[CW: Extreme puppet violence, including stabbing, decapitation, and blood.]
This scene from Bewitching Melody of the West lives rent-free inside my brain and encapsulates everything I love about Thunderbolt Fantasy in a nutshell (high praise indeed considering Lin Xue Ya is not even in this movie!). Not only is it an incredible example of bard vs. bard musical combat, it's also a great action sequence set to a kick-ass song, as well as a profound character moment. And while know this would be terrible for any instrument IRL, I have a special fondness for any fight where a magical guqin is used for bashing damage.
For additional context, Mu Tian Ming, the woman challenging our red-headed hero Lang Wu Yao (aka T.M. Revolution's puppet-sona) is the one person in his life thus far who was ever unequivocally kind to him, and the song she picked for their duel to the death is the one that Lang's mother taught him when he was a child--a song she knows Lang will be able to play in perfect harmony with her. Talk about a power move!
(I'm pretty sure I shipped them before this, but there's no question this scene is what cemented it, because hot damn.)
It's too bad a cleaned-up track of this duet was never released, because the solo version, while still epic, is just not the same.
Bewitching Melody of the West is what sold me on Lang as a character--I thought he was interesting in S2, but he was so blunt and brusque it was hard for me to like him. Learning his backstory explained a lot about why he's Like That and made me much more sympathetic. It also doesn't hurt that I like his outfit and design in this movie better than his original costume (although the fact that he gets a magical girl transformation had me in stitches).
As for Mu Tian Ming, she is awesome, and I will be forever pissed off at what happened to her in S3. I know exactly why Urobuchi did it, and why he did it the way he did it, but sidelining one of the only female characters solely for manpain is infuriating and I resent it like hell. It's probably too much to hope that later seasons will provide a fix-it, but I live in hope.
26 notes
·
View notes
Visual Kei Drip Tournament: Full Ranking - WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG POST
------------------------------------
★ finals ★
1. kozi (malice mizer) - 61.9%
2. ryonai (blam honey) - 38.1%
--------------------------------------------
★ runner ups ★
3. hide (x japan) - 60.6%
4. kaya (schwarz stein) - 39.4%
--------------------------------------------
round 5
5. arisu (missalina rei) - 48.3%
6. shinya (dir en grey) - 42.4%
7. emiru (lareine) - 41%
8. zin-francois angelique (madame edwarda) - 18.5%
--------------------------------------------
round 4
9. kazuki (raphael) - 47.6%
10. mana (malice mizer) - 47.1%
11. kami (malice mizer) - 47.5%
12. inoran (luna sea) - 47.5%
13. yu~ki (malice mizer) - 40.2%
14. izam (shazna) - 33.3%
15. kyouka (aliene ma'riage) - 25.6%
16. ken (l'arc en ciel) - 17.3%
--------------------------------------------
round 3
17. lucifer luscious violenoue (gille loves, fiction) - 47.5%
18. jyou (exist trace) - 47.5%
19. tara-chan (kilhi ice) - 47.2%
20. hakuei (penicillin) - 46.9%
21. bou (an cafe) - 45.5%
22. toshiya (dir en grey) - 43.2%
23. kamijo (lariene, versailles) - 40.8%
24. kazushi (rouage) - 38.9%
25. hizaki (jupiter, versailles) - 36%
26. ryutaro (plastic tree) - 31.7%
27. kon (la'mule) - 31.4%
28. hyde (l'arc en ciel) - 30.9%
29. ray (aliene ma'riage) - 28.6%
30. sena (jilkua) - 27.6%
31. yoshiki (x japan) - 17.6%
32. kaoru (dir en grey) - 15.9%
--------------------------------------------
round 2
33. mikoto (zigzag) - 48.2%
34. kyo (dir en grey) - 47.5%
35. mayu (lareine) - 47.5%
36. issay (der zibet) - 47.3%
37. ken morioka (soft ballet) - 46.7%
38. kiwamu (blood, gpkism) - 46.5%
39. isshi (kagrra) - 44.8%
40. die (dir en grey) - 44.6%
41. boogie (jiluka) - 42.6%
42. atsushi sakurai (buck-tick) - 42.4%
43. jasmine you (versailles) - 42.2%
44. sugizo (luna sea) - 41.7%
45. gackt (malice mizer) - 40.8%
46. ruki (the gazette) - 40.7%
47. wataru (liphlich) - 40.4%
48. kiyoharu (kuroyume) - 38.9%
49. klaha (malice mizer) - 36.8%
50. ayaha (dazzlingbad) - 35.8%
51. daisuke (kagerou) - 34%
52. ryoichi endo (soft ballet) - 33.3%
53. iT (dazzlingbad) - 31.3%
54. kazuma (merry go round) - 30.4%
55. gothique prince ken (gpkism) - 29.8%
56. kyuho (madmans esprit) - 28.9%
57. kei (eliphas levi) - 28.4%
58. hora (schwarz stein) - 27.5%
59. ryuichi (luna sea) - 25%
60. tetsu (malice mizer) - 24.1%
61. hiro (la'cryma christi) - 18.5%
62. yura (psycho le cemu) - 14.3%
63. aisaku (deviloof) - 10.5%
64. reita (the gazette) - 9.6%
--------------------------------------------
round 1
65. yukari (baiser) - 49.4%
66. full (guniw tools) - 49.4%
67. j (luna sea) - 47.6%
68. asagi (D) - 47.2%
69. aoi (the gazette) - 45.8%
70. kujou takemasa (kiryu) - 45.8%
71. dynamite tommy (color) - 44.4%
72. sakura (l'arc en ciel) - 44.3%
73. imai hisashi (buck-tick) - 44.2%
74. juka (moi dix mois) - 44.1%
75. miko (exist trace) - 44.1%
76. ai (gulu gulu) - 44%
77. yoshiatsu (dadaroma) - 43.8%
78. yagami toll (buck-tick) - 42.2%
79. yasu (janne da arc, acid black cherry) - 41.9%
80. teru (versailles) - 41.9%
81. uruha (the gazette) - 41.5%
82. hazuki (lynch) - 41.4%
83. chiaki (dezert) - 41.3%
84. juho (madmans esprit) - 40.7%
85. tsuzuku (mejibray) - 39.9%
86. maya (LM.C) - 39.6%
87. mia (mejibray) - 39.6%
88. lime (kizu) - 38.9%
89. aya (psycho le cemu) - 38.6%
90. miyavi (due le quartz) - 38.5%
91. jojo (the gallo) - 38.2%
92. takashi (dadaroma) - 38.1%
93. machi (lareine) - 37.7%
94. hidehiko hoshino (buck-tick) - 36.6%
95. kyonosuke (kizu) - 36.2%
96. taka (la'cryma christi) - 35.9%
97. tetsu (l'arc en ciel) - 35.7%
98. meto (mejibray) - 35.1%
99. t.m. revolution (luis-mary) - 34.4%
100. maria cross - 34.4%
101. kengo (noir fleurir) - 34.3%
102. dada (velvet eden) - 33.9%
103. morrie (dead end) - 33.3%
104. tsutomu ishizuki (fanatic crisis) - 31.9%
105. aki (laputa) - 30.9%
106. koichi (mejibray) - 30.1%
107. heath (x japan) - 29.5%
108. shou kiryuuin (golden bomber) - 29.5%
109. miko (exist trace) - 28.4%
110. yukihiro (l'arc en ciel) - 26.5%
111. mast (aliene ma'riage) - 25.5%
112. tatsuro (mucc) - 23.6%
113. aki (arlequin) - 22.3%
114. gisho (penicillin) - 21.4%
115. yutaka higuchi (buck-tick) - 21.4%
116. kyohei (das:vasser) - 21.1%
117. seek (psycho le cemu) - 21.1%
118. kirito (pierrot) - 18.9%
119. darvish kenji (golden bomber) - 18.8%
120. kisaki (phantasmagoria, mirage, la:sadies) - 18.6%
121. tsune-hito (D) - 16.1%
122. kai (the gazette) - 15.5%
123. mako (deadman) - 14.9%
124. yune (the gazette) - 14.1%
125. shun (deshabillez) - 13.9%
126. tusk (zi-kill) - 12.7%
127. chill (kane to juusei) - 12.3%
128. yohio (disreign) - 11.3%
23 notes
·
View notes