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yumeka-sxf · 1 year

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A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 15

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

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The Campbelldon tennis tournament is the first time we see Twilight spend a considerable amount of time with someone with whom he doesn't have to act as Loid Forger…and the contrast is striking. There's no denying that he and Nightfall are exceptional at their work and make a great spy team. But, as I previously discussed, that doesn't mean she'd also be a good wife and mother.

While the tactics that the duo use to overcome their opponents are entertaining, I always found the tennis scenes a bit on the boring side, and I realized it's because Twilight and Nightfall have no chemistry beyond working well together as spies. Because Nightfall doesn't want to see anything in Twilight beyond a hardened spy – in fact, she resents the emotions he's developed rather than try to understand them – she doesn't bring out anything new or "real" in him during their interactions. Rather than want to know all of him, she idolizes the spy side of him and refuses to accept his "realer" side…which is very hypocritical of her considering the fact that she's developed intense feelings for him…feelings that, according to her, a spy has no business having. She accepts her own feelings of love for him, in fact, those feelings are what drives most of what she thinks and does, yet the fact that he's showing feelings for others (besides her) bothers her.

On the other hand, while Twilight does show that he cares for Nightfall as her mentor, for example, when he saves her from the rubber bullet and tells her not to push herself too hard after seeing the bruises on her hand, there's no indication that he has any "inappropriate" feelings for her (if Nightfall can tell when his real emotions for his family are seeping through, I'm sure she'd be the first to notice if he had similar feelings for her and would react accordingly).

But the kinds of "inappropriate" feelings she's accusing him of having for his family are, ironically, the kinds of feelings she wants him to have for her alone. As I mentioned before, Nightfall and Franky are both pots calling the kettle named Twilight, black.

Meanwhile, Yor is still convinced that Fiona is a threat to her marriage. Even though Loid had given no indication that Fiona means anything to him besides being a coworker, Yor's insecurities make the threat very real in her mind. She shudders at the thought of going back to her old life where Yuri was always worried about her (once again, thinking of someone else's peace of mind before her own). She has so much anxiety about the situation that she even starts to slightly regress to her old habit of considering assassination to solve her problem: she fiercely squeezes a tennis ball in her hand while thinking that she'll do "whatever" it takes to ensure that her fear doesn't become real…but she quickly stops before she can go further with that idea.

At the end of the tennis tournament, we see another example of Twilight being a thoughtful guy behind his stoic demeanor by giving a pep talk to the defeated Campbelldon kids. Giving them words of encouragement did nothing for his mission, but he chose to take the time to do it anyway because, as I've pointed out many times before, he always tries to consider people's feelings as long as it doesn't conflict too heavily with his work.

When Nightfall inexplicably challenges Yor to a tennis match, Yor's fear about Loid seeing Fiona as a better wife than her, pushes her to accept. As is typical of Twilight, he notices that Yor is uncomfortable about it and tells her she doesn't have to accept, but she insists. He also tells Nightfall to back down (because he knows she's no match for Yor's crazy strength) but Nightfall insists as well.

Twilight is intelligent and sharp about almost everything, but having lived most of his adult life only pretending to have relationships, signs of true romantic love are things he doesn't have a clue about. Hence, he has no idea what's really driving the two women to have this spontaneous tennis match (only Anya knows that!)

When Yor does indeed crush Nightfall, in typical motherly Yor fashion, the first thing she does is ask Fiona if she's okay. Then, when Fiona hastily drives off in tears, she wonders if she did something to upset her (as usual, she thinks she's to blame when someone around her becomes distressed).

While Twilight does slowly start to pick up on the fact that Yor could have the wrong idea about his relationship with Fiona, he quickly tosses that thought aside because their marriage is fake, and Yor knows it.

Even though she won the tennis match, that's still not enough to ease Yor's anxiety about Fiona's relationship with Loid. In an uncharacteristically forward way, she gets right in his face and exclaims "I beat her!" and, when all he can offer is a weak "congratulations," she shouts it again, even closer to his face than before. Twilight is obviously confused about why she's acting like this, so he doesn't know what else to say at the moment other than confirm her statement with enough enthusiasm that will hopefully satisfy her.

But him parroting what she just said did not provide the reassuring words Yor needed to hear. Since Yor doesn't understand her own feelings, and Twilight has trouble understanding hers and Anya's feelings, especially if they involve him, nobody except the audience realizes how much of a threat Fiona is to Yor's newfound security in the Forger family. With Yor not realizing her own feelings enough to ask Loid the questions that would put her mind at ease, she continues to be depressed about the situation even on the following day.

Continue to Part 16 ->

<- Return to Part 14

#spy x family #spy family #spyxfamily #sxf #twiyor #loid forger #yor forger #loidyor #loid x yor #sxf analysis #sxf meta

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dankali · 3 years

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Things I Liked About The Haikyuu!! English Dub Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo

I’m back

Oikawa

- Oh, Chris Patton, thank you for doing my favorite overworked brat justice

- I can’t imagine it’s easy to perfectly toe the line between “petty and pride-filled” and “prodigious, yet self-loathing”. But, somehow, it’s been done quite well

- Forgive me for using vague terms, but I love the way his voice stays at the back of his throat, but still keeps a breathy quality

- “SoRrY pAl, I dOn’T sPeAk StUpId.” You fucking b r a t I love you

- Being able to further disassociate it from Iwaizumi’s voice in the dub was something I didn’t know I needed

- His more serious moments are also done pretty well

Iwaizumi

- “Not as much as I hate pretty boys like you that get all the girls.” IwaOi shippers everywhere are crying joyously in unison

- As perpetually “tsun tsun” Iwa’s voice is, it does a good job of aggressively caring about others in one way or another

- “Loserkawa”, “Lazykawa”, and “Shittykawa”. Mans says this in the span of ten seconds

- Not me vehemently simping for him because of this different vocal interpretation

- I’m just glad that his voice isn’t that low or grungy, just very “angrily sensible”

- Also “If you catch a cold, I’m totally kicking your ass!”

Kuroo

- Yet another dub fans like to shit on and I can’t wrap my head around why???

- Sure he has his less than perfect moments, but who can overlook gold like: “Don’t say that! It’s an insult to healthy food.” and “Umm...congratulations??”

- I mean the alternating clarity and gravellyness of his voice in different scenes bring together the fact that he’s an S-Tier Dork™️ and Jerk™️ with valuable moments of Third Year Wisdom™️

- And his tone has such good chemistry with Bokuto’s when they banter with each other

- Alternatively, the contrast Kuroo’s voice has with Tsukishima’s gives me a warm feeling I can’t exactly explain

- And when he wants to instill an unmistakable feeling of fear in someone, that demonic range can do it

Yaku

- I actually kinda like this particular Deeper Voiced Libero

- I only say that because Yaku’s already got a reputation as the “Demon Senpai”. And his voice has the range to perfectly nail the “demon” and the “senpai” parts

- The contrast he has with Kuroo’s voice is oddly satisfying to me

- “Did you just say you’re tired??” and “Wow,,,I’ve never seen Kenma be as outgoing as he is now...:’D” carry such strong maternal connotations and I love that

- Oddly enough, his timbre is similar to Lev's. But, the way both actors have to use their voices separates the characters well enough for me

- Also his little grunts when he physically abuses someone :')

Kenma

- Ah yes, a shining example of a single voice transcending continental boundaries. (Legit though, why are both voices so similar???)

- Save some differences in pitch, Kenma's voice is the one that most closely matches its sub counterpart

- But the way his and Kuroo's voices blend (or lack thereof) make me feel some type of way...Like is there something y'all need to tell me? (I.e. "You shouldn’t wander off like that⛓😒" "Sorry🙄" like huuuuh???)

- "Later, okay?" Catch me dying of cuteness over here

- Whenever Kenma gives that intimidating cat-eyed look, I think the actor made a good choice in making him sound the slightest bit cheeky. As though he was amused by the subject at hand. Scares me shitless every time

- HIS CUTE LITTLE YAWNS I LOVE HIM-

Lev

- HAIBA YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING DORK AND YOUR VOICE ONLY MAKES IT WORSE (by which I mean better)

- The way he talks gives off a socially unintelligent quality. Like, he just says what he means without a thought of getting busted in the kneecaps afterwards. It's so blunt and cute, I love it

- "HINATAAA, YOU ANY TALLER YET??" No he's not Lev, you know he's sensitive about that 😭

- The slight raspiness his voice has also ages his voice up, without making him sound old (if you catch my drift). His body has matured, but his brain sure hasn't

- Istg I'm SO GLAD they didn't give Lev a russian accent Yuri on Ice!! style. Do you really think this guy is smart enough to pick up and maintain two language skillsets??

- Literally any time he insults someone accidentally

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365days365movies · 3 years

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February 11, 2021: The Bridges of Madison County (1995)(Part 1)

Y’know, if you were going to tell me that one of the most famous American romances of all time was directed by this guy...

I would be very surprised. And surprised I am, because The Bridges of Madison County is indeed directed by Clint Eastwood, who also acts as one of its leads alongside one of the most famous actresses of the time. That, of course, would be Meryl Streep, who’s going to get yet another Best Actress nomination for this role. Believe it or not, this is going to be her 8th for BA, and 10th nomination overall, with only 2 wins included (one for Actress and one for Supporting Actress).

Finally, this is another period piece, also taking place in the 1960s. I guess historical romances were real popular in the 90s to 2000s. Go figure! This will probably be the last, as I have a hankering to move onto another subgenre. So, shall we? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

At a home in what I can only assume is Madison County, Iowa, siblings Carolyn (Annie Corley) and Michael Johnson (Victor Slezak) arrive at their now deceased mother’s home for the execution of her will. They learn that she has wished to be cremated, and for her ashes to be scattered over a local bridge, which they are...NOT happy about, goddamn! Respect your mother’s wishes, guys, dear Lord!

They uncover an envelope containing photos from 1965 that they’ve never seen, all of which show her posing near various The Bridges of Madison County. Upon looking at them, Carolyn has a realization, and asks Michael to come along. They ask the lawyer and Michael’s wife to leave them, and they go through it in private.

The letters

See, they’ve found letters to their mother from Robert Kincaid, a photographer for the magazine National Geographic, seemingly confessing to an illicit secret love affair. However, he’s also dead, and has asked for his ashes to be scattered off of the same bridge. Michael (whom I REALLY don’t like, by the way, he’s an ABSOLUTE dick) believes that he influenced her to do the same, but Carolyn’s not sure. Also amongst the letters is a key.

The key opens a chest, within which is a camera and a collection of other items, as well as a letter addressed to them both. Written in 1987, it’s addressed to Carolyn because she knew that Michael would be a little pissbaby about it (look, I REALLY don’t like him, he’s being an ass). In the letter to them, she confesses to them the affair, which took place when Robert Kincaid went there to photograph The Bridges of Madison County. The entire affair is documented in three notebooks, which they begin reading.

1965! Italian immigrant Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep) is cooking dinner for her husband Richard (Jim Haynie) and her two teenaged kids, all of whom are on the way to the Illinois State Fair to exhibit Carolyn’s prize steer. The marriage is passionless, and the kids aren’t exactly opened up to her mother.

It doesn’t seem like a bad life, but it is kind of a dull one. Or, y’know, complacent and stable because not every relationship has to be a sequence of whirlwind passion and glory, and one shouldn’t abandon a good loving situation for a WEEKEND-LONG FLING GODDAMN IT I AM SICK AND TIRED OF INFIDELITY IN THESE GODDAMN MOVIES HOLY SHIT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE LAST FOUR FILMS HAS FEATURED IT AND I AM SICK OF IT

For the record, I’ve never been cheated on, nor have I cheated on anyone, but this trend in romance movies...troubles me. Seriously, I get that the last few, especially In the Mood for Love, have looked at infidelity as a serious issue, but...just one. Just one great romance movie that doesn’t require infidelity for its main couple to get together. Please? I mean, if you include the never seen Rosaline or betrothed Paris in Romeo + Juliet, that movie also had infidelity in it, meaning the only ones WITHOUT ANY FORM of infidelity in 11 DAYS have been Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman. Guys. C’mon.

Yeah, yeah, OK, moving on. Sorry, that rant’s been building for a bit.

Anyway, the kids and Richard take off, leaving Francesca by herself at the house. As she’s doing chores, who should pull up but photographer Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood), who’s looking for Roseman Covered Bridge to photograph it. But, he’s lost, and he asks Francesca for directions.

However, the directions there are pretty complicated, and even Francesca seems to get them mixed up. She agrees to show him there in person, and the two take off in his car.

In the car together

The two get to know each other a bit over the course of the drive. Robert notes that he’s been to her hometown in Italy, having been there once because he considered it pretty. She’s fascinated by the decision, but I’m not sure if its because she thinks he’s crazy, or because she thinks he’s intriguing

They make it to Roseman Bridge, where Robert takes some preparatory photographs and Francesca walks along the bridge itself. I will say, I live in a place with some covered bridges, and is it weird that I feel like visiting a nearby one tomorrow? Honestly, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. Maybe do some birdwatching nearby, contribute to the Great Backyard Bird Count, something, y’know?

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Out of appreciation for her help, he picks her some flowers, which she claims are poisonous. The two bond over this, and he drives her back home. And that SHOULD be it, as the two part and introduce each other by first name. But, she offers him some iced tea, and he accepts. HERE we go.

In the house, the two continue to bond, and Francesca begins to reveal some frustration with her home life, as well as her life in Iowa as compared to what she had dreamed of. To that, Robert says the following, which he claimed he wrote one day on the road.

The old dreams were good dreams. They didn’t work out, but I’m glad I had them.

That is...that is a nice line WAIT. Am I buying into this coupling? ALREADY?

So, here’s the thing thus far about this month. Some couples have had great chemistry, and some haven’t been perfect. On the top for me so far are Richard and Vivian from Pretty Woman, Johnny and Baby from Dirty Dancing, Emma and George from Emma, Yuri and Lara from Doctor Zhivago, and the highest being Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan from In the Mood for Love (although, that one amounts to wishful thinking). But all of those took a little bit to build up. so HOW IS IT that I’m already shipping these two (despite the infidelity, of course)?

Francesca seems to agree with me as she watches Robert wash up outside, after having invited him to stay for dinner. He helps her prepare dinner, then charms her (and me, incidentally) with charming stories and dinner jokes. Real talk, I like Robert, he’s a charming guy.

After dinner, she notes that she was once a schoolteacher, but her kids and husband didn’t approve of her working. 1960s, after all. She brushed this off, and asks the location of the most exciting place he’s ever...been...shit, this is an example of excitement being introduced into a boring life, huh?

That trope is one of the most annoying to me in these movies. The Notebook had a bit of that, and I wasn’t a fan, but this is the first time that it’s a straight-up example of that trope. And...I’m buying it? WHY AM I BUYING THIS

Francesca becomes a bit conflicted at this point, and the two share some brandy together. But we’re shot back into the present day, where Michael (UUUUUGH) accuses Robert of trying to get her drunk to take advantage of her. However, Carolyn sympathizes with them both, citing her own currently faltering marriage.

Back in 1965, the two have a slight disagreement about how they live their lives. Robert leaves for the night, and they surprisingly don’t do anything untoward. However, I’m ore than willing to bet that Francesca’s now thinking about it. She gets a phone call from Richard in Illinois, but begins to tear up as Robert leaves. She steps outside in a bathrobe and flashes the wind.

That night, she writes a message to Robert, and drives out to the bridge, where she leaves it for him. She tells him to give her a call, inviting him over the following day. The next morning, he sees the note while taking a picture of the bridge, then calls her afterwards and accepts the invitation. He also invites her to come along with him to take pictures of the bridges, which she accepts in turn.

OK, let’s go for a Part 2! See you there!

#the bridges of madison county #clint eastwood #meryl streep #annie corley #victor slezak #romance february #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #historical romance #trapstr #fuckyesmerylstreep #meryl*

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joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh · 3 years

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I was thinking about this last night but honestly, Houkago no Pleiades is probably the anime that’s made me the most angry.

Cause like, sure, Wandering Witch was a complete fucking betrayal of all the expectations and wants I had for it, but at least that made it clear enough early in its run how shit it was going to be, and since it was airing week to week I was able to just, space out my frustrations with it. And sure, Alicization spent an entire episode on yet another rape scene to victimise two women whose only character traits are that they’re victims and villainise two men whose only characters traits are that they’re villains, but SAO’s done that before and did it since, so I’m almost desensitised to that show being on its bullshit.

Houkago no Pleiades went about 7 or 8 episodes just being, something I was ready to give a 9/10. This utterly adorable and chaotic magical girl show about space and the universe. It’s a show that avoids really getting into the science of the universe so it can instead spend time on the romance of it, admiring the beauty of the cosmos and the infinite expanses of galaxies everywhere you look. It’s so charming and creative and many of the things these individual, less plot-focused episodes did would bring tears to my eye with how sweet they were. Nanako flying through space at near lightspeed for 12 hours while her friends experience all the big slice of life events - school festival, Halloween, Christmas, new years - as months pass in their time. It was beautiful. And these girls have such amazing chemistry too, I could genuinely watch Subaru and Aoi just be this charming and very engaging yuri pair lead with lots of development as individuals and as a couple for eternity.

And then just fuckin, plot starts happening. Out of nowhere. And it’s awful. And it forces a romance between Subaru and some dude she has no actual chemistry with. Him being the love interest isn’t a problem, he’s a cool mysterious dude who’s position allows for that to happen. But there’s no development. The show just decides that “okay, Subaru can fall in love with him now”. He didn’t do anything to earn it, Subaru’s been in love with Aoi the entire show, but fuckin, whatever, FUCK lesbians, heterosexuality is superior. And in fact, we’re actually gonna reveal that Subaru and this cunt dude were childhood best friends, because that makes their romance more valid - and we need to do shit like that since we didn’t actually develop anything. These amazing space-faring adventures with these 5 girls who have such delightful chemistry are gonna be thrown out the fucking window so we can do some shitty generic plot with an awful ending, and destroy the group dynamic and relationship building so we can have yet another fucking mess of a straight romance to ruin the show. And she’s obviously gonna give the dude a big passionate kiss just to really drive home the point that the show is committed to this fucking bullshit now.

And it’s not like I don’t like het relationships in anime - already that’d be weird since I’m a bi man who strongly prefers women, but even if you wanna argue that I’m a yuri fetishist or something then like, no. Even using two other magical girl shows as an example, I really like Usagi’s relationships with both Mamoru and Seiya in Sailor Moon, and in Cardcaptor Sakura I was genuinely rooting for Sakura and Syaoran’s relationship and think it’s the fucking sweetest thing ever. I always call myself a yuri cuck as something of a joke but like, I can and do enjoy straight relationships in anime.

It’s just that the straight relationship in Houkago no Pleiades represents the show going from like, an 8 or 9 out of 10, to something a bit closer than a 2. And it just pisses me off so much that the show did actually earn and have my trust for so long only to then stab me in the back.

#houkago no pleiades #26.12.20 #wandering witch #sao #sailor moon

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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High-Rise Invasion Review: Bloody Anime is a Satisfying Character Study

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This review contains no spoilers and is based on all 12 episodes of High-Rise Invasion season 1.

“I refuse to die. I won’t lose to a world like this.”

There’s nothing quite like a good, heightened mystery, especially if it’s working in tandem with something like the horror genre. Audiences have become increasingly savvy towards and desensitized by even the most extreme examples of each genre, which pushes entertainment to go even further.

This isn’t always the right approach, but it can sometimes be just the right kind of crazy and High-Rise Invasion succeeds in finding that balance. The new Netflix anime initially feels like Rob Zombie’s animated take on The Most Dangerous Game or Battle Royale, but it soon becomes far more than a parade of blood, guts, and lunatics. High-Rise Invasion has a complex message that it wants to convey and the anime cuts much deeper than the simple flesh wounds that cover the cast of characters.

Yuri Honjo is a typical teenager who wakes up in an abstract prison reality that consists purely of the tops of skyscrapers and pits regular humans against deadly individuals in intimidating masks. It’s a lot like if John Wick’s assassins consisted purely from the serial killers in The Strangers. It’s a chilling scenario and Yuri is running for her life too quickly to be able to properly question what’s going on. Yuri learns that her brother, Rika, is also in this strange scenario and her goal becomes to reunite with her sibling and find an escape together.

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Aesthetics are a major factor in anime and High-Rise Invasion tries its best to present visuals that are as engaging as central mystery and story. High-Rise Invasion comes from the more recent anime studio, Zero-G, but it’s definitely one of their most polished works. There’s a strong art direction here and the animation style even feels reminiscent of a grungy anime OVA from the ’80s. The anime’s soundtrack beautifully taps into this energy and it’s full of electric guitar rock riffs that honestly feel like they could be Queen tracks. They intensify and become more wild during the anime’s more chaotic moments.

At first it appears as if the objective in High-Rise Invasion is rather cut and dry, but Yuri learns something radically different each time that she digs deeper into her surroundings or the murderous individuals who wear masks. The anime does a good job with how it illustrates that the masked antagonists are victims in their own ways and that there’s an even higher power that’s using everyone as tools to fulfill a twisted game. The complications and layers behind the new “realm” that Yuri is stuck in are what give the anime such life and make it more than some edgy hack-and-slash action series.

The ideas that High-Rise Invasion poses turn the anime into a larger meditation on what humans will do to survive and how far they will sell their values in order to secure their safety. This isn’t exactly an original idea, especially with how some mysterious and shady benefactor is behind the whole operation, but the execution is at least very unique.

It becomes a creative character study that does manage to say something new on these themes. Some of the most entertaining material that’s tackled through this is Yuri’s struggle to find a way to survive, but to not become worse than the monsters that hunt her. It’s a struggle that’s present from the very first episode and High-Rise Invasion explores it in a pseudo-realistic manner that doesn’t feel overly rushed for Yuri’s development.

A major source of tension in the series stems from how Yuri is trusting and wants to see the bests in others, but this makes her a major liability in the process. This is a game where no one should be trusted and allies are collateral damage in the making, but Yuri finds a real sense of purpose and security when she meets another lost soul in this world, Mayuko Nise. Mayuko’s aggressive personality is quite the contrast to Yuri, but there’s immediately a palpable chemistry between them.

Mayuko gets introduced as an ally for Yuri, but Sniper Mask gets brought in just as quickly as a formidable opponent. He’s treated as a parallel figure to Yuri who also wants to figure out the basics of this world, but he comes at it from a different angle than Yuri and Mayuko’s necessity for survival. Sniper Mask ultimately becomes the most fascinating of High-Rise Invasion’s characters since he exists in this fractured state where he has some level of awareness that allows him to question the rules that govern this realm.

High-Rise Invasion unpacks this larger mystery with three separate series of events between Yuri’s party, Rika’s group, and Sniper Mask’s team. These three narratives all cover different aspects of this universe and it’s an effective strategy that builds real excitement once these disparate objectives get to align and come together. It all helps contribute another layer to how the true goal of this situation may not be to escape and that there’s actually something more appealing to those within the universe.

People will likely come into High-Rise Invasion for the murder and trippy concept, but they’ll leave talking about the friendship between Yuri Honjo and Mayuko Nise. Yuri explodes with joy whenever Mayuko shows her appreciation and they form a sisterly bond that’s truly wonderful, as is Mayuko’s embarrassment every time she opens herself up to Yuri a little more. These two have somehow brought out the best in each other in this twisted world and the growing bond between them is one of the highlights of the series. They’re the new reigning Murder Wives.

No one in the cast feels like a waste, but Yuri and Mayuko grow into especially entertaining protagonists who have a surreal sense of humor and empathy that add a lot to each of them. Mayuko’s romantic love towards sharp blades is a good example of High-Rise Invasion’s wild mix of sensibilities. The dynamic between Yuri and Mayuko is a consistent delight, but High-Rise Invasion develops strong character dynamics across the board and there are multiple pairings of unlikely figures that blossom into endearing friendships by the end of the season. Sniper Mask is often played in juxtaposition to Yuri and his bond with Kuon Shinzaki is also genuinely sweet.

The vocal performances in the English version are also exceptional across the board and add a lot to the characters. Suzi Yeung as Yuri and Jonas Scott as Sniper Mask are the best of the lot, but everyone makes a strong impression. The Mask characters are by nature caricatures and all have generalized names that speak to their weapon of choice like Sniper Mask, Axe Mask, or even Masked Rider Mask. Baseball Mask and Chef Mask are some of the most creative of the lot and are also highly terrifying. High-Rise Invasion at least seems to be aware of how absurd and exaggerated all of this is and is in on the “joke.”

It’s common for series with an overarching mystery as dense as High-Rise Invasion to drag things out or for there to not be enough content to sustain the entire season. High-Rise Invasion very carefully parses out details where different characters collect disparate nuggets of what’s going on in this “realm,” while the audience is allowed to piece all of this together and try to get a little ahead of the game. The anime is also a case where it only improves as the season goes on and it doesn’t run out of ammunition after the first few installments. If anything, it uses this time to work out its more awkward impulses and really find its groove with the characters and structure.

Once everything does come together there’s a considerably different story being told than what it initially seemed. The answers that High-Rise Invasion provides are satisfying and still leave plenty to be discovered in subsequent seasons. These episodes do feel like the end of a first chapter and that the anime and its world are about to get considerably bigger in its second season, yet there’s still enough of a full story being told that the ending doesn’t feel incomplete.

High-Rise Invasion is a very satisfying journey that’s thankfully more than the sum of its parts. It’d be easy for this series to coast on some creepy imagery and boatloads of violence, but there’s a more intricate story that’s in play here. It does give in to some of its baser instincts at times, but this first season delicately builds a gripping mythology and solid foundation to fall back on.

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This is an anime with dozens of murders across its 12 episodes, heightened brainwashed assassins, and those that want to ascend to a level of deity, but it’s really about finding independence in an oppressive world and how the right friend can change someone’s universe. High-Rise Invasion manages to make its gonzo murder party somehow feel relatable and spill just as much empathy as it does viscera.

All 12 episodes of season one of High-Rise Invasion are now available to stream on Netflix

The post High-Rise Invasion Review: Bloody Anime is a Satisfying Character Study appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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dewbond-blog · 5 years

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The Summer of Love: The English Dub of High School DxD

We will be jumping into the second half of season one next week with a look at the “Raiser Arc” and all it brings to the table, but this week I wanted to steer the Summer of Love into a topic that many people don’t really discuss: The English Dub, and my overall thoughts and feelings on it. There is a good, a lot of good, and some slightly not so good. So join me after the cut as we jump into our next chapter of The Summer of Love, the dub! This is another long one, so be ready!

To discuss the English Dub of High School DxD, it is important to give some backstory about English dubbing of anime in general. If you grew up in my generation, (late 90s, early 2000s) then you are very familiar with the 4kids of era; a time in which the american company 4kids entertainment pretty much had a stranglehold on the western anime market. Simply put, they called the shots and every anime that was actually on television had to go through the 4kids “Americanizing process.” Needless to say, this was a bad thing.

Cardcaptor Sakura had it’s entire yuri/yaoi subtext removed and whole episodes removed. Dragon Ball censored and omitted world building, Yu-Gi-Oh became a “so bad it’s good” mess of a dub. Vision of Escaflowne became a shadow of it’s former self. Monster Rancher went from a 50+ episodes series to only a handful, and of course what they did to One Piece. The list just goes on and on. The 4kids era of anime was not a good time for the youthful medium, and frankly the wounds inflicted by this era are still fresh in many minds of my generation.

Things have gotten far better since then, with companies like Funimation, Sentai Filmworks and Aniplex taking over the dubbing market and delivering quality dubs of anime that are true to form and (sometimes) even superior to their Japanese counterparts. Yet despite this massive improvement there are still many who refuse to even give an English dub a chance, whether it is loyalty to the “authentic’ Japanese version, or trauma for the scars of the 4kids era.

Now how is this connected to High School DxD? Well not really that much, but I think it is important for readers to understand why people are somewhat hesitant on English dubs, despite a whole new generation growing up with them. There are old wounds that have yet to heal, and in this era where censorship is a hot button issue, I wanted to explain why.

Anyway, let’s get into the dub itself, and let’s start by talking about the cast.

The Cast

The English cast of DxD is frankly very strong, though it has been a cast that has had a few replacements. Akeno has been voiced by two different actress, as has Asia, and the while voice changes are noticeable, they thankfully don’t differ too much to make much of a difference. What I can say is that Asia and Akeno are both voiced excellently, with Asia being played with that cute innocent perfection, and Akeno with a level of sultry seductiveness that, while not on par with her Japanese seiyuu, gets the job done well.

The biggest voice change though has to be Issei himself, who was voiced by both Scott Freeman and later Josh Grelle, and while the change over in season 3 is a rather noticeable change (unlike Akeno’s voice change in the same season), with many people being initially put off by the sudden shift in voices. I can both say that they play an excellent Issei and bring a-

Wait..what’s this?

Fuck…do I have to do this? Do I really have to bring it up? REALLY?

ALRIGHT FINE…FINE..I’LL FUCKING ADDRESS IT.

In 2015. Scott Freeman, the voice actor of Issei and several other Funimation dub roles, was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the possession of Child Pornography. Funimation rightfully and subsequently cut all ties with him and his roles current and future were replaced with new actors, hence the sudden change to Josh Grelle in season 3 and later 4.

Anyway, Issei’s work in the English dub marks the first, but not the most significant change in the DxD anime. While the script plays him true to form, Issei’s performance in the dub is markedly more “american” compared to his Japanese counterpart. While it is 100% loyal to the authentic story, there is a lot more ‘sex jokes’ and ‘western references’ that peek out from time to time. I’ll get into this when I discuss the script, but I did find it worked quite well for the story, and both voice actors are able to ‘get serious’ when the time comes, especially in season 4 when Josh Grelle gives his best performance as a harem lead, and this guy has MANY to his name.

However the biggest and frankly best change has to be Jad Saxton as Koneko Toujou, who completely re-invents the character for the English dub. In the Japanese version, Koneko is the quiet little kouhai who seems to only have one single emotion, very much in the veins of the Rei-clones that had a stranglehold the industry for years. The English dub however turns this completely on it’s head. Koneko becomes a motor-mouthed little girl who, while still holding true to the character’s spirit, adds far more to the plot and group chemistry than her Japanese counterpart. I just find Jad Saxton’s Koneko to be a far more interesting character, acting as a sort of the reality foil for Issei for many season, and still willing to call him out on his perverseness even after falling in love with him. Frankly, the difference between the two voices is astonishing, just watch this comparison clip.

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The rest of the cast do a find job. Jamie Marchi as Rias is an excellent casting choice, and while I prefer the Japanese voice, Marchi’s signature voice is able to play both sides of Rias’ personality well and she only gets better as the seasons roll on. Kiba, Gasper, Xenovia and Rossweise are all again done very well, but it is only really characters listed above who are the real stand outs.

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The Script

Remember how I brought up 4kids at the start of this post. Well I did also bring that up, because the English script of High School DxD does feel very much like a bit of a holdover from that era of anime dubs. There is more than a hint of the adapters putting in their own lines and having some fun with the dialogue than compared to other shows. It was clear to me that the writers were having some real fun trying to adapt this show for an English dub, and while some may grumble by only being a 90% authentic script, the show does give us some great memorable one-liners like:

“I’m gonna make you eat those words like a kid doing the tide-pod challenge!”

“Cunt-tuckey fried chicken over there is in love with you”

“Forgive dat ass, don’t spank it!”

“Her milk-shakes are all over my yard”

Those are just some of the examples of the fun bit of humor that is injected into the series via the English dub and yes, it is not for everyone and yes, it is going to turn some of the purists off. Yet the voice actors give it their all and when the time comes for the show to “get serious” like with the Akeno break down, Asia story-line, the Issei/Rias fight, and more, those actors absolutely step up to the table and deliver excellent performances. So I can forgive them for having just a bit more fun with a show that is, again, about busty big boobed girls fawning over a perverted idiot.

What I do NOT forgive though, is the “president gaffe,” which undermines a vital and important plot point.

See, there is a very clear reason that Issei calls Rias “president throughout most of the anime’s run.” It helps show the class and social difference between the two characters and how, despite Rias falling truly deeply in love with Issei, her social status and his role as a servant make him hesitant to step up. It is only when that issue comes to a head that does Issei finally start calling Rias by her full name, and it is a great moment to cap off four seasons of development.

The dub however ignored that completely for the first four seasons and admitted that they weren’t aware of just how important it is. While they do address it in the season 4 dub, making an offhand comment that “Issei has been calling her President a lot lately” it doesn’t really fix the problem and remains an annoying nitpick for me. Is it a deal breaker? No, but it is a pretty glaring problem when looking at the series as a whole.

Final Thoughts.

Overall, the English Dub of High School DxD is a great one, and I honestly love it to death. As i said in my primer, I would have watched the series dubbed to do this event, but I wanted to be faithful to the Japanese release. The dub is still my go-to way of watching DxD and I suggest anyone to give it a show after watching a bit of the OG Japanese version. It’s not perfect, but it’s made with love and affection and doesn’t stray too far from it’s routes, but when it does what 4kids never could do to anime. It adds something without taking anything away.

#Anime #High School DxD #The Summer of Love #Rias Gremory #English Dub #jamie marchi #Josh Grelle #Jad Saxton #issei hyoudou #Issei Hyodo #Funimation

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deann1120 · 7 years

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Worst to Best Precure Seasons (Futari Wa - Go! Princess)

I’ve decided to do this just to get it off my chest. Remember, this is my personal opinion. Note: Max Heart and GoGo are not included in this because I honestly never had any interest in the sequel series.

SPOILERS FOLLOW 10. HappinessCharge Precure! I'm only 13 episodes into this season, but so far it's boring the crap out of me. The animation and their uniforms are beautiful, as is with most of the newer seasons, but I'm confused why they have SO many attacks and forms. Megumi/Lovely and Hime/Princess are kind of hard to watch; them, along with Yuuko/Honey seem pretty underdeveloped. I was expecting myself to like Hime because I had really loved Erika from HeartCatch, but she just doesn't have her charm and comes off as annoying. But, maybe my opinions will change as I continue with the season. FAVORITE CURE: Iona/Fortune 9. Yes! PreCure 5 I found this particular season to be pretty forgettable, unfortunately. Not only did I find Nozomi/Dream pretty annoying, I didn't approve of her thing with Coco because 1) he's kinda her teacher and 2) he's a chipmunk?? Like is she still attracted to him in his chipmunk form??? The whole thing is weird, and the same goes for Komachi/MintxNuts. Also, Milk was equally as annoying and this plot line wasn't too creative either. Plus, those Despair Mask-things were creepy af! FAVORITE CURE: Rin/Rouge 8. Suite PreCure One of my biggest problems with this season was the design. HeartCatch was such a big improvement in the animation from the previous seasons, and this one just looks like it falls flat. I kinda hated Kanade/Rhythm, and I had a couple of problems with Ako/Muse (specifically, I don't understand why, if she wanted to GET TO her father, why she disguised herself, or what the point of the disguise was at all). I did like her sassy personality though,and I was upset that they just sorta forgot about that once she joined the Cures. I will applaud this season's humor, villains, and Hibiki/Melody's characterization. FAVORITE CURE: Siren/Eren/Beat 7. Futari Wa Pretty Cure Splash Star As with most Precure fans, I assume, this season felt very similar to the Futari Wa. Saki/Bloom and Mai/Egret are pretty much descendants of the original pair, down to their personalities and voices. However, this season did feel a little newer, as it did introduce the whole "bad guys turn good and get Precure powers" trope with Michiru and Kaoru, even if they didn't officially become Precure. Also, Muup and Fuup are adorable af. However, I didn't understand why Saki and Mai got their Bright and Windy, forms, to be honest; it just didn't seem very necessary? Plus, the concept of two Precure forms wasn't really ever brought up again (not counting HappinessCharge). FAVORITE CURE: Saki/Bloom/Bright 6. Fresh Pretty Cure! When I first watched this season, I didn't like it very much because its animation looked stiff and the girls, besides Eas/Setsuna/Passion, barely had any difference in personality. However, I realize now that it was better than I thought it was. For example, I find this season to have the best use of the "bad guy turns good" trope; it's played out very nicely. This season also had a good deal of humor, especially in Westar and Soular (who I low key kinda shipped.) I also liked the idea of Love/Peach and Setsuna being adoptive sisters, since they had surprisingly good chemistry. I always saw Chiffon as just another damsel in distress, but Tarte is my bae because he was funny af and looked out for Chiffon like a big bro. Also, the concept of having the big-baddy be a computer was interesting and creative. FAVORITE CURE: Eas/Setsuna/Passion 5. DokiDoki! PreCure Okay, I can see why people love to hate this season, but personally, I kinda loved it. As mentioned before, the animation is beautiful, the girls and villains are well written (except for Aguri/Ace, which I'll get to), and the story is nice. Ai just overwhelms me with cuteness and Sebastian is the best side-character ever, I swear (he's basically Precure's Alfred Pennyworth). I think people hate the Mana/HeartxRegina pairing mostly because it takes up too much of the plot line, but I thought it was a nice divergence from the usual formula seen in Precure. Plus, they're pretty much canon already (they were holding hands in bed for fuck's sakes!) But there things with this one that will hang over my head every time I rewatch the scenes. One is Rikka/Diamond, who annoyed me just a little cause she was kind of a smartass. But my biggest problem is AGURI. Oh my lord, where do I start? How about the fact that she's like 9 in her normal form, but is suddenly 14 as Ace? Or that her transformation, while it is cool, is overdramatized and doesn't fit well with the others? Or how about the fact that when Mana becomes upset that she lost Regina again, Ace comes with no remorse and fucking TAKES AWAY HER LOVEADS??? FOR CRYING OVER A LOST LOVE??? Excuse me, bitch, what right do you have to determine whether or not a girl can be Precure. Get the fuck back, you're not helping. #LeaveManaAlone. Okay rant over lol. FAVORITE CURE: Mana/Heart 4. Futari Wa Pretty Cure Like with most franchises, the first is always a classic, and that's the case with Precure. Nagisa/Black and Honoka/White were both very likable characters, and I adored the love-hate relationship between Nagisa and Mepple. I liked how it was mostly hand-to-hand combat with this one, unlike the later seasons. I was also rooting immensely for the HonokaxKiriya pairing, and I was upset to hear that Kiriya is not even mentioned in Max Heart after what happened to him. I just felt like he was such a great anti-hero and they kinda just forgot about him entirely. FAVORITE CURE: Nagisa/Black 3. Smile PreCure! I will admit, I first watched this one as Glitter Force. However, I then went back and watched it as Smile, which was obviously better. This is the season that got me into Precure in the first place, and I'm glad it did. All of the girls are likable (notably Yayoi/Peace, she is my smol weeb bean and I luv and relate to her), their uniforms are easy on the eyes, and I loved their attacks. Joker was quite the villain too, especially for a kids' show. Everything in this one pops, and it just really uplifting, except for that one scene where they're all crying near the end. FAVORITE CURE: Yayoi/Peace 2. Go! Princess PreCure I had wanted to see this season for a while, after watching the transformation sequences ahead of time; when I did catch up to it, it was as good as I expected it to be. Everything about this season is so cool, from the proper-yet-badass style of the entire season to the girls' outfits and Keys. Pafu was really pretty, and Aroma was funny and cute too. While I didn't ship Haruka/FloraxKanata too much, Kanata is fuckin gorgeous, his hair is goals. This show definitely handled the whole dream motive better than Yes! 5, and I thought it was a great choice of character development to have the ever-optimistic Haruka lose her faith in her own dream when the one who initiated in the first place put her down for it. The girls are all great, Kirara/Twinkle is a queen of sass and super goals as well. I just wish they would've expanded on their future selves longer than the last 2 minutes of the series. One thing I wasn't a fan of in this season was those CGI attacks and scenes; they looked strange. FAVORITE CURE: Haruka/Flora 1. HeartCatch PreCure! You knew this was coming. Okay, so my first reason for this one topping the list is the animation style. It's vivid and energetic, just as the series itself is. I'm also lauding the much different tone of story in this one; it gives a sense of maturity in PreCure as a show for more than preteen girls. Specifically, my favorite parts were the whole Yuri/Moonlight vs. Dark PreCure battle (which contained some pretty fucking lit fight scenes) and Moonlight's history. I'm amazed they went as far to actually kill a fairy in this one, but I'm glad they decided to go through with it (not that I wanted little Cologne dead at all). I also loved Kaoruko/Flower as Tsubomi/Blossom's grandmother, I thought that was a nice twist. As with the others higher on this list, the girls are all well done, and this is the only season where I have more than one favorite cure. This season also had some pretty lit songs, and the final battle between the PreCure and Dune is pretty epic. FAVORITE CURE(S): Erika/Marine and Yuri/Moonlight

#Futari wa pretty cure #splash Star #yes precure 5 #fresh precure #HeartCatch PreCure #suite precure #smile precure #dokidoki PreCure #HappinessCharge Precure #go princess precure #leavemanaalone #top10 #plzdontjudgeme

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