age of ten and a year later, they were sent on a mission back to the year 2008 to investigate anomalies involving Tsubomi and Yuki’s cousin, Shisei Nagato (長遠志成). During that time, Yuki, Saya, Tsubomi and her friends came to the Doctor’s universe three times over five years from their POV (in our POV, they came once each before, during and after the Salacian Time War). It turned out that Yuki and Shisei are Parker and Hiroki’s counterparts in that universe and that Shisei was taking the place of Futoshi Kuki, who was exterminated by the Daleks. They were unable to find any conclusive evidence regarding the anomalies when they were called back to their time (2023) to fight the Beta Uprising.

Torchwood then sent Yuki and Saya on their second mission in the past, which was to kill Elliot Rodger on his Day of Retribution, 23 May 2014, and prevent the Beta Uprising. Their comrade, Alex Schmidt (played by Alex Williamson) was with them, but he disappeared by the time Yuki and Saya returned to their time. The two had fallen in love during their time together and by 2028, they decided to get married. However, when they were having yum cha with their friends, Alex came in with a group of Chads and revealed his betrayal to everyone; he went back to 2014 and helped Elliot Rodger with his Day of Retribution before spurring Chads and Stacies around the world to fight the incels (nerds basically). He killed Yuki in 2018 because somehow, he was the anomaly surrounding Tsubomi and Shisei that was motivating the incels to continue fighting – Tsubomi and Shisei were never the problem at all.

The 2028 Yuki was killed along with his fiancée and their friends and was taken back to 2018, where he was “fixed up” and prepared to be married to Hideko Kimihara (NOTE: The Kikuchi Clan were not involved in this incident). Kyubey arrives and offers to turn Yuki’s pain into power; Yuki accepts and makes a wish for someone to come and get him out of his mess. It is then that Hiroki, Kayley, Firerose, Narutaki and the Salacian Riders (including a future Yuki and Marcela) were brought to this universe through a dimensional hole. At the same time, Marcela (see #13) arrived to protect Yuki. It is then that Yuki transforms into his magical boy form, which is exactly the same as Hiroki’s Madoka-esque magical boy form (due to interdimensional genetic multiplicity, as Takumi would later speculate), by swinging his Soul Gem necklace in the air similar to how Barago transforms into Dark Knight Kiba in GARO.

(Hiroki and Yuki’s magical boy forms are based on that of Madoka’s magical girl form, albeit genderbent. Art by 黒野ユウ and Makarii)

Hiroki and the Riders from his world help the past Yuki and Marcela out by attempting to hide with one version of them (past or present) for two weeks, but they are captured after four days. While the Stacies brainwash Marcela, Yuki and Hideko are hooked up to the Progenitor, combining their DNA and making super-soldiers from them. Yuki begins to fall into despair, but despite Hiroki telling him not to give up, he transforms into his witch form, Legendorgarc, which is similar to Kamen Rider Arc’s Legend Arc form, freeing himself in the process.

After a few moments however, Yuki manages to change his despair into hope, allowing him to cast away his witch form and combine it with his magical boy powers into a stronger power. Yuki’s rose bow transforms into the bladed Barayumi Rose Bow (バラユミ), which he swings around him to transform into Kamen Rider Magica, similar to how Aguri Kusugami transforms into Sky Bow Knight Gai in GARO: Yami o Terasu Mono. Two of his signature finishers are the Rensha Ranbu/Rapid-Fire Attack (連射乱舞) and the Naginata Ranbu – Gōka Midaresaki/Naginata Attack – Luxurious Bloom (ナギナタ乱舞・豪華乱れさき). Magica’s Rider design takes inspiration from GARO and Kamen Rider Hibiki, particularly the latter as Magica was originally planned to take its place in Decade before being reinstated.

(Kamen Rider Magica logo concept. Art by aqmr)

Hiroki as Decade kills Alex and destroys the universe to get back with to his own universe with his friends and the Salacian Riders, taking the past Yuki and Marcela with them as well. The two, having lost their memories of what happened due to their timelines not being in sync, were left in the past and the only thing that they remembered was that they were enemies; Yuki blamed Marcela for killing his lover and destroying his world, while Marcela blamed Yuki for killing her family.

Decade Episode 7 happened and during the final battle, Decade’s use of the Magica Final Form Ride card allowed Magica to unlock his final form, Loveshy Form, upgrading his weapon into the Ultimate Barayumi Rose Bow in the process. Subsequent transformations only require Magica to squat down and draw a circle on the ground around him similar to how Takeru Jakuzure transforms into Flame Sword Knight Zen. In this form, Magica can split his Ultimate Barayumi in half and use it as a nunchaku or a pair of swords. One of this form’s finishers involves shooting an energy beam from his bow, with the first such usage being aided by Decade using the Magica Final Attack Ride card, breaking Marcela’s brainwashing in the progress.

Following that adventure, Yuki and Marcela reconcile and agree to help each other find the truth about their pasts. By the time they encounter their past selves again in their home universe, they have become a couple. Later, they would thank Hiroki and Narutaki for bringing them together, saying that without their help, they would have kept wandering the land fighting each other without realising their true feelings.

Soulbound and Magia Record

A few days after the last instalment was published, it was announced that there would be a new Madoka Magica film produced as a sequel to The Rebellion Story. This, along with the Magia Record game and anime, means that I can’t have a definitive happy ending for Takumi when my project ends this year, though I might be able to do something for Kamen Rider Zi-O.

Soulbound Series 3 is where Takumi and Yuki’s plot threads converge, with the Madoka Magica tribute being shared with the tribute for Sea Princesses (see Dark Sea Princess in #13).

Following the events of Gokaiger and Decade, Yuki and Marcela begin living in seclusion from humanity, working to protect it from various threats as the “rejected beings of their universe”. Meanwhile, with the rise of magical girls in nearby Kamihama, Takumi started becoming territorial and competitive towards other magical girls, including his own comrades. Despite his efforts to save magical girls from becoming witches, Takumi became frustrated that no matter what he tried to do, the universe seemed to rewrite everything and ruin the work he put in. Unbeknownst to Takumi, the Incubation Cleanser was sabotaged, leading to the continued appearances of witches and other evils; said device was taken out of the equation when the Doppel system came into effect. Takumi’s rivalry with Homura still continued, though they began siding with each other so they could fight warriors (including Kamen Riders and magical girls) for their own enjoyment. Takumi and Homura even attacked Yuki and Marcela, only to be saved by Mami and Hitomi.

At the start of the two-parter, the Barrier Base and SEPTAN crews arrive in Kamihama, where Kyōko and Sayaka, alongside Takumi’s twin sister, Kumiko Hayashi, ask them for their help in saving Takumi. When the Salacian Riders appear along the coast in response to a protest against the human exploitation of marine life, the Barrier Base crew and Torchwood Pleiades fight them. After a while, Takumi and Homura arrive and single-handedly defeat everyone, inviting them to bring more warriors to fight them next time.

Following the battle, the Salacian Riders agree to work with the Barrier Base crew, the SEPTAN crew and Torchwood Pleiades to defeat Takumi and Homura. After Torchwood Pleiades gathered up all the magical girls they could find (technically all the playable Magia Record girls released on the Japanese server up to the end of the Rumors in Disguise event in October 2019, not including Tart Magica or crossover characters), they all confront Takumi and Homura outside of the city. During the battle, a number of magical girls use the power of their Doppels and so do Takumi and Yuki; Takumi’s Doppel resembles Walpurgisnacht to differentiate it from Sayaka’s, namely Oktavia von Seckendorff (but also because he was somehow able to command Walpurgisnacht’s power), while Yuki can only use his Doppel, Legendorgarc, for a maximum of 99.9 seconds (like the Makai Knights in GARO) because he only became a witch for a very short time and as such, is unaccustomed to its power.

The negative emotions and minus energy gathering above them from the constant fighting manifests into the Despair Monster, Kanaderos, a sight observed by Kyubey as he thanks everyone for providing the universe with more energy. Hikaru Tomokaze transforms into Ultraman X while Yuki and Marcela transform into Gaia and Agul to fight Kanaderos. After Exceed X uses the Exceed X Slash to purge the despair from Kanaderos, he joins Gaia and Agul as they fire the Xlugger Shot, Photon Edge and Photon Crusher, but the monster is still standing because of the sheer amount of despair still powering it. Gaia powers up into Supreme Version while Hikaru switches into Ginga. The three Ultras finally defeat Kanaderos for good with the Sparion Beam, Photon Stream and Agul Stream.

After the battle, Kumiko convinces Takumi and Homura to stop fighting and work together to investigate what is going on in Kamihama. Following the two-parter, Takumi would appear again at the end of Arcs 11 and 12, while Yuki and Marcela would only return at the end of Arc 12 alongside the Salacian Riders.

Takumi gained further development in Soulbound Series 4 when he was featured in a two-parter at the end of Arc 13, which was just recently broadcast at the time of publishing this instalment. Due to an increase in dimensional fluctuations through the Cardiff Rift over the past 18 months (since the end of Series 3), Kamihama and Torchwood Pleiades disappeared from this universe and so did Takumi, however he resurfaced recently with his comrades nowhere to be found; he had been cut off from his friends and the magical girl circle. Whether Kyubey and the Incubators had anything to do with it is unknown, though even if they did, the most they would have done is indirectly manipulate events to achieve this goal.

Upon receiving a message from Torchwood in Cardiff notifying them of Takumi resurfacing, the Barrier Base crew head to Mitakihara to meet with Hiroki, Akari, the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness. After encountering Yuki and Marcela nearby as well, the group heads to Porthcawl (one of the entrances to Kamihama) upon hearing that police have spotted Takumi there. When they get there however, Takumi had killed the police officers cornering him and it is then that Yuki realises that something is wrong. Takumi asks where his lover, his friends and his comrades are before taking his cutlass and transforming into his magical boy form similar to how the Golden Knight Garo transforms.

In the ensuing fight, Takumi summons another cutlass and uses it with his other cutlass to transform into Kamen Rider Serranon similar to how Rei Suzumura transforms into Silver Fanged Knight Zero. Serranon was created as a secondary Rider for Magica in response to Geiz Majesty (I had to create a Rider whose name rhymed with Zeronos so that I wouldn’t need to change the transformation tune because this wasn’t like Decade where I could just do whatever and get away with it). At the moment, I don’t have any plans for Serranon’s final form and it’s likely that he won’t be getting one. Takumi’s cutlasses transform into a set of twin swords called the Yanagiba Sōken (柳葉双剣) that can combine into the Yanagiba Ryūtō (柳葉流刀). His finishers are the Sōken Ranbu/Twin Sword Attack (双剣乱舞) and the Ryūtō Ranbu – Mugen Shinken Nuketsuki/Cutlass Attack – Blade of Infinity (流刀乱舞・無限真剣抜けつき), the latter being similar to the signature attack of Zodomas/Skatana from Gokaiger/Super Megaforce.

While the others fight the familiars that Takumi summoned, Yuki and Takumi fight in their Rider forms, resulting in the former being defeated. Takumi is later spotted at the Roald Dahl Plass, right above the Hub, with the intent of opening the Rift to find a way back to Kamihama. Though the Doctor, Jack, Hiroki and Akari try to stop him, he is only stopped when another villain, Doctor Wells Moreau, shoots him out of nowhere. Moreau later approaches Takumi and offers him a way to get back to Kamihama. Takumi is given a gun which he uses to transform into Galactron MK2 and attack Cardiff, but is defeated by Ultraman Ginga.

After the battle, Hiroki and the others convince Takumi to use his powers for good and so, he takes up Captain Jack’s offer to join Torchwood for the time being until his friends return. While the magical girls will be featured in Soulbound Series 4, they will have to part ways with Takumi again at the end of the series because of Magia Record and the fourth Madoka Magica film.

So this is it for the involvement of Puella Magi Madoka Magica in my personal project. I’d like to remind everyone not to worry if you’re confused at anything you’ve seen so far in Kisekae Insights; chances are that I will address it eventually.

#kisekae insights #puella magi madoka magica

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lupin-the-3rd-case-files · 3 years

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It All Begins

Not really sure if anyone will ever read this blog but I want to do it for my own sake. I’m here to talk about a series I’m very passionate about: Lupin the 3rd. Lupin the 3rd is a long running anime franchise originally written by Monkey Punch detailing the exploits of the titular Lupin (grandson of Arsene Lupin) and his gang of thieves.

I’ve been a fan of Lupin the 3rd since back in the days of its first airing on Adult Swim back in the early to mid-2000′s. I don’t quite remember the exact year but Adult Swim ran Lupin the 3rd Part 2 during their late night programming. I was was in high school at the time so I couldn’t stay up to watch it every night but I would try to catch it whenever I could. I fell in love with the cartoony antics of Lupin and his crew.

Unfortunately I never got to see much else of Lupin after that until college when I got even heavier into anime than I was before. I had more free time, it was the height of the fansub era right before Crunchyroll established itself, and I had a pretty good internet connection that let me...acquire anime. Legally, of course. While I was watching all of the Gundam franchise, Madoka Magica, Steins;Gate, Gurren Lagann, Tatami Galaxy, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and countless other series, I rediscovered Lupin the 3rd in the form of Castle of Cagliostro.

It was a different kind of Lupin from the Part 2 tv series, but it was a welcome one regardless. I’ll gush about it more when it comes time to talk about it, but Castle of Cagliostro was the spark that reignited the fire for me. After that I started rewatching Part 2, and a number of OVAs and movies that came out. That being said, I never watched *all* of them.

So, about 10 years later, I’m in my 30′s and Lupin is having a resurgence in the west thanks to Discotek media. They’re constantly releasing new Lupin the 3rd home videos that never got to see western releases. For a North American fan, they’re a blessing. In that time there’s been three new tv series, and a new film series with a darker take on the franchise, not to mention two crossovers with Detective Conan/Case Closed.

It’s 2am on a Saturday morning and I’ve contemplated it for quite some time now, and I’m finally deciding to do the deed: I want to watch *all* of Lupin the 3rd. It’s not an easy task, as there’s a lot of it. However, I have seen all of Gundam minus one tv series (fake fan alert), and that franchise has much more content than Lupin does. Discotek is also releasing Part 3 on bluray soon which has never seen a western release, and Part 5 will be coming out in October on bluray as well. And to top it all off, we’re getting a Part 6 later this year assuming Covid doesn’t fuck that up too.

It’s a great time to be a Lupin the 3rd fan, so what better time than now to sit down and watch it all. And that’s where this blog comes in. I want to chronicle the adventures Lupin goes on in his series. Each blog I plan to detail what Lupin was after, and if he succeeded. One of the funnier aspects of Lupin is that he doesn’t often come out on top, usually getting scammed by Fujiko or losing all the money in an unfortunate accident. I want to chronicle what Lupin gets out of each adventure, and I’m going to try to put a monetary value to it. I want to see how much money Lupin actually makes over the course of the franchise.

I will also probably type up my thoughts about each entry as I want. That’ll be easy with the OVAs, movies and specials. I’ll probably do it less with the tv series otherwise I’ll be working on this blog the rest of my life and not every episode needs commentary. I may also not do every episode individually, I’ll probably group some together.

I’m going to be starting with the OVAs and Movies, except for the Takeshi Koike films which I’ll instead do after we get to The Lady Named Mine Fujiko. I’ll also be watching the tv specials unless they coincide with a specific tv series (such as Italian Game and Part 4). It’s easier for me to push through movies and OVAs rather than tv series, so this will be the easiest path for me to start. Once we finish those we’ll do the TV series starting from Part 1.

I hope to actually keep up with this blog, and I hope you’ll all join me in this adventure.

#lupin the 3rd #lupin iii #anime #discotek media

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metalandmagi · 4 years

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Summer 2020 Anime Worth Watching!

Apparently it’s time for the summer anime season, even though it feels like time is meaningless at this point. But somehow, there are still new shows coming out, so if you’re looking for something to watch when you’re stuck at home, here’s a list of the first impressions I got from this season. I don’t really know if it’s going to be worth it, considering how the spring season delayed so much, but here we are.

As always, not all of these are available on Crunchyroll, but I’ll put a * next to the ones that are.

And if you’re looking for a bit more variety, I have lists for 2019 and the rest of this year’s seasons too...because remember when there was good anime being released instead of just everything being an ecchi or a second season?

2019 master list

My master list for every season of 2020 anime

New Shows!

*The God of High School: An over the top action anime consisting of one big tournament arc! It follows a group of teenagers competing in the epic “god of high school” martial arts tournament to determine the best fighter in the country. Following in the footsteps of Tower of God, this is the newest “crunchyroll original” that is being adapted from a South Korean webcomic. You can tell from the first episode that this will be a spectacle with crazy characters and lots of wild action and humor!

Great Pretender: When a Japanese con man pickpockets the wrong person, he ends up hopping on a plane to Los Angeles and getting wrapped up in a scheme with a sassy Frenchman named Laurent...who basically runs the mafia. There’s humor, there’s plot, there’s great characters, and it’s kinda gay. It’s an exciting original anime from studio Wit, so the animation is bursting with character, and both the music and the general vibe remind me a lot of Baccano or even Lupin III. And since it takes place in America with several foreign characters, there's hilarious English and accent shenanigans abound! The bad news is it’s still in Netflix jail, so if you want to watch it legally you’re kinda stuck for now.

Japan Sinks 2020: A giant earthquake hits Japan, and a family must cope with the mayhem together. Because what the hell else could possibly go wrong this year? This is a new series (based on a novel) made by Masaaki Yuasa, the guy behind Ride Your Wave and Walk On Girl, if that tells you anything about the style of this anime. I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, but I heard it goes from being a gripping realistic disaster series to a balls to the wall adventure. To be honest, disaster shows/movies freak me out, and this one is pretty devastating so far, which is a testament to how well it's made. But I appreciate that they include glimmers of hope when they’re needed. The best moments are the quiet ones that focus on the actual people and the narration that juxtaposes the time periods. There’s so much atmosphere, and the music really enhances the experience. And it’s all out on Netflix now, with a dub and a sub!

Deca-Dence: When humanity has been pushed to the edge of extinction by monsters called the Gadoll, the rest of civilization is forced to live in enormous mobile fortresses and send groups out to battle the unknown monsters. So basically like Mortal Engines but the fortresses can turn themselves into giant fists and punch the monsters. We follow a girl named Natsume who wants to be one of the soldiers who fight the Gadoll, but she is constantly rejected because of her prosthetic arm. So she ends up with five years of cleaning duty supervised by a stern but mysterious badass named Kaburagi. I honestly don’t care at all about the plot of the anime, because for me the characters are what drives everything, and these character dynamics are great. I’m not going to say it’s the most original story, but I think it’s fun so far.

*Rent-a-Girlfriend: A typical harem/romance anime that follows the world’s most annoying protagonist named Kazuya. After Kazuya is dumped by his first girlfriend, he seeks out a rental girlfriend out of self pity….BECAUSE APPARENTLY THAT’S A REAL SERVICE THAT EXISTS IN JAPAN?! Like you can actually rent moms/dads/girlfriends/boyfriends and so on. Anyway, his fake girlfriend is the picture of anime waifu perfection...until Kazuya starts being his typical asshole self and she reveals her true nature of being an absolute sass master who don’t take no shit from no boring ass main character. Shenanigans happen and the two of them end up having to pretend they are in a real relationship. And I’m just calling it now...Kazuya’s grandma is the real best girl of the series. If you want a harem that’s actually funny and doesn’t mind roasting the protagonist, give this one a shot. Although I wish this were just a straight up romance instead of a harem because there is no way in hell that any girl, let alone more than one would want actually to date this guy.

Next Seasons and Continuations!

*Fruits Basket 2019 (Season 2): Thank goodness Fruits Basket wasn’t delayed or cancelled last season because sometimes I feel like it was the only thing getting me through the spring. I’ve ranted about how good it is enough by now. If it can’t brighten your year, then nothing will. Just watch it if you haven’t already.

*Re:ZERO-Starting Life in Another World (Season 2): Subaru is still trapped in another world, and he’s still as angsty as ever, but that’s not going to stop him from constantly putting himself through hell when he keeps dying horribly every time he needs to reset the timeline! There are mysterious new villains, nobody knows who Rem is (again) and I think there’s a plot somewhere under all the suffer porn. Seriously though, this show is pretty cool (even if I was two years late to the party). It’s one of the most interesting isekai anime I’ve ever seen, and it feels like it’s acting as a deconstruction of the genre, kinda like how Madoka Magica is for magical girl anime...both shows certainly have enough crying. The story is weird but interesting, the world building is cool, the villains (and sometimes the heroes) are batshit crazy to watch, and I like its moments of humor.

No Guns Life (season 2): The story of Juzo, the hard boiled detective who plays by his own rules continues in the second season of No Guns Life. In case you missed the first season, this is a mystery/action anime that feels like an old noir film had a cyberpunk baby. There’s underground conspiracies, there’s interesting side characters, and...oh yeah the main character has a gun for a head. That’s right. we came to see a bara detective with a literal gun for a face, but we stayed for the world building and mysterious plots!

*Fire Force (Season 2): I’m going to be honest here, I really didn’t know if I should include this one or not. I have a major love hate relationship with Fire Force, but I figured there may be other people out there who would like it more than I do. So in case you missed the first season, this show follows a group of firefighters who puts out fires caused by spontaneous combustion using a mixture of guns and super powers. It was created by Atsushi Ōkubo, aka the guy who made Soul Eater. So it’s bound to be amazing right?

Not necessarily. Strap in for this one lads.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with this show overall. Its main characters just aren’t that interesting most of the time, it can’t decide on what kind of show it wants to be, and so much of it just dragged for a good part of the series. I don’t know if it was a problem of pacing or if the plot was just that uninteresting for a while. The first couple episodes set up a very unique plot, filled with intriguing moral dilemmas. And then it proceeded to abandon everything interesting in favor of badly timed fan-service. It just couldn’t strike the balance that Soul Eater had between its humor and its sincerity. If they wanted to make an ecchi show, they should have just made one instead of inserting the same overplayed scenarios into every episode. I don’t care if a show has fan-service as long as it fits the tone, or if it only has certain episodes dedicated to playing up the humor. But Fire Force has a habit of just inserting it wherever it wants regardless of what’s actually happening in the episode. Also, some of the humor revolves around one of the main female characters who has a really messed up self image because she’s slightly more muscular, and not a tiny delicate flower like some of the other girls. Not going to pretend that doesn’t bug me.

But that doesn’t mean there is nothing good about it! If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have finished the first season, and I wouldn’t be including this one. So far, the second season has actually been funny because it made the first episode more like filler, instead of cramming in too much plot all at once. And to the surprise of no one, the animation is absolutely god tier. I wish it was being used for something other than clumsy fan-service, but it’s still really something to see. The world building is super creative and 100% my aesthetic, and there were a couple side characters I really loved later in the series (Benimaru). And I did like the twists and turns the series took later in the season when it actually focused on the conspiracy behind the fire force and the cult. When it follows the mysteries it sets up, it’s more fun to watch. Who would have thought?

TLDR: There’s good stuff and there’s bad stuff. This show is really something you have to watch for yourself to decide if it’s going to be worth it. I’m going to at least try the second season, because I want to see where this goes, but it’s on thin ice.

Honorable Mentions

Isekai edition! Both of these came out last season, but I hadn’t mentioned them when I made my spring list. But they’re both getting dubs now so I’m still counting them.

*My Next Life as a Villainess- All Routes Lead to Doom!: A twist on the isekai genre where our main protagonist wakes up as a character in her favorite otome game...only to find that she’s actually the bitchy rival side character who ends up either dead or exiled in every route of the game. So naturally she does everything she can to prevent this by becoming a sweet and caring supporting character...who inadvertently makes every single other character in the game fall in love with her. I ignored this show for the first few episodes because I need another isekai in the world like I need a hole in the head, but after hearing everyone rave about it, I caught up with it in no time. It’s a fun take on the otome game tropes, and it manages to be funny and sweet while not committing to any particular pairing.

*Ascendance of a Bookworm (Season 2): That’s right, it’s another isekai where an adult is reincarnated into the body of a child in a fantasy world. But this time, it’s a nerdy girl whose entire purpose in life revolves around reading books (can relate). However, when our main character Mine is thrust into this fantasy world, she quickly realizes that this particular fantasy setting is a little too...medieval for her tastes...meaning a family of commoners like hers would have no clue how to read and books are only meant for rich people or the church. So of course Mine has to figure out how to either get her hands on some books or make them herself. This is a super cute show that I waited a long time to finally watch, and since the second season is finally being dubbed I wanted to shout it out. It’s just a wholesome isekai version of Dr. Stone. There’s no real action, but it’s a relaxing watch if nothing else.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully nothing else gets delayed or cancelled because it’s pretty slim pickings as it is. And before anyone asks, I didn’t include GIBIATE because I thought it was a massive disappointment that somehow made a time travel horror anime plot boring. There’s also My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu, but it’s been 5 years since I watched the other seasons and don’t remember anything about it. But there’s that too in case anyone is a fan of the series and didn’t know it got another season.

See you next season…if the world is still here by then?

#anime recommendations #2020 anime worth watching #ascendence of a bookworm #my next life as a villaines #fire force #no guns life #re:zero #fruits basket 2019 #fruits basket #rent-a-girlfriend #deca-dence #japan sinks 2020 #great pretender #the god of high school

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keyofjetwolf · 4 years

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THE GIFTENING 2019: Jet Wolf’s Nomination Run-down

Last year, people said they would have liked to know which of the nominations I’d seen, or knew about, or liked, or didn’t like, etc. etc. I HEAR YOU. Under the cut, you’ll find all the nominees in every relevant category (anime, non-anime animated, live action, movies, games), and a couple of brief notes on my familiarity (or lack thereof) and general feelings on the thing.

YOU NEED NOT CONSIDER ANY OF THIS BEFORE MAKING YOUR VOTES

I’m putting the info out there for those who’ve wanted to know, but that information is relevant precisely as much as you want it to be. I can and will liveblog something I hate, I can play a game I’ve played twenty times before. THE GIFTENING is for you, and while I won’t lie (I won’t pretend to like something I don’t, I won’t feign surprise at a twist on my 21st playthrough), I’ll happily provide whatever entertainment in whatever way I can.

Also please note that if I don’t like something, that feeling comes with no value judgement. My disliking a thing reflects only on myself. So if you see I’m not a fan of something, or don’t think I’ll like it based on what I’ve seen or heard, please keep in mind there’s nothing personal toward in you at all in that. AND HELL I COULD BE WRONG FEEL FREE TO TRY AND SHOW ME

Anyway, enough with the blah blah. Join me under the cut if you care to know!

Anything marked only with ** means I haven’t seen/played it nor have any particular thoughts or opinions to share.

Anime

.hack//Sign **

A Place Further Than The Universe - Haven’t seen it, but from Dashboard Osmosis, was more interested in it than I have been a non-Sailor Moon anime in a long time.

Aggretsuko **

Aikatsu! **

Alien Nine **

Angel Sanctuary **

Aria the Animation **

Assassination Classroom **

Azumanga Daioh **

Bodacious Space Pirates - Saw through the first couple of episodes (liveblog here!) Not sure where it’s going, but liked it pretty well!

Bubblegum Crisis - An old personal favourite

Clannad **

Death Note - I think it’s about killing people with a slam book I DUNNO

Death Parade **

Diebuster **

Erased (Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi) **

Excel Saga **

Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia **

Fate/Grand Order: First Order **

Fire Force **

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club - I’ve watched the first series. It’s okay, WOULD BE BETTER IF NOT SO MANY DUDES

Fresh Precure - I’ve not seen any Precure series, but if pressed, would say it appears overwhelmingly fluffy and saccharine

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - a GIFTENING favourite! Barely into it, but enjoying so far. (previous liveblog here)

Fushigi Yuugi - I watched the series (quit partway through the OAVs) when I finished Sailor Moon back in the day and desperately wanted to find it again. I failed.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun **

Given **

Glitter Force **

Grave of the Fireflies - NEVER SEEN IT HAVE BEEN INFORMED IT WILL DEVASTATE ME

Haibane Renmei - I know only what I’ve read via Holligay’s liveblogs! (find them here)

Hamtaro - uhm isn’t this about a hamster

Higurashi When They Cry **

Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) **

Hugtto! Precure - See note on previous Precure

Hyouka **

Kaguya-sama: Love is War **

Kaleido Star **

Kemono Friends **

Kimetsu no Yaiba **

Little Witch Academia **

Log Horizon **

Love Hina **

Luck & Logic **

Madoka: Rebellion - I saw the Madoka series (fairly ambivalent to it), and heard the movie was terrible, but no clue why, specifically.

Magic Knight Rayearth - Watched this back in the day and haven’t watched a single second since. I REMEMBER LIKING THE BLUE ONE

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha - Someone sponsored this liveblog for a while! (liveblog here) It was doing some really interesting things with kids burdened with all this world-saving shit, I thought.

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (TV not OAV) - I know this is a Tenchi Muyo! spin-off (watched some Tenchi back in the day), but I’ve never seen it. Magical Girl Raising Project - Seen the whole series, and really quite enjoyed it.

March Comes in Like a Lion (3-gatsu no Lion) **

Megalobox **

Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary) **

Mob Psycho 100 - Never seen it, but know a bit about it through Dashboard Osmosis.

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - WOW WE’RE GOING BACK INTO THE OLDEN TIMES. I’ve seen bits and pieces of *A* Gundam, but no idea which.

Moribito **

My Bride is a Mermaid (Seto No Hanayome) **

My Roommate is a Cat - Never heard of it, love the title, want it to be a series mashed with the one above.

NANA

Natsume's Book of Friends - I’ve heard the title enough to have it ring a bell, but know nothing otherwise.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - I FUCKING HATE EVANGELION I SEE YOU HOLLIGAY

O Maidens in Your Savage Season - This is another banger title, never heard of it.

Ojamajo Doremi **

Pretear

Princess Principal

Princess Tutu - WE’RE OLD FRIENDS TUTU AND I. I’m currently liveblogging Princess Tutu on the regular thanks to Calantian! (liveblog here) I just got to the halfway point of episode 12, and have Tutu on the schedule for January as well. LOVING THIS SHOW.

Project A-Ko - Among my earliest of anime experiences. A classic. A weird, weird little classic.

Re:Creators **

Read or Die (OAV) **

Revolutionary Girl Utena - I’ve no doubt my time of fully diving into this anime is approaching, but thus far, I’ve only nibbled at the edges. I know there’s shit here, there are too many people into it. MOSTLY THOUGH I’M STILL CONFUSED ABOUT WHY THERE WAS A KANGAROO (previous liveblogs here)

Rose of Versailles - It’s a historical anime and I think there are lesbians?

Samurai Pizza Cats - I could have this wrong, but I think this is a dubbed anime that’s hilariously unconcerned about anything involving the actual translation and plot? And it’s about cats that deliver pizza? I think there’s a crow that’s the bad guy or something?

School-Live - I know the general premise and watched the first episode ahead of Doc’s Eight Days liveblog of it. What I know has intrigued me.

Serial Experiments Lain - I watched this waaaay back when. Bought it on DVD! Still have them! I cannot for the life of me remember how I felt about it.

Slayers - Another I watched a bit back when! Found it to be generally okay, but it was like twenty something years ago because I am an old.

Snow White with the Red Hair **

Suite Precure - See previous Precure notes

Sweetness and Lightning - I got this as a Wildcard a couple GIFTENINGs ago, and found it to be CHARMING AS FUCK. I’m still mildly concerned it’s going to go creepy and weird on me Because Anime, but otherwise, I had a great time. (previous liveblog)

The Promised Neverland **

Thunderbolt Fantasy **

Trigun - I think I saw this on commercials for Toonami? Vash the Demolished or something? I THINK IT’S ABOUT A DUDE WITH A GUN

Umineko When They Cry **

Violet Evergarden **

Yona of the Dawn - I did a tiny bit of this for a commission, but remember next to nothing about it. (previous liveblog)

Zombie Land Saga - I ASSUME IT INVOLVES ZOMBIES IN SOME FASHION

Non-Anime Animated

Adventure Time - Seen a lot of it pass my dash, I know there’s a yellow dog that can be things, and the vampire and the pink one are gay.

Anastasia - Just livestreamed the movie with Holligay for Eight Days! I’ve no particular feelings toward it otherwise.

Archer - I KNOW IT’S ADULT

Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse - This has been nominated every single GIFTENING, I think, and while I’m no closer to knowing what this is actually about, the persistence is inspiring.

Bob's Burgers - Great show! Seen many episodes! I think it’ll be hard to liveblog in a meaningful way.

Bojack Horseman - I’ve seen through season three. EXCELLENT SHOW

Captain N - What the fuck I think I used to watch this on Saturday mornings

Carmen Sandiego (2019) **

Castlevania (2017) - I’ve seen a couple gifsets, that’s it.

Chuggingtons - WHY DO YOU PEOPLE HATE ME

Courage the Cowardly Dog - I know the premise, never watched the show.

Cyber Six **

Daria - It was a Beavis & Butthead spin-off and that immediately killed all interest for me.

Donkey Kong Country (TV series) **

Ducktales (2017) - I know a lot of people love them, but I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the Disney ducks, generally speaking.

Epithet Erased **

Ever After High **

Gargoyles - Saw the first multi-part episode in a livestream a year or so back. It was pretty standard 90s cartoon stuff to me just from that, but I know it’s well-loved.

Generator Rex **

Gravity Falls - Currently liveblogging for the Patreon! LOVE IT. I’m not sure we’re outside the exclusivity window for it, but if it makes it into the second heat, I’ll figure out how to go from there.

Green Eggs and Ham (series) - Wait, what the hell, this is a series? HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS INTO A SERIES

Green Lantern: The Animated Series **

Harley Quinn - Loved the clips I saw of the first episode! Did not love the antisemitic clips I saw of the second episode!

Hazbin Hotel **

Hilda **

Home Movies - The few clips I’ve seen were hilarious.

Infinity Train **

JEM - MY LOVE. It’s desperately 80s and objectively poorly done in places and I adore it with my entire being.

Jonny Quest **

Kidd Video - I feel like I SHOULD know this, but I can’t place it.

Kim Possible - I’ve heard of it!

Klaus **

Mao Mao Heroes of Pure Heart **

Moominvalley (2019) - I know Moomins are those little white hippo things. I am pure confusion beyond that.

My Life as a Teenage Robot **

Over the Garden Wall - I did a couple episodes for my Patreon a few years ago, and have since finished watching the whole series. I’m up for a rewatch!

Rugrats - I know of it, but have only watched the Hanukkah special.

RWBY - Heard of it! I had the impression it was pretty queerbaity? (don’t quote me on that)

Samurai Jack - I know the premise, but never watched the series

She-Ra (80s) - YES I KNOW YOU

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) - Love it, love it. I still haven’t seen the most recent “season” (it’s a half season don’t jerk me around Netflix)

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - I am a long-time comic book nerd and quite familiar with the Spider-Mans. Saw the film shortly after last year’s GIFTENING and enjoyed it.

Star vs the Forces of Evil - Had a liveblog of this for THE GIFTENING a few years back and it was okay, but I wasn’t super impressed. (previous liveblog)

Super Friends - I FUCKING HATE THE SUPER FRIENDS I SEE YOU HUBBY

Tangled: Before Ever After - Saw the movie, never seen the series!

The Animals of Farthing Wood **

The Dragon Prince - I’ve heard Tumblr chatter in a general sense, but no details.

The Hollow **

The Loud House **

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show **

Thundercats - I fucking loved Thundercats as a kid, hahhaha, there is no way it holds up.

Totally Spies - I’ve had several Patreon livestreams with the show, so have a pretty good general sense of the show at this point. I’m not sure it’d make a good liveblog, though.

Venture Brothers - I think it features a blond buff dude in a black t-shirt?

Wakfu (French dub) - Oh hey, this was a free to play game at PAX one year! That’s it, that’s all I know.

Winx Club **

X-Men: The Animated Series (90s) - DID SOMEONE SAY X-MEN??? I love this show. Hubby and I still to this day quote this show. This show is not good.

X-Men Evolution - Evo, on the other hand, is EXCELLENT. One of the single best incarnations of the X-Men, in my opinion. Seen all eps multiple times, love it, can talk for a hideously long time about details you never in your life cared about, will probably not make it through an episode, please consider if that is a point for or against it before you vote. (previous liveblog)

Live Action

Agent Carter - Saw the Captain America movie, that’s it!

American Gods - Read the book

Atypical - I know the premise very loosely, and it sounds good, but I’d be a little concerned about accidentally stomping in all the wrong places with my giant clumsy neurotypical feet.

Babylon 5 - I know it’s a sci-fi classic, and I’ve been assured there are characters I would love, but haven’t seen it.

Batman (Adam West series) - A SERIOUS LIVEBLOG WILL RESULT I’M SURE

Black Mirror ("White Bear") - This episode still fucks with me to this day. It’s exceptional, and also very very complicated. This would be a heavy liveblog, be warned. (previous Black Mirror liveblogs)

Brooklyn 99 - I’ve only watched a bit of this and enjoyed it, but like most sitcoms, it’s incredibly difficult to liveblog. (previous liveblog)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - One of my live’s greatest televisual loves. Joss Whedon and time have mostly driven that out of me, but letting my ego out to play for a second, I have to say, I give some pretty good Buffy. (previous liveblogs)

Cagney & Lacey - A formative favourite for tiny baby Jet Wolf! It’s a cop procedural, with all the downsides that implies, but also it’s lady cop BFFs AND I LOVE IT AND THEM

Carmilla - A current staple of the blog, thanks to @cello-moon! I’ve just started Season 3, and if you’re a regular around here, you know how all this goes. (previous liveblogs)

Charmed (1998) - I know of it, very very loosely, but never watched it.

Charmed (2018) - Also loosely known, but even less so!

Cloak and Dagger - I’m burned out (and just burned) from Disney’s Marvel garbage, but I know Cloak & Dagger from the comics, am that only makes me more surprised this show exists.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I never picked this back up after THE GIFTENING, but had a great time with what we watched! (previous liveblog)

Critical Role (The Night Before Critmas one-shot) - I haven’t seen this one shot, but I DO love me some Critical Role.

Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - We watched the whole series, and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. PODLINGS ARE VALID AND HUP IS THE MOST VALID OF ALL

Dear Friends **

Derry Girls - Watched the whole thing a couple times now, absolutely adore it. One of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. Once again though, comedies can be SO hard to liveblog.

Dinnerladies **

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - I’ve heard of the book series?

Doctor Who - I’ve tried SO HARD to like Doctor Who, and yet.

Doctor Who (City of Death serial) - See above, no thoughts on this serial specifically.

Elementary - I’ve seen the first three seasons, I think it is? They began to lose me with some season choices, but I love Sherlock and Joan SO MUCH.

Farscape - I watched the series when it was first on The Sci-Fi Channel, but they kept jerking the schedule around and it fell off my radar. Quite liked it though, as I recall.

Galavant - I SUPER BELIEVE IN YOU TAD COOPER (previous liveblogs)

Good Omens (miniseries) - Read the book and survived the miniseries consuming Tumblr, but didn’t watch it myself.

Hannibal - I remember when this was EVERYWHERE, but mostly I remember that it was very gay and had that guy from Rogue One in it.

Hellier **

His Dark Materials - Haven’t watched it, haven’t read the books, I know nothing!

Kamen Rider (1971, ep 1) **

Kamen Rider Fourze **

Kamen Rider W **

Kanpai Senshi After V **

Killing Eve - I’ve seen some photo and gif sets, but haven’t watched it. I think they’re trying to murder each other? But also fuck? IT’S VERY CONFUSING

Legends of Tomorrow - I know it’s a DC show, and I think it has something to do with time travelers?

Leverage - I just watched and streamed my first two episodes last night on Patreon! Quite enjoyed it, more than I expected to.

LOST - Until proven otherwise, I’ll assume this was a troll nomination. GOOD GOD I HATE LOST

Lost Girl **

Love Island (season 3) **

Maho Sentai Magiranger **

Midnight Dinner: Tokyo Stories **

Murder She Wrote - Actual lol, I have no idea why this was nominated, but I love it and also you. ANGELA LANSBURY ON TV WE ALL WIN

Murdoch Mysteries **

Once Upon a Time - The premise is fairytales all smooshed together I think?

One Day at a Time (2017) - I’ve watched all but the most recent season, I think. Good show, very enjoyable, but mostly “watch and forget” for me.

Orphan Black - Currently liveblogging, thanks to @skylineofspace! I’m currently on episode 4, and absolutely loving it. (previous liveblogs)

Parks and Recreation - I’ve seen all but the last season, I think. Great show, but once again, I’d expect a difficult time liveblogging it.

Pushing Daisies - Never seen it. I think it’s about someone whose touch kills?

Re:Mind **

Russian Doll - Never seen a single second, but I’ve heard nothing but good things through the grapevine.

Sapphire & Steel - HUBBY’S TROLLING ME AGAIN. This is an oooold old old English sci-fi/horror show that I used to watch when I was a tiny tiny Jet Wolf and it scared the shit out of me. I’M STILL MILDLY TRAUMATIZED BY IT TO THIS DAY

Schitt's Creek **

Sense8 **

Shanara **

Smash **

Star Trek: The Next Generation - I love me some Star Trek. I’ve seen all of TNG, but haven’t sat down to fully rewatch the series ever, so most I only saw when they first aired.

Stargate SG1 - I think this is based on a movie I also haven’t seen.

Tantei no Tantei **

Terrace House **

The Good Place - OKAY SO THE GOOD PLACE. I watched the first two seasons and LOVED THEM. Mostly. I DO NOT love the Eleanor/Chidi thing. I do not love it to the extent that it completely sucked out my desire to continue with the show. I haven’t seen anything of it past the S2 finale. (previous liveblog)

The Haunting of Hill House - Watched and enjoyed the whole miniseries. I confess to being uncertain about liveblogging this though, as I feel Doc is doing it so much better than I could hope to do.

The Magicians & The Crown **

The Mandalorian - I KNOW BABY YODA BECAUSE I AM A PERSON WHO EXISTS IN OUR MODERN WORLD (that is all I know)

The Middleman **

The Tick (2016) - I know and enjoyed the cartoon!

The Untamed **

Twilight Zone - Who doesn’t know the Twilight Zone, it’s a fucking classic for a reason.

Twin Peaks - Believe it or not, I have never seen a single second of Twin Peaks. I know it’s weird, I know Laura Palmer is dead, I know functionally nothing else.

Ultraman X **

Westworld - Haven’t seen it, though I believe it’s loosely based on the movie of the same name which I HAVE seen.

What We Do in the Shadows (series) - I’ve seen neither the series nor the movie, but know it’s Taika Waititi and is reportedly hilarious.

Worst Cooks in America - WAIT AM I IN A TV SHOW

Xena: Warrior Princess - My OTHER great love. Adore Xena, adore everything about it (well, mostly), have devoted a not insignificant amount of my heart and brainspace to Xena, if you have me talk about Xena I may never shut up. (previous liveblogs)

Movies

Arrival **

Atomic Blonde **

Barbie's The Princess and The Pauper **

Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Saw it a million years ago, remember functionally nothing.

Best in Show - Also seen a very long time ago, just the once.

Bohemian Rhapsody - I love Queen and Freddie Mercury, and I had exactly zero interest in watching this film.

Brave - A Disney/Pixar movie I actually liked!

Cabaret - I haven’t seen the film, though I did see the stage musical, and it fucked me up pretty hardcore for a while there. (Do not let that dissuade you from voting for it! I’ve been wanting to watch the movie. Trump had just been elected when I saw it performed AND WELL THERE WERE THINGS)

Captain Marvel - Haven’t seen it, but it’s one of the few later stage Disney/Marvel offerings I’ve had any interest in.

Captain Underpants **

Carrie (1976) - ANOTHER SUPER OLDIE I’M SO DELIGHTED. I’ve seen it as well as read the book (both a very long time ago)

Castaway on the Moon **

Cats (1998) - hahahah I SEE YOU YOU ASSHOLES

Chocolat **

Clue (1985) - One of my personal favourite movies, though I did stream it not too long ago for my Patreon.

Coco **

Crank **

Crimson Peak **

Dale and Tucker vs Evil - I’ve never seen this, but have wanted to.

Detective Pikachu - Saw this in the theater, and I’m still not sure if I actually enjoyed it or not.

Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks - THIS IS A MY LITTLE PONY THING ISN’T IT

EVA **

Fate/Grand Order: First Order **

Flash Gordon - Delicious, cheesy fun.

Frozen 2 - I won’t be able to stream this if it’s not been released when it’s GIFTENING time, so just keep that in mind. Also please note that I have not seen Frozen 1. I only just, a few months ago, heard “Let it Go” for the first time. TRUE STORY.

Godzilla: King of Monsters **

Happy New Year (Bollywood) - I legit love Bollywood films, this sounds delightful.

Here Alone **

Home **

Hoodwinked! **

Hot Fuzz - LOVE HOT FUZZ

How to Train Your Dragon **

Howl's Moving Castle - I haven’t seen it, but I’ve had a few other Miyazaki films voted in for GIFTENING and Patreon, and I haven’t really enjoyed any of them. I’M WILLING TO TRY AGAIN. Just keep in mind, they may not be for me.

Hustlers **

In Her Shoes **

Inside Out **

Interstellar **

It's Such a Beautiful Day **

Jennifer's Body **

Jojo Rabbit - I wasn’t able to see this when it was at our local indy theater, and I regret missing it. I’d love to see it, but I’m not sure with my goyische commentary would be the best delivery method.

Jupiter Ascending - Love this beautiful dumb film, omg. I’ve streamed this for previous GIFTENINGs though, if that’s a thing to care about.

Klaus **

Knives Out - Very keen to see this, but it may not be out on dvd/streaming before THE GIFTENING, so bear that in mind.

Last of the Blonde Bombshells **

Legally Blonde - I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER SEEN THIS. I feel like I have, from all the gifs and shit, but nope!

Love Never Dies - Oh my god is this the Phantom sequel, why do you all hate me.

Mad Max: Fury Road - LOVE IT. I’ve done it for THE GIFTENING before, though, just a note.

Madoka: Rebellion - (copied from Rebellion in Anime) I saw the Madoka series (fairly ambivalent to it), and heard the movie was terrible, but no clue why, specifically.

Man from UNCLE **

Masters of the Universe (He-Man, 1987) - This movie is so fucking bad hahaha

Midsommar **

Monster High: Fright On **

Muppet Christmas Carol - Just watched this during Holligay’s Eight Days! I’m not sure it’s really in my wheelhouse, being relatively lukewarm on both A Christmas Carol and the Muppets, but I’d do my best!

Murder on the Orient Express **

Newsies (1992) **

One Cut of the Dead **

Pacific Rim - I saw it in the theater and actually didn’t care for it over much. I’d be willing to give it another shot though, it might be better second time around.

Pan's Labyrinth - I’ve streamed this film a couple times now, I think, but it’s a good one, so I’m up for another go if you guys want!

Parasite (2019) **

Perfect Blue **

Pleasantville **

Promare **

Redline **

Resident Evil **

Return to Oz - I saw this as a kid and haven’t again since. TAKE THAT INFORMATION AS YOU WILL.

Rock-a-Doodle **

Searching (2018) **

Secret of Nimh - LITTLE JET WOLF LOVED THIS MOVIE. Adult Jet Wolf hasn’t sampled it.

Spaceballs - I’ve watched the shit out of Spaceballs. I love a parody, I’m shameless.

Speed Racer (2008) - I’ve only seen this once,but actually enjoyed it more than I expected to.

Spice World - I legitimately love this movie. I’m not sure it’s GOOD but it’s a thousand times better than it has any right to be.

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - Good movie, lots of fun, I streamed it not too long ago on Patreon.

Star Wars - IT’S STAR WARS

Star Wars Holiday Special - I’ve never watched this, and I’m not sure how excited I am to change that fact.

Street Fighter (1994) - I HAVE ONLY HEARD THE LEGENDS

Summer Wars **

Super Mario Brothers - Oh .. this can’t be good ...

Tale of Tales **

Tangled - I’ve seen it, but didn’t have strong opinions one way or the other.

The Adventures of Tintin **

The Great Muppet Caper - I’m sure I’ve seen this, but fuck if I can remember anything.

The Last Jedi (hatewatch) - WELP

The Living Wake **

The Lost Boys - It’s not a good movie, and I love it.

The Mummy (1999) - Streamed recently on Patreon!

The Rezort **

The Road to El Dorado - I’ve seen it, I want a Sailor Moon AU of it.

The Room - I know it’s considered one of the worst films ever made, but I’ve never had the personal privilege of experience.

Tokyo Godfathers **

Us (2019) - Saw it in the theater, totally down for seeing it again with perspective on the whole movie.

Venom **

Wall-E - Probably my favourite Pixar film!

Wayne's World - Saw it back when! Does it hold up? WHO KNOWS

What We Do in the Shadows (movie) - As mentioned above, I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing Taika Waititi joint.

When Marnie Was There **

Wolf Children Ame and Yuki **

X-Men 2 - GOD I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I’m not sure how well it would hold up, but when it came out? One of the few films I’ve paid to see multiple times in the theater.

Your Name **

Games

Ace Attorney (blog) - I’ve tried multiple times with the Ace Attorney games, and I must be honest and say I just don’t like them.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - I’ve watched a playthrough! The story’s not good. THE IDEA OF PLAYING IT STRESSES ME OUT SO HARD HAHAHAH YOU FUCKS

Among the Sleep (stream) **

Arkham Knight (main story run) (stream) - Very intrigued to play this. I’ve tinkered a bit, but get distracted by all the side stuff. The motivation to just streamline the story very much appeals.

Baba is You (stream) - I’ve heard great things about the game, but in a “It was great!” way, I still know fuck all about it.

Black Closet (blog) **

Borderlands (stream) - Love Borderlands, it’s fun as hell. I’d probably angle for Borderlands 2 over the first, but would have a good time however it went.

Catherine Classic **

Cho Aniki **

Control (stream) - I’ve seen a little bit on Steam, just enough to know I’m interested.

Cthulhu Save Christmas - Never heard of it, but great title.

Cuphead (stream) **

Danganronpa **

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (blog) **

Dead by Daylight (stream) **

Death Stranding **

Death Trips **

Detention (stream) **

Disco Elysium (blog) - I’ve heard great things, would be totally okay with a reason to play it.

Doki Doki Lit Club (stream) - I was so intrigued with this from THE GIFTENING a couple years ago that I wanted to work it into the main schedule, but it just didn’t happen. 100% on-board the chance to keep going!

Dragon Age: Origins (stream) - I KEEP STALLING WHENEVER I TRY TO REPLAY THIS GAME SO I CAN MOVE TO DA2 THIS IS MY PERSONAL HELL

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (stream) **

Dream Daddy - I know the premise, and the idea of blogging this is beautiful.

Final Fantasy X (blog) - Have I played X? (asks Hubby) YES I HAVE. It’s one of the few that I finished. Final Fantasy games usually entail so much grinding that I’m not sure it’d be a great liveblog, but I’d do my best!

Firewatch - I’ve been wanting reasons to play this SO MUCH.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (stream) - I’m preeetty sure everyone just wants to hear how many terrible accents we can do. And that’s legit! I’ve since figured out how to play mobile games on my PC so the video quality would be better than last time, but that is the only improvement I could promise. (previous stream)

Gris **

Half Dead 2 (stream) **

Hand of Fate 2 (blog) - I think this is a card game?

Hatoful Boyfriend/Pigeon Fucking (blog) - IS IT EVEN REALLY THE GIFTENING WITHOUT PIGEON FUCKING (previous liveblogs)

Hollow Knight **

House Flipper (blog) - I’ve tentatively had my eye on this on Steam for a while, so seeing this nominated tickled me.

Just Dance (stream) - Jesus wept, you all DO hate me. IF I HAVE TO DO THIS I WON’T DO IT ALONE

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (First Chapter) (blog) **

Legend of Zelda (stream) - I AM SO BAD AT THIS GAME WHY

Life is Strange (blog) - See below!

Life is Strange (stream) - I streamed all episodes of Life is Strange a couple years back. While I’m not sure I’d have much to offer on a replay, I’ll happily do it if you guys vote it in. MEANWHILE, here’s a playlist with all the Life is Strange streams.

Life is Strange 2 - My understanding is it’s a separate game from the first with new characters and new story.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (stream) - And I believe this is a prequel to the first Life is Strange featuring Max and Chloe.

Little Inferno (stream) **

Long Live the Queen (blog) - YOU KNOW PINK PRINCESS (previous liveblogs)

Long Live the Queen (stream) (with walkthrough to not repeat) - I laughed so hard at the nomination specifically giving my ass a walkthrough.

Mass Effect 1 - I’ve played it multiple times! The Mass Effect series is one of my personal favourites.

Monster Prom (w/Hubby, Doc, & Jill) (stream) - AGAIN WITH VOICES I SEE YOU. It can be difficult to get everyone’s schedules all in alignment, so this may be subject to shuffling and delays, just to keep in mind.

Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (stream) **

Overwatch (stream) - I assume this is more group play? But we can talk details if it makes it into further heats.

Oxenfree (stream) - I’ve fully streamed Oxenfree on the Patreon. It’s well outside the exclusivity window at this point, and I’m happy to make those public if you guys were interested and would rather put your votes elsewhere. That said, I really enjoyed the game, and think a second playthrough could add a lot to the overall experience, so feel free.

Pathologic 2 (blog) **

Persona 3 Portable (blog) **

Pillars of Eternity (blog) - I’ve never finished Pillars of Eternity, but I do have a game with some significant progress I could continue. Alternately, I could roll a whole new character, and would play it however you guys chose. We have options if we go this route!

Pokemon Go (stream/videos) - Amazing. Here the link to last year’s Pokemon Go, if you’d like some idea of what the fuck this is about!

Portal (stream) - The Portal series is great, I think it does some really interesting and innovative ideas with gameplay. I’ve played and finished the first two, though remembering the solutions to any of those puzzles is, of course, another thing entirely.

Recettear: An Item Shop Tale (stream) - THIS WAS THE FIRST THING I EVER BOUGHT ON STEAM. I haven’t played it in forever, and I’m not sure how entertaining it would be, but I’m down for finding out!

Resident Evil 2 remake (blog) - IT’S ZOMBIES. That’s about all I know about Resident Evil.

Reventure **

Sara is Missing **

Shovel Knight (stream) **

Slime Rancher (blog) - I have and have played Slime Rancher! I’m a little unsure about blogging it, but would try!

Slime Rancher (stream) - I WASN’T EXPECTING SUCH A RUSH FROM THE SLIME RANCHER FANDOM THIS YEAR

Stanley Parable - I think Hubby’s played this? I seem to recall it has a narrator who comments on what you do, but I don’t know much else.

Stardew Valley (blog) - I’ve never gotten as far in Stardew Valley as I’ve felt I would. Lots to do for me, yet!

Stardew Valley (stream) - Same as above, just in stream form!

Subnautica (stream) - I’ve done several Subnautica streams for Patreon, and if this gets through, I’d release them so everyone (who wants to) can catch up. If I recall, my last play left off with me exploring a big ass ship that crashed.

Superluminal **

Tales from the Borderlands - It’s Borderlands, but Telltale, though!

Tales of Symphonia **

Team SASV (Pokemon X/Y) - TEAM SASSY AND SOMEWHAT VAIN. If this gets in, I’ll need all the intervening time to try and find my fucking DS. (previous liveblogs, via the backup)

The 7th Guest (blog) **

The Beginner's Guide (stream) **

The Long Dark **

The Outer Worlds - I haven’t played this yet but would be extremely delighted for an excuse to pick it up and start.

The Walking Dead game - I watched Hubby play the first two installments, haven’t seen beyond that. Felt the second was weak, LOVED the first. I’ve been hanging on Holligay’s playthrough, so I’m relatively familiar with the story again, save the last episode, which she’s not played yet. I’ve been wanting to before she did, to compare what I think she’ll do to what she actually does, so an excuse to get going on that would be welcome.

The Witcher 3 (stream) - I know @jewishsuperfam loves The Witcher, AND THAT IS ALL I KNOW.

Undertale (blog) - AREN’T I LIKE TWO MINUTES FROM FINISHING THIS. The fight where I left off was frustrating THE PISS out of me, but if this gets in, I’ll get Hubby to read up on what I need to do, and maybe get around that fight before the liveblog, so I don’t spend the whole time getting nowhere and then punching my monitor.

Untitled Goose Game (stream) - I just last month finished this on the Patreon! I need to double check that it would be out of the exclusivity window, but if so, I’d be happy to release it for you guys. I had a great time, but I don’t think there’s much to be regained from playing it again.

VA-11 Hall-A (blog) **

VooDoo Vance: Remastered **

Wattam **

We Happy Few (stream) - I know the basic storyline premise, but little else.

What Remains of Edith Finch (blog) - I watched Holligay’s stream of this and loved the story.

Wild Arms 3 **

Wild ARMs XF (blog) **

Yakuza 0 (stream) **

Zero Escape 999 (blog) **

AND THAT’S THAT. Sailor Moon Day and Miscellaneous don’t require much input from me ahead of time, I don’t feel, but if you have a question on anything there -- or something that’s unclear here, just shoot me an Ask. AND IF YOU FOUND THIS USEFUL PLEASE LET ME KNOW. It took me ... just SO much longer than I was expecting it to. Which I don’t mind, but if it’s not actually helpful to anyone, that’s time better spent elsewhere next year.

#THE GIFTENING 2019 #THE GIFTENING 2019 admin stuff

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beneaththetangles · 4 years

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On Glory: From Watchmen to My Hero Academia

20/20 in 2020 Article: Our blog’s theme for this year is “20/20 in 2020: Setting Our Vision on Christ.” Throughout the year, we’ll post articles which relate to this theme, which encourages you, our readers, to turn away from the world and toward the Holy One. Enjoy the post below, which is part of our yearlong series.

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United States of Smash! Among the joys of these recent Christmas days, there is one particular blessing I cannot share with many people, lest they think me crazy: It came to me a couple weeks ago, just before Christmas, when watching the combat—both interior and exterior—involving Boku no Hero Academia´s “Red Riot” with my little siblings. There were discreet signs here and there these past few years, but now I think I can say it safely: We have won a 34-year-old war. That is, I think we are beyond Watchmen (the original) now, gentlemen. The glory of heroes is back, and better than ever. And I think this is wonderful news.

Let me explain this convoluted mess of a statement. For those who do not know, “Red Riot” is the 72nd episode of Boku no Hero Academia, a popular, colourful and clever shōnen currently in its fourth season. It tells the story of a society where 80% of the population is born with some kind of superpower, and with the progress of young Izuku Midoriya, an aspiring superhero, and his classmates, acquiring and perfecting their abilities and going up the various ranks of the superhero guild, in this world an established and respected profession.

Much of the show deals with the number one hero, the Superman analogue Toshinori Yagi, codenamed All Might (don´t worry, no secret identities here), called the Symbol of Peace and whose superpower is name “One for All.” Toshinori, who has been compared to King David by our writer Mdmrn, is as much a referent for his people as the famed king was, and fulfills a similar role of victor and defender (except he is not a ruler). He is kind of a Galahad, or a Cid Campeador, or a reverse Voldemort: an inspiration, a force of good so powerful and relevant that he is part of the life of every particular person, every family, every kid, not as an unmentionable fear, but as a sign of hope, and his ideals and code of conduct have become the cornerstone of his profession—perhaps of his entire society. He is a professional hero, the professional hero. Yet, he is human, and therefore fragile. He is not perfect. He knows he will not last forever. All this has every kind of fascinating implications the show is never afraid to explore.

As a lifelong fan of the superhero genre, it is no wonder that I am enjoying the story this much, and for many reasons. There is its feeling of adventure and wonder; the masterful way its world achieves the simultaneous strangeness and familiarity with ours that is so difficult yet so essential to this genre; its myriad of colourful and compelling characters I never tire to learn about; its freshness, even innocence; its clever use of wildly different superpowers interacting, cooperating or colliding to advance the plot in a way that makes sense (this internal or secondary realism, if you will); the scope of the challenges; the well-paced timing of the Bildungsroman aspect; its comedy—this is a funny show, yet knows when to be serious; the way it deals with the political, the funny, the sociological or the darker implications of what is telling without flinching or putting on an awkward smile (or dogding the question) and, above all, the unrelenting hope and honesty with which it deals with its main themes, heroism and maturity, would touch me deeply by themselves: Altogether, they make BNHA a joy to watch.

But even further, I think it shows the way out and above a difficult conundrum in which the superhero genre has fallen into: how to deal with the implications (maybe “the controlled demolition” would be more accurate) which Watchmen and, to a lesser extent, Frank Miller´s The Dark Knight Returns, two Cold War works, which attacked in an artsy, deconstructionist, simultaneously philosophical, theological and psychological, Quixote-like (in this forum, I´d say Madoka-like or Evangelion-like) way every premise of the superhero tale. The points they made could not easily be ignored, and so the world of the genre comics changed.

How? Well, it became darker, more ambiguous, more desperate, more attentive to the consequences, sometimes openly immoral. Robin II, Jason Todd, died a gruesome death. Batman´s back was broken (for a time). Superman died (for a time). The antihero grew. In time, there was a Civil War at Marvel, and an Identity Crisis at DC. Fear of superheroes, paranoia and persecutions of various kinds grew in fiction. It seemed to be experimenting with all kinds of formulas, from the return to the past to fully embracing the existential cynism and angst, to experimenting with various solutions, sometimes achieving triumph to a point, but never lastly or in a general way (in my view). The X-Men franchise, DC´s Kingdom Come, its Art Deco TV shows and Young Justice, Nolan´s Dark Knight trilogy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the works of Grant Morrison try to provide a satisfactory answer to the political, philosophical, psychological or spiritual consequences of the critique of superheroism at Watchmen. DC is explicitly confronting it in its current Doomsday Clock comic series. Anime has is own response to Watchmen: it is called Concrete Revolutio, and it is a mixed bag.

The problem is, of course, that a Watchmen—much like Eva or Madoka or Don Quixote—was necessary. It was a problem of maturity of the genre: in time, the established premises, the things that don´t fit the narrative, the darker possibilities, the social and political implications, the philosophical objections, everything calls to be explored, perhaps questioned, perhaps confronted, perhaps deepened. The truth of the matter calls for it. Evading it leads you into the infamous eight grade syndrome: Authenticity is the condition for hope, while lies ultimately lead to desperation.

Yet, the other half is that mere cynism and bitterness are not a valid answer either. Those who pretend it is, sometimes with superiority and satisfaction, will see again and again a disconcerting rebellion of the public: Superheroes, as noble knights, as teens piloting mechas, as magical girls, point to some truths of the human heart which will not die. Defensive mechanisms will arise, a ray of hope will still shine trough the greatest of tragedies. Deep down we know that one day, the hero will be back. This hope is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, and through Christ, in us, and all good stories, broken as they are, point to Him.

So, why do I think we are at the other side in BNHA? The answer lies in a concept which is particularly relevant to us Christians: kabod, the concept of “glory”.

You do not hear much about glory these days. What does it mean? Fame? Honor? Splendour? Professional success? Some kind of radiance and light? Nowadays it is quite uncommon to hear the word unironically, but it was not always so. It used to be a part of life. A history book about World War One records the words of the Belgian Bassompierre: “If we are to be crushed, let us be crushed gloriously”, and finds it necessary to add: “[i]n 1914 “glory” was a word spoken without embarrassment.”

What is glory, then? Certainly, it is something like radiance or light: It is the beauty, the strength, the attractive, the coolness, the splendor, the impacting greatness of what is good. In itself, it calls for applause, for admiration and honor ,and for gratitude. It can inspire you to develop your own potential and achieve your own greatness. The glory of things and people makes us feel what is valuable in them: In Genesis we are told how God saw the things He had created, and saw that they were good. To be in glory is to be yourself and yet be great, to be accepted and admired by your people. David was a glorious king among the Israelites, and Toshinori is glorious among the future Japanese. Their strength shines before them, and they know it helps those around them. Our Lord lets this light shine from Him in the Transfiguration, and the Apocalypse (as Manga Majesty portrays in vivid colours) tells us that it will be so for us too in Heaven, in a way beyond our imagination. Thus, rightly understood, the glories of Earth are signs of hope, incomplete as they are.

But as all the noblest impulses of our fallen humanity, the thirst of glory can be disordered and become a source of self-enclosure and corruption, undermining itself. What is valuable can be falsified. What is good can be a source of sinful pride, tempting one to create a glorious world and cut ties with God. People can be manipulated, threatened or bribed to cheer. Just as the wise may become dumb for believing that they know everything, the glorious may become drunk with their own glory and forget the truth about themselves, and those who thirst for glory can idolize it, separating it from its inner meaning.

Watchmen is ultimately the story of something that seems valuable, cool and wholesome when it has become a big obstacle for a full, truly human life in harmony with oneself and the world. Without spoiling too much, I will say that its world is a world without Olympic Games, because its people feels that superhuman feats make human feats meaningless. It is a world where the all-American superhumans have aggravated the Cold War, where the establishment they support is invincible, where police goes on strike and pirate comics are read for evasion.

For all its hope and its innocence, Boku no Hero Academia acknowledges this. “All men are not created equal,” it starts, before telling us the story of a mere human in a superhuman world, a pariah without powers that are a metaphor for all human power, technology, and ability. And yet, our protagonist is not resentful. He sees the world without the bandage of hate. He can even see and admire the glory even in his personal bully, Bakugou, yet he opposes his injustices. He is a fan of Toshinori, much like Tim Drake was to Batman. We don´t know anything about his father, which seems to have abandoned his mother. He receives his power after having known what is to be frail and abused, like Spider-man and Steve Rogers. He works hard, and various limitations of his power ensure that he is forced to use it cleverly. He is a humble hero who understands both his responsibility and his limits, even if he defies them to save those around him, hoping against all hope that he will make it.

BNHA certainly speaks of glory without embarrassment while being well aware of its limits, and in doing so, it creates a world where gratitude is the cornerstone of social relationships, and the Fourth Commandment is upheld. The society has certainly grown complacent because of the achievements of the heroes, but Midoriya and his classmates are not. Heroes, even those in high ranks, may be abusive monsters, anti-social freaks or superficial and vain celebrities, but there are true heroes.

There is a path of maturity which does not renounce to challenging or questioning, rooted in a big hope, a thirst for justice, and a feeling of gratitude, a humble and powerful “Even so!” which reminds me of the combination of the strengths of childhood and adulthood which was my favorite element of Erased. There is a prodigious strength which comes from becoming a part of a living, mysterious story which changes you, inspired by the ideal of saving everyone.

We are coming to see what happens when things turn dark, and “Red Riot” pointed it out to us in a very hopeful way. So hopeful, in fact, that it seems to me that every question has been answered. The hero is not God, not in the slightest, but he carries a powerful sign of hope. Its power, its vocation, does not come from his own merits, yet it requires all of his cooperation and effort. As Serial Experiments Lain says, “Everyone is connected,” no matter how far you run. And true heroes are not afraid to bow, to learn restraint, to take responsibility, to grow. The good is good, but it is also in construction, and mere power and ability cannot quite suffice. The path of the superhero has become a path of maturation and service. And everything feels renewed.

Who watches the watchmen, then? Who gives us reason for that unflinching, difficult hope that we will be saved, that the fight is not over, as fragile as we may be, as complex as the world may become? How can we look with renewed wonder all which is beautiful and luminous in this world, yet evade the temptation of idolatry, work for the prosperity of Babylon without adoring the statue of Nebuchanezzar, like Daniel? The One that never changes and will never become corrupted, the one from whom we have received everything that is good and who always judges according to justice. To Him, ultimately, belongs all the glory, because everything that is glorious points in some way to Him. Generation after generation, He is our Glory, the Glory of Israel and of the world. And He shall glorify His name, again and again, so we have every reason to fight for justice and the salvation of each person, hoping to see it anew: with God, all things are possible. Plus Ultra!

#Anime #Christianity #Comics #My Hero Academia #Watchmen #Boku no Hero Academia #Glory #Jesus Christ #God #Articles #Author: Gaharet

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mahou-furbies · 4 years

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2019 is almost over, and it's time for

The Dazzling Pink Precure were supposed to be handling the ceremony, but then unexpectedly had to go back to the drawing board for some design tweaks, so...

This is the magical girl media that has been consumed here on Mahou-furbies this year!

Anime

(Fresh Precure, Star Twinkle Precure, Invaders of the Rokujouma, Machikado Mazoku, Madoka)

Manga

(the original CCS & Clear Card, Magical Girl Site, Sailor Moon, Madoka Wraith arc, Homura revenge, Oriko Magica, Sakura Hime Kaden, Is this a Zombie?, Flying Witch)

(revisits to old familiar stuff don't qualify for an award unless I had forgotten everything about it)

Other notable stuff that happened over the year:

Before going to the awards, let’s say a few words about the artistic activity here at Mahou-furbies.

The "practise figure drawing while Precure is playing" project still continues! The experience is surreal, with Precure on one half of the screen, and a nude model with a 60 second timer on the other!

Honestly I don't see any progress myself but having watched roughly 3 seasons this way and 20 drawings per episode that's 1000 sketches, that has to count for something? I hope?

The Chibi project started and continues! According to my statistics that is 170 characters and 504 drawings (different outfits) total! Out of the 63 Main Cures (incl. Healin’ Good) 40 are finished.

The Magical Girl Fusion drawing happened this year! It is the second most popular tumblr post I’ve ever made, and it still continues making its rounds, occasionally showing up as the most popular post of the day in my activity! It’s one of the few posts of mine I really like, I think it has both a good concept and execution, so I’m happy that it has received attention.

After the Fusion post, another chibi series has launched and these even smaller chibis have invaded all three of my other active blogs, and there is more to come to this blog as well... They’re cuter than the main chibi series, but the details aren’t as visible so they’re not going to completely displace it.

And then there’s of course the Dazzling Pink Precure, which has received outstanding support right from the beginning!

It is kind of amazing that whenever I post about them I often get some kind of feedback, when I think it’s more common that artists struggle to get recognition for their OCs while art of canon stuff gets more responses. So I’m very flattered by the interest they’ve received! And they have even been nominated for this year’s fancure awards (thanks to whoever nominated them) which is just incredible. The changes they are going through right now hopefully won’t have a meaningful impact on that since I only plan to alter some of the pink shades or make one skirt hem a little different or stuff like that, and the main concept should stay the same.

I also find it entertaining that Cure Fluffy who was created to be a parody of the spotlight-hogging pink protagonists got upstaged by an all-pink team.

But that’s it for the art life of Mahou-furbies, now let's start with the awards!

Best henshin design goes tooooo

Tetty Goodgripp from MagiPro Black! I haven’t read it yet (I’m still at Jokers or Aces, whichever was the middle of the trilogy) but I do love this design.

Then, best team henshin design is

Fresh Precure! Though to be fair not a lot of teams this year... But a win is a win and I did rank them #1 in my Precure Team design ranking a few years ago.

Next, best powerup look is

Also Fresh! bonus points for implementing the powerup in a more interesting way than "new once-per-episode stock footage sequence in the latter part of the season" or "thing we see in the final episode for two and a half minutes"

The award for Best civilian design goes to

Cure Cosmo! Surprising for this monochrome a design, but the simple and stylish look is just so good.

Best school uniform is

Magical Girl Site! ...I know the common opinion of this series and kind of agree with it, but I just like the basic black sailor uniform ok?

Then best hair. That is

Cure Star’s ridiculous twintails! I love them!

Best magical item goes to

The Clear Cards! Sakura’s cards are already a fun item, and I like the transparent visuals.

Best Henshin scene is

youtube

Cure Passion’s transformation! I love the part where she sinks into water and the one where her earrings and tiara appear.

Best fan creation witnessed in 2019 goes to

Banban! Hero Precure by @aceaeite! Great designs that work well both individually and as a team, and the designs are recognisable as both Precure and superheroes! Also I love the detail of the little sister not fighting with the rest of the girls and instead having her own adventures.

(link to source)

Then, Best relationship goes to

Love & Setsuna from Fresh! I don’t ship them, but I like them as sisters and Setsuna finding a loving family after all she had gone through was one of the best elements of the season.

The Best mascot of the year was

Chito from Flying Witch! I don’t really consider this kind of witch series to be a part of the magical girl genre, but it’s more fun to have more works on this list so... Anyway I don’t usually care much for mascots but Chito was cute and not annoying.

Best supporting character (i.e. not one of the magical girls) is

Kaoru-chan from Fresh! At times his existence felt a bit superfluous, but he was funny and it was nice that the girls had a supportive adult around to give advice.

Best visuals goes to

The colour palette in Cosmo’s intro! The use of colour really stood out to me. Not a lot of outstanding animation this year it seems...

Next, Best audio!

youtube

The ending for Invaders of the Rokujouma! The song puts me in a happy place (and I also love the little logos for all the girls).

Then, Best scene is

youtube

Seconds 0:05 - 0:10 of Cure Cosmo’s attack! It just has such good lighting and music! (don’t care for the rest of the attack...)

Then, the Innovation award for a work that did something cool and new for the genre!

Honestly I don’t think I can give this to anything this year... Sakura Hime kaden had an interesting historical setting and Machikado Mazoku’s concept of having the friendly villain be the main character was amazing, but neither did anything worthwhile with these ideas so I don’t want to award them... Better luck next year!

Then a special award! While it would be all kinds of entertaining to also pick the worst hair, worst henshin etc I thought I’d focus on the positive. However we can’t get through this post without a little bit of bitching, so next is one Golden Mana Award for one thing that didn’t go quite the way I wanted in some way. And that isssss

The henshin designs in TMM Au Lait! I love the original TMM designs but these new boys apparently have no intention of even remotely following the old design ideas. Pah!

Then the final awards. Best character of the year is

Cure Milky! Love her more serious and down-to-earth personality, she has a cute design in both civilian and henshin form, her voice is lovely and with a unique origin she brings some fresh air to Precure!

And finally, Best series of 2019 goes to

The first half that I’ve seen of Star Twinkle Precure! I haven’t seen all of it yet, but what I have has been a surprisingly positive experience, with a lot of great characters, exploring the space theme and changing the usual formula even a little. Hopefully the quality will remain strong!

Annnd with that we're all set for 2020! Plans and expectations are

Let’s see if I can make even one of these happen!

Art-wise I hope to be able to complete all main Cures for the Chibi series (though that also depends on if everyone’s 5-star-card dress will be revealed). But once they are finished there will be compilation posts, and I’m hoping to have some kind of bracket polling thing where we can all vote for the best 5-star-card dress.

Then there’s the Dazzling Pink Precure, for who I’m currently trying to think of a story and will hopefully be able to put something out.

Alright, that was Mahou-furbies 2019. What were your highlights (or worst points) of 2019, and how does 2020 look in terms of magical girls?

#annual wrap up #blog stuff #magical girls #my stuff #yay fuwa fuwa precure #long post is long

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animationforce · 5 years

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Searching for your new favorite anime? Animation Force contributing writer Austin is back with his picks for the 2019 Winter Anime Season (continued below the cut).

Mob Psycho Season II

Source: Manga

Studio: Bones — Bones is a rightfully legendary studio and listing all their classics would keep us here all day. However, a small sample is worth recounting; they were responsible for both “Fullmetal Alchemist” adaptations, “My Hero Academia,” “Mob Psycho 100,” “Noragami” and “Ouran High School Host Club.”

Director: Yuzuru Tachikawa — Tachikawa entered the anime industry in 2006 and has since worked on big projects, directing “Mob Psycho,” “Death Billiards” and “Death Parade.” He has also directed episodes of shows such as “Kill la Kill,” “Steins;Gate,” “Bleach” and “Attack on Titan.”

Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural

Premise: Mob is an eighth grader with extraordinary psychic powers. He works for a fake psychic named Reigen who mentors Mob and uses him to solve supernatural cases. Mob’s brother has recently developed strong psychic powers of his own. All these characters come together to form a high tempo fast paced comedy.

Recommendation: Must watch, provided you’ve seen the original

The Promised Neverland

Source: Manga

Studio: Cloverworks — Cloverworks is a relative newcomer to the anime scene but are already making a splash. Recently they’ve directed “Rascal does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai,” “Slow Start” and the “Persona 5” adaptation, as well directing parts of “Darling in the Franxx” and the final season of “Fairy Tale.”

Director: Mamoru Kanbe — Unlike Cloverworks, Kanbe is a veteran of the anime scene. He has worked on numerous famous projects: among them, “Elfen Lied,” “Cardcaptor Sakura" and “So Ra No Wa To.”

Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural

Premise: A group of orphans are given an ideal world with all their needs provided for them. But this is only a ruse; they are actually being raised as little more than livestock to be eaten by demonic creatures. After finding this out they only have a few months to escape.

Kaguya-Sama

Source: Manga- Kaguya-Sama is one of the most popular currently ongoing manga, sitting in the top 50 all-time manga on MyAnimeList.

Studio: A-1 Pictures — Much like Bones, the great works of A-1 would be much too long a list. However, a sample of some of my favorites that they have done are “Anohana,” “Wotaku,” “Erased,” “Silver Spoon” and “Servant x Service.” They excel at romance anime, in my experience.

Director: Shinichi Omata — Omata has a relatively small amount of work under his belt, which might be a cause for concern. His most famous credit is work on “Madoka Magica.”

Genre: Romance, Psychological, Comedy

Premise: Two top students have fallen in love with each other but there’s only one problem: neither is willing to confess that to the other. The show details the battle between the two students to make the other confess to them and become the submissive partner in their relationship.

Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh

Source: Light Novel — Light novels have gained a bit of a reputation in recent years for being low quality cash grabs, but Boogiepop was made before that was a trend and is a high-quality source.

Studio: Madhouse — Madhouse is another titan of the animation industry. They have put their work into such greats as “Cardcaptor Sakura,” “Monster,” “Paranoia Agent,” “Death Note” and “Death Parade.”

Director: Shingo Natsume — Natsume has worked on numerous large projects, directing “One Punch Man” and doing key visuals on “Gurren Lagann” and “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.”

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological

Premise: There is a legend of a Shinigami (Japanese death demon) that can give death to suffering people, whose name is Boogiepop. The story follows a rash of disappearances at Shinyo Academy. Is Boogiepop to blame, or is something more sinister happening?

Recommendation: Watch unless horror/the premise is a turnoff for you.

Dororo

Source: Manga

Studio: Mappa — Mappa is a relative newcomer to the animation industry, having come up in 2012. But their quality is not in doubt; they have produced modern greats, such as “Kids on the Slope,” “Yuri on Ice,” “Banana Fish” and “Zombieland Saga.”

Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi – Furuhashi directing this project is excellent news; he’s been the director of numerous extremely high-quality projects. He has been in the director’s chair for such projects as Hunter x Hunter, Gundam Unicorn, Mononoke, and Getbackers.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

Premise: A greedy feudal lord sold his unborn son’s body parts to demons in exchange for power. When the son was born he was horrifically deformed and his father threw him into the river. The baby was rescued by a doctor who gave him prosthetics and trained him to hunt the demons and reclaim his body parts. Now he’s joined by Dororo, a young thief boy as he takes his journey of vengeance.

Recommendation: Combining a good studio with a great director and a classic manga, this project is the one I am most excited for after “Mob Psycho” and my early prediction for Anime of the Season.

Revisions

Source: Anime Original

Studio: Shirogumi — Shirogumi is a newcomer to the anime industry and doesn’t have any really recognizable projects under their belt. I hope this will be a first.

Director: Gorou Taniguchi — Taniguchi has extensive experience with sci-fi anime, having directed or storyboarded numerous entries in the “Code Geass” and “Gundam” series as well as directing “Planetes.”

Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Mecha

Premise: High school students are transported 300 years into the future and are forced to fight monsters in mechs known as doll weapons.

Recommendation: It’s CGI so it’s hard to say if the animation quality will be up to everyone’s standards, but if the premise and crew excites you, feel free to join me on this journey.

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue.

Source: Manga

Studio: Zero-G — Zero-g is another newer studio, having first released anime in 2016. Their most famous work is 2018’s “Grand Blue.”

Director: Kaoru Suzuki — Suzuki is something of an unknown quality as far as directing projects goes. He’s been in the industry for some time, but he has mostly done storyboarding work.

Genre: Slice of life, Comedy

Premise: Atame no Ue is a story about a writer who adopts a cat hoping to find inspiration for his novels in him.

Recommendation: This one is hard to recommend because both the director and studio are relative unknown qualities. However; if you, like me, are a fan of cozy, slice-of-life shows like Tada-Kun, this may be your best bet in that genre for the season. I have high hopes that this will be a nice breather compared to all the other fast paced action I’ll be watching this season.

Best recommended to fans of the genre who want something wholesome and funny.

Quick looks!

This category is for anime that I won’t personally be watching, but others should still take note of.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

This semi-dark isekai features an Otaku drawn into another world then branded a worthless and weak hero and soon labeled a criminal. Fans of other Isekai such as “No Game No Life,” “Overlord,” “The Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime,” “Log Horizon,” “Re:Zero” and of course “Sword Art Online” may find something to watch here.

Kakegurui

This anime is a sequel, so if you haven’t seen the first season, look that up. But the basic premise is students at an elite school for the privileged take part in dangerous gambling at night to cure their overwhelming ennui.

Endro!

This looks like the premiere example next season of a genre I like to call “cute girls doing cute things.” This time the “cute girls” are demon-slaying heroes, and the “cute thing” is mostly avoiding slaying any demons. If things like “K-On. Yuru Camp” and “Little Witch Academia” are in your wheelhouse, this may be the anime for you.

Domestic Girlfriend

This seems a bit lewd for my tastes, but others may approve. The protagonist is in love with his high school teacher and sleeps with a girl who turns out to be her little sister. Both of these women later become his stepsisters and he has to choose to pursue a romance with one, both or neither of them.

The Quintessential Quintuplets

Simply put, this is a harem anime about quintuplets. It’s not my preferred genre by a wide margin, but the manga it is taken from is quite popular, so I would be remiss not to include it. It is supposedly also a comedy.

#anime #winter anime #anime 2019 #anime preview #mob psycho 100 #mob psycho season 2 #the promised neverland #kaguya sama: love is war #boogiepop wa warawanai #dororo #revisions anime #Doukyonin wa Hiza Tokidoki Atama no Ue #the rising of the shield hero #domestic girlfriend #endro!#the quintessential quintuplets #kakegurui #austin #contributing writer

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thezolblade · 6 years

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Ship Meme! Tagged by @the-cryptographer ~

1) Ultimate Otps:

Which of them have ‘ultimate’ qualities...? GS Isaac/Alex would be kind of an ‘ultimate power’ ship, if they got a plot with twists and turns and character development and reasons to cooperate. I’d expect that more from fic than canon - so many other canons have lots of epic slow burn adventure fics for hero/villain-or-antivillain ships. But so far in GS, for those two, I’ve mostly found (good) crackfic, or non-shippy ‘they fight to the death and Isaac wins and marries Mia’ stuff that doesn’t treat them with even as much nuance as the canon.

Not that I mind mudshipping - my ultimate GS polyship would be something like Isaac/Mia/Felix/Alex(/Veriti/The Ice Queen), with interesting dynamics between every two characters in that set of four (and Mia/Veriti), even with some of the bonds possibly being platonic. Though when I’ve written long plotfic it’s very easily gotten platonic/ambivalent/angsty bc it tends so much towards drama, and conflict may drive plots (hence its abundance in plotbunnies), but I find it hard to headcanon characters getting past hurts and grudges very easily; I want to see them make the effort, but it feels like they’d need a lot of time and personal growth to get there, and I might not even figure how well they do until I’m almost 100K words in. And in some very angsty verses there’s no chance. I want to read other people’s adventure fic too, with fun ideas that manage heel-face turns or antihero plots in a slightly lighter way...

PMMM Madoka/Homura is another ‘ultimate power’ ship, if they can get to a point where Godoka and Homucifer can deal with each other as equals again, both with full knowledge of everything that’s happened and the resolve to truly save themselves, each other, and the rest of the universe. :o

Utena/Anthy is quite an ‘ultimate reality’ ship, when they find their revolution.

2) A ship you’ll always 💜??

The Harvest Moon fan in me is going ‘purple heart? that’s not a very high level of affection??’ ...but taking it as an emoji for ‘love’... without repeating anything above, pokemon Green/Red is always nostalgic (gameverse Ash/Gary, the names get a little confusing as there are localisation differences and I like the old manga and anime too but haven’t watched/read anything recent in those canons).

GS Imilshipping, too, in fic verses where they had a close bond. FE Lucia/Ilyana, I wish they had epilogue content after their support, still mean to write out a plotbunny for them sometime. Soren/Ike, of course, and Tibarn/Reyson.

ToS Lloyd/Colette/Sheena/Zelos, again with strong bonds between all of the pairs in that foursome. They did so much to help each other find hope by striving to save and trust each other, creating a new kind of salvation together.

Skies of Arcadia Fina/Aika/Vyse, Vyse/Ramirez, and Ramirez/Galcian. Never found much fanstuff for it, but it caught the imagination.

3) Current obsessions??

Lots of MadoHomu vibes after getting a oneshot written for them. Confident!Madoka makes both of them happy when they’re not dying; it’s a shame she doesn’t get much screentime as her confident and cheerful self, since so much of her time as a magical girl passes offscreen. Even while she was more unsure during the series, she demonstrated her desire to protect her friends, and Homura commented time and time again on her kindness - she loves her for it, and when she discourages it anyway, it’s because she’s come to believe that it’ll be the death of her. If they were truly safe, they could support each other so well - it could be a world away from the desperation that marked the end of Rebellion, when neither of them are at all okay. :s

Also getting quite into darkfic plotbunnies, and I know ‘darkship’ is a term in some cases for character dynamics fulfilling their worst potential, descending into violence and destruction that at least one character Does Not Want, but in the verses of those plotbunnies I guess they still fit the label of antiships better than ships.

4) A ship you never thought you’d like??

Uh, a lot of the stuff on the gs kink meme caught me by surprise, when rarepairs got suggested and the fills or plotbunnies got interesting - Alex/Ivan, Eoleo/Rief, Alex/Amiti (in a BAD IDEA way). And on lj/tumblr, Mia/Sheba was pleasant surprise too. Not that I ever had any preconceptions about disliking ships, they just hadn’t occurred to me.

In FF7, I don’t think I expected to see compelling Cloud/Seph or Zack/Seph at first, all those years ago, but I quickly found that there are a lot of good AUs and darkfic. Especially when they’re alongside other good ships like Cloud/Zack, Aerith/Zack, Aerith/Cloud, Aerith/Tifa, Tifa/Cloud etc.

5) A ship you used to like but don’t anymore:

Uh idk exactly. I used to read a lot of Buffy fic by ship to find characters whose dynamics were interesting in the show, but iirc I ended up skimming any content that was really ‘shippy’ to get to the plot and jokes and emotional bonding over real stuff, not random physical attraction, and nowadays I don’t think I’d bother skimming so much stuff just bc I hoped it’d be interesting and wanted to keep giving it a chance.

6) A ship that should be canon??

Well some that are very strongly implied but not explicitly stated feel like ‘yep that’s canon’ but could maybe use some more in-universe and author confirmation when not everyone seems to agree - Ike/Soren, Utena/Anthy in some versions of canon, etc.

7) A canon ship you hate???

I like to hate the way darkships go sometimes, but that’s what makes them an interesting story, going ‘noo’ about characters’ bad decisions, though that usually only works if they had better potential that they’re falling short of, not necessarily in a romantic sense... Can’t think of many cases where that happens in canon. Uh I think most explicitly canon relationships are either one option among many routes (and I get tired of support grinding), or I’m a bit indifferent, or if I dislike how it’s done I’d still start playing devil’s advocate and wondering how it could have been done differently if I spend any time considering it.

Oh in FE Awakening I kinda hated how Virion’s flirting in the main plot cutscenes was creepy and painted him as a bad joke, but his supports are much better and some of them are great - how do you explain liking his ships when he has such a bad start (and such bad English voice acting)? I also hated the way the player character’s support options didn’t all show up until endgame, so I missed them the first time and had to replay and wait until then to support grind, and then it all got repetitive grinding the same dlc maps so many times over just for such short supports, and the endgame marriage candidates that were most interesting (bc how the hell could the game make that work, with a head of state or a former enemy??) ended up with really rushed and unconvincing relationship development, and the child recruitment maps were hellishly difficult at that point in the endgame, and all in all it got a bit un-fun and not worth the effort. :/

8) A ship you shipped for years??

Most of the above. Also stuff like Saiyuki Sanzo/Goku, GS Alex/Felix or /Saturos, Jenna/Sheba, Karis/Sveta, Pokemon Misty/Erika, FE Florina/Lyndis, and, uh, probably stuff that I’m forgetting right now.

9) A ship everyone 😍 but you don’t care for?

...Was there anything? Some of the cliche stuff bugs me, but I’d usually think ‘what about writing the dynamic this way and maybe adding poly?’

10) Favorite rare pair???

Mm what's rare? Any gs Alex!ships at this point...

Edit: I forgot to tag anyone, so. If meme time sounds like fun, @sazandorable, @meganekkomeguca, @droory, or anyone who feels like it?

#meme

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loreweaver-universe · 6 years

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After four seasons where the Townies were static entities, rarely changing, rarely moving outside their comfort zones, now everything is changing, everyone is changing. Life is in motion again, and there is no status quo.

This is incredibly refreshing! We’re finally moving these people’s lives forward! They’re taking control of their lives, and it’ll be fascinating to see where they go. I’ve been predicting it since the evacuation at the end of season one, and it’s nice to finally see these people in motion again.

HOW WAS IT?

Oh, that was incredibly satisfying. Again, not a greatest-hits entry for the series, but it’s amazing to see Sadie break her bonds like this, and that little musical number was great fun. I hope we get more moving forward.

Sadie Killer isn’t my only episode rating, though--I need to catch up on a couple ratings I missed! The full list:

The Trial comes in at my new #46 overall (between Storm in the Room and Doug Out) and my new #4 for Season 5 (between Raising the Barn and Lars’ Head).

Off Colors comes in at my new #16 overall (between Monster Reunion and Earthlings) and my new #1 for Season 5 (above Stuck Together).

Lars’ Head comes in at my new #22 overall (between Adventures in Light Distortion and Stuck Together) and my new #3 for Season 5 (between The Trial and Stuck Together).

Dewey Wins comes in after the shift at my new #89 overall (between Buddy’s Book and Lion 2: The Movie) and my new #8 for Season 5 (between Gemcation and Back to the Kindergarten).

Gemcation comes in at my new #110 (between Rose’s Room and Lars and the Cool Kids) and my new #9 for Season 5 (below Dewey Wins).

Raising the Barn comes in after the shift at my new #56 overall (between Future Boy Zoltron and Rose’s Scabbard) and my new #5 for Season 5 (between Sadie Killer and The Trial).

Back to the Kindergarten comes in after the shift at my new #74 overall (between Too Far and Message Received) and my new #7 for Season 5 (between Dewey Wins and Sadie Killer).

Sadie Killer comes in at my new #69 overall (between Gem Harvest and Alone at Sea) and my new #6 for Season 5 (between Back to the Kindergarten and Raising the Barn).

Up next is...

Kevin Party!?

What the shit!?

OTHER PEOPLE YOU MAY ENJOY:

I may have been one of the earlier Steven Universe liveblogs, but a whole community of livebloggers has sprung up over the last two years! Here’s a few people you might want to check out:

Minda Reads started out liveblogging Order of the Stick because I recommended it so much, and has expanded his liveblog repertoire to include Paranatural and Homestuck, as well as show liveblogs for Steven Universe and RWBY!

Krixwell has been liveblogging the superhero web novel Worm for quite some time now. Even for us, that’s an odd choice, but go check him out!

Zephyr is a complete lunatic who liveblogs at approximately mach twelve. I’ve never seen anybody in our community match him for speed or volume of content produced, and he’s got the largest set of shows by far–everything from Steven Universe to Madoka Magica to Samurai Champloo to Steins;Gate to Neon Genesis Evangelion. If you’re tired of the slow pace I liveblog at, or just want a ton of variety, go check out Zephyr.

Wyblogging has a list that varies a bit more widely from what Zephyr and I do, including not just new episodes of Steven Universe, but Camp Camp, Gravity Falls, and a couple other things. Go take a look!

Time Machine is hard to pin down--a variety liveblogger with titles varying from Hunter x Hunter to Magic Mike to The Peanuts Movie to Wynonna Earp. Yeah, I did kind of a double take when I saw “Magic Mike” on her liveblog list too.

KatDiscovers is a newer liveblogger on the list, who started liveblogging Steven Universe at The New Crystal Gems and is in the process of doing SU eps to keep up with me, as well as Over the Garden Wall!

WHAT’S UP WITH ME?

Yeah, I know, I’ve been saying I’m trying to break out of my depressive end-of-the-month liveblogging cycle for a while now. Still trying, still failing. I’m not gonna stop trying, though. I do have a couple other things you can interact with me on, though, including:

My Discord server, where you can come hang out with other fans!

My Twitch channel, where I stream Minecraft and miscellaneous games!

My Youtube channel, where you can check out past streams!

Our community also has guilds in Path of Exile and Clicker Heroes (yes, really) that you can inquire about in the Discord chat. We’ve also started talking about a weekly online Magic the Gathering league, so come check that out if you’re a player!

If you’d like to help support me financially, you can use my direct donation link to put some food on my shelf, or pledge to my Patreon if you want to support me per episode completed, which not only allows you to vote on what shows I do next starting when I begin my Madoka Magica liveblog, but also grants access to the Minecraft server I stream from to $5 patrons or higher!

It’s your kindness and support that lets me do this stuff, and I wouldn’t be where I am without all of you to do it for. Thank you all so much for your support, and for tuning in–and I’ll see you next time!

#subloggin #bloggin #su129 #su episode 136 #episode wrap up

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE: How Usopp the Liar Became a True Hero in One Piece

Hello everyone, and welcome to Why It Works. Over the past couple months, I’ve been powering through One Piece at breakneck speed, journeying from the early crew recruitment through the end of Enies’ Lobby. After my earlier attempts at breaking into the series sputtered out, I’m finally learning what so many fans already know: One Piece improves at an absurd rate over its first several arcs, polishing and expanding in basically every way a narrative can. Nowhere is that evolution more clear than in the journey of the Straw Hats’ most unlikely crewmate: Usopp the Liar.

When Usopp first entered the crew, I frankly found him pretty obnoxious. He appeared to be an icon of the kind of loud, slapstick comedy you frequently find in battle anime, which doesn’t have much appeal to me. Additionally, it was clear from the start that he couldn’t measure up to titans like Luffy or Zoro in terms of physical strength, and given his clownish disposition, I feared he was destined to be relegated to the peanut gallery — one of those characters who can only stand on the sidelines, cheering for the actual heroes to succeed.

As it turns out, while Usopp is a bit of a clown, he ultimately proved to more often play the opposite role. While Luffy, Zoro, or Sanji might happily engage in some ludicrous, death-defying shenanigans, Usopp could generally be found on Nami’s side, playing the straight man to their ridiculous ideas. The reason for that would neatly resolve my second concern — both One Piece and Usopp himself are perfectly aware of his own fragility. While many of the Straw Hats are superhumans enjoying a superhuman adventure, Usopp is a normal human on a superhuman adventure, with all the incessant peril that would involve.

The wildly uneven strengths of the Straw Hats is actually one of the more interesting things about One Piece. Not all of the Straw Hats are fighters; they’re first and foremost a ship’s crew, with several members more suited to maintenance or navigation than combat. Because of this, the non-combat-oriented crew members frequently have to find ways to contribute that avoid direct fighting. Over the first several arcs, Usopp offers sharpshooting, basic engineering, misdirection, and a profound talent for making friends with strange, dangerous creatures.

Rather than being a dramatic drawback, this uneven power distribution actually becomes one of One Piece’s signature strengths. With this need for dramatic flexibility baked into the very fundamentals of its cast dynamics, One Piece is essentially required to come up with conflicts more complicated than “all of our guys fight all of their guys,” offering far more narrative creativity and complexity than your average action property. At the same time, this imbalance also helps emphasize the scale of a world like One Piece, wherein a character like Usopp will perpetually be staring up at giants he could never hope to face.

Eventually, Usopp’s persistent efforts to prove his worth as a crewmate fall short, and he begins to internalize the futility of his situation. By the time the Straw Hats reach Water 7, their journeys have long since lost their original playfulness and even mightier monsters are looming on the horizon. His journey echoes that of the Going Merry itself; beaten and bruised, he no longer has the strength to match up with their challenges or the hope of ever being a “great warrior” like them. His ultimate goal is the point they’re starting from, as they gaze toward challenges he could never even imagine. And thus, when Luffy makes his well-intended but deeply misguided speech about abandoning the Merry, Usopp explodes.

Usopp clearly loves the Merry, even more so than any other member of the Straw Hats. They essentially “joined the crew” at the same time, and the ship had been not just his friend, but also perhaps his most essential role within the crew. Though Usopp was not a shipwright, he took maintaining the ship as a clear point of pride, something that was usually all too rare on their journeys.

But more than his feelings about the Merry itself, Usopp personally relates to the Merry. He sees himself in their ship — a creaky, amusing companion who’s journeyed with them this far, but simply doesn’t possess the strength to help them any longer. Luffy’s dismissal of the Merry feels like a dismissal of him, and the anger of his own response reflects his understanding that Luffy is right. Usopp isn’t really strong enough for this journey anymore and doesn’t really have any skills they could not replace. He’s not an indispensable member of the Straw Hats, he’s just Usopp — and he suspects, if Luffy were willing to be as pragmatic about his crewmates as his ship, Luffy would likely toss him off too.

It’s a hard thing to come face to face with your own limitations like that, and harder still when the verdict comes from the person you respect the most. Usopp does not accept this situation with dignity; he rages against it, blaming Luffy for his callousness, and literally fighting his captain to prove he can measure up in this world. Given his admitted understanding of both his and the Going Merry’s limits, you could perhaps consider this his way of saying goodbye — of giving the crew an excuse to leave him by leaving first and thus taking the blame upon himself. So certain of his inadequacy, perhaps this is the only way he thinks he can still help the Straw Hats.

But ultimately, fate intervenes. Captured first by Franky’s family, and then by the World Government, Usopp finds himself taking part in the Straw Hats’ next adventure in spite of himself. Though he truly believes he is not strong or brave enough to be a Straw Hat anymore, he no longer has the choice to abandon their adventure. And so, Usopp defends himself the only way he can, by employing a power he’s been cultivating since his very first episode.

Usopp lies. He has always been a teller of tall tales, bragging of the foes he’s bested and giants he’s befriended — but now, surging across the tempestuous seas of the grand line, he is in a world of true giants. In order to believe he belongs here, he lies — both to his crewmates and to himself. He puts on a pointed mask and dons the mantle of Sniper King, the hero of countless battles, whose brave feats on Sniper Island and legions of followers mark him as a clear equal of the Straw Hats.

Usopp might not be strong enough to be a Straw Hat, but Sniper King can be. After all, Sniper King is as strong as Usopp says he is. Usopp uses his signature talent to ultimately fool himself, proclaiming himself strong and brave, and through doing so forcing himself to embody those qualities. If his conflict is a crisis of faith, then he just needs a new symbol to believe in. Usopp might not truly be on par with the other Straw Hats, but if he can force himself to believe he is, then perhaps the difference is negligible.

Having given himself permission to believe he is Straw Hat material, Sniper King goes on to prove that he really is Straw Hat material. Not with his combat strengths — among the Straw Hats, he alone doesn’t defeat a member of CP9. Instead, he chips in with all the strengths he’s been cultivating so far, the various oddball strengths that nonetheless add up to an essential teammate. His upgrades to Nami’s weapon allow her to win multiple battles. His kind and courageous heart win him the friendship of the Lobby’s own giant protectors. His genuinely formidable sniping abilities keep Robin safe. In the end, his passionate faith in his captain and ability to boast of greatness even in the face of certain death gives Luffy the last, vital push to secure victory.

Usopp demonstrates that whatever our natural talents, we are as indispensable as we choose to be. Through his journey, he not only expands One Piece’s dramatic horizons but also illustrates something essential about the nature of bravery and how we construct our self-image. I could easily relate to that sharp terror of not measuring up to my peers and the ways that optimistic lies can help us through impossible circumstances. Usopp embodies the difficulty of believing in yourself, and his journey feels all the more meaningful for just how difficult it was and how great the distance between him and his friends. He’s a remarkably compelling hero and my favorite Straw Hat so far.

Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Nick Creamer

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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craveanimeblog-blog · 5 years

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The Best Animes of 2019 that You Must Watch Before the Year Ends

Every season there are new anime series released. Checking them all out can be very time-consuming. If you are looking for a longer-running series or shorts, you will find something here. We've compiled a list for your reference.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is heavy on atmosphere, character development, and plot. The characters are grotesque titans who devour their victim. Nobody is truly safe in this anime.

Dragon Ball (Z, GT, Super)

The Dragon Ball series follows the adventures of Son Goku and friends. It has been the subject of anime memes, jokes, and parodies. The fighting genre of anime began with Dragon Ball. It started as a light-hearted take on Journey to the West but transformed into the genre that influenced much of what was to come. Goku and his foes spend a lot of time on their attacks, the abridged Dragon Ball Kai is a bit of a different take.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

This unique fantasy world has real consequences. It's about the brothers Elric. It has great animation, fantastic dubs, and engaging stories. It's a great choice if you like more drama, action, and a faster pace.

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Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo has a hip-hop aesthetic, fantastic dub, slick visuals, and a great sense of style. It offers an alternate version of Edo history.

Madoka Magica

Madoka Magica is about a group of girls who discover how to use magic to transform and fight. It is aimed at children, particularly girls. But it's dark and mature enough to appeal to a wide audience.

When They Cry

When They Cry has a creepy the atmosphere and a touch of mystery, gore, and psychological horror that many Western horror fans look for.

Steins: Gate

Steins: Gates deals with time travel, exploring the concept in an interesting way. It establishes how it works and features a time loop plot that is excellent.

Gurren Lagann

This giant robot anime is fun and packs a strong emotional punch as well.

A Place Further Than the Universe

This coming-of-age tale of four teenage girls on a boat to Antartica. Mari Tamaki doesn't want to skip class, Shirase Kobuchizawa finds her long-lost mother, Hinata Miyake is a drop out looking for adventure before taking her college entrance exam, and Yuzuki Shiraishi is a child actress who posts vlogs of the trip. It's the story of the friendship between the girls and is noted for its gorgeous animation and genuine heart. There are 13 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles.

One Piece

One Piece is aimed at kids and it's shounen anime. It has been on the air for 20 years and creator Eiichiro Oda creates a world complete with its own culture and history making it fully realized.

Laid-Back Camp

This anime follows Nadeshiko as she discovers her love of camping and her new school. She figures out how to enjoy her time in the outdoors and her new friends. This series also offers actual camping tips. There are 12 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles.

Pop Team Epic

This is a mash of animated shorts with the antics of protective Pipimi and violent Popuko who are best friends. The episodes are split into two, one with the characters voiced by women and one by men. They share the same jokes. All 12 episodes are in Japanese with English subtitles and on Funimation with dubbed English voices.

Violet Evergarden

Kyoto Animation brings Violet Evergarden to life, the main character shares her name with the series. She is a young girl who was used as a killing machine by the military during the war. She lost both of her arms and they were replaced with metal prosthetics. She integrated back into society as Auto-Memory Doll a trained ghostwriter for letters and books. She learns to deal with complex emotions which is both satisfying and sweet to watch as well as the beautiful animation. There are 13 episodes in English and Japanese with English subtitles as well as with dubbed voices and subtitles in other languages.

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Uma Musume: Pretty Derby

Uma Musume is about horse girls. They attend a special school and train to race. The story is about Special Week who want to the #1 horse girl in all of Japan. While she is racing she sees Silence Shizuka, another racer who is unbeatable. The two become rivals and friends. This is both fun and wholesome and the girls are all named after actual racehorses. There are 13 episodes with English subtitles.

Lupin III: Part V

Arsene Lupin III, the master criminal, first appears in Monkey Punch's Lupin III (Kazuhiko Kato) in 1967. Familiar characters Fujiko Mine (Lupin's occasional girlfriend), samurai Goemon Ishikawa II and marksman Daisuke Jigen are part of the adventure. The season focuses on technology and ways that Lupin III is impacted by it. There are 24 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles.

Megalo Box

Megalo Box is about Megalo Boxing. This fictional sport is about using technology along with their fists to enhance strength and speed. Yuri is the current champ who scouts Junk Dog from an underground ring. Junk Rat enters Megalonia under the name of Joe, to compete in a worldwide Megalo boxing tournament to challenge Yuri. This is a The 50th-anniversary celebration of Ashita no Joe that has a low-resolution style right out of the 90s. It makes it stand out in the world of hi-definition. The 13 episodes are available in Japanese with English subtitles.

My Hero Academia: Season Three

Harry Potter in superhero form, the hero is studying at an elite school for the gifted with a cast of characters. The superheroes, known as pro heroes, are everywhere. Everyone one of them has a particular power, quirk or super-strength such as a tape-dispensing elbow. This series is about fun, the character design is interesting, and the powers are inventive and strange. Both the characterization and the plot will keep you interested. Episodes 1 through 55 is available in English subtitles. Seasons one and two have dubbed English voices.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

The series is set in a world where individuals can immerse themselves in their favorite games. Asuna and Kirito are gone in favor of Karen Kohiruimaki who is a college student concerned with her abnormal height. All 12 episodes are available in Japanese with English subtitles.

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Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku

This relatable romance anime is about Wotakoi and her four friends who work in an office and are otaku, or hardcore game and anime fans. The series is filled with relatable moments. The main characters Hirotaka and Narumi deal the dating struggles and tastes. Available in Japanese with English subtitles.

Aggretsuko

Retsuko releases her frustrations through Death Metal karaoke about her love life, her misogynistic boss, and her dead-end job. She navigates being single, misogyny, and loneliness less than gracefully. Everyday tragedies are handled in a way that is familiar to us all. It dwells in imperfection and is adorable and funny. There are 10 episodes in English and Japanese with English subtitles as well as dubbed voices and subtitles in other languages.

Hanebado

Hanebado explores the world of badminton and two girls, Nagisa Aragaki, whose goal it is to be the best payer in Japan, and Ayano Hanasaki, a prodigy who has no desire to play. Hanebado makes badminton look cool with the all-female cast in a male-dominated genre. The characters can stand on their own while showing a genuine passion for the sport, done in fluid animation. Episodes are in Japanese with English subtitles, there will be 13 episodes.

Banana Fish

Set in the streets of New York City, Ash Lynx is a 17-year-old gang leader who is groomed as a sex worker and mob successor. Banana Fish is the name of a drug she was given by a dying man along with a note. Eiji is a 19-year-old photographer from Japan who is investigating gang activity in New York City and encounters Ash. The writing is excellent, and it currently has episodes 1 through 5 streaming in Japanese with English subtitles. The current season will have 13 episodes.

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tokupedia · 7 years

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Kamen Rider 45th Anniversary File: Gaim

*ominous chimes sound followed by the sound of marching drums* ♫ Got it, Move~ Wooow~ ♬

2013

After a long hiatus with clipshow series to tide fans over, Tsuburaya finally creates a brand new Ultraman Series and Ultraman to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary: Ultraman Ginga

Neo Ultra Q bring the original Ultra Q concept into the modern day as its “second season” and airs on satellite TV.

Kyoryu plus Humans! After almost a decade, the fandom’s favorite motif of Dino Sentai returns! HEAR OUR ROAR! The invincible superstars of the 37th Sentai, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger debut! Perfect-de gozaru!

DokiDoki! PreCure runs alongside the Strongest Braves and Armored Riders as the Pretty Cure series of that year.

Garo: Yami o Terasu Mono debuts on TV and stars a new Makai Knight: Ryuga Dougai.

Kouga returns for one last outing as the original Garo in Garo: Soukoku no Maryu. This film takes a more dark fantasy approach akin to 1980s Jim Henson as it is less about the scares and boobs and more of a gothic Wizard of Oz/Alice in Wonderland tale that the whole family can enjoy with only a little blood here and there.

Gatchaman becomes a live action movie....with disappointing changes made to the source material that upset the fans, resulting in a box office flop as it made it to #6 on the charts for only its first week and then fell hard straight to the bottom in the following weeks. Fans consider it one of the top 10 worst live action adaptations of an anime.

Another dud was the film re-imagining of the 1960s hero Tiger Mask starring Eiji Wentz.

On the more raunchy side of things, Hentai Kamen debuts on the silver screen.

Koichi Sakamoto does two solo film projects: Travelers, a sci-fi action flick starring Nao Nagasawa and Ayumi Kinoshita and 009-1, a movie that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the birth of Shotaro Ishinomori (And haunts my nightmares!)

Nuligumar Z, something that slipped past even my radar. It is a film about a Magical Girl henshin superheroine who fights zombies!

When it came time to plan the next season, Producer Naomi Takebe had an interest in breaking away from the formula a bit as the Kamen Rider series had fallen into certain patterns such as only 2 or 3 heroes each season. The first idea that came about in the Toei studio was that there would be more Riders, akin to Ryuki. The next idea was that each would have a motif unique to each of them, at first the team passed around the idea of birds and insects but Bandai suggested something completely unorthodox: Fruit.

Naomi loved this idea as it was something that was never done before and would give a unique look to each Rider to match their personality. The Toei staff test marketed kids to find out what kinds of fruit they liked, with the most popular being oranges. So they decided to make an orange fruit samurai as the main lead!

In terms of music, Avex got a band outside their record label, reggae group Shonan no Kaze, to perform some of the songs of the show and movies with the actors who play the main heroes doing their own themes. Ei Ei OH!

As for the trinkets, the staff wanted it to be like OOO where the device was easy to swap out. (And because OOO was the highest selling Kamen Rider toys on record to date and they kept trying to get those numbers again despite OOO being a lightning in a bottle happenstance.).

Naomi had one idea about “unlocking potential” and after some brainstorming, the staff came up with the idea of using padlocks as a gimmick and enhance it with the fruit motif. But the staff decided it needed a bit more pizazz so they chose to set the show it in a “Sengoku-like setting”, thus the concept of armors came about. To add more flavor, no pun intended, they chose not just armors from ancient Japan, but ancient China, European Knights, Norse Vikings, ancient Arabian archers and a Roman gladiator!

To add to the sheer bizarreness of this mixture they added a guy famously known for a show about killing young girls in a dark deconstruction of the magical girl genre as its head writer:

Gen Urobuchi, dubbed by fans of his work as “Gen the Butcher” or “The Urobutcher.” A self proclaimed nihilist in terms of his dark style of writing, Gen’s involvement caused quite a stir in the fandom and excitement built up. This happened because the voice of Kivat the 3rd from Kiva, Tomokazu Sugita, worked with him previously and introduced him to Naomi Takebe.

Despite seeming out of place for this type of thing, Gen was a huge fan of Kamen Rider, having read Ishinomori’s Black manga when he was a teen and favorites like Ryuki (which may or may not have inspired Puella Magi Madoka Magica) as well as universal fan faves like the Kamen Rider Black TV Show.

Gen also saw this as a challenge, as he had been in a rut doing nothing but anime for a while and needed a change of pace. He was instructed to make the series like “Early Showa Era” Kamen Rider, which only made fans want to see it more.

Then we saw the costumes.....and the fandom had a schism form as some thought Kamen Rider was “ruined 4everz”.

But Gaim is now one of the more highly praised Kamen Rider shows of recent memory. Many enjoying it for going into darker territory at times, having characters you root for, a few deaths and a genuine sense of danger if the heroes fail in the later parts of the season. Also, a plot that neatly threads together (more or less).

Granted, it also had a few hiccups, like the summer 2014 film that was more or less a forced tie-in to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Kamen Rider Taisen’s plot and the awesome but forced and disrupting-a-story-arc Kikaider crossover episode to plug the movie Kikiader Reboot.

The praise was so high for the show that internet geek fan website Den of Geek proclaimed it as the best tokusatsu show in years. (I’d like to think Garo deserves that title at least once in a while and every toku franchise has its day when it hits it outta the park, but I’m just a Fox with opinion) I’d say go into Gaim with expectations leveled, as you are automatically setting yourself up for possible disappointment if overhype clouds your judgement.

If you think it is as great as everybody says, great! If you don’t like it, there are (currently as of this post) 27 other shows of varying styles and tone you can try out or other franchises of the toku genre that may be your cup of tea.

But enough yammering...It’s Lord Kouta’s stage now! ORAAAAA!

(Mr. Kazuraba circa 2013)

Real Name: Kouta Kazuraba

“Pluck the fruit of Heaven. That the world may be dyed in your image. Is that the glory you seek? Is that burden one you can bear? Know this. The lives of men are not ours to control, not even our own. We cannot defy the inexorable current of fate that carries us. But what if fate itself were to call you... To change the world? To turn the course of the future? You cannot defy your fate. But the fate of the world is in your hands!”

In a bustling planned community called Zawame City, the Yggdrasil Corporation provides everyday needs, from healthcare to housing to schools. Zawame used to be a small town, but Yggdrasil moved in and made it a pet project. With a large corporation running everything, people in Zawame feel it is like a “castle town” of the Sengoku Era of old.

And in this town, they call home, everyone hails to a Beat Rider song. Beat Riders are special dance groups that lift the spirits of the citizens. Beat Riders also engage in competitions for turf with other Beat Riders dance groups in Pokemon-like battles using Lock Seeds to summon monsters from another dimension called Inves. One former dancer is Kouta Kazuraba, who has given up his life as a member of Team Gaim and fun to basically adult. (I know that feeling all too well). This has caused a rift between his friends such as Mai as he no longer has time for them and after spending time with Team Gaim’s leader Yuya, goes back to his adult life.

Yuya later talks to a Lock Dealer named Sid, who offers him something to turn Team Gaim’s luck around after their loss to Team Baron...

Kouta later gets a text from Yuya, telling him he found “something good” with an image of a strange device sent as an attachment. Mai and Kouta then encounter a dimensional tear and go inside it, After Kouta picks some strange fruit from the dimension, a larger Inves appears and attacks Mai. They find the device lying on the ground and no sign of Yuya anywhere. Kouta puts on the device, as it looks like a belt buckle and it causes the fruit he was carrying to transform into Lock Seeds. The Inves finds them and chases them again back into their world, and after distracting it, Kouta uses the belt and a Lock seed to become what would later be dubbed an “Armored Rider”.

During his battle with the Inves, a mysterious blonde woman appears to warn Kouta that what he chooses next will determine the course of his fate. If he continues to continue, he will be forced to fight until the very end. Kouta kills the Inves and then goes down a winding path of mysteries, alliances, betrayals and revelations of the dark truth of both Yggdrasil Corp. and the Inves.

Looking back on it, that was when the gears were just starting to turn. But, we didn't realize anything at all. We didn't know that our fates were already written in stone. We just wanted the power to reach our dreams. We thought that helped shape us. That's what we all believed. In the endless war that was yet to come. We would discover that for ourselves.

-Kouta Kazuraba

During one adventure, he met his predecessor Kamen Rider Wizard, who bestowed the title of Kamen Rider to him and the two fought an evil sorcerer alongside the other Heisei Riders.

Gear:

Sengoku Driver

Lockseeds

Lockseed Holder

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Lock_Vehicles

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Armor_Parts

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Musou_Saber_Holster

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Musou_Saber

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Daidaimaru

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Ichigo_Kunai

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Pine_Iron

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Suika_Sojinto

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_Arrow

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis_Driver#Genesis_Core_Unit

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/DJ_Gun

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Senyo_Joint

Powers:

Enhanced Strength from the various armors, skilled weapons user with various weapons at Gaim’s disposal which is further enhanced by his final form.

The Jimber Forms give Kouta a specific enhancement: Super Hearing in Jimber Peach, Super Speed in Jimber Cherry and Enhanced Power in Jimber Lemon. Kachidoki Arms generates fire from the war flags that Gaim carries and has an AWESOME Gun that turns into a Zanbatō!

When the “Madoka moment” happens in the show, Gaim basically becomes a demi-god. He has florakinesis, teleportation, spirit mediumship, telepathy, attack nullification, exorcism, healing powers, dream walking, reality warping, time travel (by way of the golden fruit), portal creation, resurrection ability and a healing factor. Kouta also possessed the power to terraform an environment as large as an entire planet.

Even if his Lockseeds are damaged, Kouta can regenerate them to working condition as long as he is alive and bears the power of the fruit.

Kiwami Arms can summon multiple Arms weapons which Kouta can manipulate via telekinesis to attack his opponents (as seen in the game All Kamen Rider: Rider Revolution).

Weaknesses:

Before the “Madoka moment”, all one needed to do to defeat Gaim was destroy his driver as he was an ordinary human or swipe away all his Lockseeds. He also was susceptible to mind control and “Dark Henshin-ed” once in to a black version of Gaim.

As a demi-god, it is shown that while Kouta is a formidable opponent, certain beings can drain his power away rendering him human again and thus able to be killed (Ex. Megahex). If the “back-up” of his genetic data inside the Kiwami Lockseed is destroyed, then Kouta would be dead and gone forever as he would have no means of reviving.

He also can be overpowered by stronger beings, though ones of such god-like cosmic threat level are few in the Kamen Rider universe.

Given his near God-tier status now though, it is a difficult task to even make a dent in him for the average Rider.

Enemies:

Inves

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Inves

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Inves

Inves are beings from another dimension who at first are like Pokemon to the people of Earth, a fun harmless pet they could summon to fight battles in called the Inves Games from Lockseeds. However, it becomes apparent after the first episode that they are far from innocent, as they are wild beasts who feed on the fruit of the Helheim Forest/Lockseeds to grow even stronger and evolve into larger monsters and attack people. However, despite seeming to be mindless, there is a dark secret as to what exactly they are.

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Over_Lord_Inves

Some of the Inves posses sapient-level intelligence and these are classified a the OverLord Inves. They command the feral and savage members of their race.

Yggdrasil Corp.

(Riff: Yggdrasil, a subsidiary of EvilCorp Conglomerates United and Amalgamated Cheese.)

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Yggdrasill_Corporation

Yggdrasil is a major multinational corporation run by the Kureshima family. They set up their new HQ in Zawame seemingly out of interest in a city development project, but have a more serious ulterior motive in stopping a mass outbreak of the Inves that they believe will wipe out humanity.

Despite this seemingly noble goal of saving humanity, Yggdrasil’s means of doing so are morally questionable at best and outright horrifying at worst.

Word eventually gets leaked that they were going to let 6 billion humans die as they could only save 1 billion in the event of mass outbreak if the Helheim Forest spread. They are then labeled as terrorists by the UN and after a domino effect, including a siege of the Zawame Branch by the Inves, the company went into bankruptcy.

However, its former CEO does try to repent for his company’s sins by helping rebuild Zawame and protecting it in Kouta’s absence.

(Though the Melon Lord wasn’t a bad guy to begin with, just a bit arrogant and misguided in believing there was no other way to save humanity and things went out of his control as the series progressed. Kouta eventually got through to him and the two became friends.)

That’s all for now, I leave you to bask in the metal mustachioed glory that is Kachidoki Arms!

#RiseUpYourFlag!

#kamen rider #45th anniversary #kamen rider gaim #fruit #samurai #2013 #tokusatsu #kachidoki arms #fruit basket #dai dai dai shougun #soiya #this is our stage now #dancing #dj gun #sengoku driver #lockseed #gen urobuchi

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