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witharthurkirkland · 7 years

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Hitsuzen

Here is another preview of fics to vote for.

Summary: Yuri Plisetsky has always seen strange things and odd spirits often follow him around. One day he stumbles into an odd shop that grants wishes run by a strange man named Victor Nikiforov. Will Victor grant his wish and what will be the price?

Pairings: Yuri/Otabek, Yuuri/Victor, with Yuri crushing on Yuuri

...Yes this is an xxxHolic AU where Yuri P is Watanuki, Victor is Yuuko, Yuuri K is Himawari and Otabek is Doumeki (yes, you read that right now go think about that; if you haven’t read the manga then it’s okay, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Probably)

Edit: you can now vote for this to be the next fic I write here!

The world is a large place full of wonderful and terrifying things. Humans walk proudly through it, arrogantly thinking they know all of its secrets when they haven’t even scratched the surface. Because even those who know some of Fate’s secrets know that they can’t change their own fate.

But most importantly, they know that there are no such things as coincidences. There is only Hitsuzen.

It was a gloomy morning and it was made even worse by that thing. That thing, which, for some reason, no one could see but him. It followed him down the street, floating a few meters off the ground.

It probably had a name, but thing was all it was going to get from him.

Describing it required a good look and that probably meant going mad as well. And he wasn’t going to go mad. He was already really angry. Going mad would only make everything worse. So he could only describe it (if anyone ever forced him to) as a big disgusting, foul thing, as something unnatural in all meanings of the word.

And Yuri Plisetsky was well acquainted with the unnatural. Unfortunately, he was much better acquainted with it than he would have liked.

No one else could see it. Why couldn’t anyone else see it? Why was he the only one cursed to see it? Why couldn’t he also be oblivious to it? Seeing it didn’t exactly give him any special abilities.

“Aargh!” he screamed, the sound of his voice filling the street. “Why do you have to follow me?”

But shouting didn’t help either. He stumbled down the street, feeling his knees give out under him. He caught the gatepost of a house just as he thought he would pass out.

And the foul thing vanished.

He looked up and stared in amazement at the house before him.

Yuri was in a normal street, or, at least, up until that moment he thought he was in a normal street. Now he wasn’t so sure. There were regular-looking houses all down the street, mostly identical to each other. Nothing about any of them was exceptionally memorable.

Except this house.

It was an odd house and that was the biggest understatement imaginable. It was made of dark wood. There was a crescent moon on its roof. The gates, which were made from the same wood as the house, somehow contrived to look more solid and menacing than the stone gates of the other houses.

Whatever, he thought, I don’t care. I just want –

And even though he could’ve sworn he told his legs to go away, they marched on, completely without any input from him whatsoever down the path that led right to the front door of the house.

He tried to stop. He tried to fight this sudden impulse of walking into odd places, but all with no luck.

They carried him onwards to the house.

“Stop it!” he shouted at his legs (and knew deep inside that it was a sure sign of impending madness). “It’s rude to walk into people’s houses without their permission!”

It was a stupid thing to shout, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it didn’t work.

His legs took him right up to the front door where three identical-looking girls stepped out to greet him.

“Welcome to the shop!” they exclaimed in unison with serious looks on their faces.

And then the serious looks vanished and they burst out into an excited chorus of “A customer! A customer!” They were almost tripping over themselves and each other in excitement.

They grabbed Yuri by the arms and, before he’d even had time to realize what they were doing, before he could turn and run from this mad place, they dragged him inside.

The inside of the house was just as odd as the outside, but the three girls didn’t give him a lot of time to study his surroundings, or even think about the recurring image of the crescent moon: they dragged him into one of the rooms, where his attention was captured fully by someone else.

There was a man in this room. He’d draped himself lazily (and way too dramatically, in Yuri’s opinion) over a red couch, a smile on his face and a pipe in his hand. He was in a red and yellow kimono that only added to how dramatic his pose was. His icy blue eyes regarded Yuri with disinterest, as if to say “oh, there you are at last; isn’t that nice?”

Yuri, who’d been close to his breaking point for the past ten minutes, snapped. “What the hell is this weird place?”

“It’s a shop!” the triplets exclaimed. “Yeah! A shop!”

The lazy figure on the couch watched him without a word.

The triplets went quiet and a complete silence settled over the room and its inhabitants. There was no ticking of a clock and no sounds came from the street.

The man got up and reached Yuri in several long strides. He tower over him. “This is a shop that grants wishes,” he said, taking Yuri’s chin in his hand. “If you’re here, it means you have a wish.”

Yuri pushed him away. “Don’t touch me! What the hell is the problem with you? Do you just lure people in here to sell them your crap?”

“No. I just told you: this shop grants wishes. You’re not a very clever young man, are you?”

“So anyone can march in here, demand anything and get it?” Yuri asked. As if I will believe that!

The strange man chuckled. “For a price. This is a shop, after all. For the right price, any wish can be granted.”

“Any wish?” Yuri repeated incredulously.

He nodded. “Yes, but some wishes come at a very high price and would cost you your soul.”

“Soul?” he backed away.

“Yes.” The strange man circled Yuri. “Your coming here was no coincidence, no accident. It was Hitsuzen!”

Yuri swallowed nervously, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face. “Hitsuzen?” he repeated.

“Hitsuzen - a naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible. A result which can only be obtained by a single causality, and all other causalities would necessarily create different results. So reads the Kodansha Japanese desk dictionary, second edition.” The strange man paused with a smile.

Yuri stared at him with his mouth slightly open. “What the hell?” he demanded as the meaning of the last sentence sank in.

The man chuckled, no doubt pleased by this terrible joke.

“What is your name?” he asked, draping himself over the couch again.

“Yuri Plisetsky,” he answered.

“And your birthday?”

“M-March 1st,” Yuri answered.

The strange man burst out laughing. “What sort of person tells a stranger their real name and birthday?”

“What?” Yuri demanded, his fists clenching.

“My name is Victor Nikiforov,” the strange man said, wrapping his arms around the triplets as they circled him. “It’s a fake name, of course.” He kissed the forehead of one of the triplets. “And these are my assistants in the shop: Axel, Lutz and Loop. Aren’t they the cutest names you ever heard?”

“No! What the hell is the matter with you?” What’s the deal with him? And what do I say to that? I need to get the hell out of here! He turned to go, but Victor was there right in front of him.

“Like I said, you being here means that you have a wish and that I must grant it,” he said, taking Yuri’s chin in his hand again.

“Let go of me, you pervert!” Yuri exclaimed, pushing him away.

Victor stepped back. “Do you have a watch?”

“Hm? What?” He searched around in his pocket and pulled out an old watch. “It’s a family heirloom,” he said, handing it over to Victor. “My grandfather handed it down to me from his father.”

“Yuri Plisetsky,” Victor whispered and threw down a little circle that expanded in size. Yuri wasn’t sure where it came from. It looked like Victor had pulled it out of his sleeve. Victor stared into it as if hypnotized. “Yuri Plisetsky… birthday March first. You lost your parents when you were small. You live with your grandfather now. Your future is very uncertain, but you are hard-working and independent, which might help you deal with anything that comes your way. Or it might only make things worse. You have a big trouble, caused by your blood.”

Yuri stepped back. He hadn’t been prepared to hear his fortune read out like this.

Victor went on, as if in a trance. “Your blood lets you see creatures that few humans can see. Unfortunately, this means that they’re all attracted to you.”

The circle was gone and Victor pocketed Yuri’s watch. “I’ll grant your wish,” he said.

“Give me back my watch, you idiot!” Yuri demanded.

“It’s not your watch anymore,” Victor told him. “I’ve taken it as payment for reading your fortune.” He put an arm around Yuri’s shoulders. “You live only with your grandfather, which means…” He leaned in close to Yuri’s ear, as if about to whisper some great secret, “…that you’re very good at housework, right?”

“Yes,” Yuri agreed, confused at the speed at which they jumped from wishes and his fortune to housework.

“Excellent!” Victor exclaimed, stepping away and giving Yuri a big grin with a clap of his hands. “That will be your payment: from now on you will do all of the housework around here.”

“What?”

“You will work in this shop until I say it’s enough and then I will grant your wish!” Victor announced.

When the hell did I agree to this? Yuri demanded as the triplets danced happily around him, singing the word “housework” over and over again.

At some point during the evening he’d walked into hell itself and now he wondered if there was a way back to the land of the normal and the sane.

He wondered the same thing the next afternoon as he stuffed his things into his school bag. It was the end of yet another uneventful school day. He only wished the afternoon could be equally uneventful.

“That man is insane,” he muttered to himself, “and that store of his is as mad as he is. How much junk can one person keep? And how long will I have to deal with this crap? Ughh! And now I have to go back there!”

“Go back where?” another voice asked.

“To that stupid store of his, of course!” he answered without thinking.

He froze, realizing that not only was he complaining aloud, but that there was another person joining in. He raised his head and met the eyes of the most perfect being in existence.

Yuuri Katsuki.

He felt his heart melt and all thoughts of creepy men in strange shops went out the window.

Yuuri Katsuki – the best person in all the world, his classmate and his crush. He was tall, dark-haired and handsome. He was the best at everything. He was kind and just being in his presence was enough to make the day better.

“Did you get a job in a shop?” Yuuri asked, giving him a smile brighter than the sun.

Yuri pulled himself together. He did what he always did and fell back on his hostile attitude. “Yeah and what’s it to you?” he asked.

“Y-you’re right,” Yuuri said. “It’s none of my business. It was wrong of me to listen in.” He turned away, looking as if someone had hit him.

Why do you have to be such a pushover? Yuri wondered. If anyone else had done it, it would’ve pissed him off to no end and it would’ve been enough for Yuri to consider them a loser and hate them for all eternity.

But this was Yuuri Katsuki. And everything he did was perfect.

“I… I just meant,” he racked his brains for a good excuse, “it’s awkward that I have to work in a shop.” What a lame excuse!

Yuuri turned around with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that! What kind of a shop is it? Maybe I can visit it sometime?”

He had a terrible image then of innocent Yuuri in the clutches of that strange Victor who would try to steal his soul in exchange for the promise of granting him some wish.

“No! It’s a horrible shop!” Yuri protested. “You won’t like it at all!”

And then he wondered if Yuuri had a wish. Not a small, silly wish, but a big wish that only Victor could grant.

#Hitsuzen #fanfiction #fics to vote for #AU #yuri on ice #xxxHolic #Victor Nikiforov #Yuri Plisetsky #Yuri Katsuki #oh wow a Victuuri fic where Yuri P is the main character and written by me amazing

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toraonice · 7 years

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Yuri on Ice BD audio commentary translation - Volume 4

I absolutely wanted to post this within today because this evening I want to work on the Pash interview with Sayo Yamamoto... This BD volume has lots of choreography footage so that will take a while to translate, and I’m going to give priority to the interview.

This commentary is different from the others because it’s not just Kubo with another person, there’s 4 of them. Luckily enough they don’t really talk over each other (except for one part, lol), but in the second half I translated most of what they say as dialogue because I felt it was more fitting. In the dialogue parts my notes/comments are in brackets.

The commentary is only for episode 7. Episode 8 has no commentary. It’s not a full translation but I summarized most of what they said, and some parts are almost completely translated. Fans of Phichit, Guang-Hong and Leo should definitely read it as it’s a rare chance to get comments from these voice actors. Also, their reactions to the last scene are hilarious, that’s a must read too.

The commentary is by: -Mitsurou Kubo -Kenshou Ono (Phichit) -Yuutarou Honjou (Guang-Hong) -Shunichi Toki (Leo)

Translation under the cut because it’s long. Enjoy!

-In the beginning they introduce themselves and Kubo says that the other audio commentaries were all done by her with another person and this is the first time it’s done by so many people together. She also says that she never had the chance to talk to them a lot (since she couldn’t go to most recordings). Honjou says that he also never spoke a lot with Ono because in episode 6 Ono recorded his part alone and in episode 7 Guang-Hong skated in the A part and Phichit in the B part. Since so many voice actors were in the episode, he waited outside of the recording room during B part because he had no lines and would have occupied space uselessly. He says he spent the time writing a report, and they comment on the fact that he’s young (he’s 20 so he’s a student). Kubo says that the skaters in the China Cup are all quite young and Chris and Yuuri are the oldest (actually she forgot Georgi, he’s older than Yuuri lol). That also made the atmosphere at the tournament quite merry. Ono says that finally Phichit can prove his worth after a few episodes where he was mostly introduced as someone who spoke on the phone with Yuuri. He also says that he’s glad that YOI got so much response because he himself had fun working on it and it’s nice to know that the viewers felt the same. He then asks Kubo how long ago she got the idea for YOI, and Kubo says that in the beginning it was director Yamamoto who had the idea. She says that she (Yamamoto) had been wanting to make a series about figure skating, but since it’s a difficult topic she initially couldn’t find anyone (production/animation studios) willing to work on such a project. Then after the Sochi Olympics figure skating had a little boom and finally someone got interested in it (you might guess that the reason of the boom is Yuzuru Hanyu earning the first Olympic gold medal ever for Japan). She also says that YOI got an explosive response from overseas, especially after episode 7, and is also very popular in China.

-During Guang-Hong’s FS, Toki comments that Leo stars in the imaginary world of the FS and that “the scary guy” (Georgi) is playing the boss. Kubo says that the song is meant to be from the soundtrack of the fictional movie "Shanghai Blade”, and that the choreography also reflects the story (they talk about this in the choreography commentary too). Toki comments that the setting material they read had detailed information about “Shanghai Blade” and that it sounded so interesting that he actually would like to know the full story of the movie. Kubo says that every character has his own background and that both the choreographies and the fictional movies have a meaning.

-Here she asks Honjou how he felt playing his role, and both Honjou and Ono reply about that. I’m writing directly what they said (it’s a summary, not the exact wording). Honjou: The skating parts were actually difficult. Guang-Hong looks carefree but deep inside he’s doing his best to perform his part, and I wasn’t sure how much I should show that gap. When he says “as long as I have my sword I can do it alone!”, usually he uses ‘boku’ as first person pronoun but in this line he says ‘ore’, and since he says it all excited I ended up making him sound really cute, lol. (”Boku” is softer than “ore”) Ono: It was very hard to maintain the balance. Phichit is very cheerful, so when I played him I really tried to create a bright character that would make the people around him smile, but skating is a fight against yourself, something that challenges your emotional strength and mental status, and when you skate you’re alone… That’s why during the monologue, where you can hear what the character is thinking, I thought that even though he’s cheerful toward others maybe I should show a more stoic side of him when it comes to skating. It’s a fight against yourself, you get a score for your performance, everyone is a rival, you are your rival too. I wondered how much I should show a serious side of him looking into himself, because I wanted to convey the fact that someone like Phichit-kun too is fighting against himself. However, when I did that I was told “maybe you should pay attention to the audience a bit more” and I had to retake the part (lol). Also, “maybe it’s better to make it sound a bit more like he wants to entertain the audience”. It was difficult to keep the balance. Kubo: When athletes skate they think a lot about the impression they leave on the audience and the judges. It is a fight against yourself, but it’s also a matter of representing something for others to see. At the same time it’s also a competition, so I find it amazing how they can think about all of those things together. She also says that it really feels like they put a lot of effort into creating the characters together with sound director Shimizu.

-During Phichit’s program, Kubo says that he is very popular in Thailand and that it’s rare that a Thai character has such a major role in a Japanese anime. She says that people like Phichit’s unaffected personality too. Honjou says that his parents went to Thailand and when they visited a “certain shop that sells anime goods” (I guess Animate Bangkok, lol) the plates they had on display were Yuuri, Victor and Phichit. Toki comments that the story of “The King and the Skater” was also very interesting and that you could probably make a manga out of that alone. Kubo says that when they ordered the songs they wrote as many details as possible, and that she wrote in detail for both Phichit’s SP and FS. The FS is set in the near future (more info about this in the choreography commentary too). She also comments that Phichit is cute and everyone at the Cup of China is cute. Ono says that it cheers him up to watch Phichit and you also feel like cheering on him. He also laughs saying that Phichit’s clothes look a lot like his own (they even both use a black face mask) so he feels very close to him. Kubo explains that Phichit looks up to Japanese reader models and pays a lot of attention to his own clothing style because he wants to become like a Japanese boy with a smart fashion sense. She didn’t do it on purpose because she had no idea what kind of clothes Ono uses, but in the end she agrees that they look similar. (In other words she’s praising his fashion sense, lol) Ono says that the sharp facial features are also something that makes him similar to Phichit. Kubo also mentions that Phichit has many hamsters but they could only show this in the last episode, and that there’s a stamp of him with his hamsters in the YOI LINE stamps too.

-From here they start talking about the LINE stamps. By the way, they do this while the anime is showing the scene of Yuuri and Victor in the parking lot and the gap is hilarious (it’s almost better to listen to the commentary without watching the screen, lol). I’m writing what they say as dialogue because it’s faster, though some parts are shortened/summarized. Kubo: In the vol.2 of LINE stamps some use lines that the characters never said in the series. Toki: This is something I was meaning to ask! Does Leo-kun turn down Hollywood celebrity parties?? Lol. Kubo: I do think in some cases it’s better to use lines that the characters actually said in the series, but for some reason I wanted him to say “it’s ok, I turned down the Hollywood celebrity party”. Toki: So you decided the text (of the stamps)? Kubo: Sorry, I used a “dark force”, lol. (She means “connections”, or well, that she took advantage of her position to decide the text, lol) Honjou: It wasn’t shown in the series, but in the storyboard there was a line saying “don’t you go to Hollywood celebrity parties?”. I remember thinking, “is that something you ask someone the first time you meet them?”, lol. Ono: And I think maybe I actually said that line at the audition… Kubo: Guang-Hong-kun likes American celebrities and has a secret ambition to become friends with celebrities one day. He asks Leo-kun, “don’t you go to parties with celebrities?”, and Leo is like “no I don’t, I’m not invited to things like that”, so he replies “if you ever have a party call me, I’ll be there right away!”. That’s why there was that line. In the end we didn’t use it in the anime and it was used in the LINE stamps (lol). In the audition Ono-san had a line like a YouTuber too. Ono: Yes, a line like a YouTuber who is greeting his fans. After the audition ended the sound director Shimizu-san told me “it had a nice Asian feeling”. I had no idea what he meant but if it had “a nice Asian feeling” I guess it was ok..? lol. Toki: People who are wondering what we are talking about please check out the LINE stamps. Kubo: Can I ask you to say the line from the stamps? Toki: What kind of nuance should I use? Kubo: A person invites you to a drinking party and is wondering whether you have already something else planned, but you answer “it’s ok, I turned down the Hollywood celebrity party!”. It’s like you mean to say that your friend’s party is more important than a Hollywood celebrity party. (Toki asks Honjou to say the question part, and Honjou says it as Guang-Hong) Honjou (Guang-Hong): Leo-kun, I’d like to eat lunch with you, is it ok? Toki (Leo): It’s ok. I turned down the Hollywood celebrity party! (not sure who is saying this, maybe Toki): Man, that’s so hard to use, lmao. When do you use it?? Kubo: I use it a lot. I use it when I’m talking with friends and they ask me “is it ok?”. Actually I’d really like to make LINE stamps with voices too. (LINE stamps with voices exist for some series) Someone: I’m sure it’s possible. Kubo: Then I’ll try to use the “dark force”. I don’t know if it works but I’ll try my best. I don’t really have any power myself. (I’d really love to see YOI stamps with voices, although I almost never use LINE. But as far as I know the YOI stamps are currently only available for purchase within Japan, so first of all I wish they would make them available worldwide so that everyone can enjoy them… By the way, this is my personal interpretation, but I guess Guang-Hong asks Leo about celebrity parties because he automatically thinks America = Hollywood...?)

-Short parenthesis where Toki praises the music too saying he would like real figure skaters to skate to some of the songs, and Kubo replies that actually there are some young skaters who want to, and she hopes one day it will be possible to see people actually skate to the songs.

-The anime shifts to Georgi’s FS and of course the topic shifts to him too. Again I’m writing it as dialogue because it’s faster. Ono: Popovich was so overwhelming, lol. Toki: Everyone in the recording booth was busy trying not to laugh. Kubo: I couldn’t go, but I heard that the recording for episodes 6 and 7 was very exciting. How was it? Toki: Hatano-san (Georgi’s voice actor) did his best during rehearsal, and everyone was already laughing at that point, but then in the actual recording he got even better and it was terrific. Everyone was looking down with a hand on their mouth trying to keep from laughing, lmao. Kubo: It was decided that in the audio commentary we can say spoilers until the end of the series. In which scenes, up to the end, did you have a hard time trying not to laugh? Ono: Miyano-san… JJ was very tiring. In a good way. Like when in episode 10 he says “it’s a joooke”. Toki: In the last episode Miyano-san shows up saying “sorry sorry” (in Japanese he says “mengo mengo” instead of “gomen gomen”, it’s kind of a stupid way to say it). He actually kept on repeating that for practice over and over before recording, lmao. I was next to him and thought “what a guy”, lol. Ono: And the JJ song. The JJ song we sang all together. Kubo: Sounds like a graduation song, lol. Ono: We received the English lyrics and did our best to sing it, it was fun. The JJ style thing you (Kubo) did on Twitter, Yasumoto-san (Chris) and Miyano-san kept on doing that in the recording booth saying “this is JJ style” (in English) to make people laugh, lmao. Kubo: JJ is like curry, he changes the flavor of everything. That’s nice to hear. Ono: The ending was very passionate too.

-From here they talk about the YOI all night screening from February. You can read my detailed report of that here if you’re interested. By the way, in the anime Yuuri is skating his FS (I think they were talking about JJ when he started, once again the gap… lol). Writing it as dialogue again. (Just a little explanation about the screening for you to better understand what they say: It was a talk show followed by the screening of all 12 eps of YOI. The event was held in a cinema in Tokyo and simultaneously streamed in many other cinemas all over Japan. It was ok to cheer and speak during the anime episodes, but not in all cinemas people were loud the whole time, some were actually pretty quiet. The one I went to was average but people mostly clapped to cheer on the skaters and no one really yelled randomly.) Kubo: At the all night screening some time ago, as far as I saw/heard, the part where people got most excited was the scene in episode 10 where Phichit-kun says “congratulations for your wedding!”. There was a thunderous applause in every venue. Even in venues where people were mostly quiet, when he says “Congratulations!! My best friend got married!!” everyone just clapped their hands, everywhere. Ono: When he sees the rings, right? I can see why people would get excited, lol. Kubo: Also, at the end of episode 7 too, I was told that people just naturally clapped their hands. Ono: (looking at Yuuri skating his FS) When I see such beautiful animation I never understand how it works. It’s too beautiful. It’s like, how are they even animating this? It’s so beautiful I can’t understand. In YOI I felt that a lot, I had goosebumps. Honjou: I was also very moved to be able to work in this series. Ono: (in the anime Yuuri has just finished skating) I also like the skaters’ expressions when they finish their program. They have the face of someone who has accomplished something. Kubo: (Victor dashes to the rink’s exit) I like this Victor dash. (And then you know what happens in the anime, and they just start yelling random stuff and I’m not even sure who is saying what, lol) Ono: Ah, here! This! Someone (more than one but I couldn’t distinguish who says what): Here it comes. Here it comes!! Here! Uwah! Oh god! Ah! Ah! No! Stop! Noo ahahah lol. Congratulations!!!! Toki: It’s still episode 7, lmao. Ono: They got married! Kubo: They haven’t gotten married yet here, lol. Toki: It happens later on. Kubo: The wedding is later on, lol. But here also… (And I wanted her to finish this line but she leaves it hanging and everyone just talks over each other, doh) Someone: This is something that could be used in the stamps. Ono: This was… very shocking. (Then the anime shifts to the podium) Phichit, congratulations!

-After this the ending starts playing and they say their final thoughts. Since it doesn’t happen often to hear the opinion of voice actors except the main 3 characters I’m translating most of what they say. Kubo: How did you feel working on YOI? Honjou: Regarding an athlete’s ability to concentrate, I actually never played sports so seriously, I never thought of becoming a professional, so at the beginning I couldn’t picture what it means to concentrate during a competition, but looking at the characters’ performances I gradually started to get an idea of what it means, and with every recording it got more concrete, so in the end I was able to enjoy it a lot. Toki: I myself love figure skating. It’s also because my older sister does classic ballet, but basically I’ve been watching figure skating since I was a child, so I was very happy to receive an audition offer for this series, and when it was confirmed that I would play Leo-kun and I listened to his song I really thought “I like this guy!”. I was determined to play him to the best of my ability, but what worried me the most is that I wasn’t sure I could get close to Kubo-san and Shimizu-san’s image of the character. I was worried that I couldn’t fit into the Yuri on Ice world created by Kubo-san. Kubo: By the way, to say it frankly, it was even better than I expected and I wished I could make Leo-kun more amiable from the start. I wanted to get to know this side of him earlier. Toki: I’m glad to hear that, thank you! Ono: I genuinely thought that I wanted to do more. There are so many interesting characters, and 30 minutes is really too short. I had a lot of fun playing Phichit-kun, it was fun to fight on a skate rink as an athlete, and I really wished there would be a sequel. Therefore, I’m counting on you, sensei!! Kubo: I-I’ll do my best! Thank you! And then they just say the final greetings.

I seriously laughed my ass off when they were screeching on the last scene. It’s been said over and over that it’s left open to the viewers’ interpretation, but one thing I can tell for sure is that all of them definitely do not think it was just a hug, lmao. Also Kubo emphasizing the fact that people at the all night event were clapping their hands like crazy during that scene and the “congratulations!!” scene in ep 10, lol (in the cinema I was at we also actually yelled “congratulations”). Just please take the “the wedding is later on” part with a grain of salt because they’re joking referring to the above-mentioned scene from episode 10, they don’t meant to say that they are really getting married (at least as of now).

#YOI #Yuri on ice #Audio Commentary #BD #kubo mitsurou #ono kensho #toki shunichi #honjou yuutarou #phichit chulanont #leo de la iglesia #guang-hong ji #translation

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sweaterkittensahoy · 7 years

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Y’all, between the extended video of Welcome to the Madness (fuck me), and the translated Manga pages of what happened BEFORE Welcome to the Madness (fuck. me.), I can not tell you how much fucking fun it is to figure out exactly HOW those boys came up with THAT, and I want to share the various versions I have.

Platonic: Two seasoned performers--who are also teenagers--decide to work together to blow the doors off perceptions of Yuri because they are friends, and this will be fun. Then, when Viktor and Yuuri do their pair skate RIGHT BEFORE YURI GOES ON YOU FUCKS, Yuri reacts like any 15-year-old and lets impulse drive him. “Hey, Beka,” he might be heard to say. “Stand on the edge of the rink, and let’s REALLY fuck them up with their perceptions of us.”

So, Otabek Altin, super-masculine Hero of Kazakhstan, known for being a bit of a loner and very serious, stands to one side looking cool as fuck and removes Yuri’s glove with his goddamn teeth.

Because this is fucking INSPIRED in their minds and who gives a shit about how it gets read because they’re teenagers and seasoned performers, and this is gonna look SO RAD.

Non-Platonic: This one’s got a few variations. Maybe they made out on the beach after they agreed to work together. Maybe they fell for each other while Beka helped Yuri practice. Maybe each of them has a crush but doesn’t know how to say anything. Maybe Beka has fallen very much in lust and Yuri has no clue, and Beka would like to die now. Or Yuri has fallen very much in lust and Beka has no clue, and Yuri would like to die now.

Or maybe, after it’s done, they giddily kiss each other in the lockerroom as a joke except. Oh. Um. Well. And then decide to just be friends for a while and see what happens the next time they see each other in person (more kissing).

Christophe’s Reaction: He can’t believe those assholes out-slutted him, and he is very pleased. They argue they did NOT, thank you. They were merely playing with public perceptions of them as people. Chris points out Yuri finger-fucked Beka’s mouth and walks away triumphant as they’re both struck silent.

Viktor’s Reaction: Screaming encouragement from the second Yuri stepped on the ice. 110% behind it. It’s raw and hard and angry and so perfectly Yuri, and Viktor is so impressed Yuri can already design a program so personal.

Yuuri’s reaction: Can’t watch it live because HE has anxiety FOR Yuri being so out there. He watches it later and loves it for all the same reasons Viktor does.

Yakov: Straight into a bottle of vodka.

Lilia: Same, but laughing.

Mila: So proud of her angry little brother and his fuck you attitude.

Georgi: Jealous Yuri’s eye makeup game was better.

JJ: Confused by tingling in his pants.

Phichit: Took 4,000 pictures and is pretty sure he died.

Seung-Gil: Wasn’t watching.

Mickey: Super worried Otabeka’s gonna make a move on Sara.

Sara: REALLY enjoys the show. Especially that night in her hotel room. Alone.

Emil: Wants to know where Yuri got that jacket.

Guang Hong: Screams about it via texting to Phichit, who screams right back.

Leo: Cheers through the whole thing because it’s amazing.

Minami: Watches it fourteen times and decides to steal Yuri’s tank top.

#yuri on ice #welcome to the madness #hi i am ruined #fuck me sideways #otabek altin #yuri plisetsky #otayuri #fuuuuuck me

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marumafan · 8 years

Text

Yuuram in Novel 3

Because yuuram is life I hereby present you with a list of yuuram moments in the novels. This time novel 3.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.1

-Another Yuuram reunion-

The one who barged in was the angel-like bishounen, Wolfram von Bielefeld. He stopped dead in the hallway upon seeing my naked torso, and seemed to be at a loss for words, his cute face flustered.

"Yuuri... my God! Your face and arms ... So dark! Have you caught a terrible disease? Or a curse?"

"Are you looking for a fight?" I sulked.

In fact, my face and my arms were well-tanned, but my torso and legs were still white as snow. For baseball players, having this shirt-like tan would be considered an achievement, but when my upper body was exposed like this, it was indeed not the best look.

With the thumb and forefinger, Wolfram pinched my cheek.

"Ow-ow-aie-ooh-aie!! What do you think you're doing?"

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.1

- Yuuri introducing Wolfram -

Wolfram was a rival-less super bishounen, like a Vienna choir boy who had jumped straight out of a shoujo manga. He had inherited his mother's shiny golden hair and her emerald green eyes. While his build was no better or worse than mine, the difference between our looks was as wide as the gap between heaven and earth. I imagined all artists in the world would fight over the chance to paint his portrait. If he had appeared in someone's dream, the dreamer might even be moved to tears thinking they had seen an angel.

However, he was angel-like only as long as he kept his mouth shut. Else he was just a terribly spoiled and bratty prince. As he claimed, and if one could believe his words, he was already eighty-two years old. If he was living in Japan, he would be a stubborn old man. And because of a small tiny minor cultural difference, we are engaged to each other.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.1

- Casually touching Yuuri -

"The Mateki?!"

Wolfram who was strangely brushing the limit of my suntan, stepped into our conversation excitedly. As expected from a Vienna Boys Choir singer, the tone of his voice would even be a little annoying for Mozart.

"I've only heard the stories about it from my father, but he said that the sound of the flute is fantastic! It can make the sky roar and the earth shake. Its sound can conjure a loud storm, that would make you cower!"

"C-cows go?"

"Cows go mosa mosa."

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.2

- Yuuri being casually gay, and also upset he can’t be an alpha-

I tried to shift my body away from the boy sitting in front of me as much as possible so that some air could pass through between us. However, it was nothing but hot air all around us, and there was no stir even remotely resembling a breeze.

"If you slip further back, you'll fall." Wolfram said.

"I'm dying of heat!" I complained.

Wolfram was obviously enjoying the situation.

Yes, thanks. Very funny. If only it had been a girl who was sitting in front of me, then I would have had my fun. Like a charming gentleman, I would have steadied her, with the reins held in my hands. Sadly for me, the front seat was occupied by a bishounen lovelier than a girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.2

-Yuuri casually risking Conrad's life to save Wolf -

"What about Wolfram?! He fell in front of me into the sand! But he won't die, right?!" I cried and wailed.

"If he was unlucky..." Gwendal said above me. (...)

"Your Majesty, Wolfram would agree with me immediately. He is also a grownup warrior and knows that things like this can happen. Your safety comes first!"(...)

By now, there was no visible trace of the soldiers who had been swallowed by the sand vortex. Would they pass off falling into such a land hole as a matter of bad luck? Just imagining the honey blond hair and brilliant emerald green eyes frozen with terror, hurt my chest; I couldn't breathe.(...)

"Conrad, I don't want you to be someone who abandon his own brother." I finally said. (...)

"You've said that you would only follow my orders." I said.

"Yes, but that was..."

"You said you'll follow my catcher's signs. Then I order you to save Wolfram. Please! I'm fine; you have no reason to worry about me. After all I still have a strong guard here."

Conrad looked surprised and shifted his eyes back and forth between me and Gwendal.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.8

-Wolfram's reaction to hearing that Yuuri and Gwendal had eloped-

"Then you are the younger brother, whose fiancé has run off with your own elder brother?"

"What are you saying?"

In an instant, Wolfram's face had turned visibly red even in the pale moonlight. At the same time, steam seemed to be rising from his head.

"Conrad, what does that mean?" He yelled. "My brother and Yuuri! This cannot be true! I knew it! That cheater! "

"Wolfram, calm down. It is certainly not what it looks like."

"But yes, the two are surely a couple," the girl said. "I've seen them with my own eyes. The poor guys were on the run. They were chained together with handcuffs."

"Chained together?"

It had to be boiling water inside Wolfram's head.

(...)

The Lord Betrothed has gone completely out of his mind with fury and was by then torturing an innocent garbage can with his feet. Conrad decided to let Wolfram vent his rage. He turned around and put a hand on the shoulder of the girl who was about to break out in tears.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.10

-Yuuri hearing wedding music as he sleeps on Wolfram's lap; wakes up to Wolfram's hair in the moonlight which he thinks 'is beautiful' (the moon looks beautiful tonight trope?) ; Yuuri 's mantra -

In the meantime, the melodies of "The blue Danube" by Johann Strauss kept playing in my head. And it was not the full-scale version performed by an orchestra, but the cheap version the like of a call center's hold tone.

(...)

"What ..." I mumbled.

The first thing that I could see was thick golden strands shimmering in the moonlight. I didn't even have time to think 'It's beautiful', when I heard someone scolding me.

"Why do you always do this?"

"Wolf?"

"What?"

"Wa...Water..."

(...)

"Ouch... Stop it! I'm drowning, I'm really drowning here. Please forgive me!"

"Do you know how worried I was about you?"

Angering a bishounen, even if one was not at fault, would result in painful consequences. At the same time, I felt tremendous guilt since it was indeed my own impulsive action that caused trouble to everyone.

(...)

Even though I perfectly knew that we were both guys, being pursued by such a beautiful boy like him still caused my heart to skip a few beats. At times like this, the most effective solution was to avoid looking at his face and keep chanting "He is 82 years old" like a mantra.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.11

-Pillow Wolf-

As if that weren't enough, I had to lay down across two seats, my head softly cushioned on the thigh of Lord Bielefeld!

"Does my pillow have to be a man's lap, of all things?!" I wailed.

"Every time you do some huge magic, you sleep for two to three days," declared Wolfram, unmoved.

"This time you only slept two hours. And after such a formidable performance, too. Please be so kind as to stay right where you are. You need your rest."

"All right, all right! But why the heck does it have to be with you as my pillow!?"

"Doesn't it make you happy?"

"Do I look like I'm happy?!"

"Oh, you two are truly one heart and one soul," sighed Nicola with shining eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.12

-This chapter is just all yuuram-

"Yuuri, I never would have thought that you are capable of such a bold initiative," Wolfram said in surprise after I decided to knock on his door.

The delicate pretty boy did not know what to make of the whole thing. He tilted his head to one side and, his lips slightly open, waiting in silence for an explanation.

"I just want you to have a bath with me. If you feel embarrassed, you can keep your swim trunks on," I said.

"If it's just the two of us then there's nothing to be embarrassed about, but... "

"Then let's go! I'm in a hurry! A towel and a pair of trunks would be enough!"

In a corner of his room, Wolfram was busy digging for some strange object. Was he looking for a rubber duck to take with us?

I pulled the broadly grinning Wolfram, and head towards the familiar royal bathroom.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.12

-Definitely foreplay-

"Can you push me into the pool?"

"What?"

"Come on now," I grumbled.

"What kind of foreplay is this?"

Wolfram pushed me into the water, but I immediately resurfaced.

"I don't understand," I muttered. "Hey, what are you doing?! Did I tell you to jump in too?!"

Wolfram emerged again, his blond hair totally soaked. The image was like the scene of an angel bathing. Luckily he had kept his clothes on, just like me. With two strokes, he swam over to me.

"Why did you dive in? I only wanted you to push me."

He wrapped his pale arms around my neck.

"Don't hug me!"

"Didn't you want to try a totally new way of doing it?"

"Way of doing it...? Wolfram, you were expecting to do something naughty, weren't you!?"

Even though I was completely desperate, my partner was shamelessly indulging in his own happy fantasies. I hung my head and swallowed my growing anger. In another attempt, I put my feet firmly on the bathtub floor, and slowly stretched my knees.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Novel 3. ch.12

- He did actually use Wolf this time, bad Yuuri -

"I can't go back, to my home, to earth, to Japan!" I cried angrily.

"I thought it would be just like last time, I could return through the bathroom again. But no matter what I did, nothing happened at all! I thought if I was forced into a corner, I would enter the star journey to escape from danger... But even when you pushed me into the water, still nothing happened."

"What?"

"Wolf... why is that grimace?"

Numerous creases gathered above his nose and between his eyebrows. The ex-prince lifted his chin and pulled his shoulders back.

"You used me for this small thing?"

"It's not a small thing! This is incredibly important for me, don't you understand that much?"

"You are now the king of this country, you can't run around anymore! You've got to stay here. Yuuri, your home is this castle! And that's forever!"

Every time this bishounen scolded me, I would feel the numerous wounds his words caused. As hard as it was to accept, Wolfram was probably right. My diving attempts were pointless. But what other choice did I have? I had never thought that I could never see Japan again.

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

Novel 3. ch.12

-Yup, he's angry-

"You're unbelievably dim-witted," Wolfram groaned and brushed his wet bang back from his forehead.

His seemingly arrogant green eyes stared at me fiercely. He really does have an angel's face, but his words draw blood with each syllable.

"You belong to this world. You cannot escape, your soul is at home here."

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

Yuuram in Novel : 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17

#kyou kara maou #kkm #maruma #yuuram

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whiteboxgems · 7 years

Note

[1] I think the biggest problem is that same sex deep friendships between non gay characters is very, very common in media, while same sex couples are not. There are plenty of anime about male-male friendship and bonds, like Naruto and the platonic relationship between him and Sasuke for example. This isn't really comparable to m/f platonic friendships, as the reverse is true--more m/f relationships are valued over friendships

[2] So what I think what anon was getting at is that having a same sex pair portrayed in such a healthy and, to be blunt, romantic light is a rare thing that people cling to. There is no shortage of male-male bonds, so erasing a same-sex relationship into being something non-romantic is more akin to whitewashing a poc character under the guise that “it doesn’t matter”, while your f/m examples would be changing a character from white to poc, which is less harmful

I can think of just two such relationships off the top of my head: Naruto and Sasuke, and Gon and Killua (Hunter x Hunter). Maybe I don’t read enough shonen manga anymore, but I struggle to think of other protagonists with such intense friendships with someone of the same sex. I wouldn’t say that Kenshin or Ichigo did, for example.

(Speaking of Bleach, though, I guess I am glad that Ichigo and Rukia turned out to be ‘platonic’, since I do regard them as having a romantic bond (= a strong emotional connection). Though there are also a few other m/f pairs like that that I can name— Araragi and Shinobu from the Monogatari series, for example.)

If by “romantic” you mean that the relationship is “sexually intimate,” then I’m afraid I do not agree with that interpretation of the show. To quote what I said in an earlier post:

There is NO CONSENSUS that they are in a sexually intimate relationship and/or are engaged to be married. The vast majority of YOI fans still talking about the show might argue that this is a fact, but there are a number who do not. I interact with several such fans on a daily basis, mostly via private messages, because they fear being attacked for their views. Most of the people who don’t believe they are in such a relationship have actually left the fandom — whether it’s because they felt the show was queerbaiting, or because they’ve been driven out.

To reiterate what I said in my last post: I personally regard Yuuri and Victor’s bond as being “romantic.”

More importantly: I do not regard sexual intimacy as being necessary to validate that bond. I’d like to see them end up in a traditional romantic relationship, i.e. one with both sexual and emotional intimacy. But for me, the emotional connection that they have is what defines and validates that bond.

I hope this clarification helps you understand a bit better where I am coming from.

#Yuri on ice #yuri on ice analysis #lgbtiqa #yoi and lgbtiqa #yuri on ice fandom

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liz-and-the-blue-bird · 8 years

Text

2016 Year In Review

Where Kurt talks about literally everything.

Totally not late 👌.

(Recommended Sountrack. You may just want to put it on loop.)

(Alternate soundtrack. This is what I listened to for the majority of writing this.)

Top lists are a sort of fun exercise for me. They present a unique challenge: to sell an idea well but short enough so the full list is reasonable to read in an afternoon. They also allow me to flex my own creative muscles by talking about many topics and concepts all at once. One of my favorite parts about anime is writing and talking about it after all. So top lists let me do that all of that for a bunch of different shows all at once. Also they’re pretty interesting to compare to other critics who are much better than me and like, do this for a living. I find that when I compare top lists to each other, they tend to agree on what each individual show is doing, yet disagree on which is the best. But I digress.

Anyway, if you read last years’ post, thank you—the writing in it sucks compared to how I write now so I don’t blame you if you don’t read it. Secondly, I’m changing the format a bit: I’ll still do a top five list, but I also have a few anime that I’ll just call “notable.” To me they aren’t good enough to put in my top list, but have interesting ideas or execution that is worth talking about (also, some other people may believe that they are worth their top list, which is a discussion topic in and of itself). Then I’ll just list off the rest of the shows I watched this year and give them little cute bite-sized reviews. I’ll also give star ratings out of 5 to everything (2.5 is the “average show,” but I refuse to rate with a fraction). Now then, we have a lot to get through so let’s get cracking.

Top Five New Anime

As always, in airing order.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! (KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!)

Jan 14, 2016 to Mar 17, 2016; 10 episodes; Studio DEEN (btw is it Deen or DEEN? I can’t seem to find any consensus on this.)

So like, think SAO, but not edgy. KonoSuba takes the inherent absurdity of the SAO premise and puts that at the forefront. It opts out of the darker concepts that most of these “stuck in another world” anime tend to take in favor of hilarity. This is mostly done by creating a world that is legitimately wonderful as opposed to fake-difficult. Which means that the ridiculous problems the protagonists have are not at all because the world sucks, it’s because they suck. Each of them are jerks or weirdos in their own way and how they play with each other and the world is a riot. The show also does lots of clever things with its videogame world like: how luck stats affects quest rewards, how one develops their own skill repertoire, how dying works—hell, the first episode uses a literal pause as a method of conveying the protagonist’s thoughts. It feels like a DnD campaign that went off the rails in the best possible way. Even the show’s weakness, the occasional moments of terrible or rushed animation, are leveraged into comedic beats. It’s only 10 episodes (and a fantastic OVA) and a sequel is coming out soon. It’s definitely worth the watch.

★★★★☆

I didn’t expect to ever put a DEEN show on this list.

Mother’s Basement did an OP analysis along with Re:Zero here.

Boku No Hero Academia (My Hero Academia)

Apr 3, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016; 13 episodes; Bones

Many hero shows nowadays are trying to be a dark and intense, discussing themes of loss or the responsibilities of power. My Hero Academia handles hard concepts like that as well (especially in the most recent arc in the manga), but, first and foremost, it absolutely loves heroes. The original writer is a huge fan of old American comics and this show is a shonen recreation of the original Golden Age of superheroes. They explode onto the scene. They smile in the face of overwhelming odds. They always beat the villain and save the day. The best heroes are those that just want to be heroic and this show understands that. It’s world, like the author, loves heroes. The school loves heroes. The main character loves heroes. This incredibly positive view just emanates from the show and can be felt in every aspect. By far it’s biggest weakness is Bones seems a bit afraid to take risks: the fights a bit too true to the manga and the pace afraid of running out of material. But the character writing, the world building, the soundtrack are all top notch. A sequel is in the works and there’s also an OVA story that isn’t in the manga. An easy recommendation.

★★★★☆

One of my favorite critics, Nick Creamer, did a review on ANN. He also reads the manga and talks about it often on his blog, Wrong Every Time.

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-)

Apr 4, 2016 to Sep 19, 2016; 25 episodes; White Fox

The opposite of KonoSuba—Re:Zero instead takes the SAO premise and makes it legitimately dark. It does this, not by making a main character whose defining character trait is “I’m cool,” but by crafting a world that is half high fantasy and half intangible, unceasing horror. The show leans on the uncertainty of being thrust into a new world and the agony of respawning again and again while talking to people who killed you as if they weren’t ticking time bombs. However, this story is not built to crush you. It carries heavy elements, not to present meaningless challenges to a blatantly overpowered protagonist (cough), but to push the protagonist to strive harder. In this way, it creates a relatable character. A character who we know is not strong and sometimes doubts himself, just like how we do when we face our own monsters. Then he faces his problems head on, sometimes by himself and sometimes with friends who don’t really understand the depth of his struggle. It says to the audience “this is not the end of your story” in a way that fills us with determination to reach our own happy endings. And that is a story worth telling.

★★★★★

This is probably the best story about being thrown into another world since…KonoSuba. 2016 was pretty good about this premise tbh, especially when you also consider Grimgar was released as well.

Mother’s Basement did an OP analysis along with Kono Suba here.

Flying Witch

Apr 10, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016; 12 episodes; J.C.Staff

Flying Witch doesn’t really have anything important to say. It doesn’t have a deep meaning like “one’s journey to personal peace” or “the intrinsic strength of the human spirit.” It’s just a slice of life story put in a casually magical setting. Like every good slice of life, episodes aren’t super related, and once you know all the characters you can watch it in basically any order. Some episodes don’t even show off any magic. All it does is carry a carefree lighthearted tone for 12 episodes. The show does this by establishing the world with many, many wide environment shots and then dropping so many quirky-cute characters whose interactions are so lovely and so charming that you just have to come back. In many ways, this show is K-on! except the captivating music scenes are replaced with equally stunning magical scenes. And I adore its sound design. Many of the most iconic tracks are reprises of its main theme at different tempos or with different instruments, creating a very cohesive experience throughout the series. In particular, its flying theme is gorgeous. Just like K-on!, it’s one of those shows that you watch on a rainy day and it will be just what you need. Flying Witch has quietly entered my personal favorites.

★★★★★

None of the critics I follow have made long articles about this anime. What this is telling me is I need to find more anime bloggers. Now taking suggestions.

Yuri!!! on Ice

Oct 6, 2016 to Dec 22, 2016; 12 episodes; MAPPA

To say this show was an endeavor would be selling it short. Yuri!!! on Ice tackles something like seven or eight parallel stories and relevant backstories of characters who all have different cultures and goals, and then it also has to explain enough about professional skating for you to actually care and understand the performances the show takes so much time to show and, if that wasn’t enough, it’s also LGBT. You have to give it to MAPPA for trying. The success of each of these aspects is middling, but, at the very least, it handles the stories of Yuuri, Yurio, and Victor fairly well. I’ve already touched on many of the techniques it uses to develop it’s expansive cast, but setting that aside, there is just a lot of show here. In order to communicate the number of ideas it tackles, the show presents everything full of purpose. Most scenes work overtime here and the resulting dialogue pops. Even the commercial break cuts are used effectively: they are foods that are native to the region that the cast is currently in which establishes a sense of place. At the same time, they’re food, so they refer back to the Yuuri’s in-joke about being a pork cutlet bowl and also maintain the lighthearted, happy tone of the show. Yuri!!! on Ice is efficient like that. It’s also one of those rare shows that sneaks into the public eye, so supporting it feels a tiny bit like supporting animation as a medium. But, before all that, it’s a story about a guy who follows his dream. That’s about as grand a story as anyone can tell.

★★★★☆

Notables

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash)

Jan 11, 2016 to Mar 28, 2016; 12 episodes; A-1 Pictures

If you read just the premise, this show should suck. It’s just another one of those “stuck in another world” anime that come out every season. However, it has an interesting secondary hook: it’s actually a slice of life. Some of the most interesting portions of SAO and Log Horizon were how the videogame world interacted with the daily lives of the characters, so a show about this should be good, right? Unfortunately for Grimgar, it seems to be in the business of ruining it’s own emotional beats. The first episode is a good example of this: they open with a goblin hunting section that would be high tension, yet the animation struggles to provide the necessary impact. A training sequence occurs, but ends up paying too much attention to the instructor’s fanservice to offer anything meaningful. Then there’s a bit where the main crew gather round the campfire for some casual conversation which also stumbles because their topic of discussion is witch girl’s breasts. In fact, a lot of potential emotional hits snuff themselves out by becoming fanservice beats instead. A real shame.

★★☆☆☆

Flip Flappers

Oct 6, 2016 to Dec 29, 2016; 13 episodes; Studio 3Hz

Well, I’ve already talked about how I feel about this show, but it just keeps popping up. To me, Flip Flappers comes across as trying too hard and losing focus and meaning as it tries to rationalize its own absurd world. It fails to explain bits and pieces, and, once you go down this rabbit hole, you have to hit everything. So we end up with this sort of half-done mess. However, people are still talking about it, so I think your assessment of Flip Flappers is a personal measurement of how much BS you can handle before you reject a plot idea. And the plot really is the “only” thing that grinded me about Flip Flappers. It had interesting characters, clever world building, and its ability to play with its animation style produced lots of great single episodes. It’s not a bad show, but it depends on what kind of person you are to tell if it’s a great show.

★★★☆☆

Short Answer Section

Ok, hopefully this goes by faster.

Winter 2016

Prince of Stride: Alternative - Madhouse does sports anime sounds like a good show. Unfortunately, this is less sports anime and more otome game. The parkour/running scenes are well animated (it’s Madhouse), but the character beats don’t work very well. All in all, ok. - ★★☆☆☆

Musaigen no Phantom World - Flip Flappers but bad. How disappointing. - ★☆☆☆☆

Sekkou Boys - Honestly? Not terrible. It��s a short, so attempting to put any sort of character development is kind of a crazy idea, but at least it was hilarious. - ★★☆☆☆

ERASED - 2/3rds of a great show. The first 8-ish episodes are tightly written and well directed. The next 4 are…less so. At least for the writing part—the direction is still pretty good. ERASED fails to explain some character developments in ways that really make sense. This is similar to my problem with Flip Flappers, but, as ERASED is a mystery thriller, it is a much larger oversight. In short, the director once again proves himself much better than the works he has been given to adapt. - ★★★☆☆

Zootopia - Disney does not suck, usually. Zootopia, in fact, is one of their better films. The setting is actually self-explanatory enough to work without too much info dumping, so it uses this kooky setting to tell a story that is relevant to our own world. Being a mystery/detective thriller, the plot is required to be more tight than Disney animated movies usually are and for the most part Zootopia delivers. It’s probably the best animated Disney movie this year. - ★★★★☆

Spring 2016

Uchuu Patrol Luluco - Trigger at their Trigger-iest. Luluco actually manages to reference (“reference” aka “directly call out”) every single Trigger show in this short mini-series. It’s actually a really fun ride, in the same way that Gurren Lagann is, but because of how much it meanders it loses some of it’s punch. Still, I’d recommend it because honestly, at 13*6=74 minutes total running time, what have you got to lose? - ★★★★☆

Gyakuten Saiban: Sono “Shinjitsu”, Igi Ari! (Ace Attorney) - Ace Attorney shows us that some things are much better played than watched (like some other shows). But, all in all, it didn’t suck. It’s actually pretty good for people who don’t have the time to play the games. And I did get a lot of notes on that one post… - ★★☆☆☆

Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? - For the most part, a generic harem anime except the archetypes are marginally more interesting and the secondary hook is unconventional (videogames as opposed to…super human high school. We live in a world where super human high school is more common than just videogame club). The fanservice is expected. The comedy is ok. Overall it’s just kinda eh. - ★★☆☆☆

Sakamoto desu ga? - This show is actually just one joke repeated for twelve episodes. I mean it’s a pretty good joke; you could call this the slice of life One Punch Man. But I liked One Punch Man—I put it on the top list last year, so what’s wrong with this show? Well the strength of One Punch Man is not actually Saitama (haha), but rather the cast of side characters. Since Saitama is a static character, the development is shipped to everyone else so we get our character beats from them. Then, Saitama is used only for comedic beats. Sakamoto, on the other hand, fails to do this, and instead uses a rotating static character cast, so it has to rely entirely on comedy to compel you to watch. And, like I said, it’s just one joke repeated for twelve episodes. - ★★☆☆☆

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge - Like Sakamoto, Tanaka-kun is also just one joke, but it spends a bit more time developing the surrounding cast since that joke isn’t as potent. It’s slow pace reminds me a lot of Flying Witch, but it uses its characters more than its environment for the jokes. In fact, that’s probably the more important difference: there are more jokes. Flying Witch is content to let you stew in the world for a while, but Tanaka-kun feels pressured to hit you with another joke right after another. It’s not a bad show, but it’s a bit clumsy in its execution. - ★★★☆☆

Kiznaiver (2/12) - I touched on this already, but Kiznaiver is an interesting enough topic to revisit. Often for character shows, a director will take one of two ways to show relationships: 1) understated gestures and close up camera angles on expressive body parts—this is the stance KyoAni and PA Works likes to take—or 2) metaphor as shorthand to character mindsets, anywhere from expressive skating performances to personal demons gone physical. Neither of these is really Trigger’s style, so for their own character story, Kiznaiver, they turn the relationships into an actual physical connection and then use force to move relationships. I still haven’t gotten around to finishing it, but it’s a clever workaround and very Trigger even if it’s not their usual director. I’m excited to see how it’s done. - ★★★☆☆?

Finding Dory - I…don’t remember much of it. Usually that means it’s just kind of ok. A “just kind of ok” Disney movie probably means it’s above average so let’s go with that. (I am a serious critic who seriously critiques things with seriousness.) - ★★★☆☆?

I need to start writing shorter opinions or we’ll be here all day.

Summer 2016

That scroll bar is getting pretty small…

Love Live! Sunshine!! (3/13) - Of the 3 episodes I’ve watched, this seems very much like “Love Live! 2, Love Liver!!” It still has this weird problem of taking itself too seriously (remember “I love school idols!” ?), but Sunrise is a roll here, given another iteration we might have a very good character comedy. - ★★★☆☆?

New Game! - Aside from having the most adorable OP of 2016, this show isn’t really notable. Yeah, it’s cute, it’s Doga Kobo. Yeah, it’s funny, it’s Doga Kobo. There’s some fanservice, often leveraged into comedy a la Monogatari, but that’s kind of it. For the most part, this is Shirobako channeling K-on! which sounds amazing but ends up just being pretty ok. I wonder how much better it could be given a two cour season. - ★★★☆☆

Taboo Tattoo (1/screw it) - I was coerced into watching one episode of this thing. It has like almost an interesting premise but every time they introduced another character I just got more disappointed. Please send help. - ☆☆☆☆☆

Amanchu! (1/12) - J.C.Staff has this weird artistic style that seems to change completely whenever they are making a joke. This works for some anime, but it’s not very subtle. In the case of Amanchu!, I think they needed to deliver it with a more softer style overall, but it’s not a deal breaker. I just haven’t gotten around to watching the rest. - ★★☆☆☆?

Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! (3/12) - Comedy anime about girls in art club falling in love with a dense otaku and surrounded by other quirky idiots is not a new concept. To be different, Konobi tries to provide more structure to its story, evident just from the first episode. Well, I’m only 3 episodes in but I’ve found the comedy weakens the plot and the plot weakens the comedy. Often with short seasons, it’s better to focus on only one aspect, as dividing your resources like this results in a mediocre show, but I still haven’t gotten that far. I’m hopeful. - ★★☆☆☆?

Fall 2016

WWW.Working!! (6/13) - It basically plays out like Working!! lite. WWW.Working!! was the original “rough draft” for the Working!! manga after all, so it kind of makes sense. It’s alright. Working!! is a stronger show overall and has a rare multi-season full adaptation, so, choosing only one, I’d choose Working!!. That was probably really confusing. - ★★★☆☆?

Shuumatsu no Izetta (2/12) - History drama meets magical girls. You know, maybe we should stop making so many “x + Magical girls” anime. It’s an interesting take and the direction it goes is pretty fun. Instead of following a WW2 titan, you follow a small country that needs the magical girl to keep themselves from getting totally destroyed. I’m not sure I’ll finish it, but if that’s your kind of vibe, Izetta is the show for you. - ★★☆☆☆?

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (1/12) - Continuing the theme of “x + Magical girls” anime, this one is Magical Girls meets Battle Royal. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. The pace is so incredibly slow that the little premise you read on MAL tells you the story past the first episode already. I don’t think I’ll be coming back to this one. - ★☆☆☆☆?

Cheating Craft (2/12) - Calling this an Anime is kind of hazy but luckily this post is about more than just anime. The first episode is sort of a flashback type deal that explains the concept and the next episode is the first of what seems to be a series of tests. Instead of the subtle strategic type of show I expected, it’s actually just ok-ish action with poorly defined characters. So it’s been dropped. - ★☆☆☆☆?

Hibike! Euphonium 2 - I’ve talked about this so much you guys probably already know my stance on it. It’s hampered by the nature of adaptation as the Mizore-Nozomi arc could probably be removed. But the Asuka arc shows KyoAni has still got it. One of the best shows of the year. - ★★★★★

KEIJO!!!!!!!! - You know what’s interesting about this show? In story structure, it’s the most generic shonen ever. But the base premise is so absurd and so confident in itself that it carries pretty well. The absurdity even spreads to the title: all caps and eight exclamation points. This show knows what it’s about. - ★★★☆☆

Gi(a)rlish Number (2/12) - Oregairu is well written show. Gi(a)rlish Number is also a well written show. Thanks Wataru Watari. But because of how cynical they are, they’re really hard for me to watch. So I’ve only watched two episodes. Thanks Wataru Watari. I’m sure I’ll have lots of opinions about this so I’ll talk about it at a later time. - ★★★★☆?

Haikyuu!!: Karasuno Koukou VS Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou - Carrying from the momentum of the previous season, Haikyuu!! remains good. I think this is the weakest season so far in terms of emotional pay-off (probably because it’s, ya know, 10 episodes), but it’s still my favorite sports anime. Hopefully the next season isn’t too far away. - ★★★★☆

Moana - Compared to Zootopia, this Disney film is more hand-wavy with its plot. It’s not like the world is harder to build, one of them has demi-gods and another has talking animals, the world just isn’t as important for this type of story. On the flip side, it has arguably the best sound design of an animated feature in 2016. I enjoyed it, but all I ever think about with Disney princess films is how cool the Kingdom Hearts world is going to be. -★★★★☆

I’M DONE.

Holy cow I didn’t realize how much stuff I watched last year. And I didn’t even finish a lot of shows I wanted to.

Man. I hope one day I get paid to write about this stuff.

Thanks as always for reading. Let me know if I missed something!

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eggutamaplz · 7 years

Text

Operation Klance Con: Day 1

So hey guys, if you’ve been following me for a bit, I have been hinting about this for a bit by now!

My friend Megan, AKA dis_lazy_otaku on Wattpad and I decided to collaborate together and write a Klance/Laith fanfic together as Team Voltron and a few buddies of theirs get to stay on Earth for a couple days and attend that year’s Anime Expo! (This is post-canon, by the way.)

If you decide to read this, be sure to click “read more”!

You can also find it over on Wattpad and Ao3!

Chapters 1 and 2 are ready for release. Chapter 2 will be out shortly!

Chapters 1 & 4 were written by Megan. Chapters 2 & 3 are written by me!

Enjoy Day 1!

Summary: Hunk and Pidge know of Lance and Keith's feelings towards each other, but the Yellow and Green Paladins couldn't do anything to get them to confess to each other. But then, after they defeated Zarkon and came back to Earth for a visit, the paladins got Anime Expo tickets for all four days for the whole team and decided to give their friends a little push.

Or, Team Voltron and and a few friends embrace their inner otaku and cry/ screech about their fandoms. It's better than it sounds.

Chapter 1: Day 1

The hot sun shining over them. All paladins exhausted. Princess Allura and Coran desperately try to assist the paladins in any way they could but whatever they did, they were still losing. Shay tries to find a way to help them but even their allies could not save them. They needed to form Voltron but the lions were separated from them. Keith could not find a way to contact Red and even if he did, Red wouldn't be able to reach him. Their last fight had put Green and Yellow under terrible condition so they wouldn't even be able fly more than 2 miles to them. Blue was captured and Black didn't have a paladin to fly them. their only hope was to form Voltron, but without it- "Coran, I don't think we need to form Voltron just to stand in line for our badges." Pidge states. "Even if Red didn't have a way to reach me.. Red would always find a way.. Always." Keith says fanning himself. "And there is no way in hell would I ever let Blue get captured by anyone other than me!" Lance says crossing his arms. "I'm sure Yellow would be okay, he just has a few scratches here and there. And he probably would like some food to eat. I know I would." Hunk says. "I'm still alive, Coran.." Shiro says awkwardly. Allura sighs and pats shiro on the back.

"Can I get back to the hotel? It's really hot out and a soak in the pool would be nice." Lance says. "Unless you want to lose your spot in line for the badges then sure but since we have to stick together as a group, we can't just leave." Pidge says. Lance groans and takes another sip of water from his water bottle. Pidge groans too because her feet was starting to get sore from all the standing around in line. Eventually Pidge looks at Hunk and give him a look. She soon texts him her idea and Hunk agrees to cooperate. "You know what, Coran? How about we do form Voltron?" Hunk says with a smile as he puts Pidge up on his shoulders. "Look who's short now!" Pidge says with a smirk as she looked down on Keith and lance. "Oh no you didn't Number 5," Lance says, "Keith! Get on my shoulders!" "What?" Keith says, confused. "You know what, who cares?" Lance says. Lance soon scoops up Keith in his arms and manages to get Keith up on his shoulders. Shiro, being too heavy for Pidge and Keith to carry by themselves and Hunk and Lance to carry all of them decided to try something else. "You know what, how about Coran be the head of Voltron for now?" He asks. "Wait, what?" Pidge says. Soon, Coran was now on Shiro's shoulders. "If only king Alfor could see me now." He says, glowing with happiness. Allura laughs at the sight and gets out a camera that Pidge gave her. She gets in front of them and then takes a picture of the six. As they continued moving forward in line, Hunk and Coran went to the food trucks nearby to get something for them all to eat. Soon they got into separate teams and started playing charades. As they got closer to the entrance, they could hear the dj making remixes and Hunk, Keith, and Lance decided to try a little dance routine as Pidge recorded the whole thing. After moving further ahead, Pidge, Lance, Keith, and Hunk decided to rest by the stairs while Allura, Coran, and Shiro kept their spot in line. "Hey Pidge, what should we do to pass the time?" Lance asked. "I dunno, maybe help Keith out with the cheer?" Pidge suggested. "Nah, it's pointless. Besides, the way we do the cheer with Keith is official now." Lance says. They think for a moment. "Maybe we should do some sort of bonding exercise?" Hunk suggests. "Like what?" Pidge asks. "How about some sort of imaginary laser tag?" Keith says. They all think for a moment. "Yes, that is genius." Pidge says. "SHIRO! COUNT US OFF FROM TEN!" Lance shouts as he ran off. Shiro chuckles and then counts. "TEN!" Pidge hides in a corner. "NINE!" Keith desperately tries to find a spot that is safe. "EIGHT!" Hunk hides on the other side of the stairs. "SEVEN!" Lance hides behind a wall. "SIX!" Keith think of what he should say when he's supposed to 'shoot' someone. "NUMBER FIVE" Coran shouts. Pidge cringed at the ridiculous nickname. "FOUR!" Allura take out her camera. "THREE!" Keith is running out of time. "TWO!" At one point, Pidge made modifications to her glasses to help her aim better. So she turns them on. "ONE" QUIZNAK! And the games began. Lance gets out from behind the wall and shoots Hunk. "POW POW POW!" "OH NO! YOU'VE GOT ME! GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD!" Hunk says dramatically. "Dude, you still have like 7 lives in this game." Lance says. "Oh right. My bad." Hunk says. "hey! Pay attention to the game!" Pidge shouts. "BACHOO BACHOO BACHOO!" She shouts "Awe come on Pidge!" Lance says as he continues the bad gun sound effects while aiming at Pidge. Pidge laughs as she runs around and gets Hunk next. Soon, the people around them start to stare. Hunk soon goes after Lance but then Lance notices something. "Wait, where's Keith?" He asks. "VOOOOLLTRROOOOOONNNN!!" The Red Paladin screams as he sneaks up from behind Lance and points his finger guns in his back. He takes out his phone and then presses play to a recording which happens to be one of the videos of Zarkon's screaming but in a high pitched, chipmunk voice. The 2 Alteans and 4 paladins stared at the space emo and people around them just stared with pure confusion or amusement. Eventually everyone starts bursting with laughter and Lance places a hand on Keith's shoulder, still laughing. "Oh my god Mullet. That was the best thing ever!" He laughs. Pidge comes down and slaps him on the back, "What the quiznak was that, Keith? AHAHAHA!" Pidge laughs. Hunk comes down and swoops them all up for a big old groups hug. "I just love how we're all bonding together and having a great time." He says. Space Dad looks at them, proud of his little kittens for getting along so well. Eventually the line moves up and Coran calls them back. When they got inside, they got many things like free Crunchyroll bags, posters, magazines, and fans. Eventually they even took pictures of or with some really cool cosplayers. When they got to the exhibit hall, they decided to walk around and buy things. At one point they lost Shiro again so Allura and Coran went looking for him. Pidge was interested in the cosplay or art tech there was for sale, Keith was interested in the cosplay swords and weapons, Hunk took a liking to the food plushies, Lance found some very nice beauty products, Coran stayed at a booth to learn how to draw manga and learn about it, Allura found Shiro and luckily bought a leash to keep him on. They took photos with the props or sets that were around the area, they got posters signed by the creator of the anime or manga that was on the poster, Pidge and Lance almost spent all their money on the games they had for sale but Shiro found a way to stop them. Eventually they passed a photo booth and Keith kinda got drawn to it. "Hey Pidge, what does that thing do?" He asks. Pidge adjusts her glasses and then says, "It's a photo booth. Except this one can take pictures of you in a scene of an anime or manga of your choice. Like there's some Dragon Ball Z scenes, and Fairy Tail scenes, and Yuri on Ice scenes, and-" "I think we get it Pidge." Lance says, "Now let's step inside that booth!" They all stood in line for the booth and Pidge kept on rambling about what scene or anime they should be in when taking pictures in the booth. It's a good thing Shiro knows how to handle his kittens or else it would take years for them to choose what scene they should be in for the photos. "Quiznak, I'm wearing green and there's a green screen all around us." Pidge says. "Who cares, Pidge? Now what scene or anime should we choose." Lance asks. Coran and Allura seemed confused about this strange earth pod, it takes pictures instead of healing people. It was very different from Altea. "Hmmm, let's see... Hunk, blindfold me." Lance said. Hunk took his headband and wrapped it around Lance's eyes so he couldn't see a thing. Lance soon hovers his fingers in front of the screen to choose an anime randomly and then the finger of fate told them they were taking pictures in a Yuri on Ice scene. "Sweet! Yuri on ice!" Pidge says. "I should try cooking some katsudon when we get back to the castle." Hunk says. "What is a Yuri on Ice?" Keith asks. Lance hands back Hunk's headband and he wrapped it around his head again. "Everybody say Voltron!" Lance says as the photo booth was counting off when it would start taking pictures. "VOLTRON!" Everyone says. "Vol..tron?" Keith says after. The first scene was in the hot springs when Yuuri and Victor first met. Lance let his jacket slide off one of his shoulders and gave the camera a seductive look. Allura and Coran got confused and stared at the camera with a small smile. Keith gave Lance a disappointed and disgusted look. Hunk looked around like a lost child. Shiro shielded Pidge's eyes from the Yuuri and naked Victor that was edited at the side of the photo. Allura stepped out of the booth to get some fresh air, it was quite crowded in the booth. The second scene was of Yurio performing Agape. Lance posed like Yurio at the beginning of the choreography. Keith posed like Yuuri performing Eros. Coran, now getting the idea of what he was supposed to do, posed like Makkachin. Hunk and Shiro gave the camera a pose of them smiling like Victor's heart smile. Pidge got to the front of them all and put her hands together as if she was worshipping or praying to the Yurio being edited in the corner of the photo. Coran and Shiro stepped out to find Allura and give the other paladins some time to themselves for pictures. The third scene was when Yuuri got drunk and started having a dance battle or pole dancing with everyone. Lance put his arms around Hunk and Keith while acting drunk and posing a sexy pose. Pidge got some of her money and started throwing it at them like it was some sort of strip club. Keith got pushed to the back where he was giving everyone a wtq (what the quiznak) look. While Yurio was right next to him, making the same face. After that, Hunk decided to leave, giving the others their space and letting Pidge handle the Klance. The fourth scene was of Phichit taking a selfie with the others. The background showed most of the Yuri on Ice characters posing for the selfie so they decided to pretend they were a part of the selfie themselves. Pidge did the glasses thing most anime characters with glasses do, Keith stood next to Yurio who had cat ears and quickly transformed into a galra so it looked like he had cat ears, Lance stood next to Phichit and also made peace sings with him. After that, Keith changed back to a human and Pidge left but before leaving the booth, she pushed Lance onto Keith and then ran out of the booth as fast as she could. At that moment, the picture was taken and the scene that was there was when Victor and Yuuri kissed. Their faces were red and surprised. Their lips only a few inches apart. Keith found himself so lost in Lance's eyes that he didn't even notice when Lance got off of him and apologized. "Uh, sorry for that." Lance says looking away while scratching the back of his neck. Keith looked down with his face all red and said, "Well, it wasn't completely your fault." They stood there for a moment until Allura came in to check on them. "Keith, Lance? Are you going to come out to see the photos this earth pod took?" She asks. Keith and Lance calmed down and then went outside to get their own copy of the photos. Pidge and Hunk gave each other a high five while looking at the last photo. Shiro wasn't too happy to see the photo they took when he left the booth. But since it was their first time back on earth ever since they found the Blue Lion, he decided that he'll keep quiet until after Anime Expo. "Hunk, Princess? Is that you?" A familiar voice said. "Shay! I didn't know that you were here on Earth too!" Hunk says. Pidge and Lance looked at the two with very mischievous faces. They were happy to see that their best friend is finally going to have time to spend alone with his "girlfriend". It turns out that Matt brought Rax and Shay to Anime Expo since Shay wanted to know what other planets were like. They soon joined the groups together and were on their way. Matt and Pidge, being the ones with a Crunchyroll account; demanded that they go get the free Crunchyroll merch. When they got into the room, there was the line for the free bags, the line for the free posters and wristbands, the dj playing music from the soundtracks of many different animes, TV's showing trailers and teasers of different animes, and some props and sets from different animes to take pictures with. Matt and Pidge went in line to get the bags, Shay, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, and Coran took pictures with the sets, Keith, Lance, and Rax looked around the entire room. When Rax saw the Colossal Titan's head he was very confused and surprised. "How could you skin and decapitated a giant creature like this?" he asks. "Don't worry Rax, it's a fake. Besides, the anime this head is from is bad. He like, eats earthlings and breaks down the walls that the earthlings made for protection?" Lance says with an arm wrapped around Rax's shoulder. When they walked over to the dj, a very depressing and familiar song started playing and the paladins fell to the ground, sobbing and making a scene. "Katie?! What's wrong?!" Matt says worried that his little sister has collapsed. "It's just so sad!" she says. Matt listened to the music for a little longer until he realized what anime it came from and then fell to the ground with Katie too. Keith cradled Lance in his arms as they sob while watching the TV. Hunk hugs Shay and she holds him close while patting him on the back. Shiro just stared at the ground intensely like as if he was at a funeral. "Why did she have to die?!" Lance cries. Keith handed him a tissue and just held him closer as they watched the trailer for Your Lie in April. Rax just sat next to them and watched the TV, trying to understand what was wrong. When the trailer was over, Matt, Pidge, and Hunk stood back up. Keith and Lance sighed. 'Finally, it's over,' they thought. "Oh my, who knew that the paladins of Voltron were such cry babies?" an unwanted voice said. Lance looked to the side and glared at the prince. "Lotor?! What the quiznak are you doing here?" he says angrily. Lotor ignored him and faced the Red Paladin who was glaring daggers into Lotor. "It was about time you came out to the universe." He says looking at them. Lance and Keith looked at him for a moment and then themselves to realize what position they were in. They soon went apart, focusing their glares on each other. "Shut your quiznak.." Keith mumbled, with a blush. "You still didn't answer my question!" Lance exclaimed. "Ah yes, after you defeated my father, I decided to travel from planet to planet. My father did conquer most of the known universe but he forbid me from seeing most of it. So I decided to be a traveler and visit earth first!" Lotor says. "Okay but what are you wearing?" Keith asks. "Oh this cosplay? Don't you know the character?" He asks, striking a pose. Lance, Rax, and Keith shook their heads no. Lotor, who was now frowning, face-palmed and said, "I am a Roman general. Or Germania from Hetalia dressed as a Roman general." "Hentai what?" They say at the same time. "Not hentai! It's not Hentai, it's He-ta-li- okay you know what? forget it, My cosplay is far more fabulous than you bitches' cosplay." Lotor says as he storms out with his cape flying behind him. "Lance! Keith! We got our stuff so let's go now. Wait, was that Lotor?" Pidge says looking at Lotor leave the room with his Galra generals making his cape fly with fans and a blow dryer. Allura shook her head at the sight and they soon decided to leave Anime Expo and head back to their hotel. Shay, Rax, and Matt left in their car while the paladins and Alteans went in a van back to the Hotel. Shiro was the driver, Allura sat next to Shiro, Keith and Pidge took the middle seats, Hunk, Coran, and Lance sat in the very back. "Which station should we play?" Shiro asks. "Can we play 106.7?" Keith asks. "Sure" Shiro says. Shiro switched to that radio station and the first song that popped up got Shiro saying, "Oh no" and Keith's Galra ears popping out and perking up. Pidge and Lance smirked and Hunk gave one of his angelic smiles. Pidge took out her phone and started recording. The future is bulletproof The aftermath is secondary It's time to do it now and do it loud "KILLJOYS, MAKE SOME NOISE!" Keith shouts. Keith loudly sings and opens the window of the van and intensely head bangs. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk finds this very amusing and Shiro looks like he's been through hell and back. Much to Shiro's dismay, the three other paladins sang along to the song with Keith. Allura found it strange but since they were bonding and having a good time, she didn't mind. Coran, on the other hand was terrified because during his emo stage, he listened to Altean classical music rather than this music which happens to be very different, loud, and upbeat. "DRUGS, GIMME DRUGS, GIMME DRUGS! I DON'T NEED IT, BUT I'LL SELL WHAT YOU GOT!" Keith screams out the window. "TAKE THE CASH AND I'LL KEEP IT! EIGHT LEGS TO THE WALL!" Lance sings after. "HIT THE GAS, KILL THEM ALL!" Pidge continues. "AND WE CRAWL, AND WE CRAWL, AND WE CRAWL!" The Four paladins sing together. "YOU BE MY DETONATOR!!" Hunk says after. "LOVE, GIMME LOVE, GIMME LOVE! I DON'T NEED IT BUT I'LL TAKE WHAT I WANT FROM YOUR HEART!" Lance sings. "AND I'LL KEEP IT IN A BAG" Hunk sings. "IN A BOX" Keith continues. "PUT AN X ON THE FLOOR!" Pidge sings loudly with Keith. "GIMME MORE, GIMME MORE, GIMME MORE!" They all sing together. Keith sticks his head out the window and shouts, "SHUT UP AND SING IT WITH ME!" "NA NANA NA NANA NA" "FROM MALL SECURITY!" Hunk sings "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "TO EVERY ENEMY!" Keith continues to head bang while playing an imaginary guitar. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" Suddenly Matt drives by next to them and opens his window and screams, "WE'RE ON YOUR PROPERTY!" They laugh and then sing, "STANDING IN! VOLTRON FORMATION!!" "NA NANA NA NANA NA" "LET'S BLOW AN ARTERY!" Keith shouts. "NA NANA NA NANA NA" "EAT PLASTIC SURGERY!" Pidge shouts and points at Shiro's arm. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "KEEP YOUR APOLOGY!" Lance shouts after "GIVE US MORE DETONATION!" They all shout after. "MORE GIMME MORE, GIMME MORE!" "Oh, let me tell you 'bout the sad man" Pidge sings with her arm on Keith's shoulder, pointing at Shiro. "Shut up and let me see your jazz hands" Lance pops up behind them and shows off his jazz hands "Remember when you were a madman" Hunk says. "Thought you was Batman" Keith replies. "AND HIT THE PARTY WITH A GAS CAN!" Matt screams. "KISS ME YOU ANIMAL!" Keith sings. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "YOU RUN THE COMPANY!" Keith says pointing at Allura "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "QUIZNAK LIKE A KENNEDY!" Lance and Keith sings. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "I THINK WE'D RATHER BE!" Lance and Hunk sings "BURNING YOUR INFORMATION!" Keith shouts after. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "LET'S BLOW AN ARTERY!" Lance shouts while making little guns with his fingers. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "EAT PLASTIC SURGERY!" Hunk shouts while passing some chili cheese fries he bought at Anime Expo. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "KEEP YOUR APOLOGY!" Pidge yells. "GIVE US MORE DETONATION!!" Keith, Lance and Hunk sings. "Come on Shiro! Join us!" Pidge tells Shiro. Shiro sighs, "Fine." The team screams with delight and then Shiro clears his throat and says, "And right here, right now. All the way in Battery City. Little children raise their open, filthy palms. Like tiny daggers up to heaven." Keith pretends that his ceremonial Blade was a guitar and while also singing the notes in the background. "And all the juvee halls, and the Ritalin rats. Ask angels made from neon and quiznaking garbage scream out, 'What will save us?' And the sky opened up." "Everybody wants to change the world" Lance sings. "Everybody wants to change the world" Hunk continues. "But no one, no one wants to die" Keith sings "Wanna try, wanna try, wanna try, WANNA TRY, WANNA TRY, NOW!" They all sing. "I'LL BE YOUR DETONATOR!" Shiro shouts. They all decided to bang their heads with Keith strumming his blade and Lance's bad sound effects. Coran and Allura, finally getting the idea tried to sing what they knew. "NA NANA NA NANA NA NANA NA NA!" "MAKE NO APOLOGY!" Shiro sings and bangs his head as his white hair flies all over the place. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "IT'S DEATH OR VICTORY!" Keith shouts with his blade in the air. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "ON MY AUTHORITY!" Hunk sings. "CRASH AND BURN!" Lance sings after. "YOUNG AND LOADED!" Pidge continues. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "DROP LIKE A BULLET SHELL!" Lance shouts. "NA NANA NA NANA NA!" "DRESS LIKE A SLEEPER CELL!" Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Keith yell out the window. "NA NANA NA NANA NA" "I'D RATHER GO TO KEITH!" Lance sings. "THAN BE IN ZARKON'S PRISON!" They all sing. "CUT MY HAIR!" Pidge shouts. "GAG AND BORE ME!" Hunk sings! "PULL THIS PIN!" They all sing. "LET THIS WORLD EXPLODE!!" Keith finishes off. After the song was over it switched over to the commercials and everyone in the car started bursting with laughter. It was nice being back on your home planet without having to worry about any aliens coming to ruin the moment by trying to destroy planets. They continued to sing along to other songs and jam out to it as if they were the performers at a concert. When they got to the hotel, Shiro parked the car and they walked in. They got into the elevator and noticed that their room was on one of the higher floors so to pass the time they recreated the elevator scene from the live action of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They had 3 rooms booked for the 7 of them. Pidge and Keith were in one room, Lance and Hunk in another, and Shiro, Coran, and Allura in another. They refused to let Shiro have his own room because they don't want him to disappear again. After they got settled in, they decided to go eat in the buffet. Hunk liked that very much. Pidge liked that there were peanut butter cookies. Keith liked the spicy foods they were serving. Lance flirted with some girls from across the room and ate lots of cake and fruit. Coran and Allura tried everything Hunk recommended and now Coran understands why they didn't like the paladin lunch he would make them. After eating, they went to the spa that was in there and get foot massages. Standing in line for 5 hours is a pain. Pidge, Allura, and Lance liked it very much cause they styled their hair and gave them facials. Pidge's hair had grown quite a bit so she got a trim. Allura got her hair styled with braids and curls. Lance got his hair styled with some gel (similar style like Jeremy Shada). Shiro just came for the massages. Keith and Hunk liked the treatment very much. It helped relax them a lot. Coran got to try out new styles for his mustache. After the spa, they went back to their rooms but instead of going to their separate rooms they went to Shiro, Allura, and Coran's room. Since there was a couple of more hours left of the day, they decided to binge watch Netflix. Keith wanted to watch The Walking Dead, Allura didn't want to watch Netflix and wanted to see what Steven Universe was, Lance agreed with Allura but he wanted to watch Adventure Time, Pidge wanted to watch Scream, Hunk wanted to watch Monsters University, Shiro wanted to watch Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and Coran wanted to watch Trolls. They fought for a bit about which show or movie to watch but eventually Pidge won that battle because of her sassy comebacks. She is the Space Sassmaster of the group. They all watched Scream intensely, trying to figure out who the heck is the killer. "Come on Keith, the killer is obviously Keiran!" Lance argues. "No Lance, it has to be that perverted teacher." Keith says. "Wait, what if the killer is Noah?" Hunk asks. "What?! No Hunk, the killer isn't Noah. Why would he kill Riley then? They liked each other a lot! And they were so cute together why the heck did she have to die?! Besides, he was video chatting with Riley as she was dying and wasn't he in that little shop or something?" Pidge says. "How about Brandon James? Wouldn't he be the killer? I mean lots of horror movies and shows deal with ghosts and stuff so maybe Brandon James actually did come back." Hunk says. "No, this show is way too realistic for that so I don't Brandon James came back." Shiro says. "Wait, come to think of it, they never did find the body so it could be Brandon James but doesn't Keiran give you that weird killer vibe or something? He is the killer, there's no doubt about it." Lance says. "How about you all stay quiet and just keep watching to see who the killer is." Allura says. They all agreed and then continued watching. They never got to finish though because things got too scary and gory. Since they were too spooked to go to sleep, Pidge put on a few Disney movies to help. It seems to have worked because soon, Allura and Hunk fell asleep right on the spot. Soon Coran and Pidge fell asleep. Keith and Lance tried to have a contest to see who would fall asleep first but they never knew who won because they fell asleep at the same time. Shiro, being the last one awake turned off the TV and put blankets over them all. Goodnight little paladins of Voltron.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #fanfiction #klance #laith #anime expo #operation klance con #fic: okc #egg fics #egg's random rambles #i just love my children okay

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