#monthly manga highlight

[intomybubble]

Me: “oooh this one looks interesting. i have a bunch of other manga i want to read thats like 30 chapters, but i’ll read a few chapters of this one to see what its about….”

The manga: is 60 chapters long

Me: was on ch 12 when i checked for the length ORZ

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 80 (FINAL): Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS Faaaans!!! Welcome to our last (?) monthly appointment with the analysis, commentary and list of translation differences for THE FINAL chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!! 🥹🥹🥹

Aaaaaah, I can't believe that after seven years and a half of serialization, we're finally here!!

I still remember the strong emotions I felt when I had seen the pages of Nakayoshi for chapter 1 in advance, back in June 2016....it seemed like a miracle, to me. Like a "mirage". And back then I still didn't know just HOW MUCH of a precious miracle this sequel would've become to me!

So it's with shaky hands and a trembling, emotional heart that I write this post to you...I hope you can excuse the length of it (maybe take a break in between?), I'll do my best to highlight the translation differences (unfortunately we definitely got some for this finale, one in particular made me quite mad) so you can spot them immediately among the sea of words and feels I will inevitably pour into my writing...

The "Beaver Moon" was big and shiny just a few days ago, and like all the full moons at the end of the month, it brought us a chapter, a very special finale for this series.

And as I usually do, I really cannot skip this silly moment that accompanied me for so many commentary posts, so here you go, my dear readers, the last Gif Of The Month!!!

I had already decided that, no matter the content of the chapter, I would've used this, because it is my intention to give my congratulations to CLAMP for reaching the end of this wonderful story and also thank them for giving me a multitude of emotions over the years. I've been happy, angry, excited, teary-eyed, frustrated, confused, hopeful, in pain, in love. I'll always be grateful to them for changing their mind and deciding to give us a sequel of this beloved series, after so many years of dreaming of it, and for making me fall in love with the new characters, none excluded!

So, off we go, under the cut for this commentary of the finale!!

The Color Page

Oh my heart 😭😭😭 I really wondered if they would go for it, if they would shoot us with feels right from the first pages and they did, they paid homage to the color page of chapter 50 of the old manga!! ❤️ We can see the same bluebirds that were featured back then, still holding in their little beaks lots of ribbons coming from the pink roses bouquet that Sakura is preciously holding... And that also made me realize that these are the same birds that were featured last month for Akiho and Kaito's color page too!!! ✨ They definitely, definitely wanted us to get the message that all of them will be truly happy from now on. ❤️I actually appreciate even more that Mokona-sensei took care in including those birds for the color page of Akiho/Kaito too.

Back in the old manga, CLAMP had given a comment for the illustration of chapter 50, saying that it was created that way to give a sense of looking forward to the future, and the absence of the Star Wand here was a precise request from Ohkawa to Mokona, because Sakura would've tried her best from now on, without necessarily relying on her magic.

Here, in chapter 80, we can somehow see the same theme but Sakura isn't proceeding "forward" towards a specific direction, it seems more like she's floating comfortably, assisted by her loyal Flight Card, embellished for the occasion (it makes it look kind of "upgraded", right?). I get a sense of Sakura feeling way more comfortable with her natural gift than she's ever been.

The blue sky, the ribbons, the bluebirds, the bouquet of pink flowers, the presence of a flying Card, Sakura's bare feet and her beautiful smile are definitely elements common to both illustrations.

Here Sakura wears a longer outfit, more elegant, which of course makes her look more grown up, as it should!

The editorial text on this last page doesn't carry words of thanks like in the color page of the final chapter of the old manga (those this time around were printed directly on the cover of Nakayoshi), but actually "My invincible spell is....'Everything is surely going to be alright' "! I think it was a very nice choice to feature the Invincible Spell in the front page of this final chapter. ✨

Between this and the absolutely divine Sakura on the cover of Nakayoshi, I can feel my heart softening and filling up with lots of hope and comfort, helping me to cope with the imminent "loss" that I'm going to experience.

BUT! It's not time to let us be caught by those mischievous feelings that want us to cry at all costs, and so we're gonna proceed for the actual chapter!!

The Books In Fujitaka's Library

The final chapter starts with Sakura chatting with Eriol and Kaho in a videocall over the phone!! The thing that immediately stands out is that Sakura is still wearing the full-winter uniform, so it's apparent right from the first panel that rather than turning back, the events are proceeding forward from where we left them, exactly as Sakura wished.

It's still winter, spring is almost here and we're almost towards the end of the 1st year of middle school for Sakura & co.

Another thing that I, as a foreigner, couldn't help but doing is calculating what time should've been for Eriol and Kaho, since they live in Europe like me! 😂😂😂 Having followers and friends all over the world, it's just normal for me. Well, if this is early morning, it should be night for the Europeans, so maybe that background at the window should be black?? 😂😆 Who knows if sensei will fix it, in the tankobon?

But enough with the silly things, let's see what Sakura is discussing with these two.

The very first thing we hear is quite shocking: Sakura slept four entire days to recuperate from the insane fatigue after the last battle!!

When I've heard that, my immediate thought was going towards all kinds of realistic, very practical issues like "did they keep her hydrated, in these four days? What about the bladder? 😱" but come on, way crazier things happened in this finale and this is the last thing we should worry about 😂

Eriol sweetly says that everyone waited impatiently for Sakura to wake up (I can imagine that!! Syaoran and Akiho must have died of anxiety). In Japanese, his sentence is somehow left trailing off, it gives me the impression that he wanted her to know that she's cared for, but in a very polite manner and avoiding to make her feel guilty for it. Sakura, as the good girl she is, tries to apologize for making them worry, apologies that Eriol doesn't need, so she ends up thanking both him and Kaho for what they did for her (and we can see Kaho peeking in the videocall! I'm glad she recovered too! As usual she's wearing nice outfits, the transparent veil over the skirt is interesting!).

Kaho, with her usual "maternal" aura, says that seeing her in good shape and hearing her cheerful voice over the phone is more than enough to her, which makes Sakura happy.

Eriol then proceeds to ask a question about the books he saw flying away at full speed after Sakura removed all the spells and the graphics from the artifact (the huge book), which then transformed into said smaller books: he wants to know where they ended up to, and lo and behold, they're nowhere other than in Fujitaka's library, in the basement of Sakura's house! 😱

So we can see a flashback depicting a scene right after Sakura woke up (she's still in her PJs), and her father shows her a pile of ancient-looking books sitting on his desk and on the floor.

Yes, those are all the magical books that Akiho had read and (unknowingly) engraved on herself, which were about to crush her soul. There's really a lot of them, so I don't have a hard time believing that she was really on the verge of losing her soul forever.

As Fujitaka tries to explain himself, it seems Sakura worked so hard and in the end those books ended up landing right at their house!

And then, in a very moving scene, we see Fujitaka being just so happy because finally, after so many years (since 4th grade) of just watching over his daughter going through several hurdles and not being able to be helpful in any concrete way (because he didn't have magical powers, and even when magic was passed onto him, he didn't know how to use it), NOW he can finally be of assistance to her.

He then tells her not to worry, because he already got several "weird" books in his collection (hell we knew, the Cthulhu books were surely a surprise 😂), and that anything goes where it's supposed to go, when its due time comes. He believes these books, too, will reach their new fated destination one day, so until then, he will take care of them. ✨

By the way, you all saw it, right?? YES, it's there again. Fay's tattoo on that book! 😂CLAMP REALLY wanted us to see it, didn't they?

Is this insistence in featuring elements coming from Tsubasa a sign of something in the future...? Or are they just messing with us....?

I bet even this book one day will find its way to Celes country, to have that tattoo used in the way we all know.

Anyway, I REALLY loved this scene because it just shows CLAMP's firm intention to involve *all* the main and side characters in this collective effort to help Sakura solving Akiho and Kaito's situation (Fujitaka was indeed the one missing from the support group!).

It's just so good to know that a tiny frustration that Fujitaka expressed in this arc (how he couldn't be of help to his own daughter) was finally put to rest too, with this new task he took upon himself.

I strongly believe that Sakura, once again guided by her infallible instinct and empathy, subconsciously wished those books into her father's library, because she just knew that her father would be the perfect person to guard them and keep them safe for the time due.

The Cards

Back to the present, Eriol comments that Sakura's father is really dependable, and she can only warmly agree!

But Sakura's got questions of her own, for Eriol. She asks what happened to the transparent cards (note: even this time, Sakura keeps calling them with the japanese term 透明, "transparent", and never calls those cards クリアカード, the English term that gives name to the arc).

Eriol gives his own explanation: the transparent Cards were probably bound into the book of the guardian Sakura met (and not "befriended" like the ENG wrote), and as such, they became magical power used to activate the "forbidden magic".

About the newly created Remind and Blank Cards, Eriol guesses that the last magic that Sakura summoned thanks to those two Cards was so "violent" (the term used 凄烈 means "violent, intense, fierce") that it ended up exhausting completely the Cards' magical power.

Sakura says "so...they're gone", confirming that yes, even those two disappeared after being used.

Eriol asks about the Cards Sakura had from before, our dear Sakura Cards, and she releases them in the room to show to Eriol their current appearance: it seems like they have taken up some elements from the transparent cards, mixing up their designs! They look really cool and empowered, like this! Eriol attempts to explain this occurence as an influence of the fact that Sakura used some of them with her new Dream Staff, hence why their new appearance!

It seems like she'll be able to use all of them with that staff from now on, so this is a first hint to something that will be referenced in a stronger way in a few pages.....

Kaho gets closer to Eriol's computer and says "Don't worry, I can see they still love you all the same, Sakura-chan, there's no problem about it!" and then she spots Flight among the deck. Sakura confirms happily that it's still here and Eriol says "it's a testament to its perseverance!".

And then, Sakura wants to talk to Eriol about Akiho and Kaito too......but we're not allowed to hear it yet, because we only see Sakura nodding and "uh-uh"-ing at the phone and then Kero warns her that she's going to be late for school, so our girl hurriedly hangs up with her friends abroad.

Her dear small glutton guardian tells her to not push herself since she barely woke up yesterday, and when Sakura goes to pick the pin she wants to use today in the jewelry box (it's the pin Yukito gave her as a present in chapter 1!), she picks up the Star Key. And here, unfortunately, I have to point out the first concrete translation difference of this chapter in a scene that many were waiting for:

ENG: "This key....I wonder if it'll leave someday, too. To go to where it should be, to the side of the person it chooses to be with"

JP: "This key, too...I wonder if one day it'll go...to the side of the person it should be with"

Now, what irritates me here is that in their usual need to embellish the translation, they added an unnecessary "the person it chooses to be with", which is something they made up because there's no mention of the verb "choosing" or anything like that in Japanese, and so it makes it seem like the key will one day just go away on its own, on its own volition.

Now, this is a VERY important scene because we all know what this is foreshadowing, the transition of the Star Wand from Sakura Kinomoto to the Reborn Sakura Clone in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle through a dream, that cameo that made us scream all over the world in 2009. That scene was accompanied by a very beautiful and mature speech by Sakura Kinomoto herself, a sign that this "handover" was totally a well pondered choice of Sakura herself, not the key's.

The translation of this scene here in Clear Card tampers with the understanding of the events we got from Tsubasa and it really makes me wonder if the translator knows of this reference at all.....

Continuing on, Sakura goes downstairs and meets Touya having breakfast (and omg Kero goes to him!!! I still can't get used to these two interacting in the open), as usual Touya teases her calling her "monster", to which Sakura stiffens, but she shakes it off to thank her brother, to which he answers "no snacks for four days"!

Sakura at that point gets angry asking why, but he diverts her attention pointing out that she's gonna be late, so the girl bolts out of the door......not hearing her brother saying "that's the amount of days you haven't woken up, you silly!" (and Kero goes along with it).

Now, the ENG translation here interpreted this as a "payback", like Touya isn't going to make her snacks for 4 more days as a "payback" for making him worry like that, and initially I interpreted it like that too. But as I checked the Spanish translation, they interpreted it differently, as if Touya wasn't talking about the snacks that he won't prepare for the next 4 days, but actually the ones Sakura didn't eat during the period in which she was sleeping, and I think they're right because Touya calls Sakura "dummy, silly" so he might be referencing the fact that she misunderstood, here! Anyway, it's not a serious difference but I wanted to report it here anyway.

Sakura finds Syaoran out of her house waiting for her, and we see him all happy and embarrassed to go pick his girl up right outside her house to go to school together 🥰Syaoran got contacted yesterday from her (I don't know why in the ENG there's "last night", it's just "yesterday"), telling him that she was ok now, but of course that wasn't enough for our worrywart prince charming, so he's here this morning to escort her to school! Sakura can't avoid commenting "aw, you were worried about me!" and Syaoran honestly but embarassedly answers "that, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible". Omg these two...flirting like crazy in front of the audience even in the finale!! 😂(well of course!!). As one of my friends reminded me, this line was already said by Syaoran before, when he was revealing the whole truth about the Sakura Cards and was explaining to Sakura that he came back to Japan earlier than scheduled also because he wanted to see her sooner.

After a good dose of blushing which is always good for the health in the early morning, Sakura thanks Syaoran not only for walking her to school, but also for all the rest that he's done. She's clearly referencing the events of 4 days ago, and Syaoran answers that if he helped her even just a little, then he's happy. This vague reference to the events of 4 days ago seems lost in the ENG, as Syaoran casually answers that he's happy if he can help her sometimes (?). 少しでも means "even just a little", not "sometimes".

On the way to school, Sakura says that she already contacted everyone to say that she woke up and to thank them, but she seems to be wanting to go thanking Yukito directly at his house later, also because Nakuru and Suppi are there! As Syaoran adds, Sakura can see Tomoyo and Akiho later at school. Sakura says "...yes" with a slightly sad face because she already knows something about one of them.....

We switch to Yukito's house for the last look at our "snow bunny", still in Nakuru's company (when are they going back to England???) and wondering what kind of sweets should he offer to Sakura today, while Nakuru is hellbent on finally having Sakura call her "Nakuru-chan" today (I told you, she's like a 5 years old girl, she sees herself as a kid like Sakura 😂).

Then, turning suddenly serious, she says to Yukito: "Don't you dare doing anything else that requires a 'payment', understood?", which immediately made me realize that Nakuru remembers about Yukito's pact with the Tsukimine Shrine!! Then, they didn't just recover the memories strictly relating to Akiho!!!

Yukito, with a big smile, says "well...I can't promise you that" which understandably triggers in Nakuru a "Yukito, you're really stubborn!!" from the bottom of her heart! 😂

But there's a kitty sleeping on a cushion (or feigning to?), our dear Suppi who thinks to himself "All of you moon-aligned types are stubborn!!" and let me tell you, this arc showed us ALL the proofs of that! 😂(Yes, Kaito, we're looking at you! 😂😂😂).

Brand New World With You

Homeroom is starting in Sakura's class and Tomoyo makes sure that Sakura will take it easy since this is her first day back at school.

The teacher comes in, and she's already got a news for everyone (and here my heart already knew what it was): Akiho Shinomoto will be transferring away in one month! (Yes! it's Shinomoto again!)

The class is shocked, as Tomoyo is, but Sakura smiles and doesn't look surprised at all...

At lunch, everyone is so sad about Akiho transferring and Chiharu expresses how much she'll miss her, but also Naoko who loses a precious advisor for her scripts and a great actress since she wanted to cast her for the next play, seeing how wonderful she was in "Alice in Clockland". Tomoyo says that the chorus club will miss her too, and Yamazaki comments that Akiho lived in Hong Kong before transferring to Japan, so he asks her if she's still going abroad, even this time around. Akiho confirms, and then remembers that she needs to go to the teacher's room. Sakura insists to accompany her even if Akiho knows the way by now (and here we have a sweet, nostalgic recall to the same scene of the first chapter Akiho appeared in, chapter 7! Even the lines are almost the same). Of course, Sakura insisted because she wants to have a private chat with her....on their way there, she says she heard from Eriol that morning that she would be transferring abroad, but she would like to ask the reason why to Akiho herself.

Akiho says that, after all that happened, that same night she talked to Eriol (she calls him "Hiiragizawa-san" ❤️) for the first time.

He told her that he would be supporting her in any choice or anything she'd want to do from now on (the "anything I would choose" is missing from the ENG translation), and support her even with Kaito's circumstances.

Akiho was told by Eriol that Kaito kept hurting himself the more he used time magic, and that he shouldn't have been in a good condition after messing even with the "forbidden magic"....but apparently, Sakura managed to work a little miracle when she used Rewind on him.

When Sakura brought Kaito back to his original appearance, the pocket watch she used was almost completely repaired and its time stopped, and thanks to that, Kaito's time is stopped too.

I had already noticed that Kaito's life seems to be strictly connected to that pocket watch, as the more damage he took on his body, the more the watch broke. Sooooo in this scene we have some important information:

1- Eriol mentions the time magic Kaito used, how he kept using it and also the effect it would have on him, so it's legit to think that even him recovered the memories of the unrewritten timeline, not only the stuff strictly concerning Akiho.

2- Kaito's life is in a halted state (reminds you of someone?) and this means that his life is not flowing like other people's: he won't age, but his physical condition won't also get worse, as Sakura infers right after. The ENG translation suggests that Kaito won't be feeling any pain at all, but that's not the case: Sakura uses the words ���っと辛かったり痛かったり, "more in pain and have a rough time (than this)", so he's still going to feel not so well from time to time, but at least his condition won't get worse than this.

Akiho confirms, and explains that because of this, they're going to look for a magic that will be able to heal Kaito and, in addition to that, a magic that would be able to make his stopped time move forward again. This won't certainly take short time and it won't be easy....but Akiho smiles beautifully while saying that she's sure that there is a book that carries those spells she's looking for.

And then....with a sad smile, she says there's another reason.

And here my heart sinked because I wanted to see her so badly and I got the confirmation she wasn't with them.......😭

I'm talking about Momo, of course, and Akiho agrees with me because the other reason they'll travel around is that she wants to see her beloved Momo and even the "Alice in Clockland" book.

This indeed sounds a lot like the resolutions of the characters of Tsubasa in their own finale, but after all, we've been saying for long time that Kaito and Akiho had many situations paralleling those of the SyaoSaku in TRC.

Akiho, with the most radiant and beautiful smile she's ever had, says that she's sure she'll find so many other books she's never read, beside the ones she'll be looking for.

"Because now I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, all by my own volition. Together with Kaito-san"

Sakura points out that books are, indeed, really special and important to her.

And really, Akiho's smile on this beatiful spread was enough to heal my heart from the disappointment of knowing that Momo wasn't with them, because Akiho really looks happy to start this journey with Kaito...she feels free for the first time ever.

No more clan dictating where she should go or what she should read, at her own expense at that, but also the situation between her and her beloved Kaito found its solution, with her stating loud and clear that even if he's her most important person and he did all of that for her, she's the only one who can decide her own happiness and change her own life. Akiho is finally free from all constraints, both from evil and from love, and honestly it's so comforting to see her so confident and happy.

My True Name Is....

And talking about Kaito, we switch to the Shinomoto mansion, where we see him in bed (he's still recovering - also we see his room for the first time!) and Akiho is telling him of how her friends took the news of her transferring abroad.

She was happy to hear that they're going to miss her, I bet this was the first time that people took any interest in her, so much to get to the point of saying "I'll miss you".....which totally explains why she's glad to hear that. She finally made true friends, here in Tomoeda.

Kaito is pleased to see her happy.

Akiho says that she's going to prepare dinner (my heart got warm thinking that now it's her the one cooking for him and he doesn't protest or anything) and she's going to make the no-fry croquettes that Sakura taught her (remember??? They had dedicated a chapter to that, and they were so important because Akiho learned them precisely for Kaito).

But Kaito kind of "interrupts" her, saying the thing WE ALL were waiting for him to say:

Kaito, JP (lit.): "I'm sorry. For having thought (all that plan) on my own and decided things without your permission. Even though I know that you're someone perfectly capable of writing her own chosen future on her own blank book"

Oooooooh. The feeling of puzzle pieces going to their right place, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction in reading these words from him. HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD. And it took almost k*lling himself and causing to the very person he was trying to make happy an indescribable grief, to come to this point.

What a lack of self-esteem and underlying depression can do.

But thankfully, they all managed to save things at last minute and now he's learned his lesson. So the first thing he does when he's able to, is apologizing to Akiho. But not only that.

Akiho says Kaito's name, probably wanting to answer something in return, but he interrupts her again, saying something I've been dying to hear him say (lately I expressed here and on Twitter my wish to see precisely this scene in the finale):

"That's my alias"

Akiho is shocked at hearing that, and he says, with a serious face, "Can I tell you my true name?"

At this point, I was hollering, I won't really hide it or anything.

If you're CLAMP fans, you probably know how IMPORTANT and VITAL is an information like one's true name, especially for a magician. Yuuko in Holic said that if you give someone your true name, they can take your soul.

And I'm 100% sure that even Akiho knows how important true names are in the magic world, this is something that Momo already mentioned in one of the Drama CDs but here she confirms it herself, saying hesitantly: "Are you sure I should be hearing something so important?"

With the next thing Kaito says, I was almost calling an ambulance.

Heh, I know, this is me, what can I do? Their story got me by the throat and coming to this point is such an achievement, for me. 😅

"I want you to know it"

That あなた between brackets is so powerful. "You, above all".

In that "you" there's all the things he's not saying aloud, how unique and important she is to him. How much he trusts her with the most vulnerable part of himself. How much he's willing to give his entire soul, his everything to her, but this time in the correct way, without damaging anyone.

Akiho must be noticing all of this, because Mokona doesn't allow us to see her face, only her closed hand rising up, but from her ".....okay" I'm sure here she was quite touched.

So Kaito finally proceeds to reveal this secret that everyone was wondering about ever since chapter 51:

"Cristaux. That's my true name".

Cristaux is written with the katakana クリスト (pronounced kurisuto) which has already been misunderstood by many for "Christ" 😂, but thankfully CLAMP have put in the furigana the correct spelling in romaji.

Cristaux is a french word used to indicate crystals. Yes, plural.

So our crazy magician was named after crystals at his birth.

Of course, of course. Isn't crystals the overwhelming theme of this arc, after all? CLAMP made sure to feature some in many many color illustration they've done.

Also, while talking to a friend, I realized that now we might understand a bit better why Kaito made a very pensive face, disguised as Syaoran, when Sakura pointed out in Clockland (ch. 66) that the castle of the Queen had foundations made of crystal........

As usual with CLAMP, we've had the solution to the mystery under our nose the whole time! 😂This feels like Tsubasa 2.0, for real! 😂

It is surely an inusual name, but I mean, it seems many of the names CLAMP choose for their characters aren't that common, after all.

With this reveal, Kaito decided to start anew with Akiho, this time around from a basis of honesty and trust. He's never going to put up masks with her ever again (and even though it's confirmed they still talk in keigo to one another -which is something I've always imagined-, we've seen him using his true pronoun "ore" with her in chapter 78). This is the perfect foundation for a relationship based on communication and trust. Bravo Kaito, you did your homeworks.

Akiho places a hand over her chest, as if the precious name entered her heart, and says something that made me completely melt:

"I've written it on the most important page of my book. So I can never forget it".

This line makes me particularly emotional not only because it sounds SO SWEET, on the verge of flirting, but also because it seems to me like a callback to something that was said in a sadder situation.

Back in chapter 35, when Sakura ended up trapped into Akiho's artifact, she experienced Akiho's past on her skin. The day of the magic ceremony that turned Akiho into an artifact, some people from the clan/Association said "let's engrave all the magical books we can find into this girl's body, so she can never forget them. Just like a blank book".

Back then, these horrible words were used to abuse a poor child, but that child today turned them into the power to choose for herself.

She appropriates the same "book" analogy to turn it into a way for her to choose on her own. Kaito's name is a precious information that she chooses to write on her heart so she can never forget it.

It is a way for her to cope and have a catharsis for her trauma.

I honestly keep getting such wonderful messages from the story of these two characters, and I'll never thank CLAMP enough for creating them.

Kaito smiles softly at Akiho's words.

Then we go back to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo, the "fab 3" who are going back home together, and we get some more information: it seems Eriol called Syaoran too (man, this guy called half the world to give explanations left and right 😂) and told him that he's going to buy Akiho and Kaito's house and look after it for them.

Sakura is really glad to hear that because it means that Akiho's huge collection of books will be safe and guarded in its library.

Tomoyo asks what they're going to do about Akiho's room at the Kinomoto house: in fact, if you look at the first panel of this chapter, you'll see that the additional portion that sprouted on Kinomoto house is still there: this means that Sakura gave everyone back their memories, but that magic didn't affect the discrepancies that arised from the rewriting of their world, hence why Akiho's room is still there.

Sakura talked about it with her dad and they decided they're gonna leave it untouched, as it is, so Akiho can always go back to it at any time. Did I cry at this? Yes, a little, because this is a sign that the Kinomotos will still keep considering her one of the family even if she'll be away, even if she'll have her life with Kaito, and I couldn't ask for anything better, for my sweet Akiho. It is so important for her to keep the bonds she created over time and know that now she's also got a network of people there for her. A second family where to turn to.

Sakura's having a real hard time accepting that Akiho will go away, and her smile becomes sad, before hugging Tomoyo and crying out "But I'll still miss her so much!!" 🥹poor Sakura 🥹I know, it's always so sad when someone that important to you leaves...

You'll Be Together Forever!!

One month passes by, and we can see some sakura flowers starting to bloom, this means we're at the end of March (and so we were in February before, just like I imagined). School year must be over pretty soon.

It's the big day, the day of departure for Akiho and Kaito, and Sakura+Syaoran went to see them off. Have you spotted it, on Sakura's scarf? Yes, that's the pin shaped like a teddy bear, the same Kaho gave her as a present and that she was wearing in the OG manga during the run at the bus stop to tell her feelings to Syaoran!

Akiho thanks Sakura for coming so early in the morning, and Sakura says she absolutely wanted to be there to see them off, actually she apologizes for making them delay their departure due to this meeting. Akiho is dressed with a cute outfit that is very remiscent of the one she's wearing in the color page of chapter 79.

A little separated from them to give their privacy, we see Kaito and his big suitcase, standing next to Syaoran. OMG it's so inusual to see them like that!!

Then, Kaito says "Time magic....I can teach it to you, if you ever want to use it". Syaoran is very surprised to hear that, and Kaito says that when he was still in the dragon form, he heard him apologizing to Sakura for not being able to use that magic because he hadn't learned it yet, remember?? 🥹

And Kaito just offered himself as a teacher, surely as a way to thank him for everything he's done to save him and Akiho.

But not only that: in a very sweet panel, he says he knows Syaoran won't use it in an inappropriate way, and I can totally hear that implied "as opposed to me". Oh yes I hear it loud and clear by the way this is phrased in Japanese. 😁

Then, he happily takes out his phone and asks him to exchange contact numbers, because they can be convenient for any occurrence! I feel like that was a good idea because they're surrounded by magic matters so much, it's always good to be able to count on the experience and knowledge of other magicians.

We see Syaoran being a bit perplexed at the request, but then reluctanctly (?) takes out his phone 😂oh lord his reaction is so funny....and this is also another proof that the characters remember what happened before, because Syaoran could have this reaction only for that reason 😂😂😂

While looking at them interacting so funnily, Akiho takes the chance to get closer to Sakura and whisper a very important information to her (it came!!! it came for her too!! I KNEW IT!! It's not WHAT I imagined but I've been saying forever that this would come 😂):

Akiho, JP & ENG: "My real name...is Cosmos"

What you guys can't see if you're reading the ENG version or any other language, is the duality of Akiho's true name here.

It's actually written in Japanese kanji, but the furigana that tells how to pronounce it are katakana for "Cosmos".

So it's like this:

Japanese name: 秋桜 (pronounced Akizakura, it's how Cosmos are called in Japanese)

Furigana (reading): コスモス (Cosmos)

It's not uncommon to find the Cosmos flowers being called directly with their katakana spelling, in Japanese.

All of this makes total sense for Akiho because her favorite flower is a specific type of Cosmos, the Chocolate Cosmos! They say they really smell like chocolate! So, just like Sakura, she's got the same name of her favorite flower.

But this duality of her name also allows Akiho to say what she's about to say:

Akiho, JP: "When we met for the first time, I was happy to learn I had one same character in my name as yours!"

I'm glad to see that more or less all the foreign translations did their best to explain the trick of the kanji, adding an explanation in the bubbles (they were big enough, thankfully). The ENG for example talked about "sharing a name" but Akiho here is meaning more "sharing a character" of the japanese name.

Sakura is of course really honored and happy to hear that, and thanks her for sharing such an important detail about herself.

And now, hahaha.....comes the part where I laughed SO, so much, because while to some it might sound strange for Akiho to do something like this, to me it isn't strange at all! Cause she's like that, her personality is far stronger than most think...

Our little mischievous Akiho here reveals to Sakura, still whispering, that she isn't going to share her real name with Kaito yet, because she's still a bit upset with him!! 😂😂😂

Oh lord, Akiho....oh dear....you have all the right to still be a bit upset, make him work hard to get such an important information from you!! 😂 I can't believe right now we have Kaito basically in Akiho's hands while Akiho, the one who seemed the most in love out of the two, is actually still withholding that from him! 😂😂😂 aaaaahhh trust CLAMP to always give you something interesting....this is totally in line with how I perceived her personality. 🤭I loved it!

Kaito needs to be really, really careful from now on! She's not gonna take any crap from him! 😂

And now I have to warn you because precisely as we reach the very last line Sakura will say in this arc, there is going to be another translation mistake, which I consider far worse than the other one I pointed out. I think getting it wrong precisely at the most important emotional point ruined a job that wasn't overall so bad, with this chapter (compared to others....).

Sakura, smiling, supports Akiho's idea, saying "Sounds good!", and then, utters the very last line of the arc:

ENG: "After all, we have a long future together ahead of us!"

JP: "After all, you'll be together forever from now on!"

I think you can easily guess why this translation mistake irritated me so much. I've checked the other translations and the Spanish one, the one I trust the most, agrees with me, just like the French one.

This translation is a failure for two reasons:

it failed to convey the fact that Sakura here is using almost exactly the same words she used in the OG manga at the end of volume 12, when she ran into Syaoran's arms, saying that they would be together forever from that moment on. I think iconic lines like these should be translated in the way the readers know them from the previous work, otherwise it's useless. You don't get the reference. In Japanese, back in volume 12 of the OG manga, it was "kore kara wa zutto issho da yo!" while here it is "kore kara wa zutto issho nandakara". And there is a reason for that.

this translation inexplicably made it about all of them, when Sakura was talking specifically about Akiho and Kaito instead. That "nandakara" at the end suggests that this sentence is strictly related to the one that came right before, "sounds good", as an answer to Akiho's plan to withhold her true name from Kaito for a while. Sakura here is simply saying that Akiho's idea sounds ok to her because those two will be together forever from now on, so she'll have all the time of this world to tell him eventually her true name, when she feels ready. Also, in Sakura's words, there's a deeper meaning: it's the last wish of happiness for those two, which comes from her own lived experience. At the end of volume 12 we saw Sakura uttering those same words, in her happiest moment of reunion with Syaoran...Sakura knows that happiness, the happiness of reuniting and be able to stay all the time with the person you love the most. This is the same thing she's wishing for those two right now, with these words. To be together forever and savor that same happiness she's living herself everyday. But if the translation makes it about all four of them, or even just about Sakura and Akiho, this underlying message, this last parallel between the two pairs is completely gone. Also, what's the sense in saying "we have a long future together ahead" if Kaito and Akiho are leaving?? It doesn't make sense to me. They once again managed to remove any hint of Kaito and Akiho being destined to be together for life, and bent the phrase to include everyone, just because they could. I find that quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading the post, you now know how that line should actually be. I feel so embittered and disappointed that this happened precisely at the end...

But this time, as opposed to the OG manga, there's one more page to bring this arc to a closure: we can see the back of the new empowered Sakura Card (on the Card there's a mix of both the Star circle and the Dream circle), and the text reads:

JP, lit.: "When all the Cards are gathered, that's the beginning that comes from an end. A beginning to move on"

You have surely recognized it , this is exactly the same page that appeared at the very beginning of this arc, it's just that back then we had a Sakura Card's back, a more unsettling background, and lots of blank cards floating. Right now we have the back of the empowered Sakura Cards, a more serene background and instead of the blank cards, we have cherry blossom petals! ❤️

But most importantly, the sentence slightly changed too, communicating to all the readers that from the end of all the tribulations that our characters went through in this Clear Card Arc, they finally managed to move onto a happier life.

I think it's very beautiful how CLAMP decided to conclude this story, with a message of hope that not all endings are necessarily something bad, but they can simply hide behind them the beginning of something new and more positive.

Lord knows how much I needed to be reminded of this, in this moment of my life.

And surely this is also true for the end of this beloved series for many people around the world: after 7 years and half it's so hard to say goodbye to such a beloved story, but CLAMP want to give us one last present before saying goodbye to it for an indefinite period!

On the right side of the Japanese last page (this was not translated in the ENG one) we find the announcement that the April issue of Nakayoshi on sale on March 1st 2024 will bring us a special chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! Precisely one month before the release of volume 16! There's no info about how long it's gonna be, but anything is strongly welcome to say goodbye in a more gradual way...I wonder what it'll be about? This can be literally anything!! I would love for them to feature a situation in the future, rather than in the past....

Beware, because I've heard that Anime News Network translated this as a "special arc" in their news and that caused a ruckus...I've already tried to warn people on Twitter that's not correct, "tokubetsuhen" is the same term they used for the special short chapters they have published till now.

And so...it ends. We've reached the end!! Omg! I still can't register it fully....🙈

I will write some short additional comments about the chapter here but you'll have to wait for another, separate post to have my impressions and commentary on the entire Clear Card Arc.

I just want to say that this finale didn't feature everything I hoped/wanted to see, but other things were definitely granted.

It's just impossible to make everyone happy so I completely understand that.

And even though I'm truly disappointed about Momo and the choice to make her leave her two kids like that, I feel overall this disappointment doesn't stain my appreciation for this finale.

The things I wanted to see and got, the general happy and relaxed atmosphere, seeing all four of them so friendly with eachother, Sakura's final blessing with those words are enough to make me feel still quite satisfied with the finale.

Also, this feels so much more open than the OG manga. A lot more open. There are tons of elements one could grasp to in case they wanted to make a spin-off, or feature some of these plot threads as a cameo in another work. Akiho and Kaito's situation in particular, with their travels around the world, seems to be screaming "you'll see us again soon". I don't know if I'm just delusional but I've seen so many people saying the same.

And I have to say that despite my first choice was for Akiho and Kaito to stay in Tomoeda, they gave me enough good reasons to justify them departing again. I did, in fact, predict that an eventual resume of their travels could be plot related (if they had to continue escaping the Squids' radar or if they had to find a way to fix Kaito's situation).

Plus, Akiho seems so happy and free. How can I rebel against that, when they depict her so happy of her choice?

Also, nice of Eriol to step up and help those two. He's the other poweful and experienced magician who can put at their service all of his knowledge.

And then, Kaito's character development. Even here, I felt like I would've wanted him to say more, but then I remembered that Ohkawa in a Space long time ago had already said "I would want the readers, once it's over, to re-read this trying to understand 'why this character acted in this way?' " and it was clear that she was referring to Kaito. So, not exposing in detail Kaito's heart and the motivations that brought him to this point is totally intentional. She wants us to get there on our own. After all, she gave us another huge hint in this chapter, by making him reveal his true name to Akiho. I can only be grateful for that, especially for how he worded it.

Cristaux and Cosmos...while I'm really happy they have the same initials, I'm still trying to get used to those new names! 😂even though I know they'll keep using their aliases so it's not a big problem, we'll keep calling them Kaito and Akiho!

(And yes, I'm a bit disappointed that Akiho's true name isn't Alice! 😂)

It was nice to see SyaoSaku blushing and flirting in this finale, especially now that Touya gave his blessing to Syaoran, he can go pick her up for school when he wants!! 😂 I'm sure we'll get more SyaoSaku fluff in the special chapter, as this finale was mostly used to wrap up other stuff.

As I said, I adored the few panels of interaction between the two Moon Boys, Akiho's mischievous prank to Kaito....yes, I still have lots to be grateful for, in this finale.

I think this post just won the record for the longest one, so let me just take this space really quick before wrapping up to thank all of you who have read my posts, shared them, supported me, chatted with me about the story, and overall contributed with interesting discussions in this little personal corner. I would've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that the existence and content of this blog one day would've reached even CLAMP, and this will stay as one of my biggest gratifications, especially cause they seemed to appreciate the effort. I just wish their story was treated better by some official translations.

I tried to do whatever I could to spread warnings about heavy translation mistakes, in addition to my interpretation of the story as I was reading it and analyzing it, since I've seen it helped many people understanding the story better and coming to terms with frustrations they had about it.

Clear Card Arc is undoubtedly more complex and requires a lot more of attention than the OG manga.

But I'm positive that re-reading everything in one go might help A LOT in that regard, maybe keeping my translation posts beside you....so I urge everyone to re-read the story when you have time, because it's worth it. Really.

That said, I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: of course I'll comment the special chapter, but I also have in store the "Clear Card Trivia" series of posts, a post with the timeline of the events and a master post about my own review of the entire Clear Card Arc. And then, there's the season 2 of the anime too! You can bet I'll be here to comment on it every week!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you again for your patience, for reading me till now, and I also want to thank once again CLAMP-sensei for the wonderful sequel they brought to us in these past 7 years. ありがとうございます 🙏

See you soon!!

[chillbusinessax]

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 10 analysis & Implications

Sarada vs Hidari & the Mangekyou of Sarada: As we know, the fight between the last survivors of the Uchiha lineage is approaching: Sarada & the Shinju of Sasuke. Sarada’ll face a Shinju that’s absorbed Sasuke’s chakra & powers, plus the power of the Ten Tails. It’ll undoubtedly be a fight that’ll offer one of the most impressive battle choreographies & 'll foster necessary character development as she faces a formidable enemy. The first time Sarada encounters Hidari, he automatically attacks with Chidori. Sarada dodges & counters with Chidori. This symbolic act kicks off the fight, as only two living people can execute Chidori: Sasuke & her. However, she’s confused; although it’s clear her opponent possesses Sasuke’s chakra & powers, Hidari isn’t Sasuke. (This topic’ll be addressed in another section of the post). Sarada holds one of the most important positions & stories in the manga, being the heroine of the story, heir to the Uchiha power, immune to omnipotence & possessor of the Mangekyō. Why have 10 chapters passed & nothing has been revealed about the Mangekyō? Even the rebirth of the Kyubi was revealed before the powers of the MS; the answer is simple: the abilities Kishimoto’ll grant Sarada in the Mangekyou’ll be convenient to the story’s context. When the power of that Mangekyō is discovered, it’ll be a pivotal axis that’ll mark a before & after in the narrative of Two Blue Vortex. The Mangekyou Sharingan is meant to be a decisive point in the plot. To contextualize, among the special abilities known so far in Mangekyou users, there are dangerous & high-level powers like Kotoamatsukami, Tsukuyomi & Kamui. Theoretically, Sarada should awaken with the Mangekyou two special abilities (they can be both new & those already mentioned, for example, Itachi & Sasuke had Amaterasu in common), in addition to the Susanoo (considering the divine weapons of Susanoo). The Sharingan is a dōjutsu of Ōtsutsuki lineage that comes from the Rinne-Sharingan; it was Indra Ōtsutsuki who awakened & bequeathed this ability to the Clan descended from him, the Uchiha Clan. It’s important to highlight that, with just the Sharingan three tomoe, definitive techniques like Izanagi, a technique based on Hagoromo’s Banbutsu Sōzō no Jutsu, & Izanami, both Kinjutsus characteristic of the Uchiha clan, could be used.

The last thing to discuss in this section (which’ll likely generate antagonistic opinions in the fandom) is the fact that, observing how events are unfolding in chapter 10, where Kawaki had (and was the only one who could) intervene in Himawari’s fight against Jura, the complexity of these enemies, representing not just an individual but a collective problem, being a monthly manga & mainly, the way Boruto is (and has always been) emotionally involved with Sarada, I wouldn’t be surprised if, sooner or later, he joins in Sarada vs. Hidari. He knows the danger these enemies pose & won’t hesitate to support the fight. Only two people have, on an emotional level, the authority to intervene & support this fight: Sakura & Boruto. This position of Boruto is something Kishimoto has made clear from the beginning of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, just as Sarada intervenes without regard for her own life when Boruto needs her. This feeling is mutual between them & is fully justified. Although some of the fandom may see it as a regression in Sarada’s character, it’s actually an enrichment of the characters & an added value by Kishimoto, a shōnen where, beyond the fights, bonds & expressions of human feelings are valid to show & are present. Additionally, it would allow us to see quite an interesting team battle choreography, as Boruto & Sarada have always formed a formidable combat team. The heir of the Hiraishin & the heiress of the Mangekyou united in battle.

2. The Shinjus: They’re still a mystery. In fact, they don’t even know exactly what they are. Hidari asked himself & the other Shinjus: “Exactly What… are we?” We know they’re the result of a “claw grime” absorbing a person’s chakra. They’re a divine tree evolved & self-aware, produced by Code’s Ten Tails, created from the chakra of the person they’re absorbing, but the implications of this are still unclear.

We also know that the people the Ten Tails has absorbed are still alive. However, how long’ll they remain alive after the “claw grime” absorbs them? Will there come a time when Sasuke & the others sealed’ll die if not released? If Sarada kills Hidari, or if someone kills one of the Shinjus, does the person get released or die? And when releasing the person, does the Shinju die? These are questions still without definitive answers. Only time & the plot’s development’ll provide us with more information about these mysterious beings.

We could see this as the birth of a new species, or rather, the Ten Tails’ species becoming conscious. Moreover, they have a goal linked to the person from whom they’re absorbing chakra, which, if they manage to fully absorb, they’ll find a higher degree of evolution. The powers of the Ten Tails, the human abilities of the “sealed” person, the Rinnegan, the ability to launch bijudamas with their eyes, & even their wisdom & thirst for knowledge, make these enemies something totally unknown & formidable. Keep in mind that, in addition, their main goal after their “target” is to devour an Ōtsutsuki, therefore, they have the capacity to face enemies with levels of power that humanity isn’t capable of facing.

It won’t be a short battle & everyone’ll probably have to support each other to achieve something against this threat. Kawaki, upon learning that Himawari was in danger, quickly headed to the battle. Boruto, due to the resonance between the Karmas, can’t be near Kawaki, so he’ll likely assist in the battle within Konoha.

The battles against these enemies’ll be fought in teams & will likely be more than one confrontation. Although symbolically each Shinju has its target, it’s clearly a global problem, so it’s normal for third parties to be involved, even mixing scenarios. Everyone is in a conflict on the scale of the Fourth Shinobi World War, where everyone had to ally to achieve something against the common enemy. But, to summarize, the protagonists of the battles go like this:

Kawaki & Himawari vs Jura

Sarada & Boruto vs Hidari

Konohamaru & Team 10 vs Mitsuri

Eida & Daemon vs Bug

3. Himawari & Kurama: It’s interesting to see how they’ve imprinted on her the concept they initially had with Boruto (Byakugan + Kyubi). With lineage from Hamura’s line (Hyuga clan) & Ashura’s line (Uzumaki clan), & now with the Kyubi, she’s placed among the most powerful characters with raw chakra of the new generation. It’s surprising that Kurama’s return has caused astonishment in readers, considering it’s predefined that the tailed beasts don’t die definitively but reincarnate. A precedent for this is Isobu. Moreover, there’ve been hints (especially in the anime) that Himawari would somehow be related to the tailed beasts. She’s always shown interest in them; she even coexists with Shukaku in an anime episode.

The relationship between Kurama & Himawari started on good terms. Kurama retains his memories, including his time with Naruto, with whom he formed a bond of friendship & familiarity after they understood & accepted each other as equals. This precedent opens the opportunity for a friendly & mutual collaboration between Himawari & the Kyubi. An interesting fact to consider is that Kurama retains his past memories. There’s a possibility that they haven’t been altered by omnipotence, & if that’s true, he could convey to Himawari that her brother is actually Boruto, & that all the experiences she believes she shared with Kawaki (before omnipotence) were lived with Boruto.

Some believe that Himawari’s suspicions are due to the hidden power in her (the Kyubi), but that’s not the case. Sadly, Himawari was affected by omnipotence, & the fact that she feels Naruto & Hinata are alive & that “Boruto” would never harm them is because, due to the effect of omnipotence, her experiences lived with KAWAKI make her believe they were actually with Boruto. In short, what’s really being conveyed to the reader is that Kawaki would be incapable of harming Naruto, & that’s why she feels Naruto & Hinata are alive. Remember that omnipotence exchanged in people’s subconscious the memories & concepts they had of Kawaki & Boruto, but it didn’t alter reality.

4. Regarding Inojin: Another event that caused a stir is that Inojin was impaled by Jura. There’re already people who’ve prematurely concluded that Inojin is dead, but the truth isn’t definitive.

If Inojin survives, this’d mean 2 things:

Himawari might use some special power of the Kyubi to heal Inojin.

Inojin could be saved by the ninja medical unit, or by interference of ninja technology, although it’s important to understand that ninja medical jutsu & ninja technology have their limits.

Otherwise, it’d bring many implications to the plot. It’d be an emotionally shocking blow for many characters, starting with Ino & Sai, the Ino-Shika-Cho team that was raised as siblings, & other close friends of Inojin. It’d be the first character from the descendants of Naruto’s generation to die in battle just as the conflict begins, showing how dark the situation in TBV could start to turn. For Himawari, already the fact of losing her parents hardened her character, seeing the death of a special friend for her, who also died trying to protect her, would awaken a deep desolation.

For others like Boruto, Sarada, Sumire, & Mitsuki, who’ve known & shared time with Inojin at the academy, & Sarada & Boruto who’ve known him since childhood, it’d be an important before & after. It’d show them that no one is safe in the situation they’re living & that they’re facing dangerous enemies who don’t value human life. For Boruto, it’d be a hard blow to know that he might’ve helped, but the activated karma didn’t allow him to do anything in that situation. For the older generation, the loss of Inojin would make them aware that they failed in their mission to bring an era of peace to their children & the new generation, & the harsh reality that a new war has begun.

5. Boruto & Kawaki: Kawaki identified Boruto’s weak point in the previous chapter. It’s impressive that all of Boruto’s shinobi feats in the first 9 chapters were due to his pure training, without relying on the power of Karma. This is a great source of power, but at the same time his greatest weakness. Something must’ve happened over those 3 years that led Boruto to radically avoid karma. That fear has to do with Momoshiki, who finds a way to materialize & take over Boruto’s body by channeling through karma.

As we know in advance, in the battle Boruto vs Kawaki on the faces of the Hokages, Boruto can already activate his Karma at will. That is, by that point, Boruto’d probably have full control of his powers. But, seeing that Kawaki noticed that Boruto’s weakness is the activated karma, a possible scenario is envisioned: The cause of the destruction of the Shinobi era & what subsequently leads to the last confrontation between brothers is that Kawaki exploits Boruto’s weakness, causing him to lose control & Momoshiki to cause destruction. For some reason, Boruto regains control of his body & enters battle to defeat Kawaki.

Considering Boruto could lose control of the Karma at any moment & is emotionally affected by it, you can be sure that Sarada’ll be the one to help him channel those emotions. She’s the person he calls home, the intact fragment of his past, & she’ll be the one to show him he has the strength & will to stop Momoshiki. Sarada has always been a light in his life & was the one who thwarted Momoshiki’s plans to take over Boruto. The fight against Momoshiki is a battle waged on the plane of emotions & wills. And rest assured, Sarada won’t let Boruto fall into darkness; she’s the love that’ll turn Boruto’s vortex into a spiral. As always, Kishimoto gave us a great reference to this in Minato’s one-shot: Sarada is to Boruto what Minato was to Kushina & what Hashirama was to Mito.

There’re many more points that could be discussed, but this is what I wanted to highlight from the chapter. Boruto TBV is just beginning, there’s a lot to go through before drawing definitive conclusions.

Before closing, I’d like to point out that to know what ideas & projections Kishimoto has for the characters & their interactions, it helps to know chapter 700 of Naruto, “Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring”, & the novels belonging to Boruto’s timeline, some of which are written by Kishimoto & others directly supervised by him. These fit very well with how the characters are behaving in TBV. After Kodachi delegated the writing back to Kishimoto, a change in perspectives is noticeable. TBV is a pure concept of Kishimoto, so for those who like to theorize, analyze, or simply have a more complete understanding of the work, I suggest reading those stories that are part of the canon.

And lastly, beyond criticizing or causing fights in the fandom, enjoy the canon! Kishimoto has great things prepared.

[themattress]

The Dark Kingdom Saga

It really do be like:

Let's be serious: Sailor Moon Crystal's version is the manga's made worse on almost every level. What's wrong in the manga stays wrong here and is highlighted far more, and every change that conceivably could have been interesting (the Shitennou staying alive and working together at the same time, more appearances by Queen Beryl, Sailor Moon taking Beryl out instead of Sailor Venus, etc.) falling flat either due to shoddy execution or just plain not having enough time. I will always insist Crystal should have done its Dark Kingdom arc over 26 episodes. Then we could get a 13 episodes (so slightly expanded) Black Moon arc, followed by the 13 episode Infinity arc and two movie duologies we actually got. That would have worked far better since the first arc needs breathing room when adapted to animation.

The brevity isn't really a problem in the manga since it's a monthly serialization and all arcs flow pretty tightly into one another so even if characters like the Inner Senshi feel fairly underdeveloped in this arc you know they'll continue a consistent path of development in subsequent arcs that will flesh them out more. But while the manga arc is fine for the most part, I really do not care for the way it progresses in its second half (from when Sailor Venus comes in and onward). Minako being the Moon Princess is such a laughable red herring that anyone can see through immediately even if they're going in totally blind, Usagi remembering that she's the Moon Princess and that Mamoru is Endymion marks a shift where her romantic interest in the guy goes from cute and endearing to annoying and obsessive, and I really hate how Naoko Takeuchi ham-fistedly turns the story into "this happened in the ancient past and now the exact same thing is happening again in the present; deja vu!", resulting in several underwhelming things like Beryl being stabbed to death by Sailor Venus again, Queen Metalia at full power trying to shroud the world in darkness and needing to be defeated with the Silver Crystal again, and worst of all Princess Serenity committing suicide over the death of Endymion again. That choice might have worked with her in the ancient past given her characterization and the circumstances, but it is an absolute slap in the face to present day Usagi's character and supposed strength as a heroine. The arc just doesn't recover from it.

The 90s anime's Dark Kingdom arc isn't perfect in execution by any means, but it is nigh perfectly structured, giving the right amount of time for story elements to progress, characters to be developed and atmosphere to be established. And the climax blows the manga's out of the water to a ridiculous degree. Even these many years later it still gives me all of the feels.

[rmorde]

Trigun Manga Reaction

Now reading Volume 1 Chapters 7!

Oh. Nice foreshortening!

Have I mentioned before that the art in the manga is amazing? I mean not only is it pretty but the techniques and the visual storytelling!

This manga really spoils me rotten with beautiful double spreads.

Was Trigun a weekly manga or a monthly comic in the 90's? Like, how is this level of quality maintained every chapter?!

This sweet apologetic smile. Baby Girl Vash. SOMEONE PLEASE PROTECT HIM!!!

I love this part because of how the "tech" looks. Maybe I'm just high on nostalgia but if you ask me, the best and most creative visual takes of futuristic technology are from the 90's. OK... 70s to 80's too. BUT 90'S ARE THE BEST!

LMAO! I remember this! Vash loves teasing his enemies with cheeky notes, doesn't he?

Dime novels??? Penny dreadfuls?? Gasp! HARLEQUINS?!!

DOES THE SETTING OF TRIGUN HAVE AN EQUIVALENT OF HARLEQUINS?! IF SO, I'D BE SO HAPPY BECAUSE I HAVE THIS HC ABOUT WOLFWOOD'S FASHION CHOICE BEING CONNECTED TO THOSE RAUNCHY CHEAP ROMANCE NOVELS!!!

Also, another amazing nightmare face! But then...

WHIPLASH! Vash adding levity by hyping himself up. Tho more likely, he is telling the truth. Not that anyone would really believe it with the facade he puts up.

Oh, wait. I only notice this just now. The Vash's glove design in the manga is what was used in in Tristamp. Only three fingers are covered. In '98, it was all of his fingers are concealed by the glove.

AH! I REMEMBER THIS! ESPECIALLY HOW IT ENDS! I'm laughing already. Kaite... is not the best navigator.

Ah Classic Vash. Deflect. Deflect. Deflect.

Oh... This scene. It's kinda scary how catching Vash off guard is deadly for his attacker. Really highlights how much he has to control all himself all the time. Killing is too easy for him with his abilities. So, he has to exercise strict disciple and caution for the sake of others all the time.

This is also sad. A kid telling off an adult for not wanting to kill. It really hammers down how awful their world is - that killing is the norm and logical thing to do. Avoiding violence and killing is seen as stupidity.

This page makes my heart hurt for so many reasons. Vash is suffering physical pain from being shot. However, I think what is more devastating is his ideals being questioned and insulted by a child - someone who should be innocent from the concept of taking lives.

Vash was hurt by what Kaite said. But, I think he also understands why he did it too. It was out of both worry and the unfortunate circumstance of their violent word. Hence, his intense glare at the top of the page then softening into a sheepish look at the bottom.

Oh wow. Another beautiful art and amazing composition and...

Rem just has strong presence in the manga, doesn't she? It's something that was in Tristamp but kind of lessened in '98.

Oh... I wish this had not been cut out from '98. I don't think this can be rehashed in Tristamp, can't it? Damn... it deserves to be animated.

Kudos for '98 in doing a great job animating this page.

Boo for not doing justice for this page, '98! WHAT THE HELL?! Why was Rem not featured a lot in '98?! At least, Tristamp made up for it... BUT I LIKE REM'S LONG HAIR DESIGN BETTER!

HAHAHAHAHA!

AH.... Ah? AHHHH?!

Fuck! I forgot. This was not supposed to be funny?! Why did I remember this scene is funny?!

Also:

@poofyphluff 

I read about the filler thing. Didn't expect it to be that much. And yeah, I'm really admiring Nightow's skills with scaling in his art. It really enhances his visual story telling.

@revenantghost

It is slowly dawning on me the differences between '98 and the manga PLUS the similarities between Tristamp and manga.

I guess my memory is not as accurate as I believe. I thought the OOC-ness from '98 is not that much yet. I thought Vash being a horndoggy perv is just a Badlands thing. It's really nice that it is nowhere here in the manga tho and Tristamp.

It begs the question tho, why make Vash like that in '98?

Oh. So Wolfwood's situation and I guess the '98 ending is similar to what happened with the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime? The studio was forced to do an AOE.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Feel better soon.

[animehouse-moe]

Monthly In the Garden With My Landlord, Volume 1: Surprising Charm

Based on the just the synopsis, I'd say I was curious about this series, but I don't know if I was ever fully sold by it. Because of that, I'm very glad that I ended up picking it up regardless, as there's a lot of charm and energy that this first volume brings, making it a series centering around adult romance that I think quite a few people will enjoy, and for quite a few reasons that I'd love to illuminate.

Let's start with the idea of the story. Asako Suga is a manga editor that was just dumped by her girlfriend, leaving her in an apartment full of memories and firsts that are tied to her now ex. Because of that, in a spur of the moment decision she decides to move into a house that's being rented for pennies on the dollar and seems to have nothing wrong with it. That is, until she moves in and finds out that her 19 year old Landlord, and ex-idol, is living there with her.

I think it's an idea that a lot of people could be turned off by, but here me out on it. It's actually really fun, and well executed. Asako, and Miyako (the ex-idol-now-landlord) have just the right balance of comical and shallow traits as they do deep and impactful ones.

Sure, Asako might be a sucker for a pretty face, and that might have played into sticking around. But, she's more than that. She doesn't immediately fall in love with Miyako because she's pretty, but rather she struggles to maintain an appropriate amount of distance from this young adult, largely because Miyako struggles to be an adult.

And really, that idea itself opens up the story so much.

Asako and Miyako struggle to form deep relationships with people. Asako falls under the stereotype of being suckered in by looks, and Miyako is in the position where looks is all that people care about. Neither are able to directly connect with someone and form a deep and emotional bond, not even in the romantic sense necessarily.

I mean, the manga itself addresses that as Miyako takes to calling Asako onee-san a whole bunch, which perfectly highlights their beginning relationship. Miyako relies heavily on Asako, while Asako is babying Miyako.

The idea of romantic feelings is present, don't get me wrong, but it's absolutely an undertone to the pair forming a deeper relationship that extends past superficial tendencies. Because of that, I really hope that in future volumes they struggle with the expression of those feelings and they struggle with how it changes the shape and form of their relationship.

Anyways, let me share my love for the art. It's got a very light feeling, but that doesn't diminish the feeling of it or the detail in any fashion. It's still very present and strong, but it's not not got a heavy lineweight or strong shading or lighting and whatnot. I guess you might call it "flat", but I don't really think it's a bad thing.

I think the only thing I could really complain about is the environment art, since there isn't too much of it, but that's par for the course with a lot of manga these days. What's good though is that the mangaka fills that vacancy very comfortably. Subtle screentones that fill gaps, intelligent paneling and focus, and mindful layouts that work to really fill panels and use negative space. It's not anything incredible, but it does plenty to be aware of the gaps in backgrounds.

I think most important though is their willingness to break molds. They really don't restrict their characters to the confines of panels, routinely breaking out from those lines or existing entirely separate from them, or even having them partially cut off from them.

Speaking of characters, these designs are really damn good. The level of detail and uniqueness they carry is really great, and something that I think can be very rare to see.

Just look at the smaller details, Miyako's eyes are a different shape to Asako's (which are then also different to Hatomori's, who is a supporting character). Then look at the noses and mouths as well. Asako generally has a more squared off mouth, while Miyako's is rounder. Similarly, Asako has a more prominent nose while Miyako has overall softer and rounder features, but has larger/more prominent eyes.

It's really great design language that is very rare to see in a lot of series these days.

Even better is the expressiveness of these designs though. Character acting has a prominent role in a series like this, and Yodokawa's designs work wonders in regards to that. They work great both in terms of subtle and extreme moments, which creates a really nice feel to both ends of the first volume.

Also, the design sense and posing? Absolutely sublime. Yodokawa really has considered everything about these characters. Asako tends to wear more plain and "typical" outfits, while Miyako brings more energy and style, and all of Miyako's outfits are just so pretty.

Really, there's not much of an end to how much I enjoy the various pieces of this first volume. There's so much that I'm not doubt leaving out a considerable bit of charm and quality from this post, so I really recommend people give the manga a try. It's promising to bring a much more friendly and positive adult romance story, but not without depth or emotion. The art is endlessly engaging and fun, very stylish and well utilized, and the characters are such a treat. Just read it if you can.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: February 2024

A real grey month broken up by the colours and beauty of art. Here's how I spent the month of February.

……….FILM……….

The Beekeeper (2024) Perfect February movie.

……….TELEVISION……….

Succession (Episode 1.01 to 2.04) Wasn't sure I was going to like this (every single character is just awful) but now I'm keen to see how these awful people are increasingly awful to each other. So far I'm really appreciating every shot that shows the staff and just the sheer number of people responsible for making the lives of these awful people as low-friction as possible. We 100% need to tax the rich more.

Delicious In Dungeon (Episode 1.05 to 1.08) Now having seen more episodes, the shifting animation styles feels more consistent overall and I love the frenetic style during the high-stress/combat scenes. If you like this show then know it's a near 1:1 with the manga but still worth reading.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Pinocchio is a Story About Art and God by Jacob Geller This opened me up to a wholly new interpretation of what the story of Pinocchio is about. Also go watch the Del Toro adaptation on Netflix it's truly a work of art. VIDEO

Vape-o-nomics: Why Everything is Addictive Now by Tom Nicholas In short: everything is a subscription now and it's making everything worse. Worth the watch and looking forward to further installments in this series. VIDEO

This Experiment Undid Our Cities. How Do We Fix It? by Strong Towns Push back against any local government that doesn't want to introduce mixed use zoning into neighborhoods. The suburbs are subsidized by density, it's as simple as that. VIDEO

……….READING……….

How To Watch Football: 52 Rules for Understanding the Beautiful Game, On and Off the Pitch by Tifo (Complete) So I actually read this over the course of a month or two. I'd read a rule or two, process, then read a couple more a day or two later. I don't even really watch football but this helped so much and now I expect I'll crush the fantasy premier league I'm in.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Complete) Only my second Christie novel and this felt SO different. Turns out that's because it really is an outlier amongst her other works. So that was reassuring. Not terrible but I wouldn't exactly recommend it as it felt thoroughly disjointed (a result of stitching together a series of unrelated short stories).

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (Complete) Hey I love the Discworld series. You know this. I know this. But there's always gotta be an entry that goes on the bottom of any list. I love Rincewind, but prefer the other wizards in a less prominent role. Not one I'd recommend when trying to get into the series and probably not one I'll revisit. Oh well.

Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang (Complete) Big fan of Chiang's artistry on Paper Girls and really enjoyed this interpretation of an aging Gotham. It has such a clear and singular voice it covers so much in just four chapters! Really great read.

Silver Surfer: Black by Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, and Dave Stewart (Complete) Every time I read this I love it more and more. It's truly what I pictured comics to be when I was a kid: vibrant, dramatic, and a little bonkers. Why does the villain ride a dragon? WHO CARES it looks cool. I love it all.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Watching the series and rereading the manga is really making for a great experience. This volume really highlighted that Senshi isn't a man with all the answers. In the upper levels of the dungeon, he's competent, but as they go deeper and face more dangerous monsters, the rest of the party take more of the lead. It's so good. This series is so good.

……….AUDIO……….

Wolves of Glendale by Wolves of Glendale (2024) Comedy music is always tricky but for me, the comedy is second. If I don't enjoy the music having no understanding of the lyrics then I probably won't stick with it. Some tracks strike this balance better than others but I found The Gym to be a good introductory track.

……….GAMING……….

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) On one hand, I tend to prefer more...active games. Something that requires hitting buttons at the right time. On the other hand, I'm really digging the mystery and complexity of the game. It really feels like I can play this detective however I want without being forced to follow any one playstyle. Not sure how far into it I am but I read the review that it's less a detective game and more a game about being a detective and that really feels right. But I do have to say that it's...rather buggy on the Switch so that might not be the recommended way to play it.

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday crew is working towards ridding the island of a competing group of adventurers. Hook wants them gone, the Gnomes want them gone, heck even the Moss Mother wants them gone. But will they be able to do it? And the more lengthy recap is over here.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 D&D crew found a (literal) underground magic item shop so did a bunch of shopping after their big funeral heist. Everyone loves a good shopping session!

And that's it. See you in March!

[saiyukiitaliaandinternational]

Monthly Minekura Christmas edition

Day 15 “Ice”

Nothing screams louder "ice" than Gyokumen Koushu in my mind, she is cold like ice and I wanted to fuse this concept with Yuki-Onna, a malevolent spirit entity that appears in the snow and ice, often as a young woman with pale blue skin and black hair. She is known to lure people into traps, freeze them, or kill them with her icy breath. The youkai already existed in the Muromachi period. I had difficulties at finding good references for her since this is my first fanart of her, I used Gensoumaden manga and some screenshots from Saiyuki Zeroin where she appears briefly. I wanted to depict her robes almost fused with the environment to highlight the idea of snow and ice, even her hair accessory is an icicle. Hope you like it.

Credits:

Saiyuki Reload Blast © Kazuya Minekura, Platinum Vision, 2017-present

[dammithughes]

Medalist Info Post

This manga deserves an introduction post and i need something to pin on my profile, so here it is!

What is Medalist?

Medalist (メダリスト) is a Pro Ice-Skating seinen manga series by Tsurumaikada and published in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon Magazine.

Synopsis:

Tsukasa, whose dreams were crushed. Inori, left to fend for herself. These two share a dream…and their tenacity may be the only thing that sees them through. Their destination? The ice…on the world's stage! (via Kodansha)

Medalist features two of its main protagonists: 26 year-old Tsukasa Akeuraji, who is a former ice-dancer that joined late and ultimately, failed to suceed in his competitive career and 11 year-old Inori Yuitsuka, an insecure, nervous girl striving to achieve her dream of becoming a world class figure skater despite setbacks and lack of support. Through unlikely circumstance, the two meet and thus, the journey to the world stage begins!

The highlight of this manga personally is the character writing, especially for the main characters and their interactions. The kids have emotional depth and complexity and have big dreams and goals, while still being prone to big, exaggerated emotions and naviety, making you just want to root for them and see them succeed. Meanwhile, Medalist also emphasizes on the importance of the support of adults and coaches towards these young athletes, and Tsukasa is a stellar example, while having his own journey in figuring out how to guide and support Inori towards her goal.

Not to mention, Tsurumaikada's dynamic art and gorgeous panelling makes the reading experiences extremely enjoyable, especially the skating scenes depicting movement and flow.

Currently, there are 5 volumes translated and available digitally on Kodasha's website (the link to volume 5 seems to be removed, but you can find the Amazon link here and the Bookwalker link here). For the Japanese raws, there are currently 7 volumes and 30 chapters as of this post.

You can find the series' twitter here.

You can read the first chapter here.

[ruakichan]

So I tried out Tokyo Debunker. tl;dr: LOL that's how much?

I'm not really into otome/joseimuke cause I don't dig the self-insert/dating/tropey cast of boy characters aspect, so I appreciate that this game allows you to set a name for the heroine that isn't your IGN. Allowed me to enjoy the story as its own thing. And the story is about the most positive thing I can say.

It's basically TWST but with horror, and where I had bounced hard off TWST's story and cast, the world presented here is interesting and most of the characters are charming. ...Although some are gratuitous expies of characters from other franchises. The blond screaming kid is basically that blond screaming kid from KNY, and he even has the same voice actor lol (edit: nope the guy just sounds like shimono) I keep expecting him to break out with some amazing power when he's asleep, and it'll have some of the best art in the game lol. But ignoring the ...homages..., I really enjoyed TD's tale, and that's what's keeping me going. There's also some fujobait teasing between the various boys; I straight up lol'd at a card you can get in VIP that is of two of them having a cigarette kiss.

The game looks mediocre and out of date, even by my lenient standards, though it's fully voice acted with a talented cast (JP) and story beats are highlighted by manga-esque cut scenes to supplement the talking heads VN visuals. But the character art is crude and simple (probably to make the live2d easier), most of the designs uninspired, and the GUI a confusing mess.

Battle system is just a chibi battler with some music stages (lol), but I appreciate you can skip battles straight from the get-go, which is probably why they didn't bother with the graphics. The game also has an idle clicker base (though without the clicking), which is where you do the majority of your leveling and mat grinding (ie: it's done passively). There's (not live) PVP, but it's like pvp in dressup games. Looks like there's a guild raid boss open during certain times of the day. Guild system itself is eh. There just really is no actual, engaging gameplay.

The monetization is fucking hilarious. I am not one who flinches at spending, but holy hell this game is disgustingly offensive in not only the bazillion ways they monetize, but the cost. They have numerous USD100+ packages, things costing thousands of the diamond currency for progress (locked behind their own gacha), and a mixed summon pool that is less than half characters, with a total 1% ssr rate to pull gear cards or character cards--with gear having higher individual pull rates (you will be more likely to pull gear than a character). Pity for a character is 500, no banner carry over. Absolutely bonkers in this day and age. The ways to spend also include a VIP, sub VIP, weekly and monthly passes, tiered purchases, timed purchases, repeat purchases, rebate purchases... just LOL. I've played f2p games for over a decade, and I've never seen such an egregious amount of microtransactions.

Absolute cash grab. The moment I can't progress in the story due to paywall is when I'll uninstall. Really too bad since I am enjoying the story, and I'd like to know more about the cast (I regret getting the one who visually appealed to me as my starter card cause this pure, earnestly dense kid is smashing me in the face with his moe).

Anywho. Try, but don't spend. If you already play TWST, this is TWST at home but with demons and ghosts. Its troubled development history really shows, and I'd be shocked if it lasts a year. Would make a fun, brainless anime or manga though.

[anime-of-the-day]

Valentine’s Day Countdown Anime of the day: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Alt title: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun

Released: 2014

We are about 15 days till valentines day and I wanted to highlight romantic anime for the next 15 days. So, I figured that if I was going to do something like this I should start with an anime that I love. This is the story about Chiyo. She is an adorable high school girl with a crush. He is tall. He is mysterious. He is everything to Chiyo. And, after summoning a great amount of determination, Chiyo confesses and he gives her his autograph. Chiyo left out the part about him being dense. Nozaki, the boy Chiyo likes, is a mangaka. A dense mangaka. He thought she was talking about his manga. And, well, one thing leads to another, and now she helps him make manga. And that’s just episode one.

[littleeyesofpallas]

So I kinda of want to try something different with my #manga covers tag. I dunno why I'm posting to preface the fact, I don't think anyone who follows me follows me for that tag specifically. But this is my particular little corner of the digital void and I can scream whatever impotency i want into it. Normally I just drift through the amazoncojp recommendeds from a clean private/ingonito window and just see where it leads me. My priorities on what I actually end up posting tend to be toward

individual cover art i like, or covers that I think look particularly interesting in sequence

franchises that I distinctly don't recognize from the western licensed market

specific trends across multiple titles in a genre, or within a certain mangaka's bibliography

titles with kanji or grammatical construction that I don't recognize and want to look up/practice translating

But every once in a while I get sucked into a little riptide of publisher recommendations, and the common thread is what magazines things were serialized in, and it got me thinking I'd like to try and lean into it.

In the past I've opted to collect magazine covers rather than single series tankobon ([Harta/Fellows] [Kenchiku Chishiki] [Galette Meets] [Marginal] [Tsuri Comic]), but even though that gives a very broad snapshot of a magazine's outward aesthetic from month to month, it doesn't really communicate the content of what's really being published along side what, and how those juxtapose and highlight their target audience. And in thinking about what some magazines' appearances really have to say, about who reads and who they want reading them, I realize that for as big as the manga boom got in the west these past few decades, a lot of fans don't actually have any direct interaction with the magazine format, beyond just barely recognizing the JUMP brand. (we had that brief experiment with Shounen JUMP, Shoujo BEAT, and RAIJIN in the 2000s but it was kind of an abysmal failure.)

Ive always really loved the anthology magazine format that serial manga in japan follows, and it's kind of their secret weapon for actually producing and moving the sheer staggering amount of print content that they do. And at levels that western print media just can't really compare with, not as a matter of competition, but just because the two industries operate on such vastly different models.

(I nearly forgot but I did go on kind of an adjacent rant to this once before, that no one really saw :P It was a little more focused on the old fanscanlation scene but some of its tangents are the same tangents I'm about to go on here, so I might as well link it here.)

For example, depending on the size, a monthly magazine might run between one to two dozen individual titles. And these days that would cost you about 5.10USD to grab off the rack on your way to school, or work, or on your lunch break. And that could include any number of long running series, new up and coming works, and pilot chapters or stand alone one shots from either new or established authors. By comparison a single issue of a monthly or bi monthly comic book in the US could cost between 3.99-5.99USD for what amounts to about 19 pages of content.

So, if that's issue #1 of a brand new title? or issue 100 of an ongoing series you don't keep up with? Would you be willing to pay that $4.00 to try something new? Would you be willing to pay that in addition to the $4.00 to keep up with a title you're already following? How many series would you really be comfortable following and still trying something new? Or how many new comics would you really consider picking up given the number of comics you already keep up with?

With anthology magazine format that entire game of chess between a marketing department and your wallet just straight up doesn't exist. You pay that $5.00 for a monthly issue no matter how much of it you're keeping up with, and every issue there's that free chance that you'll flip through those pages and find something cool that you decide you'll start following. And so long as they keep readers constantly engaged, even while selling magazines at a loss, it means the overall cashflow of magazine purchases, ad revenue, and eventual book sales never stops. And it all funnels back upwards to the month company that redistributes those funds to the departments it needs to to make up the slack and keep the whole machine running.

Anyway point being that manga magazines have a really neat sort of internal ecosystem they curate where the mix of content any one magazine publishes, even under the general umbrella of a target demographic like shounen or josei, is really interesting. Because really, when you follow a manga, you're following the magazine, and that means you consume everything in it, even if only tangentially. And we miss that experience by not having a magazine format for manga distribution in English. So, I'm going to post some magazine covers, and following each will be the tanokbon covers of everything currently running in them; that way, short of being able to just flip through a copy of the magazine, you still get a kind of glimpse of what that magazine's content looks like at a glance.

anyway like I said, I dunno why I thought that needed to be prefaced. There's a list of magazines I'd like to try and get to but I'd rather queue up a full roster at a time so rather than my usual random bursts of whatever I can dredge out of my drafts on a slow day at work, there will probably be some downtime between each magazine.

[sarahtheconjurer]

@ghosttmachine tagged me in a get to know you meme thing (tyyy!!)! So. Here i am posting for oncce lez goooo

Last song:

Technical answer is post traumatic blues by corey taylor, bc ive been using the spotify dj thing and it keeps giving me metal that i o ly kinda like. The funner answer was rhe barbie movie ost since me and my friends literally just got back from it n my friend mariana had me play it in the car. Not rlly my thing was catchy (barbie movie was good btw! Posts abt it being like. Not the deepest critique of social issues and the like are correct but it was a fun time w a lot of heart + rlly great production value + honestly. Very funny. And i watched it w two of my best friends so :})

Currently reading:

For books:

When the Angels Left the Old Country

I haven't touched it in a hot sec, but its a queer, historical fantasy ya book based in jewish folklorex about an angel and a demon that leave europe, after a girl goes missing from the village they've set up shop in. It's very light and whimsical which is not my usual fare, but I'm enjoying it! Its very heartfelt and the two main leads have very good chemistry. And its always cool to see angel/demon lore outside the usual christian sphere.

For manga: steel ball run (part 7 of jojos bizarre adventure) its. A story about a cross continental horse race to find the body parts of jesus. Which is the most coherent way i can put it. Im rereading it w two of my friends rn and im enjoying it! It isnt my favorite part, but its up there, and features some of the best stuff in the series. This is. Also a story featuring a pair of ride or die protagonists with a very strong dynamic and chemistry (honestly, best 'set' of protags in the series) and so much comes from their bond. Its at the point in the series where it started getting a monthly release and it shows, w some rlly gorgeous art. Gyro and Diego are highlights artwise because the former doesnt have a stand he just. Has these steel balls he spins and throws around, so you get very dynamic shots of him just. Chucking them that the author uses in super creative ways to lead the eye and compose panels and the latter. Can turn himself and other things into dinosaurs. Have you ever seen a dinosaur ride a horse? Its fucking sick. It also has some interesting themes of american imperialism and christianity, of all things, which i think are done, well in some respects, esp given the authors track record. IT ALSO HAS SOME OF THE WORST STUFF IN THE SERIES THAT MAKES ME WANT TO KILL HIM W HAMMERS.

Currently watching:

Nothing in particular, but ive got a p big to watch list (Trigun, mob psycho, etc) and i just watched the barbie movie, like i said.

Current obsession:

Guess. Take a guess.

Jfc jojos bizarre adventure is holding me at gunpoint. Its not good its not bad (besides when it is) it its own tier of media. I forgot how much 15 year old me was obsessed w it and so i foolishly rewatched it thinking id be. Normal. I was wrong. God. I've never seen anything like it! It's so clearly a passion project from someone who's very eccentric and so it goes from absurd and stupid and comedic to circling right back to being very human and poignant. Like, it's about love! And familial trauma! And prevailing in the face of great tragedy! And also killing the president because jesus told you so! It's got a myriad of flaws from technical writing issues to genuinely tasteless/bigoted content, so its not some untouchable media, but ive been enjoying it a lot.

Part 5 and 8 are my favorites for very different reasons.

Part 5, Golden Wind, is abt a bunch of weird mobsters on a roadtrip through italy to kill their boss. It has a very charming supporting cast who are a sort of found family of societal rejects, brought together by this guy named Bruno who acts as a leader + mentor + sort of dad? To them. They're all surprisingly fleshed out characters, esp for this early on in the series, and their group dynamic, combined w some of the best fights in the entire show, really sell this part. The main character and main villain are. Not good. Sans a few aspects. Tho. Like i forget giorno is there half the time. (Giorno is my beloved stale cracker of a character but hes MY stale cracke, tho)

Part 8, Jojolion, is uh. Hm. It follows this amnesiac dude who wakes up in the dirt, as he tries to piece together the person he was. It's set in an au version of the town from part 4, w some characters being spins on old ones. Its the most recent part, and it shows. Its a lot better structured, paced, and developed compared to earlier parts. The mystery running through it has a lot of fun twists and turns, the themes are coherent, and the pace is slow, but not meandering. The supporting cast is fun (the lead's romantic interest is an actually decent jojo woman and they have a very cute relationship, and the family the main character is sort of adopted into are all fucking insane) but the real draw for me was the main character. Josuke (the second. Theres another josuke from an alternate universe in part 4, anyway) is probably my favorite jojo. I could go on about him, but compared to the others, he feels the most real? Theres this very grounded sense of frustration abt him as he tries and fails to piece together who he is, while everyone around him seems to have somethimg they need from him, or an idea of who he SHOULD be. He isnt a hero, he isnt even all that noble, hes just trying to find himself and if anyone out there loves him. He's blunt, one track minded, and is doing the jojo equivalent of spamming x to skip through all the dialogue bc hes not here for anyones shit beside his own. Jojolion somehow captures the feeling of being a weird, displaced pseudo adult trying to piece yourself together, while everything Keeps Fucking Happening. I love it so much. But by god does the ending suck hoooooly shit oh my god dude jesus christ. Fucking. I hate tohru i hate tohru i hate tohru fjcjendnxzlzm. Anyway jobin sweep

OTHER OBSESSIONS INCLUDE OCS AND DND.

Im currently running a csm tabletop n curse of strahd game, and am in a ravenloft game. They're all very different but i love them all.

Ravenloft game is a sort of sequel to the curse of strahd game i was in a while bsck

I play pageturn (kenku paladin) and coda (changeling flavored as fallen angel, bard). Ones a 13 year old w a kill drive going through a double crisis of faith while somehow being the heart of the group and the others a shapeshifting corrupted celestial, whos trying to find themself. we are currently exploring the fomain the latter was imprisoned in and have found the eye of vecna and. I am. Excited and concerned for what our wonderful dm has cooked up.

Chainsaw Man game is a high stakes office drama following the worst group of devil hunters youve ever seen. Its more episodic and light than my other games which is a nice change of pace, and i rlly like the energy our group brings to the table. I am always horrified and surprised by whatever new government supplied human rights violation they commit next! Every character is uniquely sad, while still maintaining the token csm dark comedy abt them. We are currently revisiting a mystery allll the way back from our first session and im stoked for some stuff i have planned.

Sippy Crew (curse of strahd game) is drawing to a close and ahh i could make a whole post abt how much these guys mean to me. Its been a joy dming for this group of freaks and watching as they come together not into a found family, but a group of distinctly doomed, but fiercely loyal individuals. They've had two pc deaths, even more close calls, and have lost so much, but they're pushing through like dandelions in concrete. Its genuinely the most emotionally invested ive been in a ttrpg, and am so excited, to see their journey come to a close, and will miss them dearly.

Both jojo and ttrrpgs have been a way to reconnect with friends i dont usually talk to as much, and strengthen the bonds of the friends that i do, which is why theyve hit so hard, haha.

anwyaY this turned out way longer than it needed to be bUt.

@turtleslothart @500sunstone you. Do this.

[ladynahimana]

I thought it time to give an update on my doujinshi progress for Teach me and sharing my thoughts on the topic of AI-generated art and how I came to drawing these doujinshi.

Progress is slow, because I'm not satisfied with the cover and I'm doubting ths appeal of this series in general. Its topic and atmosphere is not my strength and therefore I feel it's not enough. My mentor probably also felt this. She didn't like the script, but couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong with it. Maybe it's the kink. Neither of us know and since then I struggle. How to improve something you don't know where the exact problem lies? I still managed to finish the storyboard and my mentor now likes it and encourages me to finish it completely. After working on the cover and not being satisfied with it, I stopped working on it. Procrastination at its finest. Recently I at least finished the draft of the script for the next part, which will probably be the last of it, ending this series with three parts. Instead I want to go back in my comfort zone and that is heavy romance. My sister calls my works cheesy, but I like them the way they are and the most important thing for me is to feel proud of what I created.

So yeah, enough about my struggles with this new series. I started creating doujinshi as part of my manga lessons, which are part of the rewards I get on Patreon. When Covid-19 hit and cons all over the world got canceled, I decided to raise my pledge to one of my favorite artists to support her in these difficult times. The one-hour monthly lessons started out with how to draw in chibi style and after that, to continue the lessons, I decided to draw doujinshi with her guidance and feedback.

I love doujinshi and have collected four boxes full of only FMA ones. *cough* I rarely read a BL manga I end up enjoying, because I, as the reader, usually don't feel like the mangaka drew them with passion and more like because it's just a job they try to earn a living with. It's also why I'm not a fan of manga where writer and artist are different people. On top of that there’s this generic art style for the BL genre and the characters are really stereotypical and nowhere near as deep as the characters that can be used in fanworks (which is no wonder due to the short length of most BL manga).

And this leads me to AI-generated art. I'm just a hobby artist. I don't earn money with any of my art and therefore I personally don't have to fear for paying my bills. But I fear for the artists that do and the world of art in general. An AI will never be able to create something with a heart. It has no emotions. It does not think about happiness and the joy of creating something. It is soulless and their art will always lack something truly beautiful.

The sad thing is that so many people don't care. What they define as "beautiful" is different. They want to see “perfect” drawings. They don't see the beauty that is imperfection and criticize the work of artists, when they see it. Human faces are not symmetrical, not perfect and drawing them that way will always be more beautiful to me than an artist drawing one side of a face and then digitally mirroring that to create a perfectly symmetrical face.

Society doesn't see artists as essential, which Covid-19 already highlighted and now those artists are getting abused by stealing their art and training AI designed to replace them. When Clip Studio Paint announced the inclusion of Stable Diffusion into the program and advertising it with how easy and fast backgrounds can be created, I was like "oh no" and so relieved, when they canceled it after getting much negative feedback. Of course, drawing things like backgrounds is time-consuming and not the focus for readers of comics. In the age of webtoons it's all about being fast and productive, but at what cost? Ripping the artists off that fed the AI without consent to enable mass-production? To me an elaborate background created with 3D-models converted to lineart will always be inferior to a background that is self-made with wonky lines and a perspective that is a bit off. It's the heart, which created the artwork, that counts. It's not mass-produced and passionless. It's art that can even touch the soul. That being said, I would be really happy if my so far shared doujinshi were able to accomplish that for someone. Art is a passion I hope to never loose, even if there are times of struggle and uncertainty.

[zerochanges]

2022 Favorite Anime

The year 2022 was an interesting one. I’d say it was bad but not all bad. I had a lot on my plate and once again it feels like I never have enough time to actually play or watch all the things I want to within the year. This year just like last year I am going to include stuff irregardless of when it came out, so even if it’s an anime from 2020, if I watched it in 2022 for the first time it will make this list. So without too much more pomp or circumstance let’s just get into my list of anime that I thought was worth talking about in 2022.

A Couple of Cuckoos

So I am starting off this list with yet another basic romcom, just the way I like it. Why not do something a little light and easy for the start? Yeah. A Couple of Cuckoos is more or less what you would expect out of the genre, but yeah, like I was getting at that is more or less all I really want; I’m not asking for a reinvention of the wheel for my entertainment, at least not all of it. The characters are all likable and the show is weirdly 2 cours, something not seen all that often nowadays, which gives you a lot more time with the cast. The slower pace and extra time really helps develop the protagonist’s relationship in a way that feels more believable, well as believable as getting switched at birth and ending up living with randos your whole life then getting engaged to the person your genetic family raised in order to “fix” that can be. 

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Last year was probably one of the biggest highlights for the Boruto anime, really getting into the solid meat and potatoes of the series and covering a large arc from the manga, and this year … pretty much went the exact opposite direction—yet I loved it all the same. It was fairly obvious from the onset that the series would need another cooling off period so to say to distance itself from the monthly published manga material and give it some more time to serialize itself, so expectations for me where always set at tepid, but I genuinely enjoy the anime original content the series is largely comprised of.

This year started off on a very strong foot none-the-less as it went into a nearly 25 episode long story arc, one of the longest in the anime, that returned us to the Land of Water, something fans have wanted for years now. We got to see the return of anime favorite character Kagura, and a joint mission with Team 5, the often little utilized characters of the main cast. And then there’s the fact that Kawaki officially joined Team 7 with Boruto and crew, making this his first formal mission. Overall there was a lot of content to enjoy here, although I admit due to its length the arc drags a bit in the middle, but has a solid start and finish.

The following arc sees Kawaki take over as the central protagonist in an undercover mission to guard a noble attending the ninja academy, this was perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the anime this year for me, as it really helps shine some more light on our new deuteragonist and brought back a fun and whimsical tone. Seeing a character like Kawaki who had a very rough childhood; an alcoholic father, being human trafficked, and then experimented on, have to go to school with younger kids and try to fit in is in itself just a perfect premise for a story. It also deepens his relationship with his adopted sister Hima as she begins to attend the academy. This was honestly Boruto at its sharpest as far as anime original content goes. 

The final arc this year was a bit wacky but just so out-there that how can you not have fun with it. Boruto essentially ends up in a SAW movie and has to survive all these trials to the end. Do people know what SAW is anymore? Should I have said Naruto meets Squid Game instead? Is anyone reading this anyways? Oh well, it’s honestly a lot of fun seeing what death games would be like in the Naruto universe and the large cast created (to mostly die) for this arc have great chemistry with our boy. The staff evenly finds a great way to neatly tie this all together with the main plot of the manga. I genuinely hope we can see a return of some of these characters in future anime original content.

This new year is already starting off strong, covering a Sasuke light novel and then getting back into the next manga arc so I am still really excited to follow the series after all these years.

Call of the Night

I was a big fan of Dagashi Kashi when it originally aired back in 2016, so seeing a new manga from its creator was very exciting. In general Call of the Night is almost identical to his prior series, it carries the same incredibly relaxing and chill aura with emphasis on character interaction. This is a vibe series, largely composed of dialogue between its cast, and that isn’t a complaint, I’d say that is a real strength of Kotoyama’s making interesting dialogue that flows naturally as a pathway to seeing the very soul of his characters. 

I adore the night time only setting, being a night owl naturally myself—and the direction, animation, and general direction of the anime is incredible. This is one solid production, with easily the best soundtrack of the year. The name of the manga itself is taken from a song made by the Japanese band Creepy Nuts, which very fittingly ended up being used as the ending theme, but not only that they provide much of the music heard in the show itself, and they are all  bangers in my book.

Cardfight Vanguard will+Dress

The inaugural season of overDress was a bit of a mess back in 2021, I think I may have said as much back in my 2021 retrospectives, but I’ll repeat myself here again. It was far from bad but it was awkward; probably down to the fact that it was only 1 cour long and trying to both establish the cast, world, and relationships the series will be founded on, while also being a card battle series—and it often had to sacrifice one for the other at times. The second season or cour of overDress largely corrected that and was where the series really began to shine for me, winning me over and making me feel confident in this new single cour a season approach Vanguard is heading in now. 

The newest season of the “D Series” as it is being called now, will+Dress largely continued being a solid but a bit rushed card battle series. Covering an entire tournament arc in under 13 episodes is no tall order but they mostly succeed in what is presented here and have some genuine great battles as well as fit in just enough character development for a couple cast members that it doesn’t overwhelm us with nothing but battles. It wasn’t as strong as cour 2 of overDress but I was honestly on the edge of my seat during a lot of these fights, and Jesus Christ does the soundtrack destroy this season! 

I never seen a card battle anime go THIS HARD before, for real! I have to mention this, I have been a fan of this genre since its actual inception during the mid-90’s and not once have I ever experienced anything as incredible as the will+Dress soundtrack. It’s just that good, a new standard for card battle anime music to follow. 

Chainsaw Man

This is going to be difficult. I really don’t know what to do when it comes to accurately describing my feelings towards Chainsaw Man, if anything putting down into words all my thoughts and emotions have been part of what made me drag my feet on doing this list for so long. Chainsaw Man is a complicated show. Well really, no it isn't. But actually it is. It’s difficult. Let’s start at the very beginning since I think that would be for the best.

So for me Chainsaw Man truly began when the manga ran a chapter that featured the characters going to the movies. There they watched a bunch of crappy films all back-to-back and then finally at the end, after hours of countless garbage they see one good film. It brings tears to the protagonist’s eyes over how good the experience was. It was a fascinating and sincere commentary from an author about the movie going experience and what cinema means warts and all. Hell maybe it is even deeper and is about the experience of life itself and how you have to go through lots of bad but that there is still good. 

Either way, I knew nothing about the manga at the time when this chapter went viral on twitter. I kept seeing it, and multiple takes on it, and even read just that chapter. It made Chainsaw Man seem like something special to me. And then that’s it. Much like everything else in my life I just never got around to reading the manga proper. Had some friends that loved it, and that one chapter about going to the movies left an undeniable impact on me. But life is life and mine always sees me never getting around to things I really should.

Years later the series gets an anime and I figured “Great! This is my chance to finally get into it” and what’s more it’s being done by MAPPA? “All right, those guys kill it.” And they did. When the anime came out it was highly praised and easily one of the most talked about series I saw on twitter during that season. I finally got to experience Chainsaw Man and honestly … I just don’t know.

Let’s talk about what works. The animation is stupendous, to a stupid point. Even just characters walking are insanely good looking, the most basic stuff, the most minute little things that don’t usually matter, they are all done as well as the big important battle scenes. The English dub is top notch, maybe even the best this year. The dialogue is incredibly natural, and conversations flow just like real life. I especially appreciate the F-bombs that occur fairly often in the series but never feel gratuitous, just another part of how people naturally talk. Which really impressed me since Funimation dubs tend to be far more squeaky clean and avoid the fouler side of language. 

So what doesn’t work? It just feels kind of hollow, if that makes any sense? Maybe it’s the pacing. The beginning of the show is slow and not much happens, which I am not complaining about since we’re just learning how the world works and about these characters, but then it just kind of ends. Very abruptly. We take our sweet time, and for what? As soon as the show is getting into the swing of things it just stops. It feels hollow, almost like it was canceled. Maybe this is just the nature of the beast and how high quality productions work, we have to settle for less content that is higher quality, but another cour might have really made it feel better. When the final episode finished I just felt nothing. Just “that’s it, huh?” I wonder if there could have been a better stopping point in the manga, who knows.

I wanted a lot out of Chainsaw Man, there was tons to love, and I can’t honestly think of any other grade to give this anime than an A+, but damn dude, I just don’t know. Why do I feel so empty? Maybe I should read the manga, it might have the catharsis and energy I wanted out of the show but was denied. There’s been some controversy over this anime now that it’s over but I don’t want to contribute to it. I can’t help but feel conflicted though. Will I forever be chasing the high of that one viral chapter of the manga I saw all those years ago? Or am I overthinking it and just want more Chainsaw Man and that’s a good thing? I just don’t know anymore. 

Digimon Ghost Game

I did not grow up with Digimon. I say this because there is a very obvious difference between people that did and people that didn’t. I don’t have this irrelevant love for the original series that came before nor even really that high of an opinion on them, and honestly I like when the franchise seems to branch out and try new things—and that’s definitely where Ghost Game squarely falls. 

It’s not a perfect show by any means and it has a fair number of dud episodes that just don’t land nearly that well, but it is overall a much more interesting and easier to watch series than the last five or so years of overly indulgent nostalgia trips the series has been set on. At its strongest I almost feel like I’m watching GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018) again, and that is definitely not a compliment I give out lightly. 

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

I had a lot of reservations about this film. I wasn’t crazy about an all CGI Dragon Ball and I definitely had trust issues with this series when it comes to promises of Gohan being important. After the Buu Saga, being a fan of Gohan is endless suffering. My boy has had more false starts and character assassinations than anyone else in all of anime. He really is the character Toriyama and other Dragon Ball writers seem to struggle with the most despite him being an essential core component of Dragon Ball. When I started watching anime Gohan was who I put myself in the shoes of. He was how I related to Goku and everyone else. I just don’t really wanna see my boy done dirty yet again by another false start that goes nowhere.

Well worry no more! Because the film looks fantastic, honestly there were moments where I forgot it was even CGI at all, it was that good and captured the look of a 2D anime that well. And the plot truly lets Gohan be Gohan again. Between him and Piccolo, the two are able to carry the film. It’s a great return to form and does a lot without having to rely on Vegeta or Goku. I love the charm and humor of earlier Dragon Ball shining through again in the film too. 

More of this please. I absolutely would adore seeing these elements of Dragon world explored again.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)

The 2020 adaptation of Dai no Daibouken has been a dream come true for me. One of my all time favorite mangas, a venerable Shonen Jump classic, finally got the anime it deserved and it’s been so much fun. I can’t really comment too much more on this, Toei made an incredible, well paced, well animated, and very faithful adaptation of a wonderful manga. I felt like a kid again watching it every Friday night, and the ending is just as good as I remembered. If you missed it, Dragon Quest fan or not, I highly recommend binging the entire 100 episode series, you won’t regret it. This is one of the best that 90’s Shonen Jump has to offer, and done with the best animation today has to offer.

I’m Quitting Heroing

This was a nice little gem of a title that was exclusive to Hidive. A fun twist on the usual JRPG tropes about brave Heroes fighting Demon Kings, we have the titular Hero throwing away his duty and instead joining the demon army! The army he just crushed not too long ago. You see, after saving the human world from the Demon Army, the humans returned the favor by exiling the hero fearing him for being even stronger than the demon threat. Not taking that lying down, our hero has now changed sides.

This series has an insane amount of heart. It’s a very short story, able to be told in its entirety in its single cour season, and yet does so much with its cast. Learning the story behind the titular hero and what it means to “quit being a hero” and finding your own identity and reason to live. There’s a lot more stuff in this little simple funny twist on the usual JRPG formula than you would expect. 

Kaiji (Dub)

After 15 years the Kaiji dub is finally here! It’s really hard to believe. How did it take this long to dub such a beloved series I’ll never know?! But finally another reason to rewatch Kaiji in 2022, I’ll take it! If anything, Kaiji feels even more poignant today than it did back in 2007 after two more financial crises and who knows how many recessions have occurred. Honestly every day since the mid-twenty-teens have felt like some absurd nightmare with the rich keep consolidating power and the middle class increasingly disappearing. 

The catharsis of the scathing anti-capitalist themes in Kaiji are so needed today. Hell it’s really saying something when a scumbag like Kaiji is the most moral person in the room, money truly does something horrible to all of us. Seeing Kaiji’s moral compass time and time again come to screw him over when he could have gotten out of sticky situations if he was just as greedy and heartless as everyone else really speaks volume to me. It doesn’t help that all the gambling done in these death games are also incredibly interesting and fun to watch on their own even when you ignore the themes of the work as well. 

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer came out all the way back in 2005 and was one of the debut works of the incredibly talented and often overlooked Satoshi Mizukami. It was a fan favorite manga that sadly never got an anime nor a very widespread publication of the manga over here—with the volumes long out-of-print and often going for very high prices now. Yet somehow, for some reason, all the way in 2022, the series is getting a second chance, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer got an anime! It’s not great though.

Yeah sadly, the anime isn’t exactly worth the 17 year long wait. It’s not awful by any stretch, and condenses the material of the 10 volume long manga into a complete and full story 24 episode long anime, but I can’t help but feel it could have been better. 

Maybe I am spoiled seeing how well other anime productions have condensed materials, the 2011 Madhouse adaptation of Hunter x Hunter comes to mind, more specifically the Greed Island portion, that was a great adaptation of the material, and the recent JoJo seasons like Diamond is Unbreakable is another solid example of taking a lot of material and condensing it, 18 manga volumes in 38 episodes. Animes like these make Biscuit Hammer’s decisions and pacing feel a lot weaker to me. 

Then there’s the animation, to be blunt it ain’t very good. All this screams to me that the show had a very tight and small budget and not a lot of staff. I imagined they didn’t really go out of their way to make this series a priory. It kind of reminds me a lot of what happens to Berserk animes, but thankfully it isn’t anywhere nearly as bad as that!

So don’t get me wrong, the general spirit of a great manga is still present in this adaptation. It’s a very unique and well written battle shonen and it definitely is a good enough representation of Mizukami’s work. I’m really glad it happened and enjoyed watching it. I enjoyed reliving this wonderful series again. If you like the anime even a little I do suggest doing what you can to find the manga and see it at its best. Might be a fun read after seeing the final episode. And hey if you’re seeing this on Crunchyroll good news, CR actually has a digital version of the manga on their CR Manga reader. Yeah, remember that thing? Remember how they tried to break into manga at one point. That was a weird time. Anyways enjoy.

Macross Frontier: The False Songstress and Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell

I’ll show my age and say I watched fansubs of Macross Frontier all the way back when it originally aired on Japanese TV in 2012. It was an incredibly fun time to see a classic series return again and the production quality blew me away, I never seen CG used in an anime that well before, despite it being such a norm now, it was not the case in 2012, it often did not blend well with the flat 2D animation and looked awful, yet the CG dogfights in this show were incredible, almost movie quality like. Hell watching these movies in 2022 I am still impressed. And oh yeah, I watched these movies in 2022 holy shit!

For decades it seemed like the Macross franchise would be stuck in Japan only, I don’t think anyone ever saw this long feud ever coming to an end but it’s finally over. Blu-rays for Frontier, Seven, and so much more are on the horizon, and we even for the two Frontier films to show in theatres over here! Just simply wow. That alone made this special to me. 

Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (the movie) and Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (Season 2)

The first season of Made in Abyss was a breakout hit in 2017 and it was never a question of if there would be follow up content but when as sadly the manga is published irregularly. Finally in 2020 after nearly three years fans got Dawn of the Deep Soul, a movie continuation of the first season. I didn’t watch it back then, only seeing it now in 2022. It’s great. I’ll be brief since there’s a lot to cover but it is probably my favorite story arc in MiA now, and where the series really seems to be coming into its stride, if you ask me, someone who thought Season 1 was good but not that good. I’m really glad I finally sat down and watched this in preparation to seeing Season 2.

And without further ado, let’s talk Season 2. Also great. By this point creator Tsukushi seems to have a really good command of his series and is able to do a lot more interesting things with it. The Golden City of the Scorching Sun really presents something he simply could not have done earlier on in MiA and is maybe one of the most complex and well crafted narratives I watched this year. It definitely is the most thoroughly and well written arc of the entire series so far and the longest arc in the series. 

I personally think I do prefer the more simple and fun Dawn of the Deep Soul, to me that was simply incredible and had the best fight in MiA occur, but damn if both that film and this new season didn’t impress me equally.

My Dress-Up Darling

My Dress-Up Darling is an incredibly well animated and crafted show, easily the best romance anime of 2022 by a landslide and it’s a shame that while very popular when it aired it seemed to have been forgotten about now at the end of the year. The central relationship between the two leads is just so pure and healthy. Gojo helps Marin with her cosplay hobby and is the first person to not judge her for it. And she in return is one of the few people at their school to see the positive qualities that Gojo possesses. The two are good together and it’s also just refreshing that it’s the popular girl that ends up falling for the guy for once and not the other way around. The two are great together and it’s adorable seeing their supportive side, the season even ending with Gojo staying up all night talking to Marin on the phone to help her feel better is maybe the perfect way to end a season too.

My Isekai Life

Okay I legit only watched this show because it was on Hidive. Being a smaller service they promoted it pretty hard and even gave it a dub despite it seeming like a fairly basic show. I mean dude, look at that name, it even has Isekai right in the title! Like what the heck. But despite this being a very basic and overly simple isekai series, it’s incredibly well executed. I found myself enjoying it every week. I don’t know what to say, maybe I’m a simple man, but the story was never boring and out of nowhere there were fantastic spurts of insanely high quality animation. Why? For a series like this! I don’t know, but the overall package ended up being a nice little show that always delivered every week. I even found myself looking forward to it. Sometimes good things can be something you least expect.

ODDTAXI (dub)

ODDTAXI was a sleeper hit when it first aired back last year in 2021–why it took so long for the dub to happen, who knows, but 2022 finally gave us the English version of this series and that’s what finally got me to watch it. The unique art design is easily the first thing you will notice with the anthropomorphic characters despite this being a mature murder mystery, and it goes a long way to help give this very well written series even more of its own identity. I can definitely see why it was such a well reviewed series last year when it aired and it definitely has some great ideas towards the end.

Sadly talking about it is one of those things that is hard to do, as it will lead to spoilers, but the basic premise is our protagonist Odokawa, a taxi driver, picks up various strange clients, each with their own mystery, and as we follow their cab rides we learn more about the greater murder mystery behind the series at large. I highly recommend not sleeping on this series like a lot of others might have, you are missing out on one of the best who-done-its in anime in a long time.

Shadowverse Flame

Two years back the first Shadowverse anime aired and I called it one of the best animes of the year … for all the wrong reasons! It was a legit mess with an insane plot that flew off the rails and became incredibly dark for some reason. Like the apocalypse actually happens and everyone dies in the show a la Neon Genesis Evangelion, that is something that happens in Shadowverse, don’t ask me why. Despite the apocalypse killing everyone, kids gaining psychic powers and jumping off skyscrapers and not being hurt, and also some part where the cast dimension hopes to the world of Granblue Fantasy because Cygames, I guess, the series got a sequel. And it’s … really good … for the actual right reasons!

Yeah, I never saw this coming, Shadowverse Flame is actually a really competent well made card battle series. I’d even go so far as to say maybe the best card battle anime that aired in 2022. It has none of the insane nonsense that its predecessor did, and actually took the time to explain all the core mechanics of the card game and have dynamic and really well written card battles. The overall plot is fun, basically amounting to a mysterious transfer student Light Tenryu, joining a failed Shadowverse club on the verge of disbanding and resurrecting it. Everything is … good actually. Really who saw any of this coming??? 

If you like card battle anime, definitely check out Shadowverse Flame, it won’t disappoint, and it isn’t batshit insane so that’s cool too.

Shenmue the Animation

I had zero hope for this toonami original when it was first announced. After all a ton of the appeal to Shenmue was the relaxing play at your own pace sandbox style it helped to revolutionize. I wouldn’t say it was the first sandbox title, there are a few early PSOne and PC games that are very experimental  and essentially pioneered this genre, but Shenmue was one of the first big ones, and an inescapable part of the gaming landscape when it first came out. Sure it had a story, and a good one at that too, but the game play and insane attention to detail for the world it took place in is what it is most fondly remembered for.

But despite all that this series ended up pretty solid. Damn it honestly might be the best toonami original series yet, though that’s a pretty low bar. But the series is a pretty solid adaptation of the first Shenmue game, making some very smart decisions in reordering some events and abridging others, it’s overall a solid representation of the original game with the fights fully realized in a way the Dreamcast never could. The latter half of the series that covers Shenmue 2 is sadly a bit worstly paced however and it becomes obvious that the scope of that game was too much for the anime to fully handle, but it still ends in a satisfying manner. 

Hell I had so much fun it made me finally, after nearly 3 years, crack open that Shenmue 1 and 2 remaster I bought and replay the games alongside the anime as it aired! So yes, let me tell you as someone that experienced both actively at the same time, this was a solid version of the series.

Spy x Family

The best way to summarize this anime is cute and it makes me happy. Okay that probably isn't enough, sorry. Found family narratives always get to me though and Spy x Family is one of the better ones I’ve seen in anime over the recent years. The premise of a Spy father, Assassin mother, and psychic daughter all living secret lives but together as one family increasingly presents lots of potential for stories, and it’s a rock solid production. The animation is always strong every episode and the character interactions between the central trio always present a solid through line that keeps every episode consistent and fun. Overall a great series with tons of heart and some good laughs along the way too.

Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs

First of all Mob means NPC in Japanese. I just thought you should know that, because the anime doesn’t care to tell you, even the English dub which really should have if they wanted to use that Japanese term. And yes, if you’re like me congrats now you know why Mob is called Mob in Mob Psycho 100, his nickname is essentially Mr. NPC boy. 

I dunno if I would call this show mean spirited? It’s honestly very dark comedy based, maybe even meanly so, but it’s genuinely really fun and doesn’t seem hateful so who knows! The premise of some gamer boy being reborn into an Otomoe (female demographic dating sim) game as an NPC and abusing everything he knows to live the best life is already funny enough, but add that the game is also incredible shitty with bonkers writing, inconstant characters, and takes place in some nonsensical world, and it’s even better. Then there is also someone else in the series who appears to be doing the same but inserting herself into the main story of the game, taking the place of the heroine and wooing the bachelors within it, and how that changes the world is interesting. 

Basically Leon, is a huge a-hole and hates everyone and everything in this story, but is able to still come out on top over and over again because of his gamer knowledge and it never gets old.

Urusei Yatsura (2022)

I adore Rumiko Takahashi’s work. Real hot take, I know, after all who doesn’t like the work of one of the most beloved creators in the entire manga industry? But yeah ever since I was young and just getting into anime I always found myself watching her series and reading her works. 

For some people today a lot of her stuff might seem dated, maybe too predictable, too slow paced; afterall anime today is all about very fast paced and tightly controlled productions that get to the point right away, but for me I honestly prefer taking detours. I watch Boruto guys, enough said. So you won’t be getting much plot progression out of this newest iteration of her classic Urusei Yatsura, but you will be getting an incredibly well crafted and updated adaptation of a series that helped pioneer a lot of modern tropes still used today in anime and manga.

Plus this is just such a super chill series with some good laughs. I never fall out of my seat, it isn’t that kind of comedy, but I genuinely leave each episode with a smile on my face. 

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun (Season 3)

Iruma-kun is easily one of the best long-running shonen series around today. Maybe that is an actual hot take, but I don’t care, I’ll fight you. It’s an incredible and well crafted world with very fun characters that all have great chemistry. Season 3 continues with maybe one of the longest arcs yet in the series and has been tons of fun seeing the Misfit Class take on the Harvest Festival. 

I love Iruma being paired with Lead as well in this arc, it’s a great combination of characters and not what you would expect but works so well. Honestly the two of them are kind of the most pathetic people in their class when you really think about it—and that’s why it’s fun seeing these idiots in way-over-their-heads while the rest of their class are genuinely really bad ass in this tournament arc.

I would be remiss to not mention the unfortunate and untimely passing of voice actor Billy Kametz as well, who used to play Asmodeus Alice in the series. Billy was an incredible talent and an actor I loved to listen to in anime; ever since his debut as Josuke in Diamond is Unbreakable I actively followed his roles. When he was cast as Az I thought it was perfect casting and he gave a wonderful performance in the first two seasons. It is a tragedy that he died so young and everyone that knew him seems to paint the man as a truly kind and caring individual. The current replacement for Az, Stephen Fu, is doing a fine job and gives a fairly convincing voice match to Billy, but I can only imagine it is an unenviable situation for Stephen, as he seems to increasingly be casted to fill these roles for Billy. 

Ya Boy Kongming

Ya Boy Kongming was maybe my biggest dark horse series of the year. It came out of nowhere and really wowed me. The premise of the great ancient Chinese war strategist dying and being reborn in modern times only to fall in love with pop music and using all his smarts to help promote a young hopeful singer fulfill her dreams is just so funny but played so incredibly straight and sincerely that it never feels like they are wasting your time. It’s surely a comedy, they definitely are having fun with the characters, but this is also equal parts a legitimate idol anime and a damn good one too. 

This was one of the first animes this year that really helped showcase to me Hidive’s incredible curation ability post AMC buyout. They are grabbing some incredibly high quality shows. They still can’t compete with Sony’s almost monopoly of the market, or Netflix’s raw power, but they were able to consistently pick a handful of high quality really great shows every season.

[elen-000]

Let Me Eat Your Pancreas

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Japanese: 君の膵臓をたべたい, Kimi no Suizō o Tabetai), also known as Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, is a moving Japanese novel by Yoru Sumino. It began as a web novel on Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2014 and was later published in print by Futabasha in 2015. The story’s poignant narrative led to several adaptations, including a manga, a live-action film, and an anime film.

Story & Characters

The novel tells the story of an unnamed high school student ("Me" or Haruki Shiga in the English version) who discovers that his classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, is suffering from a terminal pancreatic disease. Despite their contrasting personalities and the harsh realities of Sakura's condition, their relationship deepens into a touching and unforgettable bond.

Key Characters:

Haruki Shiga ("Me") Voiced by: Mahiro Takasugi (Japanese); Robbie Daymond (English) Haruki is the protagonist who navigates his complex feelings and the reality of Sakura's illness.

Sakura Yamauchi Voiced by: Lynn (Japanese); Erika Harlacher (English) Sakura is the vibrant classmate with a terminal condition, who forms an unexpected and profound connection with Haruki.

Issei Miyata ("Gum Boy") Voiced by: Jun Fukushima (Japanese); Khoi Dao (English) A friend of Haruki and Sakura who plays a secondary role in their story.

Kyoko Takimoto Voiced by: Yukiyo Fujii (Japanese); Kira Buckland (English) Another supporting character who interacts with the main duo.

Takahiro Voiced by: Yuma Uchida (Japanese); Kyle McCarley (English) A minor character who adds depth to the narrative.

Sakura’s Mother Voiced by: Emi Wakui (Japanese); Dorah Fine (English) Plays a role in Sakura's life, highlighting the personal and family struggles within the story.

Media Adaptations

Novel Originally a web novel, Yoru Sumino's I Want to Eat Your Pancreas was published in print by Futabasha in June 2015. The English version, licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, was released on November 20, 2018.

Manga The manga adaptation by Izumi Kirihara ran from August 2016 to May 2017 in Monthly Action. The chapters were compiled into two volumes, with the English edition also released by Seven Seas.

Live-Action Film The Japanese live-action film Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, starring Takumi Kitamura and Minami Hamabe, premiered on July 28, 2017. It was showcased at various international film festivals and received wide distribution.

Anime Film The anime adaptation of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas was announced in August 2017. Directed by Shinichiro Ushijima and produced by Studio VOLN, the film premiered on September 1, 2018. The anime features music by the band Sumika, including the theme song "Fanfare" and the ending "Shunkashūtō" (The Four Seasons).