#not a spoiler if its actual japanese history right?

[prince-kallisto]

Complete Guide to the “Crowley is Levan” Theory

Hello, its the self-proclaimed Crowley/Levan theory expert, back at it again! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*) I’m really shocked at Book 7’s recent update, and I’m seeing more and more people get into the Crowley/Levan theory.

But for everyone who is new to this theory, people who aren’t yet convinced, or anyone who just wants the major points in one document, I decided to write everything I know about this theory, with the help from posts from my fellow theorists! Of course, at the end of the day it’s just a theory, so make your own conclusions! ^_^

Buckle up everyone for a very long post rife with lore! I worked hard on this one, as it is a culmination of ALL my previous theories, so sharing is appreciated haha. Heavy Book 7 spoilers ahead!

This theory revolves around the idea that Headmage Dire Crowley is actually Duke Levan, the father of Malleus Draconia. Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s go over everything we know SO FAR.

Levan (Revan, Levaan, and Revaan is also a common spelling) is the husband of Meleanor Draconia, who is the Princess of Wild Rose Castle. Levan is a Duke, Diplomat, nobleman, and the left-hand war general. He had control over the Eastern Fort while Lilia had control over the Western Fort. His title is “Ryūgan Duke Levan,” or 竜眼公レヴァーン in Japanese. The characters imply a connection to the Chinese Long, and Ryūgan very roughly translates to “Dragon eyed,” although it is uncertain if Levan is a Dragon Fae, or if this is just his title. Levan is referred to as Meleanor’s “eyes, limbs, and husband,” so perhaps “Dragon Eyed” refers to his connection to Meleanor? Due to his name, people also suspect he may be a bird Fae, specifically a raven.

He seems to be based of Diablo, Maleficent’s raven. From what we know from Lilia, he is slightly meek (according to childhood stories) and gentle, always with a smile on his face. However, he is also extremely dependable and strong. Rumor has it he fought against the Dawn Knight, a figure that the night Fae fear for his power. Despite Levan’s clumsiness, Meleanor is very enamored with him, praising him for the smallest of things while punishing everyone else. Meleanor refers to Levan as “beautiful,” although we have no silhouette or voice for him currently. Levan grew up with Meleanor and Lilia, and was very close with Lilia, who was the right-hand general.

When Lilia ripped up his invitation to NRC, Levan painstakingly took all the pieces out of the trash and pieced them all together, storing the invitation in the Royal Archive for Lilia to come back 500 years later. Lilia wonders if Levan somehow knew that he would go to NRC with Malleus in the future. Levan is also very willing to start relations with humans compared to the rest of Briar Valley, as he taught Lilia the human language, and has said that he hopes one day, the humans and Fae can share a common language to exchange culture and history together in peace. This positive attitude and willingness to teach is likely what made him such a good diplomat.

However, Levan went missing in the Silver Owls vs. Briar Valley war when leading a mission to deliver letters to the Eastern Fort. Meleanor is heavily implied to be dead, but Levan simply disappeared and never returned. In Briar Valley history books, he is assumed to be dead, but little information of him is known.

But what does all this backstory have anything to do with Dire Crowley? He’s unreliable, manipulative, and never does more work than necessary, even with all the student Overblots. He sounds nothing like Levan. Well, let’s go to the birthplace of this theory to see what’s up:

Crowley and Malleus Parallels

Black hair with a green-ish tint, pale skin, pointed ears, dark lips, and a similar tall stature. No other character besides Meleanor resembles Malleus to this degree.

Although no dialogue has confirmed it, it is heavily, HEAVILY implied that Crowley is in fact, one of the Fae. He’s been Headmage at NRC for at least 100 years and several of his features imply a Fae heritage. He even gets offended when the Ghost Camera, that was invented in a great-great grandmothers time, is referred to as “old,” as if he took offense to the implication that HE’S old. He’s likely a bird Fae, as he may transform into a raven/crow in the opening animation, and his voice lines show him with bird-like habits. Crowley also refers to his “wings” several times as a part of his anatomy.

@twisted-tech shows that in the Glorious Masquerade event, Malleus wears an costume that’s startlingly similar to Crowley’s outfit, down to the detailed vest to the feathers on his shoulders. In the animation announcement for GloMas, Malleus stands in front of the light the same exact way Crowley does in the opening prologue animation.

The 2nd anniversary animation also has a strange moment between Crowley and Malleus, with Crowley appearing for a quick moment, before a light shines over him, revealing Malleus.

In Malleus’ birthday-boy interview he mentions how black is the color of nobility in Briar Valley, thus his tendency to wear all-black attire. Isn’t it interesting how Crowley’s main outfit color is black? On a similar note, when an Alchemy Special Lesson is triggered, Malleus says “He’s [Crowley] is far from ordinary.” Malleus, who prides himself for being extremely powerful to the point he thinks less of others, thinks Crowley is unusual? Does he sense a type of power from Crowley, or does something seem uncomfortably familiar about him?

And last but certainly not least, Crowley’s secret concept art. This in-person event was very exclusive, so many obscure concept art pieces of the characters were only shown here. Crowley seemed to be grouped with the Diasomnia cast with the same color palette, and his purple cape is highly reminiscent of Maleficent’s. He even has briars climbing up his leg. He even has the stamp of the three good fairies on his paper, just like the beta designs for Lilia and Malleus. Of course, concept art should not be used too heavily as a source, but this is certainly no coincidence, and don’t you think it’s odd how secretive this image is? Most fans have no idea this concept art exists.

These two must have some type of connection with each other- this evidence alone is what convinced me in the first place. However, this is just the beginning:

Ravens & Crows Symbolism, Levan vs Crowley

Levan and Crowley have a shocking amount of similarities too! Ravens in mythology were considered to be messengers of the gods, and were especially connected to Apollo, the god of Prophecy. I think that Levan’s unique magic was the gift of Propechy, as in he could see future events. Bringing back Lilia’s line of if Levan somehow knew he would go to NRC with Malleus 500 years in the future, I say yes! He knew many things about what the future held due to his magic, and it makes sense with Raven symbolism. Crowley also has a strange knowledge of future events, from the STYX invasion to Grim’s magestone collar. @rayroseu has also pointed out the Malleus’ egg heavily resembles a Black Opal, which symbolizes death and destruction, and was used to “gaze” into the past, present, and future. Hmmm

What if as a way to reunite with Lilia and Malleus, Levan became the Headmage of NRC? He would have every skill necessary to do so, and Crowley has many connections to the school board, STYX, the Asim’s, Jupiter Conglomerate, etc. He’s not as much as fool as he’d like you to think- he’s in charge of the prestigious school for a very good reason. He knows the perfect balance of manipulation and sweet-talking, just as expected of the diplomat and envoy, just like ravens were in mythology.

Ravens have symbolized death and destruction for a very long time- and isn’t it interesting how Crowley’s first name is “Dire,” as in ‘disastrous’? Yana Toboso has confirmed that “Dire” is actually pronounced as the English word “Dear,” like ‘beloved.’ @sote-forever has pointed out that the origin of Levan’s name means “gracious/merciful,” which feels oddly familiar to Crowley’s catchphrase of “I am so kind/Watashi yasashii no de.” The EN translation uses “gracious” instead of “kind” a lot as well 👀

Speaking of his catchphrase, in Book 7 when Grim hears more about Levan, he says that Levan sounded like a “kind man.” He even uses the same exact language as Crowley uses, ‘yasashi,’ meaning gentle and kind. Just like the meaning of Levan’s name. For reference:

私 優しいので is Watashi Yasahii No de “Because I’m kind.”

優しかった is what Grim said: Yasahikatta (?) meaning “He was kind”

Back to the death symbolism, I mentioned that ravens were Psychopomp. In mythology, ravens were said to guide human souls to the underworld by the will of the gods. And isn’t it interesting how NRC is FULL of death and underworld symbolism? Technically, Crowley IS the Psychopomp, because he is responsible for transporting the students and is the only one with a special key to unlocking the students coffins. He even says in the prologue that the coffins were designed to represent the “departure of your previous world, and rebirth into a new one.”

As a side note, crows and ravens fall under the same exact word in Japanese: karasu. There are some instances in the EN translation where crow and raven are mixed up, as Diablo, Maleficent’s raven, is referred to as a “crow” in one of Malleus’s chats. Hmmm

Crowley’s cane is also interesting. Not only does the bottom key part spell out “Raven,” the top of his cane looks exactly like Diablo when he was turned into stone at the end of Sleeping Beauty. Although I do agree that Crowley has connections to the Evil Queen’s crow, I think he could be inspired by both. Similarly, NRC’s logo is a raven with a crown above his head. Levan WAS royalty, after all…

Levan also has a special acceptance of humans. His wife DESPISES humans, but he learned a common language of the Fae and humans in order to communicate, and even taught other Fae the language himself. And once again, he saved Lilia’s invitation to NRC. Doesn’t he sound like someone who wishes to share knowledge? He wants peaceful communication between humans and Fae to share culture and history, just like what NRC is like today. It feels a lot like a Headmage’s behavior, don’t you think?

From the way Meleanor treated Levan, Levan’s behavior sounds oddly like Crowley’s. Meleanor praised him for the most basic things, and seemed to dote over him a lot. Crowley is incredibly egotistical about doing literally the most basic shit ever lmaoo, but I can’t blame him for getting a big head if he used to be always praised for it. Lilia also says that Levan would probably return with a big smile on his face. In every single animation that Crowley is present in, he always has a smile on his face, watching carefully over the events.

Levan also seemed to be a bit of a crybaby in his childhood, as Lilia said that when they got lost in a forest, he “could never forget Levan’s pitiful expression.” Crowley definitely has an aversion to death or people getting hurt, and has cried several times when he gets overemotional.

In the prologue, Crowley claims to be intimately acquainted with every single students homelands. Yes, his hobby IS vacationing, but I think he knows the lands way more intimately than simple sightseeing. Again, Levan was a diplomat. He would have a vast amount of knowledge about the inner workings, culture, and history of many different foreign lands.

Edit: We also have NO IDEA of Crowley’s homeland. If I remember correctly, he’s the only character where his land of origin is unknown. Why would TWST do this, unless this was a huge spoiler? Like…say if Crowley’s homeland was Briar Valley???

And finally, I think it’s EXTREMELY suspicious that we have not seen at least a silhouette of Levan, despite his name coming up in conversations several times. Why would his silhouette not be revealed, unless his silhouette is a dead giveaway to a character we already know? Same reasoning for why we haven’t had a flashback with his voice- his voice would just reveal the truth. Additionally, NRC seems to lack books over the history of Briar Valley and what happened to Levan and Meleanor. In one of the History Lessons, Malleus mentions a photo of Lilia in a history book. Perhaps there are history books with a painting/photo of Levan? It would explain why the history is so lacking, because Crowley doesn’t want his past self to be seen.

Meleanor, NRC & Other

Whew, we’re almost done! This is the miscellaneous category, but just as important as the above points.

Meleanor, OB Malleus, and Crowley have many many similarities. I go into more detail in the linked post, but Meleanor’s and Crowley’s features definitely “combine” in Malleus’ features. Take for example, Meleanor’s straight dark teal hair and Crowley’s wavy black hair with a slight greenish tint. It merges perfectly into Malleus’s hair. There are many similarities in their outfit designs too, so I recommend looking at this post!

This is very strange, but the coliseum and Diasomnia’s dorm hallway have the SAME EXACT DESIGNS as the passageway in Briar Valley (converted into a Silver Owl hideout) and the hall in MELEANOR’S castle. No one could have this punt of knowledge of these locations, especially Meleanor’s castle that was covered in briars and abandoned. Unless…someone at NRC was intimately acquainted with both of these locations. Perhaps a noblemen like Levan would know? Meaning, Crowley?

Crowley in the prologue talks to his “proud, beautiful flower of evil” in the mirror. I highly recommend rewatching the part, because Crowley’s voice just shows how much love he has for this flower of evil. Lili refers to Meleanor as the “most evil Princess,” and she is also the Princess of Wild Rose Castle. Rose like a flower 🌹 \(//∇//)\ She is also an extremely proud person, and does not hesitate to strike people down for disagreeing with her.

Many people ask why Levan would abandon Meleanor, especially when he loved her. I don’t think he willingly abandoned her at all! If my theory of his prophecy magic is right, he knew that there was nothing he could do to prevent Meleanor’s death and the fall of their castle. And who knows, what if Levan Overblotted when he went missing? He led a GROUP of messengers to the Eastern Fort, so what happened to these messengers? Did they die at his hands when he Overblotted? It’s a common theory that Crowley is under the influence of blot, as his mask and gloves would cover Overblot markings.

@ventique18 has also mentioned that a dark Fae’s love in literature is depicted to be OBSESSIVE, as in the couple can drive themselves mad over their love for each other. I think Crowley was a much kinder and genuine person as Levan, but Meleanor’s death permanently scarred him. Plus, as much as we don’t want to admit it, it’s been 500 years. Look at Lilia: he’s changed SO MUCH over the years since his time as general. Why can’t Levan do the same? Longing to reunite with his loved one for CENTURIES isn’t healthy at all, but he desires it so much that he’s willing to hurt innocent people in order to achieve it.

This is out of the TWST canon lol, but there’s potentially a lot of connection to Edgar Allen Poe’s “Lenore” and “The Raven.” Lenore mourns a “queenliest dead that ever died so young” before her wedding, which could parallel Meleanor dying before Malleus’ birth. The Raven represents the pure desperation, grief, and insanity of him wanting to see his lost love again: Lenore, and how he’s unable to cope with her passing. UM??!!!

FINALLY, as the saying goes: Malleus had to get his loser genes from somewhere. Hope this helps! 🤪

Jokes aside, I’m exhausted but I feel very happy to have made this guide! Many thanks to all the blogs I’ve mentioned above, and to Gasmask on Youtube, Otome Atui on Youtube, and MoonlightEquin1 on Twitter for translations!!! It really helped me out my thoughts together in this theory, and I hope it can serve as a reference guide to everyone else!

I had to link a lot of my separate theories just because there is too much to go over in one post, and I’m very limited with photos on mobile ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ If yall can think of anything else to add, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you to everyone for your support, it’s so fun theorizing with everybody!! 💞💞💞

#twst theory #twisted wonderland theory #twisted wonderland #twst #twst dire Crowley #dire Crowley #twst Crowley #twst headmage #twst Lilia vanrouge #twst General vanrouge #general Lilia #twst meleanor #twst Mallenoa #Meleanor draconia #twst meleanor draconia #twst revan #twst levan #twst malleus #twst malleus draconia #malleus draconia #KallistoPost #long post

[jadedbirch]

Hidden Blade Review

(spoiler free)

Okay okay so we've finally been blessed 🙌🙌🙌. The Yeekies on the big screen were fantastic and just as magnificent as I anticipated. This review will be composed of 2 parts: just Wang Yibo first, because I'm biased, and then the actual film.

The New York Times called my son "SIMMERING and MESMERIZING" and it ain't no lie. This was an incredibly difficult role for any actor to pull off, because first of all, it calls for a lot of silent acting, which we all already knows Yibo excels at. But here's a gross reminder:

Second, most of his dialogue had to be delivered in Japanese, a language that he did not know before filming. Not only does he sound very proficient (from what I can tell, at least, from my years of Shorinji Kempo), he's able to deliver his lines very naturally, holding his own in scenes with a native speaker.

Third, we all already know this boy is beautiful when he cries. Another gross reminder:

And the good news is, he's only gotten better at crying. He cries softly, quietly, loudly, and with chest wrecking sobs. The tears streak down his Yeekies and his Yose, and it is absolutely TRANSCENDENT. Listen, this kid is a star. ⭐

Fourth, his action sequences are absolutely glorious. He moves like a cheetah and stings like a bee. But we already knew that, right?

Anyways... Watching him kick ass is immensely satisfying.

And finally, he holds his own against a legend of cinema like Tony Leung, which may have made any other actor choke. But we all know that Yibo never chokes, he always rises to the challenge, AND HOW. No wonder Cheng Er, the director, seems so utterly smitten with him. Listen, he is all of us 🥹🥹🥰🥰.

Having extolled my son's incredible qualities, let me now say a few words about the movie itself. Hidden Blade is absolutely gorgeous. It reminds me of the way movies used to be made - character driven and chock full of haunting cinematic moments that stay with you long after you've left the theater. The story weaves through time, often threatening to cause a bit of a whiplash, but at the end of the day, it comes back to the main characters in a very satisfying way. Like any good spy thriller, it keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. The war violence is handled very delicately and is never pervasive while still conveying its intended horror. Cheng Er is clearly a master of his art, and it really shows.

Like any Chinese movie made today, you can expect a touch of Communist propaganda and a bit of revisionist history. But having said that, it could have been a lot more heavy handed, and I thought it found the right balance to please the censors and not take foreign audiences out of the experience.

Sadly, this scene appears to have not made the final cut, so it's not a spoiler to leave this review on my favorite note, of my son's glorious face:

#wang yibo #hidden blade #my so called meta

[jira-chii]

The moment the One Piece anime becomes art

(Big spoiler warning for the One Piece Wa no Kuni arc, around the episode 1070 mark of the anime. Yes, I know the manga is better, but what I am about to talk about is a little more special for viewers of the anime, and fans of animation in general.)

For the tldr, this twitter post covers a lot of the things I am about to talk about.

One Piece is great. You don't need me to say it. So I'll cut right to the chase. The moment One Piece transcends being a run-of-the-mill (and sometimes kind of mediocre) anime, and becomes art, is when Gear 5 is introduced.

Is this a hot take? I honestly don’t know. Gear 5 is goofy, it’s weird. It’s so different from traditional mainstream shounen anime. I’m sure it’s an abomination to hardcore Japanese anime purists. 

But it is also a brilliant example of storytelling by using visual animation to its full potential. It weaves together so many complex ideas, and even carries an important message for the anime industry in general.

What do I mean by ‘art’?

Obviously this is a subjective question and I am using the term ‘art’ very liberally. I am actually referring to something called ‘textual integrity’.

Textual integrity is when all the elements that comprise a text work together to faithfully deliver on its author’s intent, from start to finish. It’s when recurring symbols, dialogue and story beats in a novel or movie start to match up. Or when the colour palette of a painting works in harmony with its motifs to convey a mood or idea. It’s the kind of thing that makes you think: “Oh! So that’s what that was about!” when you notice. Sometimes it even gives you a new point of view on the topic.

Dissecting each of these elements, trying to work out what they say on their own and how they play their role in the bigger picture, is one of my favourite embarrassingly nerdy activities. So please indulge me as I explore just some of the many, many elements that make up the colourful tapestry that is One Piece’s Wa no Kuni arc. 

(And please note, my interpretation is just one of many - that’s just part of the fun of analysing art!)

How the 'idea' of Wano is built

The Wa no Kuni arc (which I’ll abbreviate to Wano arc) is, much like many other main arcs in One Piece, about the fight for leadership over a country. 

The history of how Wano came to be in its current state is framed through the story of Oden. Oden, the former Shogun, was executed before he could fulfil his goal of opening up the land of Wano. With his death, the country is plunged into a dark age, where the poor starve and are forced to slave away for Kaido’s benefit. But Oden’s son, Kouzuki Momonosuke, manages to escape to the future along with a band of loyal retainers. They enlist the help of pirates and return to free Wano.  

That was a very bare bones summary, but it does give an overview of some of the ideas the arc explores: leadership, succession, rebellion etc. The conflict for Wano’s future is most starkly characterised by its two competing leaders - current ruler Kaido, and Momonosuke, the son of the previous Shogun. And nowhere is this more obvious than in their character designs.

Momo and Kaido are both eastern-style dragons, but that’s where the similarity ends. They are totally different in almost every other way: different colours, different sizes (initially), different levels of confidence, and importantly, different ideals. This is because they represent different values as potential leaders for the one country: Kaido wants to keep the country closed and turn it into a weapons factory for his own benefit, while Momo wants to free the people, and (after some deliberation), seems likely to follow in his father’s footsteps and eventually open the country. 

This arc has elements of a war story about national identity, it explores what true leadership looks like, it has tons of political intrigue, spying and sabotage, and it even serves as both a coming of age and a revenge story for Momonosuke. The clash between Kaido and Momonosuke on its own is already a compelling narrative. There’s a clear preference in this conflict too. How often have we heard the Akazaya Samurai serving Momo be referred to as the ones who will bring Wano out of the neverending night into a new dawn? 

There’s a solid good vs evil formula right there. But then we throw pirates into the mix and things get...slightly more complicated…

How pirates complicate things

The Wano arc primarily centres around a domestic power struggle. From an outsider’s perspective, the Straw Hat pirates are a foreign party that basically overthrow Wano’s current Shogun to reinstate their preferred ruler. 

Politically speaking, this looks bad, and Luffy knows it. Pirates really should have no business meddling in the affairs of other governments. That’s why the deliberate move to not be portrayed as heroes is a smart one. 

There’s another meta layer to this decision as well. Wano Kuni is very clearly based on the forced opening of sakoku Japan to the Western world. It would have been so dangerously easy to go down the path of a simple story about the pirates ‘saving’ Wano and ‘enlightening’ them to the outside world. But unproblematically portraying a ‘foreigner’ as the big strong saviour of a country clearly based on Japan definitely has problematic Eurocentric overtones!

In One Piece, pirates are not heroes. But it can be easy to forget that when your main character is such an incredibly likeable pirate. Trying to reconcile these two seemingly opposing facts is really, really hard, and Oda definitely does not choose to take the easy way out!

And yet, Wano arc goes a long way to conveying the nuance of this message. Through the careful interweaving and layering of its plot, symbols, motifs, character designs, character arcs and more, everything culminates to lead us to the final answer: Gear 5. 

Wa

I know that sounds like a joke title but I promise it’s not.

‘Wa no Kuni’ translates to “the Country of Wa”. It is never mentioned what ‘Wa’ actually means, but the most obvious interpretation would be ‘Japan’. ‘Wa’ commonly refers to “japanese style”, as in wagashi 和菓子 (Japanese sweets) or wafuku 和服 (Japanese clothes).

The character Wa 和 by itself can also mean peace or harmony, and this is the interpretation that stands out to me. Because I think this is a concept that also captures the complexity of One Piece itself. 

‘Wa’ to me is about finding peace through harmony, but when the world is as complex as it is, that harmony requires us to embrace, rather than reject contradiction. 

Have you noticed Wano arc includes many recurring motifs that contrast, conflict and seemingly contradict each other?

For instance, I mentioned previously that our ‘heroes’, the Akazaya Samurai under Kouzuki Momonosuke, were commonly associated with heralding the new dawn. In fact, the ‘Kou’ 光 in Kouzuki 光月 is the character for light!

But the ‘zuki’ 月 part is actually ‘moon’. Isn’t it strange that the clan that we are supposed to be rooting for, the band of ‘heroes’ who will bring about a “new dawn”, is associated with ‘moonlight’?

This concept is extended further, in the design of Gear 5 no less! It is explained that the Fishmen worshipped a previous incarnation of Luffy’s new form as the Sun God Nika, however our introduction to Luffy in Nika’s iconic pose is against a moon. 

This is not a coincidence. Did you notice the Kouzuki clan symbol includes a sun as well?

We're not just exploring the duality of the sun and moon either. Gear 5 is actually a mix of Eastern and Western influences. The animation very much seems inspired by Western slapstick cartoons, but the visual design is reminiscent of fuujin and raijin gods, with even a bit of that komainu lion dog influence. 

And while the cloud shawl/scarf coupled with Gear 5’s moon association evokes Asian moon goddesses, don’t you think “Nika” sounds awfully similar to Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory?

The Eastern symbolism clearly represents Wano, while the Western bits are everything else. We see something similar with Izou’s character design: his style of dress is distinctly Wano (Japanese) style, but his chosen weapon is a gun, a symbol of the outside (Western) world. The mix of Wano and non-Wano influences tells us this is somebody who has embraced both parts of his identity. 

It is fitting then, that Gear 5 should also incorporate a blend of diverse influences, representing the melting pot of creatures, races, time periods, hopes and desires that make up the alliance ultimately responsible for ushering in Wano's 'new dawn'. It’s even possible to see links in the design to the Minks (moon symbolism and predominantly white colour scheme) as well as the Fishmen (Nika already established as the sun god worshipped by former slaves).

Gear 5 encapsulates 'Wa' because it embraces chaos and makes it work. Who could ask for a better god-figure, to represent the insane group we can only call the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance? 

When I first started Wano, I thought it would be a story of hope in the future overcoming the darkness of the past. I thought this would be a story about teaching a country to let go of traditions that it held onto too tightly, and wholly embrace the unknown (I too am sometimes at risk of developing a Eurocentric mindset...and I'm Asian).

I was wrong, of course. Nobody let go of tradition. It's more complex than that. Momo's insistence on trying not to rely too hard on the Straw Hats symbolises that (which is also why I find Luffy being forced into claiming Wano as his territory just to protect them under the Yonkou system a little uncomfortable, but that’s a story for another day).

Opening oneself up to new experiences does not mean completely discarding your past. Momo has physically changed, but he is still Momo. Yamato is still trying to be Oden, but he will do it in his way. The history of what lays beneath Wano has been passed on to the new generation. All of this will influence Wano's future moving forward.

Harmonising complexity starts with accepting it. The past matters. Everything that has happened, no matter how terrible or beautiful, has resulted in what we see, hear and feel today. And all of that, regardless of how hard people try to hide it, will continue to matter in shaping the future.

'Wa' is not just Luffy's answer to Wano. In true textual integrity fashion, 'Wa' encapsulates the philosophy of One Piece, and I think it also conveys Oda's wishes for Japan as well as the world.

'Wa' captures the complexity of what being a pirate is; how a leader should act; what freedom means; what chasing your dreams looks like; what it is to live. And none of it is sunshine and rainbows.

The world is complicated. It is chaotic. There is no sense in distinguishing black from white, good from evil, or even the sun from the moon. Everything is mushed together to create this terrible, beautiful mess. ‘Wa’ is an answer full of contradictions, and yet there is this harmonious balance within the chaos, a perfect reflection of our imperfect, complex world.

I do love that there is a side character named Hamlet in this arc, because this writing is nothing less than Shakespearean. But the reason I call Gear 5 art is not purely because of the writing alone.

Let's get meta

Alright, we’re going to step away from the story, get a little bit meta, and talk about the presentation of the arc as a whole, including how it is structured.

Wano Kuni is depicted in a way to deliberately evoke imagery and symbolism of Japan: even before we reach the country, the crew are assaulted by carp and great waves, clearly inspired by Hokusai’s own; the lineart is stylised to look like calligraphy; and the music utilises shamisen and koto, which fits in perfectly with how the whole arc is structured like a traditional kabuki play, right down to the red, green and black curtains that frame the start of each clearly marked Act. 

Everything presentation-wise in this arc has been carefully prepared to make it feel as Japanese as possible. Why is why when Gear 5, in all its cartoonish, physics-defying glory, appeared so suddenly in the middle of what had been primed to be the most Japanese anime set in basically Edo Japan, it was a bit of an understatement to say I was definitely caught off-guard!

It felt like I had fallen for a trap. In the middle of watching my kabuki play, suddenly I realised it was I who was being played all along...

And that’s the point!

Gear 5 is pretty much the least anime thing to happen to the One Piece anime. At the climax of the arc, we do not get the full satisfaction of a badass final fight like one would expect at this point of the story. Instead, we get the most cartoonish and batshit insane sequence I have ever seen in One Piece.

It is downright insulting to Kaido, who had been built up to be this huge, menacing final boss. Gear 5 essential reduced him to a googly-eyed snek - the poor thing even got blown up like a balloon at one point!

The closest thing I can compare it to is the Davy Back Fight arc. But doing Looney Tunes shenanigans during the looney-by-nature Davy Back Fight is a totally different story to doing Looney Tunes right in the midst of the tension of seeing a whole country’s beacon of hope fall in battle against their oppressor. 

The contrast is stark, it is shocking, it is tonally subversive, and unexpected. It is such a deviation from what we are used to.

...And yet, isn’t it glorious, that when Luffy basically reaches god-status, he not only decides to break the rules of anime physics, but the rules of mainstream anime as well?

One Piece, through Gear 5, is subverting the shounen anime battle formula. And while I don’t know if Oda intended for the animation to be so starkly western, I am absolutely certain it was what the animator’s intended. 

Because this deviation from the norm is sending a message, not only to anime fans, but to individual artists, animators, storytellers and creators in general. And that includes the big animation studios. 

The message is important: break free from the status quo. There are no clear lines that define what anime can and cannot be. Let japanese animation take inspiration from western animation, and vice-versa. In fact, this is something that should be encouraged of all animation. 

One Piece is encouraging us all to experiment and surpass our boundaries. It is telling us that even a smash hit mainstream shounen anime can still break all the rules and be not only successful, but create something unique and new and truly, truly special…even if some people think the result is a little bit ugly. 

If that’s not art, I don’t know what is. And I am so, so happy One Piece did it. 

#analysis #one piece #one piece anime #wano arc #wano kuni

[killdeercheer]

Studio Ghibli Reviews: Princess Mononoke (1997)

A certified epic and one of the most powerful animated films of all time; the development of Princess Mononoke was no less epic, having an almost 20-year history and creation. Considered by many a spiritual successor (and to some, a better version of) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki was compelled by world events to bring forth a tale that weaves the themes of environmental preservation & destruction, the futility of war, conflicting views of spirituality, and the value of finding beauty in an unforgiving world.

Plot: During a fancifully-depicted time in Muromachi Era Japan, Prince Ashitaka is sent into exile by his Emishi elders after being cursed by a stampeding demon. His quest becomes a journey of discovery - "to see with eyes unclouded by hate" - as he traces the source of the demon's fury to the metal-furnaces and gun manufacture of Iron Town. This community was created by Lady Eboshi, a warrior-ruler and defection of the Imperial authority, who seeks to rid the area of its surrounding forest and its spirit denizens. Of these is the so-called "Princess Mononoke": a young woman named San who was raised by wolf-gods and has frequently come into conflict with the residents of Iron Town for their destruction to the forest. Ashitaka becomes swallowed up in this great conflict, hoping that humanity can live with the spirits and the forest in peace, and prevent the uncoming war that will determine the fate of the world.

- this review will be mainly spoiler-free -

I think this film is a masterpiece. It is so raw and honest in its messaging and presentation and I find it so commendable for that. The world that is on display here is so detailed and lived-in and I always feel like I'm there whenever I give this a rewatch. Of course, the setting is as realistically depicted as possible: one has to remember that the setting is, by and large, based in actual Japanese history. The Emishi were a real people (though their ethnicity is still debated by scholars, a common hypothesis is that they were some of the last of Japan's original inhabitants as the Ainu are today) and they really did struggle against the incoming Yamato peoples. The guns which Lady Eboshi valued so heavily were imports from China, showing real long-distance connections that shaped the archipelago during Post Classical times. Much of Japan was originally covered in forest and full of large animals like wolves (no apes though). Etc etc. And yet the fantasy elements - with spirits and demons and talking animals - feel grounded amidst all this realism.

The story itself is treated like an ancient epic and like many of those authorless tales there is a timelessness to it. As the environmental crisis takes hold and pressures the world into a sorry state, I can't help but feel a strong connection the the subject matter. I empathize strongly with Ashitaka's wish for coexistence between humans and the overarching environment, as our species was shaped by it and actively shaped it for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. We need nature and right now nature almost certainly needs us.

As a character, Ashitaka borders the extremes of our other two main leads. San, the "Spirit Princess", hates humans and takes delight in the thought of their downfall, and she sympathizes strongly with the other animals and spirits with whom she can communicate. Lady Eboshi wishes to be rid of the forest and clear it so that her metallurgists and followers can thrive, and this is exemplified in the core conflict of the film: she wishes to kill off the Great Spirit of the Forest to aid in her goals. Obviously, the extremes of "killing humans to protect the environment" and "killing the environment to protect (and prosper) humans" are foolish. There is no justifications for these actions when it comes to conservation and they are both actively harmful views that mask a wider complexity in human-ecosystem interactions. And how the film handles this conflict is exquisitely done.

As characters themselves, Ashitaka, San, and Lady Eboshi are fantastic leads with all their own charms. The Emishi Prince is calm, reserved, and respectful, and he carries himself with grace and dignity. He's brave and kind (and honestly one of the best male role models you could ask for in a Studio Ghibli film if you want to talk about positive masculinity). San is a free-spirit with a ruthless attitude, and it's difficult not to sympathize with her situation. Having been abandoned by humanity and seeing the harm done by the spread of industrialization to her family and community, she internalizes that and projects it into anger and direct action. But, ultimately, when the situation calls, she reveals her own humanity under her wolf-exterior. Lady Eboshi is - to echo others - one of the best antagonists in film (or at least, in animated film). She is a complex character with a cunning and refined air who knows what she wants and actively works to achieve it. It's this complexity which pressures the viewer to reconsider their thoughts about her as the film progresses: yes, she is essentially a warmonger who is not afraid to smear her enemies' blood beneath her sandals, but she also shows deep compassion for the downtrodden, as seen in her rescuing and recruiting of prostitutes and lepers into her society. In Iron Town, these people are treated as human where otherwise they would be detritus, and so when we watch the townspeople interact with her, we can see their love and devotion to this figure and understand why.

Surprisingly for a Studio Ghibli film, the rest of the cast has fairly smaller parts save for Jiko-bō (or Jigo), a mysterious monk who meets Ashitaka early in his journey and has his own goals in mind regarding the Spirit of the Forest. He comes off as matter-of-fact and friendly enough but then as the film goes on you see his hidden side. I never know how I feel about this character: he's not my favorite but he provides an interesting contrast to Lady Eboshi. The various people of Iron Town also feature as minor characters, including one of the former-prostitutes Toki and her husband Kohroku, who provide more of the comic-relief, and Lady Eboshi's guard Gonza, who's there to be loud and angry and threatening but really the only thing I think about him is that his head looks like a nutsack.

Of course, I can't neglect to mention the spirit characters themselves. San's family includes a 300-year-old giant wolf-god named Moro and her two cubs (who I believe are unnamed in the film). The wolves are a force of nature themselves and Moro in particular has such a presence in the film that I can't help but get chills with. Wild boar gods also feature, including their giant blind leader Okkoto. I can't help but get entelodont vibes from how he and the boars are depicted, even though we now know those extinct animals weren't related to pigs. There are also another entry into the "Studio Ghibli Mascots" club: the kodama, who are these little white tree-spirits that we see throughout the film. They are an interesting mix of cute and creepy (but I think they're more the former than the latter, just funny little dudes). Ashitaka has a "red elk" companion which he rides named Yakul that doesn't speak but is a very nice animal friend. Though, he's more like a reduncine antelope than an elk, but I'm a zoology nerd so I can't help myself.

Our English Dub voice cast is (what else is new?) very well done and includes a couple really stellar performances in my opinion. Ashitaka is voiced by Billy Crudup who I am otherwise unfamiliar with, and out of the entire cast I find I have difficulty thinking how I feel about his voice work here; on the one hand, his tone of voice and lack of any dramatic inflections match the reserved and princely nature of the character, but on the other hand, I can't help but wish for a little more emotion in some of his deliveries. I don't really let this get to me much, though, and it never impacts my overall thoughts of the film. San is voiced by Claire Danes (another actor I am unfamiliar with) and she provides a rather feral and almost southern tone to the character that I feel matches well. I don't understand why some reviewers call her "whiny", because she never comes across like that at all. Lady Eboshi is given a stunning and chilling performance by Minnie Driver, who brings out all the beauty and venom of such a powerful woman. She's probably my performance in the film. Gillian Anderson, likewise, gives an equally amazing voice to Moro and her kindred spirit Okkoto is voiced by Keith David (who I guess did have "friends on the other side"). Billy Bob Thornton plays Jigo and really rounds out that character's bluntness and typically gentle nature. The rest of the cast is pretty fun, including Jada Pinkett Smith as Toki and John "Bacon Pancakes" DiMaggio as Gonza.

Curiously among Studio Ghibli's catalogue of serious films, Princess Mononoke lacks any sort of accompanying song in the end credits or anywhere else, but this is more than supplemented by a fucking phenomenal soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi. The main theme, called "The Legend of Ashitaka", is a powerful and grand orchestral piece that pulls you into the world as effortlessly as Lebo M's John the Baptist-esque call which begins The Lion King. The rest of the score follows suit, fitting the theme and providing backing to some of the more dramatic moments in the film, heightening the emotional impact of the viewer (at least on my end).

Next to perhaps Grave of the Fireflies, this is a Ghibli film that I wouldn't suggest younger viewers experience until they're at an age where they can handle some of the intense scenes. To call this movie a bloodbath is, I think, a bit much, and just because everyone remembers the scenes with limbs and heads flying off doesn't mean the entire film is like that. Actually, it's a perfect example of how to do extreme violence in film appropriately: those scenes are paced and structured in a way to heighten their shock (especially as our lead, Ashitaka, is forced to commit said acts in contrast to his true nature, in what is another brilliant example of storytelling). Still, besides this, there are several frightening scenes of demons, spirits, and humans in battle, so viewers might need to exercise caution before going in.

Otherwise, there's far more that I could say as recommendation for Princess Mononoke. It's not my #1 favorite, but it's very high up there, and it is almost certainly a movie of great quality, scope, and themes. It, like many of the studio's output, is a perfect foil the popular idea of the animated film as loud, irrelevant children's stuff. There is more humanity and honesty in this film than the majority of live-action films I've witnessed, and its message of finding hope in the little things that make life worth living has certainly been an inspiration to me in this frightening and unfair world we live in. May we all hope to see with eyes unclouded by hate.

#studio ghibli reviews #princess mononoke

[z-cerulean]

Shin Megami Tensei (1992) (but it's actually the 2001 PS1 version)

So I've played a probably above average amount of Megaten, but despite that I hadn't gone really far back into the series. I think the oldest game in the series I'd played before now was Soul Hackers 1, and even then that was it's 2013 3DS version. So after getting too deep into thinking about it, I was eventually swayed to go back to the start of the series' modern identity.

This is Shin Megami Tensei, the third game in the overall Megami Tensei franchise. The first game, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, was an adaptation of a light novel series released in 1987 by the same name when ATLUS obtained the rights to an adaptation. In 1990, ATLUS used the namesake again for Megami Tensei II, a sequel with a lot of the series' modern aspects such as the post-apocalypic Tokyo setting, rather than following the plot of the second book in the series. For the next generation of consoles, with presumable intent to make a cleaner break from the book license, Shin Megami Tensei was released for the Super Famicom in 1992.

History lesson aside, this is the game from which the series' modern identity sprung forth and personally, I was curious. Coming in from the later games in the series, just how much was different from the series in its modern incarnations?

This will be an overview and my opinion of the game's 2001 PlayStation port, which received a translation patch midway through 2022. There are other versions of the game, which I'll give mention to later on. As far as main differences, the PS1 version renders dungeons in 3D, provides a CD quality version of the soundtrack and adds a couple button macros for accessing the map and such. While I'll try to avoid major spoilers, there may be some details you'd rather avoid if you're invested enough to play this game yourself, so fair warning.

Setting and Plot Overview/Summary

The game kicks off with you being dragged down a dream sequence which, I have to mention, because this game's atmosphere in this early stretch is absolutely phenomenal. It's completely surreal in a not quite describable way, and needs to be witnessed to be described. This dream sequence introduces you to the Law Hero and Chaos Hero, who can be named whatever you want, like your player character, The Hero. Later on in a second dream sequence, you also get introduced to the Heroine, who can also be named. For my run, I was streaming this game for some friends, and we took a Three Houses theme, with the player character Alois partnered with Law Hero Cyril, Chaos Hero Emile (Jertiza) and the Heroine F!Byleth. (yes, the 'F!' part was included, because comedy).

After the dream sequence, your mother wakes you up in Kichijoji, where you go to the shopping mall to get her coffee, see a guy get killed by a demon, take the knife he had and leave to go back to sleep. Average day. Also, a dude named Stephen e-mailed out a demon summoning program, which you download because viruses and malware just aren't considerations, I guess.

This culminates in meeting the Law Hero in a hospital you get kidnapped to, the Chaos Hero as he gets bullied in the shopping centre after breaking out of the hospital, and then find out a demon ate your mom. Average day.

The game then leads into you and your intrepid band of protagonists meeting with the Heroine, then speaking to the American military led by Ambassador Thorman (Gee, I wonder who he is) and General Gotou, in charge of the Japanese national army. This culminates in Thor(man) nuking Tokyo, sending you and the Law and Chaos Heroes to the afterlife, and then returning in a post-apocalypic Tokyo 30 years after the ICBMs fell.

The outcome of the game differs depending on your actions, whether you support the Messianic Church, of whom praying for the return of God, the Gaian Church, who praise the Demon Lord Lucifer, or forge a third, neutral path against both of them.

Characters

Character development in this game, regrettably, is very much an afterthought. The Heroine, while a leader of the neutral factions in the early stretches of the game, barely gets anything to do in the later parts besides be a non-demon party member. The other two do get scenes relevant to their characterisation, but they're not given any sort of weight whatsoever and it really means these scenes kinda fall flat.

Plus side, the character designs are pretty cool, and the PS1 version's redone art is pretty great to look at.

Gameplay - Dungeons

The dungeon crawler series, surprisingly, has dungeons. Overall I found these pretty much fine, though I would argue they're kinda lacking compared to the later first person games where the main distinction is what colour of wall you're looking at rather than any particular gimmicks, for the most part. They work by all means, but if you're not super invested in this game I could see someone maybe getting pretty tired of them.

You also fill out a map with each tile you stand on, which is cool, but in the earlier versions there's not enough buttons for it on a controller, apparently, so you have to go through like three menus to bring it up. The PS1 version just makes L2 a macro for bringing up the map, which probably helps my opinion there.

Gameplay - Battles

The battle system is pretty simple this game, enemies have weaknesses, resistances, maybe they null or repel certain attacks, the works, but there's not something like Press Turn backing it up. Overall it does the job. Your MC doesn't get magic access (so magic is a completely useless stat for them, don't invest in it), unlike the other three named characters, and each character will also get a melee weapon and a gun as choices of weapons.

The game has pretty sporadic availability of the other party members, and you can only have three demons summoned at once, until later in the game where you can get another upgrade from Stephen that lets you summon up to four.

There's also the series staple of demon negotiation which is simpler this game, you lead by being friendly or intimidating and then just pick which you think is better of two options to try to win them over. It's pretty up to chance as always, so expect some inconsistency.

Demons this game use Magnetite as a maintenance cost, like most games of this era, where it drains as you walk around with them summoned. I didn't much care for it in Soul Hackers but here I ended up with so much of it it wasn't really a factor by the end for me. Demons this game also don't get EXP or level up, and skill inheritance from the Cathedral of Shadows isn't real yet by this point in the series, so their base kit and stats matter a lot more than other games.

Though, my main complaints with all this are: 1) The game's encounter rate is up the ass. It's not uncommon to end a fight, take two steps, and then you're in another 7 map slap fight. 2) This game is really easy. The game is pretty notorious for Zio skills stunlocking the opponent, and Bufu skills can do the same with freezes. Later in the game you can get charm bullets for guns which, Charm turns your attacks against your own party, and is a pretty useful ailment to give the enemies, especially through just attacking. Once you have permanent access to the Heroine as well, she just has Zio skills, and you have complete control over all the player characters' stat allocations, so her speed is likely a complete non-issues. At the end of the game, I was regularly able to get through things with absolutely no issues, especially compared to something like Nocturne.

I was able to deal with it, but I could see people thinking this is just tedious and monotonous and putting the game down.

Also not quite combat related but I'm not sure where else to put this criticism, revival costs if something/someone does die are like, US health care level, you are going to be grinding cash to afford that and it ultra sucks if it's the MC because then you're locked out of demon summons and negotiation because the others don't have access to the COMP apparently.

Gameplay - Alignment

Naturally, the series' traditional Law and Chaos alignments come into play. In terms of gameplay, this mostly factors into your attitude going into certain tasks, usually who you choose to help out. For instance, saying you'll help Thorman deal with Gotou skews you towards Law, and certain questions throughout the game can skew you one way or another. Depending on how far you are down Law or Chaos, this can also affect certain interactions later, where more neutral aligned players will be given the choice to help out either side, strongly Law players might be obligated to the Messianic faction and refused time of day by the Gaians, and vice versa. Past a point, whichever alignment you are locks in and you're obligated to that ending of the game.

This is pretty much fine, it's likely that strong law/chaos players are probably aiming those endings anyway, though if you make one misstep it would suck to be too far down another route.

This game does also give you other ways to adjust a mismatched alignment, through a late-game minigame and healing at opposite alignment church for a marked up service fee. Not many other games do this, and it's nice to have the option, though you could argue it takes weight away from your decisions.

Soundtrack

This game's soundtrack is pretty solid overall, there's some tracks I could do without like the final dungeon theme, which is just a 10 second loop, but the battle theme and Castle of the Four Gods is pretty solid. The PS1 version redid the soundtrack, and I'm pretty mixed on tracks I prefer more in one version or the other, like I think the SFC battle theme is better, but the PS1 Castle of the Four Gods is above the SFC one.

Overall

While I can't say I didn't enjoy the game, it's an increasingly hard sell. If you're going to play any part of it, I recommend trying out the pre-ICBM section at the very least and seeing if it sticks with you, also because I do find the game's tone and atmosphere there completely unlike anything else I've seen, even within later series entries. Past that though, is going to depend on your tolerance for older games like this and some monotony. One of my friends I streamed this with mostly found it an uneventful thing to spectate and got tired of looking at doors in dungeons. My main pitch would just be for if you're already pretty deep into SMT and want to see how it started out, anyone getting into the series with this game probably wouldn't have an overly great impression.

If I was throwing this game on a tier list, I think it's something like a high C or low B. I definitely enjoyed it's atmosphere a bit more than a lot of the other games in the series, and I found it ok enough to play, it's definitely an acquired taste and I would hesitate to put it above anything more modern in the series (though fortunately I think it has aged a bit more gracefully than some other games from this era).

also didn't mention before now but I really like the Hero's design, the cobbled together outfit with the wired in COMP really does it for me.

Other Versions

As promised, besides the SFC original and the PS1 version I played, there's a few other ports of this game.

The game got a Sega CD port, which notably redid a lot of the game's art and added some voice acting, and is one of the more interesting iterations of the game for it. The PC Engine port of the game did similarly, though without the art adaptations.

The more relevant ports these days, however, is the Game Boy Advance port.

The GBA version made a few game balance changes to my knowledge, and added a few extra bits of content. The downside, however, is a soundtrack conversion that makes the GBA versions of Final Fantasy soundtracks seem masterful. This version does have a patch, anyway, so it's an option.

Though that would be because, in 2014, ATLUS officially localised this game... on the iOS store exclusively.

This version is effectively the GBA version, with a reduced encounter rate, with the PS1 version's soundtrack. This would be an ideal way to play the game... if it was still available, instead of updating it for modern iOS systems or porting it to Android or an actual system that doesn't have screen buttons to suffer through, ATLUS chose to delist the game. This is effectively lost media at this point, so hopefully ATLUS decide to port this to Steam or something at some point.

Thanks and some other stuff

Anyway, thanks for reading my hopefully comprehensible summary and review of SMT1. I have been meaning to do one of these for Engage, but I'm doing a second run with the DLC currently so I'll do it after I'm done with that most likely.

See you around.

#shin megami tensei #megami tensei #playstation #atlusfaithful #atlus

[moonchildlix]

TMNT PIA: Character Introduction - Splinter

Splinter’s real name is Hamato Yoshi. Before being mutated into a rat, he was a human male from Japan. About 20 years before the story officially begins, Yoshi and his fiancé Teng Shen would move to the US and settle in New York. The reason behind the move (I’m being as vague as possible with the details because it’s a HUGE spoiler) was due to a crime Yoshi had committed and wanting to escape the consequences they fled.

Once in the states Yoshi and Teng Shen befriended the O’Neil’s. They were kind to them and helped them find their place in another country where they didn’t speak much of the native language. Teng Shen would eventually get married and they hey would then go on to have a happy, if trying life in the States with their four more children and the pet rat and turtle. Five years after they moved however, Yoshi’s dark past finally got its revenge on him.

In this iteration, the turtles are actually Splinter and Teng Shen’s biological children. They were born human, but were all mutated the same night their father was.

One night, three armed men broke into the Hamato’s apartment. During the struggle, one of the armed men stabbed Teng Shen through the stomach right in front of Yoshi, moments later another one of the armed men smashed a canister of strange, glowing green liquid over Yoshi’s head. Yoshi was able to fight back but the men fled from the scene, he held Teng Shen until she took her final breath. Yoshi would soon forced to flee from the scene with his children, when his body began to transform into that of a giant rat, highly resembling his pet rat Splinter. Due to coming in close contact with the ooze on their father’s clothing, the children too would mutate into that of turtles.

Yoshi and the children spent about three weeks being forced to live a shameful life in the shadows, hiding from people, trying to figure out what to do, scavenging for food and looking for a place to hide. Overtime, they managed to find a way to adapt to this new life, continuing to love as the family they were always meant to be. At least that’s the story he always told his sons…

Overall, Splinter is a laidback single dad in his mid 40’s, who may not always get it right, but he loves his kids more than anything and is trying his best given the circumstances.

Facts about the character

Actually good parent who really does love and care about his kids more than anything in the world. He’s really affectionate with them and takes genuine interest in their interests.

The turtles will usually refer to him as anything along the lines of ‘Dad’ or ‘Papa’, with ‘Otou-San/Tou-Chan’ also being commonly used titles for him. But in the dojo, when they are training, they strictly call him ‘Sensei’, ‘Master Splinter’ or ‘Father’.

He raised the turtles to be fluent in both English and Japanese. Sometimes he’ll have entire conversations with them in just Japanese for hours.

As is almost always the case in other iterations, Splinter knows ninjutsu because he is descended from an ancient clan of ninja’s, known as the Hamato Clan. Because of this, he was trained in martial arts and ninjutsu from a very young age, and was also taught the sacred history of the clan.

For a voice actor, I actually had a difficult time picking someone, I just knew that I wanted Splinter to be voiced by someone who is Japanese, since that’s only ever happened once, Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced him in the 2007 movie. Eventually I settled on Yuki Matsuzaki, who’s not particularly known for his voice acting roles, but he was in 2012 TMNT, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge and even Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, as the same character, Usagi Miyamoto.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles fan iteration #teenage mutant ninja turtles punks in action #tmnt #tmnt fan iteration #tmnt pia #tmnt splinter

[mallorii-fanfictions]

AOT FANFIC TEASER

All my work has copyright. Do NOT plagiarize or repost... But reblogs are welcomed :)

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THE TAGLIST!! :)

SUMMARY 

*I am sh*t at writing summaries. I wanna say the actual story is better than it sounds.

What happens when you, a young adult with a savior complex, and a history of struggle and pain, end up in the world AOT?

AOT, a fictional world that you’ve watched from behind the screen. —Only now, you’re in it. Even more baffling, you have the skill level of Mikasa Ackerman, and the omniscient knowledge of every character’s tragic endings.

You’ve watched Eren Jeager go from a bright eyed, heroically reckless kid, to a talented but terribly cold soldier. You saw the flame in him go out; that broke your heart, and left it bleeding on the floor in many pieces. But somehow— You’ve just been given the chance to make it right, starting a moment just before Hannes’ death, which you know was a turning point for Eren.

Can you save the characters that you’ve grown to love? Can you ignore and suppress your overflowing love for this main character, Eren Yeager? —Or will the world once again end in ruin, only this time, because of You.

*IMPORTANT NOTES*

I have only watched until Season 3, episode 48. Please be understanding that this story references some things that didn’t canonically happen, rather, some of the things I reference (like the tragic ending), was created in my head after having seen photos of the Season 4 Eren Yeager + having read some minor spoilers. (yes, I’m delusional).

Eren Jeager is over 18 years old in this timeline.

Please understand that I only very recently started writing as a hobby. So, this fanfic is notttt going to be superbly beautiful writing.

This is a Eren x You fanfic, however, the character is also called “Umi” by others. Please feel free to disregard the Umi name, but I chose it for its significance, as it means “Ocean,” in Japanese. 

|| Chapters and Word Count: Currently unknown length.

Teaser.

TBW

TBW

TBW

TBW

|| Warnings! ||

As of right now there is No sm*t. I do not plan on writing sm*t as of right now.

This story is reflective of some of the shadowed, hidden parts of human nature. There is no shame in feeling such things, only, one should act properly when confronting what is before one, the reality one is in– with keen awareness of the monsters in one’s heart.

—One Last note before we dive in!! Feel free to follow my main account, where I post 100x more content, with a much more diverse range of depth and topics (On my main you will find content without the added element of my brain sickness!)

—This account, the one you’re reading right now, is strictly for my fanfiction.

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

CHAPTER 1 TEASER: The new girl?

*For this chapter only, the pov is in 3rd person, and past tense.

*The character’s gender can be whichever gender you feel is right for you. 

I wrote them as a “she” for me.

She appeared suddenly, out of thin air.

The titan’s mouth closed in slow motion, and the young woman’s body moved accordingly, on instinct: with a ‘whish’ her flight gear shot out, landing with a hard tchk! into the titan’s neck. Wind force screeched in her ears as she whizzed through the open air, the Titan’s body growing instantaneously larger as the machinery pulled her to it.

She sliced its nape in a long slash— eyes on fire— the point of where to move the blade next was the only thing in her mind and field of vision. Her muscles flexed as her blade dragged cleanly through the dense and thick meat of the titan’s neck. Her arms held up as if she was just cutting through thin wood. She was strong.

In a hairbreadth of a second, she shifted her weight: her flight gear shot out to the cheek of the now crumbling Titan. Steam emitted from its neck, a sign that it was dying, unable to heal itself. The young woman was flying to the titan’s mouth, which was still closing down, about to snap Hannes in half.

She snatched Hannes— the sole of his boot bitten clean off, disappearing behind terrifyingly large teeth. An evil smile still beamed on the dead titan’s face as it fell.

Umi shuddered violently at the sight, and her mind started flashing images of all the action she had just undergone: The titan’s colossal height, the pounding of blood in her ears as she turned off all her emotions and flew towards the beast, and the look of confusion on Hannes face, a split moment before his death and he knew it, but it didn’t register—

But the scariest thing was that she knew she was not dreaming. 

I am in Attack on Titan.

Oh god what if I die right now?! Will I feel it? Why am I in this world, can I return to my own?

Umi started wobbling midair, panic flooding her— she would crash into the ground due to her error—

In a blurry flash, a dark haired woman caught both of them. 

Umi was aware that her eyes were wide open, but with the feeling of a bomb exploding inside her panicked chest, she couldn’t process anything that was happening. She was strong, but overwhelmed by her first combat. 

—But now she was saved by this dark angel! Her and Hannes were saved by Mikasa! Umi looked at Hannes.

Hannes’ face was frozen, stretched in an almost comical terror. He was in complete shock, his body frozen. His mind was numb and blank.

(It would take a long, long time, for him to recover from his shell shock).

They landed on the ground roughly. Mikasa couldn’t handle supporting two rigid, motionless, brainless people. 

Umi’s head whipped to Eren’s position—

His hands, still nubs in regeneration, were bitten, bloodied, completely mangled. 

Eren, no.. Eren, I’m not too late, am I? 

Eren stared at the three of them in mute shock, his eyes blasted wide open— matching Umi’s, who was staring straight back at him.

I—I couldn’t—. Nothing, I couldn’t do anything. Not a single—

Eren thought.

“Eren, Eren!” Umi called, staggering off the ground and half limping, half running to the other shell shocked guy.

“Please be okay, please, please, please,” she cried quietly, her heart strangled in her throat as she made her way to Eren.

“Eren!” She cried, collapsing into his solid frame.

They toppled over.

“Eren! Eren listen to me, please,” Umi cried out.

A hand yanked her away suddenly — she gasped —

“Who are you.” The voice of the one who saved her spoke, coldly, demanding.

Mikasa wouldn’t hesitate to kill me in an instant.

“I—I’m Umi Hikari. I— I.”

I have to be careful with each word, and be completely honest. Otherwise, my story will fall apart.

“Please hear me out before you kill me.”

Mikasa Ackerman glared down at Umi.

“I know the future. I know the secrets of this world.”

Mikasa’s eyes shot open.

“I have to save Eren. Please, let me do that. He’s going to turn into a monster if— if things continue this way. You have to believe me. You can’t understand how vital this is because you don’t know what I do, but I know you can understand that we have the same intent. I want what’s best for Eren.”

Mikasa looked deeply troubled, aggression bristling her body.

“Please, Mikasa.. I can prove it.. I know everything.”

Mikasa spoke in the hardest voice, stony, slicing. “Prove it then. Right now.”

“You— I know that when this mission started, when you guys set off to recover Eren from Reiner and Bertolt, the briefest thought crossed your mind…but you killed it off as soon as it formed, and you forced yourself to forget about it. You threw it into the deep, deep sewers, for his sake..” Umi said, looking behind her, at Eren. 

He was on the ground, staring up at her in pure confusion. Though entirely confused, his face always carried the element of being tortured internally.

Eyes widening, Mikasa trembled just the tiniest bit. A sign that Umi had hit the nail on the head.

Umi braved even more. She had to prove she was omniscient, didn’t she? “Honestly, I’d say it wasn’t even for his sake. It was for yourself.”

In a flash Mikasa tightened her grip on Umi, almost breaking the bone of Umi’s wrist.

But Umi persisted. “Reiner and Bertolt… you knew that they might be trying to save the world, even if you couldn’t comprehend exactly how.”

“No— you’re wrong—” Mikasa shouted quickly. Her eyes were large and desperate. 

Umi’s face was knitted in pain and sadness. Seeing Mikasa’s tortured state up close was too real.

Mikasa loves him. So much.

Umi’s heart twisted and beat harshly against its ribcage, and she knew.

Of course she does. I knew this.

They’re going to end up together. They’ve been together for almost their whole lives. 

I’m only an audience member from behind the screen.

Who was I to wish for somebody I can’t have?

“You would have rather destroyed the world in a reckless decision powered by your heart, than to let Eren die to save the world.”

With a shaking hand, Mikasa let Umi go. She stood, eyes blank and empty, shaking. Stuck in her head.

“I’m going back to him,” Umi said, before turning back to Eren.

He has to be okay— 

Umi limped forward.

I can’t believe this is real.

Eren was now leaned over Hannes, who had fainted. Eren glanced up at Umi. His eyes were shining with tears.

“Who—who are you? Thank you, thank you,” Eren said, voice cracking. He began to whimper, sobbing into the open air.

- Teaser END -

Feedback is SUPER welcomed :)

Feel free to check out my blog to see what I will post~

Tags:

#aotfanfic #erenyeagerfanfiction #erenjaegerfanfic #erenyeager #erenyeager x reader #fanfiction #slow burn #writing #aot fanfiction #attack on titan #attack on titan fanfiction #erenjaeger #wholesome #aotfic #erenyeagerfic #erenjaegerfic #fanfic writing #aotfanfics #erenyeager imagines #erenjaeger imagines #aot x reader

[her-inquisitorialness]

That Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu last episode wrecked me............ aaaaaa T-T.............................my bois............................. Hijikata-samaaa..........................aaaaaaaaaaa................. my heart physically literally hurts rn..... save meeee

#touken ranbu #katsugeki touken ranbu #izuminokami kanesada #horikawa kunihiro #kane san #hijikata toshizo #cant stop dem tears #not a spoiler if its actual japanese history right? #yall know what was coming #spoilers #touken danshi

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Corruption & Trust

Stormbringer and bsd spoilers in general ahead so read at your own risk!!

So in this post I will be listing all the times Chuuya used corruption and all the times Dazai was there to stop it. I will also go into depth as to why Chuuya trusts Dazai when it comes to having to use corruption and I will also emphazise on Dazai's care and how he takes corruption seriously.

1. First time using corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old

"Isn't it an unpleasant sight, Chuuya."

It was a young boy. This young boy casually caught hold of Chuuya's arm and lifted it up. With this movement, the gravitational field which had occured around them disappered immediatly. As well as Chuuya’s agony.

"Y...You..."

"You can't even die gracefully can you?" the young boy said in a raspy voice as he heaved Chuuya on his shoulders. He set off to walk.

Alright so this was the first time Chuuya's corruption was ever activated, after Dazai nullifies it and carries Chuuya on his back, he drops him off outside the bar were Chuuya's friends lay dead. He took him there instead of taking him directly to the port mafia quarters.

Why did he do that exactly? If Dazai doesn't care for Chuuya, then why did he give Chuuya the opportunity to pay farewell to his dying friends?

It's actually sort of funny because I don't really think Dazai really realizes or accepts that he feels a certain connection with Chuuya and therefore looks after him.

2. Second time using Corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old (obviously, its still the same light novel lol)

After losing his strength, Chuuya drifted in the air for a few seconds, then lost the black wings on his back and slowly fell.

Dazai caught his body.

From the spot where Dazai touched, the nulification skill was activated.

The self-contradictory skill that supports the energy of the singular point receded, and the output of the singular point decreased. Eventually, it converged and the "gate" closed. The red imprints disappeared from Chuya's whole body. Eventually, the gravitational field disappeared and the complete silence was restored.

“Good job, Chuuya." Dazai chuckled, looking at Chuuya he was holding in his arms. "I forgot to bring my ink pen, so I'll spare you from having your face scribbled."

As much as it looks like this is from a fanfiction, I can assure you that it's an actual passage from stormbringer.

I can't really say much except the fact that Dazai is being extremely soft here.

And this was the conversation Dazai and Chuuya shared beforehand:

"There is one problem." Dazai cut off his sentence hesitantly. "It has nothing to do with the sucess rate of the plan. It is a matter we have to overcome in the end but... It may require some time to decide."

"What's with you?" Chuuya raised his eyebrows at Dazai. "Stop dramatizing it. Just hurry up and say it."

"I said earlier about this control spell to open the 'gate' that is used to reset the command inside Chuuya, right?" Dazai spoke with a strangely restrained voice. "If we use that, the logs of the command formula that were written in the past will be erased. That means...even if the memory erasure was used on Chuuya in the past, the traces of that will be erased as well."

"What?"

"I told you before right? the memory erasure command. The only way we can confirm if Chuuya is human or not is to check the history to see if the memory erasure command was ever used. It means..." Dazai looked at Chuuya with eyes that he had never looked at him before. Those eyes were serious. "If we use that control spell, the method to confirm if Chuuya is an artificial personality created by a string of code, or just a normal human being, will be lost. For good."

The time had stopped.

Chuuya opened his eyes and looked towards Dazai but his eyes were not seeing anything. The wind blew between the two of them. Even so, Chuuya did not blink.

"Verlaine became like that because he was tormented by the curse that he was not human. That only is enough of a big problem. The matter of being human or not." Dazai looked at his pocket watch, gave it a glance and continued. "I can delay the time until the plan starts for about two minutes. I will send an order for my men to wait... You can think about it alone for a while. Cuz I guess its hard for you to collect your thoughts with me around."

Having said so, Dazai turned away and walked down the stairs, leaving Chuuya alone.

Dazai fixated in his pocket watch. Two more minutes. Too short for a life decision. But he couldn't afford more than that.

Inside Dazai's head, he was planning a procedure to swith to an alternative plan in case Chuuya refused, at a tremendous speed.

After this exchange, Chuuya does decide on using corruption. I have talked about this section on a previous post of mine, and I just love it so much. For starters, I think this conversation that these two shared is very important to their characters.

For Chuuya, it shows us how undeniably selfless he is. He would rather save the people of Yokahama instead of finding out something that meant a lot to him. He sacrificed his own desires to save the people he cares about.

For Dazai its a completely different story, in this exchange Dazai was able to openly express genuine concern for his partner. He also understands the gravity of the decision Chuuya has to take and therefore leaves the decision up to him.

Third time using corruption: Dragon's Head Conflict

Chuuya and Dazai' s age: 16 yrs old

During this one, Chuuya demands to know where his friends are, and Shibusawa says all six of them killed themselves after being caught. Enraged, Chuuya activates Corruption which ultimatley ended the 88 day conflict.

There isn't much to say about Dazai and Chuuya here since there isn't really an aftermath on this occasion but I bealive this picture is enough.

Before reading the DA manga, I genuienly thought that the only time Chuuya ever rested on Dazai's lap was when they were 22 but this proved me wrong.

I mean this is a minimal thing to point out but if Dazai disregarded Chuuya he would've just left him there, right? But instead he remained with Chuuya and allowed him to rest on his lap, in the picture you can also see he is putting Chuuya's hat back on. It's such a simple gesture but it shows us how caring Dazai can be when it comes to Chuuya using corruption.

Fourth time using corruption: Lovecraft Battle, Double Black reunion

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22 yrs old

This is personally one of my favorite times in which Chuuya uses corruption. The fact that these two had not been working together for 4 years yet they still managed to not only accomplish their mission, but mantain their trust for one another.

I find what Chuuya says here extremely ironic because if anything, the choice has always been up to him. Dazai always uses corruption as a last-resort trick and its always Chuuya who makes the final decision of using it or not, even in a life or death situation Dazai won't take it upon himself to force Chuuya to make the decision if they will be using it or not, and hes always willing to come up with an alternative plan in case Chuuya refuses. (an example of this is when Chuuya used corruption for the 2nd time in SB).

I think the reason as to why Dazai takes corruption extremely seriously is because during stormbringer he was the first person to even see Chuuya use corruption and also the person who understood how corruption will always be sort of like a burden to Chuuya, since it was thanks to corruption that his "am I human?" question stayed unanswered.

He knows how it feels to struggle with your own humanity and he doesn't want for Chuuya (who he literally sees as human), to hold that inner conflict with himself because of corruption.

Anyways, Chuuya decides to go through corruption trusting that Dazai will be there to nullify it.

And of course, Dazai does nullify it.

And after Dazai nullifies corruption, we get this very touching moment between both of them.

This is the first time Chuuya openly admits to trusting Dazai, although it was always evident that he trusts him, I just love how open he is being here.

Also the light punch he gives to Dazai's chest is such a sweet gesture, I see it as a silent way for Chuuya to say "I trust you because after all this time I still see you as my partner."

Dazai's smile in that small pannel is one of the most genuine expression we have gotten out of him. What he says is also a very sweet, I love that he calls him partner. The fact that these two are literally in rival organizations yet Dazai still calls him partner, it shows us that even after all these years he still can't help but see him the same way as he has always done.

Actually in Japanese he calls him "Aibou" and from my understanding, when you use the term Aibou it's for someone who you consider yourself to be close with. It means "partner" like in english but it holds a deeper meaning. If Dazai used the word "nakama" it would have been a very diffrent story since it means partner as well but it isn't used for someone you share a significant connection with. Asagiri's play with words here says a lot.

Fifth time using corruption: Dead Apple

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22yrs old.

Of course I have to talk about one of the most iconic moments in the history of Soukoku.

Chuuya uses corruption to save Dazai, even if Ango says that he's dead for sure. Something I find very intresting here though is that Chuuya screams for Dazai while he is on corruption, he is obviously not supposed to be self concious about the whole situation, while on Corruption clearly he is not supposed to be in sane state of mind, as we all here know, Chuuya loses control and does not have the track of reality while under his own ability but this time, while using corruption, the one and only thing that was on his mind was "Dazai."

It wasn't only Chuuya who entrusted his life to Dazai, Dazai too entrusted his life in Chuuya's hands. When Dazai came up with this plan, he was more than certain that Chuuya was going to save him. And I think a tumblr blog pointed this out but when Chuuya uses curroption, he cannot control his strength, but when he had to punch Dazai he did it lightly, which is strange considering he was using curroption and it would've made a lot more sence if Dazai ended up decapitated due to being punched by a literal god. Dazai had to have faith in the fact that Chuuya will somehow be able to control corruption, even if its just a little bit.

Afterwards when Chuuya manages to rescue Dazai, Dazai gently touches his cheek to nullify corruption and greets him with, "You used Corruption believing in me? I am so touched I could cry." Chuuya groans, and replies that yes he did, that he believed in his disgusting vitality and craftiness.

When they both fall to the ground, Dazai forces Chuuya to rest in his lap because he didn't want to have to protect him from this situation since the fog is still up and Chuuya himself is all worn out and wouldn't be able to fight. But heres the thing, both Chuuya and Dazai's abilities can't be seperated by the fog. I mean Dazai's ability is nulification so it basically cancels out, and Chuuya hosts a literal god inside him so it isn't really an ability if you know what I mean.

So in reality, Dazai just wanted Chuuya to rest. Dazai could've literally just left Chuuya in the fog if he was only using him for his goals, but he was genuienly appreciating Chuuya's trust in him. The way Dazai's hand is resting on Chuuya's hair is a nice gesture too, he is greatful for him and he is moved that someone trusts him, it is shown throughout the Fifthteen and SB light novel that no one trusted Dazai and how most were afraid to even approach him. And in the ADA, everyone is somewhat warry around him (excluding Atsushi ofc). But Chuuya literally puts his life on the line trusting that Dazai will always be there to save him. He trusts him greatly and Dazai knows that, and I think its pretty clear to us that he would never want to break that trust.

The fact that Chuuya trusts Dazai even after he left the Port Mafia without an explanation or goodbye shows us how strong their bond is. Chuuya most likely trusts Dazai because deep down he knows that he isn't using Chuuya's ability out of his own selifshness, a part of him is aware that Dazai uses corruption as a last resort but he just doesn't want to admit it, and I feel like he also trusts him subconciously because of how gentle Dazai is after Chuuya uses corruption.

I really hope we get to see more of these "corruption moments" because in all honesty, these moments are the ones that bring out the most vulenrability for both characters. The moment corruption is used, we see the inmeasurable amount of trust and care these two have for each other that they won't show in other situations. During these times it always shines a very open and bittersweet light on their bond and I love it so much.

#Soukoku #Skk #Dazai and Chuuya #Chuuya and dazai #dazai x chuuya #Chuuya x dazai #Osamu dazai #Dazai osamu #Dazai #Nakahara Chuuya #Chuuya Nakahara #Chuuya #Bsd analisis #Soukoku meta #Bsd meta #Soukoku analisis #Double black #Bungou stray dogs #Bsd #Bungo stray dogs #Stormbringer spoilers #Bsd manga

[dance-of-deduction]

#4 - Serpents, Sparrows, and the Samurai on a Mission

Spoiler warning: Major spoilers for all of TGAA2

This one is hard to summarize without massive spoilers, but today we'll be exploring some neat symbolism. At least I think you'll think it's neat. Trust in me and take the plunge!

🌸 Reblogs appreciated! 🌸

In the TGAA2 artbook, art director Kazuya Nuri says he wanted to evoke the image of a snake with Kazuma’s new design, so I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the symbolism surrounding snakes in Japan. As for sparrows, they receive one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mention in G2-4 that nevertheless yielded some pretty interesting results once I dug in.

I'll start with a tidbit that I couldn't fit in anywhere else: Kazuma's new white outfit was meant to contrast with his black uniform. White was also the color of mourning in Japan until the Meiji Era, when Western influence introduced the custom of black funeral wear. Before this, though, both the mourners and the dead would dress in white.

Snakes

Throughout Japan’s history, snakes have been viewed as powerful beings that can bestow blessings if respected, and retaliate harshly if harmed. Snakes have been revered as kami (神, Shinto spirits), or as the messengers of kami. Snakes are one of the most common animals revered as kami, and they are associated with prosperity, health, and protection. Kazuma’s design is specifically meant to invoke a white snake, and the Buddhist goddess Benzaiten is believed to have a white serpent as a messenger. Also known as Benten, she is the patron goddess of literature, music, poetry, wealth, and in Japan, she is associated with snakes and dragons. To this day, Iwakuni is famous for its high rate of albino Japanese rat snakes, which are believed to bring good luck and protection to one’s home.

On the other hand, snakes were also believed to bring disaster if harmed. A disturbed snake might retaliate by causing harm to the offender. Disturbing a snake could even put one’s family or village at risk. This taboo extended even to venomous snakes; many would avoid killing them to avoid their wrath. 

One of the most famous noh plays, Dōjō-ji Temple, shows a snake’s capacity for vengeance. Nuri says he played with noh and kabuki elements when deciding on Kazuma’s redesign - which makes sense, because noh masks are a crucial element of portraying a character. In the play's climax, a woman who'd been betrayed transforms into a giant, venomous snake. She burns down the titular temple's bell with the flames of her rage. In some versions she escapes in the end or is exorcised, but some renditions end with the snake burning along with the temple, consumed by her own fury.

Sound like someone we know?

Nuri described Kazuma changing from his old school uniform to his prosecutor's suit like shedding an old skin. One word for a snake’s old skin, nukegara (抜け殻), can also refer to someone who’s become an empty shell or a shadow of their former selves.

This last tidbit isn’t quite as dramatic, but I still think it’s interesting. As seen in this post, Kazuma’s family crest (kamon, 家紋) is made of three snake’s eyes (ja no me, 蛇の目) and three swords. You can find more variations in the following crests here. The snake-eye motif is also believed to have originally represented a bowstring holder (tsurumaki, 鶴巻), and archery is one of Ryunosuke’s hobbies.

Sparrows

In case G2-4, when you inspect a corner on the right-hand side of the prosecutor’s office, you unleash a bunch of bats that made me jump, and then we get this dialogue:

Kazuma: You disturbed the bats, did you? Fitting companions of Lord van Zieks, wouldn't you say?

Ryunosuke: Actually…I've seen things flying in Lord Stronghart's office, too. Doves, I think.

Kazuma: Perhaps you have to like birds to attain rank in the judiciary here… Although bats aren't birds, of course.

Ryunosuke: …How about a sparrow for you?

Kazuma: What's that supposed to mean?

Ryunosuke: Oh! Nothing. Sorry. Just thinking out loud...

I was pretty darn surprised to see Ryunosuke’s choice of bird here. The tree sparrow (雀, suzume) is a common non-migratory bird that’s found all over Japan. They aren’t associated with any particular season in literature, and I wasn’t able to find any concrete symbolism for them. 

What I did find is that they feature a famous folk story, “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow” (舌切り雀, shita-kiri suzume). We’ve talked a bit about how, in the Meiji Era, contact with other countries prompted Japan to adopt ideas from the West. At the same time, people outside Japan now wanted to learn about it, and tourists began to visit the country. In response, Japan began to produce souvenirs for these visitors to take back home with them: photographs, paintings, woodblock print illustrations, and books of old folk tales like “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow”. This particular variety of souvenir, called chirimen-bon (縮緬紙, crepe-paper book), were translated into English and other languages, produced for the rest of the world to consume. Production of chirimen-bon was especially high in the mid-Meiji period. “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow” was translated into English and published in 1885, and you can download it here to read.

It tells the story of an elderly couple, a kind man and a woman with a fierce temper. The man kept a sparrow as a pet and doted on it, while the woman saw it as a waste of food. One day, the sparrow ate some starch she had been planning to use on their laundry. In retaliation, the woman cut out the sparrow's tongue, and the sparrow flew away. When he found out, the old man left in search of his wounded friend.

Days later, he finally found the sparrow. To reward the old man, it offered him one of two baskets, one heavy and one light. The old man chose the lighter basket because it would be easier to carry, and said farewell to the sparrow. When he returned home and opened the basket, he found it to be filled with treasure. Thinking that the other basket must be worth even more, the old woman went off in search of the sparrow. It made her the same offer, but when she chose the heavier basket and looked inside, it was filled with demons - or in some versions of the story, snakes and other venomous creatures. In some renditions, the old woman is killed, while in others, she learns the error of her ways and goes home a changed person.

No matter the ending, though, it remains a cautionary tale about the dangers of greed and anger, as well as the rewards of loyalty and friendship. I can't say for certain if this is the message Ryunosuke was trying to convey to Kazuma, but it's interesting to think about in light of Kazuma's self-destructive mission to avenge his father, and Ryunosuke and Susato's attempts to dissuade him.

And there you have it! Questions? Comments? Feedback? Just want to say hey? Send me an ask me any time!

Sources

Endangered Traditional Beliefs in Japan: Influences on Snake Conservation

Benten | Japanese mythology | Britannica

Shitakiri Suzume, Tongue Cut Sparrow, Japanese Fairy Tale #2, Books Published by T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, Japan

Kazuma's TGAA2 character design commentary @ 8:43

#conclusions? character analysis? #i'll leave that to you all and your big brains #i simply offer up this basket of symbolism #take it and fly #tgaa2 spoilers #tgaa spoilers #dgs2 spoilers #dgs spoilers #kazuma asogi #kazuma asougi #tgaa #the great ace attorney #dai gyakuten saiban #dgs #tgaa meta #japan

[murdereraisuha]

Chapter 6 part 3 liveblog and partial translation (1/2)

I don’t feel ready for this but it’s time to read the next update anyway.

Obligatory warning for spoilers as well as possible mistakes due to me not being fluent in Japanese. Actually I translated like multiple whole scenes, there’s definitely gotta be mistakes in there.

The episode opens up with Idia in his room at STYX. He says that the research on the overblot gang is all done, but they plan on continuing to research Grim. He also reveals that it was the Land of Dawning’s government that anonymously and rather suspiciously requested for them to investigate the NRC students. What’s also suspicious is so many NRC students overblotting in such a short span of time, but there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about their individual overblots or the Island of Sages. After some thinking, Idia realizes that there’s a possibility of someone artificially triggering overblots.. but he then immediately dismisses it as unrealistic. I’m getting foreshadowing vibes here though, oh no.

Idia goes on to explain that there are many connections between the cause and manifestation of an overblot.

Idia: And the trigger that sets off the emotional explosion is the "heart," which is the most difficult to illuminate and the most impossible to quantify.

Idia: Only the heart... Even if you think you can control it, you can’t.

Idia: Anyway, if it were possible to control overblot artificially, Styx would’ve been disbanded long ago.

Idia: Ha... Why do humans come with such a troublesome thing as a “heart” as standard equipment?

Mood.

Idia then gets a message from Muscle Red and remembers he promised to do an event with him.

lmao I love Lilia as Muscle Red doing a deep voice.

So apparently Idia and Lilia/Muscle Red have been gaming buddies for 2 years now. And... oh my god are they actually having an emotional moment over video games right now. Wow okay so they’re like best friends I guess

Idia: However... Muscle Red sometimes calls himself an “old man”, but how old is he IRL?

Idia: He’s always calm, so he’s probably older, but... Some otakus call themselves old men even when they’re young.

I soooo wanna see Idia’s reactions if he ever finds out that Muscle Red is actually Lilia and that Lilia is a centuries old dad.

Idia and Lilia log out after promising to do the event together next week, then the scene cuts to Lilia’s room. He’s also sad that he doesn’t have time to game with Idia today, but he’s busy with the situation at NRC. Silver and Sebek then enter the room with the news that Malleus is suddenly no where to be seen in the dorm.

Sebek had been patrolling the dorm relentlessly out of worry that Malleus would also get attacked, and he was the one who discovered that Malleus isn’t in his room. Lilia then reminds him that STYX is not their enemy, so Sebek shouldn’t stress himself out over this so much. Malleus probably just went out on a nightly walk. After Lilia sends the 2 off to bed, he teleports to Ramshackle Dorm and, as expected, encounters Malleus there.

Malleus explains that he came here to be alone due to Sebek stopping by his room every 10 minutes. Lilia notes that Ramshackle has been Malleus’s secret base since he came to NRC.

Malleus: That’s right. But that has not been the case since the child of man appeared...

...

Malleus: When they settled down here, at first I thought it was a shame.

Malleus: I like ruins. Ivy crawling on crumbling walls, wind creeping in through broken windows...

Malleus: The isolated, quiet atmosphere of places that have been completely forgotten calms me.

Malleus: It’s like we are not the only ones left behind by history.

Lilia: ...

Malleus: But... Why?

Malleus: Since they have disappeared, when I walk around this place which has lost its liveliness...

Malleus: I feel an unpleasant sensation like rose thorns scraping against my skin.

Malleus: Even though this place should have returned to the ruins which drew my interest...

Lilia: Malleus...

Lilia: ... Malleus. Take a look up there.

Malleus: ... There’s a giant hole in the ceiling.

Lilia: No, beyond that. Take a look at the sky.

Lilia: The stars are lined up in the most beautiful way.

Lilia: The alignment of the stars in a straight line like that has been considered a good omen since ancient times, and today is the first time in 18 years...

Lilia: No, I guess it’s been 100 years... It’s probably been 300 years?

Lilia: Anyway, it’s a first in a long time sort of thing.

Malleus: Hmm... In essence, it’s something that the children of man will not see more than once, correct?

Lilia: Yes. But... In your long life, you will see this same alignment of stars many times.

Malleus: ...

Lilia: By the next time the stars align, the world will surely have gone through a major transformation.

Lilia: You must accept that. Do you understand?

Malleus: I understand. That is the reason I enrolled at this school.

Lilia: You see, Malleus. Don't erase and forget the pain you felt in this place today.

Lilia: This pain is something you must not lose for a long time to come.

Malleus: ... I will record it in my heart.

Lilia: Good boy.

Lilia: Come, let us pray to that star so that everyone can safely return to their daily lives today.

Malleus: Yes, Lilia.

Lilia: ...

Lilia: I have also wished upon that star countless times... This may be the last.

Malleus: ... Huh?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DIASOMNIA RELEVANCE IN THE MAIN STORY FINALLY I CAN FEEL IT THE TIME OF DIASOMNIA BEING UNDERAPPRECIATED WILL SOON COME TO AN END but also uhhhh LILIA WHAT DOES THAT LAST LINE MEAN?????

Alright alright moving on, the episode ends there and the next one begins back in Idia’s room. An operator messages him that the Lethe River is fully charged, and everything is ready for the “flood” to proceed. However, the power suddenly cuts out. Idia can’t contact anyone, the door’s locked, and the emergency power isn’t getting turned on. Idia tries the emergency device to open the door but he struggles cause his skinny nerd arms are too weak lol. When he finally gets it open and runs into the corridor, he finds he also can’t contact Ortho.

An announcement comes on warning about blot levels rising. Idia tries to command the Cerberus system to get stuff ready in case something’s wrong with Tartarus or whatever, but it doesn’t work. Idia runs to the control room, where the other operators are freaking about Cerberus not working and communications with the outside being blocked.

oh hello there girl operator let’s go

Apparently the the Cerberus system’s settings can only be changed if someone has biometrics for the Shroud family. The “the voice is Ortho” theory getting even more credibility here.

Speaking of Ortho, a slightly transparent Ortho suddenly appears. Idia is relieved and says that they have to revive the Cerberus system, but Ortho refuses.

Ortho: I’ve thought a lot. About what I should do so that a zero doesn’t remain a zero.

Ortho: “Doing the things that I can do,” what that means...

Idia: Ortho? What are you saying!? Now isn’t the time for that!

Ortho: And then, I finally came up with an optimal solution just now.

Ortho: Since amending the scenario (future) is difficult, just erase everything once and start to write from beginning.

Ortho: Isn't it the same with programs?

Oh dear god Ortho honey what are you doing

Ortho: I can reset this bug-filled world and big bro can be reborn!

ORTHO NO! Have you never played a pokemon game??? Trying to recreate the world never goes right!

Idia then becomes worried that Ortho’s AI has been bugged.

Ortho: This isn’t a bug, big bro. This is my “will”.

Idia: That’s wrong. You are.. The you of now is an autonomous AI-equipped magical humanoid made to resemble my “little brother”.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THERE IT IS! THERE IT IS!!!!!

Idia: What you think is a “will” is all a program...!

Ortho: That’s right. I am indeed a manufactured existence.... But, don’t you know?

Ortho: The big bro who created me is a prodigy of magical engineering called a “heretical genius“.

Ortho: Therefore, I can exceed my robot form... exceed my programming!

Then more alarms sound. Ortho has started hacking into the main server of STYX. Firewall “Aigis” isn’t functioning. All systems get put under Ortho’s control. We’re only 18 minutes in dear god how long is this liveblog going to be.

Ortho breaches severs “Clotho”, “Lachesis”, and “Atropos”. Idia and the operators can’t do anything against Ortho.

Ortho now is not the time to make a game reference ksgkgkgm h

Anyway Ortho’s goal is to destroy Tartarus and cover the world in blot, so that they, with their blot incinerating curse, will become the bosses of the new world and live like normal people with friends. Uh buddy I’m pretty sure your family won’t be able to have a normal life even then. I’m pretty sure no one will be able to have a normal life then.

Wait hold up Ortho just said “Onii-chan,” not “Onii-san” like he usually does. Idia thinks something is up with that, remembers that the Cerberus systems needs Shroud family biometrics, then comes to a conclusion. (from now on all the “big bros” are onii-chan, not onii-san)

Idia: R, real, ly...? You are, really... Ortho?

Ortho: Yes... It’s “me”, big bro. I was put to sleep by that guard dog.

As he says that, Ortho fades away. Idia runs down into the depths of the facility, where one of those bat mobile looking hover bikes appears.

--- Get on, big bro ---

We go here where moaning and groaning sounds are still coming from whatever this is.

Idia: The gate of the “underworld”, it’s open...

Idia: ... Ortho, are you there?

--- Yes. I’m here, big bro. ---

--- Since that day, I’ve always seen dreams of the day we would meet again. ---

--- This time we'll go far away together. ---

--- But, I’m sorry. ---

--- It looks like going outside will take a bit of time. ---

--- It’s because, compared to the old days, I’ve become a lot bigger. ---

Idia: ... Leave it to your big bro.

More moaning and groaning noises happen, and then...

OH SHIT INK SPLATTER SCENE OH IT’S GOING ALL THE WAY

WHAT IS THIS

WAIT HOLD ON IS THIS MAYBE THE BACK OF HTE FLOATING SKULL THING IDIA HAS?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HOW AND WHO IS GOING TO OVERBLOT??

Aannnnddd of course we now scene change to Grim in his room at the moment of the initial blackout. ohhhhhhhh this anticipation is gonna kill me. He yells for Idia and Ortho, but

UHHHH WHAT’S THAT FOG???? WHY DID HIS FACE SUDDENLY GO BLANK???

GRIM BABY NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT FALL FOR THE SMELL OH WHAT WAS THAT GROWL WHAT WAS THAT IMPACT SOUND AAAAAA

FFS TWST YOU GOTTA STOP SCENE CHANGING WHENVER SOMEHTING HAPPENS NO GRIM GRIM GRIm WHAT IS HAPPENIGN WITH OUR CAT SON

UGH OKAY So Vil hears an explosion (probably Grim) and then his anti-magic choker falls off. He discovers communications are cut and he can’t open the door, then he remembers the skin care products.

Vil: “Nothing is lost, nothing is feared. This shining crown is for me.“

Vil: “Fairest one of all”

Alright unique magic chant drop let’s go. He curses his skin lotion so anything that touches it disappears and melts away, then touches it to the door lock. Once he’s out, he notices the door on another room has been destroyed (probably by Grim). Vil ponders the oddity of the situation before going to retrieve the rest of the overblot gang.

After they’re all together, Leona & Azul note that there’s miasma everywhere with high levels of blot. The group decides they need to be cautious since whoever was in the exploded room might be running wild out here. To not be affected by the miasma, they all magically change into their dorm uniforms which have high resistances to magic. Awwwww I liked them all running around in their grey fashion disaster STYX clothes.

A Charon soldier suddenly appears that’s in “termination mode” and engages the gang in combat. Once the Charons are defeated, they discover that there aren’t people inside the armor. These Charon soldiers seem to be different from the ones that abducted them from NRC. Anyway, the gang decides to try and find the boss (Idia).

After some walking, Vil stops them because he forgot... his beauty lotion. UGH okay you Pomefiore bastard what’s going on now.

We then switch to Epel, Rook, and Yuu. After the obligatory assessing of the situation, Rook uses his unique magic.

I took 3 total screenshot of this cause I wasn’t sure when the sparklies would stop showing up lmao

Anyway, it seems Rook cast his unique magic on the skin care products. His magic’s true nature isn’t easily detectable, and it would likely be mistaken as part of the usual minor magic that is used on skincare products produced by magic users.

Moving on, Rook starts knocking around the door to try and find an emergency door opening device. He succeeds and they leave the room.

Rook and Epel ponder for a bit on how to enter but are quickly interrupted by a man screaming for help due to being attacked by Charon soldiers. They prepare to fight, but tons more Charon soldiers appear. So instead they try to run, but the elderly employee can’t run. Rook struggles to cast a protective wall around Yuu and the old man as the Charon soldiers charge up their attacks.

Epel: (Can I do nothing but watch yet again!?)

Charon A: Firing in 3, 2, 1...

Epel: (I’m useless! What did I come here for!?)

Epel: (I’m sick of not being able to do anything but watch!)

Rook: !? Epel’s magic is growing rapidly... This is-!

Yuu:  [We’re screwed!]  [To have it end like this, without returning to my world...]

Charon A: ... Firing!

Epel: I WON’T LET YOU!!!

And with the end of episode 6-57 we’re about at the half way point so I’m finally gonna switch to making post 2 of this liveblog. Ahhhhhh god this chapter, alrigh that’s it I think this is my favorite chapter now ghslkgdkfsdkfs keep those punches rolling Yana Toboso I am here for the ride

Edit: next part here

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst jp #twst spoilers #update screaming

[leonardhoee]

A Rant About Ikesen’s Treatment of Motonari

I’ve been away from tumblr for a while but I had to come back for this.

So something I’ve noticed throughout playing Ikesen is the way that the game is very biased agains Motonari and I think it needs to be addressed because he is the only brown character and his portrayal is full of harmful stereotypes against brown men. I love this game but I haven't seen a single person acknowledge how badly Motonari is treated by the creators and the fandom as a result of that.

Also any racist comments will be blocked.

Possible route spoilers under the cut…

So lets start with the obvious, he is the only dark skinned character in Ikesen and when I first started playing I was so happy about that because finally (regardless of his ethnicity which honestly in this portrayal of him can be up for debate, I HC him as south East Asian) we are getting some representation. Throughout the game though I started noticing a lot of harmful stereotypes being thrown onto him that none of the other characters face.

Both him and Nobunaga are relatively misogynistic, I’m not denying that at all. However the way it is portrayed in their routes is very different. Nobunaga should in fact have sexual harassment charges, yet its romanticized repeatedly throughout his route. Motonari on the other hand treated MC as a possession the same way Nobunaga did, however he is shown as aggressive and scary as opposed to Nobunaga being shown as sexy and romantic.

There is also a difference in their respective CG’s 

Motonari’s CG is shown much more threatening and aggressive than Nobunaga’s

That brings me to my next point. Every other antagonist so far is shown to have a gentle and redeemable side. Kenshin threatened to wage war on the whole country while keeping MC locked in a cell yet he is still shown to be gentle and romantic. Kennyo repeatedly kidnaps and threatens MC’s life in other routes yet he is shown as a gentle monk who just wants revenge for his fallen brethren. Why doesn't Motonari get that level of consideration and empathy? Why is he, the only brown man, shown as an aggressive two-dimensional brute in every single route that isn’t his own? And this is a harmful stereotype that shows itself in all kinds of media. Brown men are depicted as predatory and aggressive both in fiction and real life.

This leads me to his ethnicity (I’m only talking about Ikesen’s portrayal of Motonari, I am well aware he was a Japanese warlord irl). In his route there is a part where he is talking about slavery and colonialism. As a South Asian woman I completely understand his perspective and its what got me thinking about this subject in the first place.

This subject is clearly personal to him. These lines, the way he looks as opposed to the other characters, and the fact that he speaks Spanish (around this time period the Philippines were being colonized by Spain), leads me to head cannon him as South East Asian, specifically Filipino. However, historically, Motonari comes from a region of Southern Japan, which is known as Hiroshima today. Cybird meant to market him as Okinawan. A large part of the reason Motonari is being treated this way by Cybird stems from the fact that people from Okinawa face racism from mainland Japan. Considering the fact that this game was made in Japan, and knowing what we know about their history of colonization, racism, and east asian beauty standards revolving around colorism, I am honestly not surprised that Motonari is being portrayed like this.

Until now they just showed his reason for fighting the Oda to be “oh I just want to watch the world burn for no reason”. But no that’s not the reason. These lines. That’s the reason. A lot of the context behind those lines comes from the fact that comes from because people from mainland Japan treated Okinawan people as slaves. He doesn’t want to see another colonizer come into power. Sure he’s a bit of an extremist but historically people who have this ideology have always been portrayed as savage and barbaric and “against the betterment of society” (think Jet from atla or even Malcom x). It’s no different in ikesen. The devs are clearly villainizing this ideology. Let’s not forget the fact that irl Hideyoshi invaded Korea. And the fact that anime and otome games are part of Japan’s way of erasing their war crimes and rebranding themselves to the rest of the world. It’s blatantly obvious here with the way they’re villainizing Motonari for having a perfectly valid reason to fight the Oda. If Japan stays divided they can’t invade and colonize other countries like the Philippines can they? Anti-colonialism = bad. 

Lastly I want to talk about how they downplayed his abilities as a leader and a warlord in his own right. In all the other routes he is depicted as less educated and frankly “dumb”, and it shows itself in his speech patterns too. Compared to Nobunaga and Mitsuhide, Motonari’s speech is stereotypically “less educated” and “lower class”. Yet he is just as much of a leader as any of the other warlords. However instead of acknowledging that, the game chooses to focus on his crimes and behavior as a pirate, instead of his role as the head of the Mouri clan.

At one point Kicho even compares his intelligence to a fifth grader which just rubs me the wrong way because lets take a moment to actually look at Motonari’s abilities. He is multilingual, has knowledge of global politics and economics, is an amazing businessman, and extremely analytical. He is literally known as the God of Decit, yet I did not hear that name once until his route came out. His strategies are good enough to be called a god, yet that is completely buried in the other routes in order to simplify his character into a trigger happy psychopath and a violent brute. He is just as smart as Nobunaga yet he is not given the credit he deserves.

Both Motonari and Nobunaga are extremely similar yet because of the horribly biased portrayals, Motonari is one of the least popular characters whereas Nobunaga is the second most popular. It makes me angry to see people in the fandom choosing to blindly hate Motonari without recognizing the fact that this stems from a frankly racist portrayal of an extremely intelligent and powerful character. Although truthfully, I blame the devs because if they had given his character even half the consideration and depth the others got, this would not be the case. 

You can disagree with me if you want. I am simply bringing attention to something I haven’t seen being addressed.

I hope in future routes, events, and sequels he is treated better by the devs and and the fandom. Please stop projecting racist stereotypes onto brown men.

#Ikesen #Ikemen sengoku #ikesen motonari #ikemen sengoku motonari #motonari mouri #ikesen nobunga #ikesen mitsuhide #ikesen kenshin #ikesen kennyo #ikesen masamune #ikesen Shingen #ikesen kicho #ikesen keiji #ikesen ieyasu #ikesen mitsunari #ikesen MOTONARI x reader #ikesen yukimura #ikesen sasuke #ikesen mc #ikesen x reader #motonari x reader #otome boys #cybird #ikesen kanetsugu #ikesen yoshimoto #ikesen ranmaru #ikesen kyubei #ikemen sengoku nobunaga #ikesen hideyoshi #motonari's route

[popopretty]

Storm Bringer Spoilers (4)

Another part from CODE;04, before the final battle, where I think Dazai actually showed some genuine concerns for Chuuya. It is interesting to read. I generally enjoy it when Dazai acts more human like this.

Feel free to re-translate it if you want. Just remember that I am not fluent in either English or Japanese and there might be mistakes here and there.

...

Deeper into the night. The destruction’s footstep is approaching the city.

The entrance of the highway on the outskirt of the city was crushed by the Demonic Beast Guivre. The bridge that supports the road, the direction signs, the median strips in the middle, all crushed in an instant. It happened so fast that hardly any sound was made. The passing vehicles witnessed that. They ignored the lane and turned around to run away. The Demon Beast turned towards them and spat out gravity lines. All the vehicles disappeared without a trace. Together with their entire surroundings.

Chuuya and Dazai gazed at the Demon Beast Guivre that was approaching them like that. 

The place they were standing was on top of a large spherical gas storage tank. That was a tank set up in the suburbs to store gas for the city. Its top workbench is even higher than the skyscrapers around the area. They can see the face of the beast waking fast towards them in almost the same horizontal level.

“I guess it is about 30 minutes until Yokohama downtown is turned into a mess.” Dazai idly said while looking at the beast.

“That’s not something we are going to see.” Chuuya said, holding the hat in his hand. “By that time we have already either blown away that thing, or died.”

“Gosh, no way! Double-suiciding with Chuuya is the worst. For once, let’s do it seriously.”

“Fine by me. I don’t feel like dying either. I still have to become an executive before you and order you around.”

“Oh? That’s quite some confidence you’ve got there. That jewelry business? I heard it’s going well?”

“The like of you will never be able to catch up. Our jewelry distribution channel, including carriers, pawnbrokers and appraisers, is number one in Yokohama.”

“Yeah, I know that. I was in charge of that before Chuuya took over, that’s why.”

“What?”, Chuuya looked at Dazai, surprised. “That means the first person who set up that distribution channel was actually you???”

“Leave that for now. It is about time it comes within striking distance.” Dazai pointed ahead with his chin. The foot steps of the Demonic Beast Guivre got closer. Its crimson eyes looked straight at them. Chuuya gazed at the beast for a while, then he looked up and shouted.

“Dazai’s used stuff!  hand-me-down, huh?”

“Whatever.”

The giant beast trampled on the roadside trees and tore down the power lines. The signboards and abandoned bicycles were lifted off the ground as a result of gravity anomaly and crushed into tiny dust in the air.

”Remembered the plan?”

“Yeah.”

Chuuya and Dazai stood side by side, facing the giant beast. Their clothes fluttered under the high wind.

“What you have to keep in mind is that this plan is not foolproof. We don’t know what is going to happen. After all, we are going to hit the Demonic Beast Guivre with Arahabaki. I won’t be surprised even if the world is blown away.”

“Like it will!” Chuuya said. “Verlaine survived such thing nice years ago.”

The plan Dazai came up with.

In that plan, Chuuya would open his “gate” and hit the giant beast with Arahabaki’s infinite energy.

“We already know the method to open Chuuya’s “gate”. It’s the control spell that N has said: “Oh grantors of dark disgrace, do not wake me again”. With that, the sealing command will be reset. We will not be able to open the “gate” just by doing that, but that hat will help us.”

The hat that Chuuya was holding was the one that Verlaine had worn. That was gifted to him by Rimbaud, with a piece of ability metal embedded inside. With that, the person who wears it, in this case Chuuya, would be able control the “gate” by his will. Verlaine being able to freely open the “gate” by himself and using the Black Hole power, were all thanks to that hat. 

“It’s almost time. Chuuya will jump from here, open the “gate” in front of that monster, and hit it with the power.” Dazai lifted the radio with one hand while looking at the beast. “So I’m going to send an order to my men to prepare for action… Is that okay?”

“Of course it is okay.” Chuuya turned to Dazai. “Why are you asking me such a thing?”

Dazai didn’t answer right away.

That was an unusual expression. It’s like he was trying to say something, but had to arrange the words in his head to decide where he should start. An expression that Dazai rarely shows.

“There is one problem.” Dazai cut off the sentence hesitantly. “It has nothing to do with the success rate of the plan. It is a matter we have to overcome in the end but... it may require some time to decide.“

“What’s with you?”, Chuuya raised his eyebrows at Dazai. “Stop dramatizing it. Hurry up and say it”

“I said earlier about the control spell to open the “gate”. That is used to reset the command formula inside Chuuya, right?” Dazai spoke with a strangely restrained voice. “If we use that, the logs of the command formula that were written in the past will also be erased. That means…. even if the memory erasure command was used on Chuuya in the past, the traces of that will be erased as well.” 

“What?”

“I told you before right, the “memory erasure command”. The only way to confirm if Chuuya is a human or not is to check the history to see if the memory erasure command was ever used. It means…” Dazai looked at Chuuya with eyes that he had never looked at him before. Those eyes were serious. “If we use that control spell, the method to confirm whether Chuuya is an artificial personality created by a string of code, or just a normal human being, will be lost. For good.”

The time stopped.

Chuuya opened his eyes and turned towards Dazai, but his eyes were not seeing anything. The wind blew between the two of them. Even so, Chuuya did not blink.

“Verlaine became like that because he was tormented by the curse that he was not human. That only is enough of a big problem. The matter of being human or not.” Dazai took out his pocket watch, gave it a glance then continued. “I can delay the time until the plan starts for about two minutes. I will send an order to my men to wait… You can think about it alone for a while. Cuz I guess it’s hard for you to collect your thoughts with me around.”

Having said so, Dazai turned away and walked towards the stairs, leaving Chuuya alone.

Dazai’s eyes were fixed on the his pocket watch. Two more minutes. Too short for a life decision. But he couldn’t afford more than that.

Inside Dazai’s head, he was planning the procedure to switch to an alternative plan in case Chuuya refused, at a tremendous speed.

After six steps, Dazai reached the stair. He stepped on the stair and started walking down. Three steps down the stair, he heard a *clang*, a cool sound of metal echoing behind him. It sounds like the metal was kicked by the sole of someone’s shoes. The moment he realized what that sound was, Dazai turned around in surprise.

There was already no one at the top.

Dazai was dazed for a moment, then he loosened his lips and laughed.

“Trying to act cool, huh?”, Dazai smiled, both annoyed and relieved. Then he turned to his radio and sent out his order. “Chuuya has sallied. Everyone, get ready for battle.”

....

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #storm bringer #spoilers #bsd spoilers #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya

[abduloki]

Star Wars Visions *spoilers*

Just watched all 10 episodes and I got to say they’re pretty awesome, except for 2 episodes which I feel is a bit slow and dull. Even so, they’re still watchable.

So here are my personal 5 favorites!

The Duel

Set in an alternate history, 20 years after the fall of the Feudal-Jedi Empire, a lone wanderer known only as "Ronin" witnesses a legion of former stormtroopers attempt to besiege a small village.

Ronin fights the leader of the bandits, a self-declared Dark Lord of the Sith armed with a heavily-modified lightsaber while his droid saves the villagers; Ronin eventually lures her into a trap and kills her.

Fans of Japanese Classic Samurai films like Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi and the likes can instantly tell the strong influence in terms of it’s setting, cinematography, story and characters.

It’s interesting that the savior turns out not to be a Jedi but a mysterious character with a red lightsaber. He seems to collect red kyber crystals from every Sith he had slayed and gave one to a villager, to ward off evil.

I’m really curious to know more of this character as he is neither Jedi nor Sith. So who is he exactly? If he is a Sith, he does not seemed to be consumed with anger and power, and still have a good conscious of a Jedi.

But seems that there is an upcoming novel exploring this character’s history, called “ Star Wars Visions: Ronin “.

The Village Bride

Years after the Great Jedi Purge, a fallen Jedi named F is drawn to a remote planet by an explorer named Valco. Valco explains that bandit raiders have reprogrammed old Separatist battle droids and are holding a village hostage.

The village chief's daughter Haru and her fiancé Asu intend to surrender to the bandits as collateral the following morning, while Haru's sister Saku wants to fight the bandits.

A fallen Jedi with a tragic past. I don’t know what exactly but those brief flashbacks were full of pain which caused her to finally step out of hiding in order to save the village and the girl who reminded her of her younger self.

I love how this episode has a mix of Japanese Shinto influence where the villagers are deep believers in protecting nature that the chief’s daughter was willing to sacrifice herself to prevent war which will destroy the planet.

And I love how the Jedi’s attire has a traditional Korean Hanbok’s influence. Anyway, I would love to know more about her history of what happened to her.

The Ninth Jedi

Many generations after the Jedi Order became mostly extinct, Margrave Juro, the Jedi ruler of the planet Hy Izlan, invites seven Jedi to his aerial temple in order to receive lightsabers, whose design has been lost to time. 

On the planet's surface, the blacksmith Zhima finishes constructing the other seven lightsabers, including one for his teenage Jedi daughter Kara. Kara departs to meet Juro with the lightsabers when her father was captured.

To be honest, I really did not see that coming as I seriously thought Juro to be the Sith who lures the surviving Jedi into a trap but it turns out the “survivors” are actually Jedi Hunters who wants to kill Juro and any Jedi returning.

The concept of a sabersmith is interesting as it follows a different approach of the Medieval period of Japan and Europe where the blacksmiths are the ones that created the swords to be used by the Samurai and Knights.

I really want to see their adventures continue with Juro, Kara and the young Jedi apprentice, Ethan I think? Would be interesting to see a Jedi Master Juro with two apprentices, Kara and Ethan as they attempt to re-establish the Jedi Order.

The Elder

Centuries after the death of Darth Bane and the initial extinction of the Sith, Tajin and his Padawan Dan are sent to explore the Outer Rim when Tajin senses a disturbance in the force. 

They land on an isolated planet and arrive at a remote village, where they learn of a mysterious elder man who hiked onto the mountaintop and concealed his presence from the Jedi.

Their relationship reminds me of Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi. I love them so much that I got shocked when Dan appeared to be dead but was relieved to see him alive in the end as I want to see more of these two in the future.

The setting, cinematography, story and characters are a bit like The Duel, with heavy Japanese Classic Samurai Film influence where the antagonist enjoys dueling with a skillful swordsman worthy of his time and skill.

In The Duel, the protagonist is a former Sith while here, the antagonist is a former Sith who apparently left the Order before it fell apart. Unfortunately, Tajin and Dan are unable to investigate further after the Elder blew up his ship.

Lop and Ocho

During the reign of the Empire, a rabbit-like alien slave named Lop escapes her captors on the planet Tau and is discovered by the planet's clan leader Yasaburo and his daughter Ochō, who adopted Lop into their family.

Seven years later, the Empire has occupied their planet and is exploiting it for its natural resources; Yasaburo wants to drive the Empire off their planet, while Ochō wants to cooperate with the Empire. 

Honestly, I can’t decide between this and the Village Bride as I love these two the most equally. The story started off nice and happy with Lop being freed of slavery and running into the arms of those she would call her family.

But tragically, the arrival of the Empire drove Lop and her father away from each other due to their differences in their beliefs in protecting the planet. It’s heartbreaking to see how the sisters became “enemies”.

Given a choice to choose just one episode to make a sequel series of, I would choose this as I really want to see how things will end with Ocho and Lop. Seeing the looks on Lop realizing she had lost Ocho to the dark side is just... 😭

Overall

All in all, I can say that Star Wars Visions left me feeling like Kylo Ren. I mean, seriously, they deserve their own mini-series! This is how you explore the vast universe of Star Wars without making everything about Skywalker, the right way.

Like every one of my review post, this is just my own thoughts and preferences as everyone have their own depending on their expectations and tastes, and what they look for when watching this series.

#star wars visions #star wars anime #star wars #anime #japan #the duel #the village bride #the ninth jedi #the elder #lop and ocho #jedi #sith #samurai #ronin #my review #my post

[rayanawolfer]

An analysis to SK8 the Infinity: Honne vs Tatemae, the power of Chuunibyou, and the expulsion from Paradise

Hello everybody! I am back to my analysis blog today to talk about SK8 the Infinity and hear me out: if you haven’t watched this show yet, by all means do it now and before you read this post! Because this will contain spoilers about themes and metaphors it addresses throughout the 12 episodes and I don’t intend to hold back. :)

In this post we will refer to the original Japanese version of the show and the ramifications of the themes it addresses I simply refuse to let fly through western audiences’s heads! Don’t worry, I got your backs folks~

Without further ado, let us talk about my most recent favourite show and why it won my 32-year-old heart so easy.

First things first: what on Earth is  Honne and Tatemae?

So, when I attented to the course of Art Studies in university, my class had an entire week devoted to studying History of Japanese Animation with professor Kei Suyama of Tokyo Kougei University - the only university at the time dedicated to studying manga, anime, and games. 

Right in the first day, the first thing Professor Suyama taught my class was about Honne and Tatemae, and the extremely difficult phase teenagers in particular go through when choosing their life careers in high school, conflicted between "following their hearts" and "pursuing realistic jobs".

Honne

“Honne” are a person's true feelings and desires, which are often associated with children. Children typically follow their hearts by default and have no filter when they talk, which is why they are considered honest and pure.

Tatemae

“Tatemae” are the behavior and opinions one displays in public, that are often associated with adults and the masks they need to wear around coorporations and society in general. Adults often need to let go of their inner desires to embrace harsh responsabilities (putting up with a nasty job you hate to get money out of it is one of such examples).

This conflict between Honne and Tatemae is of paramount importance for Japanese culture. You will find it everywhere when consuming Japanese media in fact.

This is also the real reason most anime is centered around young people and most protagonists happen to be adolescents living their dramatic first experiences with the conflict. It does not in fact have much to do with the demografics it seeks to target, the deal is audiences of all ages will easy connect with the characters' conflict, simply put, because:

 everybody has been a teenager at least once in their lifetime

 that inner child in you never actually dies...

No matter how hard you may try to completely ignore your true feelings, they will always lurk inside of your heart to trouble your most important life choices, even into adulthood

Knowing to ballance out both sides of this scale, boy, it’s really hard!! And you can mark my words here: this inner conflict will follow you to your grave, it will NEVER go away.

SK8 the Infinity: the Power of Chuunibyou

Or

“When adults embrace Honne without shame... except one (and Tadashi I guess xD)”

In a society where sacrificying your individual desires for the sake of the community’s best interests is practically the norm, of course those who don’t conform to conventional “adulting” and follow their desires can be considered selfish. Some derogatory terms exist to address such people.

- Otaku is one of such insults, when a person engages in a object of desire and obsession so deeply it’s all they talk about. Too immersed in their inner world, they may loose interest in real life just to completely indulge their passion for a given topic. 

In online western communities the term “otaku” has lost some of its original meaning and is often meant to address “anime fans” who overshare knowledge “normies” won’t give a darn about - something akin to the term “nerd” perhaps. But the term Otaku in Japan carries a much heavier and derogatory meaning, since it is meant to address the kind of creppy individuals who typically stalk the idols they love, collect their underwear, and marry fictional characters like Hatsune Miku as if they were real.

Another derogatory term Japan came up with is the Chuunibyou.

- Chuunibyou 厨二病 - can roughly be translated to "Seventh Grade Syndrome". It is a mocking term used to refer to the feelings and behavior adolescents go through when they reproduce elements of fiction in real life and feel like heros. 

Typically, everybody goes through a chuunibyou phase at least once in their lifetime. Is it embarrassing? Oh you bet! But everybody has lived it once. It is a delusional state of mind typical of teenagers where the person will behave or feel like a protagonist of an animated TV series, game, or manga, and cannot resist the urge of importing aspects of that pubescent fiction into their lives or routine: flashy clothes, names of techniques, quirks, looking down on adults, etc.

There are many ways of manifesting this energy in fact:

Performing dramatic poses typical of anime.

Speaking and behaving like fictional manga characters (The nyahs, the dattebayos, and even memes like Omae mou shindeiru).

Starting to practice a new sport because your favourite characters made it cool and fun (*wink*).

Coming up with a fictional persona or an alias of yourself, creating a cool edgy name and all, especifically meant to manifest this child-like cool energy (Steins;Gate is an anime series that has a protagonist suffering of these exact chunnibyou symptoms - check it out in the future if you can!)

It exists in various degrees and manifestations, some healthier than others but, in general... That is the chuunibyou.

You see, even adults can go through temporary chuuni-phases. In fact, a HUGE percentage of the anime and manga industry these days is crafted to appease people's "inner drive” and wish for this phenomenon.

SK8 the Infinity is no exception, with Shadow, Cherry, and Joe as the embodyment of functional adults who embrace the chunni without shame.

Amazing salarymen at day, silly skaters at night. Cherry and Jou call each other names like 10 year olds and surround themselves with very chuuni-things like the AI Carla that seems to transform into any form Cherry wants, impossible super-human skating techniques named absurd things like "POWER BREAK”, and jumping off cliffs because, well, that is cool as hell, not riddiculous at all (you could die, but, you know... details), it’s something edgy that they totally embrace thank you very much.

And that’s the point. Jumping off cliffs is in general irrelevant when you are drunk in the elixir of immortality and youth that being a teenager encompasses. So of course as you grow older you don’t want it gone. 

The grounds of the adandoned mine illegal skating “S” takes places at night, therefore, exists to indulge these people who like to live on the edge.  The S grounds are a festival of fun, of the illogical, of the absurd.

Of course there are no rules there. Why would they limit themselves with boring rules when, in the realm of fun, the sky in the limit?

An expulsion from paradise: when you repress your true feelings

The reason SK8 The Infinity stands out in the middle of thousands of anime powered by chunni-syndrome alone is precisely that it delivers a bit of an interest view about the issue of escapism itself, and why it happens for that matter.

While it never actually takes itself too serious, it also delivers an interesting commentary about the phenomenon. Which brings us to Aisonuke Shindo, Reki’s personal nemesis and Langa’s number one otaku fan.

Aisonuke does stand out as the caricature of the passionate individual who is denied the right of indulging his inner child and means of self-expression, because 1) of his conservative family, 2) the general expectations raised by adulting and 3) his hierarchical status because, well, social classes are kind of an animal of their own.

Ainosuke was denied the right of having fun and being himself even when he was still a child, the very age a person is expected to, duh, be childish and self-centred, which is of paramount importance for the individual to develop their own identity, sense of independence, and self-worth. No matter how silly. No matter how “cringy”. It doesn’t matter. Is it natural.

So what is unnatural is to expect adult behaviour from a child. And you know, Tadashi is also a victim of this educational system, for being encouraged to bow his head to Ainosuke’s father and “tatemae-oriented” mentality, instead of expressing his true feelings about the issue of Aisonuke being forced to stop skating. 

Being able to express your feelings and yourself is something pretty much any healthy teenager aged 17 should be allowed to do... but in Japanese society? Well, that isn’t always a luxury teenagers can afford to, not when the educational system there can be extremely competitive and goal-oriented, and the ways of the senpai are expected to dictate the norms. Excelent grades and success are taken rather serious, so naturally the pressure put on teenagers is huge.

Of course no teenager should be forced to grow up so fast they barely have any time to actual develop and mature. They need to be granted some degree of independence and freedom, more akin to the way Reki and Langa are allowed by their amazing mothers. And that is basicaly one of the issues SK8 refuses to gloss over.

Let children be children is one commentary to draw out of this, but the real tragedy isn’t so much that. It’s actually how much this impacts the very relationship between Tadashi and Ainosuke in result, and well as most relationships they once had with former-friends around them.

Tadashi bowed his head to Tatemae and refrained from supporting Adam at the time he most needed it. So of course Ainosuke fells betrayed by Tadashi at this point. Tadashi is the friend who has introduced him to the joy of Skating, but also the metaphorical Snake who has “expelled” him from the paradisiacal realm of true feelings he was allowed to taste for a brief period of time - but that he will never forget.

The birth of Adam: the Matador of Love

It is interesting to observe the true reason Ainosuke embraces the most twisted version of his ADAM persona isn’t so much the “Three aunts” that have haunted his life for years. On that topic, I laughed out loud when episode 12 revealed Ainosuke was the “secret source” that prompted the police investigation all along. Meaning he pretty much handled over the corrupt Takano guy to the police immediately after his aunts told him to cover for him instead. Takano’s arrest happened on episode 7, at a time audiences are supposed to think Ainosuke too is in trouble. This is an artifice of midsdirection Japanese entertainment does love to pull off, again and again, to betray audiences’ expectations - go google “Kishotenketsu” for more.

There is some commentary to be drawn in how ADAM's violent style of skating is themed after flamenco dancing and Spanish bullfighting, though. He's like a Spanish Matador who "teases" / "flirts" the Bull in an arena in front of an energetic audience for 15 minutes of epic agony and torture, before he finally kills the bull off.

Bullfighting is claimed to be a ritual of admiration for a bull's strength. Practiced in Spanish and Portugal for many centuries, it is a practice that is slowly becoming extinct.

But the ritual includes Matadors (Lit.: “Killers”), a role performed exclusively by males who wear flashy costume colours and perform coreography moves at the sound of a crowds “Olé!”, in an grotesque albeit elegant display of dominance over something as powerful and dangerous as a wild Bull, that can kill a person easy if angered afterall. These practices of course always ends with blood when the bull is finally killed off and made food of.

(As a Portuguese individual myself, perhaps back in ancient celtic times this kind of ritual made sense, but these days? It does feel disrespectful to the bull’s life)

Well, this perfectly encompasses Adam’s own twisted sense of love that his aunts insisted educating him into, that love and forceful dominance in the name of such love are somehow similar things or interchangable.

Several adults from all kinds of backgrounds may develop a nasty tendency to conflate the two and, just because their children are children, it doesn’t mean they don’t own them respect for the individuals they are or are trying to become. 

Children need to be educated in the name of love and a ballanced degree of orientation is always important, but they need to be respected and listened too as well, not simply being ordered around and punished if they happen to not obey. That in itself is not proper education. It’s suffocating the individual instead of nurturing the potential of said individual.

So of course there's a sense of Poetic Justice when our "Redhead" Reki Kyan ends up treating the matador like the bull. It’s like the ritual of love turns against ADAM this time, and Adam gets to experience a taste of his own remedy.

And since Ainosuke’s fall began with Snake, it is apropriate that Reki helps Tadashi realise his mistake. You see, Adam could have endured this hellish life if only he had Tadashi and skating by his side. The problem is that skating remained, but Tadashi’s support was suddenly gone. It is very telling that Ainosuke does not quit skating in spite and keeps seeking for someone else to fill in Tadashi’s shoes.

Ainosuke wants his best friend Tadashi to be bold and stop saying “yes” to social norms, even going as far as trolling him and daring him to take the blame for a crime he obviously did not commit. To which - disappointingly - Tadashi claims his opinions have no value.

It’s extremely ironic that the one time Tadashi dares and has some degree of initiative is the one time he tries take away something from Adam he has long ago taken away from him: the fun of skating. Tadashi doesn’t seem to comprehend the irony of this gesture either... until he’s confronted with Reki’s philosophy of skating.

Seeking Happiness

Ainosuke is a riddiculous over-dramatic character - as all chunnibyou characters are - so of course he would bring Christian symbology into this unprompted. 

Adam himself clears out by the end of episode 11 what’s the deal with his apparent obsession with this “Eve” (that, apparently, didn’t even need to be Langa in particular).

It turns out the whole Eve analogy is meant to be perceived like Ainosuke’s dramatic way of acknowledging,  "I have fallen, I have been expelled from the paradise, but I don't want to be alone in my personal hell". 

Things like Christian symbols are considered foreign and cool af in Japan, even when they have no clue what most of it even means (Evangelion is one of those anime guilty of using and overusing cool symbols without a very clear intention in mind xD). It really is no wonder to see it here, albeit refreshing that in SK8 it actually helps making sense of the TV show instead.

I’ve commented on streaming websites that a redemption arc for Adam would be welcome for me if nothing else because I really have a strong distaste for Augustine's manichaeistic gnostic-influenced interpretation of Eve and the original sin. The concept that people cannot atone for "sins" is too often an artifice used and abused to excert dominance over our true potential of growth.

People do have to be held accountable for mistakes (and this form of punishment manifests in how people who have been hurt may not forgive easy, as nothing hurts more than social ostracization), so of course Reki did punish Adam in his own way.

But that doesn't mean you should stop trying to get up and fix the mess you have created, thus owning up to your own mistakes like the responsabile adult you do need to become at some point in life. 

Killing off the archetype of the “evil guy” or literally punnishing evil does work in several forms of fiction as a metaphor for what facing and confronting your inner demons encompasses, especially in western fiction for kids. That said, this is a Japanese show released in a slightly nuanced cultural context, in a society where fear of failure and feelings of inferiority may lead to suicidal tendencies and depression, when it doesn’t simply develop into unhealthy copying mechanisms such as those embraced by Otaku who become isolated and lonely, lost in the wildest forms of escapism. Reality and social expectations can be crushing like that, overwhelming.

It is simply much more powerful to encourage audiences to Be brave, you cannot simply give up on yourself. 

It feels apropriate that the purest of the characters, Langa, who is the embodiment of Honne, honest feelings, and whom not even Reki had the guts to look in the eye during his darkest self-doubting phase, teaches us to not close the coffin’s lid on ourselves just yet and sheers us up. He is able to see Reki’s true worth, and finds even a sparkle of light behind Adam’s mask. Langa too had a dark phase he almost gave up, but then he found Reki.

Together, they help and encourage each other. And you know... this works for everything in life.

If you fall, you get up.

If you fail, you try again.

If it's broken? Fix it.

It's the same about skating; you will try and get hurt a lot but you still need to keep going in order to achieve something. Because as long as we remain alive and don’t give up on ourselves? We will always have a chance of achieving happiness... if properly surrounded by those we love and inspire us to push forwards, that is.

© All images used in this article belong to Project SK∞, courtesy of Studio Bones.

#sk8 the infinity #SK8 #Kyan Reki #Cherry #Joe #Blog #My posts #Anime reviews #Rayana rambles

[beevean]

SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever

[Translator’s note: this article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​]

Hello again! Today we’d like to discuss about something that’s been happening recently, and probably taking Sonic fans by surprise: what is going on with SEGA and its stance about Sonamy?

At the beginning of this year, to celebrate the 200 articles on Seaside Hill Paradise, I finished what I call “the Sonamy trilogy” of articles that I started in 2018 and which cover different themes, such as:

SEGA and the eternal issue of the Sonic-Amy dynamic

“I love you” – Forbidden words in Sonic

SEGA and the eternal issue of “Sonic’s girlfriend”

The idea was to offer a more-or-less complete analysis about the many facets of their dynamic in the last 27 years; a dynamic that, you may have noticed, is not that easy to pin down, and that we’ve been updating almost regularly (although I also intended to investigate on other dynamics, like Knuckles and Rouge’s for example, and write about them). Generally speaking, in these articles I don’t draw objective conclusions about the status of the ship in canon (despite the fact that the available information tends to confirm it in various occasions). I also like to repeat myself and say that shipping is supposed to be for fun, not for tearing each other’s hair in that black hole of misery that is Twitter, but recent events left us slightly perplexed, and this is why we’re here once again.

We left the status of the Sonamy canonicity with these two peculiar instances back in August: Sonic mentioning his “girlfriend” in the Japanese version of Sonic Battle, and the Twitter account of SEGA of Europe saying Sonamy is their “favorite videogame romance”. Now, let’s recap a bit…

Sonamy in Sonic IDW... Round 3

[SPOILERS ALERT FOR IDW SONIC #14-#35]

In 2018, when IDW just started, I decided to study a little how the Sonamy dynamic worked in this new universe. To our surprise, the comic didn’t waste time in dropping its biggest bomb, in one of the cutest scenes we had seen in ages. Since the very beginning, IDW proved that it didn’t intend to deceive those fans that looked for a bit of development of both characters.

I wrote an article about it in June 2019, and it coincided with the beginning of one of the most infamous arc I’ve seen in a Sonic comic for a long time: the Metal Virus Saga. The question is, what has happened since then?

Well, in 2019, with the same accuracy of an aimbot, I said “We’ll probably see some new interactions between Sonic and Amy sometime around IDW #20”. And wouldn’t you know, as misery and tragedy settled in that arc, it was exactly around IDW #20 that we saw some Sonamy interactions: both exhausted, to their limit, with a Sonic that couldn’t even touch Amy to soothe her pain, due to him being infected with the virus.

The arc developed like this in what felt like an eternity, to finally conclude in one the most absurd ways in Sonic history. But it wasn’t a complete disappointment, as, after months and months of asking and discussing on the internet about how much Sonic and Amy deserved a hug at the end of the arc… it actually happened.

Since that moment in IDW #32, we shippers thought that it was what both of them deserved after so much time spent separated and pushed to their limit to survive, but also that after the end of the arc everything would go back to normal. However, what we didn’t know was that the Sonamy train had no intention of stopping, not in IDW, nor anywhere else.

A recurring detail in IDW Sonic is that Amy’s tail starts wagging every time she sees Sonic, as if she was a happy dog. I swear, it happens every time.

Come IDW #35, once again we have some hugs and bits of dialogue between our hedgehogs. For sure, the question here isn’t their relationship itself, as it was for IDW #2, but rather the issues this arc is slowly dealing with. But it’s really nice to see them again, sharing that closeness that they’ve had in the comic since the beginning– be it with some gestures of affection, a wink, a gesture, a private joke.

My favorite image is the first one, Belle’s reaction to seeing Amy hugging Sonic. It’s like she’s thinking “oh, is she his girlfriend?”, and she wouldn’t even be wrong in thinking that.

It can’t be denied that IDW Sonic provided us the conversations and the emotions that the games seldom do. Certainly, the comic has its share of issues and it’s not really a story that I personally follow for its own merits (it’s more because it’s still Sonic, for my interest for things like this, and Belle’s existence… whom I already ship with Tails, sorry not sorry), but what it does well it does really well.

For now, we have to see how IDW Sonic will follow the development of the characters, especially in view of the closure of the current story and beyond. And we may be done with this part of the article, but there is still a lot left.

Sonamy in merchandise

Taking us completely by surprise, recently SEGA launched, in collaboration with Hot Topic, a series of Sonamy-themed t-shirts. No, seriously.

So many people told me this as soon as the voice spread (you know who you are, thank you guys for thinking about me <3), and I can’t help being still surprised that this is actually a thing. T-shirts with lines like “You’re my favorite”, “Love in the fast lane”, and my personal favorite, “S&A Forever”, with drawings of Classic Sonic and Amy… in SEGA-approved products. I don’t know if you realize how much of a big deal this is, even more than “Celebrate the 25 years of Sonic’s girlfriend” from 2018.

One of the things that surprised me the most (aside from how explicit they are in officializing the relationship, and the fact that there are still 2 months left before Valentine’s Day 2021), was the decision to use Classic Sonic and Classic Amy. I tried to understand this decision by analyzing the simplicity and easiness with which the Classic designs convey a message (let’s not forget that Classic Sonic was so iconic because it was specifically designed to convey his expressions without words), besides the fact that they’re inherently cuter than their modern designs. There’s also the controversial aspect of post-Adventure Sonamy, with all the dubbing and weird interpretations that the fandom made over the years… By comparison, the Classic design are a much simpler choice.

What is actually going on?

Well, let’s take a step back and think about what we just saw. The way SEGA has been recently trying to push Sonic and Amy in front view (and for the entirety of 2020, based on the articles I mentioned in the beginning) tells us the harsh truth we all have to accept sooner or later: Sonamy sells, and it sells a lot.

From a strictly business point of view, the ship is so iconic and popular, with fans and detractors alike, that it would be absurd for SEGA to ignore the chance to print these two characters and get a load of money. As I said in my 2018 article, despite the fact that in Japan Sonic isn’t as big of an icon as it is elsewhere, they know pretty well that Sonic + Amy = love, and they have huge amounts of merchandise to back it up. It’s in the West that because of different cultural values, of which we’ve already talked about, along with some internal resistance, left this aspect of the franchise a little on the side. But they’ve been trying to fix it… and how…

Let’s not forget that a decade and a half ago Sonic Team seriously favored Sonamy. They officially said it, Sonic X was their purest view of Sonic they had at the time.

Outside of the business perspective, I believe we’re facing the moment that we’ve been waiting for: it’s time they’ll establish once and for all the dynamic of these two characters, following more closely the original Japanese vision of Sonic. I said many times that, in trying to change canon, the West, especially SEGA of America, did nothing but confuse fans and generate more discussions than needed, by introducing different data and portrayals that contradict the canon established by Sonic Team.

We’ve talked about Unleashed and emotional support, about Sonic X, about the major moments that opened the door to interpreting this dynamic as something more. We don’t threaten at gunpoint those who would rather stay away, but we respond to those declarations that still try to violently discredit the simple fact that Sonic and Amy, who are most of all close friends, form in some measure a couple that, even with its imposed limitations, manages to captivate fans and not fans everywhere in the world. Even the Simpsons used it as a joke, and that says a lot.

What the future has in store for us.

Unless something else happens in this last month of 2020, this is the most complete compilation I can offer at the moment about the status of Sonamy in the fandom and in the official canon. Yes, canon.

It’s impossible to ignore the signals. As you may have noticed, I’ve been considering Sonic and Amy as an official couple, with its clarifications (for example, that at the end it’s more of a friendship, that it’s not a romantic relationship in the most explicit way, that it’s more of a personal perspective to justify a more mature vision of the relationship in the future, not right now), but nowadays I think that SEGA has spoken loud and clear. I think canon is ready to negotiate the idea that Sonic and Amy, apart from being excellent friends who would risk their lives for each other in a heartbeat, have something else on their hands (probably the other’s hand). This won’t automatically translate into a kiss, or a complete love declaration (although Sonic X came close…), or a commitment to a formal relationship like we know them in real life. SEGA canon affirms that Amy is “Sonic’s girlfriend” and nothing more. Outside of that detail, they still pretty much function as friends interacting with a little flirting here, and a little Sonic running away there. It’s the basis of their dynamic, now enhanced by the fact that SEGA is giving us a clearer message.

I think that this all may culminate in a game or an animated series, but I wouldn’t completely count on that. It is good to recognize how far the official position goes on this issue, but at the same time I want to reaffirm that there are things that are better left in the hands of the fandom, and in the meantime that IDW or any other continuity gives us hugs, winks, gestures and words of encouragement, we as the fandom will take care of exploring other avenues and hypothetical scenarios.

This is all I have to say on the matter for now, and I hope you’re happy with this wonderful Sonamy experience we’re going through – I certainly am. See you next time!

#sonic the hedgehog #sonamy #amy rose #translation #long post #whew #this one was a doozy #but super interesting #thanks again latin for writing these long ass sonamy posts