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moonlightreal · 3 years

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Fate Episode One

At long last, it’s tiiiiiime!

First: whitewashing bad. Fact acknowledged. Everybody else has said everything on the subject (ad nauseum...) so no reason to say it all again!

I’m diving in with questions. The main one is “Will there be a good reason for Musa to be a mind fairy rather than a music fairy?” Dunno why that’s what I’m wondering the most, but it is. There’s also “Is Fate!Stella truly an unholy union of Stella and Diaspro?” and “so what makes them fairies not witches/psychics/mutants?” and “So what’s up with Beatrix? We know nothing about her, and as an Umineko fan I’m favorably disposed towards witches named Beatrice!” and also “They’re not really having sex are they?!”

I’m going to try and approach Fate just like I do every season of the cartoon, ready to celebrate the good, snark at the bad, enjoy many headcanons, reference random stuff, and have a good time. Pretending I haven’t had my fannish heart nigh to broken by the state of the fandom and that I’m worried I’ll get hate for even posting this. I’m’a try to start from zero to find my own answer the really big question… “Good, bad, or totally irredeemable?”

So… In which we discover a new world.

We start with… a night scene. Not promising when “too dark can’t see” is one of my pet peeves! An old fella comes out to check on his cute Irish sheep. He passes through the barrier, into the dangerous forest beyond to look for a missing sheep. Yup, he’s gonna be guest victim in the first five minutes.

Oh no! Something has disemboweled a sheep and left it hanging in a tree! Clearly there are leopards in the magical realm!

There is a great roar and an unseen but very large-sounding beast chases our poor shepherd! The guy trips and falls just as he’s about to get through the barrier and is set upon and devoured by the unseen beast! Blood spatters the rocks!

Opening! It’s the wings we’ve sen and some really beautiful music. One point for the music.

Then a gorgeous flying shot of the outside of the barrier and Alfea. Whatever the plot turns out to be, the outdoor setting is beautiful. Music that seems to be both pop and edgy plays as we zoom in on the logo on the gate, and there’s Bloom coming in the gate.

And there’s Terra with her father and a tray full of plants.

And there’s Aisha walking by with her dreads

And there’s Stella taking a selfie with other students.

And there’s Musa leaning on her suitcase, headphones on, looking at her phone. Another girl says something to Musa and she turns and replies and smiles.

And there’s one of the guys twirling a knife. I’ve heard Sky starts out in a pink shirt so this must be Riven. The camera comes back to Bloom as she gives him a doubtful look. In the novelization she’s mentally labeling him an edgelord, and that kinda fits. Any dude showing off his willingness to twirl weapons at a high school probably is best avoided—except the dudes here are training to fight so the weapons rules must be different. I wonder if Bloom knows yet that dudes with swords are normal here.

Bloom gets a text to meet Stella at the gate. She waits.

Camera pan to Sky talking to another guy. Sky looks… Sky-ish. Chris Evans style handsome, blond. I’d’ve made him grow his hair to mimic cartoon Sky’s silly shaggy haircut, but points for making Sky look like Sky! Minus points for not dying Riven maroon. They could’ve made it work!

Sky is indeed wearing a pink shirt. In the novelization Bloom thinks he’s wearing it “because gender roles were for the weak” which is a line I think is funny and intend to use in a story somewhere. There is no obvious hint in the show that Sky thinks gender roles are for the weak

Bloom’s tired of waiting. She heads off. Sky ditches his buddy to go meet her. “Wow, you are so lost. I’m impressed with your confidence in the face of complete ignorance. Issue is, you’re overcomitted. You’re essentially running. And now that I’m here you can’t possibly give me the satisfaction of turning around.” he says, all in one go.

I can’t decide if that’s jerkish or charming. Maybe Bloom shares my weakness for men with accents because she decides on charming.

Bloom says she’s a fairy, giggles because that’s something she never thought she’d say, they’re standing in the courtyard of a college for fairies, Bloom’s from California, not the Otherworld. So we get all that established. Sky is kinda charming here and points out the specialists’ hall and fairy hall.

Sky: “I’d be happy to-”

Bloom: “Mansplain it?”

So the writing team does know some modern issues! Bloom says Sky seems like a mansplainer, which seems like quite a leap since she is new and he is helping her, in a friendly-sarcastic kind of way. She’s giggling, clearly charmed.

Then Riven comes up, and he’s like a foot shorter than Sky, and Bloom escapes for some reason so maybe she wasn’t enjoying the conversation as much as it looked? Or maybe it was just the plot needs to move along. Riven glomp-hugs Sky. He’s got a great accent too.

Bloom must’ve left because she saw Stella, they say hello. Bloom says she got impatient waiting and Stella says, “How very American of you” So American stereotypes are known in magical worlds also?

So, Stella! Blonde, tall, zero Stella vibe. Accent. Long pale coat and a satiny top with big chunky pendant. She gets to her ring quick, “Portal ring, the only thing that keeps me sane in this place is the ability to leave it. Your world may not always be thrilling but it beats this one. There are seven realms in the Otherworld, each a different kind of boring.” All spoken in a jaded monotone. Ugh, what have they done to our Stella!

The girls walk inside while Stella speaks, the school is pale stone and arches and plants. Other students are arriving, hauling suitcases, hugging. At least some of them seem happy to be here!

Cut to the globe! and it’s a magical globe, the water moves and there are lil sailing ships! But the lands are totally blank, so it’s a cheap magic globe Dowling didn’t pay enough for the one with tiny forests too. Alfea is in the realm of Solaria.

Maybe they shouldn’t have made Ireland = Solaria. I’ve only been to England but we did not see the sun the whole trip! Bloom’s in Dowling’s really cool office. She spins the globe but the camera pans away before we see the names of the other realms. Bloom’s talking nervously about seeing people updating their insta stories, expecting Tinkerbells, and the lack of wings.

Dowling: “We had wings in the past. As we’ve evolved, transformation magic has been lost. Tink was an air fairy, you’re a fire fairy.”

Dowling says classes tomorrow, learn to use magic slowly but safely… we establish Bloom is here to learn to control her magic so she can go home and not keen on ‘slow.’ Dowling says, ‘trust the process’ which immediately makes me mistrust her.

Then she gives a great lil speech: “Alfea’s graduates have ruled realms and led armies. They have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost relics. They shape the otherworld.”

But Bloom just wants to get done and go home. She says, ‘I'm here because you promised you’d teach me control.” and Dowling says, ‘no, you’re here because you knew you have no other choice.” and Bloom looks betrayed.

Yeah Dowling’s sus.

Next scene: Bloom showing her dorm to her parents over video call! How does that work between dimensions? Her folks look nothing like Mika and Vanessa, dad’s got a beard and silver temples, mom’s got big blonde curls. Neither of them have burn injuries or the sort of freaked out vibe I’d expect from folks whose house was just on fire.

Roommate pan-around! Terra puts potted plants everywhere! Stella preens at the vanity! Musa headphones-and-laptop but smiles at Terra. Aisha comes in with her laundry bag.

Bloom’s parents get suspicious about the timezone thing, they think Bloom’s in the Alps, and Aisha comes and covers for her saying it’s time for lights out.

Aisha intro! She is wearing a pink and brown checkered dress that’s not super fashionable or flattering. I like her blue braids though. Aisha does not seem to have the accent that many Alfeans have.

Bloom explains the “human parents, fairy daughter, I must be a throwback to an ancestor” thing. Aisha looks dubious. Then they mention Harry Potter!

Bloom; ‘Ravenclaw, sometimes Slytherin.’

Aisha; ‘Explains the lies then. Gryffindor.’

Bloom: ‘Explains the judgment.’

Congrats, you both were jerks in three short lines. 9_9 But they’re smiling so I guess it’s friendly sniping.

Bloom goes to see Stella, who’s holding up sparkly tops to herself. She’s also got this weird rainbow skirt that looks like gymnastics clothes not real clothes. Stella’s changing for the party because people have already seen her in her clothes. Bloom asks confused, ‘People expect you to wear multiple outfits?’ and Stella comes back with, ‘people expect me to care how I look.” In the same jaded monotone.

Before Bloom can WTF outta there like a sensible person Stella snaps her fingers and creates a ball of light. Bloom gapes, but not nearly as much as I feel like she should. The magic is beautiful, it’s all rainbowy and sparkly. Bloom just hesitantly asks, ‘Can I ask, how exactly you..?” and Stella shuts her down with an almost kind, “I’m a mentor, not a tutor.”

But she does give a little infodump. “Fairy magic is tied to emotion. God thoughts, bad, hatred, fear, the stronger the emotion the stronger the magic.”

And Bloom says, ‘Do you hate me or fear me? You were looking at me when you did that. And I’m pretty sure you don’t love me.” Smart cookie, Bloom! Points to you! We know it’s because Bloom was talking to sky, and that gives Stellla some emotions.

And points to Stella, she thaws out her voice and talks like a real person, ‘I don’t know you. I’m sure once I do I’ll find something to love.” She sounds rather doubtful about the last bit but yay actual emotion!

Then Stella goes over to Terra for her intro scene and I cringe because the novelization did Terra dirty and I’m not keen to see it on screen. But it works ok. Stella gently calls Terra on the number of houseplants and says the secret garden was better kept secret, Terra responds that wasn’t really the message of the book, Stella looks at her with amused patience and leaves Musa and Terra to continue the scene. And I decide if there’s no infodump about how earth and the Otherworld relate to each other in this show I shall be cross.

Then Terra chatters on about her family and how she grew up at Alfea since her dad works here (she’s holding a 100% fake plant) and drops that Stella is a second year. Musa asks why a second-year is in a first-year suite and Terra says it’s some administrative thing probably best not to mention. But Terra totally knows the secret.

Musa’s eyes glow purple. Magic! But we don’t hear what she hears. She starts putting her headphones on. Terra goes on to say they should all not mention it to Stella, then interrupts another headphones-attempt to offer Musa a succulent, “They’re low maintainence, perfect for you, not that I really know you...’

Musa: ‘If I take it will you stop talking?”

Terra visibly deflates and Musa apologizes and grabs the succulent before finally getting to escape into music.

Aisha leans in to ask Terra if Alfea has a pool. It has a river and Aisha’s been swimming—twice a day every day! Terra says no pool, just the pond where the specialists train but nobody swims there, at least not on purpose.

And we immediately cut out to the pond, which looks pretty mucky, I wouldn’t want to swim there either! Two specialists, a boy and a girl, are whacking away at each other with wooden swords on the shore. They’re all dressed in black pants and tank tops, very Divergent movie poster except with the Alfea logo on the front. There’s a bunch of specialists training all around the pond and one does indeed knock their opponent in with a splash! But we home in on Sky and Riven and I cannot get over how short and skinny Riven is compared to Sky! And the fact that I’ve just been rewatching Lord of the Rings and Riven doesn’t look 100% not like Dominic Monaghan… sorry Riven’s actor, I’m sure in future episodes I’ll stop thinking you’re a hobbit!

Anyway, Riven’s teasing Sky about his crush on Bloom, says Sky always goes for the crazy ones and all redheads are crazy. Sky puts Riven on the mat and Riven says he was getting high all summer and not practicing. Before Sky can give him a “big brother speech” on that riven skedaddled because here comes the teacher with a different speech!

This show’s Codatorta, whose name is Silva and who looks very irish and I like him, does a little speech about how y’all gotta train, singles out a black guy I think is Dane and says, ‘even you will be able to fight like him.” and attacks Sky, who fights back. They spar for a minute.

Infodump: “Sky’s father was Andreas of Eraklyon, that makes him a legacy.” Also, some of these kids are from families of specialists and some were selected by Silva based on their talent for combat and weaponry. “This place will seem like hell until actual hell comes. We are the first line of defense, a certainty when the future is uncertain!’

Then Dane snickers about the whole ‘school full of kids with swords’ and Silva says it must be nice to be so ‘soft’ he can make fun. And Dane drops that the barrier exists ‘to protect the school from Burned Ones.”

As he says it, we cut to Sky going out through the barrier to smoke.

Burned ones are gone. But Silva saw one when he was a kid. His father shot it but was killed by the Burned One’s poison. Burned Ones are inhumanly strong and fast, and have a terrible poison, or disease that kills people who get away.

Sky looks over and sees the shepherd’s body. Yikes!

Cut to the staff arriving to look at the remains. Just three: Dowling, Codatorta, and Terra’s dad. Is that the whole staff? Who teaches? Could’ve been a wolf or a bear… Terra’s dad collects some gunk from the body and I think calls it “char residue.”

Dowling says, “She killed all the Burned Ones.”

She? This world’s Marion/Daphne, likely.

But the adults clean it up so the kids can party! Our girls are gathered around the food, and they’re better dressed! Aisha’s got her hair up and a blue hoodie, Musa’s got a little red coat. Terra has not been blessed by the fashion fairy, she’s in some overalls it looks like, not flattering. Terra is saying hopefully that maybe the shepherd died of old age and Musa’s ‘Yeah, that old age decapitation” is gentle ribbing not cruel.

Aisha’s loading up a stack of cookies, says how much she eats and, ‘If I didn’t swim I’d be massive.” it’s not aimed at Terra , but Terra flinches. Aisha heads off and Terra says something that boils down to, ‘Musa, you’re tuning out me in particular.” which, Terra you’ve known Musa for what, six hours? Way too short a time to take it personal. Musa says, ‘It’s a me thing, it’s not you.” and Terra just flusters and heads away. Musa looks troubled but not sure what to do and puts her headphones on.

This is SO much better than in the book. Not perfect, all the interactions between the girls have been very weird as if they’ve been given a script full of cruel catty lines and instructed to say them in a kind way, but at least they’ve tried for the vibe of “trying to be nice to people we don’t know yet and flubbing it” rather than “we are all terrible people” like I feared.

Terra meets her dad and tries to go to the greenhouse with him but he makes her stay to enjoy the party.

Cut to some grownup dude—Dowling’s secretary? Apparently searching for something in a desk that I presume is outside the headmistress’ office.

Beatrix… or possibly a gothed-up Bloom… comes to see Dowling and when told the headmistress isn’t in says, ‘I’ll just take a water, room temp, thanks love.’ and then when the door opens Beatrix greets Dowling with a simpering ‘I'm your biggest fan, I’m obsessed with Alfea...” and cascading apologies for swearing, with more swearing. Dowling and her secretary are as confused by this as I am but Dowling says Beatrix can study the history of Alfea in the library if she wants to. I assume this is evil Beatrix slyly getting permission to hit the books. Is Beatrix even a student at Alfea?

Cut to Bloom’s notebook, she’s already started taking notes about powers being linked to emotions, love hate and fear. Great initiative Bloom, but are there no textbooks you could be reading ahead in?

We get dumped back to a flashback: Bloom’s mom wants her to go out on a Saturday night, to a party or a movie or whatever teen thing. All Bloom wants to do is go to antique sales apparently. Bloom doesn’t want to be a “basic bitch” like her mom and her mom doesn’t want her daughter to be a “weird loner.”

Pause while I urban dictionary “basic bitch.” Huh. Not a term I ever heard in my circle of nerds.

Bloom and her mom are awful to each other. Back in the present Bloom’s eyes flame up as she remembers. She decides it’s time to go experiment! Right now! Before even one day of magic class or one page of a textbook! The idiot ball has entered play.

Night has fallen because of course it has. Bloom runs into Sky at the party. But she’s not looking to party, she’s looking for a place to be alone outside. Sky directs her to beyond the barrier, because we’re about to have Plot. If it weren’t for Plot I‘m sure Sky could’ve suggested a specialist workout area inside the barrier. Sky says there might be wolves or bears or “maybe something much scarier” and Bloom catches the idiot ball and says, ‘But no people? Perfect!”

Sky offers to go with her but Bloom says no thanks in a “I think you may be flirting and I may be down for that in the future just not right now.” kind of a way. Good character interaction! Except Stella grabs Sky for a chat once Bloom heads out to meet the Plot.

Sky and Stella have an opaque exchange that really just establishes they have a past of some sort that everyone knows about because everyone stares—or at least Stella thinks everyone is staring. I’m starting to feel weirdly sorry for this Stella who has none of her namesake’s sparkle and confidence. Why does she think all the realms are boring? Is she ever enthusiastic?

...wait, it’s still day! Why was it night inside?? This show is weird about lighting. Gosh Ireland is beautiful! Where’s this castle they got to be Alfea? Can I go there? This FOREST! It is a fully magical forest. Aisha is swimming in the river, with goggles and a cap but Bloom heads into the amazing forest. Good music here too! Forests and magic and music, come on Fate you CAN be a good show, I believe in you! Just put down the idiot ball and step away... Bloom goes through the barrier and outside it sees a swirl of orange and white sparkles in the air. She watches it and laughs and then hikes through a little more forest.

Finding a clearing Bloom calls her fire. At first she can’t, then she looks through the pictures on her phone looking for emotion. “Pictures of my sad teenage years are not happy thoughts. Noted.” She says with an angsty little smile. Then there’s a photo of the burned out house. She zooms in and stares at it taking in all the details. And we get flashbacks to the line of fire racing towards her parents’ bed.

Fire! Bloom turns her handful of fire this way and that, delighted, then tries for two hands. This is the scene from the trailer, playing with fire. Good music here. And good that Bloom thought the magic was neat… uuuuntil she realizes she doesn’t know how to put it out. She freaks out and waves her hands around trying to blow out the flames.

Aisha comes to the rescue and says dumb things like, “You’re losing control.” and “If you get angry at me...” and Bloom does get angry and throws lines of fire right at Aisha. Who looks terrified. Sensibly, but also has she never seen fire magic before? She grew up in a magic realm, does she know nothing about how to help someone get control? Is control taught to magical babies so teenagers rarely see someone wigging out? But if magic is emotion then everyone will lose control sometime since we all get upset. How does an emotion=magic society function?

Anyway. aisha pulls water up from the ground and puts out the flames.

Inside Aisha gives Bloom what for about losing control. Including, “Is that American for sorry I almost set you on fire?” Srsly, this show is Irish people and Italians stealth throwing shade at Americans! *Laughs in January 2021* Bloom retorts that she went away from people to experiment for just that reason, and tells Aisha about not having had fairy parents or any magical experience.

Aisha responds with the story of flooding her school including the toilets and having to wade through poo. (I also tend to call it poo, after watching Mike Rowe. I wonder if they watch Dirty Jobs in the Otherworld.)

And Bloom tells her story. Bloom isn’t a cheerleader, she likes antiques and staying home by herself, so she and her mom don’t get along. Her parents removed her door, which is awful! And Bloom got flamey eyes and sent fire straight at her parents while they slept. While Bloom sat on her bed in a rage trance. Understandable level of fury after that fight. And Bloom feels awful, also understandable. And she snuck out to sleep in a creepy warehouse to protect her parents. Her folks didn’t know it was her of course, they don’t know about magic.

Aisha says that beats her flood story, but Aisha is also wondering about something. “You drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. it’s hard to believe you’re from a dormant bloodline. Is there any chance you’re adopted?”

Bloom laughs. Then says she heard the story of her birth a million times, she was a miracle baby diagnosed with a heart defect but then after birth her heart was fine.

Aisha: “Oh god, you’re a changeling!” … ‘It’s barbaric and it barely ever happens anymore….”

Bloom has had enough and just says, “why would you even tell me that?” and leaves. Musa comes over and asks Aisha what she said. Aisha: “The truth. Because someone’s been lying to her.”

Cut to Dowling, lookin’ sus!

This changeling thing had better be fully explained later. Why was it done in the past? Why is it considered barbaric? What happened to the parents’ real kid? I assume she died of the heart condition, but that’s a bigole dangling bit of Plot. In the unlikely event that Fate goes for many seasons that baby will turn up with magic too or as a specialist or something.

Dowling pours tea. Then she telekinetically locks her office door and opens a secret passage! Dowling is sus.

Back at the party, where it again seems to be night. Dane is leaning on a column hangin out when here comes Riven with a flask! He offers, Dane says no thanks, Riven says, ‘There are two types of first-years: pussies and aspiring former pussies.” and pours the entire flask’s worth of booze into Dane’s cup anyway.

Dane says something about, “It feels like less a binary choice and more like a spectrum.” And points for the actor delivering this line like it’s a sarcastic comment on social juscice-ness rather than the large sign saying “Dane is not straight!’ that the writers intended. Dane drinks, makes a face, and Riven bullies him into drinking the rest, tipping the glass so Dane chokes.

Terra rides to the rescue, “Bullying the first-years? Can you be more basic?” and Riven says Dane was into it which he wasn’t.

Terra: “Thinks he’s some badass but you should’ve seen him last year he was just a tragic nerd in disguise.”

Riven: “And she’s just three people in disguise.”

Dane does call Riven out on that bit of nastiness but Terra just does a great lil speech and strangles Riven with vines. Thought I’d hate that but I kinda liked it. Go Terra. Then she introduces herself to Dane, says that wasn’t a great first impression but Dane says he’s about to make an impression by throwing up after a single drink, and Terra hurries him away presumably to the nurse.

Bloom google-imaged changelings! Lotsa woodcuts, someone’s fanart entitled “horror of fairy babies.’ There’s more nuance to it than that… Bloom looks at a family photograph.

There’s Stella, coming to be sympathetic? Nope, she’s coming to conivingly advance the plot! “You know there’s no shame in that, wanting a normal life, wanting to be home...”

When the girls get back Bloom is nowhere to be found. Musa mind-reads that Stella is wracked with guilt, They put it together, Bloom was talking to Sky and now she’s gone. Apparently Stella did something nasty to the last girl who talked to Sky. Terra is kinda straight up badass. Stella confesses, she kindly loaned Bloom the portal ring so she could go back to “the first world” but to use it Bloom has to go deep into the forest outside the barrier to a door in a graveyard.

Portal’s super low special effects, Bloom pushes open a door in a cemetary, the ring glows, and Bloom walks into what must be the warehouse she hid out in.

It’s very dark inside both buildings but away from the cemetary it seems to still be day so we can see a Burned One’s shadow coming towards the portal. Day and night seem to depend on location in this show, and anywhere you need a monster it’s gonna be dark! Bloom seems to leave the magic portal open and we see her step out on the warehouse into a weirdly well-lit night on earth.

Real actual nighttime on earth. Bloom walks to her parents’ house and calls them from outside. Her dad’s surprised she called twice in one day. This call her folks seem just worried and nice, not awful like they were in the flashback. Bloom cries. She can’t ask her parents about the changeling thing. Her mom says very kind, ‘Your path isn’t like mine or your father’s but I can’t wait to see who you become.” Bloom hangs up and cries and watches her parents in their house, then walks back to the warehouse to return to Alfea.

But first we get to see where she was camping! In a little office in the warehouse. She brought a lot of stuff, bedding and pictures for the walls and everything. She opens a notebook and we see that she was experimenting already, discovered she was fireproof, wondered if she had superpowers. Then she senses something and looks out through an interior window into the rest of the warehouse.

Yikes! it’s a Burned One!

Bloom staggers back, trips, and drops Stella’s ring down a grate in the floor.

Bloom’s never heard of Burned Ones at this point but she knows a monster when she sees one. She cowers, back to the wall. The Burned One breaks through the window and tries to grab her!

Bloom escapes into some kind of tunnel, I guess she opened the grate that the ring fell through? It’s not totally clear. There’s the ring, on the other side of a different grate or screen, Bloom can’t reach it, there’s lots of roaring, Bloom runs like hell!

And there’s Dowling! She says, ‘don’t stop now.’ and gestures Bloom through the door back to the cemetery. The door closes behind her. Terra, Musa and Aisha are waiting to make sure Bloom’s ok. Bloom says the Burned One got the ring.

Stella, meanwhile, is on Sky’s bed when he comes out of the shower! Dressed, at least.

Sky is not interested. “You can’t be here, Stell. If Silva finds out-’ Sky goes for his trousers but Stella comes over and snuggles up to his bare back. Sky is still not keen. Seems Stella dumped him then went silent all summer and now she’s jumping in since he talked to Bloom. Stella… comes out and says, “I got jealous. I did something really stupid.” and she says, “I can’t sleep in a room where everybody hates me.” For sending Bloom into danger to get home when that’s what Bloom wanted? Not great, Stella, but hateworthy? Did the girls all tell her they hate her or does Stella just think she’s an awful person? And is Stella actually desperately unhappy or is she just trying to get in Sky’s pants? Not sure what to take away from this. Sky hugs Stella and tells her she’s better than she thinks she is.

The others get back to the dorm and Aisha reassures Bloom that Dowling can take care of the Burned One.

Cut to Beatrix leaving her raid on the library with armfuls of books. She passed Riven, who’s smoking. They say flirty things and Beatrix says she’s been “snorting the midnight adderall” to show that she’s a bad girl. Riven offers her a puff but her hands are full of books so they do this almost-kiss so Riven can blow smoke into her mouth. Erotic, also gross. Is that a real thing people do? Riven asks Beatrix if she’s a first-year and she says “I’m lots of things” and walks off leaving Riven and the room he’s in, which has the most gorgeous arched windows with trees in them. Is this place real? It’s the same place the party was but now it’s night and these windows are glowing green with tree outlines in them. This has gotta be something the filmmakers added.

Pajama scene in the girls’ suite, Terra waters plants, Musa hops in bed with headphones on. Terra does a needy little wave. Musa reluctantly un-headphones. Terra offers a speaker she borrowed from her brother so Musa can have her music without shutting other people out.

And I cringe so hard because just let people tune you out if they want! Communicate by whiteboard! People not wanting to share doesn’t mean they hate you, it means they have their own thoughts they’re busy with! Come on Terra, be better than your novelization self!

Musa calls Terra out on her fake-happy bullshit. Musa can feel all of Terra’s insecurities and anger. Seems like maybe empaths shouldn’t have to share a room! What’s the range on mind reading? How did Musa hit 16 without learning to tune stuff out or going mad? But Musa says, ‘but if you want to know how I really feel...” and switches her music to a speaker, it’s guitar-y and nice.

Up in Dowling’s office, Silva says she should’ve killed the Burned One not left it chained up and knocked out in a shack outside the barrier. Dowling needs to investigate this Burned One, see if there are more of them. Then Dowling spills that Bloom is a changeling, from the time the last Burned One disappeared. And she says, “Rosalind kept so much from us. I’m worried about the students. The Alfea they know is very different from the one we attended.” There’s something very “there was a war before” about the two of them. Dowling may not be sus after all, though that may make her a terrible headmistress depending on how the next episodes go.

Montage of sleeping students. Terra and Dane are texting. Dane accidentally likes one of Riven’s sexy photos. Riven’s pleased. Sky and Stella are sharing a bed but after the last scene I can’t imagine they actually did anything. Sky seemed pretty unseduceable.

And outside a Mysterious Cloaked Figure passes through the barricade, finds the Burned One in the hut, and zaps it awake with lightning. It pushed back its hood… Beatrix! So if she undid her too-tight braids she’d be Stormy? So is Beatrix the villain? I mean obviously she’s a villain but the threat of the Burned Ones feels... bigger than one teenager in Bratz clothes who has not got the presence of even one Trix much less all three wrapped up together. But anyway she’ gets to be a doomful cloaked figure at the end of episode one.

Very pretty ending credits music. Listened to it several times. I can’t understand the lyrics which is probably just as well. Is it in irish or is it just sung in a way to not have clear lyrics? C’mon fate, Irishness is a big thing you’ve got going for you, please milk it for all its worth!

I… I LIKED it! Now my friends say future episodes get worse so I can’t get my hopes too high but this wasn’t awful. None of the girls really had any vibe of their characters, only Bloom and Sky really look like Bloom and Sky. The worldbuilding is lacking, I’m left with more questions than answers.

And oh god one episode was ten pages and about five hours. I… I meant to do this with every episode but I’m not sure I can. There’s so much to comment on it takes forever. Maybe I’ll do each one in parts. Or maybe I’ll abandon the writing and just watch the show like a normal person. It’s a lot of fun to fine-toothed comb each scene but I’m’a be here forever!

#fate the winx saga

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ryouverua · 5 years

Text

Chekhov’s Bathroom

RECORD SCRATCH -

so you may be wondering how I got myself into this situation -

PREVIOUSLY ON DANGANRONPA V3...

... we found out the classroom has an incredibly interesting mechanism that not only creates flashback lights, but immediately transforms the whole setup back to normal the moment someone comes in. WHICH. UH. IS HUGE.

Also, we’re nowhere near the girl’s bathroom - but we’re getting to that, I promise.

.... Also also, Himiko is alive, which is very good! And I’m super happy for her! I’m just, uh, distracted, that’s all.

L-LOOK HIMIKO I AM REALLY HAPPY TO SEE YOU BUT I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE’VE JUST UNCOVERED HERE -

Oh crap that’s right though! I guess we aren’t assuming she was able to dislodge it enough from her side by way of time and effort? .... I did just associate the word effort with Himiko, didn’t I. T-TO BE FAIR THOUGH, SHE HAS GOTTEN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT -

sweetcheeks has the cutest little ‘e-eto...’ sound clip istg

Aaaaw Shuichi! He’s gotten so much better at expressing his feelings!

LMAO HIMIKO

WE’RE TREADING INTO UMINEKO TERRITORY WITH THAT SORT OF LANGUAGE man she really is trying to change the genre even now

I was going to say you really need to tell her about the flashback light machine you found but now I’m afraid of bursting her bubble. 8′D

....

You know what? Speaking of adorable sound clips, her ‘KA KA KA - !’ is also cute af. Equality!

- another seacats references

sweetcheeks I’m sorry I can’t help it

okay I know that it’s just the building collapsing from the damage but at the same time -

“K1-B0 CAN YOU PLEASE WATCH YOUR AIM!”

“SORRY CAN’T HEAR YOU, I ONLY LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY FINISH MY FTES -”

I was just one away k1-b0 I was just one away -

“And how crazy would it be if someone died in an investigation, anyway - oh wait -”

Yet another bone for the my fellow Umineko fans but man I can’t get over the similarities between Maria and her - I honestly wonder if she was inspired by her at all. 8′D

ANYWAY IGNORE ME TIME TO DECONSTRUCT THE MAGIC SOLUTION -

..... you lost me. But I suppose that’s why she’s inviting us to investigate the bathroom with her -

HIMIKO. HIMIKO. FOCUS.

......... this would be a bad time to bring up the Love Hotel, huh.

It would also be a good time to bring up the whole flashback light situation too, but??? We don’t? Okay, fine. Moving on, I suppose.

MORE RUNNING - though at least it’s a lot closer than the other spots? LIKE A CERTAIN ASTRONAUT’S LAB LOOK I LOVE YOU KAITO AND TSUMUGI BUT FFS WAS THAT NECESSARY -

Omg I love Shuichi’s internal monologue here as he stares at the bathroom door and tries to psyche himself up after going in -

Full disclosure Shuichi? It’s just a room. I’ve accidentally walked into the guy’s room myself. It’s... just a room. It’s not a big deal. Just. Just go in there, dude.

SWEETCHEEKS. YOU ALSO NEED TO FOCUS.

IT’S REALLY NOT A BIG DEAL UNLESS IT’S IN USE.

One step two step three step you can do this Shuichi Saihara this bathroom’s got nothing on you, we have the Detective’s Authority on our side - !

“Please tell me quickly before I pass out from stress.”

................ this sounds more like the Chamber of Secrets to me, but okay.

Wait, no, seriously, were they connected? Since when was Junko’s hidden room connected to the bathroom? I swear they weren’t??? Wasn’t there a special control room and everything? Am I misremembering?

?????? Seriously, though? W-What in the world are you talking about???

Honestly if this appeared behind the sink I would have freaked out. .... Well, more than I’m freaking out, for multiple reasons. There’s the general ‘oh shit a secret passage’ and then there’s the more specific my brain associates two characters with this room because of a certain scene for shipping purposes and one of them is still alive, currently with us, and incredibly suspicious -

Oh goodness, how fitting that they left finding the hidden passage for the Ultimate Magician. 8′)

Where’s the exit then? Like, the hidden one that leads to the bathroom? Was it also concealed in case this room was discovered?

.................wait,

wait

WAIT

I NEED TO LOOK UP SOMEtHING -

BECAUSE I SWEAR

TSUMUGI SAID SHE WENT TO THE BATHROOM IN CHAPTER 1 WHEN WE WERE COLLECTING ALIBIS - or someone said she did? There was the whole group that went downstairs, Kaede and Shuichi in the classroom, and the ones left upstairs were Kokichi, Miu, Korekiyo, Tsumugi, and... Ryoma? K1-b0? Did Ryoma get invited down? He seems like he would’ve been an asset but okay now’s not the time to criticize Kaito’s ‘best fighters’ choices -

oh god where’s the screenshot I really didn’t document anything in the first chapter at all lmao -

I just - I just remember it being so weird at the time? Like a random tangent that went nowhere? She just said she went to the washroom, they followed up for like, five minutes, and then that was it - or... or something, right? Because she never went past Kaede and Shuichi? And then there were apologies passed around for accusing her, and I thought it was cute at the time, and I thought she was kinda cute, and Ryoma too, and oh god I miss them but I’m getting distracted -

OOOH MY GOD I ALWAYS THOUGhT THIS WAS WEIRD POInT BUt ULTIMATELY DISMISSED IT AS UNIMPORTANT WHEN THE GAME SEEMED TO MOVE COMPLETELY PAST IT

Enter through the bathroom.... run out and grab the handbook.... sneak back up while no one’s the wiser? What if Kaede’s plan had failed???? Then again, Tsumugi said she had the aura of a protagonist.... did she have that much faith in her to succeed? this is some twisted Kaemugi at work lmao

And omfg it wasn’t included on Rantaro’s map for the sole purpose of setting him up for some kind of ambush -

A mastermind who, honestly, was heavily hinted to be female with the initial ‘mother’ comments in Chapter 4 but has definitely been confirmed.

Also this game is really driving over how badly the mastermind screwed Rantaro over. what was it she said, backflip onto a landmine and die or something -

SWEETCHEEKS DID YOU REALIZE TOO???

Then again you didn’t have the benefit of being with me for the Chapter 1 fanservice scene... 8′D

GOOD.

T... thanks for confirming I suppose.

.... ew. Why can’t being busted stop you from talking, too.

Wait... really??? Why? Shouldn’t you and the mastermind have the same shared interests at heart?? Even if you’re at your end, shouldn’t you want to protect the identity of the mastermind - or at least keep on with this whole Kaede frame-job?

... But yeah, okay, I get it now - they’re trying to drive that phrase into my brain, and I think I understand why. I just, uh, wish there was another way about it, or that the wording could be a bit different, that’s all. 8′D

BUT WHY

OH NOW YOU’LL SHUT UP

oh ew it vomited like, motor oil or something. Eeeew.

>:|

Man K1-b0, even though I’m pretty sure it was Monotaro that caused the explosion, you really... really aren’t being careful with your classmates’ lives anymore, huh?

J-J... Just let her have this one, Shuichi. It’s okay to add a layer of fantasy as long as we can get the answer. 8′D

I’m so glad we have a little chance for sassy Sweetcheeks to rear his head.

I still want to get a visual on what the pathway looks like from the mastermind’s end but I guess just knowing it exists is enough. 8′D Ah well.

And then Shuichi says nothing LMAO SHUICHI SHE IS BEGGING YOU FOR SOME EXTERNAL VALIDATION

He.... he’s getting better, but man he’s still pretty obtuse when it comes to emotions. I’m glad that while he’s showing some improvements, he didn’t just transform all at once.

Anyway, after Shuichi and I try to leave and Himiko literally doesn’t move Shuichi realizes that there’s some emotional work he needs to do on the side of his detective work. Himiko still has to spell it out for him though. B-Baby steps, kid.

LITERALLY. HAS TO GUIDE HIM THROUGH HER VULNERABILITY. LIKE, HANDHOLDING HIM THE ENTIRE WAY.

.... Though this made me smile. Aaaaw, that’s pretty sweet. Just a thought, but I wonder if this is another case of him thinking everyone else is on the same page as him and projecting, the same way he does with his anxieties? ‘This is the clue that will change everything. And now that I know that, surely Himiko does too.’ It’s another example of him diminishing his own skill as a detective - “if I could do this, anyone can” - so naturally, he had already assumed Himiko understood this. Why would she be worried if she already knew the huge contribution she had just made, after all?

anyway small tangent ignore me

You’re the Ultimate Mage. :D

Sometimes I’m a little worried about indulging in her magic/escapism fantasies but then she smiles like this and I can’t help but think it’s worth it ~ she has been through so much, you know? She needs something familiar lol to lean on and as long as it’s not impending the investigation like it did in Chapter 2.... 8′D

Adrenaline is disappearing, huh? Well, keep that energy up - now we have to be nearly done, right? .... Right? What else could there possibly be?

“Shuichi come quick there’s something weird in Hotel Kumasutra -”

“NO. NO, I REFUSE!!!!”

“OH GOD COOTIES, THERE ARE DEFINITELY COOTIES EVERYWHERE -”

lmao Shuichi never change

#Ryou plays drv3 #Shuichi Saihara #Himiko Yumeno #drv3 spoilers #spoilers

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entelexcheia · 6 years

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(( #8, 10, and 13 for the multi-muse thing!! ^^

⊱asks for muns with a multimuse or more than one muse⊰ ( x )

Buckle up, kids. This is gonna be a long one. This’ll cover all muses currently on the blog so I won’t be talking about muses that have previously been on the blog but have been removed.

8. what is each of your muses otps? notps?

I’m taking the term OTP very loosely here to list some ships that I either like or dislike. ( Not necessarily my absolute favorite ships. )

Wilhelm

OTP - Wilhelm x Charlotte

NOTP - Wilhelm x Jack ( Big fucking no. ) , Wilhelm x Goku-Sotsu-Kun ( Sorry, I know, or at least think this one’s popular but I personally can’t get behind it. Goku-Sotsu-Kun comes across as too much of a megalomaniac to be romantically involved with anyone. )

Jack

OTP - Jack x Black, Jack x Flow Flow, Jack x Nia, Jack x ARMY ( Maybe…? I’m really on the fence with this one. ), Jack x Horizon

NOTP - Jack x Wilhelm, Jack x Gerhard ( I see them more as brothers than anything else, tbh. )

Gerhard

OTP - Gerhard x Poet, Gerhard x Minit’s

NOTP - Gerhard x Jack

Zizz

OTP - Nothing comes to mind.

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind. Maybe Zizz x ALT 2.0. ( After what happened to her in pop’n 20, I can’t imagine she has a positive opinion of Zizz. )

Charlotte

OTP - Charlotte x Wilhelm

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Roki

OTP - Nothing comes to mind.

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Baum

OTP - Baum x Rosalie

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Ikkei

OTP - Ikkei x Roku, Ikkei x Ichi no Myou ( Though, I see this as platonic. )

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

2st

OTP - 2st x Force, 2st x Lazuli

NOTP - 2st x Waka-san ( If portrayed as romantic. Just… no. )

Soul

OTP - Soul x Rain, Soul x Kureha, Soul x Espoir ( On the fence with this one. I’m leaning more towards a brother-sister relationship. )

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Rain

OTP - Rain x Soul

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Hiiro

OTP - Hiiro x Espoir, Hiiro x MAD†HOLIC

NOTP - Hiiro x Professor Shion

Rche

OTP - Rche x Unnamed angel from 純真可憐デザイア, Rche x Ashemu ( Not romantic. )

NOTP - Rche x Mamonis.

Parado

OTP - Parado x Trifolie

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

Trifolie

OTP - Trifolie x Parado

NOTP - Nothing comes to mind.

10. which muse is the most fun to write for?

Honestly, I’d say Gerhard. It’s fun to roleplay a bratty kid who likes to mess around with other people.

13. what’s a weird headcanon you have for each of your muses?

…What’s considered weird? I don’t really know, so these will probably just end up being ‘normal’ headcanons.

Wilhelm - He used to be terrible at dancing, to the point where he would actively avoid invitations to dance at any ballroom events. It doesn’t help that he’s actually kind of awkward when it comes to intimacy.

Jack - As much as Jack hates formal wear, mostly because of how uncomfortable it is, he doesn’t mind cleaning himself up every now and then. He can’t get used to looking like a “proper gentleman” and he definitely won’t adopt it as a permanent look but he will admit, he kind of likes it.

Gerhard - Gerhard is the type of person who’d mistake wasabi for green tea ice cream and eat it all in one bite. Nowadays, he sneaks wasabi into green tea ice cream so other people will suffer too.

Zizz - His head and his body are able to act separately from each other, though his head doesn’t really have much range of motion and he’s essentially helpless if his head is totally separated from his body. Wilhelm likes to take advantage of this.

Charlotte - Charlotte loves music and while she prefers dancing to it, she will occasionally make an attempt to play an instrument, though with little success due to her small stature. It’s for this reason that Zizz has given her a small piano, since it’s her favorite instrument.

Roki - Roki’s singing voice is similar to Akino’s. I’ve drawn direct inspiration from Akino’s singing to imagine Roki’s own voice. Sayaka Ohara’s voice is also another source of inspiration (Beatrice from Umineko no Naku Koro ni in particular). Roki’s voice falls somewhere in-between, if an amalgamation of voices is possible.

Baum - Because of his… creative imagination, he has a lot of weird euphemisms for things. For instance, blood and gore, to him, is “strawberry jam”.

Ikkei - Perhaps due to his sensitivity to the paranormal, he’s encountered a lot of supernatural entities, either befriending them or fleeing for his life. He’s acquaintances with a lot of the Asaki characters like Ichi no Myou and Hoshi no Hito.

2st - Star Khamen, the character from KHAMEN BREAK, is a distant ancestor of his and 2st himself is noted to bear a slight resemblance to him, hence why 2st was casted to portray Star Khamen in a modern-day film about the legendary rogue.

Soul - He has a significant following on various social media and his presence on the internet ranges from being a serious programmer who participates in lengthy forum discussions to being a total memelord who shitposts everywhere.

Rain - After it’s rained, if there are still puddles on the ground, Rain will go out of his way to lightly hop into each one, as if he were playing hopscotch. It brings him comfort. He won’t do this in front of anyone, out of embarrassment. His other personality, however, will gleefully leap into puddles without a care, even if it splashes other people.

Hiiro - Hiiro’s a very big eater, rivaling Rasis. When his regular meals aren’t enough, he’s taken to eating stuff like CalorieMate to sustain himself ( and the organism living inside of him) and meet his ( and the organism’s ) nutritional needs.

Rche - Rche has no qualms over consuming goat meat, despite being able to transform into a goat himself. He won’t deny that it could technically be cannibalism, but he doesn’t care.

Parado - He enjoys making card castles to test just how meticulous he can be and the largest structure he’s ever made ended up being 50 ft long, 20 ft high and 10 ft wide. He was so proud of it that he used magic to preserve it, because he couldn’t let all that effort go to waste.

Trifolie - If you manage to piss her off enough, she’ll threaten to feed you to a carnivorous plant. Those who thought she was bluffing (because carnivorous plants are supposed to be fairly harmless to large organisms, right? Right?) were in for a nasty surprise.

#hiprokku #OOC

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kyuu-rereads-umineko · 7 years

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Ep6, Chapter 2 (Part 2)

In which Battler gets a rude awakening, and Ange and Ikuko drop anvils on our heads.

When we last left off, Battler was making a beeline towards... Um, Meta-Kuwadorian, I guess? To meet with Beato.

hoooo god. Kumasawa is there, and greets him with, “Welcome, Master. Beatrice-sama is waiting for you. This way, please...”

The narrative is pretty obviously set up to parallel Battler/Beato with Kinzo/Kuwa-Beato, I’m aware of that, but oh god is Kumasawa’s greeting loaded as hell in hindsight.

“This place was a villa set aside for Beatrice’s use. It was a sacred site for her only, built so that she could spend her days without being affected by the outside world.”

Battler reflects on how glad he is that Beato was revived and “everything’s okay,” and I’m actually starting to feel a bit nauseous here good lord

“The dining hall [...] existed so that they could enjoy some black tea while discussing the truth, now that he had finally reached all of it.” As much as the Kinzo parallel throughout this scene is making me sick, the prospect of Beato and Battler talking things over once he figures things out is an appealing one.

oh goooooooooooood. Battler asks how Beato’s doing (and if she’s the “same as usual,” critically), and Kumasawa replies, “Oh yes, she is in very high spirits now. She has been waiting for you all this time, Master.” She doesn’t actually say anything to suggest Beato’s different somehow...

I think I need to adjust my thinking here a bit. On a logical level, I was fully aware of how Genji, Kumasawa, and Nanjo had a hand in Kinzo’s treatment of Kuwa-Beato (and how much of a role they played in Yasu’s downward spiral), but on an emotional level, I don’t think it really sank in until now, assuming this is indicative of how they responded to the situation in the real world as well.

I don’t know why this is making me feel so strongly now of all times, given that I’ve been well aware for a long time that everyone on the island had their own part to play in bringing about the tragedy, but... Eugh. I’ll be damned if Kumasawa’s behaviour here isn’t leaving a horrid taste in my mouth for whatever reason.

Anyways. Battler enters the dining hall, to find Beato... who bows to him. uh oh

She thanks him for “giving me this form,” and Battler, being Battler, breaks down into tears. okay who am i kidding i 100% teared up the first time i read this scene because i was relieved to see she was back

Poor Battler’s so caught up in his own emotions he doesn’t even realize at first that Beato’s demure behaviour isn’t an act she’s putting on...

He apologizes to her, and she replies that he has nothing to apologize for, calling him “Father” in the process. The music fades out almost immediately. hoo boy

“Beatrice was born for your sake, Father.” In hindsight, the way Ep6 handles this concept - that Beato exists “for Battler” - is something I feel very meh about. Thinking back on it in general, I suppose Ep6 is probably one of my least favourite episodes of the bunch - Erika feels like she’s overstayed her welcome (barring her death at the end, that scene was amazing and no not just because she died), the attempt at making her sympathetic falls flat on its face, the whole Greek Chorus thing with Featherine and Ange is kinda... weird (I do enjoy it, but something about it feels very strange, even beyond the whole meta in your meta in your meta shenanigans), Ep7 goes on to handle the question of “who does Beato exist for, if anyone,” much more gracefully than this (It’s still interesting to see the different halfs of Beato playing off each other, and I think it’s an important clue as to the nature of Beato as we know her and as a facet of Yasu, but it just doesn’t really feel... “right,” to me?), and to top it off, it goes on and on. I felt like Ep5 was stretching it with just the first twilight plus Hideyoshi as far as murders went, but Ep6 doesn’t even get past the first twilight. I mean, sure, a lot of the plot’s taking place in the Meta-World now, but still - seeing as Battler spends like 60% of the episode in a coma, it doesn’t really work for me.

BOY I’M GETTING SIDETRACKED A LOT HUH

Anyways! Battler asks Beato to stop being so polite and to talk how she normally does, and she’s completely clueless... Battler changes the topic to the food on the table, she replies that she wanted to prepare a “modest reward” for him completing the 6th game, and... Kumasawa interjects, still without explaining the situation to Battler. Sh-she does actually know what’s going on here, what Battler was expecting, right...?

Battler confronts her, and she gets flustered. Beato, meanwhile, gets ready to pop open a bottle of champagne, saying, “In the hopes that you will prove victorious over your longtime rival, Furudo Erika...” and Battler promptly loses it, scattering things everywhere. “Who... are you...?”

Oooh. I’d forgotten that when Beato replies, she uses “watashi” instead of “warawa”. Not that it doesn’t make sense, or that it’s a surprise, but it’s interesting in hindsight, given that the use of “watashi” in Ep4′s Tea Party was one of the biggest clues in the first half of the series to Yasu’s existence.

At any rate, when she repeats that she was “born for Battler’s sake,” he snaps and shouts at Genji (in another layer of meta? man i don’t even know anymore) to explain what’s going on. When Genji informs him that she truly is Beato, he states that she’s “totally wrong, a fake.” O-ouch...

It’s quite easy to read Battler’s denial here as similar to Kinzo’s (likely) reaction to Kuwa-Beato in the real world... which, granted, is the point, but still!

Again, for some reason (maybe her closeness to Yasu while she was a servant? shruuug), Kumasawa’s responses to Battler rub me the wrong way a lot more than Genji’s do, saying that Beato “was only born a short while ago” and that it’d “be cruel to expect her to act as she once did so soon.”

“The old Beatrice-sama had lived for a thousand years... This Beatrice-sama, on the other hand, was only born a short while ago...! If she appears to be a different person, well, that just can’t be helped...!”

Battler asks if that means he has to wait a thousand years for her to become the same Beato we all know and love, and Kumasawa says that someone’s personality is determined by more than just their birth. Cut to Ange and Tohya!

“Even if you had two of the exact same person, they could change enormously depending on their upbringing.” dot dot dot

“Even though they might be the same human to start with, their upbringing could change them so much they effectively become two different people.” dot dot dot

Ooh, I’d forgotten that this line is dropped so earlier - Tohya/Ikuko makes a comment about how the term “person” relates to “personalities,” and Ange thinks, “If a personality is what makes a person a person in our eyes, you could probably say that a second personality represents a different person entirely, even if it inhabits the same flesh body.”

In hindsight, this line is something else I feel kinda lukewarm about. I mean, it’s a pretty obvious “HEY READERS ARE YOU LISTENING,” thing, but good grief is it ever beating you over the head with the whole “SHANNON AND KANON ARE THE SAME PERSON” thing. Not very subtle at all, really...

“...It seems you’re quite a skilled reader... For most of my readers, it would be necessary to spend several hundred pages to explain how a single person can become different people depending on their upbringing and time.” LOL

And Ange fires back with, “Don’t underestimate your readers. We aren’t just reading. We read... and we think.” I wonder if we’re seeing a bit of Ryukishi’s internal frustration surfacing here?

That’s not a jab at him, for the record. Given Umineko’s underlying theme of making an effort to think about other people and understand them, I’d be frustrated to have readers dismissing it as impossible or what-have-you as well.

“If I make a hundred people read it, only 90 people will actually be able to. However, only 50 will actually understand what it means. And not even 20 will actually think beyond that... And all I ask is that they think it over a bit.” Hmm. Interesting echo on Yasu’s desires, huh... That even if a thousand people should read her tale, as long as just one person understands, that’s all she wants...

Ange observes that Ikuko’s forgery has the same “scent” as the message bottles, which is likely why the Witch Hunters became so interested in her to begin with. Well, that makes sense, given that her forgeries were written by someone who was actually there!

“...Why does her tale have the same scent as Beatrice’s, I wonder...? Is it because... she actually has reached the truth, as she claims? Does this mean that anyone who knows the truth could create an endless number of message bottles? Is that what the catbox world is like...?”

With Ange’s determination to find “a hint of the truth from within this story” so she can bring an end to the catbox, we cut back to Battler... showing the 6th game to a Beato piece.

After having a very one-sided conversation, he snaps again. Poor guy...

“You created many kinds of furniture, as well as several tales in the past... When I saw that, I was sure... you were having a great time doing it, but that’s wrong. You were... unbelievably lonely.” Oh, Yasu...

Battler acknowledges that chick!Beato is alive, and the Beatrice he knew as she was a thousand years ago, but the fact that she looks identical to Beato is what causes him grief. While there’s no doubt that Battler’s arc in Ep6 is very deliberately mirroring Kinzo’s arc with Bice’s death and Kuwadorian Beatrice, I feel like there’s a critical difference starting to surface here - where Kinzo was unable to emotionally accept that Kuwa-Beato was actually his daughter, until after it was too late for him to try atoning for his sins (whether or not he actually could is up for debate, but), Battler eventually does, at least outwardly. Even when chick!Beato regains her memories, he still seems to accept that the Beato he knew is gone, as shown in the funeral at the start of Ep7.

I suppose whether or not that’s a good thing, given that he still treats chick!Beato exactly the same as the old Beato come Ep8, is up in the air, but...

#kyuutext #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni chiru #dawn of the golden witch

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murasaki-murasame · 7 years

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Monogatari Series Rewatch Part 4: Bakemonogatari [Nadeko Snake]

I’m doing it, I’m finally getting around to this, aah. Here we go.

Who else is ready for two episodes of ‘if only you could understand how much drama and pain your superficial understanding of Nadeko’s emotional problems is gonna cause you down the line, Araragi’, cause I sure am.

Thoughts under the cut.

[This got way longer than expected. Can you tell that I really love Nadeko as a character, and love talking about her?]

PART ONE:

-I haven’t talked a whole lot about any art-related things in a while [since I never know how to phrase my praise for this sorta thing without being kinda repetitive and aimless], but I really love the plain colour/gradient effect used for stuff like the bamboo forest. It’s definitely a cost-cutting measure, but for some reason I really like it. I guess, in a weird way, I really like the simple backgrounds that draw more focus to the characters, and make the show feel like even more of a stage play where everything other than the characters themselves are just props.

-It still gives me the warm fuzzies, that Araragi and Kanbaru immediately got back to being friends after the last arc. Their friendship is a wonderful part of the series.

-And here she is! Snake girl! Hoo boy, this is where we get into the start of some of the extended story elements. Though from what I remember, you tend to leave this arc for the first time not thinking that there’s anything deeper to her character and that she won’t show up again. LOLNOPE.

-Just to get it said right off the bat, Nadeko is honestly one of my favourite characters in the entire show, at least from my vague memories of my first time watching the series. I found myself relating to her and understanding her issues way more than I thought I would. I think it wasn’t until Otori that I paid much attention to her, but I feel like that goes for everyone. I totally get why she’s such a divisive character, though. I respect that.

-And here we have one of the single most iconic and memorable anime OPs of all time. Holy shit this song used to be EVERYWHERE. So many parodies and mash-ups and remixes. It’s weird to look back at the original. Especially since there’s so many little elements to it, mostly in the lyrics, that really bluntly hint at her various issues, and the direction her story takes. One of the very first lines in the OP is, more or less, ‘if words will destroy our relationship, then silence is fine’. Though it’s hard not to see this entire OP as being really meaningful when it’s so connected in my head to the Nadeko Medusa OP. I still adore how Renai Circulation is basically Nadeko’s idealized view of herself and her unrequited crush on Araragi, while Mousou Express is a more objective look at how obsessive her feelings actually are. I love it so much. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

-Also, as a side note, I think this OP was my first exposure to the series before I actually sat down and watched it about three or so years ago, and for the longest damn time I seriously thought that Nadeko had green hair. It took me a while to get used to her normal hair colour.

-Oh yeah, this is the first time we see the shrine, as well as the talisman thingy. Huh. I at least thought that the talisman didn’t appear until as far as Nise or SS. Weird. It makes me remember how sorta surprising it was to see the shrine become such a recurring setting, and such a big element of the overall story. But it really does just keep popping up. It’s probably one of the things I have the least of a grasp of, though, especially with how the various goings-on with it fit into the timeline. But I at least remember that the whole deal with the shrine is that it’s like the spiritual hotspot of the town, and that everyone wants to use it for their own purposes, mostly in terms of using it to maintain ‘balance’ in the town.

-Senjougahara continues to be utterly savage even when she’s not part of the scene. NICE.

-Huh, I genuinely forgot that apparently Kanbaru’s arm is gonna heal over the next five years or so. Huh. That’s a pretty major thing to forget. I feel like they never bring it up after this point, though. So that’s probably why. I guess it slightly lessens the whole tragedy of what happened to her, but I guess it was probably a bit too fucked up of a concept for her to be stuck with a monkey arm for the rest of her life.

-For some reason I thought that the shrine was intact by this point in time and just got destroyed in a later arc. Guess not. [[If it’s not clear already I have a surprisingly shit memory of a lot of specific story details with this show. Especially in the early arcs like this. Since I haven’t watched them in several years. Also I’ve only read the LN versions of the first three Bake arcs, and have been procrastinating about the rest, so this is the start of where I truly haven’t really experienced the story in years]]

-Obviously this is a bigger aspect of later arcs, and I’ll discuss it more then, but holy shit does Araragi have the WORST memory possible. It’s almost hilarious how many issues in his life are caused by it. I can’t exactly blame him for not remembering one of his little sisters’ school friends who he hasn’t seen in six years but still. This is just a hint of what’s to come, I guess. And really his issue with Nadeko is less him forgetting her, and more him just not paying that much attention to her or trying to investigate her issues. Which, again, I can’t blame him for. Most of the things Araragi does like this are completely realistic and understandable even if we as the audience can see the dramatic irony involved.

-[Oh man, now that I’m remembering more of Nadeko’s story, it’s just now dawning on me for the first time how similar a lot of her story is to that one character from Umineko who I won’t name because of spoilers. They’re very different characters in general, but wow there’s at least some pretty overt superficial comparisons to be made. Huh. I need to remember to make a post about that character once I’m properly done with Umineko]

-Oh yeah, by this point in the story Nadeko was already going off into the mountains to ritualistically murder small animals. Yep. This sure is a thing that’s already happening. I forget the exact context of this, but yeah in hindsight this is a pretty clear indicator that she has some serious issues. Even if I can at least remember enough to know that she was trying to take the snake curse off herself. Still, stabbing hordes of snakes to a tree is messed up.

-I love all of Hanekawa’s shifty/squinty expressions during the whole scene here at the bookstore. She really does have a way of coming across as really composed, even though you can always tell, especially in hindsight, that she’s not as composed as she might let on.

-It’s still interesting to me how Nadeko’s hat makes her look a bit like a snake. Even her loose jacket kinda reminds me of shed snake skin. I know that basically all of the main girls have elements of their oddities incorporated into their designs, but I feel like Nadeko is probably the most subtle about it. Other than maybe Hanekawa. Either way, I really love this outfit of hers. I sometimes feel like wearing a jacket like that, but it always feels a little silly and pointless, and I’d probably worry about it not sitting still properly.

-I just got reminded by this one particular shot where he looks really nice, but, I really do think that Araragi is pretty dang attractive. I only really notice it with certain scenes, though. But when it’s there, it’s there. Obviously I’m sorta alone in feeling this way, lol.

-I appreciate Hanekawa taking the time to try and explain to Araragi that he’s way too wishy washy with his feelings, and way too nice and open with girls in a way that can come across as a lack of faithfulness to his actual girlfriend. It’s a lesson that he really needs to learn, as do many such protagonists. You can really get why Senjougahara is so clingy and distrustful in her own way. [Although I also do feel like Kanbaru is a weird character to use to set up this topic considering that she’s, you know, a lesbian. Oh well. Hanekawa’s point still stands]

-Huh, they’re already bringing up her intentions to travel the world once she graduates. Huh. I thought that only got bought up around Neko:Shiro. It’s also making me even more antsy about waiting for the eventual adaptation of Off Season because I REALLY wanna see that one arc that’s apparently about her travels.

-Oh boy, all these not so subtle hints about Hanekawa’s home life. My heart is not ready for when we actually focus on that.

-I seriously love every scene in this show that has red/orange lighting like this. It looks so fantastic. It really sets the mood.

-Of course the first thing Kanbaru does upon entering Araragi’s room for the first time is to loudly search for his porn while taunting him about how much she’s aware of his kinks and fetishes. Isn’t she the best?

-Yeah this whole scene is just as creepy as ever. Christ. Although I still cannot fucking believe that they reference that one goddamn meme during this scene as well. It’s surreal. Though not quite as surreal as Attack on Titan referencing it for a recent magazine cover spread. I’m still reeling from that one.

-I’m pretty sure that Nadeko is still only like two or three years younger than him, but this whole thing is still . . . iffy. But obviously it’s meant to be iffy and weird.

-Especially in hindsight, it’s really sad seeing Nadeko talk about hating her body, and wanting to be saved by the person she has a crush on. Damn. Though the whole idea of her actively asking to be saved really sets up the big issue with this arc [so to say] and how it sets up Otori. I just feel bad for everyone involved.

PART TWO:

-I’m loving the shadow puppet hands going on that look like snakes. It really adds to the creepy atmosphere. Same with the really stark contrast between the dark shadows and the bright bluish-white lighting. Also, I dunno if I’ve mentioned it yet, but I love how Oshino is just the master of setting up school desks and chairs in increasingly elaborate ways, and sitting on them in increasingly implausible ways. In general I just love the use of props, staging, framing, and body language to construct a scene, in addition to the dialogue that makes up the meat of it. Obviously this is where Shaft’s influence shines through the most, since this is exactly the sort of stuff that’s fundamentally not part of the LNs. It’s really interesting to me how they took something like the basic descriptions of Oshino sleeping on a makeshift bed made of desks and blankets and whatnot, and went completely wild with the imagery of it.

-This is just a matter of the version of the subs I’m reading, but man is it throwing me off how the dialogue subtitles translate certain terms differently than the on-screen text subtitles do. Especially since I can also obviously hear the Japanese term being used and I have a vague idea of it’s inherent meaning, so I wind up with like three separate terms for the same thing being thrown at me at once and it’s sorta disorienting.

-[On the note of subs, I probably should have mentioned this before but it’s so weird to me seeing Hanekawa’s catchphrase translated any way other than ‘I don’t know everything. I just know what I know’. Anything else feels kinda blasphemous, even though it’s by far the most petty issue I could have translation-wise. I at least feel like any translation of that line should be consistent, to get across the fact that it’s the same line being repeated. I feel like the subs I’m using have translated it inconsistently once or twice, and it bugs me.]

-OK I guess this is another sub note, but I must have glazed over the line of ‘Living without words, no, dying, huh?’ in the OP the first time round. Huh. It comes across slightly mangled in English even though it’s a kinda neat pun in Japanese [it’s basically using ‘shi nuki’ vs ‘shinu ki’. I’d use the actual kanji they use if I knew what they were, but yeah that gets it across well enough]. Either way, it’s one of the various lines in this OP that really bluntly hint at how much of an issue it is for Nadeko to hide her true feelings behind a mask of cuteness and silence. I like how, via puns, it manages to effectively equate silence with death, which is pretty accurate and foreboding, considering that her repressed issues turn into murderous violence.

-It’s one of those things that makes me seriously wonder how much of Nadeko’s character arc Nisioisin had planned from the start. I know that he kinda plays it off as ‘haha, her voice actress wants to play an evil character, let’s make Nadeko into the final boss lol’, but I’d be surprised if it was anything so spontaneous and unplanned. So much of this arc really blatantly hints at how disturbed and unhealthy Nadeko is, and her issues are left so blatantly unresolved in this arc in a way that feels almost counter to the entire theme of the story [which is exactly why it comes back to bite everyone later]. I at least like to think that he was planning it all from the start, and was kinda messing around with stereotypes to try and make both Araragi and the reader glaze over all of Nadeko’s problems, and the logical consequences of this arc, while just seeing her as a cute girl. I dunno. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit. I know that it sometimes bothers me how much the series really, unironically plays up the ‘look what a [superficially] cute and innocent and naive little girl she is! So moe!’ angle at times, even though pretty much the entire idea of her character is how damaging it is to ignore and glaze over a person’s depth and their problems by valuing them solely for their cuteness or youth or purity or whatever, so . . . eh.

-It’s definitely interesting how it looks like Oshino never even sees Nadeko for himself in this arc, and just hears about her problem from Araragi. Given how good he tends to be at noticing when a person isn’t a pure, innocent victim in their whole story. I wonder how things might have gone if he’d seen her up close. I could at least see him noticing the thing she does where she hides behind her hair.

-I just thought after seeing the scene describing the invisible snake that’s constricting her body and about to kill her, but there’s a lot of parts of the story that are interesting to examine if you want to interpret the oddities as mostly just being reflective metaphors for emotional problems. Obviously in the context of the story they’re literally real, but still, I think it’s valid to interpret things this way if only as a way to understand what role each oddity plays, and what they show about each character. [And it seems relevant to bring up with Nadeko in particular, since the entire twist of Otori is that the oddity in that was literally just a reflection of her emotional issues and not even a ‘real supernatural thing’]. It’s interesting to look at how, at least thus far [I forget what else we learn about the snake curse incident later in this episode since I have it paused partway at the moment so I’m probably gonna feel real dumb in a few minutes lol], we’re dealing with a case of Nadeko being bitterly hated by one of her classmates for simply turning down a guy that the other girl liked, and now she’s off in the mountains killing small animals to try and lessen this horrible, constricting pain that makes her feel like she’s about to die, which is making her hate her body, and just want somebody to save her. I mean, I know I’m just literally describing what’s going on at this point, but it’s definitely easy to not quite consider the extent of what’s going on here if you get caught up in the snake curse concept. It’s a bit too easy to get the order of events wrong and assume that this magical curse is the sole cause of her problems and her negative feelings, and that it’ll be totally fine to just exorcise it. And it’s kinda sad how even Nadeko, understandably, sees it that way too. It’s pretty obvious that she doesn’t want to examine her feelings and their root causes and how they affect her life and how she thinks, and as a young, sheltered girl she might not even have any real idea HOW to do that sort of introspection. It’s pretty depressing, really.

-They even point out that ‘the curse’ was mostly caused by Nadeko’s whole ‘killing small animals’ thing, but Araragi of course thinks it’d be totally fine if Nadeko just did the animal-killing in a different place. In terms of the in-universe logic at hand, yes it might have prevented the supernatural curse placed upon her by it, but even with that in mind, we’re still dealing with someone who’s ritualistically killing animals to try and alleviate their psychological pain and the self-loathing tied in with that. The story even implicitly spells out the fact that Nadeko’s actions weren’t caused by the supernatural cause, but by her own emotional pain, when it talks about how the animal-killing caused her curse. So the blindingly obvious issue at hand here really has barely anything to do with the curse itself. The curse isn’t really the cause of anything, it’s the RESULT of everything else. It’s almost physically painful to see Araragi saying all this and obviously not even considering that there’s issues at hand that will persist even after this exorcism. But again, it’s the sort of thing where it’s just dramatically ironic that he isn’t noticing something that we can more easily see as outside readers. Still doesn’t make it any less painful to watch, though.

-I seriously cannot even state enough that the story is really openly talking about how Nadeko was *ritualistically killing small animals* before any sort of a life-threatening snake curse was involved. Again, it’s super hard not to think that the author was totally aware of all this, and was planning her arc out from the start. I mean, the big thing with each arc, especially in Bake, tends to be about Araragi being mistaken about the order of events involved in a case, and/or not letting himself notice something about the girl in question that should be obvious to anyone else. But in each arc he’s usually told about the things he’s about about, and he figures out the truth in the end. So it’s super obvious how in this arc that point just . . . never quite connects. Araragi gets his moment of pointing out that the curse came after the snake-killing, but nobody steps in to push him to consider what that actually MEANS. And honestly I know that I give him a lot of slack for not really trying to get deeper into her problems, but at the same time it feels like you should really look into getting someone actual, non-supernatural help when they start killing animals to cope with their emotions. JUST SAYING.

-And yeah here’s a big reason why I find Araragi’s role in this to be kinda tragically realistic and understandable. He DOES, in his own way, start to consider Nadeko’s own emotional pain and her unhealthy way of repressing her emotions, and he DOES tell her that she doesn’t need to do that, and that she can open up to him if she wants. I think he handles the situation much better than a lot of people might. So I can’t really blame him much. Really, the major issue is just that even after hearing all this, Nadeko still doesn’t really follow his advice. Which is realistic and understandable and tragic in it’s own way. She clearly appreciates his kindness and dependability, but it doesn’t change the fact that she probably barely even knows how to comprehend and vocalize her feelings, and it doesn’t change the fact that she presumably doesn’t want to do anything more to violate her cute-girl image. She probably doesn’t want Araragi hating her, or being grossed out by her, or anything. Which just reminds me how much it also hurt me when she literally started crying when Araragi admitted that he felt kinda dirty seeing her mostly naked body. Like damn. I didn’t really talk about it at the time, but it’s honestly kinda just sad to watch how even when she was at her most exposed and vulnerable, even when she was literally begging Araragi to save her from her pain and self-loathing and how much her body feels constricted and stifling, his and Kanbaru’s reaction was mostly just to talk about Nadeko’s bloomer shorts and whatnot. Again, not really casting any blame here, but . . . damn. I don’t really know if I would have reacted any differently if I was in her shoes.

-On a different topic, I love the shot of the winding path and the river looking like two intersecting black and white snakes when seem from above. It’s a really neat image.

-’I don’t really remember that much from my childhood. My memory’s not that great’. I’m just gonna sit here and keep laughing at this whenever it gets bought up in the story. This is seriously the root of like 50% of his problems in life. It’s hilarious.

-But on a more serious note, we get yet another moment where he makes a vague yet sincere attempt at learning more about her and understanding her situation more accurately, but she doesn’t really tell him the whole truth [since he doesn’t really remember her and it’d just make things awkward if she discussed it openly] and so he obviously doesn’t really have a chance to understand the true overall situation. He clearly just ends up seeing it as something he can forget about and not dig too deeply into because ‘it doesn’t concern him’, but HOO BOY is that so not the case. It’s seriously painful how accurate and relatable it is for Nadeko to be hiding the exact truth from him, though, even if it’s unhealthy. It’s obviously worth pointing out that, just like Araragi, she also isn’t exactly aware how bad things will get for her and how much her own lack of action and communication will mess with her. And so she just continues to be evasive and quiet, while letting herself be happy that Araragi is at least being nice to her, and talking to her, and trying to understand her.

-I can just imagine Nadeko as a little girl, being pretty much alone, and envying the idea of having an older brother. Aww :C Especially when, as we learn way later in Koi, she’s pretty emotionally distant with her parents as well, and they also just mostly see her as being their cute daughter [I’m getting WAY ahead of myself and will discuss this more when we get to Koi itself, but I still vividly remember the moment of Kaiki trying to ask Nadeko’s parents to actually describe her as a person and they just . . . can’t.]

-Along the lines of what I said about the scene at the end of part one, it’s seriously uncomfortable and awkward how Nadeko gets put in a school swimsuit for this whole scene. Seeing her severe self-esteem issues and whatnot be framed through a lens of sexualization is . . . kinda disturbing. Even the fact that, even though she’s clearly not entirely comfortable with the entire situation, she still wants Araragi to look at her is kinda sad.

-Why you gotta twist the knife in my heart with all these flashbacks, anime? :C My heart just hurts so much for Nadeko on so many levels. I can perfectly understand how she so quickly and obsessively developed these feelings of romantic love and a broader desire to be seen and understood and cared for. [[Also this is a really nice instrumental remix of Renai Circulation]]

-Part of me wonders what’s going on in Nadeko’s head while she’s sitting there, praying to have her pain taken away. Part of me thinks it might just make me feel even worse if I knew.

-Oh yeah, right, this ends with them just . . . throwing the snake away and being like ‘eeeeh it’s not our issue anymore’, doesn’t it? And then lo and behold, the snake goes back to it’s sender who then gets manipulated by Ougi into attacking Kaiki. WELP. Like seriously so much of this arc is just ‘well this surely won’t come back to bite us, right???’ it’s hilarious. In a sad way. Also, I forget, but wasn’t the person who attacked Kaiki a boy, implying that the sender of the curse was the guy who confessed to Nadeko and not her friend? I can’t remember, and I forget if it’s ever even discussed. I guess it doesn’t matter that much.

-And then literally thirty seconds after I resume watching the episode, Araragi literally spells out that the guy did indeed send at least one of the snakes. Welp. I sure feel awkward now, lol. I guess I was kinda right, though, even though I forgot that BOTH of the other people sent her curses.

-Yeah this entire scene is just so goddamn uncomfortable to watch. Urgh. Seeing her writhing in pain like that is just disturbing.

-It’s still kinda surprising to me how this series manages to be more graphically violent and bloody than a good amount of anime out there. You really wouldn’t expect it. I always feel so bad for Araragi in these moments where he just gets the ever-loving shit beaten out of him.

-Oh yeah I forgot that Araragi is totally aware that it’s a really bad idea to let the snake go but he has to do it or else it’ll kill him. Huh. I guess it’s yet another thing where Araragi isn’t necessarily stupid about everything going on and the consequences of certain things, but they still turn out in such a dramatically ironic and tragic way. Welp. Though I do also like how it furthers the recurring deal with how the answer is pretty much never for Araragi to just physically beat down or tear away an oddity and solve the problem that way.

-Also, mad props for my girl Kanbaru for stepping in to stop him from getting murdered. He seriously needs people like her around or else his hero complex would have gotten him killed a thousand times over.

-It really is pretty messed up that they’re forced to perpetuate this cycle of curses and pain in order to save themselves and Nadeko. But it’s perfectly fitting for the pretty damn tragic nature of this arc and how the consequences of it play out for all involved.

-So I guess we’re meant to think that the snake sent by the other girl got successfully exorcised, and it was just the snake from the guy that was still around?

-Oh boy, and here we get into Araragi’s own issues with self-loathing. It really is sad seeing him feel undeserving of Nadeko’s gratitude because of how he had basically tried to protect the dude that placed a curse on her, and had almost died in the process. And of course it gets into his issues with being not fully human and how that messes with his self-image/worth. But at the same time I also get why Nadeko is sincerely grateful to him for saving her.

-Of course, this also leads to a really awkward yet understandable scenario where the story just . . . ends here, with Araragi clearly too defeated and depressed to even think about whether or not this actually fixed Nadeko’s root problems. Again, he’s pretty much always entirely understandable and realistic with how he never quite figures out her issues in time or succeeds in getting her to completely open up to him. He doesn’t really have the time or energy to think that he might have stopped short of the truth, so to say. And Nadeko is obviously unwilling to talk about her deeper issues, and wants to just express her genuine gratitude to him for having ‘saved her’, even if it’s pretty much only a temporary measure, as we get oh so brutally shown down the track.

-So that’s it for this arc. Now onto Tsubasa Cat. No idea how long it’ll take me to get around to it at this rate. I’m probably going to split it into two posts, focusing on parts one and two, and then three, four, and five. I’m not about to try and attempt five entire episodes at once, with this sort of set-up.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Inaction and miscommunication are pretty horrible, toxic things, but they’re still fundamental parts of human nature that will probably never go away. People will always have things about themselves that they don’t want to share. They’ll always have a constricting pain that’s too much to put into words. A person’s body can become something that they hate, even if it’s only so they can have something to direct their inexpressible, vague frustration and agitation and pain at. Especially when communicating and connecting with others on a deep level can be so painful. When it can lead you to just hurting them and burdening them with your feelings. When it can lead to them not properly understanding you [even if it’s partially because you don’t let yourself be properly understood]. It can be so much easier to wrap yourself in comfortable, romanticized, unchanging silence, even though a life without words is the same as dying. I’ll get more into the topic of Nadeko’s self-image and the concept of ‘being a cute girl’ later on when it becomes a bit more relevant.

This arc is an interesting one, especially in hindsight. But even the first time around, it’s still surprisingly dark and disturbing and uncomfortable to watch in a way that you’d never quite expect from how incredibly fluffy and upbeat of an OP it has [at least on the surface]. I’ve been on the outskirts of the fandom for a few years now, and it’s pretty obvious that this is among people’s most commonly disliked arcs, along with ones like Neko:Kuro and Tsuki. Though I’ve also seen people have issues with some of the pacing/exposition elements of Oni and the second half of Owari S1. But back onto this arc, I totally get why a lot of people dislike this arc. Especially when viewed on it’s own. Considering that it’s mostly interesting to examine as the first section of the overall Nadeko story arc. And obviously it’s not exactly clear to the viewer that there even IS an actual wider story arc for her until we get to about a third of the way into SS. It also doesn’t help that the TV version of this arc was apparently godawful, but I can’t really talk about that since I’ve only ever watched the BD version.

Personally I find this arc to be a fascinating start for Nadeko’s character, even if I probably didn’t like it much the first time around. But in a sense, I like it in hindsight for the same reasons I disliked it at first. Like how it seems to subtly but noticeably go against the structure of the show by having Nadeko’s issues not get truly solved. Especially if we look at it in terms of Nadeko’s perspective of events and where she’s at by the time things end. I imagine I probably also felt that the whole idea of Nadeko killing snakes felt sorta pointless, and that nobody in the story really cared about it. But that’s what makes it so tragic, I guess. It’s another way in which it goes against the grain of how the past arcs worked in a way that feels really subtly dissonant. Even when the characters acknowledge that Nadeko was doing these fucked up, violent things BEFORE she even had a curse placed on her, they don’t really stop to think ‘what exactly would lead to someone doing that?’ or ‘will those sorts of feelings and thoughts truly go away if we just get rid of this curse?’. You can’t really blame Araragi or Kanbaru for not properly understanding, for not realizing how much is going on in Nadeko’s head, and how much is festering in there and waiting to burst out in the most unhealthy way possible. She only lets people see a certain, relatively superficial side of her. And so this arc ends with the true issue not even being solved, and with only a temporary bandage put over it. And even then, the curse plaguing Nadeko just ends up stuck on it’s sender, so even that’s barely solved or gotten rid of. And obviously we end specifically on the note of Araragi being depressed and unable to accept any praise for what genuine good he did, and Nadeko being genuinely grateful for what he did, while not even fully understanding for herself what’s in store.

So basically this arc doesn’t resolve anything, it simply introduces Nadeko and her problems, and sets the stage for how these issues become so much more serious and lethal later on. And in that sense it’s pretty fascinating, even if it’s divisive.

Nadeko is one of my favourite characters in the show and I’m really happy to have a chance to talk about her. Even if I worry that I might end up repeating myself a lot when the story gets back to her, since I covered so much here already.

#murasaki rambles #monogatari series #bakemonogatari #this was only two episodes long but it feels like this post is even longer than the last one #I think this took about four hours to do in full #maybe a bit more than that #I'm basically giving up hope on catching up in time for Owari S2 #when each post takes this much time and effort #oh well #I'm genuinely happy to have a chance to ramble about how good this series is

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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INTERVIEW: Voice Actress Yui Horie on Tackling English in Anime

We almost never see them but they are incredibly important for our enjoyment of watching anime. Japanese voice actors play a big part in making us laugh, cry and be emotionally invested in our favorite shows. Many of them have gathered a big fan following thanks to their amazing talent of breathing life into our favorite characters or being amazing singers who can fill giant concert halls all by themselves—and we were lucky enough to meet one in person for you!

Recently, we were fortunate enough to meet legendary voice actress Yui Horie who attended the German anime convention Connichi as a guest of honor. She was willing to sit down with our team and enlightened us about the world of Japanese voice acting and the differences in recording when contrasted to Western voice actors, gave us some insight into the creation of her virtual idol Miss Monochrome and, most importantly, told us how Japanese voice actors approach the pronunciation of English dialogue.

Can you describe Miss Monochrome for those who are not familiar with her?

Yui Horie: First of all, thanks to Crunchyroll for streaming Miss Monochrome. I actually designed Miss Monochrome myself. She was originally intended as an enemy for my concerts, but over time, she became an idol in her own right and later even an anime. I think “Virtual Idol” is the best term to describe her.

It’s been a couple of years since Miss Monochrome’s first appearance in 2012. What was the most exciting part of this journey, and what are your hopes for Miss Monochrome’s future?

Yui Horie: I never would have guessed that Miss Monochrome would become an anime! We’ve been together on the stage a couple times and I wondered what the audience would think of it. I was really happy to learn that they like it. I think that a new kind of idol emerged through this. Sure, there are a lot of virtual idols and VTubers nowadays, but back then they were rather uncommon. It’s almost like she really exists. Speaking of which, are VTubers popular in Germany, as well?

People at least know about them, but they aren’t really that popular yet. For example, we recently collaborated with her at Crunchyroll Expo and showed her first concert but her popularity is still growing.

Yui Horie: Well Miss Monochrome is no VTuber, so it’s a bit hard to describe what she is. I suppose the best way to understand it is just to watch a couple of her videos on YouTube.

youtube

Are there any details that go into the creation of a character like Miss Monochrome that people aren’t aware of? What challenges did you face along the way?

Yui Horie: Of course, the technical aspect is rather difficult. Maybe it’s not as hard as it used to be, considering that the technology evolved over the years but back then, it was still something new and innovative. Especially, we were particular about the character’s movement since then.

Regarding my own contributions? Well, I just sketched the design on a blank piece of paper and my colleagues took care of the rest. I didn’t really do anything difficult. But I know that a concert hall must meet certain requirements for us to perform there—so that we are able to set up the boards for the hologram—you know these see-through panels. And this of course limits where we can perform.

Music director: When we add more details to Miss Monochrome, the quality increases as well. But we always have to keep our actual goal in mind and there is a point where we have to stop when it comes to details because of the budget. Making that decision is not always easy.

Yui Horie: Miss Monochrome is real, after all! But doing the robot-like voice can be pretty tiring sometimes.

What is the difference between the concert of a virtual idol and a "performance in flesh and blood?”

Yui Horie: Talking about Miss Monochrome’s concerts, obviously, it is rather hard to organise the equipment. A lot of work goes into that but overall, it’s rather simple. No matter where and no matter how many times, Miss Monochrome always delivers a flawless performance. She sings without flaw, dances without flaw—she is the perfect performer. But she always does the same thing on stage. We always look for ways to make each concert a unique experience. For example, we have this character, Monster-DJ Z, who entertains the audience. We always try to offer something alongside the visuals of Miss Monochrome and always think of new ways to do that.

Regarding my own concerts—I know how to entertain it and I have certain freedoms to approach it. But I’m made out of flesh and blood myself, so I get tired after a while. I think that’s the great difference: Miss Monochrome can give three or four concerts a day, I can only do one, maybe two.

What does the future have in store for Miss Monochrome?

Yui Horie: Well, in Japan there is this festival for AR and VR on September 23rd. A lot of popular AR and VR-Artists will perform there, like Hatsune Miku to name one example—is Hatsune Miku popular in Germany, as well?

Indeed, she is! Hatsune Miku is well known around here. In fact, there recently has been a concert in Cologne and she also often appears alongside our mascot, Crunchyroll Hime, on illustrations and such.

Yui Horie: I hope that Miss Monochrome can join them some day!

Anyway, like I said there is this festival in Tokyo. But it would be great if Miss Monochrome could also perform in Germany—or everywhere in the world, for that matter. It would be nice if she was known everywhere and that we could perform in as many countries as possible. We appreciate every offer!

Let’s focus on your work as a voice actor: How much time do you have to prepare for a role? It must be difficult having so many different roles at the same time.

Yui Horie: When we talk about an anime that is based on a manga or a novel, it’s actually pretty simple compared with the original anime. You can easily prepare yourself by checking out the source material. But when it comes to an original work, you have to record your lines without knowing what comes next. You have to get a feeling for the character. We talk with the director and the rest of the staff and discuss where the character is supposed to go and because of that I think that it is essential for a voice actor to be adaptable.

I start by recording some lines for a role and then I get directions like "a bit younger," "a bit colder" or "a bit meaner." I have to change my speech pattern on the spot. Even when I’m able to prepare for a role, it might still happen that we notice during the recording that it doesn’t quite work that way and that I have to do it differently.

In the West, it’s pretty common for each voice actor to record their lines alone. Are there any difficulties to record in groups? Something people might not be aware of? What is in your opinion the advantage of group recordings?

Yui Horie: There are situations where you have to record by yourself in Japan, as well. This is mostly the case for games and narrations. But yes, its common practice that everyone involved in an anime episode record their dialogue together. Dialogue is a form of human interaction, after all. When I practice my role alone at home, it might happen that I have a different idea of how to perform a line than my partners. And you have to adapt to that. This creates a certain bond between the actors and their characters and I think this is the greatest advantage of the Japanese method.

But when I’m recording lines for a game, I’m sitting alone in the booth. I can let my creativity run wild and focus on my own vision. I think that this has its benefits as well. But you need a lot of imagination, as you have to imagine how the other characters would react.

What the difference between working on an anime and working on a game, especially when it is an extensive work like, for example, Umineko no Naku Koro ni?

Yui Horie: The script for Umineko was very big. Someone with a lot of endurance records for maybe four to five hours a day. If they don’t finish in that time, they continue the day afterwards. In my case, it depends a bit on the role, but I usually record for three hours a day which adds up to about 400-500 words of dialogue. Some fast people manage up to a 1000 well and I continue with the script when I am free to do it.

What is it like for a Japanese Voice Actor to speak German or English in anime?

Yui Horie: Well the English we use obviously still sounds very Japanese, for example something like “Sandaaboruto” for example. But I’d also like to know: How does it sound to you?

Well, you usually notice that voice actors just act out the Katakana transcription, but it’s also creating a certain charme for many fans. Just to name an example, fans of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure love to quote the broken English of the show. Many consider it a part of the experience.

Yui Horie: Well, when it comes to stuff like spells, I usually just read off the Katakana. But there are some characters that are supposed to speak English properly and that’s always rather exciting. Usually someone stands beside me and dictates how I’m supposed to pronounce a word and I repeat it afterwards. But that is rather taxing and it really depends on the situation and the person. Some prepare themselves for this by listening to recordings. I prefer to let others dictate me how to say something.

Does it work the same way when you speak German?

Yui Horie: Place names and monikers are often German. Those are always written down in Katakana and I usually just read them off. For example I can say “Gute Nacht“ [Good Night] and in Katakana, this would be “Guute Nahato” or I can try to say it in proper German and form the word “Nacht.” There are some vocals that simply don’t exist in the Japanese language and if it is written down in Katakana, I simply read those. If I get the task to say something as German as possible, it’s far more difficult. For example, in Katakana, if you have names like Dresden, the script simply says “Doresuden” and that’s how I pronounce it, even if it is “Dresden” in proper German.

To close things off a bit of a joke question: Do you think vacuum cleaners make for the ideal pet and if so, why?

Yui Horie: Since I don’t get to clean my house that much myself, I would really appreciate it if my pet could take care of it. If I had a dog, it would only make a mess while Ru-chan, appearing in Miss Monochrome anime, would clean everything up, so that would be really handy. So yeah, I think they would make for the ideal pet!

Thank you very much for the interview!

“SHOWMAKER” - Shaped by your ideas - is one of the most popular games, and a tool that will let you create top-notch live stage performances quickly and easily. With SHOWMAKER, you can design a full SHOW in just 4 easy steps. Work with other producers from around the world to put on the ultimate SHOW! Download “SHOWMAKER” now!

➡️ Get SHOWMAKER on Steam today! ⬅️

➡️ Don't forget to watch Miss Monochrome on Crunchyroll! ⬅️

---

René Kayser is the PR and Social Media Manager for Crunchyroll Germany. He tweets @kayserlein where he yells at people to finally read the visual novel Umineko When They Cry.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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gilgamemesh · 7 years

Text

Heyo I found this old Umineko meme in my drafts and I think I typed these up in 2016 (so heads up some sentences are oddly phrased)? And it’s not all of them, but I figured I should upload at least the ones I had here.

Day 01: Why did you start watching Umineko?

I remember seeing small bits and pieces when I was younger. Extremely well I remember the part where Chiesters kill everyone in the dinning room because after I saw that part I realized I really genuinely just love gore and that was actually how I became the disgusting gore fiend I am now.

But yeah in general I got into Umineko because the OST was a real blast and I found the general aesthetic of the game really fascinating! And later when I learned it’s also a mystery story I REALLY wanted to start it because I really enjoy mystery genre even though I don’t consume it as much anymore as I used to at some point in life. I started the anime only after VN because I just wanted more seacats no matter the cost.

Day 02: How did you start out with Umineko? Through the anime, the manga, or the VN?

I started with VN and then moved to manga, but in a way the OST was my first Umineko experience!

Day 03: Do you read the VN, watch the anime, read the manga, or all three?

I’m done with VN and will finish mangas and the anime soon!

Day 04: Which are your favourite battles between Beatrice and Battler?

Day 05: Which are your favourite scenes between the witches?

Day 06: Which are your favourite scenes in general? One from the VN, one from the anime and one from the manga.

I think my favourite scene from the VN is the love trial gun battle between Shannon and Kanon. I had already figured out the deeper meaning of the duel between them so I could already enjoy the emotional suffering of it. The music and scenes and overall just the combination of images, text and music was really impressive and I remember I got chills more than once. I also really, really love the Jessica vs. Ronove battle.

From manga I think it’s the confession chapters of episode 8 manga. They’re really impressive and strong chapters with so much raw emotion it left me with such a strong impression I consider it one of the most memorable chapters of any manga I have read. I also kinda cry every time I read it so there is that too.

I really liked the scene where Shannon looked like she was flirting with Jessica

Day 07: What do you like most about Umineko?

ALL? I honestly have hard time deciding because there are so many things in Umineko I really love.

The way the women of this series are written is so good and the variety is amazing like we have women from age 6 to mid 90s here and the witches are in a category of their own! Someone once said that the way the women are written in a story actually determines the entire story’s worth and if that’s the case then this is a really good work (as it is).

The characters in general are honestly one of my favourite things because Ryukishi’s way of writing people of different ages and from different settings is really convincing and feels really realistic for me. Especially certain types of abuse shown are something I have seen and can relate to as I have seen and/or experienced similar in real life.

I also like the fantasy and mystery blending into one like sometimes (and I still do, actually) I feel like I’m reading multiple stories at the same time and in my head while I consider the Rokkenjima prime the truth of the human world but the witch side story is kind of a story on its own too. But those stories don’t exist in the same world, there is no room for more than one. For me, a reader, it’s multiple stories, but for the human characters... that’s another story.

Day 08: What would you have changed about the anime/manga/VN if you had the ability to?

More Lion Ushiromiya please and thank you

Day 09: What do you like about the Umineko fandom?

They reblog my art They are surprisingly active here on tumblr considering how long ago this series has already ended! I don’t do much with the fandom in general though so I can’t see much! I really appreciate all the essays and theories though

Day 10: What do you dislike about the Umineko fandom?

I feel like the opinions sometimes are really dramatically divided so that they’re either really offensive or too “shh shh you can’t talk about this it’s offending”? Like sometimes the middle ground with certain things and topics seems to be completely missing. You can talk about sensitive subjects without being TOO careful but also without being offending. It’s possible. Believe it or not.

Day 11: Your favourite witch

I would be lying if I said it was someone other than Beatrice! Although I love and appreciate all the witches featured in the series, Beatrice has a special place in my heart for nostalgia reasons. As the most popular character of the series, she was one of the first characters I learned of and she kept popping up everywhere during a certain time in my life. I knew almost nothing about her honestly but for some reason I was really attracted to her design and the bits and pieces of little information I got of her personality and behavior. After playing the game I can tell I love her even more obviously, haha!

Day 12: Your favourite Ushiromiya

ALL OF THEM but okay honestly if I really need to pick one I will just go with my pre-game-bias Lion! I actually used Lion as my ultimate motivation to start the game because they looked really fun + 15-year-old me apparently was interested in cosplaying Lion because we used to have a similar hair style, haha (as I’m typing this I’m already working on the cosplay btw).

I also really love Battler and Jessica they’re both darlings and while I LOVE George and I’m always ready to defend him when he is being accused of things he didn’t do I just kinda like Battler and Jessica a little more (as Battler is really relatable and Jessica is the best girl(tm) )

Day 13: Your favourite couple

Eva and Hideyoshi honestly kill me but like, in a good way. I really, really liked their interactions and I was very positively surprised when I learned that despite an arranged marriage pretty much, the two of them seemed to very genuinely love and care about each other. And especially Eva often talked (along the lines of) how marriage is not just feelings but it’s something you and your partner work together on and make it grow as you bond and it kind of changed my view on marriage a little even though I was aware of this beforehand already.

Day 14: Your favourite non-canon couple

*coughs at the general direction of Willion*

Their interactions are so fun I literally don’t care whether it’s romantic or platonic, I just enjoy seeing them together!

Day 15: Your favourite character in general

Natsuhi / Lion / Jessica / all of Yasu is the way to go, I suppose?

Day 16: Your least favourite witch

She is not my least favourite honestly I ADORE Featherine but I feel like her screen time was so small compared to the rest of the witches my brain prioritizes the other witches before her. But honestly she is so cool and I love her smug face so much and I wish there was more of her so I would learn to love her even more through canon interactions!!

Day 17: Your least favourite Ushiromiya

Man idk Kinzo maybe? I understand he suffered on his own and had his own difficulties and probably (most likely) wasn’t mentally quite alright but I still have hard time dealing with what he did to the people around him. Kuwadorian Beatrice aside, he was still cruel to his other children too and I just can’t really deal with that.

Day 18: Your least favourite couple

have you ever gone to pixiv and seen BattlerxNatsuhi and just quite frankly wanted to die

Day 19: Your least favourite character in general

Day 20: Your most favourite song from Umineko (can be a vocal song, or a BGM)

BIRTH OF A NEW WITCH! I used to listen that song a LOT when I was younger and ironically suffering from many of the issues that were also more or less featured in Umineko. Whenever I listen to the song it makes me feel really powerful in a way haha but also sad because I remember listening it a lot while being extremely sad and lost with my life and myself.

I also really love this version of Alive

Day 21: A series that you feel is similiar to Umineko other than Higurashi and why

ACE ATTORNEY............. It’s the whole loose concept of arguments and murders and mysteries but also the sometimes incredible kind of humour and series of events that keep happening. That, and Phoenix Wright and Battler remind me of each other and it always makes me laugh.

Day 22: Other 07th Expansion series that you like

Day 23: Post a picture of a Umineko cosplay you really like

Day 24: Explain the red truth, the golden truth and the blue truth in your own words.

Day 25: Could you have solved any of the mysteries Beatrice posed, personally?

I DOUBT THAT because I’m really bad with locked room things these days?? I used to be pretty good as younger because I was disgustingly into detective stories and the like but now I have gotten older and forgotten even the basic settings of how to build a locked room :’’’)

I did figure out other things on my own though and I could give a human side explanation to some of the magic featured but yeah. I couldn’t have done it better than Battler at all.

Day 26: A character you hate and love at the same time.

ERIKA she is such a nasty person but I also love her so much and I find both her and her writing very interesting. I would absolutely never get along with a person like her (especially because we share a lot of negative traits) but she is so good as a character and worthy of my adoration < 3

Day 27: A crossover with Umineko that you’d like to see? (No Higurashi, please.)

Umineko x Fate??? I can’t believe Kinzo Ushiromiya started the holy grail war and forced his relatives to take part.

Okay but really I have no idea how it would work honestly but it would be exciting probably because both Fate and Umineko are my main fandoms and subjects of endless love and adoration xoxo

Day 28: Witches vs Humans, which side do you take?

OKAY LISTEN I was asked this question multiple of times before and during the game and at FIRST I picked the witch side. Because, like, it somehow feels more “right” to me in a way I can’t explain. But having gone through Umineko now, I don’t think I can choose a side. I think everything is more exciting if you can balance between the two sides instead of taking just one.

Day 29: Do you believe that Yasu is the culprit? Why?

culprit [kuhl-prit] noun 1. a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault. 2. a person arraigned for an offense

Going with this definition yes, Yasu was the culprit. But Yasu was not the only culprit, and Yasu in Prime didn’t end up being the one who did the actual killing. As she said in the rules, if someone solves the riddle she will give up on her murder deed.

Yasu is the culprit and the one who even ended up aiding Kyrie by placing the guns on the table and predicting what would happen, but she is not the one who actually killed the others. It was a decision from Kyrie’s part to carry on with the murder plan. Yasu would be punished too if put on a trial but Kyrie would most definitely, along with Rudolf, receive a bigger sentence than Yasu.

Day 30: A phrase you find most memorable from the series (Anime, Manga or VN).

“And everyone was there. Everyone, everyone, everyone.”

When I read those words I legitimately started crying. I just suddenly started crying and kept going for like five minutes with my face absolutely covered in tears. I was smiling so hard but at the same time crying so much. Umineko was such an intense ride for me and I could see myself and my life situation in many of the events portrayed and finally coming to the end of the long journey made me feel like I had changed somehow and I had to let the old feelings out in order to have room for the new, better feelings.

“I can hear us howling in pain”

Like I said earlier, the confession chapters in EP8 manga are one of my favourites due the emotional impact of them. We get to see Yasu’s inner struggle

#cai's seacat adventure #god I cant believe I still remember this is a tag I used for my shitposting

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