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centrally-unplanned · 8 months

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Another big stop in Tokyo for me was Jimbocho Book Town! It is a neighborhood of, depending on who you ask, up to 400 generally-secondhand bookstores flanked by some of the major universities in Tokyo. The local government even prints out maps of the stores to help people find them all:

Which, you will note, is not 400 stores, because the process of becoming an "official" Jimbocho Town Bookstore is an intensely political operation run by local stakeholders with tons of fights over what should qualify and what rights that entails - never change humanity!

"Book Towns" used to actually be quite a common thing, and they peaked during the literary boom of the late 19th century. Figuring out "what books existed" was a hard task, and to do serious research you needed to own the books (you weren't making photocopies), so concentrating specialty bookstores in one area made sense to allow someone to go to one place and ask around to find what they need and discover what exists. It was academia's version of Comiket! Modern digital information & distribution networks slowly killed or at least reduced these districts in places like Paris or London, but Jimbocho is one of the few that still survives.

Why it has is multi-causal for sure - half of this story is that Tokyo is YIMBY paradise and has constantly built new buildings to meet demand so rents have been kept down, allowing low-margin, individually-owned operations to continue where they have struggled in places like the US. These stores don't make much money but they don't have to. But as important is that Japan has a very strong 'book collector' culture, it's the original baseball cards for a lot of people. The "organic" demand for a 1960's shoujo magazine or porcelainware picture book is low, but hobbyists building collections is a whole new source of interest. Book-as-art-collection powered Jimbocho through until the 21st century, where - again like Comiket - the 'spectacle' could give it a lift and allow the area to become a tourist attraction and a mecca for the ~cozy book hoarder aesthetic~ to take over. Now it can exist on its vibes, which go so far as to be government-recognized: In 2001 the "scent wafting from the pages of the secondhand bookstore" was added to Japan's Ministry of Environment's List of 100 Fragrance Landscapes.

Of course this transition has changed what it sells; when it first began in the Meiji area, Jimbocho served the growing universities flanking it, and was a hotpot of academic (and political-polemic) texts. Those stores still exist, but as universities built libraries and then digital collections, the hobby world has taken over. Which comes back to me, baby! If you want Old Anime Books Jimbocho is one of the best places to go - the list of "subculture" stores is expansive.

I'll highlight two here: the first store I went to was Kudan Shobo, a 3rd floor walk-up specializing in shoujo manga. And my guys, the ~vibes~ of this store. It has this little sign outside pointing you up the stairs with the cutest book angel logo:

And the stairs:

Real flex of Japan's low crime status btw. Inside is jam-packed shelves and the owner just sitting there eating dinner, so I didn't take any photos inside, but not only did it have a great collection of fully-complete shoujo magazines going back to the 1970's, it had a ton of "meta" books on shoujo & anime, even a doujinshi collection focusing on 'commentary on the otaku scene' style publications. Every Jimbocho store just has their own unique collection, and you can only discover it by visiting. I picked up two books here (will showcase some of the buys in another post).

The other great ~subculture~ store I went to was Yumeno Shoten - and this is the store I would recommend to any otaku visiting, it was a much broader collection while still having a ton of niche stuff. The vibes continued to be immaculate of course:

And they covered every category you could imagine - Newtype-style news magazine, anime cels, artbooks, off-beat serial manga magazines, 1st edition prints, just everything. They had promotional posters from Mushi Pro-era productions like Cleopatra, nothing was out of reach. I got a ton of books here - it was one of the first stores I visited on my second day in Jimobocho, which made me *heavily* weighed down for the subsequent explorations, a rookie mistake for sure. There are adorable book-themed hotels and hostels in Jimbocho, and I absolutely could see a trip where you just shop here for a week and stay nearby so you can drop off your haul as you go.

We went to other great stores - I was on the lookout for some 90's era photography stuff, particularly by youth punk photographer Hiromix (#FLCL database), and I got very close at fashion/photography store Komiyama Shoten but never quite got what I was looking for. Shinsendo Shoten is a bookstore devoted entirely to the "railway and industrial history of Japan" and an extensive map collection, it was my kind of fetish art. My partner @darktypedreams found two old copies of the fashion magazine Gothic & Lolita Bible, uh, somewhere, we checked like five places and I don't remember which finally had it! And we also visited Aratama Shoten, a store collecting vintage pornography with a gigantic section on old BDSM works that was very much up her alley. It had the porn price premium so we didn't buy anything, but it was delightful to look through works on bondage and non-con from as far back as the 1960's, where honestly the line between "this is just for the fetish" and "this is authentic gender politics" was...sometimes very blurry. No photos of this one for very obvious reasons.

Jimbocho absolutely earned its rep, its an extremely stellar example of how history, culture, and uh land use policy can build something in one place that seems impossible in another operating under a different set of those forces. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

#Ash Japan Adventures #Jimbocho #anime culture discourse

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chibivesicle · 1 year

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The sadness of Steven A. Starphase.

How Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront is painfully realistic. In the most banal adult ways possible.

With me going back to rewatch Trigun before Stampede began to air, I was itching for more work by Yasuhiro Nightow. However, his follow up manga that started as a one-shot that became Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront came out while I was in grad school and when the anime was briefly on Crunchyroll later, it didn’t ping me as a suggestion. I’m very much a josei/seinen person with occasional forays into good sports or slice of life series, then shoujo and then shounen series if they have a good sense of humor. Essentially, I need something like FLCL or Gintama to keep me amused.

With Stampede not meeting what I’m realizing were unrealistic expectations, I was curious and decided to follow up on Blood Blockade Battlefront (B3). The title alone would be a turn off for me; I put faith in it that it would have that original Trigun quirky vibe. Honestly, I wish they’d not have translated and told me it was Kekkai Sensen, I would have been easier to convince to watch it. I watched the first episode and was already loving the style, the artwork and the OST. That OST man - so good. And the VA cast - so many actors from Gintama and I was shocked no one was commenting that Femt, the King of Depravity, was voiced by one of my fav VAs, Akira Ishida! What sealed the deal for me, besides the incredible graphic design, story boarding and attention to detail from studio Bones was the entire sequence in S1E3 - A Game Between Worlds when Klaus and K.K. go to the Alterworld following the former Soviet chess grandmaster to the Alterworld Mafia Don’s home.

As the story unfolded in season one, I started to gravitate towards my usual character types; tough independent females and tall, dark, and handsome males. Yeeeaaaaah; I love Chain Sumeragi, K.K. and Steven A. Starphase. I also appreciate Leo with Sonic and Klaus Von Reinhertz is the best male tank character I have ever seen. He’s so adorable! And gentlemanly with his tie and oxford brogues. B3 is a workplace drama/comedy that just happens to take place in a secret organization that handles weird supernatural stuff. Seriously, that is a great summary and it is a great cast even if I’d likely kill Zapp and punch Brody & Hummer for being double ditzes.

I haven’t finished season two yet (I’ve watched through S2E7 - so no spoiler comments for the rest of season two or the manga please!). But the character who ticks all my boxes is Nicholas D. Wolfwood - er - I mean, Steven A. Starphase. Steven is the second in command of Libra, one of the oldest team members (over thirty), has a facial scar, dark hair, sarcastic, stylish and the team member; who gets shit done. That peaking bit of a tattoo and his ruffly black hair . . . Chain may have gotten Wolfwood’s outfit and is a werewolf, but Steven is the evolution of Wolfwood, balancing out Klaus’ unwavering principles, and willing to take on the role of doing the dirty work in the background which is necessary. The body language of Steven is the same as Wolfwood, he’s a mix of straight lines, angles and noodle.

Steven is also paired with Vash - I mean - K.K. on missions. Following the anime format he’s teamed up with her in S1E5 - Bloodline Fever where they have to fight a Blood Breed in a subway station. Unlike, Vash and Wolfwood, K.K. is not keen on him all the time calling him black-hearted and giving him the mocking nickname of Steven-sensei (I guess since he is the logistics expert of Libra always coordinating the teams while K.K. is a lone sniper character).

However, despite their one-sided discord, the two of them work well together where he shows his noodle qualities saving K. K. and the young girl and her mother in S1E8 - Z’s Worst Day - Part 1. Interestingly, Steven takes K.K.’s criticism rather seriously as he’s shaking as she scolds him . . . Steven takes K.K.’s words into account indicating that he does want work well with her.

Before, reverting to his oft “Now, now, now” line to de-escalate things. The two also naturally balance each other out and communicate well with their options when trying to determine which of the two mysterious individuals is the Blood Breed from the India Gate.

They are also characters who are able to info dump quite naturally due to them being the most senior members of Libra in the main cast besides Lucky Abrams. And the storytelling makes their info dumping flow with the story - sometimes they are trying to figure something out, sometimes Steven is pondering a situation. Either way it works well for the second in command to be the man with a bookmarked to hell reference text and even have a color swatch for a Blood Breed’s aura. He also has lots of paper reports which indicates he’s the kind of guy who likes to read through physical items than scan a computer all the time.

By the end of season one, we know that Steven is for the most part, serious about work, a deadpan snarker, leans towards the more pessimistic side despite having hope for the future. e.g. he’d likely describe himself a realist as opposed to Klaus being a dreamer.

It gives us enough information that he’s been beaten down and is no longer an idealistic youth. Take when he asked about why Leo wouldn’t accept higher pay despite struggling financially and comments that Leo is an upstanding young man. He also originally was hesitant for them to even invite Leo to join Libra in the first place, despite knowing the value he brought to them, we know this is alleviated by S1E5 when he takes a literal beating to stall for time. Steven looks chronically burnt out - he is the only character who always has lines under his eyes. His facial expression is rarely one of him smiling or laughing and he maintains a sort of meh or down turned expression when not dealing with serious work situations. Even in the image below when he’s smiling it isn’t a happy smile, he’s thinking about the situation they are about to enter, looking back on the past three years.

His character is frequently shown with a cup of coffee - at the office, he has a blue mug with a red bottom that matches his shirt, frequently when he has papers in the other hand. He will also drink tea with Klaus but it is clear he’s reached that working adult phase of life where coffee is fundamental to your day to day function. Steven is also shown to down energy drinks in times of extreme deadlines as well.

Season two, B3 & Beyond appears to be a season of back filling manga chapters that were skipped in season one to have a tight story. The one aspect that was a bummer in season one for me was how characters besides Leo, Klaus, Black and White got loads of development and growth everyone else was just in the background as support. Season two likely pulled from manga chapters that were published earlier which lead to some confusing/unclear points for viewers aka, like why K.K. calls Steven black-hearted and the Steven-sensei nickname. It is too bad they didn’t have these episodes earlier but I’ll take my character development background whenever, just give it to me.

We first get the explanation from Klaus and Steven at the hospital that reappeared about their personal experience of the Great Collapse to Leo and the introduction of Dr. Lucina Estavez (who should totally date Klaus) as well as defeating the Blood Breed that the two hand been training to fight.

The episode that really hit on my idea that there is a sadness to Steven wasn’t until S2E3 - Day In Day Out. We get a few parallel story lines that show what happens in Leo, Zapp, Steven and Chain’s day where they are independent of each other but still cross paths by the end.

The first thing we learn is that Steven has an amazing loft apartment with a balcony and cool artwork and an Alterworld/Beyondian housekeeper, Mrs. Veded. He emerges from a bedroom with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper as he greets her. With a genuine smile too.

I can look beyond his choice to put milk in his coffee - however, that goes against K.K.’s comment that he’s got a black heart. I’ll excuse his milk in coffee for his stress and soothing his tummy. The phone rings and he goes to pick it up.

We can still see the lines under his eyes so again, he is either always exhausted or we are to read them as actual wrinkles. Maybe both - he’s older and tired due to working hard. A rather playful female on the phone jokes with him about waking up early - at 11AM and it is clear that he hasn’t been up that long either.

There is a conversation about how much alcohol to bring tonight, cluing us into the fact that he’s having a dinner party at his place. Which again, is freakkin’ swanky as all hell. I want Steven’s place.

He’s got a carefree attitude as he talks to two different people on the phone about arrangements for the evening. These are not Steven at the office looks, these are Steven potentially having an outside life facial expressions!

When he gets off the phone, Mrs. Veded comments that he looks happy and Steven seems shocked. She also noted that he seemed very stressed out and tense all the time and she is glad to see him not in such a state.

Since we know that Steven keeps a straight face for the most time at work, he can’t help but reply that he’s shocked at her observation. Which is true, I’m sure Klaus can read him pretty well in work situations, but it is his thing to keep his cards close to his chest. In season one, he is frequently the go between for Libra and the government whether it is the FBI, HLPD, the League of Casters and so forth. Angelica’s comment of Klaus-san and Steven-shi shows that she knows Klaus from previous interactions, but the -shi on Steven implies that she’s never met him, but knows of him and speaks to him respectfully. The English equivalent would be like staying, “Oh, you’re the well-known organizer at Libra, Steven Starphase.” The point is, Steven is well known in certain circles and is respected professionally.

In season one, he was only happy when they were successful at work or his plans went well. For example, his delight at how Leo was able to spot the Ghost Wagon and how he told Klaus that he needed to work on his management skills of others. He additionally has a mix of a dark and offbeat sense of humor, able to laugh while Leo is wrapped up in bandages.

This is not a relevant image other than that it shows time has passed and I still want Steven’s loft.

Mrs. Veded has been helping him all afternoon to prep for his party and we see that he even gets in on the action cooking and wearing an apron of course. He goes with his more casual dress shirt with no tie. There is an almost excited look on his face. I’d guess he hasn’t had people over in sometime.

He goes to let people in and he hands the flowers to Mrs. Veded (who adorably inhales their scent looking happy) and after greeting them, trips over. Of course the friends comment that he’s been working too hard. Steven, adulting hardcore.

The gifted flowers are placed on the table in a vase by Mrs. Veded and he thanks her for all of her help. However, it is clear that he doesn’t need her for the rest of the evening and she takes her leave.

Again, we see another nice subtle smile from him here but something about it lingers, like he’d like to say more but can’t. After she departs, he talks to himself about getting things started, grabbing a bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice and commenting they should get started.

The next time we return to his place, all of the party guests are eating, drinking and chatting up a storm. There is chill music on, everyone looks fashionably dressed, wealthy - and human. All of this gives us the indication that outside of work, Steven has the most ‘normal’ social group. Look at his swanky place, the nice artwork, stainless steel fridge, kitchen island . . . yet while everyone is chatting merrily in groups we get a framing shot of him silently standing alone leaning into a column in his living room. You can tell that every single individual except for him is talking with another person or two based on their body language. This is such an excellent image and it lingers just long enough before it zooms into him looking off in to the distance with a wineglass of course.

Steven has such an interesting expression here, he’s got what appears to be his usual poor posture, leaning against the wall, holding the wine glass and has a soft but almost sad smile. Wistful is the best I can think of.

The fact that his left hand is across his chest and under his right is unusual for him. He rarely displays this type of conservative closed off body language, think of how frequently he’s got at least one if not both hands in his pockets. Steven speaks rather casually and bluntly; I like to call his overall posture, noodle, which is relaxed and confident. Yet, here, he appears much more stiff and is alone at his own party as you look more closely. Something is definitely off.

He goes off to get more beer and leaves the living room when all of his guests raise their arms to reveal biological weapons and tell him to remain in place, Steven Alan Starphase of Libra. Love the use of his middle name for emphasis as well. Of course he denies any knowledge of Libra at first before turning back towards them slightly. Another great part of this scene is how when he walks the few steps up to his kitchen we get a glimpse of his shoes he’s wearing at his house party.

They aren’t some sort of relaxed shoes, the few short steps allow us to see that they are his modified shoes for Esmeralda Blood Freeze techniques. We didn’t get this when he tripped in the foyer, but this is now giving the viewers a hint that he’s prepared for a serious fight.

The first sign that things are about to go south is that when he calls out two guests for only just meeting this evening but appeared to actually know each other.

As they continue to threaten him, he concludes that they need to capture him alive; likely due to his role as the second in command at Libra. This allows him to stall for time as he teases them to give him more information, by stating their bosses are idiots for wanting to capture him alive - as it implied he was expecting them to shoot him.

The framing for this entire sequence is top notch. He never turns to face them directly while continuing the conversation with Ellen. She tries to threaten him to stop being all pretentious and that they’d have no choice but to attack him. Of course he replies mocking them by throwing the question about it back at them. The resignation in his body language that this is what is happening. I don’t think that at this point that he can even look them in the eye. He’s too upset and is keeping it calm and collected.

The shading over his eyes as he looks down, the slack shoulders, this is not how he wanted his evening to go down. Yet, here he is inside his kitchen in a tight spot. Or so it seems.

However, Steven is anal retentive when it comes to organization and details, and he faked tripping at his front door to use his Needles of Absolute Zero move on them. Obviously, he likely did this at the beginning of the party for the rest of the guests being a good host circulating himself. This also explains why he sent Mrs. Veded home, he didn’t want her to witness him doing something this ruthless. Plus, she likely doesn’t know what he does for a living anyways.

The look on his face as he freezes them is so lonely, his eyes are closed and he’s hunched forward. He may not regret his actions honestly; he had no choice but to follow through with this course of actions but that feeling of disappointment, sadness, loss, betrayal. It hurts. Only after he’s frozen them all in place does he even glance back to them as his breath is visible in the air.

Once everyone has been subdued, he gets a moment to gloat over them and their mistakes. He notes that Larry was smart to select weapons that could get into his building undetected implying that he lives in a pretty secure building and that Larry was carrying his weight funny for the past ten days. He also tells Ellen that she tried too hard to cover the scent of the weapons with her usual perfume - by adding more. However, she should have changed the scent and he wouldn’t have noticed. After telling them how he figured out things were off, he steps back and looks at the group, his entire expression tired and blank. More stress lines under those eyes.

His own personal clean-up crew is there to take them all away. And since this isn’t under the guidance of Klaus, he’ll likely let those masked individuals use questionable methods to interrogate everyone for the information he needs to know. Who or what is targeting him? Why? What do they want from him? These are the sorts of things Steven has to know, but the type of things that Klaus wouldn’t be involved with due to his stricter moral code. In this instance, Klaus is Vash, holding an almost impossible level of hope and goals while it is clear that Steven is pragmatic and realizes sometimes you gotta slog through the shit to get things done and protect others like Wolfwood. Though, Steven would have been very upset if Mrs. Veded’s roast were damaged in anyway so he clearly loves her cooking and the love she puts into it.

The likely immediate reaction for a lot of viewers at the end of this scene when he goes out for some air is; Holy shit! Steven is a total badass. He just froze his entire dinner party and turned them over to shady underlings to pump them for information. Badass indeed!

Yet, when I saw the end of that scene, I felt so sad. When it goes to him alone along the road, he’s chastising himself for his own behaviors. He’s leaning on the railing looking out into the night giving himself criticism for letting his guard down and enjoying himself too much. He tried to meet ‘normal’ people who didn’t work for Libra and look what it got him?!?!

He thinks back to how he met various individuals like Ellen and Larry. And that is when it really sinks in and all of its subtlety. You think back to his comments and realize he had to likely know these people for a few years as he met them and slowly thought about having them meet. To realize what type of perfume Ellen wore all the time. To notice that Larry started walking oddly with in the past ten days meant he saw him walk a lot more for a decent amount of time prior to the recent days.

And then it sinks in - all of those people might have went out of their way to befriend him over the period of several years - for the purpose to kidnap him for their boss. The level of deception, of effort. If that was how he met all of them, it sucks so much that it could break someone down. I almost felt like crying the more that I thought about the entire situation. Even if they’d met him first to just be friends, it still shows they were convinced to join this plot to capture him.

Thinking about that hurts; it would make him absolutely paranoid to befriend anyone who isn’t associated with Libra and socialize with them outside of work. But you don’t want to hang out with your work friends outside of work do you?

The entire mood of this image captures his feelings of sadness, isolation and loneliness. He’s the darkest figure in the image as the car headlights, apartment windows and orange construction barrels are more illuminated than he is.

The car turns out to pull over and stop as it is Mrs. Veded and she’s got her two children with her who meet him. Steven smiles at them and they have a pleasant conversation.

The icing on the cake is when he thanks her for everything - she likely thinks it is about her help prepping for the party and cleaning his place. But Steven is speaking from his heart. She’s likely one of the most normal people he knows. Oh, that smile and his smiling eyes. Steven, you’re a good guy even though you have to do some not so great things. You care about normal people, you know how to talk to normal people and you are not biased based on species.

Her daughter shows him the cat they found and he knees down to see them eye to eye and comment on how the cat is so cute. Note, he’s totally channeling Wolfwood, by talking to the children like they are normal and then comes down to their level to continue to chat with them.

The bonus is that he properly pets that cat which shows it is happy. Aaaahhhh my heart is melting. I love it when someone knows how to properly interact with cats.

The episode then ends with Leo, Sonic and Zapp riding by, Zapp having a total meltdown about his eminent loss of his most important body part. Steven laughs how his friends are having a wild night out on the town - revealing that for better or for worse - his closest friends are his colleagues at Libra and Mrs. Veded.

I’m sure that when Leo stops by to chat with Steven, they likely notice the heads of the two goons in the car and figure out that cat is the missing purebred and all’s well that ends well.

The entire episode was a wild ride as the different characters navigate challenges for the current stages of their lives. The one though that stuck with me the most was how realistic Steven’s entire situation is, besides being a key member of a secret organization who can freeze stuff with his blood. I mean more along the lines of what it is like to be a hardworking professional over the age of thirty. Trying to navigate a work-life balance and meet people outside of a school context. It is really difficult and it makes his situation in this episode sadder. He likely put a ton of effort into meeting all those people as adult friendships are bloody hard. Steven’s actions were not out of revenge nor malice; it boiled to either something bad happening to him or to them. He outsmarted them and won the contest but at the loss of likely a bunch of people he socialized with outside of work and clearly never told them who he was - with the whole working for a secret organization.

We can also guess that with his multilingual skills, like Klaus, he’s not a native of NYC originally and moved there to be a part of Libra. Which makes his story even sadder and more lonely.

We don’t have enough information if he’s a native speaker of Spanish or that he knows it for his Blood techniques. Zapp and Zed have to do theirs in Japanese (with very Buddhist undertones as opposed to Christian for Steven and Klaus) and they were taught by a mysterious ‘otherwordly’ man with a dark skin tone and wears a skull sooooo one can’t correlate Blood technique language with ones own racial/ethnic background. All that it has revealed is that between Steven and Klaus, besides English, they can speak a total of nine languages knowing that Spanish and German are two of those nine.

I’ve gone off track, but getting back to my main point. The entire episode fills in a few gaps from season one.

Steven does have a black heart - sort of. K.K. isn’t incorrect, but he isn’t doing this all for fun. He’s the guy who has to choose between two terrible options. He is the character who makes decisions - very deeply thought out decisions for the overall good of the many as opposed to the few. Unlike Wolfwood, he does not charge into situations and instead, does his research, assembles teams and will work himself to utter exhaustion to prevent disaster. He commands others with a strong presence and organizes almost all of their coordinated plans as well as making sure they are executed properly.

Though his interactions with Veded and her kids as well as his concern for protecting normal people or other staff; he cares a lot about others.

Older characters are more reserved. Steven frequently interacts with all sorts of people and is the contact point for Libra. Everyone has his number. He does not show his emotions easily and takes much effort to be convinced. Detective Daniel Law is the one who talks directly to Steven while Klaus listens silently. Though, as obvious as it is that Law is manipulating Klaus, Steven doesn’t say anything aloud and instead sighs and groans at the expected outcome. When Master Raju Jugei Shizuyoshi appears, it is Steven who quickly determines his identity, implying he’s done his research though it was still after the Blood Battle God utterly mocked both K.K. and him, the two most senior members of Libra. Yet, he holds his own and keeps his cool - interestingly, Klaus does not speak until addressed by Shizuyoshi, instead allowing Steven to carefully question him without being intrusive. A character like Steven also hits differently. The antics of say Chain or Zapp aren’t as interesting or realistic as watching Steven lose it over making sure his computers aren’t destroyed.

He’s realistic even in the context of something like B3. The burnt out vibes, the snarky comments, the confidence in regular work situations. Steven is an easy older character to connect with. And he’s got that twinge of adult isolation and loneliness where you wonder how you got to this point professionally successful, yet, somehow are still alone? What did you sacrifice to reach this point? Was it worth it? I still have a few more episodes to go, but I’m curious to see how things pan out. Annoyingly, the print version of the manga is out of print (throws serious shade at Darkhorse) AND they don’t even have it digitally for me to legally support. That’s pretty annoying there Darkhorse . . . Yet so far, hands down, I love Steven’s character and all of his banal realistic flaws. As life gets older, you have to compromise on things and his character is a great example of that along with the grind of working and being successful

#kekkai sensen #blood blockade battlefront #kekkai sensen meta #blood blockade battlefront meta #steven a starphase #character study

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hxhhasmysoul · 6 months

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Hi..... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from JJK? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series (until now)? Thanks....

Characters:

Itadori Yuuji

I like to quote this post by @/lets-curse-each-other a like the starter explanation to why Yuuji is an absolute masterpiece as a character and also the best boi. This post not only shows the peak of the iceberg that is Yuuji's personality but it only hints who much attention Gege gives to his characterisation.

I also love Yuuji because he's written in quite a unique way for a protagonist of a shounen manga, ie. more like a shoujo manga protagonist, and I wrote more about that here. His character journey is absolutely stunning, at every point his teenage beliefs that he developed to deal with his loneliness and the loss he has suffered, get questioned, rhetorically and generally attacked. He constantly needs to deal with his worldview and coping mechanisms being shuttered. And he still manages to be caring, to retain so much of himself.

And lastly I like his character design, it works really well both when he's really cute and when he's taken to his limits.

Kenjaku

They are the absolute fucking worst. They are an amazing plotter, like on a reread it's absolutely stunning how well their plans are prepared, how we see them perfect said plans. I have massive, massive respect for Kenjaku as a villain. They are such a manipulative lair. During my first reread I started compiling a file with all their scenes where I wrote whether I thought that they were lying in that scene and how because my ADHD wouldn't let me sleep, I kept thinking about them.

I love their mad scientist vibes, it's so sad no one wants to listen to them explaining their evil plans, and no one wants to nerd out with them about cursed energy (I'm looking here at you Tengen and Sukuna). Though to be fair, they kill the person who'd've likely been the most into such nerdy conversations, namely Yuki.

Of course it matters to me that they're Yuuji's mum. That makes their character even more juicy and horrible. Their whole twisted connection to motherhood is chefs kiss.

Nobara and Hana

I'm putting them both here together, despite them never meeting in the manga, because for me they both embody the awkwardness of being a teenage girl just on the opposite sides of the spectrum. There is a lot of societal stigma put onto teenage girls. Starting from how they should be.

Nobara is trying to define womanhood for herself while also clearly not being versed in issues of modern feminism. it feels very fitting for a girl her age. Some of the things she likes that are appropriate for girls from the society's point of view and some that are not so much, so she lands at girlboss feminism.

I also love that her reason for joining the Tokyo school is very much not jujutsu oriented. She's not there because of the politics of the clans like some many other students, or because it was join or die.

I hope that Nobara returns, though I'd be also okay with Gege just letting me grieve her at this point.

Hana is trying to orient herself through a crush she has on a guy who saved her life long ago. A guy she doesn't really know but she has created an image of in her head, it's a purely parasocial relationship so many teen girls have. Now I think Hana will be on her journey to reorient herself, build her self image outside of Megumi.

I low key hope that Yuuji will pop Angel's soul out of Hana and set her free, Hana not Angel, that 1000yo selfish sorcerer should join her ilk in the dumpster of history where they are all hopefully headed.

Yorozu

She's a rabid Sukuna simp so like mega relatable ;) But more seriously I love her powers, how much thought she put into them. She's an amazing jujutsu nerd, another friend Kenjaku could've had if they put her in a different body, one Sukuna wouldn't want to kill.

I love her creepy wedding plans but most of all I love that she's pursuing Sukuna for status. The things she wants of him are so appropriate for a Heian woman to want. It's a really cool bit. And she has the classic het relationship energy of "I can fix him". That's why you don't indulge in heterosexuality, kids.

I wish she actually joined the villain cast and remained there longer, she had amazing energy.

Sukuna

Another jujutsu nerd, but he's like embarrassed of it or something because he pretends he's not one. He's very above that nerd shit but also that's how he is the strongest and how he wins fights. He's amazingly not self aware. It's the same with his being so detached when he's very clearly capable of having really healthy relationships with others like he has with Uraume. He just chooses not to. He does have a bit of an edgy teen vibe which is funny in a 1000yo guy. Maybe that's why he's so irked by Yuuji. ;)

I absolutely love how he fights. He puts on a feral demeanor but underneath he's full on analysis and calculation.

He also makes the second best faces in the manga second only to Yuuji.

And his original form is very scrumptious, very thirst-inducing.

#answering asks #thank you for the asks #i also like other characters a lot #like junpei #or kirara #and more but i already cheated putting nobara and hana together #jjk manga #jjk spoilers

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cinnbar-bun · 1 month

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Ur so girlypop ✨ 👀 what are your fave animes/mangas besides one piece and jojo yk

Omg yay 🥹🥹 I’m girlypop!!!

So I mostly read/watched a lot of shoujo/josei manga and anime.

My first anime was Ojamajo Doremi (we had it in 4Kidz as Magical DoReMi), and my local library didn’t have much manga at that time, but it had MY BELOVED CHOCOMIMI AND HAPPY HAPPY CLOVER… my loves…

I didn’t really consider myself an anime fan at that time since I was just a little girl vibing, but as I got older I got more into the CLAMP works like Cardcaptor Sakura and Magic Knight Rayearth, Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure, Vampire Knight (I love you Zero), Kamisama Kiss, OHSHC, Yumeiro Patisserie, Black Butler (I even have a Yana’s artworks), and Ai Yazawa’s works.

ALSO I DONT SEE MANY TALK ABOUT THESE BUT LIKE THERE WERE THESE TWO MANGAS THAT LIVED IN MY HEAD ALL THE TIME AND I THOUGHT I HALLUCINATED THEM UNTIL I FOUND OUT THEY WERE REAL 😭😭 Godchild and Angel Sanctuary boom- both by Kaori Yuki what a shock.

I don’t watch much shounen/seinen so I never watched DBZ/Naruto and stuff like many others. I did read and watch a lot of Sengoku Basara and Soul Eater, though.

If you want my actually favorite anime ever it’s Jojo, though. I don’t think anything can top its art, concept, characters, or story to me. Even if I’m focusing on other things I will pretty much always consider it peak fiction to me.

#rambles

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crehador · 1 year

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parting thoughts on amatsuki (anime)

so first of all bonten is such peak character design we need to go back to this

yaoi hands shoujo legs makes a man go [whistle noise]

secondly WHO is that motorcycle guy who is somehow not toki’s dad

long and short of it is the anime leaves me curious enough to add the manga to my planning list but probably not curious enough to read it anytime soon

this was an absolute delight to watch, and even though it came out in 2008 it made me nostalgic for early 00s studio deen nonsense (which sounds like a dig but i mean that affectionately)

it’s not the most unique thing but it reminds me that i like this flavor of shoujo fantasy, specifically portal fantasy, way way way more than the generic ecchi isekai that proliferate today

actually not even just shoujo, i was thinking of fushigi yuugi specifically but on the shounen side of things yyh and even bleach to a certain extent fall under that “we go to another world but in like a cool way” umbrella so basically

when and why did this good shit get replaced by such mediocre isekai!

(obligatory “i’m an isekai hater but everyone should watch fabiniku” disclaimer)

anyway amatsuki boasts an overall likeable cast of characters, toki can be a bit insufferable at times in the way a lot of protags can be but overall i found him to be idealistic yet still endearing

shinonome has a banging character design too and so does kuchiha except i’m SORRY she has to lose some points for the hair scarf thing i CANNOT stop thinking about how scratchy that would be

(that said she IS adorable and definitely best girl material, also the ot3 vibes between her and shinonome and toki were off the charts)

also one more gratuitous bonten gif bc PEAK

ofc yeah i’m biased bc of a certain voice actor factor (suwabe) but honestly when did the morally ambiguous pseudo-mentor types stop looking like this and start looking like boring ass gojo instead (sorry to the gojo girlies your man has nice eyes but otherwise looks as interesting as a communion wafer)

but in all fairness i shouldn’t be comparing shoujo aesthetics to shounen ones so anyway moving on

the human vs ayakashi conflict stuff can be found anywhere but i think amatsuki does a pretty good job of executing that classic trope, though the vr stuff (at least in the anime) doesn’t really seem to play a role beyond providing the portal to the other world which eh is fine and all but might have been cool to see it be more relevant

all in all i feel like amatsuki would be a nice hidden(?) gem for anyone who enjoys older series (not even sure if it’s a hidden gem or if i just never heard anything about it personally) but would probably be a miss for anyone who isn’t into that

which is to say it was certainly a hit for me

#crab watches #amatsuki #parting thoughts #i should get to akayona soon...#or one day at least #unfortunately whenever i say soon i mean like within 1-5 business years #oh eta: best thing about bonten's shoujo legs is he USES them #like a lot #he's constantly flying in from off-screen to kick someone in the head #and i think that's very sexy of him

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pine-niidles · 1 year

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3, 5, 11, 14!

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Big eyes from my days copying shoujo manga panel by panel... Arina Tanemura was the peak of art for elementary school me.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

I post most of it honestly, unless I forget or it's too much of a hassle (mostly traditional art that requires photos or doodles lost in the layers of a bigger piece)

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Depending on my mood either music (at random with whatever spotify recomends me or a specific oc playlist if I'm drawing that oc or one with similar vibes) or I put on youtube videos for white noise. There's no specific genre I prefer, I'm actually trying to find something new to watch because I don't care much for everything I've been watching recently...

14 was answered in my previous post

Ty Silver!! Those were some fun ones to think about.

#ask

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utapri-hcs · 3 years

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What if Utapri was in a3

So this is a little gift to those in both the A3 fandom and the Utapri one since engA3 servers are unfortunately being shut down. To those who don't know, A3 is a mobage game where you are now Izumi and have been appointed the director of Mankai company, you attempt to rebuild the company after its fall from grace and you basically learn about a bunch of funky people who you recruit

STARISH

Otoya:Spring

Tokiya:Winter

Ren:Autumn

Masato:Winter

Syo:Summer

Natsuki:Summer

Cecil:Spring

QUARTET NIGHT

Reiji:Summer

Ranmaru:Autumn

Ai:Winter

Camus:Winter

-Natsuki is instantly kamekichi’s favourite

-Kamekichi Just perches on Natsuki as there is a fire in the kitchen after Kazunari and Taichi tried a tik tok recipe

-Camus eats Kamekichi buns with Juza

-Banri and Ranmaru just shit talk their respective buddy and how they get diabetes

-Misumi finding out that Ai, Syo and Natsuki sing triangle beat oh god

-Ranmaru and Juza are the one that vibes together though

-Tasuku has now found two new members for his soccer club in the form of Otoya and Syo

-Masato and Omi just vibe

-Ren learns the amazingness of Instablam

-Tokiya and Azuma watch as things go down very wine aunt style

-Yuki and Syo compare styles and clothes with Banri sometimes joining

-Syo kinda hates Banri at first though (who didn’t though, have you seen Banri?)

-Itaru and Banri have found two new toxic gamers

-They can do like co-op vs now with Ai and Ren vs Banri and Itaru

-Reiji, Ranmaru and Ren like going drinking with the rest of the adults

-Reiji and Ren are also now designated drivers as well

-Now the school kids have some extra rides other then the early Sakyo mobile, the normal bus and who the fuck knows when Itaru is even going to leave his room mobile

-Masato and Homare just recite poetry with each other

-Masato and Tenma love their bonsai trees, they would die for that

-Reiji and Masato have joined the Mahjong club

-When something is broken they can also go to Ranmaru as well now

-Yuki and Ai get along since Ai likes helping out with the sewing, they like roasting their members though

-Citron and Cecil, just Citron and Cecil

-Guy and Camus, but Camus is kinda an asshole

-Chikage, Camus and hisoka have met eachother once during their organisation life

-Chikage probably tries killing Camus when he saw him

-Camus and Chikage just talk about casual murder and their preferred methods

-Sakuya and Otoya living their best life and being good boys

-“Oh god, we got another Currian”

-Otoya and Izumi can just eat curry for the next few years

-Natsuki and Yuki wouldn’t really get along since Natsuki probably tried hugging Yuki

-If they do get along, imagine Yuki making stuffed toys for him

-Muku probably asks Tokiya on how to be princely and what not

-Ai and Muku would read shoujo manga together and that’s adorable

-Natsuki calls everyone cute, everyone.

-The first time he called Sakyo cute, Sakyo almost had a heart attack

-12am you’ll still hear the toxic gamers yelling at eachother

-Ranmaru and Azami bond over eyeliner

-Natsuki, Misumi, Hisoka And Ranmaru just bond over the neighbourhood cats

-Ranmaru and Hisoka just nap with each other

-They also tell Reiji and Homare to be quiet

-Chikage and Satsuki definitely need to talk before they try murdering each other

-They would probably vibe with each other after that

-You dont mess with their family and they won’t mess with you

-Satsuki or Syo and Misumi doing parkour around the dorms

-Misumi takes Syo for triangle hunting

-Syo swears he didn’t steal that traffic cone just then

-He also swears he saw god

-Tokiya and Homare talking about poetry

-Masato unhelpfully tutorring Taichi as the bus starts to roll in

-He won’t give Taichi the answer because he wants him to learn, the fact is that Taichi is now just trying to rush through trigonometry without crying

-Azuma, Yuki and Azami complimenting Ai’s skin

-Ranmaru would probably have some tension with Sakyo considering the Yakuza

-Itaru is tensed with Ren and Masato originally

-Itaru has memorised all the rich people he has to suck up to during work

-Turns out Ren is a gamer and Masato is an old man

-Omi, Reiji, Tsuzuru, Masato, Ren and Ranmaru have formed a cooking squad

-Only quality foods served in Mankai now

-I’m sorry Matsukawa

-Masumi and Ranmaru vibe over the same music tastes

-Tsuzuru and Reiji are essentially the big brothers of mankai

-Juza and Camus talk over sweet sometimes inviting Natsuki and Hisoka

-Tsumugi and Masato sit around, watering their plants old man style

-Reiji’s lingo gets worse when he meets Kazunari oh god

-Separate them please

-Ai likes going out to the garden and watching all the mankai members do their daily routines as Hisoka naps on his lap

-Tokiya and Kumon are the healthy boys and try to change Itaru, Taichi and Ren’s diets

-Taichi swears that if he has one more energy drink, he’ll be able to reach peak performance

-Syo admires Tasuka for being really strong

-Sakyo’s job is a lot harder since the electricity bills and sweets have gone up

-Misumi, Azuma, Reiji and Tenma have connections with all the elderly women in the area

-Taichi and Syo get along pretty well

-Taichi also would ask Ren for advice with the women

-It doesn’t go well

-Matsukawa and Reiji are living their best life, being bullied

-Otoya and Sakuya having deep talks of their non-existent parents

-All the nappers have designated caretakers, Masumi has Sakuya and Tsuzuru, Hisoka has Homare and Ranmaru has Reiji

-Ai and Misumi can understand Triangles, they are pretty neat

-Ai and Tenma kinda don’t know how the world works but it’s okay

-Reiji becomes the big brother of the kids in Summer troupe

-Tenma gets lost? Time for Reiji to find him idk have Yuki make Tenma a baby leash or something

-Yuki has problems with how he didn’t fit in? Reiji is there to tell him how he felt

-Muku’s anxiety is getting up again? Reiji had to deal with it a lot due to being a child actor, he has some tips and tricks

-Misumi starts missing home? Reiji is there to tell them that it’s okay

-Kazunari doesn’t know what he should do? Reiji is there to help weigh his options

-Kumon starts panicking? It’s okay Reiji has got this

-Reiji is amazing as a big brother

-Youngest In winter being Ai would be so strange to them

-Ai would have to help Tsumugi with technology

-Ai is interested in Homare’s depictions of certain events

#utapri #uta no prince sama #utanoprincesama #otoya ittoki #masato hijirikawa #Tokiya ichinose #ren jinguji #Natsuki shinomiya #syo kurusu #Reiji kotobuki #Ranmaru kurosaki #ai mikaze #utapri camus #a3 #idk if I should tag anything else

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tawus · 3 years

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Thought I’d casually throw out here my favourite anime in case anybody’s looking for something new to watch or whatever:

A Silent Voice (movie - worth a watch)

Monogatari series (99% dialogue but one of my top #5. My most beloved fictional couple is in this one)

Barakamon (super feel good comedy)

Binbougami ga (chaotic funny)

Bleach (my 1st ever anime - i’m still Hirako Shinji’s hoe)

Daily Lives of Highschool Boys (peak of comedy for me)

Detroit Metal City (comedy about a vanilla guy whose “alter ego” is being the guitarist of a death metal band)

Devil’s Line (deadly vampires who get turned on by your blood - need I say more? I’m bummed they didn’t animate further though, so I’m gonna have to read the manga)

Devilman Crybaby (masterpiece - change my mind)

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (feel good comedy)

Gintama (another peak of comedy)

Hotarubi no Mori e (movie - makes you cry like a bitch)

Jormungand (my #1 anime bc of the protag)

Kakegurui (Yumeko Jabami can step on me)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Congratulations!)

Nichijou (cute & super funny)

Plastic Neesan (very chaotic funny)

Prison School (the stupid anime where a big titty woman gets accidentally hung by her thong getting caught on the doorknob)

Psycho Pass (only 1st season - Makishima can spit on me)

Samurai Champloo (I never get tired of rewatching this, soooo good)

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (quirky but somehow I loved it)

Scums’ Wish (taboo, secretive vibe that I love)

Yuru Yuri (cute & funny)

Love is Hard for Otaku (about grown weebs like me who are living normal lives whilst hiding their obsessions - super good!)

Kengan Ashura (sexy fights to the death lmao)

Yona of the Dawn (seriously impressed - all characters are precious and Son Hak can choke me)

#anime recs #anime recommendation #anime recommendations #anime

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droplet-dread-cat · 4 years

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Me reading Naruto because I only watched the anime in 2012 and finished it like three years later Part 05

Now that I’m nearing the end of the first part of the series (I’m currently at chapter 236) I want to list things that I like and things that I don’t like about Naruto so far.

Things I like:

- Art style! I think it’s very recognizable and I’m really enjoying it. Didn’t like it as much in the beginning but when it started to change I fell in love with it

- the cast in general: Characters I really found enjoyable: Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura (surprisingly - I thought she’d be a lot more obnoxious but she actually acted like a normal girl who’s being thrown into shinobi life all of a sudden and I found her perspective interesting), Shikamaru (well, sometimes he says stupid, sexist shit but all in all, I love him), Chouji (precious), Shino (even though he couldn’t help Sasuke - which I found a bit disappointing tbh but well), Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Kisame, Itachi, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari (I would die for her), Tayuya (what an iconic queen - hate how she ended up), that spider dude (like with Tayuya I hate how he ended up), Haku and Zabuza, Lee (MY BOY), Gai, Anko, Ibiki, Hayate, Genma, Iruka, Raidou and Tsunade

- the foreshadowing: I didn’t think there’d be this much already, for example Hashirama & Madara’s fate colliding with Naruto & Sasuke’s - aka them being reincarnations of each other, Minato being Naruto’s dad, Zetsu controlling/observing things from afar, Shika & Temari ending up together - I think Kishimoto built a good foundation with them, there being a hidden reason behind the Uchiha massacre

- fights: I liked various fights - not only for their meaning but also for their aesthetic value: Team 7 vs Orochimaru, Ino vs Sakura (most people found that fight plainly boring but I think it’s a good example of what a ‘normal’ fight looks like - they used shuriken, their fists and barely any ninjutsu... idk, I just found it interesting how common that one was compared to all the others), Neji vs Hinata (liked the brutality), Lee vs Gaara (so cool), Shikamaru vs Kin, Shikamaru vs Temari (out of all chunin exam fights this has to be my favourite), Shino vs that one black clad dude, Gaara & Lee vs Kimimaro (Gaara is just so nonchalantly violent and I love it), Kankuro & Kiba vs Sakon & Ukon (one of my favs tbh), Temari & Shikamaru vs Tayuya (OH MY GOD TEMARI IS SUCH A QUEEN OMFG) and, of course, Naruto vs Sasuke (those panels were so symbolic and aesthetically pleasing)

- the different vibes for each village: of course, so far we’ve only had Konoha, Suna and Oto but I loved how different they felt compared to each other

What I didn’t like:

- Tsunade being outdone by Naruto, a twelve year old kid who’s just learned Rasengan: Why. She’s supposed to be at Kage level.

- the fight between the third Hokage and Orochimaru: It felt, to me at least, mundane

- Tsunade randomly poisoning Jiraiya despite being on his side for the Dramatic Reveal: Kishimoto could have easily had her pretend to spike his drink and let him know very discreetly and off-screen about Orochimaru’s plan. Maybe I misunderstood something and, in all actuality, Tsunade decided in the heat of the moment but other than that, this could have been handled better in my opinion

- Jiraiya doing ‘research’ and this weird Supposedly!Parental scene he had with Naruto. It went like this: Naruto took money with him for the voyage and Jiraiya told him to give it to him to ‘keep it safe’. Instead of doing so, Jiraiya uses it for... um... ‘research’ yet again (or it’s shown like it - I don’t know if that’s ever going to be brought up again). Naruto sees a dad sharing a Twinni popsicle with his kid and is like “Shit, I wish Jiraiya or, like, anyone would treat me like this”. Then after days of Jiraiya pretty much ignoring Naruto or telling him to train harder, the guy buys him a Twinni as well and they share it. So, like, did Jiraiya ‘redeem’ himself by using Naruto’s own money to buy a popsicle and give only half of it to Naruto?? Did I miss something or was that really it? And then Jiraiya lets Naruto gamble on a slot machine for, like, who knows how long.

- Asuma fatshaming Chouji even though he’s supposed to know about the Akimichi requiring to frequently snack/eat to be at peak performance level & him not at all seeing the progress Chouji made... like, the kid took out Jirobo who had a freaking juin all by himself while Shikamaru, who’s better than Chouji because he’s already made it to chunin (said by Asuma), couldn’t beat Tayuya without Temari’s help. wtf Asuma

- Kurenai. What. Why would you use genjutsu against Itachi wtf are you doing?! I don’t understand! She’s a jonin, yeah? That means she has to excel in more than one thing, otherwise she’d be a tokubetsu jonin like Anko or Genma, right? Why didn’t you use literally anything else?!

- Naruto winning against Neji by literally hitting him ONCE

- Naruto always using kagebunshin. Always. Without a doubt. Always kagebunshin. (Later on Rasengan as well but let’s talk about pre-Rasengan) And maybe a kunai and a shuriken. There are so many other things he could use, though. Wasn’t he a prankster? Couldn’t he have smoke or stink bombs in his arsenal? It would have been such a surprising twist to let him use a stink bomb against Kiba instead of f-ing beating him with a FART WTF. Or wire like Sasuke uses. Or another weapon? A tanto, a bo staff? It’s just so damn repetetive - it’s impressively drawn, yeah, but man... for the “ Number One Unpredictable Ninja” he’s very predictable in that regard. I think he used an explosion seal once or twice? But that’s about it.

- Kishimoto baiting by drawing Sakura with an axe but not letting her use one. I would have been so disappointed had I not been aware that she’s not gonna pick it up.

- Kishimoto drawing Kakashi doing a shoujo manga transformation-esque pirouette with his contract scroll when he summons his ninken for the first time... but him then never doing it again??

- Talking. So much talking during fights. Enemies randomly explaining what they did in detail. Enemies talking about how much weapons they have. But that’s something many shonen manga share so it’s not Naruto exclusive

#Naruto #my opinion

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astracola · 4 years

Text

so because a3 is still relatively new (locally at least) i wanted to do a small introduction post to introduce my muses from it! i haven’t dropped in any headcanons (yet) so this’ll just be basic early game canon or character traits i think are neat. deadass i’m out here with half the cast i don’t know why i’m like this either frankly.

AZUMA YUKISHIRO

one of the oldest members of the company, likely in his early thirties. somehow manages to “defy aging” with his makeup skills and natural beauty.

he is fully aware of how pretty he is, thank you for asking.

a big brother to all.

gentle, easygoing, and calm, even in crisis or under stress.

have you met a professional cuddler. now you have.

noted to have an alluring personality and high sex appeal, because that’s great. likes to flirt a lot, and is very direct. says things that he definitely probably shouldn’t.

not much is known about his past, even among those in the company and his own troupe (winter), he keeps it this way intentionally. it’s implied he might have once been a host, as when he left his prior work to pursue acting, his clients were devastated.

skilled at poker and similar card games.

ITARU CHIGASAKI

what’s up gamers.

prince archetype. even within the major company he works for as an elite employee, he’s well respected/regarded. feels refreshing and calming to be around.

very, very handsome. like holy shit.

“two modes”. the professional look he gives for his work and in public--and the exact mode that give him his prince-like associations, and how he is in private. his public persona is mostly facade, though his compassion and caring nature is genuine. his “true self” is a hardcore gamer and otaku, like this, he curses more frequently and comes off rude or lazy.

he likes to keep these two personas separate, understandably. with most personal relationships, he holds everyone at a distance.

he works in finances, and not much is known about his passion for acting or if he has much of one at all. regardless of this, he’s a member of the spring troupe.

he often uses gaming and internet terms in his speech, especially in his “casual/gamer” mode.

to him, mankai is where he can truly be himself.

KAZUNARI MIYOSHI

voted most likely to quote vines irl. a literal influencer. always on top of the latest trends

a member of the summer troupe, he assumes he’s friends with everyone he meets--no questions asked, even if they come off rather abrasive. great social skills! he talks to anyone and everyone like he’s known them for years, so he’s easy to get along with.

a graphic design student, he makes the fliers for mankai. his skill is in illustration, and he has just as much passion for it as he does with acting.

you literally can NOT say he isn’t fashionable. that’s his shtick.

lowkey (but highkey) flirty with anyone he’s interested in. you know. casual.

despite his carefree attitude, he chooses his words carefully to leave those he meets with the best impression of him. he thinks so long as he befriends people, things are fine, even if a lot of those friendships are shallow at their best.

you get a nickname! and YOU get a nickname! and yo-

updates his social media daily and often. instagram, twitter, line, etc.

MASUMI USUI

a member of the spring troupe, he only joined up with mankai because he fell in love with the director in a moment of “love at first sight”. obviously, this isn’t requited. he does everything he can to try and impress her, despite having little interest in acting itself.

a bit of a “bad boy” trope, a rebel and troublemaker. he’s standoffish and rude to practically everyone else. comes across as cold and indifferent.

good at memorization! this comes in handy with their scripts.

his parents travel abroad often, so his family life is ... questionable, he has little restrictions at home and lives a carefree lifestyle, which feeds into his indifference

has a lot of female fans AND a fanclub at school thanks to his looks. he doesnt care for that shit at all tbqh.

he flirts ... a lot ... if he’s interested in you romantically ... but so far that’s only directed AT the director herself and it’s embarrassing. lovesick puppy.

i’m so sorry for him and anyone that tries to talk to him he’s kind of a dick.

MISUMI IKARUGA

honestly the definition of “bro i am just vibing.”

hard to understand, just a generally confusing person. not much is known about him or his past! he just sort of...showed up one day, crashing in the mankai dorms and becoming a member of the summer troupe shortly after.

his physical capabilities are really impressive, up to and including scaling walls and running up to ceilings. he took to acting really easily as well, and his skill in it surprised almost everyone. his wide range in characters and how easily he shifts into them implies past experience.

constantly thinking about triangles, and collects everything in a triangle shape, eats triangle food...you know how it is. the local children have dubbed him the “triangle-alien!”

enthusiastic and eccentric are the best words to describe him.

he just kind of does whatever he feels like doing, seemingly without much thought. this includes: trespassing, and stealing stuff from others (usually food). just right out of your hands.

really good at communicating with animals! it seems they have a mutual understanding.

hardcore parkour

MUKU SAKISAKA

baby (professionally diagnosed).

his motto is deadass “do one good deed each day” he is a BABY

memorizes and treasures shoujo manga, taking the male figures as inspirations. he deeply admires princes and wants to become prince-like one day.

modest, kind, and easily flustered when it comes to praise. also a lot of anxiety? he thought one of the other summer troupe members was a ghost out to get him when it was first suggested and he really thought it was because he left a single grain of rice on his plate when he was five. he’s just like this.

persecution complex.

just really...pure...

he used to do track and field, but he wasn’t passionate about it despite being the team’s ace. he only joined because he read a manga where the protagonist was on track, so he followed in his footsteps. he only quit after an injury he sustained that forever kept him from performing at his best ever again.

can recite fairytales from memory!

SAKUYA SAKUMA

sunshine embodied, the leader of mankai’s spring troupe! he was the first member of mankai, and despite his lack of skill he’s incredibly passionate about acting. he puts all of himself in everything he does. super ambitious!!

:) auditioned because of family issues, you know how it goes. ( he’s an orphan, and his new family was only really interested in what mankai could bring them, rather than his own interests.)

open and honest to a fault, he also tends to be a bit naive. he’s trying his best to be a little more independent, but that’s a long process. otherwise enthusiastic, easygoing, and positive, gets along well with pretty much everyone!

naturally lucky! give him your phone for gacha pulls.

skilled at remembering faces and names!

he still carries the script for romeo & julius, the first play the mankai company ever performed. he looks at it if he ever feels lonely, as the company feels like a family to him.

would really like to play a ruthless villain in the future, because that’s so different from what he actually is.

TAICHI NANAO

i assign you with “puppy”. a member of the autumn troupe, he has a very hyperactive personality! one of his biggest aspirations is to be popular and liked/noticed by others.

a prime example of this are his yo-yo skills and hyper origami, at the peak of their popularity he took to trying to master both, but by the time he had no one was interested anymore, and he felt horribly defeated.

his first dose of minor fame came from a minor acting role with his classmates, whose admiration he gained for his skill. ever since, he’s been trying to get this level of attention back ever since.

very in-the-know when it comes to the latest trends, because of this! fashion, past times, you name it.

needs recognition as a way to validate himself, to an unhealthy degree. he’s easily discouraged when met with criticism or when given a role he has little confidence in.

noisy and generally upbeat, and maintains an optimistic attitude despite his own lack of self-confidence.

TENMA SUMERAGI

essentially raised in the world of acting, he’s a former child prodigy who still stars in programs outside of the company.

because both of his parents are movie stars, and because of his own past, he has great faith in his abilities and hates to lose. high confidence to the point of being a bit egotistical.

“oresama” trope. his cocky attitude has gotten him into a bit of trouble with his fellow actors. as a result, prior to joining the mankai company, he didn’t have a lot of friends.

leader of the summer troupe, becoming a part of the troupe has forced him to learn to humble himself and learn to empathize. at the same time, he joined the company to overcome his weakness in performing in front of live audiences. in film, the mistakes can be edited, live? there’s a chance to disappoint the audience, and worse yet, his parents. he wants to overcome this fear and grow to be a better actor.

no sense of direction, despite his protests. also easily frightened when it comes to “scary things.” think of the classics: ghosts, abandoned places, etc.

really wants to play the role of a “bad guy” to expand his horizons, he’s often placed in cool or suave roles on tv.

TSUMUGI TSUKIOKA

the gentle, soft-spoken leader of the winter troupe! he’s said to take on his grandmother’s personality, often playing the mediator when it comes to conflict and holds a great desire for harmony

extremely!! empathetic!! to a fault, because of his empathy and sensibility, it seeps into his confidence, making him doubt himself and his own abilities--especially with acting. he’s not all that assertive either, as a result.

the mankai company is helping him grow, nowadays, he has a little more faith in himself, though he’s still rather shy.

dabbled in acting before back in university before reigniting the spark with mankai. he withdrew after intense criticism and watching his fellow theater students pass by him in ability, and it led to an intense falling out with a childhood friend (said friend is now also a part of the winter troupe)

psychology major and part-time tutor

really fucking good at rock paper scissors

he has a passion for gardening, thanks to his grandmother. he understands the language of flowers and often takes care of them.

#long post /#IM AAAAAAAAAAAAA #please love my boys im going to cry #this is really messy im so sorry but i love... they....#` ☆ study. ⁞ azuma. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ itaru. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ kazunari. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ masumi. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ misumi. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ muku. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ sakuya. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ taichi. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ tenma. ◞#` ☆ study. ⁞ tsumugi. ◞

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