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luffyvace · 3 months

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☆彡PHANTOM TROUPE RELATIONSHIP HCS ☆彡

(separate)

Disclaimer: Credits to the artists!! I own none of these pictures!

I procrastinated on these for way too long.. still! Enjoy! <3 (these exclude hisoka & Kalluto)

Chrollo:

Chrollo is a lover that takes care of whom he loves!

therefore, he takes care of you!

Any hobbies you have, he’ll indulge in them with you

any supplies you need for said hobbies?

art supplies, ski gear, ice skates, computer, hiking equipment!

The list goes on

even if you never actually use the stuff he buys he doesn’t mind :)

cuz hey! He didn’t actually buy it! 🤪

chrollo will truly do anything in his power to keep you happy

and we all know power is something he certainly does have

he can buy you a luxury house and car all the way down to cuddling in the warm rays of the sunset while having a cookout

i guarantee if your upset, he’ll make you happy within the next hour

chrollo probably never learned how to love properly

but with you?? The definition of love doesn’t matter. he’s just grateful he has it.

you make him feel like he knows what he’s doing with himself in life.

he’s less lost, if I may say.

he’s found a home, in you.

Nobunaga:

nobunaga was never familiar with love and never even thought about the fact that he wasn’t interested!

but here you are simply having a conversation, chatting.

and yet even with such a simple act he feels so nervous?? While excited and happy at the same time??

he wonders why he even feels so fidgety!

your just talking!!

how on the earth are you making him act a fool like this?!

like yeah your pretty and he likes your personality and you two have the same interests plus all of your interactions have gone good…..man he really is in love huh

WHAT IS THIS SOME SAPPY ROMANCE MOVIE?

now I know it only seems like he has a crush

but you two are actually already in the relationship!!

and yes, he still gets nervous. The feeling never goes away

once he tried to ask if you still get butterflies n stuff and if you said no he’s gonna be so embarrassed!!!!

seriously he brushes it off like it didn’t bother him and never brings it up again

Feitan:

feitan will probably do better with a nonchalant or sadist partner so 1) you can enjoy torturing with him or 2) you won’t care or get grossed out that he does

If your not doesn’t matter he’s still gonna anyway-

he’s not the typa dude to change for love

but that aside

he likes your quiet company

so like reading together (whether it’s two different books or not)

and reviewing to each other

learning new skills from/with each other

actually sometimes feitan teaches you cool human body facts!!

Like how brains are around 60% fat!

or that they weight 3 pounds! ;D

how cool is that?!

yes this is his tastes in topics and humor

and he only laughs if you say stay like “gross!” Or “ew that’s disgusting!”

he will be satisfied if you find it cool too

Long story short don’t go into his library

you won’t find any books you like there unless you like what he does

Machi:

She’s an assertive domestic girlfriend

Plus she’s really caring

but caring doesn’t always mean sweet and happy all the time

while she has no problem taking care of you..

you better either get up and do some things yourself or return the favor !

She expects you to at least be able to get daily tasks done

either that or clean the whole house like she was gonna do. you choose.

your place is probably really simple yet well decorated

Not for an aesthetic but because of just general things you have

like a shoe rack, the pretty furniture and rugs, the dart board she owns, any hobby equipment you own (easel, paintings, hockey equipment, hiking equipment, etc)

it all just makes a really cozy look for your house

and yes you two definitely play darts together

she will win unapologetically and won’t hold back

she wants to genuinely see you improve so she doesn’t go easy on you

“You can’t get better by playing against somebody worse than you”

Phinks:

phinks in a relationship is literally the definition of a guy who could pull more if he was less nervous

but he obviously pulled you and that’s what matters most

he gets flustered easily but tries to hide it

(Spoiler: he fails)

phinks will try to be romantic but it’ll either get ruined by his friends crashing the date

*ahem* shal and fei 😒(😂💗)

or he’ll just be so incredibly nervous that it doesn’t go as smoothly as he planned

he thinks up these brilliant romantic scenarios in his head but can never seem to execute them 🤨😕

it’s the thought that counts 🤷‍♀️💝

he would truly be such a romantic if he could just stop freaking out

I mean don’t get me wrong it’s not like it never works

when it does, he’s excited in the moment

but as soon as it’s over he’s worrying like crazy about how he’s gonna upstage that from last time

Especially without screwing up and making a fool of himself

little does he know you love him all the same 😂

Shalnark:

is really teasing and playful so I hope your not hot headed

if your aren’t and choose to prank him back instead?

it literally becomes prank wars

at some point the pranks started a real (petty) argument

after it was settled you decided not to terrorize each other anymore

now you target the troupe with your antics! 😆

your main victim is phinks

mostly because his reaction is really funny

Plus he’s the easiest to get mad

LOL

but back to the original topic where your hot headed….

yeah the argument probably ended up happening sooner than not

although at first he doesn’t take it seriously because your always getting mad like this

then you say something that makes him realize your serious

he feels really stupid for not noticing sooner

he’ll genuinely apologize (for literally once in his life)

and direct his pranks to someone else

after that you probably end up watching the victims and find it funny too

so you still end up bonding over it 😅💖

Franklin:

Franklin is not necessarily gentle

he’s just more coolheaded than not

like the time he started fighting with uvogin in the 1999 version

like he’s chill until you say the wrong thing

but that’s just how he is in general

he never gets mad at s/o

his patience is infinity+ for you

You may have secretly tried to make him angry or at least annoyed-

but if it one day goes too far he says “stop.” with a very serious tone/look and you probably stop from there 😀

😗

otherwise if you don’t decide to test the waters from jump, Franklin doesn’t have many hobbies so he’ll literally just indulge in what you like

like it doesn’t even matter if he finds it boring

you’d never know because he’d be so supportive of you doing what you love

but it’s more likely than not he’ll enjoy a few

franklin is also decent at like every house chore ever, cooking, sweeping/cleaning for example

like he knows how to do everything, but he’s just average at it

Shizuku:

Shizuku is very forgetful

she forgets chores, how to cook certain things, favors you asked her to do

But you don’t have to worry about her forgetting things about you solely because she would never date anyone she doesn’t know enough to remember

She probably wouldn’t remember she likes you so why would she?!

Unless like she forgets how long she’s known you-

AND LIKE- MAGICALLY THINKS YALL BEEN FRIENDS FOR YEARS WHEN YALL MET 6 MONTHS AGO

That’s a writing prompt

she’d be remembering memories that never happened and everything 🤦‍♀️

But we won’t go into that here…

it’s probably low key annoying that you have to do a lot of things because she keeps forgetting

so I sure hope your patient..

“huh? You never asked me to do that..”

”no! Your didn’t, I remember! you never even came in the living room!” (Her saying ‘I remember’ is ironic I know)

With a more motherly and provider mindset reader she’d do just fine

At the very least shizuku will remember your favorite things and gift you them when she can<3

isnt that sweet?!

see?? It’s not like she’s being a jerk!

she genuinely forgot!

Pakunoda:

pakunoda is wife criteria

she can do everything

she is gentle, caring and strong

she can protect and advice you

she remembers all your favorite things—everything about you!

she always cooks your favorite meals

paku loves to relax on the beach together with some wine~

she loves road trips and mini calm adventures

Take her on some!! She deserves it with all she does for you!

and you definitely do!

you guys create lots of fun and heart warming memories together

out in the grass, in the wild life, in forests, in the dessert!

she’s a great cook and a outstanding baker!! 😍😋😋

her signature dish is raspberry pie

ITS SO DELICIOUS

she makes random desserts and pastries for you as a love language

getting up to her breakfast is the best way to start your day possible

you literally can always expect a good meal with her

if you’ve been having a bad day???

at this point a bad day ain’t a bad day no more cuz you already dancing knowing she gon hook you up‼️💃🕺

Bonolenov:

bonolenov is so grateful that you act normal around him

like you have from the start, you never alienated him

before and after he took off his bandages

he can cook but others wouldn’t think so because his tribe’s traditional food is different than the norm

If you tried it and liked it he’s be overjoyed!!

He’d feel much more confident about cooking and do it for you more often

he’d low key question if your from his tribe and wonder if you’d say no to a blood test

(BRO another writing prompt!! Bonolenov finding a reader from his tribe!!)

if you didn’t like it I’m sure you let him down gently since you love him

and he gets it

maybe it was just that one dish though?

he’d want you to try a few more of different types (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts and snacks) before you completely give up on it

if you truly end up not liking it he won’t be angry or anything

it simply wasn’t for you :)

he’s actually a pretty chill dude

Even more so around you

he likes to lazy around a lot and you two might cuddle often

not intentionally but like you just both end up napping together all the time

if you want he’ll teach you his tribes dances and such

as well as traditions

he’ll be impressed if you master the dances fast

(him wondering if your from his tribe again)

Even If you take a bit longer he’s patient :)

he’s open to taking off his bandages around you if your not uncomfortable

if you are that’s fine they’re pretty comfy !

Uvogin:

uvogin is very rough

I mean it’s kinda hard to be gentle at that size-

if he hurts you on accident you’ll get a brief ‘sorry’ but know it’s genuine

don’t worry it doesn’t happen often enough to be concerned

but don’t stand behind him.

you’ve learned your lesson on that….

he squashed your toes once and it was not fun

don’t get me wrong he’s not some monster

he’s just big

so he’s gotta watch out for a bunch of tiny humans you know??

okay put it like this, imagine a grown man/woman is running full speed because they’re late to work and they run into a 3 year old and knock them down

was it intentional?? No. Do they apologize and feel bad?? Yes. Is it a little funny after everything’s okay?? Also Yes.

I will say it is fun to ride on his shoulder and sit in his lap/on his leg

(another prompt could be uvogin with a s/o as big as him..)

it’s fun for him to carry you around

it’s like have a little portable buddy

that idea is kinda wholesome ☹️💗

AND DON’T FORGET HIS BIG SMOOOOOCHIES 💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋

he loves you 😊

FINALLYYYYYY GOT THIS DONE💥💥

I love the troupe :) the police needs to stop hating on they’re emo band fr 🙄✋

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bwabys-scenarios · 11 months

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Chubby!Reader taking phantom troupe+Illumi and Kurapika shopping with her

characters: chrollo, feitan, uvogin, Shalnark, Phinks, Machi, Pakunoda, Shizuku, Nobunaga, Illumi, Kurapika

warning: slightly suggestive in Pakunoda’s and Kurapika’s

A/N: me on my way to single handedly provide for my chubby hxh fans… this is super self indulgent hope y’all like it!!

Chrollo

-offended on your behalf because of how limiting the clothing options are

-y’all go to like 5 different stores before finding somewhere that sells your size

-“oh! I must be lucky because I thought we’d at least need to go to 3 more before I found my size :3”

-you’re just happy you found a dress and top that looked nice

-he just looks at you like 👁️👁️ “sweetheart… this is not okay.”

-“chrollo this is the first time in 3 years I found clothing in store, usually I have to shop online.”

-will take you to get custom made clothing, nothing is too good for you!!

-honestly he’s pretty appalled by the lack of clothing available for you. you shouldn’t have to get custom made clothing to have something fit you right :(

-also gets you custom made lingerie but cough cough don’t question it

Feitan

-he was watching you shop online and groan because the dress you really wanted was sold out in your size

-“just go to store.”

-“they don’t carry my size in store.”

“… what.”

-this man is itty bitty he has no idea about your struggles 😭😭 he’ll accompany you on your next shopping outing to… observe

-please take him to torrid it would be so funny

-“… they expect young woman to wear this?”

-he holds up an ugly Disney shirt that’s super unflattering. he’s not the best with fashion but even he knows that it’s ugly as hell

-“YEAHH I used to shop here all the time because it’s one of the only shops that has my size in store.”

-you find a dress that looks relatively nice while feitan browses the lingerie LOL… he’s stealing you something, it might not be the clothes you wanted but that black lingerie set speaks to him…

-now if he’s out on a mission he’ll stop by stores and steal you some nicer clothes, you deserve it! (He’s such a cutie patootie UGHH)

Uvogin

-no he absolutely understands your struggles

-he’s fucking huge it’s hard to find clothes in his size too

-tbh he’ll just suggest you make your own clothes or get them custom made, but if you really want him to go shopping with you he will

-literally shocked with the lack of feminine clothing for big women

-he can at least find SOME things his size, and he’s obviously bigger than you

-but you can’t find a single thing

-calls Shalnark to ask him to track down some local shops that carry your size

-will carry all of your bags for you!!(hubby material)

Shalnark

-he just doesn’t believe you until you show him

-he mostly shops online too so will suggest you keep doing the same, but you wanna go shopping with your boyfriend!!

-he has no problem accompanying you, but is doubtful you won’t find ANYTHING

-that is until after you’ve visited the 7th clothing department and there wasn’t a single clothing item in your size! And it isn’t like you weren’t looking hard enough, he looked up the inventory of each store and there was nothing!

-apologizes for not believing you by buying you some boba or pastries

-also the type to get you custom made clothing, tho it will be sorted more to his tastes than yours(the skirts are all way to short and the tops dip a bit too low)

-doesn’t understand why they can’t just sell your size. wouldn’t they make more money that way?

Phinks

-already knows your woes of not being able to find cute clothes in your size

-goes shopping with you literally whenever you want and won’t stop until you find at least SOMETHING(he’s whipped for you)

-got really sad when he found matching couple pajamas and they didn’t have your size(he’s killing someone over this)

-so cute, gets excited with you when you find something you like

-also carries bags

-takes you somewhere nice after. it’s stressful trying on clothes all day, especially when none of them fit!

-Phinks is soft for his lover agenda RAHHH

Machi

-offers to make clothes for you

-probably the second most understanding. she’s seen women’s clothing sections, although she can’t really relate to not finding her size

-will actually hurt anyone that is rude to you while shopping

-likes to help you in the changing room, saying she doesn’t want you to slip(it’s an excuse to feel you up but she’s a lil tsundere so she’ll never admit it)

-if you can’t find anything, she’ll buy you some accessories or stuffed animals, literally will NOT let you pay

-extra sweet on you when you get home, reassuring you that she loves you and that your clothing doesn’t matter to her(she’s trying her best give her a lil kiss for her efforts)

Pakunoda

-as a big chested woman, she can relate a bit! she doesn’t struggle to find clothes as much as you do though

-researches which stores carry your size so you don’t have to go in just to be disappointed

-also will get you custom made clothing, but let’s you choose what you want. she thinks your fashion style is cute!

-gets you custom made matching outfits

-also helps you in the changing room but isn’t hiding her wandering gaze at ALL

-after a fun day of shopping you two cuddle in bed and watch whatever you want!

Nobunaga

-another person that doesn’t really believe you, but because he sees you as a cute lil thing

-will call you silly for thinking they don’t carry your size! your his sweet little girlfriend, why wouldn’t they?

-in for the shock of his life

-literally gets on his hands and knees to apologize

-it’s been like 3 hours and the only thing you’ve found was a hello kitty tshirt that was a little tight on you, but you refused to go home with nothing!!!

-feels bad, will treat you to a nice dinner

Shizuku

-just says to wear her clothes

-“… Shizuku, sweetheart, we aren’t the same size.”

-stares at you for a minute

-keeps staring

-grabs your hand and runs to go shopping with you

-keeps getting lost while you’re in the changing room

-you end up having to have her sit in the changing room with you while you change(she does not mind in the slightest 👁️)

-cannot comprehend why you can’t find clothes in your size

-love her so much but she’s actually the worst to shop with. You spend more time trying to find her than look for clothes

Illumi

-you don’t really have to worry about finding clothes in your size because he has everything made for you, but if you just want to go shopping for the experience he won’t deny you

-cue him contacting the ceo of the clothing store and demanding they start selling your size after you don’t find anything

-hates seeing your sad face, probably won’t take you shopping again unless he’s researched and made sure the place you picked carries your size :(

-so sweet to you, gets you ice cream and buys you jewelry and stuffed animals to make you feel better

-when you get home there’s a rack of clothing Taylor made for you waiting in your shared room

Kurapika

-he needed to go shopping for some clothing too, so he accompanies you

-gets a little embarrassed shopping in the women’s section because people always mistake him for a girl himself

-gets pretty pissed off when an employee rudely says they don’t carry your size

-“Kurapika it’s fine, let’s go somewhere else.”

-will hold your hand protectively as you go from place to place

-when you find a few things, he’s happy for you!

-is a little glad that people thinks he’s a woman because that means he can slip into the changing room with you 👀

-perv!kurapika strikes again

-makes sure you leave the store feeling VERY happy ;)

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brucebocchi · 1 month

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Winter 2024 anime, Pt. 2: Mixed reactions, the bench, and the gems

hey y'all, this is also up on my ko-fi! it's free to read both here and there, but i'm struggling financially rn so i could appreciate if you'd throw a few bucks my way if you liked it! part 1 can be found here.

And we're back for part 2! Here's all the new stuff I finished this season, and one more I'll get back to later. As with before, these are sorted alphabetically within each category and are not ranked as of yet.

Also as before, the OP for each series is linked in the title. Check them all out if the header images aren't giving you the right feel for each show, but also check them out because most of them were actually pretty damn good this season.

[Solo Leveling OP voice] LET'S GET IT!

Mixed Bags:

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Your standard, quasi-harem “easily flustered Regular Guy wins over hot girls just by being really nice” shonen romcom. I really don’t have much to say about this one other than if you’ve seen My Dress-Up Darling, you’ve basically seen this already. The only thing that really sets it apart is the setting.

Tsubasa (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, in a FAR cry from his turn as Mahito in Jujutsu Kaisen) is a straight-laced Tokyoite whose family situation lands him in a small city in the frozen boonies of Hokkaido. While looking for the bus to his new house, he runs into a gyaru in the snowy wild, the underdressed, hilariously-proportioned Minami, and they hit it off. It turns out they go to the same school, there are other cute girls there who take a shine to him as well, it’s nothing new.

I ultimately don’t have much to say about Hokkaido Gals, but I do have a soft spot for series like this, and after reading ahead in the manga I felt obligated to see it through. This is all junk food, but it’s all stuff you’ve seen done better in other series. I also have a soft spot for gyaru in anime and manga, and while I do like Minami just fine, she isn’t Marin Kitagawa or Rumiko Manbagi. I don’t really have it in me to recommend this show to many, though, at least not until another season rolls around, if that ever happens. The manga genuinely does get a lot better as it goes on, but the really worthwhile stuff may not happen until a third season, and I just don’t see that happening.

The manga has issues that the anime isn’t willing or able to solve, chief of which being the visuals. The art style of the manga is wildly inconsistent, and getting a mediocre animation team on this didn’t help matters at all. While the colors often pop nicely against the pretty, snowy backdrops, nobody looks all that great overall. The characters are recognizable, but they just plain don’t look great a lot of the time, nor do they look consistent from one cut to the next; I said that Minami’s proportions are hilarious, but just as hilarious is how wildly they vacillate from one scene to the next for the sake of trying to titillate the viewer.

My biggest takeaway from both the manga and anime was everything I learned about Hokkaido in the process, and if the series is taking subsidies from the island’s tourism bureau, then it’s a job well done. I want some goddamn jingisukan now. The OP is a great time, though. I’m shocked it took over a decade for us to get a proper “Uptown Funk” knockoff in an anime.

Metallic Rouge

I’ll be upfront in saying that this was my biggest disappointment of the season by far. This show had so much going for it, and what we got was… ugh.

There was an unbelievable amount of promise from the outset: This was Studio Bones’ commemorative 25th anniversary production, and coming from the studio that gave us all-timer adaptations like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Mob Psycho 100, not to mention later works from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe (including the Cowboy Bebop movie), you can’t fault anyone for having high expectations. It looked to be a fitting production as well: Watanabe’s influence shines through immediately in the gorgeous, lived-in cyberpunk off-world locales and racially diverse cast. Action takes the form of dope robo-tokusatsu transformation fisticuffs, and it’s entirely in 2D animation to boot. The first couple of episodes were killer, too; everything looked and sounded amazing, and there were just enough plot threads teased out that I just had to see how they’d unravel.

It brings me no joy, then, to say that Metallic Rouge collapses into a jumbled mess. I don’t even want to bother talking about what happens in the show because I don’t fucking care anymore. There are few media experiences more sobering than to have it dawn on you over a span of several weeks that “oh… this isn’t actually all that good, is it?” Episode after episode piles on with sloppy lore, weak worldbuilding, warring factions whose names you immediately forget, pointless double-crosses, and the most predictable twist you’ve ever seen. For a while I was willing to accept the fact that I didn’t know what was going on half the time and expected things to become clearer, but now I’m not entirely sure the writers knew either. The stakes apparently kept rising and everything just kept getting more claustrophobic. I’m glad it’s over, if only because if I had to hear “Clair de Lune” one more fucking time, I was going to go ballistic.

There are several attempts at emotional beats, as the story is rife with tragedy and sacrifice, and every single one lands with a wet thud. Nobody gets enough time, motivation, or characterization for any of these things to feel like they actually matter, and that’s especially a shame because the finale might have been able to stick the landing if the previous episodes were less dense and better paced. Emphasis on “almost,” though, because just before the season ends, we get the absolute most pointless fakeout I’ve seen since The Rise of Skywalker, which is the lowest point of comparison you can make for any work of sci-fi.

This is especially frustrating because on paper, there is so much to like here. Rouge and Naomi are likable-enough deuteragonists with a fun dynamic, and they’d make easy yuri bait in a better show. The characters are all pretty and uniquely designed across the board, and the overall aesthetic, almost a pastiche of late-90’s anime futurism, is undeniable. The toku suit designs are neat and several of the action scenes are gorgeous. The score and soundtrack are outstanding (except for the aforementioned Debussy indulgence). I have few complaints about how the show looks and sounds; the style is great! All of my issues lie with the substance.

Metallic Rouge may have had all the ingredients, but it just needed more time to cook; whether that would have been by doubling the episode count or by more carefully planning the pacing and trimming some of the fat from the lore, I’m still not sure. Probably both. It probably needed better writers, too. Maybe it just isn’t as smart as it acts and there was no way to satisfyingly resolve the clumsy civil rights allegories that bring it uncomfortably close to the likes of Detroit: Become Human. So all of the above, I guess. I tend to adore stories that involve artificially-intelligent beings developing their own wills and emotions and learning to cut their own strings (the likes of Blade Runner, Nier Automata, even a couple of character arcs in the Persona series), but this ain’t it. I’m not even mad anymore. I’m just disappointed.

If there are two positives that will stick with me, though, they would be the absolute banger of an OP and, of course, Naomi Orthmann herself (pictured above, left). Outstanding character design. I’m mildly obsessed. She deserved a better show.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

This one isn’t even worth talking about, so here’s a brief synopsis, then I’ll add some commentary, and then we’ll all move on with our lives.

Rentt, a beloved but mediocre adventurer in a fantasy town, gets lost in the mysterious labyrinth that all adventurers explore for personal gain, gets waxed by a dragon, and awakens as a shitty-looking CGI skeleton. He notices, though, that he’s able to level up better as a skeleton than he did as a human, and with the more monsters he defeats, the more he evolves into something closer to human. The rest isn’t really worth discussing.

If I’m being honest, I should’ve dropped this show much sooner. It looks kinda lousy most of the time, the plot (inasmuch as there even is one) is boring, character designs are forgettable (except for Rentt’s closest ally, Lorraine, holy hell) and it seems wholly uninterested in actually building its own setting. If it returns for a second season, I won’t be there, nor will I feel like I’m missing anything. Each episode felt like a chore to watch. I probably only saw it through because 1) I liked looking at Lorraine, I know what I’m about, and 2) I didn’t want to lump it in with the shows I did drop. The Unwanted Undead Adventurer isn’t as patently upsetting or frustrating as those three, but it just plain isn’t a very good show.

The Witch and the Beast

This show could have been so much more. I was drawn in by the gorgeous character designs and intriguing blend of Victorian gothic aesthetics and architecture with modern infrastructure, and very quickly disappointed by just about everything else. The first episode is an exceptional proof of concept, and almost everything that follows is an upsetting showcase of what could have been.

The story centers around Ashaf, a languid, chain-smoking agent of the governing church with a big-ass coffin strapped to his back, and his partner Guideau, a snarling hyena in a young woman’s body, as they investigate abuses of magic across the continent in search of nefarious witches. Guideau in particular has a bone to pick with witches, as the body they presently inhabit is the result of a witch’s curse, and they remain in furious pursuit of the one who cursed them. The curse can be temporarily undone by a kiss with a witch, allowing Guideau’s true body, a hulking brute confined to the coffin, to escape and wreak havoc. Meaning that on a few occasions we get a girl-on-girl kiss followed by a big dude wrecking shit. There’s also other investigations of serial killings, necromancy, and a cursed sword, and here’s hoping you like those, because the coffin breaks are few and far between.

This wasn’t great! By the third episode I had the sneaking suspicion that the animation talent on hand just wasn’t enough to support the aesthetic. While the character designs are exceptional, almost everyone looks awful in any shot that isn’t completely focused on them. This is especially true of Guideau, who looks so inconsistently off-model from one shot to the next that I’m still not entirely sure what they’re supposed to look like, and that’s kind of unforgivable when we’re talking about a main character. Everything looks too dim and too shiny at the same time, and action scenes look like shit more often than they look interesting. I can see so many flickers of something excellent (or at least really good-looking) in Witch and the Beast, and everything else that keeps those flickers from actually igniting makes it so much more frustrating to watch. Maybe just read the manga instead; the panels I've seen from it were uniformly gorgeous.

Actually, yeah, you should probably just read the manga, because for a season of anime, the pacing is atrocious too. It’s clearly trying to angle for a monster-of-the-week format, but each of these mini-arcs is a little too dense for a single episode, so multiple episodes are dedicated to these one-off curiosities, most of which do nothing to advance the plot or show off what the show does best. And if one of them isn’t particularly interesting, you’re saddled with it for the next two weeks like you've been stuck munching on a mealy apple. And I know you can only adapt so much in a 12-episode season, but the decision to end the season on a flashback arc and a lore dump was baffling. That’s not world-building, that’s lazy, and it made the show’s existing pacing issues feel that much more inane.

I feel like I was sold a false bill of goods. I can only imagine how the mangaka feels about this. Dull and uninspiring all around. What a waste.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Isekai, unassuming high school boy gains a unique power, impending war with the Demon Lord, yadda yadda yadda. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic isn’t anything new or special by any means, nor is it particularly well-animated or -paced, but at its best it’s silly and charming enough that it made a nice, brainless palate cleanser on Fridays.

Usato, your standard quiet high schooler, ends up walking home on a rainy evening with the popular, attractive student council president and VP, when an isekai portal happens. It turns out that it was just the seito-kai that was invited along for the ride (and President Suzune, as it turns out, is fucking psyched to get to be in an isekai), and Usato got caught along with them. When tested for magical aptitude, Suzune and VP Kazuki hit the jackpot with electric and light affinities, respectively, but things go awry when Usato’s reading turns up with healing magic. Terror strikes the palace as the intimidating dommy-mommy Captain Rose barges in to spirit Usato away from his new friends and into her squadron of goons to train him as a combat medic.

As character comedy goes, this one is actually pretty solid at times. Shogo Sakata is plenty of fun as the put-upon, lippy Usato (a much louder role than Chainsaw Man’s Aki Hayakawa), and Atsuko Tanaka (Major Kusanagi herself!) is a blast as the terrifying Rose, an uncompromising slave driver of a drill sergeant with a secret soft side. The dynamic between them is great, too; Usato is over Rose’s shit from the beginning and isn’t afraid to talk back to her, but before you know it, this transforms into friendly banter as Rose clearly takes a shine to Usato and knows he can handle any punishment she doles out. Suzune’s also a bunch of fun now that she’s broken away from having to be the competent, popular girl at school and gets to fully lean into being a complete dork.

Wrong Way also works decently as an isekai, because it makes an effort to stay rooted in high fantasy rather than fall back on JRPG mechanics, meaning there are no stat screens! It also avoids the trappings of wish-fulfillment isekai series by having Usato start out as a regular-ass guy; he’s not a Kirito type, just someone Rose sees as a rough gem in need of cutting. There are no cheat skills or OP weapons or anything, just a kid training every day to get stronger so he can protect the people close to him, and that��s the kind of anime protagonist you should want to be.

For better and for worse, I get serious mid-00s vibes from this one; watch the OP if you don’t believe me. Some of the colors pop uncannily in that early-digipaint-era way, and the animation is pretty middling; the most fluid animation we see is whenever Suzune is acting like a creep. Much like those mid-00s anime, though, Wrong Way may have benefited from being weekly (or twice as long) rather than seasonal. There’s a ton of planting with very little payoff, and it doesn’t feel like the actual scope of the story has even been addressed yet. We don’t even learn why the series has the name it does until someone literally says it aloud in the 11th episode. I may have to reevaluate this season after a possible second, if we ever get one, because this doesn’t stand too well on its own.

Of the anime in this “mixed bags” segment, I’d say I enjoyed Wrong Way the most, but it still had enough problems for me to keep it here. It’s not a particularly bad anime, but it’s not especially good either. I guess we can slot it into what Hazel refers to as “good mid.”

On Hold:

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (three episodes watched)

Man, what a title. That was the main draw for this BL series, which on paper is basically a gay version of the Mel Gibson vehicle What Women Want.

Adachi (a surname that will always make me laugh thanks to Persona 4), a gloomy salaryman, has hit the big 3-0 without getting any, and now he can somehow read anyone’s thoughts just by making physical contact with them. Just as he laments that this is his life now, he accidentally bumps into his handsome, popular coworker, Kurosawa, whom he learns has been harboring a massive crush on Adachi this whole time. Well dang, what now? Kurosawa’s a really nice, thoughtful dude, but Adachi’s never even thought about being with a man before! And isn’t there something wrong with already knowing this secret? How can he even go into the office and look Kurosawa in those big, handsome eyes… every single day…

What I’ve seen so far has been pretty solid, if not particularly well animated. The visuals are really my only gripe here; I just put it off for way too long and didn’t have it in me to finish it on time to actually get this thing written and published. Yaoi isn’t my forte, which feels like a shortcoming on my end as a fledgling bisexual, and I’ve already remarked on the solid LGBT representation this past season, so I do plan on hopping back on this one.

I gotta say, the co-leading voice actors put in serious work this season. Adachi is voiced by Chiaki Kobayashi, who continued his role as Stark in Frieren, returned to Mashle as Mash Burnedead, and contributed to Metallic Rouge’s cluttered cast as Noid. Kurosawa’s seiyuu, Ryota Suzuki (of whom I’ll always be a fan for his masterful turn as Yu Ishigami in Kaguya-sama), also held down leading roles in Bang Brave Bang Bravern and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer. They’ve been great in the few episodes of Cherry Magic! that I’ve seen so far, and they’ll be a huge part of what brings me back.

The Gems:

Bang Brave Bang Bravern

I feel like the mark of a perfectly audacious piece of media is in the moments where I find myself incredulously shouting “WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING” at the screen, and Bravern made me do that at least once per episode. I have so many things to say about what makes this show great but all of it can be summed up as “it fucks so goddamn hard.”

A joint military exercise in Hawaii between Japanese and American mech pilots goes south as a sudden invasion by metalloid aliens portends certain doom for humanity. Just in the nick of time, though, a bombastic, autonomous mech named Bravern arrives from space and insists that ace pilot Isami Ao take his reins. Isami reluctantly agrees, and to his consternation, Bravern goes full tokusatsu on everyone’s asses, complete with fully-diegetic theme music, and keeps the threat at bay. With Bravern continuing to pester him to act as a pilot, Isami is forced to take up the mantle of a reluctant hero as everyone rallies around Bravern to save Earth. Tagging along is blond-haired, blue-eyed American pilot Lewis Smith, who gets to live out all of his Top Gun fantasies, right down to the latent homosexuality.

That last point isn’t a projection or anything: This show is legitimately gay as hell, and it rules. Bravern’s feelings towards Isami feel far more romantic than what you’d expect from a literal robot, and his description of how it felt to have Isami pilot him for the first time, as relayed to a grim-faced military council, is riddled with hilarious innuendo. Isami struggles not only with shouldering the burden of needing to be a hero to all of humanity, but also being beset on both sides by a loud, insistent mecha and a dewy-eyed gaijin, both of whom very well seem to want to get in his pants. Intricate rituals punctuate Isami and Lewis’ angsty relationship as these broad-shouldered, muscular men grow ever closer. It’s also worth reiterating that Isami is voiced by Ryota Suzuki, who also voiced Kurosawa in Cherry Magic!, and that may not have even been his gayest role this season. I’m not super well-versed in mecha as a genre, but I do know that there’s a lot of Warrior’s Bond-type stuff in these series, and Bravern lays it on thick. And hard.

This show looks killer, by the way. CGI implementation in 2D anime is still a touchy subject, but Bravern features some of the best I’ve ever seen. Simple cel-shading goes a long way to the point where, outside of some uncanny motion, Bravern himself feels perfectly blended into the hand-drawn animation. Mecha designs range from realistic military-style tech to otherworldly sentient robots, and battle sequences run the same gamut as the stakes rise. As goofy as all of the above may sound, it’s committed to being a grandiose, big-time mecha showcase.

This is as good as camp gets in anime; Bravern does for the mecha genre what Akiba Maid War did for yakuza film pastiche (I have also heard positive comparisons to Samurai Flamenco, which I’ll have to get on ASAP). It’s an excellent mecha show in its own right, and wildly hilarious to boot. Bravern himself is very genre-savvy and seemingly a bit of an otaku himself; he loves acting like a mecha hero, to everyone else’s chagrin. Several of the villains (also mechanical beings, voiced by an all-star seiyuu roster that includes Kenjiro Tsuda, the aforementioned Atsuko Tanaka, and Rie Kugimiya) are total dorks themselves. A CIA interrogator tries to waterboard a mecha at one point. Bravern is a deeply silly show, but its heart is planted as firmly on its sleeve as its tongue is in its cheek: For as wacky as it can get, the story still unfolds with a straight face and excellent emotional beats.

This show also has the most unskippable ED of any anime since Chainsaw Man dropped a new one every week. I will not say what happens. You cannot predict what it is. Just watch it. One of the top YouTube comments on that video says “When I saw this ending after episode 2, I thought I was going crazy.” That’s a ringing endorsement.

Chained Soldier

On the heels of 100 Girlfriends completely rewiring my brain, I was raring for some more good old-fashioned anime trash. I was told that there would be plenty this season, but you can consult the “dropped” section to see how well that worked out for me. Chained Soldier came with some significant hype, and soon enough into the first episode I realized that I’d actually skimmed through this manga before (don’t ask why), so I was on board immediately. Now here’s some nice trashy fun.

The world is in peril thanks to creatures called Shuuki that can advance on our world via portals from another dimension. Women primarily lead the charge against these monsters, as this dimension produces a special fruit that can lend them (and not men) otherworldly powers to help them in the fight. Yuuki, a perfectly normal young man, ends up in grave danger as he stumbles into a portal, where he is saved by the beautiful Kyouka, a commander who is able to subjugate Shuuki at will and use them to fight others. In a bind, she asks Yuuki if she can subjugate him, which he agrees to by licking her finger and transforming into a monster himself, at her beck and call. Because of his utility in battle, Yuuki is enlisted into her squad of baddies (and also an 11-year-old), living in their home as a caretaker and answering directly to Kyouka as her “slave.”

I know. Hear me out.

I put “slave” in scare quotes because Chained Soldier fortunately isn’t going full Shield Hero on us; this arrangement has a give-and-take baked in. See, every time Yuuki completes his service, Kyouka (or whomever else takes advantage of this anomaly) is compelled to carry out whatever suitable “reward” springs from his unconscious, and this is where the ecchi kicks in. Sometimes it’s a kiss, and sometimes it’s something a little more; the reward corresponds to the length and intensity of Yuuki’s contributions to battle, so the heat can turn up in the form of, say, clothed face-sitting, a good scrubbing in the bath, or some nice, casual CBT. All of this is to say that “slave” is a bit of a buzzword here: It’s more of a dom/sub situationship with a lot of extra steps.

Yes, just about everything that isn’t an action setup is full-on harem trash, and Chained Soldier lays it on thick, right down to full-on nudity. Nothing about this show resembles high art, but I can’t help but admire such a high level of commitment to its aesthetic, including the sleaze. It fully commits to the bit and doesn’t even bother lampshading its own trashiness. Chained Soldier knows what it’s about, and I respect that. It also has the good sense not to sexualize the youngest girl, which is a point in its favor that I can’t award a couple other shows previously discussed.

And while this show is plenty fun, the action sequences often excellent, and the character designs usually delightful, there’s not actually a whole lot going on here. As I said with Mashle, I know that battle manga like this can take a minute to really get cooking, and as I said with Witch and the Beast, 12 episodes may not always be a sufficient runtime to adapt enough to break ground, but the debut season feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. That being said, Chained Soldier’s manga has a very effusive audience, and its praises don’t seem to entirely be about the boobs and butts, so I’ll wait patiently for the second season. I think it’s earned that much.

Delicious in Dungeon

This is the one I’m having the hardest time writing about because it so confidently and so completely speaks for itself that anything I could add would feel like scattering sawdust at the beach. Dungeon Meshi (I refuse to call it by its official English title) is a widely beloved manga among those who’ve read it, and for Studio Trigger to do an honest-to-goodness manga adaptation for the first time might as well be front page news among anime fans.

The story follows Laios, the deeply weird human hero, as he delves back into a bizarre and mysterious dungeon to rescue his sister Falin from the belly of a dragon, along with his misfit party: The neurotic half-elven mage Marcille, the temperamental halfling rogue Chilchuck, and the dwarven warrior-slash-chef Senshi. The party is frequently low on supplies, so to survive the trip they’ll need to subsist on the most abundant resource in the dungeon: Monsters. Senshi’s aptitude in the kitchen helps ensure that everything is edible and sufficiently tasty, regardless of how nasty the monster it came from may have been. With monster obstructions out of the way and their bellies filled, our party delves deeper into the dungeon as the mysteries deepen in kind.

I love the character dynamics in this so goddamn much. Marcille and Chilchuck are frequently put off by the dubious monster food presented to them, but their consternation is worsened by the fact that Laios’ fascination with the monsters it came from annoys the shit out of them. I referred to him as “deeply weird,” but that doesn’t begin to describe his absolute galaxy brain, and I mean it as a term of endearment. Laios is deeply knowledgeable and curious about the fauna in the dungeon, and not just how they taste: He is vocally curious about how certain monster attacks may feel, sings along with siren songs, and even keeps a hardcover bestiary inside his breastplate. He’s one of those people you turn to if you have a question on a hyperspecific subject, but you have to be careful how you ask it or else you’re trapped for the next two hours. And I love him for it.

Even putting the comedy aside, there is a fascinating human element at play in Dungeon Meshi, and I can tell that that surface has barely even been scratched yet. Marcille is just as dogged in her pursuit of saving Falin as Laios is, maybe even moreso (remember what I keep saying about LGBT representation this season?). Chilchuck continues to convince himself that he’s only in the job for his own personal gain, but you can see that mask slipping. And I still wanna know what Senshi’s deal is. Even with the five major players I listed, there’s an increasingly deep roster surrounding them—showcasing a broad spectrum of races and ethnicities, both real and fantastical—each with their own histories and motivations, and I cannot wait to see how they play out and interact with one another. There seem to be much deeper themes at play here as well as we learn more about perceptions and grudges between differing races, oppositional magics, clashing ideologies, and the monetary incentives that drive both the dungeon’s exploration and its very existence. I’m here for it.

I’ve been holding off on reading the manga until the season is up in June (though I could crack any day), but I know a loving adaptation when I see one. Not that Trigger ever slacks off in the animation department, but they absolutely brought their A-game here. Everyone looks bouncy and cartoony in the way only Trigger can pull off while still looking as close as possible to Ryoko Kui’s source material (as far as I can tell). As with Frieren, the action sequences aren’t frequent, nor are they entirely what the show is about, but they look incredible every single time. And the food, of course, looks incredible, no matter how weird. This is practically a cooking anime and a fantasy dungeon anime at the same time, and both aspects are visually on point at all times.

I’m obviously speaking from my own bubble as one of the six people who still use Tumblr in 2024, but I rarely see new anime make a splash like this on social media every single week, and the ones that I do are usually the monster shonen hits like Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen. Dungeon Meshi deserves the exposure and success it’s attained, and I’m excited to see it continue. I’d easily slot this right up there with Bravern as one of the best new anime of the season.

A Sign of Affection

I’ve seen a hell of a lot of shonen slice-of-life romances in the past year and change, so a nice fluffy shoujo like this was an excellent palate cleanser. There were a hell of a lot of Big Action Setpieces and panicky teens and grim dungeon crawlers this season, and at the end of the week I wanted to unwind with a bunch of pretty twenty-somethings falling in love with each other.

The show centers on Yuki, a young woman living with congenital hearing loss, making do at a public college after growing up at a school for the deaf. Though she’s able to get by with LINE messages and lip reading, she’s unprepared when a foreigner asks for help, but she’s saved by a handsome and mysterious young man named Itsuomi. He’s able to help out, and takes an interest in her when he realizes his fellow undergrad is deaf, and Yuki takes an interest in kind because he’s really goddamn hot. It turns out that he’s a polyglot and an avid world-traveler, but sign language is not in his purview. This mutual interest sparks the concern of her childhood friend, Oushi, one of the few people in her life who already use sign language, who wants to be sure that nothing untoward is happening. And it isn’t, because this is just a really lovely, low-stakes romance story.

This is pure, unfiltered shoujo at its best. Yuki’s internal monologue is peppered with flowery prose, and everything and everyone looks soft and beautiful. Fashionable, doe-eyed women and pillowy-lipped ikemen abound (seriously, holy shit, the lips on these boys) as the scope widens and the main love interests’ friends explore their own possible love stories. Itsuomi is very much of the “mysterious boy” archetype you’ll find in romance stories in this demographic, but he’s not hiding any sort of dark past like you’d typically expect; he’s just an interesting guy who keeps his personal life close to the vest. He’s a self-appointed world citizen who loves learning about how people of all cultures live their lives, and in Yuki he sees someone within his home turf who happens to live in her own world entirely. And it’s easy to see his forward behavior with Yuki as infantilizing at first (Oushi sure does, and I’ll get back to him in a second), but as they grow closer Itsuomi quickly becomes much more considerate of her boundaries and learns to accommodate her as he studies sign language and gestures that help ensure her comfort. This is a story about Yuki’s horizons broadening just as much as it is about Itsuomi wanting to be let into Yuki’s narrow world, and that sort of synergy makes for some exceptional romance.

A Sign of Affection deserves some credit for refusing to shy away from Yuki’s disability and making a point of depicting her world as one that does little to accommodate her. Very few people in her daily life ever bothered to learn sign language, she relies on a friend to take notes during lectures, and work is hard to come by. It’s an honest depiction that makes an effort not to be exploitative, which is a breath of fresh air. Not only that, but there’s some interesting meta-commentary in there: The only major conflict in the story stems from Oushi’s jealousy, and his reservations about Itsuomi possibly “taking advantage of” Yuki almost feel like he believes that he’s the only one who knows what’s best for her just because he’s done the bare minimum to accommodate her. He thinks he’s coming from a good place, but he winds up accidentally infantilizing her in exactly the way he thinks Itsuomi might. That’s a particularly interesting bit of irony!

I’ve seen enough shonen-oriented romcoms where an unassuming Regular Guy gets flustered as a way-too-casual girl pushes his buttons (hell, I’ve already reviewed two of those this season), so it’s nice to see the formula flipped for a shoujo as Yuki and her best friend Rin blush and squee over Itsuomi and his coworker Kyouya, respectively. A Sign of Affection isn’t afraid to get a little silly with it, either; plenty of these moments are punctuated by characters’ faces going low-detail or full chibi, and they are cute as shit every single time.

This one was just cozy as hell. If you’re into this sort of thing, swaddle yourself in it and bask.

Solo Leveling

I let this one collect dust after the third episode and didn’t pick it back up until the season was almost up, and honestly, I was kinda dreading it: The trailers didn’t look too promising, the show was slow to start, and it looked like yet another derivative JRPG-style dungeon crawler that managed to get popular. Turns out, nah, this show actually kinda fucks and the web novel series and webtoon it’s based on are popular for a reason. The story is nothing special, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a perfectly serviceable turn-your-brain-off action spectacle with a bit more lying beneath the surface.

In a modern-day South Korea where portals to mysterious dungeons open up and threaten the populace, those who can brave the dungeons, known as hunters, are an invaluable human resource. Once someone is assigned a grade as a hunter, they have that grade for life, barring some rare occurrences. Sung Jinwoo is at the lowest rung on that ladder as an E-rank, incapable of improvement, assigned the epithet “the weakest hunter of all mankind.” He mostly shows up to portal raids as a warm body to fill a quota, and one such job goes haywire as most of the raid party, Jinwoo included, is brutally slaughtered in an arcane secondary dungeon within a portal. He somehow wakes up in a hospital, unharmed, and able to access a digital menu before his eyes that exhorts him to do the One Punch Man workout every day, lest he incur punishment. He gets hilariously chadly in the span of a few days in the hospital, including an inexplicable haircut, and finds access to dungeons only he can enter and levels up within this new system.

This one gets off to a slow start and may have benefited from a longer premiere like Oshi no Ko or Frieren, but once the table is fully set, Solo Leveling really starts to cook. Jinwoo’s titular leveling process is a blast from one fight to the next, and as he moves to work in the dungeons that other hunters can access, it turns out he’s been training with the weights on. He’s suddenly fighting way above his pay grade, and after staving off attacks from hunters taking advantage of portals for nefarious ends, he is recruited by an ambitious corporate scion to make some real coin and establish an independent association of hunters.

While it can feel like there’s a whole bunch of table-setting between portal sequences, it’s some smart worldbuilding on Solo Leveling’s end to establish how portal hunting became a central pillar of this society, and doubly so how political and capitalist interests can leave a wide berth for corruption and bad actors. If there’s money to be made in hunting, of course people will find ways to make even more at the expense of others, both at the corporate and individual levels. There’s a lot of talk in there about “survival of the fittest” and “natural selection” and that… makes me nervous.

Those are terms that can be used to justify immoral actions in the name of money, sure, but Jinwoo also uses them to justify his own process. To what end is he constantly improving himself? Sure, he's doing what he can to provide for his younger sister and their ailing mother, but I see less and less humanity in him as this goes on. There are constant hints at something far more sinister at play than just a dude getting stronger for himself, not the least of which being “the system,” the UI that implores him to keep taking on these “quests.” Something, or someone, seems to be guiding him. Whenever another hunter turns on Jinwoo, of course his self-defense instincts kick in, but system pop-ups instruct him to defeat X number of hostiles like it’s a normal video game scenario. There’s something eerily depersonalized about these encounters, despite them being full-on mortal combat, that gives me serious Ender’s Game vibes. Consider me intrigued.

I’d heard that the Solo Leveling manhwa’s main draw was its visuals, and though I had my doubts early on, I'm sold now. This is a pretty solid presentation! Hiroyuki Sawano turned in yet another banger soundtrack to punctuate all the action setpieces, helping to stitch together a fairly complete tapestry. Said setpieces are exhilarating and almost impressively bloody, and while the animation is nothing impressive in the day-to-day, it goes absolutely batshit when the gloves come off. Movement is inhumanly fluid and the visuals can go into the same loose, psychedelic territories we’ve seen in the likes of Mob Psycho and the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen. If this is the new meta for shonen action, I’m not complaining.

By all rights, this is a pretty decent show, but if I’m being honest, this one just hasn’t stuck with me much. And that’s fine! Sometimes I just wanna see some nutty action stuff and move on with my day. Solo Leveling hits that spot perfectly, and I'll be right back there when it returns for its next season.

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

I was surprised to learn that the gag manga this is based on, with such a seemingly simple premise, has been running for well over 200 chapters and counting. As the anime progressed, I was far more pleasantly surprised to learn that it actually works.

In a standard anime fantasy world where the forces of good are fighting the demonic Hellhorde, an unnamed warrior princess and her talking enchanted sword are taken prisoner and subjected to torture as they’re squeezed for intel. Said “torture,” as the title’s scare quotes would suggest, is mildly unconventional, as the demon baddie inquisitor, aptly named Torture Tortura, attempts to ply the princess by presenting her with tantalizingly delicious-looking food that she can only partake in if she coughs up some info. Naturally, the princess caves every single time, but her intel is often inane and useless, so the “torture” continues. It’s not all food, though: The princess is soon held out of arm’s reach of adorable baby animals by a gyaru beastgirl, pampered into submission by a spa-loving giantess, and is faced with a tsundere vampire faildaughter, who… tries.

And you’d think that would be it; the joke wears thin and you move onto something else. Before you realize it, though, something’s changed: The princess and her captors are quickly becoming friends. The premise almost feels perfunctory: These inquisitors are actual people just doing their jobs, and whatever happens after the princess’ myriad confessions is fair game. There’s no malice or animosity, even during the “torture” sessions themselves: Everyone will have a blast and grow closer as friends, and then the princess will voluntarily go back to her bedless cell. It’s like Sam and Ralph after they clock out, except they’re almost always off the clock. Everyone is genuinely looking out for each other in all directions, and the only thing that keeps the torture going is the need for a status quo to return to, even as it grows more elastic. If anything, Time for "Torture" is a good example of committing to the bit without having to necessarily rely on it.

The real irony in all of this is that it becomes increasingly apparent that the princess is having her needs met in captivity far better than she ever did back home. In her proud proclamations about how she’ll never cave to the temptations before her (shortly before she does just that), the princess often talks about her upbringing and her time as the head of an imperial legion, but these stories often betray her lack of friendship or any of the little things that make life worth living. Her life as royalty was one of isolation and deprivation, to the point where she finds more freedom and fulfillment as a prisoner. She truly lives in a society.

Hellholm, on the other hand, has a surprisingly healthy approach to things like work-life balance, food, and leisure, and its most valuable prisoner is no exception. The Hell-Lord himself is a surprising exemplar of this; for as much as he looks and talks like your standard terrifying JRPG demon king, he’s a surprisingly good dude! He looks after his family, employees, and even the captive princess as if they are all one and the same; he exhibits strong principles and an aversion to conflict, sees to his employees' needs and wants alike, and is a supportive, loving father to his unbelievably precious little daughter (who also serves as a “torturer,” to the princess’ delight). He’s also a big time anime dork, and even bonds with a knight attempting to rescue the princess over their shared otakudom before sending him off peacefully. As “villains” go, he’s top tier.

Time for "Torture" is nothing groundbreaking by any stretch, but it’s a cute, silly time and it plays with anime fantasy tropes in the same way a six-month-old German shepherd “plays” with a cheap stuffed toy. How long the premise holds up is entirely up to you, but I had a lot of fun with it. I have no idea how this ended up being one of the better shows this season, but I guess it just scratched the right itch for me.

#anime reviews

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depravitycentral · 10 months

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Yandere! Nobunaga Hazama x fem! reader

Tw: kidnapping, implied dub-con, Daddy kink, objectification, rough sex, brief mentions of anal, fem reader, MDNI

You've become Nobunaga's personal little stress reliever once he kidnaps you away.

His go-to solution for any kind of heightened emotion he's feeling is to come home and give you a nice, thorough, intense fucking. It soothes his nerves, and it's good for you to get a little excercise.

Franklin's getting on his nerves or frustrating him during a job they have to work together?

As soon as it's over Nobunaga's slamming open the front door and then slamming you down onto the floor, too impatient to even make it to the bed as he fishes his already leaking and needy cock out of his kimono and up against you. You'll end up stomach down against the dingy carpet, legs spread and Nobunaga's entire body weight on you as he fucks into you, literally fucking you into the floor and laying down on top of you. That way. every inch of him is touching every inch of you - it helps him calm down, but you'd argue the way it gets his breath ragged is really quite the opposite.

Someone in the bar he went to with Phinks and Uvogin was getting him trouble?

He'll kill the guy, then immediately return home to you and bend you over the kitchen table, fucking into you so hard you're crying and moaning and begging for more more more. He'll smack your ass and go on about how you're so good for Daddy, fuck baby you feel so damn good, been needin' this little pussy all day-

Uvogin beat him in some petty, stupid bet?

Nobunaga's rushing home and pushing you down onto the bed, pressing your knees up to your chin as he fucks you into a mating press, his hips moving fast and smacking so loudly into your that it's wanton, filthy. All the while, he's muttering and growling about at least he can fuck his woman right, at least he knows how to make you feel good and get you creaming and moaning for him him him.

You're like his own personal fleshlight - and sometimes it sure feels that way, too. He moves you up and down like you're a toy, like you're just something to be used, a hole to be fucked, even though he's saying your name and all these nice things about how sexy you are and how he's been looking forward to this all day and won't you be a good girl and suck on Daddy's fingers for a little bit, yeah?

You're his immediate solution for any influx of emotion, and more often than not this'll leave you with a sore body and fresh hickeys littering your neck, collarbone, and upper back, Nobuanga's teeth marks even slightly visible in the meaty part of your neck.

He's rough and he thrusts into you fast enough to leave your tits bouncing in every direction and your eyes to nearly cross. It's just so much, but as soon as he comes inside you, he's back to cooing at you, kissing you and caressing your cheek and tummy and thighs while he tells you that you're so good f'me angel, I'm so proud of you for taking me so well, maybe next time you'll even take me well up here...

The long, slender fingers that suddenly push lightly against your asshole make you tense up, but Nobuanga only smirks.

You're his stress reliever, of course, and Nobunaga is a very, very stressed man after all - even if it's really just an excuse to fuck you like an animal every time he sees you.

Like he's claiming you, a thought that makes a big, dopey, pleased smile sit on his lips. That sounds nice.

#_lee thirsts #_nobunaga hazama #_hxh #yandere hxh #yandere hunter x hunter #yandere nobunaga #hxh smut

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selenacosmic · 7 months

Note

Hope you are having a great day! Okay this request might be different than usual. What will be the warlords reaction if they have a adult son/children that like to prank them when they are older? Who is gonna laugh at it and who is gonna be unimpressed like "I give you 5 seconds to run" reaction?

Hi cherry! I hope you are having a nice day too! Thank you for the request.

The warlords’ children pranking them.

Oda forces.

Nobunaga Oda.

At first Nobunaga will react like the second option, glare at the children for the prank. Though it’s not because he is angry, more like he doesn’t get it.

He will do pranks back secretly and laugh at them, getting pay back at them.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Hideyoshi will pull on their ears, scolding them for pulling pranks when he is so busy. But he will begin to feel bad since the children were only having fun and will play with them.

Mitsuhide Akechi.

He will just smirk at the children, more harmless pranks will make him chuckle and commend the children for the creativity. But sometimes he will just smile eerily and prank them back when they least expect it.

Ieyasu Tokugawa.

Ieyasu is the kind of parent that would get very annoyed and glare, scold the children for interrupting his work. But he will feel bad if the children cry and will comfort them.

Mitsunari Ishida.

Prank? Mitsunari won’t even realize he is being pranked, he will just want to play along with his children without noticing it.

Masamune Date.

Masamune will have a good laugh, encouraging his children to make more fun and creative pranks. He might even join them to pull pranks on others.

Keiji.

Keiji is a bit tricky, sometimes he will find the prank fun and not get mad at all, but there will be times where he will be annoyed and will tell them to quit it. He wouldn’t be angry though.

Ranmaru Mori.

Ranmaru would find the children adorable for trying to prank him, so he would pretend to fall for them. Naturally he would already know because of his ninja skills.

Uesugi-Takeda alliance.

Kenshin Uesugi.

Just like he is towards MC, kenshin is very protective and loving towards his children, so he hardly would get mad at them. But he would find it inconvenient sometimes. Kenshin would surprisingly not be too harsh with them.

Shingen Takeda.

He will know that his children are planning something, so shingen will prepare himself to act like he didn’t know anything. When he gets pranked, shingen will act a bit dramatically, which will make his children laughing, exactly like he was expecting.

Yukimura Sanada.

Yukimura is a fun parent to prank, he will have the funniest reactions to the pranks his children pull and will nag at them as they flee. Even when he gets to scold them he looks funny.

Yoshimoto Imagawa.

Yoshimoto isn’t very fond of certain pranks, and he will try nagging his children for it, though he will lack a bit of energy. It will be more annoyance rather than anger.

Sasuke.

Sasuke will know immediately if his children are planning to prank him and will begin to plan in his head many strategies on how to avoid it with his ninja skills, but in the end he will fail and will be caught in the prank.

Kanetsugu.

One look from him and the children will already begin apologizing while bowing, he will not be pleased with pranks. Though he will feel bad for being too harsh and will pat them to calm them down.

Lone forces.

Kennyo.

Kennyo will be confused, he is the kind of parent who will scold his children if they try pranking him with life lessons, but he won’t have the heart to be harsh on them.

Motonari Mouri.

Just for pulling a prank on him they are getting light hits on the head, Motonari will scold his children for the pranks.

Kichou

Kichou is also the kind of parent that, with just one look, manages to make his children regret pranking him. He wouldn’t go hard on the scolding, but he certainly wouldn’t be amused.

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikemen sengoku shingen #ikemen sengoku nobunaga #ikemen sengoku kenshin #ikemen sengoku mitsuhide #ikemen sengoku hideyoshi #ikemen sengoku ieyasu #ikemen sengoku mitsunari #ikemen sengoku sasuke #ikemen sengoku yukimura #ikemen sengoku masamune #ikemen sengoku motonari #ikemen sengoku yoshimoto #ikemen sengoku keiji #ikemen sengoku ranmaru #ikemen sengoku kicho #ikemen sengoku kanetsugu #ikemen sengoku kennyo

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the-stumbling-samurai · 29 days

Text

The Warlords- Dad Headcanon: Hideyoshi

Hideyoshi my beloved <3 The man deserves a vacation into my arms or at least a decent lunchbreak, >Girl dad like Shingen, but "cursed". >5 daughters, all somehow seeming to take after their uncle Mitsuhide in one way or another, at least in Hideyoshi's mind. >Wouldn't trade them for all the sons in the world though. >Professional at playing pretty princess dress up. >Starts fighting off and worrying about boys at a young age. Sees his 4 year old daughter holding lets sayyyy little Nobunaga Oda Jrs hand in the castle gardens and nearly decides to switch sides just to get away from them. >Such a bragging parent. “well myyy daughter managed to hide the sweets this week and it took lord nobunaga double his usual time to find them.” >Meanwhile, the only reason Nobunaga found them was because one of Hideyoshi's daughter's is a master negotiator. >They suckered Nobunaga for some ponies in exchange of goods. >Thrives for his father daughter dates. He makes sure to do something special with each of them individually every week, even if it's something as simple as fixing her hair while sitting outside as they talk. >Takes all 5 on monthly father daughter outings to the local tea house. >Wants his daughters to stay as far away from war and fighting as possible so struggles when they start becoming interested in what he does. >Ropes Ieyasu into teaching them archery as a distraction and some basic protection skills. ".... Two horses, a new set of Kimonos, and a kitten." The little girl looked up at her father innocently. "That's all I asked for this time!" She sips her tea.

Hideyoshi sighs, rubbing his temples."Girls, you can't just say no to Lord Nobunaga and try and negotiate things with him! He's our Lord! Its not nice."

"But dad! You say no to him all the time! We were just trying to help!" his oldest daughter chimes in, the other 3 nodding their heads eagerly."He was trying to get into the candy again! So we hid it!"

"And instead of telling me so I can stop him you blackmailed him?!" Hideyoshi looks at them incredulously. "What in your right mind possessed you to do that?"

"Uncle Mitsuhide said to make every moment an opportunity! He thought it was a good idea and even helped by showing us a good hiding spot!"

Hideyoshi sighs, running his hands through his hair anxiously. "Of course he did." He groans, but he can't help but let a small smile slip onto his face as his girls giggle around him... "

#ikesen hideyoshi #ikemen sengoku #cybird ikemen #hideyoshi #toyotomi hideyoshi #ikesen headcanons #IkeSen

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ikeromantic · 11 months

Note

Nobunaga heat 😚

Oh Nobunaga! My favorite tyrant of the heart ^_^ Approx. 900 words of our carnelian-eyed menace and heat.

Nobunaga could not sleep. The air in the tenshu was thick and hot and still. The night sky above, clouded and heavy, as if conspiring to keep the darkness as sweltering as the day. He shifted disconsolately on his futon, until he finally gave up on the notion and went to stand on his balcony.

There wasn’t enough breeze to even stir his hair, but just being out here made him feel a little better. His thoughts spun through the events of the day, the concerns of his growing empire, and finally, with some anticipation, landed on the chatelaine. She’d been avoiding him of late. He knew it. Afraid of what another game of go might cause her to yield.

He smiled, thinking of her saucy responses to him. When she forgot to be nervous, she was deeply amusing. And more. There was something about his lucky charm that made him feel peaceful. That was what he wanted right now.

Nobunaga sent a servant scurrying to fetch her.

She came up the stairs with a reluctant gait. He could almost hear the resistance to his summons in every step. And the first words out of her mouth as she entered his room were defiant. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“No. Do you?” He glanced at her over his shoulder. She stood in the dimlit room, as distant as she could get from his balcony perch.

“Well . . . not exactly, no. But it’s really late. Or early. Anyway, that’s not the point! I was sleeping and you sent someone to wake me up! They had me dress in a hurry and run up here and - and there’s not even an emergency.” She ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly all nerves again, the anger bleeding out of her.

Nobunaga felt an uncharacteristic guilt over waking her like that. She must have been worried to get such a vague, urgent message. But he shunted that emotion away and gave no sign of it in his expression. “Come here.”

She took a few steps in his direction, then paused. “You aren’t planning to play go, are you? Because I’m way too tired for that.”

“No. No games tonight.” He looked back out over the town, listening to her slow steps.

The chatelaine stopped at the railing, more than an armslength away. “Well, good.” Then her head snapped up at some sudden thought. “I hope you aren’t under the impression I’m going to warm your bed either. I thought we were clear on that.”

“Warm my bed?” Nobunaga chuckled. “On a night like this, I think it is quite hot enough.”

“Then . . . what do you want?”

Just you, he thought, his carnelian eyes turning toward her. He took in her lovely profile, the wisps of loose hair that clung to her neck and stuck to her cheek. “Sit.”

Her jaw clenched. “I am not some pet you can order around, mister warlord.”

He grinned. Ah that fire of hers. “Fireball, sit. Please.”

She seemed to debate whether or not the courtesy was enough. Apparently the yes vote won out as she sat down and leaned her back against the railing. “There’s a little bit of a breeze up here at least. I think it’s cooler than my room.”

“Is it?” He turned toward her. She was wearing a hastily tied kimono, thin enough that it was almost opaque had there been any light to shine through it. Her bare legs stuck out the bottom, showing his conquered territory up to her silken thigh. But he didn’t feel lust for her tonight - or not much - just a satisfaction that she was here.

The chatelaine nodded.

Nobunaga lowered himself to the floor near her.

“Umm. What are you doing?” She eyed him the way she might a strange dog, one that was equally likely to bite as to wag his tail.

He grinned. “Just be still. I am not conquering new territory tonight. And then he laid down, settling his head on those lovely thighs. “You will be my pillow.”

The chatelaine shifted a bit under him, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. “I don’t think I like this. Wouldn’t you rather have a real pillow? I can get one for you.”

“No. Now be quiet.” He shut his eyes and let himself relax into her presence. Her soft skin, the slight sweet floral scent of her perfume, and the sound of her breath and heart beat eased his tension. “Talk to me,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Tell me about your work. Your day. Anything you like.” He kept his eyes closed, cheek pressed to her leg. It was comfortable there, despite the heat. Perhaps it was just the softness of her. The gentleness that she carried with her everywhere she went.

The chatelaine sighed and after a moment, began to talk. She told him about her day. The work she did, the things she saw, people she met. There was so much joy in it. He fell still, his restlessness retreating. And with his stillness, she too let go of her worry.

Nobunaga felt himself drifting into an empty, peaceful darkness. A place where his ambitions did not reach. A place where his burdens did not exist.

As he let himself sink into that space, he felt her cool fingers brush his hair back from his face. “You know, like this you’re much cuter,” the chatelaine said softly. There was warm affection in her voice and in her touch. His last thought before the darkness took him was of her. How precious she’d become to him. Love, his dream-self whispered, though waking he would have denied it.

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen nobunaga #nobunaga oda #fanfiction #fanfic #otome #otome guys #fluff

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uvobreakmylegs · 8 months

Note

So sorry you aren’t feeling well! Here are some of my own thoughts about diff Yandere taking care of a sick lil darling…I hope you feel better! I’m so sorry if this violates any rules <3

Feitan is the worst, just, not really getting it and why you need anything except a blanket or oatmeal…He thinks it’s cute but he stays away even more because he thinks you’ll start screaming or something if he makes you angry

Paku obviously treats you like royalty, Obviously wants to give you even MORE that normal. She thinks you’ll die if you move a muscle for anything that isn’t the bathroom or to stretch

Chrollo isn’t…terrible..per se, He’s still annoying but he will let you have whatever you need! As much as he loves irritating his darling he still has some semblance of care so he hops to it and gets you some basic stuff, he may let you get pretty much anything as long as you say it nicely

Uvo might not believe you at first, He thinks it’s a plot to get away from him for a moment since he can get clingy but once you start crying or throwing up or even having trouble doing things he’s immediately sitting you down on the couch near the tv with as many blankets as he can find. He might almost behead you throwing a carton of ice cream at you

Shalnark has been watching you since the moment you woke up, he knows you’re sick, he will have the stuff ready when he gets back later that day with no explanation. It’s creepy but appreciate the effort of him Atleast getting you some of those pastries from grocery stores! He could be worse :)

I really do hope you feel better, Periods are the worst! Being sick on top of that doesn’t sound very fun to say the least. Drink lots of water!

Aahhhhh thank you! I'm doing a lot better! And this doesn't violate any rules at all! I really appreciate that you sent this in❤️

Throwing in the other PT yanderes for fun since you inspired me:

Machi is at the ready with various medicines if you should need them, and she'll check in on you frequently and sit with you if that's what you want. Her only downside is that her bedside manner is a little rough around the edges

You're in pretty good hands with Phinks. He might hover a bit too much, but he's a good cook and he'll know what foods to give you that won't upset your stomach

Franklin and Bonolenov aren't terrible, but if your illness is bad enough they'd probably call up one of the troupe (Machi) to ask for advice. Franklin is ordering out foods that are safe for you to eat since he can't cook for shit and doesn't want to make your illness worse

Shizuku is good at taking care of you, but if your illness is one that's contagious, she ends up sick just as you get better on account of how often she cuddled with you during the time you were bedridden

As for Nobunaga and Hisoka...... Don't get sick around either of them. They're bad at taking care of other people and things will get worse before they get better

Bonus yanderes:

Razor and Morel have similar methods of keeping an eye on you when you're sick by way of leaving one of their nen beasts behind with you. Razor has Number Zero stay with you and Morel uses Deep Purple to form a soldier to look over you. In both situations it's good for you since you have help if you need it and if anything goes really wrong, both Razor and Morel will know immediately and can get back to you as soon as possible

(thank you again for your nice message!❤️❤️❤️)

#hxh x reader #yandere x reader #tht0nesimp

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harajuku-cookie · 1 year

Text

I'm sorry, I just need to scream about the IkeSeries MCs' outfits for a bit. They all just look so good! I noticed a lot of denim used in their outfits and pink highlights in their hair.

And I LOVE that they gave them swords! Alice didn't get one, but I'm guessing that she's might be a magic user in this theme (since in IkeRev canon she breaks spells)? And then Mai has a katana, Emma has a what I think is a rapier, and Mitsuki has a freaking scythe! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but after combing through the video again, I was right!

Also I love how they gave Mai a Sailor Moon-inspired hairstyle. And I noticed that Emma has a tiger print sash on her hips. Perhaps alluding to Chev? Would've also said Gil, but the pattern looks more white tiger than black tiger. And Mitsuki has a wing design on her hips. IDK if it's alluding to a character (maybe Napoleon since his symbol is an eagle?) or if it symbolizes something else. Maybe it ties into the scythe they gave her?

Overall I love it! Also can't wait to see which guys are chosen this year (at least we know Ray, Nobunaga, Leon, and Napoleon are confirmed) and what they'll look like.

Okay I'm done rambling lol 😁

#Ikemen Series #Ikemen Revolution #Ikemen Sengoku #Ikemen Prince #Ikemen Vampire #I am not a fashion expert just an excited IkeSeries fan lol

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hydranomago · 4 months

Text

Ad-Live 2022 [Night Session] - Chiba

Premise: Producer named Jin (Shimazaki) is tasked with ensuring the success of live advertisements, but doesn't have the data to do so. Blade (Enoki) is a man with a cursed “disease”, whereby his genitals have morphed into a sword. He’s looking for way to cure himself, to get back to his wife ‘Saya’. Aramaton (Aramaki) is a man dressed in a sheep plush hoodie, who keeps asking if people “remember him”. His intentions are unclear. Suzumura is the higher-up who checks on them. Jin must enlist in the help of these two to achieve at least 30% viewership in the advertisement broadcasts, in order to keep the studio in money for making Jin’s favourite anime show about “Magical Galaxy Girl Desuko”, and to prevent the "higher-ups" from killing them.

Official preview video [here] / Day Session [here]

Some Funny parts & Ending below cut!

[ KEYS: E = Enoki Junya / N = Shimazaki Nobunaga / M = Aramaki Yoshihiko (or Mackey) / S = Suzumura Kenichi ]

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

M: your name is Omata Blade? (stares intently)

N: Oi why are you making fun of people's names?

E: What about you, dressed like that?

M: I was doing nothing outside the studio when I was brought in as an extra.

E: That's not a costume anyone loiters in... ---- ---- ----

(every time E sheathes/unsheathes his “sword”)

N: That's such a good sound!

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

S: (squints at M, E) Actually, what's wrong with you two?

E: (ad-lib cue) Just as you would imagine.

S: NEVER IN MY LIFE COULD I IMAGINE SOMETHING LIKE THIS! ESPECIALLY YOU!

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

M: (takes giant spoon prop between legs to match E's "disease") Now that we match, we look like a unit don't we?

E: (touched) I'm so happy! This is the first time I feel understood!

(hug and accidentally poke each other with “swords”)

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

S: (tries to style them)

E: Oh lemme try this on. (puts coat over sword)

(everyone piles on coats excessively to hide E's sword)

E: No stop! My identity is being erased!

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

(advertising products, E and M have sword fight with their respective *ahem* props)

E: These amazing products can even make music!

S: (frantic whispering from sidelines, RIP head producer) STOP STOP STOP!

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

N: We have to attain 30% viewership to save Desuko's show!

M, E: Who's Desuko?

S: (rushes to them) No no no no no!

N: (simp mode activated) DESUKO IS THE BEST MAGICAL SPACE GALAXY GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE, HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?!

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

Just E jabbing at everything with his sword -- including N's face on a poster

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

(Advertisement viewership = 5%)

M: Well, this is kinda mine and E's fault...

E: Yes, we're very sorry for the trouble we've caused.

M: In fact, N did an excellent job portraying the magical girl character!

S: (bursts in) WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING? 5% ONLY?!!!

M,E: (points to blame N immediately) It's this guy's fault!

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

M: (threatening) I’m looking for the person who ate my dear friend Aramaton.

E: Aren't you "Aramaton"?

M: No, that's the name of my pet sheep.

E:??????

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

N: (enthusing about job) What exactly is “entertainment”?

E: It's hurting people for amusement and fun isn't it? [*Enoki PLS]

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

M: (threateningly, holding out picture) Do you recognise this sheep? N: No… E: (stage whispers, innocently) It’s the delicious one!

M: OI. YOU BASTARD.

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

M: (takes out gun for revenge and starts shooting at feet)

S: (jumping so much for his age) WHY ARE THERE UNLIMITED BULLETS?

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

M: Revenge on N for eating Aramaton is mine!

E: No, revenge on N for causing this disease is mine!

M: You think you can dodge my *tama (= bullets) ?

E: (dramatically unsheathes) I may not have any *tama (= balls) left, but I'll definitely slice yours!

(Fight like children as the audience laughs wildly)

S: Okay this is actually impressive… Quick! (smacks N) We’ve gotta film this! (starts recording on phone)

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

(audience laughing very loudly, echoing sounds)

M: Goodness, what was that?

N: It's probably the voice of the universe!

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

N: What happened to Aramaton?

M: (ad-lib cue) Aramaton didn’t pay his rent! Now all my money is gone! N: You’re not avenging Aramaton for love, but for money?!

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

E: I’m going to the toilet.

M: Eh? How’d you go with (points) that?

E: (accidentally bangs sword against door, monotonous) Ah. N: Isn’t that supposed to be painful???

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

N: (during after talk, praises staff for drawing a wonderful poster for the imaginary “Desuko” anime he mentioned)

M: (praises staff for preparing the props, esp the list of people he killed for revenge and the pot)

S: The staff are amazing at their preparation, thank you everyone. But what’s most shocking is that (E’s sword)! He even brought it from home!

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

Ending: (The last 10 minutes were honestly so chaotic; they nearly missed the threads of their stories, but made it back in time.) The "higher-ups" are an actual superior alien race, monitoring the humans via TV broadcasting. If the broadcast fails, it proves humanity isn't worth it, and everyone will be killed. Jin is actually an alien who loves anime, and doesn't want to see humanity be destroyed. That's why he's so intent on making TV studios a success. Aramaton is actually the name of Mackey's character's pet sheep. To avenge the death of Aramaton, Mackey kills a list of people who presumable ate Aramaton at a restaurant. But, Jin confesses he recognised Aramaton because the sheep wasn't eaten–it was Jin who abducted Aramaton for an alien experiment. Aramaton is still alive. Blade is not blade. "Saya" is not his wife. Blade IS Saya. Mackey unknowingly killed Saya before this event, and Saya was so revengeful that her soul was absorbed into a male alien vessel. The sword as a disease was also fake. Her main aim is to kill Mackey. Jin is forced to finish the final broadcast, in which he pleads for everyone to forget their grievances and forgive each other, so everyone can move forward. All the characters are moved. Final push comes from a phone call for Blade/Saya: Let all aliens and humans live in peace together.

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writingwhimsey · 21 hours

Text

Married to the Enemy- Shingen Ch. 15

Chapter 15

Shingen sat in his room, leaning over his desk, unable to focus on the reports in front of him. It had been two weeks now…two weeks that his wife was now actively avoiding him. “What could have happened? What did I do?” He murmured to himself.

“You have got to focus on your work, Lord Shingen.” Yukimura spoke, his voice snapping Shingen from his thoughts.

“I’ve already finished most of it.” Shingen replied. “Besides…I really need to figure out what happened.”

“What you mean with Ava?” Yukimura asked. “Don’t women usually get all weird at least once a month?”

Shingen sighed. “I really failed with you didn’t I?”

“See, this is why I don’t want to get married any time soon. Women are just annoying and moody irrational wild boars.”

Shingen shook his head. “Yuki.”

“What? Look at you. You’re all distracted and gloomy because of her.” Yukimura remarked. “Why would I want that kind of headache?”

“Some things in life are worth a headache.” Shingen replied. “Like seeing her beautiful smile… I haven’t seen it in two weeks.”

Yukimura looked at his lord…really looked at him. He let out a sigh. He’d never seen Shingen get this way about a women before. Sure, Shingen had pursued many women in his past…most fell for his charms and they had their flings, but then it was over. When Shingen would run into those woman later, they’d be married to someone else with families and Shingen would always smile and wish them well.

“Ah, dammit.” Yukimura muttered. “Finish up your work. I’ll be right back.”

“Are you giving me orders now?” Shingen asked.

“If you don’t finish your work I’ll tell Lord Kenshin you finished off his favorite sake.”

“And here I thought you didn’t wish me dead, Yuki.” Shingen teased.

“I don’t.” Yukimura replied. “But I’ll do what I have to. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Yukimura left the room, Shingen staring after him curiously before returning to his paperwork and his pondering over Ava. Yukimura made his way through the halls and soon found Saki out hanging up some laundry to dry.

“You have to do something about your lady.” He greeted her.

“And a good day to you, too Yukimura.” Saki remarked.

“Oh, cut that crap. This is serious!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Saki replied. “I’ve been trying to get Ava to talk to Lord Shingen for two weeks now.”

“Well, try harder.” Yukimura said. “What could she possibly be so mad at Lord Shingen about anyways?”

“She’s not mad at him.” Saki replied. “It’s actually not his fault at all.”

“So…you know why she’s being like this?”

Saki nodded. “Yes.”

“Can you tell me why?”

Saki shook her head. “She swore me to secrecy. I can’t tell anyone…otherwise I would have already gone to Lord Shingen.”

Yukimura sighed. He knew what it was like to keep a secret for the one you served. “Well, we have to do something. I’ve never seen Lord Shingen look so miserable before.”

“Miserable you say?” Saki asked, lifting a brow.

“Yeah, he’s distracted from work. He just keeps trying to figure out what he did and how he can make it right.”

“So…you’re saying Lord Shingen is missing my lady?”

“Yes. He’s never gotten attached to a woman like this before.” Yukimura said. “I…he seems to really care about Ava.”

Saki chewed on her lower lip in thought. However before she could open her mouth to speak, they were all interrupted by the sound of Kenshin shouting. “Have you come to die?”

The pair looked at each other before rushing in. They found Kenshin standing in the hall, his sword drawn…and at the other end stood Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. “Remember Lord Kenshin, we are in an alliance with them now.” Sasuke said, doing his best to try to defuse the situation.

Nobunaga looked amused by the greeting. Hideyoshi was beside him ready to leap in front of his lord, his own sword drawn and ready.

“I didn’t think we were to be having our first meeting for another month.” Shingen said, joining the group.

“We are not here for the alliance.” Nobunaga said.

Saki’s eyes went wide. “Wait, you didn’t come because of my letter, did you Lord Nobunaga? Lord Hideyoshi?” She asked.

“Of course we did.” Hideyoshi answered.

“Wait, you wrote to them?” Yukimura asked.

“I’ve tried just about everything else I could think of.” Saki replied. “I had just expected Lord Hideyoshi to write Ava a VERY long letter. I didn’t think he’d show up or that he would bring Lord Nobunaga with him.”

Kenshin sighed. “That woman is turning my castle upside down.” He muttered, finally putting away his sword.

“So…you are here because of Ava?” Shingen asked.

“Yes, we heard our fireball was giving you some trouble.” Nobunaga said, a haughty smile on his face.

Saki looked towards Shingen apologetically. “Please forgive me, Lord Shingen. I didn’t know they would come…though I should have.”

“Of course, we are here. If Hideyoshi had his way, we would have been here last week.” Nobunaga replied.

“Wait, did you tell them what happened?” Yukimura asked.

Saki shook her head. “No. I only wrote to Lord Hideyoshi asking him to write to my lady and that I thought she could use her big brother right now.”

“Big brother?” Shingen asked.

“Yes, Ava is like a little sister to me.” Hideyoshi replied. “No matter what, I will always be there for her. And once I find out what you did…”

“Please tell me so I can correct my mistake.” Shingen replied.

Saki sighed. “It was nothing you did, Lord Shingen.” She said. “It’s not your fault at all…just let me take Lord Hideyoshi to see her. I think it will help her and then…I hope she will be ready to talk to you.”

“Of course.” Shingen replied. He was then looking over at Nobunaga. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here, Devil.”

Nobunaga chuckled. “Why to see exactly what my fireball has done.” He answered. “And perhaps to sate both of our appetites for a battle.”

“Are you offering me your head? How kind.” Shingen replied. “Though I wouldn’t say that too loudly, it will bring Kenshin back.”

Nobunaga laughed. “Do you play Go?”

“Of course.” Shingen answered. “Then we should have a game while Hideyoshi goes to Ava.”

“It would be fun to defeat you in at least one way.” Shingen replied.

“I look forward to the challenge.”

“Okay, well you two do that and Lord Hideyoshi come with me.” Saki said. She then turned to Sasuke. “I’m counting on you to keep the peace.”

Sasuke nodded. “I will ground spike every one in place if I must.”

“Hey, what about me?” Yukimura asked.

“Please you’re as ready for a fight as the rest of them.” Saki replied. “Sasuke and my lady are the only true pacifists here.”

Saki was then leading Hideyoshi down the hall. “She’ll be heading to the garden for afternoon tea.” She said.

Hideyoshi nodded. “So, what’s going on? In her letters she was telling me that things were going really well.

“Do you remember when Lady Ava first arrived in Azuchi, there were some women in the castle staff and around the town who…had certain feelings towards her for being Lord Nobunaga’s favorite and all the rest of you doting on her?” Saki asked.

“Yes.” Hideyoshi replied.

“There’s…been a similar incident.” Saki replied. “And the things the women told her…they really upset her…and has her questioning things.”

“Like what?” Hideyoshi asked.

“I’ll let her tell you.” Saki replied. “And thank you for coming, Lord Hideyoshi.”

“You said Ava could use her big brother.” Hideyoshi replied, with a warm smile.

Shingen and Nobunaga…

Shingen sat across from Nobunaga, a goban between them. Nobunaga was playing black and Shingen white. “So, what is going on with Ava?” Nobunaga asked, placing his first stone on the board.

Shingen kept himself calm as he placed his white stone on the board. “That I wish I knew.” He answered.

“She is generally moody.” Nobunaga said. “And worries over some of the strangest things. I would pay no mind to it. She will likely get over it on her own.”

“Then why did you come?” Shingen asked. “Unless you were hoping she would want to come back to Azuchi?”

“The castle is much livelier with her there.” Nobunaga replied. “Her antics are amusing. Of course, that is why I am here now. To see what she has done in her time here.”

“Then why are you volunteering to have me beat you at Go instead of going to talk to her?”

“Because I wanted to see her effect on you.” Nobunaga replied. “She affected castle life in Azuchi quite drastically…and it seems she has caused a stir here as well. I am always fascinated by what she does.”

“I see.” Shingen replied, eyeing Nobunaga before placing another piece on the board. The flow of the game never stopped even as the pair continued to converse. “And what do you see here?”

“Well, I see that she has the Tiger of Kai as enraptured as she has everyone else she has come across.” Nobunaga replied. “Granted you have always looked at me with such hatred, but you did not have that same fire in your eyes when you saw me in the hall.”

“Don’t worry, I still hate you plenty,” Shingen replied.

Nobunaga chuckled. “I knew this visit would be amusing.”

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