#also negima???? DOES ANYONE NOT REMEMBER NEGIMA?

[majunju]

hello!! have u ever watched yumeiro patissiere? if not i think u should give it a watch :D a very cute anime where kids learn how to make sweets and design them and i think u'd like it lots :3

I HAVE!!!! it's one of my fav comfort anime series... i find myself going back to watch it sometimes

#asks #recently i've been going back and watching/reading a bunch of stuff i used to as a kid and man. the nostalgia is crazy #mamotte lollipop... mermaid melody.... full moon wo sagashite... magicalxmiracle #speaking of magical miracle did anyone also read it. i swear im the only one that's read it LOL #also negima???? DOES ANYONE NOT REMEMBER NEGIMA?

[itsuki-minamy]

“SIX IDOLS”

CHAPTER 6: CRUNCH AND SOLVED! RICE BALL DETECTIVES, RICE AND SEAWEED! (Complete)

* K - Six Idols (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

"What does it say?"

"Kuro! Number 1 on the list, congratulations!"

Papapan! Several trumpets sounded at the same time.

When Neko pulled the rope, the Kusudama broke and the colored confetti scattered. The room was filled with handmade red and white curtains, garlands, and large signs like "You're cool!" "This guy is happy!" and "Popular idol!"

Kuro's new song "Sprint ☆ BLACK ☆ DOG" released last week gained the number one spot on the charts in the first week of its release.

Although he has a name value as a guitarist for the popular idol unit "HAKU ☆ MAI", the top of the list that suppressed many powerful idols was just a feat. Even with the harsh circumstances of "Shirogin Record", they are trying to have a celebration party.

Shiro, the organizer of this party, was clapping with the smile of the good man himself, and Neko, who was finally released from the assignment, started randomly stuffing food into her mouth.

And speaking of Kuro, who is the protagonist this time.

"Um..."

He was uncomfortable with a shiny tricorne on his head and a glass of champagne in hand.

"What's up? It's a celebration, so let's be happier!"

"No, no, well, I'm happy, but, I mean…"

Kuro looks around with a subtle expression, and...

"Didn't anyone call you?"

As Kuro said, there were only three people in the "Shirogin Record" office, the place of the party, Shiro, Kuro, and Neko. The decoration of the room is striking, so it seems cooler.

Shiro laughed as if he was shy, "No!"

"I don't have the budget..."

"My new song didn't sell? Where did the sales go?!"

"When I used it to supplement other businesses, I didn't have much left."

Kuro was amazed. He doesn't care about money, but he wanted to preach to the bowl account called Shiro's diversified management for a long time.

"You are...! Why are you like this! You always say that something like 'Idol King' is not going to enter the mysterious chase!"

"Well, I thought it would work this time. Well, don't miss it!"

"This is the line! No, it is not this line! Worry a little more and get serious about the way of idols."

"Hey, don't they eat rice? Can Wagahai eat it all?"

Kuro turned his neck towards Neko and yelled loudly.

"I will eat!"

With that, he had started the celebration party.

++++++++++

"Shirogin Record" was one of the well-established government-approved offices, but it had a weak production that both themselves and others recognized.

There are only three idols in the Ashinaka High School dorm office. It is one of the mysteries of the entertainment world why the government officially recognizes such a weak production.

The skill of idols, who only have three, is with origami.

Miyabi Ameno, commonly known as Neko, has become a regular in magazine gravure due to her impressive proportions. She not only looks she, but is also popular with women and children due to her innocent personality and her excellent physical ability.

Yashiro Isana, commonly known as Shiro, is one of the "crooked idols" that cannot be pushed or straightened. It's easy for him to get involved in dubious diversified management, but if you let him be MC and commentator, there's no question of his skill.

And Kuroh Yatogami, commonly known as Kuro.

Kuro, a direct disciple of the legendary idol Miwa Ichigen, is a new idol from "Shirogin Record". Even though it has been a short time since his debut, he accomplished the feat of being at the top of the charts due to his dance performance and singing ability, which has been upgraded to the art level.

He is weak, but you cannot underestimate them, that was the evaluation of "Shirogin Record" by other government approved offices.

In the small office, the three of them are sitting on a chair and chewing onigiri.

As it is a celebration party, it is the white rice that returns to accompany the pizza at home, the sushi, the hot sandwiches, etc. Even in Shiro's suspicious diversified management, connecting with a farmer who miraculously helped, "Shirogin Record" is constantly replenished with delicious rice.

"No, but it really helped me. If it hadn't been for Kuro's new song, the three of us would have been on a tuna fishing boat."

"Oh, we too?"

"Can Wagahai be anywhere else? If Shiro and Kurosuke are together, it's easy to be fine anywhere."

"Thanks, Neko."

"Don't put it as a good story! I'm not giving up on being an idol just yet!"

Shiro actually laughs as he pinches Negima's skewer.

"Okay, but it was really good. Isn't Ichigen-san happy?"

"Hmm... well, that..."

Neither Shiro nor Neko missed the shadow of Kuro's expression. While glancing at each other, Shiro started to say...

"What's wrong? Is there something bothering you?"

Kuro was lost for a moment and then began to speak.

"When I announced the results this time, Ichigen-sama was as happy as I was. I was proud to be a disciple of Ichigen-sama."

He lowered his eyes and looked at the bowl he was holding in his hand. The miso soup in the bowl swayed so muddy, as if it reflected Kuro's feelings.

"The teachings I received from Ichigen-sama are not limited to songs, instruments and dances. I have not been able to demonstrate them all. The path of idols is endless and I am just beginning to walk that path. I was wondering if I could be happy."

Shiro and Neko looked at each other again and then laughed happily.

"What the hell is that?"

"Kurosuke, you are stupid."

Kuro opened his eyes and looked at them.

"How stupid?! I'm thinking what an idol is."

"Well Kuro, you want to try something new, right? So, you would have said that from the beginning!"

Shiro put the onigiri on the plate and ran to the president's seat. Neko laughed, "Hehehe.", when she saw Kuro's face with a question mark.

"I'm always excited and eager for new things. That's how I met Wagahai!"

Kuro lost his words and looked at Neko seriously.

Get on stage and perform the song. It's something he should be proud of, even if it's just a moment in a world that's easy to change.

However, it was the memory of the past that crossed his mind that spilled water on Kuro's joy that he was about to boil.

Mishakuji Yukari. A traitor who stood up to Ichigen Miwa.

The beauty of the live performance once performed by the man who currently belongs to "Jungle Pro". Awesome luster. Overwhelming flowers that spread across the entire field of view.

Just thinking about it, the joy faded and disappeared very easily.

He still can't beat that man. He has to train more and go to a place where he can get to Mishakuji Yukari asap, one step closer.

It was an unmistakable impatience that drove Kuro. There was no place for fun or joy.

However, Neko described it as "exciting".

Before Kuro gave an answer to what that meant, Shiro pushed the materials that he had.

"Look, read it! I've been wondering if this is for Kuro for a long time. I'm sure I can do something nice with Kuro now!"

He looked through the materials as if pushed by a big smile.

"Drama planning from scratch ~ The idol drama ~" It was written there.

++++++++++

"I've done all my theater practice."

After finishing the celebration party and returning to the usual office, the three of them were taking a break with hot tea.

He spread the material on the chabudai and looked at it from the chair. Maybe Neko doesn't feel like reading sentences, Shiro stopped her when she tried to scribble in the margin.

"It seems like it's not just a drama, right?"

"Yes, that's right! As the title says, this project is a project where an idol makes a drama from scratch and plays it himself!"

Also, it is a strange project. Kuro implicitly read what Shiro brought.

It is a medium-sized production company whose name even Kuro knows. If so, he is not that suspicious.

"From scratch, what do you mean? Will Wagahai make the clothes?"

"Ah, it is not possible to do it with our own hands, but it seems that they will listen to our opinions on the costume design, etc. Also, we will think about the story and direction as much as possible."

"I see."

That said, it was Kuro who didn't turn out very well. He has been studying theater theory under Miwa, but there was no element in which he said, "Do everything from scratch!"

Then Neko raised her hands and yelled happily.

"Wagahai schoolboy drama? Are you doing it just with Wagahai? Wow, it looks like fun!"

"Ah, thank you Neko. I mean, is it okay for Kuro?"

Kuro turned his eyebrows and looked at them alternately.

Of course, he is worried about a project that he had never done before.

There was also a tactic that may be against Miwa's teaching.

"You're the one who wants to get in touch and doesn't understand."

His merciful expression came to his mind when he remembered the words of his former brother, Mishakuji Yukari.

He can't beat him as he is.

Then there is no choice but to take a new step.

"Okay. I'll take care of that too."

Shiro smirked.

"Okay! That's the rule. "Silver Record" will do its best to work on this project!"

His expression was calm, but his eyes burned with determination. The title "Silver Idol King" was not in vain.

"For now, I'll take this project to the producer at an acquaintance's station. I know some people who seem to like this. Neko, your friends had some directors, right? Try talking to people."

"Okay!"

"And Kuro will receive a very important part."

"Oh. What should I do?"

Shiro closed one eye and raised a big thumb.

"I will ask you to take charge of the story-making, that is, the setting for the main drama!"

++++++++++

~ Synopsis ~

At that time, the samurai Jinichi Isobe, who went to the Kishu Owari clan warehouse in Kaei's first year, was killed by his colleague's grudge. The other samurai, Hitaro Tawara, will lead the Owari clan as it is, and Jingoro Isobe, Jinichi's son, will go on a wandering journey to avenge his death. Fifteen years later, Jingoro finally found the whereabouts of a bundle that was his nemesis, Hyoutarou. However, he was already living a quiet life with his wife and children. Jingoro's anguished choice is really...

"How is it?"

A week later, at the "Shirogin Record" office.

Kuro, who had dark circles in his eyes, asked Shiro, who was reading it carefully.

It was a week of hell for Kuro, who had barely touched stories, much less created them.

He has to think about what kind of story he wants to talk about, what role he wants to play and how long he wants to talk about, and make it visible... Kuro, who has a strong sense of responsibility, performed all these tasks until he stayed satisfied.

From now on, Shiro's evaluation was to determine how much Kuro's hellish week was worth.

"That's right."

After reading, Shiro crossed his arms to ponder what to say. Kuro's throat moved.

Seeing that, Shiro laughed and raised a big thumb.

"Yes! I think it's okay!"

"……"

"I like historical drama. It's not very fashionable right now, but maybe that's why we should do it! It's a bitter and good feeling for revenge. Isn't it okay?"

Kuro exhaled deeply.

It was the first scenario that he wrote, but he was confident. Although he was a friend, he felt relief and joy when he received high praise.

His week was not in vain.

It was a ruthless word from Neko that shattered that feeling of loneliness.

"Well, Wagahai is going to do this."

"Mmm!"

His heart leaps. Looking at him, Neko seemed bored at the stage created by Kuro.

"Because he is black."

"What? Black?"

"Look, it's black!"

Neko slammed the stage paper against Kuro's nose. Kuro stared at the paper with confused eyes and said growling deep in his throat.

"Well, surely... Kuro!"

"What is the history?"

Shiro asked the question. Kuro clenched his fist and hit his knee.

"Neko is probably saying the percentage of kanji in this setting. Look, so many kanji! Thanks to that, the stage paper will look black!"

Shiro looked back at the stage and muttered.

"It's true. I didn't notice it, but if you ask me, it's definitely black."

"Shiro, you're probably reading a lot of books regularly. Not just novels, but also academic books and entertainment books, this amount of characters can be natural. But Neko is different!"

For some reason, Neko was proud.

"Wagahai, you usually only see fashion magazines!"

"Yes! What we are trying to make is a drama that idols make from scratch. They are our fans, never the ones who like historical drama and revenge drama!"

Kuro deeply regretted. Although he was not used to creating scenarios, he overtook him with his tastes and he lost sight of popularity. If Mishakuji Yukari had seen this scenario, he would have laughed and said, "Is it okay if I'm alone and I'm okay, but you're still one of Miwa's disciples?"

That (imaginary) word ignited a fire of anger in Kuro's heart. He roughly grabbed the paper from the stage and tried to rip it hard.

"Something like this!"

"Do not do it!"

It was Neko who stopped him.

She clung to Kuro's arm with her body and sealed Kuro's hand that was trying to tear the paper. Kuro asked Neko to release him.

"Why stop? You didn't like this scenario, did you?"

"That's right, but don't do that! Because Kuro found it difficult to do it, right? Even if Wagahai doesn't find it interesting, even if everyone else doesn't, Kuro can't do that!"

"……"

Kuro opened his eyes and looked at the stage.

His own story that he first made with his own hands.

There was no originality. The quality was not high either. This story will be rolling everywhere and no one will regret when it is gone.

No, if Kuro didn't cry, he really would be.

That is why Kuro must take good care of him. Try new things. Because it was done as a first step, Kuro shouldn't break.

Kuro relaxed his hand. He placed the crumpled paper on the chabudai and stretched it out as if he were stroking it.

"Thanks, Neko. You're right."

Neko smiled.

"Yes! Thanks for your understanding, Kurosuke!"

Kuro smirked when he saw her smile.

She's kind of selfish, she doesn't know common sense and takes her clothes all over the place, yet Neko only knows what is really important.

Kuro corrected his posture and turned to Shiro.

"I can't expose this scenario as it is. I have a hunch, but I still want it to be a scenario that everyone can enjoy. Is it okay to fix it?"

"Of course it doesn't matter, but is it really okay?"

"Oh. Taking care of what you do and improving it will not be a conflict."

Then Kuro looked at Neko.

"And Neko. Please let me know your opinion at that time."

Neko blinked and pointed to herself.

"Wagahai?"

"You've seen a lot more entertainment than me or Shiro, so you should be able to give me more accurate advice. I'm asking you!"

With both fists on the ground, Kuro bowed deeply. Neko looked at him in amazement.

She finally slammed her chest and screamed with a motivated expression.

"Leave it to me! Let's do a very interesting drama with Wagahai!"

"Thanks, Neko!"

The two shook hands. The best drama has already been done, but the other's fiery eyes seemed to say so.

Seeing that, Shiro crossed his arms and shook his head, "Hmm?"

++++++++++

~ Synopsis ~

The time is the Edo period. Jingoro Isobe, a young samurai from the Omusubi feudal clan, embarked on a journey for delicious foods across the country at the behest of the feudal lord: "Find the best match for white rice!" Clams boiled in soy sauce, pickled salmon roe in soy sauce, sea bream and salted seaweed. Edo gourmet Manyuuki on delicious foods all over Japan!

"How is it, Shiro?"

"How's it going?"

A week later, at the "Shirogin Record" office.

Kuro and Neko, who had dark circles under their eyes, asked Shiro, who was reading carefully.

Both Kuro and Neko are popular idols and it was extremely difficult to match their schedules. Still, in this scenario, they were able to hold meetings with PDA messages and online calls for dozens of minutes before going to bed and for a few minutes after waking up.

"Neko says that revenge is dark and not very popular. No, of course I think she has the bitter goodness you said."

"Wagahai, I like delicious food!"

"Haha, it's better to have something everyone likes. So I tried this, but how's it going?"

"Yes."

After reading, Shiro crossed his arms to ponder what to say. Neko and Kuro gulp.

Seeing that, Shiro laughed and raised a big thumb.

"Yes! I think it's okay!"

"……"

"Because food is popular nowadays. It's new to add an element of the time. The theme of food that goes well with rice is easy for everyone to understand, and it's perfect if you can point to a link with the old gourmet food!"

Kuro exchanged glances with Neko. Neko's blue and gold eyes sparkled with joy. It's probably the same with Kuro. It was a brilliance shared only by human beings who worked together to create one thing.

"So, let's make this a station producer."

At that moment, she rang the bedroom door.

"Shiro-kun, do you have a moment?"

"Kukuri? You can come in."

When Shiro screamed, the door opened with a noise and a girl peeked out from the other side.

Kukuri Yukizome is a student at Ashinaka High School and a resident of this dorm. Although she is not an idol, she is an important neighbor and friend of Shiro and his friends.

When Kukuri found Neko and Kuro, she laughed and waved. Then, she went to Shiro and placed the documents that she had in the holder.

"This is from the dorm keeper. I wonder if we can increase the amount of rice we deliver next."

"I see! Thank you, I will consider it positively!"

Shiro replied with a smile and started reading the documents. Ashinaka High School dormitory is a promising client of Shiro's rice business.

Kukuri looked around the room with a touch of the hand and noticed the stage in the chabudai. She made a small voice, "Ah.", and quickly looked away from it.

"Sorry, were you at work? If there's something important, I won't look at it."

Kuro and Neko looked at each other again. Knowing that they had the same opinion, they actively handed the stage over to Kukuri.

"Actually, this time we are going to do a drama. We are also in charge of the stage."

"Kukuri, read! This is how you tell us what you think!"

"Eh, yeah, okay?"

"Oh. If you like Kukuri, give us your opinion!"

Kukuri was rolling her eyes, but when she saw Kuro and Neko's overly serious attitude, she smiled. It is not a good idea to give it, but it is one of the great beauties of Kukuri that you do not hesitate too much.

"Then, I'll read it!"

Kukuri started reading the scene.

If she had a miscalculation, Kukuri didn't know how much energy Kuro and Neko had put into this scenario. The two passionate eyes accurately read the faint emotions on Kukuri's facial expressions.

After reading the scenario, Kukuri looked up and tried to say "it was interesting".

"Honestly, tell us."

The words were blocked by Kuro's direct gaze.

"Let us know. We want to make this scenario even better. We want it to be a drama that everyone can enjoy and watch! Please tell us your frank impressions!"

Kukuri regretted trying to help Neko. This is because Neko was looking at Kukuri with the same gaze.

"How was it? Was it interesting? Wasn't it interesting?"

Saying "but" here was a detour from Kukuri, which is one of the beauty spots. She can't lie if she's seriously under pressure. Even if she is visible to bring new problems.

"Oh, I'm not very familiar with historical drama, so I don't know a little..."

"......"

"Ah, but! Is it true that it was interesting? I think I am going to like this Isobe-san very much! The rice looks delicious!"

Neko lowered her eyes. Kuro didn't look down. He brought his face closer to Kukuri while he kept his eyes full of seriousness without intimidating the other party.

"Kukuri. When you found out about this drama, would you like to see it?"

Kukuri did the right thing there for the first time. She asked Shiro for help.

However, Shiro shook his head when he shook himself, with the expression "It's too late."

Kukuri thought and decided to express her impressions honestly.

"Maybe I wouldn't see it. Maybe I would see it because I know Kuro-kun, but if not, I'm not really interested in that..."

Those words made Kuro and Neko brilliantly knocked out.

Kukuri looked around her, sympathizing with Kuro, as she knelt on the ground and was caught between two people with both hands.

"Um... Kuro, I think this scenario can be left as is..."

"I'll write it again."

Oh, after all, Shiro thought. Well, he shouldn't complain because he was the one who approached Kuro to do a drama.

"Okay, Neko, Kukuri?"

"Yes, I want to do something interesting!"

"Eh?"

"From now on, the three of us will create an entertainment blockbuster that will be accepted by all! Please wait until next week! We will definitely create something that is satisfying!"

"Well, OK..."

"Okay! Neko, Kukuri, come on! First, check the materials in the library!"

"Wait a minute, why am I supposed to participate?! Oh, Wagahai-chan, don't pull!"

While discussing such things, they left the office and Shiro took out the PDA to postpone meeting with the station producer.

++++++++++

~ Synopsis ~

The time is the Edo period. Norigorou Isobe, a young samurai from the Omusubi clan, gets trapped in a mysterious warp gate and enters a different world as he travels through the country. It was modern Japan 200 years after Norigorou was there! Norigorou's comedy swordsman, who decided to open a restaurant for some reason!

"How is it?"

"How's it going?"

"I did my best!"

A week later, at the "Shirogin Record" office.

Kuro, Neko and Kukuri, who had dark circles under their eyes, handed it to Shiro, who was reading it carefully.

The addition of Kukuri was a great harvest for Kuro and Neko. As a high school student, she had more time than Kuro and Neko, and she was also an excellent administrator.

The meetings were adjusted to the free time of the three people and they used it effectively, that gave them a rich and useful time.

Combining both hands on the chabudai, Kuro said with a serious expression.

"As a result of adding Kukuri's opinion, it is easier to understand if it is a modern product. The result of combining samurai, food and modern times is the setting."

"I asked everyone in the class to read it and compare it, but they told me this is better. This samurai-san likes rice, so we named him Norigorou."

"Speaking of omsubi, it's nori after all!"

" How is it, Shiro? I want to hear your opinion."

"Yes."

After reading, Shiro crossed his arms to ponder what to say. Kuro, Neko, and Kukuri's throats were moving.

Seeing that, Shiro sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't think this will work."

"Eh?"

"What a disappointment…"

Kukuri felt the rejected. Recognizing what is shining in her eyes, Shiro clenched his fist.

"After all, the story an amateur like me thought is useless..."

"What are you saying, Kukuri! That's not true! Your idea really helped!"

"That's right, Kukuri! Even the Ashinaka students never thought that of the story. It's not Kukuri's fault…"

Neko's eyes were also deeply disappointed. Shiro hastily said.

"Wait a minute! I'm not saying this scenario is bad, but for some reason…"

"Reason? What are the circumstances?"

"Look, did you say you were going to take this project to a producer at a TV station? It seems the person is quite excited and is already starting to get serious."

The Kuro thing is striking. Kukuri is an ordinary person, and Kuro and Neko are idols, but they are unfamiliar with the dynamics of the industry.

Shiro decided to give a brief explanation.

"In short, that person is a great person and we have to listen to him as much as possible. He was able to understand the purpose of the project that idols create from scratch, but I was able to set the conditions for it."

After a heartbeat and confirming that the explanation had penetrated the three of them, Shiro continued.

"That means all three "Silver Records" idols will appear. That is also the main role."

"Three people? That means…"

"Me, Kuro and Neko."

Shiro placed the stage paper on the chabudai and placed his palm on it.

"The producer wants to attract "Shirogin Records" fans to this drama. It is a bit weak just because it was created by an idol. Yashiro Isana, Kuroh Yatogami and Miyabi Ameno, will work together and will have an active role as the main role, fans will see."

The first person to buy into the explanation was Kukuri, who was not an idol at all.

"In this scenario, only Isobe Norigorou appears as the main role, right?"

"Yes. That's exactly the problem. There must be three protagonists. It doesn't matter what the form is, but I think whether to put it in a trio or combine it in one combination and incorporate the other in another form. If you don't get it, you can't let it go how is."

Kuro crossed his arms, Neko picked up the paper from the stage and Kukuri put her hand on her chin, and they each thought.

Seeing that, Shiro changed his mind.

Of these three people, Kukuri is not an idol, but they all look at the "front" correctly. Instead of swallowing the circumstances that Shiro spoke about and complaining about, they were starting to think about how to turn it into something that suits the circumstances.

If he just does what people tell him, he doesn't have to do that little trick. It is the planners, not the idols, who have to coordinate with the conditions.

However, at the same time, beings who are simply doing what people have told them cannot be called idols.

Idol. Human norms. What is defined as such in the book "Era of Yamato Idol" which should be targeted. The definition that Daikaku Kokujoji and Reisi Munakata proclaimed was, however, slightly different from what Shiro was looking for.

The idol Shiro aspires to is simpler and anyone can understand it.

Idols are the ones that entertain people and bring smiles.

And Shiro knows that people support idols because they are serious. They have real passion, not fake. A real smile. True joy. People can enjoy watching idols because they spray those things.

Then Shiro reached out and grabbed the stage paper.

"Well, will you let me participate in setting the stage from now on?"

"Shiro?"

Shiro smiled at Kuro, who looked at himself in amazement.

"Until now, I was dedicated to coordinating roles, but when I saw them, I wanted to participate, and if it appeared, there would be many things that I would like to do."

Kuro, Neko and Kukuri laughed at the same time Shiro said with a smile.

"Oh, of course! Give us your opinion!"

"Wow, let's all talk together! Enjoy!"

"So I have to make time for the meeting again, right? Oh, but can I do that?"

"Of course! Kukuri is a good planning advisor! Rather, we'd be in trouble if she wasn't on the team!"

Kukuri was happy and smiled at Shiro's words. Shiro looked around the faces of the three enthusiastic people and said clearly.

"Let's make this project absolutely interesting! Make it a drama that everyone, our fans and non-fans alike, can enjoy watching!"

"Oh!"

At the same time, Shiro powerfully occupied the cheers. It's been a while since I've tried new things. Thinking about that, Shiro took the red pen and started writing on the stage paper.

Almost a year has passed.

++++++++++

~ Final synopsis ~

Under the guidance of Detective Omusubi Yonesuke Tawara (acting: Yashiro Isana), whose reasoning power is increased 100 times by eating omsubi, and samurai Isobe Norigorou (acting: Kuroh Yatogami), who has traveled through time since the Edo period, they go after Kaito Neko Miyabi (acting: Mayabi Ameno).

Two people start an investigation to protect the treasure of the ancient Okome civilization "Ninigi no Tears" from Neko Miyabi. However, while investigating the ruins of the ancient Okome civilization, Yone and Nori are forced into a desperate rush to purchase someone!

The Fishing Roof Is Coming! The only exit won't open unless he breaks the code! Unsurprisingly, will the two of you become addicted to rice crackers?

"Nuooh!"

With an enthusiastic voice, Isobe Norigorou pushed his hands towards the fishing ceiling.

Even for the Norigorou samurai, it is not easy to withstand the strong pressure of the multi-ton upper roof. Sweat floats on the forehead due to muscle tension and the facial expression is distorted in agony.

His partner, Yonesuke Tawara, cried out sadly.

"Nori!"

"Break the code while I support you!"

Yone took a breath for a moment at the confidence of his partner, and then took it with determination.

When he opened the furoshiki trademark, he saw an extractor that stores omsubi and seaweed separately. Wrapped in crisp seaweed, Yone sat up straight and clasped his hands!

"Crispy solution! I'll have it!"

Yone opened his mouth wide and clung to the Omusubi. The pleasant sound of the seaweed crunching and the sweetness of the rice spreading in the mouth stimulate Detective Omusubi's cerebral cortex! Yone opened his eyes and began to crack the code etched on the door with the reasoning power that jumped 100 times!

(Yes! The four characters "rice" engraved on the door! This means "88" in one! Then the numbers that apply to the code are...)

Yone stretched his arms and quickly manipulated the twelve stone dials. The moment the eight and four crosses hit the dial, a loud sound echoed and the door began to swing open to the left and right. Yone looked back and screamed.

"Nori's exit has been opened!"

"Ah... the point!"

At the same time that he relaxed his arms, Nori ran off. Due to the recoil that had been suppressed until then, the fishing ceiling was approaching with tremendous force!

And…

It was only a second after Nori walked through the door that the ceiling and floor were completely glued together and the space for a rice cracker disappeared.

"Huh. We really barely saved each other."

"Thanks to you, Nori. If you hadn't done it in time, we would be lost."

In an ominous imagination, Yone shook himself. On the other hand, Nori reveals his anger and stomps on the ground.

"Neko Miyabi! Inviting me to buy like this is a 10 million cowardice! Next time will surely land you in jail!"

"No, that is not the case."

"Eh?"

"Neko Miyabi is a criminal, but she has never hurt anyone. Perhaps this purchase was prepared by someone else."

"Whom?!"

"I don't know... but he's a dangerous person who doesn't care about human life...!"

Nori's expression was strained. Yone turned his forehead back with a serious expression and turned toward the darkness that was creeping into the ruins.

"No matter who she is, you can't give 'Ninigi's Tears' to a person like that! Come on, Nori!"

"I understood."

And the two of them start walking into the dark. No matter what danger is there, they will never panic. Because Yonesuke Tawara and Norigorou Isobe are Omusubi detectives who love peace and rice.

"Great, great!"

The headmaster's voice rang out, and Shiro and Kuro stopped at the same time.

"Hmm.", Kuro exhaled. The staff rushed over and wiped away his sweat. He had to keep this sweat off before his next turn. Physical control is the most important task for an actor.

As he was leaving the set, the director stood up and greeted him.

"Great, Shiro-chan, Kuro-chan! As expected, the filming is fine!"

"Yes, thanks!"

"I'm glad."

Shiro waved his hand with a smile, and Kuro turned to the headmaster and bowed politely.

That fold is the reason why the role of "Isobe Norigorou" played by him became very popular. Very modern samurai are widely accepted, especially among the middle-aged.

"Now, next is cut 4 from scene 8! Neko, are you ready?"

"Yes, yes! Of course, Wagahai is always a blast!"

Neko in a Venetian mask replied cheerfully. Yone and Nori's rival, youkai.

She plays Neko Miyabi and is extremely popular with young people due to the gap between her and her usual life.

"3, 2, 1, Action!"

Along with the director's scream, Neko who has become Neko Miyabi stands on a telephone pole and laughs. Shiro whispered softly as he looked at her.

"It's been almost a year."

"Oh. I was wondering what would happen at first, but I'm still here."

There was a reason why Kuro was deeply moved.

"Crisp Solution! Detective Omusubi Yone & Nori! This drama was finally given that name. The setting was that a time-traveling gourmet samurai and a modern gourmet detective would work together to solve a difficult case, starting from the frame 15 minutes to midnight.

When they heard the news that the popular idol unit "HAKU ☆ MAI" would be appearing in a self-made drama, most of the audience reaction was "Are they sane?". Also, as an example, it was only accepted that the president, Yashiro Isana, could have started something strange.

However, contrary to expectations, "Yone & Nori" gradually increased in popularity.

The reason may be that "HAKU ☆ MAI" was originally popular with fans, it may be the three people who continue to act enthusiastically even though it is a night frame, and it may be a strange but attractive character.

Perhaps it was a terrible but uncertain scenario.

But Shiro knows the real reason.

That's because they were enjoying this drama. They do everything in their power to do and perform. People are drawn to her brilliance.

It has been a year since we started the project. "Yone & Nori", which started in the middle of the night, was finally about to enter the golden frame.

"One term is fine! Neko, thank you!"

"Yes, thanks!"

Neko hurried to run as she waved a smile. The bright smile is just that of an idol.

Shiro greets Neko with a smile.

"Thanks, Neko. The acting was really good!"

"Thanks! It's great, Wagahai is also excited. Oh, I'm always excited, right? Today is special!"

"Ah, I know."

"More than that, will we have a celebration with Kukuri after this? You haven't forgotten!"

"Oh. It seems that Kukuri has already arrived at the office. Let's tell her that we will head there when we finish the recording."

Since the beginning of the whole story, Kukuri has been involved in "Shirogin Record" as a manager and stage assistant only for this drama. Once, Shiro was half-seriously asked if she could enter the "Shirogin Registry", but Kukuri herself wanted to be a normal girl.

"Hey, Neko-chan. Can you watch the video, please?"

The director told Neko. Neko looked back, cheerfully replied, "Yes!", and went.

"Well Kuro. It's our turn again. Do you remember the lines?"

"It's natural. This is the scene I thought of."

With that said, Kuro walked to the set and fluttered.

"Thank you, Shiro."

Shiro tilted his head and asked.

"What did I do?"

"I thank you for bringing me this project a year ago. Without that, I wouldn't be on stage right now. I was just doing what I could, that's how I felt."

Kuro smirked as he looked at Shiro.

"Appearing in a drama. Creating a setting. It takes courage to try new things, but it's not scary with you either."

"Yes."

Shiro smiled and replied.

"But this is not the end. There are still many possibilities in front of us! There are endless things you can get hooked on and get serious about. Find them and look at them again. Let's challenge them together."

"Oh, it's true."

In front of Kuro and the others, the possibility of the lack of color is expanding. It has the potential to be stained in any color.

They will continue to make sure of that possibility one by one. That was the path of idols that Kuro found.

"Come on. All the staff and fans are waiting!"

"Yes! Let's do the best performance!"

Shiro and Kuro laughed at each other and proceeded to the dazzling lighting.

#k #k project #k six idols #six idols #idol k

[upfrog]

So I finished reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

This isn’t so much a review, as an attempt to cement some of my thoughts, and to at least write something down, the better that I will not look back in a year and not be able to remember a thing of what I thought of HPMOR. But overall... that was quite a thing.

HPMOR is long. Longer (by word count, which isn’t a perfect method of judging this) than War and Peace, the normal benchmark for “really long books”. I don’t consider getting through it to be an accomplishment, in the sense of say, getting through Homestuck, though maybe that’s only because I have tried, and failed to do the latter several times. It may also be because the plot is, for all it’s time travel and scientific tangents, less complex than Homestuck. I do not expect it to stick in my mind the way the canonical books do. While I do not consider them to be high literature, the canonical Harry Potter books, in addition to being entirely an entirely decent story, had a certain... Depth, of sorts, to them. Some of this may come from the midi-chlorian effect; the workings of magic are never discussed greatly in the canonical books, but much of HPMOR Harry’s efforts are devoted to understanding magic from a scientific perspective. I think it is more likely that it is because HPMOR simply had a more limited scope.

HPMOR set out to be a puzzle, an encouragement of rational thought patterns, a demonstration of how they might be applied to great benefit. And it does this. While potential plot holes and inconsistencies exist, it does this fairly well on the whole. But there isn’t that much beneath it, at least not that I have seen. It’s a good enough story, and the way it chooses to fill in the unfinished coloring book of Rowling’s world creates a compellingly interesting universe, albeit not a pleasant one. It has some good humor at some parts (more on that later), many clever moments, and some moments that are, frankly, just plain awesome, though these often contribute to the monstrously overpowered being that Harry is. Both versions shared the core theme of (spoiler warning: the rest of this paragraph. If you’re interested, I’d really advise you to just read it so that you don’t have the dramatic tension reduced) Harry ultimately triumphing by virtue of who he is. Triumphing by being, as we would describe it, a better human being than his opponent. The difference is that in the canonical books, this is a much more theological process. By the final book, Rowling is pretty much bashing us over the head with a crucifix. I still maintain that, unless the hill you wish to die on is unmarried teen snogging, declaring Harry Potter as heresy for the simple fact that it includes magic is to foolishly ignore the veritable flood of Christian messaging the books contain. I thought I’d made a post about that, but apparently not, so I’ll divert myself to that briefly. 

Spoilers for the whole canonical Harry Potter main series in the following paragraph:

The entire story is based on an innocent child who was permitted to live because of the intensely real power and protection offered by the selfless sacrifice of another to protect said child. So there, straight off the bat, right in the premise. And then in the 7th book, Harry does the exact same thing, but more so, and pretty much pulls an Aslan, “dying” willingly to protect others, but not by this being truly killed. And it’s not like the Christian messaging in Narnia is obscure. And at the end of the first Harry Potter book, Dumbledore, the most “good guy” character that the series has to offer goes off explaining how “to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure”. Then, in no particular order, having not done anything like a read through specifically looking out for these: the primacy of the soul over the physical, the specifically soul-corrupting nature of evil and killing, the power of redemption and forgiveness, the ultimate triumph of good over evil, the concept of powers that, while attainable, will damage your soul forever, and the existence of life after death. Anyway, back to the main matter.

HPMOR lacks any semblance of this depth (not that this is the deepest thing in the world mind), at least that I have been able to detect, and this makes it a lesser story to me.

The first ten or so chapters of HPMOR were pretty great as comedy. Harry constantly befuddling the wizarding world, and being befuddled by it, makes for some great laughs. Later on it undergoes a pretty significant tone change, and I had a very hard time adjusting to it, and enjoying the latter portion (which makes up most of the fic) for what it is. I did ultimately reach that point, but it was jarring.

This fic has some pretty obscure references. Have any of y’all read “Negima!?”? The author of this fic has. ( or at least, he’s watched some of the show.) It also had an offhanded reference to Madoka Magica, which is less obscure, but I still appreciate it. 

HPMOR Harry just keeps on getting more and more powers. (potential spoilers ahead, less severe): It seems like every month he’s making some discovery of how to do something that the entire wizarding world “knows” is totally impossible. It makes a certain sense, in context, but it certainly does contribute to some Mary Sue-like feeling. But on the other hand, Harry routinely oversteps his cleverness, failing to think things through enough, missing obvious points that would have counter-indicated his action. And some of the consequences are rather severe, so I don’t knock too many points off for it. Harry is powerful, but he is also rather a child genius in this telling, and all things considered, most of his discoveries don’t seem too ridiculous. 

I earlier mentioned that the world HPMOR painted was rather interesting. It (mostly) doesn’t directly contradict the wizarding world as portrayed in the common, but it does color in many of the blanks, and this author paints in dark colors. Wizarding britain, as portrayed in HPMOR, would be considered barbaric to most of the people reading this. Or perhaps it would merely be considered “medieval”. It certainly has some things going for it. It is portrayed as a place with relatively little history of institutional sexism, or racism amongst wizards. Even the stodgiest pure bloods find it silly to discriminate based on skin color. Wizarding Britain sees little wrong with homosexuality, and it is entirely un-taboo. But things get worse from there.

It is implied, or at least, I took away the message from my last reading some years ago, that the Wizarding power structure in the canonical books is... incompetent. That the benchmark of being a “fully qualified” witch or wizard does not in fact entail very much true competency, and many of the more powerful figures are somewhat dumb. HPMOR confirms this, and brings it into the light, offering more examples of just how useless most wizards are in matters non-magical. Wizarding Britain is controlled by an incompetent government, which is primarily controlled by one or several “Noble and Most Ancient House(s)”. The extent of Lucius Malfoy’s influence is brought up often in the canonical books, and the same is true here. This is a world where (minor spoiler for something before chapter 10-ish) a young noble raping a girl, and yes, girl is the proper noun here, repeatedly, and getting away with it indefinitely, is an open secret. Where this young noble’s security is secured by: a) the victim and her families’ fear of his familial power, b) memory charms, and c) a court system where the interests of the Noble Houses are often a primary concern. 

Wizarding news is minimal, and it seems to primarily toe the ministry (which is to say, aristocratic) line, save for the Quibbler, which... on the whole, isn’t great news either. There is no particular concept of a fair trial at play in this world, especially if your crime was committed against a noble house. Less than three days investigation is considered enough to go from crime to a sentence of ten years in Azkaban. And then there’s Azkaban itself. For all it is a prominent feature in the books, and Dumbledore’s opposition to it is often mentioned, Azkaban doesn’t get much light shone on it in the canonical books. This is likely in part because it is such an incredibly, ridiculously cruel place that it becomes very difficult for many of us muggles to imagine it being an appropriate punishment for anyone. I won’t go into great detail, but there are very few crimes capable of causing enough pain that, even working from a perspective of vengeance, instead of justice or rehabilitation, it becomes very difficult to mathematically justify Azkaban. 

To clarify, by mathematically justify, I mean, what percent of the pain a criminal inflicts by his misdeed can fairly be unleashed upon the criminal as punishment. Is a beating a proper punishment for beating someone? What about two beatings? Or three? At what point does the severity of the punishment become so much greater than that of the crime that it stops being sensible? If you slapped me, would I, absent any concerns about self defense or ensuring my future safety, be justified in immediately shooting you? Or boiling you? Or beating you to death? The murders who are so successful that we stop calling them murders and start calling them statesmen might have a shot at a mathematically (if not necessarily ethically) justifiable cell in Azkaban. For everyone else, it’s pretty difficult. And in both versions of the story, wizarding justice is NOT perfect. Innocent people go to Azkaban, and are exposed to this as well. Azkaban is pretty terrible, and most of the wizarding world just sort of... accepts it.

Anyway, I probably have more to say, but I really need to wrap this up. This probably wasn’t very coherent, so sorry about that. 

#HPMOR #Harry Potter #book review #ish #upfrog speaks

[radicalrave]

Ok, I'm going to present one of list of most favorite anime/manga/light novel series in mosaic in chronological order and will give reasons why I love series and made it on the list.

Reason being is cuz my tastes have changed over time and some series aged well and some didn't, and you'll see why that is when I give my thoughts and reasons.

However, I will give an honorable mention on here, since it won't show up on here. You'll come to see my patrician tastes as 4chan delicately likes to put it haha (yes, I'm a channer and I love trolling with the kids there hahaha that place is information gold that's real and legit.)

1.) Evangelion: Let's face it, this is like most people from the 90's top selection. Not only is it vintage for being around for 20 years and iconically dark for a dark shounen (boy's) series, it left a major impact on the industry and the world in ways that most people, even I underestimated. Infact, I'd venture out to say that this series has aged perfectly well compared to lots of others during its time period. It has definitely aged far better compared to Cowboy Bebop and Betterman and all of it's contemporary peers in the competition back in the day. Infact, we're a few years ahead of that series now, which is strange cuz most of us probably didnt expect to see life past 2010 and 21 hahaha. As a whole, this series was far better compared to everyone else. Now, admittedly, it was dark and has some themes that provoke good questions for society at the time in terms of "what if's." At the time, you can tell that the director was a major nihilist and didn't like the direction the world was going, and you can basically see that in his work here. I know I don't have much to say about this series and it does sound like a weak biased argument and apologize for that, but in all honesty, it's done one thing that most series in the 90's was capable of doing: Stand well against the test of time. THAT's what made it impressive. Even though lots of stuff in it are very much obsolete and clunky now. I mean... all that clunky stuff... its hard to believe we used to live in an ugly world like that at one point in time.

2.) FLCL: Now, I'll admit, it IS overhyped and overrated. I sometimes still can't see the big deal behind it, but I will say this, for a 6 episode mini series, it's directed well with excellent art direction all around on the topic of growing up and coming of age. Back then, it did look very mature and course, but now that I'm older, it's definitely a kids series which was admittedly a bit too edgy and dark for it's time, but, I think could have done better had it been more balanced out being a bit more colorful and lighter instead of darker.

I suppose at that time when pop punk and me was going around that time, and correct me if I'm wrong here, I believe Japan was going thru an economic crisis at the time, which is probably why there was such a negative foul air over the future and industry of Japan and the world as a whole at the time, politically and economically speaking.

The series can be a bit of a cool watch if you're into that era of time, but I would venture to say it's one of those that I'd definitely like to keep in my library, along with stuff like Super Milk Chan and anything else that popped up at that time. It was progressive in it's own way coming off very gritty and crunchy in it's own sense if you understand what I mean about the rough comic aesthetic that it gave off at that time.

3.) Gurren Lagan: This was one of the last Gainax series before they ended up closing shop, and not to mention, progressed past it's predecessors in being extremely fast paced. I loved the art and direction and it was fast paced that had excellent action scenes and novel epic art. However, my main qualms about this series, is that it should have just been 1 season long. I feel that it failed past the time skip in the last 10 episodes and should have crunched the last episode into episode 13, therefore, preserving and making it a quality series holistically instead of being watered down and suffering overtime like Death Note did after volume 7 when L died. In Bakuman, you can tell that Ohba and Obata (Ashirogi Muto) when they made their (Death Note; It's obvious people) that they wanted to end it there to preserve its quality as an art as a whole so that it doesnt suffer, unfortunately, the editorial and the shuisa jump magazine pushed for it, which is why we got a weird asspull with Mello and Near after, and you can see how they wanted to end Death Note with this.)

Now, Gurren Lagan, I liked the direction, it was ok, but it also had some misses too over time. It wasnt perfect, but the direction was fresh for it's time. However... personally speaking, if I were to replace this with another series that deserves an honorable mention, and it's directed by one of my current favorite directors in the industry right now, it's Re: Cutie Honey, based on Go Nagai's manga back in the 70's as one of the first and original magical girls to come and pop up with it's modern digital groovy colorful and psychedelic disco aesthetic. I really loved the direction and way it came out and would love to endorse how much I love the direction behind these kinds of aesthetics in anime and manga. Personally, I'd like to see both modern and old school and see how they age 10-30 years from now, just like alot of series I grew up with over the yeras. This however, is NOW 10 years old and remember when it first came out and the internet and DA was all big about it with Ryoko and all that, but I admit that it was a bit overhyped, I like it, it was a bit sometimes edgy and weird, the weird was ok, edgy, at least it wasnt but it would have been better had it been toned down even with coolness and make it more cartoonier and it would have definitely succeeded. The final fight scene in the series is the best and loved it and wished that it ended sooner than it did, then the series would have ended perfectly. The last 10 episodes of that season was watered down, the plot was weakened and honestly wasnt a big fan after that. It's one of those 7/10 that could have been a 9/10 in my book.

4.) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: THIS. THIS SERIES IS BY FAR THE BEST THAT HAS CAME OUT IN THE PAST 3 DECADES! What's frustrating is that it was poorly marketed, underrated and poorly localized. It is by far one of the best directed anime series of all time that I haven't seen been topped off or progressed in yeras. The closes to it is the Monogatari series which is based off the light novel series and directed by the same director who took up the project. You can tell by the direction with the slides and the timing of the scene changes. Zetsubou however was fresh, creative for it's time and progressive and to this day, I still consider to be and supposed to be the future of anime and manga.

Based off the manga series by iconic mangaka Koji Kumeta, Kumeta was one of those guys who taught me how important critical tone and dialogue is when it comes to witty batter and writing when it comes to screenplay, writing and manga and the guy lets his frustrations out with gusto. I haven't seen anyone come as close to how good this guy is as a writer other than Sorachi of Gintama fame, who is also one of my top and favorite mangaka of all time. As a quality series as a whole, I also put it up there with Death Note, but much higher. I like his simplistic art style that he has adopted past his earlier works and the art style that changes over time that sticks out and can tell, it's his. and both the writing and the art compliment each other well perfectly with excellent satirical critical tones. You can tell that his writing style is pervasive in Joshiraku, Impatient Count and the Time Thief and toned down in his latest work Kakushigoto. (Yes, I'm a huge fan of this guy who is underrated and not well known and honestly wish he would get better credit than he currently deserves and is by far one of the best creative driving forces in the industry I have ever come across.)

What makes this series tick out and perfect art the gags and the dark truth satirical tones this series takes. The characters are original and fresh and very likable, memorable and have a charm that makes them attractive. Basically, the way he designed them holistically is far better compared to anything that Akamatsu of Love Hina and Negima has done and basically executes his work with excellent precision. The topics the teacher brings up are interesting and basically rags on everything that annoys him as he and his students debate about life topics in and out of school. You can say its like a modern high school version of charlie brown peanuts with a bit of a Tim Burton feel to it, but not as macabre and also somewhat cute. I like how he questions politics and law as well in this work of his and perfectly concludes it with 300 chapters in 30 volumes with a pretty comical yet grim ending that people will come to remember as a holistically quality work worth keeping and remembering for the years to come. This ended about roughly 5 years ago, so it has been around for quite a while the past 12 years and has done a good job aging for that generation of people who were around for the Haruhi and Lucky Star hype back then. This one is easily a 9 or 10/10, cuz its that good.

Localizing may be tough, but its best to appreciate it for what it is. Its still never came over here considering how good it was back then, but I can still see it as future of anime kind of things.

5.) Tatami Galaxy: Now this one is admittedly a bit pretentious with being known as a fast talking anime series for an older audience set in a university setting. I love the art direction, but the theme is kind of redundant, but it can be fun to watch. It's based off a light novel series which apparently gets alot of positive critical attention overseas, but the direction for the anime, you can say that its equivalent to the speed of the voices for the dubbing of Speed Racer back then. Having seen Speed Racer in it's original intended language, I love it far more and it's more natural and relaxed and presented in the way that it was meant to be and honestly, I loved it.

This however, is one of those ones if you want an articulate post modern art college watch and want to kick back and relax, as it can be somewhat confusing as he goes back in time alot and redoes things with every episode till the last episode. You can equate it to that of Haruhi's 2nd season of the Endless 8 arc where the same exact thing except presented differently in each episode is done, but this was better, and was probably one of the biggest trolls in anime history of all time. It CAN be pretentious but it isn't completely per se either.

6.) Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: OK... I lied... THIS is one of the best progressive anime series with best art direction of all time. It's very western animation influenced in western cartoon format and very colorful. To me, THIS is what I'd still consider and call the future of anime and still should be looked at as such. Here are reasons why. It's simple, not in depth or edgy and dark, but it was just completely perfect all around to the point that it seriously does deserver a 10/10 in my book. Hands down.

Lasting only one season with a trolling cliffhanger, it is one of the best episodic series I have come to watch and enjoy as an anime series of all time and wish that more anime would adopt the kind of aesthetic this series brought to the table. Aside from probably being the LAST Gainax series before the director went on to form Trigger the upcoming years with Kill la Kill, Kiznaiver and currently airing Little Witch Academia, it stood out for it's colorful art direction and cartoony feel that it had which I feel most anime SHOULD have. Despite the history of anime and manga being heavily western influenced by Disney and the country's earliest calligraphy and erotic paintings and shunga back in the pre modern times.

Now, it IS raunchy and not for kids, so let me emphasize when I say that when you watch the dubs or the original with liberal subs, it can be taken out of context at times, but still... it is very raunchy and not really kid friendly, the context in its original language is admittedly very crude, but not as crude as the liberals and americans tend to portray it here theatrically in its direction. Infact, it's so Raunchy, Adult Swim CAN'T air it here in the states, considering that AS is mostly for kids and teens in the day and age and not really adult shows. I've seen adult series and honestly, alot of what I posted aren't considered as such, This one is more like teens and older adult with childish and kid like theatrics and appeal which is what I really like about it. So... its probability for one of those extremely leftist liberal families that are cool with sitting with their kids and educating and explaining content to their kid with guidance so they can be mature NOT to do or say those things that is presented on here, but realistically, the statical odds of things like that are extremely small to most likely less than 1%.

Admittedly, it DOES need a 2nd season and there is a following and demand for it, considering the way it had ended 7 years ago in Christmas of 2010. It's one of my favorite art directions at the time for cool stuff like Danganronpa, No More Heroes or Mad World, lots of games with colorful comic noir aesthetics like that and is honestly at the top of my list as one of the best landmarking and progressive anime series of this decade that to this day, STILL hasn't been topped off at all. It's easily a 10/10 in my book, so do watch with discretion.

7.) Eccentric Family: This one, I caught this one a bit late. This is from the same writer of the Tatami Galaxy Novel series and illustrated by Koji Kumeta of Zetsubou Sensei fame, so you can see I have a bit of my biases of my favorite people in the industry who team up and work together on different projects, this is one of them.

The plot is very simple and not complex and its not deep or edgy. It's quirky and fun with some colorful playful humor with alot of Japanese folktale lore presented in modern day japan. This series is very reminiscent to that of Paranoia Agent and has features that are similar to it, though unfortunately Satoshi Kon hasn't been with us since his passing in 2010. What's great about this is that a 2nd season has been green lit this year and will be airing this year, so you will be on time to hop on and enjoy the ride with the rest of us on this fun and quirky ride of tanukis and tengu.

8.) Kill la Kill: I'm sorry but I'm majorly biased cuz I love Ryuko chan and would love to wife her as my waifu obviously. But joking aside:

Kill la Kill is currently Trigger's most popular magnus opus in the industry right now and one of their earliest works. They have put out some stuff before they put this one out. They later ended up putting out Space Patrol Luluco and Kiznaiver at the same time last year which both performed well, but never outshined Kill la Kill to this day and so far, Little Witch Academia with a few OVAs the past few years and currently airing is expected to be the next big magnus opus that will outshine it. I can see it and like how kid friendly it is and it can't, mostly for the semi nudity and side boob that it shows. Not that that's a problem, but lots of conservatives will have a problem with it and can lose an audience because of things like that when marketed and presented to the public.

It's one of the first project after the director formed it after working on Panty and Stocking and did other shorts such as Sex, Violence and Machspeed, which is a knockoff of Panty and Stocking with a different comic noir aesthetic and were cameoed in Space Patrol Luluco along with Sucy from Little Witch Academia.

This series is a semi kids series and love it and would love to own the anime BDs for sure. There are subtle hints of politics in this series in terms of life fiber and alliances in the series. It's NOT the best but its decent and ok and not as progressive or articulate compared to the others I have mentioned on here, and had it tried to be progressive in the timeline trying to progress past them as a quality art, it would have definitely succeeded as a 10/10 and mostly gets roughly an 8 or 7 out of 10. 8 cuz I'm being nice and love Ryuko, but thats not an excuse or reason to give it an extra point.

The plot was simple, it wasnt that deep or edgy or dark, its somewhat colorful and cartoony is what I like about it and its not raunchy or explicit showing nipples or anything, its simple. It can be seen as for adults and older teens, its basically a coming of age for girls outgrowing their high school years and questions the nature of humans in society.

It can be seen for kids, but mostly kids at the age of 10, but I can see it definitely see it being coarse. Now, it's not as course and raunchy and tantalizing compared to To Love Ru which is indeed raunchy in a good light and thankfully not disgusting, but there's easter eggs that you'll see in the art and expression of the series where you'll see exposed areas in the reflection of the series that bypasses the censorship laws in japan for manga and anime on tv to the point that Yabuki has been taken to court a few times because of upset parents. Basically, he would literally draw in very subtle stuff like a vagina and clitoris in the reflections in the art and would be easily overlooked and most people even editorial wouldn't notice but bypassed censorship laws that not even hentai artists could do. I remember a documentary of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations when he went to Japan and sat with the mangaka who invented the tentacle rape to bypass Japanese censorship laws because of a loophole he noticed and exploited.

Same here, but he used reflections instead of blatant exposure. So if you read the series, if you look at water drops, metal reflectors or bubbles and mirrors, you will definitely be seeing vagina, penises and clitoris that you aren't allowed to be seeing and are outlawed on Japanese media but only because its bypassed censorship laws by exploiting a loophole found. This was noticed in To Love Ru Darkness, and the story behind it was kind of sad and understandable as Yabuki went thru a divorce with his wife who caused him trouble and left him being a single parent, so it was in a sense of him retaliating and venting off his anger and frustration off of society and pushed the border which gave him the name (madman yabuki.) He is known for his earlier work Black Cat which ended prematurely on 20 volumes last decade and is the main artist and collaborates with the writer of the series. But is known to be raunchy and cleanly tantalizingly provocative for sure.

So there is debate, its questionable, its hard to categorize and tell at times (sorry, psychology talk here) but its definitely memorable for Ryuko and the trigger studio for putting another quality series out there. Personally, had the plot, direction and writing been better with better art direction all round in being progressive, it could have easily gotten a 10/10 in presenting something in a way that's unique and in a way that's yet to have been done before, there aren't much annoying tropes which I liked about it, but still, had they done better research, worked harder and didnt half assed it and outperformed, I would definitely have been raving about it for yeras to come and age well to landmark and progress the timeline of the industry's history.

9.) Last but not least, SPACE DANDY: I LOVE THIS SERIES. IT's colorful, brilliant, hip and amazing all around and definitely Watanabe's best work as an anime director the past 20 years. This series definitely outshines any work he's done with Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo combined by giving it a colorful and quirky cartoony feel and making it enjoyable and fun to watch that's not dark, but it's unique and experimental in the story telling models and style of series for what it was. Rather, it wasn't episodic, but there was lots of academic themes in science and philosophy that are mentioned alot that surpasses sci fi in the past which is WHY it's currently his best work, It's brilliant touching up on topics such as physics and mathematics, the pure sciences and talks about stuff such as different dimension, time travel, and the like and he does it in such a way that its excecuted perfectly and enjoyable to watch all around as a holistic watch. Over time, Ic an see it aging well for the next 10-15 yeras, depending on how society, literature, thought and technology goes and progresses over time. Its definitely watanabes best and creative work, even though he has experimented and messed with mixing things up with different cultures and time periods, this however, was not so much as by the book, but he takes that and applies it and get creative and makes it better and doesnt try too hard like he did in the past, but keeps it simple. THAT shows true mastery. Its similar to that of Ashirogi Muto's current project Platinum End. By the book, but applied and creative past that, and that's exactly what Dandy did. Though, his work after Dandy; Terror in Resonance, was his weakest and bad project and waste of funding since it was a culmination of everything that happened the past 2 decades all rolled up in one and dont consider it creative or great at all in all honest and one of his weakest efforts as a director.

I enjoy it far more than bebop, bebop wasnt as great as I got older, mostly because I realized that Spike was a loser asshole who basically had an affair with someone else's woman and basically caused a shit storm over selfish ambition and in all honesty, dont consider him cool in the least, but rather, just a complete fucking asshole who thinks he's cool when he won't admit it when in all honesty, he's really the bad guy in all this and all this plot would have been avoided, had he not been such a complete fucking prick (yeah, school teaches you to think very differently.) Dandy on the other hand may be a loser, but he's a loser with a good heart and good ambitions whose kind of like Gintoki, not as good or cool, but he has his own charm which is what makes him great. Dandy is indeed, one of the better works of his career and catalogue and very proud to say that this is something that I'd own in my library on BD for sure. It's tough to give this a 9 or 10 out of 10. I'd say 9.5, but for the sake of rounding off and keeping it simple and as to how much I liked it and trying my best NOT to be biased, I'll just be lazy and keep it simple and say that this series deserves a 10/10 for not just being what I mentioned earlier, but because this series offers alot of variety and diversity like Bakuman did, and you can tell that Watanabe experimented and exercised alot of new things and tried many many things that made this series so great. It's down to earth, kept simple, fun, colorful and enjoyable and definitely one of those realistic satire that did question and bring up things in today's societal issues.

My advice, don't get put off by Boobies which is like Hooters, keep it simple and don't get too deep or complex about it, thats where you go wrong already for critical analysis, keep it simple and say that it also keeps in touch with reality when it comes to human nature and the true nature of the world all around us that the truth is, nobody really knows anything at all in a socially constructed society that we all in this day and age live in consciously and unconsciously. That's what makes it a very great series in general. I'd consider it a family friendly series which is why I give it a 10/10. It's not disgusting, provocatively grotesque and raunchy, but very clean, fun, comical and enjoyable for ALL ages. No matter what culture or where you're from.

10.) Honorable Mention.

OK, I'm getting tired, but this one HAD to be mentioned cuz it's really good and deserves a mention:

Monogatari Series. I had a hard time choosing between this and Eccentric Family. Both are not well known and obscure, but... I decided to give it to Eccentric, because its not as popular, so it was hard to choose between the two.

Based on a currently ongoing and popular Light Novel series, the series follows around young Arrarragi, who basically becomes a half vampire after getting bit by one. What makes this series stick out is the dialogue and relationships he has. There's lots of drama and interaction but done in the intelligent and pretentious way. Not as pretentious as Tatami Galaxy, but you can tell it can be.

It is directed by the same guy who directed the Zetsubou Sensei anime, so you can tell with the slides and screens and timing the series has with it's own unique style and aesthetic. Now, what I really love about this series is the girls he talks to, their curses and the art direction. It's beautiful. I love how articulate and artsy it can be and you can tell its pretentious, but its not annoying or smug about it. It tries to keep it simple, but some characters are alike that. I'm a huge fan of the series, I love how it's progressing and indecisive it can be. Its got its own feel but can be cartoony and you can tell what references they refer to.

I love this series alot, so far, it's got a good 7 or 8 out of 10 from me. I'd definitely like to buy the novels and books if localized, but its definitely one of those honorable mentions that needs to be put out there cuz of how good it is and the staff involved in the project behind it and really enjoy it for what it is. Its good art watch if you want something progressive. It is somewhat progressive but still doesnt top off zetsubou sensei, its kind of the same but more artsy... they're both artsy... but int heir own way and comes later, but in my opinion not as good, but its still good and doesnt lack. I really love the dialogue and interaction in this which is what makes it enjioyable to watch.

And that's it... its alot but I will post more later. I will post a favorite of favorite manga/anime adaptations. It'll be stuff like One Piece, Gintama, Death Note, Bakuman, Rurouni Kenshin, My Hero Academia, D. Gray Man, Assassination Classroom, Hunter x Hunter, FMA, Yuyu Hakusho and Embalming: Another tale of Frankenstein. They're mostly Jump series as you can tell, but I like them alot and enjoy them a great deal and will give my thoughts and opinions of them later on. Thanks all.

#evangelion #flcl #GurrenLagan #Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei #tatami galaxy #Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt #pantyandstocking #eccentric family #kill la kill #Space Dandy

[animeindoblog-blog]

UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ – An Impossible Task, Done Fine-ish

New Post has been published on https://animeindo.org/blog/2017/12/24/uq-holder-mahou-sensei-negima-2-an-impossible-task-done-fine-ish/

UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ – An Impossible Task, Done Fine-ish

A rare battle scene where no one’s naked.

Akamatsu Ken manga are notoriously difficult to adapt. Unlike, say, Arakawa Hiromu, whose manga can damn near be used as storyboards, Akamatsu-sensei takes too many diversions, adds too many characters, takes too long getting to the point, and adds in too many chapters that seem like (and occasionally are) just silly fluff. The end result as a manga is delightful—his action is stirring, his comedy is hilarious, and he can deftly switch between world-ending drama and goofy romcom hijinks in the middle of a scene—but too much of it depends on the particular eccentricities of manga, which don’t always translate comfortably to anime. (Ex: he’s a master of slipping extra side comments into a panel that are super hilarious, but which would eat up too much time in an anime.) His stories amble toward their ultimate conclusions, but the entire trip really is important. Without it, you’re getting a shell of a story. The only real way to adapt an Akamatsu Ken manga properly is to adapt every single chapter, even the ones that don’t seem important, because they are. But no one greenlights 100+ episodes for a fantasy action ecchi romcom epic battle anime. Not anymore.

So UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ was saddled with an impossible task. A task I had a feeling was impossible even before I read the manga, and now that I’ve caught up on it, I realize how right I was. How much I undersold the herculean task, if anything. With the heavy lore/characters of Negima intertwining with the new UQ Holder additions—not to mention it needing to serve not only as a sequel to Negima, but to in some ways make up for and finish Negima’s original story, which was cut short—this is a bear of a manga to adapt.

So. How’d they do?

Fine. It didn’t end up being a good anime, but given the task the anime team did a decent job. For non-manga readers, this adaptation covered (loosely) 134 chapters of manga, which—I mean, how were they going to do that well? Other than trying to do far less, which would have been my pitch, even if the stopping point they were trying to get to was a good one. Like I said, Akamatsu Ken stories tend to meander, and this one does it even more so than Negima or Love Hina. (Okay, actually less than Love Hina, but that was so much lighter on plot that you could stop almost anywhere.)

There are certain decisions that I find unforgivable, chief among them the absence of Santa. For non-manga readers, I’ll only say that leaving out Santa is like leaving out Kotarou in the original Negima anime, and was likely done for similar reasons—but it can’t all be haremettes. I mean, it can be if that’s the plan, but c’mon! Santa, as Kotarou was before him, is vital to the plot! Did you notice how Albireo Imma (Ku:nel Sanders) was conspicuously absent from the final fight? That’s because Santa wasn’t there to fight him, and without Santa, Albiereo would have wrecked havoc on the others and Team Negi-Ialda would have easily won. Leaving him out is especially unforgivable because it was so easy to fix—even if you’re not doing his arc, just have him be part of UQ Holder from the beginning, like Ikku was. It wouldn’t be the same, but at least he’d be there.

Other deleted characters had huge impacts on the story, Dana chief among them. Though it really comes down to what always happens when you try to condense 134 chapters into 12 episodes: all context is lost. The connections are lost. Nothing makes sense, because all the connective tissue that makes this (admittedly convoluted) plot work in stretched-out manga form was completely absent here. Does an anime-only viewer know why Touta is so important, other than the clone thing? Because that alone isn’t the reason. It’s what that means that is important. But we never hear about it. Without that, their plan to beat Negi-Ialda doesn’t make sense, because they don’t really have one. Which makes sense, since the battle comes so quickly after other events that it’s not like they had time to grapple with the danger upon them.

Other problems are easier to fix, such as the piss-poor animation. It doesn’t look like UQ Holder got much in the way of budget, and it shows. Then there was the pacing, which is very difficult to get right. I think Akamatsu anime need a gifted comedy director at the helm, because one of Akamatsu-sensei’s greatest strengths is that he lays out scenes and uses the pacing of a hijinks-filled romcom, even if he’s writing a bunch of action—which is to say, UQ Holder needs the energy of a romcom for the story to work. This anime never had that. Which is somewhat surprising since Suzuki Youhei has some good credits to his name, but maybe it wasn’t enough to make up for the everliving rush, or the lack of budget hurt him here too.

The funny thing is that this adaptation is a classic case of hitting a lot of the memorable moments/images, but neutering them by not understanding or conveying the connections that made them so memorable originally. It’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice thinking—just get Batman in that metal suit and the fanboys will go wild, it doesn’t matter if none of it makes sense!—where as long as you hit the right scenes then it should all work out. Which is extra crazy, since Akamatsu-sensei himself did series composition for this anime! So maybe he knew too much, or more likely, there was just no way to put all the connections in. Not with twelve episodes and a shit budget. This anime was doomed as soon as they decided to adapt up to ch134 in a single cour. Everything else was just deciding on the particular flavor of failure—though prioritizing contextless action and harem hijinks probably didn’t help. Once again: RIP Santa. You were missed.

But in the end, this was probably 80% of as good of an adaptation as this anime was ever going to get, once they made that initial (fatal) decision to adapt so much. That’s not exactly praise, it’s just a hard assessment of the truth. They were screwed from that decision, so the fact that they more or less kept the wheels on—and some changes even kind of worked, as long as you don’t think too much about the gaping plotholes they left—is impressive in a way. Things threatened to fall apart in the last two episodes though, and that weird 3-A dream sequence in the middle of the last battle was pretty pointless.

I wouldn’t recommend the UQ Holder anime to anyone, but the manga is still good. Take the time to read it if you haven’t yet. It’s time well spent. I just wish the anime team had taken more time, so they could luxuriate in those early chapters, rather than speeding toward failure.

Now, I’m going to end on some comments about the manga, mostly from chapters that take place after this adaptation ends (so ch135+). If you haven’t caught up on the manga, don’t click on the tag below. Seriously, don’t do it. Go read the manga, THEN click on it. Or just read the manga. It’s good stuff.

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Holy hell, Chisame as end girl!? Who’da thunk it. I mean, it makes sense within the context of UQ Holder—Chisame winning the Negi Bowl sets up Kirie as the chief contender for Touta’s heart, along with Yukihime, who not coincidentally ends up with Nagi in the Good End world, further solidifing her as the other contender—but if I were guessing who’d end up with Negi at the end of Negima itself, I’da probably guessed Yue. Nodoka is another strong candidate too, or even Asuna—she’s always been my favorite, though in the end she never got past the big sister vibe. Or a bunch of other girls! Still, Chisame does feel right, the more I think about it. And I’ve been thinking of it a lot, as I remember that wedding picture and smile. D’aaaawwww! Also, kudos to Akamatsu-sensei for having the cojones to actually pick an end girl, even if he did it in the sequel years later.

Speaking of, I’m glad that the Good End world still exists. Originally when I started reading UQ Holder, I was assuming this was that world, and that Negi had lived his life and died peacefully, only for shit to get wonky after that—but then Negi reappeared, and we learned that he very much did not get a happy ending, and that was news I didn’t like so much. Seeing that the Good End world is still out there—where Asuna got to live out her life with her friends, where Nagi was saved, where Negi and Eva and everyone else got to be happy in the end—just makes me smile. They deserve that happy end, especially now that we finally got to see how they earned it.

As for UQ Holder, I was originally on the Kuromaru ship, but I’ve since gone over to the Kirie side, though I’d be happy with a Yukihime ending too. It’s just hard to not like Kirie, especially after the time freeze chapters—which the anime didn’t do, by the way, so Kirie falling for Touta in the anime makes zero sense. And she also doesn’t have her time freeze powers, so Cutlass is totally pointless in the anime BUT I DIGRESS!

I also have mixed feelings about how much the manga has turned into Negima: The Ending I Didn’t Get To Do Before: The Manga, especially in these latest releases, where there were multiple extra-long chapters where often ZERO UQ Holder characters actually appeared. I wanted to see those chapters, I’ve wanted to know what went down with all of that for a long time, but it was also hard to see all the actual UQ Holder characters sidelined for so long. I like mixing in the Negima mythology, but I still want UQ Holder to be its own thing. Mixed feelings.

Either way, UQ Holder manga still rocks. Glad I finally caught up on it, even if I didn’t get a whole lot out of the anime in the end. Such is life, at least where Akamatsu Ken anime adaptations are concerned.

My SECOND novel, Freelance Heroics, is available now! (Now in print!) (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Sign up for my email list for updates. At stephenwgee.com, the latest post: The Last Jedi SUPER SPOILERY Review.