#"And THIS is just the first arc of the manga!!

[comicaurora]

hi red!! i'm doing an analysis of sun wukong's (and journey to the west in general's) impact on modern culture for my world mythology final, and for some reason i'm having a hard time finding sources. is there anything you can recommend?

The fact that Journey to the West has contributed an enormous number of tropes to modern media is very clear when the media in question is examined, but I don't know of a specific secondary source that's already done that analysis for you. However, this IS a very good excuse for you to plow through a metric buttload of shonen manga, since the lineage is basically Sun Wukong -> Son Goku -> like a solid third of all shonen action heroes written in the last forty years.

Dragon Ball kicks things off:

Started in 1984 and almost unquestionably the most influential manga ever made. Its first arc features the weird super-strong monkey-kid Son Goku - which is just the japanese pronunciation of the characters of Sun Wukong's name - meeting up with a wacky crew of thinly-veiled expys of the Journey to the West crew, with teen inventor Bulma filling the role of Tripitaka, Oolong the pig-man filling Zhu Bajie's role and Yamcha the desert-based bandit as Sha Wujing.

Hijinks ensue, and while the story drifts pretty far from Journey to the West's original plot, it actually stays pretty solidly referential in weirdly unexpected ways. Several the villains of the week are JttW references, and even the later appearance of three more Saiyans lines up with the surprise reveal of three more Wukong-like mystical apes in the original story.

The connection between Dragon Ball and JttW is very unsubtle and a frequent reference in the chapter covers and supplemental art.

Not every subsequent JttW reference is the result of Dragon Ball popularizing it or anything, since it was already enormously popular, but I think it's pretty hard to extricate Dragon Ball's influence on anime and manga from the original influence of Journey to the West itself.

One way that a distinction can be drawn is in the differences in characterization between Goku and Sun Wukong himself. A lot of the next generation of shonen protagonists were kind of Goku-alikes - pure-hearted dumbasses who only care for the three Fs: Food, Fighting and Friendship.

But the original characterization of Sun Wukong is not really all that similar. He's a trickster, sure, but he's far from a young, friendship-motivated goober. He's profoundly intelligent, pretty much the most well-educated entity on the planet, and routinely brings up that he's centuries older than most of his peers. The Goku-alikes from the later decades of shonen anime are tellingly far-removed from that original characterization. So you get characters based on Goku's cheerful idiocy, but it's just a small subset of the broader influence of Journey to the West on the space of literature.

In general, Journey to the West frequently shows up in very small, bite-sized tropes in other stories. It's less "this is wholly based on Journey to the West" and more "oh, I know where they maybe got this idea/aesthetic/power/weapon/villain of the week from." There are way too many to list, but some of the ones that tend to jump out at me are-

Sneaky characters with monkey motifs:

Tricksy, highly mobile characters who fight with a staff:

Characters afflicted with a magical restraint artifact that allows a much weaker character to stop them from misbehaving:

Specific esoteric weapons, eg. magical fans, rakes, gourds, namedropping The Sword of Seven Stars, etc.

Villains with prominent ox or pig design motifs:

Characters whose primary combat strat is just making Shitloads Of Disposable Copies Of Themselves:

Honestly it just keeps going like this. It's kinda everywhere. Finding the JttW in things is my favorite conspiracy theory rabbit hole because it's 100% harmless and more often than not completely correct.

#asks #not aurora #media recs

[yusiyomogi]

i actually think there's some significance in the fact that mithrun wears oversized shirt with open collar (it most likely belongs to laios) in the final arc of the manga. i mean, not just that kui simply wanted to draw him in oversized clothes, lol.

in all instances we see young (pre-dungeon) mithrun he's wearing clothes that hide his body as much as possible. which seems normal, until you see what other elves prefer to wear: most of them wear light short tunics with no sleeves and they don't usually even wear pants. here's a comparison to his brother's outfit, for example, as they stand next to each other.

it's not like his fashion choices are unique, but it certainly feels deliberate. he doesn't add any variation to his canary's uniform either, but that's not especially notable, i guess, because a lot of canaries don't do that (i mean, it's still their armor).

but in his perfect world he's also one of the few who always wears this type of clothes. never revealing himself. sitting a little further from everyone else.

he even lies in his bed fully clothed, like he can't ever bring himself to let his guard down, never showing his "true" skin to anyone.

btw notice that his bed is a single bed, even though he's been living with his partner for 5 years at that point.

and that's the idea, isn't it? he never lets himself be truly vulnerable with anyone, even in his dungeon, where people are supposed to like him unconditionally. i think it adds something to the horrible scene with the demon: it's especially disturbing that the demon literally doesn't care how much of yourself you wanna hide, it sees (and eats) right through every protective layer. and we all know what the allegory of this scene is.

when mithrun loses all his desires, he no longer cares what clothes he wears. and in some twisted metaphorical sense it's heartbreaking to see him in a simple elven tunic when he's recovering, the one that doesn't hide any of his injuries or scars or terrible physique.

he doesn't care to hide himself anymore, but it isn't on his own volition. it's something that was ripped away from him, as well as his privacy (a lot of people have to go through this when they're in medical care actually).

when he recovers and enlists to canaries again, he starts to wear full uniform again, but i don't think it holds much significance to him anymore. or at least he thinks it doesn't. we can see that cithis forces him to wear frilly dress at some point and it's implied that he goes along with it (cithis is still an asshole for that btw).

at this point he's fully focused on finding the demon, but i think the sad reality is that he's always been capable of developing new desires. i'd argue that there are already some things he cares about without realizing it, in the main story. but what's stopping him from actually realizing it at that point is that he's clinically depressed. his disability makes his life difficult; he lives with the idea that he's completely "broken", he accepted the reality of living like that and always goes along with what others make him do. so, he doesn't believe in his own privacy anymore. it’s actually something kabru talks about in the adventurer’s bible comic, when he tries to help mithrun to figure it out again, to help him see the value of privacy, of choosing what he wanna reveal of himself. mithrun needed a reminder that he still has this choice like anybody else.

i think the scene where kabru asks him about his past for the first time is interesting in that sense. first of all, i like the symbolism of kabru unbuttoning mithrun’s collar and cuffs, revealing the scars underneath (a good amount of them is self-inflicted). he does so unthinkingly, but in his defence he doesn't know anything about mithrun yet. another interesting thing is that the first reaction mithrun has is covering his eyes with his hands. he's trying to hide. he supposedly has no desire to hide, but this reaction is almost instinctual to him. i think kabru notices this as well (of course he does) and i think it's one of the things that prompts him to voice his concerns about mithrun's privacy later. 

so, what about that laios' shirt he wears in the final arc of the comic? he has to change his uniform's shirt for something else because it's covered in spider's guts. it's unclear if someone puts laios' shirt on him or if it's something he chooses to wear himself. regardless, it's still symbolic for his change. it's not particularly revealing or anything, but it's different from the type of clothes he usually wears, and it's tallman clothes. and in this final arc we can see a lot of his true feelings as well. he's visibly mad at kabru, he shows concern and tries to help marcille, he helps kabru to break out of his spiral. and obviously, in chapter 94 he reveals a lot of what he actually feels and think and shows genuine emotions other than anger. and I think it’s the first time he decided to be open and vulnerable on his own volition, probably in his entire life.

we can see him wearing variety of clothes post-canon and it’s ambiguous how much of it he picked for himself. pattadol probably helps him a lot with choosing outfits and she also prefers high collars. but mithrun knows he can choose now; even if he doesn’t want anything in particular, he always can express his opinion or feeling, like he did with kabru’s food. he always can choose how much he wants to be seen. i’m just glad to see him wearing similar shirt with open collar and rolled-up sleeves on the cover of daydream hour book.

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #mithrun #sorry for my english #text post

[demonslayedher]

Did my rewatch with a friend, some observations either from me or both of us:

--Gotouge was deep in the "bean" period at this point in the manga, drawing especially Tanjiro's face in lumpy simple shapes on a regular basis. We suspect that in this season so far, Tanjiro's face has spent most of its screen time in silly mode as opposed to normal mode.

--Before we watched, I had her guess what she thought the vibe might be for the ending theme. "I don't know, foreshadowing all their deaths or something?" GIRL, HOW DARE YOU GUESS THAT RIGHT. Also, I'm so glad the full version of "Tokoshie" is already out because it's going to be super difficult but I can't wait to give it a shot at karaoke.

--We chatted afterward about Ufotable's choices. I feel like they've upped their show-offy game in this season (thicker lines, extended scenes, varied BGM and careful sound design, slow and deliberate filler, and lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting!), which might be somewhat to compensate for the slower story pace. It's simply reality that a lot of the hype for KnY has slowed (the Mugen Ressha era levels were unsustainable, of course, that was a phenomenon), and I know many people have gotten tired of it. But frankly, those people are not Ufotable's audience now; we the captives who love spending time with these characters are the target audience, and when things pick up again, those who took a break will come back and binge these seasons. I'm sad to see some hype die away, but I have no worries about the hype train totally dying down.

--And the love and care thrown into this production shows that they have every intention of giving the final arcs the care they'll require <3

--but also AOI!!! I loved the subtle restraint of that filler. It wasn't overdone, and it's so rare to see Tanjiro and Aoi have a moment together, and to see both how Aoi has relaxed in his presence and how she remains formal. That irony and layered way of Tanjiro having no idea how he's helped her, and Aoi talking about herself in wanting to be left alone, but still finding a way to show that she cares about this person Tanjiro is talking about even though she has no idea who it is? Wonderfuuuullllll

--How softly Shinobu speaks to Kanao!!!!! The way Shinobu sits in shadow but Kanao is within reach of the sunlight!!!! (They put Kanao's hair on the same side as usual instead of matching the way the manga did this scene!)

--The glimpse in Tamayo's memories of Yoriichi encountering Muzan, the sound of his earrings tied with the sound of Tanjiro's earrings!!

--The same sort of layering in the ending theme!!

--YUSHIRO SCREAMING DESCENT

--Giyuu's face being cut out of view when he says he's not the Water Pillar

--EVERY BIT OF GIYUU AND TANJIRO INTERACTION, I'm sure Hanae Natsuki had so much fun being thoroughly obnoxious

--EVERY BIT OF GIYUU AND SABITO INTERACTION

--There is no mistaking Murata and I love that

--LITTLE GIYUU'S EEEEEEYYYYYYYYEEEEESSSS

--The height difference between Tanjiro and Giyuu in the Taisho Secrets

--Tanjiro was the one being overbearing and clingy in the episode and now in the Taisho Secrets we've got Giyuu thoroughly in "Kamado Tanjiro is my friend" mode, like "...Come eat more soba with me. Oh. Then. Come eat shake daikon with me. Are you coming? You're coming! Are you done yet? I'm staring at you from the side of the screen. I'm waiting. Come on. Hang out with me."

--I was gonna say the Taisho Secrets were obvious this time, but my friend (who has read the manga and just watched this episode with me) said, "oh, I didn't know that side was from his sister!" So... alright, good call, then, Ufotable.

--Ok but as Tanjiro is first showering Giyuu with kindness (and indeed, sitting so much in Giyuu's personal space), I was thinking about Giyuu's smile in the Taisho Secrets (shake daikon, yay~), and my friend said, "You know what this is making me think of? That panel at the end of the manga when..." --when he's smiling, I thought-- "...he thinks Tanjiro is dead." NO STOP WHY DID YOU DO THAT ME

--Love that little addition of Tanjiro cheerfully pointing out how quiet it's been, and "no! No demons here!" TANJIRO, YOU SHOULD BE VERY, VERY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS

--"Now want about Tomioka-san" "What's Kocho doing?" UFOTABLE STOP THE DOOMED GIYUSHINO HURTS

--WHAT A CLIP TO END ON AND PLUNGE US INTO THAT ENDING THEME

--rude

[itsnothingofinterest]

So chapter 423 was...something. I'm sure we can all agree on that much, and I'm a bit glad we've been given two weeks to process it all. some love it, many seem to hate it (myself included), but among it's defenders is a point I want to talk about.

A lo of people are responding to accusations of the finale being rushed by pointing out about how Horikoshi is clearly burnt out. He's worked on MHA so long it's affected his health, he clearly just wants this over, so he can end it however he wants and the rest of us should be grateful we got a manga at all. And like...those first points are true...but I find it odd that people argue that means this finale should be above criticism; especially since Horikoshi did extend the fight where he didn't need to right as it was coming to a what I feel was better ending than what we got.

Like, if he really needed to get this fight over with asap for the sake of his health, he could (and probably should) have winded it down somewhere around this page. Sure we would've lost out on the Class 1a team-up maneuver; but we could've easily moved around the roof top trio's resolution and All might saying Deku was always his greatest hero, and I think the story is better off without the "it was AFO all along" reveal but I guess ymmv. Plus he wouldn't have to kill Tomura, thus making Deku blatantly fail in his personal goal of the arc, and he wouldn't have to bring back a much more boring villain who already had a satisfactory death. Oh I'm sorry, two satisfactory deaths.

(Like tbh, even with Tomura & Deku finally teaming up for something; AFO's third death this arc is easily his least satisfying. As was his entire resurgence.)

So while I don't want to sound insensitive to his health of anything; I feel that when Hori stapled on an unnecessary extra climax to the arc, it really undermines any claims that he should be allowed to rush the ending however he likes without criticism when he's the one who made it longer than it needed to be in the first place.

#bnha #bnha 423 #shigaraki tomura #kurogiri #paranormal liberation front #PLF #all for one #midoriya izuku #all might #aizawa shouta #present mic #Horikoshi

[buttercupshands]

MHA didn't create some miracle way of helping others. It was never promised to be this way. And when it came to villains...

Spoilers for manga all the way to chapter 423.

The only way to get anything in life in MHA was to be born "normal" like everyone else and that way of thinking never left Izuku with Toga getting the same treatment she did before from everyone from her family to her "normal" classmates. It was Ochako who helped Toga even if just a little by lifting the weight of all the feelings that Toga had.

She couldn't save Toga the way one could save a civilian by saving them from harm. If it worked that way Dabi would've saved Toga even before Ochako could apologize for failing to notice Toga. She was so lazer focused on saving everyone else, that she was just another villain to stop, not a human.

Even if by the end of it Ochako helped Toga to deal with her grief, acceptance as it was wasn't something possible when a quirk makes you want to drink someone's blood from jealousy.

We got a bittersweet ending with Toga, in which she probably died from blood loss just like her double did in MVA. If it wasn't for Twice she would've died back then.

Giving away her blood for Ochako wasn't a redemption or a way to save Toga in the end, more as it was her being true to herself until the very end.

Just like Twice chose to stay with the League even if Hawks offered him a way to survive that battle. He refused and died protecting his friends who accepted him instead of choosing to betray them and accept Hawks' offer.

After Twice's death... It was a matter of time that more 'active' LoV members would join him as well. As sad as it is, we now can return to Izuku.

Who, after his time OFA-AFO quirk space, now wanted to help a "crying boy" he saw in Tenko just as before with Katsuki in chapter 1. He didn't forgive Tomura and didn't excuse the way he chose to solve his problems.

It didn't mean that Tomura would survive in their battle, even if Izuku didn't see killing others as a way to solve problems. He didn't understand Tomura, but he still wanted to try, and try he did.

The rest of this post was nothing more than a contextual prologue to understand that it's not the first time a hero failed to save a villain and in Twice's case we know that he died and his death was the reason Toga started thinking about her own possible death and Dabi finally revealed himself as Toya.

The goal of saving a "crying boy" never was an end-goal for Izuku in the Final arc, since helping Tomura deal with his feelings just left him hollow with a goal that clashed with Izuku's. As being a hero for villains meant destroying the world for them to help them live freely.

But that was before AFO resurfaced.

Sadly after that Tomura who was talking about making his own choices for a while now stopped doing that. Even if he still had a goal of helping villains and only villains, Tomura was almost gone. And his goals were now unreachable.

Izuku helped Nana who in turn kept Tomura from fading away entirely. In MHA there were countless situations where Izuku's help affected people by helping a different person to keep hope, All-Might being the first one and Nana being the last one at the moment.

Hollow after Izuku helped him to get rid of his hatred Tomura could do the only thing he did - accept the situation as it was.

Accepting AFO as his Sensei, accepting Stain's ideals and Overhaul's deal was the way he solved his problems. Just like Izuku had a problem of understanding something outside of his norm, Tomura was accepting too many things, which lead to his downfall after accepting AFO's quirk.

Just like Twice could've given up everything that he had for his friends so did Tomura.

With Izuku helping as much as he could let Tomura to finally rest as he wasn't really living ever since waking up in the hospital. With his body now affected by AFO's wishes instead of his own until the end.

In a way Izuku didn't succeed in his wish for Tomura to stop ever since PLF war arc. As he "kept fighting to destroy" no matter how hard Izuku tried to stop him.

The only thing he succeeded in was changing Tomura's mind about himself, instead of viewing himself as a monster he accepted that he was a human just like Izuku said. A "crying boy" who couldn't really destroy Izuku's hands in the end.

For a group of Villains who weren't supposed to get profiles of their own at the start of the series, League is slowly fading as the most memorable group that there was in MHA, getting backstories, their own Villain themed arc all the while being as human as anyone else.

As sad as their story is they were not "unlucky", they didn't need a happy false ending where they would need to change to be normal - they chose to live this way and they lived it to it's fullest.

#bnha #bnha manga spoilers #bnha analysis #league of villains #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #toga himiko #mha twice #midoriya izuku #ochako uraraka #todoroki touya #dabi #spinner #shuichi iguchi #not art #While writing this I've been rewriting it time and time again #But by the end of it I just started crying because god... I didn't want them to end like this #Also I finally found the tracks that connect to the scene of Twice's death #Which may or may not have been a reason I started crying #Anyway the reason I wrote this was as simple as that - I read Twitter got sad and needed some way to cope #Because I'm getting sick from all 'oh they'll survive' yes HEROES might survive all of this VILLAINS would not #Magne died Twice died wnd Kurogiri literally became a cloud in the sky #I do hope that Spinner would be at least alive because leaving Mr. Compress alone with no sushi too is just too cruel #While writing this I suddenly found myself so frustrated with Izuku that my last tries to write this ended in a trashcan instead #it's so fucked up #To be a LoV stan and see how Class 1-A is getting the best ending they can with so much hope while LoV is... Dead :( #this is a mess

[kuroshitsuji-igurisshu]

The importance of details

𖤐Hello everyone Kuronians𖤐

To day I would like to tell you about a very interesting frame that can be seen in the fourth season of Kuroshitsuji. This frame made me realise the importance of details and how much Yanuzza takes care of his work.

As we can see, Ciel is in bed with the blanket covering him a little below his shoulder. He looks relaxed and we can tell this state because of his relaxed hand.The problem, however, is that Ciel would never sleep like that. A child who has been through something as traumatic as Ciel's would certainly not feel relaxed and comfortable in a strange place and with strange people. Rather, he would unconsciously seek some sort of 'protection', something that would shield him from reality, because as stupid as it sounds, falling asleep is not easy. Closing your eyes and resting means that you are relaxing and that you feel safe in the place where you are.

Yanuzza in the manga did not draw Ciel casually. First of all, the blanket covers him up to his shoulders, or rather, up to his neck, as if to shield him, to protect him from the outside, thus giving him the right reassurance. The hand is clenched into a fist, as if to indicate a certain rigidity due to the new situation he finds himself in.

When we sleep, we do not have control over our bodies, and precisely because of this, the positions in which we sleep can tell us a lot about ourselves because our bodies can reveal needs, fears and more.

The fact that Ciel sleeps in the fetal position is no coincidence, because people who sleep in this position often have a sort of unconscious desire to regress to childhood. Could this be the case for Ciel? Yes probably, considering that he was once happy. The point is not so much this but the fact that those who sleep in this position unconsciously seek protection. I find this last point very interesting indeed because it is precisely what Ciel lacked at the time....

Besides that, in the first volumes (Luxury Line arc) when we see Sebasian's memories, we can see the first night of the human cub at the mansion. He was completely wrapped up under the blankets (including his head) and if I remember correctly, this position is called the 'sarcophagus position' or a similar name that has to do with death anyway. It is not only a comforting position, but it really becomes a den, a safe place.

In the new season they have changed the position by unintentionally giving a new character to Ciel.Surely there will be people who think like me while others will say 'but it's just a frame'.

What do I think as a graphic designer studying at the Rainbow academy? (yes, the Winx) in the other animated series (excluding Atlantic) although the character design was immature (so much so that in certain scenes the characters from a distance had coloured dots as eyes) the details seem to me to have remained the same, but if it had been the other way round I would have turned a blind eye, after all the whole reflected the dark world of Kuroshitsuji. I certainly can't say the same about the new season since they changed both the colour palette and the character design.

For the umpteenth time since this new season came out, here I am again saying 'I am sorry that Yanuzza's work has been belittled' . I think that in order to understand certain things, one has to be 'in it', for example: to make my monogram and give it a story, I spent a good three months on it! Yes, three months for a monogram. As always, I'll be honest, I don't like the fact that she works her ass off for all these details (details that undoubtedly distinguish a story from one with dicks) details that are then not mentioned in the anime (not to mention the colours and other things because otherwise we'd be here a week)

For example, see how the real Ciel. It is the exact opposite of the position of "Ciel. If the brother is insecure enough to seek protection with blankets, Ciel doesn't give a damn about blankets. That is a position of one who is not afraid of anyone, a position that suggests a certain self-confidence, something that was missing in 'Ciel's' position.

I hope you enjoyed this post that makes us reflect on the details of the manga, a work that deserves much more because of the themes it deals with and the luxurious pain it is imbued with.

If you are curious to see more of my posts, you can find me on IG as Kuroshiutsuji_itaru 😈

#black butler #ciel phantomhive #kuroshitsuji #manga #sebastian michaelis #yana toboso #illustration #twisted wonderland #black butler soma #black butler anime #kuroshitsuji anime #black butler undertaker

[lazysublimeengineer]

Man, I'm remembering Naruhaya again and it's sad Naruhaya Asahi hours again for me 🥲 he is probably the only side character who got eliminated that I honestly got sad about. His backstory, fears during the second selection and his disqualification scenes and dialogues with Isagi hits hard. Naruhaya's backstory is the second one that made me tear up a little with Chigiri's past and backstory is the first backstory in the franchise that really made me emotional. And is still is.

Also, half of the fandom is wild sometimes about Isagi. Like I get him being feral on the field and his opponents but I digress that he was *that cruel* to them. His match after Naruhaya was the evidence of it. Isagi had the time to belittle him or mock him because of what Naruhaya said to him before the match. But no. After the match, Isagi was surprisingly somber and and a bit regretful. He was the only opponent that he didn't openly mocked afterwards and even swore to him that he'll win for him. And that's how vital Naruhaya is to Isagi's character development. Because they were on the same pod before. They're the type of players who will not get chosen in the past if they lost in the second selection.

Bittersweet.

But also, I admire that Naruhaya is the first person who knew and acknowledged his adaptability. He said that Isagi wasn't afraid to change and he knew that his movements were now stolen from him. God, I can never move on from these two during second selection I swear-

But let's head now to Nanase and Rin in the current arc of the manga shall we? I really appreciate the fact that Nanase was determined and actually making an effort to be a good player in order to make it to the top 23 list because he knew from himself that he wasn't that great. And Isagi had said so himself during the U20 arc. I like the fact that Rin had taken him under his wing and trained him even though the price for it was to be his own dog or a lackey in the field perse. (Well, almost all the characters are doing this to survive). Nanase wasn't in my radar. Until now.

Because he's making an effort and was trying so hard.

He's a side character that's getting important and it's making me care for him.

Again.

Which is not good because I'm getting some vibes that he's not gonna make it.

Especially with Rin NOT BEHAVING ON THE FIELD.

Like I acknowledged Rin being a genius on the field but it pissed me off when the ball was assisted by Nanase to him but he ended up showing off to Isagi instead of just kicking the ball in the goal immediately before Hiori got the time to counter it. Ugh.

Now I know half of the fandom probably wants Kaiser or whoever from BM like Isagi or Ness to score a goal (as an act of revenge) in the next panel. But all I want is for Rin to score a goal again with an assist from Nanase to have the latter got a higher bid and higher spot and probably enter the top 23.

Because if Rin won't score again, God, I may have to say goodbye to Nanase and him entering the top 23. Jfc. It's like Naruhaya all over again.

#blue lock #bllk #blue lock spoilers #asahi naruhaya #isagi yoichi #nanase nijiro #rin itoshi

[yandere-daydreams]

Confession: When I first saw you mention "I'm in Love with the Villainess" I had no intention to watch it because I confused it with a similar premise I had read a few months earlier and been meh about (isekai butler loves the villainess he serves), so I was confused when I saw the other anon mention that it was a girl's love series.

Long story short: I watched the anime in one sitting and am now waiting for all the volumes of manga currently released to be delivered. It is a great series and I need more of it.

i haven't gotten around to reading the manga/light novel (does anyone know which came first?) just yet, but it's such a good show fr fr T-T i feel like you never really hear characters say the word 'lesbian' in anime, even if there are girls kissing on the reg, so it was very refreshing to have multiple characters who both are and call themselves queer. ray and claire's arc is just,,, scrumptious as well. a protag who's convinced herself that she can love endlessly with no expectation of reciprocation + a love interest who legitimately believes she's made herself impossible to love is just,,,, what a fucking show. delicious delicious show if nothing else watch a compilation of the mc's english voice actor doing the goddamn most.

#i just really love the characters okay #it was a really good call to make ray very intensely in love with claire #but also just. kind of a bad person? if that makes sense? #not necessarily evil just very willing to pull out the old gaslight gatekeep girlboss mentality if it means getting the job done #her little schemes just make her so fun #and claire being someone who is both easily flustered and has a complex about specifically receiving love #alas #i am in love with them i fear #personal #casuallywatchingfromtheshadows

[somnimagus]

out of the frying pan and into the fire and into another frying pan that's also on fire

[id in alt text]

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dunmeshi #this past year i decided to get into some of the manga i hear people really rave about #and dunmeshi was the first one i read and i adore it so much i don't have the words #gosh ryoko kui is such a huge inspiration.. i hope i can save up and get physical copies of the manga some day #ohh and daydream hour if it ever releases in english... #and sorry toshiro doesn't have his armor. i always remember him in his disheveled casual arc #fan art #my art #i think i've just completely stopped trying to do a clean flat style... i've just started painting over my sketches now #it looks a little messy but it's so much more fun #this was the first time in awhile i looked forward to continuing a drawing

[chidoroki]

January 15th - Happy Birthday Ray - ft: his tvtropes

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #tpn ray #ray #my edits #HERE HE IS! MY SON!!! this is..what? fourth year i managed to do something for him? im running out of stuff to say but i still #got a lot of love for him. i really wish i couldve picked more panels from post-escape but theres just so much development he goes #through during the first arcs. its kinda bittersweet? like of course he has his moments later on in the story but theyre not as grand #as all his actions while at GF. but its also great because its those early arcs that are so memorable and arguable the best in the #series. so thankfully those were lucky enough to be animated properly so we can see my boy truly shine like the best boy he is.

[beaulesbian]

One Piece || Wano arc - ep. 898

#one piece #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #basil hawkins #one piece ep 898 #one piece wano #wano arc #wano kuni #zolu #luzo #the sillies in their natural habitat - shit talking in front of the enemy #mine #gif:one piece #gif:zolu #gif:op anime #mix of animanga subtitles bc the first line hawkins says just sounds better in the manga translation #onepieceedit #opedit #opgraphics

[iamhereinthebg]

I will never be over the fact that tbhk really takes place in 2015

We know that AidaIro published the first chapter in December 2014

The Yugi Twins were in the 66th Festival in 1968 and the curent present have the 113th Festival.

On this panel, it's written that the 1st of September was a Tuesday. The closest years to the manga airing having this date being either 2009 or 2015.

Bonus:

Which means: the 1st year (Aoi, Akane, Nene) were born in 1999, Teru in 1998 and Kou and Mitsuba in 2000.

#toilet bound hanako kun #tbhk #jshk #jibaku shounen hanako kun #that's a mini stuff but my timeline heart lover is happy #I fcking hate tbhk bc their timeline is a mess #makes no sense and It makes me wanna cry #Teru and Akane's meeting make no sense (probably just errors during the creation of the panels #so it's fair) but it stresses me out sm #yashiro nene #aoi akane #akane aoi #they are born the same year as me I am in tears help #they are ten times younger than me in my head #we knew it was probably either 2014 or 2015 but lil hints are always fun #since I had a big lost of interest in the festival arc (and I don't like the Yugi twins backstory) I didn't connect the dots help #I did with the date :')) #2015 really explain Teru's horrible fashion sense #but in the end the manga has tons of anachronisms but it's normal the date is not that important #it's just funny #the last image is badly edited and translated bc it's in french at first idk why I couldn't find an english website with this

[robin-with-a-pen]

Okay I’m having ideas I need someone to stop me-

Anyways, so we all know that Chilchuck probably doesn’t have the healthiest relationship with food? Right?

I don’t think he has an eating disorder but more so disordered eating- that hellish middle space, right? I mean “maintaining his body weight at an acceptable level” really sticks out to me

So picture this- my man retires, he doesn’t need to control his weight anymore, no worry about setting off or anything, but he realizes that the unhealthy habits he’s developed over he past ten years are harder to break than he thought

#hi I’m your friendly neighborhood ‘writer with mental issues they like to project onto characters’ #anyways now I’ve got to ask myself #do I really want my very first contribution to this fandom to be a Chilchuck disordered eating recovery(?) fic #dungeon meshi spoilers #tagging is my least favorite part of every post #but alas I enjoy the dopamine of little notification #this idea obviously isn’t thought through #and j might not end up writing it #but you never know #I might be striking gold #watch this be the fic that gets me out of my slump- #chilchuck #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #just in case #it’s kinda spoilers #but also mostly inconsequential knowledge that most people already know #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi fanfic #chilchuck (dm) #chilchuck tims #chuckleduck gets put in situations #chilfuck and the recovery arc #I’ll probably have his family or friends or smth express concern over him #I can expand on bits and pieces if anyone wants #but I do have ideas #maybe I can force mithrun in there as a ‘we forget to take care of ourselves’ club

[fumifooms]

Do you think maybe a large part also of why Chilchuck's wife left him was because of how much he changed after becoming an adventurer? He seemed naive and spirited once, but became more jaded the more dungeon crawling he did. I like to think with the new image of his wife that Flertom and Puckpatti's cheerful demeanor came from how Chilchuck was once as a child. But she accepted that people change. And yet that night, meeting how he is with his coworkers, reminds her of how he used to be.

Yes I do! I go into it in my masterpost on Chilchuck’s family, though I made it before we got his wife’s face reveal. If you want to see my thoughts on what things might have pushed her to leave I recommend you go to the ‘Possible strains on the marriage’ section!

Ooh I like your thoughts! Flertom and Puckpatti inheriting good cheer from him would be soo cute (it’d also be funny with how he’s like "Meijack, my daughter most like me" meanwhile the ones with the opposite of her personality got it from him. Sike Meijack’s like her mom the most lmao), but for Puckpatti at least I’m skeptical.

Chilchuck likes good cheer out of work sure, but he dislikes optimism/carefreeness. It makes him worry on if they can take care of themselves or if they’ll be able to make it (in part due to how he was himself tricked by parties in the past), so I’ve theorized that Puckpatti’s carefree demeanor is actually an effect of Chilchuck working out of home more and more as the years go by, and thus having the least of an influence on his youngest child, leaving his wife to do most of the raising and teaching lessons.

I don’t know what to make of his wife’s portrait yet, she does seem pretty jaded herself, or like she has a lot on her mind. Since it’s supposedly set into the present of canon, it could just be that she’s still affected and upset by having left him… Or maybe that’s just how she is! Maybe Chilchuck rubbed off on her too, or maybe she grew that way more over the years by herself, or maybe she’s always been a little gloomy/ice queen looking, no clue! I don’t think trying to take away a lot of her personality from just the portrait would be effective or wise, but now I do think she’s the more reserved and serious type.

"Yet that night, meeting how he is with his coworkers, reminds her of how he used to be" Asker I looooove this, you’re so right!! That could definitely be part of it, I hadn’t seen that angle. He’s very cheerful and open when sharing drinks with people as we see, so it’s possible she’s like "Wow, he’s having such a good time here with his coworkers. Why isn’t he usually like that with me?" plus just being hit with a ton of bricks of realization that that part of him was why she loved him, but he’s changed so much so maybe they should cut their losses and part away. And especially since they were childhood friends, too! 20 years sure do change a man. Chilchuck does say she fell into a bad mood after the outing on the way back home but didn’t know why, so there’s a lot of thoughts and feelings we can assign to her. Again, I encourage you to read my big post on it if it interests you, I give many different interpretations and whatnot~!

#Dungeon meshi #chilchuck tims #chilchuck’s wife #Puckpatti #flertom #Ask #gonna take longer to reply to your other asks sorry!! I have an old one I need to get back to 😭 #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #The way Chil says “but she’ll probably get by all right.” gets to me… Having faith in his daughter and letting himself be optimistic #For once <3 That’s the Marcille influence in his character arc talking #Also I just now noticed how he calls her Patti instead of her first name Puck… Interesting interesting #Chilchuck’s family

[buttercupshands]

Chapter 419 Analysis or "How to make allies not pawns" a helpful guide from League of Villains (part 2)

This is now a second part of Tomura character analysis.

With chapter 419 being probably our last time seeing Tomura for a while, since we need to learn what happened with Aizawa now is time to remember that not only bad things exist it Tomura's life.

Warning of spoilers to the whole manga to the point of chapter 419! All of the warnings from My Villain Academy side of manga are applicable

So like... mentions of death, killing other people, manipulation, emotional abuse and many more!

This is Part 2 - See here for Part 1 of this depressing mess

With AFO being so sure that he knows better and actually controlled every single part of Tenko's life creating a Symbol of Fear without any redeeming qualities or even hope for saving after he destroys him. There's one thing that AFO still doesn't understand about Tomura and never did - and that's his allies, or the League of Villains that he created.

Even Kurogiri, being a Nomu who's views do not stray from what AFO thought was important didn't exactly understand what did Tomura think about his allies quick to assume that he thought of them as pawns all the was back in the Training Camp arc. With Tomura making game examples to explain the situation, he still didn't think of LoV as just pawns on a desk, like AFO does.

At the time of USJ arc there weren't many people Tomura called this, which could make you wonder how much it was just AFO's plan rather than Tomura's with him never worrying about those other villains yet getting so worked up over losing Nomu not only because he was strong enough to defend him from All-Might, but treating his defeat as something that must be avenged.

And that was long before Stain even entered the picture, the first of three people who greatly affected Tomura's view of his own motives alongside AFO's manipulation of literally everything else.

Tomura was terrified of fighting All-Might seconds before this and yet as this goes on it's becoming more noticeable - Tomura doesn't care for his own fear or worries as long as he's fighting for someone else's good. Not so different from how Izuku is ready to disregard himself for the sake of others, resulting in many injuries and being so close to dying so many times.

It never was a secret that Tomura is highly dependent on others to keep himself from losing confidence, or even will to fight, getting either too anxious to continue without anyone's reassurance.

And while AFO's "help" was mostly given only with some kind of lesson as we saw in "Tomura Shigaraki: Origin", with AFO literally sitting there, saying how Tenko is weak for not killing but showing some restrain instead suffering himself, never actually helping or comforting him. Only offering what he deemed nessesary for his own plan of making Tenko kill those thugs not caring that he's feeling sick from those hands.

But in USJ it's not AFO who's there with Tomura, it's Kurogiri, who was shown to still have some care that Shirakumo had that even Aizawa and Mic couldn't argue that it's similar to how Shirakumo couldn't just leave a kitten in the rain. No matter the responsibility that it would bring with taking a little one in.

A helpless little kitten that didn't get the help it needs from anyone else. Sounds way too familiar.

This never was a direct order from AFO other than he needs to "tend and protect" for Tomura, which can mean anything from just looking out when Tomura's sick, or protect him from any tread like someone trying to kill him.

Not helping him getting over his anxiety to fight or helping him and guiding him to do better as a leader of the League calming him if it got out of control. Which is somewhat opposite to the way AFO deals with Decay and Tomura's temper - letting him destroy anything even the hands that he gave him, just offering new ones when he succeedes and never really caring for his pawns, he can always get new ones.

And surely not asking if Tomura's well the first thing while talking to Heroes.

Which then leads us back to how Tomura never viewed anyone that he chose as pawns calling them his allies, with the word '仲間' which can even be translated as friends in needed context, but usually used as comrade or ally when Tomura says it. And the same thing is usually translated as "friend" when used by Twice.

In any case Tomura never once doubted his allies since he saw them as reliable, even if his first meeting with Toga and Dabi went so wrong that Kurogiri had to stop them from killing each other.

Up to the point of Training Camp AFO describes as him teaching Tomura to be independent which was at that point too far from the truth than he thought. If Tomura begging for AFO to leave with them is any indicator he actually was even less independent after All-Might almost caught them, making him doubt his own worth as a leader. Even if AFO's defeat finally let him think and wonder about himself and his past.

AFO believed that Tomura just knowing how to recruit people would suddenly make him great at using those new "pawns" which was proven wrong by Overhaul no so long after that. Showing how Tomura believed the same thing AFO did as well, fully trusting his judgement of anything including himself, all the while parroting what AFO says without fully understanding what it means.

Only after losing both Magne and Mr. Compress arm does Tomura slowly start making progress in becoming someone more than AFO tells him to do. Even if as we see in part 1 it used Decay as the ground to make it stable since he believed it was his quirk. And yet.

Even if Tomura didn't simply instruct his allies how to choose who to recruit, he never blamed them for it. On the opposite, when Twice was hard on himself after bringing Overhaul to them Tomura just looked at them for the first time without a hand on his face, or even on himself at all, showing how he trusts them as much as he would trust himself and believes that they can do it.

Taking off hands of his family would mean not relying on the conflicting feelings that they bring into the picture, something AFO would very much dissaprove, since he was now like an equal to everyone in LoV instead of being above them. He

And with this instead of making them blindly trust his decisions and following him from fear or adoration like people had been following AFO or Overhaul, he instead was an equal to them both in failure and victory that wasn't even all that guaranteed yet.

Each one of them had their own somewhat selfish goal that just seemed like they were just using each other without any worry being each other's pawns. Or maybe that's just how AFO would see them.

Yet it doesn't explain why did Toga care for Twice's trauma response of not having his mask on, since he already did his part and all that they both needed to do was done. But LoV was never about following orders or giving them, expecting for the pawns to follow without question. It was about a leader of the group that would stand up for his allies while allowing them full freedom, except when they needed to also accept that something is needed to be done for their own sake.

Like following Overhaul for a while all for cutting off his hands leaving him with nothing. Did that sound like something reasonable to do? No! They literally lost their chance at having sushi instead of just living at some abadoned building all the while occasionally searching for money or food, stealing and killing just to survive all while Tomura was just... waiting.

Nothing was really stable at the start of what we call My Villain Academia and yet no one from the LoV left while their state was... bad at the very least. No matter how AFO was teaching Tomura he was still left mostly waiting for something to happen rather than doing something to change the situation himself.

Sure, Tomura now was a famous leader of League of Villains that suddenly needed to be stopped rather that underestimated like before. But that was in the future, now LoV was laying low on funds and slowly Tomura showing his face became the norm, with him usually never wearing hands around LoV.

And with Tomura becoming more and more comfortable around LoV, the LoV itself was becoming more like a place that had one core value that accepted anything else added without anyone wondering about the past of others, like Compress said. Just some selfish people, who still followed their own needs first.

And yet somehow Toga, who joined just because she loved Stain and disliked how life was too hard found her place in the LoV alongside Twice who just needed to be trusted and trust in return. If Tomura only followed what AFO deemed to be the best way to lead no one would actually feel like they're accepted in the LoV as much as they were.

Goal or no goal Tomura succeeded even without having the whole world at the palm of his hands by just never pressing anyone to actually follow him - if they wanted to they could've just left here and there, but since they chose to follow he did what he thought was the obvious best - let his allies do what they wanted.

Which was okay for someone like Toga or Dabi who were either already comfortable by just being allowed to be themselves or being free to plan their own things for their own goals.

But not exactly that for Spinner. Who was instead literally searching for someone to show him what to do, not so different from Tomura, who still only followed whatever 'his Sensei' deemed worthy for him to look into, like letting Kurogiri go find unknown "power" that AFO left along with contact with Doctor.

And while Spinner was not fine with still being hollow even while following Tomura pretending that it's the same thing as following Stain... all it took for him to look differently at how exactly was Tomura thinking was the last real "barrier" that there was - Tomura basically spilling his whole backstory and motivations mostly for LoV to listen to, since Doctor was just testing Tomura's will all according to AFO's plan.

And after that it didn't took too long for Spinner to now follow Tomura, even if it was still not the time to really see the 'warped horizon that was waiting for them'. And yet in times where Tomura still showed some doubt over his decisions - that one old trait of his showing up like it was always at the back of his head not so different from USJ, only thing changing that Tomura got better and better at not letting his emotions control him so easily.

Since the price of that would literally be lifes of his allies.

And neither that or using their emotions to his own benefit was ever in his plans, contrast to AFO manipulating Tomura to do just that. Letting his emotions consume him completely just for his own goal and for his own sake. But as a person who was so familiar with this Tomura still was adamant at NOT allowing something like this to happen to his friends allies.

Effectively creating a bond between all six of them, including Toya that in the end kept them together until the very final arc, with Spinner keeping what Tomura would've thought and with him waking up and calling Machia to get LoV first and foremost Spinner did understand their's leader wishes, as well as Twice's who literally died for his friends.

With all that happening in the War arc the moment AFO returned with both being in control of Tomura's body and just abadoned anything that Tomura would care for like leaving Mr. Compress and Machia behind just to punish him for not getting OFA or not even caring to show any actual respect for Tomura's wishes. Instead showing how little he actually cared for anything but his own good.

But while AFO made so many pawns that he could change like gloves at any given moment, threating them and manipulating them with his power and quirks, Tomura only had 6 allies who stayed after AFO was caught and who were willing to die just to live the life they wanted.

And AFO couldn't give them that.

Even if Decay isn't Tenko's quirk and even if he has so much guilt for killing without it being a little bit justified by it...

LoV still followed him as a person who allowed them to live as they please and so what they want, not some all-powerfull overlord but an ally and a leader who had his flaws and fallings.

#bnha #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #league of villains #bnha manga spoilers #bnha analysis #character analysis #character study #kurogiri #toga himiko #twice #dabi #spinner #mr compress #and All For One can go to hell I won't tag him again #with the Kurogiri part you may notice how I just want to see Kurogiri actually helping Tomura #it's either him or mr. compress now #and yeah the fact that both Twice and Himiko died remembering LoV was painful #AFO calling Tenko weak all the while he himself didn't make any lasting good empression like that on anyone #while Tenko just was like 'yeah my friends need something they'll get it' #insert that one page where he literally just got them sushi first thing after becoming a new MLA commander #how dares AFO call Tenko pitiful if he literally did his best with what he had #all the while AFO just made his life insufferable for him to be angry and hateful #and yes I didn't call them family or friends for the most part since the canon INSISTS that Tomura is saying allies #which is a really neutral way to say friends imo #I'm still thinking about a Tangled crossover with LoV like Tomura literally got his only taste of freedom with LoV by his side #bnha 419 #my villain academia #five years later and it's still the best arc of MHA #an honestly it's more of a ch 418 analysis

[fatal-rewrites-warriors]

#rearranged my own collection the other day #first 3 arcs and 5 of 6 arc 4 books #super editions (bp fq sd) #most of the manga #i think i wanna get the last arc 4 book and then just pick up the mangas #and the new comic ill buy #but otherwise no more wc books for me fjfjfj #warriors #warrior cats