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noctilucentstorm · 1 year

Text

Ghost Game - Some initial thoughts after the finale

Haven’t read any reactions yet, but a majority of the Digimon fandom are gonna be really upset aren’t they?

Spoilers under the cut.

Please forgive the lack of coherence (and a lot of rambling) in places. I decided to write this before seeing other reactions as I didn’t want them to influence my thoughts, but it does mean I’m writing this before my thoughts have properly settled.

I never wanted to set expectations for the final episode, but before it started I did have a sudden thought: “wouldn’t it be nice for this series to not end in some doomsday battle against some big bad like practically every other season?” That’s not to say GulusGammamon wasn’t a potentially society-ending threat to the Digital World, but his attitude towards Hiro and the others always seemed as if he wanted them to join him rather than kill everyone. In the finale, we end up finding out why: a multi-world-ending threat... 2000 years in the future!

I loved the differing reactions between the humans and digimon, which basically sums up this whole series. The two worlds: human and digital are both advanced societies, but they have different rules and morals that lead to clashes when the two come into contact. GulusGammamon, rather than being a big bad, is a digimon from another planet trying to prevent the Digital World’s destruction in the only way he knows how. It’s through Gammamon and Hiro’s efforts that he is shown another path forward. To me, it nicely pulls together the themes we’ve seen throughout the entire show.

Part-way through the final episode, as much as I enjoyed the clash of Gammamon and Hiro with GulusGammamon, I was a little worried the others were being side-lined. However, the team came together in a fairly subtle way against Quantumon that really summed up the show for me. The plots of each episode have been far less about overpowering enemies and more about understanding each other. Similarly, Team Lulirun persuade Quantumon to allow the worlds to co-exist not with a big fight, but by convincing her they want to make it work. After all, they’ve already shown her over the course of the series that it is possible for humans and digimon to get along. It’s a hard sell for a kid’s show about fighting monsters, but I really liked the departure compared to other seasons.

As an aside: while some of the criticisms of the show have annoyed me, I can at least understand why many older Digimon fans have felt a bit blind-sided or disappointed with the show. Most seasons of Digimon start out one way, have a twist, and then we’re pulled along a plot-heavy ride until the finale hopefully with some character development thrown in as well. However, Ghost Game episode 13 wasn’t that twist fans were expecting, and while the creators were very upfront about the show’s expectations, past experience told fans to expect something they were never going to deliver on.

For me, though, Digimon has once again given me exactly what I needed right when I didn’t realise I wanted it. When a lot of current shows feel like extended movies, lasting around a dozen episodes at best per season and end on some sort of cliff-hanger or continuation almost every episode (or worse, the season finale itself), I’ve enjoyed having something to watch where I don’t mind viewing spoilers (the last two episodes being the exception) and I don’t feel pressured to try and overanalyse everything on screen.

I’ve loved watching Hiro, Gammamon, Ruli, Angoramon, and especially Kiyoshiro and Jellymon, solving mysteries together and growing as individuals and friends by coming to understand a different culture and society than their own. I think the show has been nicely kept open for a miniseries or movie follow-up, but exploring those ideas in fanfiction sounds just as fun.

Thank you Digimon Ghost Game team!

#digimon #ghost game #digimon ghost game #finale thoughts #yep definitely my favourite series since Adventure #I'm sure there will be plenty of Digimon fans discussing the show's apparent flaws #so this is an unapologetic celebration of the show's end #with a slight nod to those who were expecting something else

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kichimiangra · 1 year

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You know what makes me mad? Proximamon. He's a super special Digimon who doesn't exist, and his existence is only a theoretical possibility born from super calculations.

The three Digimon you need to make him are Arcturusmon, Siriusmon, and their buddy from the library, Ryudamon. The super calculator who would have come up with the possibility was Quantomon, and we never even got a single mention! Not even some ominous foreshadowing where Gulus gloated about obtaining ultimate power, or someone foretold of endings and beginnings (Proximamon's entire shtick is that it repeatedly destroys and then recreates the world, which are its actual two attacks that it is constantly using. I think it does this until it creates an idealized world that it wants and unfuses back to its component Digimon)

Not even a mention. I am so disappointed.

I have to agree! Proximamon is one of the things that have me holding out that the world of Ghost Game isn't over and that we are going to get a movie or a short second season that finishes up because there is too much leftover loose ends left untied up. Like, lesser ones are things like

-"What has Hokuto been doing in the digital world this whole time???"

-"How did he click up with assistant Terriermon?" (Until confirmed otherwise I'm going to pretend Terrier Assistant hatched from Bokomon's egg when he died and BlackTailmon Uver. took it.)

-"Espimon wanting to evolve is all well and good but was there any more important reason to go on a possible one-way trip to find Hiro just to Evolve?" Like... was it to be "Strong" to survive the chaos and infection Gulus left in the digital world? But then he goes to a mostly "Safe" Dimmension where that might not matter so....?

-"Can Fukatsu and Mei be reunited please?"

But then there's the IMPORTANT info like

-"Wait.... did you say ENDBRINGER????!!!!!" Like I know the GG writing team wanted to make something a little different (Example: No dead Leomon this series) but to go through all of that and almost end it on a joke that for the most part the thing motivating the "Big Bad" to do the big bad stuff is an almost NOT THREAT for the humans currently alive. Like it'll be a threat to FUTURE humans but like... 84 generations away from now.... That feels kinda like when a creator sets up a twist villain and the audience guesses correctly so they switch it to someone else entirely that had no set up or foreshadowing.... IE.... Bad writing....

-"Why no fight Gulus all the way to MEGA????" You HAVE a mega for him we never get to see in anime. You have a Mega AND a MEGA+ that we have ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR and we never get him. Ryudamon could have been ANY kind of digimon but they chose one of the parts to make Proximamon.

-"Why not just kill off Gulus? Or not just let him be the big bad." I mean I don't WANT him killed off but killing him off and not bringing up some endbringer and just having Gulus be this Regulus Star Black Hole that wants to eat/destroy everything would at least tie off that loose end. Sure it is WAY more satisfying and on brand for Hiro and Gamma to love him into submission given that this series is basically "Lilo and Stitch the Series" but digimon! But the loose ends man....

The whole ending had this theme of "Creating a new world for both Digimon and Humans alike" and Proximamon is the man with the plan to be able to do it! And once again we have ALL THE PARTS and Quantumon! And why would you not want to try and sell cool villain merch?

Ghost game felt a lot like the first series of Magic Knight Rayearth; a whole series setting up to a second series that wraps things up and is the story they actually WANT to tell. But who knows...

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ahiddenpath · 2 years

Audio

Growing Up with You “Podcast”

Growing Up with You turns TEN this year, on September 30th! To celebrate, and to show the fic to my newer followers, I wanted to talk about the fic, the development, what I liked, what I’d change, stuff like that! There is a loose transcript beneath the cut. The audio is about half an hour long (yikes!). I commissioned the art above from Mitty.

Content warning for mentions of (nonspecific) emotional abuse.

Transcript beneath the cut!

GUWY Podcast

Intro

Hey, it’s Hidden! I decided to talk about my fics, starting with the oldest and working my way up to the newest. My oldest fic was posted on September 30th, 2012, meaning that it’s almost 10 years old! Folks come and go to the fandom all the time, so I wanted to shine some light on these older stories.

I’ll be discussing things like themes, characterizations, where I was in my life when I wrote the fic and how that influenced the story, what I’d change if I could, what I like best, ect. It’s a lot to cover, so I’m going to move right on.

GUWY Summary

Growing Up with You is one of those dreaded “rewrite canon with an OC” fics. It’s a complete fic that ran from 2012 through 2017 and is over 420,000 words long! It’s about 4 to 5 novels long, assuming the average novel is 95,000 words long (that’s an averaged length taken across genres).

GUWY follows the story from Digimon Adventure, 02, and some of the movies, but there is a lot of unique/new content. It stars OC Eimi Anami, my main OC, and Koushiro. For the majority of the story, they’re close friends, but they eventually become love interests towards the final arc.

It’s difficult to summarize what this fic, maybe because it so expansive. But -- it intimately shows Eimi and Koushiro growing up and coming into themselves- which introduces a wide variety of themes.

GUWY Themes

It’s impossible to encapsulate everything here, but some thematic highlights include:

-Growing up in an emotionally abusive household and learning to cope with the resulting trauma

-Independence vs dependence, the dangers of taking either to an extreme

-Toxic self-sacrifice

-Valuing everyone’s strengths and understanding their weaknesses; not everyone has to be good at everything; certain strengths are not superior to others

-The importance of clear, open communication and the dangers of resentment and keeping quiet for the perceived sake of peace

-A long and winding exploration of what strength is, especially for a girl who is becoming a young woman

And to really dig into these, we have to understand who Eimi is, so let’s move on to her!

Anami Eimi

Eimi is the younger child of Anami Eiji and Umeko. Her brother, Junichi, is about three years older. She is in Koushiro and Mimi’s year at school. She bears the crest of Integrity and is partnered to Galemon.

Eimi is a steadfast sort. I like to describe her as the first to cry and the last one standing, simultaneously soft and strong. She’s smart, cautious, and guarded. Although her emotional intelligence is high and her social skills are strong, she isn’t very outgoing. In a group, she is watchful and quiet- until something tugs at her sense of right and wrong, or triggers concern for safety.

In the first arc of the story, we watch Eimi shift from a bossy, confident child to a shy, anxious one, dependent on Koushiro and Taichi for a sense of security. The change is due to her increased understanding of the emotional abuse happening in her home. During the beginning of her time in the Digital World, she hovers around Taichi and Koushiro and grows increasingly upset as they are (understandably) unable to attend to her emotional needs. Her digimon partner, Galemon, encourages her to take action on her own, move away from her dependent behavior, and make new friends.

Eimi is still growing by the end of GUWY, so it’s hard to say where she “ends up.” Her story continues in Tri: Integrity Lens, where her steadfast nature is shining. I’d say that, these days, she is still watchful, hardworking, and earnest, but she’s more confident and has a healthier attachment style. Currently, she’s struggling with taking on too much, all while telling the other Chosen to lean on one another and avoid taking on too much, which I think is peak Eimi.

My Fandom Background

For reference, I watched the English dub of Digimon Adventure when it first aired in the states in 1999. I was ten (the same age as Mimi and Koushiro). I wrote digimon fanfics from roughly 2000 to 2004, then left the fandom. I returned in September 2012 as ahiddenpath and launched my Tumblr blog in May 2013 to share art from my fics.

My State While Writing GUWY

My fics aren’t necessarily a reflection of my personality, but they are a reflection of what I was going through while writing them. When I say that I write to take care of myself, this is a big part of what I mean. I work through my thoughts on things that are happening to me/weighing on my heart and mind at the time.

GUWY was my first fic as ahiddenpath, so I guess I’ll get this out of the way here. Eimi is meant to be an original character, not a self-insert, and no, my name is not Amy! There is a lot of overlap between our personalities, but there are some big differences, too. The main one I explored in GUWY is that Eimi responded to her abusive environment by becoming too dependent on the few people she deemed safe. I responded to a similar environment by becoming hyper independent. Independence vs dependence was likely the only intentional theme from day one. Everything else just kind of… evolved along the way.

When I started GUWY in 2012, I had graduated college a little over a year ago, and mentally, I was in a bad way. Sometimes, after you fully separate from an abusive environment and find yourself somewhere safe, you actually fall apart worse than when you weren’t safe! When you’re actively in danger, people tend to focus on staying safe. When you are safe, there is no longer a need to maintain a front, tip toe around, or just generally focus your energy into staying safe. You might suddenly have time, space, and safety to think, to feel, to reflect- which means that you might begin to understand the damage inflicted more clearly than ever. And when it was inflicted by family, people who are meant to love and protect you most, that realization can be devastating.

That, I think, is why GUWY is easily my most raw and visceral fic. These days, I look at it and think, wow, I had no discretion or subtlety in my writing back then! But I also know that the raw feelings are what readers respond to and relate to.

I think this is kind of… the strongest feature of GUWY? Adults who went through emotional abuse as children don’t have much media showing a character separating and slowly struggling to cope with what happened to them. Normally, the abuse is shown to stem from a misunderstanding, and the family reunites. We don’t often see what happens when this isn’t the case.

In fact, most of the Chosen kids are going through some kind of family misunderstanding, and they grow in the Digital World and use their new experience to improve their family situations during Vamdemon’s Siege of Odaiba. I think one of the things that worked out best about GUWY is that Eimi fills a unique space in the cast. Her family problems can’t be improved by any amount of growth on her end, because her parents fail to see any problem, and can never be made to see one. In most families, damage can be addressed and healed. But in some, it simply cannot. Instead of using her new growth and strength in an attempt to remove salt from the sea, Eimi uses it to navigate her situation and slowly work towards a safer one- and then to recover when she finds herself there.

Even in Tri: Integrity Lens, that recovery is ongoing, which is very important to me. There is no complete healing from an emotionally abusive childhood. We learn to cope and try our best ensure that the cycle of abuse ends with us. It’s not a clean, happy ending, but I think the truth of it resonates with people who have been through something similar.

Characterization in GUWY

GUWY is my biggest mess! I didn’t see the Japanese subbed until Netflix offered it around 2015, so some of the characterizations change drastically over time, as I began blending the English and Japanese characterizations. There are more mistakes in terminology/honorifics than I can begin to name. I also aged everyone up about two years, because I always assumed the characters were older than me when I originally watched the show.

The Development of GUWY and Galemon

I wish I could tell you that I carefully and lovingly planned this story. Alas, I did not. It’s a visceral, 100% seat of my pants work. In fact, I wrote the entire Glen introduction chapter on a whim! Justice and the anomaly stuff were not originally planned. I think the only bit that received proper planning was the arc where Eimi moves to the states, and where she begins to live more independently and recover directly after.

There are also a few things that are just… dropped. For example, Galemon was meant to never speak names because of the inherent power they contain, drawing from Irish faerie lore, but I never explored that. Also, Galemon has no physical voice because Eimi felt that she didn’t have one when Galemon was made- ie, at the beginning of the Digital World arc. Her bossiness is meant to reflect Eimi’s early childhood bossiness and assertiveness, which she loses along the way. She uses shields because Eimi feels unsafe all the time, and security is what she wants most. And her ability to see into Eimi’s mind was, I think, my way of making sure that there was someone out there who understood Eimi, despite her talent for keeping her thoughts to herself.

Speaking of Galemon, I originally designed her when I was ten, and I think that shows! I was an enormous fan of Lisa Frank, and a huge marine biology dork- I read marine life books the way many kids read dinosaur books- and I think I smushed those concepts together! I also designed Eimi’s physical appearance and outfit at age ten, although back then, she was purely a self-insert with a different name and personality. I loved how much she visually fits in with the other Chosen- she looks like a child dressing herself, is what I mean- so I kept the design.

What Would I Change About GUWY?

I won’t lie; I’ve often considered editing GUWY. Naturally, I’m a better writer ten years later, and I would love to make the fic its best self. However, I’m aware that its rawness might be its greatest strength, so I’d have to be careful not to remove that. I would definitely save the edited version as a new Scrivener file, so the old won’t be lost.

Obviously, I’d fix the terminology/honorifics problems and make sure the names are all from the original Japanese, and not an awkward mix of English and Japanese (with a few exceptions). I’d likely tweak some characterizations, too. I’d keep the ages as they are, though, mostly because of the romance elements towards the end of the story.

The largest element I’d like to add is an expansion on Eimi meeting the Chosen when she first goes to the Digital World. At the time, I didn’t know how to handle scenes with so many characters- which remains a challenge- and I zipped right by it for that reason. But establishing a baseline for how Eimi interacts with everyone is important later, so I want to give that area more love.

Other than that, I’d try to fix the “show, don’t tell” issues that I so often had back then. For example, Eimi has a tendency to stand up and give pontificating speeches at the most dramatic parts of her arcs. I’d like to tweak things so that her actions speak for themselves, instead of relying on grand speeches.

The Future of Eimi’s Story

Eimi’s story continues in Tri: Integrity Lens! It’s on hiatus at the time of this recording, but I will return to it either after I finish Puits d’Amour or when I hit a point there where I feel it’s a good place to swap to another fic while I develop the other in the background.

#digimon #digific #digimon fanfiction #digimon fanfic #growing up with you #eimi anami #galemon #fanfic podcast #growing up with you podcast #faves

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psyga315 · 1 year

Text

I posted 349 times in 2022

That's 172 more posts than 2021!

165 posts created (47%)

184 posts reblogged (53%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bad-food-sells-burgers

@oddlyhale

@fndmstrugglecomments

I tagged 256 of my posts in 2022

Only 27% of my posts had no tags

#rwde - 228 posts

#rwby - 56 posts

#ice queendom - 6 posts

#anti-anti-rwde - 4 posts

#fandom logic - 3 posts

#ice queendom spoilers - 3 posts

#hypocrisy in the fandom - 3 posts

#rewrite - 2 posts

#archive of our own - 2 posts

#sexy times with wangxian - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 85 characters

#don't get me started on the problems with overwatch 2 and diablo immortals themselves

My Top Posts in 2022:

Gotta love the need to make Ironwood and only Ironwood SpaceBattles competent.

If this was Ruby or Yang in this situation, then you’ll just know it’d be post after post of them saying “there was no other way!”

62 notes - Posted May 11, 2022

Hey, you made the rules, not me.

64 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

"Why the hell does Blake's nightmare form resemble her abuser!?"

It's almost like being like the violent man who gives her cause a bad name that she chose to run from and has fears of running into is something she would have as a nightmare and given how the Nightmare Grimm projects your nightmares onto you...

71 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

Daily reminder

See the full post

90 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

How Anime Make Their Final Seasons/Movies

Attack on Titan: LADADADADA DAAAA BURRITOS! DA LA TE TE TE DA! MINI-DAAS DORITOS! DA BLAS DE DE DA! MARGARITAS! DA LA TE TE TE DA! IMA JUSTICE JUSTICE BLAH TE DTE TE DA! RUMBLING! RUMBLING! IT’S COMING!

Sword Art Online: Kirito fucking dies! JK, he’s in a coma and is having literal isekai adventures in an AI farming program. Then he goes comatose within his coma state and everyone finally gets their time to shine.

Familiar of Zero: In lieu of the author dying, we’re going to do our hardest to give this story the closure it deserves!

Neon Genesis Evangelion: TUMBLIN’ DOWN TUMBLIN’ DOWN TUMBLIN’ DOOOOOWWWWWNNNN!

Promised Neverland: FUCK IT! JUST DO EVERY CHAPTER!

Akame ga Kill: But I don’t wanna wait! I want the ending nooooow!

Dragon Ball Kai: Alright, fine. I guess we can do the Buu saga. But we’re not gonna be happy about it.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: For the last fucking time, his name is not Yami! You know what!? Here’s his backstory told via Dungeons and Dragons!

Sailor Moon: Kill every last one of them!

Space Runaway Ideon: Aaaaaw, you’re so cute... Destroy everything, connect everything.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Uuuuuhhhh... Stone Ocean isn’t the final season tho.

∀ Gundam: Every single Gundam show returns to me. Don’t ask me how that works.

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): You like Isekai?

Digimon Adventure: Okay, we fucked up with the Tri movies, so here we go with this final final movie about Digimon Adventure, we swear we’re done milking it dry. {hides plans to do a reboot}

Cyborg 009: How about we start this with our very own creator talking to one of his characters?

95 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #rwde #rwby

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lilblueorchid · 3 years

Photo

Thought process and easter egg on the Digimon Anniversary Illustration!

Hello everyone, today I feel like explaining some stuff over my Digimon Illustration, mostly why I drew thing this way or point out some little details and easter eggs you might have missed. ;)

Click on read more if you want a LENGTHLY explanation with a lot of rambling from me, or if not you can just enjoy the process gif. <3

The Digimon illustration was a special one for me for different reasons. Firstly, obviously, Digimon! It was a show I grew up with, and I find it quite fitting that after a tough year of graduation movie under a pandemic, in which I really experienced the pain of growing up, I ended up finding back Digimon.

Secondly, as a child, I remember spending HOURS looking for fanarts online! I would save all the ones I found pretty and keep them preciously, i still have the folders actually haha. While pursuing art, I always had in mind thatI wanted one day to make a fanart my child self would have gone crazy over! And, i think I achieved that with that one haha.

Anyway LET’S START! Shall we?

First off : the illustration process

When I do an illustration I always do a quick draft first, and most of the time, in colors. I think I’m more of a “color” person than a “line” person, I tend to need to see colors quickly in order to see if it’s ok.

For this one, I’ve always had in mind it would be a double illustration, with the older Tai’s silhouette acting as a frame for the children illustration. It was a bit tricky, I had to make the children illustration fit nicely into his silhouette, it was hassle around the neck area, that’s why I made little Taichi stand up haha. Also used Mimi’s hat to balance the picture : the bottom part is very heavy and there’s only sky in the upper part, adding the hat helps making it more balanced.

The character were the longest and the most challenging part by far. As you can see I had 3 different steps : super rough, they’re almost like stickmen and smiley face, a more detailled one in which I figure out their actual pose and anatomy, then a last one in which I fix some proportion, add details and clean. Fun fact I don’t clean over a new layer... i just erase the unwanted part of my sketch. :’D

I did a quick pass over the BG after that, then I colored the characters in flat colors before rendering them. It was a back and forth between the BG and the characters to make sure everything was working together nicely.

Now was the time to render the BG, I did the tramway first, the flower field after. Fun fact, I did my flower field study in order to know how to approach the flowers in this illustration! If your have the time, i totally recommend finding a photograph close to the kind of BG you wanna do, and make a study of it so you can try your hand at it first and go into your own BG later with an idea of how to approach this.

Adjust colors, add flower petals and butterflies and emotional text, slap over a paper texture, and THERE. You have it! On to the next part now...

The meaningful details and easter eggs

Be aware there will be spoilers for Digimon Adventure 01 (but I assume you already know it), but also for Digimon Adventure : Last evolution Kizuna, which is the conclusion of the first serie. So read at your own risk!

The tramway is obviously a reference to the end of Digimon Adventure 01. The kids used it to go back to their world, so It was their goodbye to their Digimon at this moment. In Kizuna, Tai and Matt find the tramway trapped in crystal in Menoa’s fake memory world. Hinting that had they been caught by her, their memories would have brought them back here.

Tailmon has Kari’s whistle! At the end of Digimon Adventure 01, Kari gives it to her as a memento.

When I drew Sora, I had in mind how she was in Kizuna, very stressed out by her mom’s expectation, which led her to neglect Piyomon. She realized it too late, and after that she refused to fight because she wanted to keep Piyomon with her as long as possible. Tragically, she was the first one to lose her Digimon. Here I tried to convey a softness and a kind of “I won’t forget to appreciate you” vibe in the way she holds Piyomon’s hand. As for Mimi and Palmon, in Digimon adventure 01 Palmon was very emotionally affected by Mimi’s departure, so, a hug was fitting. :’)

The screens on the Tramway display DA for Digimon Adventure, and also 01.08.1999 which is the date of the children’s journey’s beginning. :)

The little drawings also show the 8 crests.

There are butterflies flying over the illustration, it’s a reference to Butter-fly, the first Digimon opening, by the late Koji Wada.

"I'll become a happy butterfly, and ride on the glittering wind, I'll come and see you soon. “

Now, let’s the see the counterpart of the illustration. The one with the grown up Tai from Kizuna.

I made him wear the hoodie he had in his very last adventure with Agumon.... but truthfully the reason is that I think hoodies are cool lol. And the hood’s volume gave me more space in the silhouette, which made it easier for me to do the other illustration inside.

You don’t see it clearly, but he is holding his Digivice, albeit the darkened version once his partner bond with Agumon is broken. The Tai in this illustration has already lost Agumon. (Yes it was painful for me to go fetch the screenshots)

He is also holding his dear signature google he used to wear as a child. Fun fact, I rewatched the older movies, and as a kid he even used to sleep with it, how cute haha.

Also yes, the crest of Courage over his hand, which is his own. I’m so dumb I realize I should have made the time counter from the movie instead of the crest for a maximum emotional hurt impact.

And the quote is from one of the trailer for Kizuna, I think.....................

But then you go : Oh that illustration is so depressing then! Well. Yes. But no. but yes. But not really.

One of my favorite shot of the movie is this one : this is after Tai and Agumon learn their time together is limited. Agumon asks him if they will have to go separate ways once Tai is all grown up. Tai doesn’t answer, and takes him to eat something instead, as Agumon was hungry. In this shot Agumon eats to his heart content next to Tai, who’s not eating at all and just watches him fondly. I love that the framing doesnt show agumon. It’s a foreshadowing of their unavoidable separation.

At the very end of the movie, Tai write in his thesis about Human and Digimon’s relationship that Agumon was like a part of himself.

In a way, Agumon symbolizes childhood, the carefree days we would spend as a kid, with our big dreams and hopes. When you grow up, you tend to forget those simple emotions because you get swallowed into the stress of studies, figuring out your carreer, your life path. Just like us, Tai forgot this part of himself. In the madness of growing up, he lost Agumon.

However, it’s not the end. He will pick himself back up. He will move forward in life despite his worries and incertainities, and he will find himself again. Therefore, he will find Agumon again. The kids in the illustration are waving goodbye, but it’s not goodbye, it’s a see you later. In the meantime, Tai is holding on to these precious memories, until they meet again.

#Digimon #Digimon adventure #Yagami Taichi #Digimon adventure : last evolution kizuna #illustration process #kinda analysis #listen im actually writing this for myself #I spend 4 days on that illu with a lot of feels and I need to write them down #This is basically what my close friends have to endure each time I get an obsession

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shihalyfie · 3 years

Text

Wallace in the Japanese version of Hurricane Touchdown, and how his characterization differs from that in Digimon: The Movie

I’ve already talked extensively about how 02 is more different of a series in its American English dub than people really want to admit, but today I felt like I wanted to talk about Wallace in particular and the movie he comes from, especially since even countries that had 02 dubs that were more accurate to the original Japanese version often still got Digimon: The Movie instead. While it’s well-known Hurricane Touchdown got the most aggressive cuts, namely in the form of the subplot of the missing older Adventure group members, discussion of how else the movie’s story and themes were impacted usually doesn’t get brought up much (maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll see people bring up the topic of Daisuke crying for Wallace being a completely genuine and serious scene in the original, and not a joke).

Wallace is an especially interesting topic because he only has this one movie to work off of, instead of a whole series, and, unlike with 02 itself, a very significant fraction of the footage he was involved in was cut. Wallace has an almost opposite personality and role in his own story from his American English dub counterpart, and keeping this in mind may be important in light of Kizuna-related material, because it’s the director’s favorite movie, and his love of it is very, very unsubtle in everything related to this.

Before we begin: my utmost thanks go to a certain friend who bribed convinced me to write this post and fed me a lot of the talking points in it, and also to @citrus-cactus, Tumblr’s resident Hurricane Touchdown and Wallace devotee whose recent Wallace rights ventures inspired me to make this post. For those who are interested in watching this movie themselves, I heavily recommend the Hudie sub that was released last year, because it probably has the most accurate translation out of the available options.

In fact, to best understand Wallace’s character in the Japanese version of Hurricane Touchdown, it is actually important to disentangle all of the massive dub changes to the plot itself. Namely:

The fact that Daisuke and co. flew to the United States to pursue him wasn’t just because of Chocomon and the prospect of another Chosen Child (in fact, 02 itself later established that there being another Chosen in another country was hardly a big deal, and a problem as small as a rampaging Digimon could have easily merited just emailing the locals). The reason everyone had to step in was that Taichi and the others were kidnapped, which means that they had a massive personal stake in taking care of this issue themselves -- and it also conveys that Wallace is being very, very self-centered in refusing to admit how bad of a problem this is getting to be when things to start to escalate far beyond him.

Wallace had no experience being a Chosen Child nor fighting to protect/save anyone prior to the events of this movie -- so that’s why he starts off this movie as a self-centered brat. He had nothing to do with the Diablomon incident (and he definitely isn’t a programming genius, either). He’s never been to the Digital World. He’s never been on an adventure. He only cares about himself and his own partners, and he tells everyone else to stay out of it because he keeps treating an escalating crisis like it’s only his problem. This is also why he has an aversion to seeing his partners evolve, and won’t even call them by names past their Baby forms -- he hates the idea of things in his life changing.

I’ll say it again: Wallace is a self-centered brat at the beginning of this movie. When you take into context what Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori are interrogating him about -- that they suspect he has some involvement in their seniors’ kidnapping -- they have every right to do so. And moreover, while Daisuke certainly goes about everything in his over-the-top, clumsy, Daisuke-like way, every criticism Daisuke has of Wallace’s behavior is completely accurate.

This is what forms the crux of Daisuke and Wallace’s dynamic over the course of this movie. If you watch the dubbed version of this movie (especially when Wallace’s phone call is changed to a pizza call to get a hitchhiking truck), you might get the impression that Davis is insulting Willis for no reason and Willis is just trying to be more reasonable. In the Japanese version, however, a lot of this is informed by the nuances of Daisuke’s character. Daisuke’s a straightforward, pragmatic, and to-the-point person who’s allergic to shady or suspicious behavior, and we’d already seen how Takeru’s evasive tendencies had caused Daisuke to suspect worse of his intentions than he actually had. But in this case, Wallace is every single one of those aggravating, dishonest tendencies dialed up tenfold.

There’s clearly an obvious problem he’s involved with that involves literal kidnapping, but he keeps dodging the subject by pretending he knows nothing, and even flirts with Miyako (which really sets Daisuke off, and while people have taken this to mean Daisuke must have some feelings for Miyako or something, recall that this is actually a completely natural and expected reaction for someone as honest as Daisuke watching his friend getting someone hitting on her -- think about how many of us would flip out similarly if our friends were being flirted with). It’s implied that he’s doing this behavior of wandering around and hitchhiking and flirting with girls because he’s on “a journey to become an adult”, but Daisuke calls him out for still somehow having a need to drop everything to call his mom every so often despite this.

The other important thing to realize about Wallace’s behavior is that Wallace is in just as much denial as Chocomon is. (This is especially significant to consider in light of Kizuna, which mirrors Hurricane Touchdown’s theme of “being too attached to the past to unhealthy degrees”, and is a bit more of a contrast to 02 which is more about “drowning too much in past regrets”.) Wallace continually uses language that indicates he doesn’t have a scope of how bad this problem has gotten. He refuses to let Gumimon fight Chocomon, even though it’s clear Chocomon’s become a rampaging monster. Gumimon represents his future and present that’s trying to get him back on track, and Chocomon represents his sense of denial of the fact that things have changed too much. Chocomon’s the one trying to turn everyone younger to preserve the childhood moments they’d already lost, but Wallace, not Chocomon, is the one who keeps stubbornly insisting that going back to the flower field will magically make everything “like it used to be”. He hasn’t accepted the fact that the ship’s already sailed.

Other than what it means for Daisuke’s characterization, the fact that Daisuke genuinely breaks down over Wallace’s plight says a lot about what it is Wallace gains over the course of the movie -- because while Wallace continues to insist that it’s his problem and nobody else’s, the escalating situation starts to weigh on his morals, and when he decides to spill the beans, Daisuke decides to make it his problem, too. Daisuke’s an empathetic person whose heart naturally bleeds for others, and Wallace realizes how much the others in this group understand his feelings.

So even though everything ends in “failure” -- Chocomon ultimately is beyond saving, and ends up having to be put down -- what Wallace gained from the experience was the strength to accept that things can’t be the same anymore, and to move on. He’s able to accept this with the support that Daisuke and the others gave him, and there are still some silver linings to all of this; Chocomon was still able to die happy instead of completely being consumed by his own dark emotions of loneliness engulfing him to his last moments, and Daisuke reminds him that Chocomon can still return to him (even if it won’t be in the same form as before).

Moreover, one should remember that Wallace still has a bit of a distorted personality even at the end of the movie -- he still flirts with Hikari and Miyako before running off, and says that he still plans to be a bit of a vagrant for a bit longer (still calling his mom, of course, but not quite returning home). Compared to the more well-behaved kids in the 02 group, he comes off as arguably even downright chaotic, and most certainly a bit enigmatic -- but, nevertheless, his experiences with the others have changed him for the better.

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #hurricane touchdown #digimon the movie #shihameta #dubbing discourse

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incorrectlumityquotes · 3 years

Text

FULL REVIEWS: “Understanding Willow”

Damn this episode was hyped up. Everyone was looking forward to this. Everyone wanted to know how this was going to go down. I did too and when we got it we were not disappointed.

However it did prove why I don’t participate in fan theories because we’re all usually wrong all the time. So I say just shut up and be patient. But enough of why I’m not invited to discussions. Lets get it on!

We start the cold open with a Skara sighting! I still think her design is cute. She inviting her friends to her fifteenth birthday party. Neat. We see a bit of Amity’s dynamic with the two. Boscha is actively mean to Willow and Luz while the other two seem more neutral.

“It’s fun because it’s stupid.” This was hilariously adorable.

This was adorably hilarious.

Again we get another quick shot of how Boscha and her group pick on Willow. Skara doesn’t actively join but she does laugh at Willow which does suck. And we know Amity used to put down Willow too. My lumity loving heart is guessing that she’s stopped because of Luz’s influence but it’s just a guess. Still not cool that she doesn’t stop Boscha but that’s for another episode.

That must be an odd sensation.

We cut to photo memory class(?) and it’s big brain time again. What track would this be in? What purpose would this serve? Who would need to pull out memories with tweezers? If this process could permanently damage a person why would you let teenagers do it to other teenagers? It’s a madhouse I tells ya. A madhouse.

Anyway.

So Willow was always a cutie.

Luz notices the Amity memory, but Willow asks her to drop it and leave it alone. Which she doesn’t do. It’s another character flaw of Luz that we’re going to see more of. She always has good intentions but she tends to overstep her bounds. It’s (to me) another form of being innocently insensitive, a common character flaw in characters like Luz.

Amity notices the memory too when she passes by the room. She wants to put their previous friendship behind them and does the reasonable thing of setting the memory on fire. Which sets all the memories on fire because of course it does. It’s fire! Dammit Amity, I thought you were the smart one.

“I’ve connected the dots.” “You haven’t connected shit.” “I’ve connected them.”

We start the B-plot with Gus. Apparently after being kicked out of the Human Appreciation Society, he’s been looking for another club to join and is trying the school paper. He has to interview someone to get in but can’t decide on who.

Is it hot in here or am I just dying?

Willow starts freaking out and getting all sweaty and everyone (you included) figures out why immediately.

And there it is.

So Willow is going to to bye-bye for good unless they do something. So Luz takes everyone to the smartest person she knows because it’s clearly not Amity right now.

It’s a good thing you went to Eda and not a teacher or Willow’s parents.

So Eda explains that they can recover Willow’s mind before all the memories are permanently destroyed by physically sending someone in there to recover and repair the memories.

“Be still my fantasy loving heart!”

I agree with Luz. I love the journey to the center of the mind trope. But Eda believes in the buddy system so someone has to go with her and since we need Gus for the B-plot, it’s Amity.

Luz and Amity enter Willow’s mind and it takes a quick second to organize itself to a form that they can perceive because it’s the mind. That’s kind what it does. It likes to organize things to recognize patterns and because magic.

Luz and Amity start fixing the memories. Apparently, Willow and Amity were really good friends when they were little and even Amity feels bad about almost getting rid of them. But there’s one memory that Amity doesn’t want Luz to see.

Meanwhile in the B-plot, Gus is still trying to find someone to interview. Eda suggests herself because she’s Eda, and King demands attention. They don’t care about Gus’s whatever; they just like attention.

Back in Willow’s mind, Luz and Amity are going a good job repairing the memories but something is undoing all their work. We get a cute moment between Luz and Amity that I want to talk about more when I do my lumity analysis after I finish the reviews.

BTW, I’m going to do a lumity analysis.

They discover that the monster undoing all their work wasn’t actually that one fire Digimon whose name escapes me, but was actually the Inner Willow. The Inner Willow reveals that Willow actually resents Amity for ending their friendship and letting her new friends pick on her for years.

Now she has the opportunity to let out all her anger and hate like The Emperor’s dialogue in a STAR WARS movie. I know I’ve made that joke before but it still applies.

Inner Willow plays back the memory of when Amity ended their friendship. We know they said that Amity did it because Willow was bad at magic but the acutal memory is a little off. Amity reveals why as well as the truth on why she really ended her friendship with Willow.

Amity’s parents never liked Willow because she wasn’t from an elite witch family. Of course Amity didn’t care. She was a little kid and kids don’t care about stuff like that. Amity’s parents say that she can have one of the friends that they picked out for her. (So Amity’s parents don’t even see Skara and Boscha as people either, huh?) Turns out they were brats even back then too. I guess Skara mellowed out over time. When Amity refuses, her parents promise that they’ll use their influence to make sure that Willow can’t get into Hexside.

This a threat but I always wondered why it was a threat. The best guesses are that Amity and Willow wouldn’t be able to see each other at all, Willow wanted to go to Hexside, Hexside is one of the better schools on The Boiling Isles, Hexside was the closest school to Willow’s house and going somewhere else would be too much of a pain in the ass. Whatever the case, the threat worked and Amity broke off their friendship in her birthday. Amity’s, not Willow’s. Pronouns.

Amity can’t undo the years of pain she’s put on Willow, but she can promise to make things better from now on. Amity apologizes and promises that she will try to stop Boscha and her gang from picking on her. Egg on her face, huh?

Hayden Christensen is going to show up next. I can feel it.

Luz and Amity repair the memories and leave Willow’s mind. In a very mature twist for a Disney show, Willow admits she can’t forgive Amity yet. There were literal years of pain between them. But it’s a start. And the episode ends with Gus interviewing Hooty and that goes exactly the way you think it would. Hoot.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - Loved it.

This episode was everything people wanted and more. The drama, the depth, the heart all came across strong here. Not a major turning point for the plot (because I know some people who dismiss every episode that isn’t about the main plot as filler. BTW fuck you guys), but this was a major turning point for the characters. Luz may be the main character of the show, but the main characters of the episode were Willow and Amity.

If I had to find any faults it’s that I didn’t think the B-plot was that great. I don’t think Gus is very funny yet. Especially when you put him next to two comedic powerhouses like King and Eda. Other than that, this was a mind blowing episode. And it’s not even the first one!

#the owl house #my works #full review #full reviews

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alphasmoonlit-selfships · 3 years

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you're so sweet, love! thank you for your kindest words. tell me, what about atsushi makes you happy? i wanna hear all about it, hehe!

Oh, unexpected words of interest? Σ(･ω･ﾉ)ﾉ! But also like yesss you deserve all the kind words UwU you are just as sweet 🥺 @nameless-shrimp 💖 I hope they made your night/day/afternoon! 🥰

But oh? What about Atsushi makes me happy (灬ºωº灬)♡

Honestly, to sum really, just everything about him, from his sweet, intelligent, smart, beautiful, genuine, and kind personality that shows greatly to others, especially when they are in a similar state to his own past; such as Kyouka, Lucy and even to Sigma, I believe! While also having this sassy, blunt and almost bite to his speech with people that just get on his nerves or like are just out of the norm of how people act; he’s like so confused and in a constant state of “??? Why are these much older people behaving like this??” His many surprised or deadpanned faces are just the best to see 😂🥺 He is just so much more than many make him out to be! And believe me it’s a pain sometimes being in the fandom 👀 and yet I stay for the ongoing series and for him 💖🐯

He’s a hard worker! He is doing his damn hardest and is so strong and confident and brave! 😤💖

Mi Tigre has been through hell and back so many times, in such a short period. He’s endured so much mental, emotional and physical pain (like fecking hell all the times with Aku and his stupid anger 😞😣) and still manages to be so much better than what his Headmaster wanted him to be. It amazes me how much his process towards healing isn’t a straight line or easy way through. He is still very much reflecting on his past, on the current moments the define people he loves and cares for, and has his ticks that remind hard times.

Honestly, I never realized how much I felt a kinship with that. I have my own experiences and such and have realized, with time, how it actually affected me. Am still in a state of healing, I have my moments and try to be better to break free from the past and current hurts. ✨

The way Atsushi came to terms with his ability as accepting this part of himself that he hates, truly hit me the second time over. Cause I have been in that position, many of time. Surprisingly, it’s actually a similar confrontation my S/i, or main Oc (a reflection of me), faces in my Digimon College Au. A beautiful scene and rather heart wrenching to witness, but it’s the after moment when Atsushi accepts his ability and the tiger sees that truly, that resonates. A hard but beautiful moment to see. And I love both iterations of the Anime and Manga!

Bloody hell, I rewatched Dead Apple in the English dub and,,,I wasn’t the same after hearing Atsushi’s voice and just overall composure break at recalling the abuse Shibusawa put him through like… my heart broke, I took a moment to like cry and just reflect a moment cause 😭 heck that never happened before (props a lie 👀). Biggest scenes for Atsushi and truly accepting his tiger through and through in that movie too.

Sorry about the small heavy talk, my rambles go in tangent than like in a direct point ;;w;; but even so! Atsushi truly makes me happy! His personality, his overall appearance, he’s so cute and handsome and awkward sometimes like 😳👀 boi who gives you the right? Also his color palette ✨💖✨💖 best! I love how soft warm tones fit him, similar to his eye colors. Another beautiful part of him! Any new art of him, official or not, is honestly an instant boost of serotonin and happy!

I think he’s a silly boi who should have another 30 bowls of chazuke as soon as this current arc is over ;;;:w;;;; please? When was the last time he ate some? He probably would love to have some right now 🥺💖 just picture this! That ending scene from… the Avengers? Where they are eating at a restaurant that’s semi wrecked from the battle? All the ADA members together, safe and sound 💖🥺 Lucy and Poe too as they deserve!

Ah, I don’t know what else to say (〃∇〃) I’m not the best at saying how I feel about this, most of the time I have like a well thought out essay in my head and as soon as I write am like “…Atsushi is…amazing,, and I love him 💞🥺 I seek his hand in marriage ✨”

I’m sure I’ll think of more things and be like “heck I could have included that but it’s too late 😔” honestly, I tried and I hope you take it with understanding. Cause I’m sure some words and sentences are like jumbled here and there 😅😭

Anywho 🥺🥺🥺🥺💖💖💖💖 these emojis aim up my feelings to your kind curious question ✨💞 I love talking about Atsushi, he is truly my favorite character that has become a big impact in my life UwU it’s just sometimes my thoughts and writing are like not aligning when I… Well write 😂 again thank you so much for this ask! 🥺💖 and again I mean what I said! 👀💞💖 I hope to see more of your beautiful writing and heart into these reader x character questions 💖 especially of Atsushi 🥰💖 keep on bringing scenes and characters to life with your writing!

Have a restful night/or day! ✨😊

#amazing people #alpha howls #bsd atsushi #nameless shrimp #amazing artists and writers!#about my love for an amazing white tiger mans 💖#mi tigre i love you 😭💖#my moonlight 💖💖💖✨✨#asks #alpha’s rambles #many thanks again #I wasn’t expecting it so excuse my sporadic writing ;;w;;#alpha’s incoherent thoughts

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duman-anon · 3 years

Text

I made a Winx Villain

I have always wanted to make a villain, ironic with me obsessed with villains but has a hard time making one. But this is a beginning!

This is Ogbe the technology villain!

Sources Picrew; You find it HERE

Yes, Technology villain. Meaning this would focus MOST around Tecna and her home planet Zenith

Ogbe is a hacker and since technology is big part of Magix (and Earth) they decide to now hack down internet and take control of every technology advice

Yes, this villain goes by They/He

They are PART robot, part human. How that was made? Magic, but mostly data

What his goal is; He want to be the most powerful robot-human, and since Magic is combined with regular life and technology (in Magix most), he will try take the magic down to data so he can control it along with technology advices.

Would it be possible to download magic? Not so sure, but if we think about this;

The cars in Magix get help to fly thanks to magic, if now a technology car would be hacked, the magic would still be within it. You would be able to download information from a car and as well with it you could possibly download the magic since the magic has been passed down to the techno advice.

As well on Earth, with Love & Pet, costumers could download their pet with help of magic. So basically the technology comes with magic.

How it all starts:

Everyone in Magix and Earth get one same message; “I’m Hungry” and it is a pixlr picture of Ogbe

yes just like in Digimon Movie yes sorry I couldn’t be more original

He start to hack around the world. Some get their phones shut down immediately and as well computers.

Why he start to take the phones and computers first; this is to get a bit of magic a bit by bit. The more they can store the magic the better. But of course their main goal is to control every device.

Winx get to handle this mission, Tecna who has a lot of technology powers get right in to this. Tecna’s first idea is to download themselves to the computer

“Just like back at Earth when we went to Virtual Park, we will download ourselves and try to find this guy. Internet is one big connection to everyone and if we can track this one down, we can destroy this computer virus.”

They do find the virus after downloading themselves, but it is just a small virus among many. They learn that Ogbe has made small virus machines and they hack even faster to computer devices. Ogbe is actually in another place and is almost watching above them. And he has robot arms yes.

Would Winx need another transformation for this villain? I would say no, but Rainbow would still add something. Which would be more like computer transformation.

When they realise they can’t track down with help of viruses and they are too fast and too many of them, they come back to real world and have to come up with a plan how you beat someone on the internet.

But it would be chaos everywhere. Red fountains all ships has turned against them and they can’t control them and shoot at every thing. Cars in Magix is now haunting down the owners and all machines seem to have come to life and turned against the humans.

How would he be stopped?

Tecna comes up with a brilliant plan;

“Programs are made DAILY on the internet. And he has to hack them down as well. If we make a new program we can set a trap for him. Not all viruses can get through codes, sometimes a real person has to come and solve it. And Ogbe will certainly have to come to hack through it.”

“So how do we get his attention to hack our program?” Musa or Stella would ask. “He has moved away from Phones to bigger stuff now to hack down.”

“Exactly. We are going have to pretend it is something useful for him to have.”

Since Tecna’s home planet is heavily depending on technology, I think their home planet has some sources for magic that helped them to come this far with technology as they have. They will make a program that seem to leading to that sources.

“And how do we stop him?” Bloom asks “He is much more faster than his viruses and us as well. He moves almost impossible fast.”

“We are making sure he is getting slow,”

During their process and have been on internet the whole time, a big audience around the Magix and Earth has followed Winx and seen all the virtual fights. A reason why Winx are slower is because they get spammed from EVERYONE who is watching them. Audience is writing “you need to be faster” and “you are totally screwed winx”.

So Winx makes a new program/website and download themselves to it. As expected, Ogbe is trying to hack in to their website and take the sources from Zenith. Thanks to Tecna, she had made a code that was a tough challenge and Winx had started to gain a lot of audience already, waiting for the final battle.

When Ogbe has passed it through, he get of course mad and send his viruses at Winx but he is staying as well to fight them. Tecna’s plan is to send all the mail and the chat to Ogbe. And she does it and Ogbe who hasn’t got any spam or mail before in such big scale all at once, is starting to lag. Ogbe can’t move quickly and is now slower than Winx. All his viruses get destroyed and it is only Ogbe left.

Ogbe will of course praise Tecna for how intelligent she is and that she would be able to take down the whole internet and technology if she would want to. If Tecna and Ogbe had done this together they would have been unstoppable, doesn’t Tecna want to find all the secrets that are hidden on internet? All the material for sources for each planet? Doesn’t she want to have control over all technology?

“You’re right Ogbe,” Tecna would say. “I would want to know all the information, solve all the codes and see more programs. But for the good sake, not for selfishness. I am intelligent, and I’m smart enough to understand what is right and what is wrong.”

Since Ogbe is part Robot, he get turned off. And to be extra safe, they freeze him down in Omega.

Back at Zenith (a random person I guess?) they will tell that Ogbe was the first original robot that was the most human like and could think on it is own (bc he got DNA from human). But already then was he dangerous, before he could do any damaged they destroyed Ogbe by smashing him and left his parts in a jail. But he wasn’t turned off. For decades Ogbe started to rebuild themselves and when he was done, he escaped. And that was the last time Zenith scientists would build Human Robots.

It all end good! Technology is now working alongside with humans/aliens again, cars and ships are now back to their normal state, and it seem everyone is much lesser on internet.

“How come that everyone spends now lesser time on internet?” Stella would ask. “It is safer now when Ogbe is gone.”

“Well,” Tecna would start. “perhaps everyone realised that you don’t need to do everything on internet. All friends and family exists outside of internet. Besides, I think everyone is a bit scared of data viruses.”

The end.

This is how it would be with Ogbe! A robot-human that wanted to control all technology in the universe and terrorise people.

Yes a lot of this is inspired by Digimon movie because I love Digimon.

#long post #winx club #winx villains #Winx oc: Ogbe #well I had fun doing this #plus I think Tecna would have been able to hackdown the government if she wanted to #this is also what I do when I don’t write lol

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fizzingwizard · 3 years

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Do you have an analysis about about Takeru's character arc in Tri?

Well, I loved Tri!Takeru, I thought he was pretty much perfect. But analysis... I don’t think I have anything so broad off the top of my head. I’ll totally leap on the chance to gush about Takeru in Tri though.

I was psyched back in 02 to see how he’d grown from “crybaby tag-along learning independence” to “smiley sassmaster prone to nightmares and occasional BAMF-ness due to past trauma.” Of course, the fact that he and Hikari didn’t get a lot of personal development made that a little less enjoyable...

... but anyway, in Tri it was just fun to see that taken even further. He was still sassy and sly, and I loved how his silly but provocative banter with Hikari showed that the two of them really aren’t just our sweet, pure-hearted baby siblings. I loved how friendly he was, taking the lead almost as much as Mimi in making Meiko feel at home. I loved his fashion sense, and the others teasing him about being a ladies’ man (I mean, I don’t exactly doubt that it’s true, but I do think Takeru kind of puts on personas and that underneath he’s a lot more vulnerable - something he has in common with his brother, but it’s a lot less noticeable because Yamato is way more of a disaster lol). I loved the way despite getting older he stays affectionate with his brother, masking it with humor and teasing, but c’mon, everyone knows they mean it xD

Kokuhaku, of course, is Takeru’s movie. We saw all the ways he’s changed and grown up, and then Patamon gets infected and bam, Takeru regresses. Suddenly he’s a little boy who doesn’t know what to do, so he pretends like everything’s okay. And even though he lets Patamon fight anyway, the way he collapses in tears on the ground after the reboot... *wibble* Kokuhaku was written just to destroy me...

like my favorite moment in aaaall of kokuhaku is Yamato trying to get Takeru to talk about what’s on and Takeru’s expression goes all stormy and he takes a deep breath and admits “I’m afraid................ that your band will break up again” and Yamato just STARES at him X’D he’s like you little shit

and then on top of everything else... when Takeru finds out Meiko knew more about the infection than she let on, he wants to be mad, but he remembers Patamon and chooses not to be. I think this moment is a lot more than “kids shows teach us to be forgiving!” nonsense, and not just because Tri may be Digimon but it’s not a kids show :3 Especially given how Bokura no Mirai ended! On the one hand, that scene shows that Takeru is still partly that sweet and forgiving child who sees the good in others. But the anger he felt initially, which is a call back to the anger he felt toward the Digimon Kaiser, and mindless evil in general, was also strong, and he made a choice to do what he felt his partner would want. He could be clear-headed about that because he understood that his anger came from grief, and that things like revenge are exactly the kind of unproductive, evil-begetting-evil that he hates so much. So he’s so kind to Meiko and it really moves her. I loved that.

And I loved how it continued into Soushitsu, where he’s just so excited to find Tokomon and goes about befriending him the same way as when he was a kid and they first met. He doesn’t layer on the charm or use any of the wittiness he’s learned - it’s just “I want to be friends with you!” It was so cute and also so fitting. He totally embraces meeting his partner for the first time all over again.

Last, of course, the way he tried to be there for Hikari and help her know she’s not alone was also great. We got to see Takeru’s kindness and maturity and idk, I just love everything about Tri!Takeru xP

#digimon #takeru takaishi #digimon adventure tri #ask

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lightchildofthespring · 3 years

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Everything

Pairing: Post-Kizuna Taishiro (aromantic Taichi)

Summary: Taichi calls Koushiro to his apartment. He has something important to say.

This is not a typical taishiro story, but I hope you like it.

Everything

Koushiro got to Taichi's apartment by 9 o'clock, like Taichi had asked. Agumon was the one who opened the door. He had been living with Taichi full-time ever since his rematerialization, just like Pyiomon was living with Sora and Gabumon with Yamato. Koushiro suspected that was due to the trauma of their separation, but never commented on it. He didn't want to remind his friends of their anguish, especially because he didn't think he could really understand what they had gone through. After all, Koushiro had never lost Tentomon.

“Taichi is waiting for you in his bedroom,” Agumon said, smiling largely. “I'm going to watch some TV while you two talk.”

“Do you know what he wants to talk to me about?” Koushiro asked. “Taichi-san was really mysterious on the phone... did something bad happen?”

“No, no! Nothing bad happened! He wants to tell you something good! Something very important!” Agumon told him. “But I'm not telling you anything more than that!”

“Alright, then...” Koushiro said, entering the apartment. After taking his shoes off, he headed to Taichi's bedroom, which was a lot tidier than usual. The sheets covering the bed were clean, his books were organized over the desk and the only things on the floor were two pillows and a short-legged table, on which there was a large plate of rice balls. Taichi was standing up close to the open window, looking at the starry sky as the cool night breeze messed with his hair.

“Hello, Taichi-san,” Koushiro greeted. Taichi turned to him and smiled, which made Koushiro's heart skip a bit.

Taichi was wearing black pants and a white long sleeved orange shirt with buttons; his hair was still a bit wet, indicating that he had taken a shower not long before. Koushiro also noticed that Taichi had put on cologne, which made him self-conscious for going to his friend's apartment straight from the office, still wearing the same dark blue pants, white shirt and tie he had put on that morning. I should've taken a shower and changed clothes... Koushiro thought. But Taichi had such a serious voice when he asked him to come to his place, how could Koushiro not head straight to his apartment? There could be an emergency!

Taichi silently sat on a pillow and waited for Koushiro to sit on the other one, across from him. After Koushiro sat, the other looked into his eyes for almost an entire minute without saying anything, bearing a nervous expression.

“Did something happen, Taichi-san?” Koushiro asked, worried.

Taichi took a deep breath before replying:

“Do you know how in the movies people who are in love act in an odd way?” Taichi questioned. “They get nervous around the person they like, they think about them all the time, they blush and get butterflies in the stomach among other things, you know?”

“Yes,” Koushiro said. That was how people who were romantically attracted to others usually were. Koushiro didn't need to take examples from movies to know what Taichi was talking about, though. For years, he had felt that way towards him. However, Taichi had no way of knowing about Koushiro's feelings, because the redhead had decided a long time ago not to burden his friend with his unrequited love. Taichi had already so many things going on in his life, he shouldn't have to worry about turning down unsolicited affection.

“I never felt that,” Taichi confessed in a pained voice. “I've never fallen in love... I've tried to go out with people since I entered college but never got past the first date with anyone... I don't think I've ever felt the thing everybody else feels... that euphoria... and I'm starting to think I'll never feel that... there's something wrong with me and I can't fix it...”

To see Taichi in such sorrow was breaking Koushiro's heart. There was no need for him to feel bad, ever!

“There's nothing wrong with not feeling romantic attraction, Taichi-san!” Koushiro stated. “There are many people like that in the world, they call themselves aromantic!”

“Aromantic?” Taichi asked, as if he found that word strange.

“A few years ago, when I was trying to figure out if I was bisexual or asexual, I visited several blogs about sexual and romantic attraction and made some aromantic friends,” Koushiro told him. “They're wonderful and loving people. There's nothing to be ashamed about being aromantic, Taichi-san! Even if you don't feel romantic love, I know you're full of love for your family and your friends! You've always cared so much about everybody, you've always tried so hard to do what was best for everybody... I don't know anyone with a bigger heart than yours! You don't need to be fixed! You're not wrong in any conceivable way!”

Koushiro stopped talking when he noticed that Taichi had begun to cry. What had he done wrong? Was he insensitive by accident? What could he do to make the other feel better?

“Thank you,” Taichi told him, wiping his tears with the back of his hands. “You've always been so kind and supportive... I don't know how you still put up with me...”

“I don't 'put up' with you, Taichi-san. I like you and I care a lot about you!” Koushiro affirmed. Right after saying that, he worried that he had let his true feelings for Taichi come to the surface, but Taichi's warm smile put Koushiro at ease.

“This is kind of embarrassing... I had called you over and prepared everything because I wanted to tell you something else... but then I felt so much guilt and ended up saying all that...” Taichi muttered.

“Guilt? Why would you feel guilty?” Koushiro asked.

He gazed at him, studying every aspect of Koushiro's face. Taichi seemed more relaxed than before, but still a little nervous.

“Koushiro, I...” he hesitated, “I never got nervous around you. It's actually the opposite... your presence calms me down... you center me... I don't have the faintest idea what butterflies in the stomach are supposed to feel like, but I'm pretty sure I never felt that... I don't think about you all the time, but when I think about you... when I talk to you... it makes me happy...” Taichi smiled. “Not euphoric, just... it's a calm happiness... I'm at peace when I'm with you... I don't get flustered when I'm with you nor do I fantasize about kissing you or holding your hand... I think you're good-looking, but I don't think you're the most handsome person in the world because... objectively speaking that would be Pedro Pascal...”

Koushiro couldn't avoid but giggle at that last part. But then, he thought about the reason why Taichi was telling him those things. There was only one logical explanation.

“Listen, Taichi-san...” Koushiro said. “I think I know what you're trying to tell me... you must've figured out my feelings for you, right? You don't have to worry about explaining yourself to me. I would never hold against you the fact that you don't like me that way. It's alright, really! We can still be friends!”

Taichi stared at him, perplexed.

“What are you talking about, Koushiro?” Taichi asked. “What do you mean I figured out your feelings... OH MY GOODNESS, DO YOU LIKE ME?” he shouted once he finally understood. “DO YOU LIKE ME ROMANTICALLY? ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH ME?”

Koushiro felt his heart sink.

“You didn't know...?” he asked in a weak voice. “But, Taichi-san, you... you were turning me down gently, weren't you? You had to... why would you say that if you didn't know?”

“Turning you down? Do you think I called you over, dressed nicely and got those rice balls because I wanted to turn you down?” Taichi asked.

“B-But then... what were you... what are you trying to say to me?” Koushiro inquired, confused.

“I'm trying to say that I love you!” Taichi stated. “I love you in a way I don't love anyone else! It's more special than what I feel for my other friends, but it's not like what's portrayed in movies! I love everything about you! Your kindness, your caring personality, how hard-working you are, how I can always be honest with you and how you understand me so easily! I love how excited you get whenever you learn new things and how patient you are when other people don't immediately understand what you're talking about! You are wonderful! Koushiro, you make me so happy! I'm so glad I got to meet you and be your friend! I love you with all my heart... I love you as much as I'm capable! During the time Agumon was gone, you were by my side all the time and I understood that I wanted you to be with me forever... but that's very selfish of me, isn't it?” Taichi frowned. “You deserve more than the love I can give you... you deserve someone who will be nervous around you and blush and be euphoric... someone whose heart beats faster when you're around...”

“Taichi-san, stop saying that!” Koushiro told him, startling Taichi. “Do you realize how nonsensical you're sounding right now? You keep talking about how I deserve better than what you can give me, but have you ever asked yourself what I wanted?”

Taichi kept his eyes on Koushiro, not daring to say anything. The other continued:

“I love you and you love me! Who cares if we don't feel the exact same kind of love for each other? I certainly don't mind that! I don't care if you don't want to kiss me or hold my hand, nor do I care if you don't get nervous around me or if you don't desire me in the same way other people might! I honestly don't care about those hypothetical people! I care about you! And I want to be with you!”

Taichi's eyes widened after hearing that. Nevertheless, there was still a glimpse of fear in them.

“What if my love isn't enough for you?”

Koushiro smiled and told him in an assured voice:

“Your love is everything for me!”

Taichi smiled back at him, which made Koushiro deeply happy.

Suddenly, Agumon showed up at the bedroom's door.

“Taichi, if you're not going to eat the rice balls, can I have them?” the digimon asked.

“Agumon, were you spying on us?” Taichi asked, sheepishly.

“Of course I was!” Agumon admitted. “You were really worried about confessing your feelings to Koushiro and I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.”

“You say that, but it's not as if you tried to stop me from blurting all my insecurities to Koushiro earlier,” Taichi accused.

“I didn't stop you because it was a good thing that you opened your heart to him,” Agumon explained. “That way, you won't have to worry about Koushiro not fully accepting you.”

Taichi and Koushiro exchanged looks and smiled at each other. Agumon was right. Thanks to Taichi's honesty, the two young men could be sure of how profoundly they loved and were loved by each other and of how happy their relationship would be.

#taishiro #taichi yagami #yagami taichi #koushiro izumi #izumi koushiro #koushirou izumi #izumi koushirou #aromantic Taichi #Koushiro doesn't know if he's bi or ace #mostly because I don't know if I'm bi or ace #and I projected that on him #and I project my aromanticism on Taichi #qpr

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reversemoon255 · 3 years

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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution - Kizuna

I’ve been a fan of Digimon since I first watched it as a kid, but I’m also one of those weird fans where I’m more excited to see the series give us something new rather than treading old ground (I’m not very nostalgic in general), so I wasn’t actually that excited for Kizuna, especially after the terrible experience it was to sit through Tri. Still, the movie surprised me, and grabbed me a lot more than I though it would. I didn’t cry at the ending, but I did well up a bit. Still, this movie isn’t without its problems.

Rather than going over the goods and bads like I normally do, I’m actually going to go through this one chronologically, as I feel it’s the best way to tackle this film’s strengths and flaws. Sit back for a long one, folks.

Chapter 1 (Parrotmon and the First Adventure): We start out with the same intro music we got in the original Digimon Adventure movie. This first section is full of a lot of very purposeful callbacks, like Greymon VS Parrotmon and the recreated evolution sequences. This is the part of the movie where I think this works the best, grabbing people’s nostalgia right at the beginning, getting them to remember the good times with the Digimon before the drama starts. My only, very minor, nitpicky issue is that the Agumon to Greymon sequence is a bit choppier than the original, but it’s also not meant to play 30+ times over the course of two years, so it’s easily forgiven. Also, I’m gonna put PIN 1 in the aurora, because we’ll be coming back to that later.

The animation here is also fantastic (the few moments of off CG aside). It’s been a while since I’ve seen fight scenes this good, and this is probably the best they’ve ever been in Digimon. I also enjoy that Taichi and Yamato are immediately on good terms. So much of Tri was them arguing with each other, so seeing them as friends is nice.

Chapter 2 (The New Normal): Something I didn’t notice the first time, but did on a repeat watch was Sora’s Digivice with its timer ticking down in the opening credits. I’m not a fan of how little Sora was in this movie, especially considering her reinterpretation in the reboot hasn’t been that strong, but I do think the route they went with her was fitting for her character.

Seeing Taichi and Yamato in a rut while everyone else is pursuing their dreams is well done. I definitely feel like I’ve been there before in one form or another, and it’s easy to empathize with. Also, seeing the two of them drinking is so surreal. And them talking about how they have a hard time fitting their Digimon into their lives, only to almost immediately have the idea of losing on them thrust upon them hits very hard on the first watch.

Menoa’s voice... As a native English speaker, hearing people who are supposed to be American in anime only to spout obviously line-read Katakana is always a little vexing to me. I definitely weigh it a bit based on the budget of the show I’m watching, but this is a very big budget movie and they could have gotten a better trainer at the very least to go over the lines with her. Her character is well done, though. I thought she was certainly suspicious my first watch, but on a rewatch I caught more hints, such as her reaction after Izumi mentioned his database.

Chapter 3 (It’s in the Internet): This is where I started falling off a bit. Let me know if this sounds familiar, “Taichi, Izumi, Yamato, and Takeru must battle a Digimon inside the internet. Just as they seem to have the upper hand, it evolves and the children must rely on Omegamon to defeat it.” This particular part of the movie is recycled from Children’s War Game. Even Eosmon darting around the arena with a timer going, being difficult to hit and having to be forced to slow down is reminiscent of how Diablomon was defeated. This really took me out of the film, and it kind of gets worse, but we’ll get there.

Maybe this is me, but I can’t help but feel the whales during Omegamon’s evolution are a callback to Summer Wars >_> I do like the new version of his sword with the flared guard.

Chapter 4 (Some Old Yet Newer Friends): I don’t agree with Menoa’s explanation for why Digimon disappear, but my evidence as to why hasn’t appeared yet, so we’ll put PIN 2 in that. Menoa’s assistant on the other hand was a decent red herring. I wasn’t sure which of them it actually was until the full reveal.

I can’t properly express how excited I was to see Miyoko and Hawkmon after Tri. The 02 crew got so shafted that seeing them here and how involved they were in the plot had me legit excited. There’s actually a ton of 02 love in this movie in the background that I was very appreciative of. That brings me to another point, though, that this movie feels very responsive to Tri. The heavy inclusion of the 02 cast over many of the other original Adventure members, the number of cameos from the final episodes of 02, and a very certain plot point that we’ll stick PIN 3 in for now all point to this. Heck, it was even revealed to be in production near the end of Tri, which was supposed to be the series finalé, except people didn’t like Tri so they apparently didn’t want the series to go out on a sour note (though not a bitter-sweet one).

Chapter 5 (People Change): Can we talk about how Agumon finds Taichi’s stash? It’s a little too real, man. But this scene also brings up the point that the Digimon haven’t really changed since 1999, yet the children have significantly. The Digimon change their appearance and the humans change on the inside. It’s also a little weird how the Digimon aren’t that beat up about saying goodbye. I mean, they don’t want to, but they aren’t crying their eyes out. But we’ll talk about that more when we actually pull out PIN 2.

Also, seeing Sora at the end of this chapter, knowing what’s happening to her is really sad on the second watch.

As a little bonus, I was questioning the Digivice Smart Phones until Taichi turned his off and Izumi’s name popped up. Good show-don’t-tell. That scene also has some great lighting...

Chapter 6 (Better than Himekawa Maki): You definitely feel bad for Menoa. Her story is very (and probably purposefully) similar to that of Himekawa Maki’s from Tri, but in this case we feel more for her because she went through what our leads are going through right now. Her plan makes sense to her because of her tauma. And as we’re talking about the similarities to Tri, I’m going to pull PIN 3 and mention that Taichi and Yamato are going through the same thing that Meiko did. It’s strange that they’re recycling the Tri plot for this, but it works so much better here because our connections to these characters, that we’ve known for years, are so much stronger than those of the new ones introduced in Tri. And it’s 1/10th of the run time, too. It’s almost like Tri was terrible or something O_O

Chapter 7 (Touching Down like a Revenging Hurricane): So now we’re on to a Digimon trapping Chosen Children and reverting them back to children all for the sake of one Chosen Child who has aged up. Man, that sounds familiar. It’s almost as if this plot point was taken from another movie or something...

Look, I wouldn’t harp on it so much if every Adventure + 02 Digimon movie didn’t have plot elements recycled for this film. The beginning was Adventure, the first battle with Eosmon was War Game, Tri is sprinkled throughout, we’re currently on Touchdown, and everything from here up to the final is Revenge of Diablomon. Don’t get me wrong, this was probably on purpose, and they are well integrated, but it pulls me out of the movie super hard. As I’m writing this, I’m on the scene with the 100 Eosmon reveal, just like all the Kuramon. They also do the thing all the Kuramon do where they combine together and defeat Omegamon (by removing his arms, weirdly), only to have two Digimon achieve a new evolution to defeat it.

That being said though, it is, again, handled very well. The damage you see done to Omegamon in these scenes is heartbreaking, and you can certainly feel the weight of the situation.

I also want to pull PIN 1 here, because they bring up the aurora again. There’s never actually an explanation for it, is there? It just shows up one day. It helped Menoa make Eosmon, it drove Parrotmon and apparently other Digimon crazy, but where it came from and why it’s here is never actually explained. I feel like this is bait in case they’re ever at the point where they need another big nostalgia push again and a plot for another movie. But I also don’t want to see that. After Reboot wraps (even though I like it) I’d like to see a new cast, Digimon, and story please.

I also don’t believe a word of anything Menoa says in these scenes, but she does a very good job of pushing Taichi and Yamato’s buttons. I also want to point out, it’s Greymon that isn’t phased by all this and goes on the attack when they’re doubting themselves.

Chapter 8 (An Unreliable Narrator): Time to pull PIN 2.

This is the reason why I don’t believe Menoa. This scene. Menoa kept going on about children losing their infinite possibilities and being unable to supply their Digimon with power, but the Digimon we see going through this situation don’t reflect that. Evolution is a two-way street. We help the Digimon evolve, but in turn they help us evolve, and it is when we reach the pinnacle of our evolution, when the job of the Digimon is done that they disappear. Menoa sped through her evolution because she wanted to become an adult, and when she finally achieved the dream she had set for herself is when Morphomon disappeared, but she’s so traumatized by her disappearance that her views on the situation are negative. This has to be a bad thing, there can’t be a positive reason why the Digimon would disappear. But Agumon and Gabumon are happy. Happy that they could see the great people that Taichi and Yamato turned out to be.

Gotta say, the CG fight with Omegamon and Eosmon (Perfect) isn’t as great as the previous ones. Definitely gets better when we get to Eosmon (Ultimate). This is also a scene where they very easily show the stakes by having Taichi and Yamato getting injured, which we don’t see a lot of, not to mention Omegamon getting sliced up as I said previously.

Also, how many kids got stuck with Numemon as a partner?

Chapter 9 (We’re All Together): I hate that whistle. Every time I hear it in Adventure I start crying. And seeing Sora without Piyomon in these scenes is also heart wrenching on a repeat. I enjoy the others getting involved in the Eosmon fight, but I would have liked it if all the Chosen Children who were captured helped out (though I understand the nightmare that would be aging up all those 02 designs). Overall, just some good, back-to-back emotional moments.

Agumon Bond of Courage and Gabumon Bond of Friendship are decent designs. They definitely feel more newer Digimon than anything that would have appeared in the first season, but that’s ok. It took me a while to get used to Agumon’s new face (it’s kinda weird how human they get; makes me feel like wanted this to be a Bio-Merge). Though brief, their appearance is also beautifully animated.

Seeing Menoa lose Morphomon is also pretty emotional. Actually, this whole ending sequence (y’know, the part of the movie that’s the most itself rather than rehashing old material) is very good, and it’s constant heart-tugs one after another.

Chapter 10 (Goodbye for Now): As I said, there’s a lot of tug-at-your-heartstrings moments throughout the film (especially the ending), but this is the biggest one. This is the one that almost got me. I’m choked up a bit even writing this. It doesn’t help that they end it with a non-movie, realistic cry. But as Gennai said, as long as you have infinite possibilities...

This movie does feel like it embraces the epilogue from 02, and in that epilogue everyone has their Digimon again. And when’s the moment in your life when your life becomes chaotic and hectic and full of infinite possibilities again? The unifying thing everyone in the epilogue has? Kids.

I know that sounds weird, but it makes sense. I can totally imagine Taichi sitting on the couch, and his wife walks in and tells him she’s pregnant, and there’s this stunned silence for a moment, then Agumon pops out from under the cushions and says “How did that happen!?” I’m sure there are other ways it could happen, but that’s the most comedic and “Toei pushing having kids to help with the Japanese population crisis” way I can think of doing it.

I’ll also give special mention to the credits, where they go out of their way to show the 02 Crew with their Digimon, but the main cast without. But, again, we know they get them back. And hopefully they don’t make that movie anytime soon, because I’m sick of Adventure. I’d like new things, please!

Overall, this is a good movie, but it is, to me, heavily hampered by the fact that it is too nostalgic. The animation and writing is fantastic, but that writing is built on the back of elements from the previous movies. If you haven’t watched all those movies multiple times like I have, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot more than I did (and I enjoyed it a lot, still), but be aware. Next time we talk Digi-Shop will probably be about Reboot.

Unless I manage to get my hands on the rest of the Xros Wars toys. (Where are you, MailBirdramon!)

#Digimon #Digimon Adventure #Digimon Adventure tri #Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna #Last Evolution Kizuna #Last Evolution #Kizuna #Review #Movie

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE: How I Got Into Sakuga

Kaiba, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

If you’re an anime fan, you’re likely an animation fan in general. But how do you know when an animation is “good”? How do you learn to identify an animator by only what you see, or tell when their drawings are better than usual?

English-speaking anime fans have adopted sakuga as a general catch-all term for exceptional animation. While the word sakuga itself means “animation,” in this context, sakuga has come to mean something very specific: Not just animation that looks cool, but the deliberate handiwork of specific animators with specific artistic aspirations. For example, a single-animator project might have a lot of “sakuga shots” because it has a personal, highly-refined style. Meanwhile, a television series might have an entire team of varying specialists for a larger narrative. Some of this might be attributed to specific key animators, while some might be credited to an entire studio — transformation sequences, explosive missiles, robots — that’s all fair game to be called sakuga. But how do you really know if what you’re looking at really is this so-called “sakuga?”

Like most art, it’s almost entirely subjective. Here’s my story.

Project A-ko, a high-energy 1986 OVA series best remembered for its exceptional animation staff

(Image via Retrocrush)

All’s Fair in Love and War Games

When I was a kid, I got my hands on the English-dubbed Digimon: The Movie on VHS. This notorious release was a three-part recut of Mamoru Hosoda’s Digimon OVAs released from 1999 to 2000, heavily featuring his second film Digimon Adventure: Our War Game. Of course, I didn’t experience this package as a “Hosoda anime” at the time. Besides the inspired inclusion of Barenaked Ladies’ "One Week" to the soundtrack, I strongly associate these films with Hosoda’s signature interpretation of Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru’s original Digimon Adventure character designs. Compared to the Toei-produced television series, these renditions of the Digi-Destined are charmingly off-model and move with awkward intention, like actual kids up against terrifying monsters.

In a sense, that’s what most people mean by sakuga — animation that makes us lean in and notice traits about the world and characters that can’t be communicated otherwise. Sakuga, in particular, places special emphasis on an individual animator’s keyframes, or the drawings used as a basis for in-between frames during movement. That’s what I mean by the phrase “Hosoda anime.” If you watch Summer Wars or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time enough times, anyone will notice a stylistic palette of idiosyncrasies.

Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

An Emerging Style

When I got older and realized there was more anime than what was on cable, I kept returning to “flat” style animation with films like Tatsuo Satō’s 2001 Cat Soup and Shōji Kawamori’s 1996 Spring and Chaos. Around this time, contemporary artist Takashi Murakami also began developing his own “superflat” style (coined in his 2000 book Superflat and later in Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture) we’ll return to. Once I got a taste for the experimental, I never turned back.

But back to Hosoda. Less focused on the details of models and more fixated on a “flat” or fluid style of movement, the key animation in Hosoda’s films makes body language a priority. This is perhaps the best thing about good sakuga — its potential to express deep emotion even under production constraints. My favorite example comes from the first Digimon short film Hosoda directed, the simply titled Digimon Adventure from 1999.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

Originally conceived as a standalone for Bandai’s then-new Digital Monsters virtual pet toys, this version of Digimon is less loud, more atmospheric — and sincerely preoccupied with the question: “How would little kids actually handle a giant monster of their own?” The result is an unforgettable shot of Kairi, Tai’s little sister desperately blowing her whistle, stopping to catch her breath, then spitting and coughing in an attempt to calm down their newly evolved kaiju Greymon friend.

For the television series, Hosoda directed the episode “Home Away From,” depicting the two siblings clinging to each other as the other slowly drifts back to the Digital World. In both scenes, characters don’t constantly move, but only act when necessary via careful manipulation of the frames. This technique not only makes everything seem more “realistic,” but also acts as a visual cue for the anxiety Tai and Kairi feel. In other words, painstakingly controlled animation serves both form and function, especially when you’re selling an emotional climax of another kid-meets-monster plot.

Tomorrow’s Joe, 1980 film adaptation of the 1970 TV anime series directed by Osamu Dezaki

(Image via Retrocrush)

A Little History Lesson

After Digimon, Hosoda and Nakatsuru collaborated on films like Summer Wars and the Takashi Murakami-inspired pop art short Superflat Monogram. Hosoda is no doubt inescapable to sakuga fans today thanks to the ubiquity of his feature films. Still, Hosoda obviously wasn’t the first sakuga animator. Animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka, known for his cinematic work in a pre-Ghibli era of anime film with Toei, documented the growth ‘60s and ‘70s of Japan’s animation industry in his 2013 book Sakuga Asemamire. When the demand for films lowered in favor of anime television during that era, animators took risks. Classics of the era like Tiger Mask and Tomorrow's Joe literally held no punches, and Osamu Tezuka’s own Mushi Productions dove headfirst into experimental adult films. Animators, and especially keyframe animators, had creative control. In this perfect storm, the advent of sakuga was inevitable.

Everyman Ken Kubo is taught the ways of eighties anime in Otaku no Video

(Image via Retrocrush)

Why Bother With Sakuga?

In 2013, animation aficionado Sean Bires and company hosted an informational panel titled “Sakuga: The Animation of Anime” at Anime Central Chicago. Uploaded to YouTube that same year, this panel informed my younger self’s understanding of not just the “how” of sakuga, but the “why” it even needed to exist in anyone’s vocabulary. Accessible, meticulously researched, and full of visual references, Sean’s two-hour panel-lecture does the heavy lifting of contextualizing anime not just through a historical lens, but within the broader project of expanding cinematic techniques. This primer might sound heady, but considering the popularity of Masaaki Yuasa’s series like Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and references to animator Ichirō Itano’s “Itano circus” missiles in American cartoons like DuckTales, it’s hard to say sakuga isn't relevant. Nowadays, it's practically a trope to parody one of Dezaki's most iconic shots. Supplemented by a rich community of blogs and forums, it couldn’t be easier to learn about animators like Yasuo Ōtsuka or the early days of Toei if you want a bigger picture. Blogs like Ben Ettinger’s Anipages and the aptly named Sakuga Blog are a good place to start, not to mention dozens of dedicated galleries of anime production and art books published by studios themselves. Now couldn’t be a better time to vicariously live your art school dreams through anime masterworks.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a 1989 film featuring animation by Yasuo Ōtsuka best known for his work on the Lupin III franchise

Sakuga Is For Everyone

Fans have always been obsessed with the technicalities of animation, even if they weren't artists. As early as 2007, uncut dubbed collector box sets for Naruto came with annotated booklets of episode storyboards. More recently, critically-acclaimed series like Shirobako further explicated this love for animation as a team effort — people love attaching other people to art. In contrast, psychological horror series like Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent features an episode about an anime studio’s production going terribly wrong. Not to mention the endlessly self-referential Otaku no Video Gainax OVA and its depiction of zealous sakuga otaku. Anime fans adore watching anime be born over and over. It’s that simple.

Digimon Adventure “Home Away From Home” directed by Mamoru Hosoda

(Image via Hulu)

Today, I’d comfortably call some shots from Hosoda Digimon films great sakuga. But Koromon is still weird. Sorry. The love for sakuga isn’t a contest to one-up fans on production trivia or terminology. It’s about taking the time to appreciate the fact that anime is ultimately a collaborative artistic endeavor. From tracing back the lineage of animators like Yoshinori Kanada to Kill la Kill, to appreciating the visual sugar rush of Project A-Ko alongside slow-paced Ghibli films, “getting into sakuga” isn't a passive effort, nor a waste of time. Besides, wouldn't it be fun understanding how your favorite animator achieved your favorite scene? The phrase "labor of love" is cliché, but maybe that’s a good synonym for what role sakuga inevitably plays for artists and fans alike — work that brings you joy, no matter how you cut it. Who is your favorite animator? When did you get into sakuga? Let us know in the comments below!

Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more. He actually doesn't hate Koromon.

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uniarycode · 4 years

Text

Takari Week, Day 1 - Confession

Takeru has spent weeks trying to confess to Hikari but somehow he can never actually get it out. Hikari has a different interpretation on how they’ve been spending their time. Done as part of @takariweek 2020

Today was the day. Today everything would change for better or for worse. Today marked the first sentence of a new chapter of his life. Today was the day he was going to confess to Hikari.

Unlike all those other sentences he had to re-write.

This was not the first day this month Takeru had planned to confess. However, he was a romantic at heart, and no matter how much resolve he had beforehand somehow the moment never felt right. He would always be able to tell their grandkids about how they met, but he wanted to be proud or the story of how he first asked her out. And none of the opportunities so far fit his taste.

It was either that or he was afraid.

Even if his confession was successful, it would still mean a fundamental change would occur in his and Hikari’s relationship. And Takeru had a mixed relationship with change. Change meant the loss of his father and brother. Change meant the introduction of a strange world filled with monsters. Even the first time Patamon had changed into a new form had led to one of the most traumatic events in his life.

But change also led him to meet Patamon in the first place, something he wouldn’t trade for all the riches in the world. Change meant moving to the same school as Hikari, and meeting Miyako, Iori, Daisuke and Ken. Change meant that one day society might accept Digimon as a whole.

And whether he liked it or not, change was coming.

It was still surreal to him; his brother and Taichi had always seemed so close. They had never been part of the same cliques, and they spent almost as much time fighting as hanging out. But their friendship always eclipsed everything else, social standings, heated disputes, none of it mattered; they were best friends, through and through.

Then college happened. Now the legendary duo’s primary means of communication was via their siblings. Hikari would learn some new fact of her brother’s life, tell Takeru during the course of casual conversation, and Takeru would update his brother of the going-ons later that week.

It wasn’t just them. Even Mimi, who had an incessant talent for attaching herself onto someone and refusing to let them go, seemed much further from the rest of the chosen then she’d even been while she lived in America.

Takeru knew their bond was strong, that what the eight of them had done could not be forgotten or replaced. But even if distance could not destroy the bridge holding them together, it could certainly increase the hassle of travelling back and forth.

The last thing Takeru wanted was for that distance to appear between himself and Hikari. This was their final year in highschool, if he didn’t at least try now he might not ever get the opportunity again. He needed to try, despite the inherent risks.

Besides, Hikari had rejected Daisuke dozens of times, and they were still friends, right?

Gathering his courage, Takeru had asked Hikari if they could have a day to themselves, ‘just the two of them’. He’d suggested Wednesday, when neither club duties nor pressing assignments devoured too significant portions of their time.

Ever the romantic, he had it all planned out: First, karaoke. A good, private way to judge the mood, and get Hikari to let her hair down. Next, they had tickets to a movie, the new Disney flick that Hikari had been dying to see but never gotten around to (and without someone pressing, likely would not until it became available on dvd.) Finally, a romantic stroll on the boardwalk at sunset.

The boardwalk overlooking the bay.

The bay where they fought Ordienmon.

The bay where they’d been forced to kill one of their friends.

It was only after beginning his long-rehearsed spiel that Takeru had this epiphany, and, fearful that his date may have been quicker on the uptake than himself, he scrambled for a plan B.

Salvation came in the form of a nearby cat café, he knew as soon as he suggested it that Hikari would lose herself in the felines, paying more attention to the four-legged critters than she did to him, but it was worth it to avert potential catastrophe.

Fate still deigned to mock him however, from the instant he sat down a maine-coon attached to him, refusing to move from his side, or to let the memories of past failures escape.

All cats attached to Hikari, she merely shared them with the other customers as she saw fit. There was no doubt she enjoyed herself, but the moment had been well and truly ruined.

Takeru had managed to obtain an opportunity of redemption. ‘Same time next week’ had been the agreement, and he had near instantly resumed planning. Whatever he came up this time had to top what he’d just done, or else he might have to explain away his mistake.

But even the most perfect plan does not survive contact with the enemy, and the enemy presented itself as an ill-timed phone call from his father. One of his coworker’s households had apparently been graced by the appearance of a small white blob with a voracious appetite, and Hiroaki was wondering if his son could stop by after school and help calm the panicking mother, perhaps also giving tips for digital care.

Hikari would not allow him to say no, and insisted on tagging along. But the TV station itself held a lot of painful memories for the girl, every year she returned with an offering of flowers and incense for Wizardmon’s grave.

It was far from a total waste since an idol Hikari had been following was also present. Somehow the idol had overheard their arrival, and considered themselves interested in the pro-digimon cause. In fact, the idol had been downright helpful, asking questions of him and Hikari that the coworker was likely to embarrassed or too naïve to think of. Hiroaki ended up taking them all out for dinner, and they chatted for hours, finally assuaging the fear of a parent whose daughter now had a dog-head as a life partner.

By that point, he had to take Hikari home, with no real opportunity to confess, even if Wizardmon wasn’t on her mind.

The third attempt was a no go from the beginning, Hikari had been sent into a rare, foul state. All she wanted to do was eat ice-cream and rant, so they went to a dairy-bar overlooking the beach.

He’d let her vent when she wanted to vent, and when she was done he did what he did best: deflecting the conversation to some odd antics of Daisuke or his brother, anything to get her happy and cheerful again. Even after her mood had recovered, steering the conversation towards a confession felt like he might be taking advantage of her, or putting her on the spot somehow.

Cheering her up was reward enough, even as he paid for the forty-flavor super-jumbo, bottomless Sunday that they’d managed to make a liar out of.

(He’d eaten perhaps an eighth of it, there was no doubt in his mind that Hikari could have eaten the whole thing; but she at least wanted the plausible deniability to claim that he’d consumed half the calories.)

The fourth attempt was similarly doomed, he’d been too sick for school that day, and while Hikari had dropped by, he was too delirious to form a real confession, or for her to take any confession seriously.

The feel of her hand stroking his hear as she tended to him had been so heavenly though. He couldn’t regret the experience.

By this point Takeru was convinced their Wednesday gatherings were cursed. There was little reason Hikari would even see them as special. And while he always enjoyed spending time with her, especially just the two of them, he was worried that regularity may dampen the splendor he’d initially been going for.

This week he requested to move their weekly hang out session to Saturday. It would allow more time for them to be out at night, and thus more time for him to enact his perfect confession. Hikari’s father was away on business, and her mother had already agreed to be rather lax on her daughter’s curfew.

His mother had not, but she would not punish him if he told her he was out on his first date, nor would she punish him after getting rejected, yet another reason he needed to actually spit it out today.

And it seemed all the stars were aligning, on top of her father being out of town: a photography exhibition at a local gallery was going for half price, and her favorite indie group were headlining a public concert at the beach until sundown. Finally, there was a forecast for a clear, bright moon, and a local botanical garden was advertising a moonlit stroll through their flowers.

Hikari had agreed on one condition: they could wade through the shallows, but not do any real swimming at the beach. It had seemed odd to Takeru at first, but the beach had been more about the free concert than seeing her in her swimsuit.

***

When Takeru arrived at the Yagami apartment he was stunned by the vision of beauty that graced him. Hikari was wearing a strapless dress, black with accents of pink and white, that he’d never seen her in before. Based on how high her head was coming up his body, she had to be wearing quite daring heels as well.

And her makeup had been done with so much precision and effort he had to wonder if perhaps Mimi had come back to town to help her.

“T-Takeru?” she asked, and he realized he must have been staring.

“I’m sorry, have you seen Hikari? Brown hair, about yea tall,” he held his hand about three feet off the floor, “may have a family of ducklings following her around.”

“That was one time.” She scolded.

Takeru stood on his tip toes and moved one hand to sit above his eyes, like a visor. “Hikari? Is that you? Are you trapped behind this radiant goddess in front of me?”

A tell-tale pink infiltrated her cheeks as she turned around. “It’s too much isn’t it? I could still maybe change and-”

His hand shot out and grabbed her arm before she could escape. “You look perfect.” He said sincerely, pulling her in for a hug. “Besides, people at the exhibit will be expecting beauty and art. They just may not be expecting the source.”

“You’re just saying that.” She deflected.

He wasn’t.

Takeru was not the same connoisseur of photography Hikari was. When push comes to shove, he wasn’t sure anyone was the same connoisseur of photography Hikari was. That said, he enjoyed exhibits well enough. He liked to look at the pictures, and soak them in. Try and memorize every detail to regurgitate later.

Or occasionally, he would find a particular picture, and write a story in his head. How had they gotten here, to this moment, what did picture mean to the squirrel which was the focus? What was he doing immediately before? How did this moment change his life?

Such joys eluded him today, instead his focus was solely on the brunette accompanying him. The pictures only mattered in how they changed the expression on her face as she examined them.

After exiting the gallery, there was still about an hour before the band started playing at the beach, they stopped for a bite to eat, and Takeru did his best to fake his way though her questions on the exhibition.

What was his favorite photo? He named one on the left wall of the one she stared at for ten minutes, that had framed her head the whole time. Why? He made up some impromptu story he’d concocted about the scenery involved. It won him a laugh from her as he turned the questions around.

When they got to the beach, Hikari replaced her heels with flat sandals she kept in her purse. Takeru noted that he at least recognized the heels this time, unlike her dress, but he’d still never seen her wear them before.

Despite her insistence they not swim, (something Takeru now realized had to do with the amount of time she’d spent on her makeup,) hikari had instantly dragged him towards the water, to wade in the shallows. They didn’t go much more than ankle deep, anymore and they risked getting hikari’s dress and his shorts wet, but it had been romantic nonetheless.

When the main act began to play, they collected their shoes and moved towards the stage, communications dampening as the speakers drowned out all sounds but the band on stage.

Takeru didn’t need words, the sight of Hikari, framed by the sunset, losing herself in the moment was more than enough for him.

It was twilight when the band’s ‘second encore’ had concluded and the crowd began to peter out. There was a small ice-cream sack on the beach, and Hikari rarely turned down an opportunity for more of the frozen delight.

They talked about the concert, the waves on the beach, of everything and nothing all at once, until the residual light from the sun faded and the moon came in full force. In the city like this, there was always a glow of artificial light, but it did not diminish Tsukuyomi’s splendor.

Meandering towards the botanical gardens, continuing their chatter about daily life. Just outside Hikari stopped him, finding a bench to switch back from flats to heels, insisting it was more ‘proper’. Takeru didn’t let her get away unscathed, suggesting that if she wanted to feel taller, stilts would be more appropriate. She responded by playfully warning him that he may ‘wake up one day, two feet shorter’.

Neither comment had nearly as much effect as when the woman at the counter remarked on ‘What a beautiful date this would make’ and how she ‘wished her boyfriend had been so romantic at that age.’

Hikari’s face could be mistaken for a tomato, and Takeru adopted an uncharacteristic stutter as he paid their admission and ushered Hikari outside.

The woman’s words had a chilling effect, the natural conversation had all but dried up, replaced with subtle pleasantries and tepid remarks about the moonlit flowers. Before long Hikari had her camera out, taking pictures of the various plant life, abandoning most conversation all together.

Was this it, had such a small, well-meaning action already cursed him? Everything was going so well. Was he a modern Sysphus? Doomed to forever push himself up the hill of a relationship with Hikari only to fall down at the pinnacle and start all over?

“Takeru?” Hikari asked, snapping him out of his monologue, “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Takeru replied “Just thinking.”

She grabbed his arm, pulling him towards a nearby bench. “Come on, let’s take a break, these shoes are killing me.”

“The price of fashion.” Takeru said sagely.

After they reached the bench, and Hikari had relieved herself of her footwear, they paused, focusing on some hydrangeas flow in the wind, accented by moon light. A weight appeared on Takeru’s shoulder, where Hikari began to rest her head.

“Right now.” She said “This moment just feels so…perfect.”

Takeru took a deep breath. He had the most wonderful girl on his arm, after spending nearly eight hours with her. “Yeah, perfect.”

A perfect moment.

It was unlikely a better opportunity would present itself.

“Hikari.” He said suddenly, just as she chimed in with his name. “Sorry,” they said in unison.

Her head pulled off his arm, quite disappointingly in his opinion, as she turned to face him.

“Ladies first.” Takeru said “I insist.” She gave him a soft look, knowing that he wouldn’t let her win this one.

“Okay.” She started “This last month, has just been so wonderful, so amazing. I know I’m not the most experienced with this, and I know we haven’t really put a name on it, but it’s still been like something out of a novel. I guess I should expect that from you.”

She had begun to look down, rummaging through her purse, as takeru tried to sort out exactly what she was talking about. Had it already been a month since they started these ‘friend-dates?’

Hikari continued obliviously, “It’s not much, especially since you seem to do all the planning, but I thought you’d like it.” She pulled out a tightly-wrapped box. “Happy one-month anniversary.”

Ani-what?

Dates rolled back in his head as he began to piece things together; the dress, the makeup, the heels, those were all for him? Had she always been considering these less friend-dates and more dates-dates?

And he, in a move of pure coincidence, had moved this week’s date to Saturday, one month to the day of that first date, and even asked her mother for permission to stay out late.

Takeru did the only thing he could think of in the moment.

He laughed.

“Tak-Takeru?” she asked, and he could already sense fear and hesitation begin to well up within her as she saw her (boyfriend?) laugh at her anniversary gift. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug to dissuade any doubts.

“Happy anniversary,” he said when his hysterics died down. “One month, I’ve been trying to confess for a month, and you hit me with that.”

“Wait, confess?” Hiakri said, begging a laugh of his own that quickly spread to Takeru. “All this time and you didn’t even think we were dating? You completely stopped flirting with everyone else. Did you really think I didn’t…”

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” Takeru teased in response.

“Yeah,” Hikari agreed. “Well, if you finally managed to confess after all that, maybe I can do something I’ve been too scared to do for the last month.”

Takeru looked down at her, “What would that be?” he asked leaning in close.

“This.” She pressed her lips against his.

#takari #takeru takaishi #hikari yagami #digimon #its still the 16th here so it counts #takari week

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