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historyhermann · 1 year

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"The Executioner and Her Way of Life": An Exciting Yuri Anime

The Executioner and Her Way of Life tells the story of a priestess tasked with killing humans who are summoned to a supernatural world. This is thrown into jeopardy by Akari, a Japanese girl, whom she escorts and attempts to murder.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog, and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-eighth article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on May 16, 2022.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life is an adventure, isekai, and yuri anime series directed by Yoshiki Kawasaki. The series is based on a yuri light novel series illustrated by Nilitsu and written by Mato Sato.

As a warning, this recommendation discusses spoilers for seven episodes of The Executioner and Her Way of Life, including some disturbing scenes with themes of suicide, blood, injury, and wanton violence.

Akari (right) tells Menou (left) that she wants to spend more time with her.

The series begins with a Japanese boy named Mutou Mitsuki (voiced by Yuma Uchida), an offworlder, summoned to a kingdom. He realizes that they also summoned another Japanese girl.

He soon meets Menou who explains to him this world is Japanese-influenced and split into various classes, either as commoners, nobility, Noblesse, Faust, and the Church, with her as a priestess.

In the process, she works with her aide, Momo (voiced by Hisako Kanemoto), to lure Mutou inside an abandoned church. As he begins to use his power which allows him to destroy any object, Menou stabs him, killing him before he causes any damage.

This beginning mirrors the first episode of The Legend of Vox Machina, when the so-called "heroes" die within the show's first five minutes. Menou is a priestess, tasked with killing and hunting down any humans summoned to the world, known as "Lost Ones", even though she knows most have done nothing wrong and are innocent.

This is all thrown into question when she meets Akari (voiced by Moe Kahara), who has, like some humans, forcibly brought to the world the pure concept power of time, allowing her to turn back time and revive herself if someone tries to kill her. This contrasts with her airheaded and clumsy nature. Even so, she is trusting and kind.

The series pulls you in, making you sympathize with Menou (voiced by Iori Saeki). After learning that it appears impossible to assassinate Akari, Archbishop Orwell (voiced by Tamie Kubota) tasks Menou with bringing Akari to a church in Garm, so she can be executed. In a lie which may haunt her in the future, she claims to Menou that they are going there so that she can go "back home" to Japan.

There are interesting dynamics between Momo and Menou. The series implies that they have long been confidentes, almost equivalent to the relations between Sakura and Tomoyo in Cardcaptor Sakura.

In fact, Momo worries that Menou is spending too much time with Akari, who she calls "booblicious". She secretly travels with her to the capital city, and fighting off a warrior princess named Ashuna (voiced by M・A・O). The series also implies that she has a crush on Menou and is jealous her spending time with another woman.

Like Eve's strange motivation with golf in Birdie Wing: A Golf Girls Story, Menou becomes an executioner after following her mentor, Flare (voiced by Yūko Kaida), who has amazing magic skills. She does this even after Flare warns her that she will become a villain.

Akari blushes when looking at Menou after she gives her a cute hairpiece

The characters are intriguing and the story keeps you engaged. This is especially the case with the growing romantic feelings between Menou and Akari. Menou even offers to strip in Menou's place to fulfill the demands of a terrorist, goes on sightseeing date with Akari, and has, from time to time, protected Akari from threats.

There is more than that. In the fifth episode, it appears that Menou will say goodbye, forever, to Akari, but she discovers a horrible truth. Her boss, Orwell, has been summoning women in an attempt to extract their youth and reverse her aging. She plans to erase the mind of Akari, to use her powers to make her immortal and stop her aging.

Hence, the church is not some beacon of goodness and prosperity like in Maria Watches Over Us, a Class s yuri anime. Rather, it is a place of corruption and malevolence. Orwell engages in human experimentation that is only outmatched by the devilish schemes by the villains in the first season of Sailor Moon. The latter attempt to extract the crystals they need to revive their queen.

The sixth episode reveals a further truth: Orwell destroyed the home village of Menou when she messed with the powers of a "lost one." This infuriates Menou. Akari's feelings for Menou cause her to break down a barrier in her mind, resulting in her use of her powers, before she shoots herself in the head. Before this happens, she is able to weaken the hair ribbons of Momo. This causes her to lose her mind, destroy the palace, and attack the cathedral, resulting in Akari and Menou brought back together.

What this further shows is that Akari is aware of everything. She knows that Menou is trying to kill her, how to cause Momo to lose her mind, and has the implication that she has been there before! There is also continued visions that she has of their future, with Akari causing Menou's death, while seeing Flare coming to kill her.

Luckily for this fictional world, Orwell gets what she deserves: Menou uses Akari's powers to de-age Orwell so much that she dies. Unfortunately, in the aftermath, the Church predictably covers up the reality, with the public told a cover story.

All the while, the warrior princess plays a major part, fighting alongside Momo. Both may appear in future episodes. It is in these episodes that this series also shows how mature it is, with lots of blood spilled and brutality shown on screen. It is almost as blood-filled as an episode of Helluva Boss, where demons contract them to assassinate humans.

There is also the disturbing implication that Menou, according to Orwell, came from nothing, from blank white material. There is the further possibility she came from the human world, where Menou and Akari met in the past, and was later re-formed.

Menou and Momo fighting alongside one another in the show's opening theme

The show's amazing animation is by J.C. Staff. It is a Japanese animation studio which has produced series such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Azumanga Daioh, R.O.D -The TV-, Sweet Blue Flowers, The Demon Girl Next Door, and Eden's Zero, pull you into the show's world.

The story remains intriguing, as much as the currently airing Spy X Family or Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. Even so, it continues to be unique in its own way, unlike any other series I've seen.

In the most recent episode, Menou worries that she has failed to kill Akari, who rewound time a few months, and is why she was friendly to her at first. She commits herself to killing Menou once and for all this time. All the while, Menou wants to make sure this happens so that the the "right" person (Menou) kills her, rather than someone else, like Flare.

As they go off on their journey, a reported pilgrimage to a sanctuary, while Menou gets a new scripture from the acting archbishop. In the process, the viewers also see into Menou's backstory. We learn more about she became an executioner.

As the series goes forward, there will be more scenes of Menou and Akari together, along with scenes of Menou and Momo. Menou will continue to pulled between the duty to kill Akari and her hesitation to stay with her, falling deeper in love with her. She even puts her inside the Pandemonium, an inescapable fog, in an attempt to kill her. This doesn't stop Akari, who is aware of everything now, using her powers to go back with Menou, shocking her beyond belief.

Menou continues to be rightly worried that Akari is not far from her power getting out of control. At the same time, there is the wild card: the head of a fringe group. This teenage girl gladly kills someone in a bloody manner in the show's seventh episode and declares that she wants to kill Menou in a pre-emptive attack before she causes "trouble".

All in all, The Executioner and Her Way of Life is must-see for those interested in yuri, adventure, and isekai stories, especially those which go against commonly used tropes. The series is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

The next episode, entitled "Monstrine", airs on May 20, the same day that an English dub of the series will begin airing on the platform.

#yuri #the executioner and her way of life #wlw #anime #reviews #isekai #adventure #birdie wing #j.c. staff #helluva boss #class warfare #class war #maria watches over us #sailor moon

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nagisasstunningpersonality · 3 years

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TINSITOGS, a retrospective (happy birthday)

(yes I’m like two days too late I know I’m sorry)

Why hello followers and ass class fandom, nice to see you there. I’m sure MOST people know about this, but in case you don’t, hi. On AO3 I’m better known as livixbobbiex, writer of maybe one of the most infamous Assassination Classroom fics.

Which I mean like, if you haven’t read it yet you totally should it’s fanlore at this point I promise-

Shameless plug that I don’t need aside, I felt that, on its first birthday since actual completion, I just wanted to share some things about it. Some tit bits about writing it, fun facts, maybe even some author advice TM. I appreciate that it’ll be super annoying if I do that in the tags, though, so that’ll all be under the cut. If you don’t want to read the whole post, then no matter what, thanks for the support in general!

I also want to take the opportunity to announce that I’ve reopened my discord, so if you want to talk about my fics with me (and others), you’re more than welcome to join! (the link is here)

The origin story

I’ve stated this many times, I think, but TINSITOGS was never supposed to be a serious story. Taking you back, quite a long time, it actually started in a facebook DM with a friend. We used to come up with “head canons” with each other, which were basically just very condensed fanfiction plots over a multitude of text messages. I believe I was trying to cheer her up, and I tried to come up with some kind of plot line.

At the time, I was fairly fresh to the Ass Class fandom, and I was joking about how there were no teen pregnancy melodrama fanfictions. It wasn’t that I wanted one, I just thought it was strange for a school centric anime with a bunch of ships to NOT have one. And, back then, I only really cared about karmagisa. So I just decided ‘right it’s happening’. The reason I decided to make it ABO was due to ‘it making sense’. Fun fact: it was almost written as AFAB trans Nagisa, but I decided against it as I didn’t rate my ability to handle it well back then. Looking back on it, I’m glad I made that decision.

Over around two months, writing out the plot of this story took over my life a little bit. I had no idea where I was going with it, but I was having so much fun with the drama that I decided that Karma and Nagisa shouldn’t get together soon at all, and I had a lot of fun teasing my friend with the ‘will they won’t they’. It was only when I got bored that I invented this intense drama plotline to finish it all off.

That period of time was a lot of fun. And whilst that friendship didn’t end well, I still have a lot to thank her for. She chose Daichi’s name because I had no idea, and she wanted to annoy me because I didn’t like Haikyuu. When I couldn’t decide on his hair colour, the purple was her suggestion because ‘why logic?’ Daichi speaking Korean was because of how much she liked Kpop. She even helped me choose the title of the actual fic, so there’s a lot you can thank her for, honestly.

After I finished that story, though, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Whenever I daydreamed, I used to think about that damn Daichi Akabane, and how much I wanted to tell his story. I’d even come up with extra stuff to fill in a lot of the gaps, and developed his character in my mind. I decided that I was really desperate to write it down. Usually that worked when I had an idea I wanted to work through.

I wrote the first chapter in late 2017, and then the next two as well. I just, kept going, and realised that I could go further still. TINSITOGS was never something that was supposed to be shared, but I decided I may as well. After all, that fated ‘teen pregnancy drama’ fic still didn’t exist, and I thought it would be funny to make it happen.

Yes, as I’ve stated publicly a few times, TINSITOGS was a crack fic. If I wanted attention from it, it was infamy. We even joked about me cursing the fandom if it ever became the most popular fic (whoops?). What I wasn’t expecting was a bunch of people, in a fandom where at the time there were NO ongoing karmagisa fics and it was pretty dead, to really seem to enjoy it. It was enough to have me keep writing it, at least. I still don’t know at what point I actually started taking it seriously, but somehow I did, and the rest is history?

The reception

In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would be the author of one of the most popular fics in the fandom. To this day, the amount of views TINSITOGS has is insanity to me. For the record, across all platforms it’s on today it has 238,000, which is literally a number I can’t even visualise anymore. Almost quarter of a MILLION. To this day on AO3, it’s the most viewed Ass Class fic that’s an ACTUAL ass class fic (the others are multi fandom compilations). So yeah, I achieved the original goal, I guess?

Now you might be wondering, “omg the karmagisa fandom is fujoshi trash”. And, considering the origins, it is kind of funny. The thing is, though, TINSITOGS was written at incredibly good time. It was written when there were, essentially, very few long form Karma/Nagisa stories. If any other fics did get posted on occasion, they were usually just oneshots. I was also, at that point, writing very fast. A symptom of ADHD is becoming obsessively productive over certain things. Since I was able to get a 3k chapter out every few days/once a week, TINSITOGS was consistently bumped to the top of AO3′s default view. And some of those first few chapters were altered canon, and transcribing the canon dialogue didn’t take very long. The more views it got, the more people would read it out of sheer curiosity.

I think it also helps that, at least after it started getting some positive feedback (which was honestly after the pre written chapters), I purposely tried to make it ‘not terrible’. I mean, I personally think the first chapter is pretty weak and if it wasn’t somewhat iconic to a lot of people I’d rewrite it. But in general, I purposely tried to make the world of ABO my own, to make it more accessible to those who don’t like that genre, and stay away from the inherently grosser stuff as much as possible. I genuinely do get comments about how I introduced people to the genre as a whole, still not sure if that’s a GOOD thing but hey, it happened.

TINSITOGS turned into a lot more than just a joke. It turned into my favourite hobby. It turned into a research project (honestly, you would not believe the amount of mummy vlogs and legit scientific articles about child development I consumed). It turned into something that, at least I believe, was widely loved.

Meaning

I think it might be wrong to say that I don’t have AN idea of when I started to take the fic super seriously. For me, it was around the time someone commented something along the lines of saying my writing meant a lot to them, that they’d spent all night reading it and had been unable to put it down.

Not to get too dark here, but I do have a past in writing a very long, somewhat popular fic (it’s still on my fanfic net profile if anyone’s interested, but I don’t recommend it). However, in the latter part of my teenage years, the depression struck. Writing was the love of my life, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore. Maybe I’d be able to muster an idea or even a chapter at the best points of that, but I’d never completely finished any story. Starting to write again was a huge step in my recovery, and one of the reasons I convinced myself that life was worth it was being able to impact someone’s life somehow. Even to this day, I still remember the fics I read when I was, like, thirteen. How much I still remember them, and how much they meant to be at the time. I wanted to be that writer for someone else. To be honest, it was actually Yuri!!! On Ice that got me out of the super bad, but I still never wrote anything of real consequence. TINSITOGS was the first time in a long time I actually committed to something.

And, to be completely honest, there were a lot of times I was tired of it, and wanted to just quit. But, the thing was, I felt like people depended on me in a way. I got so many comments that were just FILLED with support, telling me how much they looked forward to every update. It wasn’t just empty words, either, a lot of the times these comments would be super engaged with the actual writing. I can’t even describe just how much they meant to me, how much I would look forward to reading everyone’s opinions. And then discord happened, which was a lot of fun.

TINSITOGS went a lot further than I ever thought it would. There were comments, discussions, fan art, fan FIC (which is honestly incredible to me). Someone even added it to TV Tropes, at one point. Not to mention the Cards Against Humanity deck and quiz It makes me so unbelievably happy that I could inspire that much creativity, but it’s a two way street. It was all of that which inspired me to write, too.

Writing

The only real goal I actually had was aiming for around 3000 words per chapter. I had a whole facebook log of plot points as planning, and I was mostly just trying to expand on them into prose. I honestly thought that, at its completion, the entire fic would be around 100k words, if that. Not, at one point, being literally the longest ass class fic on AO3.

There are a lot of aspects that were directly adapted from the original messages, and I tried to stay faithful to it more so at first, even if I later removed some of the pure crack. But the style was also vaguely similar, with the story being told mostly from Nagisa’s perspective with swaps to Karma when it made sense. All the main plot beats, too, are pretty much identical. The plus to this was I was able to add a lot of really fun foreshadowing, and I feel like it’s a fun reread because of it.

Honestly though, if there’s a demand to release those OG message logs, I will. Mostly because it’s kind of funny, and interesting to see. Isogai and Nagisa were engaged at one point, even.

Obviously, it changed somewhat. 3000 was the minimum length, and the time to completion was whenever it felt right. One of my big concerns was about pacing, so it took a lot more fleshing out and maybe ‘filler’ content for some of the main arcs to work.

There’s parts of TINSITOGS I don’t think aren’t written that well, and some that I’m still super proud of. I think you can definitely tell there’s a gradual shift in style, and I get a lot more comfortable with writing them as characters as it goes along. To be honest, my pride for the fic overall is what it represents.

It is funny to think about the places it got written in, though. I started it when I worked at McDonalds with no life direction, then it went through my first year of university with me. It’s been written in at least four countries. Aeroplanes, night clubs, long haul buses, a train through the Japanese southern coastline. Even the start of covid. TINSITOGS managed to see a lot. I even turned a scene in (the boat scene during the India chapter with altered names) to my university as a legitimate assignment.

There were also a few messages I wanted to achieve, once I realised I had the platform to put them across. One of them was, obviously, ‘use protection kids’. It was important to me that I didn’t glamorise it too much, and I think that came across. I also wanted to dispute some of the issues with ABO, and subvert the consent issues as much as I could. An arc I really ‘liked’ writing was how abuse doesn’t always look the same way, and that it can be a drawn out change in behaviour. How the most important part of ‘being a good parent’ isn’t perfection, but genuinely loving and doing the best you can for your kid. How love doesn’t solve everything, and effective communication can take a very long time to learn and build a functional relationship. I mean, there definitely was a lot I tried to put in, and you’re free to interpret it all how you want. But, I like to think some people learnt some of these things, at least.

Daichi

Honestly, Daichi developed almost of his own free will. I had a good idea of his appearance, and that he was smart. Writing him from birth until around nine years old (older if you read the sequel fic) pretty much allowed that fluidity. It was really fun to explore a nature vs nurture development, and let his own characteristics speak for themselves.

He’ll always have a special place in my heart.

This is the first image I ever made. When I was trying to figure out what Daichi looked like, I honestly just edited Karma’s hair (pretty well, actually? I’m impressed with my past skill). That’s where the ‘he looks just like Karma’ meme kind of came from.

This was the first image I actually created of Daichi. I THINK it was on rinmaru games mega anime creator or something, but it’s literally not available on the internet anymore as far as I can tell, so I can’t double check. This was in the pre-piccrew days. His eyes are closed because they didn’t have the right tone of goldish/silver.

His sister, Kaguya, didn’t even exist originally, even though I decided on that ending pretty early on. Actually, she was going to be called ‘Irina’ due to some hijinks. Initially, when Karma found out about Irina’s pregnancy, she was going to get super emotional and mad at him and basically force him to name his first born daughter after her. Karma agreed to shut her up, never intending to have another child, so when the surprise second child later came along they had to live with the pain. However, to be honest I just forgot to write in the actual scene that set it all up, and I decided against adding it anywhere else. The name Kaguya was a very last minute decision, and it was a chance for me to explore some ideas that didn’t fit with Daichi’s character.

Interestingly too, Daichi and Nao were never intended to be a thing. I only decided that towards the VERY end. Even though the reason I named Nao that was because of a ship I had in a J Drama (Good Morning Call). It just kind of ended up happening because I won myself over with imagining the cute.

The music

I used to write with a lot of background music, though not all the time. Particularly towards the start, there was a lot that didn’t really make sense thematically, yet I would write to a lot.

Here’s a link to the spotify playlist if you want it it’s basically all the ones I noted I’d listened to a lot. Not including the smut ones, though, I have a whole playlist for that.

Some of the notable ones:

Five String Serenade - the first scene I wrote of the entire fic, in Chapter 25 New Year Time where they fell asleep cuddling.

Cosmic Love - when I wrote Nagisa’s love confession scene in hospital (I also wrote this pretty early on)

Northern Downpour (though it was actually a cover by Emma Blackery) - The chapter after Daichi’s born (30)

When The Party’s Over - Confession Time Third Period, Chapter 69. I literally listened to this song on REPEAT when I planned and wrote the kind of ‘break up’ scene, and it’s one of the few parts that made me cry writing.

Turning Page - I know I said no smut, but this song actually gave me the idea to have the “I love you” in chapter 108 be less on a whim and actually more built up. In the original plan, Karma really did just say it without thinking. I’m glad I changed that.

Bury Me Low and Numb - pretty much all I listened to when writing the last few chapters, because Evil Nagisa core. So much so that Bury Me Low was in my top 2020 songs rewind.

As for the title, there’s actually quite a funny story. I had no idea what to call the fic, and when that happens I usually just try and find some song lyrics. I really wanted to use something from ‘October’ by the Broken Bells. Not only because it’s my favourite song (has been for years), but thematically it really worked. The issue was, it worked as the WHOLE song, there were no individual lyrics that captured everything. And, if they did, they didn’t flow very well. And naming the fic ‘October’ would have been weird for a lot of reasons. There Is No Sweeter Innocence That Our Gentle Sin really was just plucked randomly, in a desperate search to find any snappy lyrics from any song that had some kind of meaning. After a bit of discussion, we settled that it kind of worked... if Daichi is innocent and they committed a sin or something. It also wasn’t the most obvious lyric from the song (Take Me To Church if anyone doesn’t know) so I just went with it. It works out, I think, because TINSITOGS turned out to be a pretty good acronym and pronounceable word in its own right.

The merch redbubble drama

It’s a well known fact that I’m not very good at art. However, I decided to try pixel art because it seemed the easiest to not mess up. I made Karma and Nagisa, before deciding to also give Daichi a try.

This, to this day, is the only good quality art of Daichi that I actually own. The only one I’m actually happy sharing and thinking it doesn’t look terrible. As much as I love people sending me fanart, it’s not ‘my property’, right.

So, I was kind of joking about TINSITOGS having merchandise. At first I just made two funny quote things, and uploaded it to redbubble. I was never intending to actually make money from this, and I’d agreed to myself that if I did, I would just donate it to charity. I was joking with the quotes, but since I had this artwork I figured I may as well uploaded. Separately, there was also an image that had pixel Daichi next to pixel Nagisa and Karma (which I also created).

Aside from showing up in a few people’s adverts across the internet, there was no real harm with this. In fact, I didn’t make money anyway. It was just... more the joke of it existing. I did, however, buy myself a Daichi phone case, which is one of my favourite possessions.

The funny ‘drama’ comes in when they got taken down due to copywrite. Sure, the one with Nagisa and Karma, I understand. But the other three literally had no mention or anything to do with Assassination Classroom, aside from being from a fanfiction. So basically, someone who owns those rights claimed my OC as theirs. Which makes Daichi canon? Whatever the case, I found this hilarious don’t worry.

How has TINSITOGS changed my life?

This is quite a strange thing to think about. Because, in a lot of ways, it really hasn’t. As I’m sure a lot of people know, I don’t really consider myself to have any real ‘fame’, despite the impressive numbers. Whenever I tell people in my personal life, they seem to think I’m some sort of internet celebrity, but that’s never been the case for me. I mean, it’s hardly a cultural phenomenon.

In a lot of ways, I’d much rather befriend someone than have them admire me. Possibly because being someone’s inspiration is kind of weird... I’m just an awkward duck who likes to write after all. I don’t mind it, though. I genuinely find it an honour, even if I don’t necessarily agree. I also want to take this time to say that if anyone ever wants to talk or message me, you’re more than free to do so. I’m usually super casual with people who do that, I promise.

TINSITOGS was the first story I ever finished in the way I truly wanted to. Start to end, a full narrative. And it took a LOT. There were so many times I almost felt like quitting, or took super long breaks. For me, ADHD queen, actually finishing something was a huge deal. And I know I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t owe it to everyone who read it, and myself, to see it through. You know like, if I were to die tomorrow, at least I’ve left something behind.

In a lot of ways, it’s changed me for the better. It’s helped me develop my writing styles, and way of thinking. It encouraged me to become more active in the fandom, and develop some important friendships. I always feel like my Tumblr and Fanfiction ‘known’ factor is separate. I think most of my Tumblr following is more to do with my theories/Japanese context research if anything, for example, but I know I wouldn’t be so interested in that if TINSITOGS hadn’t lead me to deeply examine character and really look into analysing source material for clues. I also think there’s just... a lot of myself in it.

I was 17 years old, when I first came up with the idea. I finished the story when I was 20. Now, at the time of writing, I’m 21. That time has seen some pretty significant changes - just in general life facts and my own personal human development. For me at least, a lot of that was pretty turbulent, and TINSITOGS stands as a time capsule for that, in a way.

I know I gained a lot of confidence, and it affirmed to me that writing is what I love. Telling stories and sharing them is what I love.

Conclusion

Do I think TINSITOGS is an outstanding piece of writing, or the best fic ever? No. I really don’t. It’s strange to say because I definitely spent a lot of time on it, but it’s not like I put my full unbridled efforts into the story. I don’t fully plan, use a beta, or even read through on my own. And that’s okay - that’s not what I write fanfiction for. Fanfiction is my place to have fun with characters and stories I like, without the pressures of having to stand on my own complete originality. Yes, I’m fully confident that I can write at a “higher quality”, if I really wanted to. I’m also aware that some authors put their full effort into their fics, and that’s just as valid!

It feels odd to say this about my own writing, but I honestly think there’s just something in this story. It might not be written in the best prose ever, and the premise might be kind of dumb for a lot of people. But, I think, there’s some part of this fic that managed to grab people. Somehow, at some point, many readers get captured into the emotions and so drawn in that ‘they just have to finish it now!’ Again, I’m not sure myself how I actually achieved that. Of course, that won’t apply to everyone, but I do feel there’s some truth in it. And it makes me happy, to have caused that.

If TINSITOGS is your favourite fic, or if you genuinely think it’s the best story you’ve read, then thank you. I really appreciate your support, and I’m happy to have been a part of your life, I guess. I know how much fanfics can mean to a person, and that’s why I’m not going to take it down, or edit it at all. And it’s fine too, if you loved the fic for a while and moved on -i t happens. Whatever the case, I’m very honoured to have been able to occupy a moment of your life. Or if you find this fic in 10 years time, even, I still wholly appreciate you.

This story was incredibly important to me, and thank you for reading if it was ever important to you too.

You may ask, what now? Well, this is only intended to be a detailed look back for whoever’s interested, and it’s likely the only one I’ll actually do, a year after completion. Of course, if you ever want to ask me anything or just discuss the story, you’re honestly good to contact me in whatever way I have available.

I’m still writing my ongoing stories, of course, despite taking a small break due to the university work load. I fully intend to complete the stories I’ve already started to tell, at least. After that... I’m not sure if I’ll still write fanfiction. Don’t panic, this isn’t a ‘I’m quitting writing’ thing. I may, however, have bled the Karmagisa genre a bit too dry at that point. Who knows? I am pretty interested in writing something original for once, so maybe that’ll work out.

For now, at least, thank you to anyone who read this fic. To anyone who commented, liked, or interacted with me over it. To anyone who created or learnt from it. I’m really glad that I got to share this story with you all, and ultimately left some kind of mark, no matter how big or small.

Happy birthday, TINSITOGS. I had a lot of fun writing you.

#ass class #assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #tinsitogs #karmagisa

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nakamina · 5 years

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How similar are Hanyu Yuzuru and Katsuki Yuri? - The Never Ending Debate

Hi all,

Nakamina here again with a long blog post. Now before ya’ll get triggered from this title please read the following.

So about a year ago I made a Yuzu fan video (which you can find below) and I have received many comments since comparing him to Yuri from the anime ‘Yuri!!! on ICE’ (YOI) which is a figure skating themed anime that aired in the fall of 2016.

The kind of comments being:

“Yuzu is the real Yuri!“ (<- pretty much got about 10+ of these)

“He is the inspiration of Yuri”

“He looks so much like Yuri”

“He reminds me of Yuri”

“Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandes look like Yuri and Viktor!”

youtube

Now, this is really no surprise since I used the anime’s opening song ‘History Maker’ for this video, although the video itself really does not make any reference to the anime. But it got me thinking…how similar/different are they actually??

DISCLAIMER: I would just like to say that this comparison is purely for fun and I am not here to put down Yuzuru Hanyu nor YOI. I became a fan of Yuzu long before YOI came out and I am also a massive anime otaku. So obviously, I support both fandoms and am not here to discredit one or the other. I thought this would be something interesting since so many people point it out and I genuinely want to nut out their differences and similarities in a neutral and unbiased manner for once, since this topic seems to only ever bring in a cat fight between the figure skating fandom and anime fandom… Let’s change that!

Yuzuru Hanyu vs Katsuki Yuri

SIMILARITIES

Race and Cultural Background

I guess this is an inevitable similarity since they come from the same country and culture. Yes, they are both Japanese and have black hair, black eyes, wears glasses…etc the list goes on. I mean Yuzu probably also likes Katsu-don too (maybe). These similarities are applicable to most Japanese men really, and hence why I think this is the main aspect that a lot of people tend to focus and highlight on.

Idolising a Russian Skater

What a lot of the people also point are the two’s idolisation towards a Russian skater. This is also no surprise. When I first saw YOI I too thought that this was very reminiscent of Yuzu’s idolisation towards Evgeni Plushenko. They both grew up watching their Russian idols on TV and consider them as their ultimate inspiration. Yuzu also has formed quite a friendly relationship with Plushenko since, and has even gone far as to use one of his iconic pieces for his 2018-2019 free program - ‘Tribute to Nijinsky’. Much like how Yuri skates to Viktor’s choice of music and choreography, and wears one of his previous costumes for his short program in the anime.

Hometown Support

This is probably a less obvious one but in YOI there is a decent sense of “Jimoto ai” - hometown love. There are a number of scenes where it depicts the support Yuri receives from his home town. As many would know Yuzu also receives a lot of support from his hometown in Sendai/Miyagi, and Yuzu himself has also raised many funds for the recovery from the 2011 earthquake. They are both from different prefectures, but their love for their hometown are quite alike.

Relationship with Family

With all that being said, I think the most noteworthy thing the two have in common is their family bond. Yuri is shown to have a strong relationship with his family, and from what I know Yuzu also does with his family, notably his mother. Family & love is a reoccurring theme in YOI. Yuri’s quote from ep 4: “...my family never treated me like a weakling. They all had faith that I’d keep growing as a person, and they never stepped over the line.”. Yuzu has also stated in an interview after his second Olympic win that the people he feels the most gratitude towards is his family, for their unconditional support throughout his whole skating career. I personally think this is the most significant alikeness between the two that a lot of people seem to undermine. Yuri’s family has unconditionally loved and believed in him (as quoted from the anime), which I think is very similar to that of Yuzu’s relationship with his family.

DIFFERENCES

Track Record

In terms of track record, the two are quite different. Yes, the two are Japan National Champions but when speaking at an international level the differences are apparent. Yuri is more of a late bloomer as a competitive skater while Yuzu is very much an early bloomer. Yuri first medalled at the GPF at age 24 (Re YOI ep12), whereas Yuzu first medalled at the GPF at the age of 17. Also, Yuri first qualified for the GPF at age 23 (Re YOI ep1) while Yuzu first qualified for the GPF at age 16. By the age of 23 Yuzu has also won numerous other international titles such as 2x World Championship golds, 4x GPF golds and 2x Olympic golds. So there are some stark differences in terms of their career progression. Now I know the Olympics and Worlds were not mentioned in the anime; however, judging from the whole tone of the anime and what was heard from Yuri’s monologues, the likelihood of him winning one of these titles in the past is very low. Although I would say Yuri winning the 4CC (Four Continents Championships) is a possibility.

Side note: Actually looking into their track records has made me realise how rapid and incredible Yuzu’s achievements were… no wonder he is called a living legend. Yuri’s track record by all means is very impressive as well, as it is a lot more than what most figure skaters can ever achieve in their life time.

Personality

Another major difference is their personality. Yes, they are both very competitive and hate to lose, but from what I have seen Yuri easily gets anxious and lacks confidence. We can see that from the way he desperately avoids to even listen to the other performances in episode 7 in order to calm his nerves. Of course this gradually changes in Yuri, and we see that he learns to handle the pressure better in competitions. As for Yuzu, he lives off pressure and gets motivated the more his competitors do well. Yuzu has stated that his “ideal” way of winning is for him to defeat the other competitors when they are are at their best.

Skating skills/style

Yuzu, at this point in time, can jump the quad salchow, quad toe-loop, quad loop & quad lutz. Yuri is able to do the quad salchow, quad toe loop and…the quad flip, which just happens to be the one quadruple jump (excluding the axel) that Yuzu cannot do. Interesting aye?

Also, Yuzu is very much an all rounded skater, and has been for the majority of his senior career. He is well renowned for possessing great artistry and technical skills that are on par with each other. Whereas Yuri’s strength leans more towards the components/artistic side of skating (Refer to YOI ep 4). Yuri is very expressive in the way that he performs and interprets music quite well, but he has the tendency to flop when it comes to his jumps. However, this too gradually changes following Viktor’s coaching as he starts to polish up Yuri’s skills in other areas too.

New York Times Article on Yuzuru Hanyu:

Body Type, Physical Condition

Yuri, in the anime, is very susceptible to binge eat and gains weight easily. His love for food, especially Katsu-don, is clearly depicted in the anime, and it’s apparent that the act of eating brings him joy. Yuzu on the other hand really has no interest in eating, and suffers from the total opposite concern of being unable to gain weight.

Another stark difference is their stamina. Yuri’s stamina has always been one of his strengths; whereas Yuzu suffers from asthma and has struggled with stamina especially during his early senior years.

Final Verdict/Thoughts

So I think we can see that Yuzu and Yuri are somewhat similar in terms of race, background and upbringing, but are quite different in terms of personality, skating skills/style and track record.

I like to actually think that bits of Yuzu’s traits are shown through not just Yuri but multiple characters in YOI. He has the charisma of Viktor, drive of Yurio and love/affection of Yuri. Just like how we see bits of Yuzu in lot of these characters, the character of Yuri was inspired by various iconic skaters; noteworthy ones being Machida Tatsuki and Takahashi Daisuke.

Many people worked hard to create this anime, just like how Yuzu has worked his butt off to get to where he is now. I think it is okay for people to compare the two, just as long as you respect and acknowledge the fact that Yuri is his own character and Yuzu is his own person. I think it is great that a lot of people found out about Yuzu and Figure Skating through this anime. I’m also sure that there are people who got into YOI as they were initially part of the figure skating fandom or were Yuzu fans (like myself!).

I sincerely hope people have not been offended by this blog. I tried being objective as possible. Adios until my next post!

#hanyu yuzuru #viktor nikiforov #yuzuru hanyu #yuzu #anime #yuuri katsuki #yoi #yuri on ice #yuuri on ice #figure skating #ice skating #hanyu #katsuki yuuri #羽生結弦 #勝生勇利

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

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Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 37 – Yuigi’s Mystery

“Sir, we have a situation!”

Sangin and Yeonsu bolted into the room, their motion so forceful that they might as well have demolished the door.

“We just had an explosion in sector 32.”

“Sector 32? That must be...”

“That’s where we have a facility that belongs to the ex-chairman.”

Of all the places.

Taesik, the director of KSA, minced a biteful of his lips, grasping his desk tightly by its either sides.

“Do we know the cause?”

“We dispatched the agents who happened to be nearby. They testified that the topmost structure of the building – which is in the ex-chairman’s possession – was utterly destroyed. Luckily we have zero casualty so far, due to the time and location of the explosion. Not to mention it was built in an area not dense in transient or residential populations.”

“...That is good to hear.”

“I am terribly sorry to say this, but it is too soon to call off the alarm. We have yet to find the one to blame.”

“...Did you notify them?”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Takio said he’s on his way right now.”

“Very well. You two look into the exact number of casualty and magnitude of damage. We must get ready for the aftermaths, including the media broadcast.”

Sangin and Yeonsu nodded in understanding.

They remained silent, but they knew what used to stand at the scene of trouble. They also knew who was lodging there.

Which was why they mentally mumbled in synchronization: Did she finally do it?

*****

Yuigi was running.

She had been stranger to a chase for such a long time.

However, unlike her previous experiences, she was the one on the run.

“Where do you think you’re going? I just put up a fight and gave you an invitation – don’t you turn down the party!”

The man croaked behind her, sounding much more like a toad with his voice raised.

Currently, Yuigi was luring him.

She could not say for sure if she could muster even one-sixteenth of her original power, but she remembered how she could make a colossal building crumble to the very bottom with a mere punch, as if breaking a toothpick.

She knew herself too well; she could not dare engage in a brawl where the safehouse once maintained itself.

‘There’s no reason for me to reserve myself a lecture from those three, given that I can make it back alive.’

She ultimately reached the area where 6th, 7th, and 8th Elders were lost, still under KSA’s management – a thoroughly vacant space, impeccable for a clash-slash-clamor.

‘No, it won’t be a clash. Clash applies to a case in which the involved parties engage in a mutual combat. What I’ll soon get to encounter here would be a one-sided beating.’

Yuigi directed her eyes, slightly hazy with bitterness, towards her choker, somehow feeling heavier than usual.

“Like I said, you have no idea how elated I am, Yuigi! For at last I have found a chance!”

The modified human smirked, making it so very blatant that he was in ecstasy.

‘Duh, of course I have no idea. I was too busy trying to recover my well-bombarded eardrums.’

That was when Yuigi got curious of what he had said to her upon entrance.

She was aware of the fact that bad guys who talk a lot have so much to offer.

Though verbal manipulation is far from her usual style of battle, Yuigi warmed up her lips in preparation.

“Oh, so that’s what you jabbered about when you crashed through the door? Thanks for filling me in.”

That moment the man’s face was crumpled in displeasure.

“I happened to be busy in thoughts. Damn, speaking of which, I didn’t even get to enjoy my late-night snack. I’ve been waiting to savor it since last night; I wonder if I can get it later. Then again, since the entire building is gone, I should start cleaning the mess. And figure out who to send the bills to pay for the loss.”

Yuigi peeked at him, making herself appear as unconcerned as possible.

Just as she had wished, his face was plastered with doubt concerning his own hearing capability, soon to be marred with question regarding her words.

“That was the prelude of my glorious history of spotlight. You were supposed to be my witness for the moment...! And you didn’t hear anything I spoke?”

“Nope. To me, getting a treat as scheduled is more important than that stupid speech of yours.”

“Why, you...! Stick this to your head – the codename’s Kornel. The new hope and star of the surviving Union! And as I get my revenge for my dear friend Mark, I...”

Kornel flinched and held his tongue, in the course of his frenzied monologue of screech and spit.

And he smiled as if telling Yuigi that it was a nice try.

“You were planning to pry out info from me. Sorry, but I’m not falling for it. I’m not that hopeless.”

Well, you just spilled the codename of your closest comrade. That counts as a lethal mistake in my point of view.

Yuigi did not dispense her opinion, for Kornel did have a point: she could no longer collect intelligence from him.

And she had neither the plan nor time to give it another try. Kornel flexed his fingers and closed the distance between them.

“Since you were keeping yourself hidden in such a place, I assume your skills have turned unworthy of flaunting. It’s a shame that I can’t pummel you while you are in best condition and fully furnished, but I hope you’d understand. When will I ever get to beat a Cerberus? Oh, and allow me to thank you in advance – thank you for serving as my stepping stone to the higher ground!”

With a pregnant thud, Kornel flung himself forward.

Instinctively Yuigi’s senses were whetted to the extremity, and she fixed her eyes upon his fists and correspondingly maneuvered herself in the air.

Kornel launched the kickoff of their game with light punches, their pressure and power nevertheless not even close to the definition of kickoff, and darted towards the red-haired woman. As she ducked and turned in evasion, she could run a self-diagnosis.

‘Reflexes. Speed. Rate of reaction. They’re not so different from what they used to be. My powers may have been only partially retrieved since I was freed from Crombel’s lab, now chained by this choker. But this isn’t so bad; I can handle this, I think.’

And Yuigi got to pay for speaking too soon.

“So this is piece of cake for you, huh? You do live up to the name of the Cerberus.”

So here goes the real deal.

Yuigi had a feeling that was what Kornel’s grin was implying.

Swoosh!

Pow!

“Urgh!”

Kornel’s body faded as Yuigi kept her gaze on him, and right after an impact equivalent to that of a tank’s missile bored through her side.

Despite the painful delusion that half of her form was shattered into dust, Yuigi lifted her body to find out what just occurred to her.

Thus she came to behold Kornel lifting his enormous fist, about to powder her for good.

Bam!

Yuigi gave a kick to her legs at full force, to be gravely astonished by how Kornel had already caught up to her.

‘He looks like a toad, but how come he’s so fast?!’

As far as she was concerned, he was just a bit slower than Takio, based on her memories from the day he exhibited his nimbleness with a glass of water when she first opened her eyes in the safehouse.

Therefore, she had no choice but to altogether pledge herself to dodging.

She was not completely cornered, to her gratitude.

‘No energy manipulation or body transformation. Looks like he’s the type that deals with physical melee based on superhuman speed and strength.’

The moment her analysis met its end, out of habit she attempted to counterattack.

As she had commonly done so, Yuigi concentrated the energy within to eject it in the shape of a beam.

Just then, an unexpected pain yanked her neck, rendering her whole body numb.

It was thanks to the choker, molded by Tao and assigned by Takio.

Simultaneously, she could feel the energy that sparked across her palm withdrawing itself, like fire dumped with water.

Kornel did not hesitate to throw himself towards her, and after a series of despair and helplessness came a thought: Should I just give up?

Yuigi did not even wipe the blood off her throat, a mark left by the slash of wind that very nearly beheaded her. She was captured by the idea that even if she makes it out of here, she still has no life.

‘And I don’t want to stay as a nuisance to him.’

Takio may have thought she was blind to the fact, but she knew.

She knew that M-21, as much as he tried to make it invisible, was not happy at all with her presence.

Although Lunark’s visit set a guideline for her future behaviors, she knew that Takio was on a rather away-from-good terms with his teammates for her sake.

And just then she could see no reason why she should keep on with her current status, void of a purpose but surely a hindrance to her savior.

‘Let’s just give up.’

Her body stopped struggling, as if it were waiting for her statement.

She could feel all of her cells drained of vitality, as if her biological clock has been broken.

Meanwhile, Kornel did not halt his attack; he was right onto her face, which was a sign for Yuigi that this was it.

However, the air enveloping her heaved with a swoosh, and Kornel’s movement went past her.

No, she went past it.

‘What the...?’

She was ready to die. She did not mean to move whatsoever.

Nonetheless, her body scrambled as Kornel lunged towards her once again.

And her body began to move on its own.

‘What the heck...? What is going on?!’

She could not control any of her appendages.

It was as if her mind was cut off from her flesh, trapped in a shell in humanoid configuration.

On the other hand, her steps and actions had turned much more precise.

Apparently Kornel realized the change; his face was muddled with confusion.

But not long after, he snickered, seemingly onto something in his mind.

“A puppet within the Union, and a puppet outside, I see.”

What are you talking about?

Yuigi’s words were mute, her voice box incompliant.

“In the past, I could pick up a couple things about you by pure chance. Including what Yuri did to your body via Crombell’s order, when you were made his test subject. And what you had gone through when you found yourself at the Union for very first time.”

Yuigi did not like the way he was bickering.

For some reason, she felt like he knew something that could devastate her entire world once she learns.

What are you trying to say?

What is it that you know?

Tell me. Say it now.

No, don’t. Don’t say it.

Please let me stay ignorant.

A myriad of thoughts summoned within her soundless lightning, vortex, and squall.

“Did you know that you’ve been serving your archenemy?”

Kornel’s declaration turned Yuigi’s inner lightning into thunderstorm.

“How very pitiful. You haven’t realized who gave you your misfortune.”

Her vortex within transformed into a tornado.

“You’ve considered Union your everything, haven’t you? Well, guess what? It’s the Union that took everything from you.”

Her squall recast itself as a hurricane.

And the said hurricane struck her from head to toe, igniting every nerve of her physique.

What is that...

“...Supposed to mean?!!”

The phrase that was to be left as a thought erupted through her lips.

She could feel control back in her grip; Kornel stiffened upon her shift.

He soon repositioned himself to continue his assault, but he had to hold onto the idea.

“Miss Raciela!!”

Bang! Bang!

With a sheer cry, bullets unusually amplified in power directly landed on where Kornel was locating himself.

Kornel hurriedly took steps back, as Takio secured himself before him.

The Union agent winced upon recognizing him.

A purple-haired gunner. A gray-haired werewolf shifter. And an electric whipper with locks of white hair. In whatever circumstances, don’t you ever face off against them. Or so help me......

‘Damn it,’ muttered Kornel in his head, as he composed himself and gritted his teeth.

“Looks like fortune favors you. But don’t you think this is the end of it. Now that I know you are here, you have just provided us with an additional weapon. You’d better mark my words!”

Contrary to his you-can’t-do-anything-about-us stance, Kornel did not waste a second in running for his life.

Takio kept his gun poised and ready to fire until Kornel was made perfectly scarce, to finally turn to Yuigi, who remained immobile until then.

Her reply to his question of her safety was nothing like what he was anticipating.

“Tao.”

“...Sorry?”

“The guy who used to be in DA-5 with you. The one who is still on your team. I need to talk to him.”

(next chapter)

Yes, Kornel belonged to the assassin team under Crombell’s ownership, along with Mark. The fact that he was Mark’s closest friend is my creation for this fic, so I hope there would be no confusion on this matter!

Now this fic is slowly reaching its highlight chapters. I’ll do my best to bring a good finale for my series! :D

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #wolfsbane

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ducky-tm · 7 years

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guess who literally can’t stop thinking about AU ideas based on posts other peolpe make ???? hint it’s me

((ps thank you @doodlesonice for drawing this and being beautiful))

victor and yuri are brothers (it’s sort of lilo and stitch style where their parents died or….?) and yuri is in school and there’s a new teacher and it’s Yuuri and yuri is mad because that’s his name and blah blah that’s all in the comic BUT THEN yuri keeps like acting out but instead of just punishing yuri like every other teacher Yuuri (Mr. Katsuki) he actually tries talking to him and understanding why he’s doing this and just generally being very patient and at some point he calls a parent conference because clearly yuri isn’t sharing the whole picture but then yuri gets weirdly vague and distant and maybe vulnerable and he just says fine.

so the next day after school yuri and yuuri are sitting in yuuri’s office waiting for yuri’s parents (that was so many yuri’s omg) and then victor walks in a little a mess cause he’s running late but yuuri is immediately like wow you’re attractive followed by WOW aren’t you a bit young to have a son this age??? and he actually says the last part out loud and victor explains about their parents and stuff and yuri is just there pouting because “great now mr katsuki is gonna pity me i don’t need this” but of course yuuri DOESN’T (i mean, maybe a little but he doesn’t let it show, ya know?) he’s still incredibly patient and asks if there’s anything he can do and he works with yuri AND victor (who obviously is just as smitten with yuuri) and the rest of the semester starts to kind of smooth out and yuri ends class with a passing grade (let’s say it’s lit class and yuri hates reading…idk… i like yuuri as a lit teacher or maybe history?? idk not important) but over the semester yuuri and victor are also getting close not like CLOSE but like they talk about yuri and sometimes casually not about yuri but victor asks him on a date over winter break and yuuri is REALLY hesitant because yuri but he agrees and it’s like the PERFECT first date right and they end it with a kiss on the cheek and a little blush but then yuri finds out and he’s FURIOUS and victor only sort of understands like he gets why yuri would be mad but this amount of anger is unusual even for him and they fight and yuri just doesn’t talk to victor OR yuuri and his grades drop again and eventually yuuri asks him what’s been happening and yuri literally just can’t hold it in anymore and he yells about how much he loves Mr katsuki because he’s patient and doesn’t yell and how it finally seemed like things were about Yuri and how he was happy and then VICTOR had to come in and steal it away from him and invade yuri’s space JUST LIKE ALWAYS and yuri is crying at this point because he’s so mad and he’s been holding this in for MONTHS now and yuuri just listens and comforts and when yuri is done he looks embarrassed and doesn’t exactly apologize but ya know and yuuri then goes on to explain that it was only one date and that he was incredibly hesitant to go in the first place because his and victor’s primary concern is always going to be Yuri and that he’s always going to come first and yur starts to tear up again but like … he holds it back but then yuuri says please go talk to your brother okay you’ll be fine so yuri goes and when he gets home victor is doing dishes and he just says ‘im sorry for ignoring you. and for all the mean things i said.’ and victor is also gonna cry (it runs in the family okay) and he runs to hug yuri and yuri is like OH MY GOD HE FUCKING TOLD YOU DIDN’T HE???? and victor is honest he says 'he sent an email, from his school address, saying you were coming home to talk to me. it was purely professional. but now can you tell me whats going on???“ and yuri confesses all his feelings about how he thought victor didn’t really care and how he felt like he was always getting into his life and victor just feels so bad because he doesn’t know how to be a parent and he’s bee trying so hard and he tells yuri he’ll do better but yuri says 'just be my brother, okay?’ and they both cry and hug it out and things get better and yuri ends the school year with a pretty decent passing grade and over the summer he tells victor 'you know mr. kat- yuuuuuuuri isn’t my teacher anymore so… like… idk. whatever i guess” and victor makes a million times sure that this is really okay and yuri is like 'oh my god yes just go bang him already jeeeeez’ and victor calls yuuri and asks him on a second date (their contact has been strictly professional after yuri’s… thing) and of course yuuri is even more hesitant but then yuri yells from the other room “oh my god just say yes and go bang my brother!!!! maybe he’ll stop being so moody and giving me chores…” and they both blush and yuuri agrees to a second date and that summer is just really nice for all of them and i’m emotional i made myself so emotional

#it's pretty long so it's just ALL under a read more #victuuri au #podium fam au #i just love victor/yuri brothers #yoi #mine #anyway i'm tired

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 7 years

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Girls’ Last Tour 1 - 2 | Juuni Taisen 4 - 5 | Ancient Magus’ Bride 2 - 3 | Idolish7 1 - 2

The only one I’ve properly kept up with out of my 5 shows this season is Juuni Taisen, so I’m going to roll out the tag for that show first. Also, the Idolish7 first two episodes became free recently so I cover them here too.

Girls’ Last Tour 1

Pipes…grunge…hey, doesn’t this look familiar? *glares at Princess Principal*

I’ve only seen one episode of Made in Abyss but I get a bad feeling about these character designs…

I’m worried about this falling into the Yuri Divide. Sure,the fandom can do what it wants, but please don’t ship the lolis.

Oh right. Wind, meaning there’s an opening somewhere.

That dramatic eye opening made the outside world seem like an anticlimax. C’mon, show. You can do better than that.

I feel like Chito says “shut up” a lot, even though she’s only said it twice. I get how she’s kind of relatable, but this show’s not on the level of MMO Junkie or even Juuni Taisen. It’s just kinda…average.

Did Tangled ever teach you how to use a pan, Yuu?

Everything’s kinda WWI-esque. It’s kinda unsettling for a person who’s never properly seen war.

Even in this snowy world, you could still learn to hunt and cook, right?

If you kill your friend in a post-apocalyptic world, you’ll be lonely by war. Don’t kill each other, kiddos. Lives are precious.

This is serious, kiddos! C’mon!

Eating snow is meant to quench your thirst, but it’s not any good for hunger. Apparently.

Well, I’m quite lukewarm on this. I’ve already found my seasonal hits and I study globalisation, so it’s no surprise I find this stuff a lot like my weekly content. Nonetheless, whoever decided to put Classicaloid behind a paywall’s gonna have to pay (pun not intended)!

Girls’ Last Tour 2

I half expect a “hey you!” joke but they don’t work in Japanese…

What are the wiggly things on the ground next to Chi and Yuu in the OP??? Leeches???

Oh geez. Now they even draw cleavage on the lolis. Meaning these guys are just drawn young. That’s both a good and a bad thing.

Those letters seem to be…no language in particular.

Book burning. What a thing to throw in.

Oh. The blocky writing is actually hiragana or katakana. You just need to look at it closely.

I think that was meant to be comedy…but it was so cruel. Poor book.

I think what they’re saying is “don’t burn history”, but I think we learnt that a long time ago when the Chinese burnt books.

Maybe if these gals had Bear Grylls they’d survive a bit longer…?

Lemme guess: either Yuu burnt them all, destroyed them all or read them all.

The original joke was gomen wa, where ne is similar to wa. At least, I think it’s a wa. It could be a re.

The red circle said Yuu wrote the me wrong, so it’s actually probably gonun ne.

Well, someone funded a sakuga ending. Like the one from ACCA with dancing Lotta.

Juuni Taisen 4

I find it heavily symbolic that Nezumi likes eating eggs. Eggs represents chickens…and conundrums…

Ooh…bam. Nisio Isin’s going the Middle Eastern proxy route.

Hmm. Interesting, it’s basically Bystander Effect: the War.

The anime’s currently ahead of the manga, so I got slightly startled by Boar’s appearance. However, I’ve read some spoilers elsewhere, so I knew she was going to be in Monkey’s story somewhere else. I just didn’t think it was this soon.

Recycled footage…bad show! Bad!

LOL, CGI tank. Sorry for ruining the mood, but that stood out a bit too much for my liking.

“…participation is mandatory…” – Huh. I never saw that detail coming.

“Ow. I thought you were against violence.” – (LOL.) Yeah, but apathy isn’t good when something’s coming to get you in the sewers, so I’m with Monkey on this.

Wa-wait! Y’mean, Rabbit can use Chicken to use Eye of the Cormorant…so Monkey will die this ep??? [Monkey dying]’s exactly what I’ve been fearing for the duration of this episode. Update: If you want the spoiler version from the end of the ep…she didn’t die.

Notice Monkey uses moves that use the strength of her opponent against her. It’s a very pacifist touch, so to speak.

There are a series of images that flash by before the casual clothes part of the ED. If you observe them closely, you’ll see a lot of them involve the number 12. (Example: the cubes have lines on them that read “12”.)

LOL, I think I only just now spotted the bodyguard behind Boar. He’s hard to spot behind all the splatter.

Home boy and his T-bars make me laugh every time. Then of course, there’s Mr Floofy Jacket.

Oh, it’s Duodecuple who’s doing these next ep previews. I couldn’t figure out who it was last time I tried.

Juuni Taisen 5

Genius, with a capital letter? They keep calling him the Genius of Slaughter in his backstory, so I guess that’s where it’s from.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the same in Japanese as it is English, so at least the pun is there.

LOL, this episode is pretty much all “stuff goes kaboom!”, and that’s pretty much the way of the Sheep. Haha.

Of mice and men, eh??? (I read enough spoilers to know who the victor is…but I don’t know how they win.)

Whoa, yeah, baby! Bring that action! (That happens to be exactly the way I imagine my own action stories – from the front seat, so to speak.)

The snake’s winking! So cute! I want me some plushies like those!

Old-Timer. Haha, great pun on so many, many levels.

Ancient Magus’ Bride 2

I started doing a productivity blog and got caught up in it so much, I neglected anime! Imagine that – me, neglecting anime!

Oh, there’s a little “open” sign near the door.

It’s anime Hogwarts! Only the train is more colorful…LOL. (Actually, Little Witch Academia is anime Hogwarts, so scratch that.)

Ooh, Elias has a good taste in faces. Not that I’m complaining or anything. (Looks like En-chan, to boot.)

Elias is like the NEET genius of the magic world here. It’s kinda funny.

What’s a Gem’s Bee? (No spoilers, I’m not a manga reader!)

Angelica’s like her (Chise’s) mother, LOL. Seeing Elias properly emote is hilarious, hilarious! (Why I procrastinated on this show? Because it’s a slow mover that should be appreciated in its own time, but I’m not good with binging so…that’s why I’m only watching it now.)

Oh! No wonder Angelica seems like a mother. She is a mother.

Ooh! Ice flowers. Pretty. I’ve already gotten way too many screenshots for my own good out of this show…As a writer, I feel like I could never make a story like this.This is a story best fostered under someone else’s hand.

Poppies, eh? To me, poppies symbolise war and sticking out, but that’s just a product of where I was born. In the case of war, poppies represent the blood of the fallen and those who rise above that.

Speaking of stories I couldn’t write, I’m currently bringing Next to Me to a close. I feel like that’s my best match to AMB, which is why my thoughts dwell on stories so much right now. Next to Me is one of those stories where the world matters just as much as the character building, if not more, which is why the understated majesty of AMB is a good match.

Seeing a blonde Englishman use –kun like a Japanese is a bit disorienting.

Simon really treats Chise like a child, eh?

The “open” sign now says “close”. What is this house, an apothecary?

The CGI door was a bit weird…

Whoa! That was a bit of a fast approach into the dragon scene, but apparently the dragon part of AMB was really hyped…

Ancient Magus’ Bride 3

How does skelly-man see like that?

The dragons look like…Pokémon! (That was my first thought, LOL.)

This blonde is Lindel from the promo material I’ve read. He looks like zaShunina (Kado), so it’s best to be wary of him.

Ooh, now there’s an application of shadows I’d never be able to think of!

Holy flame spirits, Batman! Elias has a tongue! (I got spoilered on that by ANN, but it’s crazy seeing it in context.)

Ancient mages shouldn’t be hot like zaShunina! Where are the real old fogeys like Kiku(hiko, SGRS)?

Uncle Nevin! I found it extremely charming this uil has a name beyond “Uil”.

Can these dragons read minds? Or is it just the power of Dragon Knowledge (TM)?

When they say “Anime saved my life”, I guess they never meant it this literally…or at least, Chise never meant it this literally.

That dragon has way too many eyes!!! Yipes.

Huh. I haven’t felt this feeling since SGRS. The feeling of a masterpiece on my eyeballs.

羽鳥チセ <- That’s how you write Chise’s name, so they did another “Western creature uses Japanese knowledge” thing…

D’aww. That was beautiful! No wonder people like it, now I like it too. Nothing short of majestic, guys, nothing short of majestic.

Hey, the guy who voiced Nevin is called Ryuuzaburo. Ryuu means dragon in this case. (Meta pun!)

Idolish 7 1

Crunchyroll really tried to hype this thing up! Wow. So, here I am at what could pretty much be called a premiere event of the simulcast commentary. Enjoy, friends.

By the way, I’ve tried a bit of the Idolish 7 game (but since it was on BlueStacks, I couldn’t do the “rhythm” part of the rhythm game very well and subsequently couldn’t get too far) and of course, there’s a vested interest through Shirai, Masuda and Nishiyama. Update: There’s no Nishiyama in sight. Sorry, guys.

Oh wow. This is exactly as I remember it in the game, right down to the word!

Yay! I was looking forward to seeing the basketball scene adapted, since it’s possibly the only scene I got to experience in the game in its (Japanese) entirety. Bring the dang game to the Western world, Bandai!

Riku is such a pure cinnamon bun when he gets the basketball back.

LOL, Nagi is such a flirt, kyaa~ (semi-sarcastic).

I don’t remember them dropping Trigger’s name so early…geesh, my memory must be sketchier than I thought it was.

Just as a reference, Iori (black) is 17 while Riku (red) is 18.

Ooh, I just spotted a Trigger ad on one building during that cut.

Ooh, good sense of drama these guys have got going.

Idolish 7 2

Expressiveness for a grump like Yamato, LOL.

LOL, there’s a shark in the back…

Iori has a cat shirt, hahaha.

Cool and sharp…stationery? Like a compass?

Iori’s so sarcastic, I can’t tell f he’s ever being serious or not.

I don’t know who’s my favourite so far out of these i7 boys. Probably the one similar to my husbando, Tamaki.

Ahh, gotta love me a good, honest hardworking anime gal. You don’t see them very often, y’know. It’s refreshing.

That was a great Iori impression Mitsuki did, even visually (note: I didn’t listen to Mitsuki do the impression, I only read the subs…hence my comment). Troyca really captured the style of the game, to boot, which is another cherry on the cake.

Notice Iori stands in front of the D.C. (da capo) and leaves to reveal it.

I researched who Riku’s brother is while I was watching ep 1 and…(spoilers for the uninitiated!) the brother is Tenn of Trigger!

There was a soba ad in the back in one lingering shot…

Hey, I get the feeling there’s CGI involved in this dance segment, but it’s…hardly detectable! Amazing! These guys seem to have gone a long way since the horribly animated Monster Generation MV.

Notice they (Troyca) only use CGI in (mostly) shots which don’t involve closeups.

Of course Nagi winks in the middle of his performance…

Whoo, yeah. That was a bold move by Crunchyroll, and of course that would grab me more than just leaking the first ep. I wonder if any critics covered this on their blogs…? Or would it not matter, since critics wouldn’t cover this “uncritical slop” anyway? Nonetheless, I covered it, and that’s what matters! (Update: Yeah, all the critics – Frog-kun, Lauren in Space, Mage in a Barrel etc. - passed on it. As expected of those critics…)

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