#but haruka is so genuine he eases up after a bit

[good-beanswrites]

Haruka clenched his fists. “Y-you would be surprised if you woke up and -- and -- and your cell was full of ice cream!

I was just thinking of this line from your last Mikoto drabble and wondered… Can you make this happen?

I certainly can >:3 I tried for a while to frame this as straight-up comedy, but it actually worked so much better as something sweet, with silly lines here and there :) Thank you so much for the request, it was so fun!! (Also, I wrote John using Mikoto's name for ease, but in my mind he's switching between first person pronouns.)

There was someone unexpected in cell 009. 

No, no, it’s not like that. Everyone was very aware that there were two distinct residents of that cell. John himself was very aware of his position in that cell. 

The thing was, someone else ended up in there, too. 

John kept his eyes shut, feigning sleep. The other person was here on a mission. They’d slipped in without creaking the metal door. Their footsteps were nearly inaudible against the floor. He would have thought it was Kotoko, with skills like that, but she would have leapt to an attack. This person was busy doing… something. 

He strained his ears. It was impossible to tell their goal. They were going in and out, moving things around. Was it a trap? There weren’t enough materials in the prison to set a trap. Were they stealing things from around the room? He had nothing of value. Plus, he was sure Mikoto would have given anything to anyone who asked. What, then?

Unable to come to any conclusion, he readied himself. He’d protect himself. He always did.

In one fluid motion, he rolled out of the bed and pinned the other to the ground. The perpetrator let out a high-pitched squeak. Impossibly wide and frightened eyes looked up at him.

“Haruka…?” That was the last person he was expecting. John squinted around the room. “What the --”

Ice cream. He didn’t know what it meant, but that’s what Haruka had been arranging. Dishes and dishes of ice cream. Everywhere. Plates stacked on the desk. Bowls strewn across the floor. All  vanilla. There was a scattering of toppings; some with colorful sprinkles and others dripping with chocolate sauce. When he’d tackled the poor boy, he sent another dish of it clattering across the ground.

“I’m sorry! Ah, I-I, ah, I’m sorry!” Haruka squeezed his eyes shut. “It-it’s a, it was a surprise, for you! For M-m-mikoto…!”

“A surprise?”

“The other d-day he said, we were, we were talking ab-bout --”

“He asked for this?”

“Uh, no, but --”

“He didn’t know about it?” John’s eyes narrowed. “It’s some kinda prank?”

“NO! No, n-no I’m not being m-mean. It was f-fun. A fun surprise.” Haruka held his palms up, unable to make his smile anything but panicked. “...Surprise!”

John stared.

Despite how nonsensical the whole situation was, there didn’t seem to be any danger. He rose. Haruka scrambled to his feet. 

John gestured to the extensive supply of sweets around them. “How did you get all this together, anyway?”

“O-oh!” Haruka wrung his hands. “I was, uh, planning it for a while. I requested ice cream three times in a row. And I n-never ate mine for dessert. I’ve been saving it. Es asked why, b-but they still let me keep it.”

“And why did you? Why do all this for Mikoto?”

“I t-told you, it was sup-supposed to be fun...”

John braced himself against the desk. He was just wondering how long it would take to take care of this mess. He mused, “it’s all going to melt.” 

He might as well have thrown a punch, the way Haruka’s expression shifted. “I’m sorry! I’m -- I… I didn’t think of that…”

“Eh? You don’t need to apologize or anything. It’s fine.” 

They fell into silence. Haruka shifted on his feet. 

“Y-you… can have it, if you want. The ice cream. I didn’t let anyone else have it but-but, you can, I think. ”

“I don’t want the ice cream.” He wanted to be left alone. He wanted the cell clean so Mikoto didn't stress out about cleaning it. He wanted to avoid being bothered by bizarre ‘surprises’ first thing in the morning.

His stomach disagreed, apparently. It let out a loud grumble. Both prisoners looked over. 

He muttered a curse. With a huff, he picked up one of the bowls. 

“Alright. But even if I did eat this, or Mikoto did, there’s no way I could finish it all.” He shoved it into Haruka’s hands. “You made this mess, you’re gonna help me deal with it.”

The boy nodded frantically. 

“Come on, you can sit here. Pass me that one, with the syrup. And hurry it up.”

#milgram #mikoto kayano #john milgram #haruka sakurai #(they hardly make a dent in it) #john makes sure haruka doesnt get a stomachache but now hes left with a cell full of dessert ;--; #maybe hed enlist the others to help... #john doesnt quite Get It - he still thinks somethings suspicious #hes never done anything just for the fun of it before #but haruka is so genuine he eases up after a bit #and ends up enjoying the ice cream at least :3 #i dont think i mentioned which trial it was for the first drabble but this is definitely after john has started appearing #mikoto himself may not be ready to accept john but in my mind every other prisoner is very familiar with him #though they dont necessarily Expect him a lot of the time #es is dealing with so much t2 shit they dont really care if haruka keeps an elaborate stash of ice cream in the milgram smart fridge... #thank you so much for the request haha! this was a ton of fun :D #theyd have interesting interactions... i kept this one simple and sweet but theres a lot going on there.... #drabbles

[complexsaviour]

Milgram 4th Anniversary Art Analysis Part 2/3: Haruka, Es and Yuno

Haruka

Haruka's pose sort of reminds me of Mikoto's, but it's a little looser, less organised. Similarly to Mikoto, he doesn't want to come across as a threat — wants to appear open — but he doesn't quite get it right. Like Mikoto and Shidou, his suit is fully done up. His tie is a little loose too, but I'd hazard that it's because he doesn't know how tight it should be, or hasn't noticed. His pose is largely open but one leg is still slightly bent and he's facing sideways — subtly somewhat mirroring Muu's pose, just as he does in his Trial 2 sprite art. I think the way he is holding his bouquet, in front of himself and upside down, mirrors the way he is largely quite open about and accepting of his crime, but also him as a person in the sense that he is blatantly unconventional and takes an unusual and confusing approach to things. The flowers in his bouquet are actively slipping out of it, falling on the floor, but he either doesn't care or hasn't noticed, perhaps reflecting how he has a sort of reckless approach to things and often ends up inadvertently causing damage and chafing against the status quo. He seems to know more or less how he should hold the bouquet but manages to bluntly get it the wrong way around. His hold isn't quite as secure as Mikoto's, though similar — as if he wants to similarly come across as unproblematic but isn't really sure how. He's the only male prisoner smiling with his mouth open, but his smile is sort of uncomfortable and awkward, coming across as more nervous than genuinely at ease. There's a visible small gap in the wrapper of his bouquet, which Amane's also seems to have. This is interesting to me. I'm not entirely sure what it represents...perhaps some sort of metaphorical 'crack' in their lives or their relationships with their victims, since, at least as far as I'm concerned, they were both family members?

Es

Es' demeanour is very much in fitting with their Buddhist monk garb. At first glance I wondered if their hand gesture was perhaps a Buddhist mudra, but it doesn't seem to resemble any in particular that I came across. They are wearing a Japanese Buddhist monk's regalia, complete with yukata and kasaya, as well as traditional tabi-style (thonged) shoes. It's as though they are the officiator of the funeral that everyone is dressed up to attend, which is quite fitting — as, in a way, it's their duty to put the souls of the victims to rest. Meanwhile, I believe Jackalope's outfit is more in line with the attire of a Shinto monk or clergyman. It's sort of hard to tell, but the hat at least is much more in line with Shinto clothing.

Yuno

Yuno's pose is open and relaxed, much like her attitude to her supposed crime. She's been quite open and blunt about it from the start, after all. Her outfit is a tidy school uniform, a lot like what she wore in her first music video. Like Shidou, she holds her bouquet a bit like a baby, similarly very much in view of the spectator and without pretence, but she doesn't seem quite as concerned with trying to properly support its weight as he does, and I think her pose is overall less personal and more detached — like she's only holding the 'baby' in passing. It doesn't feel like she feels any particular tethering to the 'baby' or her supposed crime. Instead, one hand, while still technically supporting the first, also holds her own arm — perhaps as if to unconsciously seek warmth and support for herself — a bit like the way Yuno supports and comforts herself in her Trial 2 music video. This pose also sort of feels to me like her way of perhaps creating a pastiche of how society expects her to be — the gentle and polite picture of a youthful mother which she so adamantly rejects.

#milgram #milgram project #ミルグラム #analysis #character analysis #haruka sakurai #milgram es #yuno kashiki

[chibimyumi]

Hey I hope you're doing well!

Have you watched Furukawa Yuta's Mozart live stream? And if you have watched it could you you make a little review if you have time?

Thank you for answering

【Related post: "Mozart!" 2021 Live Stream】

Dear Anon,

Yes I did watch the Furuzart Live Stream! As said before, I am actually no big fan of "Mozart!" as a show, but I was ecstatic about Furukawa's reprise as Mozart because it'd be such a milestone for him. Last time in 2018 Furukawa underperformed according to himself and critics, so 2021 was his "redemption arc" for him, so to say. And boy he did!

In 2018 a main criticism about Furuzart was that his voice had no power, no volume, in 2018. Furukawa also admitted that as the musical prodigy W.A. Mozart himself, he could not afford to miss any note. One of Furukawa's weaknesses is his singing, so he underwent a new Spartan training back in 2018 just for this role. He even learnt playing the piano within a few weeks, just to do Mozart justice.

But in the end... well yes, he did hit all the notes... but he basically whispered most of his songs, and often he was so hyper focused on just singing the notes right, his emotional range varied between: "mildly nervously happy" to "extremely nervous". This time however, Furukawa shared in the press conference that for the first time he feels enjoyment in showing off his skills, rather than just anxiety.

This time round, Furukawa has improved his vocal range significantly, and singing high pitches comes with convincible ease now. The high transitions are smooth, and the belting/shouts are powerful! 

Mozart is a very child-like character. He is spontaneous, and has this tremendous talent and energy his human body fails to contain. In 2021, Furukawa really excellently managed to show how Mozart is just always bursting with unkempt passion, but has no outlet.

Mozart is employed by very high ranking people, so he always has to watch his manners. He however, is also strongly of the opinion that none of the nobles deserve his respect. It is amazing to see how Furuzart is always being in a state of: "I know I have to be polite, I will try a BIT, but you don't deserve any more than this much effort 👌" Honestly, this look of him wearing his locks with that... powdered situation on his head is the PERFECT representation of what Furuzart is. Even when sticking to the rules everything is just wrong.

When Mozart was fired for example, he had a small moment of: "dude, you're firing MOI? (ÒAÓ)" But then very quickly he realised that he was finally free, and his proclamation of freedom was the most genuine glee I've ever seen on stage.

Mozart's life is of course not a walk though the park, however... and very soon tragedy after tragedy strikes him. The moment the shit starts hitting the show though, Furukawa's Mozart is best described using just one word: "devastating".

During the special curtain call of the Final Performance, Director Koike Shuichiro was really emotional, and said that while in the spectators seats he was struck by how hyper detailed Furukawa’s acting was. Koike said: “It might be arrogant, but I think for once it is alright to say how proud I am of our work. I have always known Furukawa Yuta for his attention for detail, but today I learned just how precise, how detailed his acting can go. Now I’m a bit angry with him though. Why didn’t you show me this during the rehearsals?”

Furukawa has always had this incredible skill of devastating his audience with something so...complex, so subtle, and yet overwhelmingly heart-breaking to the audience. I think in Mozart we really see the full extent of Furukawa's skills. Especially because Mozart is so child-like, you just can’t help but feel like you want to protect him.

The “world of adults” was so bitter and unforgiving, and Furuzart really showed how he was trying so hard to compute everything... but was given no space to explore anything. (Honestly... isn’t that all of us right now?)

Though I still find “Mozart!” as a production flawed in many aspects, the piques are phenomenal piques. I think with the newly edited version of “Mozart!” 2021, the show is more coherent than before, however. I think “Mozart!” really is a coming-of-age-failed story. In Furukawa’s words:

The Grand Musicals written by Kunze and Levay are cultural markers in the Japanese theatre world, and they are known for the empowering female leads. Mozart however, I think is the only male lead among the Kunze & Levay productions? I feel tremendously honoured to be allowed this one role. Mozart is known only for his greatness, but this musical shows that no greatness is ever simple. Behind greatness is always just a human being. For me, I think the question this production asks is: “What is talent?” Is talent something that resides in the body, or the soul?   - Furukawa.

Other cast

Mozart is really 80% of the show; once he shows up, he hardly ever gets off stage again. This means that the side characters REALLY need to shine in order not to be forgotten.

Constanze - Mozart’s Wife

In 2018, the Constanzes were pretty badly received by the public. From left to right are Kinoshita Haruka, Hirano Aya and Ikuta Erika. Out of the three, only Hirano’s Constanze was what the show and TOHO’s reputation promised. Kinoshita and Ikuta were both described as: “they sing well, but they’re little girls trying on mommy’s high heels”, one of the harshest criticisms in public domains in Japan I have seen.

In 2021, Constanze was played by just Kinoshita, and I was very worried that the only reason she’d be there in the Imperial Theatre again was because she’s pretty.

Then I watched the show, and to my pleasant surprise there was significant improvement!! Kinoshita spoke and sang in a much lower and stable voice, she wasn’t forcing it, and she did have a little bit of zest this role demands. She is still not the power-house of a Constanze as Hirano and Sonim were in 2014, but Kinoshita was honestly not bad. I would still not have cast her myself, but that level of growth was incredibly enjoyable for me to watch.

During the Final Performance curtain call, Director Koike even stepped forward to say he was shocked to see how much better she had gotten.

Leopold Mozart - Mozart’s Father

Ichimura Masachika has played Mozart’s father for many years, and every time he manages to amaze me.

I think “Mozart!” does a great job at showing what fatherhood can entail: “everything awful to awesome.” Mozart’s father is unambiguously a loving father who is deeply invested in his children’s wellbeing and talents... but he is human nevertheless. He loves his son but also hurts him. Sometimes as a father he makes decisions he thinks is best for Wolfgang, but “the best” might not always be fun, “the best” might not be Wolfgang’s best, or “the best” might be “Wolfgang’s best” but not “Wolfgang in this world’s best.” Leopold is not a super big character, but I think in the glimpses we do get of him, he has portrayed the difficulty of parenthood, and the trickiness of “love and protection” better than many other portrayals of parents.

Nannerl Mozart - Mozart’s Sister

Nannerl was played by an absolute nightingale Kazune Miou, and she was just suchhhhhhh a blessing. What also does help I admit, is that she is not Hanafusa Mari. Kazune was amazing in her own right, but ESPECIALLY juxtaposed against Hanafusa, she was a blessing.

Kazune really manages the range between young girl to ripe adult woman very well, and this immense true love she has for her brother is just heart-warming to see. With Hanafusa it was just obvious that a 50 year old was trying to play an 18 year old who is actually 8 years on the inside. As rambled in detail in this post, my hatred for Hanafusa’s acting style is that she only has two modes: Whiny toddler girl, or whiny victim woman.

Kazune however, really managed to capture the many complexities of Nannerl’s character. How she is just unconditionally loving towards her brother, but also can’t help but be sad that the greater attention for “the miracle child” came at her expense.

Prince-Archbischop Colloredo - Mozart’s Boss.

Colloredo was played by Yamaguchi Yuichiro. Erm...... Yamaguchi is a great person, he is SOOO kind..........but everything about his singing and acting style just rubs me the wrong way... I always think his acting an unfortunate mix between a slapstick-comedy banana and a pompous opera ghost... ermmmm......... sorry, not for me.

Click here for the official PV.

And click here for the subtitled curtain call of the first day performance.

#Mozart #Mozart 2021 #musical #Furuzart #Furukawa yuta #Review #TOHO #TOHO please give us a DVD please.................. #Pretty please.......

[rewordthis]

White Tiled Sorrows

the us from this moment –

1676 words SouHaru SFW

Prologue:

"If there ever was anything that could throw him off, that was probably fate — he vaguely recalls Rin to have argued about that — or maybe, just his luck."

< | [X] | >

[Part A]

… Faded-white, cement bricks on the pavement covering each plane of the road side. Trees, willowy and tall, unlike the ones on his region. A playground a few meters ahead…

"Shit—" he cursed lowly. He's gotten lost— again.

Trying to understand when exactly he had messed up his route, he mindlessly made a beeline towards the small recreational area. The place was nice. If he had to get lost in the city this was a nice area to do so; the sun was stealing in on his face through the trees, a sweet warmth hitting his cheek, down where he sat on one open swing.

It was still a bit chilly outside, considering that it was just a couple days into March. Graduation day was merely a month away, and he had to consider a gift for Gou and go wish to Ai.

'Ai…' thinking back to it, his final year as a high school student was one very fond memory for him. He had simply hoped to see Rin again, but ended up finding a family. Ai, Momo, Uozumi, all of them— they had all accepted him as one of their own. They respected him. Not because of his status as elder, but because they considered him valuable. Him — Sousuke. They didn't try to dissuade him or look down on him when they had him found out. Quite the contrary, they took him in, they enveloped him with gentleness and comfort and made him their unrivaled, unyielding hero. They gave him their strength. And filled him with new hope.

He owed them so much. So— so much.

A brazen cheering pierced through in the background, effectively bursting his bubbling thoughts.

He turned to the side to eye a cluster of children, flowing out from a place somewhere behind him.

His mind was clear. Lucid as for the very first time after eons. No troubles. No pretense. He suddenly felt a tug at his lips. He was smiling, wasn't he?

If Sousuke could see himself at that moment, he would swore he didn't know this person.

Soft eyes— shining, tender expression, an almost smile. Something familiar and fond and very nostalgic pulling at his heart. It felt horribly out of character for something this sappy to bloom out of him. Made him feel so out of place. So empty…

<<Growl>>

'hungry?'

Without much thought to it, Sousuke got up from his swing that clang noisily from the quick flurry of his movements, and headed in the opposite direction from where the echoes of cheering still reached him. He didn't ventured too far from where he had been, and he found himself standing in front of a communal pool.

There were some kids that had yet to leave the premises, blabbing energized about this and that.

He didn't plan to, in fact he had wanted to turn around and leave once his curiosity was sated, but his feet carried him all the way to the entrance.

He found himself taking a quick glance of the time table attached to one of the door leaves, as he pushed behind the other.

[ Friday: 13:00 - 14:30 elementary students practice

           14:30 - 20:00 public hour ]

He didn't even checked his watch as he noted that -something- had held those kids back for at least half an hour after their class. It was, currently,  15:15. He knows this much because he saw the time when he exited the station at 14:30 sharp and then again at 14:45 when he sighed for the umpteenth time that evening as he had lost his way.

He trod in along the entrance hall, taking in the poster-covered walls; practice notices, open invitations to past events, warnings and rules for the public and swimmers, a plaque of the buildings’ name, the founding day and the donor that had obviously put his money in the project. It was a small golden plate with neat kanji, that Sousuke couldn't find it in him to actually bother to look at. He just moved ahead.

Pushing open the double steel doors, each with a stained glass the shape of a hemisphere and a long cylindrical handle attached from top to bottom, he had felt at ease. Now, driving through another pair of doors; wooden this time and much lighter, rectangular semi-transparent panes on each panel giving little to none of what was going on behind them, he found himself buzzing with excitement. He couldn't remember when was the last time he'd felt this way. It seemed so bizarre to have all this energy all of a sudden, 'cause — wasn't he hungry?!

Upon entering he was greeted with all too many people, ranking on all ages. Young men and women enjoying the water or moving around in a relaxed manner, the elderly sitting along the benches that lined the walls, 3-year-olds that were taking their first swimming lessons from their proud parents in the kiddy pool and some slightly older ones too. And on the far end towards — what Sousuke assumed — the locker rooms, were a deep pool not quite the size of an Olympic one but big all the same, that bustled busily with chattering and splashing. A ring of spectators was circling the pool, children cheering excitedly and younger people staring amazed from the sidelines.

Sousuke stood. In the middle of the slippery tiled floor, that looked like an artificial divide between the two clashing energies in this confined space, he stood. He examined the cheering bunch, detecting the fine sound of rhythmical sloshing through water.

Someone was swimming there — a kid maybe?

(But not quite.)

He doesn't really have the time to act of his own as a kid sprints past him — and he follows it with his eyes to where it meets with a middle-aged woman, his mother, he notes — and now is quickly running in his direction again, only, the kid is loosing his footing for a moment and Sousuke reaches out one big hand and grabs him. He looks surprised — if not stunned — as if he hadn't noticed the bulk that Sousuke's sheer size was forming in the space between.

Sousuke looks genuinely surprised himself. He actually managed to catch the kid in time. He didn't think he would…

"Kid…" he started and he felt the boy flinch in his grip. Ah— he's probably intimidating, isn't he; standing almost 10 heads above, he ought to be. So he swallows and drops his tone a notch. He tries again: "kid, it's dangerous to run in the pool—"

As he releases his hold on the boy's arm he notices the distinct forming of fingerprints around the soft flesh. He bites his lip. 'Damn—'

He's got no time to apologize properly before the kid beams up a smile at him and grab a hold of his wrist.

"It's ok! It doesn't hurt. At least I didn't fell, so thank you! Also, I'm sorry for running in the pool…” He says as he drags Sousuke along, to the big pool.

"Both my old coach and my new coach tell me not to run on the wet floor—", he makes a face —indignant?— "… mom, too." He finishes as he steals a glance back to where the woman was moments earlier…

'So that's how it is.' Sousuke notes with a nod of his head. And maybe he's smiling, because the kid is training a curious eye on him now.

This boy reminds him of himself when he was little. Black, short, spiky hair and piercing gaze. But the way he's easy with a guy like Sousuke, brings forth memories of his best friend as well.

"Say, oni-chan, do you swim?"

"Ah, yeah…?" 'How— no shit, idiot! Of course the kid would ask you that. You're in a pool for fucks sake… DUH!'

And the kid appears perplexed for a brief second before he says: "No, I mean— like professionally! You know…"

And Sousuke's brain barely registers the following words as he comes into view of what the formless barrier of moving bodies reveal before his disbelieving eyes…

"… like Haru is!"

And there is positively one Haruka Nanase, gleefully drifting over and under the water with lazy movements, much like a dolphin playing freely — not in a closed off tank, but rather — out in the vastness of the ocean. Happy. Content.

And he hears, as if from somewhere far away on his right…

"Haru swims professionally, but he swims only free!"

And there is a tear at his arm — one that hopefully didn't rip open his stitches (and, could the stitches get ripped when they are already removed by his doctor? Or what?) — and he's inches away from the edge of the pool and the kid next to him is frantically waving a hand at Haru; like a cat trying to catch its masters’ attention and show him the mouse it managed to caught. Like a gift in a show of affection or something.

The kid calls at Haru.

"Haru, this oni-chan over here is swimming too! He's really nice and I think you can become good friends!"

And Nana— Haru, is stilling in his spot, shaking the excess water from his face. His eyes drift to the kid where they trace his hand back over to Sousuke's blank face.

Sousuke can tell he's surprised as well from the imperceptible rounding of his rims in awe, sharp gaze growing lightly wondering.

"Am sure you'll like him!" The kid says as he finally releases Sousuke to dive into the pool, moving close to Haru.

The man is still looking at the stone effigy that is Sousuke. Sousuke finds his lingering gaze growing even more unbearable as he lowers himself in the water, the majority of his features hidden in the shimmering liquid, his eyes alone striking with a strange glow.

And surely enough, Sousuke can hear a familiar voice from half across the earth, laughing in mirth at him and his misery… ‘just shut up, Rin!’

Because…

'Shit—' (now he wants to swim?)

…

[End of Part A]

••••••••••••••••

A.N.: please do take the world and background/buildings descriptions with a grain of salt, as I've taken some liberties in this story.

< | [X] | >

#souharu #sousuke yamazaki #haruka nanase #free! series #Free! #free! dive to the future #time set #Fic #1676 words #sfw #My writing

[docholligay]

Aino’s 8: Chapter One--Spark Plug

This is for @yamadara87!! Happy birthday, and I  hope you like it. Around 3500 words. 

Minako Aino did not have to be a criminal. She had many gifts to leverage in her business life, a certain quality with people, a way of knowing exactly what people were going to say when, a gift for making connections and convincing people that what she said was true.

She put the confidence in confidence man.

However, Mina had observed that there were a great many things that people did for pleasure that they didn’t have to do: Running, golfing, sitting in front of a computer for hours, learning the words to speak about wines and their varied shades of flavor.

Her hobby was just slightly different.

Mina had a solid job, and Mina was well compensated and Mina was bored.

“You know,” she smiled at the man, overfilled with money and underfilled with any sort of charm, the woman on his arm as much an accessory as the Lamborghini he was about to buy, “some of our customers, who have a bit more distinction,” she smiled at him sweetly with a nod, “prefer to order the LP Spyder,” she shook her head and indicated to the Huracán in front of her, “but of course, this is a fine car, seen often around town, and--”

“No, no,” the man waved his hand and drew his arm around the young woman next to him, “we definitely want something a bit more, he smiled lasciviously at the woman, “charged.”

Bored.

It was so easy, talking men into this upgrade or the next, subtly chipping away at whatever sense of superiority they had until the only way to repair it was to add on another specialty package, purchase a custom upholstery, and of course always get a maintenance package with Mina’s preferred garage.

On this, Mina got the slight tingle of deception, at least. She should have been selling the plans through the dealership, but Haruka’s garage gave her a kickback, and she gave her old friend some extra business.

Haruka was a more talented mechanic than anyone at the dealership anyhow, and had been since they were kids, and so she told herself that this was very Robin Hood of her, despite everything else she did to her clients.

“Of course, you’ll want to add the lifting system and magento-rheologic suspension.” She said, as if it were not a question for a man of such discerning tastes.

“Oh, oh yes, how could I not?” he chuckled.

Bored.

But there was a bright spot on the horizon, highlighted in the newspaper Mina picked through as she sat in the uninspiring beige break room, eating her uninspiring cold pizza, tapping her uninspiring black pumps on the floor. She almost missed it, only half interested in the goings-on in the world even in the best of times, when something caught her eye.

A gala.

Normally such a thing would have escaped her notice completely, or rather, escaped her interest. But this gala was in an unexpected place: Las Vegas. She hardly thought that the fine people of this world would end up in a place so gauche, but as she read the article, it seemed, reading between the lines, that the Belmont Stakes had gotten a bit too egalitarian. The whole Triple Crown had, and they had made two separate stops for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, ending the whole thing in Las Vegas for the Belmont.

And there was a Triple Crown contender this year.

Mina’s mind whirred. People bet for different reasons. Because they believed themselves to be luckier than they were was a compelling one, because they felt the thrill once and couldn’t stop was another, and a lesser one was that they enjoyed it in a simple and safe manner.

But rich people bet to show others they could, more than anything, and of all the odds placed on the Belmont, she liked those the best.

There was a quirk of the Nevada state law, Mina had learned, that required a casino to keep on hand all the cash required to pay out the bets placed. Even discounting the gala being held with those society prigs, there would be a wealth of cash in the vaults. But with them, her eyes began to glitter with possibilities, and images of her lying on a beach, attractive beach waitstaff serving her day in and day out, totally ignoring that she would very likely begin to find that boring as well.

The rub of it all was, of course, that she couldn’t leave the state.

She was still on probation.

But that was no reason not to dream, she thought, looking at the picture of the glittering and beautiful people printed in black and white in front of her on the society pages.

It wouldn’t do any harm to find out who was going to be there, right?

She opened her phone, and called an old enemy.

___

Michiru Kaioh was also bored, as it turned out, but her wealth and privilege allowed her to be bored in the sort of way that only the very rich ever know, absentmindedly strolling through the fine fashion halls of Milan, touring the Champagne region, on safari in Africa. In each of this places she stared at the beauty and wonder in front of her as if she were watching a rerun of Big Brother, arms crossed, with only an occasional smile when a question was asked her directly.

This was to say nothing of the multitude of dates she had been on, fine girls from fine families trying to ply her with expensive wines or decadent chocolates, dinners at the most exclusive restaurants, and river cruises up the Danube. They were all fun enough, for something to while the hours away, but nothing of it ever captured or excited her, and none of them ever held her interest for longer than it took to mollify her parents’ anxiety that she would never settle down suitably.

And so, she had turned to crime at the age of 18.

It had started in small enough ways, passing off a sketch done by a fellow artist as a genuine Picasso, that had never seen the light of day, “because, you know, it came out of Germany under unfortunate circumstances which are surely neither the fault of it or ourselves,” and it had gone so smoothly, and yet made her heart race in a way she knew not of, that the addiction was instant.

She had honed her craft carefully, the swindle, the gift of ingratiation, of how to say no without ever making someone feel ill at ease, how to dodge a question so beautifully that it became a ballet, all the things her mother had taught her about being a proper woman in society now a Swiss Army knife of tools against her own class.

It was the only thing which gave her a genuine smile.

Michiru had never been caught, and she had no intention of ever being, and indeed, though a fair number of her co-conspirators had been jailed for her multitude of adventures, Michiru herself seemed quite untouchable. The years had passed well for her, ever bolder, ever grander, ever more beautiful even as she reached her late 30s, and still terribly, boldly unmarried.

It was this boldness that allowed her to answer the phone when it rang, when ‘Do not answer and allow her to be grateful you hadn’t had her killed’ came up on her caller ID.

“You have precisely 30 seconds to explain your call.” She said simply.

Many would have started at this cool reception, but Mina would have been more startled if it had not been, given their history.

“How do you feel about stealing from every society fuck you’ve ever met at once?”

Michiru paused. “Not...disinterested. Go on.”

Mina had many gifts that might have benefitted her in civilian life, if she had cared to have it.

Mina laid out her plan, a take so great that Michiru was mildly annoyed she had not thought of it herself. Whatever else you could say about Mina, and there were a great many things Michiru had, there was a certain rough quality of creativity in her that was difficult to argue. It was the reason she, too, had been untouched, until she had been so foolish as to allow her reach to exceed her grasp, and had attempted to buffalo Michiru Kaioh.

“We only have three weeks to gather this, you know,” Michiru considered, “and I do hope you have learned a valuable lesson from our last dalliance.”

“I learned I can make more money with you than against you, and that’s all I care about.” Mina said flatly, “and if anyone can get something like this together in three weeks, it’s us.”

Michiru turned over her former associates in her head. “I have an electronics expert, and a man, so to speak, on the inside at the Bellagio security.”

One of the benefits of Mina and Michiru’s partnerships was that they knew as little as possible about the other, and both were comfortable never asking too many questions. It was the most comfortable uneasy partnership ever conceived.  

“And you know an explosives expert.”

Michiru gave a chuff of a laugh. “Rei? I daresay she is the only person on this earth who loathes you more than I do.”

“Oh take a number! Don’t flatter yourself, Kaioh.”

“My mistake. There must be a great many people who loathe you, and god only knows how many people you have chosen to seduce in the middle of work, however, I assure you that Rei Hino has a long memory for such things and is often disinclined toward forgiveness.” She took a sip of her rosewater as the mist of the sea wafted in from the coast of Morocco.

“Well,” Michiru could hear Mina’s smile through the phone, “lucky you’re so silvertounged. You talk to her, I’ll talk to my people--I can supply us an acrobat, a dealer, and a mechanic. Probably. She gets mad at me. Says I let her go to jail too much.”

“Hm,” Michiru flicked her eyebrow as if Mina could see her, and in the way Mina generally knew people, she very likely could in some manner, “I will meet you in Los Angeles next week. In the meantime, I will attempt to curry favor with the planning board--it should take little, one of them has been after me for weeks to accept a social invitation.”

“And I’ll talk to actual humans. See you then.”

Mina hung up with not so much as a goodbye, but neither did Michiru require it of her. Any polite social interaction they might have managed had been buried at Mina’s attempted con, and at the quick correction of her arrest and conviction. She knew the venom Michiru carried now, and Michiru enjoyed the caution.

The Belmont gala. She already had her gown, something that delicately dripped off her shoulder in bright crystalline drops that melted to a seafoam’s lace down the bodice and skirt, the tenderest blues and pinks like watercolor underneath. It was couture and it was beautiful and it had not given Michiru a single smile until this moment, imagining herself in the intricate and graceful frock, smiling and laughing politely and making conversation as the entire betting pool was stolen out from under them.

She took another sip of her rosewater and looked out at the sea, glittering and twinkling as the eyes of someone who knows a secret, and she smiled dangerously, baring all of her teeth.

____

Rei did not consider herself a criminal, in the strictest sense. Certainly the things she did were illegal, but the law and ethics had parted ways some time ago on this earth, and so she considered herself more of a warrior than anything.

She enjoyed a certain amount of asceticism, and one could assume that she was punishing herself for some imagined flaw, until one spoke to her, and found her quite assured of her own impeccable nature. No, the spareness of her living was simply a quirk of her own mind,  something she had taken up regardless of the vast sums of money she had accumulated with her work.

That people paid her was nearly immaterial, used only to fund jobs she believed in on the most personal levels.. She liked the feeling of bringing down corruption, she liked the feel of the fire and the explosion, and most of all she liked the way her reputation proceeded her, how her name was whispered softly and reverently in the underbelly of the world.

Rei had worked with Michiru Kaioh a handful of times, and as much as she loathed the gilded bourgeois of her very existence, there was something intriguing about Michiru that Rei could not deny, and kept her wrangled in, a sort of aura that shone off of her in pearlescent light.

Besides, she was not averse to being a traitor to her own class, and there had to be some inherent value in that.

And so, it was with this attitude that she accepted Michiru’s invitation to lunch. It surprised her not at all that Michiru was near the tiny apartment she had taken up on a foreign shore, as Michiru seemed to be everywhere at once.

That was easy when your family had a fleet of private jets.

The lunch was on the private balcony of Michiru’s suite, and no longer occurred to Rei to find such things noteworthy or unusual, and she had never found them particularly dazzling--Rei’s father had been a man of important political significance, and such things only reminded her of the times in her childhood when she had been trotted out like a show pony--but the food was good, and it seemed as natural as an office might be for another person, and so Rei sat.

“I trust you have been keeping busy?” Michiru smiled her knowing smile.

Rei gave a smirk. There was little chance that Michiru was not already aware of Rei’s work, and was simply making clever conversation the way she always did. The Amazon headquarters. Nestle’s water plants. They all had the mark of Rei’s work, and Michiru was no great fool.

But she kicked back and took a long drink of the filtered water in front of her.

“Always.”

Michiru cut through to it quickly.  “I don’t suppose you’re looking for work?”

Rei grumbled at her. “Not after what happened last time.”

“Oh, Rei, we got off without a scratch, then, didn’t we? Aside from all that, that was four years ago,” Michiru looked over to where the waiter and butler were beginning to bring in a tray, “Ah yes, how lovely. I do hope you’ll forgive me the rudeness of ordering for you, but I was a bit afraid you might be tempted to flee, and I believe I still have some appreciation of you palate.”

It was ramen, though more high-minded than anything Rei was accustomed to eating, and certainly not something that must have been a simple ask in this place. She hadn’t seen a ramen shop in months, and her mouth watered, even as her mind warned her that Michiru was not unlike a siren in her dealings.

The service left, as Michiru nodded to them gracefully, neatly beginning to tuck in to her ratatouille.

“What if I were to tell you the target would be the larger international society? CEOs, family money, ambassadors, and the like? And that we could take them all in one night?”

Rei looked at her across the table, wishing she could be as disinterested, wishing that Michiru was not calling her back to that table for anything other than a polite lunch.

And yet, to imagine all of those people, covered in clothing that could pay for a child’s yearly education, laughing and drinking champagne, as she stole right from underneath them...well, Rei’s sense of personal satisfaction was occasionally greater than her sense of self-preservation, and Michiru saw her eyebrow twitch with the struggle.

“Horse racing. The Belmont Stakes, which I know you abhor,” Michiru took a sip of some crisp, clear white wine, “ but there will be a grand party, and a great deal of wagers laid, and,” she paused for dramatic effect, ”I heard Senator Hino and his new bride might be in attendance.”

Rei had worked on many personal skills over the years, at one time being as likely to explode as anything she set with a fuse, and she had learned to have a steadier hand, over time. To control herself and will herself into waiting for the opportune moment.

Unless, of course, her father was involved.

“What?!” She hammered her hand down on the table, rattling the bone china and crystal.

“I’ve often been applauded for my elocution, you heard me perfectly well.”

Her father. She’d heard that woman he married was at least 20 years his junior, besides. The head of some loan company, offering her father ever more the social clout and immense wealth that he’d reached for all of his life.

She had been invited to the wedding. She had pretended the wedding invitation hadn’t come at all, slipping it into the garbage without opening it, so she did not even, not really, know this woman’s name.

“You said maybe he’d come?”

Michiru nabbed a napkin at the edges of her mouth, where a bit of balsamic had disrespectfully flickered. “If I let him know of my intentions, and make some overture that he should attend, I think we both know he shan’t miss it.”

It was true. Senator Hino had spend a great deal of time trying to be invited to the inner circle of the Kaiohs and their social level, the rich and well-bred among the rich and well-bred. It was something Rei never longed for and yet was utterly sure that she could attain, if she had.

If Michiru invited him, he would come.

Rei looked at warily, but with an undeniable sense of raw desire for the work.

“I’m in,” She leaned back on the chair, “are we just dividing it 50/50?”

Michiru folded her hands in her lap. ‘Well, this will be a rather large operation, getting past security, observing the casino itself, et cetera.”

Rei nodded her agreement. “But evenly?”

Michiru paused for a moment, and it occurred to Rei that she may not know. Michiru had entered into crime for her own reasons, and while Rei cared little for the money herself, she at least pretended to, but Michiru’s wealth had made it nearly irrelevant, what the individual take was on any given job.

“Yes, of course,” she said finally, as if Rei was all the sillier for asking, “However, there is something I feel pressed to mention, as golden an opportunity s this may be, there may be occasion for you to practice some restraint.”

She sipped her wine delicately, as if the next point was hardly worth mentioning.

“We will be working with Mina Aino, I am certain you rememb--”

“What?!” The surprise and rage of a few moments ago repeated itself in near-perfect copy.

“You can defraud your father, or you can avoid Mina, but I am afraid you cannot do both.” Michiru looked at her pointedly.

Rei sat for a moment, considering her options. The things Michiru was offering her were tempting, and though they sometimes saw each other socially, when Michiru breezed and and out of her life, it had been a long while since they had worked together on a job, and Michiru’s jobs always had an element of creativity and danger.

She flicked her eyes up at Michiru. “Mina.”

“Oh come now Rei,” She said as if gently chiding a child, “it isn’t as if you ended up in prison, you just had a bit of..” she gestured softly, “a disappointed love affair. Aside from all that, it the most technical sense, it is her job, though we are sharing management responsibilities. So if we wish to play ball, as they say, we must play with the team on the field.”

In a contest of who Rei hated more, there were few people that would best her father, and so she smiled at Michiru and extended her hand across the table.

“Promise me we’ll take them for everything.”

Michiru smiled in return. “I vow to do my all to encourage him to wager with the greatest irresponsibility.”

Rei took a drink of the win in front of her, finally assured of her position. “And promise me I won’t have to deal with Mina.”

“In as much as is possible, I will try to ensure you do not fall in love with Miss Aino.”

Rei growled. “I was never IN LOVE WITH HER, it was just that one night and--”

Michiru sighed, smiled, and took a drink of her wine.

[xbreathoffreshairx]

Life in the castle always kept him on his toes especially around the Elder Highness, Prince Izana. He hated being summoned to his office, especially before he'd had the chance to tell Zen. It wasn't the first time, and every time he was caught the Younger Prince questioned his loyalty.

"I know you'd rather have been attendant to my brother," Zen had once said, sounding a bit hurt and he had felt terrible. Zen was his Master, the two of them had become close, like brothers he would never do anything to hurt him, and always took his best interests to heart.

Especially when it came to matters of the heart. The reason Izana had summoned him was to ask about Zen and his growing relationship with their newest court herbalist Shirayuki. As was most of the castle, everyone was obsessed with the rumours surrounding them. Shirayuki a girl with strange coloured hair from the neighbouring country with no title or status and Zen the Second Prince of Clarines. It seemed that Izana was keeping the closest eye on them of all.

Before he was summoned he had been with Zen in his office, when one of the castle messengers told him that Izana wished to see him Zen's expression darkened considerably, he felt as though he had committed treason. Kiki caught his eye from across the room, giving him a shrug at least she looked a little apologetic.

"Why is it always me?" he wondered to himself, as he made his way to Izana's study. Why did he never summon Kiki or Obi?

Izana was seated behind his large desk, Lord Haruka stood by his side, instructing him on where his signature was needed on various documents laid out on the table.

"Ah Mitsuhide, please do come in and shut the door behind you," his eyes were bluer, sharper than Zen's. His gaze had the ability to pierce through you. Years of experience showed in the way he negotiated, or delegated orders. The day he became King he would be a force to be reckoned with.

As Izana finished with the final document, Haruka gathered the papers on the desk and took his leave, shutting the door behind him.

They were alone, and Izana surveyed him hands steepled on the desk. "I take it my brother is well, how are his state of affairs of late?" he spoke with an air of disregard as though he didn't care for the information Mitsuhide had to offer, but it was polite to ask for it anyway.

Most importantly he definitely wasn't asking him about the state of affairs that Zen was in charge of in Clarines Kingdom.

"His affairs are well, your highness," he responded carefully, knowing that Izana would be less than satisfied with that answer. He gave him a small patronizing smile, gesturing him to come closer.

When he asked again, his voice was low colluding, "I think we both know which affairs I'm referring to Mitsuhide, how is that pretty little redhead doing these days?"

Izana made it his business to know everything that went on in the castle. Mitsuhide had once heard him reprimand Zen for not being more aware of things as they happened.

"She is well your highness, she had recently passed her final exam and was promoted to Official Clariness Court Herbalist she is doing well for herself," he answered providing the prince with more information he was probably already aware of but seemed to relish in asking him regardless.

"Indeed," he leaned back in his chair, blue eyes still fixed on the attendant before him.

"And what of that bodyguard?" he inquired as though it presented something of value to know what Obi's role was in all of this.

"Obi sir?" Mitsuhide was thrown, why would he care about Obi?

Obi's appearance into their lives had come quickly and unexpectedly, but he had almost instantly garnered their respect and integrated himself well.

His skills were without question, whatever his line of work had been prior to their meeting had prepared him adequately for any situation which was why Zen had assigned him to be Shirayuki's bodyguard. Even Mitsuhide had been impressed to witness his tracking skills after she had been kidnapped by the Claw of the Sea in Tanbarun.

There was one thing that worried him though, and he'd never gotten around to asking feeling it was too boorish a thing to ask another man about his feelings for a woman.

It was evident there was something there, but he wasn't one to assume, and though he could be upfront about a lot of things Obi always had a way of skirting around the truth.

"Well?" Izana asked again still waiting for an answer. It felt like a game, answer incorrectly and potentially incur his wrath.

Mitsuhide straightened, "Obi is a trusted messenger to the Second Prince and guard to Shirayuki sir," he answered wondering where he was going with this, why not ask Obi himself?

"They spend a lot of time together don't they," Izana observed, his mouth quirked at the corner, as though pressing Mitsuhide for information was amusing to him.

He wasn't sure what information he hoped to extract from him, but Mitsuhide replied simply with, "He's her guard, of course, they would be spending a lot of time together, it's similar to the relationship between Zen, Kiki and myself."

Even though he said it out loud, something about it didn't seem believable to him.

"You are dismissed, thank you for indulging me Mitsuhide, you may run along back to your Master," Izana stood from his desk looking satisfied with his less than adequate response.

He opened his mouth to say something more but thought better of it. It's not like he had given the man any solid information to work with. Still, somehow he felt that he had probably provided him just enough.

He bowed, taking his leave striding from the room and shutting the door behind him. In the hallway, he let out the breath he didn't know he'd been the intensity of that man's glare alone was enough to sap your strength.

What was all that about? Why was he always so interested in as he put it 'Zen's state of affairs?' He shook his head, deciding to take a short detour around the grounds before heading back to Zen's office. His conversation with Izana replayed in his mind.

There were so many questions he wished he could ask. Why ask about Shirayuki and Obi? Why continue attempting to prevent Zen from finding his happiness, what was suppose to be the endgame here?

Nothing made sense, and somehow he got the feeling there was a vital piece of information he was missing.

Walking aimlessly had brought him to the garden, a place he rarely visited unless it was to see Ryu or Shirayuki. It was around midday Shirayuki would potentially be busy attending to something or the other. The girl worked hard in whatever capacity was needed.

Approaching the garden he could hear voices, and what sounded like Obi's laughter. As he rounded the corner he immediately stepped back realizing he had walked into something that he wasn't supposed to see.

The two of them were in the middle of the well-manicured garden Shirayuki kneeling amongst the many herbs and flowers while Obi lounged on his elbows, reclined comfortably on the stairs. He was prattling away about something, and she was laughing, but it was a sound Mitsuhide had never heard from her before. It was the sound of genuine happiness.

He quickly retreated behind the wall unsure of whether or not they saw him. Peeking out from his vantage point he could see them still carrying on, but it didn't seem that they had noticed him.

He watched the both of them intrigued, their easy conversation was playful and light. Obi was a great conversationalist, but Shirayuki seemed genuinely enthralled with what he had to say. She was pointing at the various herbs speaking animatedly about whatever they were talking about. From his spot behind the wall, he couldn't make out what they were saying.

Spying was something Obi did, this line of work definitely did not suit him, but now that he had started it was hard for him to stop.

During their conversation, the short distance between them seemed smaller somehow. He had seen Zen and Shirayuki interact on multiple occasions, but she was always shyer and reserved somehow. There was a nervous uncertainty in the way she spoke to him, perhaps his station intimidated her. However, watching her here in the garden carrying on with Obi there was no trace of it to be found.

With Obi, she seemed comfortable and at ease, as though she didn't have a care in the world and realization dawned on him Izana's words making more sense.

"They spend a lot of time together don't they." It wasn't a statement, more like an invitation for further investigation, exactly what he had stumbled into right now.

"What are you doing?" Startled he spun around coming face to face with Kiki regarding him suspiciously as he tried to disappear into the wall.

"I-um...Kiki!" he stammered trying to look like he hadn't been spying. He was so absorbed in what was happening on the other side of the wall, he hadn't even heard her coming.

Kiki leaned around the corner to see what he'd been looking at. "I don't understand why you are lurking around here spying on our friends," she accused eyebrows knitting together.

Mitsuhide gulped trying to figure out how to explain himself, "I uh was headed back to Zen's office and I got sidetracked?" she folded her arms across her chest unimpressed.

"That doesn't explain the spying," she stated unconvinced gesturing to where Obi and Shirayuki were still ignorant of their presence.

Mitsuhide sighed looking resigned, "Okay listen I didn't mean to spy, but just look at them for a minute and tell me if you notice anything...um well different," if Kiki could see it too then maybe he wouldn't be so out of line for spying.

Kiki squinted at him skeptically but decided to humour him peeking out from behind the wall.

Shirayuki and Obi were still sitting the garden, perhaps they were taking a break, chatting like two old friends. Suddenly the breeze picked up rusting the floral around them and Shirayuki giggled as her hair was swept into her face. Obi looked surprised his head falling back to look at the sky, bits of leaves and flower petals swirled around them settling in their hair and clothes.

They began to pick up and dust themselves off and Kiki watched riveted as Shirayuki reached up and tousled Obi's hair to make sure all of the leaves fell out. They were so close, almost nose to nose, their eyes locked in the moment.

Suddenly the clock chimed signalling the top of the hour and the spell was broken. The sound made them jump, and Obi scratched nervously at his cheek giving her one of his signature smiles. Shirayuki dropped her hands, immediately, a rosy blush rising in her cheeks. He shrugged saying something that made her shoulders visibly relax and she smiled back at him as well, leaning down to pick up her basket of herbs before proceeding to walk back together towards the pharmacy.

When she finally turned back to face him, Mitsuhide was standing there almost beside himself. Kiki kept her face blank completely unaffected by what she had just witnessed and proceeded to walk past him back the way she came.

Mitsuhide practically tripped over himself running to catch up, "KIKI!" he cried incredulously, he was at a loss for words, and she was acting completely unbothered by it all.

"Tell me what you make of that!" his finger jabbed in their general direction for emphasis.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she answered tone devoid of emotion.

"You...don't...know," he sputtered almost choking on her lack of reaction. He wasn't sure what to do now, and he felt like a complete idiot.

"That wasn't nothing," he said quietly and Kiki stopped walking glancing over her shoulder. Mitsuhide seemed at war with himself, one where struggled between his loyalty to his friends and his duty to his master.

"What do you think you saw?" Kiki asked back still turned. Izana's words echoed in his mind, but Mitsuhide was no expert when it came to matters of the heart.

Zen had once asked him, "One day when I meet someone, how will I know they love me for me?" He had told Zen then that he would know if it were real if it were meant to be, and what he had just witnessed between Obi and Shirayuki, well it was more genuine than either of them realized.

When he looked up Kiki was watching him carefully, her expression softened and she sighed defeated, her partner really was hopeless when it came to things like this.

"These things have a way of working themselves out, it's not our place to pass judgement especially where we shouldn't get involved." her words of assurance made sense, but he still felt unsatisfied, obligated even, to speak up.

Kiki shook her head like she knew what he was thinking, holding a single finger to her lips, "It's not your place to tell."

#akagami no shirayukihime #obiyuki #obi #nanaki #shirayuki #obi x shirayuki #obiyuki fanfiction #breathofreshair #ans #mitsukiki #mitsuhide rouen

[seakittens]

Retconning Tachibana Makoto: A Heavier MakoRin

So this is probably the rough draft of a larger essay I plan on doing to explore what’s happened to Makoto’s character since the end of the TV series. Both Haruka and Makoto have received several character tweaks, starting in Staring Days and carried into Bonds and the Free novelization. While some of the tweaks made to Haruka in Starting Days were  awkward, I think Makoto has suffered the worst from  the changes. I refer to these changes as retcons since they affect the canon we already know (High Speed, Free and Eternal Summer) and alter our perception of various events and motivations. It remains to be seen how much they will affect future material since massive character development in Eternal Summer would render much of these changes moot. But they do affect how one understands characters, particularly their relationships with one another.

For this first dive, I will be focusing on the Makoto/Rin relationship since it is my favorite Makoto relationship and I feel that the retcon has affected it more than any other. That said, even Makoto/Haruka has been affected by these changes.

Please note that as I am very attached to MakoRin, this essay will get negative because MakoRin has not fared well under Makoto’s new handlers at KyoAni. I have done my best to maintain balance so this isn’t nothing but a miserable mess, but this is your warning. Also spoilers for Promises and the Free novelization.

Of all the things KyoAni has done, the critical changes they have made to the Makoto/Rin relationship hurt me the most. Because even with all my salt toward Starting Days all but ignoring Rin, it hadn't damaged Style 5. The Free novel actively damages MakoRin, turning Rin into a  constant source of anxiety for Makoto instead of a friend he wants  to help. 

Novel!Makoto is obsessed with Haruka and only Haruka and barely has an interest in the rest of Iwatobi, as seen in pretty much any scene that involves Rei or Nagisa and Makoto. It’s an ugly change that messes with so many things I enjoyed about Makoto. Especially him being friends with the group because they gave him courage. Novel!Makoto has no courage (yet) and dreams of a world where he doesn't have to deal with Haruka facing the harshness of reality. One where Haruka  will be the same forever. Where nothing will change for them. Even at the end of the novel, Makoto only accepts Rin's place in Haruka's life and Haruka's own future path as inevitable. But I wouldn't say it feels particularly  positive from his POV. This overall change in Makoto's character inadvertently (?) casts shade on crucial MakoRin moments in season one, making the phone call from Episode 2 more about Haruka's needs than Makoto reaching out to Rin. While Novel!Makoto understands Rin’s value to Haruka, he is terrified of losing the life he’s always known with Haruka, as seen in his dream at the start o the novel, where Haruka and Rin are leaving him behind in the water. Rin is a force that frightens Novel!Makoto, to the point that he  dreams of a world where Rin hasn’t changed their lives, where Rin and Haruka don’t meet at the train station that December day. 

Whereas initial interpretation of the MakoRin relationship in Free lent itself to seeing Makoto as worried about both Haruka and Makoto, Novel!Makoto clearly prioritizes Haruka and feels lost around Rin. As much as Novel!Makoto still wants Rin to be  happy, as seen in an added  scene of Makoto hearing Rin laugh with Ai, he does not think that he (and by extension, Haruka) can be part of that yet. Again, a lot of Novel!Makoto’s issues with Rin  revolve around fear. And while we’ve always known that Makoto had his fears, the novel takes this to another  level. Rin is best kept at a distance.

Now, this isn't to say the novel does the same to Rin. I would say that Rin still cares deeply about Makoto and views him as his friend. As we know from S1, Rin has always cared about Makoto, even worrying about him swimming at the beach. The novel doesn’t change that. But it's harder to say that it's always gone both ways with Makoto. In fact, even in existing canon, Makoto seems oblivious to the concept that Rin can prioritize him (despite things like Rin setting up Makoto’s birthday). This is something that is actually addressed in ES, especially the new material in Promises. Makoto is genuinely surprised by Rin's interest in his future, believing that he is low priority compared to Haruka. He expects Rin to view him as  peripheral to Haruka, as Makoto views Rin as peripheral to Haruka. This is a sentence I hate to write, but every Makoto POV in the novel confirms this. Makoto’s focus is Haruka and only Haruka. He’s simply too scared to step out of his comfort zone.

Also, this isn't to say Makoto doesn't change. The whole point of Makoto's arc in Eternal Summer is his character development. And I think it's clear that Makoto is, on a whole, more at ease with Rin after S1, responding to silly calls to help with a kitten or even calling him to ask about a relay. I know many have pointed to how easily Makoto and Rin seem to communicate with one another via phone, unlike the rest of the cast. But I think now, knowing what I know about Makoto, that those conversations are primarily about joint team stuff and not so much casual conversation. 

I don't think Makoto’s entire character development regarding Rin comes until near the end of the season, when he calls Rin to ask for help with Haruka. In this moment, especially in the new scene in Promises, Makoto is showing that sees Rin as a positive force in his and Haruka's lives, that he trusts that Rin can do something he cannot do and he's all right with that. It’s all right if Rin takes Haruka out of Makoto’s life because Haruka  is following that path without even realizing it. It’s what Haruka was meant to do. This  is a huge scene for Makoto and for MakoRin. And I think it's vital to their relationship development, given this new take on Makoto via the novel.

This isn't to say that this Makoto retcon is wrong necessarily. There's nothing wrong with making a character messier than he appeared. It's nice to see a Makoto who isn't the pure angel fandom portrays him as. This new take on Makoto shows him to be a bit more selfish, more wary and more insular. He’s just  as afraid of change as Haruka, just less aware of it. He can be friendly but Haruka will always come first. We started to see more of this, with Makoto’s behavior in Starting Days. And the assumed knowledge that despite his growing friendship with the Iwatobi Middle School team, Makoto abandoned them when Haruka quit the team. Overal, this is a more complicated take on Makoto than what was originally presented.

But it also means that MakoRin fandom can no longer hold onto its long-held claim that MakoRin understand each other better than anyone else in the show. They clearly don't, at least not on Makoto's side. I do believe Rin understands Makoto more. I think Rin, to an extent, does harbor some jealousy at how Makoto can connect with Haruka in ways he cannot due to their long friendship. But I also think Rin is more actively aware of those feelings and therefore they don't cripple him as Makoto's do because Makoto actively represses them. It makes their relationship complicated and messy in some ways. Which again, is not necessarily bad. It's just not what made me fall in love with MakoRin. And I do believe that by the end of ES, they are in a position where they could have a strong and meaningful relationship because they do bring out the rarest sides in each other. Makoto just needs to be more honest with Rin and with himself about his feelings so they can finally move past this unspoken wedge between them and see each other for who they truly are. Makoto is no angel and Rin is no untouchable god force who exists only to throw everything into chaos.

I suppose I just miss the pureness and fluff of MakoRin when Free originally ended. It didn't have all these messy parts. It was just two friends who really cared about each other.  Now, it's a bit more one-sided on Rin's part. And while depth and dimensions are nice, sometimes you just want something cute.

I do hope the ES novel addresses Makoto's changing relationship with Rin in more depth since it's such a massive focus of the Free novel. I doubt Take Yoru Marks will. But I think this is important to hear in Makoto's own words how things have changed since S1. Maybe then KyoAni can give meaning to this retcon of Makoto’s character.

I also wish KyoAni would stop confusing character development with angst in Makoto's case. Giving Makoto more angst doesn't really improve his character. The same goes for Sousuke.

Overall, I regret this retcon more than anything else KyoAni has done since the series ended its TV run, and it has probably made me more bitter toward Free than I have been in the past. Because MakoRin was my fluffy joy. And now it's a lot more messy and I have to get used to that. I wish Makoto didn't have to suffer in KyoAni's struggle to make him more relevant. I hope to see things that will make me feel better about this change.

I will tackle what the Makoto retcon  means to the Makoto/Haruka and Makoto/Iwatobi relationships at a later date. 

I’ve been a long time since I did meta and I’m a little rusty so feel free to challenge where you may.

#meta #makorin #tachibana makoto

[glorioblog]

Desire vs. Love in Sarazanmai Episode 6

I can’t stop thinking about Sarazanmai episode 6 and I haven’t seen anyone with quite the same take on the Tumblr tags, so I’m re-posting the full text of what I wrote about it. I also worked a little extra hard on this one, so shameless plug. You can holler at us on the original post here.

Spoilers after the break...

Up to now there’s been a lot of talk about connections and desires, but this episode introduces a new factor: love. We first see this mentioned when Reo decides to take Haruka, wondering if this was a case of desire or love. Through the course of the episode, we’re left to think about what is different between the two. This is my favorite kind of storytelling. We’re not explicitly told the difference between love and desire, we’re shown by using Kazuki as an example.

There are different ways you can interpret this love versus desire question. For me, I think desires are selfish and love is unselfish. If we start by looking at Kazuki, his actions have been selfish. Dressing up as and later kidnapping Sara is not what Haruka wanted, it’s what Kazuki thought he needed to do to feel better about his guilt. Later, after being exposed and seeing Haruka in danger, he is willing to go as far as sacrificing his life to save him. Normally dying for someone would be the ultimate expression of love, but even that was a selfish means of escape. As a final piece of visual evidence, keep in mind we’ve established that boxes are for holding desires. It’s possible Reo wasn’t testing Haruka’s desire, Haruka WAS the desire and Kazuki was the one being tested.

The turning point is when Kazuki is about to sacrifice himself and Enta reminds him this is not what Haruka would want. Haruka didn’t want Kazuki running around trying to please him and he certainly doesn’t want Kazuki gone. He just wants his big brother to stay with him and be happy. When Kazuki realizes this, their connection instantly turns to love.

You could extrapolate that to every other mention of desire we’ve seen. Enta is interesting because I do think he genuinely loves Kazuki, but specifically his romantic desires are one-sided. Toi is actually in a similar situation as Kazuki, which he even states in an earlier episode. He’s fixated on the wrong way of connecting with his brother. Even the silly, random desires of the zombie kappa are very self centered and don’t take others into consideration.

With Kazuki’s mind at ease and his arc seemingly complete, I do wonder if any of the remaining plot threads are going to carry the same emotional weight as this one. Toi’s story has a lot of legs left, and of course we did see the Hot Cops background open up a bit. We know the Otters are seeking to only make connections through desires, as opposed to the Kappa whom I am assuming are all about love. Or so it would seem.

If I can wildly speculate on the post credits scene, it appears to be a flashback where Reo saved Mabu’s life. We got hints last week that these two did something they don’t want the higher ups to know about. Could it be that unselfish act of love from a long time ago? Do Reo and Mabu love each other in a way that is forbidden by their people? What are both the in-universe and real world implications of those questions? That’s what I’m going to be looking for in the second half and I can’t wait.

#sarazanmai #anime

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Kado 12 (FINAL) | Katsugeki Touken Ranbu 1 | Battle Girl High School 1 | Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun 1 | Youkai Apato 1 | Isekai Shokudou 1

Kado 12 (FINAL)

Shunina in 2D looks creepy as all get out…

I believe what zaShunina wants to get at is that we have reasoning and intelligence…which is half of what some people have feared about this show all along. The “humans are special” preach.

Gonno finally has a point of purpose, which is great.

I’m laughing. It really is Yandere zaShunina, LOL!

Funny thing zaShunina uses the words “way of living”. The characters that make up Shindo’s surname (真道) mean “true way”.

I have the feeling zaShunina can’t actually cry, and he’s faking it.

“…I’ve been meaning to punch you myself.” – In short, Kado really is just a shonen battle series in disguise.

zaShunina’s face makes me wanna cry. That’s the second time this season’s climaxes have attempted to bring me to tears…

Oh well, at least I got my broman-Huh? Shindo’s heart got torn out?! ewfefl/…

Hey, look. Origami bird in the anisotropic. I still want to know how to make one, dangit!

*wants to cry again* Shun-kun? You mean…Hanamori? This 16 year old is another Saraka?

*howling with laughter, but still at the brink of tears* Please, please stop making me ship Saraka and Shindo, since I never shipped them anyway. However, the biggest laugh this season was zaShunina’s many many expressions of rage, that probably beat out even that woman from the Emperor’s New Groove, LOL (Yzma).

Seeing old Hanamori – every single darned shot of him – makes me wanna cry. Plus, Yukika as a baby had a Takoyaki Cat bundle, haha.

*White Parasite spoilers!* A-Ah! So “White Parasite” really was an omen for where this show would go! zaShunina got defeated by his own power, just like La Luna, but zaShunina basically gained the range of expressions of a human, unlike Luna, who was killed off early. Ah…that’s sad. I predicted exactly where this would go without having even seen the show. *end spoilers*

*as the titlecard appears* I-I don’t get it…but wait, there’s more. Keep watching, people.

Chotto ittekimasu means “Out for a little bit”, which isn’t quite the same as “back later”, but I’ll take it.

W-Wah? It’s over…? Well, suffice to say, I was amazed beyond my imagining, so that’s great on an entertainment level (plus I laughed way too hard at Kado). However, the fact I ended up predicting a show I hadn’t even seen yet means it will have to get marked down appropriately.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu 1

Finally, we’ve gotten to one of the big attractions of the season – I’m a fan of Touken Ranbu, so while seeing my boys animated in Hanamaru was a treat, fall 2016 was a bottleneck in the commentaries. Katsugeki needs to go above and beyond to take one of the 4 slots open to normal-form shows (BnHA’s already taken one slot).

It may be bleak (it’s kinda murky, colours-wise), but it’s…beautiful!!! (My precious Kane-san has properly come to life!) The star effect with the blood is a nice touch.

My memory’s a lil’ rusty because I haven’t played TR for a few months, but the things in the box are koban.

This thing’s like Kado in that it would make a great movie. I envy the people who get to see this in the highest possible res on a big screen…(“My anime club should seriously screen this!” is what I’m saying.)

Interestingly, they’ve chosen Kane-san, so this doesn’t accurately depict a player’s normal route through the game. Either that or this saniwa doesn’t want to sacrifice their starter on this mission. I know how precious my first Kashuu was to me, but I broke him because I was being too reckless…

The saniwa in this is a girl, so the subber who called the saniwa “he” hasn’t looked into the promo material much.

TR’s party limit is six, so this saniwa’s a real noob. (Not that I can say anything – I haven’t passed the Kiwame map yet!)

So Konnosuke can function as Google, LOL. That’s new, I never thought of that pesky fox in that way.

I bet because the Saniwa knew these were swords under the same master, she saw the shipping potential, LOL. Or maybe it’s because the two work well as a pair…

This looks a lot like the starting movie that DMM put in about one year after I started on TR. I bet that’s specifically what they were aiming for, so that’s perfect.

Ooh! What a controversial choice, to put a representation of the saniwa into the show! I wonder why they did such a thing, though?

Judging by this lineup, I’d say Mutsu was this saniwa’s starter. (I’d really like to analyse this saniwa’s choices and drops, as a fellow TR player.) Then again, if I knew the name of the era, then I’d get a better sense of this player’s capability (and judge whether I can really call them a noob or not, LOL).

Dangit, Saniwa! You have Tsuru and Mikazuki (two swords I currently don’t have)! I’m jealous of you!

That’s real cute and nostalgic, to put the preview like a recollection. A fine choice indeed, ufotable.

Kunihiro says specifically he has to try his hardest to not fail, which is slightly different to what the subs say.

Interesting. The words Kane-san uses for “tense” are “[Kunihiro] puts too much energy into his shoulders”.

Well, it’s pretty safe to say this is a keeper between hype and an almost-perfect performance for what I’d expect from a TR adaption. I’m just wondering, if all my hype shows go to commentary…what will my final one be? I planned to watch 14 shows from this season, Amazon axed a few and I added a few more based on ANN so the fight for the final spot may easily be the hardest one in the history of this commentary.

Battle Girl High School 1

Yet another anime I have come to not because I genuinely am hyped for it, but because it’s the satisfaction of seeing “how the bad fall”, if you get what I mean. Also, it’s a magical girl show – it’s basically Hina Logi all over again.

Every magical girl show does that “prophetic dream” stuff, I swear. It’s why I avoid that trope like the plague as a beginning.

Notice the title’s ganbari is in katakana…which isn’t how it’s normally done, mind you.

I’m so darned confused already…so. Girls. Battles. High School. *<-shamelessly ripped from ads I saw around my streaming service) Suddenly, idols…then Irous…? The idols know the high school girls? Wah?

There are only adult dudes here, which means this is probably for adult or teenage dudes…no wonder I feel so desensitised to this, haha.

That…may have been the most uninspired magical girl transformation I have ever seen! Grah! If you’re going to do an anime on magical girls, at least bother with the transformations! Both the CGI and the idol performance are lackluster, too, but maybe that’s because I muted this show (to not have to deal with my normal gripes for anime girl voices).

The video’s panning so fast over these girls I can only barely make out each one’s face! I have very good eyesight, thank you very much!

I swear there’s at least one battle the staff of this show haven’t shown us, which would really inform us about the rest of the show if we did see it. Proper storytelling is a must in any show or any entertainment medium!

Bad CGI doesn’t look like “real danger” to me, lady.

By the by, Fortissimo (ff) means “loud”. Therefore if I mute the show, ff loses all purpose, so to speak.

Okay. Girls, battles, high school, idols, magical girls and now yuri subtext. This show can’t pick one thing and deal with it appropriately, and in the genre of “magical girl” where even the weakest effort is more balanced than some other genre shows, not balancing smaller aspects of the genre to achieve the right payoff is just sad.

A training scene would have probably eased us in better than what the show actually did…just sayin’. It’s boring, but getting the groundwork correct is necessary if you want to have people pay attention to your story. Plus, girls, please…don’t do the derpy run with arms stuck on the side of your chest. No real girl runs like that.

*checks up the show* Oh, it’s based on a smartphone game! That should explain the large cast!

Whoa! These eyecatches are a little TMI. BWH measurements are for the dudes who watch for PLOT, but dream job? Yeah, for a card game, TMI.

Lemme guess…these PC/shogi gals will recruit Subaru, Miki and Haruka. As much as I’d say I’d like to side with the PC and shogi girls though, I can’t feel a reason to like ‘em at all. They’re not characterised enough for me to care about them.

What’s up with the red on that replanting girl’s hair?

That cut between Ms President in Chinese library and the magical girl battle really confused me for a second there.

I don’t get how Urara’s microphone/staff works…

When I checked up this show earlier, it said Sugitan was the teacher in glasses here. It disappoints me that his name is saddled on to something so confusing.

Now that I squint at the eye designs, these guys are trying to be Love Live. Knowing how popular that is just makes this pale in comprison all the more, even though I actively dislike Love Live.

It’s an unsaid rule of battling that whoever strikes first loses. Just sayin’.

There’s no precedent for how well these girls performed in the past, so a flashback would’ve done well this ep.

I knew hooded person was a girl (there are no boys in this show), but I didn’t know what her intentions were. Even knowing what they were made it really obvious this show was subpar, because she has little to no intentions at all at the moment.

They introduce another girl to fill up an already full cast? Yeah, nah.

…Yeah, that’s a clean drop. The magical girl outfits are the only good looking things about this.

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun 1

This is an odd choice for me, but I’m just waiting for shows (other than Katsugeki) to come on to the scene…Then again, I played soccer (because I was forced to do a sport at one point, and Detective Conan has a soccer aspect to it). I’m not up to snuff on soccer rules, but…*shrugs*

I think they’re trying to get a Sakamoto vibe going here. So far, it isn’t working…

LOL. “Team Aoyama”, indeed.

The chibi face thing is reminiscent of Royal Tutor. Royal Tutor’s style is more jarring, but it works in that show’s favour more.

So what glasses man is saying is that if Aoyama were Lady Macbeth, he’d hate himself too much…ouch.

The butt guy is weird…

The soccer ball “…” worked well. Yhe artstyle for this one is clean and fairly attractive too, which works in its favour. (However, unless you like dudes in soccer uniforms or that one guy in the OP with the abs, then…yeah, this ain’t hottie territory.)

“Richie Rich”? I’m not sure that was in the Japanese, but okay.

Miwa’s great, man. Best coach I think I’ll ever see in a show like this, and that’s ‘cos I haven’t seen many of these sports shows.

Wowee, keppeki has some nasty-looking kanji! Fun facts: The zai in Kaoru’s surname is the same as in zaibatsu, and bocchan is “young master” (as used by, say, a butler to a distinguished family’s child – it’s used to Suguro in Blue Exorcist, as he’s part of a high ranking religious family).

Umm…what’s the name of the guy who got rejected by his girlfriend Anya in YOI? Georgi! This rich kid who wants to steal away Aoyama looks like Georgi!

I…don’t think I’ve ever heard a person being called a “scrub” prior to this. Apparently, it’s old fashioned slang, which is why the word suits Takechi.

Zaizen = Kamina (Gurren Lagann)??? They certainly have the “hot blooded” bit down pat.

Yeah…Takechi. I’m with Aoyama on this one. I like abs, but not yours.

The CGI is bad, but more well integrated than, say, Battle Girl’s Irous...es? Irous? (I dunno about the plural on that.)

As I said before, I’m not up to scratch on soccer terms. So a nutmeg was a “through the legs” kick (apparently known in Japanese as “crotch punching”, LOL!) and a rabona is the crossing leg thing Aoyama did.

One touch. (Chorus in back: ONE PUNCH!)

Uh, I think the ab brandish and “treasure” emphasis was a Japanese pun, but I have the volume off so I can’t tell.

Marking.

That sky shot was be-a-u-ti-ful! That is, before the soccer cleat got in the way of it…

I have the feeling Aoyama came for the white uniform?...I dunno why, though. White is hard to keep clean.

D-Does the number 10 have any special significance? *checks it up* Yeah, it does.

Oh man, Takechi talks to his abs (as well as to his friends)? This guy is becoming the death knell for this show. I know it’s meant to be funny, but it’s even weirder than the butt guy, and that says something.

The…toilet? That was one joke that was absolutely not worth the payoff.

I don’t get this Hajime no Ippo style…or maybe, because this is a comedy manga, they’re making a homage to the Hajime no Ippo style as a parody. Ahh, that makes sense now!

I’m gonna drop this. Not because it’s bad, mind you – it’s because I get confused between soccer and football (I’m from a place where “soccer” and “football” are different things), plus I don’t get soccer injokes.

Youkai Apato 1

I call this “Youkai Apato” because its full name is too long to remember…haha. This is here because of Morose Mononokean, which didn’t do too badly last year. I thought Yushi was butt ugly, but hopefully something’ll make my stay worth it.

I’m not a person who wants to become a businessman, but hey, if you can sell me the businessman life (or the youkai life) with this show, I’ll be all set!

Who dis (dude with the long hair in OP that looks like Hase)? I want him, even though I mistook him for Hase at first.

The –sou in Kotobuki-sou means “villa” or something like that. That’s why the word for “summer house” isn’t “summer house” in katakana, but rather two kanji that represent a “separate villa”…I guess…?

Scratch the Morose Mononokean references, this is more Kamisama Kiss.

I’ve noticed Maeda Realty’s second last and third last kanji are kanji for “movement” and “not” respectively…so I find the Japanese name for it, however it’s pronounced, really ironic (because Yushi wants to move, so to speak, but moving house as a verb would be hikkosu in Japanese).

Reimei Isshiki seems to be an exclusive to this show, so hopefully this show will use its author character well (knew he’d be a speaking character judging from how he needed voice credits). By the by, based on how Yushi describes Isshiki, it seems this author’s a lot like the one for Goat’s Egg (Tokyo Ghoul).

*screams incoherently* Can’t I have my fantasy of Yushi not being a darned harem protag? The way he acts around Akine, I ain’t getting it, even though my fantasy is the truth!

What an adorable dango. It’s got a rice grain texture on it (normally dango don’t have that, as you can see here).

These round blue birds I keep seeing in this show are so cute!

I applaud whoever made the backgrounds for this show. Dang, they are good.

A bath in the basement doesn’t sound too good for ventilation purposes, but that’s just speaking out of practicality. This is anime, we can get people having baths in jacuzzis on rooftops for all we care…

The landlord kinda looks like the creatures from ep 1 of Flip Flappers! Yipes!

These birds are too gosh darn adorable! *fangirl screams*

The zombie really wasn’t much of a threat…

Ooh, there’s a guy I like (redhead in ED)! I want him, too! B-But long-haired Hase…I want…

Well, it seems like long-haired Hase’ll be here next ep, so I’ll keep the show for now. If it gets a lil’ too much with the stating the obvious, then it’ll go on the drop pile.

Isekai Shokudou 1

I just ate, so…I’m not gonna be drooling here, am I? Just by the name it sure seems I will be. Well, why am I here? It seems Re:Creators is not the only reverse isekai happening this season, and because Amazon, I have to settle with this instead.

The font around the titlecard seems to be katakana, just flipped/reflected for some characters.

Seishu is apparently another name for sake.

I love how they don’t need names - they just call each other the names of the food they’re eating.

Wait, if these guys come from fantasy worlds, then they have to pay with fantasy currency, right? That’s problematic…as anyone who’s stuck overseas with their home country’s money will tell you.

Oh gosh…the boob jiggle was completely unnecessary…

I presume the contents of the pot was more beef stew, but I can’t be sure until I’ve been shown it. Why do I always feel like there will be something more suspenseful or action-like in this? Because of the fight about what suits white rice best?...Yeah, that’s probably it.

What is “knight’s sauce”???

I thought Aletta was a centaur, like Himeno (of this season’s A Centaur’s Worries). Turns out she’s a demon…

I may not be an expert on food (I watch Masterchef for the drama, LOL), so I’ll need Google to find out what corn potage is…There’s a great description of corn potage here, if you’re not familiar with it.

If I could understand more about the chef, then maybe I’d be behind this show a bit more. There’s always the backstory of the chef involved in these shows, since cooking, like anime, is a personal experience.

What’s that on the right of the tomatoes?

The breakfast special is called “morning” in katakana, which…I’ve never heard of until now. I thought “baiking = buffet” was the weirdest Japanese food concept I’d ever come across, prior to this…

I think they’re trying to go the moe route with Aletta. Moe never worked on me, people. Remember that.

14 hours on one day? I guess that’s not so demanding for a full time job, but I was a bit alarmed by it for a second since I’ve only ever dealt with part time jobs, haha. Well, it’s like the chef said – it must be pretty rough for Aletta if she’s not used to it.

Gratuitous shower scene irks me a little. A show like this should focus on what it does best and not something more or something less. I mean, this time it makes sense in context, but fanservice ruined Izetta and Matoi for me previously…so this is a bad sign.

LOL, men’s body wash…or shampoo…or something. Couldn’t really read it.

Where did this outfit come from? Is there an existing staff member that’s the same size as Aletta?

I feel like they shouldn’t have cut out Aletta’s training day. That way, there would’ve been more love for Aletta – which is what the staff seem to want. Sure, it would’ve shoved some other things out of the way, but Aletta seems like a main character, so…

My instinct says this is a dish best binged and devoured with actual food, so let’s go with that. I’m quite open to dropping it though, because it has somewhat skewed priorities in a few places.

#simulcast commentary #seikaisuru kado #battle girl high school #katsugeki touken ranbu #keppeki danshi! aoyama-kun #isekai shokudou #youkai apato no yuuga na nichijou #Chesarka watches Kado #Chesarka watches Katsugeki