#and I'm even more excited to see the emotional whiplash this series is going to give me :3

[phoenixiancrystallist]

DAY 9

(╯°□°）╯ MOUNTAINS

Still looks like a bouquet of dicks to me. I can't win. Oh well, MOVING ON, next we're doing the foreground :D ...of the background...

[onstoryladders]

Alright everybody, the sun went and came back again, and I still feel the need to RANT about A chance to love, so I'm gonna do just THAT.

🎶 ready or not, here I come 🎶

Let's just start with stating some facts: it's bad. I know it, you know it – it's bad for so many different reasons I'm not even gonna list ’em all... or maybe I will. You know what, I definitely will:

I guess it's low budget and IT SHOWS – but whatever, among all the serie's issues this is actually the most forgivable one.

The acting isn't bad, but it's still awkward sometimes, especially when it comes to love scenes. I love TinCan with all my heart (they're actually my favorite couple in Thai BLs, I think?), and Mean and Plan are good and have good chemistry, but when it comes to physical stuff, and especially kisses, they get so stiff and awkward and-- it's clear it makes them uncomfortable – or at least it makes Plan uncomfortable. It's just hard to watch sometimes lol especially because they were so much better and more convincing in season one! This time it was clear their heart wasn't really into it.

There are so many product placements! The whole show feels like a very long ad for snacks, drinks, makeup and sunscreen.

The side stories are useless af. They don't add anything to the main plot. You're just forced to follow this bunch of other dudes you don't give two fucks about, and they're not even interesting enough, or funny enough, or sweet enough to keep your attention. But maybe that's just me.

The writing is so bad! This is the major issue with the series, imo. The dialogues are bad, even the most emotional scenes lack tension and fall flat, the same things are said and showed over and over and over again, so it all gets very boring very fast.

There are probably other reasons but-- enough.

So, did I hate it? Well, not exactly, because as I said, I love TinCan with all my heart and I was so excited to see them again 💕 and even though some of the reenacted scenes were better in season one (the kisses were definitely better) they still added some very cute moments in this season as well!

All the hugs and all the little kisses – they were so sweet 😭 Tin was so soft during the whole season and I loved every second of it ~

But the story was so badly written that I still get mad when I think about all the wasted potential! They really thought it was a good idea to just-- retell their story from the start? They didn't even do a great job, because I feel like season one had a lot more tension going on: Tin was meaner, Can was angrier – and yes, okay, it wasn't a healthy dynamic, but that's exactly what made the development more interesting!

The only reason they decided to go down that road is that they had to fill the episodes and had no idea how to do it. What makes me mad is that it wouldn't have been difficult AT ALL to just write a better screenplay for the season, because there were so many things to tell! I get that they had a novel to follow, but they could've changed something and actually fleshed out the central conflict of the series – between Tin and Tul.

And what do we get instead? The same dialogue repeated over and over and some vague and sad background for the evil brother thrown in our face so suddenly it gives us whiplash.

“So you're telling me Tul was kidnapped as a child and his grandma wanted him dead?”

Excuse me, but what in the everloving fuck?

And after all this fuckery I'm still not sure what was going on between Tul, the other dude, Tul's wife and the rest of the family.

Anyway.

Anyway.

Anyway.

I am sad because Tin is one of my favorite characters and I think he deserved better.

And OF COURSE we ALL know who else deserved better, right? Exactly. Ma boi. Ma man:

I mean, you really have the audacity to retell TinCan's story from the start, completely fucking up the timeline of the whole series, and then you don't change the only thing it absolutely had to be changed?

It just makes no sense! They really spent the whole season trying to make that storyline less creepy and disturbing, normalizing it, making it seem like the only problem was that Kla lied to Techno and not that he freaking raped him. But whatever, I knew it was going to go this way.

OKAY I'M TIRED OF WRITING SO-- time to put an end to this rant and draw some conclusions.

Did I like A chance to love? Well, mostly no. I was very happy to finally see Tin and Can together and in love ❤ but that's it. I rewatched Love by chance before, but I doubt I'll ever rewatch this second season. It felt way too flat and uninspired.

They're still precious though 💕

[stanharu]

beastars episode 24 thoughts!

this post got kinda long i have Many Thoughts on this one

Overall I had fun watching this ep but I could really tell it was rushed and there was so much that got cut, which makes me super sad. our fears about the finale having pacing issues due to all the added scenes & rearranging were confirmed & it rly sucks, but i'll elaborate more on that in a bit.

this week's ep covered the end of chapter 92, chapters 93-97, and included small bits of chapters 98 & 99.

so the ep starts with the ED and the latter part of the tunnel scene with ibuki and louis. i liked the visual effect they used to show that they were in the dark. louis' voice acting was also On Point. for the most part i think this scene was done pretty well but I can tell it's being rushed also. I really wish we got more buildup and narration instead of just jumping straight to ibuki telling louis to shoot him. the way it is in the anime feels less impactful imo.

also im sad we didnt get to see this in the anime

before i move on, i wanna talk a bit about louis and his relationship w/ the shishigumi and ibuki. i feel like in the anime quite a few of the lil moments that really endear you to the shishigumi and also ibuki were either cut or kinda glossed over, which is strange to me considering how much effort and care went into the ED. it's very emotional and good but i feel like maybe anime onlies are missing out only seeing the anime and the MV. but idk.

legosi and riz's fight was quite rushed as well. there's so much narration and dialogue missing from it and that really rubs me the wrong way. It wasn't all bad but compared to the manga I just don't think it's as good. I will say tho that I really liked the sequence w legosi and the moths. I thought it looked really nice and was pretty well done.

also i liked how the backgrounds had some anti-yahya graffiti, its a nice touch imo

it says "high quality horse meat"

I was happy to see legosi do the "tell me more" pose but I'm honestly disappointed that the anime took out the whole exposition about why legosi did it. like i feel like without that it's just legosi being weird when he has a reason for it!!! This is just one example of the anime taking out crucial narration during the fight.

I also think it's kinda weird how they changed how louis shows up at the fight. im not sure how i feel about riz just charging at him like that, but i liked how legosi kicked him before they ran lol.

i dont have much to say about pina's small scene but I did wanna say that during my first watch thru of the ep i was too distracted trying to read the graffiti behind him that i didn't notice him getting his phone out of the dumpster and calling the cops lmao

it says "devour yahya"

and now... here we are... the predation scene.

overall i thought it was pretty well done but, like the rest of the ep, i could tell it was also being kinda rushed. some important beats werent given enough time to really sink in, and there's a few bits of narration taken out of this part as well that i find disappointing :^(

tho i did like how the anime called back to this scene in s1 when legosi mentions utilizing his strength.

also this part where louis is remembering ibuki had me like😭

I also really liked seeing louis cry. I was crying too sjdflskjdflsjkdf. i thought that scene was really good, its prolly my favorite part of the ep tbh. getting to hear the whole predation scene voiced made me kind of a mess lol. i really liked louis' expressions throughout this whole ep too. studio orange used their whole louis expression budget on these last 2 eps lmao.

seeing legosi instantly get all beefed up was great too. he looked a little ridiculous but i kinda loved it lol. he's so huge and poofy. i love him.

big pomeranian

anyway, im also sad they took out louis' line about being reduced to a flashback character lol. instead he tells legosi "be a hero" again which... im not sure about that change. i liked the part with riz thinking back about tem tho. tho imo the way riz realizes he's in the wrong feels pretty sudden. again adding to how rushed the whole ep feels.

before i move on again i just wanna say legosi looks so cute. even all puffed up and covered in blood. how does he do that

baby boy baby. i wanna ruffle his cheek floofs.

i think one of the things im most disappointed about from this whole ep was how the fight got wrapped up. i really like how the cops show up and totally shift the tone in the manga jslkdfjskljdf. im also really sad we didnt get this interaction

tthe anime really took out most of the sillier moments from the finale, which makes me pretty sad to think about. i know the anime and manga have different tones but pls let the boys be silly sometimes!!

the next part where legosi and louis finally establish their friendship was really cute tho ❤️ even tho it was pretty different i enjoyed it a lot.

BABIESSSS 🥺😭❤️❤️

the wrap-up for this arc and this episode gave me whiplash sdjlfkjsdf. it literally speedruns thru legosi's predation conviction, being released, louis & haru's graduation, and legosi deciding he's going to drop out of school. that is SO MUCH AT ONCE. also i was holding out hope that legosi would have his new years call with haru after the fight instead but that didnt happen!! so it just got cut!!! kinda mad about that tbh. legosi and haru having a lil scene at the very end made up for it a lil bit but that's still one of haru's few moments in this arc that's just not included.

we didnt even get the part wher legosi learns he can't marry haru bc of his conviction.

ive been really hoping for a season 3 announcement once this season ended. with all the background allusions to yahya, the added plot point of someone stealing elephant tusks, and sebun and melon's lil cameos in this season, it seemed to me that studio orange was kinda teasing a 3rd season. but now, with the dismissive way the anime ended, and paru's note from earlier today, im less sure about the possibility of a 3rd season. i'd still like to see the rest of the series animated, but i guess we'll just have to wait and see if more anime is announced in the future.

if we do get another season in the future i just hope that we swing back around and actually address the things that got completely glossed over in the last couple minutes of this episode instead of charging forward w/o touching them again.

i really think the finale for this arc should've been two episodes at least. not including the tunnel scene. i think then things wouldn't have felt so rushed. people have been saying this season really would have benefitted from at least 1 extra episode and i cant help but agree. some have even suggested a whole 24 episodes just for this arc, but i think that this arc couldve been done properly with 12 or 13 episodes if there was some better prioritizing on what to include and what to cut.

like i dont mind not getting the parts about legosi's family if they can be addressed somehow in a future season (or if theres no more future anime seasons thats a plot thread that doesnt have to be worried about). i could have lived w/o seeing sheila & peach's chapter animated if it meant more time for the focus of this arc. and was the kangaroo red herring really necessary?

adaptation wise, i dont think this season was as good as the first. i still think it did fairly well, but i know that it could have been much better. ive been excited to watch this season with my friends once the dub releases, but now im wondering if i should just tell them to read the manga instead. sighs idk. perhaps it comes thru better as a bingewatch, or perhaps im being a bit too harsh. idk. at some point ill do a rewatch and see how i feel about the season as a whole, but that wont be for a while.

if you've read this far, thanks for reading my ramblings!! it's been fun to make these posts every week and im gonna miss getting new episodes every week.

[perkynurples]

Ok ok, SO I've seen enough Untamed on my dash lately to be officially Intrigued. I watched the first two episodes and it has its campy moments and I definitely had to go look up wtf was going on with the possession and stuff in the first ep BUT I'm still thinking about it days later so there's definitely something there. Any words of encouragement or tips on what to look out for if I watch more??

MAGGIE OH MY GOD

okay so you know how sometimes your brain just goes into overdrive and you remember when you were seventeen years old and reading the silmarillion with ANY sort of comprehension for the first time and then for the rest of your life you keep wondering huh I wonder if anything else will ever come along and fascinate me with the sheer amount of worldbuilding and lore backing up all of these incredible stories’

no? just me? then do you ever wonder if you’ll ever feel the same excitement over writing fic and exchanging metas with people and just contributing to a fandom, as you did when the hobbit fandom was at its peak??

basically both of the above happened to me with The Untamed AND I DIDN’T EVEN SEE IT COMING. it’s a whole another culture, a whole another type of fantasy, and I did a lot of googling in my early days to even begin to grasp the full extent of it. I mean once you get into it, it is EXTENSIVE. but from what I know of your writing, massive overarching lore backing up wonderful stories juuuust might be up your alley :D

and aside from that, it’s just... listen. the pacing of the show is sometimes far from ideal, I’ll admit as much. although it’s much more concise in its storytelling than the og book, it still gets difficult from time to time to understand all the story threads. besides, there’s A LOT of characters, and some of them you won’t even realize are important in the first couple of episodes! BUT THEY ALL ARE.

and the love story. I have talked about the love story at length, and I’ll gladly do it again, but for now, all you need to know that it feels like one of those legends you only read about and think okay, soulmates are nice in theory, but shit like that just doesn’t HAPPEN in real life. and you’re right. but the emotional whiplash you go through, when you realize you actually care for these characters, and you remember from the first two episodes what you’ll have to watch them go through, it’s... well. let me warn you, the mood swings in this series are no joke. you think you know what’s coming, and then you’re left staring at your screen, oh so it’s going to be like THIS HUH, and you’re not entirely sure where the tears came from.

tl;dr: IT’S WORTH IT. IT’S SO WORTH IT. it isn’t perfect but it’s much more than I’ve felt western media have been willing to offer me these past couple of years, and it’s definitely a labor of infinite love.

[bthump]

Unpopular opinion i guess but i really miss the grimdark tone of the early berserk volumes (well except the gross rape stuff). I'm not a big fantasy fan and i started reading the manga bc of the horror-ish/realistic elements in it but since guts new party came into the picture it has gone through a dizzying tonal shift lol. Also griffith/guts is my main emotional investement here and ngl i have a hard time caring about guts new party,griffiths companions and all the other secondary (contd)

(cont’d) characters that have seem to multiplied since the aftermath of the eclipse. the comic bits with isidro and puck are especially tiring. idk i just miss griffith/guts interactions and the golden age/black swordsman arc.

Yk I mostly agree. I love Farnese and Serpico, and I find NeoGriff’s side of the story rly engaging, but overall I’m also not super invested in most of Guts’ posse and I feel like I’m kind of just waiting for half of them to die lol. Like Magnifico, you’re just not necessary man, your cute subplot with Puck adds nothing.

When it comes to tone I also mostly agree? Like I recognize that this is personal opinion and I totally get why people would enjoy lighter, less angsty Berserk just as much if not more, but I’m a big fan of dark stuff, I got into Berserk in part bc it was dark and tragic, and my favourite kind of light fluffy stuff is when it’s bittersweet because of what’s to come (eg the whole golden age), or when it’s a stark contrast to the darkness surrounding (eg when Jill falls asleep on Guts’ lap - great sweet moment, all the sweeter because it’s surrounded by darkness in and around Guts).

So yeah, it’s subjective, but also… tbh I think the way the change of tone has been executed is lacking. Liiike, idk eg the Golden Age had a lot of light, good, funny moments, and the tone of it definitely wasn’t grimdark until everything went to pieces. But the humour was more balanced and natural and plot-based, I felt, rather than the current digressions for Puck to be cutesy and Isidro to be a little brat. Like, Puck also had gr8 funny moments during the Black Swordsman and Lost Children arcs, to balance out the rly dark tone, but they felt better integrated to me then in general, character-revealing and part of the plot, rather than asides that distract from the focus of the moment.

Maybe it’s part of the difficulty of making your core cast larger - like there are a lot of panels now that are just a series of reactions from the side characters to the main action, and it interrupts the flow imo. The secondary Hawks in the Golden Age didn’t get that amount of time dedicated to their reactions to stuff bc they weren’t important except insofar as their reactions added to the tone or to our understanding of the main characters (eg the abject horror when they run into the eclipse, the raiders crying when Guts returns, etc). Now it feels like an obligation to include 8 characters in everything even when they’re not particularly important to the scene.

Also there’s a bit of tonal whiplash with that bc it’s still just as gorey and violent, and there’s still gratuitous rape w/ trolls and ganeshka eg (though way fewer rape threats and attempts at least, which is one blessing for sure). It’s just that there’s more children and elves and their wacky antics too, which makes it a little whiplashy at times.

And this isn’t really related to anything you said but for my part there’s also the way that the first two arcs feel like a self contained story. The Black Swordsman arc shows Guts being a depressed anti-hero, the Golden Age arc shows how that came to be. The rest of it is very open-ended, which isn’t a bad thing obviously because we’re all excited to see where it’s going and that’s the nature of an ongoing series, but it does make it harder for me personally to enjoy some of it because I don’t know what the payoff is yet. A lot of the post-eclipse stuff feels like seed-sowing for later drama to me, and until we get to that drama I’m unable to react to the seeds with anything more concrete than anticipation.

TBH tho that’s just my personal thing. I almost never get into ongoing stuff lol, most of the shows I watch I wait until they’re over because this is how I feel about ongoing works. For lots of other people I’m sure the sense of anticipation and not knowing what’s to come adds to their enjoyment, rather than diminishing it, but for me I feel like I can never truly appreciate something until it’s over. So looking back I might find all this a nice change of pace between dark angsty and emotional arcs, but at the moment I do miss the angst lol.

lol sorry I kind of took this as an opportunity to share my own less positive thoughts on current Berserk. Don’t get me wrong though everyone reading this, I still love it, and it still has a lot of breathtaking sequences and moments, and a lot of great characters. And earlier Berserk wasn’t perfect either by a longshot. But yk, just when it comes to tone and style of comedy and cast of characters I get why people would have a preference.