#also both of these are manga poses I thought they matched nicely :)

[angeat]

- both green

- tomato association

- that loose belt style

[fireflyhwufanficwriter]

My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s S02E03 (“Call from the Dead”)

My thoughts after watching Season Two, Episode Three:

01. Taiju and Yuzuriha have different types of shoes – that’s a nice detail 😊

02. Leave it to Yuzuriha the arts and crafts club member to notice a detail like the dirt around the grave being different!

03. Day after day… I wasn’t expecting them to visit the grave THAT often. I like that they used the same phrase (“mainichi mainichi”) as last time – in Season One, Senku used it to describe Kohaku’s dedication to her sister, and now in Season Two, Nikki used it to describe Taiju and Yuzuriha’s dedication to their friend 😊

04. I liked Kohaku and Ginro’s excitement at hearing Taiju’s voice. This is the first time they’ve heard an outsider who they knew right away wasn’t an enemy! (Well, second time for Kohaku, since Senku saved her the day they met.)

05. The next time I’m on the phone with somebody, I’m going to imagine the same huge arc of electricity that Kaseki did 😁

06. Senku was so emotional – eyes shining with tears, smiling as he listened to Taiju – and then it all went away because he had to remind his friend that HE was Senku 😆

07. Just like how Gen is the stand in for the audience (modern timers, but generally clueless compared to Senku), Kokuyou and Ruri are the stand-ins for how incredible the phone must seem to Ishigami Village 😁 Come to think of it, Kokuyou’s had that role since last season – he’s far away enough from the main cast that he doesn’t know all of their adventures (and that distance makes him like the “normal” villagers), but close enough that he gets to share his thoughts and theories. It was through his eyes that we saw the big impacts that bottling and furnaces had on Ishigami Village 😊

08. I know it was short, but I like how Senku greeted Yuzuriha separately. They haven’t had that much screentime together since the anime began, but I like how Senku and Yuzuriha have their own friendship, instead of Taiju being their go-between or something like that.

09. “He’s been screaming all day.” All day? Have they been there longer than just the few minutes we’ve seen?

10. Kohaku noticed the defensive reason for why they had to speed things up! 😊 And I liked her observation about Senku and Taiju 😊

11. It’s could be easy to just write Taiju off as a loud blockhead, but it’s scenes like his allowing Tsukasa to hit him in Season One and his question about bloodshed in Season Two that really show you the kind of admirable, pacifistic guy he is 😊

12. “Gen will be back tomorrow or so.” Okay, so we have an estimate of how far the two kingdoms/empires are from each other. I’m glad they mentioned this!

13. Magma and Chrome’s loud conversation really shows how much anime can improve upon manga. When you’re just reading, you do know characters are talking and being loud, but when you’re watching anime, it drives home the fact that they’re being SO LOUD and that they need to SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! Poor Gen… 😆

14. Thank you for finally saying Ukyo’s name, Gen 😆 Anime only folks get important information, and manga readers can sigh in relief that another character’s name has been revealed 😁

15. I’m with Magma. Chrome’s so selfish, worrying about his own life like that! 😡 Not like Magma, who’s strong and noble and self-sacrificing and only thinks of others and their safety 😁

16. You have to feel sorry for Gen… he’s trying to get the two of them to just SHUT UP 😆

17. I doubt Magma was seriously thinking that Chrome would go along with that plan, so he must have been joking… and the fact that we have Magma JOKING around with main characters after being the main antagonist in the middle part of Season One… they’re really pals now, aren’t they? 😲😊

18. Chrome’s battery has 15V… how much is that compared to an AAA battery for a remote control? I'll look it up later 😁

19. I’m a modern era person and it would have never occurred to me to use a wire to connect two ends of a battery and throw it into the grass to start a fire. Either Senku told him that battery stuff fairly recently and it was stuck Chrome’s mind because he was in charge of the heating team, or he’s just that much of a genius that nobody explained that to him but he intuited it anyway… or I’m just that stupid 😆

20. It’s expected that Chrome would sacrifice himself, but Magma… very impressive character development 😁 (I mean, I’m a manga reader, so I knew this was going to happen, but still 😁)

21. Gen’s eyes are blue? I never noticed until this episode.

22. Poor Gen… first, in Season One, he had to run like the wind from the shed of science to the Cave of Miracles while he was SEVERELY injured, and he had to do it as fast as possible to help Senku stay safe, and he was the only one who could do it… and now, he has to run like the wind while dealing with the knowledge and guilt that two of his comrades sacrificed himself for him, and he has to do it as fast as possible to be able to start his extremely important deception mission, and he’s the only one who can do it.

23. Gen really needs to get Kaseki to build him some kind of cable car system or a limousine so that he can travel in style between the two kingdoms/empires instead of exhausting himself all the time running back and forth 😲 Or at least a bicycle!

24. Since it’ll take Gen at least one day, possibly longer, to reach the shed of science, that means that Taiju and Yuzuriha must have talked to Nikki one or more days after they spoke with Senku. Anime helps with some things (like sound), but it can sure confuse people about the passage of time…

25. Copper swirly! 😊 I like Kaseki’s name for it better than Senku’s name for it 😆

26. Kohaku’s eyes! She’s SO fascinated by how the copper swirly is being used 😁

27. Nikki’s SO hostile 😲 I get that she’s a guard and everything, but she doesn’t really have a reason to be this hostile to Taiju and Yuzuriha, does she? It’s weird O.o Unless maybe she wanted to do something else (hunting/training/etc.) but she was forced to be their guard specifically because she’s a woman and can stick to Taiju AND Yuzuriha like glue? (Like Brienne from Game of Thrones.)

28. Why are her eyebrows a darker shade than her hair? This is sort of like Kokuyou’s weird hair colors, but to a lesser extent.

29. The punches are… she’s really hostile. Maybe it’s just to emphasize how much she changes later on and the episode, but it’s still so weird.

30. Didn’t Senku “die” on a cliff, out in the open? Kohaku was able to see him from (presumably) far away, and all that stuff with the gunpowder and the huge rock… am I remembering it wrong? Was it NOT a cliff after all? Because the rocks around this grave make it look like some kind of natural, concealed fortress!

31. Senku’s Sebastian voice sounds so silly 😆

32. I wish they had done Lilian’s voice differently. Gen’s fake Lilian doesn’t sound like a native English speaker while speaking English. Maybe they’re counting on the people they’re talking to not knowing the difference between foreign language accents… but still, this could have been done better. Maybe the studio just didn’t want to hire a new person to speak just a few lines. Or maybe they did this on purpose so that Nikki could notice something was off with her voice?

33. Yuzuriha being quick on the uptake again! 😁

34. This has to be the most stressful, rushed, and mathematical estimating of CD sales and body measurements ever 😆

35. The video game music was used in such a fun, light way last season (choosing the third mining team member) that hearing it in this scene for this situation sounds so weird 😲

36. That crouching backwards, pointing straight ahead Lilian pose seemed really out of place when the music is this really soft, gentle song 😲

37. I wonder if the stadium they showed us is based on a real stadium in Japan?

38. “Lilian doesn’t exist in this world anymore. Am I right?” Oh, Nikki… 😭

39. Senku’s eyes were shining when he replied to Nikki… I wonder if talking about Lilian reminded him of Byakuya… somebody who was in space with Lilian and also doesn’t exist in this world anymore… 😭

40. I love how Senku doesn’t lose anything or inconvenience himself at ALL by making that promise, since he’s going to protect the glass recording anyway because of Byakuya 😆

41. Okay, after Nikki committed to the plan (welcome, Nikki!), they zoomed out and the grave is seriously surrounded by all those vertical rocks. There is NO WAY this grave is in the same place Senku and Tsukasa last talked. No WAY.

42. I was SO surprised when the episode ended there 😲 That was NOT what I was expecting. This episode felt so short!

43. I still love this ending theme! 😁

44. About the ending theme (“Koe” / “Voice” by Hatena), songs mean a lot more to me when I understand what the lyrics mean, so I went to YouTube hoping to find an English cover or English subtitles or something. I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scv09Dtby-8) by a YouTube channel called AniComet Music, and from 0:12 to 0:34, the lyrics are, “I keep struggling and suffering, but still / I’ll gain strength from the feelings I’ve had for you / It’s a story that will never change / Even though I knew I’d never be a match for him.”

45. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel the song is from Senku’s point-of-view, and both the second and fourth lines could be about Byakuya (especially the fourth line) – in a father/son context, of course – of how he gets strength and inspiration from Byakuya and how he feels his father will always be beyond him and more than him 😭

46. With that said, even though my interpretation is really meaningful to me, it doesn’t really make sense, since “you” and “him” are obviously different people, and when you read more of the lyrics, “you” can’t really be referring to Byakuya. Maybe my interpretation will change when I listen to the song more and read more translations, but this is the first English translation of the ending song that I’ve read, and it really speaks to me 😊

https://firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr.tumblr.com/MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts

[yamagucji]

# — MATCHUP REQUEST

for: she/her, bi, infj-t, scorpio, yachi kinnie

note: sorry nonnie i went BONKERS in this matchup. i hope,,,, it fits ur taste gkdjdh

I matched you with...

Tendou Satori!

had actually met you at a merch store, specifically when you were struggling to reach for a poster that was unnecessarily placed on a high shelf

tendou peeked from behind you. “need any help?” you’re surprised you didn’t jump from the sudden intrusion

“yes... please,” you sighed defeatedly. “oh — i only need one.”

he takes two, giving you one while he kept the other. turns out he also had interest in the anime you liked !

somehow, tendou wounded up to be your “anime buddy.” he’d go out with you to the merch store for new releases, giggling a little at the sight of you tippy toeing before finally going to help you

other times it’d be late night calls or texts about the release of a new episodes

until, “anime bonding” became movie night dates at each others houses

“my place at 5?” tendou spoke over the phone, pushing the shopping cart as he walked through the snack aisle

“will there be snacks? i’m not going if there’s none,” you teased him. a small giggle could be heard on the other side of the line, followed by the sound of plastic bag

“hm... you’re only there for the snacks, huh?” tendou quipped

this gradually turned into something more; you hadn’t meant to fall asleep on his shoulders, during a movie night at his house might i add

but you did, and after lots of debate, tendou decided to let you sleep for the night

he huffed a soft laugh, pulled away some stray strands of hair away from your close-lidded eyes. “cute,” and it was the first time he had said it out loud

from strangers to anime buddies, tendou had become your boyfriend after much time <3

he introduced you to ushijima a little after the two of you became official — and surprise, tendou seemingly talks so much about you

“ah, it’s finally nice to meet you,” ushijima smiled warmly, nodding his head a little as a form of greeting. “tendou has been telling me about you for quite a while now.”

PLEASE why does it seem like you’re meeting tendous parents or something😫😭

tendou is aware of your conditions, and had asked a lot of questions when you told him you had adhd, depression, and anxiety

“what is it like?” “do you take medications?” and “is there anything i can do, or you’d like me to do?”

he really wants to make sure your boundaries and access needs are met :’)

so if you’re having trouble socializing or in a situation with other people around, he won’t hesitate to take lead

“wanna leave soon?” he whispered to you, reaching for your hands with his own hold of comfort

tendou also loves that you can do the same for him

like that time when the two of you volunteered at a day care. one of the little kids was afraid of tendou because of his looks, but you made an effort to coax them into getting comfy with your partner

“see? isn’t he cute? his red hair is like strawberry,” to which the little boy, now hugging tendou by his neck, agreed. “yeah!”

goodness the amount of love and warmth he felt at that moment🥺

when you’re not out volunteering with tendou, the two of you are either at home cuddling, playing genshin, doing hobbies, OR

outside visiting local and cultural museums

tendou likes sneaking up on you when you’re busy sketching and making digital art. most likely with a little peck on your check or a snack in hand

“princess,” he dragged the name, “take a break soon, mk?”

and if you ignored him, he’d simply plant a dozen kisses on your neck and cheek

there will be nights where tendou will patiently wait for you on the bed. he’d be reading manga to pass the time, waiting for the moment when you’ll plop onto him with a big hug

and when you do, he’s putty in your hands

“satori — !” you nearly jumped on him, ducking beneath the manga he was holding and embracing his neck. “hm... i missed you.”

he laughed softly. “you’re such a baby, you know that?”

“says you!” you retorted back

the manga is set on his nightstand to free his arms so he could hug you back. “baby,” he mumbles again, this time calling for your attention

“hm?”

“i love you,” it slips off his mouth without a thought, a form of sincerity he keeps reserved

tendou has the need to say i love you a lot, especially during a moment that feels endearing

like when you’re busy mixing batter

you felt a pair of warm lips again the nape of your neck, tendous big arms embracing you

“love? what are you baking this time?”

and you’d turn your head to the side only to find him peeking at you with the cute :3 expression🥺🤲

goodness, he loves your baking so much

tendou always returns the favor by bringing you his own set of chocolates — made and tailored just for you

FUTURE

your future with tendou would be very spontaneous, full of adventure, but not so much that you’re both still able to pursue your dreams

tendou would become a chocolatier, while you a diplomat

sometimes matching each other’s schedules is hard, but every once in a while the two of you are able to set vacation at the same time

“where to this time?” he spoke. tendou was currently sitting behind you, legs around your figure and arms on your torso.

pspsps the two of you get a PET SNAKE

he loves them so much please😫

tendou calls the two of you “snake parents” and now has another topic to rant about to ushijima

“snake parents?” you could hear ushijima’s confusion from your lovers phone speaker. “sorry, i don’t understand.”

AHH HE TAKES THIS PET PARENTING VERY SERIOUSLY

so when you’re off somewhere far for vacation, tendou stresses that you have the best snake babysitter <3

he’d probably love to explore other parts of asia with you and learn about their cultures as well

“no, no — ” tendou said, moving his camera to get the right angles for you

meanwhile, you were stuck on a silly pose underneath the scorching sun, trying to get the perfect shot of you ‘holding’ a statue

“yeah, just a little higher, petal. there —!”

back home, there’d be a world map hung up somewhere with tacks stuck in the places the two of you have visited together

and polaroid pictures all over the map :’)

“i want to grow old with you,” tendou said one day when the two of you went out to watch the sunrise. “if you’ll let me?”

*tendou’s such a best man please,, imagine being the one to get to see his hair down everyday and be able to wear his hoodies which smells like vanilla and cocoa beans, and a hint of caramel. tiniest bit of a wooden/forest scent if you smell hard enough

[theanimeview]

Anime Expo Lite Day 1 Experience! by @rainstormfes

Friday July 3rd, 2020

Program: Warner Bros. Japan Presents “Stay Connected with Anime”

Anime Expo held an event called Anime Expo Lite where they accommodated for the Covid-19 pandemic and put the whole con experience online. This particular program had many seiyuu and Japanese anime studio staffs as guests where they talked about three anime and their experiences with them.

The program started out with talking about Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka III (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III) with guests Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (voiced Bell Cranel) , Minase Inori (voiced Hestia) , Osawa Nobuhiro (from EGG FIRM, an anime production company), and Matsukura Yuji (producer from J.C. Staff, an animation studio). The beginning was just each guest answering questions that fans from all over the world submitted:

The author was asked if he was ever inspired by the voice acting of Matsuoka and Minase-san to which he answered yes and the program proceeded to show two specific scenes where Matsuoka’s and Minase-san’s voice acting inspired him (Minase-san was also asked to perform a small line live which was really cute)

They prepared a teaser image for the third season and for the big reveal Matsuoka had to tear a curtain off of a huge poster board while saying an attack name but the curtain got caught on the corner which almost made it fall 😂😂

This is the teaser image:

Matsuoka was asked if there were any difficulties when recording season 3 so he talked about how Bell had gone through lots of growth throughout the 2 seasons and how he had to think about how to properly act out just how mature Bell was now compared to before, considering he’s now leader of the Hestia Familia

Minase-san answered the same question. She talked about how she made sure to try and keep in mind how close all of the characters involved are plus Hestia’s mental and social growth within the group

There was a video message from Iguchi Yuka (voiced Chigusa) since she sings the opening! There was also an announcement that sajou no hana would be performing the ending song! Both messages were very nice and cute (they spoke English x3) and both artists just talked about how they were looking forward to everyone’s reactions to their songs and to look forward to the anime.

Airing of DanMachi 3 will begin in October!🎉🎉 

The next anime that they talked about was Shokugeki no Soma: Gou no Sara (Food Wars: The Fifth Plate) with guests: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (voiced Yukihira Soma) and Yonetani Yoshitomo (animation director) 

Yonetani-san was asked about how he felt about the anime and what he thought about when working on its animation. He said he wanted to express how amazing the cooking process/food was as well as wanted to excite (oh b o y 😳) the audience

Matsuoka-san was asked the same question. He talked about how since he’s been following Soma since day one he has to think a lot about his growth in Totsuki when voice acting for him. He talked about how he kinda thinks about his own high school days as well

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Fukuyama Jun (voiced Saiba Asahi), and Takahashi Minami (voiced Tadokoro Megumi) pre-recorded an irl shokugeki which was shown on the program!!

Matsuoka and Jun had to make a tonkatsu sauce for Takamina. Matsuoka ended up winning because Jun was chaotic asf when he made his xD (he put dried fish and squid along with peanut butter and nutella so there were just tons of flavors trying to be the main thing)

Matsuoka was asked which lines were more memorable for him, other than Soma’s: he talked about how whenever he had to record the monologues when dishes are being made and when they’re being presented was difficult since it would be hard to express a good portrayal of Soma’s energy if he didn’t even know what he was talking about (so on the side he had to keep using wiki to understand what Soma was even talking about lol)

Question about the production of the anime: Yonetani-san talked about how there were lots of complicated words they had to use; there were lots of cuts in certain scenes (like when presenting the dishes) made to try and portray the energy that they wanted in the anime

Someone asked about where the producers get ideas about the ending theme sequences: Yonetani-san’s used the songs as inspiration for the backgrounds used for the ending themes and also tried to relate to all of the cooking and the theme of high schoolers just going through life etc

The next and last anime talked about was JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind. It starts out with a video made where Ono Kensho (voiced Giorno Giorvanna) and two producers from David Production (Kasama) and Warner Bros Japan (Omori Hiroyuki) are questioned.

Apparently during production they actually count how many ‘ora’s and ‘muda’s etc when they do stand cries! But when OnoKen went to Koyasu Takehito (voiced Dio Brando) to ask about counting his ‘muda’s but never needed to, he just synced with the animation which surprised OnoKen xD

Next, they talked about the anime-only scene of Giorno giving gelato to a kid. The staffs wanted to show how kind Giorno was despite eventually becoming a gang-star. The story itself if also personal to Kasama-san since he had actually went to Italy and had experienced intense heat there and went to a gelato stand so he wanted to preserve that memory to animation

They mentioned how they purposely put characters that are later properly introduced in the anime within frames earlier on so that manga readers are even more hyped up and anime-only people could go back and see those little easter eggs for themselves and appreciate the little hints given which I absolutely love. AND they specifically mentioned that they wanted Giorno to do the famous Dio pose, saying they felt that they needed to live up to fans’ expectations so considering how dedicated of a fan base Jojo has, they decided to put that little nod toward Dio’s pose with Giorno doing it too

They talked about how the second theme for Golden Wind was hard to make since they needed to match or one up the first theme (Fighting Gold). It took a while to produce the second theme’s music and ideas presented were rejected three times before finally being accepted. And they had already decided to make an alternate animation for it as well, which made the process to make the music even harder.

The man himself that produced it (as well as the entire soundtrack for Golden Wind), Kanno Yugo, was a guest for the live broadcast! He talked about how, considering his experience with parts 3 and 4 with their opening themes, he felt he needed to try and one up himself for part 5′s

He compared making music for Jojo felt like competing in the Olympics since its a difficult job to one up yourself every time there’s a new season for the anime. Since he started working with Jojo since part 3 and made such iconic main character themes since then, needing to make something as amazing as those themes was tough but he definitely delivered in the end

Overall an amazing experience! 😊

I loved every moment of the program! So glad to finally see seiyuu live at events, considering what’s been going on in the world recently. Definitely made my day!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Maou-jou 1 | Munou na Nana 1 | Grace of the Gods 1 | IWGP 1 | Akudama 1 | Crusade 1 | JJK 1 | HypMic 2 (also brief thoughts on the dog and cat TV short because I had them)

Maou-jou 1

I sampled this manga with what’s called a “Viz sampler”. I only ever seem to find those at libraries, so I’d assume only they and bookstores can get those.

…Twilight looks like Maou Sadao (Hataraku Maou-sama!).

“Dawner”??? I can read katakana, ya idjits. His name is Akatsuki. Update: The translator must’ve gone, “Dawn is a girl’s name. Let’s tack on an -er so it looks like a guy’s name.”

Aw, Hiro Shimono is Akatsuki. If it were Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, we could’ve gotten a Kirito joke out of it.

Oh! 快眠 (Kaimin) = good rest, literally “happy sleep”. Hence this is the nation of Goodreste. I see.

The lightning effect is soooooooooo cool! *eyes glitter at the particle effects*

I’m gonna die from cuteness from all the teddies and seals!

The little fanfare is so cute and the yokudekimashita reminds me of my days playing the arcade game Bomberman (which had a flower sticker much like this one). I wanna see this get a dub and succeed on all its merits! It’s basically my baby already…bar the fact it took a bit to work up to the first good bit of comedy.

The teddy demons are called Debiakuma, a pun on kuma (bear), devil and akuma (devil). Lessee…After “lesser demon”, there’s more text…“Fluffy bears that can be also used as pets. They give in easily to temptation. A lot of them live in the demon castle, so the princess likes to gather their fur, dye it and spin nice cotton out of it. Warning: A lot of them will either run away or call you their friend./Occasionally act as friends for the princess.”

LOL, I recognised that voice of the Scissors guy straight away…although I didn’t know who it belonged to. That’s Suwabe. (It doesn’t sound like Suwabe, I would’ve thought it to be Takuma Terashima or something.)

Aw, the Japanese version is more boring this time. It’s just Scissor Magician (in the singular for both).

*hears Scissors Demon going -ageruwa”, which is a feminine sentence ending…that’s Suwabe trying to (voice) act effeminate???!!!

These trumpet sounds never get old.

LOL, Siberian huskies dressed as Russians…

Okay, my turn again: Hari means needle, toge means thorn. Next to “His stomach is soft”, part of the subs are cut off due to Funimation’s hardsubs, but I can read “he is proud of his defence” on the 2nd line, “is the type to not refuse when relied on” on the 2nd-last line and “his favourite food is strange bird chawanmushi” on the last line.

I love how parts of the castle are upside down for no reason at all except to look cool…architects must hate that, though.

I hadn’t heard of “seesaw battles” until now. but the metaphor does make sense...kind of.

What about changing the mattress? Update: She does do that…kind of.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Kirito was under my nose all along! Damn Demon Kinggggggggggggggggggg!

Kamina glasses on one of the background trees! Cute tapir! Ahhhhhhhh, it’s so cuteeeeeeee!

Anyways, that’s a fun show. Not as fun as HypMic, but still fun after it gains momentum.

Munou na Nana 1

I remember seeing spoilers for a twist at the end…let’s hope I don’t anticipate it. That would kill the entire anime for me.

The message actually says something about how the island is a nest for enemies of humanity.

There’s the ice narcissist I saw in the promo stuff, right on cue. I’ve never heard of his voice actor Hiromichi Tezuka before, although he does sound like Hiroshi Kamiya or someone much better.

Why do I get the feeling once the title character arrives, even Nanao will get powers…? Or maybe Nana is the catalyst for Nanao’s powers awakening or something? (Just realised having a Nana and a Nanao together in the same anime is confusing…)

Subbers spelt “noblesse oblige” wrong, unless it was deliberately done as such.

I predicted the “duke it out” line.

There’s a menu on the wall of the restaurant.

Maybe Nanao’s “talent” is his leadership stat or something?

Or maybe even Nanao is an enemy of humanity and doesn’t know it? (Sorry, speculation going into overdrive…that usually happens with superpower works like this for me, because I like to analyse them.)

Maybe Nanao can see the future, like the protag from Koi to Producer?

Technically, shouldn’t ice be weak against fire…? Or am I too used to the Pokemon system?

Called it! Nanao has a hidden power! (That reminds me: I still don’t know what Lucien’s (from Koi to Producer’s) power really is.)

Vigilantes is really good at exploring how people can expand on their own powers.

…wow, I heard rumours that the main character was going to die, but I’d pegged Nana to die, not Nanao.

Onodera is clearly important…maybe he was the one with the wind powers? Or was Nana lying about that?

…dude, the red eyes are kinda obvious that Nana is evil in some way, or at least really devious.

Grace of the Gods 1

All I really know of this is that it’s got slimes and it’s an isekai/SoL hybrid…That’s it.

…I am not, I repeat NOT, on board for a harem centred around an 11 year old!

Ryoma speaks with an unnatural amount of starts and stops, hence the caveman speak.

What’s Jil’s role in the party…?

Why would you even need to know 4 high-level skills? Isn’t it better to know all of them?

LOL, I knew the isekaid guy was meant to have a hard life so he could start over with slimes, but…stick Doppo in this and it’s basically the same thing. At least Doppo tries to resist his bosses behind their backs, this guy just did the whole gaman thing and look where that got him!

If he worked for a black company with no overtime and so forth, how did he know about a recent anime trend, eh??? Sounds suspect. Update: Unless he was thinking about 90s isekai, which still involved less reincarnation than this.

I noticed the gods have senbei (the rice crackers with the seaweed). Western-looking gods probably shouldn’t have senbei, unless…they did that to make Ryoma feel more at home?

Seriously, how does a guy with no overtime still have time for online games? Even if he were getting just ads for them, he probably wouldn’t have paid enough attention to be able to figure out what the cliches are, right? Either that, or the Dragon Quest system is older than I think it is.

Slimes don’t have paws…or hands or other appendages…to give…

…I’m not sure what to think there. Am I meant to think the slimes are cute? Am I meant to think the catgirls/animal girls are cute? The answer to those questions is “no”, so…eh.

IWGP 1

Basically, I chose this for associations with HypMic.

…the best first impression involves a CGI car. Of course. <- (sarcastic)

Given HypMic, I almost expected a rap battle…nahhhh…Rap battles don’t look so cool outside HypMic, man.

The owl is a pun. Fukurou (owl) matches ‘bukuro (bag, which is the 2nd character in “Ikebukuro”). There’s also an owl statue used as a meeting spot, much like Hachiko in Shibuya…(I learnt a bunch of things about the division territory through HypMic. Let me show off…)

I think the character designer for this anime also did Joker Game…that’s throwing me off a little. Also, they had a prime opportunity to use a Buster Bros song, so I’m still a bit miffed about that – this OP’s kinda standard. Update: The character designer is Junichiro Taniguchi – my insinct was wrong on him. He did Touken Ranbu Hanamaru’s character designs.

“Smoking kills” – Yuuuuuuuup. That’s true.

Why do I get the feeling all the male otaku will wanna bang Makoto’s mother (to put it lightly)…?

Curiously, the one who hates drugs in HypMic is Jyuto, who’s not from Ikebukuro Division at all. Hmm…

Yokoyama’s voice sounds familiar…but I’m not sure why. Update: If I had to guess, I’d say he’s Saito Soma or someone who sounds similar, so maybe Takuma Terashima, Daisuke Ono or something like that. Update 2: Takahiro Sakurai. See? I knew I knew that voice.

“Big Rei” (“Rei-nii”). That’s different from Ichi-nii (what Saburo calls Ichiro) and could also be goroawase for 02.

Uni of Tokyo is the most prestigious uni in Japan. It has quite the reputation.

…is it just me, or does Makoto have a piercing in his left ear? IWGP also happens to happily work with my existing character, although said character has a piercing in his right ear.

Zero One kinda looks like Uta (Tokyo Ghoul), LOL.

…and of course the girl has to rely on the dude. *sigh* Welp, we can throw drugs off the list for “things that count as TV-MA to Funimation” – IWGP is rated M (not 15+ explicitly, but that’s what it stands for normally) in my region.

This ED song…that’s the sort of song I was expecting from HypMic, Akudama or this.

Seems both Makoto and Takashi have earrings…maybe in both ears? Takashi’s are yellow, I could confirm that much.

…this is decent, but putting it up against its competitors is a bit harsh.

Crusade 1 (cont. from sneak peek - it’s in the title here because this is where it’s completed)

Turns out that preview was most of the episode…like “14 of 24 minutes” long.

Wait, how did Alice fall forward and end up in the princess carry pose? I remember having trouble with that when a character in a story of mine had the same problem.

…Iska-nii…(?)

That opera house looks pretty darn modern to me…

…eh…that was middling. Nothing any ol’ adaption of Romeo and Juliet couldn’t do, bar the CGI for the magic fight in the middle. (There was a fluffy griffin thing in the middle there, though.)

Akudama 1

Ume + Kimura and a cool urban aesthetic. Let’s go!

This is kinda Tron-like, eh?

Ooh, now it’s more like Cop Craft.

Kimura seems to use his gruffer voice more than his Ichiro voice, but Ume is actually worse on that fron with his ordinary voice…Welp, at least his ordinary voice sounds like it fits right in with the Courier. I almost expect an Ocean’s Eleven thing (or Now You See Me, since I’ve actually watched that) from this. Update: Turns out Kimura is the pompadour guy, not the fighter.

You can tell Ordinary Person is an okay person because she keeps saving cats. A bit cliché, but it’ll do.

Ohhhhhh…I can see where this plotline is going. Ordinary Person pretends to be Swindler to get herself out of this mess, but then she keeps getting involved with the Akudama. It’s a typical plot for a typical gal, common to insert a viewpoint character in series that require one, or a magical girl ally.

Wow, those missiles look like a**.

LOL, Hoodlum’s sentence is kinda measly in comparison to most of them. Plus, when he yelled, that sounded more accurate to Ichiro than Fighter was, so…yeah, sorry I messed up.

…Ordinary Person has some real bullseye…uh, eyes.

This could be a top contender…aside from the CGI, which does look a bit funky. I’m getting a death game vibe here, but I don’t know if that’s really the case. Also, it’s a lot of fun, but the possible intolerable thing here is Ordinary Person’s screaming – the pretense she has to keep up seems like it’ll fit right in though.

JJK 1

I read the manga once, dropped it and then read it again and didn’t realise why I dropped it.

Fushiguro has long eyelashes, tbh. Itadori comments on that at one point, I think.

Oh, it was a fish (carp) in the manga. I couldn’t figure out what the Japanese equivalent was just from the Kokkuri board.

This track club teacher is a bit of a freak, honestly. Meddling in kids’ affairs is probably illegal to some extent.

Itadori is known as “tiger” because the kanji for “tiger” is in the surname. Update: Also, the Czech dude Mirko was called “the Croatian tiger”, if a tweet I read is any indication.

I like how there’s more comedy in this one. They show the world records, so you have standards to compare Itadori against.

This is an almost beat-for-beat adaption, bar the slight comedy of the records being added (and not explaning who Mirko is). The contrast makes this better.

“People really can die.” – That’s summoning some real energy of “People die when they are killed.”

(Brief thoughts on the dog and cat short: I enjoyed that more than I thought I would. The picture of a realistic cat – someone’s actual photo of their cat?- that serves as a punchline never gets old and in fact, sometimes contributes to the humour.)

HypMic 2

LOL, TV-MA warning strikes again.

“Kore wa prologue/Hajimete no ippo/Fumidasanai yatsu ni wa/???? shinpo.” – The translation is really good for the bits I can read…the problem is I can’t read the bottom left corner. Update: The part in the bottom left is nai...That’s it.

…uh, even people from around the world can read 24 hour time??? You don’t need subs to read Arabic numerals???

…couldn’t you have just told Ichiro verbally, Saburo…? Update: Come to think of it, kids these days are more on their phones than ever, so it makes sense but also kind of doesn’t.

You don’t really need subs for laughter either…

I’d never heard of “pulling rank” before…hmm: “to use one's high position in a society, organization, group, etc., to order someone to do something or to get special treatment or privileges.”

…and here comes the F word here to mess with us again. Japanese nastiness is conveyed using words that might be considered “soft” in English, hence the sudden jump to use the F word a bunch, but the subbers could use some variety in their swearing. I mean, “dips**t” worked where it did because subbers made Samatoki go overboard with the F word, but…you could stand to use that more, maybe(?)

I like how even the Tenderloins guy rhymes where he’s meant to. It’s the prelude to a battle, after all. (He kinda looks like Kotaro from Zombieland Saga.)

…I freaked out for a second. I swore I saw a similar-looking restaurant (udon shop, located on the left of one of the shots) while in Japan. Also, we finally get to see Ichiro’s reputation at work.

…I still have no idea what a “steelo” is after all this time, but I didn’t realise I was staring at a part of Ore ga Ichiro until I saw it in context. Also, it was kinda derpy – but still really in character – for Ichiro to run to his destination with his arms up like the Glico man in Osaka (except he had his head down).

I get a weird feeling the subbers may have used the wiki translation because I’m using it as a reference and the language seems oddly similar for the most part…

The kick Ichiro does seems like it references the OP.

Notice the location is Nishiguchi Kouen…the West Gate Park. *raises eyebrows at the IWGP anime*

…oh! It occurred to me that the sign the BB do with their hands is…well, a lowercase B. (LOL, if you read my previous line funny, it rhymes.)

Gentaro doing the peace sign to his chest…that was random the first time, because it doesn’t seem in character, but then it does for Dice and possibly Ramuda, so Gentaro probably just chose to go along with it (“to add to his image as a rapper,” maybe…?).

Oh, Saburo has airpods in…those aren’t good for blocking sound, are they…?

Notice the owl on the…uh, café(?)…Ichiro goes to.

That one “holy shit!” made me laugh like a madman. Where it came from, I don’t know, but it was so random I had to laugh at it.

This makes me wonder…if you use a mic that’s different to your personal mic, does it produce the same speakers? No one’s ever addressed that before (much like how no one questions if magical girls always need the same transformation device – I wanted to make a plot on that someday, but I can’t seem to find a comprehensible way to pull it off…LOL, that reminds me, I even had a HypMic version of that featuring Samatoki at one point, but it probably makes even less sense than the standard one because it activates via physical contact. It’s notable – in my head – for Nemu’s version of the “power” being “Samatoki can’t swear, no matter how hard he tries”).

I’m pretty sure that round thing wasn’t part of Ichiro’s rings, ever. (…Unless that was the head of his spoon or something.)

…Microwave? (referring to the shot inside the hospital, which seems to be based off ARB)

The series normally transitions from BB -> MTC -> FP -> MTR, so it was interesting to see that shuffled up. Update: That’s if it has to have an order, but notably ARB breaks this standard a lot by assigning colours to each solo and then arranging interactions based on not repeating those colours (aside from the Sky High Tower event). With 4 things there are 4! = 24 possible combinations and 6! = 720 possible combinations if you count DH and BAT, so as we move forward with those 2 divisions...prepare for more shuffling.

…is Jiro gonna steal a ball? I thought it was just bikes anime characters stole. (LOL)

The mic changes the background, too, huh? Never expected that from more than the speakers.

…and of course, s*** explodes and the day is saved once again....by the Buster Bros!!! (LOL, but also *sigh*)

Hmm, so this anime’s real plotline probably involves this trio: Rex, Tom and Iris. They’re probably foreign in some way, judging by Tom and Rex. Maybe they’re aligned with a foreign government or something? Update: If you look at the credits, their full names seem to be Tom Whisper Weathercock, Iris Innocent Traiter (sic) (LOL) and…Taroumaru Rex…? (romanisations confirmed for all katakana)

Sadamezuka was voiced by the ubiquitous Kenjiro Tsuda.

It seems Cola Bintarou (aka Subaru Kimura) was on the case again today. He wrote the new song for BB, called RUN THIS CITY, along with Gesshoku Kaigi.

Of course, I’m going to keep this anime on my list...I’m just a bit worried about myself going forward, because I realised my ego got a bit inflated trying to defend the series from haters. I’ve never had a series where I’ve been a fan from the beginning that wasn’t already a known quantity for a while (Muhyo and Roji’s, Furuba). With Boueibu, I was discovering things alongside other people (or even later in a lot of cases) since it was anime-original.

[houkagokappa]

Sarazanmai episode 10 thoughts and impressions

The episode opens with Mabu’s view of Reo as he’s holding him in his arms while he’s dying, which we saw in the after credits scene in dish 6. Thanks Sarazanmai for starting so lightly. 

Mabu wakes up at the otter hospital and an otter greets him. I like how the kawauso phrase is used. It means river otter, but taken apart the word is a combination of river and lie. The way the otter says it highlights the uso part, meaning lie, so sometimes when the otter appears and says it, it’s like it’s commenting on how what we’re seeing and hearing isn’t the truth. I’m including this thought here, but it’s better applied elsewhere/throughout the whole series.

The fact that Mabu was always the person he used to be is killing me. They both love each other so much! (I wrote “loved” but for some reason spell check wanted me to change it to “love”. You’re right spell check, they LOVE each other).

We’re only two minutes into the episode and Enta’s lifespan is looking short. I don’t like that one bit...

Turns out that the weird cylinder Kazuki was holding onto in the PV was Keppi. He got jellyfied, although I always thought it looked more like a cheese. Just my preference lol.

I’m not sure if I should feel shock or immediate acceptance by the reveal that Reo and Mabu are kappa as well. This matches with the idea I had of Sarazanmai from long ago, sometime last fall, when thought that ReoMabu and the boys would be on the same side, but aiming for the same thing for their separate personal goals and thus have some conflict (similar to how several characters all had good reasons to get the diary in Penguindrum and were fighting over it). I gave up on that idea and never fully believed they would be otters, but I didn’t think they’d be kappa! I really like this development. I never wanted them to be otters so I’m very pleased that they aren't. This raises some interesting questions in regards to the manga. Is it a sequel to the anime after all? Is that the happy ending they’ll eventually get?

We get confirmation that they were indeed working for Keppi. I believed so after dish 6, but then I wavered when they were so chummy with the otters in the following episodes. It’s weird to see Keppi, Kazuki and Enta be so ...okay in Reo’s presence after what he did to Enta. I love Reo, but I would be a lot more visibly scared of him if I’d be there. I also find it a bit odd how Reo brings them along, although they do have the last plate that he needs so that explains it. He might also be pleasing Keppi.

The “elevator” scene screams ikuhara to me. Reo also says his “that’s hilarious” line from the Tsunagaru PV, which I’ve been waiting to hear in the anime!

“No one hesitates to give up their connections for the sake of their desires” :/

The next scene hurts a lot. It’s painful to watch. The only good thing about it is the promise of a song...

I have to add that while I think Sarazanmai looks amazing, the animation for Reo and Mabu could be a bit better. It looks a bit off and wonky and rough most of the time, at least when we aren’t getting close ups of them. Those are usually beautiful. 

I like how Keppi is yet another Ikuhara character who got turned into two beings. 

I don’t like that the otter enters Enta through his nostril. ...I’m also not sure if it’s better than entering someone through their butt or not.

So the otter shape shifted into Kazuki! It’s sweet that Enta’s able to break the trance because of how strongly he feels about his connection to Kazuki. I also wonder if what he’s saying is supposed to mean that he has no interest in a relationship with Kazuki. I know that Sarazanmai or Ikuhara doesn't shy away from gay relationships, but a lot of anime do this thing where they have gay characters be okay just staying by their love interests side, and I’m not a huge fan of it, although that’s literally me haha.

Kazuki tries to sacrifice himself for Enta, but he’s not having it. GOOD. 

I love how Reo shows up at the right time to collect all the dishes. The scene where Mabu falls down and looks at Reo breaks my heart. No music and it’s prolonged, like torture. But ah, how good!

We get the eyecatch and I can’t believe we’re halfway through the episode. So much has happened, but it doesn’t feel like that much time passed yet. The item for this episode is ningyou-yaki. Mabu’s obsession and Reo’s treat.

Mabu’s judgement falls on desire so he gets turned into a zombie. 

Shoutout to the pose Reo makes, ass out for Keppi to turn him into a kappa. I enjoyed that and the yelling. “Sing that song!” has me so hyped. Oh how I've missed Sarazanmai no Uta!!

I’ve seen fanart of Reo as a kappa and it looked just like he actually does! I’m quite amazed by this. 

I love that Mabu’s backing his singing. It’s both cool and sad how they’re singing together, but as a kappa and a zombie, so they’re not really a pair. This scene makes me so emotional. I can feel myself crumple up, my heart is hurting and I’m forgetting to breathe. Watching Sarazanmai is a health hazard. 

Mabu’s desire is revealed to be staying by Reo’s side. In order to do that he had to give up his connection to him. He has always been the same old Mabu. Can you believe how much he must’ve hurt not being able to say anything to Reo, while Reo’s been rejecting him? Classic misunderstanding, Reo comes in at the wrong time, hears and sees the wrong thing. At least this wasn’t an instance where an explanation would’ve helped. It would’ve literally killed Mabu.

I can’t believe that we get to witness otter-Reo climb into bed to fool around with Mabu. I like that we’re getting both words of love and acts of lust for them, even if the circumstances aren’t optimal to say the least. It’s just nice to see their relationship, or what was/could’ve been their relationship confirmed like this. 

Mabu turned into a kappa as well! I really like these kappa, how small and kinda clumsy they are. Especially the sound effects of them dropping down. 

Reo’s whole world has been turned around and Mabu’s focused on their mission lol. Then the two of them connect through sarazanmai. “Reo to Mabu Futari wa Sarazanmai”, Reo and Mabu together they [connect through] Sarazanmai. Now we understand the title of their spin-off manga!

The leak gives us flashbacks that we’ve seen before. Reo sees and misinterprets the scene at the hospital, Reo doesn’t accept the new Mabu, and talks about Mabu betraying him.

Mabu is finally able to tell Reo that he loves him. My heart... MABU’S HEART! It blows up and Keppi assimilates Mabu’s desire. Now they get a new silver plate to replace the one Enta broke, so that’s good, but the world is looking bleak for Reo. 

There are some interesting things to be said about the rings, but it’s 3AM and I don’t have the capacity to go through them right now. 

I like the very amphibian/reptilian traits they’ve given Keppi. He falls on his back and has trouble turning around!

Reo goes crazy, and then the inevitable happens. Mabu was erased from this world so he’s starting to forget about him. This is just heartbreaking to watch!

There’s a gunshot sound and Reo falls down. I was almost expecting him to take his own life in his desperation, but it’s Tooi who shoots him. 

Fun fact about character names and romaji. Back when the Reo to Mabu manga was first announced I had to basically flip a coin and decide whether I should use Reo or Leo to refer to my favourite character. I picked Leo, because I thought it was more reasonable and likely to be used. If you go through my blog archives you can find some post where I use it, most notably the synopses I wrote for the chapters as they came out. I changed my mind sometime during the fall when few people and no official sources were referring to him as Leo. That was a good call on my end. However I have do a little cheer now when the レオ ring says Leo. Ha! That’s what I used to use for him!

While I was okay with switching to Reo to accomodate to the rest of the fandom, I’m still pushing hard for everyone to start using Tooi. Leo/Reo was a choice, but Tooi is just a fact.

Anyway back to the episode, Keppi says that ReoMabu can finally get some sleep, so that indicates that they’ll be back. Hopefully. Otherwise a lot of people will be mighty upset. 

I had no idea the sara accessories were actual plates. Does that mean that Sara’s could be a wish granting one that will come in handy? 

The last scene is so incredibly intense. For some reason I never really considered that Tooi could actually come and try to take the plates from Kazuki and Enta in order to save his brother. Well, in the end he didn’t do that and was very understanding of the situation which I gotta give him props for. 

The ED changed again, now that which used to be 3 and got turned into 2 is down to 1. (Shadow and seagull)

The after credits scene starts and Enta’s back! Thank the Great Kappa. Poor Tooi though. Dark Keppi is pretty terrifying. 

This has been a rough night. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but damn if I haven’t been through a lot to get there. 

Only one episode left and then my life will be over.

I seriously don’t know what I’ll do after that. Cry?

Cry and rewatch everything again. 

[imperfekti]

Tenimyu 3rd Season Nationals Rikkai First Half Review

In short: I love it.

This commentary is based on seeing it three times: the show started on a Thursday, and I saw in on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday day. I will not try to give an overview of everything that happens, just some things that were interesting for me. Includes spoilers.

The first big surprise was the addition of a new, unannounced character: Liliadent Krauzer is shown playing against Kirihara. I really liked that part - it’s a short scene, but always great to see rival schools playing against each other. I thought Lili looked pretty good, and he’s very tall so he really seemed like a foreigner against Kirihara, though the English was pretty awkward.

The beginning songs are really strong. I was also positively surprised by Echizen’s new opening song, and the current version of Winning Road, which I already loved before. The Rikkai teams songs are crazy strong in general. I was also happy for small ChitoKura and KenZai moments in the Shiten song, though some of them seemed to vary in shippiness level day by day.

One TezuFuji detail from the beginning: I don’t remember if this happened in previous seasons, but when Fuji is trying to predict a match result by using his cactus, he imagines it saying “yudan sezu ni ikou” to him.

Tezuka vs Sanada. I’ll be honest, I like Aoki in many ways as Tezuka, but it’s a problem for me that his delivery of lines is so soft and lacking in intensity. It’s especially noticeable against Sanada, who is very, very intense. That said, overall the match is great. Sanada’s shots all look like strikes of a sword - I’ve practiced the same Japanese swordsmanship as him, and it’s surprisingly similar. Very happy to also have a longer version of Tezuka Phantom now, and the new Shiten song about Tezuka is good too.

There’s a problem at the end of this match, namely the fact that after the match, it’s not only Fuji who goes support Tezuka, but him and Ooishi. I don’t know why they would diverge from the source material in a thing like this. After Tezuka sits down, Fuji stays close to him. Fuji gets Tezuka’s jersey to put it on his shoulders, settles to stand in front of him, and Tezuka looks up at him while they talk something inaudible by the two of them while the others get busy with Echizen. Fuji touches his right shoulder before going back to the seats.

Inui-Kaidou vs Yanagi-Kirihara. This match is very well done, I have no complaints. It could only be better if Ore no senpai and the InuKai songs in general were longer - I love their signing, and their connection as team members and doubles pair comes across so well. Kaidou especially is so cool in this match. One interesting thing I noticed within the three performances was a significant change in the way Kaidou delivers one specific line after he’s accidentally hit Kirihara in the face with a laser. In the first two performances, he said it in a calm and cool way. I thought it was very surprising, but liked it a lot. But then today, it was like his usual tough guy, bark-like style. I wouldn’t be surprised if people gave feedback on that part and it was changed. Anyway, Yanagi and Kirihara are doing a very good job in this match too. Their new song is good!

After some songs it’s time for break. The Shitenhouji gags after it have been funny on all days - they’re selling food and other things to the audience but start talking about other things, for example what they have been doing in Tokyo as tourists. There’s a funny bit about Shitenhouji vs Rikkai matches in last year’s nationals. Also, the new version of Pinch is great.

Fuji vs Niou. First of all, I know not everyone likes Minaki as Fuji, but I love him. This time, I thought his singing was the best yet. The first we hear it is during a new ballad-type song in which he reminisces about Tezuka and their promise. The lyrics are not all directly from the lines in manga, so we’re getting new content here. I’m still trying to figure out the full meaning of one key line, but I think this is something shippers will have reason to be happy about. Looking forward to seeing the kanji lyrics of this. The second song is Closed Eye. I love both Taito and Yata versions so I was a bit worried what would happen with this one, but somehow it gives yet another new and interesting tone for the song, so I love it this time as well. One really interesting thing here is that while Aoki is on the court, a double for Tezuka is clearly seen sitting on the benches. To me he looks great, and indeed surprisingly similar to Aoki. I’m super curious about this second Tezuka! I wish we could get some of him (and Lili’s actor) on the backstage eventually.

Niou is also good in this match. People had been wondering how he would do in the centre of the attention. I watched this part through binoculars on one day, and I’m happy to say he looks to be pretty comfortable! He has great expressions, including a somewhat mischievous/ominous smile that comes through several times through the song. I’m getting really attached to his tone of voice as Niou.

Then, when the match ends, comes my biggest complaint of the whole musical. They have changed the scene where Fuji asks Tezuka for a match. Unlike in the manga and previous musicals, where Fuji walks close to him and they grab each others hands, here Fuji stays in front of the benches while Tezuka stands on the upper stairs. They just say the lines, no touching takes place, and the scene is over. I really hope they will change it back to the real thing if enough people will give them feedback.

After that, the focus shifts to a quiet Yagyuu/Niou moment, and it seems to change slightly daily. I saw a serious one with Yagyuu encouraging and helping Niou get up, a funny one with Yagyuu literally lifting him up, and another funny one with Yagyuu making a silly pose apparently to make Niou laugh. After, they go to the seats in silence, gesture at each other and talk, and some mutual shoulder touching is happening.

Golden Pair vs Jackal/Marui. After the previous match, this one is a bit hard to focus on, but I have no complaints about anything. GP is cute as always, and it’s nice to have a doubles song rather than a Marui song from Rikkai. On the benches, Niou and Yagyuu have something going on that differs slightly daily, but they have been gesturing and talking something through the game, and sometimes also taking part in some dance moves. Seigaku benches are really empty by this point - only Tezuka, Fuji and Kawamura are watching the match.

The rest of the musical is about helping Echizen getting his memories back, and team songs, which, again, are really good and strong.

All in all, this is really a great musical with some of the strongest singing and dancing until now. I’ll be going to see this a couple more time while it’s in Tokyo, and then again in September. Looking forward to see how they will have evolved by then.

[norowareshimono]

Gray Log’s Monochrome Gallery: Hoshino’s Chapter Covers Selection

Other DGM translations

Presenting the chapter covers that Hoshino herself has selected with her commentary! It includes the her personal Top 3 too!

First place: 

Chapter 167 “Hint”

I like the balance of the whole picture and how it combines scariness and cuteness. You can feel the bond between them, but at the same time something feels off. Moreover, I think I did a good job at giving it a meaningful air.

Second place:

Chapter 193 “Friend”

My second favorite.

I drew this cover just after the last scene of the chapter, the one where Kanda destroys the rampaging Alma, and I remember being overcome with emotion. Alma had become very dear to me by then, so I wanted to give him one of his lovely expressions for last.

However, drawing him smiling was difficult to do. Regarding the letters saying “friend” behind Alma, they are supposed to be made with “blood.” Had this been a color page, I would have probably painted them in a black to red gradation, instead of pure black.

I’m sure this Alma is turning towards Yuu, a smile coming to his lips.

Third place:

Chapter 105 “A Stage in Rouge”

I adore Krory and Eliade’s tragic love.

It’s a pitiful one, but I love it (laugh) and I think this cover was able to express it well. I think it’s a shame that, due to time constraints, the rose garden in the background ended up looking so rough, but there is something in how you can only see Eliade’s shoulder that’s really sad and painful. The situation, with Krokins holding an umbrella, is cute too, to the point I feel like praising past me (laugh).

The Nominees:

Chapter 2 “Full Moon Night”

The current me wouldn’t ever come up with a composition like this, would I? There is something nostalgic in realizing that I once came up with these kinds of ideas. The resemblance to the movie “Nightmare before Christmas”, the likening of the end of the curtain to a city, the roses blooming from what appears to be a pool of blood… The me back then had some spooky yet cute ideas, didn’t she?

Chapter 43 “Laughter”

Of all the Tyki I’ve drawn, I think this one is the most handsome (laugh). Often, whenever I forget how to draw him, I give a look at this cover (laugh). It’s a refreshing image, very much like him. I like the simple background too.

Chapter 59 “White Heartbeats”

Miranda sitting with her legs crossed is a sort of refreshing sight, isn’t it? (laugh) The second uniform fits Miranda really well, so I’m glad I got to draw a full body picture of her.

Chapter 60 “The Path of Oath”

A back view of Allen and Tim, which sort of parallels the Mana and Allen cover that took first place. You ought to look at Tim’s shapely, terse butt! The tight line between its legs is especially cute!

Chapter 62 “Battle Plan”

This cover was drawn with just a pencil. It illustrates nicely the pencil’s characteristic softness, or so I think. After seeing this, I felt like drawing my manuscripts using a pencil (laugh). However, erasing the sketch seems like it would be a problem…

Chapter 85 “To Portray ‘Love’ in that Play”*

I like this one because of how well it fits the chapter’s title and how good is this composition for a cover. I was able to portray the uncanniness in Allen’s Innocence in it. It’s a good depiction in more than one sense, so I like it.

* Translator Note: I’m not 100% sure about this one, but I think this title may have a double meaning. The first, as seen above, being “to portray ‘love’ in that play” and the second “to portray ‘myself’ in that play.” アイ (pronounced ai) is in katakana, a strange choice if you were talking only about 愛 (also ai, meaning love). The only other option that makes sense in context is the English “I”, which is also written as アイ in katakana. Both are very fitting, so I think this was intentional.

Chapter 99 “Debt Crisis”

I was in a real hurry when I drew this one. I can clearly remember myself drawing in a rush with the calligraphy pen. The detailed parts, like the buttons or the hair, were made using a normal pen, but everything else was drawn with the calligraphy one.

Chapter 103 “An Unruly Child”

I like a lot of covers depicting Krory, don’t I? It’s the same pose I gave Allen in chapter 14, but it’s a good fit for Krory as well. I like it. The gentleman look is a good match for Krory, don’t you think? He’s tall too, and that gives him the air of a fashion model.

Chapter 119 “La + vi”

If you were to use only objects, I think this picture would be the only possible metaphor for Lavi’s character. The small objects within the coffin are all the things he has recorded in his travels. This represents that Lavi is empty inside, that he’s filled only with information. There is also a reason for the birdcage to be empty, but that’s still a secret!

I was able to cram a lot of information about Lavi in this one page, so I’m quite fond of it.

Chapter 123 “Voice of Darkness”*

I drew this as my idea of how Allen’s “Crown Clown” would look if it took human form.

* Translator Note: The furigana says こえ, voice, but the kanji is 吟, which means “recital” or “lament.”

Chapter 124 “Black Carnival”

This cover doubles as a panel of the manga, but I drew it so Allen and Tyki were the picture of “eeriness” and “fear.”

Chapter 130 “Eyes of Hatred”

I’m satisfied with how I drew Allen’s eyes here. Back then, that made me so happy. The smoke trail and the frills in Cross’ hand are lovely and well done too.

Chapter 132 “The Musician!!?”

After lots of worrying about this cover, I thought "let's include every element associated with Allen!" and this is how it turned out. This page took an unusual amount of time.

Chapter 138 “But Time Goes On”

Drawing this cover was fun. In Allen’s drawers there are only sweets (rations) and detailed debt accounts (laugh). The room is so small there isn’t enough space for two beds, that’s why Link is waking up an a futon.

Chapter 195 “Ripple”

I managed to draw a good pose here. There is no other character in DGM that could pull this off (laugh). At the time, my assistants thought that the flashing light over his head was hilarious (laugh), but I wanted to add it for the symbolism!

Chapter 198 “The Truth of the Barren Flowers” & Chapter 190 “The Garden of Barren Flowers”

After drawing this, I was filled with satisfaction. This cover marks the first appearance of Alma in a cover without a smile, I think. It’s an image of Kanda and Alma once they learnt the truth of the “Second Exorcist Project.” My goal was to liken them to lotus flowers, and I think I was able to convey that idea here. The cover, title included, forms a set with the one for chapter 190. They are standing outside the lotus at first, all to get inside at the end. The idea was to use these two pages to represent the beginning and the end.

Chapter 208 “We, Who Live Lost”

Those who depart and those who return. This image left a huge impression in me, as it was the first time I drew something with that kind of concept. It was really fun to do. Johnny’s pose is absolutely uncool, yet for some reason it makes me want to cheer for him. I like that about it.

Chapter 209 “In Search of A.W. – Travelling Companions”

I like this Reever. I want you, readers, to imagine who is in the photo he is looking at. Ehehe. What’s bringing out that smile?

Chapter 214 “In Search of A.W. – Awakening”

This was my first time drawing a full body picture of Nea. Just as the theme of “Kanda and company = lotus flowers” exists, the same goes for “Nea and company = the wind.” If you can perceive that more or less in this scene, that’ll make me happy.

[fraidycat-art]

Can you help me understand Corrin’s dragon form? If Corrin took off their armor, would the armor not appear on the dragon as well? How the hell do the arms work?? Are they bent like a horse?? Or just straight up backwards human elbows like it looks?? And the face? An egg with Horns and movable lower jaw?? How do you bite? I mean maybe this is just a partial dragon form? Because they get jaws in their half-state during crits (from their arms)

Can you help me understand Corrin’s dragon form?

yes but we’re gonna need this.

If Corrin took off their armor, would the armor not appear on the dragon as well? 

I mean, from how I understand, its a very real possibility. Proceed with warning because every dragon!corrin model is different i cannot make that distinction loudly enough, their differences are mostly skin-deep but on the sm4sh corrin model, there is a clear difference between flesh and scales - all in places that aren’t easily analogous. This makes it easy to group them when drawing, though!

The long neck, the tail, and the upper thigh/hips are particularly noteworthy for your idea. They are clearly muscled. You can also see it partially on the wings, but the torso plates stretch to it. Its particularly possible if you want to explore that area! I think that armor-swap versions of the dragon would be rad as hell.

How the hell do the arms work?? Are they bent like a horse?? Or just straight up backwards human elbows like it looks??

WELCOME TO MY SPECIAL HELL. This keeps me up at night! This very question has ruined me. That’s been the question every single time that I’ve drawn dragon!corrin (hence why I’ve drawn so many lately) but I think I’m finally settling on an anatomy that lets me rest. They are bent like a horse, and Corrin tries to move like a horse, it is not horse anatomy, but he is not structured like one. I’ll explain.

First off, let’s look at corrin with human-ish anatomy. Two arms, two legs. Normal stuff.

I use this most of the time, it allows for the front legs to twist enough to meet what Corrin does in cutscenes. The elbow is possible in theory, I try not to think too hard with this - its a simple re-arrangement at the elbow so that the radius lifts upwards. Up until rececntly, I really liked using this - its easy to remember and put my fucking soul to rest. Its really good, without collarbones the shoulder can be twisted any which way - the beauty of a girdle! I figured this was as close to what the actual inspiration was… until I really, really started thinking about why everybody thinks about horses first, and why human arms just… didn’t work. So come with me down this garden path, and look at this corrin with horse legs.

Horse legs are beautiful. They are nice and straight, they bear weight, and they have many points of articulation perfect for motion. Corrin does not have that, Corrin has one major joint and a wrist. See that horizontal bone under the scapula? that’s the radius, together with the scapula that makes the shoulder and the armpit.

However… corrin does not have a visible shoulder. Corrin also does not have an armpit. There is ribcage and then there is leg. That keeps me up at night. I had no explanation! Everything above the tibia and fibia do not exist in corrin. Every animal has that, but It just doesn’t fit! But… it works. When you look at corrin, you see a leg, and you see something along the lines of a horse. Here’s the kicker: there’s a reason you think of horses - despite everything.

for context: Here’s Spirit, an animated horse and source of my artistic inspiration! Dreamworks put a lot of time, effort, and money in order to animate Spirit as anatomically correct as possible. As you can see, it has the correct knee bend for Corrin, but it has a definite shoulder and armpit. So… why are we all thinking about horses when we see Corrin?!? He doesn’t have those!! He also doesn’t have hooves, or even a pastern! This was the first thing that ever struck me about Corrin - I’ve seen those legs on horses before. I’ve seen those legs a lot and I screamed every time I saw them. So why? Why are we thinking about horses when we look at Corrin?

Horses in anime are animated while extremely simplified. It saves on budget, but this means that it trickles down into manga - and eventually into regular art as well. Now take a look at Corrin again…

… I know… I know. Some dude in the design chair saw a huge quadrupedal animal, thought about horses, and drew the anime budget horse leg. Its actually a really prevalent trope! Corrin’s weird legs have been incorrect horse legs this entire time, right under our noses. I know dude - it flies in the face of all comparative anatomy, its wrong, no animal has hind legs for front legs. So the more you think anatomy for Corrin, the more misguided you become. So with this in mind, I personally threw anatomy away - yet it came back and hit me in the face again. Yeah you could get away with human arms for front legs, but… if we’re going for what the inspiration was…. if we’re cutting to the bone…

The front leg is a human leg with the toe bones re-arranged and stretched into a hand. It works better than human arms, in my opinion, as the extremely stout palm on the hand suddenly makes sense. The heel bone gives something for the thumb to anchor to. There is a tibia and fibia for rotation. There is a KNEE. A god-forsaken real knee. There is no scapula. There is no radius. There is, however, a brand new ball-in-socket joint in Corrin’s ribcage, which will wake me in a cold sweat once a month - but by god - THERE IS AN ANSWER.

As well, the human-leg-for-front-leg theory allows for the chest fuckery that the 3d models display. In both Sm4sh and Fates corrin is able to rotate the leg outwardly from the body to a truly startling degree. I briefly played with the idea of a two-hipped dragon. Corrin is a disaster and I love him. 

A note on the hind legs: Its the same mystery, but not one as enthralling as the horse connection. its another artistic trope found in folks who are just starting with animals (particularly cats and dogs) to have the femur and tibia+fibia all curled up like that w. elongated metatarsals - this makes the hind legs INCREDIBLY LONG, however it happens to match what our eyes see in an animal’s sillohuette.

(note: yes, corrin’s thighs are incredibly beefy as a dragon.) This isn’t fully extended in my opinion! with the human arm theory, I couldn’t tip the ribcage upwards due to the scapula, but I’m not joking when I say that Corrin can likely rest his whole body on his chest without losing touch of the ground with any limb. The hind legs are gigantic, but the proportions are too far away from a rabbit’s to be used for hopping. This is why in most cutscenes, animations, ect of Corrin he usually has his hind legs parked behind him or to the side of him. They’re too long! Corrin’s resting state for his hind legs is a crouch.

(pictured: corrin’s beefy dragon thighs. note the wide stance and parking! intsys why… i dont understand… why is the dragon thicc? to be analogous to corrin? is corrin thicc?!?)

TL;DR: Corrin’s legs do not have a comparative anatomy to any one singular creature, mostly due to its complete reliance on artistic tropes instead of actual anatomy. That doesn’t mean we can’t make sense of it with bones, however.

And the face? An egg with Horns and movable lower jaw??

Egg is a strong word for the shape Corrin’s face is. The sm4sh model is generous, face on and left-to-right, the head is so close to being spherical that it might as well be. north-to-south there’s a bit of a hump on the topside due to the exposed spine, it thins out near the nose just a smidge - but its a very, very slight egg shape. My rule of thumb is to just draw a rounded neck, pinch the end just a touch. There’s no notable jawline under the faux-jaw, thought the throat-latch may hang. If anything the base of the ear-tendrils could create one if need be but? for the most part, I really do just… not draw a head. 

if it looks like a ding-dong, you’re doing it right.

(see what i mean about how round it is? bonus: peep those front legs! posed as human legs would be, startled animals are stilt-legged. and the hind legs, as you can see, are struggling to exist.)

The jawbone is layered under the antlers. It hinges where the droptine from the eye meets the jawbone. I made the jaw a little long here, but the tooth area of the jaw never rests against the head. It doesn’t touch the head at all! Well, except for maybe near the jawline - again, just so I can sleep at night.

How do you bite?

Make no mistake - in reality Corrin cannot actually bite anything if he tried! A bite requires a scissoring of teeth, and Corrin doesn’t even have molars/carnassials - if he did, he could at least apply pressure from his head/neck and force it over the teeth but no... If he had an upper jaw, he could use a hatchet-style bite, but as-is the only effective bite would be more like a toothy uppercut. Note: both sm4sh and cutscene corrin detail the outline of teeth! however, heroes and game-model corrin do not.

the top of the ‘eye’ is longer than the bottom of the eye! This is true for every model of corrin. However, the actual size of the ‘eyehole’ is variable. Heroes corrin has a massive eyehole, sm4sh corrin has a very very tiny one. The actual antlers are a story for another day - they’re simpler than they look, but tough to explain.

I’m hopefully going to be making reference sheets for corrin! There needs to be more corrin in the world, and if i gotta pave that road… SO BE IT.

I mean maybe this is just a partial dragon form? Because they get jaws in their half-state during crits (from their arms)

GOD. THIS KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT STILL. I WISH CORRIN HAD ACTUAL JAWS. MAYBE HE DOES? MAYBE HE’S JUST HIDING THEM? LIKE I WANT THIS TO BE REAL SO BADLY. WHERE DOES THAT MOUTH COME FROM CORRIN!?? YOUR WHOLE DRAGON IS BASED ON BEING ENTIRELY UNNATURAL AND WRONG WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MOUTH??

[franeridart]

hey I hope you're happy (since you obviously deserve it)

!!!!!!!!!! Thank you??? I hope you’re happy too, anon!!!

Anon said:Wow Tetsutetsu and Kaminari like a couple? Really? Ok, that is interesting, but I don’t know if it is possible. Why do you put them together?

I mean, it’s a crack ship, being possible isn’t really its point haha they’re not supposed to make much sense, as far as canon goes? If I remember right they do come from the same prefecture, so maybe they knew of each other/ knew each other before UA, but as far as I’m concerned my interest in the ship comes from the quirk compatibility, really. It’s nothing I put much thought into, and I do have many ships for both of them I like better, but the idea of the two of them together is fun so why not

Anon said:The kamitetsu was really cute!!! It was also really super cute when two people spoke at the same time/had the same thought you mixed their colors!!! That was honestly a very nice touch and cute! I love your art it makes me so happy!

AHHHHH THANK YOU!!!!!! And I’m glad you liked that, for a while I thought mixing the colors like that was gonna make it confusing hahaha

Anon said:Just stopped by to say your artwork makes me so incredibly happy, and always improves my day!! I hope you have a great rest of the year because you deserve it!! Thank you for everything you do!

Sob thank you so much for taking the time to send this message!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!

Anon said:I’m sorry for clogging your inbox with this (you don’t have to write back), but wanted to say I hope you feel better real soon and also to say thank you (so very much!!) for sharing your art. Selfish of me to say so, but it really really has cheered me up after a bad day. Lots of love to you!

I’m!!!! So happy I could help you feel better, anon!!!!! I hope your day is going 100x better, right now!!!! And thank you for the well wishes ;u;

Anon said:have you thought about this or what do you think about it?: Tokoyami / Mina ?

Never thought about it before, actually :O but why not? I’m not sure they’d work as far as personalities go, but they’re definitely aesthetically pleasing next to each other! Their designs work well together haha

Anon said:*Climbs out of the chimney, covered in soot and very disgruntled* I’ll have you know, good sire. *Tips hat.* That I just read the entirety of the Dgray man because of your laven art. And I- *Dabs at eyes, voice cracking* -am having more feelings than I ever wanted.

AAAHHHHHH I’M SORRY FOR THE UNWANTED FEELS but I’m??? so glad you decided to check the manga out????????????? I hope you liked it oh g o d that manga is my life !!!

Anon said:This isn’t like a “secret request for a drawing” but don’t you think there needs to be a hug between Deku and All Might somewhere in the manga?!? I mean c'mon, Deku cries at the drop of a hat, someone give the boy a hug! Plus, I feel like All Might is a kind of father figure for Deku!! Sorry, I just needed to get that out XD. Love your artwork though!! My heart skips a beat at the sight of it. And my love for Baku and Kiri has been extended.

We actually had one tho!

an heartbreaking moment I 100% understand why you’d remove from your memory tbh, I cried, I’m still crying

Anon said:OOF i love your OCs..

Anon said:Heyyy I just wanted to say that I love your art with all my heart and the cat person/dog person one was so lovely.. I’m weak to kiribaku with animals.

So am I anon aaahhhhh !!!!!!!!! and thank you so so so so so much!!!!

Anon said:Just curious… do you have a personal favorite of your own art that you’ve posted?

Hmmmm not really, but if I had to pick one it’d be this one (which… does say something about my process and how to make it better……..) (a something I’m willingly ignoring) anyway usually what I’m the most satisfied with is the last thing I’ve posted haha

Anon said:Your art style brings out Kirishima’s adorableness even more. Holy heck I love how cute he is when you draw him. (And Bakugou and the rest of the kids too!)

THANK YOU!!!!!! I think it might be because I find him so incredibly cute, so I try to portray just how cute I think he is the most hahaha I’m glad I’m managing that well enough!!!!

Anon said: Hello~ Sending some love because you deserve it! I was having a shitty day (as always for me these days) and saw your Baku and Kiri cat & dog art and instantly felt a little better. My heart always feels lifted, and a smile replaces my tears, when I see your beautiful art! Even the kinda sad ones. If my heart hurts a bit from the sad arts, at least it’s because of the love expressed in the piece, and not heartache from personal things. Thank you, as always, for sharing your work.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for the kind words oh my god!!!!!! ;O;

Anon said:IS BAKU WEARING A RED RIOT SHIRT AND DOES THE DOG HAVE A RED RIOT PAULDRON COLLAR AND IS KIRI WEARING A BAKU SHIRT

YES TO ALL OF IT!!!!!! :D

Anon said:i just want to tell you i’m now 10000 times gayer than i was before i’m blushing so much at your latest bakushima art… it’s sososo Good, i love you

:O thank you!!!!! I love you lots too!!!!

Anon said: I see you ship Bakugo and Kiri together. Why do you ship them? Just wondering cause i love hearing why people ship certain people. P.S: i soooooooo ship them as well.

God, that’s one hard question to answer easily - I somewhat talked about it here? tho it was more specifically about why chapter 90 kills me haha but yeah to sum it up I’d say that my favorite ship for Kirishima is Bakugou because I think he’s the one that understands Kirishima best, the one that’s been there the most for him when Kirishima needed it, the one that always knows what to say to him and the one Kirishima holds onto when he needs strength, he’s the one that’s shown the most concern for Kirishima and the only one that’s actively done something to make him feel better when Kirishima needed it. He’s the one Kirishima gravitates towards the most and the one Kirishima shows most sides of himself to, too. And my favorite ship for Bakugou is Kirishima because Kirishima’s the only one that actually tries to see behind Bakugou’s anger, the one that since the start looked at him rage and saw a teen in pain, the only one that actually knows how to talk to him and the only one that doesn’t even need to try, he’s just naturally Bakugou’s perfect match in personality. He’s the one that likes Bakugou as he is, for what he is, not part of him but all of him, completely. He’s the one that’d risk his life for Bakugou no questions asked, and he’s the one Bakugou’s the most willing to spend time with, the one Bakugou talks to and shares with and accepts help from. 

I like the relationship they share with each other the most out of every other relationship they have with other characters because they’re comfortable with one another and care for one another in an active way, do everything they can to make sure the other is happy and safe. Because they’re each other’s strength and greatest ally and best friend. I like that they’re aware of each other, that they know each other, that they like each other - not in a subtext kind of way, but in an obvious, on screen, there-was-a-chapter-in-which-that-was-actually-spelled-out way. I like how Kirisihima always knows what’s up with Bakugou, and I like how he’s the proxy to go to when people don’t know where Bakugou is, and I like that he always knows. I like that it’s implied they spend a lot of time alone together. I like that Kirishima said that Bakugou has a broken way of talking, but he isn’t a bad guy and he can’t say he dislikes how Bakugou tends to make enemies left and right, and I like that Bakugou took his hand and smiled at him. I like that Bakugou never yells at him and always calls him by name and never ignores him, and I like that Kirishima calls him out on his rudeness but still likes him and supports him and follows him. I like their relationship the most because it’s the most important relationship for either of them, because it’s healthy and equal and happy, and I ship it because seeing it as romantic from where they stand now, to me, isn’t a huge step at all

And I like this ship above any other ship, even above the ships with other characters that share similar relationships as far as support and love goes, because they’re fun, and rowdy, and bright and loud and dynamic, and I have fun thinking about them interacting more than I have fun thinking about anyone else. And because they’re separately my favorite characters, and I think together they’d be the happiest they could ever manage, and I really, really want that for both them. To be happy with the person that understands them the most and loves and supports them the most, and with whom they can be the most comfortable and open and at peace. I think they could be home to each other, really. They’re a pretty obvious ship, to me haha

Anon said:My dude! Have you seen the trailer for the new Guillermo del Toro movie? Shape of water? It has some similarities to your shark kiri au!

I’ve read some things, yeah :O hadn’t really linked it to the AU tho, that’s an interesting observation !!!!

Anon said:the RR on baku’s wristband is for Red Riot, i assume? :)

YESSSS I tend to dress Bakugou in Red Riot merch a lot hahaha

Anon said:FRAN oml those bakugous??? Are amazing???? I love love love the lines so much they look so good and clean and sharp and I don’t have words but they’re just so so good the poses are amazing and ahhhhhh you did??? So good?? I feel like you’re constantly improving so much it’s amazing ahhhhhh I’m so in love w ur style I !!! Hope ur having a lovely day!!! Bless you

THANK!!!! YOU!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!! Holy shit I’m crying !!!!!!! g o ds o

Anon said:Hi! I’m new to the BNHA fandom, and really love your art! I’m just starting to get into BakuShima and TodoDeku too, but just a couple days ago I read you say that MomoJirou are also pretty obvious about their gayness, including one time you saying you’re completely sure Kirishima and Jirou have a crush on those two canonically and, could I ask you to explain this to me? I’m all about it, this is not a complain! I just want to know more about them, thank you!

I wouldn’t say they’re canonically into them, but I do feel like, if I were to point someone they might be romantically into, that’s who I’d point to hahaha but yeah Jirou and Momo! They haven’t appeared much in canon so after all there isn’t too much behind the ship, more for shortage of scenes than anything else, but Jirou tends to blush a lot around Momo, she’s really protective of Momo, she’s pointed out how cute Momo is on more than one occasion, and their friendship is seriously cute - they’re always together? And when they’re not Jirou gravitates towards Momo a lot, you see her in the background waving at Momo or walking towards Momo really really often - of course all of these things can (and most probably are) just proofs of their being best friends! But it’s a good relationship I love a lot, which is why I ship it~

[pinktatertots99]

an artist, through and through

ok I'm gonna write something that's actually good (HAH yeah right) and to do that, I'm writing about a ship that, oddly enough doesn't get a lot of attention.

story takes place years after nanba. nico and rock are around their late 20's in this. (26/27 and 29.)

warning for swearing (obviously) and a suggestive/slightly nsfw scene later. note: the lines that come in the middle are to symbolize a scene taking place shortly after the first scene. (kinda similar to how the series and many other animes do.) and the one in the middle is to symbolize that the next part takes place on another day. (hopefully this makes sense lol sorry if it doesn't).

(name of the fic is a lyric to a ken ashcorp song. guess what it is~)

the scratching of a pen filled the mostly quiet room as nico sketched on the piece of paper on his desk. said desk was scattered with finished colored pages, other blank drawing pages for later, pencils, pens, a corkboard with pictures and sticky notes and a lamp that was located above the piece of paper he had.

despite being completely concentrated with the piece, his ears perked at the sudden sound of keys jingling from the other side of the door. he continued to stay focused though as he heard the door unlock and slowly crack open, and then fully open, the door silently, or as silently as it could be closing, and light tiptoeing of work boots on the floor.

"I can hear you." he said. the boots stopped instantly. "sorry. didn't know if you were busy inking or somethin'." rock replied, heavy footsteps moving to the back of nico's chair, strong and hairy arms coming down on him and slowly encircling him.

he stopped the strokes he was doing to put his hands on said arms. "so, this the new chapter?"

"yep! I'm halfway there!" he announced throwing a fist in the air.

"so you gonna let me take a peek?" rock asked tilting his head to see the page. nico huffed his cheeks out. "no! that'd be spoilers! and I'm NOT gonna let you see till it's done!"

"aw c'mon. just a little peak?" he teased. nico threw his hands in the air to his face, trying to keep him from looking any closer. "AAAAAUUUUUGH NOOOOOO!"

_____

"by the way, I gotta go to a store. can you come with me?"

"sure."

at that nico went to take out a pair of sweat pants, a hoodie, sunglasses, gloves, and a medical mask. why didn't he ask him after he got in his disguise? he thought to himself.

after nico prepared himself the two were off. all of this was so weird to rock as they walked. he knew nico's fixation on manga and anime and comics would leave him inspired to make something, but he along with the rest of the guys never thought that it would lead to him actually succeeding in it.

once he mailed his manga idea all of them were ready for him to be denied and comfort him. it left them surprised when he got the memo back that the company liked his idea and wanted him to make it, which he got around the time they all left prison.

after that the two were able to get their own apartment together and rock got into working in construction, just to make a little extra for food and bills. that and boredom strikes fast when your not escaping from prison or fighting anyone.

the change though to only him and nico being together was still something he was getting used to, even if it's already been a while since they left prison. they were still able to keep in contact with everyone but it was a little hard getting used to not having two extra roommates to come back to. one advantage though was that now the two didn't have to worry about any...accidental walk ins from anybody. they still had to keep quiet due to neighbors but it was manageable.

his sudden trip down memory lane stopped once he saw nico had stopped. the otaku then took two steps forward and pointed in n overly dramatic anime pose. "THERE IT IS!" he announced. rock looked to see he was pointing at a clothing store.

he was a bit disappointed cause he thought they were gonna go to the grocery store or something. he had run out of purple dye a while ago and had been meaning to get some more but forgot. now his hair was mostly red with the purple on the tips of his hair, taking a bit of a darker shade. but oh well he suppose he'll have to go himself sometime. cause he sure as hell wasn't gonna wait another week to go back and get it. though it was odd that nico wanted to go here specifically. but rock had a feeling he knew why he wanted to come here.

the two entered the shop with nico seeming to already know exactly what he wanted, as he dragged rock to one of the clothes racks and then to the dressing rooms, holding an outfit.

"I need you to wear this." he said, and held out a-...oh no. a school girls uniform. it was the typical white short sleeved blouse with red bow n the middle and blue skirt. it seemed to have been a costume though, given that it was all connected. he sighed.

"uh, yeah, I can't wear that." nico pouted angrily at him. ho boy, here they go.

"but what about that time hitoshi-san made us all dresses-"

"it's not a skirt thing I just- it won't fit."

"poppycock." and with that nico opened one of the open dressing rooms and walked in. after a bit he came out, wearing the dress. rock could feel his face get hot.

"see. if it can fit me than it can fit you too!" he stated.

"that's kinda the opposite of what you meant."

suddenly the two heard snickering and looked over to see a small group of boys snickering and playfully whistling at nico, and saying stuff that rock couldn't understand but he sure as hell had a feeling of beating them up now. though he halted it once he saw nico giggling at them and posing at them.

"heehee they like it."

"uh nico. I don't think their serious about all that."

"hm? well too bad for them cause I'm gonna take these as genuine compliments."

"n-ni-ko-sensei?!"

the two looked over to see two highschool girls looking at nico in disbelief. they must've been fans considering they knew nico somehow and, looking closely, rock could see one of them holding one of nico's manga series chapters.

the three then started talking, with nico talking in perfect Japanese. it wasn't much of a surprise though, not only did he consume a lot of anime and manga but he also ended up gaining a disease where if he hears a certain language, he can speak it fluently. he didn't catch onto much of what they were talking about, Japanese being his weakest in understanding beside a couple of phrases and words but that was about it. all he could get out of it was the two were talking about his manga being great and all that.

incidents like this didn't happen a lot shockingly enough. nico tried hard to keep from anyone seeing him and disguising himself. but something would come up and it'd end with him undisguised and getting noticed by fans. not all their interactions were bad most of the time, despite wasting time. some were nice, some were weird, and some were just...ugh.

if they were ever together when those type of fans came around rock was instantly there close to nico. though he has heard that the times he wasn't around nico had to bear with those types though it usually ended with him saying he was very busy and couldn't stay. he did though buy a pepper spray JUST incase, so rock was fine with it.

he didn't even notice the girls had left already and nico had come back from the dressing room in his disguise again, with the outfit in tow.

"okay! we can go." he said. he paid for the outfit and the two left.

===

after they got back, nico undressed himself from his disguise...and then undressed himself suddenly from his actual outfit, causing rock to jump at the suddenness of it. thank god their place was on a higher level and they didn't have to worry about strangers walking by the window and seeing.

the smaller male then grabbed the bag from rock's grip and pulled out the dress and started dressing himself up in it. "could you get my camera?" he asked. rock obliged and went over to the desk and opened the top drawer on the right, pulling out a large camera.

turning around he saw nico had already put on the school shoes and white stockings that matched the outfit and was currently ripping the small bag with hair accessories that also came with it. after nico put whatever accessories he wanted in his hair, which was a red scrunchie and two hair clips he went over to rock and started pulling him to a part of the room and commanding him to be in a specific position.

"ok!" he said as he walked away and got into a running position. "make sure you take a couple okay?"

"ok."

"and try not to let your big fingers get on the lens."

"got I-wait hey!" nico giggled at his reaction. turning on the camera and putting his finger lightly on the button, he was ready. "ready?" "yep!"

they took a couple pictures before nico told him to stop and went to look at them. he smiled "THESE ARE GREAT!" and with that he took the camera and went back to his study, quickly getting to work on his next page.

"neh rock." rock raised his gaze from the magazine he was reading and looked to see nico, looking a bit...nervous? he was blushing, his gaze was going anywhere but him, and his smile was weak. he wanted him to do something for him he thought. this was always how nico reacted when he needed something.

"yeah?" he asked. nico's face got redder as he rubbed a finger on his cheek, mumbling. "uh...um...could you uhm, c-could you maybe, uhm..." he then pulled one of his arms from behind his back and both his hands grabbed what it was in his grasp and pushed it to him. "c-could you uh...wear...this?" he asked.

rock took it and feeling it it was an outfit. he turned it over to see a red bow tie on a white short sleeved shirt. coupled witht the shirt was a matching blue skirt. oh god he thought. not again.

"nico I said I can't wear-"

"I-I know but, I got you one in a size that'll fit you." he smiled. "it was actually the biggest size!"

"that's...nice." rock muttered, not exactly thrilled at that statement. "is this for a reference? why not just wear your outfit and I take the pictures like last time?"

"I...forgot." rock squinted at nico suspiciously.

nico clasped his hands together. "please. please. pleeeeaaaaaase. it's only a couple of photos I promise!"

rock sighed in defeat at nico's begging. if it was only a couple of photos then fine he guessed. though, he was gonna close the window just to be careful. "alright." he agreed. nico cheered in victory as he turned around. "ok. get dressed. I'm not peaking."

"you DO know you've seen me undressed before right?"

"I wanna be surprised!"

---

this was so awkward rock thought as he stood fully in the outfit. he knew regardless if it was the largest size it wouldn't exactly fit well. the top looked more like a tank almost crop top that showed his abs, the sleeves were a bit tight around the shoulders, but the skirt wasn't that bad but he naturally pulled it down a bit, not used to it. the shutter sound of a camera went off as he did that and he looked back to see nico.

"that was a nice one! very natural." he said.

"yeah yeah very funny. so, what'dya want me to do?"

nico then quickly pointed to their bed. "get on the bed." rock looked over at it, back at nico and back at it again. "heh, you sure this is for a reference? or was that an excuse for something else?" he teased. nico flushed and stuck his tongue out. "nyeh."

the hefty male decided to go along with the artist's demand and went to lay down on it. "ok, now put your hands behind your head, curve your leg up a bit, and try to look relax." the otaku ordered. rock complied. "lower the leg a little. little more. aaaaaaand there! perfect!"

rock could hear him getting the camera ready. "try to relax a bit."

"I am."

"your faking it. c'mon just pretend I'm not taking a picture of you in a school girls uniform."

"that doesn't help."

"just relax. like you usually do." at that rock took a deep breath in and out slowly, relaxing. the camera shutters went off multiple times till he hard them stop and the pitter patter of feet walk towards him. "that all?" he asked.

"not yet. I need close ups now." nico said. he then caught rock by surprise as he moved ontop of him, straddling him a bit. "wh-what are you-" "just relax. just keep the relaxed look and look as if your looking up at the ceiling." rock calmed himself again and did just that. after a few pictures nico told him to side eye the left side, and then after that the right.

"could you...lean up a bit?" nico asked. rock leaned up a bit on his elbows. he got a closer look at nico's face. he could see the deep blush on his cheeks and the look of lust and he swore hearts in his eye. he looked so cute. the burly man ended up turning his head to the side blushing a shade of pink, and the shutters went off again.

"that's...that's a good one." nico muttered. rock just chuckled silently. "y-yeah...very funny." he muttered as nico leaned over to the nightstand next to their bed. "so...is that it?" "just one more thing." he hummed, putting the camera down on the table and moving back. before rock could ask what he needed to do, his mouth was suddenly captured by nico's, kissing him.

the sudden kiss caused him to fall back on the bed as nico started to lick his mouth, wanting entrance. rock complied and the two's tongues started wrestling. he had a feeling his eyes weren't playing tricks on him earlier when he thought he saw...something in nico's shorts. the two made out heatedly, with nico's hands suddenly moving under his shirt and gripping his chest, twisting his nipples.

that was enough for him to sit up and quickly push nico down, kissing and touching him roughly. in the past he's tried to refrain such animalistic instincts when it came to nico pushing those right buttons. but after finding that he started to purposefully push them and infact liked when he got a bit crazy he refrained the inner animal less.

after a while they broke off, panting with a saliva trail following. "so," rock panted, wiping the saliva. "I guess...that need for a reference...wasn't the only reason you wanted me to do this right?"

"h..hah, yeah." nico replied. "but...this wasn't..the only reason I wanted you to do this." rock raised a brow at that. "actually, the other reason I wanted you to pose was because...well, you taking pictures of me posing...weren't that great."

that comment immediately caused rock's mood drop dramatically. "I mean," nico continued. "they weren't BAD but, y'know. they weren't great. but they DID work as a good reference. from what I was able to work with." he muttered the last sentence but rock heard it clear as day. he quickly got off of nico and walked in the direction to the bathroom.

"wha-wait rock! where you going?!"

"getting changed."

"what?! but-but I- but we haven't- ROCK COME BACK! ROOOOOOOOOCK!"

that night the poor fool of an otaku had to unreplenish his sexual desires by fapping to the reference pictures he took earlier. and then proceeded to sleep in his soft and squishy bean bag and blanket, considering that he was also kicked out of bed that night.

[lovechuunyuu]

Haikyuu!! Event - 4/30 Fan Report

I got to attend the Haikyu Event: Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa on April 30. I decided to make this into a day trip so I went to Tokyo by bus and took the train to Maihama. The event was held in Maihama Amphitheater and I didn’t buy any goods this time. 

This is the visual for the event!

Seiyuu Cast who Attended:

Karasuno: Murase Ayumu (Hinata), Ishikawa Kaito (Kageyama), Uchiyama Koki (Tsukishima), Saito Soma (Yamaguchi)

Shiratorizawa: Takeuchi Ryota (Ushijima), Kimura Subaru (Tendo), Toyonaga Toshiyuki (Shirabu), Tsuchiya Shinba (Goshiki) 

Yes... I had to take a pic of my biases together. XD

The interesting thing about this event was that when you apply for tickets, you can apply for a Karasuno seat or a Shiratorizawa seat. From the audience’s point of view, half of the left side is all Karasuno seats and the right half is all Shiratorizawa seats. I had a Shiratorizawa seat.

The event started with a picture of chibi Shiratorizawa team talking followed by Karasuno. They basically say that we should cheer them on. It was nice to see the left side with a lot of orange penlights and the right side with a lot of purple penlights.

Then Burnout Syndrome came out and sang the third season opening: “Hikari Are.” Then they sang Fly High. I really love that song!! They were so cool!!!

After that, all of the seiyuu came out one by one in their respective team’s shirts (Karasuno wore bright orange and Shiratorizawa wore purple) that were sold at the venue. Karasuno seiyuu came out first. They were fairly normal. I remember Ishikai jumped when he came out. When Shiratorizawa came out, it was like bam! LOL Tosshi came out without glasses and did a pose with both his hands above his head, arms folded against one another (I believe this is Shirabu’s pose on the visual). He was wearing mustard yellow pants. When Subaru was coming out, he looked like he was about to come out but went past the entrance backstage. LOL

The order from left to right was Soma, Ucchi, Ishikai, Ayumu, Takeuchi, Subaru, Shinba and Tosshi.

Each of the seiyuu gave an introduction.

For Soma’s introduction, he went “Tsukki!!!” Of course… he did that. xD Then he did a call and response. (Call and response is very common in self introductions). He said, “When I say ‘Gomen ne (Sorry)!!’ please say, “Tsukki!” And we did it. xDDD

Ishikai stumbled over his introduction LOOOL. xD

Karasuno sorta “bullied” Shiratorizawa by mentioning that they won a lot (referring to the Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa match). All of the Shiratorizawa seiyuu started throwing a tantrum by stomping their feet and looking frustrated. Hahaha. XD

Subaru got shorts that came down to his knee and matched his T-shirt. Someone commented that he looked like a crayon. Subaru also did a call and response. I believe it’s his catchphrase. He said, “When I say this, say that!” He didn’t even say the lines because we should know it and we said something with “kokoro.”

For Shinba’s self intro, it’s apparently his first time ever attending an official seiyuu event! He’s so cute! He did a call and response and went, “Hajimemashite! (Nice to meet you!)” And we said it back. Someone commented that Shinba can only say that once because it’s his first event ever. XD (And saying “Nice to meet you” would be strange.) Shinba wore the complete Shiratorizawa jersey (jacket and pants) and said that he wears it to his recordings too. <333 How cute is that? XD

For Tosshi’s self intro, he said, “I am Shirabu Kenjiro.” LOOOL. XD Eventually he suddenly said, “When Ushijima (Takeuchi) says, “Right!” we turn right and when he says, “Left!” we turn left. LOL So Takeuchi started saying, “Right, left, front, and “wave” and the other Shiratorizawa members did it as if they were in the army with their backs straight and hands to their sides. XD This was when I thought, man… Shiratorizawa seiyuu are so crazy but so interesting and fun! They get along so well!

Then I think… it was this part but both teams chose a “leader.” Karasuno chose Ayumu and Shiratorizawa chose Takeuchi. They both went to the front and greeted us and put their hands in the air while saying their names and so on. Shiratorizawa had their hands over their hearts while this was happening.

Then they had us do the cheer that the fans do in the bleachers in the anime. Ishikai led the Karasuno side of the audience. Fans had to say, “Go go Karasuno, Push push Karasuno!” That side did a practice round and because Ishikai is a strict teacher, he went,” That was only 20 points,” and had them do it again XD Subaru led the Shiratorizawa side. (I couldn’t remember how the chant went for Shiratorizawa but eventually got the hang of it). Shiratorizawa fans go, “Shiii, ratorizawa!” And clap three times, then once, and then twice. XD It was really fun doing the chant.

After that, they left the stage for the staff members to set up the stage.

For the Haikyuu!! event, there were five sets, as if they were playing a volleyball match in the finals (think Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa match). The MC said that there will be a chance to make a comeback in the end, Someone went, “Is it really okay to say that already?” And another commented, “So even if we are in the lead, the opponent in the fifth set can suddenly make a comeback?” Basically implying that all their hard work from the first to the fourth seat won’t even make a difference. XD This is really common though. xD The winning team wins high-quality and expensive meat tickets (not exactly coupons…but you get what I mean)!

First Set: Best Scene

Each character had a best scene. The results were based on the fans votes for the best scene for each character. This was actually an online survey that fan could vote on. Then the seiyuu who voiced that character talks about it. 1st place gets 3 points for their team and the top 2 to 5 get 1 point for their team.

The MC announced the top five, from number five to number 1.

5. Ushijima scene where he goes, “Like Tendo always says, “Nottekita.”

4. Hinata scene where it looks like he grew a pair of wings.

3. Shirabu scene where he’s focused on giving his all for Ushijima.

2. Kageyama scene where he failed to get the ball and Tendo tried to provoke him but it didn’t work.

1. The obvious number 1 was, of course, the Tsukki scene where he yells. During this scene, Soma screamed, “Tsukki!!!!” It was super adorable. XD

The MC asked the seiyuu/characters that weren’t in the top five about their thoughts. Shinba was so cute when he said, “Oh, I was shocked that I wasn’t up there…” He said it all genuinely and like a kicked puppy, all disappointed. Asldk XD Ishikai said Tendo was basically in every best scene shown and had the most lines in there too! At one point, he imitated Tendo’s moves. Subaru also talked about how he was a test recording or something (they kept saying test.. not sure what that means) and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to sing his signature little song with heart breaking in the lyrics. He had read the manga and everything but he wasn’t given any direction as to how to do it. Apparently the director just left the song up to him. He could do it however he wanted. And this was how it ended up. Subaru wondered if how he did the song fit the character and we clapped (meaning it really did!).

At this point, Karasuno was in the lead, 5-2.

Second Set: Ball Control

Each team chooses one member to represent them. That person has to hold 4 volleyballs (the balls are HUGE) first and the other members add a ball and hold all of them for five seconds (the au before another ball is added. If the person drops the ball, then it’s over. The person gets the number of points equal to the number of balls he manages to hold.

Karasuno went up first and Ishikai got chosen. Ishikai only got to a total of 6 or 7 before a ball slipped from his arms. Ayumu apologized to him saying it was his fault. When he placed an additional ball, that was when Ishikai dropped the balls.

Shiratorizawa team took off their jackets to prove that they were serious about winning. Takeuchi was chosen for Shiratorizawa and he suddenly laid down!!! Karasuno went, “Wait, is that even allowed??” And the MC said it was okay as long as the balls don’t touch the ground. Takeuchi managed to get to a total of 12 balls!!! It was really amusing seeing the balls on his body.

Someone suggested that Ishikai do it again except laying down this time and the MC said that was fine but he would get no points for doing it. Ishikai reluctantly did it and held 15!! Ishikai said that he couldn’t even keep track of how many balls were being placed on him and Takeuchi said that once they put a ball on your face, then all is lost (like you can’t think anymore). XD

Third Set: Quiz

They show a scene and then ask a question relating to the scene. Karasuno and Shiratorizawa has to write down the answer on the sketchbook provided. Both teams were given one sketchbook so each team had to work together to come up with an answer. Let me tell you, Shiratorizawa team was overall very interesting to watch. XDD

1. What is the kanji for Reon?

This question took a lot of time for both teams to answer. xD Shiratorizawa tried to cheat by asking the audience and looking over at Karasuno’s table… Karasuno tried to do the same thing too. XD At one point, Tosshi tried peeking and a few fans pointed him out. Then Tosshi said, “ You’re not supposed to rat me out! Because I’m supposed to be plain and not noticeable (reference to Shirabu’s character where he doesn’t stand out).

Both teams ended up getting the answer right.

2. What did Kiyoko say after Suga exclaimed, “Wait until we marry!” when she held Suga’s hands to calm him down.  

Both teams tried peeking again. XDDD

When they both revealed their answers, they were both VERY similar except Shiratorizawa team added in “because.” Ishikai said he has confidence because he loves Kiyoko and that’s why he remembers what she said. XD

Answer: “No thank you. I don’t plan on getting married with you.” Although both of their answers weren’t written exactly as said, a point was given to Karasuno for giving the closest answer. XD

3. What did Semi (Terashii) say after Tendo sing-songed weirdly?

Karasuno wrote, “Crow field.” I kid you not; Crow field was written in English props to Ayumu. XD Ayumu explained the answer as “Karasuno.”

Subaru saved the day. He wrote, “Block,” which was the correct answer. XD

4. What did Yamaguchi say to Tsukki which got him mad?

Answer: “Don’t lose to Hinata!”

Both teams got it right. I was really surprised because Shiratorizawa wrote down the answer pretty fast.

5. What is Reon and Semi eating in the cafeteria scene?

The food that they were eating was covered with a white fuzzy spots. But a slight hint was given because there was a salad on Semi’s plate and a huge bowl or rice on Reon’s plate. It was actually a difficult question. The MC gave them a hint, saying that the food on their plates were both different and Reon was eating something high in calories.

Ishikai was drawing the answer to the question. His fellow members went, “What’s that!?” and laughing uncontrollably. At one point, Ishikai stomped off the stage out of anger and then came back after the Karasuno members told him to come back. Ishikai put the blame on Soma. XD At another point, Ucchi tried peeking at Shiratorizawa’s answer and Subaru blocked his view. XD And when Ucchi went back and looked at Ishikai’s drawing, he went, “Wait, what happened!? What’s this?” Hahaha. XDDD

Ishikai finally showed his drawing. The drawing of their guess for Semi was a bit weird. Hahaha but it was a drawing of curry and rice. XDD They guessed that Reon was eating fried fish or something. Then Ayumu showed us Ishikai’s first original drawing and said that he improved greatly. When we looked at the first drawing, we were like, “Oh my god… what’s that??” And Ishikai got really embarrassed and sat under the super small table they were using, all huddled up with his knees up against his chest and looking sad. XDDD Dawww

Shiratorizawa answered with “Semi” (actually I’m not sure why that was the answer) and oil (because the MC said it was something high in calories). XDDD

Answer: Curry and karaage (chicken)

1 point went to Karasuno.

For one of the questions, someone on the Shiratorizawa team started to do the fan chant and had us (Shiratorizawa side) join in. Then there was a Shiratorizawa fans vs Karasuno fans chant face-off. XDDD

For one of the questions (don’t remember which one), Subaru tried acting confident that he knew the answer. The other seiyuu noticed that he was sweating a LOT and Soma kindly went to grab a towel, and gently wiped the sweat off Subaru’s face. And Subaru said, “KYUN <333333” (sfx for heart skipping a beat) A member of Karasuno went, “What’s with this lovey dovey atmosphere!?” LOOOL X

I believe they did a time-out after the third set so the seiyuu went off the stage while the MC gave us announcements. When the seiyuu came back, Shiratorizawa was acting all serious, cool and mature. XDDDD LOOOL And the Karasuno team said something like, “Wait, what happened? Isn’t that a totally different attitude than before??”

Fourth Set: Gesture Game (Charades)

Each team chooses a representative. That person has to do gestures and make his teammates guess the word. The person has to do as many in one minute and only can say “pass” twice.

Ayumu was chosen for the Karasuno team. When Ishikai said it can only be Ayumu, he started imitated how Ayumu danced and moved his body, showing that he was the best one for doing the gestures.

I don’t remember all that he did but he did radio calisthenics (exercises), rolling thunder (Noya’s move!!), serve, monkey (a few members said “baka” (idiot) at first LOL) and the last one was “Oikawa Toru.” LOOOL Many fangirls screamed when they saw the name. Ayumu tried to do Oikawa’s signature serve and failed but none of his teammates could guess the answer and then time was up. When the answer was revealed, Ishikai… well more like “Kageyama” got “angry” and went something along of the lines of, “That’s supposed to be Oikawa!?” Then they had Ayumu repeatedly do “Oikawa.” Hahaha he tried to do the serve but it was just really cute to me. XDDD The Karasuno members told Ayumu, “Good job.” I also remember Soma was really good at guessing the answers! I was really surprised!

For Shiratorizawa, Shinba was chosen! He showed us a wonderful one-handed cartwheel! He was asked to do it again and he did it! He was so amazing!!! XD He did, brushing your teeth, receive, passed on Reon, tried to do “guess attack,” and passed on that one too. For the last one before time was up, he did “Synchro Attack!” Shiratorizawa team knew what he was doing but couldn’t remember the word for the special move. XDD

At this point, Shiratorizawa was in the lead, 24-22. It was a really close match!

Last Set: Collaboration with an Enormous Ball (I don’t even know how to translate this one to sound natural. LOL)

The audience has a chance to participate in this set! It’s up to the audience and the winner gets 50 points! XD The staff brought out two HUGE orange balloons and two HUGE pink balloons. XD Shiratorizawa commented, “Wait, is this supposed to be purple!?” when they were handed the pink balloons XDD LOOOL Anyway, the teams will pass the balloons to the audience and the audience has to move the balloons all the way to the back and then back to the front. Just imagine a rectangular U shape. The winner is determined when ONE of the balloons goes back on the stage.

You know how half of the venue was supposed to be Karasuno fans and the other half was supposed to be Shiratorizawa fans? Well actually part of the section of the back was full of Karasuno fans. XDDD Subaru pointed it out and jokingly said, “Since they’re rooting for Karasuno, they might try to pop the balloon!” Then Ishikai kindly said to that section, “Please help them,” and was all nice about it. He had this really nice pleading voice. XDDD Those fans were very kind and even changed their penlights from orange to purple!

It was overall pretty exciting although I didn’t have a chance to touch the balloon. xD And Shiratorizawa won! Actually both of the balloons got back to the stage while the orange balloons didn’t even go halfway up. It stayed around the front. XD

So that meant the ultimate winner was Shiratorizawa!!! :3 Shiratorizawa team had us do the Shiratorizawa fan chant and even the Karasuno side joined! LOL

For the awarding ceremony, they chose the MVP of the day! And Ishikai was chosen!! A member of Burnout Syndrome handed him a trophy. (Ishikai balancing the volleyballs part was seriously hilarious XD) Another member gave the trophy to Takeuchi, representative of Shiratorizawa team and Shinba accepted the high-end meat prize! XD

Then all the seiyuu gave their closing comments.

Subaru started “crying” and saying that he was proud of Shinba. XDDD

Takeuchi had green/blue hair and one of them said that he should explain to the audience why it’s that color. So Takeuchi explained that before, he dyed it pink and he actually wanted to dye it to purple for the event, so he went for blue hair dye, thinking that if you mix blue and pink together, you would get purple… but actually his hair just turned blue! LOOOL. XD

Ishikai and Ayumu said that it was fun doing this kind of event and it was their first time doing something like this: one team vs another team. XD

Ayumu requested us to yell out, “Otsukaresama (Good work!!!) and we did so and streamers shot out.

As they were leaving the stage, both teams high-fived each other as they passed by one another and said goodbye.

Overall, this was a wonderful 2.5 hour event!!! I managed to catch the last Shinkansen that would take me back and get to the last train going to my area although I was exhausted over work the next day! XD

It was my first time seeing Ucchi, Soma, Ishikai, Subaru, Takeuchi, and Shinba… now that I think about it, that’s like most of the cast! LOOOL

Ucchi seemed pretty laid-back and chill about everything but that doesn’t mean he’s super quiet either. XD

Soma was just adorableeee going “Tsukki! Tsukki!” all the time. LOOOL XD And he blew me away with guessing during the gestures game.

I had this image of Subaru being all cool and everything… appearance-wise but he’s really the mood-maker!! He was really funny and livened up the atmosphere. He’s a bit of a goofball. XD

I feel that Ishikai was the one that people liked to tease… what with the balancing balls and drawing incidents. XDDD

Takeuchi was very cool and seemed respected by everyone but I think he knows how to have a good time as well. XD

Shinba was just cuuuuute. He’s like a cinnamon roll and his voice is really nice too. XD

Ayumu never fails to make me think he’s so freaking adorableeee. His gestures were freaking cute especially when he was doing “Oikawa Toru” XD

Tosshi… he said that he was Shirabu Kenjiro again. XD And I can’t help but notice that’s considerably shorter than the others. XDDD But that’s what makes him cute. And he’s not the type to be teased either. XD I felt like he was like a senpai towards the others.. well he is! XD And he was part of what made Shiratorizawa team fun. XDDD

It was just so interesting seeing Shiratorizawa team interactions and Karasuno team interactions. It’s like the Shiratorizawa team is more childish although Karasuno team has younger members. LOLOLOL XD Karasuno was pretty much calm but I can tell they have a good relationship with each other. XD

It was super fun especially doing the actual fan chants!! XD I hope that there will be another event like this in the future! Thanks for reading!! Until next time! :3

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Map update

Holy shit, the Homestuck map was updated!! It's been 48 years! Finally!

Blaperile and I agree that the Masterpiece is probably going to be called just that. Maybe in Caliborn's all caps quirk, too.

And I think A6A6A2 might be called "LAND OF SOMEONE'S HANDIWORK I TOOK", heheh.

The rest remains to be seen. Will the Credits be shown separately? I think so. Would Act 7 just be called "ACT 7", or like Blaperile thinks have the sub title "Thanks for playing"? Maybe it will be "The Ultimate Reward"!

Also, I highly doubt it, but it would be neat if the Snapchat updates got their own section.

I also wonder what colour Act 6 Act 6 and Act 7 will be given, since they're on a separate "cartridge" than the previous parts of Homestuck. (Maybe the Credits will be on their own, seeing as their "container" is not a game or CD anymore, but rather a smartphone.)

Lastly, I wonder if each of the "sections" under Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 4 will be from a separate point in the timeline that John jumps too.

For that matter, I wonder if the big Retcon is perhaps designated in a special manner, too? Unlike the Critical Moment or the claiming of the Ultimate Reward, it isn't a separate flash, but it is however the final part of a sub component of the story.

----

Ah come on, Andrew added a designation/sub division for the Pre- and Post-Scratch timelines! Heh, two sides of a fourth wall. Why not an unscratched disc and a scratched one, though? Okay, granted, that's already in use for the "Discs" of Homestuck. So that seems to support my theory that the Pre- and Post-Retcon timelines might be designated differently too? Maybe "Side 3", heh. (Also, I don't think the sides are about the children being inside and then later escaping the story, since it's the fourth wall that John and Jade broke through being used as the logo, not the white endgame house.)

Ah, yup, Act 6 marks Side 2. Heh, it seems like such a small hole they made in the pane, come to think of it. I'd forgotten about the "split Act_6" command above Act 6 Act 1. What's it going to be for Act 6 Act 6, then? "Shatter", perhaps? The kids were once again scattered, isolated on their separate planets, by both the glitches and the Condesce's mindcontrolled drones Jane and Jade.

It marked Caliborn's attempt at turning the whole story in a game of pool, in that manner, you know. I... made that observation before on Tumblr in the past.

Part 3 of Homestuck starts together with Act 6. I suppose this means Act 6 Act 6 will be contained within Part 4 together with the conclusion of the story.

Pfff, looking back at the icons of the sequences, I forgot the start and end of the Jailbreak section were marked by quasi-identical images like that.

Blaperile poses a good question, what would the pseudo-symbols for the Act 6 Act 6 subacts be? Maybe just Caliborn's head each time, like what was shown in the manual for the A6A6A6 cartridge, heheh.

I knew it! Part 3 and Disc 2 both end with A6I5. (And Side 2 continues.)

Don't you just love that even grouping the fractal act structure is made into something confusing by Andrew, using Parts and Discs and Sides? Heheheheh. Oh, right. "Sides". Like sides A and B of a record. Or a disc, you could say. But in this case, there are more discs than sides, pfffff.

Another good question by Blaperile, which symbols will be placed underneath Part 4? Mayb the god tier symbols of the kids + symbols of the surviving trolls? But then, Vriska wouldn't be featured. Hmm... Tough matter. Also, what the name for the next "disc" might be is also up for speculation. (Before we scroll further down on the page and read it.) Disc 3 is inaccurate but least confusing. Cartridge 1 would be most accurate but lame. Let's settle for Cartridge 3. :P

Ooooh, split Act_6_Act6 it is! Hah, okay, and it uses Caliborn's theme colour! Oh yeah... That's right, it's because that was also the colour of the shitty curtains he used, that never stopped being a thing.

Oooooh, part 4 is designated by Caliborn's and Alt Calliope's filled cheek swirls. That's actually really fitting, given the theme of predomination at play. I hadn't thought of that. Heh, okay, as I should've seen coming, A6A6A1's title is "Homosuck". And for some reason, not one but TWO cheek swirls are used as the pseudosymbol.

So, the cartridge art is not the art for the sub act, but for the last sequence, and it's Caliborn's gloating pose instead. Fitting too.

Oooh, what's that? A6A6A1 wasn't part of a disc, but after the cartridge gets inserted, we get a new designator...

What would the name for A6A6I1 be, last guess?

... "Stardust". That's a less direct reference to the glitches than I would've thought. ... Instead of just Cartridge it says "Supercartridge", pffffff. That's probably the name used in the manual. Putting Grimbark Jade on the cover really sells the events in the sub intermission, by the way.

So, will the line for the Supercartridge perhaps not end with Act 7, but instead A6A6I4? When John blows it out of the slot? :) ... Wait, no, Blaperile reminds me Lil Seb put the thing back. (Where it came from.)

Perfectly chosen symbols for A6A6I1 sequences, by the way.

... Oh god yes. The acronym's not even spelled out, but A6A6A2 is named after LOSHIT. Called it!

That pseudosymbol though. Perfection. And indeed, once more a unique symbol.

Ahahahah, it's fitting this sub act has so many Johnfaces to go with it. (Matching icons for you and your squad.)

A6A6I2 = "theres problems" Ooooooh, yeah! Those are actually indeed the arc words to go with this sub act, with all the events leading up to the next intermission (which starts with [S] Game Over), like everyone meeting up on LOFAF.

Looking further ahead, I think Lord English's face (specifically in his "sprite form") will be the icon for A6A6A6, by the way.

And perhaps A6A6A3 is called "GAME OVER, KID", to go with "GAME OVER"? Or like Blaperile speculated, a manga reference.

... Oh. Well, yeah actually, that title does make "more" "sense" (in context). Oooooh, perfect art and pseudosymbol, too! I was just thinking of Caliborn's watermark, but in the context of whether they could serve as the act title. "Original act title, do not steal".

If my eyes don't fool me, it seems the icon for Game Over might be partially green to show it transfer from act to intermission in the same flash! Awesome. (Though the art doesn't give much away about the events in the flash, perhaps for the better.)

Hmm... Blaperile's right, it's kind of strange the events post-game over warrant so many of their own images.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 4 is called "Dark night of the feelings", pfff. I was wondering how Caliborn "moping" and feeling especially "emotional" as an artist could be translated to a good title. Oooh, and there's the CalCoin logo as the pseudosymbol - well, for a second, I'd wondered whether CalCoin would've been used as the title for this intermission...

I'm glad Caliborn's "Pure Art Skill" (and the art style of that sequence) is immortalized in icon form, by the way.

Ooooh, Blaperile was right, A6A6I4 is called F1X TH1S, hahahah. We're almost at the end! Just 5 more acts / intermissions to go, including the credits!

I like how both Rose's and Aranea's death judgment is featured on the map. Them being so close behind each other makes for a nice contrast.

Plus I like that Shelby's art is also featured.

Ooh, and like I speculated, each jump of John's warrants its own icon. R3UN1ON, Lemonsnout interrogation, MOM3NT...

Pfff, the line of icons going "John judging the scarf list - Gamzee is caught O_O - Making out underneath a cracked sky - Vriska: Turn - Plop" is hilarious.

Maybe Vriskagram logo will be the first icon for A6A6I5. I doubt "she's 8ack" will be the title, it's more likely what Blaperile thinks, "Why is everything always so wonderful". Though I wouldn't mind a "Web 3.0" reference. ;)

Heeheh, and there's the Masterpiece. Pffff, tiny clay Caliborn could actually serve as an icon on the forums.

Actually, now that I see the first icon for A6A6I5, it hits me how Caliborn's toothed grin looks like Gamzee's in A6A6I3... Or maybe also Lord English's mouthlaser pose, though since that's also Caliborn...

... PFFFFF A6A6I5's title is actually "She's 8ack", oh my freaking god. Well, that sure goes with the art.

All them lilypad scenes.

Ah come on, now that I see them side by side, I notice the parallel between Meenah and (Vriska) sitting on an edge talking and Dirk and Dave doing the same. In fact, the sky of LOTAK is also filled with explosions, just like how the "sky" in the dreambubbles was filled with other bubbles exploding.

Wow, again, so many nice icons and juxtapositions of them. Roxy creating the Matriorb, (Vriska) in tears while one row earlier she was still happy, GCATavrosprite and (Tavros) side by side...

Awww, (Vriska) and (Terezi)'s meetup as symbol for Terezi: Remem8er.

Ooooh, Collide marks the end of Part 4, is designated by PM's Victory (yussssss) and... it's pseudosymbol is the curtain thingamabob we see for the last time at the end of the flash. Tssssh.

Ahhhh, right, and so the post-Collide images are counted together with it, just like how the post-Act 4 pages were basically still part of that act.

QDFQDFQDFQSFQSFQSDFQSDF

Act 7 IS THE RAPTURE?????

DDANG ANDREW.

THAT WAS A MYSTERY WE THOUGHT NEEDED SOLVING INDEED.

Wow, I had not thought the Rapture to be Act 7. Wow. So, in hindsight, what he meant about this blowing our minds is that it's Homestuck The Anime!!

Ooooooh, and so Collide and Act 7 have title cards in opposite colours, black and white. So retroactively, Collide is meant to be the thing symbolized by the black circle on the "disc specibus" we saw way back first in Act 5, heheh.

OOOOohh, The Credits are not only featured, but designated "Post Canon"!!!

So, you know, you could kind of count the Snapchat updates into them as well! Maybe if Andrew ever makes an archive for them, they'll get added here?

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So that was it. A great update, I wouldn't have counted on such good names anymore, it's been so long. But I like them all a lot, they're really fitting.

Like Blaperile suggests, Andrew probably took the time rereading the latter part of Homestuck to determine the icons and find good titles for all of the sub acts.

Too bad there's no icon for the Ultimate Bro Hug of 2015. Oh well.