#sorry this is so short sobs

[stellarfoxian]

as your girlfriend !

character: march 7th

a/n: some fluffy march headcanons !! this is a gift for my best friend (hi ame !!!!), i hope you like it <3

: ̗̀➛ oh, you got LUCKY to be dating her!

: ̗̀➛ to start, march is a very affectionate girlfriend.

: ̗̀➛ i think she’d enjoy pda. march is the type of woman to lay her head on your shoulder in public, or give you a quick peck on the lips.

: ̗̀➛ though, she’s fondest of hand holding. intertwining her fingers with yours, giving it a gentle squeeze, she loves it.

: ̗̀➛ i also think that she would love cheek kisses. one of those from you, and her heart instantly melts! but don’t think that means she won’t kiss you back, because she will!

: ̗̀➛ did i mention that she’s naturally cold? yeah. she’s naturally cold. meaning she likes to seek you out for warmth, whether that be a hug or something else.

: ̗̀➛ march is also a huge cuddler in bed! good luck getting her off of you. she prefers to be the little spoon when spooning. she also likes snuggling her face against your chest. you’re warm! she’s cold! therefore, you’re perfect for her.

: ̗̀➛ whatever insecurities you have, march will do her best to dispel them! she thinks you’re beautiful, regardless of your appearance. what you look like doesn’t matter to her. she’ll love you no matter what.

: ̗̀➛ she’ll always be there for you, no matter the hardships you’re going through. even if she doesn’t understand, she’ll always be there to lend an ear if it’ll help.

: ̗̀➛ oh, she has so many photos of you. you probably saw this coming, but she takes pictures of you whenever she can (with your consent ofc!)

: ̗̀➛ her favorite photos of you are those taken on special occasions, such as dates or holidays. she wants to remember all the fun times she has with you forever!

: ̗̀➛ if you’re into fashion, be prepared to spend hours trying on outfits with her. she loves seeing how different styles would look on you, and she’s very good at putting together pretty outfits, so you’re in good hands.

: ̗̀➛ on trailblaze expeditions, march is always happy when you go with her! with you by her side, she feels like nothing could ever get to her. not like you would ever let anything get to her anyway.

: ̗̀➛ overall, march is quite possibly one of the most loving girlfriends you could ever have. she treats you so well.

: ̗̀➛ trust me when i say this, she adores you.

[lotus-pear]

top 10 moments before disaster (dazai is about to step on his toes)

[iknowwhereyousnoozeatnight]

this one's for all the yuri enjoyers out there — nsft under cut

meronia event prompt(s): scar

[synintheraven]

Now that the weekend is over I wanted to share these here aaand take this opportunity to thank @sihtricfedaraaahvicius for gifting my bunch of Sihtrics (part 2, lol) to Arnas my beloved and @whitedarkmoonflower for gifting my Finan drawing to Mark BUT also because she was extra nice and gifted a copy of the s4 Sihtric and Sygtryggr drawings I did for her to Arnas and Eysteinn!!! (That last bit was unexpected as I only asked her to give Mark my drawing so naturally I'm over the moon and want to give her a big virtual hug (regardless if she gifted my art in my behalf or hers, I'm still crying) 😭😭🥰) Anyway long story short, you're the nicest guys thank you so much!!!! <3

Additionally, you can find unedited HQ pics of these drawings >here< on my portfolio (recommended to open in Chrome, for whatever reason it doesn't show up from the tumblr app) 💕

[arklay]

RESIDENT EVIL → THE WESKER FAMILY

To the public, little is known of the families behind some of the world’s most renowned bioterrorists, but the question remains: did they play a role in causing their children to walk down the path that they did? Or are these individuals simply ambitious criminals with delusions of grandeur?

For Diana Wesker (née Afanasyeva), her introduction into the bioweapons black market trade was upon discovering her employers were using her research into limb regeneration with salamanders to further their experiments in creating enhanced soldiers, instead of developing human therapies with which she was recruited for. Although the prospect of using biological weapons in the military did not appeal to her, the concept remained fascinating for her own selfish endeavours. Born on the 27th of October, 1963 in Sydney, Australia to Russian immigrant parents, Diana had harsh expectations placed upon her at a young age, ones that no matter how hard she tried she could never live up to. Her mother, Tatyana, was an unfeeling woman, absent for long stretches of time with little regard to how it affected her daughters, much more concerned with her craft as an accomplished opera singer. Viktor was no better. A strict man whose role as father and ballet master blurred, he pushed his girls to one day follow in his footsteps. Whilst Sofia enjoyed ballet, and went on to become a professional ballet dancer, Diana’s heart was set on going into the field of biology. She wished to make a name for herself, separate from her family – to which she succeeded.

Diana was married to former U.S. Marine, Dave Monroe, for only a year until he was declared dead in 1992 after succumbing to injuries sustained in a horrific car accident. Foul play was ruled out while Diana played the role of the grief-stricken widow, but in reality, she had snapped after years of mistreatment at her husband’s hands, and opted for something she could pass off as an accident to be free of him. For years she believed he was dead – and he was, legally – but that proved to not be the case when he found his way back into her life again in 1999. Unbeknownst to her, she had been lied to by the police and coroner, who were paid off by her employers when they took Dave’s body for themselves and used him as one of their first test subjects in developing supersoldiers. Before he could ever hurt her again, Diana’s second husband, Albert Wesker, tracked the man down, captured him and tortured him, before allowing Diana to get her violent and bloody revenge.

The origins of Albert Wesker’s involvement in bioterrorism, alongside his twin sister, Alex, are much different than that of Diana’s. The two hail from London, Canada, but unfortunately, they hold no memories of their lives there, nor what happened to their biological parents when they were eight years old. Agents of Oswell E. Spencer, an aristocratic billionaire and eugenicist, took the twins from their home and executed their parents as per Spencer’s orders. Albert and Alex were then placed in a home funded by the Spencer Foundation where they were given new names and a privileged upbringing. They had access to the best education possible, free to pursue whichever field they decided, but it was by no accident they both went into virology and bioengineering; at home, their adoptive parents – agents whom they believed to be their real parents – instilled them with the beliefs of Oswell E. Spencer, harbouring disdain for war and pestilence, and believing humans to be an evolutionary dead-end in need of a rebirth. They were only two of the hundreds of children “adopted” as part of what is known as Project W, a plan intended to develop an advanced race of human beings. The most promising candidates were headhunted by Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, the twins amongst them, where they went on to create bioweapons for the company founded by none other than the man who had handpicked them for his plan. The final stage of this was to infect the thirteen Spencer saw fit, however, only two survived; Albert received the intended effects, now possessing superhuman abilities, however, Alex was only offered more time to live due to her terminal degenerative illness.

In the summer of 1995, Diana was working undercover within Umbrella to gather development data on their projects for her company. Here, she had a chance encounter with Albert, an intelligence officer at the time, which permanently altered the course of her life. The two were never seen far from one another’s side, marrying in 1998, and they went on to become notorious in the bioweapons industry. The development of the Uroboros virus was where things took a turn for the worst. Although Diana’s infection was successful and she bore abilities that rivalled her husband’s, the plan itself did not succeed as they had hoped, and almost cost Albert his life at the hands of his former subordinates.

Now, they work within the shadows, with Diana declared missing and Albert believed to be dead. Their legacy, however, lives on with the mark they left on the world. As visionaries in their field, they influenced bioterror attacks carried out by countless individuals and organisations. In turn, they also inspired others to fight against such atrocities. One such person happens to be Albert’s son from a former relationship, Jake Müller, whose existence he was unaware of.

[itsbrucey]

Glenn running a hand down Darryl chest and the werewolf blood kicks in and he leans back for more unconsciously, belly rub style. Are we fucking with that chat?

[enluv]

Wonbin + lovestruck

wonbin + lovestruck - my pretty boy 😞 thank you nonnie!

dimly lit walls are the first thing wonbin sees when he opens his eyes. his first thoughts are to panic, not knowing where he is or how he got here, but then he hears it. the soft sound of your hums echoing in his ear and just like that his body relaxes instantly.

the boys always tease him about how quick he is to switch moods when you’re around, they all know (him included) how much he values you. you’re just so perfect in his eyes, truly the definition of soulmate to him. he’s convinced he’d never find anyone like you even if he gave up everything to try. you’re just one of those people he thinks are one of a kind.

he watches as you tap your fingers along his desk, lip in hand as you bite at the tip of it. you’re nervous, the look of worry on your face gives it away quickly, or maybe it’s just him. wonbin knows you all too well.

with a faint voice he’s calling your name. he watches attentively as the tears in your eyes come back up and he knows you’re overwhelmed. so he calls you over, pulling you down on the bed and into his side, even as you protest spewing about how you need to finish your work he shushes you. he rests your head against his shoulder and hums you to sleep, it’s not just him who needs a break, you do too.

[silly-chiroptera]

GOD your view on dave n jack is such a breath of fresh air, im much more inclined to view them as rivals than anything romantic, although I am personally more of a fan of the good ending rather than the neutral ending (in fairness ive only played the good ending so might be a bit biased), but even in the good ending, i think jack's moreso forced to cooperate and understand how dave was manipulated so terribly by henry, and in the end dave isnt fully redeemed but hes not really a villain anymore. I dont mind davesport, but im tired of how its so prevalent! give me more of jack and dave lowkey hating eachother!!!

omfg first off i wanna apologize for the late reply i've been taking a break for some time off of here... and second, i'm so glad to see that i'm bringing forth more people who think in a similar way to me!! hello!!

i hesitate to say that the neutral ending is my absolute favorite because my interest in the three main ones alternates and shifts around quite frequently, but for the moment i am very drawn to the neutral ending :) you should consider playing it if you haven't already seen bits and pieces of it already through videos of some sort if you want a good laugh because i swear it had me laughing my ASS off it's very funny also, straying from that topic; you are so based and i agree it feels like it's less talked about how dave and jack *do* have tension and even some kind of loathing towards eachother, mainly if you're counting the instances where jack ends up refusing dave's offer to perform another killing spree the fact that davesport is so prevalent is a part, but not the biggest part of why i hate the pairing so much. like honestly i do not care for shipping whatsoever but i would definitely rather have a less common ship like one involving the phone guys shoved in my face instead of being forced to see a pairing i despise almost every time i scroll through the dsaf tag

shipping in general is just one of many things that bother me but there's nothing i can really do about that since...fandoms just do that and they've done that since forever. i just kind of wish people could look at character dynamics in any other way except romantically "but even in the good ending, i think jack's moreso forced to cooperate and understand how dave was manipulated so terribly by henry, and in the end dave isnt fully redeemed but hes not really a villain anymore." <- yes. i have nothing to add to this except that you are right. imo you just described literal canon to me and i feel like you get it fr and that's cool as fuck

[lovingaeth]

god bless and protect queer elders

[butch-himbo-king]

.

[mirrortouchedsea]

Day 15

“Tatsumi-senpai, have you ever kissed anyone?” Kaname asked, sitting across from the other boy in the catacombs. Everyone else had left for the night leaving the two of them alone. 

“Why are you asking?” Tatsumi replied, confused as he moved one of his chess pieces on the board. Kaname didn’t know anything about how the game worked and was mostly just guessing at where the pieces moved. 

“A-ah it’s nothing, I was just wondering…I haven’t kissed anyone.” Kaname could feel his face heating up. God this was embarrassing, why was he doing this? 

“I haven’t kissed anyone either.” Their game of chess forgotten for the moment. Kaname’s face burned even hotter. 

“Would you--would you like to try kissing?” He barely squeaked out. How was the great Kaname Tojou such a loser when it came to his crush? He should be confident and yet here he was. 

“Can you repeat that, Kaname-san?” He loved the way his name sounded in Tatsumi’s voice. It made him want to die in the moment though. 

“Can I--Can we try…kissing?” His voice was still soft but evidently loud enough for Tatsumi to hear if the slight blush on his face was evidence of anything. Tatsumi gently moved their chess board to the side and slid closer to Kaname. Kaname felt his heart rate pick up at the proximity as Tatsumi leaned in closer. 

How was he supposed to kiss? He tried to remember the movies and how they did it, closing his eyes and letting Tatsumi guide him, his lips slightly parted. The moment Tatsumi’s lips touched his he thought he would fly, and evidently his mouth moved before he could think, as Tatsumi let out a yelp and brought a hand to his lips. 

Kaname bit him. Oh how embarrassing! It wasn’t enough to draw blood but still! 

“I’m so sorry Tatsumi-senpai! I didn’t mean to do that! Oh god--” 

Tatsumi laughed. Kaname stopped in his tracks as Tatsumi continued laughing. He wasn’t laughing at Kaname, though, or at least not at Kaname as a person, but rather at his reaction to the whole thing. 

“It’s okay, Kaname-san. We can try again if you’d like.” 

“Y-yes I’d like that very much.” 

They leaned in again and Kaname clenched his jaw to keep himself from biting Tatsumi again, but he got a little overeager again and felt their heads bump into each other and not where their lips were (which was where he was aiming for). Kaname curses under his breath but Tatsumi giggles again (a heavenly sound to Kaname’s ears) and cups his face before gently guiding him to Tatsumi’s lips. 

Kaname was too in shock to do anything for a moment. He was kissing someone. And not just someone. He was kissing Tatsumi Kazehaya, heartthrob of Reimei Academy. He closed his eyes and relaxed, reaching to grab Tatsumi’s blazer and pull him closer. He felt their teeth clack together but it wasn’t as bad as their first attempt and for Kaname, that was enough. 

They pulled away, panting heavily, and Kaname noticed that Tatsumi’s pupils had dilated. He wanted to pull Tatsumi in for another kiss but held himself back, at least for a moment. 

“That wasn’t so bad,” Tatsumi spoke, breathless and full of affection. 

“No, it wasn’t.” Kaname pulled Tatsumi back in for another kiss, narrowly avoiding bumping their heads together again. He could do this forever, just him and Tatsumi in the catacombs, kissing to their hearts content. 

[imsaunteringvaguelydownwards]

Tfw when the teacher’s get to know you questions are getting a littleeeee too personal, is this a mental health screening or getting to know me pick one.

[cupophrogs]

Ok totally ignore this and I’m sorry guys but I gotta gush a little about one of my classmates cause they’re just so cool

So my first period is Spanish 1, and I’m one of the only seniors there (I switched from French to Spanish because I did NOT want to wait a whole semester for French 2)

One of the freshmen in said class sits a couple seats to my left, and when I tell y’all this dude’s(gn) fashion sense is so. Fucking. COOL.

First day of school: magenta niqāb with some embroidery on the ends and a layered dress with SO many colors of flowers(all of which match VERY well in hue, shade, etc.) like THE COLOR COORDINATION?!! HELLO?!!!

AND THEN- AND THEN- bright yellow niqāb with a SUNFLOWER DRESS OMG THIS PERSON HAS GOT TO TEACH ME CHARACTER DEISNG UGHHH /po

[jimmy3shoes]

i need to get out of this house so so bad

[daily-all-for-the-game]

"I didn't think I was a personal problem. You hate me, remember?"

"Every inch of you, that doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you."

"You like me."

"I hate you."

[volfoss]

MT-007 → MT-008: The Adventures of Rock

TW: A few appearances of racial stereotypes, depiction of a genocide (of slightly humanoid aliens)

This volume has 2 short stories at the end (kind of. they're summer/new years specials) so the tws for THOSE are here):

Skyscraper Kid: attempted suicide (of a mouse, the mouse was okay :)), a few appearances of racial stereotypes, animal death (not graphic, played off as a joke if anything)

Volcano Boy: fire (solely because of well. volcano) and simulated child abuse (it is part of a movie but is upsetting, it's not super graphic)

this is also very long. i had many thoughts on the politics handled in The Adventures of Rock so. thank you if you read to the end :)

Summary of Plot: A planet named Dimon (discovered by a scientist of the same name) causes a very damaging storm on Earth as it begins to orbit Earth itself. In the middle of the storm, Dr. Dimon signs the rights over to the planet to his son, Rock (the same Rock Holmes who is pretty famous within Tezuka’s works). Many people want these rights, and once Rock has come around to the fact he does want them, he becomes more curious about Dimon as a planet. With some pressure from the media, he agrees to go on the mission to explore Dimon. When he and the crew land, they discover no resources that would sustain human life, but a mysterious disease begins to spread along the crew. They end up leaving Rock and Daisuke (his friend) behind on the planet, in their rush to get back to Earth to be cured of this mysterious sickness. With the two boys abandoned on Dimon, they fight to survive, rationing their limited resources to live as long as possible. They run into two species on the planet and get entangled into a war soon after finding peace.

Characters: I will NEVER complain about Rock Holmes centric manga. Never. So seeing him before Vampires (where he was the villain) and where he’s just a kid and decently nice (minus him really being shitty about his friend’s vanished parents in Chapter 1) is really funny and interesting. He’s just a very good character overall and always a pleasure to read about. With his role in Tezuka’s other works typically being more evil/he is VERY clearly the one in charge, seeing scenes like the one in Chapter 1, where he’s being threatened to hand over the rights to Dimon as a planet, really gives him a lot of depth, as you do truly get to see him grow and change throughout the course of The Adventures of Rock. I really also enjoy his friend Daisuke as a character, I feel there’s a bit more depth to this one than there was in a work like Kimba/Jungle Emperor.

Art: With The Adventures of Rock releasing from 1952-1954, it’s one of Tezuka’s earlier works, and I do find a lot of charm in his earlier art as well. The environmental scenes are gorgeous, and the cute way he draws characters works really well to juxtapose the serious topics being discussed. I do really enjoy how, when they are on Dimon, the creatures and atmosphere is drawn in such a haunting way. He does slightly veer into a specific type of horror with his art (of people being formed in the cave walls and coming out to grab Rock being a primary example in this) and I do really always enjoy his clear skill at being a visual storyteller. Even though I did translate all of it, most panels were pretty clear what was happening, especially when it got into the war (see under the Misc section for more discussion on this).

Ending: The ending was really good, as Tezuka did change it from the original release (when it was being serialized). I think it did end with a sad note but it works very well for the media and the general somewhat dark tone of the piece.

Misc: This was the first untranslated series (160/400 volumes) that I will be reading via machine translation, so forgive me for any small details (such as names) being incorrect.

Onto actual details with it, starting with the gripes: on the top of page 15 of volume 1 are some very stereotypical depictions of African and Chinese people being impacted by the storm. More of these stereotypical depictions are on the big spread covering pg 16-17, as well as on pg 18 (these are all in the background but still present). It is also on page 21-22 as a background character and as a character (quite literally) named Dr. Uganda (and yes, he is from Africa). This character speaks in pure gibberish and has another character who is translating for him. It’s pretty fucking bad. The art for this character is also pretty vile, with it being to the point where I can confidently say this one example is (visually) worse than Kimba’s portrayal of Africans. Another stereotypical background character appears on pg 29. These do go away for the rest of Volume 1 once they go into space on Chapter 4 (pg 36) but it is something I want to mention (although with it not being translated, I would imagine that less people may seek this one out, compared to the other ones on this list). In Volume 2, these background stereotypical figures appear again on pg 13. This is not something that is remotely as bad as it was in Kimba but is something I would like to note for anyone who would like to seek this one out.

The space war subplot is not one that was super interesting to me at the beginning, but I do think the idea of going to a new planet and discovering life there is one that is executed very well. Overall, it ABSOLUTELY gets better once they head into space but it’s just not something that I (as a guy that isn’t super big on science fiction most of the time) would count along some of his best work out of everything I’ve read. I will say that the way this handles Rock dealing with his trauma from his dad dying (specifically around the events of another father dying on pg 102-105 roughly) was really well done for this being an earlier work of his. Him stepping up to father the child of the character who died and being so excited about that really comes full circle with how upset he was about his father dying. Rock as a character (in the works that he has appeared that I’ve read (in Vampires and Black Jack)) isn’t a character that is often awarded sympathy and kindness, so it was very neat to read one of his original stories (before he went a bit more evil). The themes of caring for people, even if they are unlike you or not family by blood was one that I think Tezuka was always very good at, and was a very big part of what worked for me in The Adventures of Rock.

The discovery of oil on Dimon becoming a way of showing how people on Earth are so greedy for it that they want to drain Dimon of it is interesting commentary on that topic as well. A lot of the works in Black Jack (and bits of Astro Boy) are also reliant on Tezuka’s very strong pro-environmentalism messaging and I think this one is really an earlier version of those themes. It worked very well here, solely because of how Rock was very open to becoming integrated in the Epumu (one of the alien races) and how he did pretty much start living with them. His dual citizenship (in a way, as he did live with the Epumu for a year and was considered one of them, but also was a human) was part of the central conflict towards the end of Volume 2, with which side he would choose. The ending specifically worked excellently with Rock dying FOR the Epumu (as he did quite literally stop them from being hurt by using his body as a shield) and saying that neither race should have gone to the other’s planet. Both races caused destruction when on the other’s planet, and that lends a lot to the way that Tezuka handles a lot of war and environmentalism messaging in The Adventures of Rock.

Another thing I find very charming is with the Epumu (who are bird people) that most of their dialogue is just various chirps and cheeps, and with the Ruborooms (who are basically clay people) are speaking with katakana to show how they are struggling to speak the language.

I feel that some of the politics are handled a bit more clumsily just due to how early of a work it is, so it doesn’t really work as well as some of his later stuff that handles similar stuff does (specifically thinking of Astro Boy, which isn’t a LOT later but is a bit). This story feels very much like older sci-fi (I’ve been watching a lot of the classic Dr. Who recently, and this has very similar vibes), and minus the issues, if that is your cup of tea, this one may be worth reading. It’s a lot darker with the subject matter than some of his very early works.

The politics in this are mostly focused around the war between the Epumu and humans on Dimon and how the Epumu get exploited by a second group of humans. The running theme in The Adventures of Rock that stuck out to me the most was how it parallels human exploitation of resources in the real world. First, before Dimon as a planet was explored, the immediate leap to action from the humans was to explore it and see if it could be used for resources for Earth. After Rock’s group makes it to Dimon and then leaves, another group (lead by an oil baron) tries to make it. Dimon as a planet, instead of having seas, has oil all over it, so it was a natural jump to try and take that as oil for Earth. Their rocket ends up exploding as it takes off. The third group that makes it to Dimon is initially curious of the Epumu’s existence but does end up shooting at them (this group was specifically retreating from the war going on before this third group landed) and capturing some of them. One of the humans gets a blood clot and a donation of blood is forced from one of the Epumu, who later dies from this. The blood transfusion is successful (from the humans side), and Tezuka shows that the humans realize that they can also exploit this resource and plan on doing so. In a truly horrifying moment, in the middle of one of the humans giving a speech about how good of a resource the Epumu are, he explains how good of workers they are and how good of livestock they are. He then goes on to say that the meat they are eating now is the meat of the Epumu that died from the transfusion and Daisuke’s father (who is part of the third group) is visibly nauseated. The speech ends with the announcement of the plans to export the Epumu to Earth because of these reasons. Meanwhile, Rock, who is still on Dimon has helped the Epumu grow as a society and is living peacefully among them. It’s a stark contrast.

This is arguably one of his very early anti-war manga, and I do think he handles it with grace. I also feel a lot of the anti-colonialism messages in this land a lot better than in Kimba (if there were even really any there, it was all really badly handled in that), with the humans very clearly parading around an Epumu that has been to Earth as proof that the humans are okay and the Epumu being on Earth would be a benefit to them. They even have obtained a company to try and force the Epumu on Earth that they use as part of this parading to try and coax the Epumu onto Earth. After Rock is convinced to return to Earth (partially by his son and because he’s very excited to be able to return), the humans attack the Epumu that are trying to flee, saying that none of them must be allowed to escape and using violence when they deem it is needed. After capturing them, the humans determine which of them would be good for meat or any other purpose they might want the Epumu for, before cramming them all into a capsule. On the rocket, Rock catches one of the scientists abusing the Epumu that was paraded around the rest of them and asks him what is going on, only for him to reveal that trying to get them onto Earth peacefully was a lie and that they were being hunted down on Dimon. Tezuka does not shy away in the slightest from showing the camps that they are being kept in and how they are very blatantly abused and mistreated by the humans, who see them as much less human than themselves. When the Epumu retaliate with a disease that attacks some of the humans, they are then immediately treated as the enemy of the humans that must be wiped out. Rock begins to work on stopping the war and ultimately dies as a consequence of this. His death is ultimately the cause of the war stopping, and I do really think that both of these topics were handled very well.

As for the two short stories at the end of Volume 2 (Skyscraper Kid and Volcano Boy), I’ll review them both in this section.

Skyscraper Kid:

Summary (since I can’t really find one for this short story in English): Skyscraper Kid follows a boy named Kozu who previously was unhoused and living on the lot where the Empire State Building was built. When it was built, he was kicked out of where he was living, and as compensation, moved up to a small apartment at the very top of the building. He makes his living cleaning and has a best friend (who is a mouse) named Hatsuda Mouse. His mouse friend ends up jumping off of the building and Kozu has to call emergency services to report the suicide attempt so Hatsuda can be saved. They arrive in time and save the mouse, although Kozu is chastised and made fun of for calling emergency services for the mouse. The mouse and an older man (named Dr. Gamma) are both very appreciative of Kozu and his kindness. During the night, some watchmen are patrolling outside the ground floor of the tower and are startled by a cat’s shadow (which makes it appear to be much bigger than it actually is due to a lamp shining on it). They are intrigued by how the shadows work and start playing around before a burglar team knocks them both out. The team is in search of a stone and succeed in finding it, leading to the leaders in control of the Tower being upset at how poorly the night watch did to prevent this.

A rich business man offers to buy the tower, and this news is very concerning to Kozu and another hotel worker. Kozu spots the thieves planning out their next heist and asks for Hatsuda’s help to stop it. The stone they are looking for is part of the foundation of the tower, so Hatsuda digs into the stone and eventually finds it. The burglars wish to just blow up the foundation of the tower to easily access the stone, as they do not care about what happens to the tower. Hatsuda emerges from the foundation, having eaten the stone so the burglars cannot get it, and he and Kozu flee as the burglars examine the hole. They notice that there is a smaller hole in there and wonder if a human could fit through, before deducing it was a mouse (due to the mouse hair left behind).

Kozu flees to Dr. Gamma’s office and explains that they found the stone the bandits wanted. Gamma points out a certain squelching noise that he is making with his slippers and that makes Kozu realize that Gamma’s slippers have the exact same kind of mud as the burglars outside were standing in. Kozu also notices that the same cat that caused the guards issues the other night was Gamma’s cat and that he MUST be the boss of the burglars. Gamma pulls off his disguise and pleads for the stone from Kozu, holding the boy at gunpoint. He tells Kozu that it all ties into politics from XX Country (Tezuka often censors country names like this, in Kimba there was Country A and Country B) and that the wrong foundation block (that had the stone in it) was used for the tower. Gamma moved to the building and disguised himself so he could get the stone back. Suddenly, he jumps and starts giggling, as something tickles on his neck. It’s Hatsuda, who has grabbed the key to the room and urges Kozu to run away. They head for the elevator, but the burglars who are chasing them destroy the motor of the elevator so they cannot head up. They begin running up the stairs, as Kozu realizes their only option is going up to the roof.

Once they reach the roof, Kozu redirects a pipe to flood the stairwell, causing the bandits to get caught up in the water. The boy and his mouse begin scaling down the building with a rope, but unfortunately their path is right by the window that Gamma’s cat is sitting at. The cat obviously informs his owner and he shoots the rope right under where Hatsuda is climbing, severing Kozu’s connection to the rope. They are only worried about getting Hatsuda, since the mouse swallowed the stone they needed. Hatsuda moves fast and uses his tail to keep Kozu from falling. The thieves try to persuade Kozu to join their efforts and offer to save him if he gives them Hatsuda. At hearing his refusal, they put the cat on a stick and dangle it very close to Hatsuda, as a threat. The cat very nearly grabs at Hatsuda’s tail, which causes Kozu to cut it off and climb up the rope a bit further (while holding Hatsuda in one hand). With a quick hand movement, he moves Hatsuda to his back pocket, which makes the burglars think the cat ate Hatsuda, only leaving the tail behind. The cat tries to tell its master that it was a lie but the burglars all surround it (one even suggesting to give it a laxative).

Kozu mourns his situation, as he is still hanging there and his hands are getting tired. He looks down at the many stories below him and lets go, explaining it is hopeless. A helicopter swoops by and saves him just in time. The burglars are all caught, and the owner of the building contributes all of this to Kozu. They were about to dissect the mouse to remove the stone when the person carrying the mouse tripped and dropped the container down the stairs, causing the mouse to (seemingly?) die, as Kozu comments on the fact that they can do a dissection now.

Thoughts (doing shorter formatting for these): My main thoughts with this was it just felt sort of confused as to where it wanted to go plot wise throughout all of it. I feel it was slightly more adjacent to his gag strips, where comedic things just happened and didn’t have a super clear plot (which, to be fair, it being a pretty short story (only 18 pages long) would make it hard to have a very cohesive plot with THIS much details). I feel the mystery elements worked well, and I did really enjoy Kozu as a character, he is very spirited and is a fun protagonist to follow along in the story. I do always enjoy a little rambunctious scamp character, and I think the team of Cozu and Hatsuda really worked for me for that reason. The ending felt very strange to me, given what happened to Hatsuda (and how similar subject matter is dealt with in the Black Jack story “Guinea Pig”) and just sort of rushed. Given how short it is, the shortcomings make sense but it’s just an odd little story. Heads up for (yet another) poorly drawn Black character on pg 142-143. I’d say this one is definitely a decent story, just a bit odd (and maybe I’m missing cultural context in some way here, as Tezuka tended to put those in his works a lot). 6/10.

Volcano Boy:

Summary (since I can’t really find one for this short story in English): The story begins with explaining the seven mysteries of Panana* Island, which include the sun rising twice, people cannot see other people but can hear their voices, if a bird dies, humans will die, anyone who sees the 3 AM eruption (of the volcano on the island) cannot ever leave the island, and a few others that are not elaborated on. The man is explaining all of these to none other than the character commonly known as Kenichi (he appears a lot, given Tezuka’s Star System, he doesn’t seem to be named in this one though, so I will keep referring to him as Kenichi in this summary). Kenichi wants to go and visit the island (on summer vacation) but the older man worries for his safety. A man offscreen calls for them to “Cut!” and try a new take. It then reveals all of this takes place on a film set and they start a new take of the same material shown in the first take. This time, Kenichi gets hit hard enough that the director yells “Cut!” again and worries over his star. Kenichi tells him that he is going home with how bad his face looks and the director calls after him to please come back. The director panics and one of the other helpers behind the set tells him that it is all the fault of the director. The new suggestion is finding a cheap replacement for Kenichi. As Kenichi is leaving the studio, he’s approached for an autograph from Daisuke and Rock. Some of the film crew oversee this interaction and realize Rock is the perfect replacement for Kenichi. They return to the director and reassure him that everything will be okay, even if the replacement isn’t a professional actor.

The star of the film approaches Rock as he and Daisuke are leaving and begins asking him about Panana Island. The film crew are filming the interaction, although it doesn’t seem Rock is aware of this. They reveal the rest of the secrets of Panana Island (The bottom of the crater has blooming flowers, there is a singing pumice stone, and a great Nyudo comes out). Rock is very enthusiastic and says he wants to go to that island, but Daisuke disproves. Rock proclaims again that he wants to go to that island and the film crew are overjoyed, as it is just how the script was written (even though Rock is clearly not aware of the script). The man warns Rock that the island is uninhabited and would be really dangerous for him. Rock brings up that he wants to go because it would be good to study it on summer vacation, which also perfectly aligns with the script. The director himself has arrived and is very happy to hear how perfect it’s going. The scene that had the older man worry for his safety and then hit him is up next, and Rock is very startled. Thankfully, Daisuke is there and throws the older man right onto his jaw. Just when everything was going right, they had to cut the take again due to Daisuke’s actions. The director rushes to explain that their company wants to do a documentary on Panana Island and shows them the script. He shares the casting trouble that they had (given how Kenichi was punched too hard to really have a useable take) and both boys are enthusiastic about helping, now that they know it is for a movie.

A boat takes the crew out to Panana Island, and Daisuke worries about the superstition about the bird. He takes the bird out of its cage and replaces it with an octopus, taking the bird with him. Another crew member comes by to inspect the cage and gets inked. The crew member gets in a fight with another, as they do not recognize him now that he has been inked. The bird thanks Daisuke for saving it and promises to give him good luck. Mysterious circumstances start the second that they land on the island, with a ton of rumbling on the ground. One of the camera operators realizes it is a volcanic eruption. They end up abandoning the camera, but the bird that has befriended Daisuke urges him to go back for it, so he does. He tries to take a photo of the volcano, but the active eruption is making it hard. Daisuke is scolded for being so dangerous.

They start waiting for the second sun to rise, but the bird that Daisuke set free comes by to give him corks to put in his ears. Everyone but Daisuke and Rock (who covered his ears) are affected by the sound. The sunrise happens, but from Daisuke’s position, he can see two suns, and Rock cannot. He is much lower (elevation wise) compared to Daisuke, so that explains the illusion. The film crew are approached by a large hairy man, who claims to have lived on the island for thirty years (as he witnessed the 3 am volcano eruption and so cannot leave). They all rush to record the volcano’s eruption on camera. They get slightly buried under the rocks and then head closer to the crater. They notice the flowers at the bottom of the crater. While they’re busy focusing on that, the giants appear and everyone is scared, Daisuke most of all. The bird urges him to calm down and film the giants, which he does. Rock reassures Daisuke that if he looks closely at the images, he will realize it’s just their shadows.

The boys go to sleep (although the bird is being shooed for being too noisy) until an eruption at 3 am wakes Rock up. The director insists he will be the one to go up and see the eruption the night before and sneaks up on his own. Rock and Daisuke follow him. They go to the crater and see some jewels coming from the bottom. Rock realizes that instead of flowers at the bottom, it was actually jewels. The director insists that even if it takes him a lifetime, he needs to get that jewel. The old man who had been on the island for 30 years approaches them and explains that the jewels are his and that they will never be able to collect the jewels. Thieves fall into the crater, which explains why people stay on the island forever. The bird died and the director, Rock, and Daisuke panic about it. The director is beat over the head by the old man and Rock tries to bring him down the mountain. The old man, in agony, pleads out for help, and no one comes to his aid as he is dying.

1 week later, Rock summarizes it up to the director (who is recovering in bed). There is science behind the singing pumice stone and every other superstition. He also tells the director that Daisuke’s cut of the film will be available today, and the director thanks them both deeply. The preview of the film starts, as it is presented as Daisuke’s desperate filming of the island. It’s revealed on the last page that Daisuke had accidentally filmed his face for the ENTIRE film. The director is so upset over this that he faints.

*translated literally, the official site has it as “Banana” but it’s pretty distinctly starting with パ(pa) and not the バ(ba) when you first see it mentioned on pg 154 of this volume. Not an important note but something I did want to point out.

Thoughts (doing shorter formatting for these): This one worked a bit better than Skyscraper Boy for me, namely because it felt like a more cohesive story than the previous story. I really enjoyed the mystery elements of it, as well as the comedic twist ending. Tezuka is very good at telling a story with many threads and letting it all unravel and tie back together as it goes and I think that’s very clear here. It was very nice to see Daisuke and Rock again after the very sad ending of Adventure of Rock. I don’t have a ton to say here other than as a person who LOVES legends and stuff like this, I did really enjoy this one. What other manga will you nearly see Rock Holmes blown up by a volcano. None (although I hold out hope ok). I also really enjoyed the film set framing at the start, it was really neat! 7.5/10.

Overall Thoughts: For one his earlier works, The Adventures of Rock finds its footing pretty strong in Volume 2 and really did let the themes that Tezuka put into his later works shine. This one had a lot of moments where I did enjoy bits and pieces of it, but overall, it just was one that I was not enjoying reading in Volume 1 but Volume 2 was much more enjoyable. I’m not letting the horrors of having to translate all of this get in the way of my opinions on it, but it was just really a mixed bag in Volume 1. Volume 1 had a lot of focus on stuff that I feel paid off a lot later in the second half of Volume 2, but it didn’t work as well while I was reading Volume 1. It was stuff that definitely did make Volume 2 better, but I feel it was sort of clumsy in Volume 1, and it did not keep my interest as well in Volume 1. Minus the couple glaring issues, this was a pretty decent story but not one that is up there with my favorites of his. It was one I did enjoy a lot more once they got into more of the politics in Volume 2 (as Tezuka does truly shine in handling political topics that he had experience with and then incorporated into his writing). The short stories were both pretty good, and overall, for my first untranslated experience, it was a pretty good one. I’d say overall, it’s a 7/10, it was very good in some parts but I wish it was just slightly more polished in other parts.