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HOW is Ahu at the bottom of the hero rankings right now? You're telling me you don't like the puppy doggy? Heartless

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Okay everyone, important question: Do you think X could beat Saitama?

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E-Soul worked out with his helmet on that thing must be so stinkyyyyyyyyyyy

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Can somebody tell me Queen and Cyan's ages by the end of e12 real quick so I can know if it's ok to ship them or if this should stay a big sis/lil sis relationship

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Man, X really couldn't have waited ONE year to make his debut? He couldn't let Queen have ONE year as X before essentially claiming it forever?

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WAIT A MINUTE what if Queen and Cyan's arcs are in 2D because it's set before X came to power? What if X changed the animation style?

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Hang on, I think there's some pieces missing from this equation.

A major theme of the show is MaoMao's knowledge of (period-appropriate) cutting-edge technology. The greenhouse is an example of such intelligence.

MaoMao specifically works herself to exhaustion to maintain this greenhouse.

Rather than sexual exploitation, the greenhouse better symbolizes how MaoMao's intelligence leads to her being used by others, rather than being used sexually.

It wasn't Jinshi or the emperor's idea to make blue roses. It was Lakan, MaoMao's biological father, who pressured Jinshi into asking MaoMao for help in achieving this.

Lakan is later the one who pushes Jinshi into outing himself as the Moon Prince. Up until that point, Lakan also subtly hints that he knows Jinshi's real identity and uses this as a manipulation tactic.

Another major theme of the show is how neither MaoMao nor Jinshi really wants to be a part of noble life. MaoMao unsuccessfully attempted to hide her intelligence because she knew it would lead to her exploitation. LIkewise, Jinshi's eunuch role is an escape for him: it allows him to avoid the social pressure of being crown prince, and his pretended neutering protects him from the sexual advances that others make against him (though not perfectly - there is a notable a scene where Jinshi has MaoMao test his food for poison, and she discovers an aphrodisiac drug in it. MaoMao mistakenly assumes that Jinshi put it there in an attempt to assault her, but it's later revealed in the light novel that a different man was actually attempting to drug and possibly rape Jinshi.)

As stated above, the emperor allowing Jinshi to pretend to be a eunuch is not something the emperor forced on him, but something that Jinshi wanted and the emperor let him have. The emperor does not want to exploit Jinshi, but would rather give him as much freedom as he can from within the laws and social customs that constrain them both.

It isn't just the unusual color that makes the roses special - the ceremony at which the roses are presented takes place in early spring. The roses are forced to produce flowers out of season.

The roses are, therefore, not incestuous at all. They are better taken as Jinshi and MaoMao both being forced to perform roles that do not fit them (the blue color of the roses), as well as being forced to step into these roles long before they are ready to do so (the roses blooming out of season). For MaoMao specifically, her position could and does lead to her being harmed and her freedoms taken away, hence the greenhouse and the exhaustion.

Instead of making blue roses as requested, Jinshi and MaoMao notably make multi-colored roses. It's a quiet rebellion: They may be forced into roles they do not desire (blue roses), but that does not mean that they will allow that role to become the only aspect of their identities (multi-color roses).

A problem I'm having with Apothecary Diaries: so, I have actually watched anime other than Revolutionary Girl Utena.

But. I have a tendency to become someone who has only watched Boss Baby around that show. Usually, this is fine, because it is legitimately really influential?

It's just. Doing things to my ability to interpret the Apothecary Diaries.

Because at one point we have our female lead spending a whole lot of time in a greenhouse growing blue roses. Meanwhile, our male lead is talking about "appreciating buds while imagining they have bloomed" and how it's very easy to deal with lust.

And it's just. This should not be meaning me read an incest subtext into things, yet here I am?

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Queens' arc seems like it's gonna have a theme of privilege and cheating vs genuine hard work, cause like

1. Bowa and Queen are set up as someone who worked to get where they are vs. someone who also worked extremely hard, but had connections that made it much easier

2. Queen and X are set up as someone who worked very hard to get where they are vs. someone who understood how the system worked and was able to cheat that system.

3. Bowa's been hinted to have done some shady things to get ahead - so she also cheated in some way

4. Queen denies Lucky Cyan's blessings because she doesn't want anyone to think she became X because of luck (aka cheating again).

5. We know Little Johnny is a legacy hero - he had an "in" to the industry from birth. Privilege again.

I'm guessing the moral of this arc (after the feminist theme ofc) is gonna be that nobody in the industry made it to where they are through hard work alone. Everyone had some kind of advantage, some kind of "in," or else used an underhanded trick to get there.

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Queen genuinely was robbed of her victory. Like if X hadn't shown up she truly inevitably would've been #1. It's right there in her name, it's her whole brand, she's SUPPOSED to be on top.

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I am once again wishing they had translated "Trust" as "Belief"

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The problem I have with apothecary diaries is that they're constantly going on and on about how beautiful Jinshi is, but this is an anime. EVERYONE looks beautiful in anime because it's so stylized that there's no room for any normal human imperfections. So to me it looks like everyone in the show is obsessing over this guy just because he's, like...tall and has nice hair.

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So, Lucky Cyan's entire first episode was animated. Any word yet on whether that's a permanent change or whether it's a stylistic choice and they'll go back to 3D for future episodes?

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To Be Hero X is a great show but the "latest" tag is downright unusable because every single "character x character" thing appears in it

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Oh they're totally gonna fridge Cyan's boyfriend aren't they

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If you think about it doves are great symbolism for Nice because everyone thinks of Doves as these pure holy creatures, symbols of peace and innocence and everything good, when in reality they're literally just white pigeons.

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Awesome should really be a poetic word, akin to fearsome, loathsome, tiresome, winsome, and handsome, but no, the sk8rs have claimed it

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Y'allllll, the chorus of Ahu's theme song goes

I gamble with my life

Kisses and a cuddle

Everything I ever wanted could crumble

So I gotta go pick a fight

Oh my god he just wants kisses and cuddles from his human 😭😭😭 Li Haolin I know this is a phyrric tragedy donghua where nobody gets what they want but PLEASE, LET THE DOG HAVE A HAPPY ENDING. PLEASE DON'T FRIDGE THE LITTLE GIRL. PLEASE LET THEM BE TOGETHER I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE