I was feeling down and I need to watch Bunal again, and well...
Bungou to Alchemist is really slowly becoming my favorite comfort anime.
It’s not an anime for everyone, I know. It’s not a 10/10. I would give it a 7 or 8. I was first taken in because I thought Dazai Osamu is Riddle Rosehearts and the opening is hella pretty. But I’m glad I decided to give it a chance, even watching both dub and sub. The plot might be a bit messy and I wish we can see more than 13 episode. Other than Dazai and Ryuunosuke, not much characters (no matter how pretty they can be) has a chance to shine. The animation is clean. The action can be short, but looks nice.
One thing I truly enjoy from this anime is that it’s it’s the first anime I watch that really resonate the struggle of a writer. The Hell Screen episode shows who even when you see your writing is bad, it’s still part of you. No Longer Human shows the side of an author who struggles to connect with humanity that he doesn’t even see how admirable he is to chase for the goodness in life. Cogwheels and Howling at the Moon shows how one writing can actually destroy a life but also shows how much writing matters.
I know no writers is immune to this ugly feeling. You know, the feeling that you’re not good enough and you’re being left behind by the more talented author. When you’ve written so many words and yet no one say anything. When you just want to quit from writing all together because no one seems to care. You want to write for yourself, but it feels like you’re talking to a mirror.
Watching Bungou to Alchemist really helped me during my lowest time when I think I’m not worthy as an author. Whenever I feel down about my own writing, I’ll just pop up Episode 9 and listen how Dan said to that that he’s a genius or Episode 13 where Dazai said that all of Ryuunosuke’s work is important for him and many others. It’s really a comfort anime. I would recommend it.
"chilchuck isn't a twink, he's a DILF!" now i get why you're saying that but i feel like you've maybe forgotten what chilchuck tims canonically looks like
i'm sorry but this man is a twink. also DILF isn't a body type it's a status (and technically, an opinion) so he can be both
"but he's middle-aged!" look at him. look with your eyeballs. his age has nothing to do with the fact that he Looks Like That. he's a twink. the sooner you accept this the less angry his fandom will make you
edit bc this post has become the bane of my existence:
FAQ
Q: wtf do you mean he's a dad? he looks like a kid.
A: he is 29 years old, and a half-foot. half-foots are dungeon meshi's halflings, or hobbits, or whatever you want to call them.
Q: wait, if he's 29, why the fuck are you calling him middle-aged?
A: half-foots have an average lifespan of 50 years. chilchuck was originally drawn with grey hairs (you can see that in the manga fullbody) but the mangaka gave up on that over time. he's middle-aged for his race.
Q: hey, doesn't that look like a little angry face on his boot in the manga drawing?
A: yea kinda
given that i've ran this blog for as many years now i think i should get much credit for this being what, only the third dick joke i've ever made here hdfkhkj
anyways. there's this point in the story where vash and wolfwood have to go their separate ways for a while, but neither of them are dealing with it particularly well
(image id below the cut since it's a longer one)
[image ID: a rough, doodley 5 panel digital comic of vash and meryl from trigun, but from my leaden skies au where they've both been lightly redesigned to fit into the setting of monster hunter. vash is a wyverian with long pointed ears, wearing a red coat with gold trim and buttons. meryl is a human wearing a beret as seen on other guild girls, but her all-white outfit is a practical two-piece blouse and shorts set. the whole comic is comprised of warm colors, orange and yellow and dark purple
panel 1: vash sitting in the foreground at a brown desk covered in candles and books, with a book opened in front of him that he flips through with a bored expression and his cheek resting against his hand. he appears to be in a library, lit by candles on dark grey chandeliers hung from the ceiling. meryl is in the background stretching up to reach a book high on a shelf, and beside her is a table which is also covered in candles and several tall stacks of books
panel 2: a closeup of vash's face as his eyes widen and his ears prick up. something in the book has apparently caught his attention
panel 3: a closeup of the page vash was looking at, an illustrated info sheet about the flying wyvern, khezu. a candle in the table brightly illuminates the colored page
panel 4: meryl has come around by vash's shoulders with a stack of books held in her arms. she quirks a brow as she looks over vash's shoulder at the book. vash has a neutral, hard to read look on his face, but his ears are still up and his eyes are still shiny and wide as he seems to consider the page for a while
panel 5: a yellow word bubble comes from vash, who huffs a long sigh and says, "maybe i should call him...". his head has tipped to the side as he rubs his neck and frowns, blushing a little with his ears drooping. meryl physically recoils from him and her face scrunches up in disgust, saying, "eww" and, "there's something wrong with you"