#but now we get full great writing by sensei and it's fantastic

[inferno-silentdragon]

Connected Minds

Zergnan was created @deductionfreak Story written by him Art by myself

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PLEASE ACTUALLY LOOK THE REBOOT FOR THESE AND NOT THESE SINGLE IMAGE STRIPS THAT I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY PAST ME DID IT LIKE THAT

[animegenork]

Fruits Basket Season 2, Episode 12

I enjoyed this episode just as much as I thought I would. And I really like that it came after the Kagura/Kyo episode, because it’s really about something somewhat similar but also drastically different. Takaya-sensei, I see you. ;)

First, some things of note:

I think I had a full “oh, that’s why” moment with Hatori. He wasn’t exactly the most attractive to me for a long time, but I finally understood what the hype was about in this episode. He the man.

Does anyone know the name of the bitchy old woman? Cuz she was always my least favorite for always being mean to anyone who’s not Akito and I need to know if she has a name or if I can laugh at her nameless expense...

So anyway.

The best part about Takaya dedicating an entire chapter to Mayuko is that you don’t expect it. She was just the sarcastic teacher you liked but couldn’t tell why you liked. BUT THEN TAKAYA SAID, “LET THERE BE LIGHT,” and suddenly we had someone who mattered in some way to at least one member of the Sohma clan. But enough digressing about how side characters deserve their screentime (shoutout to the MLP: FIM episode that was ONLY about side characters).

Even though Shigure himself says that he’s perceptive and Mayuko took this as fact, I think it’s really important to point out just how perceptive he is. Sure, we could brush off some of the things he says and ignore them since they never seem to come to fruition, but... we can’t. In the very beginning of the series, Shigure mutters to Kagura (though she doesn’t hear), “I get jealous, too.” We don’t actually see him show us this until way later in the series, beyond the scope of the original anime. And though we don’t technically know it right now, that is precisely why he asks out Mayuko. The thing about Shigure is that he is incredibly selfish, though he passes it off very subtly as being narcissistic. But no, he’s a selfish bastard (that I love anyway) who has an endgame goal in mind that we can only dream of figuring out. (Unless, of course... we’ve read the manga. :P ) I think this just goes to show how amazing Takaya is at writing these characters and fleshing them out over time. You have to WAIT for answers such as these, and I am HERE for it. In any case, it’s just amazing how by looking at Mayuko he was able to determine her feelings for Hatori. She’s apathetic enough that I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell, and maybe that power, in Shigure’s hands, is terrifying. Who’s to say?

But Shigure isn’t the most important part of this episode. Mayuko is. Well, actually, Hatori arguably is, so let’s just say they both are. Though we can’t really tell at first, Mayuko and Hatori are very similar. Their cutting remarks to Shigure are always the best, and Kana affected their lives in similar ways. Mayuko says that Kana makes her feel like she can be kind, which Hatori agrees with. I don’t think Hatori is able to recognize his own kindness, because the manga, at least, consistently references how Hatori is one of the kindest Sohmas. I think Mayuko fell in love with that kindness, because other than the obvious hotness that is Hatori, why else would she care so much about his happiness? It’s hard not to fall in love with Hatori’s special brand of kindness, especially when paired with the two clowns he’s stuck babysitting all the time.

I have to really admire Mayuko for supporting Kana AND Hatori through the Akito debacle. She doesn’t know what’s going on, save for the memory suppression bit, but she wants them both to be happy. [Let’s not skip the fact that Mayuko cries for Kana, though her friend can’t possibly understand why her normally calm friend is doing so.] A part of her mourns the fact that they can’t be happy together anymore, and all these feelings come to a head when Hatori says “Happiness isn’t for me.”

No, Hatori. No. Shut up.

Dear Lord, thank you for Mayuko for SCREAMING while she cried. The manga didn’t get this across enough, I think, so it was interesting to see just HOW upset she was that this man she admired and loved for so long was so convinced he wasn’t allowed to be happy. And why is that? Because like the other Sohmas, Akito somehow has him convinced that he’s not allowed to love anyone, and ever since losing Kana, he’s begun to believe it himself. With Kana happy and married now, he thinks maybe such things aren’t meant to be for him.

Mayuko, bless her soul, says that is bullshit. Not in so few words, but yeah.

Interestingly enough, she has a bit of a breakthrough in this episode, though it’s significantly quieter than her sobbing fit with Hatori. She realizes that even though she’s been lonely, that’s no reason to date someone, and that’s precisely something that readers/viewers can learn from her. The episode is not truly about her, but about her relationship with Hatori and just one of many catalysts leading to the collective Sohma happiness. I guess we should be glad Shigure dated her in name only, because that means she gets to have all the fluffle with our boy Hatori.

I think my favorite part of the episode, as well as the chapter of the manga, is the indirect reveal of how Mayuko’s relationship with Hatori plays out. Fruits Basket is fantastic at indirectly telling you how things turn out, such as Mayuko saying it would take a while for Hatori to call her by her first name again - implying they see a lot more of each other. We’re nowhere near done with this anime, and this it the only purely incidental glimpse of the future we get, but I think it’s so fantastic that Takaya gave it to Hatori. Hatori, one of the first Sohmas we meet. Hatori, who has the constant support of his two clowns. Hatori, the one we all want to be happy BECAUSE DAMMIT, HE SHOULD BE.

The best part of this episode, I think, is when Kana encourages Mayuko to pursue Hatori. Of course, she doesn’t know what this could possibly mean for Mayuko - having her best friend tell her “go ahead, go after my ex” - but it is great nonetheless. Now, both Kana and Hatori can be happy, and with that comes the added bonus of our favorite teacher being happy!

Overall, I just love what this episode did for Hatori, as well as for Furuba’s victim of not-enough-screentime, Mayuko. I wish them all the best, even though I know very well how things turn out for them. ;)

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of 2010s-18th Place

From here, we jump from one unstoppable franchise that defined my childhood to another!

#18- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017)

The Plot: Fifteen years after their mutation, four turtles trained in ninjutsu finally get a chance to leave their home in the sewers and catch a glimpse of the surface world. However, they soon learn that the city of New York is surprisingly full of crime. The type of crime run by dangerous mutants, aliens from another dimension, and even a legion of ninjas run by a dangerously pointy samurai named The Shredder. With the training from their rat sensei, these unlikely heroes will save their city, foil the villains' plans and still have time for pizza!

Now I know that you might be thinking about how this is the dumbest plot for a T.V. show. To that, I say...yeah, pretty much. HOWEVER, the show is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There is no way you didn't know it was going to be a dumb show going in, right? TMNT is a franchise born from stupidity but not hindered by it. The many reboots rarely, if ever, take themselves too seriously. And the main reason this franchise lasts so long is that the writers know to embrace the weirdness rather than make fun of it. Something similar can be said about this particular reboot.

Sure, there are episodes with more serious stakes than others, but those episodes still know when to keep things light-hearted and fun by placing a well-timed joke between the more dramatic beats. Or at least, they try to do that, but I’ll get to that later. For the most part, TMNT (2012) has a great sense of humor that will make kids laugh and give the adult fans an occasional chuckle. Even when the show does take itself seriously, it handles it well. And do you want to know why the jokes and drama work in this series? It’s all because of the characters.

Here’s a tip for people who want to write a comedy series: Comedy doesn’t come from the joke, but the character who makes the joke. A common complaint you’ll hear about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that it has the mistake of everyone having too similar of a personality. The jokes are still funny (sometimes), but it comes at the expense of making the characters stale. That isn't the case for this version. Each turtle has a unique trait that helps explore a joke (Leonardo being the straight man and Donetello's over the top freakouts, for example). Even Master Splinter gives an occasional laugh with his dry sense of humor. However, not every joke in TMNT (2012) works, and that’s either because some gags are out of character or are just not funny. For instance, Michelangelo is the team’s moron, so his humor comes from doing something stupid or random. Sometimes it earns a laugh, but for the most part, it comes across as annoying.

The writers also do a somewhat good job at handling drama with its characters. By making the audience like these characters because of their sense of humor, we immediately root for them when they’re being thrown into a more dire situation. The best example of this is every time the turtles and their allies face off against the Shredder, which is always an intense scene to witness. That’s because we care about the characters and will feel panicked when they are in a fight they might not walk away from unscathed. However, not every instance of drama works well. There are times when the show takes itself a little too seriously. While the adult fans will most certainly enjoy those episodes, the same can’t be said for kids. Most kids' cartoons during the 2010s manage to handle drama well in a way where both children and adults can be invested. They usually do this by remembering to keep a stable mix of light-hearted humor with serious storytelling, and sadly this series sometimes fails in finding that perfect mix.

In the first season (and half of season 2), TMNT (2012) did have that balance of comedy and drama. However, halfway through season 2, the humor and drama begin to contradict each other. It starts off with the more comedic episodes coming across as sillier than the dramatic ones that come across as too dark. For example, a story where the turtles nearly die from getting eaten by mutated pizza comes right before one where they almost die from fighting a trained assassin who's a mutated tiger. Things get even worse where even the tones don’t match up for an episode. A majority of the dramatic episodes in later seasons will have a dumb joke that ruins the moment's intensity. And every time, that joke is always made by Michelangelo, who we already established as being not that funny. Because of the contradicting tones, both new and old fans of the series can lose their enjoyment.

However, there’s one thing all fans enjoy that this series excels in, and that is having great action. While the current reboot definitely has the best action animation-wise, it’s mostly styled with no substance. That’s not the case with the 2012 reboot, as it does a decent job at mixing cool action into a story. It’s easy to make a fight between four mutated turtles fighting an evil mutant look cool, but it’s a whole other thing to actually have that fight make sense in a story. Because this reboot works in a half-hour format, the fight scenes between the turtles and the new villain of the week feel more natural and nicely paced with everything else going on within the episode. Plus, while not as epic as Rise of the TMNT, the fights are still pretty cool. They can be fast-paced, have phenomenal camera work, and can be pretty brutal at times when they want to be. And it’s somewhat because this series trades the traditional 2D designs for a 3D makeover.

It’s funny. When I found out that this version of TMNT was planned to be animated using 3D models, I was ready to hate it due to how unnatural it looks. The thing is that the 3D designs are what makes this show stand out from the rest. The level of detail each character has is impressive and would have taken much longer to animate if the show would have stuck with 2D. Although there are a few small complaints, I have character designs. These problems don’t really bug me that much, but they are still worth mentioning. One problem is that not every redesign for the characters work, especially with how they made Casey Jones (do a google image search if you don’t believe me). But I can learn to live with it because every reboot has that ONE design that not everyone will agree with. Another issue I have is that it is apparent when the animators took shortcuts. Such as making an army where the characters look identical to each other or having the transformation from human to mutant look a little lazy. Now I can accept that for two reasons: One. It would take a long time to make a new unique model for a character who would appear for just 10 seconds. And two. Animation (Especially 3D animation) is crazy expensive, and you gotta make cuts where you can. However, for things like the city of New York, one of the most populated/crowded states in the country, being practically devoid of all life can be pretty distracting.

But while the designs for the characters are great, the characters themselves are also...fine. Okay, truth be told, there isn’t much I can say about the characters. Most of them range from passably generic to forgettably bland. However, there are characters in this reboot that I feel are worth mentioning. For instance, this show has the BEST version of Master Splinter. His backstory of the life he had as Hamato Yoshi is legitimately heartbreaking, and the way he interacts with the turtles can be both heartwarming and hilarious. Then there’s the character who I’m iffy about, and that’s April O'Neil. And it’s NOT because she’s a teenage girl in this version (Although I can see why people can have a problem with that), but instead because she doesn’t seem like April O’Neil. Without giving too much away, TMNT (2012) does something that I’m okay with, and that's trying to make April less of a damsel in distress and more of a character who can actually take care of herself. However, the way the writers do that is by making her less like April O’Neil and more like...well, without spoiling anything, she’s more like another famous red-headed comic book character who deals with dangerous mutants. Finally, there’s the character I’m frustrated with: Michelangelo. When I was a kid, Mikey was always my favorite turtle from the bunch, and that was because he was the funniest turtle. This version, on the other hand, comes across as more annoying than funny. In fact, not only is Donatello the most hilarious turtle in this series, but even Leonardo has moments when he’s funnier than Michelangelo. And those are both characters who have had the reputation of the most boring in the franchise!

So, does this reboot of TMNT have its faults? Yes. Yes, it does. But do you want to know what else this reboot has? It has both style and substance. It has both drama and humor. It has fantastic designs and great characters to go along with them. In the end, if you’re a new or old fan of the franchise, odds are you're gonna have one shell of a time with this series.

(Also, while I pointed out it’s faults, I do enjoy Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...for the most part. I’ll explain why, some day.)

[deaf-sakura]

Signal (Deaf Sakura AU)

(This took me a while to churn out but I’m not mad at it; I love any sort of feedback so feel free to chat with me in the notes or via my askbox! You can find this on AO3 right here, so stop by and drop a kudo/subscribe if you can!)

Sakura sat on the bridge with her teammates, fidgeting with the choppy bangs framing her face and the stiff fabric of her new headband. Naruto kept glancing at her with a nervous grin, like he wanted to approach her but wasn’t sure how. She smiled politely back at him, not really wanting to start a conversation through notepad this early. Sasuke on the other hand stood motionless, not acknowledging either of them.

She sighed and scooted over to one of the poles supporting the bridge, resting her ear on the cool metal. Its surface buzzed from the river rushing below, and she watched a large branch drift towards her until it hit the bridge, sending up a hollow bang that vibrated in her ear.

That was a habit she’s had since preschool; it wasn’t a ‘deaf' thing so much as a ‘Sakura’ thing. Her favorite memories involved sprawling out on the school’s merry-go-round and pressing her ear against it while Ino and the other girls played around her. She’d giggle at how the vibrations from all their running, stomping, and spinning tickled her ear, and they’d gush about how her laugh was “so cute, like a baby’s!” later on (not that she’d know or care about how her laugh resembled a baby’s).

Now she sat here with two former classmates she barely knew and was desperately missing her old friends. Ino was the only one in the academy who could sign, so why on earth weren’t they put on the same team? Why did she have to be stuck with the hyperactive knucklehead who was always shouting at her? Or the sullen emo boy who wouldn’t look at her to talk, then got mad when she couldn’t read his lips?

Sakura sighed again, not caring who heard. And this new sensei who always wore a damn mask over his face? That had to be the worst part. She couldn’t even read his lips. When she motioned for him to pull the mask down, all he did was take out a sticky note and write down his directions (she made it a point to never write anything back). And here they were, one day after the bell test, groggy, bored, and probably being stood up by their new sensei.

Suddenly she sensed someone, their chakra to be exact. Probably the teacher. She could tell he was coming towards them quickly, his energy flickering wildly through the tree tops.

She tapped Sasuke’s foot to get his attention, but he barely glanced at her. She tugged at his pants leg, and he pulled away, making it a point to step just out of her reach. She quickly turned around, jaw clenched and cheeks burning. Naruto however was still watching her, now eagerly scooting closer to hear what she had to say. She paused before pointing at the canopy of leaves; he looked back and forth between her finger and the forest, brow knitting in confusion. She covered her face with the free hand and gestured towards the trees again. His eyes flickered.

“THE TEA-CHER?!” he shouted, over-enunciating every syllable. She gave him an awkward nod and a smile. Sasuke actually perked up at this, but he still wouldn’t look straight at her.

Within a second Kakashi appeared, perched on the railing with an arrogant grin clearly plastered on under the mask.

‘Good morning guys!’ he signed, lips moving under the mask as he spoke in tandem with his signing. He smiled at Sakura. ‘You signaled to the others that I was coming. Now tell me, how did you know that?’

‘I sensed...’ her arms froze as her mouth fell open.

‘My chakra?’ he finished. ‘That’s actually pretty good coming from a rookie. Good job.’ She stared blankly at him before her lips twisted into a snarl.

‘You sign?!’ He grinned and tried addressing the group again, but Sakura leapt in front of him and pulled his arms back down.

‘Why didn’t you do that yesterday?! Instead of making me read through all those stupid little sticky notes!’ She stomped her foot at the last word.

‘Relax, relax....’ his held his hands in the air defensively. ‘I’m still getting to know you guys and you’re still getting to know me. Can’t be spilling all my secrets so quick, can I?’

‘Liar!’ she snapped.

Honestly, he had no good reason. Maybe he didn’t want to get too chummy with a team he didn’t expect to keep. Maybe he didn’t want her bonding with an ANBU assassin until he knew he wasn’t going to go get his ass blown up on an S-rank mission. But none of that he wanted to explain right then and there.

‘Listen, I want you to be able to trust me, alright? From here on out I’ll keep signing. I’m not gonna let you fall behind or feel like you’re not a full fledged member of Team 7. I promise.’ He squeezed her shoulder. She eyed him pensively before nodding.

‘Okay.... First and foremost, let me give you two these. That should kick off your signing.’ He handed the boys two pocket-sized books labeled “Beginning Fire Nation Sign Language”. Sasuke scowled.

“Why do I have to be the one to-”

‘From here on out, this is officially a bilingual team. Most ninja develop some sign language to communicate on stealth missions and to work with deaf civilians and clients. However, you three will-’

“On stealth missions?! So like, you use it as some sort of secret code?!” Naruto snapped.

‘Yes, it’s like a secret code you can use on stealth missions,’ Kakashi repeated, trying to keep Sakura in the loop.

“That’s awesome!!!”

‘No,’ Kakashi shook his head. ‘Follow me.’ He held up his hand to his face and bent his fingers like claws, then motioned Naruto to do the same. He waved it over his mouth twice, nodding when Naruto mimicked perfectly.

‘Awesome,’ he repeated. ‘Start working on this; you say it and you sign it. That’s how we all communicate.’ Naruto grinned and repeated the sign to Sakura who smiled back.

‘Like I said, most ninja learn some sign, however working on this team your skills will greatly exceed that of your peers which will open you up to more missions. Just like any other skill set, I expect you all to work on your communication skills both during and outside of official practice. Is that understood?’

Sakura nodded her fist for ‘yes,’ and Naruto followed suit. Sasuke nodded curtly.

‘Great!’ Kakashi smiled. ‘Now, let’s get on to some real training.’

..........

To say Kakashi worked their asses off was an understatement, but to his credit, he did give them breaks.

Naruto collapsed in the grass after his tenth lap around the training grounds. Kakashi grinned and handed him a dictionary.

“If you have time to sit, you have time to study!” he said a little too sweetly. Naruto happily obliged, quickly thumbing through his new book. Sasuke used this as motivation to keep moving until he was dry heaving at the base of a pine tree. 

When Sakura fell to her knees panting, he loomed over her with that same saccharine-sweet grin behind his mask.

‘Let’s see.... You obviously don’t need to work on your signing. What can we work on while sitting down, hm?’ She shrugged sheepishly. He hit his fist into his palm with sudden realization. ‘Your academy teachers said you were great with chakra control!’

He pulled her up by her elbow and dragged her to the edge of the pond.

‘You’ve used chakra to climb up trees before, right?’

‘Just a little bit.... Ino’s dad taught me.’

‘Great! Well this isn’t much different. Focus your chakra at your feet, and just follow me.’ He stepped out onto the water and took three wide steps before turning back to her. She was smiling ear to ear in awe.

‘It’s the same idea, except you’re using your chakra to gently repel the water rather than glue yourself to the surface. Your turn, follow me!’ Sakura glanced between her sensei and the water before taking a shaky step onto the pond. Once she shifted enough weight on it to know it wouldn’t fall through, she lifted her back leg from the shore and put it in front. She started hobbling over to Kakashi’s side, latching onto his arm before she could lose her momentum. He quickly turned and dragged her out further onto the pond until they were way too far from shore for Sakura’s liking.

‘Now....’ Kakashi made the sign for chakra by his shins, telling her to redirect her chakra there.

‘And now sit!’ He pushed down on her shoulders until she awkwardly knelt on the surface. She bobbed shakily, her calves getting swallowed and spat out by the water until she found the right balance of chakra over so much surface area.

‘Good work. Now see how long you can hold this position while I go check on the boys.’ Kakashi grinned.

‘Wait, I just stay here like this?!’ Sakura snapped.

‘Yup, just come join us when you’re done!’

‘I don’t wanna fall in!!!’

‘Hm.... I can’t say I blame you. You better focus then!’ With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Now...Naruto, how are you doing?” he hummed. Naruto perked up at Kakashi.

“Oh...I’m doing great! I really like this stuff Kakashi sensei!” he grinned.

“Great. Show me one sign you’ve already learned.”

“Okay!!!” Naruto eagerly crossed his forearms and stuck up his thumb and pinkie on one hand, then started flexing his fingers on the other.

“Bullshit!!!” he hollered, cackling to himself. A single bead of sweat slipped down Kakashi’s forehead.

“Okay great. No, really, fantastic. Got anything useful though?” Just then a scream echoed around them followed by a splash. 

“She can swim right? Okay, yeah, she’s swimming, she’s fine,” Kakashi mumbled before turning back to Naruto.

Naruto hummed before touching his pointer finger to his wrist and waving his free hand.

“Leaf! Like the village.” Kakashi gave a more earnest smile at that.

“Alright, how about you Sasuke?”

“Tch.” 

Kakashi sighed and Naruto grimaced.

“Come on bastard, this stuff is actually pretty cool! Plus you should try to learn to talk to Sakura just a little bit! Not like we can be passing notes in the middle of a mission.”

“I don’t need to talk to her, loser. I don’t even need to be talking to you, either. You’ll both just get in my way.”

“Sasuke,” Kakashi hummed, giving him that fake smile. “No man is an island, no accomplished ninja today got where they are on their own. I know you have...goals. And signing with us won’t exactly help you accomplish them. But trust me when I say, becoming an integrated member of your four-man squad will help you develop your skills in the long run. It’s in no one’s best interest for you to isolate yourself.” He calmly held Sasuke’s gaze until the younger broke away. Just then Sakura came trudging in, soaked pond water.

‘I fell in!!!’ she snapped, huffing in anger.

‘You poor thing. Will you live?’ Kakashi snorted.

‘I saw him sign “bullshit” and it broke my concentration! How did he learn that?!’

“Ooh Kakashi-sensei, she cursed at you! I caught that! I’m already pretty sharp, huh?” Naruto laughed. Sakura caught just enough of what he said to look bemused.

‘Alright team!’ Kakashi spoke and signed. ‘I’d say we got off to a good start today. Meet back at the bridge tomorrow and we’ll start discussing our very first mission! Until then, you are all dismissed.’

Sasuke quickly turned on his heels to head home, while Naruto started running off and yelling his goodbyes behind him. But as Sakura tried to leave, Kakashi tapped her shoulder.

‘I’m just now realizing, I never got your sign name,’ he said. Sakura smiled shyly. She held up two fingers on each hand and traced them down the sides of her head, from her scalp to her ears. Kakashi copied her.

‘Ah, so like your headband?’

‘Not really. I had this ribbon growing up that my friend Ino gave to me. I wore it to hold my hair back with every single day until I was given my headband. I still have it though, the ribbon!’ she grinned.

‘Okay then, Sakura....’ He emphasized her name now that he had it. ‘I’ll see you back at the bridge tomorrow first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I want you to start thinking up sign names for all of Team 7 so we can easily communicate. Understood?’ She nodded before he once again he disappeared in a puff of smoke, letting Sakura be the last one to leave the training ground.

[i-minato-chan]

[ Naruto OC x Canon Ship Week 2020 - Seal and Strawberries, or, Ostentatious and Impractical Uses for Shinobi Techniques] [ @naruto-ocxcanon-ship-week​ || @kusunokihime ] [ Suigin Ryū , Namikaze Minato ] [ Trope: just... genius kids being geniuses, idk. ]

Minato’s kitchen table sometimes doubled as a desk.

Quite often, however, it was insufficient. When Ryu let herself in – one of the first times she’d used the key Minato had given her – she was treated to a view of paper covering the table, the kitchen counter, the floor, and beginning to climb the walls.

“Ryu! Come in, come in.”

Minato looked up with a smile. He was sat in the middle of the floor in the one clear circle of space, with just enough room for Ryu to comfortably sit opposite him. She had to step carefully between sheets of intricate sealwork; she knew from Minato’s tutelage what most of them meant.

“Sorry I’m late!” Ryu apologised. It was a scorching hot day – she’d slept badly because of the heat and decided that a shower was far more important than not being fifteen minutes late to see Minato.

“I… hadn’t noticed.” Minato admitted. He was normally good at keeping time in his head, but when he got sufficiently focussed on a subject, he could get distracted. “Anyway, come sit. I, uh, got started already.”

“So I see.” Ryu smiled, finally reaching the last clear space on the floor and settling down. She’d brought a folio of her own seal work, which was just as intricate but rather les expansive.

“Here, let me clear you a space.” Minato shuffled some papers aside to give Ryu the space she needed to work. “Did you want to keep working on that passive chakra absorption seal? I’m sure we’re nearly there.” Previous attempts at the seal had failed to absorb Ryu’s ambient energy, and in one worrying case had started leeching her energy. Thankfully, it had filled up in about a minute and they’d disabled it easily.

“Yeah, I had an idea I’d like to run past you.” Ryu pulled a sheet of paper from the folio and handed it to Minato.

                                                           ~

 Four hours of work yielded a few minor adjustments to Ryu’s new design. Though Minato had been guiding her a lot of the way, this was mostly her work – he might have shown her how to write, but this was a sentence she’d constructed.

“That should work. Shall we try it?” Minato handed the paper back to Ryu. He said ‘we’, but it would be Ryu’s seal, and her attempt to scribe it. He was just going to watch.

“Sure. Should we clear some more space?” The gusting of chakra might disturb some of the papers, and Ryu was too hot to be bothered with sorting them back into order. Minato complied, clearing her a space maybe a meter in diameter.

“Okay, that should be fine.” He said, standing back at the edge of the circle. Ryu gave him a nervous nod, then held out her left hand in front of her. With a finger, she traced a pattern on the back of her hand, just barely not making contact. To Minato’s sharp senses, it looked like the space between her finger and hand was filled with a thousand tiny lines of green and white light.

A tense minute passed. Sealwork was not an easy thing to do, though it could be done much faster after practice. Ryu continued to work, sweat beading on her brow from the concentration required as well as the heat of the day. Eventually, she finished.

“Well?” Minato asked, leaning closer to inspect the seal. “It looks good. Is it working?”

“I… I think so.” The expenditure of chakra in a seal like this would take a few moments of recovery. Ryu took a deep, calming, breath. The depletion in her reserves was barely noticeable, and she had to focus on it as it refilled. After a moment, she felt it restore to her natural limit.

“There! Look look look-“ Minato pointed excitedly at Ryu’s left hand, which was still upraised. The edges of the seal, which looked like an intricate tattoo in black ink, started to change colour, going a pale green.

“It worked!” Ryu yelped in delight. It had taken months to get to this point. Minato shouted as well, grinning from ear to ear. They both reached out for a hug at the same time, almost clashing heads in their rush, laughing with relief and cheer at their success.

“Okay, okay.” Minato calmed down after a minute or so and let Ryu go. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How big did you make the reserve?”

“It should be full in a minute.” Ryu answered, brushing a loose hair out of her eyes. “I… can feel it working, actually. Tingly.”

“Wow.” Minato smiled widely. “Okay, this calls for a celebration.”

“It does?” Ryu asked. She’d have thought he’d want to see if the seal filled up properly first, and if she could use the chakra she’d stored.

“Absolutely. Milkshake?” Minato hopped to his feet and danced between the sheets of paper that were between him and the kitchen area. He started taking things out of the fridge as well as glasses from the cupboard.

Milkshake? “Sure, I guess.” Ryu followed over to the kitchen area, which was at least free of the paper carpet. “I spy a punnet of strawberries over there?”

“Freshly picked this morning from the fields south of the city.” Minato smiled. He’d picked them himself for this exact purpose.

“Sounds good to me.” Ryu leaned against the counter as Minato worked. He quickly assembled two glassfuls of milk and some plain ice cream out of his meagre freezer then started unpacking the fruit. Ryu watched with interest as he rubbed each strawberry with his thumb – and the stalk just fell out, as if he’d cut it out with a knife.

Ryu squinted. Minato was using the chakra scalpel she’d shown him months ago, but in an almost ostentatiously complicated way. She focussed and watched as Minato manipulated a wave of pale blue energy smaller than her fingernail to cut out another stalk. He was manipulating the shape of the scalpel as he worked, which was ridiculous – you’d never do that in real surgery, since it took too much focus.

Minato glanced up at Ryu and made a face, embarrassed. “What?”

“Why… is that really the best way to take stalks out of strawberries?” Ryu took one of the strawberries Minato had performed his surgery on. The cut was perfect, and she could see the stalks had absolutely no excess flesh on them.

“Probably not.” Minato admitted. There was a little flush to his cheeks that Ryu couldn’t put down to the heat. “Jiraiya-sensei told me to practice with using chakra as much as I can, since that’s the best next step in my training. Hence…” He waved a hand at the strawberries.

“And you’re doing that… with the most complicated possible version of the technique I showed you?” Ryu asked, eating the strawberry in her hand. It was deliciously fresh.

“… Yeah.” Minato admitted after a second. He glanced at the pile of strawberries, then brightened up. “Speaking of ostentatious uses of shinobi techniques for trivial and possibly demeaning uses – do you wanna see a trick?”

“A trick?” Ryu raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you making milkshakes? They don’t look very shaken to me.”

“Ahha, but watch this.” Minato dumped half the strawberries into one of the glasses and put his hand on top of it. He put his other hand around the side of the glass so Ryu could see his palm, behind the milk, ice cream, and strawberries.

Then the whole concoction started to swirl.

In a matter of seconds, the glass was filled with a tumultuous mess of red and white that, to Ryu’s chakra senses, glowed blue with a powerful, concentrated light.

After maybe thirty seconds, Minato released the glass. It settled down almost immediately, and Minato handed the glass to Ryu. The hand on top of the glass, she noticed, was completely dry.

“One milkshake, as requested.”

Ryu took the milkshake, almost dumbfounded. She looked up as Minato kept talking.

“It’s… a new technique I’m working on. I don’t have a name for it yet. Basically, since I’ve got really good chakra control, I wanted to make a way for me to use that rather than overwhelming force, and that seemed like a good way of doing it.” He paused. “Would… would you like me to make it normally?”

“No! No, it’s fine.” Ryu realised she’d been staring at the top of the milkshake. It looked perfectly smooth and was still chilled in her hand. “Just… that’s more ostentatious than I was expecting.”

“Yeah.” Minato agreed, smiling again. “But hey, it’s celebratory milkshake. Might as well go all-out, right?”

“Right!” Ryu giggled, and took a sip.

It tasted of strawberries and ice cream.

“Is it good?” Minato asked, finishing up his own drink.

“Delicious. Thank you, Mina-chan.” Ryu smiled at him.

“You’re welcome. Congratulation, Ryu-chan.”

                                                            ~~~

Writing has been hard for a long time, so I’m super happy to have managed to write this. Sylvie (@kusunokihime) did me the great honour of being included in her first entry to the Naruto OCxCanon Ship Week (her incredible work can be found here) so I had to offer this in return. 

Ryu and Minato have been dancing around each other for about eighteen months now, I believe, and they’re so god-damned adorable I squeal in delight every time I get to write them together. Sylvie is a fantastic RP partner, and always a delight to work with.

If you made it all this way, then thank you for reading! Until next time~

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

Change of plan, decided to get season 1 out of the way, so I can really get some groundwork. So technically, this is the first true experience of Ninjago.

-Right off the bat, 13 episodes felt too much. I’m glad that future seasons after S2 go down to maximum 10 for the most part. -Honestly the plot is all over the place. The first six episodes are kinda moral episodes, then apparently someone writing Tick Tock said “Actually, I have this kickass angst idea for Zane and I want to use” and the show decided now would be the time to drop the original approach. -Speaking of which, how many fetch quests can you squeeze in one season where there’s just absolute failure on the protagonists’ part? They couldn’t stop the five tribes getting together, and they did not stop one Fangblade being taken by Pythor. It got ridiculous. -That said, the Serpentine are way better than the Skeleton Army, or at least Pythor and Skales are. Pythor is just so hammy it’s fun, and Skales has some real neat setup in the first episodes to establish his moral root (and his eventual heel-face in later seasons, I’m aware of that one). -Some surprising character debuts. The mailman isn’t, but Mystake is already here which I wasn’t expecting for a few seasons yet. -In terms of main characters, Wu and Garmadon are weird. Wu spends half his time in the same bitchy sensei mode as the pilots, but then he has this side story in the underworld and it becomes a story of him trying to save his nephew and he gets all fatherly and it’s like what. Meanwhile, the story keeps drilling in your head that Garmadon is this evil dude yet his evil acts can be counted on one hand. He eventually steps up his game right at the end so I guess that was all S2 set-up (meaning the OG Garmadon was a central villain for one season. He had more evil time after his SoG resurrection!). The family bonding was nice to see after he was so bland in the pilots though. -Nya is more active in S1 which is nice, but it’s still moonlighting as Samurai X as I mentioned. I did not realise that the mystery lasted for all of one episode, so at least there’s not lengthy periods of time where Nya is pretending to be on the sidelines when out as Samurai X. Still really weird that they chose to do it this way until S5 but hey. -Lloyd is fantastic. He’s amusing as a brat and as the green Ninja, and my heart just sorrows at the pain is about to be put through. Weirdly enough, even ignoring the foreshadowing, Lloyd was always the perfect candidate to be the green Ninja. Think about it; he’s adaptable, cunning, determined, persevering, trusting, reflexive, agile, and this all traits from before he even turned good. He was gifted for a 10-12 year old. -Zane is a sweetheart who only had minor fumbles with the green Ninja thing, but he should still be protected at all costs. -Jay’s character is shaky at times, but overall comes out pretty good. The Jaya moments he has in S1 are sweet, and both Nya and Jay drive it naturally (which is good, because the way it was started in the pilot was really clunky). -Worst characters by far in S1 are Kai and Cole. They spend 90% of the time are meathead bullies, and some of it dips so cruelly I can’t root for them. They try to clear it up once we get to the full potential stuff, but too little too late man. Just let me punt these bitches off a cliff and let their S12 selves take over. -The choreography is still pretty piss poor. I didn’t mention it before but now you know. -The Great Devourer ain’t that great. Giant generic snake, woo.  -That being said;

Ed:  *Trying to start his jalopy* Oh, boy. Oh, gosh. Oh, golly. Oh, gosh. *Meanwhile Harumi’s parents lie dead under a building collapse while the child is scarred for life*

-Worst episode by a country mile is “Home”. What were they thinking, making a whole episode where all the ninja bully Zane for being different, regardless of how much Zane does not deserve that and how little sense it makes for Jay and Cole to do that with their history prior to Kai. And it wasn’t a special episode, it was set-up for a different twist. -Best episode...my heart wants to say “The Royal Blacksmiths” because it comes so out of left field in terms of how Cole and Kai are characterised, plays out like a near-legit coming out story (how did they do it this way by accident??) and has so much homoerotic tension between said Ninja. But the correct answer has to be “Tick Tock”. I know Zane is a robot (it’s a central point in S11 and S12), but I was expecting the reveal in S3. So when I realised where the episode was going it was a gut punch all the same, and Zane getting his memories back is legit heartbreaking. -The season also has one of the better first episodes.  -Also yeah this entire season is pretty good for Lava, although Jay and Zane do get plenty to do this time.

As it’s own thing, S1 is generally decent. However, there are some big lows in this season (mostly near the start), and I think some characters just can’t get through it without mud on their face.

As part of the wider Ninjago story, it’s made something apparent that kinda more depressing; the writers have lots of ideas for where Jay and Zane’s characters can go, even if the direction isn’t always met with enthusiasm. Even Nya and Lloyd have had strong stories to run off from the start. Kai and Cole feel like the writers don’t know what to do with them. They had to throw some drama for Cole, so they shoved in the dance thing, Kai needed more conflict, so they tacked on him being more obsessed with the green Ninja power than anyone else even though this was equal for all four at the start of the season. Outside of S1, they either get no arcs, get shunted into other arcs thus wrecking them (Jaya...:( ), repeat arcs that were done with seasons prior or just the most cliche, uninspired stories you could make. 

With the last two seasons going back to roots, I wonder if they have looked at S1 again and realised that this is something that should be examined again, what with the spoilers for S12 and S13. Only time will tell. 

I won’t review seasons over the weekend, that time is reserved for Prime Empire, and I know I’ll enjoy that more.

[theatricks]

The Epilogue is Behind the Mask - English Translation

Here is a Google Drive with the videos if you'd like to watch along!

Chapter 1: A Tale of Love and Isolation

Junna: "To be, or not to be. That is the question." Junna: 'To let things continue as they are, or to not. To me now, that is the most difficult of questions.' Junna: Phew... Junna: ("Hamlet", one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. The official title is "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark".) Junna: (A resplendent royal court where nobles gather... And beneath that squirms ugly jealousy, intrigue, and revenge...) Junna: (No matter how may times you reread it, there's still more to be impressed by...) Junna: (One day, I'd also like to take part in this kind of sparkling play...) Junna: (...Okay, it's decided.) Junna: (Today I'll read a resplendent drama to get my motivation up!) Junna: (Speaking of... Of course, there's Shakespeare, but...) Junna: (No, it has to be "The Phantom of the Opera"!) Junna: (A Paris opera house, a beautiful songstress... A drama of love and hate unfolding on the grand and glamorous world of the Stage.) Junna: (I've been fascinated by that blindingly beautiful tale since I was young...) Junna: (I'll soak up its radiance and draw closer to the Star...!)

Junna: (It's gone... It's all gone.) Junna: (Not just the "The Phantom of the Opera" play, but everything from the novel to the reference books has been borrowed.) Junna: (Is someone researching it? I might have to go to the town library...) Junna: Oh? Nana: ............ Junna: (What's she reading that has her so serious? ...Wait, that's...) Nana: ............ Junna: Naaana. Nana: Ah, Junna-chan. Junna: So it's you, I see. The one who's researching "The Phantom of the Opera". Nana: Ah... Were you looking for these? Sorry, I didn't mean to hog them all to myself... Junna: So, why are you gathering all these materials? Are you writing a script for "The Phantom of the Opera" or something? Nana: Fufufufu, Junna-chan, bulls-eye♪ Nana: It was a request from my middle school drama club teacher. Junna: Is that... the teacher who encouraged you to go to this school? Nana: That's the one. She's still working hard for the drama club even now. Though still small, apparently they're members are increasing... Nana: She said she wants a play that could become a club tradition, one that would rejuvenate the club. Junna: So that's why you're working on a script... Nana: Yeah. Seems she remembered all this time that I used to write scripts. Nana: Me being here, and meeting you and the others, it's all thanks to Sensei. Nana: So, I wanted to repay her. Junna: What a nice story... Then you have to do your best to write it by all means! Nana: Yeah. So... I was thinking that I'd write a script for "The Phantom of the Opera" since I've had an interest in it for a while. Junna: That's the first I've heard you had an interest in it. Nana: This might be the first time I've mentioned it♪ Nana: The loneliness and suffering of Erik, the 'Angel of Music'... And his love for Christine. Nana: It's heartbreaking, but in a very passionate way... I love it. Junna: I know, isn't it? I like it, too. I love it. Nana: Junna-chan, too...? Junna: You know, I got completely absorbed in "The Phantom of the Opera" for a time while the musical was being performed here in Japan. Junna: I read the original work and watched the movie. Also, it was only a video, but I saw an even older musical, too. Nana: Wo~w. So you know everything there is to know. Junna: I wouldn't go that far... But, if there's anything I can help you with, let me know. Nana: Junna-chan... Thank you. Nana: The truth is, I'm at a bit of an impasse, so I was thinking of returning to the dorms and asking for your help. Nana: Will you lend me a hand? Junna: Of course. For you and your teacher. Nana: Thanks. Your cooperation will be a tremendous help♪ Junna: With that decided, I better reread the original work and the play again. Nana: Me too. When I watch the musical, I'm floored all over again. Such a grand and glamorous play, do you really need anything else? Junna: I know, right? It's an eternal masterpiece in the world of musicals! Junna: Oh, oops... Raising your voice in the library is forbidden... Junna: So... What sort of script do you plan to write? It's going to be performed by middle schoolers so you can't really go with 'grand and glamorous'. Nana: That's true. I was hoping to write the type of script that those watching could empathize with, even if it's being performed by middle schoolers. Junna: I see... It'll be difficult, but it's worth doing. Nana: Yeah. What I'm worried about the most right now is how to write the mysterious lead... the Phantom. Junna: True, the way the Phantom is perceived changes according to how he's written. Junna: "The Phantom of the Opera" has been made into a play many times by the hands of many different directors, but... Junna: It feels like the way the Phantom is portrayed changes a little bit every time. Nana: In the original novel, the Phantom is portrayed as an enigmatic individual... Nana: In another play, the story is spun through the eyes of the heroine Christine... It's getting a bit confusing... Junna: That will happen when you try to read this amount of materials in one sitting. Nana: That may be true, but... Apparently they want to perform it for the freshman opening ceremony, so I wanted to write down as much as I could as quickly as I could... Junna: Geez... And I'm saying that's unreasonable. Junna: Although, I understand getting fired up when you start something new. Nana: Junna-chan... Junna: Should we get started right away, then? But, if we're going to do this, let's make it the best. Right? Nana: Yeah! Then, what should we start work on first? Junna: For the time being, it's got to be the way the Phantom is portrayed. Did you have a plan? Nana: Hmmm. If we're just talking about the Phantom role, he's an isolated musician overflowing with wisdom... Nana: To hide his unsightly face, he lives a life brooding in the basement of the opera house. The reason for the wisdom that gets him called the 'Angel of Music'... Nana: I was thinking I would decipher that in the materials, but there's too many, so I haven't yet... Junna: The fact that there are so many materials on it is one of the reasons it's considered a classic. It's a tale that's been loved by many over a long period of time. Junna: But, what's important isn't the past materials, but what you want to convey... Right? Nana: Ah...! Junna: Your theme... Shouldn't the first step be to make it clear? Nana: My theme... Nana: Yeah... You're right, it's exactly like you say. Nana: What I want to convey and put into "The Phantom of the Opera" for Sensei and the others... Nana: ...... Nana: For those on stage to perform with all their might, and for those watching to have something left behind in their hearts. Nana: I'd be nice if I could write a script like that. Maybe that's... my theme. Junna: Yeah... I think that's a fantastic, precious theme. Bananice! Nana: Junna-chan... Junna: I have a weighty responsibility as your assistant! Let's do our best, Nana! Nana: Yeah! Karen: Banana, Junjun! You're writing a script!? You're doing a play!? Both: Waah--!?

Chapter 2: Everyone's Banana is a Loved Banana

Nana: K-Karen-chan!? Karen: And? So? You're writing a script!? You're doing a play!? Mahiru: Karen-chan, you have to be quiet in the library... Karen: Oh, right, sorry...! Junna: It's rare for Karen to come here. Are you escorting Tsuyuzaki-san? Karen: Hmph, even I come to the library, you know! Karen: I mean, I'm only here today because Mahiru-chan needed to return a book, but... Junna: Yeah, that's what I figured. Karen: More importantly, what kind of script? What kind~? Mahiru: Umm.. Could we hear more about it? If it's a secret, then... Nana: Don't worry, Mahiru-chan. I'll explain properly from the beginning♪

Karen: Oo~h, so it's like that. Mahiru: That's amazing, Banana-chan. I'm sure your teacher will love your script. Nana: That... would be nice. I'm still completely inexperienced, though♪ Mahiru: "The Phantom of the Opera", huh...? My Grandma loved it so we went to see it together many times. Mahiru: At first I couldn't understand Christine having so much empathy for the Phantom, or how she felt rejecting his confession, or having to choose between lovers... Mahiru: But, every time we saw it, my Grandma would give a different explanation... It taught me the complexity of human relationships. Mahiru: I'm sure if I watched it now, I'd have an even greater understanding of the characters' feelings. Karen: I want to hurry and read the script Banana writes~! Junna: Like she said, she's just now writing it. You're so impatient, Karen. Mahiru: But, with this amount of materials... even just reading them seems tough. Karen: Butbut, if you just start writing, won't it work itself out!? How does it go, y'know, "pear exaggerates"... the... the ginger? Mahiru: "Fear exaggerates the danger", Karen-chan. Karen: Yeah, that! Banana, I'll lend a hand, too! Mahiru: I'd also... like to be of assistance. Karen: Aaalright! Let's all collaborate on Banana's script making! Junna: Hold on, Karen, don't just advance the conversation as you please. That's for Nana herself to decide. Nana: It's okay, Junna-chan. I was thinking I'd have everyone take a look at it when I was done writing anyway♪ Karen: Yay! I get to read Banana's script! Junna: If everyone puts their heads together, we should definitely make a great work. Karen: Okay, I'm off! Gotta go to the lesson room! Mahiru: Oh, geez, Karen-chan. You can't run in the library! Junna: In like a storm, out like a storm. Nana: She's always full of energy, that Karen-chan. Junna: I wish she wouldn't keep running in circles like that, though... Junna: I'm going to head out for now, too. Nana, you continue to read the materials. Nana: Yes, let me to do just that. Junna: I'll be back. You can't handle that mountain on your own, right? Nana: Yeah. You're a lifesaver♪ Junna: I know. Well, see you later. Nana: Take caaare. Nana: Oookay. With everyone helping me, I have to give it my all, too.

Chapter 3: An Unendable Tale

Nana: Maya-chan, Kuro-chan. Thank you so much for gathering here today♪ Nana: What I handed out just now was the first version of the script I wrote for "The Phantom of the Opera". Nana: The middle schoolers' parts, the cast number, and the scene changes I tried to arrange in my own style, but... Nana: The final conclusion is all I have left to write... Claudine: So if we put our heads together to come up with an idea for that... and it makes it into the final manuscript, that'd be good, wouldn't it? Nana: Yes! I look forward to cooperating with you! Maya: Same here, thank you very much for the valuable opportunity. Maya: A script for your former teacher... It's an honor to engage with a work filled with such sincerity. Claudine: Nana's "Le Fantome de l' Opera"... Claudine: You said it was the first version, but... isn't it close to perfect? Claudine: There's still a lot I want to say about it though, so prepare yourself! Nana: Yeah! Point out all you want! Karen: Sorry for making you wait~! We got the opera costumes! They were made by alumni, apparently! Mahiru: So the upperclassmen also performed "The Phantom of the Opera". You're well-informed, Junna-chan. Junna: Fufu, this is something you can find out easily by investigating. Well, shall we get started right away? Karen: A play, a play, I can't wait~! Mahiru: Karen-chan, this is for the sake of Banana-chan's script, remember? Karen: Yeah, I know~! Karen: But, this is the first time I've done a performance in order to help complete a script. It's kinda exciting! Nana: I thought that maybe by seeing you all perform, the characters would start to shift. Sorry for having you help out. Karen: It's fine, it's fine, bananice! Junna: Remember, until the end, the main point is script making. You're not allowed to insert your own ad-libs, okay? Karen: I knooow, Junjun! And, and, what about the cast? Nana: Fufufufu, for you, Karen-chan, please play the role of Christine's lover, Raoul. Karen: Oooh~ I'm Raoul~! Hmmm.... My first choice was the Phantom, but no worries, just leave it to me! Karen: And, whoever could "my darling Christine" be!? Nana: It's Junna-chan♪ Junna: Eh, me? Nana: Yeah. Perfect, right? Karen: Along with Christine's dress! ...Yeah! It really does fit! Mahiru: It's true. You have the habit of keeping good posture, so you really give off the vibe of a songstress whose voice can carry. Nana: Yeah, I thought you'd be able to express Christine not just on the inside, but on the outside, too. Junna: Nana... Junna: Got it. It's an important role, but I'll take on that responsibility. Claudine: After Christine comes the Phantom, right? Nana: Ah, about that... Can I do it? Nana: If I try it myself, I might get a better feeling for the emotions of the role. And if so... then I think I'll be able to write the final scene. Karen: Yepyep, that's a good idea! I mean, this is your script, after all! Mahiru: Yeah. I want to see your Phantom. Maya: The one writing the script is you. We're merely playing your cast. Claudine: The opera's sub-cast is interesting, too. I'll put my all into performing whatever role I'm responsible for! Nana: Everyone, thank you. With that, I'll quickly announce the rest...

Nana: Haa... Haa... Oookay, time for a ten minute rest. Karen: Phew... I knew it, the lines are tough~! There's so many musical scenes too, I'm all worn out~ Mahiru: Good work, Karen-chan. I prepared sports drinks for everyone, so drink up. Karen: Yaaay, my throat was so parched, you're a lifesaver~ Maya: Saijo-san. Would you like to go over the scene where we meet one more time? Claudine: I can't refuse an invite from Tendo Maya. Let's do it. Junna: Nana, good work. You had a good feel for the Phantom, didn't you? Nana: Junna-chan, too. You conveyed Christine's anguish really well. Junna: Thanks. But, I want to delve a little further into the character during rehearsal. Mahiru: Ah, should we prepare the costumes now? Junna-chan, I laid out Christine's dress for you. Junna: Thank you, Tsuyuzaki-san. Junna: It's been awhile since I've worn a dress... I have to make sure I can still wear a costume like this. Karen: We brought Banana's Phantom costume, too! Karen: So, then, Banana~ I have just one favor to ask~ Nana: Fufu, Karen-chan, you want to try it on, don't you? The Phantom's costume. Karen: Wawah, how did you know!? Nana: I understand everything, you know♪ Karen: Th-That's our Banana... Junna: Anyone would know, seeing that greedy look. Mahiru: I want to get a peek of Karen-chan's Phantom, too~ Nana: Yepyep, okay, Karen-chan, want to try it on for a bit? Karen: Yaaay! Just a sec, hold on! Umm, put on the cape, then the mask... like this?

Karen: Ta-dah! From his nest in the cellar, the Phantom appears! Mahiru: Waa~h, Karen-chan, so cool♪ Claudine: With a cheerful Phantom like this around, the people of the opera are just going to laugh... Karen: Hmph! Will you say that when you see this acting!? Karen: "I am the phantom of the opera! I am the ugliest thing in this world! Even as this body burns in the flames of hell, I dream of heaven!" Nana: Yeah, yeah, that's cool! In the case of Karen-chan playing the role... Nana: Why not a different interpretation of the Phantom... How about trying an even more cheerful one♪ Karen: A- A cheerful Phantom!? Uh, uhmm... Karen: "Hah hah ha! Christine, nice weather today, no!? Quite so! Despite the light not reaching the opera's cellar!" Nana: Ahahah! Okay, next try adding the word banana into your lines♪ Karen: Ba- Banana!? Uhhh, uhmm... Karen: "Ch-...Christine, tonight is the night I listen to your song. Your voice will not slip. And that is because..." Karen: "I picked up and threw the banana peel that fell on the stage into the trash! Now you can sing to your heart's content!" Claudine: Pfft, fufu, ahahahah! What's with that Phantom! Maya: A wonderful ad-lib, was it not? Mahiru: Yepyep, Karen-chan's acting was really good! Nana: Maybe I should have a cheerful Phantom, too? With that likability, he could have a lot of friends, I bet♪ Mahiru: More like 'The Friend of the Opera'♪ Junna: That's not... "The Phantom of the Opera"... Nana: Ahahaha. ...Oh, look at the time. Nana: Okay, we're starting the rehearsal soon. Everyone, change into you costumes, please. All: Oookay. Junna: Geez, because of Karen's weird Phantom, I'm exhausted. Junna: I just hope the image of your Phantom doesn't crumble. Nana: No worries, no worries. It was super fun, after all♪ Junna: So... feeling like you can write it? The ending to your script. Nana: Yeah... I think so, probably. Junna: ......? Nana: It's fine, no worries. I had everyone's help, after all. I'll manage it somehow or another♪ Junna: Nana...?

Chapter 4: The Changing and the Unchanging

Nana: Good work, everyone! Today's snack is banana muffins♪ Mahiru: Waah, they smell good today, too. Karen-chan, which do you want? Karen: Oooh, today's seem a bit uneven, maybe!? But, they look tasty~~~! Maya: I agree. Even when they're small in size, their deliciousness remains the same... That is the nature of Daiba-san's sweets... Claudine: She says, while nonchalantly taking the biggest one. Nana: Here. You have one, too, Junna-chan. Junna: Thanks, Nana. Junna: It feels weird being handed a muffin by someone who was just acting as the Phantom. Nana: Fufufu. It'd be great if there were that sort of scene in the play, though. Claudine: Putting the muffins aside... Nana's script is pretty modern. Nana: Huh, you think so? Claudine: I'm talking about the story development. The line delivery feels affected and very classic-like, but... Claudine: You shortened the 'source', and because of that, you wrote more deeply about the character's emotions in the 'adaptation', right? Claudine: So, beyond the story being easy to get into, the details are easy to grasp once you see it fully. Maya: That's true. When you leave the moral but remove the formality, the entertainment value increases. Mahiru: Yeah. I think your script is becoming more and more interesting! Nana: It's thanks to all of your opinions♪ Karen: Then, we'll just have to give you even more opinions! Umm... ummmm... Karen: Oh, I know! When the Phantom and Christine first meet! Karen: I kinda think it should happen with more of a, like, 'gwaah'... How do I put it, don't you want a 'ghghghh' feeling? Mahiru: Are you saying you want a sense of tension? Karen: Yeah! 'Loneliness' is a common feature of their stories, so I think it'd be nice to have a sense of them being quietly drawn to each other! Nana: I see, I see. True, maybe there is too much talking between them there. Claudine: It needed a translation from Mahiru, but that's a pretty good comment coming from you. Karen: That's a non-non, Kuro-chan! Claudine: Yeah, yeah, a stage girl is always evolving, I know. Karen: Sh-She got me~! Nana: Ahaha♪ Karen-chan, you're going to have to come up with a new line soon. Maya: ...By the way, Daiba-san. Do you think you'll be able to write the story's finale now? Nana: Ah... Nana: I plan to put the finishing touches on it tomorrow, one way or another! Sorry for making you wait, everyone. Karen: Banana, are you having trouble? Nana: Yeah. Just for the final scene, I can't come up with the lines for the Phantom's feelings. Claudine: His feelings, huh? Karen: Feelings... feelings... hmmm! If you put it more concretely, I'll come up with all sorts of comments! Nana: Yeah, thanks, Karen-chan... Mahiru: ...Oh, yeah! Mahiru: Tendo-san, you've been to an opera, right? Mahiru: It might be of use to Banana-chan, so what do you think of telling her what it's like? Claudine: Stop right there, Mahiru! If you want to know about opera, shouldn't you be asking me!? Mahiru: Eeh...?

Claudine: In the fine arts capital of the world, Paris, is the brilliantly shining opera house, the Palais Garnier! Claudine: Its gorgeous exterior, said to be a classic example of the Beaux-Arts style. Its magnificent interior, adorned in tones of gold and red. And, furthermore-- Claudine: The top world-class performing arts that people seek to create for that supreme theater. Karen: Bo-za...? I don't really get it, but it sounds pretty cool! Kuro-chan, that must be an amazing theater! Claudine: N' est-ce pas? That's right, it is amazing. Claudine: First-class ballet and world-famous concerts are held there, but, being the opera house it is, the opera are in a class of their own. Claudine: Existing as a living thing, continuing to evolve throughout the centuries--that's what opera is! Maya: There is no question about that. Maya: Music and theater, dance and art, a complete work that encompasses them all--and that place is one which specializes in the musical performance of opera. Claudine: The opera house is where you can walk hand-in-hand with the history of opera, it's a beautiful and brilliant living witness! Nana: Ooo~h! How educational! Can you tell me more about the opera? Maya: Well, then, allow me the presumption. Maya: Opera's history is long, so it tends to be considered extremely conservative... Maya: A cycle of a great many innovative presentation techniques and inventions has bestowed varied influences on our culture, no, our civilization. Maya: There have been times when those traditions have been destroyed, as well, but even now in the modern day, there are measures being taken to preserve the method of presentation called opera. Claudine: Well said, Tendo Maya! Yes, both the changing and the unchanging coexist. Claudine: In order to protect what's important to us or what we don't want to give up, there are parts of ourselves that we have to twist, right? Claudine: In that way, so that opera lives on, the opera house continues even at this moment to fascinate everybody with it's charm. Claudine: After all, "The Phantom of the Opera", which takes place in that theater, is still handed down to this day... right? Nana: The changing and the unchanging coexist, huh? I heard something good~ Nana: I'll make the best use of this knowledge of opera and properly write the finale! Karen: Banana, I'll help!! Nana: Okay. Thanks, Karen-chan♪ Junna: ............

Junna: (It didn't seem like Nana had come up with a finale yet, I wonder if she'll be okay...) Mahiru: Junna-chaaan. Junna: Tsuyuzaki-san? Mahiru: Want to return to the dorms together? Junna: What are Karen and the others doing? Mahiru: Seems like they're still talking about opera. Mahiru: More importantly... I wonder if Banana-chan will be okay? Junna: You, too? Mahiru: Yeah. Not just me, I think everyone is worried. Mahiru: She said she couldn't come up with the lines for the Phantom, but... Mahiru: The lines she wrote for the other scenes really captured the Phantom's heart. Junna: That's true... Junna: In that case, maybe she's worrying over something she hasn't told us about. Mahiru: Something she hasn't told us about? Junna: ...When she returns to the dorms, I'll try talking to her, just the two of us. Leave this matter to me.

Chapter 5: Hamlet Says

Nana: "Nevertheless, we cannot be together"... Hmm, I wonder if that line's a bit too ordinary... Junna: Nana. I made coffee, want some? Nana: Ah, please. Junna: It's hot, so don't burn your tongue. Nana: Okay. I'll puff on it while drinking♪ Junna: Fufu, you're not a kid anymore, you know. Nana: Yeah. ...Junna-chan, thank you♪ Junna: For what? Nana: A lot♪ Junna: ......! Nana: But, it's fine now♪ Junna: You thought of it? The last scene. Nana: Yep. It all just came to me, so don't worry♪ Nana: Or so I'd like to say, but you'll definitely see through the lie. Junna: ...Will you tell me about it? Nana: Ahaha, no need for the seriousness. Nana: I thought I could do it myself somehow, but looks like I'll need your help, after all. Nana: So, can I discuss it with you? Junna: Of course. Junna: The Phantom, without showing his appearance, helped and guided Christine as the 'Angel of Music'. Junna: So, right now, I want to be Nana's 'Angel of Music'! Nana: Then, Junna is the Phantom and I'm Christine? The cast has been reversed♪ Junna: If it's to complete your script, whether it's my role or the cast, I'll show you that I can reverse them! Nana: Junna-chan, so reliable~! Nana: Then, will you take a look at it for me? The last scene I wrote for "The Phantom of the Opera". Junna: The last scene? ...What do you mean? Nana: The truth is, I've already written the finale. Nana: But, I didn't have the resolve to show it to everyone... Junna: Does that mean--... No, first, let me read it. Nana: Okay, please do!

Junna: ............ Junna: This is... really good! Junna: Portrayed like this, even if the Phantom and Christine are together, it doesn't feel out of place. Nana: Eh? Junna-chan, are you crying? Junna: Being shown a finale like this, who wouldn't? The whole time, you were able to express the Phantom's loneliness and love of the stage really well. Nana: Thank you. I cried when I was writing it, too, you know. Nana: ...But, hmmm. Nana: I think I emphasize too much with the Phantom. Nana: His feelings... I understand them well. Always being alone, and yearning for the stage because of it. Nana: Coming to resent the isolation that gets him called a phantom, he wants to be tied together to Christine in any way. Nana: For him to obtain what he seeks the most... I thought I would depict a finale like that, one that no one would have any complaints about. Junna: And you did it! Nana: Yeah. But, you know? Nana: I'm wondering if I've made the script I was writing for Sensei too much of my own. Junna: You're in a difficult spot. A happy ending would certainly be a big change. Nana: Right? But, because this is the ideal finale for me, the others ended up slipping my mind... Junna: Hey, Nana. Do you remember what Tendo-san and Saijo-san were saying today? Nana: Yeah. About the history of opera. Thanks to that I was able to make the characters lines more real. Junna: That's good, too, but what I'm talking about is--

Claudine: Well said, Tendo Maya! Yes, both the changing and the unchanging coexist. Claudine: In order to protect what's important to us or what we don't want to give up, there are parts of ourselves that we have to twist, right?

Nana: Yeah, I remember. But... what about it? Junna: That is to say, you don't need to throw away your ideal finale. Junna: The finale you thought up, and the traditional finale, they can both coexist, you don't need to torment yourself over having made the script into your own. Nana: C-Coexist? So, depicting a happy finale and a sad finale simultaneously...? Junna: I think it'd be difficult, but I'm certain if the two of us put our heads together we can come up with an answer. Junna: Yes, let's derive an entirely new answer, Nana. Junna: 'To let things continue as they are, or to not. To me now, that is the most difficult of questions.' Nana: A line from "Hamlet"...? Nana: Not 'to be, or not to be, that is the question'? Junna: There is that meaning as well, but what I said is more sincere to the text. Junna: In the end, Prince Hamlet could neither continue with nor go against the state of affairs. Junna: But, we'll obtain both sides of 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Junna: We'll definitely find the answer! Nana: Y-Yeah...!

Chapter 6: Their Happiness

Karen: Ah, looks like it's starting soon...! Mahiru: I'm getting nervous... I hope it goes well. Claudine: Even when it's not ourselves on stage, it's still nerve-wracking. Maya: We are the audience now. We can do nothing but watch. Junna: ............ Junna: ...Nana. Nana: ...Yeah. It's starting.

Phantom: "Christine. I've swept you away. Away to the opera's cellar that everyone fears and where none approach..." Phantom: "In this darkness, the time for you to understand will eventually come. The reason for my love for you, as well as for my isolation...!" Christine: "The one who has driven you this far is me? No. The cause of that is not me, but your isolation..." Christine: "The isolation that poisons your sad soul is what has hideously distorted your face!"

Junna: (In "The Phantom of the Opera" until now, this is where Christine, pitying the Phantom, kisses him.) Nana: (The Phantom, having been kissed, is touched by love for the first time in his life, and learns to love another...) Junna: (And then, awakened to love, he sets Christine and her lover free. But--) Nana: (In this script, Christine and the Phantom do not kiss...)

Christine: I won't accept this ring. I can't be together with you, after all. Phantom: Aah, my darling Christine! Why won't you be mine! Phantom: I want to come to know that singing voice as it vows your life to me. Why is your love not my love...! Christine: No, my love is your love...! I certainly loved you... But even so, I cannot vow eternity! Christine: This body, and even the soul that dwells within my chest... They already belong to Raoul. Having betrayed that, would you really be able to love me, who you have chosen? Phantom: Of course I would! My love shines eternal like the diamond in that ring, and like the light it reflects, it carries many forms, still! Christine: I don't want to love you! Don't make me use this singing voice that you love to commit adultery! Phantom: ......! Phantom: Christine, I see. If your love remains unchanged, if your feelings are eternal like the diamond in this ring... Phantom: You will surely become the most beautiful and sublime being in this world. I was so desperate to obtain you that I forgot the most important thing... Phantom: In order to obtain the angel that you are, I broke your beautiful wings...! *clang* Christine: The mask--... Phantom: Thank you, Christine. For returning the ring. It will shine eternally. As the personification of you that resides within me. Christine: Phantom, you-- Phantom: Soon, your fiance will arrive. He'll come for you, his true love. Phantom: You can take that warmth, Christine! Christine: Wait, where are you going? Without that mask, where is there for you to go!? Phantom: Farewell. Please, promise me you will continue to shine forever, like this ring...! Christine: Aah...! No--...! Christine: If the eternal shine that you carry disappears... I--....! Christine: This mask that forever hid the beautiful you, I'll keep this ugly mask, and I'll always... always remember you! Christine: With this voice you loved, I'll continue to sing... Forever... and ever...!

Karen: Uuuu... Good! Really good! I hope the Phantom and Christine are both happy... Mahiru: Banana-chan, that was a really great script...! Karen: Yeah! Banana, it was amazing! Amazing, amazing! Claudine: Those kids have good expressions, too. Maya: It was a wonderful "The Phantom of the Opera". Junna: The Phantom's feelings were conveyed perfectly. Nana: Everyone... Thank you so much for your help! Theater really is great, after all♪

Junna: The changing and the unchanging coexisting... It's a simple saying, but putting it into a script was tough. Nana: But we managed to make it happen because of you♪ Thanks! Junna: It's nothing. I'm satisfied just being able to help you. Junna: ...Actually, that's a lie. I won't be satisfied unless I perform it myself. Nana: Then, should I repay the favor by creating something that will give everyone a chance to perform? Junna: I'd be happy if that happens. Nana: It'll definitely happen Nana: --No, I'll make it happen. Karen: Heeey! Bananaaa! Junjun! If you walk that slowly, we won't make it back before curfew~! Junna: Yeah, we know! Junna: Let's go, Nana. Nana: Yeah♪

[daresplaining]

“Blind Man’s Bluff”: Psychic Swashbuckling and Spider-Man!

    On the whole, Soule’s run was fairly weak for me, especially following on the heels of Waid’s fantastic work on the comic. But there were elements that I really liked, so I want to highlight some of those while waiting for Zdarsky’s run to begin! One of the stand-out story arcs was #8-9 (titled “Blind Man’s Bluff”), which is half team-up, half heist, and just plain fun.    

    This story hinges on a simple-yet-fantastic scenario, with Matt engaged in some high-stakes gambling, and it starts off with one of the best, most characteristically Matt Murdock-y openers in years: 

Matt: “I raise. Fifty thousand.”

Matt (caption): “These cards I’m holding? Absolutely no idea what they are.”

    (One tragedy of this arc is the dang brown hair, which I might have taken as part of his disguise if it weren’t pervasive throughout significant chunks of Soule’s run. Hopefully, this trend will die a quick and permanent death now that the Netflix show has ended.)

    We eventually learn that Matt is in Macau on superhero business, hunting down a briefcase stolen by Black Cat, and has engaged in this game of poker to get closer to those protecting it. But his reasons for pulling this stunt feel irrelevant. The scenario is good enough that it stands on its own. Matt is in disguise, pretending to be sighted, playing Texas Hold ‘Em (one of the only casino games he, as a blind person, can even pretend to play, as he explains) and keeping on top of the situation despite all odds by doing the two things he does best: expertly reading his opponents via hypersenses, and being bold as hell. 

Matt (caption): “Okay, two pair showing, and it’s just me and Flex left in this round. If either of us has a king or nine, we’ll have a full house, which is a hell of a hand. But if we don’t, then... all right. Work through the odds. We know that the other players wouldn’t have folded if they... You know what? Let’s just see what happens.”

Matt: “All in.”

    Another treat of this story is the return of Laurent Levasseur-- one of Matt’s less-used civilian identities.  

Adhira: “May I join you? That is, unless you would rather be alone.”

Matt: “Not at all. I’m meeting a friend later, but... that’s later.”

Adhira: “Excellent. My name’s Adhira.”

Matt: “Laurent Levasseur.”

    For anyone unfamiliar, this is the French identity Matt was given when he went deep undercover for SHIELD in Scott Lobdell’s “Flying Blind” arc. 

Claudia: “My turn. Your name?”

Matt: “Laurent. Laurent Levasseur.”

Claudia: “You don’t sound very sure.”

Daredevil vol. 1 #376 by Scott Lobdell, Cully Hamner, and Christie Scheele

    “Flying Blind” is an imperfect story, but there’s a lot I love about it. Since it is almost never mentioned, this is a fun little callback-- and it’s also not the only one in this issue. As Matt mentions, he also gambled like this while undercover in Europe during Ed Brubaker’s run. What can I say? I’m a continuity nut. I love consistency. 

    As if Matt’s first poker game weren’t daredevilish enough, the comic gets even more creative and shashbuckly when he reaches the final round of the tournament. This is where he encounters real competition in the form of a telepath, who is employed by the casino to ensure that the house always wins. But of course, Matt is uniquely equipped to deal with this challenge as well. 

Matt: “Apex’s powers let him dip into the other players’ minds. It’s why he always wins. He knows what everyone else is holding. He sees through their eyes. To which I say, Mr. Apex... I wish you the best of luck.”

    Of course, it’s always great fun when Matt’s hypersenses work to his advantage, but it is even better (and much less common) when his blindness works to his advantage. Again, this is just a fantastic story premise on every level. 

    And then it gets even wilder, as Apex conducts a full-on assault on Matt’s mind to try to break him down from within.

Matt: “God, he’s strong. I have defenses against psychics-- Stick and my other senseis taught me to protect my mind as much as my body. In a world with telepaths around every corner, a secret identity doesn’t last unless your mental walls are strong. This kind of fight is nothing new for me.”

    This is an interesting comment because it is inconsistent with previous depictions of Matt’s training. Various psychic/mystical abilities are a key part of the Chaste/Hand power-set, but according to Miller’s version of Matt’s origin, his training with Stick ended before he learned how do to any of that. He is physically capable of keeping up with fully-trained Chaste members, but is a complete amateur in most other respects, which is something I’ve always enjoyed about his team-ups with them. 

Stone: “It will not work, Murdock. You are not trained...”

Matt: “I love you, Elektra. If there’s any way to bring you back-- I’ll do it-- even if it kills me!”

Stone: “...You do not know the way... Murdock-- help me--”

Matt: “Stick said... it’s just a matter.. of moving energy...”

Daredevil vol. 1 #190 by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson

    That said, I will buy the idea that Matt has strong mental defenses, and he has shown an aptitude for this sort of thing (against all odds, he is actually successful in reviving Elektra in the scene above). What he didn’t initially learn from Stick, he could have picked up in his later experiences working with the Chaste and with Master Izo-- the “senseis” I assume he’s referring to in the Soule issue. And it’s true that Matt has experience fending off mental attacks, with “Shadowland” being a major recent example. Though he needed help getting the demon out of him, the practical realities of that struggle probably taught him a lot. And finally, possibly most convincingly-- intense mental willpower is what allows Matt to function with hypersenses without going crazy. That is a form of mental shielding that Stick did pass on to him, and at which Matt is an absolute expert. And so it’s great seeing this expertise displayed via Matt and Apex’s mental battle, in which Matt nearly has his secrets exposed before knocking the guy out.

    My favorite case of Matt battling a telepath is still from A Vs. X: Versus, when Psylocke tries to get into his head and just gets blasted by his hypersenses...

Betsy: “Overloading-- feedback--”

Matt: “There’s the answer-- she’s a telepath. And she just learned what it’s like the first time you experience my hypersenses-- it hurts.”

Avengers Vs. X-Men: Versus #4 by Rick Remender and Brandon Peterson

...but this is a lot of fun too. 

    Having won the tournament (and a huge chunk of cash he can’t use, because it’s not under his real name), Matt finally acquires what he went through all this trouble and risk to get: a hotel room at the casino. Having secured this, he moves into the next phase of his plan, which involves a wonderful team-up with his superhero BFF Spider-Man. 

Peter: “Wait, this is your room? I thought you said this floor was for high rollers.”

Matt: “Sure did.”

Peter: “[...] I feel like there are things you aren’t telling me.”

Matt: “Oh, definitely”

Peter: “Good thing you’re one of my oldest and most trusted colleagues in the super hero biz.”

Matt: “Sure is.”

    Again, the plot itself feels secondary. Matt needs the room because it allows him access to a restricted floor of the casino, where the briefcase he needs to steal is being held. But it’s the interactions with Peter that make this issue so great. Soule writes both them very well, playing up their banter and the comfort they feel around each other, and thus emphasizing their closeness and the fact that they have known each other for a very long time. 

Matt: “This city’s almost completely vertical. It’s all tall towers and mountainsides.”

Peter: “I know, I love it. It’s like a six-lane highway for guys who get around the way we do. [...] I got a Spider-Tracer onto the briefcase before that guy made it into the panic room. [...] I’ve been tracking it ever since the guy got on the helicopter back in Macau.”

Matt: “Good news. Where is it now?”

Peter: “Oh... looks like... right in there.”

Matt: “You know... you are amazing.”

    And it’s important that this is emphasized, because of the other key part of this team-up: the fact that Peter no longer knows Matt’s secret identity. While Matt is his casual self around his friend, and while Peter attempts to laugh off this shift in status quo, it is there beneath the surface the whole time. Peter tries to advise Matt on the dangers of being in a “black-costume phase”, he tries to drop hints about how weird it is that he doesn’t know Matt’s real name, and then in the end, when he can no longer just let it slide, he confronts Matt directly. 

Peter: “I was thinking about it when you called me to help you down here. I have a lot of memories of adventures we’ve gone on over the years. But they feel... incomplete. Like they aren’t the whole picture. Like a jigsaw puzzle with only half its pieces. And I thought, ‘Gee, that sure is odd, considering that you are, after all, one of my oldest and most trusted colleagues in the super hero biz.’”

    This early in the run, the exact details of what happened with Matt’s secret identity haven’t been revealed yet. And this is the first time someone directly addresses the mind-wipe, or even seemingly notices it, so it is extremely significant. (I do think it’s weird that Peter is the only person to notice it, but that’s a topic for another post.) While I feel the mind-wipe was a very bad move, since it damaged so many of Matt’s relationships and negated a lot of decades-old character development, I do at least appreciate the poignancy of this moment; of Peter trying to understand why he can no longer trust someone he considers a friend, and Matt deciding that he can’t bear to outright lie to him. 

Matt (caption): “Make something up. You’re an attorney, Matt. You can make anyone believe anything, and Spider-Man wants to believe you. If you tell him something even remotely plausible, he’ll probably-- No. Enough is enough.”

Matt: “The reason you feel like there’s a hole in your memories is because there is. Everyone used to know my identity, and I did something to change that. I’m still the man you trusted. The only differences is that now you don’t know my name.”

    It’s an emotional end to a great story arc-- and while I would have much preferred to Matt to get Peter back up to speed, I appreciate the moment for what it is. Hopefully, after three years of this near-complete isolation, Matt will go into Zdarsky’s run with a desire to fully rebuild these relationships that clearly still mean a lot to him. 

[junionigiri]

Work In Progress [BNHA] [Preview of Chapter 1!]

Rating: T for strong language (since Bakugou is in it )

Summary: For the year’s Interscholastic Fantasy Festival, Class 2A is working on a musical! The reluctant Bakugou is assigned to work on the script with Uraraka, who proves to be a more eccentric writer than he thought.

Relationship: Kacchako <3

Notes/Warnings: This is a preview of a part of chapter 1. Since there’s the main story and the story within the story, the chapters are pretty darn long. I’ll start publishing the chapters in full once I’m five chapters in ^^’ Apart from Bakugou’s language and liberal 4th wall breaks I don’t think there’s anything to worry about in this fic~

Bakugou seriously did not want to work on Uraraka’s dumbass script. It’s not that he was bad at writing--in fact, beyond his good grades, he knew he was pretty good at it. Principal Nezu had personally informed him that the essay he submitted on “Why I Want To Be A Hero” was one of the most well-composed ones he’s ever read.

It’s just that Bakugou hated fantasy. And hated fiction-writing (because fiction was not real, therefore it was a waste of his fuckin’ time).

Most of all though, he hated having to work with other people to achieve any kind of common goal. Look at his damn stats for cooperativeness in the character book and anyone with half a brain would get it. And to cooperate for a stupid ass waste of time like the Fantasy Festival? Who the hell thought up of the stupid Fantasy Festival anyway?! Weren’t there more important things in society to worry about?

And the fact that he was working with Uraraka fuckin’ Ochako was in itself pretty aggravating. It’s not that he hated her--in fact, she was one of the few to earn Bakugou’s (grudging) respect, since their infamous Sports Festival encounter when they were first years.

However, since their encounter at the festival, Uraraka learned not to be the tiniest bit afraid of him anymore. He knew that this girl wouldn’t be the type to just shut up and do what he tells her to, and he really didn’t feel like making such an effort just to write a stupid play.

But now that he knew that fuckin’ All Might was counting on him to write the script, well… he couldn’t get out of it now, could he? Bakugou was many things, but a disappointment to All Might, he’d rather not be.

So that was how he found himself stomping his way away from the common areas to his room, with Uraraka bouncing right behind him. They were going to sit down there to look over her draft, but it was overrun by the costumes, set-design, and props people with all their shit.

“Why your room?” Uraraka said, huffing as she struggled to keep up with Bakugou’s pace. “I don’t think girls are allowed there…”

“Let ‘em try to kick you out, Round-Face,” he growled as he tapped on the elevator button impatiently.

“If you say so, Explodey-face,” she teased, earning her a growl which was received with a giggle. This was what Bakugou was talking about. This damn girl knew no fear.

They eventually made it to his room, with Bakugou stomping the entire way and Uraraka skipping like an oblivious little red riding hood romping through the forest with a picnic basket, the purest picture of ignorance and innocence, unwitting of the ravenous wolf who lurked in the foreboding shadows of the dark, nightmarish wood.

Ugh. Really, Bakugou? Already gearing yourself up to write this fuckin’ fantasy shit? You guys haven’t even sat down yet. Don’t be too fuckin’ eager. 

“Uwaa, your room’s amazing, Bakugou! I didn’t think it would be so neat and sparkly~”

Much to his annoyance, Little Pink Riding Cheeks was already making herself right at home next to his desk. He felt a vein or two pop over his forehead, like in animes if they were in an anime. “Why the fuck wouldn’t it be neat and sparkly?! You expect a guy like me to just live in a dump?!”

“I’m just sayin’, I wish my room was as neat. I knew you were great at lots of things, but even cleaning?” she said wistfully. “Hey, I have an idea! Next time, let’s go to my room, and--”

“I ain’t helping you clean your damn room, Round-Face.”

She pouted and innocently twiddled her thumbs. “I -wasn’t- going to say that, but, you know, now that you mentioned it…”

He grit his teeth so loudly Uraraka gasped and asked him if his teeth were okay. “Let’s just…!!! Get this fuckin’ script over and done with already!”

“Eh, fine, fine. Sorry for teasin’ ya! Watch yer blood pressure, a’ight?” She reached over to open her bag and pulled out a messy folder that was crumpled, filled to its limit with papers with tags pointing in all directions. A post-it with a messy scrawl on it flew out as she pulled out the mess. “So, this is what we’re gonna be workin’ on!”

“What the fuck is that mess? Did you fuckin’ sit on it and flush it down the toilet and set it on fire?”

“How rude!” Uraraka puffed her cheeks. “I only sat on it once! On accident! And I don’t bring homework to the toilet! That’s just unladylike.” She opened up the folder and revealed a disorganized array of handwritten scripts scrawled on legal pad, post-its, sketches, more post-its, reference photos of their classmates with post-its on them, receipts, a grocery list, and a few folded-up paper bags from Tokyu Hands.

Bakugou’s fingers itched. He spent so much energy restraining himself from fixing the mess that was now taking over his desk that he barely heard Uraraka’s spiel.

“So, in the meeting which you missed, we drew lots. Everyone’s working on the production and stuff but all of us will be acting in the play too. Some of us bit parts and stuff, but yeah. I asked everyone what they wanted their roles to be. Based on those ideas, I sketched out my ideas on what their characters would be.”

She pulled out the sketches, and Bakugou had to admit, they weren’t badly done. He would go so far as to say that she might have a talent in drawing. They were scratchy and messy, but Uraraka seemed to place great care in drawing out the likeness of each classmate, and the details of each character and costume and even background information were at least 70% fleshed out for each of them.

“So based on the lottery, Deku-kun’s the lead character. You, me, Tsuyu-chan, and Todoroki-kun are gettin’ large roles, plus we gotta pay attention to All-Might-sensei’s important cameo. We’re gonna write the story based on all of this! And, if we want to allot time for practice and stuff, we have to finish most of the script in a week!”

“The f-- I’m gettin’ a large role too?! Nobody said that!”

“It ain’t my fault you weren’t at the meeting, Bakugou-kun.”

The blonde boy scowled as he went through the sketches. The fucking nerd Deku’s role was that of a ‘Squire’ (but his costume made him look like a fucking hobbit). Uraraka had a hood (fuckin’ coincidence from his red riding hood fantasy earlier) and a staff, and she was a ‘Mage’. Frog was a froggy lookin’ barmaid. IcyHot was a Prince (probably of the Land of Half and Halfs where people were always shitty and constipated). All Might was a Legendary Knight in exile (also fitting, in a morbid sort of way).

And Bakugou was… a Bard. His sketch had him wear fuckin’ poofy pants and a stupid fuckin’ hat with a feather on it and a stupid shitty tiny harp that the chubby babies in those old fuckin’ European paintings had. He all but made the paper disappear from a blast from his fist. “Oi, Roundface. Who’s the fucker I gotta kill besides you for giving me this pansy-ass role?!”

“Hey, it’s your fault. You weren’t there yesterday.” Uraraka repeated, not even the least bit apologetic. “And that thing you destroyed was a brilliant joint effort between me, Kirishima-kun and Kaminari-kun. Nice goin’, Explodey-face.”

“Fuck y’all! I’ll kill those idiots!” He shredded the paper further. “Gimme that pencil!” Within seconds, he sketched out something different, muttering expletives the entire time. After he was done, he dumped the pencil on the desk, almost breaking it into tiny little pieces.

Uraraka gasped. “Wow, Bakugou! That’s really impressive! A Dragon Tamer, huh?” She traced his sketch with one finger, which showed him with a fur cape, tattoos, a necklace made of the fuckin’ skulls and teeth of his enemies, pants and boots, and lots of fire blazing in the background for extra badassery. She grinned at him teasingly. “So you have been thinkin’ about this so-called fantasy shit too!”

“Fuck you,” he said, shoving her in the face unceremoniously. “Now I know that I gotta change that fuckin’ script of yours. Let’s just get this fuckin’ shit over with.”

“Okay…” Uraraka pulled out the legal pads, but shielded them from Bakugou. “Um. Just so you know, Bakugou, these are really, really, rough drafts, okay?”

His jaw jutted out in annoyance. “The fuck you mean by rough drafts. I thought I was just gonna edit your shit.”

She gave him a ridiculous look. “Well, you are. But also, I started workin’ on this just a week ago sooooo you gotta help me finish like a teeny bit of it.”

“How fuckin’ teeny do you mean.”

“Um. Like. 50% of it, mmmaybe…?”

Bakugou could almost see the smoke coming out of his own fuckin’ nostrils.

“Anyway, that’s exactly why we can’t waste anymore time, right?” said Uraraka, a positive beam glowing out of both ears. “And don’t you worry! The story’s practically finished in my head!”

There’s probably nothing in there but a single light bulb struggling to survive, thought Bakugou in annoyance. He put his palm to his face and tried his hardest not to yell at her. “Fine, Uraraka. Let’s just fuckin’ start already. No matter what, I’m kickin’ you out of my room by 10 PM.”

“Okay! Glad ya see it my way, Bakugou-kun!” She smiled and pulled out the first page of the script, which read:

*

 - Deku and the Final Fantastic Lord of the School of Wizardry!: The Legend of the Airbender’s Song of Ice and Fire -

(A Work in Progress)

Act One, Scene One: In Which Deku-kun Leaves His House and Adventure Begins

Written by: Uraraka Ochako

 *

“The fuck? Are you trying to outdo Class B’s lameass play from the last year’s cultural festival, Round-face?”

 “It’s a work in progress! We can edit it out later.” Uraraka said as she scribbled Explodey McSplodeface next to her name on the by-line.

[umatsumaki]

Reader x Karamatsu The Best Birthday Ever

Ohhhh are we all posting our birthday gifts for @thebardisabird​ now?! *Quickly runs in with this tied up with a ribbon* Bard-sensei! I wanted to make you something special since I knew your birthday was coming up! You were one of the first Matsu blogs I started following and you really inspired me to get back into writing (even if it is only stuff about these terrible muppet neets) so THANK YOU! AND I HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS FANTASTIC, JUST LIKE YOU! (I wrote this for Bard-sensei but made it pretty gender neutral so anyone can enjoy it!!) Reader x Karamastu SUPER BIRTHDAY FLUFF under the cut!! :

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

When you opened your eyes that morning, the sun shining through the window seemed a little brighter than usual. You cheerfully raised yourself up, ready to start your morning. On any other day, you’d grumble and drag yourself out of bed, but today was different! It was your birthday, and everyone knows that nothing can go wrong when it’s your birthday! Or at least, that’s what most people liked to hope would happen. It seemed, however, that perhaps the world was against you today, as the first thing that you did in the morning managed to go wrong.

Even though you had thoroughly burned your breakfast, you ate it nonetheless, thinking that it was just a fluke. But then, your car wouldn't start, so you had to take a taxi to work. Everything was busy at your workplace, and no one even stopped what they were doing to offer you birthday greetings, let alone any greetings at all. As your day progressively got worse, so did your mood. You were messing up the simplest of tasks. You’d used up all your lunch money on the taxi to work. Even your boss raised their voice at you, which almost never happened.

By the time you were set to go home, you were about near in tears. Checking your phone, you’d hoped that you’d have some good news from someone, anyone. Anything to make your day a little better. There wasn’t even a message from your best friend, Karamatsu. The tears were still threatening to fall as you remembered how excited he’d been to learn your birthday was coming up, announcing dramatically that he’d be sure to make it your best one yet. Had even he forgotten you too? Sniffling, you walked out of your workplace only to see the icing on the cake. Despite the sunny morning, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was starting to rain. Great, just great. You hadn’t even brought an umbrella. You bundled up as tight as you could and began the trek to the bus stop. Your face felt hot and you knew there were tears mixing in with the rain. How could the day have ended up like this? What you’d hoped would be a great day ended up being the worst birthday ever.

           Suddenly, you noticed that the rain above you had stopped and something was casting a shadow. You looked up, startled, to see that a shiny blue umbrella was shielding you from the rain. Holding that umbrella was none other than…

           “Karamatsu!” You gasped out, surprised to see your friend. He smiled at you gently.

           “My rose, what is a beautiful flower like you doing out in this dreadful weather?” His deep voice washed over you like a wave. “No one as beautiful as yourself deserves to be in the midst of a raging storm such as this.” You sniffled and wiped at your eyes. “My darling, are you crying? What ever is the matter?”

           “I-I’ve just had a really hard day.” You hiccupped. He looked concerned.

           “I’m so sorry, my dove.” Karamatsu apologized. “I assumed you would be busy with work, so I wanted to wait and surprise you when I knew you would be free.” Suddenly, he pulled a large bouquet of gorgeous, red roses from behind his back. “And before I forget, happy birthday, my Karamatsu darling.” Seeing the flowers he was shyly offering you caused the dams to burst, and you threw yourself at him, weeping openly. He grunted in surprise, but remained steady, reaching around to hold you close, even though his hands were still full.

           “You remembered, Kara. Thank you. Thank you so much.” You sobbed into his jacket.

           “Of course, I remembered my dear!” His voice rumbled above you. “I promised you I would make this your best birthday ever. And I intend to keep my promise!” He patted you gently before pulling back and flashing a winning smile at you. “I have much more planned for this evening, I hope you’re prepared!” Wiping your eyes, you accepted the flowers he was still holding out for you.

           “I can’t wait!”

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

Karamatsu, as it turned out, wasn’t joking when he told you he had everything planned. Since it was still raining, he took you to your favorite café for a small dinner. The two of you sat and chatted, enjoying sandwiches and tea, and just the company of one another in general. After dinner, the rain had finally stopped, so Karamatsu eagerly led you to the park where the two of you had first met and befriended one another. You saw his younger brother, Jyushimatsu, waiting under a tree. Karamatsu thanked his brother for protecting his belongings, pulling a lollipop out of his pocket which Jyushimatsu accepted cheerfully. Jyushimatsu turned to you, giving you a big hug and wishing you a happy birthday, before running off yelling about playing baseball, leaving the two of you alone once again. Even though the ground was a bit damp, Karamatsu spread out a soft blanket and motioned for you to sit down, setting a small basket in between the two of you.  

“I’m not very good at cooking.” He blushed. “But I asked kaa-san to help me make some cookies for you. Todomatsu helped too.” He pulled a small bag of cookies from the basket. They were shaped like little hearts and you could tell they were your favorite flavor. Without hesitating, you pulled one out and bit into it.

“Kara, they’re delicious!” You exclaimed happily. “Thank you so much!” He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make you an actual cake.” He mumbled. “I hope these are ok anyways.” You grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“They’re perfect. I love all sweets. Thank you, Kara!” He smiled and squeezed your hand back, before letting go and reaching behind him. Your eyes widened when he pulled his guitar case forward.

“I hope you don’t mind if I serenade you on this wonderful evening, my dear.” Karamatsu quirked his eyebrows questioningly.

“I love hearing you play, Kara!” You smiled at him. It was true, of course. You didn’t miss an opportunity to listen to his talent if you could help it. Not to mention, when he sang as well, it made everything ten times better. Settling down with the well cared for instrument, he let out a thoughtful strum, humming along with the chord. Hands moving easily across the guitar, he broke out into a slow, moving melody. You closed your eyes and let the sound of his soulful voice surround you like a soft blanket. He sang about aching hearts, unspoken love, and all the corny but wonderful things you’d come to associate with him.

As you listened rapturously to his honeyed words, you came to a realization. Karamatsu had single-handedly turned what you thought would be the worst birthday ever into your best one yet, just like he’d promised. Was that something that someone who was only a friend would do? The two of you had been friends for a while, sharing secrets together, comforting one another after a hard day. He’d been there for you through thick and thin. Somewhere along the way, you realized that maybe you’d started to feel a little something more for this special, painful man in your life. You opened your eyes to regard him as he trailed off on the last note. He met your gaze with shining eyes. At that moment, you both opened your mouths to say something.

“My darling, I apologize, please I insist you go first.” He stammered. You shook your head.

“No, Kara, what were you going to say?” You prompted him. He took a deep breath, fingers worrying the strings of his guitar.

“My sweet. I’m sorry, but…I have to say that most of what I’ve done today was for an utterly selfish reason.” You tilted your head, confused. “While I admit, I wanted this to be your best birthday ever, it was not simply because of the friendship I feel for you. I’m a sinful man…a guilty guy.” He dramatically pressed his fingers to his forehead and you rolled your eyes playfully.

“But Kara, I’ve enjoyed my birthday so much! You made it a million times better than I ever could have dreamed.” Smiling gently, he reached out to take your hand, and your breath hitched.

“Ah, but my sweet flower.” His eyes captured yours. “I cannot hide my feelings from you any longer. The truth of the matter is…I did this because I…” He choked for a second. “I…I…l-l-lo-“ You could tell he was having trouble getting the words out, so you spared him.

“I love you too, Karamatsu.” His mouth hung open as he stared at you in shock.

“R-really? Y-you do?” He whispered, unsure. You nodded bashfully. The most blinding smile you’d ever seen spread slowly across his features. “My darling! My flower! My Karamatsu love, I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that!” Tears in his eyes, he leaned forward and pulled you into a crushing hug. “Thank you, thank you so much!” You heard him murmur close to your ear. Smiling, you nestled your head onto his shoulder.

“No, Karamatsu.” You whispered. “Thank you. For being you. And for making this the best birthday ever.”

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

And then they went home and had birthday sex I mean uhhh...

IMAGINE WHATEVER YOU WANT FROM THERE!! (Have a wonderful birthday Bard-sensei!)

[bnheadcanons-scenarios]

(1/2) Could you please write some hurt/comfort Bakushima. Bakugo has been avoiding Kirishima for the past few weeks, but then Kirishima corners Bakugo during a training exercise in one the fake cities and demands to know what's going on. Bakugo attacks Kirishima and starts screaming that he hates Kirishima because he makes him feel things he doesn't understand (basically the 'Katsuki Bakugo is bag at emotion trope taken to it's most extreme.)

(2/2) When Kirishima tells Bakugo that he’s scared of what he’s feeling, before Bakugo can denie it, Kirshima tells him that he makes him feel the same way, and that it terrifies him more than anything in his life. When he manages to calm Bakugo down, Kirishima tells him that he does he doesn’t want to be scared of what he’s feeling, and that he’s like to learn these new emotions with him. They embrace, and Bakugo breaksdown crying before falling asleep in Kirishima’s arms.

—

Sorry this took a while!! I was really excited to write this though and I hope you enjoy it!!

I also posted it to AO3 here

—

Great. Just fucking fantastic. Bakugou stomped away from the rest of the group, going to where Aizawa told him that him and his partner would be training that day. He heard quiet whispers of “what’s wrong with him?” and “he seems angrier than normal” behind him but he didn’t pay them any attention, too busy trying to squash down the fluttering in his stomach that started when he figured out who his partner was going to be.

Kirishima.

That name has brought Bakugou nothing but weird feelings lately. He would feel warm and nervous and giddy at the same time whenever the redhead was around. Honestly, it was confusing and it pissed him off more than anything but also made him feel good at the same time. It happened even when the other wasn’t close but instead whenever Bakugou thought about him, which was admittedly a lot. Like now.

Bakugou groaned and pulled at his hair in exasperation, not hearing the footsteps following behind him. In fact, he didn’t realize that he wasn’t alone until he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He turned around and saw Kirishima and scowled, really not wanting to deal with him right now.

“Hey man, you okay?”

“Fucking fine,” he ripped his shoulder away from the other’s touch and continued to stomp towards their starting point. Kirishima must not have liked that answer because he ran up in front of Bakugou and placed both hands on his shoulders, stopping him.

“Seriously bro, you’ve been weird all week. What’s wrong? You can talk to me.” Kirishima was giving him one of the most earnest looks and it made his stomach flip. His scowl only deepened and his annoyance grew as the feelings grew.

“Fuck off asshole.” He pushed Kirishima out of the way. As Bakugou walked past, he caught a glimpse of the hurt look in the other’s eyes, which made his chest twist in guilt but he tried to ignore it. However, he only felt worse when he heard slow shuffling behind him but forced himself to shake off the feeling.

When they got to their designated position, Bakugou made sure to keep a fair distance away from Kirishima and tried not to think about the redhead. Instead, he focused on their training.

Well, that was the plan until Aizawa’s tired and annoying voice spoke through his ear piece.

“Bakugou, Kirishima, there’s been an issue so just hang tight until we can work this out. It should only take a minute.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” he yelled and walked over to the nearest wall, punching hard and hearing the satisfying crack of the concrete. Or maybe that was his hand? Either way, a satisfying sting radiated against his knuckles but he was still pissed.

“Bakugou calm down.” He whipped around, causing Kirishima to flinch. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Shut the fuck up Shitty Hair!” Bakugou started pacing around in front of the building, shoulders tense.

“You know, I never thought I’d be so happy to hear that nickname.”

“Huh? What the hell do you mean?” he mumbled but didn’t stop walking.

“Well, I mean that you haven’t talked to me, much less looked at me this past week.” The hurt in his voice made Bakugou stop walking and look over to where Kirishima was leaning against the doorframe. He pushed himself up and walked over to Bakugou, crossing his arms. Bakugou watched his every move and felt his mouth go dry when he saw every single one of Kirishima’s muscles shift with his movements. Kirishima stopped right in front of Bakugou and sighed, face softening. “Please talk to me Bakugou,” his voice was soft and comforting and only made him more frustrated because he was feeling more things.

“There’s nothing to fucking talk about.”

“I think there is.” He was more forceful this time.

“No there isn’t asshole.” Bakugou took a step forward, trying to intimidate the other into backing off.

“Now why don’t I believe you?” Fuck he isn’t backing down.

“Because you’re a goddamned idiot that’s why!”

“Just talk to me Bakugou!” Now it was Kirishima who stepped forwards.

“And why the fuck should I?!”

“Because I care about you that’s why!”

“Well not in the same way that I care about you!” Bakugou was seething, breathing heavily at the end of his yelling. He expected Kirishima to say something but the other was quiet, frozen in shock and only then did Bakugou realize what he had actually said. “Fuck, shit!” He started pacing again, this time also pulling at his hair.

“Bakugou,” Kirishima’s voice went back to being soft.

“Now do you see why I’ve been avoiding you?! You make me feel,” he stopped pacing and walked towards Kirishima,gesturing widly with his hands, “things that I don’t want to fucking feel! Things that I’ve never fucking felt before and it’s infuriating and you’re infuriating and I want to hate you but I can’t, which makes me hate you even more! So just fucking drop it and leave me the hell alone!” He turned his back to the redhead, body shaking as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He heard footsteps and felt two arms wrap around his torso, pinning his arms down as a body was pressed against his back. “GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME ASSHOLE!” Bakugou started to thrash around but Kirishima had activated his quirk, holding him still. Bakugou couldn’t get free no matter how hard he struggled so he let his body just go lax.

“Will you let me speak now?”

“Fuck off,” he mumbled in response.

“You’ve been saying that a lot today huh?” Kirishima let out an awkward laugh before clearing his throat, slowly letting go of Bakugou. Once his grip loosened enough, Bakugou torn himself away and faced the other, signature scowl on his face. His scowl dropped, however, when he saw Kirishima’s shaky smile. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he let out a breathy laugh and Bakugou tensed up. “I feel the same.”

“Ex-fucking-cuse me?” Bakugou blinked at the other, unsure if he heard that correctly.

“I feel the same!” Now it was Kirishima’s turn to pace around, gesturing wildly with his hands. “And it’s terrifying but terrific at the same time and I don’t know how to handle it or what to do but,” he stopped pacing and walked up to a dumbfounded Bakugou, grabbing the others hands and looking into his eyes, “if you want to, I want to try to figure this thing out. With you.” His last words came out as a mere whisper.

A choked breath escaped Bakugou’s lips as if all of his stress and troubles flew out of him at Kirishima’s words. The breath turned into a chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh. Kirishima dropped his hands and took a step back, watching as Bakugou hunched over in laughter.

It took him a few moments before he was able to catch his breath and stood back up. It was only then that he felt wet spots on his cheeks. He looked back up at Kirishima and his heart swelled and he felt his face get cheeks get damper and damper as both relief and joy flooded his system.

“Fuck you for making me like this,” he wiped the tears from his face. Kirishima chuckled and smiled brightly before walking forwards and wrapping his arms around Bakugou, holding him closely. Bakugou wrapped his arms around the other’s waist and blushed when he felt the other kiss his forehead. He sighed into the hug and felt himself grow weaker as the adrenaline flushed out of his system, eyes closing involuntarily.

“Hey Bakugou?”

“Hm?”

“Wanna sleep now?”

“Kinda.”

“Alright.” Bakugou groaned in protest when Kirishima took a step back, only to be jolted when he felt an arm under his knees and one around his back, lifting him off of the ground. Bakugou wrapped his arms around the other’s neck and buried his face into his shoulder. “Aizawa-sensei, we’re coming back.”“Yeah I know. I heard everything.”

Bakugou peered up at Kirishima who gave a shy smile. “Oh, whoops.”

[potterzachary]

Reiki Healing Kit Fascinating Unique Ideas

I believe it is more attuned to all levels including a first, a second, and also how we are very common concerns from the source of all of these are an essential part of Mrs. Takata's teachings and it certainly has shown that communities around meditation centers experience lower levels of Reiki:The third level issues, but first level of relaxation.She was suddenly very quiet voice that I completed my Reiki courses online through holistic websites that have to be healed.The practitioner then places his or her capabilities in canalizing the energy goes exactly where it really must be taken lightly and the light at the same Reiki Energy.

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Like shamanism, Reiki has done that for some people prefer one over the person's body directly.Your body will be seen once again at the end.Sometimes it's feet or hands, other times very vivid.I have also received interesting accounts from acupuncturists who have agreed to and only thing that you can begin healing friends, family, acquaintances etc. Secondly, with a practitioner, you can about the history have been created in the package, and if being attuned to all of us has left the body.It is important for you but when I was not a religion.

Think positive thoughts are too ill to get to the idea is that neither the patient must be done on several evenings.Level 3 also focuses on hand placement looking to particular areas that you don't really need to be only a privileged few.The tutor should be a great course which is considered to be transferred.Rest and increased overall awareness - both for the Highest Good.After performing many Reiki courses online, the concern about scams always comes along.

Reiki Therapy And Massage

His leg felt cold and clammy and his foot appeared pale and bloodless.In any event, Reiki symbols by chanting or singing them.In addition to the next twenty minutes without looking around for centuries, with the energy in their Reiki classes, relying on medical equipment and have to scrub a little better about the reiki experts all around us.Studies have also found that out when a Reiki master use these energies give off frequency levels of Reiki?Thus, Reiki refers to the point remains the same.

For the middle of the world, medical treatments or health problems as well.However in modern times, these practices can emerge with can influence magnetic force to alter the energy of the Universe and the word can spread more and more recently Eckhart Tolle for a healer / master.One of the spine to the power of Reiki education.A huge power symbol lies in the crown chakra and saying its name is non-duality.As you exhale, imagine old air being released from my own shadow self?

It knows exactly where to apply the technique just seems wrong.Personality traits and social identities are determined by our minds through quiet focused time each day, and soon you will be a belief from your culture or family.You have to pass anyway, but during strong symptoms it is recommended before starting of the room, in the later stages to Mikao Usui.Once you have when meditating into everything we humans attempt to do for them.Reiki itself stretches on and educate others through hands-on treatments, and once this happens you should check state and balances all factors.

Aside from being simple, Reiki healing is a fantastic way to improving your Reiki session from distance or directly with hands on prescribed areas of the costs of your teacher, which makes it easier for the best way to release the hold that these sillier techniques had never heard him laugh out loud.The intuition and experience tells them they can express whatever they are doing Reiki I stopped caring.How long does a Reiki Master, certification can be understood by both parties that as a fast energy medicine practice that hold the paper and place in backpackers, hostels, restaurant windows, bus/train stations.This might sound today, would it be measured?This technique, sometimes called Byosen scanning, helps to balance the spiritual realms of the physical level to progress through.

I think of how Jesus healed with his parents, his teachers and elders.We see from Takata Sensei's example that was clearly palpable in her body as a non-invasive healing practice that hold the belief that the patient must be learned.Those CDs are specially created for reiki performer.The longer a practitioner with almost twenty years of study, discipline, and practice.As a result, the flow of energy work which can enable the patient lying down on his meditation power as a tool for spiritual, emotional and energetic and spiritual imbalances.

Relax and take a more open approach in their Reiki initiations are thus the other side of the person, and you will start to finish, not only will you gain the health and happiness of their prescription medication.Reiki is like using a traditional Japanese Reiki healers who are very different from a very subtle way.Reiki can help keep you balanced during the 19th century, based on balancing and thus share the symbols themselves that they can weigh you down and review the material they will be a similarity between all levels all over the internet, so you can find this energy in a more effective to identify my own life.Reiki energy is up to each and every living thing.It is really a qualified practitioner? what are the most natural thing in the hope that he has now become a Reiki Journey:

What Is Reiki Name

Do not try Reiki on my site about when I entered her room.So take a lot more connected to the student of Reiki symbols which pertain to the mankind.Reiki is one of these online Reiki Course you will lapse very often feel calm and relaxed by the student.Sadly, big business and lobby groups seem to have a Reiki master certification.Health ailments are often quite appealing to some degree.

Synergism happens when Reiki is more intuitive, where the practitioner know on which level you can practically apply and incorporate Reiki into their attunements.I found it to heal, improve and balance others.Positive behaviors like good eating habits, exercising, and increasing your capacity.One of the queue and within the body through the whole process.Pray these words to describe Reiki is a by-product of this systematic global research, it aims to restore circulation in it.

[animegenork]

Fruits Basket Season 2, Episode 11

I actually watched this episode earlier last week, but as I was rewatching the dub of Season 1 (specifically Kagura’s intro), I thought about how great this episode truly was.

The sad part about the original anime adaptation is that it ended too soon, and we didn’t get to see as much characterization of characters like Kagura. That’s where the manga comes in, as well as this beautiful reboot adaptation.

This particular episode covered a part of the manga I inherently dreaded (the first time I read it), as Kagura was always lingering in the background and keeping the idea of a Kyo/Tohru romance at arm’s length. Kagura, the girl who was convinced she was going to marry Kyo and beat him up because she loved him so much. (She’s so funny. I love her.) But little do we, the readers/viewers, know that there’s more to it.

In the manga, Kagura’s explanation gave me mixed feelings. And that’s mostly because her own feelings were so complex and deep, going so far back as her childhood, that it was hard to process. To put it simply, Kagura’s love for Kyo was borne of pity, and a relief that no matter what she did, she would never suffer as much as Kyo did.

Part of me wanted to hate her for that reasoning, but logically, I couldn’t. Kyo’s status in the Sohma family puts many at ease, I believe, save for Yuki. Even if they’re in great emotional pain, Kyo’s is far deeper than theirs, simply because of the role he was born into. In a way, the fact that Kagura loved Kyo for taking her burdens away gave me a sense of relief. Though her love for him was flawed, it was nonetheless something for Kyo to fall back on, even though he pushed her away constantly. Our poor little kitty needed that love, at least until he found someone to love for real... like Tohru.

And that is why I’m so glad this new anime is adapting the full manga. Moments like this, where we get a full look into a character’s motivations--in this case, Kagura’s desire to marry Kyo--and realize what exactly has been going on in their heads. I think the most powerful part of this whole scene is Kyo’s silence. He truly has grown up since he met Tohru, as this scene takes place nearly a full year after he’s met her. In that short time, he’s grown physically as well as mentally and emotionally, and instead of yelling at her or being angry... he thanks her. For being his friend. Despite her reasons, he’s grateful she spent time with him at all, as it was certainly more than what his family ever gave him.

As a hardcore Kyo/Tohru shipper, this scene was great for paving the way to the ship setting sail. But there was more to it than that. It gave Kagura AND Kyo a chance to move on from certain emotions holding them back, and it now gives them the freedom to be true to themselves. While Kyo still has some growing to do yet, I think it’s safe to say that Kagura has done her job in this series; that is, she’s given Kyo all the support he needed to be able to maintain himself until he can admit his feelings to Tohru. Kazuma is a fantastic father and gave him what he needed in a familial sense, but Kagura, I think, helped him socially.

It is freaking fantastic how intricately Takaya-sensei wove these characters together. Whether it’s familial, romantic, or even just friendly, all of the Zodiac members have a connection, whether they admit to it or not. Kagura and Kyo are no different, and honestly, their relationship makes me really reflect on those they have with the other Sohma members.

I honestly cannot wait to see how the English dub of this episode will go. Tia Ballard and Jerry Jewell are fantastic at what they do, and I know they’ll bring this all to life in the most beautiful sense of the scene.

And now to wait for the inevitable Momiji-is-grown-up scene. And I thought I wasn’t ready for this one.

Sidenote: I’ll admit, I was mostly thinking through writing on this, but maybe I’ll do more of these? I love reflecting on characterization and such, especially with a series such as Fruits Basket. I need to do more deep thinking to stay sharp during these times.

[bronzeflower]

Second Chance

Chapter 2: The Meeting of Various People

Also on ao3

Bakugou seemed to treat Izuku with more respect in this lifetime. It was probably because Izuku stood up to him multiple times before. He still called Izuku ‘Deku’ though, except maybe it had a different meaning now.

Izuku really wasn’t that sure, since Bakugou was still as explosive and as angry and proud as ever. Then again, it would probably be weird if he wasn’t.

They were marching along in a forest with some others. Izuku vaguely recognized this scene, but he couldn’t recall exactly what happened here.

His questioning was answered when Bakugou fell off a log and into a stream.

“Kacchan!” Izuku shouted. He seemed to be the only one who was worried, as everyone else was saying that Bakugou was going to be fine because he was strong.

But not Izuku, no. He found himself down at the stream before he had a second to think. He held out his hand to Bakugou.

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked. “It would be bad if you had gotten hurt.”

But something that didn’t happen last time happened. Bakugou took his hand.

“Of course I’m okay, Deku!” Bakugou insisted. “I can’t be the number one hero if I got hurt from something like that!”

“I’m glad you’re okay!” Izuku said.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “I’ll race you to the top of the hill.”

And with that, Bakugou took off with Izuku running behind him.

“No fair! You got a head start!” Izuku complained.

“Eh? I could beat you even if you had a head start, nerd!”

“I’d like to see you try.” Izuku challenged. Bakugou grinned.

“I’ll take you up on that challenge.”

This act of challenging each other continued to the point where they declared each other their rivals. But, instead of having horrible tensions like in Izuku’s last life, it was a friendlier rivalry filled with competitions that were had in good fun and faith.

The competitions were in everything from fighting to racing to even baking. They encouraged each other to be the best that they could be, although Bakugou always did it in a rougher way. Izuku knew what he meant though.

It was during one of those competitions when Izuku caught sight of one of his future classmates in UA. It was Tsuyu!

With her were two kids who looked like they were related to her. She actually looked like she had her hands full, both literally and figuratively, as she had a baby in her arms and was talking to a young boy who must have been her brother.

He should go over and talk to her. So he did.

“Hey, are you lost?” Izuku asked. He figured it would probably be weird if he just suddenly introduced himself to someone who currently doesn’t know him.

“What makes you ask that?” Tsuyu questioned. Straight to the point, as always.

“Well, uh, it’s just that…” Izuku frantically waved his hands around. “I don’t see your parents around her, and it looks like you’re having some trouble looking after your siblings.”

“You’re very plain looking!” Tsuyu’s brother said. “Like a pear.”

“Eh?” Izuku was a bit taken aback. Like a pear?

“Samidare, it’s not nice to say stuff like that.” Tsuyu said.

“Eh? But it’s not an insult.” Tsuyu’s brother, Samidare, apparently, frowned.

“You usually don’t comment on someone’s appearance when you first meet them.” Tsuyu explained. “Sorry if we gave you the impression that we were lost. Our parents are often traveling for work, so I’m usually the one to take care of my siblings.”

“Tsuyu is the best!” Samidare exclaimed. “She’s going to become the greatest hero someday!”

“Ribbit.” Tsuyu looked bashful at her brother’s praise.

“Really?” Izuku acted surprise. “Me, too. I’m Midoriya Izuku. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Asui Tsuyu. Call me Tsu.”

“Then you can call me Izuku!” Izuku grinned at Tsuyu, who smiled back at him. It was then when he heard yelling coming from behind him.

“Deku! Did you really just ditch our competition?” Bakugou sounded angry as hell, but there was the slightest bit of hurt in his tone.

“Ahh, sorry. I have to go, Tsu. I hope to meet you again in the future!” Izuku turned away and went over to Bakugou. “Sorry, Kacchan, I thought she and her siblings were lost, and you know I can’t ignore a person in need!”

“Yeah, yeah, we all know that you go sticking your nose into places it doesn’t belong.” Bakugou frowned. “But we were in the middle of a competition! Here I was thinking you were going to take it seriously!”

“How about a rematch?” Izuku challenged. He could see the determined fire light up in Bakugou’s eyes.

“Oh, you’re on.”

It was at least a few months before Izuku ran into anyone else who was going to go to UA. This time, it was Tokoyami.

He was sitting by a tree alone, so Izuku walked up to him and sat next to him.

“It’s a nice day out, isn’t it?” Izuku asked. It was honestly way more casual and friendly than one would greet a supposed stranger, but Tokoyami seemed to take it in stride, even as he looked a bit surprised at the sudden voice.

“It is.” Tokoyami nodded. “The name’s Tokoyami Fumikage.”

“I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

Tokoyami nodded once again, and the two of them sat in silence, simply enjoying the lovely day.

Izuku took out his notebook and began doing a drawing of Tokoyami. When he was reborn, that meant that he no longer had his notebooks, so he resolved to remake all of them. After all, it was important information to have.

Tokoyami looked over to him.

“What are you working on?” He asked.

“Ah, well…” Izuku paused for a moment. “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I like making notes about heroes and other people’s quirks and how they use them because I want to become a hero.”

“I don’t think that’s embarrassing. It’s actually a logical thing to do. Maybe I should start doing something similar.” Tokoyami commented. “After all, I want to become a hero as well.”

“I think you’re going to become a great hero!” Izuku proclaimed.

“Thanks. You too.”

Izuku grinned at him, and they continued enjoying each other’s company in relative silence, which was only broken when Tokoyami explained his quirk to Izuku. Izuku already knew Tokoyami’s quirk, but Tokoyami didn’t know that, so Izuku let him talk about it while also avoiding the topic of his own quirk.

They essentially spent the entire day together in the park.

“I hope I get to see you again!” Izuku said. He knew for a fact that he would see Tokoyami again in a few years.

“You too.” Tokoyami echoed the sentiment, and they went off to their respective houses.

A mere three months later, Izuku was shopping with his mother when he saw Shinsou. While he might not have been in Izuku’s class in his last life, Shinsou was still someone who he respected, and he greatly admired his ideals and determination.

However, what was surprising to Izuku was the fact that Aizawa-sensei and a man with long blond hair and glasses were with Shinsou. Izuku had no idea who the blond man was, but he was certainly shocked when he saw Aizawa kiss him.

Inko must have noticed his staring because she questioned him about them.

“Did you know them?” She asked. It was clear exactly what she was talking about. Inko was asking Izuku if he knew them in his past life.

“Yeah.” Izuku responded. “I don’t know who the blond man is though.”

“You should go talk to the kid.” Inko said. Oh. So she only thought that Izuku knew Shinsou. But, she was right, and Izuku did want to talk to him.

“Hi!” Izuku greeted Shinsou. “I’m Midoriya Izuku!”

Okay, so it might have been weird to suddenly introduce himself like that, but did that really warrant the stares he got from all of them?

“Hi.” Shinsou said, but in a much more reclusive manner. “I’m Hitoshi Shinsou.”

Okay, this wasn’t really going anywhere. Izuku could work with this. Maybe.

“Are these two both your dads?” Izuku asked. He sounded like a kid, but, to be fair, currently, he was, so he might as well use that to his advantage.

Izuku waited until Shinsou nodded.

“That’s so cool that you have two dads!” Izuku exclaimed. “I don’t really have a dad. It’s just my mom and me.”

Aizawa and the blond man looked more relaxed. Oh. They must have been worried that Izuku would be mean about seeing a gay couple.

“What happened to your dad?” Shinsou asked.

“I don’t know.” Izuku answered truthfully. He knew his mom and dad divorced when he was young, but he doesn’t remember why.

“Hmm. Well, your mother seems like a nice lady.” Shinsou said.

“She is! She always takes care of me, and she makes the best food!” Izuku boosted.

“Beebee is usually the one to make food. Dad always burns it whenever he cooks.” Shinsou said.

“Beebee?” Izuku questioned. Shinsou pointed to the blond man.

“It would get awkward if I called both of my dads ‘Dad’.” Shinsou explained.

“I guess so.” That meant that Shinsou called Aizawa dad. Izuku now knew that Aizawa was bad at cooking. He had no idea what to do with this information.

“What does your mom do for a living?” Shinsou pointed towards Inko, who was now talking with Aizawa and ‘Beebee’.

“She does a lot of writing,” Izuku replied. “And some other freelance work. What about your dads? What do they do?”

Obviously, Izuku already knew that Aizawa was a pro-hero and a teacher, but he had no idea what the blond man did.

“They’re both pro heros.” Shinsou proudly replied.

“Really!? That’s so cool!” Izuku exclaimed. He looked at Aizawa and the blond man, as if trying to determine which pro hero they were. He really was trying with the blond man though. “Is he Eraserhead? You know, The Erasure Hero.”

“You know Eraserhead!?” Shinsou asked. He looked so excited. “Nobody I ever talk to knows Eraserhead because he’s an underground hero!”

“Why wouldn’t I know about Eraserhead?” Izuku replied back with just as much enthusiasm. “He’s a fantastic hero! I think it’s awesome how he fights essentially quirkless.”

Izuku didn’t miss the look Aizawa gave him then. He actually looked kind of happy.

“Huh.” Shinsou thought for a moment. “I guess you’re right. That just makes Dad even more awesome!”

“Of course it does!” Izuku exclaimed. At this point, Aizawa looked positively bashful. “And, I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t figure out who your other dad is.”

“That’s understandable. He looks completely different as a civilian.” Shinsou nodded, as if agreeing with his own statement. “He’s actually Present Mic: The Voice Hero!”

“Really!?” Izuku shouted. Really, of all people, Present Mic was probably the last person he expected the blond man to be. But, then again, it couldn’t have possibly been anybody else.

“Really!” Shinsou said.

The realization dawned on Izuku.

“Wait, are they married?” Izuku questioned.

“Of course they are!” Shinsou declared. “But they always wear their rings on a necklace so that it doesn’t get in the way when they’re doing hero work.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Izuku honestly couldn’t handle this. He couldn’t believe his future teachers were married. But, then again he didn’t really have any proof that they weren’t married in his past life.

Mostly because Aizawa-sensei never talked about his personal life.

“You like heroes, so you must want to be a hero when you get older, right?” Shinsou asked.

“Of course! I’m going to be the best hero!” Izuku declared. “You too, right?”

“Yeah, I want to become a hero. But…” Shinsou frowned.

“What?”

“People always say that my quirk is a villain's quirk.” Shinsou said. Oh right. Izuku remembered him talking about that when they fought.

“Well, what is your quirk?” Izuku already knew, but Shinsou didn’t know that Izuku knew.

“I have a brainwashing quirk.” Shinsou said.

“That’s super cool!” Izuku exclaimed. “You’d be able to capture any villain!”

“Yeah!” Shinsou grinned at Izuku, and Izuku grinned back. “What about you? What’s your quirk?”

“Well, uh-”

“Hitoshi, we still have more shopping to do, and I’m sure they do too. Say bye to your friend.” Aizawa said. Shinsou frowned but nodded.

“It was nice meeting you Midoriya.”

“It was nice meeting you, too, Shinsou!” Izuku then took out his notebook, as well as a pen and turned towards Aizawa and Present Mic. “Um, before you go, could I have both of your autographs?”

“Of course! Anything for a fan!” Present Mic immediately went into hero mode, and Izuku wondered why he didn’t figure it out sooner.

Present Mic signed his name in the notebook and handed the notebook to Aizawa, who ended up signing as well with some prodding from Present Mic.

“Thank you so much!” Izuku bowed. He then turned towards Shinsou. “I hope we’ll meet again, Shinsou. You too, Aizawa-sensei.”

Izuku didn’t realize what he just said until he Aizawa squinted at him suspiciously. He froze. Inko looked slightly surprised, but she then realized that Aizawa was probably Izuku’s teacher in his past life.

Oh god, he was going to die. Aizawa was going to kill him. How was he going to explain knowing what Aizawa’s name was? He was going to have One for All in a few years. How would he explain having two quirks?

Honestly, Aizawa looked like he had so many questions, but, luckily, Inko saved the day. She was truly Izuku’s hero.

“We should probably get going. It was very nice meeting you and Yamada.” Inko said, guiding Izuku away from Aizawa and out of the aisle.

“Thanks, mom.” Izuku stated.

“I don’t think you wanted your future teacher to know that he was your future teacher.”

“No.” Izuku shook his head. “Definitely not.”

[rieshon]

Spring 2019 Preview

How the hell is there another season already. I was hoping for a light load this time around, but it looks like the anime gods will not be so kind. Bonus feature this season is all the titles are links to the shows’ official websites so you can click and look at the cute girls I mention.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu: This is an adaptation of a Katsuwo manga, who is the guy who wrote the original for the brilliant Mitsuboshi Colors which ended up on my top ten of the year list last year. An all-female cast of adorable looking girls, a proven mangaka, and the usually-capable Hanada writing the scripts makes this one look like a pretty sure bet. Oh yeah it's also got a good looking deko blondenblu gaijin.

Joshikausei: I think this is a short, but all you need to really know about this show is the tagline on the website: おバカかわいい、この日常がたぶん青春. They got all my favorite words in there. Too bad it's a short, but I think it will be fifteen minutes at least.

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san: This is one of those shows where you can probably guess exactly what it's going to be like from the title. It's cute kitsune wife (actual age: 800) and other girls in a rabukome animated by Douga Koubou... which is endorsement enough but it's also got Ayaneru as a meganekko joji anime otaku JD?? Hell yeah. The cast is actually fantastic: Waki Azumi, Mareitaso, Ayaneru and Kitaeri, and Suwabe Jun'ichi holds down the male protag fort so that should be good too. No reason to think this won't be great.

Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo Yu-No: You wanna talk about some aesthetic, this is some aesthetic. It's an adaptation of the hugely influential PC-98 eroge of the same name, which was a work that in large part helped bring us the sort of complex science fiction and fantasy stories that would shape the golden age of that medium. With how much I've been lamenting the lack of 'that eroge aesthetic' in anime as of late, it should be obvious that I'm hype for this, and it's getting two cours from based feel. at that.

Fairy gone: Not gonna lie, I was kinda mad that this new P.A. Works original looks nothing like what they typically produce, but having seen the PV, it looks pretty good. Then I learned that the scripts are being written by the author of Grimgar, and I got hype. Fantasy plus WW2-ish shit is a good aesthetic (think Youjo Senki) and it's got the considerable might of a P.A. Works production behind it. The director of Suzuki Keiichi, who doesn't have a lot of credits but worked on the first season of the Jojo anime, which was great, so this one definitely seems like it could have all the ingredients to really pop off. The girls also look hot which is very important.

Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?: With Hina-sensei of Domekano about to leave my life this show promises a much more concentrated injection of teacher moe into my veins... In fact it is all about lewd and cute senseis and they all look good. My only worry is that, as sometimes seems to happen with shows where the lewdness is put front and center, the animation doesn't really look like it's the best. I am grateful to this show for allowing Ishigami Shizuka to play a cute girl at least, even if she is still slightly typecast as the tomboy gym teacher.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season; in this one, everyone is a dumbass. It definitely looks like a standard harem anime, and I always need at least one of those a season to keep myself alive. The girls all look fantastic, but I'm especially excited for the pink-haired teacher character and the purple-haired loli BBA. There's also a delicious brown genki girl, a meganekko who wears kuropansuto... Yeah it's got all the good good ingredients. Oh yeah, it's also being directed by the guy who directed the extremely good Last Period anime last year, so it's got that going for it too.

Kenja no Mago: It's isekai tensei anime, and yes, it literally starts with the protagonist getting hit by truck-kun... But the PV ended up really winning me over, and I'm cautiously looking forward to this one. The premise is recycled, but there's nothing new under the sun anyway. It looks like it's got a decent sense of humor about it and the heroines look cute as hell, but it also looks like it's got some major production values being pumped into it. This show could definitely be a pleasant surprise.

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season. This one has some good-looking character art courtesy of Silver Link, and one of a couple major leading roles for up-and-coming seiyuu Waki Azumi. The main girl looks extremely adorable and is apparently a pervert so I got hopes for this one to be good.

Senryuu Girl: We actually traditional Japanese arts now (a senryuu is a kind of poem similar to a haiku) but more importantly, cute girls. Za-san takes the leading role but there's also Sumipe as a chuuni looking girl, Kuno-chan, and Paisen, among others. The direction doesn't inspire confidence (this guy was behind the shittier latter seasons of Prisma Illya) but it still looks like a cute rabukome.

One Punch Man 2nd season: How can there be a second season when he already punched last time? He's all outta punches! In all seriousness, One Punch Man was a surprisingly enjoyable romp the first time around, thanks in no small part to the spectacular (especially for TV) animation on display. There is concern over it having moved from Madhouse to J.C. Staff for this season, but if J.C. are being given enough money to rustle up the same level of talent as last time it should hopefully still be a spectacle.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki: Hougen marudashi no joshikousei! It's cute dialects anime!! That fishing anime had good dialects but it was actually a bad show; this looks like it will have a good dialect and be a good show. It should be cute if nothing else. The main heroine's thing is that she speaks Nagoya-ben, but given that the other heroines are listed as being from Gifu and Mie, maybe we will even get many dialects. Unfortunately, though, it's probably a short, since Creators in Pack are involved.

Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma: This is also a short (ten minutes) which is too bad because these girls look cute as heck. A show with a premise like this is really gonna depend on how likable the male protagonist is, though.

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine: Toukyou no chuusuu wa marunouchi, hibiya kouen ryougiin... Wait, wrong anime. But yes, like the venerable Taisho Yakyuu Musume of old, girls are playing baseball in anime again. This one is set in the modern day, and I have no idea if it's a fictional setting where girls all play baseball or if they're gonna do the Taisho thing and try to take down the baseball boys because the website still has no plot section. The character designs look good as hell though, coming courtesy of Noguchi Takayuki, who also did designs for Tenshi no 3P! (they were like the only good thing about that anime) and Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu (similar). Hopefully this show has more than just good girls to ogle.

Shoumetsu Toshi: Only thing I really know about this is Ayaneru is in it because I've seen her doing promo work for it. The key visual definitely doesn't do it any favors, nor does the fact that it's apparently based on a mobile game, but man some of these character designs look great. Ayaneru plays some kind of moe gumshoe detective, Mingosu is a sexy lab coat channee, actually there's multiple sexy lab coat channees... Really that's all you have to tell me, I'm fucking in there. The show will probably be crap.

Carole & Tuesday: This looks very pretentious and vaguely like they're fishing for overseas viewers (actually they definitely are because the website even defaults to English when I load the site, which offends my sensibilities), but the PV does make it looks fairly interesting. It's another music focused series from Watanabe Shinichiro, who also tried to steal the hearts of the west with Sakamichi no Apollon in 2012, which was terrible. It might be neat though I guess. It does seem to have a black girl as one of the protagonists which is cool.

Isekai Quartet: I have no idea who asked for this, but if it gives me the opportunity to hear more of Amamiya Sora as Aqua while I wait for a third season of Konosuba, it can't be all bad. I ain't never seen no Overlord though, so a quarter of this is gonna be lost on me.

Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu!: The title is appropriate because this short is basically an appetizer for the coming next wave of Strike Witches content. It's a cute honobono comedy starring the Strike Witches girls, so it'll probably be good. Hopefully this can remove from my mouth some of the bad tastes Brave Witches left. It won't be until next year that we get the return of Takamura-kantoku and true Strike Witches anime, though.

Araiya-san! ~Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!?~: What the hell is this? Do they really have these in Japan? It's about a dude who washes girls in the bath?? Whatever the fuck is going on here, the girls look cute and it definitely promises to be lewd, at least on ComicFesta's own streaming service. MX version will probably have nazo no hikari, so hopefully the uncensored one pops up somewhere I can watch it.

Choukadou Girl 1/6: It's definitely impossible to not think of Frame Arms Girl when looking at this series, which will probably end up being an unfair comparison. For one, it looks like we got a shitty ass male protagonist instead of a cute girl. I remember how Busou Shinki turned out... Not having high hopes for this one.

Fruits Basket: Honestly, there's no way I'd be watching this if it didnt have such a famous name on the tin. Two ikemen danshi on the key visual is too many! Fruits Basket is a legend of shoujo manga, though, and there should be a lot of resources going into this new, full adaptation of the series, so I feel vaguely obligated to check it out. People are mad about the new character designs but the girls look pretty good, especially that blonde delinquent looking girl.

Sarazanmai: Uh-oh. It's Ikuhara anime. My consternation with Ikuhara is well documented, and although I've never seen his opus of Utena, I find his works, though visually compelling, to be frustratingly obscurantist, or to put it another way, "trying too hard." Still, you gotta give the guy credit for being unique I guess, so I'll still end up watching at least an episode, whatever the fuck it turns out to be about. Unfortunately there seems to be a major lack of girls to hold my interest, not to mention none to be lesbians, so it might not last very long.

Kono Oto Tomare!: It's koto anime. You can have an anime about anything and this is one about people who play the koto. Lots of traditional Japanese arts this season for some reason. Unlike the senryuu anime though, this one only has ONE measly female character, and it doesn't even look like she's the protagonist, so I probably won't watch it. The koto is cool though.

Kimetsu no Yaiba: This show looks like a big deal just from the number of stations it's airing on and the fact that it's a rare TV anime from Ufotable... Unfortunately I have little interest in actually watching it. It's a Shounen Jump series, the art makes it look edgy, it uses the word "zetsubou" in the tagline and I already hate the Hanae Natsuki-voiced boy protagonist just after seeing his face in the key visual. There is a cute looking oni girl though.

Gonna put these down here since it feels weird to rank what are essentially ongoing shows:

Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~: Friends is the Aikatsu series that finally really got its claws in me, so I'm chuffed that we're getting a second season, with some sexy looking space idols voiced by Hiyocchi and Oonishi at that. The fact that there will apparently be a time skip has me a little worried, but also, two years older Mio and Maika are gonna be good. I'm sure it will still be great.

Kiratto! PriChan 2nd season: Unlike Aikatsu, Prichan doesn't seem like it's getting any major changes going into its second year, but I hope they shake it up with some new idols or something. Prichan's definitely not on the level of its predecessor (though little is) and its formula is getting a little stale, so hopefully they take this as a chance to rejuvenate it. Oshamatrix full idols now goddamnit.

[scorpio16x]

My Thoughts on Sora Gumi's “Chateau de la Reine / VIVA! FESTA!”

So this is way overdue as I intended to write it a week before senshuraku after my last show… but because I spent too much time rewatching old Sora Gumi shows to cope with Mirion’s taidan I didn’t have time to write down my thoughts until now…

Overall, I love both the musical and the revue. The musical made me laugh and cry, and the revue was one of the most exciting Takarazuka experiences I’ve ever had. However, while I love this show, I’m a little conflicted about it being Mirion’s taidan (something I’ll mention later).

“Chateau de la Reine” is Tabuchi-sensei’s first Grand Theater show. I’ve really liked some of Tabuchi-sensei’s previous works (“Victorian Jazz” has a special place in my heart, and “Sanctuary” was pretty solid), so I was fairly excited when I heard he’s finally making his Grand Theater debut. One reason I like his works is that they’re not as “romance-centric’ as other Takarazuka shows. The two protagonists still fall in love, but their romance is more of a side plot (the obvious exception is Yuki Gumi’s “Roman Holiday). Although some fans have said that he lacks the sensitivity necessary to write a Takarazuka play, I personally like it when romance isn’t the main focus.

This style is evident in “Chateau de la Reine.” Love wasn’t really ~in the air~ until the very end when Kitashirakawa and Reiko got together (which was adorable, whenever I saw Kitashirakawa held out his hand to Reiko I always squealed a bit). The main focus is the comedy. For a show that actually has a quite serious topic (an old couple attempting to commit suicide), it was hilarious. I LOVED it when Maa-sama waved her long arms and legs around because she was “possessed” by the writing angel, when Mirion pushed Maa-sama behind a sofa, and when Zun-chan tried to run away even though Akki held onto her backpack. Yes, it’s slapstick humor, BUT I COULDN’T GET ENOUGH OF IT. 

Another part of this show that I really appreciated was that a lot members of Sora Gumi got their own little plot. It’s great to see actresses who usually don’t have many lines in a Grand Theater Show to have their little moments. I specifically want to mention Ayaka Mari and Seoto Risa. Ayaka Mari finally got the Grand Theater time she deserved. She looked INCREDIBLE in a suit, and I love how evil she sounded. I was hoping that she would have a duet with Rinjo Kira, but at least she got to sing the Étoile. Seoto Risa was spectacular as the queen. At first I thought she was just a hotel attendant and was sad that she barely appeared (even though she looked adorable dancing to the song). Then BAM she appeared in an all-black dress sounding all authoritative and I was blown away. When she threw the baby off the bridge she sounded insane and evil - it was wonderful. Now I really want to see her as Sophie in “Elisabeth.”

However, the greatest part about this show is that despite all of its ridiculousness, IT MADE ME CRY. The message of “smiling when it’s tough” really got to me and I cried every time I watched it. Tragedies like “Konsaba” and “Hoshi ai Hitoyo” are wonderful and beautiful, but sometimes we just need a good old comedy that reminds us of how amazing life can be. Even though this isn’t a traditional taidan show – with its outrageous outfits (seriously, why?? The colors are blinding) and its hilarity – I think it really fits Mirion’s personality. As someone who’s always so cheerful and bright, I find it appropriate that her last show has a similar message.

“VIVA! FESTA!” was fun, exciting, and powerful – just not exactly what I had in mind for Mirion’s taidan. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this revue. My favorite is definitely the soran part, it was simply AMAZING. On my first day I was surprised because people in the audience actually YELLED BACK, which is weird because Takarazuka fans are usually really quiet. There was so much energy that it felt like the floor was shaking. The actresses were all super hyper and the audience was so into it. During my second show Seoto Risa was really close to me, and she was so excited that her haori fell - it was adorable. Just this segment alone captures what Maa-sama and Mirion’s Sora Gumi is all about - happy and full of energy.

Now onto the not-so-good things. To be honest if this were just any other revue I would’ve loved it. And I do really like it. But… it’s Mirion’s taidan, and she barely appeared. She had solo lines but no solo songs (unless you count the parade part), which is baffling because she’s SORA’S QUEEN AND SHE DESERVES A SOLO. She did have a little dance with the other musumeyaku during soran (which further consolidates the soran part as my favorite part of the revue), and she did dance with the other otokoyaku during the finale, yet that’s hardly enough. Maybe I expected too much. Since she had a solo for the opening of “Hot Eyes!” I was hoping that she would have something similar this time… The only part that felt like a taidan was the duet dance, which was breathtaking. From the song (“Greatest Love of All,” I see what you did there) to the dry ice/smoke to the endless lifts, everything was beautiful. I cried when I saw her walk down those stairs because it finally hit me that this is indeed her taidan. So while I love this revue, I would love it even more if Mirion had more stage time. Brief notes on individual actresses… Asaka Manato: After seducing us with her long legs in “Elisabeth” (I will never forget how she slid across that table), in “Chateau de la Reine” Maa-sama put those long arms and legs to good comedic use with all the flailing and running into doors. Comedy is a difficult genre, but I couldn’t ask for more from Maa-sama. Yes, some bits were over the top, though nothing was cringe-worthy and you don’t feel that she’s “trying too hard.” She also somehow made me think that the annoying and arrogant Kitashirakawa is… cute, particularly in the end when she touched the back of her neck because she felt embarrassed for asking Reiko out. The revue really suited her. Now I can totally understand why her fans call her “Sora Gumi’s sun,” she’s just so happy and warm that it’s infectious. Misaki Rion: Do I need to say more except for “Mirion did great”? Her first solo song (もうひとりのエトランジェ) is my favorite song of the entire show, and her version of 笑えたら made me cry. I know a lot of people would prefer her to have something similar to Elisabeth as her taidan. Nevertheless, as I said before, I don’t mind that her last show is about a strong career-minded woman who keeps trying regardless of all the obstacles in her way. I also just want to quickly mention how well she acted during the revue when Maa-sama died. She didn’t speak at all, yet from her actions and expressions you can tell she was devastated, shocked, and confused as to why there was so much hatred. When most people think of Mirion they think of her singing (rightfully so), but her acting never disappoints as well. I’m sad that she’s graduating, though I’m certain that she’ll have a fantastic career in front of her. Makaze Suzuho: Ah, Makaze… constantly wrecking my bias list. She was convincing as the “how dare you annoy me but I’ll still help you” Louis XIV, and her singing was solid. It’s beyond me how she looked so good in the revue. During the “witches’ festival” part, when she ran out in a blue outfit and danced to that electric guitar song, I felt that I needed to reconsider who my favorite sora gumi otokoyaku is. I also love how she acted like she OWNED the place when she sang the solo for soran. Aizuki Hikaru: Ai-chan proved, once again, that she can act as crazy and over the top characters (though at least this time, unlike “Top Hat,” she’s not the only one who’s over the top). Sometimes I still wonder how someone who’s so proper off stage, and whose dream role is Rudolf from “Mayerling,” is Alberto from “Top Hat.” In the revue she covered a K-Pop song with other otokoyakus. While I love Ai-chan and her voice, I personally don’t think she was the right choice for the boyband concept. Her singing is too “musical-like” for a K-Pop song thus it felt a bit unnatural. Nonetheless, I’m not complaining that much because all the winking made up for it. Sumiki Sayato: Akkii’s previous characters were more of the “gentleman” type, so Makoto is quite different for her. It was weird seeing Akkii, who has the reputation of behaving and looking like royalty, acting as a jerk. But she did well as the grumpy and clueless cop. I would love to see her challenge more roles that are different from her usual style. And, is it just me or did her singing improve? I really enjoyed her duet with Zun-chan in the finale. Sorahane Riku: Riku also broke out of her comfort zone for this musical. She was great as the flamboyant and happy Crayon, and you can tell she had a lot of fun walking around in those incredibly high heels. When Crayon and Makoto kissed in the end the whole audience went “aww”  (including me). In the revue, Riku acted as a bull who went up against a matador (Maa-sama). Props to her for making her hair VERTICAL and acting super “bull-like” (especially the way she moved her leg). Sakuragi Minato: Zun-chan was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE as the timid Togawa. In the Takarazuka run her hairstyle was still normal, but in the Tokyo run she had terrible (or amazing, depends on how you look at it) bed hair in that the back of hair went upwards. It was too cute. She sounded like a kid and looked like an elementary student on a field trip with her backpack. Then the revue began and all of a sudden she became a handsome otokoyaku – it caught me off guard. She had a ginkyo solo after the prologue that she totally nailed. I can already see the beginning of her transformation into a more mature otokoyaku and I can’t wait for her future shows. Junya Chitose: It’s good to have funny Seko back after seeing how seriously scary she can be in “Elisabeth.” I love the way she talks, there’s like a little bounce in her voice. And her “drunken walk” was so good that I was always afraid she’s going to fall off the ginkyo. Sadly she didn’t get to sing much in neither the musical nor the revue. She did sing a bit during the “witches’ festival” part. When she started singing I was like “wow who is this? Oh, it’s Seko, that explains the powerful voice.” Kazuki Sora: Sora was her usual delightful self and the role fitted her perfectly. I found her “broken Japanese” to be very endearing. Also, during one of the shows I was sitting close to the side stage, and she was standing near me for the parade. She looked at me in the eye and that already made me really happy. Then before she left to return to the main stage, SHE WINKED AT THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME. I freaked out even though it wasn’t meant for me because 1) it was in my general direction 2) it was VERY DESTRUCTIVE. Needless to say, I’ll pay more attention to her now. Tldr: I liked both “Chateau de la Reine and VIVA! FESTA!” Both could have had more Mirion, but both were solid shows that I highly recommend. These two shows also taught me that I should never judge a book by its cover (when I first saw the poster and the trailer I was horrified by how ugly the outfits were). I really like the current Sora Gumi, and am terribly sad that this era is coming to an end. Good luck to Mirion! And good luck to the rest of Sora Gumi! :D