#i don't know what to call this arc/saga yet...

[alterchaos]

By far my favorite bit I've written in a while lmao

I'll probably end up drawing it too

[romantic-ageru-yo]

I've made it one of my goals this year to fill in some of the gaps in my Dragon Ball knowledge and watch the movies/series/etc that I've never watched properly before; we're starting with Dragon Ball GT which I only saw a few random episodes of back in the 90s and I remember not really liking what I saw of it at the time

I've just finished the Black Star Dragon Ball saga, so here are a few first impressions from a proper watch-through

It's definitely just giving me OG Dragon Ball vibes with little shit Goku and wacky adventures with shooting Kamehamehas at volcanoes (why is that a recurring thing, and why does it work xD) and dressing Trunks up as a woman to trick the guy who's kidnapping girls is just the whole Oolong thing all over again, it's very nostalgic

Trunks is like 'we can't get involved in other planets' politics!!' and then they uh... get involved in every planets' politics that they land on xD Also Trunks being as terrible at flying/landing the spaceship as Bulma was in the Namek arc? Perfection, 10/10, no notes <3

Pan is fine in this, I don't know why I've seen people complain that she's horrible in GT? (unless I just haven't reached the parts with her being terrible yet, or she's terrible in the dub which isn't the version I'm watching) She's just acting like a bratty preteen because, y'know, she IS a preteen?? Also she's giving me strong Videl vibes which I love, back when Videl was allowed to have a personality, I actually like Pan a lot more as a character after what I've seen so far

I've seen people bring up the Para Para Brothers before when showing examples of why they think GT is bad, but why have I never seen anyone complain about the absolutely disgusting creep that sexually assaults Pan while she's in doll form?? The Para Para Brothers were fine by comparison, annoying and odd perhaps, but the other guy was literally making me feel physically ill

They really just abuse the crap out of this poor little robot omg where are the robot protection services?? Please protect this little guy!!

Myuu is just Space Gero, that's all I've been calling him, that's his name now

You know I can kind of see why some people ship Trunks & Pan; this show gives them a lot of chemistry together and never bothers to explain the weird age gap. If this was the only Dragon Ball series you'd ever seen for whatever reason, and you didn't have the context, you probably would pair them together... which then raises the question of why do GT and Super both kind of set Trunks up with these girls he has weird age gaps with?? Give this poor man an actual non-problematic love interest, he has already suffered enough!

Anyway, I'm onto the Baby saga now, which I know means we're going back to Earth to spend more time with the characters I'm actually interested in, so yay!!

[athenianblessings]

Kinda curious but what are your thoughts on Saga as a whole?

He's basically one of my all time favorite characters!

From a narrative standpoint he's probably the most interesting and well-developed character throughout the series.

A man born under the star of Gemini who devotes himself heart and soul to Athena, who one day is told by both his twin brother and later on the highest authority in Sanctuary that something is Wrong with him. Something Evil lurks within him, and because of that there's no future for him. He'll never ascend to become Grand Pope naturally. He'll never truly be Athena's Saint. There will always be something within him that marks him as defective.

And he had no idea what it was.

He falls into depression, anger, negativity, whatever you want to call it, and the Evil within him comes out. It comes out and it lashes out at Shion, killing him. It forces him to assume the Grand Pope title despite it no longer belonging to him. (And he knows, deep down, the title never DID belong to him anyways)

And then the Evil tells him to kill Athena. "We don't need a goddess. The earth should be mine. Should be ours. We deserve it after everything we've been through"

Saga is too broken to truly fight back. Oh he tries, he grapples with this entity that assumes hold over him, he fights it off but it Always Comes Back and then, it attacks Athena. Kills Aiolos. Brands him a traitor.

Saga knows that he alone is the only traitor.

He grapples with this entity, with Ares, for years until Athena and her Bronze Saints confront him at Sanctuary (Ares is just a name at first for the anime, though Saintia Sho says that Saga was the vessel for the God of War Ares and that was the true Evil within him. Depends who you ask and what you consider canon)

The Evil is purged from Saga using Athena's shield and he's finally himself again, He's just and good, but he can't forgive himself. How could he? He lived to serve Athena and yet he spent years tarnishing her honor, going against her, and tried to kill her multiple times. Saori forgives him, she knows that it wasn't his fault, but Saga still kills himself to restore his honor and prove himself.

You go through all these rungs of turmoil (which get expanded on in Hades Arc, Soul of Gold, Saintia Sho, and Saint Seiya Episode G which I havent read personally) and its like, the more info you get the more upsetting Saga's life becomes.

He was just a good man who wanted to serve his goddess, and all of this happened to him. Because of Fate, because the gods willed it, because of the Curse of the Gemini star, whatever you wanna attribute it to. And at the end of the day his Evil does not define him. He was good and just. That's how everyone knew and saw him; extremely, devastatingly powerful, but the epitome of a true Saint with his benevolence.

I LOVE Saga because there's so much to him, but at the end of the day his issues, his depression, and his pain come second to his identity as a Saint. It's more easily seen in Soul of Gold and Saintia Sho, but there's so much to him and the turmoil of being a stranger in your own body is so fascinating to me.

TLDR: I just think hes SO neat!!!!!

[sapphire-weapon]

my first fictional crush was goku at age maybe 6.

the first fanfiction i ever wrote was FF7. the second one was DBZ. the third was a crossover between them both. i was like. 8 or 9.

in 5th grade, i got in trouble in school for passing handwritten DBZ fanfiction back and forth with the boy who sat front of me in class, and my mom refused to yell at me for it because she was glad that i was doing something creative.

DBZ was one of the things that my brother and i actually did together as kids. we were never close because he's 6 years older than me, but i have distinct memories of coming home from school and he'd be waiting with the next 3 or 4 DBZ episodes he'd downloaded from the internet, japanese fansubbed in english because the english dub hadn't released past the frieza saga yet. so i knew how the series went before any of my friends did. he would also go to chinatown in NYC and come home with bootleg fansubbed VHS tapes of DBZ movies. this was like circa 1999-2001. i still have them at my mom's house.

before i knew that cosplay was a thing that people actually did, i went as pan from DBGT for halloween when i was 12.

when i did find out what cosplay was, i was too afraid to do it properly, so when i went to my first convention at 17 with a boyfriend who did not want to go with me but i made him go anyway (it was AnimeNEXT 2007), i threw together a closet cosplay of a genderbent mirai trunks. and i actually found the fucking picture i took of it in the bathroom at my mom's house.

(that's the closest you're ever going to get to a proper face reveal btw lmao a 17 year old picture of me where you can see more of my tits than my face.)

i then went on to properly redo my pan cosplay, and i cosplayed chichi as well. took a picture at a con with a lil baby like 3 year old who was dressed up as goku. can't find it right now though.

in 2011, i went to anime boston with @feelboss and @theggning and drunkenly ran into sean schemmel (the english voice of goku) and somehow ended up on stage with him later that night, still wasted, at the hentai dubbing panel. faked an orgasm on stage for goku in front of about 200 people. my first fictional crush. probably the most iconic moment of my con-going days. i was 21.

the very first time i was able to use analysis of a character's arc to accurately predict their future portrayal in canon was mirai trunks. when his db super arc aired, i remember just being totally floored like, "i can't believe i actually called so much of this" -- especially considering the fact that DB never really had much of a reputation of being consistent.

i just have so many memories of staying up late with @godtier watching DB and shitposting and RPing bardock and raditz and trolling the fuck out of each other, and just

man DB was such a huge part of my life and just... felt like it was always there for me.

i don't normally mourn celebrity deaths, but i feel like i've spent the last 30 years of my life with akira toriyama. losing him hurts so much. it feels like the world has had a little bit of hope fade away from it. i have a headache from crying.

i know that i would always meme on you for forgetting your own characters, but... thank you, toriyama-san. for everything.

[peridoxikal-redux]

oomf have you seen the new future saga chapter two trailer yet? if so, what’s your thoughts??

MAKI COME GET YOUR MAN I KNOW YOU AIN'T GONNA FIX HIM JUST COME RETRIEVE HIM!!!!!!

In all seriousness, looks fairly fun. I might not get it until after I get DQ3, but either way, I'll play it eventually. I'm committed to the walking nonbinary flag 🫡

Jiren's moves are pretty underwhelming but Belmod should be fun.

I suppose I don't have much commentary on anything outside of the story lol. The destroyed Conton intrigues me. I still do feel like we're on a path to Fu getting his Super form, or whatever version of it XV2 can manage without stepping on Heroes' toes (even though Heroes has ended).

Maybe the destroyed Conton is a fakeout, or something's going on with the experiment that's hindering Fu's judgment. I guess we'll be calling this the "messy breakup arc".

All I know is I'm still curious if XV2 will touch the new Daima lore surrounding demons. I just want a crumb of Fu making fun of his uncle's statue.

I do already figure one of ch3's DLC characters is going to be Glorio. If theres no interaction between him and Mira or ANY interaction of someone mistaking him for Mira/a new version of Mira, I'll be sad.

[frogshipping]

I decided I'm gonna talk about Viti and Goku's hypothetical/AU/Alt timeline/whatever children, because apparently that's what my brain wants to focus on rn

So like I mentioned before, they have a set of twins--one boy and one girl. They would be the couple's only children, but they're both incredibly loved.

In the AU or timeline where Viti has the twins, she finds out she's expecting approximately 6 months after her and Goku get married (which would be about year 6 going into 7 of the 10 timeskip between the end of the Buu saga and the End of Z arc). It's a shock, because Viti didn't realize they were capable of getting pregnant; since they're technically a god. She didn't know if her body would even allow her to conceive, yet alone carry to term. But she manages it, and Goku is thrilled to welcome his new children. He swears to be there for these babies, in the way he couldn't be for Gohan and Goten, and keeps his word.

I would prefer for the twins to be named after Goku + Goku's masters, since technically both Gohan and Goten are, and I want all the Son kids to match (Gohan for grandpa Gohan, the -ten in Goten's name means heaven but kinda refers to Muten Roshi as well.) Which would mean the twins would be named Gorin (in honor of Korin) and Gomi (in honor of Kami), which are fine in english but I don't think they work in Japanese. I tried to research and find some kanji to translate into the names that could theoretically make sense, but idrk any Japanese and idk if the translations would make sense. I don't want to just throw shit at the wall uneducated. Also gomi directly translated means trash (while fitting since Viti's og universe is in homestuck /j) I don't want either kid to be named trash.

So instead I will be going with fruits for names! The boy will be called Goji (after goji berries), and the girl will be Goumi (to stay close to one of my original ideas + its also a type of berry so she'll match her twin.) The only thing about the name Goumi is that I can't get a straight answer on how to pronounce it (I heard goo-me, go-me, and goy-me). In my mind it's pronounced go-me so that it's close to her dad's name, but you guys read it however you want.

Goji and Goumi are very close siblings but they're kinda opposite each other. Goumi takes after Goku in many aspects, from hairstyle, to her bravery, to being kinda a menace like Kid Goku was. She's loud like her mom, likes to write, and is obsessed with animals in the same way. Goumi wants to marry Bra/Bulla when they grow up (Bra is only about 3 years older than the twins in this AU). Though she's not really into mushy stuff. She's ambitious and absolutely loves to fight, just like a typical saiyan. She started begging to learn martial arts by the age of 3. She's very good at figuring out her opponent's moves, and is a careful strategist (despite not being super thoughtful outside of battle). Goumi is very much a daddy's girl. She wants to be a hero just like him, and get strong just the way he has, and for the same reasons.

Goji and Goumi being half-saiyans are born with their tails. In the particular AU/timeline that they are born, Goku had come back from being dead for 7 years with his tail. So since he has his, he and Viti decide the kids can keep theirs until they're old enough to choose if they want them permanently removed. The family stays indoors the night of the full moon to prevent any Ozaru accidents, until the kids are big enough to start martial arts training. Vegeta helps Goji, Goumi, and even Goku gain control of themselves when in their primal form. They learn to utilize the body of the great ape to their advantage. This probably helps Goku get closer to achieving super saiyan 4 before the events of GT (which tbh probably don't happen in this AU). Vegeta also teaches them how to strengthen their tails so they aren't such a liability. Goji and Goumi will twine their tails together to stay connected, even as adults, it's something they did even in the womb (Viti has a framed ultrasound photo of them doing that on her bedroom wall).

Meanwhile Goji is a little more laid back. He starts as a nervous little kid but comes out of his shell when he begins learning how to fight. Then he shows more of his Goku side, friendly with all that he meets and naïve. He's more polite that Goumi, who's quick to spout whatever's on her mind, vs Goji who thinks before speaking. He got some people pleasing tendencies from Viti, and their love of music. Goji is also a romantic like his mom. He looks slightly more like Viti as well, with his hair being more windswept, and his eyes the same shade of green as theirs (though there's no symbol in his eyes). He really likes to work with his hands and is more of a defender when fighting than offensive. Even though he is a more careful in regular situations, he's the sort that will act before thinking in a fight, especially if someone he cares about is in danger. Goji also wants to be like his dad, merciful and kind, and a friend to everyone he meets (even if they start as an enemy). He seeks to get stronger, but to compete with his sister moreso than for the love of it. But he also wants to live a normal life in the future, believing he can handle being both earth's protector as well as regular person.

Goumi was born a few minutes before Goji, and believes herself to be his protector as a result. She defends him in every day life, and in turn, Goji is there to defend his sister in battle. Goji is Goumi's #1 supporter when it comes to her pursuing Bra's affections. Goumi roots for Goji whenever he attempts to make friends. Goji helps Goumi get closer to her dream of becoming the first female super saiyan (which she eventually succeedes at as a tween.) Goumi is more selective about food like their mom, so Goji is there to eat what she won't. They do definitely have some sort of twin connection, and will each go to the other when they sense their presence is needed. The pair can fuse together, their form being called "Goujimi".

Goji and Goumi are the youngest of the DBZ kids to be born (Trunks is oldest, then Goten, Bra, Pan, and finally the twins.) Still despite the age differences, all the kids get along and eventually become the next group of Z Fighters when the OGs get too old for it anymore. Goumi likes to argue with Trunks for the right to be considered leader of the group. But because he's got more battle knowledge and experience he's the defacto leader, even if he doesn't really care to be.

I think that's just about everything I have on the twins. Sometime soon I'll post some concept art of them. Hope you enjoyed reading!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.88-90

The 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypa Liveblog concludes with the DBS manga's adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero motion picture.

First up, we have this three-chapter prologue/prequel thing starring Goten and Trunks in their lankey teen bodies. It's well-made, but I'm not impressed. Find out the reason why... inside!

Okay, as the image above shows, this is all about the boys' playing superheroes while they're in high school... just like Gohan did way back in Dragon Ball Z. The main difference seems to be that there's two of them doing it this time, and their motives are a little more frivolous. Gohan came up with Great Saiayaman because he just couldn't help but foil crimes, and the costume allowed him to save the day without giving away his identity. Goten and Trunks also want to keep a low profile, but they mostly seem to be doing this shtick because they're on a superhero kick lately. They call themselves "Saiyaman X1 and X2", but their act mainly imitates their hero, Cleangod, who has a franchise of movies, video games, and so forth.

The added wrinkle is that they're also trying to keep this thing a secret from their families, as Bulma and Chi-Chi wouldn't approve of the boys screwing around like this when they should be studying. I guess it was okay when Gohan did it, but times have changed, and Trunks in particular isn't doing so hot on his report cards.

That does keep things mildly interesting. For example, you'd expect the boys to use costume changing watches like Great Saiyaman had, except they don't want Bulma to find out. So Trunks asks Pilaf to make them instead, and Pilaf can't make them as quickly, so Trunks doesn't get his until chapter 88 is half-over, and Goten's isn't ready until chapter 89. And you know, it probably would make things a lot simpler for Goten and Trunks to avoid the Saiyaman stuff altogether if they don't want their moms to find out, since they've seen this trick before. But they're doing it anyway, I guess because they're just that deep into the Cleangod fandom.

However, this still feels like a retread of a storyline we've already seen. Reading this, I feel like I've gotten too old for Dragon Ball. I know that isn't true. I'm looking forward to whatever happens in Chapter 101 onward, and Daima seems promising, even if it wasn't what I had in mind. There's always something interesting around the corner... but I see stories like this one that are more interested in rehashing older material, and it just feels tired and stale. Younger fans may not mind at all, but I see this and wonder if all we have left is just rehashing ideas we've already seen before.

Besides all of that, I'm not a big fan of high school stories, and there's a healthy dose of Trumai... and let's just get this out of the way before we go any further: I'm not that interested in the whole "next generation" thing.

I know there's a lot of fans who really dig the whole idea of exploring what happens to Goten, Trunks, Marron, Uub, Bulla, and Pan. I respect that, but I've never been very invested in any of them. I liked what we got out of them in DBZ, but that's about it. Let me kind of single out Goten so I can discuss this more easily. For the sake of argument, let's just call the "next generation" concept "Big Goten", since it features the teenage or adult version of the character, as opposed to the little guy in the Buu Saga and most of Super. Trunks, Marron, and the rest can be lumped into this, but it's easier to just refer to one character.

Basically, this 3-chapter arc is probably the best "Big Goten" story by default. Your other options are the End of Z episodes which barely do anything with him, or that one GT episode where he fights Baby and gets possessed. Or the Super Hero movie, where he's barely in it.

And yet, we have this 3-chapter arc, and Goten's basically playing sidekick to Trunks. That's not a huge problem in itself. You'd expect these two to be side-by-side, but it's mainly a Trunks story. He's trying to get Mai to go out with him, but she's part of the Pilaf gang living at Capsule Corp, and they have to be useful or Bulma will kick them out. So she's too busy repairing these "helper robots" that malfunctioned recently. Trunks thinks he can investigate the case as Saiyaman X-1 and get Mai the weekend off so she can date him. Goten's just sort of along for the ride. He enjoys the superhero bit, and he likes goofing off with Trunks, so it's all good.

And honestly, you could probably switch these two around and have Goten be the one trying to solve crimes to go on a date, while Trunks is the supportive wingman. But that's the problem. We have this one story, and they both kind of have to share it, and it really doesn't matter which one of them gets the lead.

Like, in this arc, we learn a little more about Teen Trunks. He's not doing well scholastically, he lacks Bulma's talent with computers or science, and... he's still carrying a torch for Mai for some reason. Oh, and he's afraid of ghosts now. It's not much to go on, but at least he gets something. All we find out about Goten in this thing is that he likes Cleangod, just like Trunks. Oh, and Teen Marron has a brief appearance where it turns out she really likes Cleangod too. Also several of Goten and Trunks' classmates enjoy Cleangod. And Dr. Hedo likes Cleangod. You know, that's how you develop your characters, right? You make them all like the same thing.

The point I'm getting at is that for years I've heard that Big Goten is this untapped well of great story ideas and this arc finally gets around to that and... it's pretty underwhelming. That's the big idea? Superheroes? Again? It worked for Gohan because it was a fresh idea when he did it. And it worked for Dr. Hedo because it helped set him apart from Dr. Gero. But all it does for Goten and Trunks is give them another set of clothes. Trunks is still pining for Mai and Goten is still just happy to be here. It's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

So let's move on. The boys head into town one night to investigate the Helper Robots that are mysteriously disappearing. Turns out they've been hijacked by Dr. Hedo's Alpha series androids. Strictly speaking, the Alphas are just corpses stolen from a morgue, reanimated with cybernetics. Remember those goons working at the convenience store in the beginning of Super Hero? Well this is the same group of guys. Hedo's problem is that he's fare more brilliant than Gero ever was, but he lacks the resources and funding to make the kinds of androids that he wants to make. The Alphas are functional, but only just. Their brains are defective, and you can probably only steal so many bodies from the morgue before the cops get wise to you. So Hedo's big idea is to hijack the Helper Robots and use them to manufacture sushi packages for profit. He could build something more efficient for this, but this will have to do until he gets the cash.

Oh, I forgot to talk about how Pilaf built the Helper bots. I'm not clear on what they do, but there's a lot of them in the city, and apparently Pilaf pitched the idea to Bulma and she okayed it. At first I was surprised to read this, but then I remembered that Pilaf had his own Dragon Radar way back in the day. It wasn't as sophisticated as Bulma's, but it goes to show that Pilaf knows his way around technology. This isn't some new thing they slapped onto his character, like Trunks suddenly being afraid of ghosts.

For a second, it looks like Goten and Trunks are discovered by the Alphas, but it turns out Trunks' pals from school have snuck into the production floor, and they're the ones who get discovered, so Trunks has to go in and save them. Except his superhero wristwatch malfunctions, so Goten has to take out the lights to cover for him.

Trunks cleans house, even defeating Alpha 12, who was the strongest guy on Hedo's team. When Hedo himself arrives to find his base wrecked, his only clue is that it was trashed by someone who goes to "Blue Hal" High School. It's a major setback for Hedo, but what really upsets him is that Trunks took an important disc from his safe. Hedo wants to recover it above all else. Ironically, Trunks isn't even that concerned about the disc, since all he really cares about is disrupting whatever Hedo was doing to the Helper Robots. That way he can get his date with Mai, except it won't. Even more ironically, Mai still has to work on Saturday night, because she and the Pilaf Gang have to repair all the Helper Robots Trunks smashed in Hedo's base. Whoops!

Later, Trunks tries to use Bulma's computer to access the data on the disc he took from Hedo's sushi packaging shop. He briefly sees information related to Cell, but he doesn't recognize its significance, probably because he only knows Cell from hearing about it through his family. Anyway, the disc gives the computer a virus, which Bulla removes because that's her big character defining moment in this story. She's basically a carbon copy of Kid Bulma from the Jaco manga, but at least she's not another Cleangod fan.

Anyway, Bulma had decided to start sending Mai to school along with Trunks. Apparently she realized it might be awkward if anyone noticed Mai working for Capsule Corp. and not going to school. This just now came up? I mean, the Pilaf Gang have been here for a few years at least. If anything, it would have been more awkward when Mai was younger, right? I mean, I get it, this is just a way to get Mai involved in the story, but still...

There's also another new student in Trunks' class: Baytah. Trunks' friend Rulah takes an immediate liking to him, but this is pretty clearly a new android created by Dr. Hedo. The Alpha series was no match for Saiyaman X-1, so he created a new Beta class to infiltrate Blue Hal High School and find out who X-1 really is. Beta begins to suspect Trunks, since he displays some above-average performance on the basketball court, but he can't find a way to prove it without giving himself away.

So here we have this weird scene where they're getting soup for lunch, and Trunks is sad that he can't get extra. Then Beta pretends to trip or something, and throws his soup into the air. I guess the idea was that Trunks would have to use super powers to dodge it, or he'd get it all over his nice school clothes. But instead Trunks just sort of shifts to one side and the soup miraculously lands in his bowl. And he's happy because he gets extra soup? How does it all fit in one bowl, though? Is the lunch lady only filling them up halfway? This whole bit is really contrived, is what I'm trying to say.

Somewhere along the way, Mai figures it out and explains it to Trunks, so they know Beta is looking for Saiyaman X-1. So he knows to be careful about showing off his powers, but Goten just picks up a truck during recess to get a tennis ball back for his classmates. See, Trunks, this is how you get the ladies. Mai is like 55 years old. She doesn't care, but if you pick up a truck or two, all these teenage girls will go wild. Right now, these two girls are thinking about how much they wish they were trucks, being held in Goten's mightly-yet-gentle hand.

Anyway, now Beta is convinced that Goten is the one he's after, and Hedo tells him to attack and get the disc.

So Beta reveals he has a goofy superhero suit of his own, but Goten can't fight seriously because he doesn't have a transformation watch yet. Fortunately, Trunks does, so he shows up as X-1 and quickly slips Goten the new watch Pilaf must have made last night.

I'm not thrilled with Beta's design, but I like the concept. Faced with both Saiyamen, he deploys Beta 2, which is a robotic exosuit that can separate and fight in two modules. The Betas are here for the disc, but neither Goten or Trunks has it. Mai does, because Trunks gave her his bag while he ran off to pee or whatever excuse he had to switch costumes.

So Trunks has to save Mai from the Betas, and as he catches her, she briefly mistakes him for Future Trunks, the only version of Trunks Mai seems to have any interest in. The Saiyamen clean house, and the day is saved. Trunks very nearly tells Mai that he was X-1 all along, but Goten stops him before he can spill the beans in front of the whole school.

Okay, but what's the point? I mean, Goten just lifted a truck with one hand a minute ago? More importantly, Great Saiyaman was revealed to be Goten about ten years earlier. Not that I expect these students to remember that, but that's my point: Gohan was worried about everyone finding out he had super powers, and in the end no one cared.

I mean, there's still the matter of not wanting Bulma and Chi-Chi to find out what they're up to, but that sort of doesn't matter? I mean, the moms just want their kids to study more and screw around less. It doesn't really matter if they're playing superhero or going fishing. Their moms know they aren't studying, because they've got the report cards to prove it.

Back at Hedo's (other) base, he realizes he underestimated the Saiyamen, and realizes that he'll have to build even better androids to defeat them. And he's taken a liking to the Saiyamen's costumes, particularly their capes, so the implication here is that the Gammas' designs were inspired by Goten and Trunks' antics in this story.

Later, we finally get to that convenience store we saw briefly in Super Hero. Hedo still needs money, especially if he plans to build something to defeat the Saiyamen, so he puts three of his Alphas to work at the "Mammal Mart". It's Krillin who makes the bust, and for some reason Mai is there too.

Despite his lofty plans for better androids, the best Hedo can manage is to send more Beta series androids after Goten and Trunks. Beta 7 looks like an Elvis impersonator, and he intercepts Goten's school bus, but Goten changes into X-2 and beats him. Apparently this sort of thing has been going on for a while now.

Mai takes Goten aside and reveals to him that they're being watched by a tiny spy-robot. After the Beta-1 incident at school, Mai investigated and learned that Dr. Hedo is a famous scientist in the area, and she believes he's behind all of this. Apparently he's already figured out Goten and Trunks are the Saiyamen, since he's been sending Beta androids to harass them.

Mai's plan is to defeat Hedo by using the school dance to lure him into a trap. The organizers have arranged for a live appearance by Cleangod at the dance, which... seems kind of odd for a high school dance, but nothing about this super-hero business really makes any sense to me.

Like, okay... I've been a comic book fan for over thirty years. I just read a bunch of Golden Age Captain Americas a few months ago. I think I know the genre pretty well, and nothing Dragon Ball Super does with the concept really rings true to me.

In the first place, the Dragon Ball characters are already superheroes. I went from Batman to Superman to Marvel to Dragon Ball Z, and it was a pretty smooth transition. I never stopped liking the other stuff that came before, so it's not like my tastes changed all that much. I just see DBZ as a natural extension of the same stuff I liked in Marvel and DC.

It made sense when Gohan became Great Saiyaman because the only trope he hadn't done yet was the secret identity thing, and the only reason it had never come up before was that he'd never needed one before then. Once he got into high school, he suddenly had friends he wanted to keep secrets from, so he did the same thing Clark Kent did in 1938.

But then you have Goten and Trunks doing it because they think it's neat, and they're fans of Cleangod, who is a fictional character to them. And this is probably because Hedo was doing the same bit in the movie, where he would wear a costume and do the poses because he was imitating other fictional superheroes. So the idea seems to be less about the superhero genre as I know it, and more of this ironic "Let's be comic book nerds and do cosplay, and also we have super powers so we can do more than just pose in the suits."

Which... fine, I guess. The thing is, I don't understand the fascination with Cleangod. I mean, it makes sense for Hedo to be an enormous fanboy, because he's a nerdy scientist. I'm a nerdy scientist, so I can relate. He wants Cleangod's autograph, and I'm running an anime blog in my late 40's.

But Goten and Trunks are not nerds. Neither, it seems, are most of their classmates. They all seem like fairly normal teens, mostly interested in dates and school stuff and snooping around abandoned factories or whatever. But this high school dance is going to feature a live appearance by a man in a superhero costume. That's the sort of thing a circus would do to get small children to show up.

Is this an ironic thing? Like, did Goten and Trunks start out thinking Cleangod was cringy kidstuff, and they just kept getting deeper into the fandom until they started liking it for real? Is that what's happening?

Sorry, I was explaining Mai's plan. Okay, so Cleangod will be doing a meet-and-greet at a high school dance party. Okay. Dr. Hedo is a huge mark for Cleangod, so Mai is certain he will crash the party just to meet Cleangod and get his autograph. And she plans to be there when he does, so she can shut him down once and for all.

And she gets to go to this dance, because she's attending with...

...Trunks. He wanted to ask her to this thing, but she asked him instead, so he's all a-flutter over this, never realizing that she's just using him to get at Hedo. Except.... she's attending this school now. She doesn't need a date to get in. Hedo is the one who has to find some way to get access to the building, because he's not a student.

I like Mai's armor in this scene, although it really never comes into play. Also, Trunks brought Hedo's disc with him, because.... I have no idea. Maybe he doesn't want to risk losing it?

As expected, Hedo does show up for this thing, and I guess it's because Beta-1 is still registered as a student? I'm more confused about this signing event in the middle of a dance floor. This just feels like a hot mess. Trunks and Hedo bond over their mutual love of Cleangod... wait, I thought Trunks was excited about getting to go on a date with Mai? Priorities, Trunks!

Anyway, Hedo confides to Trunks that he had a Cleangod autograph before, but it was stolen, so he's here to get another one. Hold on, doesn't Hedo know Trunks is X-1? I mean, he was sending androids after Goten, so he must know he's X-2, right?

Mai tries to get Hedo, but then Beta shows up, and Rulah explains that he got back into the school, so she asked him to the dance. I really like Rulah. She doesn't know what's going on, but there's a new boy in town and she's gonna make time with him. She's like an Archie character.

Then the cops show up. Yeah, just draw your guns in a big crowd of children, Krillin, that makes a ton of sense.

Hedo uses a smokebomb to escape and everyone chases after him. By the time Cleangod comes out to make his big appearance, everyone is gone except Mai, who isn't impressed. That's the thing I can't square with all of this. The running gag seems to be that superheroes are both cool and uncool at the same time. People were lining up to see this guy, but the punchline is that he totally sucks? I guess? Characters will praise Goten and Trunks' costumes and then later characters will call them corny.

Like, which is it? That's the thing about superhero comics, at least from my perspective. In the real world, you either think Batman's awesome or he's a giant dork in a fursuit. Fine. But in the Batman mythos, just about everyone takes him seriously because he's a mysterious badass. I get it, Cleangod's basically Adam West working car-shows in the 1970's, but Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 are the real thing. They fought robots in the middle of the football field in front of everyone. I mean, no one called Goten corny when he lifted that truck.

Oh, by the way, Dr. Hedo's jalopy is awesome.

Krillin (reluctantly) brings Goten and Trunks along to chase down Hedo, and he fills them in on the situation. The cops have been after Hedo because they think the Red Ribbon Army is trying to stage a comback and they want to contact him. That.... doesn't quite square with the movie, but we'll talk about that later.

Anyway, they get to Hedo's (third?) base and he's got a dinosaur android to stop them. This is the biggest, strongest one he's made so far, but it's still not very sophisticated, simply because Hedo lacks the resources to build anything better.

It gives the Bio-Broly Buster Crew a little trouble, but Krillin disables it with a kienzan, and then Goten and Trunks take it out with a double-team move. And Hedo's going to jail.

So what about that disc? Turns out it never mattered. Hedo memorized all the information on it a long time ago, so the disc itself had no value to him. What he wanted was the case, which contained, in addition to the disc, his prized Cleangod autograph. Remember? The one he told Trunks got stolen? They didn't know it at the time, but Trunks was the one who stole it in Chapter 88.

And that's really dumb, because Trunks did try to investigate the disc in Chapter 89. He didn't get very far, but he still had to open the case it was in, so you'd think he would have noticed the Cleangod autograph inside. I mean, another character might not have paid any attention to it, but Trunks is a huge fan of Cleangod himself.

And if Hedo truly had no use for the disc, why didn't he throw it away a long time ago? In this scene, he says he discarded it, but he must have only done that in the last few minutes, before Krillin showed up to arrest him, since Trunks had the disc before the dance. This whole thing is supposed to be clever, but it's kind of dumb.

Anyway, this whole caper explains how Hedo got sentenced to prison at the beginning of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. He could have been given a longer sentence, but according to this story, he agreed to return some of the Alphas back to the families of the corpses he built them out of. This is supposed to be funny, but it's just kind of bizarre. Like, are we saying Hedo resurrected the corpses? I thought the idea was he just used a dead body to build Alpha 12. But this seems to suggest Alpha 12 remembers his former existence. That's kind of fucked up.

Like I said at the beginning, there's a lot that is well done here. Toyotaro's art is on-point as usual, and there's some great action scene with Goten and Trunks. I think the big highlight of the arc were all of the side characters we see at their school, like Rulah and the others. Trunks' math teacher looked pretty cool. The problem is that they were never going to be the focus of this or any other story. It's taken years for Toei or Shueisha to do anything with Goten or Trunks, so their pals may never see the light of day again.

And that's what disappoints me about this arc, because it may have been the one chance of getting a good teen Goten and Trunks arc, and they blew it on this. Did we really need a backstory on Hedo's prison sentence? Did anyone leave the theater not understanding why he was in jail? Was anyone confused as to how he came up with the designs for Gamma 1 and 2's costumes? No. We didn't need this.

One of these days, there will be an official Big Goten story that gets it right. But this ain't it, chief.

[chireikiden]

If you've come across the CDS covers, you may have noticed that since Akimaki Yuu took over as artist, they've had 迷宮編 (Labyrinth Volume/Saga/Arc) appended to the title and "Labyrinth" written in big letters. When they first started I was unsure what to make of it, but after three books, it seems to have been just a less extreme alternative to changing the whole title as they did when the fairy manga changed artists. Notice how they reset the book numbering too.

Whether or not the "Labyrinth" has some more specific meaning we don't know yet, it's thematically fitting for a mystery series full of confusion and dead ends (furthermore, 迷宮入り means a case going cold). And unlike with "Foul Detective" there's nothing wrong with the translation either. However, even officially, it's only really used on the covers and bookstore pages and not anywhere else when the series is discussed or even published online; and regardless, you can probably forgive me for not caring to call it "Cheating Detective Satori Labyrinth".

I don't know if I'll ever see much reason to say Labyrinth rather than "Akimaki's run" even when there is a need to specify (especially since I'd probably just need to clarify what that means anyway).

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 1: CONSPIRACY

Hello, hello! Welcome back to weekly Dragon Ball commentary- feels good to say that, these posts were my roots on this website.

I would like to thank a friend for sharing their Crunchyroll and to apologize in advance to my roommate who has already caught me mid-ramblings- sorry, bestie, this is going to last several more Fridays.

Anyway, onto our very first episode of Dragon Ball Daima!

Firstly, an amazing "welcome back to Dragon Ball" recap. Since the Power Pole is due to make its comeback, I'm not surprised that they didn't forget to include a reference to the series roots in OG Dragon Ball- and the fade to them growing up AAAAHHH MY HEART

"Saiyans are known for appearing youthful for longer"- OH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW

And speaking of recapping, we're introduced to the silly little demon clown guy, Gomah, and Shin's out-of-nowhere brother, Degesu, as they do an abridged Mystery Science Theater of the Buu Arc. Apparently, all powerful Demon Not-Kais still rely on pen and paper to take notes.

With no one left to oppose him after the disposal of the Majins and Dabura, Gomah's the king of the Demon Realm. And turns out Shin also has an out-of-nowhere sister too, Dr. Arinsu. Wonder why she has the God of Destruction gold collar? Might be relevant, might just be jewelry.

It's looking like I may have to finally dip my toes in the Xenoverse lore... we're getting suspiciously close to Towa territory.

However, Goku and his friends pose a threat to Gomah's power- because of course they do, it's Goku and friends- so we need a way to nerf them in the way that's not an evil wish. So, let's turn them into kids! GT BUT ON PURPOSE!

The Demon Realm has their own Dragon Balls created by a senile Namekian they picked up off the street, but they're guarded by these figures called the Tagamis- safe bet that they'll be fighting the Tagamis later.

We have a confirmed timeline placement! It's not long after the Buu Saga and Trunks is turning nine. Gohan is conveniently off studying... why the exclusion? We don't know yet.

And now for the two casual lore drop points that I proceeded to ramble about because my roommate had just walked in:

Saiyans get growth spurts at 15

I guess this was a casual excusing of Goten and Trunks still being short in Super and it sort of lines up with Goku in original DB. He grew slightly, but I guess he was a late bloomer because he was still rather petite at the King Piccolo fight where (not counting Minus) he was 16.

But, Gohan! He had a decent amount of height at 11 in the Cell Saga. Perhaps he got a little more of the Ox King genetics than Goten did.

Goku then proceeds to slander Vegeta's height and- "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

THE SECOND POTARA RETCON

Yep, it happened again. We went from "Potara fusion is permanent, we don't know what happened with Vegito" to "Potara fusion is permanent for Supreme Kais, but if it's two mortals, it's a hour" to, now, "it was Buu's stomach acid the whole time!"

So, instead of using the Dragon Balls to separate like in Super, Kibito Kai just had Buu eat them and spit them out.

I guess this helps confirm that Daima's running on its own track and won't lead into Super. Does this mean we have three separate canons now? I'm okay with this. At least this means my fanfics are safe.

Also, looking a bit pale there, Kibito.

Back to the plot:

Seems that all of the Namekians were originally from the Demon Realm! The Demon Gang can tell because of the pointy ears- I'm getting Owl House flashbacks.

Then what does that mean for Mr. Popo?

The old Namekian magnetizes all the Dragon Balls to the lookout- because of course he can- then reactivates them from their stone state- because of course he can.

Shenron's not dealing with any monkey's paws today and he's not going to guess like Ultimate Shenron did in GT- you're going to want to input all the settings you want for your turn people into kids wish. The adult gang are all first graders and the kids are now babies.

THE WISH HITS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE EPISODE

We'll have to deal with the fallout of this next episode. Hope someone fills Gohan in.

---

Feel free to send asks- I'll screenshot them if there's spoilers so I can put the question under a Keep Reading break if need be- or have a discussion in the replies.

Otherwise, stay tuned for more of my ramblings next Friday!

[cosmicjoke]

Ooookay, chapter 207 of "Vinland Saga"!

Ohh man, another amazing chapter. All of Thorfinn's worst fears realized.

But I think what stands out to me most here, and what I appreciate most, is the realism of how this situation with the Lnu is unfolding. Thorfinn's pacifism is an ideal worth striving for, always, but it's an ideal nonetheless, and we see once again how reality has an ugly way of intruding on that ideal. That pacifist ideal can't always, and often doesn't, account for other people and their warring nature.

We finally see Thorfinn forced to fight, for the first time in I don't even know how many chapters. Since well before the current arc, since before leaving for Vinland, since before returning to Iceland, even.

What I like about this is that the story once again isn't hiding from the complicated reality of war, and violence, and how sometimes, no matter how much we might wish it, or strive for it, peace and passivity isn't always an option. Sometimes we really are backed into a corner and violence is the only way out, and it isn't really a failing on our part, but just a reality of the world we live in.

Still, given Thorfinn's recent vow's never to resort to violence again, seeing how easily that vow was put to an impassable test, I wonder how that will affect his philosophy and world view from here on out. He selflessly sacrifices himself by jumping in front of Einar and Bug-Eyes to take the arrow the Lnu shot at them, and it's interesting to see how quickly his own instincts kicked in afterward, the way he so quickly took down the three pursuers with Hild's assistance. He hasn't had to kill anyone, yet, but I wonder if he'll really be able to hold to that pledge, given what's going on back at Arnheid's village.

Before I get to that though, I want to talk a little about what's happening to Thorfinn's relationship with Einar.

It seems like there's serious and potentially permanent erosion being done to their once unbreakable bond, and the tragedy of that erosion being instigated by war and violence isn't lost on me. There's the possibility that their friendship will be forever altered, and maybe even destroyed, depending on how things play out here, which is a devastating thought, given Einar is Thorfinn's first and truly best friend.

But we see something like resentment starting to bleed into Einar's regard for Thorfinn. Where before, he had understandable and reasonable disagreements with Thorfinn's approach, it being logical why he wouldn't want to just give up the land they'd cultivated and go back to Iceland, giving up on their dream on Throfinn's say-so, here, we see him start to accuse Thorfinn of acting as their master, with everyone else being his underlings. He's beginning to mistake Thorfinn's desire to protect everyone for Throfinn acting as some kind of dictator. When Thorfinn calls out to Einar, just before he and Bug-Eyes finally leave the scene, trying one last time to explain that he only wants to withdraw from Vinland to avoid war, we see Einar look back at him with what I can only describe as real anger and, yes, again, resentment. I can see this suddenly and rapidly widening rift between them spinning out of control, and it may lead somewhere truly ugly. I think that's especially a possibility when Einar and Bug-Eyes make it back to the village, and see what's going on there, that the Natives are already attacking the villagers. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of scenario unfolds in which Einar takes up sides with the men like Ivar that want to go to war with the Natives to fight for the land, etc... If that happens, then it could mean an end to his and Thorfinn's friendship.

Again, this is really brilliantly executed, for the ways in which it demonstrates the tragedy of war and the things lost to war. Throfinn's and Einar's friendship would be a heavy loss, if it were to dissolve because of what's happening now.

So, back to what's going on in the village. This is bad. Really, REALLY bad.

First of all, poor Cordelia. I feel so bad for her. She tried to take up arms against the attacking Natives, and I'm sure some people wanted to see her open up a can of whoop-ass on them. But what actually happens is much more realistic. Cordelia might have Thorkill's size and strength, but she doesn't have any of his fighting skill. To expect her to actually put up a real fight against a bunch of experienced warriors wasn't fair. But it was absolutely horrifying to see Cordelia get shot full of arrows, and to see her start crying out for Thorfinn to save her.

I wonder if Cordelia is going to be the first real casualty of this war, meaning if she's the first character we've grown attached to who's going to actually die. And if that does happen, I wonder further still what that's going to do to Throfinn, and how he'll react.

He's determined right now not to kill anybody, still grasping to the hope that he can get away with simply injuring their attackers. But if he makes it back to the village and sees his own people have been slaughtered, will he be able to maintain that stance? Especially if anyone he's close to ends up dying?

It would only be natural for Thorfinn to relinquish his vow to not kill in that scenario. But no doubt it would come at a great, personal cost to him too.

"Vinland Saga" has definitely found its mojo again, and I think this entire arc has been the best since probably before Thorfinn and co. returned to Iceland the second time. I'm both extremely excited and extremely nervous about how things are going to go from here. Things aren't good. War's already broken out, so there's no avoiding the violence and loss that comes with it, only stemming the tide of it, if possible.

Bravo all around. I just adore this series.

[neonscandal]

"JJK really went from a loved manga to a mid-to-bad story with insufferable fans 🙏 may more of us hate it in the future. It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated".

I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game. And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya, im glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore"

Do you think Culling Game really that hard to understand? Cause I saw quite a llt got turned off to JJK since that arc....

⚠️ Content Warning (no real spoilers) for the Culling Games arc. Nothing in depth to warrant burying beneath a "Keep Reading" but fair to mention just in case.

I don't know how to say this without generalizing negatively but the sentiments very much sound like they came from a cishet dudebro. I've noticed that shonen series' that have a fanbase made up of vocal queer people and/or womxn fans are widely renowned for their "insufferable fans" and this specifically is applied to JJK and MHA across social media. I wonder why.

From the lack of sexualization of female characters/students, the immediate shutdown that Nobara was going to fall for Yuji or Megumi in typical shonen fashion, the cast of men being curated for the female gaze across the manga and anime adaptation (Gojo, Geto, Nanami, Toji, etc.), the overt queer coding and presence of canonically queer/trans characters... also, the simple fact that the canonically attractive and OP characters aren't insufferable assholes? Maybe that's just a me thing but it seems like these factors have been rubbing certain people the wrong way.

Re: the animation of Shibuya and the practices that delivered the work with such an insane timeline and not to the quality of the team of animators' liking... that's valid. But that is a Mappa shortcoming in an effort to snatch up all the prolific and iconic adaptations they can, not a JJK shortcoming. As such, throwing the baby out with the bathwater there doesn't seem like a particularly sound argument but just a means to pile on.

A/N: As it stands, Mappa held the reigns on AOT's final season (taking over from Wit Studio due to production schedule), S2 of Vinland Saga (taking over from Wit Studio due to production schedule), JJK S1, JJK 0 movie, CSM adaptation of S1, Hell's Paradise adaptation of S1, JJK S2, CSM movie adaptation for Reze Arc, Zom 100... all since 2020 and does not encompass other, smaller series'.

I'll concede, it makes sense that the culling games left a lot of readers lost in the forest, myself included. Not the point of the games since we know, to what end, Kenjaku!Geto hopes to achieve at this point.

I think readers were stymied by how much time was spent on developing unique characters who were offed like.. a chapter later. A necessary evil to maintain the living core cast of characters who would later have to take on the Big BadsTM while also moving along the point system for the Culling Games. It seems like Gege Akutami took their time to cultivate these mini-fights though it wasn't clear to what end from a plot standpoint... yet. Empirically, we've seen small details woven back into the story which didn't seem apparent at the time given the exposition style of the mangaka.

As a reader, I love guessing at the end of stories. You can see the crackpot theories that pepper the Manga With Me tag. But the Culling Game arc spans long enough to lose the plot and make it so much harder to forecast where the story is going. Especially when Gege Akutami generally seems like a troll of a person anyway.

I think the Culling Games happening immediately after the Shibuya arc was a choice. Based on anime only fan reactions to Shibuya, what's to come is not for the faint of heart fans. Especially when you consider the losses suffered in Shibuya are immediately eclipsed by the regular losses and disappointments within the Culling Games. However, as a fan, I'mma let Gege cook even if they're using my tears and angst as seasoning because we haven't seen enough of the story to determine the Culling Game's true place/meaning within it.

I think, story wise, they started off too strong with emphasizing Gojo's overpoweredness. Subsequently, they had to write in caveats and build ways to close the gaps between him and other characters to allow for the story to press forward with or without him. I still don't know how this story is going to end though I think I have a new hypothesis from the last time I guessed at who would survive.

At the end of the day, it's definitely that person's opinion to jump back in once more of the story has been fleshed out should they choose to do so because a lot of people don't like dealing in uncertainties. Whatever they decide, don't let it sway your enjoyment one way or another, anon. ❤️

[bloghyperfixes]

Hello, I hope you don't mind asking you of what you think of each of the angels, what you like or dislike about them or what are your favourites?

Hello!

Looooool, I don't know where I should start. My brain is a flaccid soggy loaf of bread.

To be honest, I'm not sure and I don't remember if I've thought that deeply about the characters' personalities, other than seeing the angel dudes' artwork and all my brain cells getting lost again in yet another "oh god, beautiful ancient alien things, I need to find more fan art on them to feed myself" hyperfixation.

I don't know why I like Daishinkan and his angelic children, and I'm not sure if I can call one of them a "favorite character". Maybe it's the hyperfixation and vibrating in me screaming to find something on the little mystery dude and his kids who don't have enough appearing in front of us (other than Whis) to replenish my endorphins and serotonin stores. Perhaps I like them all equally?

I'm not saying, I joined the fandom just for the artwork with the beautiful angels, maybe I'm not looking hard enough to know anything about them beyond the fact that they are teachers of the gods of destruction and what universes they are in, maybe there is somewhere in the depths of the internet a more detailed description of their character.

I can say that Whis is a cute bright star who (if you forget that he's the attendant of a genocidal god), you want to hug, squeeze his face and call him a good boy. And feed him more food to see his joy. Can tell he'd sell your soul for a corn chip. On second impression, he's a secretive rat who may have plans for you.

Vados is about the same as Whis. (A tall statuesque woman who has no problem communicating with sarcasm and irony. She's cool)

Mojito has been in an emo phase since the beginning of her existence.

Kus is the oldest of all the Angels, her whole little girl appearance screams of her cuteness and harmlessness, though she isn't. I think she uses her huge eyes at some point to get what she wants.

Daishinkan looks mysterious and charismatic? His face is between (:3) and [ >:) ], my attention is drawn to the halo behind his head. I know this guy is dangerous, he's capable of destruction, but my god, he's a cute little kitten, so deceptively adorable. (His baggy blue trousers are funny and ridiculous). HOLY CRAP THIS GUY IS ANCIENT, HELP ME OUT. And he's a father. All the dad jokes and moments belong to him now.

I don't know what to say about Marcarita, other than her face has the waibes of a real high school bitch and I would definitely avoid her, even if Marcarita more or less turns out to be harmless.

Can I call Camparri funny and lively? He has a high emotional bar and it's definitely not brick level, maybe angels are supposed to act neutral, I'm not sure about the neutrality of their face. Camparri looked quite lively and cautious from my memory when he reacted to the robot during the Tournament Arc when his gods were shown robots.

Merus appeared more or less revealed character? (I saw his headphones and thought they were real ears, and then I was just like. "aw :(") He's another Priest child, and he's sent off to be trained and interned to explore the universe. His origin turns out to be a real surprise and trap when you've just finished the anime, and don't know that the manga has a sequel after the Tournament saga at all. I find him interesting too, it's unusual to see an angel in a different element.

Sorry, I don't have any thoughts or ideas what I can say about the rest of the angels. Basically they're all awesome and it's cool that they exist.

[austencollins]

day 148 kodansha daily review challenge

Today's Manga Is: What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Posting the Finally! Some Good Fucking Food gif and calling this review a wrap would be cheating... but it would sum up my reaction. Like almost everything I've ever read by Fumi Yoshinaga, this is a good series. And it's especially good when I was girding myself for yet another mediocre fantasy series aimed at men who don't seem to understand that they're the same species as women are.

There's not much to say about the content of the series, since this is a slice-of-life series that slowly fleshes out the characters and the society they live in, bit by bit; and nothing extraordinarily traumatic or tragic happens. It's all very mundane drama. I guess one could call it cozy (and certainly the domestic tenderness between the leads is cozy feeling); but honestly Fumi Yoshinaga's works are always just a tad too insightful and incisive to feel completely cozy to me.

For example, I wanted to use this panel as the above-the-cut image, but it also reminds me that most of the characters say and think fatphobic things, and that's a bit uncomfortable for me.

But it doesn't really feel like the narrative is necessarily condoning these attitudes or remarks -- just as it doesn't condone the homophobic attitudes it occasionally depicts or acnowledges. It's just depicting them. Which can be uncomfortable to read if you're feeling sensitive -- but generally I find it easy to handle this sort of thing in Fumi Yoshinaga's works because she allows readers to maintain a bit of emotional distance from her characters. We're not always aware of exactly what they're thinking or feeling; and often her characters are not aware or can't decide what they're really feeling. So although the characters are easy to relate to and sympathize with, it's also easy to step back and feel for them the way you'd feel for a friend who's going through some shit, instead of feeling like it's also happening to you yourself.

That all makes for really enjoyable and compelling work -- but as I said, it's not really cozy to me, in the way that I think slice-of-life genre is often stereotyped as being. A cozy vibe to me feels like it ought to feel reassuring. Less realistic series like Dungeon Meshi tend to feel cozier to me than slice-of-life stories, even when there's gore and necromancy & so on, because the fantastical aspects of those stories place them in a narrative tradition which typically guarantees a Happily Ever After sort of ending --whereas the realistic slice-of-life genre that What Did You Eat Yesterday is in allows for bittersweet and sad endings, that don't reassure readers that everything worked out great for the characters.

And wow is Fumi Yoshinaga good at those moments! This series, however, proves she's also good at warm, tender resolutions. What Did You Eat Yesterday is a very far cry from containing Ōoku: The Inner Chambers levels of bittersweet, sad & tragic moments. Which I appreciated, because these characters are all easy to relate to and care about. It's nice to read about middle-aged people muddling along, especially since there's a great deal of thought put into how people's issues and perspectives change over time. (I also got a bit of a laugh out of realizing that the Kenji and Shiro here are roughly the same age as Askeladd & Thorkell are during the later half of Vinland Saga's prologue arc.)

I must admit, though... I skimmed past the recipe bits. SoThe art and descriptions make the food sound delicious, but trying to parse long and detailed recipes when I barely know anything about cooking felt a bit overwhelming. Sorry, but I'm just not a confident or experienced enough cook to really appreciate those bits! It does make me curious what someone like my father, who loves cooking, would think about the food scenes. I know from a mutual on here that there's a live-action version, which would probably appeal to my dad a bit more than the comic, so I may track that down and show it to him next time we're in the same place. It would certainly help for us to have a food-related show that's not The Bear, since as great as that show is, it's a bit too intense for casual viewing or for binge-watching.

One other thing that was interesting (that I sort knew in the back of my mind, but had forgotten when I started reading this chapter) is that this series started serialization in 2007. That wasn't immediately noticeable, because the series is so focused on stuff that happens in person (like cooking, eating, etc); but it slowly became more obvious as I read further, and the series started showing more flashbacks into Shiro and Kenji's pasts (and revealing more about Shiro's parents). The occasional glimpses into what technology looked like back then felt pretty nostalgic. Combined with the series' overall emphasis on the value of mundane material things (like cooking), this definitely felt a great read for times when I need reminding to go touch grass (and eat something healthy, I guess).

[asoulofatlantis]

Oh boy... You know... with him, Rufus, Chrow, Rean, Van and Agnes we will have our hands full in this game. Full of idiots, that is...

You know... even with those two introduced we are still missing out on some Enforcers and some Anguise, I have no idea how in hell they want to wrap all this up in one more arc after the next game. Not to mention that not all Enforcers story are quite finished yet so some of them have to return eventually. So its not like the games can throw in only new ones from now on.

Well, that is a problem for another game I guess. For now, lets focus on the Enforcers and Anguise we have here, as they will certainly give us plenty of stuff to do ^^'

And with that we FINALLY have reached the opening, after roughly around 4 hours or so.

Meaning ths Prologue was slightly shorter then the ones from the first two games.

Aaaaaand of course I finish this one with Rean being the MVP. Anyone surrpsied? XD

So at the beginning of every chapter, we get a quick look at a certain Enforcers live stream. Yes, we do have an Influencer among this already wild mix of people.

I honestly don't know why she is hiding her eyes. I mean... its not like its that hard to recognize her if you would see her on the street, even if you do not know how her eyes look ^^'

You get banned from her live stream after watching the video tho. But the experience is so surreal. "Like and Subscribe" ^^' I mean... I started the Trails-Series with Cold Steel, which was already way more modern then Sky was but still I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined that we one day have a freaking Influence in the Trails-Saga...

He just said the jacket has a great ventilation but its supposed to be somewhat bulletproof at the same time? Who came up with that bullshit?

Sometimes I feel sorry for him. Constantly they demand from him to compliment the girls that like him, even tho he tries so hard to be not available. Sure, every girl would like a compliment from the man they like, but in Agnes case especially (but really in any case were he would reject their feelings for one reason or another) I would prefer they would not constantly force him to say something nice to her.

His compliments still really end up mostly practical, but you can see with Agnes reaction that they always hit the spot despite that and I really would prefer for that not to happen, given what's coming.

The last two times I was working with fan-translations I was playing with the SSS-Rank in mind and did almost all side-quests. With the state this translation is in (tho I can not complain so far) I think I will do that with NISA Version this time and only do the necessary stuff and use the Garten for some Grinding to still be strong enough for the fights to come.

Sorry I was slightly irritated at some new information and forgot to take a screenshot but apparently...

This guy managed to get the leading position as General in Mille Mirrage and even managed to overthrow the ones who wanted Cassius in that position and I call that absolute BS! First of all - no I do not like Cassius, BUT who would oppose having the guy who turned the tables in the 100 days war that was specifically chosen by Musse the leader of Mille Mirage as the General for that operation? ALSO we got directly introduced to Cassius in that role in Cold Steel 4 and you would assume with Musse being the one pulling the string we would have gotten the information that some Calvardian General took over in Cassius position, especially with Cassius being there at the night of Promises which was LITERALLY one night before the beginning of the war. What kind of bullshit is that Falcom? I get that right now you want to make Calvard bigger and better and all that stuff but don't change your own freaking information 4 damn games later and hope we wouldn't notice. Even all those years later we are not that dumb!

(Okay! Everyone pause! That could have been an error in translation as a few sentences later the old man said that the man in question was meant to replace Cassius in case he fell in battle, which would lead to the assumption that he was only the vice general and not the actually general. So he didn't take over Cassius position, it was likely meant to say that there was an opposition to Cassius being the leader that wanted that man to be the leader. But the translation was really not sounding like that. I guess to figure out if Falcom really fucked it up this much we have to rely on NISA for giving us the right information - or anyone who played the game already maybe able to clear that up? Maybe I just missread it?)

But do we really?

There was a swallow flying past Van at the end of the opening, which gave us hope for a nice ending, but... as you will see... Falcom was making fun of us as per usual ^^'

There is some foreshadowing in here...

I wonder if I should skip on those so that they won't get boring in the English release... but I feel like I would be missing out on some important things. So I guess we do them anyway.

Yume wants to make a photo album for Agnes birthday which is coming up soon. Knowing what I know... it makes be a bit sad.

Yumes connect-events are always who wholesome ♥

She wants to keep her memories in her heart forever and she saw what happened to Agnes while under some sort of influence. Many people assumed it already and after seeing this I kind of have to agree, it is very likely that Yume is the key to gaining back the lost memories and possibly saving Agnes... and Zemuria as we know it, for that matter.

I thought it was odd that Tausend was back at Verne - tho I appreciate the information he will give me later - and wondered if he was just... you know... forced to take like a break for 6 months or so, like a suspension, but I could have sworn he actually got fired. I guess Falcom was too lazy to replace him and had to paddle back on it. However I think the explanation is okay enough. We find out later that multiple companies have been involved in the Startaker Project by providing parts and it is likely that Tausend was managing all that and getting someone new into the job, especially with the Präsident rushing things was probably too much of a hassle and I think that explanation (or something along the lines of that) is solid enough to be accepted, especially with the characters themselves acknowledging how odd it is.

I love to have Renne with us but I think her family and best friend really miss her, so it is about time for her to return home. I hope she will be with us until we have finished the Calvard Arc tho.

You've got to be kidding me! (And why is there no movie about Rean yet? XyD)

Awwww. They didn't translate the movies, how sad. This was one I wanted to watch XD

I have no translation and we know Ries sister was a bit... uh... special... but Judith is overdoing it a bit here ^^'

(I wonder if Kevil will watch that movie XD)

Uff... even without doing the optional stuff Vans first day back in Edith is looooong.

Well we all wanted that... but Kevin decided to leave Ries behind. That idiot.

[the-au-collector]

write a thon ask game! number 2 🥰

Thanks for the ask 💖

2. What is your favorite WIP (published or not)?

Hands-down the current WIP I’m working on, which I finally just got inspiration for after a year of having some really bad writer’s block. It’s a Kingdom Hearts fic series called the To Those Who Have Been Wronged Series and I’ve been working on it for years. I’m just so excited to share it, even if it won’t be posted in a long time since I want to complete the entire series before I begin posting (total number of books: 8. Current number of books completed: 0).

Basically it's my take on the Masters of Masters saga, and features Kairi as one of the main charaters alongside Ven, Namine, Ienzo and a few others I don't want to spoil yet and fgdkjfg I can't wait until I can share it. It's been building up for like, 10 years, but I only just started writing this version of it like 2-3 years ago (I just checked, I wrote the prologue in 2021). I just feel like there's a lot put into it I guess. I'm very proud of it. It's my baby. My darling. I could ramble about each of the characters' arcs alone (since that's one of my primary focuses for it, next to the whole MoM thing), but I'm also putting a lot of worldbuilding and lore in it too. I just can't wait to see it come to fruition. I actually know pretty much exactly what happens in the entire series so now I just need to write it (I'm nearly on chapter 12 of book 1 as I'm writing this).

So uh, yeah, I'm really serious about this fic. Definitely my favorite WIP.

[lightandfellowship]

Also, potentially something to be said here about the power of light being used for nefarious/hurtful purposes that aren't necessarily self-defense related. But Xehanort did take the light from Sora, so like, hard to say. If the light came into being via Sora's selfless desire to defeat Xehanort, does the "intention", the fuel, that created that light not go away when Xehanort usurps it and uses it for his own purposes?

You could potentially use Eraqus attacking Ven and Terra in BBS as an example of light being used to harm unfairly, but Eraqus seems to suggest afterwards that it was actually darkness all along and he just never wanted to admit his heart held any, so again like, idk. Same can be said for the anger-fueled Eraqus + Vidar fight in KHDR—was that Eraqus' light compelling him to fight, or his darkness?

Maybe we can count the scene in CoM where Zexion almost destroys Riku with light while pretending to be Sora? I'd call that villainous intent. Though I don't know if that was truly light or just dark/neutral illusion magic pretending to be light.

Though of course we do have Riku as an example of someone who found a way to wield his darkness to protect his friends, even if his "road to dawn" suggests that the end of his journey will return him to light. So at least on the darkness front I feel like we have examples of it being wielded beneficially? I just can't tell if we have solid enough examples yet of the opposite, light being wielded maliciously.

As usual we'll see what the Lost Masters arc has to say about all of this with the MoM and Luxu and the Foretellers seemingly being the villains of the next saga but also squarely on the side of light. At least when it comes to their overall goal, obviously there's still some dark vessel stuff going on with them that might lead to them using darkness themselves.

A detail of Xehanort forcing Sora into Rage Form during his final boss fight in KH3 that you might not fully recognize in the heat of battle is that Xehanort doesn't just take away Sora's light, he actually uses it against him.

Xehanort says "Enlighten me." before he forces you into Rage Form. Xehanort glows gold during this sequence and all of his attacks have a golden "light" appearance to them (though according to the wiki these attacks still do dark damage, interestingly. Maybe there's a connection there to the concept of "false light", or maybe it's just a back-end gameplay balancing thing and story-wise we're still meant to interpret these attacks as light-based.) The information bar says "Attack Master Xehanort to reclaim your light!" and when you do so, orbs of light fall out of Xehanort with each hit.

In addition to just being a really neat and unexpecteed sequence where you're thrust into sudden danger (you can't use magic or heal in Rage Form, and it doesn't go away over time in this particular fight), it also suggests that Xehanort is proficient at wielding both darkness and light (though he does have to take it from someone else, apparently), which better reflects his philosophy of balance and light and darkness in equal shares.

As well, it's a timely reminder within the chaos of this epic clash between light and darkness that Sora, a hero of light, still harbors immense darkness within him (Rage Form) and that Xehanort, a villain of darkness, has not been completely rejected by the light even if he can no longer muster a substantial amount of it by himself.

It kinda feels like KH3 is saying "Hey. By the way. We know this game is all about this fated, good-versus-evil battle between light and darkness, but before we conclude the story, here's a (violent and sudden in order to catch your attention) reminder that it's actually a lot more nuanced than that—there is light within darkness as well as darkness within light."