imnobodyuknow

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Whoa... Where'd all these extra memes come from? Here, ya'll can have 'em.

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Please let this be a normal anime...

So, a friend of a friend of mine recommended a short anime for me, and...

Whoa... Déjà vu. 😐

Anyway, I decided to check it out, since it was apparently pretty popular when it was first released, plus it features some voice acting from one of my favorites, Wendy Lee! 😁

Having now watched the whole thing, I'd say it was...well, kind of hard to describe, actually. I guess you could say it was bizarre, eventful, intriguing, thought-provoking...pretty much any word that makes you think "not boring." That being said, it did leave me feeling a bit...

...melancholy.

***Spoilers for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ahead!!!***

Unlike the previous anime I reviewed, this one's not really a slice-of-life anime so much as a slice-of-what-the-heck anime. It starts out normally enough, with Kyon, your average high school boy, meeting the titular Haruhi Suzumiya (voiced by Wendee Lee 😁) , your not-so-average high school girl, and trying to figure out her unusual attitude and behavior. Unlike Kyon (and pretty much every other student), her craving for variety and adventure are so off the charts that she'd do anything to make her life more interesting -- changing up her outfit every day, joining every team and extracurricular club that exists at her school, and inviting anyone who happens to be an alien, time traveler, or ESPer to get in contact with her.

About as unusual as you can get, in other words.

But as weird as she is, Kyon finds himself both irritated and intrigued by her before long, and eventually ends up being the first person to get her to open up about herself, if only for a short while. He doesn't learn much about her, though, except that it takes something special to pique her interest.

Kyon decides to help her by offering his perspective -- he believes it's the people who don't like what they've got who invent things and make discoveries, whereas ordinary people like Haruhi and himself are probably better off living their ordinary lives in an ordinary manner.

In doing so, however...

...he sets off an unquenchable flame of inspiration in her mind. Thus is born the Spreading Excitement All Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, or, for short...

Naturally, Kyon gets dragged into it, starting the new club off with two members, but they're soon joined by three new recruits: Yuki Nagato, a quiet individual and avid reader...

...the beautiful and shy Mikuru Asahina...

...and the friendly, mild-mannered Itsuki Koizumi.

And as fate would have it, these new members just happen to be an alien, a time-traveler, and an ESPer, respectively!

Yeah, no foolin'.

And if that wasn't bizarre enough, it turns out this didn't happen by mere coincidence. As Kyon soon learns from each of the three new recruits (after learning who and what they are), the whole reason why they ended up joining the club, as well as the reason why they exist in the first place, is Haruhi wishing for it to happen.

And even more bizarre? She happens to be the creator and ruler of the world she, Kyon, and everyone else lives in, and she's not even aware of it. At least that's what Itsuki, Mikuru, and Yuki believe to be the case. Naturally, Kyon finds it hard to accept such a wild idea, but...

...he runs into some pretty convincing proof soon enough. I've just gotta say, plot twists don't get much more twisty than that, do they? 😄

The rest of the show is mostly about Kyon and his eccentric new friends doing what they can to keep Haruhi from getting bored as she comes up with new plans and activities for the SOS Brigade. The world literally depends on it, after all. 😏

I knew very little about this anime when I first started watching it, but I went into it with some pretty high hopes. The main character is voiced by Wendy Lee, after all. 😁 Unfortunately, in the words of Strong Bad: "What I found was not pretty. It was slimy and smelly and kinda stung my eyes." There was a lot I enjoyed about it, and I thought it was put together very well, but...overall, it ended up not being my cuppa tea. 😒 Nonetheless, I'd still love to share my thoughts on it.

So, using broad strokes, how would one describe this anime? It depends largely on who you ask, I'd imagine, but here's my takeaway:

In terms of likeable side characters:

I found each of them to be charming in their own way -- Yuki for her robotic personality, Mikuru for her shyness (which I thought got old pretty quickly, but was still adorable), Itsuki for his mild-mannered, friendly attitude, Kyon's sister for being her cute self, Tsuruya for being loud and fun, and so on. 😊

In terms of likeable main characters:

Don't get me wrong, Haruhi's got a lot of charm and spunk (not to mention she's voiced by Wendee Lee 😁), but...she's also one of the biggest jerks I've ever seen in an anime. I can deal with her bossiness, rudeness, and selfishness -- that's the kind of character she's meant to be, after all -- but when a character continually exploits a girl's body type in inappropriate and humiliating ways, gets said girl drunk for the sake of realistic drama, and threatens to frame a group of boys for something awful just to get her hands on a computer...they lose a lot of points with me. Sorry, even being voiced by Wendee Lee won't save you there. 😒

Then there's Kyon, who's a lot better in the selfishness category, but who's also a great big pervert (which we get to see in more detail through his inner monologue). High school boys will be high school boys, but...there's only so much of that I can take. 🙄 Not to mention he provides basically no help when Mikuru gets picked on by Haruhi, even after making a promise to help her. Reeeeeally not doing us guys any favors, writers. 😒 Anyway, continuing on...

In terms of art, animation, and music that create a (mostly) comforting atmosphere:

In terms of decency:

In terms of thought-provoking ideas:

In terms of being easy to follow:

In terms of the summer vacation episode:

In terms of the summer vacation episode:

In terms of the summer vacation episode:

(I'm still not sure how I feel about that one, honestly. 😆)

And finally, in terms of being a bizarre, confusing, and hilarious one-of-a-kind anime (with a main character voiced by Wendee Lee 😁):

Despite all my gripes, I definitely get why so many anime-viewers fell in love with this show. Slice-of-life anime are pretty fun when they're done as well as this one is, but Haruhi also includes so many twists and turns that you have no idea where it'll take you next, which I have to appreciate.

...Even if I felt as confused and befuddled as Kyon at times. 😄

Also, I've just gotta say, that end credits dance is a work of art that never gets old. ☺️

And of course I have to mention one other thing -- it was pretty fun seeing where a certain young attorney's voice and personality came from.

One can't help but see a lot of Haruhi in Athena Cykes, am I right? Only the good parts, of course. 😉

Anyway, that's how this popular series hit me. If you've got the stomach for copious amounts of lewdness and a bit of heavy violence, you enjoy intriguing stories, and you're looking for characters loaded with personality, I believe this anime might just be one you'll enjoy. It didn't become a hit for no reason, after all. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would probably be...

...gripping.

You have been warned. 😜

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Red, white, and blue blur

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9. You're Pretty Cool

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Surprise!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but *insert the usual excuses here*. I plan to get back to drawing stuff at some point, but in the meantime, allow me to present my very first piece of Murder Drones fan art!

I bet you didn't see this coming a mile away, huh? 😏

So, consider this scenario: At some point before the canon events in Murder Drones, our favorite Worker Drone Uzi Doorman gets herself into a different sort of predicament -- one that lands her on planet Earth in the past. When in the past, you ask? How about, oh...

...2009?

For those of you who haven't looked at the game Class of '09, either of its sequels, or the anime...

...

...

...

...

...don't. It's mostly a load of garbage. 😒 No, for real, it makes Danganronpa look tame by comparison, and y'all know how I feel about that game. 😏

That being said, as someone who graduated high school in 2009 in the real world (no foolin') and has some knowledge of the ups, downs, way ups, and way downs of high school life in the US back then, I found the less trashy parts of the game to be both relatable and inspiring. I also had fun trying to decide who to dislike more -- the psychopathic protagonist Nicole or the equally messed-up characters she's surrounded by. 😅 (Even so, I don't recommend going into it without putting on a gas mask first. You've been warned.)

In any case, there's a reason why I chose to have these two angsty teens meet each other. As some of you may know, they don't just have similar personalities -- they're also voiced by the same talented voice actress, Elsie Lovelock! 😄 As soon as I made that discovery, it didn't take me long to see the parallels between Uzi and Nicole's personalities (not to mention their backstories) and start wondering how well they would relate to one another. They might be from different worlds, cultures, and situations, but I could still see them having a lot to talk about. And if you're familiar with either of them, then you know just how desperately both of them can use someone to talk to. It just seemed right somehow, I guess. 😊

Getting the details right in this picture -- the different shines on Uzi's hair, face, body, arms, and beanie, her unique eye and mouth design, the fine details in Nicole's hair, face, and outfit, the shadows, and the pattern of the floor tiles -- was a pretty fun challenge, I have to say. I used a few different pictures of Uzi as references, but for Nicole, I just used her smiling sprite:

The device in her hand is a Sidekick, based on a picture of one:

And finally, the room they're in is the cafeteria from Class of '09:

Why Nicole is the only one there who's interested in chatting with a drone from the future...I have no idea. That's just a minor detail, though, right? 😉

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this brief collision of worlds, and I also hope to see y'all again real soon (hopefully with something new to share). Take care!

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A special thank you to all the dads who do your job right

Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse

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Precious (Random Access) Memories

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Dropped these Murder Drones memes...silly. 😉

***Murder Drones Semi-Spoilers Ahead!!!***

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✨🎶POYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO🎶✨

Right back at ya!

[imnobodyuknow]

Ladies and gentlemen...

It's now my distinct pleasure to present something that's been years in the making -- an original song inspired by none other than the greatest indie game I've ever played, Celeste!!! Oh, and it's got some artwork from me, too. 😊

The vocal talents, however, are courtesy of my talented friend Clover, a.k.a. Modthorne, a.k.a. The Eevee Breeder. If you like what you hear, be sure to check out her YouTube channel!

Without further ado...

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Is anyone else noticing a pattern here? 😏

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It's my 9-year anniversary on Tumblr!? Holy dang. 😐

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The ultimate plot twist

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66. The Incredi-Forgers

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66. The Incredi-Forgers

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...Okay, y'know what? I'm gonna stop keeping y'all waiting now. I think it's time for me to take Badeline's advice and save the "Halloween hijinks" for this coming Halloween...

...so I can share my Halloween drawing (a.k.a. "big reveal" number 66) right now! I'm sure I can come up with another one by the time Halloween rolls around again. 😏

Trick or treat, everyone!!!

...Well? What are you waiting for? Give the girl some peanut M&M's already! 😉

This was one of those ideas that popped in my head and just begged to be made into a drawing. It wouldn't surprise me if someone else had the idea to combine Spy x Family with The Incredibles before now, but even so, I loved the idea of the Forgers dressing up as members of the crime-fighting superhero family introduced to us in...

...2004!? Dang, I feel old. 😐

In any case, the comparison between these two fictional families was such an easy one that I thought I'd explore it a bit. While the "secret identity" part works a little differently for the Parrs than it does for the Forgers, both families are known for working behind the scenes to protect the world from the forces of pigheadedness evil, whenever and wherever they appear...at least by us viewers. As far as everyone else knows, they're just your average modern-day families. 😉

Whether The Incredibles movie would be a thing in the Spy x Family universe or not is something I don't know, but if it was, I'm sure Anya would love the idea of her adopted family wearing the costumes and going trick-or-treating (or even just wearing the costumes, for that matter). If they did, I would imagine Anya being the most excited about it...

...with Yor getting excited right along with her.

Loid, on the other hand...

He'd probably spend most of time thinking, "Can we get this over with? Being seen by so many neighbors can't bode well for the mission..." Heck, he probably wouldn't agree to it at all if his costume didn't include something to cover his face with. 😄

So, in case it wasn't obvious already, I had some fun drawing this one. I'm not sure if trick-or-treating is a thing in Ostania (or if it would even be doable in such a big city), but I loved the idea of the Forger family dressing up as a family of superheroes too much not to see what it would look like. And hey, that's technically what they are, isn't it? It's quite fitting, actually. 😊

For their facial expressions, I used a few different pictures: A screenshot for Yor's face (which I've used once before, is it turns out)...

...a promotional picture for Loid's face...

...and another promotional picture for Anya's face, which I also used as a reference for their whole bodies.

For their costumes, I used a picture of the Parr family in their iconic costumes.

Getting the shine of the black sections right was a challenge, but a pretty fun one, I'd say.

And finally, for the outdoor background (which I probably spent way more time fussing with than I needed to), I used another Spy x Family screenshot.

Put it all together, and you've got what I believe to be an adorable scene of a family of heroes dressed as members of another family of heroes and taking part in my favorite Halloween tradition! (And probably the only one I enjoy, to be honest. 😏)

Sorry we couldn't have the fancy lead-up to this drawing that I was planning, but I ultimately decided this would be better than having to push my deadline back over and over again until God knows when. And hey, with all the added time this gives me, now you'll really have something to look forward to this Halloween! 😉

See you again with some new stuff soon, y'all!

[imnobodyuknow]

Yeah, I still got nothin' to show for those Halloween Hijinks I keep bringing up. 😒 Not to mention I've been more tired than usual lately (too tired to even make that a GIF rather than a still image, in fact 😔).

Still making good progress on it, though, so...guess we'll get to it when we get to it. 🤷🏻‍♂️ On the bright side, there are some other things I've been working on lately that are a lot closer to being completed, so maybe I'll have some of them ready to share soon. Here's hoping, at least.

For now...

April Fools. 😉