#and i included the japanese subtitle because i try to post in both english & japanese on twitter

[foxhoundpsychic]

the origami killer...

[marshmallowgoop]

Mixing an Old Anime Dub with HD Footage

How I'm trying to mix every episode of the old FUNimation English dub of Detective Conan/Case Closed with the new remastered footage currently being released on Blu-ray in Germany.

This is less of a tutorial and more of a, "I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing-but-this-is-my-process" sort of thing. I welcome suggestions for improvements! Many thanks go to Fabre on the Detective Conan EN Community Discord server for getting me here at all; my earlier method of mixing, requiring me to cut the audio a bajillion times, is definitely not recommended.

Since I just posted a clip from Episode 76—thank you for the warm response!—I'll demo here with Episode 77! It's the start of a Heiji case!

Programs

Every program I use is free (though some have paid options available). These programs are:

MakeMKV, for ripping Blu-rays and DVDs

HandBrake, for ripping DVDs and compressing files

BeHappy, for audio conversion

DaVinci Resolve, for video editing

Subtitle Edit, for exactly what it says on the tin

Getting the Materials

To rip the Detektiv Conan Blu-rays, I use MakeMKV. (Note that the file size will be very large.) I also try to use MakeMKV to rip the FUNimation Case Closed DVDs, but there can be struggles. With Seasons 4 and 5 of the Viridian Collection, for example, not all episodes would rip without a lot of finagling. In that situation, it's easier to use HandBrake instead, making sure to select a FLAC codec for lossless compression of the audio.

Audio Conversion

With Detective Conan, the Case Closed DVDs have an audio "framerate" of 24 FPS, but the Detektiv Conan Blu-rays have an FPS of 23.976. They've gotta match for easy mixing. The way I fix the discrepancy is to convert the FUNi audio to 23.976 FPS, which can be done with BeHappy:

I use WAV Writer for a lossless conversion, and I've learned to select the "Normalize to 100%" option because I've had strangely low audio levels otherwise (as can sadly be heard in my Episode 76 clip).

(Also, one of my biggest struggles with BeHappy was how to even get the job going. So, putting it out there for anyone else who might need it: to get the conversion started, you gotta click that "Enqueue" button on the bottom right. It is indeed a button!)

I use FFAudioSource, and with the "Configure..." button on the far right of that, I can select the stream index to convert. (For many of the FUNimation volumes, Stream Index 1 is English stereo, Stream Index 2 is Japanese stereo, and Stream Index 3 is English surround sound.)

My mixing process involves lining up the Japanese audio of the FUNimation DVD with the Japanese audio from the German Blu-ray; then, I copy any movements or cuts to the English audio. So, I convert both the English and Japanese audio tracks from the FUNimation DVD.

But this is unnecessary. You can also line up the dub with the Blu-ray audio directly. I just don't trust myself to do that because they're not going to match up exactly due to the different languages.

Resolve can also have trouble importing the audio from my Blu-rays, so I BeHappy that audio as well, just making sure not to select the "TimeStretch" option.

Video Editing

The mixing isn't too complicated. Like I said above, it's about matching the Japanese audio tracks of the DVD and the Blu-ray. I solo the Japanese audio track from the Blu-ray, mark the starting point of a sound, and then I repeat the process with the Japanese audio track from the DVD and line up the markers (and solo both Japanese audio tracks together to make sure they're properly synced). Anything changed on the Japanese audio track from the DVD is copied to the English audio track(s).

Rinse and repeat. Timings generally need to be checked at transition points: the opening, doors, ending, post-credits, next-episode previews, and "Next Conan's Hint" segments. The Blu-rays also have blank sponsor screens and end-card jokes that aren't included on the DVDs, and I fill these spaces by either editing in the English version of the song that plays during the sponsor screen, or by simply copying the Japanese audio from the Blu-ray for content that wasn't dubbed.

There are some more nitty-gritty details involved with openings. For OP 1, I edit in the full English version of the song from Episode 1, while for OP 2, which wasn't dubbed (with OP 1 played instead on the DVDs), I use AI vocal isolation to isolate the audio of Shinichi's opening speech and edit that with the Japanese song. For OP 3, no full English version of "Nazo" exists, so I just kind of have to awkwardly splice in the Japanese version at the end during the sponsor screen.

Of course, this is a lot of extra effort that even the German Blu-rays don't do for the German dub. Songs and intros are entirely left in Japanese there, vastly simplifying this work. But I definitely want to preserve the English songs. And also, I love making things harder for myself.

Subtitles

Finally, I'm all about subtitles! Some of the FUNimation volumes include English dub subtitles, which I like to include on my final mix.

To extract them from the DVD, I use Subtitle Edit. I go to File -> Import -> Subtitle from video file...

The file does have to be an .mkv, which can be made with MakeMKV or HandBrake.

Once I select the file (in this case Episode 77), I use these settings to OCR the subtitles:

I make sure to have "Prompt for unknown words" checked because OCR (Optical Character Recognition) isn't a perfect process and may make mistakes.

"How's it goin (TM)" is pretty great, though, ngl.

I run through the OCR and fix anything that's needed. Since the FUNimation subtitles are a little hard to read, I also try to quality check them thoroughly for errors—though, I usually do that after the next step, which is timing the subtitles to the remastered mix.

Much like the BeHappy process, I want to start by changing the framerate of the subtitles from 24 FPS to 23.976 FPS. This can be done by going to Synchronization -> Change frame rate...

After that, I can attach the remastered video file and time much like I did with the video editing. I go to Synchronization -> Adjust all times (show earlier/later)... and click the "Selected and subsequent lines" option at all of the transition places that need adjusting. It definitely helps to have the waveform on when timing.

I also like to attach Crunchyroll subtitles for the more literal translation of the original Japanese script. The .ass files can be found here. Crunchyroll subtitles are timed very closely to the Blu-rays; all that needs to be done is a second or so of delay at the start. I also OCR the German subtitles from the Blu-ray and use those to time the Crunchyroll subs, but it's just as effective to use the waveform and/or your ear to time them.

And speaking of Crunchyroll subs, I like to copy their formatting for my OCR'd subs. To do this, I first need to export the Crunchyroll styles, which can be done by opening the Crunchyroll subtitle file in Subtitle Edit and clicking the big "A" by the checkmark for "Advanced Sub Station Alpha styles."

The following menu will pop up, and from there, I just have to click the "Export" button to save the styles.

After that, I have to change the .srt file of the OCR'd subs into an .ass file by opening that file and selecting "Advanced Sub Station Alpha (.ass)" on the "Format" drop-down menu.

Then, I again click the big "A" by the checkmark for "Advanced Sub Station Alpha styles" and hit the "Import..." button on the menu to import the Crunchyroll styles. I delete the original "Default" style afterwards and rename the Crunchyroll default from "Default 2" to "Default."

And that's basically it! There are some things I kind of glossed over; for example, I have to assign buses in video editing to get all the different audio tracks the way I want, and I do have to add subtitle lines to the English dub subs to get subs for things that weren't on DVD. But this is the basic process of preparing the video and subtitles.

Compression

The last step is compressing with HandBrake. I wind up with ginormous file sizes after exporting from Resolve, and it's nice to get something smaller. Plus, with HandBrake, I can also attach all my subtitle files to the video.

To do so, I just need to pop over to the "Subtitle" tab and select "Import Subtitle" on the "Tracks" drop-down menu.

The subs can even be named. I keep mine soft so that they can be toggled on or off, but they can certainly be burned in, too, if that's preferred.

Compression settings are utterly beyond me, unfortunately; my file sizes are still ginormous even after HandBraking. But there are several presets on the program that can be used.

And that's really the whole process!

Note that I use the German Blu-rays, despite their shortcoming of the name boxes being edited in a way that can't be turned off, because there are no other Blu-ray releases of this remastered material at the moment. Maybe one day I'll write a post about all the Detective Conan available on BD—it's surprisingly little!—but this is it for now!

Thanks for reading!

[wellntruly]

‘The work which becomes a new genre itself will be called COWBOY BEBOP’

(No spoilers, really as much pitch as review)

I finally did it. My first anime, my first TV show at all in months: Cowboy Bebop, 1998, one season, untold influence.

This is probably the most objectively cool thing I’ve ever watched, which is funny as before I just sought out this knowledge directly from the right people in my life, I had something drafted to post here that ran essentially "Alright, which of you nerds can tell me what version of Cowboy Bebop I’m supposed to watch."

Because if you’re in the non Japanese-speaking world, you’ve got options: the original Japanese voice cast with subtitles, or a dubbed version with American voice actors. Watching a dub goes against every one of my instincts, but as one friend told me with charmingly abrupt solemnity in a park: “It’s considered the best English anime dub of all time.” Well, that’s something. And as my local advisor @starlingshrike elaborated, the American cast also appreciably includes Black actors, appropriately reflecting the 1990s anime rarity of Cowboy Bebop’s racial diversity.

All that said though, there’s just something about an original isn’t there, watching a piece of art as it was first created, with an Asian cast that is also highly regarded. Really selling herself as my Bebop Virgil right from the start, Katie concluded that they’re tonally really similar, so one could definitely ping between the two editions to compare. And after four episodes, I knew I was just going to metronome through the whole thing like that—both worlds, baby!

Okay sure but what IS this show?, you’re asking. Well let’s give that a whirl: Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ) is an experimental space western jazz noir, following a gradually expanding crew of perpetually broke and hungry misfit bounty hunters in the 2070s. Their ship is called the Bebop, the structure is episodic, and while there’s seemingly no genre type the show can’t ably fold into their riff, at the core there’s always this distinctive, casually forlorn vibe to it all, maybe best conveyed by the most frequent end title card, which you’ve probably seen before:

You see what I mean? It’s cool, it’s just…it’s cool.

The opening credits are to a song called ‘Tank!’, which just sounds like a song that should be called ‘Tank!’, and I was grateful this was all on Hulu in the U.S. so I never had to be insulted by Netflix asking if I wanted to skip them. No I do not, 3, 2, 1 let’s jam. The sharp, kinetic vibrancy of the opening evenly slides into the way the show can be violent at times, which is exactly as a Watchman-esque graphic novel is violent: that ropey look to blood spray, the way a face might go smooshy at an impact, stylized close-ups, very storyboarded.

The closing credits, meanwhile, are to a song called ‘The Real Folk Blues’, a big & mournful Japanese track where just the title is crooned in English, forever tricking me into trying to sing along. I listened to it play over its hazy, watercolor-y black & white backstory montage a thousand times as I always wanted to catch both takes of the next episode previews, which much like this ending montage, also never clearly reveal anything, though that’s because the Cowboy Bebop promos are the greatest submission to the art form I’ve seen since Mad Men.

These ones are deliberately fucking with you though, most including several of the characters just going on squabbling tangents and never getting to any real information, or in some cases straight up lying to you. One of them is nearly entirely in dog barks. Another soon devolves into a character delivering this literal VO, which honestly I should have recognized as a sign that episode would turn out to be one of my very favorites: “...Well, actually the story doesn’t go anywhere. At first glance, it’s pointless. The actions are on a small scale, and the ending is forced. But then again, what conclusions will you draw from it?”

Which brings me to my next point about the tone: it’s so…elliptical. Little of this show’s overarching mythologies are ever really explained, and yet, you still get it. In this and other ways, I do think what director Shinichirō Watanabe was doing with Cowboy Bebop is much closer to David Lynch than a lot of things that try to claim that nearness. As something like Lynch's Twin Peaks, it works in symbolism and half-understood touchstones, and this kind of storytelling of introspection. Dreamy, individual, shared with us but not spelled out. So many of these episodes feel sort of like a dream, like a sort of vignette, where you aren’t always certain how you’ve gotten here, and you aren’t quite sure what this important thing this character just said means exactly, but it has still hit you like a seismic shift in the emotional landscape of this world.

Meanwhile, anchoring its spot in its sci-fi show lineage, Cowboy Bebop fully embraces the scrappy workaday fantasy of space domesticity, a top tier enchantment for me. They also maintain even in entirely unconstrained animated form the original Star Trek precedent that 50% of other planets just look like the desert outside of Los Angeles—tradition! It's certainly not all stars and deserts though, as the style pulls from so many different artistic traditions across both the East and the West. I am not a designer yet I want to be a designer and be assigned just one specific episode of Cowboy Bebop I get to work on. The little drifting spores falling on the minarets on terraformed Venus...the high contrast Batman metropolis of 'Pierrot Le Fou'...that empty city back on shattered Earth with the lion fountain and the palms...

I mean this show is so visually striking. We see a lot of different environments, but they all feel lived in, like there really are people there, getting their clutter places. And the people themselves! They all have such looks. This could likely be an anime thing I’m just now being introduced to, but the proportions here are just so incredibly ambling to look at. Everyone’s legs are like 1.75 times the length of the rest of their body, which really lands somewhere between sexy and dorky.

Oh here’s the Bebop crew by the way, which comes together over the first nine episodes:

Jet / Jetto

In spaceship show function and demeanor, Jet Black is both Bones and Scotty poured into the mold of Papa Bear, and obviously I love that. It’s his ship, and when not chasing bounties he’s usually either cooking, patching Spike up, tending to his bonsais, or grousing at Faye for bringing her little fighter jet back all smashed up for him to fix. At one point he describes himself as having to "raise Ein," the dog, and I about lost it at how Dad that phrasing was. Please bring that dog up well.

Voice cast preference: I’m pretty even on this one! American Jet is grumbly rumbly and that’s good, but Japanese Jetto has more drawn-out melody, and that’s very good as well. I can tell you I do like hearing characters call him Jetto better 100 percent—love an o.

Spike / Supaiku

Our Romantic lead and titular Space Cowboy of the end card, Spike Spiegel is a talented fighter and lackadaisically lonely bastard who in nearly every other episode finds himself in some fatalistic scenario where he just rests a cigarette in his mouth and shrugs, welp, guess I’ll die. He frequently complains to Jet that their ship has been overrun by dogs, children, and women with attitudes. Yes Spike & Jet are space roommates. Do with that what you will—please.

Voice cast preference: I think I’m gonna give the edge to American Spike, that is uh, a good voice. “Yup American Spike hot,” as I updated Katie. I do like Japanese Supaiku very much as well though, who has this smooth, river rock woefulness that really anchors some of my favorite Spike episodes, many of which I spent with him.

Faye / Fei

Haha well I’ve written myself into a trap here, because the point of Faye Valentine is that we really don’t know what her deal is at first, especially as it seems she keeps changing her story. She’s aloof, but also keeps hanging around anyway—I’m inclined to describe her as like a stray cat with money problems. I really love that the grungy ship bathroom becomes like, *her* space. Most of the best character growth is Faye stuff.

Voice cast preference: It’s Japanese Fei no contest. An endearingly improvisational quality to her delivery, she feels very much like a real girl, which is wild given how, well, wild her character and circumstances are. American Faye’s hot girl sass took longer to grow on me, though eventually she did too as her performance deepened with the character.

Ed / Edo

I’m looking forward to how this sentence is gonna go: so the gang has an episode about a new addition to the Nazca lines that leads them to tracking down an infamous hacker named Radical Edward—who turns out to be a nonbinary 13-year-old with the full chosen name of Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski the IV. “Ed made up that name for Ed, isn’t it cool?” As befalls Spike & Jet with every member of their forced-family, they can’t manage to shake this weirdo off, so Ed joins the ship as well, where she takes to floating along behind Jet loosely latched to his shoulders like a zero-gravity buoy, and no actually I never did figure out the rules for how the artificial gravity works on the Bebop. It works on aesthetic principles, I think.

Voice cast preference: It’s tipping toward Japanese Edo for me, though I actually feel these two voice actors might be hitting the most similar cadence in their respective performances, which is like, BIG whimsy.

Ein / Ain

Ein is an outrageously valuable scientifically enhanced Welsh corgi, and this may be a slight spoiler for the second episode, but none of them know this, they just think he’s a dog they’ve ended up with with no greater importance, and this is the kind of joke in this show that makes me laugh for days.

Voice cast preference: I swear they have different voice actors for the barks but Wikipedia is not backing me up here.

And then there’s also these recurring Red Dragon Syndicate characters, all Spike's constellation, who show up in a handful of episodes over the course of the season, but I think those are best just doled out to you as they come. The fifth episode in particular is worth it to just suddenly ~experience~ everything that's going on with its particular genre swing.

Besides, while the Syndicate stuff does form the most overarching backbone in terms of plot, also like, does it though? I’d honestly argue that the more philosophical concept of the past’s influence on the present has more bearing on the manner and material of this show than anything specific that happened with Vicious or Julia. One of the most interesting things to me about how this show works that it would be possible to totally change the details of Spike’s backstory and still have the series run pretty much the same way, because what matters is how his haunting works in the present, not actually sorting out what created it in the past. Katie proposes, and I think she’s dead on here, that the true emotional climax of the series is actually the end of the episode that comes right before the two-part finale. The reason why I think this is so right, is that moment is all to do with how the characters’ grappling with the past is affecting each other right now, and for really the first time seems to turn forward-looking, to ask them to now grapple with what they see in front of them. It’s an incredible moment, transformative and open-ended, open-ended because it's transformative.

All of which is not to say that the actual finale of the series isn’t a huge tune as well. A different conclusion style, there’s a resolving sense of cosmic closure to it, with an all-timer of a final note.

Wow I have written so much about the ending of this show just now all without touching the plot, huh! Well hey hopefully this will work on people—join me in anime outer space.

See You Cowgirl, Someday, Somewhere!

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Drama CD Shinsengumi Oni-tan Track 3 English translation

This is my first post of the month, so I’ll start by asking you to please support me if you can through my ko-fi, and paypal or patreon which provides access to my hakuoki blog translations and early access to my postings. Also, please let me know if you have any hakuoki drama cds that you’d be willing to share that are on my Lookout List since i either do not have audio for those cds or do not have audio that I can share...

finally got around to translating this (yeah im awful like that lol. sorry~?)... the subtitled videos for the rest of this drama will be uploaded exclusively to my other blog so i won’t get problems on my youtube account... however i’m not sure how long that will take i haven’t figured out what cgs to use yet (whenever i use a graphic, i prefer to use similar graphics for the entirety of the drama... meaning for Shinsengumi Oni-tan, I’ll be using cgs tho i’m wanting for them to be semi-relevant and for them to be from the right ‘time.’ aka the graphics for this drama can’t have anyone in their western outfits). 

anyway, Shinesngumi Oni-tan is officially the longest drama ive translated... the last track’s translation is scheduled for the end of march (other notes on my potential schedule are in the endnotes)!

Hakuoki Drama CD Shinsengumi Oni-tan Track 3 - Disturbance at Headquarters

Translation by KumoriYami

T/N, one part of this translation might get a bit confusing due to a few pronouns so i’m going to write this at the top as opposed to leaving it in the endnotes. 

So... in Chinese, “她” (she/her) and “他” (he/him) are pronounced exactly the same way, and unless there’s context for a sentence that includes them, it can be difficult to tell what word is actually be used if you’re listening to them being spoken with absolutely no context. For example, if someone said “I’m talking to her,” in Chinese, someone else might interpret that as “I’m talking to him,” as there are no other words that suggest who the other might be individual. 

In a similar way, though this is based on my extremely awful and limited understanding of Japanese, and from what I’ve learned from other translators who have taken the time to explain their usage of certain words when there have been misunderstandings about gender, there are also times when the the gender of a person being talked about is assumed by both the speaker and listener as its not directly referred to... which can create misunderstandings since the parties speaking may not even be talking about the same person... and that happens in this drama. 

anyway, i’m also writing this out to say that i didn’t make a mistake when using ‘she’ and ‘he’ at a certain point in my translation for this drama, and it’s just that the people talking are misunderstanding things as there’s no gender connotation for the subjects of their sentences, and because they’re both making incorrect assumptions. 

^ i hope that makes sense? lol. im unfortunately not the best at trying to explain the nuances of languages that can’t ever be conveyed exactly as they are into english due to how the language is. maybe i’ll try again later? 

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

Hijikata: Sasanami Kurō. 20 years old, born in Buzen [Buzen is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture]....... According to the Watch’s investigation, there aren't any problems with your background right now. Style is Mugai-ryū, rank is mokuroku [ 『目录』 - from wikipedia: is a term in Japanese martial arts, used by koryu, for a "catalog", referring to a catalog of the level of ability of the instructor of the martial arts that has received a catalog as a sign of level or initiation].  Based on the observations of how the roshi was captured, swordsmanship isn't bad/is okay. Okay, the first assessment has been passed!

Sasanami: Th-Thank you!

Hijikata: Isn't it too early to say thanks? You're just a temporary member now, and your background has yet to be investigated. If there is no problem during this time, we will carry out the final assessment later, which is used to for official members.

Sasanami: Understood! I will work hard to get into the team!

Hijikata:……

Sasanami: Can I ask…… what's wrong, Vice-Commander HIjikata?[check audio/video. Alt: is something wrong]

Hijikata: It's nothing. Our members, especially among the captains, there are a lot of rude guys, so hearing you answer so honest and sincerely surprised me. [check video]

Sasanami: Is there something... wrong? [check video]

Hijikata: Yeah. Since you're going to be a part of the Shinsengumi, pay attention. Saito is pretty good, but Souji's terrible, and Nagakura, Heisuke and Harada, those three are a real headache [reword later].

Sasanami: Is that... bad? [check video]

Heisuke: Wait a sec, Hijikata-san! Are you saying that we're like problematic kids?

Harada: Right right, I can't listen to this anymore. Heisuke and Shinpachi aside, I rarely get into any trouble!

Heisuke: Isn't that just because Sano-san is good at escaping? Last time, Shinpat-san and I...

Hijikata: Shut up! I'm telling the truth! Stop arguing about this, what are you two here? Did something happen?

Harada: Ah... I need to make a report on last night's patrol. It just so happens that the new recruit is also here so I'll talk about it now [check video].

Hijikata: Last night's patrol? Did something happen when this guy, a temporary team member, when he went to catch those people with you?

Heisuke: That's right. What was this guy's name.... it's Sasanami, right? He seems to have run into Kazama.

Hijikata: What? Oi, is that true?

Sasanami: Ah... yes, he identified himself as Kazama. I don't know if it's the same person the captain is talking about, however he seemed very arrogant and likely had excellent swordsmanship....

Heisuke: And he has an awful temperament... [check video]

Harada: (he has) A vicious face... [check video]

Sasanami: Indeed, I came across a man like that.

Hijikata: Awful temperament and a vicious face? That's most likely Kazama...

(sound of a few floor boards creaking)

Harada: Huh? What was that sound just now? It feels like it came from the ceiling.

Heisuke: Was it a large mouse/rat?

Hijikata: However, Kazama has shown up near headquarters, probably to see taht guy again.

Sasanami: "That guy" refers to? [Who does "that guy" refer to? Check audio]

Hijikata: No, it's nothing, you don't need to worry about it. Heisuke, Harada, strengthen the security around headquarters just in case! I'll tell the others about this as I take this guy around headquarters to show him around.

Heisuke: Got it! I'll take care of it!

Harada:Really! That guy Kazama never learns his lessons [learns anything]!

Hijikata: I'll leave it to the two of you! Come on, Sasanami, I'll show you around headquarters, stay close.

Sasanami: Ah, understood [check audio]!

...

(misc sounds of wooden swords hitting each other)

Saito: That's wrong! That attack wasn't strong enough! Don't hesitate when you decide to attack [tl is "make a move". check video]! Even a moment's carelessness can kill you!

Souji: Ah... over there! This is supposed to be sparring, so there wouldn't be anything behind you... What? Do you want to get beheaded by your enemy [check video for 'kill']?

Sasanami: This is headquarters' courtyard [training grounds maybe? check vid] ?

Hijikata: Yes, it's used for sword practise/training. As you can see, the other members often practice/train here like this.

Sasanami: But... it's worthy/as expected of the legendary Shinsengumi. A lot of passion has been poured into normal training.

Souji: Ah... that's why I said that you'll get beheaded... it's fine if you die if you're not strong enough, but you can't drag down your companions!

Saito: In this situation/time [under such circumstances], you have to lean your back against a wall or a building! Lure your enemies to a place where you can focus on facing the enemy in front of you! Keep this mind and don't forget it!"

Hijikata: The cost of being lazy with your training is your life. Although this might seem harsh, don't slack off if you don't want to die.

Sasanami: I understand, I will keep that in mind.

Hijikata: Well, the First and Third Division are training, and even within the Shinsengumi, they're known for their strict training [check audio].

Saito: Hm? Ah, Vice-Commander! When did you get here?

Souji: What, it turned out to be Hijikata-san. Is it possible that you're to nitpick on my training like a mother-in-law [check vid. 'mother-in-law' is the correct tl of what i have though]?

Hijikata: You're actually saying that I'm like a mother-in-law?! You could have said something else!

Saito: Souji, I have always felt that the way you speak to the Vice-Commander is a bit too much.

Hijikata: Forget it, Saito. As things stand, Souji can't get rid of his terrible mouth [check video]. Rather than that, I'm sorry to be interrupting your training for this.

Saito: No, it just finished. Right/By the way [check audio], Vice-Commander, are you showing this new member around headquarters?

Hijikata: Right/Yeah, but I'm not sure if he'll be joining as a member. He's just a candidate right now.

Saito: I see. In any event, the troop is understaffed right now, so it would be good to have a few potential new members/newcomers.

Souji: Eh.... newcomer, huh... looks like he's somewhat skilled. Do you want to play with me [check vid]?

Sasanami: Eh?!

Souji: Well, I'll judge if you can be put to good use. Come on, get ready.

Hijikata: Wait wait wait! You don't know how to show any mercy, so of course you can't do that!

Souji: I do know how to be merciful.

Saito: Souji: you(r interpretation?) of mercy is not considered as showing any form of mercy for the average team member [reword later].

Hijikata: Didn't you you beat up all the people who applied a while ago, and sent them home?

Souji: That's not my fault. It's simply that these people aren't strong enough.

Saito: That's true. Even if people of that level joined the team, I'm afraid that our combat strength would not improve, and there are more strong enemies like Kazama [check vid/audio].

Hijikata: Ah, now that you mentioned him, I need to tell you something. That bastard has been sneaking around headquarters lately, so be careful.

Saito: Understand. I will increase the number of guards.

Sasanami: Apologies... I heard that name a while ago, but who is the man named Kazama...?

Souji: Well, you just need to remember that he's our enemy, after joining up with the Shinsengumi, you'll end up getting involved with him whether you want to or not.

Saito: Even if we fought one-on-one against him, we might not be able to defeat him, as he's a formidable enemy... Well, how do I put this, he's difficult to describe in a few words.

Souji: Poor tastes, insidious, an annoyance a stubbornly annoying person, he's always talking about "my wife".... heh, in a way, he's someone you wouldn't want to get more involved in, like HIjikata-san.

Hijikata: hey, wait a sec! Don't go comparing me to that guy at this time!

Sasanami: Excuse me, may I ask/Excuse me... what do you mean by "my wife"?

Hijikata: You don't need worry about that... But he really isn't an opponent you can handle, so you need to be careful the next time you encounter him.

Sasanami: Okay, I understand that he's basically a dangerous man/person [check audio].

(leaves rustle)

Saito: Hm? There seemed to be some noise from the brush over there... was I imagining it?

Souji: It was probably a cat or something. Rather than that, let's end our break and continue and continue training.

Saito: Nn, indeed. Then, let's continue our training.

Souji; Alright, then I'll be accompanying Hajime-kun this time.

Saito: That's fine. But I won't be holding back, so it's possible that you might get injured.

Souji: Eh.... to actually say such a thing to me.... it appears that even the serious Hajime-kun has learned how to tell a joke.

Hijikata: You guys... it's fine to train as hard as you can, but you have to make sure that you don't get hurt. I still have places to show him so I'll be going now.

Souji: Yes yes... new guy, if you get assigned to the First Division, I'll be sure to teach you properly/take care of you. Be mentally prepared/Be prepared.

Sasanami: Please be merciful when the time comes!

(after a while... footsteps)

Hijikata: So, we're back at the entrance of headquarters. We've roughly gone around in a circle [reword later. i don't like how it reads]. Since you're not an official member, there are still a number of things I can't talk to you about... what do you think? Do you have anything you want to ask?

Sasanami: Then I'll ask a question. If I join the Shinsengumi, which Divisions/Division would I be assigned to?

Hijikata: It depends on which Division you'd be suitable for... But depending on your skill level, if nothing happens, you should be assigned to a Division that patrols the city.

Sasanami: I see. I understand. Regardless of which Division I get assigned to, it will not change how I'll be doing my best to wield my sword as a member of the Shinsengumi.

Kazama: To actually say "as a member of the Shinsengumi"?

Hijikata: Hm? That voice...

Kazama: Really, not only did you believe the baseless slander against me while I was concealed myself in the shadows and not say anything, but to also have decided to wield your sword the Shinsengumi, our enemy? You bastard, did you really inherit our noble blood/is our noble blood really flowing through your body?

Sasanami: Ah! You're the one from that time...!

Hijikata: Kazama! You bastard always running away without learning a lesson!    

Kazama: Hm... it seems like the Shogunate's dogs really love to use despicable means. To actually deceive my kin to have him join you...

Hijikata: Deceive? What are you talking about? It's true that she was initially placed under house arrest, but now she's staying here because of her own choice!

Kazama: His own will is it? Who knows if that's the case. You've explained everything to him in a way that is beneficial to you and make him think that all the ronin in Kyoto are all anti-bakufu* villains.

[*based on the audio (i actually checked this to make sure), I'm fairly sure that this is referring to "倒幕運動" or "討幕運動,' which was the political movement to overthrow the shogunate. unfortunately, i couldn't find any information on this in English that directly used that Japanese... so I took the liberty of using anti-bakufu since I saw "anti-bakufu" movement on wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period) when trying to find information on what a better term to use for this translation would be. i may change this to "villains who want to overthrow the Shogunate" or just “anti-shogunate villains” later.]

Hijikata: Heh, that might not be wrong. Looking at the tragic situation in Kyoto today, she understands what's right and what's wrong.

Kazama: As expected, regardless of what I say, it's not possible to talk to a beast. Hey, you. Your name is Sasanami? I'm leaving, come with me.

Hijikata: Hey, what's are you talking about, you bastard?!

Sasanami: You seem to have misunderstood something, the Shinsengumi's enemies are my enemies!

Kazama: What? As my kin, what are you saying?

Hijikata: Get back, Sasanami. And Kazama, isn't that a bit weird? When you're referring to your kin, didn't you mean Chizuru? From the start, I feel like there was something wrong with those words...

Kazama: What are you saying? My “kin" is right in front of you... Eh? Wait, does the person himself not know anything about what I am saying/if he doesn't know it himself, then this really won't make any sense...

Hijikata: Hey! What are you muttering about? If you want to fight or not, make it clear!

(more footsteps)

Souji: Areh? Hijikata-san's yelling again? What are you doing, Hijikata-san?

Saito: Wait, Souji! Something doesn't seem right...

Kazama: Hmph, it seems like more riffraff have come... Forget it, anyway, it seems like it will be difficult to take him away today. I'll come back some other day/find a different time and place. 

(Kazama leaves)

Hijikata: You bastard, don't run away!

Sasanami: He's gone... what the hell is going on?

Hijikata: Damn it! Disappearing after talking nonsense... but what the hell was that bastard talking about?

---to be continued---

to follow up with the note at the start, Hijikata thinks Kazama was talking about Chizuru... while Kazama thought Hijikata was talking about Sasanami. i suppose i could just change the pronoun used to ‘they’ though? i think i might have done that before though im not sure about doing that now in this drama...  

Anyway, once Shinsegumi Oni-tan is done, I scheduled biyoris for the next two months, and after that, i am aiming to translate single track dramas for june... though im not sure what i’ll be translating yet. 

Aside from 十五夜花 (done!), i am considering:

the shinkai fanbook drama (would really like to get this done)

maybe an ssl drama (i have at least 30% of the one with saito, heisuke and sanan done... but there's one phrase i don’t really think i can translate properly so maybe not, tho since this drama got uploaded recently with cn subtitles, if the words in that video make more sense for the part im unsure of, i’ll probably translate this). if i don’t do that, i might consider an otopa drama.

a shinkai drama (will likely go with  「喧嘩するほど仲がいい？」since i already have maybe... 1/5 of it translated? or i’ll go with the Saito/Harada/Sakamoto drama cuz its funny)

????? dunno yet?

havent figured out what else i might consider translating yet for the last week, but i normally try to prioritize dramas that i can share... lest it’s for something i really like or find amusing, though i also prefer to work on dramas that require less work (im lazy alright? or at least, i perceive myself as someone who prefers to take the shortest available route when it comes to doing stuff for free hahaha. despite that though, i do make sure i put out decent quality stuff and refuse to do a crap job lol), which honestly can vary since ive translated chunks of text from a number of dramas before just leaving them to work on some other things (most of those translated ‘chunks’ were done over the course of 2 years. i literally have more than 100 ‘chapter’ tabs in nimble with tl content so i it’s really easy to find something else to work on when i get tired of anything im working on).

as for july... if i can bring myself to translate 3 +10 min tracks... i may get to the Shimabara Disturbance drama... otherwise i’ll go back to game translations. maybe? 

well if ontario gets dumped on with a ton of snow... that’s more likely to happen? hahaha yeah i love winter. can’t stand summer tho.

[etto-etto]

JRR #2: August 1 - August 13, 2020 

If you saw this earlier and noticed it was a giant wall of text, that’s because posting drafts from mobile seems to erase all links and other formatting in my posts. Note to self. Anyway: here’s to another set of resources. 

Yuki’s Japanese TV: He’s got a variety of video content from JLPT and grammar to vocab but also topics like food and life during a pandemic. What makes his channel extra special in my book (can you guess?) is that he speaks in Japanese. He does have some in English, and others where he speaks both, but as far as grammar—it’s in Japanese (from what I’ve seen). If that sounds intimidating, he hard subs a lot of his sentences (still in Japanese) and supplies graphics to help demonstrate points, so even if you don’t understand all that he says it’s still difficult to feel lost with Yuki.  

Automatic Japanese: I am in love with Asari’s channel! Most of her videos are spoken in Japanese and accompanied by Japanese and English subtitles (that she herself makes). She speaks with clarity and in a fair pace that I feel isn’t too fast or too slow, plus she’s given me some pretty solid learning tips this week. I also recommend checking out her IG! 

Learning Language with Youtube BETA: something I discovered from Asari! It’s similar to the LLN extension, but for YouTube. 

Learn Japanese with Noriko: a podcast in Japanese for listening practice, of course. But I love this one a little more because she offers some (limited) transcripts on her site, and that makes it a little easier (and more fun) for me to follow along. 

Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese: having never used Erin’s Challenge, I’m not sure if this is an update of the old content or entirely new, but it’s here and ready to help you learn Japanese╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩ It’s a series of basic and advanced skit videos with additional parts like key phrases, scripts, and manga for onomatopoeia. I went into Lesson 7 and found it to be, yeah–completely cheesy–but also fun!  

Hito’s World: a fun game for learning kanji that I think is best for beginners–either that, or for hammering in the romaji spellings. Or at least in regards to the level I’ve worked up to. (And speaking as someone who never remembers which way is left or right–as in I literally bombed the same A&P quiz twice because I confused left and right–I really have to think about whether I need to type 右 or 左. It’s… a mental exercise.) I wish it allowed or accepted hiragana, but I know it’s a WIP. You can also join r/Hito and check out the road map. 

Tobira Vocabulary: Anki deck for Tobira (obviously). Beware: although it says it’s a complete vocab set, I’ve read two comments that claim otherwise. 

Tobira Kanji: includes kanji and vocab from all Tobira chapters. Another option if Anki’s not your thing (+ it may actually contain all vocab?). I’ve tried both the Tobira Anki deck and Memrise course, and I actually prefer Memrise in this case. But that’s just me. 

Learning ENG & JPN: I did a lot of hunting to find this again, and I almost thought it was a lost resource---this is a blog run by a native Japanese speaker who is learning English. Posts are short and written in both English and Japanese while containing interesting tidbits about Japan and its culture. 

Oshaberi Izakaya: this is a completely free way to get in some speaking practice with other learners organized by Japanese teacher Izumi Ise. They meet up a few times a month, but you’re not required to attend all meetings. 

Japanese Learner Cafe: similar to the one above, this provides a means to practice speaking. The on-site English allows room for needed clarity, but this is also through Zoom and I therefore assume 100% free. If anyone decides to try it I’d be interested to know what your experience was like!

[sailormoonandme]

Where to start with Sailor Moon?

From time to time I’ve seen people ask about how to get into Sailor Moon or how they might introduce it to someone else. 

As such I’ve made this to (hopefully) help people out.

Introduction

So first of all you should know that the official name for the over all franchise is ‘Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon’. This can (and has) been translated a few ways, but the current official name is ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’. Basically everything connected with Sailor Moon carries this full official name, but for the purposes of this post I’m just going to shorten things to ‘Sailor Moon’.

Moving on,  there are in fact different versions of the Sailor Moon story, even putting aside the various attempts at translating the story into different languages. Each version is best viewed as its own entity, sort of how there have been various versions of Sherlock Holmes that exist independently of one another. 

For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to mostly keep this post to the original Japanese iterations of Sailor Moon, albeit from the point of view of an English speaking audience member.*

The main versions of the Sailor Moon story are as follows:

1) The Manga

The manga iteration of Sailor Moon began around late 1991/early 1992. It includes around 50 chapters, a handful of side stories and a prequel manga of sorts called Codename: Sailor-V. There have been several different English translations of this material over the years. However, my personal recommendation would be to experience the story through the ‘Eternal Editions’. These are easily available in print and digitally. As of this writing Codename: Sailor-V is scheduled to be collected in at some point in 2021, thus collecting all the manga stories.

2) The 1992 anime

This is the most famous iteration of Sailor Moon and loosely adapts the manga to the point where it is its own entity. It spans 200 episodes across five seasons, with each season being given its own subtitle. E.g. season 2 is referred to as ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R’. Additionally there were a handful of shorts and specials connected with the anime and three films. I have already compiled a watch list for the show that I hope will help you navigate everything.

Like the manga, there have been multiple efforts to subtitle the show into English, particular among fan subbing circles. However, the easiest way to watch the show with English subs is to do so via a streaming service (last I checked it was available on Hulu and Crunchyroll) or to purchase the DVDs and Blu-rays from Viz Media, although you can also purchase them digitally on Amazon.com too.

3) The musicals

 On and off since 1993 there have been stage musicals produced for Sailor Moon. If you ever see the term ‘Sera Myu’ being used by fans (or even official sources) understand that it’s shorthand for these musicals.

The musicals are based chiefly upon the manga and the original anime, although with some original embellishments here and there. The degree to which a musical cuts closer to the manga, or the anime or does something all its own varies from one production to another. I’m not very well read up on the musicals I must admit, but it is to my understanding that each production exists independently from one another beyond at times carrying over cast and staff members. In essence there is no particular order you need to watch the musicals in. However, if you want more info on the musicals see the below EDIT, which is more well informed than I am.

To my knowledge, (which is limited in this particular case) all the musicals have been filmed but there has never been any kind of official English release for them. There have however been fan subbed efforts made for all of them. 

4) The 2003 live action TV show

In fan circles this show is referred to as ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’ or ‘Pretty Guardian’ or ‘PGSM’. This is because it was the first piece of Sailor Moon media to bear that particular English translation of ‘Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon’. Basically if you see ‘Pretty Guardian’ or ‘PGSM’, understand it is referencing this show.

The show exclusively adapts the ‘Dark Kingdom’ storyline, the first storyline in every version of Sailor Moon. The show was made in a similar vein to shows like Kamen Rider or Super Sentai and the latter’s American adaptation, Power Rangers. However, it also incorporates elements of Japanese soap opera dramas too, original elements that were never in any version of Sailor Moon beforehand and many different spins on the plot points that had been covered before. 

To my knowledge, like Sera Myu, no official English release for this show exists, but English fansubs are out there somewhere. If you manage to find the show then you should watch the various episodes and specials in their original broadcast order. For this Wikipedia is your friend. 

5) Sailor Moon Crystal

Sporadically since 2014 a new Sailor Moon anime has been in production. This new anime cuts much closer to the original manga (although it still makes some changes ) than any other version of Sailor Moon. As of this writing, the show has yet to be completed and still has material from the manga left to adapt. The show is available to watch with English subtitles from the same sources as the original 1992 anime, including DVDs and Blu-Rays from Viz Media.

Like the original anime, Crystal’s story arcs and seasons have gone under different names. The first two seasons/arcs are officially just called ‘Sailor Moon Crystal’, whilst the third is explicitly titled ‘Sailor Moon Crystal Season III’. In place of a fourth season two films, Sailor Moon: Eternal Part 1 and Part 2, were produced. As of this writing, the Eternal films have yet to have any kind of English release. To make your life easier, watch this show in the order of the original air/release dates. Just remember the Eternal films are to be viewed after Season III.

Which version should you start with?

Whilst that is how the franchise breaks down, it is not the order a Sailor Moon newbie should try experiencing it in.

My personal recommendation would be to begin with the original 1992 anime and then move on to any of the other versions from there. This is because the original anime is aimed at a younger audience and was incredibly influential on basically every other version of the story. 

However, if 200 episodes or more is too intimidating for you, then simply check out the manga. It’s far shorter, skewed a bit older and tells a concise and complete story. 

And if you are still apprehensive then I’d highly recommend watching the first Sailor Moon film, Sailor Moon R The Movie. This is a very good film unto itself but it is a microcosm of the characters and themes that define the franchise as a whole. If you dislike this Sailor Moon just isn’t for you. 

P.S. If you are simply dead set against subtitles then you should know the original 1992 anime and Crystal have in fact been dubbed into English by Viz Media. In fact, the first four seasons of the original anime, along with the first three films, have two English dubs, variously produced by DiC, Cloverway and Pioneer. These dubs were made in the 1990s and early 2000s and are currently not legally available anywhere. 

*Things get more complicated when we consider that even in Japan there have been updated and altered versions of the Sailor Moon manga, anime, etc. We aren’t going to worry about that in this post though. They exist and maybe someday you might be inclined to check them out, but you know...baby steps...

EDIT #1: The following information comes from https://euribear.tumblr.com/

Just something I want to add on about the Sailor Moon Musicals.

If you see a musical with the word Kaiteiban (revision) at the end of the name, that means it’s a revised version of the previous musical. Things added or taken away, different cast members at times, etc.

Also, there are three musicals (technically four) that have a continuous storyline. Starring Miyuki Kanbe as Sailor Moon, Last Dracul, Transylvania no Mori (and its Kaiteiban), and Death Vulcan should be viewed in order.

The Bandai era of musicals were from 1993 to 2005.

The Nelke musicals started in 2014 and there was one each year for five years. One musical for each arc of the manga.

There are also the NogiMyu. These are musicals that solely focus on the Dark Kingdom arc and they star various members of the pop idol group Nogizazaka46.

There were two teams of cast members for the inner senshi for both years, 2018 and 2019. The same story overall, just different actresses.

There was also Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live. My personal favorite, this was a musical performed only a few times. A couple of days in Japan in 2018 and then once in Paris in 2019 and then in Washington D.C. and later in NYC. I got to see this in person on one of the three showings in NYC. A dream come true. Unfortunately, this was never recorded, though they did release an instrumental musical album of the show.

[phoenixyfriend]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @willowcrowned ​

Tagging: @squirenonny @sergeant-angels-trashcan @the-roadkill-cafe @brawltogethernow​

Remember to make a new post!

How many works do you have on AO3?

160, but that number’s going to go up as soon as I transfer some tumblr fics over

What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,721,084

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Girl Genius, Naruto, Marvel (MCU and comics), Voltron: Legendary Defender, Miraculous Ladybug, Harry Potter, Star Wars Prequels, Hamilton, Doctor Who, Twilight, Attack on Titan, The Good Place, Beauty and the Beast (1991), Enchanted (2007), Hunger Games, Firefly

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Capsaicin, Rattlesnake of the Day, The Universe's Newest Puppet, I Don't Believe You, and Just a Little Death

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to respond to most comments of substance (e.g. I recently had someone commenting with a line of emoji hearts on every chapter of JaLD, which was sweet but not something I can actually respond to), but I have a few sitting in my inbox from months ago, including one that’s currently aged 221 days that I keep MEANING to reply to but just... can’t dig up the energy to, because it’s a really nice, really thought-provoking comment, and my brain is mush.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I’ve got a few but let’s go with The Colors on our Metal Skin.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

So many, the craziest is probably... depends on your definition of crazy?

- That's Science! (minor fandom and minor subsection of a giant fandom)

- Your Exit is in Another Castle(many fandoms)

- Storms, Sincline, and a Single Drop of Sincerity (crack ship treated very seriously)

- To Build a Queendom (main character appeared for all of like five issues of the actual canon)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I got suicide-baited a LOT for SasuKarin fic. So. Yes.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Not very often but sometimes! I have a lot of headcanons and general musings about how characters have sex, but I rarely have a brainstate to write actual smut. If I write smut, it’s usually queer dom/sub stuff with a heavy emphasis on consent in situations that make said consent complicated.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Sort of but I think it was just a really weird search engine access thing.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I remember! I think someone asked for permission once and then didn’t follow through.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A few times, but most of them petered out. The most recent attempt at such was Sowing Discord with @purronronner​.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I think I come back to SasuKarin regularly enough that it counts.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

So many but let’s say Turn Back the Clock. I had so many plans! I finished the cosplay for an AU version of a character that never made it on page!

What are your writing strengths?

I want to say banter. I love writing banter, and I’ve been told I’m good at it.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I think I have a hard time keeping character voices consistent with canon and within a work, and I'm really bad at juggling really large, complex political machinations even as a reader, let alone as a writer, especially when canon's already giving me trouble. This could be just a thing, and not a weakness, except the fandoms I tend to dabble in are fandoms where complex, large-scale political machinations are A Major Thing.

Also I can't stick to plans, which is probably why I'm so prone to abandoning things.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Really hard to balance in a way that adds to the story instead of taking someone out. I started out with anime fandom, where it’s an ongoing struggle to balance where you keep the Japanese and where you don’t, especially when half the fandom is reading one translation that keeps things, and half the fandom is reading another translation that doesn’t.

- You (probably) want to keep the names of people, but do you keep the names of towns? - How do you choose to translate this title to keep the correct rank in implication as well as direct translation? - Everyone knows the name of this attack, so it shouldn’t cause a hiccup in reading to keep it, but what about the less well-known attacks? - This acronym is widely known by the fandom but only works in Japanese, do you use it anyway? - English doesn’t have the same element of including age and politeness when referring to family members, do you want to work out the correct way to represent aneue and nii-chan and sofu-sama as anglophone slang variants, or do you work with the actual Japanese as shorthand and include an author’s note addressing why characters use the words they do?

More recently, I’ve been in Star Wars fandom, where you’ve got both a bunch of sort-of English made-up words (jizz music, transparisteel, flimsi, kriff) and semi-developed conlangs (most notably Mando’a and Huttese), and there’s that element of 'when is it a good idea to use the words you can find on Wookiepedia, and when is it overkill?'

Characters do switch from one to the other, and there are good, in-character reasons for doing so that revolve around culture and childhood traumas and personhood, but where a tv show can include subtitles to translate for the viewer in time with the spoken words, something like that can break up the flow of the narrative in fanfic. So you have to balance where you include dialogue tags to differentiate, or when it would make sense from a character perspective to include nicknames in another language that can be dropped in among the English (e.g. clones using Mando’a nicknames for Jedi could be a matter of the clones claiming a culture that was refused to them, and it’s something you can build a lot of character development into as a choice), when it makes more sense to just write “and then they said something in X language that the POV character didn’t understand,” when it's best to just italicize the parts in not-POV-language, and so on.

Basically, it’s a hard thing to balance and you always risk alienating readers with it, but sometimes it makes more sense for the characters or setting.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter (I know, not surprising).

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I have a few that I'm always going to be fond of, but Red and Gold is one of the ones I'm most proud of.

[innovativestruggles]

Daisuke & Suzue’s Relationship - A Consolidation Post

Hey gang, so given that we have 2 episodes left and absolutely zero idea as to what Daizue’s relationship is, I have decided to put together a spectrum of information. A lot of the stuff I am posting here have already been speculated to some degree, but it is nice to have it all in one big post where you can see what’s been gathered so far.

When I write about speculations, I always base everything on canonical evidence. Of course, there will be elements of personal bias and opinions intermeshed within, but I will try and separate facts from opinions as much as possible so that you can also draw your own conclusions.

For the purpose of this post, I will exclude all novel content, considering the anime is vastly different from the novel. I will start with the OP and work my way towards Episode 9. Originally I was going to wait until Episode 10 to complete this post, but I decided that it probably wouldn’t matter, considering Daizue’s relationship may not be revealed until Episode 11 and they most likely would be focusing on the battle with Shigemaru in Episode 10 rather than delve any deeper into Daizue’s relationship.

WARNING: This is a long post

The Opening

I want to look at this from the perspective of a complete newbie, who has zero knowledge of the novel or what the fandom is speculating. When looking solely at the OP, this is how it is seen;

1. Suzue is a beautiful character who is heavily sexualised

2. The show centres around a handsome rich boy with unlimited money

3. Selling the idea of sassy detective work

Suzue plays the perfect Bond girl trope. From the way she is shown in the OP in lingerie, to being tied to Daisuke’s car, to being bridal carried at the very end. As a newbie watching this OP, all I see is, hot rich guy and his hot, sexy, gorgeous sidekick woman whom he develops a sexual relationship with. 

If we all take a step back and just see the bigger picture, anyone, including non-anime watchers, who look at this OP would immediately associate Daisuke and Suzue as some sort of couple/love interests or two characters with immense sexual tension. There is no doubt about that.

So what am I trying to say here? Well, it is clear as day that the FKBU creators were deliberate in the way they showcased Daizue’s relationship. The OP is a foreshadow of what is to come or it implies the way the entire show is set out. 

But y’know...to me, the biggest foreshadow was that bridal carry!

Oops...wrong one...I meant this one below 😏

Episode 2

We are skipping Episode 1 as Suzue did not debut until Episode 2.

1. Suzue’s introduction She introduced herself as Suzue Kambe. That was it. Normally, whether it be in an anime or manga, a person would introduce themselves and their relationship (whether directly or indirectly), to another character. This was deliberately left out to keep viewers guessing.

2. Daisuke’s non-existent response Daisuke did not elaborate on his relationship with Suzue. Remember when Haru said something along the lines of “a woman with black hair entered this building,” to which Daisuke replied “woman with black hair you say?” There was no further explanation of who Suzue was to him or how they knew each other, or what sort of relationship they have.

3. Haru’s question was diverted When Haru asked Suzue, “who the hell are you?” Suzue’s response was “I’ve been following Daisuke’s orders...” Again, no further elaboration/explanation. The question was also diverted and she did not properly answer his question.

4. Haru’s assumption Haru made the assumption, as we found out in Episode 4, that Suzue and Daisuke are married. But this was not explored at the time in Episode 2. Again, another deliberate attempt to conceal information, considering we did not even get to see Haru’s assumption of Daizue’s relationship at the time.

5. Suzue’s use of Daisuke’s name No use of nii-san or nee-chan to indicate a sibling relationship and no honourifics were used. The interesting thing here was, Suzue was shown to drop the honourifics from Daisuke’s name in only this episode. Whether it was a mistake or a deliberate attempt to drip feed viewers information at the time, we don’t know. But let’s just say it was a deliberate attempt on the creators part - it needs to make sense. What I’m trying to say here is that Suzue should be in a relationship close enough to Daisuke to be able to drop the honorific but also be in a professional/lower position to continue addressing him with ‘sama.’ So in essence, Daisuke and Suzue’s relationship is most likely more complex than meets the eye.

6. Suzue’s professionalism Daisuke and Suzue’s relationship is too formal and professional to be considered to be some kind of sibling/family/close relative situation. Suzue works for Daisuke. That is the end point. She follows his every instructions and obeys all his orders. Even if she were a Kambe, she has to be a very, very, very distant relative to even submit to that level of obedience. If she were a closer relative but of a lower ranking than Daisuke’s family, there is absolutely no way she would be put in such a subservient position (more on this later).

Based on the 6 above points, personally, what I see is a deliberate attempt to create drama amongst fans lmao! But jokes aside, you cannot take it on face value that they are just relatives (or siblings at the time when it was first released) because as you can see, there are so many clues in this episode alone that does not make any sense.

Episode 3

Suzue only made a brief appearance here but I’d like to add a couple things.

1. Grandma’s focus on Daisuke Grandma barely acknowledged Suzue, and given that Suzue herself is a Kambe, I find this incredibly odd. Grandma was very focused on Daisuke, from his work relationship to his behaviour, and Suzue was...ignored.

2. Grandma explicitly stated to Haru about Daisuke that she is “his grandma” This piece of information was only available in the English subtitles. Remember that in Japanese language, there is no ‘his’ or ‘her.’ It is gender neutral. But I take it that the subtitles are official subtitles which gave us a bit more of a clue into Daizue’s relationship. We know at this stage here that Grandma is only Daisuke’s grandma and not Suzue’s.

With the above 2 points, if Suzue were a sibling or a closer relative, there would be more focus on her too. And I know the show is about Daisuke and Haru, so why would Suzue get any attention? But precisely this is the reason! Because the show centres a lot around the Kambe family conflict and you would think Suzue would be more involved in this conflict if she were closely related. But she is not involved. To me, this just screams outsider. Poor Suzue.

Episode 4

Alright, here we go on this roller coaster episode. 

1. Suzue addressed Daisuke as ‘Daisuke-sama.’ Kudos to know this because no bloody sibling would say this shit to their elder sibling. So that theory has been written off long ago now. 

Anyways I’d like to point out that there are times where lower members of a family, known as ‘branch’ families, would address the head family with polite honourifics. It’s quite rare nowadays in modern Japan, but in saying that, richer more exclusive families may still tend to do this and some still fight over the title of head of family. So in essence, anyone who succeeds as head of family (together with their immediate family) will obviously be addressed with polite honourifics. 

Just to let you know, branch families can either be closer relatives or very, very distant relatives (so distant that it is negligible they are related to the head family). We don’t know how big the Kambe family is and what the dynamics are like when it comes to the next successor. The bigger the family, the more likely members will want to fight over the title for head of family - usually once when the current head of family and their immediate family are all dead. What I’m trying to point out here is that Suzue may well still be a relative (I’m not gonna deny that during this first point I’m making), considering the above explanation I just made.

2. Daisuke did not elaborate on the type of relative Suzue was to him Another obvious one here. The creators love playing games with the viewers. The fact that Daisuke did not elaborate on his relationship with Suzue was a huge red flag. In the sense that we do not know whether Suzue is a close relative, a distant relative, married into the Kambe family or adopted. The creators are still keeping the viewers guessing!

3. Daisuke’s body language and expression This may be more opinionated base, but you can make judgements for yourself by rewatching the scene again. When Daisuke tells Haru that Suzue is a relative, there was almost a stilted, discomforting demeanour, as if he did not want to discuss the topic. This was heavily exacerbated and reinforced by his tone of voice, which may indicate he could be hiding something?

4. Haru’s assumption that Daisuke and Suzue are married Considering the fandom thinks Daizue look so similar, Haru clearly didn’t. So on his end, they looked more like husband and wife than siblings or relatives..

5. Suzue’s infatuation with Daisuke It was too obsessive. Lovey dovey and just ... plain questionable. I mean, Suzue could still be a relative and do this but the way it was set up was very jarring. As in, Suzue displays a sense of professionalism and obedience towards Daisuke that screams master and servant - not infatuation. 

Normally in anime shows where a character is infatuated over another, there isn’t that simultaneous level of professionalism displayed between the characters. So whether the character is a relative or not, it would be believable. But in Suzue’s case, professionalism + infatuation + relative does not make any sense to me. Also, Do NOT confuse loyalty with professionalism! They are two separate things. Suzue displays both! Characters you see in other anime may display loyalty and infatuation. The biggest incongruence to me with regards to Suzue is the infatuation and professionalism!

From something like this...

To something like this...

6. Suzue attended to Daisuke’s everyday needs Honestly if this wasn’t the most jarring thing, I seriously don’t know what was. I swear, not even the lowest member of a branch family would attend to a head family’s every day needs like a servant/maid. It makes no sense. Considering Daisuke is rich enough to have multiple maids that could attend to his every day needs, and that his butler Hattori could probably do what Suzue does, I do not understand the need for Suzue to do all these personal things for Daisuke.

7. The anime creators deliberately did this episode in a way that would confuse fans even more When you add: Daisuke saying “Suzue is a relative” + Suzue’s weird infatuation + addressing Daisuke with ‘sama’ = you are going to get the biggest explosion of confusion. 

It almost felt like the creators wanted to balance things out for the viewers. That is, “I want Daisuke to say Suzue is a relative, but I also don’t want the viewers to think she is a relative either.” There you go, they nailed it with this episode.

8. Daisuke cooked for Suzue At first I didn’t think much of this scene other than Daisuke’s weird way of making up to Suzue for being petulant LOL. But then I thought about how Grandma and butler were just standing there, uninvited to eat food made by Daisuke...it just goes to show that Daizue’s relationship runs a lot deeper than meets the eye. More important than Grandma that is for sure.

Episodes 5 and 6

Suzue did not make much of an appearance in these two episodes, but what I continued to see was the undying loyalty and continued professional relationship between Daisuke and Suzue. Despite Suzue’s injury in Episode 5, she continued to assist Daisuke (or tried to) in a manner that screams ‘I am forever your servant. Ask and ye shall receive’ kinda vibe LOL 

When she knows Daisuke is safe, Suzue keeps her cool, calm demeanour and powers on with the professionalism, but that weird infatuation kicks in otherwise... what an odd relationship they have...

Episode 7

1. The lack of Suzue in the family photos No Suzue could be seen in the family album. And yes, some people pointed out the baby in the ‘pink’ onesie was Suzue. Could be. But highly doubt it. Someone mentioned that the onesie used to be red but faded over time to a pinkish colour because it has been more than 27 years. That’s also a plausible explanation. Tbh, that entire photo album just screamed Daisuke.

2. All other photos pointed to the fact that Daisuke was raised as an only child No Suzue present or any indication that she was there at the time those photos were taken

Episode 8

Oh boy, the fun episode LOL

1. You can try and see it both ways here.

a. Suzue was just trying to warn Daisuke about HEUSC. That was all. Nothing else.

b. Definitely fanservice. Suzue could have done this in so many other ways. It was obviously a deliberate part on the creators’ side to bring forth a sexually suggestive scene that really further questions Daizue’s relationship. And the way they zoomed in on certain features (yeah we love their lips almost touching and Suzue’s ass in the air whilst her legs were pressed in between Daisuke’s) perhaps suggested something more explicit between the two (or implied to be in the future), but then again, the zooming in of their lips could just emphasise HEUSC’s ability to lip read rather than anything sensual. But ya know, I reckon it probably was both. 

Again, this whole scene puts more question marks on their relationship as to ‘What kind of relatives are they?’ or ‘Are they really relatives?’ or ‘What is their true relationship?’

**

Zooming in on Suzue moving her ass and legs in between Daisuke was completely unnecessary unless they are implying something sexual. Yeah goodbye.

This was obviously more necessary to describe HEUSC’s ability to lip read...but the way it was zoomed in and emphasised between them...

2. The creators made Haru see Daizue walk out the room A hugely obvious attempt at forwarding Daizue’s relationship. I mean, putting Haru in that position completely threw the spanner in the works. He was obviously informed by Daisuke that Suzue “is just a relative,” yet he saw them walk out from Daisuke’s bedroom looking all...well...looking like they just had the most amazing time in there. 

Even though it was obvious to us viewers what Haru was thinking, we were never shown Haru questioning the situation in relation to ‘Wait a minute, didn’t Daisuke say she was a relative? What the f did I just see then?’ We don’t get that point of view from Haru so we don’t know what he was speculating in relation to their relationship. I mean, Haru could just be as confused as we were! The only advantage Haru got over us viewers was that he could have just asked them for more clarity around their relationship. Clearly he was just being too polite lmao

3. Daizue did not attempt to clarify the situation I mean, unless they were both stupid and seriously thought Haru wouldn’t think they got up to no good, despite it being so clear as day that Haru thought otherwise, they did not say anything. Again, another deliberate part on the creators’ side to create further confusion. They really like making Daizue keep their mouths shut when it comes to anything to do with their relationship backstory...

**

The creators went one step further and made Daisuke adjust his shirt. LOLOL

And even further by making Suzue’s hair all messy and dishevelled...

4. Suzue mentioned ‘your father and mother’ to Daisuke when discussing HEUSC Big red flag here that would completely forever bury the sibling theory. It sounds to me that Daisuke and his family are very separate from Suzue.

Episode 9

We are in the present now!

1. Daisuke tells Grandma that only the Kambe family, that is, he himself and Grandma, could infiltrate the system This may imply that Suzue is not a true Kambe or she may have been adopted into the family. It would also help discredit the theory that she may be a lower ranking member of the Kambe family/a branch family of the Kambe. It may also imply that Daisuke may have been hiding something from Haru about Suzue when he said ‘Suzue is a relative’ or he was outright lying.

Other materials

Their appearances

On surface level, they do have some similarities but if you look a bit closer, their eye colour is different (Daisuke’s is a deep blue and Suzue’s is more violet), hair colour is different (Daisuke’s is more black and Suzue’s is more charcoal) and eye and eyebrow shape are different. Tbvh, if they made Suzue’s eye and hair colour completely different, you would see the contrast more. It’s just that the creators deliberately designed the two this way to evoke more confusion.

Concluding opinion: It is obvious to me that the creators are drip feeding us information about Suzue. Here with this post, even when analysing it on a spectrum, I gathered two things from it over time.

a) Suzue is not a blood relative

b) The relationship between Daisuke and Suzue is a lot more complex

Just remember that Daisuke trusts Suzue with his life. So the level of mutual understanding and trust between the two is incredibly profound.

Again, these are all very speculative and a lot of the fandom have garnered their own information over the course of the episodes. This is what I (and a lot of DaiSuzu fans) have dissected so far. 

Although the entire show is centred around Daisuke and Haru and their detective work with regards to the Kambe family, I feel like Daizue’s relationship is like that mini side story. Whether they will delve into it or not in the next two episodes is anyone’s guess really. As I said earlier, if anything, the reveal would most likely occur at the very end of Episode 11.

Anyways, share your thoughts and feel free to refute! But PLEASE, be respectful.

P. S. I will keep adding to this if I think of more stuff. It’ll be part of a new “edit section.” I’ll just reblog it so people can see it easier!

[ziracona]

Pretty sure your sudden spike in Fate content is gonna be like the third time I check something out bc you started posting it (I know next to nothing about Fate. In fact, I think I now know less than before you started). I'm rly not sure what the best starting point to get into it is, though. Any recommendation? (also I got Moriarty on your quiz and now I want to know why he's so beloved)

Oh sick! Awesome! I hope you enjoy it! 

Uhm, so, Fate notoriously swaps out like their whole creative team from work to work, so some of it is really good, and some is really bad, and some in the middle, because it’s made by very different people. The things I am most into are UBW, and Fate Go. Fate Go is a little gatcha phone game, that suffers from the fate of the whole fate franchise but as a single unit. They swap out writers from arc and event to arc and event, so sometimes you’re living and thriving, and sometimes you’re like *thousand yard glazed, pained stare* ‘why the fuck did I download this game?’ Very mixed bag. I enjoy it because I just kinda blow through any arc I don’t like and skim, and then go hella into the good ones, but it’s very much an individual matter of taste one. It’s very fun to collect spirits and get to know them though, and some of the arcs are fantastic. Also, they have made/are making some of the Fate Go arcs into shows, and I expect the ones that are of good game arcs are good? But I haven’t actually checked any out myself yet--I really need to watch E Pluribus Unum, because it was an easy top 3 arc for me in the game.

I’m big into Fate, but I actually have approximate knowledge of many things? And have not consumed as much media as you’d think. I tend to hear people really like Fate Zero, and very mixed reviews of Apocrypha, but I would wholeheartedly recommend the Fandom Classic(tm) and my personal fave as where to start, which is Unlimited Blade Works.

Sorry this is so long. Okay, so. Originally, Fate Stay/Night was a visual novel with three paths/routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven’s Feel. All of these are shows now. Unlimited Blade Works was made twice. Do not watch the early one; it’s bad. Watch the 2014 TV series--it’s on Netflix right now. Don’t watch the English dub--the VAs are...not great. 110% recommend watching it in Japanese/original dub, with subtitles. (This one)

My usual pitch is that if you’re a normal person, you’ll probably go “This was a little confusing, but I really got into it: 8.3/10″, and if you’re like me and you never really gave up on wanting to become a superhero and save the world some day, you’ll go: “It was fantastic, 18/10, but it also ripped out my soul and left me wounded but somehow in an okay way.” Either way very worth watching. Since it’s not the first route, there are some things they don’t explain about the world because they kind of assume the viewer will know, but that’s pretty minimal--it’s def coherent enough that the more confusing bits are more of a “Uh, okay. I think.” than a “W-What the fuck is going on?”

It’s really good. Two seasons, the most beautiful fighting in almost anything I’ve ever seen, phenomenal soundtrack, and one of the best show opens (Season 2′s) of any show I ever saw. All around a just big blanket rec from me. It’s a long-time fan favorite for a reason. It’s one of my fave shows ever :’-] It was. Very personal to me.

Uhhhh what else--okay so, on Netflix if you watch it there, and a lot of streaming sites, they list “Episode 0″ or “Prologue” as the first episode? This was originally bonus content, not the first episode. It’s basically the first episode from not the MC’s point of view, but a different major character. It’s got some really great character moments and insight into Rin and Archer, and it’s fun, but since it was originally bonus, the pacing is super weird? So I would recommend you start with actual episode 1/Winter Days, A Fateful Night instead? Unless you just want to. Like it won’t mess up the show, but it might give you a weird idea of what the pacing is. So you can watch it first if you want, or later whenever you’re curious about those two, just like, if you start on it, don’t get overwhelmed by the stuff they’re not explaining, or the weird pacing. It’s supposed to be bonus content haha.

Very happy you’re interested! I really love UBW so I hope you enjoy it! If there’s anything else you want to ask feel totally free! I just don’t want to ramble for eight years about my special interest and fall into a black hole unprompted haha. : D Very happy you’ve been intrigued by my weird spike of fate content WAIT YOU ASKED ABOUT CRIME GRANDPA HOW COULD I FORGET.

Woof this is gonna be a long ask answer. Uhhhh, so Moriarty is from Fate Grand Order/Fate Go, the phone game. The game has three major arc sets so far: Grand Order, Epic of Remnant, and Cosmos in the Lostbelts. He’s from Epic of Remnant, and he’s universally beloved because he’s amazing. The MC in Fate Go is like 16, but he or she (you get to pick) is constantly having to risk their life and be hurt and traumatized and watch people die to save the world because there’s no one else to do it, and usually people are...not super nice to them. Moriarty shows up in the first of the second set of arcs and is like ‘Haha that’s a wholeass human child tho. Guys. Guys, a-are you sure about this?’ and he’s really there to pull of a massive evil culmination-of-my-life’s-entire-work-and-value scheme, but this kid is nice to him, and has nobody who looks out for them, and Evil Has Standards, so (Arc End Spoilers for that one ahead) he ends up giving up basically at the last minute. He had a plan that was totally working and could have won, but can’t really pull the trigger, because winning would mean this kid who has been nice to him and is already a massive pile of trauma and pressure and mental illness would die, and he cares more about them than his life’s goal. In Go usually boss fights are progressively harder, but his is super easy because he throws it, and chooses to lose, and basically throws away his life’s work for this one kid because nobody else is taking care of them, and lets himself get killed. This is a pattern with him. Other high points include later being 5 seconds into a scheme when Frankenstein (the girl one, who in fgo is like 14) stops him to call him Papa and asks for help, so he adopts her on the spot and just is her dad forever after that. He’s very goofy and I love him; he’s evil, but I’d trust him with my life, because he’s more good than he is evil, even though he’s both. Basically he’s just a very interesting and well written villain, but he’s also like, the /best/ dad in the game at the same time, and his dialogue is amazing. Evil Has Standards team dad poster man. He’s like the only adult in Fate Go who actually is responsible, which is fuckin wild. I’ll try to find some good screenshots of his dialogue. Anyway he’s incredible and I’m so happy you got him; Crime Papa is life.

Here have some Moriarty junk: (Shinjuku arc you have 3 partners, and the other two are adults but harass the MC constantly, and this was the dynamic. Bless Moriarty) 

And here’s some him roasting Sherlock memes and being good dad to the MC

[chaosmax]

No screenshots bc DVD at home and amz.n doesn’t allow screenshots--

Diva/Aigami!Dub :“When the pharaoh leaves this world, the power of the Plana will be granted. But shall he ever return, this power will be recanted....[the power to remake the very fiber of reality. I will use this powr to avenge him [Shadi]]”

Diva/Aigami!Sub: “Evil souls will transform into light, and the door to a new dimension will open. The people who have noble souls will create a new orderly world of light.”

Because I’m not dedicated enough to make a huge list of sub and dub comparisons of DSoD I’m going to be using this one line to illustrate my general thoughts on the matter. I do want to preface this post by saying I’m in no way trying to rip on the dub or vice versa. There are some things from the sub I like better and some from the dub I like better (for real, hilarious lines like ‘You fight me with fruit’ and ‘perfectly coiffed hair’ would only happen in the dub & I love it xD and even more powerful ones like ‘You set me up... But I knew you’d set me up.’) Also, given accessibility for many people, dubs are honestly necessary, not everyone can read subtitles. It doesn’t always mean they’re being that lazy English speaker (tm) who can’t be bothered. I will also say I don’t know too much about the dubbing process and what goes on, if the dubbing writers get to see a full translation of the original script, if they get to talk to Japanese people during the process, if the VA’s get to read the original script as well, etc. So keep that in mind.

However-- This scene itself is one of the perfect reasons why when analyzing lore stuff of any artistic creation that gets localized, I use the original Japanese first and foremost. I think people that only see the dub sometimes forget that a lot can be altered in the translation or give off a totally different vibes because LANGUAGE IS COMPLICATED.

Both versions are sort of saying the same thing, but given how word diction works and how it’s phrased if you only watch one version you can get totally different vibes from the same scene that hasn’t really been censored in any way. (As for once, DSoD had no censorship between versions) Order, diction, what is said and what is left out and emphasis can make the same idea/sentence have many different meanings in English and different things can be inferred from what is said and what is not.

The Dub line here is very vague, it says the power of the Plana and talks about how it can rewrite reality-- but what that truly means is left pretty open-ended. It’s far less explained what the Plana as a whole is shooting for and more so focuses on Diva’s personal vengeance.  This can make the plots of the Plana seem kind of foolish and confusing because it's far less concrete-- it makes them harder to sympathize with because we don’t understand really what they are after and why--we see Diva’s desire for revenge at that moment and that’s about it (which he later lets go too, so).

The Sub line is still pretty vague because the Plana is a soft magic system, but it is also used more in an example and says exactly what can be accomplished with its power. This one is saying that everyone evil (unknown if that includes people that aren’t outright evil but aren’t Plana members) will be changed into light and a new dimension/world will open and in that new world the Plana will be able to create a utopia, (which makes a lot of sense given how many Buddhism motifs and ideas are alluded to by the Plana it’s not a 1:1 with it, but there are a lot of simularatires).  Through this version it’s not all about revenge as the end goal, it’s to achieve things thing that has both been promised to them and also this mission that has been entrusted to the Plana to create this new world free from Earthly suffering. This is far more understandable and easier to sympathize with because we actually understand it better. Or at least know more what it is about. There’s a concrete A -> B.

But not only the Plana members, but it also makes everyone’s else’s actions more powerful-- we know better what the Plana is capable of and thus when Yugi turns down the offer to join it’s much more powerful. But that’s a post for another day.

Back to the main point, this doesn’t mean the Sub is # better than the dub in every way fite me -- ugh no. It just means it often elaborates more which in some cases can make it more compelling (though of course the Sub has its weaknesses as well and so does the manga, which of course, the movie was following the manga continuity). And at the end of the day, because the movie was made in Japan in Japanese even though the translation process has room for error in itself as you often can’t get across the exact meaning you want (or certain cultural things are a given in one culture and not the other) it is closer to what KT & the other staff intended than a dub which has passed production hands several times. In many cases the sub and dub of yugioh are so different you have to treat them as separate entirely.

This isn’t to say people can’t enjoy dubs or draw upon them for fanwork or their own personal viewing/reading of the content, of course not (personally I take a mixture of both). I guess all I’m saying is it frustrates me when there are as big gaps as there are and different vibes between the versions that people will do things such as write off Kaiba’s actions in DSoD as “lmao so stupid what a sore loser lmao he’s never gonna win give it up bro”  or knock Diva only down to “petty/revenge dude who wants revenge (tm)” when there are so many more layers that were meant to be present, but got altered and the vibe the work as a whole changes just by a bit of a language barrier and how specific and finicky word choice is.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Furuba S2E10 - Thoughts Post - SPOILERS!

And so, the Beach Arc has come to a close.

I think I'm going to start this off with one problem that I had with the subtitle translations and one bit of the subtitle translations that I was really happy to see differed a bit from the manga (TokyoPop Version).

So, first off, when Yuki is talking to Haru after the whole incident with Akito...the anime subtitles have him say *she* instead of *he.* I just wanted to facepalm right there. Especially because this isn't just a minor translation error like we've seen in the past few episodes where sheep got translated as goat or duck as chicken...this translation error can cause a lot of confusion to anime only fans. Yuki was 100% talking about Kyo in that moment, but now that "she" got used, anime only fans are going to think that he was talking about Tohru there or something, ugh.

This is why I find myself preferring the dub for Furuba again and again. Acting-wise I like both pretty equally, though I do have more of a connection to the English dub cast, but translation-wise...the English dub translations tend to be way more accurate and on-point. They also tend to express the feelings and tones a bit better too and even add extra layers sometimes. Of course, the people working on the dubs are very dedicated (from what I remember from the Funimation video on Momiji's accent) to the series and getting the small details right. 

I know a lot of the time that sub translators are just overworked and underpaid freelancers who usually don't have as much background knowledge and stuff like that to work with. They just translate and leave (so to speak). This system that anime has in place for sub translators isn't a good one and is resulting in poor quality work, imo.

That being said, there was one change in translation that I liked. A lot. It was this bit right here:

In the TokyoPop Version they had Momiji say "like," but here they've changed it to "love." It's kinda like the opposite of what they did with both Arisa's thoughts on Kureno and Yuki's thoughts on Tohru (back in Episode 7). The series is finished, so we know the proper feelings and emotions of these characters and the way their character and relationship arcs play out and etc.. That really helps to more accurately translate vaguer Japanese words like "suki" or "itoshii" which can be romantically based, but don't necessarily have to be, and vice-versa. I'm glad they made that change, since I think it got across Momiji's actual feelings towards Tohru better (that he has romantic feelings for her). Especially combined with his facial expression here, which they got perfect. I haven’t watched any anime only reactions yet, so I wonder if anime only fans will get the same implications and feelings from Momiji's words as I did here. It’ll be fun to see.

Anyway, I have to say that all of the Momiji scenes were well done. I don't have anything to really comment on there outside of the fact that seeing Momiji crying and then hearing him trying and failing to get out an "I'm sorry" got me crying (again). I didn't bawl my eyes out this episode like I did last, but this episode had a bunch of small moments that made me tear up. That's only what I was expecting my reaction to be to this episode, I felt the metaphorical pain when Akito talked about the fate of the Zodiac members and when Tohru thought about the Sohmas and their future at the end there, on the beach. So, I feel this episode hit all of the right emotional beats for me.

The small additional scenes that they included, such as Tohru thinking "The curse that binds everyone..." and then we just get a big ol' image of Kyo. I'm not gonna lie, that did make me laugh for a second, but that was in a good way. I love how they are making it clear very early on here that Kyo is Tohru's main driving force right now. The scene of Tohru by Momiji's beside the morning after Akito visits, is a scene from the manga, but seeing that small little animation of Tohru wiping away Momiji's tear - it shows how Tohru does want everyone to be free. She does care about everyone...But Kyo is the one she cares about the most. Even right now, even if it is still on a subconscious level. So I loved that quick little addition.

I also really liked the addition of the Rin scene, her looking at all of them on the beach, celebrating with fireworks. Re-reading the manga, I feel like it is a bit *too* elusive with Rin, so I'm glad to see that the reboot is being less so. I think it will work out better for Rin's story overall that way and also I like that they kept the detail consistency of Rin wearing Tohru's outfit (though, I didn't check to see if the shirt was still ripped or not).

Speaking of fireworks, I never really thought about it before, but outside of fireworks being pretty universally connected to summer, they are also pretty universally connected to freedom and new beginnings/change. 

Countries all over the world celebrate New Years with fireworks and pretty much every Independence Day around the world is celebrated through fireworks as well (and likely other, country specific traditions). Even in Japan, while not an Independence Day per se, when I lived in Toyama City, I learned that the Kitanippon Fireworks Display was connected to the 1945 bombing of Toyama City. It was a way to pray for the souls of those who died, as well as to celebrate and pray for peace. So all over the world, fireworks are associated with these ideas of change, freedom, and peace, which I think is wonderfully fitting for Tohru's end resolve to find a way to break the curse and transition from a passive MC to and active MC.

I feel that this episode of Furuba did an excellent job of executing the calm, happy moments like all of the kids and teens sitting around watching Mogeta. It was nice that they showed a brief little moment from the Mogeta episode that they were watching too. I feel it is a good way to jog the memories of anime only fans who are watching. I always find it funny when the genre of Mogeta gets brought up and a bunch of different genres are brought up. I always felt that joke was a bit tongue-in-cheek and was meant to be about Furuba itself. Also, in this reboot they had a Mogeta manga in Haru's room. So he should know about it already. But knowing Haru's personality, he probably read the manga without really looking at the title of it. I bet while they were watching the anime he was thinking something like, 'This feels vaguely familiar somehow...' lol

The more dramatic moments were handled very well too! The tension between Akito and Tohru was excellent. You could cut it with a knife! Meanwhile, this shot of Shigure was fantastically conveyed:

And I'm *very* happy they kept this scene the same as it was depicted in the manga:

It's so important that Akito is thinking 'That woman' as they dress and after both hearing about a call concerning Ren and having just had a conversation with Shigure about Tohru. It makes Akito chanting of 'That woman,' and Akito's almost crazed like state over 'That woman' apply to herself, Ren, and Tohru all at the same time. A++!

I think the only other major thing that I have to talk about this episode is how you can really start to see the parallel between Kyo and Momiji being the two Sohma boys that like Tohru romantically. Like I said earlier, I really do feel like they got Momiji's feelings across correctly here, so his conversation with Kyo reads a bit more like they are both on the same page. You get the proper sense that when Kyo and Momiji are talking about "being selfish" they are talking about having feelings for Tohru. Also, Momiji is the one who is able to stand up against Akito and be able to help Tohru in that moment, while Kyo is not only held back by the others, but also by himself. Ugh, poor Kyo! T-T

Outside of that, I don't think I really have much else to say about the episode. The shots of all of them eating the watermelon together were cute and precious, as were Momiji's bunny ears (they always are). Ah! I remembered one more thing. I really like how they had that image of the Zodiacs surrounding Akito and how the image made it appear like they were all getting closer to Akito. Them moving closer but all having their backs turned, continues to illustrate the strain and toxicity of the bond that currently exists between the Zodiac members and God.

So yeah, overall I really enjoyed this episode and thought they did a good job with it. There was just that one translation error that was just like, "huh?" But I'm not gonna hold that against the episode itself. They did a nice job of wrapping up this arc, and it seems like next week we will be getting the Kagura and Kyo stuff, which is interesting! I'm sensing some more, slight rearranging of events and chapters. I trust the anime team though, so I'm looking forward to how they will arrange things going forward! :D

[sroloc--elbisivni]

*sits down* *pours a glass of water* *pours one for scott westerfeld* *sips*

so here’s my pitch for an adaptation of Uglies specifically and the Uglies quartet* more generally. vague spoilers. i can’t figure out how to make the readmore work anymore so hit J or start scrolling fast.

*theoretically it’s a trilogy with a bonus novel, but I fuckin love Extras.

First, it’s a webseries, because Hollywood refuses to  option a series brutally dissecting the culture of cosmetic surgery and brainwashing through a dystopian lens (gee I wonder why).

The first few videos are amateur vlogging, taking us through the first part of Uglies, aka “Tally and Shay fuck around and find out.” it’s their shared dark web youtube channel, maybe it’s uploaded to the Crims’ private server or something and as bonus content sometimes we see videos that Shay made with Zane before the Crims cut out. either way we have to be convinced, as an audiences, that the girls are sure this is secure. The scene with Paris is never in-video, or if it is it’s just audio of Tally recording herself breaking into the party, so we don’t see the Pretties.

anyway. Tally’s hoverboarding saga, the hypothetical makeover side, sneaking out to the ruins, the good shit. it’s a webseries from the PoV of two kids who don’t know too much about making videos so shots are limited and we can really lean into the suggestions of this world instead of trying to build whole sets.

use of CGI, but only for detail work, leaning into the uncanny valley, making the world of Tally’s city very clean and polished, too clean, and putting skeletons in the Rusty Ruins.

the hoverboarding-down-a-roller-coaster has to be in there, preferably filmed on a GoPro equivalent, but if there isn’t enough budget we cut away from a painted shot of the ruins where Tally’s at the top into static bc the camera went too fast and then it’s Tally and Shay losing their minds with the adrenaline comedown and they kiss nope where was i

Shay’s letter--i can’t remember if it being on paper was a plot point in the books but I’m really feeling video message, ideally uploaded to the same channel, and then when Special Circumstances drop the bomb on Tally we as the audience go oh shit. they’ve seen everything.

this is where the mode of the story changes--no more amateur vlogging, now it’s Tally recording reports for SC. They’re not transmitted, so we just get this video diary of Tally’s trip, a little camera running the whole time, and then....I'm not sure whether it’s Tally talking to herself to vent her feelings, or the footage is cut together as a summary and the video is prefaced with a Very Official Special Circumstances report, so it’s like a debriefing.

The Smoke. That whole thing. the very last part is chaos and confusion and found footage. >:)

PART 3, which is Tally’s video diary of the whole next part of the trip with David. This part is more edited, more condensed, than the earlier parts, and the connecting throughline isn’t always clear. some of it is just the two of them talking, some of it is long epic scenery shots, some of it is after everything goes down and they get Shay back and they’re having these Very Serious Discussions, and those are shot like...the camera is being the record. except for where it isn’t.

SPEAKING OF SHAY. if it’s at all possible to pull this off, Shay is cast with two different actors, one for the first two thirds and one for the last third (and most of Pretties). The first Shay is an actual teenager, zits and all, not a beauty by any means. The second Shay is classic Hollywood cast-a-20-something-as-a-teen, rounded out with makeup to be just inside the uncanny valley. surrounded by everyone else, who’s been living in the woods. This should be the most jarring thing.

The last video is a discussion of informed consent, and the making the plan happens largely offscreen so then there’s a long sequence of Tally hoverboarding back to the city (shot by drone) where she’s just narrating, and the leadup to the ‘make me pretty’ penny dropping that oh. This is Tally leaving a message for herself and she’s not sure who she’s going to be when she watches it.

PRETTIES. Less of an outline on this one, but it works from the same framework of three parts, three storytelling styles--the first part is total Instagram Influencer, professional vlogging, glitz and party culture. The camera is floating now so Tally’s always in frame. Same trick pulled with Tally’s actor so you’re looking at actual different people. Tally and Shay are dating but the conflict is them both refusing to talk about whether this is a casual thing or an actual relationship so when the thing with zane happens it’s a mess.

when tally and zane start looking for the pills, that’s when it flips back to a narration style similar to Uglies, where Tally’s carrying the camera and they’re documenting their crazy adventures, thumbing their noses at SC. maybe it’s also intercut with like, news stories, because trying to film the ice rink scene would be bananas. unreliable narration as they try to pretend they’re completely law abiding.

 from the balloon and onwards, it’s all found footage. maybe anthropological stuff of the village, official reports, and then those end with the camera falling to the floor as the anthropologist is like ‘you’re not supposed to be--’ but we do make it all the way to the camp and the Specials showing up, and this is where the CGI comes in again to get just that over the edge of weird badwrong.

Specials is a mix of surveillance footage, recorded reports, and callbacks to the Crims’ channel in Uglies--at least one shot-for-shot remake but way more dangerous. sometimes the camera is just left running on a log in their campsite and no one even notices, and this is the tragedy, they’ve grown so used to their lives being recorded that they don’t even bother to care.

From Tally going down in Deigo until her message at the end, she doesn’t appear on screen, but she does carry the camera in to her saying goodbye to zane.

HEY REMEMBER HOW I LOVE EXTRAS? EXTRAS IS A MOVIE.

by this point there’s enough following and enough buildup that you might actually get a movie out of this, especially since it’s tackling things that are less explicitly ‘societally expected body modification is bad.’

it’s also dissecting the meta narrative that’s been set up throughout the webseries--it starts with Aya recording herself talking to Moggle, and then we zoom out, getting Moggle in the shot, and from there it’s just leaning into the wild fucking scope of this book. mag lev train? hell yeah. mountain?? hell yeah. the flaws in a society obsessed with reputation and vlogging which cannot be successfully explored within that medium??? hell YEAH. I FUCKING LOVE EXTRAS.

I personally think it would be very cool and narratively sexy if the entire thing was subtitled in English and the characters spoke in Japanese except where they switch into English, like in the book, but I also get like....familiarity and the danger of exoticizing. but driving home that this is the whole world that lives like this.

footage from the webseries is recut and narrated over into something more professional, and interspersed with the movie to catch up people who haven’t watched the webseries, and also to show how the narrative of history gets cleaned up. but if it’s done right, three things should happen:

We barely see anything of Tally’s Ugly days and the Smoke. There are shots of her chatting with her friends and laughing, way back from the Ugly days or the Pretty ones, but we never hear her voice except for the final letter

Shay and the rest of the Crims get important footing in the narrative but Zane is nowhere to be seen.

everyone in the audience, including people who haven’t read the books or watched the webseries, should LOSE THEIR MINDS when she shows up

There’s a post-credits scene of everyone covered in cake after it exploded.

*pauses to drink water* in conclusion give me licensing rights and a good director.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

(CONTENT WARNING: This blog post contains discussion of phobias, child abuse, and people doing the worst thing to intensify those problems. Those things are in the show, I didn’t just bring them up out of nowhere.)

Well, it’s that time again. Time to grab a balloon and tell my friends what I think of an episode of Ranma 1/2. We’re starting the first arc of season two with this episode, though oddly enough I feel like I mostly remember what stuff is going to happen in it. But maybe I don’t remember right? I’d love it if that is the case. Though...speaking of that...there is a certain character I have dreaded appearing in this series, and I’d hoped he wouldn’t appear for a while, but I checked and he appears this season. I...I thought I had more time. Oh well, let’s do this episode and I’ll worry about him when he gets here.

Okay, well, for the most part, this episode is actually a lot better than I remember it being. As it turns out, some of the details mutated in my head in the decade since I last saw it, and I actually thought things were worse than they were.

The episode starts in the Kuno manor, where our favorite swordsman is practicing to once again fight Ranma Saotome. But he’s not alone, because for the first time we meet Kuno’s henchman, Sasuke. He’s a ninja, and he’ll do whatever Kuno tells him to do, but he probably won’t do it very well.

From there, we see Ranma’s dad is training him in stupid ways again, and they get back to the house to find Shampoo has mailed Ranma something from China: a pink cat. That’s a problem, because Ranma has a severe cat phobia. It’s not random, either, Genma directly created it. See, when Ranma was 6, Genma thought he should teach his son Cat Fu, which he heard about from an ancient martial arts manuscript. The way to teach it is to cover the disciple in fish sausage and through them into a room with starving cats.

Obviously, that just ended up traumatizing Ranma, and the very next page of the book would have told Genma that training someone that way is very stupid. Kasumi, drawing on the common misunderstandings people have about exposure therapy, thinks that just inviting a ton of cats to be around will help, but of course it doesn’t, it makes Ranma even more distressed. Sasuke is hiding under the floorboards though, and he runs off to tell Kuno about Ranma’s weakness.

At first, Kuno says something about how he could never cowardly use an opponent’s weakness to unfairly win, but then he still makes Sasuke tell him about it, because he can still use it to win in an honorable way. The plan they go for is pretty ridiculous: they leave a note in Ranma’s locker that Akane’s been kidnapped, and he has to go to the gym to save her. But Akane is standing next to Ranma as he reads the note, so he knows that’s not true.

He goes anyway out of curiosity, only to find Sasuke there dressed up as Akane. With the wrong color wig. Even though the trap keeps failing, Ranma walks into it anyway because he has nothing better to do, until he realizes what is going on: cats. But Ranma manages to fight the fear and pretend he’s okay, hoping to just take Akane out of there, but then it becomes clear Sasuke took the extra step of also bringing an enormous tiger.

That’s when we cut back to Genma and Kasumi, and the old man explains that he tried curing Ranma of his phobia, but his way of doing so was to just keep throwing him at hungry cats, only changing the type of food attached to his body. All of it just made the problem worse, but it also actually led to Ranma developing Cat Fu. When Ranma gets scared enough, his mind just let’s go and he mentally becomes a cat.

That happens in the basement of the school, making it easy for him to beat the tiger and escape, just in time to kick Kuno’s butt without even trying. But he doesn’t stop there, and starts running around the school still acting like a cat. Akane follows him just as the dads show up. Genma says the only way to break Ranma out of it when he was a kid was with the help of a kindly old lady, but she’s dead. So, Genma tries dressing up and doing it himself. That fails, so they try catnip, forgetting that Ranma just thinks he’s a cat, so the stuff doesn’t really affect him.

The situation does kind of solve itself, as Ranma doesn’t attack Akane, as she’s afraid of, but instead curls up in her lap to purr. The whole school is watching, so that’s embarrassing for her, but then he kisses her and she freezes for a second before throwing Ranma into the school pool. Oh, and the pink cat is watching and didn’t like that. The curse activating returns his brain to normal, and Ranma has no clue why he was thrown in a pool. Akane walks home, cursing Ranma for doing that, but sounding conflicted.

So, the big thing I misremembered about this episode was I thought Genma did all the cat stuff with 0 thoughts about how it would affect Ranma and not giving a crap how it affected his son. That is actually not the case, he’s clearly really torn up about the phobia, though he still says some bad stuff about Ranma being ‘unmanly’ for having a phobia. He even tried to cure Ranma, a few times. It’s just that, well, his actions still traumatized Ranma. Sufficient ignorance is indistinguishable from malice, as they say. Genma is still, on the whole, abusive to Ranma in my opinion, but he’s not as bad as he could have been, I have to admit.

This was also just a funny episode. The comedy largely worked, even if some of the jokes didn’t quite land. Kuno and Sasuke were especially good, and I found Ranma fighting his fear both humorous and kind of inspiring. The man has a hell of a willpower. Not going to lie, the Cat-Ranma just immediately going for Akane’s lap and then kissing her was cute, I really liked that. Of course, I’m a sucker for anything with them, so I’m an easy mark there.

It’s also interesting how this works as the first part of a large arc, because if you didn’t know that was the case I can imagine thinking this was just a standalone episode. The pink cat was the impetus for the plot, but it’s what will drive the coming episodes forward.

One thing I found annoying was how different the dub and sub were this time around, in terms of script. The dub had a lot more bashing of Ranma for being scared of cats, including from Akane. That isn’t in the subtitled version at all, and I thought the episode worked a lot better there. I’m always a fan of taking liberties with a localization in order to make the story work better in the new country, but I don’t think we needed Akane insulting Ranma for his trauma.

Hey, a Character Spotlight again! Haven’t had one of these in a bit, and this one is for Sasuke Sarugakure. Let’s start with his voice actors. In the English dub, he’s voiced by Robert O. Smith. Does that name sound familiar? It should, I talked about him recently, since he’s the one who voiced Genma Saotome in the dub as well. His voice for Sasuke is extremely comedic, going for an over-the-top pathetic voice. He makes Sasuke just sound like comic relief, which he is. What’s interesting is what the other actor does with him.

In Japanese, he’s played by Shigeru Chiba, another voice actor from this show in Japan who is just known for a billion things. Standouts include Buggy the Clown in One Piece, Emperor Pilaf and Raditz in the Dragon Ball franchise, and dubbing over John de Lancie as Discord in the Japanese dub of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I was completely shocked to hear him play Sasuke with more gravitas, using a very serious voice that one would expect from a ninja, which clashed perfectly with the situations and his character design to make the comedy far better than in the dub. One of those rare times I’m actually preferring the Japanese version!

As a character, Sasuke is interesting because he’s not in the manga at all. For reasons none seem to know, the creative team for the anime decided to delay introducing minor character Hikaru Gosenkugi, and replaced him with Sasuke. We’ll get to Hikaru when he appears, but I don’t really mind Sasuke’s addition to the show. Giving Kuno a henchman just makes his dynamic even better, and there’s something I just really like to Sasuke’s almost naive way of trying to plot and scheme. I don’t actually have any deep analysis, at least not as of yet, just wanted to give him a moment in the Spotlight for being something interesting.

I didn’t expect to like this episode so much! It wasn’t great, there were parts I didn’t care for, but on the whole I’m happy to see my expectations overcome. I’m putting this episode in the middle of the pack, at the #10 slot. It was fun, but it has a lot of better episodes when it comes to making me smile. (Or cry.)

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

Next time we’ll continue this tale with "This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!" which, as you might guess from the title, will introduce a new character. This one’s actually from the manga! See you then, y’all.

[rigelmejo]

February Progress Update, March Goals:

(Updated as it’s now the end of the month) How February went:

Chinese novel chapters read in February (so far): 27 (a huge amount! Last month’s was 8. This month - 4 were Guardian, the rest are 寒舍)

Chapters I studied with Listening-Reading Method: 2 (Catch me barely doing L-R and just reading Guardian instead...)

Chinese shows watched: 6. (I expected this number to shoot up and I was right! Word of Honor - tian ya ke adaptation - is airing and I am watching the raws first then the English subs as they release. I’m also maybe going to start Anti Fraud League since I finally finished ep 1. YouTube recommended me another Zhen zhehan drama - he plays Zhou Zishu in woh. It’s called Demon Girl and I’d had it in my list to practice anyway with when I got bored since it’s set 1920-1940s, one of my fave drama settings, featuring a demon heroine in which demons are like mutants who live among us. Which happens to be my LITERAL favorite story setup - mutants/monsters/etc sci fi or supernatural setup in which the story uses it to tell fantastical tales while also commenting on real social issues. Some stories do it better than others - In The Flesh and Bureau of Transformer do excellently, Love and Redemption and Guardian do some fascinating stuff with it, Heroes touches on it only a little compared to Xmen which is known for it, and Merlin often failed to commit to a strong message. But regardless - if a story has this Setup I will ultimately wanna see. So that show definirely has 3 selling points now: my Fave story setup, a heroine as the lead, and an actor I like as the other lead. I also found Mystic Nine and LORD Critical World in HD on a chinese site so I’m very tempted to just watch them in chinese only since it’s more convienient then the english sub links I have for the shows. An interesting update: trying to watch a show this month was easier than in the past - last month I could barely watch Any shows, and before that I distinctly remember shows being harder to catch the details. I watched Anti Fraud League ep 1 fully this month and caught all details roughly without pausing - and like 3 sentences of exposition on main character Mi Huo I paused and replayed the scene just to catch all the chinese subtitles and clarify I understood correctly. I think I got about 90% of the details - because I was a little vague on some word meanings and just guessed on those. And grasped 100% of the overall plot. which is well beyond where I was at month 10-11ish last time I tried watching shows. Also yay! A detective show felt as easy as watching a fluff romance which is so great, because I like this genre much more! Although I am going to give a grateful shout out to Granting You A Dreamlike Life because... while the shows first 15 eps I did watch are Not My Thing, I watched it like 8+ months into learning and it was both a challenge and easy enough TO watch and keep watching. Which made it great for improving. I really think it helped a lot. And I also think... at this point I probably could rewatch guardian without eng subs and be fine. When I watch shan he ling today I guess I’ll find out if I can handle a wuxia plot though without eng subs lol)

Japanese Audio listened to: 14 (no change, this is since start of year)

Personal books read: 11 (since 2021 started - so 6 books in February. I have been reading SO MUCH lately, I’m really excited? I’ve been meaning to read so many of my books I just hadn’t gotten around to it. This is also likely to increase as I’m about to finish dmbj 2 next time I pick it up).

Some other things:

@a-whump-muffin​ u inspired me and sometime soon I will be trying to play KH in japanese again, and looking at ur super amazing grammar guide u made ToT (I might try nier automata if its bearable just because I’m playing all the drakengard/nier games right now but... the language is a lot more sci fi so i’m not sure that’d go well... also i want to check if my final fantasy type-0 has japanese language settings...). But like... I am definitely up for looking at a grammar guide, and looking up words on my phone as I play. Now that’s a study method i could DO maybe ToT and also like!!! ultimately i want to do it anyway!!! i just figured it would be drowning and chickened out! but like. to study doing what u wanted to do anyway in the language??!!! wowwww ;-; i mean that’s basically why i’m reading chinese but u get the idea

Other japanese updates: I’m still listening to quickleur I just haven’t done any listening lately (u can tell by the L-R status above lol). It did help a lot though even the bits I listened to, as far as refreshing my mind on particles and verb endings. And the explanation on sentence structures u gave @a-whump-muffin​ !! (who is god tier if ur studying japanese they are <3 <3 )

Part of the ‘personal books read’ goal - I’m counting any textbooks I read in that category, in the hopes if I frame it in my head as reading for personal interest instead of studying, I will do it. Ideally I would LIKE to read my DeFrancis Chinese books, Chinese Nature Method grammar book, Chinese Sentence Patterns book, 2 books I just ordered, my japanese reading books (the 1st one a good refresher the 2nd one literally could be... my textbook for years its got so much). Those chinese books in part because WOW I am so used to so much grammar in context when reading, but when I go to produce language I’m a hot MESS. And I think just like... I really should read those books and fill in the gaps in my understanding and like solidify the correct understanding of what I can comprehend. Sometime.... I ALSO should read my Alan Hoenig chinese characters book. But will I???? AHA. I forgot to mention in my last reading post - but brute forcing learning the hanzi has been going fine actually. I was concerned just looking up hanzi when reading, that I would struggle to learn the new ones. But I can confirm that reading has gotten easier, and I’ve picked up a LOT of hanzi I was previously brute force looking up repeatedly while reading. So like... as long as this keeps working, I’ll keep doing it. I’m very lazy and the path with least resistance and mental exhaustion is what I’ll keep doing, if it works, even if it might be slower. (Although I do think the hanzi books I have are very useful and have helped me speed up progress when I used them).

I learned how to make gifs this month and I’m overwhelmed with all the stuff I could try to do? Idk its very cool i’m very excited about it.

Goals for March:

Basically, we’re sticking to the quite steady study plan I’ve had the past few months, which has boiled down to: read chinese, L-R, listen/watch if desired, do something listening related in japanese if desired. It’s not well rounded or anything but I’m making steady progress and its easy to keep doing.

Anything in bold is what I’m doing right now/likely to do (although we know how often I just derail).

Read chinese novels. (This can include Guardian. Currently includes: hanshe, guardian. On hiatus: Tian Ya Ke).

Listen-Read Guardian. (Reading guardian in Any way is the priority so if this happens yay, but if it doesn’t I’ll be happy if I’m still working through guardian and just postponing the listening part).

Optional. Play video game in japanese, use a dictionary and grammar guide when confused af. This one’s imminently likely just because the instant I get Nier remastered I’m playing it, and also playing Nier Automata etc games, so like... the opportunity and desire to play the japanese versions of games I want to do that with WILL hit me. 

Optional. Watch chinese shows. This one’s also likely because a priest novel drama adaptation just dropped (Word of Honor, shan he ling, tian ya ke/Faraway Wanderer’s adaptation) and I don’t want to wait for the english subs. 

Optional - unlikely (I’m not in the mood to listen to stuff lol). Audios. Keep listening to Japanese Quicksleur when there’s down time (like playing games), and Chinese Spoonfed audio if I feel like it. 

Personal. Keep reading while I’ve got the motivation to. I am really enjoying getting through all these books I’ve wanted to read for so long. 

BELOW I will eventually link a list of story recs (also see tag rec list for more):

Poyun 破云 (recced)

Poyun 破云 2

一级律师 by 木苏里 (recced)

盗墓笔记 series

默读 by priest

他们的故事 by 一根黄瓜丝儿 

寒舍 by 夏灬安兰 pingxie supernatural au

818 (pingxie)

鎮魂 by priest (chapter 4)

天涯客 by priest

Qi Ye 七爷 by priest

六爻 by priest

FGEP

犹记斐然 foxghost rec

一受封疆 foxghost rec

女主大人 我错 gl

将军府小妾生存报告 gl

夜半衣寒 by 夏灬安兰 pingxie (can u tell i like this author)

(瓶邪同人)所谓一切发生在网配+番外 (writer and radio voicer pingxie au)

死亡万花筒 kaleidoscope of death

将军府小妾生存报告  

女主大人，我错了  

魔女霓裳

公主饶命 GL

民政局领到了媳妇

In progressing difficulty, books I want to read and should be ready to read now, a la foxghost’s recommendations:

那些風花雪月 by Gong Zi Huan Xi (took 14 months of study before I tried to read this, did try, did not click with me lol)

不正當關係 by Gong Zi Huan Xi (foxghost said this was the same difficulty as the story above, so I’m probably ready for this one too).

*SCI 谜案集 by ErYa (I’ve heard this somewhat easy to read, is a good story, and since its case-centered I think it would be a good intro to later reading books like Silent Reading by Priest)

龍圖案卷集  by ErYa (There is an audiobook on Ximalaya!)

黑風城戰記  by ErYa (sequel to novel above)

Then the recommendation says you should probably watch a lot of shows for some vocab (I sort of do so I’ll see how that helps me out), and you can start tackling xianxia, like Priest’s “六爻, and then 鎮魂, then 殺破狼, and pretty much any other of GZHX’s works.” I would guess this point is when Tian Ya Ke would be more my reading level, when 六爻 is, at the beginning. I would guess after 鎮魂 is when I could try to tackle Can Ci Pin. Sha Po Lang is steampunk and fantasy, so I would guess it has some of the sci fi type words - so if I’d be ready for that, I might be ready for Can Ci Pin at the same time.

[burnouts3s3]

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: The Complete First Season, a review

https://amzn.to/2UK8uye

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.)

Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry!

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 12 USD.

Digital Copy (MSRP): 20 USD

How much I paid: 33 USD for both the digital and physical copy (This was when the physical copy cost more).

Animation Studio: David Productions

Licensed and Localized by: Viz Media  

Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles and English Dub available.  

English Cast: Johnny Yong Bosch as Jonathan Joestar, Michelle Ruff as Erina, Patrick Seitz as Dio Brando, Ben Diskin as Joseph Joestar, Wendee Lee as Lisa Lisa, Stephanie Sheh as Suzie Q.

Number of Episodes: 26 Episodes

Length per Episode: 25 Minutes on average. 21 Without Intro and Ending song.

Number of Discs: 3 DVD Discs in Total.  

Episodes per Disc: Episodes 1 through 9 on Disc one. Episodes 10 through 19 on Disc two. Episodes 20 through 26 on Disc Three.

Also on: Amazon Video and Crunchyroll, a free streaming service with ads.

Bonus Features: Textless Openings, Textless Ending and Trailers for other Licensed Shows.

Notable Localization Changes: Because Parts 1 and 2 are set in early parts of Britain and America, the characters all adopt thick British accents, particularly Jonathan, Erina and Joseph.

My Personal Biases: I didn’t have any experience with the Jojo Franchise until I came across JStars Victory Vs.

My Verdict: Call it Bizarre. Call it out of this world. Call it slightly homoerotic. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, even before the introduction of Stands was an entertaining ride that included vampires, mad German scientists, Pillar Men and Breathing techniques in a steal of a 12 dollar package. If you haven’t picked this up yet, do yourself a favor and check it out!

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure The Complete First Season, a review

In 2012, David Productions took Hirihiko Araki’s manga, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and adapted it into what would be a worldwide phenomenon. The manga had been adapted previously into a series of OVAs (Original Video Animation) that only covered the most popular part, Stardust Crusaders. The anime starts right from the beginning and begins from the manga’s origins as well as the original character. Unlike other Shounen Manga, the Jojo series is infamous for (among other things) having multiple protagonists each being the different lead in a ‘Part’. For the first part, the protagonist or ‘Jojo’ is Johnathan Joestar while the second part has its protagonist in the form of Joseph Joestar.

I’m going to split this review between the first part, Phantom Blood and the second part, Battle Tendency.

Part 1: Phantom Blood

In 19th Century England, two very different boys are born into two very different families. Jonathan Joestar is the son of a rich nobleman and known for his kind nature and politeness, but isn’t so much useful in a fight. Dio Brando is born to an alcoholic father and despite his prodigy, he is most likely destined to a life of poverty, had Dio’s Father, Dario have a debt owed to him by Jonathan’s father, George. (This is because George Joestar mistakenly thought Dario saved his life when in actually Dario was in the vicinity trying to rob George’s corpse). In an attempt to pay off the debt, George adopts Dio into his family.

I know a lot of people gloss over the first part because it’s not what made the main core of the series, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had if you let it.

Dio torments and bullies Jonathan by killing his dog, stealing his father’s affection and even kissing the girl Jonathan fancies, Erina. But as the step-brothers grow older and older, they’re prepared to do battle for one another while Jonathan still maintains his gentle nature. However, when George takes ill because of Dio’s poisoning, Dio dons a very interesting Aztec mask that turns him into a Vampire. George, unfortunately, dies in the middle of the battle.

Using his wits, Jonathan sets his childhood home on fire and sets Dio ablaze. Jonathan comes out burned but alive. As Erina helps Jonathan recover from his injuries, a strange man confronts the two of them.

Zeppeli tells Jonathan that Dio not only survived the incident but has come back and is building an army of vampires. Zeppeli offers to teach Jonathan Hamon, the ability to use one’s breath to stir up the energy inside in order to imbue attacks with sunlight energy in the hopes of vanquishing Dio once and for all.

(Yes, the fact that the same voice performers who played Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki with thick British accents amuses me greatly.)

Though short, the series does have fun action scenes (including one fight with a chain).

Through his chivalrous spirit and quick wits, Jonathan defeats Dio.

Jonathan and Erina finally get married, but all is not well on their cruise to America. The disembodied head of Dio still remains and is causing havoc with its tentacles and laser eyes. Realizing Dio is too great a threat to go unchecked, Jonathan ensures the safety of the other passengers, including his newlywed Erina, and destroys the ship and him along with it.

And so, Jonathan sacrifices himself to save the world from Dio. Erina survives and lives in America.

Viz Media and BangZoom did the localization of the show and for the most part, it sticks closely to the Japanese Script. However, because the show is set in 19th century, BangZoom told everyone to adopt thick, British accents.

And it’s bloody hysterical. At times, I thought I was watching a BBC documentary intercut with a battle shounen.

I don’t know if Patrick Seitz can ever measure up to Takehito Koyasu’s legendary take on the character, but he makes a game effort of it. While Seitz’s voice doesn’t differ too much from his other role, the energy and performance are worthy enough (at least to me) to compare with his Japanese counterpart.

Johnny Yong Bosch is as Johnny Yong Bosch as he’ll ever be. He’s not bad as Johnathan but you can tell he’s struggling both under the accent and giant with a heart of gold persona. It’d be one thing if he were playing an edgy teenager like Ichigo Kurosaki or a kid like Renton Thurston but he’s caught in the role that might’ve been suited to someone else.

Keith Silverstein (who also voiced Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter) is having a grand old time as Robert Speedwagon. Marc Diraison (who voiced Guts in Beserk and ‘Zolo’ in the 4kids dub of One Piece) shows genuine emotion as George Joestar. Also, can we just give a hand to Michelle Ruff? I know she’s done a lot of roles, including ones from Ayako Kawasumi (such as Saber from Fate/Stay Night and Chikane Himemiya from Kannazuki no Miko) but she plays a great Erina both young and old.

With the end of Part 1 and the closing of Jonathan’s story, we move onto Part 2.

Part 2: Battle Tendency

So, it’s 1928, New York. We follow a black boy named Smokey Robinson as he’s being hassled by the police for being a pickpocket. Before this turns into a docudrama on the History Channel, a six foot stranger with a British accent appears.

Here we meet the Jojo of this story arc, Joseph Joestar, grandson of Jonathan and Erina.

(Yes, I find the fact that Joseph is played by the same voice performer as Kids Next Door’s Nigel Uno extremely hysterical. He’s even using the same voice!)

But all’s not well in New York. Joseph encounters a vampire that’s somehow resistant to Hamon.

With the rise of Vampires that are somewhat resistant to Hamon as well as the strange disappearance of Mr. Speedwagon, Joeseph sets off on a trip that will take him all over the world from the scorching hot deserts of South America to the beautiful city of Venice and even over a Volcano. The conspiracy leads to the awakening of the Pillar Men, ancient Aztec warriors who are bent on destroying humanity unless Joeseph can team up with the grandson of Zeppilli and stop them once and for all. Kars, however, might be the most difficult opponent of all and when he transforms into an ultimate superbeing capable of not being harmed by Hamon or Sunlight, Joespeh’s wits are put to the limit.

Here we get a distinct difference between the two protagonists. While Jonathan was honorable, kind and courteous, Joseph is devious, scheming and a bit of a trickster.

I really love Joseph. In fact, through parts 1 through 6, he’s probably my favorite of the protagonists. See, Joseph is constantly pitted against more experienced enemies that have a physical advantage over him. Joseph overcomes this by tricking and deceiving his opponents. Sometimes, his bluffs work because of his cleverness. Other times, he’s just damn lucky. Joseph likes to predict his opponent’s next line, say it and basically outsmart them.

At times, Joseph is willing to make a complete idiot out of himself, just for a moment’s opportunity to trick his foe. Such as dressing up in women’s clothing and bribing some enemy soldiers.

Joseph continues to hone is Hamon skills in order to defeat the Pillar Men. But not before meeting two beauties by the names of Lisa Lisa, a Hamon teacher who might have a secret of two and Suzie Q, a cute Italian girl.

Part 2’s filled with wall to wall exploits, including mad German scientists, Chariot Races and an incredible finish with Joseph facing off against Kars on top of a Volcano.

Joseph defeats Kars and returns in surprise to his own funeral, but not before getting a new metal hand and marrying Suzy Q.

And thus ends Battle Tendency. A lot of people consider this their favorite part and I’m among them. Aside from Joeseph’s antics, there’s a lot of fire and energy you just don’t see nowadays. From battling vampires on top the Brooklyn Bridge to flying a plane over a volcanic island to defeat an Ubermensch, Battle Tenacity had a lot of creativity and seeing Joeseph get out of each situation with his wits and sheer dumb luck is a joy to behold.

Ben Diskin (who also performed Sai from Naruto and Knuckle from Hunter x Hunter) is hysterical as Joseph and the fact that he has this thick British accent the whole time makes it worthwhile. Diskin’s always had a great range but him playing this buffoon makes the whole enterprise a laugh riot.

Wendee Lee as Lisa Lisa is fine (that’s not to say that Wendee Lee gives a bad performance, far from it. It’s just that after voicing so many roles, you can tell which ones she’s pouring her soul into and which ones she’s just putting on a funny accent. This is the latter). It’s also nice to hear Stephanie Sheh as Suzy Q being more of a lighthearted ditz rather than a shy introvert.

Aside from the wackiness and over the top reactions, what really sets this series apart is the animation. Using striking color pallets and digging into the manga aesthetic really sets the tone whether it’s Joseph goofing off or Jonathan fighting a desperate battle. David Productions made their name with this series and it’s no surprise they’ve been listed to do other works such as Fire Force. Even when the anime resorts to using a panning shot or speed lines, there’s a kinetic pace that pulls you in.

But, you didn’t come here for Jonathan, did you? You didn’t come here for Joseph, either. You came for a certain high schooler with a hat and a mission.

Stand proud, true crusaders.

Next time, we’re covering Part 3.

Verdict: Buy it! If you’re unsure, you can watch it for free on Crunchyroll.

https://amzn.to/2UK8uye

[avaantares]

FFVII:REMAKE - A Review

So I beat the game two weeks ago and started writing down my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind, but I didn’t post anything then because my one IRL friend who is also playing it hadn’t finished it yet and I didn’t want to risk posting anything spoiler-y. But the extra time has allowed me to play through the game again on Hard difficulty, which has allowed me to reconsider and elaborate on some of my thoughts. And frankly at this point I just need to dump my Very Big Opinions somewhere, so... here ya go.

I discuss visuals, gameplay, character and story below. I’ve tried to keep spoilers minimal up front, though obviously if you want to go into the game totally cold, don’t read this. All major spoilers are clearly tagged. All of it is below a cut to spare your dash.

Also, there are pretty pictures, because why not?

First, my background with this franchise: I played through the original FFVII multiple times; I’ve watched and rewatched Advent Children and Last Order, played Crisis Core, gave up on Dirge of Cerberus despite my deep love for Vincent Valentine (sorry, VV, but your game was just a mess), and lamented that Before Crisis wasn’t available in my country. I even played (and own!) Ehrgeiz, the obscure fighting game that featured the main cast. (Still bitter that they didn’t keep Miki Shinichirou as the voice of Sephiroth. He’s one of my faves.)

^ Ehrgeiz, a mediocre fighting game that forever endeared itself to me by including Turks!Vincent Valentine as a playable character. 💖

In short, I’ve been waiting for this game for DECADES.

So. Here we go. My thoughts on Final Fantasy VII: REMAKE.

The good:

The character models are very pretty. With individual pores, threads and scuffs visible, they’re so detailed that it’s almost impossible to reconcile them with the mouthless sprites from the original game – even more so than Advent Children (and dear goodness, that was over a decade ago now, wasn’t it?). Still, they’ve kept the costume details and absurd proportions largely intact (Barret’s fists are literally larger than Tifa’s entire head, yet somehow it works visually), so it’s not too much of a departure from the familiar.

They’ve kept the aesthetic. I was afraid the game would try to update the iconic world of Midgar, but by and large, it’s full of visually-arresting designs that preserve the gritty-industrial look and feel of the original.

Japanese version is included. BLESS YOU, Square Enix, for including the Japanese voices and character animations. Not only is it impossible for me to hear Cloud in anything other than Sakurai Takahiro’s voice, but the Japanese script is a bit nicer to the characters. I’m not really keen on the English dub… but more on that below.

They fixed the spelling of Aerith’s name. This may seem like a minor point, but considering it’s been 20 years and I’m still bitter that Devil May Cry still hasn’t corrected “Nelo Angelo,” it’s a small victory.

Improved combat. Admittedly, I wasn’t sold on the new combat system at first, but after playing through the game twice, I’ve come to really like it. It has a few rough edges and can get chaotic in some battles, but it does a decent job of blending the feel of an action game with turn-based strategy. The fact that you can switch to a more traditional turn-based system if you prefer is also nice. (I haven’t tried Classic mode yet, though.)

Weapon customization. The Skill Points system allows you to upgrade your loadout instead of acquiring new gear. The tutorial was somewhat lacking (I didn’t quite figure out the multiple-core-unlock thing right away), but I appreciated the ability to add materia slots or stat buffs rather than just cycling through a dozen swords that Cloud apparently keeps in his back pocket.

Background dialogue management. On the whole, the conversations as you run through town enhance the story without slogging down the gameplay; you don’t have to stop and talk to every single resident, because snatches of their conversation reach you (and your on-screen chatlog) as you pass. You can stop and listen for more detail if you want, or you can just keep moving. The extra worldbuilding is really nice.

The music. The orchestrated versions of the original themes are excellent (and some of those music cues gave me goosebumps… Did I spend way too many hours immersed in the original game? Probably). I can take or leave some of the collectible jukebox tunes, but the background music in general is good. (But did I earn that Disc Jockey trophy? Yes, yes I did.)

Supporting character development. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge actually have characters! And personalities! Clichéd ones, admittedly, but it’s an improvement over the original game killing them all off within the first few minutes. The game also does justice to the Turks, and actually surprised me with how much depth of character it gave Reno and Rude in particular (perhaps setting them up for a mini redemption arc so players forgive them for dropping a plate on tens of thousands of slum residents?). Their moments of concern for each other and (brief) crises of conscience made them more than the stock villains they were in the original game, more in line with their temporarily good-aligned characters in Advent Children. Tseng, likewise, was on point. However, I do have to qualify all this with one irate question: Where the heck is Elena?! Seems like the female characters are always getting left out… /sigh/

Improved plot devices. REMAKE cleans up some of the more questionable and outdated content from the original. As you likely already know from the demo, the new game somewhat exonerates the protagonists by having Shinra blow up their own mako reactor to turn public opinion against AVALANCHE (possibly because someone finally realized that it’s hard to sympathize with characters who are willing to melt down an entire reactor and kill a bunch of innocent civilians). AVALANCHE are still eco-terrorists, but they’re… terrorists with a conscience? I dunno, at least they feel bad when people die now… Likewise, the weird and uncomfortable Honey Bee Inn segment of the original game has been reborn as an amazing dance extravaganza. Less voyeurism/prostitution, more Vegas floor show (complete with minigame choreography) and makeover. The whole Don Corneo scenario is still hella creepy, but frankly, there’s nothing that can fix that.

Series references. Fans of the original will appreciate all the inside jokes and direct references to the original game and other franchise entries: One-off comments about Chocobo racing; a broken console in Wall Market that shoots at you; a framed picture of the original 32-bit Seventh Heaven; ads for Banora apple juice; side mentions of characters and plot devices from spinoff games; PHS communication… The game definitely pays tribute to its history. They even recreate the original loading screen and several of Cloud’s iconic poses/animations throughout the game:

The neutral:

Recycled gags. Look, I know Advent Children was the ultimate evolution of FFVII for a while, and admittedly, it did some things very well. The running gag with Rude’s sunglasses and the victory fanfare being used as a ringtone are some of the best moments in the film, in part because they were so unexpected. But as much as I enjoyed the repeated nods to AC in this game, they felt a little desperate, like there were no new jokes to insert so they had to double down on the ones they’d used the last time this franchise had a renaissance. (See Rude’s broken sunglasses, below.) And fitting into the series as a whole, it feels a little weird. Why is Rude’s ringtone the same as the clones’ from Advent Children? Does Barret really need to sing the victory fanfare over and over when he defeats an enemy? Is there supposed to be some history behind that song that was left out of the worldbuilding? It just feels too meta.

Arbitrary localization of names. I don’t really grasp why it was necessary to rename so many items and characters for the English market. Some changes make sense for localization (e.g. Whack-a-Box certainly works better for an American audience than Crash Box), but others seem arbitrary, like changing Aniyan Kunyan to Andrea Rhodea or Mugi to Oates (a play on the meaning of his name in Japanese, but... does it matter?). And then… well, I don’t want to spoil A Major Plot Element, but there’s another thing that changes names from one English word (in the Japanese track) to a different English word. Why? No idea. It doesn’t affect gameplay, and it’s not really a problem, but listening to the Japanese track, I found it jarring to have the subtitles contradict what I was hearing.

Underutilized characters. While the whole gamut of original FFVII characters make appearances, several of them aren’t used to full effect, or aren’t used at all to advance the story. Rufus Shinra’s bossfight is a decent challenge, but while his character was vital to both the original FFVII and Advent Children, his presence in this game is little more than a cameo. His fight could be cut or swapped out with any other boss, and it would have zero effect on the plot. Similarly, while Hojo is a key player in the full story (which this game doesn’t cover, since it’s only a fraction of the original timeline), he’s largely wasted here, except as a means of extending play time by making you wander through corridors and fight a bunch of monsters for “research.” (I have no idea what his motivation is; you’d think he’d be more interested in recapturing Aerith or Cloud, but instead he just... opens an elevator and lets them leave? after they beat up some midbosses.) Reeve Tuesti actually has a solid presence in this game, but since he’s ONLY ever active as himself, there’s no explanation for the random Cait Sith cameo in one scene (players new to the franchise probably have no idea why a random cartoon cat showed up for a few seconds and was never mentioned again). Obviously the plot arcs have to change when the game is covering only a few days’ time in a much longer story, and the major players need to be introduced at some point if they’re going to feature in later games in the series, but from a narrative standpoint, there are an awful lot of superfluous characters doing things for no reason in this installment.

The bad:

THE PADDING. Dear goodness, there is so much padding to make this a standalone game instead of just the first chapter of a longer adventure. I got really, really sick of running literally from one end of the map to the other on side quests – and that’s me, an avowed trophy hunter who spends hours scouring dark corners for collectible items in other games, saying that. So much of this game felt like time fill that didn’t really advance the story. It’s also full of unnecessary new characters with improbable Squeenix hair, like Roche the super-annoying motorcycle SOLDIER (below), or Leslie, Don Corneo’s doorman who somehow merits his own backstory and side quest. (Though in fairness, every FFVII sequel has added superfluous characters, with Crisis Core possibly being the worst offender.) But it just felt really drawn-out and bloated for a game of this generation. If this game had been as compact and tightly-written as the other games I typically play, it probably only would have taken me 15 hours to beat instead of 50. (I don’t actually know how many hours I spent on it the first time through, as I didn’t check the play clock before restarting on Hard difficulty. I do know it took me over 110 hours total to complete the game on both modes, though much of the second run was spent dying repeatedly on a handful of nasty fights. Hard mode removes items and MP replenishment, and if you run out of MP at any point during a chapter, you’re going to die. A lot.)

The pacing. Related to the above... the Midgar portion of the original game was just the setup for a larger story. It wasn’t meant to have its own complete dramatic arc so much as to introduce you to the world and the major players. Consequently, there are some really odd beats in this story, as well as a total lack of urgency in your mission. There are no natural places to slot in the side quests and minigames, so they’re shoehorned awkwardly between plot sequences. “Quick, our friend is in mortal peril and needs our help!” "Okay, cool, we’ll go rescue her after we spend ten hours running around town doing random errands for townspeople and playing games with the local kids.” Uh... what?

The graphics just aren’t as good as they should be. While the character models are gorgeous, there are a lot of low-res background textures and weird polygons that don’t quite match up with other components. Most egregious are the Shinra logos, which frequently get close-ups as part of the fixed camera work and, frankly, look like lossy JPEGs. (See image below, screencapped from a PS4 Pro. Those jagged edges on the logo are present throughout the entire game.) There are weird clipping errors and artifacted images and reflective surfaces that don’t reflect, making the game look more like something from the PS3 era than a 4K late-gen PS4 game. (And it’s not that we don’t have the technology: Uncharted 4 was released back in 2016, and the rendering of its vast world was twice as pretty. Devil May Cry 5, released in early 2019, has far more realistic textures and object interaction. Granted, those are different types of games with fewer NPCs to render, but I feel like there’s no excuse for a game this big to look this mediocre.)

The HUD could be better. The lower-corners concept is okay, though it took me a while to train my eyes to travel between both sides of the screen and track the fight action. But for a long time, I didn’t even notice the commands in the upper left corner of the screen, and after playing through the game twice I still have no idea what they say because I couldn’t focus on the tiny text long enough to read them while trying not to die in combat. (I just looked it up; apparently they’re combat control shortcuts? Huh, that would have been useful to know.) It wasn’t until my second time through that I realized there even WERE separate controls on screen during the motorcycle minigames; I had resorted to panicked button mashing to figure it out the first time through because there was no tutorial (you’re just dropped into the action) and, having ignored the small text for the previous hundred combats, I had no reason to look for on-screen instructions there. Not that it would have helped, since on many backgrounds the text in the upper left is really difficult to read (see below). It’s worth noting that I have better than 20/20 vision and played this game on a large TV screen and still had trouble reading some things; on a smaller TV, or for someone with less acute vision (like my sister, who is blind in one eye), I think even the basic menu controls would be difficult to see. While you can resize the font for subtitles, my cursory glance through the menu did not uncover an option to increase the size of the HUD. 

Inter-fight menu mechanics. Specifically, the inability to save (or save loadout settings) between fights in a multi-part sequence. There are several back-to-back fights in which it is necessary to switch characters or change gear between bosses. The game treats them as one continuous fight, though it does allows you to access the equipment menu by holding square during key cutscenes. Which is good, if you only have one of a particular materia or accessory that you need to switch between characters, and in most cases when you die the game lets you restart just before your current fight instead of restarting the whole sequence -- also good, since some multi-stage bosses can easily take 20-30 minutes to beat, and if several of those are strung together in sequence, you’re in for a long play session to get past them. But since it’s treated as one fight, you can’t save between bosses (more than once, I had to leave my PS4 running in Rest Mode overnight and just hoped we didn’t have a power glitch), and if you happen to get killed and need to restart the fight, your loadouts reset. Which means if you’re, say, fighting the end boss on Hard difficulty and get killed in the first two minutes -- which happened to me a lot -- by the time you restart the fight, sit through the unskippable cutscene, access the menu and rearrange all the materia and accessories you need, you’re spending five or six minutes gearing up for two minutes of play, and then doing that over and over again every time you die. It gets really old.

The English dub script. *deep breath* Okay, look, I know I can be a bit elitist about translations, but I really do not like the English adaptation of this game. It makes Cloud come across as less socially-awkward and far more of a deliberate jerk, Aerith is mouthy and even swears (which is not accurate to her original character), and it downplays some of the symbolism that’s more obvious in the Japanese script. One quick example: When Aerith gives Cloud a flower, she says (in Japanese), “In the language of flowers, this means ‘reunion.’” It’s subbed/dubbed in English, “Lovers used to give these when they were reunited.” That’s a subtle difference, but since the concept of “reunion” is a freakin’ huge part of the FFVII plot, and since Sephiroth was on screen literally seconds before that line is delivered, my brain automatically went, “OMG REUNION!!!” while I’m guessing people listening in English only picked up on the romantic subtext. It’s a pretty minor thing, and of course translation is always a complex balancing act between literal meaning and local market understanding, but the English version just seemed to me to have a different vibe overall. (Unfortunately, the English subtitles are the same as the dub, so unless you can understand the Japanese audio you’re kind of stuck with that dialogue.)

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[WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT]

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- …And my #1 complaint about Final Fantasy VII: REMAKE is…

…it’s not actually a remake.

Sure, the game starts out the same way and covers a lot of the same events, but fundamentally, it’s a sequel, not a retelling. It’s evident from Cloud’s future-oriented visions throughout the game that something else is going on, and the ending MAKES NO SENSE if you don’t already know the story. Heck, even the rest of the game doesn’t really make sense if you don’t know the story -- Sephiroth’s presence is never explained; Zack isn’t even introduced, just shows up randomly at the end; Cloud’s flashbacks of Tifa and her dead father in Nibelheim are left as a complete mystery (and since she evidently remembers the burning of her town, judging by her dialogue outside Aerith’s house, why doesn’t she even react when Sephiroth shows up?).

The core elements of the plot – the Feelers (Whispers) preserving a specific fate; the three entities from the future (whose weapon types just happen to correspond to certain named characters) defending their timeline; the return of post-Advent Children Sephiroth (the only time we’ve seen him in human form with one black wing), who has inhabited the Lifestream since his death and promised that he would never truly disappear, who in the end appeals to Cloud directly for an alliance rather than attempting to control him, because he knows now that Cloud is strong enough to defy the Reunion instinct; the change in the outcome of story events in which Biggs (and, unconfirmed as to which timeline he’s actually in, but quite possibly Zack) now survives his intended death -- all point toward Sephiroth trying to manipulate destiny into an alternate outcome in which he is victorious, and using this naive version of Cloud to facilitate it. That means this game is taking place in an alternate or splinter universe, created at some point after the events of the original Final Fantasy VII, and possibly even after the events of Advent Children.

All of that is fine from an overall continuing-story perspective – it opens up a lot of interesting possibilities, like the fact that Aerith might survive now that Cloud has seen prescient flashes of her death (among other events), and there are opportunities for more story twists and changes from what players might expect. But touting this as a remake of the original game has the potential to confuse players who are new to the franchise. FFVII was groundbreaking back in 1997, and it defined JRPGs for an entire generation of Western gamers. But that was more than two decades ago, and a lot of current gamers weren’t even born then, so while they’ve probably heard of the classic game, they aren’t necessarily steeped in its lore. FFVII:R relies heavily on prior knowledge of the series to carry its twist ending, so it largely fails as a standalone game.

Also, speaking as a longtime fan of the franchise… I honestly found the ending rather lackluster. It was a twist, of sorts, but not the sort of shocking, mind-bending revelation that made the first game so iconic. Granted, it’s hard to follow an act like revealing that your protagonist’s entire identity is a lie, not to mention killing off one of your main characters a third of the way into the story! But when the surprise ending is just, Surprise! We’re going to change things up a bit this time around so you aren’t entirely sure what’s coming! Also, here’s a gratuitous Sephiroth fight because everyone expects that, even though it doesn’t serve the main story at all nor resolve any conflicts previously established within this game! it smacks of Different for the sake of Being Different, not for the sake of a really amazing storyline they’re hiding up their sleeve. It’s a bit of a let-down, and I find that I... just... don’t really care that much. Which, for someone who’s been a fan of the series for nearly a quarter of a century, means there’s a Big Freaking Problem somewhere. If you’re not keeping the attention of your die-hard fans, how do you hope to build a fanbase of players new to the franchise?

Given the pacing and story issues inherent in this game, I’m not convinced that the following game(s) in the franchise are going to be structured any better. Considering the amount of pure side-quest padding they did in Midgar, I have no idea how they’ll maintain that same tone on something the scale of the World Map portion of the original game, unless they just completely eliminate things like Fort Condor and the submarine and the spaceship side quests. I have a feeling the Gold Saucer is going to be reduced to a Jessie flashback, a Chocobo race (probably to win a key item), and a battle arena run like the coliseum in Wall Market in this game. If they include all the story elements and side characters from the original, this series is going to be a dozen games long.

Still, on the whole this game was enjoyable, and I’m glad I played it. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but they haven’t completely killed off my interest, so I’ll probably continue with the series whenever the next game comes out. Though I’m not really sure if the higher-priced edition I pre-ordered was worth the extra money, so I may wait and see how the next game is shaping up before deciding which version to get...

But if they don’t give me a really pretty (playable) Vincent Valentine in the next installment, I may riot. I do have priorities.