#go kaede gooo!

[cl0wnfiish]

running late

[the-ultimate-supreme-gremlin]

So spoilers for DRV3 under the cut AJWJDKDK

Why is it that when people make pregame content they forget about how they acted in the prologue? Like obviously if you wanna write them like that go ahead but it confuses me on how that’s the MAJORITY. I think it stems from the audition tapes at the end of the game but that’s always seemed strange to me.

Like I’ve seen most people write pregame Kaito as an absolute dick who would beat up people regularly (basically a bully), but we don’t really see that in the prologue. In the prologue, we don’t get much sure, but from what we do see, he’s not acting brash or rude at all. If I remember right, he even sounds worried (or is at the very least still panicked about the situation) when he questions if Kaede and Shuichi were chased by “that monster” (exisals). Sure, we don’t really know his thoughts for that line but you don’t really say that if you care for nobody but yourself (in my opinion at least).

(I REMEMBERED RIGHT LETS GOOO)

This isn’t even mentioning Kokichi, who acts so different from fanon pregame like what. Pregame Kokichi is usually characterized as a whiny teen who can’t handle confrontation and is an extreme introvert. But one of his few lines in the prologue is him volunteering to go back out (where they all just ran for they’re lives) to see what’s happening before getting shut down for his safety. And he doesn’t say it scared either, he says it pretty calmly (not saying he’s calm but he’s clearly not panicking nearly as bad as people portray him).

(I know his name (and Kaito’s earlier) is question marks but it is his voice when he says it please believe me lol)

Honestly, it kinda bums me out that not a lot of people take the prologue into account! Sure, Kaito’s audition tape makes him look like a violence hungry jerk; however, it wouldn’t surprise me if he (and everyone else) was just exaggerating to try and get picked. If you liked a show, and you want to be in it, you wouldn’t say “yeah I find this show cool, killing looks okay on screen but I think it could be fun.” You wouldn’t get picked (or at least have a lower possibility). They probably acted more like what they thought Team Danganronpa would want for their show.

Anyways, sorry for how long that was (especially considering I don’t make posts like this ever???) but I was replaying V3 earlier and it just occurred to me. Like even Kaede is meaner than Kaito in the prologue (she tells Shuichi to shut up when he starts panicking lmao (she apologizes later tho)). That’s not even mentioning Shuichi but this is already long and probably full of punctuation errors lol. Sorry if it got incoherent at all. I’m very tired.

TL;DR Fanon pregame DRV3 doesn’t usually take into account how the character acted in the prologue and it bothers me.

(Again, if you like to characterize them that way, that’s fine. Everyone has headcanons and such. I’m just expressing some of my thoughts :D)

[princessmeepa]

I am going to pick the voice actors for my gods, RS’ dream cast for her LO live action is just for points and not even there to play the roles and she only picks her celebrity crush Mads to be Christian blue I know. So I am going to pick the voice actors who can fit my characters perfectly and here they are. So let’s start with the goddesses. Ok let’s gooo!

Note: some of the characters have the same voice actresses and who voiced their characters from the same anime, because I want to fit some of the voices, who can fit my characters.

Alecto: Avalon Penrose, who voiced Megaera from Hades.

Aglaea: Reba Buhr, who voiced Aphrodite from Record of Ragnarok.

Amphitrite: Michelle Rojas, who voiced Wendy from Show by Rock.

Aphrodite: Dorothy Elias-Fahn, who voiced Komi Shuuko from Komi can’t communicate.

Athena: Erika Harlacher, who voiced Kyoko Kirigiri from Danganronpa (the game).

Ariadne: Michelle Ruff, who voiced Katherine McBride from Catherine.

Artemis: Carli Mosier, who voiced Saeko Tanaka from Haikyū!!

Atropos: Mara Junot, who voiced Lisa from Genshin Impact.

Calliope: Natalie Hoover, who voiced Tsukino from Show by Rock.

Calypso: Brianna Knickerbocker, who voices Swim from One Punch Man

Chloris: Brianna Knickerbocker, who voiced Rin from Catherine: Full Body

Cleo: Lauren Landa, who voiced Sailor Neptune / Michiru Kaioh from Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars.

Clotho: Kayli Mills, who voiced Runa Yomozuki from Kakegurui.

Daphne: Ashly Burch, who voiced Sasha Braus from Attack on Titan.

Demeter: Heather Masters, who voiced Circus Baby from FNAF.

Echo: Stephanie Sheh, who voiced Sailor Moon / Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon or Luci Christian who voiced Duck/Princess Tutu from Princess Tutu.

Eos: Krystal LePort, who voiced Brooke from HuniePop 2.

Eris: Michelle Ruff, who voiced Kirari Momobami from Kakegurui.

Eurydice: Erica Mendez, who voiced Retsuko from Aggretsuko.

Gaia: Same thing with Demeter, but with a cute and girly Greek accent.

Hebe: Anairis Quinones, who voiced Goll from Record of Ragnarok.

Hecate: Alexis Tipton, who voiced Chuchu from Show by Rock.

Hedone: Laura Bailey, who voiced Catherine from Catherine.

Hera: Erin Fitzgerald, who voiced Eudial from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal.

Hestia: Jamie Marchi, who voiced Panty from Panty and Stocking.

Iris: Brittney Karbowski, who voiced Ryou Fujibayashi from Clannad.

Lachesis: Erica Lindbeck, who voiced Sayaka Igarashi in Kakegurui.

Leto: Casey Mongillo, who voiced Nene Onemine from Komi Can't Communicate.

Leuce: Dorothy Fahn, who voiced Sumika Warakubami / Kawaru Natari from Kakegurui

Libya: Kira Buckland, who voiced Princess Aurora Sya Lis Goodereste in Sleepy Princess from the Demon Castle.

Maia: Cherami Leigh, who voiced Kaede Otori from Komi Can't Communicate.

Marakria: Monica Rial, who voiced Moa in Show from Rock (if that’s possible)

Medea: Brianna Knickerbocker, who voiced Rumia Uru from Kakegurui.

Megaera: Emi Lo, who voiced Suma in Demon Slayer.

Melinoe: Kira Buckland, who voiced Mary Saotome from Kakegurui Twin and Kakegurui.

Metis: Laura Post, who voiced Brunhilde in Record of Ragnarok.

The other 6 Muses: Bryn Apprill.

Nyx: Hellena Taylor, who voiced Bayonetta from the Bayonetta games, but with sexy a Greek accent.

Pasithea: Bridget Hoffman, who voiced Nia Teppelin from Gurren Lagann.

Peitho: Kayli Mills, who voiced Emilia in Re:ZERO.

Persephone: Maggie Flecknoe, who voiced Yui Komori in Diabolik Lovers.

Perse: Brianna Knickerbocker, who voice Rem in Re:ZERO

Psyche: Erika Harlacher, who voiced Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui

Rhea: Elizabeth Maxwell, who voiced Rosaria from Genshin Impact.

Selene: Shannon Chan, who voiced Misa Amane from Death Note.

Semele: Brenna Larsen, who voiced Navia from Genshin Impact.

Thetis: Kate Higgins, who voiced Sailor Mercury/ Ami Mizuno from Sailor Moon.

Tisiphone: Sarah Williams, who voiced Midari Ikishima from Kakegurui

Urania: Anairis Quinones, who voiced Hinatsuru in Demon Slayer.

And for the Mortal women:

Andromeda: Bryn Apprill, who voiced Krista Lenz / Historia Reiss from Attack on Titan.

Cassandra: Erica Lindbeck, who voiced Daki from Demon Slayer.

Helen of Troy: Cristina Vee, who voiced Sailor Mars / Rei Hino.

Phaedra: Juliet Simmons, who voiced Inaho Yamato from Kakegurui

Penelope: Abby Trott, who voiced Inui from Aggretsuko.

What do you guys think?

[naradivision]

Miraitabi Summer Mixtape:

Σ for Σummer 🌻🌊

Disclaimer: All songs here belong to their respective artists! And since this mixtape was made under the impression of a travel diary, I highly recommend to watch in chronological order... Therefore, are you ready? Pack your belongings and let’s gooo!

Bon Voyage 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚

“... A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...”

6 AM — DAYBREAK ✶ FRONTLINE

Performed by

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Covered & arranged by: If  | Original by: orangestar ft. IA ❈ Let’s start it with the queen of summercore vocaloid songs: orangestar

9 AM — Kaisei (Clear Weather)

Performed by

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

ANGE

Covered & arranged by: FantasticYouth (Onyu x LowFat)  Original by: orangestar ft. IA ❈ FantasticYouth my beloved... There is also the rap parts where LowFat-san incorporates various references to orangestar’s other songs —One of it being “Daybreak Frontline”, the previous song of this mixtape (Sources / Translation)

10 AM — DESTIN4TI★N

Performed by 

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Asahi “SWEET-T” Tomoharu

Real Title: ともに (Tomoni) | Original by: WANIMA Covered by: Araki, Gero

1 PM —  Dear you, 夏めく

Performed by 

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Real Title:  Hana ni Bourei (Ghost In A Flower) Covered by: soraru  |  Original by: Yorushika ❈  夏めく (Natsumeku) in Japanese means “It feels like summer” usually implying that the season is beginning… And also the alias of a certain someone important to Miraitabi’s leader

5 PM — That Dream Within A Dream

Performed by 

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Real Title:  夢のまた夢 (Yume no Mata Yume) Covered by: Araki  |  Original by: Mafumafu

// ALERT ALERT: The sun is going down

“Hey, wakes up sleepyhead! Isn’t it almost time for the festival?!”

7 PM — 夏祭り🏮 (Natsu Matsuri)

Performed by 

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Asahi “SWEET-T” Tomoharu

Saigo “Tsukumogami” Futugami

ANGE

Covered by:  Amatsuki, 96neko, Eve, soraru, luz Original by:  JITTERIN’JINN & Whiteberry  

⊹₊ ✶⋆ Uchiage Hanabi?

7:30 PM — Uchiage Hanabi ✻

Performed by

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

ANGE

Covered by:  Amatsuki, 96neko Original by: DAOKO x Kenshi Yonezu ❈ Loves other versions too, but this one is special... With genius kain-san’s mix, you can even hear fireworks in the background

But you know,

Fireworks aren’t the only lights of summer

Now with a shining lantern in your hands

Let’s send off our regards

To somewhere far faraway...

9 PM —  燈花会 (Tokae)

Performed by

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Real Title: Hyakka Ryouran (A Sea of Lanterns) ❈ Although it’s my intention to refer this song to the one astounding festival in Nara (picture below), actually according to the fan assumption (Source / Translation); looks like this song has an implication to the artist’s hometown, Fukushima, which also hosts the “Tōrō Nagashi” where people will light and float the lanterns down the river or the ocean in order to commemorate for their lost ones. Meanwhile, both of these festivals are the ceremonies held around the days of Obon —The traditional Buddhist holidays dedicated to honor ancestral spirits and pay respect to the dead. ❈ Also to people who follow paralive, are you perhaps familiar with this voice?

Prologue — Σ of Σummer (Tomorrow Still Goes On)

Performed by

Yuuya “ARROW” Kanata

Asahi “SWEET-T” Tomoharu

Saigo “Tsukumogami” Futugami

ANGE

The members of “SPECTRA” Band

Real Title: Summertime Record Covered by: Ryushen, Saegusa Akina, Hakase Fuyuki, Higuchi Kaede, Hoshikawa Sara, Mashiro, Lain Paterson, Nishizono Chigusa, Machita Chima, Lize Halesta, Inui Toko, Watarai Hibari, Genzuki Tojiro Original by: Jin ft. IA (Kagerou Project)

And finally, Sayonara our dear Summer,

As ephemeral but astounding as the spark of Senko Hanabi, here the season has winded down to an end...

Thank you for watching!

Hope to see you again in the next season...

But eh... Whose season is there?

➤ Also, credit the dividers by: @cafekitsune and @firefly-graphics

[goshdangronpa]

Big announcement for "Kaede’s Rhapsody": new chapters will now come every other week. Partly because I've got some busy weekends ahead, meaning less time for writing, and partly because I'd really like to build a backlog. The goal is to have enough finished chapters that I can go back to weekly installments again. Thanks for your patience and support! Let's gooo

[selfshipdorito]

I am feeling like rambling about Kaede (+ piano), so here we gooo (utc because it's long)

whenever I sit down to play the piano (piano my beloved), I end up thinking about Kaede. anyone familiar with danganronpa can guess why. I don't know, it's so good to have an f/o that would actually listen to what I play, y'know? don't get me wrong, everyone else wouldn't say no to listening to me play (hopefully), but I think only two of my f/os (maybe 3?) have some music theory knowledge. even so, the one that's most familiar with the piano is no other than the ultimate pianist herself.

yeah, having an f/o that also likes things you love is amazing. we would talk about classical music and piano for hours; she'd play for me and I'd play for her ( and not get judged for our obvious difference in skills); maybe she'd even help me with some tricky parts, or we'd even play a duet!! add some of your average romantic stuff to all of this and boom, that's where I get all happy from. ahgksjahd why does imagining this give me a lot of serotonin???

believe it or not, I find myself conveying more emotion when playing because of her. it makes me feel great that I at least have someone who shares this immense love for the piano and music. it's a bit sad she ain't real tho. but heeey, that won't stop me from imagining random scenarios with Kaede! we'd definitely go on concert dates together!! and a cuddle session after practicing doesn't sound bad either!

also, although I'm enjoying drv3 a whole lot, I'm also a bit hesitant on continuing the game because all the danganronpa characters I got attached to didn't end that well (ofc this is a euphemism), and I fear Kaede would have that same fate. so yeah, I love her

[snellymain]

ASKING FOR THE GAME

Hehe

Tenko and/or rantaro im quite interested in your headcanons for them

- Sincerely Oliver

SEND ME A CHARACTER AND I’LL DO THIS;

Tenko Chabashira;;

Sexuality Headcanon: dont worry about it (I don't care)

Gender Headcanon: just a classic ol cis woman. I saw a transmasc headcanon that sounded very fun but SHRUG

A ship I have with said character: KAEDE #1 LET'S GOOO TENKAEDE WOOHOO LOVE THE TENKAEDE GET A HOMERUN LOVE TENKAEDE LETS GO BABY

A BROTP I have with said character: Gonta + ummmmm in a weird way Kiyo's sister don't worry about it part 2

A NOTP I have with said character: Himiko,, sorry besties,,,,, don't care if anyone ships it tho, good art is good art, im just like sheesh!!!

A random headcanon: I DONT THINK I HAVE ANY OOOGHH. I DONT THINK ABOUT HER ENOUGH HAHA

General Opinion over said character: boo. as a lesbian i. kinda. hate her + her writing. womp womp.

Rantaro Amami;;

Sexuality Headcanon: aroace babey

Gender Headcanon: I like to say xumgender but like non-binary man vibes ykno they/he/xe whateva

A ship I have with said character: I DON'T THINK I SHIP HIM W ANYONE?? WOMP WOMP. tsumugi kinda fun idk??

A BROTP I have with said character: Shuichi is fun

A NOTP I have with said character: everypony /j

A random headcanon: weed

General Opinion over said character: discomfort character begrudgingly 😛✌

[dissonantaki]

We were just wondering if you got an important text! We saw a notification and wanted to see if it was important! And it was! We were goooing to call you, but you were faster than us! We only just picked it up! You should take a look if you haven't already! Are you gonna take the job and provide us with another great source of entertainment? (I was trying to imitate Kokichi here out of sheer boredom XD)

“That... that doesn’t mean...! God, fine, as long as you only just picked it up now!” Kaede sighed, unlocking her phone. It was still on the screen of the email, so she saw who the message was from right away.

Her eyes widened. She read the email, and then read it again. She appeared more and more stressed with every passing second.

“...gh...! G-God, they think they fucking own me, huh? Is that it? That I’m going to go running back to them as soon as they call for me like a pet or something? They don’t know shit about me...! How can they send me this like they didn’t trick me when I was vulnerable and like they didn’t just use me to further their own plans?! How thick do their skulls have to be?!” Kaede quickly closed the app, shoving her phone in her pocket.

[aljksfj8eru094r9wfjasldjsadflk]

Ah, can I request something where the guys find out that their s/o is uncomfortable with being randomly touched? Like, not really in any kind of nsfw sense. More like even something innocent like tapping them on the shoulder could cause them to freeze or flinch or something. (But they're fine if they know it's coming. It's the unexpected stuff that's the problem.)

Here you gooo, this took me a small while to complete ^^; it was super interesting to write though! Thank youuu for the request and enjoy!

~Mod Kaede

Kaito Momota

You’re both joking around with each other when, inbetween laughs, he slings his arm around your shoulder

Your laughter is cut short, the hairs on the back of yourneck set on edge as you flinch

It all goes over his head as to why at the start, he justcan’t figure out where your bright mood went

He thinks that you just really didn’t agree with one of the jokes he made or something

When you managed to squeak out a request for him to movehis arm please he jerks it away from you like lightning

Oh no did he hurt you are you okay was he too rough??                

You have to bat away his numerous concerned questions foryour wellbeing before you can manage to explain the situation to him

Even though he understands, he looks a bit upset that hecan’t touch you so you grab his arm and put it back around your shoulder toshow him you just needed some warning

It’s amazing how immediately his face lights up againwhat a  c u t i e

Every now and then he’ll forget but the boy tries hishardest

Kiibo

The poor robot is so confused at first

Like all he did was tap your shoulder in an attempt toget your attention and you just froze on the spot

He’s never seen a human react that way before, that’s notat all a typical reaction

Is it because he’s a robot? Do you not like the idea ofbeing touched by a robot?? Are you robo-racist???

He doesn’t realise he’s also frozen on the spot fromparanoia, only broken from his reverie when you enclose your hands round hisand tentatively remove it from your shoulder

You can see the worry in his face, so you keep your handsholding his as you explain

His first reaction is to panic and berate himself forever thinking of you in a negative light and then to apologise to you profusely

Once he’s got over that stage (you had to reassure him)he’ll interrogate you for every single detail to store in his mind so hedoesn’t mess up again

In future, he’ll loudly stutter out a declaration ofwhenever he’s going to physically contact you, even if you can already see itcoming anyway

“I-I’m going to hug you now!” “I-I’m going to pull youover to see this by your wrist now!”

Rantarou Amami

He can’t help it; you’re sitting alone in the libraryreading a book and drinking some tea and you look so vulnerable

Quietly, he makes his way over to you and wraps his armsaround you from behind, pulling you into his chest

He senses something’s wrong the second you breathe insharply and completely tense up

He moves away so that he just has a hand on your shoulderand comes around the sofa to face you

But your shoulder still flinches at the contact and hequickly figures out the problem

So he withdraws his hand and waits patiently in front ofyou for you to relax, letting you know it’s just him

As a person who is very fond of physical affection, hecan’t help but feel relieved when he learns that you’re okay with contact aslong as you know it’s coming

Spends the rest of the evening sat with you learning whathe can and can’t get away with

Adjusts his teasing tactics accordingly isn’t he just so considerate

Kokichi Ouma

HELLO HERE COMES OUMA FOR A SURPRISE HUG ATTACK

At least that’s what he thinks is what’s happening whenhe jumps onto your back

He’s surprised to find himself immediately thrown off ofyou onto the floor though, landing ungracefully on his butt

You’re slow to realise what just happened and start tofervently apologise but Ouma gets in before you, his surprise having morphedinto anger

Because what on earth did you do that for?? That reallyhurt! What kind of way is that to treat your boyfriend?!

He’s about to storm off in a huff and you have to grabhis wrist before he leaves, telling him to wait just five seconds and listen toyou

When you explain to him your problem, his anger dissipates

Since you’re fine with expected contact, he still ordersyou to give him an apology hug, which you’re happy to oblige

He complains that he can’t surprise you now, but younotice in future he always announces his intentions before acting on them andhis pranks never involve physical contact anymore

Shuichi Saihara

You’re both just walking down the hallway when youaccidentally trip and fall forwards

You’ve just accepted your fate when a hand grabs your armand pulls you back, saving you

You manage a thank you, but Saihara’s more worried abouthow you literally just jerked out of his grasp and was now clutching your armanxiously

He goes to inspect your arm, concerned that he may havepulled something by grabbing it so suddenly and already considering taking youto the infirmary

When you tell him it’s not that, his inquisitive face isattentive to you the entire time you explain the real reason

He takes it all in surprisingly rationally, his calmdemeanour comforting you

He and you then chat for the next couple of hours aboutit, coming up with subtle signs and gestures to convey when he wants to touchyou so you’ll expect it

I mean he would’ve been fine just letting you know out loud,but you insisted on having cool detective-y hand signals and the dork secretlythought it was cool too

Jots down any and all notes on how to approach physicalcontact with you as he learns in one big list in a notepad and studies itreligiously

Korekiyo Shinguuji

It’s a very one sided conversation the two of you arehaving right now he’s busy gazing into your eyes adoringly because he’s a sapand can’t stop noticing how beautiful you are

He gets a little carried away and raises a hand to cupyour cheek without even realising it

You literally jump out of his hand like how on earth didhe manage to do that without you seeing it coming when you were facing him

The only thing you register on his face is mild surpriseas he asks you if you dislike physical contact before you even manage to start explaining

Promises to give you more warning the next time he goesto do something like that

He doesn’t seem to notice how quiet his movements arethough??

Like there’s more than a few times where contact from himcomes as a complete shock to you and he’s confused because he was sure he’dgiven you warning that time

He just isn’t one for declaring his intentions outrightand you learn to recognise the subtle signs he makes when he goes to touch youas time goes on

While terrible when it comes to himself, he’s constantlyaware of other people around you in future

Like he sees someone go to touch you? Persistent deathstares emanate from him until they think better of it

Gonta Gokuhara

He perks up when you call out his name, rushing over tohim with leaves and twigs all entangled in your hair but looking absolutely exhilarated

You just stumbled upon the most amazing bug nest!! Youhave no idea what the bugs even are he has to come see them

Of course he’ll come see them! His girlfriend’s so eagerto learn about bugs he’s so PROUD~

He pats your head affectionately, attempting to detachsome of the twigs, but you tense at the action

He doesn’t actually notice at first, only stopping whenyou grab his wrist and asking innocently if something’s wrong

Naturally, once you explain he’s a total gentleman aboutit

There’s not even any question or discussion he just putsthe new knowledge straight into action – “Oh, I see! In that case, may youallow me to remove the twigs from your hair?”

This revelation just makes you 3000% more precious to him

Will be super protective of you around others in future

I mean you have no idea how he moved from the garden toblocking you from Ouma’s attack in 0.01 seconds flat but he is your protectornow no objections

Ryoma Hoshi

Okay he’s worked up a lot of courage now he can do thisall he needs to do is hold your hand he’s got this-

okAY NEVERMIND YOU REACTED BADLY TO THAT welp he definitelyknows not to try that again so much for that-

He’s broken out of his inner turmoil when he feels yourhand grasp his again

Now he’s just confused. You’re looking at him veryconcerned wait since when has he been sweating bullets

It’s far too late to play it cool now so you give himsome time to calm himself down before apologising and explaining

Everything’s so clear now, and he feels better knowing itwasn’t him that provoked the bad reaction

Although then he remembers his mess of a self fiveminutes ago and the cringe hits him all at once oh geez why did he act soflustered he’s not used to a relationship

Calms himself down by staring at your hand holding hisintently, allowing a small smile to surface (and in turn, lighting up your ownface you always love to see his smile)

You don’t even need him to give you any warnings infuture the amount of obvious hesitation he displays beforehand is all thewarning you need

He often lets you be the one to initiate contact insteadof him, since this way you’re in control and you’ll always be comfortable

[funkaliciousfrog]

I’m bored, so I’m temporarily turning into a seasonal anime blog for a single extremely long post. 

I’m checking out more new anime than usual this season, and I’ve been in the mood to write lately. So, I thought it’d be fun to record my expectations for each show and my impressions of their first episodes. Even if no one but me ever reads it. 

Joran the Princess of Snow and Blood

That one show I’m watching partially just cause Aoi Shouta is there. I’m interested to see if he can pull off a female character who dresses as a man, which as he put it himself is the “gyakku-pattern” compared to his usual roles. Tbh watching shows just cause Shouta is in them hasn’t worked out super great for me in the past (I didn’t really like 2.43 or Kimi to Boku, and Hamefura was just alright), so we’ll see what happens here. It’s an anime original so who knows how the story will end up. But going off the trailer, at the very least we’ll get some cool aesthetics and sick fight animation.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the plot of this show is gonna involve some politics, since it takes place in an alternate 1930s where the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate hasn’t ended yet. Yeah, you might need to skim a Wikipedia article or two on Japanese history for this one. The main characters are assassins, working undercover for the shogunate and fighting some group of superpowered shapeshifting animal people. The protagonist works in a bookshop by day and lives with her very young sister who does all the housework. She also has some kind of crow-related powers that haven’t been explained yet. In fact, there’s a lot of things about the setting that were only touched upon and I guess will be elaborated on later. 

The character designs and background art are very nice, but something feels off with the actual animation. Things move in weird stiff ways, some of the special effects are kinda ugly, and the fight scenes in particular are disjointed at points. Although I think that disjointedness came more from the storyboarding than the animation itself? I can’t say for sure since I’m not one of those sakuga expert people. But, I can still tell the production value here isn’t quite as high as it appeared from the PV. The premise has potential, but as the story unfolds we’ll see if it’s good enough to carry the less than stellar animation. 

And as for Shouta, all he really got to do this episode was be dapper and talk in cryptic insect-themed metaphors. Oh, and randomly pull out a lightsaber, since I guess they have those in this show? I’m mostly curious to see how the people who don’t pay any attention to voice actors will react when his character’s actual gender is revealed. 

Mashiro no Oto

Hibike Euphonium was one of my first anime and remains one of my faves. So,  I’m always interested in shows about classical music and/or playing instruments. The manga has won multiple awards so it should be a good story, and hopefully this adaptation is just as good. As another show about a traditional Japanese instrument, the Kono Oto Tomare comparisons will be inevitable. But honestly, I’d be happy just learn some stuff about the shamisen cause I think it's cool. 

This was quite the whirlwind first episode. Our main character Setsu has been playing shamisen with his grandpa since he was a little kid. But, turns out his grandpa is displeased with his grandson’s sound, so he makes it his dying wish that Setsu stop playing shamisen. Once his grandpa does die, Setsu feels distraught, impulsively gets on a bus to Tokyo, ends up living with a random gravure idol for a week, picks fights with her no-good wanna-be rockstar boyfriend, at the very end a SWAT team shows up... it’s a lot. 

And I don’t really know how it will proceed from here either. After speeding through this escapade in Tokyo, I think (or hope) that the pace will settle down starting next week. And going off the poster we’ll eventually end up in a high school shamisen club, somehow.

I really enjoyed the bits and pieces of shamisen music in this episode, it just sounds so cool! I hope to eventually get more specific information about the instrument and its repertoire. All I really want from these shows about extremely specific topics is to be educated! They also played either the OP or ED at the end, and it sounded pretty neat. Unlike Kono Oto Tomare they actually put the instrument of question into the song, which I appreciate (though I still like all the Kono Oto OPs and EDs). 

The art in the PV didn’t seem like anything that special, but the episode itself actually looked very nice in the important moments. I especially liked the snowy background art from the beginning. They also took an interesting direction with the character designs: everyone is drawn with very thin lines and most of the time without cel shading. Sometimes it looks like an aesthetic choice, and other times it just looks kinda cheap. The animation itself is nothing crazy, but at least from my uneducated perspective the shamisen playing looks pretty believable. 

After 2.43's Fukui-ben from last season, I guess this show will be my new source of Japanese regional dialects. Apparently Setsu’s accent is so strong that the girl he’s staying with asks him if he’s a foreigner, which I thought was funny. They don’t mention where he’s from, but he and his family use the same “-be” ending as the main character from the Great Pretender. Which isn’t helpful cause I can’t remember where he was from either. But anyway, for some reason it just amuses me every time someone says “dabe”. 

(A footnote about Setsu’s accent: I’ve done a bit of research, or rather literally just typed “be” into jisho.com, which I can’t believe actually worked, and it seems to be some type of Touhoku dialect. His voice actor, Nobunaga Shimazaki, is from that area so I guess that checks out? Although according to the Wikipedia page it’s used as a generic rural accent in media, so maybe they don’t care about the specific region as long as he sounds like a country boy.)

Farewell, My Dear Cramer

Finally, an all-girls sports anime! There are a few out there already, but I haven’t seen any of them yet (except maybe Chihayafuru, which has a mixed gender cast but an awesome female lead). As far as I’ve read, most have mixed reviews and tend to lean into other genres and/or have a lot of fanservice. So, I’d really like this show to be the female version of a straightforward realistic sports show like Haikyuu that is missing from all our lives. But it looks like it might be a drama about sports instead, which potentially could be just as good. It did come from the Your Lie in April mangaka after all, if you couldn’t tell from the weird lips. Besides that, the art in the trailer looks really nice. 

So apparently soccer, especially women’s soccer, is an unpopular sport in Japan? The protagonist Nozomi thinks she’s too good for girl’s soccer after playing with the boys for all of middle school, but is convinced to join the girl’s team in high school anyway. Then we meet a couple of her new teammates who were similar prodigies in middle school, and jump right into a scrimmage between the first and second years? 

It’s kind of a weird first episode. While it does technically establish the setting and characters, after the first few minutes it kind of feels like we’ve just been thrown into the mix of things. There’s also a noticeable lack of music in a lot of scenes which makes it feel even weirder.

The character designs are less of a problem than I thought they’d be, although the lips and sometimes the eyes still do look a bit strange. The simple, almost graphic quality is actually kind of interesting. It’s also very refreshing to see a variety of female characters that just look and act like normal high schoolers. They’re really just here to play soccer, not to be sexy or cute or really attractive to the viewer in any way. 

Although we do get some nice soccer playing in the ED, the animation in the episode itself definitely isn’t at Haikyuu levels or anything. They avoid actually animating a lot of the action with speed-line backgrounds and barely-moving shots where only the hair and clothes flap in the wind. 

Nozomi has the same voice actress as Kaede from Gal and Dino, and her performance there was one of my favorite parts of that show so I’m looking forward to more from her. Aoi Yuki and Tomoyo Kurosawa, definitely a couple of notable names, also show up in this episode. 

Fruits Basket Final

More Fruits Basket, lets gooo! Second season was awesome so I have high expectations. I’ve already been slightly spoiled on a few things about the ending, but I’m still looking forward to seeing the specifics of the mystery of the Soma family curse wraps up. 

We pick up right where we left off last season with Kureno dropping the ~big reveal~ about Akito’s gender on Tohru. Turns out she’s a girl, but raised as a boy by her mother from birth for yet unknown reasons. Then he talks more about her parents: her dad Akira seems to be dead (yet another mysterious white-haired Akira Ishida character for the books), and her relationship with her mother Ren is messy to say the least. 

Finally, best girl Saki shows up and saves the day! She brings Tohru back to her house, and along with Arisa gives her the reality check we’ve all been waiting for: she is going to burn herself out if she keeps on putting others’ needs before her own. 

Interestingly, even though she seems to be a pretty bad mom, Ren is in the right here about the unhealthy relationship between Akito and the zodiacs. Is she really being kept inside because of physical and mental illness, or is that just Akito’s excuse for locking her mother away? I suspect it’s the latter. Akito loves a good power trip, and if Ren were allowed to talk to the zodiacs she could possibly undermine the hold Akito maintains over them. It could also be a combination of both reasons, so I’ll just have to wait and see.

The OP is awesome! The photo backgrounds incorporate the 2D characters well and it just looks very nice. The song’s R&B-ish sound also stood out instantly from the pop ballads Fruits Basket usually gives us. Once it comes out on Spotify, I will be adding it to my playlist along with Chime and Eden. Btw, if you haven’t heard the full version of Eden I recommend you check it out cause it really goes some places you don’t even get to hear in the TV-sized version.

On a side note, this show has some real fashionistas. Rin, Haruhatsu, Saki, and this episode Arisa have great outfits. That cropped shearling jacket with the skinny scarf? 👌 It’s also adorable how Saki and her little goth brother coordinate their looks. I will never forget that time they casually rolled up to an okonomiyaki restaurant rocking black opera gloves. 

Zombieland Saga Revenge

More Zombieland Saga! The best part of the first season imo was the comedy, but I’m guessing we’ll get more into the mystery/drama part of the show here: more information about Kotaro and his motives/methods, Tae’s identity, etc. We’ll see how it goes. I’m also hoping for more bops like Adabana Necromancy and Saga Jihen. 

Oh how I missed this show’s manic energy...

Since the end of the last season, it seems Kotaro got overzealous and booked an arena for a concert that only sold 300 tickets, putting the group into a whole bunch of debt. So now the girls are all working part-time to pay it off, and they’re not nice jobs either: factory worker, farmhand, construction worker... milk-deliverer? Do they even have those in Japan? Now there’s some #commentary on showbiz. 

As for Kotaro, the whole thing has left him in such a haggard state that he’s managed to grow his hair down to his collar bones in a month flat. Now he spends his days bar hopping and rambling even less coherently than usual (although Mamoru Miyano is clearly having as much fun as ever). Franchuchu are left to prepare all by themselves for their anniversary concert at the tiny venue where they made their debut. But, they decide they’ll use it as a chance to sing the unperformed encore song from the arena concert for Kotaro, thinking it might relight his spark. 

We do get a drop of new information about the plot: turns out there’s a strict deadline on the Zombieland Saga Project, which is the real reason why Kotaro so upset. Maybe whatever necromancy he used on the girls will wear off after a certain amount of time and turn them back into corpses? The bartender at his favorite spot is apparently in on the whole zombie thing, and he’s the one who finally snaps Kotaro out of it. He sprints over to the anniversary concert and literally starts throwing hands with the unreceptive metalhead audience. To finish out the episode we get a glorious slow motion brawl sequence as Franchuchu sing the encore song. 

I don’t know if that encore will be the OP or ED, or if it’s just a insert song. It was alright I guess. To be honest I liked Iron Frill’s songs more than Franchuchu’s in the first season, and I feel like that will continue to be the case this season. I’m excited to see the new OP tho, even if it’ll be hard to beat the iconic Adabana Necromancy. And on a vaguely related note, it was cool to see the real Zombieland Saga ost album, Franchuchu The Best pop up in the episode.

Pretty Boy Detective Club

This one has people intrigued because it’s written by the author of the Monogatari series (which I haven’t seen yet) and animated by Shaft. There’s also the extremely Ouran-esque setup, with Maaya Sakamoto even voicing the cross-dressing main girl. Also I just think the title is funny. Honestly I don’t really know what to expect from this one besides the usual Shaft aesthetic, so we’ll see what happens. 

Mayumi wears glasses to keep attention away from her pretty eyes, but while stargazing on the roof she gets caught without them by Ayumu Murase in a detective hat. He ropes her into the Pretty Boy Detective Club, a shady secret organization at her middle school. We enter the clubroom and meet the members, a bunch of over-the-top eccentric tropey characters that wouldn’t be found in any non-anime middle school in a million years. Shoutout to that one guy in the hot pants. Then Mayumi reveals that she’s been looking for a star she saw once on a family vacation, and the boys decide to take up her case. 

I knew I was really in for something when I was hit with musings about Voltaire right out of the gate. Although from what I’ve heard about the Monogatari series, this kind of ~intellectual~ monologuing is totally on brand. And I don’t know if anyone else picked up on the subtle hints they were dropping in those monologues, but I sense that, maybe, perhaps, beauty is going to be a theme in this show...? Maybe it’s going to be some kind of #meta #commentary on pretty boys anime? That could be interesting, although there’s also a chance they’ll just play it straight. They even have an idol-anime-esque ED sung by the the main cast, so honestly it could go either way. 

As expected from Shaft, the visuals are all on point. I love both celestial and geometric imagery so this show’s aesthetic feels made just for me. The shifts in art style are also pretty neat. As for the character designs, my favorite part is probably the snazzy school uniform with the galaxy printed ties and striped pants and skirts. Although Murase’s character momentarily sprouted one of those flesh-fangs that I HATE they look so NASTY. 

I has a pretty fun time with this episode, it was just so absurdly Anime. I liked hot pants guy and his poses (tho I don’t love that he’s 12), and delinquent guy who was just tired of everyone else’s nonsense and casually ate food off the ground. They were at the beach too, so it probably got all sandy? And when this popped up I died laughing; truly words to take to heart.  

(A footnote about the ED: I thought I had spotted an Elements Garden member in the songwriting credits, and then of course I had to find out if they actually made it or not. The lyrics were written by RUCCA, who isn’t actually in the group but collaborates with them frequently according to the Google Translated version of his Japanese Wikipedia page. He’s written for quite a few Elements Garden produced Aoi Shouta songs, which is where I recognized his name from. The composer is Masatoma Ohta, who as far as I can find isn’t associated with Elements Garden but did a pretty good job emulating their sound. Both of them have done a lot of work for seiyuu, idols, and seiyuu-idols, so I guess that’s why I instantly understood what this song was going for lol.)