#None of the characters sound even remotely like their original voice actors

[chronicsheepdrawing]

Look at these definitely real model sheets I found guys!

Space Odyssey but it got an 80's/90's weekly episodic kids cartoon that only vaguely matches the original plot and involves various hijinks on The Discovery.

[fireemblems24]

Flame Emperor Reveal Analysis

This game is all over the place with this. This level delivered some of the most intense and emotional moments so far, but doesn’t always capitalize on character development and conflict. 

I’m playing all four routes in Fire Emblem Three Houses mostly blind. Below is spoilers for all four routes (which I’m learning the names of now). And for the first it’s actually 4! 

Crimson Flower & Silver Snow

I lied. Originally I planned on writing a different analysis for Crimson Flower and Silver Snow, but the build up is the same. Only the fallout is different, and yeah there’s a lot to say about how things played out. 

The Black Eagles routes have the biggest advantage for this scene because your main character is the Flame Emperor. It does not hold back. All of your students, sans Edelgard and Hubert, are terrified, confused, and hurt. None of them grasp fully what’s going on when Edelgard takes her mask off and orders her army to kill anyone who stands against her. The voice actors do a fantastic job here: Dorothea, Caspar, Bernadetta, and others sell the mess of emotions the Black Eagles experience, and Edelgard sounds stone-cold and in-command. Her betrayal is the gut-punch it should be. 

The level presents a no-win scenario. One of your students is willing to kill you and everyone else you’re supposed to protect, and Rhea is out for blood. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you lose. It’s a heartbreaking, emotional mess of a situation the writing sets up. 

Even prior to all this, the dance between revealing to much or to little about Edelgard’s true intentions is fantastic. Where the Blue Lions basically dumps the answer in your lap and the Golden Deer gives little to no hints at the Flame Emperor’s identity, the Black Eagles is the only route where I do not know if I would’ve guessed correctly or had so few clues that I didn’t bother trying to guess. 

Edelgard drops enough hints to guess correctly if you’re looking for them. She always questions Byleth about his thoughts on the Flame Emperor, trying to drive a wedge between the Emperor and the heinous actions the masked knight is involved in.  Likewise, Edelgard constantly asks Byleth if he’d pick her over the whole world. She also makes alarming declarations that tow the line between reformer and despot. All of these actions make sense in retrospect - she was fishing to see who would and would not side with her regardless of her actions. 

The scene in the Holy Tomb builds up to a crescendo, Edelgard is defeated, and Rhea makes her demand to kill Edelgard. It’s a bit telling Rhea needed to go so extreme in order to make siding with Edelgard believable, but it’s counteracted  by the game going as far as making Edelgard an enemy unit who can and will kill her classmates. Both women resort to extremes. Rhea is emotional, hateful, and screaming for blood. Edelgard is cold, calculated, and resorting to using victims of human experimentation to kill her own friends. These are two driven, passionate women exposing their ugliest sides in an emotional scene ripe for fantastic character development and conflict. 

And then . . . the wrap-up. 

Silver Snow

Should you choose to kill Edelgard, you land in Silver Snow. Rhea’s angry rant against Edelgard is fantastically delivered and makes me anticipate further development from her character. Back in Garreg Mach Monastery, Rhea  juxtaposes her earlier scene for a softer one. She implies a willingness to sacrifice her life to protect her home, and asks Byleth to take her role should something happen to her. Rhea’s plan all along was to put Byleth (who is connected to Sothis, who is connected to Rhea, though the details are still unknown to me) in charge. After hearing Rhea call for blood, it’s a sweet scene between Byleth and the archbishop. The problem with it is that every route gets these scenes sans Crimson Flower. It’s two great scenes for Rhea, but not unique to Silver Snow. 

And here’s the weird part - there is no unique content for Rhea outside of a few initial lines when choosing to kill Edelgard. Instead, we get the Black Eagles upset and unsure about Edelgard’s actions, a few wondering how much she planned all along and how involved she was in every horrible thing that happened during their school year. It’s necessary, but there’s nothing stand-out in anyone’s dialogue to bring home a real gut-punch. 

Seteth gets the best unique content in Silver Snow when he offers the Black Eagles a chance to defect to the Empire should they desire. It’s delivered softly with no threat behind it, showing an earnest desire for the students to feel comfortable even if it means they’re going to turn around and try to slaughter him in thanks. Thankfully, none of the students leave. Cyril and Catherine automatically join your team, and Hilda is now recruitable as well to make up for losing Hubert and Edelgard.   

The fall out for choosing to stand against Edelgard is . . . fine. For such a unique event in Fire Emblem (siding against your lord, possibly losing two units you’ve heavily invested in should you not know what’s coming), I expected a bit more drama and flare and a lot more Rhea. However, this is only the start, and it gave what it needed to give. 

The stage has been well set. Everyone’s in a no-win situation. Should they lose, they and everyone else in Fodlan will suffer an all-out, dragged-out war. They’ll lose their school and have to fight against their home country (sans Petra) where most of their family and friends live. Killing Edelgard ends the conflict, but she is their former friend, classmate, and rightful leader. She gives them no choice - fight for me or die standing against me. Neither option will leave Byleth and the remaining students wholly satisfied, so I foresee more bittersweet confrontations coming, and I look forward to it.

Crimson Flower 

Deciding to protect Edelgard lands you on the Crimson Flower path. I have to say, I’ve read and watched thousands of stories and this one scene stands out among all others. 

Never in my life have I ever seen characters react to a situation in a way that makes less sense. Even more baffling is how much potential gets tossed out the window. Stories thrive on conflict and character development and this scene is ripe with potential, but instead of even letting the fruit grow rancid they just . . . act like it never existed. 

After Byleth picks to guard Edelgard, Rhea loses it and is ready to tear Byleth to pieces before turning into a dragon. The Black Eagles and Edelgard all run away and, not long after, make it back to Enbarr safely. How they escaped a rampaging dragon or successfully fled Garreg Mach is hand-waved away. This is the kind of hand-waving I can forgive. It’s lazy writing, but it doesn’t really impede the story. What I cannot forgive is the hand-waving that comes next. 

Edelgard has a brief scene where she tells her classmates her intentions - she wants to rid Fodlan of the Church of Serios’s control, claims that Rhea and her fellow beasts have secretly ruled humanity and held them back, and is going to declare war. She asks who will join her. Predictably, all of them do - except Flayn. Edelgard mentions that Flayn has opted not to stay with the group. 

Hmmm. I wonder why. Could it be Edelgard’s lackey kidnapped and tortured her for a whole month, preparing her for blood experiments at the hands of an evil group of mages who just happen to be Edelgard’s allies? Maybe that had something to do with it. The fact the game presents this is as some magnanimous act is hilarious. I believe Edelgard would let someone like, say Petra, turn away too, but she deserves no “brownie points” for allowing someone who she allowed to get tortured and set-up for a slow death as a human sacrifice to leave and not decide to attack her the home where her father still lives. I think this aspect of Edelgard’s character would’ve hit home significantly harder if someone who wasn’t so throughly victimized by Edelgard’s actions had fled, or you actually saw Flayn leave. 

No one asks about the Death Knight. No one asks about Flayn’s kidnapping. No one asks about Kostas attempting to kill students. No one asks about the students kidnapped and experimented on or Remire Village or Jeralt. No one asks where the Crest Beasts Edelgard is using came from. No one asks about the fact she just tried to kill all of them, or what she’s going to do with the Crest Stones. No one even mentions the Flame Emperor. No one questions the history she spilled on them, claiming the church was behind the splitting of Fodlan despite not even having enough knights to guard their own monastery and needed students to help out at events. 

I could buy the Black Eagles running away with Edelgard. The scene where Byleth chooses Rhea or Edelgard is highly emotional. Things happen quickly and no one is given much of a chance to process anything. Rhea doesn’t give anyone much of a choice by shifting into a dragon. I wish they didn’t rely so much on “Rhea bad” to make any sense of siding with Edelgard, but it is believable. What I cannot buy is how no one questions anything afterwards. 

It’s like the whole cast just forgot the first eleven chapters. No one even mentions the Flame Emperor’s existence. The moment the mask came off, it ceased to exist. Everyone mindlessly believes everything Edelgard says, and no one even asks any questions - not about Rhea, not about the history of Fodlan, not about the Flame Emperor’s actions. Barely anyone bats an eyelash at the idea of attacking their own school and killing former classmates, teachers, and friends. Everyone comes across borderline brainwashed. Did the writers have so little faith in Edelgard’s position they were afraid to even attempt exploring it? Even worse is the strategy meeting is just Edelgard, Hubert, and Byleth - the Black Eagles are no where to be seen. It makes them come across like mindless puppets rather than anyone remotely rational - like pawns arranged on a board required for gameplay reasons than actual characters.        

Never in my life have I seen a story throw away so much potential character development and conflict. The situation here is intriguing. Edelgard’s stance is fascinating, but everything falls short when all that’s interesting about it is getting tossed out the window because Rhea is secretly evil and nothing Edelgard did beforehand seems to matter anymore. I am seriously concerned about where this route is heading, because despite the massive potential, it seems like it cares less about that and more about making sure Edelgard looks good rather than complex and interesting, even at the cost of logic, character development, and by turning other interesting characters black so Edelgard has someone she can look better than in comparison rather than standing on her own ideals.     

Verdant Wind

Am I correct in assuming the fandom consensus is that Verdant Wind had the least impactful Flame Emperor reveal? Because it did. 

Edelgard had little to no presence in Verdant Wind. Outside of pre and post class vs class battle banter, her only scene consisted of interrogating Claude and getting and giving no answers. Claude has no connection to Edelgard and neither does Byleth or any of the Golden Deer. When the mask comes off and it’s her face behind it, there’s no emotional response. 

The fallout is equally lackluster. Claude demands answers from Edelgard, which she refuses to answer, and she warps away. Afterwards, things play out the same way they do on every route. And that’s the core issue here. Claude and the Golden Deer bring nothing unique to this scene. Elements of surprise that Edelgard is the Flame Emperor, her willingness to kill all your units to get crest stones, and her declaration of war is there on every route. Claude’s character and goals have had no impact on the plot. 

Analyzing this scene has brought to light my main issue with the Verdant Wind route thus far. It’s that Claude and friends have done nothing to move the plot forward. Things just happen; no character is making anything happen. You could argue it’s the same for the Azure Moon route, but Dimitri’s clearly defined goals and emotional connection makes it a streamlined story with a sense of forward progression instead of plot points getting dumped in the player’s lap. 

It’s too bad, because Verdant Wind could’ve approached this differently. Instead of Claude getting nothing done and shouting about every relic that showed up, he and Byleth could’ve solved mysteries together a la Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy. For all of Claude’s questioning everything, very little attention was paid to unmasking the Flame Emperor. Verdant Wind guided its players to look at the wrong mysteries - mysteries that ultimately got no answers while ignoring the one part one was actually about figuring out, and if this was flipped, Verdant Wind would’ve had a much more impactful Flame Emperor reveal. 

I will give Verdant Wind major bonus points though. It is nice to see a character question Edelgard about her involvement in things. Dimitri’s too caught up in his Duscur trauma (which I don’t believe Edelgard participated in) and neither Silver Snow and especially Crimson Flower question Edelgard’s actions as the Flame Emperor, but Claude throws at her all the questions I wanted to hear: what about Flayn? What about Jeralt? What about Remire? So congrats Claude, you’re the only character and the only route that’s holding Edelgard actually responsible for her actual actions. If only she was the mystery you were investigating instead of one that went exactly no where for eleven straight chapters. 

Azure Moon

What’s interesting here is that the Flame Emperor’s reveal is less about who the mystery person is and more about our protagonist’s, Dimitri’s, reaction to it. And that is core reason behind this scene’s success. 

Multiple users on here told me to play chapter eleven of Blue Lions first, and I’m both glad and upset I listened to them. Glad, because they were all right, this route had by far the best Flame Emperor reveal, but sad because it all went downhill from there. 

The Crimson Flower/Silver Snow routes should’ve had the best Flame Emperor reveal. After all, those are the routes where Edelgard plays the biggest role, but the follow up to the scene is fairly lackluster, especially in Crimson Flower. Azure Moon, on the other hand, did everything Crimson Flower was afraid to - address the elephant in the room.   

Characters in Crimson Flower respond to the situation as if Edelgard didn’t just try to kill all of them, nor do they ask any questions about her actions as the Flame Emperor. Everyone acts as if none of that ever happened, and by not bothering to even mention it, those actions stick out even worse than they would’ve otherwise. 

The opposite is true in Azure Moon. Everyone is unnerved by Dimitri’s violent outburst. Felix jumps at the chance to tell everyone, “I told you so.” No one knows what to do about Dimitri, nor do they really have time to process anything with Edelgard’s war machine knocking on their front door. However, this is the base expectation of a story - that characters respond realistically to what happened prior instead of teleporting to some surreal dimension where Edelgard isn’t working with people who perform human experimentation. 

So what exactly did Azure Moon do to make this reveal so successful? It utilized the route’s unique aspects: Dimitri’s mental instability and desire for revenge, terrible family history, and emotional connection to Edelgard. 

Unlike Verdant Wind, Edelgard has an actual presence and relevance in Azure Moon thanks to her connection to Dimitri. He cares about her like family, which makes her betrayal more personal and automatically more impactful than in Verdant Wind. Even more brilliant here is milking the emotional aspect of what happened. Instead of focusing on “shocking” the reader with Edelgard’s betrayal, it drops hints about her secret identity with all the subtly of a lead brick. 

You know what inevitable, dramatic, and tragic outcome is coming. Edelgard, Dimitri’s only remaining family (outside of an uncle he’s on bad terms with), is working hand-in-hand with the people who caused the deaths of his family which led to the genocide of a race of people and the source all of his trauma.  Dimitri makes it quite clear he’s out for revenge, and that anything related to Duscur triggers his PTSD so bad it seems like a dissociative or psychotic episode. Azure Moon does not build up a mystery, it builds up an emotional conflict - like watching a train wreck that you know is coming and can’t stop. 

And that’s the brilliance of it - this scene isn’t about Edelgard being the Flame Emperor, we already know that, it’s about Dimitri, who this route is about and who the player is emotionally invested in during this version of the story. 

Nor does this game disappoint here. There’s no softening anything to try and make Dimitri look “better.” He has a full-on violent breakdown. It’s devastating. He is succumbing fully to his demons after fighting against it over and over while getting tossed into triggering situations ad nauseam and getting no help in return (after all, therapy, medication, hell even the concept of mental illness simply doesn’t exist). All the signs that the route has built up explode in an emotional scene, and probably thee best cut scene so far with some of the best voice acting in Fire Emblem to carry it out. Every plot thread comes to a head: Dimitri’s lust for revenge, his unstable mental health, the mystery of the Flame Emperor’s identity, etc . . . 

The upcoming battle has more meaning now. It has what is at steak in the other routes - win or lose and the fear of having to kill former classmates - and more. Because it isn’t just about the battle of Edelgard vs the world, but also the battle for Dimitri’s mental health and for his soul. There’s a bit of a catch-22 here, is Edelgard dying really the best ending? Killing her saves many lives, but at the cost of Dimitri’s mental health? What if she dies and he doesn’t kill her, but what if he does? Would he kill himself now that the dead are avenged? Or what if she lives and this drags on longer? No option is good. There isn’t an easy win button by offing Edelgard or taking over the school. Every possible ending is a bad ending. Your lead character is in the middle of a mental breakdown, and giving into his demons and lust for revenge (which is a separate issue exasperated by ill mental health) and the situation only makes it worse and is to dire to properly let anyone deal with said breakdown. The tension, the drama, the sense of foreboding dread, is all so much more here than in all the other routes. 

What makes Azure Moon’s handling of the Flame Emperor so good is that it widely succeeded where the other two routes failed. Verdant Wind didn’t make the reveal relevant to anything Claude was interested in or working towards. Crimson Flower completely and utterly failed to address Edelgard’s actions let alone use that to create compelling tension. Azure Moon did both. It made the Flame Emperor reveal relevant to the route, even made it actually about the main character of the route. Nor is it shying away from conflict and tension, even if it means letting it’s main character fall out of grace and risking the player’s infatuation/admiration/whatever with/of Dimitri by having him succumb to his dark side. Because it’s not protecting him, he’s going to turn out a way better character for it. 

I will admit though, that I think playing all four routes impacted this a bit. It didn’t benefit Azure Moon, but I think this route spoiling who the Flame Emperor is hurt the other routes. Verdant Wind might’ve had at least some tiny smudge of an impact because it’s the only route where there’s very little way to correctly guess who the Flame Emperor is - the only one where it may be truly a surprise. Crimson Flower/Silver Snow does make it a bit more obvious, but doesn’t quite spell it out for you the way Azure Moon does. Here, the player kind of has to be looking for it. Obviously though, you can only learn this once, and good writing could’ve made all the routes impactful with very small tweaks - have Verdant Wind actually focus on the mystery that’s solved at the end of Part 1 (who is the Flame Emperor) and actually have characters react to and get answers about Edelgard’s actions. I also think the choice between Silver Snow and Crimson Flower looses its tension when you go into it knowing you’ll pick both. Azure Moon easily had the best reveal, so I want to ultimately thank everyone who told me to do this one first - you were all very, very right. 

[disneyplusfan]

Revisiting our first viewing of The Mandalorian S01E01

A look back at our reactions to Season 1 episodes as the new season of The Mandalorian begins.

November 24, 2019

The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 recap by K (includes detailed spoilers)

A Mandalorian bounty hunter tracks a target for a well-paying client.

Directed by Dave Filoni

Written by Jon Favreau

Music by Ludwig Gӧransson

Airdate: Nov 12, 2019

As I write this, I have watched the first three episodes of The Mandalorian three times now. I’m hooked. I did not expect to be. I expected to like it well enough — but not to love it. 

I’m a Star Wars fan for *cough* many years, since childhood. Adore the original trilogy, intrigued yet annoyed by the prequels, less than wow’ed by the final trilogy. I like Rogue One. I also liked Solo, although I get that I’m one of maybe three people in that camp. I have not watched Clone Wars. So this is my frame of reference.

Boba Fett is perhaps my favorite character. He is one of the best characters in the franchise, and I will die on that hill. You know next to nothing about him, and that adds to his mystique. I read Tales of the Bounty Hunters and Tales of Jabba’s Palace back in the day, and “Last Man Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett” and his showdown with Han Solo will always be the quintessential Boba Fett/Mandalorian story for me, canon or not. I was enraged when they changed his voice in the original trilogy to Jango’s (like he couldn’t just be disguising his voice??). 

For me, Boba Fett is the original Mandalorian against whom all others will be measured. I have spoken. 

All this to say, my standards were high. My expectations for The Mandalorian in particular would have been even higher, if I wasn’t somewhat disappointed by the final trilogy of films. And this was the first live action Star Wars television series, so it’s uncharted territory. 

I also managed not to be spoiled at all for this show going in, which was how I like it. Everything came to me fresh as I watched.

From the establishing shot, the cinematography is like the original series movies. Check. You feel immediately immersed in the Star Wars universe. Check. It’s a snowy ice world, like Hoth but greyer and flatter in terrain.

The titular Mandalorian, who is all but certainly not Boba Fett, as he looks a bit different in his armor (and the show is set 5 years or so after Return of the Jedi, which you don’t know yet in the show itself but meaning Boba Fett should be dead by now, or at least dying in the Sarlacc’s belly), looks good. Same imposing figure, same mysterious-yet-badass immediate impression in his imposing armor and weaponry. Can he pull it off? I mean that for the actor as much as the character. I know nothing about which actor is playing him (Pedro Pascal, from Game of Thrones, I learn later). I’ve remained completely unspoiled. 

He’s holding a tracking device. So, also a bounty hunter. Check.

He’s heading for an establishment, a darkened bar, or saloon, or cantina. Inwardly I eyeroll a little. Another cantina?

From inside the bar we see the round spiral blast door opens from the middle outward and the Mandalorian is darkly silhouetted against the icy white exterior landscape. 

Nice, iconic character-establishing shot. I am interested.

Simultaneously, the music starts. A soft, repetitive, lulling theme of eight wind notes vaguely Native American in tone that we will come to know quite well. For now, it adds a touch of mystery and suspense. The lulling, almost hypnotic aspect of the music gives the sense this is all just routine, and the Mandalorian’s short, almost imperceptible shake of the head as an insult is hurled at him seems to add to this effect.

Two patrons of the bar, a couple of aliens, have been roughing up a meek, chubby merman guy, some kind of aquatic creature. He’s a new species so that’s interesting. They are bullies, who threatened to cut off his glands, so the violent type, and it feels like Mos Eisley or worse. Inwardly I eyeroll again because we’ve seen this before in the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. Don’t they have any new ideas? 

The Star Wars universe has at least one entire galaxy to play with. Yes, establish place as the Star Wars universe with familiar things. But within that we don’t need to keep seeing so many of the same things we have seen before. Give us some easter eggs because we’re fans, but give us new things to love, too. It’s a balance, and I personally want more new than repeat. One of my main gripes with the final trilogy is that it’s too much of the same, just with new characters who aren’t fleshed out and developed enough for me to care about them. But that’s another review.

So it’s a cantina, and they want Star Wars fans who are perhaps not as well versed as me (like say, my sister) to be oriented. Fine, I’ll be patient. I don’t doubt a bounty hunter will frequently find himself in such places.

All the patrons’ eyes are on the Mandalorian as he enters and stands at the bar counter. If you haven’t started to feel vaguely Western elements yet, they start to come now. He’s got his back to the rest of the bar, waiting. Almost baiting. The bullies immediately shift focus leaving the merman alone to go pick on him instead. It’s a mistake and everyone knows it. But they must test our hero. And I too, as if just another patron at this cantina, want to see them test him. I’m curious. 

The loud one calls him “Mando!” and we have something of a name to call him for now. But it might be an insult and I’m not quite sure yet. 

They seem interested in his armor — Beskar Steel — and this is something I personally have not heard of before. I’m interested.

A bit of Mandalorian taunting and a quick fight later, one of the bullies who tried to escape the bar is pulled into the blast door entryway as the Mandalorian’s grappling hook yanks him halfway back inside, and closes it, severing him in half. I let out a bitter laugh. It wouldn’t be Star Wars without some bully losing a body part in a bar fight, right? Check. And the Mandalorian proved himself badass, so far. 

He goes over to the merman, who first just tries to thank him, then bribe him with credits and a drink. The stoic, imposing Mandalorian simply places a disc on the table in front of him, and immediately a holographic image pops up showing his face and name in Basic. 

“Is that a bounty puck?” the merman asks. A device that’s new to me, perhaps not to others. Further interested. The weak man tries bargaining some more.

The Mandalorian brings a hand to his blaster and speaks for the first time. 

“I can bring you in hot, or I can bring you in cold.” 

Cut to opening title credits. 

Perfect first line. 

The voice itself doesn’t immediately wow me. It’s not as grizzled as Fett’s, it’s younger and somehow... unseasoned? I’m not sure. But it’s not Jango’s voice, so I’m willing to accept it. And again I think, why couldn’t Boba Fett have kept his original Jeremy Bulloch voice? 

Title credits. Nice font. The drum beat theme music that also sounds vaguely Western. I like it. 

Then we are back outside on the ice world, walking back up the path where we first saw the Mandalorian. He’s got the merman in handcuffs. 

“I need passage, to the yards.”

An Ortollan, a species from the original series, plays a little flute and a land speeder comes up piloted by a droid. 

“No droids.” 

I find it interesting that our Mandalorian would prefer a living creature to a machine as a programmed droid should be more reliable but perhaps machines can be remote controlled, or else there’s a story there that I really want to hear.

The Ortolan plays his flute again and the next speeder comes up, a red one. It's considerably more broken down than the previous one, driven by an older guy in a hooded coat. “Where to?” 

They pull up to a silver-colored ship of some kind, bigger than the Slave IV I think. Kind of clunky, really, more like a C-130 cargo transport than an F-16 fighter jet — not what you’d expect to be necessary for a bounty hunter to make quick getaways. Merman agrees with me. 

“You’re kidding me, right? I’ll hire us a Livery Cruiser. I’ll pay for it. Just trying to make it pleasant.”

The speeder pilot meanwhile is scanning the horizon anxiously and demands payment. The Mando pays him. “I’d stay off the ice if I were you.” Something’s gonna attack, and probably from beneath the ice. Can’t wait.

Merman is worried and watches the speeder depart into the distance as the Mando readies the ship. 

Something launches up from under the ice and consumes the speeder, and a snakelike body with dragon-like spinal plates disappears beneath it again. Merman freaks out and demands they hurry as the ice cracks in their direction. 

The Mando yanks him out of the way just in time for a giant walrus-tusked creature with a long body launches out next to the ship. It catches part of the ship’s landing gear in its mouth as they try to take off and there’s a familiar sound effect like the Falcon losing power. 

The Mandalorian grabs his tuning-fork weapon from outside the cabin doors (where it stays when it’s not on his back) and heads out to fight. The creature has one of the landing gear legs in its mouth as the music swells very tribal. One zap from the tuning fork weapon and the creature is electrified, immediately lets go, and they escape.

The ship is more impressive in air than on the ground as two enormous jets fire. It seems heavy though. I don’t see any weapons except two forward cannons of some kind, but of course there is probably ample hidden weaponry. Can’t wait. 

Once in space the merman starts bargaining and conversing but the Mandalorian is silent, having none of it. 

“I like your ship,” the merman says, now trying to butter him up. “She’s classic. Razor Crest, am I right? Pre-Empire?”

So it’s an older ship. The cockpit, entryway and ramp, halls and hull are quite wide and roomy. It makes sense that a bounty hunter needs room to carry cargo. I suppose some quarry may be quite large depending on species. I’d like to see him have to capture something large. I wonder if he has a larger ship because he’s young, and can’t yet afford something speedier. Or perhaps he loves it, despite being old and possibly rickety, like Han loved the Falcon. It doesn’t look like it’s been through the wars, though, so that’s a mystery. Can’t wait to learn more about the ship. 

Merman goes below on the pretense of having to use the evacuation tube. There’s some funny toilet humor here. There’s no restroom, the evac tube is in the middle of the floor against a wall--kind of like a New York City basement apartment I viewed once. To the right of the evac tube is a wall with what looks like a palette inside -- I guess that’s where the Mandalorian sleeps? It’s hard to tell.

Merman keeps exploring as he talks. Finds a cache of weapons but surprisingly just closes it again. And then he finds the other bounties.

This actually pissed me off on first viewing. The Mandalorian has several other quarry below deck--all encased in carbonite. I did a massive eyeroll here. Boba Fett (really, Vader) encased Han in carbonite as a matter of convenience at the location they were at in Cloud City. It was a test to see if he could transport Luke that way to the Emperor--IF he survived. But it’s NOT like it was the preferred mode of choice for bounty hunters to transport their quarry. So why would this Mandalorian just happen to have not just bounties in carbon freeze on his ship but has a carbon freezing /chamber/ on the ship, as he shoves the merman into it. 

This really annoyed me until a friend suggested maybe the other hunters heard about Fett and Han at Jabba’s Palace and it became a thing once they knew it wouldn’t kill the bounty. After some thought I have accepted this idea, even though it seems quick if this is only set 5 years after Jedi. Still, the other Mandalorians would have been among the first to know, and it’s a more practical mode of transport allowing low risk of escape and not having to address your quarry’s various biological needs. Also easily stackable while protecting them. So okay, I’ve come to accept it. 

Mando arrives at a spaceport in a semi-large desert city, that actually looks a lot like Tatooine--both what we’ve seen from the original trilogy and the prequels. They never actually state where we are at any of these locations, but this is my theory. There’s a droid like Red, there are people walking around dressed like Tatooine inhabitants. More evidence comes later in the series.

He enters another drinking establishment that seems to be the meeting place for his contact. The feel is very much like the bar where Han shot Greedo, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was even the same one years later. Aliens of all types, again, watching him closely.

He meets his contact and returns the fobs. Payment is arranged. The Mandalorian says the Empire is gone, and he accepts Calamari flan at half than Imperial credits at full payment. 

The question of the next job comes up. Guild rates are high. The Mando wants the highest. 5,000 doesn’t cover fuel these days. 

The contact says “Well, there is one job.” No puck. Face to face, direct commission. Pays well. “Underworld?” No codes. The Mandalorian accepts the chip.

More of the city. Goes to a back-alley establishment. Arrives at a door with a  TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droid, like at Jabba’s Palace. Inside is a walking garbage-can droid like in the Jawa’s ship. I take this as more evidence we are on Tatooine, though of course these items could be sold throughout the galaxy.

Inside there are four Stormtroopers. An older man with an Imperial pendant who is clearly the leader and client. “Greef Carga said you were coming.” So that’s the Mando’s contact back at the bar. “He said you were the best in the parsec.” Haha, at least we are using parsec correctly now.

A side door opens, which startles the Mandalorian and he draws his tuning fork weapon (a modified amban phase-pulse blaster rifle). The four Stormtroopers draw also. A younger man with glasses comes in, shielding his face, apologizing profusely. The client introduces him as Doctor Pershing. A scientist. The Mandalorian still has weapons drawn in both hands, facing off with the Stormtroopers. “We have you four to one.” “I like those odds,” he responds. “He also said you were expensive. Very expensive.” 

All calms down and the client invites him to sit. He unfolds a block of beskar steel as down payment. He has more upon delivery of the asset -- alive. Proof of termination is also acceptable for a lower fee. The Doctor protests. 

No puck. Tracking fob, age, and last known positional data only. The quarry is 50 years old. 

“It is good to return the beskar back to the Mandalorians. It is good to restore the natural order of things after so much disarray, don’t you agree?”

The Mandalorian pauses here and almost imperceptibly again cocks his head. He touched a nerve. Amazing how an actor can still convey so much behind a helmet. I still don’t know this actor but he’s pulling it off. 

More of the city. Whatever that laughing thing was at Jabba’s feet, two of his species are roasting on a spit. One more is in a cage. (It’s a Kowakian monkey-lizard like Salacious Crumb. I had to look that up.)

The Mandalorian ducks in behind a curtain. Down some steps. Strings here that sound very Star Wars. A long hall with other Mandalorians about. Some have the helmet antenna like Fett. Some are small, running. Children.

At the end of the hall over the archway is a Mandalorian skull emblem. Within is a person working at a forge, hammering metal and heating it over a ring of open gas flames like Bunsen burners. The blacksmith, which IMDB tells me is Armorer, comes forward and sits down with our Mandalorian. There is fur around the collar, the helmet is different, golden with two small horns, and looks more like a gladiator helmet. From the way she moves, and especially once she speaks, this is a woman. I am intrigued, since I have not seen a female Mandalorian before. They nod respectfully to one another. The Mando produces his payment: the Calamari flan--and then, the bar of Beskar steel, marked with an Imperial insignia at one corner. She is visibly surprised and impressed.

“This was gathered in the Great Purge. It is good it is back with the tribe. A pauldron is in order. Has your signet been revealed?”

“Not yet.” 

“Soon.” 

A pause here to discuss armor. Any show about Mandalorians was going to have certain elements. Ships, weapons, lore, armor. 

Mandalorian armor is famous in the Star Wars universe. Beskar steel, the material it is made of, is strong, and can withstand almost anything, yet very light, rather like mithril in the Lord of the Rings universe. It would seem the Great Purge by the Empire included not just Jedi but Mandalorians, and their armor was melted into bars, as currency or for transport. (This is speculation on my part.) And that a goal of the Mandalorians is to reclaim as much beskar as possible, and reforge it back into Mandalorian armor. 

The blacksmith does just this and makes him a pauldron, or shoulder cover, from the bar of beskar. She tells him this is extremely generous and the excess will sponsor many foundlings.

“That’s good,” he responds. “I was once a foundling.”

“I know.”

A bit more of our hero’s background. 

Her forge is a combination of computerized part designs and heavy iron machinery, like a 3-D printer on steroids. And as it bangs out the new pauldron each loud clang of metal on metal shows us a brief flashback of our Mandalorian’s memories. A battle with fire and sparks all around. A woman in dark red robe carrying a boy also in dark red robe. He is terrified. Presumably this is our hero. She is carrying him, he’s maybe 8-10 years old. A man is with her, her husband? People getting shot--massacred--all around them as they run. Explosions. She opens an underground container of some sort, deposits the boy. He has brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. He reaches for her as the doors close. And then the pauldron is completed; the flashbacks stop.

Having viewed 3 episodes already, this becomes a pattern and I love this device. You get a little more of his backstory with each piece of armor, with each clang of the forge. It’s perfect. It makes sense that in these moments as he waits in this safe place, he might slip into memories. Or perhaps they come unbidden at this time for some reason. There’s also a nice theme of memories being buried beneath his armor, along with his emotions. And only when there’s a chink in the armor, does it show through.

The pauldron goes on, shiny and new, and for the first time I notice the wipes. A center point wipe expanding outward, with fuzzy borders, and so very Star Wars that it makes you smile. 

He heads to another planet that looks from space like Tatooine. If we weren’t on Tatooine before, we might be now. We are at least in the vicinity. It’s a desert planet with jagged sandstone cliffs all around. He lands his shiny ship, and gets out with the fob. He looks through his turning-fork weapon’s scope, and spots two distant creatures I can only describe as land grouper with legs and long tails. Suddenly he is attacked by one, sinking its teeth into his arm before he can get a shot off, and then a second, and though he fights with flamethrower and even fists, it looks like we will lose our hero until someone shoots them with taser darts. 

It appears our hero is not wounded, but his arm pieces are damaged. 

A small man with a piglike face and a kind, wise voice and goggles on his head. An ugnaught. Remember them from the original trilogy? IMDB tells me his name is Kuill, although this is never actually said in the episode, so I will refer to him as the ugnaught. 

I suspect anonymity is a running theme in this show, as part of the Western genre. So far we’ve heard almost no character names (which makes writing reviews a little difficult). I’m wondering if there’s any significance to the ones we do know, vs. the ones we don’t.

“You are a bounty hunter. I will help you. I have spoken.” This last part is his trademark line, as we’ll see. I love it. 

We go to what looks like a wind or moisture farm. There is, from what I can see, only one sun. 

The ugnaught tells the Mandalorian that others have come looking and died. He will show him the way for half of the blurg they caught. Mando will have to learn how to ride them to pass to the compound. 

On the first few attempts the blurg throws him. Apparently it’s a female; the males are all eaten during mating. (Thanks for that tidbit, Kuiil.) He gets thrown again and loses patience, asking for a speeder. 

The ugnaught challenges him. 

“You are a Mandalorian. Your ancestors rode the great mythosaur. Surely you can ride this young blurg.” 

Our hero is challenged; the words touched him. He approaches the blurg like a wild horse that needs breaking in, and the Western theme is back, even in the music. Eventually he succeeds, a triumphant moment that impresses the ugnaught, and they’re off across the landscape full of ravines that only the blurg can jump, apparently. The theme music swells until they arrive at a cliff where they can spy on the encampment. This is where the bounty hunter’s quarry is. 

Mando tries to pay him off. Ugnaught reveals his motive: it’s been an endless stream of warriors trying to get this quarry, breaking the peace. He’s read the stories about Mandalorians and believes ours can make quick work of it and bring peace back to his land. 

Our boy does some recon with a hand telescope and the place is swarming. Then he spots a bounty droid, and groans. The droid is just walking right in, and demands the asset be produced.

The bounty droid looks like IG-88 from The Empire Strikes Back and again, for a moment, I almost eye rolled because really, can’t we see something new? All bounty droids look the same? But whereas IG-88 just stood there, this one moves, and the way he moves is COOL. Although humanoid in appearance like 3PO (head, two arms, two legs), unlike 3PO he appears to operate around a central pole or spine, allowing his parts to rotate 360 degrees. This includes his head, his eyes, his arms and therefore weapons, and his waist/hips. It gives him an amazing advantage as he can just keep spinning and shooting. The way he steps over a body is awesome. He’s also really skinny and thus hard to hit. Whole new respect for the IG series. 

This IG unit is also funny, and his repartee with our Mandalorian is instant comedic chemistry. There’s a fantastic shootout, where they team up, and as they are outnumbered, the bounty droid seeing no way out, keeps trying to self-destruct. “Do not self destruct!” our Mando keeps shouting at him, and after a very badass moment with an [ion machine gun], by the end they win, and everyone in the yard lies dead. Mando helps him up, saying “You’re not so bad for a droid,” and the droid replies likewise. I saw a sidekick in the making. They shoot their way inside, kill a few more people until there’s no one left, and determine the quarry is just before them in the corner. 

Except there is no one there, just a white ball looking thing with a net over it that the fobs indicate is the target. 

They remove the net, and open the ball, which is really more egg-shaped. 

And then it opens, it looks more like a bassinet with a blanket inside. 

“Wait--” says Mando. “They said 50 years old.”

“Species age differently,” replies the IG unit. And we get our first glimpse over the top of the blanket as he says “Perhaps it could live many centuries. Sadly, we’ll never know.” And as he’s speaking, a little head peeks over the blanket.

Oh. My. God. And in this one moment, I am glued to this show forever. 

It’s a baby Yoda. 

Except it isn’t Yoda, because Yoda’s dead. But we don’t know Yoda’s species name, and we don’t know the baby’s given name, so we will call it what the internet has dubbed it in the meantime: Baby Yoda. 

And this moment, above all, is the biggest reason I am so glad I wasn’t spoiled. 

Baby Yoda is the most adorable, most precious, most endearing thing you have ever seen. And in a franchise that has at times been criticized for its more saccharine “cute” creatures that appeal to young children (Ewoks, anyone?), this is one we can all get behind.

Baby Yoda is CUTE. <3

Baby Yoda is everything.

Remember my aversion to anything we’ve seen already? I NO LONGER CARE. Looking at those huge brown eyes and long floppy ears, this doesn’t even cross my mind. 

I would give my life for Baby Yoda. I know this all in one second.

And the IG unit is about to kill it. 

Apparently our Mando feels something similar. 

“Wait,” he says, and reaching out he lowers the IG unit’s weapon. “We’ll bring it in alive.”

“The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated.” The IG unit raises his blaster again, aimed squarely at the crib.

The camera closes in on the Mandalorian’s helmet, fixed on the bassinet, and there is a red blaster flash from his right, reflected in the helmet. The Mando’s head never moves. 

But the IG unit falls to the floor, shot in the head. Sizzling. He’s toast. 

Our guy shot him without even looking. He’s fixated on Baby Yoda, as we all are. He puts his own blaster away, and tilts his head.

The camera cuts to a gorgeous profile, backlit from a doorway. The Mandalorian stands before the crib, which is now floating in the air at waist height. He raises a finger towards the crib, as a tiny finger comes up from inside it. They don’t quite meet. 

End credits. 

End credits for this show are a series of beautiful concept drawings and if you know Star Wars at all, these are some stunning art. The whole theme also plays over the end credits and it is hauntingly beautiful. Ludwig Gӧransson’s score is perfect. 

Thoughts.

Themes: Space western. Anonymity. (Even the ship still has no name, just a model.) Foundlings. Characters that seem to have no family, but instead bond in other social ways (covert/religion, bounty hunter guild/profession). Remnants. Loss.  

I LOVE the concept art at the end. Fans love this concept art, and I have a couple of books of it myself. Nice way to incorporate it into the series. You can see how the original concept and final product differ (very little, in most cases) and a few intriguing pieces that were either filmed but cut from the final edit or never filmed. I love how they add the 3-D effect to some of the drawings, and I still don’t know how Hollywood achieves that. 

Concept art round-up: 

Mando and Baby Yoda’s ET moment 

Some intriguing glow-dice game between two Mandalorians? I need to know more about this.

Mando firing a blaster

Mando entering a cantina

Mando and Kuiil on Blurrback

Mando and IG-11 taking cover during battle

Mando and Kuiil entering Kuiil’s home

Mando walking on the icescape with his back facing the camera

Mando battling the ice creature while hanging out of the Razor Crest

Mando and IG-11 standing shoulder to shoulder

Mando on Blurrgback

Taika Waititi is amazing as the IG unit bounty droid. Never would have guessed it was him.

Werner Herzog is perfect as The Client, I love his voice, and the article/video about him crying over Baby Yoda. 

This show is going to get me writing fanfic again, dammit. 

*****

The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 recap by K (includes detailed spoilers)

A Mandalorian bounty hunter tracks a target for a well-paying client.

Directed by Dave Filoni

Written by Jon Favreau

Music by Ludwig Gӧransson Airdate: Nov 12, 2019

Run Time: 40m

Greef Karga (Carl Weathers)

The Client (Werner Herzog)

Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi)

Kuiil (Nick Nolte, voice)

IG-11 (Taika Waititi, voice; Rio Hackford, performance artist)

Mythrol (Horatio Sanz)

Alpha Trawler (Tait Fletcher)

Beta Trawler (Ryan Watson)

Quarren Trawler (Dmitrious Bistrevsky)

Armorer (Emily Swallow)

[roraewrites]

seven

[ sakura’s secret ] rating: m

// i really appreciate all the great feedback i’ve been getting on this. it literally means so much to see all the likes. reblogs, comments, asks and messages. you are all amazing and ily all ♥

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Between blurred memories, laughing and tears, Sakura found herself waking up in an unfamiliar area. The scent was all too familiar as she rolled her head into the pillows, inhaling deeply and relishing in it.

The moment she opened her eyes, she squeezed them shut and ran her fingers through her hair. The comforter that hung loosely over her body was thick and warm and as she began to pull it over her head, another wave of that familiar scent came rushing through her sinuses.

With the blanket pulled over her head, she peeked out from a small hole and began to scan her surroundings. The walls were white, minimal decorations hung and lined the room, yet it still looked entirely elegant. Sakura blinked back the oncoming headache, fighting the hangover that threatened to come if she emerged her head into the light.

When she rolled over to the other side, she found a sliding door that led out to the balcony. The door had been opened, and the screen door closed, allowing fresh air to flow in through it. It was cool, but refreshing -- much like the glass of ice water on the nightstand next to the bed.

Memories from Naruto’s party started to come back to her after a few gulps of water. Taking shot after shot with Naruto and Ino, shot gunning cheap beer, laughter, joking, lots of hugs, crying, and finally, calling Sasuke.

Her heart began to race the second she tried to remember what exactly it was she said to him. Everything was jostled together and none of it made sense, no matter how hard she tried to remember. Without moving too fast, Sakura began to get out of the bed. When she sat up, her head instantly began to pound.

The moment she was sitting on the side of the bed was when she noticed she was no longer in her clothes from the night before, but in the clothes that she had packed in her bag.

Her hand came to caress her forehead as she put her feet to the cool floor and stood from the side of the bed. Her foot falls were anything but quiet as she walked towards the screen door and took a look outside. She felt instantly sick when she realized that she was up incredibly high, probably the seventh floor of a building.

“I see you’re awake, finally.”

The voice from behind her startled her and when she turned, she no longer felt her head throbbing, but her heart.

“Where are we?”

Sasuke took a moment to reply and instead of answering her immediately, he beckoned for her to follow. “Breakfast is ready.”

When Sakura exited the room, she noticed how plain and original his home was. She realized that it was a condo unit on the western side of town, away from the residential homes that resided on the outskirts and closer to downtown.

Sasuke pointed at a stool at the counter and she sat. A fresh glass of ice water along with a plate of egg whites, hashbrowns and bacon had been placed in front of her and Sasuke took a seat to her right with his own plate of food.

“Where’s my clothes? And phone? And--”

“Eat first, then we’ll talk,” he ordered before taking a bite. It was apparent that he wasn’t in a good mood due to the tone he took.

After shoveling a few bites of hashbrowns and eggs into her mouth, she washed it down with water and grabbed a piece of bacon. It wasn’t too soft, and it wasn’t too crunchy; it was perfect. The grease even tasted amazing when she swallowed and her body craved more, but she tuned into Sasuke’s voice the second he began to talk.

“Now that you’ve got some food in your body,” he started, “how’re you feeling?”

“Rough,” she answered honestly.

“Figured. You knocked out the second you got in the car.”

He took a drink of his water and sat back in his chair. “Your phone and bag are on the sofa. Ino texted you asking where you went,” his eyes turned to her. “I told her you were fine and you’d call her in the morning.”

Sakura nodded as she grabbed her glass of water. There was one question she hadn’t asked that she wanted to, but it just wouldn’t come out. The more she eyed him, the deeper his frown grew.

“What?”

“It’s nothing,” she lied.

“Then why are you looking at me like that?” Sasuke asked as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

Sakura frowned back. “Did we uh -- sleep in the same bed?”

Sasuke didn’t answer, only looked away while a gentle blush flashed over his cheeks and bridge of his nose. Sakura felt like she could vomit now once the anxiety set in, but when he looked back in her direction, he refused to make eye contact.

“No. You slept there because you said it was ‘so comfy and you’d never get off, ever!’” The change in his voice when he mocked her made Sakura blush but also laugh. He had actually mocked her with as high of a pitched voice he could make.

“That’s great,” Sakura groaned as she set her glass down and put her face in her hands. “Just great. And my clothes? How did I get changed into these?”

“You changed yourself. It’s apparent, considering your shirt is on backwards and inside-out.”

Sasuke’s low laugh caught her attention and the moment she lifted her head from her hands, she caught a glimpse of such a soft smile that it fooled her for a moment.

When he got up and grabbed their plates, he began to scrape whatever food was left over and wash them. This gave Sakura a moment to look around and notice just how tidy everything in the dining room and kitchen was. The spices were organized alphabetically on the spice rack, books placed in order on his book shelf, counters dusted, floors swept and waxed, and even the throw pillows on the sofas were perfectly square.

“Do you live here by yourself?”

“Yes,” Sasuke answered over the running water.

“Does your family live around here?”

“They did once upon a time. We all moved when I was young, but I came back for school and decided to teach here.”

The more he talked, the more Sakura felt content with just sitting on her stool with her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands, listening to him talk. She felt childish, honestly. Infatuated with a man who’s a few years older than her and he’s her homeroom teacher.

“Why didn’t you move back to be closer to your family?”

Sasuke’s eyes peered up from the pan that he was washing and he smirked. “You and your questions, Sakura. I wish you would ask these many questions in class, sometimes.”

She felt her lips purse at his statement and finally got off of her seat. She felt horribly disgusting from the night before and decided that it was probably time to go home.

“Do you mind taking me home?”

Sasuke didn’t answer; he continued to wash the remainder of the dishes and when he finished, he casually leaned against the counter with his hands balancing him.

“You don’t want to shower?”

The question frightened her, but when she realized what he had meant, she laughed slightly.

“Oh, sure. If you don’t mind…”

Sasuke walked towards her, close enough that she could inhale his scent and feel intoxicated by that cinnamon and smoke smell. He looked entirely too comfortable to be around her when she was like this, and as he walked back around with her bag in his hand, she took it with ease.

“The bathroom is right across the hall from my bedroom. There’s towels in the cabinet to the right of the sink,” he stated with gleaming eyes.

Sakura nodded and began towards the bathroom. Once inside, she locked the door as quickly as possible, her feminine hormones getting the best of her. She shuddered at the feeling but when she suddenly saw her reflection in the mirror, she had to hold back a scream.

How could she look so horrible, yet Sasuke actually took the time to make her breakfast and talk to her as though she looked like a decent human being?

She groaned into her hands before peeling the clothes from her body. The water came shooting out of the shower head, and in an instant, the room began to fill up with steam.

This had to be a dream, this couldn’t be real life.

.

.

.

“Have you done any of your homework this weekend?” Sasuke asked the moment Sakura walked out of the bathroom.

Now she really had a headache thinking about all the homework that she didn’t do. And to make matters worse, her sensei was standing in the same room as her.

“Nope,” she answered honestly.

His eyes widened slightly before looking to the television. Sakura ran her fingers through her wet hair and began to walk over to the sofa that Sasuke stood next to.

“I have a comb you can borrow…” he muttered underneath his breath. Sakura glanced over at him with a smile on her face, a small laugh sounding throughout the room.

“May I borrow it?”

He was gone and back within a matter of seconds, his hand extended out to her and handing over the simple black comb. Now it all my sense, why his hair normally looked tousled in such a neat manner in the mornings -- he used this comb.

He was seated on the opposite end of the sofa now, the remote still in his hand as he watched the actors play out the scene on the television. Sakura ran the comb through her silky locks and every other stroke, she caught a scent of the cinnamon scented shampoo that Sasuke had in his shower. She figured he wouldn’t mind if she used it.

“Much better, thank you!” Sakura gave him a kind smile as she handed his comb back. He muttered something underneath his breath, his eyes still on the television.

The room fell into a comfortable silence while Sakura began to focus on what was going on on the television. She found it slightly amusing, watching the two characters that she assumed had been brothers bicker and argue back and forth. It wasn’t until they finished an entire episode that she glanced over at him and was met by his onyx eyes.

“I’m ready to go whenever,” she reminded him. As much as she wanted to stay, she didn’t want to intrude on his home and privacy. His response was what shocked her.

A simple shrug, “hn, I don’t mind. You can stay for as long as you want.” His eyes found their way back to the screen and he became absolutely quiet once more.

Sakura smiled and shifted on her side of the sofa, making her spot more comfortable as she came to rest her head in her hand and watch the show with Sasuke.

It was nice; spending Sunday morning in a nice condo, watching some sort of comedy show in silence with Sasuke only feet away from her. He didn’t seem to mind her presence, and that’s what made her feel giddy on the inside.

“How was the party?” His voice suddenly broke the silence.

“Huh?” Sakura glanced over, her eyes landing on Sasuke’s straight face. “It was whatever, fun enough I suppose.”

“Is that why you wanted to go home?” His tone turned serious along with eyes.

Sakura looked away, a light blush dusting her cheeks. She didn’t actually want to go home. She wanted to see Sasuke, spend time with him, be done with all her high school friends that night and move on to a more quiet and secluded place.

“I didn’t want to go home,” Sakura confessed quietly.

Sasuke’s eyebrow raised, his eyes glowing with wonder. “Then why did you say it?”

She felt like she had a lump in her throat now. She couldn’t form words, nor think of anything to say without sounding like a complete creeper. What if Sasuke was just trying to be a good role model and take care of her when she needed, yet she took it the wrong way?

Sakura cleared her throat before looking away. When she looked back, she could feel the blush burning her skin. “I wanted to see you.”

“Why?”

Oh, come on! Enough with the questions, Sakura screamed to herself on the inside. It was hard enough to answer the first one truthfully, but if she was going to be spending more time with him, they might as well get everything out there.

“Because I like you.”

The second she said it, she put her head in her hands and waited for his response. Moments ticked by, and he still remained silent. Sasuke didn’t shuffle, he didn’t sigh, didn’t grunt his disapproval. He only scoffed. Sakura refused to show her face after admitting such a heartfelt secret.

“Look at me,” Sasuke spoke softly. Sakura shook her head before bringing her knees up and curling her body into a tiny ball. She wanted so badly to leave now.

“Sakura,” he tried again. “Please look at me.”

She took a quick glance over at him, and from there, she could see a small smile painted on his lips. His eyes were as gentle as his voice and he looked genuinely happy. Even his cheeks were colored in light tint of red.

“Why are you hiding your face?” He was no longer looking at her, but back at the screen.

“Because it’s embarrassing.”

“Hn,” he grunted out. “If you feel that way, then that’s your choice. But you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Sakura no longer held her head in her hands, but she was now looking at him with curious eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I guess that’s something you can figure out on your own. You’re a smart girl,” he gave her a lopsided smirk before lazily tossing his hair around.

Fuck, Sakura felt her heart slam against her ribcage. What a gorgeous creature he is.

It seemed like every time the two of them started to progress towards a life changing topic, one of their phones started going off. This time it was Sasuke’s phone that started to ring.

“Hello?”

Sakura tried her hardest to hear the other person that he was talking to, but there was little to no sound coming out. His eyebrows narrowed slightly before he leaned forward and ran his hand through his dark locks.

“What do you mean in the next hour?” His tone changed drastically, along with it, he let out a low sigh, almost like a growl.

“Fine. Bye.”

When Sasuke stood up, he looked everywhere but at Sakura. She sat quietly and waited for him to get done looking around and when he finally cast a glance her direction, she smiled softly.

“Everything okay?”

“Peachy. I gotta go. I can take you home.” His sentences and words were short, his tone icy.

Sakura nodded before getting up. The cotton shorts and fitted shirt she had on wouldn’t be enough clothing to wear outside in the chilly weather, and the second she reached down towards her bag, she couldn’t find her jacket.

“It’s in the wash,” Sasuke stated. “You can borrow one of mine and I’ll make sure to give your jacket back tomorrow.”

The idea of wearing Sasuke’s sweater sent butterflies through her stomach and she only nodded before he made his way to his bedroom. The second he emerged, he tossed a black sweatshirt her way, and she slid it on over her body. It was huge, her body swam in it, but she was too enthralled in the idea of wearing something of his.

“Don’t ruin it, it’s one of my favorites,” his tone finally lightened up a bit upon seeing her grinning face.

When she held it out to look at the front, the letters ‘U of K’ were written in red and white ink, with their symbolic leaf behind the letters.

“Thank you!” Sakura practically screeched. Sasuke only rolled his eyes in response.

When Sakura picked her bag up from the floor and began to walk towards the kitchen, Sasuke was walking right behind her.

“So you like me,” he repeated from behind her.

She felt the same blush from earlier crawl up the back of her neck and etch the stinging sensation across the bridge of her nose. “Yes…” Her head turned towards him, but within seconds, her back was pressed against the wall and her emerald green eyes grew wide.

Sasuke’s mouth was now brushing the shell of her ear, and if it had been any other guy that put her in this position, they’d get a swift knee to the groin. But Sasuke being this close shut down her entire central nervous system and she could hardly control her breathing.

“Good,” he whispered, his warm breath ran down her neck.

Sakura trembled from beneath him, her teeth biting firmly into her lower lip and as Sasuke began to pull away, it was when his lips graced her jawline that she felt the need to fall to the floor. Her knees were buckled now, and she couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

“Come on, Sakura.” He pulled his lips from her skin and smirked at her before taking her hand in his and leading her out the door.

This has got to be a dream.

.

.

.

“Aw, honey! That’s a lovely sweatshirt. Have you changed your mind and decided to go to University of Konoha after all?” Mebuki cooed the moment Sakura walked through the door.

She didn’t answer. She only placed her keys on the counter before walking straight to her room like a zombie.

The moment she entered, she fell to her bed and pulled her knees to her chest and began to smile so wide that her cheeks hurt.

“He likes me.”

[recentanimenews]

"Hanasaku Iroha" Bonbori Festival Report - A Fictional Event Becomes Real Life Tradition

Every tenth month of the year in Yuwaku, a procession moves along a path lit up by dozens of bonbori lanterns, guiding the young goddess, who once tamed a fox and therefore keeps getting lost, from the Yuwaku Inari Shrine to the serene Gyokusenko Pond. From there, she sets off on her journey to Izumo, the place where all Japanese deities gather once a year. In return for everybody who held their bonbori up to illuminate a path for her, the young goddess takes everyone’s wishes with her to the sky.

  What sounds like a time-honored and long-established tradition is in fact not much older than a mere seven years. And aside from a few inspirations from other Japanese festivals, the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival has no historical roots at all – it was completely made up for the P.A. Works original anime Hanasaku Iroha. This entirely fictional event inspired the town of Yuwaku, which served as the setting for the anime, to recreate the festival in reality. And now, it has been celebrated for the seventh year in a row.

  “If a lot of people get together and fest it up, it’s only natural that many things happen,” says Ohana in the final episode of Hanasaku Iroha, which perfectly describes how the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival came to be. Yuwaku Onsen is a quiet and picturesque hot spring town in the mountainous southeast of Kanazawa Prefecture, but in 2009 the region was hit by heavy rains that triggered devastating floods and landslides. Over 2000 buildings were damaged in the disaster, and over 25,000 people were forced to evacuate. After a few years of successful recovery, town representatives and officials from P.A. Works, a studio that’s deeply rooted in the region, came together to think of ways to aid and boost the local economy – paving the way for the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival we know and celebrate today.

  Not even a full month after Hanasaku Iroha’s final episode aired, Yuwaku hosted the first Bonbori Festival by recreating all festivities from the anime. The festival was instantly a huge success. This was, of course, not a given, and so the festival was designed so that a skeleton crew of no more than a dozen people could manage the event if it didn’t prove successful. But an impressive 5000 people turned up for the festival’s premiere, truly a boon for a small, remote disaster-struck town with no more than nine traditional inns. The made-up event has only grown since, counting more than 15,000 attendees in its seventh iteration this year, and things are looking bright for the future. It is safe to say that the fictional anime festival from Hanasaku Iroha has become an important and beloved real life tradition in Yuwaku, and thanks to P.A. Works' PARUS and JETRO I had the opportunity to fest it up and check out the festival for myself.

    As mentioned earlier, the anime’s fictional town of Yunosagi is based on the real Yuwaku Onsen, a small village hidden in the mountains of Kanazawa Prefecture. The made-up name Yunosagi is actually a word play on the real town’s hot spring source, called “Shirasagi no yu,” literally meaning "hot spring of the white heron." In addition, one of Yuwaku’s public bathhouses is called “Shirasagi no yu,” which, when partially spelled backwards, results in the anime’s Yunosagi. In the anime, Ohana encounters a white heron several times – surely also a nod to Sarah Orne Jewett‘s short story “A White Heron,” in which a young city girl has to move back to her grandmother's home in the countryside, just like in Hanasaku Iroha.

  As you can surely imagine, prior to the anime, Yuwaku Onsen was more of an insider tip, and certainly not a prime destination for anime fans. But the anime's broadcast hadn't even ended when the town began seeing an increase in anime tourists. While Yuwaku itself is fairly hard to reach (only by bus from Kanazawa), the town actually makes for a highly satisfying anime pilgrimage, as all the major spots from the show are easily accessible and not located too far away from each other. 

    We got dropped off close to the intersection here, which was already etched in my mind since I'd seen Ohana and Minko run past this spot so many times in the show’s first opening. Although the main event was still a few hours away, the place was already crowded with people, many of whom were taking photos of their favorite anime locations.

    I was also delighted to find Yuina’s inn only a few steps further ahead. While the inn is called Fukuya in the anime, the real one is called Syuhokaku. Aside from a few minor differences, especially the hotel lobby, which was a lot more spacious in the show, the inn looked just like in the anime. 

  Cosplayers: Michio, Toreko, Aoi

Set up behind Yuina’s inn was a small event area with a bunch of food stalls and a few shops selling Hanasaku Iroha branded goods. There were also a good number of cosplayers dressing up as their favorite characters from the show, often recreating poses and scenes from the anime.

    From there we headed back over Fukujin Bridge, another location from the anime, to Yuwaku’s center. 

    You may ask yourself by now, but what about Ohana’s inn, the Kissuiso? Well, if you’d follow the road on the right up the hill here, you’d end up where the inn was located in the anime. However, you won’t actually find a hotel there, at least not anymore. There used to be a western hotel called Hakuunro up there, which didn’t even closely resemble the anime’s Kissuiso. Unfortunately, it went bankrupt in 1999 and was later torn down in 2006. The area now serves as a public park, so you can at least still check out the would-be location of the anime’s Kissuiso.  

    Another spot from Hanasaku Iroha’s opening. This narrow main street makes up the center of Yuwaku, and leads straight to the Kanazawa Yuwaku Yumeji Museum, dedicated to the famous poet and painter, Yumeji Takehisa, who was a frequent visitor. 

    But more importantly, the street leads right to this flight of stairs, which is – you guessed it – another anime location. These stairs were also a main venue of the festival, as there were several live acts, performances, and speeches. Especially noteworthy here is the fact that there were actually none of the voice actors or the bands responsible for the show’s opening and ending songs present at the festival, as was the case in previous years. Performing instead were local groups and bands, like a small acapella group humming Hanasaku Iroha’s opening theme. It’s all the more impressive, then, that the festival has managed to keep growing at this pace.

An explanation for this change is that P.A. Works is now only taking a backseat when it comes to organizing the festival, as explained by the studio’s executive producer, Nobuhiro Kikuchi, who was one of the driving forces behind the first festival. The organizers have gradually shifted the spotlight away from the festival’s anime origins in order to widen its appeal to non-anime fans – a strategy that seems to be working. Of course, there will always be a strong connection to the anime, and the event will remain a popular destination for anime fans in the coming years, but the festival’s now also highly enjoyable even if you’re not an avid anime fan. 

    The stairs lead up to the humble Yuwaku Inari Shrine, marked by three vermilion torii gates and two kitsune (fox) statues. In the anime, Nako regularly comes here to pray to the young goddess who tamed a fox.  

    I still had a bit of time left before the main festivities were to begin, so I decided to grab a bite to eat. I obviously had to go for some yakisoba, which was also what Ohana and Koichi got before their big confession scene. I unfortunately wasn’t brave enough to ask the chef for a heart-shaped one, so this will have to suffice. 

    Right before the procession started to head to the shrine we were allowed to write down our own wishes on these wishing plaques, which would later be burned in the bonfire, just like in the anime.

    And as the procession started to move, the same soundtrack that was played in the final episode also started playing throughout the town, making me relive the final episode of Hanasaku Iroha in person. 

    After a quick pit stop at the shrine, the young goddess was guided to the nearby man-made Gyokusenko Pond. The stairs, flanked by countless illuminated lanterns, truly were a sight to behold. 

    The same goes for the exclusive pond area, which was fully surrounded by the hand-painted lanterns. 

    The procession fully circled the pond before stopping at the small platform with the bonfire. 

    Then was time for the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival’s grand finale. An actual priest recited a prayer before everybody’s wishing plaques got burned in the bonfire, delivering our wishes and prayers for a second season of Hanasaku Iroha to the sky and the gods above, all as the tranquil soundtrack from the same scene in the anime started playing. 

    The Yuwakau Bonbori Festival is without a doubt one of the biggest success stories when it comes to anime-induced tourism and efforts to strengthen Japan’s more rural areas through anime. However, it's only one of many community projects by P.A. Works, a studio that has always been considered a central player and on the forefront of the rapidly growing anime tourism trend in Japan. In 2015, P.A. Works even went as far as to set up their own Produce Area Research & Utility Support Center (PARUS) to study and support the development of the region and coordinate with local governments. Another one of their projects was kicked off just a day after the Bonbori Festival, which was a sister city signing between the city of Nanto, where the studio is located, and the fictional town of Manoyama from the recent anime, Sakura Quest. The treaty included a handful of tie-in events that were part of Sakura Quest’s plotline, creating even more incentives for fans to visit these anime locations.

  Anime tourism is definitely a growing trend in Japan, and with committed studios like P.A. Works bringing terrific projects like the Yuwaku Bonbori Festival to life and consequently putting Japan’s often overlooked rural regions on the map for tourists, I’m sure it’s a trend that’s here to stay.

    What were your thoughts about Hanasaku Iroha? And would you like to see the real life Bonbori Festival yourself someday? Sound off in the comments below!

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You can follow Wilhelm on Twitter @Surwill.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com