#all i did was see a meme and go ope storytime

[fanatichistory]

Was trolling around and came across this beautiful meme and thought...well hey...idea

The idea turned more into a story the more I wrote, my apologies 😅, and said story starts off with Aaron ( Caretaker) and Devana (Whumpee).

Scene Prompt 16!

Cw: at the end its made like a character dies but the mushroom is magical, be that as it may it is still a character death mention until effects kicks in just in case that affects anyone

*I have edited best I could, it is really lengthy teehee 

Part 2   Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

"You ready to go on an adventure?"

Devana turned to the voice of her best friend, Aaron, entering the kitchen while she finished tying off her hiking boots.

"You bet. Say, are you Sam or Frodo in this analogy?"

"Definitely Sam."

"So, mushrooms...where does one find the mooshy wittle mushrooms." Aaron spared a gleeful side-eye as they both exited her house and made for the woods out back.

Aaron knew a lot about plants, trees and yes, mushrooms, as well as how to make all sorts of things from them.

Devana figured it was a requirement of being a witch and part of living and learning the natural world.

Ever since learning the secret of all things that go bump in the night and that her best friend had learned a trick or two, not quite harry potter style but no less awesome, suggesting she tag along with him on these foraging excursions was a way she could learn more about his world.

Not just for curiosity's sake, though she had an academic urge to learn and sponge as much as he offered to share, but it was because they've been besties since elementary school and she couldn't fathom a part her life, or his, where they didn't share or take part in the other's.

"So, I've lost you to the zone have I?" Aaron chuckled as he led her down the familiar forest path they took as kids to the creek.

"Yeah. Didn't think we were heading for the creek today..." The sun shrine through the canopy of the trees as the wind picked up and gently rustled the leaves. She loved being out in the woods.

"Well you brought up mushrooms and I am looking for a particular kind..." Aaron paused and turned back to look at her as if silently questioning. But she knew what it meant and burst out giggling and doubled over.

"No way! You're looking for actual magic mushrooms?"

"How astute of you to deduce this."

Devana laughed even harder while he rolled his eyes at her and dug in his pack for a few seconds before pulling out a small book and tossing it over to her.

"Page 34, that's the mushroom. I'm making, or attempting rather, an invisibility potion." He explained while running a nervous hand through his ashen blonde hair.

Devana had turned to the page and skimming the paragraphs, noting the illustrations of the mushroom he wanted as well as his nerves.

"Question."

"Yes, my young Palawan learner?" He tried to tease with a half upturned smile.

"Why you nervous and in need of an invisibility potion?" She closed the book and walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder so he was turned to face her.

"Are you in trouble with the ooga boogas?"

He gave her a wan smile and turned fully to face her as he placed both hands on her shoulders.

" I'm fine Dev, I swear. The potion isn't for me it's to help a friend of mine. One who haven't met yet cuz he's...well, a bit dangerous right now. He's in deep shit and I wanna have this potion on standby. Among other things..."

"So he's the one surrounded by the ooga boogas. Hence the deep shit?"

Aaron let go and resumed walked leaving her to follow before he finally answered.

"He's the king of the ooga boogas, Dev."

She let out a whistle and opened the book back up to page 34 and looked over information again.

There was also no way he'd elaborate further. She knew she could only ask questions about plants and fungi and animals. Oh and weather stuff and how he was able to manipulate it. But that was it.

"What happened to you just hugging trees and petting rocks?"

Aaron whipped around at her but she jumped out of the way laughing as they rough-housed for a bit before resuming their magic mushroom search.

"According to your book, it's blue and it likes water...probably why it's blue if I remember your lessons on color associations and symbolisms in the natural world."

Aaron smirked and feigned surprised at her as they finally arrived at her family's creek.

"You have been paying attention!"

"I wasn't just being curious for the sake of discovering your witchy secret. I'm you're best friend, family, I want to be a part of your world and help you any way I can Aaron."

Devana started scoping the banks of the creek for the elusive mushroom while he processed this but she continued anyway.

"I know you keep me out of it, and living out here in the middle of the woods on the family homestead makes it easy to do. But I only call the scary things 'ooga boogas' because you keep me too ignorant to call them by anything else."

"Dev... I'm trying to keep you alive. Keep you human at least." Aaron wasn't doing much looking, focused more so on his best friend with her back turned to him who was more hurt than he realized.

"Ignorance isn't protection. It's not bliss." She was only half looking at the moment, walking down the side of the creek while keeping her back to him. Devana didn't want him to see how mad she was. No, not mad, hurt.

"You're right, it's not. But there are rules, laws.. you're not even supposed to know the amount of information that you do! It's enough to sentence you to death!"

Devana looked up then at him as realization registered on her features.

"But I don't know anyone else, I only know you..."

"And by law that's enough. There's so much you don't know Dev, please understand I'm doing this for your protection. Not out of spite or anything. "

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before placing her hands on her hips while he went "uh oh" and braced himself.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand. I'm going to continue to be your bestie, we are gonna find this mooshy mushroom cause I'm starting to feel frustrated that we haven't yet and I also want to go finish my chores for the day. Crack open a book, eat a burger or something...I don't know...." She trailed off, her eyes wandering back to the creek.

Aaron offered a small reassuring smile and handed her some of the trail mix he packed in the bag.

"I'm sorry Dev."

"Don't be." She gave him a smile back and resumed the search as he waded through the creek to reach the other side. "Besides, you're hands are pretty much tied I guess. Can't fault you there really."

"You're being awfully nice, all things considered. Thought you might make me beg for awhile yet?" He questioned her cautiously as he was bent over in the dirt, digging into the embankment.

Devana, herself was bent over the embankment on her side of the creek searching for the mushroom, as she chuckled to herself.

" I would but the realization that you're treating and managing me like my parents when you promised not to is payback enough."

She chuckled harder when he audibly groaned as the truth sunk in.

"The creek, Dev! I'm so sorry... I wasn't thinking..." She heard him wading back over as she spied the bright blue top of the star of the day and sidestepped him to go collect it instead. "I was so consumed by my needs I forgot about yours. You say you're fine all the time but I should know better-"

Aaron was cut off by a voice a weight sunk his chest.

"-Well look who's out in the woods all alone and without the protection of his king..."

They both turned to the new voice entering the conversation as a well dressed man in a suit, looking more like a cross between an account and a bodyguard, continued to speak.

"...time for you to die now, witch."

"Aaron run!" Devana grabbed his arm and tried to pull him in a direction to run. Any direction.

"It won't matter and I'm not leaving you Dev so don't tell me to do that again." He yanked his arm free and stepped between the beefcake accountant and his best friend.

"Cute, but I have a job to do and it is completed upon you're death" With that the beefcake accountant rushed forward in a blur of speed that neither of them could keep pace with and grabbed Devana by the neck and tore into her with his teeth, a feral like sound escaping him while a shrill scream escaped her.

Aaron whipped around as lightening sparked from his fingers and spread up his arms as his hair raised with the electricity.

Sensing this, and the rising magic and anger in the witch, the vampire beefcake accountant tossed Devana behind him and further dismissed her as he rushed the young witch to do battle.

Devana had landed on the embankment with the mushroom within reach. It's bright, almost clear blue color almost glowing. As the sounds of fighting reached her and the throbbing in her neck reminding her she was alive, she would have chalked the glowing of the mushroom up to blood loss.

Until she heard the whispers.

With Aaron out of her peripheral vision she had no idea if he was using his harry potter magic juju stuff or if he was getting his throat ripped out like just she did.

But the whispers assured her he was okay. That they could save her, heal her....

Aaron dispatched of the vampire beefcake accountant, leaving his limbs strewn about the forest floor in his anger before finally coming to his senses and looking around for his friend. "Devana? Dev?Dev?!"

He spied her body sprawled across the embankment and ran over to her. Just in time to see her eat the blue mushroom.

"Devana! No, what are you doing?" He fell to her side and saw the blood pooled around her, the gaping twin holes her neck were jagged and fresh blood still flowed from the wound.

Quickly applying pressure as she weakly blinked up at him, she placed a hand on his reassuringly as tried to stem the flow of blood.

"It's okay, the mooshy said so...I couldn't leave you...when you...were in-in danger.."

"You ate it, Dev, that potion is poured onto objects or persons to render them invisible. It's not to be ingested. The mushroom is poison! Do you understand me? Supernaturally poisonous"

"Or blue raspberry flavored...which it was..by the way.."

"What?!"

"The mooshy...mushroom...tastes like...blue raspberry...slushies...from the movies..."

"Dev? Stay with me okay, you can't go. You have to stay with me." Aaron kept one hand on her neck wound to keep the pressure on as the blood continue to drain from her body.

His other hand pulled out his phone as the voice of his friend's secretary answered the call. Mentally cursing to himself for dialing the work number and not his private number, he forced himself to keep composure.

"Please inform the king that it is Aaron calling from his mobile, I would like to discuss the terms of our agreement for the upcoming event. Also, tell him to pack an umbrella. It's raining."

Hanging up the phone he looked down at Devana's face, who looked as if she had fallen asleep, but he knew better.

He could no longer feel her life force and he had no idea if she died from the wounds caused by the vampire attack or by the magic mushroom that let her relive her favorite childhood memory with her parents at the movies.

And as the tears fell down from his face onto hers it was indeed raining.

Unknown to Aaron was that the magic in the mushroom did more than conceal objects and people and allow them to relive fond memories...

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 21; both raw AND subbed~!

Advance Warning: I have never seen Ryuki, and it’s probably going to show. A lot, if only because I have no connection to whoever the Guest Characters are, and what any issues they bring in could mean. I’ve seen Marcosatsu’s History Of Ryuki though, so that should help a little. (three links, because he wound up doing it in three parts)

Starting off with watching the Raw!

BlackWoz’s Storytime Vault doesn’t have much to offer, aside from a worrying angle at the end.

I’m impressed by Uhr’s control with reversing the damage he’s doing to that mirror. Of course, he’s paying almost zero attention to Schwartz in the process, but there’s a method to his being a little brat this time.

He’s trying to get the attention of some guy in Ryuki’s mirror world.

Sounds like his idea is “So, my new candidate? He’s from another world. Remember how that Tsukasa guy traveled? It’s kinda like that, but not.”

(What was going on in Ryuki?! Also, how many endings is this going to make for that season? Because I seem to remember hearing that there’s like, five? At least?)

I like the touch with Another Ryuga’s name and year – they’re backwards, like you’d see in a mirror.

Sougo’s DEFINITELY using Gun Mode a lot more recently. I like it’s finisher with Double, though – it’s basically a smaller scale version of the CycloneTrigger Memory Break. … What was that one called? Ah, there it is. Trigger Aerobuster.

Names are important. I’m doing my best to get them right.

But it’s basically that, with purple shots in the center of the wind bursts.

… of course, it gets reflected right back at them, because MIRRORS, but still. Points for fighting at a distance, especially with that dragon arm – that was doing some damage, it looked like.

Geiz’s Drive armor is back! (I’ve missed the shift cars, so it’s nice to at least see Max Flare, Funky Spike, and Midnight Shadow’s tires again.)

But again, mirrors.

Tsukuyomi: So, you lost him?

Sougo: Well, yes, but also we had to help the injured construction worker.

Geiz: And everything got sent back at us, so…

blah blah, ‘whats the deal with the time jackers’ blah…

“What IS this Day of Oma you mentioned, anyway?” Good question, bud.

“Well, in our history, it’s the day that Oma Zi-O took over the world.” Geiz, I get that you’re upset. But. Um. What did you just do to that chessboard?

As far as I know, you’re not able to cause shockwaves. Not just by symbolically slamming a chess piece down. ...I don’t know anything about chess, but I’m assuming that piece is the Black King. Wiping out all of his opposition in one strike… along with all of his allies.

Sougo retaliates with “And the one WhiteWoz is from, says that you stopped that from happening.” He uses the White Knight to knock down the Black King, leaving the Knight alone on the board.

And then we have the Time Jackers, trying to get someone else altogether in charge. Black Bishop takes out the White Knight. The Time Jackers are from the same timeline as Tsukuyomi and Geiz, after all.

That day is when the world’s future is decided… ooh, ominous.

… drat, have to skip the next bit of exposition, but while they’re outside talking about… victims? I think?

I hear that same sound that heralded Geiz’s Time Mazine arriving back in Episode one.

Okay, so the victims are all connected to the magazine/journal/website from Ryuki? Makes sense.

Oh man, Shinji’s already dead?! Welp, that’s it, arc over, time to go home. (dusts off hands)

Hm. He covered up all the reflective surfaces – which would include windows and vents. Because Mirror World.

Of course, that poses a problem when you use a gas heater.

Okay, so at this point, while I was watching, Over-Time posted their subs. So I just got the script, went back to the beginning, and started over.

Well, at least BlackWoz is going along with the nicknames for now. I guess he understands the need for the distinction.

Hm. Schwartz seems to think that Geiz is going to be trying for the throne on the Day of Oma. But, sir, have you met this kid? Yes, yes you have, we’ve seen you interact with him. There is nearly no way that Geiz would ever want to be in charge.

...I say nearly, because time travel and predestination and all of that jazz. WhiteWoz is screwing with the kids head.

HUH. Uhr’s logic isn’t even “it’s kinda like that Decade guy”, he was specifically told about the Mirror World by Tsukasa. (insert a certain 10-year-old meme here.)

And what’s even more interesting than that… is that Schwartz didn’t know about the Mirror World.

And we’ve already seen that Schwartz can go to other timelines, as per when he created the Another Shinobi Watch.

Hm, looks like we’re in for another variation of ‘not the Another Rider you think he is’, aren’t we? Another Ryuga has the last portion of his name covered by what appear to be burnmarks. Much like how Another OOO’s year was cracked, so it could appear to be 2016 while actually being 2010.

Oh dear GOD they’ve been fighting Another Ryuga for a WEEK. He just keeps showing up and disappearing. (Because mirrors, not that they know that.)

“Why do they keep getting harder to fight?” Well, Sougo, it’s probably largely because we’re about out of Phase Twos, and the Earlier Heisei Riders were pretty brutal, from what I’ve heard. Plus, you keep getting teleporters involved, so that doesn’t help in the slightest.

Thank you for finally asking what the Day of Oma is, though.

(Low INT, high-ish WIS.)

“Well, what future do the two of you want?” Asks the noodle with a pretty decent Charisma stat. And neither Geiz or Tsukuyomi actually have an answer for him.

(Ow, my heart.)

Okay, all the victims followed Ore Journal online, but it has since gone completely under, since it just couldn’t keep up with the times.

I was right on the money about Shinji, though, he clearly knows full well about the reflection teleportation, and now so do The Kids.

GEIZ I UNDERSTAND YOUR LOGIC. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I HAVE TO LIKE IT.

“Beat him in the time before the attack returns.” Because there’s a lag before the mirror shield shows up, so there’s a brief window of time. But an attack that would take it out that quickly would return just as powerful… directly at where it came from. Also known as the Rider who launched it.

And also also known as Geiz, if he gets his way.

Because a soldier who can’t defeat his enemies isn’t much of a soldier, now is he?

(Thanks a lot, eps 15 and 16. Thanks.)

Aaaand Uncle Tokiwa doesn’t actually know Woz’s name! All he could do for the Watch was clean it up… oooooh...

Sougo’s next powerup has an awful lot of that burnished gold on it. The same, or almost the same, tone as Oma Zi-O’s.

“Hello, my overlord~!” “Not. Now.”

Good boy, Sougo. And you even met this weeks tribute, and didn’t realize it!

I still don’t buy the “he doesn’t remember” thing, by the way, especially given the mirrored surfaces – how would he have known without having been Ryuki? Does he know about all the other victims? I don’t think you’ve actually talked to him yet. But I’ll let the memory ‘detail’ slide for now, since it looks like BlackWoz is actually being straightforward at the moment…

Aaand Sougo’s desperately trying to ignore him. Fair. Since that second Zi-O watch is tied to him becoming evil and all. Decent WIS stat, and also BlackWoz’s idea of ‘subtle’ is very much not so.

Meanwhile, with Geiz and Tsukuyomi… Yeah. He doesn’t plan to come out of this fight. Because what good is a soldier who can’t win?

And also, he, too, knows he is being stalked by his own personal Woz.

“What’s your end goal? If I come out on top, what’s your future like?”

“Just like this, a peace as if time has stopped.”

… Hi, yeah, not here for that phrasing at all, actually. Having just come out of HUGtto! Precure, wherein ‘stopping time so that despair can’t happen’ was kind of the villians whole thing, I’m trusting you even less than before.

Nothing can disturb the peace if nothing moves again, now can it?

But for Geiz and Tsukuyomi, literal veterans who have seen armies destroyed in the wave of an arm… they don’t have that frame of reference, now do they? They might just hear the “a time not unlike the one here” aspect.

“Hey, think I can use that notebook?”

“Nope, nuh-uh, OP reality warper powers are mine and mine alone.”

OOF. Right. Uhr contracted Mirror World Shinji, didn’t he? Which, of course, means that his existence is tied to Regular World Shinji’s existence. Can’t defeat the Another Rider? Take out his other link to living.

WhiteWoz and his “Obstacles are for killing” attitude does not sit well with Geiz.

“Hey, other me! You want revenge on that guy, right? The one who attacked you? Of course ya do! Why not!”

Meanwhile, Regular Shinji looks like he’s having thoughts along the lines of “I’m not going back to the belt! I’m out, man! I finished! I’ve finished like FIVE times already! Let me retire!”

Huh. The smudge over ‘Ryuga’ is gone. Neat. (aaand at which point I realized i’ve probably been spelling it wrong, and went back to fix all the places I used two ‘u’s on instinct.)

Clever, clever Uhr. “You can’t get a watch from a person who never existed, from a world that no longer ever was.”

...well, Schwartz could go to alternate timelines, so… Hey, Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Sougo, did any of you happen to get Tsukasa’s contact info?

Also, Tsukasa, did you have to clue the Time Jackers in on the ‘other worlds’ thing? I’m just saying, that might come back to bite you.

You are coming back, right? You don’t get to drop cryptic ‘I’m destroying this world first’ comments, and give tips to the assorted groups, and then just never come back.

It’s rude.

We need some sort of follow-through on this stuff, at least.

Geiz attempts his suicide attack… but Sougo knocks him out of the kick before he can gain momentum…

“I’m not letting you die, damnit! You still need to make sure I don’t go evil, and I’m definitely tempted by this watch right now...”

and then said watch doesn’t even try to activate.

Aaaand then Sougo gets wrestled into the Mirror World.

(Isn’t that place supposed to be super fatal if you don’t have an Advent Deck?)

Aaaah! The backwards writing, and the fact that some of it is glitching is bad enough. But the lack of sound? Nope, I’m not here for that at all. That’s never a good sign.

Although Kudos to O-T for getting the subtitles for some of those signs. Well done.

So, yeah, sorry Sougo, it’s not 3-Days-From-Now You this time. (But seriously, what happened to him?) This time it’s Evil You.

Not even 50-Years-From-Now Bad-Ending Evil You.

We’re talking a “Terran Empire Enterprise” type of Evil You. … well, at least he doesn’t have a goatee.

OH GOD AAAAGH GO BACK TO SILENCE PLEASE

Distorted belt effects are not okay! Agh! NononoNO!

Oh, and uh... Hey! Remember literally yesterday? When I said I’m loving the ‘parallel self’ juxtapositions that Zi-O’s been doing?

I should probably have remembered that the Ryuki tribute was next, and that I’ve seen the preview screenshots with Mirror Sougo being super creepy.

I may have changed my mind a bit on that juxtaposition love.

MISTAKES WERE MADE.

[thejpfdude-blog]

Initial Impressions of the Fall 2017 Season

Well it’s that time of the year. Halloween The initial impressions of the season post! As always:

Every show I’ve watched has aired at least 3 episodes (actually, this time all the shows aired exactly 3 episodes!), so it’s the time to post what I think is good so far (”so far” being key: shows can get good in the middle/end, and good shows can drop off), complete with lists of random stuff!

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, some words about the season so far. I think it’s fair to say it’s been a hella good start to the season. Now I know I said that for the past few seasons (and they didn’t end so well...) but I can really feel it with this one. There’s a lot of good shows in all sorts of different genres, and though none of the shows I’m watching at this point are a de facto 9 or 10, some of them have the potential to get better as time goes on. We’ll see though: still way too early to really tell.

And with that, here’s the rankings so far for the season, complete with initial scores after 3 episodes:

Rankings:

1. Kino’s Journey (8/10)

2. Shokugeki no Soma S3 (8/10)

3. Just Because! (8/10)

4. Juuni Taisen (7.5/10)

5. Pingu in the City (10/10 ANIME OF THE CENTURY) (7.5/10)

6. Net-juu no Susume (7.5/10)

7. Mahoutsukai no Yome (7/10)

8. Blend S (6/10)

9. Love Live! Sunshine!! 2nd Season (6/10)

10. Animegataris (6/10)

11. Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (5/10)

12. Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara (4/10)

Awards:

Best Anime: Kino’s Journey (HM: Shokugeki no Soma S3)

As stated above, there hasn’t been a show yet that’s greatly amazed me. But that doesn’t mean this season’s bad: in fact there’s a lot of shows ranging from great to pretty good, and in the long run that ends up being a good thing. Currently, the show on top of the list is Kino’s Journey, a remake of the older series with the same name. Disclaimer: I haven’t watched all of the old series (only 2 episodes). Honestly though, I would say that (so far) the old series is better. The drab colors really added a nice layer to the atmosphere, something that I think the new version lacks with its brighter colors. However, that’s not to say the new series isn’t good. I’ve loved the episodes so far, especially the most recent one with the moving country. They really make you think about the different topics presented: for example, the moving country and who’s morally right in the situation -- the diplomats of the country or the soldiers seeing their country getting run over. It’s that kind of stuff that makes Kino’s Journey a fun watch. No matter what kind of anime fan you are, I would recommend it. Something to really make you think, something you can enjoy even if you aren’t the type to watch that kind of show (like me).

Shoutouts to Shokugeki S3 for returning back to the norm and having a nice balance of competitive food making and fun slice-of-life moments. If it continues like this I wouldn’t be surprised to see this show high up on my list.

Worst Anime: Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara (HM: All the shows I dropped)

So I read the manga for this before, which makes this hard to determine whether the show is actually this bad or if I’m tired of the stuff I already watched. The one thing that bothers me about this show is the whole concept of “cute when drunk”. Like she needs to be drunk to be all lovey-dovey with her husband, which is pretty... questionable. Because at its core, this show’s about an alcoholic and her husband. The romance isn’t really romance, it’s just “hah cute moments”, which compared to ones from a show like “I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying” is pretty shallow. Honestly considering dropping this show even though it’s only 3 minutes, because I haven’t had the greatest experience with 3-minute shorts.

Shoutouts to all the shows I dropped: you know who you are.

Best Surprise: Net-juu no Susume (HM: Just Because! and Juuni Taisen)

I have to say, I had no expectations for this going into it. I actually was planning of dropping it after the first episode. But a second watch with my friends made me realize: this was a super cute romance. It’s straight-forward: there aren’t any rivals or stupid misunderstandings. Just some cute and funny moments with Moriko and the other dude, along with the rest of the guild. Unfortunately this show is only 10 episodes, so I hope they get together soon for that cute adult romance. Or not, because anime romances.

Shoutouts to Just Because and Juuni Taisen:

Just Because wasn’t something I expected much from given the drama tag and how I don’t really like dramas. But so far, it’s been a comfy experience. The atmosphere of the show is very calm (I love the color usage in the show) and there are some humorous moments in the calm slice-of-life. Now how this show does in the long run depends on how good the drama that I 100% know is coming is. But for now, it’s been a pleasant surprise, something I look forward to now.

Juuni Taisen was something that my friend recommended to me, but even with that I didn’t expect much. Well, it’s been a fun ride. Though the deaths are pretty predictable, what isn’t predictable is the stuff that happens in the middle, and that’s where the fun of the show comes from. If you’re expecting twists and turns everywhere, this probably isn’t the show for you. But overall, it’s well thought out and I’m enjoying how the battle royale is progressing so far. Should be interesting to see how it ends, even if we know the winner already.

Worst Disappointment: Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-bitch na Ken

I had to dig deep for this one, and it’s a huge reach. I didn’t have much expectations for this show, but what I did expect/see was that it would be like Seitokai Yakuindomo, a show I’ve heard of and was planning to watch sometime. Well, if this show is anything like Seitokai, I might have to delay watching it. Because man, it’s pretty juvenile stuff. I know comedy is subjective and all that, but it didn’t really tickle my funny bone. Something about it annoys me more than anything. Might be the characters. Either way, a meh show in a pretty gud season.

Best Girl: Yoshiko Tsushima (Love Live Sunshine S2) with HM to Megumi Tadakoro (Shokugeki no Soma S3), Kino (Kino’s Journey), and Moriko Morioka (Net-juu no Susume)

Storytime (not really a story but oh well). I have two keychains on my backpack: one of them is of Pickles from Neko Atsume (which is something I won in a raffle). The other is a nesoberi-styled Yoshiko that I bought for twice the original price. Point is, Yoshiko is the best Love Live. And by default, since there isn’t anybody else to compete with her, she’s best girl so far this season. Though she’s pretty controversial in the LL community, I really like her schtick as the geeky loser of the group. I say that in the nicest way possible, because I can relate a lot to her. The chuuni thing isn’t overdone, which is good given I thought I wouldn’t like her at first from that. Though there are a lot of great girls in Aqours, she’s by far my favorite.

Shoutouts to another girl that’s been fun to watch so far in Megumi, a badass in Kino, and an adorable NEET in Moriko.

Best Guy: Kai Musashisakai (Animegataris) with HM to Pingu (Pingu in the City)

Usually this is a hard category for me to pick winners of, and this time wasn’t an exception. I dug deep to find a character I’m enjoying so far: the chuuni. Except he’s a weeb chuuni, so it makes it better. Plus his chuuni moments aren’t annoying, similar to best girl above. It seems that the recent trends are the chuunis who aren’t been too annoying: characters like Kaikai, Yoshiko/Yohane, and Rikka (to an extent). Nice to see that.

Shoutout to a character who I’m not even sure is a guy. But he(she?) is the protag for a show that, memes aside, has actually been a super enjoyable watch. Would recommend.

Worst Girl: Nayuta Kani (Imouto sae Ireba Ii.) with HM to Shizuku Ariyama (Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-bitch na Ken)

So literally the reasons I dropped their respective shows. Let me start with Ms. Blunt: every time she talked, I preemptively braced myself for what trash she let out. It got so annoying that it ruined what was probably an all right show that I would still be watching if not for her. I’m honestly kind of surprised she’s so popular among the people watching, but then again the people continuing to watch this show would be the ones who enjoy the characters. Selection bias and all that.

Shoutout to the the other girl who made me drop a show. Childhood friends are usually characters I don’t hate, but my goodness like the above character she didn’t have a filter and it was annoying as heck to watch. Though unlike character/show above, I think even without this character I still would’ve dropped Boku something something for the... other questionable characters.

Worst Guy: Literally Nobody

I honestly can’t think of anybody who gets this award, even in my dropped shows. The closest candidate would probably be the main protagonist from the imouto show, but he wasn’t that bad if you discount his imouto problem. I guess this is a good thing, though?

Best OP: “Kunshi Ayauku mo Chikou yore” (Osomatsu-san 2) with HM to “Aikotoba” (Animegataris), “Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteru yo” (Love Live Sunshine S2), “Bon Appétit♡S” (Blend S), “Rupture” (Juuni Taisen), “Ugoku Ugoku” (Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou)

There are a lot of good OPs this season, but my favorite is from a show I’m not even watching. Osomatsu-san 2′s OP has great visuals with a catchy song to boot. I love how they incorporate the credits into the OP: it’s like they were meant to be there instead of just put randomly to the side like most OPs/EDs. Plus the traditional Japanese influence in the song (flute, taiko) is a nice allusion to the show’s theme: a old-time cartoon made many many years later into a modern anime. Good stuff.

Shoutouts to the following other, great OPs:

Animegataris: This was a close second, but ultimately I liked the visuals for Osomatsu-san’s OP a bit better. Song-wise, this one is the winner out of all of the OPs here (well maybe tied with the Love Live OP). A nice electronic beat complete with a nice payoff that makes it hard for me to keep my head still. Visual-wise it’s pretty decent: shows all of the characters, has some shots of the mysterious event that the show hasn’t alluded to yet. Helps that I like the character design (though some of the characters’ eyes are a bit... too spaced apart.

Love Live Sunshine S2: Obligatory LL Sunshine insertion. The song, of course, is top notch. And visual-wise, they really improved on the CG animation. It looks really fluid, and I can actually watch it instead of cringing at how bad it is. A vast improvement. Side note, the arm pumps they do 4 seconds in makes me laugh every time, and I don’t know why. Probably because it looks so stupid. But, hey, if it works.

Blend S: This OP’s been meme’d pretty hard so far, or at least the first few seconds of it have. Past that, you get an OP that’s on par with the Working series OPs complete with a song sung by the cast (which seems to be the norm nowadays with this type of anime). Pretty standard stuff, but it’s the type of stuff I like so I’m rating it higher from that. Helps that it’s a fun, peppy song.

Juuni Taisen: At first I didn’t really like this OP, but as time passed I really got into it. The song’s decent and the visuals are all right. The one thing I can say this OP does well is that it really gets me into the mood of the show. Something about it gets me hyped before each episode. And really, that’s what an OP’s job is, so I give it credit for that.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou: This OP is conflicting to me. On the one hand, I love the electronic song (future funk isn’t really my thing, but it’s nice to listen to here). More electronic songs in anime would be pretty ok-hands. Plus the visuals are fun to watch (not to mention the dab is some dank stuff). Yet on the other hand, it just... doesn’t fit the show’s tone at all. I expect this kind of music with a more cheerful anime. With this show, which from the episode I watched was more of a relaxed slice-of-life with a melancholy setting, I don’t think this OP works with the show. Honestly, if this was the OP to a happy moe slice-of-life show, it would be by far my favorite OP. But as of now it’s at a weird stage of denial and “nice”.

Best ED: "Umarun Taisou” (Himouto! Umaru-chan R) with HM to “Let's Go! Muttsu Go! ~Rokushoku no Niji~” (Osomatsu-san 2) and “Keshin no Kemono” (Juuni Taisen)

Not as much good EDs, but this was an easier choice than the OP section. I’m not even watching this show, but Himouto’s ED is top notch. Now I know that’s not a popular opinion, and trust me I know why. It’s literally just chibis dancing to a moe song. But my god, that’s the kind of stuff that really tickles my fancy. I’ve probably watched it around a hundred times so far. The song is catchy as heck, the chibis are cute as fudge (especially Kirie), and it’s done something nobody or nothing has ever done: made me want to watch the show. But seriously, can I just say how fudging cute this is? Highlights are 0:42 - 0:53 and a minute in with the background dancers (ignoring the Umaru). Good god. The cute levels are out of control.

Shoutouts to the two other EDs I enjoyed:

Osomatsu-san 2: Like the OP, the song + visuals were top notch. I loved the stop-motion animation for the ED. Going through each character was my favorite part of it -- the stuff after that wasn’t as fun, but still overall an enjoyable experience.

Juuni Taisen: Like the OP of this show, I didn’t enjoy this at first. But the song was pretty catchy, and I liked the visuals of showing each fighter in their casual everyday lives. It’s a nice way to show off their personalities and also show what order they’re gonna die in. No surprises so far from this show.

Bonus Awards (complete with short descriptions):

Worst Character Design: Just Because!

My god them some weird eyes.

Best Guilty Pleasure: Love Live Sunshine S2

It’s so bad but I can’t stop watching. Pls help.

The TheJPFDude Happy Show of the Quarter-Season: Net-juu no Susume

Happy romances are happy.

And that’s all! Thanks for reading all of that good stuff. It’s been a good season. I’m enjoying a lot of shows, and though most of them’ll honestly probably fall off within the next few weeks, at least we have some potential good ones.

Well, until next time, I’ll see you in the next post!