#i love going back to my shoujo manga roots

[shyranno]

Day 6 of drawing Maul until Disney/Lucasfilm hires me to do Maul things

#star wars #fan art #tcw #darth maul #maul #i love going back to my shoujo manga roots #sw prequels #also yes this is a jedi maul au #he was raised by good people in the temple and ended up a good boy ok #let me live in my delusions #let him be happy

[metalandmagi]

Hello....If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/manhwa/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Hope you don't mind if the same person ask a different questions. Thank you so much @metalandmagi .....

Funny you should ask, because I was just listening to a podcast episode about favorite fandom ships, and I had actually started making my own list that I was going to post anyway! And I don’t mind you asking, since I don't really have people to talk to about this stuff. I like looking at your blog and seeing other people’s answers too!

Here's my top ten! These are going to be kind of repetitive because I’ve already talked about these fandoms so much, but these are my favorite CANON SHIPS, meaning they’re actually together or at least have kissed or something. I have a million non canon ships.

10. Jem, Will, and Tessa from The Infernal Devices- I wanted to keep myself to one ship per fandom, but I couldn’t help it, I just love this OT3 so much. I don’t care what anyone says, they are a poly relationship, not a love triangle (and I maintain that if Jem wasn’t already dying, he and Will would have realized they loved each other romantically, and their parabatai bond would have fucked them over eventually). They all have an equal amount of love and respect for each other, and they balance each other so well. And I appreciate that none of them are relegated to being “the overly jealous partner who ruins everything for the other two.” We get time with each of them and love them all equally.

9. Patroclus and Achilles from The Song of Achilles- Call me a basic bitch, but these two are unparalleled in terms of doomed romances. I love friends to lovers, and the story is so widely spanning that it gives their relationship such gravitas.

8. Yona and Hak from Akatsuki no Yona- Still haven’t finished the manga, but these two are god tier for fantasy romances. I love that they completely lose their minds over each other whenever they are not within arm’s reach, and they’re another great example of childhood friends to lovers. Hak’s “teasing” attitude in the beginning of the series wasn’t my favorite, but it’s funny to look back on it later, knowing that he’s so in love with Yona and would murder the first person to disrespect her. 

7. Shigure and Akito from Fruits Basket- Because why would I choose one of the normal, healthy relationships when I could go for one of the most fucked up romances in shoujo? These two…I don’t even know where to start. They’re the definition of toxic for most of the series, but by the end, you’re really rooting for them to be together with the Sohma family curse broken. Shigure is desperate for the curse to be broken so he can prove to Akito that he loves her without them being tied together by fate. Akito feels like she needs the curse because otherwise everyone will leave her forever. Akito sleeps with Kureno. Shigure sleeps with her mom. They’re “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” meets “mansplain, manipulate, man-whore.”

6. Sasaki and Miyano from Sasaki to Miyano- What can I say? They’re just so freaking cute! I think they represent the romance a lot of people in fandom want, because they bond over manga and slowly come to learn more about each other. Sasaki never pressures Miyano to return his feelings, and I appreciate the patience he has in waiting for Miyano to give him an honest answer to his confession.

5. Jesper and Wylan from Six of Crows- Another basic answer, but these two are so entertaining whenever they’re together. I love that Jesper starts out teasing Wylan relentlessly about looking like a pampered rich kid (despite the fact that Wylan also lives on the streets), but Wylan deadass saves the group time and time again, so Jesper comes to respect him more. This is how you do teasing in a relationship: they get under each other’s skin but aren’t complete dicks to each other. And I appreciate that the Shadow and Bone show changes their dynamic slightly while keeping the chaotic duo the same at their core. 

4. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the various Percy Jackson series- The pinnacle of middle grade/YA romance. Nobody else is doing it like these two. What works about their relationship is that we truly believe their friendship as 12 year olds before they start to have feelings for each other. So many times, authors shove two characters together because they feel like they need a romance, but Percy/Annabeth progress so naturally. They tease each other, but they know they’re both capable individuals at the end of the day (and their wildly different brands of intelligence work so well), and as long as they’re together, they can get through anything.

3. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing- I’ve shipped these two for much less time than these other ships, but they have smashed their way to my top 3 ships of all time. How do you compete with a god who’s fallen from grace and his eternally devoted follower who would burn the world down to see them smile? How do you compete with Hua Cheng, who has stayed by Xie Lian’s side for hundreds of years out of pure devotion, but not in a creepy or weird stalkery way? I think the biggest thing this ship has going for it is its sincerity. Hua Cheng doesn’t stay with Xie Lian because he’s hoping Xie Lian will fall for him eventually. He doesn’t believe he’s even worthy of Xie Lian’s love. But he stays anyway, because that’s what unconditional love is like. You stay when the one you love is at their lowest and you can’t do anything to help. You stay when they’re fighting the heavenly emperor and kick ass alongside them. You hold an umbrella over their head when it's raining blood and carry them across the ground when it's littered with corpses.

2. Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments/Shadowhunters- These two have destroyed me over the years. I think the best thing about this ship is how they bring out the best in each other and have changed each other’s lives for the better. Magnus is so outgoing and free spirited, but with Alec, he wants to “settle down” (lol) and raise a family. Alec started as the personification of the frowny face emoji, stuck in the closet with a stick up his ass, but now he’s basically running the shadowhunter world. They’re the perfect example of “opposites attract” who have changed their world simply by being in love.

1. Damen and Laurent from Captive Prince- Speaking of couples who change their world simply by being in love…I don’t know if any other ship will top them for me. All the other enemies to lovers ships can get the fuck out. They’re nothing compared to Damen and Laurent. So many times, people will write “enemies to lovers” or “hate to love” relationships that are just two characters snipping at each other or bullying each other for no reason. Get that shit out of here. These two start with the purest, most honest loathing possible. They hurt each other in countless ways, but they come to learn each other slowly. They have every reason to be enemies, but they come through each layer of trauma with love for each other. They’re the kings (pun intended) of this trope.

Honorable mentions: Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper- They’re just so wholesome and sweet. The progression of their relationship from like to love is so realistic, and they’re basically the live action/book version of Sasaki and Miyano.

Ronan and Adam from The Raven Cycle- (haven’t read the last book in the Dreamer trilogy, but I hope nothing bad happens). Their differing brands of chaotic energy compliment each other perfectly, and as a reader, the slow realization that Ronan is in love with Adam was so eye opening and satisfying in a way few other series have been able to capture.

Just for fun, here are some of my “less canon” ships too.

* Inej and Kaz (they're practically canon, but they never explicitly say they're together or in love...but we all know they are)

*Kylo Ren and Rey (also practically canonical since they've at least kissed)

* America and England from Hetalia (if I really want to go back to my fandom shipping roots. I read nothing but fics for them for like 2 years in high school 😅)

*Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima 

*Hinata and Kageyama

*Carole and Tuesday

*Link and Sidon

#captive prince #shadowhunters #sasaki to miyano #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #percy jackson #pjo #six of crows #fruits basket #akatsuki no yona #tid #tmi

[shoujomangathoughts]

Shoujo Thoughts - Angel Sanctuary

I finally completed Angel Sanctuary by Yuki Kaori. For me, it's been a long time coming, having watched the OVAs well over a year ago and reading a couple volumes last fall, to finally continuing and completing it within the last couple months. In comparison to the last series I covered (Hana Kimi), this one is a lot more fresh in my mind and honestly just denser content wise. Again, I'll be pretty light on spoilers until the character section.

To get things out of the way, yes this series touches sensitive and weird scenarios, I assume most infamous for it's incestuous relationship between Setsuna (the protagonist) and his sister Sara. This is done for several reasons that I won't really go into for sake of spoilers, but in a manga with heaven and hell and religious themes, they are condemned throughout the entire story. I never really rooted for them or considered their relationship "cute" because of the nature of their relationship always looming in the back of my mind, but the story itself consistently marks their love for each other as a huge sin so contextually it made sense. It wasn't fetishizing their relationship, rather it was a building block for the greater narrative and the result of a curse placed on Alexiel (who Setsuna is the reincarnation of). It's still admittedly weird but I was able to compartmentalize it for sake of continuing and seeing what the story built around it offered. On a whole, this story tackles many taboo or tragic relationships.

This is my first time reading something by Yuki Kaori and it certainly made a big impression. Her art is really well done and detailed, with a gothic-leaning style that at times emphasizes horror and gore. The tone of the series is pretty serious but also is well balanced with humor and lightheartedness. As someone who's not religious or overly informed, I'm sure many of the references went over my head and at times the names of the various places would be hard for me to remember. The story had a lot of twists and admittedly was pretty tragic throughout.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding as well; all three of the realms (Earth, Heaven and Hell) had interesting areas visually and the way things operated in each place was pretty well explained or shown through visual cues. The politics were easy enough to follow while still allowing twists in the plot to occur. It was interesting to see that the inhabitants of both heaven and hell were portrayed as somewhere between morally gray to straight up twisted. It made most of the characters have unique and interesting motivations. There's also a ton of different characters (with varying significance) so I'm sure any one could find several characters that they'd enjoy. Some of my favorites throughout were Kira, Kato, Hatter, Katan, Rosiel, Michael, etc. The mangaka also seemed to have no issue with killing a character off which made it anxiety-inducing for me at times when a character I liked seemed to be in danger because I stopped doubting that she would really kill them off.

I would say my favorite arcs were the Hades arc and the Hell arc, I really enjoyed the look of these places as well as the pacing. Kato was one of my favorite characters so it was nice to see the parts that had a larger focus on him as well as the beginning of Setsuna realizing the possible flaws of his recklessness. Hatter was also a pretty twisted character that made for an interesting arc with a lot of great imagery (the parts with Kurai specifically had nice visuals). I found the story overall to be a interesting fantasy epic that covers a lot of ground. In fact, I feel as though this one would be good to reread at some point to help absorb all the content.

Favorite character (contains spoilers) : Kira

Kira was the character that I found most interesting throughout. He was pretty layered due to his tragic past and all the suffering he went through, which made it hard to tell what his actual motivations were or if he truly meant some of the things he'd say (even when it seemed like he didn't). He was an emotional support for Setsuna (presented as a lot more mature than Setsuna), and it seems like he struggled for a while about whether he was actually attached to Setsuna or just there for him because of his affection for Alexiel, who he has always been chasing. Kira however is also a reincarnation of Lucifer, which creates a lot of issues later on (ruthless murder, seeming betrayal, etc.). Overall, he was the character I would get most excited about seeing because it was hard to tell where his character arc would lead him.

//Sidenote// I found the little sidebar comments from the mangaka in this series amusing. She would say things like "Sorry I killed this character but I wasn't really fond of them" or "Yes this character was specifically created to later die so sorry if you got attached", etc. I had to hunt this sidebar down because I remember finding it funny how she described this ("kind of a gay and dark, perverted story"). Were these characters ever used? I have no idea but it made me laugh.

#shoujo #angel sanctuary #kaori yuki #manga #tenshi kinryoku #dark fantasy

[nonameidentified]

I'm bored...

Here

An unabridged guide yuri history

Yuri yuri yuri yuri. Cute girls being gay, my beloved. But where does it come from?

Before the yuri we know and love today, there was Class S. Class S, also known as S kankei, is a subset of Japanese literature that popped up at around early twentieth century. They showcased "affectionate friendship" between women.

These literature reflected the views of wlw relationships at that time, as something that is normal and natural for young girls to go through, but something they need to grow out of eventually. (It's just a phase mentality). Its roots can still be seen in present-day yuri (ahem sayaka's backstory).

All of this is just a backdrop for what came next.

We skip forward in time to the 1970s, when manga depicting homoeroticism began to popping up all around the place. This is the birth of our beloved yuri as we know today. All these early yuri works can be attributed to the Year 24 Group.

The Year 24 Group are not only responsible for yuri, but also yaoi and for revitalizing shoujo manga publishing in general. Their works were so influential that it brought shoujo manga into it's golden age.

What in the 50s and 60s was just simple stories marketed to young school girls became A LOT more complex and works begin to explore themes of psychology, gender, sexuality and whatnot. (They need an essay all to themselves, I will blab about them again when I'm bored maybe)

Some of the notable members of the Year 24 Group in regards to yuri would be Ryoko Yamagishi and Riyoko Ikeda. Ok, let's focus on Riyoko Ikeda alone for a sec, their most famous work, The Rose of Versailles, is set in pre-revolutionary France and is about Marie Antoinette and Oscar François de Jarjayes, and it is of course, very gay. Not the most relevant but thought it was interesting enough to plop it here.

After gaining a lot of popularity, yuri got itself its own magazine!!! Yuri Shimai was yuri anthology magazine, which ran only from June 2003 to November 2004. But it was succeeded by Comic Yuri Hime in July 2005. Which is still being serialized today! All of our beloved yuri (that isn't self-published) comes from this magazine.

Side Note: One of the first stories to be serialized in Comic Yuri Hime is kisses, sighs, and cherry blossom pink, written by Morinaga Milk. They deserve an essay to their own. I will most certainly gush about them in the near future. This is a warning.

Comic Yuri Hime got itself a sister magazine in Comic Yuri Hime S, which was targeted at a young male audience.. But it did not last long as it merged back with Comic Yuri Hime in 2010. The only reason I bring this up is because YuruYuri was serialised that magazine.

Which brings us to present da- Wait! Did we skip over something? We did! We forgot to mention the revolutionary girl herself, Utena Tenjou. Well, not necessarily forget. No words I can use can properly explain how influential Revolutionary girl Utena was and still is. Someone who is more of an Utena expert can cover it's speciality.

Which FINALLY brings us to present day, where yuri is still a relatively niche genre. But it has VERY dedicated fan base and idiots like me who write out it's history for funsies ^-^. There might even be a religion around it, who knows,,,

If you read through all of this... what is wrong with you?/lh.

#yuri #gl #girl's love #manga history #gay manga history #yuri history #shoujo ai #this was mostly written from memory (except for the names) for funsies (^.^) #yes. i memorized all of yuri history. this shouldn't be surprising in the least #consider this my application to be the yuri historian or something #this was written in an hour-ish so sorry for any weird grammar you may find #moral of the story #never let me be bored

[letyukisayfuck]

to add to my complaints-

it feels like the anime is trying to coast by on a familiarity it hasn’t earned, without doing anything to endear me to characters that feel like their haruhi-chan variants; which works fine in a parody series (i love haruhi-chan! i do!) but does absolutely nothing to get me invested in an actual story about these characters-that-work-best-as-jokes

(when they’re not parodies, they’re altered for no reason than to further the plot- haruhi has MUCH higher emotional intelligence and tact than she should at this point in her development (or lack thereof), seemingly just because it’s convenient for allowing the actual romance to progress; she should be a lot more insensitive and tactless if she hasn’t had any of her canon experiences)

and because it’s calling back to the original quite a bit, i’m judging it a lot more harshly than i would if it were a wholly original series (or an actual fanfic- this is still a commercial anime series, people were paid real-world dollars to make it).

like, yeah, i’m a die-hard harukyon enjoyer and probably the #1 haruhi defender, but i went into this knowing that it’s not about her and that it’s not about them; and that was something i did go in with an open mind about!

but the moe-blob that is yuki-chan isn’t engaging as a character in her own right, and it’s hard to root for her not because she’s inactive but because she’s uninteresting. so she doesn’t feel familiar, and she isn’t engaging in any way- i don’t particularly empathize with her motivation, i don’t really care what happens with her because from where i’m standing there’s nothing to care about: she doesn’t have any standout traits other than staying up late when she shouldn’t and being awkward/anxious.

honestly, i just don’t think a story set in a disappearance-esque world that’s a low-stakes fluffy romance story works very well. in general, i don’t think removing the supernatural from haruhi completely does anything particularly beneficial to the characters, world, or story.

and how heavily it draws on disappearance is very much an issue, to get more specifically into why its reliance on familiarity feels like a bad thing. disappearance is the thing people generally think of when they remember haruhi at its best (well, for the light novels it’s usually surprise, but more people have seen the anime and so disappearance comes to mind first)

and disappearance is a phenomenal story. it sets a very high standard that this show (and likely the manga it’s based on, but i’m probably not going to go and read it) was absolutely doomed to never live up to.

it’s probably fine if you want something light and fluffy and low-stakes (and full of fanservice. there have been moments where i had to actively avert my eyes. repeatedly.), but it’s not what i want out of anything haruhi-adjacent.

also making a haruhi-adjacent romance story and not going the ‘batshit insane shoujo’ route was absolutely a missed opportunity, with or without anything supernatural going on. 

#yuki-chan liveblogging #ruby.txt #wow that's a lot of Words #it's like 2 AM and i didn't think too much before typing most of this out #i may have phrased some things less-than-perfectly but ehhhh i like complaining #and this blog exists so i can share my Opinions #yuki-chan posting

[daz4i]

Hi hi my love!! ^^ So you asked for asks right? :3 I realize a lot of the times when I send you these I tend to ask you to rank stuff lol so I guess I'll lean into it? How about top 5 (or 10 if you have enough) anime series or top 5 (or 10) animated movies? :3 It's pretty general but I figure it should give you a lot of room to go over some of your favorites ^^ Sending love and good wishes!!! ❤️

ehehe thank you my love 🥺👉👈🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

i wanted to do both but then i did the top 5 anime and i got very carried away with my explanations so i kept it as just that. anyway:

1. haikyuu!! probably my favorite show ever tbh. i think hq has a perfect story, like it uses its genre to do everything right, and its impact on the outside world is amazing as well. as for the series itself, it's just beautiful (ignoring that one episode in season 4) and has a very unique style, stellar voice acting, awesome soundtrack, delicious symbolism, and it really gets you hyped for volleyball :P it's very easy to get attached even to the most minor character bc the story is written in a way that lets almost everyone in this HUGE cast (well over a 100 or even 150 named characters, i'm pretty sure) shine, and you're guaranteed to find someone you like. the only downside is you'll probably end up rooting for every team so eventually a team you like will lose a game (likely to another team you like) and that hurts every time fr. and still!!!!! it manages to be so feel-good and optimistic and really gets you pumped and inspired!!!! i think anyone who is even just open to try sports anime should check it out, it's def one of the most accessible I've seen in that genre (in a sense that it doesn't expect you to already be familiar with the sport to understand the story)

2. honestly?? osomatsu-san. probably bc it's very dear to me like emotionally, season 2 was still releasing when i was stuck in the hospital for a few months, and it was like a light i held onto every week (i was also following a few mangas back then but those were harder to follow. due to oso-san's skit nature it was always a good time) and i mean, ichi was my first f/o before i even knew that term existed hehe. it's one of these shows i wouldn't actually recommend to anyone unless i know they're ok with gross or edgy humor but i do think it's really good, i love how meta it is, and i think it uses its premise to deliver maximum entertainment!

(oh my god that was so much gushing abt a silly skit show i am so sorry <- guy who wrote most of the hq gushing after typing this part up. he was not aware)

3. ok so this one's really niche, idk if any of you have even heard of it heh. it's called bungou stray dogs-

ajdkflhlh while i have my gripes with how they adapt the manga, i do still think it's a very good anime as is. it was good enough to get me hooked on the story and characters and want to learn more and follow the story further, yknow? it's beautiful and i love its use of colors for symbolism, it has really great voice acting, and the energy is kept up throughout it enough to remain engaging. it's honestly a show I'd recommend everyone to at least try 🤔!

4. persona 4!!!! from one mediocre adaptation to a GREAT adaptation. i think p4's anime is really really well made - it manages to translate a game this long into a coherent and interesting story, gives its characters time to shine, and maintains a perfect balance between fun and emotions. also it has probably the best dub I've ever heard. naoto's anime voice dni. also i think episode 26 is a true masterpiece i think everyone should watch it

5. ngl. it's a three way tie for me. between shows i only watched once and don't have a lot of attachment to beyond that, but i think they're really good for very different reasons. gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun / great pretender / blue period. i won't go into details on why i love them all bc this post is already long enough. but if you're reading this you should check them out 🫡

also if this post convinces you to check out any show mentioned here you legally have to tell me ok? esp if you end up liking it 🧐🔥🔥

#long post #bc i can't shut up. sorry #thank you for the ask my dearest 🖤🖤🖤

[ecargmura]

A Sign Of Affection Episode 3 Review - More, More, More

I seriously love how this story is written. It’s romance, but it’s filled with so much substance. Yuki has a personality outside of her disability. Itsuomi has a personality. There’s conflict, but nothing feels too exaggerated or juvenile, but I should keep my expectations low after the end of the episode…

Yuki is reserved, but that doesn’t stop her from being straightforward and headstrong about her own feelings and desires. Gosh, I seriously think she’s one of the best shoujo manga leads I’ve seen so far. She has a disability, but doesn’t let that be her entire character. Sure, she gave Itsuomi a sign language guide that she made, but it’s because Itsuomi wants to learn and she was nice enough to make one. She’s in love with Itsuomi but that’s not stopping her from hesitating or taking a step back on her thoughts and feelings. I seriously love the way she asked about Itsuomi’s relationship with Emma to him instead of keeping it to herself and making her own assumptions. The way she handled Oushi’s mean-spirited attitude was so refreshing. Instead of having second thoughts about his words or his attitude, she just brushes him off and goes to see Itsuomi. Nothing is stopping her from wanting to expand her world.

I like how, for each episode that passes by, Itsuomi is shown to be a nice guy. He isn’t superficial or manipulative. He’s just a guy who likes traveling and wants to expand his own world by going to different countries. He doesn’t use Yuki for his own benefits; in fact, he has not reason to “use” Yuki at all. I can tell he’s genuinely curious about her and wants to learn more about her world as the silent world she lives in is much different than all the countries he has been to. His reason for traveling so often is also revealed. He liked learning about cultures and people. Meeting Yuki showed that different languages and cultures can even be nearby. You know what? Itsuomi is pretty cool. I like cultures and languages too. It’s a way to connect with people. I’m sure that Itsuomi likes connecting with people and he wants to connect with Yuki in her world.

Also, what is Oushi’s deal? Why is he being such a jerk? He said last episode to not sneak behind Yuki to get her attention because she gets scared, but here he throws tissues at her to grab her attention. He is such a hypocrite. Heck, Yuki even mentioned to Itsuomi how the first sign language he learned was “stupid” just to insult her. While it is normal for people to learn the curse words first when learning a new language, learning it as a way to make people feel bad is never a good thing. He needs to calm down. Sometimes, people have second-lead syndrome in shoujo manga, but for me, I do NOT want to root for this guy. He needs to STAY AWAY from Yuki.

Two new characters are introduced. The first is Shin, who is the hair stylist that appeared briefly in the first episode. I was surprised how different he is when he’s sober and when he’s drunk. I assume Shin was hitting on Yuki and was telling her about the hair style and hair color she’d look good in. I’m jealous. I want a hair consultation too! I avoid going to the hair salon because my usual hair stylist has this odd tendency to cut the ends of my hair uneven; it’s more noticeable when it’s shorter, which is why I wait until my hair grows out for me to get a haircut. I’m also surprised to hear Tasuku Hatanaka speak in a softer voice for this character. I can hear his usual voice at times when Shin was drunk, but I’m still amazed. Emma seems like that one girl who brings in conflict for the main pair’s relationship. I am a bit wary of her. I just hope she’s not a really bad person.

Anyways, I really like this show and I can’t wait to see what happens next week. What are your thoughts?

#a sign of affection #yubisaki to renren #yuki itose #Itsumi nagi #oushi ashioki #Emma nakazono #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

[squish--squash]

Thanks for answering my ask......If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

lol hello again, ty for asking me this! I promise I'll give you more than 7 answers this time lol

Tian Guan Ci Fu/tgcf (book series, donghua) - I stumbled upon this randomly back in 2021 through its brand new donghua and I've loved it ever since. I adore the characters and the plot is both extremely complex and absolutely wild. it's roughly 750,000 words but I was able to read it in a week despite having school because I was so invested in it!

Moriarty the Patriot/mtp (manga, anime)- I think this is funny bc I tried watching bbc sherlock once and did NOT like it, so I just thought I wasn't into the sherlock holmes stuff. WRONG! I just had to discover this. I call this the "best sherlock holmes adaptation" for a reason (check my current pinned post, you'll find many reasons why I love mtp; I don't want to sound like a broken record so I don't plan to repeat them). I can't wait for when (or if) the manga comes out of its break/hiatus

Good Omens (book, show) - both the book and the miniseries/show are so near and dear to my heart. I always have a soft spot for watching supernatural entities fall in love (with each other and) the world around them. also, it's funny as hell

Promare (movie) - goooood I love Promare it's so neat; love the colors and the shapes and the plot is fun despite its simplicity. I could rewatch this movie every day for a month straight and not get tired of it

Arc of a Scythe trilogy (book series) - this is not something I've talked about a love, but this is one of my favorite book series! found it back around the same time I did tgcf; it's fucking insane I loooove the worldbuilding and the main cast, and by the second book every other page was like a plot twist gutting me in the best way possible; it's made me ponder about life and death on more than one occasion too

Matched trilogy (book series) - I started reading this in either 5th/6th grade but didn't really get it so I kinda forgot about it until around 2021-2022 (what? I actually had time to READ that year!) and managed to reread it and it was like a third eye opened. I really enjoyed the mystery unfolding in the trilogy! it's pretty cool imo, even tho I think (?) it was meant for teenagers to read

Not So Shoujo Love Story (webcomic) - this webcomic is so fucking funny AND it's wlw! I've been a fan for years it's so good

Bee and Puppycat/Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space (show) - a comfort show of mine (one of many); I'm in love with the atmosphere of the show and how awkwardly real the dialogue tends to be (plus I've been slowly rewatching it with my gf with is always a plus <3); I love both the og and its "reboot" equally, and would recommend people watch both

Snow White with the Red Hair (anime) - I haven't read the manga for this one, but I've seen the anime and it's another comfort show of mine. It's so sweet and cozy and the entire cast is lovable; even the "bad guy" in the first season is someone you grow to root for by the end of the second season. it's great!

Supernatural (show) - even tho I haven't finished the show and idk when/if I ever will, I still consider it a favorite media of mine. not bc I think it's great (it's good in most places, lacking in other), but bc I pretty much grew up with it. I have a core memory of watching the first handful of episodes when I was younger with my dad on the couch with the first time and being hooked on this strange show about supernatural creatures (I was that kid that enjoyed the supernatural! I read ghost story books, I binged every Goosebumps book I could get my hands on in fourth grade, I had a creepypasta phase, etc); even now in 2024 I've been sitting down with my dad to rewatch it with him before I go back to my college dorm and start back up classes. it's less so one of my favorite medias because I think it's good but because I associate it with my family <3

#is this your thing dnana? I took a peek at your blog the first time you sent me an ask and all your reblogs were people answering this ask #I think it's a sweet thing to do! #ty for the ask I really appreciate it #normally people don't send me asks lol I have to go in groupchats and ask my friends to send asks every time I rb an ask game #so ty!

[tiredbitchposts]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Sure i'll try my best to answer this for you

10-) Gaara from Naruto

Reason: He's the first antagonist i've ever rooted for, not for his plans but for his mental health. When i first saw his backstory i just wanted to riot bc damn, people really treated this boy like a monster since day one and then got surprised when he started acting like it, i just wanted him happy and at the least i got that at the end of the anime (No, i refuse to watch Boruto on principle)

9-) Tsukiyomi Ikuto from Shugo Chara

Reason: We all have our problematic shoujo male leads that we love. In my defense i watched Shugo Chara when i was 12 years old and it wasn't until later when i realized the age difference but even then i still have a soft spot for him in my heart. He and his sister suffered so much and i just want them happy, healthy and taken care of (he's also the reason why i'm into catboys now that i think abt it)

8-)Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto

Reason: He's my baby boy (not in a carnal way), i watched this boy grow up rooting for him to achieve his dreams, he's the first male protagonist i was emotionally invested in and ngl to this day i still read fix-it fics for his childhood because in my heart of hearts he deserves it (Still refusing to watch Boruto tho)

7-) Haruka Nanase from free! Iwatobi swim club

Reason: The reason is not as deep as the others i'm afraid, i genuinely loved Free! When it first came out, i was obsessed with Haru's character and the way he was as a person, he's extremely attractive and i want to crack him open like an egg and study his insides (he's also very shipable and i like that in a fictional man)

6-) Kageyama Tobio from Haikyuu

Reason: He's my awkward lil guy. I loved the way he developed as a character, from a temperamental, lonely volleyball genius to the type of guy that still uses the signature his upperclassman came up for him in high school as a pro player. I also really liked how we only got the reason why he was acting like he did in middle school only at the end of the end of the manga and how it made everything make sense in retrospect

5-) Hinamori Amu from Shugo Chara

Reason: Shugo Chara was my first magical girls anime and i still have a really soft spot for Amu in my heart. I know she's not the most well written deep characters around but i really like how she was an escape for me when i was younger. She was a pretty, popular, preteen girl who was an awkward mess and while i could only relate to the awkward mess, the fact that she got publicaly rejected by her crush and her taste in fashion i still watched her go because it felt good to see her do so

4-) Jason Todd from the Batman franchise

Reason: He's my babygirl (not always in a carnal way), this boy suffered so much in life, was happy for a few years, got brutally murdered, then brought back to suffer more. He's one of Dc's favorite punching bags and my dream is to see him happy, healthy and in therapy. Really hate how his own father won't avenge his death or let him do it himself, just fuck that clown already since you like him so much

3-) Wei Wuxian from Mdzs

Reason: I really do have a thing for red wearing, died but got better, on his second life but sluttier than ever characters. This boy deserves the world, he did do many morally reprehensible things in his time but it's all justified because i said so, he deserved his happy ending and my only complaint is that it didn't come sooner

2-) Shen Qingqiu from Scum Villain's self-saving system

Reason: This man is a whole ass clown, a walking contradiction, he's the reason why some people describe Scum Villain as a greek tragedy with clown music playing in the background. I've never seen someone so in-tune but detached from reality, bro doesn't even know his own emotions, on the inside he's a chronically online millenial on the outside he's the milfiest shizun in the Cang Qiong mountain sect and everyone knows it

1-) Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha

Reason: This is my girl and i'll not take any criticism for it. She's a 15 years old middle schooler having to go back in time to fix a magical jewel to save japan and she's being so brave about it. She's an extremely kind person, does her best to see the good in everyone, even in people that attempted om her life before, she's a bit immature at times and has a temper but again, she's 15. She deserved better in general and because of that, and many more other reasons, that i fucking refuse to ever watch Yashahime, i just think it sucks she didn't even get to raise her daughter

#answered asks

[tatakaeeren]

Lavender back! As expected you're the kindest and sweetest person ever and doesn't have dislikes <3333. But PhD school is 5 years and I want to do it neurodegenerative sciences research (so like schizophrenia, alzheimer's disease, stuff like that!)

now for our favorite romance tropes

enemies to lovers

GOSH DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS like the tension that this creates is UNRIVALED I LOVE it *SLAMS CREDIT CARD ON THE TABLE* i love it when they both are like academic rivals or something it just makes me go insane i love i love i love (OR COWORKERS? PLEASE????) (or like in kamisama where from literally the first meeting you can feel the tension just build and build like ARGH)

kuuderes

you already know how i feel about these and i scream so loud for it every time i will cheer from the bleachers for a solid kuudere yamada akito I'm looking at you my amazing boy i just love it so much i love

delinquents, social outcasts, edgy man

look i live for this, especially in a manga it just hits differently gosh when they have like the piercings, the rings, the like edgy style YES I KNOW IT'S SO CLICHE AND I WILL FOLD every time. EVERY SINGEL. TIME.

and what about youuuuu? (honorable mention is age gaps but that's getting too thirsty for me and i need to reel myself in)

ahahaah oh I do dislike things...I just don't hate them 🤣 ...soon you will find out I'm actually not a hater, I'm indifferent if I don't like something I just ignore it lol. 5 more years?!?! woahhh that's a lot but neurodegenerative sciences research sounds so fascinating and interesting, and I feel that there isn't much research about certain diseases yet.

YESSSS YES YESS AND YESSS to all of them!!! they are also my faves (including age gaps (done with delicacy and development and eventually all the characters aged up) , also I'm sorry but I'm a basic b*tch and I do enjoy my love triangles hahah I usually suffer because I also root and love the one that never wins "second male lead syndrome" 😭 . Oh I also love a good deconstruction of the shoujo tropes, the ones that are not your typical shoujo storylines or have interesting twists.

Since you mentioned "delinquents, social outcasts, edgy man" these are the few that I've been reading recently that fit the description in case you want to check them out (I'm terrible at giving summaries sorryyyyyy) but they are really good and I love all the character so much... i wouldn't be surprised if one of them becomes your fav too :)

Fundari, Kettari, Aishitari

Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai

Museru Kurai no Ai wo Ageru

Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsukii

Hotaru no Yomeiri

#let me know if you give them a go! #also.. *high five* we have the same taste in romance manga XD #lavender anonie💜

[rajanilefreak]

Got the inexplicable urge to scream about Cat Street (manga version) after so many years so I'm gonna scream about it like my life depended on it just because.

Attention for spoilers. So, can I just say how sad any adaptation of the manga to other medium I found always fucks with it in some way? Some of the things I like most about the manga are precisely what's either changed or 'sanitized'.

So what's it about? Here's the most spoiler free version of it I can give you: There's this shut in former child actress teen. She had lived under a lot of pressure from her mother and then had something happen to her that made it so she felt incapable of acting due to trauma. And because she was rather well known, she was constantly being confronted by it, hence the shut in part. The story is about how she stops being a shut in and eventually goes back to acting and a building decorated with cat statues on the roof and with several quirky characters inside is at the center of it.

Now for spoilerish things that I like about the manga. It has what I call the 'obvious male protag love interest that she's totally going to end up with' character... but she doesn't actually end up with him. Like, the whole story he feels like the sort of guy the girl ends up with in any shoujo. There's also the other male character 'that you sort of root for but know she's not going to end up with because he's not shoujo protag enough compared to the other'. That's who she ends up with. What i like is that the romantic tension between those two in very on the downlow. like, you can feel they have chemestry and like the thought of them together but don't actually think they will. So it's very rewarding when they do end up together.

BUT that whole tension of the plot gets lost when you write away the 'obvious male protag' and replace him with a new filler character just so that you can focus on the actual male lead and hyping him up more. And I understand why they did that, but it ruins it for me. They whole point was that he wasn't the typical male protag, that there was a very obvious one that also liked her there but that she didn't have to end up with him. Removing the love rival and hyping up the end game to protag levels breaks the specialness of the whole thing. It was understated but it was theirs and that made it perfect.

Then there was what was my favorite moment in the manga that gets retconned immediately. There was, back then, this preconception of 'female protags of a shoujo can never to any wrong. if they do it's by accident and they definitely got in over their head and have to get rescued by the male character.' sort deal. And while i can enjoy that to a certain extent, I enjoy far more female characters that are more proactive and actually do stuff and don't need to be rescued all of the time. The main character is a girl that is undersocialized due to being a shut in. that means the she is perfectly capable of going feral mode in defense of the very first female friend she makes in years that she can trust not to stab her in the back.

So picture this (and this is very spoiler of the scene in question): best friend in incredibly sad because she got rejected by the guy she liked over her aesthetic fashion of goth lolita. but that's not all. he and his freinds had gone out of their way to humiliate her. Now our girl is pissed. that's her best friend! she gonna get some serious revenge because she is that ride or die over it.

So, she studies the guy, see's the sort of girl he's into, uses her acting skills to lure him into going on a date with her, purposefully chooses a sort of isolated park and, when she feels like it's time, she humiliates him right back. but our girl isn't dumb, She knew he would lash out and retaliate. She was ready for him to retaliate. she called the cops in advance because she knew he would try to retaliate. she gets him framed for attempted sexual assault and arrested. Is it wrong since he didn't actually do it (arguably might not have even tried to do anything since the police interrupted him mid lashing out over the humiliation part)? Yes! But she knows that. She feels bad about it to an extent. She ruined his life over humiliating her friend. BUT at least it was something she chose for herself and she was actually smart about it from start to finish. Even the help she got from the police officers couldn't be categorized as damseling her because she planed that. She is the protag but she doesn't need to be a perfect innocent. it's actually more realistic that she isn't considering her past.

First friend that wont backstab her gets hurt unnecessarily? Feral rage more engaged!!!

After that she talks to endgame guy about it. she's remorsefull and needs to let it out and he's there for her. doesn't recriminate her or anything for her plan, just supports her.

What does the adaptation do? welp, clearly she's too innocent of the ways of the world to realize that it's stupid to confront the guy who had no trouble humiliating her friend in a deserted park at night. cops who? don't know her! Girl obvs too dumb to plan ahead for anything. Now let's make endgame guy be the one to actually call the cops after realizing her plan and rescue her at the last moment. Oh and because we can't make any of the lead have less than perfect moments, lets make the guy actually be a rapist.

why did they pic this manga to adapt if they don't like what makes it unique? That would be like taking Ed from FMA and changing any moment he is pure genius into a typical male shonen protag that only does smart thigns by accident, eats a lot, is eternally cheerfull and mostly dumb but with a ton of 'power of frindship' tossed in for extra shounen protag-ness.

so in conclusion. I like the Cat Street manga and honestly believe it deserved better. And I hope to re-read it once i have time for it amidst everything I'm doing.

#cat street #manga and stuff #manga adaptation #if you need to alter what makes the original special and different from the stereotipical of the genre why not choose a different one #if I wanted perfect lil miss shoujo protag theres a thouse other manga/anime i could be reading/watching #raj's rants

[a-few-of-my-favorite-mangas]

Hatsu*Haru

Story & Art by Shizuki Fujisawa

Manga Volume 08, Extra

Shoujo, Romance, Drama, High-School Setting

Story  ★★★★★   ||   ★★★★☆   Art

I really love the way Shimura talks about how she feels different from her peers, who were all growing up and going though puberty, and she didn’t feel the same way and felt that maybe she never would. Honestly was quite relatable to me, and I’m liking Shimura as a character more and more. At first she was the ‘typical’ hyper girl, but she is actually smart, she can pick up on the mood in the room, logically think about it, and try to change. Again, so relatable! I know when I was this age, I also felt off and ‘different’ from my peers and how Shimura thinks though her issues dealing with people is similar to myself. I was always trying to puzzle out why I didn’t feel the same or was slow to catch up to my peers, or wishing I could just be ‘normal’ and be genuinely interested in the same things as my peers. I remember thinking I was just ‘different from other people’ but not in a good way, in a way that always kept me a bit distant and apart and unable to connect with others that was quite lonely. I wish I had Shimura’s confidence and out-going personality to try and engage with her peers through her reporting. This part especially just really hit home and brought me back to my middle and high school years and how difficult I found it to keep a friend from year-to-year. Anyway, I think Shimura is my favorite character now, and I’m rooting for her to ‘figure it out’ quicker than I did, lol!

#hatsu*haru #japanese manga #shoujo #romance #drama #high-school setting

[nakamuso]

GALS!" - I didn't think it would ever go out of print.

I even say so already. During the year-end and New Year's holidays, the articles I delivered to Da Vinci News were uploaded all at once.

A hybrid of a delinquent manga and a shoujo manga, "GALS!" - 3 charms that make the main character, Ran, irresistible.

2020 is the year of leap forward! 10 manga that will push you forward!

A New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that brings us back to our roots! Immerse yourself in 10 classic shoujo manga from the 1970s and 1980s!

Reading manga is one of my life's work, so I think of my work for da Vinci News as almost a research publication, not a job. I write with that intention. I'm confident that I write with the most enthusiasm of all the writers. I even say so.

I don't know why I sold everything. What I think was good this time was that I was able to read manga that are considered masterpieces from the 1970s. It is not easy to have a chance to read older works. You can't find them in those bookstores, so I order them online. As I mentioned on Twitter, the work I have the most attachment to is "Candy Candy". I read it with a passion when I was in elementary school or junior high school.

I remember reading it while crying, especially the parting with Terry at the end was so sad. I feel sorry for Suzana, but even so, she shouldn't interfere with someone's love life, should she?　I wonder what happened to Terry and Suzana after that?　I think. It wouldn't have worked out.

Another thing that was a mystery to me as a child, I don't remember what volume it was, but Candy was in a castle? tower? I don't remember what volume it was, but it was the episode where Candy was trapped in the castle or tower and encountered a strange phenomenon: he saw a mysterious figure walking down the corridor. I read the book thinking that the identity of this person would be revealed later on, but in the end, I didn't know who it was until the very end. Was it really just a bizarre phenomenon?

I would love to read it again, but unfortunately, I sold all the books and don't have them with me now. If I had known they were going to be out of print, I would have never sold them, but I regret it. I hope they will be released again someday.

reference：S MANGA collectors' editorship URL：https://www.s-manga.net/items/contents.html?isbn=978-4-08-867584-8

#writers #manga #JAPAN

[ram-de]

[Book] Oliphant ~P257

All of the people in the room seemed to take so much for granted: that they would be invited to social events, that they would have friends and family to talk to, that they would fall in love, be loved in return, perhaps create a family of their own. How would I celebrate my forthieth birthday, I wondered.

🥹A... Eleanor and Raymond are so endearing. My heart aches for E because good lord she's been through a lot. I think the whole journey until this point have been about E learning and experiencing what it means to connect and bond with another human being. That, she's wounded and slowly healing. The part where she just let herself dance amidst the crowd... The more I read the more I could relate and in the same not not relate with the characters portrayed and I like that.

Honestly, same. It's tough!!! But things seems to be looking good for you Eleanor honestly... Just, there's obviously the super difficult things to sort with your abusive and manipulative mother. It reminds me of Mafuyu from prsk per se. I don't know why I thought of this but other than that, seems like E is lowkey falling to R too. Jealousy sprouts after he danced with the hairdresser but as expected for a very reserved person, E managed to kept it all under control. For how long though, I wonder. The portrayal however, very romance Shoujo-esque angst. If this were a manga it would have a genre of the following, Drama, Tragedy, Romance, Josei, and uh... What else...

I'm... It's halfway through the end of the series. I kind of like it... I've been spoiled after reading some review but some part still hits hard. At some point E will have to come to terms with her past, trauma, because soon she's going to attend a funeral, being heartbroken, her mom, etc and I'm... I'm rooting for u E;;

—------------—

NO... NOT BAD DAYS??? THINGS WOULDN'T GO WELL... in hindsight it should be obvious...

Some stuff I don't really understand.

Why is E's mother so obsessed with her finding a partner, even referring to the possible partner as a *project* like...? I don't get it, does it have something with her being freed from jail? Or something about court?

I get that Eleanor's had an accident as a child. House fire. And possibly, she had a little sibling? That's why she's anxious that time when she met a crying child, reminded of being unable to calm the baby down... Her mom doesn't want her, so...? Uh...?

Raymond;; His dad left him, and there's the thing with his mother. I think we haven't really got to know more stuff about him though... Did we?

-----------------------

NO. NO. NO. OKAY I TAKE IT BACK. I'M NOT READY. I DON'T WANT THE TRUTH. I'm so scared for her WHAT THE HELL.... Holy shit. I NEED ADULT SUPERVISION. THIS IS... A BIT HEAVY. It's so... It's so nonchalantly put there like, oh. I'm. I'm laying on the floor. Oh look at this table, very cute vintage table. Oh also. I want to unbreathing myself. LIKE. HELLO.... EXCUSE MOI....

NO... NOT POPPY THE PLANT...!!

Wait... Wait... IT'S NOT THE MUSICIAN.???? THEN WHAT. I mean Who WHAT'S Happening im scared

-----------------------

Holy cow that was... that was... THAT WAS LIT🔥 okay sorry. That's in bad taste. Okay. Uh.

Raymond my guy😳 he's so genuine it hurts thank goodness he's there for her HSHSJSKSHSKSIS PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE A LOVE TRIANGLE I WANT PEOPLE TO HE HAPPY

#readingrams #review as i read #eleanor oliphant

[j-psilas]

Team Rocket and My Generation

I've got a hankering for literary analysis—but I'm going to be teaching accelerated ENG 101 courses for the next eight weeks, and I don't have the time to finish that article I've had sitting in a folder for months. And I want to write something fun!

So let's talk about these guys: Team Rocket!

Every late millennial and early zoomer knows this trio. The Pokémon anime's wacky weekly antagonists are, in many ways, more iconic than its protagonist, Ash/Satoshi. Where Ash is a flatly likable kid protagonist, meant for target viewers to map themselves onto, Team Rocket has more positive substance to their personalities.

They're flamboyant and silly, in a slightly anachronistic camp-queer way that hearkens back to older anime and manga. Jesse is a dramatic diva whose high femme aesthetic belies a decidedly butch brand of working-class toughness; James is the rosy shoujo dream boy made laughable for being outside his genre, with effeminately sensitive feelings and a penchant for crossdressing; and Meowth is this sassy little wisecracking gremlin, the perfect opposite of Pikachu and his cute little "pika-piiii"s.

As the low-stakes villains of a children's show, they're designed to be likeable and laughable—and the show writers achieve this by making them, well, queer-coded doofuses.

But what makes Team Rocket unique among the crowd of queer-coded 90s animated villains is that viewers who grew up with them now wholly embrace them. Not in a self-indulgent way, not as a reclamation of characters wrongly cast as the bad guys, but just... open and earnest fondness. This isn't some Disney villain "we-stan-an-evil-queen" fandom, but something much warmer and more sincere.

As my generation reached what can nominally be called adulthood, we felt a surprising spark of recognition when we looked back on Team Rocket, and with it came this outpouring of love. We identify with Team Rocket now, and now I'd like to talk about it.

On the one hand, I think it should be acknowledged that the Pokémon writers have, over the years, written an excellent trio of characters. All the little sympathetic touches given to Team Rocket over the years have built up, accumulated, and ended up creating some very well-fleshed-out antagonists, almost by accident.

Each of them has a sympathetic backstory from polar opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. James comes from a wealthy family that completely disregarded his emotional needs, while Jessie was a poor girl struggling in the foster system. Along the way, each picks up tearjerker experiences that humanize them and endear them to the viewer, such that we really root for them as individuals even when we oppose them as Ash's antagonists.

Even when they're being nasty little mischief-makers, they're so fun and campy and silly that we just enjoy their screen presence. I remember, as a kid, eagerly waiting to see what ridiculous costumed trick they'd pull in that week's episode.

But on the other hand, that doesn't really explain why such a wide slice of the late-millennial-early-zoomer generation identifies with Team Rocket.

No, we identify with them—and love them—because they're losers.

They're queer-coded twenty-somethings struggling to make ends meet, working for a distant boss who doesn't care about them, chasing an impossibly lucky and talented child who always bests them despite being an idiot.

Every time, their plans fail in a spectacular explosion, but they have no choice but to pick themselves up and try again.

Team Rocket struggles, in a way that offers no easy answers or clear options, and the only way they get through it is with each other. They commiserate in their shared failure, their shared struggle against an apathetic world full of brilliant anime prodigies, and they get by somehow.

And that's why we map ourselves onto them. As late millennials struggle and bumble our way through the empty promise that is adulthood in the 2020s, we look back on Team Rocket and recognize our own struggles. And we commiserate with them.

Let me use an analogy that occurred to me as I was discussing this with my girlfriend, the wonderful @impossiblejellyfishfart.

Ash Ketchum is like... he's like a Quaker chocolate-chip granola bar. A healthy and energizing snack, kind of, in name only, but still more than enough to get a kid through the morning.

And if Ash is a sugary granola bar packed in your lunch bag, Team Rocket is a greasy carryout pizza picked up with your coworkers after a late shift. It's not made with love—quite the opposite, and that's why it's so tasty in the moment and so awful later on. The love comes from who you share it with, from the bitching and moaning and laughing and joking and carrying on, squeezing out a moment of delirious exhausted joy before returning to the grind tomorrow. That's Team Rocket.

And I should say, also, that despite everything, they're still bright and wonderful. They're still a joy to see onscreen, and they still make each other happy.

And it's not because of raw talent; they lose to Ash and friends every episode. It's by virtue of who they are, liking what they like, and pursuing it despite obstacles.

I think that's so deeply refreshing and reassuring, the message that you can shine just by embracing your authentic self, even if that self is silly and campy and queer and weird. Even if your circumstances are hard, and you're not able to pursue everything you hoped to have in life. Speaking for myself, an online adjunct professor who worked retail for years prior, living in a place where it's unsafe to be myself, I know that I find comfort in it. And for that, I love Team Rocket.

I don't think I'm the only one. I can't begin to count all the cool pieces of Team Rocket fan art I've seen in the past, say, five years—fan art depicting them as barely-together disasters, sleek fashion icons, and everything in-between.

With that in mind, everything I've said is pretty obvious; we've all been picking up on it, and expressing it in different ways.

But still I find it fascinating that such a big slice of my generation identifies with a trio of failed trickster characters. Usually the trickster archetype embodies the weakling's defiance of a dominant, straightforwardly powerful entity—and usually that entity represents, or at least echoes, an oppressive majority.

Anansi the Spider tricks a bigger and stronger animal for some temporary advantage, enjoys it until the consequences hit him, and escapes with, at most, a harmless reminder that he flew too close to the flame. Often he gains some token or skill that helps him later, and further characterizes him as, recognizably, a spider.

Team Rocket tricks stronger and better trainers for some temporary advantage, usually stolen Pokémon, enjoys this until the protagonists catch them... and then they lose. They suffer no permanent harm, but they win no permanent gain. They're like Sisyphus pushing his boulder—except it's their lives, not their afterlives.

It would be one thing if they remained flat antagonists with no interior lives, but as I mention above, it's clear that they do have human emotions and needs. The constant failure does get to them over time. There are several episodes, from what I've seen, in which any number of the trio attempts to break away from Team Rocket and start anew, or at least they feel pressured to do so. Constantly, the question hangs over their heads, "Why are we still doing this?" And there's never a lasting, satisfactory answer.

How horrible! I know this reads like one of those clickbait articles attempting to cast a childhood show as something grim, dark, and menacing...

...but, like, that's my honest read of Team Rocket's situation.

They've passed the point where a trickster can ever win, no matter how clever—and narratively, as the bad guys, they're never positioned to win.

Even if Giovanni were to meet them with respect and support, and give them the tools they'd need to succeed, the structure governing their existence as characters prevents them from ever winning. And doesn't that reflect our own confinement to a society that's actively failing us? Doesn't that resonate in the same way, emotionally?

Maybe I'm navel-gazing a bit. It wouldn't be the first time, admittedly!

Still, for me at least, this makes Team Rocket all the more valuable. Sometimes it feels like the support of my friends and my girlfriend are the only certain things in my life, and the Team Rocket trio reflects this emotional reality in a way that's still fun, heartwarming, and easy to digest. It's a kid's show, after all; you're meant to enjoy it.

The only certain thing for Jessie, James, and Meowth is their care for one another, and the unspoken assurance that they'll support each other through it all. That, and the knowledge that even as their boss disdains their failures—even as stupid little Ash beats them through impossible odds—they love each other for who they are, not for what they can produce.

So they keep trying, because it's Jesse and James and Meowth's struggle even before it's Team Rocket's.

#pokemon #Pokémon anime #pokeani #team rocket #jessie and james #meowth #essay #kind of #character analysis #meta #is that what the kids call it? #j-psilas #my writing

[anotheranimewriter]

How You Met The TR Boys

PC: Google! My sweet faced angel, he honestly is my everything, I've never loved a character as much as I love him.

Missed Our Last Meetings? Catch Up!

Hakkai Shiba

Baji Keisuke

Manjiro 'Mikey' Sano

Ken 'Draken' Ryuguji

Mitsuya Takashi

URGENT! GUYS I NEED HELP CHOOSING THE NEXT SET OF BOYS, SO PLEASE LEAVE SOME PEOPLE YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING IN THIS SERIES!

CW: A shit ton of Shoujo manga vibes, sorry but it just fits him so well, a slight mention of yandere qualities, and just being an overall creep.

Chifuyu Matsuno: My sweet little manga reader, his head might be found in a book once he gets home in the solace of his bed, but when he's with his friends his mind is always wandering back to his latest series. But what happens when he meets someone who enjoys his latest series just as much as he does?

Chifuyu had opened the door with such determination as he secretly made his way through the store and into the Shoujo section, not wanting any familiar wandering eyes to spot him. His fingers trailed the spines of the mangas that decorated the shelves as he searched for the book, it had just put out on shelves earlier that week, and he was desperately awaiting for it to hit his favorite bookstore in Shibuya and just as his fingers had grazed its spine, he had begun to ready his grip to remove it from the shelf just as another pair of hands had overlapped his, startling him enough to cause him to move away from the person's hands. He had released the book from his grip allowing it to drop to the floor as he and the other person quickly dove for the book bumping heads with one another, causing them both to stumble back in opposite directions.

As he rubbed his forehead profusely, the other person had laughed softly, causing him to stare up in confusion and as when he looked at the person before him a slight heat rushed to his face in embarrassment. He typically visited the bookstore fairly early not wanting to be caught by anyone familiar, he wasn't ashamed of the idea that he enjoyed reading manga, it was more about the genre of his choosing that made him weary.

Immediately thinking of multiple excuses he could use to explain why he was in this section scattered across his mind but all those excuses came to a stop when the girl in front of him had finally spoken to him. “Do you think she's going to accept his offer?” She asked as she began to fix her disheveled self into an upright seated position. She sat in front of him eagerly awaiting his response as Chifuyu raised an eyebrow upwards bringing his fingers up to his chin to think about her question and whether or not he should answer it, but as he observed her excitement as she awaited his answers, he couldn't bring himself to not share his thoughts. “Whose? Kaien or Satoshi?” He countered as she laughed once again as she slowly began to rise from her knees and grabbed the book from the floor making her way closer to Chifuyu.

“Kaien, of course! Don’t tell me you're rooting for Satoshi?” She exclaimed as Chifuyu began to rise from the floor to converse with her at a regular level “Wa-What? Hell no! Satoshi is just straight up bad news! I don’t get what girls see in him!” He explains a bit too loudly causing other patrons of the bookstore to glare in their direction, as the girl laughs but quickly covers her mouth to avoid any more glares. She lightly tugged on Chifuyu’s arm pulling him closer to the registers so they could continue talking about the book “Honestly, I completely agree! Why would Ami choose a psychopathic photographer? He snuck into her apartment to take pictures of her while she was sleeping? Like why would she want to be with him?” She reasoned with a scoff as Chifuyu found himself laughing as his feet moved on their own accord. He’s so engrossed in their conversation that he doesn't even realize that they had now made it to the cash register where she had begun to pay for the book, and placed it in his hands as she continued her little rampage.

“Exactly! Finally someone who gets it! Kaien’s offer is without a doubt who she's going to choose.” He agreed as they walked to the front door, him holding it open for her as she smile and mouthed thank you not wanting to interrupt him mid-sentence, and once they were standing outside and Chifuyu felt the cool fall breeze brush against his neck he had finally realized they had exited the store, and that he was holding the book in his hands. “So how about you read it first, and I’ll meet you here next week and then I’ll read it and we can talk about it some more?” The girl asked as Chifuyu smiled and let out a slight nervous chuckle “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t mind waiting for another copy to come out on the shelf.” He said trying to pass the book to her as she shook her head, holding out her hand “I’m absolutely sure, it gives me a chance to meet up with the boy who likes Shoujo as much as me.” She whispered to him, using her hands to shield the sides of her mouth so no one could hear or see what she was saying to him.

Chifuyu chuckled once again but now the heat had begun to flood his cheeks, she winked at him before turning her back to him and walking in the opposite direction “Hey! Wait! I don't even know your name! How are we supposed to contact each other?” He yelled out as he heard her laugh against the wind “Check the book! I’ll see you around!” She replied as Chifuyu opened the book to reveal her name and phone number scribbled inside the cover “(Y/L/N),(Y/N)” he whispered as the pad of his thumb swiped against her writing, smiling at the little writing, “Until next time.” He mumbled to himself as he closed the book, leaving the bookstore front to make his way home, until next time he repeated to himself, looking forward to next time.

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