#and it's still probably the best thing KyoAni has done!

[gentleoverdrive]

(224/?) A new goddess emerged from the mist, she took the blade from my wrist!

Right, let's talk about Hyouka...

(this is how much of the series looks in general, because the Kyoto Animation peeps extensively plan their production cycles) ---- Hyouka is a series based on (and taking the name of) the first of a series of mystery novels called "Classic Literature Club", written by one Honobu Yonezawa, that takes place in the sleepy fictional town of Kamiyama (which is the city of Takayama in all but name). While it might easy to say "If you've played Persona 4, you get the gist of it", it's kinda not like that at all. For one, there is no murderer on the loose. What's there, though? A lot of small mysteries to uncover. ---- Whenever I see a new anime with the same old "Middle School or High School" setting, I tend to be on my guard. I've been through the same ol' song and dance too long as an anime watcher, so it's easy to want to keep your distance. Hyouka, however, manages to use the high-school setting to inject the mysteries with a surprising amount of endearing investment, especially given the "low stakes" of almost all of them. ---- The series has the stable of usual suspects when it comes to the cast for a mystery series that borrows a lot from the old canon, we have our "Sherlock Holmes"...

(yes, his social skills are as terrible as the OG; how can you tell?) ---- ...one Houtarou Oreki, a disaffected young man that lives by a very simple creed: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." Unfortunately for our lazy anti-social boy du jour, he has his own Mycroft Holmes in the form of his older sister, who cajoles him into joining her old stomping grounds, the Classic Literature club, and when he gets there to submit his application, lo and behold...

(this is her at her most physically threatening) ---- ...he meets one Eru Chitanda, a girl with a kind personality, many incredible talents, and the curiosity of someone around half her age. She's like the one client that will always come back to ask for help. Rounding out the main cast we have our John Watson.

(the faces this posh boy pulls absolutely make this show) ---- ...the foppish Satoshi Fukube, a boy looking for some exciting shenanigans and the predisposition for facilitating the involvement of the club in said shenanigans if Miss Chitanda up there isn't able to budge our lazyboi out of his self-imposed stupor. And whenever there's a Holmes and a Watson, a Lestrade is not far be--wait...

(I'm mostly playing this up for the post; she's awesome too) ---- ...really? Ok, well there you have it: Rounding out the main quartet, this tiny firecracker here is Mayaka Ibara, a hot-blooded gal that also brings to the club's attention all sorts of mysteries and curiosities that they can sink their collective teeth into. ---- And while I mentioned a bunch of names and how they serve as spins of sorts on old characters from the Sherlockian canon, the series itself is a weird mix between the aforementioned low-stakes mysteries and the sort of slice-of-life occurrences that could liven things up for high-school aged kids in what has historically been one of (if not the one) the most isolated places in the Japanese mainland. ---- Quiz Contests involving a huge chunk of the school?

You got it! ---- Eating toast with jam on a lazy weekend morning, bedhead included?

You betcha! ---- Angry emotional outbursts for reasons that I highly recommend you to go watch the show and not make yourself a disservice?

Abso-fucking-lutely. ---- The series goes out of its way to treat the audience with enough respect that the solutions to the mysteries never feel insulting, the framework necessitating the stakes to remain "low" also ends up adding a lot of strength you wouldn't expect, and the emotional scenes will get your old ticker wondering what's going on. ---- All of this courtesy of Kyoto Animation at the absolute top of their game in all aspects, with scripts adapted to near-perfection and the direction always leaving that sensation of just wanting to see a little more. I amply recommend it! See ya' later, alligator!

[x0401x]

A 2nd season of Tsurune has been announced. Do you think we'll be finally getting all the KaiSei interactions or will they continue pushing Mina/Sei as they did in s1? Was there even any backlash from the Japanese fandom for the fact that they have basically scrapped Seiya and Kaito's relationship?

Another dream come true, am I right? ;)

I think we can hope to see Kaito and Seiya acting more or less the way they do in canon for this new season. Probably not entirely, since it would be too abrupt a change given how S1 went, but I don't think KyoAni has anywhere else to run to now. I mean, Seiya is around Kaito 99.9% of the time in volume 2 and most of his lines are him talking to Kaito directly. The only time I can recall that he isn't with Kaito is the scene where he was helping Minato after he got out of the elevator and started feeling sick. Also, Seiya's conflicts involving Minato are already over and done with, so there's nothing to make fanservice out of. There would have to be a lot of changes in order to push SeiMina in this one, and considering everything that has happened, I don't think it'd be wise of KyoAni to take risks with adding so much original content a second time. Also, from what I have seen, the Japanese fans don’t care much for SeiMina, so KyoAni wouldn’t lose anything by quietly setting it aside.

Now, about the backlash, I've commented on it a long time ago, but Japanese people usually do not engage in negative criticism of any kind, be it constructive or not. They either say good things or say nothing. Well, mostly. When I looked through the Japanese tag on Twitter, I was surprised to see quite a few negative reviews, even after the arson attack and even after the arsonist revealed that Tsurune was the anime he claimed to have been a “rip-off of his own novel”. In fact, I had gone to Twitter back then to see people’s opinions about that, not about ships, and I was very appalled to see that so many of the negative comments were about Seiya and his relationship with Minato. I must add that I was looking through the general Tsurune tag, and not searching for their names specifically. But in-between people calling the arsonist a dumbass because “Tsurune was based off a novel that came out way before he submitted his novel to Esuma Bunko”, I of course found reviews of the anime too. It was eye-opening, and actually kinda funny, to see that all of the foreigners in the tag were posting SeiMina left and right, while the Japanese viewers were talking about how Seiya "stands no chance" and "Minato's eyes are clearly in love with the coach". I also saw a lot of people comparing Tsurune to Free! because of the way Seiya was portrayed in the anime, saying that "KyoAni can't make anything other than the jealous childhood friend trope" and things of the sort. But these were clearly anime-only's, so I have no idea what they think of SeiKai being swept under the rug.

Still, though, I think this shows that KyoAni keeps an eye on the fans' opinions, because, if you take a moment to go through the official arts and merchandize, you'll find that there's literally no SeiMina artworks anywhere. The only one I've ever seen was for a Tsurune-Violet Evergarden double event, where people got exclusive postcards that had Seiya and Minato on them. Still, the theme of these postcards was the protagonists with their respective best friends, which is why Violet was featured with Lux in the VE one even though Lux is a novel-only character. Nothing suggestive either; just the two of them sitting side by side and not even making eye contact. That's it. That's literally the only one I've ever found. The rest is literally all Masaki and Minato, and the movie itself was centered around them, so perhaps KyoAni is steering towards the novels now. *crosses fingers*

[duratrans]

Satoshi Mizukami Q&A, 2/3

Satoshi Mizukami recently took questions from the editor's desk, and publicly from write-ins, for an interview to celebrate the first volume of Solte going on sale (Jan 9th!). So I translated them all! It’s in three parts, so I’ll post them one by one.

Here is the second section, revolving around Sengoku Youko and his other works.

Q: In Sengoku Youko, we were wondering about the history between Tama and Kuzunoha that led to their mother-daughter relationship. We know Tama was actually born from the ancient fox spirit Tamamo-no-Mae, so Kuzunoha must have adopted her, right? A: When Tamamo-no-Mae transformed into the Sessho-seki stone, which killed anyone who came near, a monk called Gennou Shinsho destroyed the rock, sending fragments of Tamamo's being flying near and far. (that's the actual legend from wikipedia. As for my plan to tie it to the story...) Kuzunoha found the fragmented portion that became Tama, and decided to take it in basically to kill time. I couldn't find a spot to fit that part of their history in, and eventually just left it.

Q: What happened to Kuzunoha after Yazen's death? Does she leave in search of a new love? Personally, I would find it more poetic for Yazen to have been the last man she ever embraced, seeing how she was willing to die for him! A: She would take on a disguise, probably a female monk, and nurse her broken heart for many years. Of course, being an unaging youkai, she could never stay in one place too long, and would move around, until one day she meets someone new. Just the way she's always done. That's how it is for a youkai. You do what you've always done.

Q: You did judo in high school and kenpo in college, and we know you liked the matches and sparring but hated working out, so you've coined your own nickname as "the limp-armed berserker" on twitter before. Did Douren and Thousand-Tale Jinka's love of battle come from a familiar place? A: Insofar as the feeling of "yeah, fighting is fun!" might be rooted somewhere in there, I guess so. The idea of a real fight still makes me nervous, though.

Q: Senya and Tsukiko's village is protected by the barrier that makes it invisible, which has kept it relatively isolated from the larger world. Did they also manage to stay independent from the sweeping administrative changes that changed Japan, like Toyotomi Hideyoshi's restriction of arms to the samurai caste or the land census, or the Edo period's capitol attendance policy, isolationism, and welfare laws, just to name a few? A: All of it. Passed 'em right by.

Q: In the story, we learn Mudo took up a number of hobbies like go, shogi, haiku, bonsai, etc. If Mudo was living today, what  kind of pastimes would he be into? I get the impression he'd be sinking cash into mobile games and Gacha. A: Mudo is a fighting game/FPS gamer. I don't think he'd be as interested in stuff like mobile games that don't take player skill into account as much.

Q: After Jinka and Tama married, did Jinka change how he addressed her? As in, did he start to have a pet name or something like that for her? I'd love to know! (I'm guessing Tama still just calls him "Jinka," but if that changed I'd love to know, too!) -Negurano A: This didn't really change for them, no.

Q: What kind of person is Mudo's sister? -Weekend A: Didn't really plan her out.

Q: So many characters in Sengoku Youko had incredibly impactful, memorable death scenes. If Senya or any of the rest of the cast that were around when the story ended had to go, how would you envision it? -Namamono A: How would I kill off the characters that didn't die? That's a weird one. I was never going to create scenes that aren't part of the the story, so I got nothing for that.

Q: Did you have any additional self-contained stories from the Youko universe that you wanted to draw? For instance, maybe something with Tama and Senya and their life together as lovers, and how that's going! -Neko A: If I had too much free time on my hands, or it was for work, I might come up with something but I don't really have any ideas at the moment.

Q: Did you have a favorite part or arc of Sengoku Youko? -Kokoronohito A: I like the ending.

Q: I wish Ufotable could do an anime adaption of Youko. Although, I also think Kyoani would do a very nice Tama... -Akane A: Is there a question in there?

Q: Can you give us your top three characters, and your favorite three parts of the story? -Akane A: For characters, it'd be Yazen, Tago, and Hanatora. I guess for the scenes I like best, there's the ending, Senya and Mudo's showdown in volume 9, and the final battle between Senya and Jinka.

Q: How did you come up with the nonsense dialog for the mad gods? Was there any reference or inspiration behind the dog, the whale, the rabbit, or the others? ­-Gen A: Nothing in particular. I just tried to string things together that would make absolutely no sense. I did want to hide some hints or foreshadowing in the babble, but it didn't really work.

(note: back to editorial for one question) Q: When The Man of Legend was published in Geko Geko back in 2004, you said Yamanaka was probably the most powerful out of all your characters. Does he still wear the crown here in the year 2021? A: I'd have to say at this point he's been dethroned.

Q: I really liked Soon Ken and Penta in Sanjin Sadou, so I was wondering where the idea of a sake-loving penguin came from. ­-Leviah A: I can't remember in the least.

Q: Akitani Inachika (Swordfish knight from Biscuit Hammer) obtained knowledge of all things, and Hakke Neko has the all-seeing eye. They existed at very different times, but is there any connection between the two? -Abuson A: There's no connection.

[goutheswimqueen]

thoughts on free! s3? what do you think went wrong/right/what you wish it would’ve went etc

I could quite literally go on FOREVER about season 3 and y’know what you asked for it so I’m just gonna ramble until I feel good about it lmao.

Now first I have to say that I wholeheartedly love season 3 with the deepest passion in my bones. I genuinely didn’t think that we were ever going to GET a season 3 in the first place, so the fact that it exists is just... so meaningful to me as someone whose favorite franchise is Free! and someone whose life was saved by these dumbass swimmers. 

I will say that season 3 isn’t what I wanted from it. I wanted it to be centered on Nagisa, Rei, Gou, Sousuke, Ai, and Momo. I love Haru with my entire being but I really really REALLY wanted to see a series centered on the Iwatobi trio. They’re so underrated and I felt like they were lowkey sidelined in Eternal Summer so I wanted to see them shine and grow together in their third year. But of course Kyoani has just been setting them aside more and more as time has gone on so I feel like that was nothing but a hopeless dream lmao. I have a lot of headcanons and AUs about what went on with everyone who was still in Iwatobi while the rest of the gang was in Tokyo. The little bits that Kyoani gave us of them were beautiful, I will admit. Episode 11 is my FAVORITE episode of season 3. The fact that Rei WON A NATIONAL RACE??? Like, come on. I wish we could’ve seen the work that he put in to even be able to do that in the first place. That moment where he ponders what he’ll be doing after high school really gets to me too because I would love to know what the fuck he and the others are gonna do. I wish we could’ve seen the moments in their third year that led to whatever decisions they will make. I wanted to see the Iwatobi trio go through the absolute wringer together lmao. I wanted angst I wanted to see their journey that led them to where they are now. I wanted to see more of them growing with the new trio too. I wanted to learn more about Gou and Sousuke’s past through their interactions in her third year. If the season was longer I feel like they could’ve had it be half the Iwatobi arc and half the Tokyo arc, y’know what I mean?

Nonetheless, I love season 3 for what it was. I’m so beyond happy that they brought in Asahi, Ikuya, Natsuya, and Nao, you have no idea. The High Speed! characters hold such a special place in my heart. I wish Asahi would’ve had more of an arc/character development though, and I wish Nao was more included. I think Natsuya’s character arc was my favorite of the whole season. Seeing the trash traveling man that he had become and his interactions with Rin and Sousuke really stuck with me for some reason. And that line that he had when he was talking to Ikuya and fucking crying like, “a dream to fight for my strength and pride, plain and simple.” That shit fucked me up bro. We all meme about Natsuya a lot but I feel like there’s a lot of deeper shit there that’s yet to be explored. When we met Ryuuji I was genuinely convinced that he was Ikuya and Natsuya’s father because it would explain a lot about Natsuya’s behavior. A trash dad who wasn’t really there for his family and just kinda fucked off to travel the world training swimmers until he found one that met his expectations? That would’ve added so much to Natsuya and Ikuya’s background stories and their character arcs. Like can you imagine? Natsuya not initially going into professional swimming because the fact that his father LEFT to find a swimmer to train instead of training his own damn son because he didn’t see that potential in him??? Natsuya being inspired by Ikuya to work hard to prove their father wrong??????? Nao punching Ryuuji square in the nose the moment he sees him???????????? A fucking gold mine that Kyoani could’ve dove into, but no he’s related to Shizuru lmao. 

I could go on forever about Natsuya in season 3 cuz I just really, really loved his arc but I’m gonna keep rolling haha. Hiyori was probably the most unexpected thing from season 3 and I just... love him so much. Like his absolute snakey behavior gave me the same chills that that scene of Sousuke pushing Haru against a vending machine in episode 2 of Eternal Summer gave me. I LOVE that shit. The Free! antagonists just keep getting bitchier and bitchier lmao. I also relate to Hiyori on a deeper level. I too have been selfishly protective of my best friends in a way that... really just wasn’t the way to go. Like jeez Hiyori I understand how you feel but maybe let them talk to Ikuya at least once??? Chill with the possessiveness? Idk I know Hiyori is the source of a lot of discourse lol, but that’s just how I feel because of my own similar experiences with myself and others who’ve acted in a similar way. I do wish his beef at the other boys wasn’t solved by just fuckin... swimming with Haru lmfaoooooo. Like I wish they just would’ve added more to his conversation with Ikuya when he asked him to join the relay with him.

I was quite satisfied with Rin’s arc in season 3. It just like, made perfect sense to me I guess lmao. I know he wasn’t there much but I don’t know what else they could or should have done with him, if that makes sense. The fact that his coach is Ai’s uncle is just the best thing ever too lmao.

I was also very happy with Haru’s arc actually!! Seeing how much he has grown makes me feel like a proud mom. Ya boi is tired of the bullshit and the miscommunication haha. Of course I’ll always wish he didn’t go into pro swimming but alas, gotta deal with it I guess. I love his dynamic with Ryuuji and the way that he has dealt with pro swimming though. And his decision to go into the individual medley absolutely made me lose my mind. I didn’t know I needed to see him swim the other strokes until it happened and I just, I loved that so muchhh. 

I alsooooo enjoyed Ikuya’s arc. Seeing someone from your past again like that can 100% have that effect on you. I just kinda wish we understood more about like, why he just randomly faints while swimming sometimes? I feel like they didn’t solidly explain it? Cuz I don’t think it was always from overworking himself. Idk maybe I’m just a dumbass and remembering incorrectly.

Kisumi deserved better. YOU CAN’T TELL ME THIS BOY DOESN’T HAVE UNDERLYING ANGST THAT KYOANI HASN’T DELVED INTO. He gave us that line of “We’ll never make friends like the ones we had back then” and then him worrying about whether or not there was anything he could do to help with the Ikuya situation. This boy feels left out and you can’t tell me otherwise and it is 100% because of the fact that he’s not a swimmer. Someone give this boy a basketball team that he can experience that kind of bond with PLEASE. I AM BEGGING ON MY KNEES!!!

Makoto also deserved better. Like, okay, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved his arc with the kids and Nao and all that. I love his new dream. BUT!!! Kyoani has yet to go into depth with his insecurities with Haru. I’m still not over that damn dream he had on that bus. All we got in season 3 was Makoto’s aNGSTY looks when it came to his relationship with Haru lmao. GIVE MAKOTO A BIGGER ROLE AND A BIGGER ARC DAMMIT. He’s one of the most popular characters I’m surprised his angst hasn’t been touched on more. This dumbass just needs to stop holding things in i SWEAR TO GAWD.

I thought the inclusion of Albert was kinda weird, dunno what the point of him is aside from making Haru shake in his bones. Kinjou is definitely interesting. He scares me lmao, but I am here for that. Give us an antagonist who is just absolutely unhinged at this point LMAO. I have some headcanons about him too but I feel like the new movie coming up is going to crush my dreams soooo yeah.

Isuzu is a goddess. I’m so happy she’s finally here and she has a name and a FACE. We learned that the Mikoshiba bros had a sister before we even knew that Momo existed lmao (Sei mentioned her in a drama cd from season 1). I almost thought they were never going to give her to us but she’s here and she’s beautiful and she’s everything that I wanted her to be. I’m so happy she thinks Gou is cute and that GOU LIKES HER and I just ugh yes thank you so much Kyoani I never expected that we’d actually get this but I’m so happy we have it. I hope she goes to Hidaka Uni and gets to race Haru like she wanted haha. And I’m so happy we got to see her swim! Our first in-anime female swimmer with a name. I love her.

Speaking of FEMALE SWIMMERS. Sighhhhhh.... My biggest disappointment. Aki Yazaki. Where is she? We deserve her!! I promise we do!! She was SUCH an important character in the High Speed! novels and kyoani decided that she just doesn’t exist anymore lmao (biggest reason why I’m not the biggest fan of the Starting Days movie). At this point I’ve lost hope that she’ll ever be included in the anime, and it makes me so sad. I love her so much and there’s so much potential for an amazing beautiful story arc with her if she reunited with the boys. I don’t think we’re going to get a season 4, (the new movie is scaring me making me think it’s the end of the series with the way it’s been advertised...) but if we DID get one I imagine it beginning with Haru walking through a snowy day, huddling close to himself to shelter from the cold, when he passes by a tall figure and catches a glimpse of familiar caramel hair with a loose little braid peeking out from behind one ear and a large scarf that has gotten quite messed up over years of wear and tear, a memory clicks in his mind like a light switch and he stops in his tracks to turn around and let a long forgotten name slip from his lips: “Yazaki Aki?” ... cue opening sequence. LIKE WOULDN’T THAT BE SO AMAZING???????? I WOULD FUCKING SHIT MYSELF OKAY YOU DON’T UNDERSTANDDDD. Aki is one of my favorite characters I’m so mad she wasn’t in season 3. I’m also mad that Satomi Nii wasn’t there either like!!! She would make a great trio with Ikuya and Hiyori that’s all I’m sayinggggg. I would probably start crying if either of them showed up at some point like genuinely I would just be a mess sobbing on the floor. ALSO I FEEL LIKE GOU AND ISUZU WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM LIKE PLS GIVE ME THE GIRLS THAT WE DESERVE!!!

The art style of season 3 was pretty good. The only thing that bothered me about it was how fucking WIDE the characters’ shoulders were sometimes. Especially with the big bois like Makoto and Sousuke. Like please god no stop that. I’m always gonna miss the art style from season 1 tho, the crazy expressions n shit that were there were just too GOOD lmao. I feel like in season 3 they kind of attempted to bring that back but it just wasn’t executed the same and done to the same extent. R.I.P. the comedy from season 1, it will be forever missed.

I love the opening and ending themes, always. So fucking good. I’m so happy all the characters were included in the end theme animation sequence. I’ll never get over Gou and her BEAUTY.

ANYWAYS. Those are my thoughts in the general sense. Idk if I forgot anything because I have so many thoughts that’re all unorganized haha. If anyone wants me to talk in more detail about anything specific I am soooooo down! Thank you for sending in this ask, talking about this show makes me happy hehe.

[bodakim]

Happy new year everybody ! I wish you all the best for this year 2019 :D May all your wish come true and may a lot of yuri enlight your life again.

I am going to do a few rant about tumblr and about all the yuri I love for the past year and for the incoming year :) (and you can read whatever interest you or not because yeah, my rants can be long.)

About Tumblr : I started my blog a bit more than a year ago now (I never posted on it before). The main goal was being able to fangirl about all the yuri I love when I couldn’t really do so somewhere else (or more likely, not as much as I wanted). Obviously I wanted to show my love to Kumirei everyday as well. And gosh, I am pretty surprised because in a bit more than a year, you are almost 7700 to follow this blog and I am like “wow, that’s a LOT of people”. So thank you for following my usual yuri ranting (or shitpost, depend), I didn’t expect so many people to be there but yeah. I will keep doing the same for this year. Obviously I don’t agree with the new Tumblr policy about NSFW (I find it... Pretty stupid. It has good intention, but it’s really really badly done) but I won’t stop this blog because personally, even if I do post NSFW from time to time (there’s an amazing Kumirei doujinsh cover I would have loved to share... RIP) but most of my post are shitpost or safe for work so it doesn’t really affect this blog. (And it’s still the easiest place for me to fangirl).

About Hibike : This year was pretty amazing with Liz to Aoi tori release. This movie is just gorgeous (please watch it if you haven’t yet). The movie has even been screened in the USA and is now planned in France ! I am so happy the Hibike fever is starting again. The movie gave me so many emotion, too. As I’ve mentioned, I am just a bit sad (like after this Comiket period) there were so less Kumirei doujinshs. Talking about that, Oath’s finale is coming up in april and I am both excited and worried about the movie. I know there might be a lot of Kumirei cute scenes because I heard there’s some in the novel. Actually my worries are pretty much over : I was a bit scared about the eventual shoe Kumiko (even though it’s not that way even in the novel). I wouldn’t have minded Kumiko ending up with anybody tbh, as long as it’s logical and they have a great bond (because we can’t really complain about something like that, even if we can be disappointed) but... Not him. Because I think Kumiko would be more hot and bothered by a cube of ice than the Shoe. I am looking forward for the first movie impression by people in april and I really hope the movie could lit the Kumirei fire inside people heart once again (and a lot of gay merch pls Kyoani).

About My Unrequited Love : this serie became clearly my favorite serie along Yagate. Maybe the fact I am working on it helps big time, but I absolutely adore all the characters and the pacing. I do love angst as much as I love fluff and I don’t mind slow pacing. I am conscious this kind of story isn’t for everybody (according to the complain I read also), I do think personally this is a really “real” slice of life. In a way that tMnR is really good to show the different point of view of the characters (and how a scene can be totally different depending of who saw it... That’s why I don’t mind the skip after chapter 14) and the serie take its time because yes, sometimes in life, not a lot happen and people are mixed with their own struggle. They can have some issue because they don’t talk with each other and I love how it’s done here. I am really looking forward to see how the story will progress (starting from february because this month, we get the volume 4 release). And tMnR is love.

About Yagate : The anime just ended and gosh, it was really an amazing anime. I would even say so far probably my favorite yuri anime released (and by that I mean “really yuri labelled” since i consider Hibike as yuri too). I love the way they adapted the serie, they did their very best and you could really feel it in the animation and all the adaptation idea like with the background play and the metaphore (though they were some animation quality drop for some episode, but we can’t complain about that). I really hope they will be able to do a season 2 to match the manga ending! I don’t think the manga should end this year (with probably one more volume after this one), or more likely at the very end of the year. I am really looking forward to follow Yuu and Touko. I can’t wait for them to be finally happy together and seeing them as a couple. (And I do hope for a great girlfriend for Sayaka! She really deserves love).

About Citrus : Citrus main serie ended in 2018, letting place to the spin off Citrus plus that started in december. It’s an odd feeling since it’s a serie that really affected me and helped me during quite some time of irl struggle (I started it back in 2013-2014) and I have a special thing with this manga. The animation at the beginning of 2018 was maybe not the best, but surely a kind of dream coming true that made us fangirl big time. Citrus has also been my main manga collection so it is a huge part of my life. Unfortunatly, though I still enjoy reading Citrus plus because I am curious about it, it’s not my number one serie anymore (after a volume 10 that left me a bit... Meh). I am still really curious to see what Saburouta has for us in 2019. About other series : I started quite some yuri series in 2018, and so there’s a few things I want to mention

I started 2DK G pen, and it is a really great yuri. The manga just finished in Japan this year, and I am pretty surprised it wasn’t picked by SevenSeas to be released in english book. The pace is slow but the manga is great and popular in Japan, so I would really like if they could pick this one someday.

I started Nettaigyo too... Lesbians + aquarium = <3 (I can’t do a faster summary, this is just amazing) 

I watched Bandori (BanG Dream!) anime with a friend, and recently she convinced me to play the game... And gosh it really got me. I got myself a new bae (with Rinko) and some new ship I love. (Fun fact: Misaki x Kanon : Misaki is voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa, Kumiko’s VA while Kanon is voiced by Toyota Moe, Midori’s VA. So Bandori is the only place you can ship Kumiko with Midori x’) ) There’s a lot of other ship I love, but damn.

And I think that’s it for the ranting... Happy New Year again, and looking forward for more yuri :D

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Kino’s Journey, Episodes 11-13

And so we reach the end. In which I get depressingly personal once more, and I try to square the line between how my reality affects this fiction.

Ashes

In retrospect, coming back to this show in the immediate aftermath of the KyoAni fire is probably the worst choice I’ve made in a while. As good as Kino’s Journey is, it’s not a show that makes things emotionally easy for you. It’s a world where bad things happen, tragedy is a regular occurrence, and there’s nothing to be done but hitch up your pants and keep on trekking down the road as far as you can go. And considering, well, everything that’s been going on recently, there’s not much comfort to be found in that sentiment. I’m still shaken from all the bad news, I’m still more emotionally vulnerable than I’ve been in a while, and I’ve got an anxious pit in my stomach that refuses to go away. And here’s Kino’s Journey, where there’s nothing but more unpreventable tragedy to be found and more gut-twisting portraits of human misery passing by like the morning mist. Reaching the end of the show, I feel more shaken than I’d like to admit. There’s nothing I want to do more than curl up in a ball and just wait for all the bad energy in the air to pass over. Honestly, there’s a part of me that wonders if I can even give a fair assessment to these final episodes, given how confused my emotional state is at the moment. How can I successfully a critique a purposefully unsettling show when the last thing I want to be right now is unsettled? It’s like stuffing a man full to bursting on hamburgers and then asking him to judge a hamburger contest; there’s no way his opinion in that moment is going to be any sort of objective.

But at the same time, I can’t just hide from the things that hurt me. Evangelion didn’t get to be one of my favorite anime ever by shying away from the pain that living life to its fullest can bring, after all. I love watching anime, I love writing about anime, I love talking about anime with you, and I refuse to let that passion get scarred by this tragedy. Anime has given too much to me, and to so many other people, to give up on it so easily. Besides, however fragile my emotional state is at the moment, it is nevertheless my emotional state. And I’ve always made it a goal to communicate my feelings towards a show with the exact sensations they leave me with. So if this last foray into Kino’s Journey has left me feeling anxious, unfulfilled and weak, then so be it. That reaction is valid. The ways we connect with art is specific to every person in their own way, and I can only be honest about the way I connect with art in my own way, even if the emotions brought out by those connections are painful to consider. This is my experience with Kino’s Journey, no one else’s, and I have no one to answer to for it but myself. With everything else going wrong, I at least have to be okay with that much.

The Other Shoe

I want to be perfectly clear, I’m not blaming Kino’s Journey for not being the cathartic celebration of hope it was never going to be. This show has always been stepped in the sensation of being surrounded by sadness and doing your best to carve your own path through it, and there’s no reason for it to stop now. But man, these final episodes lean into that sadness with such intensity that’s easy to suffocate on it all if you’re not in a good mental space. This show has a habit of ratcheting the tension up as much as it possibly can, presenting Kino with countries that seem alright on the surface, but clearly have something a little more sinister going on underneath, waiting as long as they possibly can to drop the other shoe. Every second stretches out into eternity as you’re left wondering how this seemingly peaceful country is balanced so precariously on the iconography of war and violence, why this famously antagonistic country is now so welcoming to this new traveler, what form the darkness will finally take when it surfaces. And when it does surface in the end... god. Just, god. I’ve been left unnerved by this show plenty of times before, but nothing compares to this. Nothing compares to the flaring red sunsets that play over two warring countries using innocent citizens as proxy victims in their wars, slaughtering countless with shaking cameras and treating it as the peaceful option. Nothing compares to Kino yet again being forced to fight for their life, shaking with fear even as they shed the blood of their attackers while the sound effects echo with that final gunshot. Nothing compares to the look of utter horror on their face as the peaceful country they were just visiting vanishes under a great lava flow. Nothing compares to the pain that flows through Kino over the course of these final episodes, the agony that manifests in every footstep they take upon leaving these scenes of darkness and despair behind.

Kino’s Journey has never been a hopeless show. It’s never been an exercise in nihilistic cowardice or cynical disillusion. But it’s also never offered any answers to the hard questions it raises. It refuses to let the pain it portrays be easily scrubbed away or ignored. It demands your attention and your strength to weather the storms that plague its dying world. And the storms in this final set of episodes are darker and blacker than any storms its given in the past. Even outside of my own troubled headspace, it hurts. It hurts to see this kid carrying so much weight on their shoulders, hunched over from the effort yet also so used to the pain that they barely even notice until it becomes too cruel to ignore. There’s no way to make sense of it, there’s no way to stop it, and there’s no way to justify it. There’s nothing to do but move on and hope something better lies on the horizon.

The Journey Goes Ever On

And yet, somehow, we do go on. Our journey continues through thick and thin, across grasslands and scrublands and badlands and broken lands, every stop and visit becoming one more piece of the puzzle that defines the whole. Kino’s been traveling for so long that they’ve seen pretty much everything they could ever hope to see. They carry so many experiences on their shoulders they can never let go. Yet still, their journey continues. There’s no real reason or greater purpose why; as Kino says themself, it’s just what they like to do. Because no matter how dark some times might get, they can never give up on thinking there are still unseen sights worth seeing out there. Heck, they’ve even come so far that they’ve become what the original Kino was to them back in the day; their interactions with Sakura in the kind country cast them as that same wise wanderer, giving comfort and courage to lost little girls who feel ill at ease with the identities they’ve been given. And despite how dark and desolate the road they travel may be, the travel it all the same.

And when the shadows clear, all that’s really left is that eternal question: where do we go next?

And the answer is always the same: wherever we go, it’ll be a place well worth going to.

Perhaps there’s some comfort be be had in that. Perhaps this story of a kid finding their own meaning in a meaningless world doesn’t have to leave me feeling so helpless in the end. Perhaps hope, thought it be hard to come by, will be found in the end.

After all, who knows where else this journey will take us?

Odds and Ends

-God this scratchy gramophone is so freeeeaky

-Also, dear lord, the way the faint light illuminates spots in the darkness of this bar... again, when this show does silence and emptiness, it is killer.

-”But that is another story.” NO GET BACK HERE TELL BE ABOUT YOUR BADASS OLD LADY MENTOR NOW DAMMIT

-There’s an object lesson in here about the glorification of poverty as some spiritual higher state, when it’s really just miserable want.

-That’s a really depressing thought. It’s only in realizing there was no meaning to your life that you desperately want it to have meaning. And not even the girl who’s life was designed to be meaningless can shake that feeling.

-Okay but why is there what sounds like a giant sky snake reverberating through the atmosphere like a colossal eternity

-”Fourth level. Has a black belt.” Can you even get black belts in marksmanship?

-”I can’t count on what you say at all, Kino.” pfft

And we’re done. Man, this show has been a ride from start to finish. Well, expect my series reflection later today, as well as what show will take its place!

[liz-and-the-blue-bird]

Kurt’s Hibike Rewatch Notes (1/?)

Well, I haven’t talked about anime seriously in a while on tumblr for a while now, but since tumblr still seems to be standing (a surprise for everyone involved, even tumblr), and I’m rewatching hibike to recap before watching the sequel movie on thursday, let’s talk. 

If you wanna follow along with me, i’ll put timestamps to all the stuff i’m talking about, and you can watch Hibike Eupho right on Crunchyroll! #NotAnAd #UnlessCrunchyrollWantsToSponsorMe #ThatWouldBeGreatBTW

Hibike has always had a special place in my heart, because, well, I played euphonium. And also it’s Kyoani. I love Kyoani, they also have a special place in my heart. I mean, do you see my URL right now? 

I just watched season 1, episode 1 and 2 again. I’m going to basically just hit highlight reel of scenes that really stuck out to me as super amazing now that I’ve watched the entire show and now that I’m watching it as someone who’s way older. 

So let’s start with episode 1. 

Right off the rip, I appreciate that the show doesn’t drop me with a bunch of exposition (man, maybe that means i’ve been watching too many isekai). We get a super dramatic scene of Kumiko and Reina’s middle school band winning dud gold. 

(Briefly, I want to emphasize here the inclusion of Kumiko’s nameless friend. You know, this one: 

Her reaction is important, it tells to the audience how a “normal” person would react to getting Dud Gold.)

They get dud gold. The show doesn’t explain what dud gold means, though, I suppose you could look it up. If you have ever been in a high school band, the concept should be pretty straightforward (for public school bands/orchestras/choirs here in Texas, it’d be like getting a 1 in Regional UIL, but not advancing to the state level). But it’s important to assume that the audience hasn’t been to band ever, so what gives? Well the show actually does explain it, it just does it way later: 

13 mins in. So the audience isn’t left to hang, but they don’t get “talked-down-to” by the show, which is a really common sin by anime. I mean, fair enough, a lot of anime have ridiculous plot lines: 

But it’s nice when a show doesn’t do it. 

Next, the scene introducing the Kitaju high school band. It’s at about 3:00. If you have a good ear or have any experience with music, you can probably hear how bad the band sounds. They’re not on beat, they’re out of tune, and then for emphasis there’s a woodwind that squeaks at 3:16—the cardinal sin of woodwind players. But again, the show needs to target the layman, so we get our first taste of “kumiko noises” to convey to the audience that, well, they suck. This is again emphasized later in the episode: 

And also, comedically in the scenes like this: 

Asuka: “Get her a form right now!” 

We’re doing our best here to avoid leaving behind the layperson, but without insulting the layperson’s intelligence by outright telling them “hey they suck.” 

Finally, I never realized how much interaction we get with Kumiko and a million minor characters in just this first episode. All the interactions are all about Kumiko joining bad too. Obviously we get Reina’s entry, with the slow-mo Kumiko noise, but she also gets asked to join by Midori Sapphire-chan multiple times, we get a Shuichi scene, and a nice flashback with her older sister. It’s cute, and really drives home that this is a show that is about Kumiko, but not by how she leads other people with her ideology. Instead, it is the other way around. This episode is a microcosm the entire series thus far: it’s a show about Kumiko’s story, but that story is about how other people push her to do things. A leaf in the wind. 

But with all that said and done, we do get to move to episode 2, which had 3 scenes that really struck me as brilliant. 

Let’s start with the president and the vice president. The scene is about 15:55 in episode 2, when the president replies to the new Sensei. The important part is 16:34 though, where the president hesitates and Asuka takes over. This is when we really start to see that Asuka is the more charismatic character, especially given her scenes earlier this episode. She knows what to do, she cares a bunch about the band, she’s fun to be with, but how come she’s not president huh? This is super important for the later arcs in season 2, and it’s amazing that they’re including this kind of characterization now, in episode 2 of season 1 of a show they don’t even know will get a season 2! 

This scene also does one other thing that may not be obvious, and that is it removes all guilt from Taki-sensei. Later on, you get a lot of characters kind of hating on Taki because of how hard he is on the band to improve and be ready for nationals. But it’s important because of a different later arc (Spoilers!) that he is absolved of all guilt, and this show does that by introducing the aim for nationals as the kid’s choice. Taki really emphasizes that too: 

(another super minor thing, there’s a scene transition at 18:45 that’s friggin brilliant, where they do a match cut, but don’t stop midori’s line until Kumiko screams in the new scene, so you don’t actually get time to dwell on the line that midori drops. This works much better in japanese where you can’t just read the subtitle, but hey.) 

Now then, the other two scenes I want to really talk about are about the character we get introduced to in this episode: 

The first is in an earlier scene, right after the instrument choosing scene. It starts at about 13:28, with Kumiko and Aoi walking home from school. What really struck me is two lines actually, right here. 

Kumiko: 

Aoi: 

Then, we get a Kumiko noise: 

And we’re back on the wide shot: 

This line does a few things. First of all, it’s a really great pun after following the entire Kazuki joke just a few minutes ago, you know, this part: 

But, by using this pun, it can also deliver to the audience Aoi’s entire arc. She doesn’t really see the tenor sax, and, by extension, the band, as something she’s willing to work with for the rest of her life. This storyline is something we’re going to keep coming back to with hibike eupho, even taking center stage in the spin off movie, Liz and the Blue Bird (big recs for that show, obviously). It’s a brilliant wordplay and a great use of a joke as an important plot point. 

But this last scene is what actually made me want to write this entire essay. And this scene is the 2nd-to-last scene in this episode, where Aoi and Kumiko talk about the vote. Time stamp is 18:47ish, right when Kumiko yells in the distance. 

This is another bit of symbolism I loved. The important part is at 19:07, where Kumiko pulls a leaf (with peas in it?) out of the ground and uses it to buzz: 

19:31 she takes out the peas: 

and 19:35, she buzzes: 

(gorgeous shot btw, I love KyoAni.) 

Aoi: 

Kumiko: 

Bam. Right there. That’s where the magic happens. In this moment, we, the audience, now associate the leaf with the wind ensemble. 

What’s so special about this? Well, nothing yet. Aoi then grabs a leaf too:

Aoi and Kumiko then talk about the voting process some more, why they voted like they did, etc. for around, a minute or two, though, from the scene montage, it’s clear it’s a bit longer than that. We even get a nice shot of them buzzing together: 

Now here’s the 2nd part to the magic trick, how the conversation ends. 20:54 time stamp btw. 

Alright sounds good, she’s still holding the leaf btw, which might be a super minor thing to a lot of people (it was to me), until... 

Preparing to toss and... 

There’s a freaking close up. 

Why is there a close up? We could have animated this on twos just like the rest of this chibi scene, saved on some budget, could have sent the animators home early for this one. 

But the director called for a close up, because the leaf symbolizes the wind ensemble, and we need Aoi to really emphasize throwing it away due to her priorities (which she just talked about in the scene with Kumiko). 

Now that’s showing, not telling. .

Bottom line, watch Hibike Eupho. I’ll catch you guys next time. 

[cherry-valentine]

Fall 2018 Anime Season

Here’s what I’m watching:

Golden Kamuy Season 2 is at the top of my watch list. Season one was my favorite show of the Spring season, and everything great about the show is still around. It still has some of the best characters around (protagonist Sugimoto being a personal favorite of mine) and the cast just keeps expanding to include more awesome characters, most of whom are incredibly charming even when they’re terrible people (like the simply adorable Edogai-kun, the obvious anime take on Ed Gein, who likes to hold flamboyant impromptu fashion shows to display the various outfits he’s made using human skin). The series has a weirdness to it that keeps things lively and unpredictable, but it’s all grounded by how very likable and down to earth all the characters are, even the antagonists who are capable of extreme cruelty. There’s also a subtle, poignant side to the story. The end of episode 17 had a powerful moment that left me in tears, and had some very thought-provoking things to say about soldiers returning from war. The animation isn’t the best around, and the art overall is a bit generic, but the story and characters carry the show with capable hands. The music is pretty neat too.

Tsurune is one of three sports anime I’m watching this season, all three of which feature sports I haven’t seen in anime yet and am completely unfamiliar with. This one is about archery, which is a much more formal and stuffy sport than I realized (or maybe that’s just Japanese archery). The show’s slow pace and soft color pallete make it this season’s “soothing feel good” show (there’s always at least one). There’s some lovely scenery, all of the characters are pretty (even the elderly teacher is adorable), and there’s not much in the way of hot blooded sports action. It’s still a pleasing show to watch though. There’s a trio of lady archers in the club who are just fabulous. I love their deadpan, snarky responses to the flirty guy’s attempts to get cute with them (when he mentions that seeing cute girls in their traditional archery outfits makes him want to do archery, one of them swiftly says, “We’re not here to motivate you to do archery.”). Episode two almost took a dramatic turn that had me excited, and would have given the show a unique, supernatural twist if it didn’t almost immediately turn again back to the standard plot line (the cool twist was actually just a misunderstanding, unfortunately). The core group of boys are cute but they have surprisingly little chemistry together, considering this is a series by KyoAni.

Run With the Wind is another sports anime, this one about track and field (I guess? I don’t really know anything about sports, I just know it’s about dudes running). The character designs remind me so much of Haikyuu!! that I had to check and see if it was by the same mangaka. Otherwise, this series is fairly different from most sports anime I’ve seen. For one thing, the characters are in college, not high school or middle school, so they have to balance the sport with things like seminars, job hunts, paying bills, and other responsibilities. This gives the show a very different vibe, in that these characters clearly have lives outside the sport. Another difference is that the majority of the team is made up of rank amateurs, many of them being basically blackmailed into joining. The point of the show ends up being about the experience of getting out there and running with your friends, rather than being focused on wins or losses. It’s a pretty refreshing take on the sports genre. The animation is fluid and the characters are surprisingly realistic. Definitely worth a watch.

Hinomaru Sumo is the last sports anime this season, and as the title suggests, it’s about sumo wrestling. It’s also the only one of the three that’s totally hot blooded and action-packed, with intense matches, crazy training sequences, and bitter rivalries. The art is suitable, with attractive, stocky male characters who hang out in those very revealing sumo belts. It’s interesting that the show portrays several different body types, all in positive ways. Some are more muscular while others look more fat. They’re all glorified in their own way, which is nice. Special mention should go to the music, particularly the energetic opening and ending themes. They’re unskippable. Of the three sports anime I’m watching this season, this one is the most fun and the one I look forward to watching the most each week. Even though it’s a more stereotypical sports anime, well, I like sports anime for a reason. I like the melodrama and the totally unrealistic moves and the numerous rival teams of quirky characters. So while it is refreshing to watch something different from time to time (like Run With the Wind), I’m still drawn to this sort of show. Near the top of my watch list.

Dakaretai (I’m not typing up that long ass title) is a guilty pleasure. It’s a yaoi anime that does very little to dispel the notion that yaoi anime is trashy fanservice for fujoshi and is insulting to actual gay men. Many of the worst tropes are here, including dubious consent, relationships that revolve around sex and nothing else, and gay men being portrayed in a predatory fashion. I know these are major problems in yaoi, but I can’t help enjoying the show. The art is great, with stylish character designs. The central relationship is probably very unhealthy, but I’ve seen a lot worse in yaoi and it’s at least entertaining to watch. The show also does comedy very well. Several scenes have cracked me up, with some of the best comic timing I’ve seen in anime in a long time. Yes, the show is problematic, but like with many other series in the past, I’m still enjoying it.

SSSS Gridman is apparently the anime adaptation of a 90‘s tokusatsu series. I don’t know the original, but I’ve watched enough Ultraman series to know that I enjoy tokusatsu and kaiju stuff, so this series should be right up my alley. Should be, but it’s honestly not as great as I hoped after watching the stellar first episode. If not for a couple of interesting characters, and some nifty monster designs, I would have dropped this series around episode four. The heroes are bland and have received practically no character development whatsoever, and the villain is insufferably annoying. She’s a type of character that’s inexplicably popular these days (a mean-spirited girl who talks and behaves in a cutesy way that’s supposed to make her cruel nature seem ironic, I guess), but I honestly find her scenes to be painful to sit through. The kaiju battles are nicely done, well-animated and exciting. The art in general looks great. I’m watching because I have a soft spot for tokusatsu and kaiju, but it’s near the bottom of my watch list.

Carry-Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover Banana Fish

Best of Season: Best New Show: Hinomaru Sumo Best Opening Theme: Hinomaru Sumo Best Ending Theme: Hinomaru Sumo Best Male Character: Ushio Hinomaru (Hinomaru Sumo) Best Female Character: None (sadly)

[datheetjoella]

[1] In all honesty I feel like Ikuya’s story would have been more fleshed out if they played it closer to how it was in the light novel. Having Satomi, his childhood best friend “attempt to leave him” sort of amplifies his loneliness as it’s not only his brother pushing him away but his only friend before the others, walking away. Since she knew why Natsuya pushed Ikuya away and did what she did. It’s really good intentions bad execution.

[2] it also had shown how betrayed Ikuya felt, her no longer attending their swim club to attend this school activity which he had urged her to not join. In conclusion, the novel just elaborated on Ikuya’s hobbies and backstory so I prefer it.

I understand how you feel, Anon, because I agree with you in certain aspects and there are a lot of things in the novel that I would have liked to see animated as well (Makkou and the scene of Haru finding Makoto on the beach, for example) but we have to keep in mind that SD has a certain time span and that KyoAni had to make choices of what they can and can’t include. They changed a lot of things, and I think that if they had more time, then they probably would have included Satomi as well to bring more life to Ikuya’s background. But with the time that they had, they decided to focus more on the stories of the characters that the majority of their audience already knew and loved (Haru and Makoto) and the stories of Ikuya and Asahi became more background to bring their characters to life too, but in a different way than the novel.

There are a lot of things they could have done differently if they stuck more to the novel, but I understand that they have to make choices and can’t include everything even if that damages certain aspects of the other character’s story. That’s why it’s good that we have both the movie and the novels so you can still enjoy the aspects that you love about either of the two.

[brella]

i feel like we always ask you about books so today i wanna ask you some anime recs :)

HOW INTERESTING THAT YOU SHOULD COME TO ME NOW, JUST AFTER I FINISHED ATTEMPTING TO BRIBE A TWITTER MUTUAL WITH A PHYSICAL CAKE SO THAT SHE WOULD WATCH AN ANIME I LOVE. i am always happy to share anime recs. 

ping pong: the animation (dir. masaaki yuasa): effusive yutaka “peco” hoshino and reserved makoto “smile” tsukimoto have been best friends since day one, and both of them love to play ping pong. peco, a child prodigy at the sport, loves it with all of his soul, and is so confident in his own talent that he’s become arrogant; while smile, in spite of his natural talent, does not take ping pong seriously, seeing it as nothing more than a way to pass the time. things are shaken up for the boys by the arrival of wenge “china” kong, a chinese player sent to redeem himself in japan after being kicked off the national team, who skunks peco in their first match, sending him spiraling into crisis; meanwhile, smile catches the interest of the school’s coach, a former star player, who is determined to make sure smile does not waste his talent. also joining the cast are manabu “akuma” sakuma, peco’s belligerent rival since childhood, and ryuichi “dragon” kazama, vanguard of the elite ping pong team at kaio academy. when all is said and done, will smile and peco’s friendship—and the love of ping pong that bonds them—remain? i urge everyone to watch this anime; it is perhaps the best i’ve ever seen. a work of art, of joy, of sadness and failure and triumph—a tribute to being alive, and to what it means to love something so much you feel like there’s no point in being alive if you can’t do it. and the animation, voice acting, and score are outstanding! 11 episodes.

the tatami galaxy (dir. masaaki yuasa): an unnamed college student is perpetually dissatisfied with his life, bemoaning the fact that he can never seem to grasp that “rose-colored campus life” he was certain he would have upon attending college in kyoto. just about the only thing he has in his corner is his mischievous frenemy, ozu, who drags him into scheme after scheme that only seem to make his situation worse; and a fellow student, akashi, who the protagonist has feelings for, but can never quite seem to spit it out. after a bad break-up sends him over the edge into total cynicism, he starts to wonder if his college years would have been spent differently (i.e., better) if he had chosen to join a different club on his first day. unbeknownst to him, the desire to go back and do it over again does send him back in time—each episode is an alternate timeline based on which club he joined. no matter how things change, though, he always seems to keep running into ozu, to just miss akashi, and to get involved with a man calling himself higuchi, who claims to be a god of matrimony; a bone-headed popular senior named jougasaki; and a beautiful but intense dental hygienist named hanuki. in the protagonist’s quest for the perfect college life, however, will he miss what’s right in front of him? i really love yuasa as you can probably tell and this, just like ping pong, is beautifully animated, great fun, and unexpectedly moving. a testament to the little things, to seeing the beauty and wonder in what we have. and the opening and ending are GOD TIER. 11 episodes.

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun (dir. mitsue yamazaki): if you somehow haven’t watched this yet, please love yourself and do it. a romantic comedy series that follows 16-year-old chiyo sakura’s attempts to woo her crush, umetarou nozaki, gsnk, contrary to the shoujo form, actually begins with her confessing to him—but he misunderstands and gives her... his autograph?! yes, it turns out nozaki moonlights as a hugely successful shoujo romance mangaka, and he’s been needing an assistant, and sakura is in the art club... convenient! this show has it all—uproarious humor, masterful comedic timing, incredibly charming characters, and just the right dose of heartfelt romance to warm any heart. other cast members include mikoto mikoshiba, nozaki’s best friend, whose flirtatious antics constantly cause him to nearly die of embarrassment; yuzuki seo, chiyo’s best friend, a brash and oblivious jock with a beautiful singing voice; hirotaka wakamatsu, a mild-mannered basketball player constantly aggrieved by seo’s bullying; yuu kashima, star of the drama club and dashing prince of the school; and masayuki hori, drama club president and kashima’s ever-frustrated director. love is in the air not just for sakura, but for a few others, as well—it’s going to be an interesting year! 12 episodes.

kids on the slope (dir. shinchiro watanabe): kaoru nishimi is a shy and depressed honor student, classically trained to play the piano, who has spent his entire life moving from town to town due to the nature of his father’s job. at the beginning of the summer of 1966, he is sent to a small coastal town in kyushu to live with relatives, and is prepared for another year of loneliness until his world is turned on its axis when he meets delinquent sentaro kawabuchi. the two develop a strange and unlikely friendship, and kaoru soon discovers that sentaro, or sen, is an avid fan of jazz, then an emergent form of music in japan, and plays the drums in the basement of a record store owned by the family of his childhood friend, ritsuko mukae, with whom kaoru immediately falls in love. when ritsuko says that she would love to hear kaoru and sen play together, kaoru begins to acquaint himself with jazz, too, and finds that it holds more magic than he expected. part classic coming-of-age drama, part love letter to the jazz genre, this series was, fun fact, directed by the man behind cowboy bebop and samurai champloo—so, like, if that isn’t a testament to its quality, i don’t know what is. it will make you cry, though. just warning you. 

silver spoon (dir. tomohiko ito): desperate to escape the pressures of his home life, beleaguered honor student yuugo hachiken foresakes his chances of attending an elite tokyo high school and applies to ezonoo agricultural school in hokkaido. at first holding himself a rung above his peers, due to his perception of them as bumpkins who have never had to work hard academically due to their security as farmers, hachiken quickly learns that there’s a lot he doesn’t know, and he’ll have to work hard if he wants to keep up with his peers. though initially withdrawn, hachiken comes to make many new friends, and soon begins to take his studies seriously, earnestly trying to learn all he can about the world of agriculture and how it affects the lives of his friends. this series is easily something i’d call “the feel-good story of the decade,” but it also has many profound and emotional moments, and a hugely relatable protagonist in hachiken. it’s definitely a comedy, but at its heart, it’s one of those special series that kind of takes your hand and smiles at you and says, “yeah. i get it. i know how you feel. but it’s all right. life’s pretty fun, even if you don’t notice.”

hyouka (dir. yasehiro takemoto): to this day i’m still a bit stunned that kyoto animation managed to come out with something as good as hyouka, since it’s so different from their other works, but the truth is there. it’s simple, with a cast of only four characters and few recurring side ones; a subdued score using mostly public domain classical pieces, a quiet high school as the backdrop, a close and intimate portrait of the four kids it brings together. the PV actually does a fine job of introducing the characters—apathetic houtarou, inquisitive eru, cheerful satoshi, and caustic mayaka—so i won’t go into that too much. essentially, houtarou is urged by his sister to sign up for the classics club after no one else does, since it will be disbanded if it does not have at least one member. much to his surprise, someone else already has signed up by the time he does—a curious girl named eru with an insatiable appetite for mysteries. though houtarou lives by a philosophy of what he calls “energy conservation,” eru has a power over him (read: he has a big, beautiful crush on her) that compels him to go along with her antics, and his penetrating intellect doesn’t help much. satoshi, houtarou’s best friend, and mayaka, a childhood... acquaintance of houtarou’s, also join the club, and hyouka chronicles all of the things that happen to them over the course of their school year. when asked about the meaning behind the title (”hyouka” means “frozen dessert”), the author of the novels said, “the colour of youth is like ice cream. its many flavours are like the spectrum of a rainbow, but no matter how it tastes, what doesn’t change is its richness and flavour. another distinguishing feature of ice cream is the short time one has to eat it, and how we must take care to avoid polluting it. it’s just like how youth is full of numerous possibilities, but its fragile and limited energy is easily challenged by the outside world.” i think that probably speaks for itself in alluding to the bittersweet tone of the series. it really is one of my favorites.

and, because my fingers are getting tired: yu yu hakusho is my favorite shounen series by a mile and one of the few for which i highly recommend the dub—it’s long though, 100+ episodes, but worth every minute. i’ll be glad to go into why yyh specifically is the best in a separate post if anyone is interested bc hoo boy. uchouten kazoku season 1 is great and one of my favorites but season 2 was kind of eh to me. if you like action and tragic romance, kyoukai no kanata is my second-fave kyoani series after hyouka, though it does have some fanservicey bits and fetishy humor that kind of date it a little bit. and if you haven’t started boku no hero academia yet—PLEASE GET ON THAT; IT’S SO MUCH FUN! 

and, of course, the anime of my heart and soul: lovely complex, a romcom about a tall girl and a short boy, and their arduous, hilarious, heart-melting journey from vitriolic best buds to lovers. hits all the right notes. no other shoujo compares. it’s a series that anyone and everyone can AND WILL enjoy. 

i hope that’s enough to get you started! :’D pls let me know what you think if you watch any 

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Dec 31)

I haven’t done one of these in over a month, and I wanted to try to get this out before the year ends! It’s still 2019 here. Here are some anime I’ve been watching recently and what I thought of them.

Recently Completed

Dr Stone

This anime turned out so well!

I was hesitant at first. The character cast lacked a bit of diversity. I thought they were relying on the main character too much, but then I realized that that wasn’t necessarily a problem. Nobody will ever be as smart as this main character, and that’s okay. Everyone in this anime still plays a purpose, and even though that really showed more in the last episodes of the show, I think we’re in for a treat next season (that and I keep hearing that from my brother, thanks Kuya). The OPs and EDs were a lot of fun to listen to, the art was really good, the OST wasn’t the most memorable but I appreciated its service, and the casting was great! I don’t think I would stand for anyone else playing Senkuu at this point. Yuusuke Kobayashi has really proven how good of a seiyuu he is in recent years. He joined a little later in life and was more apparent in other types of work. Dr. Stone was a great anime, and even though it’s not even my favourite Shonen Jump series of this year (*cough* Kimetsu no Yaiba had a way stronger impact) it’s still worth the watch.

I rated this a 9/10 on MAL

Gamers!

You know how practically every romance anime has miscommunications which “add” to the plot? Now imagine that was an anime and that’s the only thing going on. That’s what “Gamers!” is, and it’s hilarious. I think I saw a YouTube comment that perfectly summed this up.

“This anime is great but it makes me want to bang my head against a wall”

It’s pretty much that! It’s hilarious in its writing, and even though it isn’t really about gaming, it showcases different types of gamers. We have a former gamer, a guy who’s terrible but plays to have fun, a hardcore gamer, an indie developer, and one person who doesn’t even like games! They make the cast really funny and inconvenient, and the seiyuu performances add to the hilarity. Seriously, this quickly became one of my favourite Toshiyuki Toyonaga roles. I think his best works come in the form of romances? Yuri on Ice, Zetsuen on Tempest, to a lesser extent Durarara, Gamers? It’s like he has experience with romance (he has a daughter and is married). Seriously, I almost want to make a post just dedicated to this anime. It has such a low rating on MAL because it is so cheesy, cliche, and it does sometimes drive you up the wall, but isn’t that all romance anime? I was okay watching socially inept people because I am socially inept.

Episode 2 came out of nowhere with it’s cliche yet fitting dialogue.

I rated this a 9/10 because I enjoyed it so much and it was the anime I needed at the time. I can definitely see why people wouldn’t watch it though.

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara

I went to the other side of the romance spectrum and went with a rom-drama instead of a rom-com like Gamers! And... I feel like I enjoyed Gamers! far more. Irozuku was a bit mean to colour-blind people if I’m completely honest. The characters were flat and uninteresting, but they began to get personality in... episode 8 or something? Also, being colour-blind isn’t as big of a deal as this anime makes it seem. They were so fast to say a girl was from the future but wanted to keep it a secret that she’s colour-blind? She also has no personality because she’s colour-blind? In fact, her personality is that she’s colour-blind? Did I mention she’s colour-blind? Anyway, the ending was conclusive but still left some unfinished ends. P.A. Works made this anime beautiful, I really like the OP and ED, but I ironically didn’t like the casting for this. I give praise to almost every anime for casting, but this anime couldn’t sell me on Kaori Ishihara (who is actually part of Magi which I keep commending for having one of my favourite casts) and Shoya Chiba (who was good in Dororo). The chemistry between the characters and cast didn’t work for me on this one which was sad because the ending would’ve made more of an impact if they’d gotten me more attached. The OST was also amazing so I thought I would add that. Besides that, it was a good premise (with pretty good execution), great art, an amazing OST, beautiful OPs and EDs, but subpar characters.

Asobi Asobase

At the time, Konomi Kohara, Hina Kino, and Rika Nagae didn’t really have that many roles outside of a few (well, Kohara had Tsuki ga Kirei but this really cemented her talent). This anime’s art style threw me in for a loop, and even though the humour didn’t always hit, this anime made me laugh at some points. It was vulgar, full of humour, and I’m really surprised Kino is still alive after screeching a lot. Seriously, that’s a lot. The ED is just them screeching too! Random appearances from big seiyuu are also present, and the animation by Lerche is all over the place. It sheds every essence of the innocence you thought it was going to have in ep 1 and keeps the pace going throughout.

I rated this anime a 7/10 because when humour doesn’t hit for me, it bores me.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

I actually didn’t enjoy Dragon Maid as much as I thought I would. That’s partially because of Quetzalcoatl. I’m sorry, but everything else besides her and a few questionable things (especially the OVA) was alright. The animation was beautiful (KyoAni is soooo good, please do the second season!!!)

The OP and ED were really catchy. I don’t think those songs will be leaving my head anytime soon. At its core, this anime was still heartwarming. The romance between the main two is one-sided but sweet. Kanna is such a cute kid, and Fafnir and Takiya are also funny. I gave this anime a 7/10 because it was still solid, just overhyped. 

Africa no Salaryman

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed Salaryman so if you read my past one, just skip this.

The story for this anime is mediocre, the animation is really bad, the music is poor, and it was still a fun anime. It’s one of those terrible anime that you end up kind of liking. Have you ever wanted to see a mix of bad CG and limited 2D animation by a studio that has no other notable anime (besides a flop from 2018)? Have you ever wanted to hear the villains of BNHA (All For One, Overhaul, and Dabi) voicing weird safari animals with quirky side characters? Seriously, they took the money that they should’ve put into animation and hired a bunch of famous seiyuu who seem to be having fun. We have Eri Kitamura, Yui Ogura, Akio Otsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda, Hiro Shimono, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kengo Kawanishi, Akira Ishida, Hiroshi Kamiya, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, etc. It’s a lot of fun guessing them. Overall, this anime was pretty average. I wouldn’t recommend it unless they intended to watch the seiyuu (which is the only thing really going here)

And the ending itself wasn’t eventful either so I gave this anime a 5/10.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 3

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

Another (slightly better animated) bad anime. It’s a collab between Japanese and Chinese studios (but is originally Chinese), but since Japanese dubbing is far more accessible, I went with that dub. Sora Amamiya, Yuuichi Nakamura, Kensho Ono, and Natsuki Hanae are part of the main cast here. Nothing is really notable besides the story. The sibling thing is kind of relatable. This anime ended recently, and it ended on a good note. The quality didn’t go down, and it kept more of the sibling and stupid antics from the first season. I liked that. I rated this a 7/10 because the art isn’t as clean as most anime, and some of the humour missed.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai!

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

I will eventually stop wasting my time with these bad romance series, but *cough* I need to fill my depressive void with something, and somehow other’s awkward situations distract me from my own. I mean, this feels like an anime that was supposed to fill the void that Nisekoi left after finishing in Shonen Jump. Hopefully, this time he’ll end up with the right girl. As usual in a lot of harems, the main character has several bad choices. But the overall message and whatever’s left of the plot is really nice and entertaining. The characters are actually intriguing when the fanservice isn’t glaring in your face. I hated how they ended this season. I get they didn’t want to make another season, but stretching an anime-only ending? That just sucks. They were going so well until the last few minutes too. The school festival arc was really nice and sweet. Overall, I still liked the second season. Minus the ending, it was just as strong, if not stronger, than the first. Together with the school festival and Furuhashi’s development, I really enjoyed this. I rated this an 8/10 (but it’s a higher 8 and was only hurt by the ending)

Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

Everyone in this anime is a scumbag in one way or another. Everyone has their bad sides, and unlike a lot of series, this anime isn’t afraid to put them front in centre. This contrasts nicely with Bokuben which is mentioned above. Both are centred around harems, but this one is everything turned on its head with vengeance. Protag? May have a Deku voice, but he’s a pervert that’s described for being “Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which I find interesting because he’s truly nice to his best friend and doesn’t want to betray him, but he also really, really, really likes girls and would want nothing more than to have several of them all to himself. Best friend? Jealous as heck and would probably stab him if things truly went south, but he’s also his wingman. Class president? Talks like a samurai sometimes when nervous and uses MC. Childhood best friend? Terrible liar and uses MC. Then there’s a whole bunch of other people who use everyone. The score is not that great. It’s better than silence, but it hasn’t really been anything above that. The OP is catchy, but I’m not sure if I like it? The ED is nice. The voice acting for this anime is PERFECT for the MC anyway. Daiki Yamashita is really good at acting like this animal of an MC. 

I didn’t really feel satisfied with the ending of this season. It wasn’t as funny, and they relied too much on the 4th wall to make the last episode funny. It lacked the hijinks and chaos of the first episodes, and even though it kept character development and stuff throughout, this is the one time I wanted them to end on a less obvious note. I rated it an 8/10

Enen no Shouboutai

Okay, so they began picking up their act within the last few episodes and it shows, but that doesn’t mean everything in-between was saved because it wasn’t. After episode 2, this show plummets and doesn’t pick up in quality until episode 19 or something. To me, that makes this show not worth it. I almost want to make a post about the rise, fall, and slight rise of this anime.

The animation production is amazing, the first OP and the EDs are awesome (couldn’t say that the second OP lived up but it wasn’t bad), the voice acting was alright at most points (can’t say I’m a fan of hearing Asta), but the story went off the rails and was executed poorly during the majority of the series.

I gave this a 6/10. Maaya Sakamoto’s character tried to save the day, but Maki also saved it the best she could.

Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season

This went so slow and the manga’s art is so beautiful that the anime looks like a sad outline, but I really liked this overall. Just for hearing their performance, it was all worth it. Trust me, the sound makes it worth it, but if you like visuals, read the manga. The voice acting is good for establishing what you can imagine the character voices add, but the art in the manga is too pretty to pass up.

Sankarea

I just finished this today! I originally dropped it because of its uncomfortable content but picked it back up because Maaya Uchida’s birthday just passed and I wanted a bit more horror before we roll on into 2020. Was this the way to do it? I mean, the horror is very light so that’s good. I can sleep at night. Quality-wise? Hmm... Along with the special episodes 13, 14, and 0! Honestly, these last two anime are ecchi. I don’t know how I got here.

The story is a pretty cool concept. Imagine the idea of a story surrounding a guy (zombie-obsessed or not) helping this girl fulfill her lifelong dreams of being normal even though she’s an undead zombie. Slowly as time passes, her flesh begins to rot so he realizes he has to work faster to complete her wishes to make her life seem “normal”. Taking her to the park, shopping, walking her to school, this seems like a good set-up! If only it went that way.

The story was okay, but I found this anime was going a bit on the ridiculous side. It got cartoony at times, and the characters were a bit cringy at times. Characters in this series ship this character with the MC who certainly isn’t keeping a zombie girl around for no reason. Well, anyway, this girl that the characters keep shipping him with... is his cousin. And Sanka Rea’s dad... is a very uncomfortable character as well. Overall, these two elements are actually what made this anime extremely uncomfortable at times.

I liked the art for this despite all the ecchi. I liked the quirky character designs of our main two characters. Some of the head tilts from Studio Deen almost felt Shaft-esque. It was not that bad!

Umm... I never actually paid attention to the OP, ED, or OST because I was too busy skipping the ecchi. Maaya Uchida was a really cute zombie that made me really like Rea more than I would towards regular zombies (except for maybe the ones from Zombieland Saga). Ryohei Kimura was a pretty good zombie otaku. That’s about it for this one. I gave it a 5/10.

Junketsu no Maria

Another ecchi anime! They didn’t even categorize it as such, but the site I watched it on did. Seriously, I don’t know how MAL didn’t process this as one. Anime that criticize wars and the Catholic church (even fictionally) make me feel a little uncomfortable, but I pushed through this one because... actually, I have no idea why. I was depressed that day and needed some picking up through cheesy predictable anime.

Umm... the art was alright, the music was alright, the story was a little cringy at times, and the characters were pretty flat. They gave too much time explaining how some of these characters were virgins to the point where it just got annoying. Kensho Ono and Hisako Kanemoto were good in this anime (despite playing flat characters), Sakurai plays another insane villain, Yoko Hikasa plays another seductive character, and Mikako Komatsu plays another “male” character. I gave this anime a 5/10. 

Dropped/On-Hold

Aku no Hana

WHERE DO I START WITH THIS ONE?! THIS ANIME WAS SCARY. THERE WERE NO DEMONS, NO SUPERNATURAL, ONLY HUMAN BEINGS. 

Fun fact: I did not read the synopsis before heading in. I saw the poster and thought, “wow cool! let’s try this! middle-schoolers! what’s the worst that can happen?”

Okay, so I had to remind myself every two minutes that these kids are MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS?! Middle-schoolers? Ugh, I don’t know why?! What’s going on here? I know this is supposed to be a psychological anime, and it does its job seriously well. I was scared. I was genuinely scared. Everything in this anime added to the scariness. Read the synopsis, come back, and realize that I’ve made a mistake. I watched 3 episodes. As a person on the asexual spectrum, I don’t know what this anime is trying to get at. The art adds to the psychological effect. The characters are really messed up. The OP and ED add to this insanity. Aku no Hana lives up to the name (Flowers of Evil). I felt so disgusted. This anime showed an ugly part of humanity that made me want to take a shower, and that’s very out of character. 

Just watch a trailer, the OP, and the ED. It gives me the creeps. 

Senjou no Valkyria

I didn’t find this interesting. Maybe I’ll pick it back up. The art seems pale and soulless. The voice acting wasn’t enough to draw me in, and the characters weren’t that great. Honestly, this is probably going to be better than Junketsu no Maria, but timing is important.

Seikai no Monshou

1999 art probably hurts this too, but the same reasoning as above. This anime seems genuinely interesting, but I think I started it at the wrong time. 

Watching

Hanasaku Iroha

Hmm... this anime annoys me, but I really want to finish it!!!

This anime is about a girl who learned that she can rely on no one from a young age. She starts doing household chores and cooking at age 4. At her last year of middle school, her mom runs with her fiance and leaves her behind to go live with her grandma, and her grandma doesn’t like her. Keep in mind, this grandma is her maternal one. That woman who just dropped her daughter to run away... is her daughter. Ms. Grandma believes her daughter is a failure and projects these views on her daughter because “she raised you”. She forces her own granddaughter to work for her inn with no special treatment. At every single turn, you get introduced to characters you’d rather not. Every character is an absolute ass to the main character, and she keeps chasing, but I would rather see her refuse? Characters are straight-up telling her to die, telling her that she’s not doing everything she can, and kidnapping her. Seriously, someone in this series kidnaps her, ties her up, and sexualizes her and her coworkers. How does the grandma react? She says that they must respect the customer’s orders. ARE YOU F-- this anime has a really high review on MAL so I want to believe there’s good coming but it’s really rough so far. 

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

This anime is looking up! It has an interesting concept, and the execution has been mediocre so far! The OST is cool, and the characters have interesting designs and powers. I don’t want to say too much on this because I want to wait till the end!

Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season

No words for this one. I’m just going to wait until the season is over. It’s been slow so far, but I have hope. 

[seakittens]

Retconning Tachibana Makoto: A Heavier MakoRin

So this is probably the rough draft of a larger essay I plan on doing to explore what’s happened to Makoto’s character since the end of the TV series. Both Haruka and Makoto have received several character tweaks, starting in Staring Days and carried into Bonds and the Free novelization. While some of the tweaks made to Haruka in Starting Days were  awkward, I think Makoto has suffered the worst from  the changes. I refer to these changes as retcons since they affect the canon we already know (High Speed, Free and Eternal Summer) and alter our perception of various events and motivations. It remains to be seen how much they will affect future material since massive character development in Eternal Summer would render much of these changes moot. But they do affect how one understands characters, particularly their relationships with one another.

For this first dive, I will be focusing on the Makoto/Rin relationship since it is my favorite Makoto relationship and I feel that the retcon has affected it more than any other. That said, even Makoto/Haruka has been affected by these changes.

Please note that as I am very attached to MakoRin, this essay will get negative because MakoRin has not fared well under Makoto’s new handlers at KyoAni. I have done my best to maintain balance so this isn’t nothing but a miserable mess, but this is your warning. Also spoilers for Promises and the Free novelization.

Of all the things KyoAni has done, the critical changes they have made to the Makoto/Rin relationship hurt me the most. Because even with all my salt toward Starting Days all but ignoring Rin, it hadn't damaged Style 5. The Free novel actively damages MakoRin, turning Rin into a  constant source of anxiety for Makoto instead of a friend he wants  to help. 

Novel!Makoto is obsessed with Haruka and only Haruka and barely has an interest in the rest of Iwatobi, as seen in pretty much any scene that involves Rei or Nagisa and Makoto. It’s an ugly change that messes with so many things I enjoyed about Makoto. Especially him being friends with the group because they gave him courage. Novel!Makoto has no courage (yet) and dreams of a world where he doesn't have to deal with Haruka facing the harshness of reality. One where Haruka  will be the same forever. Where nothing will change for them. Even at the end of the novel, Makoto only accepts Rin's place in Haruka's life and Haruka's own future path as inevitable. But I wouldn't say it feels particularly  positive from his POV. This overall change in Makoto's character inadvertently (?) casts shade on crucial MakoRin moments in season one, making the phone call from Episode 2 more about Haruka's needs than Makoto reaching out to Rin. While Novel!Makoto understands Rin’s value to Haruka, he is terrified of losing the life he’s always known with Haruka, as seen in his dream at the start o the novel, where Haruka and Rin are leaving him behind in the water. Rin is a force that frightens Novel!Makoto, to the point that he  dreams of a world where Rin hasn’t changed their lives, where Rin and Haruka don’t meet at the train station that December day. 

Whereas initial interpretation of the MakoRin relationship in Free lent itself to seeing Makoto as worried about both Haruka and Makoto, Novel!Makoto clearly prioritizes Haruka and feels lost around Rin. As much as Novel!Makoto still wants Rin to be  happy, as seen in an added  scene of Makoto hearing Rin laugh with Ai, he does not think that he (and by extension, Haruka) can be part of that yet. Again, a lot of Novel!Makoto’s issues with Rin  revolve around fear. And while we’ve always known that Makoto had his fears, the novel takes this to another  level. Rin is best kept at a distance.

Now, this isn't to say the novel does the same to Rin. I would say that Rin still cares deeply about Makoto and views him as his friend. As we know from S1, Rin has always cared about Makoto, even worrying about him swimming at the beach. The novel doesn’t change that. But it's harder to say that it's always gone both ways with Makoto. In fact, even in existing canon, Makoto seems oblivious to the concept that Rin can prioritize him (despite things like Rin setting up Makoto’s birthday). This is something that is actually addressed in ES, especially the new material in Promises. Makoto is genuinely surprised by Rin's interest in his future, believing that he is low priority compared to Haruka. He expects Rin to view him as  peripheral to Haruka, as Makoto views Rin as peripheral to Haruka. This is a sentence I hate to write, but every Makoto POV in the novel confirms this. Makoto’s focus is Haruka and only Haruka. He’s simply too scared to step out of his comfort zone.

Also, this isn't to say Makoto doesn't change. The whole point of Makoto's arc in Eternal Summer is his character development. And I think it's clear that Makoto is, on a whole, more at ease with Rin after S1, responding to silly calls to help with a kitten or even calling him to ask about a relay. I know many have pointed to how easily Makoto and Rin seem to communicate with one another via phone, unlike the rest of the cast. But I think now, knowing what I know about Makoto, that those conversations are primarily about joint team stuff and not so much casual conversation. 

I don't think Makoto’s entire character development regarding Rin comes until near the end of the season, when he calls Rin to ask for help with Haruka. In this moment, especially in the new scene in Promises, Makoto is showing that sees Rin as a positive force in his and Haruka's lives, that he trusts that Rin can do something he cannot do and he's all right with that. It’s all right if Rin takes Haruka out of Makoto’s life because Haruka  is following that path without even realizing it. It’s what Haruka was meant to do. This  is a huge scene for Makoto and for MakoRin. And I think it's vital to their relationship development, given this new take on Makoto via the novel.

This isn't to say that this Makoto retcon is wrong necessarily. There's nothing wrong with making a character messier than he appeared. It's nice to see a Makoto who isn't the pure angel fandom portrays him as. This new take on Makoto shows him to be a bit more selfish, more wary and more insular. He’s just  as afraid of change as Haruka, just less aware of it. He can be friendly but Haruka will always come first. We started to see more of this, with Makoto’s behavior in Starting Days. And the assumed knowledge that despite his growing friendship with the Iwatobi Middle School team, Makoto abandoned them when Haruka quit the team. Overal, this is a more complicated take on Makoto than what was originally presented.

But it also means that MakoRin fandom can no longer hold onto its long-held claim that MakoRin understand each other better than anyone else in the show. They clearly don't, at least not on Makoto's side. I do believe Rin understands Makoto more. I think Rin, to an extent, does harbor some jealousy at how Makoto can connect with Haruka in ways he cannot due to their long friendship. But I also think Rin is more actively aware of those feelings and therefore they don't cripple him as Makoto's do because Makoto actively represses them. It makes their relationship complicated and messy in some ways. Which again, is not necessarily bad. It's just not what made me fall in love with MakoRin. And I do believe that by the end of ES, they are in a position where they could have a strong and meaningful relationship because they do bring out the rarest sides in each other. Makoto just needs to be more honest with Rin and with himself about his feelings so they can finally move past this unspoken wedge between them and see each other for who they truly are. Makoto is no angel and Rin is no untouchable god force who exists only to throw everything into chaos.

I suppose I just miss the pureness and fluff of MakoRin when Free originally ended. It didn't have all these messy parts. It was just two friends who really cared about each other.  Now, it's a bit more one-sided on Rin's part. And while depth and dimensions are nice, sometimes you just want something cute.

I do hope the ES novel addresses Makoto's changing relationship with Rin in more depth since it's such a massive focus of the Free novel. I doubt Take Yoru Marks will. But I think this is important to hear in Makoto's own words how things have changed since S1. Maybe then KyoAni can give meaning to this retcon of Makoto’s character.

I also wish KyoAni would stop confusing character development with angst in Makoto's case. Giving Makoto more angst doesn't really improve his character. The same goes for Sousuke.

Overall, I regret this retcon more than anything else KyoAni has done since the series ended its TV run, and it has probably made me more bitter toward Free than I have been in the past. Because MakoRin was my fluffy joy. And now it's a lot more messy and I have to get used to that. I wish Makoto didn't have to suffer in KyoAni's struggle to make him more relevant. I hope to see things that will make me feel better about this change.

I will tackle what the Makoto retcon  means to the Makoto/Haruka and Makoto/Iwatobi relationships at a later date. 

I’ve been a long time since I did meta and I’m a little rusty so feel free to challenge where you may.

[liuwdere]

Women Directors in Anime Panel - Transcript

Here are the slides and audio. (I dunno why you’d want the audio if you’re reading a transcript, but hey, who am I to judge.)

Prior to the start of the panel proper, I played the Animator Expo shorts “Endless Night” and “Tomorrow From There” so the early comers weren’t stuck sitting around with nothing to do. I then put on the first Kyousougiga PV as a lead-in to the presentation.

Hi guys, and welcome to Women Directors of Anime. I’m Micchy. You can find me on Twitter @liuwdere, where I post very bad content most of the time and also have opinions on figure skating.

To start us off: Who can name an anime director? Anyone, go as basic as you like.

Hayao Miyazaki, the obvious one.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Ninja Scroll.

Challenge: who can name a female anime director?

Sayo Yamamoto.

That’s cheating, I showed her name earlier. Well, anyway, point is, they’re a bit harder to think of.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen one of these shows. Looks like just about all of you. Yuri on Ice? I see a few Yuri on Ice fans here. (Audience member: “I don’t know what that is.”) Well, congratulations, you have seen an anime directed by a woman!

Why talk about anime directors? I’ve seen several panels about fictional representations, strong female characters, so I would also like to bring some attention to the real-world anime industry and representation in that aspect of anime. There are a ton of women working as key animators, writers, in-betweeners in anime, but very few have managed to get the higher roles of production. This is not to say the lower roles are not important—they’re super important. With key animators, I’m a huge fan of Megumi Kouno, who key animated Shelter, if you’ve seen that. This topic is kind of arbitrary, but there are some talented ladies out there and I want to talk about them. Also, honestly, it’s also possible to be very comprehensive because there are like, 25 of them.

What do directors do? Basically they oversee anime production. Their involvement can vary; some of them are very involved in the storyboarding, the music choices, the writing, while others are a little more hands-off, a little manager-like. Some directors rise on the production side—they’re good at managing people, good at making sure people have their stuff done on time, and that’s what gets them in charge. Some of them start as key animators and eventually take over the lead visual development. Of course, they are all beholden to the will of the production committee, which is made up of the sponsors and execs in charge of the show, because money—money’s gotta come from somewhere.

Where are all these ladies? If you look through the industry, they tend to be clustered in a few genres. Number 1: kids’ shows and long-running franchises. We’re talking things like Precure, with the Suite Precure, Happiness Charge Precure, and Heartcatch Precure movies. [Yoko Ikeda, Chiaki Kon, and Rie Matsumoto] all started by directing episodes of the show before taking charge of the movie. Cardfight Vanguard G, the second season. [NOTE: This is actually inaccurate; Yui Umemoto is not a woman. Apologies for the mistake.] The File of Young Kindaichi Returns, also the second season. [Both Umemoto and Ikeda] were taking over established franchises.

Where else? We’ve got kids’ shows, and obviously, anime for women. We’re talking shoujo and josei manga adaptations, otome games, what I like to call “manservice” (though this genre classification is really loose), and boys’ love.

With shoujo manga, you’ve got Vampire Knight (anime Twilight), Otome Yokai Zakuro, Nodame Cantabile (a romcom about music students), and Skip Beat. We’ve got Sailor Moon Crystal season 3, Ristorante Paradiso (old man moe), the fifth season of Natsume Yuujinchou (Kotomi Deai taking over from Takahiro Omori), and Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. (I hear a few shouts, nice.)

Otome games: These are visual novel dating sims where you play as a heroine character and get your choice of pretty boys to date. On that side of things you’ve got La Storia della Arcana Famiglia, Magic-kyun Renaissance, Diabolik Lovers, and its sequel Diabolik Lovers More Comma Blood—directed by two different women, because of course they are. (This is my favorite bit of Diabolik Lovers—you throw her into the pool. Just throw her in a pool.)

Manservice: This is what I like to classify the sports shows, the boy idol shows, the historical romances and stuff. We’ve got Meganebu! (cute boys doing cute things in a glasses club), Hakkenden, Prince of Stride; Free! (with one exclamation point), Cheer Boys!! (with two exclamation points), and Yuri!!! on Ice (with three exclamation points).

Boys’ Love: There’s a conversation to be had here about how women are kind of co-opting gay men’s stories, but that’s a topic for another day; I’m not talking about that today. You’ve got This Boy cycle from Soubi Yamamoto. These are a series of independent films, all short. Doukyuusei from Shouko Nakamura, a lovely story about two high school boys falling in love. And on the trashier side of things we have stuff like Junjou Romantica, World’s Greatest First Love, and Gakuen Heaven. Personally, I recommend Gakuen Handsome.

It’s important to note that even in these genres, most of the anime is still directed by men. Super Lovers—anyone?—that’s directed by a man. And of course, you can find women elsewhere; these are just the genres you’re most likely to find women. After all, who better to make anime for women than women?

Where else are they? If you look towards the edges of the industry—the avant-garde, the experimental animation showcase projects—you can see that some of these projects give younger women a chance to take charge of their own short films. Space Dandy was supposedly directed by Shinichirou Watanabe and Shingo Natsume, but in actuality, they gave a lot of creative reign to the individual episode directors, which is why every episode looks so different. Some of them were women. Panty and Stocking was another case of this. There’s also Japan Animator Expo, a series of web shorts released over several years, which featured quite a few women.

Talking about the women in particular: I’ve grouped them for convenience. I’m going to start with the ladies at Kyoto Animation.

A little about KyoAni: KyoAni is a unique studio in that all their animation is done in-house with a salaried staff. This is the case with most of the industry; most other studios hire animators freelance. Okay, you come in, you draw these few cuts, you go home. The only other major studio to do this—to have a salaried staff—is Studio Ghibli. Kyoani also has a strong focus on training young talent. Their veteran animators will spend a lot of time providing guidance to the younger staff. (Another studio that does this is Studio Toei, which produces Precure.) Both of these factors make it very conducive to nurturing young talent. Two of the names at Kyoani are Naoko Yamada and Hiroko Utsumi.

Naoko Yamada [the first female staff director at Kyoani] is probably best known for directing K-On. What I want you to notice about Yamada is her astute attention to character animation and body language. If you’ve seen any Kyoto Animation shows, you know what I mean; [the characters] act in specific ways, and [the animation is] very shiny, very polished. This particular attention to body language is what eventually got her the directorial position for A Silent Voice, which is about a deaf girl. Obviously [the girl] communicates through sign language, so you can see why the body language would be important there. (Also, [Yamada] likes legs. She has a lotta legs in her storyboards. It’s pretty obvious; you see knees all over the place.)

[A Silent Voice PV]

Going on to another woman at Kyoani: Hiroko Utsumi, who directed Free. It should be pretty obvious that this show was helmed by a woman just from the butts and abs on display [for the female gaze]. I mean, characters in-universe state, “Oh my god, those are really good butts and chests and abs and shoulders.” So that’s a thing.

Here’s where I get a little wibbly-wobbly: What I like to call the “Penguindrum alumni.” This is because there were several women working on this particular show that later went on to head their own projects. To talk about them, I need to talk about Kunihiko Ikuhara. This guy is the infamously eccentric director of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Penguindrum, and Yurikuma Arashi. He’s heavily influenced by the late Osamu Dezaki, with a strong focus on visual metaphor, cinematic language, and very surreal imagery. On one of his projects, Penguindrum, there were a bunch of ladies who were episode directors and assistant directors who later went on to lead their own projects.

The first one I’m going to talk about is Mitsue Yamazaki. A lot of her work is really pretty, but personally my favorite is her comedy work on Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. Here’s a clip where two boys play a dating sim game and get a little too into it.

[Nozaki-kun - Tomoda]

Another one of these ladies who worked on Penguindrum is Shouko Nakamura. She did a lot of early work at Studio Gainax working on Gurren Lagann and Panty and Stocking. You can see the Gainax influence in her style with loose, relaxed lineart—you could contrast it with, for instance, KyoAni’s polished realism. Last year, she directed a boys’ love film adapted from a manga by Asumiko Nakamura, Doukyuusei.

[Doukyuusei PV].

If you’re wondering which episode she did on Panty and Stocking, it’s the one where Panty’s sex tape gets leaked.

Akemi Hayashi: She saved the human race from the Zentradi in 2009. Actually, no, she didn’t. Fun fact: her name happens to share the kanji from a possible Chinese rendering of Lynn Minmay, from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which made researching this one kind of hard. (I was like, I wanna find out about this director, but was only getting results for this anime girl. I like Macross and all, but that wasn’t what I wanted.)

Akemi Hayashi for real: She, like Shouko Nakamura, did early stuff at Gainax. You can see her work going way, way back—if you’ve seen the 1997 anime Revolutionary Girl Utena, she did key animation on the opening sequence for that. She’s been the animation director for a number of high profile projects, including Casshern Sins [and] the Rebuild of Evangelion films. She hasn’t had a full TV series or movie debut yet, but she has directed a few short films and the penguin episode of Space Dandy. What I’m going to put on for you next is a short film done for a collaboration project called Ani*Kuri 15: fifteen one-minute shorts from different creators in the industry. Hers was called “Namida no Mukou,” roughly “from behind tears.” Like Shouko Nakamura, she also has a strong focus on fluid animation. I especially like her use of subtleties in facial expression and body language, conveying emotion through that.

[Ani*Kuri 15, “Namida no Mukou”]

Getting to directors who did not work on Penguindrum (which is a ridiculous classification in itself): My personal favorite, Sayo Yamamoto. This lady is super extra: when she was in college, she wanted to work on animation, but the faculty told her, “No, you can’t work on animation.” She said, “Heck, I’m working on animation anyway,” and did. She caught the attention of director Satoshi Kon to work on Millennium Actress. Stuff happened and she didn’t end up working on that, so her first work at Studio Madhouse was some animation on Trava, which later became the basis for the movie Redline, if you’ve seen that. There she got noticed by Shinichiroh Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. She was brought on to be an episode director on Champloo, and that’s where she says she first got creative control over her project.  [Yamamoto] has also directed a lot of opening and ending sequences; if you’ve seen the first ending sequence to Attack on Titan, that was all her: the sketchy charcoal drawing, that’s her.

Yamamoto’s one of those creatives that has a strong influence over story direction as well as the visuals. For instance, she has a fixation on the femme fatale character, as well as gender and sexuality in general—especially female and queer sexuality. You’ve got Michiko and Hatchin, which is about Latina women, one of them a lesbian. The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, literally an entire series about what makes the femme fatale—Fujiko Mine, the femme fatale character in the long-running franchise Lupin III—what makes her tick, and why is she bad? That show is about interrogating that.

Yuri on Ice also addresses sexuality in a way that’s a little more subtle than her previous works—YOI is a lot lighter, less gritty than the “sex and murder” tone of Fujiko Mine. Part of this is because it is a collaboration with manga artist Mitsurou Kubo. But you can still see hints of this fixation on sexuality and femininity in [for instance] episode 3, where Yuri literally works to channel his inner Fujiko Mine. There’s also a queer character in Fujiko Mine, so yeah, gender and sexuality is a big thing in Yamamoto’s work.

Also, butts. Sayo Yamamoto isn’t that open to giving interviews, but from people who work with her, we have reports that yeah, she was very insistent that they draw butts very well. She says figure skaters have such nice butts you can put things on them, and was really insistent that the staff draw them all. Also, she is on record saying that she liked the scenes in Lupin III where Fujiko took her shirt off—make of that what you will.

Beyond her fixation on butts and sex, she also has a focus on fairy tale imagery and sketchlike charcoal/pencil drawings. This is the ending sequence of Rage of Bahamut (which is getting a sequel this season, I’m so excited) and it’s quite gorgeous.

[Rage of Bahamut ED]

Wasn’t that pretty? (Audience member: yes.) As much as I would like to talk about Sayo Yamamoto all day—I will seriously talk about Sayo Yamamoto all day if you let me, so don’t let me—next we have Rie Matsumoto.

Rie Matsumoto is a director who started at Toei, animating and directing episodes of Heartcatch Precure. (If you don’t know what Precure is, it’s basically My Little Pony, but magical girls and Japanese. That’s the kind of fandom it has. Maybe a little less bad, but not the point.) At Toei, she directed the original promotional video for this series called Kyousougiga, which became a web series and eventually a 10-episode TV series. Then she went AWOL for a few years, later reappearing at Studio BONES directing Blood Blockade Battlefront. (She’s also really cute, I think. [Audience member: It’s true.])

Matsumoto’s another one of those creators with a strong storytelling stamp as well; she has a hand in writing a lot of these works. She as a creator is eclectic as hell. Kyousougiga is like a dozen shows in one, about nostalgia and regret and salvation through platonic love and depression and narcissism—it’s great. Some of the themes that reappear across her work, especially in this original part of Blood Blockade Battlefront, are family bonds, salvation through familial love. In Blood Blockade Battlefront she basically added an entire subplot that was about two siblings reconciling with each other, because that was [the story she wanted to tell]. That’s not even in the manga at all.

For Blood Blockade Battlefront, the artist of the manga [Yasuhiro Nightow] had only one request to the anime staff, and that was to make an opening sequence worth seeing a hundred times. That’s a pretty daunting task, but Rie Matsumoto was like, “heck, I’ll do it.” I’ll let you decide whether she succeeds or not.

[Kekkai Sensen OP]

Every frame of that thing has so much, the composition’s superb. Matsumoto is not directing the second season, unfortunately; she says she’s told the story she wanted to tell and no longer has interest in telling more. Someone else will be taking charge of that second season!

Here’s Soubi Yamamoto, another one of my favorites. No relation to Sayo Yamamoto. Soubi Yamamoto is unique in that she’s basically entirely independent. Most of her work she wrote, directed, and animated almost all by herself—kind of like Makoto Shinkai, director of the current hit Your Name, as well as Five Centimeters Per Second, Garden of Words, if you’ve seen those.

Yamamoto’s really young. Her This Boy series: This Boy Can Fight Aliens, This Boy Caught a Merman, This Boy Suffers from Crystallization, and This Boy is a Professional Wizard. They’re all standalone, thirty-minute shorts. She made the first one of those when she was 22. (She’s like, 27 now. Really young.)

Characteristics of her style: When you see a Soubi Yamamoto thing, you know it’s Soubi Yamamoto. It’s got a saturated color palette, limited animation (since it’s basically just her), on-screen text and manga-like textures/aesthetic. She also has a pretty large hand in writing most of her shorts. You see themes of loneliness, isolation, the difficulty of maintaining interpersonal connection—and boys kissing, there’s quite a bit of that too. What she did not write was MEGANEBU, her one and only TV series to date. This is about a bunch of guys in a glasses enthusiastic club. It’s about as dumb as it sounds. In this scene one of the characters is trying to go to club and is sidetracked by a praying mantis.

[Meganebu, episode 5 - about 3:00-4:30]

The rest of the episode escalates from there—he brings out a suit of armor and a flamethrower just to get past this bug. It’s pretty great.

Atsuko Ishizuka. She was the first [female] staff director at Studio Madhouse. In 2008, the head of Madhouse Masao Maruyama said of her that she was probably the most talented young director in the industry at the time. She’s managed to get a foothold in the otaku market with No Game No Life and several other reasonably successful properties.

She’s also very fond of very, very bold color design. Personally I think she goes a little overboard with it most of the time, but in this 2009 show Aoi Bungaku I think she handled it well. This show is an anthology of adaptations of Japanese literature. Ishizuka directed episodes 11 and 12, “The Spider’s Thread” and “Hell Screen,” both based on short stories by Ryuunosuke Akutagawa. (Has anyone seen Bungo Stray Dogs? Yeah, it’s that guy. He’s actually a real person.) Hell Screen is about a painter who’s commissioned to decorate the tomb of an emperor with his glory, but when he’s faced with the suffering and strife that’s going on in the country he paints a picture of suffering instead. This is the scene where he finally breaks when his daughter is burned before his eyes. [Its exquisite use of color] is really gorgeous; y’all should watch it.

[Aoi Bungaku, episode 12. No link, sorrymasen.]

Aoi Bungaku has unfortunately never been licensed because the market for adaptations of Japanese modernist literature is kind of small. (Its audience is me, mostly.)

Moving on, we have Eunyoung Choi. Choi is a longtime collaborator with avant-garde director Masaaki Yuasa. If you’ve seen Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong, Kick-Heart (which aired on Toonami a while ago, I think)... they also did an episode of Adventure Time together. Most of Eunyoung Choi’s work has been with Yuasa, so you see their styles kind of merge, with loose lineart, flexible animation, favoring dynamic motion over consistent character models. She did direct the ninth episode of Space Dandy herself (Yuasa came later in the second season with the fish alien episode). This is the episode where Space Dandy and the crew go to a planet where all the living things are plants.

Interesting to note that Choi is Korean, and not Japanese; if you look at the edges of the industry, with the ‘artsy’ projects, you can see a bunch of non-Japanese people. Kevin Aymeric, French background artist; Michael Arias, a director from America; Thomas Romain, French mech designer; Bahi JD, Austrian animator; a lot of them work on the same projects because they’re all buddy-buddy with each other.

So she’s directed this lovely but trippy episode of Space Dandy. [It’s a unique style on display here.]

[Space Dandy, episode 9, about 15:30-17:30]

That was Eunyoung Choi. Here’s another lady: Ai Yoshimura, who directed Oregairu, Blue Spring Ride, Dance with Devils, and Cheer Boys. She’s pretty good at handling moments of intense emotion: in Blue Spring Ride there are so many scenes where you can just feel the atmosphere dripping with romantic tension. (Sometimes it’s bad.) But my personal favorite thing of hers is Dance with Devils, which is basically an anime Broadway musical about a girl and demon boys. This show had the brilliant idea of making Cerberus a mashpotato dog. And he has a musical number. You guys should see it ‘cause I love this show to death.

[Dance with Devils - Loewen]

This show also has wonderful numbers like an extremely wannabe rap and a song called “Emo Liar.” It’s “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” but with anime boys and more screaming. Anyway, that show is great and I feel like everyone should watch it, but that’s just me.

I feel like I should mention the most prolific director in the entire industry, [Chiaki Kon]. I don’t think this is even a complete list of her work. Here I have Golden Time and Sailor Moon Crystal. Season 3, since the first two were directed by someone else. She, uh, sure does put out a lot of work. Not a lot of it’s very good, but there sure is a lot of it! Props to her for getting so many jobs. I mean, as much as I love Nodame Cantabile, those two seasons are not good. Also Junjou Romantica. I’m not gonna say anything about Junjou Romantica, but… Junjou Romantica.

Literally everyone else: I of course did not have time to get to everyone. A couple of names I like on here:

Noriko Takao directing Saint Young Men, which is about Jesus and Buddha chilling in an apartment in Tokyo, and it’s pretty great. That will probably never get released over here because fundies.

Kotomi Deai directing the second season of Silver Spoon and the fifth season of Natsume Yuujinchou. She took over Silver Spoon from SAO director Tomohiko Ito, who was currently then busy with SAO.

Sayo Aoi directing The Merman In My Bathtub. See, there are actually two gay merman anime. I just think that’s incredible.

I also really like [Mitsuko Kase’s] Ristorante Paradiso. It’s the kind of show you watch if you’re really into older men. Like, if you want to sit back after work, chill and watch reasonably attractive older men do their thing, that’s the show for you.

(I have seen basically everything on this list. Some of it’s pretty bad. Some is actually decent. Not [Yukina Hiiro’s] Chu-bra. Nnngh, we don’t talk about Chu-bra.)

The anime industry today is obviously changing. There’s more anime produced now than ever before; we have dozens of new shows every three months. Go back a few decades, we had a dozen new shows a year. With that boom, the women’s share of the market is definitely growing. You see this with a lot more anime directed at women: the idol shows; the sports anime,which are intended for younger boys but have a significant female following anyway (hot guys); Touken Ranbu, which is more of a thing over in Japan than here; Osomatsu. With that, we have more female-led projects than ever before.

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The wages in the industry are terrible. Animation is a really hard job! It takes a lot of skill, and they get paid almost nothing for it. Also, the industry is kind of a boys’ club and has been since the beginning. On the bright side, a lot of these women are really young and will probably do good work in the future, so I’m gonna beg you guys to support them by watching through legal channels. (I’m shilling for good friends at Crunchyroll.)

I then went through a few resources and places to watch the good cartoons, concluding with the same two Animator Expo shorts from before the panel for the people who showed up later. Thanks for playing!

[sealedbeastnue]

weehaw it’s time for Mid Season Anime Reviews Time With The Shithead check it out. there have been a lot of surprises this season, AND the most seizures possible in one anime season check it out

urara meirochou: really good and really gay. everything is about girls We Are All Girls (richard dawkins shirt meme) I’m glad we’ve gotten some actual divination and actual plot in this show. feels good. going good so far, probably my standout of the season. great OP/ED and tons of energy and good character dynamics... recommended for gayest

demi-chan wa kitaritai: fine show. nothing exceptional yet, it’s playing its cards really close to the vest though. hopefully we take some risks before the end of the season because this is the perfect place for Social Commentary to take place and have clout.

gabriel dropout: big disappointment so far. this show is The Toothless Wonder. that should tell you all you need to know. it’s being ABSOLUTELY carried by satania and the writers have given up on using the other characters by episode 6. prospects are dim for this one to be better than just another CGDCT to forget. every episode is about 5-7 minutes of content also please speed up the jokes we can take it coach we’re ready

eldlive: I don’t know what I expected. I kind of just watched this one for the concept because Fuck It, but it’s been really sincere (almost to the point of being naive) so far and it takes pretty good advantage of the Space Aliens Cops premise to do something odd (hormones??? space hormones???). lots of baffling design choices but I don’t mind it. another one I hope takes more risks but it’s just so odd that I kind of respect it for existing

ACCA: had no expectations for this show and it’s barely behind urara for best this season. very down tempo thriller/political intrigue show which is incredibly refreshing in modern anime times. I was drawn in by the plot though I must admit the Quality hits you from time to time. OP/ED best in season. I feel like the mystery in it might be a bit of a vapor but i’m holdin out for something cool since this writer has cred

maid dragon: as expected, kyoani is now a legitimate animation studio again. love this one and the animation quality is just so consistently strong that it really improves the experience (still wish there was more soundtrack/foley work though). ALSO, BEST HEALTHIEST BL COUPLE IN ALL OF ANIME. THIS IS THE GOLD STANDARD, FOLKS. PLEASE REFER TO THIS AS AN EXAMPLE.

onihei: picked this one up today on a whim, knowing nothing and being moderately disinterested based on the cover art alone and... not bad either! it started as a really average samurai era police action/drama but it got real weird eps 5-6 and now I think I love it out of nowhere? sound design is great as well. also the protagonist is Nice Yoshikage Kira which is a BIG draw. give it a shot. you won’t regret picking it up.

fate grand order first order: oh right I did watch this! it was like, it existed. it was fine. not winning any medals for this but it’s fine. felt like an in-joke. skip if youre not already into the fate series; if you are youve already watched this

things I dropped (MORE THAN AVERAGE...):

schoolgirl strikers: sucked shit. super fucking boring. baby cat diaper robot loli. I’m insulted that I thought this might be good. is it possible for a show to be completely without character? Yes! It Is! 

akiba’s trip: uh... I just think this one’s not for me... maybe it’s not actually bad...?

idol jihen: totally illogical. I skipped ahead to E5 and they did something actually kind of clever, but the premise is so absurd and the conflict SO simplistic that I just can’t do it. this show might be good if you can handle stupid levels of camp.

fuuka: ahahahhahahaha you virgin

hand shakers: if you watch this you will 100% have a seizure please respect your body enough to not come near this

other things I am watching:

original Ghost In The Shell rewatch but in a theater: seriously, if you get a chance, go watch this on the big screen. I forgot just how desolate and fascinating it is, and how much I loved the retro 80s-early 90s sci fi color palette work in general

noein: oh dude this shit’s blowing my mind. some of the most unique ANYTHING design I’ve ever seen. writing is slightly sloppy but the psychology in it, and especially that FIRST EPISODE where you just don’t know what’s going on during the last like 8 minutes? pick this up. I’m halfway through and if you like pure sci fi this one’s great. lovely OP/ED as well

gunslinger girl: feel so complicated. it’s a cool show but it doesn’t have a very strong message so far. the action’s pretty good. art style is rather dry... most of the way through S1 so hopefully I’ll have more details when I finish...?

yuuki yuuna rewatch: <3 <3 <3

ergo proxy rewatch: almost done and I still love this show so much even after watching it 4 times. GOD they do some weird shit with this show. catching the tempo of the plot really changes the viewing experience as you rewatch it successive times.

[recentanimenews]

Life Under State of Emergency: Kyoto and Sendai

A lonely Hachiko at midday (Photo: Daryl Harding)

  After looking at how the State of Emergency in Japan has affected voice acting in anime, we wanted to highlight some stories from people living all over Japan, how they are coping with the current coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, and their thoughts on the situation.

  In this two-part feature, we will focus on four people from four different areas of Japan, from Japanese citizens and foreigners living in the country, to get their perspective and feelings on how the “lockdown” is affecting them.

  (Note: All answers have been edited down for clarity.)

  In Japan’s Old Capital of Kyoto

  Kyoto last November (Photo: Daryl Harding)

  I first spoke with Matthew Li from New York, who works as a social media marketer and producer for OtakuVS, an anime streetwear brand and YouTube channel, from his home in Kyoto.

  First, how are you doing in the “lockdown,” even though it’s not technically a lockdown?

  I live in Kyoto, so the “rules of the lockdown” might differ from Tokyo's rules. I can say that most of the city streets have emptied out and a majority of stores and restaurants are closed temporarily. To me, it's a good thing as it gives almost no incentives for tourists to visit or for locals to hang out in large groups.

  How has the quarantine affected you personally?

  I'm someone who likes to eat out, shop for clothes, and go to concerts, so the quarantine has affected my social life quite a bit. I had a lot of plans to travel around Kansai and Japan before the State of Emergency, but of course, all of that has been postponed. However, staying home has helped me keep productive on my hobbies, such as writing scripts.

  What about professionally?

  In Japan, I'm mostly working on marketing and production for OtakuVS right now. Since most of the stuff on OtakuVS is done digitally and from home, not much of it has changed apart from some scheduling.

  Was there anything you were looking forward to that has now been canceled?

  So many plans have been canceled or postponed, which of course doesn't feel great. I had booked a concert for the peggies (who sang the ending theme “Stand by Me” for Sarazanmai) in May, which is canceled. I was also hoping to go to Summer Sonic in Osaka in August though that probably isn't going to happen either. I'm sure many people have had bigger life milestones they've had to cancel though, so I always remind myself that I'm relatively lucky.

  Is there anything you’ve started to do because of the lockdown?

  I started reading a lot of news on the coronavirus, which maybe isn't the most healthy habit to pick up ...

  What are you using to cope with being forced to stay inside?

  I've been spending a good amount of my time on my backlog on films and catching up on manga like The Quintessential Quintuplets and Komi Can't Communicate. As for anime, I haven't been interested in many shows recently besides KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR, which will always win my heart.

    How has your neighborhood/town changed?

  My neighborhood has always been pretty sleepy since it's residential, so it doesn't feel any different.

  What are you looking forward to once everything is over?

  I'm looking forward to seeing my friends, eating out, and traveling again.

  How do you feel about Japan’s response to the pandemic?

  I think Japan's response has been very weak thus far. It seems to me that many politicians don't want to take responsibility for an economic downturn or to force change in the work culture here, but it's come to the point where decisions are being made too late. Japan's rate of testing is terrifyingly low in comparison with its neighbors, South Korea, and Taiwan, which has allowed the virus to spread at a growing pace. I don't think Japan will become another Italy or New York, but it's definitely not going to have an easy time in the coming weeks.

  Sleepy Areas of Sendai

    I then spoke to Takazuki, an avid fan of the Naoko Yamada anime film Liz and the Blue Bird and an international student that has been studying in Japan for nearly 4 years in the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture.

  Firstly, how are you doing in the “lockdown,” even though it’s not technically a lockdown?

  I live in Sendai, and each day feels like cases are getting worse after the Olympic flame was displayed in Miyagi prefecture. Although it’s not a big city, a lot of retail chains were closed.

  How has the quarantine affected you personally?

  It stressed me out immensely at the start due to the thoughts of it greatly affecting my career, but I’m slowly getting by. I’m fluctuating in my mental health and good physical health but slowly getting used to this quarantine lifestyle.

  What about professionally?

  This was my biggest worry in this pandemic. I major in STEM (research-focused); now I am unable to take samples and do research in my lab. This is my last year, so I am afraid I couldn’t graduate.

  International students here start their semester in Fall instead of Spring, unlike the Japanese students. I may have to change my thesis despite being halfway done and focus on write-ups and analysis instead.

  Was there anything you were looking forward to that has now been canceled?

  I was planning to visit Kyoto before Spring Break ended to attend a doujin event, do an anime pilgrimage, visit the KyoAni & Do shop and simply relax. I also wanted to visit the famous Agata Festival in Uji before I graduate, but I don’t think this pandemic will end before I’m able to graduate.

  I also attend a lot of anime events. I had won tickets for the Sound! Euphonium concert, AZALEA live, ReoNa tour, Sword Art Online Orchestra concert, and applied for many more, but all of those events either got canceled or postponed. I was also looking forward to going to the Akita Pride March, and this season’s fantastic TV anime and movie lineup.

  Is there anything you’ve started to do because of the lockdown?

  I’ve recently started playing games. It’s something I’ve not done in years because university and attending events have kept me busy. Been exercising a lot more too.

  What are you using to cope with being forced to stay inside?

  Liz and the Blue Bird. It’s an anime movie that’s keeping me sane. I can watch it multiple times and still have fun analyzing it. I’m not too caught up with seasonal anime (though they’re mostly postponed anyway), so I ended up watching more old anime for nostalgia. I haven’t touched JRPG in seven years because they usually take more than 80 hours, so I took this chance to play games like Tales of Vesperia.

  Taka's shrine to Liz and the Blue Bird and Sound! Euphonium

  How has your neighborhood/town changed?

  Nothing changed much at Level 3 warning in early April [when the State of Emergency was called, though Miyagi wasn’t on the initial list]. People were still going to the lab, as usual, we were more afraid of not going to work and felt guilty for staying home due to the work culture.

  [Note: The levels refer to Taka’s university internal system of ranking the pandemic. Level 4 refers to the State of Emergency declaration.]

  As of writing, there are still some people out in Sendai in some areas but I’ve never seen it this empty, except during the New Year period, and when I go out for karaoke with friends until 3 or 4 AM until early in the morning, a common practice in Japan.

  What are you looking forward to once everything is over?

  Karaoke with friends, meeting my favorite author and voice actors, going to events again, and anime pilgrimages. I’m also working on a collaboration with Japanese fans of Sound! Euphonium for a certain event.

  How do you feel about Japan’s response to the pandemic?

  Definitely not pleased, they could’ve done so much better. A lot of people think Japan is a utopia, but it’s just like any other country. Perhaps that’s why everyone expected better.

  Even at Level 3, some people are still doing sampling and come to the lab every day, hold meetings (not online), and conduct experiments. I was shocked at how there is no sense of urgency not just by the government, but by the citizens as well. It took Sendai to Level 4 (out of 5) to realize that this pandemic is not to be treated lightly.

  Any other stories you’d like to tell?

  I had to be quarantined for more than a month because I was in a certain area. When I’m finally no longer under supervision, I was able to check out the cherry blossoms around my quiet neighborhood and go downtown to finally grab some McDonald’s that I’d been craving. McDonald’s is good enough for me to survive …

  Unlike Tokyo or any other countries like Indonesia, there aren’t that many delivery services like UberEats in Sendai. The Konbini is my life savior, it is my best friend.

    Thank you to both Matthew and Taka for talking to us and sharing their stories in this troubling time. You can find Matthew’s work at OtakuVS, and find Taka on Twitter at @takasakinozomi, where she talks a lot about Liz and the Blue Bird.

  If you or someone who know is living in Japan, coronavirus-based English resources are available at NHK World Japan. 

    Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Nintendo America, Comic-Con 2019, Microrobots

Yes, it is that time at last; the latest episode from the Nerds is here, so everyone can relax, the wait is over. Once again, we bring you an awesome show that is jam packed full of the topics that are crossing our desks. First up we bring you news that many of us will find refreshing, Buck does. Now hold tight to your pencils as we tell you about how the all-powerful Nintendo are being sued in a class action because of faulty equipment involved in the Switch. Want to know more to see if this can help you with that dodgy gadget playing up? Well it is the first topic and there is some truly interesting developments arising from this.

Next we have a brief news update from San Diego Comic Con, with the talk from Marvel and also some from DC. No, we still aren’t getting paid by them, contrary to the way it appears. But there are some really cool things coming up to look forward to from both groups. We hear about the Marvel Phase 4 universe and the various upcoming movies. DJ is excited about these and is quite eager to see these unfold. There is the news about the various DC series with some shows seeing a possible end and others announcing the latest seasons.

Next up we need to go grab our magnifying glasses as we look at micro bots. That’s right micro bots, tiny little robots that are going to help change the world. One operates in response to specific frequencies and is called a Bristle bot, totally cool. The other is even smaller and is operated by optoelectronic tweezers (OET), which use light patterns to directly interact with the bots. That’s right – LIGHT FEAKING TWEEZERS!!! Sorry about that, but that is so cool, these bots are so small normal tweezers are too big. Would you like to know more? Well then, you are going to love this, listen to the episode and you will hear a lot more.

As normal we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays and Special Events for the week. What do you me and a poltergeist have in common, probably more than you would realise, to find out more head over to our friends at the great new podcast from TNC by that very name (You, me and a poltergeist). Now that is a Segway, now it is time for me to go, time for this to end, but before I vanish let me just say this last little thing. Look after yourselves and take care of each other, stay hydrated and keep Nerdy. Catch you all next time.

EPISODE NOTES:

Nintendo America being Sued

-http://chimicles.com/cskd-files-class-action-lawsuit-against-nintendo-of-america-inc-relating-to-joy-con-drifting-issues/

-http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/class_action_lawsuit_officially_filed_against_nintendo_for_switch_joy-con_drifting_issues

-https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/07/nintendo-responds-to-sufferers-of-joy-con-drift/

Comic-con Announcements - https://comicbook.com/marvel/2019/07/21/marvel-phase-4-schedule-complete-kevin-feige-comic-con/

Microrobots in cells

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/these-u-of-t-researchers-use-tiny-microrobots-to-scoop-up-transport-and-deliver-cell-material/

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-the-size-of-the-worlds-smallest-ant/

Games currently playing

Professor

– They Are Billions - https://store.steampowered.com/app/644930/They_Are_Billions/

Buck

– Company of Heroes - https://store.steampowered.com/app/228200/Company_of_Heroes/

DJ

– Dawn of War 40,000 : Dawn of War - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4570/Warhammer_40000_Dawn_of_War__Game_of_the_Year_Edition/

Other topics discussed

Graphite (a crystalline form of the element carbon)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite

Nintendo: Quality over quantity

- https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/336293/Quality_over_quantity_is_Nintendos_firstparty_focus_as_the_Switch_nears_year_3.php

Xbox Red ring of death

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

PS4 Blue screen of death

- https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/7byh2i/blue_screen_of_death_on_ps4/

Nintendo 64 joystick injuries

- https://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-offers-glove-to-prevent-joystick-injuries/

Nintendo 3DS problems and solutions

- https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/common-nintendo-3ds-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/

Simu Liu (Chinese-Canadian actor playing Shang Chi)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simu_Liu

Green Book (2018 film)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Book_(film)

Young Justice (DC animated TV series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Justice_(TV_series)

DC Universe Animated Original Movies

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Universe_Animated_Original_Movies

Batman: Hush (DC animated movie)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Hush_(film)

How to make a bristle bot

- https://www.robotgear.com.au/Share.aspx/Post/5

K’nex

- https://www.knex.com/

The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation

- https://www-pnas-org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pnas/116/30/14823.full.pdf

Mu or µ (SI prefix for micro)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(letter)#Measurement

Prey (2002 Michael Crichton novel)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_(novel)

Help KyoAni Heal

- GoFundMe link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kyoani-heal

Kyoto Animation has opened an account to receive donations

- http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/information/?id=3075

Kyoto animation studio and their works

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Animation

Rutger Hauer (Dutch actor 1944 – 2019)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer

"Tears in rain" is a monologue delivered by character Roy Batty (portrayed by Rutger Hauer) in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue

Shoutouts

18 Jul 2019 - Kyoto animation studio fire - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kyoto-animation-anime-studio-arson-attack-1225232

23 Jul 1967 - First successful liver transplant, on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez by Dr Starzl at the University of Colorado - https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/777849/lives-remembered-dr-thomas-starzl-liver-surgeon-pioneer

23 Jul 2015 - NASA's Kepler mission announces discovery of the most Earth-like planet yet - Kepler-452b, 1,400 light years from Earth - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

Remembrances

23 Jul 1916 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" (along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon). After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium,neon, krypton and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table. He died from nasal cancer at the age of 63 in High Wycombe,Bucks. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay

23 Jul 1942 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danishengineer who made significant contributions to early radio technology. He developed a magnetic wire recorder called the telegraphone in 1898 and the first continuous wave radio transmitter, the Poulsen arc transmitter, in 1903, which was used in some of the first broadcasting stations until the early 1920s. He died from natural causes at the age of 72 in Gentofte. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdemar_Poulsen

23 Jul 2012 - Sally Ride, Americanastronaut and physicist. She joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonautsValentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, the only person to participate in both. She died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61 in La Jolla, California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride

Famous Birthdays

21 Jul 1951 - Robin Williams, American actor and comedian. Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, and is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After rising to fame playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork & Mindy (spun off from Happy Days), Williams established a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. He was known for his improvisation skills and the wide variety of memorable character voices he created. Williams has been voted the funniest person of all time. Williams was nominated four times for the Academy Awards, winning for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as psychologist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Grammy Awards. He was born in Chicago,Illinois - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams

23 Jul 1892 - Haile Selassie, was an Ethiopian regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history. During his rule the Harari people were persecuted and many left the Harari Region. His regime was also criticized by human rights groups as autocratic and illiberal, such as Human Rights Watch. Among the Rastafari movement, whose followers are estimated to number between 700,000 and one million, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. He was born in Ejersa Goro - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie

23 Jul 1967 - Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer. Best known for his distinctive supporting and character roles – typically lowlifes, eccentrics, bullies, and misfits – Hoffman acted in many films from the early 1990s until his death in 2014. He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992. He gained recognition for his supporting work, notably in Scent of a Woman, Boogie Nights,Happiness, Patch Adams, The Talented Mr. Ripley among other movies. He began to occasionally play leading roles, and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote, won multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Hoffman's profile continued to grow and he received three more Oscar nominations for his supporting work in Charlie Wilson's War, Doubt & The Master. Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters, and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles, Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation". He was born in Fairport, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman

23 Jul 1989 - Daniel Radcliffe, English actor and producer. He is known for playing the titular protagonist in the Harry Potter film series, based on the novels by J. K. Rowling. Radcliffe made his acting debut at 10 years of age in BBC One's 1999 television film David Copperfield, followed by his cinematic debut in 2001's The Tailor of Panama. At age 11, he was cast as Potter in the series' first film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and starred in the series for 10 years, starring in the lead role in all eight films culminating with the final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, released in 2011. Radcliffe became one of the highest paid actors in the world during the filming of the Potter films, earned worldwide fame, popularity, and critical acclaim for his role, and received many accolades for his performance in the series. Following the success of Harry Potter, he acted in other movies such as the Edwardian horror filmThe Woman in Black, Kill Your Darlings, Victor Frankenstein, Swiss Army Man among others. Radcliffe began to branch out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the London and New York productions of Equus for which he received immense praise from critics and audiences alike, and in the 2011 Broadway revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He was born in London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Radcliffe

Events of Interest

23 Jul 1983 – Gimli Glider:Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba. The subsequent investigation revealed that a combination of company failures, human errors and confusion over unit measures had led to the aircraft being refuelled with insufficient fuel for the planned flight. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

23 Jul 1995 – Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale-Bopp separately before it became visible to the naked eye. It is difficult to predict the maximum brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty, but Hale–Bopp met or exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp

23 Jul 1999 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-93

- https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/sts-93-at-twenty-years-planning-to-launch-chandra/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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