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brucebocchi · 4 months

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Ranking every new anime I watched in 2023, Pt. 2: #20-11

hey, i just started a ko-fi for my writing and possible other creative outlets. this post will also be available there, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i'm currently between jobs. the tumblr version of part 1 can be found here.

Let's get right into it.

20. Helck

I watched Helck’s first season for its entire half-year run, and I'm honestly still not sure how I feel about it. I’d heard amazing things from people who’d read the manga, and it had a hot start, but the pacing slowed to such a crawl after a while that it kind of felt like they stretched out the story just so they could make another season.

Helck, an enormous and impossibly jolly human warrior, enters a tournament to decide the successor to the throne of the recently-slain Demon King. Demons and humans had been at war for some time, so Vermilio, an adorably fiery elite lord of the castle, is naturally wary of him. Helck is naturally powerful, talented, and affable, so he easily breezes his way through the tournament in hilarious fashion, despite Vermilio’s best efforts at sabotage. Before the finals can take place, though, an immortal army sent by the human forces arrive to attack the demon realm, and Helck and Vermilio are teleported to the far edge of the realm.

The season largely covers Helck and Vermilio’s trek back to the demon kingdom, as well as the demons’ struggles against the mysterious warriors as they attempt to figure out just what the hell the humans are plotting. Vermilio remains leery of Helck, regardless of all he’s done for her, but it becomes further evident that Helck is harboring a very dark past, and eventually we get a lengthy arc where he sits down and explains it to Vermilio in flashback. There is, as you’d expect, plenty of tragedy there, and you’d like to see it resolved, but things just seem to keep getting worse.

There are powerful messages in there about toxic positivity and fighting the urge to shoulder one’s burdens alone, but they don’t become fully apparent until late in the season. Everything until then, at least after the teleportation, is… fine. I had higher hopes for this one, but it just feels like it’s missing something, and I can’t put my finger on what. It looks fine, the voice acting is good (the GOAT Katsuyuki Konishi is typically very good as Helck), the action is decent, it’s all… fine. The pacing just feels glacial at times, to the point where if I hadn’t been watching it weekly I might have bounced off of it.

Of course, the season ended with what appears to be the endgame on the horizon, so for all I know there’s still a lot more to come, but the story beats feel so familiar that I get the feeling it could be resolved with, like, a movie. I hope I’m wrong, because there are clearly some major emotional payoffs yet to come, and I’m still curious to see how it gets there. I may have to pick up the manga to find out if it’ll be worth any more of my time.

19. Urusei Yatsura (2022), second cour

Fresh off of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s possible series finale, David Production’s modern take on Rumiko Takahashi’s legendary comedy manga hummed along nicely into 2023. The cast continues to expand as the new version introduces characters like Ten, Ryunosuke, and Tobimaro to further raise the level of shenanigans inherent to Urusei Yatsura.

Lum Invader has been a sex symbol for pretty much as long as anime has had sex symbols, but the reboot’s second cour focuses a bit more on the side of her personality that makes her so iconic, and which I consider essential to several of my favorite female anime characters: Lum’s kind of a psychotic asshole. Her schemes to wring more attention and affection out of Ataru border on sociopathic at times, and she’s honestly so real for that. Her mortal frenemy, Ran, was introduced close to the end of the first cour, and there is still no shortage of sabotage attempts in the second, but we quickly come to learn that Ran’s undying vendetta is mostly because Lum has been a selfish, lying piece of shit since they were kids. God bless her.

Ataru continues to not be much better, serial philanderer that he is, as he continues to be surrounded by other hot crazy ladies who aren’t his not-fiancee. Mendo’s younger sister, Ryoko, is a real highlight in the 2023 run as a result of her escalating penchant for Looney Tunes-esque slapstick violence. The settings of Ataru’s and Lum’s respective worlds take more focus as well, between Ataru’s high school hijinks and Ten’s galactic mail-order mishaps, and the two often collide in hilarious fashion.

I still adore the look of this one. Character models have been cleaned up and simplified to a sort of retro-modern look while still being instantly recognizable to anyone already familiar with them. Everything is awash in an eye-popping Day-Glo color palette. Backgrounds and pop-in gags are often adorned with Ben Day dots to maintain the retro comic look. This doesn’t quite look like the manga, nor does it resemble the original 80s anime, but this is unmistakably a Rumiko Takahashi product. It almost looks like it could have come out at any point in time.

I’m only holding this back in the rankings because it’s the weaker half of a season that straddled the end of 2022 and the start of 2023, but the season as a whole is excellent. It is an essential watch for fans of comedy anime, especially considering so many tried-and-true anime gags effectively originated with Urusei Yatsura (it’s worth mentioning that Lum is largely considered the first-ever tsundere in anime and manga). Season 2 is imminent and I cannot fucking wait. Maybe I’ll even read the manga.

18. Tomo-chan is a Girl!

This is basically Monthly Girls’ No-jock-i-kun. Very simple premise: Tomboyish high schooler gets the hots for her childhood friend who is dense as fuck and forgets most of the time that she’s even a girl. Hilarity ensues and romance progresses glacially.

The voice performances are what really carry this one. Rie Takahashi is golden as the titular Tomo Aizawa, and this was the first entry in an MVP-caliber resume for her in 2023 that was so stacked that I still haven’t gotten to her best role yet. Rina Hidaka nails the conniving, misanthropic nature of Misuzu Gundo in a far cry from her turn as Emul the bunny in Shangri-La Frontier later in the year. The American-born idol Sally Amaki is a revelation as the airheaded gaijin Carol Olston, whom she also voices in the English dub. Even Carol’s mom speaks broken Japanese with a noticeable American accent, which is one of my favorite gags in the whole show.

Outside of the voice acting, nothing is particularly special about this show. Which is fine! There's nothing wrong with a solid 7/10 romcom; junk food is still food. It’s cute, it’s funny, it hits all the right beats, but nothing particularly stands out. Misuzu and eventually Carol give Tomo advice to try to woo her bestie Jun, while Misuzu is usually also playing Jun against that same advice so that it usually works and backfires at the same time. It’s all a game, and she plays both sides so she can always come out on top.

If I have a complaint about this show, it’s that it just… ends. I went back and read the manga, and unfortunately that issue is not the anime’s fault. If anything, it did a phenomenal job of fitting eight volumes of a 4-koma into a single season, and that’s always how it was supposed to go. I watched and read a ton of slice-of-life romance anime and manga this year, as it turns out, and the ones that really hit for me are usually the ones that take their time with the central relationship once it actually starts, rather than treat that big event as the climax, or worse, the finale of the story. Stuff like Kaguya-sama, Horimiya, Sweat and Soap, and even Wotakoi (though I have my own problems with that one) treat their central relationships as a step, not the goal. At the same time, for plenty of others, the fun is in the chase, and they just run out of time, and Tomo-chan is the latter. We got what we wanted, and we had fun getting there. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Also good god, Tomo’s mom. The second those genes kicked in for Tomo, Jun was doomed.

17. The Eminence in Shadow, second cour and season 2

The Eminence in Shadow is the smartest piece of stupid media I've seen in a minute. It so perfectly skewers dime-a-dozen chuunibyo isekai trash while still cannonballing into a McDuckian swimming pool of the stuff. It nearly overwhelms you with lore; the series abounds with rich backstories, centuries-old power struggles, palace intrigue, shadowy conspiracies, the artificially accelerated march of progress, long-simmering revenge plots, looming economic catastrophe, and love dodecahedrons. And the most compelling thing about all of it is that none of it fucking matters.

Cid Kagenou spent his teenage years in modern Japan trying to become the coolest badass dark antihero who ever lived, but he quickly reaches his limits in our boring normal world so he rides the isekai truck into a world with actual, like, magic and shit. He spends his new childhood leveling up and rescuing elf girls, all the while regaling them with his “wisdom” in the form of a bunch of horseshit he made up based on all the light novels he used to read. Turns out that he’s entirely too genre savvy; this new world is apparently so contrived that every single thing he told them ended up entirely true.

So now Cid’s a teenager by day and shadowy vigilante by night (under the apt moniker “Shadow”), with an underground legion of hot deadly babes at his disinterested beck and call. All he genuinely cares about is looking and acting like the coolest motherfucker a socially inept 12 year old boy can think of, and in his downtime actively trying to be a forgettable mob character. And I do mean that that is all he cares about; when I say none of the wheels within wheels happening in the background actually matter, I mean that Cid is completely and totally unaware of any of it.

Anything he does or says to drive the plot is either incidental or accidental. He spouts off some nonsense he heard in a video game once, and his cadre of elf baddies and beastgirls takes it as gospel en route to exposing a millennium-old conspiracy. He parrots a really cool line he heard ten minutes ago and a beautiful woman he just saved takes it as inspiration to turn her life around. It’s kind of like in Mashle, funnily enough; where Mash will go “I don’t know what’s going on, but you were being mean to my friend so I’m gonna beat the shit out of you,” Cid is more like “No clue what this is about, but that’s a really badass looking villain, so I’m gonna say some epic shit and do a big explosion.” And then he fucks off to go eat a burger or something, not knowing or caring that he just unraveled a prophesied master plot to destroy the global power balance.

The episodes that aired in 2023 largely revolve around the lovely Princess Rose, smitten with both Cid and Shadow (not knowing they’re the same guy), pledging fealty to Shadow Garden after failing to foil a coup d’etat. At the same time as her training, Cid is busy with a vampire something-or-other and then tries to make some coin for himself by teaming up with an assassin hellbent on revenge to create a credit crisis. The conspiracy later drags Rose back into the palace, where Cid sees a new opportunity. Every single one of these things has very specific reasons for happening, and everyone involved has a rich backstory and clear motivations to carry out their parts of the ever-evolving plots.

But that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to watch a bunch of hot ladies and a guy in a black cloak with one glowing red eye do some sick action stunts to bad guys with silly names, and this show delivers that in spades. This feels like a throwback in the best and worst ways. The Eminence in Shadow is stupid, and it is brilliant.

16. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, season 2

Mushoku Tensei is a tough anime to talk about. On one hand, it is one of the most gorgeous anime series ever put on television: Almost consistently movie-quality sakuga, lush background art, and a breathtaking score come together to form an immersive world unlike many I’ve seen in any medium. On the other, it forces some very unpleasant conversations about reincarnation in anime, particularly ones like this where a grown man is reincarnated as a child while retaining his mental age and is surrounded by potential love interests closer in age to his new body. What doesn’t help is that in his previous life in our world, the man who would reincarnate as Rudeus Greyrat was a socially isolated hentai addict, and much of his journey centers around him unlearning those proclivities in unfortunate and often damaging ways. If you can handle that, Mushoku Tensei is a rewarding watch, but if that’s beyond the pale to you, I don't blame you in the slightest.

However, even if you’ve been able to stomach all of the questionable shit in the first season, I'm sorry to say that the second season’s first cour doesn’t do much for the “bro I promise he gets better bro” crowd. The first cour covers the Quagmire and Academy arcs, which follow Rudeus’ struggle with being effectively abandoned by the only person to show him any physical affection in either life. The knock-on effect sees him retreating into an antisocial shell and developing, and I am deadly serious here, a seemingly incurable case of erectile dysfunction.

The first few episodes surround Rudeus growing into a young man, making a name for himself as a wandering adventurer in hopes that talk of his name will spread to his missing family and friends. At the urging of the god with a direct line to him (still unexplained), he enrolls in a magic university to investigate the calamity that flung his loved ones to the corners of the realm. There he finds an old friend in the figure-obsessed young prince who saved his life in the previous season, a girl from his previous world who seems to have also been transported to this one, and most crucially, his old childhood friend Sylphiette, hiding in plain sight with new hair and a sick pair of shades as a retainer to a scheming princess enrolled in the school.

Mushoku Tensei's initial season was at its best in its quieter moments, and those abound in season 2’s first cour. It's really lovely seeing him connect once again with Sylphie purely for who she is, even though for all Rudy knows he’s talking to a twinky dude named Fitz who makes him feel weird things. We get our amazing action animation early on, and things settle down quite a bit from there as Rudeus navigates all of these interpersonal relationships, old and (seemingly) new.

And while, yes, this version of Rudeus is a far cry from the drooling, grinning pervert he was in his first ten years of reincarnation, his improvement as a human being is not a straight line. He unfortunately takes more steps backwards than forward. The things he says in a drunken rage about his party member Sara (who inadvertently revealed his ED) are awful and undeserved, he literally ties up and gropes a pair of beast girls from his class (he has apparent reasons for both of those things, but come on), and he “frees” a young dwarven slave to take on as an apprentice. That last one seems admirable on its face, but uh. He went with the flow in a god damned slave market and still paid a slaver.

I'm not excusing those things, nor absolving Rudeus as a character; I'm simply saying they happen this season. Mushoku Tensei, for better or for worse, depicts gnarly subject matter as it is while neither glorifying it nor moralizing about it. It trusts you to make your own judgments, and if your verdict is “I can’t watch this show,” that is perfectly valid. If you can stomach watching through its worst moments and compartmentalize the uncomfortable aspects of it, Mushoku Tensei remains one of the best-looking and -sounding pieces of animation out there, and the part of its second season that aired in 2023 has an exceptional emotional payoff. Otherwise, I'll be talking about Frieren much later.

15. Spy x Family, season 2

The most succinct praise I can give season 2 is also the most backhanded: Well, it’s more Spy x Family.

I want to be clear that there is no shade inherent to that comment; the first season of Spy x Family was excellent! It was a stylish, beautifully animated, appropriately hilarious adaptation of a fantastic manga that did it justice in almost every regard; the second season didn’t need to move heaven and earth to try to one-up it. It wasn’t broken, so Wit and CloverWorks didn’t fix it. It’s still the blend of domestic slice-of-life hijinks, tense cold-war intrigue, and heart-pounding action it’s always been. Even the production music is largely the same, and that’s not a complaint, because SxF’s production music fuckin' slaps.

A lot of anime-onlys rightfully complained that Yor’s plot relevance seemed to fall off a cliff in the back half of season 1, so they have been eating GOOD this time out, as season 2’s (ostensible) first cour puts her directly in the spotlight. The Yor Cour, if you will. The season opened on a hilariously spot-on adaptation of my favorite Yor-centric chapter of the manga (the “bullet in the ass” one) and quickly moved on to a nearly perfect interpretation of the cruise arc that sees her protecting a government asset from a legion of assassins.

If you wanted to see more of Yor in her second life as the contract killer, Thorn Princess, this season was a meal and a half for you. Having her beset on all sides by an eccentric rogues’ gallery, with Anya fully aware and trying her damnedest to keep Loid from finding out what’s actually going on, is Spy x Family at its best. The tension constantly ramps up as the ship approaches its target, and Anya’s attempts at distracting Loid usually go sideways because, well, she’s Anya. Blood splatters, laughs are had, and Loid continues to struggle with both fatherhood and acting like his growing affection for his ragtag “fake” family is just “for the mission.”

Outside of the cruise, season 2 maintains the series’ usual episodic pace, which can be a little jarring before and after the cruise arc, but that’s SxF for you. Shit can pop off at unexpected moments, and having read ahead in the manga, I’m excited to see the next time that happens. For now, though, things can feel kinda static from time to time, but the Forger family and the extended cast are always pleasant to just hang out with for a while.

And now to wait for the movie to come out in the west.

14. Undead Unluck

Up until this past Winter season, I primed myself on a lot of the more-hyped anime by reading the manga ahead of time. I knew that Undead Unluck is one of the bigger Shonen Jump manga out there, but this debut kind of crept up on me. I went in blind, got drawn in by the premise, and then got quickly overwhelmed with a wild amount of lore.

Fuuko, a young woman seemingly afflicted with a curse, is saddled with a brash, enormous man who cannot die after he foils her suicide attempt and is then himself grievously injured. Don’t worry, he got better. It turns out that he’s roughly 200 years old and has a completely cracked healing factor, while she brings terrible misfortune to anyone who touches her skin. They are both Negators, people with the ability to reverse or ignore the laws of nature: Fuuko’s ability is Unluck, causing tragedy for those close to her, while the man is Undead, exactly what it says on the tin. The man, who cannot remember his own name, believes their meeting to be kismet: If she can bring death to her loved ones, he vows to woo her so she can deliver the death he’s sought for so long. I promise this is a comedy.

Fuuko and Andy (whom she named as shorthand for the Japanese pronunciation of “undead”) foil a series of assassination attempts by other Negators, and take their spots as part of the Union eliminating threats to the universe. They team with an eclectic group, whom we’re still getting to know as of the end of the first cour, as they trot the globe to complete quests given to them by a mysterious (and seemingly nefarious) talking book lest the universe incur penalties for their failure.

The power system among Negators is one of the most inventive I've seen, with each one able to cancel out a specific element of the natural order of the world, and it’s a blast learning how each new one works. Andy in particular is wild; because he can regenerate himself so quickly, his weapon of specialty is his own body, never hesitating to use his own fingertips as bullets and his own gushing blood as a propulsion mechanism. He also has no compunction towards taking on the worst of Fuuko’s Unluck ability, often sacrificing himself to get hit by lightning or falling debris to deal damage to an enemy. Every new Negator power introduced adds a new wrinkle to the way this world works and the different shapes its action can take. Others can freeze matter into suspended animation, force people to act opposite their own intentions, or even subvert someone’s entire belief system. I cannot wait to see what else is in store.

The first cour’s pacing is a little off, and Andy's behavior towards Fuuko in the first couple episodes is nothing short of gross (I promise that eases up), but you can see the show finding its footing as it goes on. Shonen Jump series don’t last for nearly 200 chapters and counting by accident, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

13. NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a

Those of us who played Yoko Taro’s 2017 masterpiece approached the announcement of an anime adaptation with some trepidation: So much of what made Nier Automata so outstanding and so beloved is that much of the delivery of its narrative is inherent to the fact that it’s a video game. How can a video game known for pushing against the fourth wall of the unique elements of its very medium be faithfully adapted as an anime?

The choice of studio was also concerning: Though A-1 has produced a ridiculous number of excellent series (and some aggressively mid ones that were nonetheless very successful), its track record with video game adaptations has been far less than stellar. The latter three films in the Persona 3 adaptations were solid if uneven, and the Valkyria Chronicles anime seems to have been well-received, but the same can’t be said of A-1’s takes on Ace Attorney, Persona 4 Golden, or Persona 5. Regardless, Yoko himself was heavily involved in the anime’s production, so if they could keep on budget and schedule, Nier Automata would have a fighting chance.

And while there indeed ended up being massive and likely unpredictable production delays, I'd say they’ve done almost as good of a job as they could have so far. While the first cour mainly covers Automata’s A and B routes, it does much more than just play that part of the story straight; it also takes the time to incorporate other elements of the Nier canon. A surprising amount of time is dedicated to the canon introduced in the YoRHa stage play (and by extension the Pearl Harbor Descent Record manga); Lily and the android resistance are woven directly into the narrative far beyond the vague overtures the game makes in their direction. Ver 1.1a also ties the history of the original Nier into the story at unexpected and intriguing (and in my case, tear inducing) moments.

Unfortunately, it’s still too soon to assess this series in its entirety. While too many people who played Nier Automata stopped after route A or B, there is still much more of this story to come. There was some very sloppy CGI integration in the first episode when it aired, but far from enough to put me off the series. For now, it’s a treat for Nier fans, but I’m not sure whether I can recommend it yet to people who are unfamiliar with the source material.

Until the anime is completed, go play Nier Automata. It’s one of my favorite games of all time.

12. Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends-

This was a late 2022 theatrical release, but it didn’t see western release until this year and was split into a four-episode mini-season for streaming, so I'm counting it for this year. you can deal with it.

I got completely obsessed with Kaguya-sama early this year, and in record time. I binged the anime and the manga in the span of a couple weeks and irreversibly fell in love. I say with no reservation that it is the best romantic comedy, in any medium, of the 21st century. It nails both the romance and the comedy in equal measure; the characters are perfectly realized right down to the supporting cast, the dynamics between them are carefully considered and consistent with their personalities regardless of circumstance, and every emotional and comedic beat hits exactly as it’s meant to. There is a constant momentum moving the greater plot along, even in the smaller moments, and seismic shifts take over before you’ve even noticed they’re happening.

It’s rare for romcom manga adaptations to stay on the air long enough to actually reach the romantic payoff, and Kaguya-sama fucking nailed it in season 3. Well, we’re pretty sure it did; the central conceit of the psycho-romantic warfare between Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane is that they’re both chronic overthinkers and won’t accept any romantic undertones or overtures in any form but an explicit confession. So while the finish to season 3 is everything we wanted as an audience, these two dorks still sense a margin for error. Regardless, that would have been a perfectly acceptable place to end the anime.

HOWEVER, the Ice Queen Kaguya arc that follows in the manga is iconic, and A-1 was absolutely right to adapt it. Although Shirogane is ready to move forward with the relationship that (he’s pretty sure) they’ve both wanted for a long time, Kaguya has a crisis of personality and inadvertently reverts to the dead-eyed, emotionally walled-off version of herself he’d initially met, well before either of them had realized they’d fallen in love with one another. The interstitial omake preceding this arc in the manga has Aka Akasaka warning the reader that in order to counteract the massive emotional payoff that just happened, the ensuing chapters would get very, very silly.

And of course, hijinks do indeed ensue; this is Kaguya-sama, after all. But before you realize it, the story is neck deep in Jungian psychology as self-doubt begins to plague Kaguya and Miyuki and they struggle with the faces they think they need to put on for the other and whether their “real” selves even deserve to be loved by the person they idolize. It gets heavy! I cried every time I watched it! And that first time was in a damn movie theater!

I’m much more comfortable appraising First Kiss as a mini-season than as a movie, because frankly, it doesn’t work as a movie. The animation, while maintaining the series’ standard of excellence, isn’t a single degree better than what aired on television, which can be disappointing upon a visit to the theater. The pacing is also off for a feature film; the common knock upon theatrical release was that it felt like four episodes stitched together (it even has the omake-style interludes between scenes, like the show). The arc also focuses very heavily on Kaguya and Miyuki specifically, so the ensemble cast I mentioned earlier does have to take a backseat. Splitting this up for streaming and televised release was the right move here.

Season 3 would have been a very good ending for this series if it never got picked up for the movie. If it doesn’t get picked up for a proper fourth season, this is the perfect place for it to end. The manga has now been adapted up to just past the halfway point, and the next best stopping point would have to wait until a possible, like, fifth season. And that arc in question, while it does have some iconic moments, is very uneven. If this is all we’re getting, we’ve gotten plenty already, and I am satisfied.

If you've watched the first three seasons of Kaguya-sama, you owe it to yourself to watch The First Kiss That Never Ends. It is nearly everything you could ask for. Also, read the manga if you haven’t already. It’s genuinely one of my favorite things I've ever read.

11. The Apothecary Diaries

This one is basically House M.D. set in the Ming Dynasty, and it fucks.

Maomao, an apothecary raised in a pleasure district near the palace of a fictional East Asian empire, is shanghaied (pun intended) into menial work in said palace. She hears tell of a supposed curse plaguing the emperor’s newborn children and the concubines that birthed them, quickly deduces that it may be poisoning, and discreetly leaves a message for the ailing new mothers. She’s found out by an impossibly beautiful young administrator named Jinshi, who quickly deduces that she’s one of the few literate peons in the rear palace, and he puts her to work in the pavilion of the concubine that heeded her advice.

With her knowledge of, resistance to, and slightly masochistic infatuation with various poisons, Maomao slots right in as an attendant and poison tester to one of the emperor’s embattled concubines. Often at Jinshi’s urging (even though she immediately gets the ick at his habitual flirting), Maomao finds herself investigating deaths, mysterious ailments, and strange behaviors, on top of the foreign world of palace politics. Though she’s a deeply jaded person who only seems to care for her special interests, Maomao is incredibly perceptive and often able to suss out the finer details others miss.

Surprisingly, this one is a really breezy watch, and much funnier than you might expect. For all its lush environs, slowly-mounting intrigue, and often stunning cinematography, The Apothecary Diaries isn’t afraid to get a little silly with it. The dialogue is snappy, quick gags abound in a familiar single-panel chibi style you wouldn’t expect in a setting like this, and Komi-esque cat ears spontaneously pop up from Maomao's head whenever her interest is piqued. Interactions between Maomao and Jinshi are always a hoot, and you can pretty quickly figure out where it’s going, although Maomao can’t because she’s still pretty sure Jinshi is a eunuch.

As she does in virtually every role in her dozen-plus years as a seiyuu, Aoi Yuuki crushes it in the starring role. She really nails the disaffected cynicism that animates most of Maomao’s internal monologue and sarcastic dialogue, as well as her hair-trigger glee when presented with her personal interests in food and drink, medicinal herbs, and of course, poison. Yuuki is an indispensable element in ensemble casts like Persona 5, Ace Attorney, Wotakoi, and the aforementioned KamiKatsu (as well as others I don’t plan on watching like My Hero Academia, Rent-a-Girlfriend, and The Seven Deadly Sins), so it’s especially nice to hear her in a spotlight role outside of the odd Madoka Magica, spider isekai, or Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

There are a handful of anime on this list that will be continuing or returning in January, and second only to my #1 anime this year, this is the one I’m most excited to see more of. At time of writing, the show appears to be shifting in a new direction, and I’m hoping to see it take less of an episodic pace.

Part 3 is on the way! I'm going to split my top ten into two more posts, because I ended up writing... a lot more than I'd expected.

#anime reviews

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brian-in-finance · 9 months

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Video 📹

Outlander Executive Producer Maril Davis Breaks Down Season 7 Mid-Season Finale & Teases a Big Controversial Moment Next Year

Seven years in, audiences can’t get enough of the love, pain, war, heartbreak, drama, trauma, time-travel that Outlander delivers. The mid-season finale of Outlander surprisingly left Jamie and Claire smiling and arriving in Scotland! Jamie and Claire, happy? What? Is this Outlander? Yes, it is. And in its seventh season, it’s stronger than ever. Executive Producer Maril Davis exclusively sat down with SheKnows to break down that exciting mid-season finale, talk about the second half of season 7 which will air sometime in 2024, and even gave a few hints about season 8, the final season of this epic show, which went from the thousands of pages of Diana Gabaldon’s book series to television screens across the world. Davis also reveals her favorite moments in season 7 for both Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe. She discusses her favorite Jamie and Claire scenes, explains why one of their signature love scenes from the book couldn’t make it in this season, but teases that there’s plenty of intimacy next year, but also “tragedy.” In Austin at the ATX Festival in June, Davis and Balfe revealed Balfe would be directing a full episode for the first time in season 8. And when will that be exactly? Davis lets us in on that tidbit, along with a few other bits about Jamie and Claire’s love scenes, and why she’s excited for next year. And finally, she hints that there is a controversial scene that fans will see in the second half of season 7, involving Claire and not Jamie. Uh oh. Brace yourselves. Watch the video for the full chat.

Davis sat down with us on the 9-year anniversary of when Outlander first aired on Starz. “It is kind of hard to believe it’s been 9 years, it feels like yesterday we just (kind of started),” she admits. There was no better day to break down the mid-season finale and talk about the future of Outlander, but also the end, than the anniversary of the long-running hit show.

Starz / Robert Wilson

First up, Davis broke down the memorable Claire Fraser sword scene and pretty much confirmed Balfe is actually a bonnie wee swordsman. “She wields that pretty well, huh? I’m like, ‘Have you done this before?’” Davis recalls, “somehow that sword disappeared, I wonder where it is now?” She shed a little light on what it was like shooting the legendary sword scene, revealing that in the book it’s “quite a long scene!” “Certainly, there were discussions early on, could we cut that scene down a little bit, but we all decided, you know what, it was so iconic, and it’s such a powerful Jamie-Claire scene. You know I love that dynamic between them, that she basically wants to kill him, because he was almost killed. That is the Jamie and Claire.” Simply put, “That is quintessential Jamie and Claire, quintessential Sam and Caitríona. And I think they always have fun doing those scenes too. You know the back and forth… I love it.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

Season 7 compiles parts of books 6, 7, and 8, so it’s a lot to take on. Does Davis feel sad as a book reader about any story they couldn’t fit in. “Honestly, there’s a Marsali-Fergus storyline that we didn’t use, because Lauren (Lyle) had her other other show (Karen Pirie), and César (Domboy) was busy, and we just kind of decided in previous seasons we weren’t using them as much as we could. Also, there’s a Denzell storyline with a character named Dottie that we didn’t fit in, that I wish we would have, but it was such a big season, and there was so much material to fit in… As a whole, I loved this season.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

Although Davis loved the first half of season 7, she says she’s most excited for the audience to see the second half, “because it gets even crazier.” With the SAG-AFTRA strike happening, none of the actors have been able to chat about the show and all their amazing work this season, so we asked Davis what her favorite scenes for Heughan and Balfe were. She confesses she loved when Heughan was sitting in the dark waiting to confront (ahem, murder) Richard Brown (who deserved it). In the mid-season finale, “Turning Points,” Davis says, “I loved when he sees William across the enemy lines and he almost shoots him… And that kind of look of realization on Jamie/Sam’s face, I think it’s so powerful. It’s such a great season for him. He’s done an amazing job.” Davis can’t help but list all the scenes she loved Heughan in thus far, but teases he’s got great things coming in part 2 of season 7.

Starz / Robert Wilson

As for Balfe, like Heughan, Davis can’t just name one scene she loved. So, she names many. “I really do love the scene with Claire and Jamie, third or fourth episode, I mean I love her stuff with Tom Christie, both on the ship but also at the tavern was so amazing. But also, I love their (Jamie and Claire’s) love scene after that. Oh god, she’s had so many great ones too! I do love the sword scene, too. I love how she rips into Jamie… and is kind of so angry, because she was so scared. Caitríona always does that so well.”

Starz / Robert Wilson

As for Jamie and Claire love scenes, Davis chats about one of the love scenes that didn’t make it in the show. For those wondering if it was a question of timing or if it was difficult to translate that book scene to the screen, Davis says, “It was a combo. We just didn’t have, kind of, the set up that was described in the book is not the one that we had found. Wasn’t anywhere to really do that. Story-wise, it just didn’t fit this time. It’s always hard – listen, we’re not going to ignore the fact that we know obviously fans would want that scene, and we would want to do it too, it’s just hard to fit it in.” Davis continues to explain how the story might work well in the book, but then having to compress scenes in the show, “Sometimes in the book, it works out better those times in the book during war, like when Jamie’s like, ‘I have to have you,’ and Claire’s like, ‘I have to have you,” and you’re in the middle of some battle sequence… quite honestly, the transition on the screen is not as easy. In terms of the writing of something like that, and for the actors also, their justification of it too as well.” Fair point, it would be a little strange for Jamie and Claire stop the war to have sex. Or would it be the most brilliant way of stopping a war. You decide. Make love not war as they say. Is that where that saying came from? From Jamie and Claire ending wars with sex in the past?

But fear not, Davis assures everyone that there are “a few iconic scenes coming up in the second half, that if you’re a book fan that you’ll know and love, there’s some tragedy, but there’s also some lights at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps iconic scenes that are coming for Jamie and Claire, that I think book fans are waiting for. They know what they are. Wink, wink.” And Davis actually winks. So, she means it. She continues, “So, they’re coming. And also, some things I think fans aren’t looking forward to but still were essential to the book to do. And we did them!” Book readers will know what Davis is hinting about. And if we can play detective… Balfe also hinted at something coming down the pike with Claire and two men. The first already happened with Tom Christie. And separately, David Berry hinted that things get complicated for Jamie, Claire and Lord John. So, we asked Davis how they might have handled it, and she confesses, “I think it’s hopefully satisfying for the people who love that, and for the people who don’t love that!” Her answer only leads us to more questions! “Lots of wink winks going on,” she evilly laughs.

With the actors’ and WGA strikes happening, preparations for Outlander season 8 understandably have had to pause, but Davis let us in on what had been planned already. Balfe and Davis had announced at the beginning of the season that Balfe would have her directorial debut. Davis says they know which episode she’s doing, “We do know, she’s going to be first up, she’s not doing the first episode, but she’s going to be first up. Because the only we can pull off her directing is if she preps the first block, and that’s not to say she’s doing on in the first block, because sometimes we mix blocks around, but it’s the only way she can prep.” Davis goes on to explain for Balfe, who’s in the show so much, as director she’ll need about 5 weeks to prep. Doing it first will give Balfe plenty of time to prep.

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As for scripts being broken down, and if everyone had read book 9, Davis says that season 8 will primarily be book 9 with some other stuff throw in. “Season 7 combines a dash of 6 and 7 and 8.” So how far did they get before the strike? She says, “We were in the room, so certainly some of the season is broken, we don’t have the end yet though.” Terrific, maybe that means Outlander will never end. Wink, wink?

Since the Droughtlander has begun and is going to be another long one, what can Davis leave us with? At the beginning of the season, she gave us one of her signature “heard on set” lines. She says she will look for one later to tease the next block of season 7! But leaves us with this, “I honestly think the second half is crazier than the first… William, Jamie, Claire, John – John Bell! Young Ian, everyone is going to have a real rollercoaster in the second half, and face kind of their worse fears. And… some come out of it okay, and some do not.” What?! She laughs, “Take from that what you want.” What we’ll take from that is months of stress. Thank you, Maril Davis. Wink, wink, wink. All the winks to you.

As for the exclusive Maril #HeardonSet line, you’ll just have to wait until she comes across it on her phone. As Claire Fraser would say, we’ve got time. Okay, fine, she’d probably say it more British, “We’ve got bloody time.” It’s true, there’s plenty of time to re-watch the first 8 episodes of season 7. And to be honest, you can probably re-watch all of Outlander, read all of Diana Gabaldon’s books, and all of our recaps. Before you know it, the drought will be over, and hopefully the strikes will be too (with writers and artists being fairly compensated for their amazing work), and all of a sudden, you’ll turn on your TV, and there Jamie and Claire will be having all the fun in Scotland with no stress or bad things happening at all. Wink, wink.

She Knows

Remember… Caitríona’s prep for directing a Season 8 episode will begin five weeks before the season’s filming starts. As an actor, she’s required on set during filming, so regardless of which episode she directs, she’ll do her prep before any episode is filmed.

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Outlander #Season 7 #She Knows #16 August 2023 #YouTube #My screenrecording #Thanks castlemaine123 #Thanks sunsetmagic85

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bobawitch · 9 months

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Fooled Around {{Steve Harrington x Reader}}

A/N: just another oneshot, this one is based on the song Fooled Around and Fell in Love by Elvin Bishop. hope y'all enjoy <3

wc: 1.3k

warnings: just fluff <3

Steve had been looking for the right one. I mean, he was out of high school and working full time, now he just needed the perfect girl for the perfect family. But he couldn’t seem to find her, even with his job at the movie rental store. He’d see pretty women, flirt a little, lay on the charm, then go on maybe one date, have maybe one night of hornier activities and then be on to the next. None of them were right, none of them made him know what he wanted. Until you, at least. You hadn’t lived in Hawkins long, but you had gone to your last year of high school there and quickly found out about the legendary Steve “The Hair” Harrington. You, like many of the girls, found him cute but he was with Nancy Wheeler until he wasn’t and by then you had other things to focus on. You initially wanted to go to college, but your dad convinced you to take a few gap years to grow up and get some money, which of course led you to your current job at a record store. Thankfully enough you were a huge music fanatic, so you had no issues sitting and listening to classics and making recommendations to kind people that came through the store. One day you were on your way to work around noon and decided it would be fun to sit and watch a movie when you got home so you changed paths to guide yourself to the little movie rental place a few blocks from your job. You walked in and greeted the scruffy haired girl as you looked around. You spotted another guy in the uniform and smiled, recognizing him as Steve and giggling. It was kind of funny to see him working here, though he did have an ice cream job the year before so maybe not THAT weird. He was talking to some girl, flirting, and recommending movies before she said something about watching the movie with her boyfriend. Upon her saying that Steve sighed, shaking his head, and continuing saying the boyfriend wouldn’t like the movie he just suggested and suggesting a different one before walking off. He began to walk towards the scruffy haired girl who pointed to you with a wide grin. Steve turned to look at you as you looked through various movies to rent. He fixed his hair before walking over to you, leaning on the big shelf that held the movies. “Hey, uh, what kind of movie you lookin for? I can give a good suggestion.” His voice was soft and kind, not overly flirty which felt nice. You met his eyes and smiled. “Steve, right?” You asked. He looked back at the girl at the counter before shrugging and nodding. “Yeah, you uh, know me?” He replied, shifting nervously as a confused look took over his soft complexion. You laughed and nodded, looking him up and down before replying. “Yeah, we graduated the same year. Though we didn’t have any classes together, so you probably don’t know me.” You shrug, crossing your arms to mimic his stance. “Oh, and for movies, I’m wanting one with an amazing soundtrack.” He didn’t want to seem rude and confirm your statement of his lack of memory of you. His eyebrows raised at your condition. “Any specific genre?” You shrugged and shook your head no and he shrugged. “Alright then I’d probably recommend, Footloose, it’s a classic and has some really good music. Tron is also a good one, this kid I know thinks it’s one of the best movies in history.” He chuckled and shook his head, his hands now on his hips. He looked down as he shook his head before looking at you through his eyebrows. You smiled and laughed; you hadn’t seen Tron but at the mention of Footloose you knew what you wanted to watch. “Hm, I’ll have to go with Footloose. I love that movie.” You reminisce on the premise of the goofy movie and the iconic song and dance. Steve nods and laughs, “You have good taste. It’s an obvious classic.” You smile as he hands you the VCR of the movie before moving towards the girl.

“Oh uh, hey, maybe we could go out sometime. Then I can learn your name.” He smiled, giving you a cheeky wink and you gushed at the affection. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.” You laughed a bit before digging in your bag, you found a journal for songs and rip a corner out. You quickly scribbled your name and number and handed it to him before getting your movie and leaving to head off to work. Your encounter with Steve was about 3 months ago. Since then, y’all had gone on a few dates and eventually began dating. Y’all had only put a label on it after you had met his right-hand man, Dustin, who approved of you and your opinions of Tron. Now you and Steve were having a casual Friday night date at his house. Since his parents weren’t home y’all decided not to hide in his room for once and he made you a not so fancy plate of spaghetti. You both laughed and teased each other while eating. “So, what made me so different Steve?” You poked at a question that he often tried to avoid, mostly because he didn’t have a charming answer to give you. He straightened up a bit, slowly swallowing the gob of spaghetti he had just stuffed in his mouth. He looked around your face for an answer before shrugging. “I guess I just fooled around and fell for you.” He said it so plainly, like it was so obvious. You gushed at his words and giggled. “You almost just said the name of one of my favorite songs.” You comment, eating some of your spaghetti after. “Oh yeah? What song would that be?” Even though he knew the answer he decided he should ask you anyways. He always admired how much you loved to talk about music. And you really could go on for hours at a time about songs, soundtracks, anything music related. “Fooled Around and Fell in Love, Elvin Bishop 1975.” You stated your acclaimed favorite song and watched as he nodded, wiping his mouth with a rag before getting up. He walked over to you and offering a hand for you to get up. You took his hand with a little giggle and a questioning expression on your face. He pulled you to his living room where he moved his coffee table and pulled out a little cassette and placed it in his dad’s fancy cassette player. Fooled Around and Fell in Love slowly began to fill the room. You laughed as Steve met you in the center of the rug, he grabbed your hand and pulled you close. You instinctually placed your arms around his neck and lean into him. His hands find your hips and you both began to sway along to the song. You leaned your head on his chest, snuggling your nose into the crook of his neck. In return he gently rested his chin on the top of your head. As the chorus began you heard his silky-smooth voice begin to sing. “I fooled around and fell in loooooveee” You giggled and pressed yourself farther into him. His hands slowly moved to fully snake around your waist. You both swayed there in the center of the room as the song slowly faded to an end. Though once it had ended neither of you stopped swaying. You looked up to your boyfriend and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the lips. He returned the soft gesture and you hummed into his soft lips. “I love you Steve Harrington.” You purred against his lips after pulling away and he smiled, kissing you again. “I love you too Y/N L/N” He mumbled back.

#stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington fluff #stranger things fluff #stranger things season 4 #st4 #stranger things fandom

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mysticmonkiebusiness · 11 months

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ISSUE 69 BLOCKS MAGAZINE PAGE 35 + 36

[ID 1: Two magazine pages. The first shows several pieces of digitally painted concept art of; MK, a roughed-up couch, a game controller, a polaroid of an early design of Mei, and another polaroid of Monkey King from the film “Havoc in Heaven”. Below it is an image of a LEGO designer referencing a piece of concept art, one of MK flying on a hoverboard, to design MK’s minifigure, which is being drawn on his tablet. ]

[ID 2: On the left, between the text, minifigures of MK, Mei, Sandy, Pigsy, and Monkey King descend vertically. On the right is an ink sketch of Monkey King, who wears a crescent fillet and has a large forehead. He sits atop his cloud, below him is an early version of MK, who has a skateboard, spiky black hair, and a shirt with a star on it. Next to this image is a digital painting of Monkey King, who closely resembles his minifigure but has a full cape and golden sleeves. Under this is a picture of Monkey King’s minifigure, who stands on a LEGO cloud and wields his staff.]

Transcript:

The Characters

MK Monkie Kid, the theme's titular character, Is chosen by the Monkey King to be his successor and defend against the Demon Bull. He's a brand new character in the story.

ΜΕΙ Mei is part of the Dragon Family, a descendant of the legendary White Dragon Horse, which the monk Tang Sanzang rode down the Silk Road on his epic pilgrimage to India and Central Asia.

SANDY Once a soldier, Sandy is now a relaxed, tea drinking nature lover. He's based on the character of Sha Wujing. the most kind-hearted, loyal and logical of Tang Sanzang's three disciples.

PIGSY Head Chef of Pigsy's Noodle Shop, the character takes a great deal of pride in his kitchen. He's based on Zhu Bajie, a part-human, part-pig monster who embodies the sins of sloth, gluttony and lust in the original story.

MONKEY KING After vanishing centuries earlier on a magical cloud, Monkey King is back to train the Monkie Kid. He's based on Sun Wukong, who like Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie was forced to accompany Tang Sanzang on his quest by the goddess of mercy.

Developing Monkie Kid

It wasn't just name recognition that the Monkey King story enjoyed: it was also ripe for a LEGO adaptation. 'I knew something about the Monkey King and Journey to the West because key beats from that story have been reinterpreted in Hollywood so many times,' Simon says. 'When we were discussing retelling it, we were just listing out the big, iconic aspects.'

The biggest of all is of course the Monkey King himself. 'The Monkey King is such an amazing superhero because he can transform himself into so many different things. He can fly on a magic cloud, he's slightly cheeky, he slightly breaks the rules and he's not perfect. He's got that likable character; he's not the typical square-jawed hero that's just going to save the day.

'The team in China started saying, 'There's the Bull Demon and he has a wife that has this huge fan that creates tornadoes, and a son who can control fire, then all the other demons like the Spider Queen...' You just think wow, these demons are awesome and we can bring them to life in brand new ways.'

That early meeting set so much direction for the theme - not just for the villains, but also for the title. As with all great moments of invention, though, no one person can claim the credit. 'I wish I could remember who it was, but somebody said, 'It's the next generation of the Monkey King and he's just a boy,' and somebody said, 'The Monkie Kid.' That was the spark moment.'

Testing proved that children could identify with the Monkie Kid, or MK as he is also known, seeing the possibility that they could be the Chosen One.

Returning to Billund in September 2018, it was time to present the concept. 'We had a 'portfolio gate' as we call it at LEGO, which is where the senior team meets and we have to pitch what we have been working on, and get their approval to move forward. Everyone was like, 'Wow!' and the China team supported it 1000% - they gave us the green light to move forward and we went into the full development phase of sculpting new characters and building models.'

"HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE WE AREN'T JUST SPRINKLING A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURAL DUST ON TOP?"

#LEGO Monkie Kid #lmk mk #qi xiaotian #mei monkie kid #long xiaojiao #sandy monkie kid #sha dali #pigsy monkie kid #zhu da chu #monkey king #concept art #blocks magazine #mmb.png

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therandomtapes · 6 months

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Last week, in the middle of a pretty trash week in general we learned that Sakurai Atsushi, lead singer of legendary Japanese rock band Buck-Tick passed away on Saturday October 16th.

I'm not sure how much I've spoken about them on here.

I found them in late 1998. When I got that X/1999 fansub in Brooklyn where I first heard X-Japan, it sent me down a rabbit hole. I would find out the fandom and the country were reeling from the passing of X's guitarist hide earlier that year, in Spring, and I would find a stream of a tribute album. Hide tribute spirits.

This is where I first heard Buck-Tick. Their cover of "doubt" left me wanting more.

I would then learn that they had been around since 1983 (i was 3).

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(this is from 87)

They evolved through many eras, from new wave to goth (?) to cyberpunk to rock'n'roll to a combination of all eras. Their influence can be felt even in modern visual kei. They are probably the band that made everyone in that scene wanna have at least one jazzy swing type song on their albums. Hell, Acchan's the reason Kyo is Kyo. Sakurai's look inspired many anime character designs (and I'm pretty sure Benimaru Nikaido from King of Fighters is based on 80s Buck-Tick....yes...they ALL had that hair).

In fact, a lot of their music was in anime (especially if said anime was about vampires. It always amused me that during the era where Acchan looked like a vampire, B-T were the band you called if you needed a theme song for your vampire anime.) Nightwalker, XXXHolic, Trinity Blood, and the very best one, the one that is actually scary, SHIKI!!

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If you're not up on vis kei, you probably still have heard of him since he and Imai were in SCHWEIN with Raymond Watts from Pig and Sacha Konietzko from KMFDM.

He also had a band called The Mortal which did a pretty amazing Siouxsie cover.

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I recommend Buck-Tick and the Mortal's entire catalog, most of which is on streaming now. I should make a bloody playlist.

I will add the playlist to this post later.

R.I.P. Sakurai Atsushi

one of the greatest vocalists ever, and condolences to the band.

I cannot stress enough how awful I feel for those guys.

This band was together for THREE FUCKING DECADES. No lineup changes.

Atsushi and Imai had the kind of vocal interplay you only get if you're basically best friends.

It's a terrible loss.

. . . and, . . . . no.

I can't end the post like this.

It's too sad.

This band brought too much joy to end the post like this.

I am leaving you with the saga of the paper mache head people.

in the 80s, for the album Seventh Heaven (an album I might actually like better than Sexual XXXX, I can't decide), B-T did videos for quite a few songs (they did PVs for pretty much every song on Sexual XXXX), and 3 of them feature Atsushi having nightmares about/seeing people with large fake paper mache heads. Then in the video for In Heaven they are playing a show for them.

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They had something I think is crucial to every band now and forever: WEIRD ASS MUSIC VIDEOS.

You think it was jus the 80s?

no no no

check out UTA

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Just your average performance video? No. They dressed up like rock icons, with ridiculous wigs.

This is what I'm talking about. Joy, kids.

Atsushi and Buck-Tick brought JOY, dammit.

enjoy.

I'll post a playlist later, I guess.

Atsushi Sakurai, rest in power you legend!

#buck tick #visual kei #sakurai atsushi #atsushi sakurai #jrock #Youtube

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vs120shound · 7 months

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'Kimberly Loves Smoking!' from USA Smokers! What a starring role!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK 🚬 🚬 (SF HALL OF FAME) 🚬 NUMBER 7 IN THE SERIES!

For the Week of 100923-101523 ★ ★ ★ ★ | Four "Stars"

From vs120shound staff | ★★★★★ (2 total: L)

Tri-Media 21-Pack (Megapost)!

Kimberly from USA Smokers!

This is not quite "Exhale Madness Overload" yet it is real close to that kind of a classification. If you enjoy watching powerful, lengthy, cone-shaped cigarette-smoke exhales pouring out of the mouths and noses of BHYSW (Beautiful Hot, Young Smoking Women), well be prepared here. Fair warning just tendered. . . You will be amazed by Ms. Kimberly from USA Smokers (Arizona, U.S.A.). This is memorable; this is outrageous. Legendary! Iconic! One-of-a-kind . . . almost! This is a Hall of Fame SF video accentuating Big-Time exhales! So if you are a fan of great exhaling, this post is for you. Strap on, strap in. Brace yourself. This will bombard your sensory apparatus, no doubt!

. . . well, we know we are not pushing it when we proclaim that this installment of The Video of The Week | Hall of Fame division here will remind many of you in most ways -- perhaps in all manners -- of our VOTW | Hall of Fame division post two weeks ago, No. 5 in the series (092423-100123), of FutureSmoke's exhaling Super Star Sophia. In that Hall-of-Fame clip, she exhibited among the best all-time examples of powerful, rich and glorious exhales in an open-air setting. Kimberly here is indoors exclusively in the studio (though a window somewhere near might be cracked ajar), belonging to Clif, the masterly web-master/web producer for USA Smokers in Tucson, Arizona. Many parallels for sure. Sophia moved around, stood and crouched, turned to different angles for the camera to capture. Here, Kimberly sits, facing frame right. No other real movement; she's stationary. Those are the few and insignificant, really, differences. "Kim" lights up and goes through 19 powerful drags in the 4 minutes, 45 seconds of this clip. She drags, inhales and exhales 19 times. There is one double-drag. Here's the math, aside from the counted tokes: Her exhales averaged close to 6.2 or 6.3 seconds per hit. This was not scientifically researched and compiled, no. Kind of a "One-Mississippi, Two-Mississippi" deal but without the Mississippis! One exhale was four seconds in duration; the signature and aesthetically leading (and most pleasing) exhale -- the eighth in sequence, featuring the double-drag -- was seven seconds, in a three-way tie for second longest in duration, along with Nos. 1 and 4. The third in order along with the sixth and 10th were each eight seconds in duration. Many of the 19 exhalations featured a little swirling action by Kimberly -- not side to side but up and down! Overall, the 19 were extremely horizontal in projectary. This is a straight capture of part of the USA Smokers "Kimberly Loves Smoking" video.

This could have been a re-blog of a lurkyjurky post from October 7, 2023 which as of this writing had 68 positive responses of "likes"/re-blogs, but instead we went in this direction. Good choice we say, a bit arrogantly yet confidently.

The description of "Kimberly Loves Smoking" from www.usasmokers.com:

"Heavy smoking, pretty girl Kimberly is back in her all new smoking video, smoking seven cigarettes in six new scenes, including a chain smoking scene. She has been really stressed the last few months and has increased her smoking habit, and it shows in her new video. "She drags long and hard, audibly inhales deep and exhales long thick streams of strong smoke. Kimberly is calm and confident, while looking great, as she devours her cigarettes with a natural small snap/french inhale, and she will occasionally double-drag to get more smoke that she loves to inhale deep. "Kimberly smokes four Marlboro Red 100s and three Marlboro Reds [king size], two of which are smoked in a chain-smoking scene. Each scene is captured from two camera angles, and all are included in a separate High Definition (HD) download for a total of 12 heavy-smoking scenes with Kimberly -- definitely her heaviest smoking video so far. "Awesome, powerful smoking from this sexy and pretty cigarette-loving babe Kimberly!!!"

Kimberly had been known to us but this is her debut in our network as far as a solo appearance. She did several group scenes with USA Smokers and she might have snuck her self into our domain that way. This is a collective "My Bad!" Such resoundingly outstanding exhales never should have been absent or simply missing from our offerings to you. Our domain never should have been wayward when it comes to this outstanding SF model. She is attractive, cute certainly but not sure how pretty. Her looks never stood out within the SF website's nearly exhaustive stable full of real attractive BHYSWs with refined and ample smoking habits and styles. But she snuck past us. We admit; why try to hide this gross oversight? We should have realized all this about her before this post. Well, we are correcting that mistake now! Glad she has joined the fray with this VOTW | Hall of Fame division post!

And we thank thelibrarian120 for major assistance with the identification of Kimberly! And in case you did not come to this conclusion, Kimberly is a Marlboro Girl, most likely a Marlboro 100s Girl!

THE MEDIA . . .

A GIF of Kimberly!

Photos of Kimberly!

From www.usassmokers.com . . .

From the USA Smokers' Twitter ("X") account . . .

YouTube Video!

From YouTube's "Sensuality Soft" webpage in 2021 . . .

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And our second of two GIFs (Graphics Interchange Formats)

#SF #Hot women who love smoking cigarettes #Smoking cigarettes #Smoking #The Video of The Week (Honorable Mention)!#The Video of The Week (HoF) . . . Hall of Fame!#Kimberly from USA Smokers (Arizona - U.S.A.!#Instagram #Youtube #Sophia from FutureSmoke (U.K.)!

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spaceorphan18 · 7 months

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Glee Musical Retrospective: Vogue (The Power of Madonna)

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Sung by: Sue Sylveester Original Artist(s): Madonna

Okay... one of the most pivotal moments of the show -- right here. Look, while we'll get into the lose story connection in a minute, let's be real for a moment... The purpose for doing this is entirely for Ryan Murphy to be indulgent. This song really has no purpose except for the fact that Murphy wanted to redo an iconic music video in his own way.

And you know what? That's not a criticism. Glee is shedding its need to have the music adhere so close to the narrative and push in on doing things for the fun of it. Is that indulgence good all the time? No, not really. But this was such a fun, inspired, and brilliant performance, you can't help but smile at the ridiculousness of it.

This music video is a delight, and I'm glad that Glee just gave in to its creator's whim.

Story Analysis

The definition of the word 'vogue' is as follows...

Noun. popular acceptation or favor; a period of popularity; the leading place in popularity or acceptance Verb. to strike poses in campy imitation of fashion models especially as a kind of dance

The whole thing about 'vogue' is to be at the height of admirable popularity in the moment. Madonna was when she created the song. And Sue Sylvester wants to be in the episode. I also think there's a big fourth wall break, too, where the show was coming into the height of its popularity. It was very in vogue to be a Glee fan back in 2010 -- the show knew it was cool, and this was kind of capitalizing on that.

So, while this performance doesn't necessarily move any story beats along, it does make commentary on Sue and on the show as a whole.

I love the lengths the show goes to make this performance seem like it's something being done in the Glee world. It's Kurt's vision (with the help of Mercedes) to do a multimedia project. He has Artie direct it -- and my god, why didn't Artie put this on his resume?

(Fun fact - legendary director David Fincher did Madonna's original video, so Artie being able to recreate this is kind of amazing.)

And... it speaks to Sue's character. She wants to be the one admired, feared, loved, respected, empowered, revered, and anything else that keeps her at the center of the conversation. She wants to be the one in vogue. And I think in this meta moment, she is.

I have a few questions though --

Who thought of this song? Was it Kurt or Sue? Or even Artie? I think this song speaks to Kurt's story, too. The beginning of the song speaks to pain and heartache -- and letting it all go to enjoy the moment. I think this speaks to his personality, what inspires him, and what his aspirations are.

What were the in universe reactions to this? That's the thing about the song, though. As neat as it is to see -- there really aren't any direct story tie ins. Sue's story gets played out in other ways. And yes, this lets Kurt and Mercedes have an opportunity to join the Cheerios. But it's a shame that no one in universe even makes a comment about this video. Ah well.

The thing about this one, overall, is that while it's a big set piece of the episode, and while it does speak to both Sue and Kurt's character (and the show as a whole) - there isn't a whole lot to break down? It's funny, because I think this song is one of those things that Glee might be remembered for - but it's so kind of detached from the narrative, it makes it this interesting little side beat.

But - something to note - because this was such a hit, the show does take a turn into this direction. The show is going to push more into the spectacle of the song they've picked for better or worse, whether it's important to the narrative or not.

Technical Thoughts

Just gonna bullet point all of this...

They went out of their way to recreate the music video as much as they could -- watching the original video as they shot.

Jane does an excellent job with the song. You have to give her some bonus points, too, for making it funny on top of being an homage.

(Though if you notice - they do not make Jane do the heavy lifting dancing that Madonna does in her video. Probably for the better.)

The line 'Will Schuester - I hate you' and Kurt's reactions might be one of my favorite comedy bits from the entire show.

Speaking of Kurt -- the kid was made for this kind of classic Hollywood look. He's so good in this. (Sorry Mercedes - she's great, too, but Kurt just pulls so much focus.)

Fun fact - apparently, Naya and Heather did hand work in this, and Heather was the one in the cone bra.

They used their usual group of dancers -- and everyone in this video is just so good.

Hats off the the editors - they did a phenomenal job cutting this to be nearly identical to the original video.

I honestly don't have a ton to say about it -- it's a great performance, and you can see just how much the entire team put into making it something special.

vs. The Studio Version : There's an added two minutes to this version, though it doesn't really feel like it? The beginning is much longer, and the chorus is repeated a few more times, but that's about it.

vs. The Original Version : Well... now is your chance to compare and contrast! How did they do? Really well actually. ;) (Also - if you put it into youtube, there is someone out there who did a side by side comparison.)

#the great glee rewatch #so's musical retrospective #glee #glee music #i feel like i should have more to say about this one #but i kind of don't?#it is a turning point in glee music #but also not narratively #Youtube

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fyeah-anya-corazon · 4 months

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New York, NY— December 21, 2023 — The next era of Spider-Man storytelling takes off this March in WEB OF SPIDER-MAN! This first of its kind, giant-sized one-shot invites hardcore Spidey fans and new readers into the world of Spider-Man comics with special stories that lay out all that’s to come for Marvel’s web-swinging icons! Current and future Spidey scribes and artists team up to kickstart their most impactful storylines, spotlight the villains and Spider-heroes who everyone will be talking about, and introduce the threads that will shake up the Spider-Verse in 2024!

Packed to the brim with exciting entry points into the current runs of Amazing Spider-Man, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and Spectacular Spider-Men, here’s what fans can look forward to:

Zeb Wells spins two tales of future amazingness, one for each of his colossal collaborators! Zeb and Ed McGuinness tell a tale of two Goblins… Meanwhile, Zeb and John Romita Jr. show the effects of GANG WAR and set up their next titanic tale!

Greg Weisman lays the groundwork for the second arc of SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MEN!

Steve Foxe and Greg Land catch up with Chasm and Kaine! Both clones who bore the moniker of The Scarlet-Spider will be back with a vengeance next year but will they be allies or enemies?! And you will not guess who is lurking in the shadows. Truly. You will not guess.

The new EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE volume sets up the SPIDER-SOCIETY! Get your first taste of that series here from series writer Alex Segura and the legendary Salvador Larocca!

And more!

So there's going to be a new ongoing series called Spider-Society and will be written by Alex Segura, so that almost guarantees that Anya will be one of the main leads!

#Anya Corazon #Edge of Spider-Verse #Spider-Girl #SpiderGirl #Araña #Arana #Web of Spider-Man

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mermaidsirennikita · 4 months

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Have you sean any Shonda shows aside from Bridgerton? I'm tempted to watch but I'm told they get bad after a few seasons

I have seen... most Shonda shows aside from Bridgerton, I'm afraid lol.

Grey's Anatomy--Obviously has been on for a million years, I have been watching with some off and on periods (currently off but I check in) since... season 2. Grey's Anatomy is a BEAST. It's obviously her biggest show (Bridgerton stans I'm sorry baby but y'all can and probably never will stand up to the cultural BEHEMOTH that is Grey's, which has been on for ALMOST. TWENTY. YEARS. Ugh choke me.) In a lot of ways, Grey's is a standard medical soap, much like E.R. In other ways, it is both better and worse. I will not lie--the DRAMA of the early seasons is amazing. Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy is kinda legendary. Season 1 ending on "and you must be the woman who's screwing my husband?"

Like, whatever you feel about Meredith and McDreamy (they are... something............) the Meredith/Derek/Addison love triangle is something I don't think a lot of shows would attempt today because everything is boring and Cheating Is Evil, which means all of the people in that triangle are Evil and Bad and We Can't Like EvilBad People. Addison is one of my favorite characters on TV, which is why I also watched the entirety of the spinoff, Private Practice, which isn't anything to write home about and they kinda botched Addie at points, but she gets her HEA and I'm good with that part. It has some really emotional moments.

Also, the Denny Duquette arc in season 2 is kind of the sort of TV that everyone should at least watch for like, the history of it all. Cristina Yang is one of the greatest TV characters of all time, imo. (Cristina and Burke... whatever Isaiah Washington is irl, Cristina and Burke were a VERY compelling ship to me back in the day lol. She was his mentee??? He was her boss???? They were both kinda cool operators except they fell in love? It was toxic but it was good.

Scandal is... again, iconic TV, but damn did it fall off. I mean lol, the first two seasons were incredibly compelling TV. I'd watch them again. High drama. I hate Olitz as a couple, but I mean. There was some weird stuff happening in that show, and I did kinda eat it up. B6-13 was weird, but it did bring me Papa Pope, and I loved that nutjob. THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM. EVIL DAD.

Still Star-Crossed is bad, don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you otherwise, it should've been cancelled when it was lol.

I hate Inventing Anna. I'm glad that the Julia Garner hype seems to be dying a bit, I do not see it for her as this Great Talent at all lol.

How to Get Away with Murder.... Not something she wrote, but it has Shonda all over it. Viola Davis gives the type of performance that like, took the innovation of Olivia Pope to another level. Both were obviously something we really didn't see a lot of on mainstream primetime TV before this, and I think Shondaland does deserve props for making it prominent--the true Black antiheroine, and honestly in both Olivia and Annalise's cases, borderline villainous heroines. Also, it gave me Wes, who I love so much, and Alfie Enoch was so good in this role, and Wes and Annalise's relationship was so like... pseud-maternal/filial, but I also felt like they could kiss at any moment? The kind of dynamic usually reserved for white characters with an older man/younger woman. Season 3 really uhhhh screwed me lol, but the first two seasons, especially the season 1 arc? OOOH COMPELLING.

#this was interesting and therapeutic thank you #it's honestly wild for me to remember that not everyone started watching shonda shows at like 11 and had resulting brainrot #but fwiw i have a 17 year old sibling who regularly rewatches like the first eight seasons or so of grey's lmao #their rule is that they stop watching after the plane crash #which like... tbh is not a bad rule of thumb #i feel like the plane crash was the last Great Grey's Anatomy Disaster #nothing really hit as hard after that #plus before the plane crash p much everyone we cared about passed their boards so lol

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wanderlustniezel · 4 months

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Momo is one of the idols to get inspiration from when it comes to style! Especially with her versatile choice at clothing and aesthetic

To begin with, momo has excellent fashion sense going for both elegant and simple looks. She likes wearing cotton tops in black or white, or faded lightened or darkened colors that take various forms and colors, and when she has tightly fitting tops, she styles them with cool jacket in different design with. The design stands out due to its colo, focal point of her outfit. And for the bottoms, she likes jeans or wide pants that make it comfortable and easy to move— we don’t forget what an amazing dancer she is, right? but there are so many things to mention, from girly dresses to hair accessories so we won’t take anymore time for introduction, lets dive in!

T-SHIRTS

To start with the most loved and comfortable piece of clothing and not only by idols, we present you oversizes t shirt! Momo likes them and prefers basic white tees or mostly pastel and faded ones

CROPTOPS

Momo is famous for her soft and feminine features, and a delicate simple croptop in creme color is just right for any bottom you choose and any occasion you go to.

HOODIES

No idol lives without hoodies in their closets, and momo is no exception! She is a hard worker but also a big goof ball and she doesn’t need to always be this perfect girly girl bold diva, or any kind of fancy lady on a daily basis. She love’s baggy clothes and comfort of a hoodie just like any of us, and owns a number of them, mostly in light, especially with color. Even in this legendary pic of her jokingly hanging like a part of her own wardrobe, she wears a simple white hoodie

JACKETS

Another top piece you can wear with almost anything underneath, momo gives us city girl aesthetic and always goes for classic checkered jackets

DRESSES

With her iconic short dark hair and bangs, she wore a white dress that looks just like an oversized button down shirt. It reminds us of her look in TWICE’s “what is love?” Scene where she wore an oversized shirt like this while recreating the scene from pulp fiction even with the same short hair; but of course, this time is a dress, and the one to definetely add to your shopping list!

And if you’re afraid of its shortness, add some white shorts underneath and you’re all set for a day at the beach or any other adventure, even if it’s just meeting friends or going on a date

#twice momo #fashion

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watching-pictures-move · 4 months

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Movie Review | Five Deadly Venoms (Chang, 1978)

This is considered one of the most iconic Shaw Brothers movies I saw, and was certainly one of the first I ever saw, and upon revisiting this, I find it a little odd that it’s as beloved as it is. I am not knocking the movie’s quality, but instead noting the oddness of its narrative. I think when I first saw it, I didn’t really have a frame of reference for these things, so I kind of assumed this was pretty standard in such respects. The fact that it takes a mystery structure and withholds genre thrills didn’t stick out to me as unusual as it does now.

And when I first saw it, I assumed all classic Kung Fu movies were as dramatically rigid as this one, characters spouting exposition and declaring their current or changing allegiances either stoically or mischievously, depending on his sympathetic we’re supposed to find them. But having seen some of Chang Cheh’s earlier movies, which are more heartfelt and have blood running through their veins, this quality in his later films comes into focus as a more deliberate choice. These are less like stories you’re supposed to be swept up in and more like medieval tapestries that take on new meaning when viewed from different angles, not unlike the way the narrative shifts with different reveals.

The emphasis is on medieval. After a low key start, at around the midpoint we’re hit with a bunch of medieval instruments of torture and death as characters are tried in a kangaroo court. A coat of nails that resembles an iron maiden. Throat hooks and “brain pins” for discreet killing. If you were getting antsy early on about a lack of blood and guts, this stuff makes up for it.

And obviously we get the amazing fights with the titular Venoms, each of whom have distinct fighting styles (and cool masks to boot, although they sadly don’t wear them all that much). But the movie doesn’t overwhelm us with them, but instead metes out their abilities at key moments. As a result, the legendary final scene, which pulls out some last minute plot twists and throws in some off kilter editing to complement some of the styles, pops all the more.

I do not think this is the best Venom Mob film. Crippled Avengers and Five Elements Ninjas offer more bang for your buck, and the former might be my pick for the best choreographed martial arts movie I’ve ever seen. But as a transitional work towards the purer Kung Fu storytelling of those movies, I find it even more fascinating with my latest viewing.

#film #movie review #the five venoms #the five deadly venoms #five deadly venoms #Chang Cheh

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juneknight · 5 months

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I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN YOU ARE A LEGEND AND AN ICON AND EVERYTHING YOU WRITE IS LEGENDARY AND ICONIC.

Okay so not wanting Marc to be alone on a holiday? YES. Wanting to bring him nice food? YES. Knowing him well enough to know about what he would be doing with his negative emotions? YES (also I related so much to him wandering like I experience one single negative emotion and immediately I'm like "walk it off chamo, walk it off"). One of my favourite parts of the dorm room Marc series is the connection you've established btwn the two of them, like I 100% buy that they have this knowledge of each other, this emotional intimacy that makes the physical intimacy even better.

Listened I shrieked with joy when I saw that you'd posted this and then I had to shriek yet again upon reading "You end up as lunch" maybe I am slightly unwell with how much I enjoyed everything you wrote after that BUT "“This is me giving thanks,” Marc says, laughing breathily at his own joke, each word punctuated by a thrust that you feel all the way in your guts." IS WHAT REALLY SENT ME INTO THE STRATOSPHERE OH MY GOOOOD. He's a dork but a hot one, which is the best kind of dork, and I love him.

More gold here and I am just—weak. Thank you for leaving amazing thoughts in my inbox, I love to see which parts people screech and or agonize over. I hope the kindness you paid to me with this was repaid to you twice over IRL. 🤍

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startistdoodles · 2 years

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What is your opinion on all of the pokemon gens? Is there gens you like over others? Or do you love them all equally?

I love all of the gens for different reasons, but there are certainly some I love more than others. Fair warning, I'm gonna be a bit critical with some of these, and if you disagree that's totally fine!! These are just my opinions ^^

Anyways, I'll put them all under the cut since this is about to get VERY long and rambly ^^; Sorry about that, I have a lot of thoughts and there are many regions, haha.

I will also include TL;DR's for every region for those who just want to know briefly what my opinion is on a specific generation.

GEN 1: KANTO - (RBY/FRLG/LGPE)

I'm going to start this one off by saying that the Kanto games are great for series starters. It was a wonderful introduction into the world of Pokémon and has a simple yet enjoyable story. It also contains some of the most popular and recognizable characters and the first season of the anime is my favorite. There's a reason it went on to become a franchise that is one of the most popular in the world.

But, and this is probably gonna be controversial, I think the Kanto games are kinda....boring. It really does have that 'first game' feeling to me. There's kind of a story with Team Rocket and I really like the twist of Giovanni being a Gym Leader and your rival being Champion, but other than that it's kinda...meh! Quite a few of the Pokémon in the Kanto dex feel like filler and aren't really as memorable as later gens.

I've played through Let's Go: Eevee and had a pretty fun time! But I don't really see myself playing through Kanto as often. It's just kinda meh. I think they only got better from here.

TL;DR: The weakest of the gens, but makes for a great first installment to the franchise and I respect it for that.

GEN 2: JOHTO - (GSC/HGSS)

Johto was definitely an improvement from Kanto, and I like it a LOT more. There still isn't a very strong story but I do think they build upon the foundation that Kanto created very well. Allowing the player to travel between Kanto and Johto in the postgame is amazing and it makes for the biggest world with the most locations in any mainline Pokémon title I believe

I love the music, the mythology with the two new Legendary Pokémon they added, and in HGSS having your Pokemon follow behind you is a feature I never tire of. This following feature was implemented so much better than in future titles, in my humble opinion. Johto may still lack a bit in the story and memorable Pokémon department (at least imo), but I think that they compensated HEAVILY with the new mechanics and features that are still used to this day. Stuff like breeding and shiny Pokémon are all thanks to gen 2.

TL;DR: Beautiful region (especially in HGSS), lovely soundtrack. Still not as much story, but it's a big improvement from gen 1 and it compensates by having so much more content in it.

GEN 3: HOENN - (RSE/ORAS)

Hoenn took a big risk by separating itself from Kanto, and I'm really glad it did. The Hoenn games are tied with Sinnoh for my second favorite gens in the series, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I believe Hoenn is the first game where the badge quest almost comes second to the overarching plot of saving the world from the criminal organizations. In Kanto/Johto, it was mostly just scaring off bad guys who were up to some evil shenanigans but didn't really have much of an 'ultimate plan' that would threaten the region. In Hoenn though, things get much more interesting as you battle against Team Aqua or Magma (or both) in order to stop them from summoning an ancient legendary Pokémon that would flood/dry up the world.

The stakes are very high, and I really like that. It gives us more to work towards other than being the very best trainer. Not to mention the Pokémon designs are super good and unique and are some of my favorites. Hoenn is the Pokémon game that I have replayed the most, it's just a lot of fun.

The music in Hoenn is ICONIC, Groudon/Kyogre/Rayquaza Battle lives in my head rent-free, as does Aqua/Magma Boss, Elite Four Battle, Abandoned Ship and so many more.

TL;DR: Great story, great Pokémon designs, great music, Gen 3 is popular for a very good reason. Tied with Sinnoh for my 2nd fave gen.

GEN 4: SINNOH - (DPPT/BDSP)

I'm going to mainly focus on the original Sinnoh titles and their remakes, but I'll do a very quick little opinion on Legends: Arceus:

L:A: It's very very good!! It does lean pretty heavy into Sinnoh myth but I think it explains it enough for new players to grasp. Graphics and the human dialogue animations could be better, probably the weakest aspect of it. But other than that, wonderful game!! I've already replayed it once and it's truly a lot of fun.

NOW onto the main Sinnoh titles: As I stated before, it's tied with Hoenn for my second favorite gen in the series. I'm sure you can tell by now that I really like the games with an interesting story and that's why I enjoy Sinnoh as well.

Gen 4 is when they introduced the mythology of the Pokémon world, how it came to be and the deity Pokémon that rule over it. It's very neat and I love all of the hidden books and details that may be overlooked that add even further to the lore. It's not really shoved in your face too much about what these Pokémon are all about. All you know is that Cyrus is fascinated by them and he seems to have something to do with them. The rest of the lore is pretty much up to the player to dig around and find bits of old texts. Cyrus' laptop has research notes in it about them, Canalave Library's top floor houses several ancient books. It's not entirely spoon-fed to you, and I like that about it.

I do think Platinum is the much more improved and 'definitive' version of Sinnoh, as the characters seem a bit more fleshed out (Cyrus in particular) as well as some more quality-of-life things like the expanded Pokédex and not having to backtrack all the way to Hearthome for the badge, you just get it on your first visit.

The Pokémon designs here are also very iconic to me, however....it may have a bit too many legendaries. I know Sinnoh is all about mythology and legends but...Pokémon like Manaphy, Phione, Shaymin and Heatran feel shoehorned in. I like them, don't get me wrong (I have no strong feelings about Heatran though). But I can admit they're a little unnecessary :')

The music is also VERY good and atmospheric here, with a lot of the town and route themes being my favorites. Route 209, Route 216, Canalave City and Game Corner are just a few of my faves :)

Anyways, I have a soft spot for gen 4, it was my first Pokémon game and the one I have put the most hours into. I have never reset my original Pearl copy because it's just meaningful to me that way. Lots of memories in that game.

TL;DR: Sinnoh is a really interesting region with lots to discover. I love the music, the Pokémon and the mythology this gen introduced. Platinum is much better than DP/BDSP though and I believe it to be the definitive version of Sinnoh.

GEN 5: UNOVA (BW/BW2)

And now we reach gen 5, my absolute favorite in the series. And I don't think it's hard for me to explain why as it combines all of the elements that I love about Pokémon games into one game.

The story. It's just so thought-provoking for a Pokémon game. I love most of the stories, but this is the only one that makes me think. The titles are Black and White, but the plot certainly isn't when compared to the previous titles. In Hoenn, for instance, there is a clear and definitive bad guy who wants to control a legendary to do something that is a negative for everyone. But in Unova we are challenged by N, who seems to have noble intentions despite being an antagonist. He says what most people who hate the Pokémon series have been saying for years: that people only hurt Pokémon and they should live apart from one another.

It's very philosophical with its message which may seem complicated for most people, but for me, it really made me appreciate and feel more involved in the story. Not everything is so black and white, and this game shows us this.

I could go on for ages about the story and characters and their arcs, but maybe if you wanna hear me ramble more I will talk about it in another post. For now, I'd like to talk about the Pokémon designs and the music. The music?? Is amazing. I'm always playing the BW/BW2 soundtrack while I'm working. Some of my favorites include Village Bridge, Gear Station, Opelucid City (White), Driftveil City, Unwavering Emotions and Elite Four Battle.

As for the Pokémon designs, they are so unique and memorable to me that they've become some of my faves. Yes, even the ice cream cone that is stronger than you realize and carried me through the Elite Four. BW Forces you to rely on new Pokémon and form new bonds rather than rely on your trusty Gyarados or Machamp. It isn't a huge problem for me since I tend to exclusively use Pokémon native to the region I'm playing but change is a gooddd thing.

TL;DR: Pokémon BW/BW2 are absolute masterpieces and my favorites in the series. The love and care that went into them is obvious and i am desperate for more unova content nintendo please im starvi

GEN 6: KALOS (XY)

This is going to be a bit of a turn, but while I like Kalos as a region and have put many hours into Pokémon Y, the story is...well...it's certainly not my favorite, lets put it that way.

I'll go ahead and start with the positives because even though Kalos isn't in my top 3, it does have very good things in it. Such as Mega Evolution, the switch to 3D was done very very well, and the music is also lovely and very unique.

Mega Evolution is probably the most popular and memorable thing about Kalos and for good reason. It gives us a chance to use some Pokémon that may have been overlooked before and gain an insane power boost now. Not all of them are created equally, however (looking at you Mega Kangaskhan and every Mega Pseudo-Legend that was already powerful to begin with and didn't need stronger forms).

The switch from 2D to 3D was done very well, and I remember importing so many Pokémon from my old games JUST to see what they looked like in 3D. It was so neat at the time, and seeing old Pokémon in this new style was such a cool experience!

The music is also very nice!! Some personal faves include Lumiose City, Trainer Battle, Laverre City and Xerneas/Yveltal battle.

As for the story...it's got a lot of. Weak points. First of all, Team Flare's plan doesn't really make a lot of sense to me and whenever I'm asked about Lysandre by my friends I just never remember what his deal is or why he hates the world so much and wants to destroy it. It's very vague and there's not really any hidden lore like with Cyrus about his past. All we really know is that he and Sycamore used to be friends. And then Lysandre turned to the dark side. Maybe there's more but I just don't really care that much about Lysandre...at all...to look into it. He's just kinda boring to me. 🙃

Not to mention that Megas are SEVERELY underutilized in XY. There's maybe like? 3? Fights? Where your opponent uses a Mega? And the final gym leader doesn't even use Pokémon with a full moveset? Even though by that time you're like level 40?

Honestly XY deserves a rambly post of its own but all in all despite its flaws I think it's an enjoyable game. Not my fave and not one I really return to often, but it is fun for what it offers.

TL;DR: More enjoyable to me than Kanto, but still has a lot of flaws. Definitely deserved a 3rd version. But the music, 3D graphics and Mega Evolutions are all well done.

GEN 7: ALOLA (SM/USUM)

I haven't replayed Alola in a hot minute so forgive me if I misremember parts or aren't as thorough. But concisely: I like Alola a lot! I really like the deviation they did from Gym battles and turned them into trials that you face. It's almost like the Noble Pokémon trials from Legends: Arceus, except there's more of them.

I like how theres different islands, the Kahunas all have really nice designs and the regional villain not being an 'Evil Team' was a really cool decision that deviated a lot from the other games! I ADORE Team Skull, they're all stupid and they're family to me.

I was very conflicted about Ultra Beasts for quite a while but I have recently come to like them. I think very weird alien Pokémon that come from another universe is such a neat concept and I actually hope they return in future games. I want to know more about Ultra Space and the wormholes!

The music is also very good, but there's not a whole lot of standouts for me. However the Abandoned Thrifty Megamart haunts my dreams forever.

I love the characters, the new Pokémon and Alola as a whole!! The biggest glaring downside though is that it's way too hand-holdy and there's wayyyyy too many cutscenes. It seems like every three steps triggers a cutscene or someone telling you what to do. It gets better later on in the game but the early game is pretty slow because of this. Also, I hardly ever use Z-moves. Not super interesting to me, but it's nice that any Pokémon can use them as opposed to the select few that can Mega Evolve.

TL;DR: Alola is a very good and enjoyable game with great characters and some of my fave Pokémon. Its main flaws are just that it's very hand-holdy and somewhat easy for experienced players.

GEN 8: GALAR (SWSH)

And finally we arrive in the Galar region. Sword and Shield get a lot of hate, and while I do think it has areas where it's lacking and it's not my favorite in the series, I don't think it deserves all of the hate that it gets. There is, however, room to criticize and that is what I will do. (Also: I haven't played the DLCs nor do I know enough about them to properly criticize, so I will just be talking about the base game)

But first! The good parts. The 3D models in the 3DS games suffered from lack of saturation disease, so I'm glad that SWSH fixes this. The Pokemon and the overworld is so vibrant (the wild area isn't as much, but the cities and routes are so overlooked imo, they're stunning). I love how Pokémon are walking around in the overworld like in LGPE, while others hide in the grass and can only be found if you search for them there. I also love how the Pokémon can be aggressive and chase you, it's great fun xD The camp, Pokémon jobs and the water bike are also great additions.

This is where I get a bit more critical. First, I find Dynamax a bit more interesting than Z-Moves, but it's still kinda eh. Not a lot of thoughts about it other than I think Gigantamax forms are a lot cooler than normal Dynamax even though the whole mechanic is pretty broken in competitive I hear. Ah well. It's a fine mechanic, I don't mind it existing.

And now the story. It's very reminiscent of XY where the potential is there but it just seems very unfinished. Chairman Rose's goal at least makes more sense than Lysandre's but that doesn't really make it compelling. I found it odd how Rose just summons Eternatus out of nowhere, this Pokémon that was never mentioned or hinted at beforehand and then he goes on to announce to the whole region that he made an oopsie and he's making that everyone else's problem. It's just very weird and feels a bit out of character for Rose. I know he's a paranoid man and has concerns for the region's future and all but this drastic measure just kinda came out of left field for me.

I will say though that before this moment, I found Rose to be a very funny and interesting character. I mean I kinda knew he would be the main villain but I found his paparazzi disguise and moments of braincell singularity charming. I think he would have made for a good antagonist but maybe not the best main villain.

Also I really really wish there were more fully animated cutscenes. That kinda goes for every 3 Pokémon game nowadays but just...seeing Zamazenta do a walk cycle while turning on the Y axis was just. So underwhelming.

TL;DR: SWSH may be flawed, but I did have fun playing it and there's a lot I love about it. I just wish the story was better executed and had some more interesting animations.

#ask #not art #pokemon #blazingemeraldau #sorry this is so long but im such a rambler aghsgjhds #anyways i always feel flattered when someone asks my opinions on things like this and just let me ramble for years so thank you <3 #hope this is in any way comprehensible xD #kanto #johto #hoenn #sinnoh #unova #kalos #alola #galar

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