#never actually finished reading ranma 1/2 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chibivesicle · 9 months ago

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The Ranma 1/2 remake is giving me feelings

That's right. In this era of anime remakes, Ranma 1/2 is stepping up to the plate and will be animated by Studio Mappa! I do like me some works by Mappa. I just saw the new OP for it and so much of it refers directly back to the original OP, including keeping a few key animation sequences! I dunno - I don't want to be disappointed by it but at the same time I want to watch it.

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Out of all of the remakes bouncing around this one pulls at me the most. Sure, I was all on board with Sailor Moon Crystal ten years ago but Ranma 1/2 was the first manga I ever bought! The nostalgia and continued love of the series is strong within me.

It is definitely hitting different seeing that this was my first manga series ever. I put a Shampoo sticker in my Ti-34 calculator which only recently went on the fritz at the ripe old age of twenty-eight and is still in my desk at work. I have a Ranma 1/2 poster still in my old closet at my parents' house (someday I should actually, you know, grab it), I bought fan art at Anime Expo in 2022 and even this summer I got a Ranma double sided charm from a local artist at an Asian food festival who also tables at local cons/art markets. I have to admit, I got all excited for the Trigun reboot and if you've been reading along you know I was incredibly disappointed. And you also have a rough estimate of my age based on when I watched it originally as a fan sub. Yet if there is any series that can be used to date me it is Ranma 1/2 since I bought all of my manga before university. I oddly kept telling myself I'd round out the collection when I got older and had more money to complete it. I never did and it has remained a mess of the original Viz editions. Behold! The first English edition of Ranma 1/2 in the left-to-right, hand lettered, and redrawn sound effects all in English.

Volume 1 cost $16.95 when I bought it which would have worked out to a whopping $33 adjusted for inflation, with a publication date of May 1993. Purchasing those early volumes from Viz was not for the faint of heart or those with shallow pockets. This is reminding me why I never back filled volumes 5-7 within my own collection, coming in at $15.95 each. I'm pretty sure that a few of them were likely Christmas presents as well . . .

These editions are what eventually came to match the size of the Viz Signature versions like Maison Ikkoku and Gokinjo Monogatari. These are hefty books and have held up pretty well over the years.

So I now find myself in the exact same position I was in before Trigun Stampede - do I reread the manga and finish it off since I likely only read the first third of it? And then do I take the time to review the new anime from Mappa?

Unlike Trigun which required me to start from scratch having only watched the anime, I've read up to volume 12 of the original manga and filled in the gaps by watching the original anime back in 2014/2015 to around where I'd read it - I think.

One of the issues is that I have the old format for it where there are no chapter numbers like it would have run in the weekly magazine to directly compare with. Viz did a really weird format since it started out as a comic with different arcs and parts and all mine have part 1-13/14 per volume. If I'm not mistaken, there were two subsequent editions of Ranma 1/2 in English; a right-to-left reprint of the original Japanese tankobon with the sequential chapter numbers from the magazine which then was later bundled into a 2 in 1 edition also in the right-to-left format.

Going by chapter names, I'm going to check out various volumes of the 2 in 1 edition from my local library and hope they line up to cover my gaps and then continue onward from chapter 142, The Mark of the Gods.

I also read the edition which really struggled to describe okonomiyaki to a non-Japanese reader. For several years, my young mind tried to square how they were like pizza when they were made on a griddle but had lots of toppings?!?!

I still don't know why the translators chose to localize it this way. They could have simply called it a savory pancake and it would have solved a lot of reader confusion.

It wasn't until university when I was hanging out with friends that I had the chance to make real okonomiyaki (a friend's roommate was Japanese) and the first thing I blurted out was something along the lines of "Like Ukyo from Ranma!" Granted, Ukyo was one of my fav characters at the time. Anyhoo, perhaps I'll do some meta posts as I read the manga and build up to watching the new anime. I don't think I'll have it in me to compare to the original anime since I read the manga long before watching the anime here in there for about fifteen years. I'm also curious to compare the later English editions with mine to see if there are some minor differences or not. I haven't seen the solid colored books like mine since I bought them in the first place.

#ranma 1/2 #ranma 1/2 manga #ranma 1/2 anime #ranma 1/2 anime remake #viz manga #1990s manga #rumiko takahashi #Youtube

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endureandsurvives · 1 year ago

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What's your favorite anime or manga??

Hi there! 🌻

I've already answered a similar question before, especially talking about anime. It's here if you want to read it. So I guess I'm taking the chance to talk about manga this time :)

As I already said the other time, one of my favorites is Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita. I love the post apocalyptic/cyberpunk setting.

I haven't read as many manga as the anime I've seen actually, but some others I really liked are: Deadman Wonderland, Pandora Hearts, The Promised Neverland, Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ranma 1/2, Gangsta, Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer, probably others which I can't remember right now.

I've also read some other big shonen, though I never finished them: Naruto, One Piece, My hero academia, Attack on Titan...

That said, if you want to suggest me some you think are good, I'll be glad to read! :)

#thank you for asking friend ✨#sorry if thi took me a while to answer #ask

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ecogirl2759 · 2 years ago

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It's time.

So, I have decided to formally retire from FireAlpaca and will not be revisiting any of my old works made on that app (just because of personal preference). SO, I've decided to share some of my favorite WIPs that I had hoped to finish once upon a time lol.

I'm gonna be tagging all the characters that show up btw, so sorry if this comes up as you're peacefully scrolling your fandom tags hehe.

Please check the tags for the characters/fandoms and decide if you wanna open this post.

So yeah, have a couple of old sketches from 2-5 years ago :D

[Uncolored blood in one of them jsyk]

This one felt appropriate to put first lol I was really liking the way it was turning out... and then I lost motivation lol. Think this is from 2 years ago-ish.

Here's another of my OC. I was going to make a super cool battle illustration with super cool effects and super cool lighting and I gave up almost instantly lol. SHE HAS NO WRISTS!!

This is one I made for Drawfest 2, like, 2 years ago now, I think. I thought it was coming along kinda nice except I couldn't get the perspective to look right so my character ended up looking huge lmao.

Here's ANOTHER of my OC. This one is really old lol. I've redesigned her now and I don't use this shading style anymore, so I retired this profile picture really early on.

Ok, last one of this OC. This was going to be one of many sprites that I was making to use in videos and stuff, but I, once again, lost my motivation hehe. Looks REALLY bad tho so idc.

Now for some fandom junk!

Pico jumpscare I got really into Pico's school way back when and never saw any fanart for his death screen. So I wanted to try my hand at it. Got through the lineart before I decided I didn't like it and was not skilled enough to salvage it so I gave up. Might redraw this in the future though!

Haha mind the huge empty space on this one.

This was going to be a picture of Gregory and Freddy from FNaF Security Breach (made this around the time the game came out), but I quickly realized I couldn't draw animatronics and quit lol. You can kinda see the stripe on Gregory's shirt, but my sketching abilities back then were awful so it's a little hard.

ASJKFHSABFHJBF I ALMOST FORGOT I WAS DRAWING HIMMM!! This bean is a character from To Your Eternity, an anime I randomly found on Netflix once and fell in love with (I quit at the weird scene in the prison tho, remind me to finish it). HE WAS SO CUTE I JUST HAD TO DRAW HIM <3 Also this isn't the ball, this is the boy. I just didn't get to his eyes.

MULTIFANDOM IDEAAAAA

So me and my sister were talking a few years ago, and I think one of us misspoke and said "Coffee shot" instead of "Coffee shop," so this AU was born.

It's a coffee shop called the Coffee Shot staffed by characters that love guns and have guns and shoot guns and I love them. The shop is frequented by characters from other franchises (in this case Danganronpa), and it's got the best coffee and the best theming you've ever seen >:)

Characters from left to right: Pico (FNF), Kiyotaka Ishimaru (DR1), Mondo Owada (DR1), Lance (EBF5)

Here's another MultiFandom picture :D

This one was based on Pinterest lol. I have boards for both of these franchises, but they kept wanting to save these two characters to each other's boards lol. SO I wanted to make a style swap with them! Didn't end up finishing it, though, but I do want to come back to it!

Characters: Kiyotaka Ishimaru (Danganronpa), Ranma Saotome (Ranma 1/2)

Aaaaand then just take some Danganronpa stuff.

This first one is actually the second piece of fanart I ever did for this game, but I quit really quick because I SCREWED UP TAKA'S HAIR AND DIDN'T WANNA REDO IT BECAUSE EVERY TIME I TRIED IT LOOKED FUNKY SO NOW HE'S JUST FUZZY. AND THE BACKGROUND EWWW I FORGOT IT LOOKED LIKE THIS

And then this one is of the same two characters but based on a fanfic I read once. It was a Beauty and the Beast one. It was really fun to read. I liked it. It's on Wattpad if you're interested. I quit on this picture really quick tho. Made the sketch on Photoshop 2 years ago, transferred the sketch to FireAlpaca, then realized the sketch sucked and didn't bother trying again.

There's all my sketches. The ones that I'm willing to share, that is.

Let this be a lesson that not all of your pictures are going to go the way you want to. Your sketches are going to be messy, your lineart isn't going to match up, your colors are going to look funky, and your shading is going to want to make you rip out your hair sometimes.

I think what's important is to make sure that all that stuff doesn't discourage you.

If you give up all together, you'll never know what you'd've been able to produce if you hadn't.

If a picture isn't working for you, find out why. Then quit that picture, practice, and come back. You'll be able to compare yourself to your own art instead of other people's, which will give you a clearer sense of how far you've come.

SORRY DIDN'T MEAN TO GO ON A RANT THERE

I think I'll shoot to redraw some of these next year. I definitely want to come back to that Pico one, the style swap one, the Coffee Shot, and the Christmas one.

Don't really have time for that now, but that's now on my New Year's Resolution list lol.

If you're reading this, thanks for looking at my old crappy art. It feels nice to share <3

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offbeat-manga-ships · 6 months ago

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Sorry if I ask too many question at once, but what do you think about Otomen, Ranma 1/2 and Kamisama no ekohiiki?

hey! sorry for the wait, i was very busy yesterday. unfortunately i haven't read otomen yet though i've been meaning to do that basically since the mid to late 2010s 💀 i think i even started at one point, but i don't remember anything about it and if i had to guess why i stopped it might be because it's like almost 20 volumes and i didn't want to commit Hsbssbbsbshsb rest assured, i will get to it some time this year. right now i have a couple of things i need to do and a few other manga that i gotta finish before starting this one. but hopefully by february i'll have more time in my days.

about ranma 1/2, i only watched the 2024 anime, which i really enjoyed! it's very rare that i feel the pull to watch an anime (or any series for that matter) while it's still being released (and i thank the tumblr gifmakers for getting it on my radar in the first place! i don't follow a lot of the anime side of the culture) and even rarer that i decide to stick to it week after week instead of waiting for it all to be out so i can binge it. it was so entertaining and i had a good feeling about it because of the author (duh lmao) and the time period it was published in. i think it has a superb premise that is mostly used for comedic beats. not gonna lie, i cant help but want waaay more scenes of ranma and akane getting close and personal while he is girl-ranma, but i was also happy that we got any at all lol i think it's also interesting how ranma is this really boyish kid and sometimes girl-ranma is also relaxed and boyish but sometimes he really embodies the cute girl spirit. a cute girl who really likes the size of her boobs as well jxbsjsbshsb and to be completely honest, i do like boy ranma, but i think i like girl ranma more hahahhaa there is such a charm to this bratty tomboyish but feminine at the same time squeaky-voiced girl. i love how she's a bit shorter than akane and the implication that she's more feminine than her hshahahhag.

and speaking of, the relationship between ranma and akane is the highlight of the series. they are such a cute pair of stubborn kids and rip to the more recent and way less subtle iterations of the tsundere archetypes, these two are great tsunderes and them butting heads while thinking the other is actually pretty cool is so engaging :DDD it has that charm of such a thing being really just one aspect of the characters instead of the lazier writing of nowadays. i think both characters are extremely loveable as they are. and to point out one thing that put me off the series, it was a little disappointing how akane is introduced as this really strong disciplined girl and yet she is still weaker than every other important character in the series and pretty much never gets a chance to save the day. it's always ranma. i really loved akane as a character. the haircut arc was the most impactful of the series and it's a shame the plot doesn't let her get the spotlight some more.

i had never heard of kamisama no ekohiiki before. admittedly it's my own fault because i always filter yaoi out when i'm searching for manga, but i spy with my little eye that it's by komura ayumi 🐐 and so i WILL be reading this one for sure! usually, it feels a bit weird reading something to root for a couple where one of them had to turn into the opposite sex just so it can be straight and they can appeal the straight person, but i came to trust this author and i'm willing to just roll with it.

and don't worry, ask as many questions as you want :) hopefully i will be able to actually answer them instead of so many "i haven't read that yet" lol

#messages #mypost #mycommentary #otomen #ranma 1/2 #ranma nibun no ichi #kamisama no ekohiiki

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sakuratwilight · 9 months ago

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non-comprehensive list of things i want to watch/read/play, in no particular order (jesus this got long enough that i included a read-more to be nice):

rwby (full series rewatch + finishing the books and looking at the music and other side stuff, like the games)

miraculous (full series rewatch, as above)

(i consider this the Duology Of Things That Are Overhated.)

finish the story of tears of the kingdom

finish the pikmin 4 postgame

meet my arbitrary goals of completion for yakuza kiwami & start on 0

play more cult of the lamb

finish more of the elder scrolls online dlc (& maybe someday finish the skyrim main story)

i bought tales of vesperia like a year ago and haven't touched it yet

finish actually playing og twewy but it pisses me off on switch bc i hate motion controls and i don't have a good stylus for touchscreen purposes

pick up the splatoon 3 DLC and play it for the lesbians (also finish story mode of splatoon 3 bc i never did)

finish the game changer episodes i haven't seen yet + finish watching smartypants (ideally involves partaking in a powerpoint night. i have OPINIONS.)

check out that new yakuza series

ranma (the new anime and maybe the og manga? i never read it but it was pretty much always in my peripheral vision somewhere)

a couple random cute-looking anime from the last couple seasons. that cat cafe one looked cute

toradora (read the light novels. maybe rewatch the anime too)

pokespe (reread the full series; but also more specifically reread bw/bw2)

haruhi suzumiya (reread and rewatch that goes in light novel order and directly compares the anime to the books until i run out of space. includes all side content, including theatre; so will probably wait a little longer to start so by the time i hit theatre there's a fan tl at least)

love is war (rewatch of the dub this time now that i've finished the manga)

detective conan (just the kaito eps/movies and also the crimson love letter because i adore it)

sailor moon (full manga reread; maaaaybe revisit the 90s anime. maybe check out the live action show or the musicals if i can find good subs of either)

tokyo mew mew (full series reread; probably rewatching new along with it)

warrior cats (finish catching up on the new arc)

oshi no ko (check out the manga/anime at least)

pokemon horizons (i think i literally only saw the first couple episodes. oops.)

batman no man's land (i was gonna read all the cassandra cain comics and decided to start here, got really into it, and fell off midway through volume 1 of no man's land proper. i DID finish the road to volumes though!)

the spider-gwen comics

i should really catch up the idw sonic too

now that i think about it i never finished spectacular spiderman season 2 either

at some point i also i want to watch the tale of princess kaguya (the ghibli? i think? movie)

#ruby.txt #general nonsense #this is really a non-exhaustive list. if i thought about it longer i COULD keep going.

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otakween · 11 months ago

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One Pound Gospel - Episode 9 (Final Episode!)

This was so cute and fun 🥹 Just as a silly rom com finale should be. The episode flew by and felt shorter than usual? It was a bit like an extended epilogue since Kosaku already became the champion in the previous episode. I really needed these warm fuzzies after a stressful day at work.

Side note: Somehow this is my first completed Jdrama?? I've lived 31 years and never got around to watching one from start to finish. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship.

Notes:

As usual everyone banding together to cheer up a sad Kosaku was really sweet. Talk about a good emotional support net.

Angela and Ueda get a one-on-one! I love Ueda's wise older brother vibes, he was a delight to watch (gotta check out that actor's other stuff).

Of course they had to throw in some more Rumiko Takahashi Easter eggs with Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 chilling in the background. They even mentioned Inuyasha by name! (Apparently Angela read all 30 volumes in one sitting lol)

Ueda waiting for Kosaku to fall asleep when he was upset that Ueda was leaving 🥺

Kosaku showing off for the kids in the park was great. Transform Champion Man!

Loved the little comedy routine with the guys trying to get Angela to leave the room in the church. I actually laughed out loud quite a few times this episode

Mature!Kosaku tells Angela that he'll wait for her. I didn't really understand that tho. Telling her he'll wait implies that she'll definitely quit being a nun at some point no? It's like he was trying to take the pressure off but instead added a crazy amount of pressure? lol

Boxer!Katsumi was super cute with his bangs pinned back. It was pretty cheesy how everyone announced what their happily ever after was going to be. They really wanted the least ambiguous happy ending possible lol

Happy for the Mukoda gym becoming crazy popular now that they have a champion. Happy for the Chairman mostly, she deserves this :)

The scene where Angela first shows up without her habit and the wedding sequence both felt really awkward lol. In the first scene it took Kosaku like 10 years to look at her face and then the wedding was just strange. Barely anyone in the crowd (wait, does Kosaku just not have any family?) and then they applaud when she walks in? I don't think that's how it works...Also, Kosaku's clown shoes lol

The egg stroganoff bowl looked pretty nasty but I'm sure it's delicious. Why were the nuns eating it tho?

Angela's training to be a housewife with that side pony. I did like her "cozy at home" look the best. Considering her resume (or lack there of), I would say housewife or teacher/daycare worker are her best options.

Kinda ruined the mood when they stamped "This drama is a fiction" right over the final frame. What if I was like "wait, WHAT!?" lol

Whelp, that's it for this franchise (manga, OVA, and live action). Nice to have something short and sweet as I trudge through Digimon. Onto the next!

#one pound gospel #drama #live action

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sabrinatvband · 1 year ago

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Stuff I've been posting on the internet Q1 2024

I've written more stuff on the internet. I previously compiled a collection of stuff I'd written Q4 last year, and I'm continuing this new tri-monthly tradition with this post. I made my previous post in November, before the year had actually ended, so there's some stuff I'll mention in this post from the end of last year.

Since my last post I've posted a bunch of things. One of them is a review of Creatures of the Night, KISS's not-quite-classic 1982 album. I also posted a semi-follow up to the first part of my Spider-Man games retrospective, where I continued talking about Spider-Man 2.

I wrote about the Death of Superhero Movies, and wrote a consumer guide for buying gamepads. I wrote about my favorite games and favorite comics. I wrote a wrote a 40th Anniversary piece on John Carpenter's Christine.

I also wrote some thoughts down about Vampirella comics for an essay I'm not sure I'll ever get around to writing. To close out 2023 I wrote about my favorite films I saw for the first time that year, and then re-posted my WWAC piece on The Dirty Pair.

That's all the stuff I wrote for my personal blogs in 2023. Before I circle back to 2024 personal blog posts, let me talk about stuff I wrote for other websites.

I wrote a piece on rules-lite superhero TTRPGs for Cannibal Halfling. The piece details over 25 different games; I didn't read and/or play every game, but I did research on each one and made a short list of the games I was most interested in playing. I think it's a pretty good macro-level overview of the subject.

Also for Cannibal Halfling I wrote a piece about Maid RPG and Ewen Cluney's other M.A.I.D. System games. I think it's a great overview of Maid RPG; its systems, the reception it received, and its sister games.

For Anime Herald I wrote about Angel Cop and its infamous dub. I'm very proud of the piece, but unfortunately while writing a different piece on Ranma 1/2 I got into a conflict with an editor, and so I don't see myself writing for Anime Herald ever again. The Ranma 1/2 piece was 90% finished, and so I might post it somewhere eventually, if it stops being painful to look at.

Anyways, here are all my WordPress posts that were never on Substack listed out:

New WordPress Smell

Couch PC Gaming: Steam Appreciation

Orcs Must Die: Remember Tower Defense?

This is the End of Weekly Posts

After promising to only make more "substantial" posts I made one more post on my blog about Ghostbusters stuff, but after pitching a piece about Extreme Ghostbusters to WWAC I decided to private the post as an act of courtesy. My blog gets extremely low traffic, and so only three or four people ever saw the post, but it just seemed wrong to pitch something that had some slight overlap with something on my blog already. At some point in the future I'll un-private the post and the URL above should work; I'll warn you, though, the post wasn't very good.

Anyways, that's all of my internet postings from Q1 2024. See you again in three months!

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nemo-of-house-hamartia · 7 months ago

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Ok, PART 2 INCOMING.

just like before, this is going to be long, so it's going to be underneath the keep reading lol

ENJOY

-KODOMO NO OMOCHA

When I tell you that if you were an Italian teen and were watching this anime, YOU FOR SURE HAVE HAD YOUR HEART CRUSHED BUT THIS. CRUSHED. BECAUSE ERIK WAS *EVERYTHING*. Also, there are people who wanted Sana to end up with Ayato and people WHO LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH. Gods, I remember the huge amounts of feelings this anime caused me because I was more or less the same age as the protagonists, also starting to nurse my first IRL crushes toward another classmate and this anime HIT HARD in the feelings fml.

-TOKYO MEW MEW

I loved this Anime so much as a teen because it was SO BEAUTIFULLY drawn and it was so colorful and adorable (but I don't know why, I found Ichigo to be insufferable. Like, I loved her design, because YES, the design is beautiful, but she as a character was insufferable, and I very much prefered Zakuro and Mint tbh. But I loved the mangaka's sense of fashion for the girls, it was just UGH so prettyyyyyy!!!

-KERORO GUNSO

ok this is probably one of THE MOST ridiculous manga I have ever read, but dear gods, I remember laughing SO MUCH. SO MUCH. I loved the design Keroro and the Platoon had, they were so cute, and Keroro is just SO STUPID but SO ADORABLE, you cannot help but find him endearing (though, poor Dororo, he is trying to keep this freaking squad from sinking lolol), and the story was just overall hilarious. To this day, one of my favourite still <3

-URUSEI YATSURA

MOVE.THE.FUCK.ASIDE. BECAUSE LUM IS MY PRINCESS. LOOK AT HER. JUST LOOK AT HER. SHE IS *EVERYTHING* AND SO MUCH MORE,BUT BOY OH BOY, I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY SHE WENT AFTER ATARU SO MUCH. Each time she gave him an electroshock I was like "YOU GO GIRL. THAT MOFO DOESN'T DESERVE YOU.* But then again, Mendo nor Rei were actually suitable partners for her, despite both of them going after her fml. Probably her best match was Benten, and fml I adored their relationship (the whole Oni vs Gods of Luck thing they had going on was my everything).

-RANMA 1/2

If I had one OTP, that one is Ranma and Akane, because DEAR GODS, I just cannot. The whole premise of this manga is something else entirely, and I will ALWAYS recommend everyone to read it because it's so worth it. Rumiko Takahashi did such a splendid job with the story and the characters (though my fave must be Kodachi and Ryoga. Like, I am sorry, but Ryoga is such an idiot, but such an adorable one, it's impossible not to love him, and Kodachi is THE QUEEN, with the whole rhythmic gymnastic thing she has going on. ADORE. But Happosai I would gladly burn with a torch. I HATED HIM so much. so much fml). Also fun fact, this was probably the first manga I ever bought, when I was 7-8 years old, always courtesy of my grandparents <3

-TOKIMEKI TONIGHT

NGL, Tokimeki Tonight holds a special place in my heart. I didn't discover it until they printed the manga in Italy in 2002, but ever since then it held my heart. I have a huge soft spot for the 80s style of drawing of the manga (70s and 80s Shoujo are just so beautiful, I adore), and Tokimeki Tonight is no exception. Plus, the story is SO CUTE and Ransie's family and their adventure are just so entertaining (I adore her mom and dad: like, a vampire and a she-wolf together? perfection!!!). This is another manga I would warmly recommend because it's just so super cute. Cheesy and humorous, exactly as I love it lolol.

-NANA

This is not a manga. This is not an anime. This is a WHOLE ASS MASTERPIECE. A MASTERPIECE. Gods, Ai Yazawa is the reason I am so conscious about fashion for my ocs, because, if you have read ANY manga she has written and drawn, you know why. Anyway, this story is just a literal wrench to the heart, from beginning to end, and this is without taking into consideration that it's not finished and will more likely remain incomplete😥😥😥 (and dear Gods, Hachi, you are such a freaking idiot, but I love you anyway. But if I ever catch Takumi, that bastard is going to get the snip snip from me. Bastard.)

-BERSERK

I have only one thing to say about Berserk: this manga/anime is TRAUMATIC. Like seriously, Kentaro Miura was not shy in traumatizing his characters and whatnot, but let me tell you something: if you ever want to approach Berserk, read about ALL the trigger warnings, because the story truly dwell in profound dark themes. I usually am able to read manga in one-go, but with Berserk I had to take several pauses because sometimes it was A LOT. That being said, Casca an Guts are my precious babies and deserve ALL THE SAFETY IN THIS WORLD. GRIFFITH, YOU BASTARD, I AM GOING TO TEAR YOUR BALLS AWAY FROM YOU. *starts wailing in a corner.*

-SHAMAN KING

I actually had to thank a dear friend from high school for discovering this manga. I remember we were in the same school but different classes, and she was always reading it, so one day she suggested me to read it and I WAS HOOKED. The whole concept is AMAZING, the story is HILARIOUS (when it's not too busy squashing your heart with absolute glee) and the characters are *perfection*. I honestly adore Rei and Bason (once more, emotionally constipated short king with one hell of a temper), especially Bason in his spirit form. He was adorable lolol.

-OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB

Ok this is another one I ABSOLUTELY recommend because it's downright HILARIOUS, and the drama/comedy/ shoujo thing that is going on is just *chef's kiss*. Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins are SUCH HUGE DORK AND IDIOTS, OMG, but they are so adorable. Though, my man there is Kyouya, the KING IN THE SHADOW. Honestly, if you want something light and hilarious to read, this is PERFECT. And the anime is SO WELL DRAWN. SO WELL DRAWN. I adore.

-SUGAR SUGAR RUNE

THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF THIS MANGA IS JUST SO PURELY ADORABLE. CHOCOLA IS SO CUTE, HER MOTHER CINNAMON IS SO BADASS and fml when I read the manga Glacier was *definitely* my type fml. ALSO, MOYOCO ANNO'S ARTSTYLE IS *FANTASTIC* and I absolutely *adore* the fashion style she has for the EVERYONE. I ADORE.

-OJAMAJO DOREMI

I might be biased, because I used to watch it with my baby sister, so i have many fond memories connected to this, BUT THIS IS PROBABLY THE CUTEST AND MOST ADORABLE ANIME EVER MADE. It's just so cute, the story is adorable, and I absolutely adored Momoko and Onpu, they were my babbus. And the Italian theme songs were ALL SO CATCHY AND BEAUTIFUL. Cristina D'Avena, you will forever be THE SINGER FML.

-VAMPIRE HUNTER D

And nothing. this is THE Dhampir. D is THE MAN. Honestly, if I were to start blabbering about Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, I would spend DAYS going over and over EVERY SINGLE MINUTE DETAIL, because dear Gods, this is Yoshitaka Amano style animated, and for my eyes is a FEAST each time I watch this movie. I just truly can't express into words what it means to me and the influence it had on 13 yo Nemo back then, the way it shaped my love for vampires and gothic atmosphere. Also, D is so freaking handsome, fml, between him and Vincent Valentine I would probably become incoherent lol.

-CLAMP SCHOOL DETECTIVE & MAN OF MANY FACES

I put these two together because the characters and the setting are the same, and I read them in tandem when I was younger, so to me they are kind of indivisible. The chapters in the manga are all self-conclusive, but the stories are just so cute, with the Nokoru, Suoh and Akira helping all "damsels in distress" around CLAMP Institute campus, they are just adorable (and I LIVED for their brief cameos as adults in X-1999. *inserts Leo DiCaprio gif pointing at something* I honestly enjoyed them thoroughly!

----------------------------------

Ok for now I am done with Part 2!

I will upload part 3 in the next few days lolol

Ok imma make a list of my fave animes and manga from when I was growing up., because I can. And if you are an Italian that grew up in the late 80s/early 90s watching TV, you'll find a crapton of those cartoons that were aired on Bim Bum Bam (so, Italia 1, Canale 5 and Rete 4 lolol) and on the smaller television channels (especially the one from the 80s ).

It's going to be A LONG ONE, probably divided in a couple of reblogs, because I am not kidding you all, I DEVOURED manga and anime when I was a child/teen lolol

As usual, they are in no particular order of preference: I am just writing them down as they come to my mind.

So without further ado, you will find the list beneath the "keep reading" lolol

-LADY OSCAR

When I say that this story shaped me as a person, I am not exaggerating. I always LOVED reading shoujos, but I never felt like I could relate to any of the heroines. I felt like I was never sweet enough, or feminine enough. Then, Oscar François de Jarjayes came along and dear gods, it was EVERYTHING my heart desired. I wanted to be her so badly: brave, strong, just and never afraid to be who I am. This story is my everything.

-X-1999

(the way Seishiro and Subaru's story had me BY THE THROAT even as a teen,I just cannot begin to explain. Gods, it was so twisted, but so SO GOOD. Seishiro and Subaru were just MY EVERYTHING. And do not let me start with Kakyou and Hotaru, my heart was WRENCHED. tbh, it would be fair to say that everything connected to the Sumeragi just grips my heart , especially after reading Tokyo Babylon. Gah, my heart).

-SLAYERS

RINA WAS MY EVERYTHING. Poweful, Sassy, independent, reckless and with a short temper??? like HELLO?? I connected to her so much fml (and child me shipperd her hard with Zelgadis, fml.). The Italian Theme song was just SO BEAUTIFUL, it was one of the many reasons I adored this anime so much.

-ROBIN HOOD

*takes deep breath* ok. I have a lot to unpack on this because I have this CLEAR core memory from when I was still in preschool and was watching this anime at my grandparents' home and I was just lost for Robin. COMPLETELY lost, and while I am known to have a penchant for being rather theatrical, now I am totally serious. fml this cartoon had such a huge influence on me, that I am still feeling it to this day, even in the way I design characters (like, I never realized how much Maid Marian actually resembled Dottie dear gods.)

- MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING

I usually do not care much for the Mecha genre tbh, it was never my favourite, but Mobile Suit was one of the few that I actually loved. And this was the Anime that made me go "yes, I love men with long hair fml (Duo, you bastard, I had such a huge crush on you. So yes, I am looking at you) and I love magnificent bastards (Treize I hate that I love you so much)", so I already knew there was no going back lol).

-SAILOR MOON

I talked extensively yesterday about HOW MUCH I love Sailor Moon, but dear gods let me reiterate. Sailor Moon IS my childhood. The amount of time I played pretend in school with my group of friends cannot even start to be counted. Adore. just ADORE.

- CHOBITS

(prepare yourself because you will see A CRAPTON of stuff from Clamp. They were my go to, along Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi and Ai Yazawa).

-CARD CAPTOR SAKURA

(this story was *everything* and i coveted so badly her card deck. like, the amount of time I redrew the card of Fire, Water, Light and Darkness because fml i adore Mokona's style so much, especially the one she had during that period of time).

-TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLE

(I am still trying to recover from THE HUGE HEADACHE this freaking manga caused me, with all the cross referencing and whatnot, but fml I was *living* for all the characters from Clamp´s previous work being included everywhere. It was amazing, I adored it so much).

-MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH

I WANTED TO BE UMI SO BADLY. SO BADLY. BLUE HAIRED HEROINE, ELEGANT, CONNECTED TO DRAGONS, WITH ONE HECK OF A RAPIER AS SWORD?? WHY YES. YES. And Emeraude, oh gods, the way I loved Emeraude and Zagart's story. Just let me sob in silenceeeee).

- GODCHILD

What can I say about this, aside from the fact that this was my descent into the Visual Gothic Genre?? It had everything! fucked up story-lines (Victorian Gothic literature was filled up with that), the AMAZING pencil of Kaori Yuki, and Cain. ESPECIALLY CAIN.

-DRAGON BALL

(Z/GT, you name it. Mandatory watch with my lil bro, as soon as I got back home followed, of course, by a fight between me and him because we couldn't agree on who was stronger, Vegeta or Goku - and I still stand by my man Vegeta, idc. Also, Freezer's saga lasted FOREVER. A WHOLE SUMMER OF WATCHING IT, AND IT WAS NEVER ENDING.).

- NARUTO

this is THE MANGA. The one that, alongside The Crow caused me and my husband to meet and fall in love. We were both following Shippuuden as it just came out and was airing in Japan, and my hubby had a Sasuke fpf. Aside from this though, I just love Kishimoto's work so much fml.

- LITTLE POLLON

A whole ass anime about the daughter of Apollo, busy trying to prove herself a Goddess and making SO MUCH CHAOS?? My cup of tea as a child (I was probably 4-5 when I watched it) and my own personal gateway to Greek Mythology lololol

-WOLF'S RAIN

DO NOT SPEAK TO ME ABOUT THIS ANIME, I AM STILL CRYING THINKING ABOUT IT, DEAR GODS. THIS ANIME FUCKED ME UP IN SO MANY WAYS, I CANNOT EVEN START TO COUNT THEM. FML. But dear gods, the way I adored it and tickled all my wolf spot in the brain. BEAUTIFUL.

-GALAXY EXPRESS 999

I have the fondest memories of this anime, because I used to watch it with my grandpa who actually happend to be a train conductor. He always made sure to record it on the VHS when he had shifts where he would not be able to be home and watch it with me, so this has anime has so many memories conneced to it. Also, I loved Maetel, she alway looked so elegant to me (infact, I had half an idea of drawing Dottie as her for halloween, but didn't have the time lolol). Hilariously, this anime would subsequently be the one to open the doors for me to Captain Harlock lol.

-INUYASHA

I CANNOT START BLABBERING ABOUT INUYASHA, BECAUSE OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE A 50K ESSAY LONG TO PRESENT HERE. But I remember approaching it after I read Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 (Rumiko Takahashi is a fucking genius, I will take no other opinion on her. She carried this side of the manga industry on her shoulders alone fml), and I fell SO IN LOVE with the Sengoku Era and with the whole youkai mithos that I just tuned on MTV whenever I could just to watch it fml. Also, this cemented my love for the "Magnificent Bastards with long hair" that Gundam Wing started (am looking at you, Naraku, Sesshomaru and Inu-no-Taisho fml) (also no, I don't want to hear about Yashahime. I love the characters design they had for the children, but as far as I am concerned in regards to the story, that thing never existed for me and will never exist).

-SAINT SEIYA

I CAVALIERI!! I CAVALIERI!! I CAVALIERI DELLO ZODIACOOOOOOOOOOOO!! *ahem, sorry. I had to. The Italian opening by Giorgio Vanni is so fucking catching, it alwys put me in such good mood. I adored Lady Isabel but also wanted her to end up with Nettuno, I just couldn't find a freaking compromise lol. AND FML, my heart belonged to Ikki. He was such a spunky, arrogant son of a bitch, I loved him so much. But truth is that I also ADORED Seiya's Italian VA (Ivo De Palma, fml, you magnificent man).

-YU YU HAKUSHO

This was the beginning of my love for short kings who are also emotionally constipated TO THE MAX and a bit of a bastard. AND YES, HIEI, I AM TALKING ABOUT YOU. I was never a great appreciator of Yusuke tbh, but I always shipped him with Botan because they were just SO ADORABLE together. But I was just much more interested in Kuwabara being all over the moon for Yukina and Hiei having to deal with it lololol that was so much fun.

-FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST

BEST. MANGA. AND. ANIME. EVER. I have YET to see to this day a story AS GOOD as this one. Like, seriously, the amount of research that Hiromu Arakawa did for this anime is something that needs to be praised. Seriously, if you have never seen this, GO NOW AND DO SO. You are missing out on SO MUCH.This manga shaped me as a writer and artist, tbh: it had such profound impact on me on a creative level (also, Maes Hughes is living a long life with his family after he retired from service, had 3 more children, and they are all living in a cottage by the sea fml).

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OK I FINISHED PART 1 FOR NOW.

Part 2 will come soon lolol

#Nemo babbles #kodomo no omocha #tokyo mew mew #keroro gunso #berserk #vampire hunter d #Clamp School Detective #ouran high school host club #Ojamajo doremi #sugar sugar rune #shaman king #tokimeki tonight #ranma 1/2 #Urusei yatsura

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inukag · 2 years ago

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What are your opinions on Ranma 1/2? Which do you like more, the anime or the manga?

I read the manga of Ranma 1/2 some years ago but I've never seen the anime. In fact, the only anime adaptations of Rumiko's works I've seen are Inuyasha, some episodes of Kyoukai no Rinne and now Urusei Yatsura (2022). I think the Urusei Yatsura reboot might actually be my favorite so far 😅 (But maybe that's because I haven't finished reading UY)

Ranma 1/2 is a weird series because I remember thinking it was good but.... I don't remember much about it. I don't think I can name more than 5 characters. I barely remember what happens in the story. It doesn't help that it's very episodic so there isn't an overarching plot beyond "will Ranma and Akane actually get married?". I remember getting really bored around 20 volumes in because the gags were pretty much copy and pasted at that point (the same could be said about Inuyasha but at least Inuyasha has a plot). The characters were fun, but again, not very memorable to me. If it was a shorter series like Maison Ikkoku (15 volumes) I probably would I loved it but it was stretched out for too long. Maybe reading it each week in a magazine back when it was being released was more enjoyable than trying to binge read it like I did.

That being said I think RT's art style peaked during Ranma 1/2 (and until middle of Inuyasha). Her characters are super expressive and cute and I like their designs a lot.

I can't comment on how well the anime adapted the manga obviously since I haven't watched it, but I heard the anime did Akane dirty like they did Kagome is the Inuyasha anime. That's a shame if true because I thought Akane was great!

I heard that the Ranma 1/2 anime was actually very influential and partially helped making anime mainstream outside of Japan, so that's really cool. The manga also sold better than Inuyasha by a couple millions, and I often see it being recommended. So there's clearly a lot to love about the series but personally it isn't one of my favorite from Takahashi!

#ask #Anon

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suzukiblu · 4 years ago

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Fic Writer Meme

Tagged by my dear @dancinbutterfly, and like, obviously I will take any excuse to talk about writing.

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

168, although a few of those are podfics that the podficcer credited me as a co-author on. Actually less than I would’ve expected, tbh.

2) what is your total ao3 word count?

1,431,989. Honestly also kinda less than I would’ve expected at this point. I will blame all those old fics I never brought over from LJ and ff.net for this expectation.

3) how many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

I literally cannot tell you, the ancient ways have been lost to me. I can give you my Ao3 fandoms, though!

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Overwatch

The Witcher (Netflix)

Young Justice (Cartoon)

Animorphs

Star Wars

Good Omens

Venom

Fantastic Four

Leverage

League of Legends

Daredevil

Supernatural

Care Bears

World of Warcraft

Spider-Man

X-Men

Slender Man Mythos

Additionally, long ago: Naruto, Gundam Wing, Digimon, Ranma ½, Bleach, Inu-Yasha, and many scattered other fandoms of my youth. So, so many others. So I’ve written for 25+ fandoms, at least.

4) what are your top 5 fics by Kudos.

a mark, a mission, a brand, a scar (13004)

I once started out to walk around the world but ended up in Brooklyn (8450)

it’s a long way forward (so trust in me) (6965)

oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me (6818)

if the bad times are coming let ‘em come (5362)

5) do you respond to comments?

Not really these days, though I hoard and treasure them like a freaking DRAGON. I used to respond to all of them but sometimes I’m just not around and then it becomes awkwardly late to reply and also they kinda . . . pile up a bit. I do try to answer all the comments with questions in them, at least, as long as the questions aren’t literally spoilers or anything like that.

6) what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t usually write super-angsty endings, I think? I don’t FEEL like I usually write super-angsty endings, anyway, at least not these days. I think I did it more often when I was more into, like, drabbles and shortfic. Now I just spend way too long on stuff to give it a downer ending.

The most recent angsty ending I can think of is wanna hold him, maybe I’ll just sing about it, though eventually I did write a sequel to that to soften the blow a bit. And also torment people a bit. Both, technically. Technically both.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

blondes really do have more fun, definitely. It’s very . . . giddy, I guess? What with the gender euphoria and all. There’s angst and heavy emotions in the actual plot but the highs of the happy parts/ending are probably the highest/happiest ones I’ve written, and Supergirl gets everything she wants without having to compromise or give up anything else.

8) do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

I write fusion fic more than crossovers, really, but I have written a LOT of fusion fic. Some of it has been weirder than others, tbh, but probably the Avatar: The Last Airbender/Animorphs fusion that I have been lovingly slaving over deserves to be this answer if only for how much extremely sincere effort I have put into it over the years.

9) have you ever received hate on a fic?

Mild hate, but occasionally. I don’t really tend to remember negative comments, tbh, though it does sometimes make me not want to reread the comment section I know they’re in. But a lot of the hate I’ve gotten in the end just seemed like socially-awkward people being unnecessarily blunt instead of just hitting the back button, so I try not to take it personally. Can’t please everyone. Don’t WANT to please everyone, frankly.

10) Do you write smut? What kind?

Yes, and the kind is “a lot”. Sometimes I don’t really feel like it but definitely I have done a lot of it. I try for Feelings and also to be safe, sane, and consensual as much as I can.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

I . . . am not sure? Though probably, after being at this for all this time. Someone once told me that someone picked up a fic I’d (at the time) abandoned and just started writing/posting more of it without asking or telling me about it, but I never actually found said fic and I don’t know if that technically counts as “stealing” anyway.

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

A few times, yup, it’s pretty gratifying! I also like to run them back through Google Translate and see what they say, haha.

13) have you ever co-written a fic before?

yoooo @dancinbutterfly, @rainnecassidy! Also done it with a few other people long, LONG ago, but that was back in the LJ era. Don’t think I’ve technically collabed with anyone else lately, although sometimes people will give me ideas for stuff I’m writing or offer suggestions when I’m stuck on a thing, which is very helpful.

14) what’s your favourite ship?

Like . . . per fandom? ‘Cuz we could be here a while. Most recently it’s Jaskier/Geralt, for a while it was Aziraphale/Crowley, DEFINITELY for a while it was Steve/Bucky . . .

You know, I guess technically my all-time favorite ship is actually Naruto/Sasuke, because I made a LOT of friends in Naruto fandom and it actually hugely influenced the end of my teenage years and beginning of my adult life and so, SO much of my writing. So like, if nothing else it wins on influentialness.

15) what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Let ‘Em Come. @rainnecassidy and I wrote that AU a long-ass time ago now and I never did my half of the sequel fic because I got too distracted with another longfic I was working on at the time and then took a real long fandom break. I always felt kind of bad about it because people seemed to bother her for said sequel more than they bothered ME for it, since her fic was the last posted part. Unfortunately I just don’t have the spoons or the MCU-focus for the research and effort it’d take anymore. Also, like . . . it’d probably be pretty long, so unless I was REAL obsessive about it it’d take a good long while.

Basically I think its time has just passed at this point, alas.

16) what are your writing strengths?

Sex, action, snark, and weird fusion fics. Also making people love things they usually hate, that’s one I get told a lot.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

Fitting physical descriptions of . . . literally ANYTHING into the story. Just, anything. Physical descriptions are hard.

18) what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

I try not to do it, personally, because I know soooooo very little about other languages. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle in a little bit of it, but usually I feel like it’s better to avoid it, personally.

19) what was the first fandom you wrote for?

I literally could not even tell you. The first fandom I REMEMBER writing proper “fic” for was . . . Ranma ½, I think. I thiiiiink. But that was a long-ass time ago and I never even posted it anywhere because those were the days when I despised typing things up beyond all measure, hah. And before that I remember writing Animorphs . . . comics? Storyboards? Something like that. Kind of a cross between the two.

20) what’s your favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I do not know! There’s really just too many, tbh. Some top options are you found me when no one else was looking, best friends means you get what you deserve, clay kids, Avamorphs, handmaiden!Anakin, oh don’t you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me, and . . . and I could go on for a dang MINUTE, honestly, haha, I’m just gonna stop myself here before I get too carried away.

I tag whoever happens to be reading this that wants to be tagged; have fun with it!

#meme #a/b/o #some not sfw links in here #fair warning #long post

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rigelmejo · 8 months ago

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Notes on my language levels:

Ignoring actual hours spent studying (because 1 I don't remember right now and don't want to calculate it, and 2 for Chinese and Japanese the level hour estimates would be much different... with 2200 hours as somewhere close to the 600-1000 hour estimate, and 1500 hours matching up to 4400 hours in Chinese or Japanese).

This is the level I, conservatively, think I'm at in the languages I'm studying.

Japanese: Between Level 3 (1,500 words - low level graded readers I've read like Tadoku readers, can understand easy learner podcasts like Nihongo Con Teppei, I don't rely exclusively on visual information, I can follow lessons with less visual cues like Intermediate videos on Comprehensible Japanese youtube channel), and Level 4 (3,000 words - understand a range of daily topics without visuals... I need some visuals but only the amount in actual places or a show, I do not need the visual cues of a teacher for daily topics, listening extensively to podcasts for learners would help, can handle graded readers). If I were to be generous, I'd say I'm close to Level 4 but I am not fully comfortable with daily conversation if there's zero visuals, and not fully comfortable with less easy learner podcasts.

My goal with Japanese is to hit Level 5 - 5,000 words known (which I HOPE Glossika gets me to). At that point I will understand podcasts for learners fairly well, and can listen to a lot of Nihongo Con Teppei and Yuyu no nihongo podcast. At that point easier TV shows and cartoons should be accessible (I can already watch Doraemon fine and understand fine, I'd like to be to the point where I can watch Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha to learn a lot more new words just by watching, and rewatch shows I've seen in english to pick up new words - since I already know the context... and slice of life BL jdramas, which I am almost at the point of being able to do). Also, at that point harder graded readers like the stories on Satori Reader app should be doable.

So my plan right now is to: finish Glossika japanese then review for a month to get my vocabulary close to 5,000 words so I'm around Level 5, then listen to Nihongo Con Teppei and Yuyu no Nihongo Podcast (and maybe watch more Doraemon) to continue exposing myself to common words and hopefully picking up some more vocabulary, then when I feel ready begin to read-listen to stuff on Satori Reader and watch daily life romance jdramas and some anime I've seen before in English.

Chinese: Judging my level is a bit difficult, as I've been able to read novels in specific genres and watch shows in almost any topic for a while now. Let's put me at Level 6 for simplicity's sake, because I don't feel I'm at Level 7 (functionally done with formal studying) yet. Level 6 - 7,000 known words (which for a language like Japanese or Chinese, I am guessing may need to be to closer to 14,000 words since there's no cognates to rely on). My vocabulary estimate is 1787 "like a 15 year old in China" on ARealMe site, and on hsklevel.com my estimate is 12,500 words known, HSK 6 level vocabulary or TOCFL Band B.2 (which matches with my ability to read well). I can read stuff for teenager without looking any words up, and understand all plot and most details (like Daomubiji), when I read stuff for adults I can get through things without looking any words up but it's hit or miss as to whether I understand just the main idea and some details, or the main idea and almost all details (depends on the genre, author, unique word count, those sorts of things). In TV shows I know almost all words I see in subtitles unless I'm watching a genre I never watch (like very in depth legal-type or political genre or older wuxia and palace shows), and if I don't know a word it's usually clear in the context of a show so I guess it (which is what I do for genres I don't know as many words for).

"You can understand TV shows about daily life quite well (80 to 90%)." - I could do this a few years ago in Chinese, after around 1 year of studying. This statement is also true for me with all genres of shows, I always can understand at least the main idea even in unfamiliar show genres, which is probably at least 80% of the words given that visuals also help guess main idea plot. So I can watch shows easier than Level 6 estimates ability at this point. "You'll still want to read books that are targeted at elementary school children, although maybe you don't need to stick to the lower grades" - like with shows, I can read more difficult books than the Level 6 estimates ability at this point.

So I am maybe at some point between Level 6 and 7, and just continuing to read and listen is going to keep me improving. In Dreaming Spanish's levels, speaking is recommended at Level 6... I should practice trying to speak and write at some point... Specifically, I am listening to audiobooks right now (goal of 50 hours... just finishing 1 lol, then eventually 200 hours so 4 audiobooks), and continuing to read novels. Aiming to read 4 million words (then 11 million eventually), and I think I've only read 0.5 million so far (update: checked my last estimated word count and yes it was ~454,000 words, and I've read more since then, so I am at around 500,000 words read right now). So I'd like to read 3.5 million more words... that's around 35 cnovels if I pick webnovels around 100,000 words (a lot of webnovels are 50k-300k, with a lot that I like being 100k-150k so a goal to read 35 novels will probably get me to my goal). SCI Mystery is 495,422 words all on it's own (around another 0.5 million words). And even if we assume less words per characters, then it's equivalent to ~322,024 english words (at 650 english words to 1000 chinese characters conversion). Which is still over a quarter million words for 1 webnovel.

French: haha ha haaa. My Level is totally skewed, as I have a much weaker listening ability. I can follow an audiobook... if I have a transcript. I can read great (Level 7), I can watch videos for learners with some visual context and some abstract discussions like Comprehensible French youtube channel's B1 videos (Level 4 and Level 5). I cannot understand French shows much without subtitles (Level 5), but with subtitles they're understandable (Level 6). So I would say... my listening ability is between a Level 4 and Level 5, it would probably improve from: simply listening to more stuff for learners like Comprehensible French's B1 and B2 videos, and Ayan Academy's audio of Le Francais Par Le Methode Nature. If I listened more, I think my listening skill would get up to Level 5, and then from there I could watch French shows without subtitles, perhaps audiobooks with no transcript, and probably get my listening skill up to my reading skill with time. As for speaking... after some listening to stuff for learners, I'd be around Level 5 and probably should start practice speaking and writing...

Dreaming Spanish Levels - A good reference in general for progress milestones when studying X hours

I'm about to paste in the entire Levels Guide Dreaming Spanish has on their site, if you make an account and look at their levels. It's on this Progress page, when logged in. A less detailed version of the Levels can be found on the roadmap picture on this public Method page. I want to paste in the detailed levels descriptions, because I want to be able to reference them in my notes generally, when I'm not logged into Dreaming Spanish.

Level 1

Starting from zero.

Hours of input: 0

Known words: 0

Videos to watch: Superbeginner

What you can do: The sounds of the language sound weird to your ears. You can't tell many of those sounds apart from each other. When hearing the language, it’s hard for you to know when one word ends and when the next one begins. Even when you guess what a sentence means, many times you can’t guess at the meaning of the different parts. You can't say any words and be confident that a native speaker would understand you.

What you need to do: Listen A LOT. The listening needs to be very comprehensible. The best materials are classes or videos where the teachers speak in the language, but make it easy to understand by using a lot of drawings, pictures, and gestures. Crosstalk is the most efficient activity that you can do, if you can find speakers of the language. Reading is not recommended until later on, especially if you care about having clear pronunciation. Practicing writing or speaking is not recommended yet.

What you are learning: You mostly learn individual nouns for concrete things: car, nose, elephant. Action verbs: walk, eat, sing. Adjectives for simple emotions and sensations: happy, scared, cold. Adjectives for physical properties: blue, tall, fat, beautiful. Interjections are the clearest words early on: Hey! Wow! Hi! You may learn the numbers early on, but this depends quite a lot on the kind of content you listen to.

Level 2

You know some common words.

Hours of input: 50

Known words: 300

Videos to watch: Beginner

What you can do: You understand some common words, even if you are not 100% sure how to pronounce them. You can now guess the meaning of some 2-word sentences, like "go home", or "eat cake". There are only a few words that you could produce yourself. For many words, you’re still not sure what sounds they’re made of.

What you need to do: Listen A LOT. You are still best served with Crosstalk or classes or videos where the teacher(s) speak in a very comprehensible way. However, with a few words under your belt you are better prepared to make the most of that input. Those words will help you understand the rest of the input you are listening to. Reading not recommended yet.

What you are learning: More verbs, since nouns help you understand them. Still mostly nouns and verbs for concrete things. Many expressions are learned as a chunk. You don’t know what their parts mean yet. Grammar for basic sentence order. Many common function words will remain unclear for a long time.

Level 3

You can follow topics that are adapted for learners.

Hours of input: 150

Known words: 1,500

Videos to watch: Intermediate

What you can do: You can now understand people if they stay within certain topics. They still need to talk to you in a way that's appropriate for you, but you know many words, and you don’t rely exclusively on visual information. You still aren’t completely used to the sounds of the language. You have a good intuition for basic grammar, like sentence order. You can sometimes feel it when other learners make mistakes. It sounds wrong somehow. You can now say quite a few words and that will already be useful when traveling to the country.

What you need to do: Listen A LOT. Now you can listen to videos or classes in which the teacher doesn't use as much visual input, and may even be able to take advantage of really easy audios and podcasts that are catered to learners at your level. Crosstalk is still the best way to spend your time. At this level it becomes easier than before to do crosstalk over the internet using video call software, so you won't need to find native speakers where you live anymore. Reading is still not recommended if you care about your final achievement in pronunciation, but it starts becoming possible to understand lower level graded readers.

What you are learning: Because you are starting to get used to what the language sounds like, and what kinds of sound combinations to expect, you start learning words faster, without needing to hear them so many times. You learn nouns faster and faster. Knowing a decent amount of nouns helps you also learn more adjectives. You start learning more abstract terms for feelings, appearance, and more abstract verbs: to need, to have to, to be good at, etc. You are now getting used to more complicated grammar faster.

Level 4 (purple-blue on the DS site)

You can understand a person speaking to you patiently.

Hours of input: 300

Known words: 3,000

Videos to watch: Intermediate

What you can do: You're at the intermediate level! You can understand a patient native speaker. You still miss some words, but the speaker can explain their meaning to you without resorting to translation. You can understand a range of daily topics without visual support like drawings or pictures. The sounds of the language are becoming clearer now, and you are getting used to how the sounds are likely to be combined. That helps with retaining new words. If you tried speaking at a store, you could get your point across most of the time, but you still struggle producing even some basic words. Making friends in the language is now possible, but you need to find people who are quite patient, because not everybody will want to make that effort. Depending on your tolerance for getting negative reactions, you may want to wait a bit longer before speaking.

What you need to do: Listen A LOT. You can understand videos or classes in which the teacher doesn't use any visual cues, and can now benefit from listening extensively to audios and podcasts for learners everywhere you go, anytime you can. Crosstalk is still the best, most efficient way to improve. You can now make friends with whom you communicate only in the target language. While you will learn a lot when listening to people speak to you, speaking this early will invariably result in hard-to-fix non-native pronunciation, noticeably bad grammar, and poor word usage. If you really want to start having conversations with people it's recommended that you don't try to actively practice grammar or vocabulary, but rather speak in single words or simple sentences that come to mind easily. Reading is still not recommended if you care about your final achievement in pronunciation. By now you could understand slightly more difficult books, but still mostly just graded readers.

What you are learning: Surprisingly, in this phase you learn many common function words that are taught right at the beginning of most language courses. These words are used very frequently, but carry very little meaning. For example: the verb "to be" (or equivalent), prepositions (in, at, on), conjunctions (therefore, so, and), and even some pronouns. Once you become aware of a new word, you’ll encounter it everywhere. At this point you may start feeling that there are many more words that you don't know than words you do know. The exposure to less controlled speech allows you to notice many new words. Don't worry, you'll eventually also acquire those words the same way you acquired all the words you have learned until now. By this point you are full on acquiring all kinds of vocabulary, both concrete and abstract.

Level 5

You can understand native speakers speaking to you normally.

Hours of input: 600

Known words: 5,000

Videos to watch: Intermediate/advanced

What you can do: You can understand people well when they speak directly to you. They won’t need to adapt their speech for you. Understanding a conversation between native speakers is still hard. You’ll almost understand TV programs in the language, because you understand so many of the words, but they are still hard enough to leave you frustrated or bored. Conversation can be tiresome, and if you try to speak you can feel a bit like a child, since it will be hard to express abstract concepts and complex thoughts. You understand most of the words used during daily conversation, but you still can’t use many yourself. If you try to speak the language, it will feel like you are missing many important words. However, you can, often, already speak with the correct intonation patterns of the language, without knowing why, and even make a distinction between similar sounds in the language when you say them out loud.

What you need to do: Listen A LOT. You'll be able to understand more advanced materials for learners. Listen to audios and podcasts daily if you want to learn fast. Crosstalk is still as good as always. You may start feeling you are not getting much out of getting input about daily life topics. Try getting input about new topics. Easier TV programs and cartoons should be accessible too. The purists who want to get really close to a native speaker and get a really good accent may still want to hold off on speaking and reading for a little more, but if you do start speaking and reading it's not a big deal by this point. You'll still end up with better pronunciation and fluency than the vast majority of learners. If you want to start reading, by this point you'll be able to understand books targeted at children of lower grade levels, and you can skip over graded readers. If you start reading, try setting every gadget you own (PC, phone, Google and Facebook settings, etc.) to the target language, and following speakers of the language on social media.

What you are learning: This level can feel frustratingly similar to the previous one. You will still feel that there are many more words that you don't know than words you do know. You'll now feel many more instances of finally understanding that word that you have been hearing since forever. It may feel like these words are infinite, but no! Continue doing what you are doing and you'll little by little fill in all the missing gaps. For some words, you’ll even wonder why you hadn’t learned such a basic word yet. Learning abstract words (democracy, absence, patience) will be your bread and butter, as will be learning more and more grammatical connectors. At this level you’ll mostly finish up the grammar and the different sentence types. While still not being able to make the most complex sentences yourself, you’ll become able to understand almost every type of sentence.

Level 6 (green-blue on the site)

You are comfortable with daily conversation.

Hours of input: 1,000

Known words: 7,000

Videos to watch: Advanced

What you can do: You can really have fun with the language at this point. You are conversationally fluent for daily purposes of living in the country and you can get by at the bank, at the hospital, at the post office, or looking for an apartment to rent. In spite of that odd word that is not quite there when you need it, you can always manage to get your point across in one way or another, and by now you are already making complex longer phrases. At this level, for the first time, you start feeling like you are actually thinking about what you want to say, and not about how you want to say it, even though you may fall back on thinking about how you say things, especially in stressful situations or when feeling self-conscious. Using humor in the language is much easier now. You can understand TV shows about daily life quite well (80 to 90%). Shows about families, friends, etc. Unscripted shows will usually also be easier to understand than scripted shows, as long as they are not too chaotic or rely too much on cultural knowledge. Thrillers and other genres will still be hard.

What you need to do: Listen and read A LOT. It's also a good idea to get massive input in authentic media, be it TV, podcasts, radio, movies, etc. If you can't find a lot of easy media in the target language, you may find that videos and audios for learners are still more efficient for acquiring new vocabulary until you get a bit better. If your target language has many common words with a language you already know you may be able to understand quite well things like TED talks and university lectures. Lots of reading is also recommended if you want to be literate and if you care about reading. You'll still want to read books that are targeted at elementary school children, although maybe you don't need to stick to the lower grades. Nonfiction will often be much easier to understand than fiction. By this point, speaking and reading are completely unrestricted, and it's really encouraged to make friends in the language. If you live in the country, join as many social activities as you can. Live in a shared apartment, go to bars, join dance classes, a sports team, anything! Set your PC, phone, and all your online profiles to your target language. Make a list of daily things you do in your own language, and find alternatives to do them in your target language.

What you are learning: You may find the odd common word that you haven't learned yet, but by now your known vocabulary pretty much covers everything that you will usually want to say during everyday conversation. If you make friends and have real conversations, or watch certain TV shows, you will now be learning a lot of slang. By now, your knowledge will cover most sentence structures and grammatical words, so you will rarely learn these anymore, unless they are specific to certain registers of the language. You will mostly learn specific vocabulary used in formal speech or in writing. Most words that you learn now will be words that are used in more formal registers of speech like in the news, words used in formal writing, literary writing, or technical terms used in the specific fields that you are interested in: politics, technology, science, or 13th century woodblock prints. If your language doesn’t share a lot of its specialized vocabulary with your new language, you may still have to work on this for a long while.

Level 7

You can use the language effectively for all practical purposes.

Hours of input: 1,500

Known words: 12,000+

Videos to watch: Advanced

What you can do: You can understand any general content effortlessly, including newspapers, novels, and all types of TV shows and movies. You might still struggle with technical texts in unfamiliar fields, heavy regional slang, and shows with intricate plots. You speak fluently and effortlessly, without thinking about the language. While native speakers might still detect a slight accent, your clarity and fluidity make your speech easy to understand, and no one considers you a learner anymore. You may still make some mistakes, or miss a specific word here and there, but it doesn’t hinder you from being an effective member of society.

What you need to do: Listen and read A LOT. Add variety to what you read and listen to. By this point it's easy to find media in the target language that you understand very well, but it's also easy to get comfortable and not seek new challenges. If you want to continue improving, simply do things that you have never done before. Try reading a book by a new author, try watching a show about a topic that you're unfamiliar with (about space, about the Middle Ages, about lawyers, etc). If you live in the country, try joining activities that are new to you: a sports team, an improv group, comedy nights, etc.

What you are learning: You will continue learning slang, and learning about the culture, and that will allow you to understand more and more cultural references. You can explore other regional dialects of the language, ancient literary versions of the language, or vocabulary in other technical or scientific fields that you may want to learn about. You will still encounter new idioms and proverbs, but they will almost always be clear from the context. And of course, you can start learning your next language!

#progress #october progress #language levels #dreaming spanish #i just wanted to place clearly where I was according to these levels. and if my planned study for the next so many months #was in line with my actual goals - and it looks like it is.#rant #i am so excited to get to the point in japanese where I can just primarily listen to stuff and watch stuff #i hate flashcard/drilling vocabulary. but with japanese there's just SO many unknown words and i NEED to learn pronunciation too #so there's really no way to increase vocabulary in a speedy way except drilling that includes audio #even when i do read... Satori Reader will let me look up pronunciation and spelling for new words #but i cant jump to primarily reading only to learn as quickly as the way i did with French and Chinese

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