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keiksy-cake · 4 months

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Hetalia Poll Results pt 3: character who you'd want as a best friend

I started this one back in October lol. Sorry, I was busy with college and work but I am now a free man!

all collezione pages

[Please note, I’m an amateur in Japanese and have to use various resources and translation machines to help me. If you notice a possible mistake or want clarification, please bring it up to me *politely* and not aggressively or hostile.]

#hetalia #aph hetalia #hetalia collezione #aph japan #aph taiwan #aph italy #aph hungary #aph prussia #not the “I want him to live a long life” and hima not commenting on it 😭#why do half of italy and prussia's comments sound so mean? lol #hungary's comments are giving very much gay #also imo bela wouldn't listen to anyone's rants as she'd only ever want to talk and hear about russia lol #so many notes this time... I had to make the font so small I was worried ppl won't even be able to read them hence the extra image

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aesterblaster · 5 months

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Just saw a really clickbait-y youtube video that called Blue Lock fascist in its thumbnail and I will admit first and foremost that I didn't watch it and yes I've been informed that it isn't implying that Blue Lock is some fascistic propaganda but it still got me thinking so-

here's my rant/breakdown about the ways that Blue Lock is specifically anti-fascist

So first of all, popular animes and mangas having possibly fascist undertones is nothing new. I won't deny that there's a long history of Japan being a colonizer and commiting atrocities that are still brushed off or forgotten about to this day. And this does seep into some works that I personally choose to not engage with for exactly that reason. Miss me with trying to be an apologist for or glorifying real world war crimes- But Blue Lock specifically? I'd be extremely hard pressed to call it fascist.

Fascism is defined as an alt-right, ultra nationalistic political ideology usually characterized by a centralized autocracy, forced suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy and subordination of individual interests for the believed good of the nation or race according to Wikipedia. First let's go through the ways Blue Lock does match up with that.

Ego can be easily viewed as a dictator near the beginning of the manga

Most characters thrive on putting others down for their faults and strictly believe that there is some sort of natural order where people who lack "ego" are at the bottom

There is a sort of central autocracy with the top 6

Near the beginning especially, there is a violent snuffing out of any ideology that dares oppose egocentrism or the idea that you need to be a solid team to win a game

Now let's go through the ways Blue Lock denies and even goes against Fascism.

BLLK's main goal is to make a Japanese soccer team that can win a World Cup. In a more fascist manga, we would see racism ga-fucking-lore. We can see this in animes that have more right wing leaning undertones like Attack on Titan where when race is brought in it's for conflict. There's no possibility of harmony, only winners and losers. Those protected and those put down and punished.

And Blue Lock does have an extreme focus on who wins and who loses. It is not afraid to include racism against Japanese people like with Adam or portray black people in unsettling and kind of racist ways like Dada's original design. But these elements don't automatically spell fascism. Blue Lock is careful to portray characters of color as just that, characters. They don't exist to tell you about their lives of hardship and struggle and they don't exist to justify Ego's obessesion with creating a good Japanese team. As you read BLLK, you'll notice that the artist has taken care to get better at drawing different body types and facial structures. The character design isn't trying to sell some perfect ideal like fascism so famously does, it tells you a peak athlete doesn't have one distinct look. It tells you characters from other countries are just as if not more capable than the Blue Lock boys. Hell, even Sae's hatred of Japanese football is portrayed as less of a betrayal of country and pride and more of a cultural clash. The issue to be solved in Sae's character is the way he looks down on his brother, not how much he despises Japanese football teams' tactics. We know this because Ego himself rails against them too.

A fascist manga would paint Sae as a villain for even learning from and joining teams from other countries, lending them his talent instead of keeping it in his home country. But Blue Lock encourages diversification and collaberation with other nation's teams so heavily that it is literally an entire like 5 part arc right now. Ego isn't ultra nationalistic, he just wants to make a better soccer team for his country and he isn't afraid of praising and adopting from other countries in the process. The biggest win to come out of a Blue Lock team wouldn't be that they're all Japanese but that they all follow his ideology.

Speaking of his ideology, Ego is extremely harsh and controlling, yes, but he also believes in the boys. He lets them do what they believe is best. He pushes them to their limits, not because they disobey him, but because they dissapoint him. A true fascist dictator would rule with fear with no introductions of other ideologies, he would strike at any sign of weakness or opposition. At the beginning, he does do this. But as the manga goes on we see how much wiggle room he's willing to allow. He lets Isagi curse at him and question his leadership, he lets Shidou play even though he's clearly queer and extremely volatile, he doesn't punish any of the boys for injuring each other. In a fascist society, you are expected to fit an ideal or be othered, be perfect and work together with a sense of comradere because that's the only way to prove your claims that you are the best race/nation. There can be no imperfections or cracks in the facade...But Ego lets the boys be messy. He never forces them to change who they are, only forces them to believe that they can do great things all on their own. Even with Kunigami, Wild Card wasn't a correction of his disbelief in some nation or race, but instead a correction of how limited his mindset was. In fact, in a more fascist society, Kunigami's love of playing hero and protecting his teammates would be praised and celebrated. Ego putting individuality and aspiration over the good of the team as a whole is literally a middle finger to fascism.

The villain of the series is literally a greedy Japanese man that wants to commercialize the team and make them less individualized. I don't know how much more anti-fascist you could get-

Also, Blue Lock handles disability very carefully and very well. In more alt-right ideologies than not, something you'll see again and again is this idea that disabled people don't deserve the same rights because they can't contribute to society. Disabled people are a stain to be pushed away and hidden because they contradict the central idea of a "perfect" nation. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Chigiri would be kicked from the program, not given power and influence. In a fascist retelling of BLLK, Kenyu would be attacked and beaten as soon as it was discovered that he made it into the top-six with failing eyesight. Any physical disadvantage could easily put an athlete at the bottom of the social hierarchy as well, Blue Lock could have very very easily made fun of its disabled characters for even trying. It could get away with mistreating these players and be defended for it so fucking quickly. But instead, it lets you root for them and gives them just as much care and weight as the others. It's trying to tell you that being a good player sometimes means knowing your limits and getting help, not punishing yourself because you have some biological disadvantage. It also takes care to demonstrate that no race is inherently worse at soccer than the other.

And, of course, the elephant in the room, Noa and Kaiser. Okay...if you see German characters and immediately think OMG NAZIS??OMG FASCISM?????OMGGGG HE HAS BLONDE HAIR???AND BLUE EYES?? That's a fucking you problem and you clearly aren't reading the manga. Even Noa Noel being an older man and still being allowed to play and looked up to as the best is an example of how Blue Lock goes against steriotypes about athletes. Kaiser does have blonde hair and blue eyes yes, but he also wears eyeliner and eyeshadow and has a tattoo and dyed hair... None of that would be allowed in an actually fascist Japanese manga unless it was as caricature to make fun of and dominate. But instead, Kaiser is an actual threat who has complex arcs and behaviors. Also, Kaiser isn't fascist himself, he clearly views Isagi as an equal even though they're different nationalities and he doesn't believe in any one authority or greater cause except for himself. Noa is very strict yes, and he does rank and rate the boys, but he specifically doesn't factor race into it. He also, just like Ego, allows other ideas and patterns to emerge even if they mess up his own plans for matches. He doesn't suppress anyone and is actually extremely lax. If you think he or BLLK is "fascist", look at actual real world sports teams and their strict practices or past statements about other nationalities.

Isagi as a protaganist is anti-fascist too!!!! He's a Japanese everyman who has good Japanese parents, no disabilities, an honest personality and believes in a future where Japan wins the World Cup. In a fascist story, he'd be fucking untouchable (ESPECIALLY against characters from other countries) and all of this would be paraded as proof that a Japanese soccer team is clearly superior and all-dominating. But no! He gets beat down, questioned, disrespected and constantly shown up by others. He's not special and he's extremely self-centered. He doesn't water his own beliefs down for the "good of the nation" or whatever the fuck and he grew up idolizing foreign players. Isagi never supresses other people's ideologies, he just makes fun of them if they fuck up. He's never xenophobic, even when other characters have moments that have xenophobic undertoens like Adam or Sae's comments. Isagi Yoichi's character could have a few traits flipped and be a poster boy for some alt-right manga about how superior Japanese people or hell, Ego's pupils are. But he doesn't. He's simply designed and he's rude and he looks down on people, but he also apologizes, humbly accepts when he can improve by questioning his own ideals and is open to talking with everyone he comes across.

Calling Blue Lock a "fascist soccer manga" is not only demonstrating that you have no idea what fascism is, but also disgustingly painting over all the beautiful themes and messages within the manga.

Again I'm aware that that original video wasn't aiming to negate any of these points but I have seen people make claims and jokes before that about Blue Lock's more *beat it into your head* tendencies with ideology. And I've seen jokes specifically about the German team/the way Sae seems to just hate Japanese culture. I just dislike the painting of Blue Lock as a jumping point for discussions about fascism and its effects because of the way it handles themes like cross cultural connection, family pressures, capitalism and disability so carefully.

#blue lock manga #bllk #blue lock #plot analysis #JUST HAD TO GET THIS OUT THERE #and yes i have blocked people for kaiser nazi memes so don't fucking make any . he literally wears eyeliner and has a homoerotic obsession #with an asian guy. the nazis would hate his ass #character analysis #character examination #bluelock #bllk manga #bllk anime #bluelock anime #anyway i detest everyone who acts like blue lock having some extremely strict rules etc = it being ultra right wing #there's horror in it for sure but not that way #in fact it takes EXTRA EXTRA care so that it wont be taken that way #like you clearly dont actually take japans history seriously to try and paint BLLK as nationalistic #There are so many better examples..stop eroding peoples media literacy #And i DO NOT want people to start reading blue lock bc they think its fascist or they think it has controversial shit in it. like ew.

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guideaus · 22 days

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kabru's interest in laios is something else bc its not some weird parasocial stalker type situation. kabru who cant figure out this man through rumors or observation alone has tried repeatedly, desperately, to interact with laios directly, and laios has had no interest in him at all. i cant even say maybe kabru should've been a beast man or something bc shuro exists 😭

kabru literally only is able to make contact with laios bc of shuro and shuro wants nothing to do w laios. dynamic of all time

#personal #kabru internally: please for the love of god let me investigate you *tries some specific way to interact w laios*#laios: hey shuro!#the dynamic of laios shuro and kabru is so funny. theres so much wrong there #kabru shouldve been from dunmeshi universe japan for laios to do a microaggression apparently according to that one extra 😭😭

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project-sekai-facts · 10 months

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So I did some digging regarding Keitai Renwa being the originally planned unit song. I couldn’t find anything all that reliable in English so I looked for stuff in Japanese (I’m still in the process of learning so my translation might be off).

I found multiple people stating this on forums but I couldn’t find a source. One person did say they got the info from a giant thread but didn’t link it. This same person has replied to multiple posts asking the same question. Allegedly there was a production article or an unofficial insider report that said the reason because of the romantic element. Keitai Renwa was rejected as the unit song because it was about love and that wasn’t allowed or something. The user also claimed that PinocchioP said he was told almost nothing about the story of WxS when he was asked to write the unit song.

This doesn’t seem very reliable but to be fair I could have missed a reliable source or failed to input an effective search term ( I looked for 携帯恋話ユニット歌 with variations for the unit name)

Anyway I’ll keep digging hopefully I’ll find that mega thread or someone else will be able to.

This was the specific thread I was referring to

https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10259001035

- @theormerizing

Thank you so much for looking I didn’t know about the PinocchioP thing either so I’ll keep that in mind. Like you said all I’ve been able to find is people talking about it rather than direct confirmation from mafumafu or a staff member.

#Yahoo japan is blocked in my country so i can’t view the link so extra thank you for describing the thread #asks #mod talks #songs

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therentyoupay · 4 months

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“This year has been kind of wild, hasn’t it?” Anna muses much, much later that evening, well into the second round of dessert. Elsa looks up, startled by the wave of somber thoughtfulness from Anna’s side of the table. She isn’t quite sure what’s going on in her own headspace, let alone her sister’s.

“I mean,” Anna’s face crumbles, and she hides it poorly, “between me moving around so much, and finding my new job, and. You know. Dealing with Hans.”

Elsa’s fingers tighten imperceptibly on the handle of her fork. She lets Anna talk, and offers her a single encouraging nod, precise and controlled. Anna’s mouth is brave, tiny smiles and courageous words, but her eyes glisten with disappointment, with fear, with countless questions that Elsa cannot answer.

“I guess I wasn’t expecting my life to really… turn out like this?”

That makes two of us, Elsa can’t help but think but doesn’t dare let the thought rise any closer to the surface. These thoughts are not fair, she knows. They are not real, or maybe they are, but perhaps they shouldn’t be; Elsa has made her own decisions, and Anna has made hers—because Anna is an adult, because she’s starting to think like one—and now the two of them are left to pick up the pieces.

“I can understand that feeling,” Elsa shares, reluctant to offer anything more encouraging, such as no one does, really, or there’s still so much more, and your life isn’t over yet. “Sometimes plans change.”

Anna makes a face. “Sometimes for the better,” she mutters darkly, grimacing into her cup of cold tea. Elsa faintly wonders when Anna will think to reheat it but lets her make that choice on her own; she tries to keep a tally in her head, these days, of how many choices she consciously relents to Anna. She knows Anna does not notice. “Like. A hell of a lot better.”

Elsa cracks an amused grin at the grit in Anna’s voice, of fire and violence, and you won’t fool me again, and allows herself a deep sigh of unexpected relief.

“It’s okay to blame me, you know,” Anna’s confession cuts through the contented haze of Elsa’s awareness. Her sister’s eyes are so honest, and all over again, Anna is breaking, breaking her heart. “You gave up your doctoral program for me.”

Elsa turns her gaze to the contents of her mug, still warm. Whatever she says next will stay in Anna’s heart forever; she wants to make sure the words are the right ones.

“I did,” she answers eventually. “But I left for me, too.”

“But you’ve been waiting for that opportunity your whole life,” Anna insists, and her cheeks are dry but there are tears in her voice, in her throat, in her essence. “You want it. And you gave it up, because I’m a mess.”

“No,” Elsa corrects. “I withdrew because life is a mess.” She thinks in sudden waves and flashes—of freedom, of feeling trapped by four walls and a bedroom set of furniture, of opportunity, of wanting escape but not knowing how to find it, of feeling crowded and alone, of realizing that control is relative and everything and nothing, and says, “It may not have been the best thing to do, but it was the best decision we could have made at the time. It happened because it needed to happen.” Elsa lets that sink in. “And I’ll go back someday.”

“When?” Anna wants to know.

But Elsa still doesn’t really have an answer.

————

start from the beginning of livable 🎄🎁❤️

#while rereading this today i didn't remember this part and #now that i am in my fourth year of my doctoral program #i gasped-----i feel this bit so much more strongly now #like i could imagine it in 2016 when i wrote this story clearly but i didn't KNOW #this story was written right before i moved to japan for a year and a half (and this tory was POSTED retroactively from tubmlr to ao3 #WHILE I WAS IN JAPAN) and at this point in my life i still had an eventual PhD program on my radar but it wasn't anytime close because i #was about about embark on my Big Adventure Abroad with my fresh master's degree and my language learning journey ahead of me and i still #believed that i would be a classroom teacher forever and forever and that i would get an EdD #so the mere idea of elsa leaving her doctoral program---i could imagine but i could NOT FATHOM; not really #therentyoupay livable #jelsa #also for those of you who have read my most recent blog post on my site about how so many of my friends have either been kicked out #of our phd program or who have made the choice to leave #you can see the extra layers 🫠🫠🫠🫠🎄🎁✨

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todayisafridaynight · 11 months

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welcome back to Mental Illness Has Taken Me Places I Would Never Go Otherwise

Today's episode "What Cigarette Brands Do Sawashiro and Arakawa Smoke"

i'm pretty sure most RGG characters smoke hi-lite honestly (kashiwagi also smokes it) but yeah. sawashiro's among them. basic bitch.

[the real-life box isn't the exact same as the in-game box as it's more yellow than eggshell, but this was the closest i could find]

arakawa's on that Peace pack though- you can tell from the very slim bits of the bird's wings as well as the olive branch you can see, the 'P', 'E', 'A', and 'C', and those gold lines bordering the box

thank you for joining me on this episode if you'd like me to investigate more incredibly-niche topics please submit an inquiry through the hospital they're keeping me in

#snap chats #because i wanted to know what brands they were using to burn their lungs with #whyd stacys dad come on as i was making this post #i got SO distracted from what i was gonna originally do #im free from all my commission work so i decide to use this extra time for the most Nonsense Shit ever #i went about trying to find these in the dumbest way possible #first i tried to just comb through all the decal files from the dragon engine games but like. a fourth of a way through i was like #'theres gotta be an easier way to do this' so i just tried looking at the screenshots i took again and did a little Detectiveness #aka i got a video with more pixels so i could actually see the decals better #i tried looking up the most popular cig brands in japan too- of which i didnt see. EITHER of these on there #literally when will i ever need this knowledge. Literally Never.#i actually wanted to know this cause i was just curious if jo's box was going to be on arakawa's table in the Ichi Goes To Jail scene #but then i saw they were different and i knew what i had to do. Unnecessary Bullshit #anyway speaking of that scene though i have a follow up post #because i just refuse to draw now that i have the time to do it ☠️

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zhiamomence · 2 years

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AW MANNNN HESOKURI WARS WILL END LESS THAN 24HOURS JAPAN TIME.........any last message about this game or somethin (survey link)

#zhiatalk #hesokuri wars #ososan #osomatsusan #osomatsu san #will close around my time so you guys can have one plus hour extra after japan time #osomatsu #karamatsu #choromatsu #ichimatsu #jyushimatsu #todomatsu #hesowars #game

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ship-garbage-pile · 1 year

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Forever feeling that Final Fantasy Type-0 was done dirty, no matter the circumstances. They had such a fun world and lore yet knowing we won’t ever get a Type-Next infuriates me.

Like they really teased and made a beautiful-strange yet hype teaser for a sequel-Ace in wearing samurai armor, being revived by a fire lady and just looking so cool! I want more for the series 😔

#final fantasy type 0 #fft0 #like my experince with type 0 wasn’t perfect since I played on a really badly optimized Pc port but I still loved it #ace is my favorite #so seeing him looking cool is why I was extra hype #i know there was also a phone game that never came outside of Japan which looked intirguing because you could make an agito cadet oc and Q~Q #i would have loved to make a cadet!#besides it looks like such a visual novel too #i remember the trailer where ace was fretting over the cadet that was absolute dating sim fuel #heck a rougelike might be fun for the series too knowing it’s a loop #ff type 0 spoilers

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