#ALSO i had to take this picture of my actual manga because the usual website i take my screencaps from

[13eyond13]

The fact that Light takes off his hat and puts down his hood so he can better dramatically say farewell to Raye Penber lol

#like you know how in video games they dont show the characters in pre rendered cutscenes sometimes #because they might not be wearing the silly outfit you put them in anymore #it would almost make more sense if it was because of something like that rather than just knowing #he was a dramatic enough bitch to be like 'nah he really needs to see my entire round head to really let it sink in' #the audacity tbh #ALSO i had to take this picture of my actual manga because the usual website i take my screencaps from #just straight up leaves out and skips this whole scene in chapter 9? #i thought i was losing my mind it just doesnt show it at all #just goes from light and raye meeting on the bus to naomi crying like 'raye's dead' #must be kinda confusing for the first time readers #light yagami #mangacap #p

[goodbyenorthernlights]

I'm curious to know if you've pulled some of Rezo's vibes into your characterisation of Saejid or did you perhaps already intend to draw some inspo from him when coming up with Saejid's premise. :3

Not at all, honestly! I didn't even know Rezo existed when I was developing Saejid- I was vaguely aware of Slayers as an anime I had tried watching as a teenager and only seen the first episode of before going "Ehhh this isn't my thing."

Saejid was originally based on a character I came up with as a teenager for a Gaia Online RP where the antagonists were themed around the idea of childhood fears- the monster under the closet, that sort of thing- and proto!Saejid (his name has been lost to the sands of time/my memory, alas) was meant to be the anthropomorphic personification of Iatrophobia (the fear of doctors) because finding doctors scary struck me as something kids do a lot. So I had this concept of a sadistic doctor archetype already just lying around.

(Proto!Saejid also was based off of a random drawing I'd found online, probably via searching something like "anime doctor" on photobucket and using what I found as a FC, because that was what you did on Gaia Online. Art theft was unfortunately widespread and not recognized as theft. This is actually one of the reasons I eventually stopped using the website for RP entirely tbh, once I learned more about art theft and why it's a problem I wasn't able to strike a comfortable balance between "most RPs expect you to provide a picture of your character" and. Not committing art theft about it. Anyway, tangent!

And proto!Saejid's FC wasn't of Rezo btw, it was... Some white haired anime dude in a labcoat with a :| expression that I think came from a yaoi manga originally.)

Anywho I had this concept lying around and I remember we wound up discussing the concept of Dragonsbayne as a farming sim with the characters as marriage candidates, because I was playing a lot of Rune Factory 4, and for a protag I made up this gender-neutral design I called Luka...

don't ask me how the pattern on their scarf works And Luka I had the concept that it would turn out they would be an amnesiac homunculus, and so I figured I'd make up a character who would have been Luka's creator.

I remembered this vague concept I had still floating in my brain and, never one to turn down the opportunity to draw a bishonen, wound up designing Saejid.

I didn't get into Slayers, and Rezo, until late 2021- digging thru my files, it looks like Saejid's original concept art was drawn sometime in February 2020.

isn't the ms paint glorious

Anyway, Rezo and Saejid do have some noticeable similarities- both of them are "mad scientist" archetypes with kind of a "usually cool-headed intellectual" thing going on, and both of them are very manipulative characters. And also they're both anime pretty boys. So it's likely that there's going to be some more overlap in characterization when I write either of them.

That said they are actually still very different characters in my head! I think the key is in their storylines/motivations. Saejid is a character who starts out in a very good and secure place for him, personally, where he has power over other people and everything he needs and wants. When his world starts changing and the fae community starts opening up to other people, he panics and schemes and conspires to keep his position from potentially changing- even though his behaviour ultimately puts him in a worse place than he'd have probably wound up if he'd just gone with the flow.

Basically he's like a billionaire who's mad that he might have to start paying more taxes and giving his employees health insurance.

Rezo on the other hand... My personal take is admittedly controversial in the fandom but I see him as someone who has spent his entire life struggling in the literal and metaphorical dark under the manipulations of an outside force, fruitlessly pursuing something he thinks will release him from his own misery. He's someone stuck in a genuinely bad situation and trying ruthlessly to get out of it.

If I had to compare Saejid to a Slayers character... Rezo would be in there in terms of demeanor and methodology, but so would Halcyform and a touch of Hellmaster. But in terms of motivation Saejid's, I think, actually closer to being the Supreme Elder from Slayers TRY. He wants to keep a "safe" status quo and doesn't care who suffers because of it, as long as they aren't someone he sees as "his people." (And by the end maybe not even that.)

#tag for oc stuff #long post

[moni-harmonia]

How I came to love Genshin

This has a lot to do with Kaeya, and also Diluc, but it’s just me rambling about it and being a little nostalgic.

If you want, you can tell your own experience, everyone’s is different!

[Contains light spoilers of the story]

My friend is a Honkai fan so he came to know Genshin Impact when they announced it. He was excited and show me trailers and I thought that it looked pretty fun. I don’t usually play open worlds because they usually use realistic graphics and I’m more fan of anime-style graphics and characters, so it picked my interest, especially since it had male characters (I like the female characters too but I’m a big fangirl lol).

A few weeks before the launch he showed me the website and I took a look at the characters. I don’t get to like a character based on just a picture and description but some of them seemed like I would like them, and this included Kaeya and Diluc because I’m an ikemen fan if they’re well done (by this I mean that they’re handsome or pretty but they’re also interesting; appearance is not everything).

Then I started playing the game and I liked it. I wasn’t a FAN like I’m now, but the world was very fun to explore and, even if at the time I wasn’t invested in the story, it was still entertaining. So I played every day and reached Chapter 1 Act 2, which was everything at that moment. I also played the character and legendary quests too (Venti was the last one at the time). I had seen all the main story things basically.

That’s when I decided to read the webcomic since my friend said that it was pretty good and I should read it. I’m a big manga fan but since I wasn’t still invested it took me a while to want to check it out but decided to finally do it.

It was at Chapter 2 I believe that something caught my attention. It was when Kaeya said “Diluc and I are like brothers”. Now I know that’s a mistranslation that’s supposed to say “adoptive brothers” but nevertheless, that surprised me. Because as I said, I wasn’t invested, so I didn’t really read the characters’ profiles and stories. I had no idea about the past of these characters, I had only seen the cutscenes of the game. So in my mind, I thought that Kaeya and Diluc were old friends, maybe rivals (because you know, fire and ice) but... like brothers? That surprised me.

Because of that, I decided to actually take a look at their stories in the wiki since I was curious. So I went to check out Kaeya’s story and the first thing I read is that he and Diluc are adoptive brothers and I’m like WHAT. I didn’t expect that at all! And it was a very welcomed surprise because I love sibling dynamics so much and conflicting sibling stories. Already that gave lots of points for both characters, and put a lot of things into perspective. But then came the huge reveal that Kaeya was a spy for the mysterious region of Khaenri’ah and all the conflict that happened between Diluc and him.

And man, that was interesting as heck! I loved it! It’s such an interesting story for a character that seemed secondary at first glance. Until that point I liked both of them, they were my favourites overall. But after reading their stories and understanding them better, I went from “They’re neat” to “I can’t play the game without them!”. There was so much potential in their story, so many interesting things that could happen. 

Of course, I hope for a happy ending for them, a wholesome ending. And I think it will happen but it’s gonna take time and I hate that! But at the same time, it gave me lots of motivations to continue with the game, and to actually read other characters’ stories too and be more interested in the lore. I rewatched all the cutscenes and then Genshin wasn’t just a game that I played for fun, it became a constant investment because I wanted more and more!

It’s incredible how much I came to love the game just because of that one thing. In that period my friends thought that I liked Diluc more because I use him as my main (since I got used to claymores while using Razor). But no, it was Kaeya, who I also use a main, they’re both my mains never to leave the team. And I love him even more now. Because while I really like both of them, Kaeya has almost everything that I like: he’s handsome, smart, powerful, kind, funny, mischievous, has an interesting story and a conflict with a lot of potential.

So yeah, that’s the story of how I came to love the game in the period of like 3-4 weeks since I started playing. And now I’m so glad that my friend recommended the game and that I decided to read the webcomic and everything. Because I like Genshin a lot, it’s not perfect and I wish they will improve the game over time but it’s the one thing that makes me happy everyday whenever I play it.

#Genshin Impact #Kaeya #Diluc #Kaeya Alberich #Kaeya Ragnvindr #Diluc Ragnvindr #Ragnvindr bros #mine

[stillness-in-green]

Spinaraki Week Level 2, Day Two: Media

Spinner learned a lot about Shigaraki during the six weeks they fought Gigantomachia.  He didn’t really appreciate it at the time, but he wasn’t going to let what he found out back then go to waste.

Skeptic doesn’t really appreciate it either.

(Broad if not exceptionally specific spoilers for the current manga arc.)

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

“Are you sure this is safer than just going out yourself?”

Skeptic breathed in sharply through his nose.  He wanted, very much, to start banging on something, be it the table or his laptop keys or Iguchi Shuuichi’s inattentive green head.  He limited himself to a spasmodic clenching of his hands on the gouged oak of the dining room table as he counted back from ten.

The new-new Grand Commander—at least until Skeptic re-established contact with Re-Destro and he said otherwise—was still asleep in the master bedroom upstairs.  That fact hadn’t changed for the last three days, but he had previously proven to have exceptional hearing and, as best Skeptic had managed to tally so far, no fewer than three sensory augmentation meta-abilities.  On top of everything else.

Seven.  Six.  Five.

They’d need him to wake up eventually.  That didn’t mean Skeptic was in any kind of hurry to have those blanked-out, foggy white eyes turned on him again.

Two.  One.  Zero.

He forced his hands to relax and answered, voice level, “Yes.  Because, for the sixth time, it doesn’t matter that I’m the least conspicuous of the four of us; my picture is still out there with all the rest of yours’.  All it takes is one hero to spot my face from the wrong angle and we’re done.  As long as you let me handle signing for packages and the rest of you stay out of sight when we’re expecting deliveries, the deliveries are safer.”

Spinner didn’t look any more convinced than he had the first five times, but the PLF’s number one Shigaraki fan had more on his mind than arguing about it, as had also been the case for the last three days.  (The last three months, more like.)  He nodded, attention already straying back up toward the ceiling, head oriented in an entirely predictable direction.

“Is there anything else we need from KALPA?” Skeptic prompted him. “This is safe, but the less often we have to do it, the safer it stays.”

Spinner’s brows knitted; he turned himself away with obvious reluctance and skimmed over the list—mostly just some kitchen restock, more rice, a jar of purple shiso, another box of canned coffees, and so on—along with a surge protector and the largest bottle of ibuprofen the website offered.

“We could use another box of double-AAs,” he said at the end, then, after a beat, added, “And the paper.”

Skeptic did not bury his face in his hands.  He steepled his hands in front of his face.  It was a completely different gesture.

“The daily paper is not on the list of available items,” he enunciated into his palms.  “It’s a special request.  Special requests stand out.”

“I know, but—” Spinner tried to interrupt; Skeptic pitched his voice just enough louder to move from audible to irritating on the decibel scale and talked over him.

“I can pull up a literally uncountable number of news websites if he wants to get caught up when he regains consciousness.  I can put together a PowerPoint presentation of everything he’s missed.  The bedside table is going to run out of room for newspapers and every one of them is going to be more out of date than the last one.  They—”

He went on.  At length.

Very aggravatingly, Spinner let him, the initial surge of emotion in his eyes tamping down to a level stare.

“The news sites ain’t the same,” he says, when Skeptic finally wound down.  “It’s gotta be papers.”

There’s a chair a meter and a half away, Skeptic’s thoughts informed him, somewhat dully.  How many chairs would I need to transform to reliably be able to strangle him with his own scarf?

“Why?” he asked, unusually plaintive, turning in place on the only puppet he’d allowed himself to make so far (a somewhat thin specimen courtesy of a coatrack—a heavy coatrack, but still a coatrack—from the front room) to face the man.  “Why does it have to be papers?”

“It’s the time lapse,” Spinner answered.  Shocking: an answer for which Skeptic could almost see the shape of the sense it made.  “What gets the front page and how long it stays there.  What the opinion pages are saying.  Even stuff in the business section sometimes.

“And it’s grounding, too, I think.  Something about actually turning the pages.  It relaxes him,” he went on, and with a growled huff, Skeptic surrendered, clicking back to the shopping list and pulling up the special request section.

There was a time and place for arguing with broken-hearted fools.  They weren’t there yet.  Not quite yet.

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

(Sillier than usual expy of a real Japanese brand this time: KALPA is a sideways reference to the Japanese supermarket ÆON, named with its founders’ hopes for its longevity in mind.  Kalpa has a similar connotation; it’s a Hindu/Buddhist cosmological term for the period of time between the creation and recreation of a world or universe.)

#spinarakiweeklevel2 #iguchi shuuichi #spinner bnha #chikazoku tomoyasu #skeptic bnha #boku no hero academia #my writing #ficcing #bnha manga spoilers

[pensurfing]

I Surrender.

By the time I actually post this, it’ll be near the end of the year and I’ll be near my burnout. Each year, usually I take an unannounced, but quiet, break. 

2020 feels different this year. Usually, I return in January; but this time I don’t think I can return. Too much happened in so little time and as a small creator, business, entrepreneur, small EVERYTHING I can’t ignore what lurks over my head. An ultimatum. 

I was in denial about it.

I thought maybe if I pushed making the decision back as far as I could, something would change. That as long as I worked hard, promo’d my sales and merch, did as many virtual cons as I could, something would change. Networking in newer groups, looking around for clients, and wanting to make new merchandise; name it. I did it. Work hard and reap the benefits later; while that is true there is also no shame in knowing when to quit as well. I was in denial about how long the pandemic in the States would last. I was in denial about needing help with my mental health. I was in denial about so many things in my surroundings. The biggest thing I was in denial about was my importance, impact, and ability to move forward with where I was with my art journey. The biggest reason why I was able to keep it up was due to the constant questions of “How’s it going? What are you up to? How are you?” No one (at least the way I see the world) actually answers this truthfully. So I just kept saying fine and for a while, I genuinely believed it. I lied to them. But to be fair, I lied to myself too.

I was angry about it.

I stayed here for so long.

SO. 

Long.

I was angry that I felt ignored; angry that I reached out and others had their hands tied as well; angry that I still managed to make sure others didn’t drown like I was drowning & didn’t think to help myself because I’m stupid; angry that the pandemic did last this long in the States; angry at me for not pulling some magic trick out a hat that I’m not sure existed; just angry. (tw: self-harm, vivid imagery) I was so angry I took it out on my debit card and self-sabotaged my good spending habits. I took it out on my legs and arms and broke a seven-year long streak of not hurting myself; I carved myself up entirely and punched the bricks of my house. I took it out on people. I don’t quite know how yet, but I feel like I did. Maybe I had a shorter temper than normal; I stopped reaching out and making sure I fully listened to their problems. I kept caring more about them than myself during this phase. And they just kept taking. And I became an empty cup, they moved on; I see that I’m just disposable. Which, isn’t wrong. All I could handle and still can handle is heavy convos with my therapist. (I don’t have her anymore, that’s right. I can’t afford her anymore.) All I could handle was trying to write it out, map it out, talk it out.

I was angry I didn’t see a point anymore. I felt like I didn’t deserve the tiny wins I did see because I didn’t go through some kind of threshold of pain and suffering to earn it. I was angry and the crumbs tossed my way in the name of “diversity” and “trying to hire black” because of guilt and white performance. I was angry being lead on with a tiny thread of hope because that thread was bigger than the nothing I’ve gotten this entire time. I was so angry and blaming myself for things that were completely out of my reach and capability. I was just really angry.

I tried begging my way out of it.

I looked for online classes of any sort to traject myself into a sort of hope. Buying hundreds of dollars in books, classes, anything in information I just didn’t have prior to the pandemic; and now because of the pandemic, the information will be obsolete as the world adjusts and readjusts to its changes and collapse in remaking itself. Making flash sales on my website if it meant seeing eight dollars by the end of the month. 

I didn’t stay here long because of my own twisted viewpoint of begging.

I was depressed about it. 

I stayed here the longest. It was already enough having the above marinate within me; add to the mixture of new relative drama, relatives passing away, and just not being in a healthy household... I grew tired. I stopped taking care of myself. Anyone with depression can tell you that dealing with that darkness is an uphill battle; usually, the first to go is my hygiene. But I just slowly stopped drawing altogether. I don’t draw when I’m not together. I’ve mentioned this many times over the years verbally and in written form on here. So I just kept taking breaks. I had a small string of commissions here and there, but that was the only illustrations I could create and that was its own battle. 

I tried mentioning it to people I was close to, but after a while hearing “it be like that sometimes” just isn’t helpful and isn’t worth explaining the story. So I just stopped talking. And not having my therapist made it harder. Especially because I have a lot of emotional dumpers who don’t understand boundaries. I don’t blame them, but after a while of nonconsensual emotional dumping I had to stop listening to another group of people because I just couldn’t handle any more weight; either they didn’t see I was drowning or didn’t care. It doesn’t matter anymore. 

I couldn’t enjoy the walks recommended by many; not even my favorite restaurants; or shows; or books/mangas; food in general; people in general.

Listening to music at least helped the “I’m sinking” feeling. But it was quickly ruined with “well intent” friends with; “Maybe if you drew something you’d feel better”, “Sketch, paint, it’s therapeutic”, “dRaW”. You get the picture. It had a double sting because it acknowledged two things: These ‘friends’ don’t know much about me and what brings me happiness; This isn’t about my happiness, but more about their own selfish requests to see more work from me because they don’t know anything else besides “I’m an artist, I draw, therefore that is all I am and all that can ever make me happy”.

See it this way: You have a friend. Friend is a musician. Your friend is slowly going deaf and loses their hearing. You can at least do small, everyday sign language. But not enough to handle a full conversation. Until your deaf friend can afford that hearing aide, talking to them will be a bit harder. But instead of learning more sign, you complain about how the person can’t hear as well anymore, so they become “quieter” and you stop reaching out to them. Projecting the “why can’t you just listen”. “You know what will make you feel better? If you play your music again, make mixes. We miss that.” “You sing, why not sing to make yourself feel better.” If the person cannot hear, how can they continue to make sure their craft is correct? In tune? On tempo? If a person is not in the mood or mental capacity to draw, then how can they draw? If all you can see is that you only know about friend is that they are a musician, can they really be a friend? Or just acquaintance?

Projecting the thing you get joy from said ‘not ok’ person and just demanding they do more of the thing you enjoy isn’t helpful; but selfish. Because in that case it isn’t about the person, but you and your expectations and things that you get from said person. Once they stop giving you the thing, then it’s about ‘how-dare-you-not-give-me-my-thing’. And I stopped caring to go through this consistent loop and being talked over when trying to explain myself.

I sat in my bathtub more than I had in years; the irony is this is comforting. So for weeks, this is where my mind and mental capacity have been. Sitting in my tub, with a blanket, my phone, and my switch. I’ll stay there all day and go to bed; sometimes I’ll sleep in the tub and stay there all day. I listened to music. Just daydream. I write a bit more now for my own purposes. It’s been nice. But not enough to get me out of a funk.

I finally accept it.

I’m just a person to be there and happy for others and their things. I think I finally get that now. I’ve slowly removed myself from social media and with the expectation of performance. I’m not a performer; I’m supposed to just be the audience. While this isn’t an “I quit” because this is all my job experience the past few years now, this is just an “I surrender”. I’m used to the fact in my waking life I’m no person’s ‘favorite’ or ‘go to’; so I guess now I’m coming to terms with that with work and with drawing in general. I have company clients I’m wrapping up work for but after that, I’ll be taking down my commission information and artist alley gallery. etc. I’ll shut down the store; I’ll do one last sale and either give away/throw away my extra items.

I just have to start entirely from square one. Maybe negative one? I went on what feels like the world’s longest pity party to say I’m taking a break, and seeing how the world broke in 2020 there is a chance I won’t be able to come back. And I don’t want people jumping me say “how dare” “you don’t try hard enough” or “shut up and just wait until next year/try again next year”

I’m covering my bases. If things look up then I’ll just happily delete this later.

But I can’t just ignore the reality of it all. I’m not ok and I haven’t been. And I just want to stare at my ceiling guilt-free for a bit. (I did this last night and it is fucking gross looking, gotta clean it.) 

Stay safe, stay indoors, and stay clever.

[[TL;DR: After continuing to get beat down by the world the past two years, this year pushed me past a tipping point. I can’t keep being a lukewarm illustrator at best and I am slowly wondering if I even want to; I want the space to figure that out. And don’t want the same friends who tell me “draw this, color this” to hound me on that decision either: it has the same energy when a kid with asthma can’t breathe and you talk over them and say “just inhale and exhale”.]]

I hereby release me from the pressure to post consistently because honestly, it is the only time I hear from anyone anyway So this is me choosing silence for a bit.

#ramble #vacaymode #goodbye #for now

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | INTERVIEW WITH JUSTINE JONES

Baltimore based artist and illustrator Justine Jones creates her vein of psychedelic fantasy horror drawings–filled with tiny black lines and an occasional pop of bright colors–which have been featured on the covers of Kobold Press and Warlock magazine. Using the hashtag #VisibleWomen to amplify the voices and portfolios of women comic artists, Justine has be able to do more illustrative work and character design. We’re excited to find out more about Justine’s artistic journey, her love of role-playing games, comics, art, her influences and much more. . .  Take the leap! 

Photography courtesy of the artist. 

Introduce yourself?    Hi, I’m Justine!  I’ve lived in Baltimore Maryland for the past decade and currently live in a small apartment downtown with my partner and my shiba inu Mo, who is a cool and grumpy guy.

How would you describe your work to someone who is just coming across it? I used to call it storybook surrealism, but now I guess it’s more like psychedelic fantasy horror?  Monsters and Wizards.  Lots of tiny black lines, sometimes with lots of bright intense colors.

How did you start from doodling and drawing to what you do now? I feel like it sort of happened organically.  When I was younger, I would do just pencil drawings, and then in my late teens, I got more into using micron pens.  I didn’t really discover color until a few years ago, so I’m a huge color noob.  I think a lot of it also came from working in comic shops for years and going to conventions.  Seeing all of these amazing artists grow, and thinking hey, I could maybe also do that! I first started with t-shirt designs because it just seemed really fun, and I used to have a really hard time selling prints.  People don’t need more prints, but they can always use clothes!  Now i’m getting more into illustrative work and character design, and I’m loving it!

Who and what were some of your early artistic influences? When I was a baby, my dad hung an Aubrey Beardsley print over my crib.  My mom thought it would make me deranged, and maybe it did, but it also made me love ink work and Art Nouveau style haha.  I was obsessed with sword and sorcery stuff and loooved cartoons like He-Man and She-ra, and later, Pirates of Darkwater. I also spent a lot of time in elementary school copying sexy comic book ladies from 90s comics, and I know that is pretty far from what I do now, but it’s honestly how I learned to draw.  I also copied a lot from children’s storybooks when I was little.  

What are some things that inspire the drawings you make? What are some of your favorite creatures and beings you like to explore in your art? Video games are a huge inspiration to me, from SNES JRPGs, to games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne.  Also folklore and mythology from around the world, and fantasy artwork from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.  Basically anything fantasy.  My favorite things to draw are wizards and monsters.  I love body horror, anything disgusting and beautiful at the same time.  I take a lot of inspiration from Manga, like Berserk, or anything Junji Ito.  I’ve done a lot of Illustrations for Clark Ashton Smith stories, which I find endlessly inspiring, visually.  Just like, fantasy/ sci fi/ dying earth type stuff.

When did you start collaborating with Kobold Press on creating some awesome fantasy art covers for their publications?  I remember getting the email from them when I was on the way to Necronomicon Providence in 2017.  I thiiiink they found my stuff through the visible women hashtag on twitter?  I was very excited because I owned some of their adventures from back in the day when I played Pathfinder!!  Plus, I have always always wanted to draw things for table top RPGs, so it’s been really cool to actually do it! The Warlock mag that I’ve been doing covers for is awesome because it’s going for an old school DND vibe, but it’s all things that are made for 5th edition.  You can get it on their patreon, and I hiiiighly recommend it to anyone who plays 5e dnd!!  

Take us through your artistic process? What’s a typical day in the studio like? Haha extremely chaotic!  I don’t even have a real set workspace, which I really need to change, I just draw where ever. Just chill out, listen to music or a podcast, and draw.  If I’m further along in a drawing and don’t need to focus so much, I’ll watch movies or video gameπ– let’s plays while I’m drawing.  I also love to listen to/ watch things that are in theme with what I’m drawing, to give me some inspiration.  I try to go to coffee shops to change things up sometimes!  Basically I just do a bunch of sketches until something materializes, and then I will just slowly refine the sketch.  I guess it’s not that exciting, but it’s cool to see the first sketch and the finished product because in my head, the sketch always looked like the finished product, but when you go back to look at it, it’s usually just indecipherable scribbles.

What are your essential art tools and materials? 90% of my art is just done using a .05 mechanical pencil and micron pens.  I also draw everything on smooth bristol.  If I have time and want to make my lines super crisp before I scan them in, i will use a light box.   Then for color, I generally use Kyle T Webster brushes in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet.   If I’m on the go, I like to draw things in Procreate on my iPad Pro, but I’m definitely not as good at doing detailed lines digitally.  

What do you do when you’re not drawing or working on projects? How do you unplug? Haha, I wish I ever truly unplugged, I think my brain is now melded into the internet!  But mostly I love to play video games.  JRPGs and anything From Software/ Soulsborne (currently obsessed with Sekiro!)  I also love comics and manga.  I’ve been reading The Girl From the Other Side, which is a beautiful dark fairytale Manga by Nagabe.  I also just got one called Witch Hat Atelier, which has the most amazing art! My partner also owns an insane amount of board games, so we play a lot of those.  I’m obsessed with coffee, and work part time at a coffee shop, and my favorite thing in the world to do is eat good food.    

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on? How did you overcome those obstacles and what did you take away from it? I made a kind of cosmic horror short story in mini comic form last year for SPX, I had very little time,  and it was my first time actually writing a story/ dialogue to go with my pictures.  It was insanely challenging.  I ended up with a finished product that I’m really proud of and that I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on.  I think it really drove home the fact that I just need to stick with things and finish them, even if I don’t feel like they’re perfect.  I’m never going to have the time that I want, and I’m never going to feel like anything is perfect.  I can still make a great thing!  

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art? Don’t spend 4 years doing nothing, but playing World of Warcraft (Or doooo?).  Uhhh, believe in yourself.  Be nice to other artists.  Draw all the time! Immerse yourself in things that inspire you!  Also, like I said before, things don’t need to be perfect.  Let go of perfect, because sometimes it’s an unattainable ideal.  Just do as good as you can, and don’t beat yourself up so much!  I’m horrible at advice!!!

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks?   Haha, I moved to Baltimore to go to MICA like, 14 years ago, and then realized I was poor, and would never be able to go to MICA… sooo… I never went to real art school.  I wanted to go so bad, and I still wish I’d had that experience, but I want other people who can’t afford it to know that you don’t NEED it.  Things are a bit harder, but you can find so much free info online if you have the drive, you can teach yourself so many things.  Don’t get discouraged just because art school isn’t gonna happen for you.

What are your favorite style of VANS? I love my lavender/ sea fog Authentic Vans, because they basically go with anything, but I am always eyeing those Sk8-His.

Anything you can share that is coming up?   Ahhhh, I have some realllly cool things that I can’t share yet, but just everyone keep an eye out (It will be very exciting, i swear)!!  As for things I can share, I’m working on some new t-shirt designs, and another comic, and also plan on drawing some more cool wizards in my spare time.   So if you wanna see some cool wizards, uhhh, come to my Instagram–you guys!  Let’s hang out and look at wizards.  And talk about wizards.  And if you don’t like wizards well, don’t come I guess.

FOLLOW JUSTINE: INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | TWITTER | STORE 

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Justine Jones #Vans Girls #Comics #illustration #Art School #Interview #Baltimore

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Uchitama 7 - 8 | Eizouken 8 - 9 | ID: INVADED 8 - 11 | Iruma-kun 22 - 23 (FINAL) | BnHA 82 - 83

Uchitama 7

Lemme guess…this is the ve-Yep.

The name of this segment is Ottamake. The ke means fur/hair, but it does seem like it’s referring to Tama otherwise.

For some reason, Bull’s really into cats…

LOL, you can see the cat food right there is a real brand. I dunno how they got away with that.

Hmm, this show has something to say about idol business…and it does it better than some of the human idol shows! That says something.

It even comments on the “graduation” system. Whaddaya know.

Welp, I never thought an anime could pull off this with a commentary on gender presentation, to boot. (It’s not as pervasive as Stars Align’s, but it’s still one of the better ones. I guess I shouldn’t expect it as a norm though.) I thought Kai was a dude though and so Bull’s interactions came off to me as massively gay. I’ve been thinking, maybe he’s pan? Can dogs be pansexual???

Why do I get the feeling Kai is going to be introduced into 3-chome? Update: Doesn’t happen.

This song sounds very idol-like.

Uchitama 8

Aww…I feel like we’re going to learn Nora’s backstory soon. I think it’s going to be real sad.

…Yup, there goes my kokoro. Smol Nora is cute~!

Genki can mean “healthy” as well as “energetic” – the latter is why it’s translated as “spunky”.

Why do I get the feeling Nora’s owner died…?

Oh, smol Nora has a bandaid on his leg.

Let me ask the essential furry question – they hav human ears and animal ears. Which of those sets of ears do they hear with?

Yuuki Kaji does a good job as Nora.

This song’s so sad, it almost got me crying…  

Eizouken 8

This anime is like something from Studio Trigger!

The magic of Eizouken is that you get sucked into the anime they make and never look back.

Tomodachi vs. nakama, I think it is.

Id: Invaded 8

Lately, I’ve been thinking about practical cosplay (everyday wear that also doubles as a cosplay outfit). So basically, I’ve been thinking about Sakaido and El-Melloi II’s outfits a lot, since they’re rather practical while still looking cool. All I’m missing for El-Melloi’s outfit with the red jacket is a black button-up shirt, for El-Melloi’s outfit with the black jacket I’m missing a red scarf and I’m missing a brown button-up shirt for Sakaido’s (although the yellow scarf I got today to get one step closer to two of those isn’t the right mustard colour, it’s more of a lighter yellow).

Also, I noticed it’s (according to the katakana) meant to be “Id: Invaded”, but heck, it’s been ID: Invaded for so long for me, I don’t care either way.

Kiki was born in Fukui.

I always thought Mister Fixer sounded sad and now I think I know why…the bit I remember the most (the line that goes “Mister Fixer” and the bit around it) sounds like the singer is lamenting their life. Now that I see the visuals again after a few weeks (I’d get fatigued if I watched all that Fate/ and still managed to keep up with simulcasts, so I’ve been taking the simulcasts in a few eps at one time), Mister Fixer does quite sound like a crime drama song, but not as much as Thought I Knew (from Stand My Heroes).

I’ve seen images of Anaido and Sakaido in the same well for a few weeks now, so this cooperation bit is no surprise at all.

I believe Fukuda is asking why Narihisago is a –san to her even though they’ve worked together a while.

The words “data profile” are in one corner of the titlecard.

Does Anaido remember who he is in the ID Well? I presume not, but it’s hard to tell since we haven’t had as much time with him as we have Sakaido (not to mention I’ve been regularly filling my head with Fate/ and other things as well lately…so it’s hard to remember).

It’s interesting. Fukuda has the same piercings as Anaido (and even a ring on one pointer finger that matches them!), so he must’ve tried experimenting with…more legal holes, to put it one way…before getting his most iconic one.

Kaeru’s nails are chipped. Hmm.

In #Brake-Broken, which I read the first chapter of earlier (there’s a sample on the Young Ace website), Sakaido notices he doesn’t have a phone with him to call anyone or a licence (because in that manga, he wakes up in a car). It’s likely this will work the same way and Anaido won’t have any possessions on him, aside from the clothes on his back, accessories and the item that was stolen from his wrist/s.

Rings on both fingers…so I should be talking about them in plural. Update: I like how Anaido’s off-the-wall thought processes break up the inherent seriousness of Sakaido’s deductions and utilitarian way of doing things.

Anaido, you grimdark f***er. Update: For trying to eat a dead girl.

Okay, so for the sake of my practical cosplay, I knew I’d need this episode. Sakaido wears a long-sleeve brown shirt with some kind of shirt under that (either brown or black), plus a mustard-coloured scarf. (Note El-Melloi II wears a black shirt under his black button-up shirt, so I went with black as well.) In Brake Broken, I also noticed he wears dark socks (or that could be the leggings) and runners with a lightning bolt on them (I had to make do with generic black runners with a white stripe on the bottom), plus the iconic brown shorts over those (with a triangle pattern)…Why does Sakaido have a scarf anyway, versus Anaido and Miyo who don’t? As much as I like scarves, especially where colder weather is involved, getting a specific colour scarf was a bit of a headache to be honest, since I took 3 trips before deciding on the one I was going to buy (and even then, someone got it before me! The scarf I have now was my 2nd choice). Update: The shorts, leggings and undershirt are black, but I don’t know if Sakaido is wearing any socks or if they’re black too.

Just to note what Anaido has as well (although a coat like that, with the red detailing and flaps, would be hard to find…), he has a blue coat, suspenders, a white button-up top, a string tie (had to google what that was called, although its name is pretty obvious now that I know), black pants (which kinda look like leggings, but they’re not) and leather boots.

Now Sakaido can go into the loony bin…he’s talking to Kaeru.

Is Anaido going in circles? Sakaido caught up real fast…

Um, hey, protip: When stuck in quicksand, try to “float” on it. If you move, you’ll sink into it more. I don’t know how I know that, but I did stick it into my mind for times like this.

Notably, Anaido is about a head taller than Sakaido. Either Sakaido is unnaturally short and Anaido is average…or Anaido is just tall in that way some men are.

Did the bird get to this dude…?

There appears to be a man with a bun facing Hondomachi in the ED, although you can’t tell who it is from silhouette alone…Maybe he hasn’t appeared in the show yet. (Can’t be Matsuoka though. Might be the old guy who’s the head of Kura, actually.)

Update: Is the dead guy Momoki…?

Id: Invaded 9

It’s the familiar ceiling scene from Evangelion! (Okay, I’m kidding, but it’s a similar deal.)

I think the rules of Fate/ are “do it all, until you can no longer do it” (i.e. Everything is the same, until it’s different). It seems it’s the same here too.

Huh? Momoki?

“It doesn’t seem friendly.” – Yeah, and people die whe they are killed…in murder mysteries like this, usually speaking.

I noticed Narihisago’s tie is the same colour as his Sakaido jacket, if not the shirt under that.

Where did the Challenger’s clothes go after he took them off??? Hyperspace??? He wasn’t shown tossing them.

So Kaeru was Asukai all along, huh?

“Look at this.”

“It makes me think about him.” Subbers, that’s two mistakes in less than 1 minute…

I saw a fanart where Narihisago had his arm broken. I didn’t know why, but now I do. Also, TV Tropes is bad if you want to avoid spoilers…I know that already, but I go there anyway sometimes...

“It makes me wanna puke.”

Iruma-kun 22

The anime’s final episode is next week…but there’s already a season 2 in store for next year, so hopefully I survive the coronavirus and sort out all my issues this year in time for it.

Dat OP though. I’ve grown used to it and it’s actually endeared itself to me…which is odd, since I didn’t think I’d like it at first.

Demdol = akudol. Obviously, from “demon”.

Was that…Clara’s mother???  Kuromu’s older bro doesn’t look too bad, either.

Ohmygosh, this is fabulousssssssssss (and hilarious)! I’ve been waiting for this moment for many episodes, as you can tell if you’ve been following along, and I finally got the payoff!

Clara ends her sentence with –akuma (devil), hence the translation is matching it the same way.

Oh my gosh, Ryouhei Kimura (Azz-kun) sucks at being feminine, but that’s exactly what the role requires for this!

If you just pretend Azz-kun isn’t dressed in such an outlandish outfit, he looks really good…! Ayumu Murase does a pretty good falsetto, although you can tell there’s one point where Kimura’s voice gets really manly-sounding for a lady.

“Little imp” – Koakuma.  

Oh! The Keroli family is all cute.

Ooh, Kuromu’s nails are blue. Never noticed that before.

Eizouken 9

Chojugiga are ancient pictures normally depicting animals. As for sepak takraw…

I wonder if Eizouken will tackle the Manabi Line one day…?

That’s a parallel for Comiket, LOL.

“A colossus that no one can see!” – Gridman, is that you?

When did Kanamori meet Asakusa again…?

Kanamori with a bun is cool.

“There is nothing fun about social media!” – Well, social media is fun for me because it’s where I escape reality, but sometimes you gotta be like Kanamori and use it for publicity’s sake.

LOL, the username for the Eizouken is @eizoukenn.

I just realised Mizusaki’s hairstyle is irregular…it’s much longer on on side than the other.

“Mizusaki bump” – I think this references the Colbert bump. (TV Tropes link)

Kanamori – she with the word “gold”…or “money”…in her name – struggles with maths? Wow, that was something to hear. (I guess it’s kinda like me and IT (cybersecurity) – I suck at it because I suck at modulos…or division in short…and even though I can be found on my computer a lot, that’s why I don’t pursue it any longer. I was decent at accounting, but man, I’d be bored out of my brain if you made me do business IT and I have zero skills in games and multimedia.)

“Was it thuggery?” – What’s thuggery? That word sounds funny.

Did you see how Asakusa fell off the tank?

I did CR’s Eizouken quiz sometime in the past and it gave me Asakusa. That’s true, basically. I like thinking up ideas and how cool they are, but because I can’t stop from elaborating on them, they get out of hand and that’s why I have a tonne of dropped projects. (Then again, with how freely I can imagine motion, I could’ve gotten Mizusaki too.) Update: Tried again and I actually did get Mizusaki…whaddaya know.

Id: Invaded 10

People have been comparing this to Minority Report…now I see why.

I almost feel like this is a discussion of euthanasia and suicide as much as it is memory and the consciousness.

Ohh…she remembers! Hondomachi!

You can’t see Muku’s face! Ohh, scary!

Aww, the music really sold this montage. By the way, that sign didn’t say “entrance ceremony”, it said nyuugaku omedetou, “Congratulations on your entry [into school]”.

It…this singer almost sounds like Bruno Mars, but that would be basically impossible, no?

Oh my gosh…when the song swelled, I absolutely cried. That’s rare, man – that’s rare.

BnHA 82

I think the leftmost figure might be Miruko, the rabbit lady. I’ve never read anything about her outside of wiki pages ad other small spoilers, but I roughly know what she looks like.

What does Gentle mean by “Anglaise”? Surely it wouldn’t refer to cream…(crème anglaise)

LOL, Disneyland parades…

Whew…that was dangerous. I almost agreed with Mineta there (to get the festival over and done with).

I swear Midoriya gets together with All Might, just like this, at the end or start of a climactic arc. He did it in the last season of BnHA, remember?

BnHA 83

Hmm…It’s interesting that the author likes to point out who has and hasn’t met Eri. Then again, it’s good for consistency.

LOL, Amajiki my boy…you’re so relatable.

Hmm…amidst the coronavirus concerns…this cancellation business seems quite timely.

Oh! It’s a drone.

For some reason, I thought Sero was drinking vegetable juice…? Eh, no matter. They have vegetable juice in Japan – I remember seeing some on my trip.

Hmm? Gentle is like a phantom thief, I just realised. Mostly harmless, but bound to cause a big stir if he gets his way.

What is Gentle’s Quirk, anyway…?

Work Son…LOL(…?)

Who bets their moustache on this stuff, anyway…? (LOL)

Iruma 23 (FINAL)

I don’t get to see Iruma become evil this season…but he will next season! That visual I’ve been seeing by the original mangaka confirms it!

Marathon - the demon puns are back.

Demonicon =Oricon chart.

Demon Star Platinum…was that…a Jojo’s reference?! *scare chord*

Oh! Maguro (tuna).

Azz-kun being afraid of fish? That’s news to me.

Okay, subbers. Whose idea was it to translate Iruma’s words as “My feels…”…?

There’s a post-credits segment. Keep watching.

Yay! Evil Iruma-kun!...In spring 2021. (I’ve never once been so excited for a character to turn evil than this! I also like how evil Iruma said it’s the “buttcrack” of dawn…but that’s just my immature side showing.)

Id: Invaded 11

“…being taken for a ride!” – Well, you’re in a car, so you’re getting a ride nonetheless. (LOL) I hadn’t heard of the term “being taken for a ride” until…what? 2016, I think? When I was still doing language anaylsis.

Sakaido used Headbutt! It’s…kind of effective? (Writing up these pseudo-Pokémon battles is fun. I should write more.)

“…put a drill to your head…”

“The victims of John Walker’s serial killers…”

I noticed Hondomachi is touching the side of her head which had the hole in it…if I remembered it right.

Is it “the Kura”? Or just Kura?

August 15th is a popular date for anime, huh? It’s in the middle of summer. (Refers to Kagerou Project.)

That ‘who knew you needed to lose something to be complete’ thing…I think I get it, but for some reason I only ever seem to get that feeling when it’s me trying to read asexuality into things (since that’s how I learnt to interpret asexuality), so…yeah, way to go, me.

Wait…Togo visited Momoki’s bedroom?!

Yep, so I was right about that being the side with Hondomachi’s hole.

#simulcast commentary #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #welcome to demon school iruma kun #mairimashita! iruma kun #id: invaded #uchi tama?! uchi no tama shirimasen ka? #uchitama?! have you seen my tama? #Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu Na! #keep your hands off eizouken! #Chesarka watches BnHA #chesarka watches mi-k #Chesarka watches Eizouken #Chesarka watches Uchitama #chesarka watches id: invaded

[helencake35-blog]

how does anime work?

I think it is important and interesting to find out the fundamental aspects of the environment that we most have a passion for, and one of the most critical questions is: how is cartoons built? For me, specifically recently, this became a using up question and I ended right up doing some detailed analysis. For the sake involving other anime followers together with the same question, My partner and i thought about sharing my own benefits. So if you want the bullets in order to fire again the subsequent time you receive ensnared upward in a debate with regards to the merits of anime, or you want some sort of new way to watch cartoons, I hope this article is useful to you. In often the last year roughly, my personal growing interest in this kind of side of points seriously opened my eyes to the skill, art, passion, and splendor found within Japanese animation. This great article will focus on anime-TV manufacturing, but the same general process can be applied to videos in addition to OVUM. That claimed, there can be numerous variations between studios and even individual musicals or plays. The approach of doing an anime is difficult, with quite a few steps and development. This specific graphic from the AIC English website is the good image image involving what I will certainly focus on: The cartoons generation course of action. Preproduction: This process will depend on which promotes an concept in addition to who supports this, they can be animation companies, coupled with sponsors, although quite a few animes are manga arrangement or mild novels, throughout which case in advance writing costs (including costs). proven on television stations). This production corporation (eg Aniplex) gathers personnel, sponsors, and even looks at adverts together with merchandise. While numerous persons describe the galleries because cheap, only about half the budget is often this anime studio, the sleep is handed down by exhibits and other giving companies. Streaming costs are surprisingly high, according to this ghost blogger of roughly 50 million yen for an evening schedule in 5-7 discussions for a good 52-episode line. You can certainly see why anime is usually an expensive company. For instance, Whole Metal Alchemist, which will acquired a space in Saturday on 6: 00 p. n., had a good total budget of five hundred million yen (before more costs). When the core staff is arranged, these people meet and plan his or her anime, work on collection make up (how the cartoons will play in each tv show as well as throughout the series), and select bigger employees, such as character or maybe mecha designers.. One connected with the most crucial employees is the director. In order to fully grasp the role involving film fans, you can consider of them for the reason that film fans of a movie, yet instead of dealing together with the celebrities, they deal with the computer animators that make the characters inside the movie. Their participation is frequently attending conferences and producing decisions to manage the particular anime's schedule, budget, and even level of quality. After the 1st panoramic sessions, models will be created (character, mechón, fancy dress costumes, etc. ). Types will be obviously an important factor within developing a good cartoons. Character designers are requested with simplifying manga / example of this designs to turn out to be suitable for animation or maybe, in the case of the original anime, for you to create a fresh character placed based with director / manufacturer information. Character creative designers generally keep on to advise animation film fans on toon fixes, which must be made for you to stay near their character models (in which circumstance they are normally credited as animation movie director intended for the series). Once typically the tale and drawings can be attracted, the first episode is managed. production: The first step is in order to write down thier script for this episode. Following the synopsis and plans for your episodes, this entire sets can be prepared, both by a single person with regard to the entire series, or perhaps by means of several different writers based on the outlines of the script's normal examiner (staff credit: composition in the Serie). The examples are usually analyzed by means of this movie director, the suppliers, in addition to possibly because of the author of the original get the job done before it is completed (after 3 or maybe 4 drawings, often). The episode movie director, supervised by the CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, takes this backbone on the instance and has in order to plan exactly how it will really look on tv screen. Even though the home has the last word and participates in production gatherings, the particular episode director features the many involvement inside the development of often the tv show. This stage will be expressed as a storyboard (a visual scenario), plus the storyboard marks typically the beginning of actual animation manufacturing. https://www1.gogo-anime.ac/ to draw: Often the script is created by often the director, which means that an event is really that director's perception. But generally, especially around the television anime, separate storyboarders are used to be able to attract them. This can be because the pieces of software usually take around 3 2 or 3 weeks to make a normal duration television anime tv show. Art work meetings and creation appointments are held together with the instance director, collection director, yet others about this specific episode. The circumstances happen to be drawn on A-4 papers (in general) plus incorporate most of the vital obstructions of a anime: lower numbers, movie star activities, digital camera movements, such while zoom or even pan, normal gardening to organic (taken in the stage) together with the span of each one photography (or cut). ) throughout terms of seconds and even glasses (which we will explain later). Because this number of drawings readily available for an episode is frequently determined for the sake regarding budget management, the particular number of frames can be also carefully considered from the storyboard. The cases are usually more or less drawn and are seriously the key to deciding how an cartoons will play. The clippings send to the single picture through the camera, in addition to a good average television cartoons event will generally consist of all around 300 discounts. More cutbacks don't necessarily mean a better quality event, although will generally indicate considerably more work for the home / writer. Illustrations involving storyboards from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. Anime stories have 5 copy. From left to best: the cut number, the style, the action, the discussion, and ultimately the runtime (in time and frames). Types are drawn nearly since they are managed by different designers in the future production step. factors: Not as much well known is the particular set up process, which grades quick imaginative production. Within simple terms, model enhancement refers to the location with the cylinders to turn out to be used in the slice and the background approach that is required, offering typically the ultimate model of what the final photos can look like. Discounts happen to be made exactly the same size while the computer animation paper and include cell phone location facts, accurate points of digital camera movement, and other options. In relationship with often the director and maybe the manufacturers, the lead animators draw models (or occasionally employees are credited especially with design drawings), and the photos are named where typically the figures / characters will certainly be positioned and the way a cut will stick to... to be framed. The basic structure of the qualifications art (for example, a new shrub here, a good mountain there) is drawn, plus the factors in this storyboard are indicated within the design to support express the cut. Sometimes various stages of often the script could be expressed inside a single drawing, providing it's not too complicated. The pv cells are shaded around hot colors, the backdrops can be dark in nice colors. Once approved by simply the director, these themes are copied and switched in to the record department (receiving originals) plus key animators. The art work director and assistants work towards painting the background works based on the model's rough images, whilst the rest of the production process remains at the same time. Right now the shape of every trim is decided: the roles of the characters, the setup, what they may do and how the photograph will be captured (camera angle, zoom and even panorama). Although one associated with the most expressive plus vital parts of the production continues to be: animation.

#gogoanime #gogo anime #gogoanime io #gogoanime.ac #gogoanime watchonline #watch anime online

[scyllua]

While chap.203 hasn't stirred that much of a reaction in the Japanese fandom as the previous chapter did, it prompted many fans to emulate Sugimoto's art style. Nothing of this comes as a particular surprise, as the chapter serves as sort of a recap of the events from vol.14 (the Abashiri Prison assault)... and because Sugimoto's drawing talent would be on par with his sniping skills.

The highlights of this chapter have to do with the confirmation of the Russian sniper's identity and goals and the hint at Noda pursuing the plotline regarding the Partisans. It was rather obvious who that Russian sniper was from the very moment he (re)appeared in the manga, but given this is Golden Kamuy and the weird things that have already transpired in the plot made me think it's a very crazy Meiji era the one they are living in, I'd rather wait for the author's clear confirmation on ANY matter before taking anything for granted. Let us not forget that, for starters, I think most of us had already assumed our Russian sniper pretty dead. We can always speculate, however, and this chapter leaves enough room to reflect on a certain other sniper (this one, Japanese and now one-eyed) and how soon (or not) he could make it back to the plot.

I should work on my summaries so they aren't that long. In the meantime and to everyone who had the patience to read my previous chapter post: thank you very much and fear not, for I have no random movie comments to make here! There should be some fan comments, of course, and the usual warnings about mistakes and mistranslations apply as well. Onto the fun of two amateur artists sharing their Ogata fanarts then!

In short, as no further shots are made, Tsukishima believes Sugimoto got to the sniper and Asirpa runs off to meet him. Meanwhile, Sugimoto and the sniper -now confirmed to be Vasily- overcome the language barrier by using the latter's hand-drawn pictures to explain to each other the circumstances in which they crossed paths/met Ogata. Upon the arrival of the rest of the group and after Asirpa recognizes Vasily as probably one of the men who ambushed them in the frontier, Tsukishima explains to him Kiroranke is already dead and they don't know about the current whereabouts of Ogata, their only purpose in Karafuto being finding Asirpa and going back with her. As a rather annoyed Shiraishi complains to Vasily for shooting him, it's revealed he can't speak because of the shot wounds he sustained. As Sugimoto's group resumes their journey, Vasily keeps following them on horseback from a distance. They deduce he's now keen on meeting Ogata again and engaging in another snipers' duel, and that he's sticking around convinced the wildcat will eventually come after them. Questioned by Asirpa, Sugimoto says as long as they're still looking for the Ainu gold, there's always the possibility of Ogata coming back; as per his motivations, Sugimoto adds it might be that Ogata is simply messing with them as opposed to being after an actual goal. In their way back, the group visits Svetlana's parents to hand them a letter she wrote; even though Sugimoto would rather search for Sofia and find out the truth, he understands their primary purpose in Karafuto has been fulfilled already. The chapter ends with Sofia meeting Gansoku and Svetlana in a port city in Russian territory. After exchanging a few hits, Sofia invites Gansoku to come with her, but he turns down the offering, stating he'll travel west with Svetlana. Sofia then states she'll go to Hokkaidou in pursue of their hope... and revenge.

Ever wondered why streets are always so conveniently empty whenever there's a chasing or a shooting going on? I have, even if my question is probably answered in the same question already (because... they're so conveniently empty: easier to describe, draw or animate, and with a minimum of casualties, as well!) In any case, and even though our group seemed to be the only bystanders at the time the shooting began, there's now the usual traffic and activity you'd expect in a town street. In fact, a man in a sled is just walking down the street when, alerted by Koito and Tsukishima not to come that way or otherwise risk being shot, he good-naturally asked what the soldiers are doing. Tsukishima comments it seems as though Sugimoto has already done his magic, ie. he did what he's best at (hint: it isn't sniping or drawing, as we'll see in this chapter), and Asirpa runs off to meet him.

Here follows some good 4 pages of Sugimoto and Vasily proving the language barrier isn't an hindrance when it comes to relatively difficult tasks, such as explaining the events from vol.14 up to that point or how both of them have survived being shot in the head by the same sniper. It turns out Vasily has made enough drawings of Ogata to start his own Pixiv account -putting aside the fact that he's one century ago from that website being created-; actually, Vasily could begin posting full illustration logs, as he even took the care and time to draw the wildcat sporting different expressions, including one smiling. I'm suspecting he might have more study sketches of Ogata in the fiction than author Noda in the real world. This would pose a question for me: just how well could he see Ogata during their snipers' duel? In the extended passage as it was compiled in vol.17, they do spend many hours watching and studying each other... but let us not forget that Ogata's face was obscured in such a way, Vasily couldn't tell for sure where it was him or not. Well, following last chapter's caption at the end, I'm just going to assume here Vasily has nothing short of a photographic memory, sharpened to perfection through his sniping skills, and that he could commit to memory the features of a man he only seemed to have caught fleeting glimpses of partly because the wildcat is unforgettable. Being shot can arise that kind of reaction in people, after all. Going back to the chapter, and given the amount of Ogata portraits he has, Sugimoto asks him whether he's been requested to find him -bounty hunter-style, we may speculate-, but then Vasily uses some of his many (MANY) drawings to explain he went into a showdown with Ogata... and lost. This chapter's title could be translated as "portrait" (似顔絵, nigaoe), though its exact meaning would be more in the lines of a "drawn sketch/picture of a face". Why, yes, a portrait indeed, only that the term in Japanese suggests it isn't as precise as a taken photograph, but a close enough depiction.

I'm always making jokes and complaining about the cast in this manga being so prone to trust in others no matter what terms they might have been on in the past, but I have to admit that being able not to hold grudges, apart from preventing bitterness and anxiety in addition to other negative feelings, also helps greatly when it comes to pace the story forward. Remember how Sugimoto was about to kill Vasily in the best of Friday the 13th traditions (only that less bloody I might presume, given this is still a seinen manga and not a R-rated story), all of this happening in the previous chapter, 7 days ago in real time, 2 pages prior in the manga, like 10 seconds previously in the story's timeline? Well, let's put aside all that negativity for the sake of a couple of souls bonded by the same sniper (different bullet obviously, same rifle and all) sharing an artistic moment.

In addition to their fanboying over Ogata -for the wrong reasons, though, as they'd be both after the wildcat to settle some scores-, Sugimoto and Vasily manage to summarize the manga from vol.14 up to that point, using their respective drawings to explain to each other the events. "Explaining to each other" wouldn't be a wrong statement in this case because they do appear to be understanding the other quite well through the drawings, some gesturing, and the usefulness of somatic language, even though Vasily doesn't seem to know Japanese (as he's puzzled at Sugimoto's questions). When he produces drawings of Kiroranke, Shiraishi and Asirpa, Sugimoto explains to him the latter two aren't related to the Partisans: the bad guy here, no doubt about it, is Ogata, as he emphatically conveys by hitting his portrait with his fist. Now in quite the roll because Vasily is assimilating the ideas very fast (as he also hits Ogata's portrait), Sugimoto then explains he was also shot by the wildcat... and reveals his artistic sense might be on par with his sniping skills. ...and while I'll keep joking about his awful aiming until the day he finally manages to shoot anything down -as opposed to pummel or pierce it with his rifle or affixed bayonet-, I won't make much fun of his artistic capabilities because, I'm afraid, he might draw better than I. As I state in my blog's sidebar, I color manga panels partly because I can't draw a straight... or crooked... line for the love of it.

Sugimoto explains Ogata was in cahoots with Kiroranke -and as well as the readers, he doesn't how for how long-, shot him in the head in Abashiri Prison and then ran away taking Asirpa with him. Unlike their previous exchange, I can deduce Vasily didn't get a single word of any of it, as he mistakes Sugimoto's drawing of himself for a spider. And I must confess it took me some time to realize Sugimoto drew himself being shot: those tendril-like things sticking out of his head -that Vasily takes for a spider's legs, it seems- are meant to show the bullet's trajectory when impacting him. A parenthesis here: Let's just check Sugimoto's drawing of Ogata running away on horseback. I don't pretend to make fun of it, but I still find quite the noteworthy detail that he draws Ogata with an arrow sticking out of his right eye, and not sparing even the lock of hair that frames his face. Or at least, I'm assuming that's a lock of hair on Ogata's head. The caption Sugimoto writes in katakana reads, "Ogata escaped". That scene, may I add, has been a fan favorite -mine included- and a source of inspiration for many works in the Japanese fandom. Some speculative fanworks have to do with the circumstances Ogata runs away, and thus some fans have posed quite the questions, ranging from where he got that horse, to whether it didn't hurt too much to ride it in such conditions as, you might remember, he was wearing a hospital gown only and had no underwear to speak of. If you take a closer look at the panel, however, you'll notice Ogata is carrying a sack when he's riding away, implying he managed to gather his belongings and probably a couple more things for the road, and thus wouldn't be dying on us due to exposure or some painful horse riding to wherever it was he ran away .

Back to our amateur artists (because I'm assuming Vasily's main occupation revolves about being a sniper... with an eidetic memory for faces and some outstanding artistic talent as bonus) and resuming his recapping of the latter half of the manga and unabated by the debatable poor reception his drawing skills might be getting, Sugimoto explains Asirpa involuntarily shot an arrow that hit Ogata in the eye. Here comes a short passage -it's a single panel, in fact- that killed my Japanese pretty dead, so I wouldn't risk a translation of it... though I think, it seems to me, I could grasp that blah blah etc. etc., Sugimoto further and quite lively states Ogata's death would have "stained" Asirpa -meaning, would have dirtied her hands-, and thus he saved the wildcat because he'd do anything in his power to keep everything surrounding her pure for her sake. The actual word in Japanese he uses is 綺麗 (kirei), which you might know as meaning "cute" and "pretty", but it can also be understood in the sense of "clean", "pure" or "neat." Given Sugimoto literally uses 汚い (kitanai), "dirty", "unclean" or "foul" (used as a verb in this case) to describe how Ogata's death would have impacted Asirpa, I'm going with "pure" in my previous sentence. ...I'm aware my explanation of Sugimoto's statement makes it sound as though he's belittling saving Ogata, but I can reassure you that his lines are way more poetic and moving: it's just that my Japanese -and my English, come to that- is just that lacking, sorry about this! The scene is more moving because Asirpa arrives at the precise moment to hear Sugimoto's words, but he doesn't notice her.

The rest of the group arrives and cuts off Sugimoto and Vasily's artistically driven moment of plot exposition, though. And now, please allow me to state that God bless Tsukishima for being himself, acting as the sane man every story needs, accompanying the group in this journey, and knowing Russian, not in that particular order: I'm 100% convinced this manga wouldn't progress half as smoothly as it does weren't he around. And Tsurumi and Koito wouldn't be probably around either if he didn't have that presence of mind and swiftness of action, specifically when projectiles and explosions are involved. After Asirpa says she thinks Vasily was part of the group of men that ambushed them in the frontier, Tsukishima explains to him Kiroranke is already dead and Ogata ran away, his whereabouts unknown to them. Their only purpose in Karafuto was to find Asirpa and go back with her, he adds, and they have nothing to do with the Czar's assassination by the Partisans. Vasily says nothing in the metaphorical sense, as he keeps quiet and seems to accept the explanation. Now, and I've already written above, I've always complained about the GK cast for being this trusty and, let's say, think nothing of the repeated risk of a headshot by accepting in their ranks a traitorous character who left their previous party after shooting a couple people in the head, but I have to admit yet again the characters being this quick to understand, accept and come to terms with practically anything and everything does help move forward the plot. Very much so.

I wrote Vasily said nothing in the metaphorical sense because it's revealed -just as we were speculating- he can't speak due to the shot wounds he sustained during his duel with Ogata. Once outside, Shiraishi complains to him about shooting him; when our Escape King snaps whether he doesn't have anything to say or it's just that Russians don't know how to apologize (he literally asks whether there are no words for apologizing in Russian), Vasily shows him his face, prompting a reaction in Shiraishi that might make readers grateful we aren't shown the state of his lower face. Sugimoto comments at that moment he might not be able to speak due to those wounds. I was also wondering whether Vasily knew or at the very least could grasp a little Japanese. It seems to me he might not after all, as there are some panels throughout the chapter that show him with an interrogation mark -indicating he isn't understanding- when Sugimoto was talking to him. In the above panels as well, Tsukishima seems to be translating Shiraishi's complaints for him.

Just before the group resumes their journey, Shiraishi tells Vasily -in not so kind words- to go back to Russia, but he's shown to keep following them from a distance. Shiraishi ponders whether he doesn't believe Kiroranke is already dead, but Asirpa points out he used the back of Kiro's wanted poster to make some of his drawings, leading her to conclude he isn't interested in the latter anymore. As discussed by the our main protagonist trio, it seems Vasily is sticking to them under the belief they'll eventually cross paths with Ogata; as Sugimoto puts it, given he's still alive, he considers their snipers' duel to be not finished (I suppose a more poetic way to put it would be, "as long as he draws breath, he can keep fighting"). The immortal also thinks there's always the possibility of Ogata coming after them because of the Ainu gold, prompting Asirpa to wonder if that's actually his goal: let us not forget he showed quite the intent to kill her (chap.187) and thus, eliminate the one person who holds the key to solving the tattoo puzzle. A somewhat serious and pensive Sugimoto comments it might be that Ogata... is simply messing or toying around with them. Cue a full-page panel depicting a lynx (in Japanese, an ooyamaneko) crossing the path in the snowy forest. (I should point out I'm assuming it's a lynx because of its ears, making it very similar to the one shown in chap.169, vol.17.)

A not-so-random fan comment here: I always refer to Sugimoto as not being the sharpest knife in the drawer. Actually, I'd say he's the kind to smash the drawer against a wall and use the sharpest fragments of it to cut open whatever it is he might need cut, even if I'm compelled yet again to admit his approach, while not the most strategically planned, tends to work. But he also seems to be quite understanding of others in addition to his natural kindness, and it comes as not much of a surprise then that he could be the person with the better grasp at Ogata's personality. Or the only person who might have any grasp on it at all, in any case. I must say my opinion of Ogata's character pretty much coincides with that of Sugimoto as he stated it in chap.196 and now in this chapter: specifically, that Ogata doesn't have a particular motivation to act as he does (apart from being driven by the most negative and dangerous of his traits, of course). I think his character isn't meant to have any specific motivations or goals other than being chaotic for the sake of it; however, as Noda has given a background to every single recurrent and relevant character in the manga and spares no revelations for some of them no matter how far into the plot we might be (the most recent flashback regarding Koito's past should be an example), I can't discard the possibility of the author having in store some plot twist or equal revelation about Ogata.

Given Sofia is the only one who knows the truth now (I'm assuming here Sugimoto thinks Ogata might have sided with Kiroranke for a reason that lies with the Partisans' intentions), our immortal comments he'd liked to look for her. He's aware, though, that Tsukishima and Koito's mission was to find Asirpa and get back with her to Hokkaido, whereas Tanigaki joined in the entourage for the sake of the girl as well and thus, they should have no reason to pursue other ends at the time. They still stop by the lighthouse to hand Svetlana's letter to her parents, and just as the manga implies they won't be going after more subplots, Asirpa points out Sofia was planning to reunite with her comrades in the continent and then go back to Japan: she wouldn't just run away to Europe after everything that just happened.

Right in cue, Sofia meets Gansoku and Svetlana in a port town in Russia. Just as Gansoku seemed to be involved in yet another cathartic moment pummeling around men who can't put a dent on him, he's challenged by Sofia but refuses, stating he only fights other men. He's quick to change his mind and declare the world does have many surprises in store ("The world is so wide!") after Sofia not only punches him, but manages to get in quite the equal grounds with him. This yet again poses another question for me: given Gansoku is one of the toughest men in this story -in the strictest physical sense at the very least: we can't forget everything Nikaidou has gone through the manga, after all-, how come Sofia can beat him so badly? The obvious answer would be that Sofia happens to be just that tough -or the toughest woman of the Meiji era-, but since this is a Shueisha and a Jump-published manga, I also want to believe she might be using Haki to hit that hard. Just as Nami in One Piece, her blows manage to harm a man's heart and soul.

Before their fight can further escalate (but after Sofia has pulled off the almost obligatory Rip Open my Shirt scene, only that she isn't exactly wearing a shirt and the scene isn't that common when female characters are involved because of censorship), Svetlana intervenes and stops them, saying it'll be quite the problem for her if Sofia kills her bodyguard. Implying here she was at least sure of what the outcome of the fight would have been. The three of them have a talk then and Sofia invites Gansoku to join her, but he turns down the offer and explains both he and Svetlana intend to make their way to the west, to the cities where a larger population means a larger possibility to find stronger people (to beat the **** out of them in more cathartic instances, I'm presuming). As Svetlana asks Sofia where she's planning to go now, she replies that she's going to Hokkaido... for their hope and revenge.

I should note I'm not including any more panels of Sofia in this chapter because I'm assuming Tumblr would flag this entry otherwise. I was never told why they put my blog "under review" when I barely had any posts on it, so my best guess has to with an entry I wrote explaining about the terrorist groups that operated in my country. I made that post partly because to poke some fun at Sugimoto's wielding a hammer and a sickle in chap.145 (vol.15), and how that would have been merited a ban for this manga were some conservative Congressmen in my country to see the panels (the largest terrorist group operating in my country originally followed the Communist ideology). Well, as Sofia begins exchanging blows with Gansoku, she uncovers her torso and her breasts remain visible for the rest of the chapter, even when she's speaking with him and Svetlana in the freezing Russian landscape. Her breasts are so big, they cover part of the chapter's title in the last page... making me suspect Tumblr could flag this entry just because her nipples are equally big.

Some (more) fan comments on this chapter: The story is unfolding as I'd anticipated in a very broad way, as it seems Vasily will stick around with the group for at least some more chapters. While none has proposed an alliance, I don't think any will have any inconvenience cooperating with each other as long as their goals align: even if it's true Sugimoto's group isn't that elated at the possibility of meeting Ogata again, they're obviously expecting to cross paths with him in the future, and extra help is always welcomed. Specially if things come to a sniper against another sniper, I'd say: the manga is hinting at another confrontation between Vasily and Ogata. After all, Noda is a noteworthy narrator and all of his plot elements turn out to be relevant (even those related to food and cultural traditions which could have been seen at first as more trivia-informative to the reader than important to the plot), so I don't think he brought Vasily back to the story for no reason. Or just to show off Vasily's artistic talent, in any case, * ahem *. The plot would still have to take shape, but it seems to me all elements are aligning so that Noda can solve several pending subplots: Vasily's reappearance can tie up with the plot regarding the remaining member of the Partisans trio, Sofia, and also provides the proper scenario for Ogata to make it back to the story. It'd be a viable, solid and swift way to focus in the current open subplots before focusing on the main premise of the Ainu gold in Hokkaido.

I'd just speculate then about how soon the subplots would meet a resolution. I'm wondering whether we'll see the rest of this arc taking place in Karafuto, as Sugimoto's group has already made their way back to its southern region, whereas Sofia is in Russian soil, but making her way to Hokkaido. If Vasily doesn't have any trouble with following them to Hokkaido -given he's already in Japanese soil-, then I see no reason as to why the action might not unfold in the island that is the main stage of this manga, but I'm thinking this arc could wrap up while the group is still in Karafuto. We'd need to see at least one more chapter to see how things progress from this point on; unless Noda suddenly feels like jumping back to Hokkaido and showing us what Hijikata has been up to since vol.18 and whether Tsurumi reunited with his men already, with the arc “introduction“ over and the situation laid out to both the cast and the readers, chap.204 should serve as the starting point for the resolution of the current subplots.

My last fan comment of the entry has to do with Vasily. While I'm happy to see him back in the plot and sticking to the protagonist cast for the time being (and hoping he stays in the plot and with the cast for at least the remainder of this volume), his personality as shown in the current events has caught my attention. I wouldn't say he's that different or plain out-of-character in comparison to his first appearance in vol.17, but it's also true he now acts carefree enough as to join Sugimoto in a fanart-sharing moment, and is more emotional as opposed to his cool-headed demeanor during the ambush in the frontier. And adding to his minor hairstyle change, he also looks more youthful now, even if the only we get to see of his face are his eyes. We'd need to see more of him in upcoming chapters to have a better grasp at his character... but if you'd ask me, I'd say Noda has made some changes to his personality, or rather, is shaping his character in a different, though not drastic, way. Why? Well, it seems to me Vasily would fit our protagonist cast and all the weird things bound to happen in this convulsed Meiji era just fine and even better now; in comparison, the group he first appeared as part of acted colder, more focused and serious. Until we see more of him, I'm just going to assume Noda decided to give his character another direction because Tsukishima was plenty of a sane, serious man for the group. Any more sane men in the same group at the same time and I might begin doubting what happened to this manga.

#golden kamuy #fan talk

[cbk1000]

So You Want To Read Literature In a Foreign Language

I’ve had a few language asks here and there and thought I would do a write-up specifically on reading in a second language, as that is A. My specialty and B. Most language courses are going to focus on speaking and listening comprehension. Which certainly isn’t a bad thing, but the vocabulary necessary to carry on a competent conversation in a second tongue is much smaller than what you’ll need to read even popular fiction, let alone books of more serious literary aspirations. I’ve arranged this list in order of approximate difficulty, but of course it will always depend upon the exact book/article/comic you’re reading and whether or not its vocabulary coincides with your own.

I’ll put this under a cut, as it will be quite long.

A few tips, however, before I get on with the list: the more you read, the faster you’ll improve, as with anything. If you have the time and drive to read an hour or more a day in your target language, you’ll be knocking out books in no time. In my first year of Russian I was reading for 2+ hours a day, and by the end of that year I was reading fluently with no help from English translations (as I used in my earlier months) and I could pick up just about any genre I liked. My Russian vocabulary, of course, was still not as advanced as my English, but I was able to read fairly complex literature and to understand the majority of the text.

If a piece is too hard, put it down. I can’t emphasize this enough. Trying to read something massively beyond your reading level is frustrating and will only put you off. There were books I had to set aside in my first year and even beyond just because, stylistically speaking, they were over my head. I could follow the main story, but I was missing enough details/subtleties in the author’s style that I knew I needed to set it aside and try again later when I could fully appreciate it. There is absolutely no shame in this; get a few more books under your belt, and try again in a few months. I have now gone back and read several books I had to set aside; you’ll get there eventually. Some pieces are very difficult; I didn’t attempt Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Red Wheel’ series (which was the series that prompted me to learn Russian in the first place, since later volumes hadn’t been translated) until I had been reading prolifically for over two years. My dude is dense, and also wants to go over every minutiae of the fucking Duma’s every meeting with you. It was also around this time that I started reading poetry; it was just too difficult for me prior to that.

Most of all: have fun! Reading not only improves your vocabulary, it expands your understanding of a culture tremendously, and allows you an access to it that you can’t get through translation. Think of all the history you can read!! The primary sources!!

Anyway, away with this rambling introduction, and onward to the actual useful part of this post.

Adapted Classics: I found a series of these in Russian very early on in my studies, and you’d do well to see whether or not you can find something similar in your target language, especially if you’re a beginner. These are essentially long-winded summaries of well-known classics with simplified grammar, so that you can expand your vocabulary without breaking your head over more complex sentence structure that you can’t yet comprehend. I read a simplified version of ‘Anna Karenina’, ‘Jane Eyre’, one of the Sherlock stories, ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, and ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ this way. They were extremely useful in growing my vocabulary while not overwhelming me with long, meandering sentences that would utterly lose me in the beginning of my studies (Tolstoy, I love you, but this is aimed directly at you. I REMEMBER THE CITIZENS FLEEING MOSCOW. 200+ WORDS BEFORE YOU THOUGHT TO PUT IN A FUCKING PERIOD). 

Comics: Comics are great. I read some Star Wars graphic novels in Russian, a few manga, part of ‘The Walking Dead’ series, and also some Archie comics, which I used to read all the time as a kid. Not only do you have pictures to help with context, but you don’t usually have challenging descriptive passages to contend with. It turns out that Russians pirate just about everything, so I was able to find lots of sites with huge selections of comics available to read free online. Do a bit of googling and see if you can find something similar in your own target language.

Fanfiction: If you’ve followed this blog long enough, then you know that actually I got my start reading gay Captain American porn in Russian, and it was brilliant, thank you very much, and I bet you I was just about the only beginner Russian student on this planet who could barely introduce themselves but definitely could have had gay phone sex. Fanfiction is not generally written in a highly literary style, so it’s easier to follow. Moreover, you’re dealing with characters, tropes, and plotlines you’re already familiar with, and that familiarity helps enormously. While English is of course the most widely-used language on AO3, you have many language options to choose from, and in a large fandom like Marvel or Harry Potter, you’re bound to find something in your target language. You might check as well to see if any massively popular fics in a fandom you follow have been translated into your target language; I’ve noticed that quite a lot with Russian.

News Articles: News articles are generally written in a simplified language designed to be accessible by the average reader, who’s actually not very good at reading at all. I’m sure this varies somewhat by country and language, but here in the States most clock in at something like a 7th or 8th grade reading level, as that, depressingly, appears to be the average reading level of the majority of the reading public. They’re short and will introduce some new words into your vocabulary in an easily digestible way. Also: most big magazine publications such as Cosmopolitan and People have several  different versions of their websites. The Russian version, for instance, is cosmo.ru instead of cosmo.com. The French edition is cosmopolitan.fr. Figure out what designation your target language uses in place of .com and you’re in business (unless you accidentally get a porn site). Do I like Cosmopolitan magazine? Not particularly. Did it teach me new sex terms in Russian? Absolutely. And that’s what we’re all looking for, right? 

Dual Language: At around 4-5 months into my studies, I started reading dual language texts. I did this first with short stories, and later with full novels. This is not for everyone as it requires you to constantly switch back and forth between your native and target language, and especially if you’re farther on in your studies, this might muddle you more than help you. I found at about 8 months or so I had to take off the training wheels, as my vocabulary and grasp of grammar was good enough that looking over at the English text was actually confusing me, because I had gone from laboriously, awkwardly translating everything in my head to just reading it naturally. But in the beginning, it was a much faster way to check vocabulary, and it also helped me to sort out grammar by comparing it to my native language. All languages are trying to accomplish the same thing, which is to communicate; they just do it in different ways. But you can find a common ground even between languages that are vastly different, as English and Russian are. You can find some dual language texts, or you can do what I did, which is to put the English translation on an e-reader, and get hold of a hard copy of the Russian. I would always read the Russian first, and only if I was confused/missing a lot of words would I look over at the English text. Make sure you compare a couple of translations and pick the one that is most literally faithful, even if it’s not a great translation in and of itself. I used some English translations that I actually didn’t care for as a translation, but they were very literal and therefore very helpful in sussing the original text.  

Books You’ve Already Read In Your Native Language: It doesn’t have to be a book you have practically memorised (though that will certainly help). Anything you’ve read at least once in your life will do. You’d be surprised how much will come back to you, and how much context will help you figure out any unfamiliar words. I picked up the Russian translation of Ken Follett’s giant-ass ‘Winter of the World’ about a year into my studies. His style is neither particularly difficult nor...impressive, but as it’s the second in a trilogy that follows three generations of multiple families from WWI all the way into the Cold War, it has a lot of military and political terminology that you don’t encounter in everyday speech. It’s also over 1,000 pages, so it’s rather daunting in a second language regardless. I had read it once before in English, probably some five years before I read the translation, and going into it I really didn’t remember that much. However, while reading, I found that certain plotlines would start coming back to me, and helped a lot in piecing together unfamiliar terminology, in addition to the words I already knew. Don’t focus overly much on every single word and trying to remember what it is in your native language; trust me, you will absorb a lot from context. Just let go and let it wash over you.

Translations: Translations are almost always going to be easier than a book originally written in your target language, if the texts are of comparable difficulty. For instance: ‘Les Miserables’ is easier for me in Russian than Solzhenitsyn’s ‘The Gulag Archipelago’. Both are massive, rambling texts with long asides on history and politics, and in English I’d say they’re pretty equally difficult reads. Certainly neither is what I would classify as light reading. So why is ‘Les Miserables’ easier? Because in a translation I’m not dealing with uniquely Russian slang and turns of phrase. Yes, some of it has to be Russified in order for the target audience to better comprehend it in their native tongue, but generally speaking it doesn’t feel Russian, if that makes sense. I can tell pretty much as soon as I pick up a book if it’s a translation. Now, French isn’t my native language, but I’ve used it as an example because I’ve read quite a bit of French literature in Russian translation, and fairly difficult authors/texts at that: Hugo, Stendahl, Zola, etc. etc. None of these authors are light beach reads, but they’re also not difficult for me to follow in Russian. And anything translated from English is even more accessible; most texts translated from English into Russian I can follow very nearly as well as I can read the original English. When you’re dealing with a heavy-hitter that’s writing in your target language, they can get up to all kinds of shenanigans and word play; a translation, generally speaking, is not going to be nearly so experimental. 

Dumas: Why does Dumas get his own section? Because you should read him, dammit. HISTORY. SWASHBUCKLING. REVENGE. Dumas is fucking fun. He also has a huge oeuvre to choose from. Additionally, while he does have a lot of plotlines to follow (and this is the difficulty of Dumas when reading him in a second language) and you definitely need to get your historical vocabulary up to snuff, he is not an overly philosophical author. His novels are fun, action-oriented, and someone’s always eavesdropping on a Secret Political Conversation of the Utmost Importance. I’ve read quite a lot of Dumas in Russian (actually more than I’ve read in English) and they are easy, entertaining reads. You might get a little lost in the politics of the era, but unless you’re already familiar with them, you’d probably be a little lost in your native language as well. Don’t worry; people will start dramatically challenging one another to duels again very soon. Also: READ ‘THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO’ SERIOUSLY FOR FUCK’S SAKE DO IT.

#language #reading #books

[actuallyadork]

So a while back I made a post about how I’m learning Japanese and I wanted to do an update on two methods in particular as well as add an additional method to be used in conjunction with the first two methods.

Additionally, I finally made a post regarding the resources I’ve found to be more-helpful in learning Japanese, and I mentioned a video from Japanese Ammo with Misa that I’m finally revealing here.

First let me explain the two methods.

“The Manga Method” and “The Anime Method”

A lot of people do not recommend using anime to learn japanese (and with good reason) but they haven’t met Misa.

Originally my particular method was very tedious, involving typing it all into google translate (people also do not recommend google translate but when you don’t have a native to check your work, google kinda becomes your best friend. Tofugu has an article about why you shouldn’t use translators, please check that out as well) and substituting key words to make your own sentences (which I never really used because it was too tedious)

But Misa has this video (which I highly recommend you watch) explaining how you can use anime (and essentially manga or music and potentially games) to learn japanese. (Just remember that real people don’t say things like “Dattebayo” and “Teme” and you may be learning vocabulary that won’t help you in real-life situations. That being said, my goal is to read manga.)

https://youtu.be/bX8zfeI7Vg4

You can watch the whole video or skip to: 4:30

Great now that you’re back you may be starting to get the picture. I also recommend watching any of her song lyric breakdown videos in order to really see the method in action.

All props and credit to Misa for being amazing and making it easier for people like me who really just want to read manga or watch anime. I know a few people have mentioned that Japanese can be translated in this way, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone break it down like this.

Using her method (with a lot more knowledge of grammar than when I first started) compared to my method to read manga, it was like a whole new world opened up to me.

Yes, it is still very tedious and difficult but ultimately very rewarding.

In short her method works like this:

私はりんごを食べる

* This is the sentence we want to translate

私は/りんごを/食べる

* break the sentence up by locating the particles.

私は/りんごを/食べる

* Find the subject (usually in the beginning in front of the は particle) and the main verb (always at the end)

I / りんごを/ eat

* Now we know Who is performing the action and what the Action actually is, we just have to figure out what is being acted on.

私は/りんごを/食べる

I/apple/eat

So the sentence would be translated as:

I eat an apple

Seems simple enough but Japanese has a lot of phrases, expressions and words that don’t translate directly into English. And if a phrase had a particle in it it will be harder to identify separate words For example:

あの男の子はとても頭がいいです

If you are only looking for particles and you’re new to Japanese, you might break up the sentence like this

あの/男の/子は/とても/頭が/いいです

That/man’s/child/very/head/ is good

And you might translate it like this:

“That man’s child has a good head”

Which could be easily interpreted as “That man’s child is smart”

But

If you have studied Japanese for a while, you know it should probably be broken up more like this:

あの/男の子は/とても/頭がいいです

That/boy/very/smart

And translated as:

“That boy is very smart”

男 is the kanji for “man”

The の particle denotes possession

And 子 is the kanji for “child”

While they can be used on their own to mean “man” and “child” respectively, together like this “男の子“ means “boy”

If you wanted to talk about a man, You might use “男” by itself or “男の人”

頭 means “head” but 頭がいい means “smart”

But But

All that being said, context is the most important part about learning Japanese.

I’m still a beginner in Japanese, but from what I understand, the sentence:

あの男の子はとても頭がいいです

Could very well be translated as either:

“That boy is very smart”

Or

“That man’s child is very smart”

Depending on the context.

It’s easy to see the confusion and I don’t want to discourage anyone from learning Japanese. But this is one of the reason’s why you need to stay away from google translate and use a website like jisho.org.

I haven’t really figured out a way around this problem yet but my suggestion is to take a phrase at face-value if you can’t figure it out. The beauty of translated manga and anime, is that someone had already put in the work for you. Break apart what you know and for the unknown, learn it as a phrase within itself. Chances are the phrase will reoccur in a different context that might help you understand it better.

Obviously the more Japanese you learn, the easier it will be to distinguish between words and phrases and if you really want to know what’s going on, you can find an answer on the web. I just wanted to address this little caveat that I wish I had known sooner.

One of the first things anyone will tell you about Japanese is that context is ridiculously important (i’ve used HiNative to ask if I’m writing simple sentences correctly like “I like to draw” and even then I received responses like “it depends on the context”), but even with context some things just don’t make sense or translate into English all that well.

Once again, I’m still learning and If I find a better solution to this problem I will share it. For all I know, Misa could have a video about this or the problem will resolve itself once I know more grammar. Until I figure it out though, I’ll be here posting my updates

#日本語 #learn japanese #dork speaks

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Underrated Anime Series (Part One)

I can’t say that this will be the only part, but I don’t know when the next part will come! “Underrated” is a little broad. 

My definition means that I haven’t met a whole lot of people that have watched it, and I haven’t seen a whole lot of content or it on this website. Of course, you might not agree with this list. If there’s one missing, it’s probably because I haven’t watched it (Mushishi, 3-Gatsu no Lion, etc.). 

In order to qualify, I watched 12+ episodes or the complete series (only Honey and Clover remains uncompleted for now). 

NO ANIME MOVIES! That’s over here “Underrated Anime Movies (Take One)”

The descriptions, general information, and recommendations are generally provided by MyAnimeList with some editing done.

This list started off small then swelled out of control. It took me a long time. Hopefully, you can find a new anime to like on this list! Prepare for a long post!

Hachimitsu to Clover / Honey and Clover

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Josei, Romance, Slice of Life Studios: J.C.Staff Length: 24 episodes (23 min per ep)

Three poor college guys live in a rundown apartment building. Shinobu is a mysterious, quirky person, who does things on a whim. Takumi is passionate both in work and love, and Yuuta is a simple person with simple dreams and desires. They meet a girl named Hagumi who is friends with Ayumi. Hagumi is a petite young-looking girl (basically, what the internet calls a loli). Ayumi is a beautiful and talented young lady. Together, they all try to get through college life and romance.

Similar Anime: - Nodame Cantabile: College students from artistic faculties both overcome personal hardship while finding their own personal romance. - 3-Gatsu no Lion: From the same creator and mangaka, the slice of life way of telling the stories of these dynamic characters and the differences and contrasts between the two stories definitely make them unique in their own right.

This is a great anime with a light palette, a simple yet stunning soundtrack, and a great story that brings realism and charming characters together. With strong performances from the voice actors, you will notice notable names like Tomokazu Sugita and Hiroshi Kamiya. To me, this was one of Sugita’s best roles. It showed me a more dramatic, vulnerable, and emotional side of his acting which was probably shown in Gintama a few hundred episodes in.

My complaints are that the pacing is a little slow sometimes (as expected with a slice-of-life series), and I didn’t like Hagu much because the internet poisons those types of characters (lolis). It makes her romances very shady and uncomfortable for me. You also might be deterred if you don’t like the genre.

Death Parade

Studios: Madhouse Genres: Game, Mystery, Psychological, Drama, Thriller Length: 12 episodes (23 min per ep)

This originally came from a short film called Death Billiards which was part of the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013. This series is basically a young animator’s film being made into a series, and I think that’s awesome. It has the same director as Mob Psycho 100 despite being a dramatic series with no comedy.

After death, you arrive at a bar with no memory of how you died. Without heaven or hell, there stand two options: reincarnation or the void. To decide, you play a game like bowling, darts, or pool. Winner gets reincarnation while the loser is sent into the void. Welcome to death! Don’t be fooled by the opening, this anime is not happy.

Similar Anime: - Jigoku Shoujo: Divine punishment is delivered by emotionless beings. Each episode seems to have its own cast with an overarching storyline even though Jigoku Shoujo is a lot longer. - Psycho-Pass: Even though I haven’t watched this one, both touch on very philosophical subjects that contain the idea of the difference between right and wrong and the lines in between. They are both psychological thrillers.

This anime was one that introduces a new story every episode but has an overarching plot that wraps it together. Its development is done well. The characters may seem blank, but that’s for the sake of the new characters that come with each episode. It can be felt to be very emotional so have your tissues at hand for the finale (I didn’t cry, but I hear it was really sad?)

The art fits the plotline perfectly. The voice acting is strong with a cast that is filled with notable names like Tomoaki Maeno and Asami Seto, but there are many names in the supporting cast as well.

The side plot seems poorly done at times, and there are plot elements that are introduced that indicate another season, but we won’t be having one. There is pretty much no happiness to be found here.

Barakamon

Studios: Kinema Citrus Genres: Slice of life, comedy Length: 12 episodes (23 min per ep)

Handa is a calligraphy prodigy who is sent to the Goto Islands as punishment for punching a veteran judge who called his work “unoriginal”. He must find inspiration and learn the ways of his new life.

Similar Anime: - Poco Udon World/Sweetness and Lightning: I’m not including Usagi Drop because of the manga. SCARRED ME FOR LIFE. These are all about people who fall into a single-parent situation. - Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso: Both are about child prodigies who have to explore life beyond the book, but Shigatsu takes a more romantic drama kind of approach. *Gin no Saji: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

This is one of my favourite anime out there! Its story is relatable to many people who grew up with expectations. It’s about a guy who gets wisped into a life he never asked for and experiences a taste of the childhood he never had. This is one of the first anime I recommend to anyone of any age especially if they’ve never watched anime before. I think this was the first anime I showed to my own mom, and she enjoyed it.

Gakkou Gurashi!

Studios: Lerche Genres: Psychological, Slice of Life, School, Horror, Mystery Length: 12 episodes (24 min per ep)

Yuki loves school so much that she never wants to leave! But it’s not as if she can. She’s part of the School Living Club which consists of the president Yuuri, Kurumi, Miki, Sakura-sensei, and the club dog Taroumaru all live at school. Despite the illusions of Yuki’s imagination, the real purpose of the School Living Club is to escape from the shocking and disturbing truth: the girls are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and have barricaded themselves inside the school as the sole survivors.

Similar Anime: - Madoka Magica/Higurashi: I haven’t watched Madoka and Higurashi, but they both use cute as a facade to hide the darker themes and horrors behind everything. “Moe moe kyun”? More like “moe moe kill”. (I’m going to be kicked in the balls for that) - Girls’ Last Tour: I haven’t watched Girls’ Last Tour, but I know they have post-apocalyptic cute girls doing normal things. They all only have each other and try to enjoy each day peacefully. - Angel Beats: Both shows present normal high school students who live in excruciating circumstances that all hide a deeper meaning. This show has less cutesy moe stuff though.

It delivers on the promised cute elements. I even tried recommending it to a friend who likes Love Live! Let’s just say, there are some differences. The voice actresses do a great job, and I actually found this anime kind of scary (although I get scared too easily).

Gin no Saji / Silver Spoon

Studios: A-1 Pictures Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life, School, Shounen Length: 11 episodes (23 min per ep)

Hachiken is a studious and diligent student who found it unbearable to live with the expectations of his parents and society. With his entry into high school, he decides to attend a unique boarding school in the countryside. The new environment isn’t what he expects, and along with meeting his new classmates and surroundings, he tries to adjust while trying to survive his new life.

Similar Anime: - Fullmetal Alchemist: This is an unexpected entry, but they have the same creator! Both are beautifully developed stories with lovable characters that you get attached to. Hiromu Arakawa is a genius in her own right, and this story has her art and her brilliant storytelling. *Barakamon: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

The voice acting here is great too, and the animation does its job well, but the real magic here is in the storytelling and the characters. I love the entire cast so much. Each of them are realistic and hardworking despite having their own quirky attributes. The setting and the meaning of every line of dialogue really sticks with me. The morals in both Barakamon and Gin no Saji are ones that I will never forget. The only reason why I don’t actively recommend this is because it is a farm, and those with weak stomaches might not like the idea of dealing with farm animals that get eaten, but if that’s the case, why eat meat at all? No animals are killed on-screen.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

Studios: A-1 Pictures Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Isekai Length: 12 episodes (24 min per ep)

*Isekai = Term used for fictional stories where characters are thrown into a new (usually fantasy RPG-style) world

Thrown into a foreign land with nothing but hazy memories and the knowledge of their name, a group of strangers is given no other choice than fight and eliminate anything that threatens the peace in their new world, Grimgar. This is no game—there are no redos or respawns; it is kill or be killed. It is now up to this ragtag group of unlikely fighters to survive together.

Similar Anime: - Sword Art Online/Goblin Slayer: They are of the same genre, but Grimgar does a better job than both combined (but I dislike SAO and Goblin Slayer). - Tate no Yuusha: Another Isekai anime (like SAO and Goblin) except unlike the two other similar anime, these ones are both done well. Tate no Yuusha already has a following.

The voice acting here is great, and we see Hosoya playing the main role for once! The art and animation are done well. This anime takes a far slower approach comparing to other Isekai anime. They spend more time on the emotional burdens of each of the characters and their slower adjustments. While that’s a turnoff to some, they make you view the lives of these former normal citizens and make you wonder whether you’d be able to survive these circumstances, and if you don’t like that... well... there is the fan-service I guess.

Hinamatsuri

Studios: feel. Genres: Comedy, Seinen, Slice of LIfe, Supernatural Length: 12 episodes (23 min per ep)

Yakuza member Nitta is rudely interrupted when a young female esper barges into his life. He quickly finds himself being a caregiver and parental figure to the girl. The unlikely duo lives life unconventionally as circumstances change and everyday chaos ensues.

Similar Anime: - Mob Psycho 100: The number of similarities often go unnoticed, but they are both about shady adults (a conman and a yakuza) taking in a young esper (Mob and Hina) with hilarious stories. YOU MUST WATCH BOTH. - Gintama: Odd choice, I know. Both are quite similar in terms of humour. Gintama takes the shounen route while Hinamatsuri is a seinen series.

The majority of this voice cast are newbies (meaning people I’ve never heard of before), and honestly, they do such a great job that I genuinely thought that these people were seasoned veterans. Same with the studio. I don’t usually see them take on these kinds of projects (with most of their things being basic Slice of Life). The faces are hilarious. The characters are hilarious (thanks to brilliant writing and voice casts). It was so much fun to watch. I had to conceal my laughter at 2am because I was secretly binge-watching this. I failed multiple times. 

Net-juu no Susume

Studios: Signal.MD Genres: Game, Comedy, Romance Length: 10 episodes (23 min per ep)

30-year-old Moriko Morioka is unemployed—and she couldn't be happier. Having quit her job of over 11 years, Moriko quickly turns to online games. With the pesky societal obligations of the real world out of the way, she dives into the realm of an MMO. Life online and in the real world intertwine.

Similar Anime: *Wotakoi: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!] *ReLIFE: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

This oddly relatable and adorable (don’t know what other words to use) romance between two people who meet online is honestly so pure, but let’s not forget that one of the high-ranking staff members of this anime is... uh... less than wholesome. 

Kazuyoshi Yaginumi (director) is a Holocaust denier and a supremacist who has radical political views. But hey, if you’ve watched the third season of Natsume’s Book of Friends, Naruto, No. 6, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Hotarubi no Mori e, Black Bullet, Beck, or Akira, I hate to break it to you, but he was a part of all of them. I found this out after I watched the anime. I probably would not have watched this if I knew. But if you dismiss the anime that this man has worked on, you are truly missing out. Let’s not forget that he wasn’t the only person working on these projects, and he isn’t the creator, but let’s pray that he isn’t hired to do anything else!!! I don’t know of any other major work he got after this one (aired in 2017)

Wotakoi

Studios: A-1 Pictures Genres: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Length: 11 episodes (22 min per ep)

Narumi Momose finds herself running late for her first day of work at a new office. She makes a promise to herself that none of her coworkers will find out about her dark secret: that she is an otaku and a fujoshi. This goes wrong when she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, a friend from middle school. Luckily for her, the only witnesses to this slip-up are Hanako Koyanagi and Tarou Kabakura who are otaku as well. But what happens when otaku date each other?

Similar Anime: *Net-juu no Susume: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!] *Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun: I constantly swear on this anime because I like both of these anime a lot.

I liked this one better than Net-juu no Susume, but that isn’t because of the director of the other one. I like this one for its cast of characters, its use of references that go beyond the gaming world (although this anime touches on it too), and the fact that there are different type of otaku out there. I seriously understood more references than I would’ve liked. 

No. 6

Studios: Bones Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Drama Length: 11 episodes (23 min per ep)

Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—has an encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. Despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6.

Similar Anime: - Banana Fish: I haven’t completely watched Banana Fish, but it features the darker sides of society with loads of casualties.  *Zankyou no Terror: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

Hosoya and Kaji are both amazing in this anime. This anime meant a lot to both of them. Hosoya wanted to give up voice acting while Kaji was a fan of the original series and was hyped to hear its news for adaptation. This heartwrenching story suffers from the whole “rush this bad adaptation”, but as someone who doesn’t read manga/novels, this anime is a great look into the inside of this intricate universe. Again, most of the shortcomings have to do with poor pacing and toned down storytelling (and toned down violence) which come from being badly adapted from the source material, but even after taking away all that good stuff, we’re still left with a pretty good anime. Just don’t cry... too hard... yeah.

Kimi to Boku 

Studios: J.C. Staff Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Shounen, Slice of Life Length: 13 episodes (24 min per ep)

Four high school boys, who have known each other since childhood, hang out together in school every day in their mundane lives. There's the handsome twins Yuuki and Yuuta Asaba, the gentle Shun Matsuoka, and the calm class head Kaname Tsukahara. Although they have become used to a lack of excitement in their lives, the addition of a new transfer student, Chizuru Tachibana, may add a little more adventure to their routine.

Similar Anime: *Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!] *Hachimitsu to Clover: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

While I wouldn’t classify this as a complete shounen nor would I call it a shoujo, it achieves a happy medium with enough anime cliches to call it an anime and enough ordinary elements for me to truly feel that it can be relatable. It has a really nice OST that’s sung by Aoi Shouta at times. We have a stacked and entertaining voice cast, and the story is slow but nice. It pulls more at the slice of life side rather than romance.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou / Daily Life of High School Boys

Studios: Sunrise Genres: Comedy, School, Shounen, Slice of Life Length: 12 episodes (24 min per ep)

Hidenori, Yoshitake, and Tadakuni are just an everyday trio of ordinary guys trying to pass the time, but who said everyday life couldn't be interesting? 

Similar Anime: *Nichijou: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!] *Kimi to Boku: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!] *Gintama: The shows do share a number of voice actors, the humour is similar, and the general nonsensical writing will draw audiences from both sides.

Here’s the more comedic and strictly non-romantic side of Kimi to Boku. This one is probably relatable in way that shouldn’t be shared with the general public. Unlike the other Nichijou (with girls and by Kyoto Animation), this one doesn’t rely on the animation. It relies on humour in its writing. There aren’t any really good female characters in this anime. It does focus on three guys and their antics though. And I mean, is anyone in this anime really a winner?

Natsume Yuujinchou / Natsume’s Book of Friends

Studios: Brain's Base Genres: Slice of Life, Supernatural, Drama, Fantasy, Shoujo Length: 12 episodes (24 min per ep)

Takashi Natsume has had a connection with youkai all his life and soon discovers that his deceased grandmother Reiko had passed on to him the Yuujinchou, or "Book of Friends," which contains the names of the spirits whom she brought under her control. This makes him a target of enraged youkai that want their names back. His only companion is a self-proclaimed bodyguard named Madara. Fondly referred to as Nyanko-sensei, Madara is a mysterious, pint-sized feline spirit who has his own reasons for sticking with the boy.

Similar Anime: *Mushishi: I haven’t watched Mushishi (even though it’s on my watch later list). It contains similar ideas and concepts. *Hotarubi no Mori e: Same creator/mangaka! Yuki Midorikawa has taken her masterful storytelling to other stories, and Hotarubi has a wonderful anime movie that manages to get you with the feels in less than an hour.

I know this anime gets a lot of attention already, but I feel like I haven’t met a whole lot of people who’ve watched it. A shoujo without romance? It’s unusual, but this definitely works out. The simple art works in its favour, and its music is beautiful. This anime has a way of making all of its stories resonate, and if you aren’t going to watch it for the youkais’ stories, watch it for Nyanko-sensei. He’s honestly the best.

Sakamichi no Apollon / Kids on the Slope

Studios: Tezuka Productions, MAPPA Genres: Drama, Josei, Music, Romance, School Length: 12 episodes (22 min per ep)

Introverted classical pianist Kaoru Nishimi has just arrived in Kyushu for his first year of high school. Having constantly moved from place to place since his childhood, he abandons all hope of fitting in, preparing himself for another lonely, meaningless year until he encounters the notorious delinquent Sentarou Kawabuchi. Kaoru begins playing the piano at after-school jazz sessions, located in the basement of fellow student Ritsuko Mukae's family-owned record shop.

Similar Anime: - Your Lie in April/Shigatsu no Kimi no Uso: Both anime are about classical musicians breaking out of their shells in beautifully written stories. Sakamichi no Apollon is arguably more serious and take on a bit of a darker and more mature tone since Shigatsu is a shounen anime while Sakamichi is a josei. *Kimi to Boku: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

This anime suffers the same thing that No. 6 does. The story gets watered down and condensed to fit the short-episode format, and so much is left out in terms of pacing. The voice acting in this is phenomenal. Ryohei Kimura and Yoshimasa Hosoya do not disappoint. Yuuka Nanri barely has any other lead roles, but she does an okay job here too. Yoko Kanno on score composition is one of the best decisions to be made for this anime even if jazz isn’t her main genre of choice. She composed everything masterfully. I wouldn’t have thought that she did it if I didn’t see it on the staff list. Those things are the reasons why I liked this anime so much. The OST and voice acting are good enough for me to recommend this anime despite (like No. 6), the adaptation quality not being that great. Even taking that stuff away, we are still left with a great anime.

ReLIFE

Studios: TMS Entertainment Genres: Slice of Life, Romance, School Length: 13 episodes (23 min per ep)

Hopeless 27-year-old loser Arata Kaizaki bounces around from one job to another after quitting his first company. He meets Ryou Yoake who offers Arata the opportunity to change his life for the better with the help of a mysterious pill. Arata takes it and awakens to find that his appearance has reverted to that of a 17-year-old. He takes part in a unique experiment and must attend high school as a transfer student for one year. Arata struggles to adjust to his hectic new lifestyle and avoid repeating his past mistakes, all while slowly discovering more about his fellow classmates and himself.

Similar Anime: - Erased: Both anime are about adults reliving their past and trying to make amends for past mistakes that they’ve made. Erased takes more of the murder mystery route while ReLIFE stays in a simpler slice of life style. *Net-juu no Susume: [ON THIS LIST - Please look at both anime entries to see why!]

This anime suffers the same thing that No. 6 and Sakamichi no Apollon does. The story gets watered down and condensed to fit the short-episode format, and so much is left out in terms of pacing that they had to fit hundreds of chapters into the second season which had FOUR episodes. This one has an awesome casts which mixes experienced voice actors with newer ones. This was one of Yuuma Uchida’s first major roles, and we see new(er) people like Reina Ueda and Himika Akaneya mixed in too. In terms of experienced voice actors, we can look forward to Kensho Ono and Ai Kayano playing the main characters along with Haruka Tomatsu and Ryohei Kimura also playing major characters along with appearances from Noriaki Sugiyama, Daisuke Namikawa, and Miyuki Sawashiro. With a bunch of new EDs with practically every episode and an OST that people seem to love or hate (jazz piano riffs have to be your thing, and I liked it), the music is hit and miss. For me, it was a hit. The jazz soundtrack is out-of-place but unique. It takes a sharp contrast, and it isn’t bad music. 

Senyuu

[This anime is on the “Anime with Short Episodes” list]

Studios: Ordet, LIDENFILMS Genres: Action, Comedy, Parody, Fantasy, Shounen Length: 13 episodes (4 min per ep)

In a story we’ve all heard before, the demon lord is sealed until things go amiss! Amateur adventurer Alba Frühling and sadistic talented soldier Ross must go defeat monsters and seal the demons away.

Similar Anime: - Saiki: Both episodes have short run-time and derive their humour from parodying genres. Senyuu takes the RPG adventure genre and flips it on its head while Saiki takes overpowered espers and pulls it like Hinamatsuri and Mob Psycho 100. - Konosuba: I know this is strange coming from someone who actually detests Konosuba. I couldn’t stand the characters that were flawed to the point where I couldn’t like them no matter how hard I tried. Both take the RPG adventure world and parody it to the point where you wonder why these flawed buffoons are trusted with anything.

This anime is one of my favourite short anime out there. With a short run-time of four minutes, it quickly got me invested in the story and the characters. It was so funny that I found myself binge-watching both seasons and the OVAs within the same day. Yuuichi Nakamura and Hiro Shimono provide their perfect performances for this anime. The other cast members contribute a lot as well with other names like Ai Kayano, Yumi Uchiyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Kenichi Suzumura, and others. Hiroshi Kamiya also takes the lead role in the OVAs. Overall, it’s a great watch when you have no patience for 24-minute episodes.

Honobono Log

[This anime is on the “Anime with Short Episodes” list]

Studios: Fanworks Genres: Romance, Slice of life Length: 10 episodes (2 min per ep)

Insights into couples, why they’re better than being single, and why you’re just a sad loner.

This is actually based off a picture book.

Similar Anime: NONE!  I truly haven’t seen an anime like this around. While Tsurezure has its similarities in short-run time and romance, this one is vastly different. Dareka no Manazashi is too different to say it’s similar. Both are short (although Dareka no Manazashi is a short film) and about life, but Dareka no Manazashi is different because it focuses on one person doesn’t have romance and relies on more of the “growing up” part whereas Honobono relies on each specific situation.

This anime is another one of my favourite short anime out there. With a short run-time of two minutes, they manage to guilt-trip you for being alone and single. Of course, not all of them are about cute couple stuff, but some are about family and growing up. Miyu Irino and Asami Seto do an amazing job, and the OP is really nice and adds to the heartwarming factor of this anime.

Zankyou no Terror

Studios: MAPPA Genres: Thriller, Psychological, Drama Length: 11 episodes (22 min per ep)

Six months after a mysterious unsolved terror attack, a strange video makes its way onto the internet. In it, two teenage boys who identify themselves only as "Sphinx" challenge the police, threatening to cause destruction and mayhem across Tokyo. The police struggle to act effectively against these terrorists, with Detective Kenjirou Shibazaki caught in the middle of it all. The two boys behind the masked figures of Sphinx are known as Nine and Twelve, and they stand strong in a world of deception and secrets while they make the city fall around them, all in the hopes of burying their own tragic truth.

Similar Anime: - Death Note: I haven’t actually watched Death Note (haha), but they are both similar. I know that much. Both are about the police lagging behind some teenager as they wreak havoc, but while Light Yagami has a god-complex, Sphinx has its own secrets. - Psycho-Pass: I haven’t watched this one either, but both take on philosophical ideas that make you wonder whether society should be run one way or another. They are both centred around law enforcement and the detainment of those who step out of line.

Yoko Kanno provides yet another stunning masterpiece for this anime’s score which really drives the anime further. Along with extremely strong art style from Studio MAPPA, it creates for a very mysterious and eerie tone that fit the anime so well. The voice acting from the two leads and the detective are amazing, but I can’t say they have good female characters in this anime, and without good characters, I can’t say there was good voice acting on their parts, although, Megumi Han did sound pretty good in her given role. Soma Saito and Kaito Ishikawa are both close in real life, and it almost transcends onto the screen in this anime.

The story is riveting even if it’s been done before. It’s not the most unique in that right, but I still found myself finding these characters to be human. It was well-paced too and didn’t feel dragged or rushed for the most part. Shinichiro Watanabe directed and created this, and you might know him for Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope, Space Dandy, and more, and he certainly does not disappoint with this anime.

#long post #relife #zankyou no terror #terror in resonance #honobono log #senyuu #no. 6 #death parade #Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou #The Daily Lives of High School Boys #kimi to boku #net-juu no susume #gakkou gurashi #barakamon #Kids On The Slope #Sakamichi no apollon #wotaku ni koi wa muzukashii #wotakoi #hai to gensou no grimgar #silver spoon #Gin no Saji #hachimitsu to clover #honey and clover #anime #underrated anime

[therewillbesparkles]

mangas

Want to purchase X-Males t-shirts on-line? Whether or not you could have a love for The Avengers, Incredible 4, Thor, or X-Males there are a lot or t-shirts and different merchandise to own. My childhood included a love for 60s and 70s Marvel and DC comics, and my capability to draw originates in part from finding out the tales I read in these days. We worked for a year together on the piece to plan and draw it. Toy companies like Hasbro and Kenner used to produce hundreds of Batman action figure than is launched every year with some variation in it. Transformers 2, the science-fiction film is the most recent sensation, and is the most awaited film of the 12 months. Let's take the film Avatar as an example. Once in a while I went again to the game to take a number of extra screenshots to increase a plot. Within a few minutes, I started making comic strips. Unlike his other comic strips, in Battling Boy, the hero is a kid, who is on a mission to avoid wasting town.

In reality, the opposite series of battling boy grew to become widespread. To conclude on this topic, I believe it's an incredible concept to give our kids the funny comics created means-back-when, comics from your and my childhood. To read a narrative in adventurous manner is sort of exciting for all the kids. You've to beat the constraints of speech bubbles and the difficulty of telling a narrative body by frame. Admit it you may have! I’m positive you've heard this popular on-line store. Since Children's Graphic Novels are really simply an outdated idea with a fancy new name, why should not you explore taking outdated successful comicbook concepts and reinventing them for a brand new era? The concept was to convey the identical meaning with phrases that I suggested via colors, textures and pictures. Popular Online Comics solidify a that means of a word because pictures help that means to words. The nomination was a significant achievement for an artist who had - quite literally -started out small, drawing Submit-it note sized comics and hiding them in different people’s work in bookshops. The primary comic strips appeared in Germany in 1865. It was about two boys who're getting punished for always stepping into mischief.

Moreover, if we're sincere with ourselves, we all know that plenty of mischief is downright humorous. Why are previous coins price more than at the moment's coins? Full collections will fetch lots greater than random particular person comics. Our purpose is to give our readers a very good piece of entertaining and educational comics on which will develop up not one in all the long run generations. These blockbuster movies performs a vital function in the comeback of comics. People who need to cherish their childhood recollections with the comics; they can easily find low cost comics to start out their comedian collection. In today of "I need the latest and latest," we actually discover that some of the real treasures are issues of old. Comedian books are detailed stories. Apart from conventions, yard sales and used guide shops can be extraordinarily price efficient sources for collectible comic books. A comic e-book adaption in addition to a novel publication is being carried out for the movie's promotion. That assumption is mistaken and is an insult to your complete comedian ebook community.

These comic guides give you the type of knowledge you want like the place to get the uncommon and useful comics and where you can get first problem comics as nicely as the back concern ones as well. By selling and buying and selling comics you may be there were the art work is most loved and valued. Moreover, that's where you get the meet fellow fans and catch up on the most recent in the comic books world; information that can show invaluable. Some comedian books editions are collector's objects and if preserved in mint quality condition. Books are restricted because the reader cannot physically see what the writer envisions. Are these behaviors to be condoned? Eyes grow to be circles or dots, mouths are diminished to curved traces, and noses or toes are triangles. Get the newest news. Those that already evaluate huge talents of our website, confess that it is actually essentially the most handy and easy way to be in contact with the most recent innovations of the world of comics.

Properly aware of the advantages that come from studying comics. Which Marvel comics do you have to read earlier than (or after) Captain Marvel? Repetition. Return to your each day newspaper and look on the comics’ page. The cartoonist is using repetition to determine the character. Therefore, we could say that it has nothing to do with a changing developments, no matter is new and trendy, photograph to pop art print stays within the midst of its identified usability in area of art. I regarded, and there before me was a pale horse! There really is one thing for everybody. Cosplay also means costume play and the fans usually come to the comic conventions dressed in costumes. Eight delectable Expansions that adopted added to the joy of the sport play. Then by all means, use it. By way of the use of these exaggerations, it doesn’t matter what other details I include. The possessed doll first hit the screens within the 1988 horror classic 'Kid's Play'. Corey Haim, the lead of the unique horror movie, and Corey Feldman, the 2 Coreys, reprise their authentic roles. Nevertheless, in 2003 Hasbro would relinquish management to Batman's rights to Mattel. You also get preferential treatment in some circumstances and entry to particular events and performances. Did You Know About Fish Smarty? Educational Portal With Many Interactive Games

Brian Michael Bendis is often a critically-acclaimed writer that's popular for his self-published Image and Marvel comic series. He is responsible for many Marvel Crossovers inside the mainstream superhero genre including Secret Invasion, Secret War, House of M, and the popular Ultimate Spider-Man, where he could be still working on today. He has been in keeping with his writing and that he has the maids touch because on the decade now his works have sold considerably well. Batman Unmasked:

Before we proceed into the main topic, let's reintroduce first who's Batman with regard to those who find themselves different about him. Batman is probably the many superheroes that is certainly located in comic strip stories. His alter ego is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire playboy who while very young witnessed the unfortunate murder of his parents Flash by common thugs. It was this event that gave Bruce the motivation to seek revenge not just to those that killed his parents, but to all criminals situating in Gotham City. He then wore a mask had become the hero known as Batman. But that might be evolving as increasing numbers of comics are increasingly being sold for computers and tablets. On the web, independent writers and artists don't have to face the drawback to paying higher per-book print prices on smaller print runs. And there are numerous storefronts and purchasers tools sellers can utilize to trade their original work on favorable prices. Needless to say, the better known platforms will continue to serve the important publishers, but the digital store is not as limited as the space inside a physical store. Using a live model have their benefits in that you can earn from doing live portraits at art fairs along with other public events. A more convenient method specifically for beginners is by using photos. When drawing a portrait you should focus firstly on the face. Here are some tips to achieve accuracy inside your drawing. There are many strategies which come into play when dealing with collectable investment potential and I have only shared two. I believe these are the two main strategies which will help provide some potential now, as well as some protection against weak economic times. They can also help you utilize strong economic times later on. The bottom line is that will have possessions, and memories to go along with those possessions. Some of the key ingredients to collectable buying a weak economy are identical key ingredients in your life. If you balance yourself, you can find enjoyment and happiness. If you extend too much, you risk your balance and happiness. Think ahead. Live today. Cherish your love ones. Enjoy your hobby.

[saotome-michi]

Hi! Well I think they might have changed the regulations since even a BL that was broadcasted this year (the one about the blond guy and his teacher) couldn't show kisses (though i think they could show one in last episode?) anyway regarding not mentioning the kiss perhaps it was due to the fact they didn't choose the BL tag, the scan of the fanbook and translation you can find it in the tumblr account "gogoeeg" under the tag "sayo-yamamoto"

About the event in Philippines, I got friends from there who went and talked to me about it but I couldn’t find a post until now, to read it go to the account zuzusexytiems and search the tag “yoi-news” also not long ago mappa’s ceo talked about how Sayo always had the intention to depict a romance which i think was the most direct statement but of course not choosing a BL tag arrises problems, but even so as I told you about that other bl series, they couldn’t show kisses until last eps

Still same anon, but messages sent later on with links and more clarification: 

Hi! Don’t rush if you need to study, I hope things go well with your finals, i found a twitter thread about the director’s statements on the fanbook (they also put tumblr links with the scans in the thread) i hope this link can be sent well twitter.com/hanleia/status/877682683429609472

Also this is a report of the event my friends in ph talked about, i met them because the persona fandom but they were into yoi too so it caught my attention, there might be more reports but is difficult to find them zuzusexytiems.tumblr.com/post/165924693224/met-sayo-yamamoto-fuuko-noda-of-yuri-on-ice-at-a?is_related_post=1

A second anon, I presume: 

Regarding what the other anon said, is true, that other anime hitorijime my hero had a lot of censorship despite being a BL and even the staff of series “explicit visually” like no6 have explicitly stated the relationship is “probably one sided” or “up for interpretation”. The thing is that even co creator Kubo has already labelled Victor and Yuuri as a couple as well as mappa’s ceo Otsuka and even Sayo said in yuri on life that their love encompasses love like lovers, family, etc so (½)

As someone who participates a lot in japanese fandom I can tell you almost no one denies the kiss and they took that statement as “confirmation” (for westerns it would be when Otsuka said their relationship was 恋愛) I dont consider yoi the best representation but i can assure is not bait, you just have to check official material, あの二人の愛多くの意味を包含するから…友だちだけじゃない、恋人だけじゃない even JCM and Johnny Weir have spoken with the staff and assure is romance (2/2)

First of all, I would like to apologize to both of you for this late response. Although I said I would address this after finals, I got sidetracked by family obligations, and couldn’t really get together enough energy to look through these sources and do research until now. Hopefully you two still see this answer. I am compiling your messages and answering both of you at the same time due to the similarity in topic.

Before I get started on talking about TV regulations, I wish to clarify (especially for those who are not aware of what I’ve already written on yoi) that I do not consider yoi bait, due to queerbaiting being a US/UK concept. In my opinion, the term simply does not make sense in Japan–MAPPA was never trying to attract LGBT viewers to yoi, their material was always well in line with the light BL/shoujo demographic. My past criticism about yoi was focused on its overblown reception among international anime viewers; people were acting like yoi was going to revolutionize all Japanese media in regards to depictions of lgbt people, as if yoi was the first show to have men in love, as if Japanese lgbt people and organizations have not already been fighting this fight for years… and frankly it just annoyed me on how much people misunderstood and oversimplified the situation in Japan. Whatever your views on yoi are, I think most can agree that there’s a real disconnect happening when the only articles talking about how revolutionary yoi is were from western/international websites, and Japanese sites, including lgbt sites, had nothing.  

Hence, despite having voiced my dissatisfactions towards Kubo and the yoi staff before on my blog, my main beef with yoi has always been more about its reception, the international fandom and their activity. 

But I digress– the discussion regarding TV regulations goes back to my post “Yuri on Ice, anime ratings, and censorship”. I wrote this post on Nov 20, 2016–so not long after episode 7 had been released–and in this post I put forward arguments refuting the idea that “the YOI staff censored the kiss either because they didn’t want to change their rating or their genre, or to avoid government censorship laws.” While I still stand by this idea (because ratings and genres really don’t work the same way in Japan as they do in the US, and there are no government censorship laws that apply here) I also see that, after doing some more research, there were other factors that I failed to take into consideration, namely: 

While there are no government laws or agencies that censor depictions of homosexuality in media (as there are in China), that doesn’t mean people/companies in Japan don’t exercise other forms of censorship, such as:

Corporate censorship: the sanctioning of speech by spokespersons, employees, and business associates by threat of monetary loss, loss of employment, or loss of access to the marketplace. 

Self-censorship: the act of censoring or classifying one’s own work of media. Usually done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences of others (Wikipedia).

What I’m hinting towards is that, basically, either: 

Broadcasting Stations, while not having legal regulations, may pressure Anime Studios to change their content and/or

Studios themselves might be inclined to change their content in order to not conflict with Broadcasters’ perceived preferences or to better market their anime to certain Broadcasters. 

This is actually an idea that I brought up in “Yuri on Ice, anime ratings, and censorship”, but did not fully develop– it would make sense if different broadcasting stations had different “preferences” in place regarding what content they prefer in the anime they broadcast, depending on their reach, image, and perceived audience. For example, stations such as AT-X and BS11, which are known for broadcasting a good deal of “shinya anime” (if you do not know what this term means please refer back to my post linked above), are much more likely to screen niche anime with explicit content than say, stations like TBS, whose anime content consists of those targeted to either children or shounen manga readers, a much wider demographic. 

There is a possibility that these “preferences” are formalized in the shape of outlined standards. The JBA (The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association), a non-profit incorporated association whose membership consists of 206 commercial broadcasters in Japan, focuses on upholding fundamental standards for commercial broadcasters, as well as on improving broadcasting ethics throughout the industry. Their standards, which are detailed in this document, “ JBA Broadcasting Standards”, are then used as a guideline for individual broadcasting stations to outline their own standards. However, since I am unable to find any individual broadcaster’s standards on the internet, this is mostly speculation, although the document itself is an interesting read and gives an idea of the various social pressures more mainstream broadcasters might face. For example, a couple of the outlined standards include: 

26. Public morals shall be respected. Any possibility of arousing favorable feelings toward speech or action that is against common social practice, or desire to imitate such speech or action, shall be avoided.

77. When presenting sexual minorities, full consideration shall be given to the human rights of people who belong to said minorities.

A bit conflicting, given that a portion of Japanese people still think same-sex relationships go against public morals... 

So, with all this being said, do I think it’s possible that the yoi staff was pressured into making the kiss scene what it was, not by any laws, but by social pressures translated into Broadcasters’ standards, a combination of corporate and self censorship? Yes, I do. Although TV Asahi did broadcast Shin Sekai Yori, an anime with same-sex relationships and kiss scenes, Shin Sekai Yori is an outlier among TV Asahi’s anime content. The majority of their programs (and BS Asahi’s, another station that broadcast yoi) are targeted towards a wider demographic, so I can see them having stricter standards. 

Having come to this conclusion, I wish to apologize for my old post; although the information included there is accurate, I failed to consider the factors and possibilities outlined above, thus not giving readers the full picture. 

Does this change my opinion about yoi? It changes my opinion that Kubo and Yamamoto could’ve included the kiss if they wanted to, but it doesn’t change the rest of my criticisms about yoi and its reception. 

Oh and before I forget–

Regarding Hitorijime~My Hero: I am not familiar with this anime, but whichever way the kiss scenes were handled does not prove anything in regards to TV Asahi’s regulations, because the anime was not broadcast by TV Asahi in the first place. A quick look at the anime’s main website (http://hitorijime-myhero.com/onair/) shows that it was broadcast by AT-X, Tokyo MX, and BS日テレ–not by TV Asahi.

Furthermore, while Hitorijime may have only had one kiss scene, BL/GL anime such as Super Lovers 2 and NTR~Netsuzou Trap showed multiple kiss scenes, and non-BL/GL anime like Kuzu no Honkai and Koi to Uso each had one as well. (All mentioned anime were broadcast in 2017.)

But if anything, this lends more weight to my theory that different broadcasters simply have different standards, and anime studios self-censor their content in order to market to certain broadcasters. Hitorijime, Super Lovers 2, and NTR~Netsuzou Trap were all broadcast by AT-X (shinya anime) and Tokyo MX (shinya anime), but only Hitorijime was broadcast by BS日テレ (wider demographic), while Super Lovers 2 and NTR were broadcast by BS11 (shinya anime). So perhaps BS日テレ is stricter? Makes sense to me. 

#i have done so much research for this post pls read and like so that I feel accomplished #and not like I wasted my time #anime #censorship #lgbt #media representation #anti yoi #(tagging that bcuz that's where all of my yoi criticism posts are) #yuri on ice #replies replies replies #random letters of blah

[nipponnomad]

TRANSLATION TAKE 2: One-sensei’s interview with Young Sunday (excerpts in detail)

Thanks to the lovely and talented @isasm, we’ve been blessed with a Japanese transcript recording excerpts from One’s interview with Young Sunday. Even though I already summarized the interview, I thought you all might be interested in reading some passages in greater detail (plus whoever put the excerpts together focused on different parts than I did, so it’s like looking at the interview from another angle). I hope you all enjoy it. Especially everyone over at @one-blog!

(P.S. I’m so exhausted I did this all at work today I’m gonna get fired someone help me aaaaahhh :P)

EDIT: Here’s a link to the summary, which I’ve tweaked to fix a couple mistakes I made before I had access to the transcript. :)

Submitting to Weekly Shonen Jump, the magazine everyone longs to be part of

YAMADA: Hey, you know the student council president from Mob Psycho 100? That page is really intense, where the whole page is that scene with the monologue about the pressure he gets from his parents? And it was like, suddenly it's gone all Yoshiharu Tsuge (TN: A famous Japanese cartoonist and essayist).

OKKUN: Tsuge and Kazuo Umezu (TN: Horror manga author).

YAMADA: That guy's style is totally Garo (TN: Avant-garde manga anthology magazine).

OKKUN: For real! It's so Goya (TN: The painter I guess? Or the Spanish film awards? I'm not sure; the literal translation is "So it's Goya," which is so vague I give up aaaah).

YAMADA: (while pointing at Okkun) We better watch it! We'll get drawn into the darkness of artistic criticism. We've gotta handle this like they do on Sawako no Asa (TN: A Japanese talk show).

OKKUN: (to ONE) So you were painstakingly drawing in secret, you created a homepage, did you ever submit your work?

ONE: I submitted something in my first year of college, it was a 19-page gag manga I drew and took over to Weekly Shonen Jump, which of course is the venue everyone aspires to.

YAMADA: So you did submit something!

ONE: It was just the one time.

YAMADA: So how did it go?

ONE: The thing I submitted was really dull. Even as I drew it I was like, "The moment I show this to the editor, I'll be laughed at." Anyway, the guy I showed it to went through it at a crazy speed, totally passing over the parts that were meant to be funny.

YAMADA: Yes, exactly! That's how it goes even now!

ONE: The editor went through 5 or 6 jokes I'd put in, and I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. I was like, "I'm a complete joke, I wanna go home." After that experience, I'd made an elaborate homepage with a blog I updated incessantly, and my updates only accelerated.

YAMADA: Ah, I see.

ONE: That felt a lot safer than submitting anything again.

Posting Manga on Garake

(TN: This seems to be a type of SoftBank cell phone)

YAMADA: So after that disappointment you returned to what was safe, intending to redouble your efforts. I see. Like you decided, "Let's forget about submitting, make my own homepage, and post manga for everyone to read for free"?

ONE: Basically, yes. I had already made the homepage by the time I submitted, and all these other aspiring mangaka I had met through the homepage were winning awards.

YAMADA: So it was like, "That guy too?"

ONE: I was thinking, "Him too?" At that point I was working under the pen name "ONE," and one of the acquaintances who had won an award was like, "Maybe ONE-san will be next?" That was pretty much why I made the mistake of submitting.

YAMADA: So that's how it was. Like, "What have I done?"

OKKUN: So what did you do then?

ONE: Before I tried submitting, I had bought myself a cell phone (TN: Garake) with a camera on it, and I would take tiny little pictures of the manga I was drawing, getting really up close so the pictures wouldn't come out shaky, and upload them to my homepage. Because there was this cell phone service that let anyone create a homepage.

YAMADA: You're part of that generation.

ONE: That was how I released my super ugly manga on my homepage. At that time, you couldn't view an entire page at a time on your cell phone. When you opened a manga, you couldn't see more than two panels or one word bubble at a time.

YAMADA: So hard to read!

ONE: To get through one scene, you'd have to read through about 15 pages that way. At that time, acquaintances of mine started drawing pasokon manga.

The first serialization of One Punch Man on the web

ONE: I didn't know anything about the culture at the time, but I started drawing pasokon manga and uploading it to a website. As I learned more about creating a series, I looked through that site. It was called Niitosha. (TN: "NEET Society," though the characters used for "NEET" spell out "new capital.")

YAMADA: That's an awesome name! Niitosha is an amazing name!

ONE: The name was meant to be something like a place where NEETs gather, though the actual users were mostly students and members of society. When I saw the site, I thought it was really awesome. All the users were beginners or semipros publishing their own works. People had been publishing there for however many years, and there were more than 5000 registered works.

When I looked at the work my friend was publishing on there, I saw a column called "Send Impressions" or something like that. When you clicked it, you could see the feedback other Niitosha authors had left all lined up. And you could also give your own impressions of the work. This site had been made as a place where beginners could receive feedback.

"I've stumbled across a really good place," I thought. "I wanna draw pasokon manga!" I was bubbling over with motivation. So I got myself a notebook computer and a drawing tablet and started drawing in a program called Comic Studio. The manga I drew became One Punch Man.

YAMADA: What!? For real!?

ONE: Yes.

OKKUN: Your very first work was One Punch Man.

YAMADA: Isn't that just the Japanese dream! Amazing! That's the dream we have in this country! At that time, did you ever think it would be broadcast as an anime?

ONE: I never would have believed it.

YAMADA: That manga could have been a Marvel movie! It could come right after Ant Man! "Iron Man," "Ant Man," "Whatever-Else-Man," and then comes "Anpanman" and then "One Punch Man!"

OKKUN: You put Yanase-san in there too. (Laughs) (TN: Takeshi Yanase, creator of Anpanman.) "One Punch Man" follows the Marvel pattern, right?

YAMADA: They'd definitely have to accept One Punch Man over there! (TN: Overseas). On the other hand, Anpanman would totally have the wrong feel. People over there would be like, "I wanna eat him," it'd be like, "No, you can't do that!"

We've got a self-sacrificial type of spirit in Asia, that's why Anpanman is popular. (TN: Anpanman heals others by giving them pieces of his head to eat.) But outside of Asia they'd be like, "Eh? You guys are eating yourselves!?" And it would never become popular.

Surpassing ONE PIECE abroad

(TN: This was my biggest mistake in my first translation because I missed that they were talking about One Punch Man's popularity outside of Japan. One Punch Man does indeed surpass One Piece in sales in the U.S., though not in Japan.)

OKKUN: Looking at viewer comments, it looks like One Punch Man outsells One Piece abroad. I don't know if that's true, but that's what the comment says.

YAMADA: Believe it, everyone!

ONE: I think One Punch Man is number one depending on the day or week, but I don't know all the details.

YAMADA: See! What did I tell you!

OKKUN: What? What did you know that I didn't?

YAMADA: We're sitting next to the guy who's taken over all of America! That time has finally come! (Laughs)

OKKUN: (Looking at viewer comments) It outsells the Bible!?

YAMADA: Whooooa! Wait a second, wait a second! Is that a Beatles reference?

OKKUN: That was Jesus!

YAMADA: Saying, "We're more famous than Jesus"?

OKKUN: Because there's a Paul in Christianity!

YAMADA: All right, that's enough! We're getting way off track!

ONE: Murata-sensei is so amazingly talented.

YAMADA: But it's really incredible. I think of Kinnikuman, and that's drawn like kids' doodles, two people were just casually chatting and they created this character all by themselves.

OKKUN: Are you evangelizing about Yudetamago? (TN: The duo responsible for Kinnikuman)

YAMADA: I'm not talking about Murata-sensei, but rather I'm segueing into talking about ONE-kun's characters. They've (TN: The characters in Kinnikuman) got such a total One Punch Man feel.

ONE: I guess they do.

The hero who solves everything with one punch

YAMADA: What kind of feeling were you going for with that character? (TN: Saitama)

ONE: There's no point trying to cover it up, I liked all the normal manga aimed at elementary schoolers and I read a lot. But by contrast, I thought it would be funny if the character started with the sort of strength you usually see in the final chapter, and I noticed that after drawing the first chapter.

In that first chapter, I wrote "One Punch Man" because he's a guy who takes out enemies in one punch and goes, "Damn it, I did it in one punch again!" That's all I'd come up with.

OKKUN: So it's like you cut out all the boring stuff.

ONE: Yeah, exactly. From there, it started spreading, and it spread far more than I'd predicted.

YAMADA: Was that difficult?

ONE: No, not at all. On the contrary, I suppose you could say it felt easy.

YAMADA: Most people wouldn't think of starting from the end like that, would they? In that sense, the fact that it feels like the character immediately comes out like "HYAAAH!" and makes you go "Whoa, whoa," is probably why it spread like that. Did all that come out naturally?

ONE: Yeah.

OKKUN: There you have it, he's a genius. We've got a genius here. (Laughs)

ONE: There were various difficulties and dilemmas, but at times when things got tricky, it was like the hero trying to use knowledge and personal experience to push his way through...

Reiji-sensei (TN: Yamada Reiji, the host and a fellow mangaka), you've met and spoken with a lot of different people and absorbed a lot of things in a lot of different situations, so I think you can write all different types of characters. I don't think I can do that. So I just solve everything with one punch. (Laughs)

Of course there are also times when things can't be solved through punching. Within the world of One Punch Man, Saitama can adapt his strength in a flexible way. If he has a problem, it's with regular people or with running out of money.

OKKUN: Or hitting up a special sale at the super market.

YAMADA: That's the issue this week. (TN: The literal translation is "That's this week's guy," I'm not sure what he's referring to)

OKKUN: That kind of everyday stuff. Plus he's just become too strong.

ONE: That's true. As the author, I started by creating a character who's really tough and reliable, Saitama's always there no matter what other troublesome character shows up.

OKKUN: I see. That's what makes it so fun to look at.

YAMADA: A real Mito Komon type of guy. (TN: The hero of an old Japanese period drama)

OKKUN: There will always be justice in the end.

The surprising popularity of One Punch Man

YAMADA: Mob Psycho is the same way. He stays quiet, until whatever percentage comes out, and after it comes out it's kind of refreshing. He's the kind of guy that shows up in a manga like "The shocking answer will be revealed just seconds from now!"

OKKUN: Isn't Mob Psycho drawn as the flip side [to One Punch Man]?

YAMADA: We're moving on to Mob Psycho now.

OKKUN: This program's been all about One Punch Man, it seems like.

YAMADA: I actually think we've showed off One Punch Man considerably well. He's a true human being, that guy. That's become all too rare, I think. Thank you very much. Have I got it all correct?

OKKUN: So you were getting responses from others, but when you posted on Niitosha, did One Punch Man become popular immediately?

ONE: It was pretty quick. I was shocked. I drew and uploaded the first chapter thinking I'd be happy if I got one or two comments like other manga, but then I was sitting their watching the comment column after each update and the number was increasing more and more. There were people who said they were looking forward to the second chapter, so I worked hard and released the second chapter, and within three or four chapters, it seemed like the people on Niitosha decided I was an author who was going to update properly, so I got even more views.

There are a lot of web manga that just stop right in the middle, or chapter one gets posted and the next chapter gets posted 3 years later. (TN: Ain't that the truth!)

YAMADA: That's why we update every week. Every week on Wednesday, everyone can rest assured that the next update is coming.

OKKUN: Saitama's a hero for fun, isn't he? Then he enters the association and gradually rises through the ranks, like he's just flowing right through them. Like he's just going at his own pace. Then he gets this disciple, right? A cyborg.

YAMADA: I need to butt in here, this show has been crammed full, it's time to snag your favorite food and prepare for the second half.

OKKUN: For real!?

YAMADA: It's already been 40 minutes.

OKKUN: You're right. Crap.

One's three themes

YAMADA: When I look at Mob Psycho, and One Punch Man is the same way, I feel like it conveys three themes.

YAMADA: Basically, the three themes ONE has embraced are: "What is power?" "What do we do with power?" And moreover, "What is our true power?" How do people who have power live their lives in relation to that?

So in the end this leads to a theory of life or a theory of happiness, really the mechanism underlying everything, I think that's amazing.

Basically that thing with wanting more power never changes, and it leads to the same problem at the start of both works that you see in common with works by other authors. The character's default is overwhelming power. It's the same in both works.

Looking at it objectively, the people who always win are naturally going to be viewed as protagonists. This is what we always want to show. But first, I want to show some great pictures you've done. Your pictures are the best. This is the scene where the protagonist shows up in chapter 2. This picture, at the very beginning.

YAMADA: Was this the picture you started with on the homepage? What kind of picture did you start with?

ONE: It hasn't really changed. (TN: Between the online and the print versions) But this is much better, because the homepage I used in college was so bad.

YAMADA: When you were taking pictures with your phone?

ONE: Right. I was just drawing these tiny pictures because I was restricted by the camera. You can't just draw tiny pictures, right? So I was drawing pictures and making what looked like reduced versions of them.

OKKUN: Everyone, this viewer comment says: "ONE has gotten so skillful."

YAMADA: He has. He's become so good since the beginning, but these pictures at the beginning are really interesting. This is a picture from the beginning. Reigen is showing up like "BAM," this is chapter 1.

YAMADA: I think this is so awesome.

YAMADA: And this, it looks like Ebisu Yoshikazu. (TN: A Japanese actor—our Tome-chan is way prettier than him, btw!)

(Laughter in the studio)

No assistants or anything

YAMADA: It's like this awesome magazine from the 80's, Garo. Was that an influence at all?

ONE: I actually haven't read it.

YAMADA: Where did a picture like this come from? You just did it and it turned out like this?

ONE: I probably didn't use a reference.

YAMADA: It definitely feels like you didn't copy anyone else's work.

OKKUN: Do you have any experience with assistants?

ONE: None. (TN: I know he has assistants now, though...maybe they’re just talking about when Mob Psycho first started up?)

OKKUN: Ah, that explains it!

YAMADA: If you'd had assistants a lot of things would have been fixed up. (TN: His verb form here implies that would be a bad thing, like ONE's art would lose its originality)

OKKUN: No assistants, and I've been told no editor either.

YAMADA: Like these lines that draw focus to Reigen here, the points hit right here and it just pops like "BAM."

YAMADA: Normally it has that effect. This was done without white out?

ONE: It's a sticker.

YAMADA: Oh, so it’s just put over top! (Laughs)

ONE: Yeah, it's just a sticker from Comic Studio.

YAMADA: So you can do this because you're using Comic Studio, this is awesome.

The Sid Vicious of the manga world

YAMADA: As I think you can see from this program, I take an oblique view of what's skillful in terms of artwork. A picture can be unskilled but still interesting, some pictures have more expressive power and I respect that. That's one way of saying it. Higashimura Akiko's like that too. (TN: The mangaka who did Princess Jellyfish, among other things)

It's a doctrine of expressiveness. A doctrine of anything being good as long as it conveys. I like people saying, "I want to convey this, so let's do it this way." It's so punk. It's avant-garde.

This is especially interesting, Reigen's hand when he's talking on the phone. This is the best.

YAMADA: Everyone has trouble drawing a hand holding a telephone.

(Laughter in the studio)

YAMADA: It's hard to draw. But I don't think you should start with trying to do it properly. All things considered, anything goes. This is punk. This is early hip hop.

YAMADA: Looking at a guy who goes with his gut, I feel like, "This is super unskilled but super interesting, maybe I can do this too." It's like Mashi's guitar playing in The Blue Hearts. (TN: A Japanese punk band) It's Sid Vicious. It's destruction and creation at the same time.

OKKUN: (to Yamada) There's only one person in your class, and he's the one who drew it.

YAMADA: Moreover, the contents seems like it gives rise to some delusion that, "Anyone could draw that!" But in your case, you draw totally differently from anyone else, you give us real human beings.

YAMADA: All fluffy or intense like "BOOM" (Imitates a Dragonball Kamehameha pose) That's how everyone draws. Speaking of which, what is "BOOM"? Nobody ever seems to think "It just went BOOM, but what's actually BOOMing?" There's just this BANG when someone's like, "At last I've achieved power, the world belongs to me!"

 Because you're giving us real human beings, we feel like, "No, it really is like that," or "I can totally understand that, but let's not act like that around people."

 When it comes to true human beings, those who have power are the ones who must carry it, and there's a sense of security in that. It times of political instability or whatever, those with political power are the ones who have to worry about it. Everything rides on those with power deciding they want to join forces. Which is really interesting. This is the most important part of these drawings.

#one #one sensei #opm #mp100 #one punch man #mob psycho 100 #translation

[mari-m-rose]

hansenlinlin ha respondido a tu publicación “ugo-the-nerd ha respondido a tu publicación:eleore: I wish people...”

It's not illegal for people to use fanart as long as they don't make a profit off of it (rude? Sure), just like it's not illegal to draw fanart. It is however illegal to sell fanart, even if it's the artist themselves. This is because you don't own the characters or the universe utilized in fanart and can therefore be sued for it. In cases of anime and manga though, the creators are usually far more chill about it and see it as free publicity for them.

Exactly, let me elaborate a little tho! Because there is debate and conflict about that and I assure you that laws also protect fanartists. If they didn’t I wouldn’t have been able to force people to take down my work. (I apologize for the long text and for repeating a lot >+o ).

As long as I don’t trace the characters from the anime, manga or original artwork I am allowed to sell fanart, yes. In fact I do it and I have sold a bunch at this point. And not behind the owners’ backs, but in public. Owners can, tho, choose to persecute fanartists or to forbid them to sell artwork, like you said! A recent example is Toby Fox and Undertale, but some time ago even he started to allow it, which is good. Before he gave his permmission all people that knew about it explained to artists they couldn’t sell their Undertale artwork. Awesome tbh. Fanart is starting to be protected by a lot of websites tho, I dunno myself if there’s an specific law that protects it, but if you file a complain to Facebook or Instagram about fanart you drew yourself, they do take you as the legal owner and therefore they warn the reposter that the owner wants their work taken down. And if they don’t do it, they take their site down. In copyright there is this thing called derivative works, which are works done based on an existing one, for example parodies are included (you probably already knew). Sadly you can’t sell derivative works without permission. However a lot of authors allow it. Most of manga artists and magazine owners allow it, like you said! Ever since doujinshi were introduced to the market there is an invisible law that allows fanartists to sell artwork, with the only exception they have to draw everything themselves. IF a fanartist/doujinka is caught tracing manga panels for their work and selling them, the owners’ can sue and most certainly will sue. But most of the time doujinka do it by themselves so it is allowed. I think that this happens mostly because most of the successful mangaka everyone knows were doujinka once! And somehow their talent made them escalate to mangaka. Sadly I only know this part of the story, I totally should investigate how doujinshi were originated. It’s interesting.

So, talking about my case and most of manga fanartists, there is permmission and recognition. Thus we can sell our stuff. I think doujinka have more restrictions but I can’t list them right now (I forgot what those are sorry). I think that they also allow it cause they respect artwork (also because free publicity like you said), since they are artists themselves. They know how much effort it takes to draw and that such effort belongs to artists’ only, even tho it’s the owners creation, artists have different styles and also add to the original work: different colors, different hairstyles, eyes, nose, lips, clothing, etc. There is a geniune creative input therefore it’s difficult for them to also own fanartists’ artwork. The art belongs to the fanartist fully, because it was done by themselves. In fact that’s the problem....it’s difficult to approve laws for such subjective differences. People can copyright logos and brand names, but to copyright concepts (characters are concepts) is difficult. AND that’s the current debate. As for now, owners can decide and we as their fans choose to listen to them out of respect, like Toby Fox’s case. Ohtaka and other mangaka allow doujinshi and fanarts for selling and thus we are able to run free with it. As long as we don’t trace or use the logo. That’s what we can do until further notice.

And just as most artists respected Undertale’s author wishes out of sympathy (not all of his fans did it btw, some of them just ignored and continued selling Undertale fanart and it was impossible to persecute them all), we fanartists also ask that our audience, out of sympathy respect our wishes about our art.

My point is, I’m the legal owner of my art even if it’s fanart, since I did it myself, author’s rights protect me. Since the owner of the series (In Magi’s case Ohtaka and the Shogakukan )also allows it, I can sell it too as derivative work. BUT it’s true there is a debate and it’s difficult to define, so I also ask people out of sympathy and respect that they listen to us and try to have us in mind as much as possible when handling our stuff. Nothing else.

I pretty much repeated what you said but also wanted to add why laws protect us too. It’s as if we had permission for our derivative works, thus we are owners too. So reposting without permission is in fact illegal. Illegal is tho a heavy word, I regret using it, because people get the picture I’m so extreme I would put them in jail if I could or something. It’s def not a crime nor I would actually sue someone, the only thing I demand with my poor English (and lack of patience) is basically: respect. Thank you very much for your input!

#hansenlinlin #reply #I also apologize #when I was an english teacher it was easier to practice english everyday and learn #but now I lack better words and my writing is awful >+o