#that will make sense ....if you know Devilman anyways lol

[nobuverse]

"What the hell? My stats seriously got nerfed when lost my avenger status..."

"...worth it."

[hikennosabo]

now that i've marinated in trimax's ending, i wanted to reflect a bit. i definitely don't have it in me to write a full review or anything lmao, but... it was a really incredible story, and i had a great time. i don't think i've ever cried this much over a manga, lol... usually i cry over audiovisual media. even all my crying about one piece has mostly been over the anime. other manga i've cried over off the top of my head have been different types of crying, if that makes sense (like crying over shimanami tasogare because the queer themes hit home, not because i was overly invested in & emotional about the character arcs). other manga like devilman and csm hit me emotionally but i didn't necessarily shed tears over them, and if i did certainly not as much as i did trimax lol.

i (predictably, if you know me, i love characters with complicated sibling relationships) latched onto knives when i watched tristamp... he is definitely hard to like in the manga sometimes, but his character arc is fantastic, so i ended up starting and ending this journey crying over him LMAO. i really really love all the characters in this story, except for like... the cartoonishly evil one-off bad guys and, as we all know, chapel. lmao. most of the characters are likable in one way or another, by some combination of being cool, strong, charismatic, funny, etc... just being complex and fantastically human, which is only natural in a story about human nature.

and of course i need to give a huge thank you to @trigunbookclub, @revenantghost for organizing, @trigun-manga-overhaul for the incredible scans & translation, and everyone in the tag for making this such a fun experience!

i loved reading everyone's posts, it really helped fuel the brainrot, and writing my own posts ended up being A Task but also fun. even though i feel my posts were mostly an exercise in inventing new ways to portray crying and screaming over text as opposed to everyone else's thoughtful observations and analysis LOL. and participating in book club kept me reading at a good pace, otherwise i either would have binged the whole thing in like 2 weeks or gotten distracted and not finished, so thanks for keeping me on schedule lol.

this is not the last you'll see of me in the tag, i still have art (memes) i want to make, there are a LOT of things i want to draw, a potentially (relatively) big project in my brain which i have no guarantee i'll get to lmao, plus character/ship playlists if i finish them, and maybe some other posts as i rewatch tristamp and 98 again. and i've still got to read multiple bullets ofc.

also i was holding back on following people because i was trying to avoid spoilers (which i failed at anyway because i have no self-control), but now i can follow people in the tag sooooo hello and sorry if you see me going through your trigun tags

[otakween]

8-Man vs. Cyborg 009 - Volume 2

Love a good 2 volume, short read every now and then. Unlike BGOO Parts, this one didn't outstay its welcome. Nothing ground breaking here, just some crossover fanservice like in the Devilman crossover. Fun times. Interested to see what's next for these franchises.

Ch. 7

8-Man tells Joe and Francoise about his past romantic drama with his secretary Sachiko. Francoise apparently "saw" Sachiko's presence when they were in 8-Man's office and wanted the tea lol.

If they're not gonna let Francoise fight, like ever, can they please introduce another female fighter or something? I'm getting really fed up watching her smile blandly on the sidelines or be a damsel in distress. Like if she's a pacifist, fine! But she's also the only girl cyborg so it feels insulting.

The two page spread of the demon God statue was a good jump scare. Let the final showdown, begin!

Ch. 8

Lol I guess the manga heard my complaints because they finally let Francoise shoot a gun at least. Also, her heightened senses finally did something useful. Alright, fine. You win this time mangaka...

Wait, what the hell!? Pyunma's back to his old racist design! THIS MANGA CAME OUT IN 2020 WTF??? (Good thing I didn't pay for this one lol).

Honestly, it seems ridiculous that Skull would just ignore the other numbers cyborgs. There's no way they wouldn't come after their kidnapped friends...just makes him look really stupid.

The Black Ghost minions were drawn all cutesy in like a chibi form. They look like they could be villains from a Mario game or something lol. Not very intimidating.

Ch. 9

Yaaay 008 pointed out the 8 thing =D lol. Glad he gets to contribute to the battle even though there's no water around lol.

Francoise has a weird bonding moment with Dr. Daemon because he saw her in a ballet once. He's definitely the chiller of the two evils but he's still actively working towards world domination and perpetual wars? I don't think this is really a "there's good in him" moment...

8-man sure loses his arms a lot. Guess they're just trying to emphasize his mechanical body.

I swear they used the EXACT same tactic to topple the demon God statue that they used to topple the Atlas-type robots in BGOO Parts! (006 digs a hole and then 005 pushes the big enemy over). Felt weird to see that used back-to-back in manga published so close to one another. Both times they emphasized it as some kinda ingenious strategy.

Ch. 10

Awe, I really liked this finale. They wrapped everything up in a nice, neat bow and sometimes that's all you want.

So Dr. Daemon was actually playing the long game and never allied with Black Ghost at all! Rather convenient lol. Does they mean the gang wouldn't have been able to defeat both enemies at once?

I completely forgot about Joe's juvenile delinquent backstory. Why do I feel like that doesn't fit his character at all? He's such a bland do-gooder now...Anyway, having 8-Man explain that he was a cop on the scene at the time of Joe's escape attempt was a clever way to tie the two series worlds together in a believable way.

So I guess Dr. Daemon is still not a great guy but not that evil either? I don't know enough 8-Man lore to make a conclusion lol. He seemed pretty okay with the heroes dying earlier, so I guess he's just all for himself.

This chapter got all Ghost in the Shell-y with the reveal that Skull isn't a real person, just a robot with implanted memories. Pretty brutal that he decapitated his own lackeys to prove a point what the heck...what if they weren't robots!?

So Black Ghost is dead "for real" now...riiiight. Until they inevitably get resurrected again for some future manga.

I was kinda shook to find out that Joe's hair is a wig (or maybe it's actually implanted into his scalp? IDK). It doesn't actually make any difference, I just never realized that was the case.

Dr. Gilmore and Dr. Tani being science bros was cute. Also enjoyed seeing Ivan (and his one eye) very briefly.

Nice picturesque ending with Joe and Francoise dropping 8-Man off at Sachiko's house and validating his humanity. Wholesome cyborgs supporting cyborgs.

Omake - Duel

A closer look at some 8-Man/Dr. Tani lore. I kinda wish they didn't include this tbh because it ended this volume on a depressing note.

Damn, if I was Ken I'd probably resent my dad too! Ken was like "you only love 8-Man!" and Dr. Tani was like "that's not true!" but then the second Ken dies Dr. Tani's just like "meh, at least I have 8-Man" lol. Poor Ken!

Speaking of poor Ken...that's one severe widow's peak. On top of having a craptastic life, he's also balding? Oh the humanity!

Dr. Tani acted like Ken being a cyborg with a human brain was a revelation of some sort? Sooo...if Dr. Tani wasn't the one to turn Ken into a cyborg, who did?

Ken's hero suit (or villain suit, I guess) literally just looks like he sharpied some fake pecs on lol. What a weird design choice.

As far as 1960s manga go, I think I prefer Cyborg 009's art style because it's more over-exaggerated and stylized. I think this allows it to hold up more. 8-Man feels more traditionally drawn (more proportional characters).

I'm kinda glad I got a glimpse into the authentic, OG 8-Man for greater context, but I'll also probably just read this again someday if I ever get to that part of MAL haha.

[bthump]

like a year or so ago you answered an ask about what would happen if griffith and ryo from devilman were thrown in a room together... what about guts and akira lmao?

lol I think they'd get along in a chill way. Probably depends on which versions/when, like if Black Swordsman Guts was there he might assume Akira was an apostle and swing first ask questions never, but if they didn't start out combatively they could totally just hang. Akira's plucky enough to get the conversation ball rolling, and Guts would be prickly if it was post-Eclipse but probably not enough to really dissuade Akira.

And I’m assuming this is devilman Akira, not shy pre-canon Akira. And if it was Crybaby specific, then his ott empathy would kick in and he’d spend his time weeping on Guts’ shoulder while Guts looks at him like ‘wtf.’

I think they’d be more fun in a full crossover though, not just being thrown in a room together. Like they hang out, then an apostle or demon shows up and Akira transforms, and Guts is like ‘omg you were an apostle the whole time???? how come I couldn’t sense it?’ yadda yadda yadda, Guts reluctantly teams up with him to fight the current attacker, then they talk and learn some stuff about each others’ histories and bond over being betrayed by divine pretty blonds.

Also it’d be cool if this was somehow Devilman Lady Akira, who we know is in the habit of telling randos his life story, so he can admit to Guts that he still loves Ryo, and Guts can have a lot of feelings about it. Sure Akira’s stuck in hell, but yk, maybe that just makes the crossover easier. Ghost Akira somehow falls through a portal in hell and ends up in Midland or something. It’s Devilman it doesn’t have to make sense.

Anyway thanks for asking!

[nebuvoid]

Hey I just finished reading devilman and I was wondering if you have any recommendations on what sequels/spin offs/ovas/whatever I should read or watch? You seem pretty knowledgeable about the subject lol

I've tried looking up what the deal is with the, like, 10 other devilman manga out there but it's pretty confusing. If devilman lady is a sequel to the original how is Akira alive? Is it a time loop situation?? And is violence jack canonical??? How does canon even work in this series. Idk

For now I'm reading shin devilman which seems kinda trashy but at least it takes place on the original timeline I think. I just want more Ryo content and shin seems to have a lot of that

Lucky you! There's already a structured Devilman Masterpost available so I don't have to fumble around. This got really long anyway though, whoopsie

Not only did Kea/Waaty give a guide of all Devilman and related content, they also give you warnings for each one. Because og Devilman is by far far FAR the most tame one. Anyone that intends to check out any of Go Nagai's works definitely needs to look at the warnings first.

As far as what is and isn't canon to og Devilman, Kea didn't mention it in the post but it's actually only og Devilman (obviously), Shin Devilman (yes really lol) (but honestly you can ignore it because it makes zero sense) and Devilman Lady. Go Nagai has stated that Violence Jack is not the same characters as the og Devilman ones, no it's not a different time loop or reincarnations. Same goes for Devilman Saga. (I can't recall right now if VJ was Satan's self-punishment while he froze himself in hell or if that's fanon. btw) You could think of them as terrible AUs, or an old man refusing to write new characters. In his works before Devilman he also uses similar or same characters. He only knows how to draw three people okay. Don't think about it too hard you'll get a headache.

Time Loops ARE relevant to Devilman's story though, as it's stated that God made and destroyed earth and it's souls over and over again. The ones he didn't trap in Hell for daring to be in contact with demons anyway, regardless of no human doing so willingly. Oh and there's also all mythical beings ever in Hell, God hated those too. Needless to say this is probably not a good read for Christians lol.

As for why Akira is even in DML: You have the physical realm, heaven, and hell, the latter two of which are not tied to what's going on in our reality. Which is why you have the same Akira from og Devilman in DML, in his 30s, busting it up in Hell lol. Just been napping and killing eternally regenerating demons for a couple million years while a new earth is made. Or a couple hundred who know's how this God makes it. Meanwhile on said new earth many of the characters from og Devilman are reincarnated.

If this is all a bit much for now, I highly suggest watching the OVAs and CB Chara Go Nagai World. The OVAs show the first, i think two volumes in animation form with cheesy dialogue (eng dub is a MUST watch) and they're really fun and gay. CB is like a little chibi retelling of the story without the serious tone. Go Nagai literally depicts himself as the cruel God lol.

And as much as it pains me to say it, if you want to read about a happy Ryokira conclusion you'll have to read Devilman Lady. It is quite literally the worst thing I've ever read for two dozen reasons, but it adds so so much to Devilman lore and the characters' understanding. And Kea also made a sort of summary of DML post. It also shows uh... how Akira comes back to life so honestly I'd suggest reading the post and if you can stomach it you're strong enough to read the manga itself because the post leaves a lot out. If you do and don't understand something you can come ask me again 👍I have some analyses posts about it.

Happy Deviling. Devil May Happy

[rainforestakiie]

Hi, hello! I'm so sorry to bother you and if this ask isn't something you want to answer, I understand! Anyway, so I was going through the ONS tag and I saw this theory pop up about 'Seraph' Mika's body being in Japan and how Shika wanted Mika's soul captured. In the past Shika called 'Seraph' Mika, they and (I haven't read the new chapter yet) accourding to others in the new chapter Seraph Mika's body is neither a he or she (I'm going to say it will probably be something like Satan from Devilman).

Now my question, it might just be my confused and stupid brain, but...let's say Shika is somehow able to still force Mika's soul into the 'Seraph' body and after the big reveal or battle, or whatever, Mika becomes human in the 'Seraph' body. This is so cringy, and I hope you understand what I'm trying to say...

We know Kagami has a thing for hetrosexual couples, but with all the hints that 'Seraph' Mika's body is 'female' then do you think might use that excuse to have Yuu and Mika together but have it still hetrosexual?

Quick explain:

Seraph Mika's body is repeatedly called a girl/woman/female.

Yuu wants Mika to be human again.

Shika might still be able to capture Mika's soul ?

Mika's soul isn't normal.

I dunno if any of that makes sense? but with the whole Mika was supposed to be female at first, I have a feeling...this might what it will be considering how massive MikaYuu is?

um, okay. so i sat on this for a while because well i dont know enough about owari no seraph anymore to answer this. the whole seraph mikaela thing i dont know much.

honestly, anything could happen.

i remember the first yuu calling seraph mikaela a pretty girl? and the others sorta agreed with him? so i guess that is possible? i'm not sure how the fandom will go down if kagami did this - turned mikaela female just to make mikayuu canon.

...it would be hilarious on both sides of the fandom! lol

but again, i don't know. this is interesting, and with how kagami writes owari no seraph, i wouldn't call it much of a reach...but i'm curious if shikama doji can still get mikaela's soul now he is a demon? but now you mention it, i think he probably can in some twisted way considering, like you said, seraph mikaela's body IS in japan and if mikaela becoming demon was the end of that - then why mention the body at all?

hmmm....

i leave it up for others, if they want to add more on - i haven't been reading owari no seraph like i used too, i've probably skimmed things and missed things.

but thank you for the ask. this is very curious, for me at least because well, i can see kagami doing some sort of shit like to bow to the mikayuu fandom and the japanese het couple thing - still...it would be funny as heck!

[akisata-moved]

Help i need help whats the intended reading/watching order for the devilman franchise i need to start watching and reading the spinoffs and sequels but there are so many where do i START

hi!! welcome to the wonderful world of devilman... my name is louie akisata ill be your guide BUCKLE UP because its a WILD RIDE. im not sure if this is necessarily the intended order, but its the order that... makes sense to me, so!

1. the original manga (obviously) start Here (:

a. you can also watch devilman (1972 anime) any time you want, because it's its own separate thing from the manga canon. i heart the 72 series

2. with your knowledge of the original manga, you can knock out devilman: the birth and devilman: the demon bird (ovas). pretty sure cyborg 009 vs devilman (ova series/crossover) is also good here.

a. optionally, you can continue on to amon: the apocalypse of devilman (ova), cb chara go nagai world (ova), and, if you want, but i dont suggest it if you havent already seen it, devilman crybaby (anime). (technically the events of the amon ova are covered in the manga, and cb chara go nagai world is a sort of. just parody ova, but if you want more context for these, skip them until later)

3. continue to the first "sequel", shin devilman (manga/sequel? it takes place during the manga, technically).

4. once you're done with that, move on to devilman lady (manga/official sequel). heavy content warnings for lady-- i don't know where to begin here. be careful with this one if youre sensitive to sexual violence.

a. optional-- from my knowledge, there is a devilman lady series, devil lady (anime), but it's more of its own thing and not really related to being a sequel. i havent watched this-- but from what ive heard, big warnings for rape here as well.

5. optional-- after lady, you could read violence jack (manga/sequel). it started as the original sequel to devilman, but then it eventually branched out to its own thing. it is no longer canon "to anything except itself", but it does have some interesting characterization of ryo.

a. if you skipped cb chara, feel free to watch it now. the violence jack parts are... minimal, but, you know, theyre there. while youre at it, download a SNES emulator and play cb chara wars (fucking video game). and then cry about it, because that game is a bitch.

b. there are also violence jack ovas (harem bomber, evil town, and hells wind) that are out there. extremely violent and sexual from what ive heard. i havent watched these

6. at this point, i believe you'll have enough context to fully tackle neo devilman (manga/anthology), but considering it's all one-shots, if you want to read this before lady, feel free. there is a story that takes place during the devilman lady time period in here though.

7. also, feel free to read amon: the dark side of devilman (and its side story, devilman: strange days) (manga/spinoff) any time after completing the original manga. its a spinoff that talks about the demons, mostly sirene and amon. i havent read this yet, because god its so long and reading stuff is soooo hard....

a. if you skipped amon: apocalypse, you can come back to it after this. it's very loosely based off of this manga.

8. and now its time for devilman saga (manga/sequeell...? i think?) which is. from what im AWARE, a "sequel" of devilman (and possibly third part of a trilogy), but it's very different from the original, doesnt feature the same characters (not really, anyways) and so far... isn't that connected to devilman. i say so far because. um. as of january 12, 2022, it's still not fully translated.

9. from there you have all the knowledge you really need to do whatever, and so order doesnt really matter anymore. find all those tiny one shots that go nagai did and read all of them!!

i think that's all the main things... lmk if i missed anything or if you have any questions on anything? its like 2 am so hopefully this is accurate LOL

[gustingirl]

nella recommends :)

i have been watching so many shows and movies that i felt like recommending them, especially since some of them are very underrated. i’ll continue adding as i watch new things, so here we go!

you can find it all under the keep reading below!

Anime

| Cells at Work | (9.5/10)

themes: educational about medicine

opinion: completely lovely and cute, kinda didn’t like the lack of names for the characters but it made sense anyways. It’s very educational about anatomy, medicine and biology, so if you dont like weird scientific names and explanations of medicine, you wont like it 

| Kakegurui | (10/10)

themes: betting and girls lol 

opinion: one of my favorites so far, all characters are so unique and even if they aren’t supposed to be good guys, you end up loving them. Plot can get kinda confusing at parts but wont last long. Also u must like at least games with bets like a casino cause it’s the base of the show. Know that it contains some weird scenes that sort of sexualizes the girls but are we surprised by now? 

| Beastars | (10/10)

themes: animals and else, look at your own risk 

opinion: this one blew my mind i swear, the animation is perfect. It felt like a movie, the dialogues were perfect, characters were relatable, i felt like sometimes it was a reference to the real world with discrimination and so, like a japanese sort of graphic zootopia lol but it’s a must 

| Gantz:O | (9.5/10)

themes: movie - cyberfuturistic 

opinion: you gotta love cybergs and blood and weird monsters to like this one. It’s a movie tho, and the end got me sort of confused. Lots of sexualizing female characters but nothing we haven’t seen before. All characters are endearing and makes u get attached fast 

| Devilman Crybaby | (8/10)

themes: graphic af and supernatural kinda 

opinion: ok i have mixed feelings about this one, i liked and cried the ending lol, plot is lowkey messy but i think it’s worth a shot. Know that it contains graphic scenes with s*x, drugs, violence and adult language. 

| A Silent Voice | (100/10)

themes: movie - drama for sure 

opinion: hands down one of the best movies, no cap. Carries a strong message, all the characters teach you something for life, you will cry a lot, let me alert you. I cried like six times but i fucking loved this movie with my whole heart, is one of my favorite ones 

| Japan Sinks | (9/10)

themes: drama - natural disasters

opinion: ok this one was good, maybe could be better tbh, many sad parts, also dialogues were weird to me like a bit senseless and there was a weird part of the story but overall it’s entertaining! 

| Altered Carbon: Resleeved | (9.5/10)

themes: movie - sci fi cyberpunk kinda +18

opinion: there are a bunch of graphic things like violence and all but overall i really loved this movie, the animation was on point, it felt like a video game tbh maybe there’s a bit of sexualization of women but she’s still badass and i really liked her 

| B: The Beginning | (7/10)

themes: half fantasy half crime

opinion: i’m not sure how i feel about this one, it was veeery entertaining, had funny things and interesting characters, only the plot felt a bit confusing at some parts but generally the anime was very good, good ending as well, and keith flick owns my heart and soul so yeah lol 

| The Promised Neverland | (1000/10)

themes: kinda horror, more like psychological suspense)

opinion: one of the best animes i’ve watched so far, i don’t even know where to start, just read this because it says it all 

| Shiki Oriori | (9/10)

themes: movie - wholesome drama ig

opinion: it’s has the whole ghibli vibe, it’s divided in three stories with similar meanings, it’s about love and life in general, don’t expect a big plot, it makes you feel things tho, i enjoyed it a lot 

| Ajin | (8/10)

themes: supernatural, action

opinion: ok i finally finished it and let me say many things. first, it was frustrating many times and kinda slow too, that’s why it took me a lot to finish it. but the plot is SO good, the characters are iconic (i’m in love with mr. tosaki) and the animation is so different to other kinds of anime. it’s hard to recommend tbh, it has its pros and cons and a lot of violence, but its good overall 

| Blame! | (8/10)

themes: movie - sci fi cyberpunk

opinion: i personally loved this movie because i enjoy these cyberpunk stories, though the plot was sort of confusing at first. the characters are not so deep and it’s truly enjoyable. overall it was good tho slow at first. 

| Ano Hana | (1000/10)

themes: PURE SADNESS, loads of mentions of death

opinion: destroyed my little heart. it was extraordinary, a bit dense at times but overall it really just kills you. it’s very well done and it’s impossible to finish it without crying at least once.

Kdramas

| Hwarang | (10000/10)

themes: historical 

best ost: the divine move

opinion: wouldn’t recommend it as a first kdrama to watch since it is basically about ancient korea but if you like shinee and bts, i’m sure you will like to see minho and taehyung together, also the cast is perfect and the bromances of the show are everything 

| Strong Girl Bong Soon | (9.5/10)

themes: rom com mostly with superpowers

opinion: extremely adorable, bo young and hyung sik have such a good chemistry, i didn’t like much the funny parts but it’s bearable i guess 

| The K2 | (100000000/10 no lying)

themes: action with good villain

best ost: love you

opinion: this is my real must watch, this drama is beyond amazing, the acting is on point, the plot twists so much that i love it, action parts are kinda choreographed obvs but it’s tolerable, ji chang wook’s acting is on point btw 

| Suspicious Partner | (10/10)

themes: a bit of everything but mostly rom com

best ost: 101 reasons why i like you

opinion: gosh i love this cast so much, ji wook and bong hee’s relationship is everything, u can tell the actors also have amazing chemistry. Funny parts were well done and not annoying, and the plot twists are so good you can’t be mad, i only hated how long it was 

| The Bros | (9/10)

themes: movie - comedy mostly

opinion: it’s actually a mix of everything lmao i cried and laughed and was lowkey confused but it’s such a rollercoaster i really loved it also ma dong seok is the best actor korea has, no cap 

| Derailed | (8/10)

themes: movie - suspense and action

opinion: starring shinee’s minho, the plot is a bit confusing at first, but it is very entertaining, with adult language and maybe violent scenes but honestly it’s very good and underrated 

| Argon | (8.5/10)

themes: journalism - drama 

opinion: it’s from netlix, super short (8 eps) and is so damn good, maybe the end left me a bit underwhelmed but throughout the show it was all so damn good, i like for once that the romance wasn’t the principal issue, it’s all focused on the corruption inside the media and the press, i really recommend it 

| Psychokinesis | (9/10)

themes: movie - superheroe-ish comedy

opinion: it’s quite funny tbh, the whole superpowers thing was carried quite well (still a little bit too much sometimes) and the characters are loveable 

| Don’t Cry Mommy | (9/10)

themes: movie - drama

opinion: honest to god this was a very good movie, amazing acting and very touching story. It’s veeery sad tho, trigger warning though there are scenes about rape, i recommend searching up the plot before watching but overall the movie is very well done, i personally don’t agree with the end but i guess it’s just my way of seeing it all 

| The Sound of Magic | (1000/10)

themes: musical with magic, like a korean greatest showman but mixed up

best ost: a curse of asphalt

opinion: it’s delightful to watch, the cinematography is extraordinary and i can’t even begin telling you about the music. musicals can be done terribly wrong but this is not the case, no. it was done in such a elegant and beautiful way that it’s not even dull. ji chang wook steals the spotlight in my opinion, he knows how to make you feel things and his voice oh god. i’m his biggest fan btw

Other shows

| Grand Hotel | (7/10)

country: spain

themes: historical

opinion: not my favorite one, since i’m not a fan of shows or movies located on 1905 but the characters are memorable, the place of women is well shown (for the time right?), tho some things are lowkey questionable as well 

| Love, Death and Robots | (9.5/10)

country: usa

themes: pretty self explanatory, also +18) 

opinion: it has so much violence and s*x scenes tbh but the animations being different in each episode it’s so cool and it only lasts 10 minutes each episode, tho i warn you about this one is super weird

| Scream MTV | (8/10)

country: usa

themes: thriller/suspense i guess

opinion: i’m so sad it only lasts 2 seasons, the show is amazing and the suspense is carried on very well 

| Unorthodox | (10/10)

countries: germany/usa

themes: judaism, based on real events

opinion: if you’re jewish, is a must watch and if you’re not jewish, and even bigger must watch. It teaches so much about the role of women in the orthodox jewish communities, and it’s based on real events 

| Girl From Nowhere | (8/10)

country: thailand

themes: suspense/supernatural kinda

opinion: this show is short but so good, each story teaches that actions have consequences and that karma arrives at some moment, it may be hard to endure some parts but it’s totally worth it. 

| Avenida Brazil | (8/10)

country: brazil

themes: drama)

opinion: it’s from 2012 i believe but the story is super entertaining, many plot twists, very good cast and i may say very good soundtrack too lol 

| Everything Sucks! | (10000/10)

country: usa

themes: teen sitcom

opinion: just one word: A-FUCKING-MAZING!. This show was the best seriously, i couldn’t care less about the end, the whole show had it all: lgbtq+ representation (and very well done), biracial couples, healthy relationships between parents and children, beautiful friendships, character development very well done as well, it takes place on the fucking 90s which makes it even better. Please watch this one, you’re gonna love it 

| Las Chicas del Cable | (8/10)

country: spain

themes: historical but not so much, and feminism

opinion: ok this show had my heart, i lived for these girls and all, but the end really fucked me up, i didn’t like it one bit (my opinion tho), but i still recommend it, also Óscar and Marga own me 

| Guava Island | (9/10)

country: usa 

themes: short film, there’s music and it’s pretty

opinion: it’s a very short film starring rihanna and childish gambino, it’s so fucking good i recommend it especially for the music and the good messages it has 

| Re:Mind | (9.5/10)

country: japan

themes: suspense

opinion: this one i must say at first it’s boring and a bit disappointing but it gets soooo goood, i got so immersed in the story, the acting may not be the bestest but it’s bearable, idk i ended up loving it, also i love kyoko with my whole life 

| Awake | (1000/10)

country: usa

themes: movie, suspense

opinion: ok i have to recommend this movie because it was SO good, for starters we have hayden christensen looking hot af and being the amazing actor he is, the plot twists are so well done and the whole idea is so obscure but so good, i highly recommend it 

| Lupin | (9.5/10)

country: france

themes: crime/action

opinion: this one was very good, incredibly short (five episodes, 50 mins each), definitely entertaining, it moves smoothly but quite fast, nothing is too hard to understand. The characters are so well done, if you like those films or shows where everything is planned and goes on perfectly even when it doesn’t seem like, this is your show 

| Good Girls | (100/10)

country: usa

themes: crime/comedy

opinion: it’s been so long since the last time i got so goddamn immersed with a show, i literally couldn’t stop watching it. The comedy is carried surprisingly good taking into account that it isn’t a full comedy show, the topics are well touched and acting on point. Watch it for the plot (the plot’s name is Rio btw) 

| All My Friends Are Dead |  (9.999/10)

country: poland 

themes: movie, suspense

opinion: alright i swear this one starts off weird but it’s actually really good, the plot twists are completely well done, characters are well defined, there’s a bit of everything too. gets sexual and quite violent as well, so keep that in mind. overall, it truly surprises you tbh, also the lack of content on tumblr saddens me since i fell for Filip

| Los Simuladores | (infinite/10)

country: argentina

themes: action

opinion: i dont have much to say except this is the greatest show on television that ever existed, if you’re argentinian you will love it even more, i am literally speechless 

| El Señor de los Cielos | (8/10)

country: mexico

themes: action, drugs

opinion: i will start saying i didn’t exactly watch it entirely but i caught a lot of it from my mom watching it, especially the last seasons, overall the show is good tho a lot of plots are useless and some characters are very bland, but it’s enjoyable, ismael and el chema are mine btw dont touch them

| El Reino | (10/10)

country: argentina

themes: religion and crimes

opinion: It’s kinda hard to explain the plot without spoiling much, the plot is basically about evangelism and politics, with crimes and others. I truly loved this show, I couldn’t stop watching it. It’s short and the acting is immaculate 

Also if you want, drop me recommendations as well! I’m here to watch new things!!

[kaysreviews]

My Review of Devilman Crybaby (2018)

One night me and my friends were browsing through Netflix looking for what we called a “titty anime” basically a goofy anime that had titties galore. We stumbled across Devilman Crybaby, which I had heard a lot of talk about the year before and I suggested we give it a try. One of my friends agreed, but the other was apprehensive and really would rather watch a titty anime. We agreed to watch one episode to see if we like it. And oh did we get a titty anime. Not only were there close up butt shots and ridiculous boob physics, there was a beautiful story showing the faults of humanity and the power of love.

Now I probably just did this show a disservice by opening up this review talking about how it’s a “titty anime” but I wanted to paint you guys a picture of how I literally stumbled on this anime and was absolutely blown away. So blown away that it made me get back into anime again. Devilman Crybaby is the Netflix adaptation of Go Nagai’s classic manga, Devilman (1972), that came out in 2018. There are only 10 episodes which makes it a quick, but highly satisfying watch. It follows a wimpy high school kid turned demon hottie, Akria Fudo, as he is told to fight devils by his childhood friend, Ryo Asuka. Akria is neither demon nor human, he is a devilman, a demon with a human heart. The world turns into an apocalyptic nightmare as the fear inside the humans grow. They start to accuse each other of being demons and end up killing each other, which begs the question: who are the real demons here?

Evangelion was a story about the humanity of an individual, and Crybaby is about humanity as a population, as one mind, fueled by fear of the unknown. I love the way this anime shows this mass hysteria, as everything goes south slowly, then very quickly. The pacing of this show was perfect, it kept those important slow moments and knew when things needed to speed up. I thought keeping this show to 10 episodes was a good decision, it keeps the viewer involved in every episode and offers a solid beginning middle and end. Crybaby was actually the first devilman show that included the original ending from the manga, the other shows/OVAs either changed the ending or didn’t even get to the ending, and trust me the ending is so important and it makes this show for me.

Above anything else this show is a love story, through and through. If you look at this story through Ryo’s perspective, it is about satan (spoilers: Ryo is satan) who falls in love with a human and wants to eradicate the world of all other humans so it’s just him and his love. His love, Akria, actually has another love, humanity, and so by killing all the humans, Ryo kills Akira too, and is left wondering what he did wrong. Then the story starts again as a new world rises from the ashes of the old one. (you can watch this video here, which goes into more detail on this concept) I think it’s such an interesting idea to have such a beautiful love story between a god and a human. So for all you shippers out there, Akria and Ryo are basically canon though they don’t really get to live happily ever after. (spoiler: Akria is cut in half and is dead)

Now I would like to talk about the comparisons between the manga and Crybaby. I actually read the manga for this show and there were some major differences. First, the setting. Both in Japan of course, but the manga takes place in 1972 and the show takes place in 2018, so obviously the show had to be updated to a modern setting. the bullies from the manga were transformed into rappers (?) and Miki’s character was changed drastically to be way less girly and annoying. Crybaby also added this track and field subplot which I didn’t really understand why it existed other than to make the passing of the baton analogy later in the show. I didn’t hate it though, it was nice to not have a boring classroom setting for the character interactions. 

I thought there was a lot better flow in Crybaby, the manga kinda felt like events just happening but the show actually flowed from one event to the next so it felt more like an organic story. (I don’t really know how to describe this well, ya just gotta read the manga) Though I did think the manga handled Ryo’s backstory better. In Crybaby he lived in some tribe? and he had satan powers but did he forget he was satan? did he know he was satan all along? it wasn’t really clear. In the manga however it was as simple as satan reincarnated into a boy and he got his satan memories back when he got older. This made Akria and Ryo’s friendship make more sense as they were literally normal childhood friends. In Crybaby they lived on some island I guess? Again their history wasn’t too simple and clear, though I honestly didn’t mind it that much, I just preferred the manga in that sense.

Another big difference was the art style. I liked both styles but Crybaby takes the cake for me. The show was directed by Masaaki Yuasa who was also in charge of art direction and I honestly love his style. It’s so loose and organic and easily stands out amongst other anime styles. the looseness offers interesting animation as well and I think it’s one of the most well animated shows I’ve seen. (which is such a breath of fresh air after watching so many animes) 

Overall this show stands so well on its own. It breaks away from the source material while also being the truest adaptation of the manga to date. It’s a wonderful and classic story for anime fans, and even if you’re not that into anime I’d recommend it to you. Of course I could go on and on about this show but I will wrap it up here. This still stands as one of my favorite shows (not just anime) and i’ll rank it a 9/10 (nothing’s perfect). If you’ve got a Netflix subscription and a few hours, go give this show a try, I don’t think you’ll regret it. And as always, leave me your thoughts! I haven’t met someone who didn’t like this show but I kinda want to lol. Anyway, thank you for reading!

[rutilation]

In honor of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that has occurred in the last few days for fear of potential incoming Joshua discourse, I have decided to get ahead of the curve and start discoursing about him before the anime even airs!

(--because he’s an interesting character who I didn’t really understand until several years after finishing the game.)

So, I got into the game around 2010, and while I comprehended the broad strokes of Joshua’s character, he seemed more like an inscrutable trickster than a person with relatable emotions, and his reasons for setting the plot into motion were as opaque to me as his reasons for backing off at the last second.

In particular, a big sticking point for me was his assessment of Neku.  He considered him “the worst person in Shibuya” and chose him as a proxy because of that.  And for years I thought that was the most ludicrous aspect of the game.  If the very worst person you can find in your bustling metropolis is a grumpy teenager who only has the potential to commit murder when under duress, then how could you possibly think that it’s beyond salvation, you utterly incoherent moron!  But, several years afterwards, I realized why he saw Shibuya as unsalvageable, and why he held Neku in such contempt, and the disparate elements of the character started to click into place for me.  

For as much as Joshua likes to put on airs, his motivations aren’t rational in the slightest.  When Joshua says that Shibuya has grown shallow and static, he’s really talking about himself, and is projecting all the things he hates about himself onto the surrounding environment.  He singles out Neku not because this run-of-the-mill moody teen is objectively the worst person in Shibuya, but because he sees Neku as a younger, more naive version of himself, and in a classic example of the narcissistic element of self-hatred, being like him is the most irredeemable sin Joshua can conceive of.

Then, I started thinking about what he actually intended to accomplish with his whole plan, and specifically, the duel at the end.  I don’t think Joshua had any intention of presiding over a remade Shibuya.  I think he was banking on Neku killing him and taking his place, and all that stuff about hijacking Shibuya from the composer during week two was for the sole purpose of planting that idea in Neku’s head.  In life, Joshua was friendless, miserable, and myopic.  He had hoped that by entering the world of the reapers’ game, he might find a sense of fulfillment.  But in the end, this mere change of scenery didn’t do anything to address his underlying malaise, and life felt just as empty as it did before.   Thus, he sets his plan in motion, intending to pass on his awful torch to a fellow awful person.  

What he didn’t count on was Neku growing as a person and gaining hope instead of losing it.  Joshua wanted to end his own world, but the outcome of all his scheming was that it opened up instead.  Instead of validating his grand act of self-destruction as planned, Neku refutes Joshua's worldview in a way he can't ignore or dismiss.

When I first saw the secret ending, my reaction was something along the lines of: “Aww, I guess he’s not totally heartless after all.”  But looking back on it, I can’t really see it as anything other than tragic.  Joshua can’t lie to himself anymore, can’t continue to protect himself with a shield of apathy and cynicism, but because of the permanence of his past choices, he can’t actually free himself from this isolated and claustrophobic world he’s created either, and that prison is made all the more painful now that he realizes how much he’s missing out on.  All he can do in the secret ending is watch forlornly as that younger version of himself grows up, makes connections, and moves on, while he’s still stuck at a dead-end.

(There’s a moment during the credits of KH:3D in which Joshua is perched above the rest of the cast on a giant letter, parodying his fondness for sitting on buildings.  The others soon take notice of him, and hassle him into coming down and joining them.  When I noticed it, it warmed my heart a bit, and made me hopeful about the trajectory of his character, regardless of whether or not a sequel would actually materialize.)

But all that being said, what I just wrote isn’t what the fine folk in the TWEWY fandom mean when they refer to Joshua discourse.  As far as I can tell, the true discursive quandary is thus:  “Is Joshua, in fact, Komaeda?”  Well I have bad news for you guys because, in my humble opinion, he kind of is?  

Now, I realize that knowing enough to write several paragraphs about such a cursed character can be seen as me telling on myself, but in my defense, your honor, I didn’t get into danganronpa until a few years after its popularity peaked.  Whatever discourse wars were waged over Komaeda and his zipper-shoes back in 2013, I was not a part of them.  With that out of the way...

You know those posts that get passed around here every so often about how the concept of gifted children sucks?  How it puts too much pressure on them?  How it encourages them to see themselves as instrumentally rather than inherently valuable?  How it leaves them anxious, depressed, and bereft of ways to cope?  Well, that’s the underlying allegory of SDR2, and underneath all the wacky shenanigans that comprise your average danganronpa title, that’s what the cast is contending with.  This is true of it’s protagonist, and especially true of his rival.

in much the same way that Joshua is the worst parts of Neku exaggerated and taken to their logical conclusion, Komaeda plays precisely that role for Hinata.  Both characters serve as a cautionary tale for the respective toxic mindsets that these games are denouncing.

Now that I think about it, Komaeda almost seems like an evolution of the concept, because he intuits from a fairly early point in the story that the protagonist’s very essence is a refutation of his worldview.  He insists on viewing Hinata as being far above him, but in actuality he realizes Hinata is in a similar situation--see his comment in one of the FTEs that Hinata feels like a miserable outsider like himself.  And if someone even a little bit like him is capable of experiencing happiness and connecting with others, what then?  The gap between how Komaeda wants to feel and how he actually feels is a subtle but reoccurring thread throughout the story.  This, I think, is why he seems to regard Hinata with both attraction and revulsion, treating him as simultaneously an avatar of his repressed will (hence why he attempts to bolster him in the class trials,) and an object of scorn (hence the smattering of passive aggressive jabs before chapter four, and the outright antagonism from that point forward.)  While Joshua fools himself until the the end of the game, Komaeda, master of doublethink that he is, seems at times self-aware of the fact that he is a foil in the literary sense, and that awareness partly informs his neurosis.  His take on the character type feels a little more post-modern, I suppose? 

Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if Joshua were an inspiration for Komaeda’s character and role in the story.  But even then, I suspect that the question is less, “Is Joshua, in fact, the same sort of character as Komaeda?” and more “Is Joshua, in fact, going to become a contemptible meme like Komeada?”  To which I say, probably not.  *knock on wood*

For one thing, while TWEWY will certainly experience an uptick in popularity once the anime starts airing, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will capture the nerd zeitgeist enough to turn one of its characters into a meme that transcends the story from whence it came.  Furthermore, there’s more to being a tumblr sexy meme man than merely belonging to an archetype.  Komaeda’s spiritual successor in DRV3 is kind of popular, but isn’t an inter-fandom joke in the same way he is, and neither are Kaworu from Eva or Ryo from Devilman, for that matter, and those are the grandfathers of the archetype in question.  In addition, the other infamous tumblr sexymen that come to mind, Sans and Onceler, aren’t a part of the white-haired-anime-rival-boy archetype, and Sans isn’t even a conventionally attractive twink.  I posit that the alchemy determining which characters and media tumblr loses its shit over is more varied and complicated than it appears at first glance.  (Not that I actually want to devote much brainpower to that particular field of study, lol.)

Uhhhhh... in conclusion, thank you for reading my words and also the DR3 anime is trash.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen 1 | Gakuen Babysitters 1 | Idolish7 3 | Zoku Touken Ranbu Hanamaru 1 | Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 1 | Miira no Kaikata 1 | Death March 1

The debuts for the winter season keep coming, but we’re almost at the end of them with this post.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 1

Note I don’t have any prior experience with Cardcaptor Sakura aside from 1 volume of manga and watching the show in passing while other people were watching it, plus knowing about a few spoilers and the show’s reputation as a seminal magical show show…then in more recent days, I finished 2 episodes of it (in fact as of the day I’m typing this, I finished episide 2 today!).

This OP makes Sakura look like later-stage Sailor Moon, and I think that’s the point.

Where did the bear in Syaoran’s hand go when Sakura hugged him?

Eriol! I don’t really know much about him, and I knew I should’ve known about him before starting this, but…it was a bit of a shock to see a character I technically haven’t seen the debut of with my own eyes.

I get the feeling these are the “two bears” from the prologue OVA…

Emails! In the world of Cardcaptor Sakura! Wow, I feel old…and I didn’t even grow up with her.

Hot dang! Gimme dat bishie (Yue)! I knew he was coming, but…I still don’t really know how he came to be!

Wow, this Yamazaki kid spouts such rubbish! I’m looking forward to seeing him in the main series now.

It’s pretty obvious I need to watch the original before understanding this fully, so I’m putting it on hold.

Gakuen Babysitters 1

I’m here for my Ume and Nishiyama. I’m not particularly good at dealing with kids, especially younger kids, but this doesn’t make me run for the hills either.

Ryuichi involves the kanji for “dragon” and Kotaro has the kanji for “tiger”.

That man with the hat is so not sketchy…

I’ve never heard of NAS before (but I have heard of NAZ through Idolish7).

That joke Saikawa told actually worked! These shows may all be middling this winter, but I’d be happy with even some of them on my docket. I’ve been pleasantly surprised more often than not that I haven’t found “stinker of the season” yet.

The comedy for this show’s really on point, although the overall design is a tad lackluster.

K-Kamitani?! Apparently Ume-chan’s character is Hayato Kamitani, so that’s how Ume got involved, so to speak. This sudden intro of 4 kids works on a story scale, but not in a way any person can process without pausing the video (or getting individual intros later).

Well, there are those individual intros I was asking for. Spoke too soon.

It’s actually kinda sad and quite telling how independent Kotaro is. (I still find it extremely hilarous Nishiyama – whose first name is Kotaro - didn’t voice Kotaro, although from a practical standpoint I understand why.)

Usaida has such bedroom eyes, it’s hard to ignore (because they make him look like En)! Dangit, I want my En back!

This brings back memories. My mum used to deal with kids all the time, and of course I was in the background for some of the shenanigans.

Dragon puppet symbolism, eh? (see the dotpoint a bit back about Ryuichi’s name)

As soon as this guy (who kinda looks like something out of Haikyuu) started demanding Taka come with him, I screamed. That character doesn’t seem very Ume, but…uh, it’s Ume. Gotta deal with it. Now that I listen to their voices properly though, Ume does have a “big bro” voice and Nishiyama a “earnest young man” voice.

Oh dear. Taka’s imprinted on me already, and I don’t even like boys that age.

I haven’t felt a genuine sense of danger from any of these winter shows until this one, so it seems like it’s one of the strongest debuts. Then again, CCS was my frontrunner before this and YuruCamp the second best, so I guess I can’t talk, eh?

Gah, I feel like I wanna cry now. That is a strong premiere!

I have a real problem with how anime tears come out in globs. Then again, I’m too much of a crybaby, as my notes can attest…so I guess no arguing here.

Should it be “Chairman” or “Chairwoman”???

Tsundere grandma. Now there’s something I thought I’d never think in my life…

Oh, I didn’t realise earlier but Taka = “hawk” and Hayato = “falcon man”. Animal jingoism at its finest!

Whoo, that was a real nice debut. I thought I was too old for this stuff, but it’s a keeper!

Idolish7 3

It’s a good thing I chose to cover episodes 1 – 2 so I won’t have to do them now.

I didn’t notice Nagi getting all huggy there with everyone in range (the first time, at least).

In case you don’t know from all the other idol shows, the centre is the one in centre stage. They’re often seen as the leader, so it’s a very important position.

This song can’t be anything but Monster Generation! Woohoo!

Wow, I haven’t seen one of those “watch from a distance” things in a while. Makes me nostalgic.

“Ichi” would probably refer to Iori, right? (He has the kanji for “one” in his name.)

Wowee, Nagi’s entendre…is really thick. Like pudding.

I agree, brothers can be so strange…

“…spoil me sometimes.” - Laying on the entendre thicker than custard here, Iori!

These boys are so into their Magical Kokona. I want in now.

Tamaki really is an En-chan…En-chan! Come back! (But why does Tamaki have no socks???)

These ED outfits are so elaborate! Ooh! Imagine a gender-swapped cosplay of them, that’s be great!

Who’s that on the edge of the ED video though? (You can see something hopping up and down.)

Zoku Touken Ranbu Hanamaru 1

Can we please just call this “Hanamaru 2” like Crunchyroll? “Zoku” just refers to a continuation…anyways, I got Hanamaru season 1 done last year while dealing with Katsugeki, so…here I come, sword boys!

Didn’t Hanamaru get a dub, by the way? Why would you dub this? For me to criticise it? The Touken Ranbu fanbase is kinda small…

W-Wait, did they just write Yams out of this season? Yams is the protag (if not a protag) here! What did Ichiki do now to deserve this???

It was getting too hard to jump through the proxies to play Touken Ranbu as of late, so I deleted my DMM account. Even still, the sword boys have multiplied since I left! Yikes!

Wow, unexpected 1st person bit there, Kashuu/Masuda. I thought I told the industry to stop doing that…

Exposition wave…I don’t need this wave, but I guess anime-only fans might. Carry on, Heshikiri.

So this multiple Konnosuke thing wasn’t a Katsugeki-only gag? Oh dear, my head’s spinning…

I don’t think I noticed, but Kashuu uses a brush (and not a specialty brush provided in the lid of nail polish). Probably because in Touken Ranbu, plastic isn’t much of a concept…

I still appreciate how Kashuu was this Saniwa’s starter. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy for my own TR days…

Photos are a nice way to recap. After all, 1 picture speaks 1000 words.

Wow, Shishiou’s a real chibi compared to these tachi. But Shishiou’s a tachi too…

Dang, I’m jealous. These bros were around when I was a TR player, and I missed ‘em! Dang Kebishii drops!

So that thing really is a nue. I could never see it on Shishiou’s card, y’know.

Hmm…considering the bros are new swords, the Saniwa’s strategy is to level up them up using the younger bro as leader (remember, the leader gets more experience). I see…

A “pincer attack” is a V shape, so the description fits the Crane Wings formation…

I can’t say I wasn’t impressed by Akashi just then. Come to think of it, he didn’t have any battles in Hanamaru’s 1st season.

A double attack suits a pair like this, of course!

Oh my gosh, they even got two dfferent voice actors for the Konnosukes! LOL!

Hanamaru’s EDs kept changing and it seems like they’ll continue to change, eh? This one looks quite spiffy.

The style of this ED doesn’t look like Hanamaru at all. It was probably done by the original illustrator for the swords.

It’s a great return to form for Hanamaru! I’m sold!

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 1

Another day, another long title…plus this show I would’ve passed on, if not for that resolution…

Michiko Yokote is on a lot of shows I watch. I don’t really know what her influence is, but it seems she’s genuinely competent at what she does.

So…uh, Gendo pose anyone?

I think the teacher is the best part of this. I’ve been a bit of Tonari no Seki-kun, and the pull of that is the sheer ludicrousness of what Seki does with his stuff. However, there didn’t seem to be any intervention aside from Yokoi (I think that was her name)…

Nishikata’s reactions are just way too easy to read…

Well, that was okay, but it’s definitely a show to binge all at once. On to the “on hold” pile it goes.

Wait, but they missed a segment (the 100 yen segment). Gotta skip forward…

I didn’t get any laughs out of that show at all, but it’s still a decent school SoL.

How to Keep a Mummy 1

I have absolutely no experience with this manga, mind you…aside from seeing this tiny mummy on Comico…

Wow, if the mummy can fit in his shoe…how big is it?

The translation of “ready” is surprisingly ganbaru, and there’s a “but” mentioned in the Japanese title missing from the English. Also, “ready” has sexual connotations I’d rather not pair with a tiny mummy…I’d say the translation of the episode title should be something more along the lines of “White, Round, Small, Very Wimpy But [Also] Tries Its Hardest” (“It” being the mummy and not Pennywise…).

Is Dracula even public domain right now? (Does anyone care about the intellectual property of a classic vampire novel anyway? Because I sure don’t.)

Can we please start making jokes about how Sora’s daddy got him a mummy? It may seem childish, but I’m tempted to now.

This mummy is so adorable, I think it even beat out the kids from Gakuen Babysitters! Geesh, I’m spoilt this season! It completely set off my moe senses, and I don’t even have any!

It imprinted on him! Oh wow!

The mummy doesn’t even have a mouth…how can it spit things-oh wait. That’s the joke, isn’t it?

Come to think of it, crybaby characters ae few and far between. However, between this and Devilman…er, Crybaby…they’ve suddenly become popular…I guess?

It’s like a harem, only it’s between a dog and a mummy. Why I never…

One of the best things about anime is that you can learn about other cultures through the things included offhandedly…like that molokhiya thing that Sora mentioned. Apparently it’s a Jewish vegetable of some sort.

Do mummies get jet lag too? I was just thinking how Comico stories, with their full colour and yet simple design (to allow for downward scrolling and intake by the eyes) are perfect for anime.

I listened to the show with volume for once…because Tazuki seems to be the guy voiced by Keisuke Koumoto…and I think I was on the money there. Plus, Sora’s VA really sells the delivery of jokes (although he seems to be voiced by a woman…?)!

Yamanba…like Yamanbagiri’s namesake. The mountain hag, right?

Yep, I was right on the money with Tazuki being Koumoto. Kamitani Tazuki, it seems his name is…

This dance ending’s kind of cute, too. It’s a keeper!

Death March 1

(looks at title just above this dotpoint) C’mon. There’s no way I’m going to repeat “Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody” over and over again for at least 11 or 12 episodes…by the way, I’m here because I was reading a KonoSuba novel and saw an ad for this, just in time for the anime…

“SADA”, my butt…

I love how they almost replicated Windows 8 in this show. Or is it 7, or 10? They don’t show the taskbar, which is the main visual difference between 8 and 10, but either way the Windows replication without being sued is really something…

This OP’s gonna make me dizzy someday…

Classes, eh? So that means Suzuki’s working with an OOP language. Plus you can see Cortana on the computer as the mention of classes goes by, meaning that person’s on Windows 10.

UML.

By the way, Satou is a fairly common name in Japan…at least to my knowledge. But Suzuki is a pretty common one, too, hence the mistake.

The client? Unless Suzuki is referring to the client as in the program, it could also mean the client as in the person/group who wants the game made. Considering what he says though involving a call, it’s probably the latter.

That’s the second show with a lost kid in the first episode. It seems a bit trite, don’tcha think?

According to his phone map (flip phone!), he’s in Akihabara.

FFL…eh? Google says there are multiple Final Fantasy games for Android, meaning I’ve probably thinking of Fire Emblem Fates (which doesn’t match), and there’s no such thing as Final Fantasy 50 (L in Roman numerals) yet.

That’s the second time they mentioned work/daily life being a death march. Can we not???

Come to think of it, Suzuki looks like Nobuaki (King’s Game), which doesn’t bode well for either show.

Apparently you can get Facebook Messenger for Windows 10, which I didn’t know…

“…being a corporate slave.”

C’mon! This ain’t the Animatrix, but still, if you’re trying to make stuff look technological, at least make it look a bit better.

Third time they’ve mentioned “death march”.

It might just be Houseki no Kuni’s fault, but this CGI is really janky.

Welllll…at least it looks like a game.

Welllllllll…at least they knew where to put their money for some sakuga…

This running through fields scene is either a homage to Every Anime Opening ever, or Pokémon. I distinctly remember it being in Emerald’s opening animation, at least.

Dude, if you want to look for a wyvern, do it from the ground where you won’t get injured, dumb Satoo.

Does this look a lot like Berserk (2016) with all its CGI knights…or is that just me?

Zena…? I might be showing how old I am with this (or how much I scour the internet), but…by any chance, do you mean this gal instead?

I think I’ve had enough of this flip for now, so I’m putting it on hold.

[redscullyrevival]

Kristie’s Favorite Anime of 2018

Here are the (overall) transcripts of my end of the year audio posts covering my favorite anime experiences of 2018. All audio can be located on podbean but tumblr is typically more receptive to the written word and I’m still learning how to do audio levels and editing; it makes sense if people rather read my goofy thoughts!

So starting from the bottom and working our way up to number one, here is my 3rd favorite anime of 2018:

Devilman Crybaby Directed by Masaaki Yuasa From studio Science Saru

Yeah. I know. I know, okay? Look at me - you can't look at me you can only hear me but look anyways - I know. 

I like Devilman Crybaby and I don't want to fight anyone over it ever, lol. But I'll you know, take what I got out of the series and scuttle off to inspect it and carry it around with me, I'm fine with that.

Devilman has always been a polarizing experience, that's kind of it's thing, it's why people engage with the franchise in the first place a lot of the time. It's known for being wild and gross and painful and upsetting and super weird... But in the past and now again it's a story that resonates with the less than beautiful aspects of people. 

Like a lot of other monster stories different people find themselves reflected in that wildness, grossness, and what's painful and weird. Devilman Crybaby tells a transformative monster story with the highest stakes imaginable and it's very simply not going to be to everyone's tastes, and it isn't even really to mine, but all the same I was swept up into all the many things this series tackles and presents and in the end I was appreciative of it's rawness and nastiness.

Akira Fudo is a nerdy crybaby whose best friend Ryo Asuka is a super genius cool guy. Don't question it. Ryo drags Akira to a wild rave sex party that turns into a demon slaughter and Akira merges with a ancient demon named Amon and becomes Devilman - uhhghhg okay. You all know this already, right? I don't actually have to do this, right? We know Devilman... Right? ... Shit.

Anyways, Akira transforms from nerdy crybaby boy to confident looking big crybaby boy with really nice eye liner and the series spirals widely out of control while going hard in fluctuating between surrealist visuals and it's story on human behavioral faults and triumphs.

First and foremost the basis of Devilman Crybaby's entire premise rests with the idea that kindness, empathy, sensitivity, and patience is our male protagonists' biggest strengths. Akira isn't consumed entirely by Amon but finds a balance of existence because of his ability to love and the depth of empathy he has for those around him, and that's important. That's something that can easily be overlooked by viewers who are overwhelmed with the blood and bodily fluids and incredibly harsh depictions of humanity the series absolutely without a doubt also paints. But it's Akira being intentionally embedded with the tools to succeed and survive this intentionally over-violent narrative world that, should, demand our attention. 

Akira isn't without struggling with his inner demon - HAH eahh I apologize - but while the world quite literally starts to fall apart it becomes apparent that this show is yes incredibly violent, is yes crude, yes its upsetting, but it is all those things because it positions not enough of it's made up people are like Akira. Which is quite the statement. 

Akira is a horny teenager with a literal demon inside of him and yet isn't a total asshole, so what's joe shmoes fuckin' excuse, ya know? There isn't one. Oh, you got a demon in you? Sorry, but, you still gotta care about people or you're just furthering the end of the world and we're all gonna die. So get your shit together. Learn to care.

Devilman Crybaby acts as a metaphor for many, many things. 

It's a reflection on recognizing love with our words and physical acts, yes, but also in more abstract ways; our mom tying our shoe, our friend NOT letting us win, carrying on the dumb joke our dad always used to tell - love is that relay race. It's what you get and what you give.

It's about sadness being the antithesis of love rather than hate. It's so much easier to be angry than to allow yourself to be sad. Its where so many of us go wrong, it's a human fault. We veer off into hate or indifference when we should be sad.    

The series also, of course, has big philosophical quandaries on what is good and what is bad and how much of that is defined by society question mark-question mark: But where the show focuses a lot of it's time is on the violence inherent in bigotry, within layers of context. It's about THE OTHERING of people, the othering of our own demons, of our own emotions, which isn't a surprise because as previously stated Devilman Crybaby is a transformative monster story. And that's why we tell these stories. We're still out here in 2018 othering each other, boxing each other in, exchanging well earned tears for rage...

Crybaby is not an easy watch and I don't suggest it even though you're going to be seeing it on a lot of Best of Lists for 2018. The advice I'll give is this: Think of Devilman Crybaby like those movies that soak up award after award. Just because it’s wining doesn't mean you should assume you should watch that film. That's a horrible basis for choosing media. 

I'm talking about this series because it affected me but it affected me because I made myself okay with enduring the experience of watching it. All media is a compromise, and while I consider Devilman Crybaby a masterpiece it isn't because it's perfect. It isn't because it's the best thing I've ever seen - but it does rank up there, for me, in being one of the most complicated things I've felt.      

[bthump]

I wanted to touch on the whole gutsca thing with someone (I know zero people in this fandom so you're my lucky pick!). Am I alone in feeling like their first time together came out of no where? My meta with Guts is that he was not at all comfortable with sex at that time of his life (this instance being his first time [outside of the rape he experienced as a child]). His choice of words too, "here I go", translated to me like someone only doing what they felt was expected of them rather than something he was yearning for. He clearly wasn't even ready given how rough he was and how he regressed and attacked her. This moment seemed very forced and almost rang to me like Kentaro's declaration of "no homo though". I would be curious to know how Kentaro felt about homosexuality (bisexuality, etc) and if he ever addressed the ever blatant gay tension and romantic-non-platonic-love blossoming between Guts and Griffith pre-eclipse. I do get the sense that this may be a case of severe queer baiting or perhaps a PSA against gay love altogether ("falling for a man will literally destroy you and send you and everyone you love to hell" type of message); but I'm a very jaded person so I hope to be proven wrong. Sigh, my point being Gutsca seems pretty dang forced and empty of true development. I buy them more as besties than anything romantic. Especially since both he and Casca are actually in love with Griffith (what a fucking triangle!). Does anyone in fandom have any opinions on the sad possibility of this whole beautiful and ultimately tragic love between Griffith and Guts actually being a fucked up anti-gay PSA? Are there any interviews with Kentaro shooting this theory down so I can stop being sad and bitter about it? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for sending this, I'm definitely down to talk about it! I hope you connect with more people in the fandom but don’t worry about sending random asks even if you do lol.

Anyway you’re definitely not alone. I have a lot of thoughts on Guts and Casca's hook up, and they're all pretty much "it feels really forced and not particularly romantic but I think you can argue that that's deliberate" lol. For instance I discuss in a lot of detail here how various aspects of the scene indicate that Guts and Casca having sex is shown to be a case of both of them rebounding from Griffith and sort of giving to each other what they were unable or failed to give to him.

And I talk a lot about how Judeau essentially orchestrates it all and what that suggests about Guts and Casca's relationship here.

And lol sorry for all the links but also this post is about how their relationship feels one-sided to an extent and is used to illuminate a lot of Guts' flaws, using Judeau as a comparison point.

Oh shit and also one more lol, here's a comparison between the sex scene and Griffith's with Charlotte that suggests that both start as ways for the dudes to repress their feelings.

(Don't feel obligated to read all those posts if you don't want, you should get the gist of what I'm saying w/ those descriptions.)

But yeah basically I do think that Guts and Casca getting together felt forced and awkward. At best it might be intended to be seen that way, as two friends hooking up awkwardly in an emotionally intense moment but probably doomed to failure because neither of them are ready for a relationship with the other, or particularly interested in one deep down, once they finished "licking wounds." At worst it’s just bad writing lol. But again like I think there are good arguments for the former.

I also totally agree that their relationship has a strong vibe of doing what's expected. Like for real, at least to me both Guts and Casca read so easily as gay and repressed lol. Casca talks about her feelings for Griffith in terms of “he was a boy she was a girl can I make it any more obvious”

and I can’t help but see it as Casca like, wow I have strong feelings towards Griffith, he’s a man and I’m a woman, so clearly these feelings must be romantic, there’s no other option. Then when she has sex with Guts she keeps contextualizing it essentially as repayment for Guts saving her, like she owes him. “I too want a wound I can say you gave me.” “Not just being given to... maybe I can give something as well.” Which just doesn’t make her desire for him look all that genuine lol.

And then you have Guts. The way he tells Casca that from the start only her touch was okay with him after he has sex with her, referencing the scene when he wakes up with her on top of him and starts to panic before realizing she’s a woman, is soooo suggestive of repression to me. Like, first off because it’s incorrect, he was also okay with Griffith going in for a face-grab after winning a duel Guts had been projecting his rape trauma all over, which seems like a pretty conspicuous omission. And secondly because the reason he was okay with Casca’s touch specifically is solely because she’s a woman, not because she’s special or because they have a magic romantic connection - it’s because she’s not a man. To me that just screams that Guts was open to sex with Casca because she’s the only woman he knows, and he’s afraid of the idea of physical intimacy with men, regardless of what he might actually want deep down.

So yeah that’s basically how I feel about Guts and Casca’s relationship, strong agree with you.

When it comes to Miura’s intent, I can tell you that Miura was asked about the subtext in an interview once, back in 2000, and he responded with something along the lines of ‘two men can have passionate feelings for each other without it being romantic.’ The interview is here, but this is a paraphrase the translator mentioned in the comments.

Other than that I’ve never seen him address it directly, but on the flipside he has cited several textually gay stories as inspiration (off the top of my head: Kaze to Ki no Uta, Devilman, Guin Saga, mangaka Moto Hagio in general), and he has straightforwardly said that the (magical intersex) central character of his other work, Duranki, was intended to have romances with both male and female love interests. Also people tell me there are strong griffguts vibes with the main, presumably canon or intended-to-be-canon ship there. So there’s that lol.

As for the no homo aspect and the potential homophobia in the griffguts subtext... I can’t deny I’ve also considered the idea that it’s a deliberate anti-gay PSA (though I haven’t seen anyone else address the idea as far as I remember, and I’ve only briefly mentioned it offhandedly). Like, Guts and Griffith’s relationship turns bad because they’re both too invested in each other, maybe the barely-subtextual desire is meant to look like a sinister twisting of pure platonic feelings that ruins everything, if Griffith hadn’t loved him the Eclipse never would have happened, etc.

But honestly I don’t think that reading holds up compared to a much more positive reading of their feelings, in which it’s their failure to understand them and act on them, thanks largely to formative childhood trauma and self-hatred, that leads to tragedy.

I don’t know what Miura intended, and there certainly are aspects of the story that are homophobic regardless of his intent, even if my best-faith reading is entirely correct, like the only textual gay attraction being pedophiles and over the top heretic orgies lol, or yk, Guts and Griffith both assaulting the same woman while looking at/thinking about the other in a very sexually charged way.

But the reading of their relationship where it’s positive and good for both of them, even including sexual desire, and only gets fucked up because they both incorrectly think their feelings are unrequited is legitimately so weirdly strong, much stronger than a reading where the sexual nature of their feelings is what fucks everything up, so I’m pretty happy just rolling with that take.

And as much as Casca can be seen and may very well be intended as a no homo, it’s also very easy for me to read her relationships with both as less of a hopeful opportunity for positive heterosexual romance and more of a “here’s how repressing your feelings thru attempts at heterosexuality fucks you up” PSA lol. Griffith and Charlotte too, for that matter. It’s definitely a stretch to think that’s intended, but whether it’s intended or not it’s an easy sell for me and I’m fine with not really worrying too much about possible authorial intent there.

Finally, I also want to link this post that goes pretty thoroughly into why I interpret griffguts as very positive rather than as a cautionary tale or predatory gay lust etc

And also have this shorter post about Femto on the same subject too, why not

Oh and maybe this thing where I split hairs about Guts’ lust for Griffith and desire for revenge to make a point that the homoeroticism isn’t necessarily being equated with violence by the narrative lol

[akisata-moved]

a little bit of divine worldbuilding 🕊️

hi everyone! i said i would make a post about my angel worldbuilding and the lore surrounding it, so here we are. let's get into this!

(as a forewarning: this got really long really fast. sorry lol)

i. at the beginning of the universe: what's the deal with god, heaven, and hell?

you know... this guy. ...or, guys? i use they pronouns for god, not because they're nonbinary rep or anything but because the classic collection uses they pronouns for god because they are literally plural. so, multiple guys.

a. the universe's first inhabitants 🌟

we can't have angels (or anything, really) without god. so... what is god?

to put it simply, "god" is a small collective of beings that hail from a primordial race of creatures called aeons. contrary to popular belief, "god" did not create the universe as a whole.

that being said, they WERE the first beings to exist in the universe; gifted with near-immortality and the power of creation, they were essentially burdened the cosmic purpose of bringing the universe to life. think of them as... like, demiurges, really. despite being the first beings in the universe, they didn't really start popping up until ~370,000 years into the universe existing.

(whether or not there is a "supreme" being above them isn't something i've given TOO much thought to. my working idea is that the universe is quite literally a supreme being in itself.)

so, our "god" is not the only ones of their kind. there isn't a large amount of them, but considering the size of the universe and how it's ever-expanding... there's enough of them to go around, you know.

as the early stages of the universe progress, they start to become aware of the existence of each other. it's difficult to be what is essentially a god and be unaware of the presences that surround you.

the attitudes that they held towards each other varied from aeon to aeon. some of them worked in tandem, others remained solitary. some of them competed with others, and others dedicated themselves to watching over their corner of the universe and making it a home.

there weren't many "overstepped boundaries" in the infinitely expanding stretch of space they had at their disposal. in the early stages of the universe, there was no need for that kind of thing. they all mostly stayed in their own lanes.

during the early epochs, they mostly just spent their time experimenting, growing and changing, and learning the ins and outs of their little cosmic playground.

due to the nature and scope of their abilities, and their immortality, they were mostly aware that their exploits were relatively infinitesimal. they had a very acute awareness that every planet and galaxy they created would eventually crumble.

similarly to their attitudes towards each other, the attitudes they held towards their creations varied. some liked to stay disconnected, and hopped from creation to creation, moving on as soon as they finished working on their little project. others were more involved.

in regards to their abilities, they aren't omnipotent. in fact i wouldn't even really call them omnificent. if there was a way to describe what they were able to do, it would be... transmute? the universe provided all the materials for creation, and so it was their job to use their divine power to... make something with it, really. they can't create something out of absolutely nothing. there has to be something for them to make stuff.

they also don't really have any kind of set moral compass. so none of them are inherently evil, good, bad, whatever.

of course, given the fact that they mostly reside in space (we'll get to what exactly "heaven" is in a little), they aren't necessarily bound to one physical shape or form. we love shapeshifters.

b. the devilman "god", and the prison of light 🕯️

the devilman "god" is a trio of aeons who bonded over a certainty and awareness of what they wanted from the universe. they strove to create something perfect— something beautiful. better than every other creation out there. other aeons' work was... sloppy, imperfect, and quite ugly.

as stated before, the aeons aren't necessarily physical beings. that makes it really easy for them to fuse with each other, as they aren't really bound to any kind of physics or laws governing their consciousnesses and bodies.

"so are they a hivemind" not necessarily? they're all just... fused together. the pros of fusing together like that means that one single entity now has the power of three aeons, which lets them do a lot more than if they were all separate, and on a larger scale. god is a throuple

they probably aren't the only aeon group to do this, honestly.

fun note: the devilman "god" never refers to themselves as another aeon. they always refer to themselves as a "god", and it's mainly just because they think they're better than the rest of the aeons lol. i'll be referring to them as god from here on out just because it's easier.

so, then what? god decides that they need a place for themselves. a pocket of space only for them (+ eventually, the angels). they needed a home base of sorts, a place that represented their vision as they imagined it. and so, they created heaven.

so what even is heaven? it's essentially a sub-universe, or a pocket of the universe that god hid away just for themselves.... and for the angels, which were created afterwards.

once again, i doubt heaven is the only realm of its kind. i doubt that god is the only aeon who had the idea for a "home base" of sorts.

heaven started out as a home just for god, but as angelic society grew, it eventually turned into a whole kingdom. that being said, god still has a palace Just For Them at the very top layer of it!

people don't go to heaven. nope. that doesn't happen. mainly because it's not an "afterlife".

after god created heaven and the angels, heaven because a home for all of them. heaven was created to be perfect (in the eyes of its creator), or as close to perfect as god could manage while also having a species with (sort of) free will residing within it.

heaven is almost like a hidden galaxy, except a LOTTT smaller.

heaven is mostly made up of clouds and solid energy. there are actually five layers of heaven; one for each sphere of the angelic choir, one for the Archangels, and one for god.

that isn't to say that the angels are confined to one layer. they can freely travel about, it's just that they'll usually spend time in the layer dedicated to their sphere, unless they're stationed to work elsewhere.

the need for more and more angels became more important as time went on. god became more... power hungry, and they fell harder into the belief that they alone were the ones worthy of the universe. they eventually gained a very hostile attitude towards other aeons and cosmic societies. this wasn't unheard of, really, but considering how most of them stayed in their own lanes, having god be all... aggressive was a little bit of a shock. needless to say, this resulted in the formation of enemies... and other forms of cosmic politics.

heaven and angelic culture has a lot of emphasis on architecture! ...although, not in a way you would expect. the best way i can explain it is that it's very... suess-like.

lots of staircases, lots of columns, lots of... that kind of thing...

while we're on the topic of sub-universes, we can talk a little about hell, too.

hell was actually created by the universe itself, not by the aeons or god or anything. it has always existed, and is sort of a universal collection all life and souls. sorta like the universe's garbage can for all dead things.

it’s less of an eternal resting place and more of an intermediary location you go while the universe works to basically recycle your soul and convert it back to its original state.

ii. what is an angel?: a little on angelic society

a. the angelic choir at a glance📜

angelic society as a whole is referred to as the angelic choir.

the main thing about angelic society is that it's split into different spheres based on how much power an angel has/the specific task they were made to do.

why do angels exist in the first place? they were made to be servants of god, and basically do everything that they do... for them. so, deliver messages, be soldiers, do tasks and chores and watch over the things god makes... all that kind of thing.

angels have free will, but were created with an ingrained sense of duty that usually outweighs said free will. or perhaps it influences their free will. hard to tell. that being said, most angels will not do anything if it directly contradicts their purpose.

also, angels are not inherently “good” aligned. like I said, they have free will, which means they have choices. angels can be shitty people! whether or not an angel “falls” has nothing to do with what their character is like, and everything to do with whether or not they are defiant to God.

not a lot of angels do defy god, either. an angel being kicked out of heaven is pretty rare.

anyways, back to the angelic choir... there are three spheres of angel, each with three types of angel in them. the highest ranking angels are the first order of the first sphere, and the lowest ranking are the third order of the third sphere. yeah.

in the first sphere you have the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones. the first sphere angels are the only angels that tend directly to god.

the second sphere is made up of the dominations, the virtues, and the powers.

the third sphere consists of the principalities, the arches, and the angels (generic term).

Archangels are above the first sphere in rank. they're the most powerful angels, and there aren't very many of them.

b. archangels and the angels of the first sphere🔥

Archangels, as stated before, are the most powerful angels and the ones with the most important duties. they're mostly angelic supervisors that manage angels with different specialties. who are the archangels? before lucifer's fall, there were eight different archangels.

jophiel (archangel of wisdom and inspiration), chamuel (archangel of divine justice), gabriel (archangel of revalation), raphael (archangel of healing), uriel (archangel of truth and light), zadkiel (archangel of healing), and, of course, michael (archangel of strength and courage) and lucifer (archangel of love and empathy).

the first sphere angels are the angels that are closest to god, and the only ones that can interact where with them directly. they're the least... replaceable angels, except for the archangels. that's why they don't really leave heaven.

the seraphim are the bodyguards of the throne, and those who directly guard and protect both god's palace and the different layers of heaven itself. they're stationed just about everywhere on the fifth layer of heaven, and then scattered about in the other layers just to keep an eye on everything. they're also stationed at the entrances and exits.

they're busy a LOT of the time. they take their jobs very seriously.

the seraphim are the angels that interact the most with god. the cherubim and the thrones do, too, but not as frequently.

the tradition when interacting with god is to cover their faces and bodies with their wings when interacting directly with them. it's a sort of humbling thing, to show that they regard themselves as lesser than them. just out of respect.

the cherubim are the celestial recordkeepers of heaven, and the ones that really hold the knowledge of god and heaven.

they're known for their wisdom, and they keep records of everything that happens in their part of the universe. nothing goes undocumented, really. heaven's historians are also cherubim.

along with keeping records of events, they also keep track of all of the angels that are created, and those that come in and out of heaven. and those who go out and dont come back. yeah.

jophiel is the archangel who supervises the cherubim.

the thrones are some of the most intellectual angels and have wonderful minds. they serve as both teachers, guides, and counselors for the lower ranks of the angels.

they're the ones in charge of receiving orders from god and dishing out duties to the lower ranks (dominations, mostly) and explaining them. celestial teachers, really. they're very engaged with the rest of angelic society, and are always willing to offer an explanation or a helping hand to other angels.

they're also the head order that deals with cosmic laws and making sure everything that god makes works the way it's supposed to. god doesn't really have time to keep everything in check themselves, so it's up to the thrones and the virtues to make sure their creation... functions like it should.

lucifer was supposed to the archangelic supervisor of the thrones...? but, uh... that didn't exactly.... uh.... work out....

after lucifer was cast out, jophiel was put in charge of both the thrones and the cherubim. it's a lot of work for one angel, really, but she doesn't mind.

c. angels of the second and third spheres☄️

the first order of the second sphere is the dominations. think of these guys as... well, management.

they're in charge of managing the angelic kingdoms, and of regulating the second sphere angels in lower orders.

they help keep everyone organized. there's a lot of things to keep track of.

the dominions get their orders from the thrones (who receive orders from god), and pass along orders to the principalities in the third sphere along with the virtues and powers. it's just a big chain.

zadkiel is the archangel in charge of the dominations rank. he also deals with some of the stuff that the principalities handles, but mostly sticks to dominations.

the second order of the second sphere is the virtues. if seraphim are the guards and watchers of heaven itself, then the virtues are the watchers of the universe (well, god's part of the universe, anyways).

they watch over everything god creates, from planets, galaxies, luminaries, and other celestial bodies to make sure the cosmos are in order. and that nothing is going wrong.

they work closely with certain thrones angels for this reason.

it's actually very important to make sure shit isn't going wrong. especially considering how their god's... hostile attitude... attracts some not so friendly faces.

uriel is the archangel in charge of the virtues, and because of the close ties between the virtues and the thrones, he quickly became good friends with lucifer.

the powers are the third order of the third sphere, and they make up the angelic army.

can basically be split into two groups— soldiers and healers. the soldiers were originally led by chamuel, but the job was pretty much taken over by michael once he showed up, and chamuel instead switched gears to deal more with strategizing after that. raphael supervises those more geared towards healing.

running an army is hard work, turns out. there's a lot that goes into it.

the third sphere is the most populous sphere; they're like worker bees. they're very easy to replace, and are very expendable.

third sphere angels actually leave heaven a lot. they deal with intergalactic relationships.

in the first sphere, the principalities are the main managers of the lower-ranking arches and angels. they're very similar to the dominations in that regard, and they actually get their orders from them. like i said before... it's a big chain.

they're the ones that are stuck dealing the most with cosmic politics.

arches are celestial envoys, while your everyday angels work as messengers, running back and forth between heaven and other places in space. angel postal service!

the angels and arches are also assigned most of the mundane tasks not given to any higher ranks.

usually the angels go out in groups, because there's safety in numbers, and space is REALLY big. at least one arch will accompany an angel group, and on occasion, a principality will come too, depending on how important things are.

that being said, there have been many, many instances where angels don't come back. sometimes they get lost. this happens more often than it should.

gabriel is the head messenger archangel. he's the postmaster. angel. guy.

d. okay i'll bite. what are angels made of. aka, angel physiology 🌠

angels are special. lol.

they're made of photon energy (in the case of most angels) and thermal energy (in the case of seraphim).

(lucifer is an Archangel, so he is... as stated above, made of photons.)

as stated before, god can't create something out of nothing. the energy needed to create angels actually is specific to the energy emitted from dying stars. every angel comes from the death of a star.

so, this means a couple of things. first of all, as angels are created, not born, they don't actually have a functional reproductive system. because they weren't created with the intention of reproduction. the genitalia is decorative essentially tbh. also, every angel looks like this. it's definitely not a reproductive thing. it's entirely aesthetic.

"romance" is essentially nonexistent in angel culture. uh, they all see each other as some kind of equivalent of siblings, considering they were all made directly by the same creator. they all refer to god as their parents, and so they all see each other as siblings.

(that being said, it's not like they're incapable of love or anything. ryosatanlucifer retains his feelings for akira even after he turns back into an angel, so it's not like he can't feel love or anything like that. i mean, that should be obvious, but i felt the need to specify anyways)

the second thing this: angels lack all forms of physical sensation. their bodies are... kind of numb to all sense of touch, taste, smell, etc. they are, in some circumstances, intangible. what does that mean? well...

sorry for having so much stuff from go nagai world.... we never got to see satan in the actual ovas </3

they can float through stuff sometimes. their tangibility (on earth) is actually up to them. so, for example, if they wanted to, they could float through a door. or they could open a door by turning the doorknob. though, they wouldn't be able to experience the sensation of actually touching the doorknob.

anywho. there are actual a few variations of angelic appearance depending on what rank of angel they are! i have... erm... drawn a few examples of some of the angels, but not a whole lot? ahh.... there they are anyways. some of the descriptions are a little outdated bc i've changed into since then but YEAH!!

Archangels, at the very top of the angelic choir, are beautiful with 12 large snow-white wings— two on the head, two from the shoulderblades, two on the middle back, two on the lower back, on on each arm and one on each ankle. they’re all nearly identical- though, most of the angels within each order looks nearly identical. they’re identical in the way that cats of the same coat color and breed are identical. michael and lucifer are actually identical, though, because they’re like real life twins, and are born from the same star. yeah!

seraphim are made from condensed thermal energy rather than light energy. they’re super hot. Lol. they have 10 wings (head, shoulders, lower back, arms, and ankles) unlike the Archangel’s 12. They’re warmer in color scheme than the Archangels, which are usually a sort of yellow-white color? they glow. seraphim are more red-orange because they’re… heat. They also have the ability to manifest flames out of their body, though it’s kind of just for show considering how it can't really do anything.

the cherubim are covered in eyes. or, their wings are covered in eyes- they have 8 of them! wings, I mean (head, shoulders, lower back, and ankles). they have way more than eight eyes. Also, they can open eyes up on their bodies when they get really stressed or angry! it’s a fun neat cherubim trait. all the cherubim are so tired. let them go home please.

the thrones are the third order in the first sphere of the Angelic choir, and these are our ringy-boys. they're the angels with the most emphasis on halos- they can make them spin really fast and manifest more rings around them whenever they feel strongly or honestly just when they want to. they’re usually surrounded by them, just as a sort of status thing. they typically serve as messenger angels (delivering orders to the second sphere) and bodyguards for the cherubim. they have 6 pairs of wings (head, shoulders, and lower back).

from there on out appearance is mostly dictated by sphere— second sphere angels (dominations, virtues, and powers) have two sets of wings (on the head and the shoulders), while first sphere angels (principalities, arches, and angels) have only one set of wings on their shoulders, and look pretty similar to the standard depiction of angels.

e. some more about angel culture in general

i just wanted to share some more fun little details about angel culture, because there IS stuff beyond work for these guys lol

society is really easy to be sustained when there's no need for "hard labor", and when everyone is created with a sense of purpose. and the fact that they don't really need to eat or anything.

since there isn't much of a need for extra work outside of everyone's Assigned Jobs, when there is free time, it's mostly dedicated to the arts. there's actually a LOT of focus on art in angelic culture!

though, it's a lot less... genuine? than "human art". the idea of "perfection" is heavily exalted in angelic society, mainly because that's what god wishes for, and god is the One Real Authority in their society. a lot of angelic art tries to reflect this idea of perfect beauty that they've had drilled into their heads from the beginning of their existence.

of course, perfection is unachievable for the angels. so sad.

art that depicts any kind of "flaw" is entirely unheard of. angels are the ultimate perfectionists.

since none of the angels actually LOOK at god (the archangels and first spheres cover their eyes with their wings when they come in direct contact with them), a lot of art is actually of god. it's always sort of a contest to see how perfectly and beautiful they can depict god. it's a form of worship, really.

they do have a written language. but "novels" aren't really a thing. they aren't super big on fiction. what's the point of that?

instead, they use written language to keep historical accounts, archive events, and write PSALMS. so so many psalms. they really love to write music dedicated to praising their god.

"music" in quotes, because it's... not exactly comparable to human music. it's angel music, guys. cmon.

they also like writing poetry a lot.

because of the way they worship perfection in art/writing, things end up feeling a little bit... sterile? yeah.

obviously, since they are in space, they don't use any kind of timescale similar to days/hours/weeks/etc. there's a sort of "day" equivalent in which things are a lot... brighter? but that's really it.

angels don't age, either. they have no concept of age.

they do have another consistent method of keeping time, though, and it's based on how long it takes for angels (third rank of the third sphere) to be created. lower rank angels are really being produced at a constant rate, to make up for losses, so it's easy to divide time this way. the time it takes to make one angel = one angelic "day".

they don't really have any equivalent of years, instead naming longer periods of time (ages) after whatever archangel was created last. so, the age of gabriel, or the age of uriel.

when michael and lucifer were made At the same Time, the cherubim got into a lot of arguments over who to name the age after. it wasn't like there was any way to choose between the two.

so they just decided on both eventually. lol. they called it the age of lucifer and michael.

after lucifer well, a new Age started. so the age of lucifer and michael and the age of michael are two separate time periods.

michael is sooooooooooooo cocky about that, too. what a bitch.

anyways, like stated before, the idea of perfection is super important to angels. to them, god represents the ULTIMATE perfection.

and on that same note, talking bad about god, and going against god's will, is a very big NO!!!!!!. they REALLY do not do that.

.......okay!!!!!!!! whew!

that was a LOT, but if you read all the way through... mwah! thank you so much for listening to my thoughts!!!! i might make a separate post about lucifer's history/his relationships with the other angels/his fall later on. but for now.... here's just some basic stuff about angels and how they work!!! yeah!!!!!