#ginga mention

[inu-jiru]

Have you ever considered watching "SMG4"?

Because tbh, I feel like you could write more Roast Ginga fanfics based on that series' humor.

I think I have, but a looooong time ago 😩 I think those are the guys who did those Fnaf Mario videos because if so then I definitely remember them 😏

Maybe I should check then out again for material 😤 I haven’t done anything Ginga related in so long tho aaa damn Helluva Hotel has been stealing my attention for the past few months 🥺

[ba1laur]

hi i dont talk a lot here but i see a lot of people in my tags mention how they havent seen/read ginga but want to and pleasee keep in mind that the series writing is questionable at best. not just epic doggies. its really bad if i am honest LOL i provide content for this series n its important to me that people who enjoy my art know what they could get into. there is so much sexism and poorly written abuse

[bonefall]

Do you think the clan cats having less kits per litter/less litters in general (they already have less kits than real cats) would fix the bloated cast issue? Because I look at Ginga and the cast is also bloated and only a few characters have offspring but the author keeps making other dogs join Ohu and refuses to kill the old as fuck dogs

I don't think there's any one particular "solution" for stopping bloat in series that manage large casts through generations like Ginga or WC, it's actually a few things

The #1 MOST important thing I think about bloat, though, is that it's about a ratio of quality to quantity. NOT raw size.

A long while back I made a couple of allegiance lists for certain eras. In spite of my Clans having the same (or even higher!) population as canon, I NEVER struggled with those lists being bloated. If anything, sometimes if a Clan's below 30, they look too small.

(I'm sure you can find those lists if you look, they're probably tagged BB!Allegiance, but they might be a bit out of date)

That's because in BB, there's dozens of HUGE cultural additions to Clan life. In "administration," alone, there's 3 new major divisions of skills (hunting, cooking, construction) ALL with their own "head" of that patrol, plus canon's leader, deputy, and Cleric. Not to mention subtitles like the Educator and maybe a Chaperone/Permaqueen!

So to bring it back to that "Ratio Theory," If our Clan is 30 cats, those 8 major roles immediately give at least a slight amount of character to a little over 25% of our group, with each role being something that the other 75% of cats can desire and compete for.

Canon's measly 3 is 10%, and you can ONLY vy for deputyship if you want any power. There's nothing else to BE ambitious about.

You can make the ratio higher by having hobbies, drama, skills, arts, etc. Basically; characterize background characters! Which should be obvious!! Give them traits that are useful and interesting and show the community being valuable.

It won't feel like "bloat," it has the sense of communities living their lives. Even if they go quiet for a while, when they return (just look at how much people like seeing Sedgecreek or Hallowflight mentioned lmao) it feels like meeting an old friend again.

WAYS TO MAKE BLOAT FEEL WORSE;

Giving too many "opportunities" to old characters.

Think of every relevant role a cat gets as a meal, and the bigger the role the more they've eaten. If you're only giving value to your old fanfavs, you're not doing much for them because they're already full while the rest of your cast starves.

Haphazardly killing off characters.

I actually strongly resent the "trend" where people conflate good storytelling with an author's willingness to suddenly kill characters off. I think it comes from the same place as needing to "outsmart" your audience.

If you kill off a character with VALUE, an unfinished arc, interesting connections, it's just unsatisfying. The Erins have this problem of killing background characters with some established lore or value (like Harelight and Briarlight) while leaving uninteresting background nobodies behind that they never build back up.

Before killing a character, ask yourself what their role in the cast is, and their dynamic with others. Try not to axe them without a plan to fill that "role" and/or comment on their absence. Replace what you take.

EASY REPLACABILITY

This one is HUGE, this is why Ginga is so bad with this. If a bunch of dogs die, 100 random soldiers can replace them from somewhere. That is REALLY bad, because all the random influxes of new characters do not have a chance to replace what was lost.

It also makes death feel cheaper. Oh no! Background dog 7446 got eaten by the newest type of bear. This won't make battles harder to win or cause us to lose any valuable skills though. Also a new dog just walked in from offscreen.

Population Growth outpaces Death Rate

AKA your cast is growing too fast and you're not getting rid of old characters. This is what anon was asking about-- and it CAN help to make births less frequent and litters smaller. Make sure to pair with preventing lots of new, adult characters to casually wander in, too.

ALL of these tips have exceptions and places where they can (and should) be subverted and broken. But these are just things I think about

[sn0wjam]

RYUGA AND GINGA ROLESWAP

Ryuga

Bey is now Storm L-Drago

All except the facebolt is swapped with Storm Pegasus so his new special move is called Draco Meteor I guess lmao

I swear someone on twitter mentioned that but I can’t find the reply

He’s like the metal fury version with a bit of metal fusion mixed in

He’s always bickering with Kyoya lol

“Pay your fucking repair tabs.”

“Later.”

OK SOO LORE STUFF

Umm so basically Dark Nebula is now the Nebula Organization

Their mission is to protect the forbidden bey, Lightning Pegasus, and prevent it from getting in the wrong hands

Unfortunately Hagane Ryusei, who now has Doji’s role, has other plans <3

He and Ginga steals the bey

Doji, who allegedly dies in this event, tells Ryuga he needs defeat Ginga and get it back

Ryuga is more pissed that the guy he lost to shit talked him than the fact that his GUARDIAN is DYING

So he’s like “You don’t even need to tell me!!”

And Doji is like ugh of course. And he launches Storm L-Drago to him before dying

And so his adventure begins!!

Before metal fusion, he didn’t really understand the point of having close allies(he means friends but he refuses to use that word) and didn’t bother to make any

And so over the course of the fusion and masters he learns to open up more and let people into his life

I like to think that after the defeat of Ginga, everyones celebrating and hes like damn.. This is nice. And he has a sincere little smile

And then Kyoya and Madoka are like “OH MY GOD???? HE’S FUCKING SMILING???? GUYS ARE WE SURE THE DARK POWER IS GONE….. ARE WE SURE IT DIDN’T SOMEHOW TRANSFER TO HIM??!@$@#$&@^#*&@!#@^??”

Hagane Ginga

I still feel a little iffy about his outfit colors but this’ll do for now…

Yes, I like Kid Icarus

And Fire Emblem

Anyways

So yeah his bey is Lightning Pegasus, this universe’s forbidden left-spinning bey

Ginga now is like metal fusion Ryuga, just louder and energetic

Post metal fusion he’s still a loud asshole but hey no more dark power

Like I said earlier, he stands on his toes at all times so his feet look like horse legs

Bro his calves are RIPPED

I didn’t think about that part until after I drew him tho so you can’t really tell lol

I don’t feel like adding that detail rn… 

He is also very particular about his wing scarf

If you get them dirty he WILL kill you

I think that when he was a kid he was lonely and didn’t have friends

So similar to the song kirai kirai jigahidai (https://youtu.be/0c9958OoTL8?si=OlwGSQeuU6NBRjhB), he uses being strong at beyblading to try to get friends

But oh no he’s strong and being an ass about it so he doesn’t make friends

He makes up for it by being loud on top of that so everyone’s attention is on him

He wants to keep getting super stronger! So Ryusei (Sorry Ryusei) manipulates him to use him as a tool to harness the dark power

Post metal fusion, he regrets what he’s done

Still an asshole

But anyways, like the song again, he forgets his own self outside of beyblading

So he’s like fuck. People hate me for being an ass, how am I gonna make connections when I don’t have any other personality trait?

So then he’s going places just chilling and fucking around in hopes to find himself again

And then ta dahh he dies in metal fury and says to Ryuga like “Do you think we’d have been friends in a different universe?”

Corny but whatever you get the idea

Initially I wasn’t planning on having him die, but also omfg figuring out his outfit colors took away 10 years of my life so this is what he gets…

[miyamiwu]

4S Blue Lock Ego Classification v2

@mathematical-apprentice left some insightful suggestions on v1, and I’ve been pondering over them to see how I can improve the classification system. Although I think their idea for a major class and sub class is good, I decided to keep all the classes on the same level for the sake of simplicity. @mathematical-apprentice has also pointed out that the Striver and Supporter classes are too broad, and I think this was just because I didn’t define them well. What v2 will include, then, is better definitions on the different categories to make them more specific, limiting their scope. Additionally, I will be changing the name of Striver to Savant because I think it better captures the idea I have for that class. More examples for each class will also be included.

Moreover, I would just like to clarify that this system is meant to classify character egos based on what a character desires and what would bring them fulfillment (i.e. what would boost their ego). It does not refer to how a character plays.

Lastly, all characters strive to improve in one way or another, but how they measure their improvement varies. This is also partly why I decided to rename the Striver class because it sounded like they’re the only class who cares about self-improvement when that isn’t the case at all.

Strategist

A Strategist is fueled by the desire for success through careful planning and problem-solving. They find fulfillment in being in control of the situation and having others revolve around their vision. They may have metavision, but it is not a precursor to be assigned to this class. (Metavision is a tool that any character of any class can use; it is simply a means to an end.)

Characters with this ego: Isagi, Hiori, and Snuffy

(Too lazy to find a panel for Snuffy, but I don’t think I need to prove this. You get it.)

Isagi is the very obvious example of this for reasons I don’t have to explain.

Then as mentioned in v1, Hiori is so close to falling under the Supporter class because of how he desires to “produce the world’s best striker.” However, I opted to put him under the Strategist class because he is not bound to any one striker, nor is he supporting anyone for the mere sake of seeing them succeed. And in a way, Hiori is a lot like his parents.

Savant

A Savant is fueled by the desire to win through their weapon (or personal style, in the absence of a clearly-defined weapon), as they greatly think of it as a part of their identity and not just a tool that can help them win. They focus a lot on sharpening their weapon and may follow a training regimen that targets its enhancement.

Characters with this ego: Bachira, Chigiri, Yukimiya, Kaiser, Lavinho, and Chris

(Once again too lazy to find relevant panels for the coaches…)

Bachira’s and Chigiri’s developments in the NEL arc centered on them improving their weapons and making a name for themselves based on it (i.e. Ginga x Monster or just Monster, and Red 44)

Yukimiya’s Sword Screw (alt. tl, “Sword Pierce”) shot is a direct improvement of his previously blocked shot, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. He took inspiration from Chris’ shot, understood it, then made it his own. This shot is also an assertion of what he believes in, the “sword” piercing through his fate (“I won’t hand my fate or my ego over to god!” –c202)

In v1, Kaiser was tentatively put under the Strategist class, as it wasn’t clear yet in the manga what his ego type should be. But after c266, it is now apparent that Kaiser is a Savant. His magnus shot was something he thought of and carefully crafted, and him executing it was an assertion of his identity, a callback to the young!Michael Kaiser. (Heck, his own weapon is even called Kaiser Impact.)

Saboteur

A Saboteur is driven by the desire to destroy and disrupt, as it is a way for them to mark their presence in the world. They find fulfillment in undermining their enemies’ plans and obliterating their efforts.

Characters with this ego: Aiku, Niko, Lorenzo, Sae, Rin, and Barou

Niko, Sae, and Rin all have metavision, so it can be easy to confuse them as Strategists. But as aforementioned metavision is just a tool, and these three have decided to use it as a means for destruction.

To better understand the difference between Strategist and Saboteur, just look at the Isagi-Yukimiya winning goal in the match against Manshine City. This play shows how Isagi is a strategist through and through, as he found pleasure in defeating Kaiser not through direct destruction but by outwitting him.

You may also wonder why I put Rin under Saboteur and not Strategist. This is because Saboteur is his true ego. Right now, he’s acting like a Strategist, still obsessed with planning and calculating, but that’s not where his true strength lies. Sae knows this, so he keeps provoking Rin in order to bring out his Saboteur ego. And to be a Saboteur, you must have someone you want to destroy. In the beginning, Sae used himself as a target for Rin, but after Rin defeated him in a 1v1 during the U20 match, he then shifts the target to Isagi so Rin can still have the drive to destroy.

Now, for Barou, I previously put him under the Striver/Savant class, but after @mathematical-apprentice pointed out that they should be a Saboteur instead, I realized that they were right. Barou’s new weapon is even called predator eye, and he’s obsessed with hunting/killing.

Supporter

The class that nobody should hate because Supporters have done nothing wrong ever.

A Supporter is fueled by the desire to see their partner succeed. They find fulfillment in providing valuable assistance and thrive on the positive impact they have on their partner. Their development thus revolve around how they can become more useful to their partner.

Characters with this ego: Ness, Nanase, and Kurona

With ego often interpreted to be equivalent to selfishness, it can be easy to dismiss Supporters as having no backbones or in need of a development arc to evolve into a typical bluelocker who’s strong and independent. But I believe that there’s also strength and beauty in being content with oneself and seeking instead to serve others. Not everybody has to want to be a star.

Besides, without Supporters, a lot of strikers won’t be able to do much. (Especially you, Isagi!)

Kunigami gets me. (And idk what class Kunigami should belong to, but for sure he’s no Supporter.)

Characters I’m not sure how to classify...

Nagi - Although Nagi is in football because of his shared dream with Reo, I don’t think he’s actually a Supporter. I think he should either be a Savant or a Saboteur.

Reo - Most likely a Supporter, with how obsessed he is in seeing Nagi succeed. But I’m gonna have to see how the MC vs Barcha match plays out to decide for sure. He may also be a Strategist.

Kiyora - He needs more screentime coz I honestly can’t tell. But I think he’s either a Supporter or a Saboteur

Kunigami - Savant/Supporter before his emo era. I don’t know what’s up with him right now, but I’m leaning into Kunigami being a Saboteur post-development (if he ever gets one coz he’s been cooking for too long now…)

Hmm… I should make a uquiz of this sometime...

But for now, take this and go!

[hopeatiikeri]

Weekly Manga Goraku [2/2, 2024] (Ginga Densetsu: Requiem) Interested to see where the story goes! This is mentioned to be the last one of the series. Old Gin and Daisuke being reunited makes my heart so happy.

[lunawings]

High School PriChan the Musical, Part 2!

By popular demand!

So, as I mentioned before, Part 2 of the High School PriChan virtual musical (originally streamed on 3/9/2024) was a lot more dense than the first. All you really need to know about Part 1 is that Miracle Kiratts, Meltic Star, Ring Marry, and Daia were kidnapped and brought to a high school in space by Sadame Ginga for a mysterious purpose.

And so, our story begins exactly where we left off. They even open the show in the same exact way as part 1, with a reprise of the original song High School Challenger.

After the opening song, the girls discuss their upcoming Culture Festival (which has an overcomplicated name that Sadame keeps changing) and predict that Sadame Ginga will just appear and tell them it's happening all of a sudden without them actually having planned anything.

And guess what happens!

But they are all used to it by now.

So, what does everyone actually do for the Culture Festival?

Could it be, performing a live!? (They have done nothing else at this "high school" so far...)

So we have another string of performances, the most interesting of which is again Daia's. Just as she's about to begin, the screen starts glitching out and she is joined by her other self to form Double Daia. Together they perform Forever Friends! Yes, the MyChara Zuttomo song from PriPara!

Daia just covered Heart Iro Tori Dream in the last installment, so I don't know why she gets all the surprise covers but YAY DAIA!!!

The mascot Daia leaves and we reach the "climax" of the Culture Festival: the MyChara runway! Well, they call it a runway but it's actually a conveyor belt. (I don't know why they couldn't do the usual runway animation?) And so, the MyCharas of everyone who paid to get in are all wheeled out and do a pose at the end of the conveyor belt. How very exciting, for everyone who got in that is. This part seemed to drag on forever though... But well, I guess it was kinda neat seeing all the various season 3 coords I never got to see before.

After the runway, so much "sadame iine" has been uniquely gathered that Sadame Ginga insists they put on a special performance that has never been seen before. If so, a miracle might occur!

All of a sudden, Mel, Mirai, and Rinka start talking about some kind of a special group they once took part in, in a different world. This is all very confusing in universe, but it's Run Girls Run. They are talking about Run Girls Run.

So, the three of them perform Brand New Girls!

This leaves Emo, Sara, and Anna watching on the sidelines... leading Sara to suggest to Emo, hey, why not perform with us? It turns out that when Meltic Star was just Anna and Sara, they had considered inviting different members from Miracle Kiiratts to join them. Anna was apparently particularly interested in performing with Emo, Sara discloses. They had prepared songs that they could perform with Mirai and Rinka as well, but the first one they wrote was for Emo!

And so, they invite Emo to perform that song right here, right now!

Emo is a bit freaked out since she doesn't know the song, but Sara insists all she needs to do is study the lyrics and she will be fine. Anna has studied Emo's dancing style and created the moves to fit her perfectly, after all...

So, "Emotic Star" (or "Anna, Sara, Bananas" as Anna calls them, composed of three fellow members of iRis) perform the Valentine song Choco Tea Cocho Heart (a Meltic Star arcade song).

After this performance, the "sadame iine" is maxed. Sadame brings up a special monitor resembling a sliding puzzle showing possible fates of the universe and announces they now have the power to change destiny!

Naturally, the girls are taken aback to find out that this is what they have been performing for all this time. They demand Sadame explain.

And so, Sadame takes them to the superintendent and principal's office, her Sadame Room. Here, Sadame explains how she came to possess a record of the entire history of the universe, past and present.

"Oh? A record? That's what my grandma used to listen to music!" says Emo.

No, not a record. Sadame only uses the latest technology.

A VHS tape.

And it's recorded in extended play!

And, after studying said tape, Sadame had discovered that the disaster that killed the dinosaurs was about to return once more. But this time, a direct hit! Our galaxy, which just happens to be shaped like Kirachu, is about to hit another galaxy, which also happens to be shaped like Kirachu.

The girls are naturally distraught that the entire world is about to be destroyed, but Sadame announces she won't allow it. So, as it turns out, despite her scary appearance and forceful methods, Sadame did not have a nefarious reason for kidnapping the girls at all. She's been trying to save the world through PriChan all along!

Sadame then begins the performance she thinks will save the world (a reprise of her solo from the last show, "Face your Fate").

However, she is unsuccessful as her performance is suddenly interrupted as the two galaxies seem set to collide! Sadame is distressed as this wasn't supposed to happen, and the curtains close!

But, Mirai steps in to remind her that creating this high school and bringing everyone together was not useless because it allowed them to meet. Emo and Rinka agree with Mirai, and Meltic Star tell Sadame she's given up too soon. Everyone chimes in with the usual PriChan spirit of not giving up, and giving everything a try!

After a quick intermission with the mascots, we return to find the negative Kirachu galaxy (which Emo nicknames Urachu) has appeared on the horizon. Maria tries to push it away with cuteness only for Suzu to inform her she's just gonna pull it in it closer!

Sadame falls to her knees, lamenting that everything she did was useless.

Mentioning this brings up all their old PriChan memories, which were also included on the VHS tape. Emo and Mirai reminisce about their debut with Ready Action and what the song means to them. They were scared, but they had to try, and this song cheered them on.

"Let's do it! Let's try!" says Mirai as she holds out her hand to Sadame.

Sadame takes her hand, and the two perform Ready Action!!

Sadame's sadame meter is full, but she knows she will just fail like last time if she tries again. They need a way to collect even more iine. More than ever before.

Just as everyone is feeling down, they hear a voice from above. It's Alice! And Eve! They have been keeping tabs on the situation but due to a time lag, were just a little late in contacting them. They inform them with the use of Mel's parents' technology and a special performance on a special stage, they can change sadame iine into galaxy iine! However, they need to be in view of the Earth (the school is on the dark side of the moon).

Solulu and Luluna then appear to help as well (Note: Alice, Eve, Solulu, and Luluna don't have models, they are just communicating on a screen with static images) and send the girls their Illuminage coords. Miracle Kiratts performs, which sends everyone traveling on a shooting star to where they need to be!

(Or so we hear, in another intermission with the mascots.)

The mascots, with the help of mascot Daia, change into their idol forms and go to help as well!

Then, with no segway whatsoever, we are with Anju. Anju performs Fortune Karat in space.

Meanwhile, the other girls have arrived closer to the earth, where they need to be to accomplish the performance that will gather everyone's galaxy iine and change destiny.

I'd like to note that, although Sadame does not get an Illuminage coord, she's like... significantly more sparkly now.

Also, the girls realize the stage they have arrived on is actually Hakucho, Anju's mascot, transformed! So that's what Anju was doing? GoGo Mascots and the other Daia arrive too! Together they form the supergroup, Super Galaxy Miracle Star!

A group which can change destiny!

Super Galaxy Miracle Star performs the musical theme, High School Challenger (third performance of this song overall).

(Wait, I just noticed that even though they made a point about her showing back up, mascot Daia wasn't in this performance?? ??????)

And so, by the power of PriChan and its followers, the Earth, no, the GALAXY is saved once more.

Anju, Alice, and Eve reflect on the power of PriChan and Alice and Eve hope to perform with Solulu and Luluna someday. Anju tells them that the future exists to give us possibilities.

Sadame apologizes for her forceful ways of getting everyone involved in all of this, but they all forgive her since, after all, they had fun! They thank Sadame, saying they could not have done it without her. But Sadame says she should be thanking them for teaching her about the real power to change the universe (giving everything a try)!

The others ask Sadame if she is going to return to the school (to which transportation is fixed now, I forget at what point the robot got broken...), and she says of course. She is, after all, the superintendent, the principal, the student council president, the culture festival chair... (etc).

The other girls will all be returning back to their own respective high schools on Earth, but they decide this isn't goodbye. They are all connected by PriChan!

Sadame, who still feels responsible for the fate of the universe, will return to studying the updated VHS but also go on a journey to the center of the universe. Surely, she will discover the secret of the fate of everything there!

The others question if that is possible, but she reminds them what they taught her. You'll never know if you don't try!

The curtains close as Sadame is sure they will meet again!

The curtains open again with the girls back in their respective high school uniforms, ready to again try and perform the musical they were trying to perform in the last show before Sadame interrupted by kidnapping them and bringing them to space. But this time the mascots are with them too!

Suddenly, they hear something. Could it be...?

It turns out Sadame has given up on embarking on her journey... by herself. Instead, she will be using Hakucho, who can apparently travel faster than the speed of light and communicate back virtually.

So, now Sadame can visit whenever she wants! Except she does still have responsibilities at her school. She, after all, is the superintendent, the principal, the school council president... And she does have to analyze the data from Hakucho as well.

For now though, she is here! And will participate in the musical as well! It's her destiny!

And so, the curtains close for the final time as the real musical supposedly begins...

The end.

What a wonderful little thing. It was nice to be able to check in on everyone during their high school life, and meet a completely new PriChan idol character. You may have been able to tell already by reading this, but I really liked Sadame's arc, and seeing her finally smiling and enjoying herself performing with Mirai was my favorite part! Also, they threw a whole lot of fanservice for Emo/Anna shippers in here as well hehe.

I hope they keep doing these virtual musicals! I wouldn't be surprised if PriMagi or King of Prism is next!

[sketch-shepherd]

my reaction to the new announced Ginga series. Oh yeah did I mentioned they fucking announced a new Ginga series today

Sigh let's hope this pleasantly surprises me more than TLW or GDN but I don't have a lot of faith at this point. I just hope they mean it this time that this is the last of the Ginga saga. Because I'm tired and I'm sure Yoshi is too

[hyzenthlayroseart]

So one pet peeve I have with Ginga is how it handles aging. I am okay with them having characters have slightly exaggerated lifespans since real dog lifespans would probably make a lot of the stories impossible but Ginga takes it way too far. You could say that maybe this is a universe where dogs have the same lifespan as humans…buuuut that theory goes out the window once you remember that Ben canonically died of old age sometime in GDW.

I know the characters from GNG are most likely just still alive for nostalgia's sake, but as the series gets more sequels it gets tiring seeing them still get so much focus. I wish they could just pass away from old age or die heroically in battle already (I know that sounds terrible lol). Gin, Cross, Kurotora etc. should've kicked the bucket long ago, please let them so the next generations can have the sole spotlight.

Another pet peeve relating to this which is also the focus of this drawing is how characters who were young puppies in GNG (or were born soon after that manga ended) aren't portrayed as elderly at all. So I decided to draw them how as the old dogs they should be.

I've mentioned before that to me nothing after GDWO is canon and this takes place in my AU/headcanon/sequel thing. All four of Weed's kids are leading Ohu, Weed and his friends are retired, Gin and the other oldies have either passed away form old age or died in battle, and everyone who was really young during GNG are retired senior citizens. There's other elderly dogs still around but I decided to just focus on these four. Also Ken and Kagetora are each other's husbands.

For this I lightened my headcanon colors for them and added white to their muzzles.

[harveybwabbit92]

[R/n introduces herself to Hikaru and Ginga, Taro noticed both them were skittish around her; Hikaru in particular... he noted the teen kept avoiding looking at her directly.]

R/n: It's good to meet you, Taro talks about you two a lot.

Ginga, in his doll form sits on Hikaru's shoulder: Ah...(stares up the sky)

Hikaru, is staring awkwardly over R/n's shoulder.: I bet he does.

[R/n gets weirded out by their reactions]

R/n: Erm, Taro? I'm gonna go grocery shopping, I'll be back in a while.

Taro: Be safe!~ *Turns to both Hikaru and Ginga* What in the world was that?

Ginga, playing dumb: That? Taro we have no-

Taro: Don't give me that bull! you both acted as if she were hideous!

Hikaru: It's not like that okay! Um... I know R/n already....Sorta?

Taro, stares at the boy bemused: How? She never mentioned you.

[Ginga and Hikaru blush.]

Hikari: Well...When I say I "know her" I don't mean personally. I mean know her from a... artistic perspective.

Taro: You've lost me.

Ginga: I think you should show him the movie...

{Taro looks between them.}

Taro: What movie? R/n's an actress?

Hikaru: Uh...S-she's a D-list actress. Like, she's recognizable enough but not really mainstream. She mostly stars as the eye candy in these cheap sci-fi movies and mockbusters...

{That's how Taro got introduced to Raptor-cop and R/n's topless scene. Now he understood why Ginga and Hikaru acted the way they did when they met her...They were both trying not to look at her chest.]

[homunculus-argument]

While I'm no furry, I found a brief video about the anime that came as close to making me one that I ever got, a defining cornerstone of my Weird Kid Childhood: Silver Fang.

(content warning: an american trying to pronounce japanese names)

While I originally clicked on it for nostalgia's sake, I was surprised when the guy actually specifically mentioned Finland. I was aware that Ginga Nagaberoshi Gin was more popular in the Nordic countries than in the more western west in general, but the popularity isn't all that surprising in hindsight.

While I could quite confidently say that the entire concept of anime was largely unheard of in Finland in the 80s and 90s (please don't come at me to let me know that your mom knew what anime was in -86, I'm talking about normies here), and besides being heavily censored, the finnish release also sported a notoriously, hilariously bad dub (you could make a drinking game out of it), one element it has that I believe struck a cord to the finnish audience was the sense of familiarity in it.

The anime starts in a snow storm, with an old man with a gun in the wilderness, hunting a bear with his dogs. My own grandfather owned and bred karelian bearhounds, and hunting with them was such a big cornerstone of his life that the fact that one of his bitches used to belong to Finland's 8th president's personal doctor ended up being mentioned in the obituary article my grandfather was honoured with in one of the most notable hunting magazines in the country.

The protagonist of Silver Fang is an akita, depicted on the left. The karelian bearhound - also excellent for hunting moose, which was what my grandfather mainly focused on - is on the right. And if their personalities are as similar to each others' as their appearance is, the only reason why Ginga Nagaberoshi Gin could not have been set in Finland is because Finland has no mountains.

[sketch-shepherd-art]

This sketch is very shitty but idc, more Ginga AU stuff. And I suggest not reading below if you’re tired of hearing me complain about The Last Wars for the 37383738th time 

I’ve said before I made Sirius a straight up villain in my AU, but I decided to be a little more forgiving to his cousin Shion. So rather than having Shion constantly side with Sirius demanding the Ohu army to reason with Monsoon and Chibi (yes I even dislike the single “token good” bear cub character, but that’s a rant for another day), in my version Shion is a lot more sympathetic towards Bob, and doesn’t enable Sirius to force Bob to forgive the bear who tortured him all his life and ate all his siblings

Additionally in my AU Shion also brings over his bear friends (the ones the manga mentions he learned bear language from) as recruits against Monsoon’s army. After the war, Shion and Bob spend a lot of time together as sort of an adoptive father and son, with Shion frequently giving Bob emotional support now that he’s free from his abuser. 

Also very small note I gave Shion some black markings because having him be yet another generic white spitz breed is a boring character design choice

[bonefall]

did the tribe recognize sharptooth/one eye as a haunting? also, you mentioned he mightve manifested as a HUMAN at one point, and that idea is so insanely cool to me- do you have any other ideas for what a human one eye could entail or was it a one-off? cool either way!

Thank you for giving me the chance to talk about this because OH MY GOD I do actually have a brief idea for each incarnation of One-Eye

One-Eye is a war diety, the god of summer, and his power grows with each kill (I need to pick a Special Number for him to achieve full power, which will be tied to how many cats died in the Battle of the Five Oaks (fourtrees) in DotC).

The Hog

The first reincarnation was a hog.

An old boar, a gigantic one, but still only a boar. The Tribe is full of hunters, and this is a quarry they would have figured out pretty easily. But they didn't know that he would keep coming back.

The Bear

The second was the bear, which, I'm gonna be honest with you, is because Ginga was baby Bones' first anime and I wanna see the tribe cats fight a big bear. The Stoneteller of that time was alive for the first two, and still couldn't confirm it, but now it was starting to become a pattern.

I'm still not sure if One-Eye has a trait he keeps in all his incarnations, but it's either that he's blonde or that his eye is doomed to get poked out or have something weird about it.

The Man

The third, the one before Sharptooth, was the Man.

I imagine he had a very intimidating presence, but to other humans something was wrong about him. He didn't really speak, didn't really have friends, but he hated cats. The local farmfolk know there's something odd about the cats in the mountain, but the Man took it to a whole new level.

And that was the deadliest incarnation. Enlisting the help of disgruntled sheep farmers (the tribe cats take maybe 1 or 2 sheep a year), he lead a campaign of eradication. Poison, snares, even shooting at them. Scores of cats died.

Physically, he was a huge human, I keep imagining one eye shining under his fur hat, and he carried around a shiny shotgun. I'm torn between making him look like a stuffy upper class fox hunter, or just some... weird, unsettling hunter guy who showed up one day.

I know he dies being body checked off a cliff, also killing the cat who head-jockeyed him. Something that you'd see in a movie as a kid and it would be fine, but then you grow up and think, "WOW that was pretty brutal." Kind of like the deaths of Gaston and that hunter guy in Tarzan, Clayton I think??

Sharptooth

So, by this point, the Tribe has killed this guy three times. Feathertail isn't doing anything special; but in delivering the final blow, she is now drawing the curse's ire.

(if One Eye is going to follow the Clans to the lake or absolutely RUIN BloodClan's and WarriorClan's days back in Chelford is still undecided.)

The biggest change I'm doing to Sharptooth is that he's probably going to talk now, if I figure out something good for him to say. He's a cat now, in his other forms he was silent to the Tribe.

Also, he's not a cougar. He's a Eurasion Cave Lion. He has no mane but the skin around his neck sags and he's gigantic. I'm sticking to species that would be present in England, god damn it, so I'm not having Sharptooth be some random puma zoo escapee.

He's a truly ancient terror, primal and horrifying.

[blimbo-buddy]

Holy shit Tom's death

mios díos...

My god Blimbo you popped off and it made it more satisfying!

As if his canon actions weren't enough to warrant a painful death, you made Tom deserve a far greater one

I do wonder about the concepts of animal cannibalism and the effects of it mentally. I remember watching Ginga Densetsu Weed and one of the episodes mentioning and showing Hougen and his brother Genba convincing all their friends to eat their dead friend and eventually Hougen and Genba (being massive great danes and more powerful) ate them all and ate(?) their pretty terrible human for locking them up in that place.

Not sure if they just killed them or did eat their human master.

I'm getting side-tracked- YOU DID SO GOOD WITH TOM REWRITE I AM GONNA DRAW HIS DEATH IN MY OWN STYLE AND INTERPRETATION!!!

I bet Tom felt every bite, every bit of himself being torn away and eaten. The starving cats behaving more like African Painted Dogs that don't wait for their prey to be fully dead to consume. Feeding while still alive.

Gutting them open until they eventually do after agonizingly long time pass.

I still have the headcanon that Tom is the reason cats found out they can die twice lol he got so jumped in the afterlife.

Thanks! Lots of people seem to really like how brutal Tom's death in the rewrite is, it was something that was boiling in the back of my mind for some time so it feels good to finally write it

I would imagine that many of the cats that ate Tom alive that night had reality crash down on them

The mental shit that would go down would be horrible, that much I can confirm

It's not even that they felt bad, many cats in DotC!Chelford knew that Tom was an abuser

The basis for the mental damage just comes more from the fact that they slowly ate another cat alive

Taking another life like that can severely damage someone mentally. Taking a life is still taking a life y'know

Again though, Tom deserved every minute of it but, yet again, mental ramifications for the cats that actually killed and ate him

Anyways, Tom abso-fucking-lutely felt every single tear of his skin, every shred of his tendons, every crack of his bones. If I actually wrote it out, I'd 100% have a blast describing the starving cats as being zombie-like. Even in the post talking about it alongside the drawing, there's a specific "zombie-horde" vibe that I tried going for, took a lot of references from the movie Savageland with the actual zombies, specifically how they're always blurry, like they're moving erratically

That's an amazing take on the starving cat horde, I never thought of it like that! Despite their feline connection to animals like Lions, they did not mercy-kill their "prey" like Lions do.

[dyingfad]

Hello! Wanted to send you a question for the anime ask game :) What is your favorite anime? Also, this isn't from the list, but what are any older anime you like? From the 70s or 60s.

Hey much appreciated! ╰(￣ω￣ｏ)

As for my favorite anime, it's tough to settle on just one but I can narrow it down to either Nichijou, Mononoke, or The Tatami Galaxy -- incredible shows one and all

For the second question I actually haven't seen all that many anime from back then; the only one I can think of is Shinzou Ningen Casshern which was alright. However, I've seen the modern Dororo and enjoyed it so I'd probably like the original (Dororo to Hyakkimaru) from 1969 as well. Lastly, I'd like to mention Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (even though it was a late 80s anime) as being a good enough show to warrant its 110 episodes

Thanks for the questions ^^

[hopeatiikeri]

Interview with Yoshihiro Takahashi (Anime magazine #133, 7 / 2023 )

Translator note: This is fan translation from Finnish to English. Please understand there might be some mistakes as English is not my first language, thank you! Please enjoy ♥ --------------

The companion of righteous dog warriors Interview with Yoshihiro Takahashi

Attention! Contains spoilers from the Ginga series!

Originally published in 1983-1987, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin also known as Silver Fang hardly needs to be introduced because Silver Fang and other Ginga-series have won the hearts of Finnish audience since the 80s, their creator Yoshihiro Takahashi is one of the most loved mangaka in Finland. At the end of last summer, Finnish fans were delighted to hear that Takahashi would visit Helsinki from 15th to 18h of September.

Japanese Yokote Masuda Manga Museum, which organized the visit, held an exhibition that presented the mangaka's original drawings from the series at the Kamppi, Muji store. Located in the city of Yokote, Akita Prefecture, the museum keeps the world's largest collection of Takahashi's original works. The mangaka himself is also from Akita, more specifically from a small village in Higashinaruse. During the exhibition, Takahashi met his fans at the autograph session. There was also reason to celebrate as the mangaka turned 70 during the visit. Silver Fang manga also turns 40 this year.

On Thursday, before the big autograph signing, Anime magazine got a rare opportunity to talk with Takahashi about his life - and of course about dogs. Mangaka joyfully met the representatives of Anime together with the museum director Oishi Takashi and founder of Komachi Consulting, Minako Lakso. Sangatsu Manga's editorial manager Antti Valkama acted as an interpreter.

In his career, Takahashi has created manga series on various topics, but the success of Silver Fang made him a true "dog mangaka". As one of the inspirations of his youth Takahashi mentions Kyuuta Ishikawa (1940-2018), who created dog and wolf mangas in the 60s and 70s. - Although Ishikawa drew the dogs much more realistically than I did. My dogs are a lot more expressive and cartoonish. Later, Takahashi met Ishikawa's assistant, Seiichi Ikeuchi, by chance. The two became friends through a shared hobby of golf, and Ikeuchi also draws especially golf-focused sports manga. Takahashi laughs that like Ishikawa, Ikeuchi tried to make a dog manga back in the day, but didn't succeed as well as he did with the golf manga.

Dogs have played a major role in Takahashi's stories as well as in everyday life. Different breeds and their the personalities have become familiar to him. From his youth, he fondly remembered the family's Akita mix named Kuro. Kuro (translated as Black) was Takahashi's brother-like partner. Akitas are considered challenging and difficult to approach, because they don't express their emotions as clearly as most other breeds. But Takahashi didn't have trouble understanding Kuro. - Once, I think I was 5 years old, a traveling shoe salesman came to our home. When the salesman stood in the hall, Kuro and I watched what he was doing. When the shopkeeper jokingly decided to grab me, Kuro growled at the man. Otherwise it didn't react to anything, but the child had to be protected. Takahashi learned from Kuro that important things to you should be protected. This is transmitted clearly in his works. During Takahashi's adulthood, the family has included, among other things, a Labrador retriever and a wolf-dog hybrid (mentioned to also have german shepherd and husky in their heritage) imported from the United States. In Finland, a hybrid between a dog and a wolf can not have more than 12.5% ​​wolf, but in Japan no dog breed or cross between dog and wolf is directly denied. Because Takahashi's hybrid arrived to Japan when it was two years old and well trained, there were no major difficulties in importation. They say the dog ran away sometimes, but in the end it always came back home.

When it comes to dogs in his works, Takahashi chooses a breed according to the personality of the character. In terms of stories, his favorite breed is the German Shepherd thanks to their sense of justice, but also their stubborn pride and edginess. Based on his long experience, writing male dogs is natural for him, but with productive female characters mangaka has difficulties. Besides Cross from Silver Fang and Lydia from Ginga Densetsu Weed (1999-2009, in Finland only known as Weed), female warriors are rare in the series. Timidly Takahashi says that he tries his best when it comes to female characters, although they are difficult to write. However, he is satisfied with Lydia thanks to character's multidimensionality.

In addition to challenging female characters, Takahashi has had to make difficult choices on character's fate. The death of the loved German Shepherd John was a difficult thing even for the mangaka. Readers especially give feedback when a character dies. Takahashi remembers an incident that happened when he visited Animecon in Kuopio in 2012. A fan who had just read about John's death in the Japanese manga came to the autograph session. According to Takahashi, the part in question was not yet published in Finland. John suffered a long and painful death in WEED. However, characteristically, John did not break mentally. Takahashi says the reader was angry that he killed John. - I then asked them if John's death wasn't just the right way for him. They then admitted that that was exactly how John would have wanted to die. Proud to the end. The violence of the Ginga series has attracted attention in Finland since Silver Fang arrived here in 1989 with four VHS parts. The publisher once tried to tone down Takahashi so that the series wouldn't become too much bloody. Takahashi suspects that the publishing house was probably afraid that they would get complaints of violence. Takahashi laughs that the story must have a good action. In the end, he heard no complaints from the publisher. - Readers perceive violence differently when it happens between animals than if the same would happen between people.

Regarding character deaths, Takahashi reveals that when he wrote Silver Fang, he wanted to kill all three of Kai brothers in one go. They were meant to die in the final battle between Ouu's dog army and the monster bear Akakabuto. But the publisher did not agree to this and in the end only the eldest brother Akatora experienced the bloody death. Despite the violence, Takahashi does not want his works to be, like many adult directed series, too attention catching, but there had to be some sort of moral limit. From this the works have been praised. Takahashi remembers meeting a Japanese older woman who had praised Silver Fang and stated that every student should read it.

Takahashi encapsulates the message of Ginga series to themes of justice and love. By love, he means more of companionship and caring. The themes of companionship and loyalty come up often In Takahashi's works. We asked if the history of Japan and bushidou perhaps inspired him. - In my hometown of Higashinaruse, there were stories about samurai and battles. I might have had them in the family, so I guess I have such ideas in the back of my mind. When thinking about the history of his home region, Takahashi remembers a memory from his childhood of the bear carcass he saw. In the countryside of Akita, it was common to display hunted bears for the whole village. One time the hunters had brought down a particularly large bear that was being kept displayed on the platform of a small truck. The sight of this huge beast remained permanently in the little boy's mind.

The nature of Japan's largest island, North Honshu, reminds Takahashi of Finnish nature. The mangaka thinks that the milieu that looks familiar and both cultural encounters with bears are part of the reason why the Ginga series have so many fans in Finland. Finnish readers' devotion to his works has made a great impression on Takahashi. The most ardent fans have even traveled Akita to see Takahashi's hometown. - I am taken and grateful that the Finnish readers have welcomed my manga so well. Thank you very much for your support.

Anime wishes 70-year-old Takahashi a long life and success. Mette Pesonen