#psycho pass chibi

[the-chikyuu-times]

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Giving my small contribution to this amazing fandom, I need more Akane/Shinya content <3

[frankie-bell]

An Essay Exploring Psycho-Pass's Most Controversial Character

I know I’m opening a huge, slimy can of worms and potentially incurring the wrath of half the Psycho-Pass fandom, but I feel compelled to share my feelings on Mika Shimotsuki and how I believe she serves as a lightning rod for fan culture misogyny. Now, before I start, let me just say that this essay isn’t targeted at any one individual, and it’s just my personal opinion, which you are more than welcome to disagree with. I’d also like to stress that, despite my love for Mika’s character, I’m going to try my very best to approach this topic from an academic standpoint rather than an emotional one. I recently picked Parasocial Relationships and their effect on female celebrities and fictional characters as a thesis for my Gender and Media course, and it really got me thinking about this anime in particular, so here we go…

Let’s tackle the female side of things first, because it’s the one that shocks and disappoints me the most. Don’t get me wrong -- I think fandoms with a strong female presence are awesome, complex, uplifting, and oftentimes incredibly positive and inclusive spaces. I love being a female genre fan and interacting with other female genre fans. That said, I’ve noticed female fandom can sometimes fall prey to online bullying and misogynistic groupthink when it comes to (a) female characters they find arrogant, bossy, mean, etc. and (b) female characters who are positioned as potential love interests for their collective male "blorbos," "husbandos," "faves," whatever the term may be. These two things very often overlap, which I’ll touch on later, but for now, let’s talk about the first point.

There was a big movement online several years ago urging creators to “let women be mean. Let them be angry. Let them be petty and complex and difficult. Let them be messy.” I fully support this idea in both theory and practice and wish it were that simple, but unfortunately, it’s not, because uncomfortably large swaths of fandom don’t like/appreciate unapologetically mean female characters the way they do male characters. Men in fiction are allowed to be cutthroat, selfish, cruel, narcissistic, arrogant, and even evil without garnering even a fraction of the judgement that female characters receive for simply being “difficult” or “unlikable.”

Take, for instance, Shougo Makishima. The Psycho-Pass fandom at large adores this character (myself included), despite the fact that he’s a remorseless sociopath who touts the importance of free will as a wholesale excuse for murder. He is a bad person, full-stop, and yet he garners love -- even sympathy -- in abundance. He’s the subject of fawning fan fiction, chibi art, thirst tweets, and endless Reddit analysis. Fans are capable of seeing him, murderous warts and all, as a product of the warped dystopian society Sibyl has created. But Mika? Nope. Just “a bitch, a whiner, an arrogant little girl who deserves to get slapped in the mouth.” (I am not making this up. These are the type of comments I see *female* fans making left and right about her character). She receives far more hate for giving up the location of Akane’s grandmother as a blackmailed, frightened teenager than Makishima does for slashing Yuki’s throat or blowing up Masaoka. Hell, she catches more heat for Akane’s grandmother than Sakuya Togane, the woman’s actual murderer and -- I can’t stress this enough -- a 41-year-old adult man.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking -- Makishima and Togane are villains, so their personality flaws (putting it lightly) and horrible actions are essential to the narrative and indicative of good storytelling. We’re meant to “love to hate them.” All correct, and yet this doesn’t change or excuse the fact that their standing in the fandom, when compared to the equally complex and emotionally fractured Mika, is textbook pernicious misogyny. But, for the sake of argument, let’s compare Mika to another character ostensibly on the side of good -- Nobuchika Ginoza. [Note: Ginoza is my favorite character in Psycho-Pass, and any commentary regarding his PP1 shittiness is made with pure love and appreciation for him and nuanced character growth in general.]

When we first meet Ginoza, he is rude, terse, unyielding, intellectually smug, and totally unforgiving of those closest to him. He’s a brilliant character, and his behavior, no matter how insufferable and seemingly cruel, is the result of compounded trauma -- the trauma of having his father ripped away when he was only nine, the trauma of being unfairly judged for the “sins” of said latent criminal father, the trauma of his mother numbing her pain with medication and eventually becoming something akin to a human corpse, the trauma of finding a new support system and best friend in Kougami only to once again be “abandoned” for the other side of the law. In many ways, he’s still a hurt child lashing out at the world, unwilling to see it for the complicated, morally gray place that it is, because being mad is easier. Telling himself that Enforcers are nothing more than dogs for him to guide and use as shields is easier. Blindly trusting the judgements handed down by Sibyl is easier.

In this way, he and Mika are remarkably similar. When she first joins the MWPSB, she’s a 17-year-old minor whose best friend (and probably first love) was dismembered by a latent criminal under the direction of a serial killer disguising himself as a teacher -- a trusted authority figure. She’s filled with guilt and self-loathing over her failure to act, and the easiest way for her to sort out her feelings and ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again is to harden herself to all latent criminals. Distrusting them, treating them as “other,” is her form of self-preservation. Yes, it makes her come across as mean, as closed-minded, as unlikable, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s good storytelling, and it presents her with plenty of potential for growth, which she is certainly given.

[Upon discovering that her best friend, fellow Oso Academy student Kagami Kawarazaki, has been murdered by Rikako Oryo, Mika breaks down in tears, blaming herself for the tragedy. This is the moment her distrust of latent criminals is solidified.]

But, unlike Ginoza (a 28-year-old adult man), over half the fandom decided that Mika was so awful, so totally unforgivable, such a “heinous cunt,” that they were unwilling to allow her the time and space to grow beyond her trauma and immaturity. But why? Is it because we’ve been taught to judge women, even fictional ones, based on a different set of criteria than men? I think the answer is obvious, and I urge fans who dislike Mika’s character with such intensity to seriously examine their reasoning. I don’t mean to say that she’s infallible (hardly) or that it’s wrong to dislike her. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and no one person’s take is more valid than another’s, but it’s definitely something to think about in the larger conversation that is media analysis.

Which brings me to Akane Tsunemori, someone who fits all the abovementioned criteria for a “likeable” female character. [Another note: I love Akane, and none of this is meant to disparage her. I am simply trying to point out that she’s a more easily digestible female when viewed through the patriarchal lens of pop culture.] She’s smart but not arrogant about it, strong-willed but never disagreeable, empathetic but not easily led by her emotions, and most importantly, she’s always kind to the fandom’s male faves. She is, in almost every way, trademark "Best Girl" material, and Mika is her foil (at least in PP2). She’s set up to be the anti-Akane, both in personality and narrative function. If Akane trusts someone, Mika doesn’t. If Akane wants to bend the rules, Mika is rigid in upholding them. If Akane isn’t afraid of clouding her Hue, Mika is downright terrified.

Though it’s never stated outright, she probably hoped her senior Inspector would serve as a mentor figure, yet we see none of that from Akane, who often abandons Mika to chase down seemingly wild leads and appears to be stuck in the past, yearning for the original Division 01. (Mika even says as much to Ginoza in a novelization of the first film.) On top of that, I think it’s important to remember that we’re predisposed to side with Akane, as she is both our POV protagonist *and* the hero of the narrative. We have unprecedented access to her private moments, motivations, and methodology. We know she means well and trust that her unconventional strategy will pay off in the end. Mika does not. All she knows is that her direct superior is habitually breaking the rules, overloading her team with what feels like excessive busywork, and ignoring the more bureaucratic side of the job in favor of unconventional/unsanctioned detective work. If I’m being perfectly honest, I would also be submitting concerned reports to my boss.

[When Akane blatantly disregards Sibyl's judgement of bomber Akira Kitazawa, talking him down from a Crime Coefficient of 302 to 299, Mika confronts her for putting both their colleagues and nearby civilians in danger. This later proves to be the right call, as Kitazawa attacks Inspector Risa Aoyanagi and escapes police custody.]

[While investigating Kirito Kamui, Akane keeps her suspicions/theories close to the chest, leaving Mika and the rest of Division 01 in the dark as to her game plan.]

[Although Akane's decision to entrust Hinakawa with all 185 Halos proves to be the right one, it's understandable why Mika is taken aback by her placing so much responsibility on a single subordinate -- especially one with Hinakawa's history.]

Now, that’s not to say Mika’s feelings about Akane are purely altruistic. She’s definitely jealous of her senior Inspector and resents her standing within the Bureau, which makes her behave in ways both petty and vindictive. But I’d argue that this, too, is understandable, if not wholly forgivable, when viewed through Mika’s eyes. Picture this: You’re the youngest-ever recruit to a highly coveted position. You follow protocol to a T, are deferential to your superiors, and show a genuine aptitude for the job. Even your callousness toward the Enforcers (again, your childhood best friend was butchered by a latent criminal) is in accordance with Sybil’s will. Shitty, yes, but standard for someone raised within the Orwellian hellscape of 2100s Japan. And yet, everyone around you prefers your senior Inspector. Your subordinates defer to her when you’re the officer in charge (Hinakawa) and even help her game the system (Ginoza). The Chief tells you you’re boring, but displays obvious favoritism toward her. This severely harms your self-esteem and colors the way you interact with everyone around you. After all, it’s hard to feel like a valued member of the team when you’re being undermined and lectured at every turn. This doesn’t excuse Mika’s behavior, and if she didn’t evolve, I might understand some of the hate, but she does evolve. Spectacularly. She’s just not Akane, and that’s okay.

[While dealing with the hostage situation in PP2, Mika notices Hinakawa working on something off to the side. When she confronts him about it, he admits that he's acting on Akane's orders, even though Mika is technically the officer in charge.]

[A similar incident occurs in Sinners of the System: Case. 1, when Ginoza shoots down Mika's (admittedly ridiculous) plan, which she interprets as him once again siding with Akane over her.]

Again, this is good storytelling at work, and you can acknowledge that these two women are diametrically opposed and still appreciate -- hell, even like -- both of them for the well-written characters they are. After all, most Psycho-Pass fans like both Kougami and Ginoza in PP1 despite their many differences, not to mention the fact that Ginoza is (and I say this with love) a giant asshole. Let’s not forget, he was *this close* to microwaving Kougami at Chief Kasei’s behest. You can tell yourself he wouldn’t have, but are you sure? Are you really sure? But we forgive him, because he’s a man. Anyway, back to Akane and Mika. For reasons I’ll never understand, many fans find it borderline impossible to love two women with beef, whether it’s one-sided or mutual. There can only be one Best Girl, and everyone better be on her team. It reminds me of the Sansa vs. Daenerys discourse that gripped the Game of Thrones fandom in its last few seasons. This is doubly ridiculous in Psycho-Pass’s case, because Akane and Mika come to trust, respect, and depend on each other. But people decided to hate this 19-year-old forever, so none of that matters.

[Notice how Ginoza's gaze narrows ominously in the last frame, suggesting he might actually have pulled the trigger, thereby killing his best friend, had Akane not intervened.]

Now, let’s return to my earlier point about certain fans irrationally hating any female character they deem unworthy of their blorbo, husbando, etc. This is where Parasocial Relationships become extremely interesting. As mentioned above, Ginoza is my favorite character in Psycho-Pass, which I think is pretty common. While I myself have never been one for self-insertion or creating OCs to pair with my favorite characters, I understand that it’s a popular trend, and if you enjoy it, more power to you. It becomes problematic, however, when those who engage in self-shipping/OC-shipping decide to collectively gang up on the female character creators have paired (or hinted at pairing) with the object of their affection. Enter GinoMika. Now, I know what you’re thinking -- “But Mika’s a lesbian!” I don’t necessarily agree. Do I think she was in love with her best friend at Oso Academy? Yes. Do I think she had a crush on Yayoi at the beginning of PP2? Yes. Do I also think it’s obvious she currently has feelings for Ginoza, which have been steadily growing since Sinners of the System? Absolutely. For this reason, I interpret her as being both bisexual and demisexual. But that’s beside the point --

The point is that many Ginoza fans who ship him with themselves, their OCs, or Akane (remember, she’s Best Girl) seem to enjoy trashing on Mika like it’s an Olympic sport. And when I say “trashing,” I don’t mean your normal yet still disappointing level of ship nonsense; I mean unhinged, violent rhetoric that makes me feel like the Internet is a place where women can never win. And why? Because she was mean to him when she first started working for the MWPSB? As if he was oh-so-kind to the Enforcers who worked under him. I seem to recall him screaming at his father and threatening to “make him pay” for visiting his sick wife without permission. Oh, and then there was the time he introduced Akane to her new colleagues by telling her, “Don’t think that the guys you’re about to meet are humans like us.” But yes, Mika once told him that she didn’t want his opinion as a latent criminal, which is so much worse. And before you can say that she’s still a bitch to him, let me point out that she is a textbook tsundere. That’s how she flirts, shows affection, etc. She can never come right out and say what she means, because that would make her vulnerable. But she can surreptitiously tell Ginoza he better come back alive by insisting he return her special Dominator. You know, because it would be a real hassle if she had to replace that thing.

[The language Ginoza uses when introducing Akane to the Enforcers, including his own best friend and father, is deeply dehumanizing.]

[When Aoyanagi takes Masaoka to visit his estranged wife, Ginoza reacts with explosive anger, reprimanding his father in front of their colleagues and threatening to retaliate should he do it again.]

Which brings us, at long last, to the male portion of the fandom. While many female fans like to call Mika out for her more negative character traits, completely ignoring any and all growth she’s experienced since PP2, male fans tend to direct their anger, dislike, etc. in a much more aggressive manner. I wish I was exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen multiple posts praying for Mika’s rape and subsequent murder. You can’t dive into a single “Season 4 Wish List” thread without finding at least one person wishing extreme ill on Mika Shimotsuki. It's pure misogyny, classic “I’ll fuck the bitch right out of her” rhetoric, and it has no place in this fandom or any other. You would never see a male character being talked about in these terms. Consider this: There’s more fan fiction featuring Mika being raped or coerced into sex by her tormentor, Sakuya Togane, than her having a positive, consensual experience with any other character. Love her or hate her, that is extremely fucked up. We as a fandom need to do better, because once this type of misogyny can be weaponized against fictional characters, it becomes much easier to use against real people. Fan culture, though it might seem trivial, says a lot about us and our values.

[This is just a sampling of the comments you'll find on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and other social media sites.]

That said, I’d like to end this essay on a more positive note, so let’s take a look at all the ways in which Mika has become a better, more compassionate human being over the course of the series...

By PP3, she shows obvious concern for her Enforcers, values their opinions, and treats them like integral members of her team. In an especially cute scene, she even fist-bumps Tenma Todoroki after they work seamlessly to defeat Koichi Azusawa’s henchmen. She also makes a point to attend the party thrown in the Enforcers’ quarters, as she now longs to be part of the gang -- a gang she would have actively shunned in PP2. 

[During First Inspector, Mika shows time and again that she's willing to work with and for her Enforcers.]

[As Chief, Mika realizes that Enforcers deserve respect and gratitude from their superiors. They are no longer dogs to her.]

[In PP2, Mika tells Ginoza she doesn't care what the Enforcers think of her. By PP3, however, we see her display concern that her team might find her dull. She wants to be liked and accepted by them.]

She becomes far more flexible with her co-workers, allowing Inspectors Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov plenty of freedom to conduct investigations as they see fit. Yes, she consistently scolds them (textbook tsundere behavior), but this is done in a manner far more humorous than anything else. We know she actually trusts them and has their best interests at heart; she just can’t bring herself to say it aloud. She also repeatedly takes heat from Chief Hosorogi on their behalf and is genuinely worried for Arata when it seems like Sibyl might “eliminate” him. The palpable relief on her face when she finds out he’s allowed to remain an Inspector speaks volumes.

[Throughout PP3, Mika allows Kei and Arata to play to their individual strengths, even if it means bending the rules -- something she would never have done in PP2 or the first film.]

[Just look at that excited face. No caption necessary.]

She goes out of her way to make sure the immigrant prostitutes saved by religious leader Joseph Auma are protected following his death. This is an especially big deal, since many of these individuals are latent criminals, and Mika is forced to ask her newfound nemesis, Frederica Hanashiro, for a favor in order to secure their safety. When she tries to pretend it’s no big deal, Frederica calls her bluff by pointing out that no one would stoop to asking someone they hate for help in order to protect people whose fates they don’t care about.

[Even though Mika detests Frederica, she puts the well-being of the immigrants before her own pride.]

In Sinners of the System: Case. 1, her distrust of latent criminals is permanently altered after dealing with Izumi Yasaka, whom she works tirelessly to rescue and comes to view as brave, capable, and worthy of reintegration into society. She also displays genuine concern for and lack of discrimination toward Takeya Kukuri, the young son of a latent criminal, and is horrified to discover that the latent criminal inmates at Sanctuary are being used as disposable tools to move nuclear waste canisters.

[Sinners of the System: Case. 1 marks a decided shift in the way Mika views latent criminals. Instead of lumping them all together, she begins to see them as individuals who deserve basic human rights.]

[Even though Mika is unable to save all the latent criminals at Sanctuary, she does everything in her power to ensure Yasaka and Takeya walk away clean.]

When Enforcer Mao Kisaragi turns out to be the “fox within the CID,” Mika and the rest of Division 01 are united in supporting her claim of innocence. Mika trusts (without concrete proof, mind you) that she’s telling the truth about being an unwitting accomplice, something she never would have done in PP2 or even the first film.  

[While the old Mika would have been the first person to distrust Kisaragi, here we see her standing up for the beleaguered Enforcer.]

She comes to respect Division 01 (Akane, Ginoza, Sugo, Hinakawa, Kunizuka, and Shion), views them as a surrogate family, and misses them once their unit is disbanded. In Sinners of the System: Case. 3, Frederica Hanashiro, who temporarily worked as part of their unit, says, “CID Division 01… They’re not just capable; they have a rare teamwork that overcomes the barrier between Inspectors and Enforcers.” Yes, this is mostly due to Akane’s guiding influence, but it’s clear Frederica is talking about the whole team. It’s taken Mika years to get there, but she is now definitely part of the group, not a jealous outsider looking in. In fact, even Mika’s obvious dislike of Frederica in PP3 is a clear result of this affection. After finally finding a place to belong, she feels as though Frederica swooped in and stole her found family, leaving her right back where she started -- on the outside.

[Though she'll never admit it, Mika views Ginoza as both a mentor and a friend. When he leaves the PSB to join SAD/MOFA, she misses having him around.]

[During her lowest moment in PP2, a jealous Mika actually hopes that Akane's Hue will darken. In Sinners of the System: Case. 2, she pleads with her to take her own safety more seriously. It's clear a big change has occurred in the intervening years.]

[Instead of feeling constant competition with Akane, by PP3, Mika is finally able to give her her due. It's clear they trust and respect each other despite their many differences.]

She’s grown from an immature young woman who couldn’t bring herself to take responsibility for her failures -- most notably her involvement in Akane’s grandmother’s murder -- to a responsible PSB Chief who holds herself accountable for anything that goes wrong with her Inspectors and Enforcers. This is most evident in her reaction to Koichi Azusawa taking control of Nona Tower and subsequently endangering the lives of MWPSB faculty and agents. We first see inklings of this change near the end of PP2, when Kunizuka tells Mika she’ll never forgive the person who gave up Aoi Tsunemori’s location, and Mika responds in kind. It’s clear that she’s not merely parroting a response to save her own skin but is deeply troubled and filled with regret over her own actions.

[In PP2, Mika is constantly blaming others for her mistakes. By First Inspector, she's owning mistakes she didn't even make.]

[Mika trusts her team so much, she's willing to put her job on the line.]

[Although Mika doesn't come clean to Kunizuka about her role in Aoi Tsunemori's death, it's clear she’s haunted by it. Later, when she confesses the truth to Ginoza, he admits to feeling a similar guilt over the way he treated his late father, telling Mika they'll have to bear their respective shame silently for the rest of their lives.]

And lastly, I believe the biggest example of Mika's growth can be found in what is arguably her most important relationship -- the one she shares with Ginoza. Whether you view them as mentor/mentee, begrudging friends, potential love interests, or all three, you can't deny that they have one of the most interesting and entertaining dynamics in the series. As mentioned above, when Mika first meets Ginoza, she views him as a cautionary tale. His demotion from Inspector to Enforcer is her worst nightmare, something that could conceivably happen to her, though she'll never admit it. Because of this, she treats him with hostility, disregarding his opinions and shunning his advice. But the longer they work together, the more we realize that Ginoza brings out the best in Mika -- and vice-versa. His calm, cool demeanor tempers her fiery spirit, and her enthusiasm makes him feel like he still has a purpose. By the time PP3 rolls around, he's become her #1 confidant, the person she calls whenever she has intel to share, grievances to air, etc. And you can't deny that Mika is the one person who makes Ginoza funny. Their flirtatious banter is genuinely charming and shows the softer, more human side of both their characters.

[Given her history with latent criminals, Mika refuses to listen to Ginoza, even when he's coming from a place of experience and genuinely trying to help her.]

[After working together for several years, Mika learns to value Ginoza's opinion and even feels proud when he compliments her.]

[During the Sanctuary case, Ginoza admits to both Akane and himself that being an Enforcer isn't so bad, as long as Mika is the one calling the shots. He knows she has a good heart, and working for her reminds him why he joined the MWPSB in the first place.]

[Notice how Mika's body language changes from PP2 to Sinners of the System. She now looks at Ginoza with appreciation and, in certain instances, affection. The fact that he views her the same way speaks volumes about how far their relationship has come.]

If you made it to the end of this mammoth post, thank you for sticking with me. Hopefully, we can all treat Mika with a little more patience, kindness, and respect when PP4 arrives.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Weeks in Review (March 31-April 13, 2024)

It took forever (maybe they were waiting on the returns for Godzilla x Kong), but Apple TV+ has finally greenlit season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. According to its listing on the WGA site, it'll run from 2024 to 2025. Multiple spinoffs are also in development at Apple; no details on those yet.

Speaking of Godzilla x Kong, it continues to do well, staying #1 at the domestic box office in its second weekend and falling to #2 (behind Civil War) in its third. Current totals are $158 million domestic and $437 million worldwide. It'll soon pass the domestic gross of Kong: Skull Island and the total gross of Godzilla vs. Kong.

Godzilla vs. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers II #1 promises more of everything: more heroes (the White Ranger joins our heroes from the first comic), more villains (including Psycho Ranger Ghidora up there), and more alternate universes. Godzilla gets a bit buried in all the Ranger antics though.

A couple of kaiju series debuted on TV too: Kaiju No. 8 and Season 2 of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again. The former followed the manga very closely, and as such didn't really keep my attention; hopefully it innovates a bit more going forward. Chibi Godzilla's as irreverent as ever.

Tsuburaya Productions has released preliminary information on the next installment of the Ultra Series, Ultraman Arc. The logline:

A town called Hoshimoto City... On Mt. Shishio, there is a gigantic object towering above the city. Named "Monohorn," (モノホーン, Monohōn) it is actually a kaiju’s horn stuck in the ground since an incident 16 years ago. After the incident known as "K-DAY" in which kaiju appeared all over the world at the same time, monster disasters have become commonplace. In Japan, the Global Defense Force (GDF) uses force to deal with them, while SKIP works closely with the community in scientific investigations and evacuation guidance to prevent the occurrence and aggravation of kaiju disasters. SKIP has also been investigating the Monohorn, the horn of the galactic beast Monogelos (モノゲロス, Monogerosu) that appeared on K-DAY. Yuma, then only 7 years old, was camping with his parents in Mt. Shishio when Monogelos attacked. After miraculously surviving unscathed, he decided to pursue research into monster biology. Despite his traumatic past, he has not lost his “power of imagination” to dream. As a rookie investigator, Yuma joined SKIP and was assigned to the Hoshimoto City Branch. Not long after, another large-scale monster disaster occurs in Hoshimoto City. As Yuma sees the desperate people in front of him, a strong will springs into his mind — “I want to protect them!” At the moment when this strong and straightforward desire welled up from the bottom of his heart, Yuma hears the voice of Rution  (ルティオン,  Rution) a being of light that he once saw as a child: “You and I are one and the same… Unleash your imagination!” When a mysterious light appears in Yuma's hand and envelops his body, the unleashed power of imagination unites light and man and he transforms into Ultraman Arc, the Giant of Light who protects the future! Alongside his precious friends, Yuma, as well as Ultraman Arc, races towards his everlasting dream!

Yuma is played by Yuki Totsuka, while Takanori Tsujimoto is the lead director. He's directed for the series since Ultraman X, but this is his biggest assignment to date.

After beginning to release select Movie Monster Series figures in the States, Bandai America is now fully back in the Godzilla game, with articulated figures, 5-inch vinyls, blind box figures, and transforming eggs all up for preorder at the Godzilla Store and other toy sites. The eggs come from the 2014 Godzilla-E.G. line and the rest is all-new. Not much of a selection so far, but with how big Godzilla is right now, I'm sure there'll be more to come.

SRS Cinema has opened preorders for its War of the Ninja Monsters: Jaron vs. Goura Blu-ray, due in late July or August. Shinpei Hayashiya's latest epic, it'll come with behind-the-scenes footage and maybe a commentary track, which would be nice given how little information is available about his films online.

[woklaza]

Looking At the Stars like we used to

09:12  Seven years ago, February, Shuji and Kashimura

You’re so annoying, Kashimura! 

Shuji scribbled on the piece of paper and expertly passed it to Kashimura, two desks diagonally in front. Kashimura glanced at the note and glared at Shuji—that bastard. Kashimura scrawled an angry sentence back.

I am NOT giving you the answer! You know how to solve that question anyway.

Kashimura scrunched up the note and threw it to Shuji. The paper flawlessly landed next to Shuji’s book.

Pft! Kashimura is so mean! I bet that’s why he’s still 150 cm tall!

LAY OF MY SIZE, YOU JACKASS! I’M FIFTEEN, I’M STILL GROWING!

Hobbit species. Replied Shuji simply. 

What an ass. Kashimura was about to write something (in all capitals) when he was suddenly called out by the teacher, looking sternly at him.

“Kashimura, what answer did you get to question three?” Asked the teacher, clearly knowing he had been passing notes with Shuji. The blackboard was full of expressions and equations Kashimura hadn’t noticed. Fuck.

“Fourteen to the power of seven.” Grumbled Kashimura, saying the first thing that came to his mind. The class erupted in snickers— attempts of trying not to laugh, but failing. How very annoying.

“Nowhere close.” Said the teacher, unimpressed. “If you are going to pass notes in my class, you need to know how to do your maths first. Now, will Shuji give us the answer?” The teacher peered at Kashimura’s “accomplice”.

“Negative six, sir.” Chirped Shuji happily. 

“Correct.” Said the teacher, but disappointed that he couldn’t tell Shuji off. 

Kashimura glared as Shuji smiled, all cocky. Why did Shuji even ask what the answer was when he knew it all along? 

***

“Hey, mackerel! It’s all your fault! Why did you even decide to pass me a note? It was a nice maths lesson too!” Kashimura continued to rant as Shuji poked his tongue out at him. It was 3:15, right after the final period of the day. Kashimura threw his satchel at Shuji’s head.

“Kashimura, you’re a psycho for liking Maths! And the teacher!” Shuji spoke lazily in his voice as if he didn’t even want to use his energy to talk with Kashimura.

“You son of a bitch.” Muttered Kashimura. Yes, he likes maths, mostly because he can irritate Shuji to entertain himself, but that always somehow gets reversed.

“Now, Kashimura, that’s not a nice thing to say!” Said Shuji, pouting his lips. He discreetly likes it when Kashimura swears, but it will be on his deathbed when he says it.

“Have I ever intended to be nice to you?” Said Kashumura icily, side-eyeing Shuji.

“Why are you talking to me then, chibi?” Teased Shuji, eyes wide with mockery.

“Stop. Calling. Me. A. Fucking. Chibi.” Growled Kashimura.

“I’m fourteen, I’m still growing~!” Mimicked Shuji sarcastically.

Kashimura didn’t speak, instead casting a glare. Whatever he says, Shuji always has a way of retorting.

“You going to that drama audition tomorrow? You know, the one Port Mafia is holding for six plays?” Asked Shuji, In an attempt to steer the conversation away. It was a bit stupid, considering the answer would be no. 

Kashimura is a Sheep actor, and the Sheep hates the Port Mafia productions. The Port Mafia Theatre Department has lots of successful productions, eight out of ten of their plays were recorded and released online. and even if you never saw their plays, you would have watched Port Mafia Products on TV. But the PMP was also known for hiring underage actors and involving sketchy deals. That was probably why The Sheep hated them. 

The Sheep was a small local company, consisting of little kids, it was almost like a drama workshop. Kashumura is a skilled actor, but Shuji personally thinks he is wasting talent in the Sheep. They usually do common plays in the town theatre, with storylines so dire they were funny. Chuuya was a Sheep actor, but still a tiny tot fifteen-year-old, so he had to go to school. Being in the Sheep made Chuuya quite popular at school, though. 

“Yeah.” Said Kashimura, surprised. “How did you know?”

Full work on Ao3:

[mille-marteaux]

Touhoumon Purple (pinned post)

This is a pinned post! There is newer blog content below this point, but the rest of this post is contained beneath the Read More button.

Last update: March 19th, 2023

Documentation, downloads:

Changelog:

New documentation hub and landing page. It's included as a link to a Google Spreadsheet. While this is primarily the same as the contents of the text files, its easier on you for not having to juggle like ten tabs or whatever.

Mandatory Strength boulders have been pre-moved by default. Optional ones for items still require the HM, however.

Starters now evolve at level 30 instead of level 36. Learnset levels are adjusted for starter Chibi forms and evolved forms, including stone evolutions.

Red UFOs exchanges changed. They are now used for IV maxing NPCs near Mossdeep.

There are four NPCs with different IV spreads.

One is all 31. This is for most casual users in-game.

One is Attack 0, rest 31. This is to minimize self-damage from confusion on puppets that aren't using their Attack stat. Very min-maxy.

One is Speed 0, rest 31. This is even more niche and min-maxy than the last; the only use case for this is for purposefully slowing puppets down for Baton Pass. Gen 3 will sometimes use Baton Pass as a neutral turn switch, similar to U-Turn.

The last is Attack/Speed 0, rest 31. This is very niche and min-maxy. This is again for Baton Pass, but also minimizes confusion self-damage.

EV training NPCs in the Frontier changed. They now give 4 EVs in their listed stat per battle. This slows the process of EV training down but makes it way easier to make specialized EV spreads.

All TMs are now in Lilycove Mart, as well as the "rare" berries

Tori can now evolve into Chibi versions of the birds in the sprite

Yes, this does some absolutely ridiculous things to their movepools. blast burn mystia lets goooooooo

Tewi, Attack Tewi, and Defense Tewi can now all fully slide Attack and Defense could already slide, so this just makes it funnier. Use a Power Shard on Attack Tewi to turn her into normal Tewi, etc no advent though she can keep that movepool to herself

"Energy Ball" has, finally, been renamed to "Focus Blast"

Evolved Koishi now holds PP Up at 50% and PP Max at 5%

Reisen II buffs, finally -- Typing is now Heart/Fire -- Stats are now 65 HP, 60 ATK, 80 DEF, 130 S.ATK, 65 S.DEF, 85 Speed -- Her level-up movepool is unchanged, but she can learn a huge mess of special moves via TM now. This makes her usable if you want to, but you have to invest in her pretty heavily depending on what you may want to run -- Her primary ability is now Magnet Pull -- Gained Pickup as a secondary ability

Added another above-curve item, similar to Elder Pain and Psycho Wand -- It functions as a Quick Claw that always activates. Due to its relative ease of obtaining compared to the previous two items, there is only one way to obtain it unless playing the Sandbox version

This is actually the final update to this hack because I'm sick of binary hacking. It's tedious, slow, annoying, and things can just break. I'm tired of making multiple gigabytes of backups just because I want to change some images or text around.

This project is done! Complete, finished. There is nothing more that I can reasonably fit into this game anymore that I want to include.

I want to be done with this project.. so I am! Unless something is broken, I guess. If it literally does not function by my own fault, I'll fix it, but I'm not adding or changing anything else from this point on.

The shift to a Google Sheet is because we anticipate the current hosting, and by extension website, to go down permanently.

While backups are in place whenever a new hosting plan is picked out, this will continue to exist as a central information hub just so you don't have to thumb through multiple text files and wiki dive.

As of the time of posting this, the documentation is not 100% complete - I have yet to do level-up movesets and TM/HM compatibility, but I intend to work on that soon enough.

There are a few more things cooking right now, so stay tuned!

[dailyfigures]

Re: nendos vs funko (not the original anon) i kind of hate nendos because i hate the bases—that being said i like funko because they don’t have any bases. I do find some funko unappealing but for the most part it depends on the design, like just a regular dude from like supernatural or like psycho pass isnt gonna make a good chibi figure. They just produce too many funko and dont think about design so i think it gets a bad rep

understandable! nendo bases are quite hideous i'm not sure what i'm gonna do about mine actually. they have started releasing easel stands for nendos and are promoting them on the inside of nendo boxes like LOOK!!!!! IF YOU BUY THIS THE BASE WON'T BE HIDEOUS :D like ok then include it with my fucking nendo 😭😭 anyway yeah i agree funkos can look a lot better depending on whether the design is fun and recognisable! i still don't like the faces personally but i get the appeal!

[crehador]

package day! with my usual assistants

very thin box today, barely a mochi wide, since (almost) everything was an acrylic stand or otherwise flat

tl;dr hyped-up 02!! tkrb!!! mimakura!!!!! PSYCHO-PASS!!!!!!!!!

hyped-up 02 was the only thing that was actually meant to be in this order but then of course to “make shipping worth it” (lol) i added a bunch of other beautiful beautiful nonsense

random tkrb magnets? why not (still haven’t seen enough to know who my favorites will be so i just lmao GUESSED)

more mimakura stands? they’re beautiful so into the cart they went

and a whole bunch of megane fraud incident (and kou) to start my psycho-pass collection!!!

this little chibi gino acrylic was hell to find i would’ve gladly paid like twice retail (maybe even more) but it wasn’t just that there were no reasonably priced listings, there were no listings full stop (my own fault for missing the pre-order window i know but man)

but i found him in the end!! after a long search during which i impulsively bought a bunch of other stands (thank u providence for coming out at such a good time and flooding the market with new merch)

very happy with this haul, i’m really starting to like acrylic stands even more than figures (cheaper + more variety + most importantly SAVES SPACE) and will probably... not stop buying them anytime soon lol

[count-demonlord-of-decadence]

1: Planets 2: Boku No Pico 3: Active Raid 4: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion 5: "Into The Sky" by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Tielle (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096) 6: "Heikousen (平行線)" by Sayuri (Scum's Wish) 7: Production IG 8: ???? 9: Macross Plus 10: Hayami, Saori 11: The death of Maya (My Youth In Arcadia) 12: The Tatami Galaxy 13: Affection (GITSSAC2ndGig) 14: Kuzu no Honkai/Scum's Wish 15: YuruYuri 16: Bleach or Gate 17: Project A-ko 18: Kon (Bleach) 19: Mr. Hanamori (Princess Jellyfish) 20: Shikamaru Nara (Naruto) 21: Youruichi Shioen (Bleach) 22: Roy & Claudia (Robotech) 23: Chibi-Usa (Sailor Moon Crystal) 24: Shogo Makishima (Psycho Pass) 25: Tomoko Kuroki (Watemote) 26: Golgo 13 (Golgo 13) 27: Perfect Blue 28: Argevollen 29: Cowboy Bebop 30: Macross Plus

[the-chikyuu-times]

[dannimonart]

Chibi Psycho-Pass Bookmark and Button Set by DannimonDesigns

[valgreys]

¡Yo! Aquí traigo esta vez un pequeño garabato en chibi de mis personajes favoritos de Psycho-Pass; espero les guste. 💖

Pd: No olviden seguirme en mis redes y en Ko-fi, ¡Cualquier aporte es bienvenido! 😙

[prof-kenny]

senguji the titan XD loser fight levi ;)

[lucidink]

a cutie reunion 💕

[grinnsley]

Three Tired Redheads 👔💀💊

[fuzziehoodie]

Alrighty soooo.... I managed to finish my chibi drawings hope you find them adorableI’m gonna try to make them into keychains for Toronto Comicon... hopefully it arrives on time