#bancho boys

[tradude]

im unfortunately really sick right now but that wont stop me from drawing my boys

[daily-hanamura]

Hanamura Yosuke's first appearance vs last

[princeasimdiya12]

Bucchigiri Utena Parallel-The Greek Chorus

In many plays and stories, the Greek Chorus refers to a group of characters that either commentate on the main storyline or have their own subplot that parallels or foreshadows the main story that appears. It's rare when they actually interact with the main characters but their role is meant to emphasize the meanings and plot events that occur.

In Bucchigiri, we have Nyan Nyaight Love which is their version of the Shadow Play Girls from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

For those who aren't familiar with the Shadow Play Girls, they serve as an actual Greek Chorus in the Utena anime. Every episode, the girls put on a cryptic and bizarre play with a message that correlates to the ongoing events or conflicts that Utena, Anthy and the Student Council deal with throughout the series. Some are straight forward and easy to understand, others are straight up wackadoodle and have layers of meaning to comprehend. But each skit contains a hidden but vital message that relates to the main storyline in Utena.

While Nyan Nyaight Love may not be as complicated or bizarre as the Shadow Play Girls, they still do their part in paralleling the Bucchigiri storyline.

Episode 1: Introductions

The first episode features the customer contemplating whether he should go into NNL or if he should leave. It isn't until he sees Arajin being chased down the street by the NG Boys that he enters out of fear of being spotted.

The customer serves as a parallel to Arajin. He too is a wimpy, unappealing, jittery, hopeless, mopey, delusional everyman. And just like how the customer was unsure as to whether he should enter a shady, controversial place like NNL, Arajin also struggles with entering the dangerous and colorful world of the Ichizu Gangs. And his involvement in their lifestyle has mainly been a forced reaction, as in he jumps into the fray while fearful for his safety. The NNL Receptionist can also be seen as a parallel for the colorful banchos and bad boys that Arajin, and the audience, meet in their upcoming encounters.

In the world of Revolutionary Girl Utena, one of the ongoing themes was fairy tales and stories that are told from one person to another. The Shadow Girls fit that theme by putting on plays for the audience about their own stories. So there are clear parallels of the main storyline.

And then we "meet" Jasmine.

Just like it's the customer's first time in a place like NNL, it's also Arajin's first time in the world of Ichizu's gangs. And his meeting with Jasmine is a clear parallel to him meeting Mahoro for the first time. This is more apparent when you take in the Disney movie with Arajin (Aladdin) meeting his beloved Mahoro (Jasmine).

It's also worth noting that the customer asks if he can use the honorific "chan" which is mainly used for people/girls that someone has a close relationship with. And despite meeting her for only one day, Arajin is the one who proposes that it is "fate" that brought him and Mahoro together and how they're destined to be lovers. Clearly he's skipping multiple steps in the relationship making process expecting Mahoro to feel the same way.

Episode 2: I Couldn't Stay Away

The second time, the customer returns and is scared into entering the building after Senya drags along Arajin. Despite some hesitance, he asks the Receptionist for Jasmine again.

So it's pretty obvious, the customer is in "love" with Jasmine and is hooked onto her. Even when she starts to "cling" to him.

At this point, Arajin has fallen head over heels for Mahoro and can't get her out of her head. His new motivations begin and end with conquering Mahoro's heart so he can use her to lose his virginity. And to conquer her heart and be as close to her as possible, he's more than willing to go through a shady and morally ambiguous place like the gang life.

Though the clingy part comes off as self-delusion since Mahoro absolutely hates him and wants nothing to do with him. Even making it clear constantly from this episode onward. Yet Arajin isn't bothered and is eager to make her his.

However, this does set up as it's first example of foreshadowing for the following episode.

Even though Mahoro hates him, she decides to play along with his infatuation with her when he's recruited into Siguma Squad. She's "clinging" to him in order to sway and manipulate him so he'll be able to take over Siguma Squad as it's new leader, forcing her brother to graduate so she can have him all to himself. Or so Arajin will get beat up badly, she's down for whatever. And because Arajin is stuck in his self-delusion about Mahoro and their destined love life, he doesn't see the red flags and falls for her claws. Eager to continue hanging out with the violent happy SS regardless of the peril he may face.

Episode 3: This episode did not feature a NNL segment.

Episode 4: Please Forgive Me

The customer is once again contemplating whether he should go in or not, even saying that he should just quit. Alas, a chubby Arajin scares him inside where he once again asks for Jasmine. Only now he's in hot water for having left her for so long.

While normally this would be a stand in for Arajin and his hopeless love for Mahoro and how he's failing her, this time, the customer represents another character.

In this case, it's Matakara.

Earlier in the episode, he gets into another conversation with Arajin over the upcoming Gang War and how they should stop it. But it soon turns into another plea for him to rebuild their friendship and how he wants to become Honki people with him like before. Despite his efforts, Arajin tells him to get over it and orders him to leave him alone. Just like a cat turning her back on the customer after their absence.

And just like the customer blames himself for her anger, Matakara believes he's at fault for their friendship failing. Because he was too weak to fight the thugs who beat him up which is why Arajin abandoned him. And much like how the customer never viewed at any other "cat", Matakara has his eyes and heart only for Arajin. Even after making new friends in the Minato Kai club, his idol has always been his childhood friend who inspired him when he was just a weak boy so many years ago.

And he'll make that fact known to Arajin everytime they meet; reminding him that he's someone of great importance in his life and that he just has to believe him. No matter how many times he's turned away, Matakara still holds him dearly in his heart.

Episode 5: The Next Level

The customer returns and declares that it's a big day for him. This time he gets scared in by Kenichirou and the Minato Kai Gang making their way to the upcoming warzone.

Hoping to patch things up with Jasmine, the customer presents a gift.

The way I interpret this scene, it comes off as taking his relationship with Jasmine to the next level by giving her a choker. For pets, giving them a choker can be considered the same as giving them a collar. Usually to signify your bond as master and pet. Or in this case, it comes off as the customer treating his precious Jasmine to a gift in the hopes of raising her mood.

For this scene, I see it as a parallel to everyone's relationships and how they're moving on to the next level.

This takes place during the Gang War two parter with both gangs going at each other only for the NG Boys to stage their attack. The fighting persists until Arajin steps in to protect Mahoro from being killed by Akutaro. And while fighting, he gains a major power boost from Senya as his merge rate increases as a result.

And once he defeats the NG Emperor, everyone's mood cheers up for the better and their relationships improve as a result. The rival gangs are more friendly with each other and are able to get along in spite of their rivalry that's lasted for years. Matakara gets to have a bonding moment with Arajin which is a huge step compared to how coldly he's been treated in the past. And Senya is super excited that the merge rate between him and Arajin has increased.

Everything and everyone is in better spirits now.

To bad it won't last for very long.

Episode 6: This episode does not feature an NNL segment.

Episode 7: A New Cat???

The customer is once again worried about whether he should enter NNL and is scared into coming in when Arajin rushes by due to being late for the Group Date.

The receptionist welcomes him into the establishment and asks if he wants his usual. But to his surprise, the customer has someone else in mind.

It's hard to say why exactly the customer decided to go for a new cat instead of Jasmine. Perhaps it's because he's become used to the NNL environment and is bold enough to try someone different.

But what strikes me fancy about this part is not so much the change in cat but the receptionist's reaction. All this time, we've seen him as a silly catboy who loves to tease the customer and rolls with him coming to see his precious Jasmine. But it's the change in cat that causes him to react this way. He loses his silly front and shows actual shock and maybe concern over such a drastic change. He doesn't even revert back to his playful self as it cuts straight to the customer meeting Pu'er-chan (Fun fact: Pu'er is a type of tea that's specially grown in China. And taking Jasmine into account, the cats at NNL are all named after Chinese tea flavors).

So he goes on with meeting the new cat even though he still has feelings for Jasmine. And he's greatly surprised to see Pu'er accept him with relative ease based on his elated reaction.

So to start, this segment is ripe with foreshadowing as it features the customer deciding to take a break from his old cat of interest and goes for a new cat. The customer changes his old cat for a new one. And who do we know who's interested in choosing someone new at the end of Episode 7?

"Do you know? Do you know? Do you know who he chooses?"

And mixed with the receptionist's reaction of shock and concern, the series itself has underwent a change in tone based on everything that happened in Episode 8. The comedy and jokes are significantly toned down in order focus on the more serious and heartbreaking elements of Matakara's brother being suddenly hospitalized and Arajin confessing that he was a coward all along which all leads up to Matakara falling into the palms of Ichiya, our presumed villain of the show.

Another things I want to mention/theorize is that when the customer brings up how he couldn't get Jasmine out of his head, that was a parallel to Ichiya being unable to get Senya out of his head. The two genies have a long, hidden but deep history with each other and it's implied that Senya did something to warrant his wrath. And given that Ichiya has a grudge in his heart that he intends to resolve, his goals in using Matakara are all but stated to be part of his masterplan of taking revenge against Senya.

And the last part with Pu'er fully embracing the customer will be foreshadowing of Matakara accepting Ichiya's proposal and power with minimal hesitation. With him at the brink of despair and with no one to turn to for emotional support (sorry Minato Kai boys), he'll be desperate and eager to follow Ichiya's will no matter how questionable or corrupt it may be. It isn't clear as to what type of wish Mataraka will make or what Ichiya will offer him to go along with his revenge, but the boy is clearly at his most vulnerable and weakest. He'll accept anything and fall into Ichiya's hands just to make the pain more bearable.

Conclusion

The Nyan Nyaight Love segments are meant to serve as a Greek Chorus for the Bucchigiri series. Paralleling the dynamics and conflicts between the main characters (Arajin, Matakara and Mahoro) while also providing foreshadowing for events to come. Much like the Shadow Play Girls and how they would parallel and foreshadow the main events in Utena. And under the assumption that we'll get more NNL segments, then the scenes with the customer and the receptionist will foretell more of what will happen throughout the show and the relationships between the characters.

And those are my thoughts on this nonsensical skit. What do you guys think? If you have your own interpretations for these segments or if there was something that you agreed or disagreed with, please feel free to reblog this and share your comments. It's worth mentioning that the plays that the Shadow Girls held had various ways of being interpreted so there's really no wrong way to go about this.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Guide to Persona MC names

Just a small guide to help newcomers understand all the names and nicknames/fannames for their fav Persona MCs. Keep in mind this is main games/nameless MC's only (so I won't list Aigis in the P3 but I will mention Maya as well as the notes at the bottom, this is due to how I structured P2 vs P3 sections) (Edit: may add to this list later but it's pretty complete for now)(Edit 2: Note that Shunjiko translates as Protagonist/Hero/Main character):

Persona 1:

P1MC: shorthand for Persona 1 Main Character

(P1) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Boy with Earring: In-game moniker

Naoya Toudou: Manga name

Yuuya Narumi: (one of the) DramaCD names (note: other dramaCD is just labeled "protagonist")

Jihei Suzakuin: Novel name

Persona 2:

Tatsuya Suou: MC for P2 Innocent Sin, can be renamed and it'll carry over in EP (and Katsuya's last name will change as well)

Maya Amano: MC for P2 Eternal Punishment. Cannot be changed, just like Aigis

Kazumi Kiba: MC for the manga Persona: Tsumi to Batsu. (not really related to the games but it takes place right before P2EP, Edit: mentioned him because I've seen some people think he's suppose to be an adaptation of Tatsuya or something when he's just a different character all together)

Persona 3 (Male):

P3MC: Short hand for Persona 3 Main Character

(P3) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Kitaro: The Japanese Fanname, due to his resemblance to the main character Kitaro from Gegege no Kitaro.

Minato Arisato: Manga name

Makoto Yuki: Movie name (*gets adopted later into games)

Sakuya Shiomi: Stage Play Name

Leader: Generic Name for MC in Drama CDs and such

Roger: A name used in AtlusUSA marketing (maybe related to this line in the game?)

Door-kun: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, spoiler reasons.

Gettaro/Tsukitaro* Yamada: provisional name for P3MC in the movies' script. A play on Kitaro. (thanks @aliliceswonderland for reminding me, as well as the other's! TToTT)

Persona 3 (Female):

P3FeMC or just FeMC (sometimes/old variations FeShe or MShee): Shorthand for (Persona 3) Female Main Character. Since SMT if/Tamaki, Maya, and Aigis have fixed names (in Persona canon), this one is usually who people mean when they hear "FeMC." Though some might use this word as a "what if" for P4/5/6 having a female protagonist. But it's usually for the P3 one.

Leader: Generic Name for FeMC in DramaCDs and such

(P3) Heroine/Josei Shunjiko : Japanese generic title

Hamuko (Arisato): The Japanese fanname, IF Arisato is used, it's derived from the P3MC's manga name.

Minako Arisato: The Western Fanname, derived from Minato Arisato but making it "ko" since a lot of females use that name (note: Minato is actually a unisex name to begin with)

Makoto Yuki: P3MC's movie name. SOME adopted this name after the movie was release due to being a unisex name)

Kotone Shiomi: Stage Play Name (*only official name she's gotten, and unlike P3/4/5MCs whose names were taken from anime adaptions, she's the only one to have her's taken from the stage play).

Door-Chan: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, spoiler reasons.

Canon-chan/Non-canon-chan: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, usually in regards to her canon status. (answer: she is canon)

Lunako Gekko: Name used for Famitsu article

Persona 4:

P4MC: Short hand for Persona 4 Main Character

(P4) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Leader: Generic Name for MC in Drama CDs and such

Bancho(u): Japanese Fan Nickname (he's also called this in Arena's files, short hand for his Arena fighter title)

Souji Seta/Soji Seta: Manga Name

Yu Narukami: Anime Name (*was later used for games)

Various Stage Names: Unlike the P3MCs who have a fixed stage play name, P4's gimmick was to change the name each showing. The ones used in the DVDs are: "Yuuya Seta" for the first one, "Hayato Asakawa" for the second. (complete list, at least for the 2nd stage play coming soon)

Charlie "Chuck" Tunoku: Giant Bomb Endurance run of P4 (I think this is the more famous one)

Kenpachi Ramasama/Ramasama Kenpachi: Two Best friends play P4

Chad: (English) Western fandom joke nickname, something something blame the anime (originated around it's run) esp the scene with the King's game. He got all the chicks or something.

Persona 5:

P5MC: Short hand for Persona 5 Main Character

(P5) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Joker: His in-game code name

Akira Kurusu: Manga name

Ren Amamiya: Anime Name (*was later used for games)

Various Stage Names: Like P4, they adopted the gimmick of doing different names each showing. The ones used on the DVDS are: "Itsuki Onda" for the first one, "Naoki Toudou" for the second one, "Nozomu Akase" for the third one, and "Kaito Shinno" for the forth/last one. (complete list here)

Chair-kun: In reference to the original teaser for P5 (there were a lot of chairs)

Pego: Fan nickname for P5MC, usually english fandom from what I've seen. Stands for Pe(rsona) and Go (aka 5 in japanese). It's a very common one and I...literally forgot TT0TT

Akiren: Alternative fan nickname for P5MC, for fans that like both Akira and Ren's names but don't want to choose I suppose.

Persona 5 X:

P5XMC: Short hand for Persona 5X Main Character

(P5X) Hero/Shunjiko: Japanese generic title

Wonder: His In-game code name

Fun facts/other notes:

FeMC is the only one who breaks the streak of using anime names (due to not having an anime adaptations), it also causes P3 to cross between two different kinds of supplementary canon. (see more on this reblog)

Not all of P4's various stage names are known, namely (haha) the first stage play. If you dig you can find all of the 2nd ones (I should really post that list one day DX)

Despite P1MC not having a consistent chosen name, Atlus seems fond of Naoya, specifically using Naoya/Kazuya together (Devil Survivor 1 manga and P5 Mementos Quest mission) with characters. If you read the P1 manga you'd understand why they put those two names together.

Kitaro and Hamuko were used as place holder text for the P3MC and FeMC chars names for PQ2.

Banchou was used for P4MC's mocking title card in Arena/Ultimax, it was translated as "Kingpin" in english.

Some other chars I didn't listed as having "Leader" could very well be called "Leader" at some point.

Shin Kanzato is the MC to the anime Persona: Trinity Soul, a series that takes place 10 years after P3. It's in it's own separate canon from the P3 we know, Edit: but I'm mentioning him because of it being the original sequel of P3 for a brief period.

Aigis' name obvie can't be changed just like Maya, but she is the MC of both The Answer, as well as the Aigis: The First Mission cellphone game. (sometimes fans refer to her as a "toaster"...bc she's a robot)

Edit: Anna is the MC of P2's novel adaptations iirc, and Naoto and Yosuke are protagonists of their own books/novels/manga. There are most likely others but I will probs end it there (as I just wanna stick with games/original MCs and having Aigis/Kiba/Shin was a bit dicey)

Similar to Pego, P3MC may also be referred to as Pesan, and P4MC as Peyon. I haven't personally seen it (considering the other more prominent names they've had) but I wanted to list it just in case.

To update: Since I mentioned Roger, it's only fair I dig for all the other ones used for other characters (it's just Roger is the most popular, and it's not used often even at that).

[kudouusagi]

I find it so frustrating seeing the criticism regarding Bucchigiri, particularly its main protagonist Arajin. I believe that his dumb behavior is meant to eventually be a critique and deconstruction of insecure masculinity, especially with the male power fantasies of the Japanese bancho genre. He's a horny dick of a main lead trying to assert his masculinity, but he's acting this way for some reason they'll get to down the line ala ADAM in SK8. I trust that Utsumi knows what she's doing with him

I will follow Utsumi to the ends of the Earth. I have full trust she's going somewhere with this lol

I just think Arajin is supposed to be unlikable right now. And honestly, I'm enjoying him being unlikable but I understand why other people don't lol

In the newest episode we're finally starting to see why he's not friends with Matakara now. We saw Arajin and Matakara as children training to be honki people (god I still hate that translation but I guess that's what we're calling it now) and he ran away when Matakara got beat up because he was scared.

So, I think Arajin started avoiding him, gave up on being a honki person, and moved away because it was his idea to train to be a honki person but that got Matakara hurt when he wasn't strong enough. He runs and pretends he doesn't care about being a honki person because he wants to protect people he cares about.

And main quality of honki people is they don't run away. It's the first thing they say about them in the show when they introduce them. So this must be the story of him learning not to run away lol

I'm not sure, but I think his girl craziness is part of his running away. He has to act like a normal teenage boy, not someone who wants to be a honki person.

[flamerunn3r]

Sorry this is unfinished but I need to post these now just bc idfk when i'm gonna actually finish the rest realistically. Idk it will happen eventually. For now heres the great p5u ramblings post detailing my thoughts designs

This is my own personal interpretations but is also somewhat speculative in nature. I'm mostly trying to deal in already established characterizations and epilogue set ups but there might be stuff I've missed or forgotten (i also haven't played dancing yet sorry if there's something in there I hadn't accounted for). This is kind of like if I took the creative reigns on the story where I'd continue for it. Only the investigation team for now (and 2 boss characters I have an idea for) but maybe I'll do the shadow ops at some point. Only 4 characters for now but I'll reblog with additions when I finish the rest or if I edit any of these

Yu Narukami

He's currently attending school as a journalism student in the city or just starting out as one. Enthusiastic about his field but still tries to find the time to keep up with his friends and visit Inaba on his holidays. I felt journalism made alot of sense for him with the themes of persona 4. I liked the sport jacket and turtleneck but wanted soemthing different so the scarf was chosen to keep the same kind of silhouette. I made the collar on the winter coat large and I feel like Narukami's large uniform collar is a key part of his design. and I wanted to call back to that in his casual outfit. The summer outfit I mostly kept close to his summer outfit from p4. I'm kind of unsure on it though I might come back to it. I mostly wanted to keep his outfits smart and simple. For his meta verse outfit I really wanted to go all out with the bancho (kingpin) stuff and other delinquent tropes. I lengthened the uniform coat a little because I wanted it to look like a tokko-fuku. Alot of smaller detail inspiration was taken from Izanagi. The lenses in the mask are supposed to mimic glasses. I'd imagine he'd take off the mask the same way he throws off his glasses in myriad truths.

Teddie

I can't imagine him leaving Inaba and the TV world behind. Still staying in town and working largely the same job. He's got his own place now albeit small (still a step up from the closet though). At some point the IT asked Mitsuru to pull some strings so he actually has a legal personhood now. The animal hoodie is something that came to me spontaneously but I knew I needed to include it. I really that his normal outfit in 4 keeps the white and red of the bear costume in the outfit so I tried to keep the colour scheme here too. Most of his later outfits are less flashy and more casual so I tried to continue that trend. I didn't want to lose the rose from the corsage completely so I included a rose pattern in the second shirt. Alot of his outfits feature light blue so I wanted that in at least one outfit. I considered making the hoodie light blue initially. I don't think he'd have a metaverse outfit he'd just use the bear costume.

Naoto Shirogane

I'm under the assumption Naoto is still presenting masculinely to the general public as of p5 but I may be mistaken in this. If I'm wrong I'd still probably largely keep the outfits similar to this. Naoto's still working as a detective and I don't think that's ever really going to change. One thing that a hypothetical p5u would have to address is what Naoto and the shadow ops would have been doing during the events of persona 5 and I unfortunately do not have any ideas for what that would be at the moment.

I feel alot of the appeal of Naoto's design is the kind of boy detective fashion. I went at this design with the intention of kind of refining that into something a little more adult while still keeping in a similar vein. I did have to ditch the pageboy hat unfortunately as I felt it made them look too young. These outfits were kind of design as pseudo work clothes which is why I tried to make them a bit more formal then the other characters. Something I consider notable about Naoto's design but deliberately avoided here was the rolled up pant legs. It's very obvious in 4 it's done because Naoto is short but I feel like Naoto would start getting that either custom made or tailored to fit. I was initially going to forgo the blazer on the summer outfit but the design felt empty without it. Naoto having a noir detective themed metaverse outfit is an idea I'd had for years but I tried to incorporate design elements that were princely. I alot of the inspiration was from Sam Spade specifically. Deliberately made similarities to Akechi's white crow design. The band around the hat is supposed to invoke the similar one on the old page boy hat.

Yukiko Amagi

Still working at her families in but is taking online courses during the off seasons. She's mostly happy where she is but is keeping her options open. Occasionally makes visits to other ryokans out of town for ideas for her families own inn, as well as an opportunity to for her to sight see.

The headband was included in her design in p4 as a like retro design thing but I find it too important of a marker of her design to remove it. I understand the why they went with the hairstyle they did for her golden epilogue but I feel it just ends up making her look way older then she is. I thought her having her hair up would be a nice change since she does it so rarely and settled on a ponytail. Tried changing the bangs but the ones she already had just felt right. I wanted her clothes to carry this kind of air of sophistication so I tried to keep them relatively simple and sleek. She's wearing pants in the winter outfit but I chose the longer coat to keep a similar skirt silhouette. The choker was largely inspired by the scarf she has in her winter outfit. Despite being a different colour the cardigan was also chosen to tie back somewhat to the sweater she wears with her school uniform.

In some side material it's mentioned that Yukiko has an interest in western fashion and aesthetics (part of what made the castle manifest the way it did) and I wanted to lean on that in some way for her metaverse design. I ended up going with a masquerade ball theme. I tried to keep the dress to something simple and easy to move in. The gloves and boots take inspiration from her persona in terms of design and size. I wanted to incorporate elements from her work kimono as well hence the ribbon around the torso and flower patterning. Probably the most unsure of this one of the metaverse designs so far. Especially the colours (considered making the reds pinks initially). Might revisit this one.

Ok that's all I have for now I'll probably do Rise's next 👍👍👍

[yuurei20]

Meet the Seiyuu: Rook Hunt

Rook Hunt’s seiyuu Itokawa Yojiro is a former beautician.

Rook Hunt is his first and only lead voice-acting role (he also had an unnamed role in a 2014 anime and a role in the Fanfare of Adolescence anime)

Itokawa is primarily a stage musical performer, appearing in over 50 live shows from 2015 to 2022. He has also had appearances on nearly 20 TV shows, four commercials and three movies, as well as 14 live concerts. 

Itokawa is contracted with SONY Music’s Gekidan Bancho Boys, whose "Gingadan" group members form one-half of the Night Ravens group that perform Piece of My World (Itokawa himself is not a member of the Night Ravens group, but he has referred to them as being like his little brothers).

Left Image: Itokawa in “Not Sweet 3”, left, with Futaba Yuu in the middle. Futaba Yuu is the identical twin brother of Jamil's VA, Futaba Kaname, on the right.

Right image: In the Touken Ranbu musical Itokawa performed as Urashima Kotetsu, in the middle. The character in the lower right, Hyuuga Masamune, was designed by Twst's creator Toboso Yana.

Itokawa has been a regular guest on Good Boy!, the Twst promotional show on Disney Games’ official YouTube channel hosted by Crewel’s VA Ito Kent, from episode 5.

In this video, Jade’s VA Komada holds a photoshoot with Itokawa as model (Komada is both a voice actor and a professional photographer)

Most recently, Itokawa was cast as lead character Otori Akira in the action stage show HELIOS: Rising Heroes. The show is scheduled to begin in December.

[ikemenfangirl]

Kenka Bancho Otome Double Pack : Switch version JP

💥 Kenka Bancho Otome: Girl Beats Boys (Fighting Delinquents Girl Leader)

Title: Kenka Bancho Otome Developer: RED Entertainment Publisher: Spike Chunsoft Langauge: Japanese Platform: Nintendo Switch Website: https://www.kenkabancho-otome.com/doublepack/ Release: January 6, 2025

💥 Otome romance ADV game about a cross-dressing girl who attends a boys high school.

💥 Heroine is shocked to learn that she has an older twin brother called Hikaru. as a yakuza, Hikaru requests Hinako to switch places with him at Shishiku Academy, an all-boys school overrun with Japan's toughest delinquents, and become the new yakuza boss.

CAST

🧡 Minowa Totomaru CV: KENN

💚 Konparu Takayuki CV: Aoi Shota

💙 Kira Rintaro CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa

💜 Mirako Yuta CV: Kakihara Tetsuya

❤️ Onigashima Houoh CV: Maeno Tomoaki

🔵 Onigashima Hikaru CV: Toyonaga Tsubasa 🟡 Sakaguchi Haruo CV: Kondo Takashi

※ female protagonist

💥 Anime version Kenka Bancho Otome: Girl Beats Boys

💥 Manga version Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale

[adachimoe]

Bancho should be localized as Gigachad

In P4U / P4 Arena, Narukami's epitaph is "The Full Metal Siscon Bancho". This got localized as "The Sister-Complex Kingpin of Steel" with kingpin being the word used in place of bancho. Bancho is a Japanese title for a dude who leads a gang of teenage delinquents. (Maybe you've seen Tokyo Revengers?)

So in this case, the protagonist is the bancho and the Investigation Team are his gang of delinquents. It's a very different image from how we think of the Investigation Team in the west - we call them band kids or compare them to the Scooby Doo gang.

The reason why he's given the "bancho" title is because of the Japanese Persona 4 fanbase. Per the Pixiv dictionary, Japanese fans started calling the protagonist "bancho" because:

Izanagi looks like he's wearing a boys school uniform

He can greet Dojima with a Manly greeting

Kanji - who looks like a delinquent - respects him

Some of the protag's multichoice dialogue options sound Manly (see #2)

He dresses up as a female delinquent during the crossdressing contest

He was given the epitaph of bancho because of the fans, but kingpin is an attempt to translate bancho rather than find an equivalent word that the English fanbase would use to describe Narukami with. And it sucks! An English equivalent of "a nickname for the protagonist of P4" does exist - it's "Chad" or "Gigachad". He's the Chad Narukami. He's Gigachad Ziodynecock. Who the hell calls him "kingpin"? Fucking no one. The fighting games should be re-released with Narukami's title being "Siscon Gigachad".

[wuxiaphoenix]

Movie Review: the Cursed Plate

The Cursed Plate: Dish Mansion of Hell's Bancho. I’d give this a 4.5 stars out of 5, for delightfully spooky Halloween-type fare that’s not too gory. I will, however, add the caveat that there is Values Dissonance, and if you’re not familiar with some of the basic workings of bushi morality in the Tokugawa Era, this may not be your cup of tea. The bushi code could be extremely harsh. The conflict between human feelings and duty and obligation is a classic theme that Japanese creatives revisit again and again, and boy howdy does it kick in here.

So. Some background. Which may either interest you in the movie, or make you decide it’s not for you.

Historically, ceremonial gift-giving was one of the many performances that kept the power of the shogunate demonstrated and knitted all the lord and vassal relationships together. Items given to vassal clans of samurai by the shogun were, therefore, extremely important. Allowing them to be neglected or mishandled was a sign of disloyalty. The gifts originally given by Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, were so important that to damage them was considered open rebellion.

As in, the kind of excuse the shogun and council of the elders used to wipe out entire clans.

In this story, centuries ago the Aoyama clan was gifted by Ieyasu with a set of plates from the Goryeo Dynasty. Which would have been Korea before about 1392. Meaning they were already antique heirlooms when they were given. They were priceless, and a government official asked the current (adopted) heir, Aoyama Harima, to see them. Given the official’s rank, he cannot refuse, and so he asks a maid he trusts, Kiku, to bring out the box of plates.

The dishes were broken.

Three months later another maid, Yuki, suspects the mansion is haunted, and tries to unravel the truth of what really happened to Kiku... and why are people dying now?

The movie’s based on the ghost story “The Haunted Dish Mansion of Banchō,”, but there’s also a cursed sword, a forbidden romance, and at least one murder plot also woven in. I thought it worked well.

A few trivia bits. If you’ve looked up pottery of the Goryeo Dynasty, as I have, you can’t take the plates seriously.... They’re very pretty and multicolored and obviously not celadon. So.

Also, the actor playing Aoyama Harima, Masakazu Tamura, also played the vampire in Evil Ghost Vampire Ooku. Very cool.

The Cursed Plate: Dish Mansion of Hell's Bancho.

[retrosofa]

I started re-watching Mahou no Mako-chan from the beginning and I have so many things to talk about. Here’s my commentary for the first thirteen episodes.

Episode 1: This episode has been fansubbed for years, so I won’t get too into it. It’s a beautiful episode written by Masaki Tsuji and directed by Yugo Serikawa. They’ve included music from the Cinderella ballet, which gives the episode a strong Disney-vibe. 

Episode 2: This episode is so insane. Mako pretends to have amnesia after being found on the beach by an old zoologist named Mr. Urashima. A TV station does a report on her and a couple shows up claiming to be her real parents. Mako goes along with it since she has nowhere else to go. Surprise, surprise, her “parents” are actually criminals who are just after money.

The man accidentally “kills” Mako, Mako’s real father shows up, revives her, and gives her a gift from her mother: a magic pendant called the Mermaid’s Life. Mako reunites with Mr. Urashima, the criminals come back for Mako and the old man just lets them take her despite her cries for help. As they drive off with her, Mako uses her pendant to brutally murder them in a car crash. Mako goes back to Mr. Urashima like nothing happened, and he basically goes “I heard on the radio those two were actually criminals. Anyway, you can live with me but I’m very strict.” W-O-W. Spoiler: Mr. Urashima is absolutely awful and will continue to do shitty things.

This episode implies that Mako’s mother also wanted to become human at some point but didn’t go through with it. I wish they would’ve elaborated on this more, especially since she barely appears in the series.

This is the first episode to feature Shinya Takahashi as an animation director. It looks really nice, though not a good as the first episode.

Episode 3: Mako enrolls at Karatachi Academy, which covers elementary to high school. In this episode we meet her classmates Bancho, Senkichi, Haruko, etc. They all become a big part of the show from here on. The conflict of the episode is about the school’s rich girl, Tomiko Tomida, who brings her mother’s diamond ring to school and loses it. Mako’s new friend Haruko is accused of stealing it. Overall a pretty average episode.

Oh, you know Mako’s signature blue and white outfit? It used to belong to Urashima’s daughter who died at sea. Wowzers. 

Episode 4: The twins that live next door, Taro and Jiro, are fed up with their mother’s strict ways and decide to run away. Mako accompanies them, as does their uh... pet bear, Kumagoro. Things escalate when an armed Korean refugee takes Mako and the boys hostage. At one point Kumagoro (who’s usually depicted as sweet and cuddly) viciously mauls the refugee. The episode started out so lighthearted and then got really dark out of nowhere. Also the refugee guy constantly calls Mako a “bitch” which really took me back.

Episode 5: Tomiko has some weird hostility towards Mako and starts spreading rumors about her. During a school trip Tomiko gets so heated, she attempts to drive away in a car and ends up crashing off a cliff. Mako tries to use her pendant to save her but her father just up and blocks her powers. There’s a hilarious scene where Bancho taunts Tomiko as she’s crying, hopelessly stuck on the cliff. Mako ends up rescuing Tomiko thanks to the help of a random guy (who looks like a poorly drawn Akira) driving through.

This is the first episode handled by animation director Fumio Eto. He sucks so bad it’s not even funny. Not only is his drawing style so flat and hideous but his actual animation skills are totally laughable. In his defense, he does tries to do some interesting things but he just doesn’t have the talent for it. Unfortunately he ends up handling the last episode. Sigh.

Episode 6: Follow up to the first episode. The little girl from the cruise ship is suffering from PTSD and is afraid of the ocean. Her father hired Akira to help her feel better. For some reason they changed her name from “Kaoru” to “Naomi.” She’s called Kaoru twice in the first episode and she’s even referred to as Kaoru in the preview for this episode. It’s such a weird error and it really takes away from the episode...

Mako and Akira formally meet. He asks if they’ve met before but she denies it. Towards the end of the episode he directly asks her if she’s “the mermaid who saved his life.” I thought that was funny. In the end, Akira has a falling out with Kaoru’s father and leaves.

First episode to feature Fusahiro Nagaki as an animation director. He previously worked on Himitsu no Akko-chan. This episode looks fine but his art style gets really ugly later down the road.

Episode 7: Mako and Akira meet again. This time he’s working for Tomiko’s family. This episode makes it seem like the previous one didn’t happen? Akira doesn’t remember meeting Mako at all and this time she tries to tell him about what really happened during the shipwreck. It’s very bizarre.

Tomiko has a crush on Akira and gets jealous when he saves Mako from some yakuza guys. There’s this whole subplot about Mako helping a little girl sell flowers while her mother is sick at home. At the end of the episode the thugs come back with a freakin’ pro-boxer who kicks Akira’s ass. Mako saves Akira by using her pendant to uh... freeze the boxer guy. Akira runs off before the yakuza thugs come back and promises to write Mako.

By the way, Mako’s pendant only works if it’s in direct contact with sunlight or moonlight. Nobody ever explicitly tells her this, she just kind of figures it out on her own?

Another episode with Shinya Takahashi as the animation director. Visually, this episode looks great but there are some rough spots in the animation.

Episode 8: Christmas episode. Mako meets St. Nicholas, who believes mankind has lost faith. It's a very “true meaning of Christmas” type of story. There’s a very wild scene at the beginning of the episode where a smoking teenage girl hits on Mako’s father. 

Episode 9: This was the first episode I found totally unmemorable. A gang leader from another school writes a love letter to Mako. Bancho gets upset and starts shit with the other guy. Turns out the other gang leader is the son of a yazuka. For some reason Mako is blamed for all of this nonsense and Urashima slaps her for it. Yeah, fuck this episode.

Episode 10: Another stinker. Mako hates the cocky basketball star at her school. Nothing much else to say.

Episode 11: Mako meets a black man named Jim who is falsely accused of theft. This episode deals with racism, discrimination, and police brutality. While it’s far from perfect, it’s impressive an episode like this was produced in Japan around that time. There’s definitely a bit of a white savior narrative behind it, as Mako urges Jim to go to the police to clear his name. Jim refuses saying he doesn’t trust anyone and tells Mako how his innocent friends were all killed by the police. While it’s a bit flawed, it’s still remarkable they were discussing these issues.

There’s a nice scene where Jim and Mako are hanging out that features an instrumental version of Blue Light Yokohama.

Episode 12: Mako visits an old man at a fishing village that’s been horribly polluted by factories nearby.

Unfortunately this is another Fumio Eto episode and it looks especially awful. It’s such a shame because the direction in this episode is brilliant but Eto doesn’t have the skills to do it justice.

There’s a great sequence full of real-life photographs and news articles about the effects of pollution in Japan. I wonder if Hideaki Anno saw this episode growing up?

Episode 13: Mako’s father worries about what his daughter is up to, namely her sex life (I’m not making this up. He doesn’t outright say it but the implication is very clear.) This is a pretty cute episode where Mako and her father have a “date.” They go shopping, swimming and even clubbing.

Mako meets two boys in this episode named Dobin and Chabin. I think they’re named after types of tea kettles? I could be wrong. Amusingly they’re both voiced by actors who play Akira: Osamu Ichikawa and Isao Sakuma.

This is the second episode by the head screenwriter Masaki Tsuji.

Reviews on the next 13 episodes coming soon!

[wanou-dorm]

Introducing Hoshi to people

feat Several of @fumikomiyasaki Characters and @hey-its-cweepy

Nanoya

Hoshi: Flynn your Best friend …. a Giant Senient Bancho Mech!? , He sounds similar to most people from Onigashima…. but he all Rusted and He has all these Scratches and Dings on him …Are you okay?

Cweepy

Hoshi: a Weird sight. Seeing a Color changing Squid Swimming through the halls.She’s like a Little Plush. She seems Scared of a lot of things though .

Cho Hee

Hoshi; What dose Shu see in Octavinelle… Well He Is A Nice looking Four armed Fish creature… with a maw filled with teeth.

Gregory

Hoshi : - Throws Salt at him -

( Gregory is seen as some Shadowy Eldricht Creature he may get more Humaniod as Time gose one as Hoshi can hear his Voice instead of Distorted Gibberish after Flynn calmed him .. )

Marinus:

( Giant Deep sea Anomaly , Marinus is seen as Chimera Abomination of Deep sea life oh boy is he Ugly in Hoshi’s Eye and only what his Inner Beast looks like , No wonder he Didn’t want Shu to be attracted to him. )

Dallas

Hoshi: A Were Poodle an ugly Blonde Toy Poodle at that.

Hextian

no reaction Hoshi Fainted cause He’s a Bear and Has Better than Jack .

Leroy

Hoshi: … Yes I Drew Your Inner Beast , yes your inner Beasts looks like a Giant Salamander mixed with A Geko … It’s not Cool .. I can’t control what your inner beast looks like Unless you want to be A Rampaging monster lacking emotional Limits.

Henry

Hoshi: He’s looks So Freaky Like ,uncanny mix of Crab and Human

Carol

Hoshi: Oh your a Very pretty… Plant Gorgon?! Weird combo for an inner Beast but not the Weirdest.

Rubina

Hoshi: What a Lovely Young Man , I’m surprised you can even Hold such a muscular body in Such Vulnerable position for so long … Why are you Fussing at Flynn ……. I’m not blind I Just can’t see You … The Real Physical You , I can Only see your” Inner Beast” in which case is a Very Muscular Man. But Continue to Fuss At Flynn I thought he told you this After Nanoya.

Rubina But Her Sister took control

Hoshi: This What Tailsmans and Salt are For ,, BEGONE !!

[pumpkin-padparadscha]

kenka bancho otome should NOT be called girl beats boy, this is literally just trans masc rep

literally "how strong you are, you have to he a guy. i guess ill leave the past behind me and accept you as you are" thanks for stopping deadnaming him anymore XD

also the girl who was like "i need someone to pretend to be me so i can go to regular girl school. youre my twin now."

found family but they identify as twins (and they were both trans)

[princeasimdiya12]

Nyan Nyaight Love Continues? It's Time for Action!

I was genuinely suprrised that we're still getting more Nyan Nyahight Love segments. Given how conclusive the last segment was and how dark the narrative has become, I thought we wouldn't see them until the last episode.

And no lie, I was a little unsure if I should make this post. Other fans have made their own posts for this segment and they seem to get the hang of finding the symbolism in Bucchigiri's Greek Chorus. I tip my hat to everyone who put their critical thinking skills to use with this part.

That said, I would like to throw my hat into the fray and share my own thoughts for this Episode's segment. Hope you like it!

Episode 10: It's Good to be Popular. Right?

We begin our segment with the Customer who's jittery and excited to enter NNL while even sporting a gift bag for his beloved Jasmine. He goes in before he's spotted by Marito and his inner circle. The Receptionist greets him and goes forward with getting his usual.

But just before he can get the ball rolling, he realizes something. Jasmine has been booked and won't be available for a good while. But that's okay, the Customer can just wait. Right?

Then the Receptionist has more details on her schedule.

So as pretty much every other fan has guessed, Jasmine being booked parallels Matakara keeping himself busy with the other banchos and delinquents. On his quest to fend off the shadows per Ichiya's orders, he has to take on as many opponents as he can to boost his strength. Starting from the now powerless NG Boys to their former rivals at Siguma Squad.

As for how the Customer parallels Arajin here? Well here the Customer is showing genuine interest in Jasmine and is wants to pursue her. While Arajin isn't actively pursuing his Jasmine (Matakara), he is being more thoughtful of his former friend's situation and how he's changing. Even spending less time away from Mahoro (per her demand) so he can focus more on him and his current situation.

I would also say that the Customer's stupefaction of Jasmine being booked can serve as a parallel to Arajin's reaction to Matakara's change in personality. The Customer never expected that his beloved Jasmine would be involved with other customers despite visiting her so easily in the past segments. So it comes as a surpise that she suddenly became so popular and too busy to spend time with him.

And in regards to the main plot, everyone knows that Matakara was the least likely among the bad boys to pick up fights on a whim unless given a serious reason. Even Arajin knows that his old friend is too sweet-hearted to do such a drastic thing. But to his and everyone else's surprise, he's shown a change that none of them expected and is becoming "popular" for all the wrong reasons. And he's too busy beating up everyone that he won't even pay attention to Arajin. Which fits with how Arajin always had easy access to speaking/interacting with Matakara for some time now but took those opportunities for granted because of his quest to lose his virginity.

As for the Receptionist, I would like to point that he doesn't go back to being silly or whimsical after explaining Jasmine's busy schedule. Much like how the colorful bad boys who appear in this episode turned out especially grim after their run-in with Corrupted!Mataraka. His old friends are worried for his new violent urges and question if they actually knew him.

Hagure and Jabashiri feel utter disappointment in themselves for losing. Jabashiri, the scary one who was prone to anger and hostility, was crying for crying out loud!

And everyone is in shock and fear after Corrupted!Matakara vanquished Marito in combat. Normally there's applause and praise for another feat of brutal violence among their resident bad boys. But this time, there is no praise. Only silence and dread.

The bancho world is out of whack and is in no mood for carefree fun with these new developments. Much like the Receptionist lamenting to the Customer about Jasmine's new schedule.

Also, something I want to bring up is how this is the first time the Greek Chorus actually interacts with the main characters.

Not counting the first episode where Arajin goes to his new school, this is the first time where the Customer aka the Homeroom Teacher actually interacts with Arajin. He was grateful that he was the only one who stayed and actually cared about his studies.

But his words of hope end up having a different but much needed effect on Arajin.

Remembering Shigaraki's warning of how Matakara's life is on the line and how he doesn't have much time, Arajin gets some character development and rushes out to see his old friend to figure out what's going on. He even resorts to ordering Senya to come out and speak with him not just for trying to steal his body but also to figure out how to save Matakara before he loses his body. It's all proactive and a significant change from how Arajin normally acts.

And it's all because the Homeroom Teacher, our Greek Chorus, provided him with some relevant keywords to our designated hero on the crisis at hand. It can be speculated that HT being unable to see Jasmine the other day was what inspired him to say those particular words to Arajin. How time is of the essence and the important things in life can slip by if you take them for granted. And if he loses out and doesn't act, then he'll lose that chance until who knows when. And not wanting to let Matakara be lost, Arajin pushes on.

And those would be my thoughts on this segment. Looks like Nyan Nyaight Love has more stories to share and I'll definitely have some words to say about them. And I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about these segments too! As for any new readers, what did you guys think of this Episode's segment? As before, please feel free to reblog this if you agree with what I wrote, disagree or have another interpretation for this scene. So if you think of something, please say that you know.

“Do you know? Do you know? Do you know what this means?”

[aethesfaelibrarae]

Alright so—

Ryuji and the Palace conundrum of personality and why I'm giving every one of the Confidants (and Shiho) a mini-one because actually tackling sins and virtues and flaws just means so much to me personally.

The thing is—as much as I love the Persona 5 crew—I had the same issues that I have with Marco Diaz from Star vs The Forces of Evil (which I also have an AU for) and the fact that they don't have motivations past what the plot needs them to have and the plot needs those motivations to keep them with the Protagonist.

Ryuji needs to be passive but also fun but also loud and abrasive—him having a sense of spite or softer moments can't happen too often because the Phantom Theives need to be Good but not too good. Also I despise the handsy lovable pervert comic relief with a passion.

Only one who's ever gotten a slight pass from me is Denji but even then, he barely counts himself as a human*.

Ryuji once you remove the Protagonist has no later hopes and dreams... Hell, he's barely got a later. The teachers have given up on him, his mom is accidentally negligent and his father was abusive and his few friends aren't talking to him. What does Ryuji want to do? Why does he stay with Phantom Theives? Why's he so loud about it time and time again?

And also why don't we get to see Ann and Ryuji's friendship more??

How I plan to fix this is simple—friendly bancho boy vibes. Or the pinnacle of leap before you look; the Faith Arcana.

He's been labeled a delinquent because he's loyalty has gotten him into some pretty rough crowds with other people who don't belong or just people who take advantage of it.

He's not the Chariot Contract because discipline, commitment and willpower aren't exactly what I think of when Ryuji comes to mind. Instead I think of your ride or die, the main person who wasn't even sure that he was going to get out of the Castle alive but is ready to try and get other people to safety.

Faith is that outstretched hand in the storm and that's Ryuji. Stubbornly faithful, weathering the storms of life. He's the eternal optimist.. Of the Phantom Theives. Thing's will work out and if it doesn't, then oh, well, we'll try something else.

Now then Hope and Faith are things to work on and practice and Ryuji's needs some dusting off. Not to mention there's got to be some major adjustment between not being able to manifest your heart of hearts and suddenly having to hear all those things and thoughts you have buried.

And for Ryuji, I think it's a lot of spite and envy. The things that make you feel small and weak, the things that you try to move past—i.e, the track team.

As for motivations, I think he's a mama's boy through and through and he and Rin bond over their desire to protect and defend as much as Rin and Ann bond over their belief in doing things with your own two hands. He's getting a degree in physical health and medicine and despite the difficulties of being neurospicy in Japanese workforce/schooling, I think that he'd actually be doing surprisingly well.

Struggling because our boy is from the countryside and simple but he's still doing it.

I'd like to touch on alternative teaching methods and have the Theives band together for other things than the world ending.

Also I just really like Ryuji having that sort of sunshine charm where you can't help but want to keep him safe or gravitate towards him. I mentioned bancho-vibes which I honestly see because he seems like the type that enjoys Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and tried to dress like Jotaro Kujo. Until someone called the cops.

I giving him the same level of situational awareness but rather than retreading the same plotline of Ryuji is loud and almost gets them caught, I'm thinking of either having it be why he needs to sit out and eventually develops a Palace or having it actually affect other people. Ryuji does not strike me as an actively malicious person but rather as someone who is careless at times.

His arc is going to be about Rin regaining faith in humanity and Ryuji maintaining his optimism or at least, getting a chance to defend himself.

Ain't no mandatory forgiveness for people doing fuck shit here.

Like I actually refuse to put that in. Kamoshida is dead, Haru gets to punch someone and Ann gets to rip people apart.

[aoihono96]

2022/09/25 - Kikuchi Shuuji’s Twitter Post

Thank you for watching

The 4th episode of “Shuuji Park“*

On my official Nico Channel**!!

I was happy to be able to talk about many things and have a great time with everyone!

I get a little drunk every time, but...LOL.

At the end, my senior from Bancho Boys*** who I didn’t meet from some time,

Yojiro, joined all of a sudden!!

It was nice to meet him!

Source: twitter

* Starting June 2022, Kikuchi Shuuji has his own show, “Shuuji Park“, where he talks about his roles, stages, backstage happenings, etc. The first part of his show is free to watch, but the second part is a paid one.

** You can find his page here

*** Bancho Boys is a theatrical company, Kikuchi Shuuji being an official members of the troupe since 2016.