#that make me so dang happy <3 because it's more character development with a backstory and it directly effects

[wigglebox]

Hi sorry I've come to gush in your inbox about how much I love lata. I LOVED the way she talked about choosing peace and anger not being fulfilling because it's super similar to my own philosophy and own happiness in a world where everything seems to always be Going Bad All The Time. Choosing peace is so powerful and freeing because it comes totally from within, you can't change people but you can change how you react to them! And I love how there's a character doing exactly that in this world filled with angry punchy people who never find any absolution.

I LOVE HER SO MUCH AND I LOVE WHAT THE EPISODE DID AND HER ROLE IN IT awlekjfalwekjlawkej

choosing peace and then having John come to her at the end of the episode to choose to learn how to be peaceful and calmer it's just ... idk

we know it doesn't last obviously, but just that she was so centered with herself, and she CHOSE to work on that over the years, and she had every right and was justified if she wasn't, but god she's just amazing.

and so amazing that the character we know to have issues with anger and PTSD and sadness chose to come to her at the end to choose to learn how to start to overcome that.

she's so amazing i love her so much. it meant so much she said that, chose all that, and it meant a lot that john came to her for help.

ugh i'm tearing up lmao

kjlfkawjalfjw nonny you got me in my feels this morning

[veilder]

Hi! Would you happen to have Convin or Reed900 fics to recommend?

Oh, hello! I can definitely help you with Convin fic recs at least, lol! Reed900, not so much, but there are plenty of blogs around that you could ask for that ship. ^_^ But yeah, I’ll try to categorize these as best I can! And give a little summary, too! :D

Longfics 75k+ (Complete)

1. Mission: Unexpected by J11nxed (@j11nxed) Rated E (violence, sexual content, language, abuse): Super great casefic with lots of amazing character development. Very funny. Probably my favorite characterization of Connor and Gavin, lol. The fic I read when I’m feeling down. ^_^

2. Golden by jarpad (@embaggins on Twitter) Rated M (dark themes, mature content, allusions to self-harm/suicide, mental health issues, language): An absolutely beautiful story of healing and overcoming your demons handled in a very respectful manner. The subject matter is very thought provoking and it brought me to tears, both cathartic and not, more than once. It’s a heavy story, but... So worth it, imo.

3. like roses, death blooms by alekszova (@ewates) Rated M (violence, rape, torture, abuse, mental health issues): A very, very dark revenge fic. Definitely the darkest one on this list. If you like heavy angst, this might be for you, though please heed the tags. A lot of this story is about the aftermath of horrific events but there are still some very brutal scenes.

Mid-length fics 20k-75k (Complete)

1. Running Uphill by NHMoonshadow (@sharysisnhmoonshadow) Rated M (violence, peril, language): The ultimate time travel soulmate AU fic imo. Absolutely top tier Gavin characterization and development. Rich backstories and relationships. Definitely some trauma, omg. But ultimately, a happy ending. Definitely a must-read for any Convin fan imo.

2. Traces by berryblonde (@berry--blonde) Rated M (language, peril, minor suicidal ideation): One of the first long fics I ever read for this ship and still one of my faves. Excellent casefic setup, very interesting premise and some very dynamic characters. Also, really A+ backstory for Gavin. This is basically a classic for anyone who wasn’t around in the early days of fandom. Highly recommend!

3. His Robin by wolfetz Rated T (drama, language): Absolutely fantastic coming of age story set in a human!AU world. Really great character work for both Connor and Gavin and their relationship through the years. Love this one.

4. A Scratched CD/A Faulty Code by consecrated Rated T (mental health issues, language): Companion pieces told from Gavin and Connor’s POVs respectively. These were also very early fics I read when I was first getting into the fandom and I love them both dearly. The characterization here went a long way towards me loving the ship to begin with. A great intro to Convin.

5. That Boy is a Powder Keg by QueenHarleyQuinn Not Rated (language, violence, mature content, mental health issues): One of the most realistic takes on Gavin going from his canon asshole self to someone who could feasibly be in a relationship with Connor. I’m definitely due to re-read this cuz I can’t quite remember the details anymore, but I know I really enjoyed this at the time. Good for anyone who likes a more antagonistic take on him.

Shortfics/Oneshots (~20k)

1.  Sedum Spathulifolium by Burrahobbit Rated T (language): This fic... is so dang sweet. I’ve read it so many times. It’s absolutely adorable, what can I say? Love their dynamic here. ^_^

2. Always know that you are not alone by Liveinelf Rated T (language, drama): Another fantastic take on Gavin and his growth as a character. He starts off very close to canon here and is one mean asshole. But this fic does a great job of explaining why he acts as he does. And how he changes. Highly recommend.

3. Some things never change by berryblonde Rated T (language): An absolutely hilarious fic, lol. The view of Convin through the eyes of some rookie trainees, omg. It makes me laugh so much. XD

4. Mankind Needs More Empathy by BrightestStarInTheSky  (@brighteststarinthesky) Rated T (language, drama): Some good old-fashioned Gavin-getting-his-head-out-of-his-ass, lol. I love fics like this. Need a good basis to start a relationship, after all. Apologies are in order. ^_^

5. as i see them by rekal Rated T (language, drama): Same as the previous entry, this one deals with Gavin’s character growth and how he and Connor grow closer in the aftermath. It’s lovely.

6. Sweet/Wise men say... by 99MillionMiles (@99millionmilesaway) Not Rated: Two short, sweet fluff pieces that absolutely delight me every time I reread them. And as a bonus, some beautiful art by @deep-in-mind67, too!

7. Melted Phoenix by Astrapod Rated M (violence, trauma, mental health issues, mutilation, peril): This one... This is a heavy fic. It starts off with a very harrowing description of android violence that might be too much for some folks to handle. Proceed with caution. But, if you can weather that, this is an absolutely beautiful fic about love and healing. Definitely recommend.

8. So Pathetic and So Lovely by alekszova Rated M (language, drama, mental health issues, mature themes): I think the fic’s description speaks for itself here: “ Neither Gavin or Connor think they are capable of being loved by the other, but that doesn't mean it's true.” Definitely worth a read.

9. An unexpected turn of events by Smokey310 Rated T (language): This one is freakin hilarious. Connor and Gavin and a night out at the club, omg. I love this fic to death. XD

10. As Do I by berryblonde Rated T (drama): A human!AU where your soulmate can feel the injuries of their other half. It’s the story of a lifetime together. All the way til the end.

11. because the bed’s warm and it’s cold out by voidpants (@voidpants) Rated G (no warnings): Connor and Gavin being old men together. It’s beautiful. Such a lovely take on the two of them.

Unfinished Fics/Honorable Mentions

1. Spinning Yellow by sheepishwolfy (@sheepishwolfy) Rated E (violence, language, mature themes): Amazing casefic with top-tier characterization. What’s written of it is still amazing, even if it’s not complete.

2. Amidst a Crash of Worlds by fireplanetz Rated T (violence, mature themes, war, language): A fic told entirely through letters between Connor and Gavin in the aftermath of the bad ending of the game. It’s such an awesome idea and it’s executed so well. Definitely recommend. 

3. The Bet by Pence Rated T (language): Brooklyn 99-inspired DPD shenanigans. Need I say more? It’s so funny and I love the characterization of Connor and Gavin. Mostly finished, too! Just the final chapter missing!

4. Wicked by MercuryPilgrim Rated M (language, mature content): I love this one. It’s such a unique take on Connor and Gavin and it works so well, too. They are delightful here. Love the dynamic!

5. (can’t say) i don’t love you by Chibbers (@teh-chibi) Rated M (language, drama, sexual content): An angsty hanahaki!AU fic where these two idiots don’t realize they’re in love with each other. Really great writing here. Very emotional. Made me feel a lot.

And I guess I should mention that I have fics of my own, too, about half of which are Convin? You can check them out on my AO3 here! ^_^

So yeah, there we go. Those are really all I can think of off the top of my head. I know I missed some amazing works, too, alas. But at least this can give you a good start, yeah? Hope this helps @pancrystal! And thanks again for the ask! :D (Also, if I messed up any of the link or if there’re any glaring typos, lemme know. This was a lot of janky, Tumblr formatting, omg. >_<)

[jounetsulovers]

So! the silence in between was a monster of a fic. Officially, it’s the longest fanfic I’ve ever written, clocking in around 12.6k words. I’ve learned a lot from this experience, but I wanted to share with you some of the notes I’ve collected about writing it. I love talking about writing! Spoiler alert: this is very long.

Amagi’s arc plays very differently in both the games and anime. The initial inspiration for having this fic be from Yukie’s POV is the fact that, in the games, she is actually present for Mahoro and Amagi’s big confrontation. They’re billed as a trio, but we get so little in the way of backstory or development for her friendship with them that I immediately started crying one night and spat out the first chapter.

I decided to work with the game verse following that fact, so especially with the last chapter, deviation from the anime is absolutely intentional. In the games, Megane finds the manual for Atlantis Wall, calls ahead to get it on reserve, and Amagi, already upset, charges ahead of the rest of the team to get there first and accidentally has a run-in with Mahoro and Yukie.

Yukie is actually the granddaughter of Mr. Magic Moves himself! That’s 100% true to the games.

Mahoro is probably the biggest deviation to the game timeline for this fic. I did write his dialogue with his anime counterpart in mind, mostly because I think between the two of them, the anime did a better job of capturing his hopelessness. Mahoro in the games acts a lot more like pre-heel face turn Tsurugi than anything else.

Amagi I tried to write somewhere between both his game and anime counterparts. I think his dialogue feels the most consistent between the two adaptions.

One thing you’ll probably notice is that Hikaru’s involvement is.... nonexistent. Again, this is something that’s different in the games. He does have relevance to the chapter, but he and Yukie don’t interact in any real capacity like in the anime.

Title comes from No Light, No Light by Florence and the Machine. Everyone will eventually have a fic named after this song in some form, so might as well try to be a hipster and choose a section that isn’t the obvious. Silence being a theme in the story, it felt relevant.

Originally I’d conceived this fic as having more chapters covering more specific chunks of Yukie’s life. But then I realized I could hit the high points in 4 because that’s Amagi’s jersey number!! So I did. That.

I now understand why so many video game anime adaptions say “FUCK GAME MECHANICS” because it was an absolute nightmare to try and figure out how I wanted to explain the manual shop. I think the fact that it feels deliberately old-fashioned in the games helps out somewhat. Considering how behind the times Yukie’s Grandfather is (a landline?! in 2018?! actually that’s fairly common I deal with enough business accounts at work to know) hopefully it doesn’t seem too weird that a move archive would exist in the digital age. You wouldn’t download a hissatsu

Every place ever but the subs I originally watched for Go spell it Genei, not Gen’ei, but dang it I’m going with what I know!!

Balance posts are a real thing. I literally didn’t know what they were called until now.

Mahoro is a defender in Resistance Japan. Amagi and Yukie are of course defenders by default in-game. It just felt right having that be his original position as a kid. I think he’d be great at it!

SO. A lot of things had to be fleshed out for the trio to break apart. It’s a sort of rift that could potentially be solved with a phone call or the fact that it’s 2018 by the end and probably have cell phones. I did have to do some extra lifting in order to make the drifting apart a little more convincing. A combination of moving, life events, and misunderstandings shown in the canon was what I landed with.

A lot... of emotions were felt writing out the scene in chapter two where Yukie’s grandfather falls. I have literally been in her shoes. It’s something you never quite get out of your head. The circumstances were different, but the core emotions I tried to channel into it are the same.

Fun fact: all of the side characters in Chapter 3 are actually real characters in the games!

This is Kadotsuka.

This is Kureno.

And this is Coach Yatsuhaka! Poor coach. I couldn’t find a way to slip his candle motif in.

Was a former Occult member purposefully chosen to call back to the fact that 10 years later they’re still probably getting flak for the cheating thing? From a former Raimon team member, no less? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Yes, the man in white was Senguuji. I saw the chance and took it.

A lot of Fifth Sector stuff ultimately got cut, which is sad but it just ended up not being relevant to the points in the fic I wanted to make. Ditto a lot of team interactions, as well as Gen’ei Lore. Ask me about my Gen’ei Lore

I still made a chart for all the team members of Gen’ei so I didn’t have to keep booting up my game or looking at the wiki.

#SeidouzanWasZeus. Stay shady, school.

Maboroshi Shot coming from Phantom Shoot (which is an old, ooooold shoot from way back in s1) is an important hc to me, because I find the idea of hissatsu ownership and evolution a fascinating thing to look at in the context of Inazuma. People remix and evolve moves all the time, and I have a few theories about certain shots becoming others in the period between the original series and Go.

Amagi is not a Watch User, nor is he a Pillar Man.

One thing that hit me in the middle of writing the last chapter is that Yukie.... as far as we can tell, at least.... never sees a good example of an Avatar, or a context where they’re not just an extension of Fifth Sector’s power. She probably doesn’t like them much at all.

Fun game fact: each stadium has their own mini route leading up to them. So that conversation actually does take place in a snowy path in game.

...Yes, Kurumada does make a comment about Yukie being an ex-girlfriend. It’s so tonally awkward that I had to include it because it’s the most middle school “read the ROOM” moment. It cracks me up.

Yearly reminder that there’s two Meganes.

SO. Two particular quirks of my writing style:

One is that I HATE describing hair color with a passion. I will do just about anything to avoid it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Two is that I hate writing dialogue verbatim, unless I’m quoting something extremely iconic. Pretty much 80% of the dialogue in the last chapter is inspired by either the game scene or the anime scene.

Yukie running after Mahoro also happens in-game! I just fleshed out the conversation following it, hehe.

One thing I just could not fully acknowledge without derailing the ending was the fact that Gen’ei’s match against Raimon canonically happens right after the first Go movie. Amagi has God Eden fresh in his head the entire time. Let that sink in. I’m not happy with the brief dancing around of it, either, but it felt wrong to not bring it up in some form.

AND...... THAT’S THAT. Thank you to everyone who joined me on this wild adventure!

[anactualhyena]

Answer literally all the OC questions pls

HOO BOY THANK YOU ANON

1. Your first OC ever?

That would be Seren! She started out as my Warriors OC in sixth grade - Dragonclaw, a neon green, red, and orange cat with spike collars and bat wings. I called her the leader of Blood Clan and made her Scourge’s mate and oh lord it was a nightmare. She’s gone through a lot of redesigning through the years and now she has a feral cat form and a human form? As a cat she’s like a partially albino Norwegian forest cat with moss growing on her back and bits of fur matted with blood and an old torn dog collar she probably found on the streets and thought looked cool. As a human, she’s a muscular tribal woman bearing a large spear of sorts and clothing made from torn fabric and a tiger pelt. I like her human rendition a lot better tbh.


2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Answered!


3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

I have! One of my old cat characters, Mandy, was a black cat with rainbow accents that I adopted years ago on DeviantART for like 5 points. Then my friend gave me her old Hetalia OC…I believe it was D.C.? As in Washington D.C.? But I don’t use my Hetalia characters anymore now that I left the fandom.


4. A character you rarely talk about?

That would definitely be Flint. Flint is a steampunk pirate character made for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I had with a couple buddies last year. I’ve hardly talked about him at all but I love him too.


5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Iagan!!! Iagan is my little ball of fluff and happiness that would love to brighten anyone’s day. Plus I’m pretty sure he’s the most likely of all my OCs to become popular if any of them did.


6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

YES. Flint and Feuhorbe (as a human) look a lot alike because Flint’s design was based off of Feuhorbe’s. The difference between them is that Flint is thicker than Feuhorbe and their hair, eye, and skin colors are different. That and Flint has scars and is more Spanish-based whereas Feuhorbe has vitiligo and is Brazilian.


7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Well…Iagan is (and I cringe when I say this) an Undertale OC, and Rev is a part of a story/universe that Griffin created. Carlisle and Vincent used to follow this sort of post-apocalyptic storyline I had going for an RPG my buddy Roman was making, but the idea got scrapped and I kept the characters, so now they aren’t exactly a part of anything. And then…there’s my old Hetalia OCs…Riccione (originally Sparta), Toronto, and D.C.


8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I don’t actually RP as my characters anymore, but I used to RP with Riccione all the time in middle school. She’s a chubby professional dancer who runs a night club in Italy and maybe plays the violin? I can hardly remember.


9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I mean, their old designs? Absolutely. I’m slowly selling those on my DeviantART - mostly ones I don’t use anymore, like Warriors cats and my old fursona and a few others.


10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

FEUHORBE MY LORD. He’s actually not that complicated, but his vitiligo can be difficult to draw and as a furry, he’s a horse piñata whose colors follow a specific pattern based on an actual piñata I stole from one of my friends in the dorm room across from mine after their birthday. But there’s also Zane, a genderless dog dragon demon thing that someone gifted me as an avatar on the website Whirled, who I turned into my own character. I’m not sure if they were originally someone else’s OC that was given away or what, but I can’t find any other pictures of them or their species anywhere, so I’m keeping them as my own until further notice. Their design features horns and blue to black gradients and wings with holes in them and various scars.


11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

IAGAN!!! I can’t explain it enough, he’s literally a ray of sunshine.


12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot.

Oh man…there are these animators on youtube who I watch all the time and I’m in love with their characters/fursonas. There’s Mystery, who belongs to Sleepykinq, Puppers(?), who belongs to kittydog, and Yagi, who belongs to Scotch.


13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Sonni is my little troublemaker. He’s a jokester and also a Dungeons and Dragons character, and his only purpose is to mess with my buddy’s characters and mess up their quests.


14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Carlisle had his arm blown off in an explosion, which also claimed his vision, but Vincent was able to build him a robotic prosthetic arm and these special goggles with LEDs that allow him to see again. That’s as tragic as it gets, really.


15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

I do! But I rather people ask me about my characters because if people don’t show initial interest, I just think I’m annoying them. A lot of times, that’s how I further develop or redesign my characters.


16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

That would have to be…Seren and Roc, honestly. Because they are “”“warriors,”“” they know things like how the body reacts to certain toxins and which vital organ, if impaled, causes the most suffering before death. But that’s more like anatomy.


17. Any OC OTPs?

Answered!


18. Any OC crackships?

I high key ship Iagan with Scotch’s character Yagi? I have no real reasoning behind it. But that’s about it.


19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Geez…that’s kinda hard to pick. I’d probably have to say Donovan, because I’ve projected a lot of my own traits and issues onto him (being a trans guy, having depression, letting him to do all kinds of things I wanted to do but couldn’t, etc.) and he helped me cope with a lot of shit until I just relied on my persona and let Donny have his own life.


20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Axwell actually was a choir kid growing up and can sing pretty dang well. My headcanon for his voice would be some sort of mix between Brendon Urie and David Bowie’s voices? His taste in music actually heavily varies and he doesn’t have a set favorite genre or anything - just anything with vocals. Feuhorbe love to hear him sing.

Iagan can kinda sing as well? He’s partially based off of a Samoyed, which are known as singing dogs, but it’s not one of his prominent talents. Although he can freely manipulate the sound of his voice as he pleases, his standard voice is that of JonTron’s. He’ll sing and listen to everything upbeat and cheerful.


21. Your most artistic OC

That would be Piper. Piper is a male Lolita, a ferret, sounds like cr1tikal, and is about four feet and ten inches tall. He does a lot of art, mostly of Lolita fashion and mainly uses watercolor paint.


22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

No one mischaracterizes my OCs because they aren’t popular enough for other people to even notice.


23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Since I already talked about Seren, I’ll talk about Carlisle. He started out as my original fursona, which was a generic twinky fox with long ears and black circles around his eyes and a MLP jacket. Then he was a feral fox that became my mascot? Now he’s my bara babe (other than Vincent) and had his metal arm and LED goggles And a way better color scheme.


24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

I would absolutely love to meet either Iagan or Feuhorbe because I know I would have a really great time with either of them???? Hanging out with either of them would literally make me 10 times happier.


25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

That would have to be Donovan. He’s only two inches shorter than me (not counting his ears), about 10 pounds heavier than me, huge into music, and a trans guy.


26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Nope. I made all changes to my characters freely.


27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

No, but I do like to think of what my characters’ theme songs would be. I’m still making that list.


28. Your most dangerous OC?

Answered!


29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

That would probably be Feuhorbe and Sonni. In it for the adventure but will not tell anyone specifically to potentially cause trouble.


30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

I would say Iagan, but it wouldn’t be a secret. So I’d have to say either Skyler (a dragon character of mine) or Carlisle.


31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Piper would try to run a pastel aesthetic blog but it’d be riddled with too many memes and shitposts and videos of him just saying and doing stupid shit.


32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Alcatraz. He’s a lawyer but has a huge secret passion for ghosts and ghost hunting and all things paranormal, so he’d fit right into a game revolving around those things.


33. Your shyest OC?

Lukas! Lukas is a small quetzal that’s big into Harajuku fashion and he is the shyest little guy alive. But he’d probably get along well with Piper.


34. Do you have any twin characters?

Nope.


35. Any sibling characters?

Yes!!! Donovan, Carlisle, and Alcatraz are my three fox brothers. Donny is the youngest and Alcatraz is the oldest.


36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Yes! But they’re only with my boyfriend because I haven’t found anyone else who wants to ship their characters with mine.


37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

I mean,,,the only set human characters I have are Flint and Axwell and my Hetalia characters, unless you count the human designs for my furry and feral characters. None of them are really a mix and could be considered not quite human except for Sonni, who is the most humanlike out of my non human OCs. He’s very lanky and appears malnourished and has three eyes and is covered in short, dark hair/fur. He has a short stubby tail and tall “ears” and has six arachnid-like appendages protruding from his back that he can crawl on.


38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

That would be Riccione and Donovan, who are actually dancers! Riccione is a professional dancer, whereas Donovan shuffles and such as a hobby.


39. Introduce any character you want

Bow Echo is a griffin that’s a mix between a bobcat and a peregrine falcon. She can fly super fast and I need to develop her more.


40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!
41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

A few people have! They’re on my ArtFight profile under Defenses!

http://artfight.net/~CyberFoxFire


42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

That would be Rev. The universe he’s from revolves around many entities similar to those found in Greek and Roman mythology, with him being basically the embodiment of the Ragnarök.


43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Ok…I love making them around six feet tall or taller and giving them facial hair and choppy short hair that can be pulled back in low ponytails. But I’m trying to stop that and make them more diverse.


44. Something you like about your OCs in general

They all represent different aspects of my personality and I make really deep connections with them because of that.


45. A character you no longer use?

Jacobi. He’s just some Scottish guy that wears flannels. I’m selling him on DeviantART eventually.


46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Nah. It’s mostly anons that tell me things about my OCs, like how they look like internet cancer. Not that I mind, I mean, come on. They all look like hell lmao


47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

I think? When I first joined the Osomatsu-San Network, one of the first things I did was talk about my OCs with some other the other members. One might’ve claimed Iagan or someone else, I can’t really remember.


48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

IAGAN!!!! And also Lukas!!


49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

That would be Piper, Sonni, Donovan, Feuhorbe, and Iagan.


50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

Uh…I think I’ve talked about literally everything I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to message me though if you want to talk about OCs!

[scarletrebel]

a thing about rw.by

this is a whatever. not a meta or a theory or really a well-thought out critique. if anything I guess im just voicing my frustrations. if you like rw.by, please, please dont read this. you wont like what i have to say and i am in no way looking to upset rw.by fans, i just need a good old fashioned shout into the void. theres some things i liked in here too that actually came out whilst writing aha, so its not all my bullshit.

my main gripe with rw.by at the moment is the lack of character development for ruby rose. you know, the main character? which i think is the reason why my heart breaks a little that i dont love it as much as i used to. i identified so much with ruby. a little girl with a heart too big for her brain, who just wants to protect and help, having to come to terms with the fact that the real world doesnt make noble goals like that easy? thats my childhood right there. 

the latter is something that hasnt been touched on as far as ruby rose’s character development goes until this season, and even then it hasnt really been touched, or lightly brushed, its been mentioned. ruby thought saving the world wouldnt take that long, that the world wasnt as big as it is; she apologises to jaune for dragging jnpr along with her. all INCREDIBLE MOMENTS I was really happy about, but they werent expanded upon. it was like the writers wanted to hit a checklist of ‘make sure the audience knows ruby is naive and sad but hopeful’ rather than making it more engaging to learn about as aspects of her character, which is just lazy storytelling. 

show, dont tell. they’ve done that with juane. they’ve shown that he’s upset about phyrra’s death, they’ve shown him get mad at the situation and with qrow. he’s never outright voiced these things about his character like ruby has about herself, and we all knew she was a little naive. season one, weiss accusing ruby of being a bad leader and them showing the audience ruby trying to get better was so much better than just having her be like ‘im a little naive but ill fight for the greater good!’ like she has so blatantly been this series. 

like, why would she not get mad at her own uncle for keeping her in the dark about someone wanting to kill her?? ruby’s what, 16 at this point? 15 at the least? would she not at least be a little bit annoyed, and would that not show some character growth on her part if she was? my naivety ended, personally, when i stopped trying to be so dang optimistic, (this can become more complicated to explain, as obviously you still have to have hope in the world while keeping a level head and ruby is still young, but, thats another conversation) and if that moment hasnt happened for ruby after 1. penny dying 2. phyrra dying 3. her uncle keeping important information from her 4. her sister having her arm sliced off 5. her friends being split up from her 6. nearly dying to a foe way more powerful than she is, even with her silver eyes -- then when?! 

and lets just get it out of the way -- i dont fucking hate juane. i really, really like him as a character but i just fucking wish he got less of a spotlight because so much more attention is being payed to him and his journey and how everything affects him over ruby. it just is, and it sucks. i like theorising about his semblance, im pretty certain he’s really fucking powerful just like ruby is, but if he unlocks and masters his thing before ruby does i will be so pissed, and the only reason i say that is because it feels like thats the way its headed. 

juane is a lovely character. he’s heroic, he’s actually quite brave and smart, and he’s a good fucking friend. he’s a brilliant support character. but for the love of all that is holy, focus more on ruby when they’re in the same scene. about how he’s helping her on her journey, why could they not have had one conversation about phyrra on screen is my question. they did it really, really well it season one, and i was very loud about the fact that no, juane doesnt get more screen time or attention, but during season four it feels like he -- like everyone that isnt ruby or the other three titular characters -- has over ruby. 

just, please, rwby season five -- give ruby rose more character development. prove me fucking wrong and reveal that you were playing the long game, please.

also; i havent watched the last two episodes, but if it turns out the ‘’’cure’’’ to yangs ptsd is a new arm. fuck, man. please no. but i cant really comment on that yet so, we’ll see. i actually, up until seeing the preview for her spraying her arm and all that, really liked yangs journey. and taiyang is such a sweetheart i adore him. he was so patient and gentle and loving with yang, a few moments had me cringing but overall, an enjoyable part of the season. i hope yang gets to punch adam in the face. 

blake’s journey is one ive enjoyed also. and tbh, i think sun following her and thinking she was on a personal mission to take down the white fang is a very sun thing to do, and i think blake surprising us all by saying no im not gonna do that is a very blake thing as well. sun is spontaneous, carefree to a point and very dedicated to taking down bad guys. projecting that onto blake was his mistake, and im really glad that blake is the one to voice the audiences frustrations at how annoying it is that he follows and harrasses her into taking action (even when a part of us knows that she should -- a really, really well written aspect of blakes journey actually, i really liked it) (sun really needs to have a ‘okay im being a creep im really sorry’ moment but i dont see it happening. again; prove me wrong, guys.)

blake so, so needed to see her family. im glad she could see that and im not surprised that she wanted to run under the guise of ‘resting’ like. come on blake, we all know you’re scared shitless. her characterisation was on point, probably the most out of the four girls. blake was a+ in this season and im really happy about that, come to think of it aha. i hope she gets to punch adam too.

weiss im satisfied with too, although i really wish that ironwood and her got to talking. he didnt necesarily need to save the day for her, i would think that a guy fighting her own battles -- even if it is a ‘good one’ like ironwood -- would irk her, so it wouldve been nice for them to talk. (im still fucking salty about juanes ‘you can have her’ to neptune like lmao fuck off you fucking dudebros THAT WAS SO ANNOYING anyway) weiss being able to call off the thing she summoned before it hurt the lady would be a sign that yeah she’s getting strong but she’s learning control, so. shrug. 

papa schnee is an asshole, where is mama schnee?? and i FUCKING LOVED THE PLOT POINT THAT HER DAD MARRIED INTO THE FAMILY. please let this be an opening for a badass but subdued for Reasons mama schnee (although my hope is not that high)

my main, number one, OVERALL problem with rwby since the end of s3 to s4 is that they dont give the characters that need and deserve the most time and attention just that. i know its a small crew, i know that what they do and the time they do it in is amazing and admirable, and i do admire it and applaud it, they work so fucking hard and deserve praise for that. but they dont use their time wisely when it comes to assigning it in the narrative. and thats more of a writing issue, anyway. 

and another fucking thing. the majority of the interesting characters that arent the main four and are alive and have been developed or made mysterious enough to warrant interest from the audience are fucking men. and yeah, no duh jade, welcome to every piece of media for fucking ever. qrow is an asshole that everyone loves, raven is probably going to turn out to be a bitch -- the majority of salem’s ‘court’ or whatever are dudes. ironwood. ren got backstory over nora. blakes dad. adam taurus. for all that i love him, fucking juane. did we learn anything about phyrra that wasnt her explicitly telling us her backstory? no. we felt sad that she died because of her connections with other people, but, lets face it, mostly juane. im still adamant that she didnt die just for him, that she knew there was a bigger picture and genuinely loved him, but from a narrative pov him and his reactions was a bigger focus point especially in the aftermath with season 4. 

(ruby fucking unlocked an ANCIENT POWER BECAUSE SHE SAW PHYRRA DIE AND SHE DOESNT GET TO HAVE THE SAME EMOTIONAL SCENE ABOUT IT THAT JUANE GOT??? PLS LAST TWO EPISODES. GIVE HER THAT AT LEAST. PROVE ME WRONG.) 

i remember at a rwby panel at rtx one year, when asked about making a series that has four female protaganists, the guys said that they didnt see it that way, that they were just writing a story about a bunch of kids and yeah, i get that. but its not. 

its a story about four strong, tested, young women and they need to stop being oblivious to that because the narrative is fucking suffering. 

end rant/

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Upcoming Winter 2018 Shows I’ll Be Watching

HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody! What better time than now to talk about the new season’s shows in the annual pre-seasonal post where I describe the shows I’ll be watching/giving a chance from the coming Winter 2018 season! Always a fun time, and fun to look back at and see how wrong/right I was about a show.

A reminder of the usual thing I say in these posts:

I might watch some other shows that are good or drop some shows if they aren’t good, but that’s for the future.

Like always, I’m organizing these shows into three categories: Full Chance are shows I’m giving the whole season towards, Short Leash are shows I’m giving three or so episodes towards, and One Shot are shows I’m giving one episode towards. As we progress towards categories, expect less words for each anime as I lose interest in writing. Also a reminder that MAL links to the shows are on the titles for those interested.

Some words about next season: I know everybody is hyping up Spring 2018 to be THE season for anime (just look at that lineup), but I think the Winter 2018 season has some potential gems. With each passing season I’m getting more and more picky with the shows I keep, let alone give a chance. Even with that, there are 20 anime below, and that doesn’t even include a few I’m sort of interested in but decided to not watch because I already have a lot on my plate. Plus the fact that I’m pretty dang excited for a few of these shows, which might end up backfiring on me in the end because Sturgeon’s Law. Oh well, that’s life.

All right, let’s get this show on the road, starting with...

Full Chance Shows

Dagashi Kashi 2: I legit can’t believe this got a second season. The first season of this show was way back 2 years ago during the first season I started watching seasonal shows, and even then I knew this show wasn’t really that special. Basically the problem with the show was that it was a candy infomercial at its core: the characters and their stories/development were overshadowed by “lol look it’s candy”. The only great thing the show had going for it was the character design, which got nullified for this season since a whole different studio is handling it (Tezuka Productions instead of feel).

But there’s good reason to hope that this installment of the show will be better than the first season. The biggest reason for that is that this time around, Dagashi Kashi is a short anime. Not one of those 3-minute blazers, but a 15-minute half-length short. After hearing that, I had some hope for this show: the first season at times felt like it dragged on with its skits. Hopefully cutting the length will help immensely with that. Plus, there’s a new character which might potentially add more spice to the mix. So you never know, this second season might be pretty good. Or it could be bad. Either way, I have no expectations given how the first season went.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: A bit of (unrelated) backstory: I know this only because the anime club I’m in had the manga as one of the readings for the manga social. Otherwise known as Skilled Teaser Takagi-san, the show is basically about a middle schooler named Nishikata who gets teased by Takagi, a girl who sits next to him in class. In revenge Nishikata tries to tease Takagi himself, but it always ends up backfiring, resulting in Nishikata being teased yet again. From the little snippets I’ve seen/heard about, the show should mostly be comedic with the cute moments and max smug. I’ve seen complaints that it’s very repetitive and that there is no romantic progression, but the second point seems kinda null when you realize there’s a spinoff of the original manga, which is about something I won’t mention explicitly here (go look it up if you’re curious). With that in mind, I’m not expecting too much, just some occasional cute and funny moments that may or may not be repetitive.

Mitsuboshi Colors: Uhh... yeah. Now before you call me a lolicon, let me tell you what this show is about. Basically just three kids living their daily lives exploring the town and all that.

...Wow that doesn’t make it better does it. Well, whatever. The show’s looks to be a relaxing slice-of-life, and that’s something I’m about (as long as it has something else to it like comedy). Fun fact: the manga shares the same author as Hitoribocchi no ○○ Seikatsu, a manga I’m reading right now that I’m really enjoying. Just a random fact, but it’s a good sign that the source at least has good roots.

From the comments I read about it, Mitsuboshi Colors looks to be wholesome, with similarities to Ichigo Marshmallow. Also apparently the kids are savage af, which is both realistic (kids that age are too real) and right up my alley. Overall sounds like a good time, and though I’m trying not too expect too much, I’m wouldn’t lie if I said this was a show I’m excited for.

...So yeah. Pls don’t call the FBI. Yet.

Poputepipikku: I have nothing to say about this show. Seriously, go read the MAL description (or lack thereof) and watch the PVs, and tell me you know what this show is about.

The only basis I have is the 4-koma this is based off of, which has translations somewhere in the web as well as video adaptation things here. I guess if you want a sense of what this show is about the videos are the best way to figure that out. Basically what I get is that this show is one huge meme.

So yeah I’m super down for it. Bring it on. Absolutely no clue what it is, but sure. I like memes. The danker the better.

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan 2: I’m probably less excited for this show than I should be, I admit. Towards the end of the first season, the show felt a bit stale since they added more and more new characters which made it feel like a “too many cooks” situation where it felt like they were running out of ideas with the old characters. I’m a tad worried about this second season because they’re adding even more new characters, as if we didn’t have enough in the first place. Though if there’s anything to be hopeful about, it’s that they’re keeping the format of 5 shorts a week. Definitely the better format than just a compilation episode at the end of the week.

At the end of the day though, this show made me laugh almost every episode, and that’s a rare thing nowadays (DAE sadbois). So yeah, I’m still pretty excited this got a second season and hopeful that the new characters add more depth to the show. Guess we’ll see.

Violet Evergarden: OOOH. It’s time. It’s time to be hyped, but then tell myself to keep that hype down. Because it’s here, ladies and gents. The one I’ve been waiting for ever since May 27, 2016, the day the CM came out (this one). Now is the animation going to be as good as in the CM? Hell no. But man, I’m not gonna lie: I’m super excited for this one. Like SUPER excited.

There’s a bunch of reasons for that: the biggest reason is the involvement of Kyoto Animation. I admit I’m a KyoAni fanboy: I’ve watched most of their shows and with the exception of Musaigen no Phantom World, I’ve liked all of them (and even Musaigen started getting good towards the end). Of course the animation in Violet Evergarden is going to be high quality (that’s a given), but the story is apparently top-notch as well, something a bit unprecedented with works adapted by KyoAni. Most of the LNs/manga that KyoAni adapt are... a bit lacking. From K-On to Chuunibyou to Free, all of them weren’t the best source material. Though most of them were good enough to win Honorable Mention in KyoAni’s annual light novel competition, none won the Grand Prize. And that was the case for the first few years the competition ran: no Grand Prize winners. Until Violet Evergarden won the Grand Prize. Sure says something about the LN’s story. Combine that with KyoAni’s ability to fit a source material to an anime format well, and you get the biggest hype train since One Punch Man.

But what about the plot itself? That was a mystery to me until now, and after doing some research into the story it looks like it’s about a robot/cyborg who formerly was fighting in the battlefield who now works as a “Auto Memories Doll” who “carries peoples’ thoughts and memories and converts them into words“. Apparently it’s similar to Kino’s Journey only with more drama/interesting characters (so most likely episodic). Which I’m down for since I enjoyed Kino’s Journey (well at least the old one). Also small side note: minimal romance until the end, which is fine since I think a romance subplot would distract from the main storyline.

So yeah, I’m on the hype train. But with this big of a hype train, anything less than a 9/10 would be disappointing. So to prevent that from happening, I’m trying to keep myself in check by thinking about the last time I got onto a hype train, which was Mahoutsukai no Yome. And look how well that turned out... “on hold” (though I may pick it up... 5% chance). AKA anything can happen, and because of that expectations are “low” -- but let’s be honest I’m hyped for this. Let’s go.

Yuru Camp△: Let me get the joke out of the way now: LOL DAE READ AS “YURI CAMP”?????

I’m sorry.

Anyway, if there’s one word to describe this, it’s COMFY. The best way I’ve seen this described is a combination of Non Non Biyori and Yama no Susume. And having seen both shows, I can see the maximum comfy this will provide. The plot is simple: cute girls doing cute camping. Slice-of-life + comfy + CGDCT = good stuff for this guy.

Though doing further research, there were some things that turned me off a bit. One is the following words: yuri undertones/subtext. Those two (three?) words have the potential to ruin the show, though it depends on how strong they are. If we’re talking Hibike Euphonium levels, we’re doomed. If we’re talking Love Live levels, we’re fine. Though I wish CGDCTs nowadays shouldn’t feel like they need yuri undertones, if it’s not too overbearing I can just brush it off.

Another thing that concerns me a bit is the studio handling this: C-Station, which doesn’t have the most inspiring list of shows made. Now they’ve done a few full-length shows, but I’ve never heard of them before, so it’s... unknown how they’ll be able to handle Yuru Camp.

A final, nitpicky thing is past experiences. Watching the PV made me feel comfy, something I didn’t feel since... Flying Witch. Which, while comfy, was also boring. Who knows, maybe Yuru Camp will actually have humor to it so I don’t fall asleep while watching it. But generally comfy = boring for me (with an exception being Non Non Biyori), so it’s something to be wary about for me personallly.

Though negatives aside, this show has great potential and it’s one of the handful of shows I’m excited for. Let’s get comfy.

Short Leash Shows

Citrus: Hoo boy... if I have to be honest, I’ll be super surprised if I end up finishing this show. This is one of the few times where I read the source material beforehand, so I can share my experiences and tell y’all what to expect. And let me tell you... expect this show to be bad. I know it’s being really hyped because it’s yuri, but holy melodrama Batman. Now I admit I’m not the biggest fan of yuri, and I haven’t read much works in the genre. But still... even I know there’s a lot of better works out there with the yuri, most of which haven’t gotten an anime adaptation.

There are two main problems with this show. The first is the characters. Specifically one character, the student council pres/stepsister. Her actions make absolutely no sense, and are the driving force of the questionable moments in the manga. Which brings me to the second problem: the drama, which stems from some of the weirdest problems that shouldn’t even be problems. I’d state an example, but that’s spoilers that I kinda want to avoid. This image sums up the manga well in my opinion (thanks to /r/animemes). Add the fact that the yuri isn’t even that good, and you got a dropped manga, one of the few I dropped (my manga list for reference). 

With that in mind, I feel kinda bad for the people really hyped for this show. Then again, most of them are hyped for the yuri, which... I don’t blame them to be honest given the lack of good yuri anime out there. Still... have some standards y’all. Expect this show to be one of the “most disappointing” shows out there.

Darling in the FranXX: Basic facts about this anime: Trigger and A-1 Pictures are collaborating on it and it’s a mecha show. In terms of actual plot, the MAL summary is a pretty good idea of what we should expect. Because otherwise, nobody knows since this is an anime original. Looks interesting enough though, so might as well give it a few episodes and see what’s up.

Gakuen Babysitters: So this looks pretty cute. Basically we got a guy and his brother who gets taken in by a chairman of a school, later becoming the school daycare’s new babysitter. Tragic backstory aside (the guy loses both his parents), the manga is apparently diabetes-level of adorable, which I’m down for. Cute things are cute.

Hakumei to Mikochi: Small girls (9 cm tall) living small lives. That’s basically it. Such a small anime deserves a small description. So I’ll say this: looks to be comfy and laid-back. I’m about that.

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni: And here’s the winner of the “Questionable Plotline of the Season”. We got high school girl who falls in love with her 45-year old manager. AKA the problem I had with Blend S taken to the next level... you would think. But I think if the show does it tastefully, it won’t be too bad. And apparently that’s what it is: a feel good slice-of-life/romance with interesting characters. Plus the fact that it’s not the older guy being all lovey-dovey this time, which helps a lot. This should be an interesting one to keep an eye on, both in terms of the anime itself and the reception towards it.

Random side note: I honestly think it’s kinda sad when the top comments of /r/anime’s thread for the PV of this all talk about Aimer and how they’ll watch the show because of her only. Seriously... that’s some weak reasoning for watching an anime, when only a minute and a half out of 23 minutes is the thing you’re watching for. You don’t see me watching Eromanga-sensei because ClariS did the OP. Just a bit of a personal gripe.

Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san: As you can kinda tell from the title, the show’s about a girl named Koizumi who really likes ramen, and goes to various places to eat their ramen. I have no idea what to expect given there isn’t much info out there about this, but I guess I’ll expect lots of ramen to be eaten. The way this is laid out, I’m hoping it’s a short, because otherwise it’ll drag on for way too long.

Sora yori mo Tooi Basho: Next to the obvious shows like Violet Evergarden, this is the one show I’m seeing /r/anime announce as a dark horse AOTS candidate. But doing further information, I’m kinda confused as to why. It doesn’t really fit the standards of the typical show that /r/anime really loves (Made in Abyss, Houseki no Kuni, etc.) considering it looks like it’s just a CGDCT about girls going to the South Pole. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a dark turn that happens given the setting of Antarctica, nobody really knows given this is another anime original. But hey, I’m not complaining. I like CGDCTs. And this season’s got a bunch of them, like...

Slow Start: This one. Plot doesn’t reveal anything special, just about a girl who started school a year late. That’s it.

Background-wise, though, this show has good potential. Same director as GochiUsa, same magazine as a lot of CGDCT anime, etc. I’m not expecting much from this show, but there are points for it to be good.

Takunomi.: Like Osake something something from this season, we have another show about adults drinking. A 15-minute short, has potential but like the shows above I’m not expecting much.

One Shot Shows

Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku: Holy moly, I had the biggest case of deja vu while watching the PV for this show. Just look at the MC for this show: the most generic MC I’ve seen, so generic it literally looks like the MC for that isekai smartphone show that came out a few seasons ago. Heysus Christos, what is this baloney. Seriously, compare these two: here and here. I’m honestly more impressed than anything.

Anyway, the show looks to be your standard generic isekai. Yay. My favorite.

Märchen Mädchen: It’s kind of an isekai... I don’t know, at this point I’m tired, just read the summary. I like the eyes. That’s all I really have to say about the show.

Ryuuou no Oshigoto!: Yeah the summary says it best. A moe Sangatsu no Lion, though I’m sure the only similarities it has with the show is the theme of shogi.

Sanrio Danshi: One big commercial for Sanrio characters. At least that’s the vibe I’m getting. Also shades of shounen-ai. Eh.

And that’s all for this really long post! Thanks for reading! Quick announcement: the newest version of The Week in Anime is probably gonna be delayed a few hours since I’ve been busy being on vacation (yes I’m busy even now). Apologies for that, but it should be a short post anyway since there were only three shows to watch.

Anyways, thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post very soon!

[meowsaidmayaanime]

What I'm Watching May 2016

Hi! So this post will be consistently updated and feature only completed anime(ie non-simulcast anime, I have a list of simulcasts I am watching already provided). Whenever I update it I will add the date in the title, change the featured photo, and add the anime at the very top of the post~ So yeah, a good way to know what kind of things i'm currently doing.

Attack on Titan Addendum 5/31

So episode 10 actually surprised me, I did not think it would go in that direction. In fact, after that episode the anime got much less predictable, which is great. Don't get me wrong, there were still some moments that were very obvious, but I found myself not knowing what was gonna happen next very often. Especially toward the end, and oh man did it drag me further into the anime. It was great, I really really enjoyed it. And now I can enjoy Attack on Titan Abridged! (the real reason I wanted to watch this, haha)

5/29 Attack on Titan I did it, I finally did it. Its been huge in the anime world for 3 years now, I got tired of seeing it on my netflix and finally started watching Attack on Titan. I JUST finished episode 8, and every single event, aspect, backstory, everything I have successfully predicted. Now I will add that aside from the very first episode, I had no idea what was gonna happen next. I stayed away from spoilers like the plague on this one cause I knew I had to eventually watch it. Despite the fact that it is so far nothing new whatsoever, I'm really liking it so far. Like REALLY enjoying myself and the anime. I stayed away from it for so long because I didn't want to get caught up in the hype and be disappointed, I tell you I'm not disappointed. Though to be fair, I did wait three years after the initial hype and went into it expecting it to not live up to my expectations. I think that was the right decision. Well I still have 17 more episodes to go, and plenty of room for it to surprise (or not surprise) me.

oh and btw, MIKASA'S A BAMF! hot damn, I wish I was Eren, wait, no. I take that back, I do NOT want to be Eren, just in his position. waaaaait, no, no, not that either. Yeah no, I do not want to live in their world. yikes.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya 5/26

Ok so remember when I said I was watching the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya? haha of course you do that was only yesterday. Well the episodes have a weird order and were not aired in chronological order (which means I didnt watch it chronologically, i'll make a post of this later) but also that there was a movie that followed the end of the second season and HOLY CRAP THE MOVIE MADE THE FREAKING ANIME. I was not expecting that at all.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 5/25 I just started watching The Melancholoy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I started watching it a few years ago but dropped it for whatever reason (lost interest.) It's always been relatively highly ranked (an 8 out of 10 on My Anime List (which if you've been to the site you will know that very few anime get anywhere over 9 out of 10) for example the highest ranked anime is Gintama at 9.3 followed by FMA: Brotherhood at 9.26, even Spirited away is only an 8.9 so anything that's at least an 8 is pretty dang good), so I figured why not give it another chance? Especially since my Akibento for this month came with a lot of stuff from that anime, and I dont want it to go to waste(especially considering I didn't even want this months crate because I wasn't interested in the preview but was charged and sent it anyway despite the fact that I only signed up for a one time crate last month..... If anyone wants any of May's merch just let me know. I think I might be making a post about it soon. hmmmm....)

Strawberry Panic! 5/23

Right now I'm actually re-watching an anime I once watched back when I was in I think middle school, Strawberry Panic! An adorable tale of a girls finding love at their all girls boarding school. I have had this anime in my mind for years, constantly thinking about it but never remembering what on earth it was called, and barely remembering anything else about it for that matter! It's not a fantastic anime by any means, but it is adorable and rather down to earth. There are no super annoying characters or unrealistic situations and events, like what is common in so many school anime (especially the newer ones). That's why I like this so much, its 'soft' romance and school life. Ahhh, I'm so happy to be watching it again. In fact, I am watching episode 12 as I am writing this!!

Noragami 5/21

I just finished watching the second season of Noragami, Noragami Aragoto. While it was very good, the plot, the characters, the writing, it wasn't quite as wonderful as the first season. Aragoto has two story lines that follow one after another, where as the first season focused on one story line, which was just so emotional and exciting and I had such a hard tome pretending I wasn't watching it while work, hahaha..... Don't get me wrong though, this definitely is not an anime that suffered from the second season like some, in fact it provided a lot or origins, backstory, and important character development necessary for the third season!! Which should be on its way, especially considering the huge info drop at the end of Aragoto. If you've seen season one, Aragoto is definitely a must watch~

Tokyo Ghoul 5/16 TOP PICK FOR THIS MONTH

Only a few minutes before my 21st birthday I finished this series. Which means that I was an emotional wreck crying out 'he knew!!' while also being super excited to go out and buy my first drink; a Bloody Mary, approximately 17 minutes after officially being 21. Anyway, Tokyo Ghoul is so good. I loved it because it did not follow the path I expected it to, every event and conclusion ended up surprising me but in a good way! Without spoiling too much or going into a full review, the main character never became a 'Mary Sue' and the way it ended was not typical in the least. I have so many things to say but they all contain spoilers, anyway I'm glad I wasn't deterred from the anime because one of my friends said he didn't like the manga because of his assumption about the character. Dude, you were way off, I haven't read the manga, but the anime is so different and so amazing. 5 out of 5 would recommend!

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Week in Anime (Week of 7/17/17)

Hello hello and welcome to another weekly edition of TWiA! We have some words for a bunch of shows as always, so let’s start it off right away with the classic:

Rankings:

1 (+6). Isekai Shokudou (great/10) [2/?]

2 (NEW). New Game!! (great/10) [1/12]

3 (+1). Kakegurui (8/10) [3/12]

4 (-2). Sakura Quest (7.5/10) [15/25]

5 (-4). Ballroom e Youkoso (great/10) [2/24]

6 (-3). Tsurezure Children (good/10) [2/?]

7 (-2). Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (7/10) [15/25]

8 (0). Nana Maru San Batsu (decent/10) [2/12]

9 (-3). Centaur no Nayami (decent/10) [2/12]

10 (NEW). Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni (meh/10) [1/?]

Awards

The Sequel Show of the Week: New Game!!

The exclamation points symbolize my excitement for this show. Because it’s back, with those colorful characters we all know and love! This episode started off a bit... questionable with the whole fanservice scene but otherwise it was nice start to the series’ second installment. Not to mention my favorite character from last year’s back and better than ever, with the new goal to overcome her shyness (Hifumi if you don’t know). Who knew that crippling social anxiety could be so cute?

Otherwise there’s not much else to say about the show for now. It’s still super colorful and the storyline with the new game (heh) sounds like it could be a nice platform for the characters to develop further. I’m excited to see the new characters shown in the OP too, though also a bit weary knowing all too well how one bad character can ruin a show for me (Stella no Mahou, Hinako Note). 

The Old School Sports Show of the Season Award: Nana Maru San Batsu

I mentioned this last week, but it was reaffirmed with this week’s episode. Because this week we get introduced to “rival who’s better than everyone and knows it”, and “old childhood friend who’s now on the opposing team”. Wao, how creative.

On an unrelated note, I actually dropped this show at first when they introduced the rival. But then I gave the show a second shot, and hey it wasn’t too bad. It’s definitely got the feel of a sports shounen, which I’m not really too keen about given I don’t usually like these shows. But I’m sticking around for the quiz questions and to learn more about quiz bowl. Hopefully we get more of an emphasis on that.

The “Something’s Off” Award: Centaur no Nayami

Finishing the episode, I didn’t know what to feel. Because it wasn’t really that bad of an episode. Sure, there were a few moments that were questionable, like the whole dress-up thing with Akechi or the wing-cuddling scene with Akechi or just any scene with Akechi (who’s apparently become my least favorite character in the show). But IDK, I wouldn’t say it was boring or a bad episode of anime. Yet there’s something that felt... off about the show. I don’t know what it is exactly, but there were a lot of factors in the show that made it feel kinda weird.

The first thing I noticed off the bat was the lack of BGM. It can be good if used correctly, but not here. The silent moments felt awkward and didn’t really contribute to anything. Another thing I noticed was that the pacing of the show was off. An example of that was the sudden jump from the main trio to a random couple in the background: it was pretty jarring, even with the somewhat cute payoff in the end. Finally, and the most important, was that it just lacked emotion. I went through the whole episode, and in the end I felt... nothing. Like I was just sitting in my chair for 23 minutes doing nothing. All of these problems could probably be traced to a lack of good directing, which makes sense given the director and the studio behind the show. With all that in mind though, I’ll still continue watching this show. It isn’t terribly boring to me and there were some enjoyable moments despite what I said literally a few moments ago. And honestly that makes it better than a lot of shows I’ve given a shot this season, so it’s still a nice Sunday watch for now.

The “I Guess It’s a Thing” Award: Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni

I guess this is a reoccurring award now. At least until the season settles in and I have a static list of shows.

So yeah, this show with the isekai and smartphone. It was a thing. One thing that was on my mind the whole time was that this show reminded me a lot of Flying Witch, and not in a good way. For those of you who don’t know, Flying Witch was a show I didn’t like, and for a somewhat silly reason. That reason? It just... feels off. Like the characters are “too happy” for lack of a better term. I mean every character in that show lacks any snark/sarcasm and everybody’s so positive and happy. Coming from someone who hangs out with some sarcastic self-deprecating people, it’s weird.

So we come back to this show, which had that sorta same vibe. The main character felt... off. He wasn’t overly positive, but he kinda took everything thrown at him a bit too calmly. Sure, he did the right things by showing a willingness to learn stuff like magic and reading/writing, but he wasn’t very interesting. Like the shows below, I’m strongly considering dropping this, but I’ll give it a few more episodes to see how the other characters are. But so far it’s not particularly an interesting watch.

The “Red Flags” Dropped Show of the Week Award: Several shows below starting with...

Hajimete no Gal

Just... I’m not about that lyfe. Ecchi shows aren’t really my thing and on top of that the character design is pretty questionable and I really don’t like the main character’s friends. I didn’t get very far into this show (like 4 minutes in), but it was enough to know that there are better shows that I could be spending my time on.

Dive!! and Gamers!

Boring. That’s really what it boils down to for these two shows. Funny considering the total number of exclamation points in both of the titles.

Konbini Kareshi

Technically I should’ve watched this show last week but I didn’t like having the voices come from only my left earbud. Well I found a legitimate source (AKA I renewed my premium Crunchyroll subscription) and finally watched the episode. And... then I dropped it. You know that type of character design that’s present in a lot of BL-type media? Well that was a thing with this show. I didn’t let that stop me though, and continued on. In the end it was the fact that this show, like the two shows above, was pretty boring. Plus romance isn’t really in short supply with the shows that have it this season (well show), so it’s not too necessary for me to watch this to get my romance fix.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

Before watching this episode, I saw comparisons to Oregairu. Well, that’s not really true. This is the second time I’ve watched an anime because of Oregairu connections, the first being Gi(a)rlish Number. The problem with this show was not with the characters, but with the premise. Character-wise I can see how people compared it to Oregairu: the MCs of the two shows are kinda similar, there’s the long black-haired ice queen, and there’s the genki characters. But with this show, the whole idea of the show didn’t attract me too much, and I didn’t get very far before deciding to watch the next show on my list.

Best Episode of the Week: Isekai Shokudou

One word: WHOLESOME. This week’s episode single-handedly put this show all the way up to #1, and the reason for that is how wholesome it was. Apparently watching people enjoy eating good food is comforting. Who knew?

But yeah, that was a dang good episode of anime. I was smiling the whole time watching the people eat, and I got emotional both halves of the story when the girl was talking about her dead grandpa (relative?) and when the guy was rushing back to the restaurant with the biggest grin on his face for frickin fried shrimp. It’s still too early, but so far this show’s risen up to be my favorite of the season, and dare I say year? Well, that might be a bit premature. If there’s one thing I don’t like about the show so far though it’s the fantasy elements during the beginning of the storylines, but that’s kinda nitpicky since those help to create a backstory for the character so there’s more impact when we see them enjoy the food. I’m also a bit worried about the dragon character from last episode (with her whole treasure = restaurant thing potentially causing issues down the road) and there’s also the concern of how the other characters’ll be. But for now, I’ll just enjoy the show and the food.

And that’s all for this week! Hopefully with only one more show on my radar for this season, the rankings above should be fairly solid (give or take a few shows). So far this season’s off to a good start; hopefully it stays good. As always thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post!