#it also bothers me bc this story has been really popular in japan for like 20 years without the mass public being in a constant state of...

[earlgreybocchan]

Animating this season like you can't have the slightest bit of jest and god forbid jesting about yaoi

[pixcldust]

𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 ;

pairing | iwaizumi hajime x gn! reader

wordcount | 1.5k

warnings | mild mention of death, slight angst i think, small letters on purpose

tags | ambiguous ending, friendship to something more, no beta bc im shy

a/n | i don't write gender neutral often (i barely write in 2nd pov tbh) so if i messed something up, pls let me know!! it’s 1am but i couldn’t sleep lmaoo i’ll try to sleep again after posting this.

the beginnings of a love story in three parts. 

i.

it starts in the summer, with you lounging on a deck chair, eating candy that turns your tongue blue. you’re wearing shorts and a tanktop, in one of your friends’ big backyard, watching them scream and laugh in the pool. the sun feels like hell on your bare skin but the laughter is infectious and you’re laughing with them. never mind that it’s your last year of senior high school and that after this, you may never see half of these kids again. there is only the here, the now, and it’s brighter than you’ve ever felt for most of your life.

he comes over, a wide smile on his tan face and pool water dripping off his hair. his fingers move deftly to flick water at you, laughing as he dries his hands and picks up his phone. despite flipping him off, you note his good mood - it’s a rare sight to see him play around so childishly like this. you find that you quite like it.

“done with swimming?” you ask. he nods, eyes on his phone. the first few beats of some hip hop song that you don’t recognise starts playing from its speakers.

“my fingers look like prunes,” he groans as he puts down his phone and splays out his fingers at you childishly. you scrunch your face up at him in return.  “plus they want to go eat pizza after this, and hanamaki is gonna take years to shower so i wanted to get a headstart.”

“we’re eating pizza after?” you roll your eyes. “damn these kids and their big appetites.”

“you’re not hungry, because you’ve been eating so much candy,” he wrinkles his nose at the packet of pop rocks in your hand. “that’s not good for you, y’know?”

there’s a pause, him staring at you and you staring at him - time in a frozen state - before you sigh and motion for his hand. “if you wanted some, you could’ve just asked.”

iwaizumi grins as you pour some on his hand. his smile gleams bright against his skin. “thank you.”

he throws them into his mouth as he runs off to take a shower, and you feel a smile curve your lips. it’s odd. your boyfriend isn’t here - he’s opted to train today, even though it’s probably the last time all of you will ever be close together like this - but you can feel your heart skipping the way it does when you’re with him.

ii. 

you and oikawa started dating at the beginning of your third year. 

it was bound to happen eventually; at least, that’s what most of your friends told you so. you have always been friends with tooru and iwa and, when you reached high school, makki and mattsun. tooru was always the popular one, iwa was the reliable one and you were the calm one. a package deal - girls, students in general, who were interested in oikawa and were too intimidated to approach iwa would come to you. frankly, you didn’t mind. everyone had had a crush on oikawa at least once, and it wasn’t like you were any different when you were younger.

what you didn’t expect was for him to confess to you in your second year. it’s burned in the back of your memory: under the shade of one of the staircases near the gym, in the middle of your lunch break, tooru’s face reddening in embarrassment. you said yes, because you’ve always found him funny and cute and attractive in all the ways more than physical and wasn’t that enough to make a good relationship? 

apparently not, since it’s been several months since you last had a proper conversation with him.

he’s in the gym again today, still training by himself, even though he’s already graduated. he’s going to go overseas, to continue his volleyball training in another team. you know this because that was what he told you the last time you two had a proper conversation. good luck, you said to him because you know that volleyball meant that much to him. never mind that he always, always, always put the sport before you, because even though he was your boyfriend, he was also one of your best friends and that meant supporting his dreams. you’re going to be amazing.

you can hear the squeak of volleyball shoes on hard floor, the thwack of ball against flesh, as you approach the gym doors. he’s there - alone, because school’s out for the end-of-term holidays - and he doesn’t immediately notice you standing there. his eyes are too focused on the ball as he sets to himself. he’s always too focused on the ball.

when he does see you there, he lets the ball drop and give you a smile. “hey y/n. what are you doing here?”

seeing his happy face chips at some of your initial confidence and your words falter at your lips, unwilling to come out. a deep breath because if not now, then when? would you really be okay with letting this relationship drag on and on? if there’s one thing you’re certain of, it’s this: you have fallen out of love with oikawa tooru. and he knows it.

“tooru, I think we should break up.”

it hurts a little, if you’re being honest, as you watch the smile slide off his face, giving way to a soft frown. you know he’s had to do this before, watch a person leave him because he was a little too selfish to give up volleyball for anything else, and you hated knowing that he was going through it again. your fault this time. but you know he’s seen this coming. even matsukawa has asked if you were doing okay in a rare bout of seriousness before. at the time, you didn’t know how to answer the question.

oikawa tooru is a lot of things, but he isn’t stupid. he should have seen this coming from miles away, a freight train hurtling at him with its headlights bright and glaring. it’s deliberate ignorance; oikawa saw the train. he just didn’t feel like stepping off the tracks.

“is this because of volleyball?” he asks, tilting his head. he doesn’t have an argument against you, and you know it’s because he’s felt the romantic love for you die off back to a platonic one. like you felt it. “if so, i’m sorry y/n, i didn’t mean to make you feel lonely-”

“it’s okay, tooru. i’m really proud of you, y’know? and... i hope we can stay friends.”

the last sentence sounds more like a question but he’ll understand. his frown disappears at your words, and while it’s not a smile, it’s something like acceptance and that’s good enough for you at the moment. picking up the ball, he nods. “me too.”

iii.

you’re in a tank top and shorts once again, under blistering heat, only this time they’re new clothes, and it’s just you and hajime. all your friends have grown up and out, dotted all across the country. you hum to yourself, stretching your fingers. hajime passes a packet of pop rocks to you.

“hey haji. have you ever thought about death?”

he eyes you suspiciously like you’re about to trick him with nothing but words, and it makes you want to laugh. “sometimes, yeah.”

makki and mattsun moved out of miyagi after high school opting to attend fancy universities in tokyo. tooru left japan completely - said he was going to train twice as hard overseas after the opportunity presented itself. that just left you and iwaizumi, attending the same college in miyagi. you didn’t mind and, despite iwa’s occasional huffs, he never seems to mind either.

and maybe it’s because the both of you are older now, because you’ve found someone who doesn’t mind the way you prefer to skip over small talk, but recently it feels like hajime has been becoming your source of energy more and more. after classes end, he’s quick to send you a text and you’re even quicker to respond - at this point, you’ve visited almost every cafe in miyagi. even the shitty ones, to hajime’s dismay and your amusement.

“we’re so old now, it feels like i’m on the brink of death,” you groan, pouring pop rocks straight into your mouth. they fizzle like miniature fireworks on your tongue. 

a magazine smacks you on the head but you can’t be bothered to turn and glare at him. you opt to glare straight ahead of you instead, to the pool and the few people in it. sunlight bounces off of the glittery water and your glare turns to a squint. “you’re 21, you’re not 71.”

“maybe it’s the heat getting to me.

“yeah, it’s seriously hot today,” iwaizumi knits his brows, sitting up in his seat. you steal a glance at his exposed biceps - bless his tank top - and feel a strange pound in your chest. opting to ignore it, your lips unfurl into a grin.

“sorry about that.”

the magazine thwacks you on the head again, but not before you see his lips curl into a amused smile to match yours. “shut up.”

all your friends have grown up and out, but your happiness is only beginning.

[firebirdsdaughter]

The longer I think about the disaster 01 turned out to be post-break, the more I'm convinced something went down bts. The whole Gai redemption thing, Horobi going back to square one after actually making a lil bit of process after protecting Jin, the new ZAIA guy turning up so late in the game, the shock value thing with Aruto becoming Ark-One. The moment the break was over, 01 felt like a different show, one that didn't even bother to make any sense.

On the one hand… I’m like… Okay. Pandemic. You don’t know if you’re going to get put on hold again.

And I’m also like… Okay, maybe they sprang on you that you would only have 45 eps bc Reasons.

On another… There is an amount of sense to Horobi’s initial response, it’s pretty in character.

On  the third… I wouldn’t want to watch most of this at normal pacing, either????

Like. Okay. I absolutely agree the tone has been totally off since we came back. Every single ep since the return, everything, and multiple characters, have felt… ‘Off’ is the only way I can describe it. Jin (though we are finally getting back into a more natural beat for him) esp, but also Yua, Gai… Just… Off.

I do have to admit that Horobi’s initial response… Does make sense, esp regarding the fact that his singularity point is Jin, wanting to protect Jin, and wanting to be Jin’s father, and humanity… Would, from his point of view, be a danger to that, and also one to his son, bc he is right, they did, literally, create the Ark.

It’s where they decided to go immediately after that went super off the wall.

I mean, other stuff went off the wall already.

So. My suggestion for what maybe could/should have happened:

Nix Gai’s personality doing a one eighty. Have an alliance of necessity bc the Ark is just that badass (she is). Do everything up to a point mostly the same (though… Maybe also nix Jin’s ooc behaviour towards humans he barely knows, and bc I am a glutton for angst, the simulation idea came from him bc that was how he ended up at the point where he thought he had to kill Horobi, in the vein of becoming convinced he couldn’t save his father but could at least spare him a more painful death, and only really starts warming up to humans when they do something that defies those simulations, or something… I just like the simulation idea for Jin), you can even have Horobi being like ‘human destruction’ if y’all really want that, though it does smack of an ‘f you’ to Horobi fans, bc gods forbid he be allowed any… I’m digressing. Anyway, instead of… Whatever this episode was, maybe there’s still a big fight, but at an integral moment Izu (and maybe also Jin) jump in and are like ‘no, stop!’ Izu shields Aruto and starts prodding Horobi, but Jin shows up and steps in. They manage to at least temporarily calm things down, there’s emphasis on the fact that humans need to give HumaGear a reason to believe in them, too. But all of this upsets Gai, maybe bc he has some kind of personal history w/ Horobi (hey, remember the time he stepped on Horobi’s chest? Bc I do, that was the moment that made me love to hate the character), maybe he had some shemey plan that this is fucking up, and he goes, you know, Gai™—but then the Ark is like ‘hey, free bastard!’ and possesses him instead.

Or some bullshit (Takahashi, if you’re listening, please, some bullshit) where it looked like Horobi killed Izu but it was actually Gai or someone else (Takahashi, I will literally pay money, I will buy the fucking rings, just some bullshit, I’m begging you). Aruto can still go nuts (I… Guess? It’s… Super weird how he’s going psycho over this, but is apparently a-okay w/ Gai just getting a tap on the wrist… Did I miss something? Bc I may not like Aruto much, but… This feels ooc), but eventually manages to snap out of it when that’s revealed. Or bc Izu is resurrected. Maybe bc Horobi brings her back. (admittedly, one of my original ideas for Horobi post-series was him working on recovering any HumaGear who were ‘lost’ when they were hacked… Though now that seems more like a job he can share w/ Naki while he and Fuwa also deal w/ remnants of the Ark/protecting peace as a new AIMS… Ah, spoilers, spoilers…!)

If Takahashi really wanted to make me a happy camper, he’d reveal that Horobi didn’t actually kill Izu and have Horobi bring her back. Sweet, sweet justice.

Anyway.

But yeah, ever since we came back, it’s been… Off. Like… Some of it I’ll attribute to the situation, being even more janky than it was already janky (imo, of course, other people seem to adore it), I mean, global pandemic, we don’t know how unexpected the cut down was for them, and they didn’t know if they were going to be locked down again.

But.

The subject matter is… Not great, despite that. Like… If I felt like we had a logical, coherent-ish, even for Takahashi, story under there… Yeah. Okay. I’d be more lenient. But… This is just… So off the wall. Like, this doesn’t feel like ‘oh, they had to rush bc eps got cut and they were flying blind.’ This feels like… Something else entirely.

If that makes any sense.

I mean. I suppose this could all be wildly popular w/ the kids in Japan. I know the show owes me nothing. But… Still.

[eggoreviews]

Smash Bros. Ultimate  FINAL ROSTER PREDICTIONS (Redux)

I already did this, but loadsss of stuff changed since then. As release day draws closer, I thought I’d sift through my predictions for characters. Have a read if u want, then if you disagree lemme know bc my hype hasn’t died down since it was announced i need help (and hey if u look at my old prediction post, I already predicted Simon, K. Rool and Dark Samus so I can’t be the worst, right?)

Okay so my predictions have changed A LOT since I started this blog a few months ago and I think I’ve narrowed it down a lil now. So to put it simply, I think we’re definitely getting one more Smash based direct in October/November. Considering the fact that they’ve got the Mystery Mode™, online play and a whole load of other modes/assists/a few characters we aren’t aware of yet, I reckon they’ll have plenty to talk about in it. My other prediction is that we’re getting 2 newcomers and 1 more echo MINIMUM. Could get maybe a couple more echoes or 1 or 2 standalone character reveals as a stretch but I think we can at least expect that much.

Characters (Base Roster)

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

This wooden eggo has been the only character that’s been a constant in my predictions since the get go, despite the fact that I know basically nothing about him. But he’s the character I’m most confident about getting in.

This newcomer cycle has had a big ol focus on fan appeal this time, most likely stemming from the ballot. This was kind of clear from the Ridley reveal, but the addition of King K. Rool kind of made this a lot more likely. And I would go as far as to say that Geno is probably the most highly requested Smash character since ever.

Sakurai has stated multiple times that he wanted Geno in Brawl and then in Smash 4, but the best he could get was a mii costume. But yeah, not a lot of characters can say that they not only have long standing fan demand, but also are wanted by Sakurai himself.

Considering that Square Enix were previously unwilling to play ball with Nintendo on Geno, but then they went and put arguably their most lucrative character in Cloud as DLC for Smash 4, I don’t think Square’s gonna be too bothered about handing over this character, especially since it’s a character they’re never going to do anything with (Don’t know about you but I’m not seeing a Mario RPG sequel in the pipeline)

And as much as I hate to allude to leakers in my predictions, you can’t deny the fact that Vergeben has not gotten a single thing wrong regarding Smash so far. And he has mentioned a new Square rep and I honestly don’t know who else that could be. Chrono? Lara Croft? But then there’s no way either of those beat Geno in the ballot.

Incineroar (Pokemon)

We’ve yet to receive a Pokemon in this game and really that’s reason enough in itself. Considering that we’ve had at least one new Pokemon rep in every game, I v much doubt they’ll break that tradition now

The two Big Guesses that everyone has been throwing out since day 1 have been Incineroar and Decidueye, both from Gen 7, as we know from Smash 4′s Greninja inclusion that Pokemon is the only franchise with the power to get a rep in before their game releases. And because of this, Pokemon reps are the only ones that are exceptions of my usual rule to discount any characters that released after the time Sakurai has stated he locked in the roster for this game in 2015/16 (looking at Spring Man and Rex & Pyra here, but I’m almost certain they will be DLC)

Yet again, calling on Vergeben here. He has explicitly said Incineroar is in over Decidueye. But hey, he’s not god so he could be wrong eventually. I’m still fairly convinced of Incineroar’s inclusion tho (as much as I’d prefer Decidueye)

Ken as a Ryu echo (Street Fighter)

Ken is the only echo I’m convinced is getting in. A lot of this is honestly, again, down to Vergeben’s leaks and a screenshot of Ken in a Smash Ultimate stage that has yet to be debunked. I don’t have a lot to say on this character purely because I don’t think there are many more people that need convincing.

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic series)

Shadow’s assist is missing and has been replaced out of nowhere with Knuckles, as you probably know. This is a huge notch in his favour, especially if you consider that Isabelle’s assist was replaced with Kapp’n in the August direct and now ta dah here she is. Honestly, with Shadow I think it’s only a matter of time, whether they release him as an echo alongside Ken in the final direct in the same way they did with Dark Samus and Chrom or they save him for DLC as a unique fighter (if Isabelle can be unique, Shadow definitely can).

These four are my picks for the most likely characters left to be revealed, but hey there’s some Hot Picks™  that I left out that u may be curious about so here’s why they’re not here. I guess you could call these my back ups, but they all have too much doubt around them for me to place them in my main predictions (a lot of this is pure speculation so I’m probably wrong but what the hell):

Isaac (Golden Sun) - Now don’t get me wrong, I know Isaac has his fans and he genuinely has a good shot of getting in to Ultimate, especially if you consider that the only new first party franchise we’ve had so far is Splatoon. But what’s holding him back in my mind is that the likes of Ridley and K. Rool are in, villains from huge franchises that have had endless support since forever. And while Isaac has some sense of seniority, I don’t think his place on the ballot matched that of those particular characters. And if the likes of Ashley and Shovel Knight have been assist’d, I can’t see Isaac placing any higher than them if you think about how niche Golden Sun is (but u know, look how ‘niche’ Mario RPG is and Geno’s way up on my list so don’t listen to me). The other thing is that, in the E3 presentation, it was revealed that there are ‘over 50′ assist trophies in this game. We’re currently aware of 40, a fair majority of which have returned from previous games. That doesn’t look good for characters like Isaac if we’re looking at another 12-15 assists to pop up in the next direct. So all I’m saying is, don’t be surprised if that happens. But I definitely think he’ll pop up in some form, whether that be assist or playable.

Skull Kid (Zelda series) - This is one I was uncertain about for a long while, as the fact that his assist is missing and replaced with the Moon from Majora’s Mask is a notch in his favour but I think I’ve settled on the idea that they may be saving Skull Kid for something else: Boss character. We’re all pretty much thinking that mysterious mode is probably gonna be a story mode by now and Ultimate is already filling its boots with iconic characters fitting in as bosses with the likes of Dracula and Rathalos being announced. And as much as I want Skull Kid in, I would say that he is the most iconic Zelda villain besides Ganondorf, which places him in a weird position where he would be v much suited to a character slot but would also make for a viable boss addition. So yeah, could go either way but for me, there’s too much doubt around him to count him as a dead cert for the roster.

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby series) - Another very very likely candidate for the roster, this cute lil squishball would complete the Kirby set™ and he’s v popular in Japan. But he’s in the same position as Isaac where I’m not sure he got as much attention as peeps like Ridley and K. Rool. But hey, with Kirby and this character being Sakurai’s babies, this could sway him otherwise (I rlly hope so, can u tell I want him in)

Chorus Kids (Rhythm Heaven) - As my final back up/unsure pick, the Chorus Kids take their spot alongside Isaac in the ‘first party franchises that really need Smash attention’ category. The other things that make me pick the Chorus Kids over others is the fact that people doin’ some digging a while back revealed that the Chorus Kids were a scrapped character from Smash 4 so it isn’t a stretch to say that Sakurai could’ve gone back to that idea and make it work. Plus, the Chorus Kids would tick another box we’ve yet to account for; this game’s ‘weird’ rep. Much like Pokemon, it’s pretty much tradition at this point for each Smash game to contain a newcomer or two from odd franchises that not many would expect (Ice Climbers and Game & Watch in Melee, R.O.B. in Brawl, Wii Fit Trainer and Duck Hunt in Smash 4) and this is yet another tradition I don’t see them abandoning for Ultimate. As well as ticking this box, Chorus Kids are also a v popular pick so I have them in mind as the most likely pick if Sakurai is keeping the usual ‘weird’ rep tradition alive. But really what’s keeping Chorus Kids out of my main predictions is the fact that we have no idea if we’ll even get a rep in that vein this time, especially since competition for roster slots is so intense this time around.

OKAY so that’s all my dudes. If u happened to read my last post, you will notice that my number 1 fave pick ever Rayman is now gone from my predictions. But that’s bc I think he’ll be DLC now. So there you go. Tune in at some point when I’ll probably do a DLC posty boi. Have a good day.

[ladyloveandjustice]

ACE ATTORNEY GAMES RANKING AND THOUGHTS ON DUAL DESTINIES

Personal Ranking of the games, highest/most enjoyable to lowest: PLEASE NOTE THAT I REALLY ENJOY ALL OF THEM AND THINK THEY HAVE A LOT OF MERIT, EVEN THE LOWEST RANKED.

Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations (WE HAVE TO PRETEND GODOT DOES’T EXIST BUT I’M WILLING TO DO THIS...but when I do remember Godot exists, it gets moved to second place and AA1 is top dog), Ace Attorney 1, Ace Attorney Investigations 2,  Justice for All, Ace Attorney: Investigations, Dual Destinies, Spirit of Justice, Apollo Justice

I think that’s pretty solid. AA3′s ranking is pretty variable depending on my mood bc ugh godot why godot but i love so much about it and it basically has great moments for the whole cast, so? gotta admit it. Even Godot can’t ruin AA3 for me. AAI and DD also might switch places depending on my mood.

I am surprised at how far down AA2 was knocked- it introduces great characters and the final case is one of the best in the entire series, but the other cases are pretty eh and the circus case is pretty terrible, as we all know. On replay that stick out more. Meanwhile 3/5 of AA1 cases are just fantastic, and it does a great job getting the feels and endearing you to the characters. Rise from the Ashes does a lot to elevate it. 

AAI2 is one of the best games in the series, I’m almost tempted to put if first tbh. The cast, the character development, the mysteries, the little moments- all a plus. 

AAI is frustrating and tedious at times and the plot is very weak, but I think largely makes up for it by having a ton of investigation options (obviously) that allow for fun character convos. The flashback case especially was a blast.

Then we’ve got DD and the fact I like DD better than SoJ and AJ is probably very unpopular- I can see why people would feel differently. The plot to DD is weak (the climax and final twist of SoJ is much much stronger), a lot of it’s on-the-nose and cliche, some characters are underwritten and it’s way too easy. SOJ is a better game structurally and mechanically. But ultimately, I find DD a lot less frustrating and more fun than SoJ. 

There are just so many things about SoJ that make me actively ANGRY- how Maya is treated and her return and character is uttely wasted and she’s damseled in a blatant retread of JFA, how Athena is regressed and blatantly sidelined, how PHOENIX is regressed for no reason in the JFA retread- like he makes almost the exact same mistakes he did in JFA and there’s absolutely NO reason for him not to tell Apollo and Athena what’s happening- and in general, just several characters are dumbed down and sidelined to make Apollo look good, which??? Ya didn’t have to do that?

I feel DD was way better at balancing it’s cast and treating them with respect. Apollo’s arc took him out of focus sometimes, but it didn’t feel like he was regressing (mostly bc...they didn’t develop his character all that much in AJ in the first place).  He made the mistake of not trusting his agency, but honestly, there was never a lot of trust between Phoenix and him in the first place, and he was just getting to know Athena AND he was going through a lot of grief- so it all felt pretty natural. And it established that he approaches “trust” and being a lawyer in a different way than Phoenix and Athena do, which I feel was very important for making him distinct as a character. It was DD that helped me really “get” Apollo TBH, because again, his own game actually didn’t develop him that much even if he was a cutie. At least he had a character arc in DD, and I felt he’d grown by the end of the game.

I think it’s important to remember it’s been explicitly stated that Apollo’s popularity shot up in Japan after DD came out, for all fans gripe about it, this game still actually cared more about him than his own game did, enough to actually endear a bunch of fans to him.

Meanwhile, I’ve already worded on Athena and how I feel her character arc was great- she grew a lot over the course of the game and her story was very resonant to me. She got a lot of the spotlight, but other characters weren’t ever dumbed down to make her look good, like what happened with Apollo in SOJ.

Phoenix also progressed a bit- he’s noticeably more confident than in the trilogy and it’s interesting to see him in a (much more reliable) mentor role. He’s always enjoyed looking after people, so it does feel natural for him to take on that role and feels like he’s really continuing Mia’s legacy by getting his own proteges. A lot of a stuff that happened to him in AJ isn’t really followed up on when it would have been way more interesting to keep those aspects, but I can understand to some extent why it didn’t happen. Following up on what AJ did to him while still making a new, separate game, is TOUGH, and I don’t envy DD’s position in having to do it. 

I do think it’s believable Phoenix could recover a bit and scale back on his cynicism now that he’s finally managed to prove his innocence, and there ARE hints throughout DD that some issues remain, so there’s at least something to work with there.I especially appreciate that DD did it’s best to address what Miles and Maya were up to during AJ and reassured players they WERE around- the hints that Miles and Phoenix might have been in conflict over whether he should get his badge back and that Phoenix was resistant to Miles helping him were especially appreciated, and make sense for the characters. The fact that Miles eventually did manage to make him get it back and even pulled strings- also great. The way they settled in old married couple closeness felt so natural too.

I think what a lot of fans don’t take into account with DD was (as well as I can glean) what it was like when AJ came out and there was no follow-up. Guys, AJ would have gotten a direct sequel if fans had reacted well to the new status quo. They obviously didn’t. And that’s NOT SURPRISING. We had Phoenix going through a full, developed character arc, a complete story and then AJ comes along and is like “lol never mind his life is ruined now and HAS BEEN TERRIBLE FOR SEVEN YEARS and all that progress he made went down the drain. also where are Miles and Maya? who knows?” and introduced a new protag without bothering to develop him or give him backstory and introduce a lot of underdeveloped, HARD-TO-UNDERSTAND (why are the gramyrie men so awful why did they do anything they did their actions make NO SENSE)   characters and unresolved, inexplicable things.

I really think what AJ did with Phoenix is interesting, but it was also devastating and frustrating and they didn’t bother to explain most of it so it felt so random too. I honestly would have been gutted at it had I not know DD was coming out and he was going to be okay and practice law again. Phoenix losing his badge is bold, and it is a legit direction to take things- life really does suck like that at times- but also, we KNOW life sucks like that sometimes. that doesn’t mean we want to see characters who had a complete story come back only to be miserable and lose almost everything. I’m a wuss, so seeing that happen to Phoenix would have been way too much for me had I not known a happy ending was coming. I find AJHoboNick interesting as a phase of Phoenix’s life, but don’t like it as a permanent state of being for him. 

That doesn’t mean we couldn’t have reached that happy ending in a more interesting way obvs- I’d have liked (and would still like) for the bitterness and moral looseness Phoenix picked up during the AJ years to be explored more, even as he comes back to law. DD played it safe, while AJ took a lot of risks that didn’t really pan out and ended up as a mess. I can see why one would prefer the latter to the former.

But I think DD accomplished what it set out to do, in an enjoyable way. It had a job: restore Phoenix as a protag while still involving Apollo, give Apollo some actual backstory and an arc, introduce this new character and give her a complete arc, actually explain where all these character who were just dropped in AJ have been and follow up on it as best you can. It did a good job doing all that, and succeeded (except for in addressing the Apollo and Trucy thing, it didn’t follow that up...aghhh....). It let all the characters shine, felt balanced, and introduced a new status quo that felt comfortable and fun. I remember being so overjoyed when I first played with it and there was a reason for that. It felt like coming home.

And again, SOJ had a lot of good things going on, like Rayfa, and a stronger plot, but the way it just blatantly screwed over characters-and how Nahyuta was SO BORING AND SUCH A FAILURE AS A RIVAL (another thing DD did better btw Simon is a blast he is ridic but also makes sense and his older-brother-relationship with Athena is sweet) just leave a bit of a sour taste.

also i love athena and DD introduced her so. you guys probably can guess that’s a big factor. 

I’ve already worded about the way AJ- while interesting and ambituous and impressive and nice looking- failed majorly in some ways. and wasn’t as enjoyable to play- so you know the drill there. I STILL LIKE IT THOUGH. IT HAS A LOT OF MERIT AS A GAME.

SO MY UNPOPULAR OPINION. DD HAS A LOT OF WEAKNESSES BUT I STILL LIKE IT A LOT AND LIKE IT A LOT BETTER THAN SOJ OR AJ, THOUGH I ALSO LIKE BOTH THOSE GAMES. DD TRIED AND IT GAVE ME MY YELLOW DARLING.

also really no need to argue with me on any of this. in fact please do not.

now i just have to play the bonus case and then it’s PLvAA time! i wonder how that will rank. probs not very high since crossovers tend to be nonsensical.

[ainaraoftime]

hey so! @iamg1004 asked me about Danganronpa -what it is, any warnings, how long it is, how to get into it, etc etc- so here’s a very long answer under the cut

WHAT IS IT?

“ Danganronpa is a series of "high-speed mystery action adventure" visual novels created by Kazutaka Kodaka, and released by Spike (Now Spike Chunsoft) for the PSP, PS Vita and Steam. The games combine mystery-solving with elements of shooting and even rhythm gameplay.” -TVtropes

basically, the “main” danganronpa games (there’s 3 of them, i’ll get into the other stuff afterwards) are murder-mystery visual novels (i.e. videogames that are much heavier on dialog than gameplay) the premise is that there’s this academy: Hope’s Peak Academy/Kibougamine (the thing is that the game had fan translations before the official translations, so fans use different terms for stuff hah) that recruits high school students that are the best at one specific field. (the official translation is “ultimate”, but a lot of people, myself included, use SHSL, for the literal translation of Super High School Level). the SHSL Swimmer, the SHSL Programmer, etc etc (some of the titles are pretty... out there, but you gotta keep things interesting, i guess). the newest batch of Hope’s Peak students get trapped in the apparently deserted academy (~~plot~~), and are told that they’ll only be freed if they murder one of their classmates, and if they’re not caught. that is, after a murder happens, there’s a Class Trial (the most interactive aspect of the game- this is the part that is fully voice-acted), where you attempt to figure out who did it. at the end of a trial, people vote for a culprit, and the rules are: if the culprit gets the most votes, he/she gets executed. if people vote wrong, however, everyone except for the culprit will be executed, and the culprit will be allowed to leave freely. (i think the official translation of culprit is “blackened”, bc it’s a translation of a Japanese pun. idk). and of course there’s the mystery of solving who put them all in this situation

so! those are the premises of the main 3 games: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2 (officially translated as danganronpa 2, but a lot of us still call it SDR2 after the original title), and New Dangan Ronpa V3. however (other than a ton of light novels, none of which i’ve read) there’s two other noteworthy things: Danganronpa: Another Episode (Absolute Despair Girls) (a videogame) and Danganronpa 3: The end of Hope’s Peak Academy (an anime). i guess DR:AE and DR3 are not necessary to understand NDRV3 (don’t take my word for it, though, i’m still only at chapter 2 of NDRV3). so there’s two choices:

Danganronpa > Danganronpa 2 > New Danganronpa V3 or:

Danganronpa > Danganronpa 2 > Danganronpa: Another Episode > Danganronpa 3 > New Danganronpa V3

Danganronpa: Another Episode is a videogame, but instead of a murder-mystery visual novel it’s kinda like... a shooter? starring the sister of the first game’s protagonist. so, if you want to understand the story, i guess you could find a Let’s Play, skip the gameplay and just watch the cutscenes :P (there’s plenty)

Danganronpa 3 is an anime with two parts: Side Future (mirai-hen) and Side Despair (zetsubou-hen). the order is like. Future Ep 1 > Despair Ep 1 > Future Ep 2 > Despair Ep 2, etc etc. and then one Side Hope at the end i think

basically, DR:AE fills in the gap between Danganronpa 1 and Danganronpa 2, while Danganronpa 3 tells you a little of what happened before both games (Side Despair) and after both games (Side Future). it also features a little of DR:AE’s characters. so i guess they’re only required watching if you become really attached to the DR1 and DR2 cast and wanna know what happened to them! :p

oh, one last thing: DR1 has an anime adaptation, but it’s generally agreed to be bad (you can’t satisfactorily cram 6 mysteries into 13 episodes...). if you wanna watch it, watch it afterwards, don’t spoil the game for yourself

ANY WARNING?

oomph, yeah. it’s very heavy on fanservice (the 1st game, not so much), especially at the expense of female characters. i personally shrug it off easily (it bothers me, but it’s not a dealbreaker), but it’s worth mentioning (also bad shit happens but that goes without saying, it’s a murder mystery). DR:AE, however, very heavily deals with child sexual abuse/sexualization as a main theme, and DR:AE became very divisive because a lot of people thought it was treated so flippantly that it crossed the line into uncomfortable “fanservice” sometimes. (i’m personally in the camp of “they seem to be criticizing it, but jfc do i have to put some big doses of good faith into it”). it also deals with child abuse in general. umm... some other minor stuff: at some point there’s a character that people can feel is a parody of people with Dissociative Identity Disorder. there’s also a character that caused a lot of heavy arguing about their gender, but that’s more of a fandom thing. oh, also this isn’t really a warning, but so it doesn’t catch you by surprise: the blood is hot pink, apparently because the age rating in Japan is lower if the blood isn’t red. shrugs

IS IT TIME CONSUMING

eehh.... well, i guess that depends on how much time you have on your hands. each of the main games has 6 chapters, and let’s say each of them is 5 hours long. that’s about 30 hours for danganronpa (ofc it varies on how completionist you are), another 30 for danganronpa 2, another 30 for new danganronpa v3. let’s say 20 hours for Another Episode (though a good chunk of it is shooter gameplay). and Danganronpa 3 is 24/25? anime episodes, which are 25 minutes each or so. so, there’s certainly quite a lot of it, but i wouldn’t call it, say, homestuck levels of daunting

IS IT GOOD

well that’s just personal opinion isn’t it :p of course, i personally do like them, but i understand they’re not for everyone. i think danganronpa is very good at creating interesting characters but often falls short in developing them, which, i guess at least is fitting for the story since 70% of the cast gets killed off in the span of a few days. but there’s a lot of meat there if you enjoy fan content and analysis, that’s for sure

RESOURCES

as i said, danganronpa is a series of videogames BUT i personally haven’t played em! and actually... every friend i know that is into danganronpa got into it through let’s plays instead of playing it themselves. that’s the benefit of a visual novel, i guess, that watching it is very close to playing it. the only real change is that if you play you get to solve the mysteries yourself i guess, but you can still do that with videos if you wanna :p so, if you wanna get into it through playing, then all i can say is “buy it”, but if you wanna get into it through LPs like the rest of us heathens, I’M YOUR WOMAN (these are all silent LPs, if you’re the kinda person who enjoys commentary, shrugs. i think NicoB is the most popular danganronpa Let’s Player, but I found him kind of annoying haha. nothing against him, he’s just not my style)

Danganronpa 1

Fan translation: English subs, Japanese Audio (this patch is how most people got into it before the official translation, hah)

NISAmerica’s translation: English subs, Japanese Audio (for some reason this person put the profiles of the characters at the beginning of the first video, shrugs. skip to 4 minutes in if you wanna)

NISAmerica’s translation: English subs, English Audio

another one with the official translation and Japanese voice acting. i think this one might be better than the 2nd link

1. at the end of the day, it’s up to you whether you prefer the japanese or the english voice actors

2. an important thing! Danganronpa games have free time events, which basically means “spending time with a character”. each let’s player chooses different characters to have FTEs with, but of course there’s compilations fof each character.

Free Time Events (English dub)

Free Time Events (Fan Translation, Japanese dubs)

3. there’s also the bonus mode School Mode, which is kind of... a dating sim, really. for after you beat the game and whatnot. i’ve never been into most of them, but i guess they’re useful if there’s a character you really like and you want to see more dialog with them, so here’s a compilation of some School Mode stuff

(Super) Danganronpa 2

MY FAVORITE ONE (unless NVDR3 takes the throne). same gist, except that, unlike with DR1, the official translation came out before there was any solid fan-translated patch. but there’s still the dub choice. also, Island Mode instead of school mode

NISAmerica’s translation (English subs, Japanese audio)

NISAmerica’s translation (English subs, English audio)

i think the English voice actors are very good, but i can’t help but feel kinda bitter about it, since my favorite danganronpa character had a great voice that p much made up half of his characterization, and his english voice acting pretty much gives off the opposite characterization. but don’t listen to my bias X)

NISAmerica’s translation of Free Time Events

Playlist of a ton of Island Mode stuff

Another Episode: Absolute Despair Girls

again, this is partly a third person shooter so there’s scenes you can probably skip

NISAmerica’s translation (Japanese Audio)

NISAmerica’s translation (English Audio) this is the best video i could find and instead of splitting it into parts this person went ahead and did a 11-hours-long video jesus christ. there’s timestamps in the comments

Danganronpa 3

it’s an anime translated by Crunchyroll, you can find it from a free source with some googling like you’d find any other anime, i don’t want the FBI to find me :p again, remember, Mirai-hen episode 1 > Zetsubou-hen episode 1 > Mirai-hen episode 2, etc etc. and then “kibou-hen” (or “side hope”) as an epilogue

New Danganronpa V3

okay, here’s the thing: this game came out about a month ago, and it’ll be translated by NISAmerica in September 20-something. any fan translation of the game is still ongoing. i mean... if you start getting into danganronpa now, by the time you’ve gotten into ndrv3, either the NISAmerica translation will be very close, or fan translations will be very advanced, so i wouldn’t worry about it just yet. but just in case, the two best i’ve found

Jess is bilingual, living in Japan, and she translates everything very good and very fast as she plays. She’s the one I’m currently watching (also i have fun using twitch instead of youtube and watching the chat’s reactions :P)

For a silent, subbed-instead-of-spoken translation, this person’s- but I don’t personally watch it, so I can’t tell you whether the translation is as good as Jess’s

AND THAT’S IT, i’ll edit this afterwards if there’s something i remember. thaaank you for your interest, and if at some point you need the feel to scream at someone about danganronpa, by all means you’re welcome into my inbox. i love people’s reactions

OH OF COURSE, to block spoilers. #dr spoilers for the first game, #sdr2 spoilers for the second one, #drae spoilers for DR:AE, #dr3 spoilers for the DR3 anime, #ndrv3 spoilers for the newest game. if you wanna avoid spoilers, blacklist those!