#we know this because they put the kanji on a fan he signs in an animation that only plays once

[transpanda-1]

That might be the best and most affective propaganda campaign i have ever seen congratulations

THANK YOU ANON. PLEASE KNOW THIS IS HOW WE FEEL ABOUT UENDO TONEIDO EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY

THIS WOULDN’T HAVE WORKED IF UENDO DIDN’T HAVE A RIDICULOUS NUMBER OF POSITIVES WE GLEAMED FROM THEM OVER THE YEARS.

I DON’T KNOW WHY WE’RE YELLING

LOOK AT OUR UENDO SHRINE

IDK @plural-bracket THIS ISN’T REALLY PROPAGANDA WE JUST WANTED TO SHOW IT OFF

[beansterpie]

ES21 japanese volumes - part 1/??

part 2 >>

Sooooo I recently got my hands on the complete Eyeshield 21 manga series in Japanese and as someone who's only ever read the story through fan-translations on dodgy websites online, I wanted to go through and "live" blog about it, so to speak. I thought it would be interesting to see the changes between the languages and where the fan-translations likely fail with mistranslations. (No shade btw, I think fan-translations are great both as a hobby and the fact that they're doing their work for free, but it's also a reality that the vast majority of fan-translators are amateurs, many of whom don't fluently speak the language they're translating, so there's bound to be mistakes!) Also, I wanna know what they're originally saying because I’m nosey <3

I know the official English translation by VIS is allegedly pretty decent, bar the toning down of some things (like Hiruma's language lol) so if you've had the chance to read the official version, feel free to chime in on differences with the fan-translation that I'll be referencing, or potential differences between the Japanese version too!

And finally, while I am half Japanese and grew up there, tragically my language skills are imperfect. I speak it, but my vocabulary isn't very robust, so I do look up the definitions for a lot of words and kanji, as well as more nuanced connotations or references that may go over my head. Bilingual problems <3 But again, it's good practice for me and I think it'll be kind of fun!

Right off the bat, this page. What it’s saying is essentially, “You better come out and play (in the) American Football match!” But because Japanese syntax is different from English, it’s structured like “American Football Match you better play!!” The translator was confused by the final line, because in Japanese a way to say ‘participating in a match’ is by using 出る which means to ‘go out’— sort of like ‘go out (into) the match’. Maybe a better option would have been ‘get the fuck out and play!!” or just “you better fucking play!!”. It still keeps the overall sentence structure which sounds awkward in English, but at least it gets the meaning across.

(I’m not gonna get into every little mistranslation btw, because that would take forever, but I felt that was a good way to explain how frequently there are little mistakes like this.)

Putting the rest under a cut because I imagine this will get long

Look at our boy <3 So as you know, we start our story with Sena Kobayakawa timidly seeing if he passed his high school entrance exam into Deimon High School, with his childhood friend/older sister figure, Mamori Anezaki lending moral support.

In the third panel, what Sena says is actually “I feel like I’ve been praised for the first time in 10 years—” (maybe they changed it because that was too pathetic 😭) Then in the fourth panel, what Mamori says is more along the lines of “And to think you were a total mess in math and English… It’s all thanks to Mamori-sensei!”

Also I want to point out that Mamori is a little cheekier in the first few chapters. Like obviously still kind and nurturing in personality (her name is literally ‘to protect’), but she teases Sena and feels more like an older sister than like, an overprotective mom lol. Miss that for her 😔

Then along comes our kind senpai to accost our clueless protag...

There’s no mistranslation, but I just wanted to mention that the way Hiruma talks in Japanese is so funny? Like in panel 1, he’s speaking with a dramatic affect, he sounds like some sort of npc in a jrpg giving the protag a quest. And then in panel 2, his ‘of course!’ is this shortened, slang version of the word that sounds almost cute and very modern after the previous line. Hiruma uses a lot of slang in general, though I can’t say if any of it is like, common or used by teenagers (of the time, anyway) or if it’s just Hiruma-isms.

(Look at Kurita doing the sign of the cross in panel 3 ��)

I can’t believe Hiruma managed to physically emulate the experience of contracting some shady internet virus…..

Something that’s done with Hiruma’s dialogue a lot (it’s done w/ other characters too, but most often with Hiruma) is where there’ll be a word/term in kanji that means one thing and pronounced in a certain way, but then the furigana (so the phonetic pronounciation, basically) next to it says something different. Now, in some stories (like Berserk for my pals out there), this is used to create poignant, layered meanings in the text. In ES21 however, it’s mostly used for sports manga flavor. For example, in the above page in Hiruma’s spam fax message, he uses the word 作戦, which means tactics or strategy, and is pronounced: “sa - ku - se - nn” さ-く-せ-ん. But the furigana next to that word reads タクティクス which is quite literally just the English word ‘tactics’ spelled phonetically in Japanese lol (aka a loanword).

He does this A LOT, most frequently with sports terminology, where the kanji are pretty dense, technical terms, and the furigana a loanword version of the same meaning. (though now that I think about it, it might also be because while パワー (power) and スピード (speed) are frequently used and well known loanwords to the average Japanese person, タクティクス (tactics) might be more obscure, so the kanji is there to like, clarify the meaning? 🤔)

Also I love all the early 2000’s tech we see in the early chapters— flip phones and fax machines galore! Even within the later segments of the series, the flip phones start to magically get more advanced, but in my heart ES21 takes place in like, 2003. If they ever do a remake of the anime (which is unlikely to say the least) I’d want them to maintain the early 00’s vibes. It just wouldn’t be the same if everyone had smart phones.

Skipping ahead a few pages, I remember this bit never really made sense, but I got enough of the general gist that I kind of shrugged and moved along. But!! the translation is just making stuff up here?

So for context: it’s Sena’s first day at Deimon, and Mamori (who’s a grade above him) advises him to make proper friends this year, since he has a history of only ‘hanging out’ with shitty bullies who used him as an errand boy.

In the English translation, Sena seems to get a text from a mystery number, telling him to pay up for a bet we never saw happening. He goes to meet up with the texter, who we assume at this point is a previous aquaintence, since he had Sena's number? Maybe one of those bullies that Sena hung out with from middle school? They make Sena go and get them an unspecified thing, but because Sena ran there and back so quickly, they don't believe that Sena actually went, and is lying when he says they were sold out. They drag Sena to a small shed to beat him up, and in the last panel of the third page, Sena says that he's been their errand boy since kindergarden?

So for a number of years I was under the impression that the Ha-ha brothers knew Sena from before the series, even though that never seemed to come up in the rest of the story.

But in the original version, Sena is actually getting a text from Mamori-- which makes sense because it was established earlier that his cell phone is brand new and he only has Mamori's number in his contacts. Mamori's text says: "If someone tries to make you run their errands, tell them 'let's decide by rock-paper-scissors!'" Sena is understandably kind of embarrassed by this, and mutters to himself that he's not a kid anymore.

Then it cuts to Sena being picked on to be an errand boy lmao. Presumably this is because Sena just looks like an easy target to bullies, not because of any previous aquaintence rip. The blond bully tells Sena to go buy them bread (which might sound weird, but Japan has a lot of tasty snack breads that they sell everywhere). In panels 2+3 of the second page, Sena timidly tries to bring up the rock-paper-scissors thing, but is intimidated into giving up and just doing what he's told.

Again, they don't believe that Sena actually went all the way to the school store and back with how quick he was, so they decide to beat him up in the shed. As he's being dragged, Sena says, "It really was sold out! I've gotten used to being an errand boy since kindergarden, so I've just gotten fast--!"

So yeah, if there were any other people who've only read fan-translations and were confused by this bit, there you go.

oh you just know it smelled like ass in here.....

(I never noticed the shotgun propped against the desk on the right before lol, idk why I'm surprised, but Hiruma really just left his Actual Guns lying around huh?)

(2nd pic - Kurita: "New club applicants!!?")

There he is!! Our boy Kurita!! I do miss when he occassionally had like, more human features lol. As much as I love his big ol' smiley face, it does rub me the wrong way when the fat characters (because Komusubi falls into this too) are the only ones with anpanman faces.

(anpanman, for the uninitiated)

(Kurita: "To literally clash with the opponent in order to pursue a goal together with everyone-- that moment is exhilerating!")

Aw look at Sena feeling inspired! Honestly I really love how Kurita is Sena's first friend he makes in the series, and that vibe in the early chapters where it's just Sena, Kurita and Hiruma is so much fun <3

(P1: Kurita: "Way to go Sena!" Imaginary Coach: "It's thanks to you that we could participate in the Christmas Bowl!" Mamori: "You're so cool Sena!"

P2: Mamori: "You have to make the first move!" Sena: "U-um!"

P3: Sena: "Can I... be the team shumu*?" Kurita: "WHAAATT!? O-OF-OF COURSE!")

*Ok soooo I don't fully understand what a shumu is lol, or how you'd translate it to English. The word itself apparently means 'person in charge' so? The fan-translation just calls it the manager, but based on something Hiruma says later, I get the impression that the shumu and the manager are technically different roles? But when Mamori becomes the manager later, she takes on a lot of what are allegedly 'shumu tasks', along with Hiruma, so idk. If anyone's read the official VIS translation, feel free to chime in on how they did it, because I'd be curious to know!

That being said, adorable of Sena to think he could have handled that responsiblity at all 😂 our boy has many talents, but being smart and organized is not among them.

Ok fun feelings are over, it's time for pain.

(Sena looking at his contact list, having just added Kurita's number, then wham D: )

The three bullies from before were waiting to get revenge. The dialogue is a bit different in the original. Juumonji (the blond one) actually says: "That fatso a friend of yours, Sena? Tell me his contact info-- if you do that, we'll let you go." To which Sena timidly and reluctantly agrees. Then Kuroki (the dark haired one) says: "But do you think one bat will be enough? With that brute strength..." In the final panel, Juumonji says: "It's better with just one, since we're gonna call the police beforehand." Togano (with the glasses): "The police?"

Juumonji: "As long as we get him wrapped up in the fight, it'll be fine. We'll say we got these wounds from being assaulted by the fatso with the bat -- We'll get him disqualified from the American Football tournament." One of the others: "Ooohh, smart!"

I guess the overall sentiment isn't that different, but knowing that the initial demand was for Sena to hand over Kurita's contact info with the promise that they would spare him if he obeyed-- and that at first he agreed-- makes his change of heart feel even more significant.

(Sena: "IF YOU'RE GONNA HIT ME, THEN HIT ME!!! I'LL NEVER TELL YOU (Kurita's info)!!!")

Tell 'em Sena!! A part of me sort of wishes the story maintained this serious story beat instead of undercutting it with humor in the next panel (not shown here) but at the same time, ES21 is overall a more lighthearted, comedic story which I love it for, so I don't think I'd like it getting too angsty. I'll always have Berserk in my corner if I want some actual angst lol.

(1st pic: various sounds of surprise or pain, and in the last panel: "Oi, don't let him get away!"

2nd pic: Sena -- "No way!!!" Hiruma: "Hm? Oh it's that guy" )

Lol I do love the little details Murata included, like Kuroki taking a swing at Sena as he's biting Juumonji's hand but then totally missing in the fourth panel because Sena's so fast. Also I'm always on the lookout for the kinds of stuff Hiruma buys, snack wise. We know he loves sugarless gum, obv, and drinks coke based on that one time he bought some for himself, Kurita & Sena, but what else are in those bags? I want to know!!

--------

And lol apparently I'm only allowed 30 images per post rip, so I guess I'll end this here. I guess I can.... reblog and continue? Or I might just make another post for the next part 🤔 Besides this got way too long, so I'll have to be more brief in future posts lol.

I'm honestly not expecting more than like, five people to interact with this lol, but if anyone is interested in specific points of the story they want me to look at, please feel free to ask!

[izukusjoyfriend]

Deku and Bakugou analysis,a bit of a KatsuDeku theroy post.

Warning!!! This thread is very long and has suggestice themes. Please proceed with caution.

"After that, he lit a fire under me like that"

That's way to sus.

One thing I've noticed too,Deku refers and reacts to Bakugou differently than big heros,even ones that he strongly admires,like,really admires,like all might.

Which makes me thinks..Is all the romantic-like shit done on purpose?

Stuff like this:

That first line translates into: The burning longing in my chest will not disappear.

Second line:I want it to change

He said he daydreams about him and Katsuki in some opening I don't remember.

Stars are VERY prominent with them to,after when Deku said that sus line,he looks up at a star,and saids,he wants it to change,ya know,there is also another song about Katsuki and Deku,Its Polaris. It being about Deku and Katsuki,makes a lot of sense.

Heres why;

"If I could go back and give up everything I had,I would never hide my scars for anything. No not for no one"

When Katsuki bullied Deku,he was scar-ed.

It makes sense. He regrets what he did to Deku. Hes trying to Atone. He absolutely hates what he did to Midoriya,and The line saying,"No,not for no one". It makes sense!

Katsuki hid his scars and tried to act like a big and tough boy,which in reality..

He was the weak one. That's canon,that was touched apond in the manga

---------------------------------------------------

"Say goodbye ,I don't have the strength to let it all end,I would give all and everything if we could mend,All I wanted was you to stay and not disappear,I've decided I will follow my heart,Promise yours will always be right near me.."

Makes a lot of sense. Let me explain,The "Say goodbye" line is a play on deku leaving U.A,and after that..Bakugou saids this,

"I don't have the strength to let it all end!"

Which is..f***ing heart breaking.. Alright let me bring this up,

---------------------------------------------------

Yes, Izuku's exhaustion and pain is the primary focus, but those tiny details imply that Katsuki Bakugou, the guy who has had a strict bedtime and diet his whole life, who puts every bit of effort into his own health, has completely disregarded his self-care to go after Izuku. Which also implies that his body didn't just move on its own when he risked his life for Izuku. It's further evidence that he isn't just trying to atone for his own sake. This guy straight up stopped taking care of himself because he was WORRIED for Izuku. He stopped sleeping in favor of searching. He reaggravated a very serious injury (one that he got already protecting Izuku) in order to protect him AGAIN.

Which..Makes sense... It shows more of a..Softer caring side of Bakugou. It explains it itself.

---------------------------------------------------

"I would give all and everything if we could mend,All I wanted was you to stay and not disappear,I've decided I will follow my heart,Promise yours will always be right near me.."

Wow. If this is Katsuki..Its makes a lot of sense.. He would give..A lot for him and dekus friendship to be better again. That's why he did the training with him.

He would do anything to make the connection with him and deku because..He,wants to mend with Midoriya. Repair the friendship..

But what is really interesting and important is,that,He said "I've decided I will follow my heart,promise yours will also be right near me!" Which means,it wasn't just not his mortal compass..It was also where his,Heart was leading him too..

Which means,Bakugou doesn't just want to mend things for sake of mortality and heroism,but also,it's because..He feels that he should. And I would say he feeling like he should do this because he feels bad for deku,BUT,he said he wants deku heart to stay near his..which means:

"Close to your heart" is an English idiom describing something or someone dearly loved. It can be used to describe anything that has earned a great deal of affection from a person, often through familiarity with it over time. The meaning of this phrase comes from the fact that the heart is considered the organ of the human body that is the source of all love and affection. As such, anyone or anything that resides close to it will be on the receiving end of those feelings."

❗❗❗❗❗

OHHHHHH----- KATSUKI---

It could be platonic-- but...he wants..There..Hearts to be close?? That's oddly specify..He could just say he want them to be close..The thing is,he didn't even have too say anything about hearts..Hearts are symbolized as,a love thing.

--------------------------------------------------

❗❗❗❗

You're probably asking "Why does this matter???" Well..Ummm..Look at the background. There bubbles,the trope which is used is called love bubbles.

A romantic moment in anime is often accompanied by a pastel background with lots of bubbles. Nobody knows who wanders into all these series with an invisible bubble machine, but maybe they should stop before they get soap in somebody's eye...

Is..Is he blushing..? That explains the bubble and sparkles..

--------------------------------------------------

HuH..???? HOW-

Look I don't know what to tell you.

But if that's not romantic,then I don't know what it is.

----------------------------------------

Peace sign is confirmed to be a bakugou and deku song. He calls this story,MY HERO ACADEMIA,"OUR STORY"...huh..Remember the song "Datte atashi no Hero?" He also called bakugou his hero. Let that sink in.

--------------------------------------------------

Remember shout baby...? Heres more crap to make Bakudeku romantic.

Let's go over that one line again..

Can't sugar code it. Nope. That's romantic in nature. Unless deku has fucking heart problems,this is romantic. No doubt on my end.

Heres something that just plain romantic.

"It’s frustrating that this unusual scent of hair made my heart flutter. So I hid my lips that’s forming a smile under my scarf.."

Wow... This sounds like Bakugou.

Let me explain why it does sounds like Bakugou. Frustration. About something small as that seems like him. It sounds like him too. And also,Bakugou rarely smiles.. I wonder what they where doing which made his heart flutter.

And why it's romantic..? Hear the way that's worded. The person hide the lips after their heart flutters.

--------------------------------------------------

Alright let's go here. This is a song that supposedly between Bakugou and Deku.

Let's see it here,

❗❗❗❗❗

And the kanji used for this song is not helping.

They use the words like "Suki" Suki is only plantoic when revfiring to non humans. Deku uses it to Katsuki at the end of the song in another translation like this,

Suki da suki da suki da suki da

Context clue:

Suki da,

好すだよ。

Suki da yo.

I like you.

This phrase is commonly used in everyday life. It reveals to the interlocutor that you have feelings for him. It is up to him to interpret the strength of your love.

To avoid misunderstandings, do not tell people with whom you have friendly relations. I already imagine your Japanese friends feeling uncomfortable because they think you are trying to get out of the friend-zone. 

Kimi ga daisuki da yo.

大だい好すだ。

Daisuki da.

I really like you.

Daisuki implies that you are a big fan of something when you talk about an object, food or a sports team. This is also the case when you talk about an artist, an athlete or some other famous personality.

But when you say that to someone, it implies that you have strong feelings for that person. These feelings must be beyond normal friendship.

........

*Sigh*

Here's more of the song

"Update! I want to fly, to fly, just to fly so far away, away from here. It can’t be anybody else, I don’t want anybody else. Because I don’t want to regret, I’ve got to say it now,I love, I love, I love, I love,I love being here with you."

The more I read into it. The more the song sounds like Katsuki. And it make sense if somewhat of update is sang by Katsuki.

Think about it. The song said this,

"It's not what you do,or what you say,it who you're with."

And if you think about,someone of these song lyrics sound like Katsuki himself.

This song is blunt. Blunter,then fuck,and you know who's blunt..?

Katsuki.

I'm not saying he sang all of it.. No. Update actually in the outro points about Deku and makes him the main focus. But,these lines make more sense for Bakugou then Deku,

"If you are, you are, you are, you are,If you are with me,Not back, not down, but the reason I was able to see the front only was,You were here"

Those lines make more sense for s5 bakugou and up,then s3 deku. Let me explain why. "The only reason I was able to see the front is because you where here" remember the apology..? If you don't it's chapter 322

Also for a second,let pay attention to this

It can’t be anybody else, I don’t want anybody else.

That's literally at least saying that Katsuki is VERY special to deku. And the context for this is that,who he'd run away with. It's basically saying he'd spend his life with Katsuki away from everybody else..and he would be..Fine..?

That really saying something about his favoritism to Katsuki-

----------•-----------•-----------•-------------•

SEE WHATS WRONG...? If ya don't then,here;

It's really just explains itself,Katsuki and Deku are the only ones here.

----------•-----------•-----------•-------------•

Tags: #bakudeku #decchan #bkdk #Izuku x Katsuki #bkdk canon #katsudeku #deku x kacchan #dkkt #dkbk #wonder duo #bakugou x deku #deku x bakugou #dekugou #dekugo #dekubaku #dyandeku #midoriya x bakugou #bakugou x midoriya #bakumido #bakudeku analysis #bakudoriya #bkdk fluff #bkdk soulmates #Katsuki x Izuku #katsuki x deku #deku bakugou #mha bkdk #long post #twin stars

[gojo-x-reader]

Not So Special Now

Relationship(s): F!Reader x Gojo Satoru

Warnings: canon-typical violence

Tags: fluff (at the end), reader-focused

AO3 Link: here

Words: ~4k

Request: “hello there, i love ur soulmate and marriage life hc 🥺 can you make scenario/hc/drabble whatever u prefer where his fem/gn so is also a sorcerer and gets hurt/injured on a mission? thank you!”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Your boyfriend, Satoru, asked you. His hands were on your biceps, giving it a worried, yet comforting squeeze.

“Yes, Satoru,” you answered, a little annoyed at how he was treating you. It’s been several years since either of you were in high school; this wasn’t your first mission.

“I can’t help but worry, you know. It’s your first ever special grade assignment.”

“Just because I’m not the same rank as you, Mr. Special Grade, doesn’t mean I’m weak. Besides, there are two others going so I’m not doing this alone.”

“I know, I know.” Satoru pressed his lips gently onto your forehead, then gazed into your eyes lovingly. In a rare instance while on the job, his blindfold was replaced with dark sunglasses. You reached up to shift them down, allowing you to gaze into his bright blue eyes. They were breathtaking no matter how many times you saw them. You moved your hands from his glasses to his shoulders, forcing him down so you could reach up to leave a chaste kiss on his lips.

“I’ll see you tonight,” you promised.

The two of you embraced one more time before you joined your other group members for the mission. You turned back and waved at him as the three of you entered the car to be driven to the location for your mission.

“Sure wish Gojo-san was coming with us,” one of them mused. “He could handle this mission single-handedly and we could just stay home.” He sighed deeply, then put in headphones and stared out the window.

“Why isn’t he taking this mission?” your other group member asked. She stared at you, eager to know.

You had just met these two today (not even knowing their names, except that they were both Grade 1 sorcerers like you) and you weren’t sure how well this mission would go. “Well,” you began, “for one, he works best alone. Second, Satoru fights best when he’s away from civilians.” 

The girl hummed, then crossed her arms in thought. The three of you awkwardly rode in silence for about five minutes, before the girl grabbed your arm suddenly. “Soooo, how long have you been dating Gojo Satoru?” She asked eagerly. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but you just couldn’t put your finger on it.

You weren’t sure why this was any business of someone you just met, but you decided to indulge her to hopefully make this awkward car ride, well, less awkward.

“Two years, almost three,” you answered. The two of you had known each other since high school, but it wasn’t until almost four years ago that you had reconnected after you moved back to Tokyo, and almost three years ago when you started dating. To this day you still had no clue why he would get a crush on you over all people. There were much prettier girls he had spent more time with, why you?

“Annnnd? A ring soon?” She gushed, gripping your arm harder.

You shrugged. Satoru and you had discussed marriage at some point, but both of you were busy at the moment, especially with Ryomen Sukuna being somewhat revived into the world. While Yuuji was still technically “dead” to others, Satoru had trusted you enough to tell you about how his student had pretty much been revived from the dead. On your days off, you often visited your boyfriend and helped out with Yuuji’s training regime. He was a nice kid, despite his circumstances and being thrown into the jujutsu world suddenly.

The girl let go of your arm and got out her phone, furiously typing to someone. “Oh, my little sister won’t be happy to hear about this.”

“Little sister?”

“Yeah, my sister Momo goes to Kyoto. She’s pretty close with another girl, Kasumi, who I consider almost like another younger sister. She was super excited to meet Gojo-san a week ago. She’s like a superfan of him or something. I like to indulge her sometimes. I think she even made a fan club for Gojo-san or something. Anyways, Momo, even though she’s friends with Kasumi, she often gets annoyed with her talk about Gojo-san.”

You vaguely remember Satoru mentioning a girl from Kyoto that asked him for a picture. It wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence for your boyfriend to be asked to take pictures with, from the jujutsu world or from civilians; he had devastatingly good looks, so you couldn’t blame any of the people who asked for pictures. Besides, you knew his heart belonged to you and you only, so you were fine with others recognizing his allure.

“Oh, Kasumi’s calling me,” the girl said. She answered her phone, only for a younger voice to scream over the speaker. It was loud enough that you could hear it. Your teammate held her phone away from her ear.

“What do you mean he has a girlfriend?”

“Oh, come on Kasumi. You know how handsome he is. Besides, he’s like, what, twenty-eight? Twenty-nine?”

“Twenty-eight, twenty-nine in December,” you confirmed.

“Way too old for you, ma’am,” the girl relayed to Kasumi.

“I don’t like him like that , Sumi-san! I j-just really admire him, okay! W-Who wouldn’t? World’s strongest jujutsu sorcerer in all.”

“Mhm. Anyway, I’ve got a mission today with the said girlfriend of Gojo Satoru. Want me to get you an autograph?” Sumi joked.

“...Could you?”

You let out a tiny laugh. This girl was funny, so you decided to humor her and leaned toward the phone. “One autograph for Kasumi?”

“M-Miwa Kasumi!” the voice on the phone squeaked out. She told you what kanji made up her name as you rummaged for a scrap piece of paper and pen from your bag. You made out the autograph, laughing a bit as you handed it to Sumi.

After you told her you signed an autograph for her, Kasumi said goodbye, hanging up the phone before Sumi could reply goodbye back. She seemed embarrassed about the ordeal.

“You were right, she seems like a good kid.”

“Kasumi is nice. She really balances out how serious my little sister Momo is,” Sumi responded.

For the rest of the car ride, you and Sumi chatted. Apparently, this was also her first Special Grade mission, as well as her first mission after graduating from Kyoto. Their other group member was also from Kyoto; he was two years Sumi’s senior. His name was Takahashi Daisuke. She didn’t know much about him since he tended to keep to himself. But she did know this wasn’t his first Special Grade mission. That relieved you substantially since you were nervous about this mission (as much as you didn’t want to admit to Satoru).

Eventually, the roads transformed from paved to just dirt. The driver turned onto a road on a hill, then began briefing the three of you on your mission. This was a Special Grade, suspected to be awakened by a Sukuna finger. This was just based on speculation, since the last Special Grade to pop up was from a Sukuna finger as well. The Special Grade had taken over an abandoned shrine, supposedly terrorizing the local village just down the hill (which had been evacuated just hours before). As the driver parked the car, the three of you exited the car. The air was crisp, with a distinct chill in the air. You could sense a particularly strong cursed energy in the premises, on par with Satoru’s cursed energy. You shuddered; this was not going to be an easy task.

The driver placed a curtain around the area, the sky darkening. It only made the situation seem even more grave. There was something in your gut telling you to run, not from being scared of the Special Grade, but because something bad was going to happen.

Sumi grabbed a wand from her belt. Her family was a pretty small sorcerer family on her mother’s side, as she had told you in the car. She and her sister have cursed techniques similar to “witches”; hers involved spells while her sister’s involved levitating a broom, among other objects.

Your cursed techniques, however, involved nature. There was a reason why you were selected specifically for this mission; the shrine was in the middle of the forest, the perfect place for you to go wild. Cities like Tokyo were incredibly constraining for you to use your cursed techniques, so you almost exclusively were assigned missions out in the country where nature was plentiful.

Neither you nor Sumi knew what Daisuke’s cursed technique was, but you assumed it was pretty strong considering he had been on missions with Special Grades before.

The mission started off fine. The three of you approached the shrine. It wasn’t particularly impressive, nothing that you would expect to house a Special Grade curse. The stone torii at the entrance was standing tall, unbothered by neither age nor the moss and vines growing on it. The shrine itself, however, was crumbling. One of the pillars holding up the roof was destroyed, so the roof was lopsided. The shimenawa knots were cut in half, the ends completely frayed. Definitely not a good sign.

After crossing the torii , you felt the Special Grade’s presence. It was overwhelming, unlike anything else you had experienced before. It possessed near-equal amounts of cursed energy as Satoru, but unlike your boyfriend, it held malicious intent within its cursed energy. To your left, Sumi was shaking. You held out a shaky hand onto her shoulder and squeezed. While you yourself didn’t feel confident about this mission now, you had a duty as the oldest member of the group here to be strong, for their sake.

The shrine began to shake, then the roof was suddenly blown off. You used your cursed technique to form a barrier of tree roots that erupted from the ground. Slabs of wood hit the roots, then bounced off. After the rain of wood subsided, you controlled the roots back into the ground in their original position.

You finally got a good look at the Special Grade curse. It was humanoid, but only in form. Its flesh was midnight blue, with eyes covering every centimeter of its body. Great, it had no blind spots. The curse had no apparent mouth, yet you were able to hear it let out an intimidating roar.

Daisuke made the first strike. He quickly pointed a handgun at the Special Grade and pulled the trigger. Out came a burst of his own cursed energy instead of a bullet. The blow just grazed the Special Grade enough for it to let out a screech of pain. Interesting, so this was his cursed energy. You wondered if it was limited to guns, or if he could apply it to a bow as well and use his cursed energy for arrows. You’d have to ask him later after this mission was completed.

It was apparent after Daisuke revealed his cursed technique that all of you were primarily distance fighters. There wasn’t much Sumi could do if her cursed technique focused on spells through her wand apparatus and Daisuke seemed to only have a gun on him. So, that meant you had to switch to a melee approach.

You weren’t the biggest fan of hand to hand combat. You weren’t very strong, preferring to assist from a distance. Recently, Satoru has been helping you learn new ways of fighting in close quarters. You decided to take the risk and make an attempt at using this still relatively new technique. You reached out your hands, summoning leaves from the trees. They surrounded your fists like boxing gloves, your cursed energy reinforcing the leaves to be almost as hard as the bark from the trees they came from.

You sprinted toward the Special Grade, preparing to land a blow. As you reared back for a punch, the Special Grade disappeared from in front of you. Then you felt a blow land on your back and you were sent through the forest until a particularly thick tree stopped your projectile body. Luckily, you reacted quickly enough to reinforce your front with cursed energy. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, you probably would’ve been knocked out immediately.

You picked yourself up from the ground, but the world was spinning. You leaned against a tree to collect your thoughts and rest a bit. The Special Grade was insanely fast and had no blind spots. You were panicking; this was well out of your skillset. Perhaps Daisuke was right; Satoru should’ve joined in on this mission. But you knew that wasn’t possible, as he also had his own Special Grade mission to handle today.

You brought a hand up to your face and gave yourself a hard smack. This was no time to doubt yourself or panic. You had two comrades out there fighting a Special Grade curse alone. There was no doubt that the Special Grade would notice you if you tried to rejoin the fight, at least on the ground. Your best bet would be to get the high ground; there would be fewer eyes on the top half, so the chances of you being noticed would be less than if you arrived by foot.

Okay, you had an idea. Now, to get an idea of how the fight was going. You kneeled down to the ground and placed your hand onto the ground, closing your eyes. You sent a minimal, hardly detectable pulse of cursed energy toward the fight through the ground. From what nature informed you, the fight was mostly one-sided in favor of the Special Grade. Daisuke was pretty beat up, and Sumi wasn’t in good shape either.

You got up then hurriedly began climbing the nearest tree. As you climbed up, you manipulated the bark to form grooves for you to place your hands and feet on. As you reached a decent height, you created a bridge with the overlapping tree branches sturdy enough for your weight. You sprinted across the bridge, ignoring your double vision. You definitely had a concussion, but now was not the time for you to worry about that. You didn’t wanna lose your comrades on this mission. Not again.

You wiped the tears that were threatening to fall from your eyes. In your final year of Tokyo High, your two classmates were killed right before your eyes on a mission. You escaped out of pure luck, but was determined to get stronger to avenge their deaths. If you let those two die… well, then, that meant you hadn’t gotten strong enough to protect anyone else.

Once you were just out of sight range of the cursed spirit, you closed your eyes to sense the battle again. Sumi was sitting on the ground, back to a tree as she watched the fight between Daisuke and the Special Grade. She was barely conscious, and it seemed like she had lost a lot of blood. You had an idea, but in order for it to work, you needed her help.

Using thin vines, you sent a message within her sight: I am still alive. I’m going to trap the Special Grade curse with branches. Use a fire spell on it when it’s bound.

All you could hope was that she was able to read the message and had enough cursed energy to cast the spell. You began moving branches from distant trees close to the Special Grade, as fast as possible without your cursed energy being detected. Once they were close enough, you waited for the right moment.

As Daisuke finally landed a hit with his cursed energy, moving the curse to the center of the shrine remnants, you launched your attack. The branches extended as fast as you could make them move. The hit Daisuke landed had temporarily slowed the Special Grade, enough for your branches to immobilize it. As the branches gripped the curse, Sumi sent a fire spell toward it, just as planned.

The branches (and the cursed spirit) caught on fire. But something was wrong; normally, you could extract cursed energy from a curse with your cursed technique to exorcise, but that wasn’t happening. Was it resisting? You felt a tug on the branches.

Without thinking, you acted on your own. You re-equipped the leaves cursed technique, as you jumped from the trees above. As gravity brought you closer to the Special Grade, you reared back to prepare the punch you had wanted to introduce it to earlier. As your fist landed on the curse, you allowed the leaves to leave your fist, sending it into the curse’s body. The leaves caught on fire before they entered the curse, imploding it.

So, you managed to exorcise the Special grade. But, doing so took all of your cursed energy and you had no more left to cushion your fall. Luckily, you managed to adjust your fall so that you slid on your stomach parallel to the ground instead of falling headfirst. It still hurt, and you definitely broke a few ribs doing that.

You somehow had enough energy to turn yourself onto your back, looking up at the starry night sky as the curtain was released. Your first Special Grade mission. Everyone lived and you exorcised it without Satoru’s help. Ha. He would be so proud of you.

You began to fall into unconsciousness right as you felt familiar arms lift you up.

When you woke up, you were in Shoko’s infirmary. There was a thin blanket covering your bottom half. Suddenly the events came back to you.

You sat up, gasping for air. Where were Sumi and Daisuke?

“You might want to lay back down,” a familiar voice told you. “Shoko healed you, but the pain might still be there.”

You did as the voice said, laying back at the elevated position you woke up in. You look over and blinked a few times, seeing your boyfriend sitting in a chair next to your bed. He was in his work uniform, including his blindfold. You winced as you felt a pain in your chest; Satoru was right, there still was residual pain.

“I exorcised a Special Grade,” you croaked.

“I know. I’m proud of you.” He grabbed your hand and squeezed it, giving you a soft smile, showing off his tiny dimples. His smile quickly turned to a frown as he lectured, “However, what you did was risky and crazy.”

“Aren’t you the one who says that jujutsu sorcerers have to be crazy to survive?” you argued.

“Yes, but there’s a difference between crazy and throwing your life away.”

“You saw that?” you asked, much more awake than you were a few seconds ago.

“I hurried as fast as I could with my own mission to come assist you if you needed. I got there right as you pulled that stunt of yours.”

You pulled your hand from his and placed your face in both of your hands, embarrassed that he saw you launch yourself from several meters high, use up all of your cursed energy, then make a hard landing onto the ground.

“How’s the other two?” you asked, refusing to move your face from your hands.

“Alive and doing well. You’re the most beat-up out of everyone.”

You removed your hands, clasping them together in your lap. “Thank goodness…”

“There wasn’t a Sukuna finger either,” Satoru reported to you. “The villagers’ fear of the shrine must have caused it to grow to a Special Grade. Now, come on. Shoko said you could come home once you woke up.” Satoru stood up, then scooped you up from the bed. You screamed in protest, now wide awake.

“Wha--Put me down!”

“No can do, honey. Doctor’s orders. Nothing strenuous for the next week.”

“Satoru, I don’t think walking counts as strenuous!”

He smiled his signature shit-eating grin, then gave you a kiss on your forehead. No fair, he knew forehead kisses were your weakness. You melted into his arms at how tender his kiss was, now docile and less likely to argue with him.

In a flash, he teleported the two of you to his apartment, setting you on the bed in front of him. After placing you on the bed, he yanked off his blindfold and began rummaging through his dresser, looking for a set of his clothes for you to wear. He tossed the shirt and pants toward you, not even bothering to turn around while you changed. You’d been together for so long (or at least, it felt like a long time) that there wasn’t anything particularly embarrassing about changing in front of each other.

You winced while lifting your hands up to take off your shirt, so Satoru was by your side in an instant, helping you take off your shift without much pain. He even helped you out of your bra and put on his shirt.

“You don’t need me to help you with the pants, do you?” he teased.

“I think I can handle it on my own,” you replied, standing up and shuffling out of your pants. Satoru’s pants were much too long for you, so you had to roll not only the waistband but also the cuffs so that they didn’t constantly drag on the ground. Not like you minded doing that; there was just something about his clothes that was infinitely more comforting than your own, and he knew that more than anyone else.

As you adjusted the pants, Satoru left the bedroom to head toward the kitchen, no doubt to start cooking some of your favorite foods. You laid down on your shared bed, happy to be home. It was a long day (Days? How long were you even unconscious?) and you were glad to have such a caring boyfriend, even if he was being a little annoying about this.

About an hour later, Satoru came into the bedroom with a tray of food. He wouldn’t let you even touch the chopsticks, insisting on feeding you food because he didn’t want you to “strain yourself.” You thought he was just being a little too overprotective, but you allowed him to feed you anyway. The look of satisfaction on his face was just too cute for you to deny him this tiny pleasure.

After dinner, you immediately wanted to go to bed. Satoru quickly ate his portion of dinner then changed out of his work clothes into something much more comfortable to sleep in. He joined you under the covers, using his cursed energy to turn off the lights. You felt his arms gently snake their way around your waist, pressing you into his front. You sighed in contentment; he was warm, but not too warm.

After a few seconds of silence, you piped up, “Satoru?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for taking care of me. I love you.”

He placed a gentle kiss on your neck, just behind your ear. “Anything for you, my love,” he breathed onto your neck. You could feel him smiling gently. “Maybe we should just get married.”

You grumbled something, not even quite sure what you said or even what he said completely. Before sleep overtook you, you mumbled out one last final “I love you,” incredibly happy to be in your boyfriend’s arms at the moment.

[kyotakumrau]

So some bits from other fans about the 2nd slot in Zepp Namba with Kyo and Kaoru.

My comments go in ( ), the rest I tried to leave it as the original poster said it. Will probably post more later.

From 幸 on twitter:

Asked what they want the most right now, Kyo raised his hand and said 'Playstation5!!'

About the WOM music clip.

Kyo: nice, I got killed. The more blood the better

About when Kyo was little, before going to sleep he listened to a childrens song 'Hiraite musunde', but now he said he couldn't remember the hand gestures. When he tried to think what they could be, he went

'close your hands in front of your neck (like strangling)'

'wave your hand (one hand hits the other)'

'raise your hands (as you go to heaven(after dying))'

He could only think of this version and repeated it few times.

it was very Kyo-like.

From はあと⛩️ on twitter

During the introduction of other members merch items, Kyo looked at Toshiya's 'picks'.

Kyo: this is good. [good] sense. Big sense.

Kyo: you can use it many ways. You can slice the cake with it, put it under the cake, put it under a muffin. DIR EN GREY MUFFIN.

When Kaoru looked at their signatures on the pick.

Kaoru: this is my early style signature... uhm... the one that still lookes properly like my kanji 薫.

His sign was changed because the previous style was too old.

When he looked at Fujieda.

Kyo: isn't your nose huge? It's so big but your mask shifts. It should be its only good point...

When talking about Shinya's merch item.

Kyo: what's this bear?

Kyo: why the bear has only 3 fingers?

And as he bombards Fujieda with questions, Kyo suddenly tosses Shinya's mini bottle.

But when the next question was being read he gently picked the bottle up and place it upright properly 😆

About their 'fashion point' (outfit idea), Kaoru changed into a knitted jumper (sweater).

Fujieda: that's a very nice jumper... where did you get it?

Kaoru: wouldn't any shop be fine?

The super frank Kaoru delivered.

When asked what merch they would create if they didn't have to think about the budget.

Kaoru: island.

Kyo: Playstation5 ←being serious

(Kyo talking about his misfortune with PlayStation5 application - in Japan because of the demand basically shops do lotteries for the rights to purchase one)

Kyo: I've applied and actually won, but because of my mistake I've lost it... I tried asking at the Sony Distribution Center (where he applied) to help me with the reservation, I'd definitely buy it, but got told 'sorry'...

When talking about what they wanted he would like to remove his facial hair.

Kyo: you want to become Rei?

Fujieda: eh, no...

Kyo: Shiberu Bajiru

(they tease him about his past band)

When asked about the songs they listened to during the stay at home period, any recommendations?

Kyo: it's not a song I was listening to, but just thinking before falling asleep, I remembered a song I listened to when I was little... uhm... the one with 'clap your hands' and 'close your hands'. I couldn't remember the hand movement.

Kyo: but do you want to see what I made up?

Close (your hands/musunde)→ cross your arms, twist your wrists and strangle your neck

Open (your hands/hiraite)→ slash your belly and pull out the guts

Wave your hand→ slap your wrists

They both agreed that the best way to eat mochi (rice cake) is with sugar and soy sauce, after that.

Kaoru: in the past there was a time when your face got puffy because of eating too many rice cakes, right? Around when we debuted?

Kyo: there was😆

The atmosphere around them when they were laughing here together was the best.

The story about Kyo eating too many rice cakes.

Kyo: if you want to eat mochi and add it to ozoni, the next day mochi will get all soft and mushy, right? But if you just keep adding mochi it will still be like (proper and not mushy) mochi so it's better to eat it like that...

One more story about mochi.

Kyo: you know the stacked mochi, do you eat those? The ones with few discs/cakes on top of each other?

Kaoru: We eat them. I've cooked them at home.

Kyo: You do? How???!

Kaoru: just break them apart and eat.

Kyo: wha, you can break them? We can separate the two?!

Kyo... thought kagami mochi is connected?

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 310 Spoiler Thoughts: “The First and Second Holders”

Some fan translations are out and it’s time to flex some thoughts out again!  I couldn’t do them last night because I didn’t have all the scan images with me and I didn’t want to jump the gun with only text descriptions.  Anyway, this was mainly an exposition chapter that properly introduces us to the second and third OFA Holders, especially the 2nd and what his relationship to the 1st is.  This might not be as long as others “Spoiler Thoughts” I’ve written, but let’s see:

First off, we have a colored cover page by Horikoshi-sensei himself!  It’s a solo page featuring Vigilante Deku and he looks badass!  Deku looks ready to kick ass and take names.  And, his Mid-Gauntlet is colored red like a lot of us thought and it adds to the theory that Melissa Shield did create it like she did with Deku’s Full-Gauntlet back in Two Heroes.

The chapter starts in a dark and rainy night.  A large woman (she’s like maybe 10ft tall; she’s taller than All Might who I think is 7ft) with a mutant-type quirk who’s getting attacked by some civilians because they think she’s a villain.  Deku jumps in to stop the attacks and the woman explains that she was just trying to go to one of the evacuation centers at a hero school.  Deku is kind enough to give her her umbrella back and reassure her that things will be ok.  

I gotta say that this whole situation is scarily close to real life right now.  I don’t like getting too political, but we live in a scary world where discrimination is, unfortunately, alive and well...  If you are a POC, you can be attacked from anywhere with the only reason being that “you’re a danger because of the skin you were born with”. It’s horrific, it’s disgusting, and it’s been around for a long time.  Even in the BNHA universe, there used to be cults solely dedicated to discriminating against mutant-type people (we learned this back in the My Villain Academia Arc).  So, like in the real world, this problem has risen again.  Thankfully, there are people like Deku and All Might who are more than willing to help someone in need regardless of who they are.  BNHA hits too close to home sometimes.  

Anyway, going back to the BNHA story.  Before All Might leaves to help the woman in his Batmobile, he hands Deku some Pork Katsu in a cute bento box wrapped in a bunny cloth!  Deku is visibly happy and thanks All Might for the meal.  This is so cute!  I’m so glad to see that All Might is making sure that Deku is being properly taken care of.  Boy needs to eat if he’s going to save the world.  I’m also glad that Deku can still show signs of happiness despite, well, everything.  I swear, if All Might doesn’t legally adopt Deku as his son by the time this series is over, I’m going to jump into this manga and force him to sign those documents myself. 

The next panel shows Deku standing on what looks like Tokyo’s famous Sky Tree (or Sky Egg if we’re going off what Vigilantes showed us).  He’s back to talking to the OFA Holders like they’re angels on his shoulders.  Banjo talks about how it’s like the world’s reverted back in time when things were worse and Deku responds that if he doesn’t use all of OFA’s power, he’ll never be able to defeat Shigaraki and AFO.  I know we’re in the final act, so Deku’s gotta get to 100% fast if he wants to win this war.  Last we checked, he was at 45%, but he might be at a higher percentage now since he’s unlocked En’s Smokescreen.  Also, Deku’s looking more and more like Batman each chapter and I gotta say that it really suits him.

Back to the Vestige Dream back when Deku was still in a coma after the war.  The 1st Holder begs the 2nd and 3rd to corporate with him so that they can provide their power to Deku.  The 1st calls the 2nd and 3rd “My Heroes” which causes some awkward silence lol.  Neither one is responding, so Banjo breaks the silence by suggesting that Deku learn everyone’s Quirks so that he’ll get used to them once he starts using them.  We learn why the 2nd and 3rd are the 1st’s heroes soon, but it’s actually a good idea for Deku to learn about all these different Quirks while he’s sleeping so that he’ll get a good idea on how to execute them when he wakes up.  It’s kind of a way of training for Deku just without actually using the Quirks themselves.  

The 3rd Holder (the one with the spiky ponytail and headband) starts to talk.  He says that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd came from the “Harshest era of history”.  It was a time where AFO ruled all and peaked in power and control.  He was going to take over the whole world if the first 3 Holders didn’t step in to stop him.  My guess is that after AFO was defeated for the first time, society started to calm down and become more or less the world we knew before the War Arc.  So, things weren’t as bad during the 4th Holder’s era and so forth.  This would explain why Shinomori was able to hide in the forest for so long without being detected.  

And now the big part of the chapter: the 2nd Holder.  Who does in fact look A LOT like Bakugo.  Big difference is that he has a massive scar across his face.  I am aware of the whole “time travel” theory that people have going on with Bakugo and this dude, but I’m not on that train.  Instead, I think that the 2nd Holder is one of Bakugo’s ancestors.  Like, a really, really-great-grandfather.  Horikoshi doesn’t just design his characters for no reason.  The fact that the 2nd user looks so much like Bakugo, has a costume similar to Bakugo’s, and that future panels in this chapter straight up parallel that iconic scene with young Bakugo and Deku in the river only add fuel to this fire.  Unless Horikoshi says otherwise, this is the theory I’m sticking to: this “Ancestor” theory.

And we know of the 1st user’s real name now too, which is Yoichi!  If Horikoshi is keeping up with the “numbers in names” theme, then I’m positive that Yochi has the kanji for “One” somewhere in it.  And, if we’re going to believe AFO at all, then that means that the 1st user’s full name is Yoichi Shigaraki.  We don’t know AFO’s full name yet.  But, again, AFO could be lying with his last name, so I’m taking this one with a grain of salt.

Back to the 2nd Holder, he tells Yoichi that a lot of lives were sacrificed in order to stop AFO back then.  He believes that there is only victory or defeat in battle; that there’s no hope of saving their archenemy.  He has doubt about putting his faith in Deku because of this.  Given how the 3rd Holder still has his back turned too, I’m lead to believe that he also thinks Deku is crazy for wanting to save Shigaraki.  I don’t exactly blame them.  Really, none of us know if Deku will be successful in saving Shigaraki.  He might have to kill him in the end.  I think they should offer Deku help, but I don’t blame them for being at least a little skeptical.  

But, Yoichi reminds the 2nd and 3rd users that they saved Yoichi back when AFO locked him up to die.  They found Yoichi with the intention to kill him it seems, but the 2nd Holder showed sympathy for Yoichi and lent him a helping hand despite Yoichi being AFO’s little brother.  This is the parallel panel I was talking about.  Yoichi is kneeling down on the floor and the 2nd user is standing up extending his hand to help Yoichi.  I don’t even need to look back in the manga to know what inspired this.  Hell, I don’t even need to tell you!  We all know what Horikoshi was doing when he drew and wrote this.

Yoichi convinces him that he should believe in Deku as Yoichi does think Deku will save the day.  If the 2nd user didn’t extend his hand to help Yoichi, OFA wouldn’t have begun.  I think that the trust between these two is ultimately the reason why the 2nd user finally agreed to help Deku; the same with the 3rd user too.  And, kind of a tangent, but I really like how Horikoshi draws Yoichi and the 2nd user’s hands as they’re reaching for each other.  Horikoshi has always been really good with drawing hands like they’re facial expressions (something my ass could never do 😭) and this one shows kindness and empathy.  It’s almost like what would’ve happened if Bakugo accepted Deku’s hand for help when they were young instead of letting his pride and ego get in the way.  Oh, the parallels! 

Finally, the 2nd user speaks in present day telling Deku that they’re going full speed ahead now.  My guess is that Deku’s going to have to improve on OFA and the rest of his Quirks quickly in order to find and beat the LoV.  We are in the Final Act after all.  The chapter ends at a good place if we want to switch to the UA kids, which is honestly what I’m hoping for.  Again, I love Deku and his Vigilante adventures, but I miss the rest of the kids.  The new BNHA Exhibition in Japan apparently has a giant drawing of the main class, All Might, Aizawa, and Shinso in his new hero costume!  Which tells me that 1. Shinso probably took Deku’s place in the class for the time being, and 2. We’re definitely going to see the other kids again.  I’m hoping soon.  But, I wouldn’t be surprised if Horikoshi decided to continue focusing on Deku’s Vigilanteism and have him practice with he 2nd and 3rd Holder’s Quirks now that they’re working with him.  We’ll just have to see.

So, that’s it!  Solid chapter overall.  I’m glad we finally got to see the 3rd and 2nd Holder’s faces.  I think the “Kirishima is the 3rd Holder” theroy has been debunked at this point, but I’m still on the “2nd Holder is Bakugo’s ancestor” train.  The similarities and parallels are too strong for me to deny it.  Horikoshi-sensei, please confirm or deny soon 🙏.  We are getting break next week for Golden Week BTW!  All of Shonen Jump is actually, so no One Piece or JJK either (I’m not sure about Jump+, so we might still be getting some Spy X Family for example).  So, basically all our favorite mangakas are getting a well-deserved break as they should!  I hope they enjoy their vacation!  Waiting’s going to suck tho, I’m ngl about that...  Oh well, I’m willing to take the sacrifice if it means having healthy mangka.  Thankfully, we still have the anime and the new exhibition to tide us over until then.

Edit: OR NOT SINCE THE EXHIBITION IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED BECAUSE OF A CERTAIN PANDEMIC GOING NUTS IN JAPAN AFTER ONLY BEING OPEN FOR 2 DAYS 😭 

Edit: I went back to re-read the chapter and I completely missed the date for the next chapter (chapter 311) which is set to release on May 9th!  So, we’re actually getting a 2 week break instead.  Damn...  Sucks for us, but it’s good for mangaka to get breaks when they can especially considering their absolutely insane schedule.

Me reading this chapter:

[palbabor-writes]

Yōkai

Hawks Week 2020 - Prompt: Horror Tales

Warnings: Ghosts, spirits, blood, gore, adult language, death, mentions of violent crime

Word Count: 9403

The people here are strange. They’re a superstitious bunch for sure. Everything has an underlying reason. Don’t forget to toss salt over your shoulder when you walk into that crime scene, Hawks. It’s bad luck if you don’t. 

Despite the strange mannerisms that surround him, they are right about one thing: there’s more to these killings than meets the eye.

Notes: I went with a whodunit theme for this fic with some healthy ghosts and haunts thrown in. As this is pre-All Might’s retirement, Hawks is the #3 Hero.

Yōkai

Yōkai are a class of supernatural monsters and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word 'yōkai' is made up of the kanji for "bewitching; attractive; calamity" and "spectre; apparition; mystery; suspicious."

The small island of Miyako is renowned for its turquoise waters, pristine coral sanctuaries, amusement parks, and sprawling mansions. All in all, it’s a trust fund tourist trap. Still, like most pristine and shiny things, there’s a seedier underbelly that’s scrapes against the rough, sandy bottom. Come at low tide and you’ll catch a whiff of decay and rot. 

Miyako Island is another example of that duality that exists within everything. No matter how pretty the water, there are always dark creatures that lurk in the shallow shoals and coves.

Hawks isn’t looking forward to his new assignment on the island. He’s been called in by the HPSC and Miyako’s police force. There’s been a string of unsolved murders and, with the onset of August, tourist season is in full swing. Homicide is bad publicity during the best of times. But, combine the discovery of freshly charred corpses popping up in various buildings, piers, and alleyways, with mass hysteria and you’re going to have a big problem on your hands. 

For eight open murder cases, there’s not much for Hawks to go on, and the data he does have is spotty. 

Hawks poured over the notes as soon as he got off the phone with the HSPC, the luster of the new assignment fresh in his mind. He swiped through the briefings and crime scene photos that were attached in the long email from Miyako’s chief of police. 

It looks like the trouble started in the poorer areas of town. No matter how bright the city lights shine, there’s always the common shadow of a downtrodden, overworked, and underpaid populous straining under the weight of “keeping up appearances.”  

Who else would do the nitty gritty jobs that ensured that the tourist season stayed afloat, and, most important of all, profitable? 

Sadly, it’s the blue collar areas that first experienced the horrors. The notes on these cases are borderline elitist, skirting close to xenophobic. The usual: ‘it was just something that happened when you crammed people in that close’. ‘What else did you expect’? ‘Most of the victims aren’t even from the island’. ‘They’re strangers, they’re not locals.’ ‘They’re not one of us’. 

The word immigrant pops up in the documentation frequently and it feels like a slur each time it appears. There’s a slinking, cloying animosity curling behind the looping words. 

It pisses Hawks off.

The only reason he’s been called is because the crimes have jumped over the poverty line. Now, two prominent members of Miyako society have been murdered. So, what’s the connection you ask? 

It’s the state of the bodies. 

All of the victims, rich or poor, have been mutilated. Something sharp was drawn across their skin, cutting and splicing, marring them, marking them. Then, as if to add insult to injury, they’d been set aflame. It must have been a scorching blaze. Something that leaves them so crisped and blackened that they’re more husk than human. In each case, it’s taken dental records to identify the deceased. 

The Miyako chief of police is doing a review of the known peculiars with Hawks. 

“They mirror the, uh, earlier crime scenes. As you can see, this one, she is, er, was a woman in her late 30’s-”

“She was 37,” Hawks supplies, his golden eyes running over the chart that the chief of police is showing him. He’s trying his best to hide his agitation, but his feathers still bristle, the red plumage flaring, refusing to lay against his back. 

“Uh, yeah, a bad age they say.”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just, it’s supposed to be bad luck. You know?”

“I don’t. Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?” 

Hawks has to grit his teeth to keep his tone even. He’s really not liking the way these crime scenes are processed and he’s made his opinion known to the police chief and investigative team. Why now, he’d pressed, hours after flying in, sweat still clinging to his brow. Why didn’t the bodies matter when it was relegated to the lower socio-economic citizens? 

He’s also critical and skeptical of the motives of this police chief. There’s something about the whole thing that feels...off.

 But, now’s not the time to project that suspicion. He’s only just arrived, besides, he needs more information, more data. Despite his agitation, he gets why the HPSC sent him on this assignment. He’s known for doing things quickly. Plus, he’s usually calm, collected, and he’s got the clout to get things moving again. 

He’s also observant. The HPSC both loves and hates this particular skill of his, but it’s to their benefit in this instance. His sharp eyes might spot something that’s been missed, they’d said on the phone with him as they handed off his assignment. If he played his cards right, they said, he could pull these murders from unsolved to solved. Oh, and the commission is thinking these murders might involve some agents from the League of Villains. 

It’s not a confirmed connection. 

There’s nothing solid about it, besides the body mutilation and burned corpses. But both are known habits of two members of the League. They’re shadowy leads, more steeped in hearsay than fact. All the same, one is rumored to have a fascination with blood, and the other, has a proclivity for using a bright, blue flame. It’s a hot heat, perfect for cremation and these bodies have all been practically, well, cremated.

“Have you met the other heroes that will be assigned to work with you?” 

Hawks snaps out of his head and nods at the tall, balding police chief. “Amano and Matsuura? Yeah, we’re supposed to take a look at the first locations as soon as this...meeting...is concluded.” Hawks hopes the police chief can hear the air quotes he just put the word meeting in. 

“Good, good. I saw your additions on the later cases. I really feel that we should look a little harder into those. One was a member of the city council. He was beloved by the city and-”

“If I’m looking for a pattern, there’s a higher probability that the killer was sloppier in the earlier cases. New habits and all. I’ll get to the councilman when I get to the councilman. Again, this string of murders started in the lowlands. While I realize that doesn’t get you the most publicity, and I hear a re-election is coming up for your position as chief of police this fall, I’m not going to pick at certain elements of this and leave others by the wayside. 

You gotta’ problem with that, take it up the HPSC. But, listen, they’re a lot meaner than me and they’re not going to like that you’re obstructing my investigation. You asked the commission to send someone down, and, lucky you, you’ve gotten yourself stuck with me.” 

Hawks flashes the police chief a bright grin, his teeth gleaming as his eyes crinkle to crescents. The man stammers for a moment, his face flushing under Hawks’ false joviality, then he tosses a bulky manilla folder on the desk. 

“Why you...I heard you were an arrogant son of a...no, no.” The chief sputters, his teeth clenched, anger bared behind the grinding of his jaw. “You’re right, we’re so very grateful to the number three hero taking time out of his busy modeling schedule to lend us a hand with these murders.”

“Ooh, you saw that spread in the sports magazine? Nice use of color right? Loved that new set of watches I’m sponsoring.” 

Fucking prick. Hawks is used to this kind of irate reaction, hell, it’s pretty expected now. He’d heard it so many times he has it memorized. Yeah, yeah, he’s twenty one, a kid who’s too big for his boots. He has no idea, no real world experience. Did you hear how he talked to me? The audacity.  

Let this guy try to report his snarky attitude, it’s not going to get his low level wannabe bureaucratic ass anywhere.

“I’ll get my agency to send you a signed copy. I had no idea you were such a fan! Lemme grab these files, got some work to do. Catch you around, sir!” Hawks pantomimes a salute, a serious expression making his eyes narrow. Fuck this dude. He’s got bigger fish to fry.

Closing the door on the police chief’s mottled expression, he meanders down the stairs of the police precinct, his wings still arching and rustling his temper. You’d think this case didn’t matter to these buffoons. The sheer implication of Hawks’ presence should clue them in. The HPSC doesn’t do anything lightly. Nah, these killings could be related to the League. Plus, his background checks on the victims had revealed some startling discoveries. 

All of them, down to the nineteen year old restaurant hostess, were involved in minor villain activities. Some had smuggled drugs, some laundered money on the side, one was a known broker. They kept climbing the ladder of severity. It was worrisome. 

While the chances of the LOV’s involvement was low, the commission was still searching for their hideout. He’d caught wind of some of the activity revolving around that ongoing mission. He wasn’t assigned to it, but he liked to keep an ear to the ground. 

Association with the LOV or not, these homicides kept bothering him. There’s something he’s not seeing. He dislikes the sensation. It makes him tense, ill at ease. Once he steps outside the police headquarters he launches himself into the sleet grey skies. 

It looks like rain. 

If he’s wanting to glean as much as he can from those early crime scenes, he better hurry. Hawks doesn’t like rain. It makes his feathers feel bogged down and dampened. Unfortunately, it has the same effect on evidence. Rain can whisk the little details away, slicking and drifting as it washes down to the vast sea. It can easily snag vital clues on its meandering path, erasing as it goes. 

******

The first murder took place on the fourth floor of a shabby apartment. The victim lived in the 19th unit and was a 43 year old male. He was a well known loner. So, it was a shock to discover that he ran a pilfering ring. The ring wasn’t a small scale enterprise either. No, this went deep. It connected to three other islands and the Japanese mainland. There’s no way this guy was a simple recluse. If anything, he was nothing short of a criminal mastermind. 

His body had been left in an odd position. It was likely staged, purposeful.  

He was discovered by his landlord. Rent was due and it was unusual for him to be late with the payment. So, the landlord let himself into the 19th unit. It’s a small wonder no one reported the smell earlier. Apparently, it was putrid, acidic, gut churning. A mix of tarnished copper and old, rotten meat. 

In all likelihood, he was murdered elsewhere and dragged back to the unit. Nothing in the room, besides his corpse, was scorched. The victim was splayed on his small bed, but the placement was strange. His feet were resting on his ashen pillow, shoes still on his feet. Meanwhile, his head was at the foot of his bed, pointing northward. 

Hawks and one of the assigned heroes, a friendly guy named Amano, are going over the case file with two members of the forensic team. Apparently, one of the team members hadn’t been part of the original investigation clean up and bagging. As Hawks and Amano are sharing the crime scene photos, asking the forensic team questions, the taller of the two, gasps, clapping a hand over his lips. 

Hawks tilts his head at the man’s reaction, his feathers automatically feeling for his pulse. It’s elevated and the guy appears to be truly bothered. It’s an upsetting picture, to be sure, but this is his job. He cleans up blood and guts for a living. Surely, he’s seen worse.

“You ok?” Hawks’ asks, his amber eyes shifting over the man’s face. 

“F-fine. It’s just, well, look at him.” 

Hawks takes the photo back. Did he miss something? 

“What about him?”

“Look at the direction his head’s facing.” 

“Uh,” Hawks examines the position of the hazy sun that peeks through the rain clouds outside the window. “North?”

Now the other forensic team member gasps. What the hell? What does facing north have to do with anything? It’s a cardinal direction. What would they say if he was facing the West? Again, are these people deliberately trying to bog his investigation down?

“I don’t see what, uh, relevance that has.” Hawks tells the two, looking over to Amano. The hero doesn’t seem to be bothered by their outburst. He just shrugs at Hawks’ frank stare.

“It’s supposed to be bad luck, but yeah, there’s not-” Amano begins, finally placing some clarity on the forensic team's outburst of paranoia, but he’s interrupted by the taller, jumpier man. 

“Not just that. You collect iron in your blood if you sleep facing north. It brings death.”

The guy said death like it might summon the fearsome spector down on them at any moment. Amano coughs, his hand covering a badly concealed smile. “Yeah, sure. Facing north is bad luck, and, I guess it can bring death, too. Learn something new everyday...”

“Worked pretty well in this guys case,” Hawks muses, arching an eyebrow at the jittery forensic team. “You guys see anything else? Something a little more, I don’t know, pertinent?” 

They don’t get much further with that crime scene.

Amano tags along for Hawks’ review of the other two cases. His agency runs out of this area and he was one of the first responders. He’s not got a lot of extra information, but he knows the people and they know him. It takes the edge off, lets the locals open up a little more. 

The next case is in a home. Well, home feels generous, it’s more like a shack. Apparently, the victim liked to collect cat figurines. Like, really, really liked to collect cat figurines. There’s over sixty of them, they’re scattered around the place, tucked into nooks and crannies. It feels like a thousand little eyes are watching the two heroes as they canvas the space. It’s creepy.  Hawks dislikes the sensation. His feathers keep lifting, feeling, spreading out.

The woman had been found at her kitchen table. She was propped into a chair, sitting, like nothing in the world, save her crisp remains, was amiss. The only way you could achieve a staging of that caliber was to wait for the body to enter rigor mortis. 

That takes time. 

Full rigor sets in around 5 to 12 hours after death has occured. Whomever did this must have had time to spare. And they weren’t worried about being caught during that time. No, they were too busy planning out the dramatic effect of their crimes.  

Once again, he feels like he’s missing something. 

One body was left pushing a garden cart. Literally, the man was found, early in the morning with his hands tied to a wheelbarrow. He was posed mid task, his arm lifted, reaching for someone, or something. Trouble was, the guy didn’t work as a gardener. No, he was a low level broker. Someone darting under the criminal radar. He’d eluded the police and heroes for months. Looks like his luck ran out.

The eighth body, the congressman, was discovered at a popular wharf. This crime scene is still in the process of being cleaned up, so there’s a flurry of people bustling around. Amano, and the other hero, Matsuura, who’s also been assigned to Hawks’ investigation, are talking with witnesses, gathering information and scheduling interviews. This kind of hero work is never ending. Hawks is grateful they’re willing to take on the grunt work. 

As Hawks is kneeling, peering over the ledge of the pier, looking down on the blackened wood and debris, a loud cawing breaks out. It echoes on the wind, coiling and lifting. It’s a funny sound. Like it’s far away and dulled. It makes Hawks’ wings fan out, overstimulated and brittle. The heroes and crime scene investigators debate on the origin of the noise. It doesn’t help that there’s no bird that’s wheeling above them. No, the skies are dark and empty, with a light misting of rain starting to drip onto the lashing sea. 

“What is that?”

“Is it a gull?”

“It’s creepy. There’s nothing even flying around. But, it sounds so close.”

“I think it’s a seabird. It’s gotta be, sometimes they fly out here looking for fish.”

“I’ve never heard a seagull sound like that.”

“There are other birds besides seagulls, idiot. It could be a pelican-”

“It’s a crow,” Hawks’ supplies, standing and turning back to the clutch of people who are quickly gathering up their supplies, doing their best to get the important pieces of evidence protected from the rain. 

“Huh? Did he say a crow?”

“Oh, damn, that’s a sign of death.”

“No...I think it’s illness, not death.”

Hawks’ walks to Amano and Matsuura, he tells them he’ll meet them back at the police headquarters. He needs to start his interviews if he wants to even have a prayer of snagging a bite to eat. He’s been subsisting off coffee since he flew in and his stomach is rumbling, loudly. 

The investigators are still debating the meaning of the crow caws when he takes off. His wings beat powerfully beside his head and he lifts above the grey storm clouds, coasting high, past the skyline. 

The people here are strange. They’re a superstitious bunch for sure. Everything has an underlying reason. Don’t forget to toss salt over your shoulder when you walk into that crime scene, Hawks. It’s bad luck if you don’t. 

Despite the strange mannerisms that surround him, they are right about one thing: there’s more to these killings than meets the eye. 

Things feel off in every crime scene. Were their belongings really left that way? Or, have the details been staged? Plus, the murders keep escalating. The particulars are spreading out and deepening as they interweave. The major connecting thread is still the state of the bodies, but even that is starting to feel vague. Hawks shudders a bit of excess moisture from the tips of his wings. Fingers crossed, some of these witnesses and relatives of the victims will have a little more substance for him to chew on.

******

Oh, they have something alright. 

It’s more hushed rumors and strange folk tales. God, the sheer frightened gullibility of these islanders is wild. The whole place feels so backwoodsey, lost in a bygone era. There’s always a prayer or blessing that needs to be uttered. Or, some supernatural logic that he needs to look into. Did you consider the devil, Hawks? He hides in the details, you know? 

It’s fucking weird. 

Hawks is treading in unfamiliar waters with this tripe. He didn’t grow up with any of this. The HPSC certainly hadn't offered him a course on Japanese islander folk traditions during his childhood. Still, these people, for the most part, seem well off, educated, cultured even. Some aren’t even from this island. But, they seem to be infected with the same disease: ghosts, oni spirits, and bad omens. It’s a whirling circle of nonsense and Hawks’ wants off this ride.   

“I got a call from her.”

“From the victim, your sister?”

“Yeah, it came in at 4:49 am.”

“Ma’m, that’s not possible. The coroner noted that rigor mortis had set in by 2 am”

“She sounded faint. It was like she was underwater, but it was her. She screamed at me.”

“She screamed at you?”

“Yeah, it was this low scream. Kinda, like a gasp? Like she couldn’t breathe. It kept getting louder and louder and louder. It hurt my ears. They felt like they were ringing, pounding. Then, the line just went dead. I can still hear it, that scream. Every time I close my eyes, or whenever I least...I-I can still hear her.”

“Do you have your phone records?”

Hawks is trying to make sense of it all, but it’s like they’re talking to each other before they come into the interview room, telling each new interviewee to up the ante. 

See if you can spook the number three hero. Go on, it’ll be fun. 

There’s a slew of strange occurrences. Disembodied voices, knocking on windows, doors opening on their own, quiet voids of cold that they step into. Ghosts keep popping up.

Then, there’s the oni spirits. They have red faces and they lean in close, their fangs reaching, gnashing, grinding. One woman, who was married to one of the victims, burst into tears, her terrified sobbing turning into a frantic wail. 

She had seen an ogre in her back garden. It was pushing a cart and the cart was on fire. Hawks’ checked his notes as he patted the woman’s back, trying to help her move through a few breathing exercises. One of the victims was found propped, pushing a wheelbarrow, could it be…

No. It’s another dead end. 

This woman didn’t know that dead man, the one who was pushing the cart. She didn’t even live on the same side of town. Ugh, this is endless. It might be easier if he did apply these delusions to his investigation. At least that way he’ll feel sane. 

Some of the victims had been acting suspicious, paranoid, on edge before their deaths. One of them had gotten a phone call in the middle of the night and ran off. The next day she was found dead in her home, burnt and drifting into ash. 

“So, she got the call and just ran out the door?”

“Yes. But, she let it ring four times.”

“You said that already. I’m not sure-”

“She picked it up after the fourth ring.” The aunt of the victim is looking at Hawks expectantly, her blue eyes wide, starting. 

“I don’t-”

“You know what that means...don’t you?”

“The hidden significance of picking up a phone on the fourth ring? No, no I don’t.”

They never fully expand on their weird theories. They’re normal comments to them. He debates looking up the meaning of the number four on his phone, but he tamps down the urge. It doesn’t pertain to the case. It’s useless drivel, a waste of time. 

An adult man shows him this ugly, ugly drawing of a cat. It’s pulling a flaming cart. Hawks doesn’t even want to touch the paper. The man keeps pointing back at it as he goes over his neighbor’s timeline. 

This particular witness is connected to the city councilman. The one that was oh, so important to the police chief. It’s a high profile case and it’s being taken seriously. Yet, here’s this supposedly credible witness, flashing a childish scrawl up to his nose, asking him to look for the phenomena, like it’s a normal request to ask the number three hero to look for nonexistent demons. 

‘There’s gotta be more to this’, he tells Hawks, his voice broken, fervid. ‘Something, something has to be there, after all, the councilman was murdered for a reason’. 

The man with the drawing is right about that, at least. 

These are not random crimes. The MO is too similar. Every single victim was involved in some sort of villainous activity. Yeah, the guys correct on that one sane theory of his: ‘There’s gotta be something there’. But, whatever it is, it’s not this cat thing. 

Hawks calls a halt to their interview and glumly munches on his cold chicken sandwich as he waits for the next witness to be called in. His head is pounding and he’s praying for some new development to fall into his lap, at least that way he can conclude things and get the hell off this island. 

****** 

The 9th victim is an outlier. 

He’s high up in social circles and he was a popular man. He’s also been accused of money laundering, tax evasion and fraud. He was acquitted on all charges, but his past never did stop nipping at his heels. However, that’s not what makes him an outlier. 

No, that’s reserved for the state of his body. 

Most of the victims have been burned to a crisp, leaving nothing behind, save bone and gristle. You can still see this guy's face and defining features. He’s a little charred, but it’s almost like the flames stopped right before they got past his chin. 

They transport his body to the morgue and Hawks finishes the combing of the crime scene, setting up a new batch of interview times and creating witness reports. He leaves just as the sun is dipping under the horizon. 

******

It’s late now, and the cool sea breeze blows in through his open hotel windows, soothing across his crimson plumage. It’s his first evening off in over a week. He’s still working though, typing his reports into his laptop. 

He’s forgone his usual coffee this evening. He wants to try and see if he can catch a full eight hours tonight. God, what a fucking delicious treat that would be. Eight hours? That’s the real ghost here. 

He shuts off his laptop and flops himself across his bed, his wings tucking into his side, burrowing his shoulders into their reassuring warmth. 

He slips into the lull between realities, his mind whirring, the case resting heavily against the forefront of his thoughts. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he can’t distinguish between dream and actuality as he drifts off. 

There’s something there.

It keeps to the edge of his vision, a dark shadow that leeches the color from whatever it touches. He can feel it watching him. It shifts quickly when he cocks his head to get a better look, sliding across the blank expanse like quicksilver, fluid and slick. 

He looks away from the edges of his dreamscape and turns. He blinks in surprise. He’s at one of the crime scenes. It’s the one with the man in the wheelbarrow. There’s a crowd pressing around him and that dark figure is blotted toward the back, lurking, watching. The people around him murmur and whisper, too soft to hear. They don’t seem to notice him. They also don’t appear to have faces. They’re just blank voids, with soft notches where eyes, noses, and mouths should be. Unthinking, Hawks reaches for one of them and his hand slips through the air, weightless and heavy in the same motion. 

When he blinks again he’s in that lady’s shack, the one with all the cat figurines. That wraith is sitting at her kitchen table. It’s not moving and he doesn’t feel particularly threatened by its proximity. Still, he dislikes this whole thing. If he can touch it, maybe he’ll wake up.

He’s stepping forward when he hears a soft mewl. There’s a black cat on a shelf. It’s tiny and lithe. It jumps in front of him, a low purr rumbling from its chest. It looks up at him, orange eyes fastening on his amber ones. Odd, he thinks, that woman only had figures. No living cats were evident in the house. 

The cat chirps four times. It’s a light, high pitched sound that makes his ears ache. It almost sounds like a phone. The cat lifts its tail and turns, padding soundlessly into the next room. Intrigued, Hawks follows.

Now, he’s walking down a street. The cat is still in front of him, weaving in and out. That purr of it is loud and sharp as it vibrates around his ears. He keeps trying to get the feline’s attention. He pspsp’s at the dark cat, clicking his tongue, but it doesn’t respond. Hawks is distracted, not paying any mind to his surroundings, wholly focused on the feline. 

The voice startles him. 

It’s rasping and deep and it’s calling his name. Not his hero name, no, it’s saying his real name, over and over. 

KEIGO TAKAMI. 

Keigo Takami, he thinks, stumbling over words that make him, him. It sounds strange now, foreign. He hasn’t heard that name in such a long time.  How did…

The voice is coming from behind him now. He whirls around and is face to face with that man. The 9th victim, the one whose face you could still see. He’s charred and battered, and blood is dripping in long rivulets from his gaping skin, pooling onto the ashen sidewalk. 

His eyes are wide, searching but not seeing. The pupil and iris are both milky white, rolling around in the cavities of his sockets. Then, his mouth pops open. It’s horrifically wide, like it’s caught in a scream. His teeth are crumbling before Hawks’ eyes, black pearls that slide from the man’s lips and clatter around his feet. 

Hawks is stunned, unsure, but, fuck, he can’t move. He tries to flap his wings, knowing that they’ll tug him away from this horror that’s in front of him. Except, there’s no whoosh of air, no lift. There’s nothing. What? How... 

His hands bat at the emptiness along his back. Where are they? What is this? His fingertips press along his shoulders, searching, desperate. His quirk, it’s...it’s just gone. He’s frantic now and that makes him clumsy. His feet tangle under him and he falls. Grounded, his legs instinctively begin to push away from the shell of a man in front of him.

The figure moves with him. Hawks keeps scrabbling away, but the man is even closer now and his bare feet are disintegrating with each shuffling pad forward. Still, he keeps on. Hawks tries to move again, tries to shift, but he’s been cast in stone. He can’t look away...he can’t…

The man is almost upon him now. His fingers are crumbling, the ash they create is making him choke. He can’t breath, he’s wheezing, unable to pull oxygen through his trembling lips. Hawks’ lungs are burning...

Then, Hawks’ wakes up. 

He’s sweating. His skin feels hot and his wings are flared. The feathers are quivering, searching. They bring him back bits and pieces. There’s someone sobbing two rooms over, someone is sleeping below him, their breath warm, he can almost feel it, pushing in and out, in and out. There’s a phone ringing. How many rings? What if it’s four...

Stop, stop.

Hawks tucks his wings back, ignoring the sounds, the sensations. The plumage wraps around him and he ducks his head into the darkness that they blanket him in. He’s comforted by the reassuring, solid presence of his quirk. He thought he’d lost it. His shoulders still hurt from his flailing motions. What is going on? He’s never had a dream like that. It felt so...so real. 

No. It doesn’t matter, he tells himself. He doesn't believe in this stuff. It’s not real. There’s no such thing as ghosts.

He tries to lay back down. 

He’s cooled off some, but his wings keep flapping, he’s stopped trying to fight them. His quirk is going into overdrive. This hasn’t happened to him in years, not since he was a kid. He tosses his pillow over his head, trying to stifle out the noise his quirk keeps drowning him in. He’s tired and overstimulated. Each breath stings and he tries to count, to walk through the steps that have been with him since childhood. Just be still, Hawks. It doesn’t matter. 

The sun is peeking over the horizon when he finally dozes off, his head heavy, fogged with exhaustion. 

******

Hawks grabs two nitro coffees the next morning. 

He practically inhales the dark liquid, hoping it will let him evade the haze of tiredness that thrums through his veins. It’s a slow day, thank God. There’s nothing of note that occurred the night before. Everything is pacing along its planned trajectory. There are no new bodies and the last interviews go by without any mention of spirits or the paranormal. 

Matsuura offers to take him for some lunch. Hawks, always eager to expand his palette, eagerly agrees and the two men head into the city. It’s a weekend, so the streets are crowded. People recognize Hawks and he chats with them, grateful for the welling of normalcy that the interactions bring. He’s signing an autograph when he catches sight of movement in a darkened alleyway. 

It’s not a particularly noticeable shift, but something about it feels strange. Hawks hands the freshly signed soccer ball back to the gang of kids around him and tilts his head toward the motion. He blinks. What the fuck? That’s not possible. 

It’s the man from his dream. He’s walking, steps heavy, sluggish and he’s moving into the alley. The 9th victim? But, but how? What? 

His wings react to his agitation and he hones in on the spot, reaching, snatching at anything he can sense. His fierce wings never let him down. They’re versatile, practiced and perfected. Feathers detach and shimmer into the midday sun, ducking around corners and onto rooftops, feeling. 

There’s nothing. 

No heartbeat, no footsteps, no voices. Hawks’ eyes had slipped closed as he felt for the man and he snaps them open again, his avian pupils dilating, constricting to a fine point. He turns to Matsuura and tells the hero he’s going to check something out. His wings lift before Matsuura can answer and he flaps into the air, the sea breeze assisting his ascension.

The rooftops are empty and Hawks scans the streets below, his wings rustling as he pulls himself along. Maybe it was a trick of his mind? Did he really see that guy? That’s a stupid question, how could he have? That man is dead. It’s gotta be his tired psyche. He didn’t sleep well, plus this case has been on his brain so much that he’s even dreaming about it. 

He lands on a nearby roof, his boots hitting the tiles roughly. Hawks closes his eyes again, sending a few more feathers out. The man, if he is real, will take this path if he is using the alleyway as an escape. There are no other routes available to him. 

He’s still attuned to his scattered feathers when he hears the cat hiss at him. His eyes open and he sees the animal. It’s a black cat. 

It’s across the street, lingering in an open window, its back arched and its fur standing on end. Hawks narrows his eyes at the aggressive display. There are way too many cats on this island. 

As he and the cat continue to engage in their silent staring contest, he hears a scritching sound coming from the street below. Hawks follows the noise, leaning over the edge of the rooftop. A child is playing below. She is sketching something into the concrete with bits of multicolored chalk. 

It looks like...huh? 

It looks like some kind of cart, but, why...why is it on fire? She is busy tracing the licking flames, a yellow piece of chalk clutched in her small fist. She’s humming a mindless song. It sounds like some kind of dirge. It’s soft and melancholic, following a minor tune. A shiver creeps up Hawks’ spine, but he ignores the pebbling of his skin, shaking his head.

Curious, Hawks wheels down, tapping along the street. He keeps a little ways away from the girl, he’s not wanting to startle her. His long fingers reach behind him, into his utility pocket that sits on his belt. He tugs out a small sticker sheet. He always keeps little trinkets in his pockets. It takes real effort to put people at ease and Hawks prides himself on his ability to steadfastly maintain that part of his image. He kneels on his haunches, dropping himself to a friendlier level before calling out to the little girl.

“Hey! That’s a pretty picture.” His voice is all light and honey and he has a bright smile on his face.

“Oh!” the little girl chirps, beaming her own grin back at him. “Thank you!”

“Tell me about your drawing.”

“It’s a Kasha.”

“Hmm, I don’t know what a Kasha is. Can you tell me about the Kasha?”

“They come to take away bad people.” The little girl replies, going back to her sketch, perfecting her lines and colors. 

“Oh! There’s a kitty in your drawing. Is the kitty a Kasha too?” Hawks asks, noticing the calico cat that’s attached to the handles on the front of the cart. It looks angry, vengeful. Strange for a kiddo to draw something so eerie.

“That’s the spirit of the nekomata, silly. Don’t you know anything?”

“Haha,” Hawks laughs, a genuine sound that makes him throw his head back, his hand bashfully scratching the back of his head. “Guess I don’t, huh? Do you like to draw...ghosts?”

“Not really. If I draw them they won’t-”

A distant voice is calling out a name. It’s female and coming from a house a few feet away, no doubt the girl’s mother or sister. The little girl calls back. 

“Coming mama! I gotta go, mister.”

“Here,” Hawks begins, detaching a smaller feather and drifting the little set of stickers over to the girl’s chubby hands. “Thank you for answering my questions,” he smiles. She coos and snatches the sparkly sheet, the sunlight catches the glitter that adorns the stickers. He tickles her cheek with his detached feather and she laughs. 

Her mother calls again and she starts to run off, her yellow shoes pounding on the street. Belatedly, she pauses before rounding the corner and bows low, a quick thank you slipping from her mouth. He waves back and smiles as she walks into her home, the door clicking behind her. Once he’s alone in the alleyway his grin drops and he stands, looking down at her drawing. 

It’s so freaking odd. Sure, sure, these cases are in the news. But the drawing looks...familiar somehow. 

Oh, that’s why. 

That man he interviewed, the one connected to the congressmen, had drawn something similar. Even then, back in that dark interrogation room, the strange figures looked like something he’d seen before, but where?

That nagging feeling is back. It pulls at the back of his mind. What is going on?

Hawks pulls out a small notepad and replicates the girl’s drawing, noting the colors and positions of the nekomata. As he sketches, his wings arc above his head, lifting and lowering meditatively. 

******

He comes back to the police precinct, his hands tucked deeply into his pockets. As he walks toward the chief’s office he runs into Amano. He’s the elder of his two assigned heroes and a font of knowledge about the island and its inhabitants. Maybe he’ll know something more about this doodle that keeps cropping up.

“Hey, Amano, you seen any weird drawings around town? Or, at the crime scenes maybe?”

“Weird? Like how?”

Hawks pulls out his notepad, flipping to the page with his sketch of the cat pushing the burning cart. Amano chortles, one gloved hand coming to cover his mirth. 

“What is that? It looks terrible.”

“I’m not much of an artist, I'll give you that one. In my defense, it’s based on a kid's drawing, so cut me some slack here, man. She said it was supposed to be a kasha and a nekomata?”

“Oh! Yeah, I can kinda see that now. I know what those are. According to legend, kasha appear during rainstorms. They steal corpses out of their coffins. Some of the older folks say they collect the souls of the damned. You can’t get the souls back if the kasha get them, they’re taken to hell, or eaten, depending on what version of the story you’re listening to. 

I mean, they’re all just old wives tales. We used to tell them on camping trips. They’re bedtime stories, something to scare kids into being good. Ooo, misbehave and you’ll get taken to hell. 

Eh, that feels kinda strong when I say it outloud, hopefully people don’t tell their kids stuff like that. Anyway, it’s not real.” Amano pauses, his head tilting at Hawks’ serious expression. “Isn’t it a little early to be getting into ghost stories? It’s summertime. Besides...” 

Hawks tugs his phone out of his jacket pocket, flicking through the crime scene photos as Amano elaborates on how ridiculous this ghoulish conversation is. Normally, Hawks would agree, but there’s got to be...oh...OH. 

There it is. 

His finger stills over the glass of his phone. It’s tiny, basically a scrawl, but it’s there. He flicks through some of the other photos, swiping through the different locations, searching. Ah-ha! Again, there’s that scrawl. This time, it’s almost cropped out of the photo. Still, there are two crime scenes with the scrawling of chalk. 

It’s a tiny drawing, so tiny he looked right over it originally, but now that he knows what he’s looking for, it’s there, plain as day. It’s a drawing of a tiny cart with a cat pulling the handles, lugging the wheels forward. 

Amano is still talking when Hawks looks back up. Hawks butts into his elaborations, not caring that he’s interrupting the man. 

“Ok, so they take evil doers away? Spooky. Question for you. You got any theories on why it’s cropping up all over town?” Hawks lifts the phone to Amano’s face. Amano takes the device and examines the strange markings, his brow creases, but he hands Hawks his phone back with a small smirk on his lips.

“It’s just talk, man. People do all sorts of superstitious things around here. Don’t look too hard into it. You believe what you want to, I don’t know. If that makes sense. Like those old sayings: ‘Don’t clip your nails before bed’. ‘No whistling at night’. It’s just something to say.

Superstitions are weird like that. Kinda like why you don’t have a fourth floor in a hospital. The number four looks like the word for death when you write it out. It’s bad form. It’s asking for trouble. So, don’t put a fourth floor, and boom, no problems with death.”

Hawks hums at Amano’s explanation. Ok, that superstition about the fourth floor, yeah, that one he had heard about. Amano claps a hand on Hawks shoulder and tells him he’s going to call a few more witnesses in. Hawks nods distantly, his mind whirring, processing. Despite Amano’s assurances, something still feels off.

******

He’s got a night shift. 

It’s only for one evening, so it shouldn't fuck up his sleep schedule too much. Hawks has already decided that he’s going to circle back to all of the crime scenes. He’s not used to being out of the loop, or being the one that people are looking at quizzically. 

He’d shown the drawings to the head investigator and the man had given him a blank look before asking Hawks if he needed some time off from the case. If he’d been asked that question a few days later, Hawks might have taken him up on the offer. 

It’s been five days since he had that dream, but he’s still seeing that man. He’s determined to haunt him, to flit on the side of Hawks’ vision, drifting around like a dead leaf in a breeze. 

He saw him at a bus stop the other evening. His dark hair was plastered to his face, burnt skin sloughing off his shoulders. He looked like a walking horror and Hawks had brought himself to an abrupt stop, staring at the figure below. The bus pulled up to the stop seconds after, the sleek metal shielding the man from view. By the time Hawks lifted himself higher, the man was gone. 

He saw him in windows, peering sightlessly out of the glass. He spied the man walking home from the train, trailing long streams of ash and smoke behind him. He never makes any sound. He’s not alive, so why would he? He had spoken to him in his dream, called his name, but after that? There was nothing. 

The vacancy of his presence is what startles Hawks the most. 

There’s nothing to feel, nothing to sense. It’s just this vast, blank, emptiness. For someone with a quirk like his, it’s deeply unsettling. Hawks’ life revolves around his ability to sense, to feel. The plight of the dead man makes his chest hurt with its loneliness and abject barrenness. Is that what it’s like to die? You drift into this void, alone? He doesn’t seem to have anywhere to go. Is this his routine? Is he trapped in an endless loop, playing out his final movements? How long does he have to participate in this charade? Is this some kind of purgatory for him?    

Distracted by his thoughts, Hawks spots a different man down a dark street as he flies overhead. It looks like he’s pushing a creaking wheelbarrow. Wait. A wheelbarrow? He looks again, wheeling back through the night sky, but there’s no one there now. No, the street is desolate, not even the gleam of the moon can brighten the winding sidewalks. 

Is this really a ghost? Do these visions even exist? Hawks has never given the topic of the paranormal much thought. It’s always been an outlier, untrue, and untested. A pseudoscience. Well, ghosts or not, whatever is going on, Hawks needs some rest. 

The rest of the night passes uneventfully and Hawks collapses onto his bed, drifting to sleep as soon as his golden head hits the pillows. 

******

After a goodnight’s sleep, it does get a little easier. 

He feels like his mind has cleared, the cobwebs brushed to one side, for now. Despite the clarity, he’s still seeing something. The man hasn’t gone away. No, even the daylight sun isn’t able to banish him. He saw him in his hotel lobby this morning, waiting for an elevator. By the time Hawks zoomed over, he was gone, the only evidence of his presence is the rising numbers on the illuminated floor panel, clicking up, toward the 4th floor.

That night, while getting a late night coffee, Hawks, long since given up his avoidance of caffeine in the evenings, spies something a little more sinister. As he’s paying the friendly barista, he notices someone lugging something across the road. It looks like it’s heavy, dragging against the street. They’re struggling to hoist it and it’s looking more and more like a body to Hawks’ frazzled nerves. He can’t be sure if it’s the specter that’s been lurking after him, but he’s not taking any chances. Again, Hawks is fast, but it’s not his speed that’s letting him down here. 

Each and every time, there’s just nothing there.

Is he freaking haunted now? Is that a thing? That crazy dream hasn’t returned, so that’s one, fleeting, plus. Wait. Does thinking about the paranormal bring it into existence? Is that how ghosts work? Ugh, if he’s going to be plagued, he might as well read up on this shit. What the fuck is going on? Is it the town? Is it the pressure of this case? Is it him?

As he takes himself, and his coffee, up to his hotel room, he ponders the strange predicament he’s landed himself in. He can’t fit all the pieces together. It’s too strange, too abnormal. He wants to lay down, try to get a little sleep. But, a hero's work is never done. He’s got another report to type up and another set of interviews to schedule. 

As he sits at the small desk that faces the window, he hears a strange cawing. It sounds close, almost like it’s right outside the glass. It’s not the call of a seagull, no, it’s that crow again. But, crows aren’t indigenous to the island. He’d looked them up after that discussion on the wharf. No crows have been spotted on the island in over 50 years. The last known specimen was an old bird, living in the Miyako zoo. It died over 3 years ago. 

Hawks pulls himself to his feet, scraping the chair legs against the floor. He opens the window and pokes his head outside. He can smell the salty aroma of the sea. It tickles his nose and makes him take a big inhale of air, filling his lungs with the crisp aroma. The crow can still be heard, shrieking into the night. There’s a soft, familiar, beating of wings, too. He cranes his head, scanning the blackness, his wings are lifted as well, but there’s no bird. Per usual, there’s no movement, and no creature is flapping its way into the night sky. 

He closes the window and the cawing echoes to the other side of the room before fading away. Annoyed, he takes a sip of his coffee. Hopefully that’s the last he’ll hear of it. He’s got enough ghosts fucking with him, thank you very much, he’s not wanting to add a disembodied crow to the role call. 

******  

The next morning Hawks is on a patrol. 

The murder cases have stagnated again. While this, on the whole, is good news, simply because there are no new bodies, he still can’t get that damned drawing off his mind. It feels like things are slipping away from him, pulling out with the tide and into the vast realm of the dreaded: unsolved cold case. 

He’s frustrated, no, he’s not frustrated, he’s pissed. 

He feels like he’s letting the whole town down. He’d been called out here to do a job, but what good has he really been? Sure, the townsfolk are weird, the police chief is an ass and the lead detective pretty much has Hawks written off as a conspiracy theorist nut, but he was sent here to do a job. He’s good at sniffing things out. He’s good at being a hero. He’s not good at waiting, and that’s all this case has turned into, one long stint of stagnation and thumb twiddling. 

Hawks glides across the bright sky, the sun reflecting warmly on his ruby red feathers. His eyes and wings are alert, feeling for any disturbances. He’s rounding onto the main street when he sees him.

It’s a living, breathing man. Hawks can feel his heartbeat, it’s pounding against the man’s breastbone. Only problem is, he shouldn’t be in the realm of the living.

The 9th victim ducks into a large bank, his familiar dark hair gleaming in the sun. 

Hawks maneuvers to land immediately, his wings tucking against his back and dropping him to the earth at an alarming speed. He startles the small huddle of pedestrians on the sidewalk, but he’s too intent on catching his quarry to smooth any ruffled feathers. He races up the steps of the bank, one broad, gloved hand yanking the glass door open.

There he is. He’s talking with someone. Hawks can almost hear what he’s saying, he just needs to get closer…

“Sir? Can I help you?”

It’s a bank employee. He’s wearing a crisp blue suit and his eyes are wide behind his horn-rimmed glasses. Hawks pauses at his question, then slides past him, but it looks like it was just enough time for the 9th victim to evade him. He’s walking now, disappearing from view, stepping down a back hallway. It looks like he’s following someone…

Hawks turns back to the bank employee, his wings vibrating with annoyance and impatience. “I need to talk with that man, he’s wanted in a murder investigation. My name is Hawks, my hero number is-”

“Oh, I know who you are. O-of course, please, do what you need to d-”

The bank employee’s voice fades as Hawks lifts himself, pulling over the heads of the people waiting in the lobby. A few feathers dash out, feeling, searching. 

Where did he go?

Hawks reaches the hallway in record time, his wings folding as he paces over the marble flooring. There’s not much back here, but it does lead to a large, closed vault. Damn it all. 

“Sir, sir, SIR! Can we help you? I am the bank manager. You’re not permitted to be back-”

“Sure, you can help me. I need access to this vault. There’s a man, you can check your security cameras, he just walked-”

“I do not have access to the vault. You will need to make a formal-”

“Whaddya’ mean, “you don’t have access”? Then find someone who does. Two men just...Damn it…”

Hawks phone is ringing, he tries to ignore it, but it persists, vibrating and chiming against his leg. The bank manager is bristling, his mustache quivering as he babbles on about warrants, and how heroes can’t act like cops. It doesn’t matter if Hawks is the number three, he can’t ignore protocol. He needs to come back with a warrant, or get out…

His phone’s ringtone continues to slice through the tense air and Hawks, after the 9th, exasperating, ring, lifts it out of his pocket, glancing at the caller ID: it’s the HPSC. Fuck. He accepts the call on a final, shrill note.

“Hawks, here.”

“You need to come back...there’s been...All Might...Kamino...attack…”

An intermittent static keeps breaking over the phone line. It’s a crackling sound, snapping and rustling, it makes his skin crawl. It almost sounds like someone is whispering something, just below the faint hissing. “What? The line is breaking up-” Hawks lifts the phone, ah, there’s no bars in here.

The bank manager is still carrying on, heedless of Hawks’ inattention. “And so, I am within my rights to ask you to-”

“I’m going to need you to wait here and don’t move. Yeah, yeah, sure thing buddy, I don’t have a warrant, but I can make things pretty rough for you if you don’t do as I say. You don’t want to be involved in this case, believe me. Now, do what I asked and stay here.”  

Lifting his wings, he flies across the lobby again, swiping a quick text to the police chief, if they hurry they might be able to catch this un-dead, dead guy. He jets himself onto the sidewalk, scattering a gaggle of beach goers. 

As he re-dials the HPSC’s number he hears it again. It’s the call of that crow. It startles him and he almost doesn’t lift the dialing phone to his ear. God, this has gotta stop. He scans the sky for any physical sign of the screeching bird. It’s close, cawing and shrieking into the wind. It’s different from the other calls it’s made. It sounds angry, desperate, trying to reach him...trying to tell him something... 

The line picks up and a voice repeats the familiar greeting of the HPSC. 

“HAWKS, here,” he says, vexed, eyes scanning, looking for the disembodied crow. 

The person on the other end asks for him to hold, and a few seconds later the head of the HPSC is answering, her soft voice both grating and reassuring to Hawks. 

“Hawks. You need to return to Tokyo, immediately. All Might has been attacked by All for One. There are developments that we cannot discuss over the phone. Leave whatever intel you’ve gathered for the Miyako police chief and get back here. This is a national emergency. We need all hands. I don’t need to tell you, but the implications of this are dire. Hero society as we know it will be forever changed. I repeat, drop whatever you’re doing and get back to headquarters.”

The line clicks and that static sound rises again. There’s a garbling, muttering sound that’s rising from the hiss. It’s saying his name. KeigoTakamiKeigoTakamiKeigoTakami. 

Then, all is silent. The voice is gone, the cawing is gone. A deep feeling of dread washes over him. It makes his feathers flair, plumage spreading and flexing. All around him, voices are chatting, laughing, living. They have no idea, blissful in their ignorance. Everything is, no, nothing is ever going to be the same again. God, All Might. If he can’t recover, if he dies... 

Hawks lowers the phone, his eyes wide. Suddenly, all these ghosts of his don’t feel so important now.

Notes: @hawksweek2020​

Beta edited by @albinoburrito​

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Fairy Ranmaru 3 - 5 | TWEWY 3 - 5 | HGPC 6 - 12, 22 - 24 | Back Arrow 7

Adding the tag for Fairy Ranmaru, because that's the only anime I have really set for this season.

Fairy Ranmaru 3

· Update: For some reason, I didn’t quite realise he was speaking English the first time and then repeating himself in Japanese. It’s only a very short scene, which is probably how it happened.

· LOL, that one well-timed beam that only vaguely obscured Uruu’s butt…

· If I heard small Uruu right, he calls her okaasama and not okaasan.

· LOL, Asahi (morning) = Yuuhi (evening) beer.

· I wonder what’s up with Houjou? Is he gonna be evil, like (SPOILERS!) the manager in Mahou Shoujo Ore? Why doesn’t Houjou have wings, anyway? Update: Notice the main quintet get rid of the wings in some shots and then conjure them when necessary. It might just be Houjou hasn’t needed his wings yet…

· Hmm…I’ve been thinking about how Japanese HypMic fans buy lots of CDs and merch (crazy amounts, have you seen the shrines???) to do something similar, but their purpose isn’t really to keep their characters’ careers going in as much as it is to further a plotline…so is it really on the same level as this [buying all the photobooks for the sake of helping the relevant celebrity succeed]? I dunno, you decide.

· LOL, conveniently-placed light beams are really terrible this episode.

· …wow. That got…uh…suggestive (?) (I was really shocked when I saw that the first time. How did they manage to get away with that on late-night TV???)

· We went from Madoka Magica -> moe world -> ukiyoe world…what’s next?

· …uh…suggestive? (x2)

· They really like the pot theme, huh…?

· I dunno if that was meant to be poignant that Ranmaru said Uruu was crying on the inside, but…I laughed at it.

HGPC 6

· Wait, so why was Nodoka’s mum unemployed? Was she moving for work? Update: Seems she quit her job because Nodoka was hospitalised.

HGPC 7

· (no notes, sorry!)

HGPC 8

· SKY appears to be “Sukoyaka”. Update: Yep, later you see Chiyu with the track outfit and it says SKYK.

HGPC 9

· (no notes, sorry!)

HGPC 10

· (no notes, sorry!)

Back Arrow 7

· This general with the big beard kinda looks like Archie (from Pokemon).

· Hmm…I think I like Prax already, with the sole exception her Briheight looks rather similar to a palette-swapped Muga.

TWEWY 3

· This song must mean so much more to people who’ve played the game…(The OP, I mean.)

· Shoumetsu…it means “erasure”, technically. Will wait and see if it means more in context.

· Subaru using his normal voice as Beat. I think Ichiro is also his normal voice, or slightly gruffer and/or lower.

· Tower Records, as anime fans know, is an anime/music store. They’re well known for their “no anime, no life” stuff (exhibit A: the HypMic Rhyme Anima version).

· Ooh, Shibuya Marui. Reminds me of the one I saw in Akihabara.

· One of the signs in the back says “Shibuya First Bank”.

· “…1 Days” (sic).

· Why do I seem to recall Neku can only use one of his badge powers as a time…? Where did I learn that from?...I don’t know.

· The final boss defeated in episode 3. There is surely more around the corner…

· Ohhhhhhhh! That’s a big twist!

TWEWY 4

· Parco = this department store chain. Known mostly for P’PARCO shopping centres.

· *opens calculator on computer* The square root of 10814 is 104…Shibuya 104. Update: It’s 109 in real life, but 104 here.

· Are those…crabs? *Crab Rave plays in background*

· The Reapers at the top have cardinal directions in their surnames, but Uzuki doesn’t. That’s because her first name means the 4th month of the calendar. Update: Kariya has the character for “hunter” in his surname, too.

· LOL, Yoshidaya (in the back, a parody of Yoshinoya).

· I wonder, why is Joshua’s power so similar to Neku’s fire pin…?

· Rhyme has “dream” as one of the kanji in her name.

· Kangaroo Noise…(*thinks about HypMic ARB* Not more kangaroos…) (<- kidding)

· Oh no! I read spoilers before this so I knew Beat was going to become a Reaper, but…oh nooooooooo!

HGPC 11

· Exploding dandelion seeds…now that’s novel!

HGPC 12

· Ah, so here’s Batetemoda’s intro…(he’s such a chuuni…)

HGPC 22

· Skipped a bunch of episodes because I saw them already.

· The decision to write “Asumin” without the U is a bit weird, I think, but still a valid one.

HGPC 23

· (no notes, sorry!)

HGPC 24

· (no notes, sorry!)

Fairy Ranmaru 4

· LOL, he (Juka) tossed poor Bakkun…

· LOL, censorship bottles.

· Brass ring. I’d never heard of the term before and I’m an English (kinda-)native speaker. (Technically Cantonese is my first language, but English is my best.)

· Did you see Uruu’s rubber duck?

· Bakkun’s a couch now! Cute!

· …so basically, Juka is a healer. Got it.

· Note how the F is green now…

· I always look away at the kiss scenes. They’re a bit of a waste of time, methinks.

· LOL, the randomly-placed effects and beams over Juka’s bits.

· Oh, Sunflowers. That would explain why Starry Night is Juka’s painting in the OP, like Uruu’s is the Great Wave.

· …and here’s Starry Night now, right on cue.

· JKRM???? (Shouldn’t that be L…?)

TWEWY 5

· The A in “CAT” looked slightly like it had cat ears.

· Wait, if this was with flip phones back in the day, did they still have apps then…? Or was it programs?

· Ooh, orange badge.

· ”Fresh Humburger”, LOL.

Fairy Ranmaru 5

· Note the opening segment has a plain chatreuse background for Ranmaru (aside from a scratched effect, like someone’s rubbed a pencil lead over it), fireworks for Homura, the Wave for Uruu, Starry Night for Juka and…I don’t know what Takara’s is, but it’s bright yellow and has spots on the edges.

· LOL, Bakkun’s use of sauces. If they only eat curry, why do they have tomato sauce and mustard, anyway…?

· I don’t think I ever properly understood what “out to lunch” meant…”temporarily not in command of one's mental faculties.” There you go!

· The sign’s F is gold this time…

· Yeah, around when she said “you bought all my vegetables”, I noticed the boxes said “carrots”, “potatoes” and so on. I didn’t even know “carrot” had kanji until yesterday, believe it or not (and I learnt that from a HypMic fan comic…*sweatdrops* Samatoki hates carrots).

· I dunno why, but men in anime sure seem to be proud of eating meat…

· LOL, weirdly-placed light beams over Takara’s butt. (I don’t know whether to call the staff “cowards” for refusing to showing the full butt or not.)

· Even the money has pots on it! I love how this anime keeps on going with that joke…(lel?)

· As it turns out, fuhen means “unchanging”. Yaochou likewise means “fixed game”, but it’s a pun on the word for “grocer” (八百屋, readyaoya and sharing the first two kanji, hence the English translation of “Fixed Grocer”).

· Oh! I had to think about it a little, but Ruise = Seiru (sale) backwards. (Update: Sort of, there's a line in the middle that has to be covered for with the I.) “Oshida”, I think, is meant to mean “authority”, so to put that with Fuhen would mean something like “eternal authority [over Ruise and her dad, due to their debt]”. Update: You know when the bull gets pushed out of the ring? That’s called oshidashi.

· Hmm? That star badge Takara wears in human form seems to be that yellow thing on his shoulder in fairy form.

· Hmm…come to think of it, “bull” was the name of a type of stock market speculator…What a pun!

· Why does Takara keep licking his lips???

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card chapter 39 - review

AT LONG LAST!

Real life really takes the will to do lengthy things away from me, even if it’s for fun.

But I love Cardcaptor Sakura so much, so I take this almost as a “duty” to pay respect to this wonderful series. I love when things are done properly and not left “hanging”, so here we go, even if a bit delayed compared to usual: (long)THOUGHTS ON CHAPTER 39 under the cut!!

I’d like to start with a small consideration before going with plot-centric rants: I have noticed the post with this chapter obtained a lot less notes than usual, but it’s a trend that has been going on for a while. I’m not really sure what could be the cause, it can range from Tumblr shadowbanning posts from the tag search if they include a link (so the posts are not visible that much anymore, despite my efforts to make a second text post), to people preferring other sources to get their chapters (and that’s fine), to the fandom moving altogether to other sites and communities, or....to the fandom’s interest slowly fading away. Since it seems we’re almost going towards the climax, I’m not sure how to react to the latter option. I think this is supposed to be the moment in which the fandom’s interest is the more active, but I could be wrong. Anyway, if that’s the case, then I guess it’s really time for CLAMP to wrap it up.

Without further ado, let’s analyze this chapter!

The color page was L O V E L Y. Oh my gosh Sakura-chan, look how grown up you appear here. More beautiful than ever. She’s even re-using a sweater from another color illustration, lol. It’s perfectly fitting with the autumn season and I loved it!

Let’s bother her a little more

Starting off from where we left in ch. 38, Sakura is blown away and Syaoran tries to have The Shadow look for her once again, but....”fooled once, not fooled twice” thinks Kaito, isn’t it? Kaito wants Sakura to do stuff on her own, so he literally “throws” her into a dark tree hole, where her shadow can’t be traced, because well....there’s none. He isn’t looking particularly amused while he does this, well, what I mean is that it’s not like he’s having sadistic fun, causing her troubles. His face is kinda apologetic when he's all “here comes the knight but thanks, no thanks”, as if he understands that Syaoran wants to save her, but he cannot really do otherwise. Sakura needs to do this alone, in order to produce a fitting card. Would you care to tell us readers what this damned card is, Kaito?

The first conversation

Kaito is in the mood for some memories. Memories of the first time he spoke with Akiho. I found it interesting that he used the verb “having a conversation with” rather than “meeting”, and the reason is also pretty easy to guess: for him, it wasn’t the first time. He saw her (although from afar) when he analyzed her through that ball, to determine whether she had magical powers or not.  And their first conversation didn’t start in the best of ways: Akiho’s first reaction is to run away. But what can you expect from a little girl who was used to be considered a bother and only basing on her magical capabilities, and not as a human being. So when Kaito asks her if he bothered her, her confusion is plain visible on her face: Is he talking to me? Me, who is usually the bothering one here?

And so she’s surprised big time when he actually shows to be interested to know which book she was reading. NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE ever did that for her. Remember what environment she grew up in. He is the first and only one wanting to even have a conversation with her (her family only made “questions”). By the way, thanks to Impatient Scans, we actually aknowledge Akiho here might be reading “Momo”, by German writer Michael Ende. That opens a whole new box of questions, starting from “IS THIS where Momo takes her name from? Who gave it to her? What is her real name? Could the story actually be giving plot hints?”

All in all, let me just say I loved this flashback. I always love when there’s a Kaito or Akiho flashback, because I’m so hungry for their background story. I know the story has to sacrifice a bit of the other characters in order to show more of them, because 30 pages are just 30 pages, after all. But it’s ok, that’s also the reason why I’m glad I warmed up to both of these 2, because every month I have more things to look forward to, and I generally am never disappointed with a chapter’s content.

There’s no turning back

As if on cue, Momo starts an inner monologue on Kaito and Akiho, and how much he changed for her.

He really didn’t care about anything, before. He couldn’t be bothered to do anything. He was a very apathetic boy, some fans have theorized he could be on the brink of depression himself without even realizing it (again, consider what a shitty environment he grew up in, a den of delinquents).

And yet.

Among all those criminals, he raised his hand. His voice loud and clear, “I’ll go”. He, the boy who found everything a bother, decided something for himself for the first time ever, and to assist someone else, no less. Momo wonders, to herself, what changed inside of you? Cause something must have changed.

This was another part I really really loved. All the memories of their travels together. You can see the different countries they’ve been to, and their body language, that implies there was still some kind of “distance” between them. Akiho seems still kinda “wary” of Kaito in these shots (and with a reason, who would trust anyone if they were raised up like she did?). But we can see them being more relaxed and at ease the more they spend time together, and it’s on this time spent together that Momo puts the focus on. It’s where Kaito should ideally start to find the answer to the big, complex question.

What made you do this?

Momo muses over how Kaito learned to do all sorts of things in order to please Akiho and to make her live in a healthy environment (remember Akiho saying that Kaito makes by hand all her meals?), finally not neglected but at the center of someone’s attentions. She makes a random example on the tea. Why someone who didn’t give sh*t about how tea tasted, went all the way down to learn how to make it in a delicious way? I love how CLAMP cleverly used the word 術 with the furigana “sube”, which means “how to do something”, but with the same kanji and the reading “jutsu” it also means “spell”. This probably to imply that some magic might have been included in this learning process, err. XD

I also loved how Momo thinks that Kaito needs to look at the truth straight in the eyes, without turning away. Could he be scared to admit the truth? Loving someone (and hear me again, love of any kind, not romantic love exclusively) comes with a little fear. For someone who never experienced it, all the more. It’s a totalizing feeling that might destabilize you.  If he doesn’t wake up to this, it’s gonna be too late. That’s literally what Momo says.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE SHOCKER OF THIS MONTH! Momo and Akiho’s mom knew eachother, and Momo even received her ring and the task to look over her daughter, and Sakura as well. “My Alice, and that girl’s Alice”. I mean, I knew Akiho’s mom was going to be important, but dammit she really looks like she’s been the one moving some plot threads since long time!!! I love this.

The nightmare

And here comes the part where I start screaming “WHAT THE F*CK IS HAPPENING HERE”. Sakura finds herself in a strange land with big flowers (she’s still tiny, let’s remember that), flowers that can actually speak. At her surprised face, the flowers reply “You wished for this, didn’t you?”.

EH?

And then we get to this creepy scene of Akiho appearing out of nowhere, with her experiment outfit, calling Sakura in a dead tone. I was seriously freaking out at the panel composition. Made entirely to evoke creepiness. Apparently, we’re in Alice’s story. Yes. BUT WHICH ALICE?

The strange reality turns into a nightmare. Literally.

Everything turns dark, Sakura is having another one of her dreams. The “shaaan” and the clocks are a sign of it. MCF appears behind Akiho, who this time is in the same position she was when she was turned into a magical artifact by her clan. Sakura’s face twists in horror even before MCF opens his robe, because she knows who’s under it. The last time she saw MCF in a dream was also the last time she saw who was under it. Her heart and mind scarred irreparably forever. And there he is. Syaoran, dead in his eyes. Sakura’s shrieks “NO!!” in horror, she completely refuses to believe this is a real thing. Now, I don’t really know what’s happening here, because after this, everything breaks and she captures GUESS WHAT, the “Break” card. So it’s hard to determine if it was a real dream or only an illusion. Maybe Kaito made her go into her subconscious to find bits and pieces of what she experienced before, in order to shake her enough to produce the right card. Because, if all of this is coming from her, then it means a part of her brain does remember despite the time rewindings of Kaito. And it’s very important. She saw Akiho’s past when she was trapped inside Akiho’s book, but all of that was erased when Kaito rewound time. Well, not from her heart, however, because she hugged Akiho tightly while crying. So now what do we have here? A part of what she’s not supposed to remember. I think this vision is a twisted mix of horrifying things she saw previously, and indeed her natural reaction is to destroy in pieces what she’s seeing. Quite literally, since the two kanji for “Break” actually mean “Destruction”. Is this the card Kaito was looking for? I’m not sure. Because he said that “Rewind” went quite close to it, and I can’t make out any relation between “Break” and “Rewind”. I still have the impression the card he might want her to make has got more to do with “restoring” things to how they were before. So, if it’s instead Kaito the one who made her see those things, he might have wanted her to wish to bring everything as it was before. HE needed a strong reaction from her. But she made “Break” instead. Will it be ok for him so we can move on to the climax?

I have to admit I kinda loved the more creepy and nightmare-ish atmosphere of the last 10 pages. Sakura evidently has got something big going on, and it’s time she talks to Syaoran about this. It’s time she tells him fair and square what’s she’s seeing more and more often. It’s about him too, at this point. She can’t keep this a secret anymore, not when it’s eating her sanity and peace of mind away.

Next chapter is going to be published in the February issue, in stores on the last days of December if everything goes as usual (for New Year’s they always anticipate the release of that issue). So we have another unexpected break as I already said, and I kinda figured it when I saw CLAMP going on a trip 20 days ago. It’s ok, we can do this! If we’re approaching the climax, it make sense that they take vacation now, so afterwards they can work fully straight into the finale.

Thanks for reading this long rant, and I wait for your comments!

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch Episode 26 “Time to Pick some Names”

mysterylover123

We return to normal school stuff with a fun little episode, packed with some ominous foreshadowing.

Seeing Izuku getting hounded like this just makes me wonder what kinda attention the other kids get. Especially Bakugo.

This draft picks do make me wanna call bullshit a little though. Like, I get why Deku isn’t up there. But why is Kaminari, who got taken out in seconds, in 5th, and Ashido, who made it into the second round and has a very popular and easily demonstrative quirk and look, not up there at all?!

This episode is really shippy, you guys. Todomomo here. Look at how she looks at him. She likes him. Convince me otherwise.

Iidaraka making an appearance too! Aw, lookit her shaking him!

Why is Midnight the chooser of names, BTW? She appears to have bad taste in names, despite her own decent Hero name, so what gives her the right?

Baby Aizawa and Present Mic! Seriously, Mic should’ve been the one presiding over Hero Names! He gave Aizawa a great one and has one of his own! Seriously, it could’ve been perfect!

Aww someone’s nervous!  (edit: this screencap didn’t quite grab the right moment. Basically, Bakugou looks endearingly nervous in this shot.)

So my thoughts on the names:

Aoyama needs to change his. cantstoptwinkling is too long and unwieldy to be a Hero Name and it sounds ridiculous (he says it in English so I know it isn’t just some weird translation).

This was perfect. Screw you Midnight. Alien Queen should’ve been Ashido’s name.

This one’s nice. People do call her Froppy sometimes. I like too how this beat is played: The first two names make everyone nervous, and Tsu puts them at ease. That seems to be her role in Class 1-A: to help people deal with crisis situations and stress.

Red Riot is another winner. Being derived from another famous name is not a problem; it’s a comic book tradition. Though this does bring up that pesky Imitation theme once more. Kiri wants to be just like Crimson, and that concept gets explored in more depth in the Internship Arc. It makes me wonder if Kiri should switch names to symbolize throwing off that role, or if he should stick with it to symbolize the good Crimson brings to him.

Izuku himself notices the similarities between Kiri’s name and his own fixation with All Might for me so I don’t have to explain it.

Now we are met with the CUTEST FUCKING IMAGE EVER COMMITTED TO SCREEN OR PAPER. DEKU YOU ARE TOO PRECIOUS.

Now some snarky Kamijirou content! Someone’s a little bitter about Kaminari getting more draft picks than her, aren’t you? Actually, I feel like there are some similarities between Kamijirou and BKDK - both pairs argue a lot, yet seem to share an odd connection. The diff may be that while Jiro is more like Midoriya in terms of power and personality (she even takes obsessive notes like he does), she’s the one who antagonizes Kaminari. He’s more Kacchan-like, perhaps why he’s friends with the guy, more born-powerful and cocky, but he’s the one who gets messed with. I dunno, interesting connection. 

Probably the coolest sounding of the names that are just ‘my quirk’. Jiro can stick with this one.

Kinda generic but hey, it’s better than Jamming-yay.

Also kinda generic, maybe something that sounds cooler in Japanese, I’m guessing?

Not half bad, but it doesn’t really sound like a hero name.

This one’s a bit generic, but darn it all if it doesn’t sound like a name you’d find in superhero comics.

Ditto.

Triple ditto. Actually a name in Superhero comics. 

This one’s terrible. Mina deserved better.

Hmm...Momo...this isn’t terrible, per se, but I still think Yaoyorozu could have a cooler one.

LOL. Also sad: by rejecting his surname and choosing only his given name, Shoto makes a statement. An “I don’t want to be like my dad” statement.

Good I guess? I do kinda know about this one from reading Naruto. It’s a thing in Japanese that I will probably not get well as a dumb American.

Though to be a smart American for a second: Anima...it sounds like he’s talking about that Joseph Campbell theme on anima/animus, male/female, hero with a thousand faces (Just kidding, it’s short for Animal.)

HAHAHAHA OH KACCHAN YOU ECCENTRIC SHITHEAD. Actually, this one is a pretty clever play on his surname in the original Japanese, “Bakusatsuo”. Someone really likes playing on kanji meaning (Deku), doesn’t he? King Explosion Murder is too long and unwieldy, but I think just “King Explosion” or some similar pun could’ve actually worked fine. Just take out the murder part, dumbass.

My favorite one. Meaning: Her surname, her desire to support her parents. Instantly conveys who she is, what kind of hero she wants to be. Perfect.

OMG IIDA FEELS. This plays into his arc in the next story arc, actually. Iida feels he can’t take the name Ingenium until he has done with Tensei couldn’t: kill Stain. And that is why he’s so fixated on revenge. 

And finally DEKU. Which is, yeah, what we call him...it does sound a little odd as a superhero name, though. This is an Izuocha moment I actually, like, BTW. Just nice wholesome friendship. No weird obsessions or comparisons with serial killers. 

Speaking of Uraraka. The Gunhead Agency! You gotta love that Wonder Duo and how they influence people, huh? One fight with Bakugou and she’s all signed up to go be a DBZ fighter. Also, I can see why Kacchako fans are into that. One of Ochaco’s biggest character shifts, and he inspires it. I can dig.

The #1 hero everybody! Hori does try to give a plausible excuse for why All Might forgot to mention Gran among the People Who Know list...then doesn’t bother with it at all when Nighteye comes up. Ah well. I honestly kinda just want the List of People who Know to keep expanding to comedic levels. “Oh and this is my old exgirlfriend who also knows! And this villain! And this random guy! And maybe your mom!”

Speaking of moms, I’m sure Aizawa officially transforms into Class 1-A’s when he tells Ashido not to slur her words. 

The shipper in me wants to gush about how Izuku and Ochaco went to worry about Iida (Iidaraka!) but more sincerely, I want to quickly comment about how well BNHA handles the Power of Friendship. This trope can be so irritating when done poorly, but the friendship in Hero Aca is actually, in my opinion, really realistic. And the power of it is mainly showcased by how friends can simply support and be there for each other, rather than Friendship is the Allmighty Power of the Universe all Will Bow Down Before it. (And also it’s a thing villains can have! And a thing that can fall apart and be unpleasant!)

ANGRY IIDA!

So yeah I really enjoy this episode. It’s not especially deep or heartbreaking (ASIDE FROM TENSEI!!!!) but it’s an enjoyable watch. I’ve actually watched this one a lot because it’s light and fun and something of a one-off. I wouldn’t claim it’s the Best of HeroAca or anything, but It’s an enjoyable ride. Of course, can’t say I’m not more excited to get to next episode. As a big Deku fan(girl), I can tell you my reactions to that one will be something.

BKDK CORNER

Guess who gets paralleled with Izuku’s love interest once again? Seriously, there are a lot of odd, ongoing parallels between Bakugou and Uraraka with their relationships to Izuku, and I’m not sure why if not for subtext. (I want Bakugo’s Ultimate Hero Name to be a play on his first name too. So both members of Wonder Duo have First Name Puns). The OT3 is strong in this one.

My Deku sense is tingling.

BEST GIRL OF THE EPISODE: Iida Mom! (she only appeared last ep but sh)

RANKER: Class 1-A’s Hero Names

21. Pinky

20. Cantstoptwinkling

19. Creati

18. Tenya

17. Shoto

16. Cellophane

15. Deku

14. Bakusatsuo

13. Tentacole

12. Anima

11. Sugarman

10. Chargebolt

9. Invisible Girl

8. Tailman

7. Alien Queen

6. Earphone Jack

5. Tsukoyomi

4. Froppy

3. Red Riot

2. Ingenium 

1. Uravity! (Congratulations Ochaco, you were the MPV of this ep)

[shadowtarot]

Hidden Pain: A Persona 4 Drabble

Read this for context. 

Junes Food Court, mid-day, Sunday. The Investigation Team had called for a day of training before the next possible event could happen. But so far only Kanji, Yosuke, Teddie and Yu were at their normal meeting spot.

Yosuke drapes his arms onto the table as he sinks his face into them slowly. “What’s taking the girls so long? We only have a few hours until that huge sale hits, and when it does it’ll be near impossible for us to slip into the TV...”

“They’re getting medical supplies, man. Yu-senpai mentioned we were low.” Kanji closes his phone as he stashes it away in his pocket before glancing at his leader who’s using this downtime to fold a few origami cranes.

“I said I was going to grab them on my way here, but I had to help Nanako with something and ran out of time...” Yu states, not even glancing up from his work as he sets the crane down on the table.

“Well I know you can’t refuse anything when it comes to Nanako-chan, so I get it.” Yosuke nods. “Also how many of those do you plan to make?!”

“Sensei’s got some real skill with that!” Teddie states, his bright blue eyes watching closely as Yu begins another one.

“That just made wonder something, hey Kanji are you able to do origami as well?” Yosuke glances over at the younger teen.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s easy enough once you figure it all out, but it’s not really my niche if you catch my drift.” Kanji shrugs. “It’s right up his alley though.”

“It’s relaxing...” Yu smiles a bit.

But as he’s beginning the first few folds, Yu suddenly jolts, enough for the paper in his hands to tear. 

“Yu?! Everything alright?” Yosuke gets up from his seat and walks to his best friend’s side.

Yu is wincing slightly, setting down the paper before looking up at his three friends. “Yeah, I think an old injury from the TV just popped up suddenly is all.”

“Really? Lemme know where it is when we get into the TV and I’ll heal it up for you. Could have sworn Yukiko took care of all the major ones last week....” Yosuke mutters.

“If Yosuke’s heals don’t do that much, I’ll help!” Teddie beats his chest once, smiling.

Yu chuckles, nodding. “Thanks you guys, but I think I’ll be fine. If it gets too bad, I’ll just heal myself.”

Yosuke focuses his gaze slightly before letting out a sigh. “If you say so...but don’t get too shocked if the girls start freaking out and try to heal you themselves.”

“heeeey! Sorry we’re late!” Chie calls out, waving her arm as she and the other girls walk up.

“Apolgies, but there was an issue with the cash register at the store where we normally get our medicine from.” Naoto explains, placing a hand in her pocket. “I hope we didn’t keep you four waiting too long.”

Rise starts counting the cranes Yu made before shrugging. “Seems he made twelve before we showed up. So they weren’t waiting that long.”

“Pffft, you can tell how bored they were by the amount of cranes? What if...we told time that way? ahahaha!” And there goes Yukiko on one of her laughing fits again.

“Geez, well if everyone’s ready we better hurry up and get in. Two more hours until the electronics sale starts. Plan to be in there for a few hours guys, we have to wait out the traffic.” Yosuke looks to everyone in the group.

“Let’s get going.” Yu puts all of his cranes away in a cloth bag before patting his hidden Katana with a small smirk.

Slipping through the currently average sized crowds, the group makes it to the TV they always use. Everyone puts their glasses on and slips into the TV World undetected.

Teddie slips into his bear suit, which he had left right at the hub area before looking at everyone present. “Alright! So who’s dungeon are gonna train in today Sensei?” 

“Well, I was actually thinking we might want to try tackling that Reaper you mentioned before. So it really doesn’t matter what area we go into right?”

“Are you serious Senpai?!” Rise stomps on her right foot hard on the ground. “You guys almost got killed by a Reaper back in Mitsuo’s! I’m not going to sit back and watch you guys actively hunt something that strong!”

“....it was a joke.” Yu rubs the back of his neck.

“Dude...your sense of humor needs some serious work.” Yosuke shakes his head. “Well if I could offer something, you guys know those Treasure Hands we keep running into? What if we went after those?”

“Oooh! We can make it a competition!” Chie raises her hand and bounces a bit as she speaks. “First one to kill ten of them gets...uhh...”

“First ten gets to have the others cook for them!” Yukiko smiles.

Yosuke and Yu wince. “H-How’s about first to ten gets to request something from the losers...that isn’t cooked.”

Yosuke nods. “What Yu said.”

Rise nods, writing that down. “If you all are each hunting ten then that’s going to be a lot of gold hands to hunt for.”

“They’re good money makers though, so no matter who wins we’ll all benefit in the end right?” Kanji crosses his arms. “Why don’t we do it in Yukiko-sempai’s Castle? It’s a small enough place that we won’t loose each other.”

“Sounds good, let’s move out guys!” Yu leads the way to the castle.

“Treasure hands spotted! Wow...for rare shadows there sure are a lot of them right now!”

“Let’s do this! I’m not passing up a chance for a request!” Yosuke smirks, dashing at a treasure hand.

“...for our sakes let’s hope Yu at least wins...” Chie sighs as she goes after one as well.

Everyone begins fighting the hand hoard, but Yu keeps switching Persona as he fights.

“Black Frost!” Ice shatters and destroys a treasure hand with retaliative ease. 

“That’s one for Senpai!”

“Perhaps we should bump the number up to twenty?” Naoto suggests. “Yu-senpai is having far too easy of a time right now.”

“Yeah, because he’s got more of an arsenal of Persona compared to us.” Kanji launches a treasure hand with a hard strike from his chair. “Just means we gotta work harder to keep up, yeah?”

“I’m with Kanji! No way I’m gonna lose to Sensei! KENTOKI-DOJI!”

Yosuke laughs. “Hell no, I’m not letting you take that one Ted! Jiryaya!” 

Both Persona charge at the one Treasure hand, closing in before...

“Konahana-Sakuya!” 

The hand bursts into flames as Yukiko cockily fans herself. “Oh I’m sorry, did you boys want that one?”

“One point for Yukiko-senpai!”

“ARGH! I’m not coming in last place here!” Yosuke goes after another one with increasecd speed, not wanting to be one upped again.

“If you’re getting serious then maybe I should too...Partner.” Yu adjusts his glasses. “IZANAGI!”

Yu runs right up beside Yosuke, using his Persona’s lightning to keep pace. The two smirk at eachother.

“This one’s mine, no doubt.” Yu gives Yosuke a small laugh as they rush at the shadow.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Yosuke has Jiryaya attack the shadow, and Izanagi does the exact same...but then...

Yu falls to the ground on one knee, coughing badly as Izanagi vanishes back into it’s tarot card. Everyone stops what they’re doing to look at their leader. 

“Yu?” Yosuke kneels down beside him. “Dude, you don’t look so hot...”

“I’m fine...really.” Yu starts to get up, but Kanji places a hand on his shoulder.

“Like hell you are. You had that sharp ass pain before the girl’s showed up and now you’re coughing this badly? Stop trying to act cool with this kinda shit going on, man!”

Rise does a scan on Yu, focusing intensely. Yu starts coughing again, this time blood coming up as he does so. 

“I can’t see any sort of spell on him...” Rise sighs, shaking her head.

“And my nose can’t sniff out anything abnormal either...” Teddie looks worried.

“Guys really, I’m okay...” Yu pushes Kanji’s hand away from his shoulder. “Let’s just go back to-”

“I’m sorry Senpai but I have to respectfully refuse.” Naoto states, arms folded. “It’s quite clear you’re not in the right condition to fight, despite your claims. Coughing up blood like you just did is not a sign of a healthy individual.”

“Yu...if something is going on, you know you can tell us right?” Chie pouts a bit as she speaks. “We’re your friends after all.”

“...I’d tell you...if I fully understood it myself...” Yu mutters a bit. “I’m going to hang around here a bit longer before heading back. That sale is still going on, so leaving now wouldn’t be wise anyway.”

Yosuke sighs, nodding. “Yu has a point. Well...we’ll all hang out around the hub. Ted’ll get you once the coast is clear.” 

The others walk off, giving Yu some space. He holds his chest tight, as blue static seems to shock him before subsiding. 

“It’s gotten worse...as he’s gotten stronger. I don’t know...how much longer I can hold out like this...but if I try to do what they did...will they even..NGH!” The static starts up again, but Yu sinks his katana into the ground as he closes his eyes...and the surge comes to a halt. “No...I refuse to lose the one thing tying me with them...not now...not ever.”

Yosuke watches from a safe distance away, seeing just how much pain his best friend is in. He may not fully understand what’s going on but...

“Maybe he’s just as scared of accepting a part of himself....like me.” Yosuke shakes his head. “I’ll stay by your side as long as I can. And maybe one day...we can all help you face yourself...like you have for us.”

[315-no-stage]

[20190827] TFG 「My dear Summer」Release Event Photo Session fan report

(Yeah, I know it’s been over two weeks since the event. LOL I’m not much of a timely blogger but if you want the blow-by-blow as it happens, my Twitter is the best bet. I tend to word vomit especially when I’m going through an anxiety episode... as you would see later on. I’m mostly doing this for memory keeping, for myself lmao. And for information too, if you’re interested, especially if you’re a fan living outside of Japan. Please keep in mind that my listening skills are stronger than my speaking skills. However, when put on the spot, under pressure, that goes all away ahaha. I can’t read Japanese apart from name kanji.)

I guess I should begin when I first heard about this event. It was around May 2019 when the TFG twitter announced that they are holding a two-shot cheki chance event to celebrate the release of their first single My dear Summer. At that time, I simply wanted to get my hands on the CD lol. We had dreams of going to Anisamano plans of going to Japan any time soon (since I only just came back from my Tokyo no Jin trip earlier that month). 

I had my brother help me out with buying the CDs (Google Translate can only do so much) when he actually encouraged me to try for the cheki. He said it’s a lottery system, as usual, and it won’t hurt to try since I’m buying stuff anyway. So I did. I bought both the First Press Limited Edition sets A and B using my boy Haruto Sakuraba’s link and didn’t really think much of it. They said they were going to announce winners on July 24. The event was the following month, August 27.

The ball started rolling after that. July was the 2.5D Actor Appreciation Month. #25DAAM on twitter.I featured Haruto and Mayu Yoshioka on mine. Then we somehow secured tickets to Anisama 2019. A small part of me was hoping... what if I hit for that cheki chance with Haruto. Anisama was happening the weekend of the cheki event after all. My brother was willing to either go to Japan early or stay late. Our schedule all depended on the cheki event results.

The day before results were to be released, I was a mess. It’s been a long time since I got a panic episode but something was in the water that day. Add to that, the results. The time difference threw me off and I was obsessively checking my email. My brother told me to give it a full 24 hours to account for the time difference. So what did I do? I distracted myself with Kenji Arita lmao. My brother and I had been fairly lucky with chuusen whether it be for tickets or fan events. The last time I attempted a lottery was for the Nelke Planning panel with Shiratorizawa at JF19. I didn’t hit for that because they only recognized actual JP addresses and my proxy wasn’t allowed. (But it was all good because the standby crowd got so large they allowed us to watch behind the ticket winners anyway haha.) I was praying that that won’t be the case here too.

When I woke up the next morning for work, I checked my email... and it was there.  I had my brother actually open the email and translate for me. We were looking for a "できません" but instead, it was a long email full of instructions and congratulations. I actually got picked! I read and re-read the email many times just to convince myself that I actually won. The email said that exact time and place of the event was to be announced only to winners in a separate email nearer the date. Cool cool. I felt so special LMAO.

I actually got the specifics about a week after the first email. The directions were weirdly specific... and helpful for someone like me who doesn’t know what to do with North-South-East-West directions; I work better with “Turn right when you see a Mini Stop across the street from a pachinko parlor” types AHAHAHA. Time frame was 5pm to 8-ish, then they specified that Haruto would have less than an hour to get through all the chekis with fans. They also said something about which forms of identification were required, which gifts/letters are accepted, even how the poses were chosen. 

But even with all that... I had no idea what to do. I tried lowkey Googling and stalking butai/idol social media for fan reports and... I couldn’t find anything that answers my questions (and quelled my anxiety over the matter haha). So I hope if you find yourself in the same situation later, AND IF YOU’RE AN OVERSEAS FAN, I hope this long ass post is going to be helpful to you. I’ve been to one other cheki event - with Hiroki Ino in Cosplay Mania 2018 in Manila - but that’s more straightforward than this one. 

(My slogan should be “Will travel for cheki” ahahaha.)

Now that you’ve read through all that, let’s fast forward to August 27. After a hearty lunch at DiveryCity Tokyo, I made my way to the venue using the EXACT directions they provided in the email. I got there at exactly 5PM. I get by okay by myself in Tokyo but my brother usually acts as translator for me, like a crutch. But like on my May trip, I was by my lonesome on this adventure. 

I see a couple of girls in skirts (I was in a skirt too and it was a good call because it was pretty much dress code lol) waiting by the lobby. The sign said B2F so I go down and see more dressed up girls, some even in a yukata. They started lining up so I do the same. I was trying to make myself look small because I was playing everything by ear. They started calling out everyone who hit for Kento so the line thinned a little bit. I got to the registration desk and the staffer who looked so much like Maki Kawase took my paper confirmation and ID. After looking through her sheet, Nobu’s, she politely corrected me that “Sakuraba-san isn’t until...” she said a time but in my flustered and frankly, embarrassed state, it took me a while to figure it out. She even referred to another staffer behind her for the correct time. I apologized and made my way out but then she pointed to a nearby bench, gesturing for me to stay there instead of going back up.

That was when I started panic tweeting HAHAHAHA. If you don’t want to read further, then please just click on this Twitter Thread instead. Thanks! But if you want Stephen King-level of detail, keep reading. XD

Watching those little kids do scales and random dances calmed me down. Miss Staff-san (let’s just call her that) kept tabs on me, glancing at me from time to time and whenever we’d meet eyes, she’d smile. That kept me grounded. Also, talking to my mutuals who were humoring me was a huge help. I managed to laugh and distract myself. When I started seeing a new batch of girls lining up with Haruto pin badges and an excess of purple on their person, I followed. When Miss Staff-san saw me up next, she gave me a huge smile and a thumbs up. I went up to register and.. my name was easiest to find since it was the only one in the Roman alphabet. I was number 50 in a list that I think went up to 75. 

We were herded into an honest to goodness dance practice studio. You know, with all the mirrors and low ceilings. Picture samples of the poses were on the wall, as done by Reo and Haruto. Pose A was your generic “double peace” sign. Pose B was doing an “Asian squat” and the photo was taken from above. Pose C would have you back-to-back with the member. Then there’s the special pose. Haruto teased that he was inspired by Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Hello, Pose C. Haruto Sakuraba is 6′2″ and I am a hobbit. Nope. Plus I’m very basic when it comes to poses. Ask Ino hahaha.

As the room filled, it drove home that I was the only foreigner there. Normally, it wouldn’t have mattered to me but at that moment, I was under a lot of pressure, my earlier faux pas still had me embarrassed, plus my severe lack of Japanese speaking skill was getting to me. I know, it’s all in my head; obviously I overcame it but if you have anxiety, you know how stressful that can be. I tried keeping myself small, trying to blend in. All the while, I kept seeing Miss Staff-san in my periphery and that calmed me down somewhat.

Then they lined us up according to the number on the ticket. I know what 50 is in Japanese so I just kept my ears open for that. I dropped off my fan letters before I could forget (Nobu got one too, handwritten in English but with a typed up translation sheet) then we were led to another, larger dance studio area. At the opposite end of the room were room dividers. They had My dear Summer on loop but I was so in my head that I didn’t even suffer from earworm. I just kept updating Twitter. More for personal sanity than anything ahahhaa.

Haruto took his time with fans. I noticed Reo’s line went by much faster. By the time he was almost done (his started a bit later than ours), I think Haruto’s only on his 20th fan. I calmed down enough to get my bearings back and I was glad to know that I wasn’t the only one losing her mind. The other girls were talking amongst themselves about the back-to-back pose and what they want to say to him. He seemed so friendly, if the laughter and chatting we were hearing from behind the dividers were any indication, and all of us wanted to make a good impression. Giiirl, I wasn’t even sure if the boy spoke a lick of English! XD

Then. It was my turn.

The staffer asked me which pose I want to do and being the boring person that I am, I chose A pose. Another staffer took my purse but all I saw was Haruto up close in his TFG get up.

Haruto: ありがとうございます Me: OMG Hi! 海外 fan  です!  *Haruto’s eyebrows disappear into his fringe. Staff takes pic* Haruto: Ah double peace. Er so... Me: I'm from California. Los Angeles. Haruto: Ah, California. So you don't speak Japanese? Me: A little bit. Your English is good.  Haruto: Aaah, not so much. I try. So when did you get to Japan? Me: Sunday? I'm here for Anisama and to see you! Haruto: Ah thank you so much. Staff: Next! ありがとうございました  *Haruto hands me the cheki. we bow at each other* Haruto: ありがとうございました. Bye-bye! Me: ありがとうございました.

I mean, the whole thing couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds but it felt so much longer. His final  ありがとうございました has a bit of emphasis as if trying to teach me. Oh you! I knew at least that much. 

Then was I was leaving the booth, I heard the staffers go, "Whoa... I didn't know you can do that!" And he was all "Ay-yah... hehe." GUYS. GUYSSSS!!!! I couldn’t stop smiling... from the moment I just had to the moment he just had to... ALL OF IT! And as I left the venue, Miss Staff-san was right there waiting for me at the door. When she was my delicately holding the cheki in my hand, she patted me on the shoulder and said  “ よくやった!” I never thanked anyone that profusely in my life. (Honestly, her kindness made me tear up.)

I have no flippin’ idea how I kept it together in there. It was a total Yuri On Ice moment where Yuuri just let everything go at that moment and let it all out on the ice when it mattered. I said pretty much everything I wanted to say which wasn’t much. All I wanted to do is to let him know that he has overseas fans. And to test how good his English skills are. 

And let me tell you, it was more than okay. There was absolutely no hesitation in his words. He kept eye contact and oh lawd, his SMILE up close? I don’t know how I’m still here telling you all this. Now every time I hear his voice, I hear it in English ahahaha. (I know he spoke Chinese at a radio show but I wasn’t able to catch that and they haven’t put up the archive at all. Pfft.)

What made me so happy was he ended up impressing not only me but the staff too!!! He even took control of the conversation. The staffers were like "What's going on?" smiling at him as we talked. I'm sofkng proud.

(I should mention that this is technically my 8th time seeing Haruto in person. I saw Tokyo no Jin seven times in May. I figured that would help me a bit with the stress but nope. Although, I cannot wait for everyone to see the TnJ BD and experience his take on Bokuto. You’ll understand this admiration all the more lmao.)

So there it is. If you’re still with me, thank you. I hope I didn’t come across as annoying. I was - am - just so excited that I was able to do this and I wanted to share my experience. Haruto is such a precious sweetheart. I wish him the best of everything.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Artbook Data - Kaito Momota

Kumadori is the make-up pattern worn by violent characters in kabuki theater.

Seiyuu’s comment: Ryouhei Kimura

I yelled a lot (laughs). It was very fun to play the part of a character with a heart win a world as full of suspicion as DanganRonpa. I pray his presence can make you feel more confortable inside that terrifying world filled with monstrous characters. I’m glad I got to be part of this game but... it kinda sucks that I can’t play it unspoiled (laughs).

Kodaka’s comment: Taking the manly spirit of adventure as far as it can go

The name Momota sounds dignified and hot-blooded. And the name Kaito was chosen because it’s just straight-up badass. You could say he knows “the solutions to how to interact with people”, so we thought it would be adequate to write Kaito with the kanji meaning “solution Dipper”. That’s the origin story behind Momota’s name. For his design, we started from the keyword “hot-blooded bro character” and tried many variations, until we ultimately decided to go with a face that’s both handsome and laughable, as he was supposed to be spending long amounts of time with Saihara. The purple uniform, the space print inside, the goatee, they were all Komatsuzaki’s ideas. Aditionally, we decided his talent should be astronaut that’s the best idea we got when we tried to think of how to the elevate the hot-blooded spirit of adventure to the extreme. Space really  is made of adventure, isn’t it! Also because it would be useful in the plot.

The very first thing we decided about him is that he would take the role of the bro character that makes the protagonist grow. We already the hot-blooded character in DR1 with Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but a motivational bro characters was not done in any previous entries. Additionally, adding Harukawa to form an unbalanced trio was another idea we had relatively early in development, thinking Harukawa’s growth would have a good contrast with Saihara’s growth. For V3 in particular, we consciously strived to write growth in every character and for these two in particular, I believe I managed to make their psychological changes much more visible than the rest due to Momota’s presence. When the characters was first presented, I saw a lot of fans saying he was “the new Hagakure”, but seeing how he impacted the protagonist, I believe Momota was the character whose fan impression changed the most before and after the game. 

Momota was a character I made myself, but he was actually heavily inspired by a bro character in a famous manga. Quite a few of his sprites show this, even... Who could it be?

Design Notes:

Hairstyle: A raging standoffish hairstyle. No matter how hard you try to trim it, it still this beautiful mess that closely resembles a space jet coming out of a black hole. 

T-shirt: His favorite t-shirt, one that show his unique fashion sense through the kumadori design stamped on it. Did he buy it because he like it or did he just pick the first thing he found?

Uniform: A fairly long blazer-type uniform Momota ordered a tailor to lenghten even more. He calls it Galactic Jacket. It’s decorated inside with his beloved space imagery. Just everything about it appeals to feeling of wanting to challenge the universe.

Muscles: Although he drove Saihara to do the night training, he is not doing any big exercises himself. He actually never finished his 50 sit-ups nor his 100 push-ups!

Right hand: For some reason he never wears his right sleeve, composing his shoulder jacket Momota Style. Does he perhaps keep the jacket fluttering because he wants to show everyone the space print?

Underwear: Momota’s favorite trunks. The use of the flashy black and red colors is not only eye-catching but it also represent the burning of the universe covering his important parts. It’s basically the big bang in an underwear.

Slippers: Slippers with the same space print as the inside of his uniform. They are okay to use indoors, but they suck to use in places with damage floorboards and muddy floors.

Favorite presents:

Splateen: A teen magazine filled to the brim with pictures of models in swimwear in the heights of summer. Momota’s wants to enjoy youth to its fullest, so he would wholeheartedly appreciate it.

Toy Moon Buggy: A plastic model of a moon exploration robot. It’s plain, but it’s one item filled with the spirit of adventure. A no-brainer when trying to choose a present to a man dreams of setting his legend in space.

Homeplanet: A home light that can make your room like a planetarium. It comes with narrations from popular seiyuus and it fills spirit of adventure to space.

Hated presents:

Japanese-style Wig: A wig with Japanese-style long straight black hair. No matter how much you cut it, the hair always grow back... Never tell Momota this kind of occult story.

Key Phrases:

Here Is The Super High School Level Prodigy!?: Momota was the first person in history to have become an astronaut trainee before the age of twenty. He took the astronaut exam through means he can’t publically say, but the examiners found impressive talent in him. He already had college-level academic knowledge, specially in languages. We couldn’t tell by his looks!? His future prospects are so promising he already got the name of “Super High School Level Astronaut” before he even flew to space. He must escape the Saishuu Academy as soon as possible to go meet his grandparents, who are eagerly waiting for his return!

The Super High School Level Boss and His Disciples: As an astronaut trainee, Momota’s talent was acknowledge by society. But he has already previously worked in various non-space-related fields. He work a lot as a “boss”, guiding special people to success. A Major League player, a Nobel winner, the Prime Minister, idols. Many found success in their lives thanks to his guidance and teachings. In other words, Momota is an expert in finding potential in people and improving them and his aim now is helping Saihara  stop averting his eyes and coming to terms with his talent. And he is not doing it by working on the basics of detective work, but by telling him he was his “assistant” and taking the responsibility for Saihara’s work. Momota is always hot-blooded and forceful, but he has some thoughtful moments?!

Men Should Just Shut Up and Train!: Due to the first case, his friends fell into distrust. In order to regain their seemingly lost union, his first step is to start training every night with his loyal disciple Saihara! Momota made him do 100 push-ups and told him “the impossible becomes possible once you accomplish it!”. Boss Momota didn’t do all of the physical work, but his speech work was on point!

Main quotes:

“Griiiiiit yooooouuurrr teeeeeeeethhhh!“: Saihara was suffering because he exposed someone’s crime and ruined their life. Seeing how he was such a weakling who couldn’t accept this despite of his talent, Momota felt the need as a man to show Saihara the right with his ever forgiving fists. The passionate friendship of high school kids is so wonderful! ...except you’re supposed to say “grit your teeth“ before you punch, not after...

“So what? The person in a woman’s underwear could have been anyone, even me!“: A case has happened one night. One testimony that could become an alibi said a woman in underwear was witnessed. Seeing someone in woman’s underwear would immediately lead to deducing the person was a woman. However, Momota presented the minimal possibility it was him...? Think about it rationally, he made some absurd declarations. As Shirogane put it “this would be an entirely different crime“!?

“N-No fucking way... it’s a motherfucking curse-! Cut that crap!!“: Monokuma suddenly mentions “reving the dead“. Bringing their recently dead friends back to life is so proposterous that obviously no one takes it seriosly. Except for Momota, who starts shivering, have breathing problems and losing his appetite. And as the undesirable situation escalates, people start commenting about the curse of the dead. With this intense yell, he pathetically clings to Harukawa. Even after Harukawa replies “You’re the one who... should cut the crap...! D-d-... do you wanna die-!?“, he show no signs of letting go... Despite how forceful and luck-pushing he is, he gets really weak when it comes to ghost stories. Teeheehee.

Final comment: People get hot-blooded just by standing next to him!? When he has something decided, he goes for it without listening to what anyone has to say about it. The luminary’s burning reverberating soul would never fade away inside Saishuu’s walls!

[zee-isaiah-pugnacious7-blog]

The Case of Yosuke (Theory)

Ah, Yosuke Hanamura--- the discount Junpei Iori of Persona 4 (my boyfriend’s word, not mine!) Fun-loving, hard working, loyal friend, and all-around womanizer...

OR SO HE WANTS US TO THINK!

I’m here to give my two-cents on how the P4 Protagonist’s best buddy has been putting on an act this whole time... and the ways he blew his cover.

“But Zee, Yosuke is our best buddy! He wouldn’t lie to us!” fellow fans may say... But what if I were to mention he wasn’t just lying to us, but also himself?

What kind of secret has the cyclist student been keeping hidden?

The fact... that he’s got a thing for guys. 

Now you may all call “BULLSHIT!” on this right away, as we’ve seen Yosuke fawn over girls countless times... Yet have you’ve ever noticed he hasn’t been trying hard to impress them?

Think about it...

On the camping trip--- Yosuke pretty much guilt-tripped Chie and Yukiko into wearing bathing suits. 

Then there’s the culture festival--- how he signed up all the girls to be in a beauty pageant.

During both these cases, the girls were beyond pissed with him. Why, if Yosuke wanted to score with the ladies, would he do stuff to piss them off? Why not use some debonair charm to make them feel good about themselves, rather than make them feel embarrassed?

Perhaps he was just picking on them. Perhaps he wanted to live out some perverted desire.

OR...

Perhaps he was trying to impress the guys... mainly the Protag! 

From Day 1, Yosuke has been doing everything to be your (Protag) number-one best bud--- that would include pulling stunts in order to help you check out girls! 

“But wouldn’t that backfire? The Protag dates all the girls, after all...” you may say. 

Well, of course  Yosuke thought of this too... and managed to get you in trouble with the girls during his scheme. However the fault is on the Protag for going along with it (especially in the anime). In the end, the girls are mad at both of you... but hey, at least your best-bud helped you get a good view.

Basically that’s all Yosuke wants from the Protag--- he wants to give him the best experience of his life. Even if his buddy likes other girls, they’ll still have a tight bond.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, let us address the elephant in the room: Yosuke’s Social Link.

At the start, it mainly focuses on Yosuke griping about work as well as trying to overcome the loss of his senpai, Saki Konishi. Yet as it goes on, he manages to conquer his grief and let go of his grudge of living in a small town working at Junes... all because of you, the Protagonist. 

Hell, he pretty much confesses it! “You’re special to me, y’know?” -Yosuke

Then there’s one thing that not only leads to a clue of his sexuality, but also dubs him as a hypocrite: His interactions with Kanji.

Oh yeah! Don’t act like I wasn’t going to bring my main-man into this debate!

First, lets get this out of the way--- the first time we see Shadow Kanji on the Midnight Channel. 

How ironic it is that the night before Yosuke was asking you which girl you prefer (Chie or Yukiko), then the next night we’re both seeing some steamy Kanji fan-service! *no pun intended*

Now in the anime, the Protagonist was staring at the screen, stunned (pretty sure all of us players were on the ground laughing and trying to remember how breathing works); Then Yosuke calls up... and he is just a sputtering mess! It takes him a minute to try to make a clear sentence!

Alright, alright, I guess a few guys would be surprised if the punk-next-door suddenly appeared on TV half-naked and talking like Grell Sutcliffe... but why would someone be so shocked that they could barely speak?

Compare it to when he saw Rise--- his surprise doesn’t even come CLOSE to how he reacted with Kanji! 

“Then why didn’t he want to go into the bathhouse, huh?!” the question would go, and that is a fair point. In the anime, neither he nor the Protag wanted to go into the bathhouse, same goes for his reaction to it in the game.

My thought is... he’s a virgin. Sure he can make the perverted jokes and lewd comments, but when the situation comes up where he has to go into a *ahem* ‘sexualized’ environment, his nerves rack up and he immediately wants to bail. 

Doesn’t help that Shadow Kanji was overdoing it with the ‘yaoi’ dialogue; hearing that, it would be no surprise Yosuke wanted to back out--- no virgin wants to feel pressured or teased into hooking up with someone. No different than someone being at a club and suddenly some yut comes up spouting ‘sexy’ lines in order to score, when actually they’re just scaring them off. 

Am I being biased? ...Maybe. I’m just speaking from my own personal experience, though. What I’m saying is based on my viewpoint on the scenario.

Now, lets get into the part that always--- ALWAYS--- ticked me off: how Yosuke often teases Kanji about his sexuality. 

The camping trip is where it begins--- Yosuke starts questioning Kanji on whether he’s gay or not (while I’m screaming at the screen telling him to keep his trap shut so I can sleep next to my man!); in the anime, he gets the Protag in on it too, resulting in Kanji bailing on them.

[You slept with a barrier between you and the girls... you also wanted to stab Yosuke in his sleep but there were too many witnesses]

Then Teddie turns human... and Yosuke immediately asks Kanji if ‘he’s his type’, evidently taking enjoyment out of teasing the stud. 

Sure, it may all be playful fun... but why keep at it? More importantly, Yosuke, why are you teasing a guy who could bury you under the concrete?! You were scared pissless of him before, now you’re asking if he’s gay and likes Teddie?? Do you NOT want to live long enough to get a motorcycle?!

BUT, once again, I have theories! 

First, the camping trip. Why would Yosuke, right out of the blue, ask Kanji if he’s actually gay? And after Teddie comes along, why would he be asking if he’s his type?

My guess: Yosuke himself is trying to figure out his sexuality. However he’s embarrassed to open up about it... so he shifts the subject onto someone who has/had a similar complex: Kanji. 

It’s his way with coping--- he picks on Kanji for his ambiguous sexuality, because he’s insecure about these new feelings he’s developed himself. 

Of course, hanging out with Kanji only makes his hidden feelings more clear. Need we bring up the beach?

“Dude! What are you wearing?! ...I’m seeing parts I don’t wanna see!” -Yosuke

“...Then, why were you looking at those parts in the first place, Yosuke?” -Me *while taking several pictures lolz*

Moving on...

Yosuke always saw himself as a ladies-man, but once the Protag came along and all this TV World stuff happened, he’s been taking another look at himself, discovering things that he doesn’t know how to deal with. 

Finally, lets get to Rank 10 of his social link--- where he challenges you to a fight after confessing how he was jealous of you for a time. 

I think there’s more to it than that. 

After spending so much time with the Protag, learning how popular he is with the girls and eventually will be going back to the city at the end of the year, Yosuke wants to get rid of these feelings once and for all--- via allowing his best friend/secret crush to punch him in the face as hard as he can, signifying that they will be nothing more than friends afterwards.

But... maybe I’m just overthinking things. I’ll leave it up for you all to debate--- are there any points I missed? Is there evidence to rebuke or defend my theory? Have I been looking at too much SouYo fanart?

...okay that last one is a yes :P

Yosuke Hanamura: Closeted Bi, or Just Bromantic? Let me hear what YOU think!

*please be nice in the comments*

[cardcaptorcoconut]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc Chapter 16 Translation

Here is the translation for Clear Card Chapter 16 in Nakayoshi’s November issue.  The splash page this month with Akiho is really lovely and autumny.

☆★Translations Notes Reminder★☆

Disclaimer: These are just fan translations. Please support the official release.

Chapter 16

Cover Page: I hope I can get along with everyone forever.

P1 Eriol:  I'll look into it on this end.  If anything happens, contact me anytime. Syaoran:  Thank you. Eriol:  It's for Sakura-san and the people most important to her. <Eriol hangs up; phone reads "Li Syaoran"> Kaho:  There's another magician near Sakura-san again?

P2 Eriol:  It looks that way. Eriol:  (Whether it's) him or you, Kaho, or myself...

[Note: Kanji reads "Li-kun"/李君, but furigana reads "him"/かれ]

Eriol:  Those who have incredible power can't help but gather around Sakura-san. Kaho:  That's...

P3 Eriol:  Because Sakura-san is (yet) another person who has powerful magic. Eriol:  Sakura-san is strong.  We know that (better than anybody), don't we? Kaho:  Yes... And the person who (loves her) the more than anyone is by (her) side.

[Lit:  The person who thinks of her as the most important person is next to (her).]

P4 <Scene changes to the Kinomoto home> Touya:  How's middle school? Sakura:  It's fun!  But English (class) is difficult... Touya:  Math too, right? Sakura:  Actually math... I've started to like it a little bit. <quietly> The teacher's explanations are easy to understand. Sakura:  This is delicious!  It's a little different from usual somehow. Touya:  I put butter in it. Sakura: Really!? <Sakura tastes the food again> Sakura:  Ah! Now that you mention it, it does have that (taste).

[Lit: ...have that feeling].

P5 Touya:  Could you -really- tell that? Sakura:  I went out of my way to pay you a compliment... Touya:  Dad said he couldn't be home this week either(?) Sakura:  Yes, that's right. Sakura:  He told me he wanted (me) to fetch him something from (his) library, so I'll deliver it (to him) tomorrow. Sakura:  Ah! So, dad (sent me a reply saying) it's okay, but I promised I'd show my friend (our) library.

[Lit: ...dad replied to me in a message telling me "That's fine"...]

Touya:  If dad says it's okay, then it's fine, right?  I'll move the books to the edge (of the shelves) a little so you can reach them. Sakura:  Thanks!

P6 Sakura & Touya:  Thanks for the meal. Touya:  I'll wash up. Sakura:  Is it okay? Touya:  If you're gunna eat the baked goods you got, there's some cold-brew coffee (too). Sakura:  I'll have an iced café au lait! Touya:  There's enough for two servings, so take 'em with you. Sakura:  ..............

P7 <Sakura looks at Touya anxiously> Touya:  What? Sakura:  <shaking her head and thinking>  Somehow... Sakura:  I get the feeling that onii-chan knows about Kero-chan. <Later in Sakura's room> Kero:  Hm?? <Phone rings>

P8 Sakura:  Ah! <Phone reads "Rika-chan"> <The next day...> Sakura:  Rika-chan! Rika:  Good morning, Sakura-chan. Rika:  What is it? Sakura:  I was just thinking that you've become even more of an adult! Rika:  Really?

P9 Rika:  I think you've also become even more wonderful, Sakura-chan. Sakura:  Hoeeeee!! Rika:  Here you are. Rika:  It's the picture book you asked about. Sakura:  Is it okay (for me to take it)? Rika:  I've already read it.  And that transfer student... Sakura:  Akiho-chan. Rika:  If it would make Akiho-chan happy (then please take it). Sakura:  Thank you!

P10 Sakura:  Sorry (to trouble you) before we head to school. Rika:  Not at all!  I'm happy to see you.  Please call me the next time everyone hangs out.  I want to meet Akiho-chan too. Sakura:  Sure! Rika:  I've got to go.  I'm sorry to have us meet up so early. Sakura:  No, I'm sorry to (make) you come all the way over here. Sakura:  See you later! Rika:  See you later!

P11 Kero:  That's really great. Sakura:  Yeah! Kero:  But, I've got something to tell your cheerful self. Kero:  You're cooking in home economics today right?  Your apron's not in here. Sakura:  HOEEEE!!?

P12 Sakura:  Good morning! Chiharu:  We watched you sprinting with all your might. Sakura:  I w-went back... to get my a-apron... Akiho:  Are you alright? Sakura:  Y... yeah. Tomoyo:  <Text reads "Currently recording"> It was a lovely run.

[Lit: You have a lovely way of running.]

Tomoyo:  We're making sweets today in home economics today, so we can make a lot and give them (as gifts).

P13 Tomoyo:  <Presses record again> ...To someone special. Sakura:  <Blushing> Huh? <Sign reads "Cooking Lab"> Sakura:  I love roll cakes!! Akiho:  Me too!

P14 <Oven dings> Tomoyo:  These turned out well.

[Lit:  These baked well.]

Sakura:  Hooray!  And we can decorate them however we like, right? Tomoyo:  Yes, because they're one-per-person mini rolls. Sakura:  You're giving (yours) to Kaito-san, right?

P15 Sakura:  What kind of decorations will you put on? Akiho:  I-I was thinking a clock... Sakura:  Kaito-san always wears one? Akiho:  Yes.  It's a pocket-watch.  It's very important to him.

[Lit: It seems like it's very important to him.]

Akiho:  How about you?

P16 Sakura:  <to herself> W-what should I do, I wonder?  The Rashinban... is too difficult... so something cute? Akiho:  <quietly> Rashinban? Tomoyo:  Hohoho. Akiho:  How about that (little guy) who's always attached to your smartphone? Sakura:  K-Kero-chan? <imagines a "Kero-chan Roll"> Sakura:  Well... if I do that, it'd probably be a bit difficult to eat... Akiho:  If you ate it, (we would feel badly for him)...

[Lit: ...he would be a poor thing...]

P17 Tomoyo:  Now that you mention it, the rabbit that's always on your bag wasn't there today, Akiho-chan. Akiho:  I (accidentally) snagged Momo's scarf.  Kaito-san is at home fixing it for me. <Scene changes to Akiho's house> Yuna:  Okay, it's finished.

P18 <Momo comes to life> Momo:  Good grief.  That girl's scatterbrainedness just doesn't get better. Yuna:  But that's also something that's cute about her. Momo:  Well, that's true, but... Momo:  Ha... Not moving is also exhausting.  <quietly> I have to pretend I'm a mascot character in front of Akiho too. Yuna:  You must be so tired.

[Lit: お疲れ様です]

Momo:  ...So.

P19 Momo:  Has that "time" not come yet? Yuna:  The cards are coming together very well. Yuna:  Things are moving forward towards that "time" just perfectly. Narration:  M-Momo spoke somehow!?  The surprising conversation with Kaito-san... What on earth is that "time"!?

<To be continued in Nakayoshi Volume 12>

[mizunocaitlin]

A Synopsis of Le Mouvment Final, the Sailor Stars musical

Here is my mostly comprehensive synopsis of Le Mouvement Final, the final Sailor Moon revival musical that opened in Tokyo on September 8th, 2017. This synopsis is full of spoilers. And pictures. You have been warned. 

Also, I apologize for errors and omissions. I took notes for this one, but it’s a tad hard to take comprehensive notes in the dark. 

The musical opens at the airport where Usagi is seeing off Mamoru. He's gotten into Harvard and they're both quite sad about being separated, but Usagi wants him to see his dream through. Mamoru presents Usagi with a ring, but holds back actually proposing marriage. [Overture ~Prologue~]

Around the same time, the Three Lights arrive at the airport from presumably an overseas concert. Lots of fans to dodge! Usagi has no idea who they are and what all the hoopla is about. Walking by, Seiya and the gang sense the “Star Light” coming off of Usagi and Mamoru, but Yaten doesn't want to get involved. They are on a mission. Suddenly, the baddies show and Mamoru is taken/killed right in front of Usagi, who doesn't have time to transform or anything. He never even gets on the plane. No ambiguity. He's dead. She's frozen in terror. The Three Lights come to her aid and she collapses in their arms.

Usagi recovers physically, but she’s not all there mentally. Chibi Chibi makes her first appearance and serves as a distraction! Usagi pretends nothing happened and sees this stray child and decides to help her. Brings her to the authorities, I think. 

...and cut to the Music Festival. I missed some dialogue so I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a student/school music festival or a general music festival, but the first act we see is the Sailor Band. Just like in the previous musicals, the inner senshi are a band. Usagi is late so they go on without her.  They sing [Otome no Michi] and their performance clothes are so manga-like! Jeans jackets! Lace shawls! Minako's keytar made me laugh.

The act that follows the Sailor Band is a duet: Haruka on paino, Michiru on violin. Though we don't get to see the duet, one of the other senshi comments that the piece they perform is written by Haruka for Michiru. Haruka and Michiru are really THE couple of this musical. Japanese Twitter identified the dress on Michiru, btw. It’s available online. 

Instead of seeing the Haruka/Michiru performance, we watch back stage as the inners chastise Usagi for being late. She says she'd gone to the airport to see Mamoru off. She's already PTSD forgot about his death. It was that traumatic. The girls gush about how the Thee Lights are performing at the same music festival they are. Amazing! And here they are now! The girls spend some stage time fawning over how perfect the boys of Three Lights are. The inners all in the fan club, too! Each of the inner senshi proudly recites her fan club membership number. Naturally, the punchline of this joke is Ami. Everyone else's fan club number is in the hundreds or thousands. Ami's is #7.

Usagi still has no idea who this boy band is, and begins listing off good qualities in a man, but comments at each one that Mamoru is better than these cheesy boy band guys. Seiya, who remembers that Mamoru was killed in the airport, instantly feels terrible for Usagi. He wants to correct her and comfort her, but when he tries everyone accuses him of being sweet on Usagi.

We see the Three Lights perform next. They're so cool! But, their song [Wandering Stars] is full of novelty English. A little too much for me, personally. We see Haruka and Michiru come off stage after their performance and meet the Lights. I believe at this point is when Haruka shakes hands very pissing contest style with Seiya and everybody sense everybody else's magic powers.

At the end of the Three Lights song, the power cuts out and Iron Mouse appears. Before she can really get an attack in on the Thee Lights, Sailor Moon is on the scene. She whips out a powerful attack that knocks down Iron Mouse. I believe this battle song is [Sky of Jewels]. Quickly pretty much all the senshi show up to join Sailor Moon in the fight with Iron Mouse and she's forced to retreat. The youma costumes in this musical aren't nearly as cool as before. All black and gold. Meh. In the battle, the Three Lights are outed as senshi to pretty much everyone. The outers are concerned. The inners are super stoked their favorite boyband is just like them.

Then, we see Galaxia and get her intro song, [Dictator of Densetsu/Dictator of Legend]. Very rock opera. There's a ton of English in it. She sings her motivations and plans for taking over world domination. Pretty badass, really. Her costume glitters beautifully on stage. Galaxia is pissed that Iron Mouse took the initiative to attack, but didn't get any Star Seeds/Sailor Crystals. Iron Mouse pleads that there were more senshi than she expected. She gets punished by Galaxia for her failure.

After Galaxia's intro, we see the Animates talking among themselves. Tin Nyanko defends Iron Mouse and says they should stick together because they're friends. They should support poor chastised Iron Mouse! But Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren say, fuck no. We are not friends. We're henchmen in Galaxia's army. Fuck off. Iron Mouse leans on Tin Nyanko for comfort and says she's hungry, let's go get something to eat. So, two couples in the Animates and they want nothing to do with each other.

We cut to the Three Lights in school uniforms on the roof of Azabu Jyuban High School, where they've just enrolled. They lament to each other how they've been on this planet a whole month-ish and they still haven't found Kakyuu. They wonder aloud if it's because their singing isn't good enough. They accuse each other of being off key and then sort of test their pitch against each other, mocking each other's failures. Singing is very much the sign of power on Kinmoku.

Usagi ends up on the roof, too, writing a letter to Mamoru – Even though she's had no contact from him since she thinks he left for Harvard. Even though the Three Lights are aliens, they still dis her shitty grammar and kanji. Seiya tries again to spill the beans, but Setsuna, who appears to be the school nurse, finds Usagi with the Lights and intervenes. When she touches Seiya, she feels his power first hand and tells him to stay away from Usagi. Then, Setsuna freaks out because OMG she touched the hot lead singer of the coolest boyband ever. Kya!

That afternoon, they hold a meeting at I believe Rei's place, to discuss these Three Lights and the new threat. Chibi Chibi just shows up to the meeting like it ain't no thing. She sings an adorable song [CHIBI CHIBI] that reminds me of the Kewpie dance and everyone guesses she must be a new, mysterious relative of Usagi's. Another child or a grand child or something, maybe? And they just let her stay.

The meeting commenses. Setsuna has drawn up chibi faces of the Three Lights on a white board as a visual aid for the meeting. They talk about what the Lights have been up to since transfering to the senshis' school. Seiya is on the baskeball team and is naturally the best player. We see Seiya in a ridiculously poorly fitting basketball jersey playing around with a ball. Taiki has scored better than even Ami on that one test. Yaten is such a sassy gay that he called out Michiru on her make-up choices, which pissed off both her and Haruka. Like, literally. He called her out on her makeup. What the hell, Yaten?

The senshi speculate that they must have arrived in the meteor shower that happened last month. And, Setsuna further speculates that since she and Haruka both felt spiritual energy from them, that all three must be senshi.... Which means they can transform... Which means that they must put on sailor collars and short skirts and Setsuna starts to draw sailor fuku on the chibis she's sketched of the Three Lights on her white board and EVERYBODY FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. Partly at the idea of boy band guys in short skirts. Partly, seemly, at the idea that they might not be boys at all. Which, that part is a tad disappointing.

After the meeting, Chibi Chibi wanders off and Usagi bumps into Seiya looking for her in a nearby park. Since they both already know each other are senshi, Seiya takes this opportunity to sing [Wandering Stars Ballad Version] about what the Starlights are doing on earth. He gets just emo enough to release some of his spiritual power, which lures the baddies to the scene. Senshi and baddies convene on the spot and transform/arrive to the song [Sailor Make Up!].

In the battle, Siren an Crow sing about their back story in [Crow to Siren]. They kinda sorta were senshi, you see, but their worlds were not well off and relatively peaceful like Earth. Shit was bad, and they're with Galaxia now. Sailor Moon manages to get Iron Mouse and Tin Nyanko in a Gorgeous Mediation attack, healing them from the brainwashing and breaking their power bracelets. Mouse and Nyanko say even more about Galaxia and her insane slaughter across the galaxy. Before they get too far, however, Siren and Crow kill them for betraying Galaxia and reclaim their Sailor Crystals/Star Seeds.

This freaks Sailor Moon right the fuck out. Seing senshi-on-senshi violence and watching two people die in front of her, triggers her PTSD and she's basically frozen in trauma until we hear the snap snap snap. The Sailor Starlights appear! By now we've got basically all the senshi and all the baddies on stage, Galaxia included. Galaxia kinda mocks Sailor Moon and the senshi for being overly attached to their mortal, human bodies. We are so much more than that! I believe she then kills Mercury and Jupiter.

A sweet aside, Neptune laments that they're at war again and she's so tired of war. But Uranus says it doesn't matter, because they can face anything if they're together. Aw.

After the battle, we see Chibi Chibi walk on stage in the darkness. She starts to speak about Galaxia and the battle, then her speech is taken over by Sailor Cosmos who appears behind her.

Seiya is back in human form again, and shooting hoops to let off some steam. Haruka shows up to basically beat him up just because. Stay the fuck away from Usagi, bitch! She's ours! And Seiya once again has to be all, there's just something she needs to know. Something I have to tell her. Seiya relly gives off the vibe that he relates to Usagi's loss on a deep, traumatic level. He seems to correlate the trauma of him losing Kakyuu to the trauma of Usagi loosing Mamoru. Haruka's like ok fine you can talk to Usagi about whatever... BUT ONLY FOR 5 MINUTES I'M WATCHING YOU PUNK.

At some point here they sing [Scent of War].

The outers have a moment where they lament maybe putting up a shield around the solar system. Fucking, outers, man. WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT BEFORE ASSHOLES????

Everyone is freaking out about the new enemy. Usagi has a PTSD flashback about Mamoru's death but still can't quite accept it. Mars reads the Tarot and turns up a Death card, says this fight is different from all the rest. Minako complains that she just wants to be a normal teen for once and get a boyfriend. Yaten comment that this is foolish. They've all pledged their lives and their very souls to their princess. Romantic entanglements are for people without a mission. Minako quickly agrees.

Usagi sings [My Only Love], lamenting how much she treasures Mamoru and misses him and needs him. Seiya joins in her song, sort of realizing that his sympathy for Usagi is sort of turning into a crush on Usagi. Oops. Chibi Chibi sort of pushes the two together and Usagi finally fully remembers Mamoru's death. Seiya explains to Usagi more about Galaxia and this massive, universe wide war they're in.

But Usagi gets no rest. Galaxia ambushes them and kills Mars and Venus, again right in front of her. Galaxia says she's doing this whole murdering your loved ones in front of you thing on purpose, too. She says the anger and fear will rev up Sailor Moon's power and make her more ripe for the picking. Ugh. Asshole.

The Lights show up and Seiya wants to intervene, but Yaten pulls a Switzerland and rants that this is not their fight. The outers show up, though, and yell at them for this bullshit. They school the Lights all about how awesome Usagi is. She's so kind and gently and compassionate and everyone who meets her loves her and didn't you just sense her virtue standing next to her??? Aw, outers, I didn't know you cared so much!

This battle features Neptune and Siren so we get to see two water users battle it out. They “flood” the battle area. Pretty awesome, really. Siren is not nearly the ditz she was in the anime. They really go at it. When Usagi joins the battle, Galaxia unleashes the pain. Her massive attack hits the outers. Pluto uses herself as a human shield to protect Saturn (and secretly sends Saturn to the Time Gate) and Uranus and Neptune are fatally wounded. They reach out for each other as they die.

Sailor Moon is now alone, and Galaxia sets about the destruction of planet Earth. Chibi Chibi suddenly shows and stops it, however. And, Kakyuu comes out of hiding to join the fight. Holy shit, you guys. Kakyuu's voice? Basically opera. She's an opera singer. She sings [Saigo no Kibou/Last Hope]. On Kinmoku, singing ability = power for sure!

Intermission

Back from Intermission, Chaos is having words with Galaxia about The Plan. Blah, blah. Who cares.

Cut to Usagi. She's in her school uniform, just standing there. Alone. Grieveing. Then, suddenly, Ami, Makoto, and Minako appear! They form a playful ring around her Dogeball style saying they need to protect her. Tee-hee! Then they bring up this, basically, rape whistle that Rei apparently gave Usagi if she was ever in trouble. She blows the whistle and Rei comes running. Everybody laughs, and laughs. Usagi is tearful. Why is everyone so loyal to her? Why do they care so much? But the emotional manipulation is not over! The girls say that a special chef has prepared a meal for Usagi. It's Mamoru! He's made a special pun laden dish he calls “Tuxedo La Smoking Hamburg” and why hasn't THAT been on any of the cafe menus, huh?

The peace is broken by Galaxia, and the apparent dream becomes a nightmare. Chibi Chibi then wakes Usagi, who finds herself on the couch in the living room of the house the Three Lights all share. Kakyuu explains that she was always searching for Usagi, because Usagi is pretty much the most powerful being in the universe. She says her own lover was killed, and that's what set her off. Usagi laments that the Silver Crystal always starts conflicts.

Seiya is now in full angst mode. His princess is here, but Usagi is suffering. He wants to comfort Usagi, but feels he can't. He gets down on one knee before Usagi and vows not to leave her side. Meanwhile, Yaten is a catty bitch. Yaten wants nothing to do with these Earth people. Kinmoku First! Kakyuu shuts that down fast. No, we help.

They decide to seek out Galaxia where she lives. They band together and, in a great light show and bit of projection mapping, end up at the River of Memories that acts as a moat to Galaxia's Palace. It's a river of sand. Everyone is separated. We don't see Lethe and Mnemosyne, but the back up dancers that hassle Sailor Moon as tries to remember who she was and why she's here are dressed just like the pair are in the manga before they reveal themselves.

Usagi comes to herself and... poof! Heeeerrrrreee's Chibi Moon! Turns out when Pluto used herself as a human shield to protect Saturn, Saturn went to the future to fetch Chibi Usa. Genius! Nice shipper moment for Hotaru and Chibi Usa there. A battle occurs between Saturn, Sailor Moon, Chibi Moon, Siren and Crow.

Usagi manages to break the hold of the brainwashing bracelets, but Crow and Siren have much more complicated loyalties. Siren says she's sick of fighting. Crow talks about their home worlds. Kinda deep. They guilt Sailor Moon about her super powerful crystal being too strong a lure for bad people and things. They urge her to basically commit suicide for the good of the universe. Sailor Moon... considers it.

Naturally, Galaxia kills Siren and Crow for their betrayal. So, Kakyuu attacks! She's no real match for Galaxia, though, so she takes a fatal hit and dies in Star Fighter's arms. Seiya just can not win. All the Starlights get an attack in. Then, the inevitable. Galaxia revives Tuxedo Kamen and the solar system senshi as baddies complete with super charged abilities thanks to their power bracelets. They have special, Galaxia version of all their attacks and Tuxedo Kamen is the leader instead of Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon can't bring herself to attack her brainwashed friends. Naturally, Galaxia has also brainwashed Tuxedo Kamen to be in love with her and they kiss just to fuck with Sailor Moon some more. Mamoru is really sexually abused throughout the series, isn't he? Chibi Moon wants to intervene, but Chibi Chibi stops her. When Tuxedo Kamen comes at Sailor Moon, apparently as an attack, the touch forms a telepathic connection. Mamoru assures Usagi that all of them are still alive and intact on the inside and it's just the push she needs!

Sailor Moon upgrades to her ultimate form and we get to see the wings again. Yay! She sets in on Galaxia. Galaxia mocks the fragility of life and human connection. Usagi sings the virtues of love and comradiere and compassion. The battle shifts to the Galaxy Cauldron.

Galaxia wants to make this shit final. She takes all the Sailor Crystals/Star Seeds she's collected and throws them in the Galaxy Cauldron to melt them and destroy them forever. She calls Sailor Moon the ultimate senshi. Galaxia makes a move to kill Sailor Moon, but it stopped by Chaos. Meanwhile, Chibi Chibi and Chibi Moon stand off to the side of the stage, seemingly helpless, watching.

Chaos reframes the argument. Chaos calls back to all the evil Sailor Moon has faced, and calls them the siblings of Sailor Moon. Everything powerful ever was formed in the same Galaxy Cauldron as Sailor Moon's Sailor Crystal/soul was. They are all one in the same.

Galaxia is injured, dying. Sailor Moon says she is lonely. Deserves compassion herself. Needs to be saved.

Chibi Chibi now speaks up. She builds on what the Animates and Chaos have said in the second act: If power exists, it will be used for evil eventually. The only way to achieve peace is to destroy the power that made the Silver Crystal and Usagi in the first place: The Galaxy Cauldron itself. Usagi objects. Wouldn't that mean no more souls would be created? Wouldn't the universe slowly whither and die? Yes, says Chibi Chibi. But there would be no more evil. There would be peace.

Sailor Moon doesn't really hesitate. Life is better. Deeply flawed life is better than peaceful nothing. She pledges to endlessly fight the battle against evil no matter what it takes, because life is worth it. She takes on the responsibility.

The injured Galaxia dies. Chibi Chibi disappears and is replaced by Sailor Cosmos. It's a dramatic moment. Everything is silent. Seeing the Cosmos and Sailor Moon on stage together is freaking amazing you guys.

They manage to revive the solar system senshi and Sailor Moon asks for their help to defeat Chaos. Cosmos and Chibi Moon both sit out the fight together, on the same part of the stage as before. This is the point where I started to suspect Cosmos and Chibi Moon were the same person.

The melted Sailor Crystals are pulled from the Galaxy Cauldron and reformed. Cosmos talks to Chibi Moon. She calls herself the future Sailor Moon. She says that she fled here from a distant future because the battle was too hard. She basically presented Sailor Moon with the moral choice she couldn't make. She says at one point “I have returned here many times”. Very cryptic. I plan to analyze the fuck out of this dialog when the DVD comes out. Usagi barely interacts with Cosmos. It's all Chibi Moon here. I really thing she's talking to her past self. Cosmos calls this Sailor Moon the best Sailor Moon. Read into that what you will. Cosmos promises she won't run away anymore.

Now with the battle over, everyone de-transforms and is reunited. The girls are all in white dresses and pose on the stage after hugging each other, happy to be alive, recreating an artbook scene. Mamoru is so happy to be alive and see Usagi that he wastes no time. Proposes marriage on the spot.

The last scene in the musical is the wedding of Usagi and Mamoru. Mamory is in the green embroidered tuxedo jacket from the artbooks and Usagi has on her pretty white wedding dress. They embrace and are so happy. SO HAPPY! Usagi tells Mamoru that she thinks she's already pregnany with ChibiUsa. I can't remember the exact phrasing but it's something along the lines of “I can already feel the light of a new star growing within me.” Mamoru is ELATED! I cried, you guys.

All of the other senshi flood into the stage, also in white. I believe it's Minako who says that Usagi it's not fair that Usagi be only one to wear a pretty dress. They pose on the stairs in a facimile of the artbook wedding dress image used in the musical promos. Usagi tosses the bouquet and Rei catches it. Whatever, we know Haruka and Michiru are getting married next.

They fade to black and a highlight montage of past musicals is projected on the stage. I cried again. At the end of the montage it says “The end.”. Noo!!! Do Sailor V or the side stories or ANYTHING! More! More!

There were 5 encore songs. Tuxedo Kamen, all senshi, Uranus/Neptune, Endymion, everyone doing Ai no Starshine, and then everyone doing Moonlight Densetsu. I didn't just cry, I bawled like a baby.

The musical was amazing. The story was much faster paced than, say, the Sailor Moon S musical. The way several characters framed the final battle as a moral choice was really masterful storytelling for one of these things. With the exception of the backup dancers, every costume was awesome. Super 90's civilian clothes! Super shiny senshi ensembles! Wedding dresses! The best! I can't wait to see it on DVD. Wish I could have gone again. And again.

Thematically, this musical really puts Usagi to the test. It presents her with the ultimate moral choice surrounding her power. She actively chooses to fight evil forever. She chooses to preserve life. She never wavers in her love for Mamoru. Seiya might start to fall for her, but she doesn’t seem to even notice. I feel like the writers really listened to criticism of previous shows here. So much worked so well!