#Pop Team Aina

[fostersffff]

The Big Gundam Watch, Part 15: Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

In my War in the Pocket post, I noted that it and The 08th MS Team make up what are considered to be The Good OVAs. Which, if you haven't read that post, doesn't mean that they're the only good Gundam OVAs, but they're the ones some people like to point to when recommending an entry point to the franchise. This is due to their consistently high production values, relatively short length, and stories that are more "grounded and realistic" than most of the other TV shows, OVAs, and movies in the franchise (which I have since learned is code for "No Newtype Bullshit", rather than implying anything about the believability of the giant robots). The 08th MS Team even sounds like a good compliment to War in the Pocket on paper: one was about the One Year War from an uninvolved child's perspective, and the other is about the same event from an actual military perspective.

Now having seen it for myself: people are not doing this OVA any favors by pairing it with War in the Pocket. I've made multiple passes on trying to soften the impact of that statement, because I don't feel that negatively about The 08th MS Team, but the problem is that I also don't feel that positively about it, either. I don't really feel anything about it, which might be worse!

THE STUFF I LIKED:

The number one thing I liked about The 08th MS Team: the characters have zero reverence for giant robots. And there shouldn't be! This is a story about soldiers almost a full year into a war where mobile suits and mobile armors have become the standard for combat. The Gundams are top-of-the-line equipment, but ultimately, still just equipment, so they don't earn much more that an initial wave of awe. The sole exception is Ginius, whose obsession with the Apsaras is his entire character; Aina and Norris's involvement with that project is largely out of loyalty to him, and to basically everyone else it's considered to be a frivolous waste of resources (which is saying something for Zeon, home of the Big Zam).

The number two thing I liked about The 08th MS Team: the staff had tons of reverence for the giant robots. There are so many little mechanical details to appreciate, but the one I want to call out special is when Shiro is coaching Aina on activating the beam saber to create a hot spring, and you see this intricate sequence revealing that there's a little connector in the hand that locks into another connector in the hilt. It's genuinely my favorite scene in this entire OVA.

This ties into the detail-oriented nature of the production, but I do want to reiterate that this OVA looks fantastic the whole way through. To point to a specific example, Battle Line on the Burning Sand uses a super washed out color palette on everything to emphasize the blinding desert light, even at night.

The extent to which Shiro Amada is a White Meat Babyface Shonen Hero Boy is kind of refreshing. He's a remarkably simple, earnest guy with almost no clumsy awkwardness to his character.

He's also maybe the only character in Gundam thus far to have delivered an actually justifiable Bright Slap (other than the man himself) that didn't feel exclusively like 'MEMBER THE BRIGHT SLAP?????? Considering how much I hate when the Bright Slap is referenced for the sake of reference, I wanted to call attention to when corrections are actually used appropriately.

Norris Packard locks in Best Character, without question. Hard to argue against "Ramba Ral Mk-II with a bigger budget for when he pops off".

Wrote down WAOW BEAUTYFUL 90'S OVA WAMEN multiple times in my notes, but I do want to be slightly more specific and say that the character design for this series falls into my favorite style, which is very... "spiky". Being a 30-something, this style of character design hits the nostalgia center of my brain perfectly, despite the fact that I had never seen this particular series before. Like, if you compare Kou and Nina to Shiro and Aina, the difference in my mind would be described as "spikyness".

I'm actually gonna take an opportunity to punch 0083 and say I really appreciate that Shiro and Aina just a have a normal, adult relationship that doesn't introduce a last minute love triangle that feels as confused as it is tepid. Two good-looking young adults in extreme situations who are still drawn to one another despite being forced apart by circumstances is solid!

ELEDORE AND KAREN DON'T END UP TOGETHER ON SCREEN THANK GOD. I was really fuckin' scared for a bit there when Eledore kept going "MY WOMAN, KAREN, WHO I WILL MARRY" out of fuckin' nowhere. Hey, speaking of that...

THE STUFF I LIKED LESS:

Eledore sucks. He is a black hole of suck. Cowardly shitheels are nothing new- they're an institution, even, dating back to Kai in 0079- but in addition to being a cowardly shitheel who receives no comeuppance for being one, like Beecha in ZZ, he's also poorly written. And what sucks the most about that is the fact that he could've been totally acceptable with a grand total of like three expository lines peppered throughout the series. Even a single line about being drafted- something I don't think has ever been confirmed one way or the other in the Universal Century- would've gone a long way towards explaining why this guy was within 1000 miles of a warzone.

They shouldn't have had that last episode. It was fine, but I think the way The Shuddering Mountain (Part 2) ends is pretty much perfect. I genuinely wondered if it was tagged on years after the original, but it appears to have been planned from the start. Bizarre.

Okay, with those out of the way, I need to address what I feel is the underlying problem for this story: the writing in The 08th MS Team is hollow. I made a post taking a pot shot at the at the fact that this series is touted as being "grounded and realistic" when it does, in fact, have Newtypes, and tagged on the fact that it seems like the writer seemingly didn't understand that swans and swan imagery aren't a Newtype thing, they're a Lalah Sune thing. That wasn't something that actively bugged me in the moment, but the more I thought about the problems I had with this series on the whole, the more I thought about that. It's such a weird, superficial mistake to make... and then I latched onto the word "superficial", and it all came tumbling down from there.

Let's start with the theme. Like a lot of other Gundam stories, it can be boiled down to "War Is Bad", but what things lead to that understanding? We see countless reasons War Is Bad across all the preceding Universal Century TV shows, OVAs, and movies: the destruction of the environment, the devastation of the human population, the institutional disregard for human lives, including lives that are on your side, including the lives of children, the trauma- physical and mental- that haunts you even if you make it out alive, the arbitrary division of people who might otherwise be friends or lovers, how easily bad actors can consolidate power during or even with just the threat of war... all those are just off the top of my head, and I'm sure if pressed more can be listed. The 08th MS Team really only concerns itself with one of these- the arbitrary division of people who might otherwise be friends or lovers- because the main arc for both Shiro and Aina is that they abandon their respective duties because they are star-crossed lovers.

It's a weirder arc for Shiro than it is for Aina. Aina's association with Zeon comes across strictly as a birthright thing: the Sakhalins appear to be minor Zeon nobility, and her being a test pilot is all but stated to be at Ginius's request. So when she has two fateful life-or-death encounters with a quirked up white Japanese boy, she only really has to justify herself to her brother, which turns out to be pretty easy since he's gone off the deep end at that point anyway. The only thing that keeps her at the Zeon base past that point is her kindly nature, compelling her to help as many wounded people escape as she possibly can.

Shiro's break with the Federation, on the other hand, implies that he got so horny his higher brain functions shut down. And I get it! Aina's a Beautyful 90's OVA Wamen, but it's a little weird for him to completely renounce war so soon after we see his flashback where Zeon launched a gas attack inside a colony and he had to watch a man liquefy in front of his very eyes. You'd think that would matter more than just within the context of that one scene in that one episode!

(Also only realizing this as I write it, but like... was Zeon established to have used gas attacks before this OVA? 'Cuz gassing colonies was the Titans favorite move. Unlike the Newtype swans, it's fine for this to be introduced here, but in light of thinking about the Newtypes swans...)

Actually, Shiro's trauma being a non-factor is a great segue into weird out-of-character moments that start to crop up towards the end of the OVA. Not all the characters, and not all the time, but enough that I noticed several, including:

Aina swearing she's going to go sicko mode if Norris dies, only to not go sicko mode at all once Norris sends the signal that he's going to die.

Karen turning into Goku and getting excited about the prospect of fighting an enemy ace when Norris's Gouf Custom shows up, despite never having shown to be that kind of person before then, or afterwards.

Kellerne (the Zeon officer who cancels the Apsaras project) revealing he's actually a Noble Soldier in the episode where Ginius kills him, despite being a big brash shitheel not just in personal interactions, but also by breaking the Antarctic Treaty and using a nuke.

The 08th MS Team- the squad- never really felt like they developed any interpersonal relationships beyond being in a squad together (this is actually actually addressed in the short that was produced for the blu-ray), so the crux of the last episode being "IT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US THAT SOMEONE CONFIRMS THE COMMANDER IS STILL ALIVE!!!" is another contributing factor to why that episode just feels wrong.

These strike me as examples of "we need a character who will do x in this scene, but we don't have a character who would do x... well, for this scene, they will", and it colors the entire thing as utilitarian. It's not putting well-defined characters into situations, and then showing how those characters would react to that situation, it's presenting a conclusion and then working your way backwards to present the situation that leads to that conclusion.

And it's not even like this can be explained with the complaint (from people who don't engage with mecha anime) that mecha anime is more concerned with showing cool robots than it is with characters. This story is about the characters! The only particularly cool mecha stuff I have ever seen people point to in this is the Gouf Custom, which I now know is because that's really the only mecha stuff of note in this. Like, if you put a gun to my head to come up with other setpieces of note: the Apsaras blowing a hole clean through the mountain was striking imagery... the underwater fight with Kiki tumbling around the cockpit was fun... Shiro trying to take down the Zeon squad occupying the guerilla village on foot was probably the overall most compelling scene in the OVA.

Mind you, The 08th MS Team not having tons and tons of hyper memorable giant robot fight scenes is by no means a strike against it. I can probably only vaguely recall most action sequences from the Gundams I've watched to date, and that's because the cool giant robot fight scenes aren't really ever the point. But, with everything else being a bland and hollow as it is, the whole OVA just comes across as Things Happening. It's not even particularly interesting Things Happening; by nature of being a One Year War side story, you know nothing that happens here can really matter in the greater canon of the Universal Century, so in the end it really just feels like "All this stuff happened. Moving along!"

OTHER OBSERVATIONS:

At least some of my disappointment definitely comes from the fact that the OP writes a check that the OVA never really tries to cash. Based on this thing that plays before every episode and the way I've always heard people talk about it, I don't think it's unreasonable to have expected this to be a military drama!

Oh nooo Michel you got Military Cucked Michel nooo, and judging by the picture (getting married after the baby is born) she must have gotten knocked up like right after she sent that Dear John letter Michel nooo!!!

It's a little weird that the last episode takes care to show that Shiro is lame following their escape, but no attention is called to the fact that Aina's normal suit got melted off. My understanding is that space suits are meant to be ultra heat resistant, so the fact that shit melted must mean she suffered horrible burns, right? Maybe it's working on fictional lava physics, where it's only hot if you're touching it, considering that neither the rest of her body nor Shiro suffer any burns from being that close to the beam.

I understand that the implication is that Shiro and Aina taught the kids how to do it, but doing the "using a beam weapon to turn a frigid body of water into a hot spring" twice cheapened how cool it was the first time.

I was trying to hash out whether it would be worse to be subjected to a court martial or get grilled by your older brother slash superior officer for hooking up with an enemy combatant, but I never considered the dimension of the guards and brass just laughing their asses off at Shiro during the court martial, which makes that infinitely worse.

The blu-ray extra for this was a 9 minute short putting focus on Michel and Sanders, which was actually pretty nice considering how little they interact in the series proper. I'm a little bitter that this got a legit animated short while Cima Garahau got a "picture drama", but this was genuinely a much nicer way for the 08th MS Team to go out than Last Resort was.

IN CONCLUSION:

I re-read my post on the original Mobile Suit Gundam recently, and right at the start I talked about how I was originally only planning on checking out War in the Pocket, Stardust Memory, and this. It's actually kind of difficult to speculate how I would feel about Gundam as a franchise if I had watched those three OVAs in isolation. Maybe I'd like The 08th MS Team more if I didn't have have such a large base of things to compare it to unfavorably, or maybe I'd still wind up unenthusiastic about it, without having the ability to really express why. What I can say with certainty is that I've spent this entire write-up thinking about how the two minute send-off for Duker Iq and Renda- two minor recurring antagonists- in Victory Gundam was significantly more affecting and engaging than anything in The 08th MS Team.

If you'll indulge a food analogy, the experience of watching this really was like eating a sleeve of crackers. They're crackers: there's nothing wrong with them, but rarely if ever will you walk away from eating a sleeve of crackers going "damn, that was great!"

Next up: After War Gundam X! I'm super pumped for this one, because I know almost nothing about it besides the fact that it was the only Gundam TV Series to have been cancelled after 0079. Was it cancelled because of franchise fatigue? Or because it was bad? Possibly some third thing? All or none of the above? I'm excited to find out!

Also it's the source of that funny doctor with a gun meme! You know the one!

#The 08th MS Team #Gundam #Mobile Suit Gundam #The Big Gundam Watch #anime #blu-ray #long post

[lovelyllamasblog]

EAH VA/Seiyuus Part 2

For @sayuricorner's AU. Link to Part 1 here.

Same rules as my previous post, but I decided to look into more Japanese VA/Seiyuu's for this one. I also found a link for the Latin America VAs that I'll drop here because I had the hardest time finding Prudence and Charlotte's English VA (Erin Fitzgerald voices both of them) for some reason and they list both the English and LA VAs there.

Again this will be long so it's under the cut. Enjoy!

Alistair Wonderland/Liddell

Hirose Daisuke: Tenma Tsukasa (Project Sekai), Leonhard von Granzreich (Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine), Ikaruga Misumi (A3! Act! Addict! Actors!)

Atsushi Abe: Kukai Souma (Shugo Chara), Touma Kamijo (A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Railgun), Takeru Nakashima (Haikyuu 2)

Takuma Terashima: Touma Amagase (The Idolmaster SideM), Shiroe (Log Horizon), Otoya Ittoki (Uta no Prince-sama)

Bunny Blanc

Rikako Aida: Riko Sakurauchi (Love Live! Sunshine!!), Iyo Sakuraba (Pop Team Epic), Yuna Tachiki (Those Snow White Notes)

Akina: Azusawa Kohane (Project Sekai), Oona Aya (Girls Und Panzer), Karakuri Hitoha and Futaba (Tokyo 7th Sisters)

Minako Kotobuki: Vert FarBreton (Dog Days), Tsumugi Kotobuki (K-On!), Karina Lyle/Blue Rose (Tiger & Bunny)

Kitty Cheshire

Mikako Komatsu: Neko/Miyabi Ameno (K Project), Kotori Mizuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal), Ito Suzuno (Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live)

Emiri Kato: Blair (Soul Eater), Momoko Akatsutsumi/Hyper Blossom (Powerpuff Girls Z), Kagami Hiiragi (Lucky Star)

Sumire Uesaka: Sharu (Dog Days), Yuni/Cure Cosmo (Star Twinkle Pretty Cure), Konomi Kasahara (Iwa Kakeru! Climbing Girls)

Ginger Breadhouse

Machico: Kusanagi Nene (Project Sekai), Fumino Sayuki (Magia Record), Misaki Ayane (KiraKira Pretty Cure A La Mode)

Aoi Yuki: Ichigo Amano (Yumeiro Pâtissière), Koto Yumeno (Onegai My Melody), Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Minami Takahashi: Megumi Tadokoro (Food Wars!), Sora Kazesawa/Rin Oikawa (Aikatsu!), Aone Shikimiya (Re:Stage! Dream Days♪)

Courtly Jester

Mayumi Shintari: Nonon Jakuzure (Kill la Kill), Wendy (Black Butler: Book of Circus), Miss Shamour (Go! Princess Pretty Cure)

Misato Fukuten (Misato Sakuragi): Patty Lowell (Devil May Cry), Kurumu Kurono (Rosario + Vampire), Himiko Toga (MHA/BNHA)

Kikuko Inoue: Shizuna Minamoto (Negima! Magister Negi Magi!), Belldandy (Ah! My Goddess), Lust (FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood)

Chase Redford

Gou Inoue: Kaisar Lidfard (Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis), Kieth Goodman/Sky High (Tiger & Bunny), Stain (MHA/BNHA)

Kazuhiko Inoue: Kakashi Hatake (Naruto), Günter von Christ (Kyou Kara Maoh!), Daryun (Arslan Senki)

Takahiro Sakurai: Kouichi Kouno (Cardcaptor Sakura), Fakir (Princess Tutu), Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)

Jillian Beanstalk

Ayana Taketatsu: Azusa Nakano (K-On!), Vanilla (Yumeiro Pâtissière), Eclair Martinozzi (Dog Days)

Shizuka Ishigami: Nao Kashiwagi (Your Lie in April), Ikumi Mito (Food Wars!), Ayaka Uehara (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?)

Sumire Uesaka: Sharu (Dog Days), Yuni/Cure Cosmo (Star Twinkle Pretty Cure), Konomi Kasahara (Iwa Kakeru! Climbing Girls)

Cedar Wood

Machico: Kusanagi Nene (Project Sekai), Fumino Sayuki (Magia Record), Misaki Ayane (KiraKira Pretty Cure A La Mode)

Mai Aizawa: Natsumi Murakami (Negima!), Ayano Minegishi (Lucky Star), Rie Nishina (Clannad (After Story))

Himika Akanya: Laala Manaka (PriPara), Ritsuka Tachibana (Dance with Devils), Zircon (Land of the Lustrous)

Rosabella Beauty

Chiaki Omigawa: Maka Albarn (Soul Eater), Valkyrie (Luck & Logic), Naomi Tanizaki (Mob Psycho 100)

Mariya Ise: Yuka Kano (Onegai My Melody), Urara Kasugano/Cure Lemonade (Yes! Pretty Cure 5), Levy McGarden/Romeo Conbolt (Fairy Tail)

Aina Aiba: Tokoha Anjou (Cardfight!! Vanguard G: NEXT/Z), Yukina Minato (BanG Dream!), Claudine Saijou (Revenue Starlight:RE LIVE)

Prudence Step

Saori Hayami: Razette, Burupya, Taijo, etc. (07 - Ghost), Miki Arai (Say "I Love You"), Yumeko Jabami (Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler)

Ami Koshimizu: Ryuko Matoi (Kill la Kill), Kallen Stadfeld (Code Geass), Leonmichelli Galette des Rois (Dog Days)

Aoi Koga: Sora Kaneshiro (Angel's 3 Piece), Paimon (Genshin Impact), Kaguya Shinomiya (Kaguya-sama: Love is War)

Charlotte Step

Rie Kugimiya: Alphonse Elric (FullMetal Alchemist), Kagura (Gin Tama), Nagi Sanzenin (Hayate the Combat Butler)

Yui Horie: Eri Sawachika (School Rumble), Fiena (Orphan), Honey Kisaragi (Re: Cutie Honey (OVA 2004)

Chinatsu Akasaki: Nanami Akasaki (Sacred Seven), Akane Hino (The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls), Alice Nakiri (Food Wars!)

Justine Dancer

Nanae Katou: Ahiru/Princess Tutu (Princess Tutu), Miki (Shugo Chara), Kakeru Megane (Inazuma Eleven)

Yoshino Nanjo: Eli Ayase (Love Live!), Maaya Awatsuki (A Certain Scientific Railgun), Shirabe Tsukuyomi (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)

Chinatsu Akasaki: Nanami Akasaki (Sacred Seven), Akane Hino (The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls), Chinatsu Hiyama (Welcome to the Ballroom)

Nina Thumbell

Aimi: Suiko (Cardfight!! Vanguard), Kazumi Tokiwa (Futari wa Milky Holmes/Tantei Kageki Milky Holmes TD), Kasumi Toyama (BanG Dream!)

Yui Horie: Millhiore Firianno Biscotti (Dog Days), Fiena (Orphan), Honey Kisaragi (RE: Cutie Honey (OVA 2004))

Kino Hina: Ootori Emu (Project Sekai), Fuwa (Star Twinkle Pretty Cure), Moon Rabbit Cake (Cookie Run: Kingdom)

And that is it! Thanks again for reading! Remember to show Sayuri some love too okay?

#my posts #eah #ever after high #twst #twisted wonderland #someone else's au #voice actors #vas #seiyuus #crossover au

[nwbeerguide]

Released in time for the official start of Summer Maui Brewing Company announces Pacific Lite Session IPA.

image courtesy Maui Brewing Company

Press Release

Kihei, Hawaii … Hop heads will appreciate the launch of  Maui Brewing Company's latest limited release, Pacific Lite Session IPA just in time for summer. “Session” India Pale Ales borrow the huge hop expression IPA drinkers love, while offering a lower alcohol content.

MBC’s Pacific Lite Session IPA’s 4.2% ABV affords high refreshment from the Nelson Sauvin, Loral, Citra Cryo, and Cryo Pop hops. This brew offers full hop flavor with only 126 calories, 7g carbs, 0 fat, and 1g protein. The result is a pale gold appearance with aromas of passion fruit, mango, and grapefruit. It is crisp and hoppy with subtle bitterness at 40 IBUs.

Director of Quality Travis Swafford characterized the beer, “Journey across the Pacific this summer with the infinitely crushable and bold Pac Lite. Combining New Zealand’s iconic fruit-forward Nelson Sauvin hops with West Coast favorites Citra and Loral, we’ve brewed the perfect session IPA for hot days and warm nights. Light-bodied with big citrus character, you’ll want to keep your cooler full.”

Available for a limited time, Pacific Lite Session IPA is currently on draft or in to-go 6 packs at MBC Kihei. Look for it to hit remaining Maui Brewing locations in Lahaina, Kailua, and Waikiki, as well as MBC retail and on-premise partners in Hawaii over the next several weeks.

The MBC team are stewards of their communities and the ‘aina, and curators of the craft beer way of life. Their beers have been recognized worldwide for quality and innovation.

For more information, visit MauiBrewing.com or follow @MauiBrewingCo on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

###

About Maui Brewing Company

Founded in 2005, Maui Brewing Company is Hawaii’s largest craft brewery. MBC is based on Maui, with its grid-independent production brewery, restaurant and tasting room in Kihei, as well as restaurants in Lahaina (Maui), Kailua (Oahu), and Waikiki (Oahu). Maui Brewing Company is available in 26 states, 1 district, and 3 international countries with more areas to follow.

from Northwest Beer Guide - News - The Northwest Beer Guide https://bit.ly/3Xl4nIt

#Craft Beer #Beer #News

[gravityknife]

Battle Gear Bros. Ch. 2.5

After the town was cleared and everyone made it to the next base, they unloaded their equipment from the vehicles, straightened themselves up in the barracks, and got undressed from their BPVs and BDU shirts. It was 1800, and the sun was carrying itself above the horizon like it didn't want to go down, giving the sky a healing purple and teal tint above the warmer, glowing, orange and yellow gradient.

Rumor began whistling a small tune, sounding barely familiar to anyone. Then he added the lyrics. "La coca~a~aina~, la coca~a~aina~," sang Rumor.

Grizzly related, "Ah, dude, yeah! I love that song!" He danced a little bit, bouncing at the knees, and pointing his fingers left and right. His heavyweight physique made his movements hypnotic and likeable. "Like coca~a~aina~, coca~a~aina~, dah dah dah dah~, dah dah dah dah~," he sang, along with Rumor.

Rumor danced, holding one leg straight out in front of himself, and then the other leg, rhythmically. They both kept humming, mumbling, and whistling the tune together.

PFC Warbler—a tall and skinny Mexican, Filipino—danced up to them, scooting himself closer toward Grizzly. He snapped his fingers slightly off timing with Grizzly's humming, confidently attempting to keep up.

PFC Joyner was sitting on a bench next to a wall of tents, bobbing their back along with the nonexistent music, browsing through music on their phone. "You guys like Iggy Pop?" Everyone stopped dancing and singing for a moment, except for Warbler who, to be fair, was probably already drunk. He, without warning, played the song "Lust for Life," by Iggy Pop, from his phone.

They listened to the song for a moment, nodding their heads to it. None of them were big fans of the song, except for Joyner.

"Sounds alright," said Grizzly.

"Wait. Try playing— wait, let me see your phone?" Cajoled Rumor, stepping over toward Joyner.

Grizzly chortled, "How the f$$$ do you even get service out here?"

Rumor emphasized, "I know, right?!" He looked at Joyner who was looking at him, took his phone slowly from his hands, then pressed pause. Rumor chuckled a little bit.

Joyner mocked himself, "F$$$ me then, right guys" in a sarcastically nerdy tone, making Rumor chuckle again.

"Oh! Rumor! Play that one song—," persuaded Grizzly before being cut off.

"Wait— I got this. You like this song, too, Grizz," assured Rumor. Rumor finished searching up the song and pressed the video. He looked at Joyner and soothed him saying, "You'll like this, too."

A mere second into the song and Grizzly was already saying, "Oh f$$$ yeah, wait— is this you singing it, Rumor? That's pretty f$$$ing good!"

Rumor laughed. "No, this is— wait, this is—," he looked at Joyner, nodding his head downward as though to nudge him on. He took a deep puff on his vape.

"I~i~it's—," began Joyner, minimizing apps on his phone to get back to YouTube.

Rumor quickly whipped out, "Crane. First!" He chortled then took another puff on his vape, looking dramatically stern at Joyner.

"F$$$. You're right," said Joyner.

Grizzly was enjoying himself to the tune, singing along with it. He quickly spat his opinion, "I prefer Don McLean, but this is pretty d$mn good, Rumor!" He continued singing along, "I started singin', bye, bye, Miss American Pie~!"

Two chinooks flew over the base headed toward the landing pads closer to the center, SE position of the base. They were the carriers of supplies for an upcoming scouting mission and for quick resupply of the base's rations. Soldiers walked to the helicopters and helped unload while their commanding officers read over the paperwork and exchanged talks with the teams onboard the chinooks.

"Good job, f$$$er, you broke it," said one soldier to the other, referring to the cart the other soldier was rolling around. A few of the crates fell from the cart.

"Pick it up, guys. Pick it up," said a 1st Sgt., turning to a Gunny Sgt. to pop a big grin. The Gunny Sgt. smiled happily, grateful for the expedient delivery.

Back near the tents and barracks on the Northern side of the base, Grizzly was shaving his mustache off in a mirror, Rumor was blowing fat vape clouds into Joyner's face while Joyner was coughing trying to explain the process of distilling alcohol, and Warbler was laying down in the back of a Pakistani pickup truck sipping on pale ale and waiting for the stars to come out.

SSgt. Ranger was there with them, as well, teasing one of the women cadets in the cafeteria, and in turn gaining a potential opportunity to burn wet rubber. He was heard saying, "You're hotter than the Tazmanian Devil."

Pvt. Naenae smiled and said, "I didn't know the Tazmanian Devil could be hot. Isn't it— a he?"

Ranger quickly responded, "I'm a he."

"I know you're a he. And what does that have to do with—," she paused, then whispered, "— the Tazmanian Devil?" She giggled quietly.

"I can show you. Watch me. I move my tongue— like this, twist it around—," Ranger said before twisting his tongue and flicking it in front of her face.

She laughed and brought her hands to his arm while he continued playing around with his own tongue. They continued their flirting. Ranger was right on point with Naenae.

#Youtube

[mizunetzu]

omg i’m so excited i like,, spam read all of your writing and now i can request,,, anyway, could i request maybe something similar to your Tanaka x femboy reader, but with Oikawa? like he mistakes him for a girl and maybe flirts with the reader a little bit and the reader i just like ,,”you do,, you do realize i am a man correct” and hijinks ensue?? sorry if this is too vague i suck at describing things. lotsa love your writing is literally my favorite 💕

Omg wait Oikawa??? And femboy reader??? Hijinks???? Take me now—

——————

Oikawa x reader - Oikawa Tooru Goes Both Ways

⚠️warnings - reader is mistaken and referred to unintentionally as a girl. I assure you, this is a male reader. Femboy reader, if that triggers you.

Pronouns - male, he/him

——————

Oikawa couldn’t help but stare as a...rather cute girl stepped into the gym.

“Oi! Shittykawa! Focus!” Iwaizumi was about to hurl a volleyball at Oikawa’s head when he caught sight of where he was staring. He looked from the newcomer, back to Oikawa’s eyes tracing their form up and down.

“Iwa-chan...” Oikawa held his breath as he pointed subtly. “Who is that?”

Iwaizumi looked over back to the intruder. Sure enough, some girl with (h/c) styled hair stood at the foot of the door awkwardly. They weren’t sporting the school uniform, instead wearing a skirt with a cafe apron tied around their waist. Oikawa recognized the cute logo on the somewhat dirty apron as the coffee shop he’d visit on days he wasn’t particularly busy.

All in all, this stranger was incredibly attractive.

Eventually, coach Irihata emerged from the storage closet, and motioned the stranger over. The stranger perked up, pulled out a slightly-wrinkled paper from their back, and timpered off into the office.

Oikawa sighed dreamily. “Iwa-chan...is this what I think it is? Are we fiiiiiinally getting a cute girl manager to manage our team?!”

He draped himself over Iwaizumi’s shoulders. “Aaaaah~! I’m so happy~! And it’s such a cutie too!”

“Get off me, dumbass. You have like...millions of girls throwing their panties at you, literally all that look like her. And you go for the one who decides to join our club?”

Oikawa huffed. “What’s so wrong about that! She’s cute! And she looked so shy standing there...aaaah, I’m swooning just thinking about wrapping her up in my arms-!”

“I’m saying,” Iwaizumi bonked Oikawa on the head. “If you manage to get with her, then break her heart, or at the very least make her uncomfortable, she’ll have to see your annoying face all day at practice, and then she won’t wanna be manager anymore! Because she has to see you!”

Iwaizumi pinched at Oikawa’s scalp. “I want a cute girl manager and to have them actually stay! And who knows? We get brownie points if it’s not another one of your fangirls trying to get in your pants by joining the club!”

“Ow! Mean Iwa-chan, bad!”

“I’m not a damn Pokémon-!” Iwaizumi was about to kick Oikawa in the back, before letting himself simmer down and take a deep breath. He lowered his legs, and turned towards the office door. “...I’m gonna go look at that girl’s application and see what class she’s in. Maybe we can, I dunno, make her a welcome basket of fruit or some corny shit like that.”

“Let me come with you-!”

“No! You’ll just scare her away, and you have cleaning duty! All you need to do is take down the net, and I’ll meet you outside when I’m done. If you be good, I’ll tell you her name.”

Oikawa thought about it for a second.

“Deal.”

He disappeared to take down the net from the poles. Iwaizumi sighed, and walked towards the door. They were the only two left in the gym, as they were in charge of cleanup for the day, so no one else but him should be in the office. Well, minus the new girl and coach Irihata.

Iwaizumi slid open the door. “Yo.” He greeted. He looked around the room, only finding coach Irihata.

“...Didn’t someone come in here with you with an application form?”

Coach Irihata chuckled. “Oh, yeah,”

“He just wanted to drop in his member application before his part-time job made him go back to work.”

Iwaizumi froze.

“...he...?”

“Yeah, he wanted to join the club as a (Position name). He’s not confident about his jumping or spiking abilities, but he claims to be really dang good at digging and receives.”

The two looked at eachother in silence. Wasn’t she-well, he—wearing a skirt? Now that he thought about it, everything about him looked like...well...a him, minus the skirt. Iwaizumi dashed to the table and picked up the application resting there peacefully.

‘(L/n) (Y/n) - 2nd year, class 4’

‘Position - (Position name)’

Iwaizumi scanned the page. He wanted to doubt this was the ‘cute manager’ they laid their eyes on, but they even had a school photo clipped onto the corner of the paper. Sure enough, that was him. His eyes eventually landed on something printed on the middle of the page.

‘Gender - male’

That proved it. The ‘cute girl manager’ Oikawa was just fawning over turned out to be a guy. And their future teammate, no less. Iwaizumi wanted to laugh in Oikawa’s face.

“Is there something wrong, Iwaizumi-kun?”

“Pfft-no! N-no, sirrrrr....” Iwaizumi set the paper down and walked out the the room, doing his best to keep in his snickers.

Oikawa jogged up to him excitedly once he stepped out of the gym. “So? Did ya find out her name? Her class? Is she our manager?”

Iwaizumi opened his mouth to say something, before letting his mouth clamp shut.

“Nah, coach said I couldn’t see it.”

He watched as Oikawa deflated, trudging his way over to the club room to change and go home. Iwaizumi did his best not to bust out laughing on the spot.

This should be fun.

——

“Iwa-chan!”

“No, you stalker.”

“But Iwa-chaaaaaan!” Oikawa whined. “Why not?! Practice ended early, and we could use some coffee! Come buy coffee with me!”

“You just wanna use me as an excuse to see that bo-that girl who came into our club yesterday, idiot! That’s stalking! You’re acting like your little fangirls!”

Oikawa pouted, and Iwaizumi prayed he didn’t catch him on his little slip-up. He turned around, walking off out of school gates. Oikawa dejectedly trailed behind him.

“I’m going home. Don’t bother me if it’s about that manager again—“

Just then, a text tone pinged from Iwaizumi’s pocket. He stopped mid-sentence, fishing out his phone and opening his messaging app.

‘Mom - no ones going to be home because we have to go out real quick. The house is locked, and you left your spare keys with me again. Go out and have fun with Tooru-kun before I come back!’

Iwaizumi deadpanned. Oikawa had his chin resting on his shoulder, with a shit-eating grin Iwaizumi didn’t even have to look at to know was there.

“Yeah, Iwa-chan. Listen to Mrs. Aina and hang out with Tooru-kun for a bit. We can go to the cafe and hang out like your she said, Iwa-chan~”

Iwaizumi pushed past Oikawa bitterly. “Don’t... fuckin’... call my mom by her name... dumbass... stalker... Shittykawa...” he grumbled as he trudged his way in the direction to the cafe. Oikawa let out a small “Yay~!”

——

Hiding behind the big, laminated menus the cafe provided, Oikawa kept glancing over to the cashier-area to try and find (Y/n). Iwaizumi deadpanned, sitting back in his chair nonchalantly.

“You’re acting stupid.”

“I’m being sneaky.”

“You look more suspicious than if you were to act like yourself.”

“As if you would know!” Oikawa whisper-yelled to Iwaizumi, momentarily letting his menu fall flat. “I’m trying not to get caught, unlike one of us-!”

“Hello?”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi froze. Oikawa rigidly turned to the voice, while Iwaizumi almost fell back in his seat.

There stood the boy—well, the ‘girl’, in his work apron, this time, up close. Oikawa could see the detail in his eyes, the way a few of his hairs fell onto his face and stuck because of the small layer of sweat on his forehead, even taking in the small kitty hair clip resting in his hair.

“Hu...huaai...” Oikawa breathed out. Iwaizumi bit his lip. If he started laughing now, Oikawa would tell his mom he was bullying him again.

“Hello! I was wondering if I could get you two anything to drink! No worries if you aren’t ready to order yet.”

His voice had a soft tamber to it, a warm, welcoming aura that fit the vibe of the cafe perfectly. Iwaizumi could see how Oikawa, and probably other people, could mistake him for a girl. Especially with the way he dressed and carried himself as evident to yesterday’s practice.

Iwaizumi tilted the menu infront of him up a bit. “I’ll get a small black coffee. Whabout you, Oikawa?”

When he got no response, other than the hum of acknowledgment from (Y/n), Iwaizumi looked up. Oikawa was staring dumbly at (Y/n) again, and seconds later (Y/n) was caught under his gaze. He stared back awkwardly, waiting for Oikawa to say something or at least order something, until he suddenly jolted up in pain.

Iwaizumi dug his heel deeper into Oikawa’s foot. “Say something, dumbass! Stop staring!” He hissed, covering his mouth from (Y/n) in petty attempts to mask their conversation.

“Ow! Ow! I’ll get a peppermint tea please-! Stop it!”

(Y/n) scribbled down Oikawa’s order, smiling patiently as he did. Iwaizumi removed his foot. There was a beat of silence, until Oikawa smoothly rested his chin on his hand.

“Soooo, (L/n) (Y/n)-chan, is it?” Oikawa said, as he peered at (Y/n’s) name tag. “Pretty masculine name for a cute girl like you~”

Iwaizumi choked on his spit. (Y/n) tilted his head to the side, looking up from his notepad to peer back at Oikawa.

“What...did you say?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Oikawa rubbed the back of his head cutely. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I think (Y/n) is a cute name~”

Iwaizumi didn’t know if he wanted to die from laughter or embarrassment. He was going to pop a vein trying to keep in his cackles.

“Ah. It’s the clothes, isn’t it?” (Y/n) mused. He took a step back, looking at his rather-feminine clothing choices for the day. “I understand why. I get that a lot.”

“...What does your clothes have to do with your name?” It was Oikawa’s turn to sound confused. Iwaizumi let out a few haggard, stifled snickers at his dense expression. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow.

“You...” He pointed at himself with his pen. “You do realize I’m a man, correct?”

Oikawa choked. His eyes widened as his smile cracked a bit. Iwaizumi had to hide his face in his jacket to prevent himself from bursting out into hackles. Oikawa gave a nervous smile.

“Aha...haha...funny joke..”

“I’m not joking, though...” (Y/n) smirked. He wouldn’t deny that seeing the faces of people flirting with him after he told them he had a dick was a guilty pleasure. “Want proof?”

(Y/n) grasped Oikawa’s wrist, tugging it forcefully, and moving his apron to the side. He brought it down closer to his groin until Oikawa sputtered and flailed on the table.

“No! I-I believe you! I-I can see it from here—I don’t need to touch it-!” Oikawa shrieked. Iwaizumi clutched his stomach from laughing too hard, already given up on keeping it in. He snorted loudly, choked on that snort, and erupted into a series of cough-laughs.

By the time Iwaizumi’s laugh turned into the kind where no noise came out-but it hurt in your stomach anyways—Oikawa was laying his head on the table, embarrassed, while (Y/n) chuckled along.

“You knew, Iwa-chan! You knew!” Oikawa hissed, holding his poor, abused hand. “You set me up for failure!”

“You did that to yourself.” Iwaizumi said between breaths. “He’s actually gonna start attending practice as a (position name) starting next week. We don’t have a manager after all.”

“And you got my hopes up for what?!” Oikawa cried out, making Iwaizumi snort again. (Y/n) raised his eyebrows.

“Manager?”

“Oikawa thought that when you came to drop your registration form in yesterday, that you were signing up to be a manager since he thought you were a girl. I saw your form though, so I knew but this guy here didn’t.”

Iwaizumi nudged at Oikawa, who was hiding his face in his hands. “You better be nice to him, though. He’s your new captain starting next week.”

“Ah! How fun! Having my new playboy captain flirt with me before I even join the club. ” (Y/n) mumbled, as he scribbled down something else in his notepad. Iwaizumi heckled when Oikawa whined with his head down.

He didn’t raise his head back up until a slip of paper was placed gently on top of his head. He heard a “I’ll go get your drink ready.” From (Y/n), before he looked up and noticed he was gone. He caught the slip of paper falling off his head as he sat up.

“What’s that?” Iwaizumi said lazily. Oikawa was staring giddily at the paper. He turned the paper around smugly, holding it up for Iwaizumi to read.

‘Call me. If you’re feeling fruity, that is. (xxx)-xxx-xxxx. -‘(Y/n)-chan’’

Iwaizumi stared at the neat handwriting, then back at Oikawa’s smug face.

“...Were you not just listening? He just tried to make you touch his dick? He’s a dude?”

“Eh. Cute girl, cute boy, he’s still cute~” Oikawa dreamily sighed as he watched (Y/n) make his tea behind the counter. “I’d still hit it till he breaks~”

“Pervert.”

“Says you.”

Oikawa earned a sharp thunk to the head.

——————

#haikyuu x male reader #tooru oikawa #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa tooru x you #oikawa #oikawa x male reader #haikyuu oikawa #hq x y/n #hq x reader #hq x male reader #haikyuu fic #oikawa x femboy reader #hq iwaizumi #hq oikawa

[moesartblog]

if anyone else is interested bc im dumb

the lockers and notes

in order from right to left:

Varys rly likes basketball. Thats about all i can make out. Maybe theres specific sports teams referenced but i wouldnt know sorry. 

Aina and her hat. the sticky note i think says “you are STRONG”. She has heart eyes and sunglasses emoji stickers, an offbrand barbie sticker, and a sticker that says inter net in netflix font.

Lucia, of the stickers, she has a bunch of candy ones, one that references Nerds, one that references jelly belly, and one that references Atari, Im not familiar with the rest. (if you know pls share!)

Remi. Nerd.

I like to think lucia got all of them their stickers.

now inside

more basketball stuff. but also is that a dress shirt?

thermos and i assume a makeup pouch on the shelf. i assume a page torn from a magazine, a ticket to a show called SWEAT, a photo of aina with heris, fuzzy pink mirror. a picture of aina and i assume a few other friends of hers. i cant make out what the writing says on it. under it looks like an album cover of some kind, and then the division poster (not sure if its a reference or not). and then the thanks! sticker and i could just barely make out the little white sticker that i think says “After this, we’re getting cake”.

ok! lets see how many of these i can make out in order lol: Ranch Daritas (Cool Ranch Doritos), Cheetas (cheetos), Daritas red hot (Flaming hot doritos or whatever the really hot ones are called), Daritas sour cream (obvious at this point), premium potato chips (Tims potato chips. Had to look this one up a bit), Slice (?) (the closest i could come up with is deep river sweet maui onion chips), pop cookie (idk if theres a specific one), idk about the next two :( , W&W ( i think this is obvious), MilkyWay (this one is more obvious), skettles, Hyper!, Trigger (uh huh), Harmony (my fav candy bar the hersheys cookies n cream bar), idk, Crackers (those austin cheddar cheese crackers), this one just has a skull on it but its evil 5 hour energy, some mints, i think this one just says upper lol (brand looks familiar but i cant place it, and then rainbow nerds. and at the very bottom u can just kinda see raisins. hoo

remi with his horndog schtick of course with a sports illustrated cover, and then a pic of him and i assume his (now) alligator girlfriend tucked behind.

and then galos covered in matoi stickers and other things i THINK are Edo period things. I think that thing at the front is a bell? i could be entirely wrong sorry if i am. 

if you know any of the stuff i didnt know pls say! this was just a silly scavenger hunt for myself

[jadynrosetta]

Okay so I may have caught COVID (not sure I’m going to the doctor tomorrow) so to occupy my time I got a prime account and decided to FINALLY watch Promare.

This movie has been on my Watch List since I first heard of it, which was before 2020 started.  I just never got around to it, till I realized I was going to be stuck in my room to avoid people :(

So I watched it... twice.  I probably will watch it again cause it’s the only movie I bought and I am not buying anything else.  So here’s a little review and my thoughts about the movie.  (Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen it)

So the plot I thought was very interesting.  For those who don’t know, the story starts with introducing “The Burnish”, a group of people who can create and control flames.  These people seemed to come out of nowhere and it started a whole movement for Burnish rights and it caused a lot of problems for society.  It ended, but The Burnish were labled as terrorists and do not have the same rights as humans.  (Harsh)

Our main character is a part of a group called the Burning Rescue.  Which is a group of fire fighters that deal with emergancy flames caused by The Burnish.

The team includes: Lucia, Varys, Remi, Aina, Ignis the leader, and Galo Thymos.

Now as I said, this himbo (Galo) is the main protagonist.  He’s a rookie in the Burning Rescue, and has a “Firey Spirit”.  He always goes off on some random speech and enjoys his job being a fire fighter and takes pride in saving people.  He keeps this mindset and energy throughout the whole movie.

He gets sent up a building to save people on the roof and meets a terrorist group called the Mad Burnish.  There aren’t many of them out now, but the top generals and the leader are still at large.  

(This was the first and only image I saw from this movie and I was so confused I had to see it... months later)

After a tense fight with the generals (Both noting that Galo is an idiot) he defeats them and takes on their leader.  The leader isn’t so easy to defeat, not backing down easily and even pinning Galo, but ultimetly he was taken down by the whole Burning Rescue squad.  Their leader is actually a very small young man who goes by the name of Lio Fotia.

(I specifically wanted this scene so I looked hard for it)

Lio, who was mistaken for a child, is shown to be one of the strongest Burnish alive and takes pride in it.  Wanting nothing but rights for his people and will never stop fighting for that.  

He’s actually a good foil to Galo for many reasons and why I like them being the protagonists for the story.  Galo is loud, over the top, and loves to show off his skills.  While Lio is more on the quiet side, and doesn’t really show off, more on the reserved side.

But the two are very alike.  Both feel the need to protect their people (Galo with humans and Lio with Burnish), but they don’t hate the other.  Galo wants Burnish rights while Lio vows to never kill humans.  They also share a god damn brain cell and 90% of the time neither of them have it.

So yeah, Galo gets a medal from his hero, Governer Kray, impressive prison break and all that.  We cut to Galo and Aina having a moment, which Galo realizes the Burnish had escaped prison.  He finds them in a cave and thus we learn more about the Burnish from their very leader, Lio, who remembers Galo, but Galo forgot him.

(Fire go pew)

Lio explains to Galo that the Burnish are people too, even showing how disgusted he is by Galo thinking otherwise (some very racist viewpoints).  There Galo witnesses the death of a Burnish, turning her to ash.  Lio explains to Galo that the Burnish can hear the flames, they speak to them, wanting to burn more.  He also learns that his hero, Kray, was using the Burnish for human experiments, and calls Galo an idiot and to believe what he wants.  Then the Burnish run away and leave Galo tied up...

Galo’s whole view changes on the Burnish and see that Kray is conducting human experiments on the Burnish, even though they’re people like them.  The reason being that the Earth is gonna become a dead planet and everything is going to shit.  So Kray is going to take 10,000 humans to another planet and use the Burnish as fuel.  (Fucked up).

Galo goes against this and gets arrested.  Meanwhile Lio and the other Burnish are found and taken as fuel, but Lio’s loyal generals get him to safety (much to Lio’s disagreement).

Lio goes into a full on rage and uses his full power to attack the city and Kray.  Telling him to free the Burnish, or watch the city burn.

He takes the form of a dragon and damn near destroys the whole city.  He almost succeeds too, getting to Kray.  But of course Galo cuts in and fights Lio in an effort to calm him down.  Aina decides to drop them off by the frozen lake to “cool off” and discover a lab under all the ice.

They meet Professor Deus, the man responsible for all the cooling gear.  He wanted to help the Burnish, but was killed by Kray for disagreeing with him and his viewpoints.  Deus, who is now a living computer, tells Galo, Lio, and Aina about the “Promare”,  A group of aliens from another dimension who connected with a human, Burnish.  However the Promare feel what their human host feels, even extreme pain.  If Kray’s plan succeeds, then the Earth is gonna blow up due to all the pain the Promare feel.

It’s up to Galo and Lio to stop Kray from his evil plans (cause they happened to be there) by piloting the Deus X Machina.  Later on the suit gets a name change, Lio de Galon.

A suit powered by a firefighter and a Burnish.  Both Galo and Lio work together to stop Kray.  Along with their allies they succeed in stopping the ship, but Kray was not finished.  He reveals himself to also be a Burnish, and kidnaps Lio, saying he was going to be the new core to the ship.  He then attacks Galo and sends him flying in flames.  But Galo was saved last minute by Lio’s flames, and now he plans to save Lio, with the help of his team, and goes into the core to save his new friend.

He makes it, stopping the ship a second time, and sees Lio is dying, turning to ash right before him.  Kray was ready to fight, but could not harm Galo due to Lio’s flame.  Galo punches Kray and says he’s gonna save Lio, stop the magma, and even save him.  Then we get the scene.  The scene.

The “Kiss of Life” some like to call it, or just CPR.  Either way, it’s a pretty romantic scene.  Galo brings Lio to life and the two have a new plan.  Save the Earth.  Lio says the Promare want to burn out, so with the help of Galo, and all the Burnish, they create Galo de Lion

This behemoth of a mech saves the Earth and everyone on it.  As well as burning out the Promare, sending them home.  The movie ends with everyone being okay and the end of the Burnish.  Thus the next plan, to clean up the mess they all made.  The End

Longer than I thought, sorry...  So what’s my thoughts?

Well let’s start with the animation.  It was done by Trigger (if it wasn’t obvious just by looking at it), and they go ALL out on it.  Everything is stylized and looks gorgeous.  The colors just pop out at you, nothing in this movie looks dull.  Action scenes are very fast pace and intense, and their calmer moments are beautiful and let you relax with the gorgeous scenery, everything is gorgeous in the movie.

The characers are pretty good, one complaint is that we don’t get to know some of them well, like some of the Burning Rescue.  We only get to know Aina out of the Burning Rescue team.  Plus a few other side characters, like the two Generals, Meis and Gueira, don’t get enough screentime, but I guess they weren’t the focus.

Galo and Lio, again, were really good main characters, who play off each other well.  They both open each other’s eyes and see things in a different light, especially Lio who showed Galo what the Burnish are really like.  They do tend to argue and seem to disagree, but they are an amazing team.  We see that when they pilot Lio de Galon and together create Galo de Lion.  I do believe they fell for one another in the end, but I cannot say it’s canon since I don’t know for sure.

Voice acting was also great. I watched it dub, don’t kill me, and I actually think the dub was better than the sub, and this is coming from someone who watches subs more and is very biased.  Billy Kametz played Galo well, just giving off so much energy and really selling his performance.  I’ve heard people not liking Johnny Yong Bosch playing Lio, but he was perfect for the role.  Enough sass and emotion for Lio, I don’t think anyone could have done it better.  Everyone else did a great job as well, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld as Aina, Crispin Freeman as Kray, and Steven Blum as Ignis.  Just... everyone did amazing.

Do I need to say anything about the soundtrack?  It’s beautiful and I love every song in this movie, I am listening to is as I type this review.  From upbeat songs like Inferno, to the saddest like Ashes.  Each song that plays puts the whole scene together, music makes the scene after all.  Gallant Ones is the most memorable example (plays during the scene) and it really sets the mood on how the characters feel about one another.  Ashes is really good in my opinion since it plays during the death of a Burnish.  But they all are good, if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t plan on watching it, go listen to the soundtrack, it’s worth it.

Overall I adore this movie, it’s over the top and super entertaining, keeping my attention the whole time.  It has helped me relax during this pretty scary time for me ^^;  I highly recommend this movie.  It’s got way too many good points that I dare say it’s one of my favorites.  It sold me on the plot and I stayed for the great and entertaining characters.  If you haven’t seen it (which I would be surprised) then go check it out.  If you want to see the sub then it’s on Youtube, but if I sold you on the dub then it’s on Amazon Prime, (you’ll have to pay for both and I’m too lazy to find it for free).  

That’s all, thanks for reading my overly long review of this movie.

#promare #anime movie #promare movie #promare galo #promare lio #galo thymos #lio foita #galolio #galo x lio #liogalo #movie review #anime review #long review #long post #review #good movie #sorry for the long post #gifs #anime gifs #studio trigger

[charmywrites]

Bitter & Sweet (Pt. 3)

Summary: Loosely based on the song “Idols can’t go on for 10 years, right?” by Berryz Koubou. The reader is a foreigner who’s grown up in South Korea since early childhood, upon her mother marrying a Korean man. In her adolescent years, she’s scouted by someone working for a big company and encouraged to audition. Deciding to do it for fun, the reader takes a leap and goes through with the audition. She didn’t really plan to actually get in and go on a 10+ year journey.

Part 1. Part 2.

( 2015, 7 years after debut. )

“We’re going to pick about three or four trainees from the audition.”

The mood was grim as your manager announced those words, standing up while all of Ultra Smart sat at the table within the meeting room. All except Sunhee, who officially left just the day before. No concert or anything in celebration, Nothing but a departing post to Poindexters, the fandom, from the group’s blog.

Ever since the interview, it was announced that she would be leaving due to ‘personal reasons’, which many fans worriedly assumed was some sort of health problem. Nothing was clarified by the company. Eventually, it would come to light that she was getting married.

Nara and Doyeon were the most quiet about the news. Nara was always a quiet girl, who contemplated things in the same mild manner. Her brows were downturned and harsh, eyes unable to look at anything but the cold surface of the table. Doyeon had her head in one hand, fingers gripped in the long, black, strands of her hair. Everything in her position screamed unhappiness and disappointment.

That’s what all of the girls currently felt they were. Disappointments. Even if only a few of them would let it show.

Were they not enough to keep the group going? With Sunhee gone and Yoora leaving, couldn’t Ultra Smart continue as six? Now, they were growing to possibly ten members. Even at debut, the public would ask wasn’t eight too many? They got accused of copying their sunbaes, Girls Generation, for being too close to nine. Six should’ve been satisfactory, but the girls knew it wasn’t truly about numbers.

"The company still wants you as the flagship group, at least.” The manager, Wonbin, tried to console. Replacing the old manager, he had only been looking after Ultra Smart for the last four years. Still, everyone was familiar with him as he’d worked for the company for longer. He was more empathetic than the last manager, trying to make the members as happy as he fairly could from his position. “A lot of groups who lose so many members get left behind, but you still have a large following. So, the company is willing to give you another chance.”

“I’m sorry, everyone.” Yoora felt the need to apologize, playing a part in why the group was going through so many changes.

You shook your head, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t apologize, we understand. Really.” You didn’t want her to go, but the woman was tired -- emotionally and physically. Anyone would be tired of working such a rigorous career after seven years, eight including the trainee days. Seven years was the usual ‘curse’ for girl groups in Kpop, but you would rather only one or two members break off than the whole group. You loved Ultra Smart too much.

“It’s only expected.” Mali tried to console the leader as well, seemingly faring a bit better than everyone else. The smile on her face was weak, but meaningful as it was directed towards Yoora. “If you didn’t leave, I’m sure someone else probably would. We can’t stay together forever.”

You nodded, although everyone left was pretty adamant that they were going to be in the group for a while. At least, hopefully. “We’ll be alright.” You said for both yourself and Yoora, hand leaving her shoulder to clutch together in your lap. “Especially since you and I will attend the auditions, we’ll have a say in who comes into the group. That’s the brightside of all this.”

Yoora just smiled softly, leaning up straighter to place her own hand over yours. “And, you’ll be a great leader. I know it.” She said, no doubt sensing your apprehension.

Jiang Ai, who had been more neutral about the news, clapped her hands together. “Yeah, we have faith in you!” She announced, lifting the somber mood in the room. Everything about the young woman was a vitamin, even when her twin wasn’t catching onto their ‘twin vibes’. In fact, Jiang Yi was in the same boat as Nara and Doyeon; distraught over the group she knew and loved slowly breaking off.

“Yah!” Jiang Ai tried to whip her twin into shape, tapping on her arm. “Cheer up, will you? You heard oppa, we’re not breaking up. We’re getting another chance! This is good!”

In response, Jiang Yi moved from her leaning position in the chair to sitting up straighter. Her expression was still dejected, however. It was an unsaid understanding between all the foreign members that this audition was partly their fault. Like the manager said sometime ago, Ultra Smart couldn’t go on with only two Korean members. Jiang Yi felt a certain type of way about that, but kept her mouth shut on the matter. At least, in front of their manager. “Okay, I get it. Stop hitting me.” The young woman said, crossing her arms.

A tentative look crossed Wonbin’s face, eyes meeting your own uneasy ones. “Perhaps...We’re still trying to gauge the public’s reception of Y/N having leadership over the group. It’s ultimately the CEO’s decision, not mine.” The good vibes that Jiang Ai tried to lift up suddenly popped like a bubble, stone cold silence filling the air once again.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Yoora trying to get a feeling of your reaction. As if she thought you were going to take it badly; cry or throw a tantrum like you would’ve in the old days. But, no tears or harsh words came.

“We’ll see.” Was all you said in response, before continuing on.

“Let’s take this one day at a time.”

( 2007, 6 months before debut )

“I can’t do anything right!”

Tears flowed down your cheeks as you sobbed in the bathroom, Yoora’s small hand rubbing your back. It was just a few minutes after dance practice ended and you ran out of the room, upset that the moves didn’t come as easy to you as everyone else. The dance instructor was hardly understanding, giving backhanded comments here and there about how you weren’t trying hard enough.

“I was trying my best!” You brought a hand to your face, hating to see your own upset face in the mirror. How many times have you cried since beginning training? You couldn’t keep count anymore. Never before had anyone pointed out so many flaws about you before. First, you were too chubby. Second, you couldn’t sing as well as the other trainees. Third, you ate too much. Now, it was this. The instructor always had something to say about your dance skills, putting you in the back with the ‘easiest’ moves even. Your body was stiff, you couldn’t remember the smallest things, everything was picked at until you couldn’t take it anymore.

You almost wanted to quit.

Yoora turned to get a tissue before handing it over, her usually stoic face now sympathetic. “All you can do is keep practicing until you get it right, some people just aren’t natural dancers,” She started. “But, that doesn’t mean you can’t ever become a good dancer. It’s the same with singing.”

You wanted to take her words to heart, you really did. It was good advice. However, the small, green, monster within you was already jealous that everything came ‘naturally’ to her. Yoora was already a decent singer and dancer. She got her fair share of harsh criticism, but also a good portion of praise as well. You were lucky to go a day without anyone ridiculing you.

“Yeah...” You weakly agreed, not truly thinking the same.

“It’s not too late to back out, you know.” Yoora offered. “The company will let you leave before the group is officially announced. If you think this is too much...”

You swiftly cut her off. “No!” Mind immediately going to all of the other girls you’d been paired with, you wanted to stay with them. It wasn’t even that all of you were close yet, because you weren’t. But, you wanted to be. People could call you idealistic all they wanted, but the idea of being in a group -- part of team -- with other people appealed to you.

You wanted to go through this with them, no matter how hard you had to work.

Maybe you were young and dumb to equate a group of co-workers to possible friends, but that’s what you wanted to get out of your time in the company. That’s what was keeping you afloat all this time; talking with Yoora and the other girls and forming some sort of bond. Especially after you lost what little friends you had after moving schools. At least, you couldn’t see your friends as much anymore.

“I'm not going to leave, I just need more time to get better.” You promised, more to yourself than the other girl. Your cheeks were dry now, a hand holding the tissue to your sniffling nose. In your mind, you weren’t thinking about how good Yoora was at everything or how you were at everything. Now, you were just envisioning a close-knit group; a group that you could look forward to being a part of. A group that would make all of this emotional pain and these physical aches worth it.

“Y/N?” A head poked into the bathroom, revealing the curious face of Aina. “Are you okay? Or, uh...” Seeing your puffy face, she realized the answer to her own question and came inside. “The instructor was just trying to push you to be the best you can be, don’t take what they said to heart. It’s okay.” Just a month older than you, that didn’t stop Aina from being the mother hen she was born to be.

Not wanting anymore people to see you upset, you shook your head. “I’m alright now,” You tried to add some cheer to your voice, but the unfazed expression of both girls signaled that it wasn’t working. Or, they saw right through it. You just waved a hand and headed for the door, wanting to leave behind all the negative feelings. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat or be anywhere but this bathroom.” A smile crossed your face, somewhat genuine.

“We’re on a diet though.” Yoora reminded you.

“Who cares?” You laughed off.

The older girl rolled her eyes, following behind you with Aina. “See?? It’s this attitude that gets you in trouble!”

Aina shook her head, joining you in laughter as the three of you walked out together.

Hopefully, You thought to yourself. My tears are worth it in the end.

Note: Just a brief note here to let everyone know I changed Ultra Smart’s debut date from 2007 to 2008. This is gonna be the last change I make, sorry for the confusion lol

#idol life. #girl group scenarios #girl group imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop reactions #idol oc #idol au #oc group #kpop oc group #kpop au #idol oc group

[semitranslatedseiyuublog]

Pop Team Epic Special Cast!

[TRANSLATION BELOW!]

Part A: Yukari Tamura  x Yui Horie

Part B: Souichirou Hoshi x Akira Ishida

Part A: Kana Hanazawa x Haruka Tomatsu

Part B: Kappei Yamaguchi x Kenichi Ogata

Part A: Sakiko Tamagawa x Rie Tanaka

Part B: Yuuki Ono and Kensho Ono

Part A: Yumiri Hanamori x Nao Touyama

Part B: Takahiro Sakurai x Jun Fukuyama

Part A: Mariko Kouda x Kikuko Inoue 

Part B: Nobuo Tobito x Bin Shimada

Part A: Emiri Kato x Kaori Fukuhara

Part B: Tomokazu Seki x Yousuke Akimoto

Part A: Junko Takeuchi x Rei Sakuma

Part B: Toshihiko Seki x Yusa Kouji

Part A: Etsuko Kozakura x Chisa Yokoyama

Part B: Hikaru Midorikawa x Takehito Koyasu

Yes, I got lazy part of the way through the deep research stuff. Really, just read what’s above...

Part A: Yukari Tamura  x Yui Horie

Yukari Tamura

Agency: Amuleto

Date of Birth: February 27, 1976 (age 43 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Tenten (Naruto), Mine (Akame ga Kill), Amane Suzuha (Steins;Gate), Natsukawa Masuzu (OreShura), Harime Nui (Kill la Kill), Furude Rika  (Higurashi), Yumehara Chiyo (Saiki)

Related Posts: - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?”

Yui Horie 

Agency: VIMS

Date of Birth: September 20, 1976 (age 42 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Ayu Tsukimiya (Kanon), Minori Kushieda (Toradora!), Wiz (KonoSuba), Charles (Fairy Tail), Kouko Kaga (Golden Time), Ryuunosuke Akasaka (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo), Aina Kuronuma (Sakamoto desu ga?), Hanyuu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai), Anna Kushina (K), Kisara Tendou (Black Bullet)

Related Posts: - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - 42nd Birthday Post

REASON: Besides being nearly the same age, Horie formed a temporary unit called Yamato Nadeshiko with the popular seiyuu Tamura Yukari in 2001. They released two singles. They have been in anime together like Higurashi too. 

Part B: Souichirou Hoshi x Akira Ishida

Souichirou Hoshi:

Agency: Arts Vision

Date of Birth: May 30, 1972 (age 46 years)

Notable Roles: Kira Yamato (Gundam), Kazuki Fuuchouin (GetBackers), Keiichi Maebara (Higurashi), Kaoru Hanabishi (Ai Yori Aoshi), Rygart Arrow (Break Blade), Makoto Isshiki (Chuunibyou), Sanada Yukimura (Sengoku Basara)

Akira Ishida

Agency: Gerbera Peerless

Date of Birth: November 2, 1967 (age 51)

Notable Roles: Athrun Zala (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny), Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Kotaro Katsura (Gintama), Gaara (Naruto), Zeref Dragneel (Fairy Tail), Xerxes Break (Pandora Hearts),  Keiji Mogami (Mob Psycho 100), Shuichi Natori (Natsume Yuujinchou)

Related Posts:  - “Ishida Akira's Trivia” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “Favourite and Least Favourite Male Seiyuu” - “Least Recognizable Seiyuu" - “Happy Birthday Akira Ishida!” - “Charapedia’s Top 20 popular male seiyuu of 2018″  

REASON: These two are actually really good friends which is weird because Akira is known for being a very closed off person. He won’t even go to parties (unless his friend Hoshi is there), he doesn’t take all the roles that he’s offered, and he even took a while warming up to the Gintama cast. Even then, he can come off as a bit standoffish and hostile at times, so Hoshi is really one of the only people that are close to Ishida.

Part A: Kana Hanazawa x Haruka Tomatsu

Kana Hanazawa

Agency: Office Osawa

Date of Birth: February 25, 1989 (age 30 years)

Notable Roles/Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Kana Hanazawa (Feb. 25)” (Role Compilation) - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - “Kana Hanazawa - Song Recommendations” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu Challenge (3+4): Favourite and Least Favourite Female Seiyuu” - “YouTube Excursion - Kana Hanazawa”

Haruka Tomatsu

Agency: Music Ray'n

Date of Birth: February 4, 1990 (age 29 years)

Notable Roles/Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Haruka Tomatsu (Feb. 4)” (Role Compilation and Song Recommendation) - “The seiyuu with the best singing voice?” - “The seiyuu with the most acting range?” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu Challenge (3+4): Favourite and Least Favourite Female Seiyuu”

REASON: Besides being nearly the same age, I actually don’t know. Hanazawa is known for being fans of her Kouhei like Yui Ogura and Ayane Sakura.

Part B: Kappei Yamaguchi x Kenichi Ogata

Kappei Yamaguchi:

Agencies: Gokū and 21st Century Fox

Date of Birth: May 23, 1965 (age 53 years)

Compilation Post (Role Compilation, Sources, etc.)

Kenichi Ogata

Agency: Gerbera Peerless

Date of Birth: March 29, 1942 (age 77 years)

Notable Roles: Genma Saotome (Ranma ½), Professor Hiroshi Agasa (Detective Konan), Myōga (Inuyasha), King Dedede (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!)

REASON: I guess it’s because they’ve worked on Inuyasha and Ranma ½ together.

Part A: Sakiko Tamagawa x Rie Tanaka

Sakiko Tamagawa

Agency: Sigma Seven

Date of Birth: January 20, 1962 (age 57 years)

Rie Tanaka

Agency: Mausu Production

Date of Birth: January 3, 1979 (age 40 years)

Part B: Yuuki Ono and Kensho Ono

Yuuki Ono:

Agencies: Freelancer

Date of Birth: June 22, 1984 (age 34 years)

“Top Five Yuuki Ono Roles”

Kensho Ono

Agency: Animo Productions

Date of Birth: October 5, 1989 (age 29 years)

Notable Roles: [VIDEO] Kuroko Tetsuya (Kuroko no Basket), Tanaka (Tanaka is Always Listless), Ryuunosuke Akutagawa (Bungou Stray Dogs), Hyakuya Mikaela (Owari no Seraph), Slaine Troyard (Aldnoah.Zero), Giorno Giovanna (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Related Post: - “Popular Seiyuu Ranking Top 30 - 2019″ - “Top Five Kensho Ono Roles” - “Best Seiyuu Pairings"

REASON: Two Ono’s are better than one? They’re both in Jojo, but Jojo has all three Ono’s (Daisuke, Kensho, and Yuuki).

Part A: Yumiri Hanamori x Nao Touyama

Yumiri Hanamori

Agency: M&I

Date of Birth: September 29, 1997 (age 21 years)

Nao Touyama

Agency: INTENTION

Date of Birth: March 11, 1992 (age 27 years)

Related Posts: - “Happy Birthday Nao Touyama!” - “Nao Touyama - Song Recommendations” - “The Top 20 Female Seiyuu (as of Apr 2018)” - “Seiyuu, who surprised you with their non-voice acting skills?"

Part B: Takahiro Sakurai x Jun Fukuyama

Takahiro Sakurai:

Agencies: INTENTION

Jun Fukuyama:

Agency: BLACKSHIP

At this point, I really gave up trying to keep up with finding all the links and maintaining this format.

Part A: Mariko Kouda (Aoni Production) x Kikuko Inoue (Office Anemone)

Part B: Nobuo Tobito (Arts Vision) x Bin Shimada (Aoni Production)

Part A: Emiri Kato (81 Produce) x Kaori Fukuhara (Freelance) 

Part B: Tomokazu Seki (Atomic Monkey) x Yousuke Akimoto (Office PAC)

Part A: Junko Takeuchi (Ogipro The Next) x Rei Sakuma (81 Produce)

Part B: Toshihiko Seki (81 Produce) x Yusa Kouji (Freelance)

Part A: Etsuko Kozakura (Little Portal) x Chisa Yokoyama (Banbina)

Part B: Hikaru Midorikawa (Aoni Production) x Takehito Koyasu (Ts Factory)

#pop team epic #poputepipikku #seiyuu #hikaru midorikawa #takehito koyasu #etsuko kozakura #chisa yokoyama #junko takeuchi #rei sakuma #toshihiko seki #yusa kouji #emiri kato #kaori fukuhara #tomokazu seki #yousuke akimoto #mariko kouda #kikuko inoue #sakurai takahiro #fukuyama jun #tomatsu haruka #kana hanazawa #nao touyama #Ono Kensho #ono yuuki #akira ishida

[lunawings]

A few notes on the Guilty Kiss  Fukuoka 2018 Live and Fan Viewing.

So after their Sapporo show was cancelled due to the earthquake, Guilty Kiss finally got their first performance! (Or rather they did that morning. The live viewing was for the second.) But except for the Fukuoka-local specific stuff, I think we more or less saw what we would have seen in Hokkaido. 

Perhaps the best part of the fan meeting section, was this unintentional (I think) running joke that was created. 

One of the questions they got from a fan was, if you could cover a song from another unit, which one?

So that turned into them joking about how that could never do a CYaRon song since they are Guilty Kiss and all, but they also started imitating them and it just kept escalating until they stood up and went in front of the table and were trying to do as much as they could remember of DAY! DAY! DAY!

Then later during the quiz section, when they play video of the other units asking questions, CYaRon came on and they were imitating Guilty Kiss (calling themselves CY-lty Kiss) and I think it was total coincidence, which was hilarious. 

And I think it all came together in the end when people vote for a song for them to cover, and Pops Heart de Odorun Da Mon was on the board (as it was for the first performances of the other groups) and it was chosen. It’s not a CYaRon song, but it might as well be hahah. It was bizarre to see them singing and dancing something so upbeat in those Guilty Kiss outfits, but they sounded great! They gave it their all and had such a good time with it. Aina was center, which was a good choice. It made me want to hear a Mari solo version. 

Before I went to this live viewing, I always though Riko was kinda the odd one out in Guilty Kiss. But when I saw Rikako come out as center for the overall event and rock it, I don’t feel that way anymore. She was great! The last time I “saw” her was at 3rd Live, and she seemed kinda nervous or kinda off maybe? But this time she was happy, and confident, and amazing! She did so good!!! 

They were also talking about 4th Live (..the one I didn’t get to go to....) and apparently they did Omoi yu Hitotsu ni Nare with Riko for the first time.... which was like.... aw..... 

But yeah um, poor Guilty Kiss. Since their first performance was cancelled they had a 0 on the scoreboard for the longest time. But even now that they have some points, they didn’t do that well. The other units are killing them! Not entirely their fault though. The Fukuoka audience got questions wrong. It was so painful too! In the live viewing, the question was who had a deck brush in the Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagataiteru Kai video and Aikyan knew the answer. She was like “Ohhh I have a feeling it was Zuramaruuuuu” but she couldn’t choose it because the audience choose You. They were wrong. It was Hanamaruuuu.

I really enjoyed Guilty Kiss a LOT. They sounded AMAZING live. And since they’re the underdog team, I really want to root for them.... but I want to root for everyone..... aaaahhhhh.... I can’t choose who to cheer for in the competition......

#aqours #love live #love live! sunshine!! #guilty kiss

[greatrunner]

I was going through my 8TH MS Team posts and came across a meta I wrote about how the Gundam fandom mischaracterized the romantic element in the Aina/Shiro dynamic (as they did, and still do) as “basically romeo and juliet” (and it’s not, but that kinda demonstrates how a person can throw out a pop culture reference without respect to context), and for the most part, it’s still a solid read. I argued my point pretty well, I think.

But, then there was this was particularly abrasive person (who was a mega-fan of Aina’s brother, Ghinius, to the point of woobifying him) who just decided to go off on the post and basically said, “Aina ditched her brother for Shiro’s dick”, blames Aina for everything Ghinius (the antagonist) does, and basically bashes Aina to kingdom-come.

They basically proved my point, but, I ended up over-explaining how they and fandom continued to misinterpret the Aina/Shiro narrative (just to ramble on and on about how they “ugh, hate romance”) with a level of patience I’m usually not willing to afford people. It was kinda surreal tbh, and i only assume I didn’t get upset because someone else had my back and supported my argument.

#greatrunners meta #aina sahalim #aina sahalin #mobile suit gundam: the 08th ms team #fandom looked like fandom

[recentanimenews]

DON'T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO - Crunchyroll Spring 2021 Spotlight

  Whether you think of school fondly or not, chances are you didn't have an experience quite like Senpai's in DON'T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO. Once he becomes the target of sadistic student Nagatoro, all bets are off, and you can find out all about this Spring 2021 lineup addition in our full overview below.

  Official Website

        Navigation

Launch Info

Official Trailers

Synopsis

Characters and Cast

Staff

Additional Info

    Launch Info

Launch Time: New episodes every Saturday at 9:00am PT

Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS

Show Page

  Official Trailers 

    Synopsis

  "A girl in a lower grade just made me cry!" One day, Senpai visits the library after school and becomes the target of a super sadistic junior! The name of the girl who teases, torments, and tantalizes Senpai is "Nagatoro!" She's annoying yet adorable. It's painful, but you still want to be by her side. This is a story about an extremely sadistic and temperamental girl and you'll feel something awaken inside of you.

  Characters and Cast

  Nagatoro

VA: Sumire Uesaka (Sanae Dekomori in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions)

    Senpai

VA: Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia)

    Gamo-chan

VA: Mikako Komatsu (Arte in Arte)

    Yosshi

VA: Aina Suzuki (Mari Ohara in Love Live! Sunshine!!)

    Sakura

VA: Shiori Izawa (Nanachi in Made in Abyss) 

    President of the Art Club

VA: Nana Mizuki (Hinata Hyuga in Naruto Shippuden) 

      Staff

  Original creator

Nanashi (774)

  Director

Hirokazu Hanai (Assistant Director of Tower of God)

  Series Composition

Taku Kishimoto (The Millionaire Detective: Balance UNLIMITED, ERASED)

  Character design

Misaki Suzuki

  Art director

Kei Ichikura (DECA-DENCE, IS THIS A ZOMBIE?)

  Color design

Satoshi Hashimoto (Chihayafuru 2, Death Note, Highschool of the Dead)

  Director of Photography

Hiroshi Inoue (Ace of the Diamond act II)

  Music

Gin (Pop Team Epic , AHO-GIRL)

  Opening theme

"EASY LOVE" by Sumire Uesaka

  Ending theme

“Colorful Canvas” by Sumire Uesaka, Mikako Komatsu, Aina Suzuki, and Shiori Izawa

  Animation production

Telecom Animation Film

  Additional Info

  The TV anime DON'T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO is based on the manga of the same name by Nanashi (774) and has been published in Pocket magazine by Kodansha since November 2017. So far, ten volumes have appeared in stores in Japan, and Vertical Comics publishes the series in English.

  For the broadcast of the second episode, the official Twitter account released two key animation drawings from the episode, showing the cute side of the devilish creature.

  ✨第2話原画公開✨ 過激なハプニングもありつつ、イジり顔だけではない、色々な表情を見せてくれた2話でした！ センパイに見せている顔、見せない顔、センパイ以外の人に見せている顔、それぞれ比較して見てみると、より一層長瀞さんの虜になるかも…！（制作担当）#長瀞さん #nagatoro pic.twitter.com/4Nl4YICDXw

— 【アニメ】イジらないで、長瀞さん【公式】 (@nagatoro_tv) April 17, 2021

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his comics at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.

By: Joseph Luster

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[agetawayfromhere-blog]

Day 1

DAY 2 coast Ukunda or Diani 14/04 Sim, Andrea, Maxine

Started out a normal day as any other day starts out, a car alarm at 3am, didn’t shut up till 6.30, brilliant, we are awake, ready & rearing to go, may as well get stuff done…typing, updates, download photos etc as there is nothing else better to do.

May as well have a shower, no, wait no water, someone forgot to pay the water bill? the toilet works…so maybe they are on a part payment plan for that.

Wale up call at 7, down for breakfast, toast, some sort of tasteless yellow papaya? baked beans, sausages, and a really good drink of tropical red pulp, niiiice

Get onto a bus for the airport 8.30, all passengers needed to get out of the vehicle going thru the check point, a couple of guards looking at their phones, not really paying attention to the amount of people that are filing thru the body scanners, the things was going nuts as they checked a random person chosen from the flood of people, need to go thru check-in, big sign, ‘no guns or knives beyond this point’, body scanned again, this time, hat, shoes, belt… anything really that was not a piece of clothing from neck to ankle, taken off, tickets gotten, thru to the boarding lounge for an internal flight to Diani, down on the coast near Mombasa, aboard a twin prop plane with giraffe spots on its tail, before we know it, we are high above the clouds, soaring like a big tinned winged eagle, with lots of maggots (people) inside…but not really

Landing in Diani, we got off the plane to a downpour from the skies, walked across the tarmac, to a waiting or ‘holding area’, than had to wait for our bags to be spat out of the plane, 2 guys pushed all our luggage on a trolley across the tarmac, in the pouring rain, awaiting for us to take them & load & go, putting the bags in the cars, Ali & Dave arrived in NOAH, the AinA vehicle they use for the AinA activities etc

Exiting the airport, we got our first glimpse of the poverty, the streets lined with makeshift humpies & houses, chickens, cats & people living in total harmony, with open fires burning their stuff out the porch, people sitting back in their open view homes…reminded me of Glenlock camping, but this was sad to see, they have nothing, they live simple, with nothing but a roof over their heads, made from the frons of a palm tree.

Having left the Diani are, ventured to Ulundi, where we ventured to a shopping complex to get supplies for the next week at Sammy’s home, this was a first: being stopped by armed guards in a shopping centre, then to have one of those airport wands go over the top of my pants, scanning the entire belt line, scanning for what I would imagining it would be: guns

From there went to a small rented room attached to a café, where the football was on, had a great bonding with the locals in this areas, phots of the kids for the sponsorships, handed out hygiene packs, Mia & Judah had bought some bouncy balls frim Aust, they were handed to the kids to play with, which they were allowed to keep, they played handball for a couple of hours, handed some new bibles to young ladies in the ecclesia, small talk by Bro Jarrad S on God & his greatness thru his book and his son, had an interesting lunch, marinated meat chunks on one plate, tomato, onion & spring onion on another, a pancake and Ugali (flour, water made into a cake size of a saucer) alone each part does taste nice, but the ugali needed some pepper, stodgy mix of batter, roll it in  ball, add in a piece of meat, garnished with tomato, not bad, still, an authentic Kenyan meal to feed the masses, all this is to beaten with your fingers. At this point as well, Seth, Jasmine and Diane left to visit anther ecclesia for the photos, this community had been flooded in, so our AinA had to walk a couple of kms to get the ecclesia & get their things achieved once they had arrived

Finished up with the meet & greet, all participants left to go their own way home, we left to venture home to Sammy’s home, but on the way, popped into his wife Christine, who had been admitted to the Diani Beach hospital for possible pneumonia, each of the team popped into the room, to greet her, said a prayer for her by Dave, by all accounts, sounds like she will be released tomorrow GW from the hospital.

We have now left the area & ventured to the home of Sammy and the kids home he is the caretaker of, having been driving now for what seems to be forever, then realised it was actually only 3 hour detour, as a bridge was flooded over, it has not stopped raining here for 3 days now, everything is so sloshed & slippery, thick with mud  and rain, has made this 400 meters into a 4x4 adventure, driving up an incline, car got bogged, Ali and I jumped out of the car, trying to push this beast thru the clay like mire that had encased the tyres of the car, getting sprayed by the mud, pouring off the tyre, all down the front of us, Ali came off 2nd best, I think she may actually have been the winner in this situation, I also think that was the aim she was going for as well, eventually the car got free, they drove up the hill & out of sight, having put the headlamp in the car, Ali & I walked in the pitch black, African outback, sliding all over the path, puddles & very slippery mud, feet now well encased in the mud, Ali was worse off than me with a spray from the car tyres she looked a sight, not until the light we had seen the entire mess she was in ha ha. All I’m saying is that you would not do this kind of off-road experience on purpose unless you intended too

Eventually made it to the kids home, met 15-20 young people, all so eager to meet these foreign westerners, some older sisters that lie in Amani (peace) they have rooms there,, they were sitting outside their rooms, we met a couple of them as they had been cooking our meal for the night, our mission tomorrow will be to talk to these kind natured women and young people, have a talk about how they live in this rural area, free from all influences from the outside world & enjoy our time with them in this place.

Having unpacked the cars, we settled into our room, this is a new building that has just been erected, with 5-6 rooms inside, it’s a concrete floor, there is a bed, covered with a mosquito net…..that’s it, just that simple, no frills, the rain has not subsided now for 48 hours, plans for tomorrow have changed as we will not be able to get out of one of the roads due to the amount of water being received, upside, this is great for the farming as they have just or just about to plant their crops for this time of the year. We can hear dogs having a scrap behind our room, goats bleating and music with a beat, this went on all night, maybe this is to ward off any wild animals that may venture down to this community? Dunno, will have to ask about this later on and shall see.

:

[outvoo]

Interview with Chef Tu David Phu

OutVoo Interview with Chef Tu David Phu

 Conducted by Ian Ippolito & Merced Gonzalez (part 1)

Today we are talking with Chef Tu David Phu, a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef and one of Oakland’s very own celebrities.  Since Oakland is where OutVoo was born, we are thrilled that Chef Phu is a fan of our app:

“I love it!  I feel it’s the best thing on the market right now that I’ve encountered.  The usability of it is so straightforward, so simple.  It’s cutting through all the crap.”

So how do you know Denise, the owner of Tay Ho, where we first met you? I was connected to Denise through Minh Tsai of Hodo (formerly Hodo Soy Beanery) when I was there for Tofu Classes.  Denise reached out for feedback on Tay Ho so Minh and I went for dinner to check it out. We said, “Wait a minute, this is amazing, what do you need feedback on?”  I told her to do her thing, feel confident and keep serving the food her Mom was cooking.  The rice crepes, the bun xao and all the soups.  I told her to talk to people and be herself.  Tay Ho started blowing up and at the time Chef’s Feed reached out to me to pick three dining establishments that represent Oakland.  I happened to pick Tay Ho with Denise, Drip Line with Nora and Pho Ga Huong Que with Leslie.  It just happened to be three ethnic women and I think that speaks to who Oakland is and what Oakland is.  And Tay Ho is exactly like a Saigon cafe would be.  

We were just at AlaMar ... Chef Nelson!  

Yes, we got to meet him!  We invited him to the OutVoo launch party and he was very supportive and kind. He’s the nicest, nicest, most amazing person.  And the ladies love him by the way - all my cousins, all my sisters!

And I’m sure some of the guys! There you go!

And May [Nelson’s wife] is definitely running the place! I love May!

We had a great time with Leslie Sbrocco & Liam Mayclem - Visit Oakland put on such a lovely event.  We know you were just there, tell us about it.   I launched my Oakland dining series Chefs Hawker Center at AlaMar.  It was amazing. I teamed up with Chef Nelson for the first night and for the second night I did an Asian Islander concept.  We had Hawaiian music and Reggae playing.  We had Chris Yang of ‘aina, which is Chinese-Hawaiian from Hawaii.  He was an alumni of Chris Cosentino’s Encanto camp from way back in the day.  Shawn Naputi of Prubechu in the Mission.  He does Guam Cuisine.  The food is amazing.  It has so many similarities to Filipino and Singaporean cuisine.  Braised in coconut milk, the use of soy, the use of fish sauce, the use of spice, the use of ash - it’s so crazy.

We didn’t get to experience An.  Tell us what made you decide to do that particular pop-up?   That’s a great question.  I have been professionally cooking for about 14 years - wow I’m old! I felt like I was exceptional at cooking.  I’ve cooked in a few of the world’s top ten, Daniel being one of them, both in NY and the West Coast.  I’ve been a sous Chef at two Michelin star restaurants.  I felt like I was a great cook, but not a great Chef.  I was cooking with a palette that I didn’t understand.  This is not reflective of any other Chefs that cook cuisines outside of their culture.  But for me the palette that my mother cooked for me really resonated with me.  That’s how I found delicious.  I remember having issues in my early culinary career because I would season the food always toward the way my mom taught me.  What delicious was and is.  That translated throughout the years.  I’ve always had trouble understanding and feeling the soul of a dish like pot-au-feu.  I felt like it was done good but I never, at least for myself, I never felt like it was done excellent.  I didn’t know with those ingredients and that palette together, what was perfection, how far max could I take those ingredients.  It was good, it was good, no doubt, but personally assessing myself and being my own worst critic, I felt like there was a disconnect.  It didn’t speak to my soul.  Within all that, after 12 years of cooking, I wanted to re-visit and connect to the food that spoke to my soul, which was the food that my mother cooked.  And to make it more complicated I’m Vietnamese American.  Vietnamese is many cultures.  And depending on your province one culture would be more highlighted than the other which, then in turn would reflect how you cook.  That’s one big factor.  The second factor is that my family is from an Island and that means we ate all seafood.  So my challenge was that I wanted to cook my mom’s food which was heavily seafood but Westerners didn’t identify with the kind of food my mom cooked or the kind of food I cook as Vietnamese.  Isn’t that interesting?  Because our Island is so far south and so seafood dominant it is more closely reflective of Cambodia.  So the dishes that I had growing up only resonated within my family and not other Vietnamese Americans that I knew.  And the stimulating part is that I had to dig into that, understand it, research it.  To be fair there isn’t any American literature on this topic so I had to do my own research and piece things together.  I spoke to my family, then traveled and curated my own cultural family story to explain to diners what the hell they’re eating.  In a very indirect way to defend my stance to say that I am cooking Vietnamese food.  

Do people get it?  I’m sure it took some explaining. As opposed to kicking people out?  I’m sensitive! (laughter) It took a lot of learning lessons.  In the beginning, in the very beginning there are a lot of skeptics.  People who were skeptical.  Specifically Vietnamese Americans, and I don’t take that as an insult.  I just took that as feedback as I needed to tell my story and/or I needed to tell my story better.  So I took it as a challenge.  That’s how my dinners evolved into this story telling event.  It wasn’t a gimmick to be cool or increase sales.  I just wanted to share myself in what I viewed wholeheartedly and spiritually as delicious from what my mother cooked for me.  

You’ve said that the Pop Up allowed you to get out and meet the people that were eating your food and to tell your story.  So people were coming for the entire experience. Definitely, that is exactly what it was.  And along with that, as the series progressed and the dining experience progressed throughout the weeks and months I would have these very public encounters with food and I’d have a public encounter with the diners.  

One of the first things I had trouble with was access to seaweed.  On the island we eat a ton of seaweed.  We use it in our desserts, we use it as a gelling agent.  It’s everywhere on our island, and I just remember eating it on my travels to Vietnam.  Along with that my mom would bring it back and we’d have it in our pantry and use it in, like, a stir fry. I couldn’t find anything at the store that even closely resembled the seaweed that I had growing up.  The seaweed was only brought over and meant to be distributed to the Japanese and the Chinese communities.  There was no demand for it from the Vietnamese community.  I don’t think anybody did that on purpose it’s just a smaller population and that conversation never came up.  So I was on a search to get seaweed and I heard that there was a bunch of local seaweed that people grow, that grows here in California.  One thing led to another and I got connected to a gentleman named Kevin Kelley.  He is a winemaker, his wine company is called Salinia Wine - this is free advertising for Kevin (laugh)!  SF Gate called him a master at Cabernet Sauvignon.  He makes small batches.  Dude is amazing!  He has a commercial license and he dives for and harvests sea palm. He used the sea palm to make a bitter that he uses as an alternative to Campari.  I heard through the grapevine he was doing this and I contacted him through industry friends, “Hey I’m looking for these varietals of seaweeds, do they grow here in California?” For the next year and a half I would meet up with him four times out of the year during the summer months to go harvest seaweed.  It’s grown to the point where I was able to introduce him to a local seafood vendor, Water 2 Table Fish Co., and he sells to them.  We even got to name the varietals.    

It just shows how one thing leads to another.  Within that experience of my journey to get access to the seaweed my parents used to feed me, the kind that I had back in the old country.  From there other stories evolved.  I tell people that story while I’m serving them the seaweed that I harvested that week.  They can understand not just culturally but the beauty of what is on their plate.

Tell us how excited you were to be San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chef 2017! It’s very humbling.  I count my blessings everyday.  I feel like the work I attempt to do, I don’t aim to try to get accolades, that is an after thought, but the fact that I got San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chef was amazing.  I was so appreciative.  Especially from a person like Paolo Lucchesi. He’s a young, energetic, motivated individual who wants to correct the social system with his skill set - which is writing about food.  We’ll be talking about Paolo Lucchesi two decades from now.  It’s such a huge compliment for him to dub me a rising star Chef.  Amongst other amazing things that he’s said about me he said I was a trendsetter.  If I can be a trendsetter in any sense I hope to inspire other Chefs to go down the same path that I have where they’re not just cooking food to be cool but cooking food to tell a story.  

Did he share his reasoning for picking you? The same reasons that inspire me to cook are the same reasons that I got the Rising Star Chef .  Mainly Paolo Lucchesi said that he really champions the fact that I am cooking purposefully.  My story telling isn’t just to attract and entertain but it’s to inform and educate. Whether it’s sustainability, culture or social justice.  I champion women a lot.  As opposed to accrediting the amazing men that I’ve worked with in the industry a lot of my passions, skills and techniques have been derived from mothers and aunties that haven’t been championed in Michelin star, testosterone, very chauvinistic kitchens.  I was raised by women and I’m very appreciative about that.  I’m heterosexual but I find myself embracing my femininity and I don’t feel like there is anything wrong with that.  I’ve always been soft spoken.  I felt that I was hazed because of that in these male dominated kitchens.  Trust me, I get down! That’s why I got this (Shows “Yes Chef” tattoo)!  If you want a yes chef, I’ll give you a yes chef.  As a young man you get angry and try to figure out your emotions. As I got more mature I started to understand more about myself.  I started to learn and truly understand what inspired me and where I felt my work needed to be accredited to.  

It’s the same thing in the LGBTQ community as well.  A lot of my friends that I’ve worked with in the industry are LGBTQ. And I find that in the kitchens, as well as in the news and media, that there is an anti-LGBTQ culture.   And for those on National TV, and especially if you’re ethnic, of color or maybe even religious, no matter what color you are, those play huge factors in being able to announce it publicly.

This is what I’m challenging all my peers, colleagues, friends and community on. Think about how you support your friend that’s of a different color, a different sexual orientation, a woman, whatever. If they’re of a different minority group and they’re being discriminated against, it’s 20 times more powerful if you stood up for them as opposed to them standing up for themselves.  I just think it speaks volumes.

Stay tuned for part 2 when we discuss Oakland’s culinary renaissance and Top Chef!

OutVoo is available for download in the App Store.

#OutVoo #Top Chef #Food and Wine #sfchronicle #chef #cheflife #leslie sbrocco #liam mayclem #oakland

[newsintheshell]

Ijiranaide Nagatoro-san, la serie animata andrà in onda da aprile 2021

Svelati nuove immagini e membri del cast dell’anime.

Il sito ufficiale di “Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san” (Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro) si è aggiornato svelando una nuova locandina della serie animata tratta dal popolare manga di Nanashi, annunciandone il debutto sulle televisioni giapponesi per aprile 2021.

Sono inoltre stati pubblicati i bozzetti e i nomi dei principali membri del cast.

Nagatoro: Sumire Uesaka (Sanae Dekomori in Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)

Oltre ad interpretare il personaggio, la doppiatrice canterà anche la sigla di testa della serie.

Senpai: Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia)

Gamo-chan: Mikako Komatsu (Rose in Tales of Zestiria the X)

Yoshi: Aina Suzuki (Mari Ohara in Love Live! Sunshine!!) 

Sakura: Shiori Izawa (Nanachi in Made in Abyss)

A dirigere l’adattamento presso lo studio Telecom Animation Film (Tower of God, Orange) è Hirokazu Hanai (Dances with the Dragons), mentre la sceneggiatura è curata da Taku Kishimoto (Usagi Drop, Haikyu!! L’asso del volley). Il character design è ad opera di Misaki Suzuki e le musiche sono composte da Gin (Pop Team Epic, Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?).

La pestifera Nagatoro infastidisce di continuo il suo Senpai per ottenere una reazione da lui. Che motivo ha? Vuole solo bullizzarlo o forse segretamente lui le piace?

La commedia romantica ha fatto i suo debutto sul sito Magazine Pocket nel 2017 e attualmente Kodansha ne ha pubblicato in patria nove volumi.

* NON VUOI PERDERTI NEANCHE UN POST? ENTRA NEL CANALE TELEGRAM! *

Autore: SilenziO))) (@s1lenzi0)

[FONTE]

#ijiranaide nagatoro-san #don't mess with me nagatoro #anime #serie tv #manga #newsintheshell #news in the shell #animazione #cartoni animati #nagatoro #don’t toy with me miss nagatoro

[yujachachacha]

Interview: Aqours In Seoul (December 2016)

TL: Yujacha

QC: Mega (Team ONIBE)

Special thanks: KuuRin (@kuuxkat​); shout out to Kuu for doing a complete TL of this from Weibo (which used the Ruliweb article) before I even saw the article myself. He graciously stepped aside and let me take over since KR–EN is kinda my thing, haha. Huge thanks to him for letting me know about the interview!

Sources: There were multiple reporters at the interview, and so each media outlet had its own article of the interview. Due to various reasons (mainly the JP–KR TL lacking in some areas), I’ve opted to merge articles from Ruliweb and Inven for my translation.

Ruliweb: “Love Live! Sunshine!!”—Meeting 3 Members of Aqours, by Reporter Jang-won Lee (x)

Inven: [Interview] “We want to go to Korea as a full group next time!”—“Love Live! Sunshine!!” Seiyuu Interview, by Eun-bi Kang and Yong-wang Moon (x)

Context: There was a “Love Live! Sunshine!!” special event titled “Aqours in Seoul” held in Korea at SM TOWN@coexartium on December 10th, 2016. Rikyako, King, and Ainya were the Aqours representatives for the event. On the next day, they had an interview with Korean media outlets at Dormy Inn Premium Seoul Garosugil.

Please introduce the character that you voice in “Love Live! Sunshine!!”.

Rikako: Riko, the character that I’m responsible for, plays the piano extremely well, and has a mature and calm image. However, she’s actually the type to jump to conclusions, and she has a bit of a childish side.

Kanako: Hanamaru, the character that I voice, is a very gentle girl who likes books. She uses unusual phrases like “ola” and “zura” from the dialect of Numazu, where “Love Live! Sunshine!!” takes place.

Aina: Mari is a very mature, lively, and “shiny” character. She’s a cute girl who can take good care of others, but she gets a little clumsy when the other third-year characters are involved.

What point do you pay particular attention to when voicing your Aqours character?

Rikako: I feel that Riko-chan is a gentle girl who would get along very well with her friends, and she has a personality that would make her very amiable to others. To properly convey this part, I’m always trying hard to make my voice more gentle and endearing.

Kanako: Hanamaru also has a lot of scenes in the anime where she speaks gently, so I do my best to bring out my inner gentleness in my acting. Also, since she has a lot of lines with “zura~” in them, I work hard to bring out a variety of “zura”s.

Aina: Since Mari mixes a lot of English into her sentences when she’s talking, I pay special attention to pronouncing those words well when I voice her.

Are there any similarities between you and your respective character; if so, what are they?

Rikako: I definitely think that our names are the most similar. Since my real name, Rikako, and my role, Riko, even use the same kanji*, I was overjoyed when I first saw her name.

* Translation note: The kanji for Rikako’s name (梨香子) is nearly identical to the kanji for Riko’s (梨子). Also, Rikako says “real name” here because she’s had several stage names.

Kanako: Hanamaru and I are both gluttons. You can even see in the anime that Hanamaru is always eating something, so during the past three days that I’ve been in Korea, I’ve been constantly eating. That’s why the staff has been telling me that I’ll probably have to go on a diet when I return to Japan (laughs).

Aina: I think we resemble each other in our “shiny” passion and our tendency to do things at our own pace. I was already the type to be easily excitable when I was younger, but after voicing Mari, I became even more excitable.

Which of your character’s scenes from the anime left the biggest impression on you?

Rikako: The scene from Episode 10 where Riko told Chika, “I love you.” Although it was a straightforward expression, it left a very deep impression on me because all of the feelings and emotions that Riko held for Chika were contained in that one line.

Kanako: There are many scenes that moved me and scenes that I enjoyed, and I even voiced Hanamaru in comedic scenes. However, what surprised me the most was how Hanamaru is so unfamiliar with technology that she can’t even use a computer properly. Since I found out about this aspect of her through the anime, I was taken aback by it.

Aina: For me, Episode 10’s “We’ve Got Stewshine” was the most memorable. The phrase “Stewshine” was decided on by fans, during a live broadcast where Mari was given a title for a game*. When that phrase appeared in the anime, I really felt that this was “The Story We All Realize”**, so I was very happy.

* Ainya’s actually a bit off the mark here—rather than from “Debate Time”, the corner where the character with the most votes receives a nickname from the viewers, the pun actually came from the “Are Your Hearts Connected?” corner. This is because Mari failed to get a title during the third years’ first niconama on February 20, 2016. Instead, after the trio finally managed to match on the prompt “What dish would you compare Mari to?”, the “Stewshine” pun popped up in the congratulatory comments sent by the viewers. See here (x) for a subbed video of the moment—backtrack to 8:53 if you want to start watching from the start of the prompt.

** Reference to the tagline of µ’s.

Is there an episode that you would like fans to pay particular attention to?

Aina: For me personally and the other members as well, the episode that left the deepest impression on us was Episode 9’s “Mijuku DREAMER” (Young DREAMER). It’s a very crucial episode since Episode 9 is when Aqours finally assembled with nine members and started their activities from then on. It also has the scene where Aqours first sang together as nine members with the song “Mijuku DREAMER”. It’s a really important episode to me, so I would love it if everyone took special care in watching it.

What is your favorite “Love Live! Sunshine!!” song?

Rikako: My favorite song is the titular track of the first single, “Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?” (Is Your Heart Shining?). With such a bright, lively, and refreshing feel to it, this song is really the essence of Aqours, and I think that it expresses a happy feeling.

Kanako: King: I definitely like that song as well. The last line of the anime was “Is your heart shining?”, and with this, Aqours began. The seiyuu also felt that things were beginning after we recorded this song, and we gained a lot of connections because of it.

Aina: I like “Mattete Ai no Uta” (Song of a Waiting Love). It’s the coupling song for the second single, and there are many of us in Aqours who have “Ai” in their name. I hope that this song can really convey the feeling of love.

There are Korean fans who visit Numazu City and Uchiura, the setting for “Love Live! Sunshine!!”. What are the charms of Numazu and Uchiura? Which sightseeing spots would you recommend, and why?

Kanako: Uchiura is a small town by the sea, and it’s a beautiful village within itself. The scenery of the landscape has been captured exactly as it is in the anime and illustrations. When you personally visit it, you’ll really get the feeling that the Aqours members are actually living there. Numazu has three aquariums, of which I particularly like Awashima Marine Park and Izu Mito Sea Paradise, which was used as the setting for the second single’s PV. I think that just touring there would be enough for sightseeing.

In the mobile game “Love Live! School Idol Festival”, which song do you have the most confidence in?

Rikako: The song that I have the most confidence in is the opening song “Aozora Jumping Heart” (Blue Sky Jumping Heart). Though, rather than being good at it, you can say that it’s a song that you can have fun playing.

Kanako: It’s the first collaboration song between Aqours and SIF, “Jingle Bells ga Tomaranai” (Can’t Stop the Jingle Bells). It’s a Christmas song that’s very fitting for the winter season, so I really enjoy playing it.

Aina: I keep playing the song “Aqours☆HEROES”. It’s a coupling song for the first single, and I have lots of fun playing it as I follow the beat.

What are your feelings on the upcoming 1st Live? What kind of Live do you want to have?

Rikako: We’re working hard to make it a performance that will impress the fans who attend. I’d really like if it was a Live that expressed a very Aqours-like feel.

Kanako: In the anime, the Aqours members participated in the Love Live! competition while carrying with them the feeling of wanting to go from 0 to 1. I don’t know if we’ll go from 0 to 1 in the upcoming Live as well, or even from 1 to 2, but I want to have a Live where we’ve upgraded one step further.

Aina: We’re holding our Live for two days at a large venue like Yokohama Arena, and I want to give everyone who comes to see us a “shiny” smile. We’ll do our best to have a beautiful Live where all nine of us in Aqours can shine.

We’ve heard that Rikako has been to Korea before. Please tell us if there were any places you wanted to visit or foods you wanted to eat this time around.

Rikako: I’ve eaten a variety of dishes in Korea, but I unfortunately haven’t been able to try any desserts yet. Yukhoe bibimbap was really delicious. Eating rice in seaweed soup was quite a novel experience for me, and was tasty as well.

* TL note: Mixed rice bowl with raw beef. Refer to the Wikipedia article on yukhoe for details.

Looking back over the activities that Aqours has done in 2016, what are your thoughts?

Kanako: 2016 was really the year of beginnings. If 2015 was the year of our birth when we made preparations, and 2016 was the year we began, 2017 might be the year of our growth. We’ve done a lot of activities this year, but the start of the anime was the most meaningful for me. I saw many different sides to the character I’m in charge of for the first time time year, so I was able to reduce the gap between me and my role.

Aina: There were many things that I tried for the first time. I experienced a recording for the first time, and dancing as well was something that was a first for me. Because of this, I think that this year was the year that I took on the most challenges.

After starring in “Love Live! Sunshine!!”, what part of yourself would you say has changed the most?

Rikako: As I’ve had to face various challenges, my will to take on challenges has gotten stronger. I’d like it if I could try even more things from now on.

Kanako: There was an enormous change—a lot of people became aware of me on social media. It still doesn’t feel like reality, to the point that I can’t believe that this is my life. Being cast as Hanamaru and participating in activities as a member of Aqours really feels like fate.

Aina: I’ve always liked “Love Live!”. When I got the role of Mari for “Love Live! Sunshine!!”, I thought that I was now able to show everyone courage, so my mindset was changed a lot.

What were your feelings when you first met the character you were cast as?

Rikako: My first impression was of a beautiful girl with a graceful image. I felt like she embodied what I thought of as the ideal girl.

Kanako: The first time that I saw Hanamaru, as she’s a small and cute bookworm-ish girl I thought that she was the complete opposite of me, so I was unsure whether I would be able to voice her well. However, we also shared many similarities, like our vast curiosity, so now we’ve become synchronized to the point where I can’t tell whether I’m similar to Hanamaru or if Hanamaru is similar to me.

Aina: When I first met Mari, my biggest impression of her was of her mature side. Even the way that she styles her hair is cute, and I felt that she was a child with gorgeous looks.

Through this event, you must have seen how there are many fans who love Aqours in Korea as well—were you aware of this fact?

Rikako: I’ve received many messages from Korean fans on Twitter, so I’ve always thought about meeting the fans in Korea as part of Aqours. After being able to meet so many fans in person, I’ve been able to realize how much the fans love us.

Aina: This is my first visit to Korea, so seeing all these people welcoming us warmly and greeting us with lively cheers made me really happy.

If you were to brag to the members who couldn’t come to Korea this time about something related to meeting your fans in Korea, what would it be?

Kanako: There are so many things that I want to brag about that I’d want to tell them everything that happened during these past three days. Since the fans were so happy when we told them that all 9 of us would come next time and seemed to be really looking forward to it, although we don’t know when it’ll be, we promised that all 9 of us would definitely come.

Recently, a Love Live! arcade game* has been launched in Japan. If you’ve played it before, what are your thoughts on it?

Rikako: Since you can play while watching the µ’s members sing and dance, it’s a very fresh experience. It’s something you can enjoy through both sight and sound, and I think Love Live! fans had been waiting for a game like this.

* The articles don’t mention it by name, but the question is referring to “Love Live! School Idol Festival ~after school ACTIVITY~”, also known as SIFAC.

Lastly, please say a few words to your fans in Korea.

Rikako: Through being invited to come to Korea, I feel that I’ve been able to receive a lot of love from Korean fans. Because of that, next time I’d like to return with everyone in Aqours. I’m looking forward to the day we meet again.

Kanako: Annyeonghaseyo*~ I had lots of fun meeting everyone on this trip to Korea. Everyone is so good at Japanese that it made me think that in return, I should study Korean when I go back home. I’ll do my best so that I can speak Korean more fluently next time. Saranghaeyo**, zura~ (laughs)

* TL note: Korean for “Hello”.

** TL note: Korean for “I love you”.

Aina: Although this is my first visit to Korea, the unity during yesterday’s talk show was so good, such as in the call and response, that it really made me think that everyone has been watching over our activities. After feeling such warmth, I think that if I get another chance to come to Korea, I would like to participate in another event like this.

#love live! sunshine!! #love live sunshine #aida rikako #takatsuki kanako #suzuki aina #aqours in seoul #seiyuu #translation #mine #even QCers need to be QCed huge thanks to mega for catching all my mistakes :D #before y'all ask...that top image and the last image aren't the same #the article had two pictures with slightly different poses idk why #fun fact: apparently the seiyuu recycle answers #the fave song answer is almost word-for-word the same as their Young Jump Gold interview #i don't blame them tbh since they get asked these questions often