#i really feel like the way sena thinks she isn’t good enough of a big sis to mona is pretty glossed over for the most part tbh.. man.

[deus-ex-mona]

no thoughts, just the way the narumi sisters are so different yet fundamentally similar at the same time yk?

[stvpidinlove]

[ IM JIN-AH, SHE/HER, CIS WOMAN ]  —  [ SENA HA ]  is a child of  [ PERSEPHONE ]  with the power of  [ PLANT GROWTH & SHADOW TRAVEL ] .  they were born in  [ 1993 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2005 ] .  with the change, they  [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ]  the  [ BUSINESS ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ ANSWERING EMAILS & RUNNING IN HEELS ] .  if you’d like to meet them try the  [ MOON ]  building . 

perhaps my most put together character but is that saying anything

BASICS

hometown: san francisco, california

eye color: brown

hair color: brown

height: 5′7

sexuality: bisexual

birthday: august 29, 1993 ( virgo )

BIO

sena’s a first generation american, raised by a single father, who wouldn’t find love again until the age of 49, by which time sena was old enough to be a bridesmaid and drink at the bachelorette party. so growing up, it was always just her and her father. he wasn’t exactly...a sad man, but he was melancholy, sometimes. he’d get lost in his thoughts, sometimes, and especially as a child, sena would wonder if he was thinking about her mother. because a lot of the time, she was.

she didn’t know much about her absent mother, but her father only had kind things to say about her. then again, he only had kind things to say about most people, which was probably how he ended up as a defense lawyer. his parents had hoped he’d go into something like law, though ultimately they were disappointed by their son’s big heart, prone to taking on hopeless or pro bono cases.

but then again, in most situations, his clients paid, because he had a reputation for being good at what he did, and it was all based in hard work and research, not in smearing the prosecution or fabricating stories that would be more convincing to the jury. the two of them were never wanting for anything and sena loved growing up in san francisco, swinging by chinatown or fisherman's wharf after school or on the weekends, frequenting the various museums whenever a new exhibit blew through town. she spent a lot of time on her own because her father had busy hours and she had no siblings to talk to, so she quickly learned how to be self-sufficient and responsible

from a very young age, sena knew she was different. there’s really no good way to explain her ability to make plants grow at will, a skill she less-than-discretely displayed regularly at the park near her house. the shadow travel was less obvious and far more difficult, something she never really used unless there was a pressing reason

like many demigods, sena has always been fascinated by her mother’s story, for as long as she’s known the truth of her parentage. she’s been at nemean lion since the age of thirteen, making it easy to find the proper resources for learning more about the entire world of greek mythology. although the seemingly unbelievable has been a part of her life since her conception, sena is a very level-headed person. she’s organized, almost to a fault at times, and always looks put-together, whether she is or not

before nl, she’d wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps, maybe not exactly, but certainly she had an interest in law. she never fully gave up on the dream, but she can appreciate her role at nl, too, and as long as she’s helping people with her business acumen, she’s satisfied

sena isn’t uptight, exactly, but she does struggle at times to let loose. she’d never leave her apartment in an un-ironed skirt or wrinkled blouse. appearances mean a lot to her, primarily because she knows it’s important to put your best food forward in business and present your best self

partly due to proximity, she’s been at nemean lion for quite a while now and can’t imagine life without it, though she visits home a lot because she’s close with her father. she’s glad he has his new wife (and young twins) to keep him company while she’s away 

RANDOM FACTS

for a daughter of persephone, sena doesn’t spend a ton of time outside these days. she’s the kind of person who has to be reminded to get out and take a break from working. that said, she loves nature, innately, and enjoys gardening

she’s the kind of person to scold gently/kindly because she can’t help quietly worrying about everyone and wanting them to succeed but she tries really hard not to be overbearing

somehow she has huge big sister energy even though she grew up as an only child

sena can’t shadow travel other people yet but she’s lowkey working on it??? she’s been training for over a decade so it’s like...why not but also she doesn’t see it as a huge priority. she’s gotten really good at doing it herself though she sort of has a mentality of not wanting to abuse her powers by using them frivolously

POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS

the biggest mom friend...plus she’s on the older side compared to a lot of people at nl so she’d def fall into the big sister/mentor category, i feel like people would come to her for Life Advice because she seems to have her shit 2gether and she gives good sensible advice 

she does sort of consider hades kids to be like step siblings but ig it depends on the person lmao

someone who also came to nemean lion 10+ years ago who she’s been friends with for over a decade, super duper close, probably goes up with her to san fran sometimes!!!

a longterm roommate! they get along really well and ofc they’re friends but they’re not like Besties which is why they’re able to live together for so long without complaint. lowkey codependent??

an opposites attract kinda thing where they’re super forgetful and/or messy and sena always has to help them get their life together but secretly she enjoys it <3

[throwingideasatthewall]

Clone Wars     Shadow      Warriors

            Seas 4

Oh    this-   just    screams      edgy        ...   Whelp

So is Jar      Jar an     adult,       now,?            (Asking because before his    characteri         zation was force of nature to child

Now he    seems to have his own    personality.

Which is fine   if you want to change some details for the sake of a    better story,      (Or to simply      explore         a new       angle,).    Aesthetic

     Just.            need to make sure I’m holding them to the right standard,

    Okay,

   That-         was    relatively     adult,

  Mm

   Um.

   I

 Aight        .           .       Well-

   Wait 

    Did they just call Jar Jar     away from      Cou-ncil-

    .         I mean they are clearly    trying       which          is   some thing       I do       give credit   for-

   Though                The             Tone              Is            Robot-                 Ic-

       (Though that might be int-         entional since it seems to be hinting that this lady is practicing some kind of         mind tricks on him

   (Aka, he’s doing it         under           tox, because we don’t do suspension of choice in     dra-         mat         ic       Me-     -dia,

 S’up

 What?

  I-

  -

   H-elp

Screw my own   accou-   -ntability     -      See that was the correct   -amount of   emotion-

.        Okay        -         Right-

  Sus-       (pic)

    No one noticed the obvious people right there?

  Like not even      Mr. sus         there?

[or are they just so    kind that it’s like   oh yeah we were just talking hate speech     but go right ahead?

Logic?

 There

  Yeah    some shit is definitely going on,

   For sake of argument*     sake, i’m just going to assume that his reaction to      toxic    behavior

*Account     ability-

 Any way

  I-

  I’m still      going to try,

  Despite  you clearly saying you want understood

   Because assumed authority        - and assuming you know better than a person about themselves

     Is totally ok-

     - In this         society

-[Cries        in       sad    “accountability,”     -of-      war,        ]

  Whelp,

  In-    flue-     n      -c      e

 Still an  adult-

  Okay-

 Imagine    it was just a normal necklace     and he pulled that shit-

[Ok for the sake of argument I’m going to assume the necklace is symbolism for toxic influence,

  Being around it         enabling]

  It-         -       His voice voice dropped like         - 6 octaves

     Also I swear if they try to   excuse him      for his actions-

     No

    Mind over matter     -Okay, so they’re not excusing him for his   -actions,

   Me-          an         -       OK so it’s not naturally evil it    just comes down to the users      so that dude was still totally responsible,

  Didn’t    change    - much

    -     Ha-Ha

  Actual     gas     -lighting”

    Also     persuade,            -             Okay,     good not excusing him       from his actions,      -      Thing

The   gaslighting goes deep      -      Also isn’t the Darkside supposed to be      negative over involvement?      -       Aight-         -       -           A-lone

  Oh yeah that’s a great idea let’s just let the  dude that just got gaslighted and completely fell forward go back into the person who did it,

 👍

     Genius     

    (This Jedi Council is fucking                  brilliant)

     Gas-       Light-         Ing

(Note;      Confronting the gas lighter is never the way       to do it       (Inter-             Gen-)          (Excluding accountability of the abuser     (Gen-break           Venting Pro-      Ced- u        re)

 [as you’re usually too angry     to let them get a word in edgewise        And remain;           in control)

  With inter- gen productivity,         They are possibly given       five warnings before         Being          Kick        ed-]

   For the sake of argu-       ment as well       as simplicity-

    We’re stick       -ing with        bas-         ic-

    If someone’s acting toxic        with you, you         reflect and you don’t have to         hang out with anyone         you don’t want to,

    Logic

   This dude      is very clearly making it obvious that    he’s willing to listen to this person,

 And, enabling

“Cl-”

See he’s gaslighting him again      because   he thinks he can get away with it,

With no   accoun-       tability-

 (Or the small bit      this society      believes      in     which is    jail,”

Wr-

Oh!

 Is he a     Gungan      Jedi?

  Also,

  You Don’t  

    SAY!

(The repeated Gaslighter      who has shown multiple times to be     toxic,       Was toxic,    (And prepared to use any means to      subvert the         will? 

Prize  for the  most   in  competent      Je      di

 Like,        Serious-         (Really had to put those two    accoun  t-      ability- cells      to good -    use-”

(For   matting       issue-)

  The writer just saving us the effort of him coming downstairs -all feckin- weird, and the   obvious    “should’ve seen that coming,     “

   ?             ha-ha

    What?

Oh yeah       no the creepy magical stuff wasn’t enough of a      fecking clue in-

  Appar-

   Whelp-

  He   snapped out of that quick-

  Like didn’t even need a      reverse- mind trick

   Good for      him-

   And - actual-     nar-    rative-        -

   Whelp,

   Wreck-ing      -house

       Okay, but how do you think this is going to look to the general public like two Jedi,( very good at persuasion -    mind tricks’ -just showed up, now they’re leader and said Jedi are wreck-ing one of their minster’s houses-  

     One who could’ve     feign-           ed lack of support for the        war

     Like if this is a     set up-  

 the chips-      are about to fall,

 Da-

Okay, seriously how obviously evil,    was this person?

Like we have a weird creepy room,     The robots apparently hanging from the    chandelier    (eck)         And      the knife

   Like if this person      ever-       went-   through a checkpoint

   Also,        Oh-

    That-

   (That     really        does not      look good,)

    Bo-ss

   Yeah,       she clearly has    medical experience,

 (Also yeah    that’s really going to make it    better-”

 Oh yeah the    senator was      seen trying to clean up the      evidence-

    Well the Jedi ran out     full sword’s- a blazing

    (Instead of you know the       Senator chasing after him,         While the peacekeeper stayed behind and tried to        tend to the person,]

   Great     -        -       Or    Not-

Well- tensions    just got raised,

  Of,

 Ai.     Ght, 

 Whelp,

(Okay, no way he’s totally not dead      but sure-)

 A-i-

  -

 Whe-

   That-       sucks-          -         Un-     Con-cious

    That-   doesn’t tell me anything else-

   Like;        Critical      condition?

   D-usk

   Li-terally       no one else?

    (Like don’t get me wrong I’ve been a pretty big Jar-jar fan ever since the change-)

   But really, the Senator, the person that spends the most time away from your - planet

   That’s the person,     they trust the most?

  Ai-

  Hm-

Oh yeah just put on the deadly leaders hat-

   The rese-mblance-

   Not really?

   I mean all humans technically    look the same-

  But-

 Pretty sure Jar jar is a lot      scrawn-         thin        -er

    Also if they’re not going to listen to him as him       they’re not going to listen to him      as he pretends to be their (dead) leader

Also, please don’t go with the      liar revealed plot,

    Yeah no, they have completely different kind of light.   tones,

     The face structure-

    Co-mpletely         different-

     -

   Nope

 -Dead

 Di-ssent

  Agree

   I-

   OK yeah I’m just gonna go over the fact, that as previously state,  I am not a huge fan of the liar revealed plot-

    -or lying

  (No because it’s- unrealistic-    - or there’s anything wrong with it

  -people do lie

     -maybe because of how overdone and             poorly done it’s been,

             -With the liar getting off Scott free without any                  weight

               But I really don’t like this               plot-

-And    the   skip    button    maybe   used     ad-     nausuem-   -

       [Well- shit       [for reference; I was using the skip button ad nausuem when I randomly stopped at the part      with    Greivous

        Things just got a whole lot worse]

         [Tumblr             Refresh]       -

   Any        Way,

   Aww,     That’s kind of nice the    friendship and reliance       the dude has on      Other-        Half            -         Yes        ‘Boss       Leoni’        when someone gets         tox         you leave-        - In a      - relation          ship-  

      Also yeah he’s definitely not       ‘Boss         Leoni’            -            He would’ve stayed and tried to take the    tox

 (Aka Jar-jar is less ena-     bling, les-        tox-     And     Doesn’t       Take        It        For          Much        More.            Than            He            Has               To,

        (He’s   les   -s

      Dyfun.  -c)

      Okay

       Good            Job     -     Also - yeah   how’d you manage that         -         That-

Didn’t get   car   ried up the chain of   com-     mand-        -            Then again Gri-   evous has shown to be a pretty   shit boss.     -      So I can’t blame these guys    for being like yeah compl-      ete stranger     I will totally      take a nap       -right    ,now-         -      You        kinda      have      sticks-        -    [The rain is   really    nice,]

[is this the first time we’ve seen them use active     particle effects      for the camera?

  Either way       it’s really        nice            -

Oh,

They’re    

electric     sticks,

That makes   sense

[- bet     ter      for      Figh     t-      In-       g-

Stop one     1v1     -ing-        It

    I

  W-h

   Again this is what happens when you 1v1 it    and    don’t assume accountability-     - -   

 [Don’t fight a metal cyborg with metal sticks when you’re not prepared to take it, full way,)

   I-

  [I feel like this is supposed to be some    big build up but they only shared like one scene where dude was completely silent,]

  Like,

   Sacr-ifice

    Die to take someone out with you

[Great

  Now

   Ouch]

   Are   they actually going to kill off      grievous because this isn’t look-ing    too    - good      -         Shit-

 Dude-      is still not dead-       -       How?        -          Whelp-           -          Oh,    hey      where the fuck    did you come      from,

 I-           Ack.      Br-u-      Tal

W-el

 -       Un         -         M           -              Plan-

“ damn it        he messed up the       script-,           -Pal   - patine

     Cap-

    Prison   break-

   Also yeah     that’s probably like        a vacation    for him-

 Given     how toxic these assholes     are           -            Ex- change           -           Damn             Ship      per-

      Also screw the 150 or how many other                 sena   -tors        -       Only     Amidala           -      matters          -          A-       ight-     -      Also, dude knows where everyone’s      lair,      Is,

 Like he pissed off Grievous with    -his

 Now he’s just chilling in this      dude’s    sipping earl gray       Or-      Some        Shit-

  Him

  Okay

 Getting a little    ahead of yourself     episode-       -       O k

    I

   Hearing this,  Skywalker doesn’t immediately run back      shout        -ing      nope-        - -       Because, to my knowledge the speaking at      room volume,

  Not    whispering        and the distance        isn’t enough to      -explain it             -            Ai          -   -           Wel-             -      There goes one        min-ion-             -             Droids are apparently    expensive enough to      chastise    Grievous          over-

  But sen-tient - beings are        a dime’     a ‘dozen-

    (Also    gaslighter’s.     don’t give a shit about        you     dear,       God,

  The Painful     dramatic-        irony-

 *tra-      gic-      Wh-      -Oa

 Ai     -     Ri-

  An

  Wh-     -elp,

   You know if it wasn’t for the exposure     earl-        ier   

I would assume they would think that the Jedi was just killing all their Im-por-        tant- elected officials

     Why?

     Wh-at

    He’s right.    -         But dude- that’s pretty      ham fisted-

   I mean-

  How many episodes          (and       possibly        seasons-)      do we have to            go-            - -     Anakin-       is a dick    to lanterns-       -        Also the random theme of the     bots-      coming out of nowhere-    continues-       -     St     -op-          -        Wh-       elp-

    .

    ?         (He          live?)

      I-

      ?

  Good           Play-

     Ah-

    To-

       Oh, yeah,       He’s alive we’re not going to bring that up in any      mention-able way?

      Ike

    Wh     e     l-      p

     Oh           -     That was   -nice-

   You deceived everyone and lied to all          our people,  you’ll make a great      leader,

   Or a great council/    committee leader considering that they do have an open position          ,            Best

I like that they had one bad ass fall and had it replace-d by Dooku being particularly bad-ass       -          In his      place-

In the trade off near the end really speaks to the     frag-ility of war

   I thought-

   It was pretty al-right    Though it really did seem like     - they were trying to build up to something but the structure unfortunately        just didn’t support it,

   Which is unfortunate because they do seem like      bits- that could’ve been nice

   Like Jar-jar being a constant       peacekeeper-

   The underwater        nations-

     Wars be-           tween          - Those               Dude’s

   And that    general guy      -        Who seems to be like he was supposed to be this     - really big deal

 [probably intended to do something      massive in the previous       arcs,]

    But, here,    all he did was that one scene,

    [Would’ve worked better if he was like this Re-       Public Gen-       Er          Al-

    To the      shark guy-

     And Akbar,

     Was just like the resident         enforcer-

     Or something to do with the       prince

    I think it would’ve really worked better with the concept of        ‘being taken’        under,               As well that possibly being a good contrast between     Jar Jar         binks          And        Char-        If Jar- jar got promoted-        With Char being eager at first but then realizing he just         can’t-          And Jar- Jar being reluctant at first but realizing he      can-

   [Note; assumed authority is bad,         Just- some people are better at using it for venting         than others)

   Nope boomers vs throw-         it-back, boom-

       I-

     And it really did feel like this episode       -should’ve been the split one 

   Nearing the end- it started to feel like the 1st-       part of a second ep-

    Which is fine

    Just cut-        of-

   Episode all around being al-right, with just several parts that didn’t make quite sense including the emphasis on the general for that one scene,

[drink-n-watch]

I’ve been promising this post for a while now. I did a voice actor version some time ago and it was one of my favourite lists to put together. I think you guys enjoyed it too.

As we all know, an actor’s performance can really drag down an anime. There’s something heartbreaking about a painfully wooden performance in the middle of a wonderful story that rips you right out of the fantasy. On the bright side, I’ve seen more than a few characters go from boring to endearing on the strength of an actor’s charisma. Voice actors don’t have as much to work with as conventional actors. They can’t rely on body movements or smouldering looks to get their message across. So it’s doubly impressive when they manage to convey subtle emotion and complex feelings though inflection and tone alone.

And for me, these ladies do just that.

Today let us celebrate the artistry that goes into bringing some of our favourite characters to life. In no real order we have!

5. Aoi Yuuki

I don’t care how petty it sounds, I’m just going to put this right here. This young woman is shorter than me!!! A musician and traditional actress, Aoi unique voice has made her quite successful in the field. Here are a few selected roles out of the tons she has had:

Hana – Ben-To

Tsuyu – My Hero Academia

Mina – Vampire Bund

The Energetic Ringo – Daily Lives of HighSchool Boys

Sosuke – Free!! (surprised? – I was)

Victorique – Gosick

Mihoshi – Gundam

Russia – Hetalia

Kino – Kino’s journey

Futaba – Persona 5

Iris – Pokemon

Mélie – Radiant

Shinra – Durarara!!

Sunako – Shiki

Borr – SSSS.Gridman

Tanya – Saga of Tanya the Evil

Oh yeah – she’s also Madoka in some magical girl show…

She’s set to play Touka and Boogiepop in the upcoming remake and I am psyched for this!

Not to mention roles in March Comes In Like a Lion, ACCA 13, Asobi Asobase, Welcome to the Ballroom, Gangsta, Gintama, Goblin Slayer, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, Hyakka, Hyouka, Your Name, last exile, One Punch Man, Seraph of the End, Sword Art Online II, Tanaka-kun, Tokyo Ghoul, Snafu, Yuru Yuri, and I seriously skipped over most of them. This lady works!

The surprisingly raspy quality of her vocals, and the counterintuitive depth of her tone makes her suitable for a wide range of diverse characters. A small actress with a big voice! Irresistible.

4. Chiwa Saito

Miss Saito has been acting for some time which means she’s had the chance to amass a pretty impressive portfolio. One of my favourite random facts out there, is that she is part of a voice acting groups called “MORE PEACH SUMMER SNOW”. That’s the best name ever. I’m going to rname Buddy that. (His actional name if Sir Buddy Livingston Master Chief Brown). Sadly, she is taller than me.

Yona – Yona of the Dawn

Aika – Aria

Hitagi – Monogatari series

Sigyn – Break Blade

Yuki – Vampire Bund

Chloe – Fate/Kaelid series

Natsumi – Keroro

the fantastic Riko – Kuroko’s Basketball

Louise- Gudam 00

Anita – R.O.D. TV

Kotori – rewrite

Meru – Zetsoubu Sensei

Nadeshiko – Yuru Yuri

She’s also Homura in some magical girl show…I swear I didn’t know this before researching for this post. I never realized how much I liked the Madoka casting before!

Of course there’s like a billion more titles but I’m going to name these ones because, reasons: Amanchu, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Boccano, Berserk, Dog & Scissors, D-Frag, Daily Lives of HighSchool Boys, Gintama, Girls Bravo, Kino’s journey, Last Exile, Log Horizon, Lyrica Nanoha, Murder Princess (I just like this title) One Piece, Sward Art Online, I’m just going to stop now.

You can actually hear her sing in some roles and she truly has a beautiful singing voice. It has a rich timber and she obviously has a great ear for melody. If ever she chose to switch career paths to the musical instead, I’m sure she’d have a great future. We would miss her as an actress though so let’s not encourage that!

3. Megumi Hayashibara

A more classical voice actress and one of the best known in Japan, Megumi almost became a nurse instead. There’s a certain personality that goes along with choosing a career in nursing. Caring but also resilient. You can see that peek through a bit in Megumi’s character and acting choice. Then again, there are so many to pick from I could probably make an argument for any character type.

Pai and IV – 3×3 eyes

Ai – Detective Conan

Haruko – FLCL Progressive

Haruka – Love Hina

Todomatsu – Osomatsu-kun

Paprika and Chiba – Paprika

Musashi – Pokemon

Ranma – Ranma 1/2

Lime – Saber Marionette J

Anna – Shaman King

Lina – Slayers

Ai – Video Girl Ai

Genkai – Yuu Yuu Hakusho

Hello Kitty…this woman is Hello Kitty

The incomparable Faye Valentine – Cowboy Bebop

Probably best known as Rei Ayanami – Evangelion

She can also be heard in Blue Exorcist, Bakuretsu Hunters, Sailor Moon, Blue Seed, Chihayafuru 2, Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Lupin III, Maison Ikkoku, One Piece, Project A-ko, Shadow Skill, the Doreamons, Tenchi Muyou, and obviously a million more shows.

This lady’s body of work speaks for itself. I have to say I was already pretty amazed that spunky, opinionated Faye, with her womanly register and quiet monotone Rei were played by the same person, add in Hell Kitty to the mix and my mind is a little broken…and then you have comedy queen Ranma. This is the type of career you look up to!

2. Romi Park

Did you know that Romi studied Korean in university. I just find that intriguing, obviously she’s always liked languages. Ok I’m beating about the bush so let me just say it, miss Park’s performance was one of the best parts of FMA: Brotherhood for me. I literally caught myself in the middle of scenes just going, OMG the acting is phenomenal. I’ve heard great things about the English language cast but you really are missing ouy if you didn’t catch this performance.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya –  Bleach

Teresa – Claymore

Akane – Danganronpa

Tanaka – Daily Lives of High School Boys

Igarashi – Deadman Wonderland

Kenichi – Cyber Coil

Ken – Digimon

Sena – Eyeshield 21

Natsume – Gakuen Alice

Walter – Hellsing Ultimate

Switzerland – Hetalia

Angelina – Black Butler

Taiga – Major

Falis – Murder Princess (love this title)

Temari – Naruto

My precious, precious Naoto – Persona 4

Jiro – Pokemon

Syrup – Precure

Alma – Radiant

Zoe Hange – Attack on Titan

Everyone’s favourite rocker Nana Osaki – Nana

And of course Edward Elric – Fullmetal Alchemist

And if that wasn’t enough, you can hear her in Air Master, Beelzebub, Blue Dragon , Clannad After story, Detective Conan, Devil May Cry, Garo, Granblue Fantasy, Hunter x Hunter, Kill la Kill, Lupin III, Gundam 00, One Piece (everyone is in this), RahXephon, Sengoku Basara, RDG, Samurai 7, Terra Formars (cause it’s terrible), Aquarion, White Album

Romi Parks has the most devastatingly emotional voice I know. She often plays calm, cool and collected genius type characters (a lot of boys as you can see) but when an emotional contrast is needed, she really knows how to deliver, making her characters feel so real and raw.  One of the greatest performers in my opinion, she tends to make me want to see a show just to hear what she can do with the character.

Honorable Mentions

Ami Koshimizu

C,mon, she Ryuko from Kill la Kill. Always loved that sexy alto voice! Apparently she was also both Hiro and Naomi in the recent Darling and the Franxx. I loved her as Ibuki in Danganronpa. She was Kallen in Code Geass, Holo in Spice and Wolf and Yuiko in Persona. Obviously I’m skipping over st of her work including some very big roles. I suggest you look her up! The only reason she isn’t on the list proper is that I simply haven’t seen that many of her shows even though a lot are very popular.

1. Megumi Ogata

OK fine so this is a subjective choice. Well they all are really, it’s my top 5 list. Fact is, I’ve been a fan of Megumi Ogata for a long long time and I’m just always going to be. She’s the first voice talent I ever learned about and I absolutely love her work. Sure, she might have voiced a few of my anime crushes but surely that did not influence my choice in any way…. She’s much taller than me.

Ayato – Angel Beats

Haruka (Sailor Uranus) – Sailor Moon*

Jun – Captain Tsubasa

Yukito and Yue – Cardcaptor Sakura*

Makoto – Danganronpa

Nagito – Danganronpa***

Shinji – Evangelion*

Izumi Rio – Searching for the Full Moon*

the terrifying Fairies – Humanity has Declined

Cranberry – Raising Project*

Ichigou Fujimoto – Magical girl Ore

Ken – Persona 3

Yukimura – Samurai Deeper Kyo*

Akagi – Slam Dunk

Valkyrie – UFO Princess Valkyrie

Yuugi – Yu Gi Oh!*

Karuma – Yuu Yuu Hakusho*

And just o drive the point home, here are a few more at random. If you want to full list, you’ll have to look it up. I just can’t type that much! Bleach, Detective Conan, et Backers, Great Teacher Onizuka, Kino’s Journey, Magic Knight Rayearth, Tamayura, Tokyo Mew Mew,

Megumi Ogata is a revered veteran in the field. Comparing Nagito to Makoto (purposefully similar characters with a lot of very similar lines) will reveal her mastery on inflection and subtle vocalisation to embody a character way beyond their dialogue. Anyone still under the illusion that voice acting is simply reading your lines, please see master Ogata’s work!

Good list isn’t it!?! I discover new voice talent all the time mind you. I’ll be watching a show and suddenly realize that the actor is doing fantastic work. And I’m always so happy when I discover a new favourite. So please, share yours with me!

that was a lot of pics to find….

  Top Five Voice Actresses in My Harem I've been promising this post for a while now. I did a voice actor version some time ago…

[kitto-toberu-sa]

Sailor Moon The Super Live Report - September 7th (first performance, musical note team)

Place: Aiia Theatre Placement: Row 8, Seat 32 (first row, second block, roughly middle)

Show part Not gonna lie, the only reason why I went a third time was because of Chiyuu. Kasai Tomomi, former member of AKB48, is Sailor Moon this time. I’m not even that big of a fan of hers, tbh, she’s done some stuff I really don’t agree with in the past, but she’s besties with one of my fave singers and her last album was LIT. So hopefully this is her new STAR-T.  

This performance turned out to be my favourite of the three. The seats were the best, the high touch was the best (partly because I went to the previous high touch), vocals were on point, Chiyuu was great and so many other things.

To start with, they open the doors an hour before show time. You then need to wait in the lobby for half an hour before they let you into the seating area. So there I was, chilling in the lobby, when two older ladies come up and talk to a staff member after being introduced by another staff member. Jaws dropped. It was the original voice actresses for Jupiter and Venus!

They were standing less than a meter from me! It was honestly so surreal?? They were dressed casual and just chatted normally before going off to the side to wait like everyone else. Rica (Venus) had a ridiculous amount of Venus merch on her, which was honestly adorable. She also responded to me on twitter later <3 (Speaking of which, I commented on Kunzite’s insta twice and got responses both time. She seems lovely, so please support her too!)

As a quick cast comparison, personally I like this group’s vocals. I haven’t checked but they probably are more musically trained. Chiyuu was an idol for six years or so, and is still continuing her solo career, so it’d kinda make sense if the note team was made of those with a musical background. I did think the vocals were a bit more towards “we’re senshi” side; the heart team was more “we’re teenagers who moonlight as senshi” type vocals (lighter? I guess? Higher pitched?). However, all of the vocals were a lot more stable in this team, with none of the mic issues etc of heart team.

I still prefer Sena as Venus. She was a lot more bubbly, while also being able to do the senshi side well. This Venus had very little reaction to Kunzite’s death. Though I did notice this time that the rest of the senshi appear to get their memories back at this time too. Jupiter really stood out this time around. You could see she was putting her absolute all into it and I can really respect that. This Mercury was also really great. Her voice was just sweet enough, but had the power heart team’s Mercury lacked. As a whole, this cast seemed less nervous and more confident, and smiled a lot more often.

Kasai as Moon was AMAZING! The other Moon stuck to the script, but Kasai kept adding in natural sound? I guess? She made the dialogue flow more, by adding a few extra words or cried more or whatever. It made it seem less like a play, and more real. She definitely got the dreamy side of Usagi down, and she held the confidence of Moon against Beryl, which I adored. She was honestly the perfect Usagi and I’m so glad she was able to have this opportunity. If this is released on dvd (note, no camera at shonichi or tonight, but there was a camera for the last show of heart team), I hope they release a version with her team <3

There were pretty much no mistakes from this cast. They seem to have improved on everyone else’s mistakes. This isn’t just the cast – the crew has done this as well. For example, where the classmates are zombified, they’ve had more glow in the dark components to their costumes. There were no mic issues. There was no issue with the sheet/Beryl’s dark energy.

The only mistake came from Tuxedo Mask. He couldn’t get the veil into Usagi’s hair. In the end he was like ‘well who cares lmao’ and put it on one of the horses lmaoooo Oops, sorry, another lie. Moon accidentally turned the moon rod on for a brief second. I still think the rod should have been painted so it wasn’t as ugly and it should have been kept on tbh. Overall, it was a flawless performance.

As for the differences in the performance, apart from Usagi being more vocal in the best way’s possible, it was essentially the same show. There was still no dialogue from the leaving students, though Haruna stamped her feet, in what I’m assuming is a “Usgai get your butt out of this classroom NOW” type thing. Shame, because that bit of ‘see you’ ‘oh we have homework’ type thing did the same as Usagi – make it more human and natural.

I’m going to be biased and say my favourite part was when Usagi runs through the audience at the start yelling that she’s late. I currently have blue hair, so I stick out, and I was right where she runs past. When she’s running, she talks to a few audience members. Standing out, she pointed at my necklace.

“Wow! That necklace is cute! How much was it?” Me: -doing my best goldfish impression because Kasai Tomomi si ridiculously cute in person and talking to me?????- “WOW! A million dollars?! EXPENSIVE!”

She then ran off, remembering she was late. (All of this was in Japanese.)

So considering she was the reason I came, I more than feel like I got my money’s worth from this show XD

Song part Same same. But different.

This cast definitely had a much more powerful La Soldier, but I liked heart team’s Otome no Policy better. Their voices were softer and a lot better for the more emotional songs imo.

For Moonlight Densetsu, when they were walking around the audience, I managed to get high fives from all of them bar Moon and Mask~

Mercury came by first briefly, followed by Venus iirc, then Jupiter (she’s got such a nice smile!~) and then Mars. Mars kinda dragged her hand so it was a long high touch haha

At the end of the show, they release a bunch of streamers? I’ve honestly never seen the point of grabbing them because what do you do with them?? But I grabbed one that night. Lucky I was so quick because a staff member came up straight away to snatch them away lol

(But what do I do with it..?)

The crowd was really interesting. A lot of the crowd was male, and there for Tomomi (a lot of female fans were too). However, a lot of the dudes had no idea what Sailor Moon was meant to be about (beside magical girl) so while waiting before the show (which started 15 minutes late? Everyone was getting low key annoyed) and after, waiting for the high touch, a lot of girls were trying to explain to these middle aged business men what the show was about. So shout out to the Sailor Moon community for being cool with new people coming into the fandom, even if it is for just a moment.

High Touch The line up was Jupiter, Mercury, Mask, Moon, Mars, Venus.

I barely had any time with Jupiter, but she has a pretty smile so who cares. I told her today was great and she was happy with that. Mercury commented that we had the same colour hair so I stan her for life now. She’s so cute! Mask remembered me from the other day~ (I mean, how many blue haired foreigners have come to see the show?? ;;;) There was a little bit of a hold up, so I was able to hold her hand~ I told her today was amazing and I’d continue to support her, and the returning smile I got killed me.

Tomomi also remembered me! “Oh! It’s you from earlier!” Again, told her it was great and I’d support her. She looks so good as Moon? Like, really natural. I forgot how short she was tho ;; She’s a good 12cm shorter than me lol

Mars was so cool and kind too. Same for Venus, but as much as I liked her, Sena is the only Venus for me. Sorry!

Tonight I got Mars as my bookmark thing, so I’m super happy! Overall, this experience was fun! Tonight was an amazing night, and Chiyuu did such a great job as Moon, so I’m sure by closing night she had it seriously nailed. The whole three times were great fun, and I had debated getting a forth ticket. Not only is that slight overkill, but the rest of the shows were only giving goods away, so not worth it. But a great night was had and I’d highly recommend the show. Go see them in France if you can!

Summary Enjoyable: 5/5 Worth the ticket price: 5/5 Re-watchable: 4/5 If this was sold on dvd, would I buy it: 4/5

[riskeith]

hi again!!

shooting games huh? i’m a big softie i mostly play among us, animal crossing, zelda and sims.. shooting games are way to hectic for me i tried and nope! didn’t work lmao. (i know but gaming on the phone can be bleh but if you recommend it i’d happily check it out!)

my winter break is gonna be until january 2nd. i have to study and write an essay during the break so not rly a break, sigh. still, no classes so i’m not complaining. wbu? hopefully you get a longer break. and it does usually snow but climate change has been fucking insane it’s like fall weather here still..? not to sound stalkerish but i think you live in aus, right? you must have warm weather now hehe lucky u ):

AW smart girl, congrats! celebratory hug mwah!! i do love true crime a lot i mainly chose this path bc of that. idk if u know the anime case closed but i used to watch it a lot as a child and it just made me fall in love with solving crimes.

BIOMED!! you’re so smart that’s so intimidating haha... 😳 also taking japanese sounds so fun, what are your skills like? congratulations on finishing ur first year, what did you think of the uni life? (did you get to fully enjoy it despite covid and everything?)

now i’m interested, when did you get into tdbk? 🥺

dude!!!!!!!!!!! amaya and janai are my fucking life!!! i think about them all the time and the potential they have. they give us that juicy enemies to forced companionship to friends to lovers and it makes me CRY. 😭 as far as the boomerang scene, i think it was jack de sena and the writers that wanted to pay homage to atla? they worked together before on alta so 🥺 there’s some end credit art too that’s literally callum doing sokka’s poses 🥺 SOREN BEST BOY!! yes yes yes his redemption arc was well deserved. his father has always treated him like shit bc he wasn’t magically included like claudia and it makes me glad to see him realize that now. if you want more content there are some graphic novels out. especially through the moon which takes place between season 3 and 4... <3

thank you for the reassurance.. 🥺 it means a lot hearing that come from you. as long as you’ll have me i’ll keep talking to you. who knows maybe if i’m brave enough someday i’ll just direct message you... <3 hope you’re keeping well too angel! <3

henlo~!

aw nice!! among us scares me AHAHHA anything with like.. having to lie or deduction (mafia, werewolf, spyfall) i’m just like nope. could never be an actor ahahah. (honestly i recommend genshin to everyone. you, whoever you are reading this go play genshin! that being said marriage anon i haven’t tried it on mobile so i’m not sure how it feels, and i’ve heard it gets people’s phones running super hot so be careful of that! i wouldn’t fault you for not trying it out idk that i would either if mobile was my only option lmao)

noooo that’s such a short break that sucks! is it more of a mid semester break then? since you still have work to do. but yes i agree 1000% that no classes is worth it ahah. and i have a 3 month break woo!! 🥳 icb i get this at the end of every uni school year but at the same time is it worth all the suffering i must go through before that comes fhdjcnks

:o!! autumn weather isn’t bad right, at least it’s not cold? (unless you like that—i for one hate the cold brr) and noooo not stalkerish at all! i’ve got that listed in my bios and mention it now and again so it’s ‘common’ knowledge :) it is definitely warm! it was pretty hot earlier this week but it’s cooled down now~

AHH thank u 😭💘 ooo is that also called detective conan? i’ve never watched it but ik it’s very popular! if you’re interested, there’s a true crime podcast called casefile that i highly recommend, it’s very good!

HFKSNFKS no need to be intimidated pls rest assured i’m very Dumb in other areas fjjdsjsn. and japanese is fun! i think my skills are okay it’s kinda my bludge subject tbh so i lowkey neglect it and don’t memorise all the vocab i should lolll でも大丈夫です！(but that’s alright!) ((tho i would argue it isn’t ha)

fun fact, i had one (1) day on campus this entire year! so i don’t think i’ve got much to say about what uni life is like, bc i didn’t get to experience it 😔 (i even missed orientation AKA free food and goodies, so sad) online learning was an Experience to say the least. hbu? has uni been impacted a lot?

i believe i got into tdbk in the break between s3 and s4, from a manga chapter! all it did was show the two of them together and instantly i was like “they shall be my everything from now” 😆 i don’t even think there was anything that spurred it on, they really just snatched me up by looking good wow

when amaya and janai held hands in front of the dragon queen i was like omg?? are they??? and when i asked my cousin she said amaya had signed “[janai] thinks i’m cute but won’t admit it” earlier and i was like ohhhhhhhhhmg 🥺

i love that!!! will def have to go watch the credits for those references heheh. ngl sometimes when callum spoke i was just thinking about sokka lollll. exactly!! so good of soren to stand up for himself and also apologise to callum and recognising the fault and reasons behind his behaviour.. legend! and oooo i’ll give the graphic novels a look!

of course!! this is the highlight of my tumblr experience rn and i have you to thank for that 💗 whether you end up DMing me some day or not i’ll still always be here through asks 😩 so don’t stress! if anyone has a problem w it i’ll fight LOL. hope you have a great day~ 🤗

[yangzhouman]

Yo :), since you seem to be entertained by this (and who am I to refuse you? ) here's a few more: Allen Walker, Rhaenys Targaryen the younger, Tanaka Saeko, Mabel Pines, Azula, All Might, Yoichi Hiruma, Dino Chiavarone, Soos, Marcone and Excalibur!

i am crying this is so many i will have to do this under the cut

ALLEN WALKER

sexuality headcanon: gay. knows what makes girls pretty but isn’t attracted to them

otp: howard link, lavi, kanda

brotp: LENA, johnny, lavi

notp: road, tyki mikk

first headcanon that pops into my head: has been approached to have sex / perform sexual acts for money. i don’t think he’d have done it, but he’s definitely considered it.

favourite line: his insults for kanda but also his promise to mana. it breaks my heart every time because it’s such a damaging thing to keep but he’s stubborn in his ways

one way in which i relate: HE’S A LIAR

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: HIS LIES

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? he’s done some shitty stuff but he’s not that bad. it’s more like he wants to be problematic because then he doesn’t have to feel guilty about hurting people

TANAKA SAEKO (skipping rhaenys because i know literally nothing about her)

sexuality headcanon: big lesbian

otp: lev’s older sister is the only other woman in this manga so it’s gotta be her lmaooo

brotp: ryuu, yachi, her taiko drumming squad, noya, ukai and takeda

notp: ANY STUDENT, DO NOT

first headcanon that pops into my head: she passed her college exams but didn’t actually go to college, just went straight into restaurant work. but she’s happy

favourite line: she keeps yelling out hinata and her brother’s first names from the stands in the latest match and i LOVE IT

one way in which i relate: big sister? big sister.

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: her anime design how did they do her so wrong

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? she seems like a nice person? but cinnamon roll sounds too cutesy for her.

MABEL PINES

sexuality headcanon: she’s young so she’s still figuring it out but i’m gonna say straight, for now. i know there was this big thing about her rainbow sweater but she’s a kid. give her time

otp: MERMANDO

brotp: dipper, wendy, gruncle stan and ford

notp: dipper, bill, stop doing this

first headcanon that pops into my head: has definitely eaten glitter to make her insides sparkly

favourite line: ooof when she says “i trust you” to stan in ‘not what it seems’

one way in which i relate: fashion is meant to stop traffic

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: when her enthusiasm doesn’t match up with dipper’s but i love them both they’re good siblings

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? cinnamon roll don’t fight me on this

AZULA

sexuality headcanon: lesbian but it’s not important. she doesn’t have time for people, she’s got a world to conquer

otp: ty lee

brotp: ty lee, mai, zuko

notp: uhh anyone else lmao

first headcanon that pops into my head: i don’t have headcanons for azula, i have regrets for what she never was. i think she has no patience though–she’s the epitome of ‘gifted child’ and v unforgiving of herself and others. she probably never takes rest days, and even when she’s relaxing she’s thinking.

favourite line: “don’t flatter yourself, you were never even a player” to long feng, and “i am a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings” to toph and sokka

one way in which i relate: that massive spiral into madness and decay? self sabotage in an attempt to better herself? big mood

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: when she’s at that party trying to flirt with chan lmaooooo

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? the biggest fucking problem. i blame her family but it’s also on her

ALL MIGHT

sexuality headcanon: big gay

otp: naomasa, aizawa, present mic, nighteye

brotp: all of the staff, naomasa, midoriya inko

notp: deku (why is this a thing), midoriya inko

first headcanon that pops into my head: he’s gonna die soon. it’s all i can think of whenever i see him, and it’ll kill me too. god, i don’t want it.

favourite line: he says “shit” a lot in the subbed anime and each time is better than the last

one way in which i relate: persona and role that are bigger than him

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: he has no idea how to teach. none. somebody send him to college pls

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? cinnamon roll

YOICHI HIRUMA

sexuality headcanon: why the fuck would he care about this (straight)

otp: mamori

brotp: kurita, musashi, sena

notp: agon

first headcanon that pops into my head: i truly believe kurita and musashi’s parents love hiruma. yeah he’s terrifying and violent but he clearly loves his friends, and they can see it. mamori’s parents probably take a lot of convincing tho

favourite line: anything he says when he’s wearing that black turtleneck in the america arc. i don’t remember a single word but that look was iconic and so everything he said was iconic

one way in which i relate: violence before any rational method of communication

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: he’s not that embarrassing? i suppose it could be embarrassing when he’s on his ‘terror’ thing if he’s not doing it well enough, but he does. he’s really scary lol

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? problematic fave. stop blackmailing people, hiruma

DINO CAVALLONE

sexuality headcanon: bi

otp: hmm. i don’t really have an otp for him? sometimes squalo? happiness. i ship him with happiness and good fortune

brotp: romario, squalo, tsuna, hibari

notp: hibari, tsuna

first headcanon that pops into my head: has been considered by model scouts at events, who would have approached him had they not seem him immediately trip over his own feet

favourite line: whenever he calls tsuna “little bro”

one way in which i relate: gets really shit at doing things if he isn’t with his friends

thing that gives me second hand embarrassment: everything he does is embarrassing, especially when reborn is around

cinnamon roll or problematic fave? look, i know he’s a mafioso, and he’s probably killed a lot of people. but he’s a cinnamon roll to me

i think that’s all i know? but this was really fun lmao thank u esha ur the best fake gf

[lexgotoutofbed-blog]

Why Don't I Calm Down a Little and Rank All the Covers of Teenage Dirtbag on Spotify?

The last few weeks have been a little crazy. If there hasn’t been a midterm, there’s been an essay. If there hasn’t been an essay, there’s been a stressful campus event. If there hasn’t been a stressful campus event, I probably haven’t checked my email. If anyone is trying to gauge how I’m doing based on the habits I’ve picked up recently, I wish them luck. As for me, I’m completely lost. The other day, I listened to The Veronicas 2007 album Hook Me Up four times while writing an essay on Catholic imagery. I binge-watched a spectacularly stupid (and I do mean spectacularly stupid) Italian show Friday night, all the while wishing I were sleeping. I’ve now taken several naps while blasting Kaia Kater. I opened up YouTube just now and the site decided what I wanted to see was all the musical numbers from the 1962 film version of The Music Man. This isn’t an incorrect assumption, but a strange one nevertheless.

Sometime last week, I decided to look up and see if Phoebe Bridgers’s cover of “Teenage Dirtbag” was on Spotify. It’s not, because some higher power hates me personally, but you know what are? A whole lotta other covers. Naturally, I spent the next two hours exploring. A couple of these covers are great. Most of them are subpar. Many make me feel violent. In any case, I’ve ranked them all for you here, because this is my blog and I can do what I want. I’ve tried to provide the YouTube video for as many versions as possible in order to be fun and accessible.

A disclaimer: “all” in this case means all except instrumental versions, kids/people without professional recording equipment, and possibly multiple versions that sounded too much like Wheatus for me to figure out that they were not, in fact, the original version. 

Here goes:

29. Kaiak 

Teenage Dirtbag is inherently obnoxiously whiny, and yet Kaiak (like many performers) decides to use a quiet, sensitive approach to the song. This is a bold move, to be sure, but the result is sounding like the guy who whips out a ukulele at a frat party while staring at his crush straight in the eye. Absolutely egregious. This feature combined with the horrible snapping puts this version in last place. Sorry, my dude. 

28. Mark and Kristian Band

Like, I understand the style is purposeful, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. I do believe they’re teenage dirtbags, so I guess that’s a plus?

27. The Exboyfriends

To be fair, acapella groups naturally trigger my fight-or-flight response. I tried not to let this influence my opinion too much. Why oh why, though, would you choose to add derogatory terms to the chorus? The song is literally called “Teenage Dirtbag,” we don’t need more. The group also decided to take an extra whiny, nasally approach to the song, which would be okay if this wasn’t, you know, acapella. As my eternally patient roommate said upon hearing it, “Yeah, this one is pretty bad.”

26. Togun

I do think he’s a good singer. His vocals during the chorus were impressive. FOr acapella, though? Again, feels bad, Scoob.

25. Hullabahoos

I like how I say I tried not to let the fact that it’s acapella influence my opinion when clearly I absolutely did let the fact that it’s acapella influence my opinion.

24. UNC Achordants - Teenage Dirtbag

The harmonies are nice, at least.

23. Scott Chapman

It’s not actually that bad, but the idea of a “candlelight version” of this song horrifies me beyond belief.

22. Little John & the Cadillacs

Look, I really wanted to like this one. Stylistically, it’s great. But the lead singer is so pitchy, dude. I can’t forgive.

21. Brentwood Duo

Barely made it on the list because of low production value. It’s not terrible, I just don’t feel anything. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

20. Jacob Fox

It’s like a worse version of the original.

19. LLC

See above. Also, I feel nothing.

18. Frank Hamilton

Teenage Dirtbag was not made for White Boy Indie, I’m afraid.

17. Liquidsound

16. Scala & Kolacny Brothers

They’re a good choir. I just don’t think this song is a...good choice.

15. Earl Okin

It’s aight.

14. Catarina Walker

She switched the pronouns around, leading to conflicting feelings. On one hand, I’m a big proponent of letting women be as awful as men. On the other hand, “his girlfriend’s a bitch” makes me feel...hm. Anyway. Needs to be cleaned up a little.

13. The Nannys

It’s fun! Kinda takes away the point of the song, but it’s fun!

12. Avid All Stars

See 21. 

11. Tania Sena

She’s not the strongest singer, but I like her approach. She’s soft enough that the song feels angsty and generally emotionally raw, but not so whiny as to make the acoustics out-of-place.

10. Alyssa Reid

She’s good, but am I really supposed to believe this pop queen is a Teenage Dirtbag? Also, no emotion. I should feel like a thirteen-year-old lying on my bedroom floor.

9. Dizzy Dudes

I get the feeling that these are dads, not teenagers. However, you gotta support your local dad rockers.

8. Send Request 

In a way, it’s better than the original. Unfortunately, I don’t like the original all that much.

7. Walk Off the Earth

Good, but just sounds like a couple on YouTube. Which I guess they technically are.

6. Flight of Voices

I really like this. Beautiful vocals, beautiful instrumentals. It’s just not angsty enough. We are talking about teenage dirtbags, after all.

5. Fraser James

Okay, sure. I can see a stupid, problematic young man in a coming-of-age film skateboarding to this.

4. Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox

Alright, clearly she’s a fantastic vocalist. Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox always delivers musically. For a Janis Joplin-style cover, however, it sure is without much feeling.

3. The Gentlemen of St. John’s 

I take back everything I’ve ever said about acapella. This is beautiful. I want these men to follow me around and sing elevator music as I walk around town. Love.

2. Young Lungs

Here we go! We’re getting there! We just need a little more vulnerability. 

1. Amy Shark 

YEAH, BABY! She starts off angsty, then soon enough we’re all singing along in the bathroom mirror! We’re using our brushes as microphones! Amy Shark Gets It! She delivered us! We ARE the Teenage Dirtbag! WOOHOO.

There ya have it, folks! Let’s do a final tally, shall we?

Number of covers: 29

Number of tracks I listened to: probably at least 100

Number of tracks that turned out to just be the original version of the song: too many

Number of tracks that were called “Teenage Dirtbag” but were not the song I was looking for: I actually forgot to count, but I’ll say about 5, with numerous tracks of the same song existing

My headache: monumental

Good: night

[deus-ex-mona]

A Love Letter for Valentine’s Day: Chapter 3

when you’re satisfied with being just a fan...

previous part (chapter 2)

next part (chapter 4)

mona: The feeling I get… when I think about how much I love them…

Mona: Wait, I don’t understand what he meant at all!

Mona flung herself onto her bed amidst her great struggles with writing her “love letter”. She recalled the words that Minami had said to her all those days ago, but nothing clicked.

Mona: (But… I don’t have much time till the live.)

Mona: (Alright… Now that it’s come to this…)

Mona: Let the mission to find my feelings of love start…!

Mona: I’ve definitely gotta kick things off with this…!

Mona played a concert DVD of a band that she had loved for a long time.

Mona: (I don’t know if I can say that I like this band enough to be in love with them, but I’ve been following the activities of this vocalist for all this time…)

Mona: (Recalling those days makes me wanna deliver a slightly better “love letter” to my fans!)

Watching the concert footage for the first time in a while had revived the passionate feelings that Mona had experienced in the past within her.

Mona: (The singer’s so cool when they’re singing. I wanna watch them forever…)

Mona: (Ah! Yup, they start off the next song with a great expression on their face—)

Mona: …

Mona: This isn’t… love, is it…?

Mona: (Of course I’d been really upset when the vocalist retired, but…)

Mona: (When I heard that they were getting married, my feelings of wanting to congratulate them were way stronger than my feelings of sadness…)

Mona: …Ah! I love the way the audience participated in this performance~!

Mona: I wonder if I’ll be able to imitate this during my next live.

Mona: I really love the lighting effects too…

Mona: I wanna try directing my own live performance someday too. I should bring this up with the Pres…

Mona: (...Wait, isn’t this…)

Mona: Aren’t I watching them with a gaze of respect, rather than through the lens of love…?!

Mona: I won’t be able to use my feelings of respect to write a love letter! Geez! Moving on!

Mona returned to her room—

Mona: Ah! He’s really so cool no matter how many times I look at him!

Mona unfolded the poster of a drama that she had watched together with Sena in the past.

Mona: (I loved this lead actor because he’s so cool.)

Mona: (Big Sis says that the guy who plays his partner is cooler though…)

Mona looked back and forth between the two actors that were depicted side by side on the poster.

Mona: (He’s good at acting, and I heard that he’s kind to his fans. Even just looking at this poster brings me joy, but—)

Mona: But… it sure seems like what I feel isn’t love.

Mona: (I don’t feel any urge to get closer to people I admire, like this actor, for instance…)

Mona: (I’d rather root for them as a loyal fan.)

Mona: (I’ve never wanted anything more than that…)

Mona: Hmm… trying to figure out the feelings of love is really hard…

As Mona mulled over her thoughts, there was a knock on her door.

Sena: Mona~?

Mona: (Ah, it’s Big Sis.)

Mona: Yeees! Come in!

Sena: Pardon my intrusion.

Sena: Hey, Mona, there’s a CD I’d like to borrow if you happen to have it…

Mona: Sure thing, Big Sis. Which one do you wanna borrow? Something from your favourite artiste?

Sena: Ah, nope! I’d like something from… a band my friend likes instead…

Mona: (...She’s blushing. Is this friend of hers… a guy?)

Mona: Yeah, yeah. I’ll lend it to you if you tell me which CD it is~.

Sena: Ye-yeah! It’s…!

However, before Sena said anything further, she abruptly turned her gaze upon the poster.

Sena: Huh? Is that—

[kitto-toberu-sa]

Sailor Moon The Super Live Report - September 3rd  (last performance, heart team)

Place: Aiia Theatre Placement: Row 2, Seat 5 (Front, far left)

Performance I bought another ticket after the first show… And lost it.

After a lot of debating, I decided to buy one at the door. I got a side seat, so I was worried about my view, but it was row 2, seat 5. A lot smoother than the last show. I felt like they had nailed everything and were able to bring more of themselves into the character, and build upon what they’d started. For example, Sena was a lot more idol-y and winked a lot more, while Jupiter had a more confident aura around her. The only one who I didn’t really feel it from was Mercury, who seemed to struggle with keeping the right amount of spacing around her.

I’m not sure if this was a mic issue, but it looks like it was just cut. In the school scene, when the fight is over, a few characters said goodbye to Usagi, but it seems like it was just replaced with waving. I really don’t like that. It robs the class of personality, Usagi of friends and honestly costs nothing to add? If you hadn’t seen it with the dialogue, it probably isn’t a big deal, but I personally think the scene lost a human touch, and did look more like a production because of it.

In the Harajuku scene (just after it), there’s a bit where Usagi paints the screens. However, tonight the crew turned on the paint too early. It was for a brief second, but turning it on, then off and then on a moment later kind of took me out of the play. I know how hard stage work is from my own experience, so I don’t judge them, but as a consumer you also want a perfect product.

We start to see Kunzite/Venus happening in the fight scene. I’m honestly not a major fan of this ship, (and that whole subplot in all honesty), but it was done subtly so I didn’t mind it.

Being so much closer to the stage was great. I was able to see the details on everyone’s faces so much more clearly. When Beryl dances with Tux, it was nice the first time, but DAMN. This time? Was AMAZING! She was very much a woman in control, who knew she was strong, who had everything she wished for. She knew she was hot, she knew she was practically unstoppable and had taken everything from her enemies and got everything she wanted. Girl can MOVE. She was having a great time and the whole dance was a great show off of her as a character and was just fantastic! She was honestly just sexy. Her confidence and aura was amazing!

During the fight scene against Mask, I was able to see a lot more details. For example, Mercury using her items to assess the enemy properly. It’s definitely worth seeing shows a second time and from a different seat if possible, especially ones that have so much movement and so many characters everywhere like this one.

Venus’ looks towards Kunzite were also amazing. At one point he held her and it was wonderful. Also the strong expressions on Jupiter’s face~

One big problem was the final scene where Usagi fights Beryl. She goes under the stage as she’s enveloped by Beryl’s darkness (a giant sheet). However, whoever was pulling it back didn’t pull it back properly, so she couldn’t get out. It… didn’t look professional. Her mic might have also been on and a few words were caught before it was turned off or they realised and stopped talking.

This isn’t something to get mad about, but it is bad design. In the first show I saw, there wasn’t a problem but at points the sheet was on stage, instead of being dragged in enough, so it just kinda looked ugly. It’s understandable – this show needs to be easy to perform and easy enough to understand, but also easy enough to travel overseas on a relatively small budget.  

Song Everyone had improved a lot. Mics seemed to be in better positions and everyone seemed more confident.

When Beryl and Kunzite sang, it sounded a lot better than it did the other night. I think this was partly due to mic position and timing, but also confidence and practice. They sounded soooo good.

Interestingly, the cast didn’t seem to be into high fives as much tonight? I guess with a high touch event straight after I can see why. I made a lot of eye contact with the cast this time around, since I was so close to the stage. I stick out a lot too, which helps in situations like these lol. Beryl and Kunzite were both very cool and responded in character. Honestly fam, Beryl can step on me any day of the week (and yes, I said that for the live action Beryl too).

(I think that says a lot more about me than I care to admit ;;;)

Mercury didn’t seem to make as much eye contact with people (though looking into it, she seems to be just making her way into the world of entertainment, so this is possibly her first time in such a big show), while Venus was trying to impress as much of the audience as she could. She had a LOT of fans tonight. The crowd as a whole was much more into it than opening night. (It seems the diamond team came to support them, so it could have been them making all the noise lol)

It’s really nice when the fans get into it. I never want to get too into it unless other people are, because being foreign, you stick out. But I feel like someone needs to start it too…. But tonight’s crowd was cheering like mad, so I’m glad~

After Venus came in through the crowd back onto the stage, she ran up to Kunzite and he hugged her. It looked completely unplanned, but it was gorgeous. As I said, I don’t ship them, but half the audience, myself included, squealed. This whole performance felt a lot more polished, and you could see how each actress brought her character to life a lot more clearly.

I noticed at Moonlight Densetsu, when the streamers were released, there were smaller ones in the mix, as well as bubbles maybe?

High Touch This session came with a high touch (high five) session after the show! You basically line up, high five and leave. Some people left beforehand, which I find weird. Why not get the most bang for your buck?

The line up was: Jupiter, Mercury, Tuxedo, Moon, Mars, Venus.

Out of the five scouts, I feel Jupiter improved the most from the other day. She was very smiley and just had a nice amount of confidence around her, both on and off the stage. She’s very pretty too~

But, my fave interaction was with Tuxedo Mask~ As I said, I’m pretty much here for Sena, despite being a Mars fans. But I saw last year’s musical in Nagoya. So seeing someone on a big stage and in a bigger production compared to a small stage and small production was interesting. She made a really good Tuxedo Mask, and if they continue to make musicals (I say if, since we don’t have full information on next year’s project yet and there’s no promise it won’t be cancelled), I hope they keep her on as a cast member!

My hair is currently bright blue, and she said it was wonderful~ I’m not going to lie, getting a compliment alone was worth the ticket price haha!

I also told Sena that I like her a lot and thanked her for her work, which she responded well to. But… Tuxedo Mask stole the show, sorry Sena~ It’s always nice when the cast call out to you instead of reacting to what you said. I’ll treasure this moment forever~ <3

Today the gift I received was Venus! So I’m super happy~

And…. I have a confession….

I brought another ticket for Friday’s show…

It’s also a high touch session. It’s the blue note team, which has Kasai Tomomi as Sailor Moon. I used to be a big AKB48 fan, and while I’m not as much of a fan anymore, and wasn’t a fan of her when she was in the group, I’ve started liking her since she released her last album. I’m curious to see how her team goes! But I swear, that will be my last ticket haha!

Summary Enjoyable: 5/5 Worth the ticket price: 5/5 Re-watchable: 4/5 If this was sold on dvd, would I buy it: 4/5