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not-souleaterpost · 2 months

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The suprisingly bad plot of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

So I played this little fun Jet Set Radio clone (don't worry, it ties into the iceberg, so I wasnt technically procrastinating with video games-)

And the thing that stuck out besides the expected and fun is how the story was bad. In a surprising way - not as "oh I didnt expect it to suck so much!!!" But nah, what I mean is that it failed in a interesting way.

So what do I mean?

Well lets start with the whole setup "Oh yeah, you get your head chopper of and are actually just a random scrap metal robot controling a should-be lifeless body."

This is weird enough, but the fact that there is that much head switching and body stitching is just strange, you wouldnt really expect that from a skating game - hell it makes the casual light-bulb eye-switching from Naruto look tame in comparison.

Still, one could guess that its just a quirky thing (or more disturbingly that some of the developers gets off from it, like not the weirdest thing that exist) - just some funny detail to get attention and stand out.

But not, this thing actually is the crux of the whole "theme" and "charachter arc"

And its weird that this kind of game trys that, like if mario struggled with alcholism as a framing decice for generic platformer #64. Cause why do something that is overly ambitious and will fail?

Like this game sadly failed - the whole search for "roots" just felt kinda unatural and as if the people were living in a different world from you (like ok I get it the society literally is that much weirder, but I mean in a sense of just procecing information and emotions differently than a standard human would)

Just the fact that the charachters feel empty and you dont really connect with them or their relationships makes everything hollow - yet its weird that they tried at all - cause yeah in the end in Jet Set Radio, nobody gives a shit about that stuff, we just wanna ride the line with carefull cartoon charicatures.

Yet still the story decided to introduce plot twist, thematic foils, villians with pseudo-arcs, drama etc.

But somehow it doesnt get how at the same time it just doesnt work on a basic level - like after its revealed that not only that Faux guy killed Felix for a petty reason but also is about to kill all other Graffiti pals, its kinda irellevant that his "big secret" was "Oh your dad kept you out of trouble"

Yet the game plays that up as some final all revealing shocker, and even gives Faux a death mirroring Felix initial fall.

Also the whole arc of Felix is both weird and at the same time something that seems to be trying to say something - from starting as some random smart hair-dryer, to it being revealed that he secretly was a legendary skater with amnesia, and the whole "you are both now"-

I get kinda that they tried to say "look he died partly because of his arrogance and not letting others be close may sparked Faux's psychopathy", but still at the end it just doesnt click, you know what Im saying - the first thing after coming to life with no memory is "Oh I wanna paint the city, yeah why not and find my original head even if its not really mine" and then "Oh I guess I learned the power of friendship, even if we interacted minimally and in the end only the final thematic attack showed the use of bonds"

Like yeah, it showed literally moments how without other people he would be dead but still it was so subdued that its weird to do a whole story like that.

Especially a story as whacky as it - with a evil skater head taking over the police and brainwashing everyone to do his biding while becoming a giant centipede monster.

But the weirdest part is that it even had the whole meta-commentary about how yeah it IS a rip-off and one cant escape that, but like, we are totally something new too guys!

But guess the only really clever writting was the set up of that weirdo with angel wings actually having a absurd but believable reason for overhearing everything lol.

Yet other things just go nowhere - the sniper kinda disapears from the story, there are obvious times where you are just sent in circles for padding, etc.

And that last thing is kinda what leads me to my attempt to reverse engineer the story -

I would guess they started with the wacky desing of the main guy and someone though "but why do he be having that crazy head thou?"

And from that it sparked the idea, well he lost the head - and that connected with the whole "identity" thing especially when they had to think if they were making something creative or just puppetering the corpse of a dead, head-team less corpse of a faux legendary franchise (I dunno why I said faux, I like JSR, but I had to tie in the names)

The details came later, hence why DJ Cybers Mask is supposedly Felix's, even though it doesnt fit the latter - cause yeah the charachter designs werent made like that originally.

And thats why there is some weird padding and moments - cause of budget reasons some things had to be stretched, or maybe some things had to be used in a way to maximise what one has done and to not throw away some cool concepts, even if they clash.

Also, Im not knocking this associative way of coming up with storys, just speculating if thats how it all came together.

Still, the fact that the story isnt just "Yeah we are rebels and here are police, lets fight!" without any of the before mentioned window dressing is surprising.

And, being non-generic is a positive surprise, no matter the execution - so see, this "essay" wasnt shitting on this game afterall.

(also contrast for a simmilar story that is unsurprisingly bad - Gravity Rush - but I'll save that for another time, man I wish that games creative direction was done by someone else, cause the gameplay itself has moments of being more fun than a lot of things...)

Oh also the proof that this all relates back to the Soul Eater iceberg - see what I found (sadly not first, cause I googled and some redditor noticed 2 months ago, alas if I played this game way back I would have had this eternal glory, not shame😔):

And if you say: That's it? I expected more!:

Yeah...Sorry

#bomb rush cyberfunk #critique #story analysis #meta #surprisingly bad #not in a bad way #spoilers #soul eater iceberg #jet set radio #would tag jsrf but only played a few levels before the emulator lost my save #I suspect maybe the story will make more sense in retrospect of that ones plot like I heard it involves some alien squid being summonened #but the first jsr had the whole yellow rhino demon #so its not the absurdity thats weird more the try to be “emotionally complex” or to have some theme and message #but idk #yeah...sorry #also maybe there is some shit in the post game that makes it be more coherent but I already wasted enough time with videogames lol

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arayofdawn · 2 months

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I realized I've only written lengthy character analysis of male villains and female villains deserve their day in the limelight too.

#All of Us Are Dead #lee yoo mi #Lee Na-yeon #Gyeongsu #Zombies #netflix #kdrama #korean drama #kdramadaily #character analysis #squid game #aouad

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hometownrockstar · 2 years

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one time i got this youtube vid recommended to me that was titled smth like "How to write a good twist" and it compared the story twists in Invincible and Squid Games (spoilers for just Squid Games in this post, in case you havent seen it for some reason) and i was like yeah i'll bite bc i like both those shows. so i watched it and boiling down the difference between these twists is: rewatching while knowing Invincible's twist recontextualizes many off-hand moments and lines in a satisfying way, while knowing Squid Game's twist makes those moments worse on a rewatch. and watching this i agreed with the way he explained it, i think he made good points as to why squid game's twist is bad in a typical storywriting way especially compared to invincible which does those typical ways well, but i ended the video disagreeing based on my own experience when i first watched squid game.

I dont think the twist in Squid Game is genius or anything, but the reaction other people had to it caught me off-guard, as they seemed to think it was for shock, or just dumb, or like how that video guy said, ruined the "touching" moments with Oh Il-nam in hindsight. but for me, while watching the scene in the room with the clock, i tried to think abt how it fits into the anticapitalist metaphor the entire show is based and themed around. Contrasting Gi-hun's refusal to use his newly gained wealth to better himself or anything around him with Il-nam's selfish desires to simply have fun in spite of how many die because of it and how he knows his money cushions him from responsibility or any risk in the games unlike the other contestants. and Gi-hun realizing that he isnt like Il-nam, and that he has to move past his survivor's guilt to help others with what he has, the same way he helped Il-nam during the games despite it being a much greater risk to him with no reward.

Taking these thoughts and keeping them in mind during a rewatch, i dont believe it ruins any of those moments for me. it doesnt make them happier or more optimistic, but it recontextualizes this character and his actions and roles into a new metaphor for people under capitalism (as i believe every character represents a different facet of how people navigate through it, whether it be through force, deception, or kindness and community). Before the twist, Il-nam is an elderly man with no family, healthcare or social programs to properly take care of him. he is also seen as a burden on others by those also in the games, refusing to compromise themselves to help him. thus, Gi-hun's actions have always felt like the centerpiece of this relationship to me, showing that you need to stand by one another and protect the most vulnerable, and how this isnt naiveté but bravery. its also strategic, as his kindness and ideas had helped him and others many times throughout the games. brute force and deception arent the only ways to make it.

but when the twist is realized, it shows that Il-nam was never at risk. his money and power as well as his knowledge of the games beforehand always protected him from facing consequences and gave him an undue advantage, one that is overlooked by the floormaster despite stating previously that the fairness in the game is the most important element. Gi-hun going out of his way to help him and this directly leading him surviving several of the games and finally winning, only to find out the seemingly pathetic old man everybody avoided had played a hand in his victory in the end, this sounds like a happy ending to a fable about teaching kindness. but it obviously isnt, as its supposed to be a souring twist, one meant to make you feel like Gi-hun: cheated and just as guilty as Il-nam is. but Gi-hun is able to refuse to go along with his selfish games or concede that it was all worth it in the end, and return to his kind ways he had lost after the game.

this is why i dont think its a bad twist solely based on whether it makes the touching moments between Il-nam and Gi-hun feel bad in hindsight. rather, it emphasizes Gi-hun's uncompromising morals and reasserts them in the end when he confronts Il-nam. and i think a twist isnt bad or good based on whether those moments feel "ruined" again, but instead if they recontextualize it and fit the broader themes of the story in a satisfying way. but i dont like saying this or that trope or rule of writing is THE way to write things, thats the whole reason i wrote this post actually, to show why i disagree with that single view of how a twist "should" be written.

#read my squid game analysis post NOW.

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pacifyara · 2 months

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Late-stage capitalism makes monsters of all of us

I would like to examine Netflix’s Squid Games (2021) which quickly skyrocketed to international success and fame. The nine part season, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, features a talented cast and an even more gripping storyline.

This show has been picked apart over and over again. It is clear that the bones of the show is its critique on capitalism. The squid games essentially is a game where in-debted people risk their life for the chance to win money. However, under capitalism money is never just money. Money is a place to sleep, money is food, money is security, money is acceptance. These themes and more are heavily presented in the series. There have been so many breakdowns of Squid Games overall that I am choosing to focus on an analysis that I have not seen much of.

Spoilers Below

Cho Sang-woo, mainly referred to as Sang-woo, is an antagonist in the series. Sang-woo is one of the most disliked characters in the show because his ruthlessness, desire to win, sociopathic tendencies and selfishness eventually led to him murdering not one but two of the other main characters. Sango-woo’s actions are irreprehensible, but his motivations are all too familiar. Sang-woo desires redemption for his financial failures and missteps on his quest to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Within the confines of the game Sang-Woo is also clearly being driven to survive and outlast all his competitors. If we take the game as a metaphor for late-stage capitalism Sang-woo represents the one willing to do any and everything to win the rat race, which more often than not leads to their own demise. The conditions created by the Squid Games were ones that required depravity and lack of empathy to triumph. Remember although Sang-woo was not an upstanding citizen he began the games as a decent and mild-mannered individual. Sang-woo’s actions are not that of a rogue outlier, they are a direct response to his reality. The truth is to varying degrees most (if not all) participants of the Squid Games let go of empathy for their fellow man for self-preservation in the games. Sang-woo as a character is not a one off extreme but an example of how late-stage capitalism erodes the empathy and morality of every day people.

We have to lack empathy to exist

Have you ever heard the saying “there is no ethical consumption” under capitalism? If not, The Good Place (2016) brings it to life (haha ironic) with seasons long plot culminating in the realization that no human has been able to get into “the good place” (a positive afterlife akin to heaven) in centuries. This is because even the simplest of actions are inexplicably tied to numerous dubious and immoral consequences. Think about it

The amount of cognitive dissonance required to go about our every day lives and believe we are good people is frightening.

There have been studies that have found a link between social class and compassion. It is not all cut and dry but it seems the higher the socioeconomic status the relatively lower the compassion for the distress of others were shown. Again, this is not a phenomenon that can be explained briefly or reduced down but I posit that some of this unresponsiveness to others distress is exactly what is required to consolidate wealth amongst the uber-wealthy. This can extend to beyond individuals to nations or so on.

This post is meant to be a brief examination. I welcome healthy and respectful conversation whether opposing or supportive.

#tv show analysis #squid games #capitalist hell #late stage capitalism #film

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phantasmanatic · 5 months

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mother started watching that gods forsaken squid games reality show in the living room and now i am stuck in my room until she finishes it

#:////#so clear when people watch smth just bc it is popular and not for any kind of analysis or genuine feeling #like ma’am the whole point of the show was to show how dystopian the concept is of having this kind of thing for money #the fact that people are in such a bad place they would put themselves through something so drastic #having an actual squid games(even not fatal) completely proves we are already in the thick of that dystopia nnnnngngngn

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booksbluegurl · 27 days

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Day 3/100 days of Productivity

4th April, 2024

Academia

I did revision sheet of basic maths. This was the fourth time, and I remember most of the things, so I will space the next revision for it to 4-5 days.

I listened to a podcast of Neural System again like yesterday. It's my favorite way to get a little overview of these subjects.

I did biology revision sheets. Half of them.

Made revision sheet for Animal Kingdom. I'm halfway through to mastering at this chapter.

[Didn't do much today in terms of lectures.]

Non Academia

I watched a video essay Orientalism in Wes Anderson movies. Just makes me think that this is very prevalent. I've seen tons of westerners coming to eastern cultures and talking about the people and thier culture as if they're monkeys in a zoo, doing tricks. Though, there are a lot of people who take genuine interest and put efforts to understand a culture, I still feel like the objectification of eastern people is very rampant.

I watched another video essay while having my breakfast, and its was by Mina Le, I love her, her videos are always informative and engaging and her voice is so perfect for such essays. I was watching the costume analysis of Squid Game, a video from 2 years ago. And she highlighted the point about having uniforms and how some uniforms are made to rid people of thier identity. I'm always wondering whether people should have uniforms or not? Do you think we should?

I watched this really incredible video on Indian ancestry and genetics.

I finally, after so long, watched a GoSe episode!!!

Heyyyy how's it going? It's 1:46 am of 4th April. And i should be asleep but I couldn't sleep, so now I'm preparing for the day. It's my friend's birthday today. April has a lot of birthdays. | As soon as, I woke up today, I saw a few things that just agitated my mind, in a bad sense. Now I gave to try to forget it all and still try to study. I'm terribly afraid of failure because I've been working for years on something and failing again would mean that I'm not worth it. But I've been getting messages from everywhere that I should try, continue trying, give my best and leave the rest to God. I'm trying to do just that. A good quote I read from 3rd chapter of Bhagvat Gita-"Win or defeat, happiness or sadness, profit or loss, think of all of these things to be the same, and start preparing for the war."

-Tanishka

Pictures from pinterest

Day 2

Day 4

#study aesthetic #100 days of productivity #light academia #desi academia #study motivation #studyblr #study blog #studying #study inspiration #studying aesthetic #academia aesthetic #chaotic academia

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bucketsquid · 1 year

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Religion in the World of Splatoon - An Analysis

A thought struck me when I was thinking about the Horrorboros and how it’s pretty strongly intended to be an Eastern dragon-- “there really isn’t much discussion on the topic of religion and spirituality in the Splatoon world, even though it’s quite There”. I think that’s really interesting, because while it’s not a detail that’s front-and-center, it’s still pretty present in aspects of the world.

So, I offer you: a quick look and breakdown of religious + spiritual aspects in the funny little squid game. It’s not catch-all, I may miss fine details or this or that, but there’s some stuff that people often miss or are surprised to hear when I bring it up.

The tl;dr is that “yeah, it’s there. Squid Shinto is alive and well and we have, at least, canonization that the Squids (and Octopuses) acknowledge Christianity existing”.

But that’s not nearly enough for me, so read on if you want to see the details!

With the whole game taking place in mollusc-era Japan, there’s a good deal of “leftover” spiritual and religious aspects that remain or have otherwise been adopted by its cephalopod residents. I have a pretty strong case to say that Shinto still very much exists, and is a part of life, for Inklings and Octolings. Shinto at its core isn’t something that people with only a Western experience with religion and spirituality might easily pick out, simply because it’s treated and integrated into society somewhat differently. It’s something you have to approach after discarding your expectations, experiences and baggage involving what you know of religion. But it’s there, and really smoothly woven into Inkopolis.

(Pic from Splatoonwiki, higher res here.)

Skipper Pavilion is pretty intensely and obviously a center of traditional Japanese celebration and Shinto spirituality. It’s a theater first and foremost, not necessarily a shrine, but it has Shinto aspects present. Its two mudskipper statues are direct parallels to komainu statues, which you’ll often find guarding a shrine; they even have the “one with closed mouth, one with an open mouth” detail found in paired komainu statues. Clever attention to detail!

(Pic from Splatoonwiki, higher res here.)

Note these little areas with the blue curtains, too. The boxes of objects being sold remind me quite strongly of windows at shrines where you obtain omamori! Shinto shrines regularly offer these to people who give a donation, and they provide the shrine’s blessing to those who carry them on their person. (We never say that you buy or sell omamori.)

Finally, while I can’t find visuals of them, Splatoonwiki also says that there’s collections of ema plaques on the Skipper Pavilion stage as well. These are small wooden plaques that one typically writes wishes or desires on, before hanging them up with other ema. Like with the omamori, you can regularly find these at Shinto shrines, both in terms of ones you can obtain, and in space for you to hang them up. (If someone can find a screencap of the ema in this stage, I’d really appreciate it!)

...

Moving on from the Pavilion, there’s some other small details and indications of Shinto or a derived form of it in Inkopolis culture. One familiar sight is the Splatfest fax machine.

It’s the super-special fax machine that delivers our Splatfest themes! And it’s also implied to have a divine nature: the NA localization names it The Voice on High according to Splatoonwiki, while in Japanese it’s Kami-sama. That’s a very esteemed title for a fax machine: this implies that it’s seen as a divine being, and quite respectfully too.

While kami is often a catchall word for “god”, “deity”, and so on in Japanese, it also refers to the inherently Shinto concept of kami: a spiritual being that may be anything as great as a deity of heavenly power, or something as modest as the soul of an ancient tree. It’s a kind of difficult concept to fully explain in a brief thing like this... but it’s a huge deal. Given the attention to detail with Shinto aspects in Inkopolis, I think it’s no coincidence that the fax machine is called this. And I think that’s incredibly charming that Inklings saw this still-functioning relic from the human age and attributed divinity to it and its abilities.

(More obvious, but note the ofuda (paper charms) attached to it in the photo; ofuda have a ton of different meanings and uses, but we can pretty safely assume it’s of a protective or otherwise spiritually-significant nature here.)

I’ll also go ahead and mention the message that comes with this Sunken Scroll: "Why are we here? For what purpose do we exist? We must not dwell on these questions. We can merely trust in the will of the universe and spend our days and nights in harmony with the world, celebrating this festival called Life."

Yeah, that feels very “practical Shinto thought” to me, speaking as a Shinto practitioner. While “contemplation of existence and purpose” are still perfectly good subjects, there’s also, often, an emphasis on living practically, focusing on the present day and your community, and being in harmony with the world. This fits in perfectly with that philosophy.

One more detail is that, originally, the Squid Sisters were meant to be shrine maidens of a sort. They were meant to pass on the messages of fax machine Kami-sama to everyone else... or in other words, announcing Splatfest themes. While you can’t see this shrine maiden DNA in their designs anymore, they kept the Splatfest announcement detail through development. In a sense, I guess all of the news announcers and Splatfest hosts have a relationship with the divine.

...

“Alright, that’s all super cool, Marine, but what about the other stuff? They have Squidmas and there’s those Sunken Scrolls too!”

Yup, they sure do. But from what we see in canon and from observations of the cephalopod world, these details feel like a case of “things that Inklings borrowed from humans and played with because they thought they were cool”, rather than “things Inklings kept and adopted because they were a part of the human culture in this region”. There doesn’t seem to be much of a presence of Squid Christianity much at all, at least in Inkopolis: Squidmas exists, but when discussed there’s absolutely no talk or evidence of any religious aspects that may have been lifted from humans. As far as we know, it’s “winter holiday that has some Christmas stage dressing”, which is a very Inkling thing to do with how much they like to borrow from humans. They love to do it so much.

Secondly, yeah, these two Sunken Scrolls do very much point at evidence of “the cephalopods found some traces of Christianity and made content based on it, or inspired by it”. The Book of Madai scroll is particularly pointed in its name, writing and artwork styles. But while this proves that this exists in some form, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s particularly established in Inkopolis. We don’t have nearly as much evidence for Squid Christianity as we do for Squid Shinto, and it’s pretty safe to say that Squid Shinto is much more of a thing in Inkadia.

So what are we taking away from this? Mostly “yeah, religion and spirituality are very much a thing in the Mollusc Era, and it’s very elegantly woven into the setting”. Pretty cool if you ask me, it makes me really happy to find these thoughtfully-placed details where I then go “oh, I know what that is!”. It really adds to the hopeful post-human setting, that even after humans have long since gone extinct, their legacy still remains, and is celebrated and cared deeply for by the Earth’s new peoples.

I’ll probably add a small reblog to this later with my thoughts on the Inkantation and Salmonids, but this is definitely enough for one post.

#splatoon #worldbuilding #shinto #long post #anyone can reblog this!#in fact please do if you like it. i have a lot of warm thoughts about this topic in funny squid world :)

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arogustus · 6 days

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Splatband Analysis - Chirpy Chips

(Disclaimer: This analysis is based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don't be a jerk about it.)

Splatband Analysis - Chirpy Chips

It’s the autism and ADHD squad! The chiptune chippers, Marie’s and Nintendo’s favorite band and the only one to survive Nine years together without drama (bar that one time), it’s the Chirpy Chips! Love these dudes.

Now, before we go into this, let’s address the Harmony in the room. Specifically that she has a room, in-game, where she exists in the polygonal flesh to interact with as a shopkeeper. Her autistic swag made her popular enough to be the first Splatband character to show up in the games, which means we actually know her and how she behaves. So, I’m gonna leave her for last and go about her like this: First, I’ll look into what we used to know before Splatoon 3 about her, and then we’ll compare that to her appearance in-game to see if it matches up. See if she was done right by the game. Now let’s meet these chips!

The Band

The Chirpy Chips debuted after Squid Squad all the way back in Splatoon 1, nine years ago (God). Dominating the charts thanks to their chiptune rock style, made with the help of multiple Nintendo machines (Gamers), this band has managed to outlast Squid Squad without disbanding all the way to Splatoon 3!.. Ok, actually that’s not true. According to a Famitsu Interview for Splatoon 2, the Chirpy Chips actually disbanded ever so briefly! No word as to why, but they reformed shortly after and wrote and performed Blitz It during the high of joining back. After that they’ve stuck together ever since, only really going on break because Harmony started working at Hotlantis.

Don’t site that NoA post for Chirpy Chips Splat 3 that said there was drama by the way. The band was just on break, they are fine and NoA is just trying to stir up fake drama. It’s just like real life!

All of these guys are autistic. Like, that’s not a theory, but a fact. None of their descriptions make them sound neurotypical, that’s for sure. The band just seems to vibe perfectly with each other despite some of their issues, and they all go at their own pace. Turns out the secret to surviving in the music industry all along was to make neurodivergent friends.

One of their performance tricks that they do is to glow in sync during songs. It’s a super cool visual to imagine, though probably done through artificial means, at least for Orion and Sid. As far as I know, there aren’t any bioluminescent crabs or flapjack octopi. Anemone and squid on the other hand do have glowing members, but it doesn’t confirm if they do it naturally or are using artificial means too. Either way these guys are a colorful bunch. And also none of them know how to dance, emphasizing further that these four are all dorks.

Noiji

Noiji is the hyperactive guitarist of the band, a stark contrast to the significantly less energetic rest of the band. He’s described as uncontrollable and bright, with a sunny disposition and an irresistible urge to run up and down slopes. He sounds overwhelming, and maybe impulsive if that slope running thing can be applied to other actions, but somehow he manages to get along well with the others. What is his secret? Also to keep with the neurodivergenceness, he has a special interest for vending machines. He would have loved them in Side Order, that’s for sure. Honestly I love vending machines too, they’re really cool, but just too expensive for someone of my income level (for now, anyway).

He used to be a part of a punk band called BariBari before he joined the Chirpy Chips.Surprising considering his colorfulness, but he seems to either formerly be, or still is, a punk. No word why he left the band though or what happened to it, but during that point he met and befriended Orion and formed the Chirpy Chips with them. They’re described to be on good terms with each other, which makes sense since, again, they knew each other before the rest joined up.

Orion

The band's bassist and composer, a shy flapjack octopus. Yeah, despite being an octopus, they’re not an octoling, likely because of the fact the flapjack doesn’t naturally produce ink. They must be classified as something different to the inkfish, but what that is is something I don’t know. They’re an introvert, they don’t enjoy standing out or performing in front of crowds, and the compositions they upload independent of the band are done quietly. Makes one wonder how exactly someone like them made friends with Noiji. They’re an intellectual, geeky type, with a taste for outdated and strange subjects, as well as a preference for chiptune that they ensure the bands music keeps to.

Surprising us all, Orion also got actual dialogue of sorts in the Splatoon 3 Chill Season 2023 update! Specifically in the form of Harmony reading a letter written by them. As Harmony herself describes, they talk the way they play the bass, EXTRA. Mostly in the form of excited statements and jokes about the band's lack of dancing ability. Kind of a stark difference from what we know of them, either because they’re doing this via text without having to face anyone, or because they’ve become more outgoing over the years. Either way an honor. Also canon they/them! Good for they.

Sid

The band's drummer, and the eldest among them. They’ve been drumming for a while, having performed for several other bands before joining the Chips, and they have a strong reputation in the community because of it. It seems that because of this, they’ve taken something of a silent mentor role to the others, supporting them in the background without ever taking the lead. Sort of a big brother style relationship going on.

They’re described as easygoing, but with a hidden temper that only ever surfaces once a year, where they become way crabbier. To me it says that they don’t really express their frustrations often, just letting them simmer before they snap and vent it out. And even then they don’t draw a lot of attention that way.

Harmony (and fish)

The anemone of the hour, the band’s vocalist and visual designer. As said above, I’ll first go over the info we knew of her before her appearance in Splatoon 3, and then compare it to what we’ve learned now to see if it was faithful to her character.

She’s described as relaxed and going at her own pace, but to the point of being unmotivated. She’s frequently late for practice, and considering the state of her fish, who is “dying” of neglect (quote marks there cause the little guy is still alive somehow), it sounds a lot like executive dysfunction. I would know, I’m like her sometimes. Her singing voice is mentioned to also have been pretty flat and listless, but it seems years of performance has made it change to a much livelier tone in the intervening two years. She talks loosely and moves peculiarly, something the fans secretly enjoy. Why secretly? Is there a stigma against it? Her listless singing is mentioned to be a hot topic, so it might be the case.

We see in the bands’ album art for Splatoon 2 that she’s the one who mixes the chiptune music on nintendo consoles. Easy to say that she’s the pre-requisite in-universe Nintendo fan for this game. There’s one in pretty much every franchise. Skipping to “3” a bit, we can also assume she’s the one who edited the trailer, which shows off a lot of fun visuals and jokes, as well as her just goofing off like the dork that she is. For how reserved she comes off, she’s got an eccentric, goofy side hidden under there.

But now we’ve actually met her as Hotlantis’ shopkeeper! She’s a fan of the place, so despite the threat of having to work retail, she’s staying in the area in the actual manager’s place while he’s gone. She’s a fan of the store and all its useless knick knacks. As for herself as a person, it’s safe to say it all matches what we used to know of her. She’s pretty self-paced and blunt, commenting on your achievements out loud no matter how rude it sounds. She admits to it too if she beats you at tableturf, she doesn’t really know how else to talk. Her lack of motivation shows up anytime she needs to recite something Barry told her to do. She just plain doesn’t want to do any of it. She still does the work she’s willingly doing, she’s just going at her own pace.

The fish is a fish, no telling what is up with them. Though according to some artbook information in “3” (correct me if I’m wrong), the reason they’re so sick is actually because Harmony’s hair isn’t protecting it very well. They’re still sticking around anyway, granted we’re not sure how clownfish do without an anemone, but it still seems like they’re staying of their own volition.

—

Harmony’s, and later Dedf1shes inclusion, gives us all hope we can see more of our favorite obscure characters in the games themselves. And looking at Harmony, we don’t have to worry too much about them being out of character, since she’s pretty accurate to the info we know.

I love these weird goobers. They should continue showing up. But now we are in the finale. Ω-3 is all that’s left now. See ya next time!

#splatoon #splatbands #splatband analysis #chirpy chips #noiji #orion #sid #harmony #my work #i love them your honor #they are so silly

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xxscarletxrosexx · 5 months

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A Linguistic Analysis: Manga Translation (EN/JP/TWN) Comparison of Chapter 90.1 | Part 3

This is written in response to @connoisseursdecomfort's post Comparing Versions of Short Mission 11

((I realized that I should have just made this into a post because my response would be lost as a reblog. And it did... OTL

Also, this is an updated version with more insight/details))

Consider this is as a part 3 of my Linguistic Analysis posts on Spy x Family's Ch. 90.1 or Short Mission 11.

Part 1: A Linguistic Analysis of the Spelling "Ania" and "Anya"...

Part 2: "Ania" is the closest to an identity reveal

This analysis contains spoilers from Chapter 90.1 / Short Mission 11!

What's so interesting about the discourse analysis amongst Japanese, Taiwanese, and English translations is the hedging (word choices that lessen the directness of a dialogue) langauge that Loid uses. It is more clear in the Japanese ("by the way") and Taiwanese ("it came to mind") translations. Whereas, English's hedging is found in "...right?" What the three of them do share in common is that Loid's discourse is pointing to active voice by stating "your name is spelled A-N-Y-A". Apply all of these translations below:

(ENG) Your name is spelled A-N-Y-A, right?

(JP) By the way, your name is spelled A-N-Y-A.

(TW) It came to mind, your name is spelled A-N-Y-A.

It is consistent that Loid's tone is holding authority by demonstrating his knowledge on Ostanian orthography based off the transcriptions he's seen of Anya's name registered as "A-N-Y-A" which was spelled by her previous Ostanian adopted parents. So Twilight feels confident that the spelling of her name MUST be "Anya."

Another thing I wanted to add on to @connoisseursdecomfort's observation is catching loss of translation, which is so unfortunately common. English translation omits translations mainly because some expressions or dialogue that are common in a language (Japanese and Taiwanese) would be perceive differently in English-speaking countries (USA, UK, AUS, CAN, etc.). This is called cultural discount.

It's the reason why Squid Game English dub missed out on many jokes that are play on words in the Korean dub. It is also the reason why a lot of American jokes are not understood by non-English speakers OTL

But this is a general phenomenon because English native consumers would find the expression strange simply because we do not have this style reflected in our discourse. The best example is when @_mika60 translated the omitted text "Anya's heart stirred at the mention of her own name."

To an American (possibly English natives in general, but I can't really speak on behalf of British, Canadians, nor Australians beause their English may be slightly different in terms of cultural lifestyle/upbringing), this expression can be perceived as corny/purple-prosey. Because American discourse don't generally have this emotionally-charged reflective discourse. Hence, omitted. Which is unfortunate because it says so much about how Loid's spelling affected Anya's feelings. So this is a perfect example of cultural discount.

An example of loss in translation is the omission of Anya's text which explains why she can't carve out her name is due to feeling insecure about her bad handwriting. (Again, this is character analysis that English-reading consumers missed out on! Because anything written in the manga is deemed canon.) Whereas English, we completely omit that detail because English native speakers don't need that extra dialogue. The English discourse is typically straight to the point and English native consumers draw inferences from icons (images/illustrations).

Based off my explanation, this is how I see the above picture as an American consumer (using a think-aloud method):

Anya says, "I can't do it right..." and she looks frustrated as illustrated by the swirl above her head.

Her brows are furrowed which supports that she's annoyed/frustrated/angry.

Her cheeks... are they blushes? Is she embarrassed? I can't really tell.

She's also a 4 y/o or was it 5 y/o child (she lied being 6, right?) so it's obvious she probably might be annoyed because she can't draw straight lines.

Because she's an infant, I'm sure she doesn't have the strength to draw clean lines.

Based off my thought process above, do I think OR am I convinced that Anya feels insecure? No.

Can it be argued that she's insecure? Yes, absolutely.

If I were to talk to someone who posits Anya may be insecure because of his/her knowledge of children behavior and/or mannerism, then I would be convinced. However, I would arrive to this assimilation through negotiating observations and exchanging knowledge of children behavioral mannerism. However, this would become more of headcanon if it wasn't explicitly stated in the manga (keep it mind that the Japanese translation DOES explicitly state that she's insecure because of her bad handwriting, so yes, it is canon that Anya is insecure of her bad handwriting).

Anyways...

I love translation comparisons mainly because you get to experience cultural exchange if you are fortunate enough to understand or have access to a translator (*cough* @connoisseursdecomfort *cough*) who enjoys comparing multiple languages. Thank you for doing God's work @connoisseursdecomfort <3

#spy x family #spy x family spoiler #spy x family manga spoiler #spy x family chapter 90.1 #short mission 11 #loid forger #twilight #anya forger #sxf #analysis #linguistics #scarlywroteathing #updated analysis #discourse analysis #loss in translation #cultural discount

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destinygoldenstar · 2 months

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Which Pretty Cure Would WIN Squid Game? (2024 Update)

Hello.

A couple years back I made an analysis post discussing which Pretty Cure would win Squid Game in that scenario, taking their skills in mind and being as non-bias as I could.

Since then, more seasons have come out. AND my opinions on certain characters placements have changed as I realized some errors in my logic.

So we’re re-doing it!

Fun, right???

I’m going to go through every challenge in Squid Game and see who’d be front runners and who’d be eliminated. Until we get a final two and then a winner.

Some rules though:

No weapons

No power ups. This is based on their own natural skill. If their Pretty Cure powers give them skills they don’t have without it, then that ability will not be factored.

I am only doing major Cure characters. Bright & Windy are the same characters of Bloom & Egret. No ancient Cures, no 11th hour ally’s, as they simply don’t have enough about them to factor.

My opinion on them as characters doesn’t matter here. Some characters I don’t care for can do great in the game while some of my favorites get eliminated very early. I’ll give reasons why I make the choices I do

I won’t be doing Wonderful. That season isn’t done yet. We can’t factor it. There’s just not enough info.

So that gives us 78 Cures as contestants.

Let’s begin.

Red Light Green Light

This game is about patience and mobility. Contestants have go get across the finish line without getting caught moving by a red light. An inability to stay still and wait the light out will spell doom.

Front Runners Of This Challenge Include:

The Suite Cures ; I never factored it the last time I did this, but I realized that because they’re all music based characters, they have an excellent sense of rhythm that gives them a huge advantage. So they’d be really good at the game and knowing when a red light would hit. (Plus I think Ellen and Ako are the types to hide behind people) So this season of Cures pass with flying colors.

Cure Beauty ; If you rewatch Smile, she specifically has avoided getting snagged at stuff more than her teammates. She’s very calm in situations and is persistent in all of them.

Cure Amour ; She’s a literal robot, so… you know. I know some would say that should be non-factored. But it’s not from any Pretty Cure powers, that’s just her body. As such, she’d be great at following directions.

Cure Macaroon & Cure Cosmo ; Same reasons. They’re the types that would take advantage of the game and hide behind people. Can’t ignore that.

And… that’s all the front runners I can think of.

Now for the hard part.

For the Cures that DON’T pass this….

I think Futari Wa-Fresh are all fine.

Blossom. I know people are gonna ask. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she passes this, but BARELY. I know she’s very shy and scared, but unlike some others I can think of, she has shown she can be patient even in scary situations.

As for her partner, Cure Marine, that’s our first one to go.

I know. We’re already losing fan favorites.

But this girl just CANNOT stay still no matter what you do. On top of her being insanely reckless of a character.

There’s even an episode where she actually got frozen and her face was STILL moving.

Especially if she thinks she can take a bullet to the forehead…

Yeah she’s a goner.

Sorry Erika Stan’s.

And we’re keeping the ‘getting rid of fan favorites’ train going, because Cure Happy is also out.

More than other pinks, she’s a huge klutz. And that’s for multiple reasons, whether that be hyperactivity, recklessness, or just plain bad luck. If anyone’s the first to trip under pressure, it’d be her.

Cure Peace is joining her.

I love her as a character.

BUT a main trait of hers is that she is extremely sensitive and a huge crybaby.

First bullet fired, she’s gonna freak out and try to run away.

Cure Felice is eliminated for a different reason.

This one in particular solves all her problems through magic. Which isn’t allowed here.

Considering that overconfidence, she’d not care about a red light and try to run it. Not because she’s arrogant, but because she’s a kid without that discipline.

Cure Custard is also out.

For the same reasons as Yayoi was pretty much. Especially since she is based on a squirrel, which is a pretty skittish creature that jumps at anything.

And the final one eliminated this round is…

Cure Sparkle.

One big factor of this character is that she is not good at following directions. We know she means well, but in a game like this, that’s just a fatal flaw that spells your doom.

I was debating on Cure Earth as well, but after thinking about it I think she’d pass barely. She’s a newborn born in an adults body and incredibly naive about the world but she’s not necessarily dense. (No offense Sparkle)

That’s 6 Cures out ; 72 Cross the Finish Line and move on to the next round

Honeycomb

In this challenge, contestants have to perfectly carve out a shape of a honeycomb candy. Breaking it will result in failure. This challenge involves contestants to be able to manage a steady hand to be able to carve out the shape.

Right off the bat, EVERY Cure from KiraKira and Delicious Party are INSTANT survivors.

No questions asked. Both of these seasons are heavily based around cooking, KiraKira especially specializing in candy. Which means these Cures have the exact skills, so this challenge is a breeze.

I mean except for Himari, who already got eliminated. RIP.

Amour, AGAIN, would also pass this.

Yes her strength is… nuts. And inhuman even without powers. BUT not only does she have great steadiness, she also proved she can carve stuff out well.

It’s not about strength. It’s about controlling that strength. And Ruru has proved she can.

For that same reason, Cure Sunny is surprisingly also safe.

Yes she’s the hardest hitter of her team, and a volleyball player, but 1) Volleyball does require you to aim the ball with your arm effectively, AND 2) Akane has a culinary background and shown to have skills to save herself.

Cure Honey is also a very obvious stand out.

Same reasons for Akane, except even more so. Food and cooking is pretty much her entire character.

And… come on her name is literally Cure Honey. She’s got this.

Cure Scarlet also survives.

Thanks to her violin skills and her nature of tranquility with her craft, she knows exactly what she’s doing.

So we have quite a few Cures that pass with flying colors. But what about the ones that break their cookie?

Despite the success last round, the first one on this list to go is Cure Beat.

Siren is, well, a cat. Born a cat with PAWS.

And even after she became human there’s not any moment in the show where she’s shown to have a steady hand, in fact the opposite with her massive handwriting and her skill being a guitar.

I know people are gonna argue I should’ve given her a pass like Towa because they both play instruments, but keep in mind Towa has more going for her than that, and the guitar is a much more loose instrument than a violin. Especially the one she uses.

The reason the other cats pass is because they’re either chefs, or in Yuni’s case, was an alien form of a cat that had hands. And both those characters are far less reckless than Siren is.

I hope that’s a good reason that you can understand.

Milky Rose is also out.

This one is a born mascot plushie without the steady hand. Now not to say she never had precision, but Milk is known to have such an arrogant sweet tooth that she would just not care about the challenge and eat the cookie.

And even if she didn’t, she doesn’t have much skill involving the candy to save herself.

But now we move on to a sadder one to see go, Cure Sword.

Yeah… this is kind of an obvious one. And I’m pretty sure no one will argue against it.

This girls hand is HARD. In this case for the worst. And she has next to NO skill involving a steady hand as shown constantly. That includes cooking related when she slashes a cutting board by just hitting it once.

Yeah, that’s a quick break right there.

Okay, so Cure Magical is at a very unique disadvantage.

Liko is a stubborn perfectionist and is very hyper focused on getting things right.

She’s the type to overanalyze the best strategy to cut her cookie-

And then the timer would run out in her.

And even if that’s not the case, we’ve seen what her magic does.

But since we eliminated four purples in a row, let’s change it up. Cure Yell.

She’s designed as a cheerleader. But that does NOT translate to ‘steady hand’ in any way.

If her hair styling skills are horrible, what chance does she have?

I know some might say that Flora should be out too for these reasons, but the difference is that Haruka actually showed improvement in hand steady skills and that can’t be ignored. Hana on the other hand doesn’t really have these moments.

Though if people are sad about losing a well liked Pink, not to fear, we’re losing one of the least popular Pinks also, Cure Star.

Hikaru is RECKLESS with a capital R. I’m someone who doesn’t dislike her as much as other people for it, but I can’t ignore that it’s doom spelling in a game like this.

Plus she’s also daring enough to pick a harder shape like the Star. (Ha. Cure STAR.) But she would NOT know what to do with that.

Okay breaks over from the Purple Cure slaughter. Next out is Cure Earth.

I gave her a past last time. That ends here.

Again, she’s a newborn in an adults body. And just… it would just be impossible to have that precise knowledge to be able to do this.

Cure Majesty is also gone for that same reason.

But it’s even more so, as she’s a BABY. There’s just… there’s no way.

And lastly, in a pretty bittersweet, mostly bitter case, Cure Summer and Cure La Mer go out together.

For different reasons. Minatsu is like Hikaru in the sense that she’s more of a reckless character, and in her case a victim of slapstick. Unlike her teammates she just doesn’t have any noteworthy hand steady moments to save herself.

Laura on the other hand is a mermaid. Mermaids live in the water where pressure is very different. So she’d easily get the pressure to cut a cookie wrong.

You can say Melon Bread should be a factor, but I’d disagree as that’s a much softer sweet than honeycomb.

So yeah, it’s sad. But hey, at least they go out together.

10 Cures Break Their Cookies ; 62 Successfully Cut Out Their Shapes And Move On

That number was bigger last time. But after thinking about it I do feel I was too harsh on some of the sporty characters and didn’t acknowledge sports DO have precision involved to do these sports. So I guess I redeemed myself there.

Midnight Brawl

This isn’t really a canon challenge, but several victims are claimed in it that it should be counted for. A lack of needs and sanity breaking events will snap a ton of people to violence. So it’s everyone for themself here.

This is a tricky one as there’s multiple ways you can survive this. Whether it’s naturally being a good fighter who can defend themself or being stealthy event to hide and wait the brawl out.

In this case, it’s tricky cause they’re ALL fighters in a way. It’s just about who is better at fighting than others.

Cure Macaroon is a stealthy person and a deceptive one. She will have no trouble hiding out the event.

Cure Muse is also in that category. As despite her small size, she was a vigilante for such a long time and kept to the shadows. Hiding is pretty natural to her.

Cure Cosmo could actually do it either way. She has the skill to defend herself AND she is a master at disguise like Ako. She has no problem here.

Cure Sunshine, even without powers, is a master at combat being from a dojo and all. She has no problem defending herself.

Cure Moonlight is also a veteran warrior, so she’d have no problem with defense.

Cure Rosetta is also someone who has trained in martial arts outside of powers, so she’d survive no problem. Even if she’s the barrier warrior of her team.

Cure Flamingo has absolutely no trouble committing to assault when she deems necessary. She’d probably be the first to snap.

Cure Sky is also a trained warrior with plenty of strength to go around. So she has no problem.

Now for the hard part. Who doesn’t survive the night?

The first one to go is Cure Whip.

Unlike the rest of her teammates, Ichika has nothing going for her besides being a baker. And with KiraKira’s combat style compared to the others, she’s far less capable of a fist fight as a result.

What can she do? Cream someone??

Yeah that just won’t work.

Cure Yum Yum is also gone.

For the same reasons that she is just a cook. And her personality in particular makes herself very noticeable.

But while Yui is a soccer player, Kokone is quiet and can hide, and Amane is a vigilante with skill, Ran just doesn’t have anything.

Shiny Luminous is probably the weakest cure remaining.

Aside from from being an amplifier, Hikari just does not have anything compared to the others around her.

Of the Yes 5 Cures, Cure Lemonade has the worst shot at this.

She’s expressive in lifestyle so she wouldn’t think about hiding, and compared to her teammates she has the least noteworthy of skill to fight anyone off.

Unless she had rope, but no weapons.

And now we lose a fan favorite unfortunately, Cure Blossom.

For the mockery of ‘weakest Cure ever’, Tsubomi should be really proud of herself for surviving the first two games.

Unfortunately her run ends here. As that mockery does play a factor. Tsubomi is very easy to scare, so it’s not hard to find her, and she’s just too fragile to fight anyone off.

But if that’s too upsetting, not to worry, Cure Ace is also out.

This might be controversial, as Aguri is one of the most overpowered Cures ever…

But only WITH her powers.

Without them, she’s just a regular girl. And given her nature of always butting into things, always saying her opinions, and going on anyway, she’d be too arrogant of a character to hide.

And without her powers, she’s done for.

It hurts cause she’s one of the younger Cures here… but that’s probably the only reason why it hurts.

And finally, the last elimination is, and it absolutely breaks my heart as a Stan…

Cure Grace.

Look, I can’t be bias here. Nodoka doesn’t have much going for her here.

Her hospitalization background does no favors and gives her a physically weak disadvantage going in. Without her powers, she can’t do anything, and even if she tried, it’s damage her health, which would sure be deteriorated at this point in the game already.

That and Nodoka is a pacifist. Sure she’ll fight when it deems right. But she’s one to look for the least harm as a solution. In the world of Squid Game, this is a failing move.

So sorry. She’s my fave. It hurts.

7 Cures Get The Boot ; 55 Cures Survive The Night

Tug Of War

This is another strength based game. Two teams play tug of war against each other and losing side falls to their doom.

This game requires good strength and teamwork. Preferably both.

Now, in the context of Squid Game, there’s be two teams.

I’m not doing that here. Because you come up with ANY match up here, and results would vary.

Instead I’m gonna continue to factor them individually and you can infer from that they’re on the losing team.

From future Eliminations you can interpret the 27 that’d get eliminated here.

This is also tricky, as naturally, all of them are strong and good at teamwork to a degree.

But for the BEST ones at this,

All the Duos left together. (Melody & Rhythm, Black & White, Bloom & Egret, Lovely & Princess, Amour & Ma’Cheri, Sky & Prism, Wing & Butterfly)

More than the others, these Cures are VERY devoted to their teammates and it shows. They’d survive easily.

The Fresh Cures are all very team focused in their move sets and lifestyles.

Also helps that all four of them are still here.

Cure Dream is an excellent leader of a team of 6.

And shes the only 6 Team Leader left in the game. She’d be great at working with a team.

Cure March and Cure Soliel are both strong and the eldest of many siblings. They’re known for teamwork.

Cure Heart is a HUGE standout here.

She’s the student council president, the leader of her team, and a very strong a determined fighter on her own, and is always taking the selfless route of her team first.

More than anyone else here, if anyone’s carrying the team to victory, it’s her.

And finally, Cure Moonlight.

This is a strange one, as last time, I actually eliminated her in this round because she wasn’t a very big team player and took the longest of anyone to join a team. And even then there were complications.

BUT, looking back, I feel like that was my biggest error in that previous list. As while that IS true, you can’t ignore that Yuri IS one of the STRONGEST Cures remaining.

Regardless if she is a good team player or not, if you’re strong enough to hold the rope, you can survive.

So there, I redeemed myself.

So yeah, there’s a lot of good Cures here. What a shock, a show all about teamwork has characters great at teamwork.

But there ARE exceptions to that, surprisingly.

First one is Cure Muse.

1, she’s the smallest and therefore weakest one left.

2, she’s a loner. It’s who she is.

Lethal combo.

And sadly Cure Cosmo.

She was a front runner before, so WOW, what a downfall.

Literally.

While she’s not as weak as Ako, she is also a huge loner and didn’t cooperate with a team even after joining, she was just kinda along for the ride.

Cure Spicy and Cure Finale are both gone here.

Both of them are natural loner who struggle with others, and constantly go on their own and are just social communicators.

Cure Fortune. For… pretty much all the same reasons as the previous combined.

And finally,

Cure Miracle and Cure Fontaine.

The thing that screws them over here is their respective teammates, the Mahou Tsukai Cures and the Healin Good Cures.

Who, aside from themselves, have ALREADY been eliminated.

So they’re alone here.

It’s sad, honestly.

7 Cures Are On The Losing Team ; 48 Cures would hypothetically survive

Marbles

In this came, pairings are pinned against each other to ensure one of them gets all the marbles.

There’s multiple ways to go at this. You can play a marble game. Or if you’re not good at that, there’s always manipulation.

With that in mind, I think the obvious contenders are the villain Cures, especially the born ones.

That’s Amour & Passion.

They’d have no problem.

Cure Macaroon is also a master manipulator without even needing to be a villain.

It’s honestly impressive.

And… that’s it.

Not a lot. That’s because all of these characters are so good hearted that they just wouldn’t be able to hurt their partners.

With that in mind…

We gotta talk about the partners.

I think we’d know who’s pair up with who, not knowing what the game is.

And if Amour made it…

That means her little Cure Ma’Cheri is a goner.

It doesn’t help that she’s younger, and therefore just not a manipulative person.

Plus I think she would allow Ruru to go on.

If Cure Peach is Setsuna’s partner, then she’d also go.

Love is an overbearing person anyway who devotes herself to people.

And then, Cure Chocolot.

Try and convince me Yukari wouldn’t be Akira’s partner. But Akira is very loyal and devoted to people. Sure she’d try to fight to save them both, but once she realizes they can’t, Akira would give Yukari the marbles.

Then there’s the other duos. Melody & Rhythm, Black & White, Bloom & Egret, Lovely & Princess, Sky & Prism, Wing & Butterfly, and the other teams left with just two of them left. Berry & Pine, Sunshine & Moonlight, Gelato & Parfait, Ange & Etoile.

I don’t see these characters manipulating the other. SO… Which ones would sacrifice themselves so the other would move on?

I feel it would be…

Rhythm, White, Egret, Lovely, Prism, Butterfly, Pine, Moonlight, Parfait, Ange

These characters I feel like would have a slightly more devotion towards their partners that they’d sacrifice themselves.

Then there’s the others.

March, Heart, and Soliel, though front runners last time, go here.

They’re all very loyal and devoted, overbearingly so.

Cure Honey goes here, as she’s very trusting towards villains as shown

Cure Scarlet is an interesting elimination.

Yes she’s also an ex villain, but she’s a BRAINWASHED ex villain. It’s because she was manipulated as a child. And years of that would taint her ability to BE manipulative herself without that.

And to even it out to have 24, we need to eliminate six more.

I believe this would be…

Precious, Sunny, Mint, Flora, Milky, & Coral

I’m putting these six together because I don’t have a good reason for it individually.

It’s just that the others have more brain power and guts going for them.

That was a brutal round. And it’s gonna get worse with 24 left.

Glass Stepping Stones

This is by far the worst one.

Get in line. Step on one of two glass panels one at a time. One is safe, the other breaks and you’re gone.

There are NO stand outs here.

This is mostly based on LUCK.

BUT there is ONE factor that we can use to determine a final two.

The line order.

They get to pick their numbers. So it really goes down to who is prideful enough to pick a low number and who’s resilient enough not to.

Out of these, the one I feel would pick #1 is…

Cure Princess.

Out of all them, Hime is easily the most prideful and spoiled of the bunch with her inheritage.

And that will spell her doom for sure.

Cure Sky is not too far behind.

Her whole thing is being the hero, therefore, she’s very confident in her abilities and would think she could pass this.

And going on with it, I think it’s safe to say student council characters would definitely feel the urge to do sooner.

So…

Sunshine, Beauty, Aqua, Diamond, Mermaid, & Selene.

Then there’s more headstrong characters.

Melody, Black, Bloom, Gelato, Dream, Flamingo, Rouge, & Twinkle

Which leaves 8, who I feel would be humble enough to pick higher numbers.

This is hard.

SLIGHTLY, I think the next ones would be Macaroon, Berry, Rosetta, & Papaya.

Which leaves 4

And with that in mind, Etoile and Passion BARELY miss the Top 2

This might be VERY controversial, but of the four left, that half is the lesser stable.

Homare has trauma from her figure skating career and taking on a major role, which is why she’s be further in the back, BUT she HAS shown improvement on such and thus that can’t be ignored. It’d be a dare she’d make to pick the 4th to last number instead of the last one.

And Setsuna, while she is NOT dumb, or arrogant, or even prideful, she is someone who acts on impulse when it comes to time. Especially if, at that point, the timer was almost out. She’s be desperate. And to call her a very emotionally stable person in these sorts of situations is just false.

Which leaves the Final Two, Cure Amour and Cure Wing.

Cure Wing because I feel he would be the one to pick the back number out of everyone. He has survived in his own in hiding for a long time and never broke in sanity, and his nature, while selfless, is also reserved and patient enough to recognize his playing field.

Therefore, he would be the most humble and go last.

And Cure Amour because she too, while able to hold her own, also recognizes when to stay in the back and reserve herself. She did go in disguise. I know that probably means the same should apply to Setsuna, but there is one thing that made me choose Ruru over her.

Her robot nature.

If ANYONE here would be able to tell the glass apart, it’s her.

So she’s at a pretty huge advantage no one else has.

Squid Game

And now, the titular Squid Game. The finale. One acts as the defender. The other acts as the offenser.

And… honestly in the game it’s more of a ‘fight to the death’ type of deal.

And considering which two are left…

I feel like this is even less of a debate than last time.

We LOVE Tsubasa and he deserves it, BUT this scrawny bird boy stands next to NO chance against Ruru.

Ruru is a robotic figure with better defense than him, she’s so much stronger than him that she could throw people in space with ease, and could predict his moves before he could even make them.

Maybe Tsubasa is faster. But that can’t play any factor if he can’t get through her robotic figure. Which he has no ability that can do that.

So… yeah, the Bird Boy falls here.

Cure Amour Wins Squid Game.

She was the victor last time, and… that didn’t change on redoing it. She just had all the skills necessary to win.

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