#and so our characters have to defeat these monsters and purify the person/give them back their dreams/want to live

[cryptidm0ths]

Vvvvvv messy doodles of magical girl au

[cursewoodrecap]

Session 22: Five-Dimensional Man-Go

This is a session I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. I get to introduce three of my favorite characters in the entire campaign. 

In the real world it’s been a while, but this was the session we officially welcomed a new chaos goblin player to the table. And damn, am I glad we did.

Valeria goes to Hoeska’s armor smiths for some upgrades, and accidentally kicks off a goth fashion montage. Her new armor has gorgeous black detailing with purple rose accents, accessorized with a brand-new Shusva-skin bag with matching claw clasp. Gral picks up a fancy Shusva-leather cloak and belt. Shoshana, realizing that a vampire’s castle is basically a Hot Topic, gets some fishnet arm warmers to accompany her fang necklace. We also get some healing potions and hope they aren’t made from lost souls or anything.

Valeria resummons Aethis, who pops back into existence in a burst of glitter that’s entirely incongruous with the local grim aesthetic. Apparently celestial gators are only mildly inconvenienced by fatalities.

As we hitch up the horses to get back on the road, we find out Ser Boris is also preparing to head out. “Woods full of many nasty creatures. Must keep hunting! Maybe I find way down to Barroch, I have heard monsters are attacking workers there.”

Gral perks up at the name of his people’s capitol. “I’m sure the orcs will treat you well. What kind of monsters are they dealing with?”

“Wolves, bears, maybe werewolf? I will find out when I get there! Cursebreakers do not have much of working relationship with orcs, so info is scattered. That is why I must investigate!”

While he heads south into orc territory, we’re gonna go north toward Sturmhearst to look into all the Key nonsense Professor Bjork told us is goin’ down. It’ll be a long trip; it’s on the coast, and we’re well into the heartland of the wood. As we get closer, we’re gonna have to look for new maps, too – the patchwork of safe zones and Curse disasters changes rapidly, and the roads that were passable a month ago might be deathtraps today.

We trek for several blessedly uneventful days. One night, in a region where a sizable number of halflings have settled, we have the fortune of seeing an inn on the horizon as night starts to fall. A sign proclaims the Fusilier’s Rest, a combination winery and inn located on a lush vineyard. Valeria’s kind of suspicious of anything too plant-based right now, but the rest of us totally want a winery tour.

We hitch up our wagon next to a post labeled Valet Parking. Aethis parks themself in the stables. Looking at the place, with its rather low doorframe and quaintly painted décor, we suspect Demish wine snootery instead of weird plant cults.

We duck through the door and take in the scene. It’s on the upscale end of totally normal, with locals sitting around eating and a huge pot of Demish onion soup bubbling on the hearth. The old halfling bartender is wearing pieces of a worn but well-cared-for blue-and-gold uniform. Two polished old pistols hang within reach on the wall, along with a pristine old Fusille musket in a place of honor behind the bar. Shiny medals in a handmade case are proudly displayed atop the bar.

As is D&D protocol, we look around for any notably wacky characters. We find them in the corner: an old man with unkempt white hair and multi-lensed, colorful glasses, engrossed in a game of Man-go against a young human doctor. We know he’s a doctor, because he’s got a stubby-beaked Sturmhearst mask pushed up to expose a tired but friendly face. His coat might once have been a lab coat, but it’s since been patched and sutured together so many times that it’s probably done a full ship-of-Theseus. His right arm is in a makeshift sling, and he’s nursing a small glass of Kevan vodka; probably the closest thing they have to rotgut moonshine in a wine-snob place like this.

We’re like, neat. Let’s eat soup.

Valeria orders a local vineyard wine and chats with the bartender about it. “The man who runs it is a madman; he thinks he can grow good wine grapes in Valdia. But he pays my sister well, she does her best.”

“Oh, don’t listen to René, his sister does marvelous work! No halfling will admit that wine grown outside Demionde will be more than spoiled grape juice,” teases one of the local barflies.

Gral asks Valeria who’s winning the Man-go game. The old man is rambling pleasantly, barely paying attention, and he is absolutely crushing the young doctor. The doctor looks like he’s totally aware he’s being taken to the cleaners, but he’s gonna let the old guy have his fun. As the game draws to a close, the younger man smiles ruefully and hands over a few coins. Meanwhile, the old fella, his eyes magnified to mismatched sizes by his funky glasses, spots our most conspicuous party member.

“Kyr! How’s the wine?” he calls, beckoning her over.

“Quite good actually!” Valeria chirps. “Was that the Kiloni maneuver?”

“Yes, or a variant I picked up somewhere! The Killam maneuver…kilometer…kilowatt? Something of the sort.”

Valeria very much wants to play him, and the old guy’s defeated opponent is happy to trade her his spot. The young man’s propped up leg hits the ground with a suspiciously loud clunk as he vacates his chair for her.

The old man peers up at her, bright-eyed even behind multiple layers of glass. “So what brings a Knight of the Rose here?”

“We’re headed to Sturmhearst, actually!”

“I see! I’ve heard the roads between here and there are pretty tricky to travel, you know.”

“No kidding. Do you have an updated map?”

He snaps his fingers. “No, but I just came from there! I’ve got an old map and I can easily update it for you kids. René is on night watch, I’ll leave it with him so you don’t have to stay up waiting for me to finish it. I know a route that’ll get you there lickety-split and safe as trousers! Now let me guess, you played at the clubs in Aurentium? You have the look about you.”

“Not the clubs, precisely…”

“Ah! Street rules, then!”

Valeria, who played Man-go against literally everyone who would have her, shrugs. “Maybe?”

“René, we’ll need some cups and a dumb hat!” the old man calls.

The young doctor wanders over to the bar and gets a refill, settling down next to Shoshana. “Hey, wanna bet on their game? The old guy’s pretty sharp.”

Shoshana laughs. “Oh, my friend is definitely gonna lose. I’ll put a silver on her, though, out of loyalty.”

It’s an odd game to spectate. Valeria falls behind early on; an insight check shows he’s not cheating, he’s just VERY good. Oh, and also Valeria’s assuming an entirely different set of house rules than this guy, and it’s tripping her up. Wait, are we doing street style, or dock style? Anyway, Valeria’s wearing the dumb hat now. At one point they both spit on the board.

“Y’know, I’ve never seen anyone from Sturmhearst take the mask off,” Shoshana says to her new drinking buddy, watching the game with confusion.

“On the clock, it’d be a safety hazard! But off the clock, eh, it’s fine. Some people get more elitist than me about it, I’m a hometown Valdian through and through.”

(You’re from Joisey, I’m from Joisey! What exit?)

“I haven’t actually been to the university since the Curse started, but I’m heading back to research some stuff I found out up in the Grammelsmarsh swamps. Some real disconcerting stuff regarding undead, and the like. The locals refer to it as the Wailing Wight.”

Shoshana gives him a once-over, rolling a decent Perception. He’s scruffy, though that could mostly be from hard travel, and definitely looks like he’s had a rough time of it. His arm’s in a sling and the little exposed skin Shoshana can see has more than its share of nicks and scars. His gait when he walked over was slightly uneven, one leg making a suspiciously heavy thunk against the wooden floor. Over his shoulder, he’s carrying a long, heavy case sealed with tar for waterproofing.

Hold up. She points to the case. “Do you have an alive guy in there?”

“…Uh.”

“You hesitated, and that’s not great.”

“Uh…no. No, I do not have an alive guy in here,” he says awkwardly.

“Okay, because the last time there was a weird bag, there was a whole-ass dude in there, and it turned into a whole thing.”

“N-no, no no no, there’s no person in the case,” he protests, not quite meeting Shoshana’s judgy cat eyes. He definitely doesn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, even though the case has started gently twitching.

Meanwhile, old Man-Go man has proved himself quite fluent in Draco-Aquilian, though with an unmistakable mammalian accent. Gral butts into the lively conversation when it winds back to Valdian. “It seems like you’re rather well traveled. What is your profession?”

“Oh, y’know, I go here and there. I’ve been around. There’s so much to see out there!”

Valeria smiles. “I can’t fault you there. Anything in particular you’re looking for?

“I go wherever the winds take me, mostly,” he says, as if Cursewood travel isn’t the most dangerous hobby since they invented pyromancer cookoffs.

Valeria, impressively, only loses the game by a little. The old man jovially shakes her hand and promises to go get started on that map to Sturmhearst for us, springing to his feet with surprising deftness for his age and bustling up toward his room.

Gral and Shoshana, meanwhile, are busy makin’ friends with the doctor guy. “What swamp were you fighting undead in?”

“The Grammelsmarsh? It’s downriver of Mornheim.”

“Ohhh! We heard some, uh, adventurers did a purifying ritual on the river. It might help your situation?”

“That’s great, but…I dunno. Once you mix in swamp gas, things get a lot more interesting.”

“The explosions kind of interesting?”

“…Sometimes.”

The players have noticed that our doctor friend here is, like…not an NPC, there’s another guy at the table (the same player as Isadora! :D), so we start sizing each other up as travel companions.

“You seem like a pretty decent guy,” Gral says, immediately insight checking.

“I mean, you guys seem on the up-and-up too?”

Shoshana winks at him. “Well, I’m not that up-and-up but these two are very diplomatic and important.”

“If you’re also headed up to Sturmhearst, it might make sense for us to travel together? I’m not very quiet,” he admits, knocking on his knee with a clang, “but if you-“

“Hello!” Valeria, hearing clanking, has clanked over loudly to join. “Kyr Valeria Argent, at your service!”

“Uh, hi! I’m Vigdor. I’m a doctor! I mean, you knew that, with the, uh-“ He points to his bird mask. “If you need any balms or salves – I mean, I’m mostly a surgeon, but I know some herbology.”

Is that so! We chat about Dr. Ulmus and Dr. Kjeller. Everyone loves Dr Kjeller!

“I’ve heard of Dr. Kjeller! I haven’t met the guy, but he’s the leading expert on troll physiology. Getting him to come lecture hasn’t worked out so far.”

We ask René the innkeeper about any local threats. Apparently this town’s gotten lucky; the biggest threats recently have just been bandits and one overaggressive badger.

“Oh yeah, one of my cats fought one of those, it went badly,” Shoshana remembers. “For the badger, I mean. I have weird cats.”

(The inn also has cat. His name is Jean Clawed.)

Eventually we all head upstairs. As the night bears on, the girls fall asleep, presumably after painting each other’s toe claws and gossiping. Gral’s still awake, practicing his lute in the rare luxury of a single room, when he pauses. Something doesn’t sound right.

Putting his lute aside, he listens cautiously at the window and feels a deep dread grow in his stomach. The faint scent of ozone drifts in the air. The crickets and night birds have gone dead silent, and in the unsettling quiet he can hear the terrible growling, piping sound he’s heard twice before: once in a house in a hole, and once as Bullbreaker’s expedition faced its destruction.

With great urgency and no volume control, Gral sends a Message to a sleeping Shoshana: “RED ALERT, KEY SHIT’S HERE.” Shoshana wakes up and kicks Valeria.

Gral then sends a Message to our new friend Vigdor, more calmly. “If you have weapons, get them now. Something is happening, it’s going to be dangerous.”

The early warning lets Vigdor and Valeria armor up, Shoshana helping Valeria buckle on the heavy pieces in a hurry. Meanwhile, Gral sprints downstairs, casting Mirror Image as he goes.

René the innkeeper is cleaning his fusille with practiced precision, humming an old marching song. Gral can hear something moving in the kitchen behind the old halfling, so he pops another stealthy Message cantrip. “This is the orc from earlier. I think something bad is in the kitchen – I’ve heard that noise before. Hold on tight to that musket, I’m going in.”

“The back door is locked, I would have heard someone come in,” the old soldier whispers back.

“These things don’t use doors,” Gral hisses.

A 17 Persuasion convinces René, who loads a bullet into his musket. “Where are those friends of yours?”

A heavy clank from upstairs answers that question, as Vigdor and Valeria thud toward the stairs. Gral scopes out the room and sees, on the bar, a big leather map case. The map from the Man-Go guy! Then he peers into the kitchen and, yup, that’s a fleshhound, all right.

Everyone else upstairs bursts into the hall just as a second fleshhound emerges into existence next to them. Shoshana, without hesitation, hits it with a gout of flame. Its strange ethereal flesh solidifies for a moment, but then it shakes itself and charges forward, its displacement energy restored.

Meanwhile, the one downstairs doesn’t aim for Gral or René, trying to run past them. Gral plays a discordant note on his lute, using his Minor Key at the opposite frequency to its vibration and preventing it from displacing, before he strikes. A spectral, scarred orc swings a warhammer down on the creature, Thrice-Burned’s ghost getting some payback as Gral’s blade strikes true.

René takes a shot with his musket and crit-fails, understandably freaked out by the writhing mass of teleporting tentacles, the wild shot careening directly into Gral. Luckily, it only pops a Mirror Image, but everyone upstairs hears a frustrated yell of “NO. FRIEND! ME FRIEND!”

Vigdor dashes past Valeria to the stairs, his previously-motionless arm reaching out of its sling to slap her on the armor with a resounding clash of metal. A silver Jotunn rune glows through the cloth of his sleeve, and she feels Protection from Good and Evil snap into place over her. She takes the cue and stabs the hound, rose vines bursting from her trident and stabbing their long thorns into its oddly flickering flesh.

The pupils on the Eyegis snap to the space behind the beast. Our normal eyes see nothing, but the Key-aligned shield’s eyes see a magical gate, faintly connected to the hound.

As a member of the Order of the Rose, Valeria’s trained to deal with fiendish incursions. This isn’t a portal to the Hells, but she thinks it might get closed similarly. As she charges forward to deal with it, everything seems to move twice as fast as it should: the Key’s spatial distortion has made certain areas the opposite of difficult terrain, where you can move double your speed. Nyoom!

Shoshana zaps it with lightning and heads downstairs to help Gral, who’s being slapped by tentacles. The zapped one flees toward the portal, but Valeria Sentinels and stabs it to death. The downstairs hound gets its tentacles into the real Gral.

Vigdor moves to Gral’s aid, ripping away the last of his sling and clamping a large circular blade to his forearm. With the pull of a ripcord, it loudly whirs into motion. As the Buzzing Butcher slams into the displacer hound with a gory squelch, he asks about sneak attack, like a rogue!

A very, very loud rogue.

Gral breaks away from the hound’s tentacles and looks around. Through the windows, more fleshhounds have appeared outside. The space outside is warped – leaving this inn is going to be very difficult while all this nonsense is going on. The lights of the vineyard seem miles away.

However, Gral realizes, the hound responded to the sound of his lute. And when he used his Minor Key he caught a glimpse of the portal it came through. He begins to play again, using the Minor Key to try to take control of it. The GM allows him to burn a 3rd level spell slot for a colossal roll of 33. He moves the portal inside a wall, to temporarily block anything coming through.

René takes a shot at the remaining hound and misses.

Valeria, upstairs, draws her chained sword and spends a 1st level slot to try to close the portal, the same way paladins close Infernal gateways. The chains of Rack extend from the sword and stitch the portal shut.

(Gral and Valeria each gain inspiration for using Portal Trixx!)

A Thing Occurs at initiative 0, and we hear strange piping coming from the stables. We’re kind of occupied, so we trust Aethis to bite anything that bothers the horses.

Shoshana sprints down the stairs and to the bar. Aw, there’s another flesh hound coming in from the kitchen. Her Chill Touch misses, and the new monster slaps Gral.

Vigdor nyooms through a Zoom, which makes some Really Weird doppler effects happen with his clanky leg and his buzzy arm. He slides across the bar like an action hero and slams his saw down, missing the hound and showering the room in a hail of splinters.

Valeria is still upstairs, and it is LOUD downstairs. She’s gonna dash to get the heck down there and rejoin the festivities.

Gral Phantasmal Forces the new fleshhound, and in its mind, horrible liquid tendrils emerge from the soup pot and constrict around it. The soup rises to the defense of the Fusilier’s Rest!

René gets his wits about him and takes a pistol shot at the nearer fleshhound, tagging it with a bullet and keeping it in place. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. OUR POLICY IS NO PETS! I will not make an exception for you, you do NOT seem particularly polite!”

The fleshhound grabs the map case off the bar and starts to run for it. René hits it with the butt of his rifle. The second hound can’t attack Vigdor since it’s too busy convincing itself soup isn’t dangerous, so Vigdor’s free to draw his pistol and unload a Sneak Attack bullet into the fleeing hound’s back.

René reloads his musket. It’s been a long time since he’s done it under fire, but the Royal Fusilier Corps of Demionde does not half-ass their training.

The portal the hound’s heading for bisects a wall now, so it might be hard for the hound to get through.  Before it can worry about that, though, it comes face to face with Valeria, who’s ready to rumble. She kills it, dropping the map to the ground, and skitters through the Zoomy Zone to try to trident the second hound. It displaces out of the way.

Gral seizes control of another portal, and this time decides to use it to see what’s going on. He tries to hop out to the stables, where that weird noise is coming from. He enters a weird nether space full of the flickering bodies of fleshhounds, writhing and blinking, which the DM calls the Threshold. Gral accepts psychic damage to see what’s going on, and the patterns become clearer as the Key takes hold temporarily in his brain. These portals all connect to each other and the Threshold at the same time. Whatever’s out in the stables, making that eerie piping noise, is tied to the portals – it can’t fully exist in our realm. So if you close all the portals, it’ll force that thing to leave; if you drive it away, the portals will close. Either way, the Key’s influence on this place will fade.

Oh, and that thing out in the stables? It’s the Lurke r again.

Gral’s old enemy wrests control of the portal back from Gral, who stumbles back out into the inn, reeling from the sudden whammy of Key taint.

Shosha shoots lightning at the nearest hound, which retaliates by leaping through her, disrupting her matter with its own. It’s a highly unpleasant experience. A new hound jumps out of the portal next to Valeria. As Vigdor, Shoshana, and René all attack, Gral shuts another portal with his lute’s magic. “Guys, there’s something horrible in the stables!” he shouts. “If we bust enough portals it’ll go away!”

The Lurker continues to make mysterious dice rolls, but apparently it’s rolling poorly, so we don’t quite find out what it’s up to. It peers through one of the last few portals, only visible to Gral and the Eyegis. It’s hard to get a good look at, fifth-dimensional as it is, but it’s weirdly humanoid, actually? It’s surrounded by floating lanterns and holding some sort of pipe or flute.

(The DM notes that Jean Clawed is awake and doesn’t see why any of this is his business. He’s capable of using the portals; he’s not Key tainted, that’s just how cats are.)

We exchange blows with the remaining hounds, Chromatic Orbs flying and chainsaws buzzing. René bayonets a hound to death, for the honor of all NPCs.

Gral powerslides on his knees across the Zoomy Zone, playing a complicated riff, woobling himself right through the fireplace into the kitchen. He spends another level 3 spell slot to get the portal to dance itself shut. “And that was Through the Fire and Flames!”

René reloads his gun. Shoshana blasts the hound with fire, so Vigdor’s action goes off and he chainsaws it to death, the body and spine getting caught in the spinning chain. FATALITY.

The searing light of Shoshana’s fire casts sharp shadows on the walls of the inn, which begin to writhe and re-form, swirling together into a lithe, snarling feline shape that springs toward the Lurker. It pounces with an odd, broken yowl that’s incredibly familiar – although Valeria and Gral have only ever heard it once, from underneath an overturned laundry basket.

Vigdor, who’s never met a flesh-hound OR a cursecat before, makes an arcana check to figure out what in the seven hells is going on. It seems some sort of entity is thinning the barriers between realities? Its very essence seems to be intermingled with portal; it cannot fully leave the portal or exist in this realm. Like a malevolent, sentient pair of curtains.

He’s like okay, curtains sound like something I can chainsaw. It’s curtains for you, see? (Fun fact: if he rolls 21 or higher on attack roll with chainsaw, he gets sneak attack regardless of other circumstances. Because it’s a goddamn CHAINSAW.)

The Lurker turns its attention directly on us, or at least to the enormous hissing cat hellbent on ruining its day. Gral, still strumming furiously, realizes the Lurker’s only got a couple of portals left. He’s closed a portal already; he’s gonna try to close all of them for good. The DM imposes disadvantage and a brutal pile of psychic damage, but Gral is unphased, hitting a power chord that shakes the entire inn.

The Lurker screeches and reaches for him, the space around Gral beginning to warp, but it’s too late, the portal slamming shut against it. The Zoomy Zones vanish; the portals close, the strange atmosphere fades. The road looks to be the size it was before instead of an endless stretch of packed earth; the vineyard is once again an easy ten-minute walk away.

His big solo complete, Gral sways and collapses unconscious. Valeria runs over and Lays On Hands so he doesn’t die, while Vigdor starts casting Mending on the destroyed bar furniture. Shoshana, meanwhile, just stares dumbstruck at the place where a huge spectral cat is dissipating into shadowy smoke.

“…Schmendrick?”

René is holding himself together, but he’s an old man and it’s been a while since he fought this much. He took a bit of damage; Valeria pat pats him some HP. “Thank you, Kyr. I…I need to check on my other guests. The old man with the Man-Go game, we must find out if he lives.”

Valeria accompanies him upstairs. Rack’s glowing rose vines are still visible, stitching the portal shut; it’s healing more quickly than Valeria’s used to seeing. The door to the old man’s room swings open under Valeria’s cautious knock. The bed is unmade but empty, and the old man’s luggage is gone. The only things left are a generous tip on the counter and his odd multicolored glasses.

As Vigdor steps outside to clean viscera off his chainsaw, Gral scopes out the stables. There’s evidence of disturbed earth around the grounds, but nothing conclusive. Aethis seems to be unbothered.

We reconvene without much to show for our investigation. But we have one last clue: Why were the hounds so interested in the old man’s map? We spread it out on one of the bar tables and crowd around. It’s a map of Valdia, but the path it shows us to take to Sturmhearst makes No Sense. It’s not even contiguous! It tells us to start here and wander north, and then the line cuts off next to some scribbled equations, the route picking up again elsewhere, where he’s drawn a symbol we don’t recognize – and so on, in strange and nonsensical disconnected paths.

Shoshana, on a hunch, puts on the multicolored glasses the old man left behind. Like 3D glasses, they reveal the hidden image. Through the kaleidoscopic lenses, she can see remnants of the Key’s influence all around the inn; the fading Zoomy Zones and closing portals light up in ultraviolet. The map, meanwhile, has gained an entirely new dimension, like a layer of holographs. NOW the shortcuts make sense – they route through other dimensions along the z-axis, with additional symbols and labels giving helpful hints.

To be honest, it does look like a much faster route. And one of the notes says it leads to the “Drowned City” – hey, isn’t that where Bullbreaker ended up? But we’re all rightfully wary of hopping right back into another flesh-hound portal disaster.

We now have the Extradimensional Map and the Stranger’s Glasses.

Oh! The map has a note for us: “Happy Journeys to a fellow master of the game. Your friend, T.T.”

We immediately rifle through our notes and realize he may have been Professor Trevor Twombly, Headmaster of Sturmhearst. Vigdor, did you know that guy?!

Vigdor didn’t recognize him. Maybe the guy looked like Twombly, if you squint? There were a lot of old men at Sturmhearst, and they wear masks most of the time? Also he had distracting glasses? So, like…maybe?

As we bicker, Vigdor snags the glasses off the table and heads to his room, opening up his case and taking a look. The lenses don’t reveal anything new about the object inside.

Unfortunately, the poor rogue didn’t bother to stealth. “Whatcha doin’ in here?” says Valeria, who followed shortly behind.

“Um, just looking at my leg, seeing if anything is weird-“

Valeria immediately checks Vigdor’s lower limbs for wounds. “I can help! An extra pair of hands can always-”

“No, no! I think I’m okay! Really!” he protests. He glances into the case again, clearly torn, and sighs. “Let me explain.”

He lifts a whole human leg out of the case, kicking and twitching.

“This is my leg, and I’m taking it to Sturmhearst. I’m not sure if it’s wholly mine anymore.”

Through his torn pants, Valeria can see a clunky clockwork leg to match his buzz-saw arm.

One player immediately yells “FULL METAL ALCHEMIST.” Another player says it again, in a slightly different voice.

Dr. Vigdor Gavril has joined the party!

[medea10]

My Review of Konosuba

(Short for: KonoSuba - God's Blessing on This Wonderful World)

How did I get into this anime? As you all know, I’m being an absolute lazy-ass when it comes to Isekai animes and have only gotten into the recent hits as of 2019. I already finished the suffer edition and the struggle edition. Let’s check out the light-hearted, wonk-fest! But before that…

Let’s go back to the mid-1990s and rewatch the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. We all remember Yusuke Urameshi sacrificing his life in order to save a child about to be hit by a truck followed by being told that the child would have survived regardless if Yusuke interfered or not. So dude just wasted his fucking life for nothing! Let’s amp this trope up to 483 with the way our main lead in Konosuba dies. Kazuma Satou was on his way back home from purchasing a video game when he noticed a girl about to be hit by a car. He pushes her out of the way and yada, yada, yada he’s dead!

He is now in a limbo setting, standing before a goddess named Aqua who tells Kazuma that his death was absolutely meaningless. Not only would the girl have survived, it wasn’t even a car, it was a slow-moving tractor. And Kazuma didn’t get hit by the tractor, he suffered a heart attack due to shock, followed by pissing his pants, followed by doctors, family, and relations laughing at Kazuma’s humiliating experience. And then he dies!

Aqua tells Kazuma that he has two options. He can either go to Heaven or be transported to a fantasy world (much like a game) and try to defeat a demon king. Choosing the fantasy world, Kazuma is given the opportunity to take an item with him on his travels. Now at this point, Kazuma has been annoyed by this goddess’s attitude towards him and decides to be a dick. So Kazuma chooses Aqua to be with him on his journey. Sucks for Kazuma however, because Aqua is useless! And unlike the video games Kazuma’s used to, he and Aqua must do manual labor and pay off expenses in the first town. So they might be there for a while.

Kazuma ends up with two more members in his crew including a witch named Megumin that uses explosive magic and a masochistic crusader named Lalatina Dustiness Ford (or Darkness for short). But don’t get too excited! Megumin’s magic can only be used once a day, wiping away her energy. And while Darkness has a mean sword, she misses every time with it. So yeah, this is a rag-tag team of useless dopes. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness as they go on missions, drink until they puke, explode castles, and steal underwear.

Yes, Kazuma occasionally does this.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Crunchyroll has been able to bless the masses with an English dub. Can’t let FUNimation have all the Isekai hits. So far it’s been alright and I’m hearing more Erica Mendez and Cristina Vee. All good things here! Plus it gives me a chance to hear the voices of Kazuma, whom up to this point I have minimal time listening to either person who plays him. And annoying as Aqua may be, Faye Mata does a really good job with that range Sora Amamiya set in the original. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuma is played by Jun Fukushima (known for Naruko on Yowamushi Pedal and Makoto on Fruits Basket 2019)

*Aqua is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Chizuru on Rent A Girlfriend, Miia on Monster Musume, Yachiyo on Magia Record, Akame on Akame ga Kill, and Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins)

*Megumin is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero)

*Darkness is played by Ai Kayano (known for Alice on SAO: Alicization, Menma on Anohana, Nana on Golden Time, Ryouko on Food Wars, Itsuwa on Index, Yukika on My Love Story, and Mayaka on Hyouka)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuma is played by Arnie Pantoja (known for Watchdog-Man on One Punch Man and Kanbarry on Re:Zero)

*Aqua is played by Faye Mata (known for Rin on Love Live, Aluminum Siren on Sailor Moon Stars, Yukako on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 4, Frederica on Re:Zero, and a bitch on Shield Hero)

*Megumin is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Sailor Uranus on Sailor Moon S [redub], Raphtalia on Shield Hero, Retsuko on Aggretsuko, Nico on Love Live, and Emma on The Promised Neverland)

*Darkness is played by Cristina Vee (known for Homura on Madoka Magica, Rei/Sailor Mars on Sailor Moon, Mio on K-ON, Sakura on Fate/Stay Night UBW, Kotori on Love Live, and Kanaria on Rozen Maiden: Traumend)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Darkness is best girl, don’t at me!

SHIPPING (sorta): Can we just all agree that Darkness is just a sober version of Cheryl from Archer?

Whoever ends up with her will end up choking her either because she tells you to or she annoys you with her masochistic nature! I seriously do not know how you want me to turn this shipping discussion into anything other than a comment about a bitch getting choked.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: Kazuma has been able to get a little good luck in his other world as he was finally able to move out of the stables and into a house with the rest of his crew. Although, it didn’t come easy! Then again, what has in this series? In the final episode of the first season, all of the adventures of the town were called to take on a scary foe. Up to this point, we’ve seen these guys take out mutant cabbages and an idiot dullahan. Today we’ve got…

A giant, mechanical spider!

Why do the stupidest stories always rely on a giant, mechanical spider? Kazuma and the rest were able to stop the spider from moving. However, this monstrosity is set to explode and the impact could take out the entire town. Darkness wants to repay the town for all it has done for her and her family. The adventurer men want to repay the town because of all the succubus taverns they love. And Kazuma just wants to continue his journey so he can take out the demon king. Now, because Megumin already used her explosion magic for the day, she’s down for the count. But she was able to do it a second time thanks to Kazuma transferring some magic from Aqua through his spell and with a little help from Wiz. The day is saved, Kazuma and his crew got a hefty reward, and then Kazuma is immediately charged with treason for sending the evidence to a higher up and it exploded.

Believe it or not, but a lot of these quests end with a giant middle finger to them. Almost like Curb Your Enthusiasm!

EPISODE 11: The special episode that followed came with some more misfortune for Kazuma. A trip to Wiz’s shop ends with a choker around Kazuma’s neck that’s going to strangle him in three days if his wish doesn’t come true. So to figure out what Kazuma’s wish is, Kazuma has all of these girls fulfill his greatest desires in the hopes of one of these humiliating tasks will release Kazuma from the choker.

As you can guess, because this is an OVA, it will be filled to the brim with degeneracy compared to the television series. Fuck yeah it was! Kazuma used this opportunity to use Wiz’s tits as comfy pillows, have Megumin play “Strip Rock/Paper/Scissors” with Yunyun, have Aqua fetch him food, and watch Darkness jiggle her breasts. Even when he thought he was at death’s door, he uses this special time to tell each girl with him at this dramatic moment that they are nothing more than tits and ass. All except for Aqua! No love for her. Not even a pity erection! So when the spell on the choker was released due to a simple wish, Kazuma was then killed by Aqua and quite possibly everyone else and Kazuma was sent back to the goddess chamber as he learned a powerful lesson.

Don’t ever do that again!

Damn…Kazuma died 3 times so far in 11 episodes. Subaru got you beat by a country mile. He’s probably looking at you like, “You damn, lucky dumbass. I got frozen, shanked, stabbed, sliced, maced, and eaten by bunnies”.

SEASON TWO: As I mentioned at the end of season one, Kazuma is charged with treason and usually that comes with a death sentence. Unfortunately for Kazuma, his unintentional crime was against this big, fat, smelly noble who has many higher-ups wrapped around his finger. The townspeople can’t really help him out otherwise they’d risk being charged as well. And you have a prosecutor wanting Kazuma’s head on a pike not only for the major charge, but for being a pervert. The writing is on the wall, Kazuma is screwed. However, thanks to Darkness (and her family lineage) she was able to take one for the team by saving Kazuma (for now) and have that big, fat, smelly noble do God knows what to her. Also, the kingdom repossessed a lot of things from Kazuma’s crew.

So they’re worse than “square one” at this point. They’re at “square -57” with how much debt they’ve all accumulated.

ENDING TO SEASON TWO: Things are starting to look up for Kazuma and his crew. They were able to abolish their debt, got the treason charges lifted, and they were able to gain back some respect around the village. So what better way to celebrate then to go on a bit of vacation. The gang decided to head off to another town for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the town they spent their time off at is full of religious wackos. And what I mean by religious wackos, I mean WORSE than Jehova Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, and the Heaven’s Gate cult all rolled into one.

…Okay, I’m obviously embellishing here. I just really fucking hate all of those ones I just mentioned. This cult is so fucking annoying! At every turn they’re trying to convert Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness into their fold.

Oh wait, it gets better! This cult worships the goddess Aqua! And of course our favorite idiot Aqua was using this to her advantage. That is until a priest didn’t believe her, starting a chain reaction with the townsidiots all leading up to them chasing Kazuma and crew out with pitchforks and fire. Apparently, Aqua did a big no-no by purifying the hot spring water and now it’s just regular water.

Unfortunately at that same time, a general to the dark lord was in area poisoning all of the water in this town. Yeah, this guy is serious trouble since he’s on a higher level than Wiz (back when she was working under the demon king). But he’s a slime and works with poison. In this world, Kazuma doesn’t stand a chance. Surprisingly, this battle went well (albeit Kazuma dying inside the slime), but we got to see Aqua at her baddest of ass. Now you’d think the town would be grateful to Kazuma and his team for ridding them of a demon king general. Hahaha, never trust religious nutjobs! They still found fault with Aqua purifying their hot springs and they were thrown out.

In the 11th episode (or second side-story), Kazuma thought he was meeting a new fan in town. So he regales her with tales of his expoditions to woo her. Turns out the girl is a new member of the local tavern and one of her jobs is to listen to useless adventurers to boost their morale. And this girl was totally not digging Kazuma. I think this hurt Kazuma more than all the times he’s died in this series.

MOVIE: We head off to the land where Megumin and Yunyun were born and raised. While there was some miscommunication into if the town and their families were in trouble to begin with, trouble sure found Kazuma and the gang once they arrived. Another general of the demon king ends up causing quite a stir in the town. Sylvia was extra hard to take down in this story. Just when you thought she was dead, she returns from death’s door and brings the poison slime from season two and the dullahan from season one to wreck havoc all across the land. Luckily, Kazuma, his crew, Wiz, Yunyun, and the rest of the townspeople were able to put an end to Sylvia and her cohorts.

But man, Kazuma got some really shitty deals in this movie. His trashy and perverted reputation isn’t any better. Megumin’s father wanted to kill him. Megumin’s mother locked Kazuma and Megumin in a room together in hopes of doing the nasty, was messed with by a chimera of two genders, and was killed in a gruesome way that even the angels had to throw up when they saw the state of Kazuma.

On a positive note, Megumin seemed to have grown a little with this adventure as she was even thinking of putting her explosive magic on hold and give a whirl at other options. But she still gave a giant explosion that’s worth 120 points.

Konosuba was amusing. Definitely worth a few chuckles! I know it won’t be for everyone as comedy in anime can often be hit-or-miss. But the combination of characters with many quirks, the animation, the setting, the tasks, and misunderstandings, you’ve got yourself an anime version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. So…yeah, not for everyone, hit-or-miss! But in the big five isekai animes, this one is a little more light compared to some of the others. Overlord can get quite gory. Shield Hero will anger any sane person to a point of madness. And Re:Zero is just a misery blanket! Konosuba is that light-hearted comedy where sometimes the main protagonist dies horrificly in battle, but will return like Kenny from South Park. So if Shield Hero and Re:Zero depress you, maybe you might need a break with the silly, zany antics of Kazuma’s crew in Konosuba.

Results may vary on your views of Aqua.

If you would like to watch Konosuba, the entire series is available on Crunchyroll. That’s the first season, second season, both OVA’s, and the movie in several different languages!

Okay, let’s pick our next Netflix, Crunchyroll, or Amazon exclusive!

Alright! An anime like Black Lagoon if it involved gay boys! Banana Fish time.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello! Long time no see! I read your Cinder the Red Queen theory, and it's really cool! Cinder is one of my favorite characters (even if I don't watch RWBY anymore) and it would be really awesome to see Cinder play a really big role, besides "revenge on Ruby". Although, I am personally more of a Cinder Redemption Arc fan. So, hypothetically, if Cinder were to get one such redemption arc, how do you think it would play out?

Hiya Yellow! Yeah it has been a while. Sorry I took so long to get back to you. Slowly working through my backlog of posts inside my inbox. Anyways, how have you been fam? And in the literal immortal words of one Oscar Pine, wait…WHAT! When did you stop watching RWBY? ! D8

What happened? If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re not watching anymore? Is it because you just fell out of love with the series as a whole after being disappointed with its current direction or did all the discourse surrounding the show (and by extension RT as well) drive you to stop?

Sad to hear you’re no longer in the FNDM man. But on a different note, allow me to say thank you! Knowing that you’re a Cinder fan, I’m happy to hear that you liked my Red Queen headcanon for her. Much appreciated.

And yes, I do remember you being an advocate for Cinder’s redemption as well. In response to writing a Cinder redemption arc, I’m gonna be frank. 

Given the way the canon has portrayed Cinder’s character, both in previous seasons and currently, redemption is still the last thing I can envision for your favourite Fall Maiden m’dude. I’ve never seen Cinder getting redeemed as a possibility since to me, the show hasn’t shown enough evidence of her being empathetic to anyone else other than herself to make me believe there’s a chance for her to change for the greater good.

The only way I can picture Cinder going is either she is given the Adam Taurus treatment---unceremoniously killed off despite the series keeping her relevant to the story for so long or…Cinder survives long enough to rise up and see herself becoming the all-powerful entity she desires to be---ultimately walking out of Salem’s shadow to overthrow her and replace her as the Red Queen and succeeding within a short time what Salem has failed to do for centuries---thrusting Remnant into utter anarchy in the form of a second Great  War sparked by one of the kingdoms (possibly Mistral) declaring war against the remaining three kingdoms hoping to conquer them all after learning that the great Atlas Kingdom has fallen along with the former Mantle.

One kingdom to rule them all and this was all done through Cinder puppeteering her pawns in the Mistral Council through her newly awakened abilities after finally succumbing to the Geist Grimm and becoming something more than human--- a Grimm with a soul and a conscience. A Grimm-human hybrid or Grimmoire as I’d like to say.

Instead of being redeemed, I more favour the idea Cinder becoming a bigger threat to Remnant than Salem who I peg would be defeated, purified of her darkness (courtesy of Ruby’s silver eyes) and stripped of any magic that she had, courtesy of Cinder betraying her.

Cinder’s whole “…Without you, I am nothing” statement from the trailer is just giving me huge red flags for her to eventually realize that she can probably do better than Salem without her holding her back. The student does eventually become the master, right? So why not expect Cinder to replace Salem as the main big antagonist of RWBY with her reign being the true threat of Remnant in a time of war?

I really, really like the idea of the main conflict of RWBY not being the war with Salem but the rise of Cinder Fall and the second Great War of Remnant. I think such a plotline would be cool especially looking back on the fact that Oz had told General Ironwood that he prayed that his students---the children whose futures and development were entrusted to him---would never have to face the pains and strife of war like his predecessor: King Phadrig of Vale, once did long ago.

It would actually be very compelling to watch our heroes attempting to survive a dire time when the world was divided with two of its founding kingdoms in shambles while one tried to conquer them all (Mistral) and another daring to defend them all (Vacuo). The first Great War lasted ten years. Imagine if…it were the same for the second with time fast-forwarding to another period ten years later when all of our young heroes were now grown adults. No longer naïve children enamoured by the huntsmen lifestyle but seasoned warriors doing what they could to help the people in a dark world where war raged, humanity pleaded for their salivation and the Grimm feasted.

That could’ve been nice. But…I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m not sure if anything like that will actually happen in the show. Still it’s good to share the idea around.

Going back to Cinder, like I said---right now I can’t see a redemption arc for Cinder.

As I said, the core reason why I’ve never been for Cinder being a redeemable character is due to the fact that up until this point, the series has done very little to establish her having any positive qualities. Cinder has sadly been selfish through and through making it very clear multiple occasions that she’s only out for herself. For me to have pictured Cinder to be a redeemable character, the series would’ve need to introduce a sort of “buffer character”---for lack of a better term. Basically when I say a buffer character, I mean in terms of a character who could’ve acted as a sort of foil to Cinder---seeing through her power-hungry nature and faults and thus revealing to the audience a much more relatable, sympathetic and emotionally vulnerable side to her through her relationship with said buffer.

The best example of this type of dynamic for me in an animated media is the relationship between Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender. In that series, Iroh was Zuko’s buffer character---the one person who saw through Zuko’s acts of aggression and appealed to the side of him that was just a insecure young man lacking any real support in his life and wanting nothing more than to do his best to appease an abusive father just so that he can feel a sense of belonging in the world.

It was through his bond with his uncle that I, as a viewer, was able to believe in Zuko’s redemption arc since it was only with Iroh did we see a more open side to Zuko---the side that reminded us that outside of his status as Prince of the Fire Nation leading the charge to capture the Avatar---outside of that, Zuko was only a boy in need of guidance. Guidance that Iroh attempted to provide him on multiple occasions.

Going back to Cinder, this is what I would have needed to make her redeemable. Give her a character who is the only one to see her more vulnerable side. Using what we know about the series, I’d say Emerald Sustrai could’ve easily been Cinder’s buffer. In the show, RWBY already established Cinder as a sort of motherly/sister figure based on Emerald’s perception of her.

Through Emerald, the show could’ve used her close ties with Cinder to show a side to her that we often don’t see. A side that actually cares for Emerald or at least better fools Emerald (and by extension us as the audience) into thinking that she cares. Ironically enough, the show could’ve had Cinder mirror Salem in this regard.

The reason why I’m more of an advocate for Salem’s redemption over Cinder is because UNLIKE Cinder, the show has given me moments of Salem being genuinely kind and caring to others. We saw this with the way she loved Ozma and would’ve done anything to get him back before her self-interest and hatred toward the Brother Gods consumed her.

We saw this in the Lost Fable and to some degree, even though she is another pawn to her, I’d like to think that the way Salem treats Cinder is akin to a mother. My issue with Salem isn’t that she is incapable of caring about others, it’s that no matter what, she will never put them before herself. It will always be her first and others second. At least that’s what I interpreted and it for this reason while her curse will remain.

However at least the show has shown examples of Salem showing compassion towards other. This is something I have yet to see from Cinder Fall. To me, Cinder is lacking that side of her.

Salem is selfish but as strange as this for me to say, I don’t think she’s entirely heartless. It’s kind of complicated when it comes to Salem but this just adds onto why I find her character fascinating. This is what makes the difference for me between her and Cinder and separates the two.

Salem is selfish but is capable of empathy and a surprising amount of mercy in unexpected moments (like in the way she treats Cinder for example. Salem could’ve easily offed Cinder for her failures like how she ended Lionheart but instead she left her be. And judging from the V8 trailer, even as Cinder came grovelling back to her, Salem still seemed to mostly react to Cinder’s return with an air of a strict parent who isn’t angry at their child but more disappointed. And oddly enough she did the same thing with Tyrian back in V4)

Cinder, on the other hand, shares in Salem’s self-centred nature but lacks any kind of compassion. Cinder is heartless.

Sorry Yellow, picturing a redemption arc for Cinder Fall is tough for me, even hypothetically speaking. I mean, if the show had done something with Cinder akin to Zuko---having her gain the power and status she’s always wanted only to have it result in her losing the only good relationship she had in Emerald thus leading to her falling from grace again after realizing her mistakes---then I could see it.

Or…perhaps the show could’ve pulled an Azula type of redemption for Cinder. Have her gain the power she desired at the cost of her own humanity and she loses herself in the process, becoming a monster and realizing her mistakes too late. And in the end, despite everything she’s been through and in spite of all that she put her through, the only person to appear before Cinder in her time of death after falling from her mistakes is Emerald.

I like the irony of Emerald cradling a dying Cinder Fall, choosing even then not to hate her and remain with her until her last dying breathe as her way of finally paying her back for saving her from her former life of poverty; giving her a new sense purpose in life outside of being a street rat.

That could’ve worked, at least me. But again, this is only if the show had further developed Emerald and Cinder’s bond. I genuinely wished the show had explored more of Cinder’s ties to Emerald. This is why I wanted Emerald to be Cinder’s accomplice for Atlas instead of Neopolitan. We could’ve watched Emerald’s character grow further through her separating herself from Salem’s legion and devoting herself entirely to Cinder. We could’ve watched Cinder even entice Emerald with the prospect of her ruling beside Cinder in the new world she would’ve aided her to build for Salem.

At the end of the day, as Emerald implied back in V5, she doesn’t care that much for Salem. The only person of interest to Emerald Sustrai is Cinder so this makes me curious to see what their reunion would be like for V8. I highly doubt Salem just ups and left Emerald, Mercury and Hazel back in the Dark Domain. Unless they were sent off to Vacuo to retrieve the Sword of Destruction, they’re bound to be there with Salem inside of Grimm Monstro so I’m looking forward to seeing the look on Emerald’s face when she realizes to her dismay that in her absence, she had been replaced with Neo.

It would be interesting watching how Emerald deals with this development in addition to seeing where her story goes from here now that her beloved Cinder Fall is back with her but not really with HER, y’know what I’m saying? Perhaps this could lead to Emerald going out of her way to get back onto Cinder’s good side mirroring Cinder attempting to return to Salem’s.

“…Without you, I am NOTHING!” “…I don’t care about Salem but I owe Cinder for EVERYTHING!”

It’ll be a game of watching apprentices regain the faith of their masters as Emerald is Cinder’s apprentice while Cinder is Salem’s. This should be a fun development to observe for next season

…Sorry if I haven’t exactly answered your question Yellow. Truth be told, I don’t have much ideas for how Cinder could be redeemed. However I do stand by my points about Emerald being used to show a different side to Cinder. It’s a shame this wasn’t done much in the canon. But who knows? Maybe something might be done to change that for V8.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[pocket-luv101]

Across Time || Chapter 18

Fandom: Servamp Ships: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht

Summary: Mahiru falls into a well and is taken to a new, fantasy world. He comes across a half-blooded cat demon trapped in a tree. After he frees Kuro, he helps him collect the shards of the sacred jewel. (KuroMahi, InuYasha AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || Ch.6 || Ch.7 || Ch.8 || Ch.9 || Ch.10 || Ch.11 || Ch.12 || Ch.13 || Ch.14 || Ch.15 || Ch.16 || Ch.17 || (Ch.18) ||

“Pardon me, young priest, may I have a word?” A monk approached Mahiru who was sitting on the porch with Kuro laying on his lap. Hyde needed a few more days to rest and let his wind tunnel mend so they were staying at the temple. The monks had been very welcoming and it was likely because they were already familiar with Hyde, a demon.

“Is something wrong? Is another demon approaching?” Mahiru asked and Kuro sat up. A demon had attacked them the previous day but they were able to defeat him fairly easily. Since Kuro and Hyde were demons, the temple couldn’t place a barrier around the building without affecting them. They would help defend the temple.

“No, everything is fine and Lawless is recovering well.” He reassured them and Mahiru saw the way Kuro relaxed. He knew how important his family was to him and gently placed his hand on his arm. The priest told them, “Our supply of herbs is almost gone. There is a farm from the temple but the journey takes a few hours. The monks are too busy to make the trip.”

“Kuro and I can go to the farm and buy the herbs for you. This can be our way to repay you for everything you’ve done for our friend.” Mahiru offered even before the monk could ask him. As he told him the direction and a list of the herbs they needed, he wrote everything in his notepad. “With my bike, the journey will be quicker. We should be able to return before the sun sets.”

“Thank you.” The man said with a relieved smile. “Please be careful on your travels. The farm isn’t far but a group of bandits has been robbing people on the road lately. They haven’t killed anyone but they’re demons. Please, practise caution on your journey.”

“Kuro and I will be able to handle a few bandits so there’s no need to worry. Thank you for the thought though.” Mahiru was confident in their strength as a team. He gave Kuro a small smile and it caused a blush to rise onto his cheeks. One simple glance was enough to cause Kuro’s heart to flutter. After the monk left, they went to Hyde and Licht to tell them that they would be gone for a few hours.

Mahiru hoped that the two wouldn’t cause trouble for the temple while they were gone. He walked to the gate where he had chained his bike. For a moment, he considered asking Gil to take them to the farm because it would be quicker. He decided to ride his bike to spend more time with Kuro. “It has been a while since it was just us.”

Kuro thought of the day they met. Since then, he had fallen for Mahiru and they decided to start a relationship. He knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to have a normal relationship though. He was a half demon and people would judge Mahiru for choosing to be with him. When he was young, he saw how people shunned his mother.

Yet, Mahiru made him hopeful enough to try. Their stay at the temple was a rare moment of peace for them and he wished he could have more days like that with Mahiru. Searching for the jewel shards was dangerous but he would protect him.

Mahiru placed his bag in his basket and then gestured for Kuro to sit on the back rack. He asked, “Can you read the map to me while I bike? It’ll be difficult for me to keep my balance on the bike and look at the map at the same time. I hope the road isn’t too bumpy and we can bike smoothly. Well, if it is bumpy, it will keep you from falling asleep.”

“I’m more worried about the demons the monk mentioned rather than getting lost or a bumpy road.” Kuro said as he climbed onto the back carrier. Once he was balanced on the seat, Mahiru pushed the bike forward and they started to ride down the road.

“Why would I need to be concerned about that? I have you.” His warm voice reflected the confidence Mahiru felt. While Kuro was sitting behind him and he couldn’t see Mahiru’s expression, he could easily picture the trusting smile he had. A blush rose to his cheeks and he was glad that Mahiru couldn’t see his face. No one had affected him like Mahiru did and the new emotions he felt were confusing.

“Fighting will still be troublesome even if we can defeat them easily.” Kuro leaned his back against Mahiru’s and stare up at the sky. He felt a breeze pass them and it carried the subtle scent of herbs that clung to Mahiru’s hair. “I should be able to smell the demon before it comes close to us. Let’s bike away as fast we can.”

“What’s with the ‘we’ in your plan, Kuro? I’m going to be the one who pedals this thing if demons start chasing us.” Mahiru rolled his eyes but then he laughed. Behind him, Kuro adjusted his position on the bike so he could wrap his arms around Mahiru. “You’re the faster one in our relationship since you’re half demon. I should teach you how to bike so we can take turns giving each other rides.”

“I’ll try. You make it look easy but I don’t know if I’ll be able to bike far. My poor kitty legs.” He said. Mahiru was merely joking when he suggested to teach him so he was surprised when he accepted. The fact that he was willing to learn made Mahiru’s heart warm and he smiled. He rested his chin on his brown hair and closed his eyes.

Mahiru wanted to lean back against Kuro’s warmth but he would risk losing his balance on the bike. They talked casually and it almost felt that they were a normal couple. He looked forward and noticed a young girl sitting in the road ahead of them. Worried that the girl was hurt or lost, Mahiru stopped his bike in front of her. “Do you need help?”

The girl didn’t answer him so Mahiru stepped off his bike to approach her. He was confused when Kuro placed his hand on his shoulder to stop him. “The kid’s scent is different from a human but she’s not a demon either. She’s a half demon. We should go.”

“She’s just a kid, Kuro.” He said and went to help the girl. With a sigh, Kuro followed him. He admired his endless compassion but Kuro had seen people be shunned for helping him when he was a child. Mahiru would already be judged for being his partner and he didn’t want anything else to make people glare at him. He glanced around the road but he didn’t see anyone else.

Mahiru knelt in front of the girl and noticed that she had eyes on her arms like a dodomeki would. He didn’t comment on the trait and gave her a kind smile. “Are you okay? If you’re lost, we can help you find your parents. We’re on our way to a—”

“His coin is in his yellow bag!” She suddenly cried and startled Mahiru. A group of children jumped out of the ground and ran towards his bike. Mahiru realized that they intended to rob him and quickly placed a barrier around his bike before they could take it. They all froze when they saw his barrier. “He’s a priest. Retreat!”

Mahiru watched them dashed down the road and disappear as quickly as they had arrived. He walked back to his bike and released the barrier around it. “Those kids tried to rob us. Do you think they’re the bandits that the monk warned us about? I was imagining a group of demons rather than kids. You said she was half demon but I couldn’t tell. The kid appeared normal to me.”

“You haven’t met many half demons aside from me so you don’t know how to tell us apart.” Kuro shrugged. Half demons had a unique scent and their demonic features weren’t as prominent. No matter if someone was a demon or human, they would be able to tell that he was a half demon at a glance. “Let’s continue to the farm. Those kids shouldn’t bother us again.”

“Okay.” Mahiru nodded but he couldn’t help but worry for the children. What kind of lives did they have to be forced to steal?

“There’s a crowd up ahead.” Mahiru noticed a group of people walking out of the woods. They all wore grim expressions so Mahiru approached them to help. Since they were close to the farm, they had time to spare to offer their help. In the center of the group, was a body covered with a blanket. “Excuse me, was someone hurt? I can perform first aid.”

“Another demon!” One person cried and pointed to Kuro.

“You don’t need to be afraid of Kuro. He’s a demon but he would never hurt someone without cause.” Mahiru pushed aside the man’s hand so he would stop pointing at Kuro. He also stepped in front of him to protect him from the man’s glare. “We’re travellers and we’re on our way to a medicinal farm. If the person is still alive, we can take them to the farm and use the herbs to help them.”

“The farm that’s run by those monsters? They were the ones who killed this poor woman. The farm was run by humans but a group of half demons took over the land last year.” They told him. “We didn’t see them do this but we know it has to be them.”

“We shouldn’t start a fight without proof.” Mahiru’s brows furrowed in worry and he asked the group to take them to the farm. The villagers appeared genuinely worried and he thought it would be best to quell their worries. “Kuro, can you smell the demon’s scent on the woman’s body? With the attacker’s scent, we can tell if the person is at the farm or not. This should clear everything up.”

The villagers agreed to take them to farm. As they walked together, Mahiru spoke with Kuro. He had been silent since they saw the body and he wondered what he thought of the situation. “The temple buys herbs from the farm. They’re likely good people since the monk trusts them.”

“We’re here. Go purify that half demon.” A man interrupted their conversation and pointed to a large demon in the middle of the field. Mahiru ignored them and turned to Kuro for his answer. He sniffed the air a few times and then shook his head. He didn’t say a word but Mahiru knew that it meant the person who killed the woman wasn’t at the farm.

Mahiru faced the villagers and said, “The farm is innocent so we should focus on finding the person who actually killed the woman.”

A shadow fell over them and Mahiru spun around to find a large ogre standing over them. The villagers picked up stones and started to hurl them at the demon. Mahiru could easily see the situation escalating into a fight and tried to stop them. “Kuro said the person who attacked the woman isn’t here so put down those rocks!”

The demon roared and raised his hands. Mahiru instinctively raised his spiritual energy to stop the fight but the ogre merely cried and ran towards a hut. Once the demon was gone, the villagers left and Mahiru didn’t know what to do. He looked at Kuro and said, “We have to talk to those villagers and make them understand the half demon didn’t kill that woman.”

“You can’t change their minds, Mahiru. It’ll be a waste of time. We only came here to buy herbs.” Kuro reminded him and walked to the hut that the ogre ran into. “The woman was killed by a full fledge demon. I can tell by its scent that it ran back into the forest instead of coming here. The villagers already decided that the half demons on this farm are guilty though. You can try to talk to them but they will never accept people like us.”

From the pain in his voice, Mahiru knew that he was likely thinking of his own past. His heart squeezed when he thought of how lonely his childhood must be as a half demon. He didn’t say a word to the humans because he had already accepted that they wouldn’t believe him. “If the villagers are focusing on the farm, that means the real killer can target them without worry.”

“What’s with all the noise out here?” An elderly woman stepped out of the hut with the ogre cowering behind her.

“We came to buy some herbs. I’m sorry for the noise and what the other humans did.” Mahiru apologized to the ogre on behalf of the villagers and stepped closer to him. The ogre stepped away from him and Mahiru lowered his hand. He wanted to heal the small wounds caused by the rocks but it was clear he was scared. “We don’t want to hurt you like those villagers did.”

“Are those villagers bullying my grandson again?” The woman asked but it seemed she already knew the answer when she shook her head with a small frown. Mahiru wouldn’t call the villagers’ behaviour was simply bullying. “You said you wanted to buy herbs. My eyes aren’t what they used to be so my grandchildren will help you find the herbs. Mitsuki, come out and help these gentlemen.”

A child stepped out of the hut and Mahiru gasped when he recognized who she was. She was the dodomeki who tried to rob them earlier. Mitsuki seemed to recognize them as well because she quickly pushed her grandmother back into the hut. “I will deal with these people. Go back inside to take your medicine and rest.”

After her grandmother was far enough to not hear them, Mitsuki turned to them. “What do you want? Did you follow us back here?”

“We only want to buy herbs. It looks like you were going to get our money whether you robbed us or not.” Kuro joked dryly and handed her a list of herbs. “This farm is big. You can make a living from these herbs so you don’t have to resort to stealing.”

Mitsuki fell silent and stared at Kuro’s ears. She sighed softly and then said, “You should understand why, Half Demon. Less people have come to the farm after we were adopted. We make a decent living but there are a lot of mouths to feed. We do what we must to survive. Please, don’t tell grandma. She doesn’t know. I’ll get your herbs so quickly leave.”

“I know about herbs so I can help you pick them.” Mahiru offered. She ignored him and walked into the fields to speak with the other half demons. He counted several children who were younger than her. He thought that it was sad that they all had to grow up quickly and resort to stealing to survive. Since their grandmother was the only adult on the farm, he guessed their parents had died.

Despite Mitsuki’s cold attitude, Mahiru went to help her. He knelt next to her and began to pick the herbs. “I want to talk to you about the demon who has been attacking villagers. Kuro, my partner, told me that the murderer has the scent of a full fledge demon so I know it’s not anyone from the farm. I’m sure we can prove your innocence to the villagers if we work together to find the demon.”

“You want us to track down a demon you the villagers’ sake. But what have they done for us?” She retorted and stood. “Grandmother adopted us so we will protect the farm from the demon but that’s all.”

“Thinking simply, we can’t leave. What if the demon attacks someone or if the villagers accuse the farm again? Someone could get hurt from this misunderstanding.” They had the herbs the monk requested. Mahiru was hesitant to leave though. He could see that Kuro was doubtful that they would be able to help but he still wanted to try. He took his hands and squeezed them gently. “We will only stay for one night and then we can head back to the temple.”

From the determination in his brown eyes, he knew Mahiru already made his decision. Kuro could only see the day ending with Mahiru disappointed and he wanted to protect him from that. He loved his kindness and he was worried that seeing the villagers’ cruelty would make him jaded. Yet, Kuro couldn’t say no when he looked into eyes. “Okay, but we need to return to collecting the shards soon.”

“I know. I just feel bad for these children and I want to help them even if it’s only a little. Thank you for agreeing to stay.” Mahiru hugged him. He rubbed his back and whispered, “This must bring back a lot of painful memories. I’m here if you need to talk, Kuro.”

“The past can’t be changed. People described me as half demon and half human but I was treated as neither. Demons called me weak and humans thought I was a monster. I didn’t have a place I was accepted. I felt alone.” Mahiru placed his hand on his cheek and then gently stroked his hair. He placed his hand over his and kissed his fingertips.

“Thank you for telling me, Kuro. I think this is the first time you told me about your past and I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to open up to me now.” Mahiru wished he could erase Kuro’s sad memories. The only thing he could do was make happy memories with him to replace them. “If you ever feel alone again, you can come to me for help. I’ll always be here for you.”

As a child, Kuro never imagined he would find someone who would accept him like Mahiru did. His smile was like the sun and it brought warmth into his life. He wanted to hold Mahiru in his arms as long as he could. Mahiru wrapped his arms around Kuro’s neck and slowly pulled him closer. Kuro found himself leaning towards him and rested his forehead against his.

Mahiru became flustered when he felt his warm breath against his lips. They were close and he thought that Kuro was about to kiss him. They hadn’t shared a kiss yet and his heart began to beat faster at the thought. He closed his eyes and raised himself onto his toes.

“You’re still here?” They jumped apart when they heard a voice. Mahiru turned around and found the ogre standing behind them. “Mitsuki said we should avoid talking to you.”

“Mitsuki might change her mind if she gets to know us. Kuro and I were thinking of staying for the night since travelling in the dark would be difficult. Can we talk to your grandmother about staying? We’ll help out around the farm and cook in exchange for shelter.” Mahiru offered. “What would you like to eat? I’m a good cook.”

“It’s lucky that I’m a professional cook or making so much food for everyone would’ve been hard.” Mahiru whispered to Kuro to not wake the children around them. He laid next to them and they had to share a blanket because the farm didn’t have many to spare. The grandmother was kind enough to let them stay but he could sense that a few of the children were distrustful of them.

He shifted closer to him to sleep but then he heard harsh voices outside. Mahiru was worried that the noise was from the demon who attacked the woman earlier. Kuro must’ve thought the same since he sat up and grabbed his sword leaning against the wall. He opened the door slightly and his eyes narrowed. “It’s the villagers. They don’t look like they’re here for a friendly visit.”

“I’ll go and tell them to leave. I’m human so they might be willing to listen to me. Kuro, stay here and protect the children in case things go wrong.” With so many angry glares, he would feel better if Kuro was beside him but he had to think about the safety of the children. He took his bow and walked out of the hut to face the men.

“He’s going to protect us?” Kuro turned around when he heard Mitsuki’s voice. “Why?”

“Mahiru doesn’t need a reason to protect people. It’s just the type of person he is. Some can be cruel but there are good humans in the world. It’s good to be cautious of people but don’t push away the ones who want to help.” He told her. Kuro watched the villagers and he grew his claws. Mahiru was strong but his powers weren’t effective against humans.

Mahiru faced the villagers and blocked their path. They held weapons and torches so he raised a barrier in front of him. “Get out of the way! We know that they’re the one who killed that woman. Those monsters will continue to kill villagers if we don’t stop them right now.”

“I spent the day with these children and I’ve gotten to know them. They’re just trying to do their best to survive. They have done wrong things like steal but they haven’t hurt anyone. You said that you don’t have evidence that they were the one who killed her and you didn’t witness it either. Kuro told me that he smelled a full fledge demon and not anyone from the farm.”

“You’re defending them?” They began to throw rocks at him but Mahiru merely reinforced his shield to stop them. The ground beneath them shook slightly and he could sense a demonic presence approaching them. He dropped his barrier to search for the demon but then a rock struck him. “One of those monsters must he causing this. Get out of our way!”

“Please, calm down and let me find the real demon before it attacks everyone.” Mahiru attempted to reason with them but it was clear they wouldn’t listen to him. He drew an arrow and scanned the farm for the demon. A large warthog demon raced towards them and Mahiru hurried to defeat it. The villagers tried to run and the confusion they created made it difficult for him to concentrate.

He rose another barrier but Mahiru wasn’t able to reinforce it properly. The warthog crashed through his shield and he stumbled to grab an arrow to counter it attack. Mahiru knew that he wouldn’t be quick enough and his mind rushed to think of what he should do. Strong arms wrapped around him and a sword caught the warthog’s tusks before he could be hurt.

Kuro stood behind Mahiru and held his tessaiga in front of them. He cursed softly when he heard the blade crack and he kicked away the demon. Mahiru drew his arrow and stabbed its snout. The pain caused the warthog to recoil away from them. “Are you okay, Kuro? Your sword was damaged.”

“It’s okay. We need to defeat this guy first.”

“No one was hurt, were they?” Mahiru asked the children after they had defeated the demon. Unfortunately, the farm land was damaged and that seemed to affect them more than anything. He gave them a light pat and said. “Kuro and I will stay and help restore the land. The work will be over faster if we work together.”

Once Mahiru had reassured them, he turned to the villagers with a stern glare. “You bunch are going to stay here and help too! You wrongly accused these children when it was the warthog who have been attacking humans. The least you can do is help restore the land.”

“When you get like this, you’re scarier than any demon.” Kuro chuckled and picked up a shovel.

[madison-the-geek]

Supernatural: Heroes Versus Villains

The following is an analysis of heroes versus villains in the television series Supernatural. It is based upon my own opinions and thoughts and is not meant to go against any one else’s ideas.

We are defined by the battles we fight. Whether we win or lose, the battles that we fight are what mold us into who we are. Fictional characters are no different; in order for our characters to complete their stories, they must fight against their biggest villains and, win or lose, that must lead to some outcome that solidifies the plot, themes, and characters of the story.  Therefore, since the battles define our characters, then the people they are fighting define them even more. Our villains define our heroes. As our heroes fight against their greatest villains they become more defined as they learn more about themselves, and the audience learns more about who the character is. Therefore, a good villain reflects our hero. Often times these villains are the version of our hero who made different or “wrong” choices, which helps establish who our hero is, while also giving a wonderful sense of duality and balance to both the characters and story.

How does this relate to Supernatural? Sam and Dean may fight different villains almost every season, and occasionally every episode, but their main villains are the ones who define them the most as well as represent them the most. For example, consider Lucifer as Sam’s main villain. Yes, other villains can represent and define Sam Winchester, but no one embodies Sam to the extent that Lucifer does. Lucifer, who did not make an appearance in the series until season five, was originally drawn as a parallel of Sam; both displayed anger, a want for revenge, disapproval of their fathers’ actions, and an overall connection that is distinctly pointed out throughout the fifth season.  In the last episode of the season, “Swan Song”, Sam defeats his greatest villain. His arc of fighting against his own anger and the violence that surrounds him comes to an end when he calmly stops Lucifer from killing his brother by jumping into The Cage. He wins, albeit in a horrible and traumatic way, but he still wins. Perhaps this is why so many fans of the television series refer to “Swan Song” as the greatest episode; it does a masterful job of ending the storylines connecting the first five seasons, especially for Sam. However, this was not the end of the story. Sam was then freed from his prison in Hell and got to carry on with his story. Thus allowing his character to be even more fleshed out, and allowing us to learn and see Sam's trauma that Lucifer induced after his time in The Cage, if not from birth. The audience got to understand Sam’s relationship with Lucifer in more depth, which is honestly a blessing. 

Seasons six and seven highlighted the trauma Sam received and the price of bringing him back, while season eight had Sam believing that the trials would purify him from Lucifer and the demon blood. Later, in season eleven, Sam came face to face with his enemy again. As Sam is brought back to The Cage in a desperate attempt to find a way to stop The Darkness, we learn that, for the first part of that season, Lucifer had just been manipulating Sam and his want to be “good”. Sam has to face what could have become of him, as Lucifer represents what happens when you never let go of your anger and let it turn you into a monster, something that was a threat to Sam in the first few seasons. As the next few seasons unfold we see time and time again, that Sam is bothered by Lucifer’s presence, wanting to use him, end him, and stop him. In season fourteen, Sam talks to Dean about Nick’s fragile state of mind and how close Sam could have been to that. In general, Lucifer is Sam’s greatest villain, the one who has defined him the most, the one who represents him the most. Therefore, in all reality, Sam should have been the one to kill Lucifer, symbolizing his freedom from him. On the other hand, perhaps having Dean kill Lucifer symbolized a lot more than Sam simply killing him, especially since Lucifer’s death did not occur at the end of the series. For one thing, it shows the running family theme in Supernatural that your true family will always be there to help and support you. Perhaps it also shows that Sam will never be free from the things that Lucifer did to him and he will always carry that. No matter who killed Lucifer, it will never change what Sam went through. It is easy to say who Sam’s greatest villain is; we have hours and hours of television that can prove it. But Sam is not the only main character. Who is Dean’s greatest villain? Who has stood in Dean’s way more than anyone else? Who has defined him the most? Who has similar aspects to Dean but in a higher negative connotation? These questions are much harder to answer for Dean than for Sam. 

Although Sam was paralleled to Lucifer the same way Dean was paralleled to Michael in season five, Michael is not Dean’s greatest villain. First of all, Michael is hardly seen in season five and his character was not explored. Furthermore, the only true parallel between Dean and Michael was their obedience to their fathers. When Dean is finally possessed by Michael in season fourteen, it is clear that he and Michael are not that much alike. In fact, season fourteen spends more time paralleling Dean to Nick, than it does paralleling Dean to Michael. The parallel that was drawn between Michael and Dean in season five becomes nonexistent with the alternate version of Michael, as Alternate Michael was not obedient to his father. Michael, either version, has not stood in Dean’s way over and over again, ergo he is not his greatest villain. So, who is? Well, in all truth, it seems to be himself. Dean ends up fighting himself, either mentally or physically, at least once every season. Often times when Dean messes up the most it is because of himself. It is extremely tragic and sad, but very true. In seasons two and three, Dean hurt himself the most when he decided to sell his soul for Sam. In season four he struggled the most with memories of what he did in Hell. Dean’s single biggest storyline, The Mark of Cain, was all about him having to fight the darkness inside of himself. I could go on and on.

In the season three episode, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, Dean literally faces off against himself and all of his insecurities, eventually killing the false version of him. In the Scene Specifics from the season three DVD Eric Kripke, the creator of the show, talks about how the scene represents Dean gaining some self-worth. Kripke also revealed that the original scene had Dean face off against his father, but when they could not get Jeffery Dean Morgan, they decided that having Dean talking to himself about the views his father gave him worked just the same. This also supports the idea that Dean might actually be his own worst enemy, but it is his father who initiated these horrible practices. That is, John Winchester is actually Dean’s worst enemy materialized.

John is the person who has created Dean’s sense of low self-worth, made him question himself, made him believe he was nothing more than a tool, and created lifelong problems with trauma, abuse, depression, and alcoholism. I am not saying this simply abolishes every problem that Dean has because they are created by his father’s problems, we all have to take some ownership for our problems, but I am saying that John is the person who began Dean’s negative treatment of himself. This is actually brought up several times in the series, not just in the “Dream a Little Dream of Me”. For example, in the season nine episode, “Bad Boys”, John exhibits similar behavior when he leaves a teenage Dean to be arrested after he attempted to steal food for Sam. In a lot of ways, this episode shows how much John manipulated Dean into believing he could not leave his family and he could not have anything outside of it, a belief that Dean carries throughout the show. This is further explored with Dean’s loyalty to his father in the first season and Sam constantly questioning it.

John's mistreatment of Dean is why I have a problem with the episode "Lebanon". This episode gave Sam closure with their father, but Dean never got that kind of closure. In fact, the big scene between Dean and John basically saw Dean revert to behavior he would have displayed around his father when he was younger, i.e. calling Sam a funny name. Dean obviously loves to tease his brother, but I found the scene a little strange, as though Dean was simply making fun of him because he was talking to his father. Yes, it was sweet when Dean told his father that he had a family, but we never got to see them talk about how much John messed Dean up, especially with his death. I am still upset that it happened like that, although I also understand that this was probably due to the limited time with Jeffery Dean Morgan, I still felt it was a big part that needed to be included in the episode. 

Anyway, establishing John as the materialization of Dean’s main villain leads to some interesting theories about the end of the show. Chuck has been paralleled to John more than once. And Andrew Dabb, the current showrunner, said that season fifteen would somehow relate back to Dean’s daddy issues, whether this means in a bigger capacity than it already has is unclear. In general terms of storytelling if a character is going to get closure at the end of their story then they must fight against their villain. If Dean must overcome his father’s programming in order to finish his story, and John and Chuck are supposed to be paralleled, then fighting Chuck must be shown as a very important part of Dean’s story and Dean must have a big part in defeating him. Is it possible that Dean will be the one to give the final blow? This seems like a pretty long way to go for Dean to get the closure on his issues with his father, however, no matter what; I will not be truly satisfied with the end of the story unless his problems created by John are somehow dealt with by the end of the show. In all reality, we have already begun to see Dean stick up for himself and find himself more than previous seasons. That was what “Last Call” was all about, Dean pulling himself up and realizing he does have purpose no matter what Chuck does, and no matter what his father did to him.

Still, we cannot forget Sam’s God wound. Sam’s wound literally connects him to Chuck; however, there have been no other parallels between the characters. Sam definitely has not shown as much fear and emotions as Dean in realizing their lives have been a hoax. Then again, Dean has always been the more emotional one; nevertheless, Sam seems more upset about personal loss, i.e. Rowena, then the bigger realization that none of it is real. This is a little odd because, usually, we get Sam looking at the bigger picture, and Dean at the more personal one, but this year it is reversed. This does make sense when thinking about how Dean has always had more control issues than Sam. In fact, I would say that one of Dean’s biggest fears is not being in control of a situation, something that probably stems from his early trauma and having to protect Sam from a very young age. Therefore, I would guess that Sam’s wound will be used more as a tool, and possibly a bigger motivator for why they need to defeat Chuck. For example, the wound is threatening Sam’s life so the team must defeat Chuck to save Sam. In the end, I think all of the characters will be a big part of taking Chuck down, but that taking Him down will be the most important and impactful for Dean.

[azure-et-aurum-blog]

Endgame: Band of Brothers and Sisters

((Continues from For Our Hearts)) ((Soundtrack for this is Domain of the Dragon and The Dreams)) ((Featuring characters by @celestial-opposition))

I opened my eyes and saw that there was a room surrounding me now. In front, I see Nanatsusaya and Jonah also waking up. It seems that we weren’t dazzled for too long. The last thing I remember was Shintaro trying to reach us, but he couldn’t. We were too far away.

The room itself looks quite creepy. There are 2 gargoyles, a bed, a fireplace. Some shelters and tables spread out. Lots of flowers and plants. Even the floor is made to pretend that it is a grassy field. 

And sitting in an armchair, we see the Master of Ceremonies. She smiles to us, crossing her legs and putting her index finger on her chin. I ready my weapons just in case. The boys do it too. The girl doesn’t move, though. Her presence is much more peaceful than before.

“You... you came for her, right?” Her voice is different. It is soft, calm. She also speaks with an accent, different from the Eorzeans, different from the Xaelic tribes that I know... but still, different from the one before. This isn’t the same person. “I am sorry you had to go through all of this... even, not being my fault.”

“Who are you, in fact, miss?” Nanatsusaya is the first to talk, lowering his weapon. He is still on guard, however, as I can see, and Jonah is also ready to strike if she tries anything.

“My name is... Kannitha.” She holds her head, lowering her posture. “Sometimes I am able to take control of myself again. This is why I could bring you all here. I need you to save her, to save Anni. Only then you would be able to save me too.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask her. “And where are Shintaro and the others?”

“Your friend... is in another realm. For the benefit of... Mister Wise. Mister Wise was the one that trapped me inside my own body. He was the one that tried to destroy you, to prevent a prophecy to happen.” She is on the verge of tearing. She wipes them out, and then gets up, walking to the direction of a bed, shaped like Tonberry’s knives. I can see the miqo’te girl there. Jonah also notices and tries to rush to her, only to be reflected by a barrier.

“Ow! What is this... thing?” He asks, in surprise.

“Mister Wise created a barrier around her. It will also drain her energy and soul to a reliquary in another place. The same one that your friend is now.” She explains. “There is only one way to free her. You need to build a bridge.”

“Where are we?” I open my eyes.

Misaki lights her astroglobe and looks around searching for clues about our whereabouts. She sees Kakero on the floor, still alive, not harmed at all. She checks on me too and I smile to her. I have no wounds or whatever.

“This seems to be...” Kakero tries to explain. “I’ve seen this before. This is some sort of pocket dimension. Used to hide objects that are not meant to be found.”

“You say that, but considering what the Master of Ceremonies did and said, it is almost that we were invited here...” Misaki smartly remarks. I agree with her. The voidsent wanted us here. This is a prison for us now. But there is only one way to go.

“Down. I can see some stairs. But be prepared. I don’t know what we will face here.”

“A bridge?” I question the xaela woman. “You mean... a connection?”

“Yes, a connection. When you connect your souls to those of your friends, they will be back. And since Mister Wise used the reliquary to draw them, it will also break the spirit of Anni free.”

“And how are we supposed to trust you, after everything you did?” I ask her, bluntly. I am not buying this. This is probably a trap. No, I am certain that it is a trap.

“You can’t tell. I know. But isn’t it your only chance...?” She looks at us and then climbs one of the gargoyles of the room. “This is Mister Wise. He embraced me. And the other one is Juno, his master. In order to awake the true power of his master, he needs to draw upon the souls of kind people, full of life. Like a circus. He killed our old Ringmaster first, then he made me... torture every one of them, until there was nothing but empty shells. Like Marisa, the girl that used the glamour prism to become Mona Rees, and Valentia, the woman that destroyed your home.”

“And how are we going to build a bridge?” Nanatsusaya asks her, giving a vote of confidence.

“You will use my body as catalyst and as a portal. But beware. As soon as Mister Wise feels the connection, he will try to destroy your friends souls.”

“Then we are on.” Nanatsusaya grabbed my hand, making me blulsh a bit with sudden touch, and then took Jonah’s. We touch the Master of Ceremonies and start to focus on our lost companions.

“There are too many, Shin!” Kakero yells from afar, with Misaki in the middle of the way. There are lots of Voidsent trying to kill us now, but still I am sure they are preventing us to getting lower and lower. It was obviously a trap, but we had nowhere else to go. Maybe the Master of Ceremonies was down there. Maybe something else.

“I am drawing them to me, Captain! But it seems that we are on our limit!” I answer the Elezen. I can hear him battlecrying and coming like a meteor from above. He makes an explosion against the voidsent. The first wave is gone, but there are more.

“You will perish today, fools.” This voice! It is the Master of Ceremonies! But it is nothing but a big blob of darkness. Its nature seems revealed now, and if it is, we just need to dispatch it to end this. From somewhere, I hear a voice coming... it looks like...

“Len!”

“I found them.” I say it out loud and Nanatsusaya scolds me, to focus. We need to make sure this bridge will last.

“Mister... Wise... is battling them.” Kannitha warns about the fact that the monster won’t take long to notice the connection.

More of them. We are holding our grounds the best as we can, but I can see Misaki and Kakero getting tired. I swear I heard Len’s voice just now, but I lost her. I need to focus.

“You can’t get out of here. You can’t save anyone! I will be the victor! I will be my master’s consort! I am stronger as never before!” The monster yells and boasts confidence while delivering bolts of dark energy that I deflect away from Misaki and Kakero. I can now feel Len again...

“I can… feel them.” I tell my companions. “It is flowing through my body, their energies are filling me with hope, love, caring, kindness. We’ve reached the endgame. And we are not alone, my friends.”

Kakero and Misaki nods to me, agreeing. They can also feel our friends now, we have made the connection. It is time to get back.

“No... NOOOO... It is coming back!!! MISTER WISE, PLEASE, NOOO!!” Kannitha screams in pain, fear and suffering. We also can feel our friends coming back for us. Nanatsusaya breaks the chain just after Shin and the others arrive. But it was too late. ‘Mister Wise’ was back. “Hah...hahah...hihihahahah... you can’t... you... you can’t defeat me...”

“Now, Jonah! End of the line!” Nanatsusaya rallies Jonah that focus as many energy as they can on their magic crystals. Nanatsusaya points to Kannitha and didn’t listen to me when I ask to stop, because it would kill the girl. “Verflare!! Extinguishing flames!” And Jonah follows his master, also delivering a huge blow of energy.

“Verholy!! This is the Light of Justice!”

“W-what? No! You will kill her! Stop!! You will kill her!!” The monster speaks through the vessel, but the concerning tone is delivering a faulty bluff. This... this combination of purifying flames and healing light... it is really working!

“Hold a little bit more, Jonah! She is faltering!” Nanatsusaya asks his disciple.

“I...I don’t know how much longer I can... keep this up!” Jonah answers. Behind him, I can see a tall silhouette shinning in blue. It is Shintaro. He puts his hand on the shoulder of his young ex-pupil.

“Don’t ever give up, my son. As we are a band of brothers and sisters. We are always together.” And I see the holy aether of my Lord filling the whole room, a sight to behold indeed. And I see the light fading away the darkness inside the body of the girl. Breaking the barrier like it was glass. I swear I could hear the monster scream, but it was so silent, so... deafening... that only one thing remained there: the body of a young xaela woman. Breathing. I see Jonah rushing to R’anni’s side. Misaki and Shintaro holding each other in relief. And I see Nanatsusaya smiling to me, patting my head, making my heart race like never did. Kakero walks towards Kannitha to check if she is okay. But most of all...

We’ve ended this. And we survived.

[darkershining]

DarkerShining’s thoughts on Pretty Cure: Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure

Ah, it’s been a while since I did one of these. I’ve been looking forward to writing this one!

Last time, I talked about Go! Princess Pretty Cure. This time, I’ll be talking about Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure, alternatively known as Maho Girls Precure.

One night, a young girl named Mirai Asahina sees something fall from the sky. It turns out to be a young magician named Riko, who has some trouble flying on her broom. The next day, Mirai decides to head out to search for the thing she saw fall from the sky, after her grandmother suggests it may have been a magician. Mirai brings along her teddybear, Mofurun, as well as putting on a necklace she found in her mother’s shop, which her mother doesn’t seem to recall seeing before.

As she searches in the park, Mirai ends up accidentally dropping Mofurun. Riko sees this and calls out to let Mirai know, which leads to the two girls meeting each other. Mirai is excited to meet a real magician, but Riko isn’t too interested in dealing with Mirai at first, as she is busy searching for something called the Linkle Stone Emerald. However, when Riko is too hungry to fly away, she and Mirai drop to the ground, only to discover that they both have similar pendants, which glow and soften their fall. After buying Riko a snack, the girls talk and Riko agrees to show Mirai some of her magic. It quickly becomes apparent that Riko is not all that great at magic, but Mirai is impressed anyways.

However, things suddenly take a different turn as a bat-like creature approaches the girls, having overheard Riko mentioning the Linkle Stone Emerald. As Riko tries to escape along with Mirai on her broom, she finds that she is somehow flying better than usual, but doesn’t have much time to dwell on it as Mofurun falls off. Riko falls off as well as she tries to retrieve Mofurun, but Mirai grabs hold of her hand, while holding onto the broom with the other hand.

Riko tries chanting a spell to make Batty and a monster he has created by fusing a crow’s feather and a truck with dark magic go away. Mirai eventually joins in, and as the two girls cry out the spell in unison, a powerful magic is released, and the two girls transform into the Magician Pretty Cure, as the gems on their pendants are revealed to be the Linkle Stone Diamond.

Batty retreats, and the girls discover that Mofurun somehow came to life when the girls became Pretty Cures. Riko decides to bring Mirai along to her homeworld, the Magic World, so they can try to find out more about what happened, and so, a new adventure begins in two worlds, the Magic World and the No-Magic World, where the rest of the mysterious Linkle Stones are hidden.

I guess that works as a summary for the first episode and the first half of the story. Spoilers for the rest of the series after the Read More. (previous parts can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

Mirai Asahina/Cure Miracle

Our lead pink Cure for this season. A girl from the No-Magic World who is easily excited about most things, with a cheery and optimistic attitude that often helps placate her friends’ worries. Enjoys learning new things about the Magic World and meeting new friends, and seeing her friends from both worlds getting along on the occasions that they all come together. Very fond of her teddybear Mofurun, who has been with her since birth.

I really like Mirai, but one thing I find particularly odd about her is how little character development she receives compared to the other main characters. The other recurring characters in the show also tend to receive some good character development, which makes how little character development Mirai even more noticeable. She’s the lead pink Cure, so one would expect her to get more than this.

Still, Mirai serves well as sort of the character who helps bring everyone together, and help ease their worries when things get difficult. I like her character, I just feel that she could’ve been even more interesting with a little more character development, that’s all.

I haven’t seen the Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure movie yet, so there might be something there for Mirai character development wise that I haven’t seen yet. I don’t know.

I also read that there were originally plans for Mirai to have been descended from magic users, but this was scrapped because they thought it was better to have Mirai just be a normal person. I don’t know if Mirai would’ve perhaps received more character development if they had kept this plan, but... it could’ve been interesting. I suppose I do understand the reasoning, though.

So, yeah. I really like her, her relationship with her friends and so on. Her design is really cute too.

Riko Izayoi

Well, I guess her name is actually spelled “Liko”, which matches the naming scheme of the rest of her family, but since I, like a lot of people, am used to spelling it as “Riko”, I’m just going to stick with that spelling.

Anyways, Riko is a young magician from the Magic World. She’s quite intelligent, but she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of using her magical abilities yet. Despite her failures, she still tries to keep a cool and collected image, often claiming that the results of her magical mishaps were all according to her calculations or that she meant to do it. After meeting Mirai, she is able to gradually improve her magic skills.

Riko is definitely my favorite out of the main characters in this season. Before the show began, I had for some reason expected her to be kind of a more cold and serious character. Of course, her first scene in the first episode proved me wrong, and when I saw it, I knew I was going to like her a lot. She gets a lot of character development, learning to not always overthink things and gaining more confidence in herself as her magic improves.

I like how she grows as a person and as a magician with Mirai’s help, although the fact that Riko receives so much character development again makes it especially noticeable how little of it Mirai receives in comparison, but I won’t get into that again. I also like how her family, her older sister and father in particular, also play important roles in the story. And Riko’s character design is cute too.

Haa-Chan/Kotoha Hanami/Cure Felice

A few episodes into the show, the Cures discover a mysterious glowing book, which turns out to be a magical item called the Linkle Smartome, which is somehow connected to the Linkle Stones the Cures are searching for. A cute, pink haired baby fairy emerges from the book, who gradually gets older as the Cures gather more of the Linkle Stones. They name the baby fairy Haa-Chan and raise her together.

In the first half of the show, Haa-Chan is basically the second fairy mascot on the team. She’s really adorable, and I love her relationships with the Cures and Mofurun. She’s essentially Mirai and Riko’s adopted daughter, while Mofurun is her older sister, and I really like that dynamic between them.

It eventually becomes apparent that Haa-Chan is much more powerful than she initially appeared to be, and once all the gold rimmed and silver rimmed Linkle Stones have been gathered, she disappears into the Smartome. When the Smartome is absorbed by Dokurokushe (along with the Linkle Stone Emerald) while Haa-Chan is still inside, Mirai and Riko fight hard to rescue her.

As her mothers’ feelings reach her, Haa-Chan is able to escape Dokurokushe’s body, allowing the Cures to defeat him. She then emerges from the Smartome, growing into a young girl about the same age as Mirai and Riko, and purifies what remains of Dokurokushe’s spirit, restoring Kushi’s spirit’s original human form. She then disappears to parts unknown, but Mofurun is certain they’ll meet again someday.

Later on, a now human Haa-Chan is seen wandering around in the No-Magic World, seeming lost. When she comes across Cure Miracle and Magical during one of their battles against Yamoh, she reveals that she still has the Smartome, and uses the Linkle Stone Emerald with it to become the third Pretty Cure, Cure Felice. After Cure Felice defeats the monster, Mirai and Riko recognize the young girl as Haa-Chan, who confirms her identity. She isn’t entirely sure herself where she had disappeared to or how she came back, but she faintly recalls a place she refers to as a sea of flowers.

The Cures bring her home to Mirai’s house, and explain the situation to Kochou, before asking Mirai’s mother if she can stay with them, claiming she’s another friend from Riko’s hometown. Haa-Chan gives herself the name Kotoha, with Riko adding Hanami as a surname when Mirai’s mother asks for her name. Kotoha explains she chose the name “Kotoha” because it is part of a word that means... “words”, and she felt it was fitting since Mirai, Riko and Mofurun had always shared such kind words with her. Kotoha is also shown to possess powerful magic, pulling off several feats thought to be impossible according to Riko.

Whether she’s a fairy or human, Kotoha is still just as adorable, and the family dynamic with her and her fellow Cures remains mostly the same, with it now feeling like Mirai and Riko are the parents to an excitable teenage girl. As a human, Kotoha doesn’t always seem to know when to make use of her magic and when it’s better not to, especially in the No-Magic World, although at least she does understand that she mustn’t be caught doing it by anyone from the No-Magic World. She means well, though.

What is especially fascinating about Kotoha’s character at this point is that she’s implied to be the reincarnation of someone, as she wonders if she saw at the sea of flowers before she met Mirai and Riko, even though she had just been born when she first met them, and the name of her finishing move is “Emerald Reincarnation”. It is eventually revealed that Kotoha is the reincarnation/successor to Mother Rapapa, a powerful magical entity that watched over the two worlds back when they were still a single world.

I sort of guessed that Kotoha in her past life had likely been a being like that, similar to other such beings from previous Pretty Cure series, like the Queen of the Garden of Light and other such characters. I guess Kotoha/Cure Felice reminds me a bit of Shiny Luminous from Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart in that aspect. Also, I’m really glad she’s a green Cure. There aren’t enough Pretty Cures who have green as their theme color.

With the Linkle Stone Emerald being this important plot point in the first half of the show, and some of the other most common theme colors for Pretty Cures already being covered by the alternate forms for Miracle and Magical, I always hoped that if the show got a third Cure, it’d be a green one. It certainly did not disappoint. I really like Cure Felice’s design. She’s so awesome. I also like the little flowers in her eyes in her fairy form and as Cure Felice. Sort of adds to the feeling that she’s a bit different from the other Cures.

Mofurun

The not-actually-a-fairy mascot of the series, who doubles as the transformation trinket of sorts for Cure Miracle and Cure Magical. She was originally just Mirai’s beloved teddybear, but somehow came to life when Mirai and Riko became Pretty Cures. She’s excited to be alive and share all her feelings with Mirai that she couldn’t convey back when she was just a regular teddybear. She also develops sort of a sisterly bond with Haa-Chan/Kotoha, and is fond of sweets, especially cookies.

I like Mofurun and her bond with the Cures. She’s really cute, and the concept of being the main character’s favorite toy brought to life is actually kind of a neat idea. I especially like her interactions with Haa-Chan back when she was a young fairy, I thought those were really cute. I’m glad they still have that bond after Kotoha became human. I really like how dedicated Mofurun is to the other girls, even willing at times to try and protect them even if she can’t actually do that much on her own. Still, the fact that she’s willing to try is pretty cool. There are also times when Mofurun comes across as surprisingly wise for a teddybear, which is also a side of her that I like.

And while I haven’t seen the movie yet, I do have to bring up one thing here, and I’m sure you can guess what that is. One of the plot points of the movie is that Mofurun temporarily becomes a Cure herself during it. And like some other people out there, this fact is what made me realize that Mofurun is in fact female. Up until this became known, I had been referring to Mofurun with male pronouns in my episode review posts. I guess it was kind of vague until that point what gender Mofurun identified as since there were only a few easily missed clues, but anyways...

I can’t help but wonder if the concept for the movie came from one of the writers wondering if Mofurun would feel left out after Kotoha became a Pretty Cure.

Well, all joking aside, it’s an interesting idea, although again, since I haven’t seen the movie, I can’t really go into much detail about Cure Mofurun at the moment.

The Villains

All right, let’s talk about the villains. I think the show did something a bit interesting this time around, something a Pretty Cure show hasn’t done in quite a while. This show obviously takes a lot of inspiration from the first few series in the franchise, but that’s something I’ll talk about more later.

Anyways, let’s begin by talking about the villains from the first half of the show, namely Dokurokushe and his followers.

The first villain introduced is Batty, a fairly standard first villain who looks like a humanoid bat. While sort of a generic starter villain at first, he gradually gets a bit more interesting in that he’s eventually the only one of the villains to question why they’re doing all this and what Dokurokushe wants, and if Dokurokushe is even really the one in charge, or if Yamoh is just interpreting Dokurokushe’s wishes in his own way for his own purposes. Even so, he remains loyal to Dokurokushe, and is eventually reverted to his original form, a regular bat, after making the rash decision of trying to grab the Linkle Stone Emerald, only to be exposed to it and the other Linkle Stones’ power.

When his humanoid form is later restored by Orba, he suffers an existential crisis since Dokurokushe is no longer around, and he’s rather depressed because he doesn’t feel like there’s really any purpose to his existence anymore. After learning how he and his fellow bad guys, including Dokurokushe himself, were all just unwitting pawns to help bring forth Deusmast’s revival, Batty ends up turning against the other villains, and uses the combined power of his teammates to take down a monster that Orba created.

Afterwards, Batty decides to give up on evil and flies off along with his teammates, being the only one of them to still be in a humanoid form. In the last episode, taking place a few years later, it is shown that he’s now attending Magic School, having been found by Riko who invited him to come there in hopes of helping him find a new purpose in life.

I considered Batty the least interesting of the first group of villains to begin with, but after his character development, I grew to like him a lot more and I’m glad he got a happy ending. I still do prefer the other members of the villain squad design and personality wise, though.

The second villain introduced, Sparda, a female humanoid spider, quickly establishes herself as one of the most savvy villains of the show by stealing Mirai’s pendant right away, preventing her from transforming. Luckily, the girls manage to get it back after obtaining the Ruby Linkle Stone, gaining the first of their alternate forms. Sparda continues to come across as the smartest of the villains, but she can also be rather arrogant and wanting to be the one who gets things done, which ultimately leads to her being the first of Dokurokushe’s followers to be reverted to her animal form.

When Orba later revives her, it’s revealed that Sparda (and the other animals) kept her personality even as a regular spider, and she still holds a grudge against the Cures. She also seems to have decided to become the new big bad, which she of course doesn’t get the chance to do, as she is once again reverted to spider form after turning against Orba. When we see her again a few years later, she’s still a regular spider... who wants the power to rule the worlds.

I thought Sparda was a pretty neat villain, proving herself to be quite genre savvy from the moment she appeared. It was kind of a shame that she was the first to go down, but she did let her desire to beat the Cures get the better of her. And I think her final fate, as a regular spider who still wants to the rule the two worlds is kind of funny. She certainly isn’t the type to give up easily.

The third villain, Gamett, a big turtle man, is my favorite of this group. He’s kind of like Kintolesky and Kumojacky, being this villain who is mostly looking for a good fight. I really like his design a lot too. I thought his final battle against the Cures during the first half of the show was probably the best of the final battles between the Cures and those bad guys in the first half of the show. He got a good fight, and had no regrets as he was purified. Much like the villains I mentioned that were similar to him, I thought it was a good moment for him.

Apparently, he still has his strength even as a regular turtle, as we see him in turtle form fighting a shark before Sparda scoops him up to have Orba revive him. Heh. Like Batty, he’s initially not that thrilled to be brought back, since he had already had his big final battle against the Cures. That is, until Sparda reveals to him that there’s a third Pretty Cure, at which point he decides he’ll have one more battle against Cure Felice. Unfortunately, he’s denied the chance to have a proper fight against her, since Orba has other plans. After the time skip, we see that regular turtle!Gamett still wants that battle. I wonder if he’ll ever get that chance. Unlike Sparda, I don’t think he’d be that much of a threat to the peace of the two worlds if he got his humanoid form back. Oh, well.

Anyways, I thought these three villains were okay. I liked how they were all transformed animals, and their designs were creative. I know most people prefer the second group of villains, but I liked these guys too.

There’s also a fourth member of this group, the humanoid gecko Yamoh, who is Dokurokushe’s right hand man. He’s very loyal to Dokurokushe, and wants to fulfill his wishes. Of course, since Dokurokushe spends most of the first half of the show barely doing anything, some of us viewers were led to believe that Yamoh was the real villain, much like how Gooyan was the true villain of Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star. Even Batty ends up speculating if this is the case, until it’s proven wrong, so the writers certainly did it on purpose, likely as a bit of a reference to said twist about the true villain of Splash Star.

When Dokurokushe finally obtains the Emerald and takes on a stronger form, Yamoh willingly lets himself be absorbed to give Dokurokushe more power. He loses part of his tail in the process, which Labut later finds and uses to resurrect him.

For the first few episodes of the second half of the show, Yamoh is upset and furious upon realizing Dokurokushe has been defeated, and tries to go after the Cures himself, using what remains of Dokurokushe to create new monsters to fight them. He also makes a doll in Dokurokushe’s likeness which he is often seen talking to.

... Yeah. Anyways, he seems to go after Kotoha/Cure Felice in particular, since she has the Emerald, which is what Dokurokushe was after. This leads to an episode where Kotoha runs away because she fears something will happen to her friends if Yamoh keeps going after her. Yamoh is eventually purified and reverted to his normal gecko form, his last words being, of course, “DOKUROKUSHE-SAMA!”

Even in gecko form, he stays by the side of the Dokurokushe doll, until Batty combines the powers of his animal friends to fight back against Orba, who had used them all for his own purposes, and when Batty takes them all away. He later returns and is restored to his humanoid form in the final episode, chasing after a fragment of Dokurokushe that is looking for sweets. After the Cures helps the doll-like fragment by healing a cavity, Yamoh parts with the Cures on peaceful terms, and is later seen meeting up again with Batty.

Yamoh is kind of an interesting character, I think. I preferred his second design after being revived by Labut over his original design, but both designs are okay. While his main defining trait is his devotion to Dokurokushe, we also see that he is quite clever and possesses some form of divination magic. He’s also the first of the villains to realize the significance of the Linkle Smartome in the Cures’ possession, which is why he orders them to prioritize obtaining it.

Finally, there’s Dokurokushe himself, a large skeleton wearing a robe. He spends most of the series on his throne, because the dark magic he’s been using has left his body on the verge of falling apart, and he needs the Emerald to keep it together, justifying his lack of action in the beginning. We eventually learn Dokurokushe’s backstory, which contains quite the irony.

Dokurokushe was originally a friend of Kochou, the headmaster of the Magic School. He wanted to find the Linkle Stone Emerald in order to ward off a great calamity. He came across several writings that Orba had left for someone to find, and started studying dark magic in hopes of stopping the calamity. But in doing so, Kushi gradually became corrupted, until he ended up in his current state, and ended up becoming a major threat to the two worlds himself. To make it even worse, it turns out his actions were all according to Orba’s plan to bring back Deusmast, so Kushi basically ended up as an unwitting pawn and his actions gradually led to the calamity that he sought to prevent. Ouch.

So, from what we learn about this guy from flashbacks and such, he seems like an interesting character who used to be a close friend of Kochou. After Dokurokushe’s defeat in the first half of the show, Kochou still misses his friend dearly. Even after his defeat, Kushi/Dokurokushe’s presence can still be felt that way, and I thought it was an interesting way to do it.

Another thing I like is how after the defeat of Dokurokushe and his minions, we learn that the threat to the Magic and No-Magic Worlds still hasn’t been averted, and another group of villains make their appearance, and we eventually learn about the true final boss of this show: Deusmast.

The Pretty Cure franchise hasn’t really done this kind of thing before, by having a different main villain in the second half of the show. We did have a different group of villains replace the original band of villains in the second half of Futari wa Pretty Cure, but those were still working for and trying to ressurrect the Dark King after his defeat in the first half of the series. Here on the other hand, Dokurokushe stays defeated and we learn the true big bad is somebody else. I just think it was pretty neat that they did this, mixing up the usual formula and doing something a bit different. The first group of villains eventually turning out to be part of the second group’s plan was also an interesting twist and it ties together pretty well.

Anyways, onto the second group of villains. I’ll start with the first of them to be introduced, Labut.

Labut, a big orange genie, appears shortly after the defeat of Dokurokushe. As he’s a bit of a lazy character, he brings back Yamoh and spends the first episodes of the second half of the show observing Yamoh’s battles against the Cures. Once Yamoh is defeated and Labut starts taking matter into his own hands, it turns out he’s actually quite powerful. In addition to being able to create stronger monsters than the previous group of villains, he himself manages to give the Cures quite the challenge when he decides to confront them directly. In the end, the Cures are able to defeat him after gaining the power of the Alexandrite Linkle Stone and unlock the new finishing move from the Rainbow Carriage, defeating him.

Labut is kind of interesting, with his lazy personality and preferring to just take it easy, seeming less interested in helping revive Deusmast than the rest of Deusmast’s followers. He mostly observes Yamoh out of curiousity to begin with, before deciding to let Yamoh keep doing his work for him. He also seems to have a bit of pride in his powers, and mainly confronts the Cures to prove his strength.

After Labut’s defeat, we are properly introduced to two of Deusmast’s other followers, who initially appear as shadows, eventually regaining their physical forms after they fully break free from the statues they were sealed in.

The first of these is Shakince. He’s sort of a stoic, serious type. He has green skin and wings, looking kind of like a tengu. The other one is Benigyo, a red skinned woman with a devil-ish look, who seems to have a bit more of an attitude.

... I can’t actually think of much to say about these two. Their designs are pretty neat, especially Benigyo’s. Aside from that, I can’t think of much else that makes them stand out. I’ve seen people complain about the first group of villains and how the second group are much more interesting, but I feel the first group stood out more personality wise than these two characters.

However, at least we have Orba, the sort of leader of the group. In a way, I’d consider Orba to be the true main villain of the show, since he’s the one who planned everything leading up to Deusmast’s revival.

Ah, Orba. Probably the most well-liked villains of this particular series, from what I can tell. His design is pretty neat, and he’s clearly the most intelligent villain in this series, doing his research on the Pretty Cures and as mentioned above, set the events of the series in motion by leaving behind the key to the dark magic as he was defeated, leading to Kushi’s corruption years later. He almost always keeps a calm and collected demeanour, and is capable of quickly adjusting his plans when something unexpected happens. Even when the Cures defeat him, he uses the last of his power to unseal the remainder of Deusmast’s still sealed away followers and speed up Deusmast’s revival.

Yeah, I definitely agree that this guy is probably the best villain in this series. He knows what he’s doing and takes the time to learn what he can about those who try to interfere with his plans. Even when he’s defeated, he manages to make the best of the situation by reviving the rest of Deusmast’s followers. On that note, his powered-up form for his final battle against the Cures looked really badass.

Finally, there’s our main villain itself, Deusmast. It is revealed that before the universe was created, only a world of chaos existed. When the universe was created, a fragment of chaos wasn’t properly reborn like the rest of it, which became Deusmast. Deusmast is the embodiment of chaos that wants to absorb both worlds. Deusmast was defeated by Mother Rapapa, who sealed it away into the sun.

Deusmast doesn’t have much of a personality to speak of, but I feel that this is a justified case, considering what Deusmast is. However, what is really interesting about Deusmast is how his presence affects the two worlds, the Magic World in particular, as the time for his return gradually comes closer. Due to his presence within the sun, certain plants in the Magic World don’t get enough sun to properly grow as they should. I thought that was a nice touch. And then there’s what happens to the two worlds the moment Deusmast is freed.

Mirai, Riko, Kotoha and Mofurun find that the two worlds have somehow been combined, with everyone they know from both worlds acting as if things have always been like that. Even Kochou and Lian’s memories seemed to have been affected, as they didn’t realize how far the chaos had already spread until the girls informed them. Thankfully, Mother Rapapa’s remaining power kept Deusmast from fully consuming the worlds, giving the Cures enough time to fight back.

So, Deusmast does make a good final threat for the Cures to defeat, even if he’s more of a powerful force of chaos rather than a character. With that and his followers seeming to make up part of him, I guess that’s another reason why I might consider Orba to be the true big bad, as I explained earlier.

Other Characters

Ah, as those of you familiar with me probably know by now, I really like the supporting characters of most Pretty Cure series, and this series certainly brings some great characters from both worlds.

In the No-Magic World, the first few characters we are introduced to aside from Mirai herself are Mirai’s mother and grandmother, with Mirai’s father being introduced later on.

Mirai’s grandmother, Kanoko Yuki, immediately comes across as an interesting character, as she seems to be aware of the existence of magic to some extent, believing Mirai when she calls home to let them know she’s visiting the Magic World and will be away for a little while. We eventually find out that Mirai’s grandmother once met Kochou when she was about Mirai’s age, an encounter she fondly remembers. She also seems to recognize Kochou when the two briefly meet again a couple of times during the Halloween episode.

While she never quite reaches the same level of badass as some of the other grandparent characters who are either implied to be aware of their granddaughters’ magical girl activities, or outright aware and part of their adventure, she’s still an interesting character who knows her granddaughter well and shares some of her wisdom. Kanoko was also the one who gave Mofurun to Mirai the day Mirai was born.

Mirai’s mother, Kyoko Asahina, runs a shop selling jewelry and is a nice woman who can be strict when she has to. When Mirai wants to look for the “shooting star” she saw, Kyoko refuses to let her head out since it is nighttime. When Mirai heads out to look for it the next day, she allows Mirai to pick out a pendant for good luck, leading Mirai to discover the mysterious pendant that Kyoko didn’t even know they had. She’s kind to Riko when she and Mirai return from the Magic World, and Riko has gotten lost after being separated from Mirai. When Mirai later returns home, she calls Mirai out on going away for a while without telling her, and that just telling her grandmother isn’t enough.

We soon meet Mirai’s father, Daikichi Asahina, a doting father who creates electronic devices for a living. He’s quite proud of the devices he makes, and will gladly explain how they work.

Mirai’s parents are both good parents to Mirai, and also treat Riko and Kotoha well when they come to live with them. I guess Mirai’s good relationship with her family is also meant to be a bit of a contrast to Riko’s relationship with her family members, which is a bit more complicated. I like these characters and their good relationship with Mirai and the other two girls.

Next, there’s a few of the girls’ classmates from the school in the No-Magic World.

First, there’s Souta, an athletic boy who plays soccer. He and Mirai have been classmates since primary school. He’s also captain of the soccer team, and in one episode, Kotoha helps him sort things out with his teammates. He’s sort of a typical male friend of the pink lead Cure, although the whole childhood friend aspect isn’t really touched upon as much. Still, he’s a nice boy. I particularly like how he helped out Yuuto, another one of their classmates, during the episode where Yuuto and Riko were running for student council president.

Speaking of Yuuto, he’s another of their friends. He’s sort of the quiet, intelligent type. He gets an episode focusing on him where he runs against Riko for student council president. During the episode, we see that he knows a lot about what goes on in the school and does what he can to help out, eventually leading to Riko deciding to withdraw from running for the position since she realizes that Yuuto is the better candidate. So yeah, he’s a really nice character. Yuuto and Souta don’t get as much focus and character development as the next two characters I’m about to talk about, though.

First up is Mayumi, a girl introduced as a friend of Mirai’s. A flashback shows how the two became friends after Mirai helped Mayumi find her missing hair pin. In later episodes, we also see Mayumi developing a closer friendship with Kana, another one of the classmates. She’s a mostly calm, polite and a supportive friend. I particularly liked how she and Kana eventually grew closer.

Speaking of Kana, she probably gets the most development out of these four classmates. Her first appearances put her as the subject of a running gag, where she keeps witnessing Mirai and Riko’s magic, but being unable to get anyone to believe her, and Mirai and Riko trying to think of excuses for what she saw. After a while, Kana eventually seems to evolve into a secret chaser, actively seeking proof of the existence of magicians.

During one episode, Mayumi eventually asks why Kana is so interested in finding proof that magicians exist, and Kana reveals that this isn’t the first time she’s had experiences like this. When she was younger, she also saw things like UFOs and such, but nobody would believe her when she told them. This led her to start doubting herself, even though she had been convinced of what she saw. She wants to find proof of the existence of the magicians she keeps seeing so she can believe in herself more. When she and Mayumi both see Mirai, Riko and Kotoha flying away on their brooms later that day, Mayumi says she saw them too and that Kana was right, much to her delight.

Then in the Christmas episode, Kana and Mayumi encounter the Cures when they get in trouble after running into Benigyo. After the Cures rescue them, Kana and Mayumi both agree to keep their existence a secret from others.

I really grew to like Kana, particularly once we learned her backstory and reason for growing so obsessed with magicians after repeatedly witnessing Mirai and Riko’s magic at work. Like I said earlier, I also really liked the close friendship she and Mayumi eventually developed. I thought it was really sweet that Kana was able to find a friend as supportive as her.

Next, I’ll talk about some of the recurring characters from the Magic World.

I’ll start with Kochou, the principal of the Magic School. He’s one of the few characters to know the identity of the Cures, and is actively seeking information about the villains threatening the two worlds and how to stop them with the help of Cassie the crystal ball. Most of the time, he looks like a typical pretty boy with long, white/silver hair, but no one is entirely sure how old he is. When he runs low on magic, he can’t retain this form and reverts to an old man.

As mentioned before, Kochou also has a history with Dokurokushe, as the two were close friends back when Dokurokushe was an ordinary magician named Kushi. In the first half of the show, it is mentioned that Kochou rarely uses his magic. It turns out this is because he’s been saving up as much as possible for his eventual confrontation with Dokurokushe. Kochou still thinks of Kushi as his friend, and misses him a lot.

I really like Kochou. His design, both his normally seen young form, and his older form seen when he is low on magic is pretty neat. I like the way he keeps trying to gather more info on what the villains are up to, and his bond with Kushi was really heartfelt and interesting, playing a big part in Kochou’s motivations.

Next, I think I’ll talk about Riko’s family. The first member of Riko’s family that we are introduced to is her older sister, Liz. Liz is a talented magician, and is working as a teacher at the Magic School. Riko has always looked up to Liz, her role model. However, Riko being unable to use magic as well as Liz seems to have caused a small rift between the two, as Riko doesn’t feel she can measure up to her. Liz has always believed in Riko, though, and has since Riko received her wand believed that Riko was destined for great things, which is also a reason she gave Riko her pendant, since it originally seemed to have been given to Liz.

I really like Liz. She’s a nice girl and seems to be a pretty good teacher, even if Riko doesn’t seem to have known at first how much Liz really believed in her. They soon manage to sort that out, and Liz later on tells Riko the story of how Riko received her wand as a baby when a shooting star hit the Wand Tree, and produced Riko’s wand. Despite the initial difficulties due to Riko’s problems with magic, it does seem like Liz is the family member Riko is closest to since their parents both seem to be busy with work much of the time. Liz’s design is nice too.

The second member of Riko’s family that we are properly introduced to is Riko’s family. We first see him outside of flashbacks in the second half of the series, where we find out that he is currently in the No-Magic World, doing research to help Kochou find out more about the villains and the connection between the two worlds. He later visits his daughter and informs her, Mirai and Kotoha of what he has been doing. Since he seems more interested in the Linkle Stones and his research rather than seeing his daughter, Riko is initially not too pleased. She and the other girls are also surprised to find out that Kochou had told Lian of their identities as Cures.

After a conversation with Mirai’s father and Kotoha, Lian considers how to sort things out with Riko, only for the villains to show up. Lian defends Riko, and Riko as Cure Magical fights to defend her father. The two talk things out before Lian leaves to continue his research elsewhere. He later visits again along with Liz and Lilia on Riko’s birthday.

I like Lian. His design is pretty neat, and I like his character. He is clearly quite invested in his research. While his work often keeps him from being able to see her all that often, he clearly cares a lot about Riko and is proud of her. She also cares about him, even if she doesn’t always find his work as interesting as he does.

And finally, there’s Riko’s mother, Lilia. She first appears outside of flashbacks when she comes for a surprise visit along with Lian and Liz on Riko’s birthday. Lilia is a talented cook, and even seems to have become the host of a cooking show in the No-Magic World. While visiting Riko and the others, she makes plenty of food for Riko’s birthday party, including making Riko’s favorite chocolate cake. She is also proud to see how much Riko has improved her magic skill when the two use magic to clean the dishes together. While Riko initially thinks her mother is going a bit overboard with everything on her birthday, she still appreciates it.

We don’t see as much of Lilia as we do with Liz and Lian, who have bigger roles in the plot, but we still get a pretty good look at her character. She’s clearly a nice woman who cares a lot about her family, and likes to make others happy with the food she makes.

Next up, I’d like to talk about the Cures’ classmates from the Magic World, namely Jun, Emily and Kei. We first meet and get to know these three characters as they attend supplementary classes along with Mirai and Riko.

Jun is a blue haired tomboy-ish character, who is actually quite skilled with magic, but had to take supplementary classes due to a low attendance. We later learn the reason for this is because she is fascinated by the No-Magic World, and would sneak away to visit it. She is interested in art and fashion, and wants to live in the No-Magic World when she gets older and work as an expert of culture and fashion.

I really like Jun a lot. Her character development went in a different direction than I initially expected, and I really like the route they took with her. She has already figured out what she wants to do with her life, and is working towards that goal.

Then there’s Emily, a blonde girl with glasses who seems to be easily frightened, with the main problem being her fear of heights preventing her from flying a broom properly. Throughout the series, she overcomes this, eventually becoming a really skilled flier and even gaining a liscence to fly a flying carpet. She also wants to be a hairdresser.

I think Emily is quite adorable, and it’s fun watching her character development as the other girls inspire her to overcome her fears, and she becomes more confident as time goes on.

And finally, there’s Kei (or Kay?), a girl with short, red hair who is quite forgetful, frequently forgetting to bring certain things needed for the different classes she attends with the other girls. After Mirai helps her out by writing a list of things she needed to remember for the final test they needed to pass their supplementary classes, Kei develops a habit of writing things down, helping her remember things. This leads her to discover that she likes writing down things she learns and wants to find some career where she can incorporate these skills.

Kei is cute too, and I like how Mirai helped her figure out how to remember things more easily by writing them down. With the interest she developed in talking to people and writing down the things she learned, I get the impression that Kei could possibly become a journalist or something in the future.

I really like these three girls and their friendships with Mirai, Riko, Mofurun and Kotoha. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wished they’d learn the Cures’ identities and maybe assist them in battle at some point. Still, watching how they gradually develop and grow as characters and learning more about them was a lot of fun, and they’re among my favorite recurring characters in this series.

There are also a few other recurring characters, such as a couple other members of the school staff and some of the people in the town, as well as some characters the girls meet during their tests early on.

We’ve got the vice-principal, who is sort of this strict teacher character. There’s also Isaac, one of the older teachers at the school, who frequently loses his dentures and seems to have trouble remembering exactly how many years he’s been working as a teacher at the school. These two aren’t all that important, but they do provide some funny moments here and there.

Among the people living in the Magic World’s town, the first person to come to mind is Francois, the owner of the clothing store. He’s a magician in touch with his feminine side, and does make a few of the items worn by our heroines, including Mirai’s school uniform for Magic School and the cute casual outfit Riko wears when she goes to the No-Magic World. He also provides some insight on magicians who secretly live in the No-Magic World in an episode when he joins Jun, Emily and Kei on a trip to the No-Magic World. 

Then there’s Gustav, who runs the broom store. He helps repair Riko’s broom, helps pick one out for Mirai and even customizes the two brooms to match.

I like these two characters, particularly with how well they seem to know and understand Riko and how they friendly they are to her and Mirai. Flashbacks suggest they have known Riko since she was little, which is really sweet.

There’s also a young guy who runs a fruit stal,l and an old man who likes to tell old legends, notably telling the girls the legend that turned out to be connected to the Ruby Linkle Stone in episode 3.

Mirai and Riko also meet some interesting characters during their field trips during supplementary classes, namely the mermaids and the pegasi.

The first mermaid we are properly introduced is Loretta, a mermaid teacher who assists with one of the tests the girls have to pass in order to clear their supplementary classes. The girls soon also meet three young mermaids by the names of Dorothy, Nancy and Cissy, who are initially too shy to approach them, but are impressed when Riko accidentally turns a fruit into a firework.

The three young mermaids explain how they’ve never been on land before, and are fascinated by how Mirai and Riko are such good friends despite being from two different worlds. They show them a secret area in the Mermaid Village, which contains a giant shell that later opens up to reveal the Sapphire Linkle Stone. The Sapphire forms give Cure Miracle and Magical the ability to fly, similarly to how mermaids according to legend were said to be able to gain the ability to fly. The young mermaids are inspired by Mirai and Riko, and express an interest in seeing more of the world above the water someday.

I really like mermaids, so I was pleased to have some as recurring characters in this series. Loretta has a nice design, and those three young mermaids are adorable. Dorothy’s design reminded me a bit of Cure Echo, probably because of her hair decoration.

There’s also a particular pegasus and its foal that Mirai and Riko befriend in one episode. They end up having to rescue the mother pegasus after Sparda combines her with part of a plant for the Yokubaru of the week. The foal manages to reach out to its mother for a brief moment, and Cure Miracle uses the newly obtained Linkle Stone Pink Tourmalline (the only time she used it before it got passed on to Cure Felice in the second half of the series) to free her from the monster, separating her from the Yokubaru and thus allowing her and Cure Magical to finish the Yokubaru off without hurting the pegasus.

There’s not much else to say about the pegasi. Their designs are nice, and they do show up once in a while to help out our heroines, which is nice.

Finally, the last noteworthy character I should talk about is Chikurun, a bee-like fairy who is introduced working for Orba, although as his sub-plot goes on, it becomes clearer that Chikurun is mostly motivated by fear. Orba makes him spy on the Cures to gather information for him, but things get a little complicated once the Cures discover his presence. He manages to come up with a cover story to earn the girls’ sympathy, and starts getting closer to Mofurun, who he had identified as somehow important to the Cures. He’s surprised to learn that Mofurun is a living teddybear and not a fairy, and continues to get closer to her and the Cures while spying on them for Orba.

Of course, like most Pretty Cure villains who try to infiltrate the Cures’ group, Chikurun gradually starts to feel conflicted as he grows to appreciate the Cures’ kindness and finds himself growing closer to them, especially with Mofurun. Eventually, he agrees to steal the Linkle Stones and Smartome from the Cures so they can’t transform, on the condition that the other villains promise not to harm the Cures. However, after Shakince breaks this promise and exposes Chikurun’s position as a spy to the Cures, Chikurun ends up fully switching sides, retrieving the Topaz and Emerald Linkle Stones and the Smartome from Shakince.

The Cures don’t hold Chikurun’s actions as Orba’s spy against him, since he did put himself in danger to get the stolen items back and apologized for what he did. The girls are able to bring Chikurun back to the fairy village, where he’s able to make up with the Fairy Queen despite his earlier concerns of what she would do to him if she found out what he’d been up to. The girls also learn about the backstory of the two worlds and Mother Rapapa while in the fairy village, and promise to meet Chikurun again someday as they leave the village at the end of the episode.

I really like Chikurun and his little sub-plot. His friendship with Mofurun in particular was really sweet. He tends to be kind of grumpy and is a bit of a coward, but after spending some time getting to know the Cures, he was able to improve himself a little, defying the villains and confront the Fairy Queen.

So, yeah. I thought this series had a lot of great supporting characters in both worlds, and I enjoyed seeing their interactions with the Cures, as well as their own little sub-plots.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this series. I liked the magician and gem stone themes of this series, and of course, there’s a strong focus on the friendship between the characters from the two worlds. We get a lot of world building, and there’s some really creative ideas on the Magic World side of things in particular.

On that note, the various series in the Pretty Cure franchise usually do involve the Cures having to save two worlds. The other world is usually where the fairy mascots come from, with it also having become more common for at least one of the Cures on a team to be from this other world. In most series, we often get glimpses of the other world via flashbacks and episodes centering around the Cures and their fairies visiting the other world. In this series, Mirai and Riko regularly travel between the two worlds, which allows the viewers to build an even stronger connection to both worlds as the girls learn more about each other’s worlds.

There were some really interesting plot points that had me curious to learn more as the series progressed, particularly the mystery of Kotoha/Cure Felice’s past life in the second half of the show, and the sub-plot involving the Linkle Stone spirits and the magic circle within the Rainbow Carriage building up to the final battle against Deusmast. It held my interest and got me really excited to see what it would all build up to. There were some times during the second half of the show that I worried about the number of plot threads and such that would have to be resolved/explained and whether they’d have enough episodes to do it well. However, I figured the writers knew what they were doing, and they did manage to resolve most of it, so it turned out pretty well. I’ll give some more thoughts on the ending a bit later.

This show clearly takes a lot of influence from the first few Pretty Cure series, namely Futari wa Pretty Cure, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart, and especially Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star. Aside from starting out with two Cures who need to be holding hands in order to transform, there are a lot of moments in the series that bring these first few series of the franchise to mind.

The first half of the show features the girls searching for something, in this case, the Linkle Stones, similarly to how Nagisa and Honoka’s mission in the first half of Futari wa Pretty Cure revolved around reclaiming and protecting the Prism Stones. There are also twelve Linkle Stones in total, while Max Heart had twelve Heartiels that the girls needed to find.

Mirai and Riko later gain a third member, just like Nagisa and Honoka did in Max Heart when Hikari joined them. In fact, earlier I compared Kotoha/Cure Felice to Hikari/Shiny Luminous. They are both reincarnations/aspects of a powerful being that protected their world, who fought against the big bad and ended up sacrificing themselves in some way. The scenes in episode 22 of the now human Kotoha in a forest, seemingly lost, reminded me a lot of the first few scenes we saw of Hikari in Max Heart, after she first appeared in the Garden of Rainbows after being split off from the Queen, unsure of her identity and purpose.

This series also did something a bit unusual for the Pretty Cure series by having Dokurokushe be defeated in episode 21, and stay defeated, with it turning out the true big bad is someone else as we are introduced to a new group of villains. This development is similar to the second half of Futari wa Pretty Cure, where a new trio of villains were introduced after Cure Black and Cure White had taken out all of the Dark King’s minions and the Dark King himself, although these villains were still connected to the Dark King as they were meant to resurrect him.

I like how this show did things by having Dokurokushe turn out not to be the big bad, giving the Cures an entirely different set of enemies for the second half of the show. I thought it was a nice twist. Of course, it turns out Dokurokushe and his followers were part of Orba’s plan to revive Deusmast, and I thought this was another neat twist that helped show how everything was connected.

Anyways, I also often got a Splash Star feel from this show, which probably led to some of the speculation relating to Dokurokushe and Yamoh’s connection being something like the plot twist of Splash Star, where it turned out that the apparent second-in-command Gooyan was the true big bad and Akudaikahn was just his pawn. Since Dokurokushe mostly just sat on his throne and didn’t speak for a while, some people suspected that this was a similar case, and that the true big bad was Yamoh. This even came up in the show itself when Batty began to wonder if this was the case.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it turned out there was an entirely different reason why Dokurokushe had been so quiet up until that point. I thought this subversion of expectations was a great little nod to Splash Star. The villain designs also seem a bit similar to the villain designs from Splash Star in some ways.

Also, in the last few episodes, Orba bringing back Batty, Sparda and Gamett is pretty similar to how Gooyan brought back the villains previously defeated by Cure Bloom and Cure Egret in the last few episodes of Splash Star.

Other aspects seen in both series is that they both feature a particular tree that is somehow important and seems to connect both worlds in some way. The Cures also have different forms in these series, with Splash Star being the first Pretty Cure series to introduce the concept of Cures having different forms when Saki and Mai gained the Cure Bright and Cure Windy forms.

The concept of different forms also returned in Happiness Charge Pretty Cure, but is seemed rather underused, with it usually just being used for one attack and there were only a few times we got to see more of what those alternate forms were capable of. Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure also uses multiple forms by having four different gold rimmed Linkle Stones that Cure Miracle and Magical can use, alternating between them in each episode after getting them.

I really like what the series did with the alternate forms concept, giving each of Cure Miracle and Cure Magical’s different forms unique abilities. This allows for them to use the one that best fits their current situation. Each form has a different style, and I really love the visuals for the transformation sequences and how they even gave each sequence a different variation on the theme playing during it.

We start out with the Diamond form, the form Mirai and Riko obtain when they first become Cures. It has their color schemes, with Mirai dressed in pink and Riko in purple. It seems to be pretty average in strength, and allows the two of them to use the silver rimmed Linkle Stones for spells after obtaining them. The transformation sequence and theme is pretty basic. The Diamond Linkle Stones are the Linkle Stones of light.

I think their outfits are really cute, and Cure Magical’s in particular has some elements I’d expect from a typical witch outfit. Naturally, this form is also usually used during the important plot-related episodes, which is to be expected.

The second form, Ruby style, is obtained in episode 3. With a more dynamic fire-themed transformation sequence and theme, the girls change into their Ruby forms which grants them super strength. The Ruby Linkle Stone is the Linkle Stone of passion.

Again, the outfits are really cute. The fire and passion theme of the Ruby Linkle Stone might be a little nod to Cure Rouge from Yes! Pretty Cure 5, which is pretty neat.

The third form, the Sapphire style, is obtained in episode 7. With an elegant water-themed transformation sequence, the girls gain the ability to fly when in Sapphire form. The Sapphire Linkle Stone is the Linkle Stone of Calmness.

I think the Sapphire form outfits is my favorite of the alternate forms. Cure Miracle and Cure Magical both look good in blue, and I like how well it compliments their main color schemes (pink and white for Miracle, and purple and black for Magical) really well. I guess I just really like the aquatic style.

Finally, they obtain the Linkle Stone Topaz in episode 11, gaining the Topaz style. The transformation sequence is more whimsical in tone, and the Topaz forms themselves look a bit goofier than the other forms as well, with the candy themed accessories. When in Topaz form, the Cures each have two glowing orbs of energy hovering near them, which they can shape into anything they can imagine. The finishing move is electricity based. The Topaz Linkle Stone is the Linkle Stone of excitement.

The ability granted by the Topaz form is probably my favorite of the different powers granted by the different forms, simply due to how creative one can be with it. And we certainly do get some pretty creative moments in the battles where this form is used, although I feel they probably could’ve come up with even more interesting battle tricks with this power than we got to see in the show proper. Also, part of me can’t help but wonder if these forms, with the whole candy theme and all, may have helped inspire Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode.

Cure Felice only has one form, the Emerald form. Her transformation sequence is quite amazing, and I like the battle theme associated with her. Her outfit is naturally more fairy-like compared to that of Miracle and Magical’s witch-like outfits. 

Episode 31 has the feelings of the three Cures create an entirely new Linkle Stone, the Alexandrite, which gives all three Cures a new form, which is basically fancier versions of Cure Miracle and Magical’s Diamond forms and Cure Felice’s Emerald form. I really like these powered-up forms, especially how Cure Miracle and Cure Magical gets actual witch hats in this form instead of the cute little witch hat accessory.

So, yeah. I really like the visuals for all the transformations and finishing moves in this series. I think they’re all very nice.

Speaking of the Alexandrite, I mentioned the Rainbow Carriage earlier and how the sub-plot of the Linkle Stone spirits gradually entering the magic circle had me really excited for what kind of final power-up they were building up to. Well, I think it needs to be mentioned that the way the Cures obtain the Rainbow Carriage in the first place is without a doubt one of the strangest ways a Pretty Cure team has ever obtained one of their power-up items.

In most Pretty Cure series, the Cures usually go on some quest and/or must pass a test of some sorts to gain their power-up item. In this series, episode 29 has Mirai, Riko and Kotoha end up having the same dream (thanks to some magic from the Linkle Smartome) about being in the story of Cinderella, after having talked about Cinderella exists in both the No-Magic and the Magic Worlds, but the two versions of the story are a bit different, with the Magic World’s version featuring the Fairy Godmother as the protagonist rather than Cinderella.

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Smile Pretty Cure have previously each done an episode where the Cures in some way end up in the story of Cinderella, but the Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure take on this plot takes the weirdness up a notch. For starters, Mirai isn’t the one who ends up in the role of Cinderella. Mofurun is.

I’ve already talked about this episode before, so I won’t talk about the whole thing here. Anyways, at the climax of the episode, Mirai, Riko and Kotoha try to get back to their own world, but their carriage and the bridge they’re on begins to fall apart. Mofurun comes to the rescue, using the magic of the glass shoes to become a magic user, who transforms their carriage into the Rainbow Carriage, creating a rainbow bridge for them to ride on. When Mirai, Riko and Kotoha wake up in the morning, they find that the Rainbow Carriage from their dream has mysteriously appeared in their room. Yeah. It was a strange episode.

While it was certainly a fun episode, I do hope the next series returns to the usual formula of the heroes having to go on a quest or pass some test in order to get the power-up item of the season. At least it took two more episodes for the heroines to actually activate the magic of the Rainbow Carriage, though, and they did have to deal with and overcome some worries in order to gain the Linkle Stone Alexandrite to go along with it, so at least that was pretty awesome.

Well, with that, I think I’ve covered most of the stuff I wanted to talk about so far, so I think it’s about time to talk about the last few episodes and the ending.

We get a lot of build-up for the last few episodes, with all the emphasis on the bond between the two worlds and how the travelling time between them has mysteriously gotten shorter, how friends still have a connection even as time goes by and they go separate ways, Lian’s research, the backstory reveals about Mother Rapapa and Cure Felice’s connection to her and Orba’s reveal of how he set everything up leading up to Deusmast’s revival.

Mirai, Riko and Kotoha continue to go about their everyday lives, enjoying the time they’re spending together now and not worrying too much about the future. However, with Deusmast’s revival at hand, the girls soon realize there’s not much time to relax. After one final battle against Benigyo, having joined forces with the other followers of Deusmast that were released by Orba, Deusmast himself fully revives. Suddenly waking up back in their own beds, Mirai, Riko, Kotoha and Mofurun discover that the two worlds have somehow merged together.

As they meet up with their friends from both the Magic and No-Magic Worlds, they’re surprised to find that they’re the only ones who have noticed anything unusual, with everybody else acting like this is how it has always been. The Cures quickly go to find Kochou and Lian at the magic school, informing them of what has happened. Kochou and Lian, also not having realized anything out of the ordinary had happened, realize that Deusmast’s chaos has already advanced further than expected at this point. However, Kotoha hears something through the Linkle Smartome, and reveals that part of Mother Rapapa’s spirit still exists within the Wand Tree, and is keeping the world from being completely consumed by chaos with her remaining power.

Kochou informs the girls that defeating Deusmast should return things to normal, but their two worlds may as a result get pushed so far apart that it may be uncertain if they’ll ever be able to see each other again. Even so, the Cures are still determined to face Deusmast, and Kochou delivers a message to the people of both worlds, telling them to believe in the Pretty Cures. After briefly reflecting on all the fun times they’ve had, the girls transform and prepare to begin the final battle. They refuse to let Deusmast absorb everything and reduce it all to chaos. Their determination to protect everyone causes the final two Linkle Stone spirits, representing the Diamond and Emerald Linkle Stones, to finally enter the magic circle within the Rainbow Carriage, completing it.

The final power-up usually grants a new form for either the pink Cure or the entire team, but this time, interestingly enough, the one who gets most of the power-up is Cure Felice, which I guess does make sense considering her role in the story. Cure Miracle and Magical still receive a power-boost for the final battle, while Cure Felice becomes a being similar to Mother Rapapa. Switching between all of their forms, Cure Miracle and Magical fight alongside a giant Cure Felice, and eventually defeat Deusmast.

After the final battle, Mirai and Riko find themselves still floating in space, as a giant Kotoha watches over the still merged worlds that are trying to return to how they were. She says she’ll do her best to return the two worlds to normal, and even if it may take a while, she’s certain all of them will be able to meet again someday before disappearing. As I mentioned in my thoughts on the episode itself, I got an UItimate Madoka vibe from this scene with Kotoha.

With their two worlds once again separated, Mirai and Riko must each return to their own worlds. Riko casts a spell in hopes that they’ll all meet again someday, similarly to something both Kotoha and Mirai had done earlier in the series. They eventually drift apart, floating back to their own worlds. Mirai loses her magic wand, while Mofurun reflects on how grateful she is to Riko for granting her the ability to speak to Mirai and all the fun times they’ve all had before reverting to a normal teddybear.

A few years go by, and we follow Mirai as she and her friends in the No-Magic World are now at college age, and Mirai seems to have some idea of what she wants to do with her life, wanting to explore more of the world. One night, when the moon is similar to how it was on the night Mirai and Riko first met, Mirai takes Mofurun with her to the park. As a branch falls out of a tree, Mirai picks it up and tries casting a spell with it as if it were her wand. After initially commenting on how silly of her it was to do such a thing, she picks it back up and tries a few more times in case her friends from the Magic World are also trying to reach her, calling out that she wants to see them again.

Suddenly, the branch turns into Mirai’s old wand as she floats up into the sky. The snail train from the Magic World suddenly appears, to her surprise. She drops Mofurun, but a familiar magician shows up to pick her up, the now grown-up Riko. Kochou, Jun, Emily and Kei watch from the train as Mirai and Riko finally reunite, with Mofurun returning to life as well. They are soon joined by Kotoha, who unlike the others hasn’t aged at all, and thus they’re all together again. D’aww!

So, yeah. Those episodes were pretty epic. It was awesome seeing Cure Miracle and Cure Magical switching between all their different forms during the final battle, and Cure Felice’s goddess form kind of reminded me of Shiny Luminous once again, and how she was restored to being the Queen of the Garden of Light during the final battle against the revived Dark King.

They could’ve ended it there, and the series would’ve ended in sort of a typical Pretty Cure way, but there’s one more episode, and I’m glad they did have one more episode so that we could find out a bit more about what went on in the Magic World during the time skip as well.

The final episode is mostly Mirai, Riko, Kotoha and Mofurun spending time together like the old times (with Kotoha demonstrating that her magic has gotten even stronger by making Mirai and Riko look like their fourteen year old selves, for some reason), finding out what’s been going on in the Magic World the past few years, and chasing after a fragment of Dokurokushe that seems to be looking for sweets. Yeah, according to Kochou, apparently Kushi had a sweet tooth.

Anyways, we find out that Riko has become a teacher at the magic school, and has made an effort to bring in even more different beings from the Magic World to learn at the school, including the three young mermaids, Dorothy, Nancy and Cissy, who are now teenagers. Nice seeing their older selves there, learning more about the surface. Cassie the crystal ball also implies that Riko may end up being the next principal of the school sometime in the future as well.

We also learn the fates of Batty and the other villains who worked for Dokurokushe, as I mentioned earlier. Batty is now at magic school, looking for a new purpose in life, Sparda still wants to take over both worlds despite being stuck as a regular spider, Gamett still wants that rematch against Cure Felice and Yamoh regains his humanoid form and parts with the Cures on peaceful terms after they help calm down the Dokurokushe fragment.

The Cures also reunite with Chikurun, who happened to get caught up in the chaos and managed to help them retrieve Kotoha’s wand. Nice seeing him again too. Sure was convenient that he happened to be there at that time. He stays with the Cures for the rest of the episode, while they’re handing out strawberry-melon bread to their friends from both worlds.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the final episode was the cameo of Ichika Usami/Cure Whip, who even ended up assisting Cure Miracle, Magical and Felice in stopping the Dokurokushe fragment. The various Pretty Cure series seem to take place in different continuities, only coming together during the All Stars crossover series of movies, so having the lead pink cure of the next upcoming series turn up was a bit of a surprise. Then again, aside from catching up to what everyone had been up to during the time skip, there was quite a bit of focus on sweets in this episode, so I guess having her show up did make sense.

So, yeah. It was a nice send-off episode, even if the main conflict was a bit of a strange one. Still, it was mostly nice seeing everyone again, friends reuniting, finding out what’s been going on with all these characters the past few years, and a glimpse of our next pink lead Cure.

Of course, the series does have some flaws, like Mirai’s lack of visible character development compared to the other Cures, and some of the fight scenes were a bit underwhelming and didn’t really use the different abilities of the Cures to their full potential. However, I still enjoyed this series a lot. It had a lot of call backs to and a similar feeling to the first few series in the franchise while still having its own distinct identity and style.

Well, I guess that’s about everything I have to say about this series. Once again, it’ll be a while before the next one, where I’ll talk about Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode. So, expect that sometime next year after Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode has concluded. In the meantime, I might do some more thoughts on the Pretty Cure movies, like I’ve so far done for the two Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart movies. We’ll see. :)

[lefthanded-sans]

I agree about the Genocide Run and how the player distances themselves. I haven't completed any attempts at the genocide run, but I've /felt/ the distance. I've /noticed/ when monsters become numbers, and it honestly scared me. (1/2)

(2/2) and it just went to show me that the player becomes exactly like flowey. After going through the Genocide Run, we’re even able to sort of sympathize with Flowey- specifically early flowey because noticing tge emotional distance is /terrifying/.

I think I’m probably going to scream for eternity about how awesome Undertale is in this area. It’s not quite the concept of “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” but it definitely harps upon the idea that we all within us have the capability to be good. We all within us have the capability to be bad. And we have the capacity to lose our heroic, kindhearted notions and turn into the very villain we once tried to defeat.

We can become a Flowey.

While there are of course many parallels between Chara and Frisk to draw from, it’s really the parallels between Flowey and Frisk that get expanded upon in the game routes. Flowey and Frisk are so much the same. Once upon a time, Asriel was trying to be a hero to break the barrier, and he was quite the kindhearted and sympathetic little goat. But Asriel is thrown into an unwanted circumstance against his desire and must make sense of his new environment as a flower. He learns about the SAVE function, and first uses it to do good. Over time, and over many resets, however, he turns callous and even encourages Frisk/Chara to commit genocide with him. He and Frisk share a lot in common experientially.

Now, it’s not guaranteed that Frisk will follow Flowey’s path of doing good routes first and then descending into evil. There are many UT game players who lead Frisk through a single Pacifist Route and that is that. Nevertheless, it is also the case that, for those who do commit to the Genocide Route, it is usually done after Pacifist. While game players often do this because the community says it’s bigger impact to play Pacifist first… I believe Fox predicted that this is how it would go. The Genocide Route gameplay function is harder to trigger, and the dialogue from all the monsters encourages the player to lead Frisk in a peaceful route. It makes sense that, statistically, more players would lead Frisk as Flowey so acted. Players would follow the game’s hints and do the more peaceful routes first. Maybe their Frisk would make some mistakes, but correct them in a reset. But then players would start to get curious about screwing around with the game. Frisk gets bored and starts screwing around… eventually plodding into the darkest route of all. Exactly like Flowey.

One will notice that if Frisk gets an incredibly high LV, Sans will make a comment suggesting that it’s likely the human is turning down a dark route, this isn’t the first time they’ve done wrong, and it’s not likely they’re going to change:

hmmm… lv9, huh. that’s over halfway to lv20, the maximum. but don’t think that means you’re still 50- percent good. 50-percent, 20-percent. those are both still failing grades. besides. chances are… i’ve already tried to steer you in the right direction. so what can i say? what can i say that will change the mind of a being like you…?

It’s sort of a hint that Frisk, the more unfeeling they go, the more likely they might fall down a path like Flowey’s.

And even if Frisk just goes into a Genocide Route first time through, they’re still paralleling Flowey. As you say, it’s that psychological distancing. Frisk, Flowey, and the game player share this experience. It’s starting to see monsters as numbers. It’s starting to see their actions as predictable programmable lines of text. As Flowey says, they become “Sets of numbers. Lines of dialogue.” Chara talks about that feeling of statistics like LV and EXP increasing. That power… that drive… that’s what the human and we the player “care about” in the Genocide Route. The stats. Not the emotions of the characters we just killed.

As a player who starts to feel the stats take priority and for us to lose that emotional sensitivity towards the characters… it’s creepy. When we sit back and reflect upon how distanced we’ve become, it’s wholly disconcerting. We went around, killing for sport, not even caring when the lives of everyone in the underground crumbled beneath our dusty hands.

We became just as terrible as Flowey.

We perhaps thought of Flowey as the juxtaposition to Frisk when we played the Pacifist Route. They seemed to be opposites - one good, one bad. Although both Flowey and Frisk have experienced the power of the SAVE, Flowey concluded that no one would come and that it was a kill or be kill world. Frisk, by contrast, pursued through the underground with mercy, building friendships. People came for Frisk - the monsters of the underground, the other six human SOULs. Flowey was the corruption, the perversion, the anti-friendship and anti-mercy perspective. Frisk was able to purify that. By being kind, Frisk could even offer mercy to Asriel. The hero saved the day from the countering villain.

But. We learn Flowey had good routes too, back in the day. Flowey was just as good as Frisk. And Frisk can go forward to just as terrible routes as Flowey. They have the potential to be not foils, but parallels.

The human joins Flowey in a genocidal conquest.

We the player feel distancing. 

We the player realize that we have made Frisk exactly the same as Flowey.

And we feel the same horrible emotionlessness Flowey does toward the characters in the game.

I see this subtle Flowey mentality even sneak into commentary of how people talk about character choices made in the Genocide Route. It’s so, so easy for our minds to take Flowey’s side and not realize how much it’s affected our perceptions.

The biggest example of this is Papyrus (I could also talk about MTT NEO fandom discussion, but anyway). Lots of people say that Papyrus was naive to not fight the human in the Genocide Route. Papyrus was foolish to stand without defense, choosing not to fight, even though he knew that the person advancing toward him wanted him to die. He should have known that this choice of his was leading to his own demise. Of course things turned out poorly for him, right?

Well… check out this quote you might be familiar with.

I hope you like your choice. After all, it’s not as if you can go back and change fate. In this world, it’s kill or be killed. That old hag thought she could break the rules. She tried so hard to save you humans. But when it came down to it… Hee hee… SHE COULDN’T EVEN SAVE HERSELF.

Mhm, yeah. Flowey uses the exact same reasoning to mock Toriel for trying to be peaceful. Let me repeat: Flowey’s thought process - if you choose to kill Toriel in a Neutral Route - is the exact same reasoning many people have about Papyrus’ “bad” choice to not fight the human.

Here’s the thing…

Breaking the rules? Not killing monsters? Being merciful and refusing to fight?

That’s sort of how you win the game and free the monsters from the underground!

We look at Papyrus and think he was naive for offering mercy… when it is Papyrus’ very philosophy of mercy we need to adopt to win the Pacifist Route and find the True Ending.

But Flowey’s sort of mentality creeps into our minds nevertheless. People look at Papyrus and all his failed attempts. Of course Papyrus dies 100% of the times you play a Genocide Route. But he survives for all those people who can’t finish the route and abort it. It’s the exact same sort of logic that Flowey gives - oh look, they couldn’t save themselves, they were trying to break the rules by being merciful. 

Genocide Route psychological effects? You start accidentally sounding like Flowey in more subtle ways than you realize, sometimes.

I think one of the most incredible things about the Genocide Route is that it leads you into that frightening distancing. You don’t feel anything when you’re playing the Genocide Route. As soon as you step back, though, and realize I just became Flowey… well…

You feel your sins crawling on your back.

[pocket-luv101]

Across Time || Chapter 10

Fandom: Servamp Ships: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde

Summary: Mahiru falls into a well and is taken to a new, fantasy world. He comes across a half-blooded cat demon trapped in a tree. After he frees Kuro, he helps him collect the shards of the sacred jewel. (KuroMahi, InuYasha AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || Ch.6 || Ch.7 || Ch.8 || Ch.9 || (Ch.10) ||

“We weren’t able to relax yesterday but maybe we can have a nice evening today. Let’s rent a room at the inn and have a quiet dinner. No fighting demons for us tonight.” Mahiru was a diligent person and hard worker but he needed a break on their journey. “There’s a big crowd in front of the inn. We should buy a room before they’re filled. Do you want to eat at a noodle to shop afterwards?”

They arrived in a village and he thought it would be a good opportunity to rest. Mahiru recalled the previous night and how Kuro was poisoned. He did his best to purify the venom but he couldn’t control his spiritual power well. He watched Kuro carefully for any sign of pain or lingering effects of the poison. To his relief, he appeared strong and healthy.

When Mahiru woke that morning, the demon was gone and Kuro was sleeping on his lap. He must’ve woken up before him and defeated the butterfly. Kuro didn’t tell him that he fought the demon yet Mahiru knew that was what likely happened. He decided they should use the day to recover and rest more. He glanced at his ears and thought about his wish to be human.

“It’s a little early to have dinner but we can go to a tea shop for a snack. I’m curious to see how they compare to the sweets from my time. The mochi here are likely more authentic. What flavour do you li—” Mahiru stopped walking and looked back towards the crowd. He could sense the jewel’s power. There were a lot of people so it was difficult to see who held the shard.

“What is it, Mahiru?” Kuro realized that he had stopped walking and looked back to him. He followed his gaze to the inn. From his expression, he could guess that there was a jewel shard nearby. He also knew that Mahiru was disappointed expression that their relaxing day was interrupted. He leaned down and whispered, “I don’t smell a demon so the person with the jewel shard is human. We can take it without fighting.”

“Usually, I’m against stealing and pickpocketing but this might be our best option.” He replied in a soft voice. They had to stand close to hear each other but neither of them noticed. Mahiru leaned closer to him and asked, “Does any of your nekomata powers help you steal things? Kitsunes are more known for stealing things than cats.”

“I’ve never stolen anything before. Let’s hope that my ears will scare the human enough for them to give us the jewel. We’ll likely be chased out of the village since I’m a demon.” There was a hint of resignation in his voice. Mahiru wondered how many times he had been turned away from scared villagers. Before he met Kuro, he would understand why others were afraid of him.

Yet, Kuro was one of the warmest and most loyal person Mahiru knew. He gently took his hand and smiled up at him. “We can try to buy the jewel. If that person picked up the jewel without knowing what it was, we might be able to buy it at a good price. You stay here while I find the person who has the shard.”

He felt a little lonely when slipped his hand from his. Mahiru left his side and disappeared into the crowd. While Kuro didn’t like crowds, he thought it was bearable with Mahiru. He had a comforting presence and he treated him like a person rather than a monster. Kuro hoped Mahiru’s plan would work because using force would be troublesome.

Mahiru pushed his way the crowd. A blonde man sat on a bench surrounded by women. He traced his finger over a woman’s hand and read her fortune. From his clothes, he appeared to be a monk. The man’s right hand was wrapped in a cloth and prayer beads. Woven among the beads was a jewel shard. He didn’t know if he would sell him the shard but he wanted to try.

“Pardon me,” He said and stepped forward. The man looked up at him and his red eyes seemed familiar to him. Mahiru was certain he never met the monk before. He brushed off the thought and focused on buying the shard. “That’s a beautiful rosary you have. My uncle is a monk as well and I would love to give him a set. May I buy your prayer beads? I will pay any amount you wish.”

“I will no sooner part with these beads than I would my life. This is a precious gift. Would you like me to read your future though?” Mahiru didn’t answer him immediately. He debated if he should return to Kuro or press the monk more. While he was distracted, the man abruptly took his hand and tugged him forward. He stumbled onto the bench next to him.

Mahiru stiffened when the man whispered into his ear, “You smell like a certain cat I know. Haven’t you heard that black cats are bad luck? Even if the cat seems lazy, it’s a dangerous demon.”

The man’s words immediately made him think of Kuro since he was a cat demon. His nervousness made his voice shake as he stumbled for a response. He hastily stood to escape his red eyes that now held an angry fire. He held onto his hand too tightly for him to leave and his grip made him wince. Mahiru realized that the monk had claws similar to a demon. “Who are you?”

“Let go of him, Hyde.” When the voice came between them, the monk let go of Mahiru’s hand. A protective arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him into the safety of Kuro’s embrace. Mahiru looked over his shoulder to see Kuro standing behind him. His expression was similar to the hurt and regret he had when he faced Tsubaki. The pieces fell into place and he realized that Hyde was one of his seven siblings.

A tense atmosphere grew between them and Mahiru heard the villagers start to murmur. They knew that he was a demon but they weren’t certain if he was dangerous or not. The crowd backed away from them cautiously. Only Hyde stayed in his seat. “I was on my way to the ancient tree to see if the rumours were true. It’s lucky that you saved me the time and trouble, Nii-san.”

“Are you Kuro’s brother?” Mahiru stepped between them. There was a quiet anger in Hyde’s voice but he believed he could talk to him. He didn’t immediately attack Kuro like Tsubaki. Hyde appeared to be human and he didn’t have ears like Kuro or Tsubaki. “You two haven’t spoken in decades. Would you like to join us for tea? There must be a lot that you two need to catch up on.”

“Mahiru, this isn’t the time for tea. The only person who can hold a grudge longer than Tsubaki is Hyde. Get back,” Kuro whispered into his ear and tried to pull him away again. He faced his brother but a part of him was confused. Hyde wore a monk’s robe and he didn’t attack him immediately.

“Please, chase away the monster, Monk!” The villagers started to yell. The tense atmosphere caused the crowd to become more aggravated and violent. Thet started to hurl tiny stones at them and Kuro knocked them away to protect Mahiru.

“You foolish villagers don’t realize you’re asking a demon for protection against another demon. I recommend you run before you become causalities in our fight.” Hyde ran his hand thought his blond hair and horns grew. The villagers’ anxiousness turned to panic and they ran away. He waited until the street was clear before he started to unwrap the rosary from his hand.

“When did you become a monk?” Kuro wanted to distract Hyde so he could take Mahiru to safety.

“After I fell in love with a priestess, I promised her I would never harm humans. I don’t want to break that vow so tell your little human to run and hide. This is between us.” He warned. Kuro didn’t want Mahiru to be hurt so he tried to urge him away again. “A lot has changed since the last time we sparred. I have a new trick that will finally let me win.”

“It’s fine, Mahiru, go and hide in one of the stores. There’s something different about my brother.” Kuro extended his claws to fight him. He planned to only defend himself until Hyde became too tired to fight. Then, he could speak with him or run. He remembered the last conversation he had with his brother. Neither of them was direct with their feelings.

He expected Hyde to use his sword but he pulled his rosary loose instead. Kuro caught a glimpse of a dark circle on Hyde’s palm but he wasn’t able to focus on it for long. A powerful force dragged him forward and he struggled to keep his footing. “You’re not going to be able to resist for long, Nii-san. My wind tunnel will suck you into a void and kill you.”

“This isn’t a fair fight! Face your brother or else you’ll never understand each other. I don’t even know why you’re fighting in the first place. You’re brothers.” Mahiru yelled over the sound of the powerful wind. They both turned to where he was clinging to a door frame. He shocked the brothers when he let go of the building and dashed into the fight.

Several times, he almost fell because of the wind and flying rocks. Kuro ran to his side to save him but he was forced off his feet. Mahiru tackled him even though he wasn’t strong enough to knock him out of the wind tunnel’s pull. While Kuro desperately searched for a way to save them, Mahiru grabbed his sword. He pulled the tessaiga from the sheath and stabbed it into the ground.

Mahiru recalled how the sword created a barrier when he stabbed it into the door. He hoped that he could do the same again. The wind continued to storm around them and threatened to pull the sword free. Kuro reached around Mahiru and placed his hands on the tessaiga, transforming the sword. They used the sword as an anchor but then Hyde started to walk towards them.

With each step he took closer to him, the storm became stronger. They wouldn’t be able to hold onto the sword for long. Mahiru recalled what Hyde said earlier and echoed it, “You can’t kill Kuro while I’m here! You made a vow to a priestess.”

“Your human is loud and annoying.” Hyde wrapped the cloth and rosary around his hand again. Mahiru felt Kuro relax behind him and looked at their hands over the hilt. He realized that they were almost holding hands and he blushed. His hands were warm and strong and Mahiru didn’t want to let go of his hands immediately.

“His name is Mahiru.” Kuro corrected him. He stood and returned the sword to its sheath. “What are you doing here, Hyde?”

“Since you made me reveal that I’m a demon, I can’t visit that village anymore. They had the best tea shop and I liked their dango.” Hyde grumbled. The three were forced to leave the village and camp in the forest nearby. Kuro caught a few fish for them to eat while Mahiru cooked them. As he ate, Hyde complained. “Those villagers were superstitious and paid a lot for my sutras too.”

“You were the one who challenged Kuro to a fight.” Mahiru reminded him. He sat between the brothers to prevent Hyde from attacking Kuro again. Kuro took a fish from the fire and held it out to his brother. Hyde didn’t move to take it though. It was clear to see that there was a rift between them and that he wanted to mend their relationship. Mahiru wanted to help Kuro.

He tried to lighten the mood and keep their conversation casual. “You’re a travelling monk, Hyde. You told us that a priestess changed your views on humans. That must be an interesting story since Shinto and Buddhism are different. Did you become a monk before you met her or after?”

Hyde didn’t answer him so Mahiru tried to change the topic. “Most demons we’ve met don’t like humans and I was beginning to worry that Kuro would be the only one who wasn’t violent. The priestess must be a wonderful person for you to keep a promise to her after her passing. You and Kuro both have a human parent so you already have empathy for humans too.”

“She was. Ophelia died two hundred years ago and I’ve kept my vow to her all these years. But, you’re wrong when you said I like humans. I don’t care for them beyond the promise I made. Humans are selfish and oblivious creatures with Ophelia as the only exception.” Hyde glared into the fire but Kuro could see his grief hidden beneath his cold demeanour.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kuro wanted to say more but he didn’t know what his brother went through.

Hyde ignored him and continued. “Also, Nii-san is the only one of our siblings who has a human parent. I’m an oni without a drop of human blood. You must be the most clueless human I know. Didn’t my brother tell you anything about us? Father was a nekomata but we each had a different mother. He wasn’t faithful to his wives. The only thing he wanted was to see what happens when—”

“Mahiru doesn’t need to know about Father, Hyde.” He interrupted him. His voice was a little louder than he intended it to be. Hyde was shocked by his tone since he rarely raised his voice. Mahiru was surprised as well but he placed a comforting hand on his arm. Kuro didn’t turn to him but he leaned into his touch slightly.

Hyde watched their silent exchange and how close they were. He didn’t know what to make of Mahiru. Humans were scared of demons yet he tried to comfort Kuro. He also accepted that they were brothers while most would question how they were different demons.

Mahiru was the first to break the silence and said, “Kuro and I are collecting the jewel shards to keep them out of the hands of demons. I can see that you have one in your rosary. I would ask if you would give us your jewel piece. Since you’re Kuro’s brother and you have a vow to protect humans, I think we can entrust the jewel to you. We will need it back eventually though.”

“A weak human like you have no right to give me orders. I vowed to protect people like you but I don’t have to work with you. I need this jewel piece to defeat the man who cursed me.” Hyde looked down at his palm wrapped in prayer beads. “A week ago, a man approached me and asked if I would help him collect the shards. When I refused, he stabbed my hand and created the wind tunnel.”

“Was this man a spider demon named Touma?” Mahiru asked. The story he told him was similar to why the wolf clan was chased out of the mountains. Anger rose in him when he thought of how the man also targeted Kuro’s family.

“This hole in my hand will suck in everything around me. I was likely able to seal its power with these prayer beads. My wind tunnel is powerful and useful in battle but I can’t use it often. Each time I open the tunnel, it will grow bigger until it sucks me in. I don’t know when that will happen.” His hand started to tremble and he gripped his fingers to hide the way they shook. He didn’t want his brother to see his fear.

“Do you want to travel with us and help collect the shards?” Kuro offered in a hesitant voice. Hyde didn’t expect the offer but he didn’t immediately say no. “Touma is a strong demon and he already collected a few shards. It’s dangerous for you to face him on your own. You’re more likely to meet Touma again as well. He’s collecting the shards like we are.”

“I’m not the little brother who you had to protect when we were kids, Kuro.” He stood and dropped his fish into the fire. “While you were pinned to that tree, there were a lot of times I needed you but I got through them by myself. I’ll defeat Touma on my own too. After I do that, you’re next. You can’t hide behind your human forever. Humans die easily.”

“I’m sorry that your brother isn’t joining us. You must be worried about him and his wind tunnel but there’s a simple solution. Let’s defeat Touma and break the curse before anything can happen to your brother. Hyde will see how much you care.” Mahiru said confidently. Honestly, he was a little afraid to meet the spider demon since he sounded powerful. Would they be able to beat him?

“With his pride, Hyde wouldn’t be happy if we were the one to defeat Touma. He’ll be angrier after we tell him that it was for his sake. Hyde’s strong but he has a soft heart.” He sighed. “We weren’t a perfect family and our father only made it worse. But we were kids and he was the only person we thought we could rely on. He was our father, after all.”

“Your father might’ve told you that but he was wrong. You had each other. I hope Tsubaki and Hyde will see that soon and realize how much you care about them. We don’t know how long that will be but I’ll help you talk to them. I’ve been told I could be stubborn but persuasive.” Kuro couldn’t help but think of what Hyde said before he left.

Humans die easily.

He looked down at Mahiru walking next to him. He wanted to ask him why he ran out of the building but he already knew that it was simply Mahiru’s nature. Hyde wouldn’t have hurt him because of his vow yet Kuro couldn’t say the same for other demons they would face. He grew to care for Mahiru and the thought of him being hurt became heavier.

“Hyde left in the middle of the night. He didn’t steal our shards while we were sleeping and that’s a good sign. He’s honourable. We might be able to get through to him with time. Do you think we’ll meet him again?” Mahiru looked up at the clouds. He wanted to lighten the mood and pointed at the sky. “Doesn’t that one look like a muffin? I haven’t eaten one in a long time.”

“A muffin? That must be one of the foods from your time so I don’t know if you’re right. It looks more like a tree to me.” His observation made Mahiru chuckle softly. Kuro didn’t think he said anything funny but he was glad to see his smile. They continued down the road and point at the clouds. “You should be careful not to run into something while you’re staring at the clouds.”

“You won’t let anything hurt me.” He replied without a pause of hesitation. From his grin, Kuro knew that Mahiru was confident in his words. “You’ll hear someone approach and warn me. It’s amazing how strong your senses are, even if you mostly use it to avoid people. Can you smell if we’re near a tea shop or a restaurant? We didn’t get to eat a lot yesterday.”

“Am I a nekomata or a dog to you?” Kuro gave into his smile and sniffed the air. He expected to only smell the scent of the grass yet there was something else as well. “I smell a lot of ink and blood nearby.”

“Maybe an artist is hurt on the road and they need help. We should go check. Let’s go!” Mahiru urged him desperately and pulled him forward. He didn’t know where the artist could be so Kuro ran ahead of him to lead them. The smell of ink was almost overwhelming and it made him dizzy. He ignored the sensation and tracked the scent to a clearing.

They stopped in front of a small clearing. Mahiru’s hands flew over his mouth when he saw the bodies of mercenaries laying on the ground. He couldn’t imagine who could’ve killed so many men. He took a moment to pray for the men’s souls. “We should give these men a proper burial. I wonder what happened. We didn’t hear anything so the battle happened a while ago.”

“Something’s not right. I can smell blood but there’s not a drop here. Whoever did this must’ve killed these men for their blood and they’re still nearby. Earlier, I smelled ink too but I don’t know why mercenaries would carry so much. I’ll try to find the demon.” Kuro sniffed the air again. “They might have a jewel shard to kill this many people. We should… I can smell Hyde.”

“But your brother couldn’t have done this. He vowed to protect humans and his wind tunnel wouldn’t leave any bodies behind.” Mahiru saw how Kuro’s face became pale. He could read the fear and worry in his expression. They heard a loud clash in the distance and Kuro grabbed his hand. Together, they ran towards the sound. The demon collecting blood was powerful and his brother could be in danger.

The clouds darkened above them but they moved like ink spilling over parchment. Drops of ink fell from the clouds and took the form of demons. Kuro searched his memory but he didn’t know of a demon who could create life from ink. His brother was strong but the number of demons he saw could easily overwhelm any demon.

“Hyde!” He yelled his name when he saw him in the distance. Hyde was fighting with a man but Kuro could see that he was only defending himself. The man seemed weak so he should’ve been able to overpower him. He grew his claws to help his brother but his yell stopped him.

“He’s a human!” Kuro realized the reason Hyde wasn’t fighting back was because of his vow to protect humans. He tried to separate the two without hurting the human. Ink swirled around them and Kuro could smell blood mixed within it. The man appeared to be a mere artist so he didn’t know how he could control the ink around them.

He laughed and said: “With my shard, no one can defeat me. People laughed at my art but I’ll show them that they were wrong.”

“The man has a jewel shard in his ink pot. He must be using the power of the shard to create these demons. I thought humans weren’t able to use the jewel.” Mahiru drew his arrow to help fight. While Hyde wouldn’t let them hurt the human, he could fight the ink demons at least. “There were a lot of demons and he can create more. Thinking simply, we have to take the shard.”

“You two focus on the artist and I’ll use my wind tunnel on those demons. No matter how many he creates, it’ll be pointless.” Mahiru remembered how dangerous it was for him to use his wind tunnel frequently. He started to argue but Kuro was quicker. He drew the tessaiga from his scabbard and the sword grew into a large fang.

Ashes circled his sword until the blade was coated and became black. He swung the sword upwards to the clouds. The ashes on his sword became needles as it flew into the sky and pierced the demons. Kuro looked back to Hyde over his shoulder. “Don’t use your wind tunnel on the demons. The tessaiga can kill a hundred demons in one swing.”

“Fine, I’ll leave the demons to you.” Hyde said and drew his saber to fight the human.

“This will sting a little but it’ll help the cuts heal faster.” Mahiru smoothed ointment onto the small gashes on his shoulder. In Hyde’s fight with the painter, he had been hurt before they arrived. The cuts were small and he wasn’t injured heavily. Most likely, they would heal within a few days. He insisted on treating the wounds because he wanted to speak to Hyde.

“Kuro will be back with the herbs soon. You should have a proper talk with him when he returns.” He said and Hyde’s response was a curt mutter. Mahiru sighed at his stubbornness. “You made a vow never to hurt humans. Kuro also made a vow to never use his mother’s sword. He hasn’t told me the details but I know he used it to kill your father. It’s a painful memory he regrets.”

“He used it today.” Hyde retorted.

“Do you know why?” Mahiru dropped his hand and Hyde turned around to face him. “You’re his brother and you’re more important to him than that vow. In that moment, he let go of the past and saved you. You should let go of the past as well.”

“You shouldn’t tell him something like that, Mahiru.” Kuro’s voice interrupted them. He hadn’t realized that he returned and Mahiru stood. It wasn’t his place to meddle but Mahiru wanted to see the two become a family again. “Hyde has every right to be angry with me. If you’re finished treating his wounds, we should get back to the road.”

“Nii-san,” Hyde said. Even though he was the one who stopped him, nervously looked down at his feet. “Can I still accept your offer from earlier and join you guys?”

Kuro nodded and placed his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll defeat Touma together and break the curse he put on you.”