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seventeenlovesthree · 1 year

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Fandom Shipping Polls - Daisuke Motomiya Shipping Analysis (Poll I + Poll II)

As pointed out in the main post, every single Chosen Child will get their individual analysis post to check on the status of the current popularity of their ships. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at Daisuke, shall we!

The overall results / spreadsheet

Disclaimer: As the “Someone from 01/02″ and “Others” options from poll 1 and the “Someone from 01/02″ option from poll 2 have been excluded from the final analysis due to redundancy reasons and all results were culminated in another “final count”, the results will not be 1:1 to what the polls look like:

Overall votes: 132 (approx. 110 in sum after the exclusion), the main poll got 93 votes, the secondary poll got 39 votes.

The “Others” choice in the main poll received 3% (approx. 3 votes) and 0% (0 votes) in the secondary poll. The comments/tags did not specify any preferences here (aside from characters that were already part of the main choices).

Ship Analysis

1st place: It should come to nobody’s surprise that Ken (52%) singlehandedly swept this poll without facing any kind of serious competition at any time of the voting. Daiken is one of the most popular mlm Digimon ships on the planet - and for good reasons, as their anime portrayal provides for some very intense and intriguing mutual character development. Not only do they start off as “enemies” (with one of the parties unknowingly holding lots of the admiration for the other), but them turning into friends - and Jogress partners - is one of the most significant development fuels for both of them; nurturing each other’s (self) confidence while growing closer, developing great fondness, attachment and protectiveness for each other as they get more and more comfortable with themselves and in the other’s presence. It’s an endearing framing with a lot of heart, and with the additional anticipation of more news on the 02 movie, it’s really no surprise to see them being as prevalent and beloved in fandom as they are at the moment.

2nd place: With a huge gap to 1st place, Takeru (11%) takes his seat on 2nd place. As mentioned in Takeru’s own analysis, this makes a lot of sense; their popularity here may be explained by the idea that Daisuke is supposed to be a foil to Takeru in a similar way Taichi is to Yamato - even though their dynamic as so called “rivals” does not play out in the same way at all. Despite the occasional bickering, it’s portrayed to be more lighthearted, especially on Takeru’s behalf, who likes to tease Daisuke, making for a mutually challenging, yet very playful - and most importantly: more soft - dynamic.

3rd place: Daisuke is the second character after Mimi who had SEVERAL people competing for third place, resulting in a three-way-tie between Miyako, Hikari and Wallace, with each of them snatching 8% of the votes. And again, taking a very close look at canon, all of these choices make sense; Miyako proves to be companion Daisukes has a teasing and competitive, yet supportive and familiar relationship with; Hikari is portrayed as someone Daisuke heavily crushes on at first and tries to compete with Takeru to get her attention and affection over, but once that quietly mellows out, they prove to have a soft, mutually trusting bond; last but not least, Wallace is a movie-only character with a flirty, teasing attitude towards Daisuke while also making him want to fight for his sake and sad backstory.

Honorary mentions: As the majority of votes has been distributed among the choices mentioned above, there isn’t much left to be mentioned - yet characters that got more than 1 vote include Taichi (3%), Koushiro (3%), Sora (2%) and Michael (2%).

“The 1 vote squad”: This spot is reserved for Iori, Yamato, Mimi and Jou (1% each).

“0 votes go to…”: Interestingly, Daisuke is the only character in whose poll EVER SINGLE main character received at least one vote.

Annotations: N/A

What did the other polls say?

Daisuke won Ken’s poll (61%) with one of the biggest margins and also came in second Takeru’s poll (18%), thus mirroring his own results to a high degree.

However, he doesn’t appear in the top 3 rankings for the other characters and actually has a tendency to come in fourth a lot, namely in Hikari’s (9%), Miyako’s (15%), Iori’s (9%), Taichi’s (10%) and Yamato’s (7%) polls.

Thus, for the majority of the rest, he was merely a niche choice, such as Sora (3%), Koushiro (2%) and Jou (1%).

Mimi is the only character in whose poll he did not get a single vote - she herself had received 1 vote in his though.

Notable additions / comments / thoughts

Daisuke’s polls stand out for the fact that he received the fourth most votes overall (after Taichi, Ken and Takeru) - which is quite ironic if you consider that he also appears to be the KING of getting fourth place, thus missing the podium for third place 5 times overall.

These facts aside, he is, as mentioned, the only character whose polls had every of the other 11 Chosen Children get represented by at least 1 vote. It shall not be overlooked that the sample size is still comparably low of course. Thus, I really hope to reach a wider audience if I choose to repeat the polls once the fandom is not as quiet as it is right now. However, the idea that Daisuke has enough followers that every possible combination had at least 1 fan is very interesting.

Seeing Daiken sweep the entire voting overall is really no surprise, as they appear to have a very passionate group of followers, artists and writers alike, not only on tumblr, but on various internet spaces - regardless of country, even after all this time. This may or may not be assigned to the growing anticipation of the 02 movie as well as for a general demand of more 02 related content after the Adventure 01 cast received a lot of exposure in the past years. Overall, for the reasons mentioned above (and beyond, thanks to their portrayal), Daiken has always been going strong, despite never having been canonized.

The comments in the tags have only referred to the already mentioned choices. The “Others” option did not receive any further votes in the second poll, indicating that all the most viable choices have been covered by poll 1 and 2. Usually, the option is reserved for OC ships, for when people prefer to not ship a character at all or when they’re considered asexual (which will definitely be a future option to include as well!).

Other Analysis Posts

Taichi Yagami Shipping Analysis

Yamato Ishida Shipping Analysis

Sora Takenouchi Shipping Analysis

Koushiro Izumi Shipping Analysis

Mimi Tachikawa Shipping Analysis

Jou Kido Shipping Analysis

Takeru Takaishi Shipping Analysis

Hikari Yagami Shipping Analysis

Ken Ichijouji Shipping Analysis

Miyako Inoue Shipping Analysis

Iori Hida Shipping Analysis

Meiko Mochizuki Shipping Analysis

#daisuke motomiya #davis motomiya #digimon #digimon polls #digimon shipping #daiken #daikeru #daiyako #daikari #daisuke x wallace #my edit #my two cents #meta

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toomanyfandomsthings · 3 months

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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...

OOOO thank you so much for asking, I've never been asked that before! ✨️😃✨️ It's not a top 10 in any particular order (except for number 1, that one is number 1 😂), but mostly the characters who have impacted me a lot or have a special place in my heart right now. Also I'm terribly ineloquent, so please bear with my while I try to make sense -

1.) Aki Hayakawa (Chainsaw Man)

Oooooh my God, where do I start? XD This one was easy because Aki is like my favorite of favorite characters in anything 😁 Such a sweet, caring, protective figure who doesn't see himself as any of those things. He's such a heartbreakingly realistic portrayal of how someone can be self-destructive and I love seeing his dynamics with the cast start to change the way he views and values himself. I love how his instinct to be a big brother shows itself in small ways that don't get directly pointed out - to avoid manga spoilers, I'll point to the scene with Denji in the hospital where Aki makes him the apple bunnies - and just the little ways that he shows he cares for people. I think stuff with him later on in the story is some of the most well written and heartbreaking stuff I've ever read, and I genuinely think he's a wonderfully different take on the revenge plot line. I also have like...way too many figures of him...and plushies...and acrylic stands...and key chains.....and a snow globe I got from Hot Topic- I just love him a lot! 😂💕

2.) Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul)

I have a little less to say on this one because I haven't read Tokyo Ghoul in a long time so I'm a bit fuzzy on plot details. 😅 But I read Tokyo Ghoul in college at a time where I really needed it and saw a lot of myself in Kaneki. He's such a sweetheart and such a deeply lonely character, and the ways he changes over the course of the story, for better and for worse, are absolutely brilliant and tragic 🥲💕 And I love how, throughout all of these shifts in personality and role in the story, he still feels so distinctly Kaneki. Like, in spite of how cruel and difficult things get, the sweet, book-loving college student is still recognizably there. Kaneki Ken did nothing wrong 😂 Also I wrote a far more eloquent 35 page paper on Kaneki as my final thesis paper for college, soooo that speaks to my affection for him 😂

3.) Felix Hugo Fraldarius (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

There's gonna be a lot of Fire Emblem characters here, I'm so sorry XD But I love Felix so so much! He's a tough personality and admittedly can be incredibly harsh when it's not called for, but he's given so much reasoning as to why he has this attitude and it makes him such an engaging character to watch. He cares so much for everyone around him and just for the life of him cannot communicate that, nor does he want to admit it to himself for fear of losing them like he did his brother. He works so hard to be stronger than his brother so he can protect everyone, to the point where, definitely post-timeskip, he's long since reached that goal but still refuses to believe it. He's a caring soul who's taken on a lot at a young age and has suffered a lot more than he cares to acknowledge. He's also insanely smart (which he is never given credit for in-game which is a crime) and an absolute monster of a unit and is good at basically anything you try to teach him, so he's also just objectively cool 😂

4.) Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Same as Felix, I love Dimitri so so so much 🥲 I think his character arc is so beautifully written (if you couldn't tell, I favor the Blue Lions quite a bit XD) and he's just such an absolute sweetie who's been through entirely too much. I love how protective he is of his loved ones and how the weight of all that he's been through wears on him in big and small ways (I think of little things like his lack of a sense of taste, which you only find out in his support with Flayn, which then recontextualizes little moments like Felix commenting on Dimitri acting like he dislikes the food at meal times and ahhh the character writing in 3H is so good). Also, I am partial to sweet characters becoming absolutely unhinged (see #2 😂) so I knew I'd like Dimitri almost immediately XD Didn't know he'd break my heart as much as he did though 😂

5.) Kaoru Sakurayashiki/Cherry Blossom (SK8 the Infinity)

Cherry is so great, what a truly insufferable person (affectionate) 😂 He's such a brat and I love his dynamic with Joe so much. They argue in the kind of way you only could with someone you've known your whole life, and they clearly love each other and always look out for one another. Also, the interviews with Utsumi which say that he's also anxious and a generally lonely person break my heart, and also inform why he's *always* at Joe's restaurant. He also clearly cares for the little skateboarder family they've made and i love that he takes on a sort of mentor/parental role for the kids. Also what an absolutely chaotic idea for a character - a formerly emo/punk, professional calligrapher who also designs robots and helped establish an illegal skating competition to which he attends in a ninja costume with his AI skateboard - I love him 😂💕 He's also got an amazing character design, like, I want to be him 😂

6.) Zelkov (Fire Emblem Engage)

ZELKOVV I love him so much, he is the character currently occupying my brain the most. 💕 Much of what I've said before, such a sweetheart. I love the way the portray his mental health struggles through his need to constantly have a pursuit or task or hobby to keep his mind occupied, and how it eventually resolves with him opening an orphanage (which is such a perfect resolution for his character 🥲) He's such a caretaker at heart, and I think it's so interesting how that is juxtaposed with his past as an assassin. Plus I think coming into a revenge plotline 10 years after the revenge has been had is just such an interesting take on it. I dunno I just love him so much I could go on for ages but I'll stop here...kinda

7.) Kagetsu (Fire Emblem Engage)

And I say kinda because Zelkov and Kagetsu are inseparable in my mind 😂 I love Kagestu, what an absolute cinnamon roll! 💕 Such a sweet, silly little friend! He's so eager to make friends, almost to a fault. I'd hazard a guess that after leaving his family, not knowing if he could ever go back or if they'd even want him to come back, the eagerness to make friends is sort of a coping thing - trying to reaffirm that he's not alone and that there are people who like him. I love his dynamic with Zelkov and Ivy - he draws the two of them out of their shells and gives them the direct and clear love and affection they need, and in turn they reassure him that he is cared for and give him a place where he is truly content and happy 🥲 He's just a genuine ray of sunshine with more depth than you'd think at first glance.

8.) Yuki Soma (Fruits Basket)

Yet another character that I feel directly called out by 😂 I love him so much, I love that he's such a kind person but doesn't view himself as such because he way overthinks about the nature of what "being kind" is. I love his arc about learning how to better yourself little by little and taking small steps to change; I really find it so inspiring 💕 His backstory episode ruined me for the rest of the day, I literally couldn't sleep that night after I watched it.

9.) Lukas (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

This is my weird pick, but I still think about Lukas and the game came out when I was just starting college XD So kind and so caring, but still very pragmatic and reliable. I think his self reflection on how he feels he may be emotionally broken is so fascinating and relatable, and I love how his support with Python and his ending resolve it in a very satisfying way (I teared up when I saw his ending when I beat the game, though I also may have been going through something at the time XD) His big brother energy to Alm and the kids is also very endearing (especially him and Alm in the Drama CD oh my God) I'm not explaining it well, but I need to give this sweet depressed fellow a hug! 💕

10.) Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Ahhhh my son, my sweet boy who can't catch a break 🥲 So kind, so caring, so unable to see his own self worth 🥲 Like Aki, I like how the show points out his character flaw maybe once or twice, but it's showed off in dozens of more subtle ways if you pay close attention. I love how kind he is, how much he cares even though he struggles to display it, how he's got a self-admitted flawed sense of what justice is and how, like Kaneki and Dimitri, he's also sliiiightly unhinged XD

Hugs, hugs for all of these characters 😂❤️ Also sorry, I kind of went off, iiiiii got excited 😂 I also left out a bunch of characters because I didn't want it all to be Fire Emblem characters 😂 Thank you so much for asking!!

#thank you so so much this way fun! 😁

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digitalgate02 · 1 year

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Daisuke Week 2023 • Day 3

Day 3- Jogress Evolution! Now, Two Hearts Become One (episode 26)

sub prompt a) Daisuke is a stubborn person who can make the impossible be possible. Which Daisuke & V-mon scenes were the most important for you?

I have nothing else to say about this scene and how important it is for me. Episode 26 is one of the episodes I remember pretty well for ages, because it was the part where I got its strong impression of Daisuke’s kindness and how much he cares about people.

This scene is exactly like the Japanese version in the BR dub, the only difference is… Heck, I think there’s no difference! The dub probably quoted the Japanese version pretty well, to the point watching it in Japanese for the first time felt like reliving the first time I watched this as a child.

Also, Shiha had covered a few things about Daisuke’s portrayal before (tbh she had covered Daisuke in a ton of meta posts) – and I have to say Kiuchi Reiko is the main reason I love Daisuke in the first place. I’m not saying Bruno Pontes (our BR dub Davis) was bad at conveying the character’s feelings (he was pretty good in this entire series tbh) – It’s that in this entire scene you can feel Daisuke is on the verge of tears in the Japanese version. Daisuke is facing someone who’s about to throw his life away to repent for his sins!! And we know how Daisuke does not like to sit and watch when something like this or painful is happening (remember episode 20?) – So he puts his heart and soul to stop Ken from risking his life.

Y’know, this episode has a huge importance in my life, as a teen I had a depressive episode and rewatching 02, rewatching this whole episode again, made me realize I want to do many things and I shouldn’t give up. Daisuke keeps remembering to never give up on my dreams and on my own life.As a kid, this episode had a huge impact on me because of Paildramon and Beat Hit! playing in the background (yes, the BR dub had the original score, except for the OP and ED, which were changed… However the ED1 has played once on a preview episode, and the OP was still in the series when Imperialdramon evolves/changes modes. Also, the epilogue Had Butter-Fly which did not happen in Adventure BR dub) – As a teen and adult, this episode’s impact is in Daisuke’s kind words to Ken, encouraging the other to keep living and making his dreams come true.

#daisukeweek2023

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disappearinginq · 3 years

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If you're still doing these: Top 5 fictional characters? Top 5 books?

I like avoiding chores, so yes - definitely still answering asks:

Top 5 Fictional Characters:

1. Sherlock Holmes - I will admit, the more recent versions of this character with Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. are probably my favorite versions of Holmes, but I will read or watch pretty much anything about this man. I have even Young Sherlock and Moriarty sitting on my shelves, and even House of Silk (when I get the time). I just...I like characters that are the smartest in the room, and while I appreciate the surprise of a humble smart character, I am much closer to Sherlock and his “you can’t really be this dumb...oh. Shit. You are.”

2. Robin Hood - again, I will read or watch pretty much anything about this character, though I will always love Kevin Costner’s Prince of Thieves - and I actually did like Taron Edgerton’s portrayal in the most recent one, even though both versions were absolutely panned by critics. Probably because I wholeheartedly subscribe to taxation is theft, but also because I like any character who rips off people who have it coming to them.

3. Merlin - I should say the mythology of King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table and anyone associated with it. But anyone who knows me likes a bit of subtle magic and either snarky secret wizards or cantankerous old wizards, and to this day, Sword in the Stone is my favorite iteration of this storyline.

4. Tony Stark - Probably for the same reason I like Sherlock Holmes, I like Tony Stark, especially in the MCU. It’s one of the few times that someone is shown with a relatively not pretty version of CPTSD, and how it can alter your brain chemistry to the point of making wildly poor decisions because in your mind, it seems perfectly rational. (Do I like how Steve and everyone else just compacts the problem by complaining that Tony tries to control everything but also that everything is Tony’s fault? No - but that, in a way, is also accurate). Tony is also one of the few characters that witnesses fallout to his decisions, and learns from them. Again, not always the right lesson, but his character does learn.

5. Aliena of Shiring from Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - I will admit, I added her after wondering why I had no women fictional characters, but I realized most of it has to do with the terrible way that women characters are written. Aliena manages to be what I would call unconquerable. The amount of crap that woman puts up with for 1000 pages and still manages to not break, keep strong, think and out maneuver life is truly awe inspiring. I love her character so much.

Top 5 Books.

Hmm. Well, we already said I would read anything about Sherlock, Robin and Merlin, so...let’s branch out.

1. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Follett primarily wrote spy and action novels, so this historical epic about cathedral building in a small town in England in the 12th century. It has epic everything. The characters are fantastic - True Good and True Evil, there’s a nun who places a curse on the bad guys and becomes a witch who lives in the woods. It has everything that is good about the church and everything that is bad about the church. It deals with the every day peoples’ dealings with the constant change between rulers (Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois were going at it in a civil war after the death of Henry’s only legit son). It has a literally epic love story between Jack and Aliena, to whom every love story will forever pale in comparison, and Aliena legit walked across all of Christendom to find her True Love. Movie counterparts are Eddie Redmayne and Hayley Atwell. Everyone who is good gets a Happy Ending. Everyone who is evil gets their goddamn comeuppance in the most horrible of ways and they fucking deserve that shit.

2. Okay, so on the heels of “the most epic story of all time”, I present to you a “It’s not the greatest but I love it anyway” - Rise of Renegade X, by Chelsea Campbell, which is in fact a series, and I love the second and third installment the most, but it’s about a made up city where there are superheroes and supervillains and that’s just how life goes. Heroes are marked with an H on their thumb when they turn 16, villains with a V (it’s a plot point to explain why, but it’s a genetic thing, like a finger print), and on the main character’s 16th birthday, he expects a V and instead gets an X. He eventually tracks down his super hero dad who didn’t know that he existed, and convinces the kid to come live with his family - where he has three other children, and a wife who was permanently crippled by a supervillain. As it goes along, the series deals more and more with prejudice, racism, classism, Good versus Evil compared to Right versus Wrong, and the MC, Damien is the first person narrative, so you get all of his snarky sarcasm first hand.

3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. 100% because of the world building, the fact that it is a fantasy version of Ocean’s Eleven, but also because I truly and deeply adore Kaz Brekker. One of the few characters with no particular power, he’s perfectly human, and absolutely terrifying. And while he has a character arc that I adore, it does not fundamentally hinge on him changing who he is. At the end, Kaz is still a fucking cold hearted, brilliant and scheming bastard, but the audience has an insight to him that maybe Kaz doesn’t even have himself. His issues don’t magically go away. He doesn’t have a Scrooge moment. He has his own set of principles and he stays by them, and what is so lovely is that the love interest accepts that.

4. Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Murder horses based on Irish/Scottish Mythology, and a horse race with said murder ponies. Need I say more?

5. Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. This is going to sound weird as a recommendation, but this book is the book of fucking nightmares. I read it for a class on Ireland because we had to pick either a story about Ireland, takes place in Ireland, or was written by an Irish person. I read this in I think an afternoon and I didn’t sleep that night. Despite the main character being like 11 years old, I would never let a kid read it. It’s a dark, true-to-Grimms’-source fairy tale that is like the twisted version of the Chronicles of Narnia, and a psychological trip and a half. I loved it. It is a true fairy tale - the kid, David, mom dies in the first chapter, and David feels like he failed her because he’d developed this SEVERE OCD ritual that he believed would keep his mother alive (it obviously doesn’t), and his dad, months later, remarries and has a second child, whom David hates. The baby cries all the time, the young mother is preoccupied with a baby and no husband (he’s off fighting in WWII), and David is left to occupy himself most of the time. They move out of London because of the Blitz, to David’s mother’s family estate. It’s old, and creepy, and the garden seems like something is calling to him, that sets a dread in the pit of his stomach when he goes near it. Enter the Crooked Man, a man who offers to give David everything he wants if David tells him his brother’s name. David refuses, and that night, a German plane crashes in the garden, and it turns out, that’s the portal/wardrobe to another world, and David gets dragged into it. And it just goes from there.

Thanks for the asks! They’re always fun!

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ultrahpfan5blog · 3 years

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Rewatching the Monsterverse Part 3 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Before this movie came out, I was super psyched for it. The trailers looked wonderful and it looked like they had course corrected on the human stuff by having a fairly stacked cast, but with a focus on the Monster fights. Unfortunately I walked out pretty disappointed by this movie. Rewatching it again, I enjoyed it a bit more than I did before, but its still probably the weakest of the Monsterverse so far.

Michael Dougherty clearly has great love for the monsters. Each of their designs and portrayals are crafted gorgeously. Every one of them has a fantastic showcase sequence which either showcases their awesome power and destruction or their majestic beauty, especially the latter in the case of Mothra. So every time the Monsters are the focus of a scene, the movie is pretty entertaining. There are more of the monster fights and they are obviously very cool to look at. The Ghidorah vs Godzilla fights are epic to watch when the focus is on them.

However, the film is kind of a mess. Its all over the place tonally and the human characters actively drag the film down. Whereas in the previous movie, the human story was just dull, here its actively annoying. I mean Vera Farmiga’s character is pretty much deranged and yet I feel we are supposed to feel some empathy even though she is directly responsible for thousands of deaths. Millie Bobby Brown is a likable actress but her character is also basically an accomplice to murder, even though she’s a child, and then we are supposed to follow her as the main hero of the film. The characters from Monarch are also all over the place tonally. Whereas guys like Ken Watanabe and Kyle Chandler are playing their roles almost dead seriously and almost feel awkward in a humorous scene, Whitford and Middleditch seem to be more aware of the goofiness of the story in the plot. Charles Dance looks suave and cool but he’s a royally wasted because the character does not have much to him. Sally Hawkins’ character is killed off unceremoniously and no one, barring Ken Watanabe, has any reaction to it. The story itself is very dumb, which in itself wouldn’t be a problem, if the movie didn’t treat it so seriously at times. When it comes to the monster action, one of the annoying aspects is that large parts of the monster action is all happening in the background of the human perspective. So the camera is following the humans and the monster fights go in and out of shot and that does get annoying. As mentioned, when Dougherty lets the monsters take up the screen and lets them do the fighting, the film is all kinds of fun. But there are too many human characters and they still take up a significant screen time while actively dragging it down. Ken Watanabe gets the only real resonating human scene when he sacrifices himself for Godzilla.

In all honesty, it is really the monsters themselves that save this movie. Every scene with Mothra is gorgeous and heart warming. King Ghidorah is a force of nature and he’s absolutely terrifying at times. Rodan also has an epic entry and his destructive power has a good showcase. Godzilla is just awesome and the film devotes a lot of affection to him. Dougherty doesn’t ascribe the same amount of weight to his presence as Gareth did. Gareth really made you feel every inch how massive he was. As a result, the monsters look like they move a bit too fast and agile for monsters of their size. Dougherty focuses more on the beauty and splendor of the monsters. Burning Godzilla is pretty phenomenal.

In the end, its a passable film that I enjoyed more on rewatch but its still the weakest of the Monsterverse. I give it a 5.5/10.

#godzilla: king of the monsters #godzilla #rodan #mothra #king ghidorah #godzilla: kotm #dr serizawa #kyle chandler #vera farmiga #ken watanabe #millie bobby brown #bradley whitford #sally hawkins #charles dance #thomas middleditch #zhang ziyi #monsterverse #michael dougherty

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adventure-hearts · 4 years

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FEB 20: FAVORITE CHARACTER BESIDES THE 12 KIDS & THEIR PARTNERS

If you know me, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Of course it’s Hiroaki Ishida. Everyone’s Cool Dad is my favourite minor character and, in my heart, the main character of his own spinoff...

There are numerous reasons why Hiroaki is the best, but I’m just going to name a few.

1. He’s cool AF.

Just look at him with his cigarette and the air of someone who hasn’t slept in two years, like the protagonist in a film noir. He looks cool from the start.

Hiroaki also proves his inner coolness as soon as we meet him. He gets over the shock of finding out the Digimon quickly and sets out to to give invaluable help to the Chosen Children. Even his job (investigative reporter and/or Fuji TV producer) is baddass — and fortunately, it means that he’s always at the centre of the action and can help the kids. We have no choice but to stan.

2. He’s a sweetheart.

Hiroaki is the most developed parent and he has an interesting backstory and depth.

The first time we meet him, we see that he still carries a picture of his family on his wallet. This shows he’s more than the typical Japanese workaholic father who’s married to his job. He has deep love for his family and clearly carries regrets over the family’s situation. Later we learn that he didn’t want to lose his sons and the divorce, and he admits that separating the two boys was a selfish decision (though draconian divorce norms in Japan are probably to blame).

He isn’t a perfect single parent to Yamato, but you can tell he’s trying his best. Despite being often absent due to his work, he truly cares about Yamato and they have a close relationship. At times it feels like their roles were inverted a bit, but that adds to the dynamic. (There’s a lovely scene in the PSP game when Yamato brings him lunch at work and it’s a really sweet portrayal of the relationship.)

In short, he’s very caring, he helps everyone out whenever is needed, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his kids. Yamato and Takeru clearly love him a lot, for good reason.

3. He’s a bit of dork

He may look tough, but Hiroaki’s sons (especially Takeru) have him wrapped around their little finger. Hiroaki agrees to take them camping as a cover up, and uses his Xmas bonus to buy them a computer.

He listens to dumb sutras and (supreme proof of inner dorkiness) he is a former a bass player.

So he’s likeable and entertaining!

PS: The little Takeru and me ships the hell out of Hiroaki and Natsuko (who herself is also cool AF). Yes, I know it’s not Realistic, but can they please get back together? Maybe a little Parent Trap situation played by Takeru (to Yamato’s horror)? Or can they just become exes with benefits as they grow older? (I’d read those fics.)

Special mentions: Daigo (RIP), Meiko, Sakurada (Hiroaki’s assistant), Mr Fujiyama, Shuu Kido (the rebel Kido brother), Chikara Hida, Kae Izumi (Best Mum), Ken’s parents, Michel (Takeru & Yamato’s grandpapa), “Chichos”.

#kizunacountdown #digimon #takaishida #takaishi ishida family

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grigori77 · 4 years

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The Works of Ridley Scott - My Top Ten

So I decided I’d drop another series of big post lumps of spam on you guys by rocking my favourite directors’ works by rating my personal favourites of each, and I figured what better place to start than my absolute number one, so here we go - these are my very favourite films of my absolute cinematic IDOL, the master of British auteur filmmakers. Enjoy ...

10. EXODUS: GODS & KINGS

It takes a really ballsy filmmaker to try and make a big budget live action Ten Commandments movie after Cecil B. DeMille’s monstrous Technicolour epic, but guts is something Scott’s never been lacking in, and the result is one of his most striking offerings of recent years, a meaty revisionist take on the Book of Exodus that jettisons most of the mysticism to concentrate on the gritty human struggle at its heart. It’s the story of two warring brothers and the lengths each is willing to go to in order to achieve their opposing ends, and while Scott typically delivers BIG TIME on the spectacle and immersive world-building, where he really shines is as an actor’s director, here rightly focusing on the deeply complex relationship between Christian Bale’s Moses and Joel Edgerton’s Pharaoh Ramesses II. The end result is a lesser known but no less worthy swords-and-sandals epic than his signature entry to the genre.

9. PROMETHEUS

Like many fans of the Xenomorph saga he helped create, I was excited but also understandably wary of his return to the franchise with a proposed “prequel”, and to be honest as an Alien movie this actually is a bit of a mess, trying a little too hard to apply that connective tissue and ultimately failing more than it succeeds (indeed, as a franchise entry, direct sequel Alien: Covenant is a far more successful effort). Personally, I’ve always preferred to simply consider it as a film in its own right, and as a standalone sci-fi horror thriller this is a CRACKING film, insidious, atmospheric, moody and magnificent in equal measure, Scott weaving a sense of dangerous mystery and palpable dread throughout that grips from enigmatic start to devastating finish. Noomi Rapace is an excellent Ripley-substitute, but the true breakaway star of the film is Michael Fassbender as twisted android sociopath David, just as chilling as the horrors he unleashes on his unsuspecting crewmates.

8. THELMA & LOUISE

To be brutally honest, Ridley’s output in the 1990s was largely unimpressive (White Squall left me cold, while 1492: Conquest of Paradise was technically brilliant but discouragingly slow and disjointed, and I think we can all agree cinema would be better off if GI Jane had never happened), but at least he got the decade off to a strong start with this beautiful, lyrical, heartfelt and undeniably powerful tale of unerring friendship triumphing against fearful odds. It may have been directed by a man, but it was written by a woman (Callie Khouri, creator of TV’s Nashville, who rightly won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for her astounding work) and is unapologetically told from a woman’s point of view, which is finally becoming an accepted thing in blockbuster filmmaking, but back then it was still a new concept, and you have to applaud Scott for being one of its pioneers. It may be most well known these days for giving Brad Pitt his big break, but the film’s focus is VERY MUCH on Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as the titular friends, forced to go on the run after an innocent night out goes horribly wrong. After becoming one of THE hot ticket date movies of the 90s, it’s still fondly remembered for its heartfelt message, gentle humour and powerful climax.

7. BLACK RAIN

Probably the closest Ridley ever came to capturing his brother Tony Scott’s more popcorn-friendly brand of super-slick, glossy blockbuster fare was this Japan-set fish-out-of-water cop flick, but he couldn’t help adding a real weight and substance to the final product, and the result is one of my very favourite thrillers of the 80s. Michael Douglas was riding high after his Academy Award win for Wall Street, but his performance as hot-headed maverick NYPD detective Nick Conklin has always been my personal favourite, and he shares strong chemistry with a young Andy Garcia as his wise-cracking partner Charlie Vincent, but the film’s understated secret weapon is heavyweight Japanese character actor Ken Takakura as Masahiro, the stoic, by-the-book Osaka police inspector they’re forced to team up with in order to capture rogue Yakuza underboss Sato (a deliciously feral turn from the Yūsaku Matsuda in his very last screen role before his death just months after the film’s release) and bust an international counterfeiting ring. This is definitely Scott’s glossiest film, but there’s hidden depth behind the neon-drenched visuals, the expertly staged set-pieces perfectly countered by a robust story, precision-crafted character work and bucket-loads of emotional heft (especially surrounding the film’s high point, one of the most devastating character deaths in cinematic history). It may not be held in the high regard of many of his more “sophisticated” films, but in my opinion it’s just as worthy of recognition, and I’ll defend it to the death.

6. THE MARTIAN

Scott’s last truly GREAT film (to date, anyway) is also one of his most effortlessly likeable, a breathless, breezy and thoroughly FUN adaptation of the bestselling debut novel of space-exploration geek Andy Weir. Matt Damon must have been born to play Mark Watney, an astronaut in the third manned mission to Mars who is accidentally left for dead on the surface when the crew are forced to evacuate by a catastrophic dust storm; alone and with no means of escape, Watney must use all his scientific smarts to survive long enough for NASA’s desperate rescue mission to reach him. He’s a thoroughly endearing everyman hero we can’t help rooting for, self-deprecating and oozing sass all day long, and in his company the film’s two-and-a-half hours simply RACE by, while one of Scott’s strongest ever supporting casts (which includes Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean and a glorious scene-stealing cameo from Donald Glover) once again proves that he really is one of the very best actor’s directors around. Thoroughly ingenious, visually stunning and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious, this is definitely Scott’s most endearing film to date, about as perfect a popcorn flick as you’re gonna find outside the MCU …

5. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director’s Cut)

Certainly the most maligned film in his oeuvre, this has perhaps the most troubled production history of ALL his works, famously mauled in post as 20th Century Fox rushed to get the still unfinished feature ready enough for its summer 2005 release, the clunky theatrical cut understandably met with mixed reviews and somewhat underperforming at the box office. Thank the gods, then, for Scott’s unerring perfectionism – he couldn’t rest with that lacklustre legacy, so he knuckled down and produced what is, in my opinion, the very best of all his director’s cuts, reinstating an unprecedented FIFTY MINUTES of missing material which doesn’t just flesh out character arcs but frequently creates an entirely new, far richer and MUCH more rewarding overall narrative, and the final feature was met with thoroughly well-deserved critical acclaim. Not only is this one of my favourite Ridley Scott films, it’s one of my very favourite historical epics PERIOD, a magnificently rich, sprawling saga of blood, sex, honour and courtly intrigue as we follow blacksmith-turned-knight Balian (Orlando Bloom in one of his very best roles) on his quest for redemption in the Holy Land at the height of the Third Crusade. This is still one of the director’s most expensive films, and EVERY PENNY is right there on the screen, each scene designed to perfection and dripping in astounding period detail, while the sweeping cinematography is some of the very best in his entire catalogue, and the battle sequences so expansively vast they even put Gladiator’s opening to shame. So, far from being his greatest folly, this was ultimately one of Scott’s greatest triumphs, and I can’t recommend it enough.

4. BLACK HAWK DOWN

In my opinion, this is the absolute PEAK of Scott’s cinematic achievements to date as an action director – almost two-and-a-half hours of relentless blood, bullets, smoke and terror that’s as exhilarating as it is exhausting, as emotionally uplifting as it is harrowing, quite simply the DEFINITIVE portrayal of the bonds of brotherhood forged by men under fire. The film tells the story of the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, 24 blood-soaked hours in which US military forces were trapped behind enemy lines and besieged on all sides by hostile Somali forces after a botched raid saw two Black Hawk helicopters shot down, precipitating a snowballing military catastrophe and a bitter fight for survival. Certainly the film takes many liberties with the historical accuracy (then again that’s pretty much Hollywood’s standard approach regarding true story war movies), but there’s no denying it perfectly captures the desperate chaos the soldiers must have faced on the day, throwing the viewer headfirst into a dusty, noisy hell and refusing to let him out again. The action sequences are some of the finest I have EVER seen committed to film, but the film has just as much heart as guts, tugging our heartstrings and jerking plenty of tears because we really come to care about these boys and what happens to them. Intense, rousing, explosive, provocative – definitely the action highlight of Scott’s oeuvre.

3. ALIEN

It may have some decidedly humble beginnings, but the opening chapter in the other jewel in 20th Century Fox’s sci-fi franchise crown is now considered to be THE greatest science fiction horror film of all time, and rightly so – it’s a textbook example of a flawlessly-executed high-concept “haunted house in space” flick, a master-class in slow-building atmospherics, sustained tension and some truly hair-raising shocks that are as fresh and effective today as they were back in 1979. Not bad for something that started out as a pulpy B-picture script from Dan O’Bannon (co-writer and star of John Carpenter’s cult feature debut and one-time student film Dark Star). The cast is stellar (ahem), dominated OF COURSE by then pretty much unknown young upstart Sigourney Weaver in what REMAINS the greatest role of her decidedly impressive career, but the true star of the film is the creature itself, the late H.R. Giger’s twisted, primal design teased with consummate skill to maximise the stealthy effectiveness of what has become the definitive extraterrestrial nightmare fuel of sci-fi cinema. Ultimately I’m more of an Aliens fan myself, but I don’t deny that this is a MASTERPIECE of the genre, and I f£$%ing LOVE IT.

2. GLADIATOR

It may have been usurped by Kingdom of Heaven as Scott’s most ambitious film, but his first dabble in swords-and-sandals cinema remains the best of his historical epics, and at the time proved to be a MASSIVE shot in the arm for what had long become a flagging, largely forgotten genre, spawning a veritable LEGION of bandwagon-jumping followers. Needless to say, NOBODY does this better than Scott, who brought the opulent excess of ancient Rome and its vast empire to vivid life in all its bloodthirsty, duplicitous detail, from the back-stabbing intrigues of the Senate to the life-and-death drama of the Coliseum. The script is rich and heady stuff (penned as it is by former playwright John Logan), exquisitely performed by a premium-cut cast (particularly impressive was the late Oliver Reed in his very last screen role) and bolstered by some of the most impressive battle scenes ever committed to film, but the true driving force of the film is the ferocious antagonism between the hero and villain, Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix both making the transition from rising-stars to genuine A-listers with major box office clout thanks to their truly electrifying performances. After his relative creative slump in the 90s, Scott’s first offering of the new Millennium proved the start of a major renaissance in his work, and thankfully it’s shown no sign of flagging since …

1. BLADE RUNNER

Not only is this my favourite film by my favourite director, but also what, if I was REALLY PRESSED, I would have to call my very favourite movie EVER. I’m gonna be waxing most lyrical about this in great detail when I drop my big-screen sci-fi Top Ten on here, so I don’t want to talk about it TOO MUCH here … suffice to say this has been a dominant fixture in my favourites since my early adolescence, when I first stumbled across it on TV one Saturday night, and even though it was the theatrical cut with its clunky voice-over and that ridiculous tacked-on happy ending, I was instantly captured by its searing visionary brilliance and dark, brutally nihilistic power, so when Scott finally released his first Director’s Cut I was already DEEPLY in love with this film. Sure, being a Star Wars fan, Harrison Ford will ALWAYS be Han Solo for me (along with Indiana Jones, of course), but my personal favourite role of his career is Rick Deckard, the sleazy, downtrodden and world-weary android-hunting gumshoe stumbling through his most deadly case in the mean streets of rain-lashed cyberpunk megalopolis Los Angeles circa 2019, while Rutger Hauer effortlessly steals the film as his mercurial nemesis, live-fast-die-young Nexus 6 Roy Batty. This is still THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FILM I HAVE EVER SEEN, the visual effects work still standing up perfectly today, the exquisite design work and peerless atmospheric cinematography rightly going on to inform and influence an entire genre of science-fiction both on the big screen and off, and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who hasn’t already seen it. Deliciously dark, fiendishly intelligent and heart-rending in its stubborn refusal to deliver easy answers or present us with a cathartic HAPPY ending (no matter what the theatrical cut might want you to think), this really is as good as cinema gets.

There you have it, my top movies from the man I personally consider to be the greatest filmmaker around tody, and here’s hoping we’re gonna see a lot more from him yet ... Sir Ridley Scott, knight of the f£$%ing realm ...

#Ridley Scott #sir ridley scott #exodus gods & kings #prometheus #thelma & louise #black rain #the martian #kingdom of heaven #kingdom of heaven director's cut #black hawk down #Alien #gladiator #Blade Runner #greatest director of all time

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junkyardbluebox · 5 years

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The Wheel of Ice - some thoughts

This was yet another book I’d received for Christmas, but due to the backlog of books I had yet to read, I didn’t get to finish it until recently.

I’d decided to read this one because not only are the Second Doctor and his companions among my favorites (as I’ve mentioned countless times before, lol), but from the little blurbs and various reviews I’d seen, it sounded interesting.

In a nutshell, the TARDIS ends up taking the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to the rings of Saturn. There are big chunks of debris flying at them and they’re saved by a teenage girl named Phee Laws, who happens to be the daughter of Jo (who is the mayor of a settlement on the Wheel). A moon called Mnemosyne is being mined for a mineral called bernalium, directed by a female tyrant head of a corporation known as Bootstrap. People get attacked by these creepy “blue doll” monsters and repeated trips to this moon are made in order to put a stop to it all. The Doctor of course is at the heart of this, trying to understand and influence the “blue dolls”, as well as Arkive, the failing ancient artificial intelligence that is controlling them.

It doesn’t specify when exactly in the Who universe this story takes place, but given the references to the Cybermen invasion of London having occurred in the past, plus the references to T-Mat, it’s definitely post-The Seeds Of Death (actually, in the beginning of the book it’s mentioned that Jamie is wearing the same black lace-up Jacobite shirt he wore in that serial, plus the physical description of the Doctor – ragged sideburns, for one – seems to be a callback to the way he looked then as well). Other reviewers have suggested it takes place directly before The War Games. Whatever the case, it’s definitely in the late Series 6 time frame.

There are some other interesting characters, especially Sam, the 19-year-old son of Jo Laws. He ends up developing a bit of a rapport with Jamie. There’s a scene where the Doctor and companions are taking up residence at Jo’s house, with Zoe sharing a room with Phee and Jamie with Sam. At first, Sam scoffs at Jamie, calling him “Granddad” (which insults Jamie, who insists he’s not much older than him), but he soon offers Jamie to come along with him and his friends, riding scooters in space and “skiing” on another moon, Titan.

Jo also has a daughter named Casey, who is about 2 or 3 years old. It’s basically through her that the blue dolls are discovered. There is a nice scene towards the end of the book where she and Zoe are taking cover in an old ship. Little Casey is frightened the way the ship is being jostled about due to flying debris from an explosion and Zoe, who’s obviously not had much experience with children, does her best to comfort the toddler.

Another interesting character is MMAC, a large mechanic of a robot programmed to believe he is a Scotsman from Glasgow (in fact, upon first meeting them, he and Jamie have an interesting exchange … Jamie takes issue with the fact he’s a “Jessie” from Glasgow who most likely would have fought with the English during the Jacobite Uprising, LOL). Even though his memories are artificial – and it’s a bit sad when he discovers this – he’s very kind and helpful, coming through to save our protagonists in quite a few ways.

The characters that really didn’t do anything for me were Jo Laws’ ex-husband, whose interaction with Sam in particular seemed a bit forced (although I will give him credit for helping them save the day in the end); and Florian Hart, the head of the corporation in charge of mining the moon for bernalium. She starts as a relatively tame antagonist but as the story wears on – and especially near the end – she turns into a power-hungry tyrant. In doing so, she actually becomes a bit cartoonish and one-dimensional, and I was rooting for her defeat so we wouldn’t have to hear anymore about her.

Things do get resolved in the end and I won’t go into detail on that. I’ll just mention there’s a celebratory parade on the Wheel in which Jamie takes part, proudly playing the bagpipes. As you’d expect, the Doctor has them all quietly slip away while speeches and the like are being given, and they’re off in the TARDIS for their next adventure.

The characterizations of Team TARDIS were very well done, in my opinion. The Doctor’s portrayal seemed to start off a bit shaky, but got much better after the first chapter or two, and later on when he’s confronting the blue dolls/blue army men and Arkive, I could just hear Troughton as the Second Doctor delivering the words on the pages. Zoe and Jamie were very well done, too, although it’s an occasional pet peeve of mine when writers make him sound more Scots Highlander than he sounded in the TV show. Baxter does this here and there, with the occasional “yon” or “ken” but it wasn’t very distracting and apart from that, he got Jamie’s characterization very well.

That’s about all I wanted to say about this one. If you haven’t read it before, I would recommend it. The storyline was interesting and I liked the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe’s involvement in it.

#classic doctor who #2nd doctor #jamie mccrimmon #zoe heriot #books

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iliketoeatmyself · 6 years

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ED BOOKS

I stole this from mpa (because I wanted to save it) but I’m going to highlight those I’VE READ... also I might add some others as time goes...

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (it was a good read!)

Solitaire by Aimee Liu * (Considered first anorexia memoir. Thus, there are points when EDs aren't completely understood, but still totally worth the read. Available through KU.)

Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi (it was really good and real tbh)* (One of my faves! A memoir that really captivated me)

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia * (Really is what it says on the tin and so much more. This memoir captures the darkest parts of EDs and is done very logically, stabilizing itself with facts that are intermixed by the chaos of EDs).

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Romance)

Thin by Lauren Greenfield (Nonfiction elements. Like the TV documentary of the same name, but of course, the book has more details.)

The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron (NOT like the movie. Based on research of EDs in figure skating and gymnastics.)

Perfect by Natasha Friend

Purge: Rehab Diaries by Nicole J. Johns

Skinny by Ibi Kasliky

Loud Girl in the House of Myself: A Memoir of a Strange Girl by Stacy Pershall

Gaining: The Truth about Life After EDs by Aimee Liu (same author as Solitaire)

Identical by Ellen Hopkins * (Written in same manner as her other books, which is basically more like a poem than traditional novel format. LOVE this book and recommend the authors other, non ED books)

Letting Ana Go by Anonymous

Massive by Julia Bell

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen (Romance)

Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Thin by Grace Bowman (memoir)

The Disappearing Girl by Heather Topham Wood (Romance, KU)

After the Strawberry by Adrienne Maria Vrettos

Purge by Sarah Darer Littman

Beautiful Me by Natasha Jennings

Hunger Point by Jillian Medoff (it was okay, the sister of mc has an ed)

Pointe by Brandy Colbert (Very dramatic. Deals with sexual abuse and also kidnapping in addition to an ED. Still not sure how I feel about this book, but a read that is very interesting, especially for those who like reading all things ballet. Also, this is nice because a black girl is not only a ballet dancer, but also has an ED, which is not portrayed enough!)

Looks by Madeleine George

Kessa by Steven Levenkron (I'd say this is probably for younger readers, but hey, you're never too old to read any book in my mind!)

My Sister's Bones by Cathi Hanauer * (Really liked this book and it isn't necessarily because of the ED part of it. I just like the whole feel and author's style)

Parperweight by Meg Haston

You Remind Me of You: A Poetry Memoir by Eireann Corrigan

Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders and Elusive Olympic Dreams by Jennifer Sey (Wow, that's a mouth full!)

Believarexic by J.J. Johnson

Feeling For Bones by Bethany Pierce

More Than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio

A Dance of Sisters by Tracey Porter

Gravity Journal by Gail Sobat

Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle (A memoir written with her mother)

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (Haven't read this in a long time, but I remember liking it)

A Trick of the Light by Lois Metzger * (One of my favourites! About a male with an ED.)

Starved by Michael Somers (Another good male ED novel)

Reckoning Daze by Michael Beaulieu (Currently free kindle edition is available)

Thin (Sharing Spaces Book 3) by Alicia Michaels (This is part of a romance series and is the third book. This one focuses on the ED character, but there are hints to the ED in other books. You don't necessarily need to read the other books in the series and can figure things out without reading them first. I actually read this book before the others)

Cake Dreams: A Memoir of Survival by Hoyt Phillips * (Another male ED book. Great multi-faceted portrayal of EDs and general metal illness. Available on KU)

Not My Father's Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming * (It's been a while since I've read it, but I recall there being an ED. The book does not focus on the ED, but it is thrown in there, adding to an already fascinating, interesting read.)

Nothing by Robin Friedman (Another male ED book)

Lighter and Weightless (books 1 and 2 of Begin Again Duet series) by Gia Riley (Romance and available on KU)

...And All Shall Fade to Black by Layla Dorine (Gay Romance, male with ED, available on KU).

Still Water: A Boys of Bellamy Novel by Ruthie Luhnow (Gay romance, male with ED, available on KU)

Four Weeks, Five people by Jennifer Yu * (A male wannabe rock star with an ED. He is 1/5th of the main characters who all have other mental disorders and have been sent away to camp to help with their various mental illnesses).

Phat (Escape From Reality series) by Taylor Henderson (Part of a series. KU)

Life-size (no, not like the Lindsey Lohan movie) by Jenefer Shute (Available through Kindle unlimited)

Love Struck (Star Struck Series) by Amber Garza (Romance series. KU).

Fake Perfect Me by Cari Kamm (KU)

Out of Breath (Exposed Series) by Hazel Kelly (KU).

The Kaitlyn Chronicles series by Elaine Babich (Series, for younger readers. KU).

Please Don't Go by Elizabeth Benning (A bulimic sent to a residence to recover and teams up with anorexic former enemy in hopes of escaping)

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen * (very great!! I loved this one, it’s not only about the ed, but human nature and emotions) (A classic novel that everyone interested in metal health should read).

Do or Die (Fight or Flight Series #4) by Jamie Canosa (Romance series. KU).

Hungry: One Woman's Battle and Victory over Anorexia and Bulima by Jessica Skinner (The title pretty much says all you need to know. KU).

My Perfect Little Secret by Rebecca Coppage (KU).

Anorexic: The True Story of An Anorexia Survivor Who Found Love by Anna Paterson (This is romantic, but I wouldn't call it romance. KU).

Balance of Control by Stephanie Nance

Running in Silence: My Drive for Perfection and the Eating Disorder that Fed it by Rachael Rose Steil

My Not-So Secret by B.P. Morrison (KU).

26 Beats per Minute by Dez Wilder (Male with ED. Memoir. KU).

Summer Fades by Amanda Bews (KU).

It's Never Enough (Book 1 in Never Series) by Susan Soares (Series. KU).

Restricted: A Novel of Half-truths by Jennifer Kinsel * (KU).

Chrysalis by L.A. Field, Gary Thaller * (KU).

A Slow Fade by Brooke Melius (KU).

All We Ever Wanted: Unmasking the Silent Battle by Alexandra Wnuk (KU).

Life Hurts: A Doctor's Personal Journey Through Anorexia by Dr. Eliabeth Mcnaught *

A Fork in the Road by Rebekah Wilson (KU).

Skin Deep (Stolen Breaths series) by Pamela Sparkman (Romance Series. KU).

Feeding the Heart (Heart Series) by Marion Myles (Romance Series. KU).

Anorexic Annie by Sarah Burleton * (KU).

The Downside of Being Charlie by Jenny Torres Sanchez * (Male with ED, the ED is not a huge part of the book, but also deals with family dysfunction, which I always find interesting).

The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller * (This is very interesting. Male with ED. Deals with super powers! Though, it could just be the ED causing the protagonist to think he has powers, but I'll let you be the judge!)

Skinny Boy: A Young Man's Battle and Triumph Over Anorexia by Gary A. Grahl

It Was Me All Along: A Memoir by Andie Mitchell * (about binge eater who lost weight)

Safety in Numbers by Brittany Burgunder *

Skinny: She was starving to fit in... (False reflections book 1) by Laura L. Smith (Currently free kindle edition is available).

When You Fall by Alex Karola * (through Wattpad. Not finished yet, but is a great read!)

Inner Hunger: A Young Woman's Struggle Through Anorexia and Bulimia by Marianne Apostolides

Empty: A Story of Anorexia by Christie Pettit

Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder by Nadia Shivack

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz *

All Good Things Die in LA by Anhoni Patel *

Jane in Bloom by Deborah A. Lytton (Another one for younger readers. Still, a nice read)

Gravity Journal by Gail Sidonie Sobat

What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard *

This Impossible Light by Lily Myers (told in verse)

Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot (the girl has avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder)

Beautiful Bodies by Kimberly Rae Miller * (this is a KU book and is a fairly new release as of 7/28/17. It is about disordered eating and chronic dieting, not a full blown ED; however, I still enjoyed it and recommend it).

Shattered Image: My Triumph over Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Brian Cuban * (KU, male memoir detailing ED struggle and primarily his struggle with BDD)

Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall (KU)

Empty Net (Scoring Chances Book 4) by Avon Gale * (gay romance about bulimic hockey player)

Heavyweight by MB Mulhall (Male protagonist)

Just Jack by Shaun Powell (KU, male protagonist)

Don't Call Me Kit Kat by K.J. Farnham (for younger audience definitely)

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxanne Gay (BED)

Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan (Male protagonist)

Skinny Me by Charlene Carr

Wrists by Jay Broderick (male protagonist)

Unicorns and Rainbow Poop by Sam Kadence (male, gay, romance)

Bare Roots by Molly S. Hillery (KU)

Grip by Adex Garza (KU, male. Deals with morbid obesity)

Rita Just Wants to be Thin by Mary W. Walters (KU)

Taint by Jude Nicholas (KU)

Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa by Joan Jacobs Brumberg

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad

Hunger Pains: The Modern Woman's tragic Quest for Thinness by Mary Pipher

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Pretend We are Lovely by Noley Reid

Stick Figure by Lori Gottilieb

Diary of an Exercise Addict by Peach Friedman

The Anorexia Diaries by Linda Rio

Feed Me!: Writers Dish about Food, Eating, Weight, and Body Image by Harriet Brown

Insatiable: A Young Mother's Struggle with Anorexia by Erica Rivera

How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love by Ken Baker (about a girl who goes on a reality TV show to lose weight. Fun read)

Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder by Nadia Shivack

Perfect: Anorexia and Me by Emily Halban

Losing it by Sandy McKay

Fragile by Nikki Grahame

My Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum

Thin Ice by Niki Settimo (romance)

Unfiltered by Lily Collins (not solely a book about ED, but the topic is mentioned throughout)

Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins (coming out on August 7, 2018)

Staving in the Search of Me by Marissa LaRocca

Feast (True Love In and Out of the Kitchen) by Hannah Howard

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano (the mc is anorexic but it’s not focused on it only. This book is about two outcasts who connect to each other and its effect of it in the course of their lives)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (it’s very good and wild. It also tackles on feminism and societal issues as well)

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (it’s a great book. The ed is not the main point but there is a character suffering from one)

#eating disorders #eating disorder #book #books #anorexia #bulimia #ednos #list

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starspatter · 6 years

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I think you should do ALL THE ASKS :D

WELL ALL RIGHT THENA - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.1) DCAU TimSteph2) ItsuHaru3) Logan x Diana Prince4) Itsuki Koizumi x Kyouya OotoriB - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.*looks at WonderWolf and SuperBats*C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.BatCat. Even back when I wasn’t a fan of Batman I remember I read one DCAU comic involving Catwoman, and her character just didn’t appeal to me.D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.Any Kagepro ships tbh. Idk I’m just not really invested in the romance of the series. I prefer them all as friends/platonic.E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?Ahaha… I’ve contributed a fair bit of Kagecrack through vids/posts, though I think my favorite are these BTAS crossover edits.Also Kyorange and Skitzo!Kyon for TMoHS. (Plus the “genderbent cast is the previous generation” theory if that counts?)F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?Well I’ve been a Pokémon fan since elementary school. While I no longer watch the show/play the games, I still follow the new generations and RP on occasion.G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?Eeyup. While I don’t ship too often, when I do I ship HARD. ItsuHaru was my first real “obsessive” OTP, but I think the honor for the *very* first ship I had goes to… Cody x Ken from Digimon S2, in a sense. *shot* ^^; Idk I was just really focused on the idea of them making up and becoming “friends”. XP Though I also shipped Ken with Kari too bc of the Dark Ocean stuff. (Also Gary Oak x Molly Hale from Pokémon but that’s a whole other story. >.>; )H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?I’m still mostly a weeb so animu is my go-to, but I’ve been branching out to more Western stuff lately. (Although when it comes to Kagepro the songs are still the best medium. =3=)I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?Steven Universe. While I still love the show, hearing about all the toxicity in the fandom really turned me off so I just try to avoid it.J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)Again, Steven Universe. Also Over the Garden Wall and Bojack Horseman (the former of which I still really recommend you see).K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?I’m also gonna say Sunset Shimmer from Equestria Girls. She went from being a seemingly one-off villain to a fully redeemed good guy and leader in her own right. Though she still has her insecurities, it lets her relate to and help others in the same situation to not let those feelings of inadequacy or jealousy overcome them.Also Midna from Twilight Princess. Her change of heart from servicing her own needs to selfless sacrifice after observing how hard Link tried to save others mirrors my own feelings when I met Link in OoT/MM and watched him grow into a true hero, working to help both the people of Hyrule and Termina even when he had no obligation or was openly blamed for Ganon’s rise to power.L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)So I’m not a big fan of Dick Grayson in the DCAU (or any of his animated adaptations aside from Lego Batman; his YJ version being especially egregious) since I see him as rather childish and bad at dealing with conflict, but he’s admittedly a lot better in the tie-in comics, which give him some much needed development as Nightwing (whereas he barely got any screentime in TNBA). There he acts as a genuine big brother to Tim, and is shown to not be as nearly as bitter at Bruce as the Old Wounds ep would have one believe. I also like that they highlight Dick’s fondness for music, wherein his musical knowledge actually comes in handy to solve a couple cases.M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.All of the Mekakushi Dan, SOS Brigade, or Host Club tbhN - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).1) More Kagepro content in general2) More DCAU TimSteph 3) More ItsuHaru

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?Growing Up - Run River NorthDefinitely a Timmy Todd/TimSteph song now that I think about it. Especially the lines “I found my way without your help, with a broken family” and “monsters in my head”. ;(P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).…Tbh I’m really liking the “Legion x Ouran” idea lately. XD *shot*Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.Hm… I don’t think there are any I’ve really “abandoned”, per se. Most of them are still there, just not at the forefront anymore.R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?All the relationships in Kagepro *shot*S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)Molly Hale from the third movie is the god of the Pokémon world. Just… don’t ask lol.T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?Already answered, but I’ll add a few of my favorites for DCAU TimSteph:1) Tim cuts his own hair after RotJ (or rather just lets it grow long) since he doesn’t trust anyone else with sharp objects around him. Steph is the first person he allows to trim his hair for him (even though she has no experience with it either), since I imagine him feeling comfortable enough around her that he even falls asleep like Sousuke does with Chidori in Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. (For context, he was raised as a soldier from an early age and this is what happened when they tried to take him to a salon. Played for laughs, but probably an accurate portrayal of people suffering from anxiety/PTSD having to deal with mundane tasks that trigger them.)

2) Similarly, Steph plays piano to help calm Tim down whenever he’s having a panic attack.3) After RotJ Tim refuses to wear red for a long time until Steph knits him a red scarf and tells him it “suits him” bc red is the color of heroes.

As an aside, I also recently like the idea that Logan was at Lex’s party in the DCEU and saw Bruce and Diana together, based on this playlist that I made. U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.Gonna talk about a few I don’t mention too often nowadays.

1) Link from The Legend of ZeldaLink will forever be my greatest true love. He’s the first real “hero” I believed in, and he honestly changed my life at one point to actually want to be a better person. While that faith has faded and I don’t think I can ever reach his example, I still wish I had that kind of courage and kindness - or at least be able to inspire others in the same way he did me.2) Meroko Yui from Full Moon wo SagashiteIf Link was the first (and only) person I ever truly fell in love with, Meroko was the one who taught me what “true love” was in the first place. I won’t say too much since I still sincerely hope you will check out the series someday, but suffice to say there’s a scene towards the end where she makes a choice that shows how much she has personally grown, and come to understand what it really means to “love” someone wholeheartedly.

3) Gary Oak from PokémonThis is a bit of an odd one, but Gary is a character I related to a lot when I was an adolescent since, of the main series cast, he was the first and one of few to really change his “status quo” by quitting training and deciding to become a researcher instead. In my eyes it seemed like a shockingly conscious choice to “grow up” in a world where you can ostensibly remain a “child” forever, and I both admired and deplored him for it (especially at that tender transitory age I was going through at the time, where it feels like you’re being forced to “become an adult” whether you want to or not).

V - Which character do you relate to most?Already answered.W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.Romance in general is really not my thing, so I dislike when it’s the focus/the writers feel the need to pair every character. I’d rather leave things open-ended most of the time.X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.Family/friendship stories + tragic adopted children wanting to be heroesY - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?X-Men, Kingdom Hearts, Dangan Ronpa, Fate/Stay Night, Various Magical Girl series, Various RPG Horror games

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)I feel like I’ve rambled enough already phew. OTL Thanks for asking though. =P

#cryptoriawebb #starspeaks

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seventeenlovesthree · 1 year

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Fandom Shipping Polls - Ken Ichijouji Shipping Analysis (Poll I + Poll II)

The overall results / spreadsheet

Overall votes: 148 (approx. 118 in sum after the exclusion), the main poll got 108 votes, the secondary poll got 40 votes.

The “Others” choice in the main poll received 4% (approx. 4 votes) and 5% (2 votes) in the secondary poll. The comments/tags did not specify any preferences here (aside from characters that were already part of the main choices).

Ship Analysis

1st place: With the biggest lead of all polls overall, Daisuke (61%) wins this vote with no real competition, as he had been in 1st place from the very beginning. Daiken is one of the most popular mlm Digimon ships on the planet - and for good reasons, as their anime portrayal provides for some very intense and intriguing mutual character development. Not only do they start off as “enemies” (with one of the parties unknowingly holding lots of the admiration for the other), but them turning into friends - and Jogress partners - is one of the most significant development fuels for both of them; nurturing each other’s (self) confidence while growing closer, developing great fondness, attachment and protectiveness for each other as they get more and more comfortable with themselves and in the other’s presence. It’s an endearing framing with a lot of heart, and with the additional anticipation of more news on the 02 movie, it’s really no surprise to see them being as prevalent and beloved in fandom as they are at the moment.

2nd place: With a huge gap to 1st place, Miyako (19%) comes in second, thus securing Kenyako’s spot as one of the few canonized endgame couples in the Adventure series. Thus, her popularity makes sense - with her starting off with a starstruck crush on Ken, then doubting her approach towards him during his redemption arc and reconsidering the whereabouts of her feelings, them slowly growing closer to understand each other is an endearing framing.

3rd place: This spot is a particularly tumblr’esque fan favourite - and even if Hikari received a comparably low amount of votes (5%) in comparison to the two fandom favourites, there is still a little group of dedicated Kenkari shippers in this space. Due to their portrayal as mirrors - Dark and Light - and their mutual connection to the Dark Ocean, they’re considered viable options when it comes to understanding one another’s struggles, finding hope and solace there.

Honorary mentions: Characters that got more than 1 vote include Ryo (4%) Takeru (3%), Koushiro (3%) and Yamato (2%), proving to be niche choices.

“The 1 vote squad”: As the majority of votes has been distributed among the choices mentioned above, there isn’t much left to be mentioned - so this spot is only reserved to the one-episode-only character Chichos (1%), who was shown to have a big crush on Ken.

“0 votes go to…”: Iori, Taichi, Sora, Mimi and Jou each received 0 votes - as for the four latter characters, this may be due to their lack of screentime/interaction in canon.

Annotations: N/A

What did the other polls say?

As mentioned, Ken won Daisuke’s poll (52%) with one of the biggest margins and came in second in Miyako’s (27%), thus mirroring his own results to a high degree.

However, he proved to be quite a niche choice for almost every other character he received votes for in the first place, such as Hikari (4%), Iori (3%), Takeru (2%), Taichi (2%), Yamato (1%), Koushiro (1%) and Mimi (1%). Even though in his own poll, Iori, Taichi and Mimi received 0 votes, Ken got singular votes in their respective polls.

Sora and Jou are the only characters he never got voted for, which was a mutual occurence.

Notable additions / comments / thoughts

Similarly to Hikari in 01, Ken has a built-in exposure bias in 02 due to the fact that he joined the team later on and had to go through a redemption arc first. Hence it isn’t a surprised that Daisuke got the highest scores overall, as he had been the most vital and most visible character in Ken’s personal development journey. One could almost call their relationship a legacy that has lasted throughout all these years and had always been going strong as a beloved mlm ship. Miyako and Hikari, while not having had as much of an impact and thus having received signficantly less votes, are still seen as viable choices due to their (either complementing or contrasting) personalities, potential (and, in one case, canonization).

Considering how Ken’s polls received the second most votes overall (coming in second after Taichi), it can be assumed that those choices mentioned above can be considered to be the most viable options in fandom. As for the others - thanks to the aforementioned lack of (screen)time he shared, especially with the majority of the 01 cast, it’s no surprise that those received no or very niche attention (with Yamato and Koushiro basically being the only exceptions, as they have had the chance to interact with Ken in familiar and friendly ways). Takeru and Iori, as fellow 02 group members, were seen as less viable as well - probably due to the idea that they took significantly longer to warm up to Ken in the end, despite their relationships improving in the end. Ryo also has to be mentioned, as he may not be known as having been a companion of Ken, and thus only very few (namely the 5 people who voted for him) may see him as a valid choice.

The comments in the tags have only referred to the already mentioned choices. So the “Others” option did not reveal any other potentially preferred suitors. This leaves room for speculation, but usually, the option is reserved for OC ships, for when people prefer to not ship a character at all or when they’re considered asexual (which will definitely be a future option to include as well!). Thus, I really hope to reach a wider audience if I choose to repeat the polls once the fandom is not as quiet as it is right now.

Other Analysis Posts

Taichi Yagami Shipping Analysis

Yamato Ishida Shipping Analysis

Sora Takenouchi Shipping Analysis

Koushiro Izumi Shipping Analysis

Mimi Tachikawa Shipping Analysis

Jou Kido Shipping Analysis

Takeru Takaishi Shipping Analysis

Hikari Yagami Shipping Analysis

Daisuke Motomiya Shipping Analysis

Miyako Inoue Shipping Analysis

Iori Hida Shipping Analysis

Meiko Mochizuki Shipping Analysis

#ken ichijouji #digimon #digimon polls #digimon shipping #daiken #kenyako #kenkari #my edit #my two cents #meta

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lilacflamesss · 7 years

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Some Thoughts on TG Movie

Hi friends, so the movie’s officially out in my country only on the 24th or something, but by tearing apart my wallet I managed to get the tickets to the special premier and cosplay event woohoo. I wrote what I honestly thought about the movie and it got kinda long + spoilers so I left it under the cut.

In short, is it a great adaptation? Nah. In this arc itself, it’s also hard to say if it did better than the anime (if we ignore the anime’s weird chronology). But I went in with no expectations at all so I enjoyed the movie while I was watching it and it’s only after thinking through and talking about it over dinner did I notice certain issues.

The movie covered events from Volume 1 to the end of Volume 3 in the span of 2 hours which naturally means a lot of things had to be cut. There were stuff I’m bitter about that’s cut but I see why they did it and I decided not to bother too much. I also would like to add that I’m not too familiar with Volumes 1 and 2 since the only volume I’ve really read recently from the pre-Aogiri period is Volume 3 so spare any mistakes I might make from what I recall from the manga.

I’d like to highlight that these are mere first impressions. A re-watch might change my opinions on certain things and by no way are my opinions absolute and final. It’s clear a lot of work was put into this and it was really taken seriously, so I do applaud the team.

Spoiler warning: Yes, there are spoilers because this movie is not a 100% reenactment of the manga. There are original scenes and there are scenes that were dropped. If you don’t like to read spoilers because you’re planing to watch the movie, I advise you not to read even if you know this entire arc in the manga by heart. With that done, let’s start! / (='x'=) \

More under the cut!

Since I’m the most bothered about the portrayal of Touka, I’ll begin with that. I feel that Touka was somewhat shallow in this adaptation. There isn’t the scene with her killing the creep who was messing with her so Kaneki found out she’s a ghoul only after she stopped Nishiki from trying to kill Kaneki. She still offers Kaneki the meat relatively nicely, but he rejects and runs away. Touka’s cold to Kaneki from this point onwards and there’s still the whole part about her asking him about how cake and all tastes like. But there’s nothing about her saying that it’s been hell for her since she was born nor was there the part where he called her a monster, so this kinda made Touka’s character seem harsh simply due to bitterness over the fact that he used to be human, which is clearly not the case in the manga. Just this earlier bit itself doesn’t seem to really convey any of Touka’s suffering as a ghoul, nor does it really portray Kaneki’s fear of these ‘monsters’ as deep as the manga does. So clearly, the beginning to Touken’s relationship itself here lacks the depth and complexity from the manga. Instead of really having deeply-rooted sentiments against each other which led to a friendship after the Hinami ordeal, it becomes more of a ‘I can’t stand you at all.’ on Touka’s part to eventually being comfortable around him.

The other bit that got me really pissed off was the fight against Mado. They took out the newspaper bit as well so Hinami left the place because she smelt Ryouko instead of her own fears and insecurities, which also meant that whole scene with Touka hugging and comforting Hinami was removed as well, which I was really upset with since I was looking forward to that a lot.

The fight was basically Touka getting wrecked most of the time and absolutely no mention of Touka having the potential to be as troublesome as Owl. Touka has her speech where she talks about ghouls wanting to live on and all but they didn’t include her flashback of Hikari (they didn’t include the Ayato flashback as well actually) and I was expecting this to be cut out like the anime did but I was really sad because I wanted those Kirishima feels lmao. Oh wells. But more importantly, due to the earlier exclusions of Touka talking about how shitty her life was this speech felt a little less heavy than it did in the manga.

Now, the part that really ticked me off was the end. After Hinami attacks Mado, Touka asks her to kill him off, which Hinami refuses to. In the original, Touka doesn’t do anything and only rushes to kill him right as he was going to attack Hinami. But in the movie, he was struggling to go to his quinique and hadn’t even reached it. Touka’s decision to kill Mado felt really flat to me because it doesn’t seem like she killed him to protect Hinami. It seems more like her killing him just because Hinami refuses to do it, which also makes it a little iffy to me because I’ve always enjoyed how the Touka’s part in this arc is a transition from a tale of revenge to one of protection.

Oh, but Touka’s relationship with Yoriko was adorable and one thing I liked about this movie was when Yoriko came to Anteiku to bring some food for Touka and she ate it. The whole part about her not wanting to vomit it out in the bathroom happened in Anteiku as well, with Kaneki standing outside and listening to her. It’s kinda creepy to think he’s listening to a girl in the bathroom but I like how Kaneki managed to notice from this bit how Touka’s struggling to maintain her balance in the world-- they took out the bit about Uta talking to him about Touka so I guess this was how Kaneki realized how hard she was working.

That was long but let’s move on.

They missed out the iconic part where Kaneki narrates about how it’s be a tragedy if he was the protagonist of a story, but I suppose it suits the feel of the movie because the movie itself didn’t end with tragedy since it concluded at the end of Hinami arc.

Hide’s convo with Kaneki in the beginning is cut by a lot actually and it seems he already knows Rize is Kaneki’s crush (he points her out to Kaneki when she walked in). He was trying to get Kaneki to ask her out on a date which is completely different from the manga. I think the movie was really trying to go with a ‘normal kid’ Hide because he doesn’t really show that much intuition as he does in the manga/anime. Though Nishiki still mentioned that he’s a little wary of Hide. But, according to the subs, Hide seemed more scared that Nishiki might ‘chew him out’ for work-related issues rather than because he felt suspicious of Nishiki as a person. Also, it’s hard to tell if Hide knew Kaneki became a ghoul because instead of bringing him to Anteiku, they brought him to the hospital and he was unconscious until quite later on in the movie. There’s no interaction between him and Kaneki as well after that because Yoshimura told him to stay away from Hide, which is also completely different from the manga since in the manga it’s Kaneki who thought he had to stay apart from Hide. Anyway, the complexity of Hide’s character seemed absent, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt since it’s only the Fueguchi Arc after all.

Also, Hidekane fans rejoice, there’s one scene where Kaneki just licks Hide’s face repeatedly.

Another thing that made me go “????” was the CCG’s investigation methods and how they tracked Hinami and her mother down from her father. I won’t say too much but my friend who went with me was commenting that even CSI doesn’t do it that way so it’s either CSI super backdated or the CCG has some pretty high tech stuff they’re keeping from everyone else. This is a joke of a point. Let’s move on.

Amoneki fight scene was a let down at the end because they failed to deliver the final bit appropriately. They did have Kaneki not wanting to become a murderer but Amon didn’t respond nor did they hold a conversation. Also, Kaneki ran off and remained sane enough to join Touka and Hinami and help them out. It’s a pity the bit with Yomo was left out because if I recall right, that’s the first time Yomo called him by his name?

AND, I have to mentioned this. In Root A, Ken cried blood tears for Hide. In here, he cried it with Amon. Amoneki shippers can rejoice as well.

Also, I have no idea why Mado’s the one who’s always munching on doughnuts instead of Amon.

Let’s go to the good bits of the movie.

DUDE THE ACTING. I really loved it. I expected Kubota to be able to pull it off and he delivered it as I thought he would. Shimizu wasn’t too bad as well, honestly.

But I have to give special mention to Mado’s actor. One thing I take away from 6 years of being in Drama is that if you’re a villain and you make the audience truly hate your character, you’re a great actor. Oizumi really pulled off the role so well that I have newfound hatred for Mado right now. It’s amazing really, to the point that it felt like Mado really overshadowed Amon a lot due to sheer quality of the acting.

Hinami’s actress as well deserves another special mention because oh my god, I felt so sad for her. The scene where she’s crying over her mother’s death is one of the best scenes in the movie because it felt so real and amazing. I’m really so impressed and god, she’s just 14??? This girl is talented as hell. Also, I’m glad they got a 14 year old girl to act as Hinami so thank god we didn’t get the 9 year old vibe from the anime.

Not to say the rest were bad, Hinami and Mado were just really good. Which also makes that one scene when they were together another one of my favorite scenes.

Moving on. If I have to be honest, this movie is super gross and eerie and I LOVE THIS. The scene when Kaneki first discovers he’s a ghoul has him lying sprawled amidst scattered food and his own vomit when some hallucination of Rize comes, pins him down and kinda messes with him and licks his eyeball (just like Eto did, yes). And while this was happening, the shadow on the wall formed a centipede and while at this point in time in the manga the imagery hadn’t appeared yet, I really loved this bit. And right as it disappeared, he rushes to the bathroom to clean himself up and that’s when he sees his kakugan on the eye imaginary Rize just licked. Kaneki walks around Tokyo when he just changed with his hands so obscenely (in a way) in his mouth and saliva like all over (I think it was saliva, I might be wrong). I think there was one part he went to sleep like that as well.

Other than this, in fights and all those other scenes, the blood and all tend to be really messy and all over the place. The blood’s super thick and you can just see how sticky it is so it’s really super gross when you see it like dripping out of their mouths.

The sound effects were pretty good as well. Fueguchi 1 makes a really creepy noise whenever it’s being used and it’s somewhat annoying yet it adds to the whole intensity of the scenes. When Touka broke Kaneki’s finger the crack was resonating everywhere. It’s probably due to my own bad experience with broken bones, but I cringed so badly at this. And I think there were a little more bone breaking in their whole training segment because Touka mentioned that they heal fast from fractures and they didn’t have to worry about breaking bones in fight. It happened in Amoneki fight as well, I believe. I really loved how chilling the sound effect was.

Also, the focus on that finger when Touka was stepping and breaking it. It’s so disturbing. (Again it might be me being bad with bones, but I was grimacing the entire time and I hated it so much it’s amazing, I think?)

The kagunes vary because I loved Kaneki’s and Ryouko’s but Touka’s kagune felt really plain to me. I didn’t like how it seemed really solidified because the Kirishimas’ kagune aren’t actually like that unless they crystalize it. The flowy-ness and glow was absent, which was what I really loved from their kagune so I found that a pity. In a way, Touka’s kagune felt a little creepy, just like all the kagunes did, which in my opinion was a little off because her kagune is supposed to be quite beautiful. Like they couldn’t really deliever the duality of the kagune, in a way...? If that makes sense. Nishiki’s was really nice too but it was a little too big and powerful. It looked like how it’s like in :re (and yet he got wrecked by Kaneki lmao). But overall they did a good job with the kagune!

Also, the kakugans were well done. I loved the glowing red eyes when Rize first showed her eyes. (And I have to add, the sudden change in her voice was amazing as well.)

The fight scenes were pretty weird though because clearly most of it was CGI. But there were also a lot of slow-mo sequences that were really awkward to look at, but it’s not too bad frankly. I did find Touka’s speed a little too unrealistic because she was practically being the Flash, which is a huge contrast to her Root A run but still a bit off.

There’s a lot more of course, but this is what I recall mostly. Well, this is only my first watch so it’s merely first impressions. I don’t know if I’m going in for a second time when the movie is officially out but a second watch might be better. There were also a bit of original scenes, like one of Kaneki at Fueguchi’s grave, but I decided not to talk about them since they actually fit into the story quite a bit and added on to the whole emotions and settings. The grave scene and the scenes preceding it were really sweet actually.

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind a part 2 made from them or even if they decided to turn the entire thing into a movie or something. I would love to see the Gourmet arc and Tsukiyama. The ghoul restaurant would be amazingly disgusting, I just know it. And Aogiri!!! The Jason torture + 103 bones scene would be perfect. I’d probably close my eyes and ears during the 103 bones scene but whatever screaming Ayato-kun is never a bad thing.

Anyway, it’s late. I should sleep. :p If anyone’s gonna watch the movie, I hope you have fun! Do go in and enjoy yourselves and not be too cynical about stuff. ^^

#tg #tokyo ghoul #tg movie #tg movie spoiler

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scope-dogg · 7 years

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Scope Dogg’s Mecha Showcase: Hot Blooded Robot: Gekiganger 3

A while ago I did a series of reviews on various mecha series that are off-the-beaten-track compared to well-known series like Eva and Gundam in an effort to spread the love around. Having given it some thought, and having seen a few more series since then, I’ve decided to bring it back. Any spoilers within will typically be minor and only cover early plot details where possible.

Why you should watch it, in brief:

Probably the most underrated classic from the golden era of super robots. A series packed with fiery action that’s sure to excite and a mix of drama, romance and passion that will move the viewer’s very soul and inflame their manly fighting spirit.

The setting:

In the future, humanity is beset by an alien invasion. The sinister Kyoakk Empire, led by their effete and cruel prince Akara, descends upon an unknowing and defenceless planet Earth. Humanity looks to be surely doomed, until a miraculous discovery is made - a wall painting inscribed by a super-ancient, technologically advanced civilisation. Upon it is a warning of the imminent invasion, as well as a trump card in the form of a blueprint for a mighty machine of battle - the great robot of justice, Gekiganger 3. Now it’s up to pilots Ken, Joe and Akira to use its power to save the world.

Episodes: 48 total (Gekiganger 3 29, Gekiganger V 19)

First Aired: 1975

Why you should watch it, in full:

The 70s and 80s were the heyday of the Super Robots, giant, invincible defenders of justice against the unspeakable enemies of justice. With the advent of Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, there began a gradual shift towards gritty, more realistic, more nuanced stories in mecha anime, and the Real Robot subgenre emerged. While many of the most famous and acclaimed series in the genre’s history fall into this category, the shift away from Super Robots did lead to the loss of some of the spectacle and idealism that that genre represented. While it did re-emerge every so often in the form of more modern series like Gaogaigar, or more recently Gurren Lagann, these were always isolated, leaving fans of the subgenre looking wistfully back at memories of classic super robot series like Voltes V, Getter Robo and Mazinger Z. However, there’s one series that stands up with the very best of them - that being the stirring and epic Gekiganger saga, by Xebec studios. Boasting some of the best qualities of the era and inspiring fiery passion in the hearts of its legion of fans, Gekiganger is a series that shouldn’t be missed by anyone, and will surely be remembered as in inspiration well into the future. More after the break.

Gekiganger’s plot setup is a familiar one when it comes to Super Robot series - the alien invaders are most evocative of classic shows such as Grendizer or Voltes V, while the function of Gekiganger itself and the look of its three forms is evocative of Getter Robo, with elements borrowed from Mazinger. However, the show is far of a cheap knock-off - in fact, it feels like a culmination of the efforts of its cohorts, and through a powerful plot, great characters and high drama, it manages to elevate itself to something that’s more than the sum of its parts.

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Gekiganger 3′s intro is but a sample of the high-octane, hot blooded action that its episodes provide.

Foremost of these elevating elements is Gekiganger’s cast of characters - they’re interesting, entertaining, and also extremely original. Ken, Akira and Joe make for a fantastic trio of protagonists. Ken is vigorous and passionate, while Joe is distinguished by his lankier appearance and is relatively more calculating and intelligent. Akira’s a big guy with a heart of gold, who often provides moments of comic relief. It’s a very original and unique setup. One interesting facet to their relationship is the fact that Ken and Joe don’t like each other all that much upon first meeting, and their personalities clash in a way that eventually leads them to blows. Of course, they do eventually settle their differences, and it’s done in a way that feels well-thought-out and convincing. It’s a satisfying resolution to an early piece of plot drama.

The supporting cast is also an important piece of the puzzle. Standouts include a pilot from America who commands a cowboy-shaped mecha in order to assist Gekiganger’s struggle - yet another original and unique character. Additionally, Nanako, Joe’s love interest, is a really fleshed-out and well-rounded character, and their romance is likewise well-realised and just overall well-done.

Surprisingly, the same goes for the Gekiganger team’s enemies, the Kyoakk. While the human characters are strong in their own right, it’s the robustness and surprising depth of the aliens that really pushes Gekiganger 3 to a cut above the competition in terms of story. Many of the alien enemies that attack bring with them their own moral conundrums, such as alien characters that arrive on Earth and fall in love with Gekiganger team pilots, as occurs in episodes like The Memories Fade Away Into a Distant Galaxy and Holy Maiden: The Smile of Aquamarine. Even the evil Kyoakk prince Akara shows a more sympathetic side at times, especially in the dramatic episodes The Fateful Confrontation! Ken vs Akara! and Great Explosion! Go to Hell Kyoakks! As Ken wistfully muses at the end of this sequence, if Akara and Ken had met under different circumstances, they could have been friends. Instead, the tale becomes one of anger, revenge and tragedy. While Gundam would go on to become famous for its nuanced portrayal of the battle between the nominal protagonists and antagonists, the subtle and well-crafted approach that Gekiganger 3 takes rivals and sometimes even surpasses it. The strongest stories in the series follow this formula, with courage and sacrifice being the central theme of the series’ emotional peaks, such as the tear-jerking events of Bravery! Gekiganger Disappears in Flames! Sadly, the one time the series falls flat is during its final episode, Great Decisive Battle: Gekiganger Forever!, leaving viewers with a finale that’s infamously disappointing and not really fitting for such a great series. With that said, Gekiganger is more about the journey than the destination, and for the most part it’s a profoundly exciting journey to travel on.

While there are many memorable super robot attacks, whether it be Mazinger’s Rocket Punch or Gaogaigar’s Goldion hammer, surely none are as iconic as Gekiganger’s Gekigan Flare.

Of course, the drama of Gekiganger’s story is backed up by it’s thrilling action sequences. Gekiganger has three forms, including the iconic winged Gekiganger form, the slender and agile Umiganger form, and the tanklike and powerful Rikuganger form. Once again, this is one of Gekiganger 3’s most unique aspects. All of the forms come equipped with an impressive arsenal of attacks, as does Gekiganger 3′s successor machine Gekiganger V, and they’re all used in impressive fashion to vanquish the Kyoakk enemies. Not to say that the Kyoakk’s are a pushover, wielding weapons strong enough to vanquish even Gekiganger’s Gekigan Punch made out of Super Gekigan Alloy. Much of the time, the outcome remains in doubt right up until the very last second.

All of this works because Gekiganger’s presentation is nothing short of magnificent for its time. While its animation style places it firmly in the super robot era, some of the animation was almost uncannily well done, in a manner well ahead of its time. In fact, there were times when, if I hadn’t known better, that this was a series created much later than it actually was, perhaps even in the late 90s. The soundtrack is likewise brilliant, with the rousing cry of “RETSU GEKIGA-IIIIN” never failing to raise the viewer’s spirit during the series opening. The rest of the soundtrack also delivers at all times, enhancing the mood of the series in ways that are fitting, no matter whether the call is for sorrow, peril, or moments of bravery and heroism.

Overall, Gekiganger is a series that’s an inspiration to us all, no matter if you’re a simple cook or even if you live on Jupiter. Anyone who considered themselves a fan of mecha should hunt it down and begin watching as soon as possible, both the series itself and its thrilling feature-length motion picture, Gekiganger 3: Hot-Blooded Great Battle! Regardless of your age or gender, the result should be a flaming manly spirit both capable of scorching the enemies of evil and illuminating the path to justice.

#gekiganger #mecha showcase #respect the robot

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singloom · 7 years

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2016 Anime Challenge Revisited ~ January

Okay, loves. After a teeny, tiny delay, I'm slowly starting to revisit the shows I watched last year and reassessing my thoughts on them. We will be starting with January and working my way up, starting with Sword Art Online EXTRA EDITION, Sword Art Online II and Monster Musume. I also rewatched Attack on Titan Series One, Tiger & Bunny and Tokyo Ghoul in January.

Sword Art Online EXTRA EDITION

There is really no way to mince words here, it's a recap movie of the first series passing itself off as a film with a mini quest slapped on right at the end. No, really. Kirito retells his Aincrad and Fairy Dance experiences to a secret agent man for the benefit of the audience and guess what the girls do? Go swimming in cute swim suits and reminisce about their encounters with Kirito, the irresistible Powerhouse of the virtual world. Of course they would. What else would girls in an anime do? Personal character growth is for the guys, naturally. And learning how to swim to take part in an underwater quest doesn't count. And Lisbeth, what did they do to you? The short story at the end where the gang take part in a quest that involves taking to the ocean in search of a missing egg was the only new content, but it felt more like something that should have been an episode rather than an excuse to draw out an extended feature.

I really do have mixed feelings about Sword Art Online as a whole. I'm not a hardened hater of this series because I see great potential in the initial premise (death game in an online world) and the early days nailed that completely, but shortly afterwards, something happened. It became something different that threw me out of that experience of terror and fear, which blew the immersion big time. With a combination of asspulls that didn't belong, issues with pacing and personal dislikes that somewhat affected my enjoyment of the show, Sword Art Online is one of those shows that definitely rests in the Your Mileage May Vary category. I really cannot say I love the show, but I don't hate it either. When it's good, it's good, but when it falters, it does so big time and that can be hard to tolerate, especially with regards to the way it treats its female characters.

I think Sword Art Online is an anime I will continually revisit to try and make sense of it's shortcomings, but also what it does well, and I want to reassess aspects that can be troubling and major issues for viewers. Expect plenty of posts about this in the future.

Sword Art Online II

Personally, I liked SWOII marginally better than the first series. While it still has some issues like asspulls that seem silly, there was nothing that terribly hindered my enjoyment of it. I liked the Gun Gale Online Arc where Kirito once more takes to the virtual world to investigate claims of a player that kills other players in real life by shooting them in the game. We also get Sinon, a sniper girl, who plays GGO as a sort of immersion therapy after a traumatising childhood incident causes her to fear guns. The portrayal of PTSD is very interesting in the way it manifests. We also get two more minor arcs - the Calibur Episodes and Mother Rosario Episodes - which I quite enjoyed solely for the fact we get far more exposure of Kirito's friends. You want more Asuna? More Klein moments? You get them. This is what I feel SWO should have been, more fleshed out supporting characters rather than a One Man Show, adventures and quests with elements of danger and overcoming personal hardships.

Mother Rosario was definitely the stand out in Season Two with plenty of heart, a chance for Asuna to finally shine without Kirito hogging the spotlight and one of the most heartbreaking but inspiring storylines that center around a Guild with a personal goal. If SWO continued with this promising direction, I would gladly watch it and have a good time, but only time will tell. It's just disappointing that shows like this are considered the best despite their glaring flaws that are too troubling to overlook for overtly analysing bwees like me, while obscure niche shows with lots to offer are overlooked.

There, I said it.

Monster Musume

Very much a Your-Mileage-May-Vary sort of show given how racy the fanservice gets. It really does get uncomfortable in the more graphic scenes (especially the scenes with younger looking characters,) so it really depends on how you deal with that sort of thing. I also personally find some of the double standards in the show somewhat difficult to stomach and when things get into the Dark Comedy territory. However, I did enjoy the basic premise of Monster Musume, set in a world where humans and monster co-exist and a special Interspecies Bill bans harm between the races, but also bans sexual relationships. Enter Kurusu Kimihito, who ends up playing host to a group of monster girls - Miia the Lamia, Pap the Harpy, Centorea the Centaur, Suu the Slime, Mero the Mermaid, and Rachnera the Arachnid. All who really want to be with the unfortunate(?) boy. With an Interspecies Bill that forbids consummating relations between humans and monsters, and an innate ability to woo every single girl in the show without trying, what's a guy in a harem show to do? As mentioned before, I really like the premise of the show, as well as the attempt to really flesh out the biology and explanations to the behaviour of the different monsters. It's also surprisingly sweet at times and the lead boy is actually kind of refreshing. He isn't your chaste virgin, but rather a boy who's aware of his sexual urges and attraction to things that excite him, but he tries to remind himself of the consequences and practises responsibility (although, that more comes down to the fact he'd be arrested if he did anything.) If you're looking for a harem anime centred around cute monster girls with plenty of fanservice, this might be your cup of tea.

That and the theme song is quite cute and catchy. <3

Rewatch

In January, I rewatched Attack on Titan, Tiger & Bunny and Tokyo Ghoul, all in dubs. It was a first time watching Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul in the dub, which were quite enjoyable (as for T&B, it's one of many, many rewatches, love that show.)

Attack on Titan

is all about human eating titans and the underdog humans that defend humanity from their bitey ways. If you've been on the internet at all, you'll have seen it at least one. THAT WALL. THAT GIANT STEAMY MUSCLE MAN CLINGING TO IT. AND ALL HOLY HECK BREAKING LOOSE. I still enjoy this show for its darkness, the characters you root for while faced with the very real possibility that they will be nommed on and those opening theme songs. They are perfection in sound and animation. Give it a watch.

Tiger & Bunny

. That show I name drop all the time in the hopes that ONE OF YOU WILL ACTUALLY MIND IT AND WATCH IT. I fell deeply in love with this show from the get go way back when it released and I'm still head over heels with those heroes and such a loveable cast of very real and flawed people. Super heroes endorsed by REAL COMPANIES compete for points by performing heroic duties for the entertainment of the city they serve to protect. Enter Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a middle aged, widowed, single father, hero struggling to keep up with the changing times, and Barnaby Brooks Jr, an up and coming new hero with good looks and popularity. The two are forced together and an odd couple act ensues as they take to the city of Sternbild and clash more than they do with the villains. It's all very endearing and heartwarming, a perfect blend of comedy and drama that keeps viewers engaged and emotionally attached (I know I was.) I struggle to do this show justice because it's as close to perfection as it gets for me and it hurts that it doesn't get more love. Give it a try. You won't regret it.

Tokyo Ghoul

. What is it about flesh eaters this month? Another rewatch, Tokyo Ghoul is all about human hungry Ghouls that struggle to blend into human society and one boy who is thrust into this world against his will. Ken Kaneki is this poor soul who becomes half-human, half-Ghoul after a rather...unfortunate transplant operation. His attempts to hold onto his humanity and protect his only friend, Hide, are heartbreaking as things inevitably get a whole lot worse. Lots of bloody action and plenty of heart moments available here.

#anime #2016 anime challenge

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