#josey aimes

[amberheardarchive]

AMBER HEARD as JOSEY AIMES in NORTH COUNTRY (2005)

[joseinextdoor]

Midorikawa Ranko wears a suitjacket to school. She smokes leaves at sunset. She shatters tennis balls in a single swing. She is 70% legs. I would go to war for her.

[kaoruko-han]

I will really believe in this vibes of "female character matter" when fangirls will be able to see a kind hearted and sweet female character without immediately hating her and jealous her for getting the male's lead attention

[feministmetalgreymon]

Trans women and otokonoko characters are not the same thing

Senpai is an otokonoko recently came out and already there is discourse about it. Most of this discourse is based in two common misconceptions. The first misconception is that there are no trans women in anime and manga. And the second is that otokonoko characters exist because Japanese people either can't tell the difference between a cross dresser and a trans woman, or they are hiding trans characters by calling them otokonoko. The reality is more complex.

First what is a otokonoko? Otokonoko is a term used by both trans femmes and cross dressing men to describe a cute feminine amab person. Being a otokonoko and trans isn't mutually exclusive, but neither are they synonymous. In Japan you have quite a few celebrities that identify as otokonoko.

On the left is Michelle a trans woman otokonoko and on the right is Kaoru Oshima a cis gender male otokonoko. The term otokonoko does not refer to someone's gender but their presentation. Otokonoko like to present as cute and feminine regardless of whether they identify as men, women, or nonbinary.

In the context of manga both trans women and cross dressing male characters appear. And unfortunately there has been tons of confusion over which characters are meant to be trans women and which ones are meant to be crossdressing men.

So in this post I am going to explain the differences in how they are portrayed in anime and manga.

First we have to take into consideration target audience. Manga is divided based on age and gender of the intended audience.

These are romance manga aimed at a adult female audience. The one on the left is about a trans woman. While the one on the right features a cross dressing man as a love interest.

The first and most obvious difference is the story about a trans woman features her as the protagonist. These are both het josei romance. And within the context of het josei romance female protagonists are often written as a audience surrogate for women readers. So naturally when depicting a romance about a trans woman the story is written from her perspective as a woman. Otokonoko and other cross dressing characters on the other hand or more likely to be depicted as a romantic interest.

Another way they are differentiated is in how they are drawn. Adult trans women are depicted with obvious signs of using hrt. The woman on the left has breasts while the cross dresser does not. In Japan up until recently medical transition was necessary in order to change the gender on someones id or birth certificate. This is no longer the case. But regardless there is a strong association between being trans and medical transitioning in Japan.

Manga about trans people also delve deeply into the issues and experiences real life trans people might face. There trans identity isn't a mere superficial gimmick for the story but informs the narrative.

Some manga depict both trans women and otokonoko/crossdressers in the same story. In these works the differences between trans characters and cross dressing characters is even more obvious.

This image provides a helpful explanation on how manga differentiates cross dressing characters from trans characters.

So now let's talk about Senpai is an otokonoko.

Now I have already explained how manga portrays cross dressers in comparison to trans people. So lets ask the question, is Makato trans or a cross dresser. Well the manga tells us.

Makato is clearly written as a boy that likes cute things. His cross dressing isn't about gender so much as it's about his love for cuteness.

Unlike trans characters, cross dressing characters motivations for cross dressing aren't all that deep, it's a hobby or a aesthetic for them. They aren't motivated by a internal sense of gender. On the other hand trans character motivations for transitioning are deeply connected to their sense of self and who they are.

Hopefully this will help fans looking for manga featuring trans or otokonoko/crossdressing characters. In the world of manga trans and otokonoko characters are not portrayed as interchangeable rather. They written with clear and distinct differences in how they look, think and behave.

[mahoutoons]

actually getting into yuri makes you realize that the notion of yuri being made for straight men who fetishize lesbians is a misconception. while yes, there might be some yuri that's problematic, a lot of it is just regular love stories between two girls. some of it is more lighthearted, some are more realistic to the experiences of queer women. there's lots of yuri actually aimed at girls and women (such as kase san which is a shojo and run away with me girl which is a josei. revolutionary girl utena, one of the most popuar yuri, is shojo).

and a lot of yuri fans i've seen, including myself, are queer women who find themselves represented in the genre. as an aroace lesbian i felt truly represented by yuu koito from bloom into you and himari kino from whisper me a love song. there's a lot more positive representation than you think in the yuri genre. you just have to look

[centrally-unplanned]

FLCLick Noise - Archival Scan

We should be a go!

[Internet Archive Link]

FLCLick Noise is a book published in 2010 that is a deep dive into the production of and creative influences that went into the 2000 anime FLCL by Studio GAINAX. Framed as a conversation between FLCL director and series lead Kazuya Tsurumaki, and FLCL character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the two creatives watch the show together and record their thoughts episode-by-episode, alongside a prologue and a “bonus track”. It is in Japanese, with primarily text and screenshots from the show for use as conversational reference, though there is some art as well (almost all of which is available elsewhere).

FLCL is pretty infamous as a show for its free-wheeling compositional style and loose production process; everyone involved was able to throw in visual ideas, dialogue, plot concepts, and so on. Additionally, FLCL slots pretty clearly into GAINAX’s “Otaku commentary” oeuvre - it is very much anime, *extremely* anime, it would be ludicrous to suggest otherwise; but in addition to being anime it was also a vehicle for the creative team to put in ideas and influences that they believed the anime industry was not utilizing at the time, such as its rock-album concept soundtrack or its josei/seinen manga inspired-character designs.

It is this backdrop that makes a book like FLCLick Noise simultaneously more valuable for understanding FLCL than most other shows, and even possible to exist in the first place. Much of it is fun asides, many of the creative decisions are personal whims, but there is so much to those whims that it is worth reading a book about them. If you want to answer the question “why does FLCL exist the way that it does”, this book will answer that question in more detail than any other source will.

Alas this is a complex and large book - I will aim to translate it someday, but I cannot guarantee neither the timeline nor the quality of that translation as I am by no means a professional in that regard. If you want to get a sample of what the book contains, anime-youtuber-extraordinaire Hazel quasi-coincidentally just released a video essay on FLCL that has an entire section on this book and its contents (I learned of this book from her tweeting about it during research for the video, so the timeline is not pure kismet). If you want the highlights and so much more, it is an amazing video. Meanwhile, I do hope to post a “raw text” version of the different sections somewhat soon, to assist those who do want to read it themselves and would find that would help with the translation.

As always, I hope this is a valuable addition to the ‘akashic record’ of 90’s-era anime history, and gives something special to the FLCL-heads out there like me.

(I'll tag @flclarchives for the two-for-one this week, if they don't mind! And I apologize for the scan quality here - I wanted to do it non-destructively, as this is not a large print run book, which meant my typical flatbed was a no go and the new overhead setup I used was a comedy of errors. Fortunately this is a book about reading text, and despite the errors it's all perfectly readable.)

[derschwarzeengel]

me @ the antis losing their shit over Loveless all of a sudden, when this series has been a thing since 2002: ...Congrats, y'all immediately latched onto Soubi and Ritsuka's extremely complicated relationship, boiled it down to 'grooming', and completely missed the point that this is not a romance series and it in fact heavily tackles themes of abuse.

Both Soubi and Ritsuka are abuse victims with submissive personalities. Soubi was repeatedly sexually, physically, and emotionally abused ever since he was a young teenager, and now as a 20-year-old adult who has never received therapy... yeah, he has a very skewed idea as to what is healthy for a relationship. Especially since he then ended up in an emotionally abusive relationship with Seimei as Seimei's Fighter; he's never known what it is to have a healthy relationship--platonic, romantic, or sexual.

Ritsuka has selective amnesia regarding his older brother Seimei, has been domestically abused by his mother in the two years since Seimei's death, and it later revealed in the manga (the anime never got this far) to have been molested by Seimei -- not to the extent either of them lost their cat ears and tail, but it was still sexual abuse.

Yes, Ritsuka is 12 years old at the start of the manga/anime (and for a good chunk of the main story, I believe) while Soubi is 20 years old, but this is very much not a series aimed at kids/young teenagers. It's a josei manga/anime, with the target demographic being adult women.

It's not the author's fault that North American publishers (when it was translated into English) chose to market it for older teenagers . . . and 11 - 15-year-olds picked it up instead. When, again, in Japan, the target audience is adults.

I don't really have a major moral standpoint here; I'm just fucking annoyed.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

I made a comment about how the lack of shoujo, josei, and female aimed series in the Crunchyroll Awards is due to sexism within the anime industry and community on a Youtube post critizing the Crunchyroll Awards for being so Battle Shonen heavy (among other things), and some of the comments I've gotten...

One dude called shoujo an "ancient genre," even though shoujo series are created and made every day, and shoujo is a demographic marker - not a genre.

Another stated that "shoujo are polyamory shows which males aren't in to and can't relate to."

???

I wish shoujo series were polyam shows, that would be so cool! But, polyam in anime barely exists. The ones that I have heard of existing are usually male targeted harem series (where the male MC ends up with all the female love interests), Otome Youkai Zakuro (one dude ends up dating twins) which is a seinen, or Star Driver which is an anime original series that also had a seinen manga adaptation.

Where are all these shoujo polyamorous anime!? lol I would like to know.

Anyway, having these discussions with these men make it painfully obvious how...unaware many (not all, of course, but far too many) male anime fans are of shoujo, josei, and other female aimed series like BL, etc. While most female anime fans are highly versed in all the different genres and demographic markers. This is, of course, all largely due to systemic sexism based issues in the anime industry and community, and in cultures and societies in general.

[lattedusks-mochadawns]

Wild Kratts Villain OC

(Info Below ⬇️)

Name: Josey Archer Jennifer Vivian Vixen

Occupation: Solo Theatre Performer - Specifically using animals

Age: 27

Height: 5’4

MBTI: ENFP

Sexuality: Lesbian

Birthday: March 13th

Pronouns: She/her

MTF

Constantly craving for attention, fame and praise, Vivian Vixen specialises in delivering all sorts of performances around the world, ranging from personal playwrights to daring, dangerous circus stunts with rings of fire. One thing all these performances have in common are kidnapped animals taken from their homes, unfortunate unpaid performers for Viv’s shows. Her acts are always extravagant and eccentric, aiming for bigger and flashier, no matter how ridiculous it is.

Unlike other villains, she will give her captives names, excitedly dressing them up in tight, ridiculous, personalised outfits and pep-talking them like their human, saying they’ll be a star. She does treat them as performers, assuming all creatures to have their own personality and placing her trust in them. Of course, the creatures couldn’t care less for this, they just wanna be free. Sometimes, Viv’s schemes are very ridiculous, such as kidnapping a sperm whale, budging it into her stupid little clown car. She usually isn’t afraid of the animals, rather facing them head on. However, sometimes Viv’s desperate need for attention goes too high, as she will sometimes make her animal performers battle for her shows (usually the bigger animals). Other than that, she does show a form of care for the animals she kidnaps, though she is still very in the wrong.

The way she battles the Kratts is always different each time, being creative, zany and sometimes downright ridiculous ways. In the first encounter, Viv’s battle method was encouraging her captive animal performers to attack the Kratts by pointing at the bros and shouting “Get them my darlings!”, really placing too much faith in her captives. It had no effect as the bros picked up the creatures straight from her side and walked away in awkward silence. But the next times after that, Viv has come with more creative ways, such as turning their encounters into dance battles where she uses her acrobatics against the bros or (surprisingly sneakily) making use of film techniques used in horror movies to play with the bros emotions.

One thing to note, she will not team up with the existing Wild Kratts villains: Zach, Donita, Gourmand or Paisley. She already comes off as eccentric to passerbyers, so the villains find her an especially obnoxious nuisance. Even if they decided to offer teaming up themselves, Vivian has no interest in joining them, she does things her own way and proclaims she is a solo performer. (She will however, occasionally team up with some other WK Villain OCs I have prepared for later). Also, she thinks Zach is pathetic, especially having a teasing rivalry with him.

Traits:

Eccentric

Charming

Creative + Passionate

Chaotic

Loud + Obnoxious

Stupidly determined and Brave

Dramatic

Athletic and acrobatic

Easily Excited + Annoyed

Impatient

Emotional

Not afraid to get her hands dirty

Fun Facts:

Good with technology and computers too, though tries to use as little as possible in her performances

Her favourite animal are foxes (obviously) and rabbits too. Hence why she changed her name.

In addition, she will take any chance she can to snatch a fox in the area she’s in to use for her performance. She loves obviously foxes for their cunning.

She usually moves around via her trust clown car. However, she will get the chance to stowaway on planes or boats overseas if she can.

She has a whole wardrobe of all sorts of animal themed outfit just for her shows and can sew

She does not have the best relationship with her family.

She has a very powerful singing voice and hold notes for a ridiculously long time

Not doing the best financially

You can see a lot of the Furina inspiration in her design

Vivian specialise a lot in poetry, playwriting and prop making.

Her signature colours are orange and blue

[immaterial-pearl]

Recs of my fav things with mental illness/trauma/neurodiversity representation that lets their characters be unpleasant and full people:-).

These are a collection of things I personally found relateable, over the course of my life. Almost all of these are aimed at adults (but not all!) and it's okay to disagree with me on wether these are good or not, but I put them on this list because I like them and I like how they portray complex mentally ill characters.

Here’s a randomizer that picks one at random!!!

Pieta, by Nanae Haruno. Genre: josei manga (josei is manga aimed at women, usually ones in their 20's). Two girls who struggle with mental health fall in love.

Dungeon Meshi, dir. Yoshihiro Miyamjima, original story by Ryoko Kui. Genre: fantasy anime. After his sister is eaten by a dragon, a man does his best to get her body back and revive her. In order to survive he decides to cook monsters with his party, instead of trying to travel with food from outside of the dungeon. Personal note: autism meshi. My personal favourite is Kabru, because he's literaly me when it comes to Being Totally Normal About Human Interaction.

Burnt Sugar, by Avni doshi. Genre: literary novella. A woman starts losing her grip on reality as her mother starts losing her memory. My personal opinion: it's just amazing, god, one of my favourite books ever, no book ever portrayed psychosis in such a personally relateable way, even tho I differ from the protag on so many levels.

Promising Young Woman, dir. Emerald Fennel. Genre: a deconstruction of revenge films. A woman traumatised by her friends suicide tries to avenge her.

Simon Snow triology, by Rainbow Rowell. Genre: ya fantasy and romance, deconstruction of chosen one stories, wizard school. Note: the exploration of ptsd mostly happens in book 2 and 3. The first book differs both in subject matter and tone, and was written originally as a stand alone. A typical chosen one protag defies the narrative set on him. Personal note: the way trauma reflected on protag's relationship with sex was so well thought out. Reread this out of nostalgia recently and found myself stunned on how uniquely well it's written.

Fleabag, screeplay by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Genre: dark comedy, drama. A woman who seems aware of the fourth wall tries to cope with her best friend’s death.

Revolutionary Girl Utena, dir. Ikuhara Kunihiko. Genre: magical girl anime deconstruction, fairy tale deconsturction, psychological horror. A girl who wants to become a prince gets tangled in messy drama of the student council, after she wins a duel and accidentally becomes engaged to a girl they refer to as the rose bride. Personal note: FAVOURITE SHOW EVER, a queer classic, ectetera, the most complex show ever written in my personal opinion, the entire narrative is about patriarchy's evils, and damn, no show since did it better imo.

Boy meets Maria, by Peyo. Genre: romance manga. A boy falls in love with a member of his high school's theatre, who turns out to be a boy.

The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir. Genre: sci-fi fantasy horror. In a planet system of necromancers, a girl from a planet with a single living necromancer gets picked to be said necromancers swordwoman, when she tries to become a saint. Personal note: you will not believe the amount of Insane Undead Lesbians this series has. READ IT.

Bojack Horseman, main writer Raphael Bob Waksberg. Genre: dark comedy, animated sitcom. A horse/man way past his prime still lives off of money from playing in a 90’s sitcom.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, by Nagata Kabi. Genre: manga memoir. A depressed woman who has trouble with forming relationships tries to have her first time with a sex worker.

Pinky and Pepper forever, by Eddy Atoms. Genre: horror, dark comedy comic. Two art student girlfriends try to survive art school, and later meet again in hell.

A pale view of hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Genre: literary fiction. An imigrant woman, recalls her first pregnancy and a short friendship she had back in Japan.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, dir. Hideaki Anno. Genre: mecha anime, psychological horror. A boy is forced to pilot a robot by his absent father who runs a para-military organisation. Personal notes: second favourite anime of mine, every character is their own shade of unwell, there is a reason this is a classic.

Fight Club, by Chuck Palachniuk. Genre: thiller, literary fiction. A white collar man loses his apartment and moves in with his strange working class friend. Personal note: even if you've seen the film, read the original.

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. Genre: literary fiction, semi-memoir. A talented writer fights her suicidality and depression.

Crying in H-Mart, by Michelle Zauner. Genre: memoir. The author recalls her mother's last months and death.

My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russel. Genre: literary fiction. After her ex teacher is accused of sexual assault, a woman recalls her high school romance with him. Personal note: this is heavily inspired by Lolita, and even though I've read both I kind of prefer this book, fight me.

Summer, 1993, dir. Carla Simón. Genre: drama. A young girl spends her first summer in a new home after her parents die. Personal note: good representation of a young child processing trauma is so rare!!!!

My Broken Mariko, by Hirako Waka. Genre: josei manga. After her friend's death, a woman goes out of her way to find out why she died, disbelieving her friend would kill herself.

Everything, everywhere, all at once, dir. Daniel Kwan and Schienert. Genre: sci-fi. A woman discovers multiverse time travel while trying to do her taxes, and processes her troubled relationship with her daughter.

[argentior]

Headshots of the apathy adoring guys.

Sketch ver

apathy adoring is a self-indulgent rewrite of redo of healer that is probably at leasta little influenced by the way too many manhwa/manga with dubious relationships I've read. Which is to say for some reason I looked at Redo of Healer and thought "I can make a messed-up Josei story out of this" and ended up doing it. Still has dark themes though so like. Careful before you click.

Anyway. Notes on the guys as of Ch 11 and general apathy adoring notes/spoilerish recap if anyone cares to read that I suppose. Random summary stuff and fun facts.

The Boy | Keyaru

Protagonist of Redo of Healer. The premise of that thing is that this guy at 14 years old was abused physically and sexually for 2 years because his semen can raise the level cap of others. It be one of those magic with numbers and a limited slot of skills fantasy worlds. He goes back in time and carries out a long rape revenge seinen fantasy thing. I did not like that. I don't know why the fic got into my brain so much.

Still out for revenge in the fanfic. He ran away from Alban and managed to eat a couple more poisonous plants and fungi relative to canon before he was caught this time, so his immunity to drugs and poison kicked in sooner.

Was still caught, healed Kureha, allows himself to be abused for the revenge plan, that whole deal.

Interested in the maid because of previous timeline memories. Infatuated by the Maid/reader in this current timeline due to the chain of events that occurred that resulted in more interactions. (Came in later, she was assigned to clean him up, and it just went on and on)

A notable differences from the source material includes him playing along and "getting better" at healing publicly so he gets to stay out of the dungeon some days. I was getting tired of writing scenes in the dungeon.

Has introduced himself to the Maid/reader character. So she knows his name. She just refuses to acknowledge it.

The weirdest thing he's done in the story so far: used healing magic to kind of transform his hand into being like the Maid's wounded one and kissed it.

Main aim when writing him: Pitiful enough to make you help but there's something wrong with him that makes you regret it. Or maybe you're just being paranoid.

The Knight | Bako

Appears in the light novel/manga and is killed shortly after. Was used by Keyaru and his group because Bako was the "most sane of the knights" whatever that means. In the novel it was murder after his aid because he was involved in the attack on Keyaru's village and could have spread knowledge if Keyaru's party, in the manga it was because he attacked Keyaru's group in revenge for killing Renard. Renard had taken him in. He's vice captain of Princess Flare (first/main abuser of Keyaru)'s knights.

In the fic he's a coward who is aware of Renard's atrocities but is too attached to his father figure to really do anything about it.

Infatuated with the maid due to projecting. He is very aware of what the kingdom does to the boy in the dungeon but you know. Coward.

Savior Complex.

I hate his hair why are you so spiky.

Has no colored version in the manga. Was that insignificant. Chose blond hair for the "knight in shining armor pretty gold good and righteous" imagery and steel blue eyes and something dull and different from the red eyes of the other guys. Also. Similar to Renard.

Main aim when writing him: physically strong/imposing but kind of pathetic if you're not in a fight-or-flight headspace.

Yukito | Harris | The Rabbit

An oc I made to balance out the cast. What's a josei without 3 guys amirite haha

No but like sincerely. A character to balance out whatever freak stuff is happening with the other two. Also probably delves into the idea of free will and consent somewhat.

Is a rabbit demi-human (basically a rabbit boy). Escaped slave, gave his "true name" to the Maid/Reader after they met by chance, which by source material lore means that he is bound to her mind and heart, body and soul. She is Not Happy about this.

Has chopped his ears and tail off and is blending in as the "human" Harris surprisingly well. Being albino tends to answer the question of why he hides his face for most people.

Main aim when writing him: a decent, sweet person in unfortunate circumstances. Kind of the physical manifestation of the idea of running away, which even if possible the maid thinks of too much of a dream than actual choice.

Bonus

The Maid | The Reader

Low level low magic horrible stats. Instead of being a competent warrior like the other staff in the palace, she is just good at cleaning.

Very tired, very paranoid. Violent intrusive thoughts.

Wary of all the boys. No attraction to any of them lol.

But if pressed. And had to stick to any of them. It would be Yukito.

[amberheardarchive]

HOME > FILMS > NORTH COUNTRY > NORTH COUNTRY (4 085)

4 085 screencaps of Amber Heard as young Josey Aimes in North Country have been re-uploaded to the gallery in open matte.

[kalpalatas]

what demographic is hirakagi aimed at even. sensei calls it boys life instead of bl/shounen-ai and it's treated as shoujo but it's thematically josei structurally yuri and published as being shounen for girls. what the hell.

[silvermoon424]

what demographic (you know, shoujo/shounen/seinen/josei) does PMMM fall under?

I've actually tried to figure that out myself in the past but the answer is more elusive than you'd think. The series is both genre-busting and demographic-busting. The general consensus is that PMMM is a seinen series (meaning it's aimed at a mature male audience), but there are also elements of shoujo. In general the series has a broad appeal to all ages and genders.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group B Round 4: Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time vs Run with the Wind

#B7: Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time

Kid epicly procrastinates during class

#B5: Run with the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru)

Amateur college track team aims for big race

Details and poll under the cut!

#B7: Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time

Summary:

All Rumi Yokoi wants to do is focus during school, but she is constantly distracted by Toshinari Seki, her neighboring classmate. Paying attention during class is the least of Seki's worries, as he obsesses over intricate setups created using an assortment of items, from an elaborate domino course on his desk to a treacherous war played out with shogi pieces. Yokoi desperately attempts to focus in class, only to be repeatedly sucked into his intriguing eccentricities; however, they always seem to end up with her getting in trouble with their teacher. Fortunately, lessons will never be dull with Seki's antics around!

Propaganda 1:

Seki-kun is the sort of anime that stays underrated because it seems overly simple, but it really shines in its simplicity. The episodes are short tales of Seki’s epic procrastination and they’re absurdly amusing. Both the opening and ending are super funny and really well-thought-out.

It’s the anime equivalent of a hard candy. You can have an episode at the end of the day or between tasks, and it entertains you well without asking for much.

Propaganda 2:

It is a really short anime with very short episodes but is still very entertaining, and we never hear the character whose name is in the title speak but we still get a really good feel of his personality. It’s just really funny and a lot of fun to watch.

Trigger Warnings: None

#B5: Run with the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru)

Summary:

Former ace runner of Sendai Josei High School, Kakeru Kurahara is chased away from a convenience store for shoplifting. Shaking off his pursuer, he runs into Haiji Kiyose, another student from his university. Haiji is impressed by Kakeru's agility and persuades him to live in Chikusei-sou, the run-down apartment where Haiji resides along with eight other students. Having lost his entire apartment deposit at a mahjong parlor, Kakeru accepts the offer reluctantly.

However, Haiji reveals a secret during Kakeru's welcoming party: the apartment is actually the dormitory of the Kansei University Track Club. He unveils his ultimate goal of participating in the Hakone Ekiden—one of the most prominent university marathon relay races in Japan. Unfortunately, all the residents apart from Haiji and Kakeru are complete running novices. Worse still, none of the inhabitants are even remotely interested in being involved with Haiji's ridiculous plan! With only months before the deadline, will the fourth-year student be able to convince them otherwise and realize his elusive dream of running in the Hakone Ekiden?

Propaganda 1:

Okay so, finally a sports anime that isn’t set in high school. (There aren’t nearly enough set in college.) MC is basically Older Running Kageyama, in both looks and personality. He has to overcome his past issues with his old track team, and learn to open up. I love the relationships that form between the team members. There’s one who is just Not Here for It and struggles A Lot, who just wants to go home and read manga. (Hey it me.) There’s also a cute dog, and a lot of the bg music is by the same folks as Haikyuu.

Propaganda 2:

I genuinely think this might be the best sports anime out there. It’s an amazing anime in general, with good animation, a beautiful art show, and a great premise, though what really makes it stand out is the characters.

RWTW is a character-driven story at heart, with all the main characters given their time to shine. The main cast is very lovable, and their relationships with each other are depicted in a sweet but realistic way. The protagonist, Kakeru, goes through a great character development over the course of the show, from being a lonely outcast at the start to accepting the other team members into his heart as found family.

While I’m not a runner personally, I still found this interesting to watch, since along with the training there’s a lot of thoughtful discussion on the nature of running: what it means to run, to be a runner. There’s a very philosophical aspect to it, which makes sense considering that RWTW is actually adapted from a book. The last thing I’ll say is that as a college student myself, it’s really nice to watch an anime focused on people in college and not high school. Oh, and the soundtrack is incredible.

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol and Smoking

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[pumaloafing]

Kodomo: Manga aimed at children

Shounen: Manga aimed at teenage boys

Shoujo: Manga aimed at teenage girls

Seinen: Manga aimed at adult men

Josei: Manga aimed at adult women