#12 Days of Manga 2022

[brainbuffering]

12 Days of Manga (2022)

Day 1: Favourite Ongoing Series - Snow White With The Red Hair by Sorata Akiduki from Shojo Beat (T: Caleb Cook L: Brandon Bovia E: Karla Clark)  

[ID: English cover for Snow White With the Red Hair Vol 19 by Sorata Akiduki. Kiki wears a burgendary psudo-european-medievial style dress with long flowing sleeves. In on hand she holds a wine glass, and in the other she gently clasps her sword. She sits sideways but looks knowingly at the viewer. Behind her, a festival at dusk is in full swing and we see the backs of Hisame (left) and Mitsuhide (right)]

This year (as of writing) the UK has been gifted Volumes 17 - 19 of SWWTRH*, covering the Bergat Arc which finally gave some more time for our beloved Kiki to shine and the return of everyone’s (read: my) favourite beloved arsehole Hisame Rougis. This more action and romance based arc was a nice return to form last year’s Orimmallys arc. As wonderful as it was to see the STEM elements of SWWTRH come to the forefront, with no doubt Cook’s experience on Dr Stone helping him translate all that psudo-science, I’m a simple Blogger who likes to see some swords and swooning.

That said, this combination of genres and themes really does highlight what makes the series so good. Anyone who tries to tell you that Shojo is all the same really needs to read this series because it will swing from mystery to romance to action adventure to science explainer in only a few chapters. I’ve said it elsewhere but I will say it again: it i also just so nice to have a manga I can confidently recommend to literally anyone! It’s a great starter for those looking to get into Shojo, be they a 10 year-old who has some book tokens to use up, or a 40 year old who wants to finally branch out beyond the Shonen Jump Sphere of Influence.

The series is also beautifully unintentionally queer, and that was highlighted again this year. Well, I say unintentionally. Some of SWWTRH’s contemparies in LaLa include explicitly queer stories such as Ouran High School Host Club, so who is to say how it will end? I can hold out for my bisexual polyamorous ending in which Obi, Zen and Shirayuki end up married with 2.5 children, right? With lines like this, it’s starting to feel more like text than subtext. 

[ID: Zen smiles widely. “You might have a trio who lived completely separate lives... ... but came together in the palace... ... to now spend their lives together, side by side.”]

But I digress. As I said! This was the year of the Kiki. We got to get more of a glimpse into her role as heir to the Seiren Family, and what expectations that holds. She got some closure on her relationship with Mitsuhide that, without spoilers, was very afirming from an Aro/Ace perspective, and started to see her take new steps with Hisame in a way that allows them both some character development and encourages world building! We also got to see her beat people up with a sword, although perhaps not as much as I would have liked. She did get her own dramatic “I’ll be shooting for my own hand” moment, with all the paralels and metaphors of working hard to choose your own fate and your own destiny, and to not get thrown by romantic rejection but rather remain to stay true to yourself no matter what. So I suppose I can’t really complain. 

[ID: Two manga pages of Kiki shooting arrows in the middle of the night, the range lit by fire light/beacons. The first ten arrows have missed the center of the target completely. Kiki looks disapointed and uncertain about everything. Then she appears to center herself and manages a bullseye.] 

I’ve said many times before, that I don’t think there is any reason for a series to go beyond 30 volumes. I can’t imagine any story that needs to go on for that long without it becoming far too repetative. However SWWTRH is one of those series that I will happily be buying for the next ten years! For one, unlike a lot of ongoing series, SWWTRH is not restricted to a time scale (e.g. three years of high school) or singular goal (e.g. entering the olympics). Shirayuki and Zen confirmed their romantic feelings early on, and whilst we want to see their relationship develop the pace it is going at feels realistic for people of their age, and in their situation.

Why should they get married at age 19? Shirayuki becoming a well respected court herablist will help her standing in marrying him, sure, but it’s also the goal she wants to achieve without romance being on the line either. Heck, even if her only goal was marriage, it’s perfectly reasonable to want to finish your studies before settling down! The story is not lessened by its slower pacing, but rather enhanced by it. Much like real life, it takes its time with each arc, meandering rather than steamrolling. Yet it doesn’t feel repetative, it doesn’t feel as though Akiduki dragging things out for the sake of it, but rather just allowing the characters to take moments to breathe inbetween events.

The characters are allowed to grow and change with the narrative, and have that be reflected within the story. There’s a whole time skip that takes place without it feeling like some big terrifying event, rather just the nature of what happens in adult life where you just spend a year focussing on your work and your studies, and so naturally don’t get up to the sort of major adventures that you might tell your grandkids about.

The series finds strength in the age of its characters, young adults growing into themselves and finding a purpose in life without fear of falling and failing. Obi is allowed to find comfort in the mundane, and not having to go on life changing ninja adventures all the time. Shirayuki’s focus on her studies living away from Zen doesn’t mean that their romantic relationship must come to an end, and she is allowed to develop completely independently of their love whilst still having that love be incredibly important to her! Mitsuhide is happy to live a life without marriage and kids because he cares more about the platonic relationships in his life, and wants to put his time and energy into those. Kiki is still working out what to do next now that her initial plan for life has turned side ways, and that’s good too! She has a support network in place to help! Zen meanwhile continues to be the perfect prince, the white haired anime boy all white haired anime boys should aspire to be, and I hope that he is able to move back in with his girlfriend and boyfriend full time. 

The joy here is in the journey, not in the destination, and i’ll happily continue on with these characters for years to come!

*The Americans have up to Vol 21, but the ongoing supply chain crisis and paper shortage are out to get me personally.

[cherrymagiczip]

Cherry Magic Translations Links

The translations are not mine I'm only linking all the translations I've found:

Valentine's Comic 2021

White Day 2023

Angel Kurosawa x Devil Adachi (Plot Summary Only)

Yukata Comic

Cherry Magic If Velentine's 2023

Episode 11 Trauma 2 Years Later

I don't know how to title this. Memory?

Newlyweds Interview

Kurosawa Birthday Comic 2022

Volume 12 Special Comic

Skincare

Game of Love

Angel Kurosawa x Human Adachi

Valentine's Comic 2022

Again idk how to title this. Mask mandate?

Kurodachi helping Tsuge pick out clothes

My Motivation to Spend the rest of my life with Adachi Kiyoshi

Feet

Coffee

Kurosawa Birthday Comic 2021

Drama Award

Adachi Brothers

Golden Week 2021

Kurosawa picking out the rings

Christmas Comic 2020

Adachi Birthday Comic 2022

What the fuck are you saying

Drunk Adachi

Crying chibi

Sweater gift

Episode 11 immediate trauma

Cherry Magic No Magic AU

Cherry Magic IF #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

Falling for a 30 year old virgin can make YOU a wizard?!

Volume 12 Idol AU

Resume + Essay from the movie

Not translated ones

(I'd love to see a translation of one day...)

Kurodachi with their niece

Kurosawa's childhood album (Birthday comic 2023)

Hairstyling

Adachi Birthday Comic 2023

Christmas Comic 2023

Tsugemina Christmas 2022

Kurodachi angels

Golden Week 2022

Photo album

Living arrangement (Manga vs Live Action)

Clingy? Idk how to title this

Kurosawa is a liar

V6 parody

Golden Week 2021

White Day 2021

French Fries

[gijipaw]

Happy Spy x Family anime anniversary!

A day like today, but two years ago. The Spy x Family anime was first broadcast by Wit Studio and Cloverworks.

Although Spy x Family had a consolidated fandom before the anime, there is no doubt that its first season boosted its fame and made it one of the most important anime of 2022. It also boosted the sales of its mangas, reaching the date Today there are more than 35 million copies in circulation.

The first season had 25 episodes. The second season, released in 2023, had 12 episodes and a movie Spy x Family: Code White also premiered in December last year.

There's no sign of a third season yet, but this year the manga turns five, so it's a year to celebrate Spy x Family in every way!

[061306]

␥ list of things i’ve successfully manifested !

i discovered manifestation and the law around early 2022 and here's what i have manifested since then! this might not be much but this is to remind me that i am capable of anything and everything!

𖥻 1. clearer skin

i used to have a terrible breakout on the right side of my face + oily skin. now my skin is much better and less oily! i do not have acne anymore.

𖥻 2. weight loss ( 14 kgs )

i went from 69 kgs to 55 kgs in around two months with minimal exercise ( walking ) & a simple diet.

𖥻 3. height increase ( 11cm )

i used to be 150cm but not anymore lol. i got better proportions too!

𖥻 4. text messages & instant replies from people.

i also manifested message from a friend i was no longer in contact with.

𖥻 5. passing exams i thought i was going to fail

accountancy was my weakest subject but i manifested passing several tests and exams. i also manifested getting better in it!

𖥻 6. getting above average % board exams

board examinations are a big deal in my country and i, unfortunately, ended in a stream i was not interested in. i manifested getting ~80% in them despite getting way lesser in school examinations.

𖥻 7. food

one single thought turned into an assumption and i am having whatever i want for dinner!

𖥻 8. storage of my phone increasing

i only have 32gb of storage in my phone lol. so sometimes i have to clear app caches to make space, but not anymore.

𖥻 9. love confession

i simply wanted a love confession and i got it. as easy as it gets.

𖥻 10. an increament in my mom’s salary & money for myself

my mom really wanted an increament and i manifested it! she got increament of 5.5k! also manifested a bonus for her. + got gift money from my parents and relatives!

𖥻 11. letting go of & detaching from several people

i used to be attached some people that hurt me but not anymore. i have let go of them and it feels so much better.

𖥻 12. books & manga ( jjk )

my mom is not the type to let me spend money on buying books ( for leisure reading ), much less a comic book. but i manifested her allowing me to buy 4 books + 1 manga volume! she even paid for them.

𖥻 13. delaying the start of my college, teachers & professors taking leaves, not getting scolded for submitting assignments late

my college was supposed to start from early june but i manifested a delay and it started from mid-july. i have manifested both school teachers and college professors taking leaves on my desired days.

𖥻 14. nice aura + compliments

i have a magnetic aura, people feel comfort around me and i get so many compliments about literally everything i do!

𖥻 15. quick deliveries of my orders

🤭🤭🤭

𖥻 16. winning an elocution competition

i was really worried because i only found about it a day before and some other contestants had been trained by their professors. i was full of nerves but still won the first rank! the judges said my content was unique and everything i did was perfect.

𖥻 17. kitten type beauty

manifested myself big upturned eyes with pretty lashes & a v-shaped face with smooth skin!

𖥻 18. cats loving me

call me a cat whisperer the way cats love me! i can easily befriend any cat!!! ˃ᴗ˂

𖥻 19. desired skincare products for cheap

i really wanted vitamin c serum and face cleanser and sometime later i saw an ad with an offer to get both for 1 rupee! crazy right?

𖥻 20. entering the void on several occasions.

i have entered the void several times albeit unaware. recently i've started becoming aware before snapping out of it!

masterlist. | notes – i've also manifested getting a merch of my bias. i got it from my best friend as gift but i didn't add it on the list because i didn't want break the perfect 20. also this list is as on 04 DEC 2023.

[midnight-glasses]

💚 ✨Happy birthday, Laito✨💚

Guys, today is a very important day for me. I know I haven't been very active, but I want to get back to Fandom as soon as possible! Diabolik Lovers is an important part of me as a whole. It feels like yesterday was the day I discovered the anime; however, it has been many years. I discovered anime when I was nine years old, back in 2015, and I have had a love for games, anime, and manga for a long time. However, it was only in the middle of 2021/2022 that I discovered a fandom that is still so alive after years... However, some people are probably wondering why today is a special day for me and where I want to go with this simple speech: today is my beloved character's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAITO!

This fedora hat shading your emerald green eyes and your somewhat complex and captivating personality, this character who certainly was a great source of trauma for the unaware, this utterly deplorable and broken character represents a lot to me in different extensions and senses depending on the time when I consumed it. For my 9-year-old self, it was my love for vampires and my continuous hyperfocus being fueled. For my 12 and 14-year-old selves, it was a great source of comfort and affection; it also served as a discovery and a reminder of past experiences which unfortunately I had to go through and endured throughout my years of life. At 19 years old, it signifies my profound love for broken characters, Otome games, and it has been the main impetus for me to currently seek a deeper diagnosis regarding my neurodivergences. This character helped me deal with experiences that I had blocked and didn't know how to process. This character isn't everything, but it means a lot to me. That's why I say happy birthday, you stupid vampire! Thank you for being a part of my life and introducing me to such wonderful people on the internet.

I would like to thank everyone who has had contact with me, you are all wonderful people!

@afra-blueraz, @eyelessdoll-y, @dialovers-translations, @dialovers-lover-xoxo, @sekai-takoyaki, @everything-laito, @diakaoniii, @yuma-mukami-garden-god, @rukiyui-fanblog, @its-irsaa-fyp, @benevxllain, @/carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich, @kauze-bridgerton/@kauzebridgerton, @callmeklair, @hanakohanabe, @yuikomorii, @kindan-no-kanojo, @laitoscupoftea and everyone else I didn't mention, you guys are a fraction of the wonderful people I have met here, and I will be very happy if you choose to continue this wonderful path for as long as you can feel comfortable, because you are an extension and a very important part of my life even though I have never seen any of you in person.

I didn't come here just to give this thank you without at least bringing something in return to celebrate this cursed vampire's birthday. By the end of March, I intend to release some headcanon or story about or for him. Thank you all, and happy birthday, Laito!

[yurimother]

Josei Yuri Manga 'She Loves Cook, and She Loves to Eat' Volume 2 Released

On March 21, Yen Press released the second volume of Sakaomi Yuzaki's slice of life Yuri series She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat (Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna).

The manga follows Nomoto, who likes to cook to destress. One day, she finds herself making more food than she can possibly eat by herself. And so, she invites her neighbor Kasuga over for an impromptu dinner date.

The publisher describes the second volume:

Kasuga and Nomoto promised to spend their Christmas and New Years together. Now, they find themselves learning more about each others families through the food sent by Nomotos mother. Cute character bento, salmon and rice, stollen, fruit sandwiches, roast beef... Nomoto and Kasuga warm up to each other over a cheerful holiday season. 

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is serialized digitally by ASCII Media Work’s COMIC it. ASCII Media Works publishes three volumes of the series in Japanese.

A live-action television drama adaptation of the series aired from November to December 2022. It was broadcast for 10 episodes. Yui Matsusaki and Hiroyuki Nakata direct the drama. It stars Manami Higa and Emi Nishino.

The manga has received mostly positive reception, in 12 and 13th place in the 2021 and 2022 Next Manga Awards, respectively. Rebecca Silverman gave the second volume an overall rating of A- on Anime News Network, and Erica Friedman of Okazu awarded it a 9/10.

You can check out She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat Volume 2 today digitally and in paperback: https://amzn.to/3K9BtWs

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

[theguildawards]

Hello guildmates!

The Nomination Period is now closed! Below the cut you will find a complete list of all the fanart nominations received for The Guild Awards this term! The mobile-friendly version can be found in a Google Doc here that has the complete list!

You can find the list of all the fanfiction nominations here!

If you do not see your nomination, or you find issues with the links, please reach out to us as soon as possible!

We are going to give you 2 weeks time to enjoy all of the pieces nominated for this term! We strongly encourage that when you view a work of art or read a fanfiction, please reblog or leave a review to let the creators know how much their work and talent is appreciated!

The voting period will begin November 15th and end November 29th midnight PST!

In order to be able to vote, you will need to login. We will be posting the link to the voting form on the first day of the voting session.

Got a question? Check out our FAQ or send us an ask!

Message one of the mods directly: @sassybratt9791 @phoenix-before-the-flame @kiliinstinct​ @ratretro  @phoneboxfairy

Thank you to everyone who nominated for making this term absolutely wonderful and happy voting!

[please reblog to help spread the love of these amazing creators!]

FANART

Best Action/Adventure

“we illuminate the dark” by @flamedork (tumblr)

“Mirajane” by @pencilequipped (tumblr)

“Freed Day” by @moxiepoxart (tumblr/TW)

Best AU/AR

“a quick art for an AU” by @4stralfairy (tumblr)

“erza redesign” by @mousecracker (tumblr)

“Accidental Freed AU/backstory” by @intelligentbiscuit (tumblr/DA)

“Fairytail Next Generation” by @hollie-artz (tumblr)

“Dragon Erza” by @ace-of-fairytail (tumblr)

Best Canon

“Juvia piece” by @pencilequipped (tumblr)

“Happy Nalu Day 2023” by @likubears (tumblr)

Best Angst

“foolish remains of a hyacinth” by @heartonxions (tumblr/IG)

“queen of fairies” by @nalunalu (tumblr)

Best Dark

“Untitled” by @heartserion (tumblr)

“Monster” by @acnologias-ass (tumblr)

“‘You’ve become a beast’ ‘I know’” by @phoenix-before-the-flame (tumblr)

“A Mouth Full of Ridicule” by @firapolemos05 (tumblr)

Best Humor/Parody

“NaLu Winter Wonderland 2022” by @imnothereokuwu (tumblr)

“They’re guilty😔” by @lav3nder-bees (tumblr)

“Why As a Man, Are you Blond” by @butcherza (tumblr)

“Barbie Movie Tickets For Phantom Buddies” by @imyourcoopid (tumblr)

Best Kiss

“Guilty Pleasures” by @bluessom1 (tumblr)

“don’t interrupt the master’s meetings” by @castkorb (tumblr)

“Luvia” by @watcher-ofthe-sky (tumblr)

Best Romance

“A Fairy Tale of our own making” by @nalunalu (tumblr)

'Love and Other Fairy Tales’  by @heartonxions (tumblr)

“Gruvia Week” by @goodnightlover (tumblr)

Best LGBTQ+ Romance

“lucy + cana <3” by @heartserion (tumblr)

“Untitled” by @annluvazzel (tumblr)

“fraxus week day 5 - guilty pleasures / indulgences” by @lav3nder-bees (tumblr)

“Shadowlight Week Day 2: Thrill/Undress” by @oryu404 (tumblr)

Best Character

“Juvia piece” by @pencilequipped (tumblr)

“Lucy Heartfilia - Fairy Tail” by @lumen-anima (tumblr)

“when the hard work pays off (Aries)” by @burilingo (tumblr)

“Natsu Dragneel” by @anushpaint (tumblr)

“Thunder Dragon King Laxus Dreyar!!” by @wispzoa (tumblr)

Best Duo/Pairing

“Untitled” by @doubleragnarok (tumblr)

“fairy tails only(?) 2 two card mages” by @ace-of-fairytail (tumblr)

“Summer Fraxus” by @wispzoa (tumblr/TW)

“a quick art for an AU” by @4stralfairy (tumblr)

“Fight!!” by @castkorb (tumblr)

“The Blue-Haired Found Siblings” by @jerzaworms (tumblr)

Best Group Depiction

“Anniversary” by @love---mandy

“some crime sorciere pastels” by @jerzaworms (tumblr)

“Team Thunderstorm Naptime” by @pencilofawesomeness (tumblr)

“hehehe team shadowgear make brain go brrr” by @moonylilies (tumblr)

Best Manga Coloring

“Juvia”  by @shuvia-lu (tumblr)

“Mashima's Twitter doodle" by @zelkams-art (tumblr)

“Sun vs. Moon” by @krn02-12 (tumblr)

Best Redraw 

“I believe in you” by @imnothereokuwu (tumblr)

“Redrawing one of my favorite frames” by @sherlismyfather (tumblr)

“Cryptid Mode” by @pencilofawesomeness (tumblr)

“Jackal” by @misquitz (tumblr)

“Nalu Gruvia Jerza Redraw from Mashima’s Art” by @gymjunkie412 (tumblr)

Best Overall

“Please, accept him” by @phoenix-before-the-flame (tumblr)

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb” by @bluessom1 (tumblr)

“Happy Gajeel Day" by @butcherza (tumblr)

“Night sovereignty” by @crowind1 (tumblr)

[absolutebl]

Until We Meet Again

This is going to be a watch along starting in Oct 2022, right before Between Us (the spin off) airs. But since I have never done a proper analysis or review of UWMA, I'll start with that. 

Until We Meet Again is a 2019 Thai BL from Studio Wabi Sabi directed by New Siwaj. 

It is an adaptation of the y-novel The Red Thread by LazySheep. I watched shortly after it aired in late 2019. You can currently (still) watch it on YouTube. Trigger warning. 

Quick Pitch  

UWMA is, without question, a work of narrative genius with a powerful and cohesive romantic backbone and stellar performances. It is (to date) the only Thai BL (of c.170 watched) that I’ve rated a 10/10 predominantly on the basis of story structure. That said, it is also very well cast (and it’s a BIG cast), with solid production values, and enduring pair branding as well as being the best Thai BL from a storytelling perspective. It is one of my favorite BLs of all time and I have probably rewatched at least some parts of it over 20x. 

Narrative Frameworks 

UWMA is long for a Thai BL at 17 ep of c.45 min of fresh content which means it comes in at around 13 hours total. It’s tropes include fated mates (or soulmates), past love/tragedy, sins of the fathers, and family drama. It has a strong seme/uke structure and multiple couples (both hallmarks of Thai BL). Leads are grumpy/sunshine pairings, with a side dish of sunshine/tsundere. It’s medium heat but still rather sweet, because while all couples are followed into the bedroom, there’s a very strong emotional chemistry component that renders the physical chemistry somewhat background to the pure love connection driving the relationships. As a series, it is paced well, but is perhaps not the best one to binge watch. To me it feels like a show that needs room to breathe. 

The production values are high but workmanlike. There are some flaws in sound, wardrobe, makeup, and repeated establishing shots. But the crew and cast were clearly bigger and better funded than any Thai BL production since. I would hazard a guess that this was one of Thailands most expensive BLs (with the possible exception of KinnPorsche). 

Thai Language Corner

From a Thai linguistics perspective it’s pretty standard for a college set BL. I do use both DeamPharm and WinTeam as examples when talking about basic and more complicated linguistic couple dynamics (more here). OhmFluke, however, are a bit more interesting IRL. 

New uses staggered couple framing, central aperture faming, peekaboo framing, and lighting to contrast the secretive and doomed nature of the past relationship against the attempted recovery and reformation of the modern day. He paid very little attention to manga style or BL’s yaoi roots, possibly because his style as a director is evidently not at all influenced by it. 

This show stars Fluke Natouch as Pharm [reincarnated In] and Ohm Thitiwat as Dean [reincarnated Korn] AKA OhmFluke. They are a branded pair who since UWMA have done Close Friend 1 & 2, and Oh My Sunshine Night and have more BLs scheduled for 2023. 

It also stars Earth Katsamonnat (AKA Smol Earth or CooHeart) as Intouch or In [Pharm’s past self] and Kao Noppakao as Korn [Dean's past self]. Earth has gone on to co-brand as SantaEarth starring in 7 Project and My Only 12%. He had acted in several BL shows prior to UWMA, although Fluke would have been the most experienced lead actor on that set. Kao would go on to star in Lovely Writer. Both Fluke and Earth are openly gay and were out at time of filming and promotion. 

The support couple (or side dish) featured Prem Warut as Team [Pharm's best friend] and Boun Noppanut as Win [Dean's best friend]. BounPrem are strongly cobranded and have since co-lead 7 Project, Even Sun, Long Kong, and guest-coupled in Cutie Pie and You Never Eat Alone. They will anchor Between Us the spin off of UWMA (an adaptation of Hemp Rope) reprising their roles of Win and Team. In UWMA their couple has relatively little screen time but they absolutely stole fan attention and adoration. 

UWMA also featured Samantha Coates (AKA Sammy) as Manow [Pharm's best friend] and Pineare Pannin as Del [Dean's sister]. Sammy is a staple of many BLs, being an active member of Wabi Sabi’s stable. Del is best known for playing Yuri in 2014′s Love Sick, Thailand’s first big hit BL. These two starred together in Wabi Sabi’s only GL (part of 7 Project.) (Don’t bother, it’s still all about the boy.) 

I am telling you all this up front because I will make mistakes and refer to everyone by their character or actor name all the time. Sorry. Also I want you to know how biased I am. 

I LOVE this show.

And now....

the watch along. 

Episode 1 - Oh, I Forgot...

It has probably been about a year since I did a rewatch of UWMA. And I think I’ve only ever watched the first installment of the first episode one time through. I didn’t forget how dark it was, but I am reminded why I always say ‘original trigger warning” on UWMA.

I can see why I like to the show from the start, because it does open on a crying kiss. I am an absolute sucker for a crying kiss. This time around, I noticed the intrusiveness of the music a lot more, especially in KornIn’s stuff. 

Earth turns in a killer opening performance (in the great cry off between him and Fluke that is this show). In that moment before he picks up the gun, Earth almost does look like Fluke will later on. It’s a really interesting bit of facial performance and acting. 

I got to say, barring some of the darker Japanese BL, this is probably the most powerful opening sequence we’ve gotten in the genre. Honestly, if this show we’re being released right now I don’t think it would’ve had this opening. They would’ve kept the trigger, but it would’ve appeared more chronologically towards the end.

Is this a pleasant way to start a BL? No. 

Is it powerful? Yep.

Manaow and Del are still 2 of my favorites. We were robbed with their GL.

Oh my God Prem looks like such a baby.

I like that there are these extra bits with extra characters in UWMA, like in the cooking club. We don’t get a vast ensemble casts like this anymore. Not even from Thailand, not with this attention to detail. I kind of miss it. The little extra bits set in different parts of the university, they remind me a bit of origin yaoi.

Honestly Fluke is one of the best blushing maidens to ever blush. It’s still not my favorite archetype but he does do it beautifully. The part where Team jokingly says he’ll protect his two friends, is pretty telling actually. Since he’s going to have to step up to the plate later and try against and older boy. I do adore this friendship group. In the end, perhaps Pete & Kao’s friends (Kiss series) beat them out slightly. But not by very much.

And the set up for the whole show:

I will keep searching until I find you. 

30 years later... 

(You know, when I was first watching this show I always called it Until You Again, in my head.) 

I wonder how hard it was for Fluke to cry on command like that, all the time. Here watch this AMAZING FMV of Fluke and Gun (Theory of Love) having a cry off. 

WinTeam and the towel in the locker room is still one of the best early couple moments ever.

The end of the first episode and we haven’t even had a proper meet cute. And yet the pacing feels. I think because the show opens so top-heavy with the deadly drama at the beginning of the episode. 

Honestly, I forgot how sort elegant and well executed to show was. I’ve grown to no longer expect that from New. It just goes to show that he’s one of those directors that really excels and thrives when he has a very strong script.

Episode 2 - The High Beans! 

I love this meet cute. LOVE IT. Can’t wait to watch it again. But first the library (not quite) assignation. 

One of the best prevailing themes of UWMA is this idea that making food, and specifically Thai desserts, is meditative and important for the cook. But also that preparing food is about the love and affection that you sprinkle feelings into the dish like seasoning, so that people can taste it when they eat.

Note the only other guy in the cooking club? That’s Best Vittawin from Check Out and a bunch of other higher heat BL. Also some of you who are paying attention to the language might notice that Luk Choup is mentioned quite a bit. Yes that is the same name as the character in La Cuisine. It’s also the desert that In makes with his Maa, and that Pharm makes into special star shapes for Dean in Ep 3.

Honestly KaoEarth never much resonated with me, but on this rewatch I am liking them so much better than I ever have before. It that @heretherebedork​ ‘ss influence? Possibly. I think it’s also because of both My Only 12% (which is making me like Earth more as an actor) and Lovely Writer (which made me like Kao more).

One of my favorite character development threads in the show is Dean’s relationship with his siblings. I love how austere and cold he is at the beginning of the show. But how, after being with Parm for a while, he mellows around Don & Del. It is Pharm who brings a family to Dean in the end.

The note passing in the secret smiles and the spitting of the orange juice remains very cute.

I am quietly obsessed, well not quietly (because I’ve never quiet), about Dean with his hand in his pocket.

Honestly, the only time Dean takes his hand out of his pocket is to touch Pharm.

And there it is, FINALLY, the mung bean meat cute! 

Best ever. 

This is such a GREAT romance. 

Pharm starts to cry and Dean immediately touches his face. There is a reason I call Dean the most handsy seme in BL. He is pretty much never not touching Pharm from this moment on. It’s glorious (and very unlike KBL and JBL). 

And you can see him look at his own hand and surprise, because he is clearly not a touchy-feely person. But being then he just accepts this about himself and will do everything he can to be close to Pharm from here on out. 

I love how New does this dirty screen peekaboo shot on DeanPharm right before he cuts back and forth to KornIn, it’s like framing foreshadow since normally this style of short is used with KornIn so highlight the secrecy of their relationship. 

Episode 3 - Wabi Sabi Shows Off The Stable

I just realized one of In’s friends (played by Title Tanatorn) is also in Remember Me and My Only 12% airing right now. Boy needs a series. He v cute. Also “HI DR SING!” (Sorry, due to Triage, Tonnam will always be Dr Sing. Although he is also a side character in LITA right now. Honestly my brain is becoming an MDL for Thai actors in BLs. Of course, Perth is great in this role, a foreshadow for all the crying he’ll do in LBC2. I am sorry we never got to meet his character older. It would’ve been nice for him to have gotten closure with the Pharm as reincarnated In. I wonder if his character got to meat Pharm did in the book?

And Win’s Patented move the casual arm throw. Honestly, Win gets all of the best lines in this show. No wonder we all like him so much. I hope he stays a witty and snarky in Between Us. 

I have to say, Dean’s soft voice is one of the best in the biz, thank you Ohm. Almost as good as Solo’s (Oxygen).

And so Dean learns about Pharm’s panic attacks and the after effects that his past self’s actions have wrought on the person he loved the most. And he reacts in the most seme way possible. Honestly he is such a poster child seme in this series. 

Also he flirts. 

In a VERY Dean fashion.

Dean: I’m still single.

Pharm: I am single too.

Dean: Not for long.

This is the show where I first learned that in Thailand do you say “bur” when you want someone’s digits. This makes me unreasonably happy.

Meanwhile back in the past selves, In is so brave. The worst consequence of the tragedy that lead to their reincarnation is that his future self is so timid and afraid because of what was done to In in the past. It’s really the only reason I forgive Pharm’s blushing maiden actions. I think of that fact of his personality as somewhat dictated by the past, much like his panic attacks. 

The bit where Pharm is serving Dean breakfast in his condo for the first time and he puts out a carafe of water and there are little flowers floating in it? What are those flowers?

Meanwhile, he way Dean fixes Pharm’s hair and tie and then Phram misspeaks “gin” gets me every time. Although I gotta say if a boy cried like that every time he met me, I’d probably have backed off my now. 

Episode 4 - Bisexual Rep & Stereotyping. Are we happy or sad? 

Does one get pleased to see bisexual rep or annoyed by the stereotyping? At the time, because it was so rare in BL (still is, actually), I was pleased. But now with Mame busting in on the bi/pan=predatory slut trope regularly I’m just annoyed. 

P’Alex (Mean in his best role, fight me Tin stans) as a sleazy bi actor won over by food. Honestly? Been there done that, been that done there, and fucked that. Oo, I’m three for three!

OK so in LITA when Payu says/implies that he wants Rain to talk like a good boy, really he wants him to talk the way Pharm does to Dean (all the time). Pharm is so bloody polite. 

So cute that Dean won’t allow Pharm to be jealous for one second. Dean has no interest in playing any of the normal BL games. These two are fated, gay, and into each other and he has no interest in pretending otherwise. Oh he will tease his uke like a proper seme, but only because Pharm lacks faith in Dean’s constancy.

The scene with Pharm and the girls carving the dumplings is one of my favorites. It’s so cute the way Manaow teases Pharm with Del’s sibling connection. Also it’s really sweet the way that Pharm instantly understands the complexities of Dean’s familial relationships, and immediately sets out to heal them.

Win and Dean racing. 

Look, competition is how 2 semes show their love for each other. 

And then the most famous scene in a BL that’s full of famous scenes.

Does anyone one in BL execute the feeding trope better? I think not. And if you can name one, leave a comment and make a case for it. 

In addition to having one of the best soft commanding voices in Thai BL, Ohm has got to have one of the best side eyes as well.

I love that Del is already protective of her brother’s boyfriend.

Happy clap hands we get the first date and the penguin walk next! 

Episode 5 - The Ping-guine Walk! 

I would like to stress from this moment on that we, the collective BLers, do not talk about Dean’s driving in this show. Or we did at the time, but that time has passed. Just ignore, okay? Cause it cray cray. 

Del cooking for her brothers is so cute. Also the way she gently teases Dean about Pharm. Love her! 

And now the first date. 

The bus trip so Make it Right. Just FYI Thailand and Korea LOVE a bus trip in romance (BL or otherwise). They tend to do it the most. Japan has done it a few times too. But the others not so much. 

Also sharing earbuds = MIR again. 

I do love P’Sorn. 

Yes, that’s Na from Kinnporseche but we knew him when (also forthcoming Wish Me Luck).

I love the aquarium visit. 

Pharm doing the penguin walk. 

Dean’s expression when Pharm does a penguin walk. 

Dean secretly taking photographs of his cutie. It’s just wonderful. Pharm is so bouncy and cute and Dean is so soft and indulgent. And it’s one of the few times where we get to see Pharm be a little bit more like In. Dean spends the whole time looking at Pharm rather than the fish. He’s so doting. 

It’s so good. 

The story about the sea ogress and what to do with a traitorous lover. Pharm’s response is actually typical uke, as possessive as seme are, it is usually the uke in yaoi & BL who ends up being the most fierce about ownership in a relationship. Because the uke has, in many ways, sacrificed part of their identity to the seme (in In’s case, all of it), their’s is the more powerful claim by right of sacrifice. It’s very old gods, ancient instincts. 

Meanwhile there’s Dean always making his intentions crystal clear. 

That hand hold. 

But also... 

No Dean, he doesn’t trust you, and for a very good reason.

And finally we have everybody’s least favorite character in UWMA: Ja’s wig.

There’s a wild speculation around this wig. 

Perhaps he had just finished Ror Dor and had no hair? Or had just come back from serving in the military? No matter wha,t it’s totally unacceptable. 

Thailand is never allowed to use wigs. It’s one of the sacred rules of BL. It’s a bummer because Sorn & Sin are fab minor characters. (They will rep for the “elder gay advice giver” archetype. One of my favorites.) 

Episode 6 - The Read Thread Kiss

This rewatch I really feel a lot more for Korn than I ever did before. He really did try to warn In that it wasn’t a good idea for them to date, like he knew he wasn’t gonna be brave enough, even for love. But In is so relentless and so cute, who could resist? 

Everyone eating lunch together and teasing each other and Del finally relaxing around Dean is one of my favorite little vignettes. Also, everybody laughing at Dean rgr “forgetting to swallow.” And my boys holding hands under the table. It’s glorious.

I also like how we get to see Dean reacting to the past negatively too, finally. And his siblings are so worried about him. This crack in his stoic armor. 

I do love Pharm standing up to Alex before the play. And the fact that Del records it and sends it to Dean is just so good. Especially knowing what happens next. 

The fated mates of the red thread. 

Dean’s faculty cohorts are all such frat boy type dicks. I kinda love their sleazy mame-ish little ways.

Honestly there’s nothing carnal when these two kiss but it’s so beautifully romantic and soft. 

I love love love the way Dean checks in on Pharm and tidies him up, afterwards. It’s so sweetly caring and careful. 

And then the big realization about reincarnation over shabu shabu. 

I gotta say, as a chronic rewatcher, this show stands up to a rewatch better than pretty much any other Thai BL I could name. Probably because it has so many character vignettes, and little moments of side affection between friends as well as lovers. There’s a lot of meat and sweetness to revisit. 

Episode 7 - Possibly my Favorite Episode 

The tiny snippet where Dean sees Pharm as In is actually one of the saddest bits of this whole show. It’s rough watching DeanPram figure everything out. 

I do love the scene where Pharm meets Dean’s younger brother. Don tricks Dean into coming over, and everybody teases them. 

I feel like every episode I say “this is one of my favorite scenes.” Which just goes to show why this is my favorite Thai BL ever. 

Meanwhile, sitting on the couch crying, DeanPharm finally figure out that they promised to find each other and that they are both experiencing the same feelings of reincarnation. This particular exchange of gifts is so significant actually talk about it as an example in my blog post on the trope. Gift exchange is not a trope I love but it has a lot of meaning in this particular instance. 

Public claiming of a relationship is one of my more favorite tropes on the other hand, which means the next scene where Dean has to run Alex off is just too good. When I talk about Thailand in the context of age dynamics as part of culture, I use the example of how hard it is for Team to protect Pharm under these circumstances - where he is fighting against Alex who is not only older but from a different department. It’s such an important insight into Team’s character, that he’s willing to stand against Alex even though the whole social structure is against him. Dean sweeping in and running Alex off is just so powerful as a result. Also I really love the way Dean is always touching Pharm and tidying/playing with his hair and clothes - it’s so proprietary and boyfriend. It also shows that Dean is never not thinking about him, his eyes are always on Pharm whenever they are together. 

And this ep ends with WinTeam and the forehead kiss in the convenience store. Finally there’s some movement on their romance. This really is one of my favorite episodes. 

Other Stuff Related to this Show

Why Until We Meet Again is special among Thai BLs

Thai Desserts in Until We Meet Again 

BL With the Highest Chance of Breaking Into The West - Until We Meet Again (I wrote this before KinnPorsche) 

Sex negativity as part of the seme/uke dynamic 

Thai Food You Should Eat Because of BL 

(source)

So I will try to updated this original doc as much as possible, but sometimes Tumblr just stops me from editing, in which case I have to repost and add. So I’ll be putting a rough date here, please don’t get mad if something is out of date and I can no longer fix it. October 2022. 

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 222 Trivia (Part 1)

Fun fact: this chapter is from issue #2 of WSJ's 2022 collection!

The Apollo mission had spacesuits tailor-made to each astronaut, but these days it's easier to use interchangeable parts and switch them out according to the size of the wearer, rather than having the whole suit fitted.

However, the gloves are always custom-sized for dexterity.

Vinyl fabric doesn't seem to have ever been used as part of a spacesuit, however spandex and nylon have, especially in the inner layers.

Outer layers include Teflon, Kevlar, and aluminized Mylar.

It's possible that rather than being used for the fabric, the vinyl is used for the suit's interior cooling tube system, and the aluminum is used for the Mylar rather than for the exterior metal parts, as pure aluminum is easily scratched.

You probably recognize this panel from the end of chapter 219. The only difference is Ryusui's head has been swapped with Stanley's.

Japanese doesn't have a "V" sound, which is why Chrome says "by" rather than "vi" or "vy".

Generally English words used in Japanese make this switch, for example "violin" becoming "baiorin" due to the lacking of "V" and "L" sounds.

This building may be where they're assembling the SENKU 11 rocket, however in this first panel it appears completed, but in later ones it's still under construction.

The PS5 was first announced in April 2019, and released November 2020. First images of the console were revealed on June 11th 2020.

The first global petrification happened in June 2019, so this person would know about the console but not known what it was meant to look like.

The robot maid request is most likely a reference to "Me and Roboco", another manga currently being published in Weekly Shonen Jump alongside Dr. Stone. It's a comedy series that follows a powerful-but-clumsy maid robot in a grade schooler's service.

(Later, Me and Roboco came out with a Dr. Stone parody for the 15th volume cover)

The vacuum tubes are back in the form of cavity magnetrons. These produce the microwaves that bounce around the microwaves' interior body.

The cooking effect was first discovered in 1945 when Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar had melted in his pocket after testing magnetrons.

Plastic wrap is vinyl that has been flattened to between 8-12 μm thick, (approximately 0.001 cm). For context, this is about as thick as a spider's web or the size of a droplet of water in fog.

The film Senku makes here is cellulose triacetate film, which is less flammable than earlier celluloid film, earning it the nickname "safety film".

The 8 mm part is the width of the film strip.

Unlike reusable hand-warmers that use supersaturated sodium acetate, these are one-time use and rely on oxidation to create heat. Once the packaging is opened, air penetrates the bag, oxidizing the iron. Vermiculite is added to remove moisture & salt is added as a catalyst.

Chrome's design wouldn't work properly because he uses iron sand rather than iron powder. Iron sand is mostly magnetite, which is already an iron oxide and thus won't have the oxidation reaction or create heat.

The fridge (or maybe mini wine cellar/fridge?) design is a parody of Smeg, a kitchen appliance brand.

You can also see the Senku-brand PlayStation, robot maid, and protein powder.

(Next part)

[brainbuffering]

12 Days of Manga (2022)

Day 3: Favourite Villain/Antagonist - Akito Sohma from Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

(Yen Press Edition T: Sheldon Drzka  L: Lys Blakeslee TokyoPop Edition T: Alethea & Athena Nibley L: Various)

[ID: Panel 1) Akito Sohma (short black hair wearing a masculine kimono) leans out of the window of a traditional japanese house, their arm dangling languidly. A Camilla bush takes up the rest of the forground, and the petals fall throughout the page. Panel 2) A close up of Tohru’s face, her eyes are stitled and shocked looking, like she has seen a ghost 3) A close up of Akito’s face, the wind blows their hair out of their sharp, focussed eyes. There is a meanacing air to them.]

Akito Sohma, in my opinion, will forever be one of the most interesting and nuanced villains in all media. I’ll never forget the feeling I had reading that initial reveal in the beach arc where you finally learn the truth of the Sohma Curse. I remember putting the book down and immediately wanting to talk to SOMEONE about what I’d just read and what had happened to Tohru, but I only knew one other person who’d read that far, and I didn’t have her phone number! (2006 was a different time y’all) I loved seeing all the Anime Onlies’ reactions to in 2020, and I hope that when people in the future pick up the series, they’re not spoiled for anything too much either! Although now I know more about Hanakotoba (japanese flower symbolism) maybe it should have been more obvious from the start... 

Akito is a terrifying force in the manga. They start out almost as a ghost story, an evil spectre haunting the narrative from afar, right up to the Beach Arc occurs and they become a very real threat to everyone involved. That is, of course, until the impact of Tohru’s kindness, and the Zodiac’s efforts to work on their own trauma start to undo the curse that binds them together. We then learn that Akito has reasons for being how they are, and is just as trapped by the curse (read: the cycle of abuse within a literal cult) as everyone else. They have their own childhood trauma that was never dealt with, and also suffer under the Sohma Clan’s systematic abuse. Abuse they are allowed to get away with due to their power and influence within wider society, although of course this element is only hinted at within the narrative and never really expanded upon.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Akito doesn’t continue to be a terrifying prescence. Nor is it an excuse for their behaviour. Tohru’s own trauma parallels Akito’s, and yet for Tohru it only made her kinder and more empathatic towards others. Although both do still have an ultimate fear of social rejection, their upbrining and their understanding of the world causes them to react in different ways. I believe that Takaya wants us to understand what a difference upbrining and social culture can have on a person, and to try to broaden her reader’s understanding on what brings a person to commit such attrocious acts.

Akito is still physically and emotionally abusive, right up until the very end of the manga. This behaviour is never excuseable, nor does Takaya ask you to excuse it. Yet, as a reader, there becomes a sense of pitty in their actions.You see the frightned child who never had a support network to show them how to live better. The child who lost their father young and had a mother who completely rejected them, and threatend to kill them on multiple occasions. You see the impact of what happens when someone is put on a pedastool, and not allowed to interact with people like an ordinary human. This last part is perhaps even more releavant in 2022 than it was in 2002, given the world we now live in of parasocial relationships with online figures. 

A lot of people will claim that Akito’s “redemption” is just abuse forgiveness, but I think that’s very dismissive of the message of the series. After all, both Kyoko and Arisa imply that in th past they also sent people to hospital too-- yet because the reader doesn’t see these atrocoties or know the victims personally, we don’t even begin to consider if they’re “worthy” of redemption because we know that the person they are today is not the person they were five years ago. With Akito, at the end of the manga, we’re only just seeing the start of that slow progress. We know from Chapter 13 of Fruits Basket Another that twenty years on, Akito is still working hard to repair the damage they did and reform the family. This helps get the message across that progress to redemption is slow, but it is always worthwhile and whilst change is hard, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth persuing.

The beauty of Fruits Basket as a whole is that nothing is straight forward. We’re not asked for forgive Akito, only to give them a chance to move on from who they were before. It’s not a series that deals in moral absolutes. There’s no ultimate evil, no final boss. Infact, our heroes aren’t always the best, most shining examples of humanity either! Yuki rejoices in casual cruelty. Haru is stil down to fist right anyone he comes in contact with. Hana will put a girl in bed for three days just for saying something mean to her friends. The series doesn’t ask you to be a perfect human free of all flaws, who never makes any mistakes, but rather encourages you to try and be a better person every day. It tells you to accept that you’re going to make mistakes, you are going to take wrong turns, but there is no point in beating yourself up about it. All you can do is try your hardest to pick yourself up again (or reach out a hand to let someone else pull you up) and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

All that said... fuck Sawa’s Mum. She can go eat dirt.

[wlwcatalogue]

Yuri Anime Masterlist (as of Oct 2022)

(For those not familiar with the term "yuri" (百合), it is used to refer to anime, manga, light novels etc. which focus on the close relationships - often romantic - between female characters. However, as it is considered a genre in itself, the term is both looser and more restrictive than one might expect, e.g. a work concerned with platonic and not particularly intense relationships between female characters may still be considered "yuri" if it fits the genre tropes and/or if it is marketed as such.)

One day I thought it'd be good to have a masterlist of yuri anime which included commentary on the show, to give people a better idea of what might appeal to them (or what to be wary of). "It'll be easy," I thought. "There aren't that many specifically yuri anime out there," I thought.

Turns out, 22 series may not be a lot if you're looking at all the anime out there, but it certainly doesn't feel that way if you have to write a proper entry for each one. Here it is, a list of all the anime which are specifically marketed as being yuri (i.e. labelled as such on Anime News Network), with commentary, in no particular order.

Edit: Added links to the corresponding Anime News Network and MyAnimeList pages!

At-a-glance list:

Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997)

Bloom into You (13 episodes, 2018)

Maria-sama ga Miteru (39 episodes, 2004)

Kase-san (58-minute OVA, 2018)

Aoi Hana (11 episodes, 2009)

Otherside Picnic (12 episodes, 2021)

Simoun (26 episodes, 2006)

Yuri Kuma Arashi (12 episodes, 2015)

Akuma no Riddle (12 episodes, 2014)

Citrus (12 episodes, 2018)

NTR: Netsuzou Trap (12 10-minute episodes, 2017)

Adachi to Shimamura (12 episodes, 2020)

Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (12 5-minute episodes, 2014)

Sasameki Koto (13 episodes, 2009)

Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl (12 episodes, 2006)

The Executioner and Her Way of Life (12 episodes, 2022)

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die (12 episodes, 2020)

Kannazuki no Miko (12 episodes, 2004)

Strawberry Panic (26 episodes, 2006)

Fragtime (60-minute OVA, 2019)

Sakura Trick (12 episodes, 2014)

Bonus: Yuri is My Job! (upcoming anime)

Details under the cut!

1. Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Okay, so this series was not actually marketed as being yuri, but it’s far too ubiquitous for me not to put it in this section. When she was a child, Tenjou Utena (Kawakami Tomoko) was saved by a passerby prince, so she decided that she too wanted to become a prince as an adult. Fast forward to high school, and she hasn’t forgotten that conviction: Utena gets sucked into a series of duels while trying to protect her best friend’s honour. After winning the first duel, she becomes ‘engaged’ to the eccentric “Rose Bride” Himemiya Anthy (Fuchizaki Yuriko), and the two start living together in the same dormitory.

First things first: there are a million content warnings for this series, including implied rape, sexual assault, incest, and homophobia. Although the issues are handled well (in my opinion), it does go to very dark places, so those wanting a light, fun anime to unwind to should look elsewhere. Second, this series is very much a psychological drama utilising the episodic duels as a way of hone in on Utena’s opponents and their stories, so Utena and Anthy’s relationship – though important – is definitely not the focus of the anime. Third, the TV series is limited to hinting at the romantic relationship between Utena and Anthy, not to mention that they spend most of the series being little more than acquaintances rather than actual friends. The movie Adolescence (which can be taken as a retelling or sequel, depending on your perspective) is much more explicit on this front, but also suffers from a significantly shorter runtime and a much more opaque approach to storytelling.

That being said! If you’re okay with all of the above, this series is pretty much a must-watch. The simplistic premise belies a much more complex and nuanced story about gender roles, sexuality, and human relationships and remains one of the smartest anime ever made, over twenty years on.

2. Bloom into You (13 episodes, 2018) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Probably one of the slickest-looking yuri anime out there, Bloom into You is a beautiful, polished adaptation of a manga of the same name by Nakatani Nio. Main character Koito Yuu (Kanemoto Hisako), who hasn’t experienced romantic love before, thinks student council senior Nanami Touko (Kotobuki Minako) is the same way until Touko suddenly confesses to her. The story follows the two girls’ trials and tribulations after that confession, and in particular how Yuu grows into her romantic feelings for Touko. The story can be messy at times but it’s got plenty of heart, and I really really love the other explicitly queer side characters – they’re so good that this series is worth watching even if you don’t click with the main couple IMO.

3. Maria-sama ga Miteru (39 episodes, 2004) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A list of yuri works would be incomplete without mentioning this genre-defining juggernaut of a series created by light novel author Konno Oyuki, which is responsible for reviving the Class S genre and ensuring that yuri was for a long time – and to a large extent still is – associated with genteel all-female schools and girls calling their older targets of affection “onee-sama”. It starts with the elegant and aloof Ogasawara Sachiko (Itou Miki) inviting the main character Fukuzawa Yumi (Ueda Kana), an ordinary junior from the year below, to become her “petite sœur” (“little sister”, essentially a mentee), but branches out into more of a slice-of-life ensemble piece looking at Yumi and her friends and the various “sœur” pairs of the prestigious Lilian Girls’ Academy. Due to the “sœur” system, there is a whole fleet of F/F ships to pick from, but do note that only one character out of the very large cast is overtly queer.

Personally, I found the anime a bit dull, but the light novels and drama CDs were much more to my taste. Either way, anyone with an interest in the history of yuri as a genre should definitely check this series out in one way or another.

4. Kase-san and Morning Glories (58-minute OVA, 2018) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The popular manga by Takashima Hiromi has sadly never received the full anime treatment, but at the very least there’s an OVA which adapts part of the story. The OVA starts with two high school sweethearts having recently entered into a relationship together, but Yamada Yui (Takahashi Minami), the timid one of the pair, is plagued with doubts over her relationship with the sporty Kase Tomoka (the eponymous “Kase-san”; Sakura Ayane). Famous for being teeth-rottingly sweet.

5. Aoi Hana (11 episodes, 2009) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Despite the somewhat misleading OP, Aoi Hana is a character-focused slice of life show about lesbian high schooler Manjoume Fumi (Takabe Ai), her crush on the prince-like Sugimoto Yasuko (Ishimatsu Chiemi), and her coming out to her childhood best friend and first love Okudaira Akira (Gibu Yuko). You might be wary as this anime is an adaptation of a series by queen of messy LGBTQ-related manga Shimura Takako, but the story ends before it gets into the real melodrama, leaving viewers with an open but hopeful conclusion. The gentle pastels of the anime also look very nice IMO, it’s a great fit for Shimura’s art.

6. Otherside Picnic (12 episodes, 2021) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Adapted from the ongoing light novel series by Miyazawa Iori, Otherside Picnic opens with college student (in a yuri anime! I know!) Kamikoshi Sorawo (Hanamori Yumiri) poking around in the supernatural “Otherside” and nearly being killed by a monster for her efforts. Her rescuer is the gun-toting Nishina Toriko (Kayano Ai), a young woman who happens to attend the same university. Since Sorawo is deeply interested in urban myths and Internet creepypasta, she decides to team up with Toriko, who is trying to search her friend who went missing in the Otherside. Otherside Picnic draws on existing Japanese urban myths and the Russian SF novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, but is also, though nobody seems to mention it, very much influenced by certain parts of the massive Touhou franchise – specifically the exploits of Renko and Merry (Sorawo in particular is strongly reminiscent of Renko). Although the anime doesn’t adapt enough to get to the explicitly romantic aspects of their relationship and has been criticized for undermining the horror elements with cheap CG, it has been praised for its college-age leads (though you wouldn’t know that from the character designs) and genre fiction focus, which are unusual in yuri.

7. Simoun (26 episodes, 2006) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

In the original SF anime Simoun, viewers are introduced to the nation of Simulacrum, which is embroiled in a bitter war against two other nations. On the front lines of this conflict are the main characters, a group of under-seventeens who pair up to pilot Simulacrum’s mecha (the titular “Simoun”). It’s a bit of an interesting case because although it is known and marketed as a yuri anime, for the duration of the series, the majority of the cast are not known to be female – the pilots come from a species where they are born monogender (although the designs skew feminine, similar to the Asari in Mass Effect) and pick their preferred gender at the age of seventeen (honestly, this sounds like a very sensible system). Don’t worry though, since sources say that a bunch of the endgame pairs do end up being F/F. Actually I’ve never watched this anime before as it’s known to be fanservice-heavy, but it does sound rather intriguing on paper.

8. Yuri Kuma Arashi (12 episodes, 2015) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Directed by Ikuhara Kunihiko of Sailor Moon and Utena fame and with character designs by prolific out yuri mangaka Morishima Akiko, Yuri Kuma Arashi is a surreal tale set in a world where bears can take on human form and are feared and reviled by the human population, who have constructed the “Wall of Severance” to keep them out. Amidst this, main character Tsubaki Kureha (Yamane Nozomi) is a bear-hating human who finds out that two of her classmates – Yurishiro Ginko (Arakawa Miho) and Yurigasaki Lulu (Ikuta Yoshiko) – are actually bears in disguise. The anime is generally well-received, with critics praising its handling of homophobia, prejudice, and exclusion, but I personally felt that the series suffered from its length (it was by far the shortest of Ikuhara’s outings at the time) and heavy use of imagery and symbolism in place of character-building and narrative construction, so YMMV. Please also be warned of that there’s some rather gratuitous fanservice, especially in the first few episodes. The three-volume manga of the same name by Morishima Akiko was good though – it uses the same premise but takes it in a very different direction!

9. Akuma no Riddle (12 episodes, 2014) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A rare case of a yuri anime which manages to cover the entirety of the series it was based on, Akuma no Riddle is an adaptation of the manga written by Kouga Yun and drawn by Minakata Sunao. Assassin-in-training Azuma Tokaku (Suwa Ayaka) is exceedingly skilled but suffers from a career-ruining mental block: she can’t ever bring herself to land the killing blow, no matter how much she wants to. Tokaku is given the chance to prove herself by entering a girls’ school battle royale where she is to compete with other young assassins to kill a certain target – the bafflingly ordinary-seeming Ichinose Haru (Kanemoto Hisako). On an impulse, the otherwise cold Tokaku swears to protect Haru from the others, and becomes her bodyguard. As with Maria-sama ga Miteru, the series comes with a lot of pre-packaged F/F pairs for your shipping pleasure, but only one pair is overtly romantic. (Also, I was very unlucky and latched onto a pair which happens to feature the only character who has a male love interest… RIP.) The story needed a bit more space to breathe IMO, but others have enjoyed it for the action, fun premise, and for being one of the few yuri anime that isn’t yet another high school coming-of-age romance.

10. Citrus (12 episodes, 2018) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

An adaptation of the hit manga by Saburouta, Citrus focuses on the tumultuous relationship between rule-breaking gyaru Aihara Yuzu (Taketatsu Ayana) and uptight student council president Aihara Mei (Tsuda Minami) – who, it turns out, is Yuzu’s new stepsister. It is controversial for its frequent depictions of non-consensual kissing and other physical contact, and for the generally melodramatic, titillating approach taken to the relationship between the two leads, but some queer women really love this series and I’m not here to police, so here it is.

11. NTR: Netsuzou Trap (12 10-minute episodes, 2017) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

One of the most infamous yuri series out there, this is an adaptation of the manga by Kodama Naoko. It’s essentially a daytime soap opera dressed up as a high school drama: Okazaki Yuma (Kakuma Ai) and Mizushina Hotaru (Igarashi Hitomi) are childhood friends who both have boyfriends but end up messing around with each other. There’s cheating, abusive boyfriends, toxic relationships, and melodrama galore – very rare for yuri anime. If you enjoy soap operas this might be just the thing, although there’s probably more fanservice than normal.

12. Adachi to Shimamura (12 episodes, 2020) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Quiet slice-of-life series “Adachi and Shimamura” is an adaptation of an ongoing light novel series by Iruma Hitoma. The story depicts the everyday life of high school student Adachi Sakura (Kitou Akari) and her friend Shimamura Hougetsu (Itou Miku), who she has feelings for. Adachi’s feelings towards Shimamura are overtly romantic, but be warned that their relationship is more open-ended than in the light novels due to only the first few volumes being adapted. Received praise for its atmosphere-building, but this is tempered by there being a lot of fanservice throughout.

13. Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (12 5-minute episodes, 2014) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A series of vignettes adapted from the yonkoma (4-panel) manga by Kuzushiro, Inugami-san and Nekoyama-san is about the relationship between the dog-like cat-lover Inugami Yachiyo (Uesaka Sumire) and cat-like dog-lover Nekoyama Suzu (Toyama Nao). I haven’t seen it myself, but judging by the reception, it’s a good pick for those looking for a quick, fluffy watch.

14. Sasameki Koto (13 episodes, 2009) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

This adaptation of Ikeda Takashi’s manga follows high school student Murasame Sumika (Takagaki Ayahi), who has a crush on her female best friend Kazama Ushio (Takamoto Megumi). The twist is that she knows Ushio is into girls… so what’s the problem? Well, unfortunately for Sumika, Ushio can’t stop going on about how she likes very cute, “feminine” girls, and Sumika just doesn’t fit that type. And on a meta level, time is Sumika’s worst enemy, because this is another case of the main couple not getting together by the end of the anime due to the limited runtime. The series’ scope extends beyond the romantic storyline, however, and touches upon homophobia and queer media (okay, yuri doujin). On the downside, a lot of the humour is dated, and a cross-dressing character is dealt with in a poor manner.

15. Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl (12 episodes, 2006) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Part of the 2006 yuri anime boom, Kashimashi is based on the manga by Akahori Satoru. The story starts with young boy Osaragi Hazumu (Ueda Kana) having a rather confusing day: after being rejected by his female classmate Kamiizumi Yasuna (Horie Yui), he is killed in a freak UFO accident, and then resurrected – albeit in a female body. The anime shows the gradual process of Hazumu coming to terms with the new body and becoming mixed up in a gentle love triangle with Yasuna and female childhood friend Kurusu Tomari (Tamura Yukari). Apparently it’s quite sweet despite the decidedly mid-2000’s premise.

16. The Executioner and Her Way of Life (12 episodes, 2022) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A twist on the usual isekai formula by light novel author Sato Mato, Executioner is centred on Menou (Saeki Iori), the eponymous Executioner tasked with eliminating with magically-gifted people from another world, i.e. isekai protagonists. One day, a routine job goes awry when Menou discovers that her target – a Japanese schoolgirl named Tokitou Akari (Kahara Moe) – has the ability to control time and thereby reverse her own death. Unwilling to let a person with such dangerous powers roam free, Menou joins Akari on a journey through the country, albeit one that ends before anything much happens – the anime adapts only the first two volumes of the ongoing light novel series. Also, somewhat surprisingly given the premise, the show is apparently an ensemble piece which focuses more on its world-building and action-packed plot, although Menou and Akari’s growing closeness does get some screen-time.

17. If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die (12 episodes, 2020) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

One of only three series on this list which do not mention school at all (the others being Simoun and The Executioner and Her Way of Life, to my knowledge), OshiBudo is an adaptation of the ongoing manga by Hirao Auri where protagonist Eripiyo (Fairouz Ai) overworks herself at part-time jobs in the name of supporting her fave Ichii Maina (Tachibana Hina), the least popular member of already-unpopular local idol group ChamJam. Despite the uncomfortable implications of the initial setup, the anime dodges the most obvious pitfalls as Maina’s relationship with Eripiyo is strictly that of idol and (overzealous) fan even until the end, and there’s actually more of a focus on Eripiyo bonding with her idol fan friends (sadly all male). Obviously there is only subtext in this show, and not anything heavily hinted at that, but it’s not a bad thing in this case.

18. Kannazuki no Miko (12 episodes, 2004) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Ah, Kannazuki no Miko, adaptation of a manga by Kaishaku. Famed as a yuri classic, nobody told me that it was actually a mecha anime (!) with a third, male protagonist (!!) in which one half of the F/F couple we’re supposed to be rooting for rapes the other and the story just glosses over it (!!! - rage). And it’s a pity, because the premise is solidly of the mecha genre and therefore refreshingly different to the usual yuri fare! An ancient evil looms over Japan as the Orochi mecha pilots begin to awaken, forcing main character Kurusugawa Himeko (Shitaya Noriko) and her classmate and friend Himemiya Chikane (Kawasumi Ayako) to work together as the sun and moon priestesses to seal the threat away. Unfortunately, in practice, it’s mainly Himeko’s male childhood friend Oogami Souma (Majima Junji) doing the fighting, and the anime spends more time building up a budding (straight) romance between Himeko and Souma before the sudden pivot in the last few episodes – a pivot which is difficult to be happy about due to the sexual assault. Watch if you’re interested but be warned that it definitely has the problems of mid-2000’s yuri and then some.

19. Strawberry Panic (26 episodes, 2006) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

An adaptation of the light novels by Kimino Sakurako, apparently this is basically Maria-sama ga Miteru done in a moe style and with fanservice. I don’t have any more to say as I haven’t watched it and the summaries don’t clarify much beyond it being a slice-of-life character drama set at a girl’s school (possibly multiple girl’s schools).

20. Fragtime (60-minute OVA, 2019) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Fragtime adapts the manga by Sato about Moritani Misuzu (Itou Miku), a girl who can stop time for three minutes every day, and Murakami Haruka (Miyamoto Yume), a classmate who isn’t affected by Misuzu’s power. Audiences seem split between those who appreciated it as a slightly supernatural-driven coming-of-age romance and those who found it superficial and male-gazey (there is a very juvenile obsession with underwear).

21. Sakura Trick (12 episodes, 2014) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

This adaptation of a yonkoma manga by Tachi follows best friends Takayama Haruka (Tomatsu Haruka) and Sonoda Yuu (Iguchi Yuka) who, worried about drifting apart due to a change in the classroom seating, fall into a kissing-focused friends-with-benefits arrangement. Some find it sweet, others find it male-gazey, it’s a tale as old as time when it comes to yuri.

Bonus: Yuri is My Job! (upcoming anime) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The recently-announced anime will adapt Miman’s ongoing manga about Shirasagi Hime (Ogura Yui), a high school student who gets pressured into working at a yuri-themed café where the waitstaff pretend to be students at a girl’s school who are in ambiguously gay relationships with each other. Hime is paired up with Ayanokouji Mitsuki (Uesaka Sumire), who plays the perfect onee-sama when working but hates Hime’s guts behind the scenes. Part human drama – like many a yuri series before it, the manga delves into the various characters inhabiting the café rather than just Hime and Mitsuki – and part metatextual riffing on the yuri genre, this should be one to look out for.

[bestoflupiniiipoll]

Lupin III Poll Matchup Results!

Round 1:

Matchup 1

Seven Days Rhapsody (2006) vs Lupin III Part VI: London/Woman (2021)

Matchup 2

Is Lupin Still Burning? (2018) vs Operation Return the Treasure (2003)

Matchup 3

Voyage to Danger (1993) vs The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (1985)

Matchup 4

Lupin III Part III: Pink Jacket Adventures (1984) vs Lupin The 3rd Live-Action Movie (2013)

Matchup 5

The Hemmingway Papers (1990) vs Episode 0 First Contact (2002)

Matchup 6

The Fuma Conspiracy (1987) vs Farewell to Nostradamus (1995)

Matchup 7

Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid (2011) vs Tokyo Crisis/Memories of the Flame (1998)

Matchup 8

Elusiveness of the Fog (2007) vs From Serbia with Love/Bank of Liberty (1992)

Matchup 9

Swallowtail Tattoo/Stolen Lupin (2004) vs Lupin III vs Dectective Conan the TV Special (2009)

Matchup 10

The Last Job (2010) vs Green vs Red (2008)

Matchup 11

Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974) vs Inspector Zenigata/Zenigata Keibu TV Series (2017)

Matchup 12

Pursuit of Harrimao’s Treasure (1995) vs Prison of the Past (2019)

Matchup 13

LUPIN THE IIIRD: Goemon’s Bloodspray (2017) vs Dead or Alive (1996)

Matchup 14

Dragon of Doom/Burn, Zantetsuken! (1994) vs Goodbye Partner (2019)

Matchup 15

Manga Series (1967) vs The Secret of the Twilight Gemini (1996)

Matchup 16

Lupin III Part II: Red Jacket Adventures (1977) vs Alcatraz Connection (2001)

Matchup 17

Lupin III Part V: Misadventures in France (2018) vs Bye Bye Lady Liberty/Goodbye Liberty Crisis! (1989)

Matchup 18

Italian Game (2016) vs Lupin Zero (2022)

Matchup 19

Lupin III Part IV: The Italian Adventure (2015) vs Missed By A Dollar/$1 Money Wars (2000)

Matchup 20

LUPIN THE IIIRD: Jigen’s Gravestone (2014) vs Napoleon's Dictionary/Steal Napoleon’s Dictionary! (1991)

Matchup 21

The Colombus Files/Da Capo of Love: Fujiko’s Unlucky Days (1999) vs Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

Matchup 22

Island of Assassins/Walther P-38 (1997) vs Sweet Lost Night (2008)

Matchup 23

Lupin III vs Cat’s Eye (2023) vs Another Page: Travels of Marco Polo (2012)

Matchup 24

The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (2012) vs Lupin III vs Detective Conan The Movie (2013)

Matchup 25

The First (2019) vs Lupin Family All Stars (2012)

Matchup 26

Lupin III Part I: The Classic Adventures vs Princess of the Breeze: Hidden City in the Sky (2013)

Matchup 27

Mystery of Mamo/ Lupin vs The Clone (1978) vs Angel Tactics (2005)

Matchup 28

Pilot Film (1969) vs LUPIN THE IIIRD: Fujiko’s Lie (2019)

First batch of matchups will be posted no later than Wednesday. Get ready to place in your votes! And may the best Lupin win!

[hyeahgaku]

Compilation of SAKAMOTO DAYS Manga Volumes

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 1: “The Legendary Hitman”, released on April 2, 2021 (JP version) and April 5, 2022 (EN Viz version). Cover characters: Shin & Tarō Sakamoto Volume 1 covers Days 1 to Days 7.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 2: “Hard-Boiled”, released on June 4, 2021 (JP version) and June 14, 2022 (EN Viz version). Cover characters: Shin & Lu Shaotang, featuring Tarō Sakamoto Volume 2 covers Days 8 to Days 16.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 3: “Heisuke Mashimo”, released on September 3, 2021 (JP version) and August 9, 2022 (EN Viz version). Cover characters: Heisuke Mashimo & Piisuke, featuring Shin & Tarō Sakamoto Volume 3 covers Days 17 to Days 25.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 4: “Quiet on the Train”, released on November 4, 2021 (JP version) and October 11, 2022 (EN Viz version). Cover characters: Natsuki Seba, featuring Kashima, Shin & Tarō Sakamoto Volume 4 covers Days 26 to Days 34.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 5: “Death Row Prisoner”, released on January 4, 2022 (JP version) and December 13, 2022 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Osaragi Volume 5 covers Days 35 to Days 43.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 6: “Bad Luck”, released on March 4, 2022 (JP version) and February 14, 2023 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Nagumo Volume 6 covers Days 44 to Days 52.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 7: “I Got This”, released on June 3, 2022 (JP version) and April 11, 2023 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Gaku Volume 7 covers Days 53 to Days 61.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 8: “Exam, Stage Three”, released on August 4, 2022 (JP version) and June 6, 2023 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Akira Akao Volume 8 covers Days 62 to Days 70.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 9: “Hard Mode”, released on November 4, 2022 (JP version) and August 1, 2023 (EN Viz version). Cover characters: Nao Toramaru (featuring Buddha Sakamoto) Volume 9 covers Days 71 to Days 79.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 10: “Reunion”, released on February 3, 2023 (JP version) and December 5, 2023 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Slur/X (Uzuki) Volume 10 covers Days 80 to Days 88.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 11: “One Blow”, released on April 4, 2023 (JP version) and April 2, 2024 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Shishiba (featuring Yotsumura's eyes) Volume 11 covers Days 89 to Days 97.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 12: “Roll Film”, released on June 2, 2023 (JP version) and to be released on June 4, 2024 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Kanaguri Volume 12 covers Days 98 to Days 106.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 13: “Reminiscence”, released on September 4, 2023 (JP version) and to be released on September 3, 2024 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Rion Akao Volume 13 covers Days 107 to Days 115.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 14: “Bizarre Data”, released on November 2, 2023 (JP version) and to be released on November 5, 2024 (EN Viz version). Cover character: Hyō Volume 14 covers Days 116 to Days 124.

SAKAMOTO DAYS Volume 15: “The Assassin Exhibit of the Century”, released on January 4, 2024 (JP version) and to be announced for EN release at a later date. Cover character: Kumanomi Volume 15 covers Days 125 to Days 133.

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 40 - Green Jacket

Mamoru's Green Jacket in the original Anime was definitely a choice (some of his other iconic outfits can be found in this post by @fukufashion - thank you @iiyasbssmdoodles for finding it!). It is clear that it was not a favorite of Usagi's, and below stories give us some fun takes on that.

Also, don't forget to check out the prompts for @usamamoweek2023! And as you wait (or for inspiration) check out stories from UsaMamo week 2022 on AO3 and Usamamo tag that has stories from 2018-2021.

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Moonshine: Chapter 3: The Odd Life of the Ugly Green Jacket - @queenrisa14

Sailor Venus forces King Endymion to wear something non-lavender to their meeting. As he looks through the closet, he comes across his trusty old jacket.

Trial and Execution - Chrysalin

Usagi forces Mamoru to have an actual trial to prove his Green Jacket is ugly and deserves to be executed.

The devious plan for the green jacket's demise - @ellephedre

“Inspired” by a manga spread, Usagi convinces Mamoru to play a game in the bedroom with his favorite green jacket being at stake. 

You and I Always: Chapter 2: Memories - @cassraven

Usagi tells Kousagi a story of how Mamoru’s green jacket didn't quite survive Minako’s house sitting for him over the weekend.

On A Silent Night - PrincessSerenity1976

Although it is technically more of a Christmas story, it does have Serena and her devious plan to get rid of the offending green jacket, hinged on Darien coming back for a visit during Christmas break.

---

Next week's post is all about lemony Dr Chiba stories!

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - ❤️Valentines Day❤️

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

Week 25 - Soulmate AU

Week 26 - Amnesia Fics (and resources)

Week 27 - 🍀St Patrick's Day🍀

Week 28 - Fix it Fics

Week 29 - Prompt: Mug

Week 30 - Flowers

Week 31 - Traditions

Week 32 - Dreams

Week 33 - Friends

Week 34 - Body-Swap

Week 35 - Medical Assistance

Week 36 - Sex Pollen

Week 37 - Psychometry

Week 38 - What If

Week 39 - Missing Scenes Part I

[stillness-in-green]

Favorite Characters of 2023

Saw this meme template by @limayde and had to drop anything more productive because I Love Character Memes. I tried to focus on characters who particularly signified 2023 in fandom for me, not necessarily just my favorites in any given fandom, and certainly not my favorites of all time! So consider it a reasonable representation of what I read/was reading/was still thinking about last year.

(I'm also relatively sure I could fill this out entirely with BNHA characters, but if I were to do that, it would be with the goal of representing how much I was thinking about said characters in terms of Fix-It Fic(s) Brainstorming, rather than simply how much I like them. Yoichi would be prominent in the former and not present at all in the latter, for example.)

Anyway, after much painstaking cropping, here it is!

(A full list of who all these people are and a blurb apiece of my thoughts on them, as well as the meme template, can be found beneath the cut!)

Most Favorite Blorbo(s) of 2023

Lord Glück and Macht of El Dorado (Sousou no Frieren) – Macht's was the arc that turned me around on Frieren's treatment of demons—he’s so interesting, and so tragic, totally set in his ways while also yearning to change them.  Glück, meanwhile, is so devoted to his word, blunt in his assessment of Macht’s character but wholly sincere about trying to give him the knowledge and environment he needs to change.  My BF asked me for the spoiler-free version of what I liked about them, and the best I can sum it up as is, “A mutual acceptance despite the parts of each other they can’t understand,” and, “They’ve made each other promises that go all the way to end, to the goddamn end.”  Thirty years of that!  I am once again begging on my hands and knees for Frieren to get a second season, and also, if the universe really loves me, to end the first season with a tease for the Golden City.[1]

(I cheated a bit here; the central square is intended for a single supreme fave, not center-mounting one's OTP. I am, however, entirely incapable of picking one of those two above the other. Also, putting them both there does bring the character count to a nice even 50.}

1: A second tease.  There’s actually been one already, a reference to Macht’s enchanted jewelry, squirreled away in some on-screen text—one of the anime’s many additions to the background detail compared to the manga.

12 Characters vs. 12 Months In A Year. Coincidence? Probably!

(Starting at the top left corner and moving clockwise.)

Shigaraki Tomura (BNHA) – 2023 was the year Shigaraki Tomura got his groove back, thank heavens.  While he didn’t get much material in which to speak his own mind—really just Chapters 379 and 411, a full year apart (the latter didn’t officially come out until just a few days ago; we just got the leaks a week early).  We’ll see how he holds up going forward, but even those few scenes effortlessly demonstrate just how profound a waste of time handing AFO the reins to the end game was.  Here’s to not letting Heroes off the hook in the new year!

Iguchi Shuuichi/Spinner (BNHA) – Spent a lot of 2023 worrying about this guy.  Still am worried about this guy.  But him turning the tides of the war at the end of 2022 shifted the whole course of the battle, and new we’ve got Shigaraki invoking The Horizon to finally give us incontrovertible evidence that Shigaraki and Spinner have talked about more than just video games!  2024 is shaping up Spinaraki!

Yotsubashi Rikiya/Re-Destro (BNHA) – I provide fanart for this man because, of course, he was in the actual canon not at all last year, absent a single flashback panel from Hose Face, not at all making up for what a caricature that character was otherwise.  All the good Re-Destro content I was getting last year was thanks to @nickfoo’s wonderful, wonderful fanart of him.  Thanks for continuing to give this guy love, foo! (full art here)

Geten (BNHA) – Himura backstory reveal!  And that revelation accounted for the only fanfic I posted last year at all, as well as being super satisfying in terms of largely clearing Todoroki Enji of the responsibility for the heteromorphobic microaggressions perpetrated by certain of his children, as well as giving us some more hints about Geten and Re-Destro’s relationship.  Exquisite. (Now just let him have something to say that isn’t mostly there to Contextualize Dabi.)

Vamirio/Anne from Management  (Helck) – I reread Helck last year in celebration of its anime, and just to reiterate this again, Vamirio and her determination lead her to make firm stands and fiery declarations about her combat role and priorities that Deku has never even fuckin’ thought about.  Vamirio a best; vote Vamirio for Head of Management.

Samuel Murphy +Hal and Nobu (Canis: The Speaker) – Sam’s my favorite of another inseparable trio, probably because, at least as an adult, he’s the most vulnerable—not simply because he lacks the firearms or goons that his partners’ positions allow them to call to hand, but also because of his struggles with insomnia.  Whip-smart, observant, and well-spoken, and I always have had a preference for the smart ones.

Jasper (Steven Universe) – I started reading @faelapis’s post-canon Jasper exploration fic Something Better last year and absolutely fell in love with it.  It reminded me all over again how much I love Jasper, and how much I wanted a story that gave her all the time she needed to change.

Somei Yoshino (Yakuza Fiancée) – Last year saw the anime announcement and Yoshino’s totally amazing bathtub fight with Azami, which I guess there are cowards out there who didn’t like?  RIP to them but I’m different, I guess!  I’ll watch Yoshino break her terrible suitors’ fingers any time!

Wolfgang Grimmer (Monster) – Reread the back half of Monster last year solely because I love Grimmer and wanted to read his material again.  A perennial favorite, manga and character alike.  I love a man held together with scotch tape, stitches and good intentions.

Boutarou the Pirate (Golden Kamuy) – Probably not my actual favorite character in the series, but I finally got to see him in anime form last year after a maddening wait thanks to the delay in 2022.  Shiraishi’s best ship and a feral merman (look at the way he uses his hair and tell me I'm wrong) that someone unaccountably let walk around on dry land. A+ character.

Sailor Cosmos (Sailor Moon) – Speaking of characters with a huge wait on seeing them in the anime..!  God, I’ve wanted anime Sailor Cosmos since high school, and I’m thrilled to finally get her (and the merch that would accompany her).

Mitaka Asa (Chainsaw Man) – I read the first half of Chainsaw Man a while back, largely on the basis of @robotlesbianjavert’s enthusiasm, and while I enjoyed it well enough, particularly Denji’s assorted travails, I never got super invested in it because, not having to wait week to week for releases, there was never really enough time to get attached to most characters before they got unceremoniously offed.  Whether it’s the week-to-week wait or just that I like Asa as a character more, she’s really done the job of getting me interested in the series.  I love this loser failgirl and I want only the best for her; while I doubt that’s what she’ll get, at least I can watch her torture logic to make sick weapons and have affecting scenes about her own crippling inadequacy issues in the meantime.

36 Others

(As before, starting on the top left and moving clockwise through the BNHA Zone.)

Scarecrow/Spinner’s Number 2 (BNHA) – Scarecrow’s big speechifying moments would have been back in autumn of 2022, but I still loved him more than enough in 2023 for him to make this grid.  He was reduced to a shallow caricature and still had to get knocked off a roof because no one could actually out-argue him, and through all of that unendurable authorial laziness, his potential still shines through for me.  Stan the MLA, MLA 5Evah.

Toga Himiko (BNHA) – The only Villain whose Hero foil plotline is working for me on any level, though a lot is hanging on whether or not she, y’know, lives.  She definitely should have gotten to stab the bejeezus out of Hawks, and Ochaco should definitely go on the run with her once Apple Cheeks realizes that the HeroAca justice system could not possibly be relied upon to do anything other than throw Toga in a hole for a few years before executing her.

Gentle Criminal (BNHA) – The only redeemed villain whose regard for Deku functions at all thematically.  Lady N’s return is hogswash on multiple levels, but I will defend Gentle’s without reservation.

Kunieda + Aoyama Yuuga (BNHA) – Consider these two to be a stand-in for all the thinking I did last year about Fix-It Fic scenarios for this whole final arc.  For example, Kunieda in the canon speaks far too knowledgeably both about and to Aoyama for them to be total strangers, so why not plant some seeds for their confrontations earlier?  I ask the reader to consider this:

In a version of the Edgy Deku arc that allowed the rest of 1-A to get out into the world to help out with relocation efforts, they one day come across a scene of dread: a neighborhood full of corpses and Kunieda’s flowers.  Aoyama has a noticeably shaken reaction, which he plays off as just horror to his similarly horrified classmates, but the truth is that he’s got prior history with Kunieda—AFO didn’t plop corpses in front of his parents to intimidate them (because that’s ham-handed and silly), but bodies were still involved.  They’d turn up buried in the family's fancy gardens sometimes, always heralded by those vivid red-black flowers…

Frieren (Sousou no Frieren) – I was relatively neutral on the title character until the anime came out and I had to suffer through The Discourse about her attitude towards demons (arguments on both sides tending to be poorly considered and ignorant, both of canonical details and real-world relevance).  That made me a bit more defensive of her, but even setting my contrarianism aside, I was also very pleased with how she navigated the manga’s most recent arc.[2]  She’s maybe the first character I can think of who I have actively wanted to write Asexual Representation fic for, if only because my answer to, “Does she Romantically Love Himmel?” is much more complex than just saying, “No, she only saw him as a friend,” or, “Yes, and now she’s going to be sad about her Tragically Lost Love for the rest of her life and we need to write all the fix-it fics about that.”

2: She wants to go home!  Her feelings for Himmel, whatever they are, are of less importance to her than going home!  Despite everything we know about how she perceives time, she still values her “now” more than her lost “then”!  My gloating aside, though, I was far more affected by the sword scene than I was the wedding attire or the near kiss.  Being trapped in a wedding illusion?  Trite, overplayed.  Being trapped in a wedding illusion yet still being able to wrap your hands around your partner’s arm and faithfully guide them into drawing the sword neither of you can perceive?  Now that’s intimacy!

Heiter (Sousou no Frieren) – While I had little overall use for the aforementioned most recent arc of Frieren, I did very much enjoy my favorite member of the Hero Party getting a moment to demonstrate what being The Priest Of The Party That Defeated The Demon King actually means in practice.  Grausam being unable to put him down with an illusion?  Being the only one who could defend his downed companions?  The sheer level of trust he has in Himmel?  A little bit of vulnerability where he’s bare seconds away from getting gibbed by Grausam?  Heiter is the member of the party that we get the least amount of in on: Sein didn’t stay with the party long enough to serve as a point of comparison, and despite Heiter raising Fern, she didn’t assume his role in the new group, like Stark did Eisen’s, nor do her reminiscences about him get anywhere near the amount of screentime that Frieren’s do of Himmel.  So for real, you guys, Chapter 118 was so good.

Edward (Shadows House) – *bangs fists on table*  WORST BOY WORST BOY WORST BOY!!  Anime Edward is pants, but Manga Edward is where it’s at, always keeping Kate scrambling, always coming out on top of his maneuverings against his peer group rivals, just flappable enough that his victories doesn’t look effortless, and engaging enough that his smugness feels earned rather than intended to turn the reader against him.  I have no idea how the story is going to deal with the adult shadows, who are after all still just as brainwashed and wronged by Grandfather’s workings as the kids are!  If anything, they’re worse off, having already been manipulated into losing the “faces” they must once have loved dearly.  Thus, while Kate and her allies certainly approach the conflict with a very Us vs. Them, Adults=The Enemy mentality, the screentime Edward’s own affairs get, fully independent of how they intersect with Kate’s, along with an avowed desire to improve the House that parallels Kate’s, make me hopeful that the authors have something a little more nuanced in mind than, “Free the current victims by wiping out all the previous ones.”

Melinda Desmond (Spy x Family) – The main cast are all perfectly fine, but Melinda is interesting.  Super curious to find out more about the Desmond family dynamics, and I love Melinda bouncing around with Yor. (I swear, though, judging by the collective response to the most recent chapter, the fandom is going to turn me into a Donovan Apologist yet. Only one member of that family has visible scars suggesting brain surgery, folks!!)

Anti/Knight/Gridknight (Gridman Universe) – Always my favorite single character from both Gridman and Dynazenon, and he was characteristically great in the movie as well.  His scene with Akane at the end was only my second favorite beat because, while it’s wonderful emotionally cathartic (more fanservice like this, please!), it’s also kind of muddled thanks to the idea of Gridman!Anti and Dynazenon!Knight being two separate entities. Churlish to hold that against it, though, when it's so heartfelt.

Minami Yume + Asanaka Yomogi (Gridman Universe) – Such a great pairing in their own show—I once saw someone call them forced, which has always struck me as just being too high on Bashing The Hets to see that Yomogi and Yume have a great arc towards getting together, actually.  Seeing them be unabashedly together and happy about it in the film was 100% delightful and deserved. Yume swooping down out of the sky on Dynarex to scoop up her wifeguy boyfriend is my actual favorite beat in the movie.

Hyura (Helck) – Firstly, the dry humor around Hyura is fantastic.  (“Something like an arm grows back simply enough.  That’s just common sense.”  “It doesn’t, right?”  “It does not.”)  Secondly, she’s the biggest badass in the secondary cast.  Thirdly, she and Edil have the designated rival ship dynamic (incredibly rare to see across gender lines in shounen manga), and Hyura holds her own all the way to the end.  Hyura is great.

Mikaros (Helck) – “Yes, we may have lost some assets and I personally shattered the mind of one of our strongest soldiers, removing him from the playing field.  But the important thing is that I personally overcame my trauma, so overall it’s a win.”  What a slimeball.  What a total heap.  And what an excellent example of the end-stage stakes driving the title character's choice in the epilogue! I love Mikaros unreservedly.

Harold Aldo Hughes and Iwaki Tadanobu + Sam (Canis: The Speaker) – Transformation, reinvention, the fierceness of devotion and the ruthlessness of rebirth—I don’t love them quite as much as I do Sam, but they’re also both great.

Hera (Lore Olympus) – Lore Olympus is one of those series I read more because it’s interesting enough while also being blisteringly gorgeous than because I’m deeply invested in the characters, but the plotline about Hera and Kronos really has pulled me all the way into active, character-specific interest.  Great, tense, painful stuff.  Can’t wait to see where she goes following recent events.

Redcloak (Order of the Stick) – His last really insightful and heartwrenching scene was in the year before last—that fantastic exchange with Oona!—but for as long as I’m reading OOTS, Redcloak is going to be a favorite.  God, the Law Elemental summoning is so funny.

Hyness (Kirby franchise) – This one’s entirely on my sis-in-law—like another character further down the list, I am not remotely “in” the Kirby fandom.  But what can I say—tell me about a warped cult leader who started in a bad place and only got worse who still managed to get saved by the Hero taking a leap of faith that paid off, and tell me the fandom calls him a horrible abuser?  Sorry, but I Have No Choice But To Stan. (full art here)

Lafcadio Boone (The Sexy Brutale) – Replayed this again last year, and it’s still great.  In a sense, despite its sizeable named cast, it really only has the one character, and his story is such that I want to make every single person on tumblr that gets hyperbolic about the forgiveness and redemption of fictional wrongdoers play this game.  “Time to move on, old man,” indeed.

Sissel (Ghost Trick) – Finally got the remaster of this and replayed it, and it’s also still great.  Knowing The Spoilers about Sissel seriously make replays such a scream, but also man is this game really sitting on some completely over-the-top darkness not at all far beneath its candy apple red and Matrix-text green surface.

Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Across the Spider-Verse) – Strictly in terms of character writing, he’s very fun, but I don’t think he’s as strong as Spider-Punk or Miguel O'Hara, but on the other hand, he’s so much fun, especially to simply watch in motion.  Most of the rest of the leads, however varied their artstyles might be, still feel like they move in basically the same ways, just with varying levels of grace vs. power, intent vs. controlled collapse, but because of the way Pavitr uses his thread, he moves completely differently, and it’s just a ton of fun to watch.  The first character I went hunting for fanart of when I got out of the movie theater.

Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Across the Spider-Verse) – I have outstanding affection for Spider-Gwen from reading her comics back when, but that opening Vulture fight, the fantastic look of her dimension, and all the trans signaling kept her right at the top, too.

Brutha (Discworld: Small Gods) – @codenamesazanka read this and a few of the Watch books last year, prompting me to do some rereads as well, and Brutha and Small Gods remain very dear to me.  I only wish more artists would draw versions of him that remotely resemble “fat, simple-looking young man from a desert country in fantasy!expy!Middle East” rather than “suspiciously trim and Benedictine.”

Sam Vimes (Discworld series) – Ditto on Nal’s read above, but also chatted with foo a lot about this guy, and he’s been my favorite single character in the series since high school.  It takes very little to prompt me to reread his books generally, but last year was the first time I’ve had it in me to reread Snuff, as it was previously a little too tied up in my feelings about the last few books prior to Pratchett’s death.  Regardless of anything else, though, Snuff is the book for Sam/Sybil.

Mina Murray (#DRCL: Midnight Children) – Discovered this lush chonk of horror phantasmagoria last year and I’m kind of in love with it.  Its take on Mina anchors it well—she’s smart and fiery but up against ingrained sexism and classism in her setting, and not too Anachronistic Grrl Power to not be hurt by that sometimes; she’s stubborn, but vulnerable to the supernatural horrors in the way any child would be.  An unreliable but intriguing and sympathetic narrator.

Capone Bege (One Piece) – The other character I got onto largely without getting into the series he hails from, nickfoo—whose art I again use to illustrate—does great work with this guy, a once-jovial monster shocked back from that moral brink by marriage and fatherhood.  Still gets a bit Into It at work, but tries not to bring it home, at least as much as that can be avoided when carrying both family and crew around in the same heart/sub-dimensional space.  (Also, foo’s version of Bege is great, but her rendition of Chiffon is—speaking as someone who doesn’t read the series and can only gauge by image search or skimming the wiki—borderline miraculous, accurate to Oda’s lively caricature design, but so much more sensitive, expressive and human.)

Prince Kazu/Lady Chikako (Ooku: The Inner Chambers) – On the occasion of the Netflix anime, I finally tracked down and finished Ooku last year, and when I tell you that I laughed more and harder in the final arc than I did through the entire rest of the series combined…  The Kyoto cast members are a big part of why,[3] and none more delightful than the stuffy, prideful, possessive, and deeply impetuous Chikako, one of the most singularly human characters in the whole 19-volume melodrama.

3: Catty ex-male prostitute turned head of the Inner Chambers Takiyama is the other part of this equation, by the way.

Gao Shun (The Apothecary Diaries) – Long-suffering stoics are my absolute favorite type, and that holds true even though Gao Shun's stoicism has been largely a humorous beat thus far.  I want this guy to get more attention, but until then, I will continue to enjoy his weary exasperation every time he has to deal with Mao Mao’s eccentricities/Jinshi’s enthusiasm about same.

Mao Mao (The Apothecary Diaries) – Best female character of the season, for sure, but I’ve been reading one of the manga for a while now, and she’s a regular delight.  Eccentric and ruthless by turns, painfully aware of the limitations of her position and yet wholly willing to make her own decisions and exert her own agency within those limitations without ever concerning herself with whether she should ask permission from or report to someone above her rank.  Mao Mao’s mercy takes the form of knowing when to speak and when to demure, and every time I see some stuck-in-their-own-ethical-framework commenter complain about her moral compass, I appreciate it harder.

Accustomizer Stud/Tiffany (Angelic Acceptor Alouette) – Enthusiastically resourceful teenage girl who would probably be super into transhumanism if she hadn’t fallen in with angels (sic) instead, transforming into the gloriously nonbinary pile of muscles and amazing hair that is Accustomizer Stud, Tiffany’s ultimate expression of her inner self.  Stud is magnanimous, gracious, and well-spoken, and they are also VERY LOUD AND FIGHTY.  My absolute favorite character in a game wall-to-wall with great characters.

Yuunagi Tsubasa/Cure Wing (Hirogaru Sky PreCure) – The first Official Boy Cure with absolutely no provisos or qualifications or ways to wiggle out of it, and the show gets him just right by playing him basically completely straight.  Has a costume no one would look twice at in a magical girl line-up, wastes no time on masculine embarrassment at his frills, with the only nod he/the show make towards his gender at all being to frame his role as being a knight to a princess, rather than simply a guardian to one, but it’s not really what he’s about.  His actual character is driven by knowledge, studiousness, and a desire to overcome the limitations placed on him by being a human/pudgy flightless bird fairy.

Kei Miyama (Go With the Clouds, North By Northwest) – Something of a stand-in for his series generally, which I read the two most recent volumes of last year and fell in love with all over again—particularly the most recent one, which switches deftly between depictions of shattering, world-hollowing grief and the beguiling intimacy of the rhythms of life and nature.  But my love for the manga itself aside, Kei’s a great protagonist, full of little contradictions and snags that make him feel much more fleshed out and grounded than your average animanga male lead, even as he’s running around doing very Animanga Male Lead Things, like solving mysteries by using his Strange Power to get information a normal person could not.

Lord El-Melloi II/Waver Velvet (Fate franchise) – Waver is possibly my favorite character of all time in any medium, so it takes very little to rekindle the love.  In last year's case, it took the Fate/strange Fake special!  Love to see my boy continue to wrest more narrative space for himself than he was originally allotted by virtue of being a run-away audience favorite of the Fate/Zero anime!

Ivan (Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still) – Got the remastered Blu-ray last year as a gift, and guess what?  I still love Ivan in all his cartoonish mini-boss villainy layered over the pathos of tragic loss and resentment.  Honestly, I can only assume he’s as well-adjusted as he is because Alberto is so inspiring to work in close quarters with (mood), because otherwise I’d think it pretty unfair that the sole surviving Bashtarle national in the story gets so little to say about/to the people who blew it up.

Isurugi Camice (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) – I was a bit too preoccupied with BNHA meta last year to think much about my prior fandom phase, but I still made time to rotate Isurugi in my mind from time to time.  As one of my beloved long-suffering stoics, I can always make that kind of time for him.  (Image source is from the cover of a doujinshi I have, because melancholy BL doujinshi is definitely more the kind of tonal zone my mental rotations were occupying than they were canon’s!)

And, finally, the blank

(If anyone reading this wants to give it a whirl, I reccommend blowing it up to x2 size; makes the small squares easier to work with.)

[megidoreyn]

Hihi! For the ask meme, perhaps 4, 8 and 14?

Hey there! Aw, thank you for the questions! It's super rare to get asks like these, so it really made my day! 😇🙏

⭐️4. What defines your artistic style?

That's a good question!🤔 (Especially since I don't know how others might perceive my art!) Due to my own visual agnosia as well, it skews my perception of my own works... So I actually end up disliking the grand majority of the things I create tbh🤣 It's hard for me to become cognizant of any strengths due to the weaknesses being highlighted (in my skewed POV) sometimes! But from the comments I have kindly received before, I would say that my art is defined by: clean/polished lineart, round/"squishy" chibis, warm colors, and "an aura of softness/tenderness"! Truthfully, I would love to be known for having a well-rounded and versatile style! As in: switching from a dynamic + appealing full-body style to a charming chibi style with precision and confidence!💪 And in general: I'd like to be known for drawing handsome faces on full-body characters instead of only having a "cute" style tbh LOL

⭐️8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Oh man…For a self-critic, this is a tough yet great question too!!😂--There's usually elements of a picture I enjoy working on VS how the overall picture eventually turns out! But looking back at everything I've posted publicly so far on twitter from 2022-2023…I think it'd have to be these! ↓

And a special shout out to this Walter-Lucifer pseudo-fiend character turnaround sheet that started off as a "haha just messing around :^)" sketch but then quickly turned serious 2 days later LOL. I did like incorporating SMT4 Lucifer's Phase 2 wings on him, since the in-game design includes this gradient on the wings too. 😇🙏

⭐️14.What do you like drawing the most?

As a surprise to no one, my favorite thing to draw would be WalterJonathan---both the pairing and the individual characters LOL. There's actually a personal reason for this, but maybe that'll be a story for another time! Whether or not the majority of these (finished/ polished) sketches will ever see the light of day is also to be determined in the future...😂 Despite these canon Satan Husbands going through the many unspeakable horrors they suffer within base SMT4 + SMT4 Apoc's canon (and even the duology of the SMT4 manga's canon too!), I'll always prefer to draw them being sweet with each other...🥺 To at least give them a single soft moment of reprieve that they deserve...!😭🙏

↑ I also enjoy drawing the details of the SMT4 samurai coat/uniform! As well as other things and details like: 💙the SMT protags' COMPs + SMT4 Gauntlet 💙Clothing folds 💙Side profiles 💙Backside angles 💙Painting hair 💙Drawing hands 💙Dynamic chibis + dynamic body language in general (that convey a character's personality)

…and probably some more things I'm forgetting LOL.

💙↑ edit: I forgot how much I like sketching out Pokemon as quick warm-ups + other critters like the MOTHER/Earthbound Mr.Saturns too! It's good practice in understanding different shapes.

Again, thank you so much for the questions!🙏 It was fun to answer these!

⭐️⭐️⭐️It's still 12/31 here in my neck of the woods, so I wish you and everyone reading this a Happy New Year as well!