#a lot of seinen's i read are made by women now that i think about it so sometimes i think theyre josei gfhfh

[canmom]

Toku Tuesday 40: Seinen Manga

みんなさん、今晩は！

Good evening everyone! We’re going to continue another week of ‘actual tokusatsu’: tonight on Toku Tuesday, our theme is, movies based on seinen manga...

In the notional demographic system of manga, 青年 seinen means ‘adult men’, in contrast to the other major demographic categories of 少年 shōnen (teenage boys), 女性 josei (adult women), and 少女 shōjo (teenage girls). In practice these categories, defined at the magazine level, are very porous; a series can move between different magazines of different demographics, and they often serve more as genre classifications than ‘only x demographic will be interested in y kind of story’.

We can maybe see all four demographics as successors to the legacy of the gekiga movement of more adult-oriented comics; once, gekiga was conceived of as a different type of thing entirely than manga, but now it’s all conceived of as different types of manga and the oldschool Tezuka-style comics have almost completely vanished. I’m not exactly sure how or when that shift happened...

So, what exactly does seinen manga mean? I am nowhere near widely read enough to give a full overview, but the manga that I’ve read that falls into this category tends to include heavy psychological dramas, historical fiction, horror, nihilism, and of course (probably goes without saying) usually quite a bit of sex and gore. Many of Tumblr’s favourite mangaka, like Junji Ito and Kentaro Miura, fall into this demographic, but so too do works like Houseki no Kuni.

I think there may also be a visual component, in that the works I think of often show an emphasis on high detail, anatomical realism and very refined linework, although inevitably that depends a lot on the artist, and to a fair extent is shared with manga at large. Even within those trends, there is of course considerable diversity. Here, take a look at a few examples, all classified under seinen...

Homunculus, illus. Hideo Yamamoto.

Made in Abyss, illus. Akihito Tsukishi:

Vagabond (coloured version), illus. Takehiko Inoue

Uzumaki, illus. Junji Ito:

Berserk, illus. Kentaro Miura:

Houseki no Kuni, illus. Haruko Ichikawa:

Ghost in the Shell/Koukaku Kidoutai, illus. Masamune Shirow:

Gantz, illus. Oku Hiruya

Insofar as a lot of such manga depends on the specific qualities of illustration and comics, adapting them to film - whether animation or live action - can be a tricky challenge for a director. But there have been plenty of attempts! So tonight what I have for you are adaptations of two manga series I enjoyed. Which is mostly an excuse to talk about some manga I find interesting! To not keep you in suspense, that’s Gantz and Homunculus change of plans, Ichi the Killer.

Lets start with Gantz. This was perhaps the first really edgy manga I read, back at the age of... I want to say 17? It was a big shock at the time, but also was still pretty early in its run. I came back to it much later to read with adult eyes.

Gantz starts on a relatively small scale: a group of people who recently died wake up in a room, where a large shiny black orb containing a bald man on life support mocks them and equips them with strange weapons and suits before dispatching them to assassinate an ‘onion alien’. The series is deeply fascinated with gore, from the gradual ‘printing’ of people in space by the Gantz orb to the delayed, splattery dismemberment of the sci-fi guns. The protagonists soon discover the many dangers of their missions: they’ll get their heads blown off if they stray too far from the mission area, their superstrength suits can be overloaded, and their enemies become increasingly overwhelming. In between battles, Kei returns to his civilian life at school, unable to speak about what’s happening in the strange pocket dimension where the battles take place, but soon the violence spills out to threaten him at home as well.

But what of the actual thematic arc of the series, beyond the moment to moment action? This centres at first on the dynamic between Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, reunited when they are killed by a train attempting to rescue someone who fell onto the tracks. Kei was once a very prosocial upstanding young man, but by the outset of the series becomes increasingly embittered; Masaru on the other hand looked up to Kei’s example when they were younger and tries desperately to save the people teleported by the orb. Spoilers, Masaru dies, and Kei - who survives enough missions to become confident navigating the battles - starts to attempt to live up to what Masaru saw in him and earn enough points to bring him back, along with everyone else who died, all contrasted against the nihilistic views of other successful survivors and the slaughter of the various groups pulled into the sphere.

It’s also a story of... a lot of love triangles! Kei falls into relationships with various girls, from a popular idol who’s part of the Gantz team, to a shy schoolgirl. Sounds like wish fulfilment? No doubt, but as the series goes on, it turns into a story of an alien invasion by enormous giants who start to gather the humans as pets. It turns out the Gantz system was somehow a means to train humans to resist the aliens, put in place by a third alien power. The series splits into a number of different narrative strands, following humans trapped in the alien spaceship - Kei’s girlfriend Tae in particular - and the resistance on the ground.

Eventually, the humans win and start committing war crimes against the giants, and the third party reveals themselves to tell everyone that they are omnipotent, everyone’s suffering is pointless, and there is no god, and to demonstrate this point, they summon back various deceased characters and then kill them off again. But also reincarnation is in fact real! The series ends with Kei, finally reunited with Tae, going back into space to fight a duel with one of the surviving alien giants to protect the Earth from a last-ditch attack by the aliens.

A word must surely be said of Gantz’s attitude to girls. It’s undoubtedly horny as all hell; the camera loves to linger on nude shots and nearly every issue of the manga will have a cheesecake version of the suit at the start or end. It’s not unable to afford girls subjectivity or give them a place in the battles, even if the centre of the narrative is always Kei. The relationship between Tae and the alien giant woman who initially takes her as a pet but later starts talking to her is interesting, with definite shades of Fantastic Planet. But ultimately, all the girls desires are rather limited by the heterosexual imagination - a very frustrating limitation.

It’s quite a thing. It is a very chaotic story, with a keen sense for impactful and disturbing visuals. Although I know Hiruya intended from the start to slaughter most of the cast, I feel like the overall arc of the story can’t have been planned; rather what unites it is perhaps an overall attitude. The ideas it’s dealing with - hope, despair, nihilism and meaning - are perhaps familiar, and Kei is very much an anime protagonist boy not too far afield from his shōnen counterparts, but the underlying brutality helps give them a bit of weight.

As a highly popular manga, Gantz has seen a few adaptations, although none attempt to cover the whole work. None other than Ichirō Itano, inventor of the Itano Circus shot in which dozens of missiles scatter across the screen (c.f. Animation Night 64) took it on in 2004, carrying on the ethos of his bloody 80s OVAs like Battle Royal High School. Maybe at some point we’ll take a look at that on Animation Night?

Five years later, a second attempt would begin: Shinsuke Sato’s live action film adaptation, consisting of three films (one made for TV), the first released in 2009 and seemingly fairly closely following the early parts of the manga, the second diverging with a plot in which there are two Masarus, one good and one evil. This project seems to have been reasonably successful, praised for the special effects, and would set Sato on a path to adapt more manga to film, including one of Bleach. Whether it can capture the sense of desperation that the manga expresses remains to be seen, but I’ll definitely be curious.

My plan for the second film was to take last year’s adaptation of Hideo Yamamoto’s manga Homunculus by Ju-On creator Takashi Shimizu. Unfortunately I hear it sucks, both as an adaptation and a film in its own right, stripping the manga of the complexity that is so vital, particularly in e.g. the rape scene where an exceptionally careful touch would be needed. I haven’t found even one good review of it, from fans or critics of the manga alike; fans are in particular unhappy that it substantially changed the second half of the story and removed a lot of character complexity.

So let’s abandon that plan and go for another gorefest, based on a different Hideo Yamamoto work: Ichi the Killer.

Now, to be clear, I have not read Ichi the Killer, and I can’t comment on whether Miike’s adaptation is close or not. Regardless of its origin, the film garned immense controversy for being really hyper-gory (trust Miike!), portraying a spiral of yakuza violence surrounding an extremely unsympathetic main character. Critics say things like

"It's a paradox, but Ichi the Killer, a film that sets new boundaries in the portrayal of violence and bloodshed, takes a strongly critical stance towards the portrayal and the consumption of the violent image. However, it does so without ever taking a moral stance towards either the portrayal or the consumption, thus circumventing any accusations of hypocrisy on the part of the director. Miike does not moralise or chastise, but provokes the audience into questioning their own attitudes towards viewing images of violence. He steers them into a direction but leaves it up to them to draw their own conclusion".[5]

I suppose we’ll see for ourselves what that means. Miike is someone we have seen on many a previous Toku Tuesday, albeit more in the softer end with films like The Happiness of the Katakuris and Zebraman. So this is perhaps an opportunity to dive into the other side of Miike, the one who is known for his splattery films and pushing boundaries to breaking point. (Some of which we saw in his take on Jojo).

Ichi the Killer follows an unstable, sadistic man who loves to get off on watching other people commit sexual violence. He is manipulated by a man named Jijii who, acting behind the scenes, wants to kill off various factions of yakuza. Under Jijii’s hand, Ichi is given a number of false memories, convincing him in particular that he raped someone in high school, which shapes him into a horny murderer that Jijii can turn on whoever he wants removed. The plan, inevitably, goes to shit and the escalating violence soon reaches back towards Jijii himself. The whole affair sounds reminiscent of something like the Vengeance Trilogy (TT#29), and it has similar moments of ‘ooohhhhhh gross’ like skewers in ears.

From reading this film’s synopsis, it seems very few people walk away from this bloodbath intact, but sex workers seem to have both a fairly major role (almost all the women mentioned in the synopsis are sex workers) and don’t tend to live very long in this film. I feel like there is probably a lot to critically analyse here, especially placed alongside the other works of Hideo Yamamoto, but I should hold off until I have seen the film and also read the original manga.

So to summarise, tonight the plan is to watch Gantz (2011), and Ichi the Killer (2001)! In whichever order they first get onto my hard drive.

Unfortunately due to a paucity of seeds, I am still waiting for the films to download. Expect Toku Tuesday to begin in maybe an hour and a half, around 9pm UK time, and I’ll be sure to announce it here when we’re ready.

#toku tuesday #aren't you glad tumblr shortens posts for you now #gore cw

[flyingcookierambles]

sadness over a3! eng i guess

oof just on my 700th day.....

kinda sad because of the announcement about A3! ENG server shutting down soon due to financial difficulties at LIBER/CYBIRD in the past two years (covid-19 related, etc.). according to a rather in depth reddit comment that had links to LIBER's publicly available financial reports + some financial reports from LIBER's parent company, Aeria, in english, covid-19 really hit LIBER hard since they had to cancel many money making events, from pop-up shops for the typical anime merch trinkets (keychains, plushes, pins, etc.) to the huge in-person events (voice actor meetups, the stage plays of MANKAI LIVE, etc.). due to shrinking player base on the ENG server + major loss of profits on both JPN and ENG servers, LIBER had to choose one or the other and they chose the JPN one, which i totally understand since it's way bigger there and the JPN fanbase will continue to give the franchise money more often. also, another person found a financial report/estimate from the google play store or something, and A3! ENG only made ~$20K to ~$10K in the past few months, which i guess is not enough to keep a server and localization company afloat. 

i got pretty attached to the characters and it was a great game to help get by during college. and honestly, while i am very sad about this, again, i understand why LIBER did this, looking at their financial report from 2020. I would LIBER save the entire franchise rather than shut all the servers down, making us all unable to see our favorite actors ever again, even if it means that we ENG fans will have to go thru the extra steps of finding/reading fan translations, wikis, etc., to read any further stories from where A3! ENG left off. still, A3! ENG's localization was something special. i'm saying this as a TKRB JPN player who read the wiki for all the character voice lines and then had to see the official TKRB ENG localization make Yamabushi Kunihiro a rapper for some reason? lol. it was....weird.... meanwhile, all the memes and slang in A3! ENG didn't seem out of place and all fit their personalities because 3/4 of the troupes were all high school to college age and 3 of them were ~Gamers~. Out of all the gachas i've played, i feel like the only other F2P gacha game that had this incredibly smooth, all cultural jokes/puns translated in a way that still makes sense/fits the character/doesn't require a galaxy brain and some TL note to understand, is probably dragalia lost and that's only because it has frickin Nintendo localizing/publishing it globally for CyGames. Nintendo. i'll eventually read the fan translations of A3!'s Act 3 on the wiki, but it won't be the same without Kazunari's super high-energy influencer slang of "'whoa fam! that's totes 'blammable, gotta take a pic!" or Itaru's gremlin Gamer speak of "lol get rekt noobs" or Tsuzuru's tired dying breath of "that ain't it chief." the appropriate slang and relatable meme speak of the localization really helped humanize these characters as people of their respective ages, rather than just a typical formal speak or some directly translated JPN slang -> ENG that turns out super awkward that can be found in bad localizations.

going back to the reddit comment too, the death of A3! ENG servers could have bad repercussions in the future for other joseimuke games. josei, if you for some reason have been in the anime fandom but still don't know this term, is basically the genre of stories/video games/media/etc aimed at women. it's the mature adult counterpart to seinen, media aimed at adult men. basically shoujo/shonen = elementary/middle school/high school aimed while josei/seinen = high school/college/adult aimed if that helps. Joseimuke is a part of josei that is not specifically romance. while some josei/joseimuke can overlap with otome, aka female aimed dating sims/romance media, they have many things about them that make these all separate genres. one of the official A3! ENG translators and a known fan translator of another joseimuke gacha, Mahou Yaku/Wizard’s Promise, minami, goes more in depth with this in a twitter thread. 

A3! was an actor raising game, and a big part of it was found family and relationships that were platonic. yet it got advertised as an otome, which has more connotations with dating sims and brings to mind other shoujo/otome games and anime where the cast is all high schoolers and the setting is most often in a high school. but, other than some characters making flirty jokes or implied to have crushes on Izumi/player character, many character relationships with Izumi are platonic and not romantic at all. Spring Troupe in the game also jokingly calls themself a family. the entire Mankai Company is basically found family. plus, since the game actually has time passing in story and the characters age with each year, half of the characters aren’t even in high school anymore. a large majority of them are in college or are graduated by now, with only a few still in high school. i’m not surprised if a reason that some people left the game was due to feeling bored with the slice of life/not romantic story, feeling that they were lied to about it being an otome, which was falsely advertised since it is a game meant for the older teens/adults demographic of josei/joseimuke.

i’m worried that other japanese companies will look at this shut down as a “josei/joseimuke doesn’t work well in the west” and never localize other josei/joseimuke gacha games like Mahou Yaku, EnStars, Twisted Wonderland, Helios, etc.

while i like otome and shoujo, i, as a 23/soon to be 24 year old college graduate and now tax paying adult, want more stories that have more mature themes and characters that are more my age so i don’t have to feel awkward when i’m playing some dating sim and i, a literal 23 year old adult, and trying to woo a 16 year old. it’s...a little awkward to say the least. i would gladly welcome more mature media that is categorized as josei/joseimuke.

sorry if this is all over the place, but overall im just sad that A3! ENG is shutting down. i don’t know if i’ll join the JPN server yet. i’m def going to read the Act 3 story via fan translators on the wiki, but A3! gameplay was...boring lmao. as much as i love A3!, im sure that the constant event grind/burnout and boring rng gameplay turned people off too and i dont blame them. i felt the burnout bad since i participated in basically every event since day 1. it. is. rough. i’m not joining the hellish thunderdome that is the JPN server and im not ranking anymore as a F2P player lmao. literally had to play almost every waking free moment to get into the 30%-20% bracket as a F2P person and i never got to top 20%-10%, much less top 1% lmao. i’m don’t whale enough lol. 

i feel like i should probably just. crack open my genki 2 textbook and uhhh totally legal pdf copy of tobira. so i can just. get the JPN version of games in the first place so i don’t have to worry about getting shafted since overseas fans are often considered expendable. 

i wish that, when any games that are online end, gacha or mmo or anything, anything online, companies will let fans archive things. or like. release a book that is just the story text or something. like. CYBIRD is letting us still technically play the game and have the story and all, but what if they eventually later shut everything down? why not just release a pdf/ebook that’s just the text of the eng localization for some money? i’d buy it. for nostalgia and rereads and all and also archiving purposes. i think i’ll try to help with any english localization archive projects if i can so that the hilarious and incredible localization that was a work of love from the translation team doesn’t just disappear forever.

well.

that’s it for now. as i said, guess i’ll head to the app for one of the last times to read the last unread stories and mini stories i have left, then the wiki for Act 3, and then i guess i’ll crack open genki 2 and bunpo.....

some fun random links for you to think about!

random ffxi article that came to mind (if ffxiv ever shuts down in the next 20 years or whatever i’d be cool to get a statue of my character at the end)

and death of a game playlist by NerdSlayer Studios on Youtube that has me thinking a lot about game preservation and losing MMOs and games

the lost media wiki  and blameitonjorge’s lost media iceberg

other gacha games i’ve played that have shut down that i think about sometimes because the loss of A3! ENG isn’t my first rodeo:

terra battle & terra battle 2 (1)

AFTERL!FE

(related kitsu post link for archive reasons)

#rambles #games n junk #sad over a3! eng loss #a3!

[more-than-a-princess]

@awesomeuchuu​ asked: 7. “What motivates you to get to those drafts?” 8. “Any current reads you’d recommend?”

Munday Questions (It’s not Munday but there’s a lot going on offline for me right now and I could use all the good vibes. Especially tomorrow!) - Accepting

7. “What motivates you to get to those drafts?”

A few things! But to be fair, I don’t need a lot of motivation most of the time.

Writing is my escape from work and other offline responsibilities. Overall, unless I’ve hit a writers block or I’m annoyed by something on dash, I’m really happy to be here. At any given time, I’m often into some threads and interactions more than others, meaning ideas and how to continue them come naturally without having to think it over too much or plot with the other mun. But I still like what I create here: I try to only take on what I’m comfortable with, which is why this blog has fewer threads and longer turnaround times than others I’ve seen, but have longer threads and more detailed interactions as well.

In terms of process though, I keep to a content calendar (or schedule) and try to gauge my dash as to when to post and what to post. If I didn’t write nearly every day or post every day, I believe I’d simply abandon the blog altogether or drop every thread/ask in order to start anew often. I really dislike this behavior and so I do my best not to do it myself: knowing how much one can handle is important. No matter what: you can’t write with everyone you want to at any given time (for most people, at least!). There just isn’t enough time in the day to make that happen, which is why I try to cap my asks and urge those without interactions to send them in. It’s the best I can do to give as many interested muns a chance to interact.

8. “Any current reads you’d recommend?”

I miss reading actual books for pleasure. A lot of what I read now outside of work is reddit and blogs for various interests and advice (I’m reading a lot about being a first time home buyer, real estate, interest rates, and other things regarding buying property right now). I have a stack of Julia Quinn novels I’ve yet to get to and I feel like until I’m able to go on a slow-paced vacation (like the beach, despite how much I don’t like tropical beaches), I’ll never get to them all. And the other books I’ve been collecting for awhile (with another in a series I read coming out at the end of May!).

Instead, I read some online manga or manhwa during my downtime during meals or right before bed. Mangakatana is my preference, so I’ll link a few things that I’m reading that aren’t popular/made into a recent anime right now. My preferred genres are Josei and Seinen, for the most part, and I’ve tried to link titles that aren’t entirely NSFW-focused. For the ones with the smut tag, the sex is only part of the story without being the full story, if that makes sense!

Here we go, the recommendations:

A Rare Marriage: How to Grill Our Love - Slice of Life manga about a young, newly married couple in their thirties who deal with couple-y situations and day-to-day issues by grilling meat. Yes, you will get hungry. Yes, you will want to hug your significant other.

I Found Somebody To Love - Legal age difference manhwa between a college professor and a former student. Feels.

Real Clothes - Are you a fan of fashion-themed manga like Paradise Kiss and Princess Jellyfish? Read this next: it’s more industry-based than romance-based, but still great. Also see: Bibi.

Gold - Soap. Opera. Cheese. Fashion, high society, screwed up families, romantic liaisons (yes this means sex). Yes, the art looks like it’s straight out of the 80s. It’s great.

Collectors - I’ve never identified with two women more in my life based on their hobbies. One loves fashion, the other loves books, I’m wondering how to fit both into my living space (but these two seem to be figuring it out). 

Yume no Shizuku, Kin no Torikago - Loosely based on real 16th Century history in the Ottoman Empire. Smut for obvious historical reasons: the MC becomes part of a harem. Some questionable consent, in case you don’t want to read that.

Lonely Planet - That One Manga Everyone’s OC Has A FC From. But it’s a good read. To pay off her father’s debts, a high school student becomes a housekeeper for a writer.

Bread & Butter - Two thirty-somethings find love again over baking. Now that I’m in my 30s, I love when there’s older protags in romantic relationships and it’s not just them focusing on parenthood. 

Lucia and Under The Oak Tree - The two European-styled Josei manhwa I read. Fewer jokes/humor than other historical manhwa, lots of drama, some sex.

Innocent - The cooler, edgier big sister of Rose of Versailles. French Revolution with all the gore, sex, family drama, and generally screwed up situations that Lady Oscar never had to face. This one is a hard read, but a very good one. Some of the most beautiful art ever. And almost everyone needs a hug.

NOTE: This manga is split up into two different series. Read Innocent first, and then go on to Innocent Rouge. It’s the second half of the story.

An Hour Of Romance - I need the K-drama adaptation ASAP. A marketing executive and her new intern, after visiting a Korean temple, switch bodies for an hour every day and have to figure out how to stay themselves. Permanently. Freaky Friday with all the cuteness, angst, and will-they-won’t-they that K-dramas provide.

The God of Pro Wrestling - One of these things is not like the others...and this is it. I read this with my fiancé actually, who has been a wrestling fan for a long time. He gets all the WWF/WWE references that I miss (I only started watching off and on 6-7 years ago or so), but it’s a pretty fun interpretation of the American wrestling industry in the late 90s/early 2000s (based on the real-life wrestlers and personalities who have fictional portrayals here). I’m still waiting on my WWE faves to show up at some point. 

And a few more popular things I re-read or try to keep up with: Tokyo Manji Revengers, The Way of the House Husband, Princess Jellyfish, Tokyo Tarareba Girls (this one is a mood. Often.), Love Is Hard For An Otaku, Welcome to the Ballroom, Paradise Kiss, and if it ever gets updated...Nana. I miss you, Ai Yazawa. 

#more-than-a-princess answered #more-than-a-princess musings #awesomeuchuu #(Munday Questions meme) #(This answer turned into a manga rec list and I regret nothing) #(I tried to include mostly lesser-known things that weren't focused on spicy times.) #(Though I could make a spicy edition list for a Sunday sometime.)

[runolllo-fanboygirl]

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

I'm going to start by clarifying that these are messages I got in response to my post here /// LINK /// After this, I'm not replying to messages about this kinda thing in a long time. Talking about sexualization and such other topics is important but I'm not in a state to be made the center of it. Please, don't come to my inbox asking for discourse, go and create your own posts if you want to raise awareness or vent.

And now to answer to these new asks:

FIRST OF ALL: while I love the way Murata draws men, robotic stuff, monsters... I actually HATE the way he draws ladies! I prefer their proportions in the OPM anime and games. Murata is literally SO BAD at drawing women compared to the level of expertise he has drawing men, and it's all ‘cos he keeps drawing ladies "the h0rny way". We all know this, let's move on.

"He's drawing all the monster girls sexualized" Did the fact that Manako's genre reveal deconstructs the trope "the default is male" totally go over your head? That Psykos's reveal as a woman running the whole MA was a big deal for this same reason as well? There are a bunch of female monsters… you just assume they're all male unless you see big b00bs and then complain about that very fact. They literally made a whole point about this specifically!

"He changed Mizuki's shorts to p4nties to please fanboys" I liked the shorts better too (just because I find her whole character design a bit more balanced that way) so that change bothered me as well, but the "p4nties" are actually standard athletic wear for competition. Shorts are not. Technically, she’s drawn more accurately now.

"Sports Bras don't work that way he just wants to draw b00bs" neither do the shirts and bodysuits the guys are wearing. You can see all their muscles and manb00bs and cr0tch lines, just as much as with Fubuki and Tatsu's hero outfits and Mizuki's top.

"But when the boys are drawn that way, it's not to please the ladies, it's male power fantasy" THERE IS NO HETEROSEXUAL MALE POWER FANTASY BULLSHIT THAT CAN POSSIBLY EXPLAIN THE WAY MURATA DRAWS GAROU, FLASH, SONIC, STINGER AND SOME OF THE OTHER GUYS. The fact is that the way he draws eye candy of them appeals to other collectives other than the cis het men and he knows exactly what he's doing. Period.

"He constantly draws sexualized art of Mizuki to please the fanboys" Why exaggerate so much? This is simply not true. She's a woman in athlete wear, most of the time she's either standing up talking or fighting, no weird angles or anything. There is like 1 sexy cover of her, the back cover with all the girls in bikinis and then that infamous watermelon sequence. That's all the sexualization you are talking about.

"Mizuki only gets so much screen time because of how much p0rn of her there is" oh yeah Mizuki got a grand total of, like, *drum roll* 1 chapter and a half dedicated to her! Wow! Which is NOTHING taking into consideration how dense Garou's arc is and the fact that they will need at least 2 seasons of the anime to finish it.

But think about this: OPM desperately needed more female presence, in special with the prospect of finishing Garou's arc in the anime. Making anime is hard and COSTLY. Most of the people who is going to watch the anime haven't read the manga and they'll be like "what the heck there are no female characters in this anime for like 3 seasons?" and there is no team that's going to risk it working with such prospects. We know why.

Of all the expansion that Garou's arc got in the manga adaptation (and later in the anime), one of the most sensible and balanced decisions was to add more ladies. They put all those monster ladies for season 2, and then for season 3 we get Manako and Mizuki having some strong presence, Shadow and Kamaitachi there a bit in the back too. It benefits the pace and balance of both the manga and the future season 3 so immensely because Fubuki, Tatsumaki and Psykos take a LOOONG while to be relevant during Garou's Arc… in special with all the filler the manga put in between (but all that filler is of the S-Class boys getting development and a reality check which is kinda important too lol).

Point is: the screentime Mizuki got was VERY necessary to balance things in between of all the relentless Garou fights and the boys being boys. Sure Mizuki is beautiful and sexy and all, but really EVERYONE was waiting for a new female character that was relevant, likeable, fun… and on top of everything, it's so rare to see a strong 2m tall girl in fiction in general, not even just anime. Everyone got instantly excited about her because she's exactly what we needed AND MORE. And sure, people draw p0rn of her like they do with most other popular characters, what did you expect.

"The ladies are always more sexualized-" YES, in the OPM manga, the ladies are a little more sexualized than the men –but not by much AND not during plot stuff. By that I mean that most of the so called "sexualizing the girls" happens in the covers, back covers and promotional art very exclusively, and not during the story itself. HOWEVER, a lot of the sexy men bits do happen during the story, curiously.

 In the anime though, there is almost zero ladies fanservice (which makes sense since there is almost no female presence in the first 2 seasons anyway). Yet it's full of naked dudes, sometimes for a good reason, but mostly just so we can look at them being sexy and silly.

 I personally don't care if the man candy and ladies fanservice is not perfectly even in Murata's manga adaptation, because there is enough of both in his work, as well as other official OPM stuff like the anime and games to bring a very nice balance in the s3xy department.

 "The way the women are dressed-" Most of the background ladies are wearing skirt uniforms and shit, but all the relevant ladies primarily dress in nothing you can call "sexualized" except for maybe Tatsumaki with her strong leg game. To recall:

 Lilly wears the same as the men of the Blizzard Group; Twin Tail just dresses like a jester; Mizuki is the first to show so much skin, but she's still wearing real standard competition wear for athletes. All the other sportwomen (Hornet and Swim) and martial artists (Shadow, Suiko, Lin Lin) wear standard clothes for their respective professions too. Sure we've seen Shadow wearing some, uh, ninja bikini thing under her ACTUAL work clothes, but for actual fights she's fully dressed and surprisingly not stuffed in a tiny nylon bodysuit that rips like stocking, like all the ninja men in the series do lmao.

Fubuki and Tatsumaki are, like, the only ones wearing dresses and they can because they use psychic powers anyway. Fubuki doesn't even show ANY skin, ever! She just happens to have big b00bs! Kamaitachi is the other one wearing a "skirt" but it's similar to what Japanese martial artists would wear, too.

So, again… all this sexualization we are talking about is not even happening anywhere except in Murata's covers and some promotional art. ONE is famous for treating ladies very fairly, even if Murata tries very hard to exploit the sexy out of every single of the ladies ONE creates. All these ladies have their own agenda and personality that have nothing to do with being pretty or f*ckable. In fact, in-universe, no one ever mentions if the heroines are beautiful or sexy and no one ever talks about liking them for those reasons (except for Lilly and Erika who are gay for Fubuki and Tatsumaki respectively, amazingly enough no hetero characters mention it). I think the first time we've ever seen a relevant character talking about dating another relevant character is when Suiryu told Saitama and Suiko to date (but Suiryu is the resident h0rny fuckboy of the series, if someone was going to say something so stupid for all the wrong reasons, it was going to be him).

For being an adult series, a seinen that parodies shonen tropes and all, OPM is seriously very tame in the sexy ladies department. For this series, the sexy is just a luxurious accessory, just one more little thing. It's always pretty weird when people get so angry and disappointed about a new sexy girl cover or a couple of compromising panels, like they don't know what to expect.

 "He only draws that way to please the h0rny fanboys" Murata IS a h0rny fanboy himself and draws shit that appeals to him as much as he feels he’s allowed to insert in the series. Please remember he's the insane fanboy that reached up to ONE to beg him to continue One Punch Man and offered to make a manga adaptation to promote OPM.

From the moment Murata started drawing OPM, the tone of the manga was set and never changed: lots of blood and guts, comical and non-comical nudity, irreverence, sexy angles, Genos ripping his shirts off, ninjas in body suits that rip like they are nylons… people in shirts, tanktops and dresses so tight you can see all their muscles, boobs and even belly buttons whether they are men or women or otherwise… h0rny chapter covers, stupidly h0rny monsters…

Just reading the manga to the point where Genos and Mosquito Girl first appear, you know what you are in for with OPM. I don't know what some fans are expecting to see in OPM next, but I'm going to take a wild guess here and say: you should expect more of the same.

 At the end of the day, the manga is Murata's work with ONE, and if he likes drawing h0rny ladies more than boys, that's how things are! This is just 2 guys with their passion project. I don't expect of them the same as if there was a bigger team with a big budget behind the series, like it happens with many games and shows. In this last case, I would be a lot stricter about all this, because with more resources you're expected to do better things.

#one punch man #captain mizuki #tornado of terror #blizzard of hell #psykos #manako opm #fubuki #tatsumaki #opm #manako #lunamaria on the phone

[miraculouscontent]

Askplosion #12 4/4:

(I would like to state for future reference that, while I do not mind long/multi-part asks, if you’d like to engage in actual discussion with me over a non-Miraculous topic, my DMs - Tumblr Messenger - should be open; I lost pieces of three multi-part asks this time just due to Tumblr not sending the remaining part(s) so yeah, I just wanted to make that clear)

(like, this askplosion ended up being super long because of this section and that’s not really what I want to have going on since I’m supposed to be a primarily Miraculous blog; I don’t want to have to stop answering non-Miraculous related asks but I might have to if this keeps up:)

.:New non-Miraculous Asks:.

Anonymous said:

What are your experiences with some really rude anons?

It’s partly my fault when it happens. Like I’ve said before, I’m an aspie, and part of what that means is I struggle to understand situations emotionally. I can come off as insensitive or read the mood wrong which often leads to people misunderstanding my intentions or where I’m coming from.

More often than not, what I’m saying will make 100% sense to me but not the person/people reading it. I also stick a lot more firmly to my opinions than I should because people tell me I fold too easily, and I come off as more egotistical than I actually am to cover up my low self-esteem lol.

So yeah, can’t think of any experience in particular but sometimes it might be my fault? At least I suspect that it is?

Anonymous said:

“Killed by kindness” makes me think of an assassin who kills people by giving hugs and compliments to people and the occasion gift that isn’t tampered until thre target does like Conrad Birdie making women swoon into fainting by singing.

omg

yes

Anonymous said:

You're watching Yashahime right now? rip

MARINETTE TAKE 2 MOROHA DESERVES BETTER

SETSUNA HAS SO LITTLE REASON TO HANG OUT WITH THE OTHER TWO GIRLS

IF I SEE ANOTHER DEUS EX TOWA I’M GONNA KICK SOMETHING

(so yes, I’m watching Yashahime)

Anonymous said:

Since someone recommended Remarried Empress, I would like to recommend my own webcomic: Princess Love-Pon! It's about a young girl named Lia Sagamore who becomes the titular magical girl and purifies people's hearts when they're tainted by the Dark Queen! It's really cool due to its diversity, the main character is black and her best friend is Afro-Latina, the villain and her prince son are also black, and there's a Japanese girl, a black guy, and an Indian girl. Plus, loads of pink and frills!

Thank you very much, though I actually don’t take recommendations, even from close friends. The Remarried Empress anon wasn’t a recommendation; they were more pointing something out to me and then I went to confirm.

Anonymous said:

Unrelated to MLB: Which Pokémon are your favourites?

I used a “Favorite Pokemon Picker” because I prefer going by generations to pick favorites and that was the easiest way of going about it. I struggle picking super favorites so here’s what I got form each generation! (my only rule was “one Pokemon per evolution line” with an exception of the Eevee line since they’re different types, and also Alolan/Galarian forms)

(note: the blue-patterned Vivillon is my favorite and I honestly don’t like Charizard normally but the Y version actually slims him down and gives him the wings I feel he should have; it’s an improvement of the design so it gets my seal of approval, I don’t like the X version at all)

(lol I was looking through this after I was done and find it really funny how it’s like, 50% cute things and then the other 50% is just EDGY, there’s very little in-between with me I guess)

Anonymous said:

Bridgerton the Series: Yay or nay? Sorry if you haven’t seen it or it’s not your thing. I was just curious.

Never seen it, though when I brought up to someone, they didn’t recommend it to me at all ahaha.

Anonymous said:

I previously kept having this argument about The Bechdel Test with someone. She keeps insisting that the test is invalid because there's nothing wrong with talking about men and that it was created for lesbians only, and not for feminists, with the implication that being a lesbian somehow means that you dislike men or want them gone. And she also thinks the test is about NEVER talking about men, rather than merely occasionally talking about other things. I keep telling her otherwise, but...

jdfhkgdfhjgdfg “lesbians only”

now all I can imagine is “lesbians only” sections at restaurants and such

Anonymous said:

Have you ever played Akinator, with or without the Miraculous Ladybug characters? Because I played it with Ochaco from MHA and Marinette and he guessed them within a second(can your character control gravity? Is your character a protagonist?). I even played it with myself as the "character" and he guessed "your shadow" lol. How about you?

I’ve played Akinator before but I don’t specifically remember what I was searching for lol.

Anonymous said:

The cast for the newest Power Rangers series got revealed, and I hate that as soon as I saw the Pink Ranger's bio mentioned she was an internet journalist, I thought of Alya. I really hope she doesn't have the same problems as Alya in the series proper.

fhgdfkgd journalists have been ruined for us forever

Anonymous said:

Have you noticed that in many shows, especially shonen shows, people tend to hate the most "feminine" female character? Like, in Naruto it was Sakura, in Death Note it was Misa, in My Hero Academia it was Ochaco(although a lot of people like her so I'm not so sure about that last one?). The most hated character in one too many a shonen is almost always the "girliest" of the characters. They're always claimed to be useless or reliant on a man. And this is within the fandom who should know better!

It probably didn’t help with Sakura that she was decked out in pink hair; that’s an instant girl label for you (or lesbian label, depends on the person :P).

I don’t think I’ve been in enough fandoms to have such an experience but I definitely see where you’re coming from.

Anonymous said:

Rewatching Chat Blanc and Here To Help from Star vs. and hearing Adrien/Marco tell Marinette/Star that they always liked the girls from the beginning makes me so pissed. It's not that I don't ship Starco(I do! But I also like MarcoxJanna), although I don't ship the love square, but I'm so annoyed with writers finding the need to make the audience "know" that the main ship's characters "always" liked each other, as if that makes their love for each other more true, even if it's obvious they had other crushes? Like, what happened to Kagami Tsurugi? Jackie-Lynn Thomas?

News flash: Teenagers are allowed to have crushes on multiple other people before they find "the One". It doesn't mean their love for that "One" is any less valid. And if you still want to pull the "they always liked each other since they first met", at least make it actually TRUE!!! Don't have them have crushes on other people before moving on to the "official" crush and be all like "Oh, by the way, I liked you from the start," when it's dead obvious they didn't. You're doing a disservice to the romantic "false" leads.

I'm willing to forgive Star's crush on Oskar and Tom since she's not the one claiming she always liked Marco(even though she fell in love with him LONG before he fell in love with her, which is a nice turn of events), although her "love" for Oskar was merely an infatuation at most and I personally don't see why it was needed. Why don't they just say that their old crush didn't do it for them???

UGH, I remember watching that show and being so annoyed because I really liked Marco and Jackie and wanted them to be a thing but I knew that they’d pull Starco in the end because of course they would.

It also totally makes it seem as if love is the most powerful relationship there is (aros would like a word), which is so bizarre when there are so many “power of friendship” tropes. Like, a male and female lead have to get together because their relationship is the strongest.

The love square would hold so much more meaning to me without this love drama nonsense. It’s tiring.

Anonymous said:

Have you seen Yuki Yuna Is a Hero? If so, then what are your thoughts on it? I was thinking of watching it but it seems to be another "taking away the empowerment of the magical girl genre by making the girls suffer instead" type story. I read about it on TV Tropes and apparently it's a deconstruction that takes after Madoka Magica which already puts a bad taste in my mouth, but then I got to the examples and they're basically about how girls who get magical powers lose their body parts one by one and that the reason only girls can be heroes is because "young girls have always been sacrifices".

Not to mention it was written by a man and aimed towards a seinen(adult men ages 17-35) demographic, making it torture porn for adult men. Also, both the laconic page for Yuki Yuna and Madoka Magica say "Being a magical girl sucks."(though for Yuki Yuna it adds "Unless you have the power of friendship.") and to be honest that kills any desire in me to watch the show. Should I give it a chance?

Oof.

Yeah, after bringing it up to a friend of mine, it was instantly recommended of me not to watch it, so I’d say, “no.”

Anonymous said:

Let's make one thing perfectly clear. I, love, love, LOVE Sailor Moon. And I love the transformations, too. But if there's one thing I don't love, it's that their outfits all look pretty much the same but with different colors/different lengths of gloves and shoes and stuff like that, and that they all have the exact same body type save for the one fat girl who's made to look bad. I don't like Madoka Magica, but at least they all had unique/different costumes(but they still have similar bodies).

We’re not allowed diversity here. Take your different body types to a show that cares; we’re all about femininity here and how girls can be beautiful and powerful no matter wha--oh wait...

Yeah, I don’t care for the design in Sailor Moon, but that’s because skirts don’t interest me design-wise unless it’s really unique/interesting.

(note that there’s a lot of talk about tomboys, sexism, and TV tropes and such below, and then Madoka Magica after that; that’s basically the rest of this askplosion:)

Anonymous said:

I just saw the thumbnail for a video called "Why You Should Watch Princess Tutu(Yes, I Know The Name Is Stupid)". Umm, why is it stupid exactly? Because it's "girly"? What is with people thinking that in order for a girly show to be good they have to first separate the show from its girliness in order to enjoy it? It's like how men will say a show is good despite it being girly, or that since it's good it's no longer girly. Nobody does this for boy shows, because boy things are "never" stupid.

Princess = girly thing

Tutu = girly thing

girly things = bad

That’s the formula~ They should’ve called it something edgier and manly so that more people would be interested.

Anonymous said:

I'm wary of any woman or girl who says, "I'm a girl, but I'd rather read books about guys" or "I'm a female writer but I mostly write stories about male characters". I feel like those women are the "not like other girls/one of the guys" type who suffer from internalized misogyny and don't like female characters. I also feel like they're the type to not care about female representation, because in their minds, girls shouldn't care about female role models. We can enjoy males just as much! I do!

To be fair, they might also just be writing about shirtless men doing “handsome” things. ;P

But nah, I see your point. Me personally, I try to find a balance of writing both, but I do think there can be bias.

Anonymous said:

Do you think it's okay to like a ship but acknowledge that it wouldn't be safe or healthy or condonable in real life? Because I was just thinking of how a lot of people like some really "toxic" ships like Veronica/JD in Heathers, Yuno/Yukki in Future Diary, Madoka/Homura in Madoka Magica(although some people don't like it because of its toxicity/like it but don't realize it's toxic), almost any villain/hero ship, the list goes on. But they're aware of the fact that it's not a good standard for healthy relationships in real life.

An alternative I've seen is people having a crush on "dangerous" characters like JD and Yuno, or Karma from Assassination Classroom(there's not a single video on YouTube with him in it that DOESN'T have comments full of people saying they want Karma to father their children), but still being aware of the fact that the character is a) not real and b) wouldn't be a good partner if they were real(and that's assuming they even want to be with you. But sometimes there's a good reason for falling in love with a "toxic/dangerous" character.

Take Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club! She's obsessed with the player(not the player CHARACTER, the flesh and blood player themselves) to the point of killing off all the other girls and "trapping" you in a room with her where she talks endlessly about lots of things. But she's actually a lonely girl who's driven insane by the fact that nothing around her is real. She latches on to you because you're the only other person who's real and sapient and has got a mind of their own. You're literally her outlet to the outside world.

She's personally my favorite character in the game due to her actually being a more fleshed out, sympathetic(and not in the idealized "moemoe" way), and realistic take on the Yandere archetype(which, like many moe archetypes, is kinda misogynistic in nature in that it reinforces submissiveness; it's basically animes version of "woman scorned".). So it makes sense that people would sympathize with her and want her to become real, because all she's ever wanted was to be real and to talk to real people. Especially since she really did care about her friends and even returned them back to life because she saved their backup files, taking herself out of the picture.

I read a few "Monika becomes real and lives with you" fanfictions where she's really sweet and not at all crazy and cares for you a lot, and it's never felt the same as all those other "Yandere/psycho lives with you and is your girl/boyfriend" type stories precisely because those stories tend to just glorify possessive partners that kill your loved ones, drive your family members to commit suicide, and tear up your stuffed animals and dollies for the sake of it, rather than go into why they're so crazy for you, and often reinforce Stockholm Syndrome.

Plus, those "things" she talks about in the empty room? They're actually quite smart and make you think about the world for a bit. Not many "crazy" type characters actually get that. They're all about how "I'll slice your boyfriend open with an axe if you don't date me wa ha ha", and even if they're not, it's all the fandom will focus on, to the point of ignoring any and all other aspects to their character. Because that "crazy in love" aspect is the most appealing part of them. Maybe it's due to forbidden fruit/bad boy(or girl) appeal? Who knows? But I'm starting to wonder if it's still as bad if people recognize the problematic aspects of "crazy in love" characters or "dysfunctional" relationships.

Because if they recognize it's not real and don't really want it for themselves, then it's probably not much of a problem. But if they just go on wanting it to be real and never take a step back and go "wait a minute, this isn't real love; they're only together because he latches onto the first girl to show him any kindness and affection and she's a doormat who doesn't want something bad to happen if she leaves him", then that's bad.

Obviously it's not as bad as being in love with literal stalkers, killers, and rapists in real life(which is an actual thing, believe it or not, it's called hybristophilia), because fictional characters will never be real. Karma Akabane will never be real. Yuno Gasai will never be real. JD will never be real. But loving fictional characters who do those things and not realizing the problem with it may cause people to seek out real criminals, so it's best to separate fiction from reality.

I can’t help judging a little internally, but yeah, I think people can ship whatever as long as it has that “not in real life” scenario going for it. It’s ultimately fiction, so just because I don’t like it and/or think that it’s bad doesn’t mean other people can’t ship it.

Anonymous said:

I'm getting tired of all the racists on TV Tropes getting upset whenever a trope has a Japanese name. Whether it's Tsundere, Yandere, Meganekko, Genki Girl, Bokukko, or any Japanese anime name, people will complain that the trope exists beyond anime so it shouldn't have a "cute anime name", and that it should instead just be given a broader(read: English) name with the same meaning. Or that the site is too obsessed with anime. I'm just sick of people saying that anime names are bad.

The other thing is that we don’t actually have English words for certain things? I mean, the whole reason we say, “tsundere,” is because it says everything in one word. It’s easy.

(Also, people are aware the the English language isn’t some unique thing that takes no inspiration from other languages, right? It’s a mix of things, so accept that other languages exist because we literally wouldn’t have English without them.)

Anonymous said:

Have you seen the TV Tropes reviews for "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic"? Holy crap, they are all a perfect example of the "Real Women Don't Wear Dresses" phenomenon that I have mentioned earlier and is so fucking present on this site. While some reviews praise the show for showing that "it's okay to be strong AND girly"(such as Hadles' review, which was really splendid), and that girl shows are no less good, others either insult the show by calling it "girly, saccharine, and stupid" as if "girly" is synonymous with anything bad about a show, or feel the need to distance it from its girliness in order to praise it as if a show can't be good if it's also girly.

Some people were saying things like "the show might seem girly at first, but it's actually a good, brilliant show with intricate plot twists, well-developed characters, and even some scary moments" and "the characters aren't just shallow girly-girls, they have depth!" So what, girliness is mutually exclusive to anything of value? One person even said that the Girl-Show Ghetto was the reason they couldn't get into the show or respect it. Just...wow.

And one review even said "Rarity's pretty tough for a girly girl!" Excuse me? Tough FOR a girly girl? So being a girly girl somehow automatically disqualifies you from being tough? Like "yeah, she's tough despite being a girly girl! Because girly girls aren't supposed to be tough."

It reminds me of the phrase "you're pretty for a black girl", which, while it's never been said to ME, I have heard other people complain about. It's sick and it hurts, just like this. And the few people who didn't say things like that still said that they couldn't get into the show at first because it looked "girly and vapid", before changing their minds and thinking that the show either proved their biases about girly shows wrong, no longer think it's girly since girly shows "can't" be good, or like it "despite" it's girliness.

And there were 70 reviews in all. 70 reviews full of this misogynistic "girly is bad" shit. So in conclusion nearly all the reviews on TV Tropes for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic were along the lines of one of three things. 1) "This show is girly so I looked past it because girly shows are dumb." 2) "This show is good despite being girly/the characters are good despite being girly." and 3) "This show is not girly to me at all because it is well-written and captivating and girly shows aren't capable of such things."

Granted, some people there were able and willing to call out those who judged the show badly for being girly(or gave it the "not like other girls" treatment, but in show form), as well as people warning other potential viewers to get rid of any potential bias they may have against it due to it being girly. But there were still more people insulting its girliness as a reason they think it sucks or denying its girliness to justify their liking of it than the other way around.

I would've accepted it in the form of "If you think this show is bad because of its inherent girliness, then you are wrong!" or "This show is proof that a show being girly or aimed at girls doesn't and shouldn't take away from its value, as people seem to believe." or "A girl can be girly and be a strong female character.", but no, instead I got shit like this. It's especially insulting when TV Tropes is a site that devotes itself in part to critiquing sexist tropes found in media, only to turn right around and reinforce them.

I don’t read TV Tropes that frequently, so I fortunately missed out on all of these complete idiots who associate girly products with being bad.

(that “pretty for a black girl” comment makes me hate all aspects of “expectations of beauty” and it’s like--plz let these die)

I could maybe see an argument for criticizing a girls show for being “saccharine” if it were like, “girls’ shows written by men who clearly don’t know how to write girls are usually bad,” because then it’s not a criticism of girls’ shows exactly but rather who keeps being put in charge of writing them.

Anonymous said:

I get so annoyed when people get upset when confronted with the matter of female representation with "what's so wrong with one show having a male protagonist or mostly men and one/a few women? Why do we have to include women in everything?" These people clearly do not understand that one show doing it is one thing, but when multiple shows do it, it's an obvious problem. It's even worse when they turn around and diss shows with largely female casts for "not having enough men".

And as for people getting upset that "every show has to include women/come with a checkbox nowadays", as if it's bad to include women in your story...look around. Women make up 50% of the population. They're literally everywhere. What reason do you have to not include a substantial amount of women?

These people act like male is the default and women are a last resort. They see no problem with men dominating a cast because it's justified(despite that not reflecting real life), and yet having female characters, or, hell, a female-dominated cast(I know they also don't reflect real life, but there are still female-dominated spaces; most colleges are 2/3 female) is "unrealistic" trying to fulfill a quota, or a straw feminist agenda, as if characters can't be female for their own sake. You shouldn't have to be forced include women because their presence should be a given.

How many stories nowadays take place in the war front in Viking times or whatever? A lot of men just don't want to include female characters or see them represented(well) in media because those who are overrepresented tend to want to stay that way. They likely also have insecurities about their masculinity and are worried about female characters flooding their shows with estrogen and ruining the shows they love, because they can't relate to female characters or enjoy shows about them without negating their girliness(ie. This show seems girly, but it's actually good), since they're ashamed to associate themselves with anything feminine due to looking down on women or seeing them as bad.

Plus they want to be the center of everything so the second a show is about mostly women they get upset and claim it's "sexist against men" because it's not about them. Hence why bronies(bless their souls) are made fun of for the grave sin of enjoying a female-centric show with a female protagonist and largely female characters. Granted, there are some freaky fans, but there's still some sexism at play here.

This reminds me of a post I saw about a boy who actually looked up to female characters because you can pick a role model who doesn’t fit your gender. Crazy concept, I know. ;P

And yeah, that’s how it goes with equality. People who are best/most represented don’t want equality because they think it means less for them and they don’t want that, like a child who doesn’t want to share their cookies with everyone else.

Anonymous said:

I love TV Tropes, but if there's one problem I have with it, it's how often it associates femininity with weakness. The "Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy" trope is a good example of this, but the worst offender in my opinion is the Girly Girl With a Tomboy Streak, as most of the examples there are simply of girls who are strong-willed or fierce or can fight. Because you know, those traits are male. It's bad because there are ALREADY tropes for girly girls who can fight, Girly Bruiser and Lady of War (which TV Tropes even goes out of its way to SAY shouldn't be counted as a "Tomboy Streak" and yet does stuff like this), but it's also bad because ANY girly girl with these qualities, no matter how feminine they are otherwise, will be seen by TV Tropes as having to be at least somewhat tomboyish(read: masculine) in order to have those traits. Because regular girly girls are just weak and fragile and only want to be housewives.

It's even worse when you realize that much of these characters are created with the exact purpose of subverting the stereotype that girliness equals weak, and instead present a new and more empowering form of femininity: that femininity is strong and DOES NOT equal being a passive sex tool for men's pleasure. They're MEANT to show that being a tomboy is not the only way to be strong, and TV Tropes acknowledges that! But then they also go and claim these characters have "Tomboy Streaks" thus undermining the positive message by insinuating that you have to be tomboyish to be strong and that even girly girls have to have some level of masculinity to be deemed respectable and equal human beings, plus manipulating many impressionable folks into thinking strength and bravery is automatically tomboyish.

Worse yet, they often put a character here because "she's a big eater" or "she burps/farts a lot". Gee, I didn't know women had bodily functions? I didn't know women had digestive systems? So basically any time a girl shows that she is a human being and not a pretty, passive doll to be idealized, she is acting like a man. Because only men are fully-fledged human beings. Even outside of that, look at basically any masculinity-femininity contrast trope(Tomboy and Girly Girl, Sensitive Guy and Manly Man, Masculine Girl Feminine Boy, etc.). The "masculine" character will often be described as dominant, assertive, or outspoken, and the "feminine" character will often be called weak-willed, passive, emotional, and timid. It's fucking sickening.

The Tomboy With A Girly Streak trope is similar to its inverse in that a tomboyish girl will often be placed under this trope with their proclaimed "girly" streak being that she's tender or cries a lot or is soft spoken/a doormat. Because being girly is about not taking up too much space, not having any ambition or aspiration, and overall being a weak and shallow waste of space. For a site that claims to dismantle such sexist misconceptions, it sure does reinforce them just as much.

I almost want to stop using TV Tropes based on that and many other reasons, but it's a genuinely informative site that at least tries to avoid these stereotypes(plus it's edited by more than one person), it just doesn't do enough. For example, they made an awkward claim once that women can't fight while on their periods, and even have an Improbably Female Cast trope, as if it's abnormal that a cast could consist of mostly women and demands an explanation. To them, femininity=inferior.

And then in comes the “anti-girl tomboy” characters who basically do everything “girls don’t do;” glares at things like make-up and such, rolls eyes at the subject of “girl talk” or “romance,” drinks anything carbonated and spreads their legs wide open, etcetera.

Guys really don’t get the same version, at least not that I’m aware of? Like, at best, they don’t participate in “guy things” but that’s about it.

Having characters acknowledge it just makes everything more blatant, like if a woman comes by and the guys have to assure “DON’T WORRY, SHE’S LIKE ONE OF THE GUYS.”

It’s like a woman can only hang out and engage in “guy talk/time” (the concept of which I hate but that’s besides the point) if they can crush a beer can against their forehead.

Anonymous said:

OMG TV Tropes called Cirno the Ice Fairy from Touhou a "tomboy"? Why? Because she's boisterous and outspoken and not a "shy girly-girl" like Daiyousei! TV Tropes clearly believes that any girl or woman who is more than just a pretty face(which ALL women are, by the way), who takes up space, who has a dynamic personality and isn't just a weeping wallflower(which I'm not saying Daiyousei is) is a tomboy. Because she's acting like a man that way. Ugh, so over TV Tropes and their sexism.

And all the girls in Touhou(including Cirno) wear big frilly dresses anyway so it doesn't really make sense to see ANY of them as tomboys. But no, apparently any girl who is rowdy or tough or is active and not passive is a tomboy. You gotta be a tomboy to have attitude. You can tell they think so because they often say things like "strong, but still feminine" as if those things are opposites. They even described femininity as "weak and susceptible, vain and superficial". Like, ugh, kill me now.

I legitimately want to see a bullet point list here of what qualifies as a “tomboy.” Like, what, anyone who does one thing that isn’t “girly”?

Can we just throw out all of these terms; not even replace them, just throw them out?

(the below ask is incomplete - the first part is missing - but the asker clarified after I asked them, so clarification is below:)

Anonymous said:

Tropes is because I'm working on a story and I hope when it becomes famous that TV Tropes will write about it, but as it stands, I'm beginning to wonder that TV Tropes undermines most stories or plots to do with women one way or another. I mean, they constantly create tropes with the intent of calling out inherent biases, yet reinforce those biases themselves.

For example, they have a trope called Men Are Generic, Women Are Special, which points out the bias of male being the default, and yet on almost every other page on the wiki describing a trope, the default character will be a "he"(especially if it's a character trope), and whenever they mention "The Hero" or "The Big Bad" it's always a he unless it needs to be female(like if the heroine is in a romance story, or if the villain is a seductress). Female characters at best, can hope to be "The Heart" or "The Chick" of the group(which is often used in a demeaning way).

They even have a trope called "Improbably Female Cast" in which they point out all the instances of a story's setting having an "over-abundance" of women or girls with no men in sight, and claim that such stories have majority female characters when it is "unusual" "unlikely" or "lacks justification". Someone even suggested that the trope should be called "Where Are All The Men?" as if there's something inherently weird or wrong when a story is dominated by female characters, and like the story is in dire need of men, as if only men can be protagonists.

Even if the story has a justifiable reason for having mostly women, the fact that the writer made that choice at all is somehow deserving of mention. The mere fact that there's no "Improbably Male Cast" trope shows where the site's biases lay. They don't see anything wrong with a show being dominated by men with little to no female representation(ex. Death Note), and yet a show dominated by women(ex. MLPFIM) is somehow an anomaly and demands an explanation(even if the story does provide a reason for it, TV Tropes will still list it and presume it "improbable", as if to say "I mean, yeah, but there's no reason why you couldn't just make them mEn instead", as if writers who have mostly female characters are going out of their way to steer away from the "default" males.

In fact, they even admit that "Men Are Generic, Women Are Special" is their reason for having such a trope, but not the inverse. They even say that it's not the trope if the show revolves around a group of girlfriends with no indication of the gender ratio in the wider setting. So any time the females outnumber the males a story it's instantly labeled "improbable" because there's NO WAY any setting AT ALL could have more females than males. That's improbable! You see, this is why when women are 1/3 of the people in a given space men perceive it as "majority female" because they're uncomfortable with women having more of a presence than men.

We'll never have true equality if shows with majority female casts continue to be scrutinized under a microscope and assumed to be of inferior, lesser quality, just because there's no male characters around and it's women who are driving the plot. My problem isn't that they have a trope for majority female casts, it COULD be a testament to gender equality(ie., "there used to not be a lot of shows revolving around women, but now they're becoming increasingly common and well-known), but it's that they single out such stories as "unlikely" and thus discredit them.

And worse yet, they refuse to change the name, because they don't see a problem with it. So now every single show that doesn't have an equal number of males and females or more males than females is going to be called "improbable" by TV Tropes, because there's something(bad) to be said about shows that choose to make most of their characters women. Death Note and Naruto can slide by the radar of having loads of men, but Madoka Magica and Touhou are "improbable"? Because they have loads of women?

the clarification:

Anonymous said:

I started out complaining about how TV Tropes says that boys will watch Star Vs. The Forces of Evil only because of Marco(who's great, but it comes off like boys can only relate to boy characters) and that the show only looks girly but has a deep complex plot with scary moments(as if a show can't be dark and complex and still be girly; girly=shallow, watered down fluff), hence my complaint about TV Tropes undermining girly shows or anything "girly".

Yup, exactly like I said.

Good stuff in “girly” things is the exception. Good stuff in “manly” things is expected.

Which is funny when you consider stuff like “edgy” reboots of things. Like, Disney remakes their original movies and that usually means making them worse (like in Beauty and the Beast - god I hate that remake - where the objects are going to become complete objects when the last petal falls even though the enchantress is explicitly a good person and it comes off as super cruel and unnecessary), but that seems to just be its own breed of bad I guess.

Then there are terms like “chick flicks” and “soap operas” which are usually women-oriented and tend to be considered dumb/over-dramatic.

You know, not like MEN shows with their sexualization of women, guns and MEN things.

Anonymous said:

Remember what I said about TV Tropes being sexist? Well, they also have a trope called "Girly Run". Like, that's literally the name. Girly. Run. Thankfully the first example(which is under advertising due to the forms of media being in alphabetical order) is an aversion from the blessed Like A Girl campaign, but...just reading the page lets the casual-yet-bold-faced sexism speak for itself.

why can’t things just be like the Sims where characters can wear whatever the hell they want and have any personality without any judgment or criticism from other Sims?

(more Madoka Magica talk - and ONLY Madoka Magica talk - below because I’ve unleashed a monster apparently:)

Anonymous said:

I know you don't like Frozen but I saw a theory somewhere that Elsa's powers came from making a contract with Kyubey and her wish was to impress her sister and anyway I can't stop rolling my eyes. This isn't(just) because of my distaste for Madoka Magica compared to my love for Frozen, but if Elsa's a Puella Magi then why didn't she become a witch long ago? How did she make it to adulthood? How did she become emotionally stable? And why do her powers have to come from a negative source?

I think it might just be people looking for excuses to do their crossover fanfiction which--yeah, I’m not crazy about that.

Anonymous said:

Did you know that Cristina Vee voiced Homura Akemi in the English Dub? It's very noticeable, especially during the Cake Song, where I could've sworn she sounds exactly like Marinette. By the way, I'm still not sure what the hell was going on in that song. Could you please explain it to me(if you know)?

Nooooo don’t make me think of Homura when I think of Marinette!! fjkdgjnfdg

lol but seriously, I think the Cake Song is just meant to be one of those “weird but meant to be dEeP” things that shows do sometimes to be cool (not a criticism technically; depends on how it’s used).

I think the cake is the labyrinth and Homura saying that she’s the pumpkin makes her the odd one out since pumpkins are associated with scares and halloween, so it’s “foreshadowing” her being the witch. The things that they say they are... they’re like--ingredients for a meal, but not a cake, so the the cake is the labyrinth and they’re the things that would go inside it.

Homura and Madoka are the only ones who really get descriptions to go with them. Homura says that she’s “full of seeds” (despair?) and Madoka implies that it’ll bring sweet dreams once she’s sliced (which is either referring to the godly freedom given to magical girls before they turn into witches, or foreshadowing Madoka being “split” after Homura stops Madoka from purifying her, leading to Homura’s “sweet dream” of what it’s like when everything is “normal” after her reality twisting).

Anonymous said:

May I ask what you don't like about Kyoko's character? Is it because she was the stereotypical "jerk with a heart of gold"? Or because the writer made her flip from hating Sayaka and wanting her dead to suddenly dying for Sayaka even though she barely knows her compared to Madoka(because the writer doesn't understand how girls' relationships work)? For me it was a mixture of both(though I still don't mind KyoSaya!), but I still liked her enough, she just felt a tad stereotypical. Your thoughts?

It’s both. I just don’t like characters like her at all and the runtime of Madoka Magica can’t maintain all of these characters, “developing” them, and then killing them off. I don’t even have any time to get attached to them because they’re dead within a matter of a few episodes.

And it’s always like, “okay here’s this character’s backstory to make you feel emotionally attached--HA NOW THEY’RE DEAD. SEE??? WE TOTALLY GOT YOU.”

Like, no, you didn’t. I didn’t even have time to care about THEM, much less their actual death.

Anonymous said:

What about the girls in Madoka Magica? Do you think they're strong female characters? Now, obviously the show is not feminist, since it misses the whole point of Magical Girl, which is to empower girls and show them that girls can be powerful and feminine and can find strength in solidarity with each other by instead making them suffer and fight each other and have their power come from their emotions, which are exploited and turned against them because women can't be powerful, but still...

It’s the same way I feel about Marinette; there are some who I want to say are strong characters, but the writing is ready to just kill them off at any time and bully them for essentially having emotions.

Basically, imagine a male writer hands you a character sheet and is like, “AW YEAH CHECK OUT THIS sTrOng FEMALE CHARACTER I WROTE.”

Like, even if they were right, their ego and obnoxiousness about the whole thing, along with what they actually do to said character, makes you not want to give them any credit for it.

Anonymous said:

How do you think Puella Magi Madoka Magica would be different if they had magical boys as well(which can mean either gender-bending canon magical girls or introducing original magical boys)? Do you think the show would be better? Worse? Or would it be just about the same?

Personally I feel like having magical boys would be good and bad; good because there would be no more of the “teenage girls are hysterical” crap and it wouldn’t just be girls suffering because they can’t handle power, and bad because it would still be problematic(for stereotyping all teens as over emotional and deserving to be taken advantage of by the Incubators, and it would still be about kids suffering in a genre meant to empower girls, having some of them be boys wouldn’t help that much).

I also feel like Gen Urobuchi would still make the girls suffer more and have them be more emotionally and mentally unstable. Holy crap it feels like he read up on Aristotle’s views on women while making this show.

It would at least be more balanced I guess? Like, teenage years are a fragile time, so it would make sense for both girls and boys to be taken advantage of. I still wouldn’t like it but it would be nice to point out, “there are emotional boys as well as emotional girls.”

Anonymous said:

Literally all the problems with Treatment of Marinette, Chat's Entitlement(TM), and the sheer sexism in general(ex. all the teenage girls and even women villains being catty and bitchy, while the male villains are cool, suave, and calculating; female villains being irredeemable scum while male villains are "not as bad as they seem", etc.) could all be solved if the show just got some more female writers! You know a show isn't feminist like people claim if none of the writers are women.

That's what I love about Friendship is Magic; the show is written and directed by a woman and actually has a variety of both male and female writers! Plus, Lauren Faust explicitly identifies as a feminist and claims her works are meant to empower women and show them that there's no wrong way to be a girl. And the show reflects that! There's no "token girl" who checks all the boxes; the females have realistic flaws, diverse personalities, and let's not forget ARE THE HEROES!!! Not to mention that the cast is actually PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE. Do people have any idea how refreshing that is?!

And that's why whenever people claim that shows like Madoka Magica are feminist when it's written by men for men while also dismissing actually feminist shows written by women for women as "sexist" or "demeaning", I cringe inside. It's not just what the show looks like, it's what the people behind it say.

And Gen Urobuchi is not a feminist. At all. Just listen to the things he says about the girls, that they're terrorists who are full of hubris and destined to be alone, and that actual magical girl shows weren't his inspiration beyond the show's cosmetics, he just based it off of porn games. He only watched those shows after making Madoka Magica and admitted they were weird to him. Well, maybe they wouldn't be weird if you actually used them as inspiration! Why are you even making magical girl? So basically he admitted that all the suffering the girls go through is because it's his fetish.

I knew I wasn't imagining things when I saw all those weird shots and angles(ex. zooming in on Sayaka's thighs and breasts when she collapses to the floor, Madoka gripping the bed sheets between her legs when agitated, zooming in on Kyoko's ass when she takes her phone out of her shorts' back pocket, it's all for cheap titillation). And yet people keep saying the show is devoid of male gaze and sexism and why? Because apparently men know how to represent women better than women themselves.

you said “Madoka gripping the bed sheets between her thighs” and it gave me an immediate flashback, I hate it

I find that it’s a similar thing with gay anime/manga; I’m more likely to trust a F/F story if it’s written by a woman since they’re less likely to sexualize everything.

Anonymous said:

Homura in Puella Magi Madoka Magica: But Madoka, what's going to happen to you? You'll end up all alone here forever! You'll never be able to see your friends and family! Homura in Rebellion: Haha, screw Madoka's friends and family! Only I am worthy of Madoka's love! That girl belongs to me! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!(I'm sorry for the over exaggeration, but this is how it felt for me.)

Apparently, it was better for Madoka to just have all of her memories and powers yoinked away.

Sayaka is Madoka’s right hand girl so idk why Homura has this idea that she needs to sAvE Madoka. The fact that this whole thing comes out of a misunderstanding (because Madoka doesn’t have her memories) is so irritating.

Anonymous said:

I actually love Madoka Magica, but I completely agree with you on the hysterical women thing. Why couldn’t they just have... both magical girls and magical boys? Like, just mention that magical boys are a thing? They don’t even have to change anything but that, they don’t even really have to show it, just be like “yeah there’s magical boys too but that’s not really what this story is about, it’s about our characters we have here”. I don’t know, feels like that would have at least helped stuff.

Yeah, they don’t have to bother having the magical boys around. Just to know they exist would be enough. I mean, the fact that the focus is on them would still be bothersome (they’d probably do a thing where each girl represents a different emotion that is easily manipulated/easy to control), but it’d be something.

Anonymous said:

One thing that weirds me out when people are talking about Madoka Magica is when people refer to the characters as "little girls". Like, excuse me? They are not "little girls". They are teenagers! All of them are at least 14 years old! I hate when people call them "little", it's just so condescending and infantilizing, especially when the show does enough of that to them already. After all, no one makes that mistake with the heroines of Lucky Star and Hidamari Sketch(who are also drawn by Aoki)!

I feel like it’s the equivalent of when people call women “girls,” y’know? Sort of a “treating females as younger than they really are,” which is probably what gives guys the feeling that they have control.

For a gender that claims to be so dominant, certain ones sure have to delude themselves a lot to make themselves feel better.

Anonymous said:

I was thinking about what you said about Puella Magi Madoka Magica passing the Bechdel Test, and if it counts if there's barely any men to talk about. And while I do agree that it counts, I also feel that it doesn't really matter much in shows such as Madoka. This isn't even about feminism, this is about the fact that if a show has next to no men in it at all then it's pretty much a given that they won't talk about them since it would be impractical to talk about something that doesn't exist.

So because of that, I think there should either be an alternative test which only applies to shows that have a significant or equal number of male characters and yet the ladies still pass the test(making it feel more "real" since the option to talk about men is there), or the test should be rewritten entirely so that it only applies to shows in which the cast is either equally gender-split, or has a majority male cast/significant amount of males even if the females still outnumber them.

Reminds me of how, on TV Tropes, someone suggested that there should be a "Weak" and "Strong" Bechdel Test, where "Weak" refers to the women talking about something other than men because it is literally what's relevant at the moment(such as two female police officers discussing how to catch a female killer), thus applying the Bechdel Test there seems semi-void, while "Strong" is when they could talk about men but choose not to(ie. two female students talking about their grades during lunch).

And just to clarify about the "Strong" one, when I say they could talk about men but choose not to, this isn't to imply that female characters should talk about men, or that something's wrong with them for not talking about men, just that there's nothing stopping them from doing so, but they choose to talk about something unrelated to men. I think this strategy is much better than the test we have because it makes conversations between female characters seem more real since they're discussing things other than men of their own volition, rather than the non-male-centered talk being because they have to talk about it in-universe. I say that because The Bechdel Test serves to show that women's lives don't and shouldn't revolve around men, and they can talk about other things if they want to, but if the conversation is because they have to(like the example I gave), that gives sexists the opportunity to go "Yeah, well, they're only talking about it because it's their job!"

But if the female characters talk about things other than men of their own free will(as in, when the option is still there), then it shows that women really do have their own free will to talk about their own things and that there is NO REASON to not pass the Bechdel Test in today's day and age(I keep hearing people claim the test is stupid and doesn't matter, but then it should be easy to pass). "Oh, but if they had the choice, they would talk about men." No, because men don't sit around and talk about the women in their lives all day so why should women talk about the men in their lives all day? And to the people saying these types of tests are getting in the way of their "creativity", well, now that we know that you think female representation is stupid and something you have to be forced to do, we don't have to listen to a word you say. ;)

I like the idea of adjusting the Bechdel Test for other circumstances and expanding it as such!

You could also extend it to things like sexualization, because--I mean, having two female characters who talk to each other probably doesn’t mean much if they’re half-dressed or the writer wanted to make them bisexual for “The Fanservice.”

Anonymous said:

To be honest deconstructions of Magical Girl confuse me. There are some good ones out there(such as Princess Tutu and Revolutionary Girl Utena, so I know they're not all just torture porn, my only gripe with Utena is the implication that girls who take on the feminine "Princess" role are weak), but at its heart Magical Girl has always dealt with death, gore and pain just as much as female empowerment.

It makes me feel like the people who write these stories haven't seen magical girl and think it's all just sunshine and rainbows and that just because it's "girly" it's vapid and has no substance, and since the only way to have substance apparently is to be "dark", they go "screw it with all this princessy magical shit! Let's make our show dark instead!" When in reality if they had just sat down and watched a magical girl anime, they would understand that this is not the case.

Not to mention that many of them tend to have fanservice and the idea that magical girls have to suffer, so instead of empowering young girls, they end up misrepresenting the genre and turning it into fetish fuel torture porn for adult men(Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna are very good examples of this; the writer of Madoka says that the girls are terrorists and full of hubris and that he was inspired by porn games). It's not that you can't deconstruct the genre at all, but it's almost never done tastefully and the magical girl themes are just a cover used to explain the suffering the girls go through. :(

Another thing about magical girl deconstructions is that they often reinforce patriarchal themes, like that girls shouldn't want things for themselves and that genuinely doing something for someone while also having ulterior motives that help yourself are a BAD BAD BAD thing, no matter how ultimately harmless they are, even if they help everybody involved. They also tend to reinforce Tall Poppy Syndrome and portray the powers as harmful or a bad thing, implying that girls shouldn't have power.

Honestly, I think there can totally be even more substance in magical girl anime that doesn’t have to resort to “make it eDgY” (which I feel like is a slippery slope that can easily come off as lazy); for example, I’d really enjoy seeing something deeper to magical girl powers than something like, “oh, this magical girl happens to have the power that fits their personality,” such as a magical girl who has a power she feels she doesn’t fit but it’s a matter of perspective/seeing herself differently, or a magical girl who does have the powers that “fit” her personality - like a “fiery” girl with fire powers - and the weaknesses in her powers correlate to the weaknesses in her personality, so she has to either iron out those issues or find workarounds, as true “perfection” isn’t possible nor practical, which is something all the girls have to accept despite whatever pressure they’re under.

.I dunno, I like lore and powers revolving around metaphors. It’s fun.

Anonymous said:

About what you said in regards to "no pueri magi because it doesn't hit the shock value threshold enough", I remember this interesting comment I saw on an article called "The Problem With The Dark Magical Girl Genre"(which I would totally recommend checking out, by the way!) which said that shojo magical girl and seinen magical girl both embrace a different philosophy regarding strong female fighters. In shojo, they tend to embrace femininity as a strength and show girls that they have the power to do whatever they want and undergo dangerous professions. But in seinen, which conveniently enough is more likely to "deconstruct" the genre(ugh), rather than admiring the girls and supporting them in their endeavors, the girls are meant to be pitied(often to the point of infantilization) when bad things happen to them, with the fact that they are girls serving to make everything worse. It operates under the idea that girls are fragile, in need of protection, and shouldn't be fighting at all.

That's why deconstructions like Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna don't sit right with me, and also why I don't consider them feminist series. People can say whatever they want about Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure, but ultimately they also had dark and dangerous themes(to the point where some kids had nightmares), but ultimately allowed the girls to rise above the hell they went through and find the strength in them to save the day. We feel bad for them when they die, not because they're moe girls, but because we were actually given the time to form a connection with them and want to see them succeed, rather than just be expected to pity them because they're cute manipulated girls. That way, when they ultimately save the day, it's all the more satisfying. Princess Tutu was a deconstruction that actually went about it in the right way, because the girls eventually found the courage to defeat their enemies in a way that made sense. Why the hell is it a "good" thing to subvert that?

No clue, but I basically agree with everything there. I mean, Madoka Magica’s entire stick is basically that all the girls are like “uwu” in terms of the style (with Madoka being the “cutest” of them all) and then being put in this dark and edgy plot+setting; it’s for both the shock value and the “contrast” of having “moe” characters be thrust into these situations to essentially die.

And the conclusion doesn’t end up being satisfying (at least to me) because the villain doesn’t have emotions so he’s just like “owo” (seriously, I wouldn’t hate on Rebellion so much if Kyubey had been given emotions rather than going crazy; Homura can basically do whatever she wants and it was SUCH A MISSED OPPORTUNITY) so it ends up being more about the journey getting there like wow look at all the sUbvErSiOnS and dEaTh we had along the way!

Because at the end of the day, it’s still like, “the girls give into their ‘hysterical emotions’ in the end basically no matter what,” even if they get saved by Madoka in the end.

Anonymous said:

Do you remember, in Madoka Magica, when Kyubey said that humans would still be living in caves if not for the Incubators? First of all, keep in mind what Incubators do. Their entire purpose on this earth is to feed off the emotions of young teenage girls as they spiral into despair as a result of their delusions of power. Like wow, let that sink in. Apparently humanity's advancement relies on the exploitation of women. We are literally the punching bags of the universe. Isn't it lovely?

No! You see--we’re so important to the world! If we weren’t emotionally exploited, the world wouldn’t be the way it is now! :D

(kill me)

Anonymous said:

I once saw a tag on tumblr that read "The only good magical girl anime is Madoka Magica because it's gay, and even it has problems." Like, ugh. Really? Has this person not watched ANY other magical girl anime? Such ignorance. So many things wrong with that statement that I can't--and WON'T--even begin to unravel here.

MADOKA MAGICA IS NOT GAY AND I’M SO TIRED OF PEOPLE CLAIMING IT IS

s T O P

I DON’T EVEN CONSIDER YURI ON ICE TO BE GAY. MADOKA MAGICA? NAH MAN.

Anonymous said:

Do the girls in Madoka Magica even have transformation phrases? You know, like how Marinette says "Tikki, spots on!" or how Sailor Moon says "Moon Prism Power! Make-up!" or how Iris in LoliRock says "Iris! Princess of Ephedia!" etc. But in Madoka Magica, there doesn't seem to be any of that. At least in Yuki Yuna they pressed a button on their phones. But how do the Puellae Magi even transform? Just goes to show you how Gen Urobuchi knows next to nothing about the genre he claims to deconstruct.

Transformation phrases are magical and cool and you can’t take that away from me.

Anonymous said:

I had a shower thought about Madoka randomly in bed last night: If a Magical Girl's Soul Gem loses control over its user when 100 metres or further away from it, that meant that when Homura got Sayaka's Soul Gem back for her, Sayaka should've regained consciousness once Homura was less than 100 metres away, even if she didn't have her Soul Gem yet. I also love to ponder why on Earth Homura would even bother retrieving Sayaka's Soul Gem if she only cares about Madoka and Madoka's well-being.

I think it’s just a complicated process of Homura trying to make sure Madoka doesn’t fall into despair herself (in a non-witch way) and is convinced to make a wish.

Anonymous said:

The more I think about it, the more I realize that Sayaka really got the worst deal out of the whole thing. While her story may seem more "mundane" compared to the others(she just wanted the token Ill Boy osananajimi to like her back), she's the only one who somehow isn't brought back when Madoka recreates the universe, loses her Soul Gem on more than one account(and on the second, she starts decomposing and her crush sees her and calls her a monster because he thinks she's pretending to be the REAL Sayaka), is supposedly the weakest Magical Girl, getting swiftly taken out by both Kyoko AND Homura(the latter of which doesn't even make sense, if her body can heal why was she taken out so quickly?), takes a long while to show up in Magia Record, and Gen somehow finds it suiting to single her out as the one who is "destined to die" every time she makes a contract. Apparently the series director wanted Sayaka to live/be brought back, but Gen refused because it just had to be edgy.

Of course, MEN are allowed to have wish fulfillment power fantasies and dream like the sky's no limit and aspire to be all they want to be, but the second WOMEN try to be the strong ones, the powerful ones, or dream of something for themselves and others, they have to learn a lesson about how unrealistic their fantasies are and how they'll never live out their dreams. Hence why Sayaka puts the blame all on herself, saying that she's not a hero and was stupid and selfish the whole time.

"token Ill Boy osananajimi“ dfhbgjhfdgdfg

It was a real shame because I liked Sayaka somewhat (not saying much but still) and she was such a predictable one to go. Like, “oh wow, an angst-y anime all about shock value? so basically the best friend is dead then with no chance of survival.”

I think I do remember being told/reading somewhere (so don’t quote me) that Sayaka is the one that’s hardest to keep alive in the games, so you have to work hard for it. It just sucks.

Anonymous said:

Yet another thing that bothers me about Puella Magi is how the show frames the young ladies as if everything is their fault even though they have no idea what they're getting into because the person who makes the deal doesn't even bother explaining shit to them and all the show's attempts at deconstructing is just taking lighthearted elements meant to empower girls and show them that they can be brave and strong as well as feminine and make them dark and morbid.

Like, I get the whole "having young girls fight is a little unrealistic" aspect, but most magical girl shows actually do touch on that! Only difference is that over time, they become stronger and better at fighting(which is only to be expected, whether you're a teenage girl or not) and become more competent along the way because the whole genre is about FEMALE EMPOWERMENT.

Not to mention how the show seems to forget that the Incubators are villains and even seems to put them in the right and the girls in the wrong, what with the claim that they rationalize with the girls they make contracts with like sentient human beings(yeah, because emotionally manipulating young girls and literally taking their souls out of their bodies and making them liches without their consent is definitely treating them like sentient human beings), and that they always follow up on their end of the deal whereas it's the girls' faults their wishes go sour because they never wish for what they truly want(I'm sorry, but I simply DO NOT buy that. Homura and Mami outright wished for what they wanted. Their wishes went sour because the plot "decided" that they should have wished in a different way; plus, you're telling me that if Sayaka had outright said she wished "for Kyousuke to love her back" that the show wouldn't just "make" him mind-controlled or have Sayaka "outgrow" her feelings by the time he falls in love with her, all the while making it out to be "her" fault he's so heartbroken because she was some kind of tease or whatever, further demonizing girls' sexualities?).

Plus they explicitly claim that every woman in history was a magical girl and that without them, humanity would still be in caves(as in, humanity wouldn't be able to progress without the oppression and exploitation of women, and women can't gain power without going insane because female power is some unhealthy, inhuman, infernal thing.). Even if we take this all as a reflection of patriarchal society(which I highly doubt it was, if anything, it reinforces it), all it does is imply that the oppression of women is the natural order of things, required even.

As for the girls themselves, they routinely beat themselves up and the show makes no effort to tell them they're wrong(up until the massive cop-out of an ending), like how Sayaka's last words before becoming a witch are literally her "admitting" that she was "stupid, so stupid" for wanting a boy to love her and be healed of his infirmity. It just seems like we're supposed to think "you know, maybe the Incubators aren't that bad!" while ignoring that the girls are being treated like the disposable trash bags of the universe. This show already does the magical girl genre dirty but treating it like everything the Incubators did was necessary and like it's all the girls' faults these things happened to them in the first place is the icing on the stale, sour cake. Nothing like a giant heap of sexism to help get you through your day. :/

I’ve noticed this a lot in Miraculous, but Madoka Magica somehow does it worse; this “one (supposed) mistake leads to all of these consequences you never saw coming.”

Like Ladybug calling Lila out. We know that Lila’s pettiness in “Chameleon” shows that it wouldn’t matter whether Ladybug yelled at her or not; the simple fact that Marinette opposes a liar led to Marinette getting expelled, even if only for a while. Then there’s “Miracle Queen” and all that garbage that came with it.

These two shows put their teenage girls through hell for having emotions and there’s no way to undo it.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the Madoka Magica fandom is basically the magical girl equivalent of "not like other girls" type women. I can't say I'd be surprised if they didn't watch a single magical girl show other than Madoka because they're all "stupid and girly but this one is edgy and dark" just because those shows are written by women to inspire other girls and show femininity as a strength while Madoka Magica is written by men for men who want to see young girls suffer without any actual feminism.

Like, let's go through their arguments one-by-one to prove that they don't hold up. They love to say that Madoka Magica is better than other Magical Girl shows because "it's dark and edgy and shows the downsides to being a Magical Girl unlike other shows where it's all sunshine and lollipops". First of all, other Magical girl shows also got very dark. Princess Tutu and Utena are also "darker" takes on the genre, but even more lighthearted shows like Sailor Moon and Precure had scary moments.

The only difference is, with them, they still managed to critique problematic aspects of the genre and actually provided ways to improve it, while STILL managing to keep their target audience(FEMALES) in mind, without condescending to them and infantilizing them. And they still showed the girls being empowered and overcoming the darkness.

In Madoka, there's none of that, there's no actual critique of the genre because Gen didn't have the respect for it to do his research, it's aimed at men so it doesn't keep female viewers in mind by definition(which is also another reason why it can't be a deconstruction; deconstructions should be done FOR its target audience), and the girls are constantly put down and treated like Moe crybabies by the narrative even when they're not(cause, you know, teenage girls are "emotional"!). And it doesn't offer ways the genre could improve, it just takes a female-empowering genre and twists it to be this system of oppression that the genre is meant to avoid.

Magical Girls tend to have a very strong focus on girls empowering girls and all that awesome stuff, and yet when Madoka and Mami form a special bond and Madoka encourages Mami by telling her she's not alone? It makes her big-headed and overconfident and she gets devoured by Charlotte. See what happens when girls rely on each other? Madoka is Sayaka's best friend, but gets pushed aside in favor of Kyoko, who later dies for Sayaka because girls who want to help each other had better be prepared to suffer and die for their beliefs. Sayaka loses everything, which happens to include her best friend, over a guy. And the whole witch process means that any female solidarity that could be found in the show is thrown out the window since the core concept of the show is girls being forced to brutalize and kill and exploit each other.

People act like Madoka is Yuri when it's not, Gen was asked if Homura really was in love with Madoka and if Kyoko really was in love with Sayaka, and what did he do? He beat around the bush. Naoko Takeuchi and Kunihiko Ikuhara(the latter of whom also worked on Sailor Moon R; woah, what a surprise) both admitted that there was gay love in their stories, yet people act like Madoka is super progressive regarding homosexuality when it's just implied and those shows were MUCH more open! Doesn't stop people from claiming the show is "honorary yuri" and saying that the meaning of "yuri" should be broadened to include any close bonds between two female characters, whether or not it's actually romantic, AND favoring the show(and HomuMado) above actual yuri shows that are made to appeal to women. If all this were actually valid, Sailor Moon would be yuri as hell.

I hate seeing people fap over this show and act like it's so revolutionary for recycling things that the genre was ALREADY DOING, because I know full well that the ONLY reason it gets this wide acclaim is because Magical Girl shows have traditionally been written for women and this show is aimed at men. That's literally it. Because nothing a woman writes is good enough, especially when it dares to go against patriarchal constructs of femininity as weak and docile by portraying it as cool and awesome. It doesn't matter how cool and dark and diverse and inclusive and complex Sailor Moon and Precure and Princess Tutu and Utena are, they're written by/for women with the intention of empowering them so they're automatically invalid, cheap, happy-go-lucky crap where nothing bad ever happens and anything those shows try to do ought to be discredited because they don't appeal to men like they should so what's the point?

But the second a MAN comes in and intrudes on a female-dominated space by doing all of those things but with a very shallow understanding of how they ought to be executed, people are all over it because a MAN did it and now it's interesting and respectable! I have seen so many people say that they don't like Magical Girl because it's girly and shallow and stupid, but then they praise Madoka for things that the girly and "shallow" shows have already done! Men are always taking away things meant for women and distorting it to fit their patriarchal views and yet when they do it it's somehow better and anyone who complains is simply a whiny straw feminist!

The fandom does it all the time, someone complains about the show and why they don't like it and find it sexist, and the response is always "you're just not smart enough to understand it; you have no idea what you just watched". Because obviously since it's made by a man it's sooo much smarter then the traditional sappy stuff made by women. That's why it's so annoying when others praise it at the expense of other works in the genre: they know their reasons for liking it are, more often than not, rooted in sexism against female-aimed and female-empowering works, so the only way they can praise it is at the expense of said works, hence them being just like girls who claim they're "not like other girls" when there's nothing wrong with girls being feminine and in fact many of those girls may like the same things you do!

So while I'm not saying there's anything inherently WRONG with liking Madoka, I DO have a problem with people who act like it's better or more serious than other shows in the genre and simply discard them on the grounds that they're "for girls", since they obviously didn't watch them.

me when I initially watched Madoka Magica: I don’t get why this exists.

me when I learned it was written by a man: ohhh, now I get it.

I also take issue with people comparing things that are made for different demographics. Like look, I don’t care if you enjoy your angst display over here, but also maybe don’t compare it to the stuff not even made for you unless you’re willing to get into a fight over it?

It comes off wrong, like they have to trash on stuff because it wasn’t made for them, y’know?

Anonymous said:

Honestly, I am so sick of people saying that Magical Girl shows are sexist or anti-feminist, when all they do is portray girls being awesome and powerful while also being feminine at the same time, because "Well in Japan it's actually gender conformity because it's telling girls they can only be strong if they're feminine! You're just projecting your Western values onto an Eastern work!".

First of all these shows are made by women for women and often have explicit feminine messages that you literally cannot miss unless you are simply blind or trying not to see them. And they also tend to have a very strong focus on women supporting or empowering other women. Just think of Sailor Moon, which constantly gets this "criticism", and yet there's an episode where the girls explicitly protest against a villain who claims women are all shallow and useless and can't do anything without men's help. Would Naoko Takeuchi put that in the show if she weren't a feminist?

And then there's the fact that she has said that one message she wanted the female leads to convey was to value their relationships between other girls because girls are strong and don't need to waste time depending on men. There's also the fact that most Magical Girl shows tend to treat the powers as something special and awesome that's unique to women and girls, paired with the coming-of-age themes present in the show, and you get a magical equivalent of female puberty, with magic mixed in.

But no, all of that gets thrown out the window because they dare to be "feminine" while doing all of that stuff and the Japanese are forcing their girls to be girly through Magical Girl propaganda. And I just HATE when people act like anything feminine must be societally forced onto girls, rather than girls just happening to like them. In addition, stating that they are simply reinforcing gender roles by being feminine is such bullshit because the whole purpose isn't about conforming to patriarchal femininity, it's about reclaiming femininity.

Too often, femininity is associated with being weak, powerless, helpless, submissive, docile, vapid, catty, bitchy, petty, vain, stupid, the list goes on. Magical Girl saves femininity from a bad reputation. It shows femininity in a new light, as something strong and powerful and, hell, even admirable! It's about telling girls "Hey, you can be strong and powerful and smart, but you don't have to be a tomboy or act like a man to do so". Girls are always told they have to act masculine to be taken seriously because the only way to be respected is to be like a man, which is an indirect way of saying that only men deserve respect.

Magical Girl does away with all that in favor of showing the feminine as something innately powerful, and yet naysayers MISS the point and say that it's just stereotyping girls instead. To see people claim that Magical Girl forces girls to fit a feminine ideal to be respected is just disappointing. It's supposed to be a female power fantasy for young girls that shows them as the ones being powerful and empowering each other.

Take how in Sailor Moon the heroine often says something along the lines of "I won't let you take advantage of girls", which Wedding Peach went on to imitate. The purpose of the genre is for girls. To empower girls. So why on earth would they show them fitting into a "male" mould of power? Do these people think that any time women are shown acting distinct from men that they are doing something wrong?

And the hypocritical part is that nobody pisses on male-oriented anime for reinforcing a harmful narrative to boys that they have to be masculine to be valued and respected. Of course they don't! Because being "masculine" is never seen as a bad thing to be. It's assumed that masculinity is always strong and good and awesome and there's nothing wrong with boys being forced to be masculine because you're supposed to want to be masculine. You're not supposed to want to be feminine.

So of course people will shit all over Magical Girl for embracing, empowering, and reclaiming femininity, because it's not supposed to be that way! You're not supposed to be feminine and also be strong. You're supposed to deny your identity as a woman and assimilate into the boys' club because only boy things are worthwhile! And they cover it up by saying that Magical Girl forces girls to be feminine, when in actuality the WORLD forces girls to be MASCULINE. Magical Girl doesn't force girls to be feminine, It ALLOWS them to. Do you see the difference there?

Another thing I'd like to bring to the table is that the claim is racist and here's why: The claim that "Magical Girl shows are seen as feminist in the US for portraying femininity as a source of strength but not in Japan because it's telling girls they have to be feminine"...what does that mean? Japanese people can't be feminist? All Japanese people are sexists and think girls have to fit in a certain role? Do Japanese feminists HAVE to be anti-femininity? Are there literally no Japanese people who think you can be feminine AND strong(who also obviously identify as feminists?) Because it seems hella sexist to insinuate that Magical Girl shows are sexist because they're made in Japan and they don't believe you can be feminine AND strong there.

While there is some credibility to it since Japan IS, by and large, much more strict with gender roles, hasn't it ever occurred to these people that these types of shows exist to counter that belief? Not only that, but it implies that people aren't allowed to have opinions on works that aren't made in their culture, and that anyone who sees those shows as feminist are just projecting their Western beliefs onto an Eastern work. And even worse, when people say that, they don't have the same opinion of Western Magical Girl works.

Just look at LoliRock, Miraculous Ladybug, Winx, W.I.T.C.H., Star vs the Forces of Evil, and countless other European/Western Magical Girl works. Where are the people saying "They get their power from femininity and that is sexist!"? Nowhere! They're silent! Even though those are very much like Magical Girl works from Japan(although I don't think the genre originated from there), while still being original.

It's because people think that any media exported from Japan is automatically sexist and demeaning and so anything they create, no matter how empowering their intentions, gets twisted into something that's somehow toxic or unsafe for girls to watch. But when Europeans do the exact same thing nobody complains. Because Japan is not allowed to do anything empowering whatsoever; something's always wrong with it, apparently.

So that's why I have a problem with people who say those things; it's so problematic because they think they're being all open-minded and aware/respectful of other people's cultures, but all they're doing is reinforcing negative stereotypes further. It's kinda like what I said earlier(in another ask) about how people love to praise Madoka Magica for being a unique, dark, and interesting take on the genre when all it did was rehash elements of the genre that already existed, strip away the female empowerment, and gear it towards grown men, which is why people like it more. How about instead of speaking for Japanese people you let them speak for themselves?!

I would also like to add that there’s even a limit to women acting masculine because that’s still “not enough” for those kinda of men who would promote those beliefs. Women need to act more masculine to “be taken seriously” but then you have men who’ll tell them to “dress less” or whatever.

I think what it comes down to is that they want women to not be “emotionally taxing” with all those dAmN eMoTioNs of theirs (unless it’s for the sake of their angsty magical girl anime where the girls suffer for having emotions), but they also need to look pretty and be sexualized.

We can’t win.

#other: ask and answer #other: non ml talk

[madara-fate]

Hey, Maddie! I appreciate your blog a lot, but this is the first time I'm sending an ask to you. The reason of my ask i's abt a thing that is bothering me a lot: the "war" among Skr and Ssk fans between the SS fandom. How can I start that? Okay, after years of the heavy angst inherent of the ship, the hateful content of the ASSes and the almost 6 years of cannon, I never expected to see the fans bashing each others for like Ssk or Skr more. Cont (1)

Cont (2) But I'm noticing that there are more Ssk fans complaining abt the "awful" side of the SS fandom than Skr fans, so I thought it would be good to show how the things aren't not so simple. To see Skr more popular among SS shippers nowadays is a big surprise for me. I'm of the time when Skr was treated as nothing but an object that exists only for Ssk's pleasure and joy (sex, children and love). Cont...

Cont (3)I may was rude with my words and I feel sorry, I don't want to hurt others Ssk's fans feelings, but as a huge Skr fan, I got a bit upset in how some Ssk stans are playing victims of this whole situation. Look, there are a lot of people who call themselves "skr fans" and really hates Ssk, we can see it more clearly comes from KS/NS fandom, but there are a lot of skr hate from Ssk fandom too. Cont...

Cont (4) And the reasons they hates Skr is even worse like "She has no big boobs", "Ssk should make a lot of strong babies with Karin/Hinata/Ino, bc Skr comes with a normal family, so she's trash", "she's a obsessive bitch". Some Ssk fans are so cruel that like projects a distorted image of Ssk being evil (only with skr) and got pleasure a lot from that. Even though these things harms Ssk's character as well, I rarely see Ssk stans complains abt that. Cont...

Cont (5) It seems like Ssk became treated like the way Skr was always been treated by many people in the ss fandom hurts some Ssk's fans feelings. But, as a huge fan of both(together and individually), it hurt me 10 times more. I see the main problem in the way many people who like SS just because think they are hot together or are biased by the fanfictions standards(that in most cases are pure ooc),not because their cannon story. Cont...

Cont (6) I don't mind if they like them only bc of these reasons, but I got rly upset when they try to put fanon stuff into cannon stuff. In the middle of all that, as I always talked with my friends, it's indispensable to understand the character as a whole, not thinking abt romance. And I think I find another problem: some people follow some series just bc of ship. Again, I have no problem with it, I made it a lot of time before. Cont...

Cont (7) But these people need to understand that in a Shounen manga like Naruto, the main focus isn't Ssk and Skr living a sweet romance and, tbh, the obsession with romance make many fans lost a lot of good content, even between SS. For ex, in the chapter 181, Sakura say to Sasuke that "he always hated her". Cont...

Cont (8) OMG, it hurted me a lot, bc this same guy was dispose to die to save her from Gaara, he associates her with his dead family two times in part 1 and hear her talk as if him don't care about her probably was awful. But at the same time, we can see how much Skr feelings changed (for better). Cont...

Cont (9) Even in that moment with 12 yrs, she doesn't want make him hers, she knew him deeply(he isn't her old childish fantasies… He is much better than that, but also full of pain…)and saw how lonely and broke he was, but also saw the good things inside him. Even in that time, she didn't want see him become that man we saw in the Iron Land. Cont...

Cont(10) Meanwhile some people prefer to reduce the whole context in "Sasuke been an idiot once again", the true fans can see the connection between them. The fact that they know each other so well always touch my heart.  And abt MultiSaku and Ssk hate, I have been analyzing how many of these "multisaku" fans are only self-insert. Cont...

Cont (11) They like imagine themselves involved in some fetishism like "student and teacher", "old man and young woman", etc. It is why I would like some Ssk stans be careful when they claim that "SS fandom only cares abt skr", it isn't true at all. Many so called "fans" even don't know the cannon Sakura. Cont...

Cont (12) It is pretty funny, look: we know that Skr(as all other Naruto women) could be much more active in battle if Kishimoto himself isn't insecure of write women as he write abt men, but there are features that Skr has in cannon and some fans put them in fanfictions like if it was something new. XD And abt multisaku shippers hate on Sasuke, I got so tired of it. Cont...

Cont (13)They use the moments where she looks sad for Ssk's bad actions and contrast it with Nrt makes her smile, etc. There are also the idea of a man like Lee is much better than Ssk bc he never was afraid of show his feelings for her. Seeing by this perspective, we can almost forget that Ssk isn't the badboy who gets pleasure from Skr's pain, he is a survivor of the biggest genocide of the shinobi world. Cont...

Cont (14)One of the most interesting thing I love abt SS is how they aren't just the stereotype of "bad boy x good girl/fangirl", in fact they are a deconstruction of that and it could be even better if Kishimoto wasn't so shy or if these two belonged to a seinen manga. And speaking by skr side, I also noticed that most men who has no "afraid of showing their emotions to her" are just her fanboys. Cont...

Cont(15) They think she's pretty and want to be with her. They don't know she deeply for treat her like a queen as some people argue. It's like a female version of Ssk. XD And Maddie, I've reading your texts and I also agree that Skr don't want to be treated like this. What she wanted was to be acknowledged as a full human being/shinobi. Skr had a big inferiority/ superiority complex and to be in the same team with Ssk and Nrt made it even worse than her time with Ino. Cont...

Cont(16)Although this aspect didn't received much attention from the author like her teammates issues, it was still there and it is the one of the roots of her sadness, not the simple fact of Ssk's existence as many haters and KS/NS shippers say. And speaking abt that, one of the most enjoyable things I found in SS is that Ssk never saw her in a idealized way(like "that pretty, perfect girl"). Cont...

Cont (17) He saw her flaws and told her abt them face to face (and it made her improve her behavior), but he also showed sensibility to see her heart (when he cheered her up in front many people or the way he compared skr with his family). Cont...

Cont (18) All of this is away better than the idealized "queen" worship, bc he is seeing her heart and not the surface. I also read an excellent analysis abt how Ssk see skr as the same way he saw Itachi (like as if her was a bother to him, which is untrue) and it could help more people understand him.  Cont...

Cont (end) To finish this long ask, there are a lot of fake ss fan in the fandom of both sides and it isn't a new thing, but we, the real fans, will overcome that issues. Our ship is already cannon and they are in the new phase, some people need to grow up with them, too.

To describe that as simply a “long” ask is one hell of an understatement Anon, holy fuck. I usually include screenshots of the ask if it spans more than one part but I wasn't gonna crop and edit 18 different screenshots, lol; Copy and paste will have to do in this case.

Now having said that, yes I agree with the basic gist of what you said ^_^

#Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #sasusaku

[tasteofthebitchpudding]

writing prompt #2 e/c distractions version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrgnGgOWJ2w

Anon: This ficlet for this ask takes place within The Gift --I advise reading that one-shot for greater context

An Evening of Lieder—a glittering, gala-style event for the opera’s patrons; a special evening for those well-heeled Parisians who attended the opera simply to see and be seen, who cared little about the musical program that had been carefully selected and meticulously prepared.

She had been resplendent, of course.

Management had, wisely, dispensed with the use of costumery for the evening, allowing the company to perform in evening dress, and his sweet Christine had outshone the lot of them. Her golden curls burned like the sun, her sapphire eyes widening with emotion in the center of the stage, as she remembered her lover’s kiss. Gretchen am Spinnrade was the piece he’d selected for her, rasch bewegt, and, like the costumes, management had sagely listened to his performative suggestions.

The soft peach color of her borrowed gown had made her eyes sparkle, and Erik had very nearly exposed himself to view when she had taken the stage. The auditorium seemed to hold its breath, for even the fools in attendance—over privileged twats, every one of them: crooked businessmen and gluttonous fools, stuffed into their tailored suits, their equally plump and haughty wives on their arms; callow, mincing young men like that empty-headed prat de Chagny, intent on bamboozling petit rats into their beds—even they remembered the fair Titania who’d graced the stage of the summer gala.

His Christine in her rosette-bedecked gown; his sweet Christine, turning her face up to his box as the applause rose around her, his!

Her voice had shimmered despite her early nerves, had soared over the heads of the unworthy fools in the audience, directly to him, to his box and his heart and his lungs, leaving him barely able to draw breath, so overcome he was by the perfect, crystal purity of her voice, her beauty, her smile—his smile, for she smiled at him so regularly that he’d stopped thinking it was an unconscious, accidental action on her part.

He’d been unable to go to her that night, too overcome by the desire he’d felt, untrusting of his ability to control his base, animal lust.

Once she’d left the stage, he’d staggered from his box, traveling through the concealed passage within the walls, had left the flowers he’d acquired for her on her dressing table. He’d not trusted himself not to take her there—right there, in her little dressing room where they spent so many hours secluded together—but he’d stayed to watch, unable to make the descent back to his personal Tartarus without at least seeing her smile.

There had been several bouquets in her arms when she’d entered the room, smiling winsomely once the door had closed behind her. If he’d only known then what a persistently annoying gnat that damnable boy would prove to become in the following months, he would have ensured that the de Chagny women would be bedecked in the finest black crepes and silks for months yet to come. It hadn’t mattered that night, and so he’d paid the boy little mind. The bouquet of tight red rose buds the gnat had pressed into his angel’s arms had been abandoned with the others she’d carried, once she saw the flowers he had left for her.

The color was not what he would have chosen, would have preferred to proclaim his passionate adoration with the deepest, darkest crimson the florist stocked…but the fair blush pink favored her dress. Her lovely dress, covered in tiny rosettes, soft and delicate and perfect…instead he’d chosen the fattest English roses the florist had carried, thick and swollen with hundreds of velvety-soft petals, glistening water dribbling across their unmarred perfection, leaking from their center as the harried florist wrapped them quickly for the strange man who refused to leave the shadows.

When she’d lifted one of the roses, his roses, to her small nose and smiled, he’d barely been able to prevent a sob from escaping his throat, forcing his knuckles against his teeth until he tasted the metallic tang of blood, the wrenching of his heart warring with the painful, heavy ache in his loins. His sweet Christine had trailed the bloated bloom over her porcelain cheek to her soft, pink lips, undoubtedly catching a drop of the moisture that still glistened wetly from the petals. He’d staggered back into the Stygian darkness that night hunched in desire and twisted with misery, wreaking havoc on the furniture in his poor drawing room the instant he’d finished wringing the lust from his body.

It had been several months since that night, but the memory of that dress and the way it had clung to her soft, feminine curves lived behind his eyes every time he blinked, setting his blood ablaze.

The curtain rose again, heavy red velvet, brocaded in gold, and there she was. His angel, his sweet Christine. He’d been unable to help himself from drifting to the front of the box, from wrapping his white, spider-like hand along velvet edge, his heart climbing to his throat and blood engorging his cock as the frantic music began and his angel began to sing.

Meine Ruh’ ist hin,

Mein Herz ist schwer,

Controlled emotion, the phantom treadle keeping her grounded as she began Gretchen’s lament. Her effortless composure would have made him proud, had he not arched in wicked desire at her first notes, electricity thrumming through him. My peace is gone… He hadn’t known a day’s peace since the first moment he’d heard her, since he’d first heard that flawless instrument and had seen the inexorable sadness of her eyes, since she’d begun to press herself to his light touch as he corrected her posture or adjusted her stance.

Ich finde sie nimmer

Und nimmermehr

He would never know peace again, not while they existed in this confusing, tormented state. The girl confounded him. There were moments, he was sure of it, when she seemed to lean in to him during their lessons, seemed to invite his touch, to breathe him in!…but just as quickly she’d be backing away, her brilliant eyes flashing in panic and distress. He didn’t understand what she wanted from him and it was maddening.

Mein armer Sinn

Ist mir zerstückt

Maddening! His mind felt shattered by her actions, by her inconsistency. Had he not always behaved the perfect gentleman? He took pains to touch her as little as possible, to keep temptation at bay, lest he give into the insidious voice in his head, urging him to bend her over her little dressing table and quench the fire that plagued him, to seek solace in her clenching velvet core.

The room pitched as the treadle spun on, his unraveling sanity cast about the auditorium until his madness and desire at that moment were reflected back a thousand times in the refracted light of the chandelier and the unconscious canting of his hips. How desperately he wanted to pull her against him, to feel those soft curves pressed to his hideousness! He would drop to his knees like a penitent before her and worship her with his mouth, would drink from her chalice of absolution until she’d cleansed him of a lifetime of sin, would be a dog at her feet for the rest of his days!

Und seiner Rede

Zauberfluss

This, he reminded himself then, as Gretchen recalled her lover’s voice and words…this magic they shared, the music they shared. No one else could share music with her the way he did, the way they did together! Fire raced through his veins as he clung to the velvet-draped rail, Christine’s voice climbing higher, the turgid evidence of his adoration for that beauty upon the stage hot and straining against its confines, higher and higher she sang, faster the treadle spun!

Sein Händedruck

Und ach, sein Kuss!

To touch her! To hold her, to kiss her! A single kiss, to kiss his sweet Christine! Surely misery would leave him and he could die the happiest of men, if only he could claim her kiss! The franticness of her voice reached a fevered pitch, her eyes, bright blue eyes locked with his as if she knew, knew he was there, knew how he burned!

Und küssen ihn

So wie ich wollt’

An seinen Küssen

Vergehen sollt’!

To perish in her kiss! To touch her velvet-soft skin, the rosy pink of her, her throat, her lips! To give himself willingly to that fire, faster now, to immolation in her kiss, ever faster, to kiss Christine, his Christine! Sweet Christine!

An seinen Küssen

Vergehen sollt’!

His back arched as she reached the pinnacle of Gretchen’s anguish, his ghastly mouth frozen in a soundless scream of ecstasy the mirrored the look on his angel’s face, the tight tension of the lied exploding; rapture in F major, pulsing light and his angel’s face, soft and pink and perfect.

Meine Ruh’ ist hin,

Mein Herz ist schwer,

The treadle’s decent back to steady spinning made him slump, spent, woeful resignation in D minor once more. His peace was gone, would always be gone.

Ich finde sie nimmer

Und nimmermehr

A cold stickiness made him shift as the curtain lowered once more, her eyes flashing up to his box as she curtseyed before she was ushered out of sight. His peace was gone. He would never find peace again, not if they continued on like this.

“Brava, my sweet Christine,” he whispered through clenched teeth, taking a moment to steady himself before dragging his weary bones back to darkness, alone.

#bitch pudding answers #Anonymous #molester

[tariah23]

I sometimes feel bad about not caring about a lot of things made by women as far as manga/ anime goes? Like the entire shoujo genre save for a select few series... I just..... could care less. I don’t care about romance in the things I read or watch at all, regardless of genre and I always end up rolling my eyes and lose interest. I barely read BL because it’s usually so bland anyway but then Bara is there...... ORZ. Gay men are the ones who usually produce Bara btw. The romance in Shounen are always bland and “forced” because guys can’t write romance apparently and it’s just too gushy whenever I’d read something like a shoujo and I gag at lovey dovey stuff when it starts to happen in something that I like UNLESS I could SEE the ship myself like they have to be meant for each other for me to care... I sound like a hypocrite since I have ships and OC’s with their romance blooming but it’s like, I don’t feel like I want to gag because I have control over how I WRITE them and how I establish my AU’s if that makes sense. It’s dumb... Not that romances is a girly thing, I just used that as an example but I just don’t really care for the genre. I do love romance if it’s DIFFERENT though? Like if there’s an “odd couple” waiting to happen than I’m definitely game... those are usually super adorable and natural feeling to me. I’m more of a gore/ slice of life/ comedy/ and mature content type of person.... especially the depressing settings in a dystopian series. Also, anything with dark/ black humor is so good......... I’m glad that I started reading Dorohedoro because it’s such a type for me........ I love sketchy art styles like that and it’s a dark series written by a Woman. Queen..... I wished that more people wouldn’t automatically assume that a guy wrote every single non conforming thing though. Like, I’m pretty sure that a lot of people still think that a guy wrote Dorohedoro just because it’s “dark” and is “gorey” and doesn’t look like it was drawn by a “woman,” at least to them because it’s not shoujo. Most female mangaka are technically sound when it comes to writing dark and meaningful things to me so they usually always pull these sort of genres off. I also dislike Shounen... I only care about a handful and most of them are because of nostalgia anyway. Everything’s so run of the mill and by the book to me now and the most basic shit could become mainstream over something like a for example, a Golden Kamuy... (its seinen But stilll) it’s annoying... Naruto was good... no matter how hard people rag on it, it’s made it’s mark but it wasn’t BASIC either unlike the stuff you’d see today... I cried over Naruto so much and it made me feel bad that it got to the point where people were pretending to act like they had a “cringy naruto phase” as if liking the series was something to be ashamed of, even in 2018. I don’t even remember the fandom being that bad as it grew through the internet ages since the anime came out back when a lot of people didn’t have internet or were just starting to use the internet. I’m glad that people still like it. It makes me happy seeing people in 2018, watch Naruto for the first time and posting their fanart for. It’s so wholesome, lol? I was there back when it first started to air on toonami back in 2005 or 6 and the rest was history lmfao. It was one of the few to shine through back then. I still never cared for DBZ with the exception of a few characters that I still adore. Nostalgia plays a big part on why so many people dick ride it till this day as if it’s the only manga/ anime to ever exist and the writing was never like, mindblowing or anything... Fanboys ruined the experience of actually looking back on it fondly for me. I’m veering off but yeah...

#rambling

[hopeshauntedmyghosts]

I loved Devilman Crybaby because nothing was the way I expected

I’m not sorry for my obsession with Devilman Crybaby lately.

I tried to write down my thoughts about why I liked it so much :) Just to get it out of my head since it’s so hard to describe in person, and also since I’m reblogging so many cute and silly things that I thought I’d try to put a little more depth into it. Maybe people will agree, maybe not, maybe some others have said similar things already; but I want to express this with my own words. Naturally, spoilers for the entirety of the series. Also I guess people that really, really hate Ryokira should not read (I want to say I stayed neutral and treated it as a matter of fact, but I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day if they think I failed at doing so). Also also, I haven’t seen/read any other adaption of the Devilman franchise except for one OVA.

 Before I continue I want to say that I think there’s a massive difference in how you experience the story whether you watch for the first or any other time – yeah obviously, since it’s full of plottwists so that’s a given, but I think that these are special in Devilman Crybaby, since they don’t only create tension, but instead change the series entirely. So, to get everyone on the same term, I will first re-tell the story the way I now experience it after having watched it for god knows how many times already - namely, from Ryo/Satan’s point of view:

 Satan plans to destroy God and humanity so that his kind, the demons, can finally live there in peace. He’s reborn as Ryo, gets to know Akira, and falls in love. Years later, when he’s got the authorities to make a difference in society (a famous scientist that people trust and is broadcasted regularly), so he knows his plan could finally succeed, that’s when and why he tricks Akira into becoming a demon – so he’ll live with him, both as demons, in the demon-only world he wants to create. So Akira becomes this half-demon, however, stays loyal to his human side; wants to protect mankind, loves his families and Miki, wants to unite the other half-demons etc. So Ryo (unaware) tries to separate him from the humans by taking things away from him step by step – first his biological parents, then his caretakers, then everyone’s trust (by revealing his identity on TV), and finally Miki; just so that Akira loses his ties to the human side and has no choice but to embrace his demon one. Of course Akira doesn’t accept this, and even then, Satan refuses to fight him, to hurt him; but in the heat of the battle, out of both self-defense and some kind of blood lust, he kills Akira – not realizing it at first, that’s when he confesses his love, and only then realizes he killed the only person he ever loved, that ever loved (cared about) him, and now has to live with that fact for eternity, and his regret is the message he and the viewer learned.

 What fascinates me about this story, and you can already guess by the way I wrote it (making Ryo/Satan the subject): All this time throughout this series, you think you’re watching Akira’s story, about how he became this antihero and has to fight injustice done to him by someone he trusted. But the entire time, it’s Ryo’s story instead, about how his love turned into hatred and made him lose everything in the end. He has this goal, to destroy humanity, set long before the series begins, and his motivation, to turn Akira into a demon, is what gets the plot running. Everything that happens to Akira in the meantime (losing everyone he cares about) doesn’t actually matter for the story. Plot, yeah, of course; otherwise the series would be two episodes long and not have the same psychological/emotional effect. But that’s not the story; that’s not how it started, and that’s not how it ends. And this is completely unrecognizable from watching the series for the first time.

Same for the relationship of Akira and Ryo; you get that Ryo is the antagonist from the very beginning (trying to shoot innocent people, lying to Akira about his intentions at the Sabbath party), so what is his goal behind trying to get close to the protagonist? Even someone like me, who likes a lot of gay* romance in media, totally thought he was using him for something. Trying to make Akira trust only him; obviously to have the naïve boy become his marionette and help him achieve his goal, right? That’s how stories in this heteronormative world of ours work, right?? Nah dude, not here: it’s simply because he wants just that, out of actual romantic feelings. His tender physical intimacy with Akira, or his helping/protecting him whilst fighting demons, is no cunning strategy, but -in those moments at least- as genuine, innocent and loving as it looks. It’s the same: you get tricked into believing it’s Akira’s story about being used by Ryo (for the plot), when instead it’s Ryo’s story about his romantic obsession with Akira – the motivation behind all events, unspoken until the last episode.

While you’re undoubtedly watching from Akira’s point of view, him being the typical shounen/seinen protagonist, silly but sincere, eating meat like a beast, fucking/wanting all these women (relatable/idealistic character for these viewer groups), contrast-character Ryo has this omnipresence over the series, since he’s all that: the one that starts the story, the one that ends it, the one whose character development leads the way. But by watching for the first time, you don’t know that he does ANY of that, and that’s how they use Akira’s POV as an insanely clever method of tricking you into believing the story is going an entirely different path, which leads to the big shocker at the end, and an entirely different atmosphere when watching for the second or third time.

 So…?

I know Crybaby put more focus on Ryo than many (or all?) of the other Devilman adaptions including the original manga, but this is still technically the original story. From. The. 70s!!! Never in my life have I seen such a complex way of storytelling from that many years ago, and with gay romance** no less – in Japan, in the 70’s, from a male author; practically a death wish!

Now notice how I’ve said “with” gay romance instead of “about” – since Crybaby is a story about said romance, as I’ve explained, while other adaptions probably aren’t; I know in some Ryo doesn’t even exist, so I’m aware Crybaby is an entirely different take on this story from the 70’s, for some maybe a whole different story altogether. But I personally still see it as the idea being there in the original manga (where Satan admits to loving Akira as well), and Crybaby decided to focus on it in an original way, and that’s what makes it different and unique. Akira and Ryo’s relationship alone has a start, middle, climax, and ending; it’s bittersweet yet haunting. If the idea of all this was incredible for the 70s, Crybaby still managed to make it incredible even for 2018.

*Keep in mind that here I’m talking about the first time watching, when you can’t know about Satan yet and Ryo is very clearly presented as male. I’m aware about the problem with Satan’s gender, being a hermaphrodite and all, and I have an opinion it, but it’s not what I mean here.

**Satan is a hermaphrodite, “he” does not have a gender, doesn’t need one, obviously doesn’t care. But Ryo is clearly presented as male, in any adaption he’s in and including Crybaby, where he canonically falls in love with Akira as Ryo, in his human form. It’s gay in my book, and I doubt the story, being from that time at that place, would have risked showing a *potential* gay love if that wasn’t even intended in the first place.

  Please do keep in mind this is simply my opinion tho, :) I’m sorry if I offended anyone with anything I said. I’m not saying that nothing else in Crybaby besides Akira’s and Ryo’s relationship was good. This is simply where I see the story at. I bawled my eyes out at Miki² or the rapper boys, but as much as I love them too, I interpret them as (great!) plot-elements that help develop the bigger picture of the story – making Akira distrust Ryo as backfire to the plan the latter had laid out for them.

 Finally, and unrelated, but isn’t it amazing how in Devilman no Uta, which is the opening on a kids-targeted take on the franchise in which Ryo doesn’t exist (?), there exists the line

The man awoken by the kindness of the first human love he knew

Which is 100% Ryo’s story in Crybaby?? Makes this shit even more haunting than it was before. I fucking love this show.

#devilman crybaby #crybaby spoilers #dmcb #dmcb spoilers

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: Why We Love Anime

"Anime is trash." This is a sentiment that pops up a lot these days, both as a joke and in earnest. Interestingly, it’s not something said by outsiders looking in on the interest, but by fans of anime themselves. Isn't that fascinating? It’s something you’d expect to hear from outside the community, not from within. So why do people joke about it? You like anime, so is anime really trash?

  My father grew up in Japan, and immigrated to the United States. It wasn’t as if anime was an unknown quantity in my household, even with the too-big eyes and unnatural hair colors, because my parents already knew what it was. The main issue was that, to my father, manga and anime were for children, and I was already reaching an age where I should have started outgrowing cartoons and comics. While he didn’t actively urge me to stop reading, he did express his discomfort with my interest in something that he saw as “for kids." He wasn’t wrong. My very first introduction to manga was when I went to Japan, and returned with the first five volumes of Sailor Moon. I used to watch Cardcaptor Sakura and Yu-Gi-Oh! on TV, and that was a vastly different experience than going to Kinokuniya Bookstore and picking up the manga. “Anime is trash” wasn’t a thing said out loud, but the implication of it was still there -- for a long time, most people didn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t until I hit high school that people began openly talking about liking manga and watching anime. It was animation, and nobody wanted to say out loud that they liked anything animated.

  At the same time, just because it’s something that I picked up as a child doesn’t mean that it’s only for children. This is a continuous struggle that’s going on in the art world right now, the fight to see comics and animation as legitimate forms of art and not something to be shoved into the corner. The common perception that animation is something that only has meaning to children is one that’s being challenged, especially as it becomes more a part of popular culture. The urge to distance yourself from something still seen as childish while at the same time wanting to proclaim your love for it is a struggle many of us share.

Manga is classified into rigid age groups: shonen for young boys, josei for older women, etc. I grew up with shonen manga, and it shaped the type of media I like. I’ve always been an avid reader, but I’m equally as strong a visual learner. Anime is often vivid, spectacular, and visually engaging with a lot of variety in its storytelling, so I can still enjoy these series even as I get older. I was hooked.

Maybe the most important factor in how anime resonates with me has to do with themes. Many anime deal with themes of hope and overcoming adversity. Grimdark stuff is fun, but sometimes you need something more optimistic, especially when going through a rough time. I resonate with the overall messages of most anime that I have watched, one of overcoming the odds, of friendship, of growing up and exploring who you are. I wanted to root for my favorite characters to win, no matter what the world threw at them. The weekly updates kept the story fresh in my mind, kept me desperately wanting to find out what happens next. The stories were sequential, so I could grab a series and be in it for the long ride. Anime was fun. It made me happy, and there was no way I was giving it up.

  Now as an adult that still loves anime, I’ve come to peace with the fact that I love anime, and no amount of criticism can take that away from me. I know not everyone is comfortable saying that they like it out loud, but after all this time, I’ve managed to do so.  Still, I can understand the hesitation, because there are plenty of elements that make me uncomfortable with mainstream anime. I’ve grown up and reached the point where I can no longer blindly consume media just because I like it -- I have to be thoughtful about what I consume. Those inside the medium know what it is comprised of, and what to expect. They know the ups and downs that those looking in do not. To those looking from outside in, they only see the whole, so it's hard to explain that I might not agree with everything the medium has to offer.

  That’s the thing though -- manga are just Japanese comics, and anime is just Japanese animation. It isn’t one singular thing that can be judged as a whole. Manga and anime are mediums, so naturally there are a variety of voices and stories out there since there are a variety of people telling those stories. You can love the whole, while nodding to the fact that there are some parts of it that will rub people the wrong way. Loving something doesn’t mean that it isn’t flawed. At the same time, just because something is flawed doesn’t mean you have to deny that it’s important to you.

I love anime, and I doubt that I will stop loving anime anytime soon. While I’ve definitely outgrown the stories that I used to watch and read when I first started, I’ve found new stories to appreciate and consume. I’m older now, with a better understanding of narrative, I can now read and appreciate seinen and josei for what they’re saying instead of just simply thinking they're ‘bigger and cooler’ visually. My giant wooden tree of anime phone charms will get denser until I’ll have to get a new one. And of course, my wallet will always suffer during Comiket season.

  To me, I could never make the joke that anime is trash, because that would mean spitting on all the work that I’ve done to get this far. That would mean turning my back on the me that struggled for so long to be proud of something that I love. Anime and manga have burrowed their way into my heart, and removing that would mean removing a big chunk of who I am as a person, because these stories have shaped and comforted me throughout my life. At the same time, I understand the sentiment of the fans who say it because they do have issues with some parts of the medium and want to make a lighthearted joke about it. At the end of the day, it's a joke, but it reflects something more. Isn’t that really just what consuming media as an adult is? You struggle with the fact that the things you love aren’t perfect, are flawed, but acknowledge that, at the end of the day, you genuinely love and enjoy this medium, this wonderful thing that has shaped who you are today.

---

Noelle Ogawa is a contributor to Bubbleblabber and Cup of Moe. She can be found on Twitter @noelleogawa.

By: [email protected]

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

[lessursblog]

The Marvelous Magic of Manga And Comics

Manga and Comics Western comic books and manga can look on the surface as if they’re from two different worlds. It’s easy to see why some choose one over the other, from art to text orientation, theme  and characters, but both  are just as  convincing  and  certainly worth reading. In essence, however both media tell incredible stories through the use of images and phrases produced.

Themes, Personalities, and Genres Though comics and manga look different in the representation of characters and scenery both have very similar genres, themes, and character tropes that they stick to in order to  tell the story.  Think of  your favorite  superhero  from  DC or Marvel and  then think about your favorite protagonist from anime.

Comics

The first things that motivate us to dream are possibly comic books. Comic books and the capers in them protect us from the harsher realities of the outside world throughout the increasing years where there are no superheroes, adventurous reporters, or  philosopylical pets. Even  we progress into  more  adult types of  entertainment, there  remains the magic spell of comics.

Maybe most of us read them or watch them on TV every day now, but who can deny that it brings back a glimpse of the wonderful years. But there are those who pursue comic books after that. After all, comic books’ enduring culture is not due to the childrens crowd alone. And in this modern world, comic books keep having new leases of existence.

Manga and Comics Western comic books and manga can look on the surface as if they’re from two different worlds. It’s easy to see why some choose one over the other, from art to text orientation, theme  and characters, but both  are just as  convincing  and  certainly worth reading. In essence, however both media tell incredible stories through the use of images and phrases produced.

Themes, Personalities, and Genres Though comics and manga look different in the representation of characters and scenery both have very similar genres, themes, and character tropes that they stick to in order to  tell the story.  Think of  your favorite  superhero  from  DC or Marvel and  then think about your favorite protagonist from anime.

Comics

The first things that motivate us to dream are possibly comic books. Comic books and the capers in them protect us from the harsher realities of the outside world throughout the increasing years where there are no superheroes, adventurous reporters, or  philosopylical pets. Even  we progress into  more  adult types of  entertainment, there  remains the magic spell of comics.

Maybe most of us read them or watch them on TV every day now, but who can deny that it brings back a glimpse of the wonderful years. But there are those who pursue comic books after that. After all, comic books’ enduring culture is not due to the childrens crowd alone. And in this modern world, comic books keep having new leases of existence.

While Comic books are comics that feature multiple pages. The books can have more than just one specific comic the point is they are gathered in a volume. These can also be self-contained but more often than not they entail a larger story arc that combines stories over multiple volumes. Think of the super hero genre. Comic books that don’t follow a larger story are usually more child friendly or of a more in a humorous nature. Think of comic books featuring Mickey Mouse or the Smurfs.

Manga

We know that some of us, know manga well especially when you truly love the art of Manga and you’re an avid fan of Japan and Anime. Of course, some of us will like it because characters are good looking, they have a distinct personalities and stunning visuals and because of that Manga authors and illustrators are totally amazing! Manga is such a word for comics . It is used in the English-speaking world as a genetic term for all comic books and graphing novels. It was originally published in Japan and knowing that Japanese had always impress us by their creative minds, that’s why Manga catches the eye of many. We know that these works are absolutely fantastic.

In Japan, for its ability to create distinctive characters and creative storylines, Manga is highly regarded. It’s a trend of pop culture that has grown from basic art and comic stories to anime fairs, merchandise and films. All of this was made possible by the features of the Manga characters. Manga is all about world, from faces and hair to suits, accessories, and over exaggerated emotions. Manga typically display feelings that are over-exaggerated. Their tears spill out in buckets when a character  cries  or when they laugh, the size of their mouth appears to  surround their heads and  their eyes become slits. There are rosy cheeks and steam roiling around the body of an angry character. And primarily there are five types of Manga

Shonen– Shonen manga often feature lots of action and comedy, and some sort of coming-of-age teamwork between characters example one example is One Piece.

Shojo ( targeted at teen girls)The focus here is less on action and more on drama, emotion, and, almost always, idealized romance one of it’s example is Sailor Moon.

Seinen ( targeted between 18+ to adult men)

Just like shonen manga, seinen manga features action and violence, but with a more serious or darker tone, as well as adult content such as sexual situations, graphic violence, or foul language.

Josei ( targeted at between 18+ to adlut women)

Josei manga are similar to American adult romance novels in that they include sexually explicit scenes that can range from tame to borderline pornographic.

Korodomomuke ( targeted at young children)

These series will often be cutesy, moralistic, and fun. Both the Pokemon manga and anime are probably the most well-known examples of a Kodomomuke series.

Now that we tackled about the Comics and Manga? Do you have any preference about this two? Well for me I love to read or watch anime they’re really relaxing for me especially this time that we are in a quarantine. It is a good opportunity to read some of this work. Here are some of my Manga Recommendations:

Kaichou wa maid-sama

Haikyuu

Inuyasha

Naruto

Pokemon

Death Note

Attack on Titan

My Hero Academia

One Piece

Fullmetal Alchemist

” These two may have differences to each other, but they both can bring us happiness and enjoyment”.

-Mark Joseph S. Gracias

-Angela Francine Gimpes

[yon-nyan]

Cowboy Bebop (1998) - Anime Review

Nineteen years ago, during the year 1998, a Space Western anime was released by the name of Cowboy Bebop, an anime that would go on to become one of the finest pieces of animation ever made. Adapted and completely redesigned from its manga counterpart, with direction by Shinichirō Watanabe, this 26-episode long, seinen neo-noir anime series would continue to astound fans of the medium for decades to come.

While this is going to be a review on the anime series in its entirety, I want to point out that this may not be like my other reviews. I don’t just want to prattle about how good the animation is, or how fantastic the music composition is. I may briefly touch on the standard characteristics that usually go into my reviews for the medium, however, today I want to discuss with you guys a few of the facets that truly makes Cowboy Bebop an astounding artistic masterpiece; a true classic for even more decades to come.

Cowboy Bebop follows the exploits of a ragtag crew of bounty hunters that end up coming together through various circumstances on the ship known simply as Bebop. We get to watch them manoeuvre their way through a mine field of galactic criminals that are ripe (and occasionally not so ripe at all) with woolongs (currency), awkward interactions with each another as well as blasts from their pasts, and plenty of blazing space and bullet-infused battles.

The episodes for the show tend to be very episodic in nature, usually in two-parts, with stunning fluidity from one space romp to the next. Even though most of the episodes are unrelated, there’s never a disjointed feeling of randomness, or having any kinds of fillers simply to bulk out the serial. It all fits wonderfully. Everything just belongs, nothing more and nothing less. When we do have story-specific arcs, they are laced with emotional intensity and the complexities that go with having a past you’re not so fond of. There’s so much grey in between the black and white that each character is portrayed to be multidimensional and so much more than a pretty face, or an intellectual genius.

The chemistry between all of the members of Bebop is one of my absolute favourite elements. They are flawed as fuck human beings, with quirks that cause a lot of grating disagreements and vexing (for them, not the audience) interactions. Nonetheless, they all have a key component in common that holds them together like a dysfunctional family. No matter how many times they try to walk away, eventually they find themselves back home. This is realistic. It’s believable. It’s something to connect with. Some will have a much more intimate relation to it than others. It’s comforting.

As I mentioned earlier, the animation, regardless of being almost 20 years old, still holds up really damn well. The power is in the details, literally. There are so many details that went into establishing the environments within the series that the best way to describe it is breath-taking. Whether the setting is the interior (or even exterior) of a ship, space itself, planets with crumbling or bustling cities, the characters themselves and the expressions that they make—it’s all extremely astounding. These little soft lines and harsh curves with unique shades of red, blue, and orange all create the mood and tone for which makes Bebop a bonafide neo-noir experience.

Even with all of these awesome traits, none of it really means anything if you can’t look beyond the animation and the cast to see just how far ahead of its time Cowboy Bebop truly was.

It’s 1998 and gender roles are getting less defined. This show broke gender moulds back then, and it continues to do so in the modern age. You have women, beautiful women and average women and women from all walks of life in regards to race, ethnicity, etc., who are never judged for being just that. They are portrayed as very strong, independent ass-kickers. It didn’t matter if they were criminals, heroes, or in between somewhere. The women in the show are some of the most intelligent people, and it’s never questioned or treated like it’s some kind of phenomenon. Good examples of badass ladies include Faye Valentine, Julia, and a very special bartender who’s a good friend of Spike’s (name’s not given to avoid spoilers).

One of our main characters, Edward, is a teenage girl, but it’s rarely brought up. Hell, her name is Edward. People don’t really care if she’s a she. Ed is a genius and eccentric as all fuck, and quite androgynous. Her brilliance is what makes her a compelling character. Yes, some people do gander at her gender, but it’s more of a passing curiosity. Her ability to do what she does is never doubted or questioned because of her being a girl. Most of the doubt stems from her sensationally unique persona and young age. We have another character in one of the episodes that’s a hermaphrodite. While it’s a bit uncommon, it never becomes the focal point of who he is or what he does. He’s just another person in the galaxy who’s got his own burden to bear.

So, yeah, gender roles and our ridiculous pre-conceived notions of what gender means doesn’t mean shit in this anime. I fucking love it.

A more common motif in the series is the belief that you are always a master of your own choices and leader of your own fate. Life is something to do with what you will, which is clearly exhibited by the decisions taken by our motley crew of criminal hunters, especially as their pasts begin to surface and reveal itself. Allowing yourself to be held back by some predetermined ideals that you may not even believe in isn’t living. The idea of having “obligations” and that there’s always an inherent “right” and “wrong,” is utterly false in the grand scheme of things and don’t account for jack shit if you’re going to be miserable in the end. This motif is beautifully complimented and further ingrained by the music…

Something else that gives the series loads and loads of depth is… the music. I’m sure that anyone reading this review that’s already had a chance to watch this anime was probably wondering when I’d bring this up. Well, here it comes. Hold on to your butts, my friends.

Yoko Kanno is quite possibly one of the most brilliant composers of the modern age. Her work has made appearances in many anime serials across the board from Wolf’s Rain to Terror in Resonance and a few others; each one a magnificent and stellar feat of musical capacities. Yet, I don’t think she can ever really top what she’s accomplished with Cowboy Bebop.

The Seatbelts is the fictitious Japanese space jazz band led by Kanno. The name derives from how the performers wear seatbelts to be safe as they participate in some serious hard-core jam sessions. This band, put together by Kanno, is responsible for all of the music in Cowboy Bebop.

The styles of music utilised is enthrallingly diverse and ranges from straight big band jazz to blues, acoustic ballads, hard rock, and country to funk and electronic. Hip-hop and experimental compositional elements also make their appearances. Aside from sounding extraordinary, the music in and of itself speaks volumes of what the show is about. If you look at most, if not all, of these genres, they began during periods of history where a voice of rebellion needed to rise. It was a means for people to expel their frustrations at life and all of the bullshit that they had to endure. Blues is a very depressing genre, originally created to voice the hardships that came from slavery and oppression. Jazz became a significant boom during the 1920s when war was looming and young folks were forced to fight or choose a side; when a passionate desire for independence was boiling to its peak. This included the rise of women’s empowerment and freedom of choice.

Every genre used to create the tunes began as a fight against being oppressed and having severely limited rights, if you had any to begin with. The music was about growing up and facing your fears and your monsters, to make life what you wanted of it. These genres were all born out of necessity to have something powerful and positive to believe in; a way to share the pain so you could stop it from continuing onwards.

As I mentioned earlier, this theme is apparent in all four members of our cast—Faye Valentine, Jet Black, Spike Spiegel, and even Edward. They all had something they were fighting for and some strong personal beliefs that drove them to become the people that they became; changes that needed to be made so they could be the stronger, better versions of their old selves.

Cowboy Bebop has so much more to it than the few things I’ve mentioned in this insanely long ass review. To be blunt, I wish I could talk about all of them because that’s how much I loved this series. I’m so passionate about it and what it means and what it stands for. But if I chat about everything, then you guys may not want to pick it up (if you haven’t already). I know that hype can have a negative effect on me; look at how long it took me to pick up the series.

While I do regret not picking it up sooner, I’m supremely satisfied with the fact that I waited so long. The world is a terribly different place now than it was in 1998. Not only was I just a child, there honestly wasn’t much that I could’ve related to the show back then as there is now, at least for me as an individual watcher. Maturity aside, I feel like the messages that are shared so passionately and so brilliantly in this anime are far more superior and relevant in 2017 than they would’ve been in 1998. But the fact that is was made 20 years ago, just goes to show you how far ahead of its time it truly was, which further intensifies my love for the science-fiction genre, no matter the medium.

In conclusion, I want to make one thing very clear: Cowboy Bebop is what it is, is as powerful and as remarkable as it is, because everything fits together so nicely. If you remove even one small facet of the show, it would’ve fallen completely apart. The music, any one of the characters (including minor ones), the animation, the motifs—anything at all and it wouldn’t be a work of art. It’s complex and intricate because every single piece makes it so; they’ve all got their place. Lose a single one and you’ve got nothing but a mediocre space western. Details are what create a masterpiece, especially when they’re subtle and natural.

10 cigarettes outta 10!

#Cowboy Bebop #Anime Review #Anime #Classic Anime

[kt-cant-focus]

Kingdom Review

So if you don’t know I’m obsessed with One Piece. It got me through the lowest point in my life and continues to be amazing. So when I say this manga is tied with One Piece as my favorite manga, it’s the best compliment I can give.

For some backstory, Kingdom is a manga written and drawn by Yasuhisa Hara. It began in 2006 and currently has 526 chapters and 46 volumes. It is published in Weekly Young Jump along side Tokyo Ghoul. An interesting thing about this manga is that according to myanimelist,” On December 12, 2012 the manga won a Guinness World Record for manga written by the most people. The record was made possible due to its "Social Kingdom" Campaign where artists, fans, and voice actors redrew the entire 26th volume. Each of them picked 1 frame and redrew it and the top 100 would be given a special edition of the manga. Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Masashi Kimimoto (Naruto), Hirohiko Araki (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) and many others were among the participants. “ Super cool right?

Kingdom is a manga set in the Warring States Period of China and we follow the life of a servant-a nice way of saying slave in the series- who is aiming to become the greatest general that ever lived. The manga is considered seinen.

Personally I think the best part of the manga is the characters. Every character is compelling, even if you don’t have their backstory. So if you do get their backstory is just makes it has an even greater impact. Each one is an individual, you don’t feel like they are rehashing basic stereotypes or that anyone is two-dimensional. I grew to love the main characters with such an intensity that I haven’t felt since I true got into One Piece. So you laugh, cry, cheer, and feel every emotion along with the characters because of how much you love them. And because of that emotional connection it just makes the series unforgettable. Also, this manga has some of the most, and please excuse my language- bad-ass women in storytelling history, they get in there just as much as the guys.

The story is loosely based off the actual Warring States Period and many of the characters were actual people and many of the events actually happened which makes it fun to research and learn more about these people. The story is so interesting that you really don’t feel how long the series is as you read it. Each arc is exactly as long as it should be and balances the quiet moments, the action, the comedic points and the emotional moments extremely well so I never felt bored. Honestly because of how well it flows it eats up a lot of time since you don’t notice the hours passing. Now to the art.

The art is absolutely breath taking and can be incredibly detail when the panel calls for it. I’ll post some of the panels so it can speak for itself.

Honestly, maybe it’s my bias, but I really can’t find anything all that wrong with the show. I mean there are arcs that I sometimes skip when I reread it (and I’ve reread it from beginning to current chapter at lease five times). But that had more to do with the fact that I hate the characters the arcs are focusing on, but you are meant to dislike them so it really isn’t a downside.

This series has no Englsih release, so you have to read it online. Look for the Turnip Farmers scans as most fans agree theirs is the best. This series hasn’t gotten the love it deserves in the West because the anime isn’t very good, it is filled with the awkward CGI that Japan hasn’t fully perfected yet, even on the characters. Check this manga out for yourselves and let me know what you think, I’m sure you wont regret it.

#Kingdom #Shin #Sei #Kyou Kai #Kyoukai #Karoten #Ten #Ei Sei #pure awsomeness #review #manga #manga review #historical #seinen #perfection

[berserk-confessions]

A post made as an answer of some Berserk confessions seen on this Tumblr (which is quite nice…Thank you creators). It would be good that people stop to use Ad Hominem attacks (No i am not aroused by the rape of Caska. No I do not feel insecure about my manhood reading those pages…which I skip when I go for a guilty round of Berserk indulgence) against people who see there is a problem in the way the rape of Caska is pictured (in the manga and the following adaptations in anime) and wonder if it has to be understood as Caska feels pleasure while being raped by Griffith reborn during the eclipse. I think most of the Berserk’s fans forgot that it is not only about the topic but how a topic is treated in a media or by an artist that matters. Yet they shouldn’t forgot that the way an artist treats a topic, is not necessarily a hint to the artist’s opinion or psyche.

In fact, regarding how good Miura is at his art, I would say that the ambiguity is perfectly intentional (And there a lot of ambiguities in Berserk). Plus, such theory fits the universe of Berserk and the psychology of the involved characters. Then, it fits the media subculture of many Japanese young men (manga, anime, novels, movies with rape porn) who are also the demographic for Berserk. It fits a part of Japanese sub-culture (modern, ancient?) where women never show their lust but their body will respond to the sexual stimulus against their will. It could refers to the downfall of a warrior maiden (Japanese figure) as Caska to a dirty woman once she had sex with Guts (Strangely after she became a much weaker, moody, sexualized, useless character). Also, it could refer to the  reality of the usage of rape as a subtle weapon of dominance. It could only be the commercial reason to target the demographic or an inherent reason to the story or both. Or the unfortunate fact that Miura draws a rape scene of a female such as normal porn manga (In the Qliphoth, women raped by trolls are also staged like they just have a sex party…Seriously…?).

Fans forgot that Berserk is before and after all a Seinen manga, set in European Medieval inspired universe because Miura likes it (and maybe because it could have been original at that time). Berserk is simply a manga, something made to be read like for entertainment…as beautiful, thrilling, intriguing or emotional it is…it is not an essay. Miura did and does an amazing work on his art and the story so far (although there are quite some incoherencies)…yet there was (because now the Berserk phenomenon goes beyond Japan) a demographic, a sale target, a crowd to please…and yes Miura does a bit whatever he wants to…as extreme it is, especially now with his weight in matters of business but…Remember Toriyama.

Personally, I find the rape scene too long, borderline rape porn used in the Japanese media industry. It is strangely staged by Miura who really knows how to treat such scene with decency (E.g. : The rape of Guts, the prostitution of Griffith). I remember it being boring after 2 pages…because we just want Guts to fuck the face of Griffith à la Kenshiro, Hokuto style! And as the way it started…fully hardcore…I do not need more to understand that it shall be a terrible experience for Caska and Guts…yet there are panels where obviously there is something wrong…for sure not a rape of defenseless woman by a psychotic asshole in the depth of Hell…

Now, if someone find any proof from Miura to contradict this theory…and not from fans blindly in love with Berserk as a kind of bible…I will be glad to read you. Strangely even the last   anime movies (and I am sure that Miura has his saying in those) were quite explicit about Caska moaning like she was pleasured…by Griffith (Oh and the blood from the vagina is obviously something very Japanese…)

Now, if I wanted to use a counter Ad hominem, I would say that many of those who use such defense to disprove the theory of the ambiguity of the rape scene are actually the one who could read the whole thing… one or many times, feeling sorry and yet (as quoted by some fans of Berserk) couldn’t stop reading the 13 or 20 pages of rape fantasy in a kind of morbid voyeurism…Fans, it is a manga, you can just skip the pages.

#berserk #berserk confession #TL:DR #casca