#iori route

[noyob]

Junpei's dialogue if you take him off the nyx party

[starclast]

💚💗💖

[digisurvive]

Keep thinking how immature Aoi gets in Wrathful, I'm so delighted lol Think about it this way: one of the important lessons Iori Hida 02 has to learn in order to grow up is to be able to contextualize his actions within the possibilities the circumstances offer so he can choose what causes less harm or is more fair beyond strict adherence to clear cut rules. His extremely black and white morality signals how childish he is (and this is fine because he's 9, I find very endearing how righteous he wants to be). Yet, in Wrathful, Aoi basically regresses to that kind of inflexible mentality. Every body must obey strictly (which she reads as well behaved), everyone must know their place and not act out of it, there must be no fighting nor conflict. She holds no nuance nor compassion for anyone that doesn't follow her rules to a tee.

Aoi even struggles with paralysis caused by her moralitiy crisis, too. While Iori's about lying and thust tailored to the fact he's 9, at the core of it is struggling to reconcile how acting in a way that is fair clashes with his view of what is correct behavior, which trips Aoi up, too. She gets a similar blockage where she feels incredibly torn if what she wants to do goes against social order. Thinking about how she also felt Shuuji was being unfair, so she likely wanted to do something more than just keeping her juniors in line... And in the end, couldn't even commit to preserving harmony that way because of her self-doubt about her own capacities as leader and troubled convictions. It feels very pointed that in part 6, Aoi is promising to actually get involved in mediating the group fights, coming at the tails of what happened with Shuuji.

Anyway, I love how we get that peek to her internal struggles in Wrathful. Like she correctly identifies as part of the issue that she can't step out of what she considers correct (and makes a lot of sense how much she likes the flippant Saki lol), yet Wrathful has her doubling down. I love the irony.

I also really enjoy how different her spin on a scrupolous work ethic is to Iori's because their different social positions (Iori being the youngest vs Aoi always being responsible for others), their age and gender. Endlessly fascinating to me.

[variouscolors-old]

I kinda hope people to stop thinking that better treatment = more screentime.

It's not. I've watched a thing with a ton of screentime for some favorites and they all got bad treatment in it.

Sometimes the role of a character in a story is short, minimal. And they don't need more than that if they're well treated.

[shuttershocky]

what do you make of samurai remnant so far? As it's a weeb game, I don't expect any of the normal review sites I trust to cover it

I /hate/ Musou combat and I'm sick of Servants, so me avidly talking about this game means it's way better than even my biases can overlook.

Here's the thing: the vast majority of Type-Moon games fucking suck, because they make visual novels, not video games. "The story's good enough to make you play through this abomination" is the battlecry of Fate/Extra fans. If it wasn't for Melty Blood they might not even have any games where people play for the actual game.

This is not the case with Fate/Samurai Remnant. It's not here to blow your mind out of the water, but it's clearly a title made by people who are both great fans of the source material and are very experienced with producing games on a budget. Solid execution all-around from combat design to character art to environments.

The most notable thing about FSR though is that this game cares a lot about how things are supposed to feel. I've talked enough about how great it is to have Servants feel like real powerhouses again, but this level of care exists within the rest of the game.

"How would it feel to be partners with a superpowered being?" is the defining question informing the majority of the game design. If there's a high place you can't climb without a ladder, Saber simply throws you up there with their superhuman strength. If you're squeezing through a tight alleyway, Saber simply reappears via magic on the other side, sometimes getting ahead of you and waving mockingly while Iori can only grumble and slowly pull his fleshy human body along a tight crevice. There is actual destruction in the aftermath of the first Servant battle that you can see for yourself, which informs Iori's motivation of putting an end to this death game. Iori's neighbors express relief that he's safe because they saw his house explode, or tell him about the whereabouts of his sister Kaya, making the town feel just a little bit more like a setting Iori actually lives in.

As Iori's relationship with Saber grows, the game also tacks on more and more mechanics involving their cooperation. At the very start, Saber cannot be controlled whatsoever and is entirely dependent on the AI. As you progress though, you unlock the ability to give Saber commands and even play as them for a short time. But that's not all, Saber's AI will also start to cooperate with you, following up on enemies that Iori knocks away with a finishing move, or calling for special partner moves called Link Strikes. When you're in trouble, there's even a chance Saber will come rescue you, activating a quick time event where they lock blades with the enemy, attempting to push them back.

This is what the whole game is like. Samurai Remnant doesn't have the resources of an AAA game with an army of developers to create features like ultra HD 4k textures for all environments or realistically shrinking testicles, but you can feel most ideas started with a question of "What would it be like to have Saber here and how do we depict that in some way?" Saber would be fascinated at modern (17th century) Japan, so they often run from place to place pointing out new things to gawk at and demanding explanations from Iori. They didn't have food stalls, paper, or money in their life, so Iori has side missions to buy from every food stall to satiate Saber's hunger, which murders your wallet in-game as you are a poor ronin living hand to mouth every day and need odd jobs to make money.

It feels good to play, and not even as a Type-Moon fan where a lot of these things are something I've been asking for. I mean it's good to see another mid budget game that's neatly focused on simple, solid execution. Most review sites are giving it around a 7.5-8/10, and I'm telling you this isn't a 7.5 from a Type-Moon fan pleading with you that playing Fate/Extella's Altera route makes it actually worth it, this is a 7.5 from people seeing a decently hefty, well-made title.

[hurpdurpburps]

Otherside Picnic Manga Yuri Club Special Story 3 English Translation

SPOILER WARNING: Takes place immediately after the events of File 1 - Kunekune Hunting in Vol 1 of the novels.

Written by: Miyazawa Iori

Translated by: @hurpdurpburps

-

Chapter 3: Ochanomizu, The First Afterparty

"Hey… Earth to Toriko, you okay?"

I waved my hand in Toriko’s face, who was staring into space with her chin propped on her hand.

"Mnnnnnnmm… I'm okaaaaaaay…" Toriko answered fuzzily.

Her eyes were only halfway open, or perhaps just a quarter-way.

"You look like you’re gonna fall asleep though."

"No I’m nooot…"

Liar. It was obvious she'd already reached her breaking point.

As I watched her while taking small sips of beer from my glass, Toriko's eyes finally closed completely. With a droop of her head, she completely stopped moving.

Alright, that's all, folks. Toriko-san has closed up for the day. Great work today. [1]

… What the hell am I supposed to do?

On the table were three empty Tsingtao beer bottles. They were small in size, which should’ve been a reasonable amount for two drinkers, so I was surprised to see Toriko wiped out so early into the night. I’d assumed that she could hold her liquor well, judging from the way she went wild with our drink orders as soon as we were seated.

She’d applied the same heavy hand to our food orders as well. I'd thought that she could finish all of it but that wasn’t the case either. Our plates of cashew chicken (delicious), cumin lamb (spicy & delicious) and water spinach (perfect with beer) sat on the table, mostly untouched.

I don’t think this lass can eat any more…

Toriko was dozing off soundly, so the prospect of depending on her for help seemed unlikely in the near future.

I guess I don’t have a choice.

Resigned to my fate, I picked up my chopsticks and began eating the leftovers.

I wasn’t a glutton, I just simply didn’t like the idea of not clearing my plate. But I suppose it was also because I’d picked up the habit of eating whenever I was able to.

Just an hour ago, Toriko and I had entered the “Other World” [2] via an old building in Jinbocho, encountered the kunekune, fended it off somehow, then fled in a mindboggling state of excitement and fear. In order to return to the real world, we had to take the exhausting route of climbing ten floors on a ladder attached to the exterior of the skeletal building. We’d both been laughing and screaming the entire time, which in hindsight, painted a rather unhinged picture of us.

Isn’t that way too scary from an objective point of view? I think something was probably wrong with us.

After our return, Toriko had kicked up a fuss about holding an afterparty for whatever reason, so we made our way to the station and entered the first Chinese restaurant we saw.

We made a toast and… ended up in this situation before we knew it.

Toriko's chin fell from her hands, and she collapsed onto the table, burying her face in her arms. Sending pieces of shredded lamb into my mouth from the plate that I had moved away so that her beautiful golden locks wouldn't get dirty, I stared intently at the crown of her head, which was facing me.

There’s no sign of black around her roots. Seems like it's not a dye job, but her natural hair colour. Huh…

I continued eating while staring at the head of a woman I didn't know well.

As if on cue, Toriko began to stir just as I was about to finish eating.

"Are you awake?"

"Hmmm…"

"You're sleepy after all."

"I'm not sleepyyyyy…" Toriko replied, her tone foggy and with her eyes still closed.

It seemed like it would take her a while to reboot.

"I thought about leaving you behind."

"Why would you say that…"

"You were the one who said you wanted to have dinner, then you went ahead and fell asleep anyway."

"You can’t do that… Don't leave me behind…" Toriko mumbled apologetically. "It's weird… I'm usually a lot stronger than this…"

"You're kidding."

"I’m serious, usually my face doesn’t even flush when I get like this."

"It's probably the exhaustion. I heard that alcohol tolerance can vary quite a bit depending on your condition."

"Hmm…" Toriko said, rubbing her eyes with both hands. "I guess it's because I met you, Sorawo."

"… Me?"

"Hmm… I guess you make me feel at ease."

"Huh?"

I had no idea what she was talking about. It was a good thing Toriko felt at ease, but I didn't think that had anything to do with me.

Wishing for Toriko to wake up soon, I scarfed down the last of the chicken and cashew.

TL Notes

General note: I adopted a more 'literary' prose style to match the tone of the novels. Hence, the translation in this series will be significantly more liberal than my usual analytical posts. Feel free to ask me anything.

[1] This line in Japanese is "はい終了。鳥子さん閉店ー。おつかれさまでしたー。", which conveys a humourous tone by using a business/shop metaphor for Toriko.

[2] A fun fact about the OP series name is that 裏世界 (urasekai - lit. "Other World") does not translate to "Otherside" exactly. 裏世界 is the term first used by Satsuki, Kozakura and Toriko, and was only adopted later by Sorawo.

The name for the UBL that Sorawo came up with on her own was 裏側 (uragawa - lit. "Other Side"). In fact, Sorawo continued using 裏側 until her first meeting (and briefing about the UBL) with Kozakura in Chapter 3 of File 2 - Hasshaku-sama Survival.

This bonus story takes place before that, which is why Sorawo is still using 裏側 here. I essentially flipped the translations of 裏世界 and 裏側 so that it makes a little more sense contextually.

PS. While I use the term "real world" for the reality in which our characters are from, the Japanese word used in the novels is in fact 表世界 (omotesekai - lit. "surface world"). This is because 表 ("surface" or side facing up) and 裏 ("back" or other-facing side) are antonyms.

The English localisation of the novels follows this terminology ("surface world") but the wordplay gets lost in translation due to the lack of context.

List of Yuri Club's Otherside Picnic Short Stories [my translations]:

1. Shinjuku, The First Meet-Up (新宿、初めての待ち合わせ)

2. Hasshaku-sama Epilogue (八尺様エピローグ)

3. Ochanomizu, The First Afterparty (お茶の水、初めての打ち上げ)

4. Ikebukuro, Cafe Meal For One (池袋、ひとりカフェ飯)

5. Naha, After The Big Job (那覇、大仕事の後)

6. Ishigaki Island, A Dazed Vacation (石垣島、呆然のリゾート)

7. Mercedes AMG, The Backseat (メルセデスAMG、後部座席)

8. Otherworldly Elevator, On The Way Back (異世界エレベーター、帰路)

9. Kozakura Mansion, Pizza Party (小桜屋敷、ピザパーティー)

10. TBD

11. TBD

[kaibutsushidousha]

Fitting given the recent FGO news, but what are your thoughts on Takeru?

Bundling all these asks together because they're inseparable. Probably the biggest askbox cleanup I ever did in one go.

The short version of the answer is "Fate/Samurai Remnant is the story of a pair completely enamored with each other's least favorite parts of themselves."

Saber was a complete natural. A child too strong. His father quickly noticed that and exploited Ousu as Yamato's mightiest colonizer. All they knew in life was violent conquest until Tachibana taught them love and kindness. But Tachibana was uncritical. She didn't talk Takeru out of their bloody path. On the contrary, she chose death so that the walk would continue. She loved Takeru's good and bad alike.

Through Iori, Saber met a new world. A world where the weak had the option not to fight. A world where rice was easily accessible. A world that had no need for Yamato Takeru's journey, thus no need for Ototachibanahime's death. And there he met an intriguing man who still wanted to fight in a world where this wasn't needed.

In their interactions, Saber grows to envy Iori's rational acclimation to the peaceful Edo. The ability to find solutions that don't require violence. To strategize conversations. To not do things aren't virtuous. To sympathize and empathize. To read and understand the thoughts of others. It's by emulating this that Saber changes.

Meanwhile, Iori is a thinker. His exceptional rationality allowed him to weasel his way out of a village massacre, which lasted until Munenori inadvertently saved his life. After this whole time desperately using his brain to survive, Iori witnessed the easy way out. With a slash that looked like the moon, the sword saint survived without resorting to Iori's tiresome trickery. That absolute strength was the symbol of survival Iori saught.

He learned from Musashi (and Kojirou) for as long as he could, but ultimately couldn't learn all. Without completing Niten's lessons, Iori was left capable only of doing what he does best: thinking, reading, and adapting. He designed his Five Stances model and began fighting by switching patterns according to his circumstances. The opposite of the all-purpose survival mechanism that he began his training for.

Through Saber, Iori saw his original inspiration. Right in the prologue, Iori is already gushing about how Saber fights with the swordplay of a champion who doesn't read or respond to their opponent, letting only themself dictate how they fight, like they were the only one in the field. Saber can survive any situation with far less effort than Iori.

In their interactions, Iori grows to envy Saber's force of character as an unmalleable force. Their outstanding technique is just like the moon he saw at the night at the port. Iori can't feel at peace until he surpasses it. No matter how much of himself he must trim down, he needs to find raw all-purpose power (the Fire and Void Stances). Saber's ability to push through any challenge without as much as evaluating it. It's by emulating this that Iori changes.

The conclusion of Entreat the Darkness sees Iori defeated by Saber's successful read of him. The talentless Iori continuously relied on his "petty" tactic of studying his opponent, so when the talented Saber started pulling the same thing on him, it was so thoroughly hopeless that he had to laugh it off and accept he got as far as he could. Iori was pacified by his own lessons being repeated to him by the person who heartfeltly absorbed them, in classic Ciel route style.

Saber and Iori were born in the wrong eras. The latter would have been more self-assured in an age where he could prove and elevate himself in duels that put the limits of life and death to the test. The former would have been more happy in an age where they could feel assured their treasured companion(s) would last as long as they did.

But through the short time they shared, they got everything they wanted. Iori found satisfaction in finding that insurmountable that confirmed that he became the very best he could possibly be. Saber found satisfaction in gaining a companion through a much more gratifying journey than the unification of Japan.

The logical conclusion to my opening sentence is that Saber and Iori had the missing pieces to each other's puzzle, and sharing those made both of them whole.

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

Oh yeah I definitely agree there were too many characters -- I think the rogue servants ended up largely feeling like fanservice from what I remember (save for rogue berserker maybe???). Both solutions to the problem would've been fun, and esp since rogue saber and rogue rider both already had mentions outside of F/SR too!

(Also I remember when you spoke about arjuna and Rider and it's very valid tbh, weird to add them both to a fate game (non-fgo) and give us almost nothing despite the connections to Indra.)

Also that's good to know re: which routes you finished! EoD was definitely the most narratively conclusive for Iori from what I remember and FoR is....something else (though some parts with Chiemon was definitely heartbreaking,,,,). And yeah Ray of Light from what I remember def has more Yui focus, but also Zheng Chenggong focus too (biased bc I rewatched playthroughs of that route multiple times for him), which I hope will be interesting! (Esp since it does give us a glimpse of what he's like without Archer lmao, but I shouldn't say anymore than that bc it'd be spoiling ajdhskdh sorry!)

i got abt halfway through rol so i know a little bit about what goes on in it re Zheng Chenggong...its pretty interesting tbh.

out of the rouge servants i think circe and berserker were handled the best since they actually were rather relevant to the plot. the rest are much more loosey goosey (tho im biased and will say id never turn down arjuna fanservice lol)

[rex101111]

So, I just finished the third, and apparently last, DLC for Samurai Remnant. I got every trophy, leveled up every skill, and of course the Platinum on the OG game way back. So, a few thoughts now that we're now at the end of update cycle. I hope the team that made this game knows they've made something great. Honestly, genuinely. I hope they know that they made something that, for all of its shortcomings, has stuck in my mind since it came out last September. FSR has a great story, fascinating characters, and simple but very fun combat. It has an amazing Main Character in Iori that just gets more and more interesting with every playthrough you do and route you take. Saber, and their relationship with Iori, is pretty much like 90% of the appeal because you just want to see them bounce off each other and grow. Its amazing.

And the DLC! Not a single dud! Just three bite sized chunks of more FSR, each with a little twist, and none of them I could predict. As disappointed as I am at no Mini-Nobu invasion of Edo, I think this shows that the Koei-Tec team honestly just made stuff they thought would be cool and fun. And, surprise surprise, it turned out to be cool and fun.

I'm really looking forward to whatever this team comes up with next, they've earned the chance to make something bigger afte this.

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Miyamoto Iori & Seiba

Where to even begin here...Iori is a rather interesting protagonist compared to the others I've watched so far. Sure, Shirou or Seig are decent but very honest and straight forward.

Iori isn't as simplistic in his world view. If anything he's deceiving himself and accidentally misleading others. However, he is not a villain either.

In a few routes Iori fights to maintain the peace of the era. Seemingly for his sister, Kaya's, sake. He never makes that overtly known but a few lines show this. At one point he ponders the wars end and dismisses his thoughts because he views Kaya as happy and adaptable.

But, every now and then, things will seem to pause. Characters will stop to take note of oddities in Iori's words vs his actions. Iori himself will state multiple times that he is not kind.

He's a ronin in the loosest sense as he only reached adulthood after the warring period was done. He serves no master and makes a living serving his community instead.

People see him as an upstanding young man, Yui Shouetsu even begins to fall in love with him because she sees her ideals reflected in Iori.

But this is a facade. One that Iori himself does not really make intentionally but one he doesn't elaborate on either. The only people that see through this facade immediately is the female Musashi and Chiemon.

Female Musashi is understandable. The Musashi of Iori's timeline was male but the female one lived a similar life. She raised her own Iori and she notices rather quickly.

Chiemon on the other hand sees through it quickly because he is similar. All of his rants in story are not wrong save for the difference. He may see them both as similar but in actuality Iori is scarier. Chiemon is a traumatized child, scared and burned but Iori is a demon waiting to let loose.

You won't see this Iori until you get the "Entreat the Darkness" route.

Of course, the question some of you will ask after reading that is "does that make Iori a villain?" to which I will once again say "no".

Iori, by his own admission, isn't kind. He does what he does because the age of war is over. Even if he did cut loose it would go nowhere in an era of peace.

He also helps others, even times when it's not wise too, because he seeks to understand them. Iori views nearly everyone he meets as possible opponents and thus tries to understand them in the hypothetical outcome he can kill them.

What he is seeking, the desire that made him a master in the ritual, was the desire for carnage. He's a sword demon and his life's goal is to surpass the swordsman ship he saw the night Musashi saved his life.

The reason he dismisses magecraft despite his talent, the reason he lives as a ronin, is his true desire to be the best swordsman possible.

However Iori is not without emotions. I would argue that the list of people he truly cares for is small while the rest fit into "allies for now" and "possible opponents later" categories.

The reason he seeks the peaceful end in other routes is due to his genuine care for his sister. He has a genuine bond with his master Musashi even if that bond is the shared desire for him to cut her down vs her desire to have a worthy opponent.

He even comes to be close with Saber. Whether I would call them friends or not is difficult however.

Yamato Takeru

As the story progresses it does this beautiful thing of showing traditional art moments of Iori and Sabers life. This is an example of masters and servants seeing the lives of the other through dreams.

It's shown in several Fate works. You'll likely be most familiar with Shirou seeing Artoria's life as King Arthur from Fate Stay Night.

It was only in retrospect of the 'Entreat the Darkness' ending that I saw how beautiful this was because it highlights Saber reflecting Iori's own habit onto him.

Iori helps to understand, to see weaknesses, and Saber uses that to stop him in the Dark Ending by using Iori's own move to kill him. You even see Saber taking it into practice early in the story in the segments where Saber will imitate Iori's sword training.

At first this is portrayed as Saber having fun. To some extent they probably are but that's just an aspect of what he is doing. You see, Saber realizes that Iori isn't quite right mid way. He realizes the dreams and desires he saw were Iori's.

He came to understand that Iori's actual desire vs his actions do not match. This pains him. Saber is a little gremlin at first and dismisses Iori for his weakness.

They grow closer as Iori indulges Saber in their love of food, sight seeing, and so on. By the middle point you'll get the idea that Saber's wish is for this kind of life or perhaps he just wanted a friend.

It is in that dark ending that you realize Saber was understanding Iori as Iori was trying to understand Saber. The dreams, the sword practice, they were deciphering each other.

This makes the dark ending painful to be sure. Iori is happy to have died this way, in a battle but Saber is sad to have to kill another person they cared for. Perhaps the only friend Saber has ever had.

Saber's true name is Yamato Takeru. A prince of ancient Japan, direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and a figure that died alone with only a trail of blood in his wake.

Now I'm sure I seem like I'm rambling aimlessly but I'm not. I want to drive home the sorrow of this dynamic. Even if you get the good endings the game will end on the note of "his blade remains unsatisfied" or so on. (hinting to Iori's nature)

Iori is the closest thing Saber has had to a friend and Iori himself seems to treat Saber as one. On some level I'm sure he's thinking of ways to battle Saber but I do not think Iori's bond with Saber was a lie.

But to call them real friends is something I am still left pondering. Through Saber I am left wondering how genuine any of Iori's relationships were aside for the ones with Musashi and his sister Kaya.

You will even see fans say that the other endings are the best ones for others but only the dark ending is the one Iori truly finds fulfilling. He's not a villain of the story save for that one route but is he one in general?

It left me wondering much of what Iori said. Was his peaceful life fully without value in his mind? Is Iori a better person in the other routes for denying his darker desires?

Why is Iori's best ending the saddest? Better yet, why is his best ending the worst one for everyone else?

Questions I doubt I'll have answered but also ones that I'm not sure need answering. I wouldn't think so much about his story or this game if I had them.

================================================

The original post got kind of long so I split it in two. Part 1 is here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/post/736119692207570944/fated-rantings

My other experiences with Fate can be found here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

[hellcatinnc]

"Konnichiwa! Hajimemashite, watashi wa Danyale de desu yoroshiku"

Hi welcome to my Tumblr, my name is Danyale and this is a little about me and my blog. I have been into anime mostly shoujo for the last year as well as into otome games. I will share my reviews of love interests and games that are otome, shoujo, dating sim, and more. I also post some NSFW, Smut, Adult Fanfic, & Spoilers because I make fandom videos so be warned now but all things are tagged. Anyways hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to say hello I have many interests below if you see we have something in common say hi!

My social media:

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MASTERLIST

Writings/Fan Fics/Reviews/Walkthroughs

#2 Writings/Fan Fics/Reviews/Walkthroughs

AMV/GMV Videos

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Current Obsessions:

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Current Anime's Watching:

Uta no Prince Sama (season 4)

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! S2

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

The Ancient Magus' Bride S2

Twilight Out of Focus

The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies

The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Case Studies Of Vanitas

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Now Playing:

Piofiore Fated Memories

Charade Maniacs

My Next Life As A Villainess: all Routes Lead To Doom! - Pirates Of The Disturbance -

Love And Deepspace

Tears Of Themis

Tengoku Struggle -Strayside-

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Otome Games:

Forever Favorites:

Sympathy Kiss

Code Realize - All Of Them

Amnesia (All Of Them)

Cupid Parasite

My Forged Wedding

Love Spell Written In The Stars

Glass Heart

EPHEMERAL -FANTASY ON DARK

Variable Barricade

Kamigami No Asobi

Piofiore Fated Memories/1926

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Anime

Forever Favorites:

Bungo Stray Dogs

Amnesia

Code Realize Guardians Of Rebirth

Wolf Girl & Black Prince

Libra of Nil Admirari

Phantom in the Twilight

Magic-Kyun! Renaissance

Dance With Devils

Mr Love Queens Choice

Brothers Conflict

Diabolik Lovers 1 & 2

Kamigami no Asobi

My Happy Marriage

Uta Prince Sama

Snow White with the Red Hair

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion

Tomo-chan Is A Girl

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale

My Apothecary Diaries

7th Time Loop

Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

A Condition Called Love

Vampire Dormitory

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Favorite Fandom Love Interests

Bungo Stray Dogs

Chūya

Akutagawa

Atsushi

Sigma

Dazai

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Sympathy Kiss

Rokuro Yoshioka

Yoji Kobase

Nori

Esaka

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Code Realize

Saint Germain

Impey

Herlock Sholmes

Fran

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Amnesia

Ikki

Kent

Shin

Ukyo

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Love And Deepspace

Rafayel

Xavier

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Cupid Parasite

Allan

Ryuki

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EPHEMERAL -FANTASY ON DARK

Ray

Natsume

Shiba

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Lover Pretend

Asagi

Riku

Sena

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Radiant Tale

Liyan

Paschalia

Zafora

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Piofiore Fated Memories/1926

Dante Falzone

Nicola Francesca

Gilbert Redford

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Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

Baldur

Endo

Sieg

Liese

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Misyr - Cafe Enchante

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Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir

Cat Noir

Luka

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My Forged Wedding

Haruka

Tamaki

Yomato

Saeki

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Irresistible Mistakes

Minoru Tsujimoto

Go Okuba

Toma Kiriya

Rei Kamiki

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Scandal In The Spotlight

Nagito

Iori

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Our Private Home Room

Shuya

Ryota

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Brothers Conflict

Tsubaki

Natsume

Fuuto

Kaname

Azusa

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Kamigami no Asobi

Loki

Hades

Balder

Apollon

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Variable Barricade

Ichiya Mitsumori

Shion Mayuzumi

Taiga Isurugi

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Dance With Devils

Rem

Urie

Lindo

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Diabolik Lovers

Azusa

Ruki

Yuma

Subaru

Laito

Ayato

Kou

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Libra of Nil Admirari

Hayato

Shizuru

Akira

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Snow White with the Red Hair

Obi

Zen

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Yukar From The Abyss

Imeru

Kiryl

Pewrep

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Star Crossed Myth

Partheno

Ichthys

Scorpio

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Collar X Malice

Kei

Aiji

Saike

Yoshinari

Mineo

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Tears Of Themis

Marius

Luke

Artem

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Vampire Dormitory

Ren Nikaido

Ruka Saotome

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Luke - Phantom In The Twilight

Teika - Magic Kyun!

Victor - Mr. Love Queens Choice

Kyouya - Wolf Girl & Black Prince

Lord Kudo - My Happy Marriage

Keiya - A Girl & Her Guard Dog

Arnold Hein - 7th Time Loop

Noah Wynknight - Raeliana in Dukes Mansion

Claude Jean Ellmeyer - I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

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Non Otome Games:

Detroit Become Human

Life Is Strange True Colors

Sims 4

Houseflipper

My Time At Sandrock

Tomb Raider

All Mario Games

Heavy Rain

Dreamfall Chapters

Greedfall

Lake

Last Stop

State Of Mind

Last Day Of June

Road 96

Second Life

--------------------------------------------

Favorite Blogs

@misschimotosuwa-blog

@dialovers-lover-xoxo

@afra-blueraz

@dialovers-translations

@most-datable-datable-bracket

@reverse-harem-protag

@protags-fic-blog

@xxsycamore

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly

[digisurvive]

Survive meta roundup post

Wrathful route meta (plus everything pre-tl split, my most comprehensive post)

Ryō edits

Ramblings on how Aoi's desire for power is marred to her "team mom" role in Plutomon (which will be likely my most fav re-interpretation of Plutomon's lore ever lol)

On Aoi's and Saki's parallels during their adult evolution cutscenes and moral shadow events

On how Shuuji's writing keeps in line with Adventure's compassionate look at children's struggles (and evidences the philosophical core of the game)

On how Plutomon's assimilation plan ties to the game's core conflict between individualism and collectivism

On Aoi's character arc in Moral (Aka the game's answer to her struggles)

Explanation on occult references in Miu's Evo line + Holy Beast assignment

Comparative between Saki and Mimi to better understand Saki's nuances

On the framing of Shuuji's breakdown in part 5

Comparative between Survive and The Night of the Galactic Railroad to better understand ideas around self-sacrifice in Survive.

On the dramatic irony in Aoi's and Shuuji's corruption arcs

Ramblings about Saki's avoidance and how it reflects in the way she relates to others.

On Aoi's dog symbolism

An observation on a pt5 scenario that foreshadows Saki's wrathful recklessness

More on Aoi's and Shuuji's parallels

Breakdown of Aoi's values.

Iori and Aoi parallels

On Shuuji becoming a worse person

Survive and conflict: Part I

The partnerships of Digimon Survive, Part one, Part two

[randomnameless]

I know it hasn’t been mentioned in a long while, but Koei Tecmos work was pretty good in Samurai Remnant. The twist about the Protagonist was also really well done too. I know this doesn’t reveal much as it’s the same writers who worked on Houses/Hopes, but the main protagonist definitely makes a lot more consistency I feel since all two routes and endings are about Miyamoto Iori, with the last one being about his true nature. Still annoying waifu bait with a fox girl but Iori has zero interest.

I haven't played it, but I have no doubts KT can produce/make good games!

The thing with Nopes (and Fodlan in general) is how FE has traditional themes, and unification/imperialism isn't one of them, ditto with the "earl grey for everyone!" which means you can pick your leader and the games panders so hard to said leader that it forgets its plot.

Izuka is Izuka, Feral Ones aren't forgotten come FE10 because we follow Miccy and Miccy wants to liberate her country - Miccy says fuck to Izuka and his Feral Ones, period. End of the story (until Tibarn/Elincia/Ranulf gets to kill the guy).

Are those changes on KT's door? Given how IS, through Heroes, spinned a retconned Narrative to sell Vero - complete with "sad'n'lonely" and "surprise!brainwash" by a "sad'n'lonely" goddess, I... frankly, don't know.

Engage is a thing, where people take responsibility for the things they did when they were "brainwashed" no matter how "sad'n'lonely" they were (or are roasted for it) - and yet FEH gave us the monstruosity that was the last book, where a time-travelling sexy lady destroys the world because "reasons" compel her to do so, but she loves the player so much : that's the twist. FFS, at the end of the book, we don't even know what were those "reasons" that compelled her to destroy the world, or the snakes who pushed her to do it, the suppsoed "mastermind" was killed off-screen, and the most important thing at the end is how past present and future are merged to simp together after the avatar.

yay.

And yet, given how Fodlan plays and how Nintendo actually sent surveys to people who played FE16 something they never did (not for Engage!) before for the FE series (afaik) - I wonder who is to "blame" for Fodlan's writing, IS, KT, a mix of the two?

The lack of care (which becomes obvious when you compare FE16 to the precedent and following entry) isn't something IS has usually shown (I mean, Nopes' dev said he forgot parts of FE16 when he played the game ffs! No continuity guy in FE16?!?) - KT and IS's precendent collaboration was the first Warrior game, so why Nopes came out so... well, like it did?

If there is one definite thing I can complain and lay at KT's door though, it's the models (they're fucking ugly) and whoever decided to swap Rhea/Seiros's unique moveset (I mean have you seen her animations in FE16 when she's in her Saint class??) for a swordmaster on steroids.

[shuttershocky]

Thinking back on Bandai Namco saying that Samurai Remnant was originally conceptualized as a Soulslike, and the non-zero chance that some kind of follow-up game goes in that direction, I’m curious to hear your thoughts about what kind of setting you’d want out of a game like that, since they probably can’t do the Edo period again. I thought something in the late Heian era with Yoshitsune and Shizuka would be neat, considering how little of them we’ve actually seen in the wider Fate universe.

If you're going to do a Soulslike, I don't think you go with Servants since you're restricted from building multiple ways (Servants are all about having strong identities after all) and generally you're not going to be wandering around lost as hell.

As much as I would have preferred Samurai Remnant to not be a musou, I can clearly understand why it wasn't a Soulslike instead when an important part of it is revealing Iori's true self, which is expressed through his sword techniques inherited from Musashi. You also wouldn't have all the Rogue servants being playable, which would be a no-go for a Fate title.

That being said, Koei Tecmo's idea of a soulslike is faster and more combo-based than Fromsoft's, so you don't necessarily need to start with an underpowered character like Iori vs servants.

Anyway, if you want a protagonist that is often wandering the unknown, quickly masters multiple weapons, is talented in both the arcane and martial arts, is able to take powers/skills from bosses, dies and resurrects each time, and often slays monstrous creatures both terrifying to witness and sad to watch (due to clearly only being shades of their former glory), just make a Soulslike game starring Ciel.

Set it between 2002-2014, when Ciel is first released from the Church's experiments and is tasked with becoming their immortal vampire hunter. She has raw magical power rivaled by few and a weapon in Seven that transforms between multiple forms meaning you can do whatever the hell you want, and her whole shtick is dying and coming back over and over and over again until her target is dead (and the Remake even lets her take their powers).

Think about it. Shiki vs Vlov in the Arcueid route practically turns into a tribute to Ludwig halfway through, from Vlov remembering himself, progressing from rampaging beast into a honorable knight as Shiki starts pressuring him, to Vlov even having his own My Guiding Moonlight moment when he refuses to use his emergency blood and chooses to die as a man instead. A Tsukihime setting would fit the Soulslike format way more than a Fate one would /biased

[hurpdurpburps]

Otherside Picnic Manga Yuri Club Special Story 7 English Translation

SPOILER WARNING: Takes place during File 8 - Little Bird in a Box in Vol 2 of the novels.

Written by: Miyazawa Iori

Translated by: @hurpdurpburps

-

Chapter 7: Mercedes AMG, The Backseat

Everything about my first time riding in a luxury car was unique, even the sound of the engine, which I found difficult to describe since I knew next to nothing about cars. The first thing that came to my mind was "a high-pitched sound" and I despised myself for how stupid it sounded.

Kozakura was in the driver’s seat behind the wheel. A man from a shady organisation called Migiwa was riding shotgun next to her. DS Labs – Dark Science Research Encouragement Association, I think. The organisation seemed to be conducting research on the Otherside, but its name sounded like a joke.

The man’s appearance was equally suspicious. I would never have trusted him under normal circumstances and would've left without so much as a word if it hadn’t been for Kozakura.

To be frank, I didn't trust him. Unsure of where they were taking us, I squinted at the car’s GPS screen through the gap between the seats in front of me. It seemed like we were heading towards the city centre. While I wasn’t familiar with Tokyo's geography, I could tell that we were driving along a road heading southeast from Shakujii-kouen.

Kozakura and Migiwa were engaged in subdued conversation. The noise of the moving car drowned out their words, making it hard to listen in on them. While I had my suspicions that they were having some sort of secret discussion, whatever snippets I could overhear seemed to be about traffic routes or mutual acquaintances… In short, it didn't seem like they were talking about anything important.

As for Toriko and myself, the conversation died out after we set off, and we simply sat in silence at the back. Toriko’s eyes were staring out the window, lost in thought. The troubled look on her face and downcast eyes made for such a pretty picture that I couldn’t help but stare, but Toriko didn’t seem to notice my gaze.

It seemed like I was the only one who was feeling awkward. I was also the only one being excessively cautious, and the thought made me uneasy. Migiwa appeared to be an old acquaintance of Kozakura’s, so it didn’t seem likely for him to be some sort of cult member, but… Having a distracted Toriko next to me wasn’t very reassuring in the event we were wrong about him.

I knew exactly what was on Toriko’s mind. It was none other than Satsuki Uruma.

Apparently, Satsuki had been a member of DS Labs before she disappeared.

Hearing Toriko beg Migiwa, who she’d just met, to take her to DS Labs made me-

I hated it. It pissed me off. Toriko always turned into an idiot whenever Satsuki-san came into the picture. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this. That was why I couldn’t just leave her to her own devices. That was why I immediately offered to tag along.

Thinking back, it felt surreal. That didn’t seem like something I’d do. At the very least, the old me wouldn’t have done something like that. Just as how I would run away from a shady stranger, I likely would’ve walked away from someone and left them to do as they pleased if I couldn’t stop them from doing something stupid.

… or perhaps not. Was I underestimating myself? I wasn’t sure. But I knew for a fact that I didn't have the capacity to spare a thought for others back in the day.

Either way, the old me didn’t have Toriko around back then. The current me couldn’t just leave Toriko alone, even if she was being stupid. Was this a good thing? Probably. Had I become weak? Probably, yeah.

What am I supposed to do?

It wasn’t as if I could do anything even though I was tagging along. We were simply flailing around together now. I disliked this feeling of helplessness, but I hated not being able to be with Toriko even more...

I wonder what Toriko’s thinking.

There was a look of surprise on her face when I said I was coming with her. I couldn’t help but get annoyed at that, even though it was only natural for her to feel that way when even I had thought that it was out of character for myself.

I even made it clear that I wasn’t interested in Satsuki-san.

I wonder if I’m really just getting in her way. Maybe she’s actually better off without me around?

I shook off the wave of weakness that flashed through my mind for a moment.

Whatever, that’s none of my business.

She didn't tell me not to follow her. After all, it was Toriko who roped me into this mess, even though I had nothing to do with Satsuki-san in the first place. It didn't make sense for her to go at it alone now at this point.

But-

Another wave of weakness came crashing over me again.

Toriko had been acting strange lately, with her mind full of Satsuki-san while being weirdly considerate of me.

Even today, she’d been saying all sorts of awful things, like what would happen if she disappeared, or fretting about what would happen to me if I was left alone.

I stared at the side of Toriko's face. I’d been looking at her for a while now, but she hadn't noticed at all. Usually she was a bit more intuitive at sensing things like that.

This denseness pisses me the hell off.

I felt the weakness that had filled my mind being replaced by anger.

I get it already. If that's how you’re gonna be, then that’s fine by me. I’ll just stay mad at you for however long that you’re being stupid, Toriko. As long as I do that, I'm sure I'll--

"What's wrong?" Toriko suddenly looked in my direction, and all thoughts flew away from my mind.

"Huh? Wha- what?"

"You looked like you wanted to say something."

"Nah… It’s nothing."

"Okay." Toriko gave a slight nod, and then returned her gaze to beyond the window as she had been before.

And with that, all my emotions dispersed in an instant. As I was left in limbo not knowing what to do with myself again, the car continued on its journey somewhere, carrying me within it.

TL Notes

General note: I adopted a more 'literary' prose style to match the tone of the novels. Hence, the translation in this series will be significantly more liberal than my usual analytical posts. Feel free to ask me anything. Feedback regarding translation accuracy is also welcome.

I literally have no words lol. Goddamn Sorawo being vindicative and petty af for literally 1,000 words. What a gay lass.

List of Yuri Club's Otherside Picnic Short Stories [my translations]:

1. Shinjuku, The First Meet-Up (新宿、初めての待ち合わせ)

2. Hasshaku-sama Epilogue (八尺様エピローグ)

3. Ochanomizu, The First Afterparty (お茶の水、初めての打ち上げ)

4. Ikebukuro, Cafe Meal For One (池袋、ひとりカフェ飯)

5. Naha, After The Big Job (那覇、大仕事の後)

6. Ishigaki Island, A Dazed Vacation (石垣島、呆然のリゾート)

7. Mercedes AMG, The Backseat (メルセデスAMG、後部座席)

8. Otherworldly Elevator, On The Way Back (異世界エレベーター、帰路)

9. Kozakura Mansion, Pizza Party (小桜屋敷、ピザパーティー)

10. TBD

11. TBD

[kaibutsushidousha]

Could you elaborate on why you said Ibuki's writing got a lot of mileage out of the latest El-Melloi?

Volume 7 of Adventures, the most recent El-Melloi book as of this question, has a scene demonstrating how a god sees the world. Gods can know anything by seeing past, future, and alternate timelines as their eyes perceive the world full of what I can best describe as spiritual Wikipedia links. With temporary access to a god's eyes, Ergo tries to learn more about Shirou and "clicks" links that show him practically every route of Fate/stay night.

I'd argue the most prominently featured god in Type-Moon is Fate/strange Fake's Ishtar. Ishtar demonstrated aspects of this since volume 3, with her searching through other timelines to find which would be less harmed by her removing Gugalanna, until she finds a Babylonia Singularity (world not connected to anything) and pulls from there. But she uses her divine eyes openly in volume 8, the one written more concurrently with Sanda's divine eyes plotline. There Ishtar notices multiple times that Rin has a link to herself thanks to FGO but chooses not to "click" that link while she's busy with other things. Then in her last moments, she uses the link in the arrow that killed her to be able to see her shooter.

This ability to see people's pasts at will is something Ibuki is passively shown to do a lot throughout the DLC, with her being able to find and summon the ghosts of Ming and Shimabara to fight in Zheng's and Chiemon's routes respectively, and the part I commented about: main story Ibuki choosing to join Iori's party based on what she saw happening in the DLC timeline.

There's another, more spoilery reveal of Adventures 7 that connects directly with Samurai Remnant, so I'll keep this one under the cut.

One of the long-term questions of Adventures was "Why Ruo doesn't have memory saturation too?". And then volume 7 reveals that his trick is that he doesn't have a trick. He was a god from the get-go. Any human who tries to use the power of a god will have memory saturation without exception. Which brings us to Saber, who:

A) Has Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi as a Noble Phantasm which makes them a temporary kami.

B) Is full of holes in the pack of basic knowledge they were supposed to have a Servant.

Iori's Valentine's scene has this to say about it:

"It's a real bother, let me tell you. It was no different back in the times of the Waxing Moon Ritual. I never have sufficient knowledge inserted in my head. Even I can tell something is up with that, so I questioned the Child of Ibuki about it, and she answered that the more a wielder draws the… "perks" (whatever this word means) of the Divine Sword, the more is subtracted from them."

The drawback of the sword that makes a temporary god overlaps quite neatly with the natural and inevitable consequence of wielding the power of a god in a human body, wouldn't you say?