y'know nothing speaks louder to the amount of money going around in the 2000s anime boom than the fact that 2006 had three yuri anime's airing, two of which were 26 episodes, and all three of them got ps2 games.
Kashimashi and Strawberry Panic both got visual novels, and that's pretty standard as far as anime licenced games goes, it's still a lot of work to make but manageable under a certain time-frame and budget.
But Simoun? Simoun got a strategy RPG! which makes sense for the content of the show itself, it's a war story (with a lot of trauma, gender, and girl kissing thrown together) but how you know people were getting stupid with money is that Simoun... Was Not Even That Popular??? Like, even in yuri circles, which are niche themselves, it's not super well known!! you're way more likely to have heard of, and possibly watched, Strawberry Panic than you have Simoun. And listen, I say this as a Simoun apologist who has a soft spot for the series but it's truly wild that it 1. got a game at all 2. was not just a visual novel.
There isn't even a dedicated witch from mercury game on the horizon but the mildly well known within to yuri watcher anime Simoun has one?? honestly? bring back the this energy of 3 out of 5 licenced games, no more gacha tie-ins or games as a service, just games that are Totally Fine overall but fun to fans of a series.
I really like to try and watch at least the first two episodes of all the new simulcasts on crunchyroll every season, so this is how i keep track of it all in Notion🥰
My Bucchigiri theory is that it's basically following the theme of the Disney Aladdin, where both Aladdin and Jasmine are trying to put up their own facades and get into trouble trying to be different people. Arajin trying so hard to be a tough, entitled delinquent, while Matakara is trying to be the nice guy with a heart of gold, and it's all coming from their childhood trauma. Which means the second half is about peeling those facades back and revealing who they really are.
Yes I feel the same way. It is very much based on Disney's Aladdin.
Here are some parallels from Disney's Aladdin that I have observed. Keep in mind this is just me guessing and I could be wrong about their intentions lol
Arajin = Aladdin. Obviously. There's not much question about that one.
Senya = Genie. Again, obviously.
kenichirou = the cave of wonders. He shuts himself away in his room and doesn't talk. idk seems kinda cavey lol
The mi (魅) in minatokai can means wonders. The swirly logo of their group is like the clouds behind the cave... he's got things that kinda look like clouds in his outfit.
Matakara = the treasure in the cave of wonders. His name means true treasure.
Zabu = Abu. His design looks similar to Abu and he is the one who accidentally caused the problem between the two groups. Abu in Aladdin was constantly accidentally causing problems.
Komao = magic carpet. He wears a kilt and his hair looks like tassels. very carpet like. He is also noted as being best friends with Zabu.
Abu and the carpet are commonly seen together.
Marito = Sultan. He is the leader of Siguma and he's constantly trying to force people to eat majibobs. It's like the sultan forcing Iago to eat crackers.
Outa = Also Sultan? I feel like they split his character into two people lol. Together they're the "God Kings"
Mahoro = Jasmine. in that she's related to Marito and Arajin's love interest.
Jabashiri = Jafar? His name means running snake and he wants to take over after Marito (the sultan) leaves. I think his character is split with Akutarou, though.
Hagure = Rajah/Iago. I mean look at the tiger on his hat. Totally tiger? Meanwhile, his name means rabbit and I have a feeling he's supposed to be Iago too since he's best friends with Jabashiri lol.
Akutarou = Jafar. He wants to take over both Minato kai and Siguma Squad. He also has a second genie and Jafar becomes a second genie. His name literally means "bad guy" (the pronunciation, the kanji are different) and the name of his group is NG boys and NG usually stands for No Good lol
This is my best guess at this point of the story. If you agree or disagree let me know in the comments or reblogs!
I feel like I could write more about this but I'm tired and giving up at this point lol