#the four swords manga might be the only one with both the maidens and the knights | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

medea10 · 4 years

Text

My Review of Interspecies Reviewers

End of January…um, 2020

“Grrr…this day was a crap show! The republicans rat-fucked our country and Brexit fucking happened. I’m gonna write some scripts and call it a night. Let me just check Twitter one last time before I…

Huh?

FUNimation drops newly-added anime, Interspecies Reviewers?

This smells scandalous, I must watch!”

It’s very, very, VERY rare that an anime licensor drops an anime that’s currently airing in Japan and doing it weeks after announcing a full release (no pun intended), plus a friggin’ English dub. And where there’s controversy, I will be there to sniff it out…eventually. I think I can squeeze one more anime to watch on a week-by-week basis. Hell, I shoved Domestic Girlfriend in at last minute in 2019 right in the middle of moving to a different state. I think I can handle a little anime like this. What could possibly go wr…?!

*one week later*

Oh fluffies! This escalated quickly!

So…Interspecies Reviewers is about a human name Stunk and an elf named Zel. They go around to brothels, spend some time with the ladies of the evening known as Succu-girls (because these girls suck you), and review their “encounter” with them for a tavern full of curious males. Stunk and Zel want to go around and conquer as many species, discovering all new kinks and fetishes, fondle all kinds of jiggly-bits and naughty bits from cow-girls, cat-girls, skeleton girls, succubis, fire salamanders girls, elves, fairies, slimes, demons, bird-maidens, cyclops, and oh-so many others. This is a vast world and there’s only so many brothels these men can tackle at a time.

Oh yeah, there’s also an angel named Crim. Stunk and Zel saved Crim, but Crim can’t go back to Heaven since his halo is busted. Although now, I doubt if he’ll ever get entry back into Heaven after being defiled by a cat-woman. I mean who among us haven’t lost our virginity to a cat-eared girl on a whim?

*ahem*

R.I.P. Crim’s virginity

So there you have it! A human, an elf, and an angel walk into a brothel and…that’s the anime!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUUUUUU…..UH-OH: The sub was fine and I’m gonna leave it there with the subtitle version. As for the dub…What dub? There’s no dub! Dubs are just a myth here! Like I said before, FUNimation DID have this series. Emphasis on “DID”! They released the first 3 episodes in their normal week-by-week fashion, no worries there. They promised an English dub and released one episode dubbed, sounds about right! But then one night, they just drop this series!

Funimation on Jan. 31: After careful consideration, we determined that this series falls outside of our standards. We have the utmost respect for our creators so rather than substantially alter the content, we felt taking it down was the most respectful choice.

*sighs*

BOI!

Did you, FUNimation? Or was it Sony pulling the strings? But I’m getting ahead of myself here. A wide variety of things could have sprung this on! One reason could be that the voice actors felt uncomfortable with the material. I know some voice actors from FUNimation are a little skeptical here and if they voice something that’s borderline Hentai or IS HENTAI, they’ll use an alias name so that no one would be the wiser. I know it’s a job and money’s on the table here, but people are people. They have morals and boundaries! Not everyone can have the bravery to voice act in a Hentai like Dan Green (he totally did, you should look it up).

Another theory, Sony and/or FUNimation were being cautious and don’t want to air something so extreme in the naughty department. But if that were the case, how do you account for your full releases of High School DxD, Panty & Stocking, Conception, Keijo!!!!!!!!, Shimoneta, My Girlfriend is a Gal, and A Sister is All You Need? Then again, these animes were made and released prior to Sony buying FUNimation. But as of recent, FUNimation is streaming works from Aniplex of America that are kinda questionable. Where I’m going with this is that weeks after dropping Interspecies Reviewers, they add shows like Nisemonogatari AND Eromanga Sensei to their site. Ahem! Guys, where were those “STANDARDS” you were talking about earlier? Eromanga Sensei is downright illegal! Then again, none of these titles really reached full-blown bestiality like this series does! I mean, Sentai Filmworks happily released Monster Musume and that was borderline bestiality. But whatever, you guys do you!

Then again, no series has gone the distance by having several sex scenes per episode with the uncensored version going beyond the boundary quite like this.

Yeah…in this “woke AF” time we’re living in, if an anime doesn’t have an advisory stated at the beginning of an episode with lewd or controversial scenes, people lose their shit. Hence, Goblin Slayer’s debut and that one Sword Art Online episode! Whatever the case, now that FUNimation dropped this series, I don’t expect it to get picked up by any other licensor and it’ll probably remain in license limbo forever. There were a few voice actors set up to be in this anime including Monica Rial, Brittney Karbowski, and Amber Lee Connors. Only one episode was dubbed and good luck finding it now! But after this, I doubt these folks would ever finish what they started. And that’s a shame, because FUNimation voice actors have a knack for turning an anime dirty. Especially if you hire Monica Rial or Jamie Marchi (or both)!

I know every season, there’s a fight between American licensors in what animes they’re going to grab and show to their subscribers. FUNimation really could have taken a few extra minutes to do a little research on this one before jumping in a pool where the water is replaced by naked half-species chicks. For fuck’s sake, there’s a manga to this! Although, I’ve heard that the manga doesn’t even go this far! So this is disproving my rant! Let me just finish by saying that FUNimation really fucked up here. You could have streamed the series censored, have an age confirmation to watch the uncensored version, and then release that later down the line! But dropping Interspecies Reviewers has unleashed a fury of pissed off viewers who ended up trolling MyAnimeList and other websites. Yeah, thanks a lot! Those were some idiotic days on the internet! With all of that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Stunk is played by Junji Majima (known for Ryuji on Toradora, Ryuunousuke on Assassination Classroom, Kimihito on Monster Musume, Nikaido on Shugo Chara, Racer on Fairy Tail, and Kouhei on Oreimo)

*Zel is played by Yuusuke Kobayashi (known for Subaru on ReZero, Tanukichi on Shimoneta, Arthur on Fire Force, and Marui on Food Wars)

*Crim is played by Miyu Tomita

FAVORITE CHARACTER: God bless this boy, I love Crim.

I know he’s got the short end of the stick in a lot of these reviews. But there’s nothing short about his stick if you get what I’m saying.

Yeah, I said it.

SHIPPING: DO STD’S EXIST IN THIS FUCKING WORLD?!

Look, all you need to know is that real love is not gonna happen in this franchise and just fuck it! Literally!

Actually, I really think the boys have a special place in their hearts for Meidri. I’m only basing this on episode 6 where the boys go to the Golem brothel to “Build-a-Bitch” and out of all the figures, ladies, and ways to build a bitch, their little Halfling friend builds a golem replica of Meidri. Maybe it’s because she’s familiar or they’re curious in case they end up having sex with Meidri in the future or if the Halfling has a thing for Meidri! I just know all four boys ended up fucking a golem in the likeness of Meidri AND gave it a great score.

But aside from that, there’s really nothing more to say except Stunk has a thing for that 500 year old fairy and Zel has a thing for a 60+ year old human.

IT’S FUN TO STAY AT THE…: It’s obvious that Japan has a thing for music made outside of the country. Especially those made in America (and England)! Recent examples are animes like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Eden of the East, and A Silent Voice actually using songs from groups like The Bangles, Oasis, and The Who. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE TIMES!

The OP song for this series is literally Y.M.C.A. except about getting your dick up to fuck!

And you know what? That was another missed fucking opportunity for FUNimation! This song could have gotten an English dub. Normally I despise it when English companies give an English dub to perfectly good opening and endings from Japan. But this would have been the ONE exception. GOD! Only in my dreams!

OH THIS IS WRONG: I don’t mean aspects of this anime! I’ve gotten used to the sex scenes and the shock factor of watching actual hentai at this point. Surprisingly, the one thing that got my feathers ruffled is at the end of some of the episodes where we get a small segment from a gentleman named Professor Ookina or Professor Poke if you will.

LOOK AT THIS FUCKING MAN!

Pokemon, why haven’t you sued yet? This is a sexual version of Professor Oak’s end-of-the-episode lectures. Unshou Ishizuka’s probably rolling over in his grave either from laughter, disgust, or that he didn’t live long enough to voice this colorful character. I haven’t settled on which to believe in!

ENDING: The last few episodes we saw a few interesting storylines. For one, we’ve got one brothel where all four adventurers gave the ladies a unanimous 10/10. Spend three days with the clones of a powerful woman and just all-around perfect scores. That is just unheard of! Even in the anime reviewing community, a perfect anime doesn’t exist. So stop trying to turn Interspecies Reviewers into the next Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. OKAY?! Not gonna happen! Just stop it! Stop it.

Then we had a gentleman who has generously been giving previous ladies of the evening perfect scores. This dude loves the ladies and sees the positives in all of them giving them all a perfect score. And I guess that does bring up a good point here.

Different strokes for different blokes! Not everyone is going to have the same taste as you. Stunk might have a thing for 500-year old fairies while Zel finds her old and disgusting. Zel might have a thing for Mitsue while Stunk finds banging 60-year old human whores repulsive. That’s where reviewers come in. They say the good and the bad when it comes to reviewing (insert profession here). In the case of this series, the boys have different tastes and when going to a foreign brothel, some of the ladies customs might confuse and weird out the boys. But in most cases, they had fun (except that afternoon watching girls laid eggs). So I’m glad Stunk and Zel found fault with the dude who gives 10/10’s like candy.

The final episode felt a little nostalgic as we revisit a race we haven’t seen since episode 2. Stunk and Zel find a business card for a demon brothel. They WERE supposed to go over and review the demon girls...

...but got side-tracked by the big-tit cowgirls.

Better late than never, but at least the demon brothel got some decent reviews by the boys. Good since demons are rated quite low in what men want to bang.

Then, the boys celebrate New Years by hitting up a good brothel to start the New Year off right. You know, start it off with a bang! It’s just that a lot of the popular brothels and Stunk’s regular hangouts are all booked up for the night. Lot of horny John’s on New Years! So the boys end up in a dream eater brothel. These girls take on the form of their dream succu-girl and believe it or not, the reviewers were very pleased. Almost like a pleasant dream!

Now conclusion wise, we really didn’t get Crim’s halo fixed nor did we go to Heaven to see Zel and Stunk get it on with some freaky angels. Instead, we get the same intro we got in episode one, reminding us that there are a barrage of brothels out there in this world and a bunch of succu-girls ready to suck your dicks off. And as long as we have succu-girls and brothels, there will always be reviewers like Stunk, Zel, and Crim to bust a nut! And I think Stunk is now going to visit his father’s harem now. Yeah, his old man has a harem. So there’s that! Too bad we’re not going to see that story.

I got to say…this wasn’t all that bad. In fact, I really liked this anime. And I’m usually rough on borderline-Hentai programs (and not in the good way). I am impressed at the creative way these men review these ladies and the brothels they work in. As an anime reviewer, I have to admire this. To take it all in with how these guys approach something such as having a one-night stand with a succu-girl! Each episode was a new experience with a new lady, sometimes two new brothels in the same episode. After their nights with a succu-girl, their reviews…actually, it’s best to watch it instead of taking my word for it.

NOW THEN! This is by no means on Top-Tier levels of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. So you people on MyAnimeList better knock it the fuck off! Yes, FUNimation dropped the ball by dropping this series when they’ve clearly licensed and dubbed WORSE. But owning them this way is just going to come off as weird when we look back at this years later and laugh. On top of which, FUNimation wasn’t the only one that dropped Interspecies Reviewers. Amazon Prime and at least three television stations in Japan dropped this series in the middle of its run.

Oh good God this was a fun and bizarre ride and it was fun while it lasted. Come on y’all, face the facts. There is no way this anime is ever gonna get a second season unless they absolutely censor the fuck out of it over in Japan. Look at all the Japanese channels that dropped this series not even halfway into the run! The best I’m hoping for is an OVA release. That way they can show us all the sex and nipples they want. But a season two? You’d have a better chance getting a Haruhi Suzumiya continuation! Yeah, I said it and I ain’t taking it back! Despite it not being available anywhere in the states, I advise my anime friends and followers to at least give this a chance (as long as you’re not grossed out by sexual discourse).

...

Medea, aren’t you going to give a number score like the Interspecies Reviewer lads?

*sighs*

I truly hate giving a number score. But for once in my written reviews, I’ll do it just this once.

If you would like to watch this series legally here in the states, you are shit out of luck unless you’re from Australia or Japan.

And once again…

R.I.P. Crim’s virginity!

#anime review #ishuzoku reviewers #interspecies reviewers #stunk #zel #crim

22 notes · View notes

scaip · 5 years

Text

If K project was settled in Westeros, in which house/organization would the clans be?

This is, as most of my fandom posts, a recollection of random thoughts glued together. Gotta use this as an excuse to talk about ASOIAF, my burning passion.

Now, not every clan will 100% meet the picture every house and place in Westeros may carry. K Project is settled in a modern, capitalist Japan AU, with a strong technological advancement. Westeros is based on medieval society from western Europe, with Great Britain as its main source of inspiration, though other places from the continent draw similarities (Dorne with Spain, northern Africa, and the Middle East, Highgarden with France, etc). The premises of both settlements are VERY, VERY different, based on different histories and different continents.

All westerosi houses draw their characteristics from the environment of settlement, relationships with their neighboring houses and territories, the narratives of their historical members. There is a lot of diversity there, so, in some cases, the clans will have more than a house of alignment. Westerosi noble houses date to hundreds or thousands of years, while the Clans of K Project can have more than six decades (in the case of the Tokijikuin) to few years (most of the others).

The themes of each clan could fit more than one organization but I only choose one for each clan, for simplicity’s sake. The rest is below due to length

Silver Clan: Hakumaito/White Rice Party - The Citadel/ Order of Maesters

Academy - knowledge - abnegation - independence - community.

Gold Clan: Tokijikuin/Timeless Palace - House Hightower

This one was tricky. The Silver Clan is formed by three people, five if you add Hieda and Kukuri by the end of K. All characters have diverse backgrounds, though we can agree they all share orphan issues or the situation of losing people dear to them. In Adolf’s case, since he only refers to having his sister, I suppose their parents either died or never where truly close.

Unlike other Clans, I believe Hakumaito becomes a proper clan towards the second season. Ashinaka, the School Island becomes their domain. Weismann works as a teacher there, while Neko and Hieda attend as students (x).

So, I ended up choosing the Order of Maesters, the core of intellectualism and academic pursuits in westerosi society. While the Order is seen as a place to dump second sons and a where the poor may manage to make a living if they study, it still remains as The Place to search for information and knowledge. In K-verse, Ashinaka Gakuen is a school settled by the gold clan, and a rather elitist one, for what we see from Hieda’s point of view. From the parody manga of Gakuen K and its otome game, it seems there is a university too, placed in the island.

Westerosi maesters are supposed to leave behind their personal histories and families once they finish their studies and start working for noble houses. They cannot marry either. A life of abnegation in service of others. The parallel here comes from Adolf’s way of life, first as the Silver King to live in relative isolation in a giant ship, then, as a teacher in a school. Teaching is a service to the community. Leaving aside ship-tease and the fact GoRA won’t give us canon pairings, we can only guess Adolf’s relationship with Kuroh will go from a platonic one to that of lovers. The story won’t give us that. Kuroh also behaves life a figure of abnegation: low profile, taking care of house duties, looking after Neko, Weissmann and later, Hieda. Obviously, this is not strictly played: Kuroh keeps relationships with people from Ichigen’s old town and visits it. But Shiro and Neko’s past relationships are not brought up.

I find it rather funny the characters oddly resemble archetypes of the Faith of the Seven. Shiro/Adolf would be a mix of The Father, The Crone, and The Smith. Kuroh has traits of The Mother, The Warrior (d'oh), and the Smith too. Neko would be the Maiden, shared by Kukuri who also has traits of The Mother. And, oddly enough, I feel like everybody minus Kukuri, represent aspects of The Stranger, as outcasts and because they are not what they seem at first sight (Kuroh may be a zig-zagged version of this).

As I said above, teaching is a service to the community. Adolf shares his vast knowledge to kids and seems like an informal and relaxed teacher. There is his personal close relationship with Daikaku, the Gold King, too, just like The Citadel owes a lot to Oldtown and House Hightower (I will later elaborate on that). In fact, I think it is a given that Adolf is allowed to work as a teacher and in that particular school because of his relationship with Daikaku.

I won’t elaborate much on Neko and Hieda, as the latter personal history starts to develop after the end of season two, once he regains control of his body, while Neko has lots of personal issues, and, well, The Citadel is base on patriarchal and misogynistic rules of medieval Europe, so, traditionally, there wouldn’t be places for Kukuri and her there. Kukuri’s character never gets much development, so I will leave her aside too.

Prosperity - Wealthiness - Knowledge - Welfare -

Red Clan: Homra - House Targaryen

The Gold Clan rules Japan from the background, moving strings. They keep The Masquerade of K Project going on (with an ambiguous grade of success, ‘cuz lets be honest: people randomly sprouting powers out of no-where seems too vox populi), internal and external affairs, the economy, education, health, and scientific developments. Tokijikuin patronage the pursuit of education and knowledge, Ashinaka Gakuen, considered an elitist academy in-universe, is settled and run by the Golds. They keep good connections, information networks as they are into every branch of government.

Then we have House Hightower from Westeros, one of the wealthiest vassal houses, with a rich port, who keep Oldtown in their domain and patronage its studies, also have close relationships with The Faith of The Seven (as they adapted well to the Andal invasion), and until Baelor The Blessed’s reign, remained as the Core of the Faith. In fact, during Aegon’s contest, Oldtown would have been the capital of the kingdom, hadn’t the Targaryens chose to establish it in King’s Landing. The domains of House Hightower are cosmopolite and influential to the rest of the realm… and other continents too.

While House Hightower remains more-or-less neutral during the books’ events, (there is this ambiguous curse concerning their interactions with the Targaryens) we can’t deny their influences on westerosi society and Essos as a whole. They have their own armed forces at their disposition, unlike the Gold Clan: while they move strings undergrounds, it appears security issues are divided between Toujijikuin and Scepter 4, with the latter gaining prominence on normal police and armies when Kokujoji died.

Kokujoji also kept personal relationships with Ichigen Miwa and Weissman/Shirou, receiving assistance from the former and giving it to the latter, similar to House Hightower influences on both Oldtown and The Faith.

Fire-themed - violent temperaments - intuitive - spontaneous.

Also, as someone pointed in TV Tropes:

The red clan has a bad reputation on both of their forms, though I believe Homra’s perception is biased from the actions of Genji Kagutsu, the previous red king, and the shape his clan took: Purgatory House. Purgatory House was an organization akin to Yakuza, Homra is more of a friendly gang. The fall of Genji’s sword of Damocles created a great crater, and we know the physical state of a Damocles’ sword reflects the inner state of its owner. Kagutsu was presented as a violent monster, however, we don’t fully know what his mental condition was. But we know Mikoto’s. He was suffering a crippling depression since he was 15, as shown in Kingdom of Red, when Izumo meets him. Mikoto’s mental illness never was properly treated, and we know how he ended.

Now, we have the infamous House Targaryen. They also carry a theme of mental illness, though as this clever analysis shows, it is not entirely deserved.

What fuels the special? That might very well be various forms of episodic, high-functioning, trance- or dream-like madness with resulting access to alternative thought-patterns. This can even be present in the brilliant Targaryens… which could explain why the wheels fall off so much on those who can’t keep their grips on their entries and exits into and from their individual forms of this as they go along. The general belief about Targaryens is that it’s hard to tell the difference between the great and the mad ones since madness and greatness are so close to each other.

“(…) madness and greatness are so close to each other”

Blue Clan: Scepter Four - House Arryn

Mikoto wasn’t crazy, just mentally ill. Anna had to grow up rather isolated due to her strain abilities. But we must remember we are using descriptions from an early medieval-based westerosi society. No clinical psychology and psychiatry there.

A flashback from Mikoto, during the creation of Kagutsu’s crater, shows him using sports clothes with a number 10 on his back, meaning he was that good a whatever sport he played during his school years. He seems to have been able to fluently speak English as a foreign language only with a high school level education. Mikoto could also tell who Reisi was without introductions the first time both met one another. Mikoto leaves me with an impression of “what could have been”: his depression stopped him, but I truly believe he had lots of potentials and could have been amazing at what he tried.

Then is Anna. Her strain powers involve dream-walking, peeking into the memories and thoughts of others, visions of the future (dragon dreams parallel, people), finding people and objects (do you remember how she tried to use her marbles on a map to find Tatara’s killer?), flying (once she awakened as a king) and somehow reproducing tortures performed on her towards others (remember that scene from KoR when she escapes Homra in desperation). She already had a strong affinity with the Dresden Slate as a child. Heck, I find lots of similarities between Daenerys and her.

There is also the state of their clans: feared and respected while Mikoto was in charge, though he had to work towards it with the help of his friends. But once they went to attack an enemy group, Homura would most likely win. Weak and scattered once Mikoto died, but strong again after Anna became the red queen. Similar to the state of Daenerys when Khal Drogo died: in danger, surrounded by enemies, but some dormant knowledge helping her move on.

Anna had an epiphany/lucid dream in Missing Kings, meeting the already dead Tatara and Mikoto, with the previous king telling Anna the ‘Red’ is hers now. Izumo’s words to her already implied Anna becoming a king as something both were aware of. From the prologue of Kingdom of Red, we learn the Slate started to call her once Mikoto died. At the end of her dream-state, she says Homra’s motto, links with the Slate and awakens as the new Red King, with her own Damocles’ sword.

At the end of AGoT, from Daenerys’ verbal exchange with Mirri Maz Duur, her affinity to the dragon eggs (feeling them warmth), the apparition of the red comet, we see her having an instinctual grasping of what was going on, about lost valyrian magic, and gets in a trance-like state.

“(…)the fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don’t you see? Don’t you SEE?”

We already know the rest of the story: Daenerys walked into the funerary pyre with the dragon eggs, spent a whole night there, and her people found her the next morning with the first hatched dragons in more than a century.

There are similarities in their backgrounds as well. Both were orphans in charge of people who couldn’t properly deal with the situations. For Daenerys, she depended on another freaking child for a living. Viserys was an asshole who reaped what he sowed, but growing up as a lonely child without adults to rely on and a little sister to take care of, as exiles, in another country, leaves people scarred for life. For Anna, her aunt Honami wasn’t aware of what was truly going on with the 'medical treatment’ Anna was receiving and had Honami been fully aware of everything, without Homra’s help, and adult and a child can’t go against institutions. Both Daenerys and Anna also won more agency after becoming part of a bigger group, though, for Anna’s case, it was harder as she was only a child and still had to go through a period of 'isolation’ during the months Izumo is absent and Homra temporarily disbands, before awakening as a king the Red Clan reunites again.

Blue themed - honor before reason

(zig-zagged)

- elitism - military activities - pride - discipline -

Green Clan: Jungle - Not entirely sure

Why am I not placing Scepter 4 on House Stark, the obvious contrast to Homra’s red and House Targaryen’s fire? Well, that’s because House Stark is directly inspired by the history, territory, and people from where northern England meets Scotland. In-universe, House Stark rules over the biggest and most rural land in Westeros, are duty and honor-bound, however, the House Stark is on the roughish scale of nobility. They are hard, modest and melancholic. Heck, “stark” is the word for the name of the house. There is the famous wildness of some members, in-universe called Wolf-Blood. They keep old customs, follow the old gods, descend from the lines of the First Men. House Stark reflects Scotland and northern rural England, so considering the refinement and modernity Scepter 4 portrays, it doesn’t match the rough and rural image the North of Westeros has within. While Reisi’s animal may be the wolf, Stark’s animal are the direwolfs. Remember, their colors are grey and white, there is no blue in the sigil.

Second, because Eddard Stark, our picture honor-bounded nobleman, was fostered as a child in the Eyre by lord Jon Arryn. House Arryn moto is “As high as honor”. The Vale has a militaristic, knightly culture and gave the realm most of their best knights. Jon Arryn orchestrated Robert’s Rebellion against the Iron Throne, uniting the North, the Stormlands, Westerlands, and Riverlands, later became Hand of the King and essentially run the government of Westeros. In fact, historically, House Arryn had strong ties with House Targaryen: Kingsward members, Hands of the King, marriages with Targaryen princess, even Arryn queens.

Scepter 4, for me, matches House Arryn better than House Stark. A disciplined warrior elite. I believe their blue oni theme matches House Arryn well. Scepter 4 works closely to the Gold Clan, regulates strain activities, has executive functions and give off a hell of a sophisticated vibe. Good is not always soft or nice, and the heads of the clan can show it too, as they are not above using shady means, such as Reisi’s attempt to kidnap the millionaire that keep getting in his way in Files of Blue, Saruhiko drugging the high school student in season one in order to get the information he needed or Seri blatantly proposing plans that disregarded Mikoto’s human rights for the greater good.

Remember the tale of lady Alyssa Arryn not crying even when her husband and children were killed in front of her? I think about Reisi repressing his pain due to Mikoto’s death. Icy and proud. A prodigious mind, that essentially ends up as head of the country by the end of the season of K, but has to fight his way too. There are elements of frigidity and pride too.

The Arryns have been close to the Targaryen Dynasty, while also dealing with their own issues. Similar to how Scepter 4 closely works with the Timeless Palace, unlike other clans. The blue clan limits itself with the regulation and use on force on individuals who possess special abilities, but still, need authorization from the Gold King to act on some aspects. Obviously, had the Arryns rebelled against the Iron Throne, things would have end ugly for them, with or without dragons. Reisi can be rebellious towards the gold king, challenge him a bit, but that’s because K project is settled on a modern world. Different rules.

Intelligence and wit come to mind too: the Eyrie is a complex castle elevated over a mountain, inexpugnable and sophisticated as hell if we consider it was built over a mountain in the ancient westerosi world, with medieval technology. The freaking cells of the Eyre castle invoke psychological torture, as prisoners may fall from them due to the diagonal floor. Scepter 4 may be an organization for the greater good, but it doesn’t mean they will be nice.

Falcons (the animals of House Arryn) are symbols of boldness, courage, and victory. Tell me if that doesn’t match the Scepter 4, marching forward towards what they want, always ready for whatever emergency may appear, attentive and watching over.

There is a lunar theme too. The Eyrie remains high in the sky. Blue and white. The Moon Doors. Lunar symbolism references renewal and purity. Remember Scepter 4’s motto:

“We of Scepter 4 carry out duties of the sword. Forgiving of neither war in the sanctuary, nor chaos in the world. We will advance with sword in hand, for our cause is pure!”

The moon also symbolizes shadow and opposition, contrast. Scepter 4 is a military organization that doesn’t appear in the eyes of official society, working underground, in the shadows. There is that short story after the Gold King’s death, with Reisi intimidating the prime minister. The moon also represents feminity, with the implication of cleverness, grace, elegance the blue clan represents in contrast with the reds. Heck, remember how House Arryn had to deal with the mountain clans as arch-enemies for thousands of years? Clans as a ragtag bunch of misfits, followers of rude customs, working as gangs, in contrast with the discipline and pomp of another organization. Don’t you see in this a similarity with how Scepter 4 perceives Homra? Similar to how English nobility historically viewed Scottish clans and society.

There is both snow and ice in the imagery of House Arryn as it is settled in The Vale. Mountains, hills. While Scepter 4 has an affinity with the element of water, in contrast to Homra’s fire, I choose House Arryn to match Scepter 4 due to its history of chivalry, warriors and cold-blood. There is an ambition too as an element of the house, and, while we know Reisi is a terribly ambitious guy, that trait shouldn’t overshadow his clan as a whole.

This is a tricky one. I have troubles placing Jungle on a freaking medieval house, as they benefit from modern technology, since the majority of the clan work as an anonymous mass waiting for orders and depending on modern technology, more akin to mercenaries, but not mercenaries in the ancient sense of the word.

I have serious troubles with this, so, you are all invited to write your own thoughts on this.

Grey Clan: Cathedral - The Faith of the Seven

Devotion - abnegation - integrity -

Colorless clan - The Faith of the Seven

This was tricky too. We don’t know much of Cathedral, and Japanese media tends to mix protestant, Anglican and Catholic elements for the aestheticTM. While, judging from Seigo’s attire, he probably was a protestant priest, there is a lack of info concerning his personal story, let’s not speak about the whole clan. We know Cathedral was second in importance to the Gold Clan during the 90’s, all the clansmen perished during the creation of Kagutsu’s crater, and there is this flexible Christian theme surrounding them.

Since in Westeros the Faith of the Seven (from here on, it’ll be addressed as The Faith) is analogous to Christianity spreading over previous forms of beliefs, with the introduction of the Andal mass migration towards the continent. Septons and septas are analogous to priests and nuns who take vows of celibacy, though, in K, I suspect Cathedral held a non-catholic approach. We will never know, as the plot will always be abstract (that’s why we like it) and Seigo is a secondary character.

I think the Colourless Clan would represent other aspects of The Faith, focusing on The Stranger (Ichigen, Kuroh, Yukari), The Krone (Ichigen), and The Father mixed with The Warrior (all three), The Maiden (Kuroh, I suppose Yukari too?), The Mother (Kuroh again, Ichigen too). For all, the Colourless King is considering the weakest of all those chosen by the Slate and a “joker”. The colourless clan led by Ichigen was composed of way different people, though there this misfit theme on its members: Kuroh’s backstory is very tragic, Yukari’s doesn’t seem to have a nice one either (the only thing we know about him is a heartbreak in the past) and Ichigen appears to never have married and later won clairvoyance powers as he was chosen as a King by the Dresden Slate. He carried on his martial school, has wisdom he shared to a selected few and a hermit lifestyle, though he closely collaborated with Daikaku Kokujoji himself.The original members of the Colourless Clan are walking deconstructions: Kuroh has this proper samurai image, yet behaves as a housewive towards Hakumaito and enjoys the activities. Yukari is a sword ace, but carries an ambiguous feminine image (there are in-universe discussions about him, such as Saru referring to him as gay, but the post-credit story has him flirting with two girls. Chaotic bi? flexible? simply metrosexual? we will never know. Ugh, I like him) yet has wisdom and is good at mentoring others (when he bothers to), but there is this morally gray streak about him. Heck, Nagare called him a “Breast”. And Ichigen, as I said above, acts like a reserved hermit, yet aids the Gold Clan, which carries on an underground Japanese government.For the anonymous Colourless King we have in the first season of K, I don’t really have many words. The character was an easily manipulated chaotic evil individual, who later got a sad backstory by losing their remaining sense of self by the use of their particular ability. Another aspect of The Strange, maybe? The whole colorless clan, presented as a joker in k-universe, could fit some degrees of The Stranger theme.

#K Project #ASOIAF #fandom stuff #homra #Scepter 4 #House targaryen #House Arryn #House Hightower #Timeless Palace #Hakumaito #anna kushina #daenerys targaryen #A song of Ice and Fire #K #K clans

3 notes · View notes

booksandchainmail · 5 years

Text

nanoha vivid liveblog: episode 8

TOURNAMENT RC TOURNAMENT ARC TOURNAMENT ARC

oh the castle from the op

and looks like it’s the saint church, makes sense

… this was probably already established, I just forgot

must be awkward fighting clone jesus in a tournament when youre a nun

this is a really good point, and also raises questions about vivio’s friends all training together

some sort of invisibility?

Oh no wait she was the speedster right? So too fast to be seen

Also, cool device design

OH FUCK YEAH I LOVE TONFA

Okay, paying attention during the tournament section of the op this time, and it looks like harry punching with fire,

victoria with a polearm and lightning,

unknown glasses girl with chain circles, chantez with her tonfa (do they spin?),

shrine maiden with a katana,

miura gets a longer segment,

and then sieglinde still hooded

That is the least trustworthy thing you could possibly say

called it

I feel like attacking before your opponent is armed is cheating

Then again, vivio was in a fighting stance and ready to go, so maybe its legit

Also, on a closer look I think chantez’s weapons could also be wielded like swords (edit from later: no kidding she can, her style was listed as dual swords)

Huh, have we ever seen a non-transforming power up before?

naruto run

eye glint! magic is happening her folks

i will never get over how happy vivio looks all the time when she’s fighting

dramatic much?

wait what

(also i promise this looks genuinely worrying when its not a screencap paused on a goofy mouth)

oh okay it was a vision? Killer intent or whatever?

Do not tempt fate like that chantez

like i said, maybe don’t fight clone jesus in church when you are a literal nun

d’awww

it’s the tie club

awww, they have a family gesture thing

KITTIES

...okay, those particular kitties are kinda doofy looking around the faces

agito has good clothes

AWWWWWWWW

HOW DARE YOU NOT LIKE THE CAT

LOOKIT HIM

thank you for giving this child one soft cute thing, even if it also a weapon

BABY KITTIES

well fuck now im sad

oh gods

so they just actually are nerds

okay then

that’s a really good name that i had completely forgotten from the manga and am now suddenly flashing back to

this is very fair, and a major disadvantage of being an unarmed fighter. normally that gets mitigated by speed i guess, but no one in this show seems to have trouble swinging giant weapons around, so that might not actually give an advantage

So golem practice for corona, and maybe some basic review just in case her golem goes down? Though at the level she’ll be competing at, basic skills probably won’t help

More martial arts for rio I guess. It might be better for to be training with her family since she uses their style?

And vivio either needs a weapon, which I kinda doubt based on the shape of this anime, or techniques to counter weapons and range

With who? I guess it could be chantez, but that seems implausible for the whole “going to be competing against each other thing”

Presumably the tsab group is too busy with work, and hayate has her own candidate, so maybe another number?

Oh so it was another competitor, and a new character. Bit of a conflict of interest there, but im glad nove has made friends

And holy hells is she experienced

actually, I took a look at the wiki, and nove is technically 17 (barring clone weirdness). Which means she’s younger than this girl, and could totally be participating in this tournament. Honestly, if your teenager’s tournament has coaches who could compete in the age bracket they’re coaching it’s probably a sign you should narrow the brackets.

That said, I’m guessing nove doesn’t compete because this is a civilian tournament, and even four years on I doubt she sees herself as a civiliain

So… do you have any strengths?

... they used to belong to jesus, so if anyone you’re fighting is religious it’ll throw them off?

Okay, I thought nove was just going to go for some sagebrecht power thing, given the eyes association, but using the cradle would probably disqualify vivio

~magical girl show technically~

called it!

didn’t call it!

Yeah, nanoha probably has access to a hell of a lot of training materials, plus footage of high power fights

oh, for chris? didn’t think of that

... the fact that he’s looking for this on his own raises disturbing questions about how sentient devices are

this reminds me a lot of bnha where baby izuku watches all might, except its just a tiny plushie

BUSTER HEAD

THE BEST NAME

Oh that’s gonna be hard for rio

Though they both have similar personalities I think? And maybe both use flames? So could be a fun matchup

So that’s sword girl against vivio? And her weakness is weapons, and that girl has a long sword…

Honestly kinda surprised it doesn’t look like einhart and vivio will fight each other

Maybe they’re saving that for past the qualifiers? But honestly with the power levels we’ve been shown, idk if vivio could make it realistically, and idk how much this show will push protagonist plot powers

So we do have two of our protag group in direct competition, but not a pairing that’s thematic

Huh

And no mention of who else is in that group. Probably at least one other important character? Victoria or sieglinde would have belkan relevance to einhart

theyre also so sweet and kind about violence

good team name!

Every group competing at once is probably the only practical way to get through this many people, but it must be annoying if two good/personal matches are on at once

this year’s contestants are noticeably more anime than the girls in the video from earlier

also, are there any guys in this thing? there’s no mention of it not being co-ed, so i guess were just running on nanoha rules of very few guys existing

His voice is so deep

There are at least 367 contestants in this thing? Even with six matches at once, that’s at least 60 rounds, and those things could run for a while

Oh she’s tiny and excitable, it’s like vivio’s mirror

HOW MANY CONTESTANTS ARE THERE?!!

also they can’t use devices this round, which makes things fairer I guess. Probably non-device weapons are allowed, otherwise this would bias towards hand-to-hand fighters, but this levels the playing field in terms of money and equipment

Someone weve never seen before, who’s disparaging towards our protagonist… yeah she’s going down

she is so nervous

in utter contrast to literally all of teachers being battle hardened knights

so she’s kicking focused? a good contrast to all the punch girls

also, im a big fan of miura’s opponent

MAGICAL GIRL LYRICAL NANOHA: where tiny girls beat up teenagers

Oh so that’s the personally important matchup they’re going for

also i guess it isn’t one ring per group

#magical girl lyrical nanoha vivid #nanoha vivid liveblog #nanoha vivid #magical girl lyrical nanoha #vivid #mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha #long post

0 notes

anon--h · 7 years

Text

RWBY death flags

So with presumably only 2 episodes left and this volume feeling almost entirely like recovery from the last and build-up to the next, there is still a chance that someone will die next episode or the one thereafter. 6 characters in particular come to mind as potential victims, based on current events and their place in the story. Placed under the cut because spoilers.

Sun Wukong: 2%

After volume 3, I was sure Sun was a cunning guy playing the idiot card. In volume 4, I am not entirely sure about that. Regardless, he was shot in the chest in episode 9 and Blake took it bad because of obvious reasons. Is his life in danger? Probably not. Will it give her a chance to open up about her guilt about Sun’s injury (and by extension Yang’s)? Absolutely. Shipbait ahoy.

Meta reason: very unheroic death, caused by a character we hadn’t met before.

Nora Valkyrie: 4%

Out of all RNJR death flags flown this volume, Nora’s were flown very modestly. After episode 10, it seems highly likely that she will outlive Ren, if only for the effect it’d have on the story as it is now. Ren obviously cares a lot for Nora, and would be affected by her death, but he has pretty much been her lifeline since they were kids. Removing that lifeline will further develop Nora as a character, tragic though it would be. Might die in episode 11 or 12 anyway, by way of human shielding for Ren. More likely to be very very injured by the end of the oncoming fight. Benefits from not actively throwing herself headfirst into danger, like another character on this list.

Tyrian: 5%

You know, Salem seems like a surprisingly merciful boss thusfar. Maybe it’s just because Cinder has the maiden powers and is therefore important to her plans, but beside her grimm aesthetic and ominous dialogue she hasn’t gotten her hands dirty yet. It would be a good chance for her to display her power by eliminating Tyrian for failing her. Odds still remain low, because the implication seems to be that Salem is into bodymodding and it would be a good chance to hit Tyrian up with like a King Taijitu head for a tail or something. Make him a recurring villain and progressively less human/faunus with every defeat, until he possibly ends up looking like Salem does.

Ghira Belladonna: 10%

Let’s be real: Blake is unlikely to keep both of her beautiful parents til the series finale. Either Kali is going to bite it, spurring Ghira to lead a side in a faunus civil war, or Ghira is going to be killed, spurring Kali to do pretty much the same. Either way, Blake will be forced to act. My money is on Ghira becoming the victim, mainly because as peaceful previous leader of the White Fang, his death carries symbolic weight. The killer will likely be Adam, Sienna Kahn or those fox bro’s. I don’t see the latter beating Ghira in a fair fight, even 2 on 1, so expect a weakened state through poison or a full-on terrorist attack through bombing. Adam will be motivated by his creep factor (destroy everything she loves) and Sienna Kahn will use it to make a statement about the current direction of the White Fang (and their alliance with Salem). Wildcard: Hazel kills Ghira because ??? Chances remain relatively low, but will substantially increase in Volume 5, judged by how the story is progressing.

Qrow Branwen: 25%

Qrow seems to be in a bad spot, but poisoning a character and leaving them teeter between life and death is more plotdevice than drama. Writer’s can throw a jug of ‘medicine’ towards the main characters whenever they feel like it or even claim his immune system took care of it. Still, he is in a bad place healthwise and locationwise. Let’s look at the strength of his plot armor. Killing him would handicap the Team STRQ storyline, the Raven and the bandits storyline and the relic scavengerhunt storyline. It would show us that the stakes are serious and give Ruby PTSD, but the V3 volume took care of that. Plus, letting him succumb to the poison after dragging him around for so long seems like a cop out. So there is a good meta argument for Qrow surviving. Still, he may try to fight in his condition, in which case all bets are off. Plus his voice actor is probably hella expensive.... But if that was an issue, why pick him for the WOR videos?

In short, strong evidence for survival, currently not out of the danger zone yet.

Lie Ren: 40%

Ren, Ren, Ren, Ren..... Giving a previously minor character a spotlight and even a flashback is a death flag so common it has its own trope page. Add to that facing a significant foe from his past in a place he has an emotional connection with and we have to make funeral arrangements. The meta however, comes to the rescue and drastically lowers the chance of death. Pyrrha was based on Achilles and had a similar arc. Great warrior, almost access to godlike powers, stricken down by a blow to the heel. Ren is based on Mulan, who committed suicide. Unless the yet unknown grimm can somehow inspire people to do that, or the writers stopped caring about the allusions they made, I think he will be able to get through the next episodes.

Still, he is currently the one most courting death. If he dies right after confirming Renora, we riot.

Other things:

-No characters have a >40% death chance because I believe there is a good chance we wont lose any beloved characters this volume. Volume 5 will introduce one or two deaths and Volume 6 will have us screeching like the V3 finale.

-The Vale relic isn’t Ozpin’s staff, but I think Ozpin’s staff is the key to it. I believe the actual relic is Jaune’s sword, it just lies dormant. WOR seems to implicate that the King of Vale was both Ozpin 0.9 and Jaune’s ancestor, so it would neatly tie those stories together.

-The inevitable Blake/Sun hospital scene will either give us Black Sun or further tease Bumbleby. My money is on the latter.

-Salem will get a relic next season.

-If Ren does die, I fully expect Jaune’s semblance to be like a power from a fairly obscure manga: basically allowing him to commune with dead comrades and summon their spirits to aid him in battle. Though it may mean that their souls wont find rest until he is killed as well..... It’ll be the bittersweet Arkos reunion you never knew you wanted.

-I don’t know exactly why, but I expect the Choice relic to be the most OP power available on Remnant. It seems like it could potentially be a reality warping power, but I imagine the user is guided by Clippy. “Hi! Would you like to get stabbed in the abdomen by Adam today, Y/N?”. Worst case scenario, it shows you the outcome to any choice you’d make, which I’d still count as the most OP power.

-I can’t decide who in Team RWBY should get which relic, assuming that is the endgame. The terms of the relics remain too vague to make an accurate call.

Would Ruby get creation for her kindhearted nature? destruction for her reputation as grimmslayer or choice for her status as protagonist?

Would Blake get knowledge for her studious nature? destruction for her inevitable conflict with the White Fang or choice for choosing to leave the organization and follow her friends?

Would Yang get knowledge, for her more insightful nature and the understanding she gains as part of her arc? destruction for her semblance and aggressive side? choice, for inevitably refusing Raven’s offer to join her side?

Heck, Weiss could apply for all four of them. Creation as extension of her semblance, destruction of the status quo of her family, choice to pick her own path in life and knowledge for probably being the smartest member of Team RWBY.

#rwby #rwby volume 4 #rwby v4 #rwby spoilers

5 notes · View notes