#just noticed all 3 of these mangaka are women

[silvermoon424]

everyone knows Junji Ito, for good reason. do you have any favorite horror manga authors who aren't him?

Yes omg! As much as I adore Junji Ito and he rightfully gets a lot of attention, I wish some lesser-known horror mangaka got more attention.

I'd say my favorite non-Junji Ito horror mangaka is Sachiko Uguisu! Her style is gorgeous and her stories are so fun and unique. I highly recommend Shibito no Koe wo Kiku ga Yoi ("You Will Hear The Voices of the Dead") as well as her oneshot manga.

I also really like Kanako Inuki. Unfortunately much of her work isn't available in English, but there's still quite a lot you can read. I like Presents and Wish Fulfillment a lot.

Ahh, does Matsuri Akino count? I think she does. She's the creator of the Petshop of Horror series and her art style is sooooo beautiful!

[cereal-before-milk]

Q-TA MINAMI

is a non-binary, bisexual, and feminist mangaka. Their manga stands out for dealing with issues such as sexuality, both in adolescence and adulthood, motherhood or everyday life. Which is why the demographics in which they are best known are seinen and especially josei.

Also known as Kyuta Minami, were born in Unnan City in Shimane Prefecture on January 13, 1969, although they currently live in Tokyo.

Q-ta graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design Junior College Department of Design. Minami began working as a doujinshi artist during college and continued after graduating. Although at first they weren't very successful and couldn't make a living from it, so Kyuta was a "Pooh/ Poo Taro" (プータロー slang for unemployed, normally this term is not used in homeless people -wikipedia). During that time, they were living in the south exit of Koenji, Suginami-ku, Tokyo. That is why it is believed that hence their name, "South (Minami) Q-ta" (南 Q 太).

Their "official" debut on a large scale and that had an impact on the market was in 1992, with the Let's Play (Asobi ni ikô yo) manga in Wanimagazine (an adult/erotic content magazine) and obtained a mention Honorary Young Jump Rockie Award. Although already in 1990, the mangaka obtained an honorable mention in the Afternoon Four Seasons Award, in a category of young cartoonists, this caused them to take two years off. Those were the beginnings of what would be a long run of honorable mentions, such as the 1994 "Weekly Young Jump" rookie award, awards and drama adaptations of his manga, such as Yura Yura, which was dramatized in 2003 by the television channel of BS-i (now BS-TBS) in the Drama "Koisuru Sunday".

1996 and 1997 were very important years for Kyuta since they published manga in up to 3 different publishers, including the great Shueisha. All that variety made Minami achieve greater recognition and even loyal fans of their manga.

About their private life, Q-ta has been married three times and divorced twice. Their first marriage was with the mangaka Sabe, with whom they had their first daughter. After her birth, the mangaka changed her style a bit and began to make more childish manga and dedicate it to their daughter, like the manga Children's Games, published in 2003, which contains her personal experiences.

Their second marriage was with the poet Koichi Masuno, in between their first son was born. But there were bad feelings between the mangaka and the poet, so after the marriage, Masuno agreed that he would see his son once a month, something that Q-ta tries to avoid. The poet wrote novels and essays showing his resentment and even regret for the divorce (in case you are interested the book is Marriage disqualification, I have only found it in Japanese), in this he said that the mangaka earned more money than him.

Minami's last marriage is with the manga editor and ex-husband of mangaka Marie Yasuhiko, Masami Otsuka. With Masami, they had a son and a daughter, in addition to the son the publisher had with his first wife. So while raising a total of 5 children and taking care of 4 cats, Q-ta Minami managed to publish more than 40 manga, many of which are short stories or one shots, but unfortunately very few have been published outside of Japan.

Their drawing style reminds me of Kyoko Okazaki's style. It could be said that mangakas like Q-ta Minami continued with the legacy that the mangaka left empty, even if it was in an unrelated way. In fact, Q-ta is considered post-Kioko. It is noticeable at first glance that their drawings stand out for the almost absence of detail, although the dialogues in his scenes also follow the same pattern. With the slightest bit, the mangaka immerses us in their stories that are closely linked to the day-to-day life of women, girls, adolescents, and young adults.

Their manga are very peculiar (just like Minami) and they are closely linked to the everyday, to the weight of the monotonous and to trying to break that monotony that we have all faced at some point. Or not, the mangaka may simply want to demonstrate the drama that can exist in the "simplicity" of everyday life and, on many occasions, adding eroticism. And something that is a pleasure to read about their mangas is how Q-ta treats the sexuality of women, especially in adolescence/ young woman. Minami isn't t afraid to delve into a topic, which is often silenced or treated from a male gaze, and show how the girls who are the protagonists of their manga enjoy (in many cases) discovering and showing her sexuality.

➳ SAYONOARA MIDORI-CHAN 1997

*It isn't suitable for all audiences. It contains adult material*

- demographic: josei

- genre: romance, slice of life, drama

- French

Yuko, the protagonist, is a 20-year-old girl who is not very clear about things or what she wants in life, with the exception of one thing, her "boyfriend" Yutaka. She doesn't have hobbies or friends, nor does she look for them, although with two jobs it's not like she has time for it either. At night, she works in a bar next to where Yutaka works. That's where all the misfortunes happen to the protagonist, some even dangerous. Yuko should never have taken that job.

It is a very short story, so risking I will say that you do not expect a sublime masterpiece. Even so, it will surprise you how, in only 7 chapters, the characters are so well written and are so realistic that you can even identify with them. The narrated situations, the union between the employees, the relationship between the protagonists, the friction between the women, etc. They are things that could have happened to you, and that makes it interesting.

- in 2005 it was adapted to live action.

➳ POP LIFE 2016-2018

- demographic: seinen

- genre: slice of life

- English

Sakura, a mangaka, and Akemi, an event organizer, are two single mothers who end up living together and supporting each other in raising their children. The two families live in a somewhat small apartment, which could suggest that it makes it difficult for two small children, a 16-year-old teenager and two women, leading a comfortable life. But the reality is completely different and mothers seem to be happier in their new lifestyle than in the life they led before.

A breath of fresh air on motherhood, taken in a realistic way, showing broken families, but in a certain way complete. Although it is not only about motherhood, but also about death or how to handle a divorce. Many of the experiences that we see in both women are taken from the author's life, narrated from another perspective.

➳ HANDS OFF MY GIRL 2005

*It contains adult material*

- demographic: josei

- genre: slice of life

- Spanish

It is a compilation of a total of 8 stories, each one with a different genre, but all with the Q-ta Minami touch, so it cannot be classified into a specific genre, although the most abundant is slice of life.

The vast majority of these stories contain explicit sex, from TL to GL (yuri). But it is much deeper, it is not only simple eroticism. Hands off my Girl also deals with topics such as lies, jealousy, infidelity, unrequited romance, etc. Like in the second story, Broken Into Pieces, where the protagonist has sex with the man she loves, but he has a girlfriend, and he is supposed to love her more than the protagonist.

But there is something very curious, and it is that the last two stories have nothing to do with the rest. Diary of Another Young Girl narrates the life of a 10-year-old girl who is always in the clouds, has no friends and only trusts her cousin. And Days Spent with Her is an autobiographical chapter of the mangaka that narrates what a day is like with her and her daughter, who is still a baby.

➳ THE BLOOD RED BOY 2022

- English/ Spanish

- genre: drama, romance, bl

It is a very interesting one shot and only has 16 pages. The protagonists are nothing alike, they lead completely different lives and the only thing they have in common is the bar where they are going to drink and the reality from which they are fleeing. It is a story that touches on topics from gender to loneliness and the search for self-love. These are like pieces of an incomplete puzzle and you are the one who has to fill in the missing gaps.

➳ NOT ALL GIRLS ARE STUPID 1996-1997

*It contains adult material*

- demographic: josei

- English

Guess what? Another compilation of interesting short stories. Where girls start to discover their sexuality, fall in love, get disappointed and live their lives the way they want. Although there will be misfortunes, toxic relationships, unwanted pregnancies, infidelities and a lot of detail from the Q-ta Minami brand.

Q-ta Minami's stories are not characterized by being extraordinarily long so these are ideal to read when you don't have much time, but I really don't know what you are waiting for to give them a chance.

[pocasu]

(Preface before I start: I know what I'm talking about. I was in the APH cesspool for three years when I was young and impressionable, and I'm so glad I had someone in my life to set me straight. Also I'm Korean so white people do not speak over me kthxbye ♡)

I genuinely do believe Hetalia/APH is more dangerous and effective in indoctrinating younger children into far-right ideologies than other prominent JP imperialist-romanticizing media like AOT/SNK because consumers are able to fall back onto a cushion of, "It's just satirical humor!"

Himaruya (the APH mangaka) does so much to feed into that defense: harmless stereotypes like "Americans eat burgers and believe in aliens" are displayed right alongside horribly racist statements like "S.Koreans lay unrightful claim onto Japanese territory,"* and "Chinese people have noticeable accents when speaking Japanese,"** among many, many others. These are all supposed to be viewed as equally hilarious and ridiculous.

By making his audience more tolerant and receptive to these subtle slights against the countries Japan has colonized and brutalized, Himaruya makes their minds open to further right views that align with the messages of Hetalia.

Criticizing these "small" offenses are how we nip a new generation of growing right-wingers and imperialist JP sympathizers in the bud. I want to believe pairing this with better historical education will lead to a brighter future where we don't forget and bury the past, but learn and grow from it.

Footnotes from the second paragraph and additional readings are in the cut below. (CW: imperialism, sinophobia, sexual assault, CSA, death)

*APH's portrayal of S.Korea regularly gropes Japan's chest as a running gag, and claims they are his property. In Hetalia, each country's body part corresponds to a real life location, and Japan's "breasts" are implied to be Dokdo (or Takeshima, if you will). Dokdo is a small island in Korean waters that Japan has attempted to claim for only the past 3 or so decades to increase their ocean proximity. The groping itself is an obvious attempt at historical revision of comfort women: during WWII, Japan kidnapped thousands of young women and children as young as 12 from Korea, China, the Philippines, and (primarily) other Asian countries to place them in sex slave camps where soldiers would regularly come in to "release their stress" and "find comfort" by raping these victims. The JP government has yet to apologize for their country's crimes almost 80 years later, and still maintain the stance that the comfort women were "paid prostitutes who had a right to consent." Here's my question to them: can you call it consent when the women feared death if they were to push their rapists away, retaliate, or say anything other than "Yes?"

**Characters of Chinese diaspora in Japanese media having "the Chinese accent" is nothing unique to Hetalia, and many other famous media such as Gintama also have characters known for it (hello, Kagura). But just because it's commonplace doesn't negate that it is still deeply problematic. When you see Japan's history of brutal violence against China (Nanjing Massacre) and compare it to how Japanese pop culture fetishizes and sexualizes traditional Chinese clothing (commonly in the form of qipaos with breast cutouts and impractically high leg slits or a miniskirt cut, or all three at once) while simultaneously portraying the Japanese spoken by Chinese people as unintelligent and mockable, you can clearly see the issue.

These footnotes are here to guide you, but I highly encourage you to research on your own. I'll give you some places to start:

Recently, a Harvard professor came under fire for alleging that Korean sex slaves had chosen to work as prostitutes. (Source: AP) Over many decades, the Japanese government has consistently attempted to minimize and eradicate any mentions of their crimes towards neighboring countries, even to the protest of their own citizens. (Source: BBC article written by a Japanese woman) Most recently, they lay unrightful claim to Dokdo again in nationwide textbook revisions scheduled for 2022. (Source: Korea JoongAng Daily)

If you made it until here, thank you for reading until the end. My final request is that when consulting reports about comfort women, please take care to check that the author clearly condemns the JP war crimes. It is unfortunate, but the JP government pays massive amounts of sponsorship money to major educational institutions and news outlets to speak favorably of them.

[fourangers]

Hi Fourangers,

First of all, I love your blog so much. It's like going through a history back when Naruto Manga chapters were released weekly and your reviews were so Golden, Hilarious and spot-on. Am a new fan though (especially an SNS fan), I just got into this fandom only this year. I don't know if you'll answer my ask, but I just wanted to try and ask you few questions and I pray that you might answer me....

1. Since you've written in a post that you were active in the eastern part of the fandom, How was chapter 698 received in Japan? Because this is the chapter I inherently realized they both love each other. Yeah, I was too late but somehow whenever they interact with each other in previous chapters I always find them to be 'Weird' for just to be friends. Chapter 698 is just blatantly obvious that they love each other. Considering Homophobia and Shounen genre, I have no idea how it was perceived over there back then in 2014.

2. Which scene made you to ship SNS?

3. As an SNS'er how do you feel about the ending, where everyone was married off when they were just 19 just to make some shitty sequel??? As a new fan, I felt betrayed and It would've been perfect if they had stopped at chapter 699, leaving an open ending.

4. How do you face with the accusation about Naruto and Sasuke as brothers and we, SNS'ers are Incest shippers??? I don't care about that Indra and Ashura thing. But Naruto himself told he considers Sasuke as his Brother couple of times. And in Chapter 699, Sasuke acknowledged, 'He finally understood what it meant'.... It's the only thing that confuses me and I don't even have an answer!!! Plus, Kishi himself gave an interview that he based Sasuke on his Brother... I really wonder how he gave such an interview when he literally made them wear necklaces with each other's faces.

5. How was Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality perceived in the fandom back then??? Man!! Kishimoto just made lot of comic reliefs on their sexuality by making Sasuke on Sai jutsu, Naruto not interested in Icha Icha but making Reverse Harem no Jutsu, Naruto was angry when Konohamaru made Boy on Boy jutsu whereas he had no problem with him doing it. LOL. And all those homoerotic posters. What do you think about their sexuality, personally??

6. Why did Kishi had to develop their bond as Soulmates with some unintentional or intentional romantic undertones, if he was eventually going to pair them up with girls??? He easily could've gave many such romantic tropes to other girls and keep the bond between N and S as purely friendship or brothers. It still would've made sense.

7. Final one, Was Naruto really Nosebleeding when Kurama made a joke about Sasuke's kiss in Chapter 572???? We had a lot of heated discussion with other shippers where they claim that it was just a splotch of snot.

Sorry for the lengthy ask....... I am so eager to know your answers and I don't want to spam your ask box by sending multiple asks.

Thanks 😊😊😊

Hey yo! Welcome new SNS fan! I'm so glad that you joined us and I'll try to answer as best as I can. I'm not very active here on tumblr (except browsing lol) but your ask was such a delight to read.

1. I honestly don't remember. I think I didn't follow the japanese boards until the eventual 699-700 disaster. People were craving for reactions and I was curious about it too lol. And well...it's been years, I doubt I'll be able to find the reactions from that time. Imo, most readers don't care much about pairings, they just wanted to read about power-ups and abilities and the basic Naruto Vs Sasuke. Though there are some backhanded jokes about how gay Naruto is for Sasuke.

2. Hah. It's going to be very anti-climatic but it was when Naruto and Sakura were eating in Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto just used Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu and he busted his arm. Sakura was healing his arm and her attention was focused on Naruto. I used to be a NaruSaku shipper so I thought "Oh hey! This is the moment that Naruto would have a candid romantic moment!" But nope. He talked about Sasuke. And I was already getting suspicious about Sasuke's feelings towards Naruto ya know? And the whole "SASUKE IS MIINEEEEEE" in Orochimaru's lair. It was that moment I thought "you only have Sasuke in your head don't you, Naruto?" and started shipping SNS.

3. Hooo boy was I surprised when it was suddenly revealed that they had the basic heteronormative, boring marriage with bunch of clones of themselves. Everyone thought that it was almost like a bad fanfiction come true and some thought that it was fake. It was a pandemonium lolololol. I also thought that it was too lame to be true and lo and behold, when it came true I was floored. And then whenever Kishimoto threw new material, I got insanely pissed off because S*arada and B*ruto becoming pairing material is ok because they are a girl and a boy, and then they paralleled with Naruto and Sasuke which are only FRIENDS because they are both men. ARGH. Open ending was what Kishimoto planned from the very beginning but wrote a sequel to earn more money.

In that aspect, I made peace with it because of the whole anime/manga industry. I learned that, as a mangaka, you don't earn a lot of money with selling books, but rather with merchandise and profiting with sales right. And that guy have a family to raise, have two kids (which is hilarious about how B*ruto movie is his self-insert story), he needs a steady income. Also, I read reports about how anime studios are so poor and animators don't receive a decent income not to mention they are overstaffed and tired, and B*ruto is a good money cow for them to earn money so they can invest later on other anime they have more passion about it. So even though I hate this story with a strength of thousands suns, they are putting meal on people's tables and making them pay rents. I'm ok.

4. Lemme roll my eyes because in the Last movie they said that Hinata is related to Kaguya and so is the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan so they are all related woo hoo. But in the aspect of brothers because reincarnations bla bla bla, didn't Naruto himself said that he's no longer that brother, he's himself? Hmm...I gotta re-read it. One day. Maybe. lol. But I'm sure that he said "Sasuke is not my brother but I'm sure we'll understand well as friends" so there. Honestly, there are a lot of interviews out there and a lot of them are fake, so I'd always take the interviews with a grain of salt lololol. I do know from artbooks that Kishimoto wanted to create Sasuke as a rival-esque character and that was it. As he was developing Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, since he liked the whole yin-yang concept, whenever he wrote Naruto's story, Sasuke's was developed at the same time as his shadow.

5. I can tell from Naruto Forums (I used to participate back in that day) MOST of the non-shippers thought it was gay as hell, but you know...it was a relic of that time. While they thought it was gay, they didn't put too much thought about you know? Because it was shounen, and we knew that it was a joke that it couldn't be taken seriously. Of course, in the SNS fandom, we did make more analysis and there were a lot of instance when Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality was questioned. Some other non-shippers also thought that Naruto was totes gay for Sasuke (including a IRL friend).

Imo, Naruto is definitely bisexual in my view. Sasuke I think he's asexual or gay. He's attracted to Naruto, but mostly because of his connection to him, not because of his physical attributes, so yeah...asexual. Or Pansexual. Sasuke is more complicated lmao. Imo, Naruto could be pansexual too, come to think about it. Yeah, I guess both being pansexual can be valid.

6. He developed Naruto and Sasuke being soulmates from the very beginning, that was proven in his comments in artbooks and in the manga. He probably created with the intention of making it purely platonic, going beyond physical ties. Then he shot himself on the foot by drawing Naruto thinking about Sasuke on bed, talking about how Sasuke is cool, meanwhile Sasuke waxing poetic about how Naruto saved him. What gives? Lol. Yeah, I think he got too enamored writing their relationship that he didn't have time to write romantic ones. What I noticed that Sakura's popularity never was really high, so I could see some editors putting their fingers all over it and making her less relevant. Also, Kishimoto didn't know how to handle her, so when she got her time to shine was the whole fake confession disaster. Coupled with Kishimoto sexism and, in his words (Kurenai's flashback), women are useful to spout more babies, women was never really relevant in his story, unfortunately. Even Kaguya who was technically the big bad boss, was never really fleshed out in comparison to Madara. So the null het romantic moments it's not because he wanted to elevate SNS moments, it's more about how he's incompetent about it. It's either Hinata slowly elevating to a relevant status because forced interaction (Pain's sacrifice and Neji's death) or Sakura being obligated to be pining over Sasuke because she's a girl. It's even more painful to see that, if we ignore B*ruto, both girls are shown to be just talking with their kids and dusting shelves, basically being housewives, even though thorough the story (especially Sakura) it was implied that both of them have much more potential than being their husband accessories.

7. It was a splotch of snot. I can confirm myself lol. Whenever the chapter is out and fans would scan it to scanlate it, the editor usually would amp up contrast to max. So usually the lines get much more thicker than usual, when you read the official release which gets straight from the source, you can notice how the lines are more delicate.

Oh lol...but then we also have a lot of controversy about translating style. THAT one is a whole new can of worms to open.

Man I had fun answering your questions! Please send more :P

[penebui]

Lgbt manga pt.1

If you had to put up with my sorry ass for a few years then yes you know that I have been searching for lgbt mangas!! I put up with the pain of going through most genres that sexualize/fetishize gender identities and sexualities (like yaoi and gender bender) and reading mangas to find if they have lgbt content so you dont have to suffer the pain of trying to! Clown on this post and please face my wrath

Keep in mind that these aren’t in order of ratings!! Its just a list. I also give summaries of the plot, the things that make it lgbt, and some content warnings!! 

1. Welcome to Room #305! by Wanan 

Kim Jung Hyun moves into an apartment (room #305) with a friend of a friend, named Kim Homo! Who (you guessed it) is gay! As Jung Hyung begins to live with Kim Homo, he slowly learns to accept him for his sexuality. Once he overcomes his homophobia and completely accepts him for who he is, other lgbt characters pop in too!! They all have their struggles with their identities, and it is very realistic, but the art style helps keep all that angst at bay! As far as english translations go, we have several lesbian characters, and a trans guy. You can read the english translation on several manga sites, but if you want the link to the original since this is a webcomic, here’s the [link]! Unfortunately english updates are very slow since translation teams have other projects, and legal companies who translate take their sweet precious time. 

2. Bokura no Hentai by Fumiko Fumi

The title might seem misleading, however it can be translated as “Our Transformation”! Buckle up buttercup cause this manga will fuck you over emotionally. Three crossdressers meet up after being in a crossdressing group, with different reasons as to why they crossdress. Parou crossdresses to fall in love with a straight guy, Marika is actually a trans woman, and Yui crossdresses as his dead sister to “help” his mother with her grieving. There are some other characters who don’t fit within the gender norms! 

Now let me tell you if you are dealing with some trauma and can’t handle very sensitive topics, this manga might not be the one for you. Although it isnt just homophobia and transphobia, it also contains content of sexual harrassment, pedophilia, and suicide. However these topics are not glorified or sexualized. They are trauma of some of the characters and they must learn how to overcome from it individually. However, there is a happy ending for them!! Please let that be known! I enjoyed reading it if sobbing your heart out counts as enjoying it, because it has indeed pulled my heart strings (although I am not a trans woman, I am a trans guy and I can identify with only some of the things Marika goes through, as trans women go through different experiences than trans men and have it harder on them.) 

3. Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) by Takako Shimura

This manga is one of the most well known mangas realistically depicting trans identity. It became popular when an anime adaptation came out! However the anime adaptation only covers the middle school part of our protagonists lives, however it encourages you to read the manga to find out what happens to them and their life! We have two protagonists. Shuichi who identifies as a girl, and Yoshino who identifies as a boy. Shuichi is the primary protagonist while Yoshino serves as a secondary protagonist. 

This manga also realistically depicts how hard it is for transfeminine people to come out and be themselves while transmasculine people seem to have it easier (dont clown on this dear fuck). We have lesbian, gay, and genderfluid characters galore! Although they do have some touchy topics like transmisogyny and transphobia in general, it is less heavier than Bokura no Hentai.  

Some people might not like the outcome of this story when it comes to Yoshino, however I am content with it because it shows that people should be able to explore their gender identity, and they are welcome to change it anytime as they see fit. Sometimes you won’t figure out your identity if you don’t explore. 

4. Shimanami Tasagore / Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

Also one of the more well known ones, the mangaka of this beautiful story is X-gender and asexual! It follows the protagonist, Tasuku is contemplating suicide as rumors circulate that he is gay at his highschool (he is). He sees a woman jumping off a building nearby and runs to her aid. Her name is Anonymous/Somebody and she sees herself is asexual but other than that she does not like labels, she invites Tasuku inside the building she just jumped off, which contains a group of exclusively lgbt characters. 

We have both trans, lesbian, and gay people. We see their struggles. We see how they overcome it. We see how even we ourselves can harm others even if we’re both lgbt. Of course there is homohpobia, transphobia, etc. however it is all handled perfectly and we get the satisfaction of these characters speaking up for either themselves or for each other. I also love Anonymous simply because she doesn’t like labels and chooses not to use them (excluding the asexual part). Not everyone whos part of the lgbt community has a label, however they are still a part of us! 

5. Fukakai na boku no subete o (Fukaboku)/ Love me for who I am by Konayama Kata

Fukaboku is a very special manga to me, as it goes in depth on gender identity and sexuality. There are two protagonists, Tetsu who is a cis guy and supposedly straight (we later find out that he is not), and Mogumo, who is both intersex and nonbinary. 

Tetsu works as a chef at Question Cafe, and everyone employed in fanlations are called girlyboys, however in the official translation they use otokonoko which is anyone crossdressing as a girl regardless of their gender. There are plenty of transwomen, gay people, etc.! Tetsu falls in love with Mogumo, so he isn’t straight, however he isn’t explicitly gay because he recognizes Mogumo as what they identify as, nonbinary. It is safe to say that he could either be pan, bi, omni, etc. however we can’t confirm since it hasn’t been explicitly stated.

We learn how transfeminine people have certain struggles, like shoes that dont fit them, breasts, and voice feminization. We also have a dose of family struggles when it comes to Mogumo in later/current chapters. 

Before you dm me, yes. Yes I know about the shit prequel. The prequel actually features a gay couple in fukaboku. I have read it. Reluctantly even if it was only 24 pages. However just because the prequel is shit does not mean we should cancel Fukaboku. There is a thing called being critical of the content you’re enjoying. If we treated it like cancel y because of x, then things like persona 4 and danganronpa would be cancelled, but lets not get into that. 

6. Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku by Umi Takase

I haven’t heard of this one as much as I have the others, so I was very much pleased when I heard about this! There are two protagonist (yes there are a lot of lgbt mangas with two protags I’ve noticed too), Hime and Akira. Hime has a crush on Akira, who identifies as a girl. However this manga is also realistic, as Akira doesn’t fully ‘pass’ as a girl herself. Hime wants to do anything she can to help Akira feel comfortable on her first day of school wearing a girl’s uniform. Because of Akira being made fun of, Hime shows up to school in Akira’s male uniform to help Akira in solidarity. 

Their teachers are fully aware of Akira’s situation, however instead of discriminating her they accept her. Their homeroom teacher helps Hime overcome her internal problem about lashing out at others who try to befriend Akira, and she slowly realizes that just because people can’t accept Akira straight away, they will slowly get used to her and come to terms with the fact that Akira is trans in their own time rather than have it being forced on them.

Hime and Akira make friends slowly and we see that even little things (like calling Akira cute and/or a girl) helps Akira, even if theyre small things we dont usually notice. Hime also struggles with her crush as she sees Akira as a girl, yet she cant accept the fact that shes attracted to girls. 

Although Akira doesnt feel the same way as Hime does, she doesnt just like her as a friend, but also not as a lover either. Its safe to say that these two have a quasiplatonic relationship with each other. 

7. Yuzu no Koto by Arai Shou

I have noticed that there are plenty of mangas with transfeminine characters as the focus, rather than transmasculine, so heres one for the transmasculines! Ichigo’s best friend Yuzu comes back to school, however he is enrolling as a boy! It is very humorous as Ichigo tries to understand and get used to her best friend’s new identity. Although it is slow as each chapter is a single page, it is hinted that Yuzu has a crush on Ichigo (or if thats just me squinting really hard). 

8. Ohana Holoholo by Torino Shino 

It is a story about two bi women who are ex-girlfriends, raising one of the women’s baby together as a little family! There is also an idol/actor who helps them out and visits them occassionally! If you want something warming and wholesome, this is the manga for you!! 

9. My Androgynous Boyfriend by Tamekou

Wako, a woman who works for a publishing company is in a relationship with an androgynous/genderless man! Her boyfriend wears dresses, makeup, and is an instagram model! It is not necessarily treated as crossdressing. It is handled pretty well, and the chemistry between Wako and her boyfriend is very strong. They both love each other so much and help each other with their hobbies and interests. This is what a loving and healthy relationship is supposed to look like!!

10. Inside Mari by Shuzo Oshimi

It is debatable if this is actually considered lgbt, considered the circumstances, however I put it on this list because it shows how mental illnesses and disorders really feel to the person whos suffering from it. Please read throughout this whole section to understand why. 

Inside Mari is about a man named Isao who stalks this young girl named Mari. He follows her back outside of a little convenience store, but when she turns back and looks at him he wakes up inside her body and doesn’t know how to cope with it. He tries to find Mari while putting on a facade and living as her. He meets a girl named Yori who instantly recognizes that Isao isn’t actually Mari from his mannerisms. This girl has had a crush on Mari, just like Isao. Isao tries to prove to Yori that he switched bodies, and when he goes to his apartment, he finds someone living as him, but it isn’t Mari.

The more we delve into this manga, the more we figure out exactly what happened to Mari and Isao. As Isao and Yori visit and retrace his steps, Isao gets flashbacks to memories of Mari. Isao soon realizes that he isn’t actually the real Isao, but a introject of Isao, and that Mari actually has DID because of childhood trauma. The ending is bittersweet, as Mari comes back but Isao unfortunately becomes dormant/disappears since I don’t think what happened was them merging. 

11.  Seibetsu  "Mona Lisa" No Kimi He by Yoshimura Tsumuji 

In the world, people can choose what gender they want to be when they’re 12. When they’re 14 their appearance corresponds to their gender. Hinase however, is 18 years old and they still haven’t chosen a gender. They prefer to be neither. However when their two best friends suddenly confess to them, their hormonal development suddenly starts to increase. 

Imagery and symbolism is very clear in this manga!! As we revolve around the color blue/cyan and the debate and interpretations of Mona Lisa’s gender. I’m very hopeful that Hinase will stay as nonbinary rather than choosing a gender, simply because both of their best friends confessed and asked them to become the opposite gender to be with them. It is very much hinted that Hinase will be in a romantic relationship with their male best friend however. I love this manga simply because the protagonist doesn’t want to identify as either male nor female. 

12. Jun And Kaoru: Pure And Fragrant by Neiki Zui

Jun and Kaoru have a special condition, by midnight they both switch genders. Because they both have this condition, they hang out with each other and help each other with clothing, etc. It should be addressed that these two do not have the “I wish to be a girl/boy” etc. The problem that they have though is their growing crush on each other. They are either genderqueer, or genderfluid, or whatever you prefer since it isn’t directly stated within the manga. They’re not cis or straight! It is a very fun and comedic love story and I wish to see further updates on it!!! 

13. Sakura-Chan to Amane-Kun by Asazuki Norito 

This story revolves around Sakura who identifies as a girl and Amane who identifies as a boy. Amane spots Sakura dressed as a girl and instantly recognizes her, however instead of belittling her he asks her out on a date, only if she goes as a girl. During school however, they have to pretend to be the gender theyre assigned with while not interacting with each other. 

Since there is a lot more but I dont want to break tumblr, I will be making a part 2 and I’ll post it tomorrow! 

[arilkang]

Hello everyone, it has been a long time since I have written a long text here where I expose my personal considerations regarding some themes and today I thought well to do it. I'm reading Boku no hero academia for some time now and being on par with the manga, I would like to talk about something that some (especially on twitter) continue to say. No, it is not Dabi's theory - which I am sure he is what the theory says but Horikoshi doesn't want to tell us - but about a plague of fans of any work: the hatred for the main female characters and a sort of battle for the "ship".

I don't go into fandoms for this very reason: you are toxic, let me tell you. You are among the most toxic people in the world, together with those mythical Renee Young haters with whom I screamed some years ago because they actually don't know what human dignity is.

Speaking of BNHA, I have noticed the greatest hatred lies in Uraraka Ochaco, which is seen in these following ways:

1) she's useful only as Midoriya's "love interest"

2) useless because it doesn't do anything really important, Tsuyu is more active.

3) She has no real ambition

4) she's the same as Sakura and therefore useless.

5) other things I don't remember.

Now I analyze point by point, just because I want to talk about it. Let's assume that this hatred towards almost exclusively a female character denotes a profound misogyny also because, I would like to tell you, why don't you say something about Aoyama? I don't think he's so useful. Or Mineta. Or other male characters who aren't that useful.

But no, Uraraka is worse. Uraraka is not only a "love interest" but she is much more, she is a character that makes such an important and strong growth that it is only to be admired. If she was just a love interest, in theory she had to follow Midoriya wherever he went but hey she doesn't. Furthermore, the relationship that they have is very healthy and constructive, therefore reducing it to a simple "love interest" is disparaging. There is mutual trust, mutual respect and affection between the two and this is more important than you think.

On her "uselessness" frankly I don't even talk about this because in each arc Uraraka proves important and necessary for some dynamics. Re-read the manga.

True ambition, she is said to have no ambition. "I want to help my family", "I want to help other heroes." these are not valid ambitions? I think they are extremely valid and concrete compared to those of Midoriya himself or Bakugo (one who wants to be a hero like All Might and smile like him and the other for purely personal ambition and affirmation).

But now I want to talk about the most important point: the comparison with Sakura. And I also add Orihime so you can understand better (and more people will criticize me I know). This is connected to the "uselessness" point.

Sakura Haruno (Naruto) had crazy potential in the first part of the manga, especially when she became aware of having to improve so that she would not be continuously protected by Naruto and Sasuke. Huge potential of an emancipated woman who defines herself... That Kishimoto has not been able to manage. She become a medical ninja, she become strong but not strong enough because she still needs to be protected regardless. Maybe only in the last part of the manga but not much. From a woman with enormous potential she becomes the violent one who speaks only fundamentally. And now let's talk about violence. She is violent against Naruto. Only against him. Why didn't she have the same attitude with Sasuke who, in truth, abandoned her and then attempted to kill her? In Sakura there was absolutely no growth in feelings, admitting how wrong Sasuke was and condemning him, going to him and punching him (I know she tries but she remains with the thing that "I'm in love with you" but how can you be after what he does?) and let's not forget how she faked a confession to Naruto because she wanted him to stop following Sasuke. This is the thing that makes Sakura fundamentally toxic: if Naruto said "okay okay, I'll be back with you." she would lie to him and herself practically for her whole life and I don't think this is a healthy behavior. Rightly, at the end of the manga she manages to assert herself a bit, but she had a great potential not managed well. Don't mention me Hinata and the "is worse than Sakura and at the end of the manga she has become a housewife" because I would say that in the meantime Hinata has been strong and important in her being a secondary character and now I will reveal one thing: if you go to search on the internet for feminism in Japan, you will see an interesting thing. Now things are changing, however, basically a woman, if she works and she will marry someone and have children, she quits and stays at home. There are several researches that talk about it - but they also underline that this dynamic is changing - so Hinata's is a cultural heritage. Present in all women (including Sakura anyway, Temari ect.). If you know something about this, or you want to correct me, you can but in a polite way.

I also put Orihime in the middle, just to make people understand how badly certain female characters have been handled. Orihime is a cute girl, adorable and to be embraced continuously but... But everything she does revolves around Ichigo. She continually thinks of him, the continuous "Kurosaki-kun" which when I followed Bleach was a kind of ironic mantra. Her powers, obviously only healing and this irritates me, however extraordinary they were, they do not evolve while we have the great protagonist that is all him (shinigami-hollow-fullbringer-quincy and 400000 things). She doesn't evolve, or rather Tite Kubo doesn't make her evolve much. And if you notice, the only character who deals with these things is Rukia (she's violent too unfortunately but she's not toxic towards someone) in my opinion the only female character built well. Orihime is truly totally influenced by Ichigo without changing that much. By the way, why are healing powers associated only with women? Why can't they have an offensive power?

And from here we move on to Uraraka: she is not violent towards Midoriya or others but sje respects and supports them, she grows continuously and she wants to improve (ex. those traineeships that she does with Gunhead and Ryukyuu), takes inspiration from Midoriya to improve, not to stay with him on Sakura/Sasuke or Orihime/Ichigo style. She continues to evolve and improve and with her all the female characters and this gives honor to Horikoshi both for the realistic and strong construction of women and for the representation (we have a bisexual character if you remember well) then all the criticisms, in the face of this reasoning, they fall and they are really childish because you are not denigrating a character, but the whole work of a mangaka that, apparently, you have not understood.

With that, happy reading 💫

[marshmallowgoop]

Kill la Kill Books!

Got a small haul of Kill la Kill books the other day!

SUSHIO CLUB LOVE LOVE KLKL has been a glaring omission from my collection, so when I saw a listing of the book for 3,600 yen—which usually goes for 10,000+ these days—I bought it right away.

And I figured I might as well pick up a few more things while I was at it, right? To make the shipping more cost effective?

That’s definitely the only reason.

But anyway, my growing mass of Kill la Kill books and magazines has now reached 36 items.

And I’ve talked about some of this merch before; you can find my post about the Febri volume 21 issue here, my post about Fractal 10 here, my post about the Talking About Composite books, The Complete Script Book, and The Art of KLK Vol. 3 here (and I have a whole tag for the script book, #klk-script-book), and I yammer on about the nine Blu-ray key art collection and artboard books here. I also have several essays discussing the official manga adaptation: 

Kill la Kill Manga Chapter 7

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3, Chapters 8-17: Thoughts and Impressions

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3: Translation Notes, Anime Differences

Kill la Kill Manga Volume 3: Worth it?

Manga Differences

And now, I wanna briefly (lol) yap about the six new additions to my collection.

Because I have a lot of love in my heart for this ridiculous, ridiculous anime.

SUSHIO CLUB LOVE LOVE KLKL

So, I got this book for cheap because it was allegedly in poor shape and “not suitable for collection.”

(My reaction to “not suitable for collection” is always, “It’s suitable for my garbage collection! I’ll give your ‘ugly’ copies a loving home!”)

But, like? There are a couple of dents and folded corners, but the condition is really not bad at all. The art is completely intact and beautiful.

Sushio—who is the character designer for Kill la Kill—has shared much of this book on his Twitter, and I would definitely recommend fans of the series to scroll through his photos and have a look. There’s such a cute, sweet charm to Sushio’s work, and along with the polished, colored pages from LOVE LOVE that he shares online, he also shares sketches of his own fanart for the series, too.

(Okay, maybe this isn’t exactly the best demonstration of Sushio’s absolutely precious artwork, but. It’s one of my favorites from the book. Ryuko resorting to such wild extremes to be with Senketsu again is just. My heart. Kill la Kill is actually adorable.)

In any case, I don’t think any of the content in LOVE LOVE was new to me, but there’s just really something about having the book in my hands. I know there’s such a strong desire for digital media these days, but call me old-fashioned—there’s nothing quite like holding this art and really seeing every stroke and line in person.

Being able to physically flip through the pages also makes me notice things I didn’t before. For instance, I found myself charmed by the little detail of Barazo, Mako’s father, loving and adoring Sukuyo, Mako’s mother.

I mean, aw? It’s stuff like this that really makes me wish Kill la Kill were a kids’ show (as Sushio himself seemed to want!) Barazo is so much more likeable when there aren’t any signs of his less-than-pleasant behavior and he’s a loving, supportive husband and father.

Seriously!

Another thing I notice from having the book now is the order in which the pages are organized. Like, I couldn’t help but be amused about how Ryuko gets her own page here...

(Smiling for her Starketsu in the sky, right? Just like he asks her to in “Till I Die”?)

...and then the next pages have Satsuki beside Nonon and Mako (and Mataro) beside Ira...

...which strikes me as a bit funny because this isn’t exactly how Sushio organized his Tweets of these images. There, Satsuki was next to Ryuko, Nonon was next to no one, Mako and Mataro were next to Ira, and Uzu was next to Houka:

So, in LOVE LOVE, is Sushio deliberately trying to say something with the changed placement? Especially when it comes to the direction of the ladies’ eyes? 

Yeah???

I kid, I kid.

(But really, it looks much better to give Ryuko her own page and not have Nonon standing next to nobody.)

Also, one of the first things that popped out to me about LOVE LOVE is how Senketsu’s pages are right next to Ryuko’s pages. As they should be.

They belong together, okay?!

And speaking of Senketsu and Ryuko, I remember a comment years back that said you could probably find pics of your OTP with matching expressions in this book.

But, uh. Just compare Senketsu posing to Ryuko posing...

They’re kind of different types of people, lol.

But hey, they do both make cute sneezy faces.

As a final note about my copy of LOVE LOVE, I will say that my only disappointment is that I received the version with print errors. As such, this page of Nui...

...was accidentally printed twice, and I miss out on this page of Nui as a result:

There are also some minor goofs, like Mako’s arm getting cut off by the background here:

But considering I got this beautiful thing for only 3,600 yen, I really can’t complain!

Now I just need Sushiotan 2 to complete my Sushio Kill la Kill doujin collection....

Takepro

This charming little volume is a collection of animator fanart for the show (and other shows). The book includes a short profile for each featured artist, and their big Kill la Kill pieces are—like all titles in Kill la Kill—named after classic Japanese pop songs. You can read and see more about Takepro here.

It’s hard to pick favorites from this doujin because there is so much adorable and wonderful artwork, but I especially love Naoki Takeda’s “ここに幸あり,” or “Here is My Happiness,” named after the song by Yoshitsu Ootsu.

The picture features Ryuko, Mako, and Satsuki sitting together, all having a good time, and there’s just something so sweet about seeing happy Satsuki.

I also found an English translation of the song’s lyrics, courtesy of beast-senior 810:

The storm breaks and the rain falls Thorny as the women's path might be I would still keep on living with you And my happiness is here in the blue sky 

I could not tell anybody of my scars A bird of love that resided in my chest If only I wander about crying and evading A sorrowful night wind will blow through the streets 

I call out your name from the bottom of my heart Who will be awaiting me at the end of the echoes? Snuggle up to you and cheerfully look up to your face And my happiness is here in the white clouds 

Aw. This song is so Satsuki.

And speaking of Satsuki, I can’t get over how cute she and Ryuko look on the cover of this book. Like??

Aw! 

I also am quite fond of a small piece by Syuichi Iseki, which is in a super-deformed style and features Satsuki comforting Nonon after her uniform is destroyed during the Naturals Election. Nonon cries, and Satsuki pats her head. In the background, Ira looks distressed at the display, Houka seems to be deciphering it, and Mako smiles. It’s really, really cute.

Yoshie Endo’s “僕笑っちゃいます,” or “I’m Laughing,” named for the song by Shingo Kazami, is also real cute. It depicts Mataro holding up Guts, who licks his face. It’s another one of those, “I-so-wish-Kill-la-Kill-were-a-kids’-show” kinda pieces....

Hiroyuki Imaishi’s Doujin

Admittedly, I don’t actually know the title of this one, but it’s a very small doujin by Kill la Kill director Hiroyuki Imaishi. There isn’t too much Kill la Kill content, but there are two pages of Ryuko and Satsuki in their respective Kamui, accompanied by some text.

I thought the text might be something about the show, but it seems like it’s actually about Imaishi’s experience working on the show. And... it’s rather sad? He talks about how he’s able to accomplish more now, but he also has to consider a lot more as well, and he doesn’t have the time and energy that he used to. It’s a lot about aging and growing old.

At least, I think that’s what’s being communicated. Here’s a transcription, though:

なんだろう。

初会社役員とか。

昔よりやれることは増えたが考えなきゃいけないことも増えて時間と体力は足りなくなっていく。

年相応とも言える。

だけどいつまでも大人気なく生きていきたいものだ。

One last interesting thing about this doujin is the material it’s made from; it’s different than any other book in my collection. I’m not an artist, so forgive me if I sound totally ignorant here, but the paper reminds me watercolor paper. It definitely took me by surprise!

SL Sketch 3

SL Sketch 3 is a small fan doujin by Buzin. You can find most of the art in this book on their Tumblr!

Sketch 3 is a really fun collection of sketches, and I especially love the cover. I’m so desperate for art where Senketsu is acknowledged as an actual person that I’m just all heart eyes over Ryuko smiling at him here.

March 2014 Newtype

Okay, so this one’s really a magazine, not a book, but wow. I was taken aback by what’s inside!

I’ll definitely have to look at this issue in more depth because there are a bunch of Kill la Kill goodies in here that I didn’t even expect. And I don’t think most of it has been translated at all!

I also realized that I’ve been mixing up my Newtypes and will have to fix my resources page. But on the bright side, there is so much to love about this issue.

Like, the Elite Four Light Novel got reprinted in the Kamui Bansho, but it’s way better here because it has pictures!

I also love how Nonon, out of all the Elite Four, is the only one who stands beside Satsuki in these illustrations.

And I don’t even know what this is (VR or something with Ami Koshimizu, Ryuko’s VA?), but it’s cute and got me smiling:

And Ryo Akizuki, the mangaka for the official Kill la Kill manga, made a small comic about his experience working on the project. I like the little title panel with Ryuko, Senketsu, and Mako a lot:

Plus, there’s a shiny ad for the manga’s second volume, too:

One of the things that most caught my interest, though, is an article about the second opening song for Kill la Kill, GARNiDELiA’s “ambiguous”:

I got so curious about this bit because I’ve heard varying, conflicting information regarding the meaning behind the song’s lyrics. On the one hand, I’ve heard that half of the song is from Ryuko to Senketsu, and the other half is from Satsuki to Ryuko. On the other hand, I’ve heard that the whole song is from Satsuki to Ryuko. But I’ve never found any concrete sources for either of these claims!

So, I was hoping the Newtype article would help, but it’ll take a lot more digging into. Still, briefly looking over the page, I did find this bit: 

そんな私の思いと歌詞が一致しました。 『キルラキル』でいう流子ちゃんと神衣・鮮血の関係に近いかもしれませんね。 

Roughly, it says, “As such, my thoughts about the song agreed with its lyrics. You might say it’s like the relationship between Ryuko and Kamui Senketsu in Kill la Kill.”

I’m not totally sure about the context here—and I admittedly don’t even know the author’s involvement in the making of "ambiguous”—but this article might explain where the Ryuko-and-Senketsu reading of the song came from. It’s definitely something I’d like to delve into more.

Because I really love the Ryuko-and-Senketsu reading of the song, okay, and I’d love some actually official backup for it!

Finally, another favorite part of the Newtype is simply all the art. Takafumi Hori’s spread is particularly great:

(You can find a cleaner image here.)

Just... dang. I wish I got a little poster of this instead of the ones actually included in the Newtype! The artwork is just stunning.

And one of the cutest things about the Newtype is all the fanart from its readers! I particularly love the little Valentine’s Day special; there’s an illustration of Ryuko giving Senketsu chocolate, and there’s also a Ryumako piece, too!

Kill la Kill Storyboard Ep. 01

Finally, one of my favorites from this haul is the Kill la Kill Storyboard Ep. 01. The book was included as a shop bonus for the original Japanese Blu-ray/DVD release, though I was able to win it by itself in an auction. I do think I overpaid a bit, but gosh, it’s a lovely addition to my collection. It’s just really neat to see the production process of an anime in action. I wish there were storyboard books for every episode in the show!

Hiroyuki Imaishi’s storyboards are also just super amusing. Here is a small sampling of some of my faves (because there is so much gold in here, my goodness):

And that’s all for now!

...I guess this really wasn’t so brief at all, huh?

Shocker.

[iamwhelmed]

The Jisatsu Experiment: Chapter 3

Summary: Years after Conan leaves with no explanation and Haibara becomes a distant Miyano Shiho, Ayumi graduates and heads off to Himura University-- as far away from Tokyo as she can get. She finds it hard to leave Conan and Haibara behind her despite Mitsuhiko and Genta moving on, but the mystery she's about to take on is going to begin unraveling a past she'd repressed, and it's very possible she's bitten off more than she can chew. Just how deep does this case run? Shinichi may just have to step in, but can he and Shiho stomach the mess Ayumi has gotten herself into, or save her from herself?

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

If you like my work, please support me with ko-fi!

Thanks for reading everyone!

I know those of you reading are eager for more canon characters to show up. In the meantime, I've posted three playlists with some code and evidence for you to decipher! Ayumi's Playlist, Katashi's Playlist, and The Jisatsu Experiment Playlist. You can find them here:

https://iamwhelmed.tumblr.com/post/188356540429/the-jisatsu-experiment-ayumis-playlist

https://iamwhelmed.tumblr.com/post/188346556479/the-jisatsu-experiment-katashis-playlist

https://iamwhelmed.tumblr.com/post/188268714474/the-jisatsu-experiment-playlist

Happy hunting, everyone ;) If you take a crack at my codes, I'd love to hear what you got.

It was dark, so late at night that the students bustling about were tired, drunk, maybe both. Either way, too preoccupied with getting home, hitting bed, propositioning smarter students to do their homework-- too preoccupied to notice him or the woman slung over his shoulder. She was young, and feeble, and he’d known before the bruises and the cuts and the burns that she wasn’t who they were looking for. No, her eyes were too aqua and her hair was too yellow to be the girl he remembered, but he kept that to himself. He flung her frail bones over the grassy hill, watched her limp arms splay like an angel and legs knock like a tired bow, and he sighed. He’d done this so many times before, and he wondered if there had ever been enough humanity in him to feel something when his bloodied hands left another mark on another soul. She was innocent, so innocent, just like the rest, and they were good souls who would never be the same, but they weren’t her. They could never be her. Nobody could ever be her, not with those eyes and those hands and that voice he remembered, that stuck to the back of his mind like tar and ate away at his obedience. This girl, the latest, she was never the one, but she’d been good. He’d seen it in her eyes as he watched that quack stick nails in her fingers; dumping her body in the park seemed only fitting for a girl with blighted virtue. Her chest rose and sank in shallow breaths, and he watched her for a moment, wondering if he could remember how the real thing looked while she slept.

His phone buzzed, and he shook his hand of gore before he checked it. Another name, another girl, another fake, another order, this one named “Katou”; he pursed his lips and glanced at the martyr before her, pondering the potentiality of The Good One ever unearthing his plight. If he did his job, the one no soul but himself had granted him, then she never would. This girl, she was another fake, as would be the next.

The bookstore was new and full, and small but colorful. Takumi’s eyes lit up as they walked through the door, like saucers filled with purple paint. She’d have giggled at him had the cafe’s menu not caught her attention-- so many parfaits with cute bunny faces and mouses with whiskers. Ayumi was in heaven, she had to be. She raised a cautious finger to wipe at the drool she hoped wasn’t lining her chin. Katashi and Youta, who stood a few inches behind her, were not as amused, Katashi staring straight ahead like his determining stare would change the rows of american-imported comic books and manga before him, and Youta, whos head was bouncing around, looking for all the world like a confused bobble head. Katashi mumbled “Oi, Ayumi-chan. When you said your friend wanted to go shopping…”

Youta picked up the back end: “...We thought you meant we were going to the mall.”

Ayumi glanced over her shoulder, waving an apologetic hand. “Sorry, Takumi-kun has wanted to go here since the semester started, and if we’d gone together, well…” Takumi, who was no more cognizant of their conversation than he was of the other wandering students he was barreling over, was already stalking the aisles for a hunt. She wasn’t sure if he was looking for a specific manga, or genre, but the looks on the faces of inconvenienced customers was worth the mystery.

Youta scoffed, “What?”

Akiko, who had trailed towards the end for a good portion of their trip to the bookstore, elbowed him as she strutted by. “It would look like they were on a date, stupid!”

“What? Who cares?” Youta turned his attention to Ayumi, who was raising her hands in defense. “We go out together all the time!” He glanced at Akiko. “Tell them, Nakashima!”

Akiko, who was more than used to dealing with Youta, rolled her eyes, turned her fixed attention to him, and pointed in the direction of the cafe with her thumb. Youta glanced, finding that Ayumi had already departed from the conversation and was ordering as much as her stomach could handle at the register. “OI!”

Akiko shrugged and ambled forward, dismissing Youta with a wave of her hand. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand, a boy who doesn’t know the first thing about girls…” Youta swung back around and began squabbling with Akiko, about this and that, this being nothing to do with dates and that being nothing to do with girls. Katashi observed from a safe distance with a somewhat irritated level of amusement, thinking to himself that the situation seemed entirely too annoyingly familiar.

There were so many things she wanted order-- small lemon cakes and strawberry pastries and macaroons with small polka dots-- but she’d managed to gather her self-restraint and settle for a parfait with a kitty’s face on it and a small mocha coffee, of which the cafe had affectionately dubbed The Chocolate Savior. She’d ordered with stars in her eyes and the barista had laughed at her enthusiasm and took her order with a smile. The order would take five to ten minutes, and she’d decided to scan the rest of the menu as she waited. Other coffees and teas were for sale, some with bakery tastes like vanilla, and others with summery seasonal hints like orange and lemon. It all looked amazing, and her mind was running wild with what it all would taste like. It was amid her fantasizing that her ears caught the tail end of the playing news segment: “-- victim found in Himura Knights Park. Fujioka Yumi is currently in emergency care and is expected to make a full recovery.” She sometimes wondered if the rest of the detective boys had the sneaking, constant urge to explore and examine promising cases, and she often times came to the conclusion that they presumably did. Those were times like the current moment, where she tasted the possibility of a case on her tongue, and she had the urge to reach for her badge despite the distance. She edged closer to the screen behind the bar, inching to her left, too entranced to realize there was somebody behind her. They bumped hips, and there was a wave of wet, brown, hot molten running down her legs and running down his pants. She jumped at the collision. “Sor-ry--”

“You really should be practicing your english. We’re a quarter of the way through the first semester and your accent is as horrid as it was the first week.”

Ayumi’s guilt somewhat subsided. “Ah, Sata-san…”

Sata glanced at her the way he always did: brown, judging eyes, brows pinching in what appeared to her deducing mind as disgust. She gestured to his coffee: “You should mind your surroundings, Yoshida-san. I’d hate for you to bump into somebody less forgiving than I.”

“Less forgiving, huh?”

He nods. “A more uncouth man may suggest more repayment than a new coffee.”

“If that’s your way of asking for another coffee, Sata-san, you could have just asked…”

She turned around, ordered him another coffee, told the barista that he wanted it black but with three servings of sugar; he was surprised that she knew, but she waved that off.

“Actually, what are you doing here, Sata-san? I wouldn’t have thought you’d hang out in a place like this.”

To this question, he gestured to the cafe. “It’s the only place on campus selling coffee worth its price.” She knew from experience that Sata-san was very particular, so she accepted that explanation.

“So you don’t have any interest in the bookstore itself?”

Sata scoffed, giving the life-size cutout of Goku, which sat posing with its fists up in a bright corner, a dirty look. “I’d never waste my time on such drivel,” the way he looked at her spoke of contemplation, perhaps consideration or reverence as he said “I would have thought you were above tripe yourself, Yoshida-san.”

“A-Ah! I mean, of c-course I don’t read manga anymore, I--!”

“Ayumi-chan!” Takumi chose that exact moment to emerge from the jungle that was the manga section. “I found the new Kamen Yaiba! The mangaka came out of hiatus!”

It was silly, and a testament to how little she’d grown since her grade school days, but her heart slipped. “Really? It’s been five years!”

“I know! But it’s here! I found it!”

There was a cough, and she turned to see Sata clearing his throat, one cocked eyebrow signaling that she was unlikely to ever gain his respect back. She smiled, sheepishly, and rubbed her arm.

She invited Sata to join her and her friends; at the end of the day, Sata seemed like a good man. Arrogant as all hell, but good. She enjoyed talking to him. They approached the table as another girl walked by, a girl that caught Akiko’s attention. Sh’ed been in the throws of an argument with Takumi, who was passionate about Kamen Yaiba’s newest love interest, a buxom woman with blonde hair and big, expressive eyes. Her waist was small, and despite the reality that Akiko herself had seen women on campus with breasts so swollen and thighs so firm, she reacted in dismissal; she didn’t look like that, and Takumi expecting women to look like that was… it was ridiculous, it had to be. Ayumi would have understood where she was coming from, so she grasped blindly at the first sight of light brown and eyes of turkish blue; she reached for her arm, took it in one hand and said “Tell him, Ayumi-chan!”

The girl, with chestnut hair and her turkish eyes, waved and said: “I’m sorry, my name is Jun!”

“Akiko-chan!” Ayumi and Sata carried their pace, and Akiko’s registering eyes met hers. She blinked, then turned to the stranger with red cheeks and apologized. Jun smiled, waved her off, said that she understood. Looking at the two of them, Jun’s face was rounder than Ayumi’s, though their eyes held that same hopeful color. They stood at the same height, possibly same age, though Jun’s build was larger, more fit, tougher than Ayumi’s and thicker at the shoulders. Akiko said something along the lines of “you look just like her,” to which Ayumi and Jun laughed, and Jun parted from their table with a wave.

Katashi took a moment to glance up from his chosen comic, a manga adaption of Sherlock Holmes, and looked her over for a moment. “You’re covered in coffee, Ayumi-chan?”she looked down at her skirt, once white and frilled and puffy, to find half of it sagged as she stood, covered in an ombre of brown as though she’d plopped her end down in the dirt and sat there for a moment in the rain. She blushed: “Ah! It’s my fault! I spilled Sata-san’s coffee and--!” Sata clicked his tongue, setting his coffee down at the table to strip his shoulder of his sweater. He waited for no permission as he wrapped the arms around her waist, tying the sleeves in a tight knot, and finishing the tie with a large bow. His sleeves were long, after all, and much too big for her hips. Katashi and Youta’s faces grew alarmed and indignant, though Akiko’s reflected only bemusement. Ayumi looked to Sata, and he shrugged her hesitation off with the practice of a gentleman.

“You’ve paid your penance for spilling my coffee. I’d be a poor gentleman to let you continue on so wantonly.”

Akiko squealed, bounding forward to set her anxious hands at Ayumi’s shoulders. “Ayumi-chan! You have to introduce me if you’re going to entertain such a handsome suitor!” Ayumi, had she been pink before, was titian.

“H-He’s not my--!”

Sata extended a hand, as any european gentleman would do, and took Akiko’s between his fingers. He shook gently, but with purpose. “I’m Yoshida-san’s English tutor, Sata Yori.” Akiko’s shake was more enthusiastic, eyes lighting up the way a celebrity’s glowed as the cameras flickered outside the limousine on a red carpet. The pupils of her eyes resembled the pulse of a racing heart, and the smile on her face emulated only the purest of her motives.

Katashi and Youta, their eyes twitched.

Sata peeped at Ayumi, despite his current preoccupancy. He seemed relatively unbothered, as though he dealt with the wide-eyed soulful eyes looking his way millions of times before “Your other friends, Yoshida-san?”

“Ah, right! This is Sasaki Katashi-kun,” Katashi leveled Sata with an openly contentious glower “and this is Oshiro Youta-kun!” Youta’s eyes were the aesthetic equivalent of a dagger, sharpened and ready to draw blood. Sata paid no mind to either scowl. “And this is--”

Takumi glanced at his watch: “Ah, it’s 3:00 already.”

Sata’s eyes widened, and he glanced down at his wrist where his Rolex sat unperturbed by the mess of early afternoon coffee. “Ah, 3:00? I nearly forgot.” He turned to her, sincerely apologetic, perhaps the most she’d seen in him since they’d began their tutoring sessions. “I’m sorry, Yoshida-san, I have a prior engagement that seems to have slipped my mind. I will call you later, we can set up our next session.”

He waved and left, as simple going as he’d simply come. Katashi snorted and Youta pouted. “You really hang out with that jerk?” Akiko glared at both of them.

Ayumi laughed, awkwardly, and waved a dismissive hand. “No! Really, he’s just my tutor!”

Takumi paid the conversation no mind and continued on as if Sata had never been there; he read the Kamen Yaiba volume.

This case was starting to bother Ayumi. She’d taken it upon herself to look at the articles, the papers and news letters and campus warning texts. There didn’t appear to be one location, each girl was kidnapped in a different place: one at the student center, one at the campus bookstore, and one at the food court. And those were assumptions made by the investigators, as the girls couldn’t remember where they’d been kidnapped, much less their scars. None of the three remembered what they’d been doing hours before, or their day’s lectures or their attacker’s face. It was as though their minds had been skillfully and artistically erased, like a security camera’s tape is erased. They knew their names, their friends, their home, their lives-- but the month they’d each been gone, no; no address, no memories, no names.

Ayumi hummed, contemplatively stacking one newspaper atop another. No readings had rendered any results or clues, but she was nothing if not stubborn, so she continued on. She reached for another campus newsletter amid the stack she’d left unread; her foot, the tips of her toes, hit something solid. Distracted, disorganized, she bent down to pick the object up.

It was a small box, an old container meant for a pair of shoes her mother had bought her at age seven, but she’d forgotten she’d stashed it under her desk. Pensively, she plucked the box from her feet and pried it open. She knew well what sat in the box-- letters upon letters, unsent and unopened, none with so much as a stamp. They were all to Conan-kun, letters she’d written over the years as she and the rest of the detective boys hit milemarks: Graduating grade school, junior high, solving their first case without Shinichi or Haibara-- Miyano-- even her first love letter on White Day despite no recipient on Valentine’s Day. She found it funny, not in a laughable way, that she remembered every word. From the age of eight to the age of eighteen, she knew by heart every soul-dripping, heart-ripping, frustrating word she wrote. Every word Conan would never read, every monumental goalpost she and Mistuhiko and Genta had passed since he’d made the decision to leave their lives. She couldn’t help but let her wind wander as she read her own handiwork-- would Conan-kun respect where she was today? Would Conan-kun wait around like she was for a case? She bit the inside of her lip, allowing herself a moment of mourning.

Maybe Conan-kun would never see those letters, but she’d always remember writing them.

“No.”

He’d said it a handful of time now, each one no more convincing than the first. Ayumi batted her eyelashes. “Please?”

“No way,” Katashi glared down at her, and she supposed the height difference should have discouraged her, but it didn’t. Katashi was no more dangerous than a fly, and they both knew it. “I’m not sneaking you confidential files!” It was, perhaps, a little underhanded. Katashi’s father was on the police force, and he was the man in charge of the kidnapping case, but she was desperate. Her natural curiosity and exploratory habits needed to be sated, and she needed to know that she was capable of establishing a name for herself without the rest of the league backing her; this kidnapping case was imperative, and Sasaki-san was the only man she knew capable of giving her the information she needed to proceed. Katashi brushed away the hand she’d set on his arm. “Let the police handle it, or a private detective.”

Ayumi pouted. “Like Mouri Kogoro?”

Katashi snorted, and she wasn’t sure why. “I know you used to run around solving cases, Ayumi-chan, but this is dangerous. Let somebody else handle it.” She knew he wasn’t meaning to insult her, but she certainly felt the cold sting of scorn. After all, she’d handled plenty of cases on her own when she was still in Tokyo, with or without the rest of the Detective Boys. She turned to look ahead, turning contemplative; she hadn’t heard from any of the league in awhile. She knew Mitsuhiko and Genta had stayed in Tokyo, though their universities had led them to separate ends of the city. It’d been weeks since they’d spoken. Last she’d heard, Genta was loving his classes, learning knife tricks every day and perfecting his eel and rice recipe. Mitsuhiko was taking charge of his university’s chemistry club, and last she heard, a few of the club members were smitten (in Mitsuhiko’s roommate's words, not his). She wondered if Genta’s girlfriend Rinka-chan had managed to nail the art of edible glass yet, or if Mitsuhiko had managed to get along with that biology professor he butted heads with. Most of all, she wondered if Miyano had contacted them, or Shinichi-niisan. She certainly hadn’t heard anything from either of them, but she supposed they were both busy adults with demanding lifestyles. She frowned and played with the strap of her messenger bag.

Katashi looked at her, really looked at her, the way only a man observes a sad woman, and sighed. “I’m sure Dad has a few cases to look into if you’re really that--”

She’d grabbed him by the wrist and bolted for the police station before he could get the last word out. Sure, he made a noise, one that may signal discontent, but he followed her anyway; she knew he would.

Katashi’s father, Sasaki-keiji, was a tall man who looked not the least related to Katashi. His face was slim and his lip was covered in a thick layer of facial hair. His shoulders were broad where Katashi’s were slimmer, and his arms were muscled and fit. He stood a few inches taller, and his posture was confident, but he hardly carried himself in the borderline arrogant way Katashi did. Both men, she had to admit, were more attractive than men in their line of work had any right to be (that may have been her bias talking). She glanced from one man to the other, then contemplated what Katashi’s mother may have looked like, if perhaps he resembled the maternal side more than the fraternal side. They approached Sasaki-keiji and Ayumi introduced herself, to which he greeted her with open arms, a wide smile inching from one side of his unfamiliar face to the other. “Ah, I’ve heard about you, Yoshida-san! A pupil of the Great Mouri Kogoro and Kudo Shinichi!” Katashi flinched, though Ayumi wasn’t sure why.

“Not important.”

“Sure it is!” Saski slapped his son on the back, startling him into a small coughing fit. “Kudo himself rang me up and told me you were on your way!”

Despite the urge, she couldn’t fight the fire that bloomed like roses under the skin of her cheeks. “H-He did?”

Sasaki nodded as Katashi pulled away from him, cooly brushing his arm off of his shoulders. Sasaki didn’t seem to notice. “Sure! Told me to keep an eye on you. Doesn’t want you getting into any trouble.” Of course he did. Ayumi pouted, and Katashi stuck his hands in his pocket, glancing away. If he was bothered by his son’s cold posture, he didn’t show it. Sasaki continued on to say “That said, I’ve been waiting for you to drop by since my son here mentioned you!”

Ayumi glanced to Katashi, unaware that she’d made quite that impression on him when he’d first helped her carry her books to class. His face, which had been collected and aloof before, had turned several shades of russet. He gestured wildly with his hands, flailing incoherently to suggest to his father that he should shut up. Sasaki-keiji gained no such hint. “Haven’t seen him smile so big since we got him! Came home and told us he ran into an old friend!” Ah, that puzzled her. Ayumi raised an eyebrow.

“Old friend?”

Katashi turned to her, hands anxiously, pensively trying to control what she was thinking by waving the insinuation off. “I told him you were like an old friend! Like!” The steam burned in waves from his ears, but the largest bout seemed to pass as she asked no probing questions. He turned to his father, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring the older man down like the culprit of a case had strayed into the room right in front of him. She found it odd, but she made no comment. “Will you please just give us a case, old man?”

Ayumi probed him with a nudge to the arm. “Us?”

Katashi’s cheeks burned pink, and he scratched at his nose and glanced away, as though the mere sight of her inquisitive face would be enough to blow his haughty facade right out of the water. “That old bastard has a point. You shouldn’t be doing this alone.” He dared a glance at her, right from under his eyelashes, and she found her face, too, was burning flush. She smiled at him, genuinely, warmly, with all of the gratefulness she was feeling in her heart right then.

“Thank you, Katashi!”

His face grew coral, and he stuck his nose in the air, away from her.

Sasaki-keiji laughed, rambunctiously, the kind of jolly laugh she’d imagined hearing from Santa when she was small, and unwise, and trusting. He was like that, she could tell, a man who always smiled, who found the light despite the inherent darkness of his line of work. She didn’t know Katashi’s mother, but she could understand what she saw in him, right then. He slapped his desk, sending a few papers in one manila folder floating lackadaisical in the air. She had a feeling it was a closed case, if she were to draw conclusions from his nonchalance. “We don’t have any cases right now, at least, none that Kudo-san would want me handing off to you, but I’ll let you two know when one comes in. On Himura campus, there always seems to be something new to investigate.”

[dropintomanga]

To a New Era for Japan and Maybe Us

Starting May 1, 2019 marks the start of a new era in Japan and the end of a 30-year period which sounds as hectic as a long-running manga. 

A lot of things have happened to Japan over the Heisei Era, a 30-year period between January 1989 and April 2019 where Emperor Akihito ruled Japan as the 125th emperor. Japan was a booming country in the 1980s’, only to fall hard into a recession that still has some ramifications today. Japan now has to figure out how to deal with globalization, an ever-growing aging population, women’s rights, and a lot more as the spotlight is on them when the 2020 Olympics hits Tokyo.

But Japan managed to captivate the world with the rise of anime and manga to overseas audiences during the Heisei Era. While thinking about how much Japanese pop culture has grown, some words about what makes it appealing stuck with me.

It’s these closing words from a Japan Times feature on anime and manga becoming global phenomena over the past 3 decades.

“Compared with so much of Western pop’s tired innuendos, ironies and increasingly politicized racial and sexual controversies, anime and manga often feel more like earnest expressions of personal yearning and the pleasure of entertainment. Through shared media, diversity and longing, individuals around the world have come to love Japanese culture through its most embraceable, if imaginary, gods: Goku, Pikachu and Astro Boy. Money might well ruin it.

Note that these words are from Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica and one of the premier experts in Japanese pop culture. To put those words in context, Viz Media founder Seiji Horibuchi was quoted in the feature - saying that anime and manga shouldn’t compete with Hollywood because being mainstream would kill both. He argues that anime and manga should stay where they are as unique subcultures that appeal to online audiences.

I have thought about Western pop culture and all the controversies surrounding things like diversity, feminism, etc. To be honest, I don’t mind politically correct culture. However, I find it problematic when a lot of the controversy hits online because all it does is fuel emotions in a really bad way. Which then leads to so much unnecessary anger and fatigue for everyone involved. There are people who take things out of a grander context just to rile people up for no good reason but for attention.

I think opinions are fine, but there’s way too many opinions on things that may not be as serious as one might think. I don’t like how some controversies are handled, that’s all.

I might be speaking for those who are in-between both sides in that there’s so much expectations on how to behave, what to say, what to believe, who to be around, etc. This all creates a kind of cognitive dissonance where one has to keep questioning everything they do. No one has time to think it through or else they get left behind. In a way, it sounds a bit forced.

I know some folks don’t believe in the idea of forced diversity, but it does exist in things like workplace diversity programs. There has been a bigger initiative for companies to get employees on board with diversity. However, all the programs fell flat. Why? For starters, everyone has bias towards something. If you shame them for being (insert bad label), they don’t feel the incentive to change. You might think that they can go screw themselves, but we need as many allies as we can. And if that involves getting "terrible” people on board, then so be it.

I’ll use a good example to illustrate - tolerance of gay people. It didn’t just rise out of nowhere by gay activists only talking to gay folks. They got a majority of non-gay allies along the way, even though there was opposition from their own community. The activists knew that if they can relate to straight people in ways that bound them together (i.e. marriage and family values), then they can start a big movement. And they did. (There’s a whole podcast about this, which is REALLY good to hear.)

There have been studies where companies were told to force employees to embrace ideas like diversity/positivity or leave. What happened was that the companies who used mandatory rules didn’t improve whatever ideals they preached at all. Attitudes didn’t change or changed very little (ie people were still jerks outside of office). Minority employees didn’t get promoted. No one felt they had a say in things if the process was flawed. When things were pro-voluntary (i.e. voluntary training), then things actually improved. Employees were more willing to be diverse and there was better treatment of employees.

What I guess I’m trying to say is that there’s a “lack of control” factor that plays into why people want/don’t want diversity and such in their media. I’m not saying that we stop fighting for what’s right, but we need to ask ourselves if we’re actually fighting for something for everyone or just doing it because we want to control it to please only us.

Now how all of this relates to anime and manga? For starters, anime and manga were always made for Japanese audiences in mind. This is more evident in manga due to all the many titles and subjects the medium covers. You can’t expect a mangaka to think of the entire world when drawing. They have to make money for themselves and please their home country first and foremost. While mangaka do take others’ opinions into consideration, their diverse imagination comes from having a kind of freedom that comes from their own experiences. They were diverse without being told to be diverse.

That’s the paradox that I thought about in my head. Force should only be used as a last resort. Sometimes, I feel that Western culture preaches force as a 1st or 2nd line of defense because most Westerners were taught horrible lies on how to behave and get what they want.

Maybe that’s why I’ve noticed how folks in the West are looking to Eastern philosophies like mindfulness and Buddhism to get through their own mental issues. Western culture is indeed polarizing, so sure. However, there have been criticisms over how the West treats Eastern principles to make themselves feel more “positive” instead of actually looking at the pain/stress they go through and be humbled by it (which is what Buddhism/mindfulness are truly about). It’s very hard for some people to learn self-acceptance and commitment over here sometimes.

To be honest, anime and manga are a reflection of Eastern principles, good and bad. There’s stuff that makes you think, cringe, gasp, laugh, cry, or be disgusted. Anime and manga have gotten away with so much compared to other media in terms of censorship. For a country that’s so homogeneous, the diverse amount of anime and manga in Japan is astounding. 

Anime and manga are here to stay, but I really don’t know if they will ever reach Hollywood-level. I know there are parties who want anime to be validated in America among the eyes of many. I just hope that they don’t take on corporate America strategies and preach diversity for the sake of being cool and with the times. I’m looking at you, big tech companies and companies who say they stand for something with neat ads, but don’t really care as their other tactics say otherwise. That is what bothers and scares me the most more than anything.

Japan is now in the Reiwa Era, which is supposed to preach peace and tranquility. I just hope the West does the same. If it doesn’t, then well, let’s just continue to make our lives as anime as possible because after all, we really know what it’s like to be diverse.

[themangaguide]

It had actually been extremely

An unusual vampire romance:

nejimaki kagyu is a senior high school vampire love. It adheres to a vampire woman living in a vampire-hating globe as well as all of a sudden catches the eyes of one of the most prominent young boy in her institution. However it does not like various other typical vampire tales you've ever before see. The reality is, the part that enhances this motto-looking story in the direction of the amazing one's degrees, might be the delivery of the tale itself. Take into consideration the area and your initial website recognize what I am speaking about. I, separately suched as the atmosphere it generated, made me really feel comfy although reading. The pacing of the story is just wonderful. It permits it kick back done in prior to moving on. Excellent story informing truly. The mangaka were able to establish his work in addition to the rest using the help of remarkable people and also sensational artwork.

The-art is what first grabbed my passion and also presented me for this wonderful item-of-a-work. The backgrounds, personalities, shades were all incredible! Due to the fact that it is a webtoon, it's in an expanded, full-color framework, somewhat similar to a strip. Its like seeing an anime making use of the exemption of sound while you scroll down although researching. The writer did an excellent collaborate with generating words as well as the sensations of the numbers noticeable for the target market. Possibly, one of the far better manga art offered.

About personalities, I 'd offer 8/10: Personalities are come near to being useful and fairly plausible. The chemistry between your leads is authentic good-and the sustaining figures do their jobs appropriately. There's sufficient character development, generally in Ma Ri's individuality.

Ma-Ri-- Baek Ma-Ri is absolutely among one of the most enjoyable women protagonists within the love/drama design. She isn't the typical crying shoujo overview who generally goes down for that warm-common male for no factor whatsoever. Very opposite actually. Since she denies them prior to they're done admitting actually, she's been called the "Ice Princess" from the guys of her college. Her family mosts likely to new places often because people dislike vampires. She's been experiencing being alone for such a long period of time that she's not prepared to rely on any individual whatsoever. It had actually been extremely pleasurable seeing her emerge of her cover.

dad the beard gorilla and i overview, Jae Min-- Jung Jae Minute, is proficient at his work of helping her out-of her cover and shedding the snow queen. He's not actually egoist or a bastard, which seems a pattern nowadays crazy manga. He's the hero! He is superb at plays and also baseball drums. Oddly, ignorant towards the reality that Ma-Ri is just a vampire, he does not be seemingly a optimist herself.

A set of motivating ladies that help her mind is taken by Ma-Ri off issues when living looks much too big to keep. CHECK! 2.) An Alpha-bitch that keeps putting himself at Jae Min & continues to be being overlooked like hell. CHECK! 3.) A "third-wheel" man that ... well guess what happens there is a wheel!

COMPLETE SATISFACTION-- 9/10 I read without feeling like opting for a breakeven once the sections which were out during that time in a solitary relocation. Enjoyed reading it certainly!

GENERAL-- 9/10 Excellent love, superb major and side characters, attractive and also elegan art work, absolutely nothing to complain. This is suggested for any person that would certainly such as manga on-line free as well as anything psychological as well as heartfelt as well as all in all, it's an excellent read. Please visit https://acousticguitarblog.my-free.website/3ltmvvhbxytln849gsb01634343797 to learn more about manga books

[toonstarterz]

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #123

Just when you thought we had too many characters in Tomoko’s new class, Nico Tanigawa goes ahead and adds another person to 3-5...at least for one day. Ever since that chapter when Tomoki first ran into his sister’s circle of friends, I was wondering if we would ever expand on that to the point where Tomoki might officially meet them (exchange introductions and whatnot). Suffice to say, that kind of development seems very possible after a chapter like this.

Chapter 123: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Invite My Brother to 3-5

As I recall, this isn’t the first time Tomoki has forgotten his lunch (refer to chapter 83). I suppose that for being a responsible soccer star, the mangaka wanted to give Tomoki more plausible flaws (besides being a perpetual scowler). I think something like being forgetful works here, because not only does it make Tomoki more relatable, it also highlights Tomoko’s more concerned, “older sister” side. It’s easy to forget that for all her shit-talking, Tomoko does look out for him. 

I wonder, did Tomoki really refer to her as a “chick”? It’s a minor grievance, but the difference does say quite a bit about Tomoki’s character. The term “chick” connotes a sense of misogyny for some people, but that doesn’t seem to be Tomoki at all, especially since in previous chapters he’d use words like “girl” instead. Hmm...

Honestly, as heartwarming as Yoshida’s smile is, I’d be lying if I said it kind of freaked me out a bit. I can’t recall any other time that Yoshida had a smile as big and as genuine as this, that for a second, I thought it might’ve been a different character. Perhaps it’s fact that a smile like this isn’t going to last very long, especially for someone who switches gears at the drop of a hat like Yoshida.

Funny enough, I love how Yoshida’s emotional state doesn’t really change the way she talks. In this case, she still has the nerve to call Tomoki a punk, which she’d probably still do if she were in a more sour mood. Basically, all of her dialogue here could be copy-and-pasted if Yoshida were feeling more confrontational.

I’ve been seeing people accuse Tomoki as being just as judgmental and rude as Tomoko is, but I don’t think that’s really being fair to the guy. We’ve all had moments where we would quietly make unfair judgments on people we just met, but most people have the decency to not be vocal about it until proven wrong or right. It’s different from Tomoko, whose filter seems to fluctuate between on and off at the worst times. Tomoki is only human, after all. 

So there’s going to be another field trip arc in the future, huh? Now I’m REALLY excited. I wonder what we can expect from it, given that the first field arc was Tomoko’s first major turning point. Will there be a big fight between Tomoko’s friends (Yuri vs Minami), or perhaps Ucchi will confess to Tomoko on the ferris wheel (not happening)? I’m sure Yoshida will have a huge role, though. Maybe she’ll have her dreams shattered and Tomoko will try to comfort her and fail spectacularly. 

If you thought being in a different class could stop Ucchi...

...you were so, so wrong. 

Ucchi being a stalker is nothing new at this point, but there are a few things pull apart from this seemingly simple gag. For one, it’s not just Ucchi’s action that makes for a laugh–it’s her demeanor, too. She goes into the classroom with a smile, and comes out with a smile. Obviously, the latter is her trying to keep face in front of her friends, but there isn’t a twinge of hesitation in her actions. She must really be going for her.

But the other, somewhat more depressing part of this joke is how Ucchi’s friends apparently didn’t even notice she was gone for three seconds in another room. We’ve had hints before that Ucchi was the outsider amongst her circle of friends, but did you notice how Ucchi effortlessly re-inserted herself into the conversation? It suggests that Ucchi’s done this several times before, and she’s gotten used to being excluded. Poor Emoji-girl just wants to be noticed. 

It’s not everyday that Nico Tanigawa gives us little tidbits to remind us that Tomoko is a girl, with all the issues that come along with it (for those who don’t know, women’s bathrooms often have long lines because they aren’t designed to fit the cumbersome routines women go through just to relieve themselves). Any time Tomoko’s gender is directly brought up, it’s usually in a sexual context, but this here is just an everyday issue about being a girl. I wonder if the artist had any input on this...

So I’m guessing that’s Emoji-girl 2.0′s shtick is that she’ll be doing all of these really impressive feats in the background, yet we won’t learn a single thing about her personality-wise. A gag character at its finest. 

Cute. 

It was only a matter of time before these two met each other.

Yuri sure has come a long way in regards to how she treats Tomoko. I doubt that if this was right after the field trip arc, she wouldn’t have bothered to confront someone rifling through Tomoko’s locker. Maybe she’d tell Tomoko later, since that’d be the passive choice, but that’s definitely not the case now. Ever since Yuri admitted that Tomoko is her friend, she’s noticeably been more considerate of her. 

And pray tell, Yuri, what did you expect Tomoko’s brother to be like? We’re you expecting someone just as crass, weird, and idiotic like the sister? That’d be a reasonable assumption if all you’re going on is Tomoko herself. But speaking as someone with a sister who is very much different from myself, siblings being polar opposites are a lot more common than you might think, Yuri. 

Wonder why Tomoko is particularly happy about her brother stopping by? I’d assume that she thinks her relationship with the popular Tomoki would make her look more popular by comparison, but popularity hasn’t been a goal of Tomoko’s as of late. Maybe she just wanted to freak out Komiyama...

Oh snap, she’s doing the sleeve grab! This is such a shoujo manga move, complete with the highlight and everything, that you cannot tell me that the mangaka doesn’t know the implications here. 

I think this the first time we’ve seen Yuri act without fully thinking things out first, and it’s kind of amazing that someone like Tomoko is actually encouraging her to be a little more bold, though not to a degree Yuri can handle yet. We’ve already seen just how far Yuri is stepping out of her comfort zone to maintain her friendships, but I suppose forcing a conversation is not quite her speed yet. Baby steps, Yuri.

I guess now is as good a time as any to address the elephant in the room that is the YurixTomoki ship. Do I think it could work? In all honestly, I think it could. We really don’t know anything about Tomoki’s taste in girls, if he has any. But if the less than pleasant reactions he’s had to Tomoko, Komiyama, and Yoshida are anything to go by, he probably wouldn’t want someone vulgar, creepy, or challenging respectively. Likewise, we don’t know anything about Yuri’s taste in guys, if one exists. But I think it’s a safe bet that she wouldn’t want to deal with someone aggressively outgoing. That being the case, my only argument for them is that Tomoki and Yuri would likely be a very easygoing relationship if the ship were to start sailing.

Comedy-wise, I think the possibilities for Komiyama and Akari’s despair, and Tomoko being the awkward third wheel are endless. 

It’s always funny to see how easily Komiyama can go from being the sensible one to being the dunderhead when the circumstances are just right. Most of the time, she’s the straight woman to Tomoko’s idiocy, but whenever baseball or especially Tomoki are concerned, she ends up being more of a fool than Tomoko. I’m not even annoyed that she insulted the best girl, since it’s obvious Komiyama is just thinking on impulse, and her words are only that of a jealous lust-filled admirer who needs to deny the possibility that Tomoki could be interested in any other girl besides her. You can be such a lovable bitch at times, Komiyama.

Komiyama sure is channeling her inner Tomoko, isn’t she?

I see the writers took the time to capture Yuri letting go of Tomoki’s sleeve. We have no clue whether Yuri knows what’s going on between Komiyama and Tomoki, despite Komiyama being an open book. It’s probably just a throwaway action, but I’d like to think that Yuri is aware of how it must look for a girl to cling onto another guy, and wanted to avoid looking like she had a relationship with Tomoki lest Komiyama get the wrong idea.

And yes, Tomoko’s friends truly are “the crazies” now, huh? To think that group used to be a population of one, aka. Tomoko. 

One thing that’s been on my mind is what Tomoki actually thinks about Komiyama? We already know he views her as some kind of “pure pervert”, but it’s still up in the air whether he finds her truly repulsive or not. He likely has some inkling that Komiyama has a crush on him (he ain’t no oblivious MC), but probably doesn’t intend to reciprocate those feelings any time soon. At this point, he’s probably deliberately avoiding her just to keep from being sexually harassed again. But now that he’s been confronted, he’s got to throw her a boner.

Good gracious, this woman needs help.  

I’m noticing some confusion at this line, and while I myself can’t adequately explain the inner workings of the female body, I think the important thing to understand is what this reaction means about Komiyama.

Whether or not Komiyama’s period actually happened is not what matters here. The overall impression is that Komiyama had such an immense reaction to Tomoki that it literally sent her sex drive on overload. One interpretation is that her hormones raged so bad that it jump-started her period. But what I personally think happened is that Komiyama had a “climax” and is using a period as a coverup. Either way, Komiyama truly is the most depraved girl in this manga.  

The only girl that could outdo Yuri in the tsukommi department.  

Now I’m curious as to how Komiyama and Itou met. Even better, how exactly did Itou see past all of Komiyama’s grossness to eventually become her friend? I’d imagine that the circumstances mirror Tomoko and Yuri’s relationship in some way.

And this is why relativity matters, folks. Even for us readers, Tomoko at the start of the series always seemed to be the abnormal one, but that was only because for a while, she was the only character we really got to see, which made everyone else look hyper-normal in comparison. So yes, Tomoki, your older sister actually is pretty normal...relatively speaking.

You know, I was worried that Tomoki, being the sole recurring male of this manga, would get sidelined in favor of all the new female characters. But thankfully, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Tomoki’s role in this story was initially that of an observer, a audience surrogate who could join us in reacting to Tomoko’s antics. But even that couldn’t last, so I guess the mangaka has been trying to find some way to characterize him even further. For now, it seems that Tomoki may soon find himself being more involved in Tomoko’s social circle. Just don’t steal your sister’s harem now.

So what do you suppose Tomoki’s role we be from this point on? Will he be characterized beyond having a desirable dick? Will a hidden dorky side bubble up to the surface? Or will his heart grow three sizes someday? But even if he stays in the background, I’ll always have certain fondness for the guy. Why?

Cuz he has not once, ever raised the siscon flag.

[yourhealthmattersblog]

An unusual vampire love

please dont bully me nagatoro manga is a high school vampire romance. It follows a vampire girl living in a vampire-hating world as well as all of a sudden catches the eyes of one of the most preferred young boy in her college. But it does not like other regular vampire tales you've ever before see. The fact is, the part that boosts this motto-looking plot towards the wonderful one's degrees, may be the shipment of the tale itself. Think about the area and also your first website recognize what I am talking about. I, independently liked the setting it produced, made me feel comfortable although analysis. The pacing of the story is just fantastic. It allows it unwind done in prior to progressing. Excellent tale telling actually. The mangaka were able to set his work in enhancement to the rest utilizing the aid of interesting individuals and spectacular art work.

The-art is what initially got my rate of interest and presented me for this wonderful item-of-a-work. The backgrounds, characters, shades were all incredible! Since it is a webtoon, it's in an expanded, full-color structure, somewhat just like a strip. Its like checking out an anime using the exemption of sound while you scroll down although examining. The author did an exceptional deal with producing words as well as the sensations of the numbers noticeable for the target market. Probably, among the far better manga art available.

Concerning characters, I would certainly offer 8/10: Characters are come near to being useful and fairly probable. The chemistry in between your prospects is genuine good-and the sustaining numbers do their jobs correctly. There's sufficient personality growth, mainly in Ma Ri's personality.

Ma-Ri-- Baek Ma-Ri is certainly amongst one of the most positive female lead characters within the love/drama design. She isn't the typical sobbing shoujo guide that generally drops for that warm-common male for no factor whatsoever. Very contrary really. Because she rejects them before they're done confessing really, she's been called the "Ice Princess" from the guys of her college. Her house mosts likely to brand-new areas frequently because people dislike vampires. She's been experiencing being alone for such a long period of time that she's not prepared to trust any private whatsoever. It had actually been very pleasurable seeing her emerge of her cover.

read manga guide, Jae Min-- Jung Jae Minute, is proficient at his work of aiding her out-of her cover and shedding the snow queen. He's not actually egoist or a bastard, which appears to be a pattern nowadays in love manga. He's the good guy! He is outstanding at plays as well as baseball drums. Strangely enough, oblivious in the direction of the truth that Ma-Ri is simply a vampire, he does not be seemingly a optimist herself.

A collection of motivating women who help her brain is taken by Ma-Ri off problems when living looks far as well huge to maintain. CHECK! 2.) An Alpha-bitch who maintains placing himself at Jae Min & stays being overlooked like heck. CHECK! 3.) A "third-wheel" male that ... well guess what happens there is a wheel!

FULFILLMENT-- 9/10 I check out without seeming like opting for a breakeven once the sections which were out during that time in a solitary move. Liked reviewing it certainly!

GENERAL-- 9/10 Great love, excellent main and also side personalities, attractive and elegan art work, absolutely nothing to whine. This is suggested for anyone that would certainly like manga on the internet complimentary and also anything mental and heartfelt and all in all, it's a wonderful read.

Additional helpful information concerning manga found here - https://bookreadingblog.site123.me/blog/a-samurai-with-evil-one-power

[lady-nevermore]

Tag you’re it! ^_^

Umm.....I’m pretty sure I’ve already done this survey/questionnaire before; ah well, I’ll try to make my answers vary a bit from last time, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll probably just copy and paste my answers from the last one (feeling sorta lazy atm, sorry). lol ^^;

But anyways, yeah, I don’t mind doing this a second time around, they’re actually pretty damn fun, so let’s get started! :D

Rules: Answer these questions, and tag 20 amazing followers that you would like to get to know better.

Tagged by: @blueteamproblem​ (Cool - Thanks for the Tag). ^_^

Name: *sigh* I’m hesitant/reluctant when it comes to revealing my name, cuz I’m paranoid/anxious, that people I knew from my past will end up finding me again......and tbh, I’m not quite ready for that reunion/confrontation just yet.....But here’s a hint: (My name means Soul in Spanish). ^-^

Nickname: Ama (by my dad, my little cousins, and one of my fave Aunties), hmmm....A few of my old-friends back in my high school days used to refer to me as: “Almy, Almita, Soulzzz, etc”. Do these count? lol ^^;

Zodiac sign: Leo (Western Zodiac) and Sheep/Ram (Chinese Zodiac).

Hogwarts House: When Pottermore first started becoming a “thing” around 2010-2011 (I remember cuz I was one of the beta-testers), I was sorted and placed in Slytherin. .....But I believe that, that was due to the fact that I was in a really really really depressed, bitter and dark place at the time (those who have read my first entry of my “therapy blog”, and will end up reading more in greater detail later down the line, will know why); but as of right now: I’m happy to say that I’m a Proud Pottermore Ravenclaw. ^_^

Height: 5′3” (yeah, I know i’m pretty smol). heh ^^;

Orientation: Bisexual (I know that I’m attracted to women at the very least, as well as men....but it’s sorta on a 70/30 sometimes 60/40 on the spectrum/scale), but as of late, I feel like I could also very possibly be ace, maybe even possibly demisexual (Let’s just say that It’s safe to say I’m still questioning/trying to figure myself out, and leave it at that). ^^;

Ethnicity: Hispanic/Mexican-American

Favorite fruit: Cantaloupe, Gala/Fuji Apples, Granny Smith Green Apples, Mango, Strawberries, etc. 

Favorite season: Fall/Autumn and Winter Seasons 

Favorite book series: The Harry Potter Series The Inheritance Cycle / Eragon Book Series The Unexpected Dragon by Mary Brown The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings The Hunger Games Trilogy The Giver Book Series The Time Traveler's Wife Shakespeare Edgar Allen Poe Grimm Fairy Tales 

Manga wise: Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki His and Her Circumstances aka Kare Kano Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Level E, and Ookami nante Kowakunai all by my all-time fave mangaka (infamous for his long-ass Hiatuses, but damn it I still think they're worth it): Yoshihiro Togashi.

Favorite fictional characters:  Waaaaay too many for me to list here, but currently as of right now, as I’m sure some of you may have noticed, I’m crushing/fangirling rather hard over Soi Fon at the moment. lol xD

Favorite flower: I love most flowers (like for example: a classic single stem Rose) but I do have a soft spot for Small flowers, like: Morning Glories and White Clovers.

Favorite scents: Petrichor aka the smell of the earth/soil after it rains, though the smell of coffee, the smoky scent of firewood during a cold night, the crisp cold scent of an early morning/early evening/late night, the smell of freshly mowed or cut grass, the fresh smell of laundry, and the scent of sandalwood are all pretty damn nice too. ^_^

Favorite color:  Purple, Lavender, Orchid Purple, Wine Red/Red-Violet, Magenta, Sapphire Blue, Cerulean Blue, Light Blue, Red, Maroon, Teal, Emerald Green, Turquoise Green, Seafoam green, Gray, Black, Silver, Gold, Neon Colors, basically any type of bright / vibrant colors, though pastels colors are pretty nice too....I find most hues/shades of colors beautiful in their own right.....So let’s just say everything! lol ^^;

Favorite animal:  I’m real fond of the whole Trickster-archetype when it comes to animals, so it’s safe to say that I really do have a soft spot for Corvids (Crows and Ravens), and Foxes; though I also really like Wolves, and Owls. But above all else, I really really really fucking love felines/cats (big and small); ie Grey Tabby Cats, Maine Coons, Norwegian Forest Cats, Lions, Leopards, Jaguars, but especially Snow Leopards! =^.^=

Favorite artist/band:  

 Musical Scores:

- John Williams's Scores in the Harry Potter Films - Murray Gold's Scores in Doctor Who - Trevor Jones's Scores in The 1998 Merlin/Merlin's Apprentice mini series (aka the one with Sam Neill). - ATLA/Legend of Korra Scores by Jeremy Zuckerman - Pirates of the Caribbean Scores by Hans Zimmer - The Anime Scores in both Rurouni Kenshin and in Yu Yu Hakusho respectively. - Oh! And the anything by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (like the RWBY and RVB OST for example) Oh! and the Scores in Harvest Moon and Legend of Zelda Soundtrack (Song of Storms anyone?). ^_^  And probably several other scores in anime and videogames that I just can't recall at the moment. But music-wise: Just like with anime, books, and tv-shows I tend to be a pretty open-minded and am into several types of genres (from J-pop/J-rock/anime theme and ending songs, anything by Megumi Ogata, punk rock, alternative rock, 80's and 90's pop/rock music, electronic, pop, hip-hop, r&b, jazz, anime jazz covers, classical music, modern classical music with a modern twist aka pop/rock covers via a classical musical sense, scores in anime and in some of my fave nerdy fandoms, basically anything and everything even country....all except for like "pure rap or purely screamo heavy metal".... like, I don't mind if there's a little bit in like r&b/pop or rock respectfully, but yeah, just no). ^^; My Fave bands/musicians: - Green Day - Death Cab For Cutie - Daft Punk - Owl City - Etc.

Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa?: Tea; I used to be quite the coffee drinker, but not anymore mostly due to my anxiety (trust me I still really miss it, especially the taste & the smell of coffee.....Hmmm, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should try decaf), but anyways, yeah, over the years I’ve stuck and grew to really love tea....tho cocoa is nice every once in awhile (especially during the colder seasons). ^^;

Average sleep hours: *sigh* I have insomnia, so my sleep cycle is pretty much wack and all over the place; I’m lucky if I get 5-6 hours of sleep. -___-;

Number of blankets you sleep with: As of right now: one; I really really really hate humid/warm/hot weather....makes it soo damn uncomfortable to get a good night’s sleep (but that’s what I get for living in California, I suppose). ugh. >_<;

Dream trip: Japan would be pretty cool! ^_^

Last thing Googled: Butterflies and their symbolism with souls/afterlife.

Blog created: Since 2011

How many blogs do I follow: Dunno, I never really checked. o.o

Number of followers: 697

What do I usually post about: Usually, I tend to just reblog a lot of fan art, gif edits, or posts pertaining to some of my fave fandoms; right now it’s: Bleach (Soi Fon), RWBY, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. But I will be posting about my therapy sessions in my “therapy blog” in the future, so look out for that I guess. ^^;

Do you get asks regularly: Not a whole lot, but when I do, they never fail to make me smile. :)

What is your aesthetic: Damned if I know...Um, 90′s aesthetic? idk! lol ^^;

Tagging (don’t feel obligated to do this if you don’t want to): @angelotics , @theamazingflyinglion , @tdk-blog, @doctordearie , @youko-fairy , @nightjasmine10 , @luckystarchild , @tifa-the-bacon-goddess , @boserwulf , @ravenhull , @fionaandcake27 , @hirusekidragon , @weissrose , @rwby-fan , @yangsmash , @bizarrolord , @blue-eyed-korra , @hellfire47 , @yyhlove , @yyhaesthetics

[toastweaselreads]

Takesi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba’s Bakuman

Rating: 4.5/5 LGBTQA+? Nope Genre(s): manga, slice of life, romance Enoby Approved: Yeah Read This Book If You Like: manga, the creative process, super-fast paced series, Don’t Read This Book If You Can’t Handle: sexism, a long drawn out story, shounen manga

Bakuman. is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the same creative team responsible for Death Note. Takeshi Obata also illustrated Hikaru no Go.

I will admit that this is a reread of a series I greatly enjoyed in my manga/anime phase. However, it’s been so long since I read Bakuman that it was basically like reading it fresh from the very beginning. I got all 20 volumes for Christmas and pretty much spent 3-5 days plowing through them over my break. Here’s my review!

[Click to go through to the review.]

________________________________________________

The Good

1) The art was beautiful. So so so so so beautiful. Exceedingly detailed where it had to be, simple and comedic when needed. Major kudos to the Bakuman artist team; Takeshi Obata and his assistants really put out an artistic masterpiece.

2) I loved the team work between Mashiro and Takagi. It was so great to see them bouncing ideas off of each other and being super collaborative. A great representation of how a team working on a collaborative project should work!

3) New characters introduced at a good pace. At the end of the series there were a whopping twenty-seven (27!!!) major or reoccurring characters. That is on top of all the characters that came and went and were not included in the final character breakdown in vol. 20. All of these 27+ characters had names, a definite character design, speaking lines, and most had some influence on the plot.

However, despite the sheer vast number of these characters, they were introduced gradually and never did I lose track of who was who, who did what, and who was involved with who. I was incredibly impressed.

4) Rivalry and support between all of the in-text mangakas, writers, and assistants. It was great to see have healthy rivalries between each other, but then turn around and be supportive and friendly with one another.

5) Some really great villains. I loved the villains that came into the plot to mess with Mashiro, Tagaki, and the gang.

6) Just a really great slice of life story. I love a good slice of life story, and this is definitely one of them.

The Meh

1) Bakuman is a bit text heavy. So if you’re reading manga for the art and replying on the art to tell the story, this might not be the manga for you. The text is handled tastefully, and the art is definitely top notch but, like I said. There’s a lot of text.

2) Super-fast paced. Because mangas are serialized in weekly magazines, they have to have a lot of action and story arcs to keep the readers interested in. I had forgotten this and it was a shock to the system, but I got used to it.

The Bad

1) This manga is relatively long (20 volumes) and is packed with information. It’s a bit dense because of the heavy text, super-fast paced plot, and all of the arcs. It took me several days to read all 20 volumes because there was just so much happening and so much information. However, if you’re into that sort of thing, or want to read a manga day on the train/bus going and coming from work, this might be the manga for you.

The Cringe

1) Feminism is lacking in this series. Extremely lacking. There are several female protagonists, but all of them either act as an object of desire/goal for the male characters, always need a man’s help for something, or don’t really have their own agency.

It was not very noticeable that the female character did not have agency as I read along, but when I looked back on the entire series I noticed it as a trend and got very frustrated. Girls read manga, too—a whopping 81% of teenage girls in Japan read manga regularly, and 42% of women in Japan between the ages of 20-49 read manga.* Those women and girls deserve to be shown as something other than an object of desire, a man hater, or someone that always needs a man’s help.  

*Source: Medi@sia: Global Media/tion In and Out of Context by T.J.M. Holden and Timothy J. Scrase

TL;DR:

I still love this series, despite its text heavy, action packed pace and lack of female agency. It’s a nice, hopeful thing to read, especially if you like high quality art, slice of life stories, or a broad depth of characters that are available to fall in love with.

If you have the money to buy all 20 volumes, I highly recommend doing so—you can get the box set on amazon and it comes with a cute poster and a free bonus comic. Otherwise, it’s a popular enough series that you can rent the books two or three at a time from the library. You can also probably find it all online somewhere, but I do not know the manga reading websites anymore.

[pod7]

Winter Anime* 2017 Lightning Review

*just the shows I watched of course

Shows included - ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka, Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends, Akiba’s Trip The Animation, All Out!!, BanG Dream!, Chain Chronicle, Chaos;Child, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, ElDLive, Fuuka, Gabriel Dropout, Gintama., Hand Shakers, Kemono Friends, Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon, KonoSuba S2, Kuzu no Honkai, Little Witch Academia, Masamune-kun no Revenge, Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu, Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume, Nobunaga no Shinobi, Nyanko Days, One Room, Onihei, Piace: Watashi no Italian, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Sangatsu no Lion, Seiren, Spiritpact, Urara Meirochou, Youjo Senki

Settle in for some long reviews, and probably the worst reviewed season since I started doing this! Wow!

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka It’s a MADhouse production, so I went in pretty sure I would like it. I was a bit wrong on my first impression; I thought it would be a man on the run type show, but it was actually a more nuanced, spy-that-doesn’t-know-he’s-a-spy type story. I liked the character design. It reminded me of some of the manga series in the “non-moe art” tag on Dynasty Scans. I was in love at first sight with Director General Mauve, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko, Ghost in the Shell), and hoped she would play a bigger role than she actually did. I was completely taken off guard by Jean’s confession of his feelings for Grossular at the end, which Mauve had in common. If it had to be someone, I would have guessed it to be Niino, in the old ‘observer falls for subject’ cliche. Still, a welcome, and very low-key revelation that is certainly welcome. The music is really great in this series, especially the intro and outro themes. I would have like for some of the female cast members to have more to do; there were seemingly more women in the show, but they hardly ever had any relevancy. Also, a bit more action or urgency would have been nice. It felt towards the end like this would be called “the hipster’s anime”. Definitely recommended. 9/10

Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends Just as ridiculous as ever, though it had some oddly serious parts in some episodes as well. I am appreciating more and more the bit during the credits of each episode where an alpaca recounts an awkward tale of the life of the mangaka who writes AMM. I think the randomness is wearing thin now though. 7/10

Akiba’s Trip The Animation I had never played the game before so I didn’t really have any idea what this was about besides being located in Akihabara. It had a lot of parallels with Punch Line, which I noted in my first impression, just chock full of references and insider humor that I think ended up being lost on a lot of the Western viewers (including me, obviously.) I enjoy the first eight or so episodes, but right when most probably thought it got interesting, for me it was like I just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore. I ended up skimming through the last episodes, but honestly, unless you are REALLY into Akihabara as a culture or just otaku interests in general, I would pass on this show, sadly. Having to watch the idol performance more than once was torture. 6/10

All Out!! The not-so-subtle pattern that is emerging in my anime viewing habits, is that I will start a sport or game series, as soon as it becomes entirely focused on the sport or game itself, I lose interest almost immediately. The same unfortunately happened here; as soon as they hit training camp, it was like I was watching a completely different show, and just couldn’t stand to even skim through it at the end. They can’t all be winners, and even MADhouse can’t be perfect all the time. Dropped

BanG Dream! My first impression was pretty much right on the nose; this is literally what would happen if the people behind Love Live adapted K-On. The melodrama of Love Live with similar archetypes to K-On. Unfortunately, no super gorgeous teacher steps in to help, and instead of a school they have to save the local girls-only concert venue by playing a pop rock version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I wish I were kidding. Not horrible or offensive, but just felt like a phoned in effort from the waifu buffet factory. 6/10

Chain Chronicle Sadly I just kind of forgot this show was even on, even though it showed signs of promise, I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough to catch up on it. Dropped

Chaos;Child The edgiest of edge. It made me appreciate the GOOD parts of Occultic;Nine that much more. I might have watched more if the adaptation of the prequel (episode zero) wasn’t just about the most boring thing I’ve watched in years. Dropped

Demi-chan wa Kataritai Top 3 of the season. It definitely felt less wacky than the manga, but I was okay with that. Satou-sensei stole the show, but Machi held her own in my opinion. It was funny to see how fast people tried to turn on the show when Hikari made Machi’s body hug Sensei and he was embarrassed because her boobs pressed into him when he wasn’t expecting it. However with a certain maid being INCREDULOUS, that movement died out before the next episode even came out. It was a good adaptation, and I think may just be my “comfy” show of the season, though again, a certain maid gave it a run for it’s money there too. 9/10

ElDLive I stand by my previous Space Patrol Luluco comparison. It was silly for the sake of being silly, but tried to add various chuuni and action tropes in to spice it up. To be quite honest this was a bit of a stinker, and only watched it for Misuzu to see if she grew any over the season (she did, but just the tiniest bit.) 4/10

FUUKA This was basically KimiKiss Pure Rouge but flipped love interests and included music to make more money off of the property with. It doesn’t do anything new or interesting, and it wasn’t satisfying at all. Like even knowing that Fuuka would end up being the girl the protag had feelings for, I still thought that maybe, just maybe she would do SOMETHING endearing in the least, but no, she just kind of was a brat at all points. Everything was really pretty, but zero substance. 3/10

Gabriel Dropout I think I started reading the manga for this before reading Demi-chan or Maid Dragon, so it’s kind of a surprise that of those three, this felt like the weakest effort. Something was lost in translation to animation to take away the magic presented in print. It was still enjoyable, it just didn’t have the punch I was expecting it to have, and I don’t know if it’s the low key music or the voices or what. Calling it a disappointment is going too far for me, but I certainly thought it would be better. 7/10

Gintama. Top 3 of the season. Pretty much just the adaptation of a single story arc, but an important one. Also, a super kick-ass, pulls no punches season. Loved the hell out of this show before, but this took it to a whole new level. I mentioned in my first impression that the period was a bit scary, but I now see that it was more of an affirmative statement, “GINTAMA, period.” 10/10

Hand Shakers This was really bad. Like, it’s a known thing that this show is bad. It was excruciating to give this show three whole episodes, but I managed it somehow. As admirable as it is that they went out on a limb to make their own original series, that doesn’t save it from being an over-designed, poorly thought out mess of a show. Dropped

Kemono Friends I just want the record to show that I was on board with this show from the very beginning, whereas the MAL user score was as low as 4.2 at the start of the season. It’s the innocence of Serval mixed with the goofiness of the friends, rounded out by the mystery of Kaban that give this show it’s oomph. The character design is really great too. Basically what it boils down to is that this show has four or five things that the internet typically hates when it comes to an anime, yet somehow captured the hearts thousands, from 4chan to tumblr and everywhere in between. It’s hard to imagine this not getting a second season of some kind, whether it’s a continuation of this season or an adaptation of the manga. 9/10

Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon Top 3 of the season. A loving relationship between two adult women, albeit each loves the other in a different way (or do they?) A nurturing and caring relationship between an office worker and a young girl she adopts on sight. A family unit of two moms and a daughter that works. A dragon woman with giant boobs teasing a young boy that meant to summon a demon. Well, okay that last one isn’t exactly the squeaky-cleanest thing to happy this season, but the people who demonize this show because of it are missing out on an other wise great and potentially important series. I was surprised to find this was a KyoAni series; they tend to work in a very specific style, so the fact that this turned out looking anything like the manga is a miracle of it’s own, I think. Once I knew it was KyoAni though, I could see their thumbprints everywhere; the suddenly very poignant moment with great lighting and super appropriate music is something they’ve managed to perfect almost to a fault (to where it feels forced), but the couple examples in this show just added to the already cute moment that was happening. I am writing this the week before the finale, which features the dreaded anime killer Big Boobs Loli, but having read what comes after her initial appearance, I think that, should this get a second season, people will understand her character once the story moves forward (though the big boobs thing is kind of ridiculous, admittedly.) A wonderful, lovely, heart-warming supernatural comedy. 10/10 highest recommendation

KonoSuba S2 I may get some flak for this, but I felt there was a noticeable drop in quality between seasons. The writing was still good, and the performances as always were hilarious, but the animation seemed to have worsened quite a lot. I haven’t read any BTS for this series but it seemed like some of the more involved shots were rushed. Darkness continues to steal the show for me, even though I know Megumin is everyone’s waifu. I think it’s because I tend to always gravitate towards the girl in a show like this that has the least chance of ending up with the protagonist (Nisekoi, Toradora, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.) Not bad by any means, but I’m concerned for a season three should it happen. 8.5/10

Kuzu no Honkai Despicable trash. Soap opera level characters with midnight softcore love scenes between teenagers, some of which are borderline rape at best. Not even the legit lesbian love interest could keep me watching this show, that should tell you everything. Five episodes makes about 90ish minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Dropped, avoid 

Little Witch Academia This didn’t quite get the hype I thought it would, but it still seems most people that watch it are enjoying it immensely. However, I feel like it may be losing steam a bit, which is worrisome since it still has 12 episodes left to go through. It’s a bit frustrating to watch sometimes as someone who watched the first two movies/OVA, waiting for things like Ursula to be revealed as Chariot, and for Akko to get to a respectable level of magic use, things like that. I do enjoy the extra development that Lotte and Sucy have gotten, and I hope it extends to Diana, Amanda and some of the more prominent girls too. Continues!

Masamune-kun no Revenge The show had a bit of a twist on the usual formula, but by the fifth or sixth episode it was pretty clear it was the same old contrived tsundere harem romance series. When the guy seems to have some redeeming qualities, I can stomach a show like that for the sake of decent characters and performances, but this just ended up being a chore to watch. Even the debut of a late game older woman/love interest’s retainer wasn’t enough to save the show for me. I can’t see myself tuning in to a second season of this without some kind of huge plot twist like a female rival that the love interest is actually interested in (ha ha HAHAHAH) 5/10

Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu In my first impression of this show, I wondered if it would be as dumbed down as the previous season’s cycling anime whose name I’ve already forgotten. It is. It’s basically the same show but with more characters. Has a good, cute sensei, but also has generic foreign student trope character, which was insufferable because she was basically the same character as the foreigner in Akiba’s Trip. Dropped

Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume The amateurish charm I thought I saw in the first episode of this show quickly dissolved into frustration. If it had been a high school clubs project, then I would have supported them whole heartedly, but this seems like a bad mobile game cash-in, and unfortunately it came out in a season that had a GREAT mobile game cash-in. Dropped

Nobunaga no Shinobi The first season ends, but the second season starts in like two weeks, so I’m tempted to not even include this, because it’s silly that it will be considered separate seasons. It’s a charming, and surprisingly bloody show about feudal Japan and for those that have studied the history of that time period, there are some great gags pertaining to certain figures not shown in the best of lights. 8/10

Nyanko Days Once again, this was just a cute fluff series that hopefully paves the way for Nukoduke. If you need a cuteness shot in the arm between heavy shows, this is a good choice. 8/10

One Room My hopes that they would keep the viewer genderless were dashed pretty quickly with a onsen episode early on, and then the sickening imouto arc in the middle. The final four episodes featuring the childhood friend chasing her dreams was the redeeming factor here, I would recommend just watching those episodes to be honest. 6/10

Onihei One of the better shows of the season. It has a different vibe to anything else on at the moment, probably because the source was originally published fifty years ago. There is very little that is lost in translation, and I think it plays well to the modern audience. There is a bit of a problem with character design, which @fucktsunderes pointed out to me, that because there’s more realism to it, some of the characters end up looking pretty similar. Actually, not just some, but a lot. To the point where I wasn’t sure if a character that died was a character that I liked or not until they showed up in a later episode. Other than that though, a great crime thriller action show. 9/10

Piace: Watashi no Italian After an incredible year of short form series in 2016, it’s an odd feeling to only have Piace as a stand out show this season. It was just the right about of silly and cute, while also being about food and food service. A highlight is the outro being sang by two different cast members each week, with the finale having everyone singing. 9/10

Pokemon Sun & Moon The most fun I’ve had watching pokemon since I was a kid, fantastic show. I am somehow even more in love with Japan’s Musashi than America’s Jesse. I am definitely on the Mao/Lillie ship. Also the only theme song this season that I listened to for every single episode, it is so awesome. Continues!

Sangatsu no Lion As I covered in my review for All Out, when a show has a game or sport in it, if it becomes too focused on that game or sport, I lose interest quicker than a hiccup. It’s a good show, but the shogi was just not the good part of the show for me. I enjoyed Rei’s interactions with his sister and the three Kawamoto girls the most of the whole season. It’s when the show felt the most alive and relatable to me. Not to mention Momo is just too darn cute. Shaft does cute very well, and also does cold depression very well, too. A spinoff with the Kawamotos as the star would be the ideal second season for me, but I will continue to watch just about anything Shaft decides to gift to us. 8/10

Seiren I should have dropped this show, but I didn’t for some reason. The middle arc was definitely the best, the epilogue was really cute too. Not really much to say about this series, it just kind of was there every week. One of those “each path of the romance vn is animated” shows, so your mileage may vary. 6/10

Spiritpact Yaoi bait adapted from a Chinese comic iirc. The main characters were both unbearable, and the way they treated the first significant female character in the show was gross, so I dropped this quicker than a hot rock. Dropped

Urara Meirochou Controversial opinion time: This show would have been better without Nono and Koume. They added nothing to the story that couldn’t have been done by either Kon or Chiya, and honestly the four girls thing is so over-done that I end up comparing it mentally to all the shows I’ve already seen before I even watch the first episode. The teacher and the... morals officer? Whatever Saku was stole the show, with some great late game performances from Kon’s mother. It was a cute show, and I’ll watch another season if it gets one, but I’d like it to be a bit more focused on the divining stuff going forward, or at least more focused on Kon and Chiya. 8/10

Youjo Senki Not really sure about this show. I spent the first half of the season mistakenly thinking it was glorying the third reich, but even after being corrected, I still didn’t really understand who I was meant to support or sympathize with. I end up rooting for Tanya a lot of the time because I understand a lot of the anti-theological sentiment she has, but I’m not sure that’s really the intent... Like in the last episode, we see the young daughter of the man who was killed by Tanya after encountering more than once enlisting in what is the equivalent of the American army. Rather than sympathy and compassion for what is obviously a scared young woman going for revenge, I felt pity, because I know far too many people in real life who FROG it up big time (that being ‘full relying on God’, btw) when any sort of hardship comes their way. I don’t really think I could watch a second season of this, it would have to be more than just ‘Tanya pushes back against Being X, BX recruits someone else, etc’, like, if Tanya went the whole season pushing back but never heard a peep out of BX, and started to wonder how much of it was just in her head, and began to doubt the things she remembered from her past life, that would be intriguing, but I don’t really see it heading that way. Also, not nearly enough Visha screen time for my taste. 7/10

[tl-notes]

Konosuba Episode 3 Notes

You've probably seen these leaf umbrellas before. They are inspired by irl butterbur leaves (or rather, a specific, large subspecies of it that is native to northern Japan), which are fuggin huge and have long, thick (veiny) stems you can hold them with, and as such can be used as a makeshift umbrella. It’s same species of plant that they made tempura out of in noted Good-Anime-Set-In-Northern-Japan, Flying Witch.

They have an association with Koropukkur, which are kind of like fairy/dwarf/elves in Ainu folklore—their name basically translates to “the people under the [butterbur] leaves”—who are often depicted holding them.

If you hadn't noticed, all the episode names (excluding s1e1) follow the same pattern as the series title: “Kono ______ ni _______ wo”. Kono means “this,” -ni is a particle that indicates indirect object status (among several other things, it’s quite versatile), and -wo is a particle that indicates direct object status (grammatically, like subject/object/verb). So you’ve got no subject or verb, just the direct and indirect objects, which is Japanese as fuck.

As a comparatively high context language, you’re free to drop many more parts of the sentence in Japanese than you can in English. This is why you get stuff like one-word lines turning into a whole sentence in the subs sometimes. It’s also the source of a lot of Japanese humor and drama. When you’re able to leave out the subject, object, and/or verb in a sentence, it’s easy to write a dialogue where the characters think they’re talking about the same thing, but aren't (as an example).

This also makes it hell to translate sometimes, as this is often used as a tool to keep information away from characters or the audience. It’s a lot easier to write cryptic conversations when, again, you don’t need subjects or objects.

Warning Feel free to skip this entry, it's long and boring. Warning

The words used to refer to different types of employment are actually fairly well defined in Japan. The two used here are naishoku and (aru)baito, but there’s also part-time, keiyaku-shain, and sei-shain. All these are common words you’ll see when looking through job ads:

Naishoku is work you do at home, and generally pays per task done, not an hourly wage or salary. When Aqua says “I’m being paid more” she specifically says the amount she gets paid per carton has gone up.

Baito (short for arubaito, which comes from the German word for work, arbeit) is work done “on the side” of some other thing that’s your main focus. Most often, that thing is high school or college, though it can also be another job that doesn't pay as much as you’d like or doesn't give you enough hours, like a lot of artsy work (indie band, new/unpopular seiyuu/mangaka/animators/authors, etc.), or even just “looking for a ‘real’ job.” It was originally used as a code word by students, who were often forbidden from having a job. If you’ve heard the word “freeter,” it comes from “freelance arbeiter.”

Part-time (or part-timer, or just part), is basically the same thing as it is in English, except it’s almost always used to refer to women, particularly housewives who want to make a little money on the side. It doesn't have to, but the connotation is strong enough to the point you see a lot of people online asking “I'm a man, can I apply to this job that says it's looking for part-timers?”

Keiyaku-shain (contract employees) are usually full time employees but with a distinct duration to their employment contract and usually lacking in a lot of the legal protections afforded normal employees. This style of employment has become all the rage lately, as it allows employers to skirt a bunch of labor laws, and they can just renew your contract as long as they want to keep you on. It’s said this trend is the cause of a lot of the job insecurity that people say they feel when asked about why they aren't getting married or having kids. Good luck on raising that birth rate, Japan!

Sei-shain (full employees) are just that, regular employees with all the associated legal protections, of which Japan technically has a lot of. This is a pretty highly sought-after status nowadays.

This list was ordered by “generally lowest paying” to “generally highest paying.”

As you may have noticed, he says the same thing both times in the Japanese: うつなよ (utsunayo). Utsu is the verb for “to shoot/fire,” sticking “-na” at the end turns it into a strong command to not shoot, and the yo is for flavor; also just “utsuna” by itself sounds a little harsh.

Ironically, adding -na to a different conjugation of the verb instead turns it into a command TO do the thing, instead of not do it. E.g. if he’d said uchinayo instead of utsunayo it would completely reverse the meaning.

The Japanese here doesn't actually make it clear the person is male (not that it particularly matters here). For such a gendered language, it’s interesting there are so many ways to avoid bringing up the gender of whoever you’re talking about. Megumin specifically uses the word “soitsu,” which in addition to being pretty gender neutral also doesn't show any respect, which is indicative of how she feels about this guy despite his supposed greatness.

“Foresight” here in the Japanese is 千里眼 (senrigan), which is basically “thousand-ri eyes” (a ri is roughly 4 kilometres*). It seems to have originated in ancient China, as things often do, when a particular general(?) had a particularly good spy network; it was said “his eyes see for a thousand ri.” It sounds hella cool so it gets used in games/anime/manga/etc. and shit a lot as a skill name, generally for “clairvoyance” type skills.

*Amount varies by country and time period. Also it's typically written with an L when referring to the Chinese version.

Minor detail, but he specifies “on your few strengths” here too, though using a different word from the one that was translated as “few” in the previous line. There’s a long-running Japanese meme of “[it’s] important so [I/you] said it twice” (大事なことなので二回言いました) that might apply here. Given the, the uh, the circumstances.

Bit of foreshadowing/punning here. The word for “the living” is 生者, alternatively pronounced seisha, shouja, or seija. She uses seija. Seija, when using these kanji: 聖者, instead means saint/holy person.

And we see what kind of person the undead actually chase after.

Specifically he’s making the ふーん (fu-n) sound here, which when used in real life sounds like hmmm, but with more of an 'n' sound. It’s the sound people make when being told some sort of fact; depending on the tone used it either indicates “huh, that’s an interesting fact!” or “cool story bro.” All this to say I cracked up at how clearly he enunciated the f/h at the start of his ふーん.

What’s translated as “keen eyes” is actually a bit more poetic sounding: “kumori-naki manako” (曇りなき眼). It uses a fancy word for eyes (which is usually just “me” 目), and a mildly fancy way of saying “unclouded”: kumori (clouded) naki (not).

It’s also a phrase famously used in Princess Mononoke, which they are undoubtedly referencing.

He’s saying “sensei” here, which is traditionally what (generally wealthy) people would call their bodyguards back in like the Edo period. Or, more importantly, it’s what the bad rich guy says to call his strong, mercenary bodyguard after the heroes have defeated his cannon fodder lackeys in all those TV shows set in the Edo period. You’ll hear this usage in anime/manga a fair bit when the one kid loses a fight and then calls in their older, stronger (often yakuza- or gang-involved) friend.

Not that it matters, but since I'm here…: the catnip part of this was added in translation.

The last sentence of this is written like it was taken from the back of a box of medicine, and in fact the whole thing does generally sound like

a drug ad.