#considering they’re all Junko’s from art I’ve done

[spittyfishy]

could we get more despair mitarai,,,,,

This is honestly such a mood

[cheeryfairygender]

Oh, that's so swag about sharing a b-day with Nagisa! /gen /pos That's neat tbh /gen

In terms of Vocaloid/UTAUloid recommendations, I've currently been listening to Pyrite Girl and What Gave It Away, both songs made by R.I.P. (with Pyrite Girl originally sung by Kagamine Rin, and What Gave It Away originally sung by Otomachi Una) on loop. Oh, and if you ever wanna listen to some good Kasane Teto covers (and I genuinely mean good /gen), look no further than Tanjiro Taidana and their covers. They're an amazing ass UTAUloid song artist/tuner, and while they primarily use Teto, they also occasionally use other UTAUloids and even Vocaloids.

Yeah, buffalo wings can be spicy, heh. In terms of wings or the sauce of whatever food item, there's usually a mild option, a medium option, a hot option, and so forth (sometimes). Depending on that, they can be spicy. However, I have a tolerance with spicy food, as well as a huge love for spicy food, so I'm a bit bias in terms of if a certain food is spicy or not /lh However, I completely respect you not tending to not like spicy food! /gen /nm I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Yeah, I can definitely understand your opinion on the artstyle. Looking at the examples you provided, it honestly makes complete sense /gen (not /s). And considering I've completed DRV3, yeah, it's kind of unique compared to the other two [main] games /neu

Oh, and as for the air fryer thing you mentioned in the tags, you can usually figure out how to use it+how to airfry certain things by looking it up! Just type in Google if you can airfry XYZ food, and it'll usually give the suggested temperature and time. I'm sure you can airfry sweet potato fries, as you can airfry regular French fries (whether they're frozen or from a fast food place)! /gen /nf I feel that sounds dumb and easier said than done, but if it makes you feel better, I didn't know how to use it at first for quite awhile /gen /lh (not /s)

Oh oh, and don't worry about not adding reply icons! It's all good /lh /gen /nm

TBH I want to like spicy food but it's a sensory issue for me because I can't tolerate the pain very well, and I don't like a lot of flavors of the actual food that has spice. But oddly enough, I like Japanese style curry. It's super good. Apparently as a little kid I liked spicy food though which makes it super weird I grew out of it. I really like sour food, though! I think the issue is that spice stays in your mouth even after eating, but sour goes away super fast (unless you injure your mouth/tongue from too much/too strong sour food).

I just generally don't like things with strong flavors...like, I don't even like how black pepper tastes. I tend to eat...bread. And sweet baked products. I usually just eat a lot of samefoods but my sister is an incredible cook so I eat whatever she makes when she cooks! Otherwise I just kinda graze on snacks.

Also I listened to the music and it's super interesting /positive, I like finding smaller vocal synth artists! Also yes yes I've heard Tanjiro before and he's GREAT at utauloid tuning. I feel like utauloids are often tuned better than vocaloids nowadays because you have to put in more effort to get them to sound good and it's easier to just put less work in for vocaloid.

Airfryers are just super intimidating IG I think we got ours for free from someone who didn't need it??

Also to make it clear I don't like...dislike v3? It's a cool game, it just doesn't satisfy the itch the first two games give me, which honestly makes sense. The original Danganronpa series ended on purpose--they reached a good end for it. V3 is kinda like a new beginning so you can't go into it wanting what the original series had. I feel like the graphics/art style for Danganronpa didn't age well with time. For the original games, it made a lot more sense considering when they came out and the consoles they were released on, but that kinda sloppy, eccentric style doesn't transfer well when there's a higher production value like v3 has I think.

I think the WEIRDEST thing is how...much worse the games got in terms of jokes/content. Like, the things about incest and any homophobia got way worse. Kaito says slurs against gay men/trans women in the Japanese version more than once, I think.

In SDR2, most characters are implied to be bi and wlw or mlm. There's less in DRTHH, but they're still there. The original games write queer characters subtly but in a very good way. You still have this subtle writing for v3 but they completely upped the explicit jokes to the point it isn't silly or funny...just uncomfortable. (Mikan, Teruteru, Kazuichi, Nagito, Hajime, Imposter, and Nekomaru are all implied to be queer off the top of my head. Makoto, Mondo, Taka, Chihiro, Hifumi, Mukuro, Junko, and Leon are all implied to be queer iirc as well.) Like with Leon in DRTHH, his cousin has romantic feelings for him, but he makes it SUPER clear he hates it and it makes him super uncomfortable. But then I think v3 just has straight up incest with the monokubs? I'm not sure if the other characters reacted uncomfortably to it or not, though. But just...the way the characters talk/the jokes they make totally changed. It's super odd to me. It really takes me out of it and it

I guess my main issue is the shift in how the characters act, less context for the behavior of the characters (like, DRTHH extends into SDR2, and vice versa. Each game lends into each other), transferal/execution of the Danganronpa style, as well as the user interface. The user interface is super busy and confusing for me.

Also, the characters are intense like usual but in a super weird way. Like...negatively? In DRTHH, they were all extreme in a way normal teens could be. Instead, they feel like...superheroes. Like, their whole talents are pushed too hard. In SDR2, they were still extreme but in an, again, rather normal way.

I just seriously love the characters though. I think it's a good game, but you can't play it and expect an experience like the original series. You can only really play it and do your best to not compare it at all.

[ryouverua]

Foreplay

Mm yes sassy!Shuichi is good for the soul

So Miu literally went to everyone to bring them together, huh? I, uh, honestly didn’t expect to have a big group meet-up the night before the ‘big day’.

Oh hey, look who finally decided to show his face again! I’ve been wondering what you were up to!

want to share with the class, Kaito

also please don’t tease me with a Kokichi & Kaito friendship and not deliver

Miu is totally trumping up what she made I DON’T BELIEVE YOU THIS IS JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ESCAPISM

except instead of Atua we have gone in the opposite direction

with technology

BUT FINE PLAY COY SEE IF I CARE it’s not like the cast itself has the benefit of SDR2 behind them - though with that said tsumugi totally referenced the first case last chapter trial by accident. Honestly, it makes me wonder how far back the events of other games are? I mean, Monokuma is around, and they recognized him in the prologue, so is it possible that the events of the previous games have become part of historical lore or something?

Anyway, that’s stuff to think about another time. Kinda getting distracted...

Someone is on a power trip.

YEAH UH THAT’S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION ACTUALLY...

HEY EXCUSE YOU MIU you can’t call us masochistic if we’re not doing this consensually!!!

it’s time to flip the chessboard

Oh, yikes, damn. This is that side of Kokichi that I haven’t liked. Not him acting like an evil supreme leader - he did a bit of that in the FTEs I’ve done so far - but there’s always something... I don’t know, a lot crueller and more vicious in how he talks to Miu? I mean, not that she’s the perfect person herself, but she doesn’t deserve this. And yeah yeah, I know there are probably arguments about the weird sado-masochistic thing they both seem to have going on but... no, I don’t think that’s ever going to sit well with me. Miu’s got some serious problems going on, and Kokichi’s not playing into them, he’s actively using them against her. And again, I don’t mind him doing antagonistic things, not at all! But everything, outside of this, has seemed so much cleverer.

Then again, after the display from the night before I guess I should start expecting outright cruel and scary things from him. 8′D 

HOLY ART STYLE CHANGE WOW THIS IS REALLY GOOD

despite all the epic Clamp-esque ‘long leg’ syndrome going on I... really like how everyone looks in this...

Ah, I’m annoyed that I don’t recognize the style though. This is definitely a reference that most people would immediately get if they were on the other side of the ocean.

WOW K1-b0 that’s cold considering you may be the closest person to her!!! I think I’m starting to let my ship!feelings cloud my observations, yikes...

Aaaw, Tsumugi. 8′\ What would Gonta and the others do without your sporadic support, honestly.

Aaaaw sad mushrooms :( is this a new sprite? also doesn’t junko have one like this too

OKAY KOKICHI ENOUGH GEEZ

Man, something went terribly, terribly wrong in your past, huh.

YUP I KNEW IT

Zoolander references? In my Danganronpa?

THE FILES ARE INSIDE THE COMPUTER

Tsumugi seriously how old are you?????

Wait we’re seriously doing this right now??? W.... We aren’t, are we? I thought this would end up like the others (watching everyone’s videos/Necronomicon) - big build-up, and then a last-minute detour! I even came up with the name ‘Motives, interrupted’ and everything...

DAMN that was fast. But hey, more energetic Himiko!

Uh.... what? She told Kokichi of all people? I... didn’t think they talked outside of trials/them insulting each other...

Aren’t you literally the one who was complaining about how heavy the Dog Statue was last chapter.............

Well, I mean, I guess having more intel was worth it to him, maybe? I’m guessing he had gotten wind of it before actually moving the chairs, because they weren’t there earlier and the Monokuma scene happened the night before - and he clearly knew some of what she was working on. So has he been spying on her then, or just talking more than I realized?

Poor Gonta, getting used as the audience surrogate. 8′D I guess I shouldn’t be surprised computers aren’t your strong suit, huh...

WHELP... THAT’S..... WORRYING......

Yeah!!! I mean, they’re literally going to be all defenceless! All it takes is for someone to fake logging in and boom, another body!

I DON’T KNOW MIU, ARE YOU? YOU WERE KINDA FREAKING ME OUT AFTER THAT FLASHBACK LIGHT BUT ALSO IN AN INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS WAY...

omg it totally is based on the NeoWorld program, isn’t it

...???? What are you thinking about. Does it have to do with you specifically, or is it related to why you guys are all here. VR in VR??? Maybe???

I know I should be against Gonta’s ‘wild man/fish out of water’ stereotype being played up but it’s a relief to see him not worrying about everyone/beating himself up for once this chapter, so... :(

SAY THE NAME YOU COWARD

MIU IF MONOKUMA IS LETTING YOU FUCK AROUND WITH HIS PROGRAM WITH THE NAME ‘KILLING GAME SIMULATOR’ WHY WOULD YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR EVEN A MINUTE

YEAH NO FUCKING KIDDING

Man, I do feel bad for her in moments like this though. She really, really wants that validation from everyone, but just doesn’t seem to understand how to get it in a way that doesn’t piss everyone off and/or objectify herself, or -

.......................................... yeah

Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to 8/

B-But what if people improvise and use a non-traditional method, or just do something that doesn’t require weapons? Or just kill them in the real world while they’re ‘asleep’? D: There are way too many ways for this to go wrong sdlkfj I mean it’s obviously just because we’re close to the deadline that I’m worried (and watch the game let things proceed without anything happening only for someone to wind up dead after their initial foray into the VR world) but still...

Shuichi’s getting bolder :D

omfg Monokuma can you at least try to be subtle about working with Kokichi - he’s at least trying to.... a bit.... like, barely passably...

And that’s all it took to win him over 8/ Seriously, it’s kind of scary how easily Kokichi can manipulate him.

TSUMUGI IS ME, SCREAMING AT EVERYONE TO NOT GO INTO THE 99% OBVIOUS DEATH TRAP

There’s that talk about the inner voice again... we’re definitely going to hear about that in the future. Programming? But based on what? That’s the real question. I’m still toying with that whole ‘Nanami’ role potential and his talk of hope last chapter...

damn it Kaito stop following your man’s curiosity and start looking into a woman’s sober second thought

MAKI. THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU. YOU ARE THE SOBER SECOND THOUGHT.

I know you’re on that slow path of falling for Kaito but why??? Why can’t you be the voice of reason??? Are you only going there to support him???

I mean, that’s a better reason than we got from Maki but walking into an obvious trap just to find out how it springs is still not the smartest choice, Sweetcheeks!!!

still me

and also make you the prime suspect for whatever murder inevitably happens

Man, poor Tsumugi. I feel like she knows where this is going and just does not have the charisma outside of cosplay to keep it from happening. Better luck next time, girl 8′\

Ugh, the lies like this ^ are so obviously transparent and it makes Kokichi so much fun to have around and watch. I feel like he’s making a subtle dig at Kaito’s shounen!protagonist attitude - oh hey, and for that matter, it could be a reference to him punching Shuichi way back in chapter 2 and how Shuichi’s developed since then. 

Can you imagine him saying that with the face he showed the night he was talking to Monokuma because the thought is cracking me up tbh.

There is no way this isn’t going to come into play later. 8′\ I guess the question is how? Man, what if it screws with someone’s head ala Mikan...

OH MAN ARE WE GOING TO GET A BODYSWAP THAT WOULD BE AMAZING

I really didn’t need keep this part but god do I find nervous!Himiko incredibly adorable... she’s trying so hard, guys. 8′/ She’s trying so hard to keep it together. And she’s doing it by herself, this time! 

DAMN IT STOP BULLYING GONTA I’M LIKE, 99% SURE HE’S GOING TO DIE HE DOESN’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS

Whelp. Um. I didn’t think we were actually going to go through this. Man, are we going to end up back on the island then? Is Usami going to be there? Nanami? Komaeda???? omfg wouldn’t that be a disaster he and Kokichi together would be terrifying

......

TERUTERU AND MIU WOULD BE TERRIFYING yikES

[clockworksampi]

‘Squeeze’ Commentary

Longer works always present a problem for me, which is why I so seldom write them. They exist in a separate formula entirely from the academic technicalities of one-shots, and it’s a formula I have zero insight on how to balance. Therefore, I took a lot of time and asked more people than usual to pre-read this to make sure I perform to the extent of my abilities. Theme and pacing are the two things I’m the worst at. The only thing I ever set out to do is write some gags and make some people laugh. Every time I consciously attempt to write something with a theme, it just looks preachy. Whenever I attempt pacing, it all seems slow and uninteresting. And I don’t know if the characters I write can sustain attention for longer than ten minutes. I still try, because the art of storytelling is one that is truly wonderful when done correctly. Even if I’m a long way off from doing that. I don’t want to be the pontifical asshat edifying the blithering masses because I’m so much worldlier than everyone else on this ball of mud floating in space (which is aggressively untrue), but theme and revelation are vital aspects of storytelling. Every story, even Touhou fan-fiction, needs emotional and intellectual engagement to be great. I tried to make the theme a pretty simple and transparent one. In the immortal words of the venerable Mitch Hedberg: “I’m not a fuckin’ genius for christsakes, y’know, fuckin’, just tryin’ to tell some jokes. Shit! Who the fuck are you!?” I try to live my life by that shining ethos.

 The ending fight scene with Mokou and Flandre was originally very, very different, in the sense that it didn’t exist and involved pocket dimension snowmen. It was changed several times to arrive at what it currently is. Not even joking. You can figure out for yourselves how the narrative arrived at that. I’m not sure myself. A shame, considering the original draft was rather well-written; too bad it made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 Fun Fact: Remilia calls Yorihime ‘Yo-yohime’ because I, me the writer, actually forgot what Yorihime’s name was. 

 This work marks the first thing I’ve done where characters are actually in a relationship. I usually don’t like shipping, for the sole reason that very little of ships across the Internet are predicated upon the canon of the primary source. Although I will admit I am not without my predilections, hence why Hecatia and Junko are implied to have crushes on each other in Judgement Call. As far as I’m concerned, the only pairing in the Touhou Project that could be construed as canon is Miko and Tojiko, as they are based on two real life people who were real life married. Mokou and Keine are a thing in this because Mokou having a strong relationship with a human (well, sorta human) is an important motivation point. I pray you can forgive me for shipping.

 Of course, here am I acting all high and mighty about canon with all the liberties I took with the characters’ powers. If there’s one thing I learned from super hero comics, bending the rules and giving people power they should not have either goes over mediocre, or disastrous with little middle ground. Since progression and iteration, and the benefits and dangers that go along with them were some of the major themes of the story, I felt compelled to give the characters a little more. I did try to connect the more outlandish of things to official sources, or give them what I thought to be appropriate buildup. These things need to be sold, and I hope I sold them well enough. But maybe I’m wrong on that, and I will capitulate fully to anyone disagrees. I know Touhou canon is held extremely sacredly in fan works.

 That was sarcasm, but this is one thing I do want feedback on. Let’s get into some of the more interesting choices I made for the characters.

 Can Flandre destroy abstract concepts? Probably not, but I went with ‘she can, but hasn’t figured out how.’ And I’m pretty sure I misinterpreted how the whole ‘Eye’ thing works. I did make Eyes of abstract concepts fundamentally different than Eyes of physical things, because they are different, and they should be different to destroy.

 I agonized over giving Remilia a resistance to rain, but I hope I sold it well enough. She has shown several times in canon that she has an aversion to it, as a vampire should, and is something cataclysmic to Flandre in the work. By all accounts, this resistance should not exist, and I will admit that. However, Remilia has also shown that she has been building up a tolerance to sunlight and claims that her body is not weak. I don’t think it’s so far-fetched to assume that she is not entirely powerless to water.

 Remilia Scarlet is my favorite character, hands down, in all of Touhou. I therefore had to make doubly sure she was not given much in the way of favor. Which was a little difficult because in this work she played a puppet master, exposition style character who set up the plot of the story and, as a result, knew everything that was going to happen because of her broken-tier power. She seemed built for the role. I really don’t think I succeeded in pulling her out of the spotlight as much as I wished. Lessons for next time. I based her part largely on Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully and Lord Vetinari from the Discworld series, as the one who commands sensibility with an iron first, can be bullheaded at times and embodies the central theme of whatever story, with Sakuya being the Ponder. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I pulled the archetype off as well as the late Sir Pratchett. Here, I would probably make a joke about how his legacy living on in a fan-fiction of a bullet hell video game with an entire cast of little girls is exactly how Sir Pratchett would have wanted it, but I respect the man too much to sully his name like that.

 I think Keine got the short end of the characterization stick. She really doesn’t feel like much of a character me, more than she is a vessel to push the plot forward and exist. She’s somewhat stiff. She has a few jokes, but they’re few and far between. I don’t think I did a good job with Keine.

 I am likewise unsatisfied with how I portrayed Sakuya. She comes off as a little too serious, I think. But at the same time, she was understandably frustrated with serving Cirno.

 Speaking of Sakuya, I’ve always been a fan of the theory that she started as a vampire hunter who Remilia defeated. It strikes me as a very Remilia thing to hire the people who tried to kill you because it makes your life interesting. Have you ever noticed how Remilia’s two greatest defenders command silver knives and the rain? Makes me wonder if Meiling didn’t try to take a crack at Remilia back in the day.

 Also speaking of fan theories, I rather like the idea of Mokou smoking (don’t smoke, kids, it’ll kill you). But I even more like the idea of hand-rolled cigarette over ones from the pack; rolling your own just has a certain class to it I can’t help but admire.

 Why can Meiling make rain? Isn’t her ability controlling qi? Yes, it is. However, she is also (according to the interpretation I chose for her) a rainbow dragon. Rainbow dragons can probably control the rain, right? Flandre has the ability to destroy anything, but she is still a vampire, with all the strengths and weaknesses that comes with. Besides, don’t Meiling’s danmaku patterns revolve around plants, rainbows or rain? It seemed like a logical thing.

 I don’t know what Cirno’s accent is. This is why it changes every ten seconds.

 There are five things I specifically want critiques on: Did I go too far with artistic liberties? How was the pacing? How was the theming? Were the characters interesting throughout? What was your favorite pun? My favorite pun? Definitely a toss-up between vampires not being predisposed to reflection and Mokou solving the Incident before it got into later stages. Equivoques galore! I especially like the second one because it’s very Touhou specific. Which one was your favorite?

Also my first time doing a multi-chaptered thing. Hopefully I got the formatting down on the first go.

[ltdedngallery-blog]

THE BIG INTERVIEW … KUKULA

(Originally posted November 2015)

AS SOON AS WE SAW KUKULA’S LIMITED EDITION CUP & SAUCER DESIGN, WE WERE IN LOVE! SO WE WERE THRILLED WHEN SHE ALSO CHOSE TO DESIGN FOUR LIMITED EDITION PILLOWS FOR US, BEST OF ALL SHE AGREED TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS…

LTD/EDN…Where does this message find you, and what are you up to (aside from answering our questions) right now?

KUKULA…I’m in my studio starting a new show for AFA Gallery in NYC.

You grew up in Israel, and you’ve moved around America a lot. What’s been your favorite place to live?

Most of my time in the States I’ve lived in the Bay Area of California. I really loved Oakland. The weather was brilliant all the time. Now I’m in New Haven, Connecticut, across the country on the East Coast, where I get to experience lots of culture and it’s very close to NYC. If only the weather was like in Cali it’d be perfect.

Fashion plays a big role in your art and life. You once said: “Who really knows who they are, anyway? Clothes help me decide.” Can you explain what you meant?

No matter how unique and special you think you are, part of your identity always comes from how others perceive you. But we never really know how others perceive us, so we choose a role and dress the part. It’s not that clothes make you, but they allow you to be specific for the occasion.

Fashion is a language and it can speak about our personality and desires—if we choose to share, of course.

Another quote we like: “I milked a cow or two in high school, and yet I insist on walking uncomfortably everywhere I go because it looks better.” What’s the most uncomfortable you’ve ever been for the sake of fashion?

My most uncomfortable: Burrberry platforms. It’s funny, too, because they’re supposed to look like hiking booths.

What’s a fashion trend you wish would come back into style, and what’s one you wish would go away?

Capes and cloaks! I’m constantly on ebay looking for the perfect cape. So far no luck, they are all too Halloweeny or too old and raggedy. I want to cover my self in a lavish hooded velvet cloak all winter long.

I think skulls should go away. I don’t think death and fashion mix.

Does being married to an academic pose any fashion challenges? Maybe you have tips for other people with partners in fashion-challenged vocations?

Yup! My husband asked me to dress like a Puritan for a Yale event. I’m too stubborn to change anything for anyone…especially my clothes. I grew up in a small town and got bullied constantly for my style. Even though it hurt me and depressed me, I kept wearing whatever pleased me.

You shared some Facebook stats that show more than twice as many Women as Men “like” your Facebook page. Yet, Facebook routinely polices your female images. What do you make of this?

FB considers my work to be of a pornographic nature, but as far as I know, women are not really the major porn fans. It’s all very strange—I don’t know what to make of it. Boobs have been in art since forever, even in churches, yet FB randomly blocks them…

Did you ever manage to start an “Art is Not Porn” campaign? Do you think it’s possible to change the minds of the critics?

I haven’t done a concerted campaign but I made a hashtag (#artisnotporn). I’m not sure it’s doing anything. Some people might change their minds, others will keep believing what they’re believing.

Do you have a daily routine and/or can you walk us through a day in the life of artist Kukula?

I wake up at various hours because I sleep just like a cat—with one eye open in case of danger. Then I try to answer emails. The rest of the day I just jump from one project to another—illustration, painting, designing a new product, or looking at art books for inspiration. I rarely work on one thing all day, except for the last few months before a solo show. During the day I sit still for a long time so I do try to workout every evening.

My world doesn’t exist that’s why I paint. The closest real thing is Versailles.

How did you develop your artistic style? When did you become part of the “pop surrealism” movement?

I moved to the States a year after art school where I studied illustration. I was printing my doodles on clothes I bought at outlet malls and selling them around San Francisco boutiques and they were popular. One store that had a little gallery space asked me to do an exhibition, which for some reason was a success. My clothing-line fans bought some pieces which I later added to Myspace, then galleries like Copro Nason and Thinkspace found me and asked me to show with them and that was that.

My style changed a lot since I started. I was younger and sillier, more interested in the shocking effect than deeper emotions as I am now. I’m very inspired by 18th century paintings and artifacts. Those have had the most influence on my style.

Can you tell us a bit about the design for your This is a Limited Edition teacup?

I was so thrilled when I was requested for this project. I have tons of books about teacups and antique porcelain. I knew how this teacup would look even before I was asked, so the design was a piece of cake. The Wallace collection in London, which is my absolutely favorite collection along side the Frick in NYC, was one of my inspirations. But even though the design idea was already there, I sat for days executing the details so it would be the teacup of my dreams. I do actually dream about teacups.

What’s your process (and/or philosophy) when you approach the design for a product?

Look at stuff, lots of stuff, so you’ll know the core of what makes something a good design. Study the basic rules of good design and stick to them as much as you can. It might seem contrary to what an artist is supposed to do, but I’d say, don’t dare too much—that usually leads to ugly trash. Make a design that is sans gimmicks and trends so you will love it till the day you die. I went to a tough art school…sorry about that

What’s a life lesson you’ve learned from your cats? (And how do you have nice furniture AND cats? What’s the secret?!)

Be aware, there’s always unexpected danger, that’s what I’ve learned from my cats. Expect to be spoiled by others, that’s anther thing I’ve learned from them. My furniture is all super damaged. There’s no way around it, you need to decide who you love more. I love my cats the mostest.

What inspires you? What makes you laugh?

I think Monty Python is the only truly hilarious thing ever. And my cats are funny too. The world needs to work on its sense of humor. (I do also like The Colbert Report.)

Which current artists’ work (across any genres) do you personally enjoy?

Ellen Von Unwerth’s photography. Junko Mizuno will always be one of my very favorites. Ulyana Seergenko’s couture is so inspiring to me at the moment. I admire Mike Patton’s artistic spirit through such various projects.

What artistic tool(s) could you never live without?

Pencil. Sketchbook, too, except you can always draw on walls.

If you could travel to another period in time, which era and place would you choose, and why?

Gosh, that’s easy. 18th century France, but not being poor, a woman or Jewish (which I am), cause then it would suck.

What music is currently playing on your iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, cassette tape boombox, etc.?

I’m listening to Pandora Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers station right now, but before that I was listening to Bach and before that Buraka Som Systema station. I’m inconsistent.

Read any good books/seen any awesome movies/checked out any amazing art shows lately? (Feel free to answer all or just one!)

Got really into American Westerns lately. I’d never seen any before, but now I’m in the middle of a John Wayne marathon. Weird, I know…

What’s coming up next for Kukula?

Solo show at AFA Gallery in NYC next September. Many group shows in between. Products for my online shop. Most exciting, I made a short movie with the very talented Jennifer Masseux, Dani Seitz, and Aline Pimental that will premier on SHOWStudio sometime in the spring.

[jolteonjordansh]

Thoughts on Digimon Adventure tri.: “Reunion”

Alright, I’m finally talking about tri after I cried about it for a week! I’m just going to cover each “movie” even though each movie is split in four episodes. I haven’t gone for individuals episodes for things like this (Generations is the only exception so far because the episodes were so short), so that’s the format I’ll be sticking to. I’m not going to go into too much detail when it comes to explaining the plot, so you should only read these if you’ve watched it. I mean, I always talk spoilers anyway, but this is just your obligatory warning in that regard. Onto my opinions past the break!

Digimon Adventure 02 was a bit of a failed attempt at Digimon Adventure trying to go for being “darker and edgier”. It had its moments where it did succeed, but a lot of times it either spiraled into something even cornier and sillier than the original (not that this was a huge problem for me) or it suffered from bad writing problems, some that weren’t even the fault of the writers’ themselves. 

tri is obviously another attempt at this, but at the same time I don’t think it’s necessarily an issue here. It’s clearly targetted towards the audience who watched Digimon Adventure years ago, and that’s not bad. While it’s probably too early of an example to use, it’s not much different from the new Samurai Jack mini-series. It’s clearly going into full-on adult themes (down to serious blood injuries, guns, etc.), but the charm so far doesn’t seem necessarily lost. The show has simply grown up with its audience when it comes to discussing more serious topics. I think tri is very similar in this regard, and a lot of it has changed in the process, but I still feel some of the same heart from it even if it is vastly different.

Still, that doesn’t mean tri doesn’t have its own problems. To be frank, right off the bat, “Reunion” is a slow start. And for what’s essentially a mini-series compared to its predecessors, you would expect them not to waste too much time. While I appreciate that tri mostly isn’t rushed, I feel like a good chunk of “Reunion” spends too much time establishing some elements while not spending enough time on others. For example, I feel like they spend too much time establishing what all of the original DigiDestined are up to when I don’t think it would take very long to show how busy they are with their own lives. On the other hand, I don’t think enough time was spent on each of the DigiDestined reuniting with their Digimon, which is ironic considering this is titled “Reunion”. We do get nice moments like when Agumon and Tai reunite as well as Joe and Gomamon, and even Mimi and Palmon to a short extent. The others are kind of just glossed over, which is a shame because I’ve always felt one of the strongest elements of Digimon Adventure is the bonds between the DigiDestined and their Digimon.

With each “movie”, there’s a central idea that’s focused on, and they’re typically things that weren’t covered in the original series or Adventure 02. For “Reunion”, there’s a big focus on the effects of fighting with Digimon in the real world, especially surrounding the consequences like the destruction of property and the psychological effect on bystanders. This is something I actually felt was always kind of ignored and brushed off with both Adventure and Adventure 02, and I guess that’s because they didn’t want to get too real about the violence. But here, they don’t shy away from it. They downright zoom in on smashed up cars and buildings, show people running away and even mothers crouching down and shielding their children from oncoming debris. And Tai, now being a young adult, actually understands these consequences and it begins to burden him greatly. It’s actually pretty powerful and I’m glad that they actually used tri to touch upon this subject.

At the same time though, despite not ignoring this element, they still completely ignore that Digimon have been in the real world and caused mayhem not once, but twice. At first I kind of let Adventure 02 get away with it considering its continuity was already kind of screwy by the time Digimon really began to have a serious impact on the real world. But here, there’s really no excuse and they honestly could have done more with it. I think it was good that they had people who didn’t understand that not all of the Digimon were out to hurt other people, even having some people saying things like “I hope they die!” and actually pissing Matt off. But this actually would have been more powerful if there were students who recalled the previous incidents, maybe even with some having PTSD over it and having the media connect the new incidents of tri to the past incidents of Adventure and Adventure 02. It just feels like a wasted opportunity considering that these episodes tried to focus on these kinds of themes.

One complaint I know a number of people have for tri is that they feel Tai is out of character. Honestly, I never really got this impression. Obviously, he’s not the same kid he was in the original Adventure or even in Adventure 02, but I think that’s the point. The idea is that Tai has grown up and changed, and some of the group (especially Matt) even call him out on it. I don’t think he’s necessarily a broody teenager either--he’s just a boy who is in the midst of growing up but is having to deal with some really heavy responsibilities in the midst of it all, especially since he’s always been seen as the leader by everyone else.

On the note of bad characters though... Yeah, let’s address the elephant in the room. I know a lot of people (though not all) really don’t like Meiko. And I can see why. I’m only covering how she is in this movie (since I’ve watched the first three so far as of the time of writing), and... yeah. She comes in really sudden as a “transfer” student and she so happens to be a DigiDestined herself, with her own Digimon named Meicoomon (it kind of bothers me that she shares a similar name with her own Digimon coincidentally?). She’s extremely timid and bashful, but deep down she’s clearly a good person at heart and... Yeah, you know the drill. Immediately she comes off as a badly done self-insert Mary Sue character, so she clashes hard with the rest of the cast. I’m not sure if it’s intentional on the writers’ part, and in “Reunion” she doesn’t do a whole lot, but she definitely does not leave a good first impression as a character.

That mostly covers the most important story bits for “Reunion”, but there’s still a lot to talk about considering it’s the first entry of tri. First we get a look at the new animation style, which I know people rag on too. I... honestly like the style of it. It’s definitely a lot different, but I like the soft colors of it. And contrary to some people, I think the DigiDestined look fine too. They look like they’ve aged naturally, so I don’t think the different art style bothers me enough. The actual animation at times is wonky, at least for “Reunion”. I think it’s still good and looks fine at some places, but there’s other places where it looks off. Naturally, it’s a step up from the original Adventure and Adventure 02, but those had much lower budgets and are much older as well. It definitely doesn’t quite have the same unique appeal that Hosoda’s smooth animation from the original Digimon Promo movie and Children’s War Game/Our War Game! had.

The Digimon evolution animations are also worth touching upon. I know some people don’t like them, but they’re honestly more exciting than what the original series did since they were just the Digimon... spinning for about thirty seconds mostly. That’s not to say I didn’t like them, but here there was more thought put into these new ones. I guess some people are bothered that these animations use CG, but considering Digimon are digital creatures, it makes more sense than when Pokémon renders their creatures in CG sometimes for no good reason. The way they’re shaded also still blends in well enough with the art style of the series, so that makes it less jarring. I guess one issue I really have with them is that they seem to have... a rather choppy framerate? I know that sounds really weird to talk about that in animation and not video games, but it really seems that way. It feels like there’s some lacking fluidity in certain places. 

The music sounds fine, and I do have to commend them for remixing songs from the original series. The remixes of Butter-fly and Brave Heart are really good and I think they fit for the fact that this is years later from Digimon Adventure (it’s kind of weird to have to remember that tri technically takes place in 2005), but the originals are probably still my favorite personally. The new remix of I Wish sounds very techno-ish too, which makes sense for this series. But considering they did get Ai Maeda to sing it (who is the Japanese voice actor for Mimi), I have to wonder why they didn’t get the original actors for the DigiDestined back. Maybe it’s because the characters are older (also, Sora’s original actor unfortunately passed away, but I believe she was still alive when tri started), but they did get all of the voices for the Digimon and they all sound fine. I still can’t believe Gomamon is voiced by Junko Takeuchi (who voices freaking Naruto), but she still does an adorable job voicing him. The new actors for the original DigiDestined still sound fine and even sound relatively close to their original voice actors while still sounding aged up. Overall, none of it is really a problem.

One of the other problems with tri for people is that it’s far more story focused, so there are way less battles. It’s kind of similar to Pokémon Generations in that sense. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more fights, especially since the battles in “Reunion” aren’t that great compared to some of the fights from Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02. It’s also another element that tends to be a bit rushed, especially in the fight with Alphamon. Omegamon just sort of happens (and then just sort of leaves due to Tai’s lack of confidence apparently), and I wasn’t a big fan of how the evolutions were just sort of rushed through all the way to Omegamon. I’m not sure if it was tri’s way of doing a Warp Digivolution, but I think it would have been better to have dedicated Warp Digivolution animations instead of rushing through every evolution stage for Agumon and Gabumon. I guess it’s also a personal gripe that I feel like Omegamon’s appearance should be built up to rather than rushed (especially after seeing Children’s War Game/Our War Game!), but at the same time it is the first movie of the series, so I think Omegamon will inevitably get some proper treatment later down the line.

I do have my gripes with “Reunion”--it’s pretty slow-paced and said pace is unbalanced on top of that. While the art style is good, the animation is weird at times. And the story has some good moments, but there’s some obvious problems and even missed opportunities. But I’d still be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it overall. It’s good to see the DigiDestined at it again, but at the same time... I really wonder just what the hell tri is doing with Adventure 02. I guess watching this whole thing through will be the only way to find out.

Overall, I don’t think it’s the strongest of starts, but I had fun getting back into the Adventure universe once again and seeing a lot of my favorite characters return.