#There's was not enough of Kato in this episode :((( but I still enjoyed it

[lee-etc]

well... IT MAKES SENSE NOW

So I've got a friend who watches fkbl with me and I'll often discuss it with her but just as I was reading over this I realised that Daisuke's opening monologue makes ✨perfect✨ sense if you know that that 'certain day' is probably the day of his mother's passing...

This show is hella good at foreshadowing and we shouldn't forget it

[simlit]

Chapter 3 // The Wind and Tide // Episode 8

next | previous | beginning

ERSA: Hey.

VEN: Hey, yourself.

ERSA: You’ve been up here a while, wanna take a break?

VEN: laughing If you wanted to steer, you could have just said so.

ERSA: I couldn’t part an old man and his first love.

VEN: Well, then I could say the same. You could sail straight before you could speak full sentences. And when you did talk, it was only to tell me everything I was doing wrong.

ERSA: Come on, you’re exaggerating.

VEN: Only a little.

ERSA: You could let her come off a bit, bring her to the wind.

VEN: See what I mean?

ERSA: I know Kato’s a bit heavy-handed, but we are on a tight schedule.

VEN: That’s fair. Though, can’t say I’m keen on it. I wish we could take more time. After all, it’s been years since we’ve been together like this.

ERSA: Does it worry you very much? Seeing London again?

VEN: Worry… No. Those old grudges are in the past. There’s nothing there that could hurt me, now. It’s just… It will always be difficult, I think, to face the truth. When you spend so long running away from a thing, it grows a great deal of power over you. I’ve many monsters in my life, but none so off-putting as that country. It’s easy enough just to ignore, but meeting it head on…

ERSA: Maybe I don’t understand, because I’ve never had to separate myself from something so thoroughly. But you know, you’re not really that person anymore. So what if you were born there? It isn’t your home. It never was.

VEN: You’re right about that.

ERSA: Is there nothing about it that you like? Something you remember fondly?

VEN: I can’t say there was anything I liked much about London. A great, ghastly grey thing filled with dour, unhappy people. But then, my experiences were very limited. Suppose that’s where so much of my disdain was born.

VEN: However, there were times when… There was a house in the country. A place where sometimes I would go for the summer. In most ways, I was still trapped, but I did greatly enjoy the air there. The quiet. When I was young, I imagined myself running away and living my life in such a place. But only because I had not the ambition to run farther.

ERSA: I guess you just weren’t suited for it.

VEN: No. I wonder then, for where I’m suited?

ERSA: Well, nowhere.

VEN: Nowhere, hm?

ERSA: That I can understand. After all, I got it from you; A need to be like the wind, not belonging to one place, and always moving. Happiest when I don’t have to explain where I’m going. I just… am.

VEN: It’s not a bad life, that.

ERSA: No, it isn’t.

[maimishou]

Druck Season 4 Thoughts and Expectations for Season 5

So I’m officially done with the first generation of Druck. Without diving in too deep into comparsions I would say that I’ve definitely preferred Druck’s handling of its first generation compared to France’s handling of it. Two out of four good seasons (Druck seasons 2-3) as opposed to two out of five (France’s 4-5)? Druck wins this one. We’ll see how I feel about Druck’s second generation soon enough.

As for this season specifically...eh. While it was definitely better than Amira N.’s season over in the Spanish version it wasn’t as good as Imane’s season over in France. I’m gonna be honest, the Spanish version is the only one where I cared about the romance and even then they fucked it up. In short, season fours seem to fail at romance no matter how well written they are in general.

The one thing I like about this season is that I felt like they did right by Amira, maybe even more than France did for Imane. While it was obviously wrong for her to lash out at Kiki the way she did I love that they allowed her to call out the Islamophobia that Muslims face and that her friends stood up for her in the beach scene. I also love that Kiki didn’t hold Amira lashing out against her and that they were able to reconcile relatively quickly.

The biggest problem with the season though is that nearly a third of it isn’t really about Amira? Less than that if you count the Aiball as part of the season rather than a special. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the special. It was a good end to Matteo’s story and had some decent setup for the earlier portion of Amira’s. Still, did we really need to dedicate two episodes to Hanna and Mia? I get that counting the special as part of the season means Matteo also got his own episode so they clearly wanted to give episodes to all four leads but if you don’t count the special not only did Matteo get the short end of the stick but that’s two episodes of content that could’ve gone to Amira. Mia and Alex being together and Hanna getting back together with Jonas both could’ve been relayed through Amira (Speaking of which us Spain fans were robbed. Hanna and Jonas get back together but Eva and Jorge didn’t? Wack.). Hell, they could’ve even gotten rid of those episodes and give us a seven episode season. Sure it would’ve been a short season but I’d find that less annoying than what we got.

As for next season I know only two things. Namely that Kiki’s sister is the main character so I’m expecting Kiki, Carlos, and maybe Sam (Though Sam might be a stretch.) to be part of the supporting cast next season. I’ve also seen people mention Fatou’s love interest being a bully back when season six was airing as well as a comparison between Tiff, Kato, and said love interest. Though Tiff was apparently worse. So I guess next season might have  a bullying storyline? I’m curious to see how that’s handled and ties into things since I know this character (Kieu My?) is getting some redemption in season six.

The first generation of Druck was an enjoyable, if not bumpy, ride. Looking forward to seeing how the second generation goes.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

hello you probably already talked about this but why did you drop robbe season?

Hi anon! 🧩 I have mentioned it before, yeah, but I don’t mind talking about it in a bit more depth.

Admittedly Robbe’s season was already a hard sell for me before it even premiered. I have watched every Eva season, and that has always given me an indication of how things are going to go for the Isak season. Like, even though remake teams tend to go all out for their Isak season, and try harder than with their previous seasons (and I don’t think it’s controversial to say remake teams know their Isak season will majorly increase their viewership, even fandom has pointed this out as a reason Skam NL should’ve stuck it out for VDH’s season), you can already get a good idea in s1 about what they want to keep from Skam and where they’re going their own way.

I love Eva and I also tend to like her remakes. Honestly, I find Eva’s story really interesting, Jonas a good character when handled well, and I’ve generally enjoyed getting introduced to yet another iteration of the girl squad. I like the familiarity of the story beats. I also think how Jonas’ ideas are handled is a good indicator of how politically minded the team is, and how they plan on using their platform. 

And the thing is, despite all this, I found Jana’s season a struggle to get through. I had to try twice because I couldn’t get through the first time. At first, I thought it was because the writers had been super lazy with the adaptation. I loathe what they did with Jonas’ character, how little Jens knows about social justice. I was really put off by how, since they couldn’t write Yasmina into parties, they gave the drink throwing moment to Luca instead, but then more or less kept to the original storyline. Even back then, I was really concerned by how aggressive they made Moyo during the cabin trip clips. But then a friend binged the season after me, and brought up how terrible the pacing was (with Friday clips being moved to other days, destroying the momentum Skam builds through the week), how most of the actors sounded like they were literally reading from a script, and the utter spam of meaningless social media pics (with very few texts to go with it). And so I realized that this season I generally enjoy bored me, because Wtfock is generally just slapped together carelessly. 

Another issue I had was... Well, I’m not sure this comes across given my rabid love for David, but I actually think Skam s3 is as close to perfect TV as it gets. I don’t think this is a season that needs fixing. And as the Isak seasons succeeded each other, I realized I didn’t care for an Isak season that pretty much just took Isak and Even and put them in another country. I prefer the Isak seasons that did something Skam s3 never did, because they were never going to improve on Skam s3, and to do the same thing would just remind me how much better the acting, the music, the photography, the writing, etc. was in Skam. So I was hoping that maybe Wtfock’s Even would be a moc and they’d touch on racism for a change. However I knew the chances of Wtfock casting a trans man or a moc for their Even were slim to none.

But at the time it was kind of unthinkable that there would be an Isak season dropping, and people would not watch. And I in particular was a bit of a completionist, like I haven’t watched most Noora seasons, but I’ve watched all of the Eva seasons, and all the Isak seasons except for the last few episodes of Lucas L’s. These days I’m comfortable not tuning in (esp after trainwrecks like Arthur’s or Kato’s seasons), but at the time it felt kinda wrong to not give a season a chance, you know. Besides, a lot of people whose opinion I trust said s2 was great! Zoe and Senne one of the best noorhelms, if not the best! They really had fixed everything that was wrong with noorhelm, their social media game was so good, etc... I mean, you were there for s3 I assume, you know how people were hyping Wtfock at the time. And, for instance, Druck majorly improved in s2 after a more or less okay s1, so it’s not like remakes had never fixed their shit before.

So I started watching, but right away, I didn’t like the way they introduced Noor. She almost kinda seemed like the actual love interest in how cool she was, and how happy Robbe was hanging out with her that first night. I posted this, speculating about why Wtfock would introduce her that way. I should note that I posted that link on twitter as well, and Bram Renders liked my tweet... not too long after his tweet complaining about fans who read too much into the show would surface. 😂

Since I enjoyed writing that post, I thought I’d post weekly reaction posts in the style of Nat (@lightsandlostbells) and some others. The problem is that I’m just really good at procrastinating (I’ve been promising reaction posts in the same style for my favorite Skams seasons for... years now lol). And I wanted to keep my reactions fresh, so I stopped watching in real time. My plan was to watch the clips when I had enough time to write. This was like... Middle of week 2, I want to say. At the time, Sander hadn’t even been introduced yet!!

Even though I wasn’t watching, I still followed Wtfock-related accounts, like translators and subbers, so I still kinda knew what was going on. I was actually really let down by the way Wtfock didn’t take advantage of having Robbe and Sander in the same location for an entire week. Like, Sander was sticking a sandwich in Robbe’s mouth in a ~sexy way a few hours after exchanging their names, and yet it all kinda simmered down? No tension over social media really. Idk, I just feel like if Isak and Even, or Cris and Joana, or Matteo or David, had been stuck in the same house for an entire week shortly after meeting, Skam, Druck and eskam wouldn’t have let us forget about it for even a second. 

In the end, I never did write those posts, and I ended up washing my hands off the season because the tone of the discussions around the show was legit starting to get to me in a bad way. Like how LGBTI people were attacked for disliking the gay bashing scene. Or the discussions over whether the shower scene had gone too far or if Julie Andem had exploited Tarjei Sandvik Moe just as much. I disliked Moyo but also disliked the way white fans were writing about him. And the Britt bashing was just so gross. I was getting irl upset about a season I wasn’t even watching or following, so I put it out of my mind. 

[lucidpantone]

I really hate the crew of wtfock for what they did to me. I was such a fan of the show since s1, I found happiness in every clips, every posts on insta, I found amazing people on tumblr, twitter, but everything went downhill in s4, I could not accept Kato as a main, I'm a proud black girl and this season broke my heart to the max. The inexcusable racism, the hidden hate towards POCs on social medias, the silencing voices... I even started to dislike some actors for being friends with Romi when she was the one who accepted to take away the role of a POC, to accept to play a racist girl and have discriminatory behaviour in 2020 of all that, and to even joke on her insta just because her friend said it was ok and she didn't even apologise when we called her out for it. Yeah they ruined my happiness and I can't even be happy when I see a wtfock post now. To even have Nora do a live and defend the season, saying that it's a prejudice based one ? Hurts me so much. And not even one excuses coming from the crew, nothing, it hurts deeply. I can't even enjoy anymore the beautiful fanfics that the fandom write. I read every zoenne and sobbe fics but now I don't even bother checking if there is new fic. I hate them for taking my happiness off me. They're starting to go downhill too with the lack of insta posts from their characters and only die hard fans of sobbe are here now let's be honest. Yasmina's season can't be saved if there is still Kato but a glimpse of sobbe will make the fandom shut up and they know it. It's sad and I'm so upset about it. Sorry for the rant but I so badly wanted to talk.

This is insanely long but these words are for my anon

Oh dear.....well am happy you told me and the looney tunes. I can’t say I blame you because s4 is so toxic and cruel on so many levels. You know some people will say its just a show “let it go” but I think what people don’t realize is what this show that you clearly loved tells you about the world at large. That even shows, brands, movements and celebrities can harbor questionable morality towards issues of race. S4 ended up being an exercise in showing [us/the audience] how morally corrupt the bosses of wtfock truly are and how at end of the day all those black boxes on instagram mean nothing when it comes to money. Because guess what? Platforming racist ideology does have a price and wtfock made it very clear that they got paid. Look am gonna tell you something that my anons have been saying in a coded way but havent said directly but lets just put it all on the table. 

S4 when Romi took the role it was not pitched as a season exploring interracial relationships or white privilege. It was never meant to be that. So Romi had no way in knowing what it would turn into. After the premiere night production panicked because they saw everyones disappointment towards the main(it should have been Moyo & everyone knows it even they do now) and took a hard left. Noa was meant to be Romi’s co-star but it was never meant to have all these racial undertones or not as extreme. The reason the script changed is because wtfock wanted to keep this whole “small engine that could” rapport going that they literally made the last minute call to try to tackle race relations. I mean to you and I we are probably like are these people for real? They are just gonna try to tackle race and white privilege as a story arc without having done the sufficient research and or had the man power in the writing room concerning writers with lived experienced on the topic. Yea, they did that. So anyways they “just decided” on a whim to tackle race *facepalm*. Now that decision in itself is an embodiment of white privilege. A bunch of white dudes wanted woke points and thought “race” yea we can totally do that topic unprepared. Hence why episode 2/3 were so damn repetitive and also literally made no sense. Am sure they pitched this to Romi as some super intellectual and thoughtful narrative that would hold deeper meaning. So I am not defending her instagram actions but I want to give her situation a bit of context. Also am pretty sure she tried to tell us in a round about way. Her insta post was just a display in lacking any awareness towards the importance and pain of BLM because she obviously just lacks race education or common sense but she is a 22 year old brand model so am not really looking for her to set an example. To me wtfock became in some weird way so high on fandom validation that they were egotistical enough to think they could try to tackle this insanely complex topic on a whim and with a 1st time screenwriter at that. S4 was doomed to fail from the start because it was a literal embodiment of unconscious bias that then turned into conscious bias because at one point they knew it was terrible while filming but they were too deep in to pull the plug. You are so in your right to be upset at them because to me the most hurtful thing is that THEY KNOW IT WAS BAD and they won’t address it and now they are going to use their token queer couple to try and fix this. Leave the gays out of it. You can’t fix racism with queerness it doesn’t work that way buddy(am looking at you Rutgers) especially for those who are part of both parties. Do I think a large part of the fan base will “forgive” wtfock for what they did? Probably, but its weird since technically wtfock should be asking their fans who are poc for forgiveness above anyone else. I guess I am not as pissy about the whole situation because am either cynical or emotionally numb to this type of fuckery. I would say concerning the cast and the crew it really isnt their fault. I hear from good sources a lot of them tried to say something and they were shut down. Look if you cant let this go then try to find some semblance of resolve over this. You’re allowed to be mad but at the same time this is the world we live in and this will happen to you again and again (trust me I speak from experience). I do hope you can try to find some comfort in Zoenne and Sobbe and try not to see the cronies of wtfock in their love stories but if you can’t then pack all their shit up and throw it in the attic. Maybe one day you can reopen that box. Last words of advice, happiness is a moving target because in reality it’s a compilation of moments that continuously mutate to accommodate other moments. So don't let s4 taint what moments you had with wtfock and try to remember the things you loved and if you need to walk then walk away. I wish I could give you the biggest hug right now but trust me when I say what you feel is so valid and am so happy you spoke to me about it.

[ayellowcurtain]

I don't think it's that "they" dont understand what people claim they want, it's that they understand that it's all talk. They know whats more in demand. It's unfortunate that despite the calls for diversity from the fandom. When diversity is actually depicted on screen, the fandom visible decreases in size and the viewing figures decline.

The fans will sooner hate watch a Kato series or give the benefit of the doubt to a tiff series than take a chance (you might enjoy) it, on a season with some true rep. This is not a call out, but an observation based on the actual facts, sadly

Gonna answer both of you anons together because I guess my answer is generally the same. And since we’re basically also talking about Druck and their views with Fatou as main (since she’s the only one airing as of right now so the only numbers we can use). 

If it’s the case of “it’s all talk” or “the fans will give the benefit of the doubt” then I guess that’s a lot to do with the “woke” police in the fandom generally doing a lot of talking and not much of hyping their show. Fatou is the perfect dream, the perfect main, with the perfect subjects that the fandom always dreamed of watching since the OG (thinking Eva x Noora were a thing, dreaming of a lesbian Vilde, wishing someone would make a solid Sana season). And so why would a Tiff (or a Kato) season have more engagement, more interest from the fans, more room for mistakes, more views you know? 

In my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, my lack of interest for Druck comes 110% from my terrible experience with the fandom. I said this before but some people that are constantly around the druck fandom and tag made so many of us not even dare to engage with the show in any form because the fandom is just too much. So I still watch the show, but if we’re talking about numbers, hype and whatever, sadly, I won’t help Druck with that because the fandom is not for me. 

I would watch ten seasons of Fatou or Ava any day before watching a single episode of Kato or Tiff if we were just talking about the show, the characters, the possible plots and conversations they might start. 

But the numbers, the views are the fans, hyping the show on social medias, creating content, making their show, their social media, anything related to the show create interest (from possible companies wanting to show their products, new fans that might get interested). If we’re not romanticizing tv shows, if they don’t get views, they don’t really exist, they get cancelled, etc. So, to me, it doesn’t make sense that Druck’s numbers are not good ones right now (with the PERFECT main). If not for the complete fear that takes me (and maybe others) if I even think about engaging with the fandom, if the ones that were brave enough, woke enough to stay are watching, hyping the show, the numbers shouldn’t be as bad. 

In Tiff’s case or Skam France, I was dying for a Max’s season, I wasn’t sure about Sekou only because I assumed the actor was in Canada or something and couldn’t be in France because of COVID to be a main right now. But the dream was Max’s season followed by Sekou’s. 

With Kato’s season I also tried to stay away from the tag as much as I could after episode 2. Since the start I complained about their disastrous pick for main, I made posts about Nina being right there, such a better option, or even Moyo. But when I was really done with the season, I tried not to engage if not to post prompt that people were sending me. 

I guess they just go with these choices because they think people are just wanting a girl as main and that’s it, all the rest is forgiven. 

[mfackenthal]

The MFackenthal Show with Guest Star @usuallyamazinglyaverage!

banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Megs:  Hello Hello Hello!!!  Oh my gosh, I cannot believe it has been so long since my last show.  It’s truly so wonderful to see all of you here!  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to catch up on my old shows and to encourage me to continue with them!  But enough about me, I am not why you are here today.  Today, you are here to meet another AMAZING guest.  Please help me welcome to the stage @usuallyamazinglyaverage​!

Mar shyly walks on the stage and gives Megs a hug.  They sit down on the couch facing the audience, their bodies angled towards one another. 

Mar, I am so glad that you are here today.  Thank you for agreeing to be on the show! 

Mar: Megs, I am delighted and simply honored to be here.  I can’t believe I am on The Mfackenthal Show! 

Megs: And I am so glad you are here.  You and I connected over a shared love for one Ethan Ramsey and I have loved watching you grow as a writer! 

Mar:  Awh, Megs!  I think I’m blushing! 

Megs: Oh stop!  You’re an amazing writer.  And we’re going to talk all about that shortly, but first, can you tell us when you joined the fandom and what brought you here? 

Mar:  Well, I officially joined in mid-april 2019, when I created my blog, but I’ve been following the choices fandom for much longer than that. While I’ve been a part of other fandoms before, this was the first time I really wanted to join in.

BRRRRRING!  BRRRRRING!!! A phone rings from somewhere backstage. 

Megs and Mar look at each other with questions in their eyes.  Megs looks behind her for the source of the sound, but when it stops, she just looks at Mar and shrugs.  

… I discovered the choices app by chance in the Apple store one weekend, while looking for something to distract myself with. I always loved games that featured in-depth romances, so of course my interest was peaked immediately. The first book that got my attention was Big Sky Country. I was instantly hooked. After I read that one, I browsed through more books and found Open Heart. Pixelberry had just released the first few chapters - and that’s when the real fun began! Hospital drama? Interesting plot? Quite a few really cool love interests? Sign me the heck up!  Of course, the one who got me really into it was our resident smartass doctor, Ethan Ramsey... Which is why I looked through tumblr right after finishing chapter 3, to see if a fandom for this strange and wonderful game existed. The rest is, as you say, history.

Megs: And just about a year later, you’re still here!  And so is Open Heart 2!!  Eeek!  That last chapter you wrote with Ethan helping MC work out and then showering.  Damn girl!  If you haven’t read it yet, folks, check out the link at the bottom of your screen: 

https://usuallyamazinglyaverage.tumblr.com/post/612091098044792832/two-more-minutes-ethan-x-mc

While Megs is pointing out the link, a red phone booth is rolled out onto the left side of the stage beside the couch.  Mar just glares at it.  Megs doesn’t seem to see it at all because it’s behind her.

Megs:  The fandom is an interesting place.  What do you love about the fandom?  What do you dislike? What would you like to say to the fandom? 

Mar:  The better question is, what don’t I love about it? There is so much talent and kindness in this fandom, it’s sort of mindblowing! I was welcomed with such enthusiasm and I have made many (hopefully) lasting friendships as well. But, like all fandoms, we have our problems. Some people will never get over the fact that the opinions of others will often differ from their own. That kind of toxicity is a part of every fanbase, unfortunately. 

The phone in the phone booth starts ringing.  Megs jumps up and practically into Mar’s lap. 

Megs: What the hell?!  

Megs and Mars just hold each other for a moment. 

The phone keeps ringing.

Megs:  Umm, should we answer it? 

Mar:  Not it! 

Megs:  What?!  They’re probably calling for you!

Mar:  Megs, this is your show.  I’m guessing it’s for you. 

Megs:  Hmm, that is strong logic.  Let’s just ignore it and see if it stops. 

Mar:  Sounds good to me. 

Megs:  Okay, umm, what were we talking about … 

Brrrrrring!  

Megs:  damn it! Why is it still ringing?!  I guess phone booths don’t have voicemail, huh?  Okay … umm … shakes her head … okay, tell me, what do you do when you’re not producing work for the fandom; what do you do for fun?

The phone stops ringing.

Mar:  Oh, the silence is wonderful, isn’t it?  Well, when I’m not writing for the fandom or interacting with other fans, I go to school. I’m currently finishing up the first year of my apprenticeship, to become a nursery school teacher/educator. The whole thing is super stressful, but it’s my dream to one day work with kids and teens. So I endure, haha!  

As for fun, You already know that I love writing and reading, of course. I also play a lot of video games, they have played a huge part in life since I was about seven years old. I also meet up with close friends, when I have the time. 

Megs: Speaking of writing - I totally got sidetracked by that damned-

Brrrrring!  The phone starts ringing again. 

Megs: looks down dejectedly - phone.  Ugh!  I hate phone calls.  How about you, Mar?

Mar:  Oh Megs, the truth is I’m a dork! I can interact with people under normal circumstances just fine, I am usually quite confident. But talking on the phone? Nope. Job interviews? Total nope. Flirting? Absolute no go. I’m a social disaster when it comes to that kind of stuff.  The phone is the worst. 

Megs:  Awh, well, you’re doing great on my show.  We would never have known any of that!  I’m guessing you told my producers about hating the phone and they decided all these phones would be funny because I also hate the phone.  I was really hoping you’d want to answer these phones ... but I guess our shared hatred that means it would be really mean of me to ask you to answer this phone then, huh? 

Mar:  In fact, it would be. 

Megs:  Hmm … well, I have an idea … 

Megs goes into the phone booth and picks up the receiver and then just drops it back on the base.    

Megs:  There we go - we can just say we got disconnected.  .  

Mar just laughs while Megs looks very smug and proud of herself. 

Megs:  So, let’s talk some more about writing.  What’s your favorite work that you have written?

Mar:  Mhhh, I actually think that changes every time I post something new! My more recent works are the ones I often enjoy the most, because I can see the improvements I made, I can see progress in my writing. People may have noticed that I write a lot of smut - which is also a favorite pastime for me. Something about writing it just tickles my fancy, I have so much fun doing it!

Megs:  What a healthy attitude!  Can you share with us your writing process? 

Mar:  To be honest, I don’t really have one. I write when inspiration strikes and when I feel up to it. When an idea excites me, it usually takes me a lot of time to get it done, because I want it to be just right. What I do need for writing is music that fits the topic of the fic though. If it’s something fluffy, I’ll listen to romantic songs. If it’s something smutty, I’ll listen to sexy songs. It helps me get into the right headspace for whatever I’m about to write.

Megs:  What advice do you have for other writers? Especially other fanfic writers? 

Mar:  Best advice I can give is not to think too hard about it. Just go with the flow, write what feels good. When the words won’t come, step away from your work and take a breather. Eat something. Do some sit-ups. Watch an episode of your favorite show. Just come back to it later, your inspiration will strike eventually.

Megs:  That is sage advice. 

Mar:  Now Megs, I have a question for you.  How and where did you get the idea for the interviews? I’ve never seen anything like this on tumblr!

Megs:  That’s a great question, Mar.  The idea was the brainchild of a group of people.  It started with me trying to find a way to add something to the fandom that didn’t involve me writing a fic.  At that time, I said I wasn’t a writer.  I read and I left reviews and that was as much writing as I was willing to do.  I was gaining followers though and I wanted to do something to give back to the fandom.  Through the help of people who are no longer with us, but also @maxattack-powell​, @lizeboredom​, and a few others, I learned that people were truly interested in learning more about each other but the connections could be hard to make.  I figured this was where I could help the fandom.  While I hate the phone, I love messaging people via text and I have no fear in messaging someone and asking questions.  If they don’t respond, that’s okay!  So I came up with a set of questions and wrote the first show as though I was just at a bar or something.  When people really enjoyed that, I came up with the idea of serializing the show and here we are!

And that’s the end of today’s show.  Mar, thank you so much for coming on today’s show.  To everyone in the audience, thank you for coming to today’s show!  I look forward to seeing you on our next show!!

The phone starts ringing again. 

Megs:  I bet that’s my producer calling to remind me that to say that tickets can be purchased online or over the phone.  Luckily for you, I won’t be the one answering the phones.  Because this is what that would look like:   

Megs gets up and this time she picks up the receiver and instead of putting it back on the base, she just lets the phone hang.  It swings back and forth.  

Megs takes Mar’s arm and together they walk off stage.  

~~~~~

And now for the tags.  I’m only tagging people who have specifically mentioned an interest in The MFackenthal Show.  If you want to be added to the tag list for these or removed, please let me know!

@hopefulmoonobject​ @queen-among-writers​, @hopelessromantic1352​, @lilyofchoices​, @msjpuddleduck​, @theroyalweisme​, @lady-kato

[sambart93]

2019.06.18 Touken Ranbu: Jiden Hibi no Ha yo Chiruramu [Review]

Hey guys!! I am sure this one was highly anticipated but I am seriously in a slumb when it comes to writing these things now so this is going to be super simple! I hope you don’t mind!

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

CAST and CHARACTERS

Aramaki Yoshihiko as Yamanbagiri Kunihiro Wada Masanari as Heshigiri Hasebe Kento as Tsurumaru Kuninaga Maeyama Takahisa as Uguisumaru Kato Sho as Ookanehira  Kawakami Shota as Daihannya Nagamitsu Tanimizu Riki as Nansen Ichimonji Isono Dai as Oodenta Mitsuyo Iiyama Yuuta as Sohayatsurumaru Kizu Tsubasa as Hakata Toushiro Oosaki Natsuki as Maeda Toushiro Shitara Ginga as Gokotai Yokoyama Masafumi as Yamabushi Kunihiro Takeshi Naoki as Doudanuki Kobayashi Ryo as Tarou Tachi Kosaka Ryoutaru as Jirou Tachi Umetsu Mizuki as Yamanbagiri Chougi Aoki Jin as Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki

Location Cast Change: Naya Takeru as Sayo Samonji (for Tokyo First Round) Kitagawa Naoya as Honebami Toushiro (for Osaka Round) Shiina Taizou as Fudou Yukimitsu (for Hyogo Round) Wada Takuma as Kasen Kanesada (Tokyo Gaisen Round)

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: I did enjoy myself. There is a lot of comedy in this one. It’s at least 50 - 60% comedy so everyone is laughing from start to finish. It’s about 80% scripted comedy and 20% improve comedy. It was very entertaining and very enjoyable. We all laughed the entire time. So if you just want to enjoy, laugh, have a good time, you are going to LOVE this stage! It’s just one long Hanamaru (the anime) episode to be honest. My favourite parts of the whole stage were definitely Manba and co’s dynamics and relationship. I really, really loved Sayo and Manba’s relationship and body language and small gestures towards each other throughout the play which really shows how close they’ve gotten. It’s really sad that Sayo is only there for the first Tokyo run because the little things he did for and towards Manba just melted my heart. Also, I really, really loved Manba and Doudanuki’s dynamic in this show too! I absolutely adored how Douda treated Manba this time around. However, personally, that’s not what I want from Touken Ranbu. I want pain, I want fighting, I want history, I want conflict. That does not happen in this stage. So this is not what I wanted. I started to get really bored and I got over the jokes after about 45 minutes into the show (the show is 145 minutes long). They repeat the same group/set of jokes about 10 times, so obviously I got bored of them. I feel like this plot could’ve been done in about 30 minutes. The fact they take the entire 145 minutes for this one simple plot line (it’s a really simple story), it really gets boring in some spots. The lack of fighting (which is less than 10 minutes long for the entirety of the play), the lack of history, the lack of conflict (even between the Touken Danshi!) really got to me and this just wasn’t what I wanted. Like I said, I did enjoy myself and I did laugh throughout and I did have a good time. But when Touken has set this ‘dark, despair, historical, fighting’ theme for so long, you can’t expect us to not expect that this time around, AND when we don’t get it, you can’t expect me not to be bored and disappointed. Which is what I am. Disappointed. Again. Rating: 5/10 (if you enjoy comedy and lighthearted stuff then this’d be about 8/10)

*

SPOILER REVIEW

Story: The story takes place after the events of the game (see details here). So we follow Chougi joining the gang at the Honmaru, but a lot of the gang are against Chougi and Manbachan (Yamanbagiri Kunihiro) meeting because Chougi is the ‘true’ Yamanbagiri sword. So they try to delay and play tricks so they can’t meet. And we follow those shenanigans.

*

I am going to break this down into three groups: ☆ The Good, × The Bad and △ the Neutral/General/Both-Good-and-Bad Comments! So get ready! I’ll do Good first!

☆ It’s difficult to describe, but I loved Sayo and Manba relationship in this one. There was a lot of body language and actions that showed just how much Sayo cared for Manba. There were many moments when he would sit next to Manba and look at him worried, checked if he was okay. When Chougi was trying to verbally attack Manba, Sayo was right by his side, ready to kick Chougi’s ass. Just the small things Sayo did for Manba throughout this play were just so pure and so adorable to watch. It’s such a shame that he’s only there for the Tokyo Shows because I would love see this development between these two’s relationship.

☆ Another relationship I loved in this one was Doudanuki and Manba. If you remember back in Mitsu/JyoDen, Doudan and Manba were always butting heads, but in this one, Doudan wouldn’t leave Manba’s side. He tried SO hard to protect Manba from Chougi, and he tried to hard to keep Chougi away from Manba throughout the entire play, which just shows how much he care for Manba! It was adorable!!

☆ Dounauki on his own is just so great in this stage series! I love Naoki’s performance of him every time!!

☆ At the end of the play, Manba finally got sent off to be Kiwame’d!! So in the next stage we’ll be getting Kiwame ManbaChan!! I cannot wait!

☆ Being able to see Aoki Jin’s acrobatics again was so good! He’s still got it!

☆ Riki as Nansei was adorable! He was really good at showing the catish characteristics he has! And his cat speech was adorable too!

☆ The Manba VS 6 Touken Danshi fight scene was very impressive on MakiChan’s part and it fit completely. Both MakiChan and ManbaChan could’ve wooped all their asses after all the years of training they’ve both technically done in sword fighting.

△ This is a mix of good and bad but, we cannot deny just how amazing MakiChan is at this point when to comes to sword fighting. His movements and his choreography is so good and such a high level by this point! But this is also a bad thing because... it makes it super obvious just how beginner everyone else (especially Chougi’s actor) is at sword fighting when he’s against them. I could painfully see the difference in their choreography levels, especially when MakiChan had fighting scenes against Chougi, and when he was fighting against 6 of the swords at the same time. Their movements and choreography just looks so mediocre and so clumsy and just don’t flow naturally at all next to him. 

△ There were mentions of Ookurikara, Yagen and Jiji throughout the play, so definitely hints they’ll come back in future plays(?). I am excited for Ookuri and Yagen but we all know how I feel about Jiji -_____-

△ Ginga as Gokotai was.... fine. He definitely got the voice and intimidated body language right but... boy’s pretty tall... would’ve been better to find a shorter person?

△ There were no ensemble this time at all.

△ There are no set changes at all. It all takes place at the Honmaru. The set is really big actually! I like how they used all parts of the set, even the upper levels!

△ The umbrellas this time have no names on them! It’s all projection mapped (their names) onto white umbrellas instead this time around.

△ Why are they performing an Autumn/Winter themed play in the middle of summer? The play constantly talks about how Autumn is coming to an end, so why did they perform this in Summer?! That’s hella stupid.

△ I really did enjoy a lot of the comedy parts and I did enjoy my time BUT this isn’t what I wanted from TouStage; this isn’t what I expect from TouStage.

△ What was the point of Maeda playing the narrator in this? And why was it split into chapters throughout the play?

× Because it’s just a comedy that is heavily scripted and nothing major really happens, I see no rewatchability value unfortunately. Once was enough.

× The Opening is very long. It’s a ten minute VIDEO of them fighting and finding Chougi. Why they made it a video instead of actually on stage, I don’t understand. Why it was such a long video? I also don’t understand.

× I strongly feel like they expanded and stretched what could’ve been a 45 minute story into 145 minutes. There was no need for this Chougi vs Manba conflict to go on for the entirety of the the stage. It got very repetitive, and it dragged quite a bit. 

× Also the second storyline about Gokotai? It felt very unnecessary and very much a throw away. It wasn’t needed for the point it was used for. It was used to reintroduce and set-up Jiji into the series and how they all miss him and want him back. But we really didn’t need Gokotai for it. In fact...

× ...50% of this cast is entirely unneeded and unnecessary! I have no idea why half of them were there! When they were all gathered on stage, I could easily look at them and pick out who could’ve been straight up removed. 

If you had to ask me who actually brought something to the story, I would say: Manba, Chougi, Sayo, Doudanuki, and Nansei. Kento was good for the comedy parts. So literally everyone else you could’ve cut out.

× It bothers me that once again, Suemitsu is just stealing from another idea. The Gokotai storyline is basically from Hanamaru, and of course the Chougi backstory is taken straight from the Game Event (which is not the point that bothers me). He seriously cannot make up his own ideas. He hasn’t written a good stage since TRUMP seriously (K Stage doesn’t count because it’s just a carbon copy of the anime). And WHY is he even back?! Hiden was supposed to be his last one! Everyone said! So WHY is he back? Give other writers a chance!

× It really infuriated me how they waited and expected the audience to applause at certain times. One or two times where it’s expected is FINE but the fact they pause and wait SO many times for the audience to clap was just cringey and ewwy. I understand that some jokes are positioned so the audience claps, but when it’s the amount that it is in this play? No thank you. Just makes the actors look cheap and egotistical.

× The soundtrack is completely forgettable this time around! I cannot remember one single tune that stuck to me. I’m a huge Soundtrack lover so the fact nothing caught my ears and nothing caught my attention nor stayed with me is just.... bad.

× This play seriously made me hate Chougi! I like Chougi in the game but in this? He’s just a pompous, ignorant prick. I walked out absolutely HATING him! How dare he treat Manba and the rest of them like that! Motherf-ker.

× Personally, I found no moving, no emotional, no sad moment in the play this time. That’s bad and boring writing in my opinion.

× I’ve said this many times already but, they repeat the same 4 or 5 jokes about 10 times within the first 75 minutes of the play. That is total overkill. It got old fast, I quickly got bored (the 45 minute point was when it was starting to grate on me).

× There is all of ONE fight scene the entire play, and (I timed it) it takes up less than 15 minutes of the entire play.  And it was glaringly obvious to see the skill level difference between MakiChan and everyone else (in all honesty).

× Another personal thing for me, but I find Kato Sho completely exhausting. He’s so damn loud and so over the top as Ookanehira. He just exhausts me. He’s great as himself but as Ookane? Just no thank you.

× Chougi and Manba don’t meet until the 75 minute part. Which is excessively late. You could’ve had them meet up about 30 minutes in. It really was stretched out too far.

× The theatre itself was freezing as FACK! Absolutely freezing in there!

*

And that’s all! In conclusion, it could’ve been much better and wasn’t what I wanted. But I feel like I say this EVERY TIME. Maybe I really should just stop. Why do I even say I like TouStage when it’s evident I’m disappointed like... every time! *sigh*

[mxliv-oftheendless]

The Shocking Case of O.J. Simpson (Part 1)

Yep, we’re back with this insanity! In honor of me getting through the first week of winter semester, here is the next installment in KISS Unsolved! However, unlike last time, where we saw Paul, Gene, and Vinnie going on a hunt for the supernatural, here we see them covering a true crime case, because Buzzfeed Unsolved also covers unsolved true crime cases. It actually took me quite a while to decide which episode to adapt for this, but ultimately I decided on this one, partly because this case really fascinates me. I also decided that since there’s three co-hosts in this AU, Vinnie’s going to be the one covering the true crime cases (I thought it fitting, since he’s a bit of an unsolved mystery himself). Here is the original episode if you want to watch that before reading this story. 

A quick note about this one: I learned from last time to split up the episodes so I don’t go over the post length limit and Tumblr starts acting like a jerk. I know it’s awkward, but that’s how it’s gonna have to be. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: this case is very controversial. I realize that. It also contains some effed-up details that some people may not be comfortable with reading. If at any point you are feeling uncomfortable, please do not hesitate to stop reading. You are not a lesser person for it.

And now, without further ado, enjoy!

Tag list: @cosmicrealmofkissteria​  @ashestoashesvvi​  @kategwidt​

Commentary text:

Paul

Gene

Vinnie

Something said in unison

[screen cuts from title card to Vinnie, Gene, and Paul sitting behind a desk cluttered with papers, pens, a desk lamp, and other objects. Behind them are bulletin boards full of things from various unsolved cases and conspiracies. In order from left to right: Paul, Gene, Vinnie]

VINNIE: This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we discuss the brutal murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, or as you may know it: the case of O. J. Simpson, who was Nicole’s ex-husband, a Hall of Fame running back in the NFL, and the case’s top suspect.

PAUL: Fun fact: we’re all old enough to remember this case.

GENE: Yep. I remember there was a lot of Yiddish thrown around my house after the verdict.

VINNIE: A lot of people our age and older than us will remember quite a bit about this case. I remember watching it on television.

PAUL:  Yeah, I actually never knew O. J. was a football player. I always knew him as the guy who murdered someone.

GENE: Me too.

VINNIE: Yeah. There’s a lot of unpack here, so… let’s get into it. [opens folder]

[screen cuts away from the three to a black screen. Pictures and text appear on screen as Vinnie narrates]

VINNIE [voiceover]: In the early morning of June 13th, 1994, at 12:10 AM, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman were found outside Nicole’s Brentwood townhouse, stabbed to death.

[screen cuts to the three of them in a car driving through a neighborhood, Brentwood. Vinnie is driving, Paul is in the passenger seat, aiming a camera at Vinnie, and Gene is in the backseat]

VINNIE: So right now, we are on our way to Nicole Brown Simpson’s former residence. [time skip: the car parks on the side of the street]

PAUL: [looks at the house across the street] Is that it, right over there?

VINNIE: Yep. That’s the place.

GENE: I feel… I don’t really feel all that right going into this place.

VINNIE: Oh, we’re not going onto the property.

GENE: We’re not? I thought we were going to go see where the bodies were found.

VINNIE: Oh hell no, we’re not doing that.

PAUL: That is kind of disrespectful.

GENE: Okay, good.

[all three of them sit still for a couple beats. Then Vinnie sighs and unbuckles his seatbelt, and opens the door to get out. Gene and Paul follow suit. Screen cuts back to the slideshow]

VINNIE [voiceover]: At the time, Nicole and O. J. Simpson were divorced and living in separate residences, both in Brentwood. The bodies were discovered by two neighbors who were literally led to the crime scene by Nicole’s dog. Multiple neighbors would say the dog was incessantly barking at the time of the murder. [audio of a barking dog plays with the narration]

[cuts back to the sidewalk in front of Nicole Brown Simpson’s house. Paul has the camera on Vinnie, who is taking steps while Gene watches off to the side]

VINNIE: So the dog led the neighbors down the street, to the entrance, and they saw the blood coming down from the entrance to the sidewalk.

[cuts to the three once again sitting in the car; it is now darker out]

PAUL: What occurs to me, though, is how close together all these apartments are. And how…

VINNIE: How no one heard…

PAUL: Yeah. From the way I always heard it, I assumed the houses were really spread out and the street was bigger. But no, they’re all pretty stacked on top of each other. I think… I feel like someone would have had to have heard something.

VINNIE: … That’s a good point, I never thought about that. [runs his hand over his face] Jesus…

GENE: This case just got so much heavier.

[screen cuts back to the slideshow]

VINNIE [voiceover]: Let’s go over the established, highly-detailed timeline. On June 12th, 1994 at 6:30 PM, Nicole, her children, and others arrive at a restaurant called Mezzaluna. At 9:15 PM, Nicole’s sister calls Mezzaluna and says her mother left her glasses there. Ronald Goldman goes to pick up the glasses. At 9:00 – 9:30 PM, Brian “Kato” Kaelin and O. J. Simpson go to McDonald’s for dinner.

Can’t imagine McDonald’s was excited to hear that…

Yeah…

…as part of the testimony.

Was that part of the testimony?

I mean it had to have been, since it’s on the official timeline.

… Well.

*snickering*

I mean… it got a lot of coverage at the time so… free advertising, I guess?

Yeah, I suppose.

VINNIE [voiceover]: At 9:45 PM, Kato and O. J. return home from McDonald’s. Kato was staying in O. J.’s guest house at the time. At 9:48 to 9:50 PM, Goldman leaves Mezzaluna with an envelope containing Nicole’s mother’s glasses. At 10:15 PM, Nicole Simpson’s neighbor hears a dog bark and cry while he is watching TV. The prosecution would later cite these barks as Nicole’s dog, who was crying out over the murder of its owner, Nicole.

They went by dog bark?

Well all dog barks are a bit different. The neighbor could’ve recognized it as Nicole’s dog from the bark.

Yeah, that’s probably what happened.

Honestly, I feel like the dog is the real hero of this story.

*laughs* I don’t think there are many heroes in this story, Gene.

No, let’s say that. We need at least one good thing to come out of this story.

Fine, okay. This dog’s a regular Lassie.

VINNIE [voiceover]: At 10:25 PM, a limo driver named Allan Park arrives at O. J.’s home, O. J. having been scheduled for a red eye flight from L. A. to Chicago at 11:45 PM. At 10:40 PM, O. J.’s guest, Kato, hears three loud thumps on the outside wall of the guest house he is staying in. From 10:40 to 10:55 PM, Park buzzes O. J.’s intercom several times, but there is no answer. Just before 11:00 PM, Park sees a shadowy figure—six feet tall, two hundred pounds—walking across the driveway towards the house. At 11:00 PM, Park tries buzzing the intercom again; this time, O. J. answers. O. J. tells Park that he had overslept and had just gotten out of the shower.

Suspicious.

Yeah, quite suspicious.

This is a very detailed description of a “shadowy figure.”

*laughs* Yeah, “He was six feet, weighed two hundred pounds—and was enshrouded in shadow.”

*laughter*

VINNIE [voiceover]: At 11:45 PM, O. J. departs on an American Airlines flight to Chicago. And taking us back to the start, at 12:10 AM, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman are discovered outside her townhouse stabbed to death. Evidence found at the crime scene includes a bloodstained glove left behind by the killer, a knitted hat, and a bloody footprint. At 5:00 PM, detectives arrive at O. J.’s house and discover some key pieces of evidence… but we’ll get to that later. Meanwhile, O. J.’s flight lands in Chicago. According to lead prosecutor Marcia Clark, Detective Ron Philips called O. J. to inform him his ex-wife was dead. O. J.’s first response: “Who killed her?”

Not good.

Yes, very not good.

Not, “How did she die?”

Nope.

“What happened?”

Nope.

“Who killed her”… that’s what he said.

*quiet laughter*

That’s not the go-to question there.

*laughter* Heheh, no, it is not.

Not the best decision ya could’ve made, O. J.

VINNIE [voiceover]: O. J. was questioned for three hours by the LAPD, but released. On June 17th, 1994, O. J. was charged with the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. But he famously did not surrender to the police, and was declared a fugitive. The ensuing low-speed police chase of O. J. on the freeways of southern California in his white Ford Bronco is a lasting memory for anybody familiar with the case.

Do either of you remember this?

Oh yeah, I definitely remember this.

My memories of this are actually a little vague. I do remember people talking about this after it happened, though.

I think my sister actually yelled at the screen for O. J. to go faster.

*laughter*

VINNIE [voiceover]: O. J. was in the passenger seat, while the car was driven by his friend, Al Cowlings. Cowlings explained he did not stop because O. J. had a gun to his own head in the car, and because O. J. was suicidal. A suicide note written by O. J. was in fact found, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

[screen cuts to the three back in the car. It is daytime, and they are now on the freeway]

VINNIE: So right now, we are going about the speed O. J. was going, and we’re in rush-hour traffic.

PAUL: I gotta say, I’m actually a little bored.

GENE: This doesn’t exactly feel like Fast and Furious.

VINNIE: Well, the stuff in Fast and Furious probably doesn’t happen in real life, Genie.

VINNIE [voiceover]: During the chase, they recorded a phone call between O. J. and homicide detective Tom Lange. Here’s some audio from that:

LANGE: Nobody’s going to get hurt.

SIMPSON: I’m the only one that deserves…

LANGE: No, you don’t deserve that.

SIMPSON: I’m gonna get hurt…

LANGE: You do not deserve to get hurt.

SIMPSON: [groans]

LANGE: You do not deserve to get hurt. Don’t do this.

SIMPSON: All I did was love Nicole. All I did was love her.

VINNIE [voiceover]: The chase would end at O. J.’s home in Brentwood. Inside the car, they found, in what I imagine was unintentional humor, makeup adhesive, a fake mustache and goatee, O. J.’s passport, and a gun.

Pfft, hahahahah—!

*laughing* What the hell?

*laughing* I know, that’s—just try to imagine one of the most famous people at this time, trying to sneak through airport security with a glued-on mustache…

That’s hilarious!

… and thinking it’s gonna work.

This guy didn’t even change his passport, that’s… was he even trying at all?

VINNIE [voiceover]: O. J. surrendered to the police at 8:51 PM. Now, let’s go over the suicide note. Apart from thanking those who meant a lot to him in his life, O. J. professed his innocence. Quote, “First, everyone understand. I have nothing to do with Nicole’s murder. I loved her; always have and always will. If we had a problem, it’s because I loved her so much.”

Well, that’s… kinda sweet, I guess…

Seems kinda over the top to me.

I had the same impression. Overall, though, when you put it in with everything else… I don’t know.

What’s our consensus here, do we all agree that he did it?

I have actually been told that we should refrain from explicitly saying who we think did it.

Oh, really?

Why?

Well, because this is a very controversial case. We all remember how controversial it was. We don’t wanna step on any toes.

... I guess that’s fair.

Yeah, that’s fair.

To be continued in Part 2!

[oldtvandcomics]

Copying this in a separate post because I want it to actually show up in the tags.

@chupacabron asked:

@oldtvandcomics​ haven't seen many lone ranger fics. I barely started getting into the show. If you're still taking requests, I wouldn't mind reading a fic/character study type thing about it!

Hi, @chupacabron! Lovely request, thank you! Is it the tv series from the 50s? I hope you’ll enjoy it!!

I am a bit touchy as far as writing Lone Ranger is concerned, because while I love it very much and think that this is a story with lots and lots of potential for good, there IS a history of racism as far as the writing is concerned. So basically, I refuse to publish any fics without having somebody look it over first, and that is… A lot more difficult to arrange than I thought.

You are right, there really should be more Lone Ranger fics. Well researched and sensitivity read ones, if possible.

But that said, I can still totally tell you about the way I see the characters!

Basically, John Reid is an idiot. Everybody seems to agree there, even the dreaded 2013 movie got it right. It was about the only thing it did (if you are new, than I’m begging you, don’t watch that **@#*#!!). He’s just kind of stuck living in his own fantasy world where people are nice and want to get along. You know, a lot like Clark Kent, just maybe not quite that bad. Because this is a fairy tale, this doesn’t end in a complete disaster within a week, but the people around him actually play along. Part of this is because he is actually helpful, and also he doesn’t stay long enough and doesn’t talk about himself, so he manages to fool everyone in the short run into thinking that he is a serious person who knows what he’s doing. And he is quite clever, actually, he has got good, original ideas that work, but…

So yeah, John’s an idiot. I really love him, because I relate to him a lot.

Tonto is definitely the most interesting character in the story. For starters, he is the one who we can actually imagine staying alive on his own. He is clever, kind, a good fighter, and knows a lot about medicine and following tracks. And he’s great with children, you can tell from his interactions with Dan. He also ended up living alone in the desert with a borderline insane superhero and their two horses (all superheroes are insane, that’s just a Basic Rule), and we know from the first episode that he had been alone before. My headcanon is that he is literately unable to live in a civilised society. Maybe he has got attachment issues due to his entire tribe being killed in front of his eyes, maybe it’s just the way he is, but he couldn’t function properly in a bigger group.

I also found it incredibly interesting how my own view of Tonto changed over time. I started out as seeing him a bit dark, a bit grumpy (I partly blame the actor voicing him having a very deep voice, and also most of the time not speaking in complete sentences). The more I saw of him, the more I’m convinced that he is the nicest person ever, only really, really introverted. I don’t think that there really are any people apart from the Lone Ranger (and later Dan) he feels safe to open up to.

He obviously loves spending time with John and getting in all kinds of weird shenanigans together. My first impression was actually “that guy is only there for fun”, and I mostly maintain this opinion, only adding that with time, his relationship with John and the fact that they are helping people became very important motivations, too.

I have a lot of thoughts and feeling about Tonto.

Dan Reid, you probably haven’t met yet. I’m not talking about John’s brother, but his son, John’s nephew and Britt Reid’s father. He is a teenage sidekick. He reads therefore like pretty much every teenage sidekick Mary Sue character ever. Not that it’s a bad thing, I quite like Dan and the idea of John and Tonto raising a teenager together. Dan calls them Uncle John and Uncle Tonto, and you will not convince me otherwise. But Dan Reid only really gets interesting as an adult. He is one of the few sidekicks who actually managed to leave the superhero life behind and built himself a successful career. He is definitely the sanest person in the entire Reid family.

And the token straight one, I like to think. I adopted the headcanon that Britt is bi and in a relationship with Kato. John and Tonto, I like to headcanon both as aromantic, because I can, and also a- or bisexual, depending my mood. I also read their relationship as queerplatonic. But everybody thinks that they’re married, because this is a fairy tale and homophobia doesn’t exist.

Something I’d definitely would like to see more about is their relationship and how exactly it works, since it is an intercultural one, and that has got to be interesting. Also how it plays out on Dan’s education, and later, Britt’s. There have to be some Comanche elements that get passed down to him.

John and Tonto also move around in an interesting space between cultures, and since they are The Two Idiots Running Around Telling Everyone To Be Nice To One Another, they have to have a huge knowledge and understanding of them all. This is one of the parts where the source material gets a little problematic, so just assume that it’s a biased retelling of an outsider’s biased view of reality, and things got twisted and rewritten along the way. The Lone Ranger is, in his core, a White Saviour, so yeah, as I said, problematic per definition. I like to think that “in reality”, they are much more careful and respectful. Tonto is responsible for the communication with the First Nations, John for the one with the settlers. They both are fluent in multiple languages, at least Comanche, English, Apache, both Eastern and Western, Spanish, and some others. Among themselves, they use English and Comanche, and randomly switch around between the two.

“Kemo Sabe” (still my headcanon) is totally a made-up term, by one of Tonto’s ancestors. It kind of stuck around as term of endearment. His family has been calling their partners “Kemo Sabe” for generations, and it just felt right for him and John to use it. They both call the other so.

[rkjulia]

MGA: SEASON FIVE, ‘19! episode zero ⇢ the audition part three: the big interview

it is safe to say that this day wasn’t going as kokoro had expected, after all, she had found herself sitting in a chair with a make-up artist touching up her face and a hair stylist fixing the hair on her head. honestly speaking though, after all of that dancing, she probably needed it. but what was their motive exactly, and why did they need to touch up her make-up and her hair? kokoro had more or less just finished dancing, stepping outside of the audition room only to be swept up by a staff member who was directing her off to another part of the school building she had yet to go to. turns out, that she was going to be sitting in front of a camera for an interview. an interview, that was probably going to be in korean. and kokoro being japanese, would probably have no language support. the questions would probably be in korean and kokoro would probably end up stumbling over her words, without having any time to practice or think up her answers. there were bound to be other foreign contestants, she couldn’t possibly be the only one. kokoro continues to smile throughout the experience, with the make-up artist and hair stylist talking to her, although deep down, she finds herself internally panicking a bit, unsure of how she’s going to prepare.

relief washes over her though when she’s presented with some mock questions, at least now she knows what to expect in the real interview. the questions are pretty basic, stereotypical; audition show themed. what’s your name? where are you from? why do you want to be a star and so on. kokoro makes the effort to ask the staff member questions, just in case. about any other things she may ask and what she might do if she doesn’t understand the question due to the obvious language barrier. in her experience, it’s better to ask about things then to go head first into the real thing and make mistakes. not that kokoro asking questions helps, because the staff member brushes over things rather quickly. she soon finds herself sitting alone, waiting for the real thing.

kokoro pulls at the hem of her skirt, hands laced together in her lap. she finds this portion of her audition to be much more intimidating than the dancing process. her fear of the korean language and embarrassing herself would rear it’s head and reveal itself, and kokoro didn’t want to become a laughing stock on national television. not if it was going to be aired, not if her mother was going to see this and find out. she looks forward towards the camera and smiles, bowing her head. she could introduce herself in korean like a native, it had been practised and practised, said again and again. “hello everyone,” kokoro says brightly, her signature smile and eye-smile gracing the camera. “my name is kato kokoro and i am seventeen years old! it is nice to meet you!” the interviewer smiles, warmed by her infectious enthusiasm. now she has revealed her name, it’s evident that she isn’t korean. and that alone is a roadblock she has to overcome on the path to meeting her wildest dreams. 

“and kokoro, where are you from exactly?” the interviewer then asks, looking down at their notes before looking back up at kokoro. where are you from? she could say she’s from gangnam. that’s where she has been living since the start of the year; six months almost. gangnam was slowly but surely becoming home to her but kokoro knows that isn’t the answer they are looking for. they want the juice, the tea. "i was born and raised in tokyo, japan, but i moved to south korea early this year, in january.” kokoro explains. the interviewer nods, reviewing their notes once again. so far, so good. this wasn’t challenging kokoro too much. she had explained herself enough these past six months. these were things she understood and could talk about effortlessly.

"okay, kokoro-ssi, musically, who influences you?” boop. here goes nothing. kokoro knows that she had filled this out on her audition paperwork; there were a slew of artists and groups that kokoro looked up to, japanese, korean and western; she had a rather global music taste and now would probably be a good opportunity to express that. but how? it was probably evident that she was nervous. she subtly takes in a deep breath. word this correctly, kokoro, for the love of all things good. “i have a lot of musical influences!” kokoro expresses up front. rather than going out of her way to sound cool or well-spoken, kokoro would rather go ahead and be herself. “but i’m going to say my main musical influence is akb48, who are a japanese girl group. they’re sort of our national girl group, i guess!” kokoro then explains. looking back, what would of happened if kokoro actually ended up auditioning for akb48 and making it into the group? would she still be a kenkyuusei or would she be a full-fledged member by now? she figures she should mention some of the other groups she listed, rather than gushing about her favourite group back home.

"this year, i started listening to k-pop more. i like eclipse and k.arma right now. listening to k-pop has actually helped me with learning korean and i’ve also been able to make new friends through listening to k-pop!” there are some dips in her explanation, moments where she has paused for a second to think of what she has to say next and kokoro finds herself quietly apologising to the interviewer inbetween questions. but she speaks the truth, although she knew about k-pop back home, she had never really had the need to listen. she had her akb48 and her e-girls, why did she need another type of music? although now, kokoro found herself using the music to her own advantage, to communicate with others. it opened up conversation and helped kokoro learn to how to read. it was everywhere, k-pop idols were just as influential as j-pop idols.

and the interviewer returns to their notes, as kokoro sits tight and waits for the next question to be thrown at her. she looks down at her hands that are still laced together in her lap. “why do you want to be an idol, kokoro-ssi?” kokoro is a little startled by how hard-hitting the question is, they seem to be very upfront with their questions and what they want their contestants to share. but kokoro knows, deep down, way down, the answer to this question. she’s known it since she was a kid, back to when she looked up at j-pop idols in japan and dreamed of maybe standing on stage like them. back to when she aspired to audition for akb48, only to have that opportunity pulled right out from underneath her. “that’s an easy question!” kokoro beams, eyes turning into crescent moon shapes. "i want to become an idol because i want to make people happy." this question makes kokoro think though, that was one of the reasons kokoro had aspired to pursue a career as an idol in japan over doing things here in korea. the industries were vastly different. just because an idol, particularly in the likes of akb48, wasn’t the best at dancing and singing, didn’t mean she was any less of an idol. she had other redeeming qualities that made her favourable in the eyes of her fans and kokoro found that wholesome. here in korea though, talent and being the best of the best was the way things went here. it was the survival of the fittest. 

and kokoro wonders if that was an industry she would be able to survive in. “i would like to be able to spread joy around the world through music.” she continues to explain. “i want to do what i love for the rest of my life, or for as long as i could, at least.” kokoro says with a curt, cute shrug. they say that by doing something that you love, you’ll never work a day in your life and while the road to stardom was a long, difficult one, kokoro knew that if she could get herself onto it and get herself going, she would work hard until the very end. the interviewer smiles at kokoro and she finds herself smiling back. so, this interview wasn’t going as bad as she had thought. it seemed as though she found herself stumbling over her words when she overthought things. maybe she wasn’t as bad at korean as she though she was. “okay, kokoro-ssi, one more question before you go; what company are you aspiring to end up at?” the interviewer asks. kokoro too had put this down on her audition paperwork. coming to korea, kokoro hadn’t known too much about the big five companies in seoul and the roles they played, the groups that they housed. so kokoro had gone into this all rather blindly, picking based on where her new favourite girl groups were from.

“kt entertainment is my first choice,” kokoro says simply. “i personally really like the aesthetic of the company and i enjoy the music that has come from that company thus far.” that, and katie lee seemed like a pretty cool ceo, but kokoro wasn’t too sure how she should address the likes of katie lee in an interview, so she kept her name out of it. “my second choice is trc entertainment. it is, uh, a very different vibe to kt entertainment, for sure!” she chuckles a little, brushing her twin tails back over her shoulders. “trc seems to be a very cool, but challenging company to be under.” kokoro shrugs, not really sure how else to explain herself. kokoro liked kt entertainment because she could realistically see herself under the label, whereas trc entertainment was more so for the artists already there. that, and her potential to grow into an artist rather than an idol seemed to be a bit more evident, but that wasn’t the sort of thing kokoro wanted to admit in an interview. it wasn’t the time nor the place. the interview as far as kokoro knew had come to and end, and while she was relieved that she wouldn’t have to think of anything else to say, she was also a bit sad. kokoro wondered if she had said enough for what they were looking for.

the interview as far as kokoro believes, is now over. and while she is partially relieved that she is no longer required to think of anything else witty to say, she’s also wondering if she said enough. to kokoro’s surprise though, the interview isn’t over just yet. what else was she to say or do?

[op-law]

One Piece x Reader {Join My Club} Ch 13

Cinder's Pov

'Knock' 'Knock'

I may have been the person who told Kato to come up to the apartment but now I didn't even want to leave the couch. "Cinder, are you going to open the door?" He was the stubborn type so carefully I got up though my hand hovered over the deadbolt while I tried to calm myself. Before I could rush back to the safety of the couch my hand unlocked the door and pulled it open. "There's my girl. I picked you up some pancakes on the way over here since I figured you be hungry. Is something wrong Cinder? Your eyes are puffy"

He noticed every detail when it came to me but right now, I really wished he hadn't picked up on my bloodshot eyes. Kato was sweet and kind, this news would devastate him. "That wasn't necessary Kato but thank you. Please come in" I couldn't prolong the news forever so as I took the takeaway box within my grip, I lead him inside the apartment. "What exactly are we discussing Cinder? You're not breaking up with me, right?"

I'd never break up with Kato he was my everything but as I stared up at him from the couch, I said the one thing I was terrified that could happen today. "It might be you who is breaking up with me" We hadn't discussed the topic of children before but we were only teens ourselves so that shouldn't have been on either of our minds. "Hm!? What do you mean?" Kato's tone was filled with shock and for whatever reason, it had caused my tears to finally start falling. "I-I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do! What is my mother going to say? She'll disown me! Hawkins will be pissed as well!"

My relationship with my mom was already strained enough but oh god if Hawkins found out about this, he'd murder Kato. "Cinder calm down its alright. A-Are you going to keep it?" That wasn't even something I had been able to consider and in my current state, it was best not to make any final decisions. "I don't know. This isn't how it was supposed to happen!" Kato's arms had wrapped around my now shaking form although just as I was about to push him away, he said something that caused me to freeze. "I'll still love you regardless of your choice but just so you know I think you should keep it"

"W-What do you mean Kato? We can't raise a child" I knew Kato came from money but he was talking crazy if he thought this was a good idea. "Just think about it Cinder. I know it's not the most practical thing but we still created this life. Are you going to class today or should we go back to my house? My family is gone for the day~ Heheheheh" I couldn't believe he was trying to laugh at a time like this and how dare he suggest such a thing, being alone with him was never a good idea. "Bad Kato! This is exactly the behavior that got us into this mess in the first place"

"There's your smile~ I love you Cinder. Come on before traffic picks up" Kato's body had moved but as he gripped my wrist, I stopped him. "Who said I'm going with you?" I would have gladly gone with him although I couldn't let this man think I was easy. "Oh, I'm kidnapping you for the day. We have much to discuss and school will only be a detraction" Kato would make a terrible kidnapper however today just wasn't a good day to play games. "There's a test today in math class. I can't just miss it" My grades were already failing and if I ever wanted to make something of myself, I needed to at least pass. "I'll take care of it don't worry. Are you coming or not?"

Little rich boy Kato was many things but was he really prepared to bribe the school? Probably although I still didn't see why the man was acting like his world wasn't falling apart. "Why are you acting so calm about this?" He might have been in shock but when I heard his answer, I realized it was the complete opposite. "Because it doesn't matter. You're pregnant with my baby so now I need to step up and make sure you're comfortable"

"If you're kidnapping me then start carrying me. Oh, and you can tell Hawkins what you did to me" Since I had just found out I didn't bother with informing my older brother although I'd leave it to Kato to figure out telling him. No time would be right but I'm sure he could handle it. "... Will you plan my funeral?"

"With pleasure~"

~~~~~~~~~~

Zoey's Pov

I had gotten my pastries but now that we had returned to Penguin's apartment the man was completely ignoring me and it was growing annoying. "What are you doing Penguin?" He looked rather invested in his laptop but I didn't bother trying to peek as I continued to scan his cool collectibles. "Working on something Zoey. Stop touching that you'll break it" For someone who loved women as much as Penguin did, he was being a little jackass right now. "I thought the plan was to have some fun before school. You're boring Penguin. Oh, what's this?"

"Zoey that isn't a toy put it down. Are you even listening to me?" This ship is definitely well crafted but damn was I jealous it belonged to Penguin. "Awesome~ I've never seen such a well-done Exco Spacefighter. Where did you get it?" It must have cost him a fortune but as I placed the ship back on its display, I turned to see the man was blushing. "You're a fan?" Not many people even knew the show existed although I was one of the few that really enjoyed it. "Oh, yeah it's one of the best series ever to be made. Sucks they canceled it after the second season"

"I know right! Cough. I mean I really should finish this task for the boss" Real smooth Penguin. Hmm, maybe I could get some alone time with him by driving him to class. "We'll talk later. How about I drive you to school?" He had a car in the parking lot but let's get say some troublemaker decided to mess around with it. "Why? I have my own car Zoey"

"I know but I noticed this morning someone had put a nail in your tire"

"Someone what!?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

(Y/n)'s Pov

I would have thought that medication was supposed to keep him asleep for at least six hours but from the look on the man's face he was up to stay. He looked healthy than before however, that occasional cough was the only sign of his illness. That and those dark circles around his eyes but those would be there for a while since he refused to get the appropriate amount of sleep. "Law you're not allowed to leave the bed. Lay back down" That glare within his eyes was not that most pleasant thing although I didn't feel intimidated so I remained in place.

My body was pressed against his which was thankfully trapped under the covers and it was probably the reason why he was having trouble sitting up. "Move (Y/n)-ya" He could have easily overpowered me but from what I could tell he wasn't even making an attempt. "I already told you that's not going to happen. Where are you even trying to go?" He looked a little resilient to tell me his plans but within a couple of seconds, his glare softened, and a reply was heard. "I need to go check on Doflamingo-ya. After that man od's, I'm supposed to give him a special medicine but with everything that happened, it slipped my mind. You may come with me if you want"

"Oh, why didn't you just lead with that? Alright, let's go" I was quick to remove myself from the man but I had to question why he was tilting his head at me. "Are you sure? Doflamingo-ya's house isn't exactly that most pleasant place to visit" Having already witnessed that older male's 'episode' I was a little wary of going to his house but with Law there, I'm sure everything would work out. "It's fine now hurry up before I decide you can't leave the house"

I had moved to stand just beside the bed although as Law threw the covers to the side I couldn't help when a giggle exited my mouth at the man's childish act. "You're brave I'll give you that (Y/n)-ya. Just let me change your bandages before we go" Of course he'd be in doctor mode but as I thought back to how rough he was when changing them last time I was a little reluctant to let him near my wounds. "Alright, but can you be gentle this time?"

"When was I ever rough with you?" His face showed confusion but I didn't believe the act for a second. "Real funny Law" When that smirk appeared on his lips, I knew exactly what he was playing at but chose to ignore it as I took a seat at the end of the bed. "I still need to disinfect it (Y/n)-ya so it may sting a bit" That was totally doctor code for prepare to bite something and try not to kick me. "Or hurt like hell" I was thankful Law was even taking time out of his day to deal with me but I wasn't going to make things easy for him. "You're a difficult patient (Y/n)-ya"

"And you're a weird med student"

"Sleeves up"

~~~~~~~~~~

Doflamingo's Pov

"Young Master?" I was done dealing with people today but as my family entered the room, I only scanned the members before reaching for my drink. They wouldn't be receiving a response from me however as they began to speak amongst themselves, I felt my grip tighten around the glass. "Maybe we shouldn't bother him. Just look at his eyes" My sunglasses were somewhere in the room but I didn't care enough to shield my eyes from them. "I'm worried about him. Can't we do something to help him?"

They had nothing to worry about I was perfectly fine. My heart was still pounding away and in my book that was all that mattered. "Tsk. Start by finding that bastard who left him in this state" Could they be referring to my sweet Crocodile? I hope not since killing a family member was not something I wanted to do so early in the morning. "I agree that man needs to be taking care of sooner than later. Should we put out the green light?" My mind might have been fading in and out during their conversation but that one sentence immediately brought me back to reality. "None of you are to touch a single hair on my Croco-chan's head! Get the hell out and shut up!"

"Y-Yes, Young Master!"

'Ring' 'Ring' 'Ri-'

I hadn't expected to receive a call so early but I didn't bother to check the number before I answered it. "What!?" My mood was unpleasant, to say the least, although when a familiar voice filled through the line my heartbeat picked up. "Doflamingo can you not answer the phone like a normal person for once?" I had that man's voice memorized to the point where even in a crowded room I could pick it out but it didn't make sense for him to be calling. "Croco-chan? Why the hell are you calling?"

"Don't take that tone with me. I'm just calling to check up on you since this business trip has been extended by another day. How are you holding up?" He had broken up with me a few days ago but why was he checking up on me? That made no sense although I decided to reply as my drink was placed back down so I couldn't throw it against the wall. "What business trip?" I would have remembered if the man was leaving on a business trip but as I listened to his voice, I really started to question what happened Sunday night and Monday morning. "Moron. The business trip I left for on Monday. Don't tell me you forgot"

"So, that's where you disappeared to? You know a note would have been nice" I had no reason to question where Crocodile currently was but even as I thought back to Sunday night the events were blurry. "I left you one on the nightstand" My thoughts wandered to the bedroom but right now I was too lazy to leave the living room. "No, you didn't"

"Yes, it's underneath that stupid lamp you keep there. I'm not going to fight with you about it. How has your week been going?" Now I loved Crocodile more than anything but I really tried to keep my drug use a secret when he was involved. Sure, he knew I was a user although I doubted the man knew how bad it had gotten. "Fine. How was yours?" Crocodile wasn't a stupid man so as he replied I tried to remain calm. "If it's going so 'fine' then why did Bonez inform me that you overdosed again?"

"It's not a big deal Croco-chan"

"You're going to kill yourself Doflamingo and you can't keep relying on others to fix your mistakes. It'll come to the point where your past saving. Look I have to go back into the meeting but I'll call you later tonight. Goodbye Doflamingo" I didn't bother to reply since the line had already gone silent although his words really stung. "Young Master? Your brother is here" I only had two but neither of them came to the house very often. "Which one?"

"Law and he brought a young lady with him. Should I send them in?"

"Oh, he brought little (Y/n)? Fufufu. Sure, send them in"

~~~~~~~~~~~

To Be Continued...

[slice-of-no-life]

Year End Anime Roundup

Hello all.  this is a list of every anime I watched this year.

A Channel 6 - Meh. Aho Girl 7 - stupid funny Akiba’s Strip 7 - this series was more fun than it had any right to be.  I thoroughly enjoyed it. Alice to Zouroku 8 - I really enjoyed some parts of this but i have a personal weakness for series about adults raising children. Another 7 - Wasn’t bad but didn’t really resonate with me that much. Ansatsu Kyoushitsu S1 9 - thoroughly enjoyed this. Ansatsu Kyoushitsu S2 7 - ending was kinda meh Bakemono no Ko 8 - I really enjoyed this movie.  I had seen it at walmart for ages.  glad i picked it up. Blend S 9 - Ah yes the workplace Rom-Com.  Always a favorite of mine. Boku no Hero Academia S2 10 - don’t look at me like you didn’t know this was gonna have a 10. Carnival Phantasm 8 - had a lot of fun with this. Castlevania 8 - Hoping for more of this Centaur no Nayami 7 - I love monster girls so this was a no brainer. Danmachi Gaiden Sword Oratoria 7 - alright as a companion to danmachi.  can’t really stand on its own merits. Demi-chan wa Katartai* 10 - this was a series I looked forward to each week.  I wish i could say more great things about this but if you’re a fan of SoL, you really can’t do much better than this Durarara (all of it) 8 - I really enjoyed the beginning to this.  i feel like the last season or two could’ve been skipped if the friends even spoke just a little. Eromanga Sensei 10 - masterpiece. Evangelion 1.0 9 - waiting for 4.0 Evangelion 2.0 9 - ^ Evangelion 3.0 9 - ^ Fate/Apocrypha 8 - it’s a goddamn mess but i love it. Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai 8 - I love seeing heroic spirit emiya anytime I can. Fate/Zero 2nd Season 9 - dont know why i waited so long to finish this.  i enjoyed it. Fuuka (updated and now finished) 6 - started out cool but got boring about midway Gabriel DropOut 8 - CGDCT cute girls subverting religious stereotypes.  you have a Fail-len angel addicted to gaming, a sadistic angel, a mostly harmless prankster demon and a demon who is easily the most pleasant person in the show.  would watch again Gurren Lagann 8 - don’t even know what was even happening at the end but it was cool. Hajimete no Gal 7 - it’s alright. Himouto s2 9 - i thought it fixed a lot of the problems season 1 had and it actually made umaru a tolerable character.  Also bonus points for more cgdct. Hinako Note 7 - eh it was cool.  Kuu-chan was bae. Howl’s Moving Castle 9 - Watched this while cooking Easter dinner. Imouto sae Ireba Il. 8 - Solid show with some of the most ridiculous parody comedy i’ve seen. Inuyashiki 8 - Super robot attack grandpa was pretty cool. Isekai shokudou 8 - I enjoyed it. Isekai wa smartphone to Tomo ni. 7 - vanilla as fuck op character in a harem.  still moderately enjoyable.  I like how they approached the harem scenes. Juuni Taisen 8 - fate meets the chinese zodiac.  it was alright. Kakegurui 8 - i still don’t know how to categorize this. Kancolle Movie 9 - I finally got to meet all the charactersfrom the games that the weebs i follow love so much. Katanagatari 9 - so glad i finally gave this a shot.  it was worth it. Kemono Friends 10 - wholesome. Kimi no Na wa. 8 - it was just alright for me. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu 8 - that was pretty good. Kizumonogatari 3 10 - it was amazing.  i got to see my favorite series on a movies budget. Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon* 10 - seeing Ms. Kobayashi’s daily life was a treat and I loved seeing how her life changed as other characters were introduced into it.  Going into this show i thought it was gonna be a silly thing but it was much more serious than i anticipated.  Kanna was best loli for the season and it wasn’t even close *megumin always gets honorable mentions* aoty candidate Koe no Katachi 10 - best non monogatari movie of 2017 Koi to Uso 7 - meh Konosuba2* 10 - i love it when s2 live up to a great s1.  they fixed a lot of the problems with s1 but didn’t compromise what made this show magical.  darkness really climbed the best girl chart this season thanks to plenty of storylines.  could always use more megumin.  Aoty candidate Kuzu no Honkai* 9 - wow way to make me feel emotions.  i was initially turned off by all the hype i saw.  im glad i gave it a try. Love Live S1-S2 8 - i really enjoyed this. Made in Abyss 10 - it was pretty.  it had chibi characters.  it was dark it was an anime of the year candidate. Mahouka koukou no rettousei 8 - Magic High was cool if a bit pretentious. Mahoutsukai no Yome 10 - im always a sucker for a fantasy world that didn’t feel cookie-cutter.  Anime of the year candidate. Masamune-kun no Revenge 6 - protag-kun confirmed for shit taste.  main girls best friend was way better and she wasnt even a route.  ending was weak. will probably still get s2. Megane na Kanojo 5 - meh 4 shorts about glasses girls. Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku 8 - Lucky star spinoff that gave me lucky star vibes. Momokuri 7 - an okay rom comedy. Naruto Shippuuden 7 - wow what a trip.  there was only like 70 eps of filler in the last 100 episodes. Nekopara 9 - true to the game and compelling enough to stand on its own.  will probably watch again. Net-juu no Susume 9 - I really enjoyed this series.  MoriMori-chan is a waifu of the year candidate New Game 2 7 - wasn’t as good as the original but it was alright. would watch a s3. NonNon Biyori 9 - enjoyed it.  should start s2 at some point. Noragami s1-s2 8 - didn’t think i would like this as much as i did. Nyanko Days 6 - can’t remember shit about this One Room 7 - alright.  its short episodes so it could knocked out in 40 mins. Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki 9 - really enjoyed wolf children.  watched for mothers day to appreciate my own mother. OwariMonogatari s2 9 - really enjoyed this conclusion to my favorite anime. Renai Boukun 7 - meh it was entertaining for a while. Saekano s2 9 - I was gutted emotionally during the first half of the series.  I still enjoy it though.   Seiren 6 - i’d give arc 1 a 9, and everything else was blah.  i dont even remember arc 3. Shingeki no Kyojin 2 9 - I enjoyed it.  most people said there was too much flashback but i didn’t have a problem with that. Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou 8 - cool ambient cute girls.   Spice and Wolf S1-S2 9 - I didn’t know i was gonna get economics lessons from an anime this year.  enjoyed it. Star Fox Zero 6 - nothing important. Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale 8 - enjoyed seeing this in theaters. The iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS Theater 7 - meh The Kings Avatar 8 - solid series that’ i’d like s2 or another series like it. The Seven Deadly Sins 9 - I see why this is the 4th most binged series on netflix.  everything about it screamed quality. Tsurezure Children 7 - good enjoyable rom com shorts.  i hope theres a s2 coming. Urara Meirochou 8 - solid cgdct.  cute girls are fortune tellers.  Koume for best girl.   Yojouhan Shinwa Talkei 8 - they spoke so fast i struggled to read the subtitles.  It was great though. YuGiOh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions  7 - ive never seen a theater roast a series they paid $12 for.  it was everything i remember about the old show.  Kaiba was hilarious. Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho 8 - solid fantasy series.  Zero for potential waifu of the year   

Waifu Tier characters (no previous characters for earlier years ie Megumin, Megumi Kato, Mikasa) Satou Sakie Kobayashi-San: i loved her Tohru: she’s so cute Hanabi Vigne Koume Tsuneki Hikari Zero MoriMori-chan Chise Ozen the Immovable Natsukawa Kuina Ishida Miyako Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell Elf Yamada Shiori Shinomiya Mashu Kyrielight Astolfo Frankenstein Jeanne D’Arc

Imouto Tier Nikawa Denkigai Kanna Kamui Natsuki Momohara Sagiri Izumi Yuzuru Nishimiya Alice *spoiler character from A Sisters All You Need*

work in progress anime Boruto 20/38 Cardcaptor sakura 40/70 Dragonball Super 42/121 Sakura Quest 16/25

i’ll compile all the 8, 9, and 10 rated anime in another list and from there, I’ll choose my picks for anime of the year.  I may even steal crunchyrolls categories and place what i saw into those.  i reserve the right to add to this list up until the 15th of January or to change any score on it.  *seriously theres like 70 series on this list and ive probably missed some.*

[lia-nikiforov]

Winter 2017 Anime watchlist

Lmao this was supposed to go up last week but it takes me forever to write these things up orz.

Anyway, we’re 1/3 of the way into this barren Winter season, and thus my watchlist has shrunk significantly. I think I’m currently watching what, 10 shows? vs 23-ish last season? Anyway we’ve had a couple neat surprises this season, but it’s mostly the sequels that are keeping everything interesting. Also there’s quality hatewatch material which I hadn’t had in a while.

Because I fucked up, this time I’m going from best to worst rather than the usual opposite

Top Priority

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: Futatabi Sukeroku-hen

To no one’s surprise, Rakugo maintains it’s tightly written character drama in top form. The direction is still unusually creative and masterful, especially considering this is a DEEN anime, production team deserves every kudo. If season one was a tragedy, season 2 is gearing up for a story of salvation. Every week I go in completely prepared to suffer and am repeatedly surprised by how happy I feel at the end of each episode.  Scenes like Yakumo consoling a sleeping Konatsu with her father’s rakugo or his performing an old play in Sukeroku’s style for Yotaro are as heart-wrenching as they’re heartwarming. S1 was a strong contender for anime of the year 2016 (and for me it was a toss up between that and YOI) and season 2 seems ready to pick on that and go for a second run.

High-Priority

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto saga

Honestly this one had my full devotion guaranteed when they decided to commit to those thick af Kansai accents. I am also very pleased with the budget this is getting, it looks reeeaaally nice. Kato’s designs have translated to animation greatly (not that this was a surprise since they did that pretty well on the first series too). The plot seems to be moving rather fast so I wonder if they won’t suffer to fill in the full cour (although this arc is quite long) but for the time being I’m excited to get the Kyoto otaku in me continually catered to.

Yowamushi Pedal: Next Generation

I was a Little dubious about how well they’d manage the transition of Makishima’s departure, and while killing him off was rather abrupt to the point I’d even say the guy was fridged for the sake of Onoda’s development, they did a rather good job in setting Teshima as the new role model for the 1st years (who is also very dreamy). I also laughed my ass off with how gigantic they made Ashikiba who is a rather delightful addition to the cast. Kudos to you show, you’ve got me excited in a new season even without my favorite character.

Little Witch Academia

It’s hard to find something to say about this show other than it’s energetic, lively and fun to a fault and that Sucy is still Best Girl. It’s very easy to tell how passionate the folks at TRIGGER are about this project and I’m glad they didn’t give up and continued to work on it even if it was poorly received by Japanese audiences. The show reminds me a bit of The Worst Witch, which I used to love in my early teens so there’s also that.

Kuzu no Honkai

This is such a fascinatingly disturbing show to watch. Like watching a trainwreck I guess, except that it’s not a trainwreck in the sense of Hand Shakers, but in you’re just watching all these horrible people destroy each other and self-destruct emotionally and it’s really interesting. I’m particularly invested in Hanabi’s internal struggle and self-deprecation. Could complete dispose of Moca (whose choice of nickname makes my skin crawl) but otherwise I’m constantly at the edge of my seat waiting for the next developments. I also continue to be rather fond of the vagina imagery in the ending, and I appreciate that there’s actually a show that treats female sexuality in a layered, human way, for purposes beyond otaku titillation.

All Out!! 

This show continues to grow on me with its unique approach to team dynamics. The fact that rugby teams are so big gives us an interesting opportunity of seeing many characters take the spotlight at different times, and this show’s cast continues to be funny and extremely likable to the point that even if Gion has had to sit out most of the games, and even if there isn’t as much focus on Sekizan as I’d like, they’re still engaging and fun. There have also been genuinely emotional peaks, notoriously when that one guy quite the team and it crushed Sekizan’s heart. Also kudos for how even in-show Sekizan’s amazing hair is considered cray-cray

Classicaloid

Honestly this second cour just keeps getting better? I don’t know how they did it but they managed to make me not care about whether we’ll ever get some semblance of plot or explanations, I could watch the Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt doing nonsense stuff show all year round. Whoever wrote the Fish!Schubert episode should get an Oscar and a Nobel Prize

Here we make a drastic leap between things I’m loving and things I’m just eh-watching

ACCA 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

Aaaahhh what should I do about you, show. Ep 1 was okay, ep 2 was great, ep 3 was kind of nothing. There’s obviously way more than meets the eye in this allegedly peaceful country and once that starts to unfold the show will start gaining momentum, hopefully, but as it is I think it suffers greatly from how inscrutable the main character is. I have no idea of Jean’s motivations beyond his love of cigarettes (and I feel they’re overdoing it, unless they plan to make the tabacco thing a  crucial part of the plot later on, they’re hammering the whole ‘tobacco is rare and this guy is weird for smoking’ thing way too hard) so we’re at this weird position of not really knowing where we’re going. I’m intrigued enough to keep watching, but I certainly hope we get some form of interesting developments sooner rather than later.

Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans

The writing continues to be notoriously better while the story gets more and more tragic and I still don’t know how to feel about it. Seeing bad guys cheating their way to victory always upsets me a lot, and seeing people die meaninglessly only adds insult to injury. I’m in too deep to drop it at this point, but I honestly can’t forgive how they didn’t even give us that final revenge moment against the Kujan kid. Also every time Atra brings up her dream life of being part of a polyamorous marriage with Mikazuki creeps me the fuck out because obviously Mikazuki doesn’t have the emotional maturity to engage in any such relationship

Onihei

I’m very uncertain about what to do with this show. First episode was promising, with murky direction, but interesting setting. Episode two was mostly unimpressive, the final twist was rather predictable and the moral outcome wasn’t particularly satisfying. And then episode three put me to sleep. My first impression was that the dyamics between Heizo and his thief-turned-snitch subordinate would be the core of the show, but the latter seems to have been mostly sidelined in favor of focusing on the coolness of Heizo. Which isn’t a problem per say, but the execution just isn’t working and they’re completely wasting the Edo setting, with the cases turning out quite generic. I don’t know, ep 4 is already out so I guess I’ll check that out and decide from there (watched episode 4 already, fell asleep again which I guess is as good a sign as any that this isn’t working for me,but I’m too lazy to move it to the bottom. Dropped)

Hate-watching

Hand Shakers

Why is this pile of steaming garbage over the mediocre (and gross) show? Well, this one’s gross too, but exceedingly terrible is always better for ironic entertainment than plain boring stuff. At least Hand Shakers keeps me engrossed with its terribleness. Honest to good, even if I hardly remember what the previous episode was about, I’m always looking forward to the next one, I enjoy the terribleness too much.

Also, this is a little insignificant, but this is the first time I see any reference to the Japanese immigrants in Brazil (th, which was kind of a big thing back in the 1930s, in any anime I’ve ever watched, and since I had to look up into that for my thesis, it felt kinda nice to see it and understand why Brazil of all countries.

Super Lovers 2

This is so boring. Even when they try to address the issues I had with the previous season (mainly questioning the nature of Haru and Ren’s relationship), they always do it half-assedly. No drama, no tension, no resolution and certainly no semblance of any plot progression and it’s becoming increasingly tedious. The introduction of the new host guy could add at least some drama to the plot, but I’m not holding my breath. The dog continues to be cute

I dropped Marginal #4 since episode 2 and I can’t quite remember what it was about other than there was a long sequence of one of the guys desperately looking for his “lucky undies” and I’m too old for this level of juvenile “lol undies” humor. Turns out “not putting me to sleep” wasn’t that strong an asset after all.

Anyway really dead season but the scarce good stuff is really quite good, and the truly terrible stuff is so terrible it’s hilarious so overall the season doesn’t feel as terrible as it could. 

[occultxprincess]

Hi! Do you have any ideas about how AoEx will end? I'd like Rin to beat Satan and Meph to beat Lucifer. But because of the fight, Meph loses his body and disappears. Many months after everyone has resumed their normal life. Rin is walking on the street and crosses path with a stranger. He doesn't pay attention at first but the man's phone rings and the tune is an anime song, the phone is pink and has many kawaii straps. Rin is about to call out to him but suddenly loses sight of the man. The End

Thanks for the ask! What a fun question, and a really good headcanon! Thanks to that, I’m now in love with a complete stranger!

I however do think that S1 of the anime tells us a lot more of what will ~generally~ happen in the manga, but we’ll get far more development and details in the manga itself. Kato had a relatively active role in storyboarding and approving details of the anime episodes.It obviously follows the manga super well up until the forest fight with Amaimon, then anime creators had to start thinking of new ideas with the help of the author.We got the beach arc, where the exorcists defeated the kraken, but the details of the arc were a LOT different than in the manga. We finally heard Yuri’s name in the manga, and she is indeed the mother of the twins - I heard some speculation a while ago that Yuri was made up for the anime only. I think the details of her pregnancy were the only ‘made up’ part.

This leads me to believe that: As Yukio unlocks his powers, he will join the Illuminati.How this happens, him unlocking his powers and his initiation, are likely to differ greatly from the anime, so I’m unsure as to whether he will seek Lucifer and the Illuminati out first to help him bring out his demon powers or not.This makes so much sense for the anger and jealousy he feels toward Rin in the manga; Yukio is going to become a 'bad guy’ for a bit. It’s all part of his character development. It’s possible Yuri’s father, their grandfather, will also be a key character in the manga, and might take control of the Order like he did in the anime - he will likely be involved with the Illuminati (the anime foreshadowed this by putting illuminati symbols on the new weapons, and it was RYUJI who noted the symbol on the weapons too; I can see his shocked & concerned face in the anime still, he’s the only exwire who really knows about the Illuminati). If all that is canon, it would make sense that he appoints Yukio in control of taking over the Japan Branch; who’s to say not even Paladin to make Yukio feel validated (as a pawn, no less).

This would get far more in depth in the manga than in the anime, and we have no way of knowing what those details will ensue and how they will differ from the anime. Mephisto is gone, otherwise he wouldn’t allow this to happen to his Japan branch; perhaps he’ll be held by the Order or Illuminati on Lucifer’s instructions, or worse. Lewin is gonna have a freakin hay day with all this, and will likely be a key character (as well as Ryuji) in realizing the Order is being controlled by the Illuminati, and bringing it to Rin’s attention.

Maybe they will use Yukio and the power of all the absorbed/killed demons like they did in the anime to create another Gehenna Gate; maybe something is going to happen to Mephisto’s ability to keep the Gehenna Gate frozen in time. I believe that in the end, Lucifer will succeed in bringing Satan to Assiah, 99% chance through the body of one of the twins (who are a cross between one of Lucifer’s strongest clones, and Satan himself!). But in the end the twins will come together to end things, because #twinpower and #brotherlylove despite Yukio’s edgy angst and jealousy towards Rin. All part of his character development (good guy with problems turns antagonist only to come to self realization and help solve the Bigger Problem™).

I REALLY WANT a scene where Mephisto and Lucifer go at it (ideally going full demon form), and I actually kind of want Mephisto’s host to either die or be REALLY CLOSE to death. That might be what causes the Time barrier on the Gehenna Gate to fall. Mepho won’t be strong enough, or even alive, to keep it active.(Maybe he’ll get a new clone host at the end though so he can watch it all go down, he wouldn’t be Mephisto if he wasn’t watching and enjoying the show;)! )

~~~~~~~~

TL;DR - Kato helped foreshadow a lot of plot points in the Anime and shit is gonna get real dark, and really crazy.

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll Remembers Their Favorite Lupin the 3rd Stories

On April 11, Kazuhiko Kato—better known to his fans by the name Monkey Punch—passed away. Kato created many amazing works in his time, but the best known and most beloved of all was easily Lupin the 3rd. For many of us here at Crunchyroll, it was one of our earliest anime, if not an actual gateway series.

  Today, we here at Crunchyroll News and Features are taking a look back at our favorite films and episodes, as well as what made us love this crazy series. We'd love to hear from the rest of you, too: tell us in the comments what makes you love the Lupin Gang and what story you loved most. If you're new to the series, we hope this encourages you to check out one of the standards of anime.

  Thanks to everyone on the team who took part and shared their memories!

    Paul: The true genius of Lupin III is that the characters are archetypal, and so they can map onto whatever story the writers and directors want to tell, from slapstick nonsense to hard-boiled, noir-style thrillers filled with murder and gratuitous nudity. Lupin, like Batman, means something different to everyone, and there is so much more to the character than simply “red jacket”, “blue jacket”, “green jacket”, etc.

  My first experience with Lupin III was The Castle of Cagliostro, and I've got a lot of time for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and Jigen's Gravestone, but I'm sure everyone and their cousin has some kind words to spare for those entries, so I'll devote a few phrases to the weirder animated entries: The Fuma Conspiracy, The Mystery of Mamo, and The Legend of the Gold of Babylon.

  Although I own two different DVD releases of The Fuma Conspiracy, I remember almost nothing about the film itself except that it involves Goemon getting engaged, the entire film is basically an extended (and exquisitely animated) chase scene, and the AnimEigo release had to fudge Lupin's name as “Rupan” because of the lawsuit with Maurice Leblanc's estate.

  The Mystery of Mamo has clones, a giant space brain, ridiculous cameos and product placement that got scrubbed from the Geneon release, like 6 different English dubs, and perhaps the single greatest visual rhyme in anime cinema history, which juxtaposes Lupin teasing Fujiko's nipple with world leaders pushing the Big Red Button for a nuclear missile strike.

  The Legend of the Gold of Babylon is so goddamned weird that is makes The Mystery of Mamo seem “two bedroom one bath white picket fence in the suburbs” mundane by comparison. I haven't managed to sit through the entire film in one viewing, but it's co-directed by Seijun Suzuki and it's arguably the most divisive work in the entire Lupin III franchise, so it merits a mention.

  But none of these wild and woolly adventures would exist without the original manga from Kazuhiko Katou, aka “Monkey Punch”, and while straight manga Lupin with no chaser is way too raw for me, it's the primordial essence from which all other interpretations of the characters spring, and the world is a smaller, meaner, and pettier place without Lupin's creator in it.

    Carlos: I’ve always loved the phantom thief genre in any medium. I loved it as a Super Sentai, adored it when Persona 5, and of course, couldn’t get enough of it in the eclectic series of Lupin the 3rd.

  Kazuhiko Katou’s legacy has truly been immortalized in Lupin’s escapades, being one of the earliest examples of the phantom thief trend in Japan and modernizing Arsene Lupin’s adventures for generations of fans to enjoy. The anime world has lost an old time visionary, but he left us with his timeless classic that I’ve loved for so long, and will enjoy for years to come. Whenever I sing “Memory of Smile,” I’ll raise a glass to Monkey Punch.

    Noelle: My first introduction to the series was Castle of Cagliostro, having also grown up on Ghibli, and something about that was just so fun and enjoyable.

  The Detective Conan crossovers are also a bit of lighthearted fun- Lupin exists everywhere!

  All Lupin works embody the phantom thief sub-genre, but instead of being something heavy and ominous, they are free-spirited. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon all have chips on their shoulders, but that doesn’t stop them from causing trouble and generally having a good time while doing so. Every installment is witty, clever, and I’m always eager to see how the gang will come out on top.

  The truest Lupin installment that greatly stuck with me is of course, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which ranks as one of my favorite anime series to this day. It doesn’t focus on Lupin himself but Fujiko, and her adventures of self-discovery and living her own life. This one was a far more serious series, especially compared to the far more carefree Lupin series that I’d been exposed to, but it worked.

  I’d usually watch Lupin whenever I wanted something that I know I’d enjoy, but also makes me feel good. There aren’t many series that manage to do both.

Rest in peace, Monkey Punch.

    Nicole: It’s been hard to reconcile with the fact that Monkey Punch is gone... My first encounter with Lupin came from Castle of Cagliostro, where I immediately fell in love with the Miyazaki directed version of Lupin as a dashing thief and the misfits that followed him around. I remember hearing from a lot of people when I first wanted to expand that “Oh that isn’t really Lupin, that’s a sanitized version of him,” and over the years I kind of find myself disagreeing with that more and more. Lupin is a lot of things to a lot of different people, and I think Monkey Punch really created a unique and amazing set of characters that various directors then worked with and left their mark on. I still find myself rewatching Cagliostro whenever I get a chance, and I find it an amazing ‘first anime’ movie to show to people who have never really seen much anime at all before.

  The Lupin TV series are filled with so many amazing episodes, and when I originally drafted up a top ten list last year, I ended up starting to rewatch the whole thing again. Even though some adaptations of Lupin are a bit better than others, I would say that anyone who likes the idea of a master thief and his madcap capers will find a lot to love almost anywhere in this series, and I hope that maybe in this sad circumstance of Monkey Punch’s passing, people will get curious enough to investigate the series and fall in love with it too.

  Some of my favorite Lupin memories and moments, aside from Cagliostro, have to be those dealing with Zenigata. As much as I love the Lupin crew, there’s just something charming and attractive about Zenigata’s character that always made him so much fun to watch. As I mentioned in my list, there are a lot of interpretations of Zenigata, but I always prefer the hard-boiled, semi-noir detective version of him that episodes like “Until the Full Moon Passes” or “The Woman the Old Man Fell in Love With” depict. I think the reason I always liked Zenigata so much is that he’s really important for Lupin to play off of, and without Zenigata, I don’t think you’d really enjoy Lupin as much as a character! The moments where the two of them really face off, or even work together, are some of the most magical moments in the series overall; on that note, I really recommend curious viewers to check out “The End of Lupin III”, another great pick.

  Finally, I’ve come to appreciate the Miyazaki influence in Lupin more over the years, and realize that without Monkey Punch, we probably wouldn’t have Studio Ghibli today; those who are curious to see where Miyazaki got some of his original directing starts might want to check out his Lupin episodes, and of those, “Farewell, my Beloved Lupin” is amazing (and keen Miyazaki fans might see a lot of similar designs here to later movies!) and of course the amazing Miyazaki take on Fujiko in “Wings of Death: Albatross”! I’m sure there’s so much more I could talk about or recommend, but I’ll just say that Lupin, in all of his incarnations, is worth it, with something for everyone, from various movies and tv shows to spin-offs like the amazing Woman Called Fujiko Mine, I hope that creators will keep honoring the vision and memory of Monkey Punch and deliver us more amazing Lupin content in the future.

    Joseph: Like many people, my first exposure to Lupin as a character was in Miyazaki's Castle of Cagliostro feature, which I still think is his best movie as a director. That characterization of Lupin, I would go on to learn, is just one of many, and I would soon see just how different his origins were when Tokyopop started publishing Monkey Punch’s original Lupin manga in English. Looking back, it's probably not the best representation overall, but it's still interesting to see how the character has evolved since those rough early days.

  The next time I caught him in action was back when Part 2 would air on Adult Swim—*checks paper* almost SIXTEEN YEARS ago?—and I've kept up with him and the rest of the gang irregularly over the years. My favorite thing about the franchise is just how flexible it is in general. While the broad strokes of each character may remain along the same lines depending on the jacket du jour, Lupin offers up a distinct canvas on which artists can apply their own unique sensibilities. I especially appreciate stuff like 2012’s The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which is about as decadently artsy as Lupin gets.

    Kara: I spent two semesters in my college's anime club my freshman year being generally okay with anime. It was Castle of Cagliostro that got me all the way in. I remember when I finished watching it, I turned to my friend and said, "I'm actually kind of sad there's no more movies with these characters in them." I had no idea how ridiculously wrong I was.

  I loved earlier specials and series, but what I'm loving now is the flexibility the characters have after 50 years. We had The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which was downright surreal but ultimately rewarding when the other shoe drops. The new movies have been fantastic as they bring in a largely new cast. And for me, Part 5 was some of the most satisfying anime I've ever watched, Lupin or otherwise. It felt so in the spirit of Kato-sensei's original work, while still creating new riffs on it.

  For me, anything Lupin is my go-to on a bad day. I know it's going to be funny, I know the "good guys" (whether or not Zenigata sees it that way) will win the day, and I know there's a lot of heart in every single version. It's hard to believe the gang's creator has passed on, but I'm also glad he got to see his work beloved by the world, and that it will continue strong for new fans.

  Series available on Crunchyroll:

>> Part 1

>> Part 2

>> Part 3

>> Part 4

>> Part 5

-----

Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!   

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com