#like it's so cool to see it animated in Oda's original style

[beif0ngs]

One Piece Vol. 103 Promotional Video

[purposeless-goner]

I've seen a lot of people trying to get into the BSD light Novels and quite frankly you can read them in order but I do have a recommendation about the order I think makes more sense chronologically regarding the story.

So:

1. LN 3. The Untold Origins of the Armed Detective Agency.

2. LN 1. Osamu Dazai's Entrance Exam.

These two take place prior to the beginning of the main timeline and are actually a great way of understanding Ranpo and the partnership between Dazai and Kunikida (also recommend LN 1 to anime only watchers because they mixed the first chapters of the manga with Dazai's entrance exam which takes place 2 years prior to the manga and they royally screwed up on Kunikida's characterisation by doing that)

3. LN 7. Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen

(the manga was good but I feel like you might understand Dazai and Chūya's dynamic and the difference of their relationship to both Mori and the Mafia once you read this)

4. LN 8. Stormbringer

(you might actually understand Chūya as a character after you read this one, dives a bit deeper into his relationship with Dazai, explains who Verlaine actually is and talks about stuff that's mentioned afterwards in the manga, like singularities)

5. LN 9. The Day I Picked up Dazai side A

(this happens at some point between LN 7 and LN 2, and helps you understand Dazai and Oda's relationship prior to reading LN 2, how Oda ended up in the Mafia and also a bit more dive into Dazai's character)

6. LN 2. Osamu Dazai and The Dark Era

(better than shown in the anime, allows you to see how Oda sees Dazai since it's written from his pov, a good dive into Dazai's character while in the mafia and why he actually left )

Once you finish The Guild arc

7. LN 4. 55 Minutes

8. LN 5. Dead Apple

(so, the first one is a bit crazy but actually dives a lot into Atsushi's character, explains weird phenomena in BSD regarding singularities and how Dazai isn't affected by certain abilities even without touch, how Yosano can actually use her ability on Dazai and I find it quite interesting, HG Wells is an interesting character as well)

(Dead Apple is entertaining and dives once again into characters and their abilities but also explains weird singularities again, also the bond between Dazai and Chūya, it also gets a bit weird towards the end in regards to things happening that might be hard to understand but the rest is easier to understand than in the movie adaptation)

9. LN 9. The Day I Picked up Dazai side B

(it's set in the alternate universe of LN 6. Beast and a great point to understand Dazai's actions and motivations in said light novel)

10. LN 6. Beast

(it should come with a warning that it's going to ruin your mental health for a while, an alternate universe of BSD, brings in the Book so you might one to read this during/after the cannibalism arc because it kind of explains a bit what the book does or how it kind of works, definitely needs a bit more explaining but it is good info before starting with the vampirism arc and all that stuff, the book is important and there's talk about singularities again. It's also cool to see how the same characters adapt to a different lifestyle, Akutagawa in the ADA, Atsushi in the PM, kyouka in the PM but with Atsushi, Dazai if he stayed in the PM, the ending will fully rip your heart out if the rest of the novel hasn't done it before that and I really recommend the manga adaptation of it because the art style is *chef's kiss* and heart wrenching)

Done with my rant now, you can still read them in their publishing order this is just my recommendation. Also, LN 9 is not out on paper yet and I think we only have fan translations online but it is definitely worth it, @popopretty has a really good translation of it.

And LN 7 is getting a manga adaptation which is also looking really good so you can check it out.

LN 5 has a manga adaptation as well as being a film and this one is not written by Asagiri but is still canon so you have that.

[gettatranslations]

S Cawaii!-san＆Demon Slayer Love Yumigeta Ako (23.11.26)

Good evening🌝

I'm Yumigeta Ako🛑

Thank you very much for your comments yesterday！

Thank you very much for our Hokkaido Performanceー！！！

Lots of you came to watch us huh！🎶

I want to hear about your thoughts at our next individual event！！！

Also our new formation was announced yesterday！

Leader　Ikuta Erina-san

Sub Leader　Ishida Ayumi-san

Sub Leader Oda Sakura-san

💚💙💜💚💙💜💚💙💜💚💙💜💚💙💜

Please continue to support Morning Musume。from here on too❤️

How amazing… all of their names contain 「田」。

Also today

I'll talk about S Cawaii!-sanー！！！

Today on S Cawaii!-san's official X(Twitter)

They posted some photosー！！！！

Don't I look totally differentー！！！！

Seeing my fringe so thin made me so 「Ooh……！」

「Woah……！」

I was really excited！

There's another cute pink outfit of mine but I'll post that another timeー‼️

It was my first time doing this kind of hairstyle and just doing such a cool shoot📸

So、I was really excitable and kept telling the stylist-san 「This is my first time doing this hairstyle！」ー！

And、if you look closely at my eyes

Well not my eyes but the bit underneath my eyebrows。

Look closely

There's rhinestones！！！！！

I've always admired the way my senpai wear them during concertsー！！！！！！！

I also have large hair clips、and cool star earrings so I really enjoyed this shoot！！！！

I've also never worn such heavy eyeshadow so it felt really really really fresh。

And And And

On the flip side I'm wearing a really pale beige lipstick

And that surprised me too！

Like 「It's so pale but so beautiful！」！

I wore a cool outfit and a pink outfit、so you can see two opposing styles but they're both Yumigeta Ako(？) So please read it and pay attention to that contrast〜❤️‍🔥

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Well then it's time for today's 【Gettaa Life】✨

Look at thisー!

Yesterday、when I looked out of the plane window at the airport I saw something！

A Demon Slayer planeー！！

It was so coolー！！！！！！！

I really love Demon Slayer〜！！！

Demon Slayer is what first got me obsessed with anime！！！

It was a huge hit when schools were closed which is when I was in 5th〜6th grade！(T/N School closures = covid lock down times)

I couldn't play with my friends while schools were closed so I spent my whoーle time at home and I was super bored、

But my best friend was talking about Demon Slayer、so I started watching it and I was like 「This is so interesting…！！！！」

So I asked Mama to buy me the Manga and then I started collecting goods…

I got super duper obsessed！！！！

I also made origami

Creator・6th grade Yumigeta Ako / Cameraman・6th grade Yumigeta Ako

They're pretty good

I was super obsessed with making Demon Slayer origami☺️

I was so proud of them I took them to school and showed them to my homeroom teacher like 「Look what I made！」😂

...

There are so many wonderful words in Demon Slayer、and I really love that about it💕

...

And with the covers of the manga、

I love the illustrations of the characters and the authors foreword and the titles each and every volume‼️

Writing all this makes me want to read it again。

Once YokoAre is over I think I'll reread the whole series from volume 1 ❤️‍🔥

I Getted 「Feelings of Love」✨

Demon Slayer is part of my origin story…

I'll always love itー！！！！！

That's all！This has been 【Gettaa Life】！

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T/N News and information has not been translated

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2 days

Until Yokohama Arena

（Today was the final day of rehearsals！）

I definitely can't catch a cold now！！

Getting ill now would be the worst timing ever！！！！！

Tomorrow I'll wear a mask and gargle and wash my hands and disinfect everythingー！

Well then I'll see you tomorrow！

This has been YumiGettaa Ako！Good night🐤🐤🐤

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on One Piece?

I've told this story, but since Tumblr search is so awful, I'll tell it again.

The short of it is: I really wanted to get into One Piece. When One Piece started, pirates weren't really a subject you saw a whole lot of in anime. I thought Oda's art style was fresh and cool, too.

I did not like dealing with fansubs. They were kind of difficult to acquire (relatively), and at the time, I had a router that would absolutely crap its pants if I left a torrent running (it would have a firmware crash and all internet traffic would die until you power cycled the device). So the Kaizoku stuff was right out for me from the start.

I forget which came first, the 4Kids dub or Viz launching American Shonen Jump with their version One Piece. I think the 4Kids dub was first, because I remember being angry at Viz for adopting "Zolo" instead of "Zoro." Either way, I was angry about the 4Kids dub, but I was lucky enough to pick up the entire first 12 months of Shonen Jump, and figured that's where I'd start with One Piece.

Didn't have the money to keep buying new Jumps past that first year, so I figured I'd have to slum it with scanlations at least. I believe I left off in the back half of Baratie, and the only scanlations I could find from that part of the manga were like, truly awful quality. I have described them as "third generation Yahoo Groups quality scans." They were dark, blurry, heavily compressed, and the dialog was barely a step above an automated machine translation. I almost wish I could find them again, because it was nasty.

Around this time I think Funimation announced they wrestled the rights to One Piece away from the decaying hands of 4Kids, so I was happy to wait for that. We subscribed to Netflix in those days, the original DVD-by-mail service, so I'd rent each new set as they came out. Got all the way up through Baratie, up through Arlong Park, up to where they visit and prepare to leave Loguetown.

I think by the time the DVDs hit the fifth set, I ran into a problem: physical rental locations like Blockbuster had hard rental deadlines. You had to bring the disc (or tape) back in a day or two. Netflix, famously, had no rental deadlines. Keep things as long as you like.

While I had no trouble getting 1-4, some clown got set 5 before I could, and sat on it. For over a year. I complained to Netflix, and Netflix just shrugged at me.

Within a year or two of that, Funimation officially launched a One Piece website, like my memory is saying it was onepiece.com or something (which it isn't, that's a clothing store), but the point was they were announcing they were going to simulcast subs of the anime, for free, on this site. They were also adding dub episodes to this site, again, to stream for free. Back then, this was pretty unprecedented. Hulu was only a few years old at this point.

I figured: wow! Now's my chance! Go to check the website and...

The free episodes ended at the exact same point I left off at with the Netflix DVDs. Episode 53. It went from Dub Episode 53 straight to Sub Episode 230, which is where the simulcast began. Looking at Funimation's current site, this is what they consider "Season 1."

So I earmarked it. "Maybe I can finish it some day."

Some day never came. One Piece is over 1000 chapters (100 volumes) and 1000 episodes. There is over 430 hours of One Piece available to watch. The manga is so big people have talked about it taking up an entire shelving unit. I even saw photos once of somebody who had their shelf break because their One Piece collection was so heavy.

It took me over a year to read 16 volumes of the original Dragon Ball. There are almost ten times as many volumes of One Piece.

I have given up. I will never read it. Never watch it. Never see it. It's great that it's this amazing thing, truly this long journey, but even at 500 chapters it would have been too much.

Even if I wanted to, it's grown to be such a thing that when something happens in the anime or the manga, there are instantly spoilers for it all over the entire internet. 107 volumes of that is pretty disheartening.

I know about One Pace. One Pace is still too long. Some of those videos are over 20 hours. For a single video. And One Pace still has gaps in their coverage anyway.

It's just not happening.

[opbackgrounds]

so I was doing some research after watching movie 6...

...and apparently it was originally written as a comedy

Yeah, I was surprised, too

Baron Omatsuri is not my favorite One Piece movie—Film Z has too many of my favorite tropes to be usurped from that position—but I do think it is the most daring. Of all the supplemental material I’ve seen and read, it feels the least...One Piece-ish. 

Yes, that includes the noodle commercials. 

If you haven’t seen the movie and can stomach a little spookiness, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. Unlike movies like Strong World or Z that have the look and feel of a manga arc, Movie 6 transplants the Straw Hat Pirates into a world that doesn’t feel like a One Piece story, taking risks and exploring themes that would never fit in the manga proper. 

In addition to the obvious changes in art and animation style, there are supernatural elements that don’t make sense within the One Piece world. None of the Straw Hats win a fight—Luffy included, although he is heavily implied to have killed the big bad at the end. The moral of the movie, if it can be said to have a moral, is if you lose the people closest to you, the answer is to forget about them and make new friends. The story ends with many questions left unanswered and the main drama between the crew unresolved.

And, if you allow me to get philosophical for a moment, I wish there were more movies like it. As I wrote in my review of Novel A, I don’t go to supplemental material or side stories looking for a repeat of what’s in the manga. Oda has written 1000 chapters of One Piece—why not spice things up a little and try something different for a change?

I know the answer isn’t that simple, and by their very nature not all risks will pan out. There will be people who don’t like this movie because it’s different, both in look and tone. But there’s something to be said about a creator putting their heart and soul into a work and having it show in the final product. 

Which brings us back to the original premise. How does a movie go from a light-hearted comedy based on a variety show theme to...this

Baron Omatsuri was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and came out in 2005. To put that into perspective, the movie was in production when the Luffy vs Usopp fight was first seen in the manga. Manga!Luffy had not yet faced the challenge of an inter-crew disputes when the story was being written and boarded, nor did the creative team have the events of Sabaody and Marineford to see how Luffy would react to the loss of his loved ones. They were working without a full understanding of Luffy’s character, and to a lessor extent the character of the Straw Hat Pirates, and it seems like Oda was much less involved In production than has been in movies since Strong World and beyond. 

Likewise, Hosoda had just left a tumultuous situation at Studio Ghibli while working on Howl’s Moving Castle, and if this interview is anything to go by (https://instrangeaeonsblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/mamoru-hosoda-on-omatsuri-danshaku-animestyle-interview-part-1/) was going through a lot of personal shit when he was brought on as director. The script he was given was originally written like a variety show—something that was carried over into the various trials seen in the final movie—and meant to be a lighthearted affair after the relatively serious Movie 5 (which I have not seen am thus unable to compare tone). 

With that backstory in mind, it’s easy to see how the bickering and backbiting between the Straw Hats early in the movie is a metaphor for Hosoda’s time at Ghibli, which is something he admits to in the interview. Movie 6 feels different than any other One Piece movie because it’s the project of a man who has had to endure the loss of those who he was close with, at least in a professional capacity. 

There are moments in Movie 6 where Luffy doesn’t feel like Luffy. More than once a member of the Straw Hats ask him to intervene during arguments, moments Luffy either ignores or doesn’t notice. It’s a version of Water 7 where instead of fighting Usopp, Luffy ignores the underlying differences within his crew, and as a result loses everybody. 

The structure of the three trials follows a clear path of deterioration within the crew, the initial goldfish scooping game showing the Straw Hats at their best and inciting the jealousy of the Baron, the ring toss sowing discord among the crew even as they snatch a narrow victory, only for them to be utterly crushed in the third and final challenge as they’re unable help one another survive. 

It is somewhat implied that the Breaking of the Fellowship(TM) is magical in nature—that like the One Ring, the Lily Carnation was able to influence the Straw Hat’s thoughts and actions, but this is never stated outright and I prefer the more mundane interpretation: That without strong leadership the Straw Hats fell victim to the manipulative machinations of the Baron, and simply self-destructed as a result.  In the end, it’s up to the interpretation of the viewer. 

And speaking of things up to interpretation, I love how the Lily Carnation isn’t explained in the slightest. The plant that initially absorbs the Straw Hats looks more like the stem of a devil fruit than a flower, it for some reason rings like a gong when hit, and somehow is able to turn pieces of itself into facsimile of the Baron’s old crew who can somehow move around despite being plans. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and the element of the unknown works so well in the horror-lite setting. 

My personal theory is the island somehow managed to eat a devil fruit which manifests itself as the Lily Carnation (which due to the L/R conflation in Japanese, is pronounced ‘reincarnation’, which I think is a nice touch of foreshadowing that may or may not have been intentional).

(Also, I can’t decide if little chewing animation it makes when it’s eating people or the weird bullseyes it makes when shit gets real are the most terrifying thing in the movie.)

Hmmm, tasty.

Anyway, this is getting long, so here are some final thoughts:

1) This movie has some low key fantastic outfits. The Straw Hats all look very cool without being over designed like a lot of recent movies. Big hat Robin is of course a fave, and makes me really want to see her in a Carmen Sandiego getup.

2) Screenshots do not do the animation of the movie justice. It’s very fluid and has a lot of excellent expressions/poses, although I admit the 3D is jarring at times. Do not let the art put you off if you haven’t seen it 

3) Also, I don’t think there’s any shading? Like at all? The movie does a lot of cool stuff with color instead. For example, the scene where Luffy initially loses to the Baron his skin goes all grey, and I thought it was because he was fighting at night, but it stays grey even in the better lighting of the underground tunnels and stays that way until he finds out the Straw Hats are still alive, where it returns to his normal color

4) There’s an extended Benny Hill-type gag when Luffy first chases after the little mustache pirate that’s perfectly timed to the music, and ends when Luffy just uses his power to grab him. The comedic timing is amazing and it’s probably my favorite funny moment in the movie, of which there are several despite the overall darker tone

5) The extended jungle shot from Nami’s POV? Very cool

6) I love how from the earliest scenes nothing is as it seems. The opening text is Robin reading the map, but the storm that’s seen on screen is the one that sank the Baron’s crew. Likewise the whole fancy city is shown to be fake panels early on, the goldfish catching game is a trap, etc., etc. It does a good job clueing the viewer in early that’s something’s very wrong on the island, even if they don’t realize it at first

7) I don’t think this type of movie would work in modern One Piece without somehow nerfing Luffy. Horror works best when the protagonist is weak and vulnerable, and that fits best with a pre-Gear 2/3 Luffy (same with the rest of the crew, tbh. I was waiting for Nami to use her lightning stick during the games, forgetting it hadn’t been boosted yet). 

8) I like how there are four captains on the island representing different levels of loss—the Baron has lost his crew and wants to destroy all others because of it, mustache pirate lost his crew and is willing to put it behind him to make new friends, Luffy has freshly lost his crew and hasn’t decided what path he will go, and coward dad hasn’t lost his crew yet but is at risk if he doesn’t change his cowardly ways

9) I think the reason why Chopper was the first Straw Hat to disappear is he’s the most likely to play the part of peacemaker. He’s also the only crew member needing rescuing at the end of the goldfish scoop game, when Luffy foolishly puts his life at risk trying to save him from drowning, just like he recklessly charges the Baron at the end of the movie. Except that time there was no Sanji to save him, leaving Luffy to get his ass thoroughly kicked

10) This is a very good Halloween movie, and I’m glad I watched it in October

[tattah-art]

Hewwo Tattah~ Could you share with us 3 to 5 artists that inspire you? It's always cool to know the inspiration behind our favorite artists!

This is actually the first thing I want to know from every artist that I like 😂 omg! THANKS FOR ASKING! Here comes the essay!!!!!

I’ll... go with the artists that influence my artstyle currently, cuz if I tell you every artist that inspire me we’ll be here for a while.

Starting with the folks from instagram:

1- Sara Tepes (@sarucatepes) - I LOVE her pencil drawings! They look so delicate and soft and simple. Even her sketches look finished! I particularly love the way she draws curly hair, it’s like she lets her pencil go every direction but when you try to do the same it looks garbage lol.

2- Naznemati - I have followed naz from since I made a tumblr account, when they moved to instagram, I moved to instagram. Their art was that dope to me. Unfortunately, this artist seems to have completely vanished from the face of the Earth and I am so sad!!!!😭 They had this weird, kinda evil but pretty looking characters that I absolutely adore. I love characters that look like some crazy creature trying to pass as human (most of the original characters I draw on the fly to warm up are like that) It’s probably my favorite aesthetic.

3 - Marzia Palomba (@heymaryjean) - it’s the most recent bean on this list. I started following her last year and already I am so in love with her painting style. She is the portrait queen! Her pictures look so vibrant and glossy and glittery! Ugh THE HIGHLIGHTS! Most of her work is done on the ipad , and since I got mine on decembe of last year, I kept visiting her gallery daily to give me an inspiration boost ( I had a real hard time adjusting ngl, it was very frustrating. I definitely needed that self pep talk while looking at her stuff)

4- Eiichiro Oda - It’s time for the masters! Everyone knows who this dude is, I don’t even need to say anything 😂 His influence on my art is not as much on artstyle but more of a creative one. I adore the character designs! They look so wacky and weird and exaggerated! Never in a million years I would ever think to create a swordsman who fights with 3 katanas (holding one on his mouth, that’s so stupid!), a 5 meters tall blond with a pink feather pimp coat, a leopard dude whose pigeon talks for him, a spanish looking loner pirate who is so absorbed into the vampire aesthetic that looks more vampiric than the actual vampire of the anime- you get my point...I want what he is smoking.

5 - Masashi Kishimoto - probably my favorite manga style to this day. Simple, soft and round! Tattah’s favorite formula! I did so many hand studies from Naruto it’s not even funny! In fact that’s how I learned to also draw feet and folds in clothing. I still see some bits of it in my artstyle sometimes xD Never let it be said that manga art isn’t valid, you DO learn stuff from it!

6- Dana Rune - as an honorable mention. I never really did any studies of her artstyle, or character design but I think I absorbed some elements of it from drawing so much Arcana 😅 this was completely accidental but there you go.

[myktchp]

Top 6 Episodes of One Piece

If there's a series that attempts to test the diminishing return hypothesis, it's One Piece. The monstrous epic of Eiichiro Oda is the highest selling manga of all time, but its ridiculous duration still prohibits many people from checking it out, and that hill will only get steeper as we barrel towards its end (eventually).

The One Piece anime, which is a much greater commitment to time and does not boast the brilliant artwork of Oda as a selling point, is even more of a conundrum. Yet, for the first time, so many fans perceive the story this way and fall in love regardless... Over the course of many long binges, there is something special about cuddling up in front of a screen and getting lost in a world, and the powerful spirit that burns just below the surface, even during the not-so-hot days of the anime, still keeps us building up to a new "best" chapter. Everyone has their favorite shows, the ones they feel emotionally attached to, and we would love to share yours in the forums with you. Here are my own 6 best One Piece episodes, in chronological order (but not superlative):

Episode 19 - The Three-Sword Style's Past! Zoro and Kuina's Vow!

In the modern age, where the manga is so informative and comprehensive, it's hard to believe that there was once a period when the anime really successfully expanded on the plot. The anime version of Zoro's flashback is so amazing that it is the "true" version of the story in my heart, which comes a little later than it did in the manga. What once was a fast and blunt page is turned into a wonderful piece of sound, letting us live for an episode in the Japanese countryside as we hear the story of a young Roronoa Zoro and his original opponent, Kuina.

In its obsession with gender, this episode also ends up being easily the most empathic the show has ever gotten. It portrays Kuina, the prodigal swordsman, dissatisfied with the awareness that the gap in intensity between her and Zoro will increase drastically as they become adults. This is a moment for a young Zoro to take seriously his female rival, and in the present day, Tashigi finally takes up whatever thematic baggage is left behind by her death. This is One Piece's tender side at its finest.

Episode 119 - Secret of Powerful Swordplay! Ability to Cut Steel and the Rhythm Things Have!

This is another fantastic episode of Zoro that places us in the middle of the Straw Hats and Baroque Works' climate war. The adversary of Zoro is Mr. 1, who really isn't a swordsman, but a man who can turn his entire body into a weapon. Not only does Dice-Dice Fruit from Mr. 1 allow for some of the anime's imagination, but this episode manages to offer one of the coolest battles in the entire series. It's bloody, it's raw, and Zoro throws a guy into a building.

Towards the end, the episode is at its best, when everything gets quiet and builds up to the final blow. It sells the show with so much conviction that I believe it's cool. I believe this is one of the series's most driven episodes, and a great example of the show's cinematic narrative eye.

Episode 278 - Say You Want to Live! We Are Your Friends!

If 151 was the episode that made me a fan, the episode that made me a lifetime fan is 278. This episode and the one before it are older examples of "one-hour specials" from the series, which are gradually split into two episodes until released on home video and streaming sites. This episode is jam-packed even as just the second half of a special, as we conclude the tragic backstory of Robin and transition into the present where the Straw Hats make their greatest gesture yet to save their friend from the greedy World Government.

One Piece can become astonishingly sad for being such a vibrant and enjoyable series, to the point that it almost competes with itself to see how unhappy it can get. If the highs were not so gosh darn consistent, these lows would become tiresome, and Straw Hats' assault on the government flag, followed by Robin's major "I want to live!" One of the most cathartic moments you'll ever find in literature is the scene. At this point in the plot, the Straw Hats are still underdogs, so their bold "never give up" attitude in the face of their greatest enemy hits particularly hard. This episode illustrates the chasms that One Piece can jump to be the saddest and happiest tale it can be, from baby Robin surviving the genocide of everyone she's ever loved to adult Robin pleading for another chance at life.

Episode 396 - The Fist Explodes! Destroy the Auction!

In One Piece, Luffy punches a Celestial Dragon so hard that he knocks the color off the screen, still one of the most frequently referenced and applauded moments. If there is one thing that One Piece is unbelievably good at, it's payoffs. It sets the pins up so that in the most bombastic way possible it can knock them down. To this day, the Celestial Dragons are the most heinous villains we've seen in One Piece, and the repercussions of (again) defying the World Government are obvious, but Luffy still has to do his thing with Luffy.

The emphasis that the show places on Luffy's pledge to Hatchan not to intervene, no matter what, is what really captures me about this moment. You get the feeling that Luffy is the kind to keep an earnest promise, but watching a hero get pushed beyond that stage is always fascinating.

Episode 574 - Back to the Present! Hordy Makes a Move!

The general opinion, as far as I can tell, is that Fishman Island is the series' worst arc. With this sentiment, I don't agree. I think it's one of the heaviest, most three-dimensional instances I've ever seen of fantasy-world-racism-as-metaphor-for-real-world-racism. Basically, the mid-arc flashback covering the plights of Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime is a film-length drama, and it's one of the series' best flashbacks, for which there's fierce competition. It's very underestimated.

Aside from being an exceptionally pretty episode, both halves of it are extremely strong, one at the tail end of the flashback and one coming out of it. Neptune mourning the death of his wife, distraught that the difficulty of race relations implies that he can not convey his frustration, is a great scene, as is the forgiveness of Jimbei by Nami for his connection to the pirates of Arlong. The push and pull between hope, cynicism, remorse, rage, and love is what makes this arc perfect. You just ever feel like you're halfway through everything life's going to bring you through, even at its worst. As for its place in the big picture plot, this episode is a significant step in the relationship of Jimbei with the pirates of the Straw Hat, and it establishes the purpose of the Ryugu Kingdom to join the World Government and attend the Reverie, a heavily built-up political event that is due in the manga any day now.

Episode 616 - A Surprising Outcome! White Chase vs. Vergo!

This is a particular stand-out episode in the series for fighting animation, since it's so much more physical than normal. Even with the powers of Smoker and Vergo flying every way, the effect goes down to their good ole fists. The personal investment between two marines duking it out is already very intense, but it's put over the edge by the great choreography and style, and that alone would put such an episode on my radar.

That said, once Smoker vs. Vergo turns over to Vergo vs. Rule, there is a cherry on top, with the real villain of the arc, Doflamingo, listening in from a distance. The rest of the series gives too much consequence to the law defeating Vergo in such an over-the-top manner.

So those are the episodes I feel are worth revisiting the most! Obviously, I'm expected to have skipped a few or omitted incredibly significant episodes in this top six list, with a series that long. If you enjoyed this top list of mine don’t forget to leave a like and share it with your friends. If you have any suggestions for my next top list just mail it to me at ramos.rf.bsmt@gmail.com and i will feature you for my next article. Stay tuned and stay safe everyone!

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

  Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

  That's pretty good!

  Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

    How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

  It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

  So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

  Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes. 

  So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

  You didn’t know yet?

    I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

  You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

  "That must be all of them."

  It happens.

  So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

  Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

    Wait, what? Gahd.

  I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

  Yeah, those things have no give in them.

  Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that? 

  Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

  That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool. 

    Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

  It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro. 

  He just did it.

  I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk. 

  I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

  Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

  I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

  He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

    So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

  What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

  So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

  Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him. 

  So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

  I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling. 

    I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite One Piece character?

  Sanji

  Favorite One Piece villain?

  Enel

  Favorite One Piece moment?

  March to Arlong Park

  Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

  Luffy and Zoro

  Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

  Soba Mask’s debut

  If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

  Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

  Moment that made you cry the hardest?

  Sanji leaving the Baratie

  Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

  One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

  Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

  Favorite fight scene?

  Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

        Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

[darthchic]

Character War: Zoro vs Sanji

Trying to put my own bias aside, and because I’m bored here in quarantine, I was thinking about how I could fairly break down parts of Zoro and Sanji’s characters and compare them. I want to see if I can analytically decide which character is more well realised or well written (just because there’s always that rivalry between both the characters and the fans, you often can’t help but ask yourself these kinds of questions).

EDIT: OH, and SPOILERS if you wish to read this and are not up to date

If the question was “Who’s the more popular character?” though, Zoro wins hands down, no contest.

 So, I broke the two characters down into categories:

–    Design

–    Fighting Style

–    Fights/Achievements

–    Coolness

–    Backstory

–    Gag

–    Development

 Design: Neither Zoro or Sanji have designs that particularly stand out to me, not within their own universe or in anime in general. Seriously, think of some crazy-ass looking characters you've seen in other anime and Zoro and Sanji simply pale in comparison. Heck, they pale in comparison to some of their fellow crewmates (Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook etc.) and over time their designs have probably been... how to put this... made more attractive as time goes on? Cause you know, you gotta let the female fans have some eye candy too. And with attractiveness tends to come more “normalness” (not a word but whatever) cause you can't go too crazy with the overall design in case it becomes off-putting. The only thing that really stands out for Zoro and Sanji respectively is hair colour and eyebrows.

–    Still if I had to declare one of them the winner... I'd have to say Sanji, just for his more 'unique' eyebrows. We've seen plenty of anime/manga featuring characters with hair colours that match every colour in the rainbow, so it's commonplace for someone to have green or pink hair and no-one really bats an eye. Peculiar eyebrows however are less common, although not rare (as far as I can tell), but for anime fans, it's something I think people still instantly notice more so than a character's hair colour. So.... point to SANJI! But barely, and it’s not much of a win.

 Sanji 1/0 Zoro

 Fighting Style: Again, neither a sword fighting style or kicking fight style is exactly uncommon, but I am edging towards Sanji's fighting style and I'll try to justify why, even if it is due to my own personal preferences. To me, sword fighting is often the go-to 'bad-ass' method of fighting, cause, come on, SWORDS ARE COOL (can't help but think about the overwhelming popularity of Pokemon Sword vs Pokemon Shield for example). Sword fights/fighters are iconic and that’s the issue at times for me because I feel like I've seen enough sword fights at this point, and not just in anime. So, while they're fun, their overexposure makes me appreciate something different a lot more.

–    To me, Sanji's style has a bit more 'kick' to it (oh yes!) and his reasons for using a kicking style are a bit more unique and interesting as well (being that he’s a cook and can’t damage his hands, the tools to his craft). His style is fun to watch, requires a bit more imagination when designing his moves, but it also has a strange kind of elegance to it which I appreciate. Not that sword fighting can't look elegant (Hello, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’), but I love that people often joke that some shots of Sanji make it look like he could be a dancer which I find amusing, because it’s true. Plus, I admire the fact that he's the only Straw-hat that fights without either a magic power/devil fruit or a literal weapon (though he has now grown accustomed to the raid suit, so…). But, for the majority of the story so far, the dude has just used his legs and that’s it. And is the 3rd (or fourth if you count Jinbei now) most powerful member of the crew, and still impressively strong overall amongst a massive cast of crazy powerful characters. Also, dude can fly. Actually fly. He can fight in the skies, sing “Walking in the Air” and it would not seem completely ridiculous. So, people reading this may not agree, but, point to SANJI!

Sanji 2/0 Zoro

 Fights/Achievements: I feel that most fans prefer Zoro's fights as he tends to take on the second strongest villains of each arc (with Luffy obviously taking on the strongest), which is automatic epicness. I know some fans even argue that Zoro would have no problems taking on the strongest villains in Luffy's place anyway, though I would disagree simply due to the fact that if Luffy were weaker/equal in strength to Zoro then why would he even be captain? The guy who's gonna be the Pirate King can hardly be weaker than one of his own crewmates, it ain't right!

–    Anyway, Zoro's battles tend to be straight-up badass one-on-one feats of strength, while Sanji's can be a mix of badass and sometimes plain goofy (thinking of Sanji vs Mr. 2 here or Sanji vs Wanze). And I do think Oda makes it clear that Zoro is the more powerful of the two, making his wins a lot more impressive, awe-inspiring, and show how physically far he’ll go in order to succeed (man should really have no blood left in his body). For me personally though, I often found many of Zoro’s fights a bit dull, like his fight with Mr. 1 for e.g. (ha, ironic), and when I watch his big battle with Kaku, while I like Kaku as a character, I had a hard time taking the image of Zoro fighting a sword-wielding Giraffe seriously. Sanji fighting a wolf with a moustache often looks goofy as well, but at least wolves come across as a bit more threatening (unless you have been on a scary Safari tour o__O…).

–    Alas, I would give Zoro the point for fights simply because I know how much the fandom appreciates them and the effort he puts in, BUT.... as for achievements... Maybe I'm being sneaky with this, but for me, while Sanji's fights maybe aren't considered as iconic as Zoro's, his actions towards helping the crew solidified Sanji's usefulness to the crew as not only a fighter but a tactician, and without him at a certain point, there wouldn't be any epic Zoro fights to appreciate. Sanji's rescue of the crew in Alabasta was pretty damn awesome, the fact they wouldn't have even reached Alabasta in the first place if Sanji hadn't gotten a hold of the Alabasta eternal log pose is hilarious, his saving of Usopp and Nami in Skypeia, his enabling of the Merry to escape without being blown to smithereens in the Enies Lobby arc, it's all just undeniably awesome. And to me, just as equally iconic and important as Zoro's fights, sooooo... I'm calling it a TIE!

 Sanji 3/1 Zoro

 Coolness: HAHA! Ok, come on, I love Sanji, but Oda's portrayal of him can get a bit ridiculous at times and sometimes rob him of his dignity, whereas with Zoro, Oda really doesn't humiliate him that much. He's usually always cool and epic and never seems to leave a negative impression in the eyes of fans. So, no question about it, point to ZORO!

 Sanji 3/2 Zoro

 Backstory: Ok, maybe it's just me, but I don't think many are gonna argue that Sanji has the better backstory? There's just more of it, it's better fleshed out, it establishes his character relationships and motives far better, it's just... better? Zoro's backstory perhaps is still to be further developed, but as it stands...

–    Zoro = Wants to become the greatest swordsman because of a promise he made to his dead rival/childhood friend. Nice, but doesn’t feel very original or special. Where did he come from before all that? Where/who is Zoro's family? Why did he want to be a swordsman in the first place? Cause it's cool? It just leaves me feeling annoyed because there’s these gaps and things left unanswered within his story and I can't tell if Oda's even going to give us any answers! But with a possibility that Zoro is from Wano, maybe something is eventually going to be explained? Still, I feel like Oda needs to be careful he doesn't make a repetitive tragic backstory, cause I worry that at some point he's going to run out of ideas on how to make each new backstory more uniquely depressing than the last, to the point where it's gonna be a 'been there, done that' kind of deal. Or maybe he’ll actually reveal that Zoro has a DUN-DUN-DUN living mother. I mean, that’s rarely done in this series, so that would be pretty shocking.

–    Sanji = Born as a quadruplet (still so weird to me) to a royal family, kind mother but douche-bag father. Mother dies saving Sanji's humanity because said douche-bag father violated mother and children by tampering with them before birth in order to make his children into sociopathic weapons. Sanji grew up emotionally and physically abused by father and brothers because he had kindness and compassion, and the abuse got so bad that he was even locked in a jail cell with an iron mask on his face because his father was ashamed of his existence. Mother, of course, dies, leaving Sanji with only an older sister to turn to, who could only be nice to him in secret and laugh at him in public. He decided to become a chef during imprisonment due to his mother giving him the only praise he had ever received and he enjoyed making her happy. Finally escapes douche-bag family thanks to decent sister freeing him, but only after promising to never admit he was related to his douche-bag father, further destroying him emotionally. Next, the ship he worked on was destroyed in a tidal wave, killing all his friends at the time, and left him alone on a rock with little food and a pirate who recently kicked the crap out of him. Went months without food only to find out that the pirate he hated had given him all the food, forcing him to cannibalize himself to survive. And all this happened before he was just 10 years old. So, from then on Sanji grew up with a fixed dedication/appreciation for food, but a clearly messed up self-image due to years of abuse and being told he was a failure by his biological father. Not to mention the man who saved his life, while a good man at heart, kinda has a messed up moral compass of his own, and kinda f**ked up Sanji's head in his own way (seriously, Sanji can't bring himself to hit a woman to save his own life cause he can't bear disappointing/disobeying Zeff, the man who actually loved him like a son? Jeez).

–    For real, Sanji's story is a doozy, and Zoro's just doesn't compare (at least not at the moment). Sorry, but clear point goes to SANJI!

 Sanji 4/2 Zoro

 Gag: Possibly debatable again, but I honestly do prefer (and the fandom majority seem to prefer) Zoro's whole getting lost gag to Sanji being a looney tunes pervert (some of the faces Oda draws, I swear!) I don't mind anime perverts so long as they have some substance to their character, but Oda places ‘Pervert Sanji’ in some situations where you're left screaming, “NOW'S NOT THE TIME DAMMIT!” Some moments can be thrown off kilter by the perverseness and/or fanservice to the point where you're just left face-palming. Arguably, the same can be said for Zoro, especially with his wandering off and getting lost in Wano right before Luffy faced off against Kaido (not that Zoro could do much about that anyway if he hadn't gotten lost), but just how easily he gets lost is so ridiculous that it veers right around from being annoying and returns straight back to being hilarious because of how mind-boggling it is. xD So, point to ZZZZZORO!

 Sanji 4/3 Zoro

  Development: Once again, another debatable one. Too debatable! There's no way around it; some may say Sanji's ‘self-rediscovery’ arc in Whole Cake Island made him the better developed character (or didn’t develop him at all) and some will say that Zoro's “Nothing happened” moment is the pinnacle of character development in One Piece, and to me, too much of it comes down to preference and I find it hard to justify why one is potentially better developed than the other. Especially when there could still be further development for them to come. So.... yeah, another TIE!

 Sanji 5/4 Zoro

So, there it is, I killed some great time in quarantine with this(!) Maybe there’s more ‘categories’ I could have added, but with what I came up with, I really did try not to be bias here. I do think it’s important to have a character that can hit ‘all the beats’, deliver in terms of action scenes, comedy and the emotional hard-hitting moments too. I can’t help but appreciate the male characters who are more in touch with their emotions and show vulnerability, which is what I appreciate with Sanji, and why I probably don’t connect with Zoro as much as I’d like to?

Going through all of this however has made me think that I'm actually fairer than I thought I was. No? Yes? Close call anyway.

[darksoulszine]

Interview with AlvhOmega

Today we interview AlvhOmega! One of our contributors in THE FIRST FLAME.

Q: How did you get into making art and for how long have you been doing it?

If I’m not wrong, I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, I started to draw thanks to Rayman, and all this time my style has been changing quite a lot, but there are still things that remains, like doing comics, I still have all the comics I’ve drawn during my childhood.

Q: What traditional media or digital program do you prefer to use and why?

I personally like CSP (Clip Studio Paint), for me it’s the perfect all-in-one software for drawing/comics/animation. It has plenty of tools and plugins and also, it’s easy to learn. Regarding traditional media, I always like to draw with ink in my toned sketchbook. If you ask me, I’d prefer digital because I can do clean drawings, and I don’t need to spend a lot of money in new materials. But I can perfectly understand why traditional feels more “organic” and “real”.

Q: Do you mostly make fan art or are there original works you are also passionate about?

I do both, years ago I was afraid of making my own content but on 2017 I decided to create my own OCs, and even started my own webcomic. It feels really good when people enjoys something created 100% by you.

Q: Is there any artist or art movement that inspires you? Which ones?

Aside from Tenebrism, the art of video games give me inspiration. For example the Soulsborne saga (obviously), Alice Madness returns, NieR: Automata, BioShock… regarding artists, it’s hard to say because there are too many choices, but for example, Kentaro Miura (Bersek creator), Echiro Oda (specially when I was teenager), and HR Giger (Alien artist).

Q: What would you say to someone who is willing to dedicate their life to art, but doesn’t take that step because of the risks?

I’d say: I understand you, living for art is quite hard, hard but not impossible. I’m not gonna be like “If you keep believing the dream that you wish it will come true uwu” because I prefer to be honest with you, reality is tough for us and maybe only 1 among 10 artists reaches this goal, but you can be that one among 10.

Being artist for me is 50% art/creativity skills, and 50% social skills, in order to sell your content, engage with the public, and create a fanbase who is willing to support you.

Don’t expect getting popular in 24h, just work hard, don’t give up, accept criticism in order to improve, SHOW your stuff and promote yourself, and above all, most importantly, ENJOY doing art. I would be here hours talking about this tbh, but I think you get my message.

Q: What do you like about being an artist?

We artists have something special, and that’s the skill to create something new from scratch… concepts, ideas, characters, environments… that’s something I love about art, creating your own stuff and see people enjoying it.

Q: Show us some of your favorite artworks that you made and tell us why.

That’s quite a hard, because Twitter don’t have gallery and Tumblr is pretty outdated, but I’ll do my best.

This is Midir, I personally like this drawing because animals aren’t my strongest point, and this one I’m, pretty happy how it turned out.

This gives me heavy metal cover vibes, I like how the colors looks.

This is from Monster Hunter, when I saw this buddy I wanted to draw him so hard, and there is. I’d say this is special because is an hybrid, between traditional and digital art.

I made this like 2 years ago and still today it looks fantastic, and that’s something really weird, from someone like me who see a drawing from 3 months ago and thinks looks old and shitty (haha).

tbh I feel like all my Nier Automata pieces were a bit underrated. If I had to choose one I’d say this, because I felt totally inspired and the execution is cool to my eye.

Q: Where can we find more of your work? Are there any personal projects you would like to share?

My Twitter where I post all my stuff. https://twitter.com/Alvh_Omega

My instagram where I post exclusively my inkings and soulsborne stuff. https://www.instagram.com/alvhomega/

My webcomic where I write stories about silly goth girls doing silly things. https://twitter.com/BS_Gothventures

I have a print store where you can buy prints. https://society6.com/alvhomega I’m currently preparing a patreon page, but still needs some fixes. Follow me and stay tuned.

Q: What order did you play the soulsborne games in? Which is your favorite?

Dark Souls > Dark Souls 2 > Bloodborne > Dark Souls 3 I haven’t played Demon Souls because I don’t have ps3, sadly. My favorite one is Bloodborne, the art, the boss designs and the crazy story is really my jam.

Q: When you got eaten by a mimic for the first time, what did you yell out loud?

I honestly don’t remember, but I think I was already aware of mimics in my first playthrough

Q: Any memorable Dark Souls gaming moments you’d like to share?

The Taurus Demon, that son of a… witch. The first time I played Dark Souls this was the reason I left the game and started to hate it. But one day a good friend suggested me trying it again because the game is worth it, aaaaaand here I am, drawing art for a zine.

Get the zine at: 🔥 [ THE FIRST FLAME ] 🔥 info page

𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 & 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞:

on tumblr @darksoulszine

on insta @DarkSoulsFanZine

on twitter @SoulsFanZine

[guy-with-the-worst-nick]

Sabaody archipelago

May be no one need this but I want to say smth about sabaody arc because it is my favourite arc in the anime and third one in the manga.

Now about the resoans.

1. New characters

This arc shows us manu new cool guys who's really important to the plot. And I am talking not only about supernovas.

Rayleigh and Shakky are my favourite pair from their era. These guys are cool because they love and know each other enough to don't worry. These two are sure in powers of their partners. Someone can say that Shakky isn't important to the plot but I believe in theory about ROCKS and I think Shakky will play her role. Even if no, I am ready to fight with everyone who'll say that she is useless.

Kizaru and Sentomaru. I again take two at once. It's because these characters great separately but they are better together. Their relationships of uncle and nephew is so realistic and I like it. Kizaru doesn't know how to use den-den mushi correctly. Sentomaru is angry about it but he explains him it again and again. Another one realistic thing is Kizaru's face)) Why are they important to the plot? Kizaru is an admiral, Sentomaru is a bodyguard of Vegapunk. Enough.

Hatchan and Keimi. I see these two like a father and his daughter. It's second time we see Hatchan but now he is different. He changed and Keimi is his chance to show himself this. Keimi-chan is really cute mermaid and I just like her. I am not sure that they will be important to the plot only because they already were. And in my view the story of fishman isn't over yet.

Fake strawhat. Everyone know that they are the strongest guys in one piece(after Buggy-sama and God Usopp of course). I wouldn't be surprised if they already have found raftel and one piece. Just a joke, of course Karibou have done it.

Supernovas. Each of them interested me immediately. Some of them by their design some of them by their speeches. I won't talk about everyone instantly because it'll be to much. I know that Oda originally didn't plan them. But it is normally for authors to invent smth in the course of work. Special in smth as long as one piece. So I have no doubt that they are important to the plot.

2. Plot

This short arc contain really much. At least for me. How I said there Oda shows us many important characters.

There for the first time pacifistas and celestial dragons appear. Celestial dragons are new characters but they are disgusting. And showing them sabaody shows us the worst of this world.

Sabaody has got many important moments. For example when Luffy beats Charlos or when he looses all his crew(guess who cried).

It is that place from where timeskip begins and where strawhats return.

3. Place

This archipelago is my second favourite island after Skypeia. It looks beautiful. Many small(no) islands woth BIG and TALL trees in the centre which are connected by bridges. And everywhere you can see big bubbles in which one you can fly. Isn't it perfect place? If you answered no, remembered that it has got a cool attraction park and change your mind.

4. Drawing style(in anime)

It's perfect what else can I say. I am talking about the first part of it of course. Just look at my boy( I wanted find his happy but...)

Okey, he always perfect

5. Opening

Just my favourite

Ooookey, I can continue eternally. But that's enough to like Sabaody

[hotarutranslations]

Satoyoshi Utano "20 Questions 20 Answers" Haro Puro Love Talk!

In 2018, we’re having a celebration of the Hello! Project 20th Anniversary (Hello Love). For the members who belong to Hello! Project, their thoughts on the 20th anniversary activities and enthusiasm for 2018, thoughts of an everyday idol, we had a passionate “20 questions 20 answers” talk~ This time its BEYOOOOONDS Satoyoshi Utano!!

  Satoyoshi Utano = Born September 22nd, 2000. Hometown Tokyo.

 Q1: Tell us the meaning of your name! My name is Utano, and my older sister also has a music related name with 3 hiragana characters. I really love music; I grew up listening to western music and R&B. They had wanted a music-related name, so its like there were 3 character candidates to match with my sister. I don’t have memory of it, but on the day I was born there was a feature for a woman who  had turned 100, and it seems she said her name was Utano-san. To live well and long, I heard it they felt they wanted me to enjoy my life.

Q2: What senior are you aiming towards?

 Morning Musume ‘19’s Oda Sakura-san and, Angerme’s Nakanishi Kana-san. I have a thing for voices, Oda-san’s voice is all-mighty. With a clear voice it can be cute or cool-like. She changes her voice is like magic, its really amazing. Also I really like how Oda-san thinks. I think the way she thinks about idols and herself is cool; I respect her as an idol and also as a girl. Nakanishi-san is really a stoic hard-worker. For Nakanishi-san and myself, without being in Hello! Project Kenshuusei we joined Hello! Project. I knew of Nakanishi-san from since she underwent the auditions, and although there were those that had been Kenshuusei in her generation she would tackle things with a smile even though they were difficult. She is cute and cool with a good style range, I think its wonderful how her various charms come out.

 Q3: Who would you want to be reborn as?

 Angerme’s Kamikokuryo Moe-san. Visually, her clear voice, and with her atmosphere, I like everything. I also like her kind of face! Also, I had the opportunity to sing an Angerme song in the Hello! Project concert shuffle corner, and I was in charge of Kamikokuryo-san’s part. I wasn’t able to do it well but, Kamikokuryo-san taught me “Watch this video” and “Do it in this way”. During rehearsals she would say “the dialogue you did just now was good!”, I was thankful and happy that she would do those things casually. I think I’d also like to become a senior like that.

 Q4: What are you the best at in Hello! Project?

 I think what I’m absolutely number one in, is my love for the things that I love. There are various things like animals and women crime scene investigators and precure. Also making accessories, I can’t lose in my hands dexterity! But, I want to be the best at dancing. It’s absolutely dancing.

 Q5: Tell us something amazing about Hello! Project!

 Its broad. I think Hello! Project is an established genre, its not just cute or cool songs, in a different vector as there are a variety of songs like play-like songs and exciting songs. Since there is no end to each songs dancing, singing or expressions, that there is cool. Since Hello! Project lives are really cool, I think that is a charm.

 Q6: Who would you want to be in a Hello! Project special unit with?

 There are a variety I’d want do it with, I’d like to dance with those who are good at dancing! Also, I’d want to sing a cute song with Yokoyama Reina-san (Morning Musume ’19), Kawamura Ayano-san (Angerme), Ozeki Mai-san (Country Girls), Shimakura Rika-chan and Okamura Minami-chan (BEYOOOOONDS)!

 Q7: Tell us a BEYOOOOONDS song you like!

“Megane no Otoko no Ko” is fun! Since its like its made for a play, there is a proper development in the lyrics and story. Therefore, I think I’d want you to enjoy the differences in expressions from the beginning to the end. Its easy to get into the emotions, I really like it.

 Q8: What is a Hello! Project song you like?

Hm—There are a lot--! I really like a lot of them but, what I’m into now is Tsubaki Factory-san’s “Fuwari, Koi Dokei” and Juice=Juice’s “Borderline”. Seeing them at the Harocon rehearsals, I ended up getting into them.

 Q9: What is the difference between current and previous Hello! Project?

 When I look at the fans, and I also feel that the groups characteristics are more clearly visible. That is to say it feels like cute songs are for Country Girls-san, and pure songs are for Tsubaki Factory-san.

 Q10: Other than yourself, who would you recommend as an oshi?

 Everyone as a whole (laughs). Since the personalities are really scattered around, there is definitely a girl you’d come to like in Hello. You’ll definitely find the girl you like! Within BEYOOOOONDS there is also an explosion of personality but, Maeda Kokoro-chan! I have a thing for voices so its come out that I like her voice (laughs). Now Maeda Kokoro-chan has a boyish character, but there are many parts of her that are girl-like. She’s able to be really attentive and kind, I think you’ll end up falling in love with her.

 Q11: What do you want us to see most from yourself?

 Its dance after all. Since I like creating my own choreography, I think from now on it’d be nice to put out those kinds of things. Also my voice. I have a complex about it but, I’ve entered a world where I’ve been told a lot “your voice is characteristic” and “what a nice voice”.  I’ve also come to really like singing. I had made a wall for myself that I wasn’t suited for singing, but that isn’t the case, and I came to want to try work where I’d use my voice. Just listening to songs, it’d make me happy if you came to think “isn’t that Satoyoshi?”.

 Q12: What is work you want to challenge?

 Something in relation with my voice and choreography. Also since I like makeup, I’d like to try something related to beauty! Making someone pretty, like producing the members or something. Like what colors look good on the members, I’d want to do something with that kind of atmosphere.

 Q13: What do you want us to see most from BEYOOOOONDS?

 There are a lot of us who are good at expressions in plays, I’d want you to see that. If we’re doing a cute song there are those who are good with that, but there are also those who are the best at cool songs. We can do everything! That’s what I want you to see. Including the retro feel, I want you to see that.

 Q14: What will you be doing in 20 years?

 I think I’ll be continuing dancing and being in plays. I’ve been trying various things since I was small, and these are two things that I haven’t gotten tired of. Therefore, surely I’ll be continuing with it, I also don’t think I’ll want to stop. Also like my pretty older sister, I want to become a wonderful woman. Now I feel like I’m still an 18-year-old; I think I’ll want to grow as a woman.

 Q15: Since it’s the 20th anniversary, tell us a secret! I’ve pretty much said my secrets (laughs). Every morning I wake up early and when I return home, and before bed, I smell my dog Omochi-kun while spinning around (laughs). They’re a Maltese, I’m already in love with them. But, I don’t like others doing it. I don’t think I can show the level of disgust I get to towards that (laughs).

 Q16: What do you want to be able to do after a year?

 I want to grow with singing. Now that’s my biggest challenge. I’m inexperienced in how to use my own voice, it feels like I’m learning while fumbling around. I think I want to do my best to become good at singing.

 Q17: What would you be doing if you weren’t an idol?

 Originally I didn’t plan on going to school. I began the audition in May, at that time I had decided to find a job with Hello!. I wonder what would have happened, with dancing and plays, I think I’d be doing my best to be active with them.

 Q18: What are you most into right now?

 There is a lot but, pickled vegetables. I’m also into vinegar rice rolls. I’ve made them at home, but I’ll buy them if I haven’t made them. Recently, I received Kyoto sake pickled vegetables, that made me really happy. I like vinegar rice rolls, plum natto, and toro rolls, I like the elasticity of the seaweed.

 Q19: Who do you get along with in Hello! Project? Tell us a recent episode!

 I get along with everyone in BEYOOOOONDS, but other than those members, Angerme’s Ise Reira-chan, who had the same timing of debut. I’m about 3 years older than her, but talking about that sense of distance is really fun. We like the same character “Mossari Mosao”, the first time I went to the collaboration café I was in line near her by chance! I was side by side with my sister, and then I saw the back of her. I wanted to leave from the coincidence, and we both talked about it on our blogs.

 Q20: What is an idol to you?

 There is a big impact with girls from the same generation as you doing their best singing when times are tough, since it’s something that comes from within, I think idols are people who absolutely have the presence of sending out energy and smiles. I think they’re really cool. Of course, that is true of others artists, as I also get energy from other artists music. But, idols have more of a presence of the familiar. There are penlights in the color of the member you like, you call their name, you send your own cheers for the idol. I think the feelings of sending out your support is really a happy thing; I as well with blogs and lives hearing “Utano—” or “Utano—n” voices call out gives me a lot of energy. I think the communication with idols is good, and its not just with handshakes, I want to communicate my feelings of thanks for receiving lots of support directly. I think that getting to communicate with an idol is a good thing. I’m not able to say it in a word!

 https://thetv.jp/news/detail/184711/

[demifiendrsa]

Kohei Horikoshi x Eiichiro Oda interview that was featured in My Hero Academia volume Origin.

The man that Horikoshi looks up to –Eiichiro Oda. In 16 years the boy now walks shoulder to shoulder with his hero as a “serialized artist”. What kind of conversation will they have now that they're here?

Having an extreme formative experience in manga (comics):

In the illustration corner of “One Piece” Twenty Third Volume: Usopp Gallery Pirates, is where the two made first contact. Horikoshi-sensei, how did you feel about having your work published for the first time?

ODA: That was a good volume. It was the last for Alabasta, with the famous “Proof of Friendship” scene.

HORIKOSHI: I was shaken.

Shaken!?

HORIKOSHI: Yes. I believe that was when I was in high school, and to discover that one of my drawings was printed there on the page caused me to break out in the shakes. I was still shaken when I showed my mom the picture too.

ODA: It's good you're close to your family. (Laughs).

How many drawings had you contributed?

HORIKOSHI: Just the one.

Incredible! What made you decide to send it?

002

(Side text- Young Horikoshi meets his hero.)

HORIKOSHI: My friend and I love One Piece so we both decided to send artwork in. We both drew incredible things, but only mine made it into the gallery.

ODA: It's as if you were the one to get the green light at an idol audition. (Laugh.)

HORIKOSHI: Are you the one who writes the commentary, Oda-sensei?

(Side text- My name has been engraved into “One Piece” for eternity!)

ODA: Yup, I do. I write it as Usopp.

HORIKOSHI: I'm so thankful....ahh, I mean overjoyed.

I think it's incredible you managed to make it in with just one submission. Did this experience affect your life as a mangaka? HORIKOSHI: To be honest I was quite satisfied with that drawing....(laughs).

ODA: Oh in a “My art was good enough to be published” way?

HORIKOSHI: No, more like a “Wow it was published! Now my name will be carved into One Piece for eternity!!” Sort of thing. I was totally satisfied with just that.

Everyone laughs.

ODA: I wonder if it would have been better if you were more frustrated (laughs).

Might you have been more inspired if it had been rejected instead?

HORIKOSHI: No, no, it took a bit of time but I did believe that I should take manga more seriously.

You mean between the experience of success and the actual feeling of making it?

HORIKOSHI: Right.

ODA: At the time, social media hadn't yet become widespread, so there weren't as many opportunities to give people a place to display their artwork. So that's why having it published in print gives me a strange sense of happiness. Even I like to give as many opportunities as possible to show off people's artworks on that page I've created.

Inquiring about the confession five years into serialization.

Horikoshi-sensei, you were able to tell Oda-sensei about the artwork in 2015, after quite a bit of time had passed, right?

ODA: Even before “HeroAca” was serialized we met at New years parties, right? Although you hadn't yet had a “hit” right?

Oda-sensei at that point you were in volume 77 of One piece..

003

And you wrote “You should have said something sooner!” (Laughs.)

ODA: That's right! You shouldn't have been so reserved!

HORIKOSHI: I was just too embarrassed. For me to speak up about something like that when my serializations were in the back of the magazine...even if I had the opportunity it just didn't feel right.

ODA: I see, that might have been the right decision. It'd be more helpful for me to cheer you on if you had a manga currently serialized. (laughs.) So you spoke up because now you had the pride of serializing a hit manga then?

Horikoshi: Hmmmm....

--Shouldn't you be more proud of your achievement? (Laugh.)

HORIKOSHI: Where you say pride, I more feel embarrassment.

(Side text- So you spoke up because now you had the pride of serializing a hit manga then?)

Any Oda-isms that have had a huge influences on you?

--Horikoshi-sensei has One Piece had any influences on you?

HORIKOSHI: How do I put this...I suppose having characters say things that I feel naturally is one influence I've taken from One Piece.

ODA: Well, when I first started serialization, things were different –a character saying things that Luffy does was seen as embarrassing.

HORIKOSHI: Ohh? But it feels like everyone in my age group was writing like that.

ODA: That makes me happy. Back then I was pretty young and it felt like I was rebelling against current fads. Back then it was pretty popular for girls hair to be braided inward, so I did the opposite when I drew.

004

--So you proceeded by doing the opposite of the opposite?

ODA: It just didn't feel right to me unless it stood out. At the time I was told a lot that my art was really weird, so I didn't dare to dream that anyone would be influenced by me in later years.

HORIKOSHI: I was influenced by how your characters have very small eyes. However I couldn't quite draw it all that well and had a lot of trouble....So lately I've been drawing them a little bigger than before (laughs).

ODA: I've been doing the same thing (laughs).

--Horikoshi-sensei has One Piece influenced you in any other areas –aside from artwork?

HORIKOSHI: I love the Arlong Arc. Especially the exchange (between Luffy and Nami) “Help me...” and “Of course!!” I thought that part was especially cool, and I wanted to draw a Luffy like protagonist. Oh and this week's One Piece chapter was crazy good. (Jump has a scattered turnover)

--Lots of past characters showed up during the Reverie, huh?

ODA: It was pretty shocking huh? (Laughs) The serialization has gone for a long time so I'm able to have characters who appeared in the past show up again, but there are probably many readers of Jump who don't quite get what's going on. Maybe the people who read by volume are deeply familiar with what's going on, but those who read Jump probably haven't read everything...

005

ODA: So I had to include the past events so they wouldn't miss anything.

HORIKOSHI: Huh? Does that happen?

ODA: Quite often, to a surprising extent. When they aren't doing the polls it's like “I'm so happy that this character is popular!” And then when I draw them people say “I don't know who this is.” (Laugh).

HORIKOSHI: Huh!!~

ODA: When the serialization runs long those things happen.

--The one who's easiest to draw is not surprising oneself.

Oda-sensei what are your impressions of Horikoshi-sensei?

ODA: As the face of the next generation of big hit hero artists.

HORIKOSHI: I can't believe that.

ODA: My daughter will happily sing the “HeroAca” anime theme songs on bus outings, and it'll get everyone in a good mood. At home she'll ask “Dad is your manga going to be okay” She's really worried about One Piece.

HORIKOSHI: I'm thankful to hear that, but it's a bit....(laughs).

(Side text- My daughter will happily sing the “HeroAca” anime theme songs on bus outings, and it'll get everyone in a good mood.)

ODA: But I am a little concerned since it's a manga with a lot of characters.

--Why's that?

ODA: When there are a lot of characters to draw it gets difficult to unify the work as a whole, and properly, but if you are able to properly establish and understand the characters then the work will be a hit. It can lead to a lot of needless anxiety. I will say this though, I've always been impressed by Horikoshi-sensei's comic covers. They look great, and the sense of style is on point –and you're able to come up with some very good ones.

HORIKOSHI: Thank you so much that makes me so ridiculously happy.

ODA: What do you use to color them?

HORIKOSHI: Photoshop.

ODA: Oh so you use computers?

HORIKOSHI: Yes, I did get a little tired of using them so for volume 18's cover I went back to using analog (hand painting) it was overwhelmingly fun.

ODA: You like American Comics right? Your style of artwork is influenced by them.

HORIKOSHI: Yeah. I've read all of “Spiderman” and “Deadpool”.

--And what about character personalities?

HORIKOSHI: Ah, for this Oda-sensei is a huge influence. I thought to myself “I really want to draw a lively character like Luffy!!” But in the end I ended up drawing a character nothing like him and more like myself –an otaku who has a penchant for over analysis.

006

(Top text- A Shikishi that Oda-sensei drew ahead of time. To keep from dirtying Luffy, Horikoshi carefully draws beside him.)

HORIKOSHI: and at the end of that, just a bit of brightness added in for good measure which harmonizes into Deku the protagonist.

--The relationship between weekly manga artists and movies.

--How were you involved in this movie?

HORIKOSHI: I was involved and contributed to the script phase, and did the final character designs. If I had more time to, I would have done more.

ODA: If I said something like that (laughs) it would be endless. From the start, I said that the weekly serialization is most important to me, and I didn't want to do anything to disturb it.

HORIKOSHI: M—My stomach hurt. I thoughtlessly said “I want to do more”....

--This is the first movie for HeroAca. At the time it was confirmed how did you feel?

HORIKOSHI: I was really happy. I thought that getting an anime confirmed was the peak of my happiness –my dreams had come true. I really didn't think I'd get anymore than that so when they said the series would get a movie, I was like “Seriously?! No way!!”

ODA: I attended the screening on the morning of it's premiere and was moved by all the people lined up to see it.

HORIKOSHI: You were in the audience....

ODA: But I wasn't really able to talk to any of my readers live there.

(Side text- I was really happy. I thought that getting an anime confirmed was the peak of my happiness –my dreams had come true. I really didn't think I'd get anymore than that.)

007

HORIKOSHI: Then I'll definitely have to do that.

--Lastly, please give the moviegoers a few words.

HORIKOSHI: It'll be a lot of fun for those who don't read my manga, and more fun still for those who do. It's a kind of work that anyone can come into and enjoy. The movie is the only way to see a fight where All Might and Deku fight side by side! So by all means come on down and have a good time!

--And now a shout from you both.

ODA: Let us keep fighting together for popularity in Jump from here on in too!

HORIKOSHI: Of course...ah, no....

ODA: How many volumes do you estimate the series will be?

HORIKOSHI: Honestly I thought about 30 or so would be about right, but I hadn't really been counting at all...

ODA: Then shoot for about 50.

HORIKOSHI: Can I really do ten years though...? (Laugh).

ODA: Rather than if you can, it's more like you'll end up doing it.

HORIKOSHI: Then you had already decided on how many volumes One Piece would have from the start?

ODA: Of course. Though it's gone about triple my original calculations.

HORIKOSHI: It it because while you were drawing the series the amount of things you wanted to portray multiplied?

ODA: They multiplied and broadened.

HORIKOSHI: Yeah, even for me the Sports festival arc was about twice longer than I had originally expected.

ODA: That's what happens when lots of characters get together and act at once....it gets really difficult to predict how things will go. But I wish you luck on the battlefield that is Jump.

HORIKOSHI: Ah, yes...

ODA: How about a proper response with resolve?

HORIKOSHI: I'll do my best to to overcome even One Piece!!

ODA: I won't lose, you know.

HORIKOSHI: Ah, I said it. (laughs). Thank you very much.

  Translated by Bomber D. Rufi.  

[hoogiehowser]

MEDIA DIARY JANUARY

:::::::::: MOVIES ::::::::::

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) I liked this so much I ended up seeing it twice. The animation is on a whole different level from everything else in theaters I just can’t believe it. Nothing has immediately endeared me to a character more that when Miles gets to the place where he’s going to put up graffiti and yells “BROOKLYN!” to get the echo. Absolutely perfect. 

Happy Death Day (2017) The trailer looked good but the trailer for the sequel looked even better. Good time repeating movie. Way better than Blood Punch. I’m excited to see more of this.

Alien: Covenant (2017) Had no clue what to expect going in but I actually dug it. It’s just Alien again like every Alien movie but what they do with David from Prometheus makes it really interesting. There’s also some straight up slasher movie sleaze that definitely appeals to me.

MacGruber (2010) It’s just a bunch of dick jokes while a bad action movie happens. There’s no clever spin to it.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Wanted to watch this due to the Fast & Furious connection. It’s a great movie about overachievers and getting away with shit. I think Justin Lin is a great director and his unique voice benefits every movie he does.

Collateral (2004) I didn’t realize until the credits that this was a Michael Mann movie but it was so obvious in hindsight. The premise is simple, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are great, and everything comes together in a genuinely cool film.

Wilson (2017) Based on a comic I don’t particularly like from Dan Clowes’ grumpy old man phase. The cool thing about the comic is that each page works on its own and has a different art style. The movie can’t do that. But it’s still faithful to the book which means it feels like a series of one page gags strung together until it finishes. Woody and Laura Dern are great though and it is pretty funny at times.

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare (2018) There was another truth or dare based horror movie a year before that was a Syfy original. The Syfy one is better. The problem with them both is the supernatural contrivances that make people play truth or dare against their will. It’s such a strained premise.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Guy Ritchie made a King Arthur movie and it feels exactly like you’d expect. 

Thoroughbreds (2017) Girl who can’t feel emotions befriends girl who is very politely hiding her extreme emotions. Things get bad when they start to think about murder. Anton Yelchin plays a druggie scumbag loser. It’s such a good movie. 100% my kind of thing.

:::::::::: TV ::::::::::

The Great British Baking Show (Beginnings, Collections 1-4) Got addicted to this one. I love cooking competitions shows and pleasant ones are usually the best. I like seeing competitors that like each other. I like Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry not trying to tear people down. I love Mel and Sue. It’s just a nice show for the nice people.

Toei Spider-Man (Episodes 1-5) I’m not a big toku guy but Spider-Verse got me curious about various Spider-Men. Takuya Yamashiro wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, he was injected with blood from the last survivor of Planet Spider and carries out a mission against Professor Monster’s Iron Cross Army to avenge Planet Spider and his own father. Next to nothing present from the classic Lee/Ditko Spider-Man and that’s totally alright. I’m going to try to watch more because the episode where Spider-Man has to donate his blood to hurt child has some serious heart.

The Prisoner (Episodes 7-17) I started watching this a while ago but only now got around to finishing. Mostly super clever plots and the atmosphere is always great. Patrick McGoohan sells it every single time. Some of the later episodes go really off the rails though. There’s an entire wild west episode. Nothing in this stretch tops my favorite episode, The Schizoid Man, where Number Two brainwashes Number Six to act differently and then forces Number Six to pretend to be Number Six while a different man is already pretending to be Number Six. The ending is solid though and carries a really good tv series to a confusing, surreal end.

Cutthroat Kitchen (Season 7, Episodes 1-7) Polar opposite of The Great British Baking Show. It’s the Mario Kart of cooking competition shows. Everyone tries to fuck each other over and Alton laughs at them the entire time. It’s brilliant.

:::::::::: PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING ::::::::::

TJPW Tokyo Joshi Pro ‘19 (January 4) I don’t follow TJPW and don’t know any of their wrestlers besides Meiko Satomura but I watched this because it was on before Wrestle Kingdom. Meiko vs Reika Saiki definitely made the show worth watching and the rest was pretty alright. Lots of fun, new personalities that I like.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 (January 4) Probably the most I’ve looked forward to a show and it absolutely delivered. For the past few years I’d watch WK and recommended matches but in in July I started following everything NJPW. That added investment made this WK special. Ibushi/Ospreay tore it up and I really hope Ibushi recovers soon. Jay White/Okada shocked me. Naito/Jericho was fucking brutal. And Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi was a match I was so invested in that I thought I was going to cry. If you haven’t checked out New Japan yet this show would make an excellent start. GO ACE!

Impact Homecoming (January 6) Impact has gotten pretty good. I’ve only seen a few of their most recent ppvs but it’s obvious that they have a wealth of talent and they’re willing to tell the kind of dumb stories that I really like. Since Homecoming was in Nashville I went and it was one of the best shows I’ve been to. The energy was insane all night and LAX vs Lucha Bros has to be the best match I’ve seen live. Now that they air on Twitch I’ve been following the weekly show and enjoying it quite a bit.

WWE Royal Rumble (January 27) I always love the rumble but the rumble was weird. Both rumble matches were okay but filled with dumb stuff and way too many recovery spots that were immediately deflated by the person getting eliminated. I like the winners. AJ/Daniel didn’t deliver like I wanted. Sasha and Ronda had a good match. I loved how Finn Balor worked Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis. Fun show.

NXT UK Takeover Blackpool (January 12) NXT UK doesn’t really grip me aside from the women’s division. I liked this well enough but nothing really changed my mind. Finn Balor made a surprise appearance and he looked like such a star compared to everyone else. Excited to see what WALTER can do here though.

GCW 400 Degreez (January 12) GCW’s brand of hardcore indie nonsense is my absolute favorite. 400 Degreez isn’t the best they’ve done but it was full of disgusting beautiful deathmatch bullshit. Markus Crane vs Nate Webb especially.

NXT Takeover Phoenix (January 26) Takeover always delivers. Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet was definitely the match of the night. I don’t dig the War Raiders schtick but their match was great. Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler also killed it.

:::::::::: COMICS ::::::::::

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volumes 1-10) I wanted something long to start reading so why not One Piece? Enjoying it so far. I like getting the crew together and Usopp’s story in particular is great. Oda is a master cartoonist. I love every time we get reaction faces.

Spider-Man: Fever by Brendan McCarthy Spider-Man fever got me wanting to revisit Spider-Man: Fever because I remember liking it. I still like it. Doctor Strange accidentally opens a doorway into a spider dimension and Spider-Man gets caught in Doctor Strange’s bathtub and the alternate dimension spiders take him. All this and McCarthy’s art make Fever pretty far out. 

Spider-Man 2099 by Peter David, Kelley Jones, and Rick Leonardi (1-15) Miguel O’Hara wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, he had Peter Parker’s DNA put into him by weird future DNA machine and he wages war against the gigantic corporations that control everything. I like Spider-Man 2099. Miguel is so different from the Peter Parker archetype and he’s got claws and fangs. He’s brutal. It’s got a neat post-hero future kind of like Batman Beyond. I stopped reading because the next part is a crossover with Punisher 2099, Ravage 2099, Doom 2099, and X-Men 2099. I’ll hopefully pick it back up because I want to know what happens with the hologram that’s in love with Miguel. 

Spider-Man by Kazumasa Hirai & Ryoichi Ikegami Yu Komori was bitten by a radioactive spider and he definitely wishes he wasn’t. It starts off a lot like our usual Spider-Man but the villains are so much more tragic and Yu deals with some heavy shit. Ikegami’s art evolves from cartoony to serious as the tone of the book changes. He’s a really incredible artist who is consistently pulling neat tricks and trying new things. I really liked this and it may top my favorite Spider-Man comics. It’s just so bleak and unforgiving to poor Yu. By the way, the final plotline is exactly the same as the Sonny Chiba movie Wolf Guy. Turns out the comic that movie was based on was written by the same guy that write Spider-Man. An odd find.

:::::::::: VIDEOGAMES ::::::::::

Axiom Verge Had my eye on this for a long time and finally picked it up on sale on my Switch. It’s okay. There are a lot of clever ideas here that I don’t think work for me. But I do like the decorrupter and the teleport. Some of the movement feels great but some stuff like the grappling hook feels awful. I hate the story. Completely incoherent sci-fi nonsense. But it’s a fun game and I enjoyed my time with it.

Hollow Knight I’ve spent about 30 hours on this game and I feel like I’m close to the end of the story. I absolutely love it. The movement, the combat, and the exploration all feel excellent. I’ve played over ten metroidvanias in the past year (I really like them) and this might be the best. My favorite part about them is how you’re almost never wasting time because there are new secrets to discover all across the map and Hollow Knight does such a good job with that.

[whatsthecraicwithvideogames]

My Definitive Ranking Of All 21 Confidants in Persona 5 (yep it’s a list you just gotta deal)

Persona 5 has some of the best characters in any game I've ever played. Over the 100 hours spent in the game, a lot of these characters are significantly fleshed out and you feel a genuine bond with them. Some not so much. So, because the world needed it so much, here is my official 100% accurate ranking of all those characters. No debate needed. This is the only ranking you will ever need. Enjoy.

21 Yuuki Mishima

Mishima seems to think that just because he figured out that you were a Phantom Thief that he is entitled a spot in your friend group.No. GET YOUR OWN FRIENDS MISHIMA. There are plenty of characters less interesting than Mishima, but none that annoyed me more. It may be completely unjustified, but I just need him out of my life. More specifically, I need him out of my hotel room in Hawaii. Go home, Mishima. No one wants you here.

20 Toranosuke Yoshida

The main issue that afflicts the majority of the people at the bottom of the list is dullness and being underdeveloped. Yoshida happens to be the former. Maybe it's just because I'm young and ignorant, but when I'm trying to save the world from its inevitable ruin, I'm not really all that interested in a disgraced politician. Call me simple minded.

19 Chihaya Mifune

Now we come to the underdeveloped. Although it must be said that Chihaya could have had an amazing storyline that I just didn't see, as her character was so one note and uninteresting that I became equally uninterested in what was going on with her and I didn't pay a whole lot of attention. So I apologize if I've missed an amazing character, but she should have made a better impression sooner.

18 Shinya Oda

I have little feelings towards Shinya. He's a little higher on the list due to his storyline being a bit sympathetic but there isn't really much to his character other than the fact that he's a kid who's good at a video game. I was invested in making sure that he got fed, but that's about as far as it goes.

17 Munehisa Iwai

I am currently holding a bit of a grudge against Iwai at the minute, as he was the only confidant I didn't manage to max out on my new game plus run, basically meaning I wasted about an extra 70 hours BUT HEY. That's not his fault. He also suffers from side character dullness, but he gets bumped up the list a bit because we had a lot of weird dates together that I'll never forget. What other game allows you to go to the planetarium and an all you can eat buffet with a yakuza member? In Persona 5, even the boring characters have something to offer. Some more than others.

16 Igor

There isn't really much to say about Igor to be honest. Of all the people on this list, he’s the one you have the least opportunity to get to know, but there's just something about him. Maybe it's his nose? Or perhaps the eyebrows? Either way, I like his style and he managed to crawl up a few spaces.

15 Haru Okumura

We arrive at another character who took a little while to grow on me. Originally I thought she was just as boring as Makoto, but at least Haru has some semblance of a personality. She's awfully sweet and her storyline is very sympathetic. She struggles under the weight of her responsibility to run a company, and is conflicted by her arranged marriage to a man she has no interest in. I felt genuinely invested in making sure she was okay and safe, even if her metaverse outfit is a bit dumb. Nobody's perfect.

14 Ichiko Ohya

If you're not familiar with Ohya, just imagine a really incompetent Jessica Jones and you're pretty much there. Meaning, she's drunk all the time. She drinks away the guilt she harbours from losing her best friend on the job, but she still remains a fierce journalist who doesn't crack under pressure and is determined to find out the truth. She just happens to smell like gin while she's doing it.

13 Sae Niijima

Sae is cool in the most normal way that you'll find in Persona 5. She's a prosecutor, working against against all odds to become the top in her field. She may have been working slightly against us in the beginning, but she was a formidable foe; working with an open mind and a level head, she eventually began to believe our stories about our time with the Phantom Thieves. Sae is rad without needing a cool outfit (@Makoto) and we should all be more like her.

12 Makoto Niijima

I'm not even going to apologise. Makoto just barely made it above her much more impressive sister, and the only reason she did is because her whole deal in the metaverse is pretty badass. However, and let me say this loud for you Makoto, just because your persona is a motorcycle, DOES. NOT. MAKE. YOU. THE BOSS. Once she joins your team, every plan comes from her, even though I am the leader of the Phantom Thieves. I have tried really quite hard to understand why everybody loves Makoto so much. I even romanced her on my second playthrough so I could get a different perspective on her. It helped nothing. I really tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but anywhere outside of the metaverse, she is dull and boring. Number 1 Waifu she is not, I'm afraid.

11 Hifumi Togo

Before Futaba came along, I was all set to romance Hifumi. To be fair I felt she was the best of a bad bunch, but let that not detract from her good qualities. She's a shogi master (or at least she thinks she is), and yet she still struggles with something that a lot of us can identify with: she is desperately trying to live up to her mother's unachievable high expectations. All Hifumi wants is to play shogi, and when she plays shogi, she plays shogi. She's a bit crazy but we love her anyway, and there's no one else I’d rather play shogi in a church with. Now just to figure out what shogi actually is…

10 Morgana

What would a JRPG be without a resident weird humanoid animal thing? Mediocre, that's what. Morgana is an integral part to the whole structure of the game, in more ways than one. Without him, our character would have no idea about how anything works in the Metaverse. Yes, he can be literally the most irritating presence on the planet whenever I'm trying to go out and Morgana is telling me to go to bed (YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME MORGANA), but deep down I know he's doing it out of love. Sometimes I wish Morgana loved me a little less but hey, you can't pick your family.

9 Goro Akechi

Okay, look. I know what you're thinking. Akechi is a little bit problematic. I know this. But he's just so adorable before all that! That's pretty much that only reason I have for having him so far up the list. His little face in his character profile is just so cute that you can't help but love him. Also the way he yells ‘PERSONAAAAAAGHHHH’ is badass and I can't hear it enough times. I forgive the Ace Detective of all crimes he has committed.

8 Futaba Sakura

A couple of months ago, Futaba would most likely have topped my list. She was the first girl I romanced in Persona 5. I had spent the whole game waiting for someone to come along and sweep me off my (digital) feet. It was beginning to look like I was going to have to settle with Hifumi- and then Futaba came along. She was a hacker and a gamer: my perfect waifu. Her romancing scenes are very sweet and I remained enamoured with her throughout my whole playthrough. After playing new game plus that changed. I went in with the intention of romancing someone different, and boy is Futaba different without those rose tinted glasses on. Her inability to do anything on her own is, while understandable, it's frustrating at best. She's still pretty high on the list though, as I'll never forget our time together, and also she's saved me countless times during combat that she will forever be elevated to God tier in the Metaverse. I owe her a debt I can never repay.

7 Tae Takemi

I won't lie to you. A lot of Takemi’s charm and appeal lies in her character design. The idea of a cool, punk rock doctor who supplies us with our own extreme healing products is great. Even better is that she's got the attitude to match. Confident in her skills but still dating enough to go rogue and have you be her guinea pig for new medicines she's developing, Takemi is a doctor you would want as a friend, but DEFINITELY not treating you. Unless you enjoy drinking mysterious liquids and passing out for hours on end. In which case be my guest.

6 Sadayo Kawakami

Ah, Kawakami. She sure does have it rough. Teacher by day, maid by night, she's a very sympathetic character, although she may not start out that way. At first glance she just seems like your typical extremely incompetent teacher- which she is. However the deeper into her storyline you go, the more you start to understand why she is the way she is. She ends up being quite a sweet person, not to mention her skills enable you to have more of the most important resource in Persona 5: time. Coincidentally, that's the one thing it takes for her to grow on you. Just give her a couple of days, and you'll learn to love her for who she is. A hot mess.

5 Sojiro Sakura

I don't think it’s an overstatement to say that the entire plot of the game would not have happened if not for Sojiro. For some unexplained reason, he agrees take in our main character who has just been put on parole, and it's that act that eventually brings our whole crew together. Even when he discovers that he has a phantom thief right under his roof, he sticks by you and even lets you hold meetings right there in his café. He goes from standoffish jerk to ‘dad we never had’ in a beautiful transformation that is one of the best progressions of a relationship in the game. If it wasn’t for his curious combination of coffee and curry for breakfast every morning, there's no way we could have completed our rehabilitation and saved the world from ruin. Sojiro literally saved the entire world (don't question it he totally did).

4 Ann Takamaki

Of all the characters on this list, Ann is the one that surprised me the most. She's pretty, blonde and a model. In video games, TV, movies; these things tend to be a placeholder for a personality, so really I expected nothing more from Ann: and boy did she prove me wrong. She is kind, loyal and is extremely strong willed. She suffered through sexual harassment at the hands of her teacher, her best friend's attempted suicide, and the her career as a model being sabotaged by a spiteful competitor. Through it all, however, she remains a positive force on the team and one of your characters closest friends from beginning to end. We all deserve someone like Ann in our lives.

3 Yusuke Kitagawa

Yusuke is another character that I love purely because every conversation with him is golden, particularly when leveling up your relationship with him. Throughout his journey to find himself as an artist, I joined him at an art exhibit, a romantic boat ride on a lake, and I posed as our Lord and Savior himself Jesus Christ on the crucifix as a way to inspire the creativity within Yusuke. Some may say that Yusuke’s best quality is his voice, but those people simply can't appreciate what he brings to the table and I simply have no time for them. He is a rare flower and I will defend him at every given opportunity.

2 Caroline and Justine (The Wardens)

Before starting my new game plus playthrough, these girls wouldn't have even been on this list, because I had no idea that they were even confidants until my second time around. The way you level up your confidant ranking with them is by fusing personas with a certain ability, per their request. The only thing I dislike about that is that you don't get to spend as much time with them as I'd like. They are both as entertaining as they are enigmatic, and though it may seem strange to have them so high up, everytime I brought them a new persona, they stole a little bit more of my heart. By force. They demanded I give it to them. But it still counts all the same.

1 Ryuji Sakamoto

I don't care what anyone says, this game would not be half as interesting or funny without Ryuji in it. There are a lot of people who would probably put Ryuji last on this list, due to his loud nature and penchant for yelling in public about how you and all your friends are the Phantom Thieves. But that's all part of his charm! Ryuji owes a lot of his likeability to his voice actor, Max Mittelman, as he somehow manages to be comically over the top while still remaining believable for his character. There are multiple times during the game where you'll have to pick who to hang out with at certain story moments, with the intention really being that you hang out with the girl you're romancing, but every single time I chose Ryuji. Every situation with him is comedy gold. Ryuji will forever be my number 1, and nobody will ever change my mind on that.

[harveyman-wsc42]

Evaluation.

Artists that impacted my art:

Robert Rauschenberg , ericha Oda, Kanye west, Pharrell Williams

Ideas behind my work:

In my work I must admit I very much work on how I'm feeling at the time, this way I feel as if my work is genuine and original not just something that I've forced out, but something that comes from my imagination and heart sounds cringe but its truth, luckily for me I feel as if I can tap in to my imagination at will. In my work I try to reflect my surroundings in my work , surroundings being things that inspire for example , anime and manga (specifically at the moment One piece and Cowboy Bebop) skate boarding and skateboard culture something that has had a huge impact on my life , something I am forever grateful for at the moment, I just love how everyone has their own style and at the the same time it is a universally recognised style to the trained eye , a beautiful contrast. Another inspiration of mine is pain, it sounds a little dark and off putting but i can assure that some of the most incredible pieces of music, art and film etc have been inspired by someones sadness pain suffering whatever it may be. probably one of my biggest inspiration and something that fuels a lot of my ideas is my ego , everyone has one , sometimes mine can be pretty big, everyones ego changes shapes and sizes, essentially your ego is what makes you who are, and for me and my ego I find my self becoming self obsessed, a perfectionist, negative towards myself, but it has a positive side which I have used a lot in my life It sounds boring but probably one of biggest moments of my life (top 50) was when I changed my hair on 3 different occasions , and on each occasion my ego played a big part.

occasion one : I bleached my hair blond.

occasion two : I got short hair for the first time ever and dyed it blonde, people called me Eminem.

occasion three : shaving my hair off.

Now why have I talked about giving myself haircuts, well it all links, on each time I did I stuck out like a soar thumb, and I loved it. Everyone looking at me, no words just glares, wondering why I looked so different to what I used to, it lifted me, I felt like a rockstar, very sad admitting that but its the truth, none of this would have been possible without my ego, without my ego I wouldn't be who I am today. Its probably one the main hubs in my brain where ideas are made.

New techniques I've learnt:

Throughout my time starting from September , I have learnt multiple techniques and which are helping me to better my work to this day. firstly although I already had done a screen print before I had never really fully done it if that makes sense , anyway it was so cool to be able to use on of my own designs which I had never done before , personally was happy with my prints but I definitely will be looking forward to bettering my technique in the future. Another technique which I enjoyed doing was the drypoint printing , I really enjoyed this one because it was very new to me but at the same time I was familiar because I kind of found it similar to Lino prints but regardless I still really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the use of the press/roller used in the process, even better I liked how I could use my other work from my book but still give a genuine and original look.

Thursdays drawing sessions, what I've learnt: 

Something that I've learnt in the Thursday session is not necessarily the techniques,( although I have learnt various blind portraits being one of my favourite) it was to let things out control. As an artist I find it extremely important that what I'm doing comes out how I like it but thing with the Thursday sessions is that they would put me in a position where I have created something I like, for example the blind portraits , I would like an image that I had created but then have to go over it and make it something else, my first reactions was ‘I'm just ruining something that fine the way it is’ but the more I thought about it, it wasn't about making a perfect image it was about adapting and excepting and most importantly just being more relaxed about my work and letting my brain create with more flow. It might be different for others but that is what I got out of the Thursday sessions.

where why:

Personally I don't know too much about art galleries and things like that I have been too a few, one in Paris I can't remember the name but it really was incredible and the the Tate modern and Tate Britain, both incredible, but back to what I was saying if I was to display my art anywhere in the world it would definitely be in a huge city like London, Tokyo, New York or L.A . What I would do is somehow find a way to project my work on to the clumps of skyscrapers so everyone could see my work where ever they are.

10 words:

Swag 

cool 

saturation 

bold 

detailed 

expressive

manga

emotion

meaning 

free

soundtrack:

To do this is very hard, I love music so much and if I could I would just put about 500+ songs but to sum it up ill choose 5

1.Flashing lights - Kanye west

2.In my room - Frank ocean 

3.Ghost town - Kanye west 

4.She - Tyler the creator and Frank ocean 

5.Is it true - Tame Impala