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rocorambles · 3 years

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Reminiscent

Pairing: Daichi x Reader

Genre: SFW, 5+1, Soulmate/Reincarnation AU, Angst (there is technically a character death, BUT THERE’S AN ULTIMATELY HAPPY ENDING, I SWEAR), Fluff

Prompt: You woke me up at 3 in the morning for this?

Summary: 5 lifetimes Daichi and you just weren’t meant to be and the 1 lifetime you finally found your happy ending together.

Author’s Note: This is my contribution for my HQ Discord Server’s SFW collaboration. There are so many talented writers on the server and I highly encourage you to check out the collaboration masterlist here to see how everyone decided to run with this spicy prompt. (Masterlist goes live December 1st!)

Tagging @sawamooora since I accidentally scarred her by making her read only the section where there was a character death without the heads up...OOPS, so I guess you can have your happy ending now~

When Daichi meets you in this first lifetime, he can’t help but notice just how different you are from him and he stares at the luxurious fabrics beautifully accentuating your figure, wishing he could wipe off the meticulously and elegantly layered on makeup and see more of your bare face, wanting more than anything to know who you are beneath the graceful and well-mannered smiles and bows you grace the court with. But when he looks down at himself and sees the memories of crimson blood splattered all over his skin and robes, hears the sound of his sword piercing flesh, remembers the way your father enthusiastically thanks him for another job well done as a flash of fear races across your eyes at the corpse of proof he drags in, it’s all too apparent just how different the worlds you live in are.

And really, that should have been it, he should have stopped himself right then and there, stopped thinking about you, stopped his gaze from trailing after you when he sees you roaming around the clan property. But his heart has different plans and here he is, a well respected samurai who works underneath your father, pining after you, a clan leader’s daughter, someone already betrothed to the son of a neighboring clan, someone much too pure and innocent for his blood soaked hands.

He smiles when he sees your posture relax, your body slouch in relief when you think no one is watching you, no pretenses and facades to keep up when it’s just you, unaware of the brown eyes watching you. He clenches his fists so hard his nails threaten to break skin when he hears your secret anguished sobs as he guards your bedroom the night after you meet your fiance for the first time and realize you’ve been doomed to a life with a man who’ll never love you, a man who doesn’t see you as anything more than a political tool. He dreams of a life where he can whisk you away, a life where there would be no consequences if the two of you ran off to live a peaceful, happy life together far far far away from the cruel and cold world of money and power you’re both entangled in.

But there are consequences and he lives with the constant shattering of his heart as he watches the light dim in your eyes as you continue courting your fiance, the cool indifferent look you wear on your face throughout your own wedding ceremony, the way you seem like just a shell of the vibrant young woman he once knew and fell in love with. And yet, he doesn’t do a thing, remaining faithfully by your father’s side and serving your clan for the remainder of his days.

II.

Something jolts inside of Daichi when he sees you in the second lifetime and he can’t help but feel like there’s something familiar about you, something nostalgic about the situation you’re both in as you humbly bow before helping him dress and get ready for the busy day of meetings he has. And you watch in awe as you dutifully trail after him, making sure all his needs are attended to, amazed by just how hardworking, intelligent, and kind the young lord is, so different than the stories you had heard of royals. Not once does he ever treat you as anything less than an equal, not once does he ever lay an unwanted gaze on you, let alone a finger and you find yourself jumping to please him and aid him out of something more than just a sense of responsibility as your heart flutters from just his presence.

You feel honored by how much he entrusts you with when it’s just the two of you in his room and you patiently listen when he throws his disciplined manners out the window, grumbling and ranting about the power-hungry ploys of his fellow royals, the way greed and privilege have corrupted them, how he can’t trust anyone anymore. But when he wonders if he needs to change, to adapt in order to thrive, you surprise the both of you with your vehement outburst as you blather on about how he’s perfect the way he is. And then there’s silence as the two of you look away, both your faces heating up at the hidden message in your words, a message so incredibly inappropriate considering both your positions and the time you live in. But before you can open your mouth and stutter out an apology, you freeze at the warm smile Daichi sends your way, heart racing at the heartfelt, but quiet thank you he utters in response.

Of course nothing happens after that. This is real life after all and Daichi is far too respectful of his family and their reputation, far too noble to smear his clan’s name with taboo affairs, far too kind to hurt his future bride despite the fact that he’s never even met her yet, doesn’t know the first thing about her other than her name, to pursue something just for his own pleasure, his own satisfaction, something that could potentially harm so many others. And you understand. After all, these are the reasons you fell in love with him, and you’re just happy to be able to remain by his side for the rest of your days despite the lancing pain in your chest every time you see him with his wife, with his future children, living a life where you just exist on the sidelines, watching and longing for something you know you’ll never have.

III.

In the third lifetime Daichi meets you in, he can’t understand the regrets of a missed opportunity he feels when you introduce yourself to him, welcoming him to the neighborhood with a basket of freshly baked goods. He knows he should smile, graciously accept your kind (and delicious smelling) gifts and he does, but as he bites into the still warm cookies after you leave, the image of the gold wedding band around your finger is branded in his mind.

In a small rural community like yours, you’re bound to run into each other, especially since your farms are right next to each other and he thinks you look ethereal each morning with the sun rising behind you, a soft golden glow framing you as you gather eggs, milk the cows, and water the crops. But there’s a sense of bitterness he can’t explain when your husband joins you, a hulking stoic figure besides you as he helps you on the fields, and he turns his back on the two of you to tend to his own chores.

There’s nothing “wrong” with your spouse, nothing Daichi can truly fault him for and if he’s honest, if Ushijima wasn’t your husband, he’d have only respect and admiration for the man. He certainly can’t complain about how he treats you and something bittersweet churns inside of him when he sees Ushijima’s usually stern face soften whenever you’re around, when he sees the way Ushijima’s broad shoulders relax whenever you affectionately hold his hand. And although he internally chides himself at night in private when he dreams of what it would be like to be in Ushijima’s shoes, he can’t help but feel relieved, glad that you’ve found someone who loves and treats you well.

But he laughs the silly thought away. Of course you had found someone who loved you. Why wouldn’t you have? And yet that night he dreams of your face, dressed in a beautiful silk robe better suited for the historicals eras of Japan, seated next to someone he somehow knows is your husband, but there’s only loneliness in your eyes and he wakes up with tears in his eyes, unsure why he’s crying, why he’s hoping you never feel alone ever again.

IV.

Daichi should be scared of you when he meets you in the fourth lifetime, but although he’s certainly wary of you, staring at you with his beady eyes from the branches high above your head, he can’t help the curiosity he feels when he sees your small furry body try to leap and paw at him despite how far the distance between the two of you is. And despite all his natural instincts, he feels himself relaxing, cawing teasingly at you as you tire yourself out, fluttering down a few branches closer to you when you give up and just sprawl out on the floor, tail flickering back and forth in interest as you watch him draw nearer. But before he can get any closer, he hears a human voice calling for you and the two of you lock eyes before you rush back to your owner and even after your body squeezes through the little cat door that had been built in the front door, he can’t help but watch your home closely, wondering if he’ll see you again.

To his delight he does see you again, every single day as a matter of fact. On sunny days, he spreads out his wings and swoops down to meet you when you lazily curl up at the base of his tree and sometimes the two of you just lay there together, basking in the warmth of the beautiful day, sometimes the two of you take a stroll together, you trotting down the sidewalk as he flits from tree to tree beside you. He’s learned that rain and water in general don’t sit well with you and on gloomier days he glides over to the outside of your favorite window, peering through the glass and cawing warmly when you jump up and curl up on the windowsill, his beak and your nose pressing against the glass across from each other.

But time is limited, especially for a crow like himself, and as you grow bigger and stronger, he begins to lose his appetite, begins to struggle flying for as long or as well as he used to. And although neither of you can speak to each other, there’s an intuitive understanding as you tone down your playing and spend his last remaining days just laying side by side, his feathered body curled up in the warm plush of your fur, your body and tail wrapped protectively around him until he passes away peacefully.

Daichi only has himself to blame for the fifth lifetime being a complete loss. You had caught his eye in a way no girl ever had before when he saw you skillfully racing across the court at the Tokyo training camp. He can’t explain exactly what draws him to you. Sure, you’re attractive, but he’s been around other beautiful girls before, hell Shimizu is the manager of his team and even she’s never captivated him like this. Maybe it’s the fact that he hasn’t seen many talented female volleyball players up close before? But that can’t be it. No other female player in the room even remotely peaks his interest. No...it’s something deeper than that and he swears it feels like there’s an invisible thread tying the two of you together.

He watches and watches until a lanky arm is thrown over his shoulder, a sly voice purring in his ears.

“Sa’amura. My, my, my. I thought a country bumpkin crow like you would have better manners than to gawk at our pretty Tokyo girls like a creep.”

Daichi scowls at the messy haired Nekoma captain, but his face heats up when he realizes how strange he probably looked just staring at a gym full of female athletes. But before he can spout any excuses, Kuroo hums in interest as he follows Daichi’s gaze to see who he had been looking at so intently.

“Well well well. I guess birds do attract each other. You have some good taste, Sa’amura. She’s a great player, although I personally think she would have been a better fit at Nekoma than Fukurodani. She moves a lot like a cat, doesn’t she? But if you want to get closer to her, try talking to Bokuto. They’re both pretty close.”

A cat? Daichi wordlessly waves goodbye to Kuroo who’s strolling away before turning his attention back to you. And he’s surprised to see that there’s something eerily correct about Kuroo’s observation, something about your feline movements that nags at a deep unconscious thread inside of him, and it’s unnervingly easy to imagine you with a tail swishing back and forth behind you, to imagine you with soft ears and claws. But when he blinks, there you are, completely human once again, celebrating a point your team had scored, no cat appendages anywhere in sight.

He doesn’t take Kuroo’s advice, never approaches Bokuto to learn more about you, and he leaves training camp without even exchanging one word with you. But from time to time for the rest of his life, he’ll dream of you, dream of a friendly cat he feels like he used to know and he’ll wake up with a pang of regret, wondering what would have happened if he had the courage to talk to you all those years ago.

VI.

Daichi groans, nursing a hangover as he groggily sits up in bed and turns off the ear splitting alarm. Thank God for humans and their habits, his brain not needing to work at all as he methodically brushes his teeth and throws on his uniform. But as he makes his way to the precinct, he pauses at the corner of the street, intrigued by the sight of a newly opened cafe. There’s technically coffee at work and the smarter and financially responsible choice would be to just wait and drink the free caffeinated liquid, but something draws him into the quaint storefront and before his mind can even catch up to his body, he’s already pushing open the door and walking towards the counter.

He hears your voice ring throughout the small store, telling him you’d be with him in just a moment and he takes his time to peruse the menu, the soothing scent of coffee whetting his appetite and making the pastries in the glass case look even more appealing. He’s narrowed down his options to either the chocolate frosted donut or the coffee cake when he sees you approaching from the corner of his eyes and he smiles only to freeze when he sees your face.

“Do I know you-”

“You look familiar-”

Both of you start and stop talking at the same time and there’s an awkward silence before you both burst out laughing. As you prepare his order, both of you throw out possibilities of where you may have met before, but nothing pans out, and you both shrug your shoulders as you hand over the paper wrapped pastry and piping hot coffee. It’s a big world with tons of people. Perhaps both of you had met someone who looked similar to the other. But as Daichi sips his coffee and as you wait in the cafe for your next customer, neither of you can stop thinking of the other, wondering if you really hadn’t met before.

And maybe it’s that curiosity that leads Daichi to regularly return to your cafe on a daily basis, that leads you to always perk and brighten up when he walks through your door. Daily morning coffee runs before work is how it all starts, but pretty soon you’re seeing him at all times of the day. Sometimes he pops in to order a sandwich and some chips for lunch. Sometimes he’ll plop down at one of your small tables, plugging his laptop into an outlet as he works for hours on end even on the weekends. And sometimes, when there’s no one else in the store, when you’re technically closed, you’ll join him, sharing a new dessert you’re testing for the menu with him and chatting away into the wee hours of the night.

So really, it shouldn’t be a surprise when Daichi nervously enters the cafe right before closing one day, making sure no other customers are around before asking you out on an official first date. And even though you knew that the day where you two would discuss what your relationship exactly was would come soon, your face still heats up. But you eagerly nod, fingers instinctively interweaving with his when he hesitantly reaches to hold your hand and as the two of you walk hand in hand to the restaurant he’s chosen for dinner, you both can’t help but feel like your hands fit perfectly together, like you were made to be with each other.

Romantic candlelit dinners become more frequent casual affairs after a while and the two of you find yourself cuddled up on a couch in comfortable clothing, eating a meal the two of you had cooked together more often than not. You make fun of Daichi’s bachelor closet, dragging him to go shopping and ignoring his squawking when you pay for all his new clothes while he’s still changing in the fitting room. He teases you for how flustered you get when you see him in his cop uniform, purposefully striking a cheesy pose in the doorway only to bend over in a belly bursting laugh when you just wordlessly gape and stutter at the sight.

But the change that both of you love the most is never having to sleep alone again and your bodies slot together perfectly like two puzzle pieces when you curl up with each other in bed, letting sleep, body warmth, and rhythmic breathing lull you both into the best nights of sleep you’ve ever had.

Well, usually that would be the case.

Daichi grumbles as you insistently shove his body until he begrudgingly sits up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and batting away your hands that keep on nudging him awake. He looks at you in confusion and maybe the slightest hint of irritation at being woken up at such an ungodly hour of the night, but the bright smile you flash his way softens him and he internally groans about how weak he is for you as he stumbles out of bed, sleepily accepting the bundle of clothes you throw at him and haphazardly throwing them on.

He lets you drag him out the door, shivering a bit as the cold night air wakes him up and he holds you close to him, his cop instincts keeping him alert as he continuously scans the area. You live in a safe neighborhood, but it is the middle of the night and he’d be a hypocrite to not be aware of his surroundings when he’s always warning people not to be out by themselves late at night. But the two of you make it to what he assumes is your final destination unscathed and his jaw drops in disbelief when he sees that you’ve brought them to the neighborhood park.

“You woke me up at 3 in the morning for this?”

You giggle at his outburst, slapping his arm in mock anger as you pull him to sit beside you on one of the benches.

“I checked the weather and tonight’s supposed to have the clearest skies for stargazing! And you and I both have off tomorrow, so it seemed like perfect timing. Don’t be such a grumpy old man.”

And how can Daichi possibly be angry when you’re practically radiant, the soft glow of the stars illuminating your features as you stare up in awe, holding his hand and snuggling into his side as your free hand points at the different constellations you recognize. But the two of you freeze when you hear rustling nearby, letting out a sigh of relief when only a stray cat stalks out from behind a bush and you both watch in amusement as it regally walks towards your bench before plopping down with its stomach bared right at your feet.

But just as Daichi is about to reach down and accept the invitation to pet the furry creature, a loud squawk echoes throughout the area and suddenly the cat is leaping to its feet as a crow swoops down and hops around on the ground just a few feet away. And the two of you watch in amazement as the two creatures play with each other, paws lazily batting at the bird while wings spread wide and teasingly brush against a whiskered face in a practiced friendly dance.

It should be just a light hearted scene, maybe heartwarming at most, but to the two of you it’s more than that and your hearts ache, tears streaming down both your faces in a strange combination of soul crushing sorrow and gratitude for the present. But why is it so sad? Why are you both crying? The two of you shakily laugh, apologizing for your strange behavior as you hurriedly try to wipe the salty streaks away, but they don’t stop, only growing worse and turning into body wracking sobs as pain, loss, regret, and unrequited love built over what feels like multiple lifetimes slam into both of you all at once.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

But like magic it all instantly fades away when the two of you find yourselves tightly wrapped in each other’s arms, your body somehow now in Daichi’s lap as you bury your tear stained face in his chest, his arms wrapped around you in a bone crushing hold as he buries his face in the top of your head. And the two of you just stay like that for a bit as the calming breeze swirls past you, as the creatures and sounds of the night begin to fade away, as the morning sun begins its ascent into the sky, all the while exchanging words of love with each other, words of gratitude for finding each other.

And when the tears have finally all been wiped away and the sun is shining brightly down on both of you, the two of you share a smile before Daichi is ushering both of you back home, jokingly whining about immediately going back to sleep once you both return home, both of you animatedly bantering as you walk away, ignorant of the way the cat and crow lay curled up beside each other, both their eyes never straying from your retreating figures until you’re out of sight.

Neither of you ever discuss that night again. Neither of you ever try to understand and explain the chaotic overwhelming mess of emotions that had bombarded both of you. But every now and then, even after the two of you exchange vows, even after your shared home is filled with children’s laughters and voices, the echoes of that night follow both of you in your dreams and you wake up with tears in your eyes and a lingering ache in your hearts.

But all it takes is a quick glance to your side, the reassurance that both of you are together, right where you belong, to completely snuff out any negative emotions and you let the comforting warmth of love lull you back into slumber, smiles gracing both your lips as Daichi holds you just a bit closer and tighter to him, as you snuggle just a bit more until you’re firmly tucked underneath his chin.

#haikyuu fluff #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #daichi x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu fic #haikyuu headcanons #daichi #sawamura daichi #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu angst #haikyuu writing

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caffeinatedrogue · 3 years

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some rock band shit for my writer pals

Here’s Another Post Nobody Asked For, Really! well, except @saintsofvoid and @butwhatisit (thanks for enabling me)

But I know my writer pals, you all want to get shit right, and maybe you want to write the cute local rock band au of your dreams or early Samurai days Silverdyne fics (hello CP77 fandom)

I’ve spent literally half of my life being around different varieties of the goblins commonly known as rock musicians so I figured I’d compile some fun things I’ve gathered from my experiences as an enthusiast observer and also my partner’s tales - who is one of those goblins. This applies mostly to small to mid to ‘big in the indie scene but not mainstream’ tier bands, not the big names. (Wish I could hang out with the rolling stones even if they’re geezers now, but eh) anyways, under the cut, it’s very long

Touring is fun, especially the short and sweet ones, but also extremely stressful and can feel like a chore. The gigs themselves are a blast, but unless you're a celeb the rest of the time involves endless driving between locations that are hundred of kms away, because the booking agency will work towards cramming up your schedule as much as possible. It's often spending entire weeks/months on the road, it's washing the same 2 sets of sweaty stage clothes in hotel rooms sinks and being sleep-deprived and hungover constantly. Touring is when personalities clash and tensions will arise and explode between band members. Good angst potential here pals.

Backstage demands lists are a thing at every professional level, not just Big Names, and they're often hilarious. They range from food to weed to ????. And I'm not talking about insufferably-extra celebs that want wild, unrealistic shit, just the random guy from an indie band that kindly asks to find water and also, idk, an uncut tuft of lettuce for unknown purposes better left to the imagination.

Musicians have to show up hours earlier to the gig location, because they have to put all their gear together, cable up, and do the soundcheck - which is VITAL, as every place sounds different because of architcture and the individual sound systems - and if there's something every musician is gonna be a big fucking bitch about, it's how they're sounding. Then there's the chill hours between that and the actual gig, dinner and drinks and chats, and it usually ends up with at least one in the band getting prematurely shitfaced (but usually still able to play perfectly because musicians know their limits, and also know the others will absolutely 100% kill them if they mess up the performance). After the gig you get wrecked but also make sure 1. that your stuff is safe in the van first and foremost 2. that you get paid

There's one very important thing to do before playing and it's putting down or at least agreeing on a tracklist to follow on stage - if you’re opening for another band, you have time constraints and you must adapt. Also, everybody on stage has to know what song comes next to keep the flow. But it can end up very much like herding kittens, cause one is drunk, the other can't be found, and then there's The One Actual Saint holding a marker and a piece of paper, screaming into the void and trying to make the rest sit down for a minute and agree on it. (If you’re in the cp77 fandom yes, that would absolutely be Kerry.)

Unless you are touring BIG and have a service and/or a dedicated driver, you regularly use and abuse some friend to drive you around and help you load and unload the gear that is packed like 3d Tetris in the cars or van. Guitarists and bassists alone will NOT play without their own, personal, precious, beloved amps and those beauties are big. If the drummer is carrying his whole personal set, well... good luck. Also bands who share a stage often lend stuff to each other because maybe you busted a cable the night before. If you steal or break borrowed stuff, you’re forever in the band’s shit list

The Merch Guy is usually the same person as The Driver or The Friend Driver or someone you can equally Fully Trust with the shit. (Unless you're a top-tier band with staff and all that jazz). That's a HIGH TRUST JOB people. Because merch sales account for a good chunk of the money you make in a night if you’re an indie band. They're handling the band's income, quite literally.

Musicians will talk a shitload about music in general but also... GEAR. Guitars. Effect pedals. Amps. (Bonus if they're made by some random ass guy who idk, lives in a shed in Montana with 15 cats). Or That One Guitar Sound From This 1993 Album And How to Get It. It's not very romantic, just nerds going off for hours about very specific items of music-making electronics.

Rehearsal rooms: now, creative processes vary, but most of the bands I know don't really do the composition part in there. Maybe you're unwinding and just jamming and something nice comes out of it, so you decide to keep it to work on it further. It's mostly because renting out a rehearsal room costs money and most musicians might maybe make a living out of it, but aren’t exactly rich. So either a. you're really rich or you’ve made it big - then gtfo to your jacuzzi b. someone in the band has a space that can be turned into one (it takes a bit of work to make it soundproof otherwise it's Reverbtown) and well, they all live there now! c. The lead composers will meet and do their thing together to brainstorm ideas/jam and put down the groundwork for the songs. Often people have lil home studios to compose and do some basic recording. But then everybody does their homework separately (both writing and polishing their own specific insutrumental lines and sheer practice).Then the tracks are rehearsed together and tweaked. Before tours or recording the sessions are very long and intensive because you have to make sure everything is pitch-perfect and sounds just as it should.

Recording and mastering an album is hella expensive and that’s why being under contract is great, because the label will pay that for you amongst other things (like PR and booking agents). But it’s not the Beatles chilling at Abbey Road, more like several people spending entire days in the recording studio working like crazy both recording instruments and listening to the recordings obsessively, because you have to get everything right in those few days the studio’s paid for before you send it out for the sound master. The recording process and master is what makes an album sound a certain way and it’s a craft of its own, choosing the right people for the job is extremely important in rock productions. Again, they’re nerds.

Songwriter life be like: running in the room while singing a melody out VERY LOUDLY on repeat, while frantically looking for the instrument and any recording device or they'll forget. Replaying a bit of music over and over and overrrrrrr to figure out the harmonies. Asking your partner/friend to harmonize even if they can't sing because gotta hear if it sounds good. 'Hey how does the track sound? You sure it's not a bit too much like *insert obscure experimental band name* ?' - 'I have never heard of them but I'm sure it doesn't'. Texts at 2 am arguing over something music something that doesn’t sound quite right in the tracks. Go off my beauties

#I sound like I have a cool life it's not really like that I just really love music and how it's done

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sarahjtv · 3 years

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BNHA 296 Spoiler Thoughts

Ok, wow. I was just sitting down enjoying my Sunday when the next chapter suddenly decides to drop onto our laps and bring us all to tears. I did not expect it, but I welcome it with somber feels. Of course, since this is the aftermath chapter, I have a lot thoughts. Here we go:

•The chapter starts off with narration from Deku on what happened after the big battle. This tells us that he’s still alive (presumedly) thank god. There’s a panel later that shows him on a stretcher (I think) or a bed, but he’s unconscious. Regardless, I don’t see Deku’s limbs going back to normal after all this unless something comes in to fix them. Eri’s not an option here because she used all her energy on Mirio recently, so don’t go thinking that’ll work unless there’s a time-skip.

•So far, Pixie Bob, Wash, Present Mic, and Thirteen are still alive and fighting. Thirteen, however, seems to have lost an arm when she was in the lab... We do see some of her face, so that’s a reveal if anything.

•Deku says that their were at least 10 Near High-End Nomu in that battlefield. 3 of them were disposed and 7 escaped. We did see one get captured by Best Jeanist in the last chapter so maybe they can get some intel from it.

•Mr. Compress is alive! I’m honestly glad that he’s alive because I could’ve sworn he was going to die. That reveal we had about him being the descendent of the Perilous Thief was just too big for him to be killed off right away. I’m hoping we can learn more about him and the Thief later.

•Back at the resort: ReDestro, Getten, Trumpet, and more than 16,900 PLF soldiers were caught. Edgeshot is still alive too, but he looks tired and his arm is messed up. I do not see that Old Samurai hero from the top 10 around, so my best bet is that he’s alive. I hope...

•Now, we REALLY get a look at all the death and destruction that this war has caused. Adults, kids, and families are either injured or dead. Everyone is traumatized. Thankfully Froppy and Uraraka (I can’t spell her first name right to save me...) are working on rescuing (Uraraka in particular is good for this thanks to her Zero Gravity). A lot of other heroes like Koda and Manga are helping out too, but the screams of people in pain and horror do not leave the pages and it’s honestly haunting to read.

•And poor Uraraka. As she’s saving people, you can see her hair get messier and messier. There’s one really well-drawn, but sad, panel of her with spots of blood on her and her hair isn’t “floaty” like it normally is. It’s droopy and straight down like she’s been caught in rain or something. I’m not used to her being like this. This war is going to make her rethink things, I think.

•There’s one hero, who in the mist of all this, says that this whole thing was a mistake. He’s thinking about finding a new job. I highly doubt he’s the only on thinking this. War affects people badly. They want to fight for the greater good, but the cost is their own mentality, physicality, and even their lives. Sometimes other people’s lives. So, in a world of heroes where things like this happen on a devastating scale, you have to wonder “Is being a hero really worth it?” I’m sure more heroes, maybe even students, will be thinking about this in the future. I won’t be surprised if some quit entirely.

•And now the hero death toll. Oh my god... The first thing I saw when I saw the leaks was Midnight’s death. I’m devastated. Her horniness aside, I loved her character. Midnight genuinely cared for her students and wanted them to grow into amazing heroes. She supported her high school friends, Present Mic and Aizawa, the whole way through including Shirakumo’s death. She adopted the cat the 4 of them took care of during high school and I believe it’s still alive today. I can’t imagine what Mic and Aizawa are going to feel when they hear about this. I honestly thought she was going to make it out alive. I thought that she was safe and had some plot armor on her. But no. She’s dead. Midnights’s not coming back. The students are mourning her especially Mina, Kirishima, and Momo. The three main players in the sedative plan. Their plan worked, but had it worked sooner, a lot of lives could’ve been saved. Ultimately, none of this is their fault, but it’s going to weigh on them heavily. Please give these kids therapy.

•Adding onto Midnight, heroes like Crust, Majestic, X-Less, and Native are dead. We know about Midnight, Crust, and X-Less now, but the rest were not known yet. I doubled out Majectic and Native here for reasons. Majestic was Momo’s 2nd intern mentor before the war. We didn’t know much about him or his Quirk (it was some sort of levitation via ring platforms), but he did save the student’s lives when they were about to be run over by Gigantomachia. Looks like that was a sacrifice. Native, if you remember, was the hero Iida, Deku, and Shoto saved back in Hosu back when they fought Stain. We didn’t know much about him, but it sucks to know that he was saved then only to be killed now. This will probably hurt Iida, Deku, and Shoto real bad knowing that saving him became pretty null and void in the end.

•Aside from that, the rest of them look like they were young, in their prime, or veterans in the world of Pro Heroes. It just sucks in general to have to see all these lives cut short. But, that’s how war goes, unfortunately.

•Endeavor... I’m one of the people who actually like Endeavor. I will never forgive him for what he did to Shoto and his family pre-Sports Festival. But, I wanted to see how he would redeem himself after Kosu. So far, he was doing well. He didn’t expect forgiveness and only wanted to atone. Everything in the Todoroki family was finally going well. And then Dabi/Touya showed up and screwed up everything. Now, everyone knows about Endeavor’s past as an abuser and they will never see him in the same light again. I don’t think he has a choice but to admit to his sins publicly and then retire. I hate the idea because he is a good hero, but I don’t see any other way he’s going to get out of this. Same with Hawks. I don't see him going back to hero work either.

•There’s one small panel with 2 kids from the short Remedial Course Arc we got with Shoto and Bakugo. Rough translation, one of the kids asks if things will be okay and the other says that they’ll be fine because “That’s what Five Weenies told us after all!” This broke me. “Five Weenies” refers to Shoto Todoroki. As funny as this should be, hearing that Shoto, the one who arguably got mentally scared the most in this whole battle, still gives those kids hope that everything will be okay... I just don’t know what to say. I’m glad Shoto kept those kid’s spirits alive (Bakugo did too; neither are visibly in this chapter for some reason), but he is by no means “fine”. #GiveShotoTodorokiTherapy2020

•And finally All For One. Fuck this guy. All that death and destruction and he wants more. The translation’s still rough, but based on what he says in the end, I think we are going to get a Prison Break Arc. He says “Go free my main body.” to the Nomus AFO is still in Tartarus. Guess who else is there? Stain, Overhaul (the Ultra Analysis said that he got prosthetics or something for his arms and his Quirk adapted to that) , Moonfish, Kurogiri, I think Muscular, and plenty of other villains. Horikoshi hinted that Moonfish might come back (he was apparently going to executed, but idk...) and the preview says “The worst is yet to come”... Yeah, this war is over. We’re really only just beginning.

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kryptsune · 3 years

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Tell us more about the mythology of Yokaitale, or perhaps even what specific versions of Wonderland inspired Wonderfell (like did you take anything from the 2 American McGee games at all?)

🌼 Wonderfell is a fun one. I take inspiration from way too many adaptations to list here but yes you are correct I am a huge fan of McGee’s interpretation so that does creep in. If you noticed Chesh has a hoop earring. That is definitely inspired by that version. I don’t take too much from the Disney version since... I know this is controversial but I don’t think it’s the best adaptation. It gets the usual Disney family-friendly treatment. Which is fine I still love it but if you know me I like things a little more... mature.

I was also inspired by games like Alicemare, IB, Yume Nikki. It doesn’t make sense now in the context of the fic but it will. Wonderland has always suspended the real and the surreal and I definitely play with that concept a lot. Things are not always as they seem.

I always felt like Undertale initially was an Alice in Wonderland variation from falling down a hole into a magic world, to a cast of colorful crazy characters, to having to sacrifice or grow in some way along the journey. It’s why I made Wonderfell because I have always seen Sans as a Cheshire archetype and not just because of the grin. It’s more like his abilities. The Cheshire cat can disappear and re-appear at will. It’s not a direct one to one but his teleportation abilities are very similar. Pap has always embodied the Mad Hatter for me especially with his fascination with puzzles instead of riddles.

I also really wanted a more fun and colorful take on UF stuff. I am really tired of Boss always being angry or Red always being abusive... or I don’t know that characterization that made me make my own version (Underworld AU) in the first place. Or god... them being just a shit post. I know it’s nice to have those every once in a while but I always felt the missed opportunity to actually make them something other than cardboard cutouts. In my opinion, I feel like a lot of my boys have taken on a life all their own. It’s why I am using them in my original work.

Yokaifell? Well, it kind of stems from some of my favorite anime of all time, Kamisama Hajitemashita being one of them. There is just something really cool about yokai lore because I always make the joke that if you go to Japan anything can and will kill you. There are so many yokai to work off of too so that's where the inspiration comes from.

{READ MORE FOR LENGTH PURPOSES}

Mythology wise my Yokaifell lore post goes into quite a bit but the things that I have not mentioned in that is how the world works outside of the main story.

As I continue to develop Souly Damned I have been wanted to add more and more of the things that have influenced my storytelling so they kind of cross over in ideas. The realm of yokai in this instance is a separate realm (I do know they are spirits but just bear with me). You can think of it as another dimension separate from our own but still accessible. It is possible for mortal souls to enter the spirit realm but souls are kind of the key here.

Normally humans just walk through the gates and never end up in the realm because they don’t believe in the realm or its inhabitants. Those that can see have the realm's magic buried within them and the more they worship/believe the more that influence grows. In the majority of my work, I ascribe to the idea that the eyes are the windows into the soul so the more magic you have the more vibrant your eye color.

Since Yokaifell is set in modern-day most humans have normal eye colors. Basically, magic = key in this lore. Now you may be wondering why my Frisk, little out of her element bean that she is, is able to run through the gate. She starts off as a normal unsuspecting human who is lost in the forest whom Ryou accidentally lures. Usually, he does that on purpose to mess with humans but in this case, he is just playing his koto and relaxing. Since the town that Frisk moves to is more in the mountains the people there are very in tune with the old ways. They even warn her not to go into the forest because of it. She just doesn’t listen since she doesn’t believe in magic or superstition.

The yokai in my lore can only be seen by those with magic in their soul unless they drop the veil. Obviously being a foreigner she has 0 idea what Ryou is trying to tell her when she first encounters him. That is until he imparts just a sliver of magic on her soul so that she can actually understand the language. But... uh... whoopsie. Humans with magic are rare and that makes them incredibly yummy to the yokai around the area. This creates a chain event where she ends up in the spirit realm and because of Ryou’s mistake she is able to pass through the gate like one of them would. The oni chasing them ends up smashing the gate they came through and there you are... she is stuck which you can already gather is dangerous.

Ryou and Kuro are two yokai you don’t really want to mess with because their past history is seeped in blood. They both despise mortals for some unknown reason. One that is revealed further down in the spoiler section. How they went from practically killing mortal and yokai to laxer is also kind of a question mark. Kuro is able to quell his rage by serving the kami (in this case Asgore) while Ryou... uh... ok he doesn’t really handle it all that great. He is just a very salty boy.

Like my lore for Souly Damned lower level of yokai can not just jump to the mortal realm whenever they want. There is a hierarchy established and fortunately, Ryou and Kuro are pretty high up there so they can interact to some degree. I have that outlined further in the lore post.

I will say that in order to explain this I have to toss up a spoiler warning for anyone that does not want to see it. {THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD}

So... spoiler time but Ryou and his brother Kuro used to be humans at some point. This was centuries ago but they both died when a rival village tried to eradicate their own. Kuro being the proud warrior went off to fight, leaving his little brother to watch over the rest. Unfortunately Ryou never actually sees his brother again and yeah... it’s sad to say but he dies on the battlefield. Ever since he was a child he wanted to be a warrior. He dies fullfilling that dream.

Ryou though being younger tries to fend off the attackers but he is eventually mortally wounded and left for dead. He bleeds out as the snow starts to fall again which is why his design not only incorporates red but also the snowfall aspect, especially his human guise.

In that time there was more magic and yokai roamed freely. The souls were far stronger and because of both Ryou and Kuro’s deeply held emotion that affects their souls eventually calling out to the Kami... they are then reborn as yokai in the process. Ryou as the mischevious Kitsune and Kuro as a gashadokuro samurai. So it’s established that humans can become yokai but it's rare as the centuries progress. It takes an incredibly strong soul coupled with some kind of deep emotion which could be anything from rage to love.

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yeonchi · 3 years

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Kisekae Insights #24: GJ Club - how a spinon became a spinoff featuring Kyōya and Kasumi Shinomiya

(Art by 結城辰也)

The Kisekae Insights series has allowed me to bring the spotlight back on Waifu Network animes that I haven’t posted much about in the past due to lack of fanart or lack of interest. Like Hidamari Sketch in the last instalment, GJ Club will be no exception until I continue posting the usual content in my anime posts. Honestly, it was good while it lasted.

While Hidamari Sketch is a fairly popular and notable anime, GJ Club, sadly, isn’t. The anime was adapted from the light novel series written by Shin Araki and it only received one 12-episode season in 2013 and an OVA in 2014. Since it is a slice-of-life series, not much is known about the characters’ histories, which made it very easy to adapt into my personal project. All these factors coinciding with it being the 50th anniversary year of Doctor Who made GJ Club the perfect anime to adapt and expand on.

Background information

For some reason, the light novel has been a bit hard to find. In short, while you are able to read it online, the sources are unfortunately scarce.

From 2013 to 2015, NanoDesu Translations posted translations of the light novel. They published a PDF and EPUB of the first volume (which is available on archive.org) and translated up to Chapter 17 of the second volume. It was then abandoned for two years before Haraguro Scanlations picked it up. As of September 2018, they only finished up to Chapter 3 of the third volume (with the first chapter being translated by Shadowys on Baka-Tsuki) and there are no further updates after that, with the exception of a one-off chapter released in November 2020.

As of August 2021, however, all the original translations by NanoDesu seem to have been deleted from their site. All the translations are available on AsiaNovel, but there are no illustrations because the reader doesn’t seem to support images. If the images weren’t discarded in the code of the novels, then all they would need to do is add support for them and then they would appear.

There are 9 volumes and two special volumes for GJ Club along with 8 volumes and a special volume for its middle school spinoff. It’s honestly telling how popular the series was when the translators have all but abandoned it.

Shin Araki also wrote an additional spinoff to GJ Club, namely GE: Good Eater, and a sequel, namely KB Club. GE is set in a fantasy world with the characters being based off the characters of GJ Club, while KB Club turns everything meta by having both series be the creations of a high school light novel club, with the characters of GJ Club being based off the members of said club, right down to their names. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of that approach given how I’ve adapted GJ Club into my personal project. In the end, I guess we’ll never really know what happens in the novels, but at least we have this.

Watching the anime and listening to the character music was how I first realised that anime was sexist to males because of the female-centric focus in most animes. Kyōya only gets one character song in the series, and even then it’s a duet with Megumi. If that isn’t sexist to you, then I don’t know how I can convince you that a lot of animes are sexist.

In January 2015, I published two posts outlining my idea for an English dub of the series that also fits with GJ Club’s depiction in my personal project. The setting would be changed to London, England, specifically the areas of Chiswick, Ealing and Acton (where their school is located) and the characters would speak with British accents. The images in the original post are dead because I idiotically copied the images from the site instead of saving and reuploading them to the post, but since I’m grubbing for content anyway, I’m going to repost my character details as follows:

Kyōya: The protagonist of the series. When he started Year 10, he was kidnapped by the girls when he walked into an old school building, hoping to find the Culture Club. He moved to London from Manchester just before he started Year 7. His best friend outside the club is someone named Tesshin Yokomizo (横溝徹心) who is a local and not seen in the anime. In the GJ Club, he is nicknamed “Kyoro” and despite his spinelessness, he seems to have talent in dealing with the girls around him. His birthday is December 18. Due to a crisis involving his family during his childhood, he and his sister Kasumi were left in the care of a family guardian just before they moved to London, but she left when Kyōya started Year 10. It might have been that childhood incident that emotionally scarred him and left him spineless…

Mao: The Year 11 president of the GJ Club. Her family is rich and they live in a mansion in Ealing. She has a habit of biting and picking on Kyōya when she is bored or angry. She always reads books and watches shows without kissing scenes.

Shion: The only daughter in her family, Shion is an expert chess player with many brothers, all experts in some kind of activity. She speaks in a Birmingham (Brummie) accent because her mother and a few of her brothers were born in Birmingham. It is unknown if Shion was born in Birmingham herself.

Megumi: The calm and nice middle sister of the Amatsuka family. She likes knitting and she is always seen making tea and cakes in the club room. In the same year level as Kyōya.

Kirara: Born in Swansea, Wales, Kirara is the tallest and strongest member of the club. She speaks English in simple, monotone sentences. Welsh is her first language. Kirara can be seen eating meat, sometimes sharing it with Kyōya, but not with anyone else. She is afraid of spiders and has little tolerance to alcohol.

Tamaki: (voiced by Karen Gillan!) The newest member of the GJ Club when Kyōya becomes a Year 11 student. Like Kyōya, she is kidnapped and forced to join the club. Her nickname is “Tama”. Her family is from Glasgow and they run a Shinto shrine in Acton. She has several younger siblings.

Kasumi: Kyōya’s younger sister, who was born in Manchester. After a visit to the GJ Club, she becomes inspired to start a middle school division when she starts Year 7. She has a brother complex and she mistook Mao for being a primary school student when she met her. Her proficiency in Welsh is better than her brother’s, who can probably speak at a beginner level.

Geraldine: Shortened to “Jill”. She moved to Chiswick from Swansea to be with her sister, Kirara. She first met Kyōya at Ealing Broadway Station when she had difficulty buying a Tube ticket. She didn’t really understand how to use the ticket machine, so Kyōya went to help her. After this, Jill considered Kyōya her “samurai master”. Jill doesn’t speak English fluently, so she relies on her whiteboard to communicate with the others. She is as strong as her sister and she joins Kasumi’s GJ Club when she starts Year 7 in Chiswick.

Seira: The youngest sister of the Amatsuka family. Though she speaks in a typical London accent, she sometimes talks through her cat clip in Received Pronunciation (the Queen’s English/RP) using ventriloquism to state her true feelings to Kyōya, who she has a grudge against.

Mori: The maid of the Amatsuka family. She likes to ride a motorcycle. A running gag is her twirling before Kyōya much to his pleasure and annoyance to the rest of the club members. Sometimes, her mother takes her place without the family even noticing due to their identical appearance.

Kyōya, Kasumi and Momoka: The Brother, the Child and the Yandere

Normally in previous instalments, I would have described each character separately, but because their backstories are heavily intertwined, I will introduce them all at once in this section. Most of the backstory takes place around the Battle of Koshi Castle in December 2013 and during the Manchester Campaign of 2005-2013, which I have already covered in #15.

When Hiroki Ichigo’s twelfth incarnation was killed at Koshi Castle, he managed to escape in his TARDIS, where he regenerated into his new prototype, namely a four-year-old Kyōya. The TARDIS crashes outside North Manchester General Hospital on 11 December 2005.

Earlier, Hiroki and Akari’s gametes (along with those of Hiroki’s brothers and their families) were taken by Reona Yukawa and placed in the Progenitor so that they could breed super-soldiers out of them. When Takumi Kamijō and Kyōko Sakura manage to escape from their cells (saving Nodoka Manabe and Azusa Nakano in the process), he changes the destination of the baby about to be released into the Progenitor’s time portal. That baby was Kasumi, one of the super-soldiers grown from Hiroki and Akari’s DNA. She ended up at the same hospital as well and was about to be taken home by a couple when Girl Power killed them, resulting in Kasumi being taken by Akari and Shaun.

What remained of Hiroki was contacted by the spirit of Walpurgisnacht. Making a deal with her, Hiroki regenerated into his thirteenth incarnation, the female Momoka Mizutani. No, Momoka is not an OC for GJ Club, but she is based on the character of Apple Lam Chung-yan from the TVB drama A Great Way to Care II, played by Tavia Yeung. Momoka takes Hiroki’s TARDIS and heads to Salford, where with the help of Walpurgisnacht, she establishes a cha chaan teng café in the middle of a trading estate and hires a group of red drone Daleks as her workers, hiding their identities by having them disguise themselves as humans.

Over the next eight years, Momoka gets close to the new Shinomiya family by influencing them through Kyōya’s dreams to come to her café. Eight years later, on 11 December 2013, the Fourth and Fifth Doctors come in with their companions. When the Shinomiya family come in, a confrontation with Ayaka Kikuchi and her army ensues before Momoka transmats the Shinomiya family to a Dalek spaceship, where she prepares to execute them using the Yashio’ori. However, the Yashio’ori is sabotaged by the enemy army so that the laser beam would not charge.

As Ayaka and her army attack the Dalek ship, Momoka uses the Dalek-enhanced machine guns to fend them off. While two Doctors confront the Master, Momoka is killed by Girl Power officers, resulting in Walpurgisnacht taking over her body as she regenerates, maintaining her current appearance. Read #15 to find out what happens after this.

Once the Battle of Koshi Castle and the Manchester Campaign conclude, the Fourth Doctor helps Kyōya and Kasumi move to Chiswick in 2008. Five years later, the events of the GJ Club anime take place. During his time in Chiswick, Kyōya gets a job at the post office there and later, studies a double degree in Japanese Studies and Politics at SOAS in the University of London while also learning Cantonese, Mandarin and Welsh in weekend and evening courses (apparently he also wanted to learn Taiwanese but they weren’t running any courses, but that’s alright, he can always learn it somewhere else, which he presumably did).

On a side note, I volunteered myself to be Kyōya’s English voice actor, so I’ve practiced my Mancunian accent by watching actors like Christopher Eccleston, Stephen Tompkinson, Karl Pilkington and maybe a bit of Peter Kay as well. The only problem was that I’m not even sure that my accent is even Manc because I can’t tell if I’m getting it wrong and sounding like someone from Liverpool, Yorkshire, Newcastle or even Scotland. Oh well, that’s what happens when you really get into things.

I don’t buy expansion packs, I make my own (budget allowing)

So as I said, GJ Club only got one season and an OVA to go with it. Do Kyōya and the GJ Club make further appearances in the series? You bet your ass they do.

After being absent for much of the Next Gen Series in 2014, Kyōya and Kasumi receive a letter from their aunt, Narutaki, asking to meet in Hong Kong after their mother, Akari, went missing following the Siege of Ōsaka, only to be followed by Mao and the rest of the GJ Club, who learnt where he was going and managed to get on the same flight as them.

Narutaki, who had taken her Girl Power friends and established a rogue faction separate from the main group, takes the GJ Club to Nijō Castle, where she explains the background behind the Manchester Campaign and the events of Series 8 and 9. Soon after, Girl Power’s commander, Daniel, sends his brother, Nathan, out to find Narutaki. Kyōya tries to contact Hiroki, but he is unable to get through to him. Luckily, the TARDIS arrives and the Doctor and Hiroki help Angela and the others repel the attacking Girl Power forces. Some more things happen and by the end of the story, we learn that Kyōya and Mao are dating.

That Christmas, Kyōya and Kasumi head up to Manchester, but the Doctor briefly takes them and their friends back to Hong Kong for a picnic with Hiroki and the rest of the Zhuge family.

A few years later in 2018, the GJ Club and Momoka get a cameo at the start and end of the Gokaiger TV movie special. By this point in time, Momoka’s café in Manchester has expanded to many other branches around the UK and in Hong Kong.

The next year in 2019, Kyōya, Kasumi, Mao and Megumi are featured in a four-part adventure in Soulbound Series 3, helping the cast solve the mystery of Parker’s past and Shinbu’s origins. Two years after in 2021, Kyōya and Kasumi move to Hong Kong (along with the GJ Club) and join the Superhero Project as the new ShinkenRed and ZyuohTiger. You’d think Kyōya would be against violence given his harmless tendencies, but I suppose his character has developed over the years despite having abandonment issues.

So this has been the involvement of GJ Club in my personal project. It’s a shame the series wasn’t more popular or it could have gotten a second season, a manga, more (and frequent) translations of the light novel or hell, even a licenced release. This series is just like Sea Princesses in how popular it was, but despite the number of episodes the anime got, at least Shin Araki hasn’t abandoned the series (by putting it in a spinoff no less) unlike Fabio Yabu, who hasn’t made anything new for Sea Princesses since 2010 after getting more animated episodes than GJ Club did. On the other hand though, neglected series with little material has been good development fodder for my personal project as it allowed me to bring awareness to the existence of those series while also developing backstories and afterstories for them.

#kisekae insights #gj club #doctor who

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moviemunchies · 3 years

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I’m sort of doing this thing where I’m reading books and keeping a log of it, and if there’s a movie adaptation I try to watch it before moving on to the next book in the series. So I’ve been meaning to get to Prince Caspian for a while now after reading the book.

This one’s weird because a large chunk of the Chronicles of Narnia fandom doesn’t like this movie very much. And I pretty much loved it since I saw it in theaters? It’s not as faithful to the book as the previous film, but that doesn’t make it bad. I’m still struck by the design of the film, which stands out from most fantasy films of the time (and many today), and it’s got a lot of action! That’s enough to make me dig a fantasy movie.

_Prince Caspian_ is the second installment of Walden Media’s Chronicles of Narnia film series and the sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s also the last film in the series that was made by Disney, as they quit because they were disappointed by this one’s reception. Walden Media managed to get another studio to fund and distribute the third movie.

After a year in England, the Pevensies come back to Narnia to find that over a thousand years have passed. The country’s been conquered by the Telmarines who have driven the Narnia creatures into hiding, thinking they’d been wiped out. The Telmarine prince, Caspian X, is sympathetic to Narnians but didn’t know they still existed--that is, until he has to run from the palace and lead them in rebellion against his uncle who wants him dead to take the throne. The Pevensies are there to help of course, but Peter butts heads with Caspian (and his siblings) on how to best fight this war. And Aslan’s nowhere to be seen, except by Lucy, who can’t convince the others to follow that lead.

This movie does actually have a lot of content from the book, just rearranged or recontextualized. The Plot is completely reworked and I don’t mind that because a huge chunk of Caspian’s story in the book is being told to the Pevensies by Trumpkin--that would be a very frustrating way to tell his story in the movie. Some things, like the animals holding faith for Aslan when others don’t, is implied by the way scenes are done rather than outright told to the audience.

There are some things that are in both the book and movie, but the movie doesn’t quite explain what that’s about. The sparring match between Edmund and Trumpkin doesn’t really make much sense in the movie.

There’s also the attack on the castle. This sequence is invented entirely for the movie, and while it’s frustrating in a similar way that Finn and Rose’s subplot in The Last Jedi is, the book does mention the Narnians losing some battles and so actually showing that to the audience is fine. Also I like seeing the way they apply griffins and mice in the raid. That’s cool thinking and I wish to see more fantasy films think about how fantasy creatures might be used on military operations.

Also I really like the design of this movie? The Narnian side mostly keeps the same designs for their weapons and armor, but it’s a lot more worn down, and that makes sense because they’ve been hiding in the woods for a few hundred years. They don’t have new weapons. The Telmarines, on the other hand, look fantastic. For their culture, WETA Workshop was inspired by Spanish and Italian culture, so instead of longswords they use side swords and falchions, and their armor brings to mind a combination of Spanish conquistadors, Italian condottieri, and Japanese samurai. They look more Renaissance than medieval and I love it.

The cast is also matched up to that, with Spanish and Italian actors playing the roles of Telmarines. Ben Barnes is an exception, as he’s English, but he’s putting on his best Inigo Montoya impression as Caspian.

You know what? Let’s talk about this cast. Ben Barnes, back when he wasn’t just playing villains. I remember classmates in high school saying that he’s too old, but if he is that’s because the actor playing Peter is also too old. Caspian is supposed to be the same age as Peter, so I didn’t mind it here. I think he overdoes the whole “YOU KILLED MY FATHER” thing but I don’t think that’s Ben Barnes’s fault as much as he’s working with the Plot point that’s been sandwiched into the story.

William Moseley does very well in playing Peter as he’s written for this movie, the problem is that Peter in this movie is written to be an absolute prat. His whole arc in this movie is about learning that he doesn’t have to be in charge and to let Aslan take the wheel. This would make sense if his life experience was only what we saw in the last movie’s adventure, but we know that he apparently grew up in Narnia and became a successful and wise warrior king. So him being so full of himself here doesn’t make sense. I got over it, as I see what they were going for, deconstructing how a kid might feel after his time in Narnia, but it is very annoying and it makes Peter very unlikable.

Unlike Edmund, played by Skandar Keyes, who is absolutely THE SHIZ in this movie. Having learned his lesson from the last movie, Edmund is a cheeky wonder child who takes no crap from anyone. He doesn’t have that much of an arc in this movie, but he is great to watch, so I forgive it. He’s the guy who keeps his head screwed on straight when Peter and Caspian need someone to keep them grounded.

Anna Popplewell’s Susan is good? They still go with her being the “reasonable” one, albeit a little less uptight than in the first movie. They have this thing in the movie in which she and Caspian are definitely into each other and I don’t think that’s too out there--in the books Susan had at least half a dozen suitors when she was queen--it does mean that a lot of her character arc is dedicated to that, and we know that it goes nowhere. This one clearly implies that she’s having trouble holding faith in things she doesn’t see in front of her, and that’s a fascinating direction that doesn’t go quite as far in this movie as it could.

And Lucy. Georgie Henley as Lucy is still delightful. They removed and rearranged a lot of the material from the book in her character arc which is a shame, because I really like a lot of that stuff. As the one who still has the faith and wants to see the magic in Narnia when even the Narnians are giving up hope, she has to come across as sympathetic and believable. That doesn’t always work, especially when she does things like walk up to a bear that’s about to attack her, not realizing that it’s not talking (there ARE non-talking animals in Narnia, dear!). But for the most part she works in this movie.

You know Peter Dinklage is in this movie as Trumpkin? I find it odd that he made it big on a fantasy show that was billed as deconstructing usual fantasy tropes while heavily featuring sex and violence when he also starred in the film adaptation of a famously Christian book series and one of the giants of the fantasy genre. He does okay. I mean I like that Trumpkin is this grumpy guy who is cynical and tired of everyone and just wants to go home, but I don’t know if Peter Dinklage is acting or just… cynical and tired of everyone and wants to go home. It’s entertaining sometimes, but not brilliant.

And Warwick Davis is in this movie? He was in the BBC series as well, but instead of as Reepicheep this time he’s playing Nikabrik, the dwarf that is even more cynical than Trumpkin and hates all humans. It feels weird for me seeing him as a villain, though I know he’s done it before. I always had trouble with Nikabrik as a character because I always felt like him going full-on evil was… well, everyone seemed strangely unperturbed by that in the book, even if we had an idea of how we got there. In the movie I felt as if Warwick Davis does well in that you get him, and you get where he’s coming from, but not enough to agree. And other characters react to his turn in a way that’s appropriate.

Ken Stott voices Trufflehunter and he does not have enough to do in this movie. Trufflehunter is not that Plot-relevant in the book, but I always had the impression that he was an important character and one of the most prominent Narnians in the story. He’s okay here, but I really thought that he should be doing more in the story. Maybe the filmmakers didn’t think it would fit the darker tone they were going for, if there was a badger running around in many of the scenes? I don’t know, I wanted more.

We do, however, get quite a bit of Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep, which is fantastic because Reepicheep is fantastic. This mouse is amazing. There were some people very surprised that a mouse is going around killing people, but it’s a fantasy film, he’s a knight, and also it wasn’t as if the first movie didn’t have violence? I’m frustrated that the movies don’t go with the “talking animals are bigger than normal animals” EXCEPT with Reepicheep, because it’s pretty darn weird that all the other animals are ordinary-sized and the talking mice are the size of cats. But Reepicheep is very entertaining, very cool, and he’s great.

Sergio Castellitto plays a surprisingly sharp Miraz? Yeah, Plot-wise he’s generically evil, but I think that Castellitto makes him A) entertaining to watch, and B) convey that he knows that he’s the least popular guy in the room with the other Telmarine lords. The book version of Miraz has no idea that they’re plotting against him. Miraz in this movie does, and although he’s definitely not bright enough to realize exactly what they’re doing, by the end of the movie he knows that they’re happy to watch him die.

Pierfrancesco Pavino’s Glozelle, for instance, is barely a person in the book? He shows up to stab Miraz in the back. Here, not only is he not the person who does that, but the movie makes him very uncomfortable with the direction Miraz’s path to power is taking, despite remaining loyal until almost the very end. He’s a complex, conflicted character and I like him.

And also noticeable is Damian Alcazar as Sopespian, a guy who doesn’t like Miraz, but is no more likable because of it. Because he’s obviously not doing it for any sense of the greater good, he’s doing it because he wants that power for himself. I don’t think anyone mistakes his motives or thinks of him as a secret good guy at any point in the movie, which I think speaks to the actor’s performance.

Liam Neeson is Aslan. He does great, though he really doesn’t have that many lines. Which is part of the point, that he’s not there for most of the movie, so it works, I think.

Also Tilda Swinton’s in this movie. There is some justification for it, but I think it was because she loved being in the first movie, and they loved having her in it, so they just brought her back.

I like fantasy movies with lots of action and sword fights and cool design choices. So no, Prince Caspian isn’t that faithful of an adaptation of the source material (though it’s more faithful than people give it credit for), and I do get frustrated with character arcs--mostly Peter’s. But I still really love this movie, and I have tons of fun every time I watch it.

#Prince Caspian #Chronicles of Narnia #Walden Media #Narnia #Movie Munchies

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nightwingshero · 3 years

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A, F, G, M, P, R, and S for Evune, Athera, Blair, Suzume, and Kumeko :D

MEL! THIS IS MERCY?! You're killin' me, smalls! Lol under the cut, love!

A: Aptitude

1. What are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young?

Evune: Sneaking around and throwing knives. Evune doesn't really like to play the Game, but she's had some bard training when she lived with her noble guardian, and then when she was living in the alienage. She's had to steal, fight, and learned some bow skills before being reunited with her clan.

Athera: Aside from when her magic manifested when she was a child, I would say she's always had a special touch with halla and is rather good at drawing. But she hung around the clan's halla, sticking with the halla keeper because she was always fascinated with them.

Blair: She's always been a pretty smart cookie, so I'm going to say chess was something she was pretty quick to pick up on when she was young. She plays often with her dad.

Suzume: Drawing, cooking, and skateboarding. She's always been pretty good with balance and being naturally good on her feet, so that was something that caught her attention rather quickly. Now, drawing and cooking almost seems to be a family thing, mostly because of her father's quirk got him into art as well. So she would often sit in her room and just draw alone, and then come help her mother cook when it was time--which explains the cooking ability.

Kumeko: Dancing and hacking! Shopping doesn't count, so I won't add it. But Kumeko loves to dance to her music, and will play Just Dance often. She's always light on her feet, and when she started walking as a kid, she would bounce. So her mom says it's pretty much in her blood at this point. Now, her fascination with electronics might have something to do with her quirk, but this girl was taking computers apart and rebuidling them when she was a kid.

2. What activities have they participated in?

Evune: A few games here and there with her clan. There's a game that her and Athera would play with the kids as they told the stories of their gods, and Evune would lead Fen'an with her and they would play tag and chase them around as they pretended to be Fen'Harel. She also does arm wrestling with Thyra, plays chess with Cullen, and does shooting contests with and plays Wicked Grace with Varric.

Athera: She would teach the children of their clan the history and the stories of their people, often leading to the tag game with Evune. She will read with Dorian, practice magic with Halesta, and play chess with Solas. She would often ask him things he saw of her people in the fade as well.

Blair: Lots and lots of science fairs and clubs. She did chess club at one point too, and then learned to play the violin. But she didn't really stick with that, since she preferred doing science stuff, especially astronomy. She does a lot of ice skating too, if that counts, and she'll go out with friends.

Suzume: Heh. Well, she'll get dragged go to karaoke with Kumeko and a few more friends here and there. She's done the Sports Festival a few times with Kumeko when they attended U.A. High. She even placed one year. But when it comes to activites to participate in, mroe often than not, it's Kumeko or someone else coming up with the idea and having her tag along. She'll go to the school events in support for the students, and she'll do team ups with heroes here and there when she has the time. Every now and then she'll anonymously participate in art festivals just to share her art.

Kumeko: Karaoke! Though the last time her and Suzume went they ended up getting thrown out and banned because someone decided that the music selection wasn't cool enough and she hacked the machine. She did the Sports Festival in high school, and does a lot of team ups, especially when her agency is contacted and Fatgum has his plate full (I know what I did there--yes, it was on purpose.) I'm gonna throw shopping on here because she loves it so damn much. DJing is something she does often too, more out of a hobby than anything.

3. What abilities do they have that they’ve worked for?

Evune: The bow. Evune had more experience with dagger growing up and she had to work extra hard to master the bow because that demanded a patience from her that she didn't have. But she gives people a run for their money now, often outshooting most people.

Athera: Making wolves and hallawith her magic. That took forever to master. She can use her elemental magic and manifest it in the forms of wolves, and her protective barriers come out as halla. It took her years to perfect, and it's still hard for her to do sometimes.

Blair: Definitely controlling her powers. Girl was a walking hazard because of it. She was too scared to really practice it because it seemed to always hurt people, and she hated herself for it.

Suzume: The patience to handle those crazy ass class 1-A kids, epsecially the one that blows shit up without warning and has rage issues or the perverted one she's kicked out of her class a few times. Tattoos. She can draw, it took her time to nail skating and cooking, but tattoos...that took her the longest. If she can do it herself, she will; it makes it easier for her to use with her quirk. But it took time because it's not the same as drawing in her sketchbook.

Kumeko: Fighting. Honestly, it was so hard for her because she's not really...a natural fighter. She had to really work at making her quirk for her in fight scenarios, but luckily she was able to really adapt her dancing and hacking into her own odd style that actually works well for her. U.A. was hard for her in the beginning, but she really pulled through and excelled.

4. What things are they bad at?

Evune: Holding her tongue. Evune can and will say whatever it is that's on her mind. It gets her into so much trouble, but she never really learns from it. She will always tell you what she's thinking whether you wanna hear it or not.

Athera: Making very hard decisions. She hates being put on the spot and making choices that really don't have a good ending either way. The pressure isn't something she wants and she fears the backlash and the consequences of the choices.

Blair: Lying. Girl can't lie to save her life. Not that she would ever really want to, but it's always bitter on her tongue whenever she has to, and it never goes well.

Suzume: Being emotionally vulnerable. Not that she doesn't have emotions or doesn't want to share her emotions, she just gets shy and awkward with it. Word vomit is what ends up happening if she's not careful, and so she finds it easier to stay quiet.

Kumeko: Dealing with loss, honestly. She's naturally a go lucky and cheerful person. It's not that she hasn't dealt with loss before, she just takes it really hard when it does happen. It weighs on her shoulders and mind for a long time.

5. What is their most impressive talent?

Evune: A combo move with Fen’an. She jumps back and fires arrows, while her wolf moves in from the side and attacks when their opponent isn’t looking. She’s so good with her bow and working alongside her wolf companion when she needs to--which happens more often than not.

Athera: Her magic, honestly. She’s the First for a reason, and when Falessan was around, he tuaght her a trick or two. The wolf elemental magic is something she only uses when she needs to, and it’s very impressive. Though it takes quite a bit of mana to pull off.

Blair: I know this is going to not really count, but I can’t help it; I’m going to say her intelligience. I could say her meta powers, but honestly, Blair is stupid smart and isn’t afraid to flex it. She has enough braincells to cover for those who are lacking.

Suzume: Okay, so I would say Quirk wise, it’s going to be her ability to animate her tattoos and drawings, but the most impressive? Using her samurai tattoo to cover herself. Its one of her ultimate moves, though whatever damage the samurai suffers, is damage she absolutely feels once it returns to her. It’s cool to see though, she’s such a badass!

Kumeko: This girl can be deafening. I’m not even kidding. She can hack into surrounding sound systems or use her very own built in speakers to deafen an enemy temporarily. Like...some are left immobilzed because of it. She doesn’t do it often because its more of a last resort ultimate move, but it’s super impressive and handy...she can definitely be someone to fear.

F: Fun

1. What do they do for fun?

Evune: She loves to drink and watch people when she has nothing else to really do, and that’s usually watching Thyra start bar fights and wrestling with a lot of the warriors and soldiers of the Inquistion so she can prove her Avaar strength. Other than that, she’s joking around with Dorian, making fun of people or playing Wicked Grace with Varric. She’ll also sing to herself when she thinks no one is listening.

Athera: She loves to read and draw for fun, mostly. She’s very at peace with quiet time to herself, and as things progress with the Inquisition, she doesn’t really get a lot of it. If she’s not doing that, she’s playing chess or spending time with some of her companions to get to know them better or because she enjoys their company.

Blair: Video games, movie marathons, and ice skating. She’s such a nerd at heart, and when she isn’t working on things for fun (yes...for fun), she’s either gaming out or watching movies and eating crepes. Winter is her favorite season, and she goes ice skating every year with her parents and friends. Its one of those things she’s been doing since she was a kid.

Suzume: Mostly skating, drawing, and cooking. She likes to read too, but she’s most likely doing one of the first three things. Music is often blared while doing any of them, and she gets super focused. There are a few places she likes to go for skating, and she’ll usually meet Kumeko there, or just skate around and look at different things with her cat in her backpack.

Kumeko: A little bit of everything. Shopping, dancing, and going to amusement parks. Kumeko likes the rush of things, and likes to be on the move. The girl can’t sit still, she’s gotta be doing something, and so she’s usually always out and about with something on her agenda. Much to Suzume’s dismay because she’s dragged with her.

2. What is their ideal party?

Evune: Small with only the closest of friends. Evune doesn’t like meeting new people, she’s very wary of them. She wants a small get together on the beach at night around a campfire and laughing together. She does go to the big parties Dorian throws at his dad’s in the College AU, mostly after they play a gig or something.

Athera: Something casual with boardgames and cherades! Probably a cookout, if we’re being honest. More people than Evune would invite, mostly because she oddly has a lot of connections--she’s even shocked by it. Its very casual because she’s more comfortable that way

Blair: Honestly, there are a few. She loves surprsie parties, both for herself and for others. Slumber parties are a thing too, mostly because she would throw all the blankets and pillows she had in the living room, make crepes and hot chocolate (or get wine) and have a movie marathon in her pjs with her friend.

Suzume: That’s a huge no. No way in hell. Parties aren’t her scene at all, she doens’t really like going to them because she’s secretly (not that secret tbh) shy and gets nervous. She will go to the hero galas, she will allow Kumeko to drag her to places, but she doesn’t really prefer a type of party. The word just puts dread in her stomach. Now...honestly, a dinner party with a few friends isn’t so bad, but it has to be super casual. Best Jeanist’s annual Halloween party isn’t too bad either.

Kumeko: All of them. Honestly, there isn’t one that she doens’t like, Kumeko loves people, loves music, and parties have plenty of both. Dance parties (which is usually her and a few more friends playing Just Dance at Suzume’s because someone hates going to clubs) or ones that have karaoke so she can challenge Present Mic. Kumeko is perfect for throwing surprise birthday parties too, Suzume finds out every year (as if she could ever forget that).

3. Who would they have the most fun with?

Evune: She’s honestly one of those people that if she can’t have fun with you, she probably won’t like you. Naturally quiet, it would seem that would be impossible to gauge, but it’s really not. Evune has a sense of humor, and she prides herself in being a good judge on character. I would say Arkyn, Thyra, Emerson, Varric, and Dorian are the people she has the most fun with. Cullen, too, but I think it’s different with him--not as chaotic.

Athera: She will try to have fun with pretty much anyone because she wants to get along with everyone. I think the main people she would have the most fun with would be Josephine, Iron Bull, Krem, Leliana, Dorian, and Varric.

Blair: You either love her or you hate her, because she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind and correct you when you’re wrong. But she has tons of fun with Cisco, Caitlin, Felicity, Ray, Sara, and eventually Mick. You wouldn’t expect it, but it is what it is.

Suzume: Not Hawks. It depends, honestly, but she has a lot of fun with Kumeko, Aizawa, and Tai. Midnight as well whenever she has the energy to actually hang out with her outside of work. She also has a lot of fun teaching and training some of her students (more than that one angry explosive one), but at the end of the day, Tai is really all she needs. That or staying home and locking the door, and ignoring Kumeko when she pounds on her door or when Chicken Nugget calls her 5 times in a row for a casual hero hangout.

Kumeko: Who doesn’t she have fun with? Listen, it takes a lot for Kumeko to not like you, but if you rub her the wrong way, you will absolutely get the cold shoulder. Other than that, that girl is gonna have fun with whoever she’s with. Suzume she forcibly is fun with, she has tons of fun with her boyfriend Aizawa, Hawks, Present Mic, Tai, Rumi, and Midnight.

4. Can they have fun while conforming to rules?

Evune: If she has to break the rules to have fun, they’re getting broken. They’re just a suggestion, right?

Athera: She will do her best when it’s within her control. She doesn’t want there to be any trouble, so she’ll try to avoid it if she can...though her cousin sometimes makes it hard.

Blair: Often, she’s a straight shooter, and it’s not until Leonard and Mick come into her life that she starts seeing the fun to bending just the slightest for fun.

Suzume: For the most part, she can. It depends on who you are and what the situation is if she’s willing to be lienient. Like how she will sometimes let Kaminara, Sero, and Kirishima get away with things here and there.

Kumeko: What they don’t know won’t hurt them. Kumeko is okay with breaking minor rules to keep that fun going, as long as it’s not crazy or gets people hurt. She has her limits. But at the end of the day, she’s still a hero. She will draw the line somewhere, she won’t let things go too far.

5. Do they go out a lot?

Evune: Shockingly, she does. She’s introverted, but she’s hanging around with people and watches on the sidelines. In the college AU, her and Emerson are often at the diner, their regular place, and at the bar where they perfomr. If its not that, and she’s going out, then it’s most likely a friend’s house.

Athera: She does! Athera loves visiting parks and other places where she can draw. The library is also a place she goes often when she wants out of the house, meeting other friends there for maybe a study session in the college au.

Blair: YES. Honestly, the cafe is like her second home, and the observatory is her third. She will often go to book stores and such to buy books and other things she might need.

Suzume: If she’s not at home, drawing, reading, or watching movies, she’s out skating or with Kumeko. At a certain point, she finds herself visiting Fatgum’s agency rather...frequently. For no specific reason, she swears.

Kumeko: ALL. THE. TIME. She always has some place to be and Aizawa has to sometimes beg to get her to have a day in (she caves rather easily, actually). But she’s usually out and about, plus she is a hero, so patrols are also a thing.

G: Gorgeous

1. What is their most attractive external feature?

Evune: I feel like there’s a lot attractive about her, but I would have to say her smirk. Its so teasing and it will absolutely draw you in--especially with her gorgeous eyes sparkling with mischief. Her vallasin are also very striking on her face, even if the silvery tint of them.

Athera: Hmmm...defintitely her eyes. Which...I know I eluded to that or Evune too, but they really just have gorgeous eyes. Athera’s have a teal/light blue eye color with specks of silver. They’re gorgeous. The light hitting them just gives you different shades that just...wow. Its no surprise that she caught the attention of the Dread Wolf.

Blair: Her smile. She is always smiling and it will just blow you away--you can’t help but smile right back at her. That smile will become the center of your galaxy if you’re not careful. It’s even more wow-ing when she actually decides to wear lipstick.

Suzume: Honestly...I could say hair, or her beautiful green eyes, or the way her blush makes her face light up...but it’s honestly her tattoos. Suzume is decently curved with an hourglass figure, but it’s not something she shows off. At least...not upfront. Her tattoos. Suzume has an eye of an artist, and every tattoo is placed perfectly, allowing the lines to flow naturally with her body. They’re gorgeous honestly. You could look at them for hours, though after a while I could guess you’d be staring for other reasons.

Kumeko: She would tell you its her hair, half (natural) metallic silver, and half (dyed) electric blue. But...it’s gonna be her curves. She has pretty decent curves, and she absolutely shows them off. She’s not really overly revealing or anything, she just wears clothes that really complement her and she’s proud of how she looks.

2. What is the most attractive part of their personality?

Evune: Her fierceness and her sense of humor. She’s very passionate and is just...a lot of fun, to be honest.

Athera: Her kindness and patience. She’s kind to everyone and is always patient with people, epsecially when they need it.

Blair: Her compassion. There’s an empathy that Blair has about her that just draws you in and you can’t really escape it, no matter how long you try.

Suzume: Her belief in others, especially in herself. Even she struggles with self doubt, but honestly, the sheer belief in herself and confidence in her students and friends so heartwarming.

Kumeko: Her bubbliness. Mostly because she uses it to make everyone’s day good, including hers, and she never fails to be optimistic.

3. What benefits come with being their friend?

Evune: A fierce loyalty, honestly. She will have your back whether you’re right or wrong, because that doesn’t matter--you do. Plus, she’ll drink and sing with you.

Athera: She is lowkey a mom friend, so she’ll make sure you’re doing okay. Plus, she’s defintely someone to mentor you if you needed.

Blair: A friend that will always make sure you’re knowledgeable about what you’re talking about. She’ll correct you for your benefit, and do it kindly, just to make sure you’re at your best.

Suzume: ...uh...she draws. And cooks...she’ll probably grumble about it, but she’ll absolutely bring you food to work and honestly, she’s just a good support. She speaks honestly about her opinion, but she has your back.

Kumeko: Lots of shopping sprees and a true cheerleader, honestly. Constantly cheering you on and trying to play matchmaker for you (yes Suzume is bitching in the corner, its fine.)

4. What parts of them do they like and dislike?

Evune: There might be a scar or two with a bad memory, but other than that, nothing. Evune is very “take me as I am, or don’t take me at all” and she will be very direct about it. She’s not about that.

Athera: She’s never really thought about that because she just...never really considered pulling herself apart like that. If she had to choose something, it would be the way she comes across as naive (because she is, just don’t tell her that). She hates how people treat her because of it. Also her nose.

Blair: Her feet. She’s so weird about her feet, she is always wearing socks because of it.

Suzume: She hates that she’s quiet and awkward, honestly. She can be shy at times, depending on who she’s around, and she doesn’t understand it because she’s mostly a confident person. She also lowkey hates that she looks so different from her adoptive family, only because of the questions seh gets because of it. Its why she put dark green streaks in her hair.

Kumeko: This girl loves every damn inch of herself, who are we kidding?

5. What parts of others do they envy?

Evune: I wouldn’t call it envy, but she feels very bitter regarding the people who have had a good life and still find a reason to bitch about it. She just wants her people to have better.

Athera: The lack of responsibility. She wishes that she didn’t have the fate of the world on her shoulders, and she envies those who don’t have to worry about the things she does.

Blair: Not having meta powers that might kill your friends when you lose control. Gee, must be nice.

Suzume: Mostly, nothing. She does wish she could be more charismatic though. It would help her speak to a certain someone without blushing like mad and glaring at the ground.

Kumeko: Not a damn thing. This girl is happy with herself and what she can do, it took her some time to get there. But ultimately, she came to the conclusion that you have to love yourself for who you are and focus on what you can become, instead of seeing all the things you aren’t and comparing yourself to other people when it’s not relevant to you.

M: Maternal

1. Would they want a daughter or a son?

Evune: Her and Cullen end up actually having a girl and then a boy, but she never really thought she would have kids to be honest.

Athera: She ends up with twins: a boy and a girl. But she’s in Evune’s boat, she wasn’t exactly planning on having kids or even meeting someone.

Blair: She never thought about kids until Leonard, then once she’s pregnant, she can’t help but imagine a little girl, which she ends up having.

Suzume: She didn’t really have a preference, she was just shocked that she was becoming a mom. Suzume wasn’t sure how it happened, but it did.

Kumeko: Girls. She wanted daughters because after pretty much adopting Eri, she wanted more little precious girls running around their house. They ended up with twins, a boy and girl, and she was so excited and happy.

2. How many children do they want?

Evune: She’s never really thought about it, but she’s happy with the one, open to having just one more.

Athera: Just the two. Athera has a lot on her plate, the twins are honestly enough for her.

Blair: I would say probably 4, because she wants a big family. She loves kids.

Suzume: She wants a couple more because she at least wants another girl, and maybe just another, depending.

Kumeko: I think she’d wanna try for another to make it an even number, with Eri and the twins making three, but after that, she’s good.

3. Would they be a good parent?

Evune: She didn’t think she would, to be honest, but she’s a fantastic mom. She really tries her best and loves her children deeply.

Athera: Yes, though she doesn’t feel like it. Their father is gone and she has so much repsonibility, she feels that she’s failing at being a mother.

Blair: Absolutely. She’s really good with kids and that definitely applied to her parenting.

Suzume: Yes, though she was worried for a minute that she wouldn’t be. She’s a high school teacher, so she doesn’t have a whole lot of experience with tiny humans. But she’s fantastic, just like Tai said she would be.

Kumeko: She is PHENOMENAL. She honestly is super mom, and she’s the go-to nanny when Suzume needs someone to babysit.

4. What would they name a son? what would they name a daughter?

Evune: I haven’t decided on the son’s name, but the girl is Mirae, which means Little Thief in elvish. They did it on purpose becaus Cullen would call Evune his little thief because she would take or mess with things on his desk.

Athera: The daughter is named Soufei (the strength of a thousand wolves) and Hallen (which has something to do with halla). Essentially, wolf and halla related for her and Solas. Symbolism.

Blair: I...have not named their daughter. But it would probably be something space related because Blair is definitely that person...girl really loves space.

Suzume: I haven’t really figured out the details for their kids just yet, but she would want their names to be meaningful.

Kumeko: Same as Suzume, but honestly, whatever sounds good. Kumeko just wants it to sound cool and she’s good.

5. Would they adopt?

Evune: She would if the occasion would arise where she came across a child in need. She doesn’t have the heart to just ignore that.

Athera: I don’t think she would actively seek adopting a child. I think that Athera would do everything in her power to make sure the child found a loving and safe home, only adopting if she failed, because she’s not letting an orphan suffer a terrible fate with an orphanage or worse.

Blair: She would, and I think it was something she considered at one point. Like, no, she really didn’t think she would have kids, but she had little thoughts of “what if” when it came to adopting.

Suzume: In a heartbeat. She was adopted herself, so that’s definitely something she would do. Giving a child a loving home is something she would think about doing. Especially with how she takes some of the students under her wing.

Kumeko: I mean, technically, she does. Her and Aizawa adopt Eri, so yeah, she absolutely would do that.

P: Personality

1. What is their best personality trait?

Evune: Her sense of humor, I think. Evune is sarcastic and hilarious. Granted she will use it to tear you down, but when she’s doing it for genuine fun with her friends, she’ll have to in stitches.

Athera: Patience. It makes her so kind and forgiving, honestly. Athera is so soft most of the time, and people are sometimes shocked with the lack of judgement that comes with her.

Blair: Cheerfulness. She’s usually always in such a good mood, to be honest. There’s always an underlying happy disposition with her...until you piss her off.

Suzume: If you asked her, she would just shrug and avoid you. But her fierceness...is just...she’s very passionate, truly. She’s very strong-willed, especially when it comes to her protecting people.

Kumeko: Determination. This girl doesn’t know what the phrase “give up” means, it’s not a thing she has ever done or heard. She sticks to something to the very end. She won’t quit you.

2. What is their worst personality trait?

Evune: Arrogance. And with her, its more patronizing. Mostly because of her tongue, she will cut you with words and make you feel small. It will drive her to challenge you, mock you, and make a show to demonstrate how wrong you are and to stroke her pride.

Athera: Arrogance as well, but hers is different. While Evune’s is external, Athera’s is internal. She will raise her head high, and naively believe she’s right (whether she is or not), and brings about a stubborness that can be suffocating. You won’t be able to talk to her, she won’t hear you because she has already made up her mind.

Blair: Logical. I know that doesn’t sound bad, but when someone is looking for emotional support, Blair isn’t the girl for you. She’ll immediately break down the situation and come at you with logic rather than the emotional support you need.

Suzume: Guarded and pessimistic. Suzume has a hard time being emotionally vulnerable at times, mostly because sh’s not sure how to be. She knows she’s hard to read and that people get frustrated and kinda give up on their first try with her. She can be a little pessimistic, though she’s normally a realist. It’s always something to do with her personally though.

Kumeko: Obnoxious. Its not a secret that Kumeko can be...a little much sometimes. She tries to tone it down for certain people or when the situation calls for it, but mostly, she’s a take it or leave it kinda girl. If she’s too loud for you, she’ll say “sorry, but that’s how I am” and then move away from you with a smile.

3. What of their personality do others love?

Evune: With her, it’s not just one thing. It’s everything that makes her her. She’s just a mix of things honestly, you can’t detangle that mess.

Athera: Her kindness. It makes her forgiving and warm to those who interact with her.

Blair: I would say her dependability. Blair is always there, no matter what, and she absolutely has your back--whether that’s physically or mentally.

Suzume: When you really get to know her, her softness. Because not everyone gets to see it or even recognizes it when it happens.

Kumeko: Charisma! She has a natural charisma that she oozes and so many people get blown away by it.

4. What of their personality do others envy?

Evune: The way she gives zero fucks about anyone other than those close to her. She will dead ass ignore you.

Athera: I want to say resilience because the girl has gone through some stuff, and she’s still standing. She lost her arm, girl has guts.

Blair: Tenacity. She won’t back down, her spine is made of steel. Especially when she knows she’s right about something. Good luck with that.

Suzume: Her ability to stay calm. Suzume is very level-headed, even in the most dangerous of situations. Girl will jump in front of her students or that yellow hero to protect him (he doesn’t need it), and won’t even flinch.

Kumeko: The way she can make every situation seem bright, no matter how dark it really is. She always makes things better.

5. Do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

Evune: For herself? No. Others? Absolutely. If you rub her the wrong way, she’s not going to like you. It’s not really about a specific thing, it’s just a vibe. Like Cassandra and Blackwall...she doesn’t like them. If you lie to her though, you’re done for.

Athera: She hates dishonesty because she’s the kind of person that you can come to about these things with no judgement on her part. Now about herself, she does hate how she can be a little too nice. It makes her think that people try walking over her or steer her in the direction they personally want her to go.

Blair: Her being more logical in emotional situations bothers her, so she tries to work on it. She hates people that are deceptive, the kind that like to play their cards close to their chests. Not necessarily lying (though she hates that too), but just not being upfront about it.

Suzume: Arrogance, she can’t stand it. You will absolutey paint a target on your back with it, because she’ll be super sarcastic and dismissive of you if you are. If you’re overly arrogant, she will watch and hope for you to trip and fall on your face so she can just raise her brow at you and walk away after being like “see? Not so great, huh?”. She is not Bakugo’s favorite teacher. She wishes she wasn’t so awkward at times, to be honest. It would make things easier for her.

Kumeko: Just...bitterness. Like, being mean for no reason. She doesn’t understand it and she won’t put up with it. If you’re being a bully, she will absolutely call you out on it, Kumeko isn’t afraid to step in when she needs to. Now, she loves everything about herself and her personality--shocking nobody.

R: Rules

1. Do they follow rules?

Evune: No, they’re just kind suggestions or she just doesn’t care. She makes her own rules. Meme of “I’m the Captain now” goes: here.

Athera: She does her best! They’re there for a reason and she doesn’t want trouble.

Blair: Yes, but she will bend them for the greater good. But mostly, she’s following the rules.

Suzume: Oh yeah, she follows rules. Now, there may be moments where she instills her own set of rules, but not very often. It depends on the situation.

Kumeko: Is a very good law-abiding hero! She will encourage you to not jay walk and all sorts of things.

2. Would they be a strict or laid-back parent?

Evune: A mixture of both. She’s firm, but she’s also the parent that’s probably doing something really stupid to make the kids laugh.

Athera: More on the strict side, but it’s a soft version of it. Very guiding, in a way.

Blair: More on the stricter side. She’s a fun parent, but there’s a routine and schedule thats down pat and she has a calendar that has post it notes to keep track of everything.

Suzume: Another mixture, but she’s soft. She it more guiding than strict, and she will have fun with her kids, she’s just more quiet than Tai is.

Kumeko: Abosultely laid back. Aizawa has to be the strict parent because Kumeko can’t be strict to save her life, she likes having too much fun with her kids.

3. Have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule?

Evune: Yes, but that doesn’t stop her. That just tells her she needs to up her game and not get caught. The noble was a strict guardian, so she had to really watch her step.

Athera: Yes, and she immediately felt bad about it. She’s the one to learn her lesson unlike her cousin.

Blair: No, not really. Blair hasn’t really broken any rules.

Suzume: No, because if she did, it was small or she wasn’t caught.

Kumeko: Yep, as a kid, and she would put on the innocent “I won’t do it again, promise” only to do it again, but better.

4. Have they broken any rules they now regret breaking?

Evune: Nope! No regrets!

Athera: Yes, messing with the Dread Wolf statues outside of the clan--she worried that she might have put a curse on her clan for it.

Blair: Nope!

Suzume: No, she was never caught. Maybe pirating that movie once, but that’s it. It just put a virus on her laptop when she was a kid.

Kumeko: Getting kicked out of the karaoke bar after hacking the machine. It was her favorite place.

5. Do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

Evune: The rule that her and Varric can’t participate in the archery contest because they would both win every damn match.

Athera: Some of them, but she follows them anyway. Like the whole mage and elf restrictions are ridiculous to her.

Blair: She personally thinks that any rule Rip has is stupid, but she follows them because he’s captain.

Suzume: There are some rules that will make her look at you like “really?”, but she follows them because they’re there for a reason and she needs to set a good example.

Kumeko: Mosly the rules at the karaoke bar, but other than that, she has no issue with following rules.

S: Streets

1. Are they street-smart?

Evune: Absolutely. She knows her way around and isn’t stupid. She lived on the streets when she was in the alienage, she’s no stranger to it.

Athera: Not in the slightest. This girl has lived in her clan for all of her life, she’s way too sheltered for it. Evune would have to go with her so nothing bad would happen.

Blair: A little bit, yeah. She doesn’t use that knowledge to her advantage, she’s just aware of some of it.

Suzume: Yes. Suzume is very street-smart, she can hold her own.

Kumeko: Absolutely not. Kumeko struggles with it a bit, and even Fatgum has to explain some things here and there to her, because she’s never really had to think much of it. Just fight the villain, then save and smile at the civilians.

2. Would they give money to someone on the streets?

Evune: Yes, she’s been there and she knows what it’s like, so she’s going to give what she can. But will also keep an extra eye out because she’s a rogue and she knows what cons can be played.

Athera: Of course. Athera is a giving person, she would want to help in anyway she can.

Blair: Without question. She will even try and help them find a job or to better their situation.

Suzume: In a heartbeat. But she’s also escorting them to a shelter, a soup kitchen, or somewhere they will be safe. The streets aren’t safe to live on and they deserve more.

Kumeko: She’s not only giving them money, she’s using her standing as a hero to help out with charity if she can. Hiring them for something, even, to help get them on their feet.

3. Have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets?

Evune: Ha! That’s not even a question? What kind are we talking? Fists? Knives? She’s done both!

Athera: Nope, never. Very sheltered, this one.

Blair: Only hero fights when she’s patrolling. Other than that, no.

Suzume: Yep! As a hero, she’s had her fair share of fights, even on her time off.

Kumeko: Pretty much the same as Suzume: she’s a hero, she’s fighting often.

4. Has anything happened to them on the streets?

Evune: A lot, honestly. Mostly fighting, robbing, and just trying to survive, honestly. Not much different than any other elf in the alienages.

Athera: No, she’s never had an instance like that.

Blair: You mean like when Leonard Snart kidnapped her ass with Mick? Or when she almost lost control of her powers when patrolling with Ollie? Pffft, what?

Suzume: She’s been jumped before...or at least, there was an attempt of it. Girl can kick ass and take names. So that’s what she did.

Kumeko: A guy tried taking her purse once, but she blasted his ass with her speakers and turned him in to the authorities.

5. Are they cautious when out?

Evune: Very much so. Her guard never falls when she’s out and about. She learned you have to always be careful.

Athera: Yes, she knows that her kind isn’t treated well, and she won’t let her guard slip to allow her to be vulnerable.

Blair: Not really, no. She’s going to just go about about her day like normal until something happens that calls for her to be cautious.

Suzume: Yes and no. She’s aware, but not like...overly cautious. Its a mixture of ease and caution.

Kumeko: Not at all. If something happens, she’s goit it. Anyone would be stupid to mess with her.

#my ocs #asks #dragon age #arrowverse #mha

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dorizardthewizard · 4 years

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TLNM musings, part 1

Okayy here it is!

I enjoyed the movie and am grateful for a bigscreen adaptation, but it still has its flaws and to this day I lament what it could have been. First, some thoughts on parts of the movie!

Live action scene:

The live action sequences were nice but I can see why they didn't work for the movie. Idk they just don't seem to fit? The ancient legend vibe isn't really continued and it still doesn't explain the natural elements in the movie like actual water; before we assumed it was a kid playing with his Lego in the garden but now it doesn't really make sense.

The ninja:

The opening was fun and I really liked the ninja's introductions and title cards! One kinda annoying thing was the animation reuse though I mean... it's a pretty big production to be doing that and most of the ninja don't do that much in the movie anyway so I'd want to appreciate every new shot of them I can get.

Cole probably says the least but he's grown on me, I love his new design and how they at least gave him a more unique personality being the really chill dude who loves music, it's pretty one-dimensional but in the show they don't even know what to do with his character anymore so it was a refreshing change.

Jay’s got all the nervous screaming from TV Jay but is also really adorable.

I like what they did with Zane by giving his “human” design a more android look, and his reactions to everything are just hilarious I still can't get over the little “gasp” :’D They could have done so much more with him though, but more on that later.

As for Kai, he's still a hothead but much more endearing and enthusiastic, it's nice that they tried to bring up the “big bro to Lloyd” part of him too.

I do love Nya's design and the samurai hint but she does look a lot like the other LEGO movie female characters. It's great that she's a badass motorcyclist (heeey we should have gotten some action with that!) but she's pretty much the token strong female character... all the reporter had to say about her was that she was a girl and sure, Nya countered that but I feel like it's unnecessary- having her as a part of the team without having to address the fact she's a girl is enough. In all fairness though, it's tricky to make her less token when none of the ninja except Lloyd get any development anyway.

(Looking back on this review I’ve realised how the movie versions’ personalities have merged into the TV show now, hm. Not sure how I feel about that).

Lloyd and family:

Lloyd's mech was amazing, the shots where Garm's mech grabs the dragon by the neck and when it got thrown off the building had me shook. As for Lloyd himself, I kinda like what they did with his character. As much as I am salty about him taking the spotlight (he even took Jay/ Nya's mechanic role and builds the mechs himself ;; ), I like that we got to see some more emotional struggle with him. TV Lloyd's character and actions always revolved around some external destiny or responsibility forced on him that he just kinda accepted- idk since the earlier seasons it felt like he hadn’t developed much other than feeling a little lost after the loss of his father, and some overdue insecurity about leadership in HoT. He did get some emotional stuff in season 8 but that was after the movie. Movie Lloyd though was more emotional and had to learn from his mistakes, which I personally just found more interesting.

The fact he has no powers is an example of this, because his character and place in the team isn't progressed just by “leveling up” and gaining a new power, it's done through exploring his role in the team and his family, i.e. his own personal actions. I really liked his relationship with Koko and prefer it to Misako; honestly, the scene where she had his birthday cake all ready but he went off to bed broke my heart. As for Garmadon, I miss the TV dynamic but the movie had an interesting take on their relationship that set up for a very emotional journey of reconciliation. I say set up because the delivery is... much more iffy.

Wu was pretty cool too, I like how they made him more wise-cracking and blunt, kinda miss that now that TV Wu is just “*angsty sigh* There’s something I haven’t told you”. It made the movie more self-aware and even poked some fun at the old wise man trope. “He deciphered your needlessly cryptic metaphors” nICE KILL ZANE! Also the choreography of Wu and Garmadon's fight was super cool and creative, wish we had more hand-to-hand combat like the deleted scene with Lloyd and the baby. Come to think of it, they didn't even have their weapons? Like only once did we see Lloyd swinging a sword during the introduction, and even those little shots of the ninja getting their weapons ready in the trailers weren't in the movie????

The ninja's elements and unlocking them:

At least we got some cool elemental powers action, the scene in the temple of fragile foundations was probably the most climactic part and I really enjoyed it- the soundtrack was astounding and seeing Lloyd piecing everything together and fulfilling his role or “power” of pulling the team together was nice. Plus there was a cute little Jaya moment and I liked that Jay unlocked his power first, like how he was the first to learn spinjitsu in the show :3

The whole resolution was lame though, Sensei Wu already told them they have the power inside them and even gave them a physical example of how you can use the elements without weapons, but the ninja are only able to do it once Lloyd tells them the exact same thing? It just ended up being a cheesy "believe in yourself and you'll do it" situation and the whole thing where everyone yells "I've got the power!" made it worse... although the animation and action was fun to watch then, and I laughed at Kai messing it up- classic.

Another thing about the elements though is that for anyone not familiar with Ninjago, they seem kind of... random? Sure in the show the whole backstory to how they have elements wasn't explained until later seasons but there was more buildup to it. Here, Wu just suddenly informs a few high school students that they have super powers, and they all just kind of accept it like “Oh wow really? That's so cool I wanna do that!” without questioning it? In the show we get the “origin story” of the ninja and see how Wu chooses each of them because they have something special inside them, then you start to see it when they learn spinjitsu and unlock their true potential, and regaining their elements felt like the natural next step. In the movie it seems more out of the blue, and granted it doesn't have the run time to create the same buildup as the series, but there could have still been a little more history or explanation to the elements to make up for that.

The finale:

And the elements weren't even important at the end of the movie! They were useful for a bit when the ninja were getting past the shark army generals but that was it... and again for someone who hasn't seen the show, seeing all this stuff about elements in promotional material and the start of the movie, only for them to be pretty unnecessary in the story overall, would seem odd. Sure, they had a role in emphasising Lloyd's role as a leader as he helped everyone unlock them, but this could have been done in other ways without needing something as specific as elemental superpowers. That being said, I loved the animation in that sequence, it's amazing how they can make LEGOs move so fluidly...

About Meowthra, I guess I don't mind the idea too much, I mean it's so silly compared to the show but it fits the LEGO movie universe. Only problem is it doesn't really make sense considering the story is being told, not actively being played by a kid with his LEGO city and cat jumping in to mess things up? It's cool that they subverted our expectations from the trailers though, everyone thought Meowthra would appear nearer the end of the movie and would be the final boss Lloyd and Garmadon team up to defeat, but she didn't actually have that big of a role. I think it was really fitting how instead of fighting her, Lloyd saw himself in her (as ridiculous as that sounds XD) and slowly transitioned from talking to Meowthra to expressing his emotions to Garmadon. It was a really touching scene and the voice actors just freaking nailed it, and it was so good to see Lloyd acknowledging his mother and how much she means to him too, bringing the family together, as is his power. As I said before I liked the revelation about his “power” and how the ultimate ultimate weapon actually hinted towards it I mean... inner pieces being linked together... it's all one big pun. I can see why people were disappointed with the ending though, and I guess I was also left with the feeling that there should have been more action and intensity just before the emotional finale. Sooo yeah, overall it's one of those films I know isn't amazing objectively, but was good fun. Despite this, the critical reception shows the movie isn't perfect, and I’ve got some bones to pick with it myself. But that’s for part 2 :'P

#ninjago #lego ninjago movie #tlnm #wow i forgot how long this was #feel free to add or discuss anything!#my posts

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dragonatthedinnertable · 4 years

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Today I watched "Hobitit", the Finnish TV adaptation of the Lord of the Rings. 9 25-min episodes. It's nod bad (although not good, either). I have a lot of thoughts about this. I'm gonna break them up by episode (roughly).

Episode 1: Bilbo. This one is just old!Samwise talking to some Hobbit children about the War of the Ring and Bilbo's riddle game with Gollum. When a kid asks "What about Frodo?", he very dramatically says "His time will come soon..." and stalks outside.

Episode 2: The Road.

Hobbiton looks really dark & grim (and the model shot hass like 5 houses).

Bag End doesn't look fancy. It looks like the same 5 boxy houses as the rest.

Gandalf's moustache is glorious.

Samwise has a bad 80's mullet going on. I can't take him seriously.

Using the Ring makes the wearer disappear in a puff of smoke.

The Black Riders are really cool. They're rotoscoped, translucent, and animated at a lower frame-rate. They look really otherworldly.

Episode 3: The Old Forest.

I think this is the first adaptation that uses ol' Tom Bombadil?

Lots of green lighting in the forest. I'm 99% sure that they never actually put the actors in front of anything but a blue-screen when they're outside.

We get our first special effect. It's seriously worse than half of what I see on old Doctor Who...

They include the bit where a barrow-wight captures the Hobbits, but we don't see the wight, and barely see the barrow, so if you don't know the book this scene makes no sense.

There's a side bit where Gandalf gives his message to Butterbur, and then goes to see Saruman. There's someone else at Isengard, who I'd guess would be Wormtongue, but since we never see either of these again it doesn't matter.

Episode 4: The Prancing Pony.

They get a really cool background music for The Cat and the Fiddle song. I don't think it's Frodo's actor singing, though.

The Hobbits seem exactly the same height as everyone else.

Strider is good as a Ranger, but throughout I really don't buy him as a royal heir.

Episode 5: Strider

Weathertop is basically a small pile of stones.

There's a shot of the crebain with NO significance whatsoever.

The fight with the Black Riders is really vague. The Fellowship is crouching in the forest, waving torches. Frodo puts on the ring with like no prompting, and then there's splashing and he wakes up in a white room.

That white room (completely featureless) is Rivendell, apparently. They use his bed as the table.

For some reason, Boromir has a weird kind of punk-rock samurai vibe? He's got a rice farmer hat on his back.

Gimli has the shortest beard I've ever seen on a dwarf. Like, it's 3 months of growth, at most???

Ancient-looking Bilbo comes in, offering to take the Ring to Mordor. Everyone's like, "Now, now, Bilbo..."

Episode 6: Lorien

With a bit of narration, we skip through Hollin and right to the fight with the orcs in Moria.

We don't see the Balrog at all, just Gandalf swirling down a fiery-red drain hole???

Lorien has nothing but Galadriel in a lake, which is the Mirror.

This is the point I realised that Legolas hasnt' said a word the entire time. He doesn't.

They do the whole breaking of the Fellowship here too. The orcs' arrows are weirdly twiggy.

Boromir has a frikkin' KATANA! Like, what???

This is the last time we see Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli.

Episode 7: Mordor

Mount Doom is visible as a cinder-cone spouting flame like an oil refinery.

Sam & Frodo cross the Emyn Muil. There's a whole bit with the Elvish rope, which is weird because there was definitely no gift-giving scene in Lorien.

Gollum is very stutter-weepy.

Old!Sam covers the entirety of the Treebeard thing & the sack of Isengard in 2 minutes of narration. Rohan isn't mentioned at all.

The Eye of Sauron is literally an eye. A human eye. Blue-screened onto the sky. The iris is different colours sometimes.

Episode 8: Mount Doom

The Black Gate is really, really small.

The entrance to Shelob's Cave looks just like I expected the Sammath Naur to look, which was confusing.

We don't see Shelob at all. There's no build-up, no Gollum talking about "Her!". We just see Frodo falling as if stung, and Gollum yelling "The Shelob got him!" That's it. The orcs certainly talk about her as if she's there. I was hoping for at least a really bad model or overlay effect, but given the lack of a Balrog I shouldn't be surprised.

Episode 9: Liberation

The Ring literally weighs Sam down when he puts the chain on. Same when Frodo puts it back on.

When we see Mount Doom, it looks like a really-low shot of a steep columnar peak.

Next time we see it, Frodo is strangely half-way up.

Then we see Gollum & Frodo at the top, and it's just a really short, squat cinder cone.

When Gollum falls in, it looks exactly the same as Khazad-dûm, except that the Eye is there. And there's the same effect where Gollum looks like he's going down a plug-hole.

After Mount Doom explodes, Sam & Frodo wake up in the same featureless room of Rivendell. Apparently it's Minas Tirith. We never see another part of the city at all.

Surprisingly, we actually see the Scouring of the Shire. Or at least part of it. After Merry threatens his way into the guard house at the Brandywine Bridge, there's just Hobbits running around with farming tools.

I think we see Saruman coming out of Bag End? It's hard to tell, because he's only in shot for a few seconds, and also the same size as the Hobbits (just like everyone else is).

After old!Sam finishes his story, he walks in the same direction as Frodo left in. There's no harbour, but he walks dramatically along the Straight Road.

None of the actors can emote very well. This, along with the blue-screening of all outdoor shots, makes the whole thing feel very flat. It purports to just tell the bits of the story that the Hobbits see, but that seems to translate only to Sam. It's weird not seeing anything of Treebeard, or Rohan, or Minas Tirith.

That said, the writers know the lore of the world really well. Old!Samwise namedrops Gil-Galad, they use all the names of Rauros, that kind of thing. There's nicely poignant bits thrown in there. Boromir delivers his "give me the Ring, Frodo" speech as flat as anything, but when they close-up on his face, his eyes are swimming in tears.

Overall, I give it a solid 5/10.

#Nina watches #lotr #Hobitit

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thejestersjack · 4 years

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Japanese Drama/Movie Recommendation

Heyo this is my first time doing a recommendation on anything actually :,) anyways the dramas/movies am recommending are a mix of genres and thus there will be romance, mystery,family, psychology etc well let's get started.

1. Unnatural

Boi this drama is just perfection the overall concept is circled around a group of specialists that investigate the cause of the deaths of people which are mostly ruled as cold cases.

The main lead has a really headstrong personality about her that serves as an advantage as well as disadvantage to her in situations occurring in the plot.

The other side characters really play out their role well and boost the overall atmosphere of the drama.

2. 12 suicidal teens/children

Thisss this right here has got to be the most unexpected Japanese movie i have watched so far (based on my own opinion) it follows 12 suicidal teens coming together in an abandon hospital to find an unexpected dead body situated there and so they try to solve this unforseen mystery.

And please don't judge it by its title i can gurantee its not what you actually are thinking . I seee youuu~~

Please watch it~

You gotta watch it

Like seriously watch it.

3. Jimi ni Sugoi! Kōetsu Girl: Kouno Etsuko

[Ok first of all to clear things up the main lead that is Etsuko is played by Ishihara satomi and am quite a fan so yeah y'all are gonna see her like in atleast three of these recommendations]

Anyways~

This drama is like a ball of sunshine, comedic relief, romance and lots and lots of proof reading . It brings out a unique concept of proofreading honestly before watching this drama i did not even know the existence of proof readers (i apologize to all the proof readerss out there) but after watching this drama it really opened up my eyes to see the actual people who work in the shadows (not only in regards to books but to all the people who do not get the actual credit they deserve for their hard work) so yeah it reallly gives off a new feel to all the dramas out there and is like in a way a fresh lemonade on a hot summers day.

P.S { There is a sequel movie on this drama so if you are interested you can check it out also}

4. Dear Sister

Dear sister is revolves around the lives of 2 sisters in which the older sister is a mature, career women whereas her younger sister is more like a vagabond. The plot follows the rigid relationship between the 2 sisters and how its slowly reveals the jealous nature harboring them whenever they are near each other.

Satomi Ishihara again hehe ......... moving on.

This drama is really warm hearted and centers around family relations and the growth of 2 young women in society ( Note : The drama is not slow pased and does have some mysteries that really hook the audiences in later episodes)

5. A tale of Samurai Cooking - A true love story

Yup that's right this movie will suit all you food lovers out there not to metion it will not only fill you tummy but also your heart ( cringe) the romance is well played out and does not try to push itself in the plot.

As the title suggests its about a young women living in the Edo period who is a very skilled cook and is able to bring out the best of any ingredients presented to her it follows her second marriage life in which she somehow ends up with quite a selfish young man who only cares for what he thinks of what he defines as "right" or "correct". So the dynamics between them is quite off but that makes it all the more interesting.

The show not only brings out romance and family theme but also gives some history lesson on the food culture back in the Edo period and the political tension that occured.

6. Pure! (2019)

This drama has got to be the best drama i have ever stumbled upon by accident.

I was just bored one day ( as usual) and then BAM!! this was there ( not to mention i really love the actress Minami Hamabe and admire her acting skills and presence) moving on~

The plot revolves around an unknown and nameless J - idol who is elected to be a commissioner for a day in a parade thats when she accidentally discovers a dead body and is suddenly involved in a serial murder case with a whimsical detective.

I really love the dynamics between the idol and the detective they have a sort of sarcastic, passive-aggressive nature towards each other that makes it really entertaining to see.

Not to metion their intense narcissism

Amazing~~

7. Kaitou Tantei Yamaneko

Another mystery/detective drama to save your boring days.

And no it does not involve an actual cat detective.

The drama has an anti-hero so to say as the protagonist with his so called partner ("so called" cuz he's actually a police officer) and a high school student who is a genius hacker, quite an odd mix huh.

The protagonist has a really playful character to him and never actually shows his serious side that makes him all the more scary and mysterious ( reminds me of Dazai in a way)

There are lots of mysteries that slowly upon up and reveal themselves as the episodes go on and ola la the twist is just chef's kiss. ;)

8. Drowning love/Oboreru knife

[ Disclaimer: If you are the type who cannot comprehend slow paced as well as shifting scenarios that take time to actually understand the real meaning behind each scenes and are easily triggered with the themes of rape please proceed with caution]

Well now its time to reveal the masterpiece this movie is adapted from a manga of the same name and involves psychological themes that can make it hard to understand but gives a sort of fresh aspects compared to the previous recommendations. But let me tell you this the actor and actress did a really good job in portraying the emotions of the characters and am saying this as someone who has already read the manga.

The story starts with a beautiful and mature sixth grade (yes sixth grade) girl moving away from the busy streets of tokyo to a small town in the countryside where she meets a mysterious boy named Kou and soon starts to get entangled into a series of events ever since that fateful encounter.

And that wraps up my recommendation for now. I actually wanted to add 2 more but the capacity for the amount of images that can be added were limited.

Anyways if y'all want a part 2 i would be glad to do so.

Have a great day/night/evening/morning ahead

Peace ;>

#japanese #j drama #movie recommendation #drama recommendation #tumblr newbie #japanese drama #japanese movie #explorepage #asianteen

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mahou-furbies · 5 years

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Magical Girl Raising Project: Restart character design ranking

Pechka

Starting with a great magical girl chef design. The outfit is recognisable as a chef’s uniform but is still strange enough to be a magical girl outfit, and the silly red thingies on the hem resembling stovetops keep it from being just a chef’s coat with frills. And the red stove things also repeat in her boots. The multicoloured hair is a little odd choice here, but at least the colours look good together. Add an overall pleasant colour scheme and a cute hat and you’re done, though the tail feathers kind of bother me. The one in the hat is an okay decoration, but the showy tail doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the outfit theme. 8/10.

Clantail

I really like Clantail but the design is kinda meh. There is something that fascinates me about deer-taurs and in general they are always charming and pretty to me so that is a big plus for Clantail, but since that’s not really a permanent part of her design when she can use any animal for her lower body I can’t give her too many points for that. And if you ignore the animal part of her design there’s not much to talk about. I mean, what is the theme here? She has sort of kimono-esque clothes, and a frilly apron, feathers (?), triangle tattoos on her neck, and floating flowers, one of which makes me think of a halo? And also horns (?), which I guess at least go with the deer theme, but overall I find Clantail kind of a mess and none of the individual design elements are particularly interesting details either. Nice hanging tassels and eye makeup, but sorry Clantail, this just doesn’t work for me. 2/10.

Rionetta

What I find a missed opportunity here is how you can barely see that she’s a doll. Shouldn’t a short-sleeved dress be a better choice here to show her elbow joints, or even a sleeveless dress altogether? The dress itself is a pretty basic frilly lolita dress without much in the magical department so in order for the design to stand out you should play up the doll body. But at quick glance she looks just like an ordinary anime girl, and even her eyes don’t really sell it properly that her sclera are black (at least in Marui-no’s style). But at least the dress design is cute with all the ribbons and layers, the colours and patterns are nice, and blue and beige (?) wouldn’t be the first option to come to my mind when thinking of a lolita style doll so there’s something non-standard there. The one unique detail she has is the... thing behind her, which bothers me a lot since I can’t quite make out what it is, which makes drawing her difficult. It’s like she has a paper fan glued to her butt, which is probably an inaccurate interpretation but it’s the best I can manage. 6/10.

Miyokata Nonako

I like the webbing and ribbons on the sleeves, but other than that this is quite a basic miko outfit (as in anime miko). Still looks alright tho since miko outfits are already aesthetically pleasing so it’s a good basis for a design, and the sleeves are nice enough that the look is not completely boring. But there’s not much I can say about this one 6/10.

Magical Daisy

I really like Daisy’s look; it doesn’t have a specific theme (like detective, chef, etc) and instead is just a basic magical girl outfit, as in a frilly dress with lots of layers and ribbons. But even though it is a basic magical girl look it still isn’t a boring and unimaginative one, since the cut of the dress is unique enough. Also the pale green and brown colour palette is a nice change from the usual pink you’d expect from a character who in-universe is the star of her own magical girl tv anime, and I like the logo on her (admittedly strange) headpiece and... bag? Apron?. Plus some bonus points for unique eyes. What I don’t like however are the dumb floating flowers behind her. 9/10.

Nokko-chan

When you really think about it, this is a basic maid dress and there’s nothing that stands out about her from neck down, and the headpiece only really has the cat ears that differentiate it from a generic maid hat. But still I find Nokko-chan super appealing to look at. Must be the hairstyle then; the way her braids are stuffed into those poofy cloth “bags” is just so cute and gives her a soft and friendly look. Add a good amount of ribbons and the aforementioned cat ears to add to the cuteness, and finish with a simple but appealing colour scheme. 8/10.

Meow-Meow

At first I thought this was a pretty basic anime China dress girl, but upon closer inspection I find that I actually quite like this design. The way the dress is cut obviously lends itself to fanservice that I don’t really care for, but without it there would be nothing of notice about this. And the overalls-like cut gives her a nice sporty vibe. The puffy arm things and the long ribbons add the much-needed details for this to have anything to do with a magical girl look. I do question the need for the tail though. 6/10.

Yumenoshima Genopsycho

Not into this kind of superhero suit things, sorry. The cat ear helmet and the tail give the suit some personality but I can’t think of anything to talk about this one, like there is enough detail for the design not to be completely boring but there’s nothing that stands out either. Next! 3/10.

Detec Bell

I like detectives and the generic Sherlock Holmes look, so this design is right up my alley. I think the key here is all the fluff; without that the design would be more of just girl detective, but the fluff with the ribbons pushes it to magical girl territory. Even the bunny tail like thingy works since now it doesn’t feel so random and out of place visually since there’s similar fluff elsewhere. Having the cape double as an utility belt is a fun idea and the asymmetric haircut adds some extra flavour to an otherwise (comparatively) down to earth look. 10/10.

Lapis Lazuline

One of my least favourite MagiPro girls but at least she has a great design. The dark palette and fur give her a classy and mature look, and even the tail doesn’t look as out of place as with many other Marui-no designs since she hast the same fur on her cape, earrings and socks too. The design is also recognisable enough as a magical girl design (must be the mini-dress and poofy detached sleeves?) and not just any fantasy anime outfit. And there’s just the correct amount of detail so the result is in the ideal spot between boring and overdesigned, like there’s a lot going on with the dress, but the hair and legwear are nice and basic to balance it out. Can’t really think of anything to dislike about this one. 10/10.

Melville

I like the idea for the outfit more than the actual design. I’m a big fan of concept designs, redesigns, adapted costumes and such, so a look that’s in-universe based on some other design is already an interesting idea. And I guess the actual result isn’t too bad either, though I have trouble figuring out how the pants work and it greatly bothers me. And I don’t like the huge roses at the edge of her cape, they make it look heavy and not very flowy. But at least the roses and thorns look good otherwise and the cape has a more unique look around her shoulders so that’s good. 6/10.

Cherna Mouse

I love everything a bout the hamster headgear, the ‘no cats!’ signs tell so much about the character, the single strand of hair poking out adds a playful detail and most importantly the hanging paw thingies are just so cute. Especially in the picture where she uses them as hands! The x eyes and band-aid also give the impression of a childlike character who tumbles around a lot. However while it may fit the character’s personality I’m not a huge fan of the babylike elements since I’m not a baby person in general, but apart from that I can’t really think of anything I’d dislike about this one. 8/10.

Pfle

Not sure about the theme of her outfit. I mean, I suppose we’re going for some kind of “sickly girl” look here, with the eye patch, wheelchair and nightgown-like dress, but that sounds like such a strange theme for me when the rest of the characters have more understandable themes like “cowboy” “nun” “doll” “maid”. And then there’s the fact that the bandages aren’t actually even a part of her look and are instead added later. But if this is what we’re going with, uh, I guess it’s not that bad. The hairstyle certainly adds to the upper class lady’s cozy homely bedtime look, and I like that the bird theme is consistent through the whole design. 6/10.

Shadow Gale

Shadow Gale is alright and a dark ‘evil’ nurse image is a less generic take than just a regular one, like I’d expect a nurse to have a white colourscheme, or at least pink or pale blue or green. Though at first I thought that without a more recognisable colour scheme you wouldn’t know this was a nurse design in the first place if you removed the hat, but then again she does have the medical crosses and a name tag. And the name being scribbled out adds to the shady look created by the dark colour scheme. Not a huge fan of the tacked on tail, but at least it is somehow related to her name and there are also feathers on the collar, which look a lot better (and black feathers also work with the eerie feel of the rest of the outfit). The tight dress and a wide outerskirt thingy also look good together. 8/10.

Masked Wonder

The tail is just unacceptable and pointless, there’s nothing cat-like about the rest of her design or personality and there are plenty of other MagiPro characters with animal features so that could have been left out here. But apart from that I think this is an alright design even if it’s a little too basic; solid black and some cool details. I like the sparkles on her cape and the rose theme ties everything together so it’s not just a bunch of random elements in the same design. 8/10.

Akane

Not enough magical girl here, she could easily be just another anime samurai. I do like the giant flower headpiece thingy and there are enough details so that the design isn’t exactly boring, but nothing about this excites me as a magical girl design, nor does it do enough to differentiate itself from other anime samurai looks I’ve seen. It does convey the character’s personality and role in the story well though. 3/10.

Keek

Okay this one isn’t even trying to be a magical girl. It’s just a generic anime nerd girl in a generic bikini and generic oversized lab coat. Like can’t you give the coat an interesting cut at least? Can’t the pockets be heart shaped, or maybe there could be frills on the hem or something? Or if you’re not into the frills-and-ribbons cutesy look, that’s okay, not everyone has to, but surely there are other ways to incorporate interesting details. Unique rims on her glasses perhaps? A bytecode tattoo? Some cool pattern on her socks? At least do something with the Rubik’s cubes, I mean we’re magical girls here and the best you can do is flat colours, can’t the thing at least glow?

I do like the poofy hair and the pale and muted and kind of sickly colour scheme which fits her shady and antagonistic character, and the hairclip is alright, but as a magical girl design there is nothing that interests me about this one. 1/10.

Restart average: 6,4.

#magical girl raising project #magical girl raising project: Restart #ranking #ranking: magical girl raising project #my stuff

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expshared · 5 years

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It’s time to talk about the winter 2019 anime season. Contains: I Can’t Believe Best Girl of the Season is a Cat!, gay dragongirl goes to Hogwarts, bad isekai show number 24395: This Time Your Waifu’s Your Actual Slave and Also 12, The Title Character is Not Appearing in This Anime, esper yutapon cube generator, Anime Chicken Run, Romcom Death Note, and one (1) deaf blind mute feral samurai boy and his retainer.

Continuing from last season we have Run With the Wind, which was a very nice sports anime without the drama of trying to be the Best in the World, Ever. It was a mature, well-developed, well-paced show, and worth the watch. The last couple of episodes really cemented its storytelling, neatly wrapping up ten characters’ arcs-- that’s a feat worth calling out!

Manaria Friends was made using Cygames’ gatcha game blood money. It's the best-selling anime of this season in Japan, far outpacing shows like Mob Pyscho, because Japan is horny for Granblue Fantasy like this show is horny for Grea and her fat dragon tail. Manaria Friends exists somewhere on the border between Little Witch Academia and Monster Musume. It's also extremely gay. I watched it because shut up

My Roommate is a Cat has the distinction of being the only anime to make me cry every episode. Is is an especially sad anime? No. I just love cats a lot. It’s not even a particularly GOOD anime-- the production values are a bit lacking it and it really does nothing exemplary in its animation or story. But watching Subaru become a real fucking person, drawn out of his depressive funk by this spunky little kitten who just wants to keep him alive and fed, was so charming that the fact that this show has very little polish almost didn’t matter. just the OP was enough to make me watery-eyed, so maybe I’m just weak.

Rising of a Shield Hero is bad, bad, bad, full stop. Its politics are misogynistic and its storytelling is convenient and edgy for the sake of being edgy. It’s like the success of Re:Zero tricked everyone into thinking that Dark Isekai shows are what the world wants, but like Madoka gave precedence to the wave of Dark Magical Girl shows, nothing is as good as the first and making more just oversaturates the genre unnecessarily. This show did one thing right and that’s Raphtalia and even she’s a 12 year old slave raccoon kemonomimi so that’s like 4 horrible buzzwords in a row that I cannot forgive this show for.

Mob Psycho is Mob Psycho, I really have nothing to say about this that other people haven’t. I wish that I loved this show as much as everyone else seems to. A good run! I just don’t feel passionate about it. Do your funky thing, studio Bones.

Boogiepop and Others was a really fun ride, a strange and mysterious puzzle of a show that demanded you think really hard to piece it together. It’s a challenging watch but one that I thought was also very rewarding. Perhaps best binged and not watched weekly, as I did struggle to remember faces and roles in a show where character design was not the most varied and everyone has an alternate identity. It’s really interesting to see this light novel adaptation that inspired all other light novels-- you can really see its fingerprints in things like Baccano and Durarara and Monogatari, so even for that reason alone I think it’s worth the watch.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War had been hyped up to me by the manga community for some time and at its premise I had sort of written it off as another Takagi-san or similar unlikable romcom. Turns out this show has a lot more heart and treats its characters with far more compassion than I initially thought. It has a smart and snappy aesthetic and you end up cheering for the characters quickly enough no matter how opposed you are at the outset. Some really exceptional gags and Kaguya herself had a surprisingly moving serious character arc. Um, also? That banger of a Bond OP? Fucking funky as hell

I’m a manga reader and I was excited as hell to see The Promised Neverland get an adaptation. I was not let down-- the anime recreated the suspenseful rollercoaster ride that all manga readers strapped them in for! I could not be happier with the good they’ve done and the power they’ve given Phil. I am so glad we already have a season 2 to look forward to!

my AOTS is Dororo because I cared so much. Dororo was not the most technically impressive show this season, or the one with the most WOW moments or even the most anticipated, but goddamn if it didn’t win me over immediately. Some shows just push all your buttons at once and uhhh “two orphan children left to die on their own come together in order to survive” is it. I’ve said it elsewhere but I really love studio MAPPA’s changes to the source material; it puts a new coat of paint on this Tezuka series and refreshes it in all the right ways. Without Hyakkimaru’s magical Mind Telepathy, the relationship between him and Dororo has this mutual vulnerability in a way that wasn’t present in the original and it’s incredibly charming and endearing. Also best OP of the season, Party is Over

#chitchat paddywhack #animoose and mango

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animereviewsandotherstuff · 5 years

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Top 5 anime of 2018

Pop Team Epic

Anime as a medium is something that allows for great experimentation and artistic expression that not every delves into, and that is ultimately okay. Not every show has to be something new and exciting. But then there comes a show like Pop Team Epic. A 4-koma manga that takes the slice of life genre and plays with it by adding absurdist ideas and a healthy dose of meta humor. A manga like that is not something I would ever expect to see adapted into anime. The jokes are super quick and sometimes work on anti-humor, the art is simplistic on purpose, and there is no story just gags. But I am very happy someone had more foresight then I did and just adapted it whole hog. This anime takes what it means to be an anime and turns it on its head. The first episode started on a completely different generic anime about a guy and idols and a possible harem and immediately swerves into the show proper. Every show ended with a preview for that fictional show. The ending theme was sung by different people every episode. The who was only half the run time and then it would run again with a different set of voice actors, swapping from an all woman pair to an all guy pair. Sometimes this would change whole jokes as the voice actors would make different choices. They would swap between different art styles and redo whole segments between episodes swapping between Pop Team Epic proper and Bob Epic Team. They had a segment all in french, animated in a third completely different style from the previous 2 which cost a ton of money to make and was written by a french intern who never read the series or something. The last episode had a live action pop singer bring the one of the main characters come back to life. This show was beautiful. It was a true work of art with layers of meaning and references, an experimentation of what an anime could be. Not every show should be this, but more shows should be able to just go wild with what an anime could be. Or maybe I was just thinking of Hellshake Yano.

Yuru Camp

There is a genre of anime I like a lot even though I usually know the return on investment for watching them is not super great. The best way to describe this genre is “the author has a very specific hyper-fixation and wants to write about it but doesn’t know how, so makes moe girls talk about it instead.” This is a very hit or miss genre but sometimes a show will come out of it that will stick with me forever. And Yuru Camp is one of those shows. Yuru Camp is a show all about girls camping. The authors love of camping really comes through, as the characters talk about the rules of camping and how to do it safely, and about how expensive the gear for camping is. The conversations the characters had felt surprisingly natural. Some of the back and forth the characters had felt like a conversation I could have with my friends. The best part about this show was how relaxing it was. This show was a calming breath. It was a show that knows how to set back and let a scene breath, like you are one with nature, fitting for a camping show. There is another genre of anime I like that can be hit or miss, known as healing anime. Healing anime are soft, kind, relaxing shows that are like chicken soup for the soul. Yuru camp is like that. It is relaxing and kind and made my day every time I watched it. But the most impressive thing this show did was make me, someone who hates nature and being in nature, actually consider camping for a few seconds.

Cells at Work

I am not someone who enjoys the intricacy of the human body. It is a gross thing we are all forced to live in. so when this show was first announced I had a bit of trepidation about this show. I don’t like watching the workings of the human body, it makes me uncomfortable. But this show was really was able to get past my initial discomfort and make the human body something interesting and more fun. The story of the human body as told from the perspective of the cells who help run the body was perfectly told. It makes you sympathetic for your blood, fighting against the germs and diseases we come into contact with, rooting for the red blood cells who deliver your oxygen and the white blood cells who protect you, and makes you intimately familiar with your lymph nodes, and sweat glands. I really appreciated the small arc involving cancer of all things. Cancer as told from the perspective of the cells is really interesting, watching there fellow cells not become infected but born so, and the necessary need to kill them coupled with the inherent want to protect the body is an interesting perspective to take. It is not saying cancer is good or anything ridiculous like that, but it is just a perspective I was not expecting and one that led to an interesting story. The anthropomorphizing of the body and its cellular interactions was clever and engaging and made this a show I was glad to watch.

Planet With

I am not the first person to say this but this was the best show to come out of 2007. Everything about this show felt like a throwback to a very specific era of anime. A story about giant physic armors controlled by young teens and young adults fighting against aliens, the reversal of who were truly the good guys and truly the bad guys. The larger themes of why one should fight and shouldn't fight, of growing up and reality being greater then any passive but beautiful fantasy, all fit into a show from a decade ago. Even the maid girl and the giant cat alien and the high school club for people who like supernatural stuff, the transfer student with amnesia being the main character, all of it fits a show that could have been a 52 episode series with slow reveals and mysteries and filler beach episodes. But instead this show was a tight 12 episodes. Each episode packed so much information and plot and action, it feels like watching more then your actually getting. It is concise but the emotional impact of every reveal and every hit is perfectly done. The best show of 2007 was also one of the best shows of 2018.

SSSS Gridman

Tokusatsu and anime are two great tastes that seem to rarely come together. It might be that there is something lost when live action goes to animation, at least when tokusatsu does so. Something intrinsic about tokusatsu, something that is fundamental to it, doesn't always survive the jump. This cannot be said about SSSS Gridman. This show captures the spirit and heart of tokusatsu shows and takes it to another level. It is a love letter to tokusatsu as a medium and to the original Gridman. The fact that the title of the show is a reference to the American adaptation, Super Human Samurai Syber Squad, alone shows a knowledge and love of the material. But at the same time I never felt the show was bogged down by references and external knowledge. Yes there were millions of references to other tokusatsu series, mainly Ultraman but not Ultraman alone, but you didn’t need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese live action shows to enjoy the show. They enhanced but never detracted in my opinion. Same with the fact that the show itself is a sequal to the original Gridman series while still standing entirely on its own. If you never watched the original you are fine, but it is enhanced so much with that knowledge. And the ending had me in tears. I don’t want to spoil anything for these shows but like many tokusatsu series finales this one too made me tear up slightly. Truly a show I will carry with me into the future.

And those were my thoughts on the year of anime. This of course isn’t counting tokusatsu I watched but I love Kamen Rider and Super Sentai enough that they would be a permanent place on this list, so its only fair I keep them off. There was a ton of good shows other then these five, but I am looking forward to the new year ahead. So until next time, keep on watching.

#ssss gridman #yuru camp #pop team epic #year in review #anime review

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gone-forever-bye · 6 years

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My Top Ten Manga:

To go with my top ten anime list.

10. Otaku no Musume-san

Here we have a manga that is about a girl who's always wanted to meet her father and discovers that he is a shameless otaku. Hijinks and adorable father/daughter affection ensues. There's weird character, cute characters, and a final act that is pretty messed up but this is a manga that I think is good from start to finish. It's a good read. It pulls at the heartstrings while making you laugh and it can even serve as a do/do not guide for all you otaku parents out there. XD

Favorite character: Kannau Yukimura

9. Air Gear

This beautiful and heavily detailed stylish manga is about a world where skate-like contraptions known as Air Treks are used as a way to fly, get places, and build your own gang to own the skies. The art is gorgeous, the characters all mesh into a kind of gray area although there are some typical good guy/bad guys thrown in, and the series manages to evoke true feeling from the reader with how raw it can get. I highly reccomend. Favorite Character: Ringo Noyamano

8. InuYasha

The manga that cemented my love for all things anime Inuyasha is the compelling fantasy tale of a half-demon and a young junior high girl. I can't express into words what an impact this manga made on me. The designs of the assortment of demons that are based on Japanese folklore and mythology, the tragic backstories so many of the main characters possess, the out of this world fight scenes, all the way to the incredible chemistry between Inuyasha and Kagome. It's hard to put down once you've started reading. The manga outshines the anime because it doesn't quite feel like it loses its pacing as the anime kept getting dotted with filler. It's interesting, dark in some places but never without a ray of light, and artwork that suits the story well. Favorite Character: Rin

7. Gunsmith Cats

An oldie but goodie. We've got guns, muscle cars, and hot chicks, all in above average detail. Don't waste time with the anime, the manga is where this story of bounty hunter/police officer Rally Vincent and her partner Minnie-May really shines with explosive fun. Mature and loaded with everything from kidnapping to drugs to high speed car chases I have to say that I make it a point of rereading this series often. I've yet to find another that I enjoy as much as this one for this particular genre. Favorite Character: Rally Vincent.

6. Buso Renkin

I'm a big fan of manga that doesn't force a simple storyline to be stretched over fifty volumes. Ten volumes was the perfect size for the story of Katsuki Mutou as he is accidently thrown into the world of alchemy and humunculous. This is a complete manga by the creator of Rurouni Kenshin that I think really emphasizes Watsuki's strength as a shounen manga author who can take so many shounen tropes and make them work almost effortlessly. It didn't need to be ground breaking because it wasn't trying to be. It's an honestly good manga from start to finish with one of the most memorable anti-hero's I've ever read. Favorite Character: Papillon

5. My Little Monster

I'm not the biggest shoujo manga fan like I used to be but I will say that My Little Monster is a great way to change the formula. None of the characters acted the way I expected. They are all weird and extreme in the most interesting of ways while still capturing the uncertainty and naivete that teens suffer from. It's really difficult to dislike any of the characters. They're all so likeable although Natsume will probably make you grind your teeth because that girl is insane. A must read for any shoujo manga fan. Favorite Character: Sohei Sasahara.

4. Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden

I like shoujo manga that doesn't just focus on romance. Genbu Kaiden is the prequel to Fushigi Yugi and I have to say it's better in every way. It's a lot more balanced, mixing the romance into a beautiful but sad story, unforgettable characters, action scenes that really emphasis the importance of the plot, while all being accomplished with the ridiculously gorgeous Yu Watase art style. Another must read for any shoujo fan. Favorite Character: Takiko Okuda

3. Rurouni Kenshin

There was no way this manga wasn't going to make the list. Unlike the anime this manga is outstanding from start to finish. For me this is the ultimate in sword fighting. The visuals are exactly what you want from samurai dueling and there's never a dull moment. The cast is one of the best in my opinion and I love that the narrative never bores me even when they're just explaining fighting styles or attacks. Watsuki's distinct shounen style is a favorite of mine. The evolution of Himura Kenshin is the plot and its worth every panel. Read the final arc of you can. It's amazing.. Favorite Character: Kamiya Kaoru

2. Chrono Crusade

I will make a rant about this manga later because I will fight for this series until the day I die. Do no watch the anime. Even though I bought each dvd and have watched them over twenty times at least, the anime does the manga NO justice. Eight volumes, all inspiring story telling. Chrono Crusade starts in such a way that you think it may be a lighthearted story of a gun-toting 'nun' and her demon sidekick but it quickly evolves into so much more. Rosette and Chrono are a duo the you will root for from page one as they fight demons, friends, and everything else that stands in their way to fix the damage that was done so many years ago. Another series that accomplishes a complete story in ten volumes or less which keeps the plot from being unnecessarily stretched. It evokes so much feeling, making you relate to the characters in such a way while still powering through the story because this is a tale about time. By the end you'll find yourself a little less able to take your time for granted as you cry for these characters that have an ending that you can take as either good or bad. I always put this one at the top of my must read list and it holds a very special place in my otaku heart. I'm disappointed that such an intense manga did not get a proper anime adaption though I do understand why. Favorite Character: Chrono

1. Detective Conan

Anyone who knows me should have expected this. Lol. Detective Conan for me is the ultimate manga. The award winning mystery series is an ongoing manga that never fails to impress. It's familiar while evolving with us so it has a loyal fanbase made up of twenty year veteran fans to new ones every day and the number just keeps growing. High school detective Kudo Shinichi is the pride of Tokyo Japan before he stumbles across a mysterious transaction involving a pair of men clothed in black. He's discovered and force fed a drug that instead of killing him, reverts his body to that of a seven year old. He retains his adult mind and begins hiding his identity while going by the name Edogawa Conan and solving mysteries through his childhood friend's father's detective agency. The story takes off from there. The series is vast, featuring over 1000 chapters, over 20 movies, over 50 seasons, dozens of OVA's and specials including live action, and being featured in multiple ways throughout Japan. It even has its own museum in Gosho Aoyama's hometown. While not for everyone, especially those thrown off by the sheer amount of content, Detective Conan is a series that is loved by all ages all over the world and has been here since the early 90's for a reason. It has become my reason for living and it will never leave my #1 spot. Favorite Character: Kudo Shinichi (for life!)

As I have said before I gauge a series on its ability to draw me in, keep me attached, and talent for making me come back.

#detective conan #meitantei conan #case closed #chrono crusade #rurouni kenshin #fushigi yugi genbu kaiden #my little monster #buso renkin #gunsmith cats #inuyasha #air gear #otaku no musume-san #my dad is an otaku

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