#i love genki girls though so it's ok

[yume-fanfare]

something about hina's characterization is that he's both girlish and boyish. boyish in a girl way if you will but you can't really forget one or the other. And sometimes mellow when the situation calls for it but it has to be a rare occurrence or else it won't be significative, that's the fun part of the quiet moments like in tetora's fs1. engstars is lacking when it comes to her theatrics though 💔

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

Since according to one of our Cartoon Network gods 🥰 Craig McCracken the Powerpuff girls will be back in a proper reboot❤️‍🔥 I want to review another version of them... No, not the 2016 vomitive bullshit I hope soon to be lost media because nobody should acknowledge the existence of such an disgusting garbage tarnishing our childhood🤢🤮, that abomination doesn't deserve the time of anyone🤬... (I apologize to those who liked it but... I stand by what I said😖)

This is about one adaptation that though it was cut short due to the lack of success in audience but that it wasn't that bad, is still watchable and enjoyable and it has actual funny moments but in the end it was too far away from being a Worthy adaptation of the PPG, I'm talking about:

Powerpuff girls Z!!

We have to keep in mind the show was adapted to japanese audience and has the concept of ✨"Magical girls"✨ so they made lots of changes: the very first one I strongly disliked was that they weren't sisters and they weren't professor Utonium daughters, that alone made me irrationally hate the characters that were the girls individual families (yeah you're going to notice how salty I am about this xD). With that, one of the things that fans loved the most that is the very loving, funny and cute father-daughters interactions disappeared, seriously the girls still hang out a lot in his laboratory but it's not the same as the beautiful moments we got in the original show like how he plays tickles with them, how he kisses their heads to wake them up in the morning... 😔

And another thing is the girls personalities and dynamic between them and don't get me wrong it's not like they are unbearable or awful they are entertaining but in my eyes is just that they aren't "they"... And specially now that I re watched some things to make this review because... I realized that Z Buttercup and Z Bubbles have a bunch of fucking shippeable interactions in the show😨😨. If you were too young last time you watched it just search on YouTube a video of their interactions and you'll see! I'm not that twisted I swear!! Sometimes they literally look Like a married couple and Z Blossom behaves as if she was their daughter, Z Bubbles was even blushing in the first episode when she recognizes Z Buttercup from their School and saying she looked up to her and in general I found their interactions too shippeable and yeah in this universe they aren't sisters but is still incestuous as hell in my head 😖🤯

So individually speaking: Design and personally

For design in general I dislike that the style is not quite unique as I would have liked it, this character design resembles too much to Magical Doremi and something that really bugs me is that the PPG here are in an age between 13 and 14 so they are teens... Yet they made them look like little kids, you can see in the show that they are older than that only when they stand next to a younger character like Ken and like I said they resemble too much to the Magical Doremi girls and those girls were only 8 years old, there's a big gap between 8 and 13/14 you know? Specially for girls. This PPG don't have a single trace of "womanhood" In the shape of their bodies. I would have liked something more like Tokyo Mew Mew style since they were teenagers with (no sexualized) hips, bust and breast shape but the PPG have completely Flat undeveloped child bodies that don't correspond to their ages. I mean if you wanted little kids OK, the original where basically toddlers but if they are teens they are teens! Make some distinction between a teen and a 8 years old other than being tall please.

Z Blossom: Her clothes are nice and I think it fits her well, here she became a genki dumbass girl because they targeted her as the main protagonist (and is apparently a magical girl rule to make the main character a genki mostly dumbass girl) which is one of the things I dislike the most, with fanfics too, I hate when they are too much Blossom-centric if is a general story because to me the others are just as relevant and Blossom ends up being the main focus because she is the leader and is in the center and is seen as a big sister (which she isn't because they all popped alive at the same time) but well, even if it is mentioned several times at the beginning the show actually gives the three the same importance and as the original show sometimes there are episodes where one of them is the main focus so... Half-Ok. Genki is a Japanese term for very energetic characters and that's another problem, it feels like she just sucked all Buttercup's and Bubbles' energy and looks too chaotic hyperactive, her intelligence and liking for studying is nowhere to be seen, only you see traces of her being smart when she thinks of a plan. Also she is a sugar addict (that could be the hyperactivity explanation 😐) and is really thirsty for boys, ok look, is not that I think Blossom is out of character for being thirsty over a boy is just that she wouldn't be thirsty over EVERY cute boy she sees (but curiously not the RRB 🙃) . The original Blossom is a responsable (most of the time) dorky bookworm who likes to learn things and cares about her looks and brags a lot and...this one brags a lot too I guess? But even if Blossom had her not very graceful moments she wasn't as chaotic dumb as Z Blossom,🤦‍♀️. She also doesn't look popular in her school unlike the other too, I kind of feel bad about it, I always dislike when she is put in fanfics as the most or only popular of the three for a reason that usually is that she is a super hottie while her sisters aren't 🤨(but almost always with a repellent bitter personality 😑 that makes me question that popularity) but to no making her popular at all? Come on can we just agree that the 3 of them are meant to have their own fans to their different personalities and looks please? Smart, kawaii and sporty are popular in Japanese anime schools. And another annoying thing is that she also has an annoying bratty mean little sister nobody asked for😬😒 nothing like her original awesome actual sisters 😤, Blossom deserves better. Well at least she is cute and fun but is not very accurate to Blossom.

Z Bubbles: Ok Bubbles is my favorite but Z Bubbles lacks of some Bubbles things, I mean is totally fitting that she would be popular with boys but this way is not how I imagined it: a enthusiastic Kawaii girl that could be scouted to be an idol, instead she is a fine lady like mannered elegant girl (because of a strict traditional grandma nobody asked for 😑) that likes fashion, (i mean it makes sense for both her and Blossom to like that so.. That's ok) but my problem is that even if she is still a bit of an airhead she is way too calm and collected! TOO CALM!! Z Blossom absorbed practically all the usual enthusiasm and energy she should have and also given that her attribute is the "sugar" It would have been more fitting for her to be the sweet addict don't you think? Where is your sugar girl!?😫😫 Her civil clothes... one looks like an uniform and its a bit weird because in their school nobody wears uniform which is unusual in Japanese schools, to be honest I would have liked to see all the three of them in uniforms her other outfit is ok. Her hairstyle is a bit too complicated, I mean I don't dig in those loop style piggy tails I'll rather have normal piggy tails for her (she has to sleep with some balls with her hair around them to keep the shape, looks uncomfortable as fuck). It feels to me like a half baked Bubbles, almost but not quite there.

Z Buttercup: Thought her personality is decently similar to the original: tough, not as polite as the other two, sports star(she has fangirls 😆 which I think fits perfectly in her anime persona) there's something that rubs me the wrong way. In anime there are different kinds of tomboy characters (I kinda want to make a post about about it) the type used for Z Buttercup is not the one I think fits better, is way too overly against anything "girl related" to the point she'll despise the idea to spend time with other girls or even being acknowledged as one because being girly is "uncool" but is not like you see her with boys either unlike the original and Mitch. The original Buttercup defended womanhood and the right to be rough and tough and to like things usually "meant for boys" without being any less of a girl and she never disliked being a girl or tried to physically hide it, I totally think she would be offended if someone mistook her as a boy and would get a punch 👊😂. I don't think she hating dresses and skirts in general is accurate, what I think she hates are clothes with a girly or flashy style, she would be just fine with a simple denim skirt but she would absolutely hate something like a tulle skirt, in the original she is ok with her simple dress but she was upset with the pompous party dress she used in one episode.

A dress and a shirt don't have to be always too femenine and I think the magical dress isn't exactly a style she should hate that much because is not that girly, it has a football jacket 🤷‍♀️and fingerless black globes. To be honest she looks like a crossdressed boy, let me explain 🙌: her civil clothes are 100℅ masculine that mixed with her mannerisms, her Japanese name used for boys too, her voice with the tone used to play little boys roles and her spiked up hairstyle (that is the style Butch should have had) and as I mentioned before her completely flat without a trace of womanhood body makes her look like a crossdressed boy, in fact when Butch stole her dress in that episode he looked more like a girl than her because of his hair and feline eyes 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️, why can't she even have eye lashes if the other two have eye lashes? I want the 3 to have the same eyes style 😭. I have to mention that there was a make over episode where she gets a more femenine look to please a guy 🙂🙃 Emmm ok, that dress she wore was... Not so bad but just as she would hate tulle, frills are also not an option 🙅‍♀️ but I was very pleased with how they re styled her hair, it was almost like the original 💚. So the tomboy type I like for her is the girl with the boyish mannerisms who likes tough sports and has short hair but not necessarily boy style (like a Bob) and wears sporty style clothes that ok can be pants but also can perfectly wear a skirt like denim, or leather fabric or a Hoody dress and she could even wear make up like a simple eyeliner, that's it. Anyway according to the show she is the way she is because of her dad and 2 brothers 🙄thay nobody asked for (By the way I hate Z Buttercup pijama, looks like a Harlequin disguise 🙅‍♀️ like she is disguised as "Z Him")

Magical Dress design and Tranformation sequence:

Oh girl, here I go... I'm going to be mean... After seeing some designs in the artwork I feel robbed. I FEEL ROBBED!! Look!! LOOK!! 😤😤

I can't Fuckign believe out of all THIS☝☝☝ they went with that plain flavorless boring dress with a short sleeves football jacket?(why the fuck buttercup's jacket is yellow? I don't care buttercups are yellow, I didn't like it🙃) ROBBED WE WERE ROBBED!! And the transformation sequence was... MEH, not very superhero fitting, again they copied magical Doremi transformation style 🙄🙄 the only thing I rescue is that moment when Z Buttercup gets the skirt because her face and how she moves her legs is hilarious but really the animation is slacking in general, they should have been put more effort in the transformation sequence and also the weapons... sorry but magical girl or not I find insulting that the power puff girls needed weapons and a belt to transform NOPE, sorry Blossom for Ladybug kinda worked but you a yoyo?😕 Bubbles used a giant bubble blower? Ja. ja. hilarious.😐 I would have liked it better if she blew the bubbles directly from her mouth or her hand making a circle👌and Buttercup using the only thing that is an actual weapon, a giant hammer like Amy rose? Also Fucking yellow like the ugly football jacket? I just don't like it yellow, I don't care buttercups are yellow ok 😂 but honestly Buttercup deserves boxing globes because I rather have her punching instead of smashing like girl you're more of a Knuckles Girl type not an Amy Rose girl type... That's more like Blossom or Bubbles.

Secondary Characters:

Mayor: I'm disappointed he isn't bald and doesn't use a little hat... Was it so hard to give him a Chibi form? Something like Iruma-Kun's demon grandpa. Actually we were robbed again! One of his previous design had a more accurate design as the original and it was adorable and funnier! This one has such a BORING design... Like a background character... Mayor should stand out more!!

Miss Bellum: first of all... Why the hell is she blonde? Nop this is unforgivable, she is a REDHEAD, yeah yeah you kept the gorgeous body and the face hidden joke but she isn't blonde! 😑 also she doesn't have as much presence as her original version which was a role model even more than miss Keane for the girls to look up to but well she is still there I guess. Poor Miss bellum, here Fuzzy tried to pull a Browser with her 😂😂 but this isn't as funny as when he wanted to do that with the professor in the original show.

Miss Keane: nothing much to say in general, her design is pretty good for an anime version of her but unfortunately see isn't much relevant in the show.

Professor Utonium: they wronged you so much professor...😤😤 Instead of being the father of 3 super awesome super powerful girls you are stuck with a unoriginal tiny version of you of a son taking all the screen time you should have 😭😭😭 also he wasn't even the one who accidentally creates something, in this case the chemical Z, that credit was for a fucking robot dog!!! But at least he actually has a wife 😂😂 but he never sees her... 🤪. You know what is ok, if his screen time is not him being a dad with the girls I don't want it anyway 😒.

Ken and the robot dog: Out of the principal four protagonists the girls and the professor individual families Ken is the one I wrinkle my nose the most when he shows up, like who the fuck needed a junior Utonium playing son? NOBODY ASKED for this character and didn't make things more interesting and on top of that he has more screen time than the professor 😒😒, I guess is because in magical girl animes the adults barely have important roles... So we better put a random kid just because 🙄🙄. And the robot dog who talks I suppose is the anime version of talking dog but downgraded, because talking dog was a Fucking real dog DUH! Nobody cares about this robot, is so irrelevant I barely remember anything about him just that they tried to make a emotional scene with him at the end of the series. And my greatest resentment against Ken... He actually has a mom😒, of course since you didn't pop out of a concoction but you popped out of an actual woman but still... The actual daughters of the professor never got a mommy, you know what? It's ok they had miss Bellum 🖕🖕, and I'm not gonna hate the mom because she has the decency of only show up in one episode and didn't took screen time from the professor 😤 uff I'm way too salty about this...

Villains: (note, I'm going to complain a lot about how the colors aren't bright 😅)

Mojo Jojo: Why must you make a mockery of a villain that had such a great origin story... This one is too silly, he lacks of aggressiveness. Silly as mojo might be, this one is right away a pushover and is insulting! Mojo was very important in the original show and... This one looks like the principal villain but... No... His personality just won't do... Also why is he so tall? And I don't like his green! His green was brighter!! You know like ☢️ radioactive

Him: Excuse me but... He is a drag queen not a Fucking son of a Harlequin clown, he doesn't even look that demonlike, well yes, he looks like a possessed cringy clown doll... But uff I miss his bright color palette, he needs more RED!! Anyway he was the source of the black energy that created all the villains, as the lore of the show that wasn't that bad, keeping aside his downgraded looks.

Fuzzy: given the scenario I suppose he is pretty accurate, again with his color palette dulled, but he pretty much was dececently similar.

Princess: I know her name is princess but... What the fuck with those clothes? They took it too seriously, she is a rich mean girl, kinda like a bee queen... She should be more stylish, not a girl disguised as a tacky medieval princess, not even the original one who was 5 did that with her civil clothes and I hated her hairstyle when she goes villain mode😑. Her personality is... Half baked, she is still spoiled, nasty and mean but like not as mean as the original and well actually I do like when sometimes she wasn't bad but in general not the anime version of princess I would have liked. Also what did I say about please make a distinction between a teen body and a little kid body? 🙄 he looks even younger than the PPG and she is the same age!!

Sedusa: WHAT were they THINKING with that DESIGN?? Yeah sedusa had big eyes and a big head and didn't have a nose BUT THAT WAS IN THE CARTOONISH version!! She is supposed to be a extremely attractive woman not a fucking monster 😂😂 she is so out of the place with the style of the other characters! Also she is actually a normal girl that turns into this thing they called Medusa when she puts on lipstick!!😨Was it so hard to hit with the black ray an attractive thief woman so she gets magic hair?🤨🤨 And seriously, her body is ridiculous in this anime style, no even miss Bellum was that exaggerated

Gangreen gang: excuse but again, isn't anime style supposed to make characters more good looking? How the fuck they managed to make them uglier? Again with the wrong green color! but seriously what are those designs?! Is like they couldn't decide between the American cartoon and the anime style ☹️☹️... And they changed the gender of one of the members I HATE THAT. Oh look for Arturito there was a Chibi version unlike with the mayor 🙄.

Ameba boys:......i don't really know what to say about them... So... Meh? 😑🤦‍♀️ yeah that will be enough and one of them is a girl now. I could live without the original ones too to be honest.

Rowdyruff Boys: My heart is completely broken. 💔 Why? Why, why? Just WHY?? 😭😭😭 in this show I couldn't ship them with the girls!!! Because this time the boys are basically Mojo and the girls sons!! 😭 you don't know what I'm talking about? In this version the boys were made with Mojo's arm pit hair, his DNA and Blossoms saliva, Bubbles ear wax and Buttercup's foot sweat 😵😵 so their DNA, just like children are made from mommy and daddy DNA 🙈🙈😭😭😭 each boy is basically each girl son WITH MOJO 😭😭😭. I'm not going to bother to review the three of them separately because they have exactly the SAME personality🤦‍♀️, I like their outfits better than the girl's outfits thought Butch face and hair design is just... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ emo bangs? SERIOUSLY? I want the Vegeta hair back thank you😤😒 Also I resent with all my soul that they got to be brothers while the girls couldn't be sisters 🤬🤬 and I can't believe how much of a bad joke they are compared to the originals, hello? The originals were intimidating characters that were pretty much equal to the girls in battle and they were dangerous thugs, here they are just 3 gross kids that fight throwing saliva, ear wax and sweaty socks 💔🤦‍♀️ they wronged you so much my boys and they took away my shipping energy by making it incestuous 🥲🥲

Others:

Duchess: well look at that, the 2016 abomination wasn't the only PPG adaptación that utterly disrespected the fourth Puff in an insulting way... She shouldn't exist to begin with, she was not only a wannabe Bunny but she also stole Princess original role: a rich attention seeker bitch who buys a supersuit more stylish than the PPG dresses, wanting to be a 4 PPG and also wants them to look bad... What kind of bullshit is this?? What she was is what princess should have been in the first place, and they dared to put Bunny's color theme, she even has the same hair color 🤬 and FUCK I hate how much I like her super outfit 1000 times more than the PPG outfits 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. They wasted the chance to make an emotional episode using Bunny's lore. Maybe a girl in a wheelchair or another disability (since Bunny represented disabled people) that gets saved by the girls and wished to have the same powers and return the favor and she gets them in a accident, then saves the girls and loses her powers and then moves away from the city after saying goodbye (so that things doesn't end up as tragic as the original but still ends emotional) see? Something this simple would have been more respectful towards Bunny than this unnecessary bullshit of a character.

Cody: There's a few original villains of the show that I don't care about but I'm gonna talk about this one because of his relationship with Bubbles. This character basically is a hospitalized boy who was Bubbles childhood friend and first love, he gets hit by a dark ray and turns into a beast, so we could have a "beauty and the beast" With Bubbles. I just find curious that his design could be considered another version of anime style Boomer, his hairstyle is similar and he has darker blond hair and darker blue eyes and I wonder... I have the Headcanon that the creator of this character was a boomubbles fan that was as frustrated as me that the rrbxppg weren't shippeable here so they made a character who looks like boomer to make a love story with Bubbles 😂😂😂 what do you think?

Well in general I believe that this show was watchable and entertaining but as anime is not a very remarkable one, it doesn't have a particularly good animation (is a bit sloppy) or good script and definitely I don't think it does justice as an anime adaptation of another show like PPG.

Jeez... I think I roasted it too much 😶😶, I know that normally I talk about why I love things but sometimes a girl has to vent 😅👉👈, I apologize to those who loved this show 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ sorry 😅😅

[carcharsaur]

ok I have jack jeanne character delusions bouncing around my skull I need to let loose, spoilers of varying severity for every main LI and maybe some side chars

kisa: at least a little bi (THOSE AO EVENTS MAN), also an NB girl

kai: my autistic king. depressed as hell where a lot of his emotions feel numbed. also avoidant attachment. I don't think he's ever had a thought or feeling about orientation etc in any shape or form he just loves kisa as a human being.

neji: he's mentally ill in a way that idk how to ascribe tbh. he is also giving ADHD (or at least executive dysfunction) though. I think he's bi/pan but heavily leaned toward men due to his fear of women but also he plays everything as a joke because he's scared of intimacy period so wildcard bitches

shirota: HE/HIM LESBIAN FOR REAL OK. also C-PTSD or at the very least disordered/resistant attachment

fumi: straight and cis but in a fun way. could easily be a drag queen

suzu: straight but had a bi crisis. questioning maybe. he's so genki that it don't matter

sou: straight and cis in a boring way. to me. anxious attachment though

minorikawa: gay but extremely in the closet about it

mare: questioning nonbinary trans fem (LITERALLY HAS A DEADNAME ???)

kasai: GAY AS HELL. in a way that's weirdly straight

ao: she is in gay love with kisa you can't tell me otherwise. she has a valentine event with handmade chocolate and everything come on now

[ferrocyan]

6.55 thoughts I LIKE WUK LAMAT :D they made her for me. they know i've been missing my wife yda ("yda") since arr and went we got you man. here's a genki girl for you. thank you writers i love you

the justification for our coming to tural and meddling in politics is . it smacks of "we're sidestepping the problematic aspects now no need to think abt this too deeply" in my opinion. but i'm not.. opposed to it? it succeeds in making me not feel dread for dawntrail, i guess. i'm actually pretty excited to see where the story will go

like straight up going "we're not the colonizer here, we're stopping a potential colonizer from gaining power so it's ok to meddle in this foreign nation's politics!" is. lol. "these people like it when foreigners meddle bc it means their leader knows how to do international relations" lmao even. well i am a stormblood lover at heart and my instinct is to go ok cool let's go on the adventure then

back to wuk lamat. she's not really all that, is she? despite all the bluster and her status. i think the devs have put a lot more effort in the cutscenes this patch and you really get the sense that she's in over her head here. i like that tbh. a weakling who nevertheless chooses to tank is a novel concept for me, i'm so into it. wuk lamat feels like a synthesis btwn "yda" the false identity and lyse the real person underneath, they took the traits between these two and made them into one girl. my perfect waifu. there will definitely be differences btwn wuk lamat and lyse (the lack of her immigrant narrative, for one) and i'm excited to have another flavor of my favorite girl

and then there's... the scions. i am beyond happy to see that estinien's journey to tural is just him having seen the east and north and south.. ok let's go west. KING. my beloved hobo i'm so happy for him. urianger and thancred also look to be having a good time, good for them, have a great time with your thing fellas. y'shtola has been unseen? at all? is she sitting this expansion out without a word, damn unexpected for the poster girl innit? though as for the one who is sitting out with a word. hmm. hmmfhphfhgfhdgshfh sorry. sorry for my schadenfreude. but this is a very, very funny way to go for g'raha. i thought the funniest thing the devs could do was "somehow zenos has returned" but this is so much fucking funnier. oh my sides. g'raha doesn't deserve this, probably (though i have been feeling that he's a bit redundant now, sorry to his fans) but if i'm getting krile in his place i sure as fuck won't complain lol. but then there's the twins. yeah i guess they do have to join us. for the first time ever i'm not happy about alphinaud being included. his character being turned into a garlemald simp is just. ugh. i have nothing objective to say abt that i just do not want it

well whatever. with this setup i'm hyped to see the scions divided and possibly fighting each other. my prediction is that the miqo'te machinist in the poster is koana-niisan and he's the one who hired thancred and urianger. which might leave the mamool ja guy as the one with imperial ambitions whom we must stop. err that would be a bad look... i sure hope not. my dread for dawntrail might be coming back

[nihongomoji]

Inuyasha Japanese Words and Phrases

Higurashi Jinja

The "Higurashi Shrine." The name of the shrine Kagome and her family live at.

Hone Kui no Ido

The name of the "bone-eaters well" that is the portal between Kagome's and Inuyasha's worlds. It is part of the Higurashi Jinja.

Sengoku Jidai

The name of Inuyasha's world. "The Warring Period" or "Fudal Japan"

Shikon no Tama

The name of the jewel that Kikyo protected. It gives youkai more power, and can destroy them at the same time.

Shikon no Kakera

The pieces of the Shikon no Tama that Kagome and Inuyasha are searching for. If a youkai gets ahold of one piece, their powers increase.

Youkai

A "monster/demon". Sengoku Jidai is filled with them. Inuyasha's father was a demon, and Fluffy is one.

Hanyou

A half demon. Inuyasha is a hanyou.

Youryoku

Demon strength. Sometimes this is the reason humans go after the Shikon no Tama/Kakera

Shingetsu

The new moon, when Inuyasha turns into a human.

Tessaiga

The name of Inuyasha's sword. It belonged to his father, and usually changes from a rusty, old sword to a powerful one. Though sometimes it fails, like when Inuyasha is in human form. But in English it is known Tetsusaiga.

Hijinkessou

The name of Inuyasha's attack where he uses his own blood. (Blades of Blood)

Sankontessou

A name of one of Inuyasha's attacks. (Iron Revert Soul Shater)

Kitsunebi

The name of Shippou's attack. (Fox Fire)

Kazaana

An "empty hole", the name of the "black hole" like object in Miroku's hand.

Hiraikotsu

The name of Sango's attack, using her boomerang-like weapon.

Shinidamachuu

Name of the serpent like creatures that take and carry souls of the living to Kikyou.

Saimyoushou

Name of the poisonous flying insects of Naraku's. If they enter Miroku's Kazaana, they'll poison him.

Kaze no Kizu

Name of Inuyasha's attack where he "finds" the scent of the wind, and uses the Tetsusaiga to do some powerful damage.

Tenseiga

Name of Sesshoumaru's Sword, which can only be used to save others. Osuwari

This is all Kagome has to say to make Inu-Yasha's head ran into the ground. This happens because of the Prayer-Beads around his neck.

Sankontessou

ai - love

ai shiteru - I love you

anata - you (commonly used)

ano - well... (Kagome uses this a lot)

are - (ah-reh) Huh?

arigato - thank you

arigatougouzaimasu - thank you very much (much more polite)

atashi - me (female version)

baka - idiot/stupid/moron (who doesn't know this word?)

bishoujo - pretty girl (for instance, Sango)

bishounen - pretty boy (for instance, Sesshoumaru)

boku - me/I (used by males and pretty informal)

chibi - little, small

chikuso - dammit

chotto - a little

chuu-gakkou - middle school

daijoubu - in question form it means, "Are you ok". Just said out as a statement means "I'm fine."

dame - bad, no good

demo - but

fuku - uniform. Like Kagome's school clothes.

gakkou - school

gakkousei - student

genki - energy, healthy, happy, entergetic

gomen - I'm sorry. Gomen nasai means I'm very sorry.

hai - yeah, yes, ok

Hanyou - (Han-yoh) Han = half, You = demon. So, half-demon. In this case, Inuyasha is a hanyou because his father was a youkai and his mother was a human.

hentai - pervert

hime - princess

hokora - small shrine. Such as the one that the Bone Gobbling well is concealed in.

houshi - monk. Miroku's a houshi, though a perverted one at that.

iie - no

inu - dog

Inuyasha - Inu = dog, Yasha = Demon, so "Dog-demon". The kanji breakdown of his name translate to "Dog Night Wars/Gang" according to a Japanese woman who I had the pleasure of talking to in Tsukuba City, Japan. (Of course I had to ask her about Inuyasha. ^_^)

itai - owch

ja ne - or just plain out 'ja' mean 'see you later'

jigoku - hell

Kagome - A song for children that many Japanese people know. Besides being the heroine's name, there was some meaning behind it, actually.

Kami - God. Kami-Sama would be talking about god, or some very high ranking person, such as an emperor.

kappa - water demon

katana - Japanese samurai styled sword

kawaii - cute

kaze - wind

ki - spirit, energy

kimi - you (male form to close friends or children)

kisama - you (very insulting) Inuyasha uses this a lot when talking to enemies or just in general since he is a potty mouth.

kitsune - fox. Shippou is a kitsune youkai or fox demon.

Kokoro - Spirit, love, heart, soul. Various meanings, but all have to do with spirit.

konnichi wa - hello

kunoichi - female ninja

mamouru - to protect

mamotte ageru - I'll protect you.

matte - Stop! (male)

miko - priestess (What Kikyou is)

minna - everyone

mou - sign of exasperation, like sighing

nani - what?

Ningen - Human

ohayo - good morning

oi! - hey! (male) Inuyasha uses this a lot

oji - prince

ojo - princess

onegai - please?

Oni - Devil

onna - woman

ore - me (rude)

oswari - sit! (dog style, go figure) This is used to subdue Inuyasha by Kagome.

otoko - male, guy, man

otoko no ko - boy (Kagome first calls Inuyasha this when she first discovers him)

otou-san - father

owari - the end

sake - wine

Sengoku Jidai - age of warring states. Era where Inuyasha lives

senpai - upperclassmen

Shikon no Tama - Jewel of Four Souls or the Four Souled Jewel. In this story, the jewel contains four spirits of the world and was created by a priestess named Midoriko who lived long before even Inuyasha's time. This is a powerful jewel that can grant anyone strength.

shin-e - die

Shouki - evil aura given off by youkai

Shoujo - General word for girl

Shounen - General word for boy

sora - sky

sugoi - cool! awesome!

sumimasen - I'm sorry, please excuse me.

Tai - As in taiyoukai. Tai means ultimate, surpreme, or great. So, taiyoukai would mean "Great Demon" which is what Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father was.

tamashi - life

tetsusaiga - Inuyasha's sword that was left behind for him from his father. It transforms into a large fang when it is held by someone who wishes to protect Humans and can only work with Inuyasha. When it's not transformed, it appears as a rusty old katana.

ursai - shut up (Inuyasha says this to Kagome a lot)

uso - a lie

wakaru - I understand.

watashi - I (polite)

watashi wa - I am

yamero - stop it!

yarou - bastard (used towards males)

Youkai - Means "demon" in this sense. The word "you" translates to demon, but the real meaning behind 'youkai' is 'bewitching apparition' which include demons, monsters, goblins, and ghouls. Obake and bakemono mean the same thing as youkai and are other words frequently used for spirits.

yume - dream

zettai - never

*Name Suffixes*

-chan - Used between friends or with someone younger than you. Generally a very friendly suffix such as "Shippou-chan" as Kagome calls Shippou. Used between boyfriends and girlfriends.

-kun - Generally used for males, but can be used for females too. Someone who's close to you as a friend. Kagome calls Kouga "Kouga-kun" to show how she's friendly with him.

-san - Polite and formal. Used for someone at the same position as you or higher. You would use this with strangers if you didn't know them well. It basically means "Ms, Miss, Mr., or Mrs." Miroku calls Kagome "Kagome-san" out of respect.

-dono - Not frequently used in this anime, but in others, like Rurouni Kenshin. Indicates respect and is very polite.

-sama - Very high respect. Used when speaking about gods or someone like an emperor or king. In this case, Kikyou is called "Kikyou-sama" by the villagers that she lived with.

-sensei - Originally means "born earlier than me". Usually used towards your master, teacher, or someone wise in the literature and art. You would call your school teacher by this suffix.

onee-chan/san/sama - what you would call your sister. Souta calls Kagome "Kagome onee-chan". Kaede calls Kikyou "Kikyou onee-sama".

onii-chan/san/sama - what you would call your brother. Souta calls Inuyasha Inu-no-oniichan or the "Dog-eared brother".

jii-chan/san/sama - grandfather. Kagome calls her grandfather "Jii-chan"

[spiritmaiden23]

ANSWER 20 QUESTIONS, THEN TAG 20 FOLLOWERS!!!! (20??? no, i ain’t doing that) 

Nickname: Amber! Also Dee from my gamer gorl tag Lulladee! Not... not that I play many online games for that pft 

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Language: English, little Spanish but I promise you I’m super bad and refuse to speak it :’))) I can’t roll my r’s :’))) actually... I’m bad at English too... 

Nationality: A dumbass American who can’t read, keep it moving folks!!

Favorite Season: When I lived up north it was a tie between summer and fall but now? Spring, it’s warm and just right and while I miss the spring flowers it’s still nice weather. Summer and Fall is hurricane time and winter it can get to 60s and hm, that’s no bueno for me chief. 

Favorite Flower: Daffodils!! They’re so pretty and looking at them always feels so warm! I miss seeing them grow in the spring time once all the snow melts away, it’s nice to see the yellow flowers blooming because that means winter is over!! So when I was younger, I was always happy to see wild ones. I’d love to see them again ;v; 

Favorite Book(s): Ah, hm. Can’t say I have one, I have love for most of the books I read. 

Favorite Fictional Character(s): How dare you ask me this, me, a total Libra through and through who can’t make choices? It’s so hard for me to choose because I have a long list so let’s go with: goth or cute genki characters, delinquents or jerks with a heart of gold, and characters like Heather Mason from sh3 who are scared as shit but still presses through and can also keep sarcasm despite how scary things are. 

Favorite Colour: Pastels!! Gimme all the pastels!! My fam keeps thinking I’m saying pasteles when I use pastels in text lmao 

Favorite Animal(s): SLOTHS!!! I love sloths so much I think they’re super cute and find their slow movements to be cute too, and I can relate to them, every time I see baby sloths and their little squeaks I cry. If I could, I’d love to work at a sloth sanctuary although I think I might cry when they have to go back into the wild. Red panda is up there and I’m sure friends know this since they send me cat pics but I love cats!! And when friends send me the cat pics!! And also dogs, I love all animals man, it’s hard to pick just one. 

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate: ALL OF THEM, see what I mean by total Libra? I always use copout answers when I can’t decide. 

Average Sleep: My sleep hygiene sucks and I’m trying to get it back, four to three hours because I always wake up around seven or eight in the morning and if I’m lucky or take sleeping pills around ten then nine hours... assuming i don’t have to go to work early in the morning! 

🐱 or 🐶 Person: As we established, I love both of those amazing animals. There’s no better side, they’re both good. Both. 

Number of Blankets: You’d think one or two considering where I live gets hotter than satan’s asscrack. But actually, three or four. I like feeling like a burrito and I get cold too easily 

Blog Established: WOW OK so july of 2019... time goes by fast, huh? Though I’ve been playing as this girl since 2017. Me slapping Zel’s tiny forehead, this girl stores so much love and genki along with depth in her that it makes it fun to write for her for this long! Not even my first muse lasted this long, I played her up to 2016 ;v; 

Followers: -0, heh Random Fact: I can’t stand blood... I always feel so faint with it. And anything having to do with the human body such as hearts always freaks me out, and gosh needles scare me namely needs that takes blood. If I tell you the amount of times I’ve passed out while drawing my blood you guys would laugh. Heck, just thinking about needles drawing blood is making me so dizzy I can’t even think about this, that’s how bad it is hweoh. So I’ll stop here before I pass out from words HWOEH. Funny enough, tho, I’m fine with movie blood if it’s not super realistic and graphic. 

[lori-hime]

I haven't written much about what I've been up to lately, so here's some word salad updates~ 🥗

NijiGaku Anime

So I started watching the new LL. I hadn't been keeping up with SIFAS' story, but I did read some of it when it first came out. I gotta say, I'm really enjoying all of the changes they decided to make for the anime version of the story, to both the characters and story. It's starting to feel like something coherent. The story in the game was ok, but the main thing that interested me was the interactions with Muse and Aqours, overshadowing the actual "plot" and even Nijigasaki themselves. But the anime really made me interested and excited about the story and characters again. I would be a little annoyed about the personality and dynamic changes, but honestly, I'm used to it by now. LL always ends up doing this sort of thing, and the personalities only seem to become solidified after the anime airs.

A little disappointed in Kasumi's change in some vague ways I don't really feel like describing, but honestly it balances out because Ayumu is fantastic now (previously one of my least cared for of the group.) Yu's personality is surprisingly super gay fun and I'm really excited for her and Ayumu's dynamic in particular. They're so cute. Seriously feel like I'm gonna ship them hard.

I also really like Rina's initial personality in this. Not only is she bad at expressing emotions through her face, but she also seems bad at expressing them through words too. I feel like this is gonna be much more interesting than her already being cutesy and genki like in the promo stuff and SIFAS.

When Karin was first shown, I had mixed feelings. At first I was like oh god I'm gay and she's beautiful. But the whole sexuality flaunting thing kind of put me off for several reasons I don't really wanna get into explaining. I really didn't know how to feel. I started liking her a little more during SIFAS, when she competed against Muse in DDR and lost... started feeling like I was getting a glimpse of her real personality without the whole sexy idol persona. Although not much has happened in the anime with her yet, she's giving me Nozomi vibes and I love it. I actually think if I had gone into this without previous knowledge of the characters, I'd be betting she'd become my fave for sure.

My list has gone from Kasumi > Rina > Kanata / Emma > Karin > Ai > Setsuna > Ayumu > Shizuku to Yuu > Ayumu > Kasumi / Karin > Rina > Kanata / Emma > Ai > Setsuna > Shizuku

Still biased a bit towards characters that have shown up more in the first two eps, so it'll undoubtedly change. But It's really interesting how much the characters I already felt I had good placements for changed so much.

Edit for episode 3, because I didn't post this fast enough. Student council speedrun was fantastic. Yu continues to be incredibly gay. I wonder how this episode will affect the ships people will gravitate towards. LL has always been a fairly monoship fandom, heavily gravitating towards specific pairs. Of course that's largely the fault of canon itself, often pushing and developing single ships. Well, I suppose we saw a big change with Aqours, though, especially with season two. But even then, the ships tended to stay at least between girls of the same year (aside from my rarepair, shout-out to YohaRiko.) Now, I wonder. From the very beginning, before Yu even had a name, it felt like they were really pushing the shippy stuff @ the viewer. I wonder if that’s still gonna be the angle. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet. I really want to see more YuAyu rather than YuSetsu, but I can't really be mad at more gay content unless they try to make it a DEEP story and then fail to resolve it but haha they'd NEVER do that, I'm sure!!

As for the others... I'm guessing they're gonna push RinAi, KarinEmma, YuuKasu, and maybe YuuShizu? My original guesses were that AiKarin would be a thing, evoking NozoEli v3. But I guess that'd be too predictable a third time. KarinEmma sounds like it could be cute and sweet, RinAi feels like it has adorable potential, and YuKasu vs. YuAyu sounds like it could have some good comedic rival-y potential, given they don't make Kasumi super serious about it and make it really angsty. Not that a cute idol show would ever do such a thing haha!!!!!

Higurashi Gou

Also started Higurashi. I doubt many people know this, but I used to be a major Higurashi fan before I got into Touhou. It was my main "fandom" I guess, even though there wasn't really that much of a fandom to interact with comparatively. Anyway, despite that, I didn't think I'd get into this remake super hard... but I'm really loving it so far. The art style is really pretty and eye candy, and it turns out it's a direct continuation of the story rather than a remake. Very excited to see where it's going, and also to see a lot of my baby Rena again.

An interesting difference to me as I'm rewatching are my feelings for Keiichi. While I don't hate him, over the years I've really grown tired of the generic male leads (especially in harem anime) like him. Of course, he's definitely not AS generic as they come, or maybe perhaps that's just my bias from when I used to really like him. The me back then found him unique enough to stand beside the girls. Nowadays, I definitely can't say the same. At least he doesn't grate on my nerves as much as most other harem anime protags do, however. I feel like despite lacking the quirks that make the girls so likeable and unique, he still has something going for him... perhaps the fact he's framed as inherently different from everyone else, because he comes from the city, and the way he acts a bit more realistically to the scary things that are happening. Although those things are obviously explained away later, at least for now I still accept him for what he is, old bias or not.

Genshin Impact

Been playing Genshin Impact religiously and loved every second of it. Though I've caught up with the main story content, so sadly it's slowed down. I'd never heard of this game before it came out, so I was absolutely wowed that such a game was f2p. I've heard a lot of people criticizing it because they added gacha in at the last minute, and I definitely understand being annoyed through the pov of someone who was anticipating it. But part of me is still really thankful that the game is free at all. I suppose that full but paid 60 dollar game would still be a better experience, but because of my non-existent budget situation, I may not have ended up playing it at all.

Aside from the arguably shitty monetization practices, however, the game is fantastic. It really is as similar to BoTW as people have mentioned, and I really appreciate that. BoTW, from a gameplay standpoint, is absolutely my favorite game. It's exactly what I want from any given game. So I really appreciated this. The story and characters of Genshin are also really interesting. I really like Qiqi, Venti, Fischl, and Xingqiu, among others. I spent a while rerolling for Qiqi or Venti 5*s, and eventually got an account with Qiqi. Venti on the other hand I've been trying to roll for but sadly haven't gotten. I have 1 roll left before the banner ends, so hopefully.. My friends whaled him for me. I swear I tried to stop them! I owe them my soul...

HoloLive, Pikamee & Vtubing

I briefly started getting into HoloLive a little while ago. After the Aloe stuff, I started worrying a bit about how the company handles these situations as well as the girls' freedoms and how much of their donation money they actually get.. (I made a post about it a while back.) After a while my worries died down a bit, but then came back full force with the Coco and Haachama situation. After that and one too many uncomfortable sexual jokes, I decided to just distance myself from HL. It's a shame, because I really enjoyed their personalities, but it was making me feel uncomfortable more often than not.

I told myself it’s fine, I’ve got Pikamee if I ever feel like watching vtubers again. And then like a week later... Well, it’s not really something I wanna talk about here, but she made some posts on twitter that made me too uncomfortable to continue watching her either.

On a much lighter note... A friend of mine showed us how to use prprlive and facerig to use the Touhou CB Live2D models, and Asa and I played around with Mokou, Kaguya, and Lyrica’s. It was quite fun, and I do look forward to using the Kaguya one for private streams on one of my servers. I’ve actually always wanted to try out vtubing stuff myself, but not really publicly. Of course, the costs for getting a model drawn and made specifically for me are too much for something I’m not really committing to, so this is perfect. I’m excited~

Touhou Cannonball & Kagura Thoughts

It’s been a long time since I talked about Touhou CB on my blog, and I’m pretty sure I left things on a pretty bad note. Mainly dissatisfied with Mokou’s portrayal for pretty shallow reasons on my part, despite they game having just started and having a lot of room to grow. And grow it did. While I quit pretty early in because of that, Asa decided to take over my account. She realized that it was pretty easy to upgrade any given character you had to a 5* without having to rely much on the gacha. She ended up playing a lot with the goal of upgrading everyone we had. I came back to it around July and actually had a lot of fun with it. The cast had gotten much bigger and we really enjoyed playing on multiplayer. It wasn't the best game ever from a gameplay standpoint, but it definitely had it's charm. The announcement of its death, although unsurprising, came at the worst time. Asa and I actually cried a little when we saw the announcement, ngl. The game had such good, wholesome, Touhouy vibes to it. Nonetheless, we made the most out of the last month or so after the announcement. We played a LOT of multiplayer and had a lot of really cute and good interactions with other players. Near the end, we realized that Lyrica was the only character from the normal banner we were missing, so we grinded like crazy (mostly Asa) to try to get her... we ended up getting a number of 5*s but none Lyrica... she eluded us to the very end. It was quite sad, but how hard we worked for it still felt satisfying somehow. We were able to max out our multiplayer level and complete a ton of goals we wouldn’t have otherwise.

So after this bittersweet experience with Touhou gacha, and all the scummy things I've been hearing about Lost Word, I've been thinking like... I'm done with Touhou gacha, at least for now. Don't wanna hear anything else about it for a good while. And then the 25th anniversary hits and they announce Kagura. Ugh. Please, give me a break. Needless to say, I'm gonna have to give it a try. Touhou is my life, I love rhythm games, I love Touhou music, and I love character collecting games. And I've been waiting for something to replace SIF gameplay in my heart for a long time. I'd banked my hopes on SIFAS but it's really barely a rhythm game so.... at least now that I've gone through CB's death and seen how cruddy LW is, I'll have lower standards and not get my hopes up too high.

If you got this far, thanks for reading my rambles and have a good day~

[ikementally-deficient]

hello lovely, could i get a matchup for arr and ikevamp, if only one then just arr is fine! i need a man who‘s into lolis bc even after way too many years i still look like a goddamn 12 yr old, so he has to be okay with the fbi busting through the door everytime he gets close to me 😔✊😔✊(JKJK but not really //CRIES)). i‘m super clingy and kinda possessive, the scorpio in me is SCREAMING- also i should prbly mention that according to my birthchart i‘m the biggest scorpio you‘ll ever meet??[1/3]

please don‘t ask IT‘S BAD. yeah, if i like u and i decide that ur good enough to keep me from doing dumb stuff and getting into accidents (bc my situational awareness is = 0), i will pretty much follow u around like a smol duckling. i kind of get babied alot, but if im being honest, i actually enjoy it 8) LOL. i‘m a BIG SLUT for affection like,,, c,an we h,,h,,,hold hands?? cuddle?? kiss?? BUT im also a pretty cool noodle OK? my talent is to counter anything with a super smootj line ;). [2/3]

BIG INTROVERT RIGHT HERE, so i prefer spending some quality alone time with my loved ones esp at cafés! i‘m also hecka short and even though it gets kinda annoying, it‘s perfect to hug other ppl bc everyone‘s ur personal teddy hehe. i have 0braincells which makes me zone out alot and i‘m generally a stupid brat. but i make it up by being hecka smooth and pretending to be the male love interest of a shoujo manga LOL. thank u for ur time + have a good day!! xoxo gossip girl 8) [3/3]

I ship you with . . . Kuro!

Your mile-a-minute internal monologue complements Kuro’s aggressive genki-ness. He’s not bothered that you look young; so does he, and the two of you get away with a lot more ostensibly immature behaviour (i.e.: public fun) than you would otherwise. You’re both physically very affectionate, which is good; Kuro can be kind of dumb, perception-wise, and might trigger your jealous tendencies inadvertantly with his tendency to chat and smile to anyone in earshot, but he loves when you walk up and wrap your arms around his waist or worm your way under his arm, so you never need to fight about it. You’ll spend a lot of time hanging out at Raccord with Oji while he and Kuro play Go, Kusanagi books with Ginnojo (the sleepovers are canon!), or watching Kuro practice his acrobatics at the park. 

Requests are closed until January 1 2020 - here’s what I’m doing in the meantime!

[nozomicchins]

16 and 20 for ask thing

16. Share a headcanon!

asjdfhk ok im myself a pretty realistic person so headcanon is not my thing but i'll try my best hhh. the anime didnt do hanamaru's justice so this headcanon will focus on her. this is also pretty depressing soooo idk read at your own risk??

before high school hanamaru had no friends. she was boycotted for being a 'nerd' and ridiculously outdated. plus her dialect and verbal tic also annoy her classmates. this made hanamaru depressed in middle school. it also explains why she is self-depreciating. she found eating a cure to her depression and forgot abt self-care - which is also why she has a lack of physical condition. the depression kept getting worse since she’s not that close to her grandparents. so yeah no one helped her w/ it until high school when she met ruby and ruby lifted her up and she started to find her interests again and yada yada the rest is history

WHEW WHAT DID I JUST DO im sorry this is so dumb i wanna delete this now kill me ;;

20. Favorite attribute (Cool, Pure, Smile)

i think its smile? sometimes genki girls are nice they are cheerful they can brighten my day :) (even though i see myself more like a ‘pure’ person hh)

LOVE LIVE ASK!

[babywhereyougone]

[Translation] The Television 2019-01 - Wild Sexy (Part 2 - 20 Questions) (original scans: nsnsns_mmm@twitter)

1. When’s your birthday? Ryo: October 30, 2000 Mizuki: October 31, 2000 Yuto: November 15, 1999 Soya: September 20, 2002 Ryuto: September 30, 2002

2. Where’s your hometown? Ryo: Kangawa Prefecture Mizuki: Kanagawa Prefecture Yuto: Kanagawa Prefecture Soya: Tokyo Ryuto: Kanagawa Prefecture

3. What’s your blood type? Ryo: O Mizuki: AB Yuto: A Soya: A Ryuto: O 4.What’s your hobby/special skill? Ryo: My hobby is billiards. I have been playing it for about a year and have gotten pretty good. My special skill is talking with people I’ve never met before. Zero shyness. Mizuki: My hobby is shopping. My special skill is eliminating my presence. No matter the circumstance, I can disappear with ease and have people wondering where I went (laughs). Yuto: Baseball. I played it from second grade to my first year of high school. I also love watching it. Soya: To debate and talk about the world news and topics. Ryuto: Playing the ukulele is a recent hobby. I bought it when I was abroad, and I got really into it after I played it as a break from the test studying period. My special skills is turning things I hate into things I like. Such an example is acrobatics! 5. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get a night? Ryo: 6 hours. I sleep at midnight and wake up at 6 in the morning. Mizuki: About 7 hours. Today was 6 hours. Yuto: 8 hours. Today was about 8 hours, but the ideal is 24 hours. I can sleep all day! Soya: 6 hours. I got 11 hours today so I’m super content. Ryuto: 7.5 hours. It was about 6 hours today. 6. What’s your favorite thing to eat lately? Ryo: Beef tongue. I buy a block of beef tongue, cook it in sesame oil, and mix it with some spring onions. Eating it like that is the best. Mizuki: The smell of truffle. (Iwahashi) Genki went to this place and had truffle french fries that were super good and now obsessed with, but I haven’t had the chance to try yet (laughs). Yuto: Convenience store oden. I must have daikon and sometimes I’ll also buy egg and kon’nyaku, too. Soya: Cream croquette. Crispy on the outside and soft, melty center inside. Ryuto: Convenience store kalbi bento. 7. What did you eat today? Ryo: For breakfast, I had yesterday’s leftover yakiniku. For lunch, I had curry. Mizuki: Bacon cheeseburger. Yuto: Kimchi. I wasn’t feeling too well this morning, but I felt better after eating kimchi. Soya: For breakfast ad lunch, I had beef tongue rice my mother made. Ryuto: For breakfast I had cereal. I was studying for tests during lunch so I didn’t get a chance to eat… When I’m immersed in something, my appetite takes a break. 8. How many texts do you send in a day? Ryo: About 50. I have about 10 people I talk with regularly. I call in my downtime, so I don’t text much. Mizuki: Almost zero. I immediately reply when I get something, but I rarely send anything myself. Yuto: About 50. Soya: I don’t answer my phone when I’m busy so zero. I usually only text my family, the group members, senpais, and some other people, so maybe about 4 a day. Ryuto: About 3. I call more than text. 9. Who in Johnny’s did you message most recently? Ryo: Shime-chan (Shimekake Ryuya) texted me, “Why didn’t you come to the stage show,?” and I replied, “Because of work and tests.” I want to go if I could~ Mizuki: Nishimura Takuya of Kansai Johnny’s Jr. When I have time, I’d ask him how he is and he sends back a nice reply. Yuto: 7MEN Samurai’s Sasaki Taiko and I entered the company at the same time, so he’s always being cheeky with me. For instance, he saw the TV show I appeared on recently, “Everyone looked amazing …except for Yuto” (laughs). Soya: Tanaka Juri-kun. He gave me advice on the rap I did for “The Shounen Club.” Ryuto: (Sasaki) Taiko. He wants to get something simple across but can’t find the right words for it so the text comes off as angry (laughs). 10. What’s your favorite emoji? Ryo: Cute, funny faces emojis. Mizuki: LINE stamp of the white, round character with his thumbs up. Yuto: Stamps of my favorite anime character. I use the “OK” and “Thank You” ones a lot. Soya: Surreal character stamp of a slim kid. The one where he’s bowing going, “G’mornnnnn!!” is convenient so I use it a lot. Ryuto: Grinning and laughing white bear. I like the relaxed, half-baked ones. 11. What’s on your homescreen? Ryo: A picture taken at Disneyland of JUNIOR 5, including Saku-chan. Mizuki: It’s completely white. I can see the icons easier this way. Yuto: A picture of Mount Fuji I took outside of the hotel window on a family trip. Soya: It’s a photo of a single red rose I purchased. The photo quality on my phone is really good so the red is so vivid and beautiful. Ryuto: The view of the ocean at sunset. Around the summer, it was of Yuto’s expression upon taking a photo with Matsumoto Jun-kun in the dressing room. 12. What’s the most recent photo you took? Ryo: Of my own hair. Just dyed it black. Mizuki: Choreo video. Yuto: A picture of Matsumoto Jun-kun during his concert. The pose he was during while wearing pink gloves was really cool so I took a picture of it without thinking about it when I saw it in a magazine or something. Soya: A picture with friends taken in front of the emergency stairwell on the day of the school culture festival. But we took it with the light the wrong direction so it was a big fail (laughs). Ryuto: Taiko holding a ukulele. 13. What sort of pictures do you have the most in your camera roll? Ryo: Pictures with friends. When we go out, we ask people nearby to take photos for us. Mizuki: I don’t really take photos, they’re pretty much all choreography videos. Yuto: Photos of the members’ selfies when they steal my phone. I dunno what kind of faces Hashimoto-kun makes, Saku-chan’s photos are of eyes wide open, etc. (laughs). Soya: Family. My older sister loves photos so there’s a lot of everyone. I’m like cut off to the side. Ryuto: Of the members. I turn my camera towards the members in between rehearsals. I have a lot of good faces from Yuto. 14. What do you always have in your bag? Ryo: Breath mints. Mizuki: Mask and tissues. And a train character chewing gum. I loved that gum since I was kid so I always have it. Yuto: Perfume. I’m into scents, and I’ve been into jasmine lately. Soya: Hand wipes. I use it when there isn’t any hand soap when I’m out. Ryuto: A ballpoint ben. It’s the kind with both black and red ink together and it fits into my wallet. 15. What’s your most recent purchase? Ryo: Hawaiian jewelry. I bought something that has “strength” associated with it. Mizuki: A red smartphone case. (Takahashi) Kaito gave me a case that has a built-in battery that I’ve been using, but the color faded… so I went and bought the same color and style! Yuto: Hawaiian ring. Soya: Five rings from Hawaii. My fingers look pretty when I put them on. Ryuto: Mobile battery. 16. What do you want the most right now? Ryo: Motorcycle. I want to ride one during a concert! I have to get a license first, though. Mizuki: I want to try living on my own so I want a one bedroom apartment (laughs). Yuto: White sneakers or boots. I surprisingly like white, even the wristwatch I’m wearing now is white. Soya: A super amazing massage chair for when I’m tense. I never experienced it before, but I want to experience the first class cabin of an airplane. Ryuto: Macro lens for an SLR camera. 17. What type of girls do you like? Ryo: A girl who looks good with short, brown hair. Mizuki: A girl who supports and doesn’t reject my opinions. Yuto: Someone who isn’t clingy, a girl who is a bit of a tomboy. Soya: A bit of a dreamer who says funny, innocent things at times. Ryuto: Someone who talks for me. I don’t hate conversation, but I’m bad at bringing up topics… 18. If you were a girl, which member do you want to go out with? Ryo: None! I know too much about them all so it would be bad (laughs). If it’s any other group, then (Yoshizawa) Shizuya-kun. He’s so nice. Mizuki: Sakuma! Since he wouldn’t be disagreeable with me (laughs). Yuto: None (laughs). But, if Saku-chan was my boyfriend, it would be pleasantly fun. Soya: Hard pass on all (laughs). But if I had to choose someone, the person that fits the answer to the last question the most would be Sakuma. Ryuto: I guess Mizuki-kun. If I were his girlfriend, I’d probably fuss a bit over if he’s sleepy. 19. When do you feel the most happy? Ryo: When I’m talking with my friends at school about how we’re graduating soon. It’s a bit sad though—that only have a little bit of time left together with my classmates. Mizuki: When I hit the snooze button. And, when I eat yummy foods! Yuto: That feeling when I realize that so many different people love me now than ever before. Soya: Shampoo (hair wash) at the beauty salon. Ryuto: When I can relate to a book I’m reading. 20. What’s one thing you want to say to yourself about this past year? Ryo: You’ve grown up a lot! You now like black costumes more than the sparkly ones, you now have an interest in cars and motorcycles, your tone suddenly changed. Mizuki: Blossom. It’s your final year of high school, and it feels like it was spent brilliantly blossoming. Yuto: It was an incredible, spectacular year! Soya: You worked hard! Deserving of praise! Ryuto: You worked hard! You gave everything you had in all the work opportunities given this year.

[quell-tea-salon]

THE IDOLM@STER SideM 3rdLIVE TOUR - GLORIOUS ST@GE Fukuoka (2018/3/25) event report

Cast: S.E.M, Cafe Parade, THE Kogado, Legenders, Mofumofuen, Beit (Pierre and Minori only; Kyoji (Ume-chan) was at Anime Japan).

This is going to be long and messy and full of CAPS. Cast members are referred to by their nicknames. The set list, if you don’t mind spoilers.

Where do I start? My heart is so full.

My day started like this: I was exhausted even before the concert because I had been in the queue for the merchandise booths for FIVE HOURS since 8:30am. There was SO many people, and no doubt many, like me, had traveled interstate or even from overseas. As Fukuoka’s concert was the only one held in West Japan I think that many fans from this side of the country would make the effort to come even if they didn’t have a ticket for the concert (anyone could visit the merch booths and there were cinemas nearby showing the live-viewing). Anyway, I was planning to buy the rubber wrist bands but they all sold out within the first hour. I had to keep changing my shopping list while checking twitter updates about stuff that had sold out, and by the time I reached the booths pretty much everything that I wanted was gone, save the official pamphlet and Fukuoka limited edition charm (in pic above). I’ve attended events before so I should have known what to expect, but I was still shaking my head in disbelief ^p^ On the bright side I made friends with the person who was in line next to me (a BeitP!) and after we were finally done with the booths we barely had time to grab lunch before the show started.

There was another long (but thankfully fast-moving) queue to enter the concert hall as staff did ID checks, then yet another line for the bathroom. By the time I made it back to my seat, it was 6 minutes to start time OTL Unfortunately I didn’t have much luck with seating this time; I was two thirds down the back of the hall and could barely see the ground level of the stage. ...And of course there was a tall dude a few rows in front of me blocking my view of the middle of the stage >_> I had to keep reminding myself that I was lucky just to be there. (Sitting in the back rows isn’t all bad though; more on that later.)

The show kicked off with the standard sponsors and messages from Yamamura on the main screen. Then the lights dimmed and the whole cast appeared on stage to perform Reason!! It took a while for it to set in that I was actually physically present at a concert and not watching a live-viewing T_T For today’s concert Totto (Hazama-sensei) covered Shugon’s (Teru) solo parts in the song. Later he introduced himself as the MC for today! While I was happy for him tbh I was also a little worried bc Totto can be fuwafuwa (fluffy.... if you get my drift), but I knew Yoshiki would support him. Thankfully Totto was a decent if mostly absent (lol) host, and even Enokiya, usually a salty tsundere, was surprisingly serious for the most part *Maita P’s everywhere clutching their chests* Furukawa and Shohei both said that they were happy to be here as Fukuoka/Kyuushu is their hometown. They both spoke a few lines (in-character) in the local dialects :D During Legenders’ turn Kasama-san shared a cute story about Fuumin - apparently it was Fuumin’s first time on a plane and after landing his ears felt weird so he said “I think I left my ears in the sky!” which Kasama-san thought was such a cute thing to say wwwwwwww Fuumin turned bright red... Koma-chan was just happy to be near the ocean ww (the convention hall was right along the water).

After the intro talk the lights dimmed again and as soon as we heard taiko drum beats we quickly set our pen lights to fluro pink - it was From Teacher to Future! S.E.M appeared in the ouendan cheer outfits and recited the lines from ep5 (as per Makuhari day 2) before striking the Pose of Passion as the crowd cheered :D Again, they shed the ouendan coats before singing. This time Cafepa were the background cheerleaders!! (Later, Enokiya said that he felt whoever was behind him (Asselin iirc) hit him with their pompom a couple of times ww)

Next was Mofumofuen with Welcome Happy Kira Park! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS TO DO CALLS WITH! It was sooo much fun and there were all so adorable T_T To this day I’m still in awe of Yano every time Nao’s voice comes out of his mouth lmao

Cafepa was up next with Cafe Parade! As a fan of Furukawa I was excited to finally get to see him live and he didn’t disappoint. Idk why but today he cranked up the seduction to 100 and his Asselin was.. ajfh;ajfk;ahk;s Asselin u ok why are you dripping sex appeal.......... this is not the Asselin that i know... Also i was wearing concert earplugs (bought a pair after realising that attending so many concerts was gradually damaging my ears; didn’t help that Japan’s concerts are RIDICULOUSLY LOUD) but I could still feel his insane vibrato through the ear plugs O______O But I digress. Cafepa are always rly fun to watch on stage as their performances tend to be dramatic and have a musical flair.

Legenders - Symphonic Brave. I was shaking bc MY OCEAN BOYS!!! It’s my least fave Legenders song but I’ve gradually warmed up to it after watching them perform it on LV a few times, and i rly do love the vocals. Combined with the visuals on the monitor this song makes you feel like you’re soaring through the sky and that anything is possible... Sadly Koma-chan wasn’t performing well today (I briefly wondered if he had a cold or something bc his voice was rly weak in both volume and control), but Kasama-san and Fuumin were amazing! I love the use of mic stands in this song T_T

Kogado - Tsuyoku Toutoki Kemonotachi. Each time they perform this song they do a brand new fight sequence during the bridge; usually Shohei is the one who comes up with the moves (with help from the dance instructors) but for Fukuoka, all three Kogado members worked together and performed a badass fight scene complete with explosive sound effects www

For the next song, a grand staircase decorated with red carpet unfolded on the main screen and Pierre appeared on the upper level of the stage. Mahou no Stair!!! (Yes!!!!!! We knew that Pierre and Minori were definitely singing their solos since they were unlikely to do any Beit songs without Kyoji, and it also happened to be the last day for Beit in the tour.) As Pierre made his way down the stairs towards the lower level of the stage, the steps lit up in red, mimicking the red carpet, while the staircase on screen shifted so it looked like Horieru was a prince gracefully descending upon the ballroom to join us for a dance ;______; Tbh I’m not fond of Pierre’s solo as it sounds rather flat (a pity considering Pierre has such a cute genki voice) but he was super cute and princely and melted every heart in the vicinity T_T At the end of the song he made a gesture like he was waving a magic wand to cast a spell (the main screen behind him showed a sparkly golden spiral) and when he moved aside to retreat from the stage MINORI APPEARED ON THE UPPER LEVEL HOLDING A BOUQUET T______________T Pierre had summoned Minori!!!!!!!!! We screaaaaamed omg Beit medley T______T

During Cherish Bouquet TakaP unleashed his sparkly princely charisma by 5000000% and killed a bunch of people (both girls and guys) in the audience [FANSERVICE INTENSIFIES] By the end of the song most of us were dead.... and when he held out the bouquet towards us (the camera) our SCREAMS lol istg ;;;;;;;;;;;;

Then both Pierre and Minori appeared on stage again wearing blue happi kimonos as the next song’s intro played AND WE LOST IT BC IT WAS FUN FUN FESTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEIT!!!!!!!! GROUP SONG!!!!!!! THEY’RE DOING BEIT SONGS AFTER ALL!!!!! T__________T AND FUNFUNFESTA IS MY #1 FAVOURITE SONG TO DO CALLS WITH omg i felt sooooooo spoiled at that moment...... There was so much to love about this part. Pierre usually dances with his Kaerre plush in this song but this time he was holding Kyoji’s pierre plush (the blue one!)  so Kyoji could perform with them ;___; And both Pierre and Minori were super generous with the fanservice! TakaP’s winks are so destructive >< During the catering part konamono was replaced with “Ramen!” (specialty dish of this region). THEN KOGADO BURST ONTO THE STAGE, ALL WEARING HAPPI KIMONOS AND CARRYING A MIKOSHI PALANQUIN djhfaglhgdfLJHGLFHJDSdf they were hopping and cheering and it was both hilarious and amazing to see Kogado like this......... Really there was so much happening, my heart could barely keep up ;;;;;;;

Shinonome was up next with Piece Montee. This whole sequence was really cute! During the song he mimicked making a cake, piping cream and taste-testing before finally being satisfied with his creation. A HUGE (like, human-sized) balloon art cake was wheeled out onto the stage. After Shinonome left the stage, the lights dimmed and Nao-kun appeared, admiring the cake which had a plate saying “Happy birthday Nao!” on it!!!! NAO-KUUUUUNNNNN THE BIRTHDAY BOY <3<33333

Nao was the cutest thing during Hop Step Hai, Ship T___T He kept admiring the cake and looked soooo happy... He even showed us his fluffy tail and i just jhdfkj;gf;KDF,lkl just, an angel ;;;;;;;;;;

Later during the talk segment, Yano thanked us for all the love, support, and birthday wishes, and said that while he’s feeling incredibly happy and blessed, he has no doubt that Nao is feeling even happier and at the top of the world. It was also Minori’s birthday around that time, so as a double birthday celebration they asked us producers for a favour. We all held up our pen lights in red to mimic candles on a birthday cake, and when Minori and Nao made the motion of blowing out the candles we turned off our pen lights all at the the same time. The hall and stage lights were completely dimmed for this and it was a really pretty sight T_T Happy birthday, Nao and Minori!!!!!!!!!!!

Then it was time for Mofu In The Park, another super fun song to call along to! ME ME! PYON PYON!! GAO GAO!!!!!!!!!!!! This was Mofu’s last day in the tour and they really gave it their all ;___;

THE NEXT PART......IS WHERE I DIED. When i heard the song intro play i FLIPPED MY SHIT BECAUSE I RECOGNISED IT AS SECRET! PLAYFUL! DRIVE! which is a song from the St@rry Collaboration series (the extra CDs that came with the anime BD/DVDs) and NOBODY EXPECTED THIS BECAUSE IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE SAVING THOSE SONGS FOR FIVE ST@R PARTY DKJFA’JGFA;KJGAF;IYLAKYJK

So i was in disbelief already and my brain barely had a second to process that this song belongs to S.E.M and Jupiter before S.E.M APPEARED FROM THE SHADOWS ON AN ELEVATED TROLLEY DECORATED IN BRIGHT RAINBOW LIGHTS AND I JUST DIEEEEEDDDDDDDDD ajbgadjakhaf;l ok so i kinda expected a trolley to come out bc i noticed the staff running around and looking like they were securing the routes, but i wasn’t expecting it to be S.E.M, much less them singing this...sinfully sexy song ;_______; The trolley started from the left side of the stage and made its way around the perimeter of the concert hall, doing a left into the walkway RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BLOCK OF SEATS WHERE I WAS (they were so close omg S.E.M!!!! BEFORE MY EYES!!!! crying forever) before ending its journey on the right side of the stage. As per tradition they were throwing rubber balls at the audience (sadly not in my direction ><). Jirou-chan and Rui were perfect idols and dishing out fanservice the entire time //// Hazama-san was amazing and beautiful and stoic ajhgfsaldgsl god i love SEM so much ;;;;;; As the trolley passed in front of me JIROU-CHAN POINTED AT ME!!!!!!!! At that moment i was actually grateful for getting a shitty seat at the back of the hall sobssss Jirouuuuuuuuuu ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

I REALLY love this song but i have to admit i was barely paying attention to the singing because i was... distracted....... haha... Also this performance changes things for Shizuoka because if SEM did their collab song without Jupiter there’s a chance that DraSta will sing Etranger without Beit. Oh my god. I’m shaking just thinking about it. I’M JEALOUS OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON ATTENDING SHIZUOKA T_T pls say hi to my babies on my behalf.... Anyway, back to the concert.

Tbh i was already 1000000% satisfied with the concert after SEM’s performance lmao but the set list continued to blow my mind... One of the solos i was hoping to hear was Saki-chan’s Favourite ni Odorasete, AND THAT WAS THE NEXT SONG!!!!!!! I started out not rly liking Kobapyon’s voice for Saki-chan because he does this weird squeak that a lot of female seiyuu do too for cute moe characters, which ig kind of describes Saki-chan... But the more i learned about Saki-chan the more i started to like him (her? they? idk which pronoun Saki-chan prefers, pls do enlighten me if you know) and his solo is such a cute and catchy song T_T Kobapyon is srsly really cute in person as well.... just a bundle of angelic cuteness and ribbons tbh.... To top it off, the guest performers for this song were Minori and Pierre!!! Minori was at the top of the stairs and as Saki-chan approached he gave him a bouquet, which Saki-chan happily accepted. Then Minori held out his hand like a fking prince and held Saki-chan’s hand and escorted him down the stairs AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH (the crowd wouldn’t stop screaming ajkh;skjfg). At the bottom of the stairs was Pierre, sitting on a bench and reading a book (iirc). Saki-chan bade Minori farewell and approached the bench, and Pierre pulled out a handkerchief and set it on the bench for Saki-chan to sit on JKAHGLFHGLAHG WHO EVEN DOES THAT ANYMORE OH MY GOD T_______T Saki-chan danced with the both of them in turns and just looked like a beautiful princess with her princes... (I just remembered a tweet i saw about this... “Saki-chan with B(eit) LOL BURUZON CHIEMI REFERENCE) By this point the audience had died again from both jealousy (of Saki-chan) and just overall bliss from getting to witness this cute af performance. Compare this to last year when SEM were the ones escorting Saki-chan and got slapped in the face instead LOL. (When this was brought up during talk time Yoshiki was like “Oh, so it’s fine if it’s Takatsuka?” LMAOOO)

The CafePa medley kept going! Next up was Roll’s One Whole Wonderful. Roll is SO cute!!! TwT He mimed being surrounded by cakes and took a bite from all of them before breaking into the HAPPIEST smile, omg just precious ;;;;;;; Why is CafePa full of cuties ;;;;;;;;;;;; My heart was purified ;;;;;;;;; Then the rest of CafePa joined him on stage for Reversed Masquerade. I love this song more and more each time i see it. I especially the single-file march they do towards the end ;w; 

I started yelling again when the next song played because it was another one that i had been hoping to hear!! Amehiko’s Sweep Your Gloom!!!!!!! (Lol before the concert i was like “I’ll be happy if i get to hear this ONE song. And maybe these others too if i’m really lucky” and i got to hear pretty much all the songs on my list dhjgladhflajdh BLESSED) I love Amehiko’s smooth voice so, so much and this song, despite the serious and uplifting lyrics, sounds sexy af bc of Kasama-san’s voice //// To make the performance even more amazing (THIS KEEPS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THE CONCERT ISTG WE ARE SO LUCKY) Rui and Jirou-chan joined the stage as the backup dancers and i wished that i had extra pairs of eyes to watch all my favourites doing the moody sensual dance T_T

As a LegeP i was still feeling giddy and happy AND THEN SORA APPEARED ON STAGE FOR FLOWING FREEDOM omggggggggg my heart >_____< I LOOOVE this song and Sora did such a great job performing it T_T Fuumin was even wearing red contacts to match Sora’s eyes and the text graphics on the main monitor was really stylish and well done, so much so that i found myself watching the graphics half the time. Next, rounding up the Legenders medley was Legacy of Spirit. Legenders’ starting point! This LegeP couldn’t have asked for more TwT (I guessed that they would save Chris’ solo for Shizuoka.)

Finally it was The Kogado’s turn again! They’ve performed RAY OF LIGHT at every appearance in the tour and it just gets better each time!! Just kickass in all aspects and I love Ren singing in a higher tone, esp that last note of the chorus *__*

Back to SEM with ∞ Possibilities! I’ve heard this song a million times but i’ll never get sick of it. We cheered each time Hazama-sensei hit that goosebumps-inducing note in “koeTEEEEEEE” ;____;

Next was yet another song on my wish list! Hazama-sensei’s Learning Message! Like everyone else I’m absolutely in love with Totto’s amazing vocals and the song’s technopop instrumentals are to die for. Imo this song’s key sounds a tad high for Hazama’s in-character vocal range but Totto never fails to deliver a strong vocal performance >< In true SEM tradition he had some weird dance moves haha (someone on twitter interpreted them as possible math symbols).

Beit took the stage again for Smile Engage!!!!! Ahhh THE representative Beit song T_T Horieru and TakaP were sparkly and charming as usual but tbh the vocals sounded a little thin without Kyoji...

SEM joined them on stage next for Eureka Diary. As with the previous songs i think Minori sang most of Kyoji’s lines? I have to admit that I don’t really like this song but it was great seeing Beit and SEM on stage together ;w;

We were in the last segment of the concert which followed the standard template - Beyond The Dream, costume change break/”Encore!” yelling time, then GLORIOUS RO@D, and lastly, DRIVE A LIVE. Iirc Jirou-chan sang Touma’s solo part in GloRoad? I was jealous of the people sitting in the front half of the hall as it was raining paper/foam stars with the Glorious St@ge logo. But more importantly I was ecstatic to be able to participate in yelling “WE ARE 315!!!!” during Drive A Live T_______T I’ve never felt closer to the im@s community and the 315 idols.....

I don’t remember much from the ending talk but I do recall SEM attempting to speak in the local dialects, a somewhat teary-eyed Murase addressing F-LAGS who were watching the LV, Beit & Mofu & Kogado expressing gratitude for the support they’ve received (last day for all these groups), and SEM blowing a synchronised kiss at the camera before disappearing from the stage right at the end akjgfa;kgjfas; *clutches heart*

This day will be a treasured memory of mine for years to come.... Ngl, because i didn’t have a great view from my seat at times I kinda wished that i could’ve split my body in two to watch the concert live and the LV at the same time. But SEM drove by in their rainbow limo trolley within metres of my seat and Jirou-chan shot me in the heart so there’s that.... And while it’s a shame that my main baes DraSta weren’t at Fukuoka, the amazing set list gave me everything else that i wanted, plus more. So much more T_______T Thank you, 315Pro. This P will keep working hard to support our idols!!

[drink-n-watch]

This is a post that first appeared on Bloodthristy Little Beasts as part of a collaboration with Jordanne. However, as Jordanne has recently made her blog private I figured I would repost this top 5 on my blog since I did enjoy writing it

I hope you guys enjoy it too. It’s exactly what it says on the tin, The 5 first mangas I remember reading. You should know that I read all of these in French so I can’t vouch for their English translations but I assume they’re EVEN BETTER!

5) Gunnm – Battle Angel Alita

This steampunk despotian high action adventure with heavy religious overtones and a badass female cyborg heroin was my first manga and my favorite for a long time. Yukito Kishiro has said in interviews to have been strongly inspired by Frank Miller’s work and it shows. There’s this sense of foreboding and classic “noir” aesthetic that seeps out of every page. I must say, as a dorky teenager with occasional goth tendencies, it really spoke to me.

The narrative can get suffocatingly bleak at times. Even in its brightest moments, the story aims for the lesser evil rather than anything close to good. You may see hints of Madoka or Yuki Yuna in there. I would call it a precursor to the magical girl narrative and Alita certainly fits the tragic heroin trope. This manga is a classic for a reason.

I must admit, that I did try to reread it recently and just couldn’t quite get into it like I use to. I’m not sure which one of us hasn’t aged well. It could also have been a question of timing. This said, I still smile whenever anyone mentions loving this manga and if you are interested in brutal dystopian sci fi, you will certainly find something to enjoy in this manga.

4) Blame

Blame was amazing. It’s another dystopian sci fi…I guess I have a type. I’m gonna recommend Evangelion next!

I still love Blame. Not necessarily for the story or characters, but for the presentation. Blame is brilliantly executed in manga form. You see, the story is somewhat nebulous. We are thrown in the middle of an ongoing quest (if you will) with no establishing narration or exposition. In fact, there is little to no exposition at all throughout the series. Most of the story has to be inferred through the images and dialogue. Also…there’s almost no dialogue! You can go through entire volumes with roughly 3 pages worth of text.

To top it off, the images look like this:

Dark line art, with fluid detailing and heavy emphasis on shadows….

Blame is an experience. There is absolutely no way to explain the impact of reading this manga to another person and no way to capture it through anime. It’s one of a kind. This series opened my eyes to the potential of the medium. I had never seen anything like it before and suddenly, possibilities seemed endless.

I enjoy comic books in general – and find that they allow for experimenting with narrative styles more readily than in conventional formats. However, even in comic books, I had not encountered anything quite like blame. Even the black and white (by necessity) images and smaller manga page size seem to add something to the narrative.

When I was recently asked to pick the manga that describes me best – this is the one I picked. I also have to be experienced first hand!

3) L’Homme qui Marche – The Walking Man

The Walking Man is a one shot manga that you should read… OK so what it really is, is a haiku in manga form. At least it is to me.

This is a simple story, almost a non story really, that follows a businessman as he goes for a walk through his neighbourhood and just contemplates on life and existence. It’s basically a simple plea to stop and smell the roses. A love letter to all the little miracles that we take for granted. Most of it is one again conveyed through images…

Look it’s not that I don’t like reading words or anything but if you’re going to have a manga, might as well take full advantage of the visual aspect, right? No listen…I said I can read!!!

Honestly, if you’re having one of *those* days at work, you should find this book. I was perhaps a bit too young to fully appreciate it at the time but I could still tell that it was something special. A little compact shard of serenity and peaceful contentment to carry around with you through those harsher times.

2) Naruto

Yup, one of the first manga I read was Naruto. And I still like never ending shonen with genki male protagonists. I have since moved on to other titles in the genre (HxH being my favourite) but Naruto is what opened my eyes to one of the most prolific and popular manga and anime types.

I loved it. It’s what you think about when you think stereotypical Japanese comic. Super powers with weird names that get shouted out in battles. Occasionally awkward translations. Huge casts of characters. Never ending story line. Ninjas!!! The straightforward format, happy go lucky mood and slapstick comedy felt light and easy to digest for my younger self. It was a much brighter and more lighter counterpart to those american superhero comics. And much funnier too.

Then things got real… Naruto mixes in some truly brutal scenes and unthinkable betrayals with it’s lighter moments, in a way that american comics hadn’t quite caught up with at the time. I remembered being floored and staring at pages in disbelief. By now, this is somewhat par for the course. HxH or FMA take it much further. However, back then it felt novel.

Sure you could probably pick up Fairy Tail or One Piece for a very similar experience nowadays. For me though, it was the young Hokage wannabe that started it all. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’ve convinced myself to go reread them. See you all in 6 months!

1) Akira

Akira was one of the very first animes I ever saw. This is probably a common experience for a lot of cough, older, cough fans. I did like it. I liked it quite a bit but also…I kinda felt like I had to like it. It was a bit odd and not that easy to follow, but I was afraid that admitting it had some serious plot holes would simply prove that I “didn’t get it”. And I desperately wanted to get it. At the time, in my neck of the woods, there weren’t really any alternatives. You had a handful of animes to choose from and Akira was the gold standard. If you didn’t like that, you just didn’t like anime. For some reason, little me had firmly decided to like anime.

It wasn’t until some time later that I stumbled across the full collection of large bound full colour volumes at the library and decided to give it another go.

It changed everything! Of course, trying to condense 6 very large volumes into a single movie was going to be difficult no matter what but the experience was simply not the same. The rich story (um…dystopian sci fi….) the layered and complex characters, the intricate political background and mesmerizing plot twists, all of it had completely been lost in my viewing of the movie. I had to go through these manga to finally get it but once I did… I never looked back. 

Extra mention

Natsume’s book of Friends

I actually finished Natsume’s book of friends volume 21 yesterday – sigh…… so it’s hardly one of the first I’ve read. I just want to mention it because, well I love Natsume and mention it whenever I can. Please read Natsume – it’s beautiful. Also, it is NOT dystopian sci fi. It will give you a new appreciation of the little miracles all around us. 

There you have it. These five series managed to capture my imagination and kept me reading manga for years to come. I don’t know that they are my favorites but I certainly did enjoy all of them. Maybe you will as well.

Actually, I also once found a hardcore eroge mange on a bus… It was clean (as in not soiled…) – don’t worry. I didn’t include it here. Maybe I will next time.

Irina’s First Five Mangas This is a post that first appeared on Bloodthristy Little Beasts as part of a collaboration with Jordanne.

[yourghastlycloseness]

おはよう - it’s night time, so i should say oyasumi but i haven’t learnt how to write that yet

picked up some ひらがんな during my lunch break today and played around with the japanese keyboard on my phone

PLS TELL ME THAT I HAVE CORRECTLY HIRAGANA’ED HIRAGANA

overall japanese looks like a really tough language to learn. i’m terrified lol because i’m completely new to this.

hang in there, van. good on you for trying

apparently it isn’t smart to rely only on duolingo, so i’m going to make a list of other resources i want to use. redditors recommend the genki textbooks, anki and lingodeer

i also want to sign up for jp language classes at bunka language school, but my work schedule may not permit it

aaaand learning languages in a classroom setting can be anxiety-inducing

VANESSA, PARLEZ-VOUS FRANÇAIS

NON, DÉSOLÉE

POURQUOI POURQUOI

JE NE PARLE PAS FRANÇAIS PARCE QUE JE SUIS STUPIDE

languages are hard lmao

let me list all the languages i’ve been acquainted with so far

1. english - yay, one true love, fluent, my forever love. yeah it’s the language of our former colonial masters. but i still love it. though nabokov said the english language is ‘second-rate’ when compared to russian. ok bruh, i will check out russian when i can

2. mandarin - lol, my mandarin only becomes decent when the results count in a nationwide exam; otherwise, it’s so rusty that whatever i grasp of it 没有用

3. korean - took a 45 min class where i learnt the alphabets. very extra korean phrases mostly picked up from my kpop/BTS phase or from k-dramas that mom watches in the living room like NAPPEUN NAMJA SARANGHAMNIDA

4. malay - was forced to take conversational malay for a few months in secondary school. i can recite the national pledge in malay, do the ‘boleh saya pergi ke tandas’ thing and pick up a few malay words here and there because we use it in singlish. but that’s it. i can’t even form simple sentences

5. french - took it for 3? months in uni. can form simple baby sentences

6. japanese - currently teaching self with our best passive-aggressive stalker friend, the duolingo owl

7. singlish - super fluent, singlish is best girl

[dantereviews]

Anime Roundup: Summer 2017

Hajimete no Gal

2/10

Hajimete no Gal is one of the worst episodes of anime I’ve ever seen, and I say episode because I immediately dropped it post haste after that one. I’ve actually read and somewhat enjoyed the manga, which makes the utter trainwreck of a show even more surprising. Its a dumb premise, a seemingly slutty gal is actually a pure maiden, and that isnt helped by the gratuitous and distasteful fanservice. I’ve talked about how Monogatari does it right with great animation and visual gags alongside real development, and its like this show did the opposite. Bad animation, terrible dialog and cringeworthy characters make for an all around trash show.

New Game!!

7/10

The second season of cute girls make a videogame. The character designs and animation are very cute and colorful, and the characters themselves are all genki as hell. The game they made this season looks like something I would check out and all the favourites from season 1 are back. Nenecchi, Hazuki and Hifumi are so fun to watch, you can just sit back with a coffee and chill to this one. The pacing is a bit slow, and some of the conflict and new characters felt a bit forced, but a solid show overall.

Princess Principal

7.5/10

Another show in the cute girls genre, this one spices things up by having the cute girls be spies in steampunk Britain. If you can get past the pacing of the first few episodes and the cute girls premise theres a surprisingly well made show to be had, with the supporting members of the team offering strong emotions and characters. The main girls arent that interesting, but the spy stories were interesting enough to carry the show, alongside a swinging jazzy OP that helped to set the tone and get me hype for episodes. The steampunk setting also offers some unique opportunities that make the show one I dont regret watching at all.

Owarimonogatari Second Season

8/10

The (supposedly) final series of Monogatari, one of my favourite series of the modern era. This is a short season with seven episodes, and though it isnt the greatest chapter of the series it is a good one. Some excellent episodes (I loved Koyomi and Senjougahara’s date) and the classic Monogatari style, alongside the bittersweet nature of endings and beginnings made for a good season. Many threads are resolved but some new threads are left for the future. As always, if you appreciate good cinematography, appreciate good fanservice and can read subtitles quickly in order to appreciate the dialog, this show is really one of the best out there.

Boku no Hero Academia

8/10

BnHA is, as stated in the last roundup, the next Big Thing (tm). Its ridiculously popular and with good reason. Strong designs, a couple of great fights and an interesting ensemble cast. The main character Deku isnt that great, but hes weak enough to project onto while getting strong enough to cheer on. The show does have issues like being a homogeneous mass of cliches and not having any real stakes this season, but it kept up the development and did an excellent job of setting up the next season, introducing two new villains that look like they’ll elevate the tension and bring some new spark to a good, but not amazing show for me. The OP also deserves a mention, its a rousing rock song that delivers the hype a show like this needs. 

Final Thoughts

This season wasnt a particularly great one. I watched a couple of shows that I didnt mind, but nothing new grabbed me and nothing I watched blew me away. I didnt keep up with Shingeki no Bahamut from last season either, since losing the extremely sick nu-metal OP kind of killed my hype for it despite it being pretty decent until that point. Next season is looking ok with Shokugeki no Souma, new Umaru-chan and a few weird shows like Dies Irae and Inuyashiki. I’m still waiting for that new Trigger show or the next exciting innovation, but anime still keeps chugging along like always. 

[deerlyloved]

@megafreeman​

ok so it’s been a busy day but I’m gonna totally ignore that it’s midnight and talk about this, under cut time because i never get to talk about my characters YEET

okay so i said they were sorta saints row ocs because like… Viper started out as that! I’ve only played Saints Row 3, Gat Outta Hell, and Saints Row 4 because I don’t have the money or consoles to play the others. AKA, I’m not as well informed on the universe as I should be, but let’s be real: It’s a humorous and self-aware game, what more do I need to know?

Okay, so Viper totally started off as a self-insert when I first played the game. A chubby butch girl? Total mood. But she soon developed her own personality because I am, at my core, a soft bitch, so making the choices of being ya know a GANG LEADER made me sad. So Viper is just me but cooler and also not a littol babie.

Her story was, at first, that she was just a cool Boss with a bat. No harm no foul. But the longer I played as her, the more I liked the game (why does he have a FUCKING TIGER) and I decided to build on the character more than what Saints Row 3 set out for you.

The events of Saints Row 3 are canon, I ignore 4 and Gat Outta Hell because doesn’t everybody? In this canon, Viper kicked the snot out of Kia, saved Shaundi, and then they kicked it in peace.

Now, somewhere along the way I went ‘hey…what if she had a kid’ and that’s where her character really became so divorced from the original world of Saints Row, and she eventually became no longer the Boss of the Saints, but rather just some punk gang like Morningstar, that she’s lovingly named “Antivemon”.

In the actual Saints Row canon, though, she’s still the Boss. In the Saints Row world, she plays the role of the Boss that every character does, with some additions and tweaks.

For instance, Viper is obsessed with Oleg. She just adores him, and constantly tries to bring him around everywhere. They go shopping together (though it’s mostly just clothes shopping for Viper, they have to custom order all of Oleg’s stuff), hang around, play chess (Oleg always wins but Viper still doesn’t understand the game so she’ll keep playing until she does), etc.

She’s really close to all of her friends, actually, and losing Johnny set her back tremendously. You’ve never seen someone so angry.

That’s really when she set out for revenge, and her aggression reached levels that were dangerous to say the least. There wasn’t a Syndicate member that was safe from her if she caught their colors out of the corner of her eye, and there were more than a few times where another member of the Saints had to drag her out of Syndicate territory before she got literally gunned down.

Now, with Laiyla… Things get complicated. Saints Row Viper and Gang World Viper are pretty different, since she goes from being the Boss to being the Boss but of a smaller gang, and her backstory really takes off and evolves.

In the Saints Row canon, Viper was the daughter of a wealthy couple, and she loved her parents dearly despite the fact that she was known for having dubious morals to say the least. Her parents loved her just as much, as well, which is why they both jumped saved her when they were robbed in their home. Only her father was killed, leaving her mother a widow and very, very depressed. Viper, mortified, internalized that pain and instead decided that she was going to be a gang member too! In fact, she was going to be a gang boss, and she’d make the whole city her area.

And she did that, technically. Stilwater was under her control, and later Steelport was too!

Though she still lived a relatively ‘normal life’, everything she did was brutal in retrospect. Go through college? Check! But she did so by blackmailing, stealing, beating, and otherwise violently waltzing through, solving any needs of ‘justice’ by being scarily lacking in the morality department. She graduated with a degree in Psychology, if you can believe it, you’d think she’d use that for some self-reflection, right?”

Again, I don’t know much about the original games, but whatever happened in those is probably canon as well.

In Stilwater, she didn’t have a house for a while, mostly just floating around, trying to find the best way to start a gang without looking like a total loser or having to make friends. She eventually goes through the events of the main game and then the second, etc.

Now, Viper is very angry in general, but her aggression is often calmed by her friends (specifically Johnny), and since the Saints have become so powerful, she’s mellowed out a lot. Still a murderer, sure, but a mellowed out murderer!

Her favorite show is Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax, if you couldn’t tell, and she loves it quite deeply, I just wanted to mention that.

So, back on to Laiyla! How Viper got he daughter in the Saints Row canon is that she learned a member of the Saints that was killed in a fight with the Syndicate had a child, two years old at that time. The member wasn’t anyone particularly important, but Viper saw the situation as a good PR stunt, so she adopted the kid. She thinks in terms of what gives her power, makes her more popular, etc, because she’s once again very morally dubious. However, Laiyla grew on her within days, because even though Viper had to run around and watch her every second of every day? It was the first time she actually had purpose.

Before, every day had just been ‘get revenge this’ and ‘break the law that’, but this was so different. It wasn’t a PR stunt anymore, it was Viper genuinely caring about someone more than her friends, more than her power, more than her money.

And by the next week, Laiyla had more clothes, toys, and blankets than a toddler could ever know what to do with. It became almost mandatory that if you had to see the Boss, you had to bring something for the little one (Cheerios were a common gift, it kept her busy while they talked), and Laiyla became well known in the Saints and the media. If you wanted something from Viper, you had to be good with kids or like Hell you were getting it.

The Syndicate tried once (once) to use Laiyla against Viper, and the blood is so thoroughly ground into the concrete that they can’t get it up (Viper suggested putting a nice bench down), so no one’s tried it again. Viper just got the video taken down a few hours later and then went on to take Laiyla to her play date.

Her mother, still hanging on despite all the trouble the past years have brought, adores seeing her child and grandchild on TV, online, in magazines… She constantly tells Viper to write more, but she never does.

The Gang World Viper goes pretty fucken deep, a lot more than this, but I’ll leave you alone for now :p

[mikunology]

Mikunology Files #2: The Crypton Family

OK, now that I got the premise out of the way, time to talk about the characters.

First, though, I’d like to give a shout-out to @indiefoxtail, @chiekou and @edgymagicalgirls for their kind words on my premise post, thank you guys for supporting my stuff ^^ it means a lot!

So about these guys. I do think my interpretations for the characters are a bit...different from most people’s?? Well, this entire fanverse thing is pretty different from most people’s view on the Vocaloids, so I guess you saw that coming. 

Look under the cut to read.

So as we know, the “Crypton Family” refers to the Vocaloids that come from Crypton Future Media, or in this case, Crypton Future Labs. They are our main characters and team, and naturally, the plot focuses and is instigated mostly by them.

HATSUNE MIKU/CV01: Our humble heroine, star of the show and the first of the Crypton line of androids. Miku is the cheery, sweethearted “genki girl” of the group and very much enjoys her life as an idol. She’s very fun, kind, and excitable, loves a good round of adventure if she can get it, and is quite a space case. While she is easily one of the nicest Vocaloids, she is very headstrong and has a strong moral compass, and is rather pacifistic on normal terms (therefore acting as a peacemaker between the others a lot of the time). She’s also a bit of an airhead. However, a large constant in her personality is her dedication to her work as a singer, and while she can be rather reluctant about it sometimes, her position as a protector of Sapporo.

KAGAMINE RIN/CV02-R: Rin is one of the Kagamine Twins and one of the second models in the Crypton line. Rin is bouncy, boisterous, and very energetic, being a complete wild child and a hardcore lover of action. She loves the spotlight and is quite arrogant and bossy, though her abrasiveness covers her big heart. She’s rough-and-tumble and easy to get excited, though she tends to be very devious when it comes to things that catch her fancy as well. While she’s noted for her loud personality, she doesn’t mind helping people and can be very kind when it gets down to it, and even shows some shades of insecurity.. She has a rivalry with her brother Len, but cares for him immensely. 

KAGAMINE LEN/CV02-L: The other half of the Kagamine Twins and another one of the second models. In contrast to his sister Rin, Len is sensible, levelheaded, hardworking and sensitive, being the “smart one” of the team. He usually tends to be a largely ignored voice of reason to the rest of the cast, much to his chagrin. He speaks with a lot of sarcasm but notably is never quick to pick fights, unlike Rin. Len is very smart but has a habit of overworking himself, sometimes to pure workaholic levels (which naturally worries the others). He’s shy but can sometimes be a bit high-strung, and occasionally tends to let people walk all over him. However, he is a genuinely kind soul, especially towards his sister.

MEGURINE LUKA/CV03: The latest Crypton model and the most robotic. Luka is slightly limited in personality due to her newness (and her personal beliefs) and therefore has a very innocent and open-minded outlook. Luka is calm and collected and rather stoic, not emoting or talking too much and preferring to stay on the sidelines. However, while she looks icy, inside she has a heart of the purest sugar. She likes to have fun and enjoys the company of her family, and has shown to have a strange sense of humor. She is unique to the others for her hidden belief that she should stay robotic, as her being a machine means she shouldn’t have emotions. However, the others have slowly started coaxing her away from this.

DR. MEIKO SAKINE: Meiko is one of the human scientists behind the other four’s creation and is the “mother figure” of the group. Meiko is a tough, hot-blooded robotics engineer with a lot of hidden stress under her belt. She’s quite no-nonsense and has a sharp tongue, possessing a quick temper. However, she does assume the role of a mother well, and cares for the Vocaloids like they were her children (though they do drive her crazy). Despite her straightforward attitude, however, she is quite capable of being silly, and has a bit of a greedy and wild streak. She’s also kind of tsundere. But deep down, Meiko really just wants everyone safe, and for peace to be in the world.

DR. KAITO SHION: Kaito is another one of the human scientists that created the Notable Four. Kaito is a sweet, slightly bumbling goofball who always finds a reason to smile. He’s very patient and cool-headed (in the sense it actually takes a lot to faze him) and has a bit of a lingering childlike innocence to him. He’s very much a “silly dad” to the others and has a liking of playing around with his surrogate kids. However, while he is sometimes slow on the uptake, he’s proven to be quite intelligent and levelheaded in desperate situations.

Yep. Next time, I’ll probably cover the Internet Co. characters. But I wanted to get this out before bed, so I hope y’all enjoyed.