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#I actually love those shots of him for like half a manga panel where he looks like he’s gonna fall over and drop dead lmao
bitch-a-la-mode · 22 days
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The fact that Loid is probably canonically getting stomach ulcers, but not from the stress of being a secret spy for many years, but from the stress of being a husband and father, is just so great to me idk
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chidoroki · 11 months
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182 Days of TPN - Day 56
Chapter 56: “A Deal, Part 1”
His threats might scare the kids had they not already dealt with an adult such as Isabella. He might’ve fired a shot in Emma’s general direction, but their mom has literally broken bones and shipped out several children. Ya can’t get much scarier than that.
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I know I said it already, but I still wanna know how the other three farm’s IDs are coded as well as where those from Goodwill Ridge are located on their bodies. We only have Barbara & Cislo as reference for that farm and their IDs aren’t anywhere plainly visible, even in their various flashbacks/extras (ch124/129/153/154).
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Unfortunately for y’all, your IDs aren’t as easily concealed like the rest of them. With Grace Field often renowned as the top premium farm, we see how troublesome their ID placement truly is in ch117. (Emma sorta uses this and GF’s reputation to her advantage in Goldy Pond though.)
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They only arrived at the shelter the previous day.. how much did you two possible read in one night??
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I still dunno how the monitors can get so many vantage points or where their camera or whatever are really, but they’re able to gather information from other farms, somehow. I guess that random radio season two had the kids find isn’t totally random, or at least the idea of it.
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Keyword: FOUND. In one of the many books from the shelter’s huge library. Not conveniently pinned to the wall in the monitor room in plain sight. Stupid anime.
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Naturally, the anime leaves out the second half of this letter too.. or maybe Gilda just never reads the full thing. We never actually see what’s written on the letter as we do in manga, but it’s safe to say it was shortened regardless.
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Ray sticking to his forest vow never fails to put a smile on my face. Talk that determined protagonist talk, boy!
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Can’t blame them for being doubtful though. He’s serious this time kids, trust him!
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Do ya see how unbothered they look? Not surprised at all that he broke free from the restrains nor do they show any sign fear. Even if they were the tiniest bit scared, RE surely wouldn’t show it.
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Favorite panel/moment:
While I do enjoy the two troublemakers being skeptical about Ray staying alive, I also fancy this Chris in the background. For a little dude who doesn’t have that big of a role, I sure do love him a bunch.
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blogishdaj · 1 year
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CSM liveblog - Vol 1 Ch. 7-10
Made good progress on comms today! Sneaking in a chapter or two before I sleep.
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Well the cat looks more stressed in the manga lol, that's nice.
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Really nice framing/composition on this one.
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Power flashback time!
It's a shorter sequence than in the anime so I appreciate Mappa for showing more Nyako/Power moments.
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I like this page too. Sudden Bat grab feels abrupt. Or maybe it's just my anime experience coloring that feeling.
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Noting this too, the takeoff being shown by just the roof shattering.
(Idk if all the things I'm pointing out are usual shonen manga conventions but I've read like 3(?) Actual Manga*, so bear with me here as I take down notes.)
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:U
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Man I really like how flashbacks are done here.
Okay on to Chapter 8.
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After reading in the infinite scroll webtoon format for so long seeing paneling like this is such a visual treat.
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He's so shocked 😭
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I love protagonists who don't give into villain philosophizing.
Okay Chapter 9 now.
Oh so here's where the montage of Power and Nyako come from.
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Lol such a weirdly-romantic-looking shot
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Hahaha
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Dude really got a glow-up in the anime. Why'd they make him more muscular? Fanservice?? I haven't seen a single Denji simp.
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These close-ups of Leech's face are killing me. She's just 👄
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:D
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HYPE
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HYPEEEE
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Woah fox's design is cooler here. Especially how she's half phased-in and you can see parts of the background through her.
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So cool how the eyes are the last to vanish.
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Cat being pretty chill with all of that happening is source-accurate too lol.
Okay that's it for this liveread!
*The only other manga I've read are Saiki K, Houseki No Kuni... and Spy x Family. The composition/paneling of CSM really stands out compared to those three so hopefully I can Absorb that and apply to whatever future comics I make.
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aot-snk-4238 · 3 years
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My thoughts on AOT No Requiem (Fanmade Ending) Part 1:
With another chapter of this story coming out soon, I thought now would be a good time to share my thoughts on the first part. Before I do that, though, I have a few things that I would like to get off my chest.
A part of me hates that this project exists. Not because I find it disrespectful, but because it serves as a bitter reminder of what a complete mess this ending caused among many fans. I'm still in disbelief how things got so bad so quickly. First, you've got the people who hated it. People began turning on Isayama and calling him a terrible or incompetent writer, regretting ever getting into the series, insisting that it was worse than Game of Thrones, the list goes on and on. People who liked the ending are now endlessly referred to as "ending defenders" or more crude names like "Isayama cockriders," as though they're a bunch of incompetent fools who don't know the first thing about reading comprehension all because they just happened to like it. And then of course you've got the other extreme end of the spectrum where the ones who were disappointed are accused of not understanding the story or they're only upset because their favorite ship or fan theory didn't become canon. This, too, is very demeaning and invalidating for those who grew up with this series that they gave their heart to and cherished for so long, only to have it do what they felt was a complete 180 at the very last second that undid every part of the story they thought was special and unique. It's one of the hardest slaps to the face you can get as a reader and long-time fan, and while I can't fully relate to everyone's feelings, I can at least understand and acknowledge that it's there and it shouldn't be laughed at. Now with all of that out of the way, here are my thoughts and analysis of this fanmade ending and how it differs from Isayama's.
To start things off, I found that part 1 started off similar to how 137 did in the canon manga, with Armin and Zeke conversing in PATHS. The biggest difference would be kid Eren being transported there and seeing his older self. To be fair though, this chapter was only about half the length of what we're used to reading, so I'm sure we'll get a lot more in part 2 onwards.
While Zeke is enlightening Armin on the history of the earth and how the life form that attached itself to Ymir sought to avoid death forever, young Eren is in PATHS too with his older self, witnessing the moment Ymir found the tree and fell in it to become the first titan. At first, there is no dialogue exchanged between them. They just hold hands and watch. Meanwhile, Zeke is still talking to Armin about Ymir and how she continued to serve her oppressive master despite acquiring godlike powers that would allow her to obliterate him whenever she pleased. This is where the team working on this project attempt to provide their own alternate possibilities as to why this happened in a way that would make more sense than what we were given in the canon story in which she simply had a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and couldn't let him go no matter how much he made her suffer.
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So what are these new possibilities? They come in the form of a question, so their validity is not made absolutely certain, but they're presented as the most likely candidates nonetheless.
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According to Zeke, she was unable to separate her own desires from King Fritz and was a lost girl who sought meaning. A place to belong. Tragically, King Fritz was the only connection she had in her life, so she clung to it with everything she had despite it being toxic and abusive. I could argue that these are the very reasons why she supposedly loved the king in the official manga, as explained by Eren in 139, but they weren't explained or touched on as plainly as they were here. I feel like they could have been if Isayama had just been given more time, but sadly the whole thing was rushed and underdeveloped.
Moving on, Zeke states that despite his efforts in trying to understand Ymir and her feelings, it was Eren who ultimately was able to get to her and offer her the choice of freedom. The next page transitions to young Eren standing in the clouds with his arms spread out and a smile on his face just like in the official 137, only this time 19yo Eren is next to him. Now I'm going to be honest here, this is where things started to get a little corny for me. Yeah. I know a lot of people hate that argument, but that's just how it felt to me. And before I say anything else, I want everybody to know that I am in no way about to mock anyone's fondness of this Eren over the one we saw in 139, even if it was a little over-the-top. It's perfectly fine to prefer one over the other, I'm just going to try to explain myself the best I can without coming across as harsh or unprofessional.
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Eren is drawn in these panels to be a stone-faced, determined and unstoppable force who will "keep moving forward until his enemies are destroyed." This is the Eren that many people grew most familiar with throughout the series, despite his occasional breakdowns, but something about the way it was executed just felt a little too overdramatic and exaggerated. For me, the contrast between this Eren and the Eren we were presented with in 139 is too jarring. It came across to me as the fandom's idealized version of Eren, the "chad" Eren if you will, rather than Isayama's portrayal of Eren who is cold and determined, but has also been experiencing stunted mental growth ever since the day he saw his mother get eaten; side note: I know that Eren himself was responsible for his mother's death, but that's a discussion for a later time. Not only that, but the "keep moving forward" line starts to get overused at this point. We already heard Eren say this a number of times before 137 where this first fanmade chapter takes place, so I didn't find it necessary to include that at the end, but it seemed to be the writers' way of trying to reinforce Eren's ultimate goal.
Regarding the rest of the chapter, young Eren asks older Eren what Ymir is still waiting for after he showed her that she's not alone. 19yo Eren proceeds to explain that while he was able to make her feel something again, she still needs somebody to free her. He shows his younger self all of the visions from PATHS that he's seen so far, ranging from past events to alternate realities to things that couldn't be changed no matter what. Now there is only one path left that he strives toward. The one that he believes will grant him and his people freedom. This next line is the one that stood out to me the most throughout this fanmade chapter. Still talking to kid Eren, adult Eren says, "When you wake up, you will forget what you learned, but not what you felt here. This will all feel just like a long dream." Only when he kisses Historia's hand will it all come back to him. This line more clearly explains why Eren woke up crying in chapter 1, but couldn't remember why. Then he circles back to how he intends to carry out his own plan to end the cycle of hatred once and for all. Despite his efforts along the way, he couldn't change the flow of PATHS and save the friends he lost or prevent certain events from happening altogether, so he had to accept that sacrifices had to be made. In this case, he will have to literally sacrifice the world, much to Armin's horror.
To wrap this up, I'm going to finish comparing this to the canon 137, but since the first part of this project only covers the PATHS portion of it, that's where I'll stop as well. To save a little but of time, I'm just gonna be lazy and copy the first part of a quick overview of the chapter I found as part of the wiki:
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So clearly, canon 137 starts off focusing a lot more on Armin and Zeke's differing philosophies and does not provide any further insight into Eren's ultimate motives like this one does, at least not yet. Armin and Eren are bound to face off soon in this fanmade version, but it looks to me like this time the writers are planning on flipping the outcome and having Eren come out victorious instead, especially when I remember the name of this project and what it's based on. I guess that means that in a way, I already know what's ultimately going to happen throughout the rest of this project. Whether it's going to be considered superior to the actual ending is going to depend on if its executed properly. I could very well be wrong about some of this, though. I want to give it a fair shot since these people have clearly put a lot of hard work and passion into this, so I will refrain from further judgement until we get the full picture. On a side note, I just want to say that the artwork is beautiful so far and I commend every artist responsible for their efforts. I also liked the song choice at the beginning and thought it set the mood pretty well.
Thank you to everyone who read the whole thing. This took me far longer to write than it should have because I'm not always good at expressing myself in a way that does not come across as confusing or contradictory. I will continue to share my thoughts as more content is released, which by the looks of it could be any day now.
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beneaththetangles · 3 years
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Reader’s Corner: The Girl Without a Face, In the Land of Leadale, and Rascal Does Not Dream
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 3, Vol. 4
The newest volume in Miya Kazuki’s Ascendance of a Bookworm series dropped yesterday, and there’s a lot to take in this time around—from printing presses to prancing trees to turbulent politics. As the archduke’s daughter, Rozemyne is finally able to make use the printing press she had made many volumes ago, and with a visit to Illgner on the horizon, the bookworm’s horizons shine brightly. But there are dark clouds looming in the distance. And while I don’t want to spoil any details about the particulars of the book, I will say that I did not expect the stakes to rise so quickly. Still, Kazuki’s talent for illuminating the little things continues to shine. I loved the interactions between Rozemyne and Ferdinand, and I appreciated the trace details about magic; I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of both of those things in Part 4. In any case, expect to rejoice with Rozemyne as her inventions continue to prosper, and to be dragged along with her friends as she ascends to greater heights. ~ sleepminusminus
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 3 Vol. 4 is published by J-Novel Club.
In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 2
I felt the first volume of this isekai’d-to-a-world-based-on-a-game story was somewhat underwhelming, but I’m glad I still tried volume two because it was a lot of fun. The highlight of the story is still protagonist Cayna’s family interactions. Back when this world was a game she played on Earth, Cayna had been able to designate certain NPCs as children or other relatives. Mentally and emotionally, Cayna is still an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but now’s she a centuries-old elf with (so far) real children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (plus a niece). Her struggles to adapt to this reality are entertaining, as are her progeny’s efforts to keep up with their eccentric, overpowered matriarch. Another highlight of this volume is learning that Cayna isn’t the only isekai’d person in this world—there are others (including one from a world other than Earth!). I found this volume a striking improvement on its predecessor, and happily recommend it. I’m eager to see where this lighthearted adventure goes next. ~ JeskaiAngel
In the Land of Leadale (Vol. 2) is published by Yen Press, who provided a review copy.
The Girl Without a Face
This one-shot manga centers on a guy and his noppera-bou girlfriend, a youkai that looks like a human girl, except, well, without a face. The manga is basically just slice-of-life snippets of their days together. It’s 100% fluff, with no real deeper themes or major drama, just the two of them trying to find ways to show their love for each other when one of them can’t use words or facial expressions to do so. Surprisingly enough, despite how the two live together and spend basically half the book clinging to each other, the manga is completely chaste, with nothing even resembling fanservice or a sexual relationship. It’s just a lot of cuddling, hand-holding, some kisses, and a whole lot of diabetes-inducing sweetness. Look elsewhere if you want something actually serious, but sometimes you just want to indulge in some pure cuteness, and in this regard, this manga is sure to put a smile on your face. ~ stardf29
The Girl Without a Face is available from Yen Press, who provided a review copy.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Senpai (Rascal Does Not Dream Vol. 1)
Since *ahem* someone got distracted and kind of didn’t finished reading in time to contribute to the recent LNC discussion of this volume, I figured maybe I could belatedly say something here. If I had to summarize this volume, I’d say it’s The X-Files + Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki: half paranormal mystery and half high school romcom, with a dash of sociology (especially as a related to the dynamics of a Japanese high school classroom). The real highlight of the volume is the banter between the leads, Sakuta and Mai; they have distinct voices and make great foils for each other. As an added bonus, I felt the light novel explained a few points more clearly than the anime adaptation did. The story also has some truly excellent messages, which I’ve highlighted before. Notwithstanding my lamentable failure to finish this volume in time for the Light Novel Club, I quite enjoyed it and intend to continue with the series. ~ JeskaiAngel
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Rascal Does Not Dream vol. 1) is published by Yen Press.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, Vol. 1
One of many alternate universe takes on the Evangelion characters, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse opens with Shinji seeing two classmates from NERV Academy (Kaworu Nagisa and Rei Ayanami) chasing after some form of monster in the night. The first volume then follows Shinji as he learns from Kaworu about the creatures known as angels who take on human form by possessing corpses. The angels in this AU are, in effect, vampires. Long story short—Shinji basically joins them to become a vampire hunter with the “Eva” being an internalized weapon that he can summon at will to defend himself against the vampires: Shinji Ikari, Vampire Hunter. I’m sure there’s more depth coming in later chapters, but that’s the vibe I get from volume 1. Honestly, it’s not bad. ~ MDMRN
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, Vol. 1 was published by Dark Horse Comics, but is currently out of print.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected, Vol. 3 (manga)
What’s most notable as I make my way through the manga adaptation of my favorite light novel and anime series is that the early parts of the story—in all three platforms—march toward a distinctly different direction than where it ultimately ends. The appearance of a typical love story is heavy early on, and is presented particularly well in the manga format. Naomichi Io, the mangaka behind “Comigairu,” finds his strength in adapting and sometimes creating new scenarios that focus on romance and humor. His close-ups of the characters, particularly Yukino and Yui, are stunning—if Hikki’s defenses remain strong against the girls, readers won’t be able to prevent themselves from falling in love. And this particular volume is full of panels highlighting the girls as it focuses on the romcom aspects of the series, rarely falling too far down into Hikki-talk and instead, following him through a quandary that upsets his relationship with Yui and allows him to become more intimate with Yukino. Volume three is a transitionary part of the story, but a lovely one, regardless, both for fans of Oregairu and those who simply love a good romantic comedy.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected, Vol. 3 is published by Yen Press, which provided a review copy.
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makeste · 4 years
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BnHA Chapter 279: Here Comes the Airplane
Previously on BnHA: Gigantomachia gathered up the rest of the League and headed off to go help Tomura. Also he is now 80 feet tall. The heroes were all, “whoa this guy is really big, we should probably stop him and maybe even devote an entire chapter or two just to that,” and so they sent three whole people after him, which sadly is pretty much the exact sort of strategy I’ve come to expect from them by this point. Anyway so Mt. Lady tried to hold Machia off but kept getting flung aside, and Kamui Woods tried to catch him but was set on fire by Dabi who is just having way too good of a time setting all of the flammable heroes on fire today, and Midnight tried to put him to sleep but Compress threw a bunch of debris at her and so she fell like 80 feet. The chapter ended with Midnight being all “fuck this” and calling Momo, who ordered the rest of the child soldier squad into action as Machia approached. I’m not really sure what they’re gonna do, but I honestly don’t really care, because it’s Momo, and so, YES.
Today on BnHA: U.A.’s first-year hero students, who apparently had nine hours to prepare their battleground instead of the fifteen seconds we had all assumed, launch a complex multi-staged assault which is actually really fucking impressive because these kids are actually awesome. First they pin Machia down in one of Honenuki’s mud pits, and then they take turns making impassioned attempts to take out the other League members chilling out on Machia’s back. Unfortunately none of these attempts work because of Dabi, who’s working overtime while the rest of the League sits around shooting down each other’s escape plans. Basically a lot of stuff gets set on fire, and then the chapter ends with Mt. Lady pinning Machia to the ground while MINA, YES, MINA, charges at him covered in acid like some sort of video game boss that you need some kind of specific item to defeat. DID YOU KNOW YESTERDAY WAS MINA’S BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS. Anyway so this chapter is basically pandemonium from start to finish, and it’s great. It is a RUMPUS, y'all. A STRAIGHT UP HULLABALOO.
IS IT MOMO LOVIN’ HOURS I THINK IT IS, YOU GUYS. ARE YOU EXCITED. I AM EXCITED
but first, the color page we were promised, in celebration of Six Whole Years Of This Bullshit!!
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oh god oh god so much to love so little time
some of the rowdier characters are making MULTIPLE APPEARANCES IN THIS SHITSHOW, including Kaminari who appears to be in a record-setting THREE of these! who exactly was taking all of these pictures, and why are they so obsessed with him. also how many of these are going to be used as evidence in the latest Kami Traitor Theory posts and is it too early for me to get mad about it
“WE INVITED ENDEAVOR AND HAWKS TO OUR ‘BEING FANCY ON THE COLOR PAGE’ PARTY, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE NOT U.A. STUDENTS OR FACULTY. WE JUST FELT LIKE IT.” listen that is fine, y’all don’t have to explain yourselves to me
Mirko however is not here, I assume because if she was, Horikoshi would have forgotten to draw all the rest of the characters again. she’s too powerful
Midnight is so sexy I don’t even ksdfnkl
ALL MIGHT LOOKING HAPPY GIVES ME THE STRENGTH I NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE REST OF THIS WEEK. YOUR SMILE IS THE MVP
Cementoss’s face is the runner-up MVP and one of the greatest things I’ve seen in my life
half the people here seem to be attempting to flirt with whoever is taking the pictures. I am starting to suspect that the culprit is Momo. change my mind
for some reason I am really shocked to see Endeavor getting his drink on. and he’s literally the only one, too
Bakugou’s half-assed I SAID NO PAPARAZZI skills are no match for Tamaki’s legendary “I WILL LITERALLY DIE IF YOU CAPTURE ME ON FILM” abilities
I literally didn’t notice Deku until like three quarters of the page in. he sure does blend right in there
Tokoyami is approximately 97.3% done and ticking EVER CLOSER to full 100% doneness, and when that happens even I can’t tell you what is going to go down
do I even need to mention how sexy Aizawa’s hair is. apparently I do
SERIOUSLY THOUGH CEMENTOSS’S FACE
anyway, so that was nice! NOW ON TO THE MOMOLOVIN’
and we begin with FIRST YEAR CLASS B HONENUKI “MUDMAN” JUZOU just LAYIN’ SOME TRAPS IN THE WOODS, as one does
oh my freaking god Tokage
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somehow her quirk didn’t freak me out quite this much the last time we saw her. she is really something. has she always had shark teeth
also WHERE IS MONOMA’S GROUP. I immediately want to know!! is he with the Shouto group? or is there yet ANOTHER student group we don’t know about? what would they even be doing
or did Horikoshi actually get three quarters of the way through writing this arc and then suddenly slap his forehead as he realized that if Monoma just casually copied Machia’s powers he would either DIE IMMEDIATELY or else become SUPER STRONG and also grow 80 feet tall and this would suddenly be a very different battle with the scales tipping decidedly in the heroes’ favor. and so he had to quickly write him out of the battle in this very half-assed way
anyway, so while I ponder that, Tokage is peeking the top of her head out over the trees and staring at Machia who is, you guessed it, still heading right their way! just like he’s been doing pretty much this entire time
and now there’s a whole page of reaction panels you guys. this is why Horikoshi tries to avoid these massive Endgame-style battles with every single hero known to man participating. hopefully we won’t have too many of these. like I mean thank you for the roll call and all but I’d like to get to the action now
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Mineta of all people is stealing this entire page with that expression though. he is not fucking around. this is twice in as many chapters that he’s been a page-stealing face-making champ. dare I hope this could be the start of a new niche for him? lord knows it would be so much better than the old niche
also this page is just sweatdrops galore. these kids are so nervous. MANGA GODS PLEASE KEEP THEM SAFE, although I’m honestly not too worried about them compared to the adults. I’m sure I should be, but I just am not
all right so now Momo is explaining what those little canisters are!
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okay but someone please explain to me how it is that they had time to stop and lay all of these traps?? not just Honenuki’s, but Mineta’s and what looks like some of Shiozaki’s work as well?? did Machia just STOP MOVING for like five whole minutes all of a sudden for no reason at all? while they were all sitting out here saying things like “with that speed...”? ????? ????????
also lol wtf. “we’re gonna have to make him eat it.” I still have no idea what their plan is, but it’s getting more entertaining by the minute I’ll say that much
okay so Momo says that if they can get him to swallow just one of these, then that should be enough to put him to sleep. oh my god this chapter is going to be AMAZING isn’t it
meanwhile Mineta is worrying about Midnight. I swear to god if they turn this into something where he’s only worried because she’s hot, I will take one of these canisters and shove it right up his...
okay good, Mina’s reassuring him that it’s gonna be okay, and then we’re just cutting to Machia stampeding in with Mt. Lady and Kamui still clinging to him
WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS EVEN DOING
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“we’ll just stand here adjacent to him and just kind of watch as he rushes straight at the children.” someone help me, I’m having difficulty finding a synonym for “useless” that carries the full amount of emphasis I want to place on it right now. this requires a degree of language the human race is not yet capable of
OH SNAP
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THEY GOT HIM YEAHHHHH
OH DANG, FOR REAL THOUGH!!
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ngl, for a brief spiteful moment I was disappointed he hadn’t actually fallen on them :/
and they’re still JUST STANDING THERE, I CAN'T EVEN?? we’re getting to the point where I honestly think actual civilians might have been of more use in this situation
YESSSSS
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TIME TO FIND OUT HOW MANY TENTH GRADERS GIGANTOMACHIA CAN TAKE IN A FIGHT
also, sorry to keep harping on this, but the juxtaposition of that earlier panel with all of the fully grown and experienced pros just standing in dumb awe, immediately followed by this panel of BRAVE BUT DETERMINED CHILDREN CHARGING IN AND YELLING “GO GO GO”, is just... it really is something. shit. if I was the HPSC and this was what I had to work with, I too might have seriously considered fudging a few age requirements in hopes of finding someone who could actually get the fucking job done
also what the hell is going on down there with Shishida and Satou and that third person? what are those Blackwhip-looking things?? I’m confused
ohhhhh no
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Shiozaki is about to be sent flying through the air courtesy of her own hair vines omg
OH NO WAIT THE THREE TOUGH GUYS ARE STOPPING HIM. AHHH THE LAST ONE WAS KENDOU AHHHH
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I still can’t figure out what the hell those are though lol. did Momo make some steel cables?? I feel like Machia would be able to break just about any kind of rope or chain they could concoct just by sheer brute strength alone
ah fuck
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DON’T YOU GUYS GO RUINING THIS FOR ME!! THEY’VE GOT A GOOD THING GOING HERE, LET THEM HAVE THEIR FUN!!
although I do appreciate how they’re all “U.A.!!” in kind of this “oh shit, these guys we actually have to worry about” sort of tone lol
this look on Toga’s face is a bit concerning! well but Deku and Ochako aren’t here though, so I wonder who she’s gonna fight if it comes to that. huh
(ETA: seriously, does anyone have any idea what Toga is planning cuz I sure don’t.)
Shouji and Ojiro, who I might remind you are normal people with no enhanced physical abilities aside from extra appendages, appear to have somehow circled all the way around to Machia’s back and are now climbing up oh shit
oh and Aoyama’s there too! -- is Shouji carrying him omg
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he’s using him as a human ray gun omggg. this is the most delightful thing I’ve ever witnessed
NOW SOMETHING IS BEING SHOT AT THE LEAGUE AND DABI’S STARING AT IT ALL “>:(” AND I’M PRETTY SURE THIS THING, WHATEVER IT IS, IS ABOUT TO BE SET ON FIRE, LET’S SEE
lds;afksjdl;fkj WERE THOSE JIROU’S EARJACKS??!!
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okay you know what fuck you Dabi. you think it’s funny to set a little girl’s ears on fire?! don’t expect any sympathy from me when Aoyama lasers you in the face
WELL I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING BUT THEY’RE SHOOTING WHAT LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF LITTLE TAMBOURINES AT HIM NOW
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I ASSUME THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY TAMBOURINES, BUT I REALLY DON’T KNOW, IT’S NOT LIKE THEY HANDED OUT THE RULE BOOK TO THIS THING AHEAD OF TIME
[HUGE EXAGGERATED GASPING SOUNDS]
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oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my
OH MY GOD AND YANAGI THREW THEM WITH HER POLTERGEIST QUIRK!??
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I DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS “ACK?!!” IS AND IT’S REALLY BUMMING ME OUT, BECAUSE THIS CAME WITHIN INCHES OF BEING THE COOLEST FUCKING COMBINATION I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!?!?
(ETA: it would have laid them all flat in seconds. Kaminari is to be feared you guys.)
NO!!!!!
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it is sincerely frustrating to me watching the League carelessly toss aside all of their painstakingly accumulated goodwill from the MVA arc in the span of just a few short pages. hey Compress, you think it’s cool to hurl a bunch of rocks at my six-and-a-half-year-old son?? I hope someone rips that cool robot arm off and uses it to punch you in the dick
here comes Sero!! and how are you going to die, Sero
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what in the
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did he just... sneeze them all into space
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okay but hear me out, what if Shouda absorbed that impact. SHOUDA YOUR TIME HAS FINALLY COME. CLASS 1-B’S ASCENT TO GLORY
(ETA: watch this space!! Shouda is here for a reason mark my words.)
meanwhile on Machia’s back, Dabi is soliloquying about Machia’s quirk while his arm is doing... something
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please forgive me for not being able to drum up any sympathy for poor Dabi’s arms right about now. quit trying to set all my kids on fire
wait whaaaaat lol
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so I scrolled back up to the previous page, and... that was fire?? lord help me why am I still so terrible at being able to tell when Horikoshi is drawing fire as opposed to just air randomly whooshing through trees. I have really got to memorize that foossh sound effect
so can Gigantomachia just BREATHE FIRE now?? or was ALL OF THAT Dabi??? if it was the latter then at least he had the decency to wait until all of the kids got blown out of range before setting the whole forest aflame to keep them back. I’ll admit it, that was thoughtful of him as far as villain power moves go
OHO BUT YOU CAN’T COUNT MOMO OUT JUST LIKE THAT!!
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AND NOW EVERYTHING AROUND THEM IS EXPLODING AHHHHHH DID YOU GUYS SET LANDMINES, BAKUGOU WOULD BE SO PROUD
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once again I have to ask myself exactly how much prep time they had here. Horikoshi would have you think it was mere seconds, but that clearly cannot be the case?? maybe they set some of these up beforehand to catch any stray villains trying to flee the area?
lmao Spinner’s all “wait why doesn’t he just dig his way out”, because apparently Machia can tunnel himself under the ground. but Compress is all “um because we would die” and Spinner is all “oh right”
though I gotta say, it’s not like they’re that much better off as things are now, either. pinned down in the woods surrounded by fire and explosives. definitely a conundrum
oh snap Compress has realized that their presence is holding Machia back. don’t tell me Machia is gonna head off on his own and leave the rest of the League to square off with the kids
YOOOOOO HOLY SHIT THE HEROES ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING
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there you go, League! free cannon fodder to get you all pumped and confident again!
DKFJLSDKJ
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PLEASE LET THIS BE THE ACTUAL TRANSLATION OH MY GOD. THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE LINE IN ANYTHING AHHHH
“I’m leaving it to you, U.A.’s youngsters!” yeah, you and everyone else. ah well, can’t deny they get the job done
OH MMKJKYYYY GODDDDDDJJK
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MINA COATED HERSELF IN ACID AND IS RUNNING AT GIGANTOMACHIA AND IS SHE ALSO ON FIRE??!?! SHE’S JUST RUNNING AT HIM LIKE A BIG OL’ FIERY BLOB???! QUEEN MINA???!! FIRE IS NOT HER WEAKNESS???! MINA??!! IS AIRPLANE?!??!!?!? MINAAAAAAA
holy fucking shit this whole arc is just one big Arc Of Ladies Getting To Do Stuff and I am 1000% living for it. THIS ARC IS MY FAMILY. I WOULD DIE FOR IT AND LEAVE EVERYTHING TO IT IN MY WILL. ahhhhhhhhhh
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charmspoint · 3 years
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THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT ABT THE BSD MANGA ILY THANK YOU I FEEL LIKE MY OPINION IS FINALLY VALIDATED WHICH IS: BSD has turned meh. I have become indifferent towards the plot due to the fact there are no real stakes - I feel like the OP characters like Dazai will always have a solution with a deus ex machina feel to it, making it impossible for me to care. With the recent chaos happening in the manga (I too gave up on the manga a year or so ago!), I was baffled to find out I could no longer enjoy it. My memory is poor, and I can't really pinpoint it at the moment, but BSD just... doesn't engage me as it used to. Keep in mind I was an obsessive fan of it and analyzed it to the tiniest details, but all of my great love for the series has long died, sadly. But! I am glad to hear you feel similarly about it because, yes, the potential was there, but it got terribly wasted.
Bruh don't I feel it, me and @autumn-foxfire have like monthly bitch sessions about the state of bsd at this point. I was also super invested in it in initial arcs (Up until the guild arc ended) and then slowly started petering off only to drop it the first time around the hunting dogs introduction. Then after some time i was like okay ill go give it a second shot, came to the vampire arc went 'wow this is really fuckin stupid' and dropped it again. Idk will I pick it up again, maybe I'll just stick to being an anime only, even tho I also have problems with some adaptation things but that's BESIDES THE POINT.
Please click under for The Point
The thing about Kafka is: He's really good at coming up with interesting concepts and ideas and REALLY BAD at executing them in any sort of satisfying way. Like, when I say I only like bsd until the end of the guild arc, I don't mean it was perfect. It could have handled it's female cast better, it would have been fun to see more mafia and agency team ups besides soukoku and shin soukoku, I still don't get why shin soukoku is supposed to be a replacement in training since Dazai and Chuuya still work together perfectly and even if they hate each other they hate each other less than Akutagawa and Atsushi AND have way more experience fighting together but that once again is besides the point. The point being those arcs of bsd were SATISFYING. We got introduced to two organizations, seen them butt heads and then have them forced to work together against a common enemy. It's very simple but it's effective and it's satisfying.
And then the rats struck.
While up until then bsd wasn't perfect it was fun and had lovable characters and an interesting plot and engaging dynamics. Rats arc wasn't horrible per say, the idea of the cannibalization was really fun (Though I think Kafka should have used it to get rid of Mori, nobody fuckin likes Mori) but this is where we slowly get introduced to what I think are two main failings of Kafka's writing: That he's unable to handle characters properly and that he likes writing smart things but doesn't know how to write smart things.
Kafka has a very, very bad habit of INTRODUCING TOO MANY FUCKING CHARCTERS. Every arc is a new massive group with like a bunch of members, one of who may actually end up being fleshed out before they are inventiblely replaced by another large group or maybe two why the fuck not. The mafia and the guild left lasting impressions on me and I can still name all the main members but fuck me if i know a single rat aside from Fyodor (AND ILL GET TO FYODOR). Kafka feels like someone who's idea of rising conflict is 'introduce a bigger enemy each time' and it's just so annoying. Chapters and arcs end up centering around these groups of new characters while old characters, who we loved the manga for, just fall into obscurity. He almost had me in the hunting dogs arc by giving Yosano a backstory. I was so excited! I was like!!! finally development for the agency!!! But that barely went anywhere did it. I've talked about this with Foxy but it really feels like Kafka is just BORED of the og characters and is trying to silently sideline them for his new shiny characters. When's the last time we saw Chuuya again, you know, the ex partner of one of the series protagonists? The next predicted mafia head? Is he important? Foxy tells me Dazai's been sidelined too, fUCKIN DAZAI, for a good while I was sure Kafka liked Dazai a lot better than Atsuhi for protagonist and now he's getting sidelined. I know bsd is still really popular in japan but at this point i think it would have been more merciful for Kafka to just end bsd and start a new manga with new characters instead of doing whatever weird metamorphosis this is turning out to be.
Introducing new characters isn't a bad thing of course, but bsd has become mcdonalds of new characters. They are cheap and disposable. I can't feel anything for them because I know nine times out of ten they'll barely make any impact and they'll disappear as soon as the new group slides in. When adding new characters you should do so while knowing what role those characters will play in your plot, what will they bring. If a character is just there to waffle around until they get shoved away they should probably be cut because they are wasting time and space. AND YOU SHOULDN'T SIDE LINE YOUR CORE CAST FOR UR SHINY NEW CHARACTERS YOU'LL GET BORED OF IN COUPLE OF ARCS ANYWAY, ARE YOU A TODDLER???
I still think that bsd could have been SO much better if instead of focusing on the next big evil group they just focused on shifting tension between the agency and the mafia. I mean they've had to team up for the guild and then they immediately got thrown into the cannibalization. It would have been interesting to see them pull against and pull towards those ties made during the guild arc when they are forcefully pitted against each other again (and decide that killing mori would be in everyone's best interest). Instead we got, idk I already forgot what the rats arc ended up being about, atsushi and aku team up again yadda yadda yadda, Chuuya gets done dirty and never recovers, Fyodor ruins Dazai
SO ABOUT FYODOR. As I said, Kafka strikes me as someone who REALLY likes to write geniuses and who wants people to think he's super smart but also has no idea how to show his work. At first this was okay. We had Dazai and Ranpo who were very good at pushing the plot along and sometimes you'd get explained how they got to that conclusion and sometimes you didn't but it usually wasn't a big deal. But then the writing became more and more and more of 'well he's smart so he figured it out so just trust me' without actually explaining anything and as you said, it ended up feeling boring, unengaging and very deus ex machina. You know what Kafka's writing reminds me off? That video about how Sherlock is so happy to stroke itself to how smart they look while never showing their work, you know the one. Kafka likes writing smart characters but doesn't actually know how to write smart characters so instead of giving us reasons and clues and explanations to how they come to some conclusion, how they predicted or planned or whatever, he just goes 'oh well they are super smart so they figured it out'. I don't think I need to explained why this is bad, annoying and unengaging writing. This is why i say Fyodor ruined Dazai for me, Dazai was fine as a genius but then they had to pit him against Fyodor who's another genius and things just got ridiculous. You know how in that sherlock video the guy points out the one scene that encapsulates every irritating thing about sherlocks writing. This had been it for me and BSD (thank you Foxy for helping me find the panels)
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THATS NOT HOW CODES WORK, THATS NOT HOW ANYTHING WORKS, THEY WOULD JUST BE COMING UP WITH TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF CODES HERE. Even if they were both smart enough to remember every conversation in detail, how on earth are they supposed to 'guess out' what the other means. How are they supposed to confirm or deny that's what a certain word means in a way that can be understood, how can they even guess what the word the other guessed is IF THEY ARE BOTH TALKING IN CODE. KAFKA'S ANSWER: THEY'RE MONSTERS, THEY ARE JUST THAT SMART, NO NEED TO EXPLAIN IT BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST THAT SMART AND THAT'S YOUR SOLUTION AND THAT'S BULLSHIT. This scene broke bsd in half for me and honestly made me dislike Dazai for a long time (I got better), but it honestly shows so well how Kafka wanted to make his characters so smart he actually made his manga really fuckin stupid, ruining very good and interesting concept he had started with.
In the end, Kafka writes how I wrote when I was 15. With no idea where the plot is headed, adding new characters and situations whenever it strikes his fancy whether they work for the story or not, ending up just flopping around plot holes and fizzled out character arcs and boring ass writing. And that's fine for a 15yr old writing fanfiction. It's not fine for a presumably grown ass published author of a relatively popular manga.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
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And we’re back for the second chapter, which is a lot shorter than the last - only half the size, thank goodness. I have a feeling this will go by somewhat faster than the first chapter, if only because there’s so much less happening per chapter and less worldbuilding to pick at.
Being up to forty followers already is actually really neat - I was expecting this project to go under the radar a bit longer. Thank you for all the likes and comments, and especially the reblogs! 
[No. 2 - Roaring Muscles]
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Have to admit that the title page is definitely something - it’s deliberately styled in the same format as Western comic book covers. And in so, you can really see the difference in art style between the Westernized All Might and Horikoshi’s normal style for Izuku. 
The next page is a full body shot of All Might posing (RIP all the pens that died inking that one image), with some background panels covering the basics about the man - that his age and quirk are unknown, and that his strength has made him popular even since his debut. He’s got a lot of merch, branding, magazine covers, newspaper headlines, movie adaptations, etc etc. and, of course, that creepy fucking mask.
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If Izuku has one of those, I am both disappointed and completely not surprised. I both look forward to and dread the day someone draws him wearing that monstrosity. Also-
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Is that the same keychain Ochako gets during the Secret Santa swap in some hundred and twenty or so chapters? 
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Alright, not the same one, but a similar pose. Not surprising, since I doubt Hori even remembered this panel at the point Ochako was given it, but it would have been an interesting little callback if it had been.
Moving on, we learn that since he became active, there’s been a notable decrease in the appearance rate of villains - with a graph showing the decline. His existence alone is a deterrent to villainy, which in no way will cause issues decades down the line. But yeah, basically Izuku confirms that All Might’s earned his title of ‘Symbol of Peace’ - and that the same man with so many accolades just told him he could be a hero.
(That last panel, of just Toshinori and Izuku, which is so uncluttered compared to the other panels… mmm, gotta love it. Makes it feel so much more poignant and dreamlike, which it probably was to Izuku at the time.)
The next page gets right to where we left off, with Izuku on the ground crying his eyes out while his mind plays through all the doubts and negative words thrown at him over the past chapter years. However, he’s finally heard what he’s always wanted to hear from this Alolan Exeggutor lookin’ dude:
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Who also happens to be the No. 1 hero and Izuku’s idol. Izuku wonders if he could wish for anything more than that, so of course, Exeg- I mean Toshinori continues on, saying Izuku is worthy of inheriting his power. Which snaps Izuku out of his happy crying to actually look up at his idol, confused as heck.
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BABEY.
But yeah, Toshinori laughs at Izuku’s expression and says that it’s a proposal, and that there’s work to be done. Also, this is the first instance of ‘my boy’ shown in the manga - while I know in Japanese it’s supposed to be just a translation of ‘young man’ or something close, I choose to see it in a different manner, as per my Dad Might agenda:
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Look, you have to admit things went from 0 to 100 real fucking fast here, I will not take criticism on my interpretation. While we’re on the topic of ‘0 to 100’:
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Toshinori please get that checked that’s a lot of blood jesus fuck. But yeah, he offers Izuku his power (which outside a shounen manga is questionable, kids, don’t trust that.) Izuku is still confused, naturally, so Toshinori clarifies he means his quirk. He explains how the tabloids like to guess what his quirk is, while he avoids answering with jokes, because All Might has to come off as a natural born hero.
(Also that dramatic posing, he’s such a fucking loser, I love him so much.)
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You can really fucking tell he’s a performer at heart. I feel like it fits with his love of movies too - he probably liked acting out the dramatic hero speeches and fights in old superhero movies. Which I mean, also makes sense since heroes in the current era are as much actors and performers as they are public servants who handle crime and disasters.
Toshinori explains his quirk was passed down to him like the Olympic torch, which Izuku mentally stumbles over, and when that is confirmed, Izuku falls into a dazed rambling over this, completely tuning out of the outside world; he thinks about all the previous theories put out there, then basically confirming that his power being passed on is nothing anyone has ever considered, in part because there’s so little known about quirks, and even the reason ‘quirk’ [which in Japanese is ‘Individuality’] is used, because they’re unique to the person who wields said power. 
(Also, I want to know what the other six mysteries of the world are, Izuku. Why won’t you share that important tidbit with us? Worry about the quirk later!)
Toshinori cuts into his rambling, asking if Izuku really doubts him and that it’s nonsense, he has secrets but he doesn’t outright lie. Izuku does snap out and try to apologize, but Toshinori continues on:
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One For All. Certainly a power that comes with no downsides, hidden legacies, or enough mysteries to fill the other six damned slots of the mysteries of the world. Izuku repeats the name slowly, and Toshinori goes on to explain it: 
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A small detail to note, there’s eight lights in the background, already revealing how many holders there currently are at this point. Notice how much weaker OFA must have been back at the beginning, compared to the power Toshinori has, and then expand that to what Izuku starts out with. And interestingly, it’s called a ‘crystalline network of power’, and that it ‘links those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts.’ For our first description of OFA, it… sure seems poetic and almost romantic. Wonder if that will hold up in the chapters to come.
Anyways, moving on from that, Izuku asks why him, and Toshinori says he’s been looking for a successor, and that he believes Izuku worthy. Even as someone who is quirkless and a ‘mere hero admirer’, he was more heroic than anyone else there. Izuku tears up again, and Toshinori slaps himself in the forehead, saying it all depends on what Izuku says. 
Izuku gets to his feet and rubs away the tears, thinking about what he’s been told and how Toshinori’s greatest secrets (hah) have been divulged to him. He asks himself if he has reason to refuse, and immediately decides that no, he doesn’t, and tells Toshinori he accepts while reaffirming he’s got no reason to refuse. Toshinori says he expected nothing less than that quick answer. 
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Seriously, look at the intensity of that reply, he is down and willing to do this. No second guessing, no hesitation. 
This seems like a good stopping point, since the second half of the chapter is all the training, including the montages, so I’ll finish things up in the next one (yes, I know, not taking five posts to get to the point, who would have thought?) and we can get into the crazy fun stuff. 
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nuttyjellyfishlover · 3 years
Text
One Piece Anime Wano Arc Episodes 890
One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 890 This honestly is less going to be a review and more of a commentary as I watch through the anime's rendition of the Wano arc. I've honestly never really watched too much of the One Pieceanime, mostly just looking up the highlights of the arcs I read in the manga. I did watch the filler episodes and most of the movies, as I've talked about at length recently. And everyone tells me that the anime has some rather terrible pacing, particularly around the time of Dressrossa, which is apparently pretty padded out. But then I heard the absolute opposite for Wano, where the anime has received a new art-style and one hell of a fancy makeover. And I thought... hey, I'm on a One Piece kick this year, clearly, so yeah, I think I'm going to give this a shot.
The Wano arc, I think, is one that works a lot better because it has the reverse problem of a lot of One Piece arcs -- there are a lot of moments in Act One of the manga's version of the story that the writer clearly purposefully threw in a couple of off-screened moments that the anime could expand into full action scenes. I already know that Sanji versus Page One is fully animated in the anime, and scenes like Big Mom vs. Kaido or Zoro vs. Basil Hawkins are extended a lot more than the couple of panels we had in the manga. And Wano's got a lot of supporting characters, some of which actually get swept under the rug when I first read through the manga chapters weekly. So yeah, having bright colours and voices and music is going to make this a much more fun experience!
Anyway, here goes my collection of random notes and commentary. Be aware that there will be MANGA SPOILERS, as I will point out a couple of things here and there about stuff I notice that's foreshadowing or whatever:
* Marco's blue-and-yellow phoenix form looks so, so much more vibrant and pops out compared to anything else in the series in colour, huh? I think out of any other character, Marco is extra-memorable in animated format. * That said, basically half this episode is just a recap of the Paramount War. I mean, I haven't seen the Paramount War in full animated format, so it's nice to hear Whitebeard and Ace and Marco speak some of their more famous lines there. But on the other hand, it's also it's kind of one of the more-criticized parts of the One Piece anime that any time they could pad out an episode with scenes from a previously-produced episode, they will. * We actually get to see the Grudge/Payback War in the anime! I think this is less of a showcase of events that actually happened and more of a symbolic one, but hey, we get to see Blackbeard doing some sky-quakes and black holes and Marco turning phoenix. It just shows the Whitebeard division commanders getting sucked into a giant Dragon-Ball-esque spirit bomb Black Hole. Actually pretty neat! * Jozu has both arms in that vision. Whether it's an error or a spoiler or if he has a prosthetic a la Akainu in Film: Z, we'll see eventually.
* This episode also has a bit of a recap of the revelations about Wano from the Zou arc, but it's a lot shorter and feels a lot more relevant to the upcoming arc. * Brook actually expresses some interest on Vivi, apparently having heard of her from the others. I've always liked this from the filler episodes, of the newer Straw Hats slowly learning about prior adventures. Brook being Brook, of course, a panty joke was tossed in. * The Japanese-art style water waves look so pretty when animated! * The random octopus that makes Japanese kabuki theater (?) sounds is another thing that works so much better in the anime. I've always thought it felt a bit forced and random in the manga version. * The high-tempo music when the Sunny sails into the koi waves is very, very fun! * Ah, yes, the very first chapter of Wano in the manga shows off a bunch of carps jumping up a waterfall. You know, considering the whole legend that a carp that jumps over the waterfall transforms into a dragon... i.e., a fish that is also a dragon...
* The first one that's properly and almost fully drawn in the new Wano art style! And it looks gorgeous. * Also a new theme song! I've never paid that much attention to theme songs in anime, but I definitely like "One Dream One Wish" more than "We're the Super Powers". Shame that, as with most anime, the opening sort of spoils, like, half of the things that happens in the arc. * Speaking of great background music... the tempo of that opening instrumental that Komurasaki plays on shamisen is pretty catchy, especially with that octopus going iyooo~ in the background. It also makes for very fun background music for Zoro's rampage at the end of the episode. * Anime Wano is so freaking colourful. The rooftops, the kimonos, the hair... I think I remembered reading that Oda made it a point to subvert the fact that everyone in feudal Japan had black hair by explicitly doing the opposite -- black hair is the exception rather than the norm in Wano. Fun! * The frog on Usopp's hat is a real frog! I always thought it was just a hat! It's adorable! The wiki tells me it's called Gama Pyonnosuke. It's an adorable friend! Forget Carrot or Kin'emon or Yamato, Gama Pyonnosuke for next Straw Hat! * The biggest expansion here is that we actually follow Zoro around as he wanders around the city until he gets arrested by the corrupt magistrate. And Zoro actually bumps into the man-slayer and corrupt magistrate, actually explaining why he recognizes the specific scent of blood during the whole seppuku court. * And then we get around a minute of Zoro fighting the magistrate guards with the seppuku knife and good ol' fisticuffs, something that I didn't think I needed, but is certainly very fun to watch! * This new animation studio loves the angled zoom-in into eyes, and I highly approve. I think we had that like at least three times when Zoro decides to get dangerous.
* I never quite realized that if Luffy hadn't been interrupted by the octopus and washed up next to the Thousand Sunny, the poor ship would be literally left to its own devices. You'd think after losing Merry, the Straw Hats would be more careful with their ships... * Zoro gets to slash the magistrates up even more! It's a single Tatsu Maki, but god damn what a pretty Tatsu Maki. The shot of his feet kicking and breaking the wooden floor, the black aura around his blades, the way that the dragon aura appears behind him, the demonic red eyes as Zoro slams down from the sky, and the shots of the surrounding terrain being cut up into cubes... pretty awesome! * Luffy dodging the bullet from the random Beast Pirate goon with Observation Haki and the gomu-gomu-long-range-bitchslap has always been cool in the manga, and this episode makes it even cooler. Those glowing eyes! This is going to be the whole commentary, isn't it? Just me commenting on the scenes I find to be really cool? * Luffy's Conqueror Haki against the giant baboon is another very cool one. From the expression to the delivery of the line to the sound effect... Luffy's expression is actually pretty cool and borderline scary as he beats up the second goon. No wonder Tama went straight into "This is the I surrender pose!" * Also added in the anime is a vignette of Franky, Robin and Usopp seeing the news of Zorojuro becoming a wanted criminal. Again, not entirely necessary to know the story, but actually scenes that I don't mind being shown to us. Particularly that scene of Usopp utterly bullshitting an officer. * Luffy pets Komachiyo with his rubber arms. Komachiyo is a good boy. This is the most important scene.
* Did the manga show Luffy hiding the Sunny and letting it anchor in a cave? I don't remember it. I know that before the flashback and the raid we see the Sunny there, but it's nice to actually show Luffy not being so callous with the Sunny. * They got a pretty good voice actress for Tama that really makes her pretty adorable! So many times these kid guest star characters end up being annoying if they don't get a good voice, but between the voice-acting and the expressions, she's pretty fun! * Also, I think this is going to be something I repeat a couple of times, but both Tama and Tenguyama are so much more visually interesting with their full colour palettes. * Oh, right, Drake was the one that ransacked Tama's village. Wonder if that'll actually come up later on in the story... * Okay, thanks to the anime, it's really going to drill to me that it's pronounced 'Diez Drake' and not 'Eks Drake'. * I'm pretty sure everyone noticed it, but Ace learned to weave hats in Wano! That's how he became buddies with Oars Junior! I didn't notice it until just now!
* (Episode is the Cidre Guild filler arc that ties in to Stampede.) * What is Tenguyama waiting for? It's probably Oden or his retainers, but I don't think he's part of the samurai that was recruited by Kin'emon's group. Maybe he just missed the big recruitment drive, but that's weird. I wonder what role he's going to play in the arc... * There is a random metal guitar riff when Luffy sees the Nidai Kitetsu. And a glow of Observation Haki on Luffy's eyes. That's a small detail, but very cool! He also uses Observation when Hawkins arrives later on. I love the little trail of glowing red that streams out of his pupils when he activates it. * Tenguyama's sword has a very cool leaf-based handguard! Never noticed that. * Speaking of cool Observation Haki effects, Zoro's apparently activates when he senses sake. Appropriate! * I know it's me repeating this over and over, and we'll get so many cooler scenes later on, but Zoro casually launching that Phoenix Cannon to blow up the two random raptor-riders when he saves Tsuru? Such a simple scene but still so cool. Also very cool is the very brief slo-mo as Zoro re-angles the pathway of his slice when cutting down the second random goon. * Unlike most of the other things, I've always noticed that Basil Hawkins has a very cool Koma-deer mount. It looks even cooler in motion!
* This is perhaps one of the more extended scenes, since it features... fight scenes! In the manga, I think this lasted... maybe half a chapter? Less? A couple of page spreads? It's not just the Hawkins fight, either, Luffy's 'swordfighting' with Nidai Kitetsu also gets extended. Luffy's a bit more successful in using the sword to block and parry here. * Luffy's voice actor really makes the 'de gozaru' sound really funny. * I 100% missed Tsuru the first time I read through this chapter since we only see part of her in a single panel before her full-body debut after the Hawkins fight, and it's a lot less likely that you'll make that mistake in the anime. * Some 'elite' goons show up here, including a guy that uses his ponytail as a whip against Zoro, and a dude that makes fissures with a hammer that fights Luffy. Probably feels a bit more filler-y compared to the rest of the action scenes, but that's honestly nitpicking. * Zoro launching a Phoenix Cannon that slashes Hawkins's face is very cool. * Hawkins' little straw dolls gets an extended scene of it crawling out of his arm. It's so creepy, I love it. * Hawkins' giant straw demon StandBankaigets an very cool summoning animation and it's so creepy. The skies darkens and everything. Most importantly, it makes noises! Again, I love it.
* Luffy and Zoro vs. Hawkins! It's extended beyond just the simple 'dodge, then one-shot-slash' that it was in the manga. I really like Hawkins and his creepy-ass Straw Stand, so I am a huge fan of this. We get a couple of nice juxtaposition shots of Hawkins and the straw monster. Also Zoro goes shirtless in the fight. That's an important detail! * I really, really love how Zoro is having a gritted-teeth expression as he fights the giant straw demon; the straw demon is going gakakakakakakaka like a lunatic... then we cut to Hawkins who has a deadpan, bored expression as he swings his sword in the distance. * The animators really like to let the straw monster use the nails entwined to the tips of its fingers. That's fun! Zoro backhand-blocking the nails from hitting Luffy and Tama? That's cool! * Zoro does Ichi-Gorilla-Ni-Gorilla at one point, and totally slices and 'kills' Hawkins a bunch of times. * Also, speaking of pretty, glowing-eyes motion shots, Zoro using Nigiri: Toro Samon? Yeah. The cut itself is cool, but the zoom-in on Zoro's eyes as he does so? I'm sorry, I have a weakness for that kind of shot, it appears. * To extend the fight so that it's not just a single exchange of blows, Komachiyo gets knocked to the ground so that Zoro and the straw demon can actually fight for a bit. * Also shots I have a weakness to? DBZ-style 'aftermath of a powerful move'. This one isn't too over-the-top, but the slash extending into the sky and the shockwave rippling out from where Zoro slices the strawman thing is cool. * We actually see the scene of Okiku being harassed by Urashima in chronological order, and Urashima scares off a customer. Also, the implied scene of Zoro scaring off Urashima is actually shown here.
* This episode kind of extends the scenes in Tsuru's shop a bit more. Not the most exciting thing, but it does really help to build up Tama, Tsuru and Kiku. * ...wait, Tsuru's shop just displays the Kozuki crest very, very evidently on its door awning. If simply speaking the Kozuki name alone is a punishable crime, how did they get away with that? * Zoro trying to get Luffy to adopt a Wano-ized name is extra-funny in the anime! * Speaking of extended fight scenes, Batman gets to shoot alotmore arrows at Luffy and Zoro. It's kind of over-the-top on Batman's part, if we're being honest, even if Zoro and Luffy very easily dispatches of them.
* The anime does give Batman the ability to control his arrows via sonic waves or something, but he lasted for a much, much longer time than he really should have. * Batman fucking blocks Luffy's Busoshoku-empowered punch! He most definitely doesn't do it in the manga, and sure, knocking Luffy down with sonic waves? I buy that. Blocking Luffy and causing a small explosion in the air? ...I'm pretty sure just some random Gifter isn't supposed to be able to do that. Unless they're thinking of the other Batman? * They make the initial shot of Holdem answering the phone with the lion face pretty intimidating! * Holdem's lion beating their shared balls is still one of the weirdest jokes in the manga. * Some really nice face shots in this one, from Tama to Holdem to the lion to Luffy's group.
* A pretty obvious extended filler is Urashima bullying other sumo wrestlers. Urashima is kind of a dipshit, so it's not a particularly enjoyable filler for me. * Zoro gets to sumo-wrestle with one of Urashima's goons! This one, on the other hand, is pretty fun. We also get a little added bit where Zoro smirks after remembering Kiku's earlier insistence that she's a samurai, so it's less of a 'he doesn't give a shit' and more 'he wants to see what Kiku's skill is' or something.
* Luffy vs. Urashima is prolonged a bit in here, obviously. Not as entertaining as fighting Hawkins or even Batman, but okay, sure. Lots of grunting and growling in this one. Urashima cheats a bit more, Luffy has to use Armament Haki at one point... really don't think Urashima's someone that you should bother using hardening on, Luffy. * The kabuki-style delivery of "I'm going to be the king of pirates" is very well done. * Poor Tama! Holdem's a jackass. * We actually get to see Urashima crashing into Holdem's house, in yet another obvious 'hey, anime team, this is something for you to animate' scene from the manga. * Law gets an extended scene with seeing the sick Bepo, including a Room/Scan showcase and Bepo looking cute and Law being unable to keep being angry at him.
* The fight against the pirates and samurai in Bakura Town gets extended a fair bit in this episode. Luffy throws Nidai Kitetsu's scabbard around again, repeating the thing he did before. * This episode noticeably has a bunch of brief flashbacks to previous episodes. Anime episodes do this all the time to easily eat up like, ten or fifteen seconds of runtime. But I felt this one was particularly noticeable since it's to the previous episode which we already had a recap segment of before the episode begun. * Ball-de-boo!
* We get an adorable crayon drawing memory when Luffy remembers Zunisha one-shotting Jack's fleet. * Luffy and Zoro's synchronized neck-crick is pretty fun. Also fun is their super-speed when they simultaneously rescue Tama and steal the food barge. The question is, where is this super-speed when they were bamboozled by Batman and Gazelleman? * Unlike the anime, Holdem is able to turn his sword into a flaming segmented sword. It's like Zabimaru from Bleach, but on fire! * We get an extra scene of a random goon holding Kiku hostage and Zoro locking eyes with her and saying "I'm not going to help you", knowing full well she's pretending to be a damsel in distress. * Speed also gets to do something here! She gets to shoot Armament Haki'd arrows at Zoro and Kiku! In the manga she doesn't do anything while this is happening. * REDDO HAAAAAWK! * God damn that's a very satisfying Red Hawk. Such a pretty-looking one! This was the scene that a friend showed me that got me excited to sit down and watch the Wano arc in anime format. From Holdem shooting a lion's fire (how does that work?) and engulfing Luffy, to Tama's yelling, to the zoom-in to Luffy's angry eyes, to the orb of flame dissipating, the zoom-in to Luffy's angry face, the impact, the music... it's just Luffy beating up Holdem, who means jack-all in the grand scheme of things, but what a badass Red Hawk.
And I think that's a neat place to stop off, with the initial Hawkins-Urashima-Holdem opening prologue to Wano done with. I'm not sure how often I'll update this little watch-along series, but I certainly am enjoying myself!
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myriadlabrynth · 4 years
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Kiridai vs Roughplay + Structure of the Team: An Analysis
Just my observations, interpretations, and just rambles regarding each member’s “relation” with rough play + a little rambling about each member’s role in the team
This was a lot of fun to write and look into! Been rewatching the kiridai match a lot recently. I reference the Kurofes book a lot, since it provides a lot of good insight. Sorry if this is incoherent 
Hanamiya
He’s the mastermind that prefers having others carry his plans out and do the dirty work for him.
Him doing rough play himself is a very last resort. He only attempted to hit Kuroko once because he was desperate.
Other players are like his “lives”
On the possibility that a rough play gets caught, the kiridai player may be removed. Hanamiya is needed in the lineup, no matter what, so he cannot risk doing the rough play himself.
By using the other players, the rough play gets done. And if the player gets caught(which has never happened), that player will be removed, but Hanamiya is still there to lead the remaining  team, and utilize the spider web later.
Losing the other players would still suck of course, but rather them than him.
Getting caught by rough play isn’t really a concern for Hanamiya anyway. 
I believe how well players can conceal their actions, so getting caught wouldn’t be an issue in the first place, goes into Hanamiya’s decision on picking starters. Apart from Yamazaki.
Gotta think ahead for the possibility anyway, even if it is unlikely 
Furuhashi
You can’t see it in his face, but he RELISHES in it.THRIVES in it
Enjoys it the most out of everyone on the team 
I believe this is another reason why Hanamiya doesn’t do rough play himself. Yes, Hanamiya would rather have them be taken out of the game than him, should a rough play get caught.
But, he also knows that he can just let Furuhashi and the others do most of it, because he knows they are more than willing to go all out with it. 
No arguments made against taking the risk of being removed from the game(cause they know they won’t). No need for Hanamiya to do it himself anyway.
It’s why Furu likes a masochist
Is it perhaps after graduating high school, he no longer has a place where his sadistic tendencies can thrive ? He needs to find another ‘target’?
(though I also think he likes a masochist cause that would mean the person would accept Furu for who he is. They’d love him for him, and wouldn’t try to change him, but that’s for another discussion)
To be honest I’d argue that Furuhashi isn’t really in matches for basketball per se? At least in a scoring sense (so kind of like a Kuroko).
 He’s a fine player overall(Fujimaki says that “His ability as a basketball player is high” when describing his stats in Kurofes), but probably not score-focused in matches. Not as much as Hara or Yamazaki.
We actually have never seen him make a shot.(On screen anyway)
He also has the worst special ability of the team...
He will make shots if he can, but that’s not his focus.
I think Furu’s primarily purpose in matches is the rough play
Which can coincide with Yamazaki’s “purpose”, and the other members’ purpose as well.(explained later)
He’s similar to Seto, who’s not really in the game to score points, but as support.
Just as a side note, for statistics: In the Kiridai vs. Seirin 2 match, Out of the 70 points scored, 19 points were shown on screen and they are as follows;
Hanamiya: 9 points (I think the teardrop was a 3-pointer?)
Hara - 6 points
Yamazaki - 2 points 
Seto - 2 points
Of course somewhere in the remaining 51 points, Furuhashi certainly scored something, but its a bit odd that we never saw at least one basket from him on screen(anime) or a panel(manga)? I still believe that Furuhashi is mainly in the game for support and not so much scoring, though he still probably scored off screen.
Hara
First I want to point out that in Kurofes, Fujimaki describes Hara’s stats as literally “Master of Roughplay”
Enjoys it to a slightly SLIGHTLY lesser extent, compared to Furuhashi, but he enjoys the heck out of it.
It’s FUN for him. And from the quote above and of course what we saw, he’s very good at it. 
Literally says to the Senshinkan player “Of course we enjoy winning like this, are you stupid?”
Enjoys it more so to get under players’ skins and piss them off, which is how i’d differentiate he and Furuhashi
Furuhashi  mainly enjoys physically hurting others, he’s not fazed when people get angry at him about it.
That’s not to say Hara doesn’t enjoy the physical part though
The way he smirked when Kagami was about to punch him, or when Kagami got a charging call. 
He just enjoys pissing people off, and rough play certainly does the job.
The rough play is supposed to get the other team angry, so who better to have on the team than someone who loves to do just that.
Starter wise, it seems that he, Furuhashi, and Matsumoto are in charge with the bulk of the rough play (fyi, I don’t have much info to go off of for Matsumoto so I won’t really write about him)
Seto
We’ve only seen him do rough play once
Probably due to timing/story pacing. There to give a reason to switch Kiyoshi out from the match.
Also maybe to not have another Yamazaki, aka someone who seems to not do rough play
Of course not against it at all, but from what we see, his usage is more along the lines of Hanamiya. Does it when he “has” to.
He doesn’t try to find every opportunity to use rough play
Seto is really just  there to help with the spider web so his role isn’t focused on rough play, compared to Furuhashi and Hara.
Going back to what I said about not risking taking Hanamiya out of the match due to rough play, the same can be said for Seto
Both are literally needed for the spider web to work, so Seto potentially being removed from the match must be avoided(again, they’re all good enough at rough play that this is unlikely anyway, but still)
So Seto is only brought in right when it is about to be used(from what we’ve seen)
Nonetheless, he’ll happily make a blow should the situation arise.
Yamazaki
An interesting one to look at
I agree that he is overall an angel(in other aspects) but he clearly isn’t ENTIRELY against or is above the rough play.
He doesn’t really fall into either extreme (completely against or for roughplay).
I believe he at least ATTEMPTED at it, at first, to perhaps match the team’s play-style (he felt that he had to/hanamiya made it mandatory during practice, etc)
He’s apparently not good at “tricks” or “schemes”, strategic rough play is along those lines.
A reason why he’s not good at roughplay could be because he is reluctant, because he does indeed have some conscience left. With roughplay, you cannot hesitate.
Another reason could be he is simply not good at it, regardless of good conscience (could have poor timing, he’s not discrete enough, etc)
Either way, he’ll get caught if he tries,hanamiya most likely noticed this during practice
His skills are good enough to still have him in the starter lineup
This goes with what I said about “Furu’s purpose” in matches
Furu is mostly there for his “rough play skills” and not so much basketball
Yamazaki is there for his basketball skills and not at all for rough play
He’s not going to argue against it, especially when it favors the team’s performance.
This is an anime only thing, so take it with a grain of salt, his face change when Hanamiya said that Kiyoshi needs only one more hit before he’s gone:
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Fujimaki did indeed say that he was most “decent” person of the team, and that he is “ The only conscience among the “bad boy” gang “(from Kurofes) and that is true. 
But also, the bar is so low for Kirisaki Daiichi so…..
I believe that Yamazaki is against rough play in terms of doing it himself, but he’ll turn a blind eye when the others do it.
Basically, Yamazaki is in a “if you don’t call it out, then you are part of the problem” type of situation. 
He may have a “It’s okay since I don’t do the rough play myself” kind of mentality
And Yamazaki might have no intention of calling it out
It may be because he genuinely enjoys basketball and actually wants to win, even if dirty tactics are used
All in all, Yamazaki could be technically against the rough play, and probably would prefer not having it, in an ideal world. If he was on a different team.
But the fact is he is part of Kirisaki Daiichi, and he certainly won’t argue against Hanamiya. 
And if the team does well because the rough play, then he’ll do well, so there’s no arguing with that either.
We can look more closely at what each member contributes to the team. We know that they don’t actually play their assigned basketball positions(aside from Yamazaki?) but they still play “a position”:
Hanamiya 
There for his leadership, his basketball skills as an uncrowned king, for his intelligence, and rough play if necessary
Rough play by Hanamiya himself is a last resort
Seto
His intelligence for the spider web, and rough play if necessary
Mainly in the second half of the match
He’s not really there so much for basketball per se (so like Furuhashi)
Part of why he isn’t a starter
So overall a support player
Hara
An even mix of rough play and basketball
Clearly good at both since he contributed a good amount of shots 
And did his fair share of rough play
Furuhashi
Mostly, if not purely for his rough play
Again, we have never seen Furuhashi make a shot
We’ve only seen him attempt 1 shot, which he missed
We only saw Yamazaki score 2 points, but he attempted more shots than Furu
Similar to Seto, not really score focused; an overall support player
In kurofes, Fujimaki describes Furu’s stats as “High ability that even Hanamiya acknowledges”
I like to think it refers to both basketball and roughplay. Especially since Fujimaki describes Hara’s skills as such.
Tbh, if it weren’t Fujimaki specifically saying that Furu’s basketball abilities are high, I would have assumed it was just the rough play.
I wish we could have seen his basketball skills more during the match, instead of just being a fact in a book...
Yamazaki
Purely for his basketball skills
We’ve never seen him participate in rough play 
Clearly skilled enough that Hanamiya has him as a starter despite the lack of rough play 
In fact, from the Kurofes book, Fujimaki describes Yamazaki as “Kirisaki Daiichi’s SG who holds his own against powerhouse schools, with ability that is acknowledged by “Uncrowned General” Hanamiya.”
While going through this, the realization that Furuhashi and Yamazaki play pretty much opposite roles in matches was really interesting. 
They’re even both described as having abilities that Hanamiya acknowledges.
And it’s interesting to see that Hara is in the middle and pretty much an all-rounder. I’d argue his intelligence could play a part, judging by the fact that he came up with a decent theory for the Vanishing Drive (albeit incorrect, but it was on the right track.) And also how good he is at rough play (even though he wasn’t able to step on Kagami’s foot, with quick thinking, Hara “screened” him out and still got a basket. That takes some smarts.)
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snkpolls · 4 years
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SnK Chapter 127 Poll Results
The chapter 127 poll closed with 1,993 responses. This month’s poll results were compiled by /u/alooulla, Crunchwrap, Giovata, @momtaku, @shifter-lines and  /u/staraves.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
RATE THE CHAPTER 1,888 responses
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It’s time to get back on the hype train, y’all! Chapter 127 was a vast improvement over last month’s reception with close to 90% of respondents viewing it favorably.  By way of comparison, with chapter 126, that number was only 55%.
Fixed everything I didn't like about 126
This chapter was top quality. Jean and Yelena were great this chapter. Loved Reiner and Annie helping each other. But please Isayama stop torturing Reiner :(
Amazing and I agree with Hange completely
Wow, such an awesome chapter! It's been a while since a chapter like this has made me put my thinking cap to analyze the scenes in more detail and come up with theories regarding what's coming next!
Are there any words sweeter than "Save the world"?
Calm before the Storm in the SNK fashion
Finally Kiyomi! And some talk between the parts. Seeing the dead SC veterans made me cry a lot. I still care about them so much
I still don't like that the SC are just up and going forces with the Warriors, who are nothing more than unforgivable monsters, BUT I can admit the execution this month was much better.
Pretty damn tasty this month, not gonna lie. Hope to see more of that Floch in next month's dish, chef Isayama is a genius.
Guess you could say Gabi haters got a "kick" out of this month
Hahaha
  WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,938 responses
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Hello JeanMarco fandom? Are you there? This is the fandom of 2020 telling you it’s time to come back to the series if only for a month.
It’s been 84 years but Jean finally learning the dark truth of Marco’s death topped our list of favorite moments with over one-third of the fandom selecting it (35.7%). “Yelena the shit stirrer” was second with 20.6%.This Jean-focused chapter netted Jean the third and fourth favorite spot as well. “Jean and Magath’s argument” and “Jean’s idealistic daydream” tied for third with 7.9% each.
"Erwin being implied to not support the rumbling" I wanted to choose this as one of my favorite scenes along with Hange's "I don't support genocide" <3
The biggest highlight of the chapter definitely has to be Jean punching Reiner upon learning that the latter was responsible for Marco's death. Ever since the truth about Marco's death was revealed a while back, I was awaiting the scene of Jean learning the truth about Marco's death and how he would react towards Reiner regarding it
Why is nobody talking about Yelena and Pieck pleaseeeee
I didn’t think it was possible to love Jean more than I already did but this chapter proved me wrong. I was so glad he finally learned what happened to Marco and at least got that closure.
Loved Yelena messing with everyone's emotions and calling out the truths that nobody wanted to recognize
Jean punching Reiner was my favorite moment of the chapter. Finally that evil fuck is getting what he deserves for what he's done.
The only people Yelena didn’t drag were Pieck and Falco. She has good taste.
Hange acknowledging their failure to stop Eren from getting to this point is 👌👌👌
Jean's and Magath's debate gave the vibes of 'what's older, the chicken or the egg' and I'm living for it lol
I actually found Jean’s dream sequence to be a little unsettling, maybe because of Isayama’s style of not drawing certain facial features clearly, like the eyes. It was almost more foreboding to me than sweet, peaceful, or nice to see.
My favorite moment was the reaction shot where Mikasa was going to charge Annie and everyone is freaking out but the last panel is Levi just sleeping.
I seriously want to see Mikasa vs Annie XD
Jean complementing Hanjis stew is the best moment in the manga
  WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER’S MVP? 1,938 responses
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With Jean receiving the bulk of the focus and development it’s not a huge surprise that Jean (66.2%) was the landslide winner for chapter MVP, with Yelena (9.9%) as a distant, and we mean distant, second. What is a surprise is that Hange’s culinary creation (9.7%) beat out Hange themself (8.9%) for the number 3 spot.
STAN JEAN KIRSTEIN
yelena best girl 😔💕
I already knew that Hange was a queen, but I'm genuinely surprised with Annie too. While the first made a big part of the fandom shut up (genocide is never justifiable) the second one admitted her crimes and understood Mikasa better than anyone.
I love the chapter. It was satisfying to see Jean find out the truth to Marcos death.
I loved how Jean got focus and how he called everyone out on their bullshit.
Mikasa being a badass again. My girl<3
Hange’s stew!!!!
I love the chapter. It was satisfying to see Jean find out the truth to Marcos death.
I loved how Jean got focus and how he called everyone out on their bullshit.
Awesome, go Hanji ! And Levi ! Though he didn't do anything.
I just want some of Hanji's stew
  DO YOU THINK THE GIRL IN JEAN’S DAYDREAM WAS MIKASA? 1,943 responses
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Was it Mikasa? Was it a girl with exactly the same hairstyle and scar who just happens to look like an older version of her? Most fans seem to think it was very clearly intended to be Mikasa with solid numbers. Or at the very least, considering the eyes were hidden (a common manga trope to confuse identities), proof that Jean has a definite type.
That woman in Jean's fantasy is very clearly Mikasa, you can even see the scar in one of the panels lol
I can't believe there are people denying it was Mikasa in jean's dream. What the actual fuck?
I think it isn't exactly Mikasa, but Jean *does* have a type and Mikasa heavily influenced it by being his big crush back when all his hormones were firing at 200%.
  WHICH STATEMENT DO YOU MOST AGREE WITH REGARDING HANGE’S ANSWER TO JEAN ABOUT GENOCIDE BEING INHERENTLY WRONG? 1,939 responses
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Nearly half of respondents (45.1%) agree with Hange that genocide is non-negotiably wrong. However, those that said in certain circumstances it is perhaps unavoidable if one’s enemies are intent upon it (16.6%) or it truly is the last resort (29.9%), responded in numbers too large to be dismissed. Those that claimed it was unabashedly a good thing, lag behind (8.5%). The results of this question would seem to indicate that even the fans that support Eren’s actions are doing so, for the most part, reluctantly; because that's the only way they see Paradis surviving.
Hanji’s rejection of genocide in no uncertain terms—I’ve been waiting for that! I want to frame that panel on my wall!
Finally people are arguing against Eren's crazy ideas. Expected more from Hange's and Jean's points tho, they have the capacity to be more eloquent
Jean is so close to noticing that the rumbling is best for him…
Kinda disappointing to see the group take such a simplistic take on the Rumbling.
Hange wants paradis to die on the moral high ground
Hating on Hange puzzles me, I understand people who support the rumbling, but saying she is bad for wanting to stop the killing of billions is just frustrating to me.
I'm tired of negativity flowing from fanbase. Everyone would like to see genocide; blood and rotten bodies of innocent people, but even Eren doesn't want that!
Genocide is morally and ethically wrong as hanje said which I agree with. What I don't agree with is her acceptance that once eren dies the eldians on paradis are gonna genocide within a few years. That fact that she hadn't thought of anyway to get around this is disappointing.
If it was Isayama’s Intention to make me feel bad for the rest of the world, he should have focused on it for a larger portion of the story cause honestly, they all can burn in hell for all I care. Innocent or not.
  HANGE’S CLAIM THAT NONE OF THE DEAD SURVEY CORPS MEMBERS WOULD SUPPORT A RUMBLING WAS FOCUSED ON ERWIN. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1,938 responses
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This poll team member, staring at the camera like Jim from The Office. While Hange has been proven to be a trustworthy character, one with 11/10 intelligence and someone who knew and worked with Erwin on the daily for years and years, and certainly knew him better than anyone aside from Levi, only a third of respondents (36.7%) trust Hange’s judgement on this.
Hanji is right y'all are just dumb
I love how when Isayama wants us to agree with a character he pulls out the Erwin card
I love that years later, Erwin has still not been forgotten.
Erwin would never support a full rumbling to genocide the entire world, and it saddens me that anyone would think otherwise.
We aren’t bad people for supporting Eren. Don’t let the Erwin stans throw hate at us. Erwin would have protected his home too.
  WHICH DEAD CHARACTERS DO YOU THINK WOULD SUPPORT THE RUMBLING? 1,783 responses
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Kruger (58.3%), Kenny (57.4%) and Zackly (43.9%) top the list of characters we think would support the rumbling. Despite Hange’s confident declaration that no one in the Survey Corps would be so small minded, many disagreed choosing Ymir (31.3%) and Erwin (31%) as characters they think would support the Rumbling.
  WHO WON THE DEBATE BETWEEN JEAN AND MAGATH? 1,930 responses
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This was definitely a Jean chapter, am I right? At 48.8 percent, Jean definitely won the debate according to most fans. In fact, poor Magath didn’t even get a result worth mentioning; ‘neither’ or ‘Hange’ both got reasonable responses, but this was unarguably a slapdown for Jeanbo!
Jean slapped Magath. Bonus points for including that they were totally ignorant even after the walls were attacked.
Magath's replies to Jean are weak. I believe I can do better than him on countering Jean's points.
Idk when they'll get that it doesn't matter how much they hate each other or who started it.
Magath sucks. "Your people did shitty things to us" stops being an excuse when you do things that are just as bad if not worse than what happened before.
This chapter just showed how fake magath is man wow
The argument felt a little? biased towards the paradis folk? i wasn't too bothered by it, but hey, if jean was going to get to punch reiner then reiner deserved to punch someone for bert too.
The argument of "Who is the real bad guy" was a circular "You're the bad guys!" "No u!" "NO U!" -- but by the end of the chapter, all of the arguing characters put aside their differences as they ~left the forest~
Everyone: *kids fighting*
Hange: *bass boosted* WOULD ANYONE LIKE SOME STEW
  ANNIE QUESTIONS WHETHER OR NOT MIKASA COULD KILL EREN. DO YOU THINK MIKASA COULD EVER BRING HERSELF TO KILL EREN? 1,935 responses
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Early in the chapter, Mikasa surprises Hange and Jean by stating without hesitation that she will help stop Eren, but when Annie forces her to confront how far she is willing to go, she is clearly reluctant to take extreme measures. Almost half of the respondents (49.1%) believe that this is something Mikasa will never be able to do, with a decently close remainder of respondents saying either yes, she could bring herself to do it (29.1%), or opting not to decide (21.8%).
I don't see Mikasa killing Eren but i ALSO also don't see her doing nothing about it. It's complicated
If she met Eren in her present state, she wouldn't be able to kill him. Perhaps if something else happens between now and then to really strengthen her stance, she could.
I literally have no idea but i have a feeling she will confront him either way
I think she will struggle first, but after she will gain the conviction to do it.
I think she'd be willing to kill him if he showed to be willing to kill the scouts.
Lol at Mikasa learning how to think independently of Eren
She probably won't be able to do it regardless of her conviction because of the Ackerbond, unless Eren allows her to.
Killing eren is kind of extreme isn't it?
She will join Eren!
  IF MIKASA CONFRONTS EREN, WHAT OUTCOME DO YOU EXPECT? 1,907 responses
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This one was all over the place! Proof if proof were needed of how impossible this particular subject is to predict right now; Mikasa’s strong feelings for Eren haven’t faded even though she has consistently demonstrated an opposition to his goals, and the poor girl is being torn to pieces. However, those that think Mikasa will ultimately be unable to bring herself to stop him if it means killing him are in the majority here. It’s still anyone’s bet though.
I dont think they can talk him out of it, but im not sure if killing him even stops the rumbling, hence i am not sure what to expect from this.
If Annie would turn out to be right with her suspection that Mikasa could turn her back to the alliance?
Mikasa is going to k-word Eren, isn't she? All the focus on her plus the uncomfortable question. Oh dear. Please no Isayama.
I feel like if Mikasa did end up killing Eren, she'd be even more hated than Gabi for killing Sasha.
Eren will accept his death . And itll be a suicide by forcing Mikasa and armin to kill him.
Eren will die because of the immense power his titan needs, Mikasa will be there to say "Farewell, Eren"
Armin will be the one who will finally take Eren down.
Armin and Mikasa try to talk, Armin die, Mikasa have no choice but try to kill Eren. Don't know if she succeed.
Armin is going to die with Eren while they look at the sunrise over the ocean
I don't think he will need to be killed. I believe that Eren will take all his squad to the paths and then they will talk. Eren will finally tell them everything. If he is going to destroy the world, Mikasa most likely will finish him off.
Eren won't be stopped
He'll confide in her and somehow convince her that he's in the right
Her and/or Armin's death(s) would be the only thing to stop Eren
If Mikasa comes into contact with Eren, she will confess her love for him because that's what she was last seen thinking about. If she couldn't do it before, better late than never.
It will be a group effort to finish him off
Mikasa will be killed (likely accidentally by Eren) in the process of trying to talk him around. Ironically, it will be this which finally causes him to question his current course of action.
Maybe she will kill Eren but it will destroy her
She'll let someone else do it. Maybe Jean?
She's probably just gonna scream "Ereh" all over again
Mikasa and Armin will confront Eren, no one will win but no one will die
No one will kill Eren because he's killing himself
  IF ANNIE AND MIKASA WERE TO FIGHT NOW, WHO WOULD WIN? 1,932 responses
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In this writer's opinion, I always bet on Annie winning their original first fight even though I was (and am) a massive Mikasa fan. Now though, I definitely agree with the majority of those who answered this question. That first fight might be debatable but this second one wouldn’t even be a contest. Mikasa has just had years more of training and growth, and we don’t even know if being in the crystal for so long has left Annie weakened in any way. 63% of respondents think this is Mikasa’s fight to win.
Hope mikasa mikasa fight annie it will be sweet
  MAGATH WAS NOT SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT KIYOMI WAS WORKING BEHIND MARLEY’S BACK. WHO DO YOU THINK KIYOMI IS TRULY WORKING FOR? 1,917 responses
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Close to 74% of those who took the poll this month are still not convinced of Kiyomi being particularly loyal to anybody but herself. Is this a case of reading a book by its cover too soon? Or is she genuinely as snakelike as she appears to be? Just remember that people can still have the capacity to do good whilst putting their own interests first. Unfortunately the opposite is equally true.
She's double agenting everyone, like an arms dealer in a war. She sells to both sides and loses nothing in return
Her nation. She's putting her nations interests first.
She is loyal to Mikasa primarily for selfish reasons, but the rumbling threatens her home too, so she'll probably support Hange and co now.
Plot twist: the Yeagerists have been Kiyomi's pawns, in the next chapter Kiyomi will throw Floch and the Yeagerists under the bus AND pretends she is indeed a hostage.
Kiyomi is working for herself even not for Hizuru and she will double cross everyone
Kiyomi/Kruger/Willy 4D chess conspiracy ftw
I have no idea who's side she's on at this point.
Not conspiring with the Jaegerists but with Zeke and the euthenasia plan.
I have thin hopes she might be working with Eren and Historia who convinced her to join their side.
She lusts for the blue rock
  THE PLANE’S FUEL CAPACITY IS MENTIONED AS A LIMITING FACTOR IN FINDING EREN. WHERE DO YOU THINK EREN IS? 1,912 responses
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Eren didn’t enable infinite fuel in the PATHS console, and now everyone else has to deal with it. 40.3% of you think Eren has already left for the continent, 36.3% think he’s still on Paradis in his Founding Titan, 16.8% think he’s hiding somewhere in human form, and that leaves 6.6% who think he’s already reached the continent. Does anyone know the MPG on iceburst stone?
I'm going to be honest, I genuinely thought the plane was an aborted arc.
I find it funny that everyone is very concerned with catching up with Eren, even though they have no idea where he is, and have completely forgotten about Zeke. How do they know he's not lying in some rubble somewhere?
I just thought the plane idea was kinda....lame? I don’t know it just felt weird to me.
I can't stop picturing all the Wall Titans holding onto Eren's ribs for dear life as he crosses the ocean because they underestimated how deep it was.
  YELENA MENTIONS THE APPEAL OF “SAVING THE WORLD” AS A MOTIVATION. DO YOU THINK SHE JOINED ZEKE PRIMARILY FOR HIS VISION OR WAS THERE ANOTHER FACTOR? 1,910 responses
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Nearly a quarter of you said that Yelena served Zeke to further his cause, 20.2% of you said that she did it because she was just really thirsty for Zeke, and 13.2% of you said that it has nothing to do with Zeke, and that she was just looking for fun and fame—in other words, SASUGA, PIECK! The fairly overbearing majority of you though, at 42.1%, said that it was some combination of all of the above answers.
I think Yelena's motivations for following Zeke are partly spiritual. She mentions his titan being godlike, and follows Zeke around like a disciple.
I was quite shocked to learn that Yelena was an average Marleyan herself who just made everything up about her coming from an annexed Marleyan nation and being saved by Zeke in some way.
  YELENA BRINGS UP THE MORE RECENT CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE WARRIORS AND THE 104TH. IS THERE AN EQUIVALENCE OR IS ONE SIDE MORE AT FAULT? 1,901 responses
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This question had an interesting response, because it was expectedly divided, but not in the way one might have guessed. 34.9% of you said it’s irrelevant whose crimes are greater, 34.1% said that it’s about equal, 30.2% said that the Warriors are most at fault, and only 0.8% of respondents said that the 104th were most at fault. When we see talk of blame, or right and wrong, we normally see a very even split—especially when it comes to Eren, so this is an interesting outcome!
It’s so brilliant on the way it shows war’s true face ... don’t have winners, don’t have losers, it doesn’t matter who started or who finished it, we are fighting each other and for whom? for those who died 2000 years ago? people are just sickening. this chapter showed a lot of that with Yelena’s speech
Fuck Marley, but the sc doesn't have the higher moral ground on the warriors.
They should stop choosing between evils and start forgiving, never forgetting, but forgiving so they all can live together when it all ends one way or the other.
ZOOK YOOGER APPROVES!
  JEAN THANKS YELENA FOR HELPING THEM GET ALONG. WAS THAT HER INTENTION? 1,889 responses
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A clean 31% of you think that Yelena was “just taking the piss”, by bringing up everybody’s past, and I had to google what that British (Australian?) nonsense means, but hey, you learn something new every day. Following just behind that at 30.7%, you guys said that she wanted to create more conflict for an unspecified reason. 27.6% of you said that she was just venting frustrations, while only 10.7% thought she actually wanted to help Zeke, and bring everyone together to stop Eren.
Looking forward to seeing Yelena roasting everyone in season 4.
Someone should beat magath for being an ass and yelena for being so edgy
  WAS JEAN JUSTIFIED IN ATTACKING REINER LIKE THAT? 1,894 responses
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Almost three quarters of people thought Jean was justified in giving Reiner a walloping, largely for killing Marco (36.7%), but also to knock sense into Reiner (21.6%). 15.6% thought it was justified but that Jean took it too far, and a fraction fewer (15.2%) thought both guys have been justified in their actions. Just 6% thought the beating wasn’t justified at all, as we readers are well aware of Reiner’s feelings of guilt already. If you expected the sufferboi saga to end any time soon, don’t hold your breath…
I wouldn't say Reiner deserved it, but Jean is definitely justified for it. I don't blame Jean since the guy who killed his "best" friend was sitting right in front of him.
Uuuh YES? Is that even a question? Imagine someone killing your best friend and then calmly talking about it like telling a story.
His feelings are justified, his actions aren't.
Nobody fucking reacts over Yelena stating "Armin stole Bert's power", and instead we're just getting wank over a plot device from 2013: I named Marco.
Yes, but Annie deserved a beating too.
It makes no difference, they both are wrong and bad guys right now
We the audience know Reiner's entire backstory but Jean does not, hence why we feel more sympathy for Reiner than Jean does to him.
No reaction to Bert being eaten by Armin and Porco's already forgotten when he literally died the day before, but more Marco angst? Alright then.
I'd say neither is truly 'justified', but it was an emotional purging they both needed. Jean for his anger over what and who Reiner's taken from him, and Reiner getting what he feels he must receive for what he's done.
He should've killed him
Leave Reiner alone already. He suffered enough. He understands his mistakes. He doesn't need to be punched anymore.
Reiner deserved it, but by now its been too long so it feels out of place.
It's understandable. Jean's hit his breaking point. Reiner I love you but please stop trying to provoke people into causing you bodily harm.
Jean should've hit him harder. And Reiner wanted to be hit cause he knows it himself that he deserves it. Give the boy what he wants 💅
Reiner needs a damn hug goddamnit.
Yes. Revenge is always justifiable
Pretty sure reiner liked it either way
Honestly, when Jean hit Reiner, I felt good. I think that Reiner and Jean will have a better friendship and I'm looking forward to that.
I really don't know.
  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MAGATH STOPPING HIMSELF FROM EXTENDING A HAND TO GABI? 1,886 responses
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Magath is a complicated fellow isn’t he? He seems to treat Eldians better than most but has trouble getting over his own prejudices regarding them. Most of you seem to think it was character progression (56%) that he reached out to help Gabi in that moment as a man, instead of as her commanding officer. We shall have to see if Magath’s attitude continues to soften, and if so, could it potentially be a microcosm of the world’s attitude to Eldians in general?
Magath begins to have a real compassion for warriors, especially towards Gabi (already in one of the previous chapters, he had given her a hug).
Foreshadowing, he'll die for her. 100% sure.
Gabi apologized to the Devils, she asked them for help. Magath realized that Gabi is not a brainwashed fanatical degenerate anymore, even she is not on his side.
Good question. It seemed like he only know started to realize that Eldians are people with feelings, fears and hopes too, but didn't know how to interact or if he was even allowed to show that concern after all that time.
He doesn't know how to react to this because Hange's words from earlier struck him deeply.
He fill asham that she act more like an adult than him
He finally starts understanding he was being an ass. Better late than never!
He is not sure how to comfort her. The situation is a tough one.
He realises now that he needs to provide the better future for these young Eldians thus being the guy that will free the Eldians from the discrimination.
He realized that he cares about Eldians a lot and he doesn't see difference between them and other people.
He realizes that he’s one of the reasons why a kid like gabi is suffering and feels like he doesnt have the right to comfort her
He wants to help the warriors but feels guilt about all the pain he caused them
He's a bitch realizing it's kinda his fault
He's only shown to care for Gabi tbh. We've seen him humiliate all the kids over and over even when they were trying to help and give suggestions, so I don't accept it as development and much less as "caring for Eldians".
I really dont know wtf was happening in these panels
When not arguing with Jean, Magath was flabbergasted all the time about Eldians being more human instead of devils he thought them to be, so idk, this reaction kind of goes hand in hand with all that. He's kind of realising they're human as well and he's afraid of feeling compassion for them.
  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT JEAN'S TREATMENT OF GABI AFTER THE ACCIDENTAL KICK? 1,905 responses
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66.6% agreed that Jean’s softer treatment of Gabi was the cutest shit they’d ever seen, or close to it. 23.5% were neutral on the matter, and a small proportion (4.6%) didn’t really care for it. Then there’s that little bump in 1 voters (5.4%), from those who didn’t like to see any kind of positive treatment of Gabi. My goodness, would Sasha hold a grudge this long?
Bless Jean and his kindness toward Gabi
Gabi is garbage
Gabi sucks
She shouldn't be the one to endure the kick of a seething horseface and explain why the warriors did what they did. Worse even, hiding her own pain to beg her aggressors for help. When her arc is all about leaving the forest, that's disgusting.
Haven't we had enough of Gabi Sue hogging the limelight? And the way she begs the SC to side with her after what she did to Sasha? Disgusting!
It kinda annoyed me that Gabi is apologizing to the 104 when they're the ones who destroyed her home and don't seem to feel guilty about it
idk but i love gabi
Gave the kick moment a 3. +4 because Jean is amazing, but -1 because Gabi should have gotten worse.
It really shows what a great character Gabi is because she can continue for vengeance but she is being a bigger person and choosing a more moral path.  
  MUCH OF THE CONVERSATION AROUND THE CAMPFIRE WAS REMINISCENT OF WHAT WE DISCUSS IN THE FANDOM. WHICH IDEA WERE YOU MOST HAPPY TO SEE? 1,893 responses
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Does Isayama read our posts? You might be forgiven for thinking so, considering the campfire discussions focused on so many different angles; the complexity of the situation was nailed, and the winner was Jean knowing Eren’s actions are best for the island but still morally wrong (35.1%), but Yelena’s little dialogue was appreciated enough to come a close second (31%). This was the moment where all of us felt like our view was taken on board however, and it was brilliantly done.
I wonder if Isayama actively collected all fandom ideas, because he NAILED it. Well, he did his part, right? In showing the complexity of the situation. He can't change the fandom's minds, but he can put his message out there.
Annie confronting Mikasa only to immediately back off, what she pointed out made sense, and yet they didn't even discuss what to do if Eren couldnt be persuaded to stop genocide.
This chapter was a beautiful reflection of the community's arguments.
The panel when they are eating around the campfire looks like 'The Last Supper' of Jesus and his 12 apostles.
+1 for Annie for calling the 104 out on their inability to kill Eren if need be, and for Hange for having some fucking common sense
I liked it more when they were all enemies tbh
  WHICH OF THE MORE LIGHT-HEARTED MOMENTS FROM THIS CHAPTER WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 1,898 responses
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To me, Hange cheerfully knocking on the window to interrupt Jean’s idyllic daydream was pure comedy; what’s wrong with you people, am I the only one to find that funny? Sigh… Levi waking up to complain about the noise was alright though. I guess. And 50 percent of you seemed to like that one best. Comedy is wasted on you lot.
Sleepy Levi made me laugh out loud!
Levi was wholesome for once
Why would you think of Annie's asking if she's forgiven as a light-hearted moment?
I felt sad and grieved while reading this.
Loved Yelena with Titan Pieck, feel like she won't make it out of this alive and that's a shame since she's pretty interesting
I didn’t like the foodstuff. Isayama can’t make food jokes funny.
Isayama noticed Annie's favorable treatment so often he even slipped a joke about how nobody cares enough about the severity of her crimes to care... Haha...
Wouldanyonelikesomestewwouldanyonelikesomestewwouldanyonelikesomestewwouldanyonelikesomestew
  LEVI JOINS THE LIST OF CHARACTERS WITH GLORIOUS BEDHEAD. WHICH HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE SO FAR? 1,898 responses
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Mikasa’s gravity-defying locks assert dominance with 53.1% of the vote. Mankind’s strongest soldier makes an impressive debut in second place with his moment of dishevelment (21.2%), and Annie’s shaggy mane from all the way back in the Female Titan arc made it to third place (15.1%). We then have Gabi (4.6%) and Eren (4.1%) closely matched, and an honorable mention for Jean’s mild fluff from the days of Uprising (1.9%). Levi’s bedhead this chapter may well be the last in the series!
Levi taking his beauty sleep and being cranky after waking up by all the noise was the cutest thing on the entire manga. And talk about that bed hair... Can I tousle it, please?
[Levi’s] hair jkjkksksks KAWAII
  DEATH FLAGS ARE ONCE AGAIN FLYING! WHO DO YOU THINK WON’T MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ARC ALIVE? 1,844 responses
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Break out your bingo cards! Love him or hate him, most people agree that Floch has by far the highest chance of meeting his demise at a hardy 67.7% of responses. Just over 50% have voted that Yelena will die; perhaps she’s too much of a wildcard to stick around for the long-term. It’s not looking good for the old guard as many people think Hange and Magath have a good chance of dying, 48.7% and 45.2% respectively. A lot of people have also interpreted Jean’s development this month as an ominous sign (37.9%); it would certainly be one way to follow in his commanders’ footsteps! On the other end of the scale we have the fewest votes for Gabi (8%), Mikasa (8.2%), Falco (9.5%), and Armin (9.8%). Those expecting all four to meet their end are imagining a very grim finale indeed.
Hanji please don't die!
They're gonna kill Floch :(
Can Floch just die? Please?
I feel like hange will come up with a plan to save paradis without genociding.... and then immediately die without telling anyone the plan :)
Fuck annie. just fuck her. i want her to die so fucking badly.
If Hange dies I’ll cry
If Jean fucking die I’ll RIOT !!
Isadistyama knows only too well how much we hate Floch, which obviously means he isn't going to fkn die.
Gabi must die
Someone need to die soon.
Reiner's will to die will keep him alive to the end of the series…
I hope Levi doesn't die.
Really hoping Hange's death wasn't just foreshadowed in this chapter.
Jean will definitely die. Too much protagonism around him in this chapter.
My guess about Mikasa's life chances are now 50/50. 50% dying chances if she would protect Eren by fighting against the alliance and the other 50% having a chance to live a normal life with turning back to her old self
Just not Levi, at least not yet, c'mon we barely got him back :(
Maybe this whole manga is one man's journey trying to die in vain, until he ultimately finds the will to live... Then dies.
Hope they all die
  THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER WAS NOT RECEIVED VERY WELL. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CHAPTER 126 NOW AFTER HAVING READ THE FOLLOW-UP? 1,891 responses
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With the worst rating in recent memory, chapter 126 was a disappointment to many readers, and we even saw some people losing faith in Isayama (the heresy!). So we asked the fandom about their feelings of the previous chapter in retrospect and knowing the continuation.
Surprisingly, the majority of respondents (48.9%) said their opinion of the previous chapter had not changed, but they felt positively about it, with 23% saying their unchanged feelings were negative. A remainder of 28.1% said their opinion of the previous chapter had in fact changed, with 26.1% expressing more positive feelings and 2% feeling more negatively.
A real improvement compared to Chapter 126.
Amazing, picked up on everything I thought 126 needed.
Definitely an improvement upon the last chapter
This chapter remedied most of my issues/concerns from the previous chapter
Chapter 127 was so awesome it made 126 even worse in comparison.
I prefer personally chapter 126, but this chapter had much better pacing
Everybody complaining about 126 were too impatient and short-sighted. This was always what was going to happen and both chapters did exactly what they were supposedly to do.
It really made me feel better about 126
Way better than 126 but still kinda cringe tbh
Much better chapter that made 126 redeemable
  AFTER THIS CHAPTER, HOW HAS YOUR OPINION CHANGED ON THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS?
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Due to this chapter being dialogue-centric with character interaction galore, naturally it was bound to have an impact on the characters’ likeability. The significant focus on Jean’s inner turmoil evidently made him skyrocket in the eyes of the fans, with 80.6% of responses to him being on the favorable side, correlating with him being the fandom’s choice of MVP.
Jean's development is top tier.
I am so proud of how far and mature Jean has become! ;-;
Jean continues to show why he's the best character in the series
JEAN CHADSTEIN
JEAN JEAN JEAN JEAN
Other characters receiving a boost in favorability were Yelena, Hange and even Gabi (although in her case by only a smidge).
Yelena was my personal MVP this chapter
Mama Hange is the best
Gabi behaved like an adult and preferred to ask for forgiveness and help (she was adorable).
While many were relieved by Hange’s strong stance, it should be noted that Hange also received significant backlash this chapter, with ¼ of respondents viewing Hange less favorable.
Fuck hange
Hange is just making idiotic shitty points, and she has become one of my most hated character after this chapter. Jean's argument is one of the best, and almost everything he says this chapter made me love him even more.
People saying hange is acting based off emotion .. when literally all eren has done is act based off emotion. of course hange doesnt have a plan yet, eren is literally gonna annihilate the world
Though no characters had an overall less favorable response, Magath’s comments about the Paradis Eldians certainly almost landed him there.
Magath can suck a nut
Fuck off Magath
Magath really annoyed the hell out of me this chapter
  ONCE AGAIN ISAYAMA APPEARS TO BE PLAYING WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS OF THE FINAL PANEL. WHICH OUTCOME DO YOU BELIEVE IS MOST LIKELY? 1,824 responses
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Dreamt up fantasy or not, this chapter gave us yet another plausible scenario for the long-haired man holding a baby, confirming that Isayama knew what he was doing when he released that final panel, and he will milk the speculation for all it’s worth. With over 50 custom write-in responses of people saying they have no idea, it’s clear we’re all just on Isayama’s wild ride.
The most popular option chosen was that it depicts Eren holding Historia’s child (38.9%), followed by Grisha holding Eren (29.1%), Jean holding Mikasa’s child (14.7%), and Farmer-kun holding Historia’s child (8%). We also found many trends in the write-in answers:
Eren holding his baby with Mikasa (11)
Jean holding Historia's child (9)
Grisha holding Zeke (4)
Eren holding ymir fritz (reborn) (4)
Zeke holding Eren’s child. (3)
Falco holding Gabi's child (2)
Armin holding Historia's child (2)
As well as multiple answers that it’s Isayama injecting himself into the manga. You’re all hilarious.
Eren holding Isayama
plot twist: its isayama's dad holding him. he is free of the manga now
Isayama holding baby Onsen
Some of you had some creative ideas that I enjoyed reading:
Eren holding historia’s dead baby. saying it’s free from this world’s cruelty
Eren holding the Crawling Titan's human form (the one they encountered when heading to the ocean).
The next inheritor of the Founding Titan is holding Historia’s child, Eren sees this as a future memory.
Two marleyans free of eldian rule
Zeke holding Yelena's child  
How did that last one get - actually, screw it, I’m on board. #Zelena4Life
We also had some voicing of concern regarding the lack of warning for final panel spoilers. To anyone who was spoiled by the final panel as a result of our actions, we apologise, and we will make sure any future polls that include discussion of external material will be appropriately tagged. This was Crunch’s fault, so please direct all of next month’s hatemail at him. He’s very sorry though.
  WHAT DO YOU THINK THE OUTCOME OF THIS UPCOMING BATTLE WILL BE? 1,865 responses
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Before they can reach Eren, the Alliance needs to first get past the Jaegerist. Only 12% of respondents expect this to be easy. The vast majority (63.8%) are anticipating an Alliance win but at the cost of major character deaths. On the other end of the spectrum, close to 20% expect the Alliance to be defeated but think they will reach Eren another way. The tiniest percent (4.1%) think that the Jaegerists will win this battle and Eren will be successful.
I hope isayama wont nerf the alliance so hard in the upcoming battle. and pls no stupid death. make it glorious.
5 titan shifters versus a group of Jaegerist, I'm putting all my money on those well rested shifters to deal with a majority of the Jaegerist on the outside while the non-titans sneak in and rescue Kiyomi. And hopefully one of them can kill Floch while they are at it.
Super excited for next chapter! It was good exposition and a good setup for an epic fight! I also kind of hope that now that they've figured out the trick to stop fighting and finding diplomatic ways that they don't directly resort to violence but at least try to find a way to talk with the Jaegerists. If they don't try to talk and find a way around then the lessons learned won't have meant a thing. I'm super happy with the direction of the story
Even if you hate Floch you still have to give him credit for what he as done with taking over Paradis and mobilizing the Yeagerists in anticipation for the alliances next move
I swear if Armin doesn’t either turn into a titan now or in the final battle I’m gonna be saltier than the Dead Sea.
  YES, WE ARE GOING THERE... HOW BADASS DID FLOCH LOOK IN THAT FINAL PANEL? 1,888 responses
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God help us all... The bird’s nest hair is gone so there is nothing left to distract us from that rockin’ bod and fierce expression.  Please know that I am physically in pain that only ¼ of the fandom selected the “Ewwwwww no” option. The rest of us are apparently weak for thicc thighs bound by tight leather straps.
My hat is off to the 9.2% who selected “How ‘bout dat Kiyomi.” You have my respect for maintaining your dignity and opting out of this question entirely.
Floch based
Floch is a CHAD
Floch is a hottie
FLOCH MARRY ME PLEASE I LOVE YOUU
Floch NEEDS to die!!!
FLOCH SHALL REIGN SUPREME!!!
FLOCH THE CHAD
I hate floch but damn is he lookin fine af
  AT THIS POINT, AROUND WHICH CHAPTER DO YOU EXPECT THE MANGA WILL CONCLUDE? 1,876 responses
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After another set up chapter amidst the scenery of the apocalypse, the chances of this arc wrapping up quickly are slimmer than ever, with only 2.2% of respondents believing the series to be in its final volume and ending at chapter 130. The 138-gang has officially taken over as the majority, with 43.9% of respondents expecting the story to wrap up in ten more chapters, beating out the 37.3% who think we will only get to chapter 134, and the 16.6% who think the story will go even further, to 142 chapters or beyond (for those counting at home, that’s at least midway into 2021).
I find it hard to believe that the story is getting wrapped up so soon… There’s so much that I feel like needs to happen before the story ends
I hope [Isayama] finishes the series without any rush.
I'm unsure if the manga will be able to end in 2020
I thought we were supposed to be approaching the end but now we go on a sidequest to free princess Kiyomi from a miniboss, huh?
The end is near and I already feel sad.
Whatever happens, it's been a wild ride up to this moment. I thank Isayama for everything.
  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,892 responses
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Eren’s POV (37.3%), a continuation of the present storyline (21.9%), and the return of Historia (19.1%) are our top hopes and dreams for the upcoming chapter. A major death (6.8%), Reiner finding the will to live (6.0%), news about our boy Zeke (5.6%) and the Rumbling (3.4%) round out the entries.
EREN POV AND HISTORIA POV ALREADY JESUS CHRIST
I'm kinda hoping we get a zeke pov I wonder how he feels abt eren betraying him.
Historia was named because she is history from the story YAMS I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU WHERE IS QUEEN BAE
HISTORIA WHENNNNNNNN???!!!!!!!!
I just miss eren and historia and zeke a lot, they're my favorite characters :(
I just want annie to see her father smh
I have faith in isayama's cruelty and I honestly hope to see someone die
Please get Eren or Historia on the screen for the love of god
Reiner's too tired to die now. Wondering at which time yam will give him a new motivation to live and fight.
I’m still hoping Mikasa and Armin will man up and realize that Eren may not be worth fighting for. Maybe next time!
Hype for that Floch death next chapter, cmon Yams
Watch it burn!
  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,797 responses
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The percentage of people who primarily discuss the series on Reddit is up from last month, while Tumblr and Discord’s percentage is down. People who don’t discuss the series, but participate in the poll are up 4.1% (of the whole, 73% relative to itself). The top 5 ranking order is: Reddit, I don’t, Facebook, Tumblr, and Discord. I’m surprised by the lack of Discord responses. If you voted Discord, but don’t see many people in your Discord communities aware of the poll, let them (or us!) know!
On that note, I have to give the Snapchat voters a hard time. Snapchat got 6 votes this time. Six. That’s the same as it was last month, but let me put this into perspective for you. Steam got three votes. There are twice as many people who voted Snapchat as there were people who voted Steam. Two. Times. Until I receive evidence to the contrary, I’m electing to believe that this is a Marleyan psyop, and I’m not falling for it.
Regardless of where you discuss the series though, we appreciate your contribution to the poll, and the SnK community as a whole! We literally could not do this without you guys, so thank you!
  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 406 responses
Nice prelude before the final confrontation(s)
Fantastic chapter with great development for Jean and Reiner.
Overall, this is exactly what I wanted after last chapter's fiasco.
Where is Zeke lmao
Needs more Historia. THEY ARE ALL THERE WHY IS THERE NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE QUEEN OF PARADIS. ISAYAMA PLZ
Kinda bummed there wasn't more Levi, but I'm always bummed when there's not a lot of Levi.
I don't like where this is going
I can't believe I'll be legit sad if Floch goes.
Erwin would have come up with another way to protect Paradis. He would have blackmailed and sweet-talked all the other diplomats lol. If Erwin was in charge he would have come up with a decisive plan and Eren wouldn't even have had to consider the rumbling, unlike Hange who is all talk but no plan and I guess that's why Erwin had to be nuked out of the story.  
F U L L  B O C C O
I live for character drama and Jean’s my favourite character so you know I loved this one.
I loved the Pieck x Yelena moment...and I Am Once Again Asking for Historia Comeback.
Mikasa. That’s it, that’s my thoughts,
Meh this arc has really a lot of problems with the characters, basically i dont care for anyone at all except eren and reiner, and that's a major flaw.
[Yelena] pointed everyones hypocrisy out that they aren't just victims who did nothing wrong. Everyone, except of Falco, has cover they hands with blood. It's not just ""muh Marley, muh Eldia or muh Yelena"". Everyone have started sins and are to blame for something. It was a really necessary wake up call, not only for the characters, but for this fandom as well. No matter if this was her intention to create more drama in the group or make them realize that they and not different from each other. GREAT MOMENT and Yelena absolutely slaying 👑
Please just make mikasa ended up with eren in the future. I dont really care bout anything
THE.CHAPTER.THAT.WE.NEEDED.
There really just aren't any good solutions, are there?
Isayama stop messin with my heart
Also I've seen people mad at Magath, but the only two charas I really hated here were Yelena and Floch. Both kinds of people are terrible in real life (usually minus the killing but eh)
Eren is gonna win and kill everyone
Can we stop the SUFFERING XD jokes with Reiner? The torture porn is seriously getting old and unnecessary. Can't believe I had to lower my opinion of him as well.
Every major character during this arc had moments of extreme fragility and desperation. mikasa, connie, armin, hanji, reiner and now jean. i love this because it would be extremely weird for a group of people who constantly put their sanity to test to remain the same (strong and capable of fighting and leading in every situation)
Bless Jean! He is such a good friend. I hope he can heal. That reveal with how Marco really died was very traumatizing. I hope all of the characters can heal.
BTW Isayama..It will be so pathetic if the Manga ended by Mikasa kill Eren..The worst and most unsuccessful end
Better than the previous one for sure. I love dialouges! Still expected Annie to interact with Armin and Levi not just sleeping through all of this like the sleeping beauty.
Annies back, back again. Annie's back, tell a friend.
Another banger
AoT is like good wine, it gets better with time.
AOT makes my life tolerable enough to live, thank you isayama
Boring chapter i wanna see eren ffs
Bitches really do be supporting genocide
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
10/10 as usual
127 was a totally piece of shit
I think jean and pieck will become a thing. if it doesnt, ill be sad lol
I'M AT SOUP
I'm confused.
I'm glad the situation of Marco's death and his importance to Jean was addressed. I just hope this won't be the last we see of it. Jean needs to heal and Reiner needs to do better.
I'm just happy that there will most likely not be a Cringevengers-like ending that seemed not too far-fetched after 126.
I want Eren to live
I want the recipe for that stew
I want to see Mikasa's POV
It feels as if Isayama has read our discussions and merged them into the story. Also I think Jean is the one who understands Eren's motivations the best at this point. Not Armin, not Mikasa.
It seems now that all the pieces are in place.  I believe from now until the end will be a constant and crazy ride
It was a great chapter, but where's Eren? Even the "Avengers Team" are wondering.
It was a great chapter, Isayama covered most of the topics that were hanging loose on the last chapter
Real Housewives of Eldia
It was a masterpiece
It was alright.
Some will die, Eren will do some bad shit, but he will fail somehow
MOAR JEANKASA
Monthly dose of Reiner suffering
More Mikasa
More Reiner
None, just AOT
Nostalgic. Especially when Jean learns of Marco's demise.
Not enough action
Not enough suffering for Reiner.
Pie
Pieck Is hekkin cute
Pretty much what I expected after the events of last chapter, in a good way.
Reiner and Gabi both should have gotten so much worse from Jean, they have too much blood on their hands to be even remotely forgivable.
So long as the Jeagerists are resolved this volume, or something wilder - no more build-up. JUST FUCK EVERYTHING UP, ISAYAMAAA  (not like GoT fuck it up, but the good kind)
Somebody, please let Reiner sleep and wake up properly
Shit gonna hit the fan so hard
Shit is happening and I'm not ready. Wonder if the anime will make the chapters flow better like in Season 3 Part 1+2?
There going to set something big up soon and everyone will be hype for it but then it will show Marley perspective of the rumbling or something
Eren will succeed! All hail Eren!
This chapter was everything I wanted, thx Yams ily
Lets just say I have new ships
This chapter was intense and I love the debates around the fire.
Too long chatting
Chapter was good but the fandom is at its absolute lowest state at the moment, between the aggressive Eren cultists, warriors and 104 fans attacking one another, and crazy shippers. Stop this clownery
Crazy chapter, looking forward to the next one.
Fuck the Jaegerists, death to all empires. Everybody needs to be a republic already, this is getting old.
Great breath of fresh air chapter. Needed that after the quickly paced 126.
Very good.  i don't like the fandom,they are just children. i have always hated them.
Was a fantastic chapter overall and I hope for more of the same next chapter
We really missed Annie
Hype's alive again
I shit you not, He actually turned himself into a pickle. A pickle! He called himself pickle Rick. Now that's the funniest shit I have ever seen.
I liked that yams showed conflict in the gathering of the warriors and the 104th and that they weren’t going to forget each other’s crimes
I loved the arguing and tension in the alliance. I like how most of the chapter was around the campfire.
I prefer this chapter to have been the other half split of the previous one. And this one advanced to slowly, with unnecessary things
I'm still waiting for a crazy plot twist
When will the Ackertalk finally come
Where did mikasa go at then end!!!
YELENA!!!
Yelene spitting facts
Annie turned to alcohol
Im fine if this ends with the alliance stopping Eren but I'll find it dumb if Paradis isnt destroyed by the world afterwards. (which I highly doubt will happen)
It was pretty dope
It was really good but we all know I cannot wait another month for the next chapter release. And yes, I am extremely upset that we won't be getting another Levi x Zeke fight.
Honestly Erwins flashback looked forced, that space could've been used to yelena revealing Eren's location, or confirming who that guy from the building was(shadis?)
Love this shit.
Loved it! It's tied with 121 as my favourite chapter from this arc.
Loved it. Not much to say about this one, since it wasn't nearly as controversial as the last one :P
Hoping the deaths I picked are going to happen and I hope 🤞 that ema talk 2 will happen
I'VE BEEN WAITING TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE FOR THIS. I DON'T EVEN CARE IF I GET CORONAVIRUS I CAN DIE HAPPY.
I’ll die of the corona if eren dies
Jeans pretty cool ngl
pointless volume incoming with pointless battle vs floch. Waste of time
Pretty much what I expected after the events of last chapter, in a good way.
I don't forgive Annie
Thank you Yelena
Jeanstans: Attaboy Jean! Reinerstans: HOW DARE HE?! Reiner: Too bad that didn't kill me.
Loved this chapter but it was mostly playing catchup with the rest of the characters, still needed. Really shows how far ahead eren is.
Genocide supporter fans are just bunch of edgy teenagers. Let's see how they support Genocide when they get massacred irl.
More useless drama for a character who is progressively getting more annoying by the minute (hi Jean)
Since the end of the second world war, japan was reconstructed almost entirely by young people, so probably this story will end showing that with some analogy. making that previous statement, i think it won’t be eren, or any of the older characters, since they lived and did the horrors they did and must somehow pay for it(and specially the PTSD most would have, so they’ll be probably incapacitated in some way), i think it will be Gabi, or maybe Falco or someone else, because they are just lost, Gabi changed her mind and personality so well(progress, developed it), so that’s why i think it would or maybe even should be her. am i expecting too much from Isayama?
I believe in the Time-Loop still. But ya, hope Final Battle is with Levi and Eren teaming up. (Also Mikasa a bit before...)
Honestly wished the first few pages were real. I would love it for Jean and Mikasa to actually get together.
Annie clearly has no big role to play, & I think she’s going to go home & find her father dying. On a more positive note, we finally got some character interaction!!
That soup tho
Why should Mikasa be the one who confronts Eren? lmao According to the final exhibition would Armin be the one who will confront Eren, but I'm sure "talk-no-jutsu" will fail as an outcome. It doesn't worked in chapter 112, why should it be different?.
The award goes to Isayama for being the first person writing a story in which I have absolutely 0 clue about what will happen next. Like I never ever was at such a loss of theories. Never.This is both awsome and frightening. At least for that, props to Isayama
Top-tier
Unfair
I love the cart titan
64 notes · View notes
yaboylevi · 5 years
Note
hey vivi how are you? hopefully you’re doing good ! question in your personal opinion do you think that we stopped seeing eren’s caring side towards levi bc of what happened in RtS arc? do u think like in a way he resents? or feels betrayed by levi’s actions? i mean eren trusted levi kinda blindly i would say so maybe he felt a little deceived by levi ? anyways i’m just curious on ur thoughts on this, have a good day! :D
Okay hi, so…I got this question once in the past already and I decided to not reply for various reasons. I didn’t really feel like replying to this either, as you could guess by how long it took me to actually reply (I actually typed a full answer 3 times in these 2 months but deleted all of them aahh). But I have a question for y'all I would really love hearing an answer to: Is this a common interpretation/headcanon in the ereri fandom recently?
So, anyway… if they were real people experiencing such a development, based on MY feelings and how I’d react, I would say yes, it would be normal for Eren to have developed a sort of resentment once things calmed down a little and he thought back on how absolutely unfairly Levi treated him back then: he agreed to give Eren the serum only to take back the offer at the last moment; he basically told him to shut down his own feelings, dismissing them, when Levi himself couldn’t do the same; he lost his patience and punched him in the face with such strength that he made Eren lose half of his teeth. I understand why it happened: Levi is not emotionally mature at times, imo, and it was a charged development with important lives at stakes and they were all mentally and physically drained. But he didn’t even apologize.
Granted, no one apologized. However, Eren and Mikasa were made to feel responsible for everything that went down by a number of people (Hange, Floch, the other military in Paradis), and were punished for it. I don’t feel Levi held them responsible because I think at one point he realized he acted worse than them and also understood why they all behaved that way.
Either way, Levi never apologized, even though we could argue that Levi telling them to never regret their choice (as if they even had a say in the matter…) and ruffling their hair was a sort of double apology (i.e: I forgive you and I hope you can forgive me). If it was real life, it wouldn’t be enough, in my opinion.
So long story short, I would feel betrayed alright, if I were Eren. Because Eren has always believed Levi was the better man, someone he could count on to be fair and mature. Levi was none of those things during their altercation on the rooftop.
But if I were to look at the whole situation through the lenses of what is ACTUALLY portrayed in canon, I feel the answer to your questions is no, as it isn’t given the proper depth, for 3 reasons:
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1. It seems like there were no grudges left amongst all of them. Especially in chapter 108, they all behave naturally, as they used to do before the timeskip, before the Shiganshina fiasco happened (Isayama would’ve shown it to us if it wasn’t the case). I feel there is tension only between Eren and Armin. Also, there aren’t many instances where the 104th need to rely on Levi’s mentorship as before because they aren’t at war, and international matters are in Hange’s hands so they all rely on Hange when searching for an opinion. But I would like to believe that, when Eren couldn’t see eye to eye with his friends, he consulted with Levi, because they often talked about “feelings” rather than “actions” (so it doesn’t matter if they’re at war or not in their case), they have very similar opinions and went through similar experiences in the past. But so far there’s nothing that supports this in the manga. There’s just that tiny panel of Levi saying that they’ll talk later, but I feel it was forgotten/unimportant. Anyway, no grudges mean they have all forgiven one another because they all understood the others’ actions in Serumbowl…or Isayama simply didn’t care about exploring such conflict amongst them because he had other, more important things he needed to tackle in the story, so he made all of them forgive each other off-screen, with no repercussion whatsoever on their relationships.
2. Eren and Levi barely interact during and post-timeskip, and what we see of their relationship is a shadow and/or a copy-paste of what has already happened in the past (Levi kicking Eren, Levi thinking back only to their first encounter as if everything that happened later on had no weight, Levi acting as Eren’s bodyguard, Levi thinking of Eren as hope). Nothing new, whereas Eren’s relationship with other characters has changed quite a bit.
If we consider it from Eren’s point of view, he stopped opening up to his friends after talking with Yelena, but before that, he was quite open about his opinions with both his friends and Hange and Levi. Levi, though, during these moments, felt distant, opinionless, almost like a background character. And it’s true, Eren kept secrets from his friends and comrades, but he was justified, considering the military’s and Hange’s treatment of Eren himself when it came to his titan’s powers. He always spoke his mind in every other instance. We don’t see Eren and Levi talking, because…I don’t know. But I don’t see resentment from Eren, nor from Levi. And Levi, oh, he should have a lot to talk about. Not only with Eren. With Mikasa, too, about their shared family. With Hange, about Erwin. But he’s just…there.
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So the fact that two characters who used to share so much screen time together, who shared such a relationship where one of them used to guide the other, and the other used to open up to the mentor in private in the past, and who both used to play into the same themes of the story, now share close to no screentime, conversations, and themes, makes me think that it is either just to show Levi’s distance to their cause as a whole and Eren’s frustration with everyone in general, OR Isayama simply has no intention of keeping their relationship relevant anymore. And this last point brings me to number 3.
3. Isayama has dropped a significant amount of relationships or characters throughout the series, and sometimes it was very disappointing (Annie, Bertolt, Historia, Ymir, Mike come to mind). I didn’t think it could happen with the series’ most popular character and the protagonist, as they had consistent importance together throughout the whole series until the change of POV in the Marley arc (so for 80 chapters), but it may have as well happened for real.
With Levi dead or out of commission most probably until the end of the story - and so he will never meet with Eren again to have one of their usual talks - and with Eren in the middle of probably the last fight of the story where he will almost certainly die, I can see closure for Eren only in regards to his friends of the 104th. That’s also where the main focus of this whole arc has been. No closure for Levi re:most of his “bonds”. And again, in Eren’s memories in ch120, we see a shot of Levi from the Female Titan Arc, even though Eren and Levi had other relevant conversations down the road. Couple this with Levi’s flashback of an Eren from their first meeting in volume 2 (?), and I get the feeling Isayama has no intention of making them relevant to each other ever again. He decided to 1. make Levi’s character about revenge - and I’m curious to see what he will do with Levi, because he has already punished him for it so I’m waiting for a conclusion - and to emotionally separate him from the main cast, and 2. to make Eren a solo player who may have absorbed Levi’s teachings in (maybe) the wrong way, but his mentor won’t ever be there to confront him about it, because it’s not important as long as Armin, or someone else among the 104th, will act as Eren’s moral compass.
And it is kind of disappointing. It feels like wasted potential and abandoned character development. But I’m also biased about it.
tl;dr:
1. Eren has stopped talking to everyone in his group of friends after talking with Yelena. Levi is the one who feels the most distant in such group prior to that.
2. The fact that Eren hasn’t opened up to Levi about certain things could be: a. because we still haven’t been shown this (but I gave up on it, as new important memories were highlighted in ch120 and Levi’s not part of them); b. Eren doesn’t believe Levi has answers for him anymore or that his opinion is valid, as following the Serumbowl fiasco (but there is nothing that supports this in canon); c. Isayama just doesn’t feel their relationship is important to the story anymore.
3. My personal opinion is that Isayama just decided to take a different route with them singularly, in particular axing Levi’s character, and they will never be relevant to each other ever again.
51 notes · View notes
chidoroki · 3 years
Text
Norman - 22194
March 21st is here and it’s time for yet another birthday post. I already rambled on about Emma and Ray on their special days, so now it’s finally time to complete this full-score tradition with Norman. It might not be as detailed or long as the other two, since he was absent for a good chunk of the story, but it doesn’t make him any less important! I’ll be honest now, the boy isn’t my favorite character (he doesn’t place anywhere in my top ten for this series either) so I probably missed some moments worth mentioning but I did my best to praise this child anyway!
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(spoilers for the entirety of The Promised Neverland, so if you haven’t read/completed the manga yet, consider this your first warning, because I’m once again going from start to finish with this.)
Since I want to stay consistent with the other two posts, this will focus on the manga timeline, as season 2 is, well.. it’s own thing. I’ll mention some things but don’t count on much. With that, let’s go.
- He achieves a perfect score on Grace Field’s daily tests, alongside Emma and Ray.
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- He is, without a doubt, the smartest kid the house has ever seen, as he passes each test flawlessly and has maintained a 300 average.
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- He’s a complete strategist who is capable of achieving victory (even in something simple as tag) by observing his opponents moves and analyzing their weaknesses in order to counter.
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- Knows how to pick locks. The scene from ch1 was left out but we see him doing so later on in ep02.
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- Stays relatively positive and calm after learning about the truth of the farm.
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- Even going as far as giving Emma a reassuring smile, which I think is impressive given the literal nightmare fuel they’ve just witnessed. 
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- I’m giving him half credit for suggesting the idea of there being tracking devices, since anime has him reveal this possibility while in manga it’s Emma.
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- Both of them realize what determines the shipping order and that the demons favor their brains.
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- This silly panel that I love dearly.
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- Made sure to do a sweep of the entire house beforehand to make sure their escape planning doesn’t get pick up on.
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- Figures out that Isabella only knows the children’s locations when she checks the tracker and that it can’t identify who is who.
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- Has the nerve to lie right to Isabella’s face.. not that she believes it, but still gutsy nonetheless.
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- Knowing the house probably wouldn’t have any rope, it was his idea to use the spare tablecloths.
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- Had a feeling that Ray would reveal the harsh reality of how dangerous it would be to escape with all the children, which turns out to be correct.
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- His laugh in ep02 is so precious.
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- This statement being 100% accurate.
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- Manages to convince the logical Ray, who we know now has spent many years coming up with a solid, safer escape plan, to join in and assist with their crazy and reckless plan instead. Having Ray on their side also grants them many advantages.
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- Absolutely hates to lose, which is a good mentality to have in a world where your life is a stake and your time is limited, which eventually leads him to consider every possible opportunity to stay ahead of his enemies throughout the remainder of the story.
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- Realizes that the trackers must only send out a signal upon being broken, which we found out to be true in Ray’s one-shot chapter.
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- - Him looking completely terrified in this panel.
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- He managed to catch all the Grace Field kids in a game of tag even after they received advice from Ray about how to survive longer.
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- The goddamn intimidating energy he gives off here is fantastic.
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- Despite his body being physically weak, he manages to survive and win against Krone during their game of tag.
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- Just like Ray some couple chapters ago, Norman is completely serious about this idea.
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- Suspects there’s a traitor among the kids and swiftly comes up with a plan to lure them out.
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- This panel of him “dead” from the first side story.
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- He has a feeling the spy is Ray, so he moves up the day of the escape to catch him off guard and send him into a panic.
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- Even though the anime didn’t include it, he managed to throw off Krone as well with some fake footprints to keep her off their backs.
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- Was honestly considering on leaving the spy behind while the rest of them escaped, though he doesn’t seem real happy about the idea, considering the traitor is Ray.
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- His plan on fishing out the spy was flawless as he finally calls Ray out by revealing that the information he gave about the ropes and where he hid them were fake locations.
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- Not only was Ray the first one Norman suspected, but he caught onto him way back when Krone first came to the house. All the information Ray was feeding them helped Norman come to this conclusion as well.
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- Along with Emma’s words about believing that no one in their family is truly bad, Norman refrains from cutting Ray off to allow him to become their trump card. This was a risky move itself, knowing Ray could sell both him & Emma out at any time. Norman tends to prioritize victory, so while staying alive is absolutely necessary and that could’ve been achieved without Ray (as he could’ve just used Ray then ditch him later), he still decides to make the offer as realizes that in order defeat Isabella, Ray’s full cooperation is essential.
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- Realizes that it was Ray who hid Little Bunny in the first place and lead Norman and Emma to investigate the gate that night, which leads him to believe that Ray isn’t really an enemy.
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- He’s also left handed. Yes, that’s important. Not only for later in the story but because we’re superior. I’m sorry y’all had to find out this way. 
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- This stupid, little face he makes.
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- Suspects that Ray doesn’t actually plan on escaping at all and intends to kill himself.
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- Just like Emma and Ray, Norman also recognizes and understands morse code.
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- Look at this precious child, not even angry after getting punched and knocked over. (because i certainly would be)
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- Finds Ray’s hidden supply of oil which confirms the method for his future suicide. This also helps Norman later on when he comes up with a refined escape plan by using the fire Ray plans to start.
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- Figures out Krone’s true intention about why she wants to join forces with the kids in the first place. 
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- He ends up accepting Krone’s offer anyway, because despite the large risk, any information that can snag out of her would benefit them.
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- You mad lad, look at you, taunting the bringer of death yet again while a smile on your face.
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- And he still manages to find some strength to smile while upon death’s door.
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- Not for long though, as once he’s given the chance to be alone, he finally breaks down. Having the cup overflow with water really helps demonstrate how impactful the thought of dying hit him as Norman was overcome with so many emotions that he didn’t even have the strength to hold onto the cup or his facade. It’s then he starts to feel scared and sorry for himself but away from Emma and Ray’s eyes as to not worry them.
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- His entire internal monologue as he comes to terms with his unfortunate situation and flips back to his determined “I can’t lose” attitude to help everyone else escape. Also, his theme ‘22194’ hits especially hard.
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- For someone with weak, physical abilities, he manages to climb the wall on his own.
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- Though the cliff stopped his escape, he used that opportunity to survey the surrounding area of the entire farm to rely his findings to the duo and provide them a safer escape route.
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- Completely adamant about his decision to accept his shipment in order to give the rest of his family a chance to escape. (hell, id’ be terrified right now)
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- This hug that is sure to break everyone’s hearts.
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- Quick to react to Emma’s last ditch effort and prevented her from slamming her already busted up leg into the ground.
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- Not only did he predict that Ray would start a fire to distract Isabella and on which day, he also left behind the pen and key he received from Krone along with a new, detailed plan (which he managed to come up with in only a few hours by the way) that would allow the kids to cross over the cliff.
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(post season one spoilers below. again, focusing on the manga timeline, so any new season 2 events will be mentioned sparingly.)
- Like Ray, Norman was able to figure out how the pen worked well enough to see Minerva’s message regarding B06-32.
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- Since he doesn’t show up again for quite some time post-escape, there isn’t much to talk about.. but at least I can make fun of him thanks to extra pages, like how he wouldn’t have enough strength to use a bow.
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- But hey, props to s2ep10 for actually giving us Norman shooting an arrow. He was pretty decent with it too, as he hit his target on the first try behind a darn smokescreen. The manga did show him holding a bow in ch161, but that’s it.
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- Not relevant to the actual story at all, but his smarts certainly make anything possible.
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- I’m sorry but these tiny failures of his bring me great joy.
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- Though the tests at Lambda are harder than those at Grace Field, Norman still managed to get every question correct. Every single day he was there. Even when the facility manages to increase the difficulty of the tests, he continues to pass each one with flying colors.
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- Since he noticed someone who’s right handed also takes the same tests he does, he makes an attempt to communicate with them via a Rubik’s cube. He waits patiently for five months until he finally gets a response from Vincent around Christmas 2046. 
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- Dealt with the experiments/drugs that were forced onto him and the seizures that resulted from them.
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- Even with the tight security and surveillance, he somehow acquired explosives and successfully blow up Lambda and escapes with the survivors.
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- Again, not significant to the story, but seriously dude? You just fainted and yet you still get this crazy question right effortlessly?
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(post time-skip)
- Contacts Lucas moments before the B06-32 shelter gets blown up and gives him the numeric code that eventually leads Emma’s group to the “Jaw of Lion.”
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- Destroyed numerous mass production farms since his escape from Lambda.
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- As well as save countless children from other farms and used the Paradise shelter found by Smee’s network to give them a sense of safety and taste of a normal life.
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- The darn glow-up he receives, like sweet lord child, are you sure you’re still 13??
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- - His cute, squishy cheeks though!
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- He may look like he’s in his thirties, but still has the strength of a child. (see anime? this is how strong ray’s slap should have been!)
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- Learned a great deal of demon history and gave that lengthy lesson about the demon’s genetics and how they inherit the characteristics of whatever they eat and evolve accordingly. 
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- With Emma’s wish about saving everyone and lively happily still on his mind, he thought of a safe and certain method in order to create such a future for all the children raised as food.. which ends up being complete extermination of all the demons caused by a civil war. His plan also includes ending the Ratri clan as well. How cheerful.
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- Are you surprised to learn that Norman getting tackled by the younger kids is my favorite panel of him?
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- You weak, little bean, I’m sorry I enjoy making fun of you so much.
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- Successfully forms an alliance with Lord Geelan and his clan by offering revenge on the royal family, the five regent houses, as well as the Ratri clan, thus putting Geelan in full control. In return, it would grant Norman the full release of farm children, permission to self-govern and some much needed power in terms of demon strength.
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- He knows full well that the entire alliance is a lie and both parties are only using each other, though in works in his favor, as it will send the demons to destroy each other without the lose of any human lives.
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- This absolute powerful panel that the anime decided “nah, we’re gonna change this too” because they’re cowards.
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- Narrowed down possible locations on where to find Sonju and Mujika. Sure it was with the intention of killing our demon friends but his map was accurate.
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- Survived who knows long with his seizures at level 4, and because of his severe condition, he’s completely set on following through his plan and succeeding before his time runs out.
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- Seems to enjoy blowing stuff up, such as the imperial city’s bridges to send the place into a panic and trap all the citizens.
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- Advised the Lambda crew on how to effectively fight against the queen by attacking relentlessly.
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- Let loose a poison that causes not only normal demons to degenerate, but the royal family as well, such as the five regent heads and the queen who’s name is too long and complicated for me to ever remember, who all have the cursed blood. (at least that’s how effective it was in manga, in anime it did absolutely nothing to vylk)
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- He somehow managed to learn, speak and understand the demon language, which, according to Shirai (vol16 author notes), is actually an uncommon language nowadays. (and we’ll unfortunately never know how this language actually sounds, thank anime..)
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- Do I even praise him for killing a demon and well.. all this? Sure in the anime he tried killing Vylk, but old demon was fair more innocent compared to the royal family, so I have no idea.
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- I will give season 2 some credit and say I prefer their take on the “right now you look like a small child, shaking with fear” panel.
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- But not too much credit, as they didn’t give us the full trio hug as the manga did!
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- Then again the anime did have him about to apologize to Vylk and Demon Emma for his actions, which is something, I suppose? since in ch154 he says he didn’t regret killing the queen and royals, which I guess is justified because they were the bigger problem, but oh well.
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- Might have apologized to Ayshe for killing her father? Can’t be sure but that’s the unanimous consensus in the fandom right?
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- Instantly comes up with counter moves and directions for the entire group upon hearing the enemies locations from Vincent during the GF raid.
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- I honestly can’t look at this panel anymore and not laugh about it.. because reasons.
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- He just keeps on winning. (also he looks real good here, i’ll give him that.)
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- He and everyone else are skeptical about there being no “reward,” and for rightfully so.
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- Upon learning that Emma is missing after everyone crossed over to the human world, they all adopt her optimistic attitude and swear to find her no matter where she might be.
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- After a stressful two year search, the kids finally find Emma and Norman is so overcome with emotion that he busts out into tears of joy, despite finding out that she lost her memories due to the reward. All that matters to him is that Emma was safe and happy and he accepts her just the way she is.
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And I guess.. that’s it. I’m sorry again, I know this is truly the weakest post out of the trio and I have no doubt I glanced over a whole bunch of great moments but it still had to be done! Making fun of him probably wasn’t the best thing to do on his special day either, but I assure you this child is very powerful. Who else do you know that is capable of sending an entire fandom into a panic and rage furiously by just simply showing up?
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Ah ha okay, now I’m done. In all seriousness though, this lad is great and through everything he has endured, he definitely deserves to be celebrated today, so happy birthday to our boy Norman!
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onepunchmiss · 5 years
Text
OPM s2e7 Live blog
“The S Class Heroes”
IM SCREAMING ALREADY I ONLY READ THE EPISODE TITLE ALRIGHT OK SO IT BEGINS TODAY, MY DEATH guys I am so pumped for the S Class focus thats about to begin with this episode like from here on out they become main players in the series and asfdbfhirksvfjkevfsnjkvfnjek how is it legal for ONE SERIES to contain SO MANY FAVES. Anywayyy Before I get started I’m actually wondering- this is the 7th episode of the second season… do we know how many episodes the season is supposed to run for? S1 only had 12 i think. I’m… I’m not even close to ready for it ending. Now that they’ve introduced Orochi, I’m not even sure where a good break in the plot would be?? Random concerns aside, lets get to the episode. As always, I’m watching this as someone who has read the manga and web comic to date
OROCHI IS PINK HE IS HOT PINK THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY BEFORE THE TITLE SEQUENCE HITS ME LIKE A GUT PUNCH EVERY SINGLE TIME AND I STILL PAUSE IT AT ZOMBIEMAN OK off to a great start woo
Oh thank god we’re starting with the tournament I can stop quite literally holding my breath. Alright its Choze time. I’m actually excited for him to do things, his face has been nothing but terrifying thus far and hes one of those characters that are just fun to hate unapologetically. I love over-the-top Nazi stand-ins for that reason tbh
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OH FUCK OH GOD I LOVE HIM also GAROU hiya welcome back I know it’s only been 2 weeks but i missed you so much thank you for gracing my screen for 5 seconds OH HECK the dramatic music and beginning of the internal monologue just being blatantly REJECTED caught me off guard I cackled AH WAIT WAIT
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EYESIGHT DOGMAN ASDFGHK MY BABY IS COMING IM DEAD IM FUKKIN DEAD ALREADY I MISSED HIS CUTE VOICE hey no wait that was very quick?? I must withhold my bias, we’re at the point now where I have SCRUTINIZED every single panel of the manga over and over because of all of my faves, so even the smallest differences will be glaring to me. As much as I want all the action to be drawn out as it is in the manga, I know that’s never been how the anime has rolled. I must bite my tongue.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE ONLY TIME WE’LL EVER SEE HIM AND YET!!! oof i had to pause for 2 minutes to chill out and actually type. I. I just. juST. BOI ARE YOU OK WHERE ARE YOU ARE YOU WELL AND WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE G4 tell me your secrets
WAIT COME BACK i dont give 2 SHITS about sweet mast HECKK
speaking of whom get off my screen u creep I have a personal bone to pick with u disrespecting the bae as you will
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[SCREAMING]
Oh god this whole scene is so EXCITING and TERRIFYING child emperor’s face as Pig God just eats her, speaking of which -QUIT CUTTING BACK TO THAT TERRIFYING IMAGERY ASDFGHJ  
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YES THEY KEPT IT YES YES YES YESYEYSYEYS YOU DONT UNDERSTAND how much Ive been looking FORWARD to that little scene??? im crying how is it possible to work myself up so much of this please help
ok ok back to the tournament give my heart a break phew Hey Choze if you’re genes are so superior then where are your eyebrows????? You dont pull it off HALF as well as Z does. Jeez everything about this guy is so absurd I can’t help but laugh irl the damn DNA helix rolling across the screen dude just stop you’re embarrassing yourself
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although you DO know how to strike a pose. change ur name to Poze. Wait no. Your name is now GMO Corn I lied.
AGAIN GETTIN ME WITH THE WEIRD COLORS Hundred Eyes Octopuss is red and blue OK SURE
DEATH GATLING DEATH GATLING ASDFGHJKL guys I cant look at Narcisstoic oh no “no you’ll do no good”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I WASNT EXPECTING THIS THIS EPISODE BUT I SHOULD HAVE I WASNT PREPARED I paused it I’m afraid to push play he’s not on the screen yet i can still turn back and make it out alive -
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                    Behold.                                     the moment   I          died        
I actually have this thing with eye gore and seeing it in motion fucked me up I had to skip 10 seconds but anyway FUCK he’s so SPARKLY and PRETTY
Noting also the music there totally gave me flashbacks to the Darkmatter Thieves invasion for a split second and that sequence in general was really well done I like how they emphasized the suckers sticking to the concrete and everything- it have the monster a lot of weight imo. Of course the studio would be fools to not give Tatsumaki the the utmost respect like that sooo
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SPARKLY and PRETTY and TEMPTING FATE YOU FOOL yo I was so excited to this scene but I feel like they didn’t make his response angry enough it’s funnier when it so uncharacteristically mad I might do a redraw with the face he makes in the manga………….. FUKKIN was smiley face man just yelling noises to cover flashy’s voice???? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OH MY FUCK WE’RE GETTING MONSTER CELLS THIS EPISODE. OH MY HECK WE’RE COVERING MUCH MORE GROUND THAN I THOUGHT WE’RE ONLY HALF WAY THROUGH THE EP
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plot progression plot progression plo t p r ogr e ss i on hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Kamikaze being the badass that he is i lov
SPEAKING OF LOVES LOOKY LOOK God i love those three Okamaitachi is a WIFE and IAI is a BAE HEY WAIT let them speak come back they said words i want voices!!!!!!!  this is going so fast??? Oh my god I was absolutely not expecting to get the Suiryu fight this episode holy crap holy crap?? Ok but I’m getting pumped the music is hype “trying to hide his nervousness by looking like a doofus” “this is how I always look” Oh saitama why do they do this to you. Jeez as much as I love everyone else I forget how much I miss him. 
Oh and he’s getting his hopes up again sweetheart no
This is so good I’m hardly pausing to type my thoughts I’m too invested AND NOW ALSO IM DIGGING THIS MUSIC this is good v good yes and there goes Saitama being a genuinely good person offended by this jackass Saitama is too good for this world
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His voice… I love him sm. aaaaaaaaaaaaaand its over. hmmmmmmmmmmmm so I have a guess as to what the post credits scene will be but let’s just see
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YUP I KNEW IT cause we skipped it last week and now that we’ve introduced the monster cells it was only logical Genos no bby stop getting completely obliterated mannnnnnnnn
In all, no real complaints??? My children?? Have began to appear finally??? I just wish they literally went word for word shot for d\shot with Drive Knight if only because I’m STARVED for DK content in general. But based on the pacing of this week’s episode, will definitely cover a lot of ground and be pretty intense. I should be less, uh, screaming? Next week too. I’m exhausted from spazzing every 10 seconds hah. Well, I just skimmed the manga again and there might be some but yeah I think I can calm down for maybe 2 weeks. maybe. take a wild guess who should show up right around that time. ANYWAY Thanks for reading see yall next weeeeekkkkk
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duhragonball · 5 years
Text
Dragon Ball 101 :(
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This is it!  The finale of the Tien Shinhan Saga and the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai!  We got a lot to cover, so let’s get moving.
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Tien’s final gambit to win the tournament was to destroy the entire ring.   Since he can fly and Goku can’t, Goku will have no choice but to land out of bounds, thus giving Tien the victory.   Unless Goku was destroyed along with the ring, of course.  No one can find the li’l guy.  
Which is why I love Chiaotzu’s ominous “He’s alive...”, accompanied by the bead of sweat on his face.   Sometimes, Goku is like this movie monster in the form of a little kid.  You can run, you can hide, you can beat the crap out of him, you can kill him, but then he keeps coming back for more.
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Tien’s mistake was in thinking that Goku would only jump high enough to avoid the destruction of the ring.   It didn’t occur to him that he would jump even higher than Tien was floating.   So he flies up to meet him.
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You gotta hand it to the tournament announcer.  He came prepared.   There were a few midair battles in the last tournament, but I don’t think any of them required binoculars.   Even so, he brought a pair with him just in case.
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Tien is ecstatic to find Goku survived the destruction of the ring.   This might be the happiest he’s been, probably because he’s starting to think ahead to the day he can Goku can fight again.  
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As for this fight, the only thing Goku can do is fall, and as soon as he hits the ground it’s all over.   And yet, Goku insists that he has one more attack to secure a victory.  
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Goku starts charging up a Kamehameha, putting everything he has into it.   Tien doesn’t see what good that will do, since it won’t save Goku from getting eliminated from the match.    Master Roshi takes that reasoning one step further.   When Krillin suggests that maybe Goku can make a really BIG Kamehameha, Roshi says that it won’t matter, because Kamehameha waves simply don’t work on Tien, regardless of size or potency. 
I’m not sure I understand that.    The only time Tien took a Kamehameha was when Yamcha tried it on him in the first round, and he deflected it, sure, but that’s no different from anyone else blocking any other energy attack.   If Yamcha had been stronger, or if Tien had been tired, things might have gone differently.    At least, that’s what I always assumed.  
Roshi seems to be suggesting that you could shoot a Kamehameha at Tien while he’s asleep and it still wouldn’t hurt him.   If this is true, then Goku seems to have intuited this as well, since he never actually tried it.   The only Kamehameha he’s deployed in this match was to save himself from a ringout a couple of episodes back.
The reason I bring all of this up is because there’s a power-up item in the Xenoverse games called “Haaaaaaaaah!” that just makes your character immune to any Kamehameha moves from any opponents.   It’s especially handy in this one bullshit stage where you have to fight Goku, Gohan, and Goten, and all they do is spam Kamehamehas over and over.   But it’s a Tien thing, and I never understood why it was a Tien thing until now.    I think whoever came up with the item must have been referencing Roshi’s dialogue here. 
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In any event, Goku doesn’t use the Kamehameha to attack Tien directly.   Instead, he points it the other way, which drives him head-first into Tien’s gut, which knocks the wind out of him and sends them both falling to the ground.   
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So now it’s just a question of which one of them will hit the ground first.  Tien was exhausted from destroying the ring, and he only had enough power left to stay aloft, so taking that headbutt has left him in the same predicament he planned for Goku.    Once again, the World Tournament Announcer came prepared, and he has a little air-cycle that allows him to follow the boys and track their descent.
For a moment, Goku’s actually at a slight disadvantage, but he fires one last Kamehameha, and it’s incredibly weak because he used up all his power on the last one, but it’s just enough to give him a bit of altitude
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But that all gets shot to hell about six feet before they hit the ground.   The boys fall over a road, and a truck just happens to crash into Goku, which changes his trajectory enough to knock him to the ground a split second before Tien.   
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So there it is.   Your winner and World Champion of Martial Arts, Number One Under the Heavens, Tien Shinhan.   Give him a minute, folks, he’s still kinda groggy.
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Everyone at the arena goes nuts and rushes out into the street to find the fighters.   
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Huuuuuuge babyface pop for Tien when they find him.   The spectators congratulate both Tien and Goku for putting on such an awesome match, but Tien has no idea how to process this.   Then he sees Master Roshi nod to him and it starts to come together.
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Tien would probably have gotten a very different reaction if he had cheated and killed Goku as Crane Hermit had wanted.   But by repudiating the Crane School and embracing his own fighting spirit, Tien has won over the people.   Instead of fearing him, they respect and admire him, and he’s overwhelmed by it.  
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Two huge dudes carry Goku and Tien over to each other, and they do the whole mutual respect thing, and Krillin gets all verklempt.   
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So does Puar, but he’ll cry over anything really.
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Yamcha starts doing the slow clap, and everyone joins in and applauds.   Man, how much would it suck if you did this in real life and no one joined in?  I saw a TV show where that happened and I thought it was funny, but it also filled me with dread.   I’d never dare do the slow clap in real life.   The risk of it backfiring is too great.
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Goku doesn’t even mind losing, even though it was so close.  
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Goku’s clothes are all wrecked from the fighting, so Krillin gives him his own Turtle Uniform to wear, just like the last tournament.   Tien shows up and offers to split the prize money with Goku, because as far as he’s concerned, their match was a tie.   But Goku doesn’t know how to spend money, so he declines the offer.   What a guy.
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Then Yamcha shows up and congratulates Tien on winning the title.  Tien apologizes for breaking Yamcha’s leg, and Yamcha’s like “No worries, bro.”   Yamcha’s a class act all the way.
Roshi asks Tien and Chiaotzu where they’ll go next, and invites them to stay with him, which leads to this moment:
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So yeah, Launch (the blonde one anyway) is in love with Tien.   This is not a filler scene.   She says this in the manga too.  But here’s the funny thing I learned.
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I had fallen behind on the manga, but I went back and checked to see how things played out with Bulma and Launch, because in the comics, the tournament was done in a single day, while the anime stretched it out into four.  So in the anime, it made sense for Bulma, Launch, and Puar to eventually go back to the stadium to watch the rest of the matches.    In the manga, there wouldn’t have been time for that.   So whenever they show Goku’s friends in the audience, it’s just Oolong and Turtle, because they were the only ones who didn’t go with Yamcha to the hospital.  
That means all the scenes of Launch watching Tien fight after the Yamcha match were filler scenes.   She was in the hospital the entire time, although we do have these panels from the comics showing them listening to the tournament on the radio.   Launch apparently sneezed at some point, since she was Blue during the Tien/Yamcha match, and Blonde here. 
I guess what I’m driving at is that, if you go by the manga, Blonde Launch never actually witnessed Tien’s character arc.   She only got to hear play-by-play of Tien vs. Goku, and maybe Tien vs. Jackie Chun.    At first I wondered if she admired the way Tien broke Yamcha’s leg, except she was Blue Launch when she saw that fight. 
So I’m not entirely sure what Lanch is referring to when she says she’s fallen in love with him.   We in the audience have seen Tien’s “wildness”, so when I first watched this episode, it didn’t surprise me at all.  But in the original story, Blonde Launch missed most of it.   
You know, maybe I’m looking at this all wrong.    Maybe what really got Launch’s attention was Tien’s contrition in the aftermath of the tournament.   She sees him offer Goku half of the purse, and she sees him apologize to Yamcha, and she sees Roshi invite him into his home, and maybe it reminds her of how she got accepted into this group.    She knows of his savagery, but mostly indirectly, and what she sees in person is the other side of his savagery.   Maybe that’s what she connects to.   I’ll have to think about that some more.
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Anyway, Tien says that he and Chiaotzu cannot join the Turtle Hermit, although I don’t understand why not.    They’ve already betrayed the Crane Hermit, and I get why that’s a big deal, but that line has already been crossed.   I guess Tien feels that turning against the Crane Hermit was necessary, but dishonoring him further would not be, so he won’t.  
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Tien doesn’t say no to being pen pals with Launch, though (sly goku face).
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So with all that out of the way, Roshi suggest they all go to dinner, and Tien offers to pay for it.   The only trouble is that Goku left his Nyoibo and Four Star Dragon Ball back at the arena.   Krillin offers to fetch them for him, since he knows Goku’s exhausted and hungry.
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Then there’s this super weird lull where Goku watches Krillin run off, and he calls out to him, and we pause on every character’s face while they wait for Goku to say whatever it is he’s going to say, and then he admits that he forgot, and they all sort of laugh it off.   This whole sequence is still ominous to me, after all these years.
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But Krillin is late getting back, and everyone’s tired of waiting for him, so they agree to start without him.   Look at Turtle’s little kiddie table, that’s great.   How’s he gonna use those tiny salt and pepper shakers?    That’s adorable.  
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Goku gets this weird feeling, and he bolts out of the restaurant without even touching his plate.    He gets to the arena and finds Krillin and the World Tournament Announcer down on the ground.   The Announcer is dazed, but okay.   Krillin, on the other hand...
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU---
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This image of Dead Krillin still haunts me.   I watched Z first, and I’d seen Krillin die on that show.   I even half-expected Krilln to die in this show, because in DBZ Goku said that Krillin couldn’t be wished back since he had died once before.  But I never knew when or how, or why it happened in Dragon Ball.
I’m just imagining what a crappy 4k!ds style dub would be like for this scene.  
GOKU: Kevin!  What happened to you, friend?
KRILLIN: (without moving) Land’s sakes, Goku!   Ah was just mindin’ mah own beeswax, when alla sudden this monster moseys on in and grabbed yer Four Star Dragon Ball!   Ah tried to fight the low down dirty varmint, but he was tougher’n a Mississippi mule!  He even spilled some ketchup on me!
GOKU: It’s okay, Kevin.  The important thing is that you weren’t hurt.
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Well, this ain’t no 4!kids production.   Krillin’s dead, and someone’s got to pay...
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bthump · 6 years
Note
what are the things you like and dislike about the '97 anime and the films?
ty for asking, i’m just gonna write a few long lists lol
97 anime likes:
the animation, including the like, yk the more detailed stills they pan over in place of action or to punctuate important moments, i love it
the gorgeous backgrounds
most of the colour choices. red eclipse, femto’s blue eyes, casca’s skintone, griffith’s mauve clothes, etc.
how close it is to the manga. like, it’s a solid adaption just by virtue of making very few changes.
so like, most of it really, because i like the manga
special mention to the entire lead up to the eclipse from griffith’s reality break to the sacrifice tho, because i think that was all pretty damn perfect. it’s the most important scene and they did it right.
actually also shout out to casca’s flashback to griffith and the dead kid, gennon, the river scene, all that. another difficult v emotional sequence that they nailed imo.
griffith thinking about how he “loves” guts during the monologue
skipped most of the griffith/charlotte sex scene iirc which i approve of
the glimpse of black swordsman guts in ep 1. it’s not perfect but it’s way better than the ovas starting w/ 15 yr old guts
the opening and closing themes. fucking love both songs ngl
also the opening monologue. never get tired of hearing it
the score
the portrayal of griffith was honestly pretty solid imo. i have very few issues there. and lbr that’s important lol
97 anime dislikes:
not a big fan of griffith or guts’ character designs.
just about everything that isn’t identical to the manga is a change for the worse
turned griffith’s scratch marks into that giant unexplained scar
adding extra scenes where casca is secretly impressed with guts’ skills in battle in an attempt to build up their relationship better, which instead just made casca look unfair for still being a dick to him for 3 years and made guts stupidly gary stu-ish
obviously the straightforwardly romantic portrayal of guts and casca’s relationship
through several seemingly minor changes (eg, skipping guts’ night of self-doubt after he leaves, giving guts’ stay with godo its own half-episode, making guts inviting casca along super romantic rather than the incredibly casual and assholish way he does it in the manga, etc) it makes Guts’ dream seem legitimately noble and worthwhile, with none of the like… implicit critique the manga has. like honestly it completely fucks up what i consider one of the central themes of the story lol
the pre eclipse stuff also fails to sell guts’ sense of regret - through things like playing guts’ theme while judeau is telling guts to leave, not repeating guts’ statement of regret after casca tells him to leave again, the tone remains consistently in favour of guts’ dream. wrong and bad.
like it really reads like the suggested tragedy is that guts doesn’t get the chance to ditch griffith with judeau and take off with casca and the raiders lol
also fucks it up by never directly mentioning guts’ csa trauma
also fucks it up by losing guts’ self-destructive single-minded urge to fight monsters that we saw thru the wyald stuff. i’m not gonna say that losing wyald was a bad decision, but they should’ve at least moved erika suggesting that guts just wants to fight zodd again to the fucking waterfall scene in question, which they portrayed completely sans zodd discussion, completely sans implication of the self-destructiveness of guts’ dream
like in the manga he nearly gets killed by the falling logs and just laughs it off like a dumbass while erika is concerned and suggests that guts is driven by something irrational and not actually a ~noble~ dream, ie, wanting to fight zodd again (ie, going deeper, his csa trauma), while in the anime we get a 2nd scene where he successfully slices through the logs as a super basic symbol of growth and a narrative pat on guts’ back that shouldn’t be there!
honestly just fucking everything about the portrayal of guts’ dream lol it just takes it at face value in a way the manga consistently never did and always undermined and critiqued, and it bugs the hell out of me.
guts is just drawn in a way that makes him look angry way too often and he often feels ooc to me bc of it. like he lacks a lot of the warmth he has in the manga imo
showing that griffith is awake when guts says “i’ll stay too” even tho in the manga those words are placed over a panel of him asleep for a reason like, ffs
lots of other random nitpicky details that only i give a fuck about because my opinions and feelings about the story are too strong lol. like not showing griffith’s face when he asks if guts thinks he’s cruel
oh huge one: moving the scene where the torturer rips off griffith’s behelit from about a day after he was imprisoned to right before his rescue. completely trivializes griffith’s torture because it still looks like he’s been in there for a day at most
why on earth did it end where it ended????????????? who’s bright idea was that? the perfect ending is skull knight riding tf out with guts and casca and femto not killing them, but then they also cut out skull knight’s first appearance so idfk man.
oh some downplaying of griffguts, like i can’t complain too much about this because it was still p homoerotic, but things like omitting guts assuming griffith wants to fuck him right before their first duel. boo.
ultimately at the end of the day as much as i do genuinely like the anime, it’s not telling quite the same story the manga was - the story it’s telling is more boring and basic. but because it sticks so close to the manga the good story still shines through? it just means there’s inconsistent tone choices and stuff, like the aforementioned grievances.
it’s like, they kept casca’s diatribe at guts line for line while she’s screaming that griffith needed him and a man can’t live on dreams alone, but they don’t extend that train of thought to guts going off to pursue his dream, while the manga does.
anyway despite that giant list of dislikes i still think the anime is pretty fantastic overall. i just also like, blame it for a lot of wrong fandom takes lol.
movie likes:
character designs! honestly imo everyone looked pretty great.
they played up the homoeroticism and i appreciate that
illustrating griffith being torn between guts and his dream through that lovely moment when he catches guts when he nearly falls off the stairs right before he catches charlotte, and in a more romantically suggestive way
the whole scene where griffith shows up at charlotte’s window thoroughly improved on the manga, so hats off there. loved how completely out of it he was to the point where he barely realized where he was and immediately turned to leave when charlotte was like ‘woah dude wtf,’ love that charlotte was the one to ask him to stay and then physically move his hand back to her tit, love how emphatically griffith was thinking about guts during that sex scene, etc. like it’s still not perfect, but it is a vast improvement.
griffith showing up in person after the hundred man fight was a nice touch
it was cool that they got a lot of the same english vas from the anime dub back, and they all did a gr8 job. like it’s a pretty good dub imo.
i liked that they moved ‘the crystalization of your last tear shed’ to after guts’ post-eclipse breakdown
compared to the anime at least gtsca was more low-key and chill rather than dramatically romantic. still don’t want it there, and still not as… unromantic as the manga, but i’ll take what i can get
the animation during griffith’s transformation into femto, yk that whole sequence, was cool
slan’s english voice was super sexy
ummmmm i feel like they conveyed the whole dreams are stupid theme, and guts’ decision to leave being a mistake, better than the anime? like i got the sense that the ova ppl recognized that was a theme, at least. i’d have to watch them again to really be sure of that tho
movie dislikes:
GRIFFITH’S. NARRATIVE.
like holy fuck they completely destroyed his character lmao
i cannot believe
no backstory! no tombstone of flame! no ‘do you think i’m cruel?’ THAT WAS THE REASON HE MADE THE SACRIFICE FFS HOW DO YOU SKIP IT????
no dead kid angst, gennon only in vague implication, no self harm - oh no wait we saw self inflicted scratches, they were just completely contextless and meaningless to the point where we could assume charlotte’s nails made them
no torture chamber monologue
no guts monologue in the tavern either for that matter
no rooftop scene
again barely the implication of guts’ childhood trauma, both the sexual abuse and the general parental abuse. one vague flashbacky nightmare doesn’t cut it, it’s the cornerstone of the story
like i get it, it’s a movie trilogy, you have to cut some things, but goddamn, cut out gtsca. trim the hundred man fight. add 20 minutes to the first ova and take the insanely long rape scene out of the third. trim down the whole eclipse sequence. don’t cut out like… the story. like they cut out SO MANY emotionally relevant scenes and kept so many much less relevant scenes, idek.
and like let’s be real here, they turned griffith from an immensely interesting and complex character into a 1 dimensional dude who is torn between a vaguely evil ambition and being in vaguely evil love with guts, just for the sake of streamlining the least interesting aspects of the story
they don’t even try to pretend otherwise lol, look at his fucking hilarious evil smile here
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also while i’m looking at it, in general i think they failed at the whole eclipse sequence. looks, lighting, colour, build up of tension… there are a few minor improvements here and there (eg casca’s point of view shot of femto, femto telekinesising guts back a la the black swordsman arc which emphasizes his failure to act when he escapes), but overall it doesn’t work for me at all. like imo the anime has the exact same highs and lows as the manga, but while the ova avoids some lows it never reaches those highs.
they also had griffith overhear guts saying he wants to stay. i really don’t get why this happened twice lol, like… ok his face is kind of shadowed here but he’s still very clearly asleep? this is an important detail, guts’ interrupted words are even on that very panel, so why would you go out of your way to show that he’s awake and listening at that point.
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the pacing sucked. 3rd movie was too long, 1st was too short, and they skipped waaaaaay too many significant scenes that should’ve been there as emotional beats
honestly the movies are pretty, they’re nicely fanservicey in ways, they capture some good subtleties and nuances at times, but they’re a husk of the story
oh did i mention the music during the eclipse rape? incredible.
also i am actually generally positive about the movies too despite what it seems like here lmao. i’ve watched them all like, 3 or more times and i find them v enjoyable.
i just have a way easier time listing nitpicky flaws than positives honestly. the flaws stand out to me, the virtues pass me by because i’m just enjoying them and not dwelling on them
and lbr here at the end of the day no adaption will ever really satisfy me unless i somehow find several million dollars lying around and make my own lol. and that would probably be a flop anyway.
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