#Next to You (Ono Natsume)

[hikikomoriheadphonegirl]

[spirit-of-anime]

Tonari ni (Next to you)

[nyoomzz]

Thanks for answering my ask about why I suddenly love BL and GL more than het romance....I'm grateful to know that there is someone who also knew how I feel....

Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 7) favorite BL and your top 3 (or top 5) favorite GL? And why do you love them? Sorry if you already answered them....Thanks again....

hiii no problem! sorry this took a while to answer im always bad at choosing top picks so this time i just went with my favorites that i consider still haven't seen talked about that much :D

(the titles with a star next to it are mature themes and/or has nsfw scenes, please don't read them if you're still below 18 years old)

yuri:

- *tsukiatte agete mo ii ka na (how do we relationship): i love how simply candid and honest it is at portraying messy relationships between not-quite-adults doing their best to grow. i really enjoy where the story is going because it's something you rarely see in manga!

- ohana holoholo: i wish there's more family-themed gl but im always happy we have this! it's painfully sincere and i love how we dive in into their lifes and see how they're involved with the bigger cast of characters

- shoujo manga protagonist x rival-san: a bit more of a lighthearted comedy, taking the standard trope of shoujo protagonist vs the love rival and putting a silly sapphic spin on it which is something that i absolutely need. its cute moments really shine through!

- yuri de naru ❤️ espoir (yuri espoir): my beloved that i can never shut up about. the cute artstyle takes you in a fun spin on meta commentary of yuri tropes only to slowly reveal that things might not be as sweet and happy as it seems... no one is doing it like them

- yuri to koe to kazo matoi: revolving around the feelings of women finding their place in the world, chasing for what they truly want. this is a bit of a spoiler but it centers around characters in the aromantic and asexual spectrum which makes it even more special to me!

bl:

- *iki dekinai no wa kimi no sei (breathless momentum): i love everything from the premise to how they grow to care about each other, it's hilarious and cute and their dynamic will always remain one of my favorites ever

- *tabun kore kara ai no hibi: the main theme about the joy and pain of creating just resonates so hard, the main characters' struggle portrays it very well and seeing the growth really made me happy!

- tonari ni: natsume ono's paneling and writing is just so special, there's this somber quality to it that absolutely draws me in. it complements very well the quiet yearning in the story

- *tenjite koi to iki: tbh this is just an excuse to talk about hayane dento's works, i always have a hard time choosing a favorite because they all have such great writing! i think about this one the most because of how melancholic it was paired with their beautiful storytelling

- boku no papa to papa no hanashi: ive read a lot of family-themed bl but this will always take the cake! the love this little family have for each other and how they grow together will always get to me

- *link and ring: just an absolutely loving relationship, you can see how much the main couple cares for each other it's just so sweet to read!

- achira kochira bokura: more slice of life than bl really and that's why it's so dear to me, it's a very natural depiction of two boys with opposite natures slowly being part of each other's lives. there's a sequel too!

[piduai]

this has been on my mind for a while, i feel like at this point women mangaka are generally just better people than their male peers. id love to hear some manga ud recommend by women, or even counterpoints, but series like Dungeon Meshi and Full Metal Alchemist (among others) handle almost every concept way better and with more tact, from writing complex stories and compelling characters, to treating women like people and not literal naked rubber dolls colored in and posed like p*rn

you are so correct and right and speak the truth. female mangaka are superior. the only thing i’d say women don’t do inherently better is technical skill, there’s a ton of men who are very artistically talented, but arts such as drawing and music are sexless because they come from within and aren’t influenced by external factors such as upbringing and culture like storytelling is. everything else though is done better by women.

the problem with female mangaka is that they’re gatekept in the industry big time. if you google ‘top selling manga of all time’ and go to the wikipedia page, there’s only one woman (kimetsu no yaiba) and she’s hiding behind a male pen name just like arakawa hiromi did when fma was publishing. neither of these are a coincidence. women are generally discouraged from pursuing writing, and if they do so they’re supposed to be kept to female-catering genres such as shoujo, josei and BL, which are all much less mainstream, aka much less known and much less money making, than shounen. women having to go behind male-sounding pen names just so men don’t feel emasculated when consuming their stories has been a thing since forever across many different cultures. misogyny is universal.

however since i personally am more into grittier stuff and i love gratuitous violence and other Mature Themes i just naturally gravitate more towards manime with all its faults. my favorite genre overall is comedy though and women ARE much funnier and wittier and more clever. female mangaka also typically avoid drawing gore, which i guess is cultural but a shame.

i’m not a manga person, i prefer watching anime, so i compiled a list of my favorite anime based on manga written by women a while ago. i am VERY picky and nitpicky and very, very difficult to please so keep in mind that the list is not comprehensive in the slightest, it’s just things that i personally liked. there’s tons of non-shoujo stuff written by women that generally have a good reputation (ao no exorcist, gangsta, kuroshitsuji, noragami, d gray man, magi, xxxholic etc etc etc) that didn’t stand out to me at all so again, short as it may be the list isn’t comprehensive in the slightest, i’m sure that people who are more easily entertained than me could come up with much more names. anyway everything else is copy-pasted, i know you know of fmab but it needs to be included because fmab is my favorite series of all times:

anime based on manga created by female writers that is in fact not heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage and i liked (bc i saw a post talking about female mangakas and all of the examples were in fact heterosexual shoujo/BL garbage that i unfortunately do not like and my anime opinions are super important obviously):

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood (adventure/action) any comments on why fmab is the best product the anime industry has ever put on the market that will not be outranked ever is tired at this point. fmab is a masterpiece through and through. most of the cast including the mcs is male tho, which is sad

saraiya goyou (historical/drama) if fmab didn’t exist it would have been the best title out there. the word masterpiece was invented solely to have a concept to describe it. the ost makes up about 40% of its greatness and was also written by a woman. too bad all the characters are also dudes

acca: 13ku kansatsuka (drama/political) not quite as good as saraiya goyou but from ono natsume as well. pleasant is the word to describe it. relaxing. most of the cast is male.

dorohedoro (horror/gore/comedy) the best title since like 2006. everything about it is great. i don’t have a single criticism and that’s rare. the cast is actually balanced and the Female Characters™ all 3 of them are like, written like people and are also queens

hachimitsu to clover (slice of life) saddest shit i’ve seen in my whole life in a colorful packaging. heterosexual as hell but not in an obnoxious way. cast seems diverse but it’s predominantly male

3gatsu no lion (drama) from the same great umino chica who is a master at writing uncomfortable truths and playing on emotions. she’s great truly, her character crafting is genuine but it gets under your skin, it’s filled with melancholy. 3gatsu is actually better than hachimitsu to clover but 1) i have history with the former so i like it better and 2) it was produced by shaft which is a sin in itself. they did a great job and all, i just hate the studio. has 3 speaking female characters in total but all 3 are great.

hoozuki no reitetsu (comedy) it’s hilarious it’s fresh it’s pretty it’s original it’s creative it’s clever. i love everything about it. the whole cast is male with like 2 exceptions and a rabbit (best girl).

saiunkoku monogatari (historical) i know it LOOKS like heterosexual shoujo garbage but it in fact isn’t. fits the reverse harem trope solely because everyone is in love with mc, but there’s next to no actual romance in it. unironically a feminist power fantasy. i’m still shooketh at how incredibly pleasant it turned out to be. the mc is a young girl but the rest of the cast is almost exclusively male.

arakawa under the bridge (comedy) surprisingly… by shaft again. maybe i am prejudiced. anyway, hilarious to a fault. is technically centered around a str8 romance but it’s not too invasive so whatever. cast is pretty balanced and the women are written smartly.

saint oniisan (comedy) THE funniest thing i’ve ever watched, or nearly. it’s just great. same author as above. cast exclusively male

doukyuusei (gay romance) which i refuse to categorize as BL simply because it’s not BL. it’s a good gay story, arguably the best one yet. cast is exclusively male but i mean lmao

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun (comedy) straight to A FAULT but funny nevertheless. is, technically, heterosexual shoujo garbage. but SOME heterosexual shoujo garbage can stay i guess. cast is balanced, there’s still more male characters tho

gokusen (comedy/action) which i don’t remember much about except kumiko being best girl and me liking it. if i remember liking it it means it was good overall just not memorable. cast is exclusively male except mc.

kaleido star (sports) which is the ONLY good, or like decent, or like watchable sports anime, the rest don’t exist. not based on a manga but the writer is a woman which is strongly felt through and through. good story about perseverance and will and optimism and competition. cast is predominantly female and all of them are wonderfully written

michiko to hatchin (adventure) again no manga but main writer is the woman known for creating the skating BL people pretend isn’t BL. michiko to hatchin is way better than the skating BL, but i’m just a humble girl. tons of sexy sexy i could have lived without but otherwise good shit. cast predominantly female.

mushishi (mystery/fantasy) mushishi is just unique. it has similar vibes to saraiya goyou and natsume sure, but ultimately it’s one of its kind. it has what ghibli wants. again no criticism about it at all except that it’s SO chill that binging it is super tiring. cast is predominantly male but it has few reoccurring characters so who cares.

natsume yuujinchou (mystery/fantasy) again similar to mushishi but less grim. chill story, the definition of wholesome unproblematic etc whatever kids are into these days. cast predominantly male but not memorable in the slightest

petshop of horrors (horror) watched it a million years ago so don’t remember shit but i do remember liking it. cast is probably predominantly male

sakamoto desu ga (comedy) well THE actual funniest thing i’ve ever watched, it licherally had me in tears, i watched the new episodes like 3 times on the days they came out, including watching them on tv in real time at like 3 am or whenever it aired in shinya. just really really funny. cast predominantly male.

[saintstrawberry]

When the Night is Over/Just What I Needed

Second Chapter is up!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733207/chapters/68086045#workskin

Ships:

bokuaka, kuroken, kagehina, daisuga, daiaka, iwaoi

Description:

A surprise visit, mariokart, and Oikawa. Malibu also makes an appearance (Or multiple).

Notes: Akaashi has a bad memory. Relatable content.

Songs I recommend for this chap are Dionysus by the Buttertones, Best Interest by Tyler the Creator (for Kuroo), and Shampoo Bottles by Peach Pit for the ending. I promise Bokuto will show up in the next chap! >.<

I also make a reference to Natsume Ono because she smacks! Read her manga Not Simple; it is fantastic!

Thank you for reading!

—————

Shampoo Bottles

It’s Saturday, something Akaashi doesn’t realize until he is flying halfway out his front door and huffing a breath at his phone screen’s mocking display: 6:30 AM, Saturday, June 14th. Exactly a week before Hinata’s birthday.

He blinks and remembers the night before, when he was nursing a red wine and a deadline for his “Ono Natsume: Shouting for the Voiceless” article. He remembers, vaguely, submitting the piece at 11:50 and dropping his head right there on his cheap Ikea desk, exhausted.

Presently, he’s nodding awkwardly at his neighbor (leaving the complex to work out, no less) and trying to make it look, somehow, like he meant to open his front door only to close it seconds later.

Toeing off his work shoes and entirely caught off guard by the idea of a day off, Akaashi retreats to his bed. He passes out almost as soon as his foggy head hits the pillow, dreaming of nothing. The next time he opens his eyes, his breath and body still completely.

“Mornin’, sleeping beauty! It’s ten, I’m surprised you slept so long!”

“Kuroo-san, why are you in my apartment?”

The offender offers no answer but grins brilliantly, gold irises level with Akaashi’s blue-green.

“And just how long have you been here anyway?” Kuroo ignores him again, instead choosing to stand from his squatting position. His hands at his hips, Kuroo wears a white oversized Bouncing Ball hoodie and black skinny jeans. Much to Akaashi’s discomfort, he still has his shoes on- red and white high top sneakers with the laces tucked in. As always, the guy’s flawlessly disheveled, silver jewelry glinting from his ears and neck.

Akaashi groans and plants his face in his pillow. It’s too early for the young, beautiful, and rich.

Kuroo, unsurprisingly, doesn’t yield Akaashi’s thoughts and scoffs once. He moves to draw open the curtains in his room. Keiji can’t help but grimace as he feels his skin bathed in hot summer light.

“Man. You should really dust your windowsills. Do you even ever open these things?! You’re not some bat, ‘Kaashi. You need fresh air.”

“I think bats need air too,” Akaashi mumbles into the pillow.

Kuroo waves a dismissive hand and turns to survey him, arms folded across a broad chest. Keiji reluctantly turns his head to address his stare, squinting without the aid of his glasses or contacts. Kuroo’s bedhead is seemingly even worse today- probably from whatever plane he just hopped out of. The latter smirks devilishly.

“Well. Are you gonna welcome me back or what?”

“So you didn’t expect to land in Tokyo until Thursday?” Akaashi asks this of Kuroo about 45 minutes after his intrusion into the writer’s apartment. The pair are getting brunch in some needlessly swanky rooftop restaurant, one where Kuroo insisted he wouldn’t get recognized. Akaashi raised his eyebrows at that- his friend had stuffed his signature messy locks into one of Akaashi’s ratty baseball caps and donned aviators the moment they got outside.

No matter to him, anyway. Akaashi got fancy champagne out of the deal.

“Sure didn’t. Management canceled the show in Singapore last minute. Something about the venue. Fuck if I know,” Kuroo explains almost incoherently through colossal bites of egg.

“What matters is nobody got hurt. We refunded tickets and rescheduled the gig. S’all good. I’m just happy to be back home with my buddy!” Kuroo reaches over to slap Akaashi on the back with a friendly grin.

He’s sputtering over his mimosa when Kuroo continues, “Can’t wait to surprise Kenma tonight, either. Can you imagine his face?"

“Yeah, actually, I can,” Akaashi slouches his shoulders forward in his chair with an uninterested expression and quirks up an eyebrow ever so slightly, impersonating his best friend.

“Hey, that was pretty good! Though I guess it’s not that hard for you. You’re both pretty stoic. Like Easter Island Heads.”

Akaashi swats at him half-heartedly. Kuroo laughs.

“Anyway, you’re lucky I didn’t call him immediately this morning- or the police for that matter,” Akaashi says matter of factly. Kuroo clutches at his heart dramatically.

“Akaashi-kun. You wound me. I am the furthest from a criminal.”

Akaashi huffs a laugh.

“Tell the Osaka police force that.”

“Hey! What, a guy can’t take a piss anymore?”

“Not, apparently, from the top of the Umeda Sky Building-”

“To be fair, I didn’t know the police officer was right there,” Kuroo interjects.

“-After downing half a bottle of Malibu with Oikawa. And you were 17. You were lucky you didn’t get charged with public indecency.”

Kuroo pouts but offers no petition.

“Guilty as charged, I suppose. Hey, speaking of police officers-”

Akaashi clears his throat and interrupts, “Speaking of drinking, how was Singapore?”

Kuroo takes the hint and stretches back in his chair, raising his third bloody mary to his lips.

“Didn’t get much time there, only about four days before I got the call about the cancellation. Flew straight here after the news.”

Straight to Kenma, Akaashi supplies mentally, grinning fondly at his friends’ relationship.

“Anyway, it was pretty mild, all things considered. Bokuto seemed to like the clubbing scene more than I did. Matter of fact, he’s staying there ‘til the next concert.”

“Bokuto?” Akaashi says, cutting into his eggs and watching the yolk spill onto his fork.

Kuroo, now onto his nearly 2,500 yen crepe, takes a break from his meal to look up at him with a puzzled stare.

“My tourmate? Bokuto Koutarou? X. Ace?”

Akaashi meets his eyes blankly.

“I guess it makes sense his stage name doesn’t ring a bell, but I’m surprised you don’t know about the guy’s v-ball career.”

The blue-eyed 24 year old drops his gaze to the napkin in his lap.

“Sorry, sorry. Touchy topic.”

Pain-in-the-ass-Kuroo-san.

“Anyway, you should really check out some of his matches with the Panthers.”

“He was signed with the Panthers?” Akaashi sputters, clapping his mouth shut immediately after.

Kuroo cackles.

“Don’t give yourself a heart attack, Akaashi. It’s okay to be impressed- it’s impressive. He’s crazy. You’ll be meeting him soon.”

Akaashi only hums in response.

"You're coming to the show, right?"

Akaashi hums again.

"Big talker today, huh, Keiji?"

"Bah."

“Right. So.. you baited yourself a hook yet?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“You know. After Daichi,” Kuroo tries again.

No, he really hasn’t.

Akaashi downs the rest of his drink. He peers into his empty glass in response.

“Haven’t thought about it really. He said it himself- I don’t have the time.”

“Oh, Keiji. Nevermind him.”

“Don’t sigh like that. Did you fly all the way from China to pity me?”

The rapper shakes his head, “No, I didn’t. I just want you to-”

“Be as happy as you are with Kenma,” Keiji finishes.

Kuroo gives a gentle smile, “Can you blame me?”

“God. You two are worse than the shoujo manga I have to review.”

“But twice as fun.”

“Shut up and eat your crepe.”

Kuroo happily complies, “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“I’m glad you’re home, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi remarks. And he is. Even with his busy lifestyle as a chart-topping artist, Kuroo somehow manages to draw Kenma and Akaashi out of the house.

Kuroo and Kenma are both relatively new to their fame- about three years out from Kuroo’s first breakthrough hit and four since Kenma first started his Bouncing Ball Youtube channel- but their fans are… dedicated. Akaashi often marvels at how even Kenma takes it in stride. He's entertaining to watch and a seasoned video game expert. And Kuroo... Akaashi looks to the man and the ketchup stain on his lip.

"What?"

Well, they both deserve their good fortune.

"Nothing, nothing."

He has interviewed them each multiple times for the journal. The good thing about his friends’ famous status is that Akaashi gets to profit from it as well. He tells Kuroo as much and the latter almost chokes on his stupidly expensive breakfast laughing. Even Akaashi cracks a small grin.

“I told that was him!” The writer hears two girlish voices behind him, talking in excited whispers.

“E-Excuse me, K-Kuroo-san?”

The rapper breaks out in a large grin and stands, bowing formally at the pair.

“Yes? Hello, ladies. Are you two fans of mine?”

“Yes!! Very much so! I loved your new song!” The girl, about 17 with dark lashes and fire red hair, praises politely.

“Would, would you mind taking a picture with us!?” The other chirps.

“Not at all! Akaashi, my pal, would you be a dear and snap some shots?” It takes everything for Akaashi not to roll his eyes.

“But of course.”

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

This is how Akaashi comes to search up the 2018 Panthers roster on his phone’s Google. He gives up his sleuthing when he realizes he doesn’t remember the guy’s name or know what he looks like.

He forgets about the whole thing until later that night, at Kenma’s celebration party for 5 million followers. It’s small, of course, about ten of them drinking champagne and playing drinking games. Akaashi knows Hinata did all the planning anyway, despite the event being at Kenma’s. The trio is standing off to the side when Akaashi pulls out his phone briefly to check the time.

Kuroo should be here any minute, he thinks. Hinata peers too, instinctually curious.

“Hey! Whatcha looking up the Panthers for? That’s not the latest roster, you know! Ooh, you’re looking up X-Ace, right?! Seeeeee, I knew you’d like him!”

Akaashi looks down at the picture Hinata points to. The guy’s sturdy and smug with one thick eyebrow raised. His chest is broad and his eyes are perfectly golden. The first thing Akaashi notices, however, is his hair. Absolutely ridiculous, he thinks. Makes sense that this guy’s Hinata’s idol.

Kenma raises his eyebrows.

“What made you do that?” he asks.

“Oh, uh, just...curious.”

Kenma looks like he’s about to say more when Oikawa joins their group with a boisterous, “Pudding Head! Congratsssss!” He pinches the smaller’s cheeks, who just about hisses in response.

Akaashi, grateful for Oikawa’s interruption, takes another quick glance at… X-Ace, and pockets his phone.

Hinata grins wide when Tooru, seemingly already a bit tipsy, ruffles his hair.

“Thanks, Oikawa-san," Kenma begrudgingly replies.

“You know, Kuroo is-”

Akaashi, ever vigilant, cuts in immediately, “-is so happy for you, Ken.”

Oikawa seems to get the hint, his eyes widening in realization.

“He sure is! Want some more alcohol?” The chestnut-haired friend of Kuroo’s quickly shoves his bottle of strawberry rum in Kenma’s face.

“You know I hate your sticky Malibu. Why are you guys acting all weird?”

Hinata, completely oblivious to the unspoken diaogue between Akaashi and Oikawa, tugs Kenma’s shirt.

“Kenma, Kenma! We should stream!!”

“Hey, that’s not too bad an idea, Shoyo,” Akaashi adds, if just to distract him.

“Sure, we could play some Mario-Kart. My fans seem to like you guys. Just don’t do anything stupid, Tooru.”

“Who, me?! And when do I-” Oikawa starts dramatically. The rest of the men send him a collective stare which answers his question before he can even finish it. He crosses his arms with a huff.

“Whatever. I call Princess Peach.”

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

After Kenma finishes setting up the Livestream and the small group has gained over a couple thousand viewers, Akaashi is in dead last as Blooper. Well, almost dead last, expect for...

“How am I losing? No fair, Kozume!” Oikawa whines.

“Me? What did I do?” Kenma-san replies, uninterested. Unsurprisingly, the Youtuber is in first place with his signature Toad.

“I don’t know, your fancy settings or something. Iwa-chan! Back me up, here!”

“It’s ‘cause you suck, Trashy-kawa,” Iwaizumi-san, whom the quartet bribed into playing with agedashi dofu, doesn’t hesitate to retaliate. His player, Bowser, is in second, with Hinata close behind as Yoshi.

“Take that, Hajime-san! Oh, shoot, sorry, Akaashi-san!” Hinata shouts, rising from his seat as he hurls a red shell, accidentally hitting Keiji.

“Hinata, language!” Kuroo’s smooth voice floods the apartment in mock disapproval. Kenma whips his head so fast he drops his controller. The blonde doesn’t say anything but slowly rises to his feet, then breaks into a short run at the sight of his boyfriend. The former picks up Kenma effortlessly and twirls him in a tight embrace. Akaashi looks on fondly.

“Kuroo-san!” Hinata exclaims, jumping up excitedly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Tetsuro’s home. I’m about to kick all of your asses!” Oikawa waves away his entrance, sticking out his tongue. Iwaizumi slaps him on the back of the head.

The stream chat has exploded at the sound of Kuroo.

bb-corp: is that Kuroo???

applephi: NO WAY djwhdnbwibdfwq

yoyotetsuro: couple goals

kurokenxx: will anyone ever love me like Kuroo loves Kenma?

keeeeenmaaa_: I think this is the first time BouncingBall’s lost at Mariokart

----------

A little tired and a lot tipsy, Akaashi insists on taking a cab home. It doesn't feel right to invade Kenma's when the Kuroo's home. Keiji could tell the pair... needed their space for the night. He splits the ride with Hinata, who talks his ear off the whole way about Kuroo's arrival and how badly he wishes he had the money to go to a concert. Akaashi smirks at that, just a little. Shoyo exits the vehicle with an enthusiastic, "Bye, 'Kaashi-san!! I'll see you soon! Maybe I'll come to the store, or, or, you can come to see me and Tobio-chan! He didn't come out tonight because he has a game tomorrow, but-" The rest of his goodbye is drowned out by him closing the door.

"I apologize for the noise," Keiji addresses the driver. She makes a noise of recognition and drops him off 15 minutes later. He thinks about his conversation with Kuroo about "baiting his hook" as he enters his living room, dropping his keys unceremoniously on the floor next to his door. What does that even mean? Akaashi doesn't exactly meet a lot of people with his work and his friends are all, well, with each other. He's happy for them and all, but sometimes being around so many couples gets a bit nauseating. Akaashi is struck with a small wave of loneliness when he waters his small bamboo plant, made worse by the two shots of Malibu Oikawa shoved down his throat. This is all I have to come home to, a fucking bamboo plant. Akaashi stares at its braided stalks with a vengeance. Not a second later, he pets the leaves in apology. I shouldn't take this out on the plant.

He's always been relatively independent, but having someone felt kind of... nice, for a change. It's been almost a year since Daichi left, and probably 6 months since he and Suga got together. It's one of those things that Akaashi didn't process for awhile, forcing him to fend for himself when the realization came to knock him on his ass months down the line. He's been confronting turned over picture frames and empty sheets ever since.

And so it goes.

He pads over to his bed with a sigh and for the second time today, falls asleep and dreams of nothing.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Netsuai Judge - Saikai de Koi wa Hajimaru -

Title: Netsua Judge - Saikai de Koi wa Hajimaru - ( 熱愛ジャッジ－再会で恋ははじまる－)

Release Date: 2019/04/26

Author: Aoi Yuyu

Illustrator: Kozumi Fujiko

Cast: Ono Yuuki x Nogami Shou

Synopsis: Saijou Mogami was special in Honoya Shuusuke’s eyes. Even though they’re different in age, Mogami was someone who Shuusuke could consider his friend—if not for his inferiority complex towards Mogami’s good looks and his “can do anything” attitude. They remained good friends even after Mogami left abroad once they became lawyers, but they didn’t keep in touch much. When Mogami, however, comes back to Japan, he immediately contacts Shuusuke and asks to meet with him. With a sense of pride over his friend’s special treatment, Shuusuke happily agrees to meet him. After the reunion and talk about how he’s been having such bad luck in love, Mogami invites him over to his home and—kisses him?!

Review Proper

My wallet be crying after buying Saishuu Densha and Netsuai Judge. Netsuai Judge was my first dip into Pokedora, but had I known that it would turn out like this, I would’ve just bought Koyoi, Gikei to Abanchuuru. Godammit, Brilliant Prin! This is the third time you’ve let me down! How’d we get from Gelateria, Fruits Gateau, and Aka Ito, to Kanawanu and this?! I mean, I should’ve had predicted that something like this was going to happen just from the cover and description alone, but come onnnn. Literally, the only thing keeping this disaster afloat was Nogami Sho and Ono Yuuki. 😩

Netsuai Judge is actually a BLCD with a “different” way of story-telling. It’s “reading CD” with 60% narration from Nogami Sho and Ono Yuuki. Now, this would’ve been fine, but sometimes the narration is immediately followed by the characters’ monologues, so it becomes very confusing. One second Nogami Shou goes like “Mogami beckoned Shuusuke to follow like he would a cat” and “But I know that there would be no turning back” the next. Okay, who the fuck was Shuusuke again??? 😂 They were also using probably N2-N1 level Japanese during the narration, so this was obviously a struggle for me who was an N6 (this doesn’t exist but you get the point). Yo, the amount of times I had to pause and bring out the dictionary— 

If that wasn’t enough, we have yet another sketchy consent plot. Dang it! Yeah, like, Shuusuke was all “come at me bro” inside his head, but Mogami doesn’t know that, so he shouldn’t have forced him to have sex with him! YOU TWO ARE GODDAMN LAWYERS WHAT THE FUCK. Part of the reason why I was so interested in this is because of that. I did go to law school, so I wanted to know how they were going to portray the profession, but they never really expounded on that. There are only a handful of BLCDs that have lawyers in them, and they’ve never really given an in depth portrayal of the profession which makes me sad. I need more CSI BL!!!

In conclusion, there was nothing good about this BLCD apart from Ono Yuuki and Nogami Sho’s performances. I was half-expecting to hear Ono Yuuki sound like Kumagai Kentarou here because they sounded alike and Kumagai Kentarou and Nogami Sho did pair up in Ookami-kun, but to my surprise, Ono Yuuki just sounded like himself. He didn’t even sound like Karino even though Mogami was just a poor man’s Karino. Nogami Shou also didn’t sound like Natsume here, considering that he and Natsume are both dumb as rocks that try to look composed. Speaking of Natsume, I guess Torokete Hiraite and Netsuai Judge are similar in terms of relationship dynamics, but (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Torokete Hiraite is better (better, not well) written than Netsuai Judge. I do not recommend listening to this. I’d suggest listening to Ookami-kun instead. 

Damn, I really started this log in a bad note and ended it the same way. 😂 I actually also tried listening to Ahiru-kun, Sakurada-senpai, Karasu no Yomeiri, and Blue Sky complex, but I dropped them all because the first two were too porny for me, Karasu no Yomeiri’s incest still irked me, and I’m sorry to say this, but Blue Sky Complex was too much of a bore for me. I really should have saved Sahara, Shinkon-san, and Link And Ring last in that order. 😩 This should be the end of my 2019 log, though, so there’s no avoiding Given, Saezuru, and Therapy Game now. 😂

[overlord-diaries]

Castlevania Season 3: One really specific fan review.

So now that we’re under shelter in place I’m back on this tumblr bruha again, wildin. [Missed all that good shit of tumblr crashing and burning on itself lmao] Anyway I threw this up a while back after I finished because I had to get it out so YEAH HERE WE GO.

OKAY SO CASTLEVANIA SEASON 3, IN MANY PARTS.

Trevor and Sypha, aka Belnades and Belmont Funtime Adventures: -The best paced of the "routes", but still little dragging. -St. Germain. [and he kept reminding me of FGO Shakespeare] -Kept waiting for the Judge to be Zead. Aka Death, in continuing the nods to Curse of Darkness, the next chronological order game. -NICE FIGHTS. NICE NICE NICE NICE. Animation got a little weird at the last fight but it was still good, looked good. Infinite Corridor, okay. Hell, blase, but whatever that wasn't the point. Satisfying magic blasts, whip GRANDO CROSSSSSSSS. -Excellent final boss music. -I added this part after I got to the end because it's clear this route was the best overall as I had the least to commentate on. -Just this part. 4 outta 5.

Isaac also Has an Adventure: -Netflix Animated Isaac, henceforth Animated!Isaac, has become a decent enough character, though I still think he needs work [from the season 2 which I'll just leave alone], and should've been a separate character if he wasn't going to be Curse of Darkness Isaac [henceforth CoD!Isaac]. -This kind of world-building solo Walking the Earth trope could work, but the pacing wasn't great. -LEGION HOLY SHIT. -In direct comparison to Belnades and Belmont funtimes, he somehow didn't have a good enough ending fight either. EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS LEGION, A CASTLEVANIA MAINSTAY BOSS. -He needs someone else to wax philosophical with but the odds aren't great of anyone else surviving. -Just this part: 2.5 outta 5.

Alucard Experiencing Time at a Troublesome Pace, aka He Should've Gone to Sleep: -Man he should've gone to sleep. As long as there is a Belmont, a Belnades, a Renard, a Morris, Shanoa, etc. around, he goes to sleep. -Fun fact, Taka and Sumi are not siblings. -Fun fact, the Japanese dub of the show, Okiayu Ryoutarou, the original voice of Alucard is in the cast. He voices Trevor though; Shinichiro Miki voices Alucard. I'm never gonna get over that because I'm a fucking seiyuu nerd. -Alucard's arc is a summary of the beautiful landscape and scenery the studios gave us this time, and details on his eyelashes. -Alucard's arc is also a summary of the really awful pacing that resulted from the diverging routes. Very little happened, and a very arbitrary leap of logic has now potentially made a drastic character shift for no real reason. -Better ending: Taka and Sumi, though humans, were actually very loyal to Cho [similar to Hector and Isaac's role to Dracula] and came to hunt down whomever brought about her demise. Or enslave them, upon learning that Alucard played a hand in that. And bring him back to their domain that is thrown in chaos with Cho's absence. Way better. Potential to continue because if they just wanted to capture him, the episode could've ended on that. AND THEN THE FUCKING CASTLE COULD DEMONSTRATE IT'S ELDRITCH ABOMINATION POWERS BY EATING THEM. Or something. -Just this part. 3.5 outta 5. Bonus not-there point because Alucard.

Hector Has a Bad Time, aka It Got Worse: -I cannot fucking believe they decided of anyone, to shaft Hector like this. -You like my stealth pun there? -CURSE OF DARKNESS HECTOR [henceforth CoD!Hector] COULD PUNCH DRACULA IN THE FACE AND HAD THE POWER OF CRISPIN FREEMAN TO VOICE HIM, THIS NETFLIX ANIMATION HECTOR [henceforth Animated!Hector] MAKES ME DEATH METAL GROWL INTO INFINITY. -Fun Fact, in the Japanese dub he is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai. So of course the only joy I got out of this was listening to him whimper. -I DIDN'T SAY THAT. [yesIdid *slurp*] -This entire route was a demonstration of gaslighting at work, but in the most low effort way that it's nearly comical that it still worked. -Design wise, I mentioned this in my live watching posts, Striga looks like she was lifted from Vampire Hunter D, and Morana gave me Natsume Ono [ACCA] vibes. Nice nice nice. -I'm so incensed by what happened with Hector that I can't even comment on the Council of Sisters aside from the fact that I want to stab Carmilla and Lenore. That perma-blush for moe points, get that shit outta here. -AAAAAAAAAAARAARRRRARARHARUAHRUHGHGH-- -Just this part: FUCKING, DAMNIT--1.5 OUTTA 5 AAAAHH

Other, aka The Complaints of a Castlevania Fan: -BOOOOOOO NO JOACHIM, 0 OUTTA 10. -I will write a separate "This is what I wanted out of a cameo from Joachim". -No ost tho? -What even was this pacing? -Was hoping also for more interactions of Castlevania itself with Alucard [the young master~], since he's there by himself. I was actually thinking that would come through because he had the dolls of Trevor and Sypha. -Where is Death? I'm a tad concerned [he also would be the one to call out to the young master~] -I've heard pray tell that the producer wants to make a Devil May Cry animated series as well, and join them into a shared universe [with other future works they do] and that has me apprehensive. When a) Devil May Cry already has an anime, and b) there's still improvements to be made for Castlevania. -Listen new characters and taking advantage of the expanse of lore and open-ended story that presents itself with the absence of Dracula is great. But it has to be good. Like anything else.

Overall, 8 outta 10.

Twas a horrible night to have a curse.

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 12/`16/20

SEAN: As we get closer to the holidays, we get more and more books being published.

ASH: This turn of events pleases me.

MELINDA: And me.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a new title, I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!. Our heroine dies and is reincarnated in an otome game, and she *is* the heroine this time… but the game is notorious for having almost all bad ends. Expect a lot of Alice in Wonderland vibes here as well.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a heaping helping of ongoing digital light novels. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 11, Arifureta 11, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! 4, The Intrigue of Marielle Clarac (Book 5 in that series), Slayers 4, and The Sorcerer’s Receptionist 2. Phew!

Kodansha has some print. We get Drifting Dragons 7, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 6, Gleipnir 8, the 2nd Magic Knight Rayearth manga box set, which will finish the series, and also has a bonus artbook. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 15 and UQ Holder 21 are also out.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Drifting Dragons. I’ve also somehow never actually read Magic Knight Rayearth yet.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World (Isekai de Saikyou Maou no Kodomo-tachi Juunin no Mama ni Nacchaimashita), which sounds like your standard isekai but is also by Ema Toyama, author of Missions of Love and other shoujo classics. This is not shoujo: it runs in Shonen Sirius. A girl whose mother has died plays the game the mother never finished… and finds herself in another world.

ASH: Ema Toyama, you say? That piques my interest a bit more than just the title alone.

MELINDA: I don’t read much digitally, but this intrigues me as well, almost entirely because of the author.

SEAN: There is also Dolly Kill Kill 9, Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- 2, GE: Good Ending 12, Heroine for Hire 4 (the final volume), Kakushigoto 10, Orient 9, Shaman King: The Super Star 2, Shojo FIGHT! 14, and The Writer and His Housekeeper 3.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to get caught up on Shojo FIGHT!.

SEAN: One Peace has a 3rd manga volume for The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Debuting from Seven Seas is Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Everyday Misadventures! (Watashi, Nichijou wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!), the 4-koma spinoff of Mile’s antics that everyone wanted. It runs in Comic Earth Star.

Also out from Seven Seas: Goodbye My Rose Garden 3 (the final volume) and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear’s 4th novel (digital-first).

MICHELLE: I wouldn’t say Goodbye, My Rose Garden was an amazing series, but it was certainly good enough to read the third and final volume.

ASH: I still need to read the second volume (and now soon the third), but I found the first volume to be enjoyable.

SEAN: Sol Press, after what seems like 80,000 years, has the second Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World light novel.

Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of No Vampire, No Happy Ending.

Vertical gives us the 4th Katanagatari omnibus digitally (I will keep repeating this till it’s correct), Kino’s Journey 7, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 2.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun and am eagerly anticipating the second.

MELINDA: Always here for Kino’s Journey, too.

SEAN: They also have Zoku-Owarimonogatari, the final, absolutely the last, no take backs, Monogatari Series novel. Unless they license the others that came after this.

Viz’s debut is Remina, another helping of Junji Ito just in time for winter. This is sci-fi, but still just as terrifying. It ran in Big Comic Spirits.

MICHELLE: I am down for this sci-fi/horror blend!

ASH: Yup! I’m here for this one, too.

MELINDA: Yes!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Flag 5, Golden Kamuy 19, Levius/est 7, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 2, and No Guns Life 8.

ANNA: Glad that Maison Ikkoku is being rereleased and looking forward to Blue Flag.

MICHELLE: What Anna said.

ASH: I should actually read Maison Ikkoku now that it is readily available again.

MELINDA: I should be buying them, since I never managed to acquire a full collection of the original release!

SEAN: Yen On has a truly terrifying number of light novels coming out. The first debut is The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken). We’ve seen a mini-rebirth of the non-fantasy romcom in recent licenses, and this falls into that category. A guy lends his neighbor his umbrella one day, she offers to help around his house in return, and a relationship blossoms.

The second debut is a spinoff, Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Dai Katana. This apparently goes into the past of Sword Maiden.

There is also (deep breath): Accel World 23, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 5, Baccano! 15, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer 18, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 5, Suppose a Kid From the Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 4, and Torture Princess 6.

ASH: That is a fair number of light novels!

SEAN: On the Yen Press side, there’s even more. Debut #1: 86, the manga adaptation of the grim military fantasy light novel series. It runs in Young Gangan.

Carole and Tuesday runs in Young Ace, and I believe is the rare case where the anime comes first and the manga follows. Girls who want to be musicians… on Mars!

ANNA: I watched half of the anime….

ASH: I do like musicians… and Mars…

MELINDA: I… kind of want it. Though I’m not sure how to interpret the fact that Anna only watched half of the anime.

SEAN: Not quite a debut, but we do see Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook.

Strawberry Fields Once Again (Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido) is a yuri romance that seems to have a twist to it. It ran in Mediaworks’ @ vitamin.

And Wolf & Parchment is the manga adaptation of the sequel to Spice & Wolf.

Also from Yen: ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department P.S. 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 16, Goblin Slayer 9, King of Eden 2, KonoSuba 11, Lust Geass 2, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 17, Plunderer 6, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petit Devil Kouhai (another omnibus), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 3: Truth of Zero 11 (the final volume of this arc), Reborn As a Polar Bear 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 12, A Witch’s Printing Office 4, and Yowamushi Pedal’s 16th omnibus.

MICHELLE: I am fixin’ to have a YowaPeda catch-up spree and am very happy about that.

ASH: Same! And I always look forward to reading Natsume Ono’s manga, so I plan on picking up the ACCA continuation as well.

SEAN: Any presents from this list you’re giving out?

By: Sean Gaffney

[supergenial]

[translation+lyrics] 君よ by 藍月なくる

My prayers were heard and Aitsuki Nakuru finally did another chu2-like song, and it was: Good. I wouldn’t call it a homerun (even though the beats are by the absolute genius Tsukagoshi) but it’s refreshing to see her coming back to these types of sounds because I’ve been starved for this comeback ever since applephilia.

The whole album is actually pretty neat, she formed this unit called La prière along with Nayuta and Itsuki Natsume (who do the chorus for this one) and the tone of the album is pretty consistent all throughout. They also got Butada Hikari to do the character designs I think, which is pretty funny because I got all excited thinking she was singing in a new album when in reality she was just drawing, those darn multi-talented people always betraying expectations by being good at everything amirite. Anyway, lyrics down below and see you all next time.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 君よ (Kimi yo, You)

Lyrics/Music:塚越雄一朗

Vocal:藍月なくる

kimi yo utsukushiku mo hakanaki mono yo sadame ni aragaishi mono yo amata utsushi yo no yami wo utsuse domo mukunaru mikokoro no mama ni are

You, such a beautiful and frail being fighting against fate so much darkness comes from the world yet your soul remains untainted

ware wa iza yukan ryou no te ni wa daichi wo yaku gouka mo kono mi kogase wa shinai

Yet I'm no good anymore both of my hands have gone through hellfire, yet my body refuses to burn away

a, kimi yo hoshi to narite orokashiki wo ureu no darou nao mo ikusa wa tsutsuite yuku a, kimi yo kanashiki kana hito no gou wa samo midari ni heion wo kowashite yuku koishiki wa yasashisa arishi hi no irine (ειρηνη)

ah, become my guiding star so I'll stop foolishly worrying as I persist through this battlefield ah, are you sad at how people's desires have broken all peace for no good reason love is but the kindness left behind from those days of peace

kimi yo sabishiku wa nai darou ka ware wa ima mo mada koko ni iru ten wo aogedo tsuki sae mo wakaranu hikari wa izuko to mouja wa iu

For your sake I won’t be sad for I am still here I can't even grasp the moon as I stare into the skies wherefore lies the light the dead spoke of

nani yue umareta mu ni kisu made moyashi tsukuse ima wa kami no mimoto wo mezase

why are we born if we'll return to nothing as the flame extinguishes let's try and reach god's grace

a, kimi yo shinji tamae ono ga inochi sono tomori wo kedakaki mama ni shiroki mama ni a, kami yo ima ichido no, ima ichido no jihi wo douka sashi dasou waga subete wo boukyou no kanata ni hohoemu agamenoi (Αγαπημενοτ)

ah, do you still believe in me as your life flames up still so graceful, and still so pure oh god, just this once, just this once take pity on me I'm offering myself entirely to you my beloved who smiles at me from the edges of my nostalgia

kegare yodomu kardia?  (καρδτα) wasure enu no wa nukumori

has my heart rotted away? But I won't forget that warmth

kimi yo, kimi yo, kimi yo... ushinai wa senu yukase wa senu

You, You, You... I don't want to lose you, don't pass away

a, kimi yo shinji tamae ono ga inochi sono tomori wo kedakaki mama ni shiroki mama ni a, kami yo ima ichido no, ima ichido no jihi wo douka sashidasou waga subete wo boukyou no kanata ni hohoemu agamenoi (Αγαπημενοτ)

ah, do you still believe in me as your life flames up still so graceful, and still so pure oh god, just this once, just this once take pity on me I'm offering myself entirely to you my beloved who smiles at me from the edges of my nostalgia

also REALLY funny is that they thought they were so smart doing greek words but their booklets actually came out with a misprint because the printer/format couldn’t handle some special characters, so they have actual lyrics patch notes on the album’s website so that’s pretty fucking funny if you ask me 

edit: I’ve been given some feedback on the greek words so I updated this a little bit. Thanks!

[hikikomoriheadphonegirl]

[semitranslatedseiyuublog]

Pop Team Epic Special Cast!

[TRANSLATION BELOW!]

Part A: Yukari Tamura  x Yui Horie

Part B: Souichirou Hoshi x Akira Ishida

Part A: Kana Hanazawa x Haruka Tomatsu

Part B: Kappei Yamaguchi x Kenichi Ogata

Part A: Sakiko Tamagawa x Rie Tanaka

Part B: Yuuki Ono and Kensho Ono

Part A: Yumiri Hanamori x Nao Touyama

Part B: Takahiro Sakurai x Jun Fukuyama

Part A: Mariko Kouda x Kikuko Inoue 

Part B: Nobuo Tobito x Bin Shimada

Part A: Emiri Kato x Kaori Fukuhara

Part B: Tomokazu Seki x Yousuke Akimoto

Part A: Junko Takeuchi x Rei Sakuma

Part B: Toshihiko Seki x Yusa Kouji

Part A: Etsuko Kozakura x Chisa Yokoyama

Part B: Hikaru Midorikawa x Takehito Koyasu

Yes, I got lazy part of the way through the deep research stuff. Really, just read what’s above...

Part A: Yukari Tamura  x Yui Horie

Yukari Tamura

Agency: Amuleto

Date of Birth: February 27, 1976 (age 43 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Tenten (Naruto), Mine (Akame ga Kill), Amane Suzuha (Steins;Gate), Natsukawa Masuzu (OreShura), Harime Nui (Kill la Kill), Furude Rika  (Higurashi), Yumehara Chiyo (Saiki)

Related Posts: - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?”

Yui Horie 

Agency: VIMS

Date of Birth: September 20, 1976 (age 42 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Ayu Tsukimiya (Kanon), Minori Kushieda (Toradora!), Wiz (KonoSuba), Charles (Fairy Tail), Kouko Kaga (Golden Time), Ryuunosuke Akasaka (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo), Aina Kuronuma (Sakamoto desu ga?), Hanyuu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai), Anna Kushina (K), Kisara Tendou (Black Bullet)

Related Posts: - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - 42nd Birthday Post

REASON: Besides being nearly the same age, Horie formed a temporary unit called Yamato Nadeshiko with the popular seiyuu Tamura Yukari in 2001. They released two singles. They have been in anime together like Higurashi too. 

Part B: Souichirou Hoshi x Akira Ishida

Souichirou Hoshi:

Agency: Arts Vision

Date of Birth: May 30, 1972 (age 46 years)

Notable Roles: Kira Yamato (Gundam), Kazuki Fuuchouin (GetBackers), Keiichi Maebara (Higurashi), Kaoru Hanabishi (Ai Yori Aoshi), Rygart Arrow (Break Blade), Makoto Isshiki (Chuunibyou), Sanada Yukimura (Sengoku Basara)

Akira Ishida

Agency: Gerbera Peerless

Date of Birth: November 2, 1967 (age 51)

Notable Roles: Athrun Zala (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny), Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Kotaro Katsura (Gintama), Gaara (Naruto), Zeref Dragneel (Fairy Tail), Xerxes Break (Pandora Hearts),  Keiji Mogami (Mob Psycho 100), Shuichi Natori (Natsume Yuujinchou)

Related Posts:  - “Ishida Akira's Trivia” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “Favourite and Least Favourite Male Seiyuu” - “Least Recognizable Seiyuu" - “Happy Birthday Akira Ishida!” - “Charapedia’s Top 20 popular male seiyuu of 2018″  

REASON: These two are actually really good friends which is weird because Akira is known for being a very closed off person. He won’t even go to parties (unless his friend Hoshi is there), he doesn’t take all the roles that he’s offered, and he even took a while warming up to the Gintama cast. Even then, he can come off as a bit standoffish and hostile at times, so Hoshi is really one of the only people that are close to Ishida.

Part A: Kana Hanazawa x Haruka Tomatsu

Kana Hanazawa

Agency: Office Osawa

Date of Birth: February 25, 1989 (age 30 years)

Notable Roles/Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Kana Hanazawa (Feb. 25)” (Role Compilation) - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - “Kana Hanazawa - Song Recommendations” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu Challenge (3+4): Favourite and Least Favourite Female Seiyuu” - “YouTube Excursion - Kana Hanazawa”

Haruka Tomatsu

Agency: Music Ray'n

Date of Birth: February 4, 1990 (age 29 years)

Notable Roles/Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Haruka Tomatsu (Feb. 4)” (Role Compilation and Song Recommendation) - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu Challenge (3+4): Favourite and Least Favourite Female Seiyuu”

REASON: Besides being nearly the same age, I actually don’t know. Hanazawa is known for being fans of her Kouhei like Yui Ogura and Ayane Sakura.

Part B: Kappei Yamaguchi x Kenichi Ogata

Kappei Yamaguchi:

Agencies: Gokū and 21st Century Fox

Date of Birth: May 23, 1965 (age 53 years)

Compilation Post (Role Compilation, Sources, etc.)

Kenichi Ogata

Agency: Gerbera Peerless

Date of Birth: March 29, 1942 (age 77 years)

Notable Roles: Genma Saotome (Ranma ½), Professor Hiroshi Agasa (Detective Konan), Myōga (Inuyasha), King Dedede (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!)

REASON: I guess it’s because they’ve worked on Inuyasha and Ranma ½ together.

Part A: Sakiko Tamagawa x Rie Tanaka

Sakiko Tamagawa

Agency: Sigma Seven

Date of Birth: January 20, 1962 (age 57 years)

Rie Tanaka

Agency: Mausu Production

Date of Birth: January 3, 1979 (age 40 years)

Part B: Yuuki Ono and Kensho Ono

Yuuki Ono:

Agencies: Freelancer

Date of Birth: June 22, 1984 (age 34 years)

“Top Five Yuuki Ono Roles”

Kensho Ono

Agency: Animo Productions

Date of Birth: October 5, 1989 (age 29 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Kuroko Tetsuya (Kuroko no Basket), Tanaka (Tanaka is Always Listless), Ryuunosuke Akutagawa (Bungou Stray Dogs), Hyakuya Mikaela (Owari no Seraph), Slaine Troyard (Aldnoah.Zero), Giorno Giovanna (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Related Post: - “Popular Seiyuu Ranking Top 30 - 2019″ - “Top Five Kensho Ono Roles” - “Best Seiyuu Pairings"

REASON: Two Ono’s are better than one? They’re both in Jojo, but Jojo has all three Ono’s (Daisuke, Kensho, and Yuuki).

Part A: Yumiri Hanamori x Nao Touyama

Yumiri Hanamori

Agency: M&I

Date of Birth: September 29, 1997 (age 21 years)

Nao Touyama

Agency: INTENTION

Date of Birth: March 11, 1992 (age 27 years)

Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Nao Touyama!” - “Nao Touyama - Song Recommendations” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu, who surprised you with their non-voice acting skills?"

Part B: Takahiro Sakurai x Jun Fukuyama

Takahiro Sakurai:

Agencies: INTENTION

Jun Fukuyama:

Agency: BLACKSHIP

At this point, I really gave up trying to keep up with finding all the links and maintaining this format.

Part A: Mariko Kouda (Aoni Production) x Kikuko Inoue (Office Anemone)

Part B: Nobuo Tobito (Arts Vision) x Bin Shimada (Aoni Production)

Part A: Emiri Kato (81 Produce) x Kaori Fukuhara (Freelance) 

Part B: Tomokazu Seki (Atomic Monkey) x Yousuke Akimoto (Office PAC)

Part A: Junko Takeuchi (Ogipro The Next) x Rei Sakuma (81 Produce)

Part B: Toshihiko Seki (81 Produce) x Yusa Kouji (Freelance)

Part A: Etsuko Kozakura (Little Portal) x Chisa Yokoyama (Banbina)

Part B: Hikaru Midorikawa (Aoni Production) x Takehito Koyasu (Ts Factory)

[fakeanimesubs]

What are you’re favourite/top anime?i need some recommendations as im running low on what to watch next! (ಥ﹏ಥ)

"Natsume's Book of Friends" is a really good anime and I highly recommend it if you're into relaxing anime! I cannot praise it enough with it's consistent art style and use of soft, eye pleasing colors. It's rather long with an ongoing manga but I think its worth it getting into. I suggest watching it when you have a lot of free time when relaxing since its a super chill anime, maybe during like winter break? Or maybe after exams? You'll also cry so get tissues ready."Hanasaku Iroha" is also a hidden gem, I rarely see people recommend it but I think its great for a late night binge."Gugure! Kokkuri-san" and "Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken" are both funny anime with a high rewatch value IMO, especially since "Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken" has short episodes. Gugure gives off a dry sense of humor and Ono D really plays his role as the main supporting character amazingly well. Another funny one is "Gakuen Handsome", the parody art style and story is really funny and outrageous I find it hard not to laugh. A recent comedy I liked was "Tsurezure Children" and I really felt like the humor was on point and updated?"Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita" is good with its dry humored main character, if you're looking specifically for that."Kamisama Hajimemashita" is a favorite of mine although the art style comes off over-shoujo-ized, at least with the bishies. My only complaint was that they skipped some arcs I thought were interesting and that they decided to use the OVAs to show the ending which means we won't get those arcs animated since they technically finished the series."Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari" and "Amaama to Inazuma" are cute anime's with main characters who are children and are just super sweet and gives off a healing vibe."Gosick" is good if you're looking for a mystery anime."Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist" is a good josei anime, although if you're looking for BL then this anime isn't gonna give it to you. It sorta teeters on that line but to me it's more like an emphasis on strong male bonds? Idk the art is good I like it, I'd marry those boys in a heart beatIf you're looking for something more specific genre wise then let me know and I'll try my best to help!

[lia-nikiforov]

Winter Anime Final Impressions

I was supposed to do this like two weeks ago but with Gundam ending so late and me getting swept up with many things, I didn’t have the time, but here’s a quick rundown of the best and worst of the Winter season. I’m gong from best to worst and also since I watched very few shows this season, I ‘m not gonna break them down in best/meh/worst

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

A masterpiece to the very end, as heartbreaking as it was full of joy and love. There was this weird insinuation at the end that didn’t sit well with me at all and I’m not sure why they felt the need to do it, but I can overlook it because the rest of the picture is so wonderful and special and heart-wrenching. When Konatsu asked Yakumo to make her his apprentice, I actually cried. What a beautiful show. Don’t let the obscure antique Japanese art keep you from experiencing one of the best anime of this decade.

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto-hen

I was a bit worried about this one because lately, when an “old” show gets a sequel many years after it last aired, said sequel turns out underwhelming and poorly done. See D.Grayman HALLOW (which also adapted my favorite arc from that manga) and Berserk (production values aside, the decline of this is due to Miura’s gross storytelling, so I guess it was inevitable). But I was more than surprised and ecstatic to see this rendition of the Kyoto arc did justice on the source material, with excellent production values, a good pace and wonderful emotional and action scenes alike. AoEx is one of the finest examples of the battle shonen genre and that translated wonderfully to this new iteration of the anime. I can only hope we’ll see Izumo’s and Shura’s arc eventually too.

ACCA-13-ku Kansatsuka

I was a Little on the fence on this one at the start, but once they laid down all the cards and tied all the loose threads, it became absolutely amazing. I’m sorry I ever doubted you Natsume Ono, your ability to craft smart and fascinating adult stories shall never be questioned again. Definitely worth checking out if you want to try something different to your usual anime genres. Helps that the visuals are really interesting and that Mauve is such a bae. I still feel Jean was the weakest link with his absolute nonchalance, but even that somehow worked at the end. Definitely worth going through the somewhat slow initial episodes.

Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation

NGL i’m not a fan of Kaburagi, he’s so much like Naruko I don’t feel he adds anything to the team. But this is now officially the Teshima show and that compensates for the snooze that is Kaburagi because Teshima has become so fabulous and cool I’m just excited every week to see what he’ll do next. Also the First-year race was a true highlight and I’m very disappointed Sugimoto didn’t make the cut, they did a fantastic job in making him likable, so it was sad to see him lose. Hopefully he’ll get to assist Imaizumi when they’re 3rd years.

Little Witch Academia

This show’s a lot of fun, with really sweet animation and it also sports the Best Girl of the season, Sucy Manbavaaran, although I gotta say there were a bit too many fillerish episodes and it was frustrating to see them take so long to get the plot going. I’m not hating on the show, it is in fact extremely entertaining, but it’s a little lacking on the plot department. Hopefully we’ll get more of that on the second cour.

Classicaloid

I’ve never been happier of not quitting a show as I am about Classicaloid. By episode 3 I was on the verge of giving up because it wasn’t what I had expected, but I kept going and I ended falling so hard in love with this show I’m ecstatic it’s getting a second season. Once I embraced the absurdity, it became the best comedy of the season, and I honestly would watch Schubert’s fishy misadventures for 52 weeks a year. It’s an acquired taste for sure and not easy to recommend, but if you’re willing to let go of all reason, you’re sure to have a good time.

All Out!!

I have a lot of love for this show and its characters (and Sekizan’s ridiculous hair), but I’m afraid the pacing they chose basically doomed them because with the abysmal sales, it seems unlikely we’ll ever see a second season and therefore we’ll never get to see if Jinko does get to Hanazono. It’s a perfectly competent sports series, that does a really good job of developing its huge cast, definitely much better than the likes of Prince of Stride or DAYS, but its inconclusive ending is quite frustrating. I really do hope we get to see more of these boys, but Madhouse’s never been all that good with the whole getting-sequels-done so…

Kuzu no Honkai

In spite of its low ranking, this is actually a really good show and a unique take on teenage female sexuality that you wouldn’t normally see in this mostly sexist medium. Hanabi made for a truly interesting protagonist and I liked seeing her explore herself and her relationships. I was however quite disappointed by how little focus we actually had for Hanabi and Mugi’s relationship. I felt there was more telling than showing in that regard, especially in the latter half of the show. The ending was pretty good and mature in spite of everything, and as always, I’m just really fond of all the vaginal imagery in the ED animation. Could’ve done without Moca though.

Gundam: Tekketsu Orphans

At the end of the Fall season, I expressed my concern about pointless, meaningless deaths. Clearly the Gundam writers thought I wasn’t concerned enough because the amount of characters that died pointless deaths went on to, I think, the double digits. I wouldn’t have minded the carnage if there had been some sort of payoff to the sacrifices. For example, if Shino hadn’t stupidly and conveniently missed his one shot because the show couldn’t afford to kill Rustal yet. I always felt Orga, Mika and Akihiro had a ton of death flags looming over their heads, but I certainly didn’t expect all three of them to get to the chopping block. Orga’s death was particularly random and pointless, but then again, what they did with Orga in general was very confusing. That he agreed to McGillis’s sketchy propositions to become “king of Mars” never made a whole lot of sense to me and that’s the result we got. I’ll also never get over how creepy and weird the whole Atra giving Mika a baby thing was. In short, I have very mixed feelings about it.

Hand Shakers

I could write thousands of words for everything that was wrong with this series but I think it wouldn’t make justice to the absolute experience that is watching this amazing trainwreck. Go watch it to see a masterclass of how not to anime. Honestly I had such a good time hating this show, it was so horrible in every possible way. Good job GoHands, even animate, who sponsored this show, won’t give it any publicity.

Super Lovers

I’m not sure of how this production team managed to put out 20 episodes of nothing actually happen. Like you just have to give kudos to the writers for managing to simply not do anything over the course of 6~ hours of content. No drama, no decent comedy, no character development, not even relationship development in a BL romance. It’s kind of amazing how pointless the whole thing is. The dog’s still cute and the relationship is still creepy and gross and that’s about all there is to say about this.

Although most of the shows I watched turned out great, it did feel like a weaker season because there wasn’t that much that was interesting (my Wednesdays were literally empty). Or maybe everything looks lackluster in this post-Yuri on Ice world D: But there was Rakugo and rakugo is good and I’m glad we live in an age in which such a niche, quiet and adult artistic show could be made and tell a complete story.

[mononohke-archive]

Anime Roundup Pt.1 - Fall 2016 [Spoilers]

It’s that time of the season again where I get to write thousands of words nitpicking whatever anime I happened to watch! For the first time, I want to add a SPOILER warning because although I don’t go out of my way to spoil plot points, I will bring them up if necessary. This is late once again, and honestly I don’t have much of an excuse. I did have some writers’ block, but I also just procrastinated a lot. It’s a good thing no one cares about my opinions in the first place! :D 

Also, I had to split this into two parts because apparently there is a word limit of 5000 on text posts. 

Overall: This was a really damn good season. The were a couple of disappointments, yes, but it still mostly good and there were a few amazing, Anime of the Year contenders too.

Total Anime: 11 | Average Score: 7.5 | Word Count: 5058

- (DIRECT) SEQUELS -

Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season [7/10]

Oh... Bungou Stray Dogs. How dare you do that to me? How dare you get so damn good you made me cry, then a few episodes later, take it all away? That’s what the first 4-episode, completely unrelated flashback arc of this second season did. Meaning: it switches protagonists (focusing on a character/friend from Dazai’s past in Port Mafia), switches tone, and switches... um, quality of writing to be perfectly honest. This whole 4-episode arc is like a masterpiece compared to the rest of the show before and after. I need to talk about why I like it better so much.

#1) The main character is someone I ended up really caring about. Oda Sakunosuke (voiced by the great Jun Suwabe) is a Port Mafia hitman who is unwilling to actually kill people. Despite his job, he takes care of a few adopted kids and tries so hard to do what’s right and follow his principles. He is a protagonist which I rarely see, and I fell in love with him instantly. Compare him to Atsushi who is... just okay... nothing special... kind of boring by comparison, actually. I have issues with being invested with the characters in the main storyline.

Of all the people in the Agency, I only like Kunikida and the boss, Yuki. Collectively, they don’t get much screen time, especially compared to Dazai, but even I did not have a problem with Dazai in this arc. His stupid suicide jokes and tomfoolery are severely toned down and frankly, he’s a lot more likable like this. The other side characters were great too, like the villain, Gide (voiced by another one of my favorite seiyuu, Shinichirou Miki).

#2) Total difference. If you haven’t seen BSD, you won’t know that it is full of humorous moments. A lot of it is... hit and miss. And sure, it’s not overall or primarily a comedy, but the comedy elements are pretty strong and frequent, especially in the first season. In this arc though, there was almost no humor. It was a serious gangster drama with a few supernatural elements. It’s almost comparable to last season’s 91 Days, which I personally enjoyed a lot.

#3) Genre shift. This is related to the previous number and to reiterate, the first arc of BSD season 2 is a dead serious gangster action/drama. The rest of the show is highly comedic with a lot of anime tropes/cliches, but the flashback arc had none of that. It almost didn’t feel like an anime. It was a legitimate crime drama (with the focus on the criminals instead of the police) which is actually really damn rare in anime. I praised 91 Days a lot for this in the previous season, so BSD gave me another taste of that and it was beautifully done. The bleak, but still beautiful color grading, the 1930s aesthetic despite it taking place in modern times, the soundtrack, everything was on point.

Aaand that’s why I upped the score by one point compared to the first season. This flashback arc did it for me. It made me desperately wish that BSD was about Odasaku and Port Mafia instead of Atsushi and the Agency. If this arc was released alone as an OVA, I would’ve given it a 9 for sure.

To be fair though, this season was also genuinely better than the first in a few ways. Namely, the introduction of the overseas/foreign group of specialists full of familiar Western authors like Mark Twain and H.P. Lovecraft. The leader of The Guild, F. Scott Fitzgerald (played by another one of my faves, Takahiro Sakurai), in particular is a delight to watch as he pulls the strings of his evil plans. Generally, all the new additions to the cast, including the extra focus on Port Mafia, are highly entertaining to follow, much better than the Agency alone. Although the Guild arc is a little bit rushed because of the flashback arc, the pacing and everything just felt a lot more exciting than the previous season.

Other than that, I can’t say I have any new criticisms or appraisals. Most of the things I mentioned in my first review of Bungou Stray Dogs carries over. I do want to praise the production values again because this show genuinely has top-tier animation and sound design (because Production I.G.). Forget what I previously said about the direction because that and the cinematography are beautiful. Some of the shots in the show are worthy of being framed. Even the soundtrack was good, even if it isn’t particularly memorable. The biggest, and pretty much only, flaws that this show has is in the writing/plot and characters and those are really important things. Great writing can often make up for a lack of production values, but it usually does work the other way around.

Haikyuu!! 3rd Season [8/10]

I was kind of surprised that for the next sequel of Haikyuu!!, they would dedicate an entire (10 episode) season just to one match. Even now, I question that decision. Don’t get me wrong, Haikyuu!! is still as good as it ever was in terms of production values, writing, voice acting*, etc buuut having 10 episodes dedicated to one match and nothing else? I’m not a fan of it.

Part of that is because as far as sports anime goes, I tend to favor training arcs and down time in-between matches, more than actual matches themselves (and I also prefer shorter matches). This “season” is one rather lengthy match, with nothing after it or before it like in the previous seasons. I’m sure I would’ve been fine with it if it was part of a full 25 episode season. That’s why I actually dropped it one point instead of being a 9/10 like the first two seasons.

Other than that, I don’t really have any complaints... I mean, yes, my preference for shorter matches is a thing, but it’s not at all badly paced like Diamond no Ace. But looking back, I might’ve preferred marathoning it than watching it week-to-week like I did...

*RIP to the original voice actor of Ukai, Kazunari Tanaka.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go [10/10]

Watching this new season of Natsume Yuujinchou was like meeting and old friend. It was like going home. With the exception of a slight change in art style, there is no difference at all between this and the last season that aired back in 2012. My biggest complaint, honestly, is that Go only had 11 episodes rather than 13 like every other season does. Thankfully, another season is guaranteed next year, so it’s not over!

Now, I don’t want to discuss every reason why I love Natsume Yuujinchou so much because I plan to do that one day in a proper review of the series as a whole, but let’s just say that this series is really important to me. This season gave me what I wanted: more fun, heartwarming, and emotional anecdotes of Natsume’s everyday life interacting with youkai and humans alike as well as a bit more backstory of Natsume, Natori, Matoba, and Natsume’s family/friends and the slight moving forward of an overarching plot. Further character development for some few characters also happened in the usual subtle way.

I’m so happy Natsume has maintained its level of quality, even with the studio change. All the original voice actors and most of the original production crew came back. Thank god for this consistency because not all shows get it (*coughsdgmcoughs*).

- INDIRECT SEQUELS & NON-SEQUELS -

Days [7/10]

This is a sports anime. Just a regular sports anime which hits all the beats of every other sports anime. The production values are pretty decent, although the CGI players in long shots are somewhat distracting, but they are nothing special.

So why did I like this one? Well, aside from how I generally favor sports anime (albeit for shallow reasons like good yaoi art/doujins/fanfiction), I did get invested in the characters, that much is undeniable. What helps is that the voice cast is incredible, with Takahiro Sakurai, Daisuke Ono, Tomokazu Seki, Daisuke Namikawa, etc etc. Yes, despite the sameyness of this sports anime, I took a liking to it. It entertained me and it’s good enough for a sports anime, which I rate relative to each other, not other anime of different genres.

Days, in all actuality, is pretty average, but I liked the characters a lot and that’s enough for me.

Drifters [7/10]

Before I start talking about this one, I am not familiar with Hellsing (yet, but it is on my plan-to-watch list), so I can’t really use that as a comparison. Now then, Drifters is a little strange to me because on one hand, it really plays to some of my base desires/guilty pleasures and overall I found it fun to watch. For example, It’s incredibly gorey and violent, which I appreciate. It’s a massive crossover story with famous historical figures and takes place in a very Lord of the Rings-esque (almost like a cliffnotes version) alternate universe. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and has plenty of hilarious and cool moments.

On the other hand, there’s a lot of unfunny “offensive” humor/etc that really takes me out of the viewing experience. How can I properly enjoy something when I’m always lowkey uncomfortable? Some of the sexism and homophobia/transphobia is so bad it feels like an 80s anime. (If you’ve seen an older anime, you know how much more blatant they are.) How is this writer still stuck so far in the past? Get a clue, man, most modern anime is usually at least subtle about it.

Anyway, aside from that, I did also have some problems with other things, which I can only describe vaguely because sometimes I zoned out while watching the show. Well, regardless, I still thought Drifters was pretty good, and I liked it, but it sure as hell is flawed. Looking forward to the second season though.

Fune wo Amu [5/10]

If I had to pick the most disappointing anime of the season, it would be this one. Not that Fune wo Amu/The Great Passage is actually bad, per se, but I expected much more. Granted, it was probably my fault in the first place. I made a lot of assumptions about what it would be like because I heard Haruko Kumota was attached to the project and thought it would be a masterpiece drama like Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (written/drawn by Kumota) earlier this year. Turns out that Fune no Amu is actually based off of a novel written by someone else and Haruko Kumota is merely the character designer for the anime and is currently drawing the manga adaptation.

Even so, this anime looked promising. The whole premise centering around an adult cast working on the production of a dictionary (a somewhat mundane job) is exceedingly rare in anime. Sooo... maybe it would give a unique experience since there would be little-to-no anime cliches and tropes, right? Um, well, yeah that’s the thing. While is succeeded in not having that many of anime’s typical pitfalls, it did not succeed in making the characters or dictionaries in general interesting.

The biggest problem with Fune wo Amu is the complete lack of focus. It kind of goes all over the place and tries to cover everything, but instead it spreads the narrative thin. The only exception is Majime (the main character)’s connection to dictionary making, but even that is marred by a different issue (which I’ll get to after this). There are other things which are subplots or otherwise brought up, but never get properly explored or resolved.

For example: the romance between Majime and Kaguya. For a few episodes, they interact a little bit, Majime has a crush on her, halfway through he writes a cheesy love letter to her and bam! 10+ year time skip and they’re happily married. As someone who hates romance in general, it’s really weird for me to say that I wanted more focus on the romance. (On a sidenote, can I just say that Kaguya’s career of becoming a chef and restaurant owner in an extremely male dominated/sexist industry is about hundred times more interesting than Majime faffing about with dictionaries? Makes me wish the anime was about her instead.)

And that’s not the only thing ofc... the friendship between Majime and Nishioka was not really resolved. The old man and his dedication to making the dictionary was there in the beginning and brought back only at the very end as he’s about to pass away. Almost everything felt like it didn’t get enough attention.

As for Majime’s character development and his relationship with dictionary making. The problem with that is not really the writing, but with the imagery. The symbolism in this show is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. A character says something like “a sea of words” to describe making a dictionary and then later in the episode, Majime has a dream where he’s literally in a sea of words. Not only is it distracting as hell, but it feels unfitting for this kind of anime. Yes, there is some media where big and bold imagery is the way to go (Gurren Lagann, anyone?), but Fune wo Amu is not it. If the symbolism was more subtle or abstract, it definitely would’ve worked in its favor. Instead, it’s hamfisted and corny. If you want a good example of subtle, interesting, and effective imagery from a show with a similar vibe, watch Rakugo Shinjuu (which is in my top 3 best anime of 2016).

I also have to quickly mention the music, even though it’s not visual, because it also suffers the problem of being too obvious and distracting. It’s not a good thing when the main theme kicks in and I groan because it annoys me that much. Again, a more subtle soundtrack would’ve been better. Other than those major problems, there’s nothing really of note to mention. The animation itself is decent and the voice acting is fine as usual. Nothing standout though, despite the cast full of veterans.

So in the end, I struggled between giving this an anime a 5 or 6. I originally settled on a 6, but then lowered it back down to a 5 because I was being too forgiving.

[utanotranslations]

Translation: Utano’s Hello Project Maruwakari Book Winter 2019 Q&A

The theme of this year’s Maruwakari Book is school, and Utano answers questions ranging from her favourite subject to a memory from school in this fun interview. Enjoy, and please don’t repost without credit!

Name: Satoyoshi Utano Birthday: September 22nd, 2000 Hometown: Tokyo Subject you’re good at?: Japanese, History What’s your favourite food?: Zhajiangmian If you could join a club to do activities, what club would it be?: Tea ceremony club If the seats were changed, what member would you want to sit next to?: Nonaka Miki-san, Oda Sakura-san. I want to be taught English, and I want to talk to them about various things. Which member do you think it would be good to have as a homeroom teacher?: Nakanishi Kana-san. Since it seems like the lessons would be fun. A detour after school! Where do you go, and with who?: I want to go to a taiyaki store with Ono Mizuho-san and Shimakura Rika-san! For school uniforms, are you the blazer type? Or the sailor type?: Sailor type. A memory from your school activities: I went to Taiwan on a school trip. Which Kenshuusei are you paying the most attention to?: Nakayama Natsume-san. Her singing voice is really cute, and her legs are long so my eyes follow her.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Nights Before Night

Title: NIGHTS BEFORE NIGHT

Author/Artist: Natsume Kazuki

Release Date: 2018/12/19

Cast: Ono Yuuki x Nojima Hirofumi I had hoped for a world where I wouldn’t hear Shigure-san and Haru fuck, but such a world doesn’t want to exist.

Morikawa Toshiyuki x Nojima Hirofumi

Ono Yuuki x Nojima Hirofumi

Saitou Souma

Synopsis: The death of me.

Review Proper 

Bitch, I’m weak.

I don’t even know what to say.

I really didn’t expect (I did, but I didn’t want to) that Natsume Kazuki was going to provide us with that kind of backstory. I’ve been putting off both the BLCD and the manga for so long (this was released last year and I’ve had the manga since November and the BLCD since early February) because of this fear, but I think it was high time that I gathered all my balls to finally listen to it. My selfish ass waited for someone to upload the raws so that I wouldn’t need to open my own copy but nooooo the internet just wanted to act up and I had no choice but to open mine. Had I waited for the raws to load, I would’ve put the BLCD down and would have postponed it again. 

What a great life people who haven’t heard/listened to Nights Before Night must live. 😩 If I had a dollar for all the times this experience broke my heart, I would have enough money to go to the gym. There’s like a void in my heart and I could feel the air rush through it sometimes. It’s actually been a month since I’ve listened to both Hinadori and Nights and I’ve planned to put the reviews up right after I listened to them, but I just couldn’t move on from what happened in NBN and I couldn’t bear the thought of having to recall the events as I type my review down. 

This is probably the hardest review I’ve ever had to make. 

ANYWAY.

I don’t want to discuss the plot any further because I might just cry I want you all to experience that yourselves.

So we’re going to jump into the technicalities now.

The plot execution was great. They followed the manga to a T. Props to Marble Records for keeping the good streak up. 👏👏👏 The CD itself was quite long and it did the pacing justice - If you plan to listen to this, I suggest that you listen to only this on that day. You may think that you’d want to immediately jump into fluff something else after that, but trust me, nothing will register into your brain after listening to this BLCD. 

On the topic of voice acting, I really don’t have much to say other than praises because boy, these people don’t play around. I have to suck it up suck it up I WANNA CRY OMG I CAN’T applaud Nojima Hirofumi for being able to have fantastic chemistry with OKAA-SAN 😭😭😭 both Morikawa Toshiyuki and Ono Yuuki. I still did find his voice a little low to the point of hearing the strain in it, but it’s definitely better than when he did Flaver. I’m still adamant about saying that he’s more suited to being an uke. As for Morikawa...

This isn’t what I meant when I said that I wanted to hear more of him. Not like this, man. Not like this. I have another CD of his in my next log tho. I hope it heals my aching heart.

Ono Yuuki, on the other hand, was the man, the martyr, the saint. I love how he voiced Yukitaka here because it was a lot like how he’d done Kuroko no Basuke’s Kagami and I personally think that that range suits him the best and he manages to use it to it’s full potential. His previous seme roles that I’ve listened to were mostly “gentleman on the sheets, but a freak in the sheets” roles and I really prefer his rougher/wilder roles over those. That reminds me, why the hell is Ono Yuuki up for ‘second man’ roles because he’s also the one who voiced Wonder Border’s Hiroharu (actually he was the ex, but you get the idea)? STOP IT, ONO. MY HEART CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH. But of course, this was much better than Wonder Border because Yukitaka wasn’t an asshole. I also think that this is by far, Ono Yuuki’s best performance in 2018. Better than DakaOtoko and Coyote. 👍

We’ve got great plot execution, truthfulness to the manga, great voice work, and chemistry. This is definitely up there in my list of the Best BLCDS of 2018. It’s probably even in second place only to be behind Kashikomarimashita, Destiny (what a fucking surprise). You can definitely read the manga along with listening to the BLCD - wait, I IMPLORE you to read it along for maximum pain. I mean, we’re all going to die anyway, might as well cartwheel to it. 👍 I just pray that Seraphic Deviltry can finish translating the series so that a lot more people can read and hopefully listen to this masterpiece. 🙏