#I remember trying really hard to study these different japanese fashion styles and the aesthetics of twewy fashion and it was super fun

[jakeroo]

I’m not sure why I never posted this but I’m actually pretty proud of it. I think I drew this in 2021 and I haven’t drawn much since, whoops. Anyway these are my keykids! I wanted to try to do some fashion stuff, and I had this idea for their story where after KHUX they all die (lol), and I have them reincarnate in the Shibuya Reaper’s Game. So these are TWEWY style fashionable outfits and some pins. In order; Diggory, Fen, Jin, Hera, and Polly

[nanigma]

Leon Fanbook Translation: Special Interview

Link to the Takumi Fanbook

Introduction

Profile

Famous Lines

Relationships

Leon&Kamui + Words of Love

Daily Routine + Cooking Showdown

Fashion Check

Dream Change

Only two more updates to go. It’s hard to believe that I am almost finished with this. And it didn’t take me half as long as I feared to translate this. Probably because of a distinct lack of Odin speech..

Meanwhile I’ve finally gotten another part-time job, so that’s helped me feel better about my situation and I can focus on this project more than I did before. It’ll be a while before my first payment, so it would still be really nice if you could help me out a little until then. Here’s a link to my Ko-fi account. Thank you to the generous people who have helped me so far!

- All the photos on this post were taken by the lovely @zaziki7

My comments are in italics

I’ll be using Japanese names

Pages 36-37

Special Interview/ Leon

An interview sprung on the younger prince of Nohr! Listen to what this one young man keeps inside his heart!

Anna: Good day to you, fans of Leon!! I am Anna, the traveling merchant! Today we've successfully gotten a hold of a Prince Leon from right after the conclusion of the „Invisible Kingdom“ Arc, and will now confront him with some rapid fire questions!! (In English) Don't miss it!!

Topic 1 – About being Nohrian Royalty

Anna: Prince Leon, thank you for your time. It must be tough being recognized by everyone every single day. You do have a lot of fans after all.

Leon: A member of the Nohrian royal family must never embarass themselves, be firm of mind, and always remember to present themselves with grace. However, I sometimes end up wearing my clothes inside out for some reason. I really should be more careful... By the way, have we met somewhere before... ?

Topic 2 – About Kamui

Anna: So, what do you think of Kamui precisely? Also, if Kamui were below you in age, would you rather have them as a younger brother or sister?

Leon: They do have their talents, but I guess no matter how old they get, they are so unreliable it always makes me want to help them out. It seems I just can't leave them on their own. As for if Kamui were younger than me, I'd prefer to have them as a younger sister. A younger brother would likely mean more competition, you see.

Topic 3 – About his siblings

Anna: I see... So you would prefer another little sister. Well, how do you feel about your older brother and sister?

Leon: In many ways, Marx is the strongest man in Nohr. It shows in how he embodies the ideal of the Nohrian crown prince, his skill with the sword...  how as an older brother, he shows a special kindness only to his siblings. However, there are ways in which he can be just too stubborn. Although we are currently amicable with each other, his unbending nature has caused us to quarrel in the past, to the point he even hit me once.

This refers to the Drama CDs

Anna: Ehh! Prince Marx might have just made himself the enemy of 50 million Leon fans around the whole world.

Leon: As you may know, in the whole kingdom of Nohr, Camilla's beauty and the depth of her affection is unmatched. The way she coldly dispatches of her enemies is also more than befitting of Nohrian royalty. Although it seems she doesn't pay much attention, she has actually been focusing on me quite a bit... Her offer to share a bath has been troubling for me though.

Leon, your siscon tendencies are showing.

Anna: Mhm mhm... //Taking a bath with Camilla... Now that's some good material.// So how about your younger sister, Elise?

Leon: I'll just say this here, but I feel like she's a great help in a lot different ways. This isn't just me, all of us siblings have come to truly rely on her. I just wish she would stop tackling me with all her strength whenever we met. *laughs*  I also want her to stop drumming her fists against my back so relentlessly. It actually hurts a lot...

Topic 4 – About parent-child relations

Anna: You won't like this question, but what about your father, King Garon, and also... your mother?

Leon: My father used to be a kind man. I still remember him keeping me company during study time or letting me ride on his shoulders. Having him pat my head with his huge hand is something I used to love. He may have become an entirely different person since that incident in the past, but I would still like to meet and be able to talk to the father from my childhood just one more time.

Tagging @agoddamn here because we’ve recently discussed the extent of Leon’s memorys of the real Garon. Still a bit vague, but it seems he already had an education/training (the kanji could mean both) going before Garon died, though with his mom being so ambitious he may have started quite young still.

Leon: As far as my mother is concerned, I don't have any special memories. That woman only ever thought of me as a tool that would bind her to the king, so I couldn't bring myself to love her either. … Is that enough?

Anna: Th- Thank you. A- Anyway, your son also seems to be rather... how to put this? Quirky... //Oh jeez! I brough up another topic he hates!!//

Leon: This is about Foleo, I see. At first I also mistook his intentions, but it turns out he is simply sticking to his own personal aesthetic. Just knowing about his convictions, I can honestly say I'm fine with it. Someday though he'll have to make a decision regarding the calling passed down through his blood, what it means to be Nohrian royalty at it’s core. … When the time comes, I hope his courage will help him make the right choice.

Not sure I like how “mistook his intentions” is phrased... What other intentions could Foleo have had that wouldn’t have been okay in Leon’s eyes? 

Topic 5- About himself

Anna: What do you think about being called cold-blooded? If you could give your own estimation of yourself, what would it be?

Leon: Although I'm not about to point out specific things I like about myself, I can say that I do have confidence in myself. Otherwise I wouldn't be fit to be royalty. That means even when I am sometimes insecure, I at least have to seem confident. My flaws are in those areas I don't have sufficent knowledge of. It's not that I ever neglect my studies, but I am fully aware it's still not entirely good enough.  

Topic 6 – About taste in women

Anna: I am pretty sure I am asking this in the name of all your female fans, but could you share what you like in a girl? Let's give an example! You like, say, the open-minded type, or...

Leon: Well, I have never experienced a mother's love. But when it comes to choosing a partner, it's wrong to say I only long for someone to give me the love my mother never did, so I want to name a another criteria. Let's see, I'd say I like strength, but I mean that as being intelligent. Not just someone who is well-studied, but one who doesn't let their guard down around an enemy, who is able to accurately assess any given situation. That's the kind of intelligence I like.

SPECIAL GUEST TAKUMI

Takumi: Huh, it's strange seeing you two together.

Anna: Ah, it's the Prince who loves the Southern Islands! … Er, rather the Prince of Hoshido, Lord Takumi!

Leon: Prince Takumi? I thought you were staying in the southern islands right now.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the first time (or one of the few times) Leon has used the ending zo (ぞ) to a sentence in Japanese. Usually his style of speech is already pretty casual and „boyish“ in the anime-sense (it doesn't work exactly like that in real life), with him ending many sentences in „da“ (だ). It's makes it sound a bit harder.. ぞ can be seen as a step up in that, really „decisive“ sounding. It's something you would only use with friends or people of lower social standing, but we can guess which one he means here.~

Takumi: …? What are you two on about?

Leon: Speaking of, thank you for sending me that miso supply the other day. I am grateful for it.

Anna: Lord Leon actually ended up cooking the soup for himself. Suprisingly though...

Leon: That's right. I understand what I like best after all. This time I decided to try putting some tomatoes in it.

Takumi: T- Tomatoes!? You put tomatoes in miso soup!?  Please stop joking. This is why you are Nohr's tomato prince...

Leon: Who are you calling tomato prince!? I think it's terrible how you Hoshidans always cling to your old traditions.

Anna: Uh.. Haha. Looks like I got between them~!

-----------------------------

Again, sorry for the small images in places. I have tried finding a fix for it, but no luck. At least it’s not most pictures again like last time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.

The next update will include all the poll results, and as you could see with the Takumi translation... that’s huge. I overestimated how long it would take me this time, but I can safely say the next one will be a long one. Hope you look forward to it.

[kayskasmoviereviews]

Movie Review Catch-Up: April - May 2018

Isle of Dogs - It doesn’t come as a surprise, but Wes Anderson has made another wonderful masterpiece of a film. This film returns to the stop-motion animation style of Fantastic Mr. Fox, but feels like a significant progression in the continuing development of Anderson’s overall aesthetic. Yes, many of his trademark visual and dramatic elements are present, but there are also elements of worldbuilding and action like we’ve never seen from him before. There’s no film quite like this one, and it’s a genuine thrill to watch.

Toni Erdmann - A thoroughly excellent German comedy drama that is one of the sharper recent character studies. The film unfolds over three hours and veers between purposefully tedious scenes of realistic business dialogue and bouts of outrageous humor, all in service of a worthwhile philosophical reflection. There are comedic scenes here that just keep escalating far past what you might expect, and the effect is amazing.

A Quiet Place - A perfect example of what I would consider an excellent movie, though not a great one. The movie is a smart, well-crafted genre exercise that uses tons of cinematic devices to wring as much suspense and dread as possible out of its clever horror premise. It doesn’t have anything particularly original or profound to say, but darn if it isn’t a great ride while you’re on it. 

Blade of the Immortal - This is the 100th film by the Japanese director Takashi Miike, though I think it’s only like the 5th or so that I’ve seen myself. If you want to know what a live-action anime would look like, here’s your film. It’s a silly, over-the-top, exceedingly violent samurai adventure. Sometimes you just want to see bad guys mowed down with swords by the dozens.

Cold in July - A weird, twisty, not-fully-plausible-but-that’s-ok thriller. I have a soft spot for grimy, violent, lower-budget American thrillers, and this one fit the bill. It starts off seeming to go in one direction, and doing so very effectively, before completely changing track. I’m not sure the ultimate result would withstand much scrutiny, but it’s worth checking out for the sheer unpredictability of the story.

Secretary - A fascinating psychological study of a couple of truly fucked-up people. Some of the movie’s recent marketing has tried to position it as a precursor to 50 Shades of Grey because both are about sadomasochism and happen to feature characters named Mr. Grey, but the comparison is misleading. This film is not meant to be particularly titillating; it is far less concerned with its protagonist’s body than her mind.

All Is Lost - This is a solid movie, though I wasn’t quite as entranced with it as some critics were. Robert Redford plays a man whose boat starts to sink out in the middle of the ocean, and who spends the entire movie doing what he has to to survive. The movie is very methodical and single-minded in its approach, but I’m not sure what I really take away from it other than a desire never to go out on the ocean. It’s a bit like reading Robinson Crusoe in the way its attention to literal, practical detail kind of overwhelms anything else.

College - A decently funny little movie, though far from Buster Keaton’s best. It’s basically an excuse for Keaton to do a bunch of sports-themed stunts. It’s worth a look if you’re already a Keaton fan, but if not, definitely start with The General.

Table 19 - This movie suffers from a serious case of not knowing what it wants to be. The story was written by the Duplass brothers, and you can get glimpses of the heartfelt, emotionally earnest little indie film they wanted to make; but the other elements brought in by co-writer and director Jeffrey Blitz, as well as by the casting of a bunch of major comedy names, are clearly reaching for more of a broad comedy. The movie would have been better off had it committed to either approach, but trying to split the difference ultimately means it wasn’t as funny or as emotionally affecting as it meant to be. However, one of my former students has a line right at the end of the movie, which was pretty neat.

The Call of Cthulhu - I admire the general approach of this film - adapting the classic H.P. Lovecraft story as a deliberately old-fashioned black-and-white silent film - but the result ultimately doesn’t work that well. The story doesn’t actually lend itself to film adaptation particularly well, and it was hard to get invested in the film.

Ready Player One - This fun little bit of escapism is actually an improvement on the book that inspired it, likely because Steven Spielberg is a better filmmaker than Ernest Cline is a writer. There are a lot of really fun sequences and ideas here, particularly one that pays homage to one of Spielberg’s main inspirations in a really technically fascinating way. It’s minor Spielberg, sure, and there are definitely some flaws; but even here his fluency with the camera and easy rapport with his actors really shine.

Boyz N the Hood - This movie is both an important time capsule of a particular time and place (African-American neighborhoods in early 1990s Los Angeles) and a drama that still works. Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, and Laurence Fishburne all give performances as good as anything they’ve ever done here. The story is a bit predictable, but still affecting and authentic-feeling.

Eve’s Bayou - This is a great, truly original film that deserves to be remembered more widely than it is. It tells the complicated story of an African-American family living in rural Louisiana in the mid-20th century, a story made more complex by layers of possibly unreliable narration. Jurnee Smollett’s performance as the child protagonist is excellent, and Samuel L. Jackson gives one of his best and most down-to-earth performances ever. There are a couple of odd subplots that don’t do all that much here and there, but overall, this film is genuinely something special.