mazokutattoo

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@animangacreators challenge 1: favorite animanga

Yu Yu Hakusho

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LOST IN STARLIGHT (2025) dir. Han Ji-won

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akemi homura can never resist the urge to aura farm it’s ingrained in her blood

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"Kurama senshu—DOWN!"

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you'd better start believing in the shoujo renaissance, animanga community. you're in one.

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I can't win. Someone who can laugh so purely in this hellhole cannot be human. He's even smiling upon someone like me? My Buddha…

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi Episode 09

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NIGE JOUZU NO WAKAGIMI (2024)

#01. may 22nd ⋆ 5月22日

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the elusive samurai has no right to be as absurdist and funny as it is. Truly a story about a bunch of adults trying to find a kid they don’t know the appearance of and having said kid play tricks on them under the guise of childhood games to level up video game style.

A guy who may be god and is aware of PC culture gatekeeps, gaslights and girlbosses said kid along with a bunch of other children he collected and sets them loose on unsuspecting adults to murder them with the final destination being that somehow they’re gonna overthrown Japan.

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You said it would be a disgrace if you didn’t die, yet you jumped out of there to save your skin. That was the hero in you. Running and hiding are good skills for a hero. - Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi - Episode 1

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HI YEAH WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE TRANSITION OF THE BALL FALLING OFF THE ROOF ONLY FOR IT TO BECOME TOKIYUKI'S BROTHER'S SEVERED HEAD WHEN IT HITS THE GROUND TO SHOW HIS LIFE IS NOW FORFEIT AND JAPAN IS IN SHAMBLES CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI I'M LOSING MY SHIT OVER THAT FLAWLESS TRANSISTION ALONE

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I do think Maomao's biggest problem with Lakan is that he doesn't care.

And I'm not talking about her specifically, he cares about Maomao and her birth mother and Luomen and Lahan but in general but he is kinda selfish in a way she doesn't like.

Maomao is the queen of self-denial and will tell you to your face that it's none of her business but also she will help people and do the right thing. She does care a lot.

Her favorite person, Luomen is someone so kind, he ended disgraced and condemned. She is worried about Jinshi because he does care so much, he is overworking himself to maybe death.She is so loyal to Gyokuyou because she and her Ladies in waiting were really kind to her and cared.

Lakan will let a war start because he has no self-interest in stopping it, Jinshi had to use Maomao's name to get him to stop it the first time. He might let someone maybe die if they don't guess his clues in time and Maomao got hurt this time.

If he wants a better relationship with Maomao, it has to come from him changing.

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Honest Feelings 💚

For me this is the most impactful moment of the episode. We finally get to see MaoMao admit that she doesn’t understand feelings as well as others. For all she loves those who raised her, it was undoubtedly a terrible environment for a child that did bring on lasting damage. She learned not to express herself and that no one would care if she had certain emotions so she taught herself to suppress them out of protection.

Cut to her time with Jinshi and we see how things are being reversed, albeit slowly. He’s the first person in so long who cares about how MaoMao feels. He wants her to trust him, to know him, to share things with him. It’s a new thing for her, someone who shows this much interest in her thoughts and expressions. Who intentionally gives her things she wants just for her enjoyment. Who thrills at her little outbursts of joy.

Right now, she’s not able to put words or emotion to what that is but we as the viewers know, it’s love. He cares about her and so is being intentional towards showing her how much he does. And her reciprocation, while imperfect, is telling him that she sees him for the person he is, not for whatever status he’s hiding. Jinshi is the more true version of him she’s come to know and appreciate and in admitting that to him she’s finally given him a glimpse of the emotions she’s tried hard to suppress. As she says:

Jinshi wanting to be with MaoMao isn’t an easy road, for many reasons but I adore their relationship because it’s all about being willing to see through what someone might’ve endured and learned in their past to who they can be going forward. To understanding that making a confession of even the smallest sort may be worth all that much more because of what they’ve been through. And for these two I think that’s where they’re able to meet one another and develop this growing affection, even if it takes only small moments at a time. 💜

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It’s incredibly important to me that the anime decided to include this scene that wasn’t in the manga. In the manga, Maomao does pass out in Jinshi’s lap after saving him from what was obviously an assassination attempt.

HOWEVER, the manga cuts off at this point, keeping strictly in Maomao’s perspective, and cuts straight to when she regains consciousness in bed after being treated for her injuries. The manga doesn’t show how she got back. They SAY how, and she briefly mentions, “wow that must have been embarrassing; he carried me back,” but we don’t SEE it. We don’t get to feel the true impact of what that means. But the anime DID show us, and holy shit.

They SHOW us how taboo this is. They show Jinshi carrying her out of the temple, after a public attempt on his life.

They show us the shock and horror on Lakan’s face as Jinshi silently walks past him. Horror at the state his daughter is in, horror at another man—a man with a status he could never dare to question—staking such a public claim over his child, horror at the fact that he could never have this level of closeness with her (as Maomao would never allow it).

Everyone hides their gazes, as is their custom when someone of his rank passes by, but the air is different this time. Jinshi is furious, he’s terrified, and he could not give a single shit about how inappropriate it looks to these palace officials.

The shot that slowly follows her trail of blood—even though it’s a small detail—that in particular leaves such a intense impression of how poignant this is for him.

Maomao talked about this scene in the manga like it was nothing to her. She did what she set out to do: she saved the person who was targeted by the attack. She didn’t even know the target would be someone she knew. But she has no idea that this happened afterwards as a result of her bravery. To her, it likely wasn’t even an act of bravery at all. She acted on impulse; she did what she knew was the right thing to do.

The anime didn’t need to include this, because the manga didn’t show it. But damn, I’m so glad they did.

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the apothecary diaries does such a great job of portraying how traumatizing it can be to be a victim of pedophilia and grooming, instead of romanticizing it like a lot of anime series do. it is disturbing, it makes audience uncomfortable and disgusted — which is how we must feel about pedophilia. you're not supposed to feel comfortable because it's 'normalized' or 'just fiction'; you're supposed to feel disgusted.

the creator didn't make anshi 'fall in love' with the previous emperor or develop a stockholm syndrome — instead, she took her revenge in the same way he hurt her and other girls, which he deserved. her anger, hatred and disgust towards him are rightly justified and realistic for a victim of pedophilia.

the older palace lady (who might or might not be a ghost) told the girls abt her story as a victim of the previous emperor at the ghost story gathering:

whether or not she was a ghost, she wanted her story to be heard, of how much the victims suffered at the hands of the previous emperor. they were imprisoned for the rest of their lives in the same place that ruined their lives. telling her story might be the only way for her to find peace within herself.

an abuser may die but the trauma he leaves on his victims will last forever. it does not go away.

it's even presented as a horror story because there's nothing more terrifying than SA.

(i may have missed a few points but im keeping this brief. thank you for reading my essay!)

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First they censor her educational pornography and then they confiscate her poisonous mushrooms, they are OPPRESSING the weird girl