#if I think of manga and anime adaptations as different characters entirely I’m not as salty

[rennyrose]

He’s just a sapling

#if I think of manga and anime adaptations as different characters entirely I’m not as salty #trigun #trigun stampede #trigun maximum #livio the double fang #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #drawing #sketch #digital art #fan art

[thenukacolachallenge]

In defense of the One Piece Live Action Adaptation’s stylistic choices: A Cosmetologist’s Perspective

Hello! My name is Dia, and I’ve been a licensed cosmetologist since 2015(almost a decade now!). For those unaware of what exactly that entails, cosmetology is traditionally defined as ‘the professional skill or practice of beautifying the face, hair, and skin’. For me specifically, I have worked in the fields of hairstyling/haircutting/hair coloring, skincare, nail care, and makeup application(both traditional makeup and FX makeup) in my eight years of being licensed to work in these industries.

The reason I’m making this post today is to talk about the Netflix adaptation of the hit manga/anime One Piece, and specifically to address a lot of complaints I’ve seen about the wardrobe, makeup, and hair choices of the main cast thus far. I’ve seen quite a bit in the way of complaints, and a lot of it seems to be, to put it as politely as I can, not based in reality of how makeup, hair, and acting in general works, and I’d like to address some of it to possibly explain why certain choices were made, to maybe help people come to a better understanding of the why and how of these sorts of decisions.

I’d like to also, before I dive in, note that I am not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with this production! These are merely my personal thoughts and speculation as someone with some experience in this field. None of this is set in stone unless I provide evidence from the cast and crew to back my claims up. As well, I’d like to point out that I have next to no experience working on film sets(I have worked on VERY small productions in the past, for things that go up on sites like Youtube and not Netflix lmao), but I am married to a person who has a degree in film and has worked on live production sets before, and I did defer to them for a lot of the knowledge that I lack with live action production specifically.

I’d also like to point out that while I’m not mad at anyone who has the critiques I cover in this post, I may come across as a bit exasperated. I promise this isn’t me being angry at anyone, but more of just.... I’ve seen the same critiques over and over again, and to me, a lot of the choices seem fairly obvious as to why they were made, and some of the critiques come across as extremely silly to me. This is of course due to my own background related to these sorts of things. I promise I mean no offense or disrespect to anyone saying these things! I just want to make this to be able to help others understand why production may have made the choices they did.

Now, under the cut, I’ll be discussing some common complaints I’ve heard with regards to this production, and provide some potential explanation as to why these changes were made. On to the post! It is quite hefty, so please bear with me.

~

First and foremost, the most common complaint I’ve seen thus far is some variation of the phrase “I’ve seen cosplayers that look more accurate to the characters than this show does,” and I’d like to address this one first, as I think it’s the one that probably frustrates me the most. It specifically frustrates me because comparing cosplayers to actors feels like an apples to oranges situation. The two groups are designed to do entirely different things! Cosplayers do typically look more like the characters they portray than a live action actor will, and that’s a very common occurrence, but there’s a reason for that: the two groups are not doing the same thing. 

Both cosplayers and actors put a huge amount of time and effort into their work, and I love cosplay personally. However, cosplayers are typically in their outfits for 8-10 hour days at most for a weekend, doing things like photoshoots where they have to pose, walking around conventions, and maybe filming a small amount of video(Not to say that this takes no effort! Please do not take this as such, I have helped friends with cosplays and I fully understand and appreciate the level of dedication and hard work that goes into it!). Actors, on the other hand, are in hair and makeup on set for 10-12 hours a day(if not longer) for weeks to months on end, and have to be fully in character while filming, as well as(specifically for a show like One Piece) doing things like stunt work, being submerged in water, and being on boats with lots of wind and ocean spray. There are certain things you simply cannot do, hair/makeup/costume-wise as an actor that you can as a cosplayer, so I really don’t think this comparison in specific is being very fair to the actors and the crew who are in charge of makeup, hair, and wardrobe in this case.

I’ll be getting into a lot more specifics below, but I will be deferring to my main point here very often, which is this: The safety and comfort of the actors is far more important than 1-to-1 accuracy in the way cosplayers can do, especially for minor changes in appearance.

Now that I’ve addressed that specifically, I’d like to move onto some common complaints I’ve heard for each specific main cast member, and my opinion on these complaints, as well as listing potential reasons as to why these things may have been changed!

~

We’ll start with everyone’s favorite funky little pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy:

For Luffy, the number one complaint I’ve seen is the live action’s choice in shoes. in the manga/anime, Luffy wears and fights in flip-flops, but this was changed in the live action. This was changed for a very simple reason, and Emily Rudd, the actor that portrays Nami, actually addressed this on Instagram while being asked by a fan:

Simply put, trying to do the kind of stunt work that Luffy has to do is not safe in a shoe like a flip flop. This is something that falls very completely under my original point of the comfort and safety of the actors being more important than 100% accuracy. It would be entirely too easy for Iñaki or someone he’s in a scene with to get hurt if he weren’t wearing the proper footwear. Fairly simple explanation there!

This is really the only gripe with Luffy costume-wise I could find, to be honest! I have seen a few people saying that he doesn’t have his signature undereye scar, but he does, although it’s not as visible as it is in the original work:

They kept him fairly true to the spirit of his original character, and although I don’t know why they chose to give him this specific potato shoe footwear, it is what they went with, and the main takeaway is that it was for safety reasons.

~

Onto our favorite wayward booze-loving swordsman, Roronoa Zoro:

Similarly to Luffy, I’ve only seen one main complaint regarding Zoro, and it involves his use of swords. In the anime/manga, Zoro has pioneered a specific fighting style called “Santoryu”, known in English as “Three Sword Style”: one sword in each hand, and a third in his mouth.

I’ve seen several people wondering where his third sword(the one that goes in the mouth) is from the trailers, and I was initially wondering this as well, since in most of his action scenes that have been revealed so far, he seems to only be holding either one sword or two. However, there was a brief clip(I’m talking, like, maybe one second) of him utilizing his three-swords style in the teaser trailer released in mid-June:

Now, as to potential reasons as to why this seems to be the only clip of him thus far using all three of his swords:

1. Again, this could be for the safety of the cast. Obviously being a cartoon character, Zoro wouldn’t have to worry about potential damage to his jaws and teeth, but Mackenyu, Zoro’s actor, is a real person who does have to worry about such things, especially as an actor who relies on(among other things) his facial expressions to earn a living. Carrying something like a sword, even a prop sword, in your mouth for long periods of time cannot be good for the health of your jaw and teeth, and I could understand if they chose not to film him with a sword in his mouth very often for this reason alone. 2. It could also be he uses all three swords less often so he can still deliver lines while fighting. In an SBS(”Shitsumon o Boshū Suru”, when translated means “I’m Taking Questions”, essentially an AMA for mangaka to answer questions their readers may have), Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, once answered a question about how Zoro was able to talk with a sword in his mouth with quite a funny answer:

Sadly, in real life, Mackenyu cannot speak through his heart as Zoro does, so it’s possible that some of the scenes have been changed for ease of dialogue. 3. It’s also entirely possible that he uses his three-sword style as often as he does in the anime and manga, and the small amount of what we’ve seen in the trailers isn’t necessarily the full picture. I imagine this is something we’ll have to wait for the full series to drop to find out definitively one way or another!

~

Now, onto our lovely citrus-fruit-loving navigator, Nami!

I have seen two main complaints with Nami’s looks, and I’ll start with her hair, as it’s the more common one I’ve been seeing. I have seen a large number of people saying that her hair looks like(and I am slightly paraphrasing here) “a bad cosplay wig”, and honestly? I think this is just not true, and either comes from unrealistic expectations or just plain being mean-spirited.

First and foremost, this is very obviously human hair:

Now, I don’t know what kind of bad cosplays y’all have been seeing, but the ones I’ve seen start with synthetic hair wigs, not human hair ones(This is not to say synthetic wigs are inherently bad for cosplay! Simply that they are much harder to work with, though they are cheaper than human hair wigs). As well, I know for a fact Emily Rudd got her hair done similarly to this, to the point where I wasn’t actually sure that this WAS a wig at first(this picture comes directly from her Instagram account):

This is very obviously almost the exact same haircut as the wig chosen for Nami, save with more layers, and even the color choices are similar. To say that this wig looks like a “bad cosplay” is honestly just flat-out wrong in my professional opinion, and moreover, it’s quite rude. In addition, to me at least, it really looks like the wig was styled to resemble anime-esque hair, which is actually quite common among cosplayers. If anything, I have the same complaint on Nami’s wig that I also have with Sanji’s(which I’ll definitely be touching on later): it’s not thick enough. Both Nami and Sanji’s wigs just seem like they could use more hair attached to the cap in general, but especially for Nami’s, I really don’t think it’s as bad as people are saying.

I think this “bad cosplay wig” complaint specifically is mainly coming from people who only see the tail end of cosplay productions, which tends to be photos that are often times edited to look a certain way, which can often include doctoring the hair. There’s nothing wrong with a cosplayer editing their photos, for the record, but it can absolutely give unrealistic expectations to those who aren’t familiar with this practice, and I personally think this may be where these comments are coming from. Obviously you cannot photoshop every frame of a live action production, at least not without a lot of time and effort on the behalf of the post-production team, and I highly doubt Netflix would have greenlit something like that for such a small detail. It’s simply not realistic.

As well, I do find it quite interesting that I have seen far less complaints about the wigs of characters such as Zoro or Sanji(played by Taz Skylar(as stated previously, I have seen complaints about Sanji’s wig and I will be speaking on that later)) than I have about Nami’s. I’m not saying it’s outwardly misogynistic, but it does make one consider such things.

The only other complaint I’ve seen directed towards Nami’s live action look(and truth be told, I’ve seen this one far less than the comments on the hair) is the discrepancy between Emily Rudd’s eye color and Nami’s. As you can see from the above photos, Emily Rudd does not have brown eyes, which are the color of Nami’s eyes:

Now, I didn’t actually see this complaint until after the first full trailer dropped on July 21st. Specifically, I saw someone saying that it seemed strange that Steven John Ward, who portrays Dracule Mihawk in the series, is wearing colored contacts to better resemble his character, while Emily is not.

Now, there could be a lot of potential reasons for this, including that Emily may simply be not wearing colored contacts because they irritate her eyes(going back to my original point of the comfort and safety of the cast). But more importantly, I think, is that Mihawk’s unique eyes are directly related to his character, specifically through his epithet: Hawkeye. This is a seemingly important enough part of his character, to the point where it’s directly mentioned in his title. Nami has no such distinctions with her eye color, so I really don’t think it’s as important, and at the end of the day, it takes nothing away from her character to have a different eye color. So, while I don’t know the particular reason she doesn’t have brown contacts, I also don’t think it’s nearly as important for that detail to be as canonically correct as it is for Mihawk. To me, this particular comparison is another apples to oranges situation.

~

Onto our beloved liar, God Usopp himself:

Of course, the number one talking point I’ve seen about the live action Usopp is that Jacob Romero Gibson, Usopp’s actor, is missing his trademark long nose.

As One Piece fans know, one of Usopp’s characteristic traits is his tendency to lie. His name, Usopp, comes from a portmanteau of the Japanese word “uso”, which means lie, and Aesop, the famous Greek storyteller and the namesake for Aesop’s Fables. Because of his propensity towards tall tales, Usopp’s anime and manga character designs also added a reference to another character who’s known for lying, Pinocchio, whose nose grows when he lies. Thus, Usopp in his cartoon form has a long nose!

Considering how many gags in the story involve Usopp’s nose, a lot of fans were surprised to see that aspect of him not carried over into the live action. After the drop of the official trailer, seeing that the character Arlong had his signature sawshark-esque long nose in prosthetic form, there was even more confusion about this choice.

(As an aside, Arlong’s costuming choices will not be discussed in this post, as it’s long enough with just the main cast, but believe me, I do have Opinions on it lmao)

Now, as to why the show chose to not give Jacob a prosthetic long nose to better match Usopp’s appearance, I don’t know the specifics. I can only speculate, and really, the only things I could feasibly come up with are the following:

1. It’s entirely possible that for whatever reason, Jacob is unable to wear a prosthetic nose. This could be due to several things, including allergies to either the prosthetic material itself or the adhesive used to attach it, or the makeup required to blend the prosthetic into his skin. If this is the case, then it of course goes back to my main point here that the comfort of the cast takes precedence over accuracy to the source material. 2. The only other explanation that really makes sense to me is that they did in fact attempt the nose in costume fitting, and either the absurdity of it was just either too distracting to audiences/the crew/Netflix execs/possibly even Oda himself, or it could have potentially been a problem during stunt work. Usopp primarily fights with a slingshot, and I have no experience with slingshots so this is just me taking a stab in the dark, but it’s possible that the extra length on the nose could have possibly messed with the actor’s depth perception while attempting to act out Usopp’s fight scenes.

Overall, I genuinely don’t know why they decided to axe Usopp’s long nose. But at the end of the day, I know that for me specifically, this is a minor detail, and not something I see as a genuine problem, nor will it ruin the immersion for me. That being said, I can definitely understand the criticisms here. I’m hoping that a lot of these changes will eventually be answered, perhaps in some behind-the-scenes footage that comes out after the show’s release.

The only other comment on Usopp’s costuming that I’ve seen is much more easily explainable, and I also haven’t seen nearly as much in the way of commenting on it: Usopp’s hair is not in dreads in the anime and manga, and instead is kept natural, especially before the timeskip.

As we can see in the above picture, Usopp seems to keep his hair fairly natural, whereas Jacob, Usopp’s actor, sports dreads in his portrayal of Usopp, as seen in the above photo.

Luckily, I haven’t seen very many comments on this, and I think that’s a good thing, since the explanation seems fairly simple to me. Usopp in canon is based off of (mostly unused in this day and age, for good reason: a lot of the design is highly based off racist blackface caricatures) old-school anime portrayals of Black/African people. As well, in an SBS, a fan asked where the Straw Hats would be based out of if One Piece was set in the real world:

As stated above, Usopp would come from Africa! As well, if I recall correctly, Oda had a hand in casting the live action adaptation, which all points to the undeniable proof that Usopp is and has always been intended to read as Black/African in some form.

The reason I bring this all up specifically, is because of the way African hair grows. Obviously not all Black/African people are a monolith, and even among curly haired people there are different curl tightness and growth patterns, but for a large portion of people of African descent, their hair would not grow similarly to the way Usopp’s is portrayed in his cartoon form. His hair is indeed curly, but it grows down, similar to most wavy or straight hair types. This is especially evident in his post-timeskip hair growth:

Usopp’s hair, which was once above his shoulders before the two year time skip, now extends down past his shoulders. This is not necessarily inaccurate to Black/African hair types, as, since stated previously, different curl patterns and tightness exist, and even with super tight curl patterns, if grown out long enough, the hair will eventually grow down, due to the weight of the hair strands. But for a lot of Black/African hair types, the natural hair tends to grow outwards, instead of downwards(or at the very least it grows outwards before it begins to grow downwards). This type of hair is typically referred to as afro-textured hair, and is the namesake for the afro, a hairstyle wherein someone with afro-textured hair combs out their natural hair growth in the shape it naturally grows.

Now, I’m not familiar with Jacob Romero Gibson’s work prior to One Piece, and I have never seen his hair without his dreads, therefore I can’t say with 100% certainty how his hair grows naturally. However, he does have an Instagram account, and on this account he has photos of himself. I looked through his account, and although he doesn’t seem to have any photos of himself without his dreads(indeed, they seem to be his signature hairstyle) as an adult, he does have a few photos of himself from his childhood. I don’t personally feel comfortable linking his baby photos to this post, so I’m not going to do so here. However, they are visible there, and from what I can see from those photos, he does indeed have afro-textured hair. This may not be 100% accurate to how his hair grows now as an adult, as lots of things can change hair growth types and curl patterns, including things such as hormones, medications, stress levels etc. In my professional opinion, I feel fairly confident in saying that Jacob most likely has afto-textured hair, and therefore his natural hair likely wouldn’t fully grow in the exact same way that Usopp’s does. 

Overall, I only bring all of this up to say that if Jacob did have his hair in a natural, non-protective style in his portrayal of Usopp, I feel that the same people who are complaining about the dreads now would likely complain that his natural hair doesn’t match Usopp’s exactly. Either way, Usopp’s hair is not a huge characteristic that defines who he is as a character(especially not in the way that his nose is), and therefore I don’t think that him having dreads in the live action takes away from the character in any way.

~

Finally, we’ll discuss the Straw Hat crew’s first-rate cook who attacks through kicks, Black Leg Sanji:

Sanji has the unfortunate position of being the character who’s had the most changes to his design from his cartoon to the live action, and there’s a lot of criticism that’s been lobbed his way. Some of it I think is fair, but there’s also quite a bit that I think is honestly quite silly. So without further ado, I’ll go through the four main critiques I’ve seen, and my opinions of each.

Let’s start with the one I’ve heard the most often, and the one that’s easily my least favorite to hear about at this point: the missing eyebrow swirl. Maybe it’s just because Sanji is personally my favorite on the crew and I’m just paying the most attention to him, but my god, the way some people are going on about the eyebrow, you’d think the showrunners made the decision to axe his signature curly eyebrow specifically to spite the Sanji fangirls. I think a lot of the complaining about the lack of eyebrow swirl would simply be changed to complaining about how bad the eyebrow swirl would look if they’d tried to keep it, and I’ll explain why below.

Like many of the costuming changes made to the live action adaptation, I don’t know the exact reasoning as to why they decided to get rid of the eyebrow swirl. As someone who has worked as a makeup artist, however, I do have a theory as to why they got rid of it, and my theory is fairly simple: it is just not really very possible to create a realistic-looking eyebrow swirl that reads well on a film camera.

Yes, the makeup team could have very easily drawn on a swirl with a brow pencil or some pomade and called it a day. However, it would have been fairly obvious that it was in fact drawn on, especially on a film shoot. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about the missing swirl point to both cosplayers and stage actors as “proof” that it could be done, but again, this is an apples to oranges situation. Stage makeup(like that used for stage actors), photoshoot makeup(like what cosplayers would employ), and live action film makeup are three entirely different types of makeup application, and while they each have their own merits, that doesn’t inherently mean they translate into other mediums, and this is something that you have to learn fairly early on as a makeup artist if you want to continue getting work. If you are doing makeup professionally, you have to keep a lot of things in mind, one of the biggest things being how your work will read on camera, specifically the camera your canvas will be in front of. You have to keep in mind things like flash photography, shine versus matte, whether or not post-production editing will be involved, and the like. A fairly popular example of this is makeup influencer James Charles’ old meet-and-greet photo, which has become a meme since surfacing. Charles was used to only doing makeup and being photographed a certain way, leading to him using a setting powder that didn’t lend well to flash photography, and made him look like he was wearing makeup that was far too pale for his skin tone, when in reality it was just a makeup product that didn’t work for the kind of camera it was in front of:

Another example is basically the entire Cosmo Queens video series done for Cosmopolitan magazine’s youtube page, and I’ll use Kandy Muse’s video as a specific example, since she uses her natural brows in addition to her makeup. This series focused on the makeup of drag queens, and it’s very obvious when watching these videos that there’s a huge discrepancy between makeup meant for the stage and makeup meant for other avenues. Drag queens typically are live performers, and there is a common saying among drag artists, which is to “paint(apply makeup) for the back of the house(so that even those in the back row can see your makeup)”. On stage, Kandy Muse’s makeup is quite stunning, but it’s very clear that it’s not fully meant for the editorial style that Cosmo uses during these videos:

Even from a distance, you can very clearly see where Kandy’s real eyebrows sit versus her makeup. And while this is obviously an extreme example, it’s even more obvious when zoomed in, which film cameras have to do often in order to capture the expressions of their actors:

In a similar vein, film cameras, which are typically designed to catch a lot of definition and lend better to a more realistic look, likely would not be very kind to a drawn on part of an eyebrow. Without any hair growing there naturally to make the eyebrow makeup look more realistic, it would be very obvious that it was makeup, and would likely be more distracting to audiences(especially first-timers to the series; it’s important to keep in mind that Netflix would want to cater to those people as well as long-time One Piece fans) than omitting it entirely would. In addition, we have to take into account the actor, Taz Skylar, and his natural hair growth and the direction of his brows.

As is visible from the photo, Taz Skylar’s natural brow grows downwards at the end, whereas Sanji the fictional character’s brow grows upwards into his swirl at the end. In order to match the character 1-to-1 and change his own natural features, Taz would have to either shave/pluck/wax the entire outer half of his brow(which for an actor would be extremely inconvenient for other projects and would be an absolute pain to grow back out), or he would have to sit longer in the makeup chair to have his brow covered by FX makeup, which takes extra time and effort and could throw off the timing of the entire shoot. In addition, neither of these potential fixes would necessarily make the obviously-drawn-on swirl look good and read well on film. Add on the facts that Taz’s character is fully submerged in water in at least one scene, if not more, and has several fight scenes, and it’s not even a guarantee that the makeup swirl would even last throughout the shoot.

I’ve also seen people say that they could have added the swirl in post, but I think that’s it’s very unrealistic for Netflix to greenlight that for a minor detail such as a singular visible eyebrow.

While I am very sad that they weren’t able to translate Sanji’s signature brow to the live action adaptation, I think a lot of the complaints regarding him not having it and insistence that the production should have included it are entirely overblown, and are mainly being made by people who don’t have a lot of knowledge of what goes into film makeup versus other types of makeup. And while Sanji’s brows are fairly important to his character, this fact doesn’t actually come into the story until far after the timeskip, and we don’t even know if the live action will get another season outside of this one. I really hope this can help explain why they may have made the decision to nix the brow swirl for people who are still concerned about it, since from what I’ve seen, it seems to be the number one point of contention when it comes to live-action Sanji.

Next, I’d like to speak a bit about Sanji’s hair. Now, I have some complaints of my own about the wig used on Taz, but most of the criticism I’ve seen regarding the wig actually revolves around why it doesn’t cover his eye completely, as Sanji’s hair does. This is something that seems fairly obvious to me: Taz has to do a lot of stunt work, and he needs to be able to see! This is a potential safety issue more than anything else, and therefore goes back to my main original point. As well, there’s no real way to make the hair not move without completely overloading it with product, which, again, would be very obvious on a film camera, and likely wouldn’t read nearly as well as people think.

As for me, my personal critiques around the wig are just how sparse it is. Sanji has a lot more hair than is in the wig, and I really think a wig that had a little more hair attached to the base would have looked better. As well, I don’t know if the styling of the wig works for me personally.

I was actually really hoping that the live action adaptation would take cues on Sanji’s hair from the character who Sanji was modeled after. A lot of people still to this day think that Sanji’s appearance is based off Leonardo DiCaprio, specifically his role as Jack Dawson from the hit movie Titanic or his role as Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, but Oda has actually explained in an SBS that this isn’t the case:

Sanji’s looks and his “vibes” are based off of Steve Buscemi’s character Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, and personally I would have loved to see his live-action hair more closely resemble that, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

Another critique of live action Sanji is that he hasn’t been depicted with his trademark cigarette, and I kind of knew that this would happen from the moment I found out about the live action adaptation. This is not the fault of Tomorrow Studios(the production company), or even Netflix at large, but instead this is largely based off backlash from anti-smoking lobbies. 

(As a former smoker myself, I have a lot of opinions on the ridiculousness of anti-smoking groups going after smoking in fictional scenarios like films and shows, but that’s a gripe for a whole other post lol) 

Netflix notably caught a lot of flack for the depiction of commonplace cigarette smoking in other series, such as Stranger Things, even though the series takes place in the 1980′s, where smoking was incredibly commonplace. The major backlash even got to the point where you can actively see the drop in depictions of smoking between each season. I am hoping they at least give Taz one scene with Sanji’s iconic cigarette, but I’m not holding my breath on this one. I doubt Netflix wants to deal with that backlash again.

Finally, the last big complaint with Sanji’s wardrobe I’ve seen is his signature suit, specifically regarding the fitting of it. Sanji’s suits in the anime/manga tend to be fairly fitted in nature, while the live action once Taz wears, while still having a slightly tapered fit, is a bit baggier than what Sanji typically wears.

This is a fairly straightforward change, in my opinion: if the suit was as form-fitting as Sanji’s are, Taz(and his potential stunt double(I don’t know if he did all of his own stunt work or not)) simply would not be able to move the way Sanji does! This is an issue of cartoon versus reality: Oda is able to depict his characters doing whatever they want in whatever clothing they want. However, real life is sadly not as accommodating, and because of that, Taz’s suit has to be a bit less form-fitting so he can still do all of Sanji’s signature footwork. Going back to my original point, the sacrifice of the fitted suit had to be made so the production could actually work.

~

I tried to touch on all the biggest differences I’ve seen people talk about, and I hope this was helpful to anyone who may have been curious as to why some of these changes were made. Please let me know if I missed anything big or if you have any additional questions/need me to explain anything further, I love what I do and I love being able to have insight like this. Thank you so much if you’ve read this far, and please reblog if you found this post helpful or informative <3

#one piece #one piece live action #one piece live action adaptation #opla #tomorrow studios #dia drabbles #a rare case of nonfiction in my writing tag lol

[bsd-fan]

Soukoku and the mafia

After a million years, I’m finally back with an analysis. I’ve already kind of analyzed Dazai and Chuuya as individual characters but I purposefully left behind something that was fundamental for both of their characterizations and that played a big role in molding their actual personalities. Yes, I’m talking about the environment they grew up in: The mafia.

Because the length and the complexity of the topic, I decided to make an entire post just about this. Obviously there will be spoilers of the anime, manga and light novels so be aware of that.

*Also a friendly reminder that english is not my native language, so I apologize if there’s any grammar or ortographic mistake or if something is worded in a weird way, I just hope is not bad enough that you can’t make sense of it at all. This is also extremely self indulgent and extremely long.

I’m gonna start by establishing the main premise of this analysis and the idea I will be defending in the next parragraphs:

The mafia is literally the worst place for skk to be in (and yes, I’m talking about BOTH of them)

Now this is a bold sentence because the immediate response would probably be something among the lines of “well duh, the mafia is a horrible place for everyone” and yes but also no. The mafia affects soukoku in a special way that is vastly different to how it affects the other characters in the mafia.

I’ve found that the mafia is one of the most misunderstood points in the series (Cycle of abuse, I’m looking at you) so I’m gonna talk about it. Back in chuuya’ analysis, I talked about how he shouldn’t be in the mafia. I wasn’t talking about this in terms of “Chuuya is majorly speaking a good person” and “The mafia is a morally bad place”, that’s pure bullshit and certainly not what I was referring to.

When the fandom talks about the mafia there are two major points of view. Either they saw it as hell incarnate or they see it as the “bad” protectors of the city, kind of a twisted family. And while both of this opinions are not /completely/ wrong, they’re also NOT right. Once again, the problem is that the fandom /still/ insists on assigning a moral category to something that is far more complicated than that. Yes, it’s the mafia, it’s literally a place of crime, it’s /obvious/ they’re gonna do morally bad things but they are also an important part in the tripartite framework and a major reason of why the city is still standing, this are not mutually exclusive. And that’s because the mafia is not a morally oriented organization.

The next biggest mistake when it comes to this topic is thinking of Mori and the Mafia as synonyms. People loves to blame Mori for every single thing that happens, there is always an entire section of comments that always claim “Normalize blaming Mori for everything” and that’s just /plainly/ wrong. I need you to understand that the mafia existed before Mori and will exist after Mori and it still will require of a leader that have certain type of characteristics. The reason Mori is the perfect leader for this organization is because he perfectly represents the mafia ideology NOT the opposite. Is Mori who adapts himself to the mafia, not the mafia adapting to him. Obviously he is in charge and he gets to influence and dictate the actions of the organization, the same way the old boss did (and he made a shit hole out of it) but the mafia as it core exists as a concept that can not be altered not matter who is in charge of it. And that’s what we have to understand.

Let’s start by defining it:

“An economic body that uses violence as it’s currency” -Mori

And that’s it, that’s the first and most important thing you gotta understand about the mafia. It’s not about bad people doing bad things for the sake of it. It’s not about morally grey people saving the city because of the good in their hearts. The mafia as it core is about money, is about benefits, is about gaining the most. It’s an economic body.

They will kill, kidnap and torture? Yes but they won’t do it because they’re bad, they will do it only if there’s something to gain out of it. They save the city and stop the other criminal groups? Yes, but it’s not because they are secretly good people. It’s to maintain the monopoly of the crime in the city and protect their territory where they have all the money and where they do their negotiations. There /are/ people in the mafia who genuinely care about the city like Mori, Chuuya, Tachihara or Hirotsu, I don’t doubt there are other people as well who cares about it but those are personal motivations that have absolutely nothing to do with the mafia as an institution. Because the mafia as it’s own entity only cares about the gains and losses.

So when we talk about the main difference between the Mafia and the ADA is not about morality. Both organizations are full of morally grey people, both of this organizations are ready to do criminal activities if required. The main difference is the objectives behind them. The ADA is a organization of people for people.

“There is no agency more valuable than human life”- fukuzawa about the ADA, first light novel

The ADA is about doing their best to help people, is about prioritizing human life above everything else. And when they do criminal acts? It’s because it was the only way to preserve as many lives as possible.

The mafia on the other hand is about gaining money and resources and it’s about securing the survival of it as as Institution doing whatever is necessary to achieve it.

“These magical stones always led to violence and bloodshed, and the only thing that could stop this violence and maintain a stable system was even more violence”— Chuuya, stormbringer.

In the last chapters we realize that even though the ADA as an organization technically doesn’t exist anymore (because they were seen as a terrorist group) they still can perfectly exist as long as the members are alive. They can make another organization but they can’t just replace one of their members, that would be a critical hit for them. That’s abysmally different to how the mafia conduces itself. It doesn’t matter how many people die, they can be easily replaced but if the mafia as an institution falls? Then they lose everything. So this means, that the ADA will sacrifice the organization as many times as necessary if by doing it, they can protect it’s members meanwhile the mafia will sacrifice as many people as necessary if by doing it they assure the survival of the mafia as an institution. And this has been shown again and again and again. It’s because of this main objective that the mafia by definition and independently of Mori, needs to be: Extremely Rational, utilitarian and deeply Machiavellian because if not, then it wouldn’t be able to survive. The mafia as an institution requires someone who will put the needs of the organization over personal feelings and even over the members of the institution if that’s the best option..

And that’s why Mori is the perfect leader of the organization, because he is the textbook ideal of what a Mafia boss should be. Mori is not known for being the cruelest or the evilest. He is known for being the most logical, not matter what. For always being cold and rational.

“Dazai, Do you know why I’m the boss? (…) I don’t posess an incredible skill like you or chuuya. Instead, however, I am a little better at something than the two of you. I can always predict exactly how many men I need to send into battle”- Mori, stormbringer.

To illustrate this better let’s talk about the death of the old boss and Odasaku.

First thing to understand is that people is not stupid, they always /knew/ that Mori killed the old boss. For fuck’s sake even the sheep who were a group of literal /kids/ that weren’t even part of the mafia knew that there was no way that the old boss died of naturally causes and casually left the mafia to Mori who coincidentally happened to be his doctor. They all knew but they are collectively playing pretend. Why? Because they recognize that Mori is the best option, because they know that Mori won’t sacrifice them without reason, he won’t ask them to do useless things. Every single action that Mori takes is for the benefit of the organization, is logical and can be defended using rational arguments and when he decides to sacrifice someone there’s also a reason behind it. And that’s the best option possible for a place like the Mafia. The mafiosos chose him because of it, but make no mistakes, if the time comes where Mori is more a liability than an asset then someone will most likely kill him and take his place exactly the way he did. That’s the way of the mafia. Just like Mori says, even in the top, everyone’s is a slave of the organization including himself.

Odasaku’s death was carefully planned and I’m not denying that there were personal reasons there, I’m not denying that part of it was to specifically aim to Dazai, being as part of training him to become the next boss of out of fear of Dazai killing him, Mori did this move knowing that Dazai was gonna be affected by it. But as much as all of you would hate to listen to it, it was also the most logical course of action. Just stop to think about it. You have this incredibly powerful asset, someone who is extremely competent, someone who is insanely strong but you can’t use him because he refuses to do any important task, he refuses to kill. He is basically wasted talent. But then there’s an opportunity to gain something extremely valuable (the ability’s permission) and you just have to eliminate one powerful group of people and hey, your liability happens to be the /perfect/ person for the job, so what do you do? What Mori did may be horrible but also was a genius move. He destroyed an entire organization while sacrificing one single person who was useless to him anyway. He gained something that was vital for the organization with basically no losses. Yes, he sacrificed the children and that’s fucking sick and horrible but they weren’t his responsibility, the organization was. The kids weren’t part of the organization, sacrificing them doesn’t translate to any significant losses to the mafia. That’s why Dazai is so frustrated by the end, because he lost his best friend, he is suffering but he can’t deny that Mori was logical about it, he can’t deny that that was rational. Even in beast there’s this whole part explaining how difficult it was to defeat mimic without oda, do you know what does that mean? Dazai probably sacrificed a large number of people to do it and even if he didn’t why would you as the Leander of the organization would take the most difficult path when there’s other that is far easier and cheaper? And just like that, every single one of Mori’s actions can be explained with a logical process behind it.

I feel like the biggest argument to understand that even though Mori represents the Mafia ideals, the mafia is still an independent organization of Mori is Beast. He is not the mafia boss in beast but the mafia basically remains exactly the same organization, akutagawa is not suffering but Atsushi is. People are suffering exactly the same, the only different thing is /who/are the ones suffering. Sure, someone can argument that Dazai was not trying to be the best leader, just to save Odasaku but the whole point is that generally speaking he had to make enough of a decent job to maintain the order in the city. Under Dazai’s command the mafia was more powerful than they were with Mori in charge. And it’s horrible, but that’s the only way to rule it. Otherwise the whole organization would fall apart. So to summarize the horrible environment of the mafia is NOT because of mori. We already saw the mafia in charge of the old boss, of Mori and of Dazai and the environment is kind of the same with slightly worse or better differences and that’s because again there are parts of the mafia that can’t be altered independently of who is in charge.

“A leader is simultaneously at the top of the organization and still a slave to it as a whole. You need to be willing to get your hands dirty to keep the organization afloat and thriving. A leader develops their subordinates and places them wherever they best fit and disposed of them if necessary. I will gladly perform the most heinous acts for the sake of this organization. That’s what it means to be a leader”- Mori, fifteen

Mori is far from perfect, he is horrible and sick and also have lots of personal interests, he also uses the organization to a certain degree to achieve them. But this is not fake. He will put the organization over everything else. That’s what it means to be the boss of the mafia.

So now that we got that out of the way and we learn to differentiate Mori from the mafia and we now understand that the mafia is not a moral organization but an economic body, we can start explaining why the mafia is such a terrible place for Dazai and Chuuya especifically. Let’s start with Dazai. We already discussed it but for the mafia to accomplish it’s main objective it needs to have certain characteristics.

Rational

Utilitarian

Machiavellian

Do this words remind you of someone?

“Your blood is mafia black”

Have you ever wondered why even though chuuya is the one with the greatest body count, Dazai is the one that always seems to be like the worse of them? Why Dazai is the first one to come to mind when they talk about the next mafia boss?

It’s because just like Mori he perfectly embodies the ideals of the mafia as an institution. He is brilliant, kind of apathetic, cold, rational, manipulative and he is naturally an utilitarian (philosophy that believes that the best action is the one that produces happiness to the most people) and Machiavellian (ideology that puts one’s goals over everything else, discarding the moral consequences and the ethics qualifications) this can be summarized to one simply sentence: Dazai is the type of person who is result oriented, it doesn’t matter the means, just the final result and that’s exactly the kind of ideology that the mafia needs to exist. And that’s just part of his natural personality.

So why the mafia is such a bad place for him if it seems like it’s the most natural place for him to be?

If this is the first thing that came to your mind:

Then you’re wrong and I’m here to spit in this idea of cycle of abuse.

Okay so first of all, people refer to “cycle of abuse” to the wrong thing. You’re actually referring to intergenerational abuse and even more than that you are all thinking about the /individualized/ abuse of one person to other than then replicates the same thing in someone else. Thing is, if we make this cycle we will arrive to Mori and I just wrote half a bible of why this is factually incorrect, so don’t make me say it again. Then, there’s the second biggest issue here, this is /incredibly/ reductionist. There /are/ parallelisms in this relationships, yes. But I need you to understand that even though they were indeed abused to a certain degree, they are all part of the mafia which is an abusive place to begin with and by definition. There was no way for them to not suffer this and they weren’t the only ones, everyone in the mafia was abused one way or another and it came from different places not just one specific person . Now let me start with the thing that bugs me the most of this cycle.

It obligates me to defend Mori

See, I can perfectly understand Dazai and Akutagawa being here because even though Aku was manipulated and used for more people in the mafia than just Dazai is a fact that he was the main abuser. It’s true that is was a target abuse and that was repetitive and degrading every single time. Akutagawa is now basically a glorified Pavlovian experiment thanks to Dazai. Yes, Dazai cares for him, yes Dazai actually was trying to teach him and to make him stronger. The intention here is secondary, akutagawa still ended up deeply traumatized and with a pathological need of recognition to survive.

Now akutagawa and kyouka? This one is more questionable because we know that Kouyou and Akutagawa had kind of a twisted version of shared custody when it came to her. So kyouka was abused for more than one person and not necessarily in an intergenerational abuse so the cycle is no longer a cycle right? But okay let’s go with it. We have actual canon proof that akutagawa abused her replicating Dazai’s methods with him so it can still qualify.

But Dazai and Mori? WHERE?

In all the story there’s no proof that Dazai was abused in this way by Mori.

It simply doesn’t exist, it’s just a headcanon that became so popular that everyone started to believe it. Yes, Mori exposed Dazai to a murder when he was fourteen and that’s a form of abuse, true. But have you noticed that most of the mafiosos got into the mafia when they were teenagers or even literal kids (Q was six, gin was also younger than Dazai) they were ALL exposed to this form of abuse. This doesn’t make it okay, of course but it’s not the kind of individualized abuse that you all love to talk about. “He manipulated him” true, he also manipulated oda, Ango, Chuuya, Q, etc. Again it certainly wasn’t personal or out of place for a mafia boss. And again IT’S NOT A CYCLE. We also have absolutely no evidence of Mori being physically or sexually abusive towards Dazai. He psychologically abused of him? Yes but once again there’s no evidence of it being worse than it was with other people. It’s plausible of course, because Dazai worked directly under him but for the most part it doesn’t seem like he was specifically horrible towards Dazai. You want to talk about Mori being horrible with someone? At least choose the right person because yosano is right there. Dazai had most of this personality traits before meeting Mori, so it’s not like Dazai was a perfectly sane and happy kid that would’ve been normal of he was picked up by a good person, he was not ranpo or yosano. Let’s also add that Dazai seemed to be incredibly desensitized to violence even at fourteen. We can’t blame Mori for his character traits but we can certainly blame him because he made them worse.

So if not for this, then why Dazai shouldn’t be in the mafia? Is not for the abuse, is not for the moral implications, then why?

Easy, the real reason it’s because of Dazai’s core as character. Dazai doesn’t care for the mafia, he doesn’t care for power and even though he naturally seeks the benefits out of every situation that also is not his core as a character. His core is and always be: Humanity. That’s what Dazai is looking for, that’s his nucleus as a character and that’s the reason the mafia is the worst place Dazai can be in, regardless of his abilities.

Dazai gets into the mafia trying to find a reason to live, trying to understand humanity so that would make him close to his own and it really seemed like the perfect plan, it was logical. The mafia certainly is a place where death is part of life, emotions are raw and most often than not genuine. Then why It didn’t work? Why his mental stake kept deteriorating more and more? Because it took him farther away from his humanity. I’ve said it before but the reason Dazai felt inhuman is because of a permanent sense of alienation and isolation. Dazai already has certain characteristics that make it harder for him to establish emotional bonds with people. His brain also moves faster than everyone’s else’s, so for him is so /easy/ to stop looking people as individuals and look at them as pieces to use and discard. The mafia is the worst place for him to be because it enhance this characteristics, the mafia impulses him to use them because that makes him the best asset but that also makes him incredibly miserable because it worsens the alienation thus increasing the deshumanization. Also the mafia makes him intellectualize as a coping mechanism which worsens his self awareness that to begin with is pretty poor. That’s not all, because of the nature of the mafia Dazai who already has trust issues ends up even worse so it isolates him even more. The only moments he seems to be closer to his humanity is with people like chuuya or Oda, and the hilarious thing about it is that they both are basically the opposite of what the mafia represents. More than that, Chuuya actually obligates him to go back to earth and start acting less as a god and more as a human being.

Which also explains why the ADA is better for Dazai than the mafia. Is not because of morality, is because is an organization that revolves around people so it obligates him to interact and create relationships with people, and even if they’re not 100% honest. It still decrease his alienation and isolation and being him closer to his humanity. That’s the reason the ADA is the best place for him.

Similarly but in a completely different way there’s chuuya, except that he is a thousand times more tragic than Dazai and every time I stop to think about him I want to sob, scream, throw up.

Dazai has the characteristics to be the perfect mafioso but his nucleus make it impossible for him to be one. Chuuya doesn’t have the characteristics to be a mafioso and also has the same nucleus as Dazai.

So the premise is: The mafia and chuuya are irreconciliable ideas and it’s a miracle that it’s still working.

We already went through everything that the mafia represents, we already know that by /definition/ the mafia is a place where you have to deshumanize other people and yourself in order to survive. It’s not a surprise that is the WORSE place in the world for the two people whose whole characterizations revolves around humanity.

But in chuuya’s case, his whole personality and ideological system directly clash with the mafia. Is fucking tragic. Let me remind you that chuuya gain his whole sense of humanity and identity out of the relationships he makes with people. Chuuya /cares/ for people, that’s just the kind of person he is. You CAN’T ask him to start viewing this people that are /everything/ to him just like chess pieces that can be sacrificed at any moment. That would be the equivalent of spitting in his sense of humanity, to take away his reason to live and his identity. That would completely break him. So chuuya keeps making bonds with people and suffering Every. Single. Loss. Because the mafia is a place of sacrifice and he can’t stop it not matter how hard he tries. And that it’s also devastating in a whole new way.

“His eyes were tainted with Darkness just like everyone in the mafia. It was a murky darkness-one that viewed human lives as mere numbers”- about Arthur, fifteen

This is the mafia, this is the mindset needed to be there. This is also precisely the opposite of everything that chuuya is. Chuuya survives because he can’t view human as numbers. People are the most precious thing in the world for him.

This is chuuya Nakahara:

You value your friendships and make decisions accordingly. I suppose you could call this human nature- Adam, stormbringer

Chuuya is in a place where people die and no one cares, because they were simply numbers, because they don’t exist as individuals not really.

“Countless people died, but the incident hardly remained in anyone’s memory”- stormbringer

The flags died and no one aside from him cared, after that he made new friends that were also killed in the same fucking year and once again nobody stopped, just him. The mafia just replaced them and acted like it was nothing. And meanwhile:

“-Chuuya you smell like incense. Did you go visiting those graves again?- shirase about chuuya, stormbringer

Chuuya keeps visiting those graves because even when no one remembers them, he does, because they were his friends, they were individuals. Hell, leave alone his friends, Chuuya fucking goes to talk to Arthur’s grave. That’s the type of person he is

Chuuya is emotional, he is straightforward, he is honest, he /cares/. Chuuya’s so opposite to the mafia ideals that it would be funny if it didn’t make me want to eat glass. In order to be in this organization he has to go against his personality, against his values and against his moral code. Do you have an idea of how tiring that is? Of how much that affects him? Even if he refuses to notice? So chuuya solved his conflict, he found his humanity but he did it in a place that constantly tries to take it away from him.

Now, how has he survived this long then? Because he has developed coping mechanisms but this only slow his downfall. It won’t stop it.

His first coping mechanism is one that I find /incredibly/ interesting. And I’ve never seen anyone talking about it: Selective deshumanization

This existed before the mafia but Chuuya made it stronger after becoming a mafioso. I’ve said it before, even though chuuya has so many hero like characteristics the reason he is a morally grey character is that he chooses. He decides that certain people are more important than others, he knows that he can’t protect everyone, he knows that in order to protect his people, he will have to sacrifice other people. So chuuya deshumanize that group of people as a defense mechanism, he needs to stop himself from looking at them as individuals. If you want examples of it, there’s Dazai, Randou, Addam and Verlaine. At first I really thought that it was a coincidence but it happens enough to be an identificable pattern. When skk met, Dazai got obsessed really fast, chuuya didn’t. Chuuya tried to keep his distance as much as possible because he knew that Dazai was an enemy. He didn’t make personal questions even though it was obvious that he found Dazai’s behavior weird, he refused as much as possible to give him personal information and more subtle but more important, Chuuya absolutely refused to call him by his name. He used lots of insults but never his name even when it was clear that he knew it, that was him trying to keep as much emotional distance as possible. And the moment he used it? It was over for him, because from there it doesn’t matter how much he tried he could never stop himself from looking at Dazai as a human being, worse than that, he ended up understanding him even against his wishes. Same happened with Arthur, he was just another crazy man obsessed with Arahabaki but the moment he talked about Verlaine? About how he was doing everything for his friend? He became a real person, he could identify with. Addam? Was just a bothersome machine, he also refused to call him by his name but by the end of it chuuya was using corruption because he considered Addam a friend that he loved regardless of his origin. Verlaine fucking ruined his life and killed the most important people in his life but once chuuya understood his reasons and his past, he empathized with him and defended that he indeed was a human being at the end of the day. What I’m trying to say is that chuuya tries to keep his emotional distance by deshumanizing people but he kinda fails. A LOT.

The second one is the anger. Chuuya can’t express his emotions easily, a lot of it came from the fact that he always had to be the strongest so it was impossible for him to express vulnerability and then he went into the mafia and if there’s a bad place to be vulnerable, this is it. Chuuya deals with every strong emotion transforming it into anger because that’s an emotional he can control. The devastating thing is that It doesn’t only apply for bad emotions, even when he is happy or grateful he feels like he can’t express it and that makes me want to jump from a very tall something.

The third one is evasion. I find this particularly funny because in almost every fanfic Dazai is the one that evades his feelings and just decides to stop thinking about certain stuff when in canon the one that does that is chuuya. Dazai intellectualize as a way of dealing with feelings because he doesn’t know how to process them, and he overthinks a lot because he can’t stop himself from doing it. That is why his brain is his worse enemy. Chuuya, on the other hand, just evades. He supress all the emotions that he can’t exteriorize as anger, he supress his worst fears and his biggest insecurities, he put all of it into a mental box and throws away the key. But they are still pretty much there, lurking in the dark. Most of his “instinctual” actions are in reality guided by all of this things that he is trying so hard to hide.

And the last one? Is probably the worse one. We already establish that Chuuya can’t deshumanize the people in his group so he tries so absurdly /hard/ to protect them. He is always ready to sacrifice himself if by doing it he can save the people he loves, he carries too much, so the rest won’t have to do it, he takes the worse jobs, he is in the front lines, he is always ALWAYS the one to be hurt first. It may seem different but he is basically in the same situation as he was with the sheep. Except that now is not his people that are asking for his sacrifice, now he is doing it himself. Because he knows that the people he loves can be stolen from him in any moment, so he over compensates by doing everything he can to avoid it.

“The moment you get your hands on something worth going after, you lose it”- Dazai, Dark era.

Not in the same way, never in the same way because that would be sacrificing his humanity but chuuya’s thought process is not that different from Dazai. He doesn’t avoid relationships, though, he does everything in his power to avoid losing them JUST LIKE DAZAI DOES. Dazai knows that he can’t control everything, he knows that the world is absurd and full of irregularities but it’s terrifying to live in this kind of world, so he tries to predict everything, he tries to be three steps ahead of everyone else even if that make him feel less of a human being, because maybe then he can make a difference, maybe then he can protect what he has. Chuuya does basically the same thing, in order to protect his people, he will be the strongest, he won’t fall, he won’t ask for help, he will be the one carrying everything. Do you have an idea of how lonesome that is? To know that you can’t depend on anyone? Chuuya is a people’s person but he is so incredibly /lonely/. He can never be their equal because he is too busy trying to protect them. And this happens because the mafia is just like this, a place of sacrifices. A place of losses. It’s not a place for long lasting relationships.

At least two of this coping mechanisms lead him to deshumanization even when he tries his best to avoid precisely that. So chuuya basically lives in the worst dilemma in earth and this much contradiction will kill him one day.

The only reason he is still able to be there is because in his position as executive he had never been in a position in which he had to choose between his friends and the major benefit of the organization.

Chuuya as the next mafia boss? is laughable

The whole organization would crumble in DAYS. And that’s because chuuya goes against the single most important principle of the organization.

He is loyal to the people in the mafia, not to the organization

Chuuya will sacrifice the whole organization in a minute for its members, that’s literally the OPPOSITE of what the mafia stands by. He can’t sacrifice in cold blood a friend, he just can’t do it, that goes against everything that he is. He refused to sacrifice Adam even though at that moment that seemed like the only option to save the city and the mafia and he still REFUSED. Because he simply can’t sacrifice a friend. It’s impossible to him. Q is another good example of how much of a terrible leader chuuya would be. Believe it or not killing Yumeno was the opposite of what a proper mafioso should’ve done. There’s a reason Mori ordered to bring Q alive and that’s because rationally speaking yumeno is a weapon, killing him won’t bring back the people that already died and honestly speaking Q’s life is far more valuable than most of the mafiosos but for chuuya? It wasn’t the case, he couldn’t be rational because /his/ people died because of Q because for him was more important to prevent this from ever happening again than to use Q.

So to summarize chuuya is stuck, he can’t leave the mafia because that could be to go against his identity and sense of humanity but staying there is slowly killing him because it obligates him to go against everything he is and to be completely lonely in a place that is dead on deshumanization. So he basically lives in a state of pressure and constant stress while feeling trapped and saying to himself that he is where he should be. The ideal place for chuuya, funnily enough would be the ADA. And I’m not saying this for Dazai but because of the objectives of the ADA. A place that is oriented to people, a place that values relationships, a place that revolves around protection. It drives me mad everytime I think about how ridiculous ADA coded chuuya is only to be in the mafia.

Okay so basically that is the end of the rant, if you read all the way to here, congratulations and thank you for your time.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd chuuya #bsd dazai #soukoku #bsd #bsd spoilers #analysis #mafia analysis #bsd mori #me fangirling about chuuya #what’s new #this somehow is longer than the two past analysis #sorry for being depressing

[highdio]

I got an ask about the model boat that DIO's building as he and Pucci hang out and talk about the stand ‘Survivor’ in Part 6. The scene deserves its own post because it's the basis for one of my least-favorite wrong takes: that Dio is re-living a trauma by re-creating a "shipwreck" scene. Also no dw anon I don't think you implied this. This take's been repeated so often and without reflection that it's wound up being treated as something canon, check out this TV tropes entry to see how reflexively it gets parroted:

Dio's building a model ship in the middle of a wreck??? Fanon takes can take on a life of their own and, in Dio's case, so many people know his character through the caricature constructed around and outside of the canon instead of through how Araki actually wrote and drew him. So I'm going to break down the actual Part 6 scene to examine how we wound up so far from the truth of what's actually going on in it.

1. The first thing we need to get clear is whether Dio's model even resembles the ship he killed Jonathan on in Part 1, and the short answer is no, it doesn't. For reference here's the model:

and here's the ship from Part 1:

Both are hybrid sail/steam (implied on the model by the paddle wheels even though there's no smokestacks) but the ill-fated ocean liner that took Jonathan and Erina 1/2 way across the Atlantic is a lot bigger and grander. The OVA adaptation's helpful because it’s spot-on faithful to the manga:

It's gigantic, you can see three full decks and two large smokestacks, along with elaborate baroque-looking detailing all over the stern end. Dio's model ship looks entirely different. It's simple by comparison and, were it scaled up to full size, it'd still be a lot smaller (check out the model rowboats and their oars around it for size reference).

So it's not clear that the model Dio's building is even a callback to Part 1 or some sort of easter egg on Araki's part (after looking at the two ships side-by-side my gut tells me it’s not). Keep that in mind as we step through how much the scene's gotten mangled in fanon.

Like I said, the model-building panels form the basis for an oft-repeated bad take you see a lot online, where people say it's a "shipwreck" scene (I guess because there's rowboats around it?) and, therefore, a re-enactment of trauma. Ofc that's bogus. The ship's fine, and rowboats are how crew come ashore whenever a tall ship drops anchor. There's even a lighthouse and the ship is resting in a tranquil harbor. The anime version of the scene shows these details clearly:

Hopefully it's easy to see the scene for what it is: Dio engaged in the most mundane hobby you can think of, while having a leisurely conversation with his BFF. As Pucci explains it, they're talking like children ranking their favorite action heroes by how strong they are. It's a very chill little scene, remarkable for how unremarkable it would be if this wasn't DIO and Pucci.

It's worth including the official digital color version here too because, apparently, they forgot DIO was a vampire and gave the scene a cheery sunlit mood by making the sky outside the windows as blue as day:

It's a mistake ofc but it also underscores the relaxed feel to the scene: out of context, the day-lit color choice feels natural because the scene's got such a comfy vibe.

So how do we get from a chill guy chilling (canon) to a guy re-living a trauma (fanon)? Answer is, ofc, projection.

It's a fandom thing to need a villain's evilness to be justified - explained (excused?) in a way - through past trauma, say, or a series of unavoidable circumstances (or maybe some valid ideology they hold). A villain's villainy is only legitimized, validated, or complex enough *if* they've earned it by having a "good enough" reason to act bad. In Dio's case, where 'bad' is a wild understatement, some fans simply need him to be hurt, traumatized, or otherwise sufficiently suffering in ways that Araki just never intended. And this need is so strong it can override what's in front of their own eyes, even where the author and the text suggest the exact opposite.

In this way the Survivor scene acts as a Rorschach test where some people see the traces of trauma where there are none - in fact, it's the one scene where DIO seems most at ease, relaxed and unguarded (and ofc without his "shadow"). As such the scene and its misreading encompasses a lot of that's wrong about how fanon can sometimes view Dio and a lot of what's right about how Araki wrote him.

_____________________________________________________

Thanks to the anime there's an additional coda to all this. The Survivor scene in the Stone Ocean anime is faithful to the manga, but there's a twist: DavidPro gives us a sort of 'easter egg in reverse.' Remember the grand multi-deck ship Jonathan and Erina left for their honeymoon on? Here's the anime version, from all the way back in Season 1:

It looks a lot like Dio's model.

So here we have something from the manga that's likely not originally a callback getting turned into part of a callback, but in reverse order since the callback gets shown four seasons prior.

Of course, none of that negates the fact that the Stone Ocean anime scene is remains one of safety and comfort. The model ship isn't wrecked and DIO and Pucci are at their most relaxed and conversational. The scene hasn't been reshaped into any indice of trauma. What you have then is a fun little callback for the observant, and with it a wicked re-contextualization of this panel:

Now it’s become Dio towering over a model of the ship he killed everyone on. And somehow this feels appropriate: Dio's got a gift for casually being a jackass when referring back to some of the worst things that he's done. Aside from the obvious comparing human lives to slices of bread, a good example is this panel where he refers to Zeppeli's horrific death in the most deliberately offhand way:

So, anime Dio leisurely building a model resembling the ship he accidently destroyed while killing and then desecrating the body of the only man to ever defeat him? It feels right in character: a subtle nod to one of the many calamities he's caused. Assuming the viewer's more Joestar-sympathetic than me, I feel like what Dio's doing here and, on a meta level, what DavidPro either intentionally or unintentionally is doing is having some fun at the viewer's expense.

#jjba #dio talk #jojo's bizarre adventure #stone ocean #dio brando #dioposts #mp #jojo #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jonathan joestar #so anime

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group B Round 1: #B4 vs #B5

#B4: Human falls in love with an android

This anime is a 13-episode Sci-fi romance story about eighteen-year-old Tsukasa Mizugaki, who lands a job at Sion Artificial Intelligence Corporation ( SAI Corps). SAI corps has created Giftias, androids that are nearly identical to humans. Giftias have one major difference from humans in that they are only allowed to live for 9 years and 4 months before they start to break down.

Tsukasa is partnered with a Giftia named Isla. Slowly, they begin to fall in love.

#B5: (Mostly) unexperienced college track team aims for big race

It’s a sports anime which focuses on a college running team. Their goal? To run the Hakone Ekiden, a famous marathon relay race. The catch? With two notable exceptions of their captain and their latest recruit, this team is composed entirely of amateurs. Does this mess of a team stand any chance of even qualifying for the race?

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#B4: Plastic Memories

Propaganda 1:

This anime is a heart-wrenching masterpiece. It is slow, tender, and incredibly cathartic. The art is beautiful, and the story is enchanting. Of all the random anime I watched in middle school, this one really stuck with me.

Propaganda 2:

My brother and I watched it together. He ugly sobbed at it so hard, he had to go stand outside and weep down the phone to someone and my mom thought that he’d received news of someone’s actual death. He was okay, though, I promise

Trigger Warnings: [Not Stated]

#B5: Run with the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru)

Propaganda 1:

Okay so finally a sports anime that isn't set in high school. (There aren't nearly enough set in college.) MC is basically Older Running Kageyama, in both looks and personality. He has to overcome his past issues with his old track team, and learn to open up. I love the relationships that form between the team members. There's one who is just Not Here for It and struggles A Lot, who just wants to go home and read manga. (Hey it me.) There's also a cute dog, and a lot of the bg music is by the same folks as Haikyuu.

Propaganda 2:

I genuinely think this might be the best sports anime out there. It’s an amazing anime in general, with good animation, a beautiful art show, and a great premise, though what really makes it stand out is the characters.

RWTW is a character-driven story at heart, with all the main characters given their time to shine. The main cast is very lovable, and their relationships with each other are depicted in a sweet but realistic way. The protagonist, Kakeru, goes through a great character development over the course of the show, from being a lonely outcast at the start to accepting the other team members into his heart as found family.

While I’m not a runner personally, I still found this interesting to watch, since along with the training there’s a lot of thoughtful discussion on the nature of running: what it means to run, to be a runner. There’s a very philosophical aspect to it, which makes sense considering that RWTW is actually adapted from a book. The last thing I’ll say is that as a college student myself, it’s really nice to watch an anime focused on people in college and not high school. Oh, and the soundtrack is incredible.

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol and Smoking

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #animated show #group stage #group stage round 1 #tournament polls #plastic memories #plamemo #run with the wind #kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru #group b

[nanomooselet]

Episode Four: Hungry!

Full disclosure, it took me a while to warm up to Wolfwood.

I hadn't read the manga or watched the older adaptation. Didn’t know anything about him except his ridiculous gun and that he was a priest (hence the ridiculous gun, because anime). I couldn't figure out why he was present in the narrative, except... because he was in the manga and older adaption. It seemed a little indulgent; I wanted more time with Meryl. He wasn’t even a priest. Obviously Nick has plenty of homoerotic tension with Vash, but all due respect and sympathy to Vash/Wolfwood shippers, m/m pairings have always left me cold (to be fair, pairings generally do that irrespective of gender. Desire unfulfilled is more my speed).

Sad to say that I still don't ship Vash/Wolfwood, but I did definitely come to understand why people do and why they like the guy. Though am I the only one baffled that Vash gets cast as the virginal princess so often? After this look?

Whew. No wonder Wolfwood looks like he got hit with a two-by-four. Ahem.

This is a very necessary episode that feels maybe too "necessary", like they realised they needed to introduce everything it introduces and didn't leave enough time to integrate it all naturally. It's too tight, and Stampede is already a show so tight it squeaks. Still, I think blowing Wolfwood's cover before the day was out was, if not the only right decision, not a wrong one. Almost immediately this guy comes across as sketchy, half from that he's barely trying to act like he's not (which absolutely sends me; he really hates his job) and half that he's just... an awkward dude, angry and obviously hurt in a way he won’t admit to. And while we know there's more to Vash than his façade, it's hard to tell just how smart he really is, how perceptive, because this is Vash. Meryl is the type to show off her knowledge, because she's young and eager to prove herself. Vash is a creature of endless masks and insurmountable walls. He refuses to, as he sees it, burden anyone else with his thoughts.

So we do exactly what Zazie does in this episode: show Vash something wounded and vulnerable because he'd tear off his own skin if it would make things easier for someone else. Except instead Wolfwood is the one who feels a little too exposed, of course. It's so funny to me how obviously he didn't expect this? And how frustrated when he realises he'll have to drag this self-sacrificial lunatic all the way to July alive without becoming attached. I honestly think he failed in that latter part before they even got shot out of the Worm. Vash is just so loving, and so loveable.

Also, the Worm guys (as I mentally call them) might be my favourite minor characters next to Rosa and her offsiders. They're a hilarious audience to the madness. I’m glad they got so many dinners in one go.

And Zazie - what a great character, one I genuinely think is an improvement over prior incarnations rather than just being different from them. Nail game on point, entirely free of fucks given, and a sterling addition to the cast. I'll talk more about our buggy friend later, and I have more to say about Wolfwood besides that hitting him with the trailer forced me to pause the video until I stopped cackling.

Finally, the closing scene chills me in hindsight for a number of reasons, but what gets me the most is that it's a bookend. At the episode's start, Vash refused to eat. Wolfwood had to convince him to. And it's not that he can't use his Gate, it's that he's decided to keep it closed, so something will have to make him decide to lay bare his power once more.

And somehow, I can't imagine Knives asking nicely.

#trigun stampede #tristampparty #i think roberto's derringer tipped everyone off #even i knew #this episode has some of the funniest background gags btw #like wolfwood seeing meryl wig out at the worms and grinning to himself #and trying to feed her bug meat #he's such an asshole big brother #trigun meta #meta: tristampparty episodes

[eponymousfics]

Went to see the Vampire Dies in No Time Stage Play on Tuesday night! Will gush about it under the cut, but have some shitty pics of the poster here:

Basically: it was great!!

Since it’s more an episodic gag manga, I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle pacing and all that, but they did a good job of touching on a good variety of stories by combining them and making them flow surprisingly well.

The whole thing was only two hours with no intermission, but it didn’t feel too short or rushed. Then again I’m recovering from mild food poisoning that I accidentally gave myself last night (I was SO worried I wouldn’t be able to go but I’m mostly ok) so maybe it just felt like a good time to tap out for me lol

I thought they might just adapt in the order of the anime, but they touched on some stories/characters from the manga that haven’t been in the anime yet, which was great (main example I can think of rn is the Vampire That Makes Idiots Powerful)

The costumes were SO good, which I’m coming to just expect from Marv productions. It was surreal in the opening titles song when all the cast first assembled, because it was really like seeing the characters from the manga in real life. In terms of costumes, my favorites were probably Draluc and Ydan. Oh, and the blow up prop that was Hennadoubutsu/Weird Animal (think car sales lot tube man thing but not quite that tall and pink. When they first blew it up his head got stuck against the doorframe and they had to tug him in a bit. Not entirely sure if it was an organic gag or scripted but it was funny either way)

I didn’t see them on the poster so I wasn’t sure if they’d be included, but the vampire brothers (Yakyuken/Micro Bikini/Invisible Legs)(boy that’s some trio out of context huh)(they’re my favorite btw lol) were very much included. I was interested to see how they’d do the invisible legs (I was contemplating a cosplay if I could find, like, super reflective fabric or something) but they just made Tohru’s legs black and joked that they could totally see his lower half at some point.

There were a lot of good meta jokes actually! Which is in keeping with the manga for sure. There was also a lot of singing, and Draluc got the first song (called “Team Up Confirmed” after Fukuma tells Ronaldo to include Draluc in his book), which lead to a meta joke about how in the manga Draluc canonically is terrible at singing. His reply was basically“Yes but stage play me is excellent at it ;)”

I think my favorite song was from Ydan but my favorite part overall was probably the audience participation bit in the middle when Yakyuken is introduced (with all his brothers, as some vampires Mikazuki encounters when he comes to Shin-yoko for the first time). Basically most of the audience had multicolored John pen lights and they were all waving them and “playing Yakyuken.” (I didn’t get one bc the ticket and the transit fare was already over budget for me this month >_>) High energy and the music was super fun!

One of my favorite meta jokes was with the trio of grade schoolers; two of the actors were really short and almost looked like kids, but the third was obviously just a man and Draluc had a go at him over it lol (“Wait a minute, one of you is definitely an adult.” “What?! Why would you say that? What makes you say that?!” “Your looks.” “Name three things!” “Ok, I’ll name three things about your appearance: your body shape, face, and height.” Other kids: *start screaming to move the scene along*)

The actors were all great but Draluc’s was probably the standout, he was veryyyy good at the physical acting and got all of Draluc’s flounciness lol

Speaking of Draluc, they had LOTS of different props to represent him dying and it was hilarious seeing a new one almost every time 😂

Examples:

-kiddie pool of styrofoam packing peanuts dumped on his head while he falls to the ground

-grey textured fabric pulled from grade schooler’s backpack and draped over him

-hiding behind a cutout of a pile of sand stuck in from the side of the stage

-a kuroko (stage hand dressed all in black to move props etc, meant to be ‘invisible’) bringing out a cutout but lying it facedown on the stage with a bit sticking up for the actor to step on, raising the cutout when he dies

-kuroko waving streamers on sticks (idk what you’d call them, like feather dusters except not feathers and longer?) with similar grey textured fabric in front of him

-various cast members flapping flags made of that fabric in front of him and then him indignantly collecting the flags from them in the background while Ronaldo was in spotlight

And probably one or two more I can’t quite remember

Bubuo (my least favorite character in the manga but good here) had a short standup interlude where he talked to the audience directly, which worked bc the actor was very charming, and also Ta-Chan came out and roasted him. There was a good joke later where Maria almost killed him while hunting a bear because he was wearing a “shirt that looks like BBQ” (he was wearing the yellow BBO hoodie) and he sounded so betrayed when he went “It’s an O, not a Q!!”

The final act was the Tsujigiri Nagiri intro arc BUT if Draluc and John hadn’t destroyed his effigy. Basically, Nagiri attacks Kantarou as per canon but Ronaldo jumps in to stop him, so Nagiri starts targeting everyone he knows.

Then they all ambush him together but it doesn’t seem to do much (Nagiri lost one of his knives in this big group fight and it flew off the stage lol. Luckily I don’t think it hit anyone but it was just sitting there on the floor for the rest of the scene. He was very professional and just kept on with the fight scene with one empty fist), until Draluc has an idea.

Which is to call on the Vampire Makes Idiots Powerful, who’d been popping up here and there throughout.

So then the whole gang has to tell stories of times they were being dumb as per the manga chapter while fighting Nagiri, then Draus shows up to help, talking about his texting mishaps. And then Ydan shows up and does his thing, and Ronaldo finishes him with a “boobs smell good” punch (a statement that I as a boob haver still wonder about sometimes. I mean they don’t smell different to the rest of the body do they? 😂)

Anyway, lots of good stuff, absolutely worth the price and going with a stomachache lol

#oh and i’m pretty sure whoever wrote it ships satetsuxettiquete breaker #or whatever his english name is #when satetsu threatened and lifted him off the ground they started playing some saucy sax music lol #originally posted this to my side blog but it looks like posts i make and tag there just don't show up? #at all? #so i'm trying it out here #the vampire dies in no time #tvdint #tvdint stage play

[asachuu]

I was going to post this yesterday as soon as I became aware of the new update, but I forgot about it and passed out. The sentiment is the same today as it has been for the past few months, though, and thank goodness I’m a bit more awake for this because there are…things to say.

I mostly reserve from some kind of lengthy, in-depth commentary because I genuinely don’t have the time or ability to go through Fifteen and the manga separately to point out even half of the most general things that are so incredibly jarring, all I’ll say is just. Why.

I would have complained about this ages ago already, had I not been entirely convinced I’m just losing my mind and I’m seeing things that aren’t there, given the manga does follow a lot of the dialogue of the light novel as opposed to its abysmal anime adaptation, but I suppose it is common knowledge that when you’re drawing a manga, or really any kind of story with both a text and visual element, the readers will not be focusing exclusively on the text. The visuals are just as important, if not more at times, and they can heavily change the feeling or mood of said story. With that being said, I think you can understand what I’m trying to get at here, and more specifically, why I’m very tired seeing yet another adaptation imply Arthur is some kind of cold-hearted monster to be feared even by the audience. I won’t be using any specific examples beyond this point, but all I’ll say is that I’ve had this in the drafts since the moment I saw the panels of Arthur getting accused of betraying the organization, somehow managing to get the text correct and yet make him look either completely lifeless or annoyed, as if he weren’t confused or clueless at all, unlike what the LN itself states. It just went downhill from that very moment, and for a hot minute, I convinced myself that the panels at the end of the same chapter were him either panicking or just giving up upon being found out and having that emphasized through the artwork, but looking at everything that ended up following, I don’t think that was actually meant to be the case, I think he was meant to look more deranged than sorrowful in those parts— and every other part in which this was supposed to be the opposite, that too.

This is not to say I have an issue with the artstyle itself, as that’s mostly the element emphasizing it, I believe everything could have been done so much better— with it, no less— but since this manga, and subsequently the style, has been so heavily focused on every single dark aspect that isn’t even there half the time, just like in Arthur’s interrogation by Dazai, exaggerating the wrong things to no end, that’s not the case right now. I’m not here to say Fifteen isn’t full of dark subjects and situations, it absolutely is, but they’re not everywhere all the time, and especially not in relevance of Arthur as an antagonist. I don’t know if it’s the fault of a concept that every BSD antagonist just has to invoke terror no matter what, the fault of focusing too much on Arthur’s power to the point it overshadows the character beneath it and renders him irrelevant, or the artist took some inspiration from our dearest beloved BSD anime season 3 and just decided to drag it in the same exact direction using different approaches, but needless to say, it really isn’t…that much better at the moment, and considering none of this is going to get remade, it simply won’t be.

Perhaps that’s a harsh judgement on my part, but again, the dialogue truly isn’t everything. Season 3 discarded it altogether and took their own spin on everything that was going on, ultimately creating a completely different piece of media than what Fifteen actually was, and even though the manga didn’t do the same, trying to hold onto the source material for once, I’m not going to even try to pretend that anyone would read it and come out thinking Arthur was meant to be a tragic character who found himself on the completely wrong path that ultimately led to his inevitable demise— no, everyone would immediately assume he’s a horrifying force of destruction who does everything in his own favor, no matter the cost, without any regard for anyone other than his lost partner. I am yet to see the end of the fight between him, Chuuya and Dazai, as well as the section where he reveals his past, but having seen what impact it had in BSD S3— even ignoring all the bits they cut out— I don’t have any hope that it’ll make him seem a bit more likable for those who don’t really enjoy heavily implied morally corrupt villains. And hey, I’ll admit I love those myself, but Arthur is not one of them, never was and never will be, and to portray him as such is to once again erase the very foundations of him in the original novels. I truly wouldn’t mind if that were the actual antagonist of Fifteen, but it just isn’t, and two entire adaptations so far seem to be dead set on making him into such a thing.

Honestly, with both this and S3, I’m not even surprised people are slowly starting to fall back into misinterpreting Arthur as a character completely, and although that technically never went away, from what I’ve seen, this is certainly not going to do anyone any favors. No wonder some people seem to believe he chose to become a government agent for near to no reason, had zero remorse about both his job or the events of Fifteen, is nothing more than one half of an assassin duo with nothing redeemable about either of them, and sure, I can blame this on many different things, but at this point, I’m sure these adaptations are just as responsible for it, because let’s not lie to ourselves— in a choice between reading a book, a manga or watching an anime, the first will often be people’s last resort, and while in the past, I could have dreaded a wave of anime-only people never having read the LN and running with those events as original canon, now I get to dread manga-only people as well, if not a combination of both, which is just amazing for those who want their beliefs about Arthur being a total psychopath to be solidified. Not for the rest of us, though.

Keep in mind that none of this is meant as some kind of personal attack or insult to Hoshikawa-san themselves, this is just my personal frustration with yet another thing which looked promising, but ultimately got shoved back onto the pile of Fifteen adaptations and interpretations which for some reason seem to despise Fifteen’s Arthur as a character, else he wouldn’t have been disregarded over and over.

Anyway, I hope I won’t have to come back here to add more things later because this really isn’t meant to be a dissection, but that’s my take on this whole manga so far. If I am to say something good about it for a change, at least it does actually try to keep some remains of the original LN in it, and new official art of Arthur is something I’ll begrudgingly appreciate, but I really can’t say I’m particularly overjoyed when the outcome of it won’t be much different to the outcome of S3 regardless.

#I could’ve predicted this from the day they took away Arthur’s blanket #I will never be over that let it be known I will fight for the sake of Arthur’s lost blanket #bungou stray dogs #bsd fifteen #bsd manga #bsd arthur rimbaud #randou #asachuu #if only I had the time and skill #I would try to redraw every scene Arthur appears in

[thevinsmokerlaw]

Blue Lock is amazing...

(THIS IS LONG, BUT PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ FOR ALL THOSE CURIOUS PEOPLE!) *unless you want very small spoilers

Okay, so I ain't like those smart, analytical peeps out there and this is MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION, but let me just say that BLUE LOCK IS ONE OF THE BEST DISCOVERIES I EVER HAD. Why? Because BLLK is very unique and unlike most animes that I have ever watched, meaning: the idea of friendship. The power of friendship/motivation of friendship is very prevalent in most animes such as One Piece, Haikyuu, etc. There are tons of animes with the power of friendships that motivate its main characters and its side characters. And because of that aspect, we get this "feel good" feeling because we see them all support each other, build stronger bonds, and just enjoy each others' company.

NOW, this is where Blue Lock differs. Blue Lock isn't about the power of friendship, instead, it's about EGO or one's own PRIDE. Now this is a foreign thing in the numerous animes I've watched. I have never seen an anime where the main characters think for themselves, betray friends to advance within Blue Lock, and even "feed off" their talents/skills. But despite their "necessary selfishness", the entire concept is very likable and very appealing. I love the idea that I anticipate the next moves of the characters, what will they do, how will overcome their enemies, etc. I also love that Isagi doesn't just magically improve on a whim during matches he really grasps everything he needs to step up his game to match his enemies and allies especially when he goes "puzzle mode". Such as when he joined Bastard Munchen, where we wanted to play alongside Noel Noa during Spain vs Germany match & England vs Germany match when he tried to overcome Kaiser. I LOVE that Isagi really struggled throughout the entire game and learned as he played. I love that I got to see the process to get from point A to B and so on.

Another thing is when there are touches of reality, such as the match of Isagi vs Rin (during those 2 instances), I loved that Isagi didn't magically defeat Rin the first time and even the second time after getting Chigiri. It really shows how Isagi really aims to match Rin, and in order to reach someone so far, you have to experience failures to see what you need to improve on.

BLLK may not be everyone's cup of tea, especially when it comes to the characters being really competitive to the point it kinda "ruins" or worsens their relationship with each other. Ngl, I had a hard time adjusting to this manga since I'm so used to the 'power of friendship' that I was caught off guard. But now, I've come to like these "prideful" vibes from the characters who all fight to get what they want through their own efforts while also supporting each other only to use them for their own gains. Dw, many mangas/animes are still good despite their "friendship powers", but Blue Lock was a burst of fresh air for me. SO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! I really want this to be adapted, esp. the Neo-Egoist League Arc.

#blue lock #blue lock anime #bllk isagi #bllk spoilers #bllk manga #michael kaiser #bllk chigiri #bllk sae #bllk rin #blue lock review #anime and manga

[swallowerofdharma]

In chapter 31 of Shingeki no Kyojin there are two different conversations that involve a character I am particularly fond of, Annie Leonhart.

The first conversation with Marlow, a new recruit like her, goes on a little bit longer than what I put in here. They are discussing the corruption running rampant in their branch of the military but the speech Marlow gives is met by Annie’s more cautious approach. Marlow’s words walk a fine line between idealism and ideology. She says: “You are a righteous person who says righteous things. Such people do exist, and I’m well aware of that”. She is thinking about Eren and she thinks that being like that is special. But then she adds: “On the other hand, how people like us should be called, I wonder… People who put their personal gain over others. If those around them act unjustly, they just go with the flow. You called those people scum, trash and evil. (…) I, too, think those like me are scum and most definitely bad people, I can’t consider them righteous at all… and that… is what normal people are, don’t you think? You’re saying that innately all people are good persons, and if they were to just assume their nature, this organization wouldn’t be so rotten, right? But in my opinion, the structure of the organization, the way it’s set up is what provides insight into what the true human nature really is… so even if I’m a weakling who drifts with the stream, I’m still one of those ‘normal’ people you are talking about”.

What Annie points out is that Marlow lacks insight into human nature or common people. That his assumptions about the innate goodness of human beings is flawed because just in front of his eyes there is an organization, a system of power built by people that proves the contrary: a corrupt military and police force. The system speaks for itself in its failure to right any wrongdoing and instead proving how people will become corrupt by simply going with the flow and acting out of their ‘normal’ habits. And she calls out the problem in calling those people less than human. At this point, who reads for the first time doesn’t know Annie, doesn’t know what a righteous person like Eren will choose to do when in power and confronted with the world as it is. But in insight, this conversation, this crash of ideas and positions regarding humanity and one’s judgement is clearly central to this entire story. Annie knows from experience that common people don’t fight against the system they are in, rather they try to get to a position that is comfortable for them and those who matter for them only. Annie has experience and observation, knowledge of the world outside the walls and of systems of power, knowledge of herself and her desire to first of all going back home to her father, even if all the world will look at her as the enemy or a bad person: ideology is secondary to her survival and secondary to seeing her family.

That’s why the second conversation that happens with Armin strikes a chord. Armin doesn’t assume anything but looks at good and bad in relative terms. That’s why Armin’s judgment matters more to her.

These are not simple questions. And I am just talking about manga, so I’ll leave it open. I’m on Annie and Armin’s side: adapting your mentality, rejecting ideologies or righteousness for the sake of being right, because those attitudes open the door to the authoritarian rute. But apart from that, looking down on people, and worse refusing to consider them ‘normal’ and dehumanizing people calling them “mindless animals crapping everywhere” is a slippery slope…

#manga analysis #been thinking about the mindless animals and livestock images in AOT #since Yashiro’s lines #so this was about saezuru too #I had to unload my thoughts so here we are #annie x armin #love these two

[linklethehistorian]

So while working on a drawing WIP of mine, I was watching a video from Drew Gooden on the Avatar Netflix adaption (note: I have never seen Avatar: the Last Airbender, and I don’t particularly plan to, either; I am just a fan of Drew Gooden’s videos and I like to learn about various series I will probably never and honestly have no desire to directly, personally interact with), and I think that he perfectly summed up in very short terms what I mean when I say that the Fifteen anime and manga are both poor adaptions of the original story.

[Transcript: “Now, before I continue getting mad about every single aspect of this show, I do wanna answer a more general question of like, ‘what should we expect out of an adaption?’ — because it may sound like I’m trying to say that this should have been a one-to-one recreation of the original show, when that is not the case.”

“You can, and should, be able to change things; why even bother spending all this money to make something that looks worse, if it’s going to be exactly the same? But, those changes need to enhance the story; they can’t be at odds with the spirit of the show, or fundamentally change a character.” /end Transcript]

While I still need to finish my article on Fifteen and its anime adaption, and later better address the manga, this is the point I want to hammer home to people who refuse to get the position I am coming from:

I am not saying that either the manga or the anime would be bad in and of themselves if they were wholly original stories, or that there is anything inherently wrong with adding content that was not in the original source material.

I am saying that they are bad at being adaptions; they are bad at representing the pre-existing story they are supposed to be telling in a new medium. While they could be perfectly fine and serviceable — if, in my opinion, far less compelling — stories if they were original content with no previous source material to adapt from, they are not that, and that is what makes them bad. They are horrible representations of the story they are trying to tell, and for an adaption there can be no greater failing than this.

The biggest changes that were made to both the anime and the manga do not enhance the story.

They do not fit the spirit of the source material.

The anime fundamentally changes a major character and re-writes an entire scene and major plot points in order to allow them to have an excuse for a few seconds of cheap fanservice for a popular pairing/character — which could have still been had in an even better way without mutilation in a different scene they actively decided to remove in order to save time that they completely squandered anyway.

The manga in certain crucial chapters takes visual creative liberties that do not at all fit the spirit, tone, or descriptions within the source material in order to play up a horror aspect that very simply was not intended to exist in the first place, and in doing so fundamentally alters important characterization, along with unnecessary and tone-altering tweaks to a few choice lines of dialogue.

An adaption should be just that: an adaption, not a re-imagining, not a re-telling, not a re-make; its job is to tell the story and elevate it as much as possible using the unique perks of the specific medium it is being brought into. For both anime and manga, this should have been done through the use of visuals (and in the case of the anime, movement, music, and voice acting) to bring the scenes described within the original source material to life and fill in the blanks based on the rest of the picture painted there, as well as expand on certain points and add to them using the spirit of the original story.

Both the anime and the manga have times when they prove that they can do such things quite well and quite efficiently, but then utterly fail to do at some of the points where it matters the very most, and that is why it can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven.

It is not a matter of not being one-to-one with the original with every scene, it is a matter of completely ignoring the most fundamental and important aspects of some of the very most crucial ones of those scenes in favor of “doing its own thing”, even if it means completely ignoring the points the original source material — and the adaption most closely worked on by the original creator (the stage plays) — tried to make.

#linklethehistorian #my thoughts #thoughts #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd novels #fifteen #bsd anime #bsd stage play #fifteen manga #fifteen stage play #season 3 #bsd arthur rimbaud #randou #I know I’m talking to a wall but seriously people need to realize that adaptions are supposed to be adaptions #and that the moment it fails to be that yes it is in fact a bad adaption no matter how much you enjoy it as its own thing #you can enjoy it as its own thing if you must and still understand and acknowledge that it is a bad adaption #an adaption that does not adapt a story to a new medium but rather changes it in unnecessary ways that do not elevate the original is #not an adaption #but a failure of one #as at that point it has become a complete reimagining #and reimaginings are not bad….but they are if that was not what they were supposed to be doing in the first place #and if they aren’t upfront about the fact that it is NOT the same story but only borrows parts of it

[rennyrose]

Do you think there’s any hope for stampedes livio? I’m very happy he’s in the adaptation but he’s quite, idk physically underwhelming ? Lol

You’re telling me yeh- Who knows tho, some real squirrelly shit went on with Rollo so there’s certainly a possibility he’ll ditch the vegan lifestyle

I know I’ve mentioned it already in tags but if I think of Stampede!Characters as entirely different from the manga and anime I’m much less salty about things

#my favorite part of the Livio’s stampede design is the eyes #also coping a bit by playing with a sort of crossover AU with characters #tho I likely won’t share much if any of that given it’s Self Indulgent™️ #trigun stampede #trigun #livio the double fang #drawing #sketch #digital art #fan art #art

[duhragonball]

Super Dragon Ball Heroes 1-6

We’ve reached the final (planned) stop on the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog, and it’s the most apocryphal series of all, the Super Dragon Ball Heroes web anime!

Here’s the deal.  In 2010, Bandai Namco published a trading card arcade game called Dragon Ball Heroes.  Then in 2016 they updated it to improve the user experience, and renamed it Super Dragon Ball Heroes.   A manga adaptation of the game began in 2017, and then in 2018 Toei began this “original net animation” to promote the game. 

My engagement with the DBH franchise has been superficial at best.  Mostly, I just rock out to the theme songs when I find them on YouTube.  I’ve never played the games because I have no idea where and how to play them, and the gameplay doesn’t look all that compelling to me.  I think some of this stuff is only available in Japan?  I’ve never bothered to find out, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

And yet, I’m somewhat familiar with the story mode from the games, as they involve the Time Patrol, which I wanted to research for the fanfic I’m writing, part of which serves as a prose adaptation of Xenoverse 1.  I even wrote a guest appearance with several characters from DBH, and I might use them again down the line.  Also, the manga contains some backstory involving Towa and Demigra, who also appear in Xenoverse 1, and feature heavily in my fic.  So I’ve read some of the manga, and I watched some of the web anime, but mostly for the purpose of scraping them for useful lore. 

From what I can tell, the entire thing is a mess from a story perspective.  The game has been around for 13 years, so it’s clearly a success, but the manga feels completely removed from the story the game tries to tell, and the web anime seems to go off in a completely different direction from that.  At its core, Dragon Ball Heroes is mainly about answering the question “Wouldn’t it be cool if you teamed up with Super Saiyan 3 Vegito to fight Dark Demon Baby Majin Hatchiyack?”  The answer is obviously “hell yeah”, so I don’t understand why we need a manga and anime version to tell stories that don’t really touch on what makes the game fun. 

Mostly, I wanted to run through this web anime for the sake of completion.  The whole thing is up on YouTube, ripe for the viewing, but I keep losing track of which episodes I’ve already seen, and I can never remember what the hell happened.  So this is where we put the “log” in “liveblog”.

We’re starting today with the first six episodes, which make up the Prison Planet arc of the show.  That may sound like a lot of ground to cover, but these episodes are short, so we’re only talking about 40-45 minutes of footage.

The story begins with Goku and Vegeta training with Whis on Beerus’ planet.  Also, the Supreme Kai is here serving tea, and then Future Mai runs over, so she’s here too, apparently.  According to Shin, they came to Beerus’ planet so Trunks could train, but this scene make it look like Mai came here alone, which I’m pretty sure is impossible.  Maybe Whis or Shin brought her, except she was supposed to be with Trunks, so why is everyone just now finding out he didn’t make it?

To be clear, this is the Blue-haired Trunks and Future Mai from the Zamasu arc.  When we last saw them, Whis had arranged for them to take refuge in an alternate timeline where Zamasu hadn’t killed everyone yet.  It was also made clear that they would never return from that world, but SDBH just has them dropping in like it’s Sunday brunch.  Now, you might be asking “Didn’t you just say Xeno Trunks was a character in Heroes?  Why isn’t that version of Trunks in this show?”  And to that I say: Don’t worry, he’s in this too, just not as much.

Then this shady-looking dude named Fu shows up and tells everyone that Trunks is trapped on “The Prison Planet”.  Vegeta asks how he could possibly know that, and Fu explains that he’s a friend of Trunks and he investigated his disappearance.  I like how skeptical Vegeta is of this story.  “My son doesn’t have friends, get the fuck outta here.”

So Goku, Vegeta, and Mai travel to the Prison Planet, which is just a bunch of clip art of planets from our solar system clustered together and surrounded by cartoon chains.  It looks stupid as hell, like they told the art department “We need a prison planet design, and make it as literal as possible.”

There, the gang meets a second Goku, who can turn Super Saiyan 4. This is not the same Goku from Dragon Ball GT, and official sources refer to him as “Xeno Goku”.  He’s an agent of the Time Patrol, and when he encounters the other Goku, they get into a classic superhero misunderstanding and fight.  Then Fu shows up and it quickly becomes clear that he’s the one behind all of this.   Xeno Goku is on a mission to apprehend Fu, and Fu brags that he uses the Prison Planet to trap powerful warriors for his experiments.  Fu tricked Trunks into coming here, then used him as bait to lure Goku and Vegeta.  Xeno Goku pretended to get caught in order to infiltrate this place, but that suits Fu’s purposes, since he’s trapped here now. 

He tells them to find Trunks themselves, and says something about how they’ll have to gather the Dragon Balls on the Prison Planet.  Xeno Goku has one, but the other six are in the hands of the other prisoners.  This sounds like a pretty decent gauntlet for the good guys to go through, but this whole idea gets abandoned by Episode 2.

Meanwhile, Trunks wakes up in a cell with a prison uniform and some sort of tracking bracelet on his arm.   Then the wall opens up and he runs out into a city.  Then Cooler attacks him, seeking the Dragon Balls.  This seems like a pretty cool premise, more authentic to the “Prison Planet” title, but this is all dropped immediately.

From his lab, Fu watches everyone and seems extremely pleased with what’s going on, although he never explains why, or what his plan is.  Get used to this, because this is pretty much all he ever does.

Meanwhile, he’s got this other guy locked away.  His name is Cumber, the Masked Evil Saiyan, and he has a Dragon Ball too.  At the end of episode 1, Fu says it’s not quite time for him to get involved yet.  In Episode 2, Cumber breaks free and heads straight for the good guys to attack them.

Goku tries to punch Cumber, but Cumber has this weird power where if you touch his ki, it makes you go berserk.  That sounds pretty awesome, except it only happens to Goku here, just once, and then it never gets brought up again.  I notice I’m saying that a lot here. 

Also, berserk Goku’s skin is darker for some reason, which I like better, actually, except this is supposed to signify Cumber’s dark energy corrupting him or something, so that seems kind of problematic. 

Fortunately for Vegeta, Trunks and Cooler show up to help.  Yeah, Cooler’s on our side for this.  Apparently he and Trunks came to some sort of understanding between Episodes 1 and 2.  The prison clothes were pointless, since Mai brought along Trunks’ own clothing, so he changes out of them to join the fight. 

During his captiviy, Cooler heard from Fu about Golden Frieza, so he decides to try that for himself and succeeds immediately.  This is treated like some big game-changing moment, as if fans haven’t been photo-shopping Cooler since 2015.  Cooler than goes “I think I shall call this form.................... Golden Cooler!” like there was any possible other name he would have used.

Goku finally comes to his senses, but then Cumber breaks free of his restraints. Trunks goes in to distract him while Goku and Vegeta use Potara earrings which the Supreme Kai gave to Mai before they set off on this trip. 

So it’s Vegito Blue vs. Cumber, and things get so rough that Vegito has to do a Kai-o-ken on top of Blue.  Here’s a picture of Golden Cooler just standing there like an asshole watching. 

Vegito seems to gain the upper hand, but then Cumber reveals he knows the fake moon technique, and he turns into a giant ape.  I’m not sure why he’s this orange color, unless this is meant to be like Golden Oozaru tainted with evil ki or whatever.  The thing is, they keep calling Cumber an “Evil Saiyan”, but he hasn’t actually done anything that evil.  I mean, he choked out Trunks, but there’s plenty of regular Saiyans who would do the same thing if they could.  “Evil Saiyan” implies that he’s some kind of next-level evil, like hanging goat entrails over his altar to Moloch or something.

His first ki blast causes Vegito’s fusion to dissolve, but perhaps more importantly, Cumber’s fighting at such an intensity that it’s damaging the giant chains that seal the Prison Planet off from the rest of the universe.

Goku and Vegeta decide their only chance now is to cut off Cumber’s tail, and Trunks flies in to back them up.  Mai watches from the sidelines, and she’s got two more Potara earrings.  Wait, how many of these things did Shin give her, anyway?

At this point, Fu finally notices the cracks in the seal on the Prison Planet and goes to the battlefield to scold Cumber in person.  He takes out his sword and does some sort of technique to dispel the fake moon and reverse Cumber’s Oozaru transformation without cutting his tail. 

Fu withdraws, apparently satisfied that he’s brought the fight down to a more acceptable level.  This pretty much puts us back where we started, except Goku’s now using Super Saiyan God to fight Cumber, even though we just saw Cumber give Vegito a hard time at Super Saiyan Blue.  Cumber seems to recognize the God form somehow, but he never explains his reaction to it, and this never gets brought up again.

Despite Fu’s intervention, the chains break away completely.  You’d think this would upset Fu, and he is upset, but not because of this...

No, he’s upset because, while he was away, someone found his lab and wrecked it.  Now he can’t monitor the battle, which disrupts his experiment. 

Cumber wrecks Goku’s shit, which knocks him out for a while, but fortunately Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta show up to defend him. Seems that they were the ones who wrecked Fu’s lab, and I guess that explains where Xeno Vegeta was until this moment.  He was scouting out the lab, waiting for an opening. 

I don’t know why the other Vegeta isn’t getting involved in this fight.  I think he’s okay, but he just stands with Trunks and Mai watching the battle. I mean, Golden Cooler is doing the same thing, but I think we’ve already established that Golden Cooler is just an asshole.

Xeno Vegeta suggests that they fuse, since Cumber’s one tough bastard.  He hates fusion, but he’s willing to make an exception.  So for those of you keeping score, this is the second fusion in less than six episodes.

So now it’s Super Saiyan 4 Vegito vs. Cumber, who decides to bust out Super Saiyan 3.  You can tell because his eyebrows are gone.  This seems weird, because base Cumber was giving Vegito Blue a hard time, so the only conclusion I can make here is that SSJ4 is stronger than Blue, or Cumber’s transformations don’t mean much.

Vegito 4 seems to beat Cumber, but then Fu shows up again to confront the jerks who broke his lab. 

Then Cumber rejoins the battle, and Fu observes that the seal on the Prison Planet has been broken. And he seems... happy about this?  If this was what he wanted all along, why did he cancel Cumber’s Oozaru form?  He says that “they will revive soon”, and leaves.

I like how he uses his sword (swords?) to cut an X-shaped portal for himself.  That’s a nice touch. 

Xeno Goku wants to chase after Fu, but they have to rescue the others from Cumber, who’s fired a giant ki blast at them.  Regular Vegeta complains about Regular Goku just lying there passed out, when...

Goku suddenly wakes up and goes Ultra Instinct.  While he fights Cumber alone, the rest of them teleport back to Beerus’ planet.  Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta say their farewells and head off to continue the hunt for Fu, and I guess everyone just assumes that Regular Goku can save himself when he’s ready.

Just as Goku beats Cumber, another portal opens up, and out comes... Zamasu?  And he’s got a posse.  They grab Cumber and leave.

This leaves Goku alone on the Prison Planet as it explodes.  Nice callback to the destruction of Namek, except Goku can use Instant Transmission, so why isn’t he?

Back on Beerus’ planet, the Supreme Kai of Universe 6 suddenly shows up, and he breathlessly informs Vegeta and the rest about an invasion in his home universe.  Dammit, now I have to look up his name.  Fuwa.  The Supreme Kai of U6 is named Fuwa.  Glad we settled that.

Vegeta’s like “I’m a bad enough dude to save Universe 6.  Let’s rock.”

So yeah, this is a bunch of nonsense.  There is a plotline running through all of this, but Toei presented the first six episodes like it’s a single story arc, and it’s more like the first leg of a larger story arc.  There’s hints of something more ambitious here.  Trunks’ prison uniform and the Dragon Balls suggest that they might have been planning to spend more time in this setting, but instead the whole thing explodes in less time than it takes to get a pizza delivered. 

This probably goes without saying, but there’s too many characters in this thing.  We have two Gokus and two Vegetas, and both pairs fuse to make two Vegitos.  It’s fanservice, I get it, but it’s over before we can really get into it.  Golden Cooler literally doesn’t do anything.  I mean Mai doesn’t do much either, but that’s because she doesn’t have any powers.  I don’t know which one irritates me more. 

I like the idea of Cumber, but they never fleshed him out.  Fu keeps teasing details about the guy, but we never find out where he found Cumber or how he got him here, or why he wears that mask.  At least Cumber is still alive so he can return in future episodes and hopefully give us the scoop, but I’m not optimistic that we’ll get much. 

#dragon ball #super dragon ball heroes #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #goku #vegeta #fu #cumber #trunks #mai #fuwa #cooler #whis #supreme kai #vegito #i'm not tagging the xeno version and that's final

[lavenderjewels]

I have a lot to say about the latest jjk episode but it’s mostly “that was so cool” to “I am so sad” that i don’t feel like making entire in-depth posts about it so im just putting a list here for myself

manga and episode spoilers

There’s certain parts where I’m slightly torn between the anime and manga. I said this last episode, but this episode captured the feelings and intensity of the manga while making it completely different. The animation went more stylistic and it changed things to be more abstract. Which is great! If things are going to be different, I want it to be a fresh experience. Still though, some scenes (the Uraume encounter, Malevolent Shrine, etc) were drawn beautifully in the manga and I love the expressions and details there. So I’m happy I read the manga too

The ost over the fight,,, incredible. The bell (?) chimes were the cherry on top

I already know my friend is going to complain about this episode’s animation since they hated parts of last ep, but honestly I love whatever was happening this episode. The choice of colors and direction was unsettling and (naturally) felt otherworldly. Mahoraga and Sukuna are both “divine” in their powers and presence, so making the world plunge into distorted chaos was great to see. The manga page used paneling to show Sukuna’s slicing, so the messy painted look to this ep was suuuch a good choice to do instead

To add onto that point, imo this season adapts the style of the manga a bit better than season 1, especially when the animation looks rough or has solid colors. I love s1’s animation almost as much, but some of the way the characters were animated (gojo without his mask, kenjaku, etc) weren’t my favorite. Jujusanpo is perfect though

That train scene was FUN

It is frustratingly clear in hindsight that Sukuna wanted to have Megumi’s technique. Although I do think he appreciates Megumi’s personality and strength to some degree (let’s ignore the torment Megumi is going through in the manga). Wayyy more than Yuuji at least, so no wonder he wanted to possess Megumi instead

Malevolent kitchen was definitely a choice the people subtitling made

I get the opening song at the end, but I don’t love it. I still was shocked, so it wasn’t that bad.

Yuuji broke my heart and that Yuuji to Sukuna transition at the start,,, 🫠 incredible that it just does not get better for him

#using my blog to blog about the episode #this is just so I can talk to myself LMAO #jujutsu kaisen season 2 #my post

[themultilanguagenerd]

Anime for Learning Japanese Recs

Chances are if you’re learning Japanese, one of your motivators is being able to enjoy Japanese media like anime and understand it completely. And while some people might argue against using anime as a tool to learn anime, I say it actually is a great tool to use for shadowing and listening practice IF you use the right series (and don’t entirely rely on anime alone).

My biggest pro tip would be avoid using extremely action/fantasy-oriented anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, Naruto or even Boku no Hero Aacdemia. I’m not saying to you shouldn’t watch them, but I am saying that those aren’t anime to watch for studying. Those are more like entertainment anime. Nice as those anime are, a good portion of the vocabulary wouldn’t exactly be... useful. Trust me, unless you’re talking about the show specifically with friends, ‘cursed energy’ and ‘illusion techniques’ are the last words you should be learning lol.

So I will be supplying a list of anime I enjoy and think would be great tools for aiding your journey learning the Japanese language.

Fruits Basket 2019・フルーツバスケット

Long long ago, God decided to throw a festival extending an invite to distinct creatures of the land. However, the trickster Rat lied to the Cat that the festival would be taking place the day after the intended date. The next day the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger and so on all arrived to attend God’s festivalー all except the Cat who had been tricked. Fast forward to present day Japan and high schooler Tohru Honda finds herself in a particular predicament when, through a series of events, she finds herself living with two boys her age Yuki and Kyo Sohma. The catch? Whenever embraced by the opposite sex, they, along with ten other members of the Sohma Clan, turn into one of the twelve zodiac animals.

Fruits Basket is one of my favorite series of all time, it’s literally in my top 3 anime/manga of all times. It was the first manga I read back in the early 2000s as a little kid, the 2001 anime garnered a huge fanbase, it just has a special place in my heart. It might like look like a typical love triangle series with a bland protagonist and equally bland love interests where she plays ‘which personality do I like the most’, but Fruits Basket is definitely not that. Character journeys are non-linear, the good and bad lovely and messy parts of relationships are depicted and even side characters are given justice and arcs. Despite its whimsical summary, however, Fruits Basket is a story about abuse, trauma and healing and may be triggering for some. But I assure you, Furuba handles the topic abuse with so much respect and grace and deserves every praise it receives as a character-driven story. (There is a 2001 adaptation but it isn’t entirely faithful to the manga so I recommend watching the 2019 remake first.)

Note: Despite being an early 2000s series, Furuba’s remake was adapted to modern day with smart phones and the like so outdated language isn’t really a problem. You’ll actually be getting a good mixture of formal and informal speech throughout the show thanks to our protagonist, Tohru. Contrast to the rest of the cast, Tohru consistently speaks using keigo ー a quirk pointed out by the rest of cast. So if you’re trying to work on formal speech, Tohru will be a useful character to pay attention to.

NANA・ナナ

Nana Komatsu is a naïve 20 year old with a penchant for easily falling in love at first sight. Nana Osaki is a jaded 20 year old polishing the shards of her dream to become a successful rock musician. These two young women are as different as different gets and yet they find their worlds colliding after fate brings them together on a one-way train ride to Tokyo. Once they find themselves rooming together in apartment number 707, it is clear both Nanas are in for the journey of a lifetime.

One of the most underrated josei anime of all time and another 1 of my top 3 series of all time. The characters? Amazing. The music? Ten out of ten. The Nanas have such great chemistry and both are equally amazing. Nana can be a bit to real when it comes to emotions, messy relationships and everything in between so it can be extremely personal, especially if you are in the same age demographic as the the main cast. I also have a fun little anecdote about how I share birthdays with Olivia Lufkin who provides the singing voice for the character Reira and we exchanged birthday DMs, this series is literally everything to me. If more people come to learn about it and love it through language learning, the better! 

Note: NANA takes place in around the early 2000s so things like slang might be a little outdated but you’ll hear plenty of casual speech in order to talk with friends

Given・ ギヴン

High schooler Ritsuka Uenoyama has a simple plan: tolerate school and rock out with his band. But a wrench is thrown into the cogs after he encounters fellow student Mafuyu Sato, a quiet boy who constantly carries around a guitar case. Weird as he is though, the kid has some pipes. Upon asking Mafuyu to join the band though, Ritsuka finds himself annoyed and stumped when the guy says ‘no thanks, not interested’.

Honestly my favorite quirk of this series is how each of the for protagonists has a kanji for one of the four seasons in their names 冬, 夏, 春 and 秋. Given is a lovely series to watch with gay and bi characters and encouraging message surrounding coming to terms with one’s sexuality. This anime does have light suicide mentions as Mafuyu’s previous boyfriend committed suicide prior to the beginning of the series, so I would like for that to be open so no one is taken aback by it. And if you’re looking for a series centered around a queer cast with a splash of music, this is the series for you.

Asobi Asobase・あそびあそばせ

Enter Olivia, an American raised in Japan who can’t speak English. Enter Kasumi who, in spite of her seemingly intellectual appearance, is absolutely trash when it comes to her English class. Then enter Hanako, an intellectual student with decent athletic skills who literally just wants to be popular. Somehow, they end up creating a club together. What kind of club? One centered around learning fun past times and hand games.

Pure chaos and girls being girls the anime, that’s it send tweet. There’s honestly not much more I can say about it, but if you’re looking for a light-hearted watch to accompany your learning this is it right here.

Aria the Animation・ARIA

In the hopes of becoming a certified gondolier, young Akari Mizunashi decides to leave her home on Earth and travel to the new blue planet of Mars to live on Neo-Venezia. Along the way, she meets other apprentices hoping for the same thing and they all train hard in order to accomplish their goals of becoming Primas.

A wholesome and slow series to use to learn Japanese that I loved watching as a kid. Aria actually have several series with the main three, in order being Aria the Animation, Aria the Natural and Aria the Origination. I recommend giving this show a watch! Each episode is its own adventure while following the overarching story of the three protagonists establishing themselves in their chosen career paths. The animation is lovely and so is the music, so I’d give this underrated classic a watch for your studies.

Carole and Tuesday・キャロル&チューズデイ

Carole is an orphan from Earth. Tuesday is a Mars native who runs away from home to escape her stuffy and sheltered rich life. The one thing they have in common? Their desire to create music and after meeting during one of Carole’s impromptu street performances, they realize that their talents combined will get them a lot farther than if they tried being solo artists. 

Another music series but with some light science fiction elements since, like the previous recommendation, C&T takes place on terraformed Mars. And all things considered, C&T is a pretty diverse show with characters of different ethnicities all over and even one of the main characters being a black teen. So if you’re really looking to have some diverse cast members in your anime, give this anime a shot.

If you end up watching any of these series, definitely let me know what you think about them and if they were useful for you! さようなら！

#langblr #studyblr #japanese #japanese langblr #language tips #study tips #listening practice #shadowing #fruits basket #NANA #given #asobi asobase #aria the animation #carole and tuesday #carole & tuesday

[bittermoonswrites]

Who are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite characters of all time, from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series, etc)? Can I ask why you love them?

Again, I have no idea whether these are my faves of all time, but I’m going to just pick some characters I like and can think of right now. Let’s just limit this to anime/manga and video games (JRPGs specifically) or else the list would be all characters from books only. I wish there were more female characters on here but you know how it is with media—female characters get the short end of the stick unless a woman was behind it.

Joshua Kiryu (The World Ends with You): Basically gay Jesus of the world of The World of Ends with You. A complicated guy, always scheming in the background. Really compelling character. I was upset he only makes a cameo appearance in the sequel to the game. 

Kuroko Tetsuya (Kuroko no Basket): He lacks standard shonen hero personality—his trademark is being calm, quiet, aloof, and polite—but he’s the main character of Kuroko’s Basketball anyway. Kuroko is proof that you don’t need to be Knockoff Naruto to bring people around you, and I love that.

Miyuki Kazuya (Daiya no Ace): If there’s a Daiya fan that doesn’t like Miyuki, I’d be surprised.

Jolyne Kujo (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Pt. 6 Stone Ocean): If you aren’t familiar with JoJo, it’s divided into 9 different parts, each one of which is pretty much entirely distinct from the others. I have been following JoJo for way too long (since ~2012-2013-ish?), and I’m pretty sure I will be a huge fan for the rest of my life. Jolyne is the MC of JJBA’s 6th part, Stone Ocean. Amazingly well-written female protaogonist of a shonen series.

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender): He has no bending powers, but he keeps everyone together. That’s his superpower. I love that.

Shimogamo Yasaburo (The Eccentric Family): the trickster hero of The Eccentric Family. I love the work of novelist Tomihiko Morimi (this anime was adapted from one of his novels), and The Eccentric Family is about a family of tanuki living in Kyoto. Yasaburo is the 3rd of 4 sons. Through Yasaburo’s eyes, you can get a feel for tanuki cultures and customs, and he’s just a little shit.

Kong Wenge (Ping Pong: The Animation): Ping Pong is my favorite anime of all time, and Kong is my favorite character in Ping Pong. His arc is so good—going from resentful that he was forced to move to Japan for high school because competition in Chinese Ping Pong is insane to coming to terms with the fact that he’s going to be stuck in Japan, to eventually naturalizing as a Japanese citizen to play for Japan as an adult and taking the name of his high school that changed his life as his last name upon naturalization.

Luck Gandor (Baccano): Baccano is another one of my favorite anime, and Luck is my favorite character. I love schemer types like Luck.

Laurent Thierry (The Great Pretender): I’m pretty sure Netflix created The Great Pretender just to target me because it has everything I like in anime. The final arc is kind of fucked up in a real-world "oh god something similar to what these terrible human beings are doing is actually happening somewhere" kind of way, but it's overall a great show. Laurent is such an asshole. He’s definitely not a good person, but I have a weakness for asshole characters.

Gojo Satoru (Jujutsu Kaisen): He’s the lesbian favorite because we collectively love to make fun of him. Enough said.

#bittermoons has asks!