#i used to listen to a lot of anime OPs/EPs

[blackidyll]

music game

rules: shuffle your “on repeat” playlist from spotify the music service of your choice and post the first 10 tracks

i was tagged by @derpinathebrave! ♪(✿´◡`✿)

Junkie XL - Brother In Arms [Mad Max Fury Road OST]

Ramin Karimloo - Til I Hear You Sing (yes the song from Love Never Dies aka the Phantom of the Opera "sequel"; but this is Ramin singing the song just as is, not as the Phantom)

Adele - Hello [piano/cello instrumental cover]

Megurine Luka - Just Be Friends

sajou no hana - メモセピア [Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 ED]

Kendrick Lemar/SZA - All The Stars [violin instrumental cover by DSharp]

Monkey Majik - Fall Back

Genshin Impact EP - The Divine Stone Sees The World [Zhongli EP]

OneRepublic ft. Michelle Chamuel - Counting Stars [The Voice version]

Annie Lennox - Into The West [Lord of the Rings: Return of the King OST]

please share your music lists so i can expand my playlist! @qserasera @saint--claire @kamicom @solowinged and whoever else wants to pick this up (i really like music lists)

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Okay it’s been like a week i think that’s a decent amount of recovery time, I think i’ve about worked through it, I think i’ve pieced myself together at least a LITTLE

SO, lets get this show back on the road, maybe i’ll get more than one episode in this time WE’LL SEE

WHATISUPEVERYBODY WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER KNOX REACTS POST WITH A LOT CAPS LOCK AND A LOT OF KEYSMASHES, ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU HERE AGAIN, LETS GET STARTED

Spoilers for Monkie Kid season 5 episode 2 ahead

MMMMMMMMM OKAY SOOOO THIS ONE’S CALLED COLLAR THE KIIING.GOSH. WONDER WHAT TAHT COULD BE ABOUT. [looks at trailer] [looks at camera]

okay, listen, i got mixed feelings about using the circlet again, I mean, I dunno what it is, might be something pretty different, but the OG circlet was kinda like… as much as i like use it for angsty purposes, it was a big part of Sun Wukong’s journey. Bro had very little self-control, was quick to violence, you could say—what’s the word…. —allegorically??-wise it was kind of something to give him a reason to hold back. After he no longer needs that, he’s completed his journey, that circlet, disappears. Because he has that self control now, he’s ascended to buddahood or however you say it. (To my understanding at least.) So whipping it out as a way to snipe the OP character—I dunno man. I feel like something different could’ve been done. Especially since, to my knowledge, that kind of… will-bending thing is reserved for Guanyin to give out, rather than, some random guy. Like you can’t just dish those out willy nilly. Who gave him that? Bro we haven’t even started the episode save me hG;LKAJWEF I just think maybe they don’t know what to do with a character as OP as Sun Wukong sometimes, they do everything they can to snipe him, so he can’t do anything, and it makes him feel pretty useless. But like?? They seem to have no problem with Mk because bro as some pretty world-shattering looking powers at this point, and they ain’t sniped him yet, aside from his crippling anxiety and terror and all that.

… I dunno. We thinking. I PROMISED NOT TO TRY AND FILTER MY THOUGHTS SO Y’ALL ARE GETTING THE WILD UNFILTERED GARBAGE IN MY HEAD AT YOUR REQUEST SO GODSPEED HGL;KSDAFJAOWEF

Also, about the last ep, before I press play. I still think, Pigsy was off. Voice acting and writing. Like, is it character development to slowly erase a characters personality aside from how they care about another character? I don’t know! You tell me! I’m only one episode in! This’ll probably changed i don’t want to look like too much of an idiot so we’re going to get started! LEGOOO

The theme song still hurts me. They just.. REALLY like their tilted angles. Like SO much. Like… i just need to watch this with my head tilted to the side. It’s really bad. Listen, I’m all for a tilted angle here and there for some impact, but almost every new piece of that rigged/puppet animation in the theme song is all tilted in the same direction. It’s tripping me up, and I honestly don’t really like looking at it. GUYYYYSSSSS I’M TRYING HERE I’M REALLY TRYING |;A;/

OOOO HELLO VOICE ACTOR

BRO HAS A NICE VOICE. WHO IS THIS? I DON’T KNOW ANYONES NAMES HAHA

Okay, I will say, I do have one positive thing to say about this new animation and that is that they like, the backgrounds are still pretty decent. Like, they’re definitely missing the flair Flying Bark had, but they aren’t too far off. I will say tho, okay, I forgot to put a disclaimer I’ll add that later, but for now we’ll say a little something here. I realized after watching the first episode of this season, that the reason I fell in love with Monkie Kid, is because I fell in love with Flying Bark and their energy and their love for what they create. Even if this new studio pours they souls into this new season, I don’t think i can ever care about it the way i cared about the first four, because the reason I fell in love with it, is no longer here, the soul of it has changed, even if the writers stay the same. Like, we’ve had the writers change a bit once before, but the soul of the show stayed the same cause Flying Bark stayed the same. Now, that’s not the cause but ONCE AGAIN THOUGH, IT IS TOO EARLY TO REALLY TELL, this is just my thoughts right at this moment. Bro i haven’t even reacted to the episode i’m just uNLOADING NONSENSE I’M SO SORRYIGNS;DLFKAMWEF

MOVING ON GENTS SKIP AHEAD SKIP AHEAD

Y’know good call, it is pretty funny that these three monkeys always seem to be in the middle of trouble. Not to bring up HP but like, it does remind me of a scene I remember distantly watching with the whole “why is it always you three?” Little funny

OKay

OKAY

INAHLES.

Another tilted angle, hi buddy, has anyone counted these? We should count, just for comedic purposes—

I do think like… I’m so sorry, I’m so used to hearing what I want to hear while watching these, so when they’re falling, and I see Mk, I expected to hear him like, yelling but we only get that once he like… hits the ground. I do like the landing noises. Woof i’m hyper analyzing all this sound design now that i know the sound design people changed or whatever. Wowza. We in unfamiliar territory booooiiiis.

YOU KNOW WHAT MAKES ME SAD?? YOU KNOW WHAT MAKES ME SAD— wow i’m 47 seconds in and i’ve paused like forty seven timeslKMGOAWEF— ITS THAT I’LL NEVER SEE MONKEY KING’S REAL HYPED UP BITS IN FLYING BARK’S ANIMATION. I’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT HE CAN REALLY DO WHEN HE’S NOT HOLDING BACK WAILS. LIKE THAT SMOKE BEGON MOVEMENT? This is hard guys, i am such a visual person, I am strugglingggggg HG;LKAJFWEF I WANNA LIKE IT, I REALLY DO, I’M STRUGGLING

Okay yeah reaction right uuhhhh undersworld kings!! ten of em right? HEYYY GUYYSSSSS HOW’SA GOING, I CANT’ BELEIVE WE GET THE TAKEN TO COURT EPISODE, JUST IN THE UNDERWORLD INSTEAD OF IN THE CELESTIAL REALM RIP GKS;LJAFAMWEF

helpHELPGN;LSKDFA;OWEFIM HELP?? KAY KAY HOL UP

CACKLES

CAKCKLES SO LOUDLY

So

So either

writing error

or

listen, how did Mk know he was in bed… unless he was awake… when Pigsy carried him… upstairs… I’M JUST SAYING FOLKS, I’M JUST SAYING, HOW DID HE KNOW? HE SUPPOISEDLY FELL ASLEEP MID-NOODLE-EATING, HE DOESN’T KNOW HE’S IN BED, COULD HE HEAR THAT WHOLE ILY SON BIT?

If I close my eyes this aint’ so bad— CRIES WAILS I’M FINE

Anyway, point is, i’m saying Mk was in fact awake during all that. He just decided to pretend to be sleeping so Pigsy would carry him or something CACKLES

ONLY STRIKE WHEN YOU’RE ASLEEP—HELPGMLKASFMSDF Y’know I still think SWK in fact drunk himself to an early death still, silly little head canon, rather than falling asleep bro just was like alright folks i’m an alcoholic wdym you can’t take me down there i’m alive— whew its hot, there is a HEATWAVE HERE, AND smoke so we fine we fine AHEM ANYWAYS

SO

SO WHAT I’M HEARING

IS MK’S SLEEP-DEPRIVATION, KEPT THESE GUYS FROM CALLING

HAHAHAHA

Also wow, Macaque talks like he wouldn’t be deathly afraid of these guys. Isn’t this the same dude that was willing to turn on humanity for the Lady Bone Demon if it meant not dying again???? ??? ??? But he’s gonna get huffy with the underworld kings????? Bro

Swk is a fashionista real Cool robes so true

Okay cool monkeys are

in court

WHEEZEKLMGOAIEWFM

OH

OH

OH OH

KAY

LISTEN

I HEARD SOMEBODY

DRAGGING THEIR SSS’S

HELLO

I HEARD THAT

I KNOW HWAT YOU ARE

I KNOW WHAT THIS

THAT MY FRIEND IS SOMEBODY

THE VIBE IS DIFFERENT

ARE YOU ARE SCROLL STEALLING FELLA IS THE QUESTION

I might be out to lunch on this I’m just thinking about that medusa haired bird snake lion turtle creature thing and I’m thinking one of these guys, is that guy. Jusssssayin

Anyway wow I gotta go back and process words now

Okay

Cycle

….Right

Cool

Cccccycle

Yeah

squints

That aint’ sus at aaall

hmmm Harbrrriingggerrrr

Also wait yeah, speaking of the pillars of the universe or whatever HA I NEED TO WATCH THESE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE ONCE AGAIN STARTED TO REBLOG MY POSTS WITH SPOILERS IN THE TAGS, I SAW A CONFIRMATION ABOUT PILLARS OF THE UNVIERSE SO IG I WAS RIGHT ON THAT

THEORY TIME BEFORE WE CONTINUE LETS GO

MK DESTROYS THE PILLARS OF THE UNIVERSE BABYYYYY

UM

OOOO OR HE’S MEANT TO

HAHA

Could you imagine

Y’know my bros and I had a theory about Mk being made as like, a way to take down monkey king, the entire universe is just the next step of that theory ig haha MOVING ONNNN BBYYYY

Okay

OKay i laughed a little

i still think some of the dialogue sounds awkward, i don’t know what it is. Um Sean still giving his best performance here tho thanks bro we love and appreciate you. I did laugh because it is funny they re-summoned him. I do find it interesting that no one seems afraid of Sun Wukong. Like…. they make all these references to stuff he’s done, but no one really respects him, or vies him as an actual threat? I mean well, clearly they do if they gonna slap a circlet on him. But its like… bro ripped his way out of here last time, and y’all are gonna??? Not be nervous?? I dunno. Monkie Kid really likes to take sun wukongs backstory and kinda… giiiiive a lot of his motivation to other people so he’s just… acting for others rather than for himself, if that makes sense??? Like with Azure, they had Monkey King being manipulated into attacking heaven, rather than his pride getting a kick and him wanting respect and all that and y’know prideful hours. Among other things. Like I get this is a kids show but man he feels watered down at some points, he really is just a silly goofy guy in this version, who everyone thinks is out to get them, but they don’t fear or respect him. …its weird. I dunno. Its a weird way to do it, Iv’e been thinking about that for a while, but its really apparent to me right now, perhaps because i’m not distracted by GOD TIER animation. Who knows.

Y’all i am having TOO MANY THOUGHTS

Moving on I got a backlog of nonsense this is just dump for all my thoughts godspeed to anyone who doesn’t hate my guts and my takes by the end of this LOL

We love swk looking smug about every crime he’s ever committed. I do like that they let him keep that at least. So he did that on his own yayyyy

Similar crime huh? Funky

Scroll of memory was stolen

-_- y’know at least they got one thing very right from jttw, absolutely BOGUS accusations from the celestials against monkey king 24/7

SOMEBODY GET MK OUT OF HEREMGS;ONWAIOEFM

Its a dream so he get the suit

Monke y c o p c o u rt ro o om a d d i t i o n i cannot you guysGN;LKAWEFM;AFE

Macaque’s face when mk asks fort the charges is comical yeah

Swk looks about ready to go back to dreaming about peaches

Sniffs

“yOuR aCtiOnS” shut your mouth king guy clearly you’ve never stepped foot outside in your fancy pants robe go touch grass

“we should leave” YEAH GERAT IDEAKLMGOIFAWEF

okay so this is the part where they slap the circlet on then cause they gotta stop swk from bodying his way out

sighs

SIGHS

well on the bright side, monkey king angst real ig

I’m Stil having a \REALLY hard time looking at this new style my brain is dying, ITS NOT CAUSE ITS BAD ITS JUST CAUSE ITS NOT THE KIND OF STUFF I LIKE, ITS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I LIKE EXCEPT I CAN’T BLOCK THE TAG ON TUMBLR BECAUSE THIS IS THE SHOW NOW [face in hands bro] So happy for everyone who’s totally unphased by this change but mAN this feels so different to me feels like coming home and someone moved into your house and replaced all your furniture and yeah its the same house but its not—

K

face in hands bro

YEAH CUASE THE MONKEY KING IS JUST GOING TO STAND THEIR LISTENING TO THIS GUY INSTEAD OF MAKING A DOOR WHEN HE SAYS HE’S GOING TO, LIKE

Y’know what i liked about flying bark? THE FACT THEY DIDN’T DO THISKLGMAOSI;FMAEW I’m so sorry guys I got gourmet animation and now i’ve got regular food it just is not the same and I am struggling to adjust because i miss flying bark. I didn’t have points where iw as like wow, they really just stand there and listen to this instead of taking action, but this is all standing and listening and no taking action which i guess could save on animation budget but BOY do i suffer for it I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN THIS HAPPENSSSSSS

I may be overlydramtic about this, its okay just hit me with a bunch of pool noodles guys i’m fine—

Y’know with the amount of time these take me to watch i really am probably only gonna be able to do like one a day n;LKGMASF

So

I pressed play

“We have brought a power even greater than yours”

and then i was so deadpan because i was like here we go circlet time (sidetone, the colours i don’t like something about them, I don’t like it, its off, its not pretty) and then Nezha pops out and i literally went

“WHAT?”

HELP?? WHAT??

“HAHHAH THIS is your big scary?”

sniffs

Okay fr the dialogue is off

its very off

whats going on guys

whats happening

is this cause the writers are being rushed?

bro i dunno

I might be losing my mind

oh heyyyy it’s Nezha’s daaaaad

Also what.

Tell me WHY (aint’ nothing but a mistake—) Nezha is here, when he kNOWS these guys were not responcible and DID IN FACT HELP SAVE ?? STUFF?? HE WAS THERE??????? I’m questioning… some decisions…..

nEZHY GH;LASKFJASDF

Okay

THE WAY I LAUGHED

Li jing I don’t actually know how to spell his name

IS NOT THAT POWERFUL

BRO??

JTTW

??? HAVE YOU READ IT??

MONKEY KING KICKED HIS BUTT??

HE WENT CRYING??? TO THE JADE EMPORER???

my hand is over my face

I cannot

why

tell me why (ain’t nothing but a mistake—) monkey king seems nervous

like

the pagoda thing is that what its called? the building that was used to snatch and hold people prisoner i remember a version of a jttw show has them snatch all his monkeys in it and use it to blackmail him into surrendering, i can see what that thing might be a problem but LI JING???

Sneezes

I laughed

again

they made

him the

I’m fine we’re just gonna move on

Well—

Okay well actually he can be replaced. that’s his…. whole thing. He… he gets replaced… eventually… and the cycle goes on. That….Am i remembering that wrong? Y’all i might just be out of date with my lore memory here i

sniffs

I don’t like him

go away Li Jing—

Oooooooooooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiii need to get over the animation. It is NOT like i have mad skills its HARD to do, i need to just get over it, but monkey king pointed and that finger is so pointy what happened i’m so

its fine

I’m fine

They’re so severe

OBJECTION

WE’RE GUITLY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

Ohhhhhhhh so they went

.

you can’t see my face rn but i sure a making one

so they went, he’s boss man now… so he can… do that….

sniffs

I dunno man

circlet was form of like… not to say that pain is a good… thing to do, but like… its the only language that monkey king knew how to speak when he was trapped under the mountain and at the beginning of the journey. “this is wrong” “HA SO?” “okay well, if you do this you feel pain” “okaywaitwaitwait—“ like… it was a form of mercy (hence Guanyin) because otherwise, he would’ve gotten thrown under the mountain cause he hadn’t “chilled out enough.” So… I dunno. Like wildly misused by triptiaka but i doubt Guanyin gave this one to Li Jing because its not about bettering its about collaring and leashing. I dunno duuuuuuude. Angst is spicy but like…. I’m having a TIME here HGLK;SADFJASFD

Once again

You’re telling me

MACAQUE

would realize whats happening

before monkey king

you think

monkey king

wouldn’t know IMMEDEATLY

what that guy is talking about

AND DIP

INSTANTLY

to get away from that

like

.

not like bro was tied down he really is just standing there waiting for that thing to be slapped on

This is something

it sure something

I WANNA ENJOY THE CHARACTER MOMENTS BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS GETTING TO ME I NEED TO LIKE WATCH IT AGAIN IN ORDER TO APPRECIATE WHATS HAPPENING OR SOMETHING RAA It’s fine, its fine, I’ll probably process around episode five and be fine and move on. i hope. probably

ALSO WAHT YOU CAN JUST?? SLAP THAT ON FROM A DISTANCE?? MONKEY KING HAD TO PUT THAT ON HIMSELF IN JTTW—

I need to let jttw go a bit if i’m gonna make it through this season;LKGMAW;EF THIS IS SEASON 4 ALL OVER AGAIN WITH SOME OF THISGLKS;DF

Okay, maybe i am stalling a little bit because i know there’s going to be screaming and that is gonna be WILD

well there might not be we’ll see

“aww macaque was running up to stop it—“ yeah i love that we get only macaque reacting and not the guy who’s literally gonna be experiencing intense pain, and we see NONE of his horror we see macaque instead.

….

as a monkey king fan this upsets me— NG;KLAWMEF;A

LISTEN I’M GLAD MACAQUE FANS ARE EATING

I AM STARVING

it’s fine, if i saw monkey king making horrified expressions i’d probably just start missing flying bark its FIIINE

WE’RE ONLY THREE MINUTES IN SAVE ME I’M CRYING ON MY HANDS AND KNEES TAKE ME AWAY FROM HEEEEEREEEEE

LISTEN I WILL TRY AND BE MORE POSITIVE MAYBE AFTER THE INITAL REACTIONS AND ONCE I’VE PROCESSED MAYBE

WOUGH

okay time for screaming probably

.

you know what i’m gonna try

i’m gonna try watching with my eyes closed

and see if that makes a difference for how i feel about this

just for like a few seconds

just gonna try

beaST WATCH YOUR MOUTH LI JINGOHHHHH WOW YEAH SCREAMING WOW

wwwwoah

Sean went wild there okay hey man wow i can see why he was being all wow this seasons wild guys wow

sniffs

cool beans

me two years ago would be FEASTIN on this angst

maybe i’ll be feasting again once this all converts to flying bark png hGLK;ASJDF

watching again with visuals

. . . . i don’t wanna sound mean. like fr. they worked really hard, they have a totally unrealistic set of deadlines to meet when making this show cause lego is STUPID but like… i liked it better with my eyes closed. Like, seeing the visuals, I aint’ feeling it. IT DOESN’T FIIIIIIIT THE EXPRESSIONS DONT’ FIT THE SOUNNNNDDDSSSSSSSS RAAAAAAAAAAAHGHDFLKJSDFJJF FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

Listen I appreciated Flying Bark SO MUCH while it was animating Rise and Monkie kid. I gushed about them to anyone who would listen, i made an ENTIRE YOUTUBE CHANNEL JUST SO I COULD POST AMVS ABOUT THEIR ANIMATION, I APPRECIATED THEM TO HECK AND BACK. And i STILL feel like i should have cherished them more while i had em because this is just…. like every other kids show that you see when you slap on the tv on a treehouse channel or something actually i’ve seen ones i like more u h hhhh like again, i’m not saying its bAD, i’m just saying i don’t like it. Not my vibe

Y’know i feel a little bad cause i know i’ma be disappointing some of y’all by not like… being like OHHH DANNG BRO WAHT WHAT WHAT?? CIRCLET WHAT?? MONKEY?AUGHAUGHAA?? cause like that’s what i should be doing?? THATS HOW I SHOULD BE REACTING??? This change is like effecting me more than i expected ig dang

Alright sorry guys, half of this “reaction” is just me working through my stages of grief WHEEZEKLMG;LAKSDFMASDF

MOVING ON

alright mk monkey up and get em outta here

Also why not just circlet all of them to be safe? like realistically—

au where— nah i’m kidding

OH YEA MONKEY UP KID sniffs

SNIFFS

SCREAMS

i’m fine

holding hands and being reassuring despite being in immense pain to comfort Mk? HA

I’M FINE

I gotta say though, I don’t feel Mk’s panic…. I’M SO SORRY FOR THIS BUT COULD YOU IMAGINE??? IF FLYING BARK HAD DONE THIS???? WE SAW THE LADY BONE DEMON EPS THIS WOULD HAVE LIKE DESTROYED ME

<— having a moment

WE’RE FINE

OKAY

continue

I do appreciate, Monkey King’s absolute dedication to Mk, it’s interesting. I think the dynamic is interesting. Mk is just…. incredibly dedicated to monkey king, and monkey king is INCREDIBLY dedicated back. Only seems to care about how Mk’s doing. He just wants to make sure he’s okay. And that’s great. It actually works a lot better on Monkey king than it does on Pigsy. Like it feels like everyone is VERY suddenly touchy and like… the mentor father figures are hugs and gentle touches and carrying upstairs, and i dunno its throwing me off a little. With PIgsy specifically. Lost his gruffness i miss that part of him a lot. I miss pigsy guys. Fr tho i do think it fits the monkey a bit better, even if howwww…. long the touches are is new and feels p sudden

[scratches neck] dunno. we got mixed emotions here today folks!

Mk calming down immediately

OH SO NOW HE SAYS SOME—

-_-

y’know i don’t know if i like this.

bro came in looking like he knew exactly what was gonna happen, says absolutely nothing. And then gasps BELATEDLY after the circlet is on—its just… the pacing is all over the place, the characters reactions are delayed its yanking me out of the… like i CANT’ GET INVESTED WHEN ITS SO JARRING?? like bro they—HUIH????

its fine

whatever, gotta let us know Nezha ain’t the bad guy or whatever i get it

only four minutes in monkie kid gods save me

okay i laughed out loud

THEY JUST SLAPPED THEM IN A BOX

AHAHAHAHAHA

THERE’S CHAINS HANGING

AND THEY DONT’ EVEN USE EM

ouughhfffff i can’t look at that for too long it is OOOOFF

oooooooOOUGGGH THIS IS A CHOICE

tighter???

rubs face

HUH????

I ain’t feeling it foooolks

bro should be having a panic attack i’ma be reaaaal, like, play dumb, lighten the mood, we know he does thiisss BUT “i really really didn’t want to wear one of these again” feels like bro is just wearing an uncomfortable “i’m stupid” hat

OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO I GET ALL THE PUNISHEMNT AND YOU GET TO MOPENGLKASMFAOWEFM

Hey how did i predict this conversation but more emotional? y’all should go check out the comic pebs made of that THIS WHY PEOPLE KEPT REBLOGGING THAT WHILE TAGGING IT AS SEASON 5 SPOILERS OH MY GODSGN;MLASFAWNGF;OIAWMEFSAFE

I’m blessed by Apollo y’all i’m blessed

suitably distracted now

okay this is a weird arguement now

no kay it

I’ve had to re-listen to this exchange like four times to understand it mAYBE IM JUST SLOW NOW?? Macaque and Wukong’s arguments are really……….. interestingly worded??? i dunno, i’m having a hard time processing them n all that

love how mk just goes right back to trying to get it off and wukong doesn’t even react G;LKAMWEF

GOES AT IT WITH THE STAFFG;ASLKDFMAWEF

oh hey wassup nezha

Mk appreciates Nezha thinks he’s so cool, get ready to be disappointed in the dude— /j/j/j

TENSE IN HERELGKMSFOAIWEFM

It’s not that tense, also why is it tense?

Y’all should have heard the sound i just made while making strangling motions with my hands

MK FEELS OFF WHY ISNT’ HE LIKE… MK-ING Y’KNOW WHAT I MEAN?? he feels like he’s just avoiding rather than… IS IT WEIRD I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF THE PERSONALITIES ARE MISSING?? WHATS GOING ON??? Its’ the same writers whats going on DO I REALLY NEED EXPRESSIONS TO UNDERSTAND AND CONNECT TO CHARACTERS THAT BADLY??

Save me y’all

Oohhhhhhhh

Y’know

girl bringing mic closer to face meme thing yeah that was me looking at the bits of hair getting swept out nice move mr the king ily

I do love Nezha dropping by i think its great

Monkey King making fun of him as always we love to see it, Nezha reacting and totally missing whats going on again, we love to see it, bro keeps getting beaten by monkey kings hair BG;LKAMWEF HAHAHA

DEMOTED LOSERRRRR

okay

okay i made a little OOAWWWWWWWW sound that’s actually super cute bUT ALSO WDYM YOU’VE LISTENED TO MONKEY KING EXPLAIN THINGS BEFORE AND ITW AS FINE—

Kay listen, I do appreciate the family bits in this, but it also feels like they’re forgetting about a lot of development that has happened, so they can go LOOK HOW MUCH OF MK’S DADS PIGSY AND TANG ARE ISN’T IT CUTE? and i’m like… brother…. brooooooo my duuuuuuuude it is but can you do that without… blehOKAY ANYWAY

MOVING ON BEFORE WE GO ON ANOTHER TANGENT I’VEB EEN HERE FOR A LONG TIME ALREADYGNASLKFMSDFM

tellin us about the pillar explaining it, appreciate that thanks, hhhhhhhhoooold up so like… someone’s trying to destroy the pillarrrr…. and they need…. mk? to do it? maybe? I dunno man we just spitballing here

SEAN SOUNDS SO DIFFERENT HELPGMKL;DAMFASDF

huh

that’s funny

while they’re explaining the story or whatever there’s a mortal that has me’s haircut but with a bun

.

haha

i’m sure that’s just me

and not indicative of any mk being a being who has existed before around the same time that something was broken haha NOOOOO

yeah yeah i know this story mended the pillar cool stuff

WHHHHAOOOOh what why does he sound like that? WHY IS HIS VOICE SUDDENLY SO HIGH MACAQUE????? MAC?? Is this the sound design again? I am so thrown by so many things right now save meee

Sure is suspicious

Nezha never has any idea whats going on when Mk or wukong are in the room

Macaque is used to shenanigans by now he grew up with the great sage

Mk being chaos incarnate and not just ADHD sure is funny

is this an allegory for neaurodivergency— /j/j/j/j

oop another tilted angle hey its almost been three minutes!!!

….y’know how i always used to just get this ray of sunshine from mk like just, absolute positivity and goodness? I ain’t getting that no more the vibes are LOST

and a pain crown on’s head THAT’S NOT BEST FRIEND STUFFKMSLDF

AHAHAH HE GOT EM

HE GOT HIM

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I’M A CLONEGLKMSAF;OAWEMF YESSSSSS

CACKLES

AHAHA DOUBLE TAPPED DOUBLEELKMG;OIFMAWE

DOUBEL GOT

GOTTEM TWICE

what did that remind me ofOH THOR AND LOKI

AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA

hey that’s fun

The way Nezha has watched these guys fight tooth and nail to save the world and still wants to slap em back in jail is hilarious to me

Also this feels like a fake out villain season now

like PSYCH YOU THOUGHT NEZHA’S DAD WAS THE BIG BAD?

WELL I GOT NEWS FOR YOU ITS NOT HIM

just because of that bit Mk said n all that making me squint

ALSO THAT DUDE THAT WAS DRAGGING HIS SSS’S I’M TELLING YOU ITS THAT GUY WE ALREDY KNOW ONE OF THE UNDERWORLD KINGS IS SKETCHY

Jailbreak kid hours

Okay i will say i loved Nezha’s VA yelling Wukong its a great vibe he’s doing amazing

Y’know i just can’t sometimes with these celestials

i love monkey king laughing joyously while spears are being thrown at him i think that’s very wukong

oh hey they did a team up move that looked like what Lupin keeps describing in the battle team up moments with them all the time stares

this guy thinks he’s the main characterKLMG;AWEF

CACKLES

I SUPPORT ALL OF MONKEY KINGS CRIMES

HE SHOVES THEM BOTH OFF THE SIDE OF HEAVEN

OKAY SANDY SOUNDS WRONG TOO

HE SOUNDS WRONG TOO GUYS IT CAN’T JUST BE ME

Sorry Sandy nothings’ built to last around these monkeys

Macaques scarf over his face i think its funny how fast we went from actual threat macaque to introvert hiding in a scarf macaquehG;LAKJWER

Okay a little bit of snappy pigsy there but ONCE AGAIN HE SOUNDS WRONG, okay so the like… yeah probably the sound design or something they’re missing something in their voices i dunno what it is but its driving me nuts it feels like they changed all the voice actors but Sean’s sometimes

….Y’know it really feels like they’re just trying to force discord between monkey king and macaque with no reason and with like… no actual emotional argument buildup?? its just yeah monkey king gets mad at him this fast and macaque mouths of constantly. this from the guy who followed them around for the samadhi fire like, I dunno man

“what if we really are chaos”

that was far too specific a line to not mean anything down the line what now are they gonna snatch chaos and hit people with it ?

SNORTS

Okay i’ma be honest y’all so far it feels like macaque is the main character of the season because we keep getting shots of his reactions to things happening and like nobody elses this feels like the macaque show rather than the monkie kid crew show

Pigsy finds out his son has become a criminal ;LKGMAW;OEFIMF

TIME TO FIX oh dont’ do me like tat bro don’t show me glimpses of something akin to flying bark pls

oh whats up pagoda

LIKE THERE???? WE DONT’ GET TO SEE THE REST OF HTE CREWS REACTION TO THE CIRCLET???????

where’s the soul guys there was a reason i could never really pick a favourite in the show its cause they were all so beautiful in every moment whats going on—

-_-

i need to slap some rose coloured glasses on asap so i can start being more positive or so help me—NG;LKAMWEF

Macaque has main character syndrome WHEEZEGKLMAFOAWEF

also like bro, the monkeys dont’ get in the truck and no one leans out the window to say lets go??

i feel like i’m missing half the ep

Macaque, with a tortouredly concerned voice: WUKONG Macaque’s expression: :0

not a thought behind those eyes

ahem relistening to this—i’ve never had to replay bits just to understand whats going on before this is taking SO MUCH LONGERLKMSA;FWE

like how come macaque can swoop in and do that just swat the pain activator away and monkey king didn’t do that himself before the circlet got placed on him we’ve seen how fast he is

okay is this the sacrifice myself season? everyones just gonna try and jump on the train with macaque starting us offG;LKAMWEF

HELPGASKL;FAWEF

Wukong, in pain: :0

i am having a TIME

love how sandy does not hesitate to hit the gas nobody even says to go he just goes which eeehhhh but also whatever==

ohhhh ohh i cringed sorry

i really need to fix my mindset so i can watch this without wanting to stick my head in a puddle

he’ll get away right he always gets away—yeah that tells me no and yup there you go nope he got snatched easily WAIT HE GOT SNATCHED?? HELP?? this is why we got so many macaque reactions cause they’re gonna bench him for half the season had to cram in as many moments as possible i’m so sorry macaque fans—

HEY ITS THAT SSSSS GUY

I’M TELLING YA HE’S A SNAKE

I’M JUSSAYOH

OH HA

I’M STUPID

THE SET

MEDUSA SNAKE GUY

I SAW THOSE SETS

THAT’S THE GUY GOT IT

I’M SO SMART

WELL

okay that was a RIDE

There was some funny moments, some whats going on moments and some wow what moments fr if i didn’t have somewhere to be later today i might tackle another ep but as of right now i think we’ll save that for later, i swear these reactions get longer every episode.

Thanks for sticking with me till the end, I promise I’ll get better once i process I hope or i’ll perish in a puddle of depression, honestly its 50/50 at this point

I don’t think i’ll ever stop missing flying bark while watching these eps, the way i could analyze every character expression brought me so much joy but yeah! we shall see where this goes and hopefully i can watch the entire season before someone spoils me in reblog tags WHEEZE

SEE Y’ALLIN THE NEXT ONE, TAKE CARE AND REMEMBER TO HYDRATE. KNOX OUT o7

[madraleen]

The Case Study of Vanitas - Season 1 (ie eps 1-24) A mixed first-watch commentary (*fair warning, i actively dislike stuff)

-the fairy tale style introduction is such a beautiful beginning.

-favonius codex, is that you?

-what is this op, are the guys in love?

-THE AIRSHIP IS SO COOL

-BLUE MOON, AND WHITE-HAIR-GUY SEEING PARIS FOR THE FIRST TIME AS HE HOLDS ON TO VANITAS AS THEY FALL TO THE GROUND AAAHHH

-HUMAN?! VANITAS IS HUMAN?!

-wdym you'll slay him in the end, noe, i'm not prepared for an unhappy ending even though i only just met y'all

-NOE'S FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ARE SO CUTE

-oh okay, so vanitas is human with some blue vampire power

-please freakin decide if vanitas has human nails or claw-like nails 'cause atm, gloveless, he has both depending on the shot

-wtf did just happen between vanitas and jeanne? leave the woman alone.

-akira ishida could be reciting an omelet recipe and i'd still listen all riveted, but the world formula stuff is actually interesting

-every time vanitas interacts with jeanne, i want to slap him.

-lil noe-louis-domi are adorable. the noe-louis-domi ep is the one i’ve been the most interested in so far. like, even if i end up disliking the rest of the anime, this ep is peak, ep.5

-please make me like vanitas. i really want to like vanitas, but for now i'm edging towards dislike.

-ah yes, jeanne/domi is actually a ship i can get behind.

-the op is telling me i'm watching a certain kind of anime and the actual anime is telling me i'm watching an entire different thing and it annoys me

-it's nice hearing kengo kawanishi in roland's role. i haven't heard him in the slightly-deranged/overly-emotional range before.

-awww, roland is a good egg after all!

-oh i see, i do like vanitas, just not when he's being ~alluring. THAT vanitas i don't like

-i repeat, DOMI/JEANNE!

-when jeanne is tricking vanitas, and he's suspecting her but playing along, they're so cute. aw damn, she'll fall for him? blergh

-oh come on, jeanne crying and being scared over whatever's up with her is actually sad

-LET NOE/US PEER INTO YOUR FUCKING MEMORIES, VANITAS! LET US SYMPATHIZE!

-AYUMU MURASEEEEEEEE

-the vanitas and noe interactions are so damn cute.

-hold up hold up, ayumu murase's range??

-pretty sure vanitas is on a time limit or sth, right? where's your earring, vanitas darling?

-no offense but jeanne has more chemistry with chloe in their hellfire witch backstory scene than she has had with vanitas in the entire anime

-nice chloe twist!

-roland, what a good egg

-astolfo's backstory tho <3

-hold up hold up, seriously, ayumu murase's range?????

-roland and olivier though <3 

-i am plagued by mikhails and mishas

-dude, misha's and vanitas' backstory >>> present story, like- the backstories are SO strong and streamlined compared to the present arcs. and i really like lady vanitas

-wait, domi's arc tho? chef's kiss

-poor noe, all of his closest people want him to be the one that kills them.

-MISHA, NOE AND VANITAS ON THE ROOF, PEAK

-aaah, i see, noe "will slay him in the end" as in the end-end, of the story, when vanitas succumbs to the book, okay. the last two eps were peak, i'm so emotionally confused. i'd gladly watch a s2. that said-

-i really don't like how romance is handled, and it's too present to just ignore. i don't find it cute, nor funny, nor romantic, nor alluring, nor particularly toxic, i just find it annoying and forced, lacking chemistry.

-i'm so confused on how i feel about vanitas. there's moments where i liked him, a lot of moments where i was neutral, but lots of others i found him incredibly annoying. but also, he's so complex, which is great, he's a well-crafted character, and you *get* it after you’ve seen these bits of his past, you come to understand him. and part of me thinks that we’re *supposed* to half-like and half-dislike him, that we’re supposed to mirror noe’s sentiments a bit, the “i don’t like you, but also i want to get to know you and to understand you and i’m never leaving your side, ever.” it’s just that for me, vanitas doesn’t have the charm or strength of character to be magnetic even when i dislike him, and i don’t know how i feel about that. i think if i didn't dislike the vanitas/jeanne approach so much, i might have been more fond of him.

-but again, that said: i'd like a rewatch, now that i know vanitas' backstory.

[thevulpinehero1]

GWatch -- Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Ep 1

Since Armoured Core came out and everyone's in a mecha mood, I figured I would talk about an entirely different mecha series instead. The plan is to watch one episode a day, talk about it, and include one (or more) screenshots to facilitate enhanced rambling. I want to start with the original series since I've watched it before, see if I can get through it all, and then maybe move onto some other Gundams if I have the spirit.

Beware! Spoilers for a 40 year old anime inbound, as well as possible misreporting since I probably am not going to fact check too well. Gundam nerds may feel free to correct me and dispense wisdom where appropriate. Also, I'm just going to go with whatever name spelling is on the subtitles I have at the time. Sorry, not sorry.

The first thing I have to talk about is the theme song, which honestly gives me emotions. Nowadays, we all have this image of Gundam as basically the show that invented the real robot subgenre, but you would absolutely never get that impression from the theme song or OP. Honestly, go find it and listen to it -- it's actually amazing how widely it misses the tone of the series, with lyrics like "Bring to bear the rage of justice!" and "If you are still burning with furious rage, you must fight the towering foe!" It sounds much, much more like a Super Robot theme song for like Daitarn 3 or Raideen or something, than something you would see associated with a classic "war is hell" series like Gundam.

And this was probably completely intentional. I remember hearing that even as far back as its initial run, the series had to fight the sponsors/toymakers in order to carve out its own identity, and part of that was projecting a surface level impression of a more palatable Super Robot style show. (Some things never change, I guess...)

To me, it adds a lot to the charm, because the singer is obviously going in and doing their best, singing an ode to a giant metal hero of justice who doesn't really exist outside of the fertile imagination of an advertising/toy exec who has been thoroughly mislead. I love that. I just want to go and tell them, hey, I appreciate you, you are singing your heart out on this theme song for an entirely different and imaginary series than the one they've actually made, and you're killing it. You are fighting the good fight, and you may be one of the reasons the series even got off the ground in the first place because you were part of this obfuscation.

This is Amuro Ray. His shadow looms large over every Gundam protagonist that will follow him; many of them either use him as a blueprint for their personality, or are meant as a study in contrast to it. He kills a lot of people. He eats a lot of sandwiches. There are long and intricate scenes of Amuro eating sandwiches, and they are among my favourite scenes in the whole series, and, in fact, any Gundam show I've ever watched. I'm not kidding.

I picked this screenshot not just because it shows a stone-cold, unrepentant sandwich-murderer in his natural habitat, but because it also showcases another thing I love about the show: the goofy animation. This was not a show with a huge budget. There is something weird or goofy happening in every episode, almost every scene, and the first episode -- traditionally one of the best funded in most series -- is no exception. Amuro eats like a turtle. Hayato's hand is an amorphous, misshapen blob. I think it honestly adds to the charm; the series is scuffed, and probably knows it's scuffed, but it's doing its best to tell a story in spite of that.

For now, Amuro is not the pilot of legend. He sits around the house doing science in his underwear, his neighbours don't like him enough to tell him about an actual military evacuation that he's supposed to be undertaking, and without the aid of his childhood friend Fraw Bow (who he mostly summarily ignores), he wouldn't bother to evacuate at all and would likely die at home. He's a scrunkly kind of dude. Maybe even a scrunklemeister. Your boy probably smells like a scratch and sniff card if you rubbed off all the panels and tried snorting them all at once.

The show is surprisingly quick at characterising him, too. Within a minute or two, we know all the above, plus that he seems to have a certain amount of tension with his father, who his neighbours blame for bringing the military to their peaceful colony. His father, Tem Ray, loves him at least enough to put a picture of him on his desk, and makes vaguely prophetic statements about how kids as young as Amuro are already joining the war as guerrilla fighters. Foreshadowing hit different in the eighties.

One scene I didn't actually remember, but really should have in retrospect, is the part where Amuro confronts his father ("Do you care more about Mobile Suits than humans?" is the absolute first thing Amuro says to him), and the death of Fraw Bow's mother and grandfather, both of which expose a more sensitive core to the scrunklebeast within. It's very convenient/poetic (delete as appropriate) that Fraw Bow was herself very nearly caught in the explosion that killed the crowd her family was in, and only survived because she separated from them in order to check on Amuro.

I was also kinda surprised to relearn that Amuro doesn't really 'fall in' to the cockpit; he very deliberately gets in, having happened to read the manual earlier, in an effort to either protect the remaining civilians or take revenge for the ones who've just fallen (the context doesn't really make it clear which one, but he rushes to the cockpit soon after Fraw Bow sees her family die and is making her escape).

One thing that's really interesting in the metacontext of the series is that although Amuro ends up being one of the best pilots (he's a legend in mecha anime for a reason), he kinda starts out as one of the worst. Many Gundam protags are either experienced, have some level of training, or have other reasons why they're hot shit right out of the box; Amuro really does not know what he's doing, and is carried entirely by the fact that the Gundam itself is dizzyingly durable for the time period. It also comes with a learning computer (which I bet sounded very advanced in the time the anime was made, but kinda brings certain chatbots to mind in the present day) to ease the piloting burden while he learns how to use the dang thing. Not only that, but he goes up against a lot of mobbers who aren't that much better than he is and can't do much against his much better machine.

(A really interesting experiment is to contrast Kira from SeeD, which follows a lot of the original Gundam's major story beats quite closely for the first part of the series and is almost a spiritual remake in some parts. Kira almost has the opposite end of the equation going on -- a very good pilot from day one, he has the misfortune of having five other named dudes who are close to his level and have machines that are arguably better than his in a vacuum, and he fights them pretty regularly.)

Anyway, through more luck than skill, Amuro manages to get through his first Mobile Suit battle in Side 7, but Bright is already looking to utilise him as labour, and Char is advancing on the colony. That's the first episode, more tomorrow. (I don't intend these to be exhaustive or talk about every little, but I wanted to go a bit more in depth for the first ep, and I don't want to restrict myself from veering off on tangents because those are fun.)

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (29/10/23)

veeeeeeeeeeeeeery late this week I know it's my own fault really, I was warned by my buddy mega that yozakura would be a dense read and take a while but I didn't listen and underestimate how long it'd take, I should've started during the week but I only started reading on saturday NIGHT so no way in hell I was gonna be able to catch up.. by the time I went to bed on sunday I was on 111/200 so oof.. also didn't mon tue or wed so that's why the post is so late but anyhoo

green - new series/new to me pink - catching up

Anime

Frieren Ep8

very good episode like usual, even more for me cause of all the action. looks like the next one will also have quite a bit of it so I'm pogged up

Undead Unluck Ep4

bro that episode went absolutely INSANE?? HELLO the sakuga was so good I was losing my gourd I'm so glad uu got the adaptation it deserves also my queen yuuki absolutely stole the show, really showing why she's up there with the best of the best, it's gonna be sad not getting more gina til like cour 4 but it'll be worth the wait

Pokemon Horizons Ep26

pretty chill episode after all the excitement from last week's cour finale, mostly just setting up the plot for the future. tho we also got a new op and it goes absolutely crazy

Adult Precure Ep4

alright episode, mostly about what saki and mai have been up to, saki being engaged and mai breaking up with her bf. I know that in their shows, from the very start, the girls have crushes on boys (ofc it couldn't be otherwise cause toei are cowards) but you gotta understand how deep in the yuri mines I am. hearing them actually say they're engaged or dating a man gave me whiplash

Imas Million Live Ep4

good episode as usual, the best part was getting a lot more screentime for some of the girls that were barely in the other eps, tho it still wasn't that much and since this isn't following the og format there's always gonna be some girls that won't get their time to fully shine sadly. also got a couple momoko moments™ including the box so that was funny

Manga

Mission: Yozakura Family Ch1 - 200

wowie that was.. a lot better than I expected. honestly went in not expecting much, and after having just caught up to jujutsu from 1 to current I wasn't expecting yozakura to be so good since jujutsu is so much more popular but, hot take: I think it's way better like sheesh. I talked about it on my server but the only I thing I think jujutsu has over yozakura is the battles, otherwise it's beat in every category. I like the art a lot more, even from ch1 yozakura had waaaaay better paneling than even current jujutsu. and the whole cast is a lot more likeable. like from jujutsu I cared about gojo, nanami, maki and okkotsu. in yozakura we get cooldown chaps were the different family members do their own stuff and interact with each other which helps you get to know them more and in doing so liking them more, while still using these chaps to move the plot along so the pacing isn't too slow (outside of that little side detour with the past heads that got cut short prob by the editor but yknow)

anyway rambling and just repeating what I already said in the server but TL;DR it's good, glad to be caught up, and looking forward to it wrapping up in the near future since we're close to the final arc

Witch Enforcer Ch1

I started this mostly on a whim cause the art is good (artist's on here too btw @ camellia0x0) but I was pleasantly surprised. there was nothing surprising about the story but it was delivered well and the art was solid through the whole chap (tho the paneling is very basic but I'll give them a pass since it's their first serialization [only some one shots before]) and the concept of a witch making and using mechs is fun. looking forward to seeing this artist's growth as a mangaka, hopefully the series doesn't get axed too early

Undead Unluck 181

good chap, especially the end tho. never thought this could be a possibility but it makes total sense there'd be a reverse evil union on the side of god. never thought about it since we had under before. really curious to see how the next chap gonna but it's prob just gonna be introducing all those baddies that people will fight in the final arc

[videostak]

also today watched the first ep of yu yu hakusho again but w/ the english dub instead of subbed and like its soooo good since its the same cast as the dbz dub so like u kno its gonna be good. like the original voice cast is great like shigeru chiba is the goat but i think im gonna watch this dub instead of subbed since ive already seen the whole series subbed b4. the only thing is that the ending theme isnt as good as the original since its like a recreation of the backing track w/ the english vocals sung over it. and like thats one of my fav anime eds so there was no chance that the english ver was gonna be as good as it obviously but then like the english opening is rly great and equally as good as the japanese opening which is insane. i mean both the english op and ed are great and that alone is insane lol. anyways ya im gonna be sticking to the english dub of yyh and just not watch the sub and then for cowboy bebop im gonna try to watch both dub and subbed and then ranma im gonna watch unsubbed and just pick up on what i can understand since thats more comedic and ive already seen that b4 and just wanna have smthn to watch unsubbed to get used to listening and not reading. and then watching dragon ball subbed and will watch that and dbz subbed and gt subbed too but will probably watch super dubbed just cause i wasnt crazy abt supers first few arcs being retellings of the movies so watching it dubbed will hold me over i think and make it a fun watch since i love the dragon ball dub actors a lot :)

[jumpscaregoose]

Shaman King (2021) rewatch: ep 1

I decided to rewatch the 2021 anime (again) because it's been a few months since I last sat down and watched it. chronicling my opinions on each episode because why not

I always forget 2021 opens with this scene because literally no other version does lmao. makes sense because the first few episodes are kind of episodic/meandering but with how much they sped it up we get to the shaman fight within 5 episodes? and even though the hao/yoh siblings thing is pretty obvious it still feels weird to put it here

soul salvation may be my least favourite shaman king op but it still slaps (over soul is the best one fight me. and also go listen to the peaky p-key remix of it. my friend who plays rhythm games sent it to me and they were right. it good)

absolutely iconic shot it gives me so many brain noises

manta suddenly being able to see ghosts is never explained, I don't think. takei my guy holy shit

one day I'm going to take the time to stand on a bridge for a while. not anytime soon I don't have the patience

I have nothing to say about this screenshot yoh's just adorable. he does look a lot younger in these early episodes too

I love how despite yoh's general persona his first response to someone messing with his friend was moderate violence

hyoi gattai is very cool and should have been used more after they introduced over soul. every time they bring it in after over soul (ren vs nichrom, jun vs hon hon in red crimson) it's one of the coolest scenes imaginable

and so the descent of ryu's hair begins

I didn't think local smithies were that common until I was talking to my dad and apparently my hometown has one. so that's neat

totally 100% just friends and not gay at all you guys

2021 really just throws ren in immediately. it's like prologue over here's an emo with the most ridiculous design you've ever seen. I actually randomly found a jacket like his at the thrift store for like $6 and it's one of my most prized possessions

and of course the 2021 eds are the best pieces of shaman king animation I've ever seen. they're like those funkuro still images in motion. and this first one is The Best it has pirica in it

so excited to watch through this series again it's my beloved. I am also watching through 2001 currently but they're Different ok.

episode 1 is fun because I always remember watching it for the first time on a road trip in the middle of the night and just being. so confused. by everything. and now it's just oh yeah ren's hair we've all seen it

[millepara]

waccha primagi episode 40 spoilers (so many)

RYUME HAS PANTS!! neat. I am actually wondering for the first time if her outfit is so similar to Myam’s bc they are both partners of primagistas? it doesn’t make a lot of sense considering Myamu’s outfit was like that before she was Matsuri’s partner, but I’m not sure that it matters if it makes sense (in a children’s anime). like Ryume is the only other partnered magic user we’ve seen a human form for, so atm that’s the only thing I know she has in common with Myamu... like what if Chimumu etc all have similar variations on that outfit is what I’m saying

+ given the furry bow/tail she has on her outfit, I now think her animal is a kirin and not a dragon? maybe I’m about to find out though

AH A NEW OP... unexpectedly soon. god I hope I like this one bc I have not liked the last two. fingers crossed

I like it better so far, which is something...

is Hughie officially working in Matsuri’s family’s candy workshop now. is Inoru going to team up with Truth? wow how does that happen... oh wow Matsuri’s patchwork coord. everyone’s there in it, huh. I don’t hate it tbh, it’s very Tokyo fashion student handmade streetwear, but tell me that’s not her actual Element coord

AH ok there’s like a heart-themed coord, that’s more like it. oh, and there they all are in the Heavens Rare recolor that was already previewed on the site for s6. I guess this pillar and garden area is supposed to be heaven? (just like aikatsu friends...)

lmao I barely listened to the song, I was too busy thinking abt the visuals. let me go back and....... uh, it’s my fav of the 3 for sure, but def keeping up the priseries op trend of me not liking them that much. oh well

hate how primagi keeps trying to make us care abt Achihiko. I don’t and I won’t

so Kaguya is Matsuri’s dad’s real last name. does that make her Kaguya Matsuri? where did Hibino come from.

YES Jennifer GET HER!! (kiss her)

having Auru here to figure all of Omega’s schemes out is such a relief, if it were left to the rest it would take weeks and be so frustrating to watch

has Matsuri STILL not told anyone abt the voice she keeps hearing telling her to save Jennifer? we’ve spent so much time with duo units that I forgot

this new song. holy shit...........

the sword!! can’t believe they choreographed a dance w a sword and that I am at some point going to be able to see my mychara doing it in the game!!!! I like the diamond cowgirl sun coord too mostly, though those feather starbursts tacked to her upper arms are weird

(Meganee and Auru’s matching glasses... cute)

SUPERVILLAIN ORIGIN EVENT..... I guess that’s why they all seem to be fighting her in the op. love & adore the new coord. didn’t know she could do that to the coord mates. so now no one has a coord and it seems to imply that no one can do primagi now? (except for maybe Auru? bc she doesn’t use magic?) are we going to have a bunch of eps w no performance now... impossible. so is that why Matsuri has a homemade coord? hmmm

Lux Aeterna... so that’s the name of my new fav song

wow, she really is getting the homemade coord in the next ep according to the preview!! I hope she gets a new song too.

....and. well. once again, the character with darker skin turns out to be the ‘evil’ one. I mean, it is like, she was so hurt by her father figure’s betrayal of her feelings that she no longer cared what terrible schemes he was using her for, and the Sun element used that as a chance to possess her, so it’s not actually Jennifer actively doing it or even wanting it or anything, but. hm. I really loved this ep a lot, just... why are we doing this again.

[hopeymchope]

The Zombies get their Revenge

In a year when many anime disappointed me - including some returners - I have to say that the second season of Zombie Land Saga (a.k.a. “Zombie Land Saga Revenge”) REALLY satisfied me. I liked it more than the first season... in fact, I think it was my probably my favorite anime in 2021. 

When Season 2 started, I greatly disliked how we’d skipped right over some offscreen developments that felt completely out of step with where we last left the cast. (I say again: A time skip that disorients the reader/viewer/listener/player is NOBODY’S friend, ever.) Kotaro feels deeeeeeply out of character here, and many of the seeds planted in the first couple of episodes never actually lead to much of anything (try to remember how much it mattered that the band got their own radio show). 

Regardless, the overall high quality of the stories that hit each week after the second one completely won me over. And the absolute bop that is the second season’s OP was a clear assistant in that. 

The drama around Ai having to face down the bandmates who previously watched her die was a really good two-parter for eps 3 and 4, but it’s episodes 6 through 12 that gave us some of the best stories of the entire show, IMO.

“Walking Bet Saga” was a fun and adorable chance to focus on how Tae manages to survive and thrive despite being the lone member of the group doomed to be a groaning, shambling Romero-style zombie. “Maimai Revolution Saga” had some of the best comedy they’ve done in ages, finally satisfying the question of what happens when someone discovers the truth about the group (although I admit that the closing scene rang false for me).

“The Saga Incident” two-parter was just incredible, though, and was definitely the point where this season went over the top in terms of quality. Because seee even though it’s inherently about a group of (intelligent) zombies, this is a very light series that is mostly about comedy and music and optimism. “The Saga Incident” provided something totally different — a period piece full of suspense, tragedy, and a pervasive darkness. It was unlike anything else they’ve done, and I was riveted by it. Even though much of Yugiri’s backstory was already established via dialogue and implication, it was impressive to see how much they could expand it into something meaningful.

From there, we slid directly into the three-part finale arc. If I have any complaint about the finale arc, it’s that it was so painful to be left on these cliffhangers twice, but in the end, it all came together quite beautifully. The subplot with the reporter who’d been sniffing around the group and slowly piecing together the truth finally reached its climax right when the band is getting ready for their most important concert yet. But before that can happen, they make a meaningful difference in the lives of people affected by a hurricane... and their true faces are exposed in the process. We even learn a bit about how Kotaro (always a highlight character) resurrected these girls in the first place. It’s drama upon drama with character and lore mixed in, and it tastes delicious.

If not for two cliffhanger-y elements introduced VERY late in the final episode, this could’ve been an excellent series finale. In a somewhat worrisome fashion, however, we are set up for more. And we now know that the “more” is going to take the form of a movie. 

Why do I call the cliffhanger elements “worrisome”? Because that bloody spot on the carpet seems to be setting up some drama that I am not interested in experiencing right now, and because that final scene of destruction was pulled from deep out of left field. This movie is going to HAVE to be quite a bit different from anything we’ve seen before... and I wonder how that’s going to play out. 

But hey - I have a lot of faith in the team behind this show by now. I’m somewhat worried about this movie, yes, but I’m quite excited for it all the same.

[mariaantonnietta]

Okay, the promised is debt.let"s talk about Gintaka moments!!!

I said a long time ago I was gonna do a compilation of Gintaka/Takagin moments. And I will deliver right now! (op skimmed the jp twitter and is excited/can’t wait to see the movie )

Ok, no, this will be mostly my disorganized headcanons, moments where I can see the ship with my shipper googles on, some paralels? Haha, honestly just to show the ship some love!!!

It’s also my perspective on why I love this ship!!

Of course, I'm going to talk about all the series and go back and fort, so there’s going to be spoilers all around, so if you have not seen the manga end, best skip it.

The rest is under the cut, let’s go!!!!!

So, I started shipping  Gintaka/Takagin  after the Shougun Assasination arc, best  strangled friends story I have ever seen.  I like a lot of Gintoki ships, but it became my favourite really fast. Then, looking back, I noticed these haha:

the first meeting in the show (ep 17). I know it was threatening, but watching it again the fireworks exploded over their heads as they met.Isn’t that  a romantic troupe? (and also in this scene makes Takasugi face scarier, haha). And also how Gintoki stopped Takasugi blade, so obvious for point one that they knew each other.(the interactions here are so painful in retrospective 'When his father saw his son's head, imagine the rage he felt?😭')

(and then there’s also , in the extra episode where the yoroyuza go to China, they help a poor dude with his first date with a girl, and Gintoki comments how the first date  should have fireworks, haha, at the time there were some images on pixiv of child Gintoki and child Takasugi seeing the fireworks together, it was so lovely, good headcanon!)

There's the Senbonsakura arc, and Takasugi appearing at the reunion scene looking at the moon, woah (there's also them crossing paths, but that's more dramatic of the ideologies maybe, still this a shipping post so ' them crossing paths there, the athmosphere of fated (rivals) people!!!')

( ‘They both had sad eyes’)

I like how even as they are different their core is the same, even if not these character are so raw together in their feelings

Let's talk about the movies for a moment: in the movie version of the Benizakura arc, Gintoki dreams with Takasugi, and IDK, but for how haunting it is, it also feels intimate, and that makes it hurt most.

About the second movie when we saw it we didn't know what the hell happened to Takasugi, but looking back he's dead by that time....maybe. (why didn't you give us a clear answer at the end sorachi).Okay but for practical purposes of what the cast knows he's dead (maybe...ahhh let's says it's like that) and well, haha, gintoki of the future dying looking at the sunset haha don't think of him daydreaming things.(When I saw the movie I had the impression that takasugi was dead, for both katsura clothes that are not called as a joke, and future gintoki 'the only one that can kill me is me', if takasugi was alive, he wouldn't let gintoki claim that so hypotrically, that's what I believed.)

There's the mini arc of the underseas dragon palace, (I remembered this one because of takasugi 'monster' form) I'm just gonna said that even if I read too much into ot there are some interesting paralels maaaaaybe, this one is a strech.

Talking about far fetched things, you people remember the Love Chorris arc? The one with the virtual girlfriends game? I think I am not the first person to point this out, but if you analyze Gintoki girl:

Gintoki selects her and (accidentally)kills her son.After that, she is bend of killing him in return in revenge. With his son corpse at her back to haunt him too.

She later confesses to him that she knew he wasn't at fault for her sons death, and that she focused on blaming him to be able to handle the pain, that she's grateful of Gintoki for understanding this.

The spirit of her son aproves their relashionship.

Now tell me this doesn't remain you of someone in particular and his relashionship with gintoki. And this is gintoki mind perspective and hopes, and fears.

(Well it probably isn't that deep, its the chorris arc, but still)

The way you can see Sakamoto’ jokes as a friend teasing because he knows they like each other. The fight when they to a red district gaining another lining.

The rajuko arc, when they exchanged blades to save the other newfound friends/family. The fucking red string of blood that they form together.

In the manga there was the famous saying attributted to takasugi historical counterpart :

'I want to kill all crows in the three thousand world, and sleep in with my heart's master'

This if I remember correctly because crows caw mark the morning, and in a brothel you have to leave.

So the meaning is ' I want to kill all crows in three thousand worlds(so that morning never comes) and sleep/stay in (forever) with my heart' master'

(Of course this could refer to shouyo, but it could be about gintoki, they go directly to meet the other)

It's a famous saying used in songs, I believe.

The part when he doesn’t want to see more rain, its of course because seeing gintoki's crying was imprinted in his mind for so long and influenced how he thinks. He is so important to him!!

And of course the final arc, where they are more open to each other,(the strangled friends are so happy to be together again) both Takasugi who finally let go of that 'burn the world down' and of Gintoki that walks besides him. The way Gintoki looks at Takasugi with a soft expression on his eyes. Matako ' I have never seen before Shinsuke sama with those eyes, I couldn't stop them'

The Glorious Days ending, that's when one (me) realises, 'oh ... this two care about each other and want to save the other' and while it isnt surprising for Gin, it was for Takasugi at the time.Rewatch the openings and endings in general, and see Takasugi place in them. IDK, he is usually the last alone waiting under the moon. And it gets me...cant really explain that.

The radio call, how we couldn’t see gintoki's initial reaction as Takasugi talked to him, gintoki even pretending not knowing (painfully bad) he didn’t know the other voice.

And of course the myriad moments in the final arc, Gintoki promply saying he is the one he wants to protect, the death sequence 'maybe we were just born under that kind of (tragic) star'

Gintoki teading takasugi that his parents would cry if they see the delincuent he is bringing home 🤣🤣.

Fuck, in the spin off Takasugi as a student novel, when he and Gintoki meet they can't keep the skit up, they talk directly to each other.

Also about the special episode, there's another...uh this is more of a paralel, and purely a headcanon, but here it goes: the yorozuya meet with kamui while trying to help a woman about her mother setting her up in blind dates, and in one moment she starts mothering both kamui and kagura and they get, well their eyes are animated different in that moment, and then they start listening to her. They were probably remainded of their own mother. And then I realised that I have seen Kamui make those eyes before (I will look for a pic, it's a very distintive shift), when talking to Takasugi. Is in one op too.

Of course the childhood friends dynamic. Regardless of nature, nobdy can deny the deep connection these two have.

(Here's the image from the op, is less obvios in the ep I think...or I'm overthinking, that's more possible)

Here’s Kamui and Kagura’s eyes when tehy get scold by the mother:

(I’m not crazy, they are similar XD Maybe XD)

I remember thinking to myself at the time 'woah, Kamui shows a admiring expression with takasugi somentimes' and now I fully believe is a childlike more like expression because takasugi reminds him of his mother(subconsiously). I can see the resemblance, especially towards the end of the series. As Gintoki and Umibozuo paralel too(both of them act like Kagura's dads) I just....haha parallel things.

There's a hundred things more, I'm sure I'm forgetting some (may add in a reblog after). All their fucking dialogue with each other is so intense. I I just love this ship sooo much

Totally up to talk about this ship if someone wants to!!

[chidoroki]

In Defense of TPN S2

Okay, so before y’all start throwing your salt shakers at me, let me explain. Yes, I’m just as upset and annoyed with how the second season decided to cut out so much content that us manga readers were finally hoping to see: no Yuugo, Goldy Pond arc or GP Resistance, Lucas or Glory Bell escapees, Adam, poachers, or Cuvitidala Search. Since this season also (sort of) reached the 2047 time skip, we were also denied of the Paradise Hideout, Jin, Hayato, Ayshe, the Seven Walls & Imperial Capital Battle arcs and Alex due to the anime’s so-called “original story” idea. While some manga events still took place (B06-32 getting blown up, the trio’s reunion, Norman’s time at Lambda, the cursed blood and the Grace Field raid), they were all significantly changed and barely held the same emotional impact, as we see very little to no build up to these moments. Several volumes were skipped completely and despite others being touched lightly, we unfortunately missed out on major character development for everyone, most notably for Emma, but also the lighter side of things such as chef Ray, medic Anna, Rossi learning morse code, Minerva!Norman, etc. There’s honestly so much of the main story to talk about and I totally understand why we’re all so ticked off, especially since that darn slideshow did absolutely nothing to calm our hearts at the end of ep11.

However.. I’m not gonna stand by and say this season was worthless. Highly disappointing given everything I just mentioned of course, I get it, so don’t curse me out just yet. People can trash talk it all they want and I’ll sympathize 110%, but I personally won’t do so. I love this series too much and that’s a huge reason as to why I didn’t drop this season. Usually whenever I start a new series, it’s because I become interested in a character or two. I find that no matter what happens in that series, whether the story intrigues me or not, I’ll continue it if only to see more of that character. If the story is good, it’s just another plus for me to stay addicted, so while this season totally missed their chance to adapt the wonderful source material of my favorite series, I stayed to watch Emma, Ray and all the other children I’ve grown to love over the past two years. Another reason why I stayed on this train wreck was because of how thought provoking it became as turned into yet another guessing game for me. After first watching the OP and even more after ep3 aired, I kept wondering what would they include or leave out. How would they handle this scene if this and that were already changed? How would they fix this problem if so and so isn’t here? It felt like I was watching season one blind all over again; seeing all these little clues sprinkled everywhere and yet not having any idea on how the story was going to continue or end got me excited. That’s why I came to love this story in the first place, so having the chance to feel that again alongside characters I love so dearly.. it was fun for me (until the slideshow punched me in the face). While many people will look at this season and declare the manga and first season are both superior (which they are, I agree), I’m still sitting over here like “oh look, more content!”

With all that nonsense out of the way, I thought I would go ahead and ramble about everything I believe the second season did well enough, because if I can take any heat off this adaptation then you’re damn right I’m gonna try. So if you’re wondering why on earth a manga reader even mildly enjoyed this season, it’s honestly just the little things such as a decently adapted or improved panel/scene, any new, interesting elements the anime may have included, or other personal favorite moments of mine.. which there were a lot of.

So no negativity past here kiddos, we’re gonna be as optimistic and lively as an orange antenna.

(mild manga spoiler warning, I guess? but I’m sure it’s nothing y’all haven’t heard us readers mention/complain about already)

- If you’ve read any of my reactions to this season, you would know how much love I have for “Identity.” Not only is the song still an absolute banger, but the opening sequence itself is fantastic. From the contrast between human vs demon, the cameos, the symbolism, the match cuts, the build up to the chorus.. just everything. I could talk about it endlessly and watch it several times over and still be impressed.

- Lani’s stupid fall.

- How clearly it shows Emma’s condition becoming progressively worse.

- Her scream.

- Ray’s apology, especially how soft his voice was when saying “sorry, Emma,” and the smile he gives after she tells him not to worry about it.

- And his entire promise to keep everyone in their family safe. Oh I was so happy to finally hear him say that.

- This exchange between Don and Gilda.

- Rossi and those darn faces he gives us. This boy is such a mood.

- How involved the younger kids were so they don’t feel like they were just.. there, which served as a reminder that everyone from Grace Field is smart, not just Emma and Ray.

- How pretty the demon forest looked at night when all those odd creatures started glowing (even those darn goowee).

- So happy with how this panel was adapted. That smirk of his is everything.

- The fact they remembered a small detail such as the bell.

- Knowing now that they cut so much out of the manga, I’m glad we at least got the hug.

- The ending sequence gave us a small look at Sonja and Mujika’s travels by themselves. “Magic” is also so very calming to listen to.

- How the children hug both Emma and Ray, as manga only had our girl receiving the hugs.

- Sonju & Mujika’s voice actors fit them perfectly.

- How impressed Ray was when he first tried their cooking. No wonder he was so eager to learn how to cook.

- Sonju’s story about the demon world from ch46-47 practically adapted word for word.

- While the manga also shows us how frighted the duo is upon learning they’re living in the worst case scenario, it’s seeing them and their hands physically shake that help push this scene a little bit more (not that you can tell this by a still frame but trust me).

- Their synchronized smirks and how well their excitement was not only animated but how genuine and real it sounds too. Emma’s laugh and the fact they made Ray of all people sound hopeful is fantastic.

- They kept the small Ray from this panel and made him better.

- I just love seeing him be optimistic.

- The entire scene when Emma & Ray are both scolded by the younger kids for acting so recklessly is perfect.

- They kept this tiny comment of Nat’s.

- Finally getting chef Ray and hearing how confident he is with his cooking skills already.

- Seeing other children like Dominic pick up archery and be surprisingly good at it.

- Anime pushed Emma’s quick learning ability further with archery by showing us how easily she could land a bullseye even after hitting something midair.

- How well they animated Emma’s first kill, from following the arrow as she pulls it back to when she releases it as it flies towards the bird’s eye.

- The fact that this scene and the next both used a water droplet to symbolize death just like we saw during season one with Conny and Norman’s shipments are so satisfying.

- The gupna scene and how well it emphasized Emma’s reaction to taking a life and how upset/bothered she was in doing so. The addition of a butterfly helps as well, as it’s another way this series tends to convey the idea of death. (you remember how many the OP had, right? tons.)

- I only just noticed that Ray is seen looking at a similar butterfly in the following scene as well.

- The anime doing this panel justice. Ep2 is probably the episode that follows the manga the closest and did real well in regards to that.

- Ray beating Sonju at chess.

- Chris knowing exactly which way to go without using the compass, which makes sense as he was seen mapping out the surrounding area in the previous episode.

- The kid’s adorable little freak out.-

- Giving us a better idea on how large the reference room of the B06-32 shelter truly is.

- Finally being able to hear our boy Nat play the piano. The fact that his first song is named “Nat King Cool” as a possible reference to Nat King Cole is also great.

- Rossi being an accurate representation of the manga readers while watching this episode.

- Chris being his cute self.

- Seeing Ray’s sleeping face after the manga denied us so many times by hiding it.

- It’s.. close enough. We love our chef.

- I love the idea that Nat plays a couple songs before everyone goes to sleep. That’s so precious.

- SHE!! With her hair down!

- Rossi teasing Don and the fact that just mentioning Gilda is enough to scare him.

- It remembered that Gilda has a tendency to count all the children.

- The level of confidence Isabella has in her kids.

- Ray being oh so close to shooting a human with an arrow.

- This hug.

- Chris leading the group through the underground tunnels, which he also does in manga but we learn earlier in this ep it’s due to all the time he’s played down here.

- Because of his extensive knowledge of the shelter’s layout, Chris also guides everyone to one of the secret entrances to escape after he realizes the intruders are only stationed at the main two.

- Ray’s first demon kill is smooth as hell.

- Curse this scene for being so dark because that damn smile Isabella gives us is amazing.

- Since Andrew was cut, Chris and Dominic survive the aftermath of the shelter’s destruction without any injuries.

- Although we weren’t expecting to see their older 2047 selves this soon, they look good okay?

- The emotion in her voice throughout this entire scene (probably the closest we were ever gonna get to Emma doubting herself in ch109/114 too).

- Please just let me enjoy this moment when Ray noticed her negative thoughts and stepped in to help just as I expected.

- Vylk and that goofy smile of his.

- Watching the duo communicate without words during the chase through the demon town.

- Our girl clearing this jump effortlessly.

- Norman’s squishy cheeks.

- Ray’s slap could’ve been better, I know, but at this point I’m happy they still included it.

- The fact we can see Ray’s face during the reunion hug this time.

- And this hug.

- Remembering the small panel of Ray noticing Emma’s bluff.

- Finally hearing this conversation because both voice actors do a wonderful job with it and thankfully the dialogue is on par with the manga as well. Also that one moment when the shadow falls across Emma’s face like that.

- Gilda comforting Alicia after her nightmare.

- The scene is very dear to me so of course I appreciate every little panel we can get.

- How carefree Ray sounded with his “Nopes.”

- How I only realized just now that this panel was also adapted.

- Okay so who’s brilliant idea was it to have the sun rise towards the end of this conversation as Ray helps Emma regain her confidence? I just wanna personally thank them because it was a genius move and I’ll treasure it forever.

- They kept Barbara’s slip-up.

- Like our demon friends, I think the Lambda crew’s voices fit them rather well, although Zazie’s was totally unexpected, like dude you’re 5, why is your voice so low?

- Another “it could’ve been better but at least they included it” moment.

- Vincent’s smile here cracks me up and I don’t know why.

- Barbara’s anger.

- The short snippet we get of the ch126 conversation when the duo was visiting Chris.

- The table from Barbara’s outrage was never magically fixed like it was in manga, so we get this nice shot of Norman reflected in the broken surface.

- The trio’s conversation about the royals and cursed blood follows manga relatively well.

- Anime did this panel better, I’m sorry. Thank you for showing my girl getting angry.

- This frame of Ray.

- This comment of Norman’s that made me wanna slap him.

- How Norman’s face is constantly in the shadows during this scene, which is something his office at the Paradise hideout probably wouldn’t have given us, so hurray for this location instead.

- How he and Emma bicker over how many days their deal should last.

- When the camera shifts in and out of focus during Barbara’s seizure.

- How this scene hid Norman’s face until they revealed the demon the crew killed.

- It really is the small details that make me happy.

- This smile of Don’s.

- I’ll take all the hugs I can get.

- Emma and Gilda’s little headbutt.

- Why does my boy look so grown up and handsome here? Hello??

- I suppose I have to give credit for Peter’s voice actor too hm?

- Actually making Smee a bit more relevant.

- Since the fight against Legravalima was cut, this shot of Zazie is the closest we’re gonna get to seeing him without his paper bag, but it does improve on that one panel of him at the start of ch153.

- Seeing more of Norman’s time at Lambda as well as the aftermath of the explosion.

- While this scene pales in comparison to its manga counterpart, having the sun set behind him while Norman delivers his famous line was still a decent touch. It’s a nice contrast to the sunrise in ep6 and I enjoy it very much.

- Wild demons managing to somehow successful jump scare me not once, not twice, but three times in a single episode.

- Emma getting back up to protect her family despite her injury. (i mean, it’s no ch93 comeback but oh well)

- Ray getting in another decent shot at a demon.

- This face of his.

- Seeing just how quickly the drug causes the demons to degenerate and all the chaos it causes.

- Actually showing Norman attacking a demon rather than just saying he killed Yverk off panel in ch153.

- Hate me all you want but the anime did this panel better too.

- The ch153 discussion is more or less the same but the fact they added in Norman looking to Ray for help and just having him snap back instead was priceless.

- Sonju’s grin.

- The scene when Norman stops Zazie’s attack may only last like five seconds but it’s wonderfully animated and I find myself replaying it countless times.

- How to make the manga readers and anime-onlys panic with just one sentence:

- Isabella being clever as ever by leaking false info into the radio the escapees have to lure them back to Grace Field.

- I just think Emma looks so mature and pretty here?

- Had Norman actually apologize to the demons.. or was just about to anyways.

- Demon Emma is precious and must be protected.

- The adorable mixup between both Emmas.

- I haven’t a clue on where or how the kids managed to gather all the supplies to create several hot air balloons and explosives.. but they did, somehow, and I’m impressed because I’m assuming that all happened within a day.

- Ma’am, could you be any more smug?

- Simon! And he ends up surviving!

- Having Sonju fight alongside the Lambda crew.

- Which reminds me that this is possible since the Imperial Capital battle didn’t happen (yet, in this timeline), so the three of them never received their injuries from Legravalima either.

- The smoke bombs, only because I remembered how Sonju used them back in ep1 while rescuing Ray so it’s nice to see them being used again.

- Showing Norman actually use a bow and arrow this time. He also hits his target on the first try through a smokescreen.

- Ray having enough strength to knock out two demons with a simple metal pipe. In ch169 he’s seen holding down a grown man so yeah, I can believe this as well.

- Having Jemima, Yvette, Rossi & Mark disguises themselves as shipments in order to rally up the other Grace Field kids. Mark’s face and the noise he makes upon seeing Naila again is also precious.

- Peter actually falling for Vincent’s trap.

- Getting one young child to listen to you is hard enough, but Emma manages to get about 183 of them (yes I counted, give or take the four who also disguised themselves) to follow her orders in no time flat.

- Phil helping with the plan to lead all the children to the elevator.

- It made me nervous upon seeing it but they made the Day & Night ceiling real pretty.

- I knew the reunion was coming and still cried.

- Take all my hell yeahs.

- I could listen to her say this on repeat and be overjoyed every single time.

- She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll point at gun in your face.

- Getting to witness someone shoot at Peter since no one did so in the manga? Wonderful. Having that person be Isabella who literally lands a perfect shot not even a full second after he pulls out that disc? Perfection.

- Mujika and Vylk bringing in hundreds of civilian demons as reinforcements.

- James!

- Those real quick shots of the ancestors because I had given up on thinking we would’ve seen them at all since the Seven Walls arc was skipped.

- I’m actually surprised they kept his death in and it’s as harsh as the manga.

- Ray confronting Isabella with the addition of this line.

- This panel being animated along with Emma’s thoughts from ch177 towards Isabella even though that chapter’s major event didn’t happen.

- I certainly can not forget about this hug.

- At least anime!Emma told the boys her plan before reaching the door, or didn’t keep it a total secret? If not then I’ll praise the boys for accepting her crazy idea regardless.

- Boy, do you know how much I love you and your smirks?

- SHE. STAYS. ALIVE!!!

- Vincent and Norman’s little fist bump.

- Different but close enough. Still cute though.

- The amount of emotions this one shot makes me feel is limitless. Catch me crying tears of joy over it for the rest of my life.

- Having Phil not only getting the chance to see a train but to ride one as well.

- This pretty shot of Gilda.

- As well as this beautiful one with Emma and Mujika.

- They gave us older Phil. Not sure how much older but he’s still adorable.

- Lastly, the goddamn soundtrack! Of course we heard a bunch of the songs from season one, but the new ones such as “The Evil-Blooded Girl” and the Arabic version of “Isabella’s Lullaby” are absolutely fantastic. I still have to listen to full soundtrack but from what little bit I heard of such songs such as “Nat King Ballade,” “Crisis,” “Norman’s Lament,” and “The Temple Ruins,” I’m sure every track is an absolute joy. I’m so happy we had Obata back for this season.

And that’s the end of it, I guess? Of course it’s not a perfect list, as the majority of it was just personal favorites of mine but oh well. (this is just as long as ray’s birthday post too, oh lord)

I’m not gonna be one of those manga readers who continuously nag people to go read the original source material, because that’s annoying and I understand that some people just might not be up for it. They might watch a series, take it all in and then move on to the next one. Others might want to find out about every little detail and invest more time into the story. It’s totally fine to enjoy a series your own way and you shouldn’t feel pressured to continue something you’re only mildly interested in or feel bad that you love something others might despise. Just do whatever makes you happy. If you wanna check out the manga and see why us readers love it to pieces, then I promise it’s worth it, especially if you enjoyed the anime or wish to see more of any character.. or the entire story. If the manga ain’t for you, then I hope the anime did something for you. It definitely could have been better though, I can’t argue with that.

Whether you’re anime-only or manga reader, can we all still hope for a remake? This season had more flaws than any amount of praise I could give, but if years down the line we get the FMA: Brotherhood or Hellsing: Ultimate treatment where the next anime adaptation follows the manga perfectly, you know I’ll be all for it. I’m too deep in this TPN hole and I’ll probably never leave.

[mitigatedchaos]

Review: SAC_2045

(~3,700 words, 15 minutes)

This post will contain some minor spoilers for SAC_2045.

Summary: You may have thought SAC_2045 was a poor entry in the Ghost in the Shell franchise - actually, it's just intended for younger audiences.

Previously: Standalone Complex 202045:1-4 (superseded)

-☆☆☆-

And what did you think of the remaining episodes of GitS:SAC_2045?

[ @irradiate-space​ ]

Standalone Complex

There's a certain indescribable feeling associated with Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex as a work, an artistic touch related to the director associated with it, independent of other considerations. SAC_2045 has it, which isn't too surprising since Kenji Kamiyama is back.

SAC_2045 is Standalone Complex. For a brief moment, while watching it, I inhabited my pre-2016 personality and outlook. I can't tell you how much that means to me. Since the arrival of streaming I've tended to bingewatch series, but on the first run-through I decided not to bingewatch this one.

If you approach this show as season 4 of Standalone Complex (Solid State Society being season 3), it's underwhelming. Now, viewing it again, it's become obvious that a conventional season 4 of Standalone Complex was never the intent of SAC_2045 to begin with.

For those of you who have delayed until now, the English dub has been uploaded - it released without one due to the pandemic. They bring back a number of the voice actors from the excellent Standalone Complex dub, though having already watched it with subtitles, I didn't feel the need to confirm the dub's quality.

Sustainable War

To properly describe a new theory of war is the same thing as to invent it. While the idea of war as a for-profit industry has been kicked around for some time, it's generally assumed that this is a kind of parasitic relationship on the part of the war-making industry.

As time goes on, warfare becomes more abstract (partly because warfare happens where it can happen), much like society itself is becoming more abstract as information moves more quickly and humanity gains access to more energy.[1] In SAC_2045, "Sustainable War" is part of the context of the world and its current issues, but we aren't really told how it works - if it's similar to contemporary information warfare and a blurring of the lines between state and non-state actors, it's bound to be quite confusing.

I believe my earlier assessment of "Sustainable War" is correct. The key feature of sustainable war, the reason they say it's safe if you leave it to the experts, is likely that it involves AIs constantly forecasting against each other and moving units around with few direct confrontations. The goal would be to lock in a victory without having to fire a shot, except for small skirmishes that don't escalate to major incidents (due to the AI forecasting).

The presence of armed separatist movements even in Japan may also indicate that the ruling institutional bodies are engaged in a kind of Post-International Politics,[2] which treats all international relations as fundamentally existing between subnational entities - however, I believe that later information suggests this wasn't their original intent.

What makes it "sustainable"? Since if done correctly, very little is actually physically destroyed, the cost is less than conventional warfare, and thus the war can continue indefinitely. Why does it threaten humanity with destruction? Because there's an awful lot of military hardware waiting for someone to actually pull the trigger.

Season 1: Ep. 2

So what is the intent of the series' creators? I think they may be telling us through this dialogue between Togusa and Section Chief Daisuke Aramaki in episode 2.

Aramaki: Seems time has toughened you up. Togusa: Is that supposed to be a compliment? Aramaki: It is if you want it to be. Togusa: Then thanks for the kind words. “I made the right decision by choosing this line of work over my marriage.” That’s what you’re saying? Aramaki: Perhaps. [...] Togusa: They're bringing back Section 9? [...] Aramaki: But my takeaway from the proposal is this: The PM's reason for the urgent reforming of Section 9 takes priority over his personal motives. I believe his true objective is meeting the Americans' demands for the dispatch of special resources. Togusa: So it's as the Liberals feared? An American-born Prime Minister would be no more than an American puppet? Aramaki: I've yet to meet him in person, so I can't really say. But this is an opportunity to have the Major and the rest of you undertake a major operation for me once more. Togusa: What sort of op? Aramaki: Over the past few years, I have searched for an answer on how to deal with a society in turmoil. I'd like you people to lay the groundwork that will help the next generation find that answer. Togusa: I don't know what a man in my position can contribute, but I'll humbly offer whatever assistance I can.

Those of us who cried, Kamiyama, tell us the future once more! based on Standalone Complex's prophetic analysis of a memetic crime wave were bound to be disappointed. SAC_2045 is less rooted in the near future than in the now - cyberbullying, endless war amidst historic prosperity, employment suppressed by automation, savings eaten up by the complex machinations of finance, and a breakdown of national borders? That's today.

Those of us who hoped for a Ghost in the Shell: Unicorn, a psychically overpowering work that synthesizes the full body of Ghost in the Shell into a single coherent form to elevate us to a higher level of understanding, should have tempered our expectations. To reach each new philosophical level is more difficult than the last - to achieve that with Ghost in the Shell of all things would have required a multidisciplinary genius near the limits of current understanding.

Kenji Kamiyama is just an anime director. And anyhow, Gundam Unicorn was a book before it was an animated series. And who among us even knew we'd have to write a book before 2015? Ghost in the Shell was well-understood enough, so I instead wrote 25,000 words worth of hypothetical country and became a blogger, like the infamous Scott Alexander.[3]

If we approach SAC_2045 from the lens that it's a humbler work designed for younger audiences, however, some of the creative decisions make more sense.

Purin

Just how old is Purin, the MIT grad who joins the team later on? If I had to guess, that's '23歳' on that profile she provides, and Ishikawa notes that she 'skipped a few grades' on her way to a PhD. But she acts like someone a lot younger. She's enthusiastic and we're assured she's intelligent, but seems to be lacking social training. For example, she makes the mistake of assembling an era-accurate music player for Batou combined with a playlist after consulting the Tachikomas to find out what he listens to. There are two ways to take this.

The first is that she's intended as a relateable character for someone who would make this class of mistake. It's the sort of mistake I might have made at age 13-14, meaning that the show would probably be aimed at someone that age or lower. Overly enthusiastic, doesn't understand romantic relationships, impulsive, poor reading of boundaries / poor modelling of others outside of certain domains, impulsive in a way that causes social screw-ups? Yeah that could certainly apply to an ADHD kid of about that age.

And all of a sudden the tone of the first five episodes with the gun-fighting, the literal Agent Smith, the decision to place the focus in America, and even the mystery of the series being much simpler than Standalone Complex 2nd Gig's plot regarding Asian refugees in Japan make a lot more sense. This is Ghost in the Shell for kids!

Wow, I didn't think that could be done!

...is what I should say, except that around the time I acquired the ability to futurist shitpost, and I used that ability to predict that it would.

Purin II

The second reading is that the youth of the future are fucked up. She probably has some tricked out modifications, both cybernetic and genetic. Now usually you would tell someone to try to become a well-rounded human being. But...

The global economy has crashed. Batou mistakes her for a robot - creatures that look like pretty young women are a dime a dozen. In the dating market, she would be competing with full sensory immersion VR pornography on the one hand, and at the upper end of society where cybernetics are more widely available, likely women with a similar appearance but decades more experience and professional standing.

Note that in the original Standalone Complex, the team take down an 80-year-old Russian spy with the full prosthetic body of a 20-year-old. Full cyborgs aren't common then, nor are they in SAC_2045 (though cyberbrains are ubiquitous), but if the economy recovers that may change, and the sector she's trying to get in to (full-time salaried government rather than marginal private employment it would seem) is going to be very tough to enter either way.

So Purin may have to be over-optimized even to just appear on the screen. In fact, she says,

"Just so I could work at Section 9, I moved most of my sentimental memories to external storage."

Youch! It's no wonder she's socially maladjusted. Just how much of her social learning (in particular key events necessary to rebuild logical inferences on the boundaries of behavior on the fly) has she locked away?

Purin III

But you know who Purin looks like? Notorious internet personality, Gamer Girl Bath Water seller, and IRL video game character Belle Delphine.[4]

Or rather, it's the other way around - 2D animation compresses real detail into suggestive abstraction, letting your mind fill in the rest. Going from those impossible 2D shapes to 3 dimensions creates strange results, like training your machine learning algorithm on the salient features of a cat's face, applying it to human shape, and putting pink hair on the result. Belle Delphine adopts that otherworldly kind of appearance as part of her act.

Technically, this a stylistic choice. Within the framework of SAC_2045, this is what "a 23-year-old female" looks like.

Purin is in fact so non-threatening that her big red coat obscures her figure. I'm gonna go with younger audience. Now if only I could remember what pronoun she uses.[5/☆]

Motoko

With a full prosthetic body, outward signs of human-like aging are almost an artistic expression, much like in a world with cheap tissue engineering, visible scars are a choice.

When she was first introduced in the original Ghost in the Shell manga, we don't know how old Motoko Kusanagi is. It was once said that her name is analogous to "Jane Excalibur," which in English would be an obvious alias. In the first movie (from 1995), she's cool, almost cold and robotic.

In the original Standalone Complex, Motoko has a more mature personality than in the manga, but she has a clearly adult look by the standards of anime. Seriously, check out this fantastic character design (combat suit), although admittedly the better-known "leather jacket and bathing suit" design is more ridiculous, fashion-wise.[6] (Fortunately, she gets pants in her much more stylish second season outfit.)

ARISE starts off with a young Motoko Kusanagi in a chaotic post-war period before the Section 9 we know was assembled. This shows in her character design, but it really shows in her personality. This was actually why I had joked about an even earlier Ghost in the Shell.

There is a sense in which the 2017 live-action movie's Motoko is even younger. Scarlett Johansson is a killer cyborg with amnesia. She doesn't even have one day of formal combat training.

Motoko 2045

Ilya Kuvshinov designed SAC_2045's Motoko Kusanagi.

Yes, that Ilya Kuvshinov. You could be forgiven for thinking this is a teenager that hardboiled assassins Saitou and Ishikawa in the background have been hired to bodyguard.

Despite this, Atsuko Tanaka has resumed her role as Motoko's voice actress. Standalone Complex's Motoko looked 25 and felt mid-30s. SAC_2045's Motoko looks 16 and has the voice and attitude of 40.

This may make more sense than you might think.

Through Whose Eyes?

Throughout much of Ghost in the Shell as a franchise, Togusa, the only non-cyborg on the team, who is pulled from a police department instead of a military background, tends to be character used to help the people of our time relate to the future. He's the guy that doesn't know the things we also don't know, so in explaining concepts to Togusa they're explained to the audience.

In SAC_2045, most of the team are off doing cool cyborg things in America. Aramaki (whose in-world function is to create the bureaucratic environment within which Section 9 operates) tasks Togusa with finding them. The original Standalone Complex first aired in 2003. It's been 17 years since it was created - a similar situation to finding someone that reached adulthood who was born after 9/11. And during this time, Togusa's life has changed - the family man is now separated from his wife. And the world has changed - Togusa is now working for a private security firm. Togusa's role in the first five episodes isn't to guide the new viewers.

His purpose is to guide or stand-in for the old viewers.

The New Viewers

"Do you still hold a grudge against the Major and the others for leaving you behind?"

For the original viewers, SAC_2045 is your world, too. Togusa is there. Togusa is you.

The new viewers are Purin. Enthusiastic and smart but awkward and not confident in their skills. How could they measure up to these much more talented and experienced characters? (Also consider who is going to watch any sort of Ghost in the Shell - it's probably going to be a moderately bright and introverted kid, who is the kind of person that may be more comfortable socializing with people outside of their age band.)

But Motoko is visually separated from the rest of Section 9. Batou, Saitou, Ishikawa, Boma... they all have a much more adult look in keeping with their appearance in previous versions of Ghost in the Shell. What gives?

Batou is sort of a cool adult male figure - this is actually a pretty natural use of the character and his sense of humor as previously established in other Ghost in the Shell properties. We especially see this come through in 「PIE IN THE SKY - First Bank Robbery」 episode, with the old folks and the 21st century bank robbery.

Motoko's difference in appearance is because she's acting as a bridge between the two. The new viewer (as represented by Purin) is supposed to grow into being like Motoko as they gain confidence and experience. (The characters aren't each limited to a single role, of course.)

But SAC_2045 is still a work that's shared between two groups, similar to how the excellent Into the Spiderverse features both the teenage Miles Morales and an older Peter Parker that has lost his way, with the loss of the vibrant young adult Peter Parker being what starts the plot going.

The Last Quarter

With this framework, the rest of the work should express its nature as targeted at a younger audience itself. Watch the last few episodes through this lens and you'll see how much sense it makes. One takes place at a school. Even the bizarre 3D style that resembles recent video games makes more sense. If we take Togusa's earlier conversation with Aramaki as a discussion of SAC_2045 itself, later on there's even a sort of acknowledgement that Ghost in the Shell is a difficult work for someone of a young age.

So with that context in mind, does it work?

Standalone Complex

If I remember correctly, years ago, when I was perhaps 15 or 16, I was watching a tiny CRT television some time after midnight, and I saw the thirteenth episode of the original Standalone Complex - NOT EQUAL. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was immediately taken by it. And, from what I remember, I immediately understood it.

It was as though it were made just for me.[7]

To me, Ghost in the Shell is like a textbook. I thought that as a creator who has reached a place where I am able to be involved in that kind of work, I'm in a position where I have to convey its contents to a younger audience. Well, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I figured it would be my way of giving back to Ghost in the Shell. I thought that I needed to accept the baton and offer Ghost in the Shell to a young audience, to the same degree that Ghost in the Shell raised me to be who I am.

- Tow Ubukata, in a 2015 interview, regarding ARISE

For many people, Ghost in the Shell is a profound influence. I felt that it lifted me to a new level of understanding.

SAC_2045

But what about SAC_2045?

I can't view Ghost in the Shell with new eyes. When I first saw it, I wasn't the kind of person that casually memes futuristic ethical dilemmas as a means of practicing politics.

Compared to the anime I watched back when I was 13, would I have watched SAC_2045? Yes. Is it more philosophically and politically sophisticated? Yes. Would I have found it memorable? I think so.

Would a 13-year these days watch it? That's difficult to assess. I bet someone who does data science for Netflix could tell us, if they wanted. I'm sure Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki are considering the same thing.

2017

How does it stack up compared to the rest of the franchise?

For most enthusiasts it's going to be one of the weaker entries, though it certainly does a better job explaining itself than ARISE.

Compare it to 2017's live action movie, however, and I think we'll find it isn't the weakest. The reason is that the writers of Ghost in the Shell (2017) decided to tell a story about bodily consent in which becoming a cyborg is a form of trauma. On some level this may have been a reasonable decision, but they didn't commit to the concept sufficiently fully to execute it well enough to carry the movie - and simultaneously, they dumbed down parts of the regular Ghost in the Shell material for American audiences. As a result the movie flopped both financially and artistically - except for the visuals.

In fact, I wrote a sequence of posts (1, 2, 3, 4) on how to rewrite the live action movie as an actual Ghost in the Shell property. I feel no need to do so for SAC_2045 - and I can't even think of what changes would need to be made.

I look forward to the second season.

-☆☆☆-

[1] It's short, but that's a concept in this post. "Advanced by Left-Wing theorists, Ninth Generation warfare sees all acts as existing on a spectrum of political violence. Most acts of ninth generation warfare consist of extreme pranks."

[2] If we accept the idea of "Fifth-Generation Warfare" as motivated by a desire to prevent the enemy from using their conventional military assets, then a corresponding theory of international politics would involve preventing enemy factions within foreign governments from taking control of those governments' institutions - effectively treating all countries as in continuous level of conflict analogous to a soft civil war.

[3] There is a kind of technique to this, but in my case I substituted ADHD for raw IQ and conscientiousness, which is part of why my posts are so much shorter than, for instance, Moldbug's. In any case, technically, Scott's blog posts on the matter amount to roughly a mere 11,600 words, and the book of the black forest amounts to approximately 26,000 words (which I'm told is entertaining reading), but I'm sure if we go looking we can find an additional 15,000 words worth of worldbuilding from a man known for writing 16,000 word blog posts.

[4] Would it be more of a legal liability to sell regular water with GGBW branding, or actual GGBW that could prove to be a potential health hazard?

[5/☆] There's some future strand lurking beneath the surface here that I can't quite put into words; a culturally divergent moe meltdown where an appearance this ridiculous becomes normalized among some sub-population. To quote the Funko Pop Hatred post,

There are questions about the anatomy of anime people and their internal organs, and particularly about what sort of impact-dampening alien meta-material their softer bits are made out of, but at least homo sapiens gokuensis looks like it’s a branch off a similar starting hominid! Whatever transhuman engineering company was responsible for manufacturing the creatures in the typical harem anime has some weird ideas about human beings, but we’re clearly in their ancient lineage somewhere.

Under Late Safetyism, everyone is a declawed catgirl.

Anyhow, I don't want to alarm you, but I can't guarantee that this won't be the future somewhere. Both Purin and Belle Delphine resemble Xiaoice, "The AI Girlfriend Seducing China's Lonely Men." (2020)

[6] Motoko's ridiculous outfits are a major flex on the non-cyborgs, who aren't indifferent to ambient temperature and whose natural bodies may have unflattering features. Similarly wild fashions can exist in places like Second Life, a 3D digital platform with mostly user-uploaded content. Presumably they're also a flex on every Japanese salaryman who still has to dress like a normal guy.

[7] "It's as though it were made just for me" is also how I feel about the original game Mirror's Edge. Its follow-up, Catalyst, is also a personal favorite of mine.

[purple-dragon]

thoughts on bna:

so over the last two days i binge-watched bna and i really liked it??? here are some thoughts 

spoilers!! 

overall: thoroughly enjoyable, 8/10

the op and ed are SO GOOD i have not stopped listening to them they are incredible and slap so hard. the ost in general was 10/10 for me

i love how colorful it was the aesthetic was 20/10

ngl i called almost every single plot twist but tbh that made it more fun... like it made me happy that i could pick up on the writers' hints and see where things were going

the characters were pretty solid. shirou especially stood out to me (perhaps as a white-haired anime dude) but like,,, i just like him a whole lot

michiru was essentially the girl version of a shounen protagonist. i liked her a whole lot but oh my god was she infuriating sometimes. things that made it worth it: michiru and shirou calling each other out on their bs

nazuna... eh. tbh i didn't really like her through the whole series (i did feel bad that she was being used the whole time tho), though i did like how her redemption started at the end. idk i felt like she was just using michiru through the series and only treated her well when she was acting as a helper or something. it just rubbed me the wrong way, like if one of my friends acted like that i would be long gone. and i know a lot of people ship nazuna with michiru and like??? i can't see it??? it do be a notp

pacing was kind of off bc i finished ep 12 and i was like that's it?? where's the rest of the story??? honestly i feel like they could've done so much more if it was longer and i want a season 2 really badly

yeah but overall it was great please watch bna!!

[ink-beneath-her-fingernails]

BNHA/MHA First Watch-Through Notes

1x01

these are... stupid... and... a mess. bc I am stupid and a mess. you have had your warning. I didn’t even go back and skim through this when I was done I’m just releasing these little bastard thoughts into the void they’re not my problem now

I’m watching dubbed btw

I know, I know... it’s the only one I have access to rn tho

I... do not know how to feel about funimation’s new intro?

well I guess it’s not really new but

listen I haven’t watched anything of funimation’s since the og fruits basket ok I’m used to the DUN-DUN *funimation* ((....you should be watching))

he is. babie. green babie.

but also why do these small children have such wild hair colors

I mean I’m here for it

I just wasn’t expecting it

oH SHIT THEY GOT POWERS POWERS

so this is the famous deku

I’m guessing this is like a flashback or memory or something?

I missed the bully’s name

speaking of the bullies, they changed order? It was wings, fire, stretchy hands, but now it’s fire, stretchy hands, wings. I know that they probably wanted to show the “leader” closest and that’s why but,,

also wtf?? these are kids. like bullies should not be a thing, I think we can all agree on that, but yeah, it’s gonna happen. but these kids are, what? eight? nine? maybe their powers (’quirks,’ whatever) aren’t super powerful yet, but this blonde kid has fire powers. has nobody talked to them about just how dangerous this is? forget roughing the other two up or intimidating them or giving them a hard time, this could genuinely escalate and get way out of hand super fast, and someone could get seriously injured.

oof. boy is dead.

this eight year old (purple hair) sounds like he’s a thirty yo new teacher trying to sound hip and cool but also wise and knowing to his class who Does Not Care

OH

that wasn’t purple kid?? that was current deku???

wack

then this fourteen year old sounds like he’s a thirty yo new teacher trying to sound hip and cool but also wise and knowing to his class who Does Not Care

also they were four?

jeepers heckin criminey who starts beating people up at four years old

have to say though, I loved that sky-to-puddle transition

jiminey fucking crickets I’m not even a minute into the episode these notes are going to be stupidly long I’m sorry

!! I love his little skipping-dance thing when he’s impatient at the crosswalk!

alright... I’ll admit it... his character design is pretty adorable

also tf is that thing

it looks half shark half poorly drawn dog

I mean I get it’s probably a person and that’s their quirk or whatever but

did this kid just run all the way across the city just to watch this guy start shit at the station so he could see the heroes take him down??

I mean respect tbh but also priorities kid

also I really appreciate that the cops are just kind of calmly directing everyone and everyone else is just kind of chillin like “oh. another villain. that’s too bad.” like tbh that’s one of the things that always kind of annoys me about movies and shows like this where there’s like repeatedly villain attacks because yes they are scary, especially when you’re caught up in them, but if you’re just kind of there and not directly in the action or being directly threatened, then why are you freaking out? you’ve lived in this city for how long? there’s an attack every, what, two days? this isn’t routine for you by now?

I started this like 15 min ago and am only like a minute and a half into the ep smh

ngl this intro kinda pops off

that hero guy seemed... kind of evil lookin tho

love the animation oml

also the lyrics to this are great???

OH IS THAT A NARRATIVE FOIL I SEE IMPLIED THERE

I THINK IT IS

“and they were narrative foils” “oh my god they were narrative foils”

k ngl rewinding real quick bc I missed some of the intro and there’s always so much fun stuff to see and unpack in those

also I wanna read all the lyrics

k so I was wondering this before but I’m just gonna say it... why does the hero guy have rabbit ears

alright character designs lookin p fire so far

last guy I keep missing but he kind of looks like steven universe?? idk I still have to watch that show too tbh so,,,

does the big hero guy turn into a giant bird?

oh that intro got me excited for this

these characters look so lit!!

“the first incident?” so this isn’t just like a natural factor of their world? it hasn’t always been going on? there was, like, a definitive start to it all? was that kid really the first incident or the first one they noticed? was that actually the first incident or is it just like the commonly told first incident, like an old myth/legend/folktale/old wive’s tale?

interesting that it started with a baby and then moved to people of all ages?

oh they don’t know the cause of the quirks? interesting

((why do I feel like finding out the answer to that is gonna be like A Big Thing™ at some point in the series))

I really like the visuals they put with this exposition?? idk why it’s just,,, very appealing

also his voice is very nice to listen to tbh, so that’s a definite plus

I hate it when the main character’s voice is super annoying

but like how long ago was it that this started? he just said “before long”

I like that in this universe they actually acknowledge that hey comic books are a thing and this whole superheroes/villains/powers thing is kind of ridiculous bc it’s legit like playing out scenes straight from those comic books but also this is real life and it’s actually happening and really does pose a lot of danger and complications to a lot of people, so we’re going to treat it as something real and serious and affecting us

I might’ve spoken too soon but I really hope they don’t blow that mindset

I feel like too often superhero shows/movies just either completely gloss over the effects this stuff has on society as a whole, or it’s like a completely new thing for them, like there’s never been the concept of a fictional superhero or a comic book there before.

“was an age of heroes”??? oh no what happens

k but why is this guy dressed like the ‘do not cross’ lines

kind of a lame hero costume tbh :/

why. does he have. sleeves. but no shirt.

edna mode would never do you like that honey go see her

“Death Arms”?? what kind of alias is that?? also wouldn’t it make more sense for arms to be uncovered than his chest, then??

“The Punching Hero”

I’m sorry I Cannot take this guy seriously

waterbending??

asdkfdls idk why but this firehose guy really reminds me of that one alchemist from fmab with the top hat and the monocle and the peg leg that spun like a top and Scar murked

“rescue specialist” see?? that makes sense!! it makes me so happy that they’re actually thinking more about the worldbuilding and how dangerous scenarios would work if 80% of the population had powers of different kinds, beyond “big bad guy meet big good guy. punch punch good guy wins”

also dear god thank you for putting someone on crowd control I know I was just saying it was great these people weren’t really treating this like the end of the world and it is good that they were mostly staying back by themselves but. they were still standing very close to an ongoing fight. priorities, people. self preservation. they are things. that I do not believe most people in superhero universes have in the slightest.

aww he’s too short

(but is he shorter than edward elric)

((do we know))

(((somebody please tell me if this information is available)))

alsdfkj l;a that guy calling in late bc the train got held up by the villain... do you think that’s another equivalent of “oh...I’m...sick... yeah, totally, I’m sick” and “my dog ate my homework” to them? “there was a villain attack” or “some idiot on my block decided to show off their quirk and it got out of hand”

ope Big Hero™ is here

...why am I surprised that they have fans?? I mean I guess that makes sense they’re basically celebrities and public figures right?

okay Big Hero™ is Kamui got it

wait no that is not the Big Hero™

but they are another hero and their name is Kamui got it

“Kamui Woods” ok that’s actually helpful I was gonna ask what his skin was supposed to be bc I didn’t think it was scales and it does look kind of like bark... Now going to take that as permission to assume it’s the latter

kamui kind of reminds me of some pokemon but I’m not sure which one?? I’m sorry idk pokemon v well but thy def remind me of one of them

“...a fAnBOY” he looks and sounds like he just tricked someone into confessing to murder why is he so smug about that smh

you know what. speaking of. I don’t get why everyone views being a fan of something/someone as something to be embarrassed or ashamed about?? why do people make fun of other people for it? why do we treat it like some big dark secret we try to hide? when did liking something become a bad thing? like?? sorry I have hobbies and interests and you don’t? sorry I think this person is talented? sorry I thought this book was life-changing? sorry I listen to this album so much because it’s good? sorry this show made me laugh during a really rough time? like goddamn it’s nobody’s business what you like unless you’re trying to force it on you when you’ve asked them to stop or it’s hurting someone? if they’re being safe and respectful about it for everyone involved then there shouldn’t be a problem? stop making people feel like freaks or be scared to enjoy something just a little too much? just let people have good things in life and consume the media that makes them happy? it has little to no effect on you? I don’t get why it’s you’re problem?? sorry to get all soapboxy this is something that’s always really annoyed me

does kamui have flowers on their belt

icon

k but isn’t wood like... really easy to break tho

I mean... comparatively speaking?

“illegal use of powers during rush hour traffic” alsfjsadlkf

wait so he’s listing charges for the guy, does that mean heroes are officially licensed here and can actually arrest people? and... actually work with law enforcement?? gasp no wait but I thought that was impossible except for The One Officer On The Inside That The Hero Has Convinced Of Their Cause™

hold up... “assault, robbery, and illegal use of powers during rush hour traffic... you are the incarnation of evil” ...bro chill lmao

I mean those aren’t good things but,,,, buddy “evil” can get so much worse holy shit sunflower child has no idea what’s in store for them

the show can do a hell of a lot even if they decide not to go that dark

well deku did say he was new

also off topic but I just looked it up and DEKU IS HALF A FOOT TALLER THAN ED

I’M SORRY BUT THAT’S HILARIOUS

CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS EXCITED GREEN CHILD MEETING ED THE GREMLIN ELRIC AND JUST TOWERING OVER HIM

he’d probably get along well w al though so ed would have to like him anyways

ok but back to bnha

ope kamui just got upstaged

but honestly?? he was actin a lil cocky and she seems like a queen so I ain’t mad about it

oh great creeps are everywhere apparently

YES THANK YOU THEY NEED TO INCLUDE SUPERPOWERS IN LEGISLATION SOMEHOW OTHERWISE PEOPLE CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING GEEZ

just. more worldbuilding that I appreciate.

jfc they muzzled him?

ok i wasn’t that mad about kamui being upstaged (idk why I kinda like the guy) but now she’s acting a little too cocky for me and I feel kind of bad for Death Arms and Backdraft (?) because they definitely do deserve at least a little credit

yes. official. overseen by the government. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good idea bc I’m not getting into the whole mess the MCU basically did regarding that, but it really does add to the worldbuilding and making it seem more realistic/draw you in a little more because you can bet that would be a thing that would actually happen in some capacity if such a large percentage of the population had superpowers, and crime was at an all-time high at the same time, with normal methods without powers likely not doing much to combat that, and it being even harder because everyone’s is different

wow so they really do have roles similar to celebrities huh?

I actually love how he’s analyzing the new hero

that’s!! the good!!! nerdery!!!!

ngl thought that guy was gonna be like “well that’s never gonna happen” lmao glad he didn’t turn out to be an asshole

this guy’s hair and his sweater need an upgrade

I’m sorry honey it’s just not a Look™

I mean ngl I’d probably wear it but also I am the absolute last person to look to for a good idea of fashion so

wow we hate asshole teachers

this kid’s hair grows wtf

they seriously just break out their quirks when they get annoyed?? I mean me too probably but

oh wait he’s not totally an asshole

but that still is kind of a dick move because even if it seems really really likely that most of them do, a lot of them probably feel like that’s just what’s expected of them or that that’s their best bet at an ok life, or they don’t think they’ll actually be able to get a career as a hero, and he has to know that there are kids (or at least one) in his class who don’t have powers and who will probably be shut down at every turn on that career track??

also what is it with the absurd number of people whose hair grows/flys/whatever and whose hands change chape and/or elongate

the girl who just throws up the rock n roll sign is my favorite

also why does this teacher remind me of gilderoy lockhart

I get that his eye thing is part of his quirk... but does he face no consequences health-wise from putting his grubby fingers all over his eyeballs?? you don’t know where your hands have been

ah

the famed bakugo

we finally meet

you seem like a cocky asshole and if I remember correctly you have firepowers

you know who else seemed like cocky assholes and one point or another and had firepowers??

roy mustang and zuko

and one of those guys is an awkward, angry turtleduck, and the other one is a rightly smug bastard who succeeded in pulling a coup on the government who was surveilling him and holding half his team hostage

so yeah I have a feeling I’m gonna like this guy

probably

at some point

eventually

it might take a while

“the only place worthy of me” oh dear

All Might!! Big Hero™ has a name!!

oh being a hero solely bc you want to be rich and popular? lame

aklsdfsjaslkfd teach just callin deku out in front of everyone

r.i.p.

it was nice having you as a main character for eight whole minutes I’m sorry you have to face death-by-embarrassment you deserved better

ope

bakugo doesn’t want anyone stealin his thunder

lemme guess deku is also his Main Rival™ or at least will be

awwwww poor guy

how much you wanna bet he gets the highest scores in all the exams bc he studies the heroes so much and that’s how he gets in

that lady got forcefields for her quirk? damn she lucked out

“this cash is mine” *drops cash*

are all the heroes like fine mt. lady can deal w the guy she keeps stealing all our credit anyway so there’s no point??

....is that all might?

k but... y’all should be taking notes on the heroes too if you want a better chance at that career and better schools for it? I know they’re probably making fun of it bc he doesn’t have a quirk but still

also I find it really interesting that the kids all act like the quirks are absolutely everything but at that scene on the street earlier people were complaining about missing the days they didn’t have to worry about “every rando w a quirk” or something... like maybe it’s because the kids grew up w it? Idk just the difference in mindset between (presumably) generations seems cool to look into

wow we love bullies so much

no we don’t pls stop you’re not as cool as you think you are

DESTROYING SOMEONE’S NOTEBOOK/JOURNAL/SKETCHBOOK IS ONE OF THE MOST DICK MOVES SOMEONE CAN MAKE CHANGE MY MIND

alright bakugo you’ve definitely moved onto my shitlist for the moment

don’t stay there

well you know what they say about greatness... some people are destined for it, yeah, but some become it, and some have it thrust upon them

cliches are there for a reason buddy

and either way... I could be wrong but... there doesn’t seem like anything great or heroic about bullying people... I mean idk that’s just my opinion but

god I hope they eat bakugo alive at ua

deku I know you’re a sunshine child but you have to get in now. you have to. out of pure spite. please.

yeah, friend 1b is right buddy...

destroy him deku

DESTROY THEM DEKU

oh suicide jokes huh

bakugo you’re on thin fucking ice you’ve just moved way up in my shit list

wow I hate him <3

EXACTLY

THANK YOU DEKU

I hate it when shows have someone make a suicide joke like that and just? no one addresses it?? or the characters don’t seem to realize that it needs addressing, at least to themselves??? so this is refreshing

voiced my thoughts exactly

he really is an idiot

NO BUDDY YOUR DREAMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE AND VALID

YOUR NOTES ARE SALVAGEABLE

he really is a jerk deku you’re right

awww little deku is so cute

alright I’m gonna make a prediction

this is his mom right

is this gonna be

another

dead anime mom?

and lemme guess she always told him she was sure he’d be a hero/she knew he’d become one, and then she died, and that’s why he’s so set on it

probably not

but just... placing my bets now

w h a t  is this child doing

he’s a hair’s breadth away from head-desking

are we... just gonna... ignore that robbery that was happening on the street a few minutes ago

OKAY WE GET IT YOU’RE HERE CAN YOU GO BACK TO SAVING PEOPLE THEY’RE STILL IN DANGER

HIS CACKLES I CAN’T

alsdkjf;lsjk I feel bad for him but also,,, that transition was gold

but also the face his mom made before he started laughing... she knew he probably wouldn’t get one didn’t she

but why do they assume it won’t happen if they don’t get it by a certain age? they said after that baby people all around the world were getting powers, and showed people of all different ages when they said so. that implies that they got those powers at those ages, after the baby was born but not when they were children themselves? like yeah there’s probably some point where you’d consider them “aged out” and therefore less likely to get a quirk but... she just said he’s in kindergarten.

fourth generation? so the appearance of quirks isn’t a super recent thing then

they can tell if someone is going to manifest a quirk or is starting to by looking at x-rays?

also I know I’m seriously overusing the word “interesting” but

maybe I’m reading too far into this but it’s also kind of interesting that his father and his (current) main antagonist have such similar powers?

OH!!!! lore drop!! kind of!!! that’s a really interesting (wow there it is again) thing they chose to be an indicator for that kind of thing in this universe

*cue izuku contemplating chopping off his pinky toes*

I feel like... all might’s... not gonna be that great....

DEAR LORD HOW MANY TEARS CAN THIS CHILD HOLD IN HIS EYES

also ngl when little deku’s eyes are wide and he doesn’t move he looks really creepy and kind of like a child-sized doll

like pinocchio

how sure are we that deku isn’t made of wood

hmmmmmmmmm I do love this animation

ah Internal Angst™

the fuck is that laughter??

skin suit? no thanks

but guess we aren’t ignoring that earlier scene

yeah all might’s in the city alright

he’s gonna break this up isn’t he

yepppppp that’s him

idk I think alex louise armstrong did it better sorry bud :/

“texas smash”??

he just... punched liquid apart

this kid’s still gonna go flying and hit the ground hard buddy thanks for your help

oh he stuck around

and he’s not hurt too bad

“justicing”

he’s using the city’s sewer system being difficult to navigate as his excuse for why he wasn’t paying attention to keeping bystanders safe like he “usually” does?

the armstrongs do the sparkle better

a;ldkfsdlfls this is really funny to watch ngl

“that’s... a pretty good point.” yeah no shit lmao

I love how he’s just. awkwardly patting deku.

yeah he’s gonna end up accidentally adopting this kid isn’t he

is he hurt?? or did the other guy actually take him over while deku was unconscious??

nah I think he’s just hurt I’m p sure he really did get the guy

but still

that was... a big boom.... that’s not good

he’s just.... abandoning this kid on the rooftop??

but also he probably really does have to go if blood is coming out of his mouth

do heroes in this universe have secret identities?

I feel like yes but also no??

watch as this guy’s like “I don’t have a quirk either” and he’s just. like. an armstrong or something

that or he’s gonna crush this kid’s dreams and be like “no, it’s not possible” and I will be forced to ensure deku becomes the most successful hero ever out of Even More Pure Spite™ even if he idolizes the guy

oh yeah he’s gonna get his dreams crushed

IS ALL MIGHT GONNA VOUCH FOR HIM AND GET HIM AN OPPORTUNITY AT UA BC HE FEELS BAD FOR HIM

hmm this outro kinda slaps too

overall feelin good, like it so far, definitely think I won’t have trouble continuing watching at least for now

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (09/07/23)

alright very late but the post is FINALLY here I was out this weekend so I couldn't read my stuff til super late and I was trynna speedrun it, hence why I skipped talking about most stuff, however I also wanted to watch ryza and the zom premiere so I postponed the post another day, but yesterday was too tired from going back to work so ended up not watching them but ANYWAY

green - new series/new to me

Anime

Atelier Ryza Ep2

not much happened but that's to be expected, this is a jrpg after all and an atelier one to boot, nice episode tho this time the OP and ED had lyrics and while they're not something I'd listen to on my own time they do be very fitting for this

Zom 100 Ep1

I was very on the fence about this one, I was curious by the synopsis, (I'm not huge on zombie stuff but in a sea of isekai it's a breath of fresh air) but it was so I wasn't sure about the quality. However I heard very good things from multiple people about the premiere so decided to say fuck it and just watch it and... it's REALLY good. the directing is incredly good, done by the guy who directed the komi anime (which also had p good directing), with a lot of cool shots/visuals and even some sakuga. my favourite part is the pic under here where he breaks free from the widesreen black bars and the episode suddenly becomes super colourful and very animated. not sure a baby studio can keep up this level of quality the whole run but I'll be looking forward to it each week, don't even need to apply the 3 ep rule, this one was more than enough.

also, apparently the studio doing this splintered off from OLM and the logo for the black company in the anime is OLM's LMAO respect

Manga

Kindergarten WARS Ch25 - 27

didn't realize it was gonna be this soon, I thought it was on like 30, ofc nothing came of it tho, it'd be too early for that but it's still a nice moment

Kaiju 8 Ch89

good chap, nice to get some backstory on hoshina and to see he has something in common with 10. also I was already excited for him fighting but I am even more now that he's just using a single sword + iaijutsu

Tenmaku Cinema Ch13

it doing bad in rankings was already worrying but suddenly doing tenmaku's backstory so early is a huge red flag, I guess it's on the way out how sad

Cipher Academy Ch31

very nice chap, iroha took on tayu on the game she obliterated him in before and manged to squeak out a win. they skipped the battles for the other 4 classes so we're going straight to the finals which is kinda sad but I don't think the series is in risk of getting axed so it's ok

Martial Master Asumi Ch4

oooh good chap, it had the brother's backstory like I predicted last time but I didn't expect it to end like this. nito's for sure gonna get his ass beat next time but still should be good

[ichika27]

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun ep 23

And we’re at the finale! I’d save the rest of the words for later.

Oh and they brought back the intro that I think they had in the first episode. They stopped doing the intro a few episodes ago so this was a surprise.

The first half is basically a slice-of-life set of scenes of Iruma waking up, going to school and studying. I didn’t take much photos for this except for a few below.

Aww! They’re really friends now I’m glad about that. I mean after all this time of Kerori getting mad at Iruma cause of misunderstandings, at least now they’re talking properly.

He’s also still playing demon dodgeball which is nice cause it’s one of the first things he really worked hard on and made him feel very accomplished. I’m happy he didn’t stop even after their game back then was over.

And he’s also still doing manga readings which would probably take forever. I mean have you seen the shelf? That thing’s got hundreds of volumes. How many filler chapters does it have?

Anyways, Ameri thinks the female rival in the story had a cool line ‘Everyone’s got a secret.’ which suddenly gave her an epiphany...

She’s so close! She’s really smart but she didn’t have it in her to ask Iruma directly if her hunch is right. Wonder what she’d think if she knew the truth though?

Iruma also got an epiphany later. This is the exact point of this entire episode and he just noticed lol.

He was really bothered by this cause it made him think of his stay here and what he should do now. It made his friends worry so Clara suggested they cook food for him to cheer him up!

Picture of these two doing their best! Sadly for Asmodeus, Clara’s cookbook is kinda... hard to understand? The instructions are very ‘Clara’-like haha. This resulted in an argument between the two.

Not that important but Clara insulted Asmodeus’ fashion sense to which he had to tell her the clothes are expensive and custom made. That said, I’ve never been able to ask but has thought about the question of ‘Why are the teachers letting him wear a custom outfit instead of the school uniform?’. I know his family is powerful and rich and all but I don’t think the rule-abiding and serious Kalego-sensei would permit this exemption unless there’s a reason. But I guess we’ll never know.

Sorry, Clara but I think that looks good on him.

Let the Shokugeki begin!!

lol a lot of people in the chat we’re making Food Wars jokes. These two couldn’t get to an agreement and decided to just cook separately and compete at which one Iruma would like best. (the cooking, of course, not the person cause Iruma loves them both hehe)

As expected, Clara’s is kinda out of the ordinary. She thinks there’s something missing so her mom tells her the best ingredient to add is ‘love’ (of course).

And so the Valac family gives us one last musical before the season ends!

Azz’s cooking is wonderful but he thinks it’s not good enough as he knew Clara would probably make something unexpected. Glad he’s not underestimating her despite the insults she told her earlier. Although all of those were probably the result of annoyance.

I-is the fish crying?! That makes me so uncomfortable. I don’t stare at the fishes eyes when buying some from the market cause of that.

It’s a good suggestion from the butler but Azz doesn’t like fishes it seems. it’s dirty apparently. He’s still gonna do it though... for Iruma-sama! He pokes the fish relentlessly and I dunno how he did it but he was able to make something.

Also, the yt chat made lots of jokes about the current virus cause of Azz’s face mask but I don’t know if I should say it so I’d just leave this here...

They pulled an all-nighter for this. Reminds me of when I was in school and we had to do a thesis instead. It was horrible. They did it though!

It looks the same lol. Azz went all out and really is trying to compete against Clara since he made his out-of-the-ordinary, too.

The fish is still crying by the way. It’s uncomfortable eating anything with a face and that thing is still crying. Ugh... I’m sorry fishy, it’s for Iruma-sama.

The fish looks sadder than the above photos. (;-;)

Oh, and Iruma figured out that the two dishes are better together due to both Azz and Clara feeding him at the same time.

Awwww~ they’re friends again and shared a fist bump! They did it and their cooking made Iruma happy which was their goal in the first place. Like the dishes that are better when combined, Iruma’s school life is better when he has these two together.

And so Iruma figures that he really likes it here and would make sure he gets to stay with his friends. The demon world isn’t so bad.

The ending theme this time is the school hymn. There were shots of some scenes in the episodes past and there were a few ones which is what some of the characters are currently doing. These ones above caught my eyes.

-It’s sad that the secret room is empty now. The stuff inside were probably confiscated after the batra party incident.

-Kiriwo-senpai!! It’s been a while since I saw him so this was nice. He doesn’t look too bad even though he’s locked up currently. Hope to see him again someday.

-They framed the photo they took at the festival. Aww! A family photo Iruma could be happy looking at.

And the last shot of the main trio together.

They’re also sitting in front of the large door with a ton of locks. I guess this is the end...

Wait-

What’s this? What’s this?! ‘Someday’, the narrator says...

Season 2 confirmed?? Please?!

--

I was actually hoping we got one more episode before the end but I guess this is the finale. it was so much fun and it was better than I expected when I decided to watch the series. I liked all the characters and the story wasn’t as complicated as other anime coming out lately but it was refreshing to see. As everyone else pointed out, this one felt as if it should’ve come out many years ago as it’s got the same feels as the anime series coming out back in the early 2000′s. Definitely felt like I was brought back to my childhood.

They never changed the OP and ED the entire season and both are so good and such bangers. I’d miss listening to them. Hope if they made another season (I hope they make another season!) that the new songs could be as good or are even better than these ones cause they already set the bar high.

I’d miss this show. I keep making these stupid commentary posts every week for fun and to let out my anime fangirling feelings for it and this is the last one. I’d miss making these every week. To all of you who actually read through all these from the very first Iruma-kun post I made up until this last one, thank you so much! I never thought anyone would read them much less enjoy them.

If another... no, when the next season comes out, I hope I can make these things again cause it was fun. So, let’s all see each other and Iruma and his friends again when that time comes?

:)