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beneaththetangles · 4 years

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BtT Light Novel Club Chapter 23: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 2

Realist Hero is one of the best-selling light novels currently without an anime adaptation. That will change eventually as an anime adaptation has been announced recently, but it is still a novel that has gotten quite popular among English-speaking light novel fans. It was also one of the earlier titles we covered in the Light Novel Club, and one of my personal favorite series, so I figured it was time to revisit it, this time with Jeskai Angel, who has written about the series before. Without further ado, let’s take a look at volume 2 of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom!

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1. What are your overall thoughts on the volume?

Jeskai Angel: This volume was what convinced me to keep reading Realist Hero instead of dropping the series. Way back when I read the first volume, I thought it was actually pretty lame. Souma was a pedantic know-it-all; he may not have been OP in a combat sense, but he was ridiculously OP in terms of his knowledge level. And displayed this by pretentiously lecturing everyone (including the reader) about every topic under the sun. However, because stardf29 spoke so highly of the series, I decided I’d give the second volume a try before giving up completely.

And, well, I went on to read every volume that’s been published so far. This volume pushed the story more toward military strategy, political intrigue, and international diplomacy, which I found a welcome improvement. Those topics remain central to the story in subsequent volumes. I think this series tends to be at its best when Souma is playing the role of heroic mastermind, rather than serving as an adjunct professor of economics at your local community college. Reading through vol. 2 again for this discussion, I felt confirmed in my opinion that this volume is vastly superior to its predecessor.

stardf29: Yeah, I also felt that Volume 2 was where the story really picked up. Volume 1 was fine but if it had just stayed at that level it wouldn’t have become one of my favorite light novels of all time; it would probably just have been “pretty good” for me. But with this volume, there are way more elements at play that start to expand the scope of the novel.

I think what I liked most about this volume is how there’s so many different parties, some allied to Souma, some not, all doing their own part. And as the point of view shifts to these different parties, we see where they all come from. This was something we touched on in the volume 1 discussion: it shows how the story is not just Souma’s story; he might be the “main character” but everyone else has their story in the greater story as well. And while volume 1 does do this a bit, it’s here in volume 2 where that really expands out even beyond country borders.

2. What are your thoughts on the characters?

A. Souma

Jeskai Angel: Souma feels more balanced / less OP than in the first volume. I appreciated seeing how he struggled with the weight of responsibility. Similarly, while it’s great seeing his clever plans succeed, they don’t always work out, and that’s good too. In this volume, Souma actually faces human opponents with plans of their own. That means he’s forced to adapt to the unexpected. He feels more human this way, a satisfying balance of cunning and fallibility.

This is a good chance to raise a question I’ve had before. It’s extremely common in isekai stories for the Japanese characters to refer any sort of killing as “murder,” no matter how justified it might seem in context. E.g., in this volume, Souma refers to Gaius’s death as “murder,” despite the fact that he’s killed during battle. Do the Japanese today tend to consider any kind of killing, regardless of circumstances, to be murder? Or is there some other meaning to their use of this terminology?

stardf29: Definitely agree with the assessment of Souma being more balanced, struggling with responsibility, and having more “difficult” and human opponents to deal with. I really like the moment when he realized that he had basically taken on a fake “king” persona in order to cope with the reality of war. And it’s not just that he has moments of weakness, but that he also feels like he can’t show that weakness to the girls that are closest to him. He might have the mental knowledge to handle being king, but it’s nice to see that at least when it comes to the emotional aspect, he’s still very much normal.

I don’t know the answer to the whole “murder” question, but I can imagine some people having an aversion to killing anyone, no matter how “justified” it is. Maybe they want the world to be as peaceful as possible and hate the thought of anyone dying, or maybe ending someone else’s life makes them think of how someone might kill them for a “justified” reason someday. (Or there might be some other reason I’m not thinking of.) This might be even more prevalent in Japanese culture for various reasons, or it might not. I’d have to consult someone more knowledgeable about Japanese culture on that.

B. Amidonian royals

Jeskai Angel: First, LOL at Gaius, Julius, and…Roroa? One of these things is not like the others, you know? The first two names bring to mind Gaius Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire…but Roroa? Maybe it’s symbolic? Like, her dad and brother have names that (especially together) evoke a famous historical conqueror, while her name is nothing like theirs in order to communicate how different she is from them? Well, anyway, Roroa doesn’t have much of a part to play in this volume, although there’s some heavy foreshadowing she’s got schemes of her own.

Gaius, and Amidonia in general, bring to mind various real-life examples of leaders and peoples bent on avenging past losses. Many in France looked forward to what become WWI because they wanted revenge for their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War a few decades earlier, and they especially wanted to reclaim the territories of Alsace and Lorraine from the Germans. The Nazis used vengeful rhetoric, too, wanting Germany to avenge its defeat in WWI. Even today, there’s still a ton of conflict relating to Israel (the political state) and various groups seeking to “reclaim” what they consider “their” lands — even though Israel has controlled those lands for decades. It’s interesting that the author seems to consistently portray this whole revenge-and-reclamation obsession in a negative light, implicitly repudiating it. Since Japan lost the last war it fought, I wonder if that’s any kind of commentary on the views of at least some Japanese people?

Julius gets more screentime than his sister but less than his dad. We get the impression that he’s a blend of the two of them, actually. It seems pretty obvious, based on how this volume wraps up, that we’ll be seeing more of Julius in the future.

stardf29: The concept and condemnation of Amidonia’s obsession with revenge is interesting because the Amidonian rulers have actually incorporated the desire for revenge and reclamation into the very identity of their country. So it becomes an issue of patriotism and national identity as well, especially as the rulers have assumed those elements of national identity into their personal identity. And once something has become part of your identity, it’s hard to even think of doing things a different way.

I do like how the three main royals represent a scale of how much this national identity has become their personal identity. On one extreme we have Gaius, for whom it has taken over so much that he sees no other option than to pursue revenge, even when there’s no hope of victory and all he can do is a final suicide attack. And on the opposite end there’s Roroa, who refuses to accept that identity and seeks a different way. In the middle is Julius, who has taken up that identity to an extent, but shows signs that it hasn’t gotten to the point of his father, though we’ll have to wait until later volumes to see where that leads him.

C. Souma’s girls

Jeskai Angel: Liscia is still cool. She was one of the better elements of the first volume, and had some really great moments in this one. We see her continuing to grow closer to Souma, showing that she understands him, expressing determination and loyalty with the haircut stunt, frantically trying to get her friend Carla’s life spared, and serving as a mage-general on the battlefield. She has good chemistry with Souma, while her relationships with Georg and Carla show different sides of her and make her a more realistic character.

Aisha is still Goku. Except she’s a female elf, and is less likeable. Castor was right on the money with his “idiot strength” comment. She’s probably my least favorite character in the whole series, so it was great (from my point of view) that she’s mostly in the background in this volume.

This volume does have the bizarre plot point of Juna being commander of the kingdom’s marines. To be fair, young-person-with-absurd-authority is a common trope, so Juna is hardly unique, but it still seems bizarre that someone her age could have found time to both master singing AND become a great warrior. IIRC, the fact that she’s an elite soldier and military officer mostly goes unmentioned after this volume, making me wonder if the author realized it was a bit much and decided to drop it. Young, beautiful, world-class singer who also happens to lead the nation’s marine corps? I find it hard to swallow. Juna is one of the less well-written, less interesting members of Souma’s harem, and I still feel she lacks chemistry with Souma, but at least she’s less annoying than Aisha.

stardf29: I can agree with Liscia and Aisha. Kind of ironic that Aisha is the cover girl but doesn’t have much of a role in the story beyond being a combatant.

As for Juna, it’s definitely a bit much for her to be a Marine leader on top of everything else, but I figured that just comes with the territory of having Excel as a grandmother, and Excel is… well, quite something, to say the least. And while she’s also lower down on my “girls ranking” list for this series, I do think she has at least some “chemistry” with Souma, at least with how she has assumed the role of the “slightly more mature girl who cares for him” and helps “hide his weakness”. I mean, I prefer the “chemistry” that he has with Liscia (and with other girls later on) but at least it’s something… which is more that can be said for Aisha.

Jeskai Angel: That’s fair. Between Juna and Aisha, Juna is definitely the better character (even though I’d only rank her fourth, after Liscia, XXXXX, and XXXXX).

Short-haired Liscia is good, too.

D. The Dukes

Jeskai Angel: I do need to talk about Castor. I can only conclude that he worships Duke Carmine, because he gives Georg the sort of absolute trust and loyalty of which only a god could be worthy. He even divorces his wife for the sake of his freakish devotion to his friend! It’s insane. If someone is acting in a way that seems totally wrong and/or irrational, and they refuse to explain themselves no matter how many times you ask what’s going on… MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T BLINDLY FOLLOW THEM. Just saying. Yes, it turns out Georg actually does have good intentions, but that kind of ex post facto justification in no way excuses Castor’s folly here. Of course, I can’t fault Castor too much, since our world has plenty of examples of blind, unwarranted loyalty. Also, I don’t know if the fault of Castor, his wife, or the author, but there’s a serious lack of creativity when it comes to naming their children. Carla and Carl? Really?

stardf29: Castor and Carla are, in a way, tragic characters. They might not be dead by the end of the volume, but even supposing they’ll escape with their lives intact, they are both currently enslaved (…that’s something we’ll have to address, huh?) and estranged from the rest of their family. Their refusal to question their loyalty to Georg is the tragic flaw that leads to their loss and current predicament. It’s interesting to contrast him with Excel. She was equally in the dark to Georg’s true intentions, but rather than blindly trust him, she sought the truth for herself, sending a spy in Juna to see what Souma was really like, and then allying herself with him when he proved to be trustworthy. I wonder if her having lived longer has given her perspective here. Overall, she definitely is a crafty leader, with how she helped with the defense of Altomura, and she’ll definitely be around to cause more chaos later on…

As for Georg… I’ll have a full question on him later.

As for the names in Castor’s family… all I can say is, I struggle with naming characters myself, so I can’t be too hard on the author on names. Especially since this is a Japanese author coming up with English names; that must be a special sort of challenge for Japanese fantasy authors.

E. Other characters

Jeskai Angel: This volume introduces a ton of new characters and hints at their possible future importance. I already mentioned Roroa and Julius, but the three dukes, Carla, and Maria and Jeanne also all seem like good candidates to reappear in another volume. We don’t really get to know most of them all that well, but they all seem well positioned to show up again. We don’t know her name at this point, but the reference to Maria and Jeanne’s reclusive, eccentric sister comes across as foreshadowing another future character. By the way, it amuses me that this LN has a girl named Maria who is known as “the saint of the empire,” while a totally different LN has a girl named Mia that people call “the saint of the empire.” Talking about this story’s empire also brings up more of the author’s peculiar naming choices — Chaos as the family name of a royal line, but then their family name changes to Euphoria? I bet they were a lot happier and less disorganized after that.

stardf29: Okay, can I just say that Halbert and Kaede are just too cute? I know my love for childhood friend romances is biasing me hugely here but I’m glad their spat in the first volume was resolved and we can just get to the two of them just being close with each other.

We’ll definitely see more of Maria and Jeanne later. For now, though, we do get a glimpse of who’s actually ruling over the supposed strongest power on the continent and… they’re actually pretty reasonable? That definitely gives hope that Souma can ultimately work with them, which should make things interesting later on.

One interesting bit though is how supposedly, Maria rules based more on “logic” whereas Souma rules based more on “feelings”. While I think in context this is somewhat inaccurate–it’s more like Maria rules according to convention–it does remind me that Souma has ultimately taken up rulership because he wanted to protect those close to him that had become his “family”. It will be interesting, though, to see if the two of them can ultimately cover each other’s “blind spots” if they work together.

Oh, and we get to see Juno and the adventurers again! Their presence in the first volume was pretty squarely in “side story” territory, but here they actively participate in the main plot (although it is still more in dealing with a contingency to save lives rather than actively advancing Souma’s military plans). It’s definitely nice to see more of them as a look at another piece of life in this world, and it does seem like we’ll see more of them from here on out as well.

3. What are your thoughts on Georg’s plan to bait the corrupt nobles?

Jeskai Angel: It was certainly a…plan. Talk about not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing, though!

In a way, Georg’s gambit actually served to illustrate Souma’s argument about the problems with the kingdom’s divided military command structure. A ton of trouble could have been avoided if Georg had worked WITH the king and the other two dukes, rather than playing his cards so close to his vest. A more unified chain of command/communication would save Georg from acting so unilaterally and inexplicably. His intentions were good, but his decision not to communicate sooner and more clearly with Souma, Excel, and Castor, did a lot of harm. I think it actually comes across as Georg (and, to a lesser degree, Souma) distrusting everyone else. I understand not wanting the corrupt nobles to find out, but were Castor and Excel really so unreliable that there was no way Georg could let them know what was going on?

To be fair, Georg’s behavior isn’t entirely unrealistic. I didn’t feel like the narrative artificially forced him to be unrealistically stupid. History has plenty of unfortunate events caused by poor communication and/or excessive concern with secrecy. And as semi-autonomous general/duke, Georg may very well have acted in a similarly independent way on previous occasions in his career. However, a plan that is bad in realistic ways is still a bad plan.

stardf29: There sure seem to be a lot of “tragic characters” this volume, huh? Characters who make choices and plans that are ultimately folly, but are understandable for how they might have gotten there based on their character flaws. Georg seems to be yet another case of this, where his base plan in and of itself had plenty of merits, but his lack of communication with at least Excel and Castor caused a lot of grief.

Though being in the military, I can at least understand the high focus on secrecy. To put this in modern military terms, Georg’s plan was very much “Top Secret”: something that could cause exceptionally grave damage to “national security” if it got out. And when it comes to any sort of classified information, one of the most important concepts is “need-to-know”: that is, even if other parties are trustworthy, do they actually need to know the information in order for the plan to succeed? Of course, here, Georg made a clear miscalculation: Excel and Castor definitely had a need-to-know, since part of the plan involved the navy and air force joining forces to defeat Georg. And Castor’s refusal to oppose Georg made things much harder for everyone involved.

The balance between “need for secrecy” and “need-to-know” is a cornerstone of military strategy, which I will by no means claim to be an expert in. This definitely seems to be a case where Georg erred too much toward secrecy, though.

4. Strategically, what do you think of Souma’s plan to actively wage war against Amidonia?

Jeskai Angel: The way I read the story, Gaius was a warmonger actively looking for a chance to start a war, and it was absolutely certain that he would do so eventually. In light of that, Souma set a trap to bait Gaius into declaring war on terms favorable to Elfrieden. Souma didn’t cause Gaius to attack, he just took the defensive measure of faking weakness. I have no issues with any of that. It was less about provoking a war and more about giving Gaius the opening he was seeking.

The fundamentally defensive nature of Souma’s strategy also appears in how Elfrieden fought the war. The goal was regime change. Souma didn’t even try to conquer Amidonia; he only aimed to seize the capital. And his goal wasn’t actually to capture Van — it was to lure Gaius into a decisive battle. As Gaius himself belatedly realized, he was Souma’s real target all along. Souma understood, to paraphrase the Klingon ambassador in Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home, “There shall be no peace as long as [Gaius] lives!” Given the constraints “Must remove Gaius,” “Mustn’t upset the Gran Chaos Empire,” and “Must minimize casualties/destruction on both sides,” Souma’s handling of the war was pretty reasonable and effective.

stardf29: Indeed, in this situation it was definitely a reasonable choice to instigate a war that was going to inevitably happen, since it would keep Amidonia from preparing as much as they like (even if they had been preparing in some way otherwise). I think there’s also some extent to which Souma figured that they had some weaknesses they could exploit, or at least unique advantages he had on his side to leverage against them.

This also fits with Souma’s main purpose of ruling in the first place: protecting his “family”. He knows what kind of a threat Gaius is to them, and he will even start a war if that means keeping them safe.

Perhaps the more interesting here is, what does Souma do now that his subjugation is successful? I don’t want to get too much into this here because this is the focus of the next volume, but he has to be aware that defeating Gaius and taking Van is “only half the battle”. Now he not only has to manage formerly-foreign territory and people, but he also has to deal with the inevitable conflict with the Gran Chaos Empire and the Mankind Declaration. Well, this is the sort of thing that helps make this series so engaging; it looks at several aspects of international relations, not just the surface winning/losing of a war.

Jeskai Angel: Think what a mess it could be if someone else were to be scheming about the fate of Amidonia with totally different goals than Souma’s…

5. What do you think about this story’s use of slavery so far?

Jeskai Angel: The first interesting point is that this is an atypical isekai story with slavery. Souma mercifully averts the obnoxious “Isekai protagonist acquires gorgeous female slave who allegedly falls in love with him and prefers remaining his slave to being freed” scenario. I mean, technically, he briefly owns Carla, but A. Carla never falls in love with him, B. Souma passes her off to Liscia ASAP, and C. Souma makes a point of emphasizing that he really only goes along with this because the laws of the kingdom prescribe slavery as a form of punishment, and as chief enforcer of laws, he must avoid playing favorites. In terms of Souma’s direct, personal participation in slavery, he’s doing better than most male isekai protagonists in settings with slavery.

In addition, I think Souma’s discussion with Liscia about enforcing the law in an evenhanded manner raises another important facet of the story’s handling of slavery. Living up to its “Realist” billing, the story shows us that Souma doesn’t like slavery, just as he doesn’t like the laws about corporate guilt that punish members of a criminal’s family, but he can’t just snap his fingers and make them go away. Quite realistically, he understands that even as king he can’t suddenly and unilaterally change these things without the risk of causing other serious problems. We see in later volumes that he does pursue an end to slavery, but in a way that tries to avoid causing major upheaval. In this respect, Souma reminds me of America’s “Great Emancipator,” Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln wanted to do away with slavery, but unlike the abolitionists of his day who wanted it done right this very minute, Lincoln wasn’t wedded to a particular process or timeline, as long he could put slavery “in course of ultimate extinction.” (Yes, the American Civil War happened instead of peaceful abolition, but that was neither Lincoln’s fault nor his desire.)

stardf29: Well, your analysis here is spot-on so I don’t really have anything to add specifically with regards to this story. It does goes to show how, as much as we might expect–and hate–the presence of slavery in these fantasy light novels, how it’s usually pretty unreasonable to just expect even the most overpowered of protagonists to just snap it out of existence. Of course, that doesn’t exactly justify the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach many of them take, either. So Realist Hero’s approach is pretty notable in this regard.

Final Thoughts

Jeskai Angel: Usually, with LNs, the first volume (and sometimes just a portion of the first vol.!) is enough for me to decide whether I want to follow that series. Realist Hero is one of the rare exceptions. I can’t think of another instance where my opinion of an LN changed so drastically based on the second volume. This volume is much better than it’s predecessor, and does a better job of representing the kind of content you can look forward to in the rest of series.

stardf29: Some assorted thoughts that I didn’t quite feel like it justified its own question:

When I first read this volume, I was pretty intrigued by the idea of dragons that could take on human forms and would even marry the knights they allowed to ride them. I think I just like Fire Emblem manaketes too much… At any rate, it seems to be a bit too random of an element to put in a story without it coming into play later on, so I did suspect Souma might pick up a dragon wife at that point. As for whether that will actually happen… well, we know already, but those reading along here will have to wait a few more volumes.

I also found it interesting that Souma would even cover for “red-light services” for his army after the war just to keep them from causing bigger trouble for the people of Van. He really isn’t afraid to use whatever he needs regardless of how “improper” it might be.

Anyway, I’ve read a few other novels that have drastically improved in the second volume (or later); that said, while I still liked volume 1, I did feel that volume 2 is where the story really gets going. Well, this is why I personally consider two volumes to be the light novel equivalent of the “three-episode rule” used for anime, though it does vary per title and sometimes one volume is enough to say “I’m done with this” (like how sometimes one episode of an anime is enough for me to drop it). This, though, is definitely one series where it’s worth sticking around at least for a second volume to see if it’s your thing.

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And that brings our discussion on Realist Hero volume 2 to a close. Starting next month, though, there will be a huge change to how the Light Novel Club discussions work: discussions will now be held on the public Beneath the Tangles Discord, and anyone can contribute to those discussions! Join the Discord if you want more information, including an early announcement of our next light novels for discussion!

We’ll be announcing the next titles on the blog on Sept. 7th, but if you want a clue… uh, let me look at my official clue book… hmm, all I have here are the letters T A R E… what could that mean?

As always, if you read along with us, let us know of your own thoughts on the volume in the comments!

#Light Novels #How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom #Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki #BtT Light Novel Club #Articles #Author: stardf29 #Author: JeskaiAngel

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thanatosbananatos · 5 years

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The Ultimate EruHan Meta

Oh boy.

So, I feel that first, I must preface this long-ass meta:

First, bless your heart if you read this.

Second, this is just for funsies. Yeah, for some reason, I find this kind of shit enthralling! I have no idea why. Regardless, this is not meant to shit on EruRi shippers, LeviHan shippers, or anyone in-between. This is simply something I've been wanting to do. Erwin and Hanji have a very underrated relationship, and I've wanted to highlight it for a long time. Years.

I also use “she” pronouns in this meta, but I think Hanji can have whatever pronouns. Isayama has said it doesn't matter to the story, so run wild.

This ship is incredibly important to me, and I hope to share my feelings with the fandom in a light besides incessant fangirling and stupid art.

OK. Let's do it.

I have read through the series thus far (right now, it's late April of 2019) completely in Japanese, and I've done my best to read through English translations of each chapter as well. Why Japanese? Well, I'm an elitist.

Just kidding.

There's actually a very specific reason that I prefer the Japanese to the English, and it has to do with the linguistic structure of the languages. In English, there are certain things that we cannot change in our writing to emphasize something--the word “I,” for instance, is always “I,” and “you” is always “you.” Right now, as I type this, I realize how limited the written English language is. I can only show you emphasis by bolding or italicizing the words, and even then, there are things left up to interpretation.

Japanese is quite a bit different, and though there is plenty of ambiguity used in this language (trust me, I've done studies lol), there are also parts that are more specific than in English. There are, for example, numerous ways to say “I,” “you,” and other pronouns depending on the speaker, the listener, and other circumstances.

It's because of this that I prefer Japanese dubs and prints of anime and manga, respectively.

The last time I went to Japan, I came home with the first 14 volumes of Attack on Titan in Japanese, and this was the shit that dragged me into EruHan.

As is the case with most Americans, I assume, I saw the anime before I read the manga, but it was not until I read the manga that I started to ship Erwin and Hanji. Why?

I'll explain the details later, but one of the biggest reasons is that the bulk of their interactions occur in what will be season two and beyond.

However, they do have really important interactions in season one, aka chapters 1 through 33 of the manga. Those moments serve as a great base for what to eventually expect in the latter chapters, when all of the heartbreaking shit happens. c':

We never know for sure how Erwin and Hanji met, but we know that at some point, Erwin came to trust Hanji enough to consider her to be a competent Squad Leader, and eventually considered her as one of his right-hand men, along with Mike, and after a few years, Levi, too. Hanji's squad has a specific focus: to study Titans as closely as possible. It seems like a pretty dangerous job, but Hanji is a dangerous person in general.

Erwin is generally known as a strategist both in canon and in the fandom, but for a strategist to do their job, they have to have facts to base their plans on. As we learn later, Hanji is the source of those facts.

One of the most glanced-over scenes in the entire first season is when Erwin and Hanji are leading the Corps back to the wall after failing to secure Annie in her Titan form. Hanji questions Erwin's decision to send Levi off only after making him refill on gas and blades; Erwin reveals that his plan was based on Hanji's information in the first place.

In other words, Hanji is someone that Erwin trusts implicitly.

But, we see the same thing with Hanji toward Erwin when they corner Annie in Stohess.

If you recall, Erwin and Levi are with Nile and the other Police soldiers during the rampage--Erwin left Hanji to call the shots. Again, proof of trust in her abilities as a leader.

However, I find it hard to believe that Hanji would have followed Erwin's plan if it had been anyone else besides Erwin that proposed it. Why?

Think of how much destruction the fight in Stohess caused. It's almost inexcusable, considering that in the end, Annie seals herself up and is useless as a test subject to Hanji and her squad. Hanji's first job is actually not a soldier, but a scientist; however, she trusted Erwin enough to not only agree to his plan to stop Annie at all costs, but also enough to be the one to carry out the dirty work.

Additionally, Hanji questions EVERYTHING. As a scientist, it's only second nature. I've admittedly seen a lot of people shitting on Hanji for questioning Erwin from time to time, but NEVER should it be interpreted as insubordination or disrespect. Rather, Hanji is trying to acquire more information from Erwin to gain knowledge of as many perspectives as possible. And, by questioning Erwin, Hanji serves as a double-check system. Levi tends to follow Erwin blindly, whereas Hanji will question him almost as a test--as if to ask, “You sure? You thought it through? OK, then let's go.”

When thinking of all of this in anime context, there's one more thing I'd like to point out:

The first OVA, Ilse's Notebook.

In this particular OVA, most of the focus is on Hanji (thank god), and it expands upon what is briefly shown in the manga when Hanji, Levi, and his squad find the journal lying around. The OVA starts with Hanji basically drooling over the idea of capturing a Titan--and no, it's not just because she's obsessed with the Titans themselves, but because she's obsessed with answering the many unanswered questions in their world, of which, the Titans are often the subject. However, when she confronts Erwin with the idea of capturing one, he turns her down--according to the dialogue, this isn't the first time they have this discussion, either.

But, perhaps you noticed Hanji's argument to Erwin? When he mentions the lives they've lost in the Corps?

“Without making any sacrifices, we can't gain anything!”

Doesn't that sound familiar?

“Someone who can't throw something away can't change anything!”

Armin said something similar--do you remember whose ideals he based his quote on?

Erwin's.

But, maybe, also Hanji's?

It is entirely possible that Hanji and Erwin have had the same thinking from the start, or that one of them influenced the other.

We don't really know for sure, since we've yet to receive Hanji's backstory (Will it even happen? Sigh), but regardless, they think similarly. OK. That's a thing.

As I mentioned previously, the bulk of their very important and often overlooked interactions are from season two (i.e. the Clash of the Titans arc) and onward in the manga/anime, up until...that thing called the serum bowl that none of us like to talk about.

If you recall, at the tail end of season one, Erwin was briefly arrested by the Military Police, then released. Once again, you'll notice that Hanji is the one calling the shots, along with Mike. Erwin has effectively split them up (presumably Erwin, I'm actually not sure if it's confirmed that he was the one to send Mike's squad to watch the 104th?), with Mike doing the physical work, and Hanji being left to the strategic end of things--to a point. I mean, it's not as if Erwin is completely out of commission at that point (unlike Levi lmao). Instead, he's working on his “big” project--to overthrow the government and get those traitors out of here--from more of a behind-the-scenes perspective. So he surely knew that things would get crazy on Hanji and co.'s end, yet he trusted her to follow through and lead the Corps while he worked separately for a while.

He doesn't think to check in on her, either, until the report about Wall Rose and the traitors finds him. I'm sure he didn't quite predict all that, especially because Reiner himself was flying by the seat of his pants lmao. He hears that Hanji and company suffered injuries, and that Eren has been taken away, along with Ymir, so obviously, being the Commander and all that jazz, he goes to check in on the Corps soldiers atop the wall. Until he arrives, Hanji does not move--it's only when she hears Erwin's arrival that she moves, and it's to talk strategy.

This admittedly brings up something else I want to talk about with them: both Erwin and Hanji are so goddamn willing to put everything and everyone else first besides their own well being.

I know a lot of EruHan writers play with this trope, but we didn't even have to add it in. It's there. All the time.

I think Erwin is especially obvious, considering how far he was willing to go to reach his goals, and his dream. However, Hanji is the same way when it comes to obtaining knowledge. And, both of them want to win. They are fighting to win. In season three, Erwin refers to himself as a gambler--the same is definitely true for Hanji, if not even more so.

So, Hanji gets her ass in gear long enough to tell Erwin what she can, and once again, using the information Hanji gave him, and not straying from it once, Erwin formulates a plan, and the Corps sets off.

Erwin did not stray from her information, used it to fuel the plan, and lost his arm in the process.

Flash-forward to Erwin in the hospital. Beardwin.

Wait, no omg.

Go back to when they brought him back to the hospital.

We don't see that, right? No, we don't.

But you know who else would've been in the hospital receiving treatment for burns and possible concussion, etc.?

Hanji.

Hanji probably saw the direct results of her instructions to Erwin.

Now flash-forward to Beardwin.

Remember, back about forty years ago when you first started reading this meta? Remember what I mentioned how the Japanese language has different types of pronouns? It also has different kinds of politeness.

In the Japanese version of the scene where Beardwin does the creepy-ass smile, Hanji enters the room speaking pretty casually, like “hey what's up Erwin--oh shit Pyxis is here too” might as well have been the actual translation. Her speech goes from casual to formal the second she sees Pyxis. Of course, up to this point, Hanji had always used casual speech with Erwin, but the stark contrast to how she speaks to Pyxis, who is a pretty easy-going guy around the Corps veterans, just drives home the fact that they are familiar with one another.

In addition, we once again see Hanji give Erwin information, and boy howdy. Does he take it and run with it.

So begins the Uprising arc.

This is the arc that just pushed me face-first into EruHan, to be perfectly honest.

This is also the arc where the language usage is the most important.

At this point, the three veterans (Erwin, Levi, and Hanji) are split up for a little while. Levi and Hanji are sent to watch over the 104th while Erwin does his thing (again). However, Hanji has a little “side project”--she is still keeping watch over Pastor Nick, until the Central Police murder him. She and Levi torture them, and that's a thing.

Due to the heavy focus on Historia and Eren, things are kind of quiet for the vets for a while, until Eren remembers some information from a dream, and yet again, Hanji brings that information to Erwin for him to put to good use.

This is one of the most important scenes in the arc, and for this ship.

First, note how calmly Erwin receives the flustered Hanji. He offers her food and water without question and immediately listens. (An aside: Erwin is probably one of the most patient characters in the series.) After explaining everything, Hanji then asks Erwin, “What should we do?” (Another aside: Don't forget how much these vets trust Erwin. Ever.)

Erwin's at least one step ahead of everyone at all times, of course, so he has an answer, but part of that answer is pretty startling: Erwin names Hanji as the next Commander of the Survey Corps. He then promptly leaves, with Hanji staring after him (be still my heart) and is soon arrested once again.

This is a scene that I can't help but dissect, simply because there's just so much there.

I'm also going to be bitter for the rest of my life that the anime strayed so much from the manga in this arc generally, but that's not the focus right now.

So, okay, remember the pronouns example I gave earlier?

Hanji uses “watashi,” Levi uses “ore,” Armin uses “boku,” etc. Most of the characters are very consistent with pronoun usage, and most of them default to either “watashi,” simply because they are in the military, methinks.

Erwin, however (and unsurprisingly), is one of the characters who changes his pronoun usage. In fact, he is the one who changes it the most that I've seen so far in the series. He switches frequently between just two, “ore” and “watashi,” but what does this mean, exactly? What is there to gain from knowing the details behind his pronoun usage?

We see Erwin using “watashi” most frequently in two situations: he uses it in formal situations as the “Commander” towards people like Zackley, Pyxis, etc., and he uses it when speaking with a “softer” demeanor, such as early interactions with Eren.

Erwin uses “ore” as a Commander might--with authority. It also seems to be his go-to generally--in other words, if he did not have any social obligations to worry about, no public faces to protect, he would use “ore.”

So, toward Levi, Erwin uses “ore” pretty much exclusively. After all, though he respects Levi, he has no reason to be gentle or keep face--in other words, no reason to use “watashi.”

However, toward Hanji, Erwin almost always uses “watashi.” (I should also note, he uses “omae” with “ore” and “kimi” with “watashi” accordingly.) The speech is more familiar, gentler almost. I wouldn't have given it much thought if it weren't for the one time he does use “ore” toward Hanji.

That time happens to be when he names her the next Commander of the Survey Corps.

So, why the change?

If you recall, that scene takes place with them talking one on one about the note that Eren has left for Hanji to read regarding his memories of a conversation between Ymir and Bertholdt. Erwin eventually has summons--ones that he is sure will lead to his arrest, and he then names Hanji his successor.

To me, after seeing all of their interactions, I think that Erwin definitely shows some favoritism toward Hanji and holds a soft spot for her. After all, if you think back to the OVA, Hanji was the one to really prove herself and stand toe to toe with him. I think he admires such stubbornness, for reasons we can only speculate now.

When I think about how he previously had spoken to Hanji, it was always so...intimate? Like, “I value this person and their opinions. We are close.” Using “ore” breaks that down and instead builds a wall between them. It's like he was saying, “I'm serious. This isn't a joke. You have to listen to me this time.”

It's worth noting that I've spoken to a few other Japanese fans about this part, both EruHan shippers and not, and everyone seems to agree that it seems like he did it for the sake of seeming authoritative, to make sure that this time, Hanji would listen without questioning him.

Of course, after the fact, Hanji questions it.

And I think that just drives my point home.

If you think back, or rather, forward in the manga, we see Hanji get handed a lot of shit--from Eren, the general populace, supposed allies. After one particular event, where Eren grabs Hanji and treats her like a piece of trash rather than his own Commander, Hanji escapes with humor, but behind closed doors, she feels frustrated and lost.

“Erwin, this was your one mistake... Why did you make me the Commander...?”

Erwin did not want Hanji to double-check him. He did not want her to question him like she normally did. He just wanted her to listen to him and take the order, so she did. So it's even more natural for her to doubt it now. She didn't get that chance in the first place--Erwin took it away from her, and she let him, because she trusted him explicitly.

We hear about it constantly with Erwin and Levi, but don't forget:

Erwin and Hanji's relationship is also built on trust.

So, let's go back to after the political arc--they decide to go back to Shiganshina, and we have what has come to be known as the serum bowl. Yay! Sounds fun, right?

NO. FUCK THE SERUM BOWL.

But it's important to dissect for the sake of this fucking essay.

I'm gonna skip straight to the good stuff--it comes down to a choice between saving Armin or Erwin. Levi is pretty much set on giving it to Armin--until a soldier brings Erwin's body back, and he's clinging to life. Eren and Mikasa get hysterical, they fight, and it looks like Mikasa is gonna straight up become THE Ackermann, until someone interrupts them.

It's Hanji, and she's injured and all alone. At this point, she's lost Moblit and part of her vision, and now she could lose Erwin, too. This person she trusts and respects probably more than anyone in the world might die. I think it affected her on more than just a personal level too, obviously--the Commander she entrusted her life and well-being to is on the brink of death, and she is supposed to somehow take his place.

Hanji obviously takes Levi's side, insisting that Erwin should be the one who gets the serum and a second lease on life. She pulls Mikasa away, holding her closely, and tells her that she understands what she's feeling, what it's like to lose someone you care about.

But, “Erwin is the hope of humanity.”

Those are Hanji's words. They're heavy. So fucking heavy.

If you questioned the respect and trust and love in their relationship (even just platonically) before, at that point, you really can't anymore, unless you decide to be in complete denial.

However, if you're caught up with the manga, you know how it goes--Erwin pulls a last minute “stunt,” then retires (cough) as Armin is given the serum and transforms into a Titan. Levi chooses Armin in order to let Erwin die as a human and not as a monster, and tries to talk himself through the choice out loud.

Hanji, however, has her eyes only on Erwin, and she is with him until his last moments of...pre-retirement...

Okay, but here's a thing I really want to point out.

Flocke, the dumb bastard who brought Erwin's life back (he's not dumb for doing that, btw), is the one who brings up the notion that it should be Erwin who receives the serum, because only Erwin had the capability of becoming a monster who could save them. That thought scared Levi, who held and continues to hold Erwin in very high esteem, and is what essentially pressed him into giving Armin the serum instead.

Do you think that thought scared Hanji?

Though we never hear one way or the other, I really don't think so.

When has Hanji ever feared the Titans?

No, it's not even just that--Hanji saw the Titans as equals. She saw them as just a different kind of human, really.

Think back to Sawney and Bean, wayyyyy way back. Think about how she recognized their personalities, respected them, and loved them as the way that they were. And she had no idea what the truth behind them was. She had no idea at that time that they were humans.

Think about how she treated Eren as a Titan shifter (before he started being ...whatever he is now). She respected him, was kind to him, and she didn't even know him.

I think it's safe to say that her relationship with Erwin would not have really changed. She would have probably respected him even more than before.

...There's honestly so much more I could say about the ship on micro-levels, but I wanted to hit these big points because not only are many of them lost in translation, but they are highly underappreciated. I get tired of seeing them left out of the main fandom, when it's such a delightful, wholesome ship that has plenty to work with in both canon and AUs.

But, if you're interested in hearing the smaller things, hmu. I think about this ship all the damn time. Everyone should have some level of appreciation for it.

--Cat

#eruhan #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #erwin smith #hange zoe #hanji zoe #erwin x hanji #snk meta #my eruhan #aot meta #aot #c-congrats if you read the whole thing #please reblob #I spent years compiling this #pls appreciate this healthy wonderful ship #snk spoilers #aot spoilers #long post

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fematchups · 5 years

Note

Can I have a matchup for all 3 please? I’m gonna spread my info across 3 asks if that’s okay! I’m a pansexual female, who’s INTP and Slytherin with a Pisces sun and Libra moon. I’m a full time criminal law student and I also part-time waitress at a Japanese restaurant. I’m about 5’3, average-shaped body, pretty busty (if I do say so myself), long dark blonde hair and green eyes. I love makeup, jewellery + fashion, and have what most people consider an ‘expensive taste’ 1/3

I’m an ambivert who sometimes comes across as cold and mature (even scary), but I have no problem engaging in polite, friendly conversation. I’m quite emotionally sensitive to things around me, but never let it show; I only open up to people I’m really close with. It’s really easy for me to become obsessed with things - once I find something I love (a uni project, a fandom, a hobby etc.), I put my whole heart and soul into it. 2/3I love to learn new things, & always try to deepen my knowledge of law, politics + history - I even hold season passes for a lot of local history museums and used to volunteer in my hometown museum when I was younger. I have a secret obsession with cute things and collect plushies, but I’m too embarrassed to tell anyone. I absolutely adore animals and already have my ‘dream dog family’ planned for when I eventually move out. I enjoy singing, reading, writing, ballet, poetry + playing piano. 3/3Wow you have so many interests! Also, your dog fam will be so happy & fun 😊 hope you enjoy, sorry I am so behind on these matchups!!!Nohr: Azura

🌊When Azura first spots you, you’re learning a song on the piano, singing quietly to yourself as you repeat a verse again to get it down correctly.

🌊Azura is mesmerized by your voice and piano playing skills, and can’t help but sing along to the song.

🌊Although you’re surprised that someone has heard you, you continue to sing along with her, and much to her enjoyment.

🌊You exchange names, and talk a little bit about how you learned to play piano and to sing and why these are hobbies of yours.

🌊Azura listens to you intently, seemingly hanging on to every word you say. She responds thoughtfully as well, and you can’t help but enjoy the rare company of someone so genuine.

🌊Somewhere in that conversation you mention that you’re also interested in ballet, and her eyes light up. She’s a dancer too, so she is definitely interested in learning a new form.

🌊Azura takes this opportunity to ask you when she can see you again; the two of you decide to meet for a dancing date next time.

🌊You’re both incredibly nervous while you’re teaching Azura some ballet basics, but as time goes on you grow more comfortable. She also teaches you some of the dance moves she often uses for her performances.

🌊Whenever you spend time together it’s always time well spent. You and Azura are excellent at making one another feel at ease.

🌊You eventually both build up the courage to open up to one another. You each tend to hide your emotions around those you’re both close with; so, when you decide to open up to Azura and vice versus it just shows how much you’ve learned to trust one another.

🌊Once she gets to know you better Azura becomes the kind of s/o who can seemingly read your thoughts or pinpoint your emotions in any given situation.

🌊Since it’s easy for her to read your emotions, Azura is an excellent confidant and comforter. She always knows exactly what to say to cheer you up, calm you down, etc. Azura also knows when to simply hold you when words can’t suffice.

🌊When Azura first sees your plushy collection, she can’t help but hug you because she finds it so adorable! From then on she likes to surprise you with more additions for your collection. She also never once pokes fun at you for it.

🌊One of your favorite pastimes is visiting local museums together. You two make an entire day of such visits—wake up early to dress nicely and grab breakfast, spend hours at the museum, go shopping at your favorite stores, eat dinner, then go home to relax for the rest of the night together.

Hoshido: Oboro

👒Oboro takes note of you while eating at the restaurant you’re working part-time at. When you serve her, you note that Oboro is an ambivert similar to you—appearing cold, but willing to talk if you engage her. So, each time you interact with Oboro, you chat her up some more.

👒Oboro ends up ordering different items just so she could spend more time talking to you. You realize what she’s doing, and take this opportunity to ask her out on a date so you can finish this engaging conversation.

👒Oboro is very taken with you at this point, so she agrees to meet you at the shopping market you’ve suggested for a date.

👒When your first date takes place you both compliment one another on your outfits a ton! You two then spend the day doing some shopping and browsing the various street foods laid on display.

👒Oboro notices right away that you have expensive taste in things, so she becomes your voice of reason while you’re out shopping. She’ll only advise you against buying something too expensive if you ask her to help out that way, though.

👒If you spot something too expensive and that you don’t really need, Oboro will help you rethink your decision.

👒If you see an item you do need and there’s a cheaper option available that’s just as good quality-wise, Oboro will suggest you go cheaper instead.

👒Oboro loves to make handmade clothing for you, and often gifts you with them for special occasions.

👒One of your favorite things to do together is relax at home together; you’d be flipping through your schoolbooks or reading leisurely while Oboro sews clothing. In moments like these, Oboro likes to throw out random questions to you about your area of study or about any political/historical curiosities she has.

👒If you ever are interested in learning how to make clothes, Oboro will be absolutely thrilled to bits! She’ll teach you for free and tell a bunch of little anecdotes about why she loves sewing clothes and about her passion for fashion.

👒Oboro loves animals too, so when your relationship progresses to a certain point the two of you adopt a bunch of animals together, including the members of your dream dog family.

👒Oboro is also a big fan of surprising you. She loves showing up unexpectedly at the restaurant you work at, and especially since it’s where you two first met.

👒She’ll also plan spontaneous dates to your favorite spots, often whisking you away and letting you guess where you’re going the whole way there. You’ve never guessed correctly before, so Oboro has quite the knack for surprising you.

Awakening: Laurent

📓Like you, Laurent is a frequent museum-goer, and one who tends to visit the same ones you do.

📓One time, Laurent is looking at a particular painting on display when you approach him. You break the ice by explaining its historical and cultural significance to him.

📓Laurent is pretty surprised that you’re so knowledgeable about history, and gets a bit ahead of himself by politely asking you about a bunch of other exhibits for the remainder of this visit.

📓By the time you’ve covered the entire museum, you both have become pretty comfortable around each other, both having slowly dropped your colder façades as the day progressed.

📓Your shared interest in history gives Laurent the confidence to ask you out to visit a different museum next time, and assured you that he will act as the “tour guide” there. He also says he’ll pay for your ticket because he’s the one who asked you out.

📓When you show up to the date looking all dolled up in your nice clothes with matching jewelry and makeup. Laurent is honestly left speechless and a bit embarrassed, because he felt super underdressed. However, you let him know you don’t think he’s underdressed at all.

📓The date turns out to be a ton of fun with the two of you running around checking out different exhibits and ending the day with a nice meal at the museum cafe.

📓Many dates later, Laurent visits your home for the first time; he’s little surprised to see that you have such a large plushy collection, but he thinks it’s just really adorable.

📓When you him you’re a bit embarrassed about this obsession of yours, Laurent is quick to invite you to see his own. Even though he’s a bit insecure about his obsession, as people have made fun of him for it in the past, Laurent wants to help you feel less embarrassed about your plushies.

📓It’s your turn to be surprised when you see Laurent’s room chock full of books to satisfy his reading obsession. He’s embarrassed for you to see them, but you definitely don’t judge him.

📓Most of your time spent together involves trying out new activities and indulging in one another’s various interests. You each love learning more about the other person, and so this is a great way to do that.

📓You’ve taken all kinds of classes together (cooking, dancing, sewing, yoga, you name it), and each time it’s been an adventure.

📓You each credit one another for expanding your horizons and for encouraging you to be the best that you can be.Songs listened to:

Sunflower // Post Malone

Young Lover // St. Vincent

Semester // Dear Boy

Supercut // Lorde

Mermaid // Skott

Give Me the Night // George Benson

Uncomfortably Numb (feat. Hayley Williams) // American Football

I Want to Be Alone With You // Wishes

The Cure // Lipstick Gypsy

#matchup #fefates #nohr #hoshido #fe awakening #azura #oboro #laurent #anon #mini song list

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wow-very-emo-such-bands · 6 years

Text

Reason why i do not like K-Pop

I know already, as i am currently writing this, that no matter what, a lot of K-Pop fans, Saesengs and lovers of Kpop in general will critizes and hate me for this, and i will definitly lose a bunch of followers, whether they actually read this post or not.

But for those of you who decide to stay and hear me out, thanks alot.

Now first of all it‘s mostly cuz the music genre is simply not for me. By that I don‘t referr to the fact that the songs are in korean, so everyone who is about to call me a racist for not liking K-Pop songs, can sit down again. Cuz really i couldn‘t care less about in what language the songs are in. My problem isn‘t the language in which the lyrics are written, but their meaning once you translate them. Most of the lyrics are meaningless, bland and repetative. Most of the K-pop songs i’ve kinda enjoyed due to a catchy melody, every time i went to look up a translation on the internet it turned out that the song was always just about vanity, needing to be the best or it was a love song even cheesier than early Beatles songs, and the Beatles used the word love 613 times. So that’s saying quiet alot in my opinion. Basically K-pop is in that case identical to western pop songs: Whenyou‘ve heard one, you‘ve basically heard them all.

But in the end everyone is entitled to love the kind of music and lyrical nonsense they want to.

But anyway up to the second reason why I will most likely never get into K-Pop is the toxicity of the fandom. I know this has been discussed and talked about a million times by now that i am basically just beating a dead horse, and altho the major toxic part of the fandom is mearly a vocal minority, it‘s unfortunatly avocal minority equipped with megaphones.

From Shipping Wars and the infamous Fandom wars between EXO and BTS to straight up trying to murder an idol, the K-Pop fandom really had seen it all.

Because there is so much to material and incidents i could cover about this point, i will try to keep it only 6 examples in order to show you what I‘m saying.

The major reason’s and incidents about the EXO vs BTS Fandom War: •The Exo-L‘s (the EXO fanbase) tried to accuse BTS falsely of plagerism, crushing their success just because they were afraid that BTS would gain more popularity than EXO after the release of BTS‘s latest album and the EXO-L‘s even going as far as making the A.R.M.Y (the BTS fandom) look bad by creating fake A.R.M.Y accounts and behaving utterly obnoxious, to make the oublic believe every BTS fan behaves like a moron to say the very least. •Actual A.R.M.Y members sending hate, immature insults and even death treaths to people who like EXO or other K-Pop or even western Bands more than BTS, regardless of wether they said bad stuff against BTS or simply didn‘t enjoy the music cuz it wasn‘t their cup of tea.

the A.R.M.Y attacking the group Stray Kids (a K-Pop band that didn‘t even had it‘s debut at the time) and accusing of plagerism and trying to sabotage them for minor similarities in the trailer to one of their songs to BTS.

Saesang fans, harassing, stalking their idols to their home, one even stealing some of their urine from the toilet and trying to sell it on ebay, another one writing a letter to one of their idols with their menstruation blood and all around behaving like their idols/bias/oppa belongs to them. I experienced the latter one actually first hand with a Koreaboo friend of mine nearly beating another girl up for dearing to like "their bias“ and talking about how "she was totally going to marry him one day“. And i‘m unfortunatly not talking about the ones who say those things as a joke. Now i know that certain Stans of western bands harass their idols too, for example Brendon Urie from Panic! At the disco didn‘t feel safe anymore in his old house after dozen of fans stalked him in his own home, yet no bandom that i know about, has fans as obsessive as the K-Pop Saseng and Koreaboo fans

Anti-fans, now this is like the polar opposite of the Saesang and Koreboo fans. While the ones are so obsessed with an idol that they won‘t stop at anything to be near them, Anti-Fans hate a certain idol so much that they won‘t stop at anything to get rid of said idol. For example did those anti fans scream racisl slurrs at some K-Pop idols for example if they had chinese or japanese ancestors or if one of their parents wasn’t korean or asian. There was also an incident where a dozen of people signed a petition to force an idol into suicide, others even tried to straight up murder some Idols by putting dangerous poison in their food or planning on bringing shotguns and other weapons to their concerts in order to kill them with them, posting their plans on social media like twitter and getting cheered on and supported by other antis. Some of these so called Anti fans even cheered and had basically an online party after Kim Jong-Hyun, a member of SHINee, comitted suicide last year and made fun of both the idols himself and his fans

Cultural apropiation is unfortunatly quiet the problem in, mostly the wester part of the K-Pop fandom. People posting videos, pictures and text posts showing how they eat traditional Korean dishes like Kimshi or just simply eat noodles out of a bowl (sometimes still while using a fork) and than say how korean they are or how they brag about being able to speak fluent korean when they can mostly say 3 words. Most of those people are caucasian teenage girls who think from speaking a few words and knowing one or two things about korea, imidiatly makes them Asian and Korean when they still have the legal nationality of a western country and are caucasian. Your ethnicity is not something you can change like a hairstyle. It‘s part of your DNA and is unfortunatly a part of you that you are stuck with forever. Just like the Weaboos in the Anime comunity, Koreaboos are simply people who need to feel special and superior to others by behaving like they know more about korea than anyone else when in reality all their knowledge about Korea is based on cheesy K-Pop songs that a lot of times weren‘t even written by korean people, but more about that later

6. This one is more of a personal experience which is basically the reason why i don‘t ever want explore or even becom part of the K-Pop fandom. Basically i have this BTS fangirl in my Arts and Crafts Classes and one day while we were working on our projects, she started ralking to me and asked me random questions about K-Pop bands, both BTS and Bands that I have never even heard off. She asked stuff like : "Who is your bias? Don‘t you agree that Rapmonster looks so hot! Korean boys are way hotter than white boys! Why are you dating a white boy? Like I would never date a white guy. What do you think of this ship and that ship? Don‘t tell me you ship that other one???“ and i explained to her calmly that i‘m not a K-Pop fan and simply do not care for it, cuz it‘s not my cup of tea. Than she started going absolutly crazy, calling me a racist even tho i explained to her that my problem with K-Pop is the meaning of the lyrics and most of the melodies and rythms, not the fact that it‘s from Asia, but she refused to listen and started telling everyone in our class i was a homophobic (note: I am actually bisexual) racist and that i triggered her. And besides the obvious fact that triggering someone doesn‘t mean that you disagree with somebody else, i guess i don‘t have to do further explaination.

Thirdly ,and I know I will definitly get hate for this, K-Pop artists in my opinion got their fame basically like a present, they didn‘t work for it like other bands and artists have to. Most Western bands, like Twenty one Pilots, All Time Low and even the Beatles started off as nobodies. They started off as small garage bands, often with an audience of only a few people before getting discovered bypure chance and signed by a record label and even then they mostly had to work for their fame themselves. Twenty one pilots was signed to a record label in 2012, they had already produced 2 albums (Self titled and Regional at best) in Tyler‘s basement before that even happened and even after Fueled by Ramen signed them because they recognized their talent but didn‘t really push them much. It took until 2015 (the band exists since 2009) that they hit mainstream popularity with their Album Blurryface. Tyler Joseph, the front man of Twenty one pilots, wrote all the lyrics and melodies by himself for that album. The Beatles started off as the little unkown band, playing in the cave bar (a pub in liverpool) and had already written some of their most well known songs like she loves you and Roll over Beethoven at the time. They were about to give up on their dreams of ever becoming famous before Brian Eppstein discovered them after years of already having played in that Pub and signed them to their label. And even then it wasn’t the record itself ehich made the Beatles famous, but their talents and those world famous lyrics written by them once again on their owny K-Pop Idols do not have to work themselves up to the top through hard work and dedication with little to know knowledge about wether or not their dream will ever come trough. They simply go to an Agency which after 2 years of training, makes them famous. Though i can‘t say that most K-Pop idols are talentless when it comes to their voices and dance moves, it still doesn‘t change the fact that they get fame as a gift from their record labels while Idols from other countries (i‘m not just talking about western bands) have to climb the steps to the top themselves. K-Pop idols get put in an elevator by their record label which transports them to the top. And most of all K-Pop idols don‘t write any of the lyrics of their songs by themselves themselves, which in defence of the K-Pop Idols, isn‘t really their fault, yet still pretty unfair towards foreign bands in my opinion.

And my last and most of all biggest reason why i do not like and support K-Pop is because of the K-Pop industry.

I know the western music industry isn‘t made out of honey, rainbows and butterflies either but compared to what the K-Pop Industry does to its idols should be illegal since they basically take away all of the idols‘s human rights, treating them more as products which can be sold like Coca Cola, rather than actual human beings; Which is also why some people refer to the contract between an idol and its label to a "slavery contract“ because once that contract is signed, the label literally owns the idol. Let’s start with the minor examples to the bigger issues to begin with:

Most if not all K-Pop labels forbid their idols to fall in love with someone, so that the fans fantasies of being together with their Idols won‘t be crushed. There was even a case in which a female K-Pop idol had to shave off all of her hair and give a public apology for spending the night with her boyfriend.

Unlike idols in western countries, who, after becoming rather famous, earn like a million dollars and can live in a big luxerious mansion, K-pop idols usually only get a very little to basically no money from their record label, even members of some of the most successful K-Pop bands are as broke as a bunch of college students, their money often just being enough so the whole band can share one meal and the idols are also often forced by their record label to live together in small cramped appartments, as near to their record label as possible so that record label can control them even better. So just imagine for a moment having to live with up to 6 to 12 people in a small 1-3 room appartent after having spent all day working and training with said people. I guess i don‘t have to say that this could lead to severe stress, mental health problems and even tensions between the bandmembers.

The record label takes away all of the Idols individuality and creativity and the right to express themselves. Like mentioned before, the majority of K-Pop idols don‘t write their songs by themselves. And most of the time it‘s not even because of them having no ideas or being uninspired but instead it‘s once again the K-Pop industrie, forbidding it to them. So instead of letting the idols creat their own original music, most of their songs are being written by Martin Sandberg, mostly known as Max Martin, a swedish song writer who writes most of the modern Pop songs, both in korea and western countries, that we know today. He is the composer of Hit me baby one more time and i kissed a girl and so many more. And him also being one of the major writers for K-Pop songs just shows how and why just like for western pop music, the rule "once you‘ve heard one, you‘ve heard them all“ also applies to K-pop unfortunatly.

Anorexia and beauty surgery. The K-Pop industrie wants everything and really everything to be perfect about their products- i mean idols. So in most cases they highly recommand if not even force the idols to get a plastic surgery, often around the nose, and even undergoing the so called V-Line operation in order to obtain a face like an anime doll, by first breaking the jaw completly and then reassembling it and given the fact that the V-Line operation is a very risky procedure and usually is done in case that teethlines are misarebged and need to be corrected and not in order to become more beautiful. K-Pop idols are also forced to be as thin as possible, to the point where it‘s almost anorexic. Most of them eat only one meal a day or only eat raw food like fruits and vegetables in order to stay thin. Others like the boygroup TVXQ who the week before their debut, only consumed water and nothing else. So if anyone wants to tell me that the diets that the industry is forcing on their idols is healthy, than i have to tell them that they are just utterly dilusional and nothing else.

Some companies and labels even forbid their idols in their contract to see their friends and families for years, isolating and keeping them trapped almost enterily so the only people they can talk to are the people working for their label and the other members of their group.

Prostitution. Yes you’ve heard me right. The record labels literally force their idols to straight up prostitution. Luckily just like in Hollywood with the #Metoo movement, korean people start to do something against this problem in the K-Pop industrie, but it‘s unfortunatly still heavily present.

I mentioned before that before K-Pop stars even start their debut as a band they have to train for about 2 years, and even after their debut and even after becoming famous their record label forces them to train and practice every day. Now first this sound that wierd right? Cuz foreign idols have to do that too. But oh boy does the K-Pop industrie take this to a whole new level. Because of them K-Pop idols often have to train to the point where they literally faint from exhaustion. An average work day for K-Pop stars lasts +/- 20 hours each day. Many of them needed to be taken to the hospital from over exhaustion to the point where it‘s almost seen as normal. A K-Pop idol by the name of Crystall even is forced to work so hard and faints so often even on stage from exhaustion that it‘s becoe their trademark in a sick way.

Beside the long working hours, K-Pop idols are forced to perfection like machines. Thus once again back to my point that the industrie sees them as mere products that can be produced in mass, rather than treating them as humans. There are many cases of abuse from the trainers to the K-Pop idols they‘re teaching. If they get one note or one dance move wrong thdy are imidiatly hit and slapped, causing some of them to even break down crying.

So to wrap it all up i guess you could say that my biggest problem with K-pop is how the industrie and even the fans treat their idols (and other people too obviously) instead of the music itself. Because even though i do not care for K-Pop music i would have never done this post if it were for the songs alone because music tastes are different from person to person. But i simply will not support K-Pop until at the very least the K-Pop industrie starts to treat their idols like actual human beings, giving them the right to express themselves and do their own thing, because i am sure if it weren‘t for the fact that most K-Pop songs are written by the exact same dude and the idols could write them themselves, we would get awesome songs with beautiful lyrics and melodies.

Bibliographie:

https://youtu.be/ClVqqJ3Peuc

https://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/blog/2017/12/14/dark-side-k-pop-according-former-k-pop-idol

https://www.google.lu/amp/s/aminoapps.com/c/k-pop/amp/blog/the-real-dark-side-of-kpop/3VIB_ugQqkW484YnV1Y2gbrJDabz3o

https://youtu.be/URZ1-Pmi9JY

https://youtu.be/g_3a-w0JqIg

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2017/12/21/star-suicide-highlights-dark-side-of-the-kpop-dream/

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khdiscussions · 6 years

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Kingdom Hearts Attraction

So uh, for those of you not up to date: This was said as a mention about the idea of Square and Disney collaborating for this and if it gets off the ground it will be huge. Right now, it’s nothing more than a pipe dream, but I’d like to address this anyways since I come with a very unique perception in that not only do I live near the Disney parks, but the parks might be the only thing I’m more obsessed with than Kingdom Hearts.

(Going under a read more because when I talk about parks I get rambly.)

So first off, if this becomes a thing, which it still needs to be discussed with a bunch of people first, it will very likely start off in one of two parks. The more likely Tokyo Disneyland or the Walt Disney World Resort. Tokyo Disneyland is likely due to...well...Japan. Japanese video game company, I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you. Disney World, however, has already had a history with the parks as early as 2004 when costumes of Sora, Donald, and Goofy were actually able to have meet and greets due to Mickey’s Not So Scary, as well as a couple other tiny easter eggs. Furthermore Walt Disney World is still the number one tourist destination in the world, so really there’s a 50% chance of anything new starting there between the four parks. Admittedly Disneyland is possible due to the Dandelion meet up taking place in Anaheim, but like with Disneyland Paris being the park Nomura visited for inspiration on attraction flow, it doesn’t feel like enough to lock in that park for a likely location.

So limiting ourselves down to Tokyo Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, there’s really only six parks it can go in. So let’s break it down:

Animal Kingdom: If Disney still has a shred of self respect for themselves and their theming, they won’t do this. This might be the combination that could have KH make me cancel my Disney park pass and that’s all I feel should be said on the subject.

Tokyo DisneySEA: I would normally consider this likely, however, Disney has just announced a huge expansion opening in 2022. With this in mind, it’d be bad business practice to announce the KH anything here next year (since if I were them I’d announce summer 2019 so long as it ends up being worked out) since that’d be opening around the same time and be horribly overshadowed. It’d be like if they decided to open a KH ride in MGM in 2019 when Star Wars land opens. It just isn’t going to happen.

Tokyo Disneyland/Magic Kingdom: Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the Disneyland clone over in Tokyo, but what I do know is that it shares similarities with the park we have here (down to both parks having Cinderella Castle), as such I feel confident in lumping it in with Magic Kingdom. If they were to build the ride here, it would fit in best with Fantasyland theming, which touches on the various Disney movies and high fantasy elements, it’d work pretty well. On the flip side, a Gummi Ship based attraction could fit in well in Tomorrowland, and exclusively in Tokyo Disneyland there’s also Toontown, which might work decently. So long as they stay out of the Adventureland and Frontierland skinned areas (and even then if done properly Adventureland could be justified), it would work. (This applies to any of the Disneyland clones, do Anaheim and Paris apply here too.)

Hollywood Studios: I mean it’s unlikely because it goes against theming but also at the exact same time this park is identity-less and bad anyways so I wouldn’t even be mad if they did destroy theming here for it. I’d just be excited to have a reason to care about the park. I don’t even care about the principle I just really hate this park.

Epcot: This is the most likely location for a Kingdom Hearts themed attraction at the Walt Disney World resort, if not period. Not only is the park due for major refurbishments soon (Guardians and Ratatouille being the start of that) but the park also has two locations it could work. Future World, using the same excuses as Guardians and making a Gummi Ship explorations attractions, something in Innoventions perhaps, putting the empty space to good use, or in the Japan Pavilion as an attraction. Personally I’m not the biggest fan of this idea since I don’t really care for the direction Epcot seems to be going in and I’m very protective of the park, but I can accept it.

Disney Springs and the like: Unlikely as all get out but for once I’m literally going to let my bias come into play and concept: Cancel the stupid NBA experience and make Disney Quest 2.0 with a heavy focus on Disney’s video game related properties such as Wreck it Ralph, Disney Infinity, Epic Mickey, and Kingdom Hearts. It’d be so much better of an idea and can you tell I’m still salty about Disney Quest being torn down?

Anyways, basically it’s going to be in one of the main parks (Disneyland/Magic Kingdom/Disneyland Paris/Tokyo Disneyland) or it will be in Epcot due to openings, announcements, and theming.

So that being said, what can we expect from this? In truth um...not as much as you’re thinking.

As much as I’d love to go blasting the drums and screaming for a whole Kingdom Hearts theme area, not a lot of things get the same treatment that Star Wars and Pandora got. And trust me, considering my opinions on those franchises I would much rather KH get that attention. If I’m honest, I hesitate to even propose the idea that Kingdom Hearts should get a ride.

Looking at the ride types, the only attraction the ride could feasibly get would be a coaster, a dark ride, or a screen ride. A dark ride is immediately out of the question imho due to the story of KH being impossible to do anything with in that format. A screen ride, while doable, is a gamble since they can run the gambit of really good (Star Tours and Flight of Passage) or really bad (Jimmy Fallon at Universal Studios is the worst ride I have ever been on) and runs the risk of being underwhelming, since it could be simply a sit down show. Which would then bring the problem of these rides are meant to be enjoyable for non fans too, or else it would be shut down. A coaster would be the easiest to implement and most likely to succeed since nobody has to know the theme to enjoy a good coaster, so I could see them doing that, but coasters require a decently large amount of space to build, especially when compared to a screen ride, which creates its own problems.

So what do I think KH will likely see? Well for one: Merchandise. Even if they don’t make a cooperative effort into a ride or attraction, KH might still have a presence in the gift shops like Magic Kingdom’s Emporium as time goes on, or even simply a new pin available at Pintraders. The game is huge and people care. So some merchandise coming from Disney milking the cash cow is inevitable. You might also see some small shout outs such as changing a store name or a restaurant name to feature Sora and co. Hell maybe even a new one will be built as part of promotion. Or we’ll get new costumes for Sora this time around.

However, I think what will most likely be seen is a new game sort of thing. Similar to how Magic Kingdom has Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot had the Kim Possible and, later, the Phineas and Ferb missions, an interactive game could be an easy fit for the series. Similar to how Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom allows players to fight eight iconic Disney villains, a game like this could easily have players aid Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they take on Heartless and iconic Disney villains around the parks. It doesn’t require extensive knowledge of the series and a final showdown with Xehanort or even an entirely original villain or Maleficent herself could make for a fun way to kill the day. It’d keep in the spirit of KH and not distance it too far from Disney properties. It could also end up similar to VOID, the new Star Wars laser tag experience at Disney Springs, and focus in on the Keyblade War instead and have vr whacking people with stuff. Is it what I want...well no. I’d actually really like a VR coaster for this, but I think it’s a safe bet and gives them the ability to update either Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom or the Phineas and Ferb world showcase adventure, both of which haven’t had changes in a very long time. It also puts KH in a position where if the attraction doesn’t do well it doesn’t feel like a huge waste of investment and allows Square and Disney both to test the waters to open up the gates to a more grand Kingdom Hearts attraction.

Anyways, that’s my two cents. Really I’ll be happy with any representation at the parks since for years all we’ve had is a Sora shirt, sweatshirt, three Disney pins, and a hidden poster at Epcot, but who knows, maybe we could see something a little bit more at long last along the horizon.

#Kingdom Hearts #Just some speculation stuff

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danganromps · 7 years

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Quick disclaimer: This girl is half Japanese and half Native American, and since I don’t know much about specific native tribes or anything her design is sort of a mix of the sort of things my partly native (and also horse trainer, which is her talent) grandparents wear, and the sort of things the characters in Pocahontas wear; basically what I’m trying to say is her design isn’t meant to represent traditional Native American clothing, it’s just slightly influenced by it. On to the actual character! Her name is Nakoma Ueno, and she’s the ultimate horse trainer. Her parents kinda just had a fling and so she grew up with her father (who is Japanese), and only pictures of her mother (who is Native American). She grew up very intrigued by her mother’s culture and became obsessed with horses at a young age when she started reading about like “cowboys and indians” types of stories(both historical and fictional). She never had a lot of friends growing up because she preferred to be with her horses, so she comes across as unfriendly when she’s really just not interested in talking to other people.

Don’t worry, I’m British so I know even less about native American tribes, so I apologise if that lack of knowledge shows up! Mind you, it sounds as though she hasn't really had much knowledge beyond that gained from books and movies, so it’s interesting to see how that has manifested itself in her life.

As for the character herself, she seems pretty cool. She’s got a great talent - I think working with animals is one of those things that a lot of kids would love to do, so for her to have become an Ultimate is a dream come true for many! I think her personality is quite similar to others who work with animals as part of their talent (hi Gundham), and I can also imagine that working with horses is a way for her to feel more connected to her mother.

Once again, thanks for submitting!

-Alice

#Dangan Ronpa #danganronpa #ocs #submission

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theplateescape · 7 years

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L.A.

Los Angeles: City of fallen angels

After much too long dragging ourselves out of the quicksand of our modern lives, we touched down in the city of angels with no sleep and, by then, uncomfortable shoes. We at once found ourselves being spoken to like slow children by a large, surly black woman who had apparently seen fit to apply thick, white house paint as nail polish and eye shadow, as we negotiated passage through the broken down houses, and barred windows of Inglewood to our accom in Koreatown. After a brief glimpse of the famous Hollywood sign through the green/grey haze of the thick LA air, we arrived at our temporary home. Our driver of course, was not shy to ask me for a tip (we come from a non-tipping culture in Australia and New Zealand) an awkward exchange which consisted of him giving me change for the ride fare, and then me giving it straight back. We then stashed the bags, as we were much too early to check in and, with a much needed change into my trusty jandels/ thongs/ flip flops, set out into the 40 Celsius morning to kill some time.

Following a lot of cursing and sweating, we managed to get a tuna melt in the belly, and board one of the mobile looney bins they call buses, to the Downtown area for a quick reconnaissance mission. We stumbled into “The Last Bookstore”, and the “Grand Central Market” which was more of an immense extended food court, with great local beers, and a mind boggling array of local delicacies. With the jagged teeth of jet lag digging deeply into our ability to remain conscious, we just managed to get back to Koreatown before surrendering to sleep. Waking sticky, but refreshed, it was back to the Grand Central market for great local beers, tongue tacos and the spiciest raw prawns I’ve had since Bangkok. Marinated in lime juice and coriander and swimming in pure evil, this refreshing bowl of prawn aguachile was the perfect catalyst for a big night out.

First stop, “Varnish.” The worst kept secret bar in LA. With a great cocktail list and super authentic prohibition era speakeasy vibe, this gem is hidden behind a sandwich shop. You enter through a door that from a distance just looks like a wooden panel wall. A few cocktails down, the best mint julep I’ve ever had, and free shots from the vibrant and knowledgeable bar staff, we did what all self respecting traveling alcoholics should do, and asked the bar keep where they go to drink. Seems simple enough right? It’s like asking chefs where they go to eat. We’ve employed this technique many times in foreign lands and have yet to be disappointed. Next to “Bar Clacson” for a beer and to watch people play pétanque on their full sized indoor pitch until I notice a lot of people emerging from the back of the bar. Another hidden space is revealed as we head through to a dark, dingier space playing punk music at high volumes and finished with arcade games. Needles to say this is much more our scene and we hold up here until we can barely stand.

As we leave, we employ the old ‘ask the bar tender where to go’ trick one last time and end up in the middle of nowhere eating tostadas and tacos from a truck with a bunch of LA natives. These taco trucks are an institution here and people are pretty faithful to their favourites. I’ll admit on our way to the “Flamin Tacos” truck, it seemed like the mother of all bad ideas; heading into the unknown with no trusty internet service or cell phone coverage to get our drunk asses back home. But as soon as I tasted the “Cubano,” a two pound sandwich filled with every kind of dead animal you could think of I realised, I am home!

As a child I can vividly remember one of my friends going to Disneyland over the school break. I can also remember being intensely jealous and vowing to get myself there some day. Well folks some 25 years later this overgrown kid got his wish, and then some. We hit three theme parks in 4 days, a deceptively exhausting exercise. I’ll spare the details in favour of a brief overview of each as we experienced them.

Universal studios. This was our first one so we were naturally pretty excited despite getting in from our taco excursion at 2.30am. In short this place is like the Gold Coast’s “Movie World” on crack! Not so many actual roller coasters, but 3D motion master type rides are the go here. The highlight was definitely Harry Potter’s Wizarding World. All the lengthy queues for rides were well shaded with big misting fans everywhere, which were a godsend in the crippling heat. Longest wait time was 45 mins for the Harry Potter ride, but it was the best!

6 Flags, Magic Mountain. Our roller coaster lust was fully sated at this park. There so many that we couldn’t possibly ride them all in one day, though we did try. This one is a long way out of town and involved us having to hire a car and drive ourselves out there. We’d had another big night the day before. This coupled with learning to drive on the right side of the road made for a pretty exhilarating experience before we even got to the park. The highlight was probably the “Tatsu” in which you are strapped in then turned to face the ground, and hurtled head first through the most terrifying series of twists and turns ever dreamed up by some sick genius engineers. It was the first ride of the day and we foolishly thought we had picked a gentle ride to warm up with, not the most intense ride in the whole park! Parts of this park where a bit run down and shabby to be fair. Also in a week of bad theme park food, the styrofoam biscuit they were marketing as a burger here was the fucking pits. Longest wait time was an hour I think, and lines were unshaded and the park overall felt poorly thought out compared to the other two. The “Superman Escape” is worth an honourable mention as I have never screamed with such honest and complete terror as I did while being shot 35 meters in the air backwards at 100miles per hour.

Disneyland. We really did save the best for last. As soon as you set foot in the magical kingdom you can’t help but revert back to an awe stricken 10 year old kid. The obsessive attention to detail was impressive to say the least. Some of these rides are at least 40 years old now, but you’d never know. Everything was so beautifully maintained, you’d swear it was built yesterday. Beautiful design and flawless staff execution, (the other parks probably had more thrilling rides) overall immersion, professionalism, and a sense of true childhood wonder made this place on point. Highlight was the “Indiana Jones “ ride which also had the longest wait, not that that mattered as the queue lead you through an ancient temple complete with booby traps and ancient relics. Also “New Orleans Town” was fucken mint! Unfortunately the “Haunted Mansion “ and “Space Mountain” where both closed which kinda sucks but this place was still the happiest place on earth. They also had the best food with the “Dole Whip”, a pineapple soft serve that actually tasted like a real pineapple, and a Moa sized turkey leg that tasted like ham and left me greasy and defeated.

We did all the other LA staples, the Hollywood walk of fame, the Chinese theatre. We saw an orchestra performance of some of John Williams finest film scores at the Hollywood Bowl which was $20, BYO, and so epic it still brought a smile to this jaded old travellers face. I was delightfully and constantly surprised at how, despite the reputation for rudeness, the people of LA were so polite, kind, and helpful. The traffic gets a bum rap here too but to be honest, Auckland traffic is much, much worse (sort your shit out Auckland!), besides once you have mastered the “hook turn” on the mean streets of the Melbourne CBD, you can basically drive anywhere it seems (except Saigon, Saigon is fucked up!). We’re told that no trip to this town is complete without a trip to “In-n-Out Burger” and to be fair it was an experience. If you’ve never seen a drive through queue spill out onto the road, around the block and hold up traffic a road over, then you ain’t seen shit son! The burgers were good, but not that good. We went to “Five Guys” burger parlour a couple of days later which was far superior in every way, and we didn’t have to wait 45 mins for burgers and battle overweight, heavy breathing burger whores for a scrap of table space to actually eat. In a town built on hype and little substance I felt like In-n-Out’s popularity is symptomatic of an age when you can be famous for simply being famous. Sure the secret menu items are kind of a cool touch, but is a secret menu really that cool if everyone, their dog and the internet knows about it?

After cramming in as much as possible in our short time, in this very large city, we decided to hit “Little Tokyo” for drinks and nibbles. Starting with “Mumford Brewing “ we demolished their range of very delicious IPA’s before striding through what was hands down the biggest homeless tent city I have come across. The stark contrast between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in this town was never so brutally apparent as while watching my back we made our way to the next port, in this sea of misery and decrepitude. We’ve seen real poverty in places like Cambodia before, but it was a cold hard slap in the face to see this happening on such a large scale in the “Greatest Nation On Earth”; for shame America.

Our night then took us to “Wolf & Crane”, where the barkeep directed us to a great sushi bar down the road (always ask the bartenders where to go), where we gorged ourselves on very well priced raw delicacies prepared right in front of us, and sipped giant Sopporo’s and tried our best to order what we could in poorly spoken Japanese. Back to Wolf & Crane for more beers, whiskey tasting flights, and eventually being held captive by the head bartender who knocked off, sat down with us, and proceeded to get us completely shit faced until the wee hours, and refused to let us pay for anything.

Suffering the most brutal hangover, in a week of foggy starts, we pulled our shit together, cleaned up the now unrecognisable food mess we had presumably purchased before retiring only a few hours before, and prepared to leave Los Angeles. We rented a car, packed up all our shit and hit the road for the California coast. The fresh sea breeze and coastal hillsides did much to mend the self inflicted mental wounds we sustained in the concrete jungle. Mile after mile of pristine coast line gobbled up by big business and wanky resorts the size of small towns, made me long for untouched New Zealand just a little, as we made our way down to the border to cross into Mexico.

Los Angeles, city of angels, home of the dodgers and of course Mickey Mouse. Where the air is thick, the water dehydrates you, and the sun is always shining. Looking back however, the angels are dodgy at best, with soiled, scabbed wings, and yellowed nubs for teeth that chatter incessantly to drug induced apparitions, while constantly scratching at the imaginary worms crawling under their skin. I’m no stranger to colourful characters coming from one of the rougher parts of Auckland, and now living in a once notoriously sketchy area of Melbourne, but as we catch the bus to downtown LA to rustle up something to eat, it strikes me that there are an extraordinary amount of damaged individuals roaming the streets in the broad, unforgiving daylight. It takes more than the far off gaze of a few broken souls to deter my appetite, but as I stare into the vast void pooling behind those dead eyes, I have to ask myself, “who is to blame for all this misery?” And then it clicks, who else could it be? The only logical conclusion is as obvious as the track marks on the arms of its victims, we must of course blame the mouse! That’s not to say that I believe a 5 foot rodent wearing gloves and pants is responsible for all the hurt on the streets here, rather it is an effective symbol for the dream, or rather, lies that lead so many hopefuls to over extend and wind up facedown in the gutter. We are all told that if we work hard we can do anything. But this is not necessarily the truth. Do you really think a man (or women) wakes up one day with the burning desire to clear away other people’s trash. Most of us have to play with the hands we were dealt. But that’s a necessary evil in our world. Simply put, if we all got what we wanted out of life by following our dreams our filth would ultimately pile up in the streets and choke society to death. Some ones gotta pick up the trash. Hollywood makes its living packaging up the lie, the dream, and selling it off piece by piece for the price of an admission ticket. So like moths flying too close to the light bulb, the hopefuls come to ‘make it’ in tinsel town, but instead crash and burn, and wind up chatting to themselves on the 720 to downtown. Possibly also the apparent lack of an effective welfare and public mental health systems could be a large contributing factor, but it’s not as fun as taking a swipe at everyone’s favourite bipedal magic vermin.

#travel travelwriting travelblog travelblogger food foodporn foodwriting la losangeles traveller america disneyland universal

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xseedgames · 7 years

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Akiba’s Beat - Localization Blog #2 - The Delusionscapes

With the release of AKIBA'S BEAT for PS4 and Vita alike less than a week away (or just over a week away, if you’re in Europe), we thought it might be nice to take a closer look at the game's "Delusionscapes" -- the dungeons created within the Tokyo district of Akihabara that make up roughly one half of the game's playtime. Some fans have been unclear as to what these are and how they work, so we figured we’d show you some of the original concept art from several choice Delusionscapes, along with providing thorough descriptions of how each one -- and the delusion that spawned it -- fit into the game's setting and overall story.

Audio Delusionscape

For a brief moment in time, Akihabara was an audiophile’s dream, with stereo equipment plentiful and knowledgeable staffers on every corner. But when’s the last time you saw someone excitedly buying a several thousand-dollar boffo stereo setup with amp, subwoofer, big honking speakers, etc.? I’m willing to bet it wasn’t anytime since the turn of the millennium, and Akihabara – its finger ever on the pulse of current technological trends – reflects that, with the audio niche being all but gone from the Akiba streets of today.

One of the central themes of AKIBA’S BEAT, however, is that sometimes, people simply cannot accept change… and in the Akiba depicted here, those who have a strong affinity for the way things used to be can actually change reality to make it that way again.

One music hipster dude, who runs one of the few surviving audio specialty stores in Akihabara, did exactly that, and created this Delusionscape full of the most amazing audio equipment you've ever seen (with perfect acoustics, no doubt!). And where did he create it? Why, at the heart of Akiba, of course: Akihabara Station, where all those heading to or from the district inevitably must go. From the outside, it just looks like the station's got a larger-than-life sound system attached to it, but on the inside, it's a maze of graphic equalizers and top-of-the-line gear.

The key part of this delusion, however, is the effect it has on the people of Akihabara, unconsciously causing Akiba residents and tourists alike to have a strange desire to go out and buy new audio equipment…

Idol Delusionscape

Cuteness, pinkness, and bunnies rule the day here, as the site of a simple concert fronted by up-and-coming idol singer Riyu Momose turns into an absolute idol paradise. Throngs of adoring (and rather creepy) fans flock to the site, guided to it like a beacon in the night, leaving our heroes with a bit of a conundrum: who among this crowd of hundreds -- nay, thousands -- could be the "deluser" responsible for dreaming up such a venue?

On the inside, the Idol Delusionscape shares its outer appearance, but dials it all up to eleven with neon color-changing lights and whimsical designs around every corner. One can only imagine the Grand Phantasm (read: boss) that awaits at the end of such a high-energy labyrinth!

The Idol Delusionscape is when the story of AKIBA'S BEAT really starts to kick into gear, presenting players with a large list of suspects as to who might be responsible for its creation, and forcing them to do some true sleuthing in order to find the answer. Is it the jovial yet overbearing Chunk Widebody? The scrawny, sweaty, and devious Twiggy Slims? Or perhaps it's the shy, awkward Megane Taro, who seems -- by all accounts -- to recognize that something isn't quite right about all of this...

Maid Delusionscape

As with the Audio Delusionscape, this one represents a period in Akiba's history that's only just now starting to come to a close: the maid boom. Maid cafes are a staple of Akiba culture, allowing reclusive "otaku" (read: nerds) not only to eat lovingly prepared food full of hearts and flowers and frills, but to have cute girls in maid outfits waiting on them hand and foot the whole time, calling them "master" and doing everything in their power to cheer them up with song and dance routines, magic shows, games... whatever it takes!

Maid cafes are still abundant in Akihabara today, with locations like Maidreamin and Granvania serving as landmarks to travelers in the district, and girls in full maid outfits still handing out sale flyers to passers-by on a daily basis. However, if you went back in time only a few years -- roughly to the period when AKIBA'S TRIP: Undead & Undressed was released -- you'd find maid culture to be more of a dominant force than it is today. In other words, it's still going strong... but it's noticeably waning, losing ground to idol culture and other otaku whims.

This is where the Maid Delusionscape comes in. From the outside, it appears as a beacon of maid symbology (frilly lace, rice omelettes with ketchup hearts drawn on them, etc.) at the site of an in-universe branch of the "Maidiators" cafe -- and this carries through to the inside as well (albeit with more imagery of bars and chains, suggesting the “deluser” responsible for this delusion might feel a bit trapped). But it's the effect the maid delusion has on Akiba that's most noticeable, essentially restoring the maid boom in full... and then some. As long as the Maid Delusionscape exists, maids will be more popular in Akihabara than ever, surpassing their peak numbers from the early-to-mid 2010s. And if that happens... well, it doesn't sound all that bad, does it? But one could argue that it'll cause the district to be thrown out of balance, losing its propensity for change. And without that, Akiba just isn't Akiba anymore!

As such, the Maid Delusionscape chapter is the first time the game’s characters really start to ask: is it right to destroy someone's delusion, even when it doesn't seem to be doing any harm? Should delusions be condemned simply for "defacing reality"? Or should they, under certain circumstances, perhaps be embraced?

“Chuuni” Delusionscape

There are numerous Japanese terms that come up so regularly in the anime fandom, they've basically become adopted into the worldwide "anime lexicon" at this point. "Baka," for example, is a word most anime fans know means "idiot," and "tsundere" is a word most anime fans know refers to someone who's mean and abrasive on the outside to cover up her (usually her) inner emotionality.

One that doesn't come up as often, however, but is absolutely key to understanding the story of AKIBA'S BEAT (and is thus left untranslated, but clearly outlined to players during the course of the game, even in the original Japanese), is "chuuni." Literally "junior high sophomore," it's an abbreviated version of the larger slang term "chuunibyou," or roughly "eighth-grade sickness." This somewhat derogatory term refers to people who are obsessed with the types of "edgy" things typically associated with fiction targeted toward eighth-graders: large unwieldy swords, characters with mysterious pasts, pretentiously poetic dialogue that obscures the meaning of crucial passages, heroic acts of self-sacrifice, focusing one's power "over 9000," etc.

This Delusionscape, then, is fairly low-key and personal compared to a lot of the others in the game. Its effects on the district are minimal, but those who dare to enter it are met with a unique brand of opposition in the form of a dark-cloaked man with a large axe who speaks in riddles. The key to passing by him is solving his riddles, and the key to that is finding the source of the delusion -- the person who dreamed up this den of tired anime stereotypes in the first place. But can that be done before the power of the Chuuni Delusionscape collapses in on itself like a neutron star?! Find out next time... on AKIBA'S BEAT!

Electronics Delusionscape

This is one of the more surprising Delusionscapes in the game, I think. When you hear “electronics,” you probably aren’t picturing quite what you get here – verdant green grass and moss, with a general feeling of nature encroaching upon everything around you. How does this relate to electronics? Well, if you look a bit closer, you'll see: mixed in with all the foliage (indeed, almost camouflaged by it) are air-conditioning units, fans, microwaves, washing machines, refrigerators, and all manner of other home appliances (you don’t actually have to look THAT close in the concept art image, but in-game, these appliances are a bit fewer in number and more well-hidden). These aren't the electronics that first spring to mind when most of us hear the word, but make no mistake: these are the electronics that made Akihabara what it is today. And here, they're shown as being forgotten... abandoned... left out for so long that they're overgrown with moss and vines, likely never to function again.

This is the delusion of someone who controls a vast empire of home appliances, but either regrets that he’s still living in Akihabara’s past, or is afraid his goods will be rendered obsolete by newer, more advanced inventions. It’s the delusion of an insecure store owner – the hidden underbelly of a “home appliance boom” that's happening on the outside, with people suddenly snatching up home appliances in droves like never before... when in reality, one rarely goes to Akihabara for home appliances these days. The meaning of “electronics” – indeed, of “Electric Town” in general – has changed into a completely different beast over the last few decades. And there are clearly some who would prefer not to change with it, and will fight tooth and nail to keep things the way they once were.

Represented in one of the more emotional chapters of AKIBA'S BEAT, the events surrounding the Electronics Delusionscape hit pretty hard, and may be some of the more memorable and intense moments found in the entire game.

They are also, sadly, very easy to spoil, so I shall speak no more on the subject!

In fact, to talk about any of the other Delusionscapes at this point would be virtually impossible without spoiling crucial story scenes, so suffice it to say we've only just scratched the surface here -- there are many, many more in this game, each with their own story to tell!

If you could make any delusion into reality, what would your delusion be? Where would it be located, and what effect would it have on your town/city/village/trailer park/biodome? What would the inside of its Delusionscape look like, and what “Grand Phantasm” -- representative of the core concept from deep within your soul that spawned this delusion in the first place -- would await at the end of it?

We’ve been asking ourselves that very same question here at the XSEED offices, and if you’re lucky, maybe we’ll share a few of our answers with you in a future blog. Because let me tell you, we're all delusers, baby (though please don't kill us!).

In the meantime, you can join Asahi & co. on their delusion-filled journey May 16th in North America or May 19th in PAL regions, on PS4 or Vita, both versions containing dual voice and dual text (so you can play with any combination you’d like of Japanese or English voice-acting or text). And in fact, although we previously stated that players would have to download the Japanese voices as free DLC for the Vita version, it turns out we were able to include them as part of the base game after all, so all users on both PS4 and Vita will have all voice and text options in all English-speaking regions, right from the start.

Are you ready to be deluded?

#xseed blog #xseed #akiba's beat #acquire #post: tom #long post #delusionscapes

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adventuresaroundasia · 4 years

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Pin Me!

Most of you know that I love to travel, I lived in China for quite a while, and I’m location-independent right now. You may also know that I love cats and spicy food. But did you also know I’m a huge nerd?

Today I decided to hop off the travel/ expat life train and talk a little bit about the sides of me you don’t see: the super nerdy and slightly weird sides.

Here are 5 ways in which I am a giant nerd. Enjoy!

If this doesn’t scream confidence I don’t know what does…

1. I’m Obsessed with Survivor

One thing you need to understand about me is that I’m super obsessed with the tv show Survivor. Yes, that show is still on the air, and they just wrapped up their 40th season. FORTY.

You know how people talk about sports? That’s how I talk about Survivor. I’m super into the strategy, the social game, and the lengths people are willing to go to in order to win. If you haven’t watched Survivor in a long time, the game is a completely different animal now, and the level of strategy needed in order to win is super intense. I LOVE IT.

Not only do I watch Survivor religiously, but I also watch Australian Survivor and I listen to Survivor podcasts like RHAP’s (Rob has a Podcast)’s “Survivor Know It Alls” and “Why _____ Lost” (talking about why a player was voted out), and the Survivor Specialists. If you love Survivor and you don’t listen to Survivor podcasts, what are you even doing with your life?

Finally, I even applied to be on Survivor last fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it all the way to getting on the show, but I already have some new ideas for when I apply again this fall. Basically I’m going to be on Survivor, they just don’t know it yet.

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A quick intro to D&D if you’re curious

2. I Play D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)

When I first started dating my husband Chris, he told me he was the Dungeon Master (DM) for a local D&D game. I had absolutely no idea what D&D was, but I knew it was nerdy and that I should probably make fun of him for it.

Fast forward a few months and I’m on a quick visit home to Seattle when I met up with my childhood best friend who informed me that she ALSO played D&D. What??

The way she described the game sounded so fun that when I arrived back in Beijing I asked to join. Unfortunately my first game was a bit intense. Not only did I have no idea what I was doing, but I was also the only girl surrounded by a bunch of aggressive super-nerds. That game eventually fell apart at the start of summer (one session after I joined), and so I started a new game online with a bunch of Chris’ childhood and college friends back in Australia.

via GIPHY

That was about three years ago and I’ve been playing online with that same group of people ever since! For the longest time I used to play every other Sunday for 4 hours, but during COVID isolation I needed more of a social life, so I picked up TWO MORE GAMES, one on Tuesday evening and another on Thursday.

Both my new characters are SUPER WEIRD as well. One is a necromantic spore druid who makes zombies with fungus (and can cover her skin in it to become more powerful). She also has a “husband” named Gerold who is literally just a skull she found in the woods. Then I have another character that is a kappa (from Japanese folklore) water shaman who heals people by pouring the water from inside her head onto them (I make it super weird). She also has a cat-sized pet crab too. You’re welcome.

I’ve always been weird

3. I Love Pokemon (and still play Pokemon GO)

Growing up I was always super into Pokemon. I watched the show, collected the cards, and bought all the Gameboy games. As a special treat, my mom would take my brother and I to the games shop to buy a pack of Pokemon cards to put in my GIANT Pokemon card book.

Now that I’m an adult, I’m still super into Pokemon. Unfortunately for me, Pokemon Go came out while I was living in China, and I was SO UPSET that it was blocked. I even tried to get on with my VPN but there were NO POKEMON TO CATCH. WHYYYY???

Fortunately for me, I eventually left China and was able to start playing with my husband Chris. I still play Pokemon GO when I’m out and about, and I’ve found it’s a great way to get exercise while exploring a place. When staying with my parents, Chris and I would try and get out of the house every day or two and walk for a solid 45 minutes just to hit up Pokestops, take over gyms, and catch Pokemon.

I also play the Pokemon games on my Switch too! I already finished Pokemon Let’s Go, and I’m playing Sword and Shield Now! (I only took a break because I got really into Animal Crossing).

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A Quick Enneagram 101

4. I’m Super Into the Enneagram

If you’re into personality types like Myers Briggs (I’m an ENFP!), you may have heard of the Enneagram. While the Enneagram is a personality-typing system, it really goes much deeper than just describing your outward personality. While you can take a test (which is only as accurate as you know yourself), the best way to figure out your type is just to learn about the 9 types and do a lot of introspection.

Rather than categorizing yourself by how you act and what you do, the Enneagram is all about WHY you do what you do. What are your core motivations, desires, and deep dark fears, and how does that impact you and your life choices?

The purpose of the Enneagram is to learn about your type so that you can discover the things that you do that aren’t serving you. What are the elements of your personality that are actually HURTING you and making life harder, and how can we, over time, let those go?

This is me.

My Enneagram Type: Type 7

Personally, I’m a type 7 (7w6 sx/so in case you’re an Enneagram nerd like me), and this knowledge has helped me SO MUCH. Through learning about the Enneagram I’ve realized that I have a huge aversion to talking about/ feeling really shameful or traumatic memories, and instead I prefer to just shove them under the rug and pretend like they never happened because I “don’t have time to be sad”. I also feel like there’s not enough time in life to do everything I want to do, so I have constant anxiety and FOMO that I’m missing out on something.

Finally, 7’s have this idea that happiness is something outside of yourself that you have to go and get. But once you actually get that thing, you don’t even enjoy it because you’re already focused on the next thing you just “need” to be satisfied. This ‘more is more’ concept when it comes to happiness leaves 7’s constantly living in the future, and unable to appreciate what they already have.

Wow, how exhausting is that?

Learning about the Enneagram has honestly been so enlightening for me, and I LOVE forcing others to get into it too. (Any other Enneagram nerds? Let’s be friends!!).

How to Get Into the Enneagram

If you want to get into the Enneagram, I suggest watching a quick intro video like the one above and then reading about all of the 9 types on the Enneagram Institute. This should give you a pretty good idea of what your type is (or at least help you narrow it down).

If you really want to take a quiz, you CAN but take a few quizzes and just read about your top-scoring numbers. For me, it’s usually 7 (by a mile! lol), 3 and 2.

Next, I recommend reading a book. I really like the Honest Enneagram as a perfect intro book. It was actually written this year, so it’s very current and easy to read! Once you’re dying for more info, get a really in-depth hefty book like the Wisdom of the Enneagram, or Personality Types. You can also join a Facebook group for your type too! (The 7 Facebook group is awesome).

Baby Woody in Vietnam!

5. I’m Obsessed with Cats

Many of you probably already know that I fostered abandoned kittens in Vietnam, but I don’t think you know how far this obsession goes. I love animals, but I’m particularly fond of cats, and I have a hard time rationalizing my desire to travel and live abroad with my need to have a pet.

I Foster Abandoned and Injured Cats and Kittens

So, in Vietnam I worked with Vietnam Cat Welfare to foster abandoned kittens until they were old enough to get all their vaccines. Before I did this, I helped nurse a street kitten back to health after she’d been hit by a motorbike.

Now that I live in Tbilisi, I’ve been dying to find a cat to foster, but unfortunately, it’s been difficult since most of the stray cats here are actually pretty healthy, and the ones that do need help are pretty much immediately adopted! (Wow what a horrible problem to have, I know!).

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I saw a very unfortunate-looking cat in a diaper looking miserable that needed a foster family. Finally, my time to shine!! I immediately said I would foster her (and purposely didn’t show the picture of her to Chris because I knew he’d say no).

For the last three weeks, I’ve been giving her medicine, brushing out her tangles, and changing her litterbox constantly because she pees like a HORSE due to her kidney issues. Every day she’s getting happier and healthier which is super exciting!

Honestly, someday I’m going to open a cat cafe full of rescues and you’re all invited.

I Also Feed Stray Dogs

Now, it’s not just cats I love. I also feed stray dogs! Tbilisi has a huge stray dog population, and pretty much all of them have been tagged and vaccinated. The stray dogs are actually very nice, and most small shops have bags of dog food you can buy to give to the dogs.

So of course, I bought my own bag of dog food, and whenever I see a stray dog outside my apartment I go with a few handfuls of food to give them. Usually they’re not even hungry (seriously!) and they just want me to pet them. The other day I had a stray dog go on a walk with me, and he ended up following me for 20 minutes!

Hello stray puppy

I Used to do 4H for Cats

If this wasn’t all nerdy enough for you, let me tell you about my childhood hobby: 4H for cats. If you’re from the US you may have been to a county fair that had animal shows: horses, sheep, etc. This is actually through a program called 4H. Now, what most people don’t know is that 4H also has a CAT CATEGORY.

If you’re at the local fair and walk into a room full of decorated cat cages, you’ve found us. Now this is not a cat show with a bunch of purebreds. 4H is all about how well you take care of the animal and how much you know about them. They have you show off your cat in a specific order (teeth, nails, ears, fur, etc) and then you have to answer cat trivia questions. For example, did you know cats have three eyelids?

In addition, they also have trivia bowls, cage decorating competitions, audience choice and MORE. My childhood bedroom was decorated with giant show ribbons like I had a horse or something, but no… they were for my cat knowledge.

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Are You a Nerd Too?

Are you obsessed with any of the things above? Do you play D&D, watch Survivor, or read Enneagram books? Do you love to catch Pokemon or foster animals? Let me know in a comment below!

Fun Fact: I’m a Huge Nerd Most of you know that I love to travel, I lived in China for quite a while, and I'm location-independent right now.

#cats #D&D #Enneagram #personal #Survivor

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