#this looks like a very promising good shoujo and i am so excited to keep on reading the manga further while watching the anime

[renxmaiden]

So there’s this manga/anime called Niehime to Kemono no Ou and I’ve been having the ABSOLUTE time of my life watching it just today as well as discovering it for the first time and not only this was a very good shoujo that I’ve watched (And looking forward to more episodes, also reading the manga too) but the main couple. The main couple. They look like adult Ren and Jeanne from Shaman King and everytime I see them I can’t help but get reminded of Adult RenMei. 

THE RESEMBALANCE VIBES ARE REAL

And everytime I see these two I fall inlove even more because of the resemblances xDD  

[catgirl-brain]

Here’s my English translation of Mahiru’s Voice Drama - Love is Mine I couldn’t find an English translation from anyone else, so I did it myself. I’m not super good at japanese, but I think I got the important things down. Feel free to use/post this translation wherever you like.

Mahiru: (humming)

  (distant footsteps)

Mahiru: Prison guard is almost here~

Es: (footsteps) (door opens) (door shuts) Sorry to keep you waiting, Prisoner Number 6, Mahiru.

Mahiru: Ah! It’s like-

Es: Huh?

Mahiru: (giggles) It’s sort of like a date- It’s making my heart beat fast… it’s sort of thrilling!

Es: I heard Yuno say something similar, female prisoners seem to say things like that.

Mahiru: Eh? It’s super romantic, right? Thanks to you, I’m having fun every day.

Es: (sigh) It is interesting here…

Mahiru: Ah! So you agree~!

Es: Understand the situation, Mahiru. You’re in here because you’ve committed a murder, not so you can play.

Mahiru: Murder… Yeah, I don’t really understand how what I did was murder. 
Es: We’re going to do an interrogation to uncover your sin, starting from now. The situation is far from being romantic.

Mahiru: Sorry, sorry… I get it.

Es: MILGRAM exists to reveal the sins of the prisoners, and make a moral decision. For that reason, let’s talk about some things.

Mahiru: Lets talk~! I get to spend time with the Prison Guard, I’m so happy!

Es: It’s no use trying to slow down my pace like that. (muttering) You prisoners are always like this…

Mahiru: What were you just talking about?

Es: It was nothing! …Let’s start the interrogation. That’s right… M-

Mahiru: Yes! I’m Mahiru Shiina, 22 years old~! Thanks for coming here to meet me!

Es: I’m the one leading this interrogation! (muttering) What is this pattern?! It’s the same as with Yuno… It’s fine… I need to calm down.

Mahiru: Okay! What about you?

Es: Huh?

Mahiru: Your name and age?

Es: …

Mahiru: Your name is…? Your age is…?

Es: Es…. I’m around 15…

Mahiru: (clasps hands) Fifteen years old! That’s young for a prison guard, isn’t it? At my age, I’m like your big sister! Come on, tell me anything!

Es: Oi… Mahiru, why am I-

Mahiru: Hey, hey what kind of name is “Es”? It doesn’t sound Japanese - where is it from?

Es: … I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I am Es, other than that I don’t know anything. I don’t have any memories.

Mahiru: You have amnesia!? You poor thing…! You actually have it?

Es: I don’t see why you care. I don’t worry about it, it lets me concentrate on my work without having any extra thoughts or memories to distract me.

Mahiru: That’s so interesting, Prison guard! Let’s get to know your personality!

Es: My… personality? I’m…

(high pitched ringing)

Mahiru: Prison guard, what’s wrong?

Es: Uh, excuse me.

Mahiru: Are you feeling okay? That was too tough of a question, wasn’t it? Herbal tea is good for remembering- green tea especially- It activates the brain.

Es: Oh, I see… Lets try that… No! I don’t give a damn about myself right now!

Mahiru: (disappointed hum) That’s no fun.

Es: Why were you even asking me these questions?

Mahiru: But… But Prison Guard… I just wanted to have some mutual understanding. You want to know about me, so I want to know about you!

Es: Well, I suppose that’s alright.

Mahiru: Yay! In this situation, I think the first step is to understand each other. There’s a lot I want to talk about so I can know you well… Es: Hm… Does an approach like that really work?

Mahiru: Yes! If you have the courage to lay yourself bare, the other person will be able to talk to you with peace of mind. Es: Self-disclosure reciprocity… But this only works if you already have knowledge of yourself. Mahiru: Eh? Self-disclosure reciprocity..? Es: I’m gathering information so I can get to know you better. It was in this book I read. Mahiru: Haah? Prison guard reads too? “Love-Talk of 1000 Girls in Kanto” is good too! Es: …What’s that? Mahiru: Eh? You haven’t read it? It’s all about how to make love special!

Es: Make love?!

Mahiru: Uh-huh, make love! It has features on fashion, trends, and fortune-telling - things that will help you find love! It helped me to become a stronger, brighter me!

Es: (sigh) I think I misunderstood. Please forget what I said.

Mahiru: Oh, so that’s how it is! Prison guard must be interested in romance~! 15 years old is the height of puberty, after all. Is there anyone you like?

Es: I’m not very interested in that kind of thing.

Mahiru: Eh? No, no. It’s not good to say you dislike love, right? Love is like a little explosion, it’s just that you’re a little late. Even if you aren’t interested now, it’ll explode some day! Someday you’ll have a fateful encounter..!

Es: You sure speak of it well.

Mahiru: At first, you’ll deny it. I do the same, but then I feel like a girl in a shoujo manga - it’s like being in some different world~!

Es: I’m not sure… Is love really that important?

Mahiru: It’s important.

Es: (small sigh)

Mahiru: It’s important. Above all else.

Es: I see. That’s yours, prisoner number 6, Mahiru.

Mahiru: Eh? What is?

Es: Somehow, as I’ve interrogated people they’ve shown me something. What they cherish.

Mahiru: Love is something very important to me (giggles) It’s not like I was hiding it!

Es: Could it be, that your murder was derived from it?

Mahiru: (silence) It seems so… I think it was love.

Es: It looks like your love ended in death.

Mahiru: It… seems so.

Es: I see. A song produced from a murderous love affair… It’s not an unusual story.

Mahiru: No, it’s not like that. I didn’t want to kill anyone. I just- It just happened.

Es: What do you mean?

Mahiru: I won’t say. I don’t know enough about Prison Guard yet!

Es: So there has to be a mutual understanding, huh?

Mahiru: (giggles) Yeah, that sort of thing!

Es: This sure is troublesome. Oh well, do you think what you did can be forgiven, or not?

Mahiru: There’d be no point in living if I can’t be forgiven for what I’ve done. (laughs)

Es: So you could be fine living after you’ve committed a murder? You sound like a dangerous person.

Mahiru: Ah-! No, what I meant was… it’s suddenly gotten all messy… I just don’t want to kill people at all! …but… I decided to live for love.

Es: For love…

Mahiru: I know the wonderful feeling of loving someone- it’s amazing! Every day is shining and colorful! The normal scenery changes to something out of a drama or a movie!

Es: I’m not following.

Mahiru: Ehm… I don’t have a huge vocabulary, so I can’t really explain it well… But you’ll understand one day, I’m sure!

Es: I wonder…

Mahiru: Without love, my life would be dull and tasteless, so if you say love’s no good, then there’s no point in living.

Es: But your love kills people.

Mahiru: You’re so mean…

Es: Your love killed a person, but would you love someone again?

Mahiru: I want you to tell me… Is what I did unforgivable?

Es: What?

Mahiru: I wonder if I should still love someone, even if it would end up killing them.

Es: (silence)

Mahiru: Hey, Prison guard, tell me! Is it unforgivable for me to love someone?

Es: I don’t know. What you’re saying now sounds a bit different than what you were saying before.

Mahiru: Is that so… I suppose that’s true… I’m feeling strange… I don’t know…

Es: Not yet…

Mahiru: Eh?

Es: I just don’t know yet. I don’t make these decisions immediately, you have to wait.

Mahiru: (sad/surprised noise)

Es: To be honest, this is one of my weak points. That’s why, as you said, I should get to know you better.

Mahiru: Prison guard…

Es: I am your Prison Guard. I don’t make decisions on a whim because I’m not sure if you’re forgivable. I’m here to judge you, and decide whether or not to forgive you of your sins.

Mahiru: (confused noise) (excited noise) So you’ll keep watching me?

Es: Yes, that’s my job.

Mahiru: (squeals) (gets out of chair)

Es: What are you-

Mahiru: What happened..?

Es: What are you talking about?

Mahiru: You’re enthusiastic about work… I love that!

Es: Stop fooling around.

Mahiru: (panting) That’s no good, (haah), be careful! Um.. Um.. If you’re too kind to me, (leans in) you might die! Okay?

Es: I’m not trying to be kind. I don’t understand how you got that from what I said before. I can only promise you this: Rest assured, I won’t die no matter what you do.

Mahiru: (gasp)

Es: Because I’m… The Prison Guard of MILGRAM.

Mahiru: (yells) (gets up and starts to run)

(bell starts to chime, stone grinding)

Mahiru: Wh- What? Did my voice trigger a collapse?!

Es: No. It seems like the time is up on this little game. What a pain… I have no choice but to end this as usual. You all…

Mahiru: Um… Um… I’m a little nervous about singing… I’m not very good at it…

Es: You won’t be singing. Your mental landscape will appear as a song and video without any conscious input from you. Mahiru: Oh, it’ll be visible then… That’s a little ridiculous… Es: I suppose so. The intensity of the video is different for every person… It all depends on how you perceive your sins.

Mahiru: Ah…

Es: Either way, I’ll be able to see how you see the world.

Mahiru: I see, I see! It’ll be unique to me, because the world of love was so beautiful to me. Oh! Prison guard, you’ll be able to understand the amazingness of love through me!

Es: I’ll hear it, too.

Mahiru: Huh? That too?

Es: It’ll be good knowing something that you don’t. It’s necessary for me to acquire various knowledge to get to know you. That’s not bad, either.

Mahiru: (gasp) I… love how hardworking you are…

Es: Shut up!

Mahiru: It was just a little flirting…

Es: (sigh) After we’ve talked, I don’t feel as though I’ve been working very hard…

Es: Do you have anything left to ask?

Mahiru: Eh… Um… Just one!

Es: What? You still have more?

Mahiru: Um… can I call you “Es-kun?”

Es: NO COMMENT (turns around and leaves)

Es: (sighs) Prisoner number 6, Mahiru. Alright then, show me your sin.

[untapanimedraw]

Ok, lets talk the Winter 2021 anime season

Dear god, there are so many shows airing. A ton of sequels, and a decent amount of new shows. I think I’ll actually break down what I’m interested in watching into two parts, sequels and new. Lets get started. 

Watching:

Sequels 

Jujutsu Kaisen - This is technically a continuation rather than a sequel, but the spirit is the same. This was my choice for favorite anime of the season fall 2020 so this continuation has me pretty hyped. 

Black Clover - Still continuing. The manga had a 6 month time skip and the anime did some anime only stories with the author’s direction to cover that time period and now it’s caught up to that time skip. Shit is about to go down and I am stoked. 

Attack On Titan: Final Season - So this started airing in December which makes for a strange airing schedule, but it’s technically continuing from the fall season into the winter season. Anyway, it is fucking fantastic and this week’s episode left us on a major cliff-hanger for 2 weeks. 

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S2P1 - Ok, so first... HOLY FUCK I’M SO EXCITED FOR THIS SEASON, IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING. Second, yes this is part 1. Thanks to covid there are some longer running seasons that are being split up to accommodate the production schedule. So this part 1 is airing in winter, then in the spring the 4-koma comedy re-telling is airing, and then in summer part 2 of this season 2 will air. it’s annoying, but 3 continuous season of slime is a welcome thing. 

Re:Zero S2P2 - Alright, so this is the second half of summer 2020′s season 2 part 1. I have high expectations considering what we’ve already been given. 

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (S2) - HOLY FUCK I’M SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR THIS SHOW, I LOVED THE FIRST SEASON AND AM READING THE MANGA AND OMG I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE.

The Promised Neverland S2 - More of the promised neverland. I’ve heard that this season will go even harder than the first season and Emma will prove even more why she’s best girl, so bring it on. 

The Quintessential Quintuplets S2 - A second season of a decent harem show? Bring it on. 

Log Horizon S3 - So I didn’t watch this when the first 2 seasons aired years ago, 6 I think actually. That said it’s always been on my PTW list and when I heard season 3 was going to air I decided that now was the time to catch up; and wow am I glad I did. I binged the first 2 seasons over the last 3 weeks and I am so fucking invested now. I cannot wait for this next season. 

Higurashi GOU - this is continuing from last season and I’ll keep watching it, though I’m still not quite sure how to evaluate it. 

Yuru Camp S2 - WOOHOO!!!!! This was the chillest of chill shows that aired winter 2018 and I absolutely loved it. I’m so excited for this next season for more camping and adorable girls being chill. 

World Trigger S2 - So I was under the impression that there were already 2 seasons of this show, I watched most of it I think but it’s been so long I don’t really remember much. But this is being called season 2... so either this is retconning the previous season 2 or that was really just 1 big season despite the notation on some websites. Also a S3 has already been announced so I need to hurry up and rewatch this before the new season airs. But with 73 episodes that might take a bit of time. 

Armor Shop for Ladies and Gentlemen S2 - This is a sequel to the short anime of the same name. If you like it, you like it. 

New

Cells at Work S2 - Ok, technically this is a sequel, but I’m including it here because of something cool that’s happening with the next title. 

Cells at Work: Black - Why yes, this is a different Cells at Work title. This is based on the spin-off manga of the same title that gender swaps the cells from the main series and covers their work inside an extremely unhealthy body. This is going to be a grittier, bloodier, and bleaker show than the main one and in a fun airing scheduling event, they will be airing back to back. I’m quite excited for the both of these. 

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS GETTING AN ADAPTATION! SADLY IT’S A SPLIT COUR SO THIS IS THE FIRST HALF OF SEASON 1 AND THE SECOND HALF WILL AIR LATER PROBABLY IN THE SUMMER. BUT THAT’S OK BECAUSE EVERYTHING I HAVE SEEN ABOUT THIS SO FAR TELLS ME THIS WILL BE A PRETTY DAMN FAITHFUL ADAPTATION AND IT IS GOING TO BE FANTASTIC. 

Horimiya - I’ve heard many good things about this romance show and am looking forward to it. 

Redo of Healer - Ok, here we go. This is going to be the outrage anime of the season. That is, if it is actually watched by people. It’s also getting 3 different levels of censoring so uh, I’ll have to check for the proper versions when it airs. 

So I’m a Spider, So What? - Ok, so funny story. I’d been hearing about this manga for a while so I decided to dive into it a few months back. As I read it, I thought it was pretty funny but I wondered if the anime adaptation would be great for a comedy manga about a reincarnated girl into a spider’s body. Then about 3 weeks ago, I realized I was reading the comedy spin-off instead of the main story. That said I’m still quite excited to see this adapted and I’ll get the manga after then anime is done. 

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter - Hella ecchi, actually pretty fun manga. I’m looking forward to this adaptation. 

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a started town - Hopefully this will be as fun as the manga was. Here’s a better synopsis than the Livechart one - Lloyd is the weakest person in his remote village but his dream is to become a soldier in the big city. So he moves to the city and strives to make his dream come true. However in a twist, it turns out that the remote village Lloyd came from is the retirement town for all the world’s strongest heroes and they are all massively overpowered, so when he gets to the city he’s stupidly OP but it doesn’t quite click for him. Shenanigans ensue. It’s fun and I’m looking forward to this adaptation. 

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki - This is supposed to be not quite as good a romance as Horimiya this season, but still decent. If that is the comedy romance this is the drama romance show and hopefully it’ll be good. 

Kemono Jihen - Mystery, supernatural, Yokai. I’m intrigued in this show and hope it’s decent. 

Otherside Picnic - Shoujo Ai, Sci-Fi, I’m sold. 

Hortensia SAGA - This is based on a game, but I’ve heard that the story and scope are actually quite good and the PV actually looks quite good so I’m definitely gonna check this one out. 

SK8 the Infinity - Ok, so my first impression of this was nah, I’ll pass. But then I saw the PV and saw it was being animated by BONES and my impression changed to Ok I have to at least give it a couple episodes. 

2.43 Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team - So this is supposed to be Haikyuu except lots more drama and less gameplay. It will really have to pull me in in order to get me to not think boring Haikyuu when I watch it. I’ll give it a couple episodes. 

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- - Doctor heals people from Yokai or something like that. The tags look interesting as do the character designs. I’ll check it out.

Back Arrow - Fantasy setting but BOOM... Mecha! That premise at least demands a couple episodes of my attention. 

Heaven’s Design Team - Here’s my chill comedy SOL show of the season. The premise is Heaven has a design team that creates/created all the animals. I’m very excited to see the shenanigans. 

Gekidol - Idols and stage acting. After watching the new Love Live last season I’m in the mood for some idol stuff. But most interesting to me is the next show on this list. 

Alice in Deadly School - It’s not currently known whether this will be a full series or an OVA or some other thing, but this is an anime of the stage play that is being put on in Gekidol. The same VAs in Gekidol that play the characters in this play are voicing the characters for this anime production. And I just think this whole setup is neat and am very interested to see it play out (pun fully intended). 

Idoly Pride - This seems to be a more straight-forward idol show which I’m going to check out. 

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san - Girl doesn’t quite cut it to do the thing she and her friend came to do, but she found that she can cook so uses her cooking for support her friends. SOL, lets go. 

Wave!! Surfing Yappe!! - Surfing show, the animation will make or break this show so we will see how it turns out. 

Wow, that is a lot of shows, lets add them up. 

13 sequels and continuations

22 new shows

35 total. I kinda hope some of these suck cause HOT DAMN, that’s a lot of shows. 

[lawisnotmocked]

BBC Les Mis Episode 1

As promised (a few days ago ^^’) my review/analysis/thoughts on the first episode of the new bbc miniseries!

Warning for spoilers ahead! And it got really long so uh! Warning for that too!

Oh my god it’s 2000 words that's longer than some of the essays I submitted for uni good luck lads :,3

I’m just going to start with a few quick thoughts! 

Antagonists like Tholomeys, Thenardier and Gillenormand are all awful scumbags and perfect to hate! So great job there! 

Less of a great job with the font! Which was frankly an awful choice! Who's idea was that! 

The transitions were a little weird too. Switching straight from beautiful scenery and kissing scenes to Toulon threw me off a little ^^’  

Tholomeys sure did piss on a tree though huh :,) somehow that was vitally important and needed screen time :,) Didn’t need to see a nude Felix either :,)

I would die for Georges and little Marius Pontmercy though. Georges.... is handsome.... and baby Marius is so precious omg! ‘Scoundwel’! I die!

Fantine was so sweet and precious it broke my heart :,)

The scenery was beautiful too! 

Oh and there were lots of animals featured too and I will talk about some of them later but I loved all of them especially the goats!

Just look at these little stars :,)

Right! Now all of that’s out of the way I’ll talk about what you were probably actually interested in if you follow me: Valjean and Javert!

I love Oyelowo’s Javert. He’s an incredible actor and he clearly understands Javert’s character and motivations. Plus..... hhhh sexy voice...... handsome.....

West is also a great actor and plays Valjean brilliantly, however there’s a few things Davies has done to Valjean’s character that I’m not too pleased with :/ But! I’ll talk about that next!

This is.... also definitely a valvert adaptation. If they keep up like this it might be even more of a valvert adaptation than 1978!

I’m going to talk about specific scenes now! And the first one I’m going to address is one that takes place in Toulon early on and has already been discussed a lot!

So. Does Valjean try to kill someone??

I mean. What happens is an intentional action. He sees a guard telling off another prisoner, waits until the guard stands underneath him and then keeps checking on him to make sure he’s still there before he drops a fuckton of rocks on top of him. Was the intention actually murder? Maybe?? He smiles afterwards but he also smiles knowing that the guy isn’t dead and is only injured? So I’m not sure ^^’ He goes down to help lift the rock off the guard afterwards, but it seems more like at this point there’s some sort of threatening/showing off directed towards Javert, who was watching the whole thing, in a ‘look what I can do you think you have the power here but I can hurt people too and the decision to save this man was in my hands’. Anyway I kind of like that? And kind of really hate it because it’s really out of character. As a nonverbal exchange between prisoner and guard, I love it. As Jean Valjean purposefully perhaps trying to kill someone, I hate it. Because that’s not Valjean. Angry Toulon Valjean is sulky and hateful, not violent. So anyway that’s my Hot Take on that scene!

So the next Toulon scene I took notes on is also a valvert scene! Javert has a guard take Valjean to what seems to be some sort of torture room and has him restrained (sounds like a fanfic opening I know I promise this happens) then the guard leaves them alone together. This scene seems to be Javert ‘correcting’ the power balance after what Valjean did earlier and it has so much potential to be an incredible scene! If the dialogue wasn’t so clunky! Javert’s entire backstory is just dumped into the interaction and all it leads up to is a joke. Hey Davies there’s this thing called buildup and using this incredibly important information about Javert’s character for something dramatic! Come on! Flashbacks! Shouting! Using it to suddenly make everything make sense! Not casually having him say it in the first episode it doesn’t mean anything to anyone at that point! Please watch Shoujo Cosette and take some inspiration from them! Even the musical drops the information at a Dramatic Moment! Wasted opportunity! Dsfsfsf anyway ^^’ despite the limitations of the script Oyelowo did incredibly with it and I’m so excited to see more of his Javert!

Oh yeah and Valjean strips in front of Javert did I mention that? (I mean. I’m not complaining about the Valjean butt 👀 and muscular shoulders 👀👀) Did I also mention that there’s implied interest from Javert? I’m actually... not liking this because I don’t trust Davies.... like, Toulon era is the least healthy way to do valvert which is fine in fandom where we understand that and do it anyway with that understanding, but in a real adaptation? Where that understanding isn’t established and it’s real popular representation and Javert is implied to be a predatory gay man? I don’t like that too much. But we’ll see it’s only the first episode maybe it’ll get better as we go along. Still not complaining about the Valjean butt uwu Also! “Monsieur 24601”! So there is some good dialogue after all! Just do that with the other scenes!

Dsfsfsf just found “Was Valjean putting his head under a water fountain entirely necessary? No. Did I appreciate it anyway? Absolutely.” in my notes without any context too lol

Uhhhh Myriel scenes! Myriel is perfect and I adore him Valjean is still too aggressive it doesn’t feel like him :/ The scene when Myriel gives Valjean the candlesticks was too creepy too I didn’t like that what’s with the creepy music Davies it’s a nice good scene :,3

Petit Gervais sings! No singing allowed! Illegal!

Didn’t like what Davies did to the petit Gervais scene though!! Valjean intentionally stole the coin knowing what he was doing. It was supposed to be unintentional and unconscious that’s what makes it emotional and that’s what breaks him goddamn it! Of course I was very happy to have Petit Gervais included but I still feel like this scene had so much potential that was almost reached but just wasn’t quite!

But. It’s only the first episode. I still have hope that Valjean’s characterisation might improve later on! Please for the love of god let’s not have a repeat of 1998!

So far I would say the miniseries is enjoyable enough and definitely still worth watching! No les mis adaptation is perfect and this certainly isn’t a bad one as of the first episode!

So now you’ve read the part you actually wanted to read it’s time for me to talk about (potentially unintended) animal symbolism >:3 Look I had the decency to put it at the bottom at least! Could I have made it a separate post? Yes. But I didn’t die mad about it.

Hugo’s animal symbolism in the Brick is clearly something Davies has picked up on and decided to incorporate aspects of into his own adaptation. I don’t know how far or deep he intends to go with the symbolism but from the beginning there’s a fair bit of animal imagery in speech, mostly in relation to Valjean, but it’s also once used with Tholomeys when Favourite says “he looks as if he wants to eat you Fantine!” Hugo used imagery of predators (and of eating people :,3) to indicate individuals as dangerous so this is very fitting with that line of symbolism. But Sirius! You say, a comment like that doesn’t automatically mean intentional animal symbolism! Not on its own no, but alongside everything else it looks more likely that it’s intentional!

As I mentioned, the majority of animal imagery in speech in this episode is in relation to Valjean. The first example is when a guard calls a prisoner a ‘filthy dog’ in one of the Toulon scenes. The prisoner isn’t Valjean but Valjean is watching. The next example is also in reference to dogs when Valjean asks Myriel “how can I love my fellow man when he treats me worse than a dog?” I’m pretty sure this is a reference to the line “I am not even a dog!” from the Brick which I got very excited about! As a brief summary of the symbolism of dogs in les mis, Javert is a dog. He’s a social outcast like Valjean but he chooses to protect society as a policeman, making him a domestic dog and not a wild beast. Valjean is ‘not even a dog’ and ‘treated worse than a dog’ because even though they’re both social outcasts, Javert’s position gives him some sort of status, while Valjean is left with a yellow passport and nowhere to sleep. The final reference to dogs is... actually not the final reference and comes before Valjean talks to Myriel but I’m talking about this out of order lol. 

Valjean goes into a building looking for somewhere to sleep and instead finds a dog who barks at him and chases him off. This is a reference to one of my favourite scenes in the Brick which includes this quote: “I went into a dog’s kennel; the dog bit me and chased me off, as though he had been a man. One would have said that he knew who I was.” Javert is a dog. This scene is foreshadowing for the relationship Javert has with Madeline in M-sur-M. I really hope Davies takes the symbolism this deep by giving us a scene in the future that links Javert with dogs in this series! He probably won’t ^^’ But I’ll still be looking out for it!

Here’s a post with links to more analysis I’ve done on dogs in the brick if anyone was interested!

Moving on to the other animal symbolism used with Valjean! Yeah that’s right I’m still not done! After Valjean takes off with Myriel’s silver, Madame Magloire calls Valjean an “ungrateful beast” and then tells her brother off for “letting a wild beast like that into your house”. There is, of course, also the scene when Valjean (to quote my notes) ‘roars like a beastie’ before running away after Myriel gives him the candlesticks. The symbolism of ‘wild beast’ is also something used by Hugo in the Brick and the meaning of that symbolism is described surprisingly unsubtly: “the peculiarity of pains of this nature, in which that which is pitiless–that is to say, that which is brutalizing–predominates, is to transform a man, little by little, by a sort of stupid transfiguration, into a wild beast; sometimes into a ferocious beast.” 

That’s all I have to say about Valjean but!! I’m still not gonna shut up!! Because now I’m gonna talk about Cosette!!

In her room, Fantine has a bird in a cage.

Look it even gets a shot to itself! 

This bird is also shown at the end of the episode when Fantine is holding Cosette.

There they are! This file is saved as birbsette on my laptop lol.

Anyway, I’m fairly certain that this is a reference to Cosette’s Hugo Assigned Symbolic Animal being a songbird, specifically a lark. Of course it could be that the bird in a cage is actually associated with Fantine but we’ll have to wait until future episodes to see if the use of birds is continued and who they’re linked to if it is!

So! In summary! Davies has actually set up the basis for a lot of animal symbolism in the first episode and I’m very excited to see how far he decides to take in in further episodes! And we also learnt that Sirius has a hyperfixation! Thanks for getting this far folks and as always feel free to add anything on to or correct any mistakes in my ramblings!

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 5/12/21

SEAN: Happy Mother’s Day! Let’s look for some manga that you can safely show to Mom.

Airship has two early digital releases, Adachi & Shimamura 5 and Failure Frame 2.

Debuting in print is Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist. And we get the 2nd Muscles Are Better Than Magic as well.

ASH: I didn’t pick it up digitally, but am still vaguely intrigued by Drugstore in Another World.

MELINDA: I’m intrigued by the title alone.

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 6th omnibus volume for Gantz.

J-Novel Club has a few digital manga titles that I missed last time that are out this week. Apologies to An Archdemon’s Dilemma 5, Bibliophile Princess 2, and Record of Wortenia War 2. This is the danger of not adding “LLC” to your searches.

ASH: It can make a difference.

SEAN: As for this week, in terms of manga we have Ascendance of a Bookworm 7 and Mapping 2.

In terms of digital light novels, we get The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 9 and In Another World with My Smartphone 22.

Kodansha has a few print volumes next week. We get Don’t Toy with me, Miss Nagatoro 7, Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite 2, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 5.

MICHELLE: I still need to check out Yuzu.

ASH: I’ll have to admit the same.

MELINDA: And I.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is The Springtime of My Life Began with You (Kimi to Aoi Haru no Hajimari), a shoujo title from Dessert. The author’s had a lot of titles out over here, some from Kodansha (The Dorm of Love and Secrets, The Prince’s Romance Gambit) and some via Media Do’s many and varied company names (Heart Break Club). A popular guy is forced, as a punishment game, to ask out the quiet, shy girl in front of the whole class. The trouble is… he insists he really likes her!

ANNA: Those popular guys and their shenanigans!

MICHELLE: I know this concept is not the greatest, but I think the cover is pretty and enjoyed The Dorm of Love and Secrets, so I’ll be giving this a shot.

SEAN: We also get Ace of the Diamond 32, My Roomie Is a Dino 5, Nina the Starry Bride 2, Peach Boy Riverside 7, Saint Young Men 12, and Those Snow White Notes 4, voted “series most likely to get behind on” by Manga Bookshelf.

ANNA: I haven’t read the first volume so I’m sure I’m behind.

MICHELLE: Gah, so behind. It’s coming out especially quickly for some reason! I’m also in need of a mini-marathon on Ace of the Diamond.

SEAN: One Peace has the 2nd volume of isekai harem title Farming Life in Another World.

Seven Seas has FOUR debuts next week. We’ll start with My Alcoholic Escape from Reality (Genjitsu Touhi Shitetara Boroboro ni Natta Hanashi), the latest biographical manga from the creator of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, which promises to be as riveting as the previous book’s she’s given us. It ran in Matogrosso, put out by small publisher East Press.

ANNA: Oh wow.

ASH: They’re good but hard-hitting manga.

SEAN: Ride Your Wave (Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara) is a one-volume manga adaptation of the movie of the same name, and ran in Shogakukan’s Deluxe Betsucomi.

MICHELLE: Hm. It’s sports-adjacent, seems like.

SEAN: School Zone Girls is a title from Mag Garden’s MagComi about two troublemaking girls who’ve been together forever, but are they more than just friends? This seems to emphasize the comedy over the yuri.

Lastly, we get Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy (Reiwa Hanamaru Gakuen), a Kodansha title from good! Afternoon, and is about an all-girls school… populated entirely by gorgeous crossdressing men. This one also seems to emphasize the comedy.

ASH: This could be hilariously good or hilariously bad – I’m not sure that I can resist finding out which.

MELINDA: I really don’t know what to expect from this.

SEAN: Also out: Dungeon Builder 4 and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 5.

Square Enix debuts I Think Our Son Is Gay (Uchi no Musuko wa Tabun Gay), a Gangan Pixiv title about a mom who has realized that her son is keeping a secret. This is supposed to be very good.

ANNA: I’m curious.

MICHELLE: Same.

ASH: Really looking forward to this one.

MELINDA: I’m excited to read this one!

SEAN: They also have By the Grace of the Gods’ 2nd manga volume.

SuBLime wins the title of the week competition with the debut of Dick Fight Island (8nin no Senshi), a long-running title from Libre Shuppan’s Be x Boy Gold. The synopsis… is pretty much not work safe, but can probably be guessed from the title.

ANNA: I don’t think anyone could buy that manga and be confused about what they’re getting.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ASH: I likewise suspect that it is unlikely.

MELINDA: I mean. Well.

SEAN: They also have Vol. 2 of Don’t Be Cruel: plus+.

Speaking of BL, Tokyopop has a one-shot title, The Treasure of the King and the Cat (Ou to Neko no Himitsu), about a king investigating a series of disappearances who gets caught up in magic.

They also have Ossan Idol 3.

No debuts for Viz, but we get Fly Me to the Moon 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 13, Pokemon Sun & Moon 10, Rin-Ne 39, Splatoon 12, A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow 7, and Yo-Kai Watch 17.

ASH: Some great ongoing series in that list!

SEAN: That’s it. See anything maternal? I Think Our Son Is Gay looks like the best choice. I’d avoid Dick Fight Island. Unless your mom loves BL.

By: Sean Gaffney

[missmeikakuna]

(GL/Yuri) Shoujo Heroine... and Friends Chapter 9

It’s date time for Sahana and Toyomi, and date (?) time for Masami and Kunie. Please comment your thoughts and like this chapter if you, well, like it.

Rated: T

Fandom: Original story

Relationship type: F/F with some F/M

Description:

Sahana is friendly, innocent and optimistic, making her the perfect shoujo anime heroine… except she’s not the main character of this story.

When school prince Toyomi asks her out, she starts hanging out with him and leaves her friends behind. Prim and proper Masami and tomboyish slob Kunie don’t seem to have much in common outside of their friendship with Sahana, but they try to make the best out of a lonely situation.

So why is the god of love and marriage watching them, red string of fate at the ready? CONTENT WARNING: Some homophobic language and bullying.

Chapter 9: That was so cool!

Sahana narrowed her eyes at the tickets in Toyomi’s hands, one eyebrow up. ‘Wrestling?’ She lifted her head, her eyes wide with apology. ‘You did mention liking that sort of thing. What date is it on?’

Toyomi gave her the date and time. ‘Would you like to come with me? I promise it’ll be fun.’ Sahana answered with an excited hug and the invisible trumpets surrounding Toyomi played a victorious tune.

‘You’re going to have to teach me everything about wrestling, starting with why you like it.’

Toyomi scratched his chin. ‘I think it’s because it’s a lot like theatre. A lot goes into making a wrestling show. You’re basically staging a bunch of action scenes except they’re live rather than in a movie, so you have to find ways to make it look and sound like a character hurt another without actually hurting them. It’s really clever what they do and the wrestlers are usually a lot of fun.’

‘Well, I guess I have something to look forward to, then.’ Sahana spotted Masami and Kunie walking to the Home Ec room and ran towards them. ‘Hey, guys!’

Kunie responded, ‘Oh, I was going to see a play this Saturday and was wondering if-’

‘I’m sorry, I can’t. Toyomi’s taking me out to wrestling. It should be fun watching a bunch of sweaty men pin each other down.’ When Kunie laughed, Sahana put on a shocked face. ‘What’s so funny?’

Toyomi finally caught up to Sahana. Between pants, he said. ‘You… don’t… need… to run… everywhere…’

Sahana bowed her apology but smirked. ‘Maybe you should get better at running.’

Kunie’s jaw dropped. An insult? Who was the Sahana that stood before her?

Sahana realised her error and chuckled awkwardly. She grabbed Toyomi by the arm and whisked him somewhere, anywhere, else.

Masami and Kunie turned to each other. ‘Mind if I go to the play with you?’ Masami asked. ‘What play is it?’

‘Well, it’s a Takarazuka musical. So yeah, it might be more suited to you than Sahana. I just haven’t hung out with her in a while so I thought it might… I’d be glad to go with you.’

Saturday night lifted its curtains and soon The two pairs were at their respective events. Let us begin with Sahana and Toyomi.

The term ‘verbal assault’ took on new meaning as Sahana stepped into the sizeable room with her hand in Toyomi’s. Her ears were hit by cheers and heckles from wrestling fans. The hype pulsed throughout her body.

She copied Toyomi’s chants and clapped along with the crowd. The first match was between Benny Beta, an American man, and Kouki Boushi, a Japanese man.

Toyomi clutched at his chest and looked like he was about to cry. Sahana put her hand on his shoulder and he smiled. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, inadvertently tickling it.

‘These two used to be a tag team but became enemies when one of them joined an evil gang. They spent so many games getting closer and closer only for that one event to shatter everything. It’s such a shame. Hopefully after this game they can go back to being friends or lovers or whatever they are.’ He turned his head until it was facing the ring. ‘Ooh, it’s starting!’

The first thing that stood out to Sahana was the booming of the wooden floor as the wrestlers fell onto it following a hit. It resounded through her core and made each attack from the wrestlers feel impactful. She could barely hear the dialogue above the crowd, but the wrestler’s moves seemed to tell a story all on their own. She remembered what Toyomi said about the wrestlers potentially being lovers and noticed a degree of sexual tension between them. She knew next to nothing about these two characters and yet all she wanted was for them to get along again.

As if the gods granted her wish, the two ended the match with a big hug, with the heel returning to the side of the face. Toyomi cheered them on.

They had to wait a while for the next match and the cheering gradually died down, giving Sahana and Toyomi an opportunity to talk.

‘So, what did you think of your first match?’ Toyomi asked.

‘That was so cool! I didn’t realise how complex the storylines were, plus the acrobatics were really impressive.’

‘Yeah, Kouki Boushi’s pretty light on his feet.’

After all the matches ended, the couple went to a nearby restaurant. They talked about wrestling while waiting for their orders but once they got their food Toyomi steered the conversation in a different direction.

‘Hey, uh, I’ve noticed something about the way you speak to your friends. You make a dirty joke and then act like you don’t know what you said. Is that an in-joke between you three?’

Sahana’s shoulder’s rose. She stood still for a moment before scratching her cheek and looking away.

‘You caught me.’ She brought her shoulders down even lower than they were before. ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m playing a game to see how long it takes them to realise I’m not the pure innocent maiden they think I am. It’s weird, I know.’ She slurped some noodles before twirling her chopsticks around the bowl without picking anything up. ‘I kind of want them to figure it out, but at the same time I kind of… don’t? What if I go too far and they think I’m some sort of pervy weirdo? But I still do it, trying to be as subtle as I can. At least if they don’t know they can just think I’m unintentionally funny.’

‘Do you think your friends are the type to judge you for something like that?’

Sahana stopped moving her chopsticks. ‘Probably not.’

‘I wouldn’t worry too much about what people think about you. I mean, it seems like half the school thinks I’m gay for some reason.’

‘Well, you were on the verge of tears over the reunion of two male wrestlers who may or may not be lovers.’

‘Fair point.’

Sahana leaned forward, her eyes half-closed. ‘You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, but if you, for whatever reason, want to prove your interest in me, my lips are here.’

‘Is this the real you? I like it.’

Toyomi’s lips were soft enough to tickle Sahana’s. She giggled at the sensation and took in the smell of ramen from his hot breath. Her heart alternated between shocks of joy and warm contentment. She felt as if she had moved into a new house and immediately settled into it. Toyomi’s gentle touch was now her home.

Now, how were Masami and Kunie doing? Before the show started, they chatted about theatre and, for the first few minutes of the musical, struggled to keep quiet. The glares from the people sitting around them eventually sewed their mouths shut.

Plus, they had pretty and talented women to watch. The grand movements and powerful voices of the performers captured Masami and Kunie’s very souls. At one point, Masami turned to Kunie and could vaguely see a blush on her cheeks whenever the stage lights got brighter.

She followed Kunie’s eye line and saw that she was staring not at the woman wearing a suit and singing in a deep voice but at the soft-faced woman in a dress. The feminine woman wasn’t singing at the time.

Something bugged Masami about that woman. It wasn’t like she had any reason to. Her singing was fine and she played the role well. What was it about her that ever so slightly heated up the blood in her veins?

Masami’s blood cooled down when intermission began and Kunie rapidly fired off all the reasons she was enjoying the performance.

‘And the costumes are gorgeous too! I think you’d look good in the outfit Mieko Chage wore in the last scene.’

Masami’s cheeks matched Kunie’s from earlier. ‘Wasn’t that a wedding dress?’ At this point, I had my red string in my hands. However, her thoughts went elsewhere. In her mind, she explained away her blush as the result of the embarrassment she would naturally feel from someone making such a suggestion.

‘I’d hope you’d look good in a wedding dress. You will invite me to your future wedding, right? I’d hate for my friend to look bad on her special day.’

‘Who on earth would I marry?’

Kunie shrugged her shoulders. ‘Maybe no one. Or maybe I was right about us being late bloomers. You could find someone. Just make sure he treats you right, okay? And for the love of all that is good, please don’t use tongue when the groom is told to kiss you.’

Another guffaw from Masami. As the two laughed, they got closer and closer until Masami’s head rested underneath Kunie’s chin. While calming her own laughter, she could hear Kunie’s heartbeat and felt like she was in front of the fireplace on a cold winter’s day.

After a few moments of them slowing their breaths, Masami removed her head from Kunie’s chest and stood up, holding out her hand.

‘Want to get some ice cream or a drink before intermission ends?’

Kunie grabbed her hand and let her pull her up. ‘Think we can get to the front of the line before then?’

Masami shrugged, giggling and taking her to the candy bar’s long line. Only then did she realise she was still holding Kunie’s hand and let go. Her hand felt colder by itself. Only a bit, though.

[rieshon]

Spring 2019 Preview

How the hell is there another season already. I was hoping for a light load this time around, but it looks like the anime gods will not be so kind. Bonus feature this season is all the titles are links to the shows’ official websites so you can click and look at the cute girls I mention.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu: This is an adaptation of a Katsuwo manga, who is the guy who wrote the original for the brilliant Mitsuboshi Colors which ended up on my top ten of the year list last year. An all-female cast of adorable looking girls, a proven mangaka, and the usually-capable Hanada writing the scripts makes this one look like a pretty sure bet. Oh yeah it's also got a good looking deko blondenblu gaijin.

Joshikausei: I think this is a short, but all you need to really know about this show is the tagline on the website: おバカかわいい、この日常が��ぶん青春. They got all my favorite words in there. Too bad it's a short, but I think it will be fifteen minutes at least.

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san: This is one of those shows where you can probably guess exactly what it's going to be like from the title. It's cute kitsune wife (actual age: 800) and other girls in a rabukome animated by Douga Koubou... which is endorsement enough but it's also got Ayaneru as a meganekko joji anime otaku JD?? Hell yeah. The cast is actually fantastic: Waki Azumi, Mareitaso, Ayaneru and Kitaeri, and Suwabe Jun'ichi holds down the male protag fort so that should be good too. No reason to think this won't be great.

Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo Yu-No: You wanna talk about some aesthetic, this is some aesthetic. It's an adaptation of the hugely influential PC-98 eroge of the same name, which was a work that in large part helped bring us the sort of complex science fiction and fantasy stories that would shape the golden age of that medium. With how much I've been lamenting the lack of 'that eroge aesthetic' in anime as of late, it should be obvious that I'm hype for this, and it's getting two cours from based feel. at that.

Fairy gone: Not gonna lie, I was kinda mad that this new P.A. Works original looks nothing like what they typically produce, but having seen the PV, it looks pretty good. Then I learned that the scripts are being written by the author of Grimgar, and I got hype. Fantasy plus WW2-ish shit is a good aesthetic (think Youjo Senki) and it's got the considerable might of a P.A. Works production behind it. The director of Suzuki Keiichi, who doesn't have a lot of credits but worked on the first season of the Jojo anime, which was great, so this one definitely seems like it could have all the ingredients to really pop off. The girls also look hot which is very important.

Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?: With Hina-sensei of Domekano about to leave my life this show promises a much more concentrated injection of teacher moe into my veins... In fact it is all about lewd and cute senseis and they all look good. My only worry is that, as sometimes seems to happen with shows where the lewdness is put front and center, the animation doesn't really look like it's the best. I am grateful to this show for allowing Ishigami Shizuka to play a cute girl at least, even if she is still slightly typecast as the tomboy gym teacher.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season; in this one, everyone is a dumbass. It definitely looks like a standard harem anime, and I always need at least one of those a season to keep myself alive. The girls all look fantastic, but I'm especially excited for the pink-haired teacher character and the purple-haired loli BBA. There's also a delicious brown genki girl, a meganekko who wears kuropansuto... Yeah it's got all the good good ingredients. Oh yeah, it's also being directed by the guy who directed the extremely good Last Period anime last year, so it's got that going for it too.

Kenja no Mago: It's isekai tensei anime, and yes, it literally starts with the protagonist getting hit by truck-kun... But the PV ended up really winning me over, and I'm cautiously looking forward to this one. The premise is recycled, but there's nothing new under the sun anyway. It looks like it's got a decent sense of humor about it and the heroines look cute as hell, but it also looks like it's got some major production values being pumped into it. This show could definitely be a pleasant surprise.

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season. This one has some good-looking character art courtesy of Silver Link, and one of a couple major leading roles for up-and-coming seiyuu Waki Azumi. The main girl looks extremely adorable and is apparently a pervert so I got hopes for this one to be good.

Senryuu Girl: We actually traditional Japanese arts now (a senryuu is a kind of poem similar to a haiku) but more importantly, cute girls. Za-san takes the leading role but there's also Sumipe as a chuuni looking girl, Kuno-chan, and Paisen, among others. The direction doesn't inspire confidence (this guy was behind the shittier latter seasons of Prisma Illya) but it still looks like a cute rabukome.

One Punch Man 2nd season: How can there be a second season when he already punched last time? He's all outta punches! In all seriousness, One Punch Man was a surprisingly enjoyable romp the first time around, thanks in no small part to the spectacular (especially for TV) animation on display. There is concern over it having moved from Madhouse to J.C. Staff for this season, but if J.C. are being given enough money to rustle up the same level of talent as last time it should hopefully still be a spectacle.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki: Hougen marudashi no joshikousei! It's cute dialects anime!! That fishing anime had good dialects but it was actually a bad show; this looks like it will have a good dialect and be a good show. It should be cute if nothing else. The main heroine's thing is that she speaks Nagoya-ben, but given that the other heroines are listed as being from Gifu and Mie, maybe we will even get many dialects. Unfortunately, though, it's probably a short, since Creators in Pack are involved.

Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma: This is also a short (ten minutes) which is too bad because these girls look cute as heck. A show with a premise like this is really gonna depend on how likable the male protagonist is, though.

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine: Toukyou no chuusuu wa marunouchi, hibiya kouen ryougiin... Wait, wrong anime. But yes, like the venerable Taisho Yakyuu Musume of old, girls are playing baseball in anime again. This one is set in the modern day, and I have no idea if it's a fictional setting where girls all play baseball or if they're gonna do the Taisho thing and try to take down the baseball boys because the website still has no plot section. The character designs look good as hell though, coming courtesy of Noguchi Takayuki, who also did designs for Tenshi no 3P! (they were like the only good thing about that anime) and Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu (similar). Hopefully this show has more than just good girls to ogle.

Shoumetsu Toshi: Only thing I really know about this is Ayaneru is in it because I've seen her doing promo work for it. The key visual definitely doesn't do it any favors, nor does the fact that it's apparently based on a mobile game, but man some of these character designs look great. Ayaneru plays some kind of moe gumshoe detective, Mingosu is a sexy lab coat channee, actually there's multiple sexy lab coat channees... Really that's all you have to tell me, I'm fucking in there. The show will probably be crap.

Carole & Tuesday: This looks very pretentious and vaguely like they're fishing for overseas viewers (actually they definitely are because the website even defaults to English when I load the site, which offends my sensibilities), but the PV does make it looks fairly interesting. It's another music focused series from Watanabe Shinichiro, who also tried to steal the hearts of the west with Sakamichi no Apollon in 2012, which was terrible. It might be neat though I guess. It does seem to have a black girl as one of the protagonists which is cool.

Isekai Quartet: I have no idea who asked for this, but if it gives me the opportunity to hear more of Amamiya Sora as Aqua while I wait for a third season of Konosuba, it can't be all bad. I ain't never seen no Overlord though, so a quarter of this is gonna be lost on me.

Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu!: The title is appropriate because this short is basically an appetizer for the coming next wave of Strike Witches content. It's a cute honobono comedy starring the Strike Witches girls, so it'll probably be good. Hopefully this can remove from my mouth some of the bad tastes Brave Witches left. It won't be until next year that we get the return of Takamura-kantoku and true Strike Witches anime, though.

Araiya-san! ~Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!?~: What the hell is this? Do they really have these in Japan? It's about a dude who washes girls in the bath?? Whatever the fuck is going on here, the girls look cute and it definitely promises to be lewd, at least on ComicFesta's own streaming service. MX version will probably have nazo no hikari, so hopefully the uncensored one pops up somewhere I can watch it.

Choukadou Girl 1/6: It's definitely impossible to not think of Frame Arms Girl when looking at this series, which will probably end up being an unfair comparison. For one, it looks like we got a shitty ass male protagonist instead of a cute girl. I remember how Busou Shinki turned out... Not having high hopes for this one.

Fruits Basket: Honestly, there's no way I'd be watching this if it didnt have such a famous name on the tin. Two ikemen danshi on the key visual is too many! Fruits Basket is a legend of shoujo manga, though, and there should be a lot of resources going into this new, full adaptation of the series, so I feel vaguely obligated to check it out. People are mad about the new character designs but the girls look pretty good, especially that blonde delinquent looking girl.

Sarazanmai: Uh-oh. It's Ikuhara anime. My consternation with Ikuhara is well documented, and although I've never seen his opus of Utena, I find his works, though visually compelling, to be frustratingly obscurantist, or to put it another way, "trying too hard." Still, you gotta give the guy credit for being unique I guess, so I'll still end up watching at least an episode, whatever the fuck it turns out to be about. Unfortunately there seems to be a major lack of girls to hold my interest, not to mention none to be lesbians, so it might not last very long.

Kono Oto Tomare!: It's koto anime. You can have an anime about anything and this is one about people who play the koto. Lots of traditional Japanese arts this season for some reason. Unlike the senryuu anime though, this one only has ONE measly female character, and it doesn't even look like she's the protagonist, so I probably won't watch it. The koto is cool though.

Kimetsu no Yaiba: This show looks like a big deal just from the number of stations it's airing on and the fact that it's a rare TV anime from Ufotable... Unfortunately I have little interest in actually watching it. It's a Shounen Jump series, the art makes it look edgy, it uses the word "zetsubou" in the tagline and I already hate the Hanae Natsuki-voiced boy protagonist just after seeing his face in the key visual. There is a cute looking oni girl though.

Gonna put these down here since it feels weird to rank what are essentially ongoing shows:

Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~: Friends is the Aikatsu series that finally really got its claws in me, so I'm chuffed that we're getting a second season, with some sexy looking space idols voiced by Hiyocchi and Oonishi at that. The fact that there will apparently be a time skip has me a little worried, but also, two years older Mio and Maika are gonna be good. I'm sure it will still be great.

Kiratto! PriChan 2nd season: Unlike Aikatsu, Prichan doesn't seem like it's getting any major changes going into its second year, but I hope they shake it up with some new idols or something. Prichan's definitely not on the level of its predecessor (though little is) and its formula is getting a little stale, so hopefully they take this as a chance to rejuvenate it. Oshamatrix full idols now goddamnit.

[rieshon]

Spring 2018 Preview

I can’t believe a new season starts in a week already... heres the shows.

1. Comic Girls: KIRARA ANIME BOIS. Do I even need to say more than that? The girls look absolutely adorable, the animation looks on point, and although the director is a debutante he's being backed up by an impressive quartet of writers including Takahashi Natsuko, Yokote Michiko, Hanada Jukki and Machida Touko. Oh yeah, it's also got a bunch of hot channees in addition to the cute schoolgirls. You can't go wrong with this one.

2. Amanchu! ~Advance~: Satojun is back at it again with the silly hiragana subtitles for sequels. The masters of healing are back again for a sequel to what was one of my favorite shows of 2016. More Teko, more of that sexy Itou Shizuka-voiced teacher, and more relaxing feels. This is exactly what we need to fill the Yurucamp-shaped holes in our hearts.

3. Alice or Alice: There are a lot of things that make me excited about this show. Obviously the cast is one: Ayaneru plays the main character, and we got Natsunee and Oonishi in there too. The director is Kobayashi Kousuke, an alumnus of the Pretty Rhythm series who was very heavily involved in Pripara, which you may know is the best anime ever made. And then there's the aesthetic: everything from the character designs to the title logo make this look and feel like a harem anime from 15 or so years ago, which is absolutely my jam. Pretty hyped for this one.

4. Sword Art Online Alternative Gungale Online: One of the weirder things to happen over the past year-ish is that I've become an unabashed SAO fanboy. The shows are just good, y'all. So you can imagine how I feel about a new show set in the SAO universe written by the author of Kino no Tabi, a show I just put in my top five of the last year, and with characters by Kuroboshi Kouhaku (also of Kino) who is the utmost hotness right now. Hopefully this will be more than enough to tide us over while we wait for SAO3 to arrive.

5. Waka-Okami wa Shougakusei: This looks like a kids anime at first glance, and, well, it is. It's based on a series of popular children's books, but they've really gone all out with the production values based on the PVs (Madhouse producing) and it looks immensely charming. Some of the best anime are childrens' stories, so I'm quietly excited about this one.

6. Hinamatsuri: This is shaping up to be one of the weirder shows of the coming season, and it looks great. From the look of the PVs, feel. are going even more all-out than they usually do with the visuals, and it also looks genuinely funny. Plus it's got a cute loli. Should be good.

7. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Die Neue These: It's finally here. Obviously I've heard nothing but good things about the original series, but I'm never going to have the motivation to go back and watch something so old, long and difficult, so hopefully this new anime has got me covered. I'm sure there will be plenty of discourse about it; I just hope it's decent.

8. Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai: Somehow, we've still never gotten a sequel to the wonderful Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, but this show brings together the chief staff of that show for a new romantic comedy anime at Douga Koubou. With that pedigree (they even got the same guy who did the OP song for Nozaki) there's definitely reason to be optimistic about this one. Not to mention it's got cute gaijin girls and an imouto voiced by Inosuke.

9. PERSONA5 the Animation: I think I'm going to give up any ridiculous illusions I have of actually playing the game any time soon and just watch this. It's the only realistic way I'll get to see dat Kawakami-sensei and Takemi-sensei. You know I'm all about the channees right now, and man, does P5 have some good ass channees. The anime is actually being directed by Ishihama Masashi, the man who did Shinsekai Yori and literally hasn't done another TV anime since, so that's pretty exciting. Obviously, a lot Shinsekai Yori's success is because of the material adapted, but if you can make a masterpiece like that you've got to have some kind of talent.

10. Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: CUTE CHANNEE ALERT WEEWOO WEEWOO WEEWOO. I'm all up ons this. Is there anything better than cute OLs? ...Man, things sure have changed around here. Also, that title is just mean when it's literally an anime about otaku having romances. SOME OF US OUT HERE ARE LONELY

11. Last Period -Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari-: Has there been a good social game anime yet? I guess Schoolgirl Strikers was alright, in that I actually managed to finish that one, but most of these turn out to be bad. I hope Last Period can be the one to buck the trend and be truly good, because I love the silly light-fantasy tone that it looks like it's going for. Wisemen for best girls. There's tons of cute girls with great designs (the one thing you can always count on social games for) and it'd be a shame for them to go to waste like so many before them.

12. Hisone to Masotan: I got really excited when I saw this because it looked like a cute anime about fighter planes. Instead it looks like it's a cute anime about fighter... dragons. What a ripoff. I wanted the planes. My aviation-nerd pouting aside I'm sure it will still be adorable JSDF propaganda. I just really wanted the planes.

13. Golden Kamuy: It's some kind of weird serendipity that I'm studying the Ainu for school this semester and now we get an anime explicitly about the Ainu. Period anime are pretty cool (the Russo-Japanese War isn't a setting explored in much visual media at all), the premise sounds cool, and I really like the look of the Ainu girl. Plus, how often do we get Ainu culture actually presented in anime? Remains to be seen how well it's done, but it's pretty neat.

14. Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Aw yeah. If only Jug was around to see the horse girls. I have no reason to doubt that this will be great fun, especially since it has the financial backing of Cygames, who have more money than God. Just hopefully we don’t have to see any of the cute girls get put down after breaking a leg.

15. Lostorage conflated WIXOSS: Somehow the WIXOSS anime series is still going. selector is still one of my favorite shows in recent memory, but Lostorage was complete spaghetti compared to it, so there's nowhere to go from here but up, right? This new series promises to bring back the characters from selector, which gives me mixed feelings. I don't want them to just play off nostalgia for the old show, but I'm also kinda excited to see Yuzuki and Tama again. I guess we'll see what happens. Maybe a new director will shake things up for the better.

16. 3D Kanojo Real Girl: Man, who wants a 3D girlfriend? Can your real life girlfriend be considered 3D if you're living in a 2D world? This stuff always leaves me conflicted. I'm down for some Serizawa Yuu-voiced heroine, and the always-capable Akao Deko is writing the screen adaptation, so it might be good.

17. Mahou Shoujo Ore: Oh god. I'm pretty sure I saw clippings from the manga of this a while back. It's a mahou shoujo where the girls transform into buff dudes in magical girl outfits for some reason. It can't be a coincidence that the protagonist is named "Uno" and is voiced by Oohashi Ayaka. If this show is even half as amazing as Fantasista Doll it'll be a great success.

18. A.I.C.O. Incarnation: There are a few Netflix-funded series this season but most of them don't look especially interesting. This one looks alright, but it's using the stupid Netflix bulk release model so I guess I'm waiting until April to start it despite all the episodes being out already. It looks like it could be a cool science fiction show, and I like the Naruko Hanaharu character designs.

19. LOST SONG: So this is that Suzuki Konomi promotional vehicle... From the PV, it doesn't look great, but I am a big fan of Konomin's singing so I guess I'll have to check out at least an episode. I just doubt her ability to act as well as she can sing.

20. Caligula: Strangely, this show does not seem to be about the son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder who ruled as Roman emperor from 37 to 41. I actually have no idea what it's about. Something about idols. But some of the character designs look pretty good, especially that blonde channee, so it's a maybe from me.

21. High School DxD HERO: It's baaaack. The show I watched three seasons of for Ayaneru that gave me almost no Ayaneru is back to continue to refuse to give me Ayaneru, probably. But hey, I like channees now anyway, so I may as well keep watching out of tradition if nothing else. I just hope Gaspar is like, actually in it this time...

22. Omae wa Mada Gunma wo Shiranai: This is an anime to promote Gunma... I guess? It definitely doesn't look like your typical local promotion anime... Apparently Gunma is a totalitarian state in this world. The green-haired girl played by Ucchii looks pretty good so I'll check it out.

23. Akkun to Kanojo: SUPER tsundere love comedy? Even regular tsundere is good. Unfortunately it's the dude who is tsundere in this one which isn't the thing I want. But the girls still look pretty cute so I'll definitely be giving it a look.

24. Mahou Shoujo Site: Uh oh, it's dark magical girls. There's nothing wrong with the concept per se but works like this often end up being grimdark for grimdark's sake (see: Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku) so it makes me worried. This one looks like someone tried to mix Madoka and Jigoku Shoujo. It should be good for a laugh if nothing else.

25. Kiratto Puri Chan: Well, here we are. This is what they killed Pripara for. So who did they get to succeed the comedic savant Moriwaki Makoto? Well, it's a guy without a whole lot of directorial experience: Hiroshi Ikehata. What he has directed have been some incredibly charming shows, including the underrated Akiba's Trip anime and Sore ga Seiyuu. The main writing credit goes to Hyoudou Kazuho, who has worked with Hiroshi on all of his directorial projects but doesn't have any especially interesting work to his name. The biggest chance this has to be even marginally worthy as a successor to Pripara is if they continue to draw on the extended family of Pretty series creators, like Pripara did to a large extent. With Moriwaki's steady hand removed, I don't have high hopes, but if they killed Pripara for a show that's not even decent I am going to be upset.

26. Aikatsu Friends!: So Stars is ending and a new generation of Aikatsu is here as well. I can't let this pass unnoticed because Kido-chan is pegged to be one of the new Aikatsu leads and I'm always thirsty for new Kido-chan anime. I didn't really like Stars, so I hope this new one is more on the silly side, like joji anime really should be.

27. Cutie Honey Universe: Rember Cutie Honey? I mean, I don't, but a lot of people do. Apparently it's the 50th anniversary of Nagai Gou's venerable battle girl series, so they're doing a revival of it. I really dig the neo-retro art style going on here, and the cast is absolutely star-studded (our current darling, Kurosawa Tomoyo, is included among the likes of Hanazawa Kana, Tamura Yukari, Horie Yui and Kugimiya Rie) so I just might check it out.

28. Steins;Gate Zero: I really don't know if I want to watch this. Steins;Gate wasn't the worst of the semicolon anime; in fact, the first half of the series was greatly enjoyable, but I don't think I need to retread the infamous "shooting of the moeblob" that led to the godawful second half. It's got Christina, I guess. I just really don't know if I can subject myself to Okabe again.

29. Megalobox: This looks technically amazing, I just don't know if I'm interested in it. Will probably wait to hear other people's opinions before I check it out, if I ever do.

30. Gegege no Kitarou: I don't think I'll actually watch this, but the latest version of the classic children's anime has been getting some attention because the character designs for the female characters are, how you say, Extremely Good. They're definitely good enough that I'm tempted to check it out. Dat Nekomusume...

31. Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory: It really happened. I'm including this as the highest-profile show I definitely won't be watching. I haven't seen any of the other FMP anime, so it would be stupid to try and jump in here. The subtitle being abbreviated "IV" (for season 4) is very cute though.

I don’t know how to rank shorts so heres those:

Tachibanakan To Lie Anguru: It's time for another Yuri Hime anime! All you need to know about how hype I am for this show is the tagline: 'The harem manga protagonist is a girl!?' Tsuda Minami is once again going to have to be hard gay, this time with five different girls apparently. I'm especially looking forward to the Mikakoshi-voiced blonde. Unfortunately, being a Creators in Pack anime, it's a short...

Fumikiri Jikan: This is a five minute anime but I absolutely love the premise: girls wait at a train crossing. That's it. You gotta love manga and anime sometimes.

[recentanimenews]

Anime NYC, Day One

It’s Anime NYC weekend! I’m here to cover everything for you – at least, everything I can get to. We’re starting early, though, as I’m typing this before the con begins. That’s because Seven Seas, which is not allowed to leave California due to some agreement with a lich, I believe, has announced a giant pile of titles every day this week, including some absolute stunners.

We start with Dragon, Ie wo Kau (Dragon Goes House Hunting), which sounds absolutely hilarious based on title alone. It’s a Mag Garden title that runs in Comic Blade, and a fairly recent series. As for the premise, well, I’d hate to spoil…

Do you like sports manga? Have you been thinking “I like sports manga, but there’s not enough fanservice? Where are my girls in swimsuits”? In that case, we have Harukana Receive, a beach volleyball manga that takes place in Okinawa. It runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Forward, and has 4 volumes to date.

I greatly enjoyed My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness when it came out earlier this year, and so am delighted to hear Seven Seas has licensed the sequel, My Solo Exchange Diary, which only comes out in Japan next month. Judging by the title, it promises to be as emotionally compelling as the previous book (exchange diaries by definition requiring another person).

I have often begged for licenses from Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior, one of the more overlooked seinen magazines. And, well, OK, I asked for it. Now we have Wonderland, which manages to turn Alice in Wonderland into a horror thriller sort of deal, as humanity shrinks all of a sudden and has to fight to survive. The author may be best known over here for Fighting Beauty Wulong.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom has been one of J-Novel Club’s breakaway hits, so it’s no surprise that Seven Seas will be releasing it in print. Get ready to hear about Machivelli’s The Prince a lot and ask yourself “Isn’t that Saber?”.

This should not be a surprise anymore given the number of classic titles Seven Seas has announced, but it still surprised me. Space Battleship Yamoto will be coming out as one omnibus manga! From 1974, it ran in Akita Shoten’s now defunct Bouken Ou magazine, though I believe Media Factory may have the rights now. The anime version may be better known to Western fans as old as I am as Star Blazers.

Udon still has the rights to Rose of Versailles, though it’s been significantly delayed. But Seven Seas teased us with two sort-of-related titles. The first is Versailles of the Dead, combining 18th century France with zombies. It runs in Shogakukan’s Hibana, and is from the creator of After School Charisma.

And we may not have Rose of Versailles yet, but we are getting a Ryoko Ikeda title, as we have Claudine! This single volume shoujo manga is considered a pioneer in the field of LGBT manga, meaning of course that it’s going to end unhappily for all concerned, like most pioneers of LGBT manga. Claudine ran in Shueisha’s Margaret, and will be complete in one volume.

Who wanted a combination of beloved fairy tales and survival game manga? Certainly not me, but there’s definitely a market for it, and they should be delighted with Fairy Tale Battle Royale, a Kadokawa title that runs in Gene Pixiv.

If you liked The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Seven Seas has a new shoujo series by the same author (and that also ran in LaLa from Hakusensha). The Bride and the Exorcist Knight is about a young woman who attracts demons, and the boy who rescues her… and then says they should get married. The boy’s age worries me (he’s apparently 12), but we’ll see how this is handled.

The biggest surprise so far (I may have to edit this when Friday’s titles come out) is the license of the Shin Tenchi Muyo novels. These novels expand on the past of the original OAV series, with one devoted to Aeka’s family, one to Tenchi’s grandfather, and one to Washuu. (Romanization may vary depending on when you got obsessed with Tenchi Muyo). These came out in the 1990s, and were on no one’s radar, so I was stunned. But I will absolutely pick them up.

Friday brings us the final Seven Seas titles. First we have Elf-san wa Yaserarenai (Plus-Sized Elf), a comedy manga from Comic Gum. Dieting elves seem to be the comedy du jour.

Ojojojo proves that the Dragon Maid author can still get things licensed, but at least it doesn’t seem to feature monster girls. Outcast girl meets outcast boy in this 4-volume series from Takeshobo’s Manga Life.

Lastly, there is Hanayome wa Motodanshi (The Bride was a Boy), an Asuka Shinsha title about the titular bride, who was assigned male at birth but has decided to transition, and her husband who finds out about this but falls for her anyway. It’s apparently autobiographical, and should appeal to fans of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness-style manga.

Now onto Anime NYC proper. After a bit of line wackiness (better signage was desperately needed), I got into the Exhibit Hall, grabbed a copy of Nekomonogatari Back (likely my sole purchase this weekend), and headed to the panel on Anime Fandom 15 years ago, run by Doug Wilder of Animecons.com.

It really is startling to see how far we’ve come in that time. 15 years ago, VHS was dying and DVDs were the new thing, but they were frequently high-priced and sometimes came with a box to hold the remaining volumes… which may not always have come out if sales were really poor. Streaming was being talked about, but that’s all. It was a physical media world.

There were magazines! Animerica, Protoculture Addicts, Newtype USA. Wizard magazine devoted part of its content to anime, which makes me sad as it means I have to remember Wizard magazine. You still had Toonami and Adult Swim, but ADV Films (remember them?) was starting up The Anime Network. We had the Lupin dub! Which changed so much dialogue it could have been a different series.

There were the usual gateways. Sailor Moon, etc. Gundam Wing was HUGE at the time. I noted from the audience that it was the Gundam series that attracted a lot of female viewers. Doug also discussed other robot series like G Gundam and Battler Aura Dunbine, which tried to sell itself as being similar to Gundam Wing, which… it wasn’t.

After this nostalgic trip, I toured the show floor a bit. Spoke to Mangagamer about the delays on the Higurashi re-release (their programmer is very busy with other titles, so Tsumihoroboshi may take a few more months.) Got a hot dog, because the days when I try to power through an entire day on water are long gone. Then camped for Viz, which meant seeing Funimation Favorites, which was fun. They’re excited about the Nichijou re-release.

Viz had a lot of people at its panel, though the only panelist was Charlene Ingram, their marketing director. Most of the announcements were things that had been mentioned at prior events, such as Infini-T Force and the Homestuck print omnibuses. A lot of anime clips, which the audience appreciated. The Terra Formars one was quite violent.

A big announcement was that Viz has partnered with Pluto TV, an app that allows you to watch various titles whenever you want, including Viz titles. They were also very excited about Osomatsu-san, the very popular comedy manga that sort of came out of nowhere this past year.

On the manga front, we talked about to My Hero Academia speedup starting in 2018, as well as the Vigilantes spinoff being licensed. The one new series that they announced was That Blue Sky Feeling (Sorairo Flutter), an LGBT series that runs in Square Enix’s Gangan Joker. It’s about a boy drawn to the school outcast, who may be gay but that’s not stopping our hero getting close to him. It looks quite interesting.

After the Viz panel I went to dinner with two friends at a pub on 46th street nowhere near the con, which I always recommend when you do NYC cons – the convention center is near absolutely nothing. Fish and chips were eaten, rum and coke was drank, and a good time was had by all.

Then back to the con for the One Piece 20th anniversary panel, which had a considerable line, but everyone managed to get in. (By the way, the con had about 20,000 people, which is not bad given it’s a first-year con. The panel was run by the One Piece Podcast, and the hosts were Zach and Kelly. They oddly tried to keep it a spoiler-free con, which was increasingly difficult as the panel went on.

A lot of the events going on in Japan for the anniversary were discussed. One Piece is big business there, with shops, restaurants (one restaurant is run by a guy dressed as Sanji, who flirts with the women but is hirrible to any male customers. That sounds… a bit too accurate for my taste) and the like.

There’s an exhibit at Tokyo Tower. There’s a kabuki show, though the lead actor recently got injured. One Piece is used in tons of ads – Coke, Nippon Ham, and a ludicrous ad in appalling Engrish for a pen, ending with “THIS IS A PEN!” declaimed. (That phrase is the standard opener for Japanese kids learning English.)

The live-action One Piece is in production for North America, and few fans seem excited, even with Oda supervising it. Too many people remember Dragon Ball… and Ghost in the Shell… and Death Note. Still, hope springs eternal. Oh yes, and they also showed the 4Kids opening – a surprising number of people grooved along. I guess it didn’t kill the fandom after all!

They had a history of the One Piece anime and manga over the years after this, which got increasingly vague as we tried not to spoil. Unfortunately, I had to cut out before the panel ended, so that I could come back here and write all of this up for you.

Tomorrow brings us Kodansha, Yen, and other assorted fun things. Who’s gonna be there with me?

By: Sean Gaffney