"A single situation and two versions...I keep on thinking about all the leaves I will not see, the gatherer of dry leaves, about so many things that there must be in the air and which these eyes will not see, poor bats out of novels and movies and dried flowers. There must be lamps everywhere, there must be leaves that I will never see."

Rayuela, Julio Cortázar

‘Mother May I Sleep With Danger, Please'.....

Summary: Bucky and the reader have gone undercover.

Photos aren't mine, credit to the og owners

Tiltle from ‘Mother May I Sleep With Danger?’ By Joy Crookes

Warnings: reader is black, reader is wearing a dress and has a back tattoo, she/her pronouns, Bucky drinks a glass of whiskey, the longest fic I've ever written, no y/n used, weird nicknames, google translate Russian, ending is abrupt bc I couldn't think of any ending that wasn't me stealing from someone else, speaking of which; inspired by @buckyalpine ‘s fic

A/N: thanks to @webinurcloset for proofreading

I DO NOT GIVE ANYONE PERMISSION TO REPOST OR TRANSLATE AND REPOST, THIS IS MY WRITING!

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR MEDIA CONSUMPTION, THIS IS AN 18+ BLOG MAKING THIS 18+ CONTENT. MOVE ON MINOR.

You were the newest addition to the avengers, quiet, solemn but hardworking nonetheless. You had been living in the tower for a month now, not a soul but you had seen the inside of your apartments. Every dinner, meeting and mission you stayed silent save for the occasional ‘hello’ ‘thank you’ and ‘goodnight’. The other Avengers didn't make a big deal of it, knowing how anxiety can affect a person especially a newly appointed avenger.

You had not yet been approved for missions so you spent most of your time in your room, but the few times you were spotted around the tower or the compound you wore loose black sweats and a scarf around your hair. The only visible parts of you being your face and part of your neck, the parts of you they could see they appreciated. They weren't very concerned about the rest of your body, knowing most of them were covered in scars, some more inclined to hide them than others.

Everyone expected that to change, especially once you were approved for missions. The week had finally come. They were given the option to watch from the balcony as you were examined in the training gym. As Tony hadn't finished your ‘Hero Suit’ as he called it, you were given a SHIELD issue suit. Unsurprisingly it covered more of your body than your sweats did, with a high neck, gloves and a hood. Though your silhouette was certainly visible, Steve's blush made that clear. You had undeniable skill easily mastering each and every weapon handed to you, easily defeating over a dozen SHIELD agents. 

You were called into a meeting shortly after your approval, along with Sam, Natasha and Bucky. You walked in to see the three spy’s spread about, sat around the long metal table. You were surprised at Steve's absence, deducing that this mission was to be more covert than usual. You were told by Maria Hill the nature of the mission, surveillance, which came as no surprise to you.

After a long silence caused by one of Sam's ‘jokes’, you wondered if you all would be sitting in a van together for hours. Maria quickly began to discuss the details of the mission. You and Bucky would be infiltrating a gala, set to happen the next day hosted by a man named Anatoli Volkov at his private residence in New Hampshire, one of his many properties. 

He had been suspected of human trafficking and many other dirty dealings by the FBI for years, only falling under SHIELDS radar after one of the girls he had ‘allegedly’ kidnaped was found in a Hydra facility barely breathing 3 years later. She thankfully survived and was able to give some information on how she ended up there, including Volkov’s name.

Maria gave you the files on yours and Bucky's undercover identities; Ukraine and American born spies, respectively, over a dozen confirmed kills, married in 2015... You stopped for a moment, eyes reverting back to that last phrase, a couple, a married couple. Feeling Bucky's eyes on you, you kept your expression as neutral as possible before continuing to read on. After the briefing you briskly made your way to your room, grabbing a bottle of your favorite drink from your fridge.

You thanked whoever designed this building for allowing everyone to have their own apartments, two to a floor with the only exception being Wanda and Vision.

Their apartments have been merged so they now have the floor to themselves.

The moderately sized units were outfitted with a kitchen with a small dining table, a small living room along with a television, bathroom, small walk in closet and bedroom. As well as the F.R.I.D.A.Y. ai wired throughout the building.

You had put more time into decorating than you originally planned but overall, you made a home for yourself. You only had to leave when you ran out of food, for training or for laundry and other chores. After a few hours sitting in your bed, memorizing the blueprints for Volkov's house and every given detail of your new identity F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s startled you out of your focus, notifying you that someone was at your door.

You opened your door to Bucky holding a black garment bag and a medium sized shopping bag in his right hand with a large black box in his left.

“Hill wanted me to give you these” he handed you the two bags, “and Tony finished your suit”

You weren't necessarily surprised at his arrival, considering you two shared a floor it made sense for him to be the one to deliver the items to you.

You thanked him quietly, reaching out to grab the box. It was heavier than expected. You gave him a small smile before closing the door. The heat in your cheeks suddenly became quite noticeable. You hoped quietly that the melanin you were so grateful for covered any hypothetical redness.

As you passed the windows on the way to your bedroom you noticed the dark night sky, you hadn't realized how late it was. You hung up the garment bag on the hook you had placed outside of your closet door, placing the bag and your new suit on the bed. You made your way to the bathroom to take a shower, the warm water calming you as you reflected on the events of the day.

You had been trying to befriend your fellow Avengers but your anxieties prevented you from being outgoing. You had grown closest with Bruce, as he could relate to your fears. You stepped out of the shower commencing your skincare and body care routine. After you finished you went to grab the garment bag, trying on the gown to ensure it fit with the black heels they'd given you to go along with it.

You quite liked the ensemble, but you weren't quite thrilled to wear it in front of the rest of the Avengers. You took it off returning the items to their previous packaging before putting on your night clothes and getting in your bed. You fell asleep searching for hairstyles to wear to the gala on Pinterest.

You dreamt of Bucky that night, how he might touch you with his large hands, one warm flesh, one cool metal , how he might look at you with gorgeous and piercing blue eyes, how he might love you with all of that and everything in between.

__________________

The Next Morning

You awoke earlier than normal, 4:56, a habit you'd had since adolescence when you were anxious. You changed into your workout clothes, black sports bra, leggings and the lulu lemon jacket Natasha had gifted to you when you first arrived. You made your way to the restroom where you pulled your hair back into a ponytail. Putting on your favorite pair of red sneakers before leaving.

Making your way to the elevator, Bucky's apartment door opened. You stopped in front of the elevator doors, turning to watch him. He turned around and made eye contact with you, after a few minutes of still silence you spoke, “going down?” he shut his door and answered with a smile, “yea”.

He stood beside you as the doors opened, he raised his hand allowing you to enter first pressing the gym floor button as he turned facing the closing the doors. You smiled down at the elevator buttons as Bucky adjusted his position so he wouldn't crowd you, something he often did unintentionally due to his large stature.

10, 9, 8.. The small screen changed as you descended the floors. “Thank you for bringing me the stuff for the mission.'' Bucky smiled, the most he'd ever heard you speak.

6, 5… “Of course, how'd you like your suit?” your suit, you'd forgotten to try it on last night. You didn't even open the box, “I haven't put it on yet” “no rush, I was just curious” he shrugged “its ok, I would be too” you both smiled.

4, 3. The doors slid open, you exited first heading for the women's locker room so you could use the bathroom. Glad to find it empty, you were in and out spending most of your time at the sink washing your hands and examining everything that just happened in the elevator. After finding one too many reasons to be embarrassed you left the bathroom and entered the gym, heading right for the open floor to stretch.

The gym was just as empty as the locker room, save for Bucky, you decided to go light today. Loosen yourself up before the mission just to avoid being sore. You finished before Bucky did, he was on the pull up bar as he had been for the 7 minutes before then, you'd spent that time admiring his muscular back looking away when you began to feel a gathering wetness in your underwear.

You left just before the morning gym rush arrived, taking another shower in your room and putting on your usual sweats and scarf before getting some fruit to eat in front of the tv where you sat for the next few hours.

You looked at the clock, 5:00. You were set to leave at 6:30.

You quickly got up, making sure you packed everything you needed to style your hair and do your makeup. You grabbed the garment and shoe bag along with a black purse with hardware that matched your chosen jewelry and a black scarf made with the same material of the dress to cover your shoulders. You made sure you had everything you needed before running to the elevator, heading to the top floor to board the quinjet.

You arrived first, much to your surprise, allowing the SHIELD agent piloting to pack your things into the built in storage compartments. As you sat down, Sam, Nat and Bucky arrived with their clothes and other supplies in tow. You looked back down over your thighs to make sure you put your seatbelt into the right clip. When you looked back up they were walking to their seats Bucky choosing to sit next to you

“Hey doll” he said with a small smile, “hello” you replied quietly. Sam and Nat sat across from you both. Suddenly a SHIELD agent, who appeared to be quite out of breath ran up the ramp. He stopped in front of you handing you a small black box, “the wedding rings mam” he said exasperatedly. You thanked him before he nodded and ran back out. You opened the box to two simple wedding bands, one thicker than the other and a diamond ring, one you might have chosen for yourself if this was real. You held out the box to Bucky before he reached for the thicker band, placing it on his ring finger before you did the same.

You noticed the rings were not new, with small nicks and marks. An important detail, especially if you were going to be surrounded by people as observant as you. You made a mental note to fake a tan line on yours and Bucky’s fingers later. The pilot cut through the silence on the intercom, announcing the beginning of the flight.

You landed in the SHIELD port shortly after as the flight was only 15 minutes. You were taken to the car port by another agent along with your bags where Natasha was given keys to a black cadillac escalade. You all stood against the grey concrete wall for a second, watching as the agent packed your things into the trunk of the car you looked at Bucky to your right, admiring how his jawline was accentuated by his man bun. You were sure you might have gaged at the bundle of hair on anyone else but on him you couldn't help but fawn over it. He looked down at you with a grin, making you look forward again embarrassed, glad to see the agent was finished.

Nat drove to the hotel where you would be staying, pleasantly surprised that it was an actual hotel and not a dirty highway motel like some of the other Avengers had been made to stay in. You and Nat packed all of your things onto a luggage cart while Sam and Bucky checked you all in.

“You should tell him you like him, you know, he likes you just as much.” Natasha says suddenly, you look up at her with shocked eyes “what?” you ask quickly, voice wavering. She flashes a grin at you, “Nothing, sorry”

You pushed the luggage cart into the lobby where Bucky and Sam were waiting by the elevator, you struggled slightly to push the cart into the elevator, Natasha and Sam attempting to help you on the other side. “I'll help you doll”. He moved behind you, placing his hands just above yours. You felt his warm body push into yours as you stumbled in with the cart. You turned to face him as the doors closed looking into his eyes for a moment, you cleared your throat, breaking eye contact and speaking quietly to ask “which floor?” he smirked “penthouse, doll” you clicked the button watching as it lit up and feeling the elevator begin to move.

Bucky was too preoccupied watching you avoid looking at his face to notice the look Sam and Nat exchanged, one of pride and cunning, it was only a matter of time.

Nat and Sam left your coms on the desk before going across the hall to their room. You used the master bathroom to get ready while Bucky used the half bath. You had finished your hair and makeup but were struggling to close the dress, the satin buttons proving hard to reach. You stepped out of the bathroom calling for Bucky, “what's up doll” he stepped out of the bathroom fixing his suit cuff, you were pulled into a trance admiring how he looked in the black suit, his bun making him look even more mysterious.

“Doll?” you snapped out of it. Not realizing he had moved closer to you, “what do you need, sweet girl?” he spoke softly, you swore that his pet names would make you spontaneously combust. “I need help with my dress, I can't get it closed.” You turned your back to him so he could start closing the buttons. He quietly admired the art tattooed on your back, it was beautiful, elongating your back with its elegant design. With every brush of his hands on your skin you became more and more flustered thanking whatever deity was looking down on you when he announced he was done, you turned to face him again “You look great doll.” Bucky said with a smile, your eyes flashing in between his eyes and chest a few times before you spoke up, “I'll just grab my bag and we can go” 

You made sure you had on all of your jewelry, including your wedding rings, your bag, your scarf and your com before you told Bucky you were ready to go. You stepped out just as Natasha and Sam did, donning their driver and bodyguard outfits respectively. The elevator trip was much less awkward, Sam even managing to make a joke that you all laughed at.

You all walked to the car, you and Sam moving to the right and Nat and Bucky moving to the left. Nat and Sam got in the front seats of the car while Bucky opened the door for you, you slid to the seat on the other end so he wouldn't have to circle the car to enter. Sam pulled off just as he shut the door. You had been staring absentmindedly out of the window when you felt Bucky grip your hand and pull it towards his chest. You turned your head toward him, making no movements as you had no intention of pulling your hand away. As he turned the wedding rings on your finger you wondered again what it would be like to be loved by Bucky.

The drive was short, you arrived ‘fashionably late’ as Sam called it at 8:15. The estate was gorgeous, elegant and large but not overbearing. It rested on a large piece of land surrounded by forests and greenery.

“Ladies and gents we have arrived. I'll circle to the entrance to drop you two off and we'll park a few blocks away.” Sam said, while his tone was gleeful you heard the underlying worry in his voice. Bucky walked out and around to your door, reaching his hand around to help you step out. “Don't forget to turn on your coms.” Nat added quickly as you Bucky closed the car door.

Bucky moved his arm around your waist to guide you up the stairs of the extravagant mansion, the doors opened to a gorgeous ballroom, warm lighting, brown tones and old school jazz music coming from the live band in the corner. Just quiet enough to feel like a background song to a memory. There were plenty of people, criminals you assumed. All well dressed in browns, blacks and creams.

You admired the dress of one woman while Bucky walked you to the bar, keeping you close. He ordered himself a whiskey neat. One of the perks that come from being a super soldier on missions, he can drink normal alcohol with no consequences because it has no effect on his body. Discovering his inability to get drunk has given Bucky the opportunity to drink whiskey for the flavor, he has become a bit of a connoisseur post freedom, his current favorite being Bushmills Black Bush Whiskey. You ordered a ‘Shirley Temple’, not necessarily feeling like drinking alcohol. You moved to sit on the bar stool facing away from the bar while Bucky stayed standing on your right side waiting for your drinks.

The bartender handed Bucky your drinks when suddenly you felt a clammy hand on your shoulder, “ну что тут у нас? экзотическая красавица?” (well what do we have here? an exotic beauty?) You looked up at the person touching him, and immediately recognized him as Anatoli Volkov. You wanted to pull his hand off of you and break it but you couldn't do anything to make him suspicious, thankfully Bucky spoke before you did.

“моя жена великолепна, не так ли?” (my wife is gorgeous, isn't she?) he said, putting some obvious emphasis on the word wife. He then wrapped one of his arms around your neck. You reached up to grasp his hand floating hand, pulling it down slightly. Volkov smirked, “I meant you no offense, Mr.?” he said in an amused tone, highlighting his thick accent.

“Joseph Smith and my wife Iris”. Your thumb swiped across his hand as he spoke, your head leaning back into his chest. Anatoli reached his hand out towards Bucky to shake, “it's nice to meet you Joseph, i hope to see you both again” Volkov looked down at you with a sly smirk, Bucky diverted his attention when he reciprocated his handshake, Anatoli's eyes shooting back up to him. “I hope to see you again too” Bucky smiled but his grip tightened, Volkov shook out his hand as he turned and walked away from the both of you. You turned to face the bar taking a sip of your drink, the sweet liquid refreshing your parched throat.

Bucky's arm moved off of you to take a sip of his drink. You turned back to the crowd after downing half of your drink, taking a moment to see how much security was in the building. Eventually you noticed at least 8 men in all black suits, all of whom had repeatedly talked to the same man in a dark blue suit. He had been shadowing Volkov since you arrived, you noted.

Suddenly Bucky grabbed your knees, pulling you to face him and moving your legs around his waist, with one hand you gripped his wrist and with the other you stabilized yourself on his shoulder. Your hand slowly moved up his arm as he pushed his hand up into your dress clutching and rubbing at your ass and thighs. “gray suit 2:00, he might have made us, i'm not sure.” you barely brought yourself to tear your eyes away from his face to look at the man in question. He was standing in a corner watching the two of you, finally looking away to reach into his pocket to answer his phone. You tried to read his lips but were quickly distracted when Bucky pushed his head into your neck, your hand flying to his neck carefully holding his head.

“Think we should go?” he said into your ear, you cleared your throat “we don't have anything on Volkov yet, we should wait.” he grunted in response before pulling his head out from your shoulder, only moving one of his hands to reach for his glass of whiskey again. You looked up at him, wondering how he can manage to make butterflies turn in your stomach while staying completely calm, you hoped that your flustered behavior wasn't tipping off the other people in the ballroom. You looked back at the jazz band when the music ended, quietly clapping before Anatoli walked on stage. You immediately rolled your eyes, wanting to zone out but knowing that if you did you'd likely regret it. You reached to take a sip of your drink, reminding yourself as to why you hadn't ordered something alcoholic when Anatoli began to speak.

The whole speech was in Russian, he thanked his guests, boasted and bragged but still delivered no useful information. Fake laughter coming from all sides of the room. You had zoned out a bit, listening to the heavenly jazz band on stage once again until you felt a hand on your neck. Bucky grasped both sides of your face with both of his hands, tilting your head up to look at him, he chucked when you hesitated to look him in the eye.

He held his forehead against yours brushing your lips against each other before speaking again, “Somebodys watching us, doll.” He smirked when he finished using his hands to push your head in the direction of the man in the gray suit once again. You looked back at Bucky before aiming your head down.

You took your hands, taping the inside of yours and Bucky’s ears discreetly before moving them around his neck. You spoke quietly, “Nat, do you copy?” there were a few seconds of static before a response came “Copy kitty-girl, what's going on in there?” you smiled at the nickname, reminded of the night you and Nat had snuck Alpine out from Bucky’s room to put her in the animal Falcon costume. “We're all good but maybe not for long, we’re being watched.” “Alright, get out of there. We'll be at the front waiting.” You heard her call for Sam to start the car before you looked at Bucky in the eye again, nodding subtly.

He moved his hands from your face, grabbing your bag from the bar before lifting you off of the stool, you let a small gasp escape you. Before you could process the action he was pulling you across the room to the entrance, when you reached the stairs he placed an arm under your shoulders and the other under your knee, the action made you squeal and you in turn made him laugh. You felt like a princess, or at the very least a main character in a rom com that was not deemed relevant enough to have Bucky watch yet.

You were sure that anyone witnessing the interaction would simply think you two were a happy couple eager to get home after a long night of tension.

He placed you down to open the door to the large van, lifting you into your seat before sliding in himself. Sam begins to open his mouth to speak when you put a finger over your mouth in an effort to quiet him. You look through your purse finding a bug in the open interior pocket and a tracker handing them to Natasha, she hands you a bug detector. You took Bucky's hands to make sure there were no other devices before doing a quick sweep over his body and yours, after finding nothing you say “alright, we're clear”. Natasha smiles when you hand the bug detector back to her, noticing that Bucky hasn't taken his eyes off of you and you haven't let go of Bucky's hand.

It's done, I'm done, sorry if this sucks.

Taglist:

@floriidakilos @zendayassimp @itsyagirljaz

Excerpts From MASAKAZU KATSURA x TIGER & BUNNY 2 Design Works

My first translation of 2024 is of excerpts from Katsura-Sensei's TB2 Design Works. Credit to @tnbscans for the pictures.

Special Comments

ユーリ・ペトロフ役／遊佐浩二さん

Yuri Petrov/CV: Yusa Kōji

初めてルナティックを見た時はその異質さに驚きました。他のヒーローたちと比べて全く系統が違うという印象です。最初は怖かったです（笑）、特に目が。しかしその生い立ちやユーリの人物像を知るにつれ、この姿がピッタリだと思うようになりました。顔の手形については桂先生が触れられるかと思いますが、あの怒りとも妖しさとも哀しみとも取れる表情は秀逸だと思います。全体に施されたラインの模様も気に入っています。鋭角的なデザインが好きなので。デザインとは関係ないですが、スーツの性能はやはり手作りという感じですね（笑）。斎藤さんが作ってくれたらあんなことにはならなかったのになぁと個人的にはちょっと残念に思います。まぁ、そこは実力でカバー。

僕にとってはヒーローたちに負けない、まぎれもない "ヒーロー”です。

When I saw Lunatic for the first time, I was surprised at the different quality (of his design). I had the impression that his lineage was completely different compared to the other heroes. I was scared at first (laughs), especially of the eyes. However, as I learned about Yuri's upbringing and personality, I grew to think that his appearance was perfect. Katsura-Sensei added the handprint of his face (to his mask), which is excellent because I think that the expressions (Lunatic's) can be taken as angry, mysterious and sad. I also like the pattern of the lines applied to the whole because I like sharp design. While it has nothing to do with the design (concepts), the performance of the suit is still handmade (laughs). Personally, I'm a little disappointed that Mr. Saito had not made it, but his (Lunatic's) abilities covered up for it.

For me, he's unmistakably a "hero" who can't lose to the heroes.

From pages on Yuri's design:

ネクタイは、虎徹のネクタイと同じく真ん中にストライプを入れ、それをユーリの場合は、カクカクにしたデザインです。

白と黒に、中央が自身の立ち位置を示すグレーにしていて、前回より、彼のキャラクター性を表したつもりです。

The necktie is the same as Kotetsu's tie, with a stripe in the middle. In Yuri's case, it is a jagged design. It's white and black with the centre grey to indicate his stance, shown from his character in the previous installment (S1).

Colours Used (for Yuri's Design)

ミドルクールグレイ - Middle Cool Grey

デープクールグレイ - Deep Cool Grey

ホワイト (ネクタイ右半分の色) - White (right half of necktie)

クールグレイ（ネクタイ中央の色） - Cool Grey (middle of necktie)

ブラック (髪止め・リボン・クツのヒール ネクタイ左半分の色) - Black (hair stoppers - his barrettes, ribbon, shoe heels, left half of necktie)

ライトスモークグリーン - Light smoke green (his hair)

スモークグリーン（まゆ毛） - Smoke Green (eyebrows)

スモークピンク（くちびる） - Smoke Pink (lips)

*口紅ではなく自色が悪い。- *It's not lipstick but it's a bad colour

ブラス - Brass (lawyer pin and on his briefcase handles and front enclosure)

ユーリは、「The Rising」では、新規デザインがなかったので、自分も楽しみでした。とはいえ職業柄、スーツ姿には変わりないので、遊べるところが少ないのですが、探は、ゲーム「ASTRAL CHAIN』で探いた四角いデザインを取り入れて、探えて、ボタンも四角くしています。

I was looking forward to the "The Rising" because there was no new design for Yuri. However, because of his occupation, he doesn't change his suit, so there were few places to play. So I incorporated the square design used in the game "ASTRAL CHAIN", and also used it for his buttons.

Yuri Draft:

TN: There is another colour chart with a tie in the colours from the previous season, but I haven't included it.

ユーリのネクタイ。ネクタイだけ、前TVシリーズのカラーリングにしてみましたが、結局やめました。

Katsura says he originally coloured the tie in the same colours as S1 but decided to stop.

From an interview with Katsura (maroon), Kase, Chiba, Hirata, Morita, Kotobuki, Shimazaki (all dark blue)

ーご自身が演じられているキャラクター以外で気になる存在はいますか？

-Is there anything you are interested in other than the character you are playing?

寿 私はユーリが気になっていて、彼が好きです。『T&B2』では物語的にもユーリが熱い展開だったので、目が離せませんでした。先ほどユーリのデザイン画を見させていただいたのですが、改めてカバンやネクタイひとつとっても彼の小道具はすごくオシャレだなと思いました。あと、アニメで髪が逆立っているシーンもすごく幻想的で。

Kotobuki: I'm interested in Yuri, and I like him. In "T&B2", Yuri's story has passionate development, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. I saw the drawings of Yuri's design, and thought the accessories of his bag and tie were very fashionable. Also, the scene in the anime, where his hair is standing on end is so fantastic.

桂 ユーリの展開は衝撃的だよね。

僕もプロットの段階から、ルナティックのクライマックスは「嘘だ！もったいない！やめてよ」と何回も言った記憶があります。でも彼についてははっきりと言及されているわけじゃないから、まだどうなったかはわからないと思います（笑）。千葉さんは誰が気になりました？

Katsura: Yuri's development is shocking, isn't it?

During the plot stages, I remember saying: "It's a lie! What a waste! Stop it!" many times about Lunatic's ending (climax). But it's not clearly mentioned, so I don't think I understand what happened yet (laughs).

Mr. Chiba, who are you interested in?

千葉 僕もキャラクターではないのですが、ルナティックのボウガンが良いなと。必殺技で「炎」は定番だと思うんですけど、その炎をボウガンで撃ち出すというアイデアが画期的でめちゃくちゃカッコいいなと思いました。

Chiba: I'm not interested in characters either (TN: Morita says earlier that he's not interested in characters), but Lunatic's bowgun is good. I think "flames" are standard special moves, but the idea of shooting flames with a bow gun was ground-breaking and incredibly cool.

TN: What follows is easily the greatest thing about this interview and it doesn't even have any Yuri/Luna content! 😭🤣

意外と評判が良い？ 男性キャラの「おしり」

Is it good that the male characters "butts'" are surprisingly popular?

島崎 僕は自分の役で申し訳ないんですけど、トーマスのキュッとした「おしり」がたまりません！新ヒーローの中でエース的存在のトーマスが、ピチッとしたスーツを着ているところに痺れたんです。その分、気絶した時には残念な姿に映りましたが（笑）、内またのラインとかが顕著に出ていて、「さすが桂先生のおしり」だと思いました。

Shimazaki: I'm sorry to say this since it's my role, but Thomas' tight "butt" is irresistible! I was numb to the fact that Thomas, who is an ace among the new heroes, was wearing a tight suit. As a result, it was unfortunate when he fainted (laughs), because the inner line was prominent, and I thought: "as expected of Katsura-Sensei's butts".

桂 あははは！でも、男の尻だよ?

Katsura: Ahahaha! But it's a man's ass?

島﨑どこからみてもラインが美しいんですよ。イケてます！

Shimazaki: No matter where you look, the line is beautiful. It's cool!

平田 キュッとした桂先生の「おしり」、意外と評判いいですよ？

Hirata: Katsura-Sensei's "butts" are surprisingly popular, aren't they?

桂 そうなの！？

Katsura: Is that so!?

島﨑 虎徹とバーナビーのインナースーツを着ている時の「おしり」も良いですよね。

Shimazaki: The "butts" are also good when Kotetsu and Barnaby are wearing their inner suits.

桂 どっちみち男の尻じゃん！（笑）

Katsura: Either way, it's a man's ass! (laughs)

The cover artwork of the novel Firefox by Craig Thomas depicted a MiG-25, and the plane was described similarly to the MiG-25 in the book.

The Soviet MiG-25 (NATO code-name “Foxbat”) was a high-speed interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft entered service in 1970 and has a top speed of Mach 2.83, powerful radar, and could carry up to four air-to-air missiles.

A capable interceptor, the MiG-25 was widely exported by the Soviet Union.

The MiG-25’s capabilities were not discovered until 1976 when Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot, defected to Japan.

Subsequent analysis revealed a simple-yet-functional design with vacuum-tube electronics, two massive turbojet engines, and sparing use of advanced materials such as titanium.

The Soviet government put pressure on Japan, demanding the delivery of the purloined ‘Foxbat’ pronto. Since there were no legal reasons not to, the MiG-25 was returned, in dismantled and crated condition. The Japanese did it on purpose to cover up the ‘surgery’ they and the U.S. intelligence experts had undertaken on the MiG.

However the Soviet experts were quick to find out just how much the West actually knew. When the MiG-25 was returned to the USSR it was determined that the Americans had run the engines and measured the aircraft’s infra-red signature and also made a detailed analysis of the systems and avionics, including the radar, and the structural materials. Not knowing how to operate the equipment, the Americans had damaged some of it and had to make hasty repairs (foreign fuses and resistors were discovered in the radar set).

The incident got the world press going wild with stories about the MiG-25 and U.S. Defence Secretary Schlesinger stated that the new Soviet interceptor was a sufficiently potent weapon to bring about drastic changes to the Western weapons systems and strategies.

Belenko’s defection was also mentioned in the novel Firefox by Craig Thomas, on which Clint Eastwood’s movie is based. According to an interesting post appeared on Quora, in the book there’s a mail conversation (the snail mail kind, since it was published in 1977 and takes place a short time after) in which they discuss Belenko’s defection. Someone argues that the new MiG-31 Firefox is not a big deal, since they already have Belenko’s MiG-25, while someone else argues that the MiG-31 is a completely different beast.

Clint Eastwood in Firefox

Then, as MiG-31 flies for the first time, NATO has everything in the air to spy on it, and nobody could see anything on the radar. They conclude that the MiG-31 not only is faster than anything and features a revolutionary fire control system controlled by thought, but also is invisible to radar, and that they have to steal one.

And that’s when the book begins in earnest, and also where the movie starts.

Since the defection of Victor Belenko was widely mentioned at the time, the publisher had an unusual large first print run, gambling on the publicity of Belenko’s defection to push up the sales.

In fact Craig Thomas was inspired by the awesome performance of the MiG-25, and then Belenko defected as he was finishing the book and thus included in the letters.

Fun fact: the cover artwork depicted a MiG-25, and the plane was described similarly to the MiG-25 in the book. In the sequel, Firefox Down, the description was more like the MiG-31 in the 1982 movie.

MiG-31 Firefox

Full-scale MiG 31 Firefox mockup used in the film “Firefox” parked at Van Nuys Airport, California in May 1982

Fun fact 2: The artwork on the Swedish paperback translation of Firefox instead depicted a canard and double-delta aircraft, pretty similar to the Swedish JA-37 Viggen.

JA-37 Viggen

Photo credit: Screenshot from YouTube video, CIA, Dmitriy Pichugin and MilborneOne via wikipedia

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

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Fedotov MiG-25RB altitude world record

Thanks for your album comparison! What about covers and promotional pictures in general (for both singles and albums)? Which one do you like the most? Is there a style they chose that you find the prettiest? You can rate your favourite pictures looking at the girls' solo careers individually but it would also be interesting to compare them!

Hello again! 🤗

Sorry it’s taking me so long to get back to you, I always have a bunch of asks in my drafts and I try my best to work through them in more or less chronological order 🙈

First of all, for me personally Wakana is the clear winner when it comes to visuals. Her photo shoots are ✨top-tier✨ with no exception [even if her outfits look atrocious at times XD] ! Say what you will about Space Craft but they definitely don’t shy away from investing a lot of money in high-quality promotional material and merchandise. We are constantly getting gorgeous pamphlets, special photo spreads for her fan club magazines and of course a variety of photo booklets/books for her music releases. Nothing of that sort exists for Keiko’s and Hikaru’s solo work. One might argue that it’s not necessary since the focus should be on the music rather than the artist’s visuals but meh, let’s be real here, in many cases it’s those specific “idol” marketing strategies that bring in the big money and not the music itself. On a side note, Wakana is just so freaking photogenic, especially when it comes to professional shoots like this. Despite Keiko’s otherworldly beauty, she somehow always manages to look kinda awkward in at least 80% of her staged photo shoots. There honestly haven’t been enough releases from Hikaru that contained a proper amount of visuals so it’s hard to even compare her to Wakana and Keiko. 

Without further ado, let’s get to my faves〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Wakana

Wakana - magic moment [Regular Edition]

Comment: Look at her!!! Just look at this goddess! Can you believe that this was part of the regular edition credits booklet?!! Now THAT’s how you make people buy useless regular editions! By adding the most beautiful pictures of your artist! I love every single shot. Her hair, her outfit! The locations! Perfection! I don’t even mind the random fabrics on the ground. I have absolutely no idea how you would adequately translate a theme like “magic moment” into visuals so I am not mad that they simply went for an urban but still open setting.

Keiko

Keiko - dew [Limited Edition]

Comment: This is 100% my aesthetic, it’s unbelievably beautiful! Probably would have been my overall #1 if there had actually been more than just a few shots in the super pricey limited edition. They were really lazy with the booklets of the other editions and I’m still bitter about that. But other than that, no complaints from me. As far as I am concerned, these are perfect visuals! All the pink, the girly outfit, the messy bun, the misty glass. Stunning! And it reflects the image of the album title “dew” pretty well. Generally I am a big fan of most of Keiko’s promo and cover images (“Ray / 始まりは” & "桜をごらん / 笑ってやる” are probably my favourite single covers) but it’s a shame we are only ever getting one or two shots and not an entire photo series. Call me shallow but I want more of those pictures, preferably in physical format!

Hikaru

Hikaru - disclose [Tokuten Postcard]

Comment: I really struggle to pick something for Hikaru. Don’t get me wrong, she always looks flawless in her cover shoots but for the most part, there is just not a lot to choose from and I might actually prefer how she looks in her tokuten postcards because those visuals are typically a little more daring. Unfortunately I don’t own all of them so I just went with the one above. Overall, I enjoy her “disclose” visuals most, maybe because they are very reminiscent of Kalafina?  Who knows? Either way, her dress is gorgeous and the cover design is suitably dark.

Everyone, feel free to share your faves! For reference you can check out my scan tags 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ 

wakana scans

keiko scans

hikaru scans

Collection of photos related to the play Þetta er allt vitleysa, Snjólfur! (1988) from Guðjón Sigvaldason's Facebook page, who was the director of the show: https://www.facebook.com/gudjon.sigvaldason

Learn more about Þetta er allt vitleysa, Snjólfur! (1988) here: https://stefankarlfanblog.tumblr.com/post/620125846748938240/%C3%BEetta-er-allt-vitleysa-snj%C3%B3lfur-or-as-its-known

The first photo was posted on the 27th of Septemeber 2017, while the rest are from the 28th. We also now know that Stefán Karl's character was named Konni.

Another post was made on the same day showing photos of a can of Mix with the actors autographs and character name's on them.

Captioned: Ég drakk víst mikið af mix á þessum tíma og fékk áritaða þessa dós í frumsýningar gjöf 😚

Translation: I must have drank a lot of Mix at that time and got a signed can of this as a premiere gift 😚

On the 26th and 28th of September he posted photos of the playbook, I'll try to translate what's on the pages under the cut!

First page, the cover:

This is all nonsense, Snjólfur

Youth department Theater club Hafnarfjörður.

Second page, the cast:

Characters and Actors (as they appear)

Sonja Ragnheiður Valdimarsdóttir

Elsa Ásdís Kristjánsdóttir

Sif Helena Kristbjörnsdóttir

Doddi Sigurbjörn Jónsson

Hermína Hólmfríður Gunnlaugsdóttir

Aníta Harpa H. Grétarsdóttir

Konni Stefán K. Stefánsson

Kári Gunnar A. Axelsson

Hekla Björk Erlendsdóttir

Snjólfur Hlynur Sigurðsson

Halla Ingibjörg H. Björnsdóttir

Linda Jóna V. Árnadóttir

Rósa Fanney D. Guðmundsdóttir

Mýsla Anna S. Arnardóttir

Hilmar Gunnar F. Benjamínsson

Jóna Guðrún E. Sigfúsdóttir

Gutti Haraldur F. Gíslason

Brandur Sölvi Sveinbjörnsson

Brigit Sólveig Valdimarsdóttir

Regína (Aníta's mother, young) Harpa H. Grétarsdóttir

Magga (Snjólfur's mother, young) Huld Óskarsdóttir

Nína (Sif's mother, young) Helena Kristbjörnsdóttir

Guest actors

Snjólfur's teacher and grandfather Vilhjálmur Gíslason

Mamma Anítu Anna Ólafsdóttir

Third page, the credits:

Director Guðjón Sigvaldason

Script Guðjón Sigvaldason

Lighting Helgi Bragason

Sound Hilmar Þór Árnason

Props Erna Grétarsdóttir

Makeup Kristbjörg Hjaltadóttir María S. Davíðsdóttir

Keyboard Gunnar F. Benjamínsson

Assistance and other things Ásta Steinarsdóttir Kristrún Gunnarsdóttir Dagný Karlsdóttir

Costumes The group

Set work The group

Chief carpenter Guðmundur Grétarsson

Playbook Egill Ingibergsson Fanney D. Guðmundsdótt Jóna V. Árnadóttir The group

Set design Guðjón Sigvaldason Lyrics Guðjón Sigvaldason Executive Board Alda Sigurðardóttir Cover/poster María Hreiðarsdóttir

Stage crew Vilmundur Þorsteinsson Jón E. Jónsson

Fourth page, script for a scene with Stefán Karl's character:

Snjólfur is dreaming, this can be shown in many ways, e.g. by using strange music, Smoke machines, light effects, etc.) Konni enters the stage, dressed in a costume that does not look contemporary, but is rather ridiculous, he also carries a sword.)

Konni: I'm a Martian. I've come here to earth, to kidnap a female specimen. Fill it with Mars chocolate bars, so that it's a Mars womb and throws us. We've been planning this for thousands of centuries. I've been hanging out with hundreds of schools for hundreds of years to find the right copy.

I've had absolutely enough of all the studying, I'm full, full of the same-same schoolmates, all taught by hopeless teachers, who say-say, the same-same thing to a person over and over again. Finally-finally, finally, I've found the right copy. Anít-ha or Aníp-ha, is the right female being for us. She has eaten a healthy amount of Mars bars, so with that she is ready.

(Konni begins to act like the angriest witch with accompanying movements and gestures, and recites the following text.)

Konni:

March, March, not in April, Not in May, in March, on Mars, and around Mars. I march here, I march there, I get Mars, everywhere, Mars in Mars, Polka Mars, All in Mars. Anít-ha, Aníp-ha, March here, March there, March here and everywhere.

(While Konni the Martian carries on this spell, Aníta comes to him slowly, even though she is asleep, or under hypnosis. She is dressed in clothes that are ridiculous, example, a dress from circa 17 to 18 hundred.)

(Konni snaps his fingers, slaps his hands etc. at Aníta to wake her up from her coma, she is startled and taken aback.)

Aníta: What do you want from me? Konni: Hi, I'm a Martian. Aníta: (laughs) So, are you Bobbi? Konni: No, Aníp-ha, my name is Mars - Mars. (Cut off)

Fifth page, the last page:

"This is all nonsense, Snjólfur."

AUTHOR: GUÐJÓN SIGVALDASON

The play was created from improvisation with the Youth Department of Leikfélag Hafnarfjörður, October to November 1988. The show was premiered on 27th of November 1988.

DIY CD - Part 1

CD Tutorial directory // Part 1 (burning the CD) - here // Part 2 (designing booklet & back cover) // Part 3 (printing & assembly)

Supplies:

CD disc drive. If your computer (or one you have access to, I borrow my grandma’s when I visit lol) has a CD disc drive, great! If not, this project will be a bigger investment for you. Search around to find an external disc drive you can plug into your computer via USB - cheap ones look to be around $20 on EBay, NewEgg, what have you.

Blank CD(s). Easiest way is to buy them online, or see if you have some packed away at home (either blank ones that were never used, or any that say CD-RW or “rewritable”). I don’t think there’s any way to rewrite commercial CDs (like an old unwanted album you have lying around) but I’m not 100% sure.

Jewel case - not slim jewel case. Ideally you find your CD(s) in a jewel case already, but if you don’t, you can buy them online or grab one from the thrift store. In the Album Series set, the official has a “standard double” case (with a third pane of plastic between the front and back, with the music CD on the front and the bonus CD on the back), but I didn’t bother with that since I didn’t think I’d be able to find those bonus interviews to rip and I wouldn’t understand them anyway.

Playlist. Here’s the official discography page which has all the CDs that exist and which songs are on them, and the wiki discography page which isn’t always updated but has more info (higher-res album covers, translated lyrics, etc). If you’re making your lyric booklet with English lyrics, you’ll have room for an odd number of songs (unless you glue pages together or something).

Step 0: If your CD isn’t blank, either erase it - here’s a WikiHow (for Mac and Windows) - or move the files somewhere else (I moved my family photos to a flash drive).

Step 1: Download songs - tutorial for downloading MP3s from SoundCloud here. You might not always be able to find the ones you want - SoundCloud is the best place for finding EnStars songs, but things get taken down for copyright. Karaoke (カラオケ) versions are a little hard to find, audio dramas are harder, but I’ve seen both around. Try searching the English and Japanese versions of song titles, and looking through EnStars/Unit playlists for tracks that have purposefully misspelled or random names. Also make sure you’re downloading the long versions (~3-5 minutes) instead of the game-length versions (~1-3 minutes) if possible. I had to go back and burn the CD again because one of my songs was the short version on accident…

Step 2 (Optional): Edit ID3 tags. To make the song titles and such display when you play the CD, you need to edit the ID3 tags. Tutorials:

Mac (album art & text tags)

Windows (album art)

Windows (text tags)

You can find this info on the wiki page for the album that song is in, from here. For the album covers, make sure you click the image and then “Open original” to get the highest res possible. I don’t know how the official CDs organize their ID3s, but I listed the lyricist & unit as the artist, and the composer & arranger as composer.

If your song album isn’t on the wiki, you can find these credits by searching the official page for 作詞 (lyricist), 作曲 (composer), and 編曲 (arrangement). If one person did multiple jobs the titles might be listed together (ex. 作曲·編曲). You can search their name on the wiki to see how it’s romanized in credits for another CD they worked on, if you want that.

Step 3: Burn the CD • Windows version • Mac version (you’ll only need the next minute or so of this, it goes on to talk about recording multiple at a time for artists producing their own CDs but we don’t need that)

Next part is customizing your CD case!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 75 and 76 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 73 and 74 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

75: A Field Trip Tag Duel!

For their field trip, the students of the Academia head to Domino Town, the holy dueling land known for producing the likes of Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba.  Judai and his friends visit Yugi’s childhood house, where they meet Mr. Sugoroku.  While exploring the town, Sugoroku is kidnapped--and while Shou and Kenzan argue as they look for him, they are challenged to a Tag Duel by an assassin duo from the Society of Light: Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru.  Kenzan’s dinosaur  Monsters find themselves powered down by Mobius Castle as he's dealt the first blow...

76: The Ultimate Combo! Rex Union

Shou and Kenzan’s Tag Duel versus Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru continues.  Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru are powerful despite their being on bad terms with each other, whittling Shou and Kenzan’s LP down to 1000 early on.  Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters don’t match well with Kourimaru’s Ice deck, while Shou’s vehicle Monsters are stalled by Ikazuchimaru’s System Down and Rampage Condenser Magic Cards.  But for all of Shou and Kenzan's arguing, they start working together once they realize that their losing would cause trouble for Judai.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episodes 75 and 76 are now finalized!

These two episodes start off our Domino mini-arc, as the Academia goes on a field trip to the land of dueling legend--which picks up on plot elements that were going to be included in the canned Yu-Gi-Oh! VS GX movie Takahashi had pitched at one point but were reworked into GX Season 2′s story.  75 introduces us to Mizuchi right off the bat (credited as “Shrine Maiden” for only this episode’s credits) and, after we take a trip down memory lane with Sugoroku while Ed and Saiou’s friendship starts to show some cracks, it’s revealed to Shou and Kenzan that she’s related to Saiou.  

Through both episodes, we also get some closure on the Shou/Kenzan feuding over Big Bro Judai, after Kenzan reveals he would’ve won if he didn’t feel bad for beating Shou while he was down, and after a rocky start to their Tag Duel vs Ikazuchi/Kourimaru, they come back and put their egos aside to keep Judai from having to deal with them.  Ultimately, it’s a futile effort thanks to the Mirror of Duality that Kourimaru activates, but a good one nonetheless.  Also do like the Marus’ designs, and it was cool at the time back in 2006 to see the original Monarchs make their anime debut.  76 also has some nice art to it, being a Tea Sun In animation-team episode (and Gil-bo No chipping in with some good key animation), so it’s a fun watch.

In terms of animation and other fixes, 75 and 76 both had a handful of card fixes, while 76 had more in the way of animation error fixes and other quality-of-watching things.  As I mentioned before, I also translated the guidebooks Sugoroku wrote held by Shou and Kenzan early in ep. 75 for the eight scenes they appear in.  Details under the cut, as always, along with a Translation Note for 75 involving one of Mizuchi’s scenes.

Enjoy, folks; for the next release, I want to get 77-79 out together for a triple treat to avoid just releasing 77 for a cliffhanger, lol.  That’ll get us through the Iwamaru duel (poor Honoumaru being shafted) and Judai/Ed vs Mizuchi to close out this mini-arc.  Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (75)

As I mentioned above and highlighted in this post, I translated the front cover of the town guidebooks held by Shou and Kenzan in the eight scenes it’s visible in.  I first blanked it and applied the translations in the second-to-last shot it’s in--the closeup as the two show them to Sugoroku, which I also used for 75′s preview in 74--then isolated it to manipulate into the other scenes, mainly using AfterEffects’s CC Power Pin effect and then masking the right side of the original cover (with the landmark photos, but above the bottom “Legendary Duelists’ Stomping Grounds” text) on top to make it blend in.

After Kenzan tells Kourimaru that his weakened Dark Driceratops can still defeat his Mobius, Kourimaru activates his Mobius Castle, but in the shot that rapidly zooms out from him while it activates, we see him holding the card with its back facing the camera--which is inconsistent with the close-up just before as he held it up with the front facing the camera.  Fixed by first grabbing Mobius Castle’s card art from this close-up shot and touching it up in Photoshop to then make a proxy for it, then applied it in AfterEffects with a Power Pin before I then redid the zoom-out in Sony Vegas.

After the Marus’ Reflector Bit combo ends up making Dark Tyranno’s attack hit Shou for damage, and Kenzan notes that it went in circles, Kourimaru notes that their Reflector Bits are, along with Side Attack, also cards used exclusively in Tag Duels--but the Mobius on his Disk in this shot is in Attack Mode when Kenzan’s Earthquake Magic Card just put it in Defense Mode.  Fixed by making a Mobius proxy that I then applied in one frame in AfterEffects, after which I redid the panning shot in Sony Vegas for it.

After Kourimaru tells Ikazuchimaru that he should thank him for letting him hit Shou for damage, Ikazuchimaru draws for his turn and prepares to sacrifice his Thunder Knight for Zaborg, but his Disk shows Thunder Knight in Monster Zone #2, which is where Reflector Bit should be; he summoned Thunder Knight to Zone #4 on his first turn, and Reflector Bit was summoned by Bit Shoot to Zone 2 per its placement on his field here.  Fixed this by first using the shot of Kourimaru holding up Reflector Bit earlier to nab its card art and touch it up in Photoshop to make a proxy for it, then did the same for Thunder Knight as Ikazuchimaru held it up on his first turn--once that was done, in AfterEffects, I first applied the Reflector Bit proxy to his second Zone in Attack Mode, masking the orb on his Disk over it, then added a Defense-Mode Thunder Knight to his fourth Zone when it swung into view near the end of the shot for a quick two frames.

TRANSLATION NOTES!

As detailed in this post, after Sugoroku goes missing and Judai & co. split to find him, Mizuchi’s  "急々如律令 、 奉導誓願可、不成就也!" line that leads to the Monarchs’ barrier around Domino Town is an apparent diviner/Taoist favorite that, when rephrased, essentially means "大至急、不成就に導くよう願いたてまつる," or something like "In offering my wishes, may we be led to unfulfillment ASAP"--so, Mizuchi’s line here is beckoning for misfortune to befall Judai et al at once.  Part of the delay in getting these done, aside from the fixes listed here for both episodes, was the slight rabbit hole I fell into trying to first transcribe Mizuchi’s line by ear (and failing), then finding it transcribed by a Mizuchi-script Twitter bot, then using some search-fu to get the phrase broken down.

Fixes/Edits! (76)

As the Marus fall out and challenge each other to see who beats Shou or Kenzan first, as Kenzan breaks the fourth wall to call out their cockiness and Shou joins him, there’s a quick couple of frames where the right-side border of the split screen appears on Kenzan’s dino earrings.  Fixed it by just copying the previous frame to keep the border still, though while I was there, I also closed Kenzan’s mouth as it was oddly left open after his line.

As Kourimaru jokes that Shou and Kenzan make a great duo as he draws for his turn, as he lifts his Disk to place one card face-down, we see the Defense-Mode Mobius on his Disk reversed (should be facing with the name box to our left); fixed it by applying the proxy correctly in AfterEffects for the two frames of his Disk’s movement, then redid the slow zoom-out on each for a few frames in Vegas.

Just after #2, after Kourimaru switches Mobius to Attack Mode, as he’s declaring its attack, a few things happen as he swings his Disk: first, we see Mobius both in Monster Zone #4 (where it should be) and in Zone #2 (where his Reflector Bit should be), and then we see the card in Zone #2 in Defense Mode when Reflector Bit was left in Attack Mode.  Fixed by first applying the Reflector Bit proxy in AfterEffects to Zone #2, then by applying it to Zone #2 in Attack Mode in the second frame and masking the main Disk bit over the card.

As highlighted in this post, as Shou worries that the Element Saurus Kenzan summoned won’t be enough, Kenzan turns back to retort, but for the first few frames of his turning, the orb in the middle of his Disk is red (for “on”) but unlit; fixed by just applying a bright red paint layer over the orb which I Gaussian-Blurred a bit and screen-blended so it just lit up the area.

After Shou summons Shuttleroid and Ikazuchimaru’s Rampage Condenser hits him, as he notes the 500 damage he takes, a few things happen.  First, as Shou slides in with the LP counter dropping as he’s hit, there’s a quick frame where there’s an outline for his neck but it’s colored like his hair, all before it’s fixed in the very next frame of movement--which I fixed by just recoloring his neck accordingly in Photoshop.  Then, after Ikazuchimaru says that Zaborg’s counterattack on Shuttleroid will finish Shou off, Shou starts to raise his head to say he never said anything about having it attack him, but his neck is missing for most of this, as the area is fully colored as part of his hair for these two frames, and then suddenly it’s all neck and no hair--fixed again by recoloring the area to define his neck and hair based on the previous no-issue frames.  After that, Ikazuchimaru gasps in surprise, but his hair suddenly invades the top-right of Shou’s split-screen and stays there for the rest of the shot--fixed by just masking in the same part from a previous no-issue frame in Sony Vegas, along with holding the previous correction to Shou’s no-hair neck.  Next, Shou lifts his head again to say that he’s attacking Element Saurus, but it’s still all neck and no hair for the two movement frames involved, until he’s done lifting his head, where he’s correctly drawn without any issues, with his well-defined hair and neck--fixed here by again recoloring the neck/hair area for those two movement frames, holding the fix to the top-right corner of Shou’s split.  Finally, as the split-screen splits to show Element Saurus, first we see that Shou’s side moves but Ikazuchimaru’s stays still without a change in background behind the split-screen, all while a second split-screen is seemingly moving behind Shou’s up top; then, we see Shou’s side of the split-screen take a few frames longer to leave the shot than Ikazuchimaru’s--fixed all this by redoing the split-screen’s split over an Element Saurus still and having them leave the shot simultaneously while keeping Shou’s side consistent. (You can see all this in these gifs; the original, and my fix [may just need to give them a minute to load])

After Kenzan activates Ultimate Evolution Pill, as he swings his arm around with his Dyna Base card, there’s a quick few frames where only the card outline is visible; they seemingly forgot to add the card itself there.  Fixed by making (in Photoshop) and applying (in AfterEffects) a Dyna Base proxy, darkened a bit as it was under Kenzan’s hand.

As Shou swings his arm around to activate Vehicroid Connection Zone, there’s a quick frame where he swings his hand a frame over before the card joins it, resulting in awkward black space (a similar error happened in ep. 65).  Fixed it by masking in the correctly placed card from the next frame over the frame in question.

After Shou explains that Super Vehicroid -- Rex Union inherits Super Conductor Tyranno’s effect (which actually doesn’t end up being used) and can attack twice, Kourimaru and Ikazuchimaru come in on a split-screen to react in shock, but Ikazuchimaru’s side actually comes in first for a few frames before Kourimaru’s joins it.  Fixed by holding Shou and Kenzan still as I redid the split-screen over them to make sure the two  sides came in simultaneously.

As Kourimaru faces down his half of Rex Union’s attack, the light on his Disk’s orb isn’t on; fixed by just applying the red light to it in a frame after it unblurs on him in Photoshop, then redid the Gaussian un-Blurring as the camera focused on him in Vegas.

Shock will be released on Blu-ray on January 17 via Arrow Video. Christopher Shy designed the new cover art for the 1977 Italian horror film; the original poster is in the reverse side.

Mario Bava (Black Sunday, A Bay of Blood) directs from a script by Lamberto Bava (Demons), Gianfranco Barberi (A Bay of Blood), Alessandro Parenzo (Rabid Dogs), and Dardano Sacchetti (The Beyond). Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, David Colin Jr., and Ivan Rassimov star.

Shock has been newly restored in 2K from the original 35mm camera negative with both Italian and English credit sequences. It includes restored lossless mono Italian (with newly-translated English subtitles) and English audio.

A slipcover is included featuring the alternate U.S. title, Beyond the Door II (despite being unrelated to 1974's Beyond the Door). Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark author Tim Lucas (new)

Interview with co-writer/uncredited co-director Lamberto Bava (new)

Interview with co-writer Dardano Sacchetti (new)

Interview with critic Alberto Farina (new)

The Devil Pulls the Strings - Video essay by critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (new)

Shock! Horror!: The Stylistic Diversity of Mario Bava - Video appreciation by critic Stephen Thrower (new)

Italian theatrical trailer

4 Beyond the Door II TV spots

Image gallery

Dora (Daria Nicolodi) moves back into her old family home with her husband, Bruno (John Steiner), and Marco (David Colin Jr.), her young son from her previous marriage. But domestic bliss proves elusive as numerous strange and disturbing occurrences transpire, while Dora is haunted by a series of nightmares and hallucinations, many of them involving her dead former husband. Is the house itself possessed? Or does Dora’s increasingly fragile grip on reality originate from somewhere far closer to home?

Can you explain to me how Rachel was annoying in the series?

Well, I’ll try to keep myself short for this one (lol no, this took an hour to write). Also, let’s not forget that they’re all kids, but I’m basing this off from when I read the series as a fourteen year old because my opinions haven’t changed much (for better or for worse).

I’m not the biggest fan of Rachel. I have to admit that portrayals of her by Simi, Kit, Logan, Apollo and all the others helped to shape her into something cooler than what she had been in my foggy memories but I actually went back to take a look in the books (well, TTC + BOTL so far) to refreshen my mind about events that have happened.

Also, you should browse through @blackjacktheboss's blog as she’s a) hilarious and b) says whatever I say in like a single sentence lol. But your ask is about me and my opinions so here we go:

What I didn’t like about Rachel was that she’s rude and bold (DON’T GET ME WRONG, I love that in female characters!!!), but she doesn’t have Annabeth’s excuse of survival of the fittest (literally running off as a traumatized seven year old) and introducing us into the world of the Riordanverse.

Percy was on his way, had shit to deal with and Rachel pretty much interrupted him from the get-go and thought getting her answers was more important than letting Percy just rush forward. Yes, this is Rachel’s entrance into the series and the net Riordan threw into the sea, to make us little fish adapt to her. But it still didn’t sit right with me, probably because I would never interact that way.

I get why she did that, but it’s the way how she did it that’s just making me go ???

Even if I was seeing weird things, I wouldn’t set out to distract/interrupt someone who is incredibly busy to get my way. Rachel’s dick move seems like a Karen boomer type of thing to pull off, but guess that’s up to you.

If I were her, I’d either film/try to photograph the monsters via phone (if that’s possible) or internet stalk enough to find the other person (note: despite Riordan’s stupid rule of not being able to use phones, demigods still can use computers/the internet, I guess). Percy was national news like a year or two ago in the timeline, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to find more stuff out about him, even in like 2008 or so. Let him have a spot on Perez Hilton's shitty gossip blog, for the OGs reading this.

Annabeth was used as a tool of exposition to introduce us to CHB, the demigod life and how things roll around there. She barged into Percy’s mission as a nuisance first but a necessity second in TLT.

However, in comparison to Rachel, Annabeth was transformed into a fully-fledged protagonist within a span of a chapter or two. Rachel needed another separate book after her first appearance, so we don’t just know Annabeth better, we know that she’s an important constant throughout the story as of Rachel seems… almost random? Is she truly necessary as a character?

This doesn’t come from a shipper perspective, this is coming from a character design perspective and adds to the feeling that the way she has been introduced to me as a reader just seems off.

Yes, BOTL makes sense with her as a reborn Ariadne, but technically Sally could’ve done the job as she’s a clear-sighted mortal as well lol. Then again, Sally is an adult, went to college, had a job, was unfortunately probably working it up with Paul, did the cha cha slide with him and had overall better shit to do.

Then Rachel as the oracle, which is just super weird in general. Wasn’t Apollo himself responsible for issuing prophecies in the OG myths? Or did he both, have the oracle of Delphi as his spokesperson and issue important stuff to Team Olympus? Am I mixing things up? I’m getting sidetracked, my bad.

Either way, this oracle gig might be the only time I’d say Rachel might be important in the future (badum tzz), but Riordan fumbled the bag in the follow ups series so there’s that. Did she even appear in HOO? Can’t remember and also don’t care.

Rachel is used as one out of three choices in regard to his love life that Percy can make. Calypso literally got introduced into BOTL and was admittedly Percy’s biggest what if… But the general gist doesn’t sit right with me. We have three possible routes with Percy and the others:

Rachel: somewhat normality in the mortal realm

Annabeth: the danger and thrill of the demigod life

Calypso: ambrosia and nectar. a hint of immortality

(On one hand, literally why but on the other hand, mad props for Percy who has literally three romantic leads in the same book.) I’d cancel one of them at least out and since Annabeth isn’t going anywhere, I’m taking Rachel. Sally could literally been Percy’s anchor to a normal mortal life as she had intended until it didn’t work out anymore when he became twelve and his monster alerting scent grew stronger.

Calypso and Annabeth would’ve been the perfect opposites where each of them had a strong case. The demigod life within the realms or mortal or the demigod life ascending to Olympus/immortality. Sounds cooler and is way simpler. Three people is way too much, this truly feels like a shonen anime harem thing and it’s defo not my cup of tea (and while some Annabeth sideships aren’t my thing (Lukabeth go cry in the corner, no one likes you, WTF, Connabeth you fugly), it’s super unfair that Annabeth solely has Percy (fuck off Luke) to rely on in regards of romantic endeavors).

Rachel almost feels redundant? The option to walk away from all of that… which isn’t really true as Rachel really tries to push and insert herself into the story the very first time we meet her? But that’s just me, I’m certain that others are saying they’d kill off Annabeth or kick Calypso (I mean yeah) into the curb.

Big ALSO:

Why does Percy need another white and uber-rich love interest?

I semi-joked on Dez’ post (@sawasawako) with this response about Annabeth needing to keep up with powerful Rachel, but the core still stands.

We already have an affluent Annabeth (granted, we don’t know exactly how the Chase’s riches are divided, whereas it’s clear that Rachel can just make anyone drop dead by saying who she is. Annabeth needed that weird lotus casino credit card to make that happen, so Miss Harvard Legacy doesn’t wield that Dare schmoney. Also don’t think Annabeth can just up papa’s money and go…? Idk).

Why do we need another person needing to upstage this?

Like Rachel has to triumph in regards to standard and prestige as if it were a badly written Jane Austen AU. For what reason…? Why not make Percy friends and acquaintances with someone who comes from a normal household for once, not super rich brats (Piper, Annabeth, Rachel, technically the Graces with their TV starlet mother amongst others).

Moreover…

Important question: why should Percy actually be impressed/attracted to that? He’s dirt poor and has been sent to (boarding) schools filled with stupid rich people since he’s been twelve, probably even younger than that. As if that’s the very first thing Percy would look out for or be wowed or something. He’s used to rich douchebags. I think he’s more surprised that someone used their money for his benefit for once and not to crash daddy’s new Mercedes again.

Like seriously… Rachel did that weird art project thing in BOTL with her covered in gold and posing like it’s a super normal thing to do? Even for rich snobbish kids standards? That sounds weird to me. I don’t know, maybe Riordan’s been streaming the new Gossip Girl reboot on HBO Max on repeat and thought this girl is on fiyah (performed by Alicia Keys).

Rachel trying to separate herself from her money just comes off as super hypocritical when she’s using the very same funds to finance her lifestyle. I get it, trying to make amends and make a difference with the damage you have done but... your father still doesn't give a shit about the environment or YOU, sweetie. Kick him in the balls for once! Then you can go out about your art projects.

The concept of Percy having friends in the mortal realm is cool, but why does Rachel almost have to compete with Annabeth with her wealth and art stuff?

No seriously, the comparisons are constantly there, out and about. Roaming freely on the finest grass, needing to be feed delicious locally sourced carrots and stuff.

Annabeth is Athena’s kid. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, weaving, justice, warfare yada yada and arts and crafts. So definitely something which would affect Rachel, right (someone write that Athena messing with Rachel because she can AU and tag me please!)?

Annabeth wants to become an architect which translates to fancy building designer who is driving engineers like Leonardo Eugenio Valdez Cortes insane irl because the maths and physics don't work like that in the working field trust me I'm an engineer, which could/should be considered an art form.

They even shared some common ground while talking about architecture and design in BOTL!

Furthermore, they both share broken homes with absent parents (granted that all demigods go through that). Wealthy families at that as well. Shitty fathers that don’t care about their daughters well-being. Rachel however, is super powerful and influential in an unseen level in the mortal world. She isn’t like Matt Sloan (?) who truly messes up by destroying shit to get his father's attention, but she’s still in that circle and can easily demonstrate that. Making deals with her father and what not. We rarely see Annabeth doing that. Did y’all forget the fucking helicopter Rachel brought along in TLO?

Pan saying Rachel is just as important as her father has multiple meanings to me…

(Sidenote: I do think it’s hilarious that Annabeth is jealous/annoyed of Rachel that her remarks were she’s cute right and Percy went??? Or when Tyson said Rachel’s pretty? Or that time when Annabeth actually defended Luke and his weird behavior (because Kronos was slowly taking over, don’t forget that kids!), because f that rich artist nepotism kid that Rachel seems to be, right?)

Another note: Percy thinks Rachel is annoying in BOTL for a while and it took a while for him to admit that and he spent way more time being annoyed/jealous (for once, Lordy) at Luke for him to even notice lol.

I guess it’s really hard for me to exactly pinpoint what’s bothering me. I believe Rachel's persona just doesn’t seem to hit right, because it feels like a knock-off Annabeth who just simply isn’t a demigod, yet has two cool powers, but in even richer who still needs to be part of the story for exactly what reason?

The jumping around from the richest in the series to the poorest in the series is kinda bothering me as if the middle class doesn’t exist, like I’ve stated earlier. Why didn’t Riordan mix it up with Rachel, giving her more nuance the minute they met, not towards the end? Have her be Percy’s platonic friend from the get go. No weird oh wait she is kinda cute in the middle bullshit.

This kinda drifted more into a Perachel vs Percabeth essay, which really wasn’t my intention. Don’t worry kids, I’m criticizing Annabeth (and her stans) enough already.

And I do think that others in the fandom have softened my views on Rachel as a person like I’ve stated in the beginning. So friendship!Perachel is popping! But I do think that there are some valid points that I’ve made.

Also not gonna lie, Rachel issuing the new prophecy in TLO kinda dampened the end of PJO series but that’s more Riordan’s fault than hers.

TLDR: I’m just not a huge fan of this overbearing, uber-rich, excessively flaunting being that Rachel sometimes displays. She’s flawed, she’s broken at times, has a semi-interesting background story (although it has been done over and over again throughout the series and should be changed up for once) which is great, but it is still annoying.

We don’t need an anti-Annabeth who feels like a weird caricature of the real Annabeth.

Also if this seems super incoherent, repetitive, or whatever, I'm sorry, massive headaches + mental health going down the goo lagoon does this to ya, I hope I made somewhat sense!

More thoughts on Danganronpa S after the new interview and sprite reveals

- The reveal of all those swimsuit sprites sadly told me two characters I shouldn’t expect to see: Taichi Fujisaki and Yuta Asahina. :( There’s no sign of them among those acryllic sprite stands... and even friggin Kurokuma and Shirokuma got swimsuit sprites! So I feel pretty confident that they’re not DRS. I was really hoping for some family bonding scenes with Chihiro/Taichi and Aoi/Yuta, but alas... that seems highly unlikely.

- That new Famitsu interview that @kaibutsushidousha translated is so full of juicy deets! For starters, all my questions about the weird assortment of characters on the cover art have now been answered; the design was largely left to Rui Komatsuzaki’s whims. And why the discprencies between the title screen swimsuits and the in-game sprite swimsuits? Again, because of Komatsuzaki’s whims. ................ In fact, I’m just going to use that excuse for anything that ever seems inconsistent or strange in this game. Whatever it is, Komatsuzaki probably did it. :P 

- The director of the game is Shun Sasaki. He previously directed V3 as well. He was also credited as the Game Planner / Game System Designer for DR2 (whatever that means?) and supposedly created Island Mode for that game, plus he was Design Director on Ultra Despair Girls and the Production Director on Zanki Zero. So that’s cool.

- So the “S” stands for “Special.” Huh. “Danganronpa Special.” That definitely conveys how this feels like the beach episode OVA. 

- As we suspected, the entire board game is now confirmed to take place on Jabberwock Island... or rather, all six islands that make up what we called “Jabberwock Island” in DR2. So it looks like we’ll be seeing parts of the island chain that we’ve never seen before, like the Beach House in the below screen.

- The replacement for the Despair Dungeon game seems to be the Tower of Despair, which is 200 goddamn floors. Even reaching the ultimate final boss in Despair Dungeon only took 100 floors... and hell, you technically “beat the game” in half that time on just level 50! It also appears that some of the Tower of Despair’s areas might look like the outdoors because... just look at the below screenshot. Either there’s some combat outside of the tower (like the tests at the end of each year in Ultimate Talent Development program), or some of the tower is fake-outside. And y’know, I seem to recall there were some levels deep within the Despair Dungeon that appeared to be “outside,” too. I think there was a Fake Beach area, if I remember correctly. 

- Hey, the writers who did the FTEs for V3 are also writing all the new stuff in this game! Neat! So maybe it doesn’t have Kodaka overseeing everything, but it does have established writers from the series. Besides, Kodaka was always credited for scripting the “main scenario” of each title, but it seems like he farmed out everything else. So this is natural. 

- Does Shun Sasaki really believe that Ultra Despair Girls’ “delicate themes” might get it blocked from releasing onto the Switch? Is that some kind of joke? I don’t think he knows just how UTTERLY FUCKED UP some of the games available on the Switch are. I played WILL: A Wonderful World last month, and I honestly don’t even want to type some of the horrific shit that happened in that fucking game. They’re definitely not going to stop you. So yeah, DO IT.

- Even though Sasaki refused to comment on the possibility of a fourth mainline Danganronpa game, I can’t help but latch on to the final line of the interview. “Look forward to more Danganronpa in the future.” I damn sure will.

Press: A Thorough Breakdown of All the Marvel Easter Eggs on WandaVision

  Marvel Easter Eggs in WandaVision Episode 1

When Wanda accidentally smashes a plate into Vision’s head, he jokes about his wife and her “flying saucers,” and she comments back about his “indestructible head.” Considering that Vision died after having the Mind Stone ripped from his head, it’s a dark joke to kick off the series.

Vision’s work tie has a visual reference to his comic-book alter ego! In Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s Vision, whenever the character dresses as a human, he wears a tie clip that emulates the diamond pattern on his chest.

Vision’s boss, Mr. Hart, is likely named after comic creator Steve Englehart, who created 1985’s The Vision and the Scarlet Witch with Richard Howell, a miniseries that heavily influenced WandaVision.

It’s been heavily implied that Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes is the MCU’s Agatha Harkness, a witch who helped train Wanda’s magic back in the ’70s and ’80s.

When Wanda magically saves dinner, the bottle of wine she pours from is Maison du Mépris, which translates to house of contempt or scorn. As fans have pointed out since the trailer drop, this seems like a reference to the House of M comics storyline in which Wanda bends reality into a new world ruled by her family.

The Stark commercial break refers to two things: Avengers icon Tony Stark and his part in Wanda’s dark past. As Wanda and her twin brother, Pietro, explain in Avengers: Age of Ultron, their parents were killed by an explosive Stark Industries device, leaving the twins trapped under rubble. The Maximoffs were trapped by a Stark Industries shell for two days, expecting it to detonate before they get rescued. Even though Wanda eventually fights beside Tony in the future, there’s still some trauma from that experience and her brother’s death. If it weren’t for the Starks, Wanda could have been a completely different person.

The episode closes with a mysterious observer watching the “show” and taking notes on a pad with the logo of S.W.O.R.D. on the cover. For those who don’t know, S.W.O.R.D stands for Sentient World Observation and Response Department and is a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s a counterterrorism and intelligence agency that deals with extraterrestrial threats to world security. Expect to see them around more.

Marvel Easter Eggs in WandaVision Episode 2

The opening credits for this episode aren’t just an adorable homage to Bewitched but a whole bevy of Marvel Easter eggs! The illustration of the moon happens to be surrounded by six stars, and we can’t help but be reminded of the Infinity Gauntlet.

When Wanda goes to the supermarket in the opening, three references hang above the aisle! Bova Milk refers to Bova, the humanoid cow who raised Wanda and Pietro on Mount Wundagore. Auntie A’s kitty litter is a witchy reference to Auntie Agatha or Agatha Harkness, whom we’ve discussed before, and her cat-like familiar named Ebony. And Wonder Mints is most definitely a cheeky reference to Wonder Man, aka Simon Williams, the superhero who Vision’s brain is based on in the comics!

When animated Wanda and Vision settle on their couch, the small figure on their side table is a statue of the Whizzer. Featured in 1982’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch, the Whizzer thought he was Wanda’s father but later discovers he was wrong. Whizzer and his wife were offered the chance to adopt Wanda and Pietro when they were kids on the mythical Mount Wundagore, but they declined.

When Wanda hears a crash outside the house, she heads out to the front, where she finds a colorful toy helicopter in an otherwise black-and-white world. Not only does the red-and-yellow helicopter have the number 57 stamped on it, but it also bears the S.W.O.R.D symbol! The number is likely in reference to Vision’s first appearance in Avengers #57, while the symbol hints to the presence of S.W.O.R.D outside Wanda’s perfect world.

The creepy, cult-like refrain spoken by the fundraiser organizers of it all being “for the children” seems to be a reference to Wanda’s involvement in the comic event The Children’s Crusade. The story follows her son, Billy, who’s trying to gain control over his reality-warping abilities by looking for a missing Wanda.

Well, here’s another blast from the angsty past! The Strücker timepiece is a very obvious callback to Hydra and Baron von Strücker. The watch bears the unmistakable octopus skull symbol of Hydra, and Strücker is the Hydra leader who recruited Pietro and Wanda for the experimentation that gave them powers. He was later killed by Ultron in his prison cell. Does anyone else hear that ticking noise?

Remember good ol’ Herb? In the comics, a character named Herbert is also the High Evolutionary who runs Mount Wundagore, the very same safe haven where Bova delivered the Maximoff twins. Time will tell if the super-scientist is the same character, but it can’t be a coincidence.

Wanda and Vision’s magic show has two gems that we’ve noticed! First thing, the literal Mind Stone happens to be the design on the doors of the Cabinet of Mystery that plays a huge part in their act. Second, Wanda and Vision use the names Illusion and Glamour for their actor, which are also the names of the magicians that Vision goes to see in an issue of The Vision and the Scarlet Witch.

Though we all enjoy a good jam, The Beach Boys’ “Help Me, Rhonda” gets interrupted by someone asking, “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” And doesn’t that voice sound an awful lot like Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo?

While it may seem weird that Wanda shows her pregnancy in an instant, it’s in line with what goes on in the comics. Wanda uses magic to help her have children, which checks out since her husband is a synthezoid.

Oooh, that mysterious beekeeper! Not only does their presence lead to the reveal that Wanda has some control over the reality they’re in, but it also sets off some alarm bells. Even though the beekeeper’s suit bears the S.W.O.R.D logo on the back, the costume is reminiscent of the yellow costumes worn by A.I.M., a military science organization founded by Baron von Strücker. Could this be a sign that Wanda is being watched by more than one organization? And is this a hint that Hydra is back!? (Obviously, it is.)

Source: POPSUGAR

Press: A Thorough Breakdown of All the Marvel Easter Eggs on WandaVision was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

Moon’s Tycho crater revealed in intricate detail The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) have released a new high-resolution image of the Moon, the highest-ever taken from the ground using new radar technology on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The resolution of the new Tycho Crater image is close to five meters by five meters and contains approximately 1.4 billion pixels. The image covers an area of 200km by 175km, ensuring that involved scientists and engineers captured the entire crater, which measures 86km in diameter. “This is the largest synthetic aperture radar image we have produced to date with the help of our partners at Raytheon,” said Dr. Tony Beasley, Director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and vice president for Radio Astronomy at Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI). “While more work lies ahead to improve these images, we’re excited to share this incredible image with the public, and look forward to sharing more images from this project in the near future.” The GBT— the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope—was outfitted in late 2020 with new technology developed by Raytheon Intelligence & Space and GBO, allowing it to transmit a radar signal into space. Using the GBT and antennas from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), several tests have been conducted since that time, focusing on the surface of the Moon, including the Tycho Crater and NASA Apollo landing sites. How is this low-powered radar signal translated into images we can see? “It's done with a process called Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR,” explained Galen Watts, a GBO engineer. “As each pulse is transmitted by the GBT, it’s reflected off the target, the surface of the moon in this case, and it’s received and stored. The stored pulses are compared to each other and analyzed to produce an image. The transmitter, the target, and the receivers are all constantly moving as we move through space. While you might think this could make producing an image more difficult, it actually yields more important data.” This movement causes slight differences from radar pulse to pulse. These differences are examined and used to compute an image resolution higher than what is possible with stationary observations, as well as to increase the resolution of the distance to the target, how fast the target is moving toward or away from the receiver, and how the target is moving across the field of view. “Radar data like this has never been recorded before at this distance or resolution,” said Watts. “This has been done before at distances of a few hundred km, but not on the hundreds of thousands of kilometers scales of this project, and not with the high resolutions of a meter or so at these distances. It all takes a lot of computing hours. Ten or so years ago it would have taken months of computing to get one of the images from one receiver, and maybe a year or more from more than one." These promising early results have garnered support for the project from the scientific community and in late September the collaboration received $4.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation for designing ways the project could be extended (Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 design award AST-2131866). “After those designs, if we can attract full funding support, we will be able to build a system hundreds of times more powerful than the current one and use it to explore the Solar System,” said Beasley. “Such a new system would open a window into the Universe, allowing us to see our neighboring planets and celestial objects in a whole new way.” West Virginia has a long history of facilities that have made significant contributions to expanding our scientific knowledge of the Universe. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III shared, “The new images and details of the Tycho Crater on the Moon found using radar technology on the Green Bank Telescope show that incredible advances in science are being made right here in West Virginia. For more than two decades, the GBT has helped researchers explore and better understand the Universe. Through my seat on the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, I have been strongly supportive of these technological advances at GBT, which will now allow the GBT to transmit radar signals to space and ensure its critical role in astronomy research for years to come. I look forward to seeing more incredible images and future discoveries of our Solar System, and I will continue to work with the National Science Foundation to advocate for funding to support projects at the Green Bank Observatory. This technology has been years in the making, part of a cooperative research and development agreement between NRAO, GBO, and RI&S. A future high-power radar system combined with the sky coverage of the GBT will image objects in the Solar System with unprecedented detail and sensitivity. Expect more exciting images to come this fall, as processing these early data with tens of billions of pixels of information is worth the wait. IMAGE....Partially processed view of the Tycho Crater at a resolution of nearly five meters by five meters and containing approximately 1.4 billion pixels, taken during a radar project by Green Bank Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space using the Green Bank Telescope and antennas in the Very Long Baseline Array. This image covers an area 200km by 175km, which is large enough to contain the 86km-diameter Tycho Crater. CREDIT NRAO/GBO/Raytheon/NSF/AUI

Glass Day 2020: Broken Glass-tys

Woot glass day! Dragging Castys out again for this cuz he’s fun to hurt. This is set very early in his time at the lab which is one of my favorite settings for whump :D!

Castys Masterlist

Ingredients:  glass in wounds, mild gore, slight dehumanization, needles, poison, muzzle

It took seventeen days for them to get tired of him talking. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. They seemed to have grown tired of it almost immediately, but up until now they’d just gag him whenever he got to be too much. Alas, Castys woke up from the morning’s round of organ harvests with something tightly covering the lower half of his face and a metal bit forced between his teeth, an unwelcome addition to the myriad of straps securing him to the table. He’d have loved to reach up and check what it was and also take it the fuck off, but today’s Hell Time was far from over so his wrists wouldn’t be free anytime soon. 

“What’s on the agenda for Subject 000001 today?” One of the workers asked as he checked Castys’s vitals, making sure he’d completely come back to life. Ugh, this stupid thing made it impossible for Castys to even make weird faces at the guy. 

“We’re starting foreign object healing tests on this one since the other test group is starting with it as well, and we’d like to compare the results...” Ooh, how well Castys could heal foreign objects with his special immortal boy powers! No, that probably wasn’t it at all. It was probably something horribly painfully terrible. Maybe if he’d listen to what the white coats were prattling on about he would know, but they were boring and used too much jargon. You’d think listening to people talk about how they were going to cut you up would be remotely interesting, but it really wasn’t. At least not the way they talked about it.

So it was a surprise but also not when they began making a series of cuts along his arm with their sharp little knives. You know, he had to give them credit for that. Most people who cut him didn’t have weapons that were quite as sharp, and dull blades hurt so much more. But most people who cut him didn’t start shoving sharp little whatever-the-hell chunks into his wounds seriously what are those fucks doing. Upon looking down, Castys discovered that, ah, they were shoving broken glass into his arm, how lovely. Double the pain of any injury by just shoving glass into it! And call it science!

Some of the wounds they stitched up for some reason, trapping the glass shards inside him, and some they just left open with the jagged little presents sticking out. Castys realized what they were actually up to the moment the needle entered his other arm, injecting the familiar poison into his veins. Very...mean of you, he thought as he sunk into the poison’s deadly embrace.

Came back to life and yup, his stupid flesh had healed around the glass. The pieces that hadn’t been sewn in had popped out, but the stitches had kept the rest of the glass in his arm. The thread of the stitches was still in his arm as well, now just useless embroidery over unbroken flesh. And, hopefully but also not hopefully, that thread and glass would have to come out. An unfun process, but one Castys would rather happen than being condemned to Glass In Your Arm.

“Subject 000001, flex your hand.” Okay, as much as he hated responding to that, this was his favorite command they gave him. Express permission to make rude hand gestures! They’d started giving him that command more often recently, probably since it was the only one he’d actually do every time without any, ah, persuasion. He winced a bit as he did it, the movement of his muscles against the glass in his arm a brand new kind of ouch. Was that what they were looking for? Who knows. No matter what happened they always wrote it down, which was the science part of the whole thing, he supposed. 

The other science part was Doing The Same Thing Again But Stepping It The Fuck Up A Notch, which this time translated to a stupid large shard of glass. This time they made an incision in his abdomen and shoved it in at an angle, causing Castys to clench his teeth tightly around the metal bit. God, even biting it hurt, as if the whole situation couldn’t get any worse. He could feel the glass sliding deeper into him, like...no, this wasn’t like anything he had ever felt before. Even when the glass was completely inside him they kept pushing it, further and further from the incision. After it had been shoved in a ridiculous distance they stopped and injected him with the poison once again.

He came back to a sharp, stinging pain. The glass was still inside him, wasn’t it? And oh boy, they were poking at the unnatural lump in his stomach where it still resided, taking notes all the while. The most refined of methods to be sure. And once again Castys found himself thinking ah, surely this is the worst it can get yes this will be today’s peak Horrible only to be absolutely proven wrong. Because next they brought out some nice, long needles. He was not a fan of needles not that anyone really was. At least hopefully no one was, could you imagine liking-

Intense, sharp pinching sensations lit up his arm. For added fun, they pressed down on some of the needles once they were fully inserted into his flesh. He felt a little snap along with even more little pinpricks of pain. The needles were also made of glass, fantastic. Who even came up with this stuff? Who woke up and decided, yeah, let’s shove little glass needles into Cast-sorry, Subject 000001’s arm and break them, filling his arm with horrible little splinters that-oh god they’re going to have to be dug out too I fucking hate it here. Another injection, another death, another instance of coming back to find that there was still glass inside him. Most of the needles that hadn’t been broken had popped out when he regenerated, but some were stuck inside him at weird angles along with the broken ones.

“Let’s clean up and break for lunch.” Castys had been tuning out most of their conversation, but those blessed words caught his attention. This weird glass bullshit was finally over! At least for now, because he could totally see them repeating the exact same thing again for posterity or whatever. Hopefully they would at least take this stupid thing off his face now that they were done. But when they didn’t put down their knives, Castys remembered that in fact there was something terrible that still had to happen before they were really done.

 Yup, he was right, this was absolutely the worst part. They sliced him open all over again and started to dig the pieces of glass out, but glass is slippery, especially when coated in blood. Even with rubber-tipped tweezers, it took them a few tries to grab some of the shards, pushing them deeper into his flesh in the process. Castys’s arm tensed in pain a few times while they did this, sometimes helping to push the glass out, and sometimes only making things worse. But could they be bothered to fish around for the little pieces of the broken glass needles? No, no they could not be. Their method of extracting it was both efficient and also incredibly painful, which was very on brand for this place.

Castys screwed his eyes shut as they sliced off strips of his arm. He wasn’t sure if it hurt more or less than them digging around with tweezers, but it wasn’t like he needed to pick what was worse. Just designate this whole experience as absolutely agonizing, please don’t repeat it, I’d like to get the fuck out of here, holy god just STOP- well, hey, they stopped. And after cleaning their tools, they started to leave, which was incredibly rude. Castys pounded on the table as much as he could with his wrists restrained, because, hello guys, I’m still fucking bleeding all over the place get the hell over here and kill me so I don’t have to lie here in pain until- and they’re gone. Great. Welcome to lying on a table with your arms and stomach sliced up for however long and thinking about how it sucks but somehow what comes after is going to somehow be so much worse so you should just enjoy it hour! And he couldn’t even talk to himself since they still hadn’t taken that stupid thing off his face.

And they wouldn’t anytime soon.

Castys gang tags: @as-a-matter-of-whump @thehopelessopus @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi

Kei Fujiwara’s name is hardly recognizable to most fans of Japanese cinema despite her crucial role in director Shinya Tsukamoto’s early cult classics. As Tsukamoto’s “right hand” woman in the 1980s, Fujiwara became closely involved in his underground theater troupe, Kaijyu Theater, and contributed to the productions of the experimental and DIY films The Phantom of Regular Size (1986), The Adventures of Denchu Kozo (1987), and Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989). Her credits include actress, cinematographer, prop artist, makeup artist, and set-designer (her apartment was used as a primary set). She also engineered Tetsuo’s iconic phallic drill.

Born in Kumamoto in 1957, Fujiwara moved to Tokyo in her early twenties and discovered theater troupe director Jūrō Kara, who became her mentor. After a decade, she created her own troupe called Organ Vital, which underwent a series of evolutions but remains her life work. Her new project this year is Ibunkitan, a form of micro-nomadic theater, whose kanji characters mean “strange-listen-machine-story.” A private person now living in the reclusive mountains of Nagano, Fujiwara rarely gives interviews, but seemed excited to talk about her rarely discussed directorial debut, Organ (1996).

An avant-garde exploration of violence, pain and pleasure with an operatic amount of coagulated blood and extrasomatic body horror, Organ follows two detectives after they break into an organ harvester’s warehouse and collide with yakuza gangsters, a drugged doctor, and his eye-patch wearing sister Yoko, played by Fujiwara herself, who also produced and wrote the film. A cherished work among hardcore fans of Japanese cult cinema, Organ is still ripe for rediscovery. The film’s offerings of a full-bodied sensorial experience and an abusive questioning of cruelty prove tirelessly relevant.

Fujiwara’s work was recently revived at FFFest in New York City with a double feature of Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Organ. Fujiwara prepared a special statement that was shared as an introduction. Following the screening, we had the opportunity to speak to the artist about her life, practice, and ideals in more depth. The conversation was held over the phone in Japanese.

NOTEBOOK: Is Ibunkitan a new Organ Vital?

KEI FUJIWARA: Yes, it’s a new Organ Vital. When I was young, I lived in the rural area. I always just read theater but never had the opportunity to see state-of-the-art theater. When I was in high school, I was always reading, and I picked up an Antonin Artaud book that featured this French term. It meant the vessels of life. When translated to English, I’m told it just becomes, “vitals of organ,” or something, but in Japanese it is called gozōroppu and to me signifies the corporal. That’s the name of my theater company, and it has always been that for me. Born into this three-dimensional world with bodies, we sense and express. That’s what’s interesting in life. Ibunkitan can be done in a very small space. We’ve done it in temples, in the corner of a shop, in salons. Our first performance was in March, and we’re planning to do another in November. We've been invited to perform my new Jomon-inspired piece in a live-house in the mountains in Nagano, so we’re preparing some woodwork for that now.

NOTEBOOK: You were working in Shinya Tsukamoto’s Kaijyu Theater production between working with Jūrō Kara?

FUJIWARA: Jūrō Kara, my mentor—when I was in Jōkyō Gekijo [Situation Theatre], he took a liking to me and wrote roles for me. A lot happened, and Kara said he would make a new troupe with me, but I had other plans, so I left once, and he said, “As my mentee, you can leave but wait for me to come get you.” That’s when I went to work with Shinya Tsukamoto on his plays and films. It was after Tetsuo: The Iron Man [1989] that Kara started the new troupe “Kara-gumi” and I returned to work with him.

NOTEBOOK: How was it that you began working with Tsukamoto?

FUJIWARA: I had just left Kara and after a while a friend said that Tsukamoto was looking for someone to act in his plays. He was Tsukamoto’s classmate and an actor, and he made the introduction. I found Tsukamoto interesting and talented. So, I began working diligently as his right hand after that.

NOTEBOOK: I wanted to ask you about Tsukamoto’s 1987 film, The Adventures of Denchu Kozo.

FUJIWARA: Denchu Kozo and Tetsuo were actually both shot in my apartment where I was living at the time. You know all those cats? I couldn’t rent a normal apartment, so I had to live in a cheap nagaya tenement house on the verge of getting demolished. I just needed a place to live that permitted pets. Denchu Kozo and Tetsuo’s interior shots are all at my place.

NOTEBOOK: Are the scenes projected in the TV monitor in Tetsuo from Denchu Kozo?

FUJIWARA: Yes. They’re from Denchu Kozo.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: What turned you onto making Organ, if you were always only interested in theater?

FUJIWARA: That was because of my experience filmmaking with Tsukamoto. It prepared me for how arduous it would be. Theater is an impermanent art, and that’s why it’s such a luxurious art form. But film is like capturing a world in a crystal ball. The joy of creating film is like making your own universe. My staff members at the time— six men other than myself—were all talented, and I thought, “Everyone’s here, why don’t I just make it?” So, all the staff also became the actors, and that’s how we started filming. But it was so difficult at first. We used the atelier space we had and reformed it over and over and shot it like that. It was time-consuming. It became the warehouse set, the school set. It kept on transforming. We did it all in the same space.

NOTEBOOK: That seems like a very theatrical way of using space.

FUJIWARA: Yes.

NOTEBOOK: But first, you started writing it?

FUJIWARA: Yes, I first started writing it. I’m actually not very good at planning. I just think that if I put my mind to it, I can make it happen. So I wrote the script, and had the staff pool in their savings. Between the seven of us we had 200,000 yen, so I thought, “Great, if we have 200,000 yen and one reel of film is 5,000 yen, and even if we bought lights, we can make 30 minutes of footage.” As for the equipment, there are countless aspiring-filmmaker boys who have camera equipment lying around collecting dust, so we borrowed from them. As for the set, we were all used to making it for our theater. We were good at foraging free stuff to make things. That warehouse set in the beginning of Organ was made with an extremely cheap budget. Then we started filming. All those organs in that scene were worked from what was supposed to be our dinner for the day [laughs]. We used real food. We took some gelatin- and konjac-noodles and thought, “This can look like veins!”

NOTEBOOK: And then you had it for dinner?

FUJIWARA: Well, we ended up not being able to, because it was covered in fake blood! It was all about how little money we could spend and still make something, which was a valuable lesson for me.

NOTEBOOK: You’ve mentioned the Kenji Miyazawa poem, Ame ni mo makezu1.

FUJIWARA: Yes, I just really like Kenji Miyazawa. I like the way he thinks, and his philosophy. He’s a Buddhist, and as I haven’t studied Buddhism properly, I cannot say for sure, but I think his seimeikan, or view of life, is on par with that of Osamu Tezuka. Osamu Tezuka and Kenji Miyazawa are two gods with the same perspective regarding seimeikan. No matter how great their art is, Yoshihide Otomo and Hayao Miyazaki can never reach Osamu’s level. Osamu’s core is love. There’s only love. The way they think about life is totally different. I was reading manga before I was literate [laughs]. I like Osamu Tezuka, but also Sanpei Shirato. And in my teens, I liked Daijiro Morohoshi. He’s an extremely interesting person.

NOTEBOOK: Do you think that your films need to be discovered?

FUJIWARA: They need to lock in perfectly with someone’s desire to watch it, or else watching it has no meaning. It just appears as a confusing, grotesque film.

NOTEBOOK: Please tell us about your make up and special effects.

FUJIWARA: Since Tetsuo, my method is always the same. I don’t have any background knowledge of special effect makeup. I just have a gut feeling of what can and can’t be used. Tsukamoto had these drawing storyboards for Tetsuo, like the steel body and the drill penis. For the latter, Tsukamoto just wanted to make something simple and said it would be enough if we could just pretend like it was moving, but I thought it would only be interesting if it actually moved. I didn’t have any hi-tech skills, so I thought, “That’s it!” I took the nearest working electric fan, dissembled it down to its core, used all the rubber and tape I had at home, sprayed it up and got it to go, vroom [laughs]! It was the same for Organ. I used household products, mostly kitchenware.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: What about your cinematography?

FUJIWARA: I had no background knowledge. The first time I started shooting was on Tsukamoto’s set. A lot of people who graduated film school and wanted to help were there, but Tsukamoto didn’t trust any of them. Just because you have technique doesn’t mean you can shoot well. He thought that the person wielding the camera needs a certain amount of power, of energy. So I, who had never touched a camera in my life, was given the camera and told where to press to get it rolling, and shot all of the scenes Tsukamoto was in.

NOTEBOOK: Do you still shoot with a camera lately?

FUJIWARA: Rarely.

NOTEBOOK: As the occasion for this screening was FFFest, Female Filmmakers Festival, could you comment about your experience as a female filmmaker?

FUJIWARA: Something men don’t have—there are two types: female filmmakers who focus their perspective on their immediate surroundings and daily lives, and those who focus on creating a worldview from the even more intimate bodily perspective. That’s what’s a little different from male filmmakers. Even in theater, most female directors write familial narratives, although I don’t [laughs].

NOTEBOOK: The podcast Ladies Horror Night, on the occasion of this screening, recorded an episode that raised the question of why you, a female filmmaker, didn’t include more female characters. I’m not sure about this pressure for female filmmakers to represent female subjects, as I think there’s power in the female filmmaker re-writing the male-centric story. Can you speak on this and how you came to write the police story in Organ?

FUJIWARA: When I think about seimeikan—our view of life—it appears to me that the moral judgment of good versus bad is not something universal, but just a rule that protects our lifestyle in society. It’s a regulation. We make regulations to protect ourselves. That takes the form of “good” and “evil.” But that’s not the good and evil that holds ground in nature. Animals kill other animals for their own predation, right? Humans, too, in the context of war, can kill other humans and become heroes. The concept of zen-aku, or the notion of good and evil, is just a societal regulation. The police represent upholders of this regulation. And then there are those who defy this regulation, who lie in a realm completely different from this conventional morality. Organ is a clash between these two groups. That’s how I formed the police narrative. As for why there are few female characters, well… In the case of females, expressing them requires—for many, not all—a focus on the micro world, the micro perspective, that is, if you pay attention to their priorities. In other words, if you have a goal and you want to finish something, but she says she needs to take a bath at this certain time and cannot participate, there’s nothing you can do. In my theater, only men can keep up with me. Because of this standpoint, if a woman were to express a woman, she would need to create a micro world. But when describing a police story, a macro worldview, the direction would lose focus.

NOTEBOOK: It would become more internal?

FUJIWARA: Right. That’s why there aren’t as many female characters. But the wife of Numata represents the reality for women. And also the female teacher who approaches the criminal but gets killed. Woman participated in this way. But it’s hard for them to take leading parts for the narrative. It’s hard to let them be there and have their perspective be represented, because their perspective is in a different dimension.

NOTEBOOK: What about the character you play, Yoko?

FUJIWARA: Yoko is outside of that realm. She’s an outlier. She doesn’t represent family or the household or the joy of daily life, because she didn’t enjoy any of those things. That’s why she can exist there.

NOTEBOOK: How did you direct your actors in Organ, was it different from how you usually direct them in theater?

FUJIWARA: It’s the same. The only direction I gave them in Organ was that they only get one shot. I don’t give actors multiple takes. If there’s a camera or equipment problem that requires another take or two, I’ll do it. But I won’t do it for the actor. The actor has one chance, the take. But, on the offhand that the actor makes a mistake and requires a take two, I tell them they need to buy their own film roll. That was the rule. So, no one ever made a single mistake. They were all dead serious, completely focused. They’re all broke and have no money to buy film.

NOTEBOOK: In that sense it’s theatrical.

FUJIWARA: Right, and I had one actress tell me that that it was brilliant. She said, “I do lots of work for TV and film, but everyone is so lukewarm and they do take after take, and think about it so leniently. But there’s none of that here. The one take is the real thing.”

NOTEBOOK: So, that urgency was good for the actors?

FUJIWARA: Right. They said they couldn’t afford to buy their own film.

NOTEBOOK: If you give theater actors the same direction for film, how does that work? The performances in Organ don’t come off as exaggerated; I doubt a viewer without knowing would assume they are all theater actors.

FUJIWARA: There’s no difference. In theater, my scripts are like music scores. The lines come out and dance, modulate, sing, calling on the innate sensation playing the instrument that is yourself on stage. The actor, with this music-score-as-script, has a multitude of possibilities of how to play it. In film, the scripted character is a part of the environment. They are simply material for the scene. I didn’t need to explain this to them, they naturally just became materials for the scene.

Above: Organ

NOTEBOOK: That’s a good transition into my next question: can you talk about your music and sound design direction?

FUJIWARA: Music is difficult. What I say doesn’t get across, because I was working with new people. They hadn’t even seen any of my theater. I like German bands, something strong and hard. But even if they mimic the Germans, the Japanese can’t avoid making music that doesn’t sound soft and weak. One day I said, “Make it more powerful, something that alludes to the power of nature, more animalistic and sturdily-built,” and they said, “Okay.” The demo they brought to me literally had animal sounds, like elephants wailing and dogs barking, and I was like, “…That’s not what I meant” [laughs]. It didn’t get across. But there were some interesting sound bites that I could use. But Japanese band musicians can’t get over their own softness. I think what they have is different.

NOTEBOOK: So you’re not happy with the results?

FUJIWARA: Well, I’m the type of person that thinks, que sera, sera. So I wasn’t satisfied, but…

NOTEBOOK: You’ve mentioned that you a very easily scared person. But in Tetsuo and Organ, your characters say, “I won’t be afraid.” How do you interpret this difference?

FUJIWARA: When I came to Tokyo in my twenties, the first theater directors I met said they’d never met anyone as weak and sensitive as myself. They didn’t think I could live on a few years longer, much less do theater, and that I might find myself drugged up in a brothel in the near future. Kara was the only person that ever said to me that I was the strongest person he’d met. In other words, the fear and strength that I have appears to others as a weakness that can barely withstand life, but it’s just my highly sensitive nature they see. In actuality, I’m very strong. I feel very easily, so that seems weak, but my capacity for empathy is just very large. I feel others’ pain and sadness so strongly that I throw up thinking about them. That’s why I don’t watch TV or read the newspaper. Or else I would be crying all day [laughs].

NOTEBOOK: Watching Organ feels like you’re making the audience feel this extreme pain you describe.

FUJIWARA: Yes, that’s the result of the film. My second film, ID [2005], is even more so.

NOTEBOOK: In addition to fear and pain, pleasure is another large theme. After the screening, someone told me your film was grotesque but something about it was so pleasurable. How do you maintain that balance?

FUJIWARA: I think humans, in order to live, can’t cut those away from existence. If you deny desire, you’re not human. The existence of such things causes our misery, too. Thus, desire and slaughter are inescapable. My fear and sorrow regarding this, and my questioning what are they anyway. That’s what I wanted to portray.

NOTEBOOK: What’s interesting about your portrayal of violence is that Yoko uses the gun as a weapon but doesn’t shoot from it. The one time she tries to shoot at her father, it wasn’t loaded. She mostly hits with it.

FUJIWARA: When I act a role, it needs to be real for me to imagine it. I can’t shoot a gun just like that. I need to feel it. Whenever I do something I feel a corporal build-up that can’t just be released by shooting away.

NOTEBOOK: Shooting it would be too easy?

FUJIWARA: An action needs to be taken. The body and the heart are connected. It’s not that easy.

NOTEBOOK: What was the biggest challenge in shooting Organ?

FUJIWARA: The most difficult challenge was the first scene, in the warehouse. When the doctor and yakuza fend off the police while trying to dissect the man. That shoot was in the middle of summer, but we had to close off the warehouse because it was a night scene. It was hot, smelly, only men, and everyone’s body odor was suffocating the room. That was really difficult. At the time there were seven of us, and now there are three of us, just Takahashi, Mori and I. In Organ, all the actors take on multiple roles. Whenever they weren’t onscreen they were doing lights or shooting. We shot it scene by scene in order. I remember towards the end of the film, during the scene in the tunnel, when my role Yoko comes in on a bike and there’s a fighting scene, we couldn’t get a permit to shoot. We were able to shoot outside the tunnel on the road but not inside. But I badly wanted to shoot inside so we went at midnight, and the characters got all bloody and we were shooting, and the police came. They thought it was a real yakuza fight and took off the safety on their pistols and were about to shoot at us. We thought we were done for. The character Yasuda, who later falls into the ditch and gets stabbed with a Japanese sword, was responsible for getting the permits and he had all the documents on him. So, he came out from the ditch all bloody and with a sword in him, screaming, “We’re shooting a film!” terrifying the police even more. While he was negotiating with them we finished shooting the scene. The police just told us to be safe and left, but it was all thanks to him for putting his life on the line. We really thought we were going to get shot. Usually film shoots have large crews and it’s obvious, but in our case, all the crew were also the actors, so it was hard to tell, and the lights were hidden.

NOTEBOOK: What about the camera?

FUJIWARA: Yes, but it was a small 16mm Scoopic, and the police were so focused on the bloody actors they didn’t notice it. The police were terrified, but it was a great location and I just needed to shoot there no matter what.

Yashahime Original Sountrack Translation

Yashahime Original Sountrack Translation Corrected

Pictures of the Soundtrack Booklet was provided to me by Jessica Rich. I typed this all by hand and made grammatical/name/localization corrections. I went to four different people for answers to ensure proper translation corrections: Ayuuria, Eerie, Juli and Kari.

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Yashahime Original Soundtrack Kaoru Wada: It has been 10 years since "Inuyasha: The Final Act" concluded with a grand finale.

Even before that and still today, there is an ongoing friendship among staffs and cast members, as well as the original author Rumiko Takahashi (we even went to a certain tropical Island together!). From this great teamwork the idea of a sequel to "Inuyasha" arose naturally, but I never thought it would become a reality...! I first hear about the project while attending Anime Boston held in the United States in 2018. Coincidentally, Michihiko Suwa, the producer of Yomiuri TV (at the time), Hideyuki Tomioka, the producer at Sunrise and the screenwriter Katsuyuki Sumisawa were also attending the conference, and we had a lot of fun talking about the project. "Wada-san, we are counting on you on the music!" - when I was offered the opportunity to work on this project, my imagination started to grow even before the story and characters were developed (laughs). Then the time passed, I heard that the production team led by Mr. Sumisawa was struggling to giving birth to the original story, but when Rumiko-sensei drew the characters of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha, the production made a huge progress all at once. In the spring of 2020, I received the specific script and synopsis, and the door of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, which inherited the DNA of "Inuyasha", opened in front of me. Main characters are the twin daughters of Sesshoumaru and the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome. Their births and backgrounds are veiled in mystery and they must follow a rather fateful path in the story. Inevitably, I had a feeling that the music will be quite important. Generally, when the animation is based on an existing story, there is already the original comics available when the animation is being developed. We created the anime around it, so we would have ideas of the world and how the story develops, but the animations with original stories do not, so I often wondered when I was creating the music inside my head. In the end, I asked a few questions to Mr. Sumisawa, and after repeated consultations, I was finally able to find the worldview. Definitely giving birth to the music was difficult as well, but as the new characters succeeding to "Inuyasha" were gradually being drawn up, the motivation to write music also increased. Musically speaking, in keeping the musical DNA of "Inuyasha". Japanese musical instruments such as shinobue, nohkan, shakuhachi, biwa, koto, and also ethnic instruments are incorporated into the orchestra. All of the songs are newly written and recorded, but the story required songs from "Inuyasha", as well, so I made some amendments to the original score and made new recordings of them. In terms of songs, unlike adventurous, action-packed tone of 'Half-Demon Inuyasha', I made the main theme 'Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon fateful and epic. It meant to hint the fate of Yashahime, and to present the meaning of the song which connects generations. Similar to "Inuyasha", there are many different characters in this story. The Yashahime - Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha have theme songs as well as Demon Slayer, Jyuubee, and Takechiyo (please refer to my comments to each song). In particular, the main theme and themes for Towa, Setsuna and Moroha are played by Japanese instruments, while the orchestra adding colors. Antagonists such as Kirinmaru, the Four Perils, Riku, and as the enigmatic Zero are also characterized their personalities through music. Since I recorded the songs during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recording procedure was different from my usual style. The total number of musicians performing in the orchestra, playing Japanese instruments, ethnic percussions, piano and synthesizers accumulated to 50, but if we were to record at the same time, the studio became too crowded, so we had to divide the recording session into four sections. This method is not unique, but personally I like this old-school method of in-one-take recording! As for the music menu, which are discussed in the interview with the director Teruo Sato and sound director Yasushi Nagura, the total number of songs became nearly 60 songs, and if you add different versions, the total number became 76 songs recorded for the first "Inuyasha" was about 40 songs, so it is almost twice as many songs! We wanted to bring you as many songs as possible, so this album consists of a main disc and a bonus disc. The main disc consists of the original pieces for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", while the bonus disc contains trailers and new recordings of the original "Inuyasha" pieces. We also designed the booklet rich in content. And as a special treat, the album cover was illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi! In order to make the best out of the illustration, we made the album into an LP jacket packaging, and I think you can even enjoy the art by displaying the album in your room. By the time this soundtrack album is released in March, the story has reached its climax, and we all have sweaty palms over what happens to Towa, Setsuna and Moroha. As the composer, I would be very happy if you can enjoy this album while remembering the story so far. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved in the music production of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", the successor to "Inuyasha", and especially Rumiko Takahashi who willingly illustrated the jacket artwork. Kaoru Wada

Teruo Sato (Director) X Yasushi Nagura (Sound Director) X Kaoru Wada (Composer) -First of all, please tell us how you all came to be involved in "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". SATO: I've joined the team through directing "Inuyasha", and I was asked by the producer to be a part of this anime. I worked on Inuyasha: The Final Act as an assistant director and was told "How about making a new series inheriting the worldview (of Inuyasha: The Final Act)?". I gladly accepted the offer. NAGURA: I was working as a recording engineer on Inuyasha. The cast and crew of "Inuyasha" got along very well and met regularly every year. We always talked about doing a story beyond "Inuyasha". I was a little surprised to be asked to be the sound director. Since the story was not for "Inuyasha" but for the next generation, I decided to accept the job. I probably wouldn't have accepted if it were "Inuyasha". But actually, when I was working for "Inuyasha" I was working not only as a recording engineer but also a curator of the music, around the time of "Band of Seven" series. In that sense, I was involved one step further from the recording in this series, so I was able to take it straightforwardly without much pressure. Although I was told that this anime is about the next generation, since the first episode was almost like "Inuyasha", I thought, "Shouldn't the sound director of the first episode be Youta Tsuruoka (who worked on "Inuyasha" and "Inuyasha: The Final act")? (laughs). SATO: Tsuruoka-san visited the recording session of the first episode (laughs). NAGURA: That's right. That's how we enjoy working on this anime as a team (laughs). WADA: Since "Inuyasha" had such as agreat teamwork, I was also able to continue my participation with my trusted friends. Michihiko Suwa (of ytv Nextry, who is working on "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as a planning collaborator) was the initiator of the idea, and I have heard about this anime from him at a very early stage. Initially it was called "Inuyasha 2", but after some twists and turns, the series became a new story that inherits the world of "Inuyasha".  Even so, many of the actors and staff continue to work on the series, so we feel the series is connected to "Inuyasha".

- This projected was made possible because the bond between the staff and cast of "Inuyasha" still existed. WADA: Yes, when the "Inuyasha" team gets together, staffs from Sunrise, the actors and staffs worked on the series, staffs from Shogakukan, and of course Rumiko Takahashi, the author of the original story are all present. That's why we are quick in many ways (laughs).

-What do you find attractive about "Inuyasha"? WADA: After all, I think Rumiko-sensei's original work is just wonderful. The character and worldview that Rumiko-sensei created, the beautiful ending of the story of "Inuyasha" have an incredible power. The inspiration from that was a huge part of the music as well. That's why making the music for an original series "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" was so difficult (laughs). SATO: The fact that you have to start from scratch is both fun and difficult, when it comes to creating an original series. I am completely relying on others (laughs). The worldview of "Inuyasha" is so special that when I was to direct the series, I said "If possible, I would like to ask the staffs who worked on "Inuyasha" on the design, music, and audiography. There are a lot of characters from "Inuyasha", and it takes time to tell new staffs about them from scratch...in order to eliminate the need for explanations, I wanted the same staff to join me as many as possible (laughs). But it seems that everyone had heard about it from some rumor in the wind and had been planning to do it, and they all came together when Suwa-san said, "let's do it." NAGURA: The characters in "Inuyasha" are very attractive, aren't they? Of course, they are very attractive on Rumiko-sensei's manga, and when the manga was made into an anime, the way the characters were directed, the way the actors put their voices on the characters, made them even more attractive. I believe that the charm of these characters is what makes "Inuyasha" work as an anime. And then there is the music by Wada-sensei. In a way, I think this is the strongest line-up. That's why I decided not to aim for "Inuyasha", when I was working for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". If I chase after it, I won't be able to catch up, so I decided to just do my best and have fun with the young actors. I mainly think about how to make the characters in "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" more attractive. WADA: After all, one of the biggest differences between "Inuyasha" and "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" is whether there is an original story or not. Whenever I work on a new piece, I try things around and always wonder if it's good enough or not. That's exactly what happened with "Inuyasha" when I first recorded it in 2000. As a result, we were able to create something that fit the series, but that was largely due to the fact that we had the original comics. This time, since there is no story to begin with, we don't know what will happen next, so we really feel like we are creating the world. It was quite afflicting and difficult. I actually had a lot of secrets meetings with Mr. Katsuyuki Sumisawa (chief writer), asking him for information about the characters and the story (laughs).

-How far as the scenario finished when you were writing the music for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon?" WADA: I've heard the rough idea of the overall direction, but it kept changing and changing, and I think I had the final draft up to episode 7 or 8. SATO: It was in the single digits. The cutting (editing) process was completed up to episode 3 or 4, and that is all the information we had to ask him to create the music. WADA: There are a lot of characters, and if you just read the summary, you wonder like "Why are these twin sisters separated from each other? Where are their parents? "Why is Moroha alone?" I'm sure the viewers watching the show feel the same way, but at first, I too had a lot of questions (laughs). I heard that there were weekly scenario meetings, and even some major changes and shifts were made. NAGURA: When we ask Wada-sensei to compose the music, I first make a list of songs and ask the director to review it. After receiving the approval from the director, we handed it over to Wada-sensei and held a meeting. This time, I remember trying so hard to gather information from the plot to create the list. I wasn't attending the scenario meeting so I was searching for any small information from what I had (laughs). WADA: This is big birthing pains, isn't it? In "Inuyasha", there were character themes for the unique characters such as Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo, so I wanted to keep that approach and made character themes for Towa, Setsuna, Moroha, and for other characters this time as well. But then I can't stop contacting Sumisawa-san again (laughs). SATO: That's how the number of meetings increased (laughs).

-So you asked Mr. Sumisawa directly "why does this character act this way?" and use that as a hint for writing the songs. WADA: Yes, also there was a part of me that wondered, "Where is this story going?". Although the music is not an answer to the story, but "Half-Demon Inuyasha", the main theme of "Inuyasha", is what we call swashbuckler-like music. But this time it's a little different. "What will happen to the three princesses in the future" was a major key to the motif of the songs, so in that sense I couldn't write without knowing the story.

-Based on Mr. Sumisawa's story, what was the motif in composing the main theme of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"? WADA: I can't tell you that at this stage because it would be a spoiler... (laughs). From now on, Towa and Setsuna will have a big mission and destiny waiting for them. That's what this song is about.

-I see NAGURA: By the way, the number of songs has increased quite a it since I initially asked Wada-sensei. That's because after Wada-sensei talked with Sumisawa-san, he came up with saying "Don't you think we need a song for this character?". But I thought "I'm sorry there are so many songs" even when I first handed the list (laughs). SATO: But it came back with even more songs (laughs). In the beginning we asked for 45 songs, which I think is still quite a lot for a 2-cour series. But then, the number of songs increased by 1.5 times. WADA: I don't often write many songs in other projects. I would rather say, "I want to cut down" (laughs). However, when I talked with Sumisawa-san and learned about the future storyline, I thought, "Right....We should make a song for this character...." (laughs). That's how we ended up with more. NAGURA: I will be grateful for the opportunity to use them. SATO: I want to use them to the full. -The film score of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon has an atmosphere that follows the worldview of "Inuyasha." Do you have a formula for music that is unique to "Inuyasha", such as "using this instrument will give it Inuyasha feel"? WADA: Since the story is set in the Sengoku period, the concept from the begining was to use a lot of Japanese traditional instruments. When you think of Japanese traditional instruments, you might think of traditional music like Noh or Kabuki, but that's not the case, I wanted to introduce them into the orchestra withot feeling uncomfortable. That worked so well in "Inuyasha" that I carried it over to "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as well. While "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as a work, is not a position to be called a sequel to "Inuyasha", but it is a sequel in terms of music. SATO: That's what I ordered, too. I wanted the atmosphere of "Inuyasha" for sure however, it is a new series so I want the music to evolve as well. WADA: By the way, 'Half-Demon Inuyasha', the main theme song of "Inuyasha", was played in the first episode, but that was the newly recorded 2020 version. NAGURA: 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' was initially written in 2001, so about 20 years have passed since then. That's why I was concerned that if I mixed the music of "Inuyasha" in it's original form, with the newly recorded music of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", they wouldn't fit in the same palette. So, I had an intention to ask to have the minimum number of songs necessary from "Inuyasha" re-recorded. SATO: When the first episode was aired, the fans responded, "It's from Inuyasha"! WADA: After all, I think fans were expecting it. The way Nagura-kun used the music was really superb. NAGURA: No, no, I had no choice but to put it on in that scene (laughs). WADA: The first episode was really a "then and there" story, just like a buffer from "Inuyasha" to "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". I think that 2020 version of 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' worked well to create a beautiful bridge.

-Earlier, Director Sato said that "I wanted the atmosphere of "Inuyasha" however, it is a new series so I want the music to evolve as well", Mr. Wada, how would you describe this "evolution"? WADA: My film score is basically orchestral, and I mix in various Japanese traditional instruments ad use special performing techniques to build up the worldview. It's the same method as last time, but the biggest part is to consider each character and directions they will take in the future. As in the case of "Inuyasha", there are many variations of one theme, and Nagura-kun chooses the music to suit the situation. I think it will change in the future, depending on the development of Towa and Setsuna's story, and the situation of Moroha.

-As the story unfolds, the way songs are heard is likely to change as well. When you write songs for each character, do you have a kind of main instrument for each character? WADA: Yes there is. It's just an image, but the main theme is basically biwa, shakuhachi and flute, just like in "Inuyasha". As for each piece, Towa is flute-based, Setsuna has koto, and Moroha has percussion and flute. Setsuna's song, Demon Slayer Setsuna, is kind of cool, kind of lyrical, like she's carrying something on her back. Moroha's song, Beniyasha Moroha, includes a djembe, an African drum, and various ethnic instruments. This was also the same in "Inuyasha", but I wanted to expand the sonic world a bit more by adding ethnic elements without focusing entirely on Japanese instruments. By the way, in the Inuyasha era. I also used the Chinese instrument erhu for Kikyou's theme. One more thing on the subject of composition, Moroha's theme is actually a variation of Kagome's theme. The image is that she inherited her mother's blood. I didn't include the theme of "Inuyasha" because no matter how I did it, people would know it is from "Inuyasha" (laughs).

-So there's a parent-child connection built into the music as well. By the way, what about Towa and Setsuna? WADA: As for Towa and Setsuna...It's a little difficult to inherit the motif of Sesshoumaru (laughs). SATO: Right, it could be a bit too stoical (laughs). WADA: I did not include it in Towa and Setsuna's themes because it was too much for the story to develop. Actually, Sumisawa-san once asked me if I could include the theme of Sesshoumaru somewher, but I said, "...I can't" (laughs).

-(laughs) Did Director Sato or Mr. Nagura give Mr. Wada any orders? NAGURA: No, what we have told Wada-sensei is basically just the original song list. This time, our request were quite rough. Not like "We are going to use the music in this particular scene, so please make the song in this direction", it was more like, for example if it was about the main theme, we would say, "this is the main theme" (laughs). Wada-sensei absorbed the concept around it, and we are grateful to use what he came up with. WADA: We can do that because of this team, and also because the story is inherited from "Inuyasha". NAGURA: In particular, for Towa's theme song, "Towa, the girl crossed time," I asked him to write about "The daughter who live in the present age, the puzzlement in the Sengoku period". I'm afraid I've left all the work to Wada-sensei...other than Towa's theme, I asked to write songs with concepts like "strong-willed, sense of justice, martial arts, fighting" and "determination, resolve, faith," so I had a certain image in mind to these songs. On the other hand, "the daughter who lived in the present age, the puzzlement in the Sengoku period"... (laughs). But I thought this would be the themes of Towa. It would be different if the song only reflected the puzzlement side. Wada-sensei was really good at handling this. SATO: In fact, this song helped us a lot. NAGURA: Yes it did. Especially in the beginning of the story, this song worked very effectively. WADA: I think that Towa is the closest to the viewer's point of view. In that sense, Towa's motif has the most arranged versions. I wanted to make them so that they could be used on various perspectives.

-Next, I'd like to talk about the recording process. I think the recording of this album took place during the coronavirus situation. Did you have any difficulties? WADA: The recording took place around the end of July. The orchestra consisted of about 50 people, 4 types of Japanese traditional instruments, ethnic instruments, and synths, as usual. I couldn't use the traditional recording method of "one take" because it would have been too dense for the Corona disaster. So we used the "section recording" method, where we recorded each section separately. The time required for the recording simply doubles, so it was a lot of work. There are more people doing it that way these days, though. But around April, when the state of emergency was declared, many studio musicians said they were too scared to go to the studio. If the session was in that time of year, I am sure I couldn't record such as a large group, no matter how much infection control measures I had taken. SATO: I believe it was about two months from commissioning the songs to the actual recording. I was wondering if you had enough time. WADA: I worked pretty hard (laughs). But for the main theme and themes of three girls, I was thinking about the motifs for a long time. What was difficult to see was how much music was needed for characters like Riku and Zero. Actually, at first, we were talking about writing songs for each of the Four Perils. But as more and more songs came out, we had to stop that.

-What did Mr. Sato and Mr. Nagura think when they listened to Mr. Wada's music? SATO: I was like, "This is Wada-san's songs!" (laughs). I felt so sure that the mixing process would be just fine. When the music was added to the first episode, it really created a worldview, and I felt the power of music after all. NAGURA: As soon as I heard the main theme, I thought, "We've won!" (laughs). In "Inuyasha" there is a big main theme called 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' which is still in everyone's ears, and this time we asked for a song corresponding to that song. Of course, works can never be compared in equal terms, but I was very relieved to have the song "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" which is very ear-catching. It's very helpful for me to be able to create a solid story flow of Yashahime.

-Is there anything you do to make Mr. Wada's music blend in with the dialogue and sound effects? NAGURA: I don't have to think too much. The sound engineer is Kenji Furukawa, who is also a member of the Inuyasha team, and he's done a very good job of making the scenes stand out. When you put the effects and music together as they are, they sound like they're coming out with a bang. There was no need for me to say, "I can't hear this part so let's do something about it." I'm very grateful for that.

-That's also where the teamwork comes into play. Now, please tell us about your favorite song in particular. SATO: For me, I have to say it is the main theme 'Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon'. As Mr. Nagura mentioned earlier, we asked Mr. Wada to "Write something equivalent to Inuyasha", which is quite an unreasonable request. The song 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' is so well known that it is still played on variety shows about the Sengoku period. But Wada-sensei did his best to respond to such a reckless order. As Nagura-san said, the biggest thing for me was that we felt "We could now express the world of "Yashahime: Princess Half Demon". Of course, I like all the other arrangements, but the fact that he was able to create that song made me realize the amazing talent of Wada-sensei once again. WADA: Thank you so much. From my point of view, all of the songs are my cute children, but if I had to pick one... surprisingly, it would be 'Setsuna's Lullaby' with Setsuna's violin. I still wonder, "Why the violin?" (laughs). I am sure there is a development to it, but I was surprised when I first heard it. SATO: It was quite a sudden order, "I want you to play the Demon Slayer song with the violin" (laughs). WADA: In episode 4 there is a scene where Setsuna was playing and there is also a reminiscing scene, so the song wouldn't work if it was edited, so I asked the director "how long are you going to use the song?" (laughs). SATO: We showed him the film in advance, and he made the song to fit to that scene. The writing process was similar to theatrical films. For this song, Nagura-san was concerned about whether it may give a different meaning. If you use it in various scenes and attach too much meaning to it, you won't be able to get rid of that image when you use it in a different development. He said, "I think only Sumisawa-san knows". NAGURA: Right, it's not just the scene where Setsuna plays the violin, but there is a part of the song where I want to put Setsuna's feelings on it. So I asked him, "You're not going to use it differently in the future, are you? Suddenly Moroha can play the violin too..." (laughs). SATO: I don't think so. (laughs). WADA: (Laughs). Setsuna can't sleep, but this song is actually Setsuna's lullaby. I play the piano myself. The scene where mama Moe played in episode 4. Personally, I hadn't played the piano for a long time, so it was quite a challenge. If you listen carefully, you'll hear that piano not so great but even though mama Moe is a world-class violinist, she's probably not that good at playing the piano (laughs). Because of these memories, 'this song is a bit memorable. NAGURA: I like all of them very much, but my personal favorite is 'Deathlight'. It's one of the songs used in  the battle scene, and it's in 6 beats instead of 4. I love how the increased 2 beats expresses the sense of fear and oppression. I'm tempted to use it in the beginning, but every time I do, I will try to hold back a bit. WADA: Battle music is the key to any action series, so it's quite a struggle to figure out what to do this time (laughs). But on the other hand, the most interesting songs to make are the battle songs. The pictures also move the most, so there is a synergistic effect that makes me feel good. As in the case of "Inuyasha", I've been trying to change things up a bit, by using not so ordinary beats, or by adding contemporary music-like elements. Even though it was difficult, I had fun creating battle music for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"

-So you express a sense of urgency in that aspect. WADA: That's right. For example, the theme of "Mission Impossible" is in 5 beats, and when you listen to that rhythm, you feel that it's a suspense story, right? By using such a sense of rhythm, not as it is, but with a slight twist, you evoke a sense of rhythm that is ingrained in your body. So, the composer has to come up with more ideas in that regard. SATO: Is that related to the fact that Wada-sensei is a disciple of Akira Ifukube (composer)? WADA: Ifukube-sensei also specializes in rhythm in many of his works. There are a lot of odd time signatures in his special effects works. Originally, I didn't have many 4-beat songs in my life's work, only odd time signatures. When you listen to it in loops, it doesn't sound so strange. It's just a lot of work to edit (laughs).

-Thank you very much. Lastly, please give us your comments to those who purchased the soundtrack. SATO: For "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", we have asked to write a lot of songs. I would like to feature as many songs as possible to the series, and at the same time, I would like people to listen to the soundtrack and immerse themselves in the world of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". In addition, I would be happy if you could listen to the soundtrack of "Inuyasha" and feel the "world of Wada-sensei's music". NAGURA: If you want to use music in an animation, you will have to edit the because of the time. Actually, every time I do it, I feel like, "Wada-sensei, I'm sorry, let me cut it off" (laughs). However, when the soundtrack arrives in your hands, you will be able to understand the songs in their original form and enjoy them as songs. I hope you will enjoy the album from a variety of perspectives, either as a companion piece to the series or as a separate piece of music by Wada-sensei. WADA: This time, there are quite a lot of songs, so the album is a gorgeous 2 CD set. In the modern age, digital distribution is the mainstream, but I think it would be nice if people could enjoy the album as a physical object, looking at the pictures, reading the booklet, and imagining various things. As Director Sato and Nagura-kun said earlier, I would be happy if you could listen to the soundtrack and immerse yourself in the anime world again. By the way, you can now listen to the soundtrack of "Inuyasha" on digital platforms as well. I hope you will enjoy both of them.