#here lies golden kamuy

[here-lies-golden-kamuy]

after seeing some of your Ogata meta, I wanted to share an idea I had.

it starts with Yuusaku, and Ogata's paradoxical hatred/envy of him. in my mind, Ogata hates Yuusaku because he represents a privileged existence. one that their father granted to Yuusaku, while neglecting Ogata. they're like light and shadow. Yuusaku's purity has and will always frame him as an exception to the compromises that other people have to make... and it's not just in relation to Ogata. normal men compromise their morals during war, but Yuusaku is treated as though he's above everyone.

Ogata's position is that this isn't fair. but then, what should be the method of leveling the playing field? Yuusaku would rather bring Ogata into the light, and Ogata would rather drag Yuusaku into the dark. these are their attempts to become relatable to each other, but they'd have to fundamentally alter each other if they were ever going to see eye to eye.

when Ogata asks "was a blessed life ever possible for me?" he does tip his hand a bit. it sounds like he actually wants to have those blessings. meanwhile, Yuusaku was never enticed by the darkness. Ogata failed to prove that his way of thinking is inherently tempting... and when Ogata shoots Yuusaku, that 100% cements his ideological loss. Yuusaku's death ended his potential to change, and immortalized his purity forever. and Yuusaku left Ogata with a curse of his own: "nobody should be able to kill without feeling guilt."

Yuusaku died, and made it so. and with this background knowledge, here is what I'm really getting at.

at the end of their journey together, we see Ogata draw a clear parallel between Asirpa and Yuusaku. both are people who have an empathetic, sentimental urge to care about the lives of others... and they expect to try and maintain that moral framework, even in the midst of a conflict that seems to necessitate violence and death. in some ways, their dedication to these morals can come off as judgmental towards people who have ended up dirtying their hands already. early in their relationship, Asirpa and Sugimoto grappled with that.

I believe that, if Asirpa and Yuusaku are comparable, then Sugimoto and Ogata are contrastable in the same role... they've responded in opposite ways to the same offer. both consider themselves to be cursed, and they think of killing as sometimes necessary, but Sugimoto feels guilt fully and readily. and when Asirpa reaches out to him, Sugimoto is more readily willing to change.

once you start thinking of the two as foils, there's no going back. Asirpa reminds Sugimoto of how he lived before the war, and Sugimoto devotes himself to Asirpa... Yuusaku reminds Ogata of how he lived before the war, and Ogata kills Yuusaku. one accepts the aid of someone who can help him heal, while the other rejects it.

this all culminates in Ogata murdering Wilk, and shooting Sugimoto. at that point, Sugimoto is basically what Ogata could've been if he'd embraced the connection that was offered to him. and I think it's symbolically meaningful that Ogata tries to kill this symbolic healthier version of himself. with this one decision, he ensures that Asirpa will never be able to think well of him... not if she ever learns the whole truth. whether Ogata knows it or not, he's essentially been watching as, once again, another person lives a more blessed and prosperous existence that he cannot partake in. he's always on the outside looking in, and when he shoots Sugimoto, he closes off one more important avenue.

I absolutely love the scene where Asirpa shoots Ogata in the eye. first of all, Asirpa and Sugimoto are beginning to swap their views on killing. Asirpa's morals have been tested, and she's starting to come to Sugimoto's early conclusion that killing isn't something she wants to do, but sometimes it can't be avoided if you want to survive. meanwhile, Sugimoto has picked up Asirpa's philosophy of being as non-lethal as possible. war isn't the proper tool for preserving a culture... Sugimoto already knows it isn't the proper tool for preserving a person. he went to war, and it nearly destroyed him. but now, everything he values about himself exists because, from the beginning, Asirpa had the correct tools to let him rebuild himself.

and so, when the arrow hits Ogata in the eye, Sugimoto saves Ogata's life, regardless of his rage. Ogata failed to kill Sugimoto, and Asirpa succeeded in healing him. as a result, when Asirpa is in danger of being pulled into the dark, she has someone there to help her.

and Ogata has still failed to corrupt anyone. he can't figure out how to bring someone down to his level so that he can relate to them. he's still alone. he never quite figures out what's good for him until after he's already ruined it.

Hey, anon! <33 When I first read this, I was totally blown away /gen And honestly, you deserve your own meta post about Ogata for real ‼️‼️‼️ I'd totally lose my mind again like I did the first time I read this /pos

Let me give you my thoughts in chunks! :-D I'll put it under the cut because holy shit it's so long

"it starts with Yuusaku, and Ogata's paradoxical hatred/envy of him. in my mind, Ogata hates Yuusaku because he represents a privileged existence. one that their father granted to Yuusaku, while neglecting Ogata. they're like light and shadow. Yuusaku's purity has and will always frame him as an exception to the compromises that other people have to make... and it's not just in relation to Ogata. normal men compromise their morals during war, but Yuusaku is treated as though he's above everyone."

My god, the thematic light and dark analogy is so on point. I agree: Yuusaku is the embodiment of light whilst his older half-brother is the dark entity. I always found it interesting that Yuusaku was pushed to a position of veneration (chapter 165, page 12). By keeping himself pure, he will be an "icon" for other men to look at and relieve themselves from the guilt of killing another person. What's interesting about it is that he's following the interpretation of their father about the superstition surrounding the flagbearer role. I argue that Yuusaku, to some degree, is forced to be light. He was forced to play a role that dictated that his life should radiate purity. His position as flagbearer and the mysticism behind the role wasn't his idea (and to some extent, wasn't his choice - he just followed what his father wanted); but because he's a willing participant of this superstitious belief, he, therefore, transforms himself from mere man to a purity akin to divinity.

Because he's so pure, to the point of veneration, I feel like that was part and parcel of why Ogata killed him: to prove to himself that even the gods and their blessed children bleed and die at the hands of men like him.

Ogata's position is that this isn't fair. but then, what should be the method of leveling the playing field? Yuusaku would rather bring Ogata into the light, and Ogata would rather drag Yuusaku into the dark. these are their attempts to become relatable to each other, but they'd have to fundamentally alter each other if they were ever going to see eye to eye.

when Ogata asks "was a blessed life ever possible for me?" he does tip his hand a bit. it sounds like he actually wants to have those blessings. meanwhile, Yuusaku was never enticed by the darkness. Ogata failed to prove that his way of thinking is inherently tempting... and when Ogata shoots Yuusaku, that 100% cements his ideological loss. Yuusaku's death ended his potential to change, and immortalized his purity forever. and Yuusaku left Ogata with a curse of his own: "nobody should be able to kill without feeling guilt."

YES YES YES!!!! Exactly! I love your idea of them trying to bring the other to their "ideological side" as a form of relating to one another. I feel like Yuusaku wanted to "save" his brother from the darkness that he feels had enshrouded him his entire life. Ogata, on the other hand, wanted to prove that a person who was beloved by his parents and who had it all can still be someone like him: "normal". This comes from the idea that Ogata thought that it was normal for everyone not to feel guilt when killing people (chapter 165, page 13); who knows what else he thought was normal?

I think there's a part of Ogata that really wanted to be a blessed child, underneath all his layers. There's a Tumblr post that tries to pull out the intricacies and nuances in Ogata's confrontation with Hanazawa Senior in chapter 103. I think it really showed Ogata's vulnerability, the inner child in him that continued to be ignored and hurt.

I think Ogata's hand in Yuusaku's death does immortalize his purity forever! Because Ogata finally gave up on their game: Yuusaku won their ideological battle by offering Ogata true love and acceptance (it's completely familial please) - something he's never received from anyone in the past. Though, I don't fully agree with how Yuusaku's death ended Ogata's potential to change: rather, for me, it symbolizes that Ogata's life ideology is flawed, and he ran away from it rather than confronting it. I argue that his potential to change died in your later observation of him shooting Sugimoto and/or when he pointed a gun at Asirpa and got shot in the eye by accident.

I love your idea of Ogata having his own curse as a result of Yuusaku's death: "nobody should be able to kill without feeling guilt". Because that's the backbone of his relationship with Asirpa, the one who reminds him of Yuusaku and someone who also tried to love him.

at the end of their journey together, we see Ogata draw a clear parallel between Asirpa and Yuusaku. both are people who have an empathetic, sentimental urge to care about the lives of others... and they expect to try and maintain that moral framework, even in the midst of a conflict that seems to necessitate violence and death. in some ways, their dedication to these morals can come off as judgmental towards people who have ended up dirtying their hands already. early in their relationship, Asirpa and Sugimoto grappled with that.

I believe that, if Asirpa and Yuusaku are comparable, then Sugimoto and Ogata are contrastable in the same role... they've responded in opposite ways to the same offer. both consider themselves to be cursed, and they think of killing as sometimes necessary, but Sugimoto feels guilt fully and readily. and when Asirpa reaches out to him, Sugimoto is more readily willing to change.

once you start thinking of the two as foils, there's no going back. Asirpa reminds Sugimoto of how he lived before the war, and Sugimoto devotes himself to Asirpa... Yuusaku reminds Ogata of how he lived before the war, and Ogata kills Yuusaku. one accepts the aid of someone who can help him heal, while the other rejects it.

this all culminates in Ogata murdering Wilk, and shooting Sugimoto. at that point, Sugimoto is basically what Ogata could've been if he'd embraced the connection that was offered to him. and I think it's symbolically meaningful that Ogata tries to kill this symbolic healthier version of himself. with this one decision, he ensures that Asirpa will never be able to think well of him... not if she ever learns the whole truth. whether Ogata knows it or not, he's essentially been watching as, once again, another person lives a more blessed and prosperous existence that he cannot partake in. he's always on the outside looking in, and when he shoots Sugimoto, he closes off one more important avenue.

[With so many emotions] fuck. 🥹🥹 I love your assessment of both Asirpa and Yuusaku being so firm in their own beliefs that they can come off as judgemental or even condescending to those that fail to meet their standards. Well in the case of Asirpa, she eventually learns that the world isn't as white and black as she used to think, so she too grows in her own ideological perspective.

Sugimoto and Ogata are foils, you're so right, and you pointed out the main reason why I strongly believe that. It boils down to their respective relationships with Asirpa, who is characterized as a "chosen one" in the sense that she's a) given a huge moral task of protecting the Ainu (and later on even the other ethnic minorities in Karafuto and Russia), and b) she's - for the most part of the story - depicted as someone who's is pure (and is firm in staying pure) in a world of bloodshed and greed.

I like your idea on how Sugimoto and Ogata had their respective person who represented light in their lives. And you're right: they differ in their response to being "saved". I wholeheartedly agree with how Asirpa reminds Sugimoto about his past (unmarred) life. But for me, I think rather than being reminded of his past, unmarred life, Yuusaku represents a "what if" in Ogata. He represents a blessed life that Ogata himself could have lived; to go even further, even perhaps the lost life he could've had, should Yuusaku hadn't been born.

I think that Ogata truly did close himself to the possibility of a blessed life. Hence, I love the metaphor of him having his own path in the snow versus the lynx (meko oyasi) and the rest of the group in chapter 169. Like a lynx that lives a solitary life, he was forced to live life alone because of the childhood neglect he experienced (I talked about that in my first meta for Ogata and Love). But because he killed Yuusaku and therefore gained his "curse", he further alienates himself from others, trapping himself in his own twisted worldview by clinging onto it. He forced himself to be isolated - hence he's walking on his own path, which hints on his independence as a character on the surface but shows his loneliness on a deeper level.

I absolutely love the scene where Asirpa shoots Ogata in the eye. first of all, Asirpa and Sugimoto are beginning to swap their views on killing. Asirpa's morals have been tested, and she's starting to come to Sugimoto's early conclusion that killing isn't something she wants to do, but sometimes it can't be avoided if you want to survive. meanwhile, Sugimoto has picked up Asirpa's philosophy of being as non-lethal as possible. war isn't the proper tool for preserving a culture... Sugimoto already knows it isn't the proper tool for preserving a person. he went to war, and it nearly destroyed him. but now, everything he values about himself exists because, from the beginning, Asirpa had the correct tools to let him rebuild himself.

and so, when the arrow hits Ogata in the eye, Sugimoto saves Ogata's life, regardless of his rage. Ogata failed to kill Sugimoto, and Asirpa succeeded in healing him. as a result, when Asirpa is in danger of being pulled into the dark, she has someone there to help her.

and Ogata has still failed to corrupt anyone. he can't figure out how to bring someone down to his level so that he can relate to them. he's still alone. he never quite figures out what's good for him until after he's already ruined it.

I love this so much that I'm just nodding my head to everything you said. Hey, you dropped this crown, your majesty 👑 I love how you looked into how Sugimoto and Asirpa grew throughout the series, especially in the Karafuto Arc for the latter. And how despite Asirpa dipping her toes into the moral dark, she has an anchor in Sugimoto. She's not like pure Yuusaku, but she's not also as dark as Ogata: she now exists in a lighter moral grey.

"He's still alone. He never quite figures out what's good for him until after he's already ruined it." I love love LOVE this one. Because you're right: Ogata damns himself in pits of the darkness of his own volition. He curses himself never to escape its traps by killing (or attempting to kill) those that try to pierce through his gloomy veil.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this, anon. I loved every moment of reading and analyzing Ogata more <3

#ogata hyakunosuke #hanazawa yuusaku #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #mod speaks #i answer #golden kamuy headcanon #golden kamuy headcanons #golden kamuy imagine #golden kamuy imagines #golden kamuy meta #golden kamuy ask blog #golden kamuy #ゴールデンカムイ #here lies golden kamuy

[summer-suspicion]

Masaharu Lis in that one gk plushie style!! >:]]

And a teeny masao bc i like them even tho they're a crackship xd

#golden kamuy oc #gk oc #oc: masaharu lis #oc x canon #canon x oc #ship: omasa #HAVE NOT POSTED IN HERE IN YRS AHA

[eyedelater]

this important scene between koito, tsurumi, and tsukishima at goryokaku (chapter 295) was greatly changed in golden kamuy volume 30. the volume version is above. i decided to translate and then analyze it.

EH scans translated the magazine version of the manga as it was being released, so they haven't done this version, to my knowledge. and VIZ hasn't gotten this far in their official translation yet. so neither of my main sources have done it! that's why i'm translating these pages. i don't know if anyone else has translated this. if someone has, then you can look at their translation AND mine and compare them if you want. (and you can send me a link to their version.)

i want to show you the magazine version for comparison. this is the translation by EH scans:

you'll notice that the page count increased by two for the volume version. you'll also notice that the first and last pages haven't changed at all; i only included them for context because that's the whole scene.

while reading the raw manga, i had intended to check on one of the lines in this scene to see what it said in japanese and compare the translation. the line in question was the one where tsurumi talks about entrusting things to splendid koito. but that line is completely obliterated in the volume version, and i can't find the raw magazine version of this particular chapter, so i'll forget about that forever i guess. it doesn't matter because it's not canon anymore.

now, because i love koito and tsukishima so much, i went to the trouble of typesetting these pages with my own translation. so i'll include them here for your reading pleasure, and THEN i'll go ahead with the inevitable overanalysis in terms of translation and plot significance.

(i typeset it clumsily and also committed the vile typesetting sin of not using an all-caps font. but paint 3d didn't have any all-caps fonts, okay?? i'm very lazy! i'm not gonna go download a font just for this. also i didn't really need to do the first and last pages here because nothing changed and EH scans translated it just fine, but for the sake of completionism, i did them anyway.)

so that's my translation, and you can just read that and walk away if you want. but i'll write a lot more anyway.

line by line translation notes

in order of speech bubble, by page. a slash / indicates a split in a compound speech bubble. a double slash // indicates two separate speech bubbles in one entry. transliterations are rough and not based on any real standard of romaji.

PAGE 1

raw: 月寒あんぱんのひとがついた甘い嘘… transliteration: tsukisappu anpan no hito ga tsuita amai uso… EH scans translation: The tsukisappu anpan person ended up telling sweet lies... my translation: The sweet lies that the Tsukisappu anpan person told... notes: it's a sentence fragment. it makes you think there's going to be a second part to the sentence, but there's not. because there's not, to avoid confusing the reader, EH scans turned it into a full sentence. that's fair. my translation is more literal, so i didn't turn it into a full sentence, but it doesn't sound as good... i guess i didn't need to retranslate this one if it doesn't sound any better... let's move along.

PAGE 2

raw: あなたは嘘をつきすぎて / 嘘で試した人間の「愛」しか本物と思えないのでは? transliteration: anata ha uso wo tsukisugite / uso de tameshita ningen no [ai] shika honmono to omoenai no de ha? my translation: Haven't you lied so much / that you can only believe someone's [love] is real after you've tested them with lies? notes: "love" here is "ai" 愛. it's the same love that tsurumi talks about with his judo teacher when he talks about inspiring love among his soldiers so they will actually kill instead of pretending to kill. it is not "koi" 恋 romantic love, but it is love in the broadest sense.

raw: 鯉登少尉! transliteration: koito shoui! my translation: Second Lieutenant Koito! notes: no translation notes, but tsukishima's face did get slightly altered, and the speech bubble has wavery edges now, and dramatic motion lines were added. it's an emotional exclamation!!!

PAGE 3

raw: 中央から見ればここにいる者たちは全員 / 政権転覆を図る反乱分子です transliteration: chuuou kara mireba koko ni iru monotachi ha zen'in / seiken tenpuku wo hakaru hanran bunshi desu my translation: From Central's point of view, all of the people here / are insurgents plotting to overthrow the government. notes: seiken "political administration," tenpuku "overturn/overthrow," hakaru "to plan, to plot, to strive for," hanran "insurrection, rebellion," bunshi "member(s), element(s)." this isn't the first time we've heard the phrase "hanran bunshi." in chapter 78 (volume 8), shortly after tsukishima kicks him and then yells at him for killing maeyama, ogata uses the phrase to describe tsurumi's men. i think a fair translation of "hanran bunshi" would be "rebel faction."

raw: 勝てば官軍負ければ賊軍 / この戦でなにも得られなければ transliteration: kateba kangun makereba zokugun / kono ikusa de nanimo erarenakereba my translation: If you win, you're in the right. If you lose, you're in the wrong. / If we gain nothing from this battle… notes: the first line must be an existing saying, because when i searched zokugun on jisho.org, it brought up that first sentence word for word as one of its example sentences. so i made that the translation, word for word... you know, cos it's an existing saying... plus it's nice and concise...

raw: 我々は軍の裏切り者として裁かれる transliteration: wareware ha gun no uragirimono toshite sabakareru my translation: …we will be judged as traitors to the military.

raw: 私たち親子がここまで来たのは / 自分たちの選択ですからどうなっても受け入れます transliteration: watashitachi oyako ga koko made kita no ha / jibuntachi no sentaku desukara dounattemo ukeiremasu EH scans translation: The fact that my father and I have come this far… / That was the choice we ourselves made, so I can accept whatever comes of it. my translation: My father and I have come this far by choice. / Whatever happens, we will accept it. notes: i learned the word sentaku 選択, meaning "choice, option." it is different from sentaku 洗濯, meaning "laundry." also it seems that this line was not changed in the volume version; it was only moved around. that's why there's an EH scans translation for this entry. i would say their translation is slightly more accurate, but i'm happy with the concise way i phrased it.

raw: だがもしもの時は部下たちを中央から守るために… / 私はあなたを… transliteration: daga moshimo no toki ha bukatachi wo chuuou kara mamoru tame ni… / watashi ha anata wo… my translation: But if circumstance demands it, in order to protect my subordinates from Central… / I will … notes: "moshimo no toki" refers to unexpected circumstances. moshimo = what if, toki = time, so it's a "what if time." you could translate it as "if anything happens," and i was about to, but i had already used the word "happens" in the last speech bubble and i didn't want it to echo. so i took a liberty and made it sound cooler. as for the second half of the speech bubble, the literal translation is "i will ... you" and the verb is left unsaid. you can imagine the verb implied would be either "stop" or "kill." this is the pain of translation from SOV word order to SVO word order. also, there were very similar lines in the EH scans version, but because they didn't match precisely and i haven't seen the raws they were translating from, i couldn't be sure that the lines were exactly the same. so i didn't include EH scans's translation in this entry.

raw: 負けるつもりはない // すべて手に入れる transliteration: makeru tsumori ha nai // subete te ni haireru my translation: I do not intend to lose. // We will obtain everything we seek. notes: note that this is 100% different from the previous version where tsurumi tells koito to kill him. he just flat-out doesn't say that anymore. the first speech bubble is easy to translate. the second one isn't, or rather, it's hard to make it sound good? subete = everything, te ni haireru = to obtain. i took a minor liberty by making it a "we" pronoun because i think tsurumi would emphasize that his goals are for everyone's sake, not just his own. and i added "we seek" for clarity. also it sounds cooler.

PAGE 4

on this page, i changed the order of the contents of the speech bubbles to make it more of a cohesive sentence in english.

raw: 「私のちからになって助けてくれ」と // まっすぐにアタイを見てそげん言ってくいやっちょったら / そいでもついて行ったとに transliteration: [watashi no chikara ni natte tasukete kure] to // massugu ni atai wo mite sogen itte kuiyacchottara / soidemo tsuite itta toni my translation: All you had to do was look me in the eye and say, // [Stand with me and lend me your aid,] / and I would have followed you. notes: most prominent note is that koito lapses completely into satsuma dialect for the parts of the line that aren't in brackets. it isn't played as a joke this time; he is not speaking rapidly. tsurumi was able to understand him speaking like this when they first met, and he can understand him now. he says the bracketed part as what he wishes tsurumi would have said to him, and then he says the rest in dialect. "chikara ni naru" = "to be helpful, to be dependable, to stand by (someone)." if taken literally, "chikara ni naru" would mean "become my strength." but to my understanding, it does not have nearly the same intense connotations as the phrase "become my strength" does in english. i think. so that's the part i translated as "stand with me." then, "tasukete kure" means "help me, save me, assist me, support me." gotta figure out which verb makes the most sense in context. it's in the context of joining his team in a military sense, so it implies in the long term, and i think a phrase with a similar feeling that implies a longer term than "help" would be "lend me your aid." so that's how i arrived at "Stand with me and lend me your aid." this is a super important line; i'll write more about its significance down below. one more translation note: he says "massugu ni" (straightforward, frank, honest) with the verb "miru" (look at). so he's saying to "look at me straightforwardly." i phrased it as "look me in the eye" because that's what you do when you're looking at someone straightforwardly. honesty is the important implication (in contrast to sweet lies).

PAGE 5

raw: いくぞ月島 transliteration: ikuzo tsukishima EH scans translation: Let's go, Tsukishima. my translation: Let's go, Tsukishima. notes: could've also phrased it like, "We're leaving, Tsukishima." i have a feeling this line just slipped out of koito's mouth without any thoughts attached to it.

PAGE 6

raw: 月島? // 私の味方はもうお前だけになってしまったな? transliteration: tsukishima? // watashi no mikata ha mou omae dake ni natte shimatta na? EH scans translation: Tsukishima? // It seems you're the only ally I have left, doesn't it? my translation: Tsukishima? // Now you're the only ally I have left, aren't you? notes: tsurumi's use of "shimatta" carries the implication that this is how things have "ended up." a very literal translation could be, "my allies have now ended up becoming only you, huh?" but of course that doesn't sound natural, so it must be finagled. anyway, probably EH scans' version is better than mine. i just wanted to shed a little light on how you can translate the same sentence different ways and both can be right because japanese grammar is so different that there is no single direct counterpart.

plot analysis notes

i think it goes without saying that the changes to this scene are pretty significant in terms of the plot. some reasons are as follows:

when tsukishima calls out to koito in distress (page 2, second panel), it comes after a different line in this version. in the old version, he interrupts a line about koito and his father having come this far. there's not much significance to that except that he was maybe trying to stop koito from saying too much. but in this version, tsukishima cries out after koito's line about testing people with sweet lies. koito has come out and said too much right away. tsukishima is more upset this time because confronting tsurumi about sweet lies would reveal that tsukishima had talked to koito and given away the fact that the kidnapping was a ruse. tsukishima is distressed because he doesn't want tsurumi to think that he is turning on him as well.

new lines show that koito does understand the nature of tsurumi's rebellion against central. honestly it was kind of up in the air before this, given koito's earnest nature and the fact that his high-ranking father would have had to be in on it too. but now we know for sure that he understands. it's easy to look down on koito because he's so naive and emotional, but he's not stupid.

by changing this scene, noda-sensei makes the most of this confrontation, which is koito's last chance to have a calm conversation with tsurumi. (the only confrontation they have after this is when koito yells up at tsurumi on top of the train and tells him to set tsukishima free. but the subject matter is completely different at that time, and the tension is much higher, so that would be no time to bring up sweet lies again.) in terms of wrapping up the unresolved conflict of the kidnapping incident, it's gotta be this scene or nothing. in the altered scene, koito can now say what he wants to say to tsurumi about the kidnapping, make it clear he knows it was a lie, and gauge how tsurumi responds.

tsurumi no longer taunts koito (saying "kill me" when they both know he won't; implying that he would trust koito to carry on his plans because he's just that splendid when they both know he can't). those lines are tossed in the garbage and don't exist anymore. what he now says is short and simple, and it avoids the heart of the matter completely; he ignores 95% of what koito said and only focuses on one aspect (what might happen if they fail). koito hears this bad-faith response and understands that tsurumi will not voluntarily come clean about his lies. that's why he says his emotional next line and leaves it at that.

the line "Stand with me and lend me your aid" (「私のちからになって助けてくれ」) is a very important addition to this scene!!! the reason is that it is the line that koito says to tsukishima in the final chapter! (i haven't gotten there in the raw manga yet, but i've seen it A Lot in japanese fanart, so i recognized it right away.) that later line becomes a callback to this moment! i had no idea! if you had read the magazine version only (and i think we english language readers are all in the same boat in that respect), then you wouldn't have had the full context of that line in the final chapter. it is more satisfying and makes much more sense this way. and this line carries so much weight in both scenes. koito wishes that tsurumi would have earnestly asked for his help instead of tricking him with sweet lies. then, in the final chapter, koito earnestly asks tsukishima to join him by using that same line! it's a complete rejection of tsurumi's "sweet lies" modus operandi! there doesn't need to be any pretense between the two of them! they can just rely on each other honestly and with their whole hearts! (note: EH scans translated that line in the final chapter as, "Lend me your strength. I require your aid." that's good. i like mine better. maybe someone else could translate it even better. i really don't think VIZ will, though.)

tsukishima has an emotional reaction when koito says that. we get a whole new big panel of his face, so that's our cue to think about how tsukishima must feel at that moment. he looks surprised and thoughtful. i think he is impressed by koito's resolve and frankness and the way he made himself vulnerable in that moment by speaking his mind (in his native dialect). he must also be thinking about how this means that the whole kidnapping scheme was a waste of time and caused pain (and cost lives) for no reason. and he's probably thinking about how nice it would have been if tsurumi had said something like that to him instead of trapping him with sweet lies as well. it's a moment where tsukishima is struck by how koito is honest and honorable, and it stands in stark contrast to tsurumi (especially considering the monster that tsurumi has become). this moment helps us better understand why tsukishima sticks with koito at the end of the story.

the following was clear in the other version too, but when koito says it's time to go, tsukishima is clearly turning to follow him (he turns 180 degrees right in front of us). that's notable. first of all, i don't think koito said that and expected tsukishima to follow him in a "you better choose me or him right now!" kind of way. i think it slipped out. tsukishima has become a staple in his life, and he expects him to be at his side at all times, so he tried to walk away with him out of habit without considering what it would look like to tsurumi. on a similar note, i don't think tsukishima was about to follow koito in a "now we're turning our backs on tsurumi forever" kind of way. it was a kind of subconscious movement; he found himself turning to follow the person he really wanted to follow. and there are motion lines showing that he stops moving when tsurumi calls out to him. if tsurumi hadn't stopped him, i wonder how far he would have gotten before catching himself and thinking about how it would look to tsurumi if he followed koito out of the building.

it seems that that after this scene, koito isn't exactly working toward tsurumi's goals anymore. in the last panel of the last page here, he notices tsukishima isn't following him. that's probably when he thinks about the implications of trying to take tsukishima with him, so he goes off by himself. the next time we see him, he confronts fleeing shiraishi and fights nagakura on the bridge. but why is he doing that? maybe because he thinks tsurumi getting the land deed would be better for japan than if team hijikata kept it. it can't be blind allegiance to tsurumi at this point, right? and then a little later (after jumping in the moat), koito sees tsukishima riding away with tsurumi on horseback, so he follows them and ends up at the train. why does koito board the train and fight hijikata? is it still in pursuit of tsurumi's goals? or is it to protect his subordinates on the train, especially tsukishima? it has to be the latter, right? he doesn't do anything explicitly rebellious, but his allegiance to tsurumi is basically gone at that point, and that's why he is able to confront tsurumi in tsukishima's defense on the back of the train car. so in essence, the scene in this post was the final turning point in the relationship between koito and tsurumi. his goal has become "protecting his subordinates (especially tsukishima) from being sacrified by tsurumi."

in conclusion, i kinda wish noda-sensei wouldn't make sweeping changes to art AND dialogue in very important scenes... but i think this change was pretty good.

EDIT: i found out that piduai also translated these pages, and they ended up with a very similar translation to mine for that one important line! yeahh! i've discovered the MVP piduai! i encourage you to compare the translations.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy translation notes #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #golden kamuy spoilers #SPOILERS UP TO THE END OF THE FINAL CHAPTER OF GOLDEN KAMUY #translating and typesetting and reposting 6 whole pages of manga falls under fair use if you surround it with a big honking essay right #i didn't explicitly make this post about tsukishima/koito the ship #but rest assured that the underlying implication of everything i've written here is that they love each other #i was like ''good this post doesn't mention ogata even once. my honor is restored'' but shit it does mention ogata once. fuck #(gripping desk) IS IT NORMAL TO POST SOMETHING LONG LIKE THIS ON CHRISTMAS EVE? IS IT NORMAL OR IS IT WEIRD? IT'S NORMAL RIGHT?

[ryokaidesu]

★ 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥 ★

★ 𝐑𝐲𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐮'𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬… 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩! ★

★ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝟑𝟏𝟔 ★

Greetings people of Golden Kamuy community, 𝐑𝐲𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐮 here. As we know, the time of festivities, mind's and soul's relaxation and productivity (of some) is over. Studies are calling.

But no! No need for sudden disappointment nor irritation! We are still here and still have many plans. Yet, I have no idea which shall be prioritised. And so, I prepared this overview of what lies ahead. For who or what? For You to pick and give me a sign – “Yes, yes that!”.

I’ll post those that will get the most votes after each other in a span of days. So, yes, I’ll go for the % as that is the most logical way to do.

For seeing my works, click on the star. ★

SFW ALPHABET

Easily, we all understand (also already saw) how these are done by hand of mine. Here are characters that were not posted yet and are on ‘to write’ list: Yuusaku, Tanigaki, Tsurumi.

SFW POSTS

Here is a small mixture of my works I planned: 'Golden Kamuy men and cooking' (2, 3, …) of which was posted the first part – ★. Modern AU of Usami and Ogata as roommates (could be divided to parts, headcanons or be one long story).

NSFW ALPHABET

Same as SFW alphabets, except for every letter being tied to my headcanons of erotic and sexual topics. As always, minors do NOT interact with me nor this blog, please and thank You. Characters for NSFW alphabet: Vasily, Sugimoto, Ogata, Usami.

NSFW POSTS

And here, I actually have writings in progress or almost finished. ‘Usami The Katana Devil’ which is Usami x Male!Reader about katanas, fighting and – of course – sexual matters. ‘Nikaidou brothers and Their filthy gossips’ which is on the other hand Them x Female!Reader that delivers not only gossips and rumors, but also some shaming and sex. Lastly, ‘Golden Kamuy men and Period’ part 3. ★

#golden kamuy #gk #ゴールデンカムイ #tumblr polls #polls #tsurumi tokushirou #usami tokishige #ogata hyakunosuke #hanazawa yuusaku #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #sugimoto saichi #nikaidou kouhei #nikaidou youhei #tanigaki genjirou #vasily pavlichenko

[kkachi-rkcl]

WIP Excerpt

Fandom: Golden Kamuy

Ship: Ogata/Fem!OC

Setting: Yubari arc, chapter 81

——

As Ienaga and Ushiyama head into the kitchen to prepare dinner for the group, Toshi slips down the hall towards the rear of the house, stopping in the half open doorway of the last room.

Stuffed birds hang upside down from the ceiling, and various other animals are mounted around the walls. On the floor, Maeyama’s corpse lies surrounded in a pool of his own dried blood. Toshi can’t help but notice that one of his arms lies at an awkward angle. The impact on his final collapse must have re-dislocated his shoulder. As she stands over the body, it feels as though he is looking straight at her. She kneels down and shuts his eyelids.

(Continued below cut)

The sound of boots and the quiet swish of cloth enter the room, stopping just behind her. Silence hangs in the air. There is only one person she knows that is capable of such stillness. “We should bury him,” Toshi finally says to Ogata.

Ogata looks down at her, and then at Maeyama’s body, his face expressionless. “Suit yourself,” he says. He couldn’t care less about Maeyama in life, and he certainly isn’t going to start caring about him now that he's dead. But it seems like they’ll be starting here a few days, and he’d rather not deal with a rotting corpse.

He turns to leave, but Toshi remains kneeling by the corpse. He finds himself somewhat irritated by this. This show of melancholy, of guilt, of shame. Who is she pretending for? Maeyama may have been earnest to a fault, but it’s not as if his corpse can appreciate such a performance. He pauses in the doorway and calls her name.

She gives a weary exhale as she stands, favoring her injured ankle. The afternoon sun backlights her as she turns towards the door, casting her face in shadow. She stumbles slightly, legs probably gone numb from kneeling so long, and catches herself on Ogata’s outstretched arm.

“And how do you plan on digging a grave when you can barely walk on your own,” Ogata says.

Matsukawa finally looks up at him. “We killed him together. Shouldn’t we bury him together too?”

Her words tug at something in his gut. Ogata raises an eyebrow. “So I’m going to do all the work while you watch?”

#fic wip #wip excerpt #golden kamuy #ogata hyakunosuke #female oc #idk if it’s good but I’m posting it anyways so deal with it #ogata x reader #ogata x oc #x reader #x oc

[watanabes-cum-dump]

PGR vs Genshin: Story telling

Ya know what I adore about PGR’s story? It’s how they don’t let the main plot take a backseat and keep it consistent.

(Spoilers for Grand Blue and the first eight ish chapters of PGR update under cut, I will also be comparing it to Genshin Impact’s 1.6 or Golden Apple Archipelago update and Genshin Impact as whole)

The most recent example is the Grand Blue update. Yes, it was fan service, a beach episode and it was more light hearted than say, the previous Kowloong update which was heavy in themes and story. But, it stayed consistent with everything and introduced a character while also wrapping up Kamui’s arc in a way.

It wasn’t just a throw away story, we sense that there’s something up with Lucia and rightfully so after shit hit the fan in Kowloong. And Kowloong is the whole reason we go on this vacation in the first place. Good, great set up, we have a reason, hooray.

Grand Blue introduces us to Camu, Kamui’s… uh… technically Kamui is Camu’s alter Ego and that’s the interesting thing. I will talk about it later since I’m here to talk about how PGR does it’s story well and the way it introduces it’s characters plays a huge part in it.

Anyways, Camu appears, and so do the Ascendants and suddenly, our summer vacation kinda goes sideways. Typical beach episode stuff. But it isn’t your typical beach episode, because it debuts Camu, a new character for the story as well as a new type of construct, a transcendant as global calls it. It’s smart, you introduce your character this way while also introducing a new game mechanic. Good shit.

As for story, Grand Blue also speaks a bit more on lore heavy things. It shines light on the Golden Age and what happened before the main events of the story. Punishing Gray Raven isn’t too lore heavy, it’s plot doesn’t depend heavily on it‘s lore if at all, but it’s still interesting.

Overall, Grand Blue establishes a new character, completes a character arc that was sort of left hanging, and introduces a new mechanic. Real shit. Now, let’s talk about Genshin, mainly where I think Genshin’s story telling fails at times.

The Golden Apple Archipelago was fun, don’t get me wrong, but it was one of several filler updates. With Inazuma being released after a year, it’s safe to assume the other nations will follow with this one Nation a year thing.

1.6 did two things: set up Inazuma before it’s release, and gave us our beach episode. It’s a nice update. We get our first Inazuma character with an interesting story that sets up Inazuma, and we get a cute, light hearted story featuring our favourite arson child Klee With an underlying theme about family. It’s sweet and it‘s honestly one of my favourite updates (also because it gave me a fully refined weapon for Yanfei uwu)

That was just a comparison between the two beach episodes. Grand Blue it still relevant enough to the main story, and the Golden Apple Archipelago honestly didn‘t need to happen because it isn’t exactly relevant to the main plot but it was still good. No, my problem lies in the setting up Inazuma part of 1.6

1.6 introduces us to Kaedehara Kazuha, a wandering ronin from Inazuma who has ended up as a temporary (ish, we don’t know what happened to him post Inazuma like if he went back or if he’s still with the Crux) part of Beidou’s Crux fleet. With him, we get a basic picture of Inazuma, the Raiden Shogun has gone as far as to seize all visions in Inazuma because she sees them as threats to her Eternity. It’s interesting. Now, I would drag the Inazuma arc by the neck across the ground, but all you need to know, is that I have problems with it, the biggest of which could be solved if one simple thing didn’t exist:

1.4s We will be Reunited quest

I love Dainsleif. He’s super interesting, I love his character and his role in the story is very interesting. He is also made of 100% simpable material. But BOY this quest did NOTHING for Genshin’s story.

We, the player know that your sibling is in charge of the Abyss Order and that they orchestrated the prologue in Mondstadt with the whole Dvalin fiasco. We also know that our sibling is fully aware we are on Teyvat and that we are fighting against their forces.

So we have all that. It would be interesting is our player character, the traveler, was blissfully unaware of this and it would remain that way until Snezhnaya or even Khaenri’ah, we would just get hints about it throughout the story.

BUT NO

They handed the traveler the answer on a silver fucking platter, and then acted like it never fucking happened!

We know our sibling is with the Abyss so why go to Inazuma at all!? “Search this entire continent for my sibling by asking the god of each nation to progress the plot and provide an excuse for continuous updates and more characters” is already flimsy but Genshin covered for it up until this point with an engaging world and characters. The main story was good and our side adventures with the characters were also great.

Traveler doesn’t need to go to Inazuma, much less get wrapped up in it’s politics and serve as a device for terribly written characters (I love the Inazuma characters but the way they’re integrated into the plot and have their character arcs defined by the traveler is ass)

By all means, we shouldn’t even be asking around for our sister at this point. Our goal now should be finding out what happened to Khaenri’ah five hundred years ago, and how that fucked everything up for us and our sibling!

Another point I have to bring up is how dependant everybody is on traveler from Inazuma going forward. For their own character arcs and for just shit in general. Ayaka, you did not need our help to rebel against the Shougunate. Why the hell does Shenhe’s story feel like a love story where we help her settle into society and find her emotions or whatever. She can do that herself why do we need to go with her and pry into the backstory of a person we just met???

Like none of the constructs really revolve around commandant (MC payer character) Only Lucia does and we’re given a reason for it, we’re the first person she meets upon her reconstruction and she’s hinted at to be our main love interest. Even then, it‘s done well.

It’s pure coincidence that we meet Shenhe, we don’t have a reason to pry into her past, we don’t really have a relationship with her. If anything, Chongyun, ya know, her NEPHEW would have been more suited to help her in her story arc. Traveler could have just introduced the two or tagged along because we know Chongyun and we want to help. But of course, god forbid Mihoyo feature a MALE CHARACTER who isn’t an archon/has something to do with Khaenri’ah as the focus of a story that isn’t their specific character side story or hangout event.

More than that, commandant has a reason for all of the stuff they do. They‘re a commanding officer, there’s a war, and they have to fight it. It just so happens they get a lot more than said war and often get into more dangerous situations due to them being extremely good at their job. Traveler had a reason up until 1.4, they found out what their sibling is up to but decides to still get involved with every single nation.

I think Genshin is looking up, like it’s recovering from the shit show that was Inazuma and I hope that Sumeru has better writing and integrates the characters into the story better. It seems like it will, Shenhe arc aside I do love that we revisited the Jade Chamber and of course, Lantern Rite is my favourite time of year and while the story quest isn’t the most lore intense epic thing, it’s still a blast to see all of the Liyue characters returning.

I just hope that PGR gets the recognition it deserves after it’s global launch was overshadowed by Inazuma and Genshin’s one year anniversary. It’s pretty big in east Asia, mainly China, and it’s community is extremely talented.

Anyways, this has been my messy thoughts on Genshin and PGR so far. Uh, yeah. Hope you enjoyed this shit show.

#Pgr #punishing gray raven #genshin #genshin impact #shenhe genshin impact #shenhe genshin #Pgr camu #pgr grand blue #golden apple archipelago #genshin inazuma #inazuma #inazuma spoilers #inazuma genshin impact #pgr lucia #pgr Kowloong

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 295 “The two of them”

So this is the chapter in which we remind ourselves…

Yeah, that not all the siblings relations are like Abel and Cain. Some brothers just love each other. But let’s go with order.

We begin with a better depiction of the shot Nikaidou shoot against Sugimoto. Now we can clearly see that the bullets didn’t go through his left cheek and came out from his right one but just grazed his right cheek and ear.

I’ll say Sugimoto is goddamn lucky because if Nikaidou has shoot in the same moment in which he kicked his face they would have gone through him and, at the very best, Sugimoto would have had his tongue and teeth ripped to shreds. Instead he’ll just merely gain another scar on his face.

Anyway, despite having been hit, without losing a beat, Sugimoto uses the bayonet in his rifle to pin Nikaidou on the ground by his shoulder.

It’s not really going to stop Nikaidou though, who reminds Sugimoto of his grievance toward him.

Nikaidou will never forgive him for what he did to Youhei. Nikaidou’s plan is shaky and likely lies on the fact he’s confuse about his own identity, as he calls his own body parts Youhei’s body parts but basically, apparently, after he has killed Sugimoto, he plans to place on him his prosthesis and his own face and have him to play his role while he’ll become Youhei, replacing the body parts he has lost with the ones of Sugimoto.

I do wonder if Noda plans to better explain Nikaidou’s madness and problems with his own identity because Nikaidou reminds me of those twins who used to swap places and got so used to do so that their own identities blurred, which is why Kouhei wants to impersonate Youhei and give his own identity to Sugimoto (instead than just turning Sugimoto into Youhei).

Whatever, poor Nikaidou is so out of mind his identity problems might be simply the result of this.

Anyway Nikaidou makes clear what’s moving him now is the desperation for having lost his brother and the madness this caused.

Sugimoto has no sympathy for his loss, he never liked Nikaidou, whom he saw as an enemy right from the start (in fact it was Sugimoto the first to attack the other and Youhei who were there merely to question/arrest him), and he’s not going to start now, especially after the brothers in retaliation beat and tried to kill him. This is completely human and understandable.

I’m aware there’s plenty of readers who feel the same as Sugimoto as Nikaidou was often pitiful but never a likeable character and was even used as a comic relief.

Story-wise though, this is a pity.

Part of Sugimoto’s character’s drama was that he had to kill people during war, and in order to do so he dehumanized them, saw them as bad people who don’t have a human heart and therefore one doesn’t have to feel sorry for them (chap 100) because they would feel no pain when they died.

It’s a mind setting many soldiers of many wars adopted, one the armies wildly encouraged them to have, but, of course, dehumanizing someone, albeit helpful in a war, is something fundamentally wrong. Sugimoto knows and that’s why he feels he has a VIP seat on the train to hell.

“Golden Kamuy” has brushed here and there Sugimoto’s problem and how it’s getting worse, for example in chapter 123 Sugimoto had a conversation with Toni in which he and Sugimoto argued if Toni has justice on his side or not. Sugimoto said they were just murderers, Toni countered they never killed anyone who wasn’t involved to which Sugimoto replied after a while they would stop being able to make the distinction (in short they would start killing innocent). At this Toni counters Sugimoto could understand it because there’s the stench of killer on him too.

And the thing comes up again in chap 261, in which Sugimoto tries to kill a Boutarou who’s actually surrendering (and therefore not threatening him) because he’s so angered he can’t stop, not even if Boutarou surrenders and if murdering him would make harder for them to find Asirpa.

In short Sugimoto was shown sinking, getting worse as he has predicted it would happen to Toni Anji.

But it’s difficult for many readers to catch this as, story-wise, the ones we see getting killed by Sugimoto are criminals, nameless Tsurumi’s minions or characters with whom many don’t really empathize much, like Nikaidou. It’s easy to excuse him with ‘he’s defending himself’ because that’s why he’s doing and because even if one of Tsurumi’s minions were to be the best person on Earth… well, we wouldn’t know, to us he’s just a minion and a threat to Sugimoto.

Readers had been trained by tons of stories to think nothing of when the hero kills an enemy nameless minion so the fact that Sugimoto might be indeed murdering poor, good people sent there by Tsurumi escapes us.

Sugimoto so far didn’t have yet a ‘Tsukishima shot an helpless Ariko’ moment so, even though he’s degenerating more and more, it’s hard to catch up. That’s why it’s a pity Nikaidou is not really someone likeable or easy to empathize with. If we’d felt bad for Nikaidou, we would have felt the emotion from both sides, for Sugimoto who has to survive, but also for Nikaidou who lost his brother.

It would have made for a more interesting fight because we wouldn’t have wanted anyone involved to die, and because we would have realized more the problem of Sugimoto getting worse. But we can’t have everything, I guess if this is a topic Noda wants to discuss Sugimoto will get later on his chance to kill/attempt to kill someone the fandom cares about. If not, it’ll just remain a topic Noda grazed at but never dug in deeply.

All right, let’s go back to the story.

As I said, Sugimoto has no empathy for Nikaidou and yells at him to shut up as this is a fight to death.

Then he pulls out his rifle and throw it to another mob soldier, killing him. Nikaidou tries to use his prosthetic leg to shoot at him but Sugimoto is by now deeply familiar with it and so he grabs it and uses it to shoot at the remaining soldier.

It’s worth to point out whose two soldiers instead didn’t attempt to shoot at Sugimoto, likely because they didn’t want to risk hitting Nikaidou (they yelled at him to get out of the way) so they somewhat cared about him, at least that much they didn’t want to risk hurting/killing him.

Back to the fight as Sugimoto grabs his rifle Nikaidou uses the chopsticks in his prosthetic hand to stab Sugimoto’s neck and cheek. It might go missed to the readers since it happened so long ago but there’s a veiled irony in this as this is a reference to Sugimoto and Nikaidou’s first meeting in which Tsurumi, who was also meeting Sugimoto for the first time, stabbed him with the dango skewers and, as a result, the Nikaidou brothers nicknamed him ‘dango boy’.

This time though, Nikaidou didn’t want to merely hurt him as Tsurumi did but kill him. Sugimoto though is a lucky one and of the chopsticks one hits his kin and sinks in his jaw and the other hits his neck but, likely, misses the carotid as Noda doesn’t really show blood coming out of it (and he will soon forget to draw it).

Nikaidou is not so lucky as Sugimoto stabs him through his abdomen. For the ones who still doesn’t know about this, this sort of stab is fatal (no way it has missed Nikaidou’s intestines), albeit it will kill you slowly and painfully. This too can be seen as a reference to their first meeting as, when Sugimoto killed Youhei, he later pretended Youhei has given him a fatal wound at his abdomen, when he actually was unhurt and merely used Youhei’s intestines which he stole from him to pretend Youhei managed to rip his own out.

Anyway now Nikaidou is as good as dead but we don’t learn what’s going to happen o him right now as we switch to Hakodate bay and to the sailors of the torpedos, who’re climbing on lifeboats.

One of them wonders about commander Koito and he’s told Koito senior said he would stay with the ship, acting like the classic captain who sinks with his ship.

I wonder if he ties himself to it or he clung to it until he lost consciousness because otherwise his body would end up floating back on the surface and could still be saved. Whatever, I guess the idea is he too is as good as dead.

We switch back to Koito Junior, who’s inspecting the place in which he was held captive (really, Tsurumi, it wasn’t a great idea to get him too to enter there, couldn’t you send him to inspect another building?) and discovers how the anpan which were there when he was held captive are still there, because no animal nor insect ate them as they knew they would be relevant for the plot in the future.

This causes Koito to sadly admit out loud how the Tsukisappu anpan person ended up telling sweet lies. Tsurumi hears him, the white of his eyes completely black, although his expression seems surprised.

Against Tsukishima’s will Koito FINALLY comes clear with Tsurumi.

He admits he and his father came there due to their own choice so they will accept the consequences for their decision. He goes on starting to say that if they will end up gaining nothing from this battle, in order to protect his men from central he… Koito doesn’t finish the sentence because he changes it, sweating he says he’ll do whatever he plans to do in order to protect his men from TSURUMI.

Likely, in the first sentence, Koito was merely thinking to shift all the blame to Tsurumi in the eyes of Central so that they would spare the men.

The through is nice, the idea behind it is that he doesn’t acknowledge how his men came there due to their own choices, same as him.

The correction comes better because it acknowledges not only that Tsurumi is more dangerous than Central, as even if they gain nothing he could still try to lead them to fight central and therefore to their death, but also possibly to his men, as he might be acknowledging they were manipulated by Tsurumi’s sweet lies.

He’s still deciding for them and thinking himself above of them… though being an officer and someone from the upper class he’s also responsible for them so I guess he can’t really see them as equal. But I think Koito is trying to do the right thing… albeit in a clumsy if not stupid way.

I mean he’s acting as he can impart judgment on Tsurumi. Unless he plans to sneak up on Tsurumi and kills him, if he doesn’t have the support of Tsurumi’s men they wouldn’t let him kill Tsurumi and he might have to fight them all. Tsurumi tells sweet lies? He has to prove it to be believed by them and Koito is nowhere near as popular and trusted  as Tsurumi but merely viewed as a spoiled brat.

He’ll need Tsukishima’s support but he hasn’t even told Tsukishima the truth about what happened in the church. He’s just confident Tsukishima will side with him when Tsukishima has strong ties with Tsurumi as well and has shown a desperate wish to believe in Tsurumi despite knowing he’s a liar.

So really, Koito, kudos for coming clear and for wanting to protect your men which are two HUGE steps forward, but you’re still acting overconfident and immature and I’m worried because the story is coming to an end and you might end up stumbling before you’ll manage to acquire the maturity and the necessarily ability to judge yourself correctly which are needed to deal with things as a leader.

(On a completely unrelated note I’ve been wondering for 2 years and a half if Ogata really gave Koito a stale anpan or a fresh one since Koito didn’t seem to notice his own anpan tastes terrible and should have given him a stomachache he didn’t seem to have… so really, Noda, I’d like to know)

Contrary to Tsukishima’s fear Tsurumi doesn’t immediately kill Koito nor order him to do the dirty job.

He calmly tells him to go on and kill him (if they gain nothing), claiming that from hell he won’t hear his name being dragged in the mud.

‘Dono yōna omei de tsurushi age rare yō tomo jigoku no soko ni ireba kikoendarou’

どのような汚名で吊し上げられようとも地獄の底にいれば聞こえんだろう

“No matter what infamy is hung on me, I can't hear it if I’m at the bottom of hell”

The way Tsurumi speaks, it seems as if he’s being unfairly accused. If he’s referring to how Central will unfairly accusing him or how it’s Koito who’s unfairly accusing him to be one who tells sweet lies and is a danger for his men that’s up to speculation. Ours and Koito’s.

Tsurumi goes on, switching from victimizing himself to praising Koito, claiming since he has become a splendid man Tsurumi can entrust things to him.

‘Rippa ni seichōshita Koito shōi ninara ato o makase rareru’

立派に成長した鯉登少尉になら後を任せられる

“Since you grew splendidly, Second Lieutenant Koito, I can leave it to you.”

Koito, who’s still sweating, is surprised by Tsurumi’s words, then lowers his gaze. Is he understanding the weight of them? Doubting himself? Doubting his decision? Koito is young and inexperienced, playing against a master. It’s not an easy game for him, even if it’s entirely possible Tsurumi would be fine with being killed by Koito if he were to fail. But I’m not sure if he would give up on his plan just because he would fail to seize the land deed and/or the gold in that battle.

He might think he could catch them later while Koito gave him a time limit.

We’ll see.

Koito moves to leave, telling Tsukishima to go with him.

Tsukishima prepares to do so when Tsurumi calls him back. There’s complete darkness behind Tsurumi and Tsurumi himself is pretty dark, the white of his eyes completely black again.

Tsurumi’s words are well through.

He tells Tsukishima he’s the only ally Tsurumi has left.

This basically places Koito in the enemy or at least adversary camp, as he’s not even considered a temporal ally or an ally Tsurumi can regain but what’s more, hits Tsukishima right where it hurts because Tsurumi is basically telling him he trusts Tsukishima to stay by his side as his ally (he’s not asking if he’s still his ally, he’s just stating he is) and continuing the pity party as Tsukishima is HIS ONLY ALLY. Koito senior, whom he doesn’t know just drowned and the other soldiers don’t count, he only has Tsukishima, Tsukishima who has no idea Tsurumi was aware they were eavesdropping in the church and thinks Tsurumi spoke about his projects from the bottom of his heart unaware to be overheard.

Now, it can be Tsurumi was being sincere back then but the fact he knew he was being overheard and kept silent about it, makes his words sound more like a mummery aimed at manipulating Tsukishima and Koito.

And Koito, as far as we know, didn’t reveal this HUGE detail to Tsukishima so Tsukishima can’t do an informed decision. He has to chose between a young, spoiled officer he babysat until then and the man who saved his life when he ended up in jail sentenced to death. The only ally he had back then. The one whose sweet lies saved him. The one who claimed he would save him and every other soldier in front of Asirpa, in a moment in which, as far as Tsukishima knew, he had no reason to lie.

The scales are not in favour of Koito… who once out of the building, turns toward it. We don’t know if Tsukishima followed him or remained behind, or if he followed him aiming to kill him on Tsurumi’s orders. We’ll discover probably next time as now we switch back to the fatally wounded Nikaidou and Sugimoto.

Nikaidou is still blaming Sugimoto for Youhei’s death, asking him how he dared to kill him and demanding Youhei back. Sugimoto rotates the rifle, so that the bayonet attacked to it and going through Nikaidou will further damage Nikaidou’s intestines, speeding up Nikaidou’s death as Nikaidou is clearly not going to give up so easily.

‘Kyōdai nakayoku jigoku de mattero’

兄弟仲良く地獄で待ってろ

“You, siblings who’re close, wait in hell for me!”

Sugimoto is a fury and he has been for all the fight, his irises white as he verbally attack Nikaidou, though in his attack he also confirms how he’ll go in hell too.

Nikaidou though, is a determinate and stubborn fighter. He’ll kill Sugimoto no matter what and so he shows Sugimoto his closed fist. When he opens it, Sugimoto can see on his finger there’s the fuse of an explosive. Nikaidou grabs Sugimoto telling him to get blown up together. Coming out from the opening of his pants, placed as if it were a boner, there’s the explosive Nikaidou stole to the Russian guy.

Nihei would be proud of him if he were here to see Nikaidou, whose determination to kill Sugimoto is terrible and without boundaries as he’s willing to explode to kill Sugimoto.

But Sugimoto isn’t the sort who would panic and give up. He pushes Nikaidou forward and throws him, rifle and all, inside one of the holes in which the Russian partisans hid.

Now… the fact Nikaidou who was holding him, let go of him leaves me a little perplexes but whatever.

Anyway the explosive explodes, pushing upward the bayonet that ends up splitting Nikaidou’s body and head in two halves.

There’s something worth mentioning about Noda. He’s an author who doesn’t forget his characters’ wrongdoing but, at the same time, has compassion of them.

So far the majority of characters who died in this story, despite having physically gruesome deaths, ended up also having psychologically peaceful deaths. In death, they’re satisfied, in the last moments of their lives they aren’t left to be miserable.

Toraji, we discovered in chap 242 volume version, died saving a life and wondering if Umeko would believe him if he were to say he flung Sugimoto away.

Nihei died the way he wanted to die, in the wilderness, fighting a wolf, trying to help a son to go back to his family the way his son couldn’t return back home, Ryu next to him and fighting for him.

Henmi died of the brutal death he wanted to die, shining as he wanted.

Wakayama and Nakazawa died together, holding hands, Wakayama killing a bear to avenge Nakazawa in front of Nakazawa.

Edogai died believing Tsurumi accepted him and that he was doing something great by handing the fake skins to him.

Sakamoto and O-gin again died together.

Anehata died… getting close to the bear the way he wanted.

Inudou had his last fight with Hijikata.

Youichirou also had the death he wanted, aware of dying after a last fight.

Sekiya died thinking God existed and finally decided punishing him.

Fina died in her husband’s arms as he told her the truth about himself.

Kiroranke died knowing what he did had a purpose, Sofia was free and there was hope for the minorities.

Heita killed himself so as to stop his bear alter ego from killing.

Ienaga died to save Inkarmat so she could become perfect in place of her mother who lost that chance.

Usami died in Tsurumi’s arms being told what he wanted to hear.

Ueji died thinking he saddned his father one last time.

Boutarou died knowing he has saved Shiraishi, whom he deemed a friend and that Shiraishi would remember him.

Kikuta died believing Sugimoto would avenge him.

Toni in his death found the silence and calm he longed for.

Koito senior died with his ship as he wished.

Noda, despite not absolving them from his sins, still felt sympathy and sadness for their suffering and/or bad luck and, despite having them face the consequences of what they did (and therefore die often a painful death), in their final moment eased their psychological suffering, aware if they turned the way they were, it wasn’t just because they were born evil, but because something terribly painful derailed them from their path and turned them the way they became. It’s pity, not absolution. It’s bringing retribution for their own choices and wrong actions bereft of raging cruelly against them. It’s karma not sadistic revenge.

And so we can see Nikaidou too, despite dying a really gruesome death by being dismembered, still has his misery healed in death by believing he has met Youhei again, as when the two halves in which he was split look at each other, he see someone who’s the mirror image of himself and thinks he’s looking at Youhei, that Youhei is back and manages to hold his hand again... before being fully ripped to shred.

Mind you, I think it’s more likely that Kouhei hallucinated the whole thing than that he managed to see his other half, assume it was his brother and take his hand. But still the scene has its own poetry and reminds us how the Nikaidou brothers viewed themselves as the two halves of a whole as well as remarking the only salvation Nikaidou could hope for, required for him to die...

Again, it’s a pity the two brothers weren’t more likable because, narratively speaking, they are good characters with lot of potential… though terrible people. But even in how they were hard to be liked there’s a message. Their rage, their violence, made them alone in more way then one. No friends, one of them death, the other living longing for revenge until he died. And, outside of the story, not a wide fangroup.

Anger is an ugly, scary beast, after all, and when it’s mad rage it’s even worse.

And so Nikaidou, as I expected, says goodbye to us all, the final page being of Sugimoto as Nikaidou explodes behind him.

Sugimoto is creepy, his eyes shining, he has fought again like a Kishin and again he has killed but, although he has survived, he’s ironically in the dark while Nikaidou, or what remains of him, is in the light… the light of the explosion of course, but still light considering Nikaidou now is with his brother.

I wonder what will be of Sugimoto. I know he won’t die but will Noda deal with what he’s becoming or will he let this drop because Sugimoto is the main character? We’ll see.

#Golden Kamuy #Sugimoto Saichi #Nikaidou Kouhei #Nikaidou Youhei #Koito Heiji #Koito Otonoshin #Tsukishima Hajime #Tsurumi Tokushirou #Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories

[piduai]

The Elfen Lied mangaka trashing GK that one time and saying it’s for homos or something.

i rember 😭 someone told me about that on here years ago. it was this tweet

"golden kamuy is so full of perverts i wouldn't imagine it would draw in a female audience, is it the homos? is it homos they want? i can't do it"

bestie are you really wondering why your harem hentai lite gore manga where little girls are torn apart limb to limb and/or raped isn't popular with women. are you.

#anon

[kiwikipedia]

ok i know plo already has a VA and I'm not saying i dislike him but. Do u have any ideas for a cast for him that's less desperate than "obi wan with pitch correction because getting more actors is expensive" ? I loved ur other voice cast ideas btw!!!

Sooo, Confession time, I hate that they just used Obi Wan's VA for Plo. I dont mind his voice, it just seems... Lazy. Aside from the Clones for obvious reasons, I'm a kinda firm believer that if they're a reoccurring character with major lines to use a different VA for shows at least. I do understand why it was done, but. Eugh.

ANYWAYS. Getting to the actual question, English dub wise I'm partial to Crispen Freeman— specifically his King Hassan or Alucard voices (Tw for the Alucard ones, there's depictions of ALT Right figures due to the nature of the Hellsing' climax having uh, killing N*zis and Religious Extremists depicted as KKK members, also General Gore)

I'm also very partial to Kongo Sensei's voice actor from the English dub: Biran Mathias

But since Japanese Dub seems to be my forte let's see about what other Voices there are:

Yasui Kunihiko especially as Li Shuwen holds a special place in my heart

Kuroda Takaya as Ivan the Terrible is also very good + funky voice effect and lightning powers? Nice.

The Singer Takeinuu from OBNN Group is also good but hard to find when he's singing by himself but he's the priest with the coffin here

BUT. The JP voice I would pick overall is Jouji Nakata. He's Kogo's and King Hassan's Japanese voice and it's very good, surprising no one Jouji also voiced Alucard. Jouji does a lot of other low register voices in anime such as Zenin Naobito from JJK, Hijikata Toshizou from Golden Kamuy, Sakura Soujirou from Persona 5 the Animation, Hai no Me or Ashen Eyes from Ancient Magus Bride, and also The Count of Monte Cristo in Gankutsuou.

There are a few others but these are my favorites for Plo

TLDR;

Crispen Freeman or Biran Mathias for English, Jouji Nakata for JP, with Yasui Kunihiko, Kuroda Takaya, and Takeinuu as runner ups.

#No slight against JA Taylor but like #Beppi Tag #Penguinkiwi Answers Stuff #i just wish there was someone else yk? #Plo Koon #Voice Reference #Penguinkiwi Headcanons #Voice Claims

[sandflow]

Sugimoto and Ogata’s Rivalmance - anime vs manga comparisons

Hello there.

So I just saw the last episode from he 3rd season of the Golden Kamuy anime series and it left me a little perplexed. I’ll be talking about how the anime handled their scenes compared to the manga.

I’ll be blunt, season 1 was average while season 2 turned out kind of bad. Season 1 is alright as an introduction to the series, even though the CG bear really turned off many people from liking the show. 

Season 2 skipped a lot of arcs and while some of them turned out to be animated as an OVA, there are arcs that even at present haven’t been adapted and as of which happen pre-Abashiri. (Ogin arc, Fake ainu arc).

Season 3 was alright though. The animation quality is way better and the pacing felt really fluid and relaxing for the most part of the season.

I will only be comparing the scenes that have changed, and won’t adress the ones that haven’t been adapted in the anime.

Here we go.

Season 2 Episode 3 (chapter 81) - Sugimoto saves Ogata in Edogai’s house

The manga - After Sugimoto says the infamous tsundere line to Ogata, Ogata spits blood and then the scene shifts to something else.

The anime - After Sugimoto’s line, we can see Ogata looking disgustingly at Sugimoto while he’s leaving the room, and then he spits blood.

I guess that the anime tried to make it look like Sugimoto hurt Ogata’s ego with that line. And Ogata didn’t like it at all. 

(Chapter 83) 

The manga - Ogata tries to hunt the birds by shooting them only to be denied by Asirpa. Sugimoto is all smirky because Ogata is being lectured.

The anime - They don’t show Sugimoto’s evil smirk reaction to Asirpa lecturing Ogata.

The manga -  Sugimoto being jelly of Ogata who caught more birds than Asirpa. When Sugimoto says that Ogata tried to hunt the birds just to prove Asirpa wrong, we can see Ogata’s sad reaction to that line.

The anime -  It’s pretty much the same scene but we don’t get Ogata’s reaction.

Season 2 Episode 5 (Chapter 99)

The manga - Sugimoto calls out Shiraishi’s betrayal. Shiraishi panicks thinking that he might kill him right there, but it ends up with Sugimoto showing him that he gave fake skins to Hijikata.

The anime - it’s the same scene except for when Sugimoto calls Shiraishi out, we can see Ogata’s expression while the conflict unfolds.

And then Sugimoto says that the skin that Shiraishi gave to Hijikata was a fake.

And we see Ogata again where he closes his eyes.

The Ogata reactions never existed in the manga.

I’m thinking that they added this so as to hint at his future betrayal in Abashiri.

(Chapter 100)

The manga - they kill some deer so as to hide in them and get rid of the 7th from pursuing them, Shiraishi becomes delirious and runs away. No one goes after him.

The anime - Shiraishi runs away delirious and Asirpa goes after him and tells Sugimoto to skin deers with Ogata until she comes back. Sugimoto decides to go after her and Ogata calls him to come back.

This entire scene did not exist in the manga.

OVA 3 (Chapter 104)

The manga - Shiraishi gets bitten by a snake. Sugimoto, for some reason, gets bitten too. 

And when both of their heads get inflated, Shiraishi asks Sugimoto what happened to his face.

The anime - Ogata is the one who asks Sugimoto about his face.

All I can say is thanks Geno for this addition.

OVA 4 (Chapter 111)

The manga - Asirpa asks Ogata to help Tanigaki escape from these ainu dudes who think he violated and killed wild animals.

In the manga, after Asirpa asks Ogata for help, Ogata follows it with the reasoning that Tanigaki may have killed his comrades from the betrayer group, to which Sugimoto and also Asirpa defend Tanigaki by saying that he wasn’t the one to do it.

After that, Sugimoto sort of taunts Ogata by saying that uwu Asirpa won’t cook for you anymore~

The anime - After Asirpa asks Ogata for his help, the whole reason he wouldn’t save him is skipped, and it jumps to just Sugimoto taunting him.

All what Ogata needed was a small tease reply from Sugimoto and he was totally down on risking his life saving Tanigaki. Comrades getting killed by Tanigaki? Naaaah.

Season 3 Episode 7 - (Chapter 169)  

The manga - The group starts talking about the legend of a mountain cat (lynx) and Koito thinks that they were probably refering to Ogata. And so the bullying begins.

Sugi when first hearing of this, he smirks in a way that says “Lol wut where did that come from”.

The anime - when Sugimoto first asks “What’s Ogata gotta do with it?” we don’t see his smirking face like in the manga. 

And when he says the line of “What a pathetic joke”, his face looks a bit more..dramatic and sad in a way?

Or when he looks all determined after Koito says that they should kill a cat when spotted.

This scene felt like he really does feel sorry for Ogata being bullied compared to the manga.

Season 3 Episode 11 - (Chapter 187)

Ogata lies about Sugimoto’s death to Asirpa so as to get the code out of her.

He sees that Asirpa isn’t cooperating with his pleas of sharing the code with him. So he uses the Sugimoto card.

The manga - he starts blushing the moment he mentions Sugimoto

The anime - the blush wasn’t shown in this scene

He starts talking about the fake flashback of hearing Sugimoto’s last words.

The manga - we get this simple panel of just Ogata calling out Sugimoto’s name.

The anime - we are serviced with the same scene but from a different angle which I appreciate because it looks shippier.

Another notable thing is that while this scene is happening, you can hear Sugimoto heavily breathing. To me it felt like the breathing sounds lasted a bit longer than I imagined when reading the manga... 

Sugimoto’s voice sounds very soft and gentle while begging for Ogata to take care of his buddy’s family.

The manga - blushy lying Ogata

The anime - blushy lying Ogata but the blush seems to be drawn lighter? You gotta squint to see it.

The manga

The anime

I don’t have an argument for these panels I just like how cute he looks while blushing.

when you imagine your arch nemesis’s last soft, gentle dying words you just can’t help but feeling flustered

The manga - Ogata leans in close to Sugimoto’s face. Sugimoto is looking directly into his eyes while trying to mutter Tome’s name. And Ogata seems to look sad.

The anime - the scene is shown from a different angle, and Sugimoto is probably looking at the sky or something. We can’t see Ogata’s expression anymore.

The manga - Ogata is still running on the ice floe while pretending to care about Sugimoto’s last wishes.

look.at.his.frowny.cute.staplebrows.

The anime - Ogata and Asirpa are...standing still, looking at one another, and being all sad about their boo-boo Sugi-chan's death wishes.

The manga - The projecting is now going off the charts.

Sugimoto grabs Ogata’s hand, holds it tightly,with Ogata also tighting the grip, tells him that he wants to go back to his hometown while also tearing up, all of this happening while they look in eachother’s eyes.

This is peak soft fanfiction I SWEAR-

The anime - Geno wasted all of their money in this episode and they didn’t have any other left to animate this panel, so they just use the same frame as before.

That sky must be very fascinating to look at.

The manga - Ogata being all pouty and sad that he has to bear Sugimoto’s burdens-

The anime - He seems not as pouty but the cute eyelashes are more visible. CUTE.

The manga - a beautiful ending for a fanfic  Ogata projects even MORE because I guess that everyone on this planet loves the same fish stew as he does.

The anime - it’s basically the same but Sugimoto’s voice is so dramatique and sad that it just brings tears to my eyes how Ogata is so good at writing fanfics.

(Chapter 188)

The manga - Sugimoto heard Ogata’s fanfic and was enraged because of how ooc he turned out, so he went to him and to show what sort of fanfics he’s into, he comes from behind, grabs Ogata by the hair, pulls it, and cuts his poisoned eye out.

The anime - He comes in from the front???? catches Ogata’s head in a very gentle way, and cuts his eye out. No hairpull.

Geno. I’m looking at you.

The manga - Sugimoto making very angry eye contact, sucking Ogata off and still pulling his hair.

The anime - Geno doesn’t like gore so they just animated one single suck panel. Ogata is sort of moving his eye a little there. Hm.

We also get some new frames that weren’t in the manga.

One in which he scolds Ogata for wanting to make small children kill people.

The other still looking angrily at his bandages face.

Ok Geno you’ll get a pass on this one.

Season 3 Episode 12 (Chapter 197)

The manga - Sugimoto tries very hard to convice everyone to save Ogata.

The anime - it’s the same thing except the very heterosexual tension orange glowy eyes, and the more obvious and wider drawn devilish smirk.

This is thirst depicted in one frame.

The manga - The doctor says that Ogata will most likely die and Asirpa is sad.  Sugimoto is looking at her thinking oh nooo she’s a killer now.

The anime - Asirpa is sad but Sugimoto isn’t looking at her but towards the doctor....

The manga - Sugimoto has white danger eyes with a tint of sadness/dissappointment in his expression.

The anime - Sugimoto looks SO ANGRY HOW DARE YOU DIE LIKE THIS? PATHETIC OF YOU. *spits* 

He’s just as thirsty here too.

I didn’t understand why they coloured his eyes like that. What was is supposed to mean????? He wants blood but he also wants to continue to hunt for it I guess???

This is, I think, the first time in the anime where they colour the pupils that bright.

The manga - Sugimoto is so shocked that Ogata is alive and ran away.

The anime - they added two new frames, basically empathising how Sugimoto is slowly processing the whole event.

God the adapted manga panel looks so funny he just goes super duper wide eyes as if no one would have predicted this outcome.............

(chapter 200)

The manga - wishing for his arch nemesis to come back to him. A very normal wish.

The anime - it’s the same. But now with sparkly eyes like in the volume.

And that’s it.

I think that Geno somewhat tried to promote their relationship to a certain extent by adding new scenes while trying to stay somewhat faithful to the source.

Sadly, they cut a lot of arcs. If you’d watch this series without checking out the OVA’s, you’ll definitely miss out on scenes where their bickering bond is being shown in all of its glory. They didn’t even animate the Fake Ainu arc even as of today, which has the best sugio bickering in the series.

#golden kamuy #ogata hyakunosuke #sugimoto saichi #Osugi #sugio

[greenhappyseed]

Welcome!!! As my oh-so-clever title says, this blog is for my own writing/art, which mostly focuses on the My Hero Academia manga, aka my comfort read during the COVID times. I don’t know anyone IRL who reads it, so I AM HERE!! *** Spoilers abound! I post about all official sources, including Vigilantes/Illegals, School Briefs, the anime, etc. (although the main manga is my true love).

My ask box and messages are currently open. Ask/message away on MHA or any of the series below (I’ll also answer about my own headcanons/ships/etc, but I don’t do ship wars). Also, while I read leaks and do a reaction post immediately after, I do not look at leaked pages or read unofficial translations AFTER I read the official chapter.

Note: I’m multi-ship friendly and an LGBTQ+ ally, but as an older fan with my own teen kids, I personally don’t speculate or post about the sexuality of teens, or about teens in sexual relationships. I’m not judging if others do, but I won’t make it creepy on my end. When it comes to teen romantic relationships, I stick to mild speculation based on what is expressly, overtly shown in canon.

Favorite hero characters: The origin trio, of course, but my heart lies with All Might, Aizawa, Present Mic, and Fat Gum. (What can I say, I’m old and I like the grownups.) Shoutout to Iida, Amajiki, and Monoma. Kaminari, Kirishima, and Ashido have great energy. I want to love Ochako too, but I don’t love how the “crush” storyline consumed her.

Favorite villain characters: Twice, Shigaraki, Stain, Spinner, and Dabi….and I’m REALLY enjoying the post-PLF war AFO development too. Shoutout to Compress and Toga. I loved seeing the LOV stomp Overhaul and Re-destro (though I’ve come to really love the quirk Overhaul).

Favorite side characters: Fuyumi, Ms. Joke, Officer Sansa, Makoto, Burnin

Influences/stuff I like other than BnHA:

I LOVE Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Dragon Prince, Castlevania, Arcane, Lore Olympus, Gravity Falls, Owl House, MLP:FiM, Umbrella Academy, The Boys, and pretty much every Spider-Man incarnation imaginable. Plus the 90s X-Men cartoon and the new X-Men ‘97!!

Loved anime for Vinland Saga, Mob Psycho 100, Spy x Family, Zom 100, Pluto, and Dungeon Meshi. Kaiju No.8 is cute so far too! Finished Attack on Titan & Demon Slayer.

The MCU, Star Wars, and Batman (especially The Animated Series) are big influences. Also Doctor Who!

I’ve read/watched some D.Gray Man, Golden Kamuy, HxH, Fruits Basket, Soul Eater, Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, Fire Force, One Punch Man, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, and Tiger & Bunny.

I don’t read as much Naruto or One Piece as I “should.” I kinda skipped that generation? Oh, but Akira and Unico are amazing. I dig Astro Boy and Black Jack too.

#my pinned post #mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

[here-lies-golden-kamuy]

The Case of Ogata Hyakunosuke and Love

I’ve been rewatching GK for the past few days and I can’t help but think of Ogata, so for my first post, I’ll be listing my thoughts and headcanons on Ogata and love in general. 

MAJOR manga spoilers and a lot of thoughts under the cut! 

[Part 2]

Okay to start off…in canon, Ogata doesn’t believe in the word (and perhaps the concept) of “love” — in his words love is “as vague and uncertain an existence as the gods” (chapter 103, page 11). But I argue that while he doesn’t consciously believe it, he still seeks for it. 

It’s canon that Ogata (through aconite poisoning in chapter 310) later realizes that maybe he wasn’t born “defective” or “lacking” (chapter 310, 103), which means that he canonically does feel emotions and has desires that he thought he didn’t (the cognitive dissonance for this boy…no wonder he uh reacted that way in the end). One of these emotions and desires is love in itself. 

One of these days, I’ll probably talk about how Ogata’s experience of childhood neglect paved the way for his extreme disassociation with deeper and more complex emotions. But for now, I argue that Ogata can and has loved before, though very limited. In fact, here are who I think are the only three people he ever loved in his life: his mom (and by extension his grandparents), Yuusaku, and Asirpa. 

Yes, I hc that he loved both Yuusaku and Asirpa (I think his love for his mom is pretty obvious, though a little messed up…very Ogatacore if you ask me) in his own…. complicated way. But I think he loved them for one major reason — they loved and cared for him back. 

Which brings me to my major argument: Ogata craves love because of his less-than-savory upbringing but (1) doesn’t exactly realize that he does in the first place, and (2) does not exactly recognize nor react well when he is loved. This may arise from the fact that Ogata sees love as something that is obligatorily passed on from one source to another, rather than something that may evolve given time, effort, and patience. I personally think Ogata is attracted (not inherently romantic) to people who love and care for him first. 

It’ll be too long if I write all the points of the argument, so for this portion, I’ll just focus on the first point. 

First point: Ogata craves love, but he’s (for lack of a better term) shit at recognizing, receiving, and giving love. There’s no doubt that he craves for love — we’re privy to flashbacks of him wanting his mom to “look” at him as a child (chapter 304, page 6). He unconsciously wants to experience the things that a person would when given healthy love: validation, acceptance, protection, etc. And that desire is completely normal and valid! 

And yet, a big part of why he’s bad at love is that he wasn’t modeled a good and healthy concept of love. Like all children, Ogata’s first model of love was his parent. His mom was love incarnate for him. But love for him was a woman losing her grip on her own self-concept and reality because of longing and “love”. Love for him was being overlooked by someone else. So, because of this horrible representation of love, he learns to detest (but also become subconsciously obsessed with) love. 

And it’s very interesting for him to come into this “insight” that love is mainly something shared by parents and passed on to a child. His first encounter of love was a woman who didn’t see him (random note: I hc that for Ogata to feel loved, he first needs to be “seen” for who he is) for who he is, eyes steadfast on the man who left her. His first model of love was unequal and unfair: this imbalance caused him to think he wasn’t “given” the ability to love when he was born. 

Right now, I’m wondering why Ogata felt guilty for killing Yuusaku but not his mom, when they’re both beloved by him. I argue it’s because Ogata killed his mom out of love (yes, in a fucked-up way). He killed her so that the person she loves will finally come to her. In a very child-like manner, it’s quite…. “selfless” and “innocent” of Ogata to think of his mom’s love (his father) first and think of himself and her supposed love for him second (chapter 103, page 09). 

When Hanazawa senior challenges him that Ogata “felt disgusted” in seeing his mother’s “pitiful, deranged state” (chapter 103, page 11), I argue that Ogata still defends his mom when he replies that “children can’t choose their parents”. He didn’t choose a mom that had an apparent mental health problem. He didn’t choose to have his mom, but she was his mom and he loved her. He still craved her love. 

#ogata hyakunosuke #golden kamuy #ゴールデンカムイ #golden kamuy meta #golden kamuy headcanon #golden kamuy headcanons #golden kamuy imagine #golden kamuy imagines #golden kamuy manga spoilers #golden kamuy ask blog #here lies golden kamuy

[schocooca]

Golden Kamuy Yuusaku x Ogata One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33297505

Usami gave Ogata the wrong drink.

Or, when fellow coworkers go to a bar after work and Ogata is so done that he doesn't care about the wrong color of alcohol in the glass and just drinks the all thing in one shot. 

He ends up in Yuusaku's arms.

He did not want to be here. He really, really and again really, didn’t want to be here. He went along with the idea of going to the bar for some drinks with his coworkers only because he would hate hearing their whines about how he never goes out with them after work. 

They always whine and cry anyway, so thinkin now, what was the difference? 

He just moved the glass in his hands, small, compared to the other men. Small, but still firm, and yet soft. Sigh escaped his mouth, when the next part of alcohol came to their table. 

Today, the one in charge of drinks was Usami and it showed. These colors were so weird that Ogata doubted if they were still edible, but then remembered the time when Usami drank the mix of… some things and it was pitch black. Oh lord, it was so hideous and stank so much that he threw up, but no, Usami drank it in one shot.

He ended up in hospital for a few days. 

Now, looking at a one year older man, he seemed… no, he didn’t. He was still stupid and with some bad ideas in his head. But then, the drinks this time don’t look like they came up from the deepest hole in hell. Nah, they looked like they only came from hell. 

Ogata made a disgusted face. 

— What's that face for, huh? 

His eyes picked up a movement to his right and ears picked up sound. He stared at the man who just talked to him. Younger than him, but started at the same time at the office. Sugimoto was his name and sure, he was capable, but always somehow after a few hours of work ends up somewhere too far to that place that he should be at. One time he disappeared and was found on the playground with some young girl. 

— Should I really answer that? — he grumbled, low voice vibrating and he picked up glass with low percentage alcohol, drinking all the liquid that was left. 

Glass left his hands and then table, and next one with some really intensive color appeared. 

Sugimoto eyed that drink and laughed, but when he saw his own - stayed silent.

That was so wrong.

— I hope that at least no one drugged them… — Ogata heard a whisper from the end of a table. It came from Kadokura, who was one of the oldest ones here. Let's say that… Usami might be kinda fixated about him and the poor guy was always the victim. Lucky for him that he never stayed at the hospital because of it.

Guys before him weren't always that lucky.

— EVERYONE! CHEERS!

Ogata grabbed glass and moved it slightly towards others and after that - drank all of it in one shot.

He felt the alcohol killing inside of his mouth and throat and that feeling was pleasurable, obviously.

But the taste was kinda off.

Welp, he didn't care at this point.

— Ah! I gave Ogata my own drink!

It's too late.

Taste was off, but made him crawl more and it was totally not like him to be the first one with the red face and hazy eyes. His head was on the table, looking at the person opposite him, smiling like a kitten that he was. 

— Did Ogata just get drunk?

— I think so

— Welp of course he did, after he drank MY drink and stole some others. 

Ogata closed eyes, head dropping to the side and his hand moving onto his face.

— What a stupid cat.

— Koito, you aren't better. 

Suddenly, Hyakunosuke's head went up and looked around, like he was searching for someone, but didn't find it, so he started pouting and then - clinged to Sugimoto, who was next to him. 

— What the—

That wasn't all. Ogata purred, while rubbing against him. Sugimoto choked.

— Woah woah, kitten, don't get too fired up

Kiroranke laughed and patted Sugimoto on the arm, trying not to laugh more after seeing his face. 

— Y...ku.. 

Ogata was mumbling, while sniffing Sugimoto. Yes, that's his smell… But he would not sit so stiff.

— Where is Yuusaku — he groaned and tried to move away from the warm body that he wanted to feel so much. But it couldn't be anyone. It had to be him. 

Ogata hit the table and spilled drink on his shirt. He wanted to stand up, but legs weren't listening to him and he stumbled on them, right onto Sugimoto's lap. 

— Ow!

— That's funny to watch, but also it starts getting annoying.

It was Usami who said that.

— Sugimoto, take care of him~

— WHAT

Said man screamed and Ogata trembled at that. Hot. And so, he said his name again.

— Ugh, fine! Shiraishi, Tsukishima, could you help me with it?

And so they went, trying to take the man who started to get really needy and horny and it showed.

At the end, when they rang the bell to a place that Usami told them to go, they hesitated.

— Does he really live here? 

— I don't know man, he never really told us where he lives, so—

— Please be faster because I swear to god I'm gonna leave you two alone with him

— Jeez, chill…

And then they waited. Few moments later they heard doors opening.

— Good evening, what can I- Oh, Brother? 

Ogata's head perked up and in one moment he tried running to him but missed a step and face hit his chest. Yuusaku caught him and held firmly, yet soft. 

— That's all! Take care!

Three of them disappeared really fast, whispering to each other.

Ogata looked up and bit his lip, his mind going crazy. How he wanted the younger brother to hold him, whisper to his ear, move fingers on his body, touch him… He whined and pushed him inside their house.

— Ah, Hyaku, are you okay?

Yuusaku tried to move him away, and sure, he did that, but man, how his heart fluttered at the sight. 

— Brother, let's get you changed, okay? 

— Mmm… 

Ogata couldn't walk on his own, his head was full with naughty thoughts about them and damn, he sure was hard. 

So when they got into the bathroom and Yuusaku made him sit on the bathtub, he was wiggling for touch. He was in so much need for it.

That he just took his hand and placed it on his crotch, whining sweetly and making the young man blush. 

— Yuusaku, fuck me

His heart was beating so hard now. Imagination of him and Ogata having sex was before his eyes and made him twitch. 

— Brother, I couldn't-

Ogata second hand grabbed the young man's hair and after that, he went for a kiss.

It was messy at first and Yuusaku was still in shock. It was also short, since Ogata gasped for air and whined, wiggling under his touch on his pants. 

— You are cute, brother — Yuusaku whispered, their lips brushing slightly and went for a kiss. It was sweet and soft, innocent and full of affection. His hand was on Ogata's cheeks, thumb caressing his skin and so loving. 

Then, his second hand took care of buttons of his shirt, belt and zipper of pants. 

After a while, they stopped kissing and while Ogata's drunk brain was still processing the love, Yuusaku pulled off his shirt and pants.

Ogata shivered from the cold and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off with a peck on his forehead. And then cheeks. Eyes. Nose. Mouth.

— You are loved, brother 

He took his small hand and placed a soft kiss on the palm, and then put that small hand on his cheeks. He saw how his eyes looked between his lips, hand and eyes, but he didn’t say anything. 

Yuusaku then waited, giving more soft touches.

They stayed like that for a while, until Ogata sniffed. Yuusaku froze.

— What-

There were tears in his eyes and they were going down, making wet stains along the way. 

Ogata was crying.

Seeing his older brother in that state was heartbreaking.

—Hyakunosuke…? 

He spoke in a soft voice, full of worry. In a moment, he was cupping Ogata's face in hands and wiping away his tears with thumbs. 

— Why you make me feel all these things… — he sobbed — I am bad, I do bad things and I despise you

There was a faint smile hiding in Yuusaku's lips. 

— I don’t care about all of this. Well, maybe I love you because of all of this?

He spoke these words, while looking at him with loving eyes. 

Caressed his cheeks and placed a soft kiss on his nose. After that, he just embraced him and let his beloved brother wet his shirt with tears. He stroked his bare back, feeling how muscles tensed under his touch, and - after a while - they relaxed. 

Yuusaku closed eyes, humming under his breath and when Ogata was no longer crying, he just picked him up and went to his bedroom. Put in bed and lied next to him. 

Ogata snuggled into him right away, making the younger man chuckle. But he didn’t say anything. 

Yuusaku just put his arms around him and petted Ogata hair, both of them listening to each other's breath and heartbeats, which – lulled both of them to sleep.

The next day, Ogata had a hangover. And people give him stares in the office. 

— Hey, Ogata, what is your relationship with your brother?

It was Shiraishi and oh look, that's the coffee Ogata was just drinking on his face.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy fanfiction #hanazawa yuusaku #ogata hyakunosuke #yuusaku x ogata #golden kamuy one shot #fanfiction #archive of our own #ao3

[thedigitalpen]

My 10 favourite... beefcake animes!

Okay yes, I realise that this is a rather weird title. I had originally thought to call it something along the lines of my favourite martial arts or fighting animes, but because the animes don’t always fall into that category, I decided to call a spade, a spade (or a beefcake, a beefcake) and admit that, most times sometimes, I just enjoy animes with muscular guys in them. That’s not to forget the ladies though because some of these shows also feature some rather muscular ladies in the mix too. So there’s something for everyone!

So, in no particular order (because the genres are sometimes different so making comparisons wouldn’t be fair):

1. Street Fighter series.

Hardly a surprise considering that this is a series that has a legacy firmly placed in the gaming world. Although you don’t really need to know who’s who in order to watch these shows, it doesn’t hurt to know a little about the characters before you jump in - mainly because the creators assume that those who watch it are fans of the show. Expect a fair amount of fighting (the name gives that one away), lots of bromance (Ryu and Ken 4eva!) and the eternal fight of good vs. evil (which is usually the plot of every show/movie)! Even if you aren’t familiar with Ryu & co., the show won’t lead you astray so you can watch without worry. Oh and let me just say - Chun Li is ma gurl! If you want to see a woman that’s not only beautiful but can also kick your ass, then watch these shows - especially Street Fight II the movie! 

2. Hajime no Ippo.

One of my most favourite sports animes of all time which tells the tale of Makunouchi Ippo and his rise up the ranks of the boxing world. He starts off as a kid that just wants to get stronger so that he can fend off the bullies who harass him. Sick of his weak self (and after a couple of incidents here and there), Ippo joins a boxing gym, starting from scratch and going through basic training. His coach sees his potential and helps shape Ippo into a power boxer who fights head on and never backs down from the fight. Throughout the series, we get to know the other boxers in the gym as well as the competitors that they face, and we watch them battle it out in the ring. It’s a story with a great balance of sports, a sprinkling of slice of life (well, the life of a boxer) and comedy. And, of course, boxing boys come with boxing bodies... and I’m not complaining! And if you enjoy this and want more, try either “Ashita no Joe” (old school classic) or it’s more recent spin-off, “Megalo Box”. Oh and in terms of strong women - no one beats Ippo’s mom! She’s a powerhouse!

3. Baki the Grappler.

More of an MMA vibe with this one - it’s about a kid (he’s like 13 when we first meet him) who has been raised to be a fighter since he was born - his mother gets him the best trainers and equipment money can buy. He eventually feels like he’s outgrown the traditional training method and starts to find other ways to become a better fighter, which includes following his fathers footsteps - training the same way he did and with the people he did - and taking on some of the other fighters he meets along the way. After an altercation with his father (using that term rather lightly), Baki’s path eventually leads to the underground fight scene where challengers can test their strength and face off against each other in an anything-goes type of fight, using whatever techniques, power and skills they have at their disposal. And Baki’s ultimate goal? To defeat his father! It’s got some family drama as the foundation, but when it comes to beefcakes, there’s no shortage here - even if it is a 17-year old kid looking like a grown-ass man. Oh, best to be aware that (excluding the OVAs) there 3 seasons of Baki - the anime series from 2001 and the 2018 Netflix version which covers the "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" arc. 

4. Kengan Ashura.

When I first started watching this, the first thing I thought was - ahhh! this reminds me of Baki! And, indeed, there are quite a few elements that are similar. There isn’t any family drama here but there is an underground fight scene where anything goes in terms of fight style. However, the premise here is that the fighters don’t fight for themselves (well, not officially anyway) but that they fight for various companies who settle their business disputes via these types of organised “kengan” matches. It eventually reaches a situation where some of the other businessmen wish to get rid of the current Kengan chairman, and so this chairman organises a huge battle royale for any companies that wish to enter. The prize? The owner of the winning company gets to be the next chairman! This sets the stage for a number of one-on-one showdowns between the various fighter representatives. In terms of background stories, we have two main protagonists and their stories. The one is about a salaryman (turned “CEO”) and his life, as well his relationship with his son, and the other is about a fighter and the vendetta he holds against another fighter for a past incident. Personally, I love the way the fights are presented in this show - not only because of the eye-candy - but because it really does feel like you’re at a grand show! Oh, and unlike Baki, at least most of the fighers are adults.

5. Golden Kamuy.

Bring on the boys! Honestly one of the most entertaining shows I’ve watched in a while (and one where I demand that there be another season at least!) and also culturally/historically interesting too. It’s set around the time of the Russo-Japanese war and follows the story of Immortal Sugimoto - a soldier who left active service and finds out that there may be Ainu gold hidden somewhere in Hokkaido. The only problem is that the map has been tattooed in pieces, onto the torsos of various prisoners, most of whom have dispersed to different areas. Nevertheless, thus begins the hunt for the map! Along the way, Sugimoto meets various people along the way - making allies with some and enemies with others - all of whom are associated with each other in interconnecting ways. And all of whom are working toward one goal - get the gold! It’s a brilliant show that’s got some fighting, some mystery, some espionage vibes, some comedy (some of which is could be considered dark and/or weird) and some feels. It balances it all out and makes for an interesting and entertaining watch. Oh, and let’s not forget - a very enjoyable watch too! Mm mm mmm...

6. All Out!!

Another sport anime here, but this time it’s rugby! As someone from a country where rugby is a staple, national sport, this was totally up my ally! The premise is similar to most other school-based sports animes - a kid who’s self-conscious about his height joins the rugby team and learns to get along with the other boys as he trains and works together with them as part of the team. This is not only so that he can help the team improve, but to also prove his own worth. The team goes through training camps and they play against other schools, getting to know some of the opposing teams’ members and establishing some rivalries along the way. It’s pretty typical fare, but damn are these boys stacked! It’s pretty accurate though since rugby is a contact sport which requires some power (and apparently some short, tight shorts) to get the job done. It’s a light watch, but that eye candy is truly sweet!

7. Tiger Mask W.

From rugby to wrestling! This actually a continuation of sorts to the original Tiger Mask and Tiger Mask II series, building on the legacy and keeping related in the same sphere, but not directly incorporating the older characters. Unfortunately, the original series is hella hard to get hold of but even without it, you can watch Tiger Mask W without much of an issue. So the story is about a guy who had decided to join a wrestling gym and was pretty happy there until the gym was destroyed by another rival gym. Vowing to take that other gym down, he strikes out on his own and eventually joins one of the national wrestling associations, working in their match roster. But it’s all so that he can reach his goal of taking down that other gym by defeating the players supported by them. Enter into the ring various wrestling friends and both friendly and unfriendly rivals (including an old friend - bromance anyone?) and you get plenty of matches, plenty of muscles and some satisfying action! They also don’t forget the female wrestlers, which is a nice touch! Another one that’s light enough to enjoy at face value - much like how you’d enjoy real wrestling too.

8. Gifuu Doudou!! Kanetsugu to Keiji. 

A historical vibe with this one - it’s actually based on the spin-off of the original manga, “Keiji” which was created by Tetsuo Hara. And if that name doesn’t ring a bell, check number 10 on this list and you’ll know who I’m talking about - that’s right, it’s the guy who worked on Hokuto no Ken - and that should immediately give you an idea as to why this show is on the list. It’s a period piece about the friendship between Maeda Keiji and Naoe Kanetsugu - both of whom found their accomplishments on the battlefield. It’s told in hindsight, where they sit together, have a drink or three and reminisce about their younger days and what it took to get to where they are now. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was pretty entertaining - especially when you see just how clever these guys were when it came to political maneuvering as well as in a fight. Of course, they’re pretty high in the beefcake stakes so if you like your men manly, then you’ve come to the right era. 

9. Dragon Ball series.

I’m pretty sure that I don’t have to talk about this anime, but in the interest of completeness, let me give you the wiki breakdown about what this anime is about: “The series follows the adventures of the protagonist, Son Goku, from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spents his life far from civilization, until he is found by Bloomer, a teen girl who encourages him to explore the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.” (source). Of course, this is continued throughout the various series that follow, where Goku has his own family etc. But when it comes to the muscle factor in this show, it’s got it where it counts - everywhere! It’s a classic for a reason so even if you aren’t into beefcake guys, you should still probably watch it if you haven’t already.

10. Hokuto no Ken.

It just wouldn’t feel right if I had to leave this off the list because when someone says “manly anime”, I’m betting that 99.9% of the time most people think about Hokuto no Ken / Fist of the North Star. It’s the post-apocalyptic era and times are tough, with everyone fighting to survive with what little there is on the planet. Some guys want to be rulers, some guys want to be thugs, but one guy just wants to find his fiancee and do what he can to right the wrongs of the world and make a difference to the people he meets. That one man is, of course, Kenshiro. It’s full-tilt action, usually incorporating martial arts through the various fighting styles of the characters - whether it’s Hokuto Shinken, Nanto Seiken or sometimes just brute force and good old hand-to-hand combat. There’s a few female characters here and there who also kick ass so it isn’t completely one-sided, but they usually end up getting saved by the dudes so take that with a pinch of salt. Post-apocalyptic world or not, these guys sure can maintain their physiques. And when it comes time for a fight, you best believe they pull no punches! If you like pure fighting animes where you get to see people explode each episode, followed by the most epic line ever said in anime, then this is the one! 

Honourable mentions.

...because, can we really do without more muscular men and women in our lives?

1. Terra Formars - if you’re looking specifically for that muscular vibe, then try season 1. While I enjoyed both, season 1 had better animation (for me) and they all looked badass when defeating those nasty roaches - both the men and the ladies! 2. Hinomaru Sumo - a sports anime that revolves around a newly formed high school sumo club and the career path of the main protagonist. Informative if you don’t know much about sumo and, as expected, loads of meaty guys aiming for victory and aiming for the position of yokozuna. 3. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure - another show that hardly requires an introduction and would probably take way too long to explain considering how many Jojo’s there are, but rest assured, the guys are packed, stacked and ready to attack! 4. One Punch Man - if only because there a few characters who fit the beefcake category perfectly, e.g. Suiryu (hello there!), Garou and Tanktop Master to name a few. An anime that’s some parts serious, some part hilarious but always flipping shounen tropes on its head. 5. Sengoku Basara - also, not completely beefed out, but there are a few characters who would make the grade, e.g. Maeda Keiji (dejavu from number 8?) and Oda Nobunaga. Another period anime, based on a Capcom game, that uses a lot of poetic licence to make it an exciting watch with very memorable characters. 6. Free! - “Make us free na Splash! Kasaneta... 👏 👏 !” Swimmers bodies - that is all. If you’ve ever seen a swimmer’s bodies in real life, you’ll know what I mean ‘cos they have muscles in all the right places. A slice-of-life sports anime that revolves around high school boys (who eventually become college boys) who engage in competitive swimming. 7. Air Master - The ladies take over in this one, which is a show that revolves around street fighting and the goal of those various street fighters and martial artists to become number 1 on the Fukamichi Rankings. It’s more of that underground fight scene vibe but the main protagonist is a gymnast-turned-street fighter who takes on anyone who’ll challenge her (man or woman) and usually kick their ass. It’s got a quirky/weird sense of humour to it, but that’s part of why I liked it.

Well, I’m pretty sure that there are other shows that I’ve missed, and mountains of characters who have that A-grade beef, but I tried to choose shows that specifically have that muscular aesthetic as a default setting in the show. Hopefully I hit the mark here, sharing my faves with you, but if there’s some show or character that I absolutely must see, feel free to let me know! Because just like Tanigaki’s shirt, I’m always open to suggestions.

#10 favourite animes #beefcake genre #it's not a thing #but i think it should be #muscular anime characters #street fighter #hajime no ippo #baki the grappler #kengan ashura #golden kamuy #all out!! #tiger mask w #gifuu doudou #dragon ball #hokuto no ken #fist of the north star #terra formars #hinomaru sumo #jojo's bizarre adventure #one punch man #sengoku basara #free! #air master

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - chapter 253 - the chaos continues!

I’m taking a chance to look at chapter 253 on its own again - what is this?  Early 2019?  So much happens in this chapter as Abashiri 2.0 unfolds as a giant cluster with a lot of similar characters interacting.

Team Hijikata, sans Kadokura, Kirawus and Ushiyama regroup outside the brewery.

Ariko is ironically with Toni as he picks up the rear.  They confirm that our convict has fled inside.  So this group will be somewhat effective as they aren’t a divided group.  Hijikata was also able to confirm that our convict is a foreigner as they had suspected.  Toni is able to use his awesome ears to let everyone know that he heard a military rifle.  This means that the 7th is on the other side of the building.  And boom the final panel shows why Hijikata is an effective leader.

He makes it clear they capture Jack, and retreat.  NOT engage with the 7th.  Wow.  Smart, this is what a good leader does, he makes the right call.

The action turns to Ogata in the fire watchtower.  He leans below the widow where Vasily fired so he’s not visible.  This then reveals that Ogata’s type 38 is inoperable.  And begin the replay of Ogata’s sniper battle with Vasily but even worse than before.  Instead of the single shot rifle, he’s got no rifle.  But he’s in luck!  Usami is also terrible with rifle care and love!  In his need to chase down Kadokura with his bayonet, he left his type 38 on the ground.

Ogata has an interesting monologue here were he’s asking if the rifle is where it was dropped and states if he hadn’t jumped back he’d have been shot.  I am working with the english translation here and life has been far to busy to seek out the original text.  Either he’s having a conversation with himself, or he’s talking to ‘Yuusaku’.  Why could this be the case?  The next page.

Ogata looks up at the spot where he was with a “. . . . .” speech bubble and then asks “Did you save me?”  Is it Yuusaku?  Is it his guilty conscience?  Could it even be Vasily?

But he continues to state that there is no way that is possible and that you are not that soft-hearted right?  Again, it could be Yuusaku since we know he was trying to be a good little brother.  But, it could be applied to Vasily since Ogata thought he knew exactly what type of sniper he is.  Being the next level strategic sniper that he is, Ogata begins to kick a hole in the side of the wall to escape out of sight since the ladder is currently being targeted by Vasily since he thinks that is the only way out.

And this makes my heart go pitter-patter for Ogata since he’s going to outwit Vasily.

The last panel has dialogue makes me think it is a bizarre mix of Yuusaku, Vasily and Ogata’s own conscience.  Something is trying to get Ogata to think about feelings and he’s not happy with it.  It be him annoyed Yuusaku is ‘haunting’ him.  It could be the fact that Ogata is pissed that Vasily won’t let him just do his mysterious goal(s).  Or he’s just upset he’s feeling things and emotions.

The action turns back to our puddle of drunken boys.  Nikaido wants to kill Sugimoto, Tsukishima tries to hold him back and he rushes off (or tries to) because he has to stop Jack!

It is a giant fail all around, Nikaido’s firearm leg backfires on himself, and we get an epic Koifail,  Koito tries to hit Sugimoto with a bottle, falls over drunk and doinks Tsukishima instead.

Poor Tsukishima, that’s gonna leave a mark and Koito returns to lying there making his high pitched cry of something.  He really can’t handle his alcohol.  As team Tsukishima is down and out for the count, Sugimoto is able to stumble upon his type 30.

He even takes the time to suck the beer out of the rifle, after he damaged it the last time it got wet in the swamp back in chapter 114.  This mean the shame he felt when Ogata berated him had a lasting effect on Sugimoto.  Maybe, try to take care of his rifle (sometimes).

Though Noda makes it clear the it must be thoroughly dried . . .

So Ogata still wins this ‘debate’ Sugimoto.

Back in the current chapter, Sugimoto then realises that he lost Asirpa which is a bad thing. . .  I guess no one heard Kikuta yell that he caught her either. . .

The action returns to Asirpa still aiming at Kikuta, who the cool, collected and sexy man that he is, is still trying to reason with her.  She points out that two of his statements have to be lies; that as someone who investigated the scene he knows more about the bodies and that they were there first is also a lie.

Kikuta smartly pauses for a moment before asking if she’s seen an Ainu gold coin.  Her shocked face is enough to allow him to continue talking.

Kikuta has confirmed that through some mean she’s seen one of the coins and that Kikuta can press forward.  He begins to reason that since the 27th collected a few of the coins, they’d have to be the first people on the scene since they’d be stolen.  His plan is to win her over with as much logic as possible.

Kikuta said that the existence of the coins was enough for Tsurumi to tell his men that it confirmed the existence of the gold.  This is a suspicious statement to me.  Kikutata is saying that this is what Tsurumi said.  How do we know that Tsurumi used this as a reason to get the men behind him?  It could have been a lie made up by Tsurumi who just said the gold coin is proof.  Unless someone else besides Tsurumi came up with this makes me want to not quite trust this.

Anyhoo, that is me just being suspicious of anything through the Tsurumi filter.

The conversation continues on with Kikuta wanting to link the coins to Wilk.  He explains that the tattoos are similar to the coins and knowing that Asirpa has seen the tattoos and the coin, he’s wanting her to think of her father’s involvement.  To sweeten the temptation, he says that Tsurumi knows more things and they can tell her the truth as to whether or not Wilk killed the other Ainu.  There is a moment of tension as she sweats while holding her bow drawn.  But the issue is resolved when she gets a full page to reply.

Asirpa shows that she is a big picture thinker.  She’s been worried since the start of the manga about if her father killed the other men even though she’s had enough evidence that he likely didn’t kill them.

Instead, she realizes that the future of the Ainu is more important and she has accepted that he entrusted this task to her.  Which is also confirmed by Sugimoto’s conversation with Wilk and by Kiro’s actions and Ogata’s words on the ice floe.

Her stance really puts her in the same area as where Kiro was and that by going to Karafuto she learned that she must become active in her role in everything.  Good or bad or indifferent, Asirpa has made it clear that she’s got more in common with the partisans than with most of the Japanese men she’s been traveling with.  I think on some level, Sugimoto realizes that, but denies it since he can’t accept the fact that Asirpa has many different challenges that he simply lacks.

This then makes sense why Kikuta tries so hard to get her to give up and abandon the gold.  Everyone around her will be killed!  I’m guessing Kikuta isn’t a fan of unnecessary death and destruction, but her reply is more interesting.

She’s upset that he’s stating this after she’s already witnessed death because of the whole ordeal.  Her own father’s death, all the people at Abashiri, Kiro.  Asirpa has committed to things and she’s already seen so many people die as a result of this.  And she’s right, Kikuta’s plea is far to late.

We then get a flashback to Asirpa and Sugimoto alone as to when they first teamed up in the beginning.  Is she having a nostalgic moment of when things were less complicated?  That she’d like to go back to things before the quest for the gold.  If she hadn’t met Sugimoto would she have missed out on the gold hunt or been older and able to handle it better?

Of course the tension of the moment needs to increase!  Usami emerges from the shadows.  Honestly, it is hard to tell if he wouldn’t just hurt her, but if he wants maximum Tsurumi love, he’s going to cut the bowstring.

And surprisingly, Kadokura tackles him and tells her to flee since everyone would be in trouble if she went with Tsurumi.

Asirpa escapes even as Kikuta tells her not to.  Usami then tries to pin down Kadokura, but his roll to escape trips up Kikuta.  I’m becoming suspicious of you Kadokura . . . are are more aware of things than you seem to be . . .of course Asirpa runs back into the building and we know that Jack is in the building. .

Kikuta tries to pursue her, but she fires an arrow at the ground near his feet and he hesitates outside calling her shrewd.  I think he’s disappointed he couldn’t win her over with words.  Though Ogata shouldn’t feel as bad, even someone like Kikuta couldn’t win her over to his side.

And poor Kadokura!  He’s being chased by Usami again and Usami’s obsession with him is just bizarre . . .

Why does Usami have such a fixation on him?  Kadokura also is hiding something and again, he’s more competent than he looks . . .

The action then returns to our sniper battle.

A figure wearing a cloak is visible around the brewery.  A hand is shown reaching for the type 38.  Shockingly, the man is shot in the head!

Vasily has scored another kill! 

Of course, as soon as I saw this, I was like, “Oh that poor decoy.”  Since I know Ogata isn’t going to run out into the open to grab his new baby.

We then see the body collapse; a man missing teeth with a few coins falling from his body.  And I just thought, nice nice.  Ogata paid off some [likely] drunk or desperate man to wear his cloak and reach for the rifle.  Realizing that Vasily will have to discharge the used shell casing, he sprints out.

In an example of speed and dexterity, he scoops up the rifle and leaps through the window that Ushiyama already broke open.  We see the next shot from Vasily hit the brick below the window.

Ogata begins to get cocky and snarky, by stating that you [Vasily] keeps missing his shots.  He notes that chances like he’s had don’t happen often and we just get upset sounds from Vasily.

Face it, in this replay of our sniper battle, Ogata has owned Vasily!  He’s several steps ahead and Vasily was lazy to think Ogata would use himself as the target again. 

This also means that Ogata knew where Ushiyama went through the window or found the open window well in advance.  He’d then have to time sending the poor decoy out so that he could rush in, grab the rifle and then leap through the window.  This isn’t a fair fight between the men; in the context that Ogata will out maneuver him.  Based on his cheeky attitude, Ogata knows it is Vasily and I’m even more certain that Ogata questioned him and knew there is a good chance he didn’t die due to his injuries.

Tsurumi is correct all the way back during the showdown in Barato.  We know the whole link to his father is one of Tsurumi’s lies slowly shown by Ogata’s involvement in Hanazawa’s death.  What still holds true is less about his parentage and more that 1.) Tsurumi knows that Ogata is ambitious - even though he doesn’t show it. 2.) Tsurumi doesn’t know his goal or objective - which we still don’t know.

Lastly, and most importantly, Ogata is an exceptional soldier and he’s not someone you want as an opponent.  Vasily, is an excellent sniper, but he lacks the other skills that Ogata possesses.

Since there is so much going on the action returns to the quest to corner Jack.  Toni is able to follow Jack and Ariko is able to read the blood trail. Kantarou proudly states that their group will prevent his escape.  He might be right.  They have the best team.  Not drunk or emotional and cohesive.

Of course it has to end on a cliffhanger with Jack spotting Asirpa.

This chapter continues the chaos that is this entire fiasco!  So much is happening.

Team Sugimoto-Asirpa-Shiraishi is completely broken!  They got separated and currently lack any cohesion.  This is resulting in Asirpa being constantly targeted and singled out - you know that thing that Sugimoto keeps telling her not to do.  Shiraishi was ignored and we have no idea what he’s doing.

Koito, Tsukishima and Nikaido are down and out for the count.  Perhaps, their beer mishap will help them detect issues from Tsurumi, hiding some of their reluctance to serve him blindly.  Plus, Nikaido is far to unpredictable of a factor - why did they bring him and what to they hope to achieve.  Kikuta’s distrust of Koito and Tsukishima is obvious, he grabbed Asirpa and left them behind and he’s been trying to not work with Usami as well.  Kikuta is almost showing his hand by not showing his hand. . . .

I hate to admit it, but team Hijikata is doing alright.  But Hijikata is a leader.

Boutarou is MIA.  We know he ran off some where or is doing something.  Is he hiding?  Does he have a hidden alliance with some of the group?  Kirawus?  Or is his loyalty to Shiraishi, one of the new cast members he seems to trust and like.  He also questions Shiraishi’s motives so he’s not playing dumb either.

And Ogata - Ogata is having likely an existential crisis about ‘emotions’ while in the middle of a sniper battle with Vasily.  As I continue to chew on his dialogue, I really think he has more than one listener for his one sided conversation.  Vasily is linked to Yuusaku.  It was the fact that Ogata did not kill Vasily and then he had his fever dream where Asirpa became Yuusaku.  Since then Asirpa, Yuusaku and Vasily have been linked to Ogata.

I’m beginning to wonder if the reason why Ogata all of this started when Ogata began to think about the possibility of guilt.  His fever is linked to something bad taking hold of him. . .

But what if this is the fact that Ogata is now recognizing his guilt and humanity through Yuusaku’s death?  He ended up in a situation where this finally bubbled to the surface.  Was the fever really a bad thing or did Ogata realize something during his fever dreams making a breakthrough.  Of course being the total suck at dealing with emotions, he’s just kept fighting them since, but Ogata can’t deny that something changed him after that event.

Well that’s all I have for now.  My brain is a bit of a mush from over 4 hours of Zoom meetings today.

It is clear chapter 254 will be as chaotic and high energy as the last few.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #sugimoto saichi #asirpa #ogata hyakunosuke #hijikata toshizo #nagakura shinpachi #kantarou #Toni Anji #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #nikaido #vasily #tsurumi tokushirou #wilk #kiroranke #warrant officer kikuta #kadokura #Usami Tokishige

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Deca-Dence 4 | Maou-jou 2 | Fruits Basket 2 24 (49) | Magatsu 1 | IWGP 2 | Koi to Producer 11 - 12 (FINAL) | HypMic 3

Still chugging away at these summer and spring anime...sorry for the delay...(LOL, that rhymed without me meaning to.)

Also, I’ve been on the fence about whether to keep Golden Kamuy, since almost no one I read the reviews of follows it now and it’s a week’s wait (when accounting for my AniList challenge)...so I’m putting it on pause so I don’t have to suffer later.

Deca-Dence 4

“…who possesses the will to fight.”

…Great. Kurenai is absolutely tethered to Kaburagi in a one-sided love. Just when I thought Natsume had an independent role model to look up to.

Maou-jou 2

Oh, this is from Shonen Sunday? Didn’t know that until now.

“Demon Shroud: A demon with 99 clans. A cloth demon that puts on airs that it won’t be used before it’s finished off, due to its wonderful fabric. It is full of beautiful ghostly power, so its skin is smooth. However, the hero (who commonly uses things he finds in his surroundings) caught one, so now the princess has zeroed in on them. The princess doesn’t need the hands or the head of these demons, so it’s a cycle of killing and taking revenge for them. Their fighting style is squeezing the life out of things.”

Apparently, the teddy is acceptable, LOL.

I like how the window stopped displaying text at one point.

I saw someone with a huge plait in the ED. The queen, maybe…?

I noticed the laughs dropped off significantly in comparison to last time, but it’s still good. I can flex my translation skills even if I can’t laugh at one part.

Fruits Basket 2 24 (49)

…jumping to the 2nd-last episode in a season is pretty unprecendented, but I’m going to watch this for the sake of Jon’s Creator Showcase…then again, I need to finish this anime anyway, so it’s just cutting and changing the order for something I already know the outcomes of.

I used to lose myself in movies so much that I would lose all sense of who I was and would have to “regain the bearings of myself”, so to speak. I would have to reconstruct who I was, even though I technically hadn’t “been broken” and I knew once I did that, it felt different. Like I’d travelled through time and past me would never be the same as present me. That’s why I kind of get what Machi means.

Oh, I didn’t listen to this OP much…probably because I’m emphasising bingeing the spring and summer series I left behind and now that I can skip the ads on most of my anime, I’m leaving behind the anime I’ll be slower on.

The manga was written when there weren’t as many cell phones around, much less smartphones.

Rin’s on bad terms with everyone…

…if I remember the year of the dragon correctly, the last one was 2012, then the one before that is 2000…around the turn of the millennium, huh? Froob is showing its age here, albeit unintentionally.

Now that I’m closer to the Musketeers’ age, I can kind of empathise with their scenes a bit more.

“If I always blame someone or something, I’ll never change.” – True. I realised I’ve been a bit too haughty lately (what with the HypMic anime going on and it being the first thing I could research extensively before the anime’s debut, my feelings are of course reaching fever pitch – combine that with continued COVID lockdown and you get me being all defensive of HypMic, for better or for worse) and so I may have acted like a jerk to someone, but since I only know them online and generally when I try to apologise to people online they don’t see the things I apologise for as things in need of apology, I know the fault lies with me to rein myself in. I guess this means changing yourself is the only way to move forward.

I wonder how Hatori did his doctor training while avoiding hugs from girls who aren’t Sohmas…?

Shigure vs. Gentaro (of HypMic, of course)…a writing competition! That would be fun.

…Crow’s note here makes sense (<- this is why I changed the order). Shigure was clearly asking a question there.

Come to think of it, HypMic and Froob have some similar characters. The stoic doctor is Hatori/Jakurai, the energetic smol one is Momiji/Ramuda, the teasing author is Shigure/Gentaro…that could make for some good fanfic material, really.

Magatsu 1

…that title is an absolute killer, man. Anyways, I’m here for the director, who also worked on Hataraku Maou-sama.

Is this a no guns thing, like IWGP is a no drugs thing?

…this OP has lyrics?! I just hear strange squeaky noises, the kind you hear on some autotuned sogs to make them seem more ominous (I can’t remember if there’s a similar sound in G-Anthem of Y City or Yokohama Walker, but one of the MTC songs has similar noises).

I kinda guessed Leo’s package was the one Schaake and her partner were looking for. I was right.

That CGI (on the truck) is…kinda conspicuous.

These backgrounds are gorgeous.

“The definition of in dubio contra reum is "in doubt, against the accused", meaning that, where there is doubt, the accused in a trial is not given the benefit of that doubt; they are assumed guilty.”

I wonder: how many protagonists start out as absolute wimps, unwilling to fight because they either know or don’t know their own power? It’s a pretty standard introduction for things with fights.

This battle track is nice. I listened to some of the Magatsu music under Masaru Yokoyama’s name on Spotify and it’s pretty cool, but since it’s background music, there’s not a lot of demand to listen to it (from me or anyone else, I don’t think).

Why is there only a single shield if they know the enemy has heavy artillery?

…what the heck is a Zeits? Update: You can see a “Zeits” (or however it’s spelt) in the credits list, suggesting Zeits is a character in this.

I knew this was my last premiere and this might have made or broken my entire watching schedule, but this is just a pretty down-to-earth premiere for a fantasy mobile game. While that cliffhanger compelled me to continue, I don’t think it’s good enough to beat its competition in the long run.

IWGP 2

I know I said Magatsu was my last premiere, but just to be sure, I’m watching this one.

This dance scene is beautifully orchestrated. The fact there’s no music means you focus entirely on the motion.

The OP seems to trade more in colour and spectacle than actual “cool factor”.

…wow, $2.90…? That’s some cheap food.

You know I hate 1st person cam with a passion, right? So…uh…

Eyyyyyyyy…this is basically McDonald’s, curry style.

I think I can almost see Ichiro of HypMic in how the G-Boys seem to mostly be reformed delinquents or actual delinquents.

…yeah, but what’s your name, random messenger guy? Update: We find out later his name is Isogai.

“It’s because I suck at working and communicating.” – Yep, that me.

Ikebukuro licence plate. I still have no idea exactly what places get licence plates in Japan.

There are actually 2 characters before “Hospital”, but no one confirms the reading of those characters…which is probably why they’re omitted.

…oh gosh, if this were a BL, Mitsuki and Masaru would be star-crossed lovers…*sigh*

Maybe it’s an unrelated 3rd party??? (In mysteries, you can never dismiss the work of a 3rd party.)

You can tell exactly which group is which based on the colours they wear. Makoto isn’t affiliated with anyone, so he’s wearing black and had yellow earlier.

I think an anime is cowardly – or trying to save budget – if they deliberately choose an angle where they can’t show the moment of impact clearly.

E! News, LOL.

Archangel, huh? So like a 2nd in command?

I think IWGP is moving in the direction of pushing the gangs against each other in the way Makoto describes in ep. 2.

As for what I think of it now, it's decent if you want something down-to-earth, but it seems to be missing some kind of "wow factor". Like it's afraid to commit to deeper characterisation, even though it has Makoto as the ostensible lead/viewpoint character.

Koi to Producer 11

“Cognitive Science Association” - I thought it was the Cognitive Psychology Association…? (Psychology is shinrigaku, science is kagaku.)

My boy (Lucien)…why must you be so evil??? Why do I keep falling for the tall but mysterious doctor??? (<- guilty as charged re: Jakurai)

…that’s some funky seatbelts.

What’s that look in Victor’s eyes…? Fondness, or something more…?

…ah, so there is “Science” in the place’s name. It was just being less loosely translated then.

Oh dang. Stuff escalated really fast, huh?

You actually set this in 2020, huh, staff? What happens ten years from now and people watch it, only to realise 2020 and 2030 aren’t so different? That’s what happened when people had the Y2K bug.

That yellow sign on the side says “exit”. It’s not of any use.

That’s not a recoloured Kiro, is it? It’s not Shaw, either (who I think we saw somewhere in the previous episodes)…so then who is it?

…geesh, they even changed Helios to Ares. I guess it makes sense: Helios is the god of the sun, but Ares is the god of war.

Koi to Producer 12 (FINAL)

I read on the wiki Lucien’s power is copying powers. No wonder I couldn’t get a solid handle on it!

So that Helios wasn’t a mistake in the credits list in the previous episode???

Can we even hear what Helios says when Protag-chan is pulled away? Based on the lack of subs, probably no, but I wanted to ask anyway. (Or maybe he said “Watashi”, since that’s the pronoun Protag-chan goes by?)

…so that really is Kiro, huh?

Military…what? When did Protag-chan’s father have a military squad???

LOL, at the very end you can see Gavin gesturing at Greenie (the pot plant, presumably a succulent). I logged on to the game 7 days straight (they have a Discord channel!) and got a Gavin R card with Greenie on it, which is how I know about it.

Anyways, that was a fun show. Not the best, but still fun.

HypMic 3

*snickers* Just look at my boi! He’s so tall, he has to bend down for kids! (I don’t mean that teasingly, I mean that endearingly, but lately I’ve been no good at expressing myself…Must be the lockdown.)

If TsudaKen was a guest last time, then Degarashi and Irihatoma could be voiced by guest seiyuus too…

What is Jakurai, hmm? (A Transformer, LOL?...I’m kidding, of course.)

All I knew about this episode going in was that it was an MTR episode. Maybe they’ll cover the stalker story from the manga…?

More literally, Hifumi’s sign says “will you monopolise me until morning?”. This reminds me of the MTR truck one of the servers I was in was talking about…it looked like a giant billboard.

“The most notable thing about Doppo is that he has no notable characteristics.”…and yet, he’s still one of the most popular characters of the series.

Suddenly, HypMic becomes a mystery…? I’ll take it!

Yup, “Doppomine” is now confirmed as “Doppo-chin”.

If all the mysteries I’ve consumed say one thing, it’s “never forget there might be someone out there with a grudge against you willing to pin a crime on you”…or alternatively, “never forget there may be an unrelated 3rd party who would be willing to pin a crime on you”.

These guys (Tom etc.) are just food critics, I swear…(LOL)

Oddly enough(?), googling “Shinjuku waffles” reveals there are several waffle places in Shinjuku…you wouldn’t expect so many waffles away from the home of waffles (probably Belgium), but there you go.

All the results on Shinjuku French toast point to this Café Aaliya (give or take an H at the end). Apparently, it’s so popular, people line up for it on weekdays.

Oh, so Tom’s a (street) photographer…what are Iris and Rex then?

The CGI on that car looks really bad, man. It may be dark to disguise it, but it still looks bad.

Jakurai’s dad car strikes again!...Was it white? I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure it was a lighter colour than this.

I was quite worried about how much swearing they were going to throw in the MTC episode, but then…they kicked it down a week. So…start worrying about next week, folks!

I…thought he would call Jyuto for some reason. (giggles) I’ve never seen Samatoki look so happy in relation to Jakurai, but maybe that’s because he’s just chilling. (Or maybe he was meant to have a neutral but slightly happy face and they messed up the angle. I know I do that sometimes in fanart.)

There’s Jyuto, right on cue…LOL, that kick to the guts was so random it became epic!

Uwabami…what sort of snake is that, again? *checks* Giant snake. That’s no help. (That host could have a guest seiyuu too.)

Ooh, I’m fairly sure that’s an automatic car.

Jakurai went Jitsu wa kyoumi bukai desu ne?. “Fascinating” isn’t a wrong translation, but they did forget “In fact…” or “Really…” from the start and possibly the “?” at the end (depending on interpretation). Update: It might actually be Jitsu ni, but same deal.

They struttin’ down Kabuki-cho all fancy-like…Doppo sure does get a lot of punchlines, though.

This random guy at the club could also have a guest seiyuu…

…what’s with the random Tahoma?

…oh, hey. If Hifumi’s jacket acts as a security blanket of sorts against women and he gave it to Doppo for extra warmth (presumably), then…he’s trying to protect Doppo, even in his own sort of unique way.

Mimimi vs Hifumi? This is gonna get confusing…(hey, did they actually make a flourish noise when Hifumi put on his jacket? Does the distinction need to be that clear…?)

…see, never forget the presence of an unrelated 3rd party.Wait, so we have motive…what’s the relationship of Mimimi and the dude she killed? Who is that dude? Update: We find out later.

Notice Mimimi says “Hifumi-kun” – she’s still on an outside layer compared to Doppo, who just uses Hifumi’s name. Also, I noticed Mimimi called herself Hifumi’s “onna” – “woman” – explicitly, as if she belonged to him. The subs reflect that, but it seems to have less meaning in English because they outright translated it as such.

Well, they got to demonstrate Doppo’s snapping. I’m more than happy with just that. Also, Hifumi calls Doppo with a -kun here.

LOL, this song is gonna be known as “catchy”, ain’t it? Anything with an easy-to-sing-along chorus like “nananana” is. Update: Or maybe not even a chorus, it’s just lyrics.

Hmm…I noticed the “use Mr with me” line isn’t actually reflected in the subs, but the lyrics are so fast, I don’t know how they are reflected.

Did you notice the da in the lyrics in romaji?

…and s*** goes ka-blooey, as you’ve come to expect by now.

Mimimi-kun…?

Oh, so the background from Hypnosis Mics can get caught in photos? I never thought of that.

It’s almost as if they’re nodding at the Doppo fans through the 4th wall regarding his appeal.

It seems they’re not switching out this Buster Bros track, which is…okay, but I was hoping for an MTR ED. (Tofubeats was on this track IIRC and the anime website didn’t list a future ED, so that’s why I’m okay with it.)

…Okay, so Irihatoma is Mutsumi Iwanaka, who’s a rookie in the seiyuu world. *goes to consult Anime News Network*

Oh! Mimimi Hibakari! I get it! (It means “me, me, me all day” when written differently to her name.)

Uwabami was Shugo Nakamura and Degarashi was Mitsuaki Hoshino. I’ve never heard of these guys – except for Nakamura’s role as Teru in Idolm@ster Side M – so it’s interesting they contrasted TsudaKen with them…eh? Heilong? Whossat? (Probably the guy whose…parts…almost got crushed by Jakurai with a billiards cue.) This Hiroya Eto is even more underground than those guys.

A-hah! Today’s new song is “WELCOME U” (that’s how it’s spelt, don’t diss me for it!) by Kohei from SIMONSAYZ.

Update: I thought that kid at the beginning was Yotsutsuji, so it scared me for a second.

#simulcast commentary #Hypnosis Microphone #Hypnosis Mic #HypMic #ikebukuro west gate park #IWGP #deca-dence #Fruits Basket #maou-jou de oyasumi #sleepy princess in the demon castle #magatsu wahrheit #Koi to Producer: EVOL x LOVE #Chesarka watches Koi to Producer #Mr Love: Queen's Choice #Chesarka watches Furuba #chesarka watches deca-dence #Chesarka watches HypMic #Chesarka watches Maou-jou