#simulcast commentary

[farcillesbian]

there's going to be an ASL simulcast of the Stanley Cup finals this month - featuring real time commentary from Deaf commentators & graphic visualizations to help communicate things like crowd nose levels, hit intensities, when the puck hits the post/crossbar... awesome. you do need ESPN+ or Sportsnet+ to see the feed, tho if you have either of those in your (family's) cable package you should be able to log in to either website with your cable provider login.

some details here (including signs for the Oilers & Panthers, and some hockey terminology):

and more details in the news release her:

[homoeroticgrappling]

If Mina wins the TBS championship with Toni on commentary I think we will witness actual gay sex live on simulcast

[wutlaikalikes]

Hatena Appreciation Post

I was planning to obsessively take screenshots but I realized what I wanted to highlight was Aragami Oga's voice which I can't do with pictures unless I clip the episode. However, I'm very wary about it cause of copyright.

Fortunately, Oga had simulcast stream on his channel, so I can just watch his commentary stream of episode 8 and 9. Episode 8 being my favorite cause both HoloPro talents (Polka and Oga) are in majority of the episode.

Since the re-run is only available until September 24, I'm not sure if the stream will stay up until then. But from the sumulcast stream, the description states that all episodes are now available on YouTube. I'm guessing, its only available in Japan and there is a limited run video for viewers outside Japan (the link announced on Twitter / X).

In any case, this post is just a bunch of screenshots of Hatena lol

Enjoy, I guess lol

episode 3:

episode 4:

episode 5:

episode 6:

episode 8:

episode 9:

episode 10:

episode 11:

episode 12:

yoisho~!

[seeminglyseph]

watching Danny Motta Anime Reactions has become a way to like. relive a bunch of anime I've watched and loved already, and maybe don't feel like rewatching alone. I'm watching his FMA: Brotherhood series right now, and it's wild watching someone experience Fulmetal Alchemist blind. I literally started the series in 2003 which is not intended as like some kind of "before it was cool" brag, because I feel like FMA hit the ground running, like I literally don't think there was ever a "before" with FMA, it was always cool and always a hit for as long as there was awareness of it. There's no way to really have that superiority because it's like... so hype that anyone who's gonna be into it kinda just needs to give it a long enough to chance to get into it and they're trapped, the only problem is that sometimes it gets so hype that people will avoid it due to the hype. Which is valid. Sometimes you can kill interest with hype harder than apathy.

Like the harder people recommend something the less you wanna watch it. that's a valid situation. It can be one of the best things in the world, but just because so many people love it can be the reason you have trouble watching it. That's been one of my main struggles watching Twin Peaks. I wanna but so many people love it so much that I just feel overwhelmed by it. (Plus it's now exclusively on Paramount+ and I feel like I should buy a box set instead and just have physical media, but I'm apathetic to spending money on it when I've been trepidatious to actually commit watching it.)

But watching FMA:B clips with the commentary of someone watching it for the first time is kinda bringing back that joy of having watched it for the first time. Even knowing Ed's VA is a creep I used be a fan of and met multiple times at conventions because I was a teen and that was a thing... That's something I can just purge from my memory because I'm watching through someone else's perspective. What early 2000s anime culture of that one voice actor being just the worst continuing for way too long? It's settled now maybe. I don't want to think about it. aaaaaaaaa

I'm going to think about Everything Else Instead. I wish I could take Romi Park from the Japanese version and everything else from the dub. I really enjoy dubs. I'm a sucker for dubs and weird localizations. I'm not sorry for that. I do think there are some things that are wrong for localizers to do, but some of the weird shit people complain about that are just quirks of dialogue or Westernization that still leaves the sub a completely valid option to turn to if you want that for the original interpretation I think is really fun. Dubs are for a Western Audience and will often have quirks and shit for a Western Audience that stays loyal in tone and subject, but adapts language usage and dialogue for a more natural feeling. "Bitches, Bros and Nonbinary hoes" is fine. I think Simulcast is hindering some of the intricacies of the localization process because it's like rush and crunch. but like... it's not "progressivisim" ruining anime. It's rush jobs and lack of research time. And maybe sometimes the fact that people have really strict views of gender that allows only for a binary of "Male or Female" so that one book about a man who expresses himself in female dress became a book about a trans woman because the localizer themselves had a strict binary view of gender roles and specifically made an error in interpretation which has caused a lot of problems based entirely on the fact that now there's a bunch of bullshit about gender roles getting argued when nobody has all the information and half the people having the argument are arguing over the actual gender queer people trying to point out that they would really rather not be the subject of your heated debate about whether femboy is a slur. like literally just be normal. We thought we were past whether it was okay for a boy to wear a dress but now suddenly that boy needs to be a girl and that's a lot of pressure and the opposite of like. what we wanted with the whole like. freedom of expression thing. that's not regressive. But that was like. One issue that got blown up way too big. Same with that one line about the Patriarchy in Dragon Maid. like.

Shit. It's a single fucking line that landed a little poorly. like. yeah it doesn't really work for the character. And some of the like. SJW stuff is a little clumsy but like... the way some people bitch about it online it's like localizers are just makin' anime all super 2012 tumblr discourse machines. But for the most part it's just... uh. Localized. Surprise. They make local references that's what localization is for. sometimes it hits, sometimes it misses. that's how it works. maybe you should watch some old ADV localizations and maybe you'll calm down. Those were fucking batshit and I loved them. Everyone talks about High School of the Dead's improbably titty physics, but what about it's fucking insane dub. "This is Dolce and Gabbana, you bitch!" or whatever that bitch's line was. Old School Dubs were wild, embrace chaos. It's fun.

Though I do prefer if they just use Japanese honorific systems. Whenever Japanese honorific systems try to get translated to something else it never works. It's a system that just doesn't translate to English well. Also sometimes with names I will give up pronunciation for sentence flow. I know that sounds blasphemous but sometimes when actors try too hard for pronunciation you can feel it like someone badly trying to shift gears in an automatic car. like they suddenly shift into a different language mid sentence and it's like... mmm should've practuced satubg tgat naturally in an English sentence a few more times because we went to a different tonal range for that one. like how if there's an English borrow word in Japanese they don't say it like an English word, they say it like a Japanese word? like... Sometimes you gotta figure out a way to work those syllables into an English sentence without breaking flow. I dunno how but it just hits like a truck when it doesn't. But that's my weird anime dub pet peeve.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Regarding the simulcast commentary

After some consideration of falling massively behind during COVID and the fact I started the system back in fall 2014(!!!) - I’m still catching up 4 years later - I have decided to discontinue the simulcast commentary. Those posts don’t get a lot of reactions/discussion and make my anime watching time less efficient in this day and age, where I don’t have a lot of reactions to a lot of episodes and entire days go by where I just don’t watch anime, now my priorities are completely different to what they used to be over 8 years ago.

The spreadsheet for it will still be available, mostly for my personal reference, although I will not update it anymore.

Don’t worry - Courage isn’t going anywhere, old fogey it may be in comparison to other blogs (including the Animanga Spellbook, which I now have huge plans for - watch that space!). Courage has stuck with me through thick and thin for over a decade now, so I wouldn’t want to see it die...although it might languish in obscurity instead, haha...

[frauenfootball]

on the BBC and ITV broadcast:

All 64 matches from the tournament will be broadcast in the UK on either the BBC or ITV, except for the final on 20 August, which will be shown across both BBC One and ITV1. The BBC will also broadcast live audio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra, with fans able to listen to 5 Live coverage on BBC Sounds, DAB radio and the BBC Sport website and app. ITV will show coverage of half of the tournament's matches across ITV1 and ITV4 with simulcast and catch-up on ITVX.

on the European Broadcasting Union deal:

The BBC and ITV have partnered with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service media organisations, for the deal. FIFA said it had agreed with the EBU to "extend their existing media right partnership", which ensures the Women's World Cup will be shown on free-to-air linear TV across 34 European territories. [...] "FIFA is delighted to widen the deal with the European Broadcasting Union for the transmission of the upcoming Women's World Cup to include the five major markets within their existing networks, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine, thus ensuring maximum exposure for the tournament," Infantino said.

[sassyfrassboss]

Is this going to be televised??? I thought the chapel part was going to be private?

>>At one point there was supposed to be two services at St. George's Chapel - a small service like a second funeral that would be televised and then the private burial service not televised. Probably they thought it was too much and combined them together into a private burial service. (The only reason I remember this is because there was speculation George and Charlotte wouldn't attend the state funeral but they would attend the chapel and burial services.)

For other Americans here, BBC is the official broadcaster of the funeral but most of the American networks will supplement BBC footage with their own anchor teams:

MSNBC will start broadcasting at 3am Eastern.

PBS and Fox will start broadcasting at 4am Eastern.

CNN will start broadcasting at 5am Eastern.

ABC and NBC will start broadcasting at 5:30am Eastern.

CBS will also broadcast but they haven't announced a start time and Gayle King will be their lead anchor. Piers Morgan will be on Fox as a commentator.

PBS's broadcast will be the uninterrupted BBC simulcast so if you don't care for American commentary, choose this one. PBS will also rebroadcast the state funeral at 8pm Eastern.

Also:

Queen's Procession from Westminster Hall to begin at 10:44am British time (BST). That's 5:44am Eastern.

The state funeral service will begin at 11am BST; 6am Eastern. It will end at 12pm BST, 7am Eastern.

The procession from the Abbey to Wellington Arch is 12pm - 1pm BST, 7am-8am Eastern.

The committal service at St. George's Chapel is scheduled at 4pm BST, 11am Eastern.

Assuming from 1-4pm BST/8-11am Eastern is the journey to St. George's Chapel, which is expected to include a procession down The Long Walk.

Not sure how long the committal service will be. Speculation is it'll be about an hour, with TV crews broadcasting from the grounds to capture footage of everyone leaving afterwards.

You are a blessing Anon! Thank you!

Piers on FoxNews. Guess Hell has frozen over lol...but I will say 7/10 times I agree with him.

I actually singed up for YouTube TV to watch on BBC World.

I plan on waking up super early, probably 3 or 4.

[recentanimenews]

The Fruit of Evolution Anime Needs 300 Orders to Release Its Blu-ray Box

    The official Japanese website for the fall 2021 TV anime The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made has announced that its Blu-ray box is set to be released on June 29, 2022. The two-disc set will include the TV anime's all 12 episodes, PVs, non-credit OP and ED movies. Its price is 32,000 yen (287 USD).

  However, in order to make the decision to release the product, they need to receive 300 sets of orders by January 31. If the number of orders is less than 300 sets, it will not be released. Would this number be easy or difficult to achieve?

  The Blu-ray box release project is named "Shinka no Ban" (The Disc of Evolution), because as the number of orders grows, so do the bonus items. If the number of orders reaches 400, the bonus items will include an inner jacket newly drawn by the character designer Minami Eda, a setting material collection book, and an audio commentary by Hiro Shimono (Seiichi Hiiragi) and Testu Inada (Saria before evolution). That for 600 orders is a newly-written novel book. And if the order reaches 777, a digi-pack with more illustrations and an original soundtrack CD that contains the official theme song "Shinka→LOVE♡" will be also added.

    "Shinka no Ban" announcement PV:

    ????いま、盤が進化する???? Blu-ray Boxプロジェクト“進化の盤”START！ 詳細は→https://t.co/uAipagAn6R 誠一とサリアによるプロジェクトPV⬇️ 2人の掛け合いが衝撃です????????????https://t.co/NlgabkS8Yk#進化の実 #進化の盤 #YouTube必見 ⬇️プロジェクトPVのshort ver.は⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hGgjkzWYlP

— TVアニメ「進化の実」公式 (@shinkanomianime) October 5, 2021

      The TV anime adaptation of Muku's fantasy light novel The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made premiered on TV Tokyo on October 4, 2021, and is also simulcast on Crunchyroll to its members in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.

    Trailer: 

    Key visual:

    Source: TV anime "The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made" official website / Twitter

  © Miku/Futabasha, Shinnka-no-mi Production Committee

  By: Mikikazu Komatsu

[ingek73]

BBC flooded with complaints over Prince Philip coverage

Corporation opened dedicated complaints form on its website to deal with deluge of negative comments

Jim Waterson Media editor

Published: 11:29 Saturday, 10 April 2021

Follow Jim Waterson

Within six hours of Prince Philip’s death being announced the BBC had received so many complaints about its wall-to-wall coverage of the news that it opened a dedicated complaints form on its website.

The BBC curtailed dozens of broadcasts on Friday, taking the nation’s most popular television and radio channels off air and reduced dozens of other broadcasts on stations across the country, in order to provide uninterrupted coverage of tributes to the Queen’s husband.

BBC One played a series of pre-recorded shows, including Philip’s children paying tribute to him, while BBC Two scrapped its schedule and simulcast the same shows as its sister channel. Friday night staples such as EastEnders, Gardeners’ World, and the final episode of MasterChef were taken off air to make way for more tributes, a pattern followed by ITV and Channel 5.

Although the corporation is used to finding itself in the middle of Britain’s culture wars, its handling of Philip’s death points to a deeper question over the ability of a national broadcaster to force the country together to mourn a single individual in an era where audiences are fragmented and less deferential.

When Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997 the majority of the UK population had only just gained access to a fifth television channel. If the BBC wanted to enforce a mood of national mourning they had the power to cut off other forms of entertainment and keep dissenting voices at bay through the sheer enormity of their reach.

Nowadays, although the BBC’s reach among the UK population remains enormous, the growth of Netflix and YouTube means audiences have somewhere else to turn.

Executives – and royal courtiers – will be nervously studying the release of television viewing figures and seeing if the decision to replace Friday night’s episode of EastEnders with tributes to Philip will expose the fact that the British public’s appetite for such material is limited.

Individuals working in BBC News suggested the long-planned scale of the coverage is because the corporation still bore the scars from the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, when its output was deemed insufficiently deferential by rightwing newspapers.

Among other issues the media infamously fixated on BBC newsreader Peter Sissons failing to wear a black tie as announced her death. He later claimed he had been left in the lurch by BBC bosses, who the previous year had floated proposals to tone down the extent of the coverage of the Queen Mother’s death. Sissons claimed that as he entered the studio to announce her death he was told by the editor: “Don’t go overboard, she’s a very old woman who had to go some time.”

There is also the ongoing battle between the government and the BBC over the corporation’s future funding. With the new director general, Tim Davie, already battling Conservative MPs who accuse the corporation of not being sufficiently patriotic, the BBC will have been aware of the political risks of not being perceived to have struck the right tone.

In the end almost the entire range of BBC services was affected in some way by the announcement of Philip’s death, sometimes with mildly farcical results.

For instance, as a mark of respect to the Queen’s husband, BBC Four’s scheduled programme was taken off-air and replaced with notice urging viewers to switch to BBC One for a tribute to the deceased royal.

The channel had been due to show the England women’s football team play France in an international friendly, leading to questions about whether a men’s match would be kicked off television schedules in an equivalent situation. The game was still shown in full on the BBC’s iPlayer service and BBC Sport website, apparently in the belief that showing women’s sport on a digital service during a period of royal mourning is more respectful than allowing it on linear television channels.

Children watching cartoons on CBBC were greeted with a banner encouraging them to watch the news for a major story. Adverts were taken off BBC-owned commercial channels such as Dave, Yesterday, and Gold out of respect for the deceased royal.

The BBC’s national radio stations initially replaced their output with a pre-recorded tribute, with some later returning to special sombre playlists, with the likes of Radio 1 stuck playing downbeat music with the occasional news bulletin update. Specialist music programmes were taken off air, while presenters kept chat to a minimum.

Some BBC radio cricket commentary were left continuing to provide coverage from grounds across England, unaware that no one was able to hear their output because it had been replaced. Even cricket fans on the BBC website coverage found their source of information cut off, with the corporation’s county championship liveblog shut down immediately after Philip’s death was announced – even as play continued across the country.

One of the few broadcasters to buck the trend was Channel 4, which did air extended tributes to the former royal consort but provided an alternative for viewers by showing Gogglebox and the final of reality TV hit The Circle as planned.

One issue facing the BBC is when to return coverage to normal and how to respond to complaints. In a sign that the corporation is doomed to be criticised by all sides, the rightwing Defund the BBC campaign described it as “disgraceful” that the corporation was making it easier to complain about its coverage, saying: “The anti-British BBC has set up a form to encourage complaints about the volume of coverage of Prince Philip’s death.”

Another issue is how to serve parts of its audience who would like an alternative to the wall-to-wall coverage. By late Friday afternoon there was one death dominating the most-read stories on the BBC website: The demise of rapper DMX.

[formula1live]

How to Watch (F1) Formula 1 Live Stream Online Free

Get the latest (F1) update on Formula 1 live streaming for free race grand prix online, schedules, date and timing and more information.

The 2021 F1 season is off to in inauspicious start before it even begins. The season-opening Australian Grand Prix — which originally was scheduled for March 21, has been moved to the back of the season and is now set for Nov. 21, 2021.

That would make the Bahrain Grand Prix the first race of the 2021 Formula 1 Live season on Sunday, March 28.

The Chinese Grand Prix also have been moved to a date to be determined, due to ongoing travel restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions on when that race could be run are ongoing, F1 says. Meanwhile, look for the Italian Grand Prix at Imola in that April 18 slot.

From there, if all goes according to plan — and it certainly feels a little odd typing that sentence given the state of things — the series would wrap up Dec. 5, 2021, back where it closed out the 2020 season, in Abu Dhabi.

The updated 2021 F1 race calendar now looks as follows:

Here’s a 2020 F1 event breakdown courtesy of FIA. Check your streaming site of choice for times. Dates listed here may be subject to change.

28 March — Bahrain (Sakhir) 18 April — Italy (Imola*) 2 May — TBC 9 May — Spain (Barcelona) 23 May — Monaco (Monaco) 6 June — Azerbaijan (Baku) 13 June — Canada (Montreal) 27 June — France (Le Castellet) 4 July — Austria (Spielberg) 18 July — United Kingdom (Silverstone) 1 August — Hungary (Budapest) 29 August — Belgium (Spa) 5 September — Netherlands (Zandvoort) 12 September — Italy (Monza) 26 September — Russia (Sochi) 3 October — Singapore (Singapore) 10 October — Japan (Suzuka) 24 October — USA (Austin) 31 October — Mexico (Mexico City) 7 November — Brazil (Sao Paulo) 21 November — Australia (Melbourne*) 5 December — Saudi Arabia (Jeddah**) 12 December — Abu Dhabi (Yas Island)

Watch Formula 1 live stream free with official streaming links in the 4K HD this season. The F1 2021 season was supposed to have total 22 races but now it has been reduced.

The free f1 live streaming of all the Grand Prix to broadcast on multiple devices such as PCs, tablets, Mac, and smart tv and smartphones including iOS, Android and Windows.

Stream the 2021 F1 live online on Locast for free

Price: Free

Channels: ABC

You can watch the official ABC broadcast for free on Locast.

Channels and availability vary depending on your IP and browser location, so be sure to check the TV guide to know when to watch.

To stream F1 live on Locast:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location in the U.S. where ABC is available.Download the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge to spoof your browser location. For assistance, contact ExpressVPN Support via live chat.Go to Locast.org and sign up. Select the market that corresponds with the server location you’re connected to.Enjoy watching!

Watching on mobile? Fire up the Locast app (on Android and iOS).

Watch 2021 F1 races on ABC and ESPN

Price: 20 USD/month and up

Channels: ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2

If you don’t have a U.S. cable subscription, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2 are a good way to tune into the races. ESPN Deportes, available as an add-on for Sling or Hulu will provide a Spanish simulcast of select races. Sync with the official ESPN schedule. A variety of free trials are available.

Most F1 races are shown on ESPN 2. The Monaco and British GP races will be broadcast live on the main ESPN channel, while the Canadian, American, and Mexican GP races (as well as the afternoon encore of Monaco GP) will be broadcast on ABC for free.

To watch the F1 on ESPN and ABC:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location in the U.S.Go to Sling TV Orange (20 USD/month and up), Hulu (65 USD/month), YouTube TV (65 USD/month), or AT&T TV Now (55 USD/month) and use a free trial. You may also need a U.S. credit card or PayPal account.Kick back and enjoy!

Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Watching on mobile? Fire up the AT&T TV Now app (on Android and iOS), the YouTube TV app (on Android and iOS), the Hulu app (on Android or iOS), or the Sling TV app (on Android and iOS).

Note: You may need a U.S. credit/debit card to subscribe to Sling TV, Hulu, and AT&T TV Now.

Learn more about watching Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, Sling TV, and Hulu with ExpressVPN.

Live stream the official F1 TV Pro stream

Price: Varies

The official F1 TV Pro stream varies depending on your location. To watch:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location where F1 TV Pro is available.Head to the F1 site.Tune in to the races!

Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Watching on mobile? Fire up the F1 TV app (on Android and iOS).

Stream 2021 Formula 1 on Sky Sports F1

Price: 22 GBP/month and up

Channels: Sky Sports F1

Sky Sports in the UK will broadcast Formula 1 in 2021 on the Sky Sports F1 channel. Check the official Sky Sports schedule to know when to tune in. However, specialized equipment is required to watch the TV broadcasts. You will also need to provide a valid postal code and a UK/Ireland credit or debit card.

If you already have a Sky subscription, you can stream its content online via Sky Go. With a VPN, you can watch Sky Go even when you’re traveling abroad.

To watch the F1 on Sky Sports:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location in the UK.Head to Sky Go and log in.Enjoy the races!

Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Watching on mobile? Fire up the Sky Go app on your Android or iOS device.

Learn more about watch Sky with ExpressVPN.

Watch 2021 F1 highlights on Channel 4

Price: Free

Channel 4 will be broadcasting highlights from the races.

To watch F1 highlights on Channel 4:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location in the UK.Visit Channel 4.Watch the highlights!

Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Watching on mobile? Fire up the All 4 app on your Android or iOS device.

Watch Formula 1 highlights on YouTube

Check out the latest Formula 1 highlights, interviews, funny moments, and more on the official F1 YouTube channel.

To watch:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location where YouTube is available.Go to the Formula 1 YouTube channel.Enjoy!

Listen to F1 Grand Prix commentary live on BBC Radio 5

Price: Free

BBC Radio 5 provides live audio commentary of the Formula 1 Grand Prix races.

To listen with added security and privacy:

Get ExpressVPN.Connect to a server location that’s nearest to you.Go to BBC Radio 5 Live.Enjoy the live commentary!

Listening on mobile? Fire up the BBC Radio 5 Live on your Android or iOS device.

[helloyoucreatives]

The Shorty Awards, which honors the best content creators and producers on social media, has this year partnered with We Are Social to turn its annual award gala into an entirely digital, live-stream event, exclusively for social.

Taking place on Sunday, May 3rd, the new ‘Meta Shorty Awards’ ceremony will feature influencers, musical performances, hashtag challenges, real-time commentary, and an overarching social good goal to match the event’s theme of making the world a healthier, safer place.

In the first time in The Shorty Awards’ history that the organization has produced a digital-only event, the ceremony will have two main broadcast channels on Periscope and YouTube from 7pm (EST).

We Are Social’s New York office will be responsible for managing the activation and broadcast across The Shorty Awards’ global social media channels, supported by specialist simulcast production partner, True Film Production.

As part of the launch campaign, The Shorty Awards will promote a TikTok hashtag challenge, #ShortyBreak, giving creatives of all levels the chance to produce commercials for made-up brands. The best ads will then be used as breaks during the ceremony broadcast, with one lucky winner receiving an award for Best Shorty Break.

Prior to the ceremony, a creative brief will also be shared with a number of agencies globally, giving them the chance to create a social good campaign that raises awareness for a specific cause, chosen by The Shorty Awards team. The winning agency will be recognized at the end of the live show and will officially be awarded the business, with the understanding that they will be forgoing their creative development fee to aid the charitable cause.

Rob Schlissel, marketing and partnerships senior director and senior producer, The Shorty Awards, said: “This is an important moment for the team at The Shorty Awards, as we look to take a long-established global event and transition it online for the first time. Not only because we have to - due to the current global crisis - but also because the move upholds the innovative reputation of the ceremony, and continues the tradition of celebrating the world’s best in entertainment, media, branding and creativity. The whole team, along with our partners at We Are Social, have worked to turn this concept into a reality in an incredibly short space of time, while working in challenging circumstances, but we’re very excited to see it go live.”

Benjamin Arnold, managing director,  New York, We Are Social, added: “As brands and organizations around the world work tirelessly to pivot their marketing efforts to reflect this current state of isolation, working with The Shorty Awards has been an incredible opportunity to showcase just how a large-scale, real-life production can transition into a purely social one - and generate the same, if not more, engagement.

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - Summer 2019

Hey, look who finished the season perfectly on time, even if he did so by dropping a bunch of stuff last minute! (Technically, as of writing, I haven’t finished Re:Stage Dream Days, but you can rest assured that it’s bad.)

I thought I was going to do a first impressions rundown video for the entire season at once, since my impression posts don’t tend to get a lot of engagement anyway, but since I didn’t end up going through with it, I’ll summarize my point - summer started strong, and even here at the end, I can easily say it’s the best season thus far in what’s largely been a letdown year for seasonal anime (and a god damn renaissance for long shows, thanks to My Hero Academia, so if I seem down on a season that had Dororo, or Vinland Saga, or Fruits Basket, remember that I exclude those shows from my considerations until the end of the year).

This season saw several high-profile continuations like A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon II, and Symphogear XV, but also new works by creators like Mari Okada, and anticipated adaptations of Astra: Lost in Space and Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, and in the end, well...a lot of those were mixed bags at best, but the biggest drawback I will remember Summer 2019 for is that it was drowning in bad isekai shows. The aforementioned Arifureta, the basically-counts Danmachi, and also Isekai Cheat Magician, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks, The Lost Ones, Demon Lord Retry!...it just never ended, and that’s not even counting If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord. 

Speaking of all that stuff, let’s get right into it, yeah?

28 shows were simulcast this season, and of those, I…

Skipped 4:

Yami Shibai 7, Starmyu Season 3, A Certain Scientific Accelerator, and Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note were all skipped because I have not watched the previous series.

Dropped 15:

Worst of the Season: If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord!

I dropped this after one episode because I found the aesthetic and tone to be aggressively boring and I found even the cute daugheroo character to be utterly generic in execution...and then later found out oh boy was I right to drop it, based on how many people compared it to the Bunny Drop manga that we don’t talk about. *shudders*

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

Wins the “biggest tryhard” award for being just the most straightforward an SAO award gets, right up to being grimdark for dumb reasons. The first episode alone had inconsistent animation, and that just did not bode well for the future...and the plot instantly reminded me of Slime, which soured on me over time. I let this one go sour after one shot.

Demon Lord, Retry!

The blandest of beige this season, Demon Lord had neither the story nor the production values to reel me in or convince me it was anything but the Overlord wannabe it so clearly was.

Isekai Cheat Magician

This show was a pretty transparent attempt to have an isekai story with a childhood friend romance plot, and while I’m fine with one and a half of those things, it couldn’t execute them in any decent way by the end of the first episode, and just wound up being largely boring.

Wasteful Days of High School Girls

Speaking of boring, what if Nichijou wasn’t funny? You’d get something like this.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?

So the tone this one ultimately ended up having was pretty much exactly what I expected after the premiere - it leaned too hard on jokes that weren’t as funny as it thought they were, and too hard on the dumb hentai mom trope, and neither of those things interested me in the slightest. Pretty okay with having left this off the watchlist.

The Ones Within

I have stated multiple times in the last few weeks that Symphogear is great because it can convince you that it’s a work of genius. The Ones Within has, unfortunately, convinced itself that it’s deep social commentary of some kind, rather than a bargain-bin Danganronpa with no real thought put into it.

Are You Lost?

I’m amazed that we got another Eromanga Sensei this season and it flew entirely under the radar. For God’s sake, the first episode featured a young teenage girl eating a bug and drinking her own urine. I just didn’t see myself being particularly entertained by the shock value longer than the premiere.

Ensemble Stars (4/10)

I can’t tell if this one is actually over, but Funimation’s site doesn’t list any new episode premieres coming up, so I’m gonna assume it is? I gave this one a shot and hung onto it because it took UtaPri’s premise and gave it the slightly more serious tone I was looking for, but dropped it after the second episode started to drown us in side characters with no hint that the floodgates were closing, rather than giving ample screentime to a select cast so they could actually become at least two-dimensional before throwing in more people we’re supposed to care about.

BEM

BEM suffered from an unfortunate lack of distinct personality, which sucks when it seems to have had a decent story to tell. Nothing else about the show wound up sticking out to me, though, which has me fully convinced that Production I.G.’s name is only on this to boost recognition, and the second-billed LandQ studios did the majority of the work. And their best-known other show is Swordgai. So...

To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts (5/10)

I have gotten absolutely no pushback so far for my decision to tear into this show because it should have been a different show, so I’m gonna take that as a general agreement of my earlier statement. What a waste of a concept.

Cop Craft (5/10)

This one I still think I was not crazy to pick up after the first episode, because it wasn’t until the third that the animation tanked hard and the pacing went absolutely nuts, and apparently stayed that way. Did they write a thirty-nine-episode story that had to be condensed into twelve or something?

Magical Sempai

This one I probably would have kept watching if the majority of its humor wasn’t just the title character embarrassing herself in lewd ways. It was funny, but I didn’t see myself enjoying anything more than one episode of it.

GRANBELM (6/10)

This one I got halfway through before realizing that, during my end-of-season catchup, I had absolutely no desire to return to. The plot didn’t really start moving until the fifth episode, and in that time I had not gotten particularly invested in the characters, especially since the show makes fun of the viewer for thinking that the big mecha dream battles actually had stakes beyond “you don’t get to be The Thing”. At least it looked nice and the mecha designs were very original.

Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?

There were four shows this season with questions for titles. Just saying! This one actually had me hooked right up until the end, revealing that not only is it a fanservice show, but a fetish pandering one. That being said, if I were attracted to women, I could have seen myself getting something out of it, what with the decently moody tone and good production values.

I put 2 On Hold:

Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? II

I’ll probably come back to this when the third series comes around, just to give it one more chance to pull me back in, but ditching my favorite character for harem antics and character shilling just did not endear me to this long-awaited sequel.

Re:Stage Dream Days!!

This one’s not actually on hold, but I don’t have any other good place to mention it. This one I’m gonna make it through just on willpower, not because it’s good, but because it starts out as the most shameless rip-off I’ve ever seen in anime, specifically of Love Live!.

And I Finished 7:

Kochoki (5/10)

I thought I was gonna give this one a 7 at least, for nearly the whole season, for being a decently-told and somewhat new telling of Nobunaga’s early life with great production values for Studio Deen...right up until the structure fell completely apart at the end, almost completely out of nowhere. I’m still in awe of the gall this show had to literally skip over the final battle.

How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift? (8/10)

This one came right the fuck out of nowhere and totally blew my expectations out of the way from the very first episode. Looking at the summary, I was convinced I was gonna drop this after the premiere...and found myself totally hooked by its cheery visual presentation and excellent sense of meta-comedy, not to mention its genuine educational value.

Astra: Lost In Space (8/10)

One of two adaptations I was really looking forward to this season (along with Fire Force), Astra was pretty much what I expected - a very good translation of a very good manga that ran for the perfect amount of time to be divided into twelve-ish episodes. A fantastic and memorable cast of characters enhanced a surprisingly twisty story, and Lerche made it all look just as good as I’d hoped.

The Demon Girl Next Door (8/10)

Speaking of defying my expectations, another show I was expecting pretty much nothing from, maybe one I could compare to Gabriel Dropout or something, that was instead an incredibly charming story of a girl trying to save her family by defeating a magical girl...with a very, very loose definition of the word “defeat” in play. I couldn’t have asked for much more from this one, aside from maybe a sequel?

Given (9/10)

Speaking of “Lerche” and “gorgeous”, this profoundly gripping story of a spacecase and a loner hesitantly making music together blossomed further and further as it went on, and became my new go-to reference point for explicit gay relationships in anime. It went where even Yuri On Ice!!! couldn’t, and left me desperate for a Part Two.

O Maidens In Your Savage Season (9/10)

My write up for this show was one of my longest in recent memory, and I stand by it - even if Okada had to write a few plot contrivances in to get where she’s going, at least she presented her cast in an incredibly thoughtful way and gave them a satisfying payoff, with the knowledge that they’re teenagers and all of their problems can’t be solved in one semester. The high water mark for discussions of sexuality in this medium.

BEST OF THE SEASON: Symphogear XV (9/10)

Anime is wonderful, and so am I.

So that wraps up summer! We’ve got a lot to look forward to in fall, even if My Hero Academia and Food Wars’ fourth series will both ultimately end up on a list in the distant future next year. Will Psycho-Pass 3 redeem the series? Will Azur Lane be better than Kantai Collection? Will Beastars beat Aggretsuko as the biggest furry panderer of the year? Only time will tell. And then I’ll tell you all what I think it said.

[whovianfeminism]

Whovian Feminism Reviews  “The Woman Who Fell To Earth”

It feels like I’ve been waiting ages for this. And finally, she’s here. And she was brilliant.

Doctor Who made an exuberant return to our screens with a new showrunner, an almost entirely new creative team, and — for the first time in the show’s historic 55 year run — a woman as the new Doctor. “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” was a busy episode with an impossibly long list of introductions to make, and yet it managed to welcome the Doctor’s new “fam” in a story filled with horror, humor, and plenty of heart. 

I won’t lie — I needed this episode to be good. After fighting for a woman to be the Doctor for so hard and for so long, I don’t think I could’ve handled the heartbreak if it had been subpar. It’s not really fair that TV shows and movies with women leads are held to such impossibly high standards, but that’s the unfortunate side-effect of sidelining women for so long and featuring them in the lead role so infrequently. Our hopes and expectations are so high precisely because we have such limited opportunities. Thankfully, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” met and even outperformed our expectations. The very few trolls who are still harassing supportive fans were drowned out by the overwhelmingly positive response to Whittaker and her new friends, and the ratings went through the roof. Whittaker has utterly captured the fandom, and more importantly, she’s brought in an entirely new generation of fans.

Nevertheless, you could practically feel the tension about the Doctor being a woman running through the episode. The Doctor herself was notably unbothered by the change, simply asking “Does it suit me?” (God, yes it does). But her final monologue was squarely aimed at the audience:

Because we’re all capable of the most incredible change. We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honor who we’ve been and choose who we want to be next.

This is a final Hail Mary throw to the fans who were still unconvinced. Each Doctor is new and different from the one who came before, building and changing and evolving the character over the decades. This is just another evolution — grounded in the show’s deep history but looking forward and beginning to embrace the character’s full potential. It’s a deliberate choice to embrace the future, instead of remaining stagnant and trapped in the past. 

Jodie Whittaker knew the importance of the role she took on, and she performed it brilliantly. It’s always difficult to judge a new Doctor in their first episode, since they are supposed to be a bit unbalanced and chaotic post-regeneration. But even when the Doctor didn’t quite have a grip on who they are, Whittaker was a force to watch, attacking every new scene with an unquenchable energy that was utterly captivating. She captured the Doctor’s earnest, childlike joy just as easily as she assumed the Doctor’s strident anger. 

It’s incredible that Whittaker didn’t extensively watch Doctor Who before assuming the role, because there’s echoes of so many previous Doctors in her own performance, from Patrick Troughton’s physical humor to David Tennant’s hectic energy. Between the out-of-commission TARDIS, the big new family, and the cobbled together bits of Earth and alien tech, I was even getting a Pertwee-ish vibe from this story. But the Thirteenth Doctor is clearly stamping out her own personality. When the Third Doctor would’ve tried to escape Earth, she lingered. Where the Tenth Doctor would have gotten carried away, she focused. 

The moment I truly fell in love with her was when, frustrated by her inability to get anything done without her sonic screwdriver, she decided to go ahead and build one herself. It’s been alluded to before that the Doctor has made their own sonic, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen them do it onscreen (the last two Doctors had theirs magically supplied by the TARDIS). That sequence, set to Segun Akionla’s gorgeous score, is going to be iconic. This is a Doctor who is going to do things on her terms and build it her own damn self.

But the Doctor can’t do everything on her own, and her new friends show quite a lot of potential. Yaz was given the least attention this episode, but I have a feeling she’s going to be the one to watch. She’s driven, ambitious, and ready to run into danger — perfect companion material. But Yaz is a cop, and she’s used to being in a position of authority in dangerous situations. We’ve already seen her clash with the Thirteenth Doctor over who will be in charge, and I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the end of that conflict. 

Ryan was the true heart of this story. He’s earnest and sweet, even if he has his moments of explosive frustration. He’s also curious and open to believing some of the more incredible things that the Doctor says. Together, Yaz and Ryan balance each other perfectly. Yaz pulls Ryan into trying new and dangerous things, and Ryan encourages Yaz to be more open to accepting that the world is a bit wilder than she could’ve possibly imagined. 

I’m still warming up to Graham. He had a few comedic moments, and his relationship with Grace was adorable, but on his own he’s a little bit harder to handle. He was prickly with Ryan in a way that was uncomfortable to watch; I actually cringed when he suggested Ryan would blame his mistake granting access to the Stenza on his disability. He’s also more inclined to leave a dangerous situation, which doesn’t make him a natural candidate to be a companion. I'm curious if his character will grow or change at all while traveling with the Doctor. 

Representation was a quiet focus of this story. In addition to the first woman Doctor, we had three POC lead characters, a diverse supporting cast, an interracial relationship, a nontraditional family unit, and a character with a disability. And none of these was a huge deal, it was simply reflective of the world in which we — and these fictional characters — inhabit. 

Doctor Who has had a mixed record of handling disability, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well Ryan’s dyspraxia was handled. It wasn’t magically caused by aliens and wasn’t miraculously cured by the end of the episode. It wasn’t the key to solving the issue at hand, but it didn’t limit Ryan from being a hero either. It introduced the disability to thousands of viewers without stigma or shame, and since the episode aired the internet has been filled with thrilled responses from people with dyspraxia.

But there was one major failure in this story — Grace’s death.

Of all the Doctor’s new friends, Grace was the most suited to being the Doctor’s companion. She wasn’t afraid to run towards danger — in fact, she loved every moment of it. She kept her eye on the bigger picture and always asked the right questions. And she kept everyone in check, including the Doctor (and that’s no small task). She would’ve loved every moment of adventure in the TARDIS. Instead, she was summarily killed off just as her adventure was getting started.

I was following the conversation on Twitter during the simulcast premiere. While everyone was sad at Grace’s untimely death, the disappointment was particularly pronounced amongst black women. I highly encourage everyone to read Tai Gooden’s review in Hypable and listen to the TARBIS (Time and Relative Blackness in Space) podcast’s response to hear directly from black women and understand why they were so hurt by Grace’s death.

In my mind, Grace’s death is absolutely an example of fridging —a death created for the sole purpose of causing Ryan and Graham grief and propelling their characters forward. Her final words were to encourage Graham not to be afraid without her. Ryan’s YouTube commentary, where he grieves over her death, anchors the beginning and end of the story. And given that Ryan and Graham never got along well on their own, Grace’s death will almost certainly be a recurring theme between them now that they’re trapped in space together. It was such an unnecessary waste of a fascinating and vibrant character. For a story that was so intensely focused on presenting an inclusive and progressive vision of Doctor Who, fridging a black woman in the very first episode was an egregious betrayal.

The one caveat here is that Grace was described in early press releases as a “returning character,” which seems to imply that she will be in future episodes. I suspect that she’ll be seen in flashbacks, or that the TARDIS team will travel back in time and see her at an earlier point in her life (or it was a deliberate misdirection and Grace won’t be seen again). But it is possible that Grace’s death will somehow be reversed. I would appreciate that. However, bringing Grace back to life won’t erase the damage that’s been done. Her death will still have been used to motivate Ryan and Graham. And it will still have been a disappointing moment in what should have been a fresh start for weary fans.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Fumetsu 8 | Bishonen Tanteidan 3 | Taming the Last Boss 9 - 12 (FINAL) | Spy x Family 13 - 25 (FINAL)

Fumetsu 8

(Sorry, no notes this time!)

Bishonen Tanteidan 3

Come to think of it…why hasn’t Nisio Isin done a mystery series until this one? The genre suits him well.

Rule no. 4 of Pretty Boy Detective Club: Do not talk about Pretty Boy Detective Club. /ref

To be denied a dream just because of how you are and a thing you can’t change about yourself…that’s tragic…

“Kogoro” is made up of the characters for “small”, “five” and “boy”. Normally, it would refer to Akechi Kogoro (as in, he’s a brilliant detective), but…they meant this instance rather literally.

Taming the Last Boss 9

(Sorry, no notes this time!)

Taming the Last Boss 10

(Sorry, no notes this time!)

Taming the Last Boss 11

(Sorry, no notes this time!)

Taming the Last Boss 12 (FINAL)

…say, why does it have to be Elephas’s eye? That’s kinda gross and hard to take out, no…? (Is it a borrowed trope from Hunter x Hunter, perhaps?)

CGI horse and carriage! Gah!

The albino crow is cute.

…welp, that’s everything for this anime. Sorry it took so long.

Spy x Family 13

…I wasn’t originally going to write notes for this for the sake of watching this for a watching challenge, but…yay! Spy x Family is back in my lineup! (<- Sorry, I was going to cover it when it was airing, but I focussed really hard on everything else – including the JLPT, which I could take for the first time post-COVID – and ended up leaving this behind.)

This OP is great for the fall season. Also, Bond! I haven’t caught up with the manga lately, but I’m well past the Bond stage.

Note the “K9” on this guy’s jacket.

Notice how Yor still uses “-san” on her ostensible “family’s” names.

I keep seeing “Fiona” in the OP and the ED too…I’m not the biggest fan of hers, but she’s still a pivotal character to get to some great plot points, so I’m all for it, I guess.

Spy x Family 14

(Naruto) run like the wind, Yor!

Spy x Family 15

Notice how Anya called Handler “erai hito” (important person).

…Holger? Ain’t the surname established to be “Forger” by now, between the Manga Plus and Viz translations…?

I think for a second I saw Bond with white front paws!!! Animation error!

Spy x Family 16

(Sorry, no notes this time!)

Spy x Family 17

A deer head! On the wall! How rich is Eden?!

LOL, a butler called Jeeves. How original (/s).

“Fullmetal Lady” is likely a parody of the Iron Lady (Margaret Thatcher).

Spy x Family 18

…oh, I forgot to explain it, but there was a “causes of death” vs “consonants” joke from a few episodes ago. Both “cause of death” and “consonant” are shi’in in Japanese. Likewise, chishiki (knowledge) became chihuahua, so the translator swapped it for “no leash”.

I remembered Daybreak’s name, but not what he did. Thanks for the reminder!

“Shinonome” is an archaic name for dawn, hence “daybreak”.

Spy x Family 19

…I still find the whole “Becky in love with Loid” and “Yuri being into his sister” kinda ick, but we’ll roll with it. Can’t change the canon to my own terms, after all.

(Naruto) run like the wind, Yor! (X2)

The cow again!

Spy x Family 20

(Naruto) run like the wind, Yor! (X3)

…that pink blood scene wasn’t in the original. Yor really was a breakout character this season, eh? *sweatdrops* I’m more into Loid myself, if my tastes didn’t indicate anything.

Apparently, some psychiatrists don’t wear a lab coat because it’ll cause patients’ blood pressure and anxiety to spike.

I didn’t even pick up the subber’s typo, but “atomsphere” (sic) vs “atmosphere” and funinki vs fuinki.

Mythomania = “an abnormal or pathological tendency to exaggerate or tell lies.”

The Rolling Sweep wasn’t in the manga, but it makes for a nice running joke.

Note she stumbles over the first syllable of “spy”, but in Japanese it switches to “amazing” (subarashii) while in English it switches to “specialist in mental health…a very good one”.

This section’s totally anime-original! Yay! (But also “kek!” at how badly this will end!)

Franky mentions his name when he talks about “the best informant…” in the JPN audio.

Spy x Family 21

Oh s***! The tennis tournament!

Loid was right…the sky was dark.

…Nightfall calls Twilight “senpai”. I wonder why they didn’t put that in the su-maybe it makes the subs seem too much like they’re “catering to the fans”? Not everyone knows about senpai/kouhai relationships…that’s true.

Fiona-kun, eh?

ED too early! There’s a hidden part here!

Spy x Family 22

I think Anya said “gomennasora” (very sorry/sky), so the subber had to mangle that too. (Then again, Anya doesn’t speak too clearly and I would need the original manga from JPN SJ+ to figure out what happened with this pun if it was in the manga.

Oh! Anabolic and catabolic! I didn’t even realise there was an English pun in there and I read the manga!

LOL, the Phony pair have a WISE logo on their outfits. So much for stealth.

Spy x Family 23

I noticed last ep, that the Phony pair was G and T. Twain = Twilight, but G = Tobari (Nightfall)…??? Update: These stand for “Garesso” (almost anagram of “Tasogare”) and “Tobarii”.

…I’m not sure if the JPN tennis alias of Twilight’s is “Gareth” or something else…

I just realised Yor speaks with keigo. Don’t know why it would be in this situation (“friendly” tennis match with Nightfall), though.

Spy x Family 24

I wonder if Anya is “asexual” in that kid sense or just…flat out asexual, y’know? She has the same thoughts as an ace person, yeah???

Poor Martha… *sweatdrops*

All of Anya’s friends are tsundere… (<- exaggerating)

100000 yen?!

Spy x Family 25 (FINAL)

James Bond visual pastiche! Yeah!

Handler’s still wearing the rings she received from Nightfall! Kek!

Okay, that’s all. Until season 2, people! Bye!

[ghostmartyr]

What does the manga add to Roy and Riza's relationship that the anime doesn't have? Asking out of curiosity since I'm an anime only and they're still one of my favourite pairs of all time!

Oh, ha, I didn’t specifically point to the manga because I have anything in particular against Brotherhood (…or 2003 for that matter) it’s just not my canon, and I’m used to specifying which version of FMA I mean when I talk about the series. I do have a list of petty grievances against Brotherhood, but there is nothing fundamentally altered between Roy and Riza.

..

I mean. Yes. A number of my petty grievances are related to them. And feel slightly less petty as thought is spent on them.

But I would need to go back and watch the anime scenes again to point out the specifics of why.

[many hours later]

(As a note about this post, since I guess I did make the choice of tagging it, this is heavily critical about some specific moments in the Brotherhood anime, but before I get started I want to emphasize that my problems, with the exception of an example that spans a volume, don’t cover even two minutes of video. These things exist, and they bug me, and I clearly have things to say about them, but Brotherhood is 64 episodes long. My impassioned hatred of a few choice features isn’t indicative of my overall feelings on the anime.

Essentially, this is me having fun whining. Not trying to set off landmines. I hope it proves enjoyable.)

So there is this scene change in the first five minutes of episode 19 that has my eternal hatred and I have no plans to ever forgive. That has been true since it aired, and it is still true here today, because I am insufferably stubborn.

(I actually did a session about it before. I’m probably going to repeat most of it, but have a link if it interests you.)

That is not the dialogue the manga goes with.

In the manga, Riza’s interaction with Roy is focused on “what the fuck were you thinking why are you here.” Both versions have the scene with her berating Mustang for endangering the mission to save her.

In the anime, the above screencaps are what follow. After giving him a hard time for showing up at all, she thanks him for saving her life. Sweet, I guess, except Roy fires back with a mission-focused response.

If I were doing an anime-only meta thing, something could be said about the hypocrisy of Roy playing hero only to lecture other people about concentrating on the mission, and it would just be another cute thing. I guess. If I were in a charitable mood maybe.

But this is the first anime adaptation I sat through properly, angsting about every twist and turn and change.

My grudges. They last.

In the manga, Mustang brings up the slightly more personal aspects of what has happened. The reason he runs after Hawkeye is that he just lost Hughes, he won’t lose her, and he loses his head entirely. They have the yelling session over it, and he basically yells back the equivalent of, “yeah yeah fine -sulk sulk sulk-”

They leave Fuery and Hayate behind, and we have the presented moment.

Going to assist Riza is not the Proper choice for the military operation they’re running. It was a dangerous thing for Roy to have done, and she rightfully calls him on it. But he does it because he cares, and the fact that he cares is why all these people follow him. He’s a hopeless, idealistic dreamer at heart. His squad is loyal to him because he’s loyal to them.

Roy Mustang is a damn softy.

In the anime, Riza’s the one to call attention back to the whole life-saving motive. In the manga, it’s Roy.

In the anime, when it comes up, Roy dismisses it.

In the manga, when it comes up, Riza apologizes for worrying him.

It’s a small moment, but small moments are allowed to matter, and when small moments are changed, it leaves a bigger impact than if they were just left alone.

In the anime, this exchange, plus Hawkeye’s smile after, suggests that the sentimentality of the relationship comes primarily from her. Riza’s the one having her heart warmed when they have a job to do.

…That’s a slightly meaner way to put it than the scene perhaps deserves, but there is no unfair bitterness like unfair bitterness towards Brotherhood for me. Whining about this adaptation is a thing I do, despite honestly loving the majority.

Anyway, in the manga, the scene is both of them putting legwork into their dynamic. Hawkeye yells at Mustang for showing up out of sentiment, but when he expresses that sentiment in the aftermath, she expresses understanding of his perspective. He did a stupid thing, but they’re a team, and both at ease with their interplay.

In the anime, stop talking Hawkeye, don’t you know we have a job.

The manga is a conversation, the anime is putting a wall up to prevent that conversation. Especially annoying is that the character putting the wall up is the one who initiates the conversation in the manga. The anime drags Mustang back from his emotional openness and pushes Hawkeye to be more so, then provides a dismissal of her acting that way.

Besides being an inverse plus a step back for their relationship, it. also just feels kind of sexist. Instead of the man talking about feelings, the woman is. When the man talks about his feelings, it’s greeted with understanding and respect, when the woman talks about her feelings, it’s greeted with the instruction to put it somewhere else.

The fact that they changed it bothers me, because the way it is in the manga is great. It’s one of many small moments Roy and Riza have where they are shown to respect and care for each other.

The anime version doesn’t add anything, and lessens the mutuality of that bond.

I snarl in its general direction.

The other change that springs to mind is of a similar cloth.

Mustang and Hawkeye encounter the Elrics before they’re aware of Hughes’ death, and Mustang makes up a story about Hughes retiring in the country with his family so that they won’t go looking for him.

Hawkeye greets this with the face of judgment. “Why are you treating him like a child all of a sudden?” He’s never shied from giving Ed adult responsibilities before. This is a blatant lie. Roy says they don’t need any further obstacles to their journey.

A few moments pass. In silence, in the manga. In the anime, Riza points out that they’re going to find out someday. Then…

“…Who am I trying to kid?”

(Funimation, the heck is with some of your translation choices. Did you just keep the simulcast version for the official DVD subs?)

So there are a few things. The most obvious difference is the dialogue changes. Hawkeye is more insistent about how the Elrics will find out at some point, then after Mustang makes his character commentary, she calls it cruel instead of sighing and moving on to the next topic.

The other most obvious change is that Mustang smiles after calling himself soft in the anime.

These all sort of play together.

In the manga, Hawkeye is just as judgmental as she is in the anime, but she allows Mustang the space to dwell on his choices for himself. She asks him one question about how he’s treating Edward, then they walk in silence, her disapproval creating a tangible aura.

It isn’t simply Hawkeye judging him. He’s judging himself. In the anime it comes off as a, “tee-hee, what a silly softhearted boi I am.” So in the anime, she vocally objects to what he’s doing.

In the manga, Mustang takes in his inability to break the news to the Elrics as the emotional flaw that it is, and Hawkeye lets him off the hook. He doesn’t need a lecture; he knows his shortcomings. It’s not great, but he’s the kind of person who doesn’t want to tell Ed and Al that Hughes is dead because Hughes tried to help them.

Again, Mustang’s softness is part of what endears him to his crew. It is not always a good trait. Sometimes, as in this case, it’s actively causing problems. But it is who he is.

Riza knows this, and she can let this failure pass with a sigh because Roy knows it too. The anime version has a smile when it’s nothing to smile over. The manga version is more, “hahaha… fuck.”

Roy and Riza know each other and themselves extraordinarily well. They might have the boundaries of superior and subordinate, but they are comfortable enough in their understanding of each other that they are allowed to be themselves. It’s the conversation thing. There is an undercurrent of figurative dialogue to their relationship that never stops.

When they do call each other out in the manga, it does not keep the conversation from flowing. It continues it. Both of the above changes take it to a stuttering halt in their scenes.

Then we have episode 30.

After which, I do not have memories specific enough to shout about things or know if there are things to shout about, but episode 30.

-screams forever and ever and ever-

-intersperses screams with tears of anguish-

From what I know of being an FMA fan, it is difficult to be an FMA fan without being passingly familiar with the debates of which version is better. Usually it’s Brotherhood vs. 2003. My personal, obviously right opinion, is that this is the wrong way to do it, and it should be manga vs. 2003, because really it’s an argument over which plot is better, and Brotherhood’s plot is the property of the manga.

I also think it’s impossible to really debate. The two series have different feels and themes. They are both extremely well done, meaning that which one you prefer comes down to personal preference.

I’m pretty sure people who bother to have those discussions could say a lot more on the topic, but that’s my general, broad stroke, very glossed-over perspective on it all.

I mention this because I think anyone who loves FMA should read volume fifteen of the manga. If you’re not a manga person, you don’t want to read 27 volumes of manga, yeah, understandable. You have your version of the story, enjoy it, you shouldn’t feel the need to read the original if you don’t want to. The idea that you have to pour every bit of content into your brain to be a good fan is pretty unhealthy.

But I recommend volume 15 regardless, because the anime does not come close to presenting its content. It is four chapters devoted to the Ishvalan War. Outside the framing device (Ed going to return Hawkeye’s gun and asking about what went down), the entire volume basically stands on its own.

It is a harrowing, intimate depiction of the genocide campaign. That is the focus of the entire volume.

Scar’s backstory is moved to an earlier section in the anime, and Mustang burning Hawkeye’s back is moved to the Envy fight, so this might be an unfair barb to throw, but I still want to say it. The anime covers this volume in one episode.

-goes back to screaming-

(Honestly though, some of the best fun I ever had in fandom came from being on a forum full of manga fans and all of us yelling our despair over Brotherhood’s choices. You would never believe that this anime was considered the gold standard of anything.)

But we’re here for Roy and Riza!

There’s only one thing that sincerely bothers me to pain of the irritation of the above. Most of my sulking is just why did they do this to my favorite volume. Mustang and Hawkeye’s stuff is mostly intact. Except when it isn’t.

Chronologically, the first complaint is that when Riza’s father collapses (dies), Mustang is alone with him. In the manga, the scene ends with a shot of Riza, watching, terrified, from the doorway.

Also known as the scene where Roy calls Riza by her first name.

-still screaming-

The cemetery scene is truncated. The anime jumps right into Roy and Riza discussing Roy becoming a soldier. The manga starts the scene out with the focus on funeral things. Roy asks if Riza has other family, and what she plans to do now.

After that, he offers her his number, and they get to talking about the military and Roy’s dream.

They also cut this.

In the anime, Roy discusses his military life through the lens of Master Hawkeye’s opinion on it, asking if Riza is going to disapprove as well. Roy starts talking because he assumes that’s how she feels about it, and preemptively defends his perspective.

In the original, when Roy hands Riza his information, she asks, “For the rest of your life…?” It’s followed by the above panel.

Roy’s monologue about his aspirations and his dream for what he can do as a member of the military happens because Riza asks. Not directly, but her addition to the conversation prompts him to talk about his views, and he mentions that those views are why he studied alchemy. In other words, why he’s standing in front of a grave, awkwardly trying to talk to his dead master’s daughter.

Following that, the original pays more attention to the lead-up of Riza entrusting Roy with her father’s research. In the anime, she jumps straight from the ideals topic to asking if she can trust him with it.

In the manga, there’s that beat of contemplation after Roy brings up alchemy, and how his master didn’t teach him everything.

Riza tells him that his dream sounds wonderful.

Another beat.

That’s when she tells him that her father did leave his alchemical secrets behind. Words about this are exchanged for a small number of panels.

In the anime, she asks Roy if she can entrust her father’s work (dream, values) to him. Directly after the dream dialogue.

In the manga, when Roy tries to bring their discussion back to Riza’s father, and what he did with his research, Riza redirects him. It isn’t about her father. It’s about her, and by consequence, Roy, and how Roy’s dream inspires her.

“That dream… Can I entrust you with my back so that I can help make it come true?”

The anime severely underplays the significance of Riza offering her father’s research to Roy. They address it a little once Envy is being dealt with, but in the manga, all of the discussion of Riza watching Roy’s back is drawn from how Riza’s back is what’s given Roy the power to rise as far as he has.

It goes from maintextual subtext to subtextual subtext.

Also, the cuts to their conversation just plain means that there’s less of Roy and Riza interacting. The two of them are very, very young, standing in front of a grave and talking about ideals. The longer manga version allows the quality of their youthful awkwardness to truly shine.

The scene is dropped in the middle of the volume, whereas in the anime, it opens the Ishvalan flashback. There’s much to be examined about how that affects the emotional impact, but… geez that gets to be a lot of threads. Trying to go through all of the ways they crammed a whole volume into one episode is just going to make me dizzy.

Even if the theoretical focus of this post weren’t shipping, I’m not sure my brain would be up for that. There’s just so much going on, and the time allotted means it’s a Frankenstein job.

The one major difference for Roy and Riza, which I can’t believe they went with, and can’t believe my sad feelings every time I watch the episode and confirm yeah, they really went that way with it.

Why why why why why why why why must you hurt me this way.

SO!

THE ANIME VERSION!

OF ROY AND RIZA MEETING IN ISHVAL!

Riza walks up and says hi after noticing them because Hughes is babbling about his future wife.

Yay.

The manga version does not. does not do that.

It.

That’s not how it goes.

At all.

In the manga, Roy and Hughes run into each other on their break and start chilling together. Hughes gets a letter, does his excited babbling, Roy tells him to stop being a stereotypical red shirt, when suddenly

Oh noes.

Roy and Hughes react as fast as they can, which might or might not end up fast enough, when a bullet goes through the Ishvalan’s brain.

There’s quiet for a moment, then Roy gets behind cover because oh no gunshot, and Hughes tells him to chill, it’s all good.

“We have the ‘hawk’s eye’ on our side. […] A real ace sharpshooter… who’s causing quite a stir in my circle of friends. She’s still in the academy but because she’s so skilled… they brought her to the front.”

Guess who.

Hughes and Roy, being the good people they are, go back to camp to thank the sniper for saving them. Hughes is his cheery self. Roy is not noticeably perturbed.

Then the sniper drops her hood and stands up.

You could say I prefer the manga version. It has Riza being a badass, and adds to the shock they both have of seeing each other here.

Riza gets her own little horrified section of panels all about it.

She was just helping out two soldiers. She didn’t realize until after she fired that one of them was Roy, and that he’s in this hell too.

The other thing that I enjoy about this particular sequence of panels is that in the manga, they come up a bit earlier. Throughout the manga, Ishval flashback panels are everywhere. As this scene is initially presented (Hawkeye looking at Mustang through her scope), many chapters earlier, it looks like maybe they’re on opposite sides.

Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that’s a thing.

In any case, it adds some serious drama to their reunion. In the anime, the drama is entirely that they are both here in this awful war. In the manga, a Mysterious Sniper saves Roy’s life and turns out to be his master’s daughter.

It’s just cooler, okay?

Their conversation when Riza becomes Roy’s aide is also truncated. Riza says her specialty is guns, because death doesn’t linger when you use them. Roy tells her, with what I feel is sympathy, that’s just a deception to make the work easier. She agrees, but because she’s decided that work is necessary, there we go.

…

I thought that would be my last thing, but now that I have volume fifteen open, I can’t help but go to the scene during the Envy stuff. I won’t touch the main scenes of that, though I’m sure there are changes, because this is already too long and I’ve officially gone through the things that personally affect my view of the anime, which… was, at some point, maybe, the point of the ask. ^^;

Basically, I will never stop if I go through everything, but in case it isn’t obvious, I really love the fifteenth volume, so to Envy we go.

Huh. They really didn’t alter much. The core’s all there. Because of the placement, Mustang gets docked a few lines, and he is rewarded one of Riza’s (about making the tattoo as illegible as possible) in return, but it’s basically the same, with the addition of Riza thanking him.

I have no particular feelings on that. The ending of the scene is different because it’s not intended to go with the rest of the Ishvalan War, and… I guess  I could manufacture some dislike over Riza expressing gratitude instead of the pure stubbornness the manga has. It distracts a little from why she’s asking those secrets to be burned off. They’re in a hell of their own creation. The soft thanks blurs the cutting edge.

Which isn’t to say I can’t have other problems with it.

As a manga reader who enjoyed Brotherhood as it was coming out, as well as someone who is writing this mostly from memory and going over only specific scenes, I have no way to ascertain how clear it is to anime fans what happens with Riza’s back and when. In the manga, it is excruciatingly clear that her father puts his research on her back, that is how Roy comes to have Flame Alchemy, and that is what Riza asks him to burn off.

Since that’s all in volume fifteen, the next twelve volumes are read with the understanding that before Riza is instructed to watch Roy’s back in case he falls, she offers him her back, and brings the ruin of Flame Alchemy to Ishval.

That history defines them. Their own choices plant them in that war, but Roy uses the alchemy she gives him out of hope for a better world to commit genocide. It’s a horrific weight on both of them, and his decision to have Riza, of all people, watch his back after the war?

Dude, it is such an amazing ship detail. Riza entrusts her back to Roy. He, in turn, entrusts his to her.

I get why it’s moved. Sort of. Given that volume fifteen is given one episode, I get why it’s moved. It’s most heavily relevant to Roy’s rampage against Envy.

However, I don’t think the power of knowing the depths of their connection earlier on can be understated. Roy and Riza’s devotion and synergy comes from watching their shared idealism burn the people they wanted to protect to a crisp, and their commitment to never letting that happen again. They create a hell through their good intentions. Having done that, they do not abandon their good intentions. They refine them and continue forward.

That is what binds them together. They rise from the ashes of their flames.

I do not, for the most part, think Brotherhood does them a major disservice. My gripes are pretty much all listed above, and my praises are endless.

But if you really love Roy and Riza, I’d seriously recommend reading the manga at some point, because there’s stuff the anime doesn’t bother with. AKA, yes, there is even more royai to be uncovered, don’t you want to seeeeee? :D :D

This kind of obviously grew past what you were initially asking, but I hope it serves a satisfactory answer regardless! Thanks for the opportunity to spam my love for these two!

…Through spamming my hate of stuff, but we’re ignoring that.

[lagilliland]

press release - RiffTrax Live:2019

Fans of mystery science theater should enjoy this live-via-satellite series.

A Trio of Super Cheesy B-Movies to Be Grilled on Big Screens Nationwide with ‘RiffTrax Live: 2019’ Series 

DENVER – March 25, 2018 –RiffTrax’s Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett (of Mystery Science Theater 3000® fame) are back in cinemas to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RiffTrax Live with three all-new riffs on what are sure to be fan favorites with “RiffTrax Live: 2019.” Join Mike, Kevin and Bill as they take on B-movie classics: the guy-in-a-rubber-suit creature feature “Octaman,” the Casper Van Dienspace odyssey “Star Raiders,” and new HD transfer of the MST3K favorite “Giant Spider Invasion.” 

Since first partnering in 2009 with “RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space” the RiffTrax and Fathom Events partnership has resulted in the screening of 29 unique titles, over 49 play dates, in an average of 616 movie theaters per title, with more than 1 million tickets sold for a total gross box revenue of $13.8 million (not including the 2019 events). 

Tickets for the three “RiffTrax Live: 2019” titles can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.com and participating theater box offices. For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change). 

“RiffTrax Live: Octaman”Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 8 p.m. EST/ 7 p.m. CST/ 7 p.m. MST/8 p.m. PST (live)Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. local time (rebroadcast) 

Deep in the Mexican jungle, a legendary creature lurks in a radioactive swamp. Is it a man? Is it an octopus? No, it’s OCTAMAN! Okay, it’s a man in an octopus suit, but he’s really angry and decides to go on a light killing spree. 

A scientific expedition sets out to study this atomic mutant and stop it before it kills again. They’re not very good at it, since Octaman kills quite a lot — probably because THE DUMB SCIENTISTS KEEP STEALING ITS BABIES! It seems there’s no stopping the monster until it develops a crush on the plucky lady scientist Susan Lowry (Pier Angeli) and does what all mutant sea creatures like to do - it knocks her out and carries her away. Will the rest of the team be able to rescue Susan before Octaman picks them all off one by one? Looks pretty doubtful! 

Directed by the writer of “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” and featuring costumes and effects by a young Rick Baker, Octaman is a wonderfully awful rubber monster B-movie. Join Bill, Mike and Kevin live as they risk life and limb to deliver the laughs from the clutches of Octaman! 

“RiffTrax Live: Star Raiders”

Thursday, June 6, 2019 at 8 p.m. EST/ 7 p.m. CST/ 7 p.m. MST/8 p.m. PST (live)

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. local time (rebroadcast) 

It’s the year 2762. The galaxy is plagued with warring factions using hokey special effects to destroy each other. Out of this chaos a hero rises: the dashing, exquisitely bearded Captain Saber Raine (Casper Van Dien). Saber and his elite squad of commandos (other actors) embark on a dangerous quest to save the Prince and Princess of an unnamed planet from the clutches of the Evil Overlord Sinjin - an overlord so evil HIS VERY SKULL IS FILLED WITH CHERRY JELL-O. 

Can our heroes fend off Sinjin’s army of mutant androids and rescue the Prince and Princess? Probably! After all it’s Space Opera, but you never know! Join Mike, Kevin and Bill for an unforgettable Sword-And-Laser Swashbuckling-ly fun time, beamed to theaters nationwide! 

“RiffTrax Live: Giant Spider Invasion”

Thursday, August 15, 2019 at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT/ 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. PT (live)

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. local time (rebroadcast) 

The “Giant Spider Invasion,” one of the most popular MST3K movies ever, is coming to a theater near you along with the mighty men of RiffTrax! 

There’s a monster in Wisconsin, and it’s going to slowly, VERY slowly, strike TERROR INTO YOUR HEART! Sure, your grandma could outrun it, but TERROR is more fun! When a fiery meteor lands in the woods, strange things begin to happen in this small Wisconsin town — even weirder than usual, and that’s a pretty high bar! 

While the townspeople are picked off by spiders of varying sizes, two esteemed scientists ramble around the countryside in a late model sedan, where they find friendship, romance and a big mechanical spider built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis! 

Starring Alan Hale Jr, the (Skipper from Gilligan’s Island), Barbara Hale (Perry Mason, and no relation to the Skipper) and Robert Easton, who’s been in more movies than a No Smoking disclaimer, Bill Rebane’s “The Giant Spider Invasion” explodes across the screen in a pristine new digital transfer. Join Bill, Mike and Kevin as they serve up the cheesiest cheese America’s Dairyland has to offer, LIVE in movie theaters nationwide. 

RiffTrax Live, a theatrical comedy experience, is best enjoyed with friends, and so RiffTraxians, MSTies, and comedy fans will meet up in theaters to enjoy the show, live on the big screen. Mike, Kevin, and Bill perform their ultra-funny commentary ("riffing") in front of a live audience, with the resulting hilarity beamed via satellite to cinemas across the nation.

“Fathom is proud to be celebrating a funny and fruitful decade with the RiffTrax crew,” Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership and bringing their unique and hilarious events to fans across the nation.

About Fathom Events

Fathom Events is the leading event cinema distributor with theater locations in all top 100 DMAs® (Designated Market Areas) and ranks as one of the largest overall theater content distributors. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC); Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom Events offers a variety of unique entertainment events in movie theaters such as live performances of the Metropolitan Opera, top Broadway stage productions, major sporting events, epic concerts, the yearlong TCM Big Screen Classics series, inspirational events and popular anime franchises. Fathom Events takes audiences behind the scenes for unique extras including audience Q&As, backstage footage and interviews with cast and crew, creating the ultimate VIP experience. Fathom Events’ live Digital Broadcast Network (“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live and pre-recorded events to 975 locations and 1,578 screens in 181 DMAs. The company also provides corporations a compelling national footprint for hosting employee meetings, customer rewards events and new product launches. For more information, visit www.FathomEvents.com. 

About RiffTrax

RiffTrax is an entertainment company featuring the stars of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning show “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” Comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot), bring their funny running MST3K-type commentary to movies of all kind. From riffs on the biggest Hollywood blockbusters to the worst B-movies, RiffTrax has a library of over 500 titles available at RiffTrax.com and on digital platforms everywhere. RiffTrax has also produced five prime time television specials for the National Geographic Channel. RiffTrax releases a newly riffed movie, short film or TV program each week, and performs the RiffTrax Live comedy series four times a year where a movie is riffed live and simulcast into over 700 theaters across North America. Our brand-new RiffTrax app on iOS and Android magically syncs our Riffs to the biggest blockbuster movies like Star Wars, Twilight and Harry Potter. RiffTrax was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. To find out more about RiffTrax, visit www.rifftrax.com/aboutus.