#the writing is bad the character development non existent the protag is annoying

[rabbit-hearted-girl]

If shatter me has a hundred haters, I'm one o them. If shatter me has ten haters, I'm one of them. If shatter me has no haters, that means I'm dead

[ichika27]

Winter 2020: Episode 3

I said before on my first Winter 2020 post that I’d give the anime I chose to watch 3 episodes to see whether or not I’d continue watching.

Here are my thoughts on them.

First off, Magia Record.

It’s not like the main Madoka series but I can’t exactly put my finger on why. It just feels different but not in a bad way of course. It’s still interesting due to the mystery but I’ve not connected with any characters yet. By that I mean, other than Iroha, I don’t feel like caring much about the other girls yet. That’d probably change in later episodes the more I know about them but I don’t know how well they can showcase everyone when, according to the OP, there are gonna be a lot of characters for this show unlike the main one with 5 important characters (plus Kyubey).

Still, it’s good although I wish Iroha gets stronger cause right now she hasn’t really done much in terms of fighting. All the better character development in the future though so I’d look forward to it.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen (2020)

Different from it’s previous adaptation not only in art style but also in how they handled the first few episodes. The art style still kinda uh, confuses me on how to feel? Some characters look good in this (Childman looks way younger here than he did in the first anime. It was the reason I didn’t recognize him at first.) while some looked better in the first series (Orphen looks like a pretty boy in this style but I think he looks more handsome in the old style).

Since the way they handled the story is different, for someone like me who watched this like, more than 10 years ago and remembers little of it except some parts in the beginning and end, this made me feel excited and interested. For one, back in the first anime, the thing about Azalie being the dragon was a spoiler but here it’s showed in the beginning. Her dragon form is called ‘Bloody August’ in the first anime but here, I don’t think I remember her being referred to as that. Anyways, start of adventure soon, I hope? There’s a lot of magic school flashbacks here and while interesting, I’d like to see the main characters get more screentime (Orphen, Claiohm, and Majic).

Bofuri continues to be a fun and exciting series about cute girls playing a VRMMO! Despite being an OP character, watching Maple and Sally fight is still fun and also, the mods are starting to nerf her lol.

Still no overall plot at the moment and I dunno what that would be later on but for now, I’m just enjoying the ride. I’m curious about the blond guy though - the knight who got 1st in the event whose face isn’t shown. What will be his significance, I wonder?

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is an okay show, I guess? Not the ‘case files’ I was hoping for. They have little detective work done and the show is more like ‘Character of the day needs a jewelry-related thing and has some personal problems and is helped by the 2 main guys whose shop becomes some kind of counseling room’. It’s not bad as I said but its kinda boring at times. While Richard and Seigi are the MCs, the ones with the spotlight is whoever the character of the day is. It’s episodic right now and there maybe a bigger plot later but I’m not sure if I’d still continue following this series. It’s nice if you like jewelry though as they do give info on that so kudos to them as the ‘jeweler’ part is not just something they threw in - the characters actually know stuff about it.

So verdict is: semi-dropped for now. Might come back later if I felt like it but it’s not a priority anymore. I wanted a detective series, dude. Oh and Seigi might be straight and has a thing for that girl he met before but if you guys wanna ship the two MCs, there are some shippy stuff here for you as well :)

Hatena Illusion explains to us why Kana’s family steals: her mom’s family makes magic items and they decided to sell them even thought they’re dangerous. Her mom, Maeve, thinks this is bad and runs off with the guy she likes and also goes everywhere to steal the ‘artifacts’ (magic items) so they would pose no danger. She does replace it with a non-powered replica so the people she steals from won’t miss them. Reminds me somewhat of DNAngel.

That said, Kana is annoying as heck. Typical tsundere who is violent and keeps hurting Makoto even when something is her fault. Makoto is some kind of dormat as well which is annoying. Ema, the maid makes things worse with her stupid comments which doesn’t help and Kokomi, while annoying in the first episodes seems like the only one with common sense and I ended up liking her in episode 3.

I want to drop this show cause Kana pisses me off but hey, Makoto just became a magical (thief) boy and now I need to give it 2 more episodes! It’s rare for there to be a protag magical boy. Most of the time, they’re either supporting or background character but Makoto is a co-protagonist (I know Binan Koukou exist but that’s more of a parody anime).

I’ll be back on whether or not I’ll drop this completely after seeing episode 5.

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is one of the few shows here which has a different ‘style’ in presentation which isn’t bad and actually makes it stand out. The story is also fun with the seven mysteries (and if you watch the OP, everytime a mystery is revealed, they stop being shown as silhouettes in the next episode’s opening) with their respective rumors and backstories. We also have some new characters and some clues about Hanako’s past.

I like this show. It’s cute and has some adventures and a tiny bit of romance (I already ship Hanako with Yashiro) and comedy. The current story with the stairs seem like it’d be fun as a video game haha. I’d definitely be watching this one til the end.

Side note: this and MagiReco feels similar due to the ‘rumors’ and such. I mean, they started dealing with some rumored ‘stairs’ this time. It’s like MagiReco’s seven mysteries is spread in towns instead of just in one school. Just saying the coincidence is interesting.

A Destructive God Sits Next to Me is probably the biggest disappointment to me for this list as I looked forward to this since last year. I needed a replacement for Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy and this seems perfect but character-wise, it is not.

While it is funny (the first episode had me laughing so hard), there are a lot of scenes that just annoys or frustrates me. The 2nd episode in particular was unbearable and the only thing that kept me going is the thought that I promised to watch 3 episodes. By the end of the episode, all of the frustration I felt just broke when Koyuki had the misunderstanding with the girl and I ended up crying. Yeah, I cried. It sounds stupid and it is which makes it worse. I only ever cry in comedy anime when there’s either a heartwarming or dramatic scene. Here it’s frustration.

I can tolerate Hanadori since Koyuki can and does punch him when he goes too far. It’s Tsukimiya I can’t take. His actions and personality gives me nothing but pure annoyance and hate (except the notebook scene in episode 1 which is really funny). He’s a mean-spirited character and he just makes me uncomfortable. Their homeroom teacher too, is annoying, by the way.

We have a new character this time, though who looks up to Hanado-- er, I mean ‘Miguel’-senpai. He’s annoying but only a little as its his first appearance. I’d give this 1 or 2 more episodes as I want to see who and what kind of person the long-haired guy in the OP is but I don’t think I can take this entire series.

Too bad as the art style is super cute and part of me low-key ships Koyuki with Hanadori (their interactions are cute sometimes esp. when Hanadori drags Koyuki in his fantasy). It also got a banger OP I can’t stop listening to. If I’m able to ignore or at least get used to Tsukimiya, I might watch more. Might. I’m not positive I can take it.

--

These are all my personal thoughts and opinions of these shows. They’re not an indication of whether or not you, the reader of this post, will enjoy it. Give them all a shot and maybe you’d end up liking them more or less than I do as we all have different taste and sense of humor. Hope you guys are enjoying this season’s anime offers. I’d write more about these later on probably when they end or when I decide to completely drop them.

[mysterious-matcha]

just curious, why do you dislike saihara so much?

Why do I dislike Saihara? Here’s why.

I mean, I sort of understand why some people think he’s a good protag. He does get development, blah blah blah, but I still think Saihara is pretty Gary Stu-ish. Like, this might be mainly because of how Saimatsu was executed in-canon, but he and Kaede are so revolved around each other, it’s almost impossible for me to talk about my issues with him without bringing up Saimatsu.

Saimatsu is NOT a relationship where both sides mutually support each other—Kaede is the only one who does the supporting, and that’s her sole purpose in the story. Her own character arc was tossed aside, and she’s reduced to nothing but Saihara’s dead girlfriend. She was the one who “killed” Rantarou, yet the way Saihara treated her like she was a victim. And everyone else, instead of being cautious towards someone who had been following Kaede—who just “killed” Rantarou—like a dog, they always comfort him every time he’s even remotely sad as if those two had been married for like a century or something. And chapter 6 only made it even worse. The fact that she didn’t actually kill anyone only confirm that her death was meaningless other than, once again, to be an angst machine for the sake of Saihara’s “development”. Despite her actually attempting to kill someone, she wasn’t faulted at all for that. The only ones who remember her “fault” were Angie and Kokichi, yet the plot treats them as “the ones that aren’t meant to be likeable”.

IMO Saihara is basically just emo bishie Naegi minus the flaws—and I don’t even like Naegi to begin with. Hell, Naegi was at least mad when he first found out Sayaka framed him for murder. Granted, she only did that because she had no choice, but it was plausible for Naegi to not be able to care less about her reasons at first. Sayaka was at least treated as someone who suffers the consequences of her own fault. But Kaede? She was only fucked over and tortured by the plot for the sake of making Saihara sad, so the players feel sorry for him.

Saimatsu is so idealized and rubbed onto the players’ faces despite Saihara and Kaede have only just met like 3 days before Kaede died. And they’re not even saved by the “past lovers who regain their feelings despite not having memories of each other” trope. Their “fateful encounter” in the prologue was the literal proof that they’ve just met then and there, debunking any possibilities that they’ve known each other beforehand. You may argue the “only know for three days” thing also apply to every other Kaede ships, but the “past lovers” trope could still be an excuse somehow, albeit cheesy/unrealistic/whatever.

Kaede was interesting and she had the potential to be the best protag in the series, but nope, the story just has to toss her aside and replace her with someone who’s easier to write. I’ve heard some people saying Kaede’s constant optimism was annoying, but actually, she was called out for it. When she tried to take everyone else to go through the tunnel over and over, Kokichi reality-slapped her for pushing everyone else too far. And unlike in later cases where the rest of the gang defend her despite her murder attempt like there’s no tomorrow, in Kaede’s case (at least when she was still a character) no one else stood up for her except for Kaito—because, well, he’s Kaito—and Saihara. Also, people only praised Kaede for being a great leader after she actually acts like one. She was surprised at first, yeah, but she didn’t go “wah wah I don’t deserve this” like Saihara would, and actually took the leadership baton.

And now my non-Saimatsu-related issues: The side characters like to kiss his ass/brag about how great he is like every 5 minutes, just because that’s easier than actually showing him doing something great. Best example was when everyone praised Himiko—who actually earned her praises, since she actually developed after what happened to Tenko and Angie, but then suddenly Himiko changed the topic into “No, Saihara, YOU’RE the best one!” which was so out-of-place, despite Saihara’s only “development” at that point was, what, taking off his hat? Kaede, as said above, solely exists to be his dead girlfriend. Kaito was mad at him in chapter 5, yeah, but 10 minutes later their “fight” ends with Kaito being like “You’re the best person ever, sorry for the pointless tension lmao” instead of both sides trying to reconcile. Miu was one of the few who doesn’t kiss his ass, but the story treats her as nothing but a walking sex joke. Let alone Tsumugi, who was the literal villain in the story.

Basically, a lot of things that revolve around Saihara happens “because the plot wants it to be”, not because it actually makes sense to happen. Why does Kaede only stick with him like 90% of her screen time? Because he’ll eventually take over the protag spot so the story has to build him up. Why does the rest of the gang like kissing his ass, praising him for being great? Because he’s the protagonist beloved by everyone. Why does he bother to say Tsumugi might have lied about him and everyone else voluntarily signing into the killing game? Because the villain is the only one who’s bad, everyone else is cinnamon rolls who did nothing wrong uwu.

All in all, I’m not gonna bash you for liking Saihara, I promise. You’re entitled to your opinion. But please keep in mind that I’m also entitled to mine. I also promise that I won’t post anti-Saihara/Saimatsu posts too often—since this is supposed to be a Rantarou-centric blog, and when I do, I’ll tag it as [#character hate] and [#ship hate] if you just want to avoid negativity in general. Or [#anti saihara shuuichi] if you want to be more specific.

[cometcrystal]

I feel bad for repeating that other anon, but if you could do the exact same in-depth detail for monster high, that would be "clawsome". Also, no pressure, but if you have free time, I'm sure literally everyone in the monster high fandom would love it

don’t feel bad, i love infodumping about my special interests!! if i can help more people get into them then i feel accomplished

monster high was created by garrett sander, and introduced in 2010! it’s probably pretty obvious but all the characters are the children of different iconic/legendary monsters, and they all go to high school together and have slice of life adventures. and there’s lots and lots and lots of terrible monster puns so if you dont like puns then just give up now

these are the main 6 characters + a few more core people and some backstory if they have any! (bc some of them do not have backstory but thats ok it just means more headcanoning)

frankie stein - frankenstein’s daughter, and also the MAIN main character, and usually one of the two faces that people think of when they think “monster high”. she is probably one of the sweetest characters in the entire show and has relentless optimism, and would die (and has died) for her friends before. she had only been alive for 15 days before MH canon started, and thus hasn’t been exposed to many things yet, so she loves trying new things. she’s adorable and i cannot believe some people don’t like her/call her boring, because she is a ray of sunshine

draculaura - dracula’s daughter, and is the OTHER face ppl think of. she wears almost exclusively the colors pink and black (with some exceptions for blue or yellow sometimes). she’s very peppy and uses a lot of words like “totes!” in speech. she’s 1600 years old and her biological parents are both dead now, she was adopted + turned to a vampire by dracula himself because he was in love with her mother. she is the main character in the reboot instead of frankie

clawdeen wolf - a werewolf and the resident fashionista (well, they all kind of are but she’s the one that wants to go into the fashion industry). she’s got SEVERAL siblings, and we only saw 3 of them in the preboot but we know there are many more; growing up with them has made her develop an attitude. but she’s SUPER loyal and would do anything for the people she loves. she’s ride or die and i love her

lagoona blue - a sea monster, BEYOND chill and friendly, seriously she is the kind of person to make you feel like you’ve been friends with her for years even if you’ve only known her a couple days. she’s on the swim team and she got way way too many bad plots with her boyfriend gil later on in the series so i feel like she didn’t get as well-rounded as the other mains, but i still love her to bits

cleo de nile - a mummy and also the HBIC of monster high. she’s the fearleading captain and she takes a little bit to warm up to, but once you get on her good side she is a wonderful friend. and it doesn’t take much to get on her good side, just be a decent person to her. she’s been through a LOT like her dad is straight-up abusive and manipulative, and her sister terrorizes her and her friends, and she was separated from her loving mother for most of her life so honestly i cannot blame her for being a rude person. she’s my favorite i love her so much

ghoulia yelps - a zombie and the brains of the group (ha ha), she is literally a superhero or something i think because she can do anything, she literally hacked the mh version of youtube a few times. she doesn’t speak english, only zombie (which sounds like a series of groans), her favorite thing in the world is the comic series called Dead Fast, and the whole fandom loves her and for good reason. she doesn’t get enough screentime OR dolls, and she hasn’t shown up in the reboot media yet. she deserves so much

deuce gorgon - medusa’s son, and one of the most popular dudes at school, cause he’s super friendly and nice. he’s quiet sometimes but when he does talk his sentences usually have the word “dude” in them. he sees good in everyone, and he was dating cleo before canon began and she had developed as a character/became less mean, so to me that shows how genuine both of them are with their feelings. i love him too but people often write him wrong, they write him as all stoic/annoyed by everything but he’s honestly a dork and probably the most genuinely nice boy in the series

abbey bominable - a yeti who has trouble understanding non-yeti societal norms. she can come across as cold (ha ha) but she doesn’t mean to, she’s just not good at emoting or communicating, and speaks very literally. the others understand this after getting to know her and accept her and love her just as she is, which is part of why i love monster high so much. she is also very strong and can lift a car. i thought that was worth mentioning

heath burns - a fire elemental and very, very impulsive and reckless. he gets himself injured a lot; the hospital even has a seat in the waiting room with his name on it. he’s also super flirty and speaks without thinking, but honestly? he means well. i love him and also at one point he wore a skirt/heels and OWNED it and nobody laughed at him

there are several more characters that i could write more paragraphs on, but this is getting long enough as it is so if you wanna know more about more characters shoot me another ask and i’ll be glad to tell you!

this IS a merch-driven franchise, but that isn’t a bad thing! the dolls themselves are SO cute. just look them up (i dont wanna include images in this long post) but they’re so cute oh my god. there’s nearly 700 of them now i think? and you can use this website to help you get started on your collection/help you keep track of it! i honestly use it like…every single day https://mh-merch.com/

as for the media itself, i have already written a big thing about it and how to go about watching it in [this post], but i will now talk about my favorite movies in chronological order in case you want recommendations. these wont be in-depth analysises

new ghoul at school - this 20min special gets a lot of flack but honestly? the plot itself is so so good. it avoids the typical “protag girl steals jock bf from mean girl” cliche and turns it on its HEAD. REVOLUTIONARY. this special is on youtube but not netflix i dont think!

scaris: city of frights - i think part of why i like this one is that most of the core characters are present for it, and it’s centered around clawdeen and she is SO good in this movie

13 wishes - everyone pretty much agrees this is the best mh movie period. it also has a lot of core people, the plot itself is SO beyond clever and unique, and i can’t think of anything bad about it?? this is what i always recc to people for their 1st mh movie

boo york, boo york - ok listen this movie is OBJECTIVELY a mess because there are 2 entire singing voices and the pacing is weird but i love it anyway it holds a very special place in my heart. also i think this is the preboot movie with the best animation, it’s gorgeous and please watch it and embrace its campiness and jam to pharaoh’s (w)rapping

the reboot does merit mentioning; it started in 2016 and began with the movie welcome to monster high, and the two movies out for it so far are honestly fun but they are nothing like the pre-reboot. you have to watch the reboot with the mindset that it is an alternate timeline to the preboot universe, instead of having it completely erase the preboot! they exist in side-by-side universes in my head

in the reboot, instead of monster high being an already-established school/having monsters live in big communities and towns, monsters are in hiding because the humans are scared of them. draculaura and dracula lived in their mansion for several years to hide, but through a series of events which i will not summarize here bc its a lot, they build monster high in their mansion, and get other monsters there to be students!

but that’s all the basic stuff i can think to mention right now, there is SO much more to talk about since there are 70+ characters and SEVERAL plots and also my numerous headcanons. if you have any more questions about anything, don’t be afraid to ask me!! i love talking about monster high so much

[ginnyzero]

One Word: Write

For every aspiring author out there in the world, all the writing advice floating about in books and on the internet can be condensed into one word, "write."

There is no magical list or fairy dust powder that is going to make your words more powerful than actually sitting down and writing them. I see lists about "How to write action," "avoid filter words," "words to use other than very" and "Stephen King's top 20 pieces of writing advice."

Stephen King writes everyday. Thousands of words, every, single, day.

There are writing advice columns where writers ask "how can I make my protag do this?" "My protag is this, how can I have them do this?"

Write.

Sometimes when people find out I'm an author they ask me questions about who I've read and that I should read this writing advice book or that writing advice book or this author. And most of the time, I can honestly say, "I've never read that author's writing advice book." I have shelves and shelves of books about the fashion industry and fashion business. I have less than half a shelf of books about writing, most of them are about the perils of publishing, dictionaries of words and proper names. I have shelves and shelves of fiction and there are several shelves of non-fiction reference. But instead of spending hours and hours on reading books or advice columns about how to write, I sit at my computer or with a notebook and write.

When you write, you develop your own style, your own voice. You learn about yourself and what is important to you. I don't want to be Stephen King. I don't want to be Orson Scott Card. I don't want to be GRRM. I want to sound and write like myself with my own voice.

If you want to write for fun, you write for fun and style and grammar and the 'techniques' of writing may not be so important. When I was writing for fun, I still wanted to improve. I still wanted to get 'better' at writing. (Because when I first started back in 7th grade, I sucked.) So, I chose one portion of my writing and I focused on it.

I wanted to write better dialogue. I didn't want to write question and answer exchanges. I wanted dialogue that felt real instead of stilted. So, I wrote dialogue. I analyzed my dialogue. If I saw there was a question and answer exchange over and over. I went back and rewrote the questions into statements. I wrote so much dialogue that it became such second nature that I can't tell you how exactly I write dialogue anymore. These characters in my head have conversations in my brain and I'm a vessel to get them from my brain to the page.

I decided later I wanted to write action scenes. So I wrote action scenes until I felt that I had finally found a way to write action that worked for me. Action that suited my style. I decided I wanted to work in writing description and try to figure out how to do it without disrupting my narrative flow and dialogue. So, I write description.

The day I figured out how to write a plot with conflict. Well, err, the Lone Prospect was born. Sometimes, plot and conflict comes deliberately and sometimes before this it was completely accidental. Now, I can look at my work and go "I can't write anything until I have a plot and conflict." Or "This story has no tension, what happened to the conflict? Drat. Must go find it. Rewrite." Whereas before, if I had a situation, I'd just write it no matter what. This led to some very entertaining yet boring stories all at the same time.

As I have developed my writing I start to see things that I do that could be annoying and disruptive to readers. Then, I try to change them. I can see the bad habits in my writing. I can see where in sentences that my brain runs off on a tangent that would be better served as a sentence later. I notice where words are out of place. (And if it is a writing piece for fun, I don't care and won't change it. If it's for publishing, I'll fix it. The point is I see the flaws.)

If you're unhappy with your writing, write more until you are happy. Write realizing that you can always improve if you want to do so. Write knowing that everything you've written can be changed if it has to be. Because if you don't write, you're never going to be an author.

You can only get better with experience. Being a writer, being an author, experience means writing.

People sometimes want me to help them with their writing. Then they get shocked when I ask them to write more than one hundred words in a week. I patiently try to tell them if they don't write then me trying to help them is a waste of both of our valuable time. You can only improve by writing more words down on a page. (This honestly helps me sort the diehards from the dreamers.)

The basic rules of language and writing haven't changed since high school. High School English classes about grammar and creative writing will teach you the basics of everything you need to know. (And I was taught Bob Jones English, which is horrible and I still know the basics of active versus passive, basic story structure, basic themes, basic conflicts.) You can learn and learn and learn, and it will do you nothing until you apply it by writing.

I'll be fair. I have one writing catch all advice book. I can read it in ten minutes. The Writer's Little Book of Wisdom by John Long. It has saved me from filter words, daffy dialogue and the peril of expecting people to give feedback on my work or notice it exists. It has reminded me there are three rules for a good novel and no one knows what they are, not to mix my metaphors and shoot epitaphs. I got it in high school. It's turning yellow. There are passages highlighted of my favorite pieces of advice. I'm surprised I haven't lost it. (There have been a few panic inducing close calls.)

So here are the first two pieces of advice from it. "Art without practice is nothing. Sit down everyday and write."