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russenoire · 24 days

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i just finished fullmetal alchemist 2003...

and i have words about this.

while both series have lovely scores, courtesy of michiru ooshima here and akira senju for FMAB, FMAB's OPs and EPs are almost all far too good to skip, ever. (if i have to hear pornograffiti's 'melissa' one more time, i will scream.) both series rely pretty heavily on slapstick humor to leaven the surrounding darkness, and the massive chip on edward's shoulder about his height, grating in brotherhood, also wears on my patience here.

i liked this story's approach to alchemy and how it works. but the creators' vision of homunculi here, where each homunculus arises as a result of a single alchemist's hubris and becomes their sin to answer for? i prefer it a little more than the admittedly more cohesive explanation of a single being splitting off aspects of himself.

we get to spend more time with scar and maes hughes (my favorite character; i adore his hazel eyes in this adaptation and hearing the late keiji fujiwara's silky pipes voice him twice is a joy). i still can't decide which kimblee i like best.

both fullmetals are examples of satisfyingly meaty storytelling and full of awesome animation. i suspect a dislike of canon divergence behind a lot of the hate for the first series, and a preference for deeper character study and pathos behind hate for the second.

i'm usually wary of adaptations continuing after creators run out of source material myself, but the story shō aikawa and seiji mizushima constructed out of whole cloth offers up a feast of philosophy, character study, mindfuckery and intricate military-political intrigue. and for the most part, it holds up under its own weight.

here scieszka, winry and rose are more instrumental to the story's plot. dante the cursed shapeshifting genius alchemist is a brilliant addition to the story, as is archer (more on him below). lust becomes an almost sympathetic character, what with having loved and lost multiple times as she manipulates mankind into seeking knowledge while being only a tool herself. alphonse is a formidable alchemist and a prodigy in his own right. here that's not just hinted at; both boys could have passed the state alchemist exam with ease. i loved seeing the elric brothers use alchemy to squabble with each other, not just fists and limbs. and edward... he's a double amputee, but his prosthetic limbs work well enough to rid him of any real functional impairment (bless winry's fantastic engineering!). i'm not going to get into the fucked-up implications of that in this post, but i will say that FMA '03 makes his disability much clearer. we see how painful attaching his automail limbs is, repeatedly. a character pries them off of him at one point and he's almost helpless until he can get them back. it's now obvious why he wears gloves most of the time.

the brutality and pervasive racism of the military dictatorship running amestris is given far more focus here. (edward himself gets checked on his own racist assumptions quite a few times.) we see more of the armed forces in the act of genocide, not just flashbacks in haunted soldier memories. officers openly call people savages; kimblee is sent in as an exterminator because of his amorality and solipsism; shou tucker's sick research is allowed to continue, even though the military already has a more efficient method to make chimerae. while making the situation the elric brothers left behind in liore worse, the shady lt col archer sustains what would have been fatal wounds. he gets rebuilt into some sort of robocop hybrid sentient killing machine with no qualms about gunning down his own men. rose is traumatized to mutism raped by the military for having led a rebellion and still leads her people.

whether this feels heavy-handed to you may depend on your tolerance for darkness and cognitive dissonance; i'm still processing how i feel about it. both takes on arakawa-sensei's story present their main and supporting cast as capable of cruelty and kindness, but FMA '03 foregrounds that evil a bit more alongside the good. it made the kindness less palatable for me, in a good way.

also i spoiled myself a bit by watching the conqueror of shamballa before finishing this series. when i learned that mizushima-san is a huge fan of hideaki anno's work, FMA '03's 'inconclusive' ending made even more sense.

#fullmetal alchemist #musings #fma 03 #anime #fma 03 spoilers #always good to form your own opinions #i'm not sure which kimblee i like more tbh #two fine takes on an already good story #i really should read the manga at some point #fma meta

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ultimateanna · 3 years

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Album name: Fullmetal Alchemist Soundtrack

Song name: Homunculus

#fullmetal alchemist #ost #anime #edward elric #alfonse elric #ooshima michiru #michiru ooshima #oshima michiru #michiru oshima

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snesgsts · 6 years

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(1993) Taikou Risshiden

this is an improvement over the Genesis version, though not exactly a mind-blowing soundtrack overall.

i still enjoyed a fair number of tunes through their simplicity. try “Filed Map: Fall" for example

#1993 #Michiru Ooshima

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fmaost · 7 years

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Title: Aishou Composer: Michiru Ooshima Album: Fullmetal Alchemist: Original Soundtrack 3

#aishou #Michiru Ooshima #Ooshima Michiru #Fullmetal Alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist 2003 #fms ost 3 #fullmetal alchemist original soundtrack 3 #edward elric #alphonse elric #roy mustang #anime ost

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animewithairplanewings · 7 years

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ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト

Sound of the Sky is an original military/slice of life drama-comedy. It was directed by Mamoru Kanbe, written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, scored by Michiru Ooshima, and animated by A-1 Pictures for the winter 2010 season. Private Kanata Sorami joins the military as a bugler and is stationed in the city of Seize with the 1121st Platoon.

Throughout the normal run of the anime there are exactly zero airplanes, or indeed flying machines of any kind. The world itself is post-apocalyptic where technology has regressed to roughly that of the 1930s or 40s. The heavy machinery of choice in this world are the tanks, which are quadrupedal and based off a highly-advanced pre-war design.

For its complete lack of airplanes, especially in a setting that seems so ripe for them, Sound of the Sky earns itself 0 out of 5 Airplanes.

But wait, I said “normal run.” That means there must be more to it. In addition to the twelve episode series there were two OVAs released, episodes 7.5 and 13. We can safely ignore 7.5 to focus entirely on 13.

Kanata realizes that she doesn’t know what her dream for the future is, and goes around asking the other cast members what their dreams are, for reference. The dream that we are interested in is that of Lieutenant Rio Kazumiya. Through her we learn that aviation is one of the lost technologies and, while she has built a hot air balloon that she lets Kanata ride in, her real dream is reinventing the airplane and using it to explore beyond the wastelands in search of a way to keep the world from ending.

In the end, the OVA gets a Participation Ribbon, and Lieutenant Kazumiya gets a Gold Star.

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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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You mention on your Ulgurstasta post that you had an Age of Worms soundtrack when you ran the AP in High School. Any other tracks for other encounters/areas?

I actually still have the whole playlist put together! I'll stash it under a cut in the interest of saving space, but some highlights:

The Hellboy soundtrack by Marco Beltrami was sort of the backbone of the piece. The Main Theme was what I used as the main theme for the campaign as a whole, and the themes used for the Nazis in that movie were the cues for the Ebon Triad.

The Full Metal Alchemist soundtrack was also a major role (the original 2004 anime, not Brotherhood). The Homunculus theme was used as Lashonna's theme, in many variations.

Lots of Nobou Uematsu, particularly FFVI and FFVII. I used OC Remix versions of many of those tracks for fights.

The Hall of Harsh Reflections, appropriately, used music from The Thing by Ennio Morricone

Balabar Smenk's theme was the Jabba the Hutt music from Return of the Jedi

The music used for the Kyuss Knights was Spiders and Vinegaroons by Queens of the Stone Age (who were formed from a band named Kyuss)

Musically, Alhaster was Russia. Lots of Russian folk songs for its characters.

The Library of Last Resort was themed around Philip Glass music

Every time they found an artifact, I used The Ecstasy of Gold from the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Kyuss himself got One Winged Angel for his fight music, so I gave the JENOVA theme to the Harbinger of Worms, who created him.

The full list (all six discs worth, including bonus tracks!) is below the cut.

Age of Worms OST

Disc 1

1. Main Title – Hellboy Main Title (Marco Beltrami)

2. Sasha –Time’s Scar (Yasunori Mitsuda)

3. Trinton – Gilderoy Lockhart (John Williams)

4. The Whispering Cairn – Winds of Neo-Tokyo (Genioh Yamashirogumi)

5. Vincent – Nonki (Michiru Ooshima)

6. Dinner with Balabar Smenk – Jabba the Hutt (John Williams)

7. Filge the Necromancer – In the Theatre (Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet)

8. Relics of a Lost Time – El Amor Brujo (Manuel de Falla)

9. Battle with the Wind Warriors – Battle with the Four Fiends (Nobou Uematsu and the Black Mages)

10. Into Dourstone Mine – Overture of Destiny (Michiru Ooshima)

11. Three Faces of Evil 1: The Temple of Theldrick – Evil-Doers (Marco Beltrami)

12. Three Faces of Evil 2: Maze of the Faceless One – Soul Sucker (Marco Beltrami)

13. Three Faces of Evil 3: The Eyes of Grallak Kur – Alley Fight (Marco Beltrami)

14. Diana – Dark Eyes (Moondog)

15. Escape from Dourstone Mine and The Thing from the Pool – Juurin (Michiru Ooshima)

16. Allustan – Avenue (Michiru Ooshima)

17. Clyde – Mystic Mysidia (Nobou Uematsu)

18. An Encounter at Blackwall Keep – Opening/Bombing Run (Nobou Uematsu)

19. Damon – Greed (Michiru Ooshima)

20. Into the Lizard’s Lair – River Cruise (Danny Elfman)

21. Battle with the Turtle Rider – High Above Chaos (Nobou Uematsu, remixed by OverCoat)

22. The Shaman’s Sad Tale – Land Governed by Beasts (Nobou Uematsu, remixed by OverCoat)

23. The Dragon’s Egg – Brett’s Demise (Jerry Goldsmith)

24. Blessings of the Shaman – River Cruise 2 (Danny Elfman)

25. Another Encounter at Blackwall Keep – Element’s (Yoko Kanno)

26. Those Who Have Fallen – Sad Resolution (Michiru Ooshima)

27. End Title – End Credits (Nicholas Pavkovic)

28. Bonus Track – Worms (The Pogues)

Disc 2

1. An Ominous Beginning – Beyond the Wasteland (Nobou Uematsu)

2. The Prophet – The Fall of Neo-Kuja (Nobou Uematsu)

3. Meeting Dr. Thanatos – Revelation of Fire (Claado Shou)

4. The Crooked House – Music TCC (Michael Hoenig)

5. Doppelganger Chase – Spider Dib (Kevin Manthei)

6. Mimics! – Contamination (Ennio Morricone)

7. The Hall of Harsh Reflections – Eternity (Ennio Morricone)

8. Cathar – Rider’s March (Russian folksong, performed by the Red Army Choir)

9. Zyrxog the Illithid / The Death of Damon – Mutation (Geinoh Yamashirogumi)

10. Kysom – Heavenly Spirit (Michiru Ooshima)

11. Puli – The Dragon’s Eye (Jeremy Soule)

12. Battle with the Kenku – Russian Sailor’s Dance (Reinhold Gliere)

13. Filge Unveils His Undead Army – Carriage Without a Driver (Philip Glass)

14. The Weavers – Shelob’s Lair (Howard Shore)

15. The Painter’s Madness – The Belgian Circus Episode (John Morris)

16. Maskarovka! / The Champion’s Dinner – The Kitchen, The Orgy (Basil Poledouris)

17. The Champion’s Games – Wheel of Fortune (Hans Zimmer)

18. The Shrine of Kyuss – Dog’s Attack (Jerry Goldsmith)

19. Zahol, the Cleric – Davy Jones (Hans Zimmer)

20. The Final Battle – Algiers, November 1, 1954 (Ennio Morricone)

21. The Apostle of Kyuss – The Kraken (Hans Zimmer)

22. Victory! – L’Arena (Ennio Morricone)

Disc 3

1. The Dragon Ilthane – Riddle of Steel, Riders of Doom (Basil Poledouris)

2. Falth – Jungle Dance (Max Steiner)

3. Cosgrak the Lewd – Castle Damcyan (Nobou Uematsu)

4. A Gathering of Winds – The Promised Land (Nobou Uematsu)

5. Riverof Blood – The Decisive Battle (Nobou Uematsu)

6. Rescuing Allustan – Illusory World (Nobou Uematsu)

7. Moreto – Space Station of the Ancients (Nobou Uematsu, remixed by Mazedude)

8. Battle with the Ten Thousand Year Old Demon – Fire Cross (Nobou Uematsu, remixed by Luiza)

9. Gifts of the Wind Dukes – The Ecstasy of Gold (Ennio Morricone)

10. Return to Diamond Lake– Death Rides a Horse (Ennio Morricone)

11. Ambushed by Devils – Pandemonium (Hector Berlioz)

12. Magepoint – Misha (Yoko Kanno)

13. Tenser Manzorian – Averro Reinhold (Yoko Kanno)

14. The Spire of Long Shadows – Seven Notes in Black (Vince Tempera)

15. A Dragon took the Spire! – Minas Morgul (Howard Shore)

16. Fallen Angels – Anakin’s Dark Deeds (John Williams)

17. Visions of the Past – Summer Overture (Clint Mansell)

18. Serai Keeneye – Saber Dance (Gayane)

19. Knights and Swords of Kyuss – Spiders and Vinegaroons (Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss)

20. Ascension Interrupted – Monolith (Immediate Music)

21. The Harbinger of Worms – JENOVA for Classical Piano (Nobou Uematsu, arranged by Eric Barker)

22. Battle with the Harbinger – Piano Quartet Boss Battle Medley (Nobou Uematsu, arranged by Reu)

23. The Final Vision – Father’s Funeral (Marco Beltrami)

Disc 4

1. Heroes – Space Marines’ Theme (artist unknown)

2. Journey to Alhaster – Song of the Plains (Red Army Chorus)

3. Ilthane’s Brood – Godzilla Comes to Tokyo Bay(Akira Ifukube)

4. The Acidwraith – Ghidorah’s Theme (Akira Ifukube)

5. The Deluxury – Theology, Civilization (Basil Poledouris)

6. Adalbert Childermass – Castaniets (Yoko Kanno)

7. Blessed Angels of Hextor – Yuukoku (Michiru Ooshima)

8. The Ebon Overgod – Aw, Crap (Marco Beltrami)

9. Twenty Years of Joy – Song of the Volga Boatman (Leningrad Cowboys)

10. Macabre Feast – Smoldering Corpse Bar (Mark Morgan)

11. A Dance of the Dead – Butou (Michiru Ooshima)

12. The Prince of Redhand – The Infernal Dance of King Kaschei (Igor Stravinsky)

13. Lashonna – Homonculus (Michiru Ooshima)

14. Disciples of Darkness – Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious (John Williams)

15. The Library of Last Resort – Facades (Philip Glass)

16. The Wild Watchers – Koyaanisqatsi (Philip Glass)

17. Trials – November 25: Morning (Philip Glass)

18. Battlewith Curwen – Black History (Yoko Kanno)

19. Heroes of Time – Symphony 8, Movement 1 (Philip Glass)

Disc 5

1. Battle with Warduke – Position X (Yoko Kanno)

2. Lashonna’s Tragic Tale – Meimyaku (Michiru Ooshima)

3. Kings of the Rift – King Kong (James Howard)

4. A Flight of Dragons – Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner)

5. Gazzilfek, the Ominous Fabler – Cefca (Nobou Uematsu)

6. Citadel of Weeping Dragons – Last Blank Spot on the Map (James Howard)

7. Dragotha’s Phylactery/ Brazzemal the Burning – Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Opening (Akira Ifukube)

8. When Three Spirits Become One – The Bad Color (James Howard)

9. Into the Wormcrawl Fissure – Circle of Hell (Brian Tyler and Klaus Badlet)

10. The Mighty Undone – Those We Don’t Speak Of (James Howard)

11. Thesselar, the Lich – October is Eternal (Of Montreal)

12. Zulshyn, the Angel – Dancing Calcobrena (Nobou Uematsu)

13. Cults of the Wormgod – Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec (Nobou Uematsu)

14. Kyuss’ Divine Blood – Full Tense (Clint Mansell)

15. Dragotha’s Revelation – Secrets of Shizuma Drive (Masamichi Amano)

16. Battle with Dragotha the Dracolich – I Don’t Think Now is the Best Time (Hans Zimmer)

17. A Treasure Unseen in this Age – Ecstacy of Gold (Ennio Morricone, performed by Yo-Yo Ma)

18. The Age of Worms Has Begun – Blasphemy 2.0 (Immediate Music)

Disc 6

1. Tenser’s Desperate Plan – Sign (Nobou Uematsu)

2. Saviors – Church Windows: Saint Michael (Respighi)

3. Alhaster in Ruins – Tragedy Occurs Again (Masamichi Amano)

4. The Traitor’s Graves Rise – Black Water (Nobou Uematsu)

5. Filge Betrayed – Dr. Van Helsing and Dracula (Philip Glass)

6. Riggby the Patriarch – Forward to Time Past (John Williams)

7. Lashonna’s Sanctum – Kaichou (Michiru Ooshima)

8. Vampire Attack – Shingun (Michiru Ooshima)

9. Accountant of Mephistopheles – All Hell Breaks Loose (Immediate Music)

10. Broodfiends – Tadarida (Hans Zimmer and James Howard)

11. Lashonna Triumphant – Keiji (Michiru Ooshima)

12. Battle with Lashonna – Symphonie Fantastique: Dreams of a Witches’ Sabbath (Hector Berlioz)

13. Ascending the Spire – Divinity I (Nobou Uematsu)

14. Kyuss – Advent One Winged Angel (Nobou Uematsu)

15. The Wormgod Defeated – Divinity II (Nobou Uematsu)

16. The New Prince of Redhand – Guardian of the Motherland (Michiru Ooshima)

17. A Happy Ending – B. P. R. D. Suite (Marco Beltrami)

18. Bonus Track 1 – Icarus (Jason Webley)

19. Bonus Track 2 – Swelling Itching Brain (DEVO)

20. Bonus Track 3 – Dance While the Sky Crashes Down (Jason Webley)

21. Bonus Track 4 – Dragon Attack (Queen)

#age of worms #soundtrack #long post #feedback

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kuromikoneko · 4 years

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URL Song Tag Game

I was tagged by @doctorbeverlycrusher; thanks so much! K was VERY hard, hence 2/3 are Japanese/anime related. I tried not to take too long in deciding when my iTunes library had a LOT of options; went with first strong pull while looking through)

rules: spell out your url with song titles, then tag as many people as there are letters in your url!!

Kandatsu by Ooshima Michiru from FMA 2003 (Izumi confronting the brothers)

Until the Day I Die by Story of the Year

Raise a Little Hell from Bonnie and Clyde the Musical

O Death by Amy van Roekel from Until Dawn game

Magnum Bullets by Nightrunner (ft. Dan Avidan)

I Feel Everything by Idina Menzel

Kelas (Let’s Dance) by Ooshima Michiru from FMA Conquerer of Shambala

Odore, Dore, Dora Doraemon Ondo from Taiko no Tatsujin (drumming game)

No Good Deed by Kerry Ellis from Wicked

Every Heart (og by BoA) + Fukai Mori mashup by AmaLee (prefer ‘not at gentle YET)

Knock Knock by Ramin Djawadi from Person of Interest (Reese’s Theme)

Of Wolf and Man by Metallica

Tagging: @broadwaybaggins @halethebop @liho907lilo @canadianwheatpirates @wapwani @damelola @musetotheworld @unicyclehippo @inspectorboxer @hufflepufflovespizza @villanevening @thatoneuniverse

And of course, anyone else who wants to do this and tag me to see your song selections!

#miko things

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majokkoradio · 14 days

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"Good Morning!! Girls" - Miracle Girls - BGM

#miracle girls #bgm #michiru ooshima #ミラクル☆ガールズ

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bunnymajo · 6 months

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Nothing more satisfying than going "hey this sounds like this one composer!" and then getting it right

#michiru ooshima's one of my favorite bgm composers. i'm so glad she's doing the ost for shirayuki #majobun chatter #oh btw i started watching Snow White with the Red Hair and I am loving it

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hoodlessmads · 5 years

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I’m Caught Up With Bloom Into You

Gosh, where do I even begin with this series?

I watched the first episode, and by the end, honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty dumb. Cute! But dumb. And I do love me some dumb cute precious romance.

But W O W that’s not what Yagakimi is. It successfully pulls of an excellent bait-and-switch on the reader/viewer not just once but twice--the first is at the end of the first episode (the part where I assumed it was going to be kind of cheesy and dumb), and the second around halfway through the anime series. The first one is basically the premise of the story, so it doesn’t really count as a bait-and-switch unless you go in blind like I did. But the second one takes all of the reader/viewer’s expectations up to that point and turns it on its head. And even beyond that scene, the entire series is chock full of moments that demolish your expectations for what direction the story is taking and who the characters are. Every single chapter I felt like I was being thrown for a loop, and learning something unexpected and new about the characters. Even up to the most recent damn chapter I feel like I have no idea what Nakatani-sensei is going to throw at us. And all of this is me making a point that this manga is DEEP.

I could talk at length about how gorgeous the anime is, how well-directed certain scenes are, how incredible the Japanese voice acting was (didn’t see the dub, but if anyone can carry Touko’s emotional range it’s the fabulous Luci Christian so I’m sure it’s decent), or how much I stan Michiru Ooshima. It was a great adaptation and I sincerely can’t wait for Season 2. But I’m not going to talk much about that. Instead I just need to talk about the story (the manga).

(spoilers up through Chapter 39)

You know what one of the many great things about Yagakimi is? In spite of the fact that it deals with same-gender relationships and queer issues, and while it does periodically address those issues, they’re actually not the primary focus of the characters or their struggles. From day one, Yuu is much less concerned about Touko being a girl than she is about her own inability to feel anything towards her (supposedly). And that’s not to say that those issues are ignored, like they are in some anime of this particular genre. The characters don’t live in a paradisiacal vacuum where being gay in Japan isn’t a problem and everyone around them is magically super accepting. Yuu’s sister is incredibly sweet and accepting (I love her), but her dad makes casual homophobic comments. Even after Touko initially confesses to Yuu, Yuu brushes it off as something she “probably doesn’t have to worry about” because they’re both girls, and it’s weird. Riko Hakazaki has to hide from her students, coworkers, and workplace, that she’s living with her girlfriend, because it could cause legitimate problems for her if they knew. During Sayaka’s first lesbian relationship, when she is still figuring herself out, her own girlfriend tells her that it’s “just a phase” and that she’s sorry that she “made her” that way. Even much later, when Yuu is conflicted about how she should confess her feelings to Touko, her sister Rei immediately assumes (understandably so) that she’s conflicted because of the whole gay thing. Rei starts worrying about how the family will react, if they will be accepting and supportive of her sister. Little does she know, being gay is the least of Yuu’s problems at that point.

But is being gay and the societal backlash that comes with it really that inconsequential to Yuu’s story? Yuu Koito struggles to develop romantic or sexual feelings for anyone. She exhibits clear signs of depression--intense apathy, emotional repression, struggles to find genuine joy in anything. A lot of people have posited even that she exhibits signs of sexual repression specifically. And this is one of the core conversations we can have about Yuu’s character. How much of her “inability to love” is because she is legitimately somewhere on the ace spectrum, perhaps demisexual (she develops feelings after getting to know someone, to put it simply)? And how much of it is her unconsciously repressing her own feelings (perhaps homosexual) for her entire life, resulting in a scenario where even she doesn’t know how to get them back? There isn’t a clear answer here. No one knows. Yuu doesn’t even know. And that’s the point!

The characters. Are so. Good. Yuu, Touko, and Sayaka are the obvious powerhouses here, all three of them multi-layered people that I can and will analyze at length. But Yagakimi doesn’t sleep on the minor characters either. Yuu and Touko don’t exist in a vacuum. From Yuu’s sister and her boyfriend to Maki, the juxtaposing aromantic and asexual friend and ally, to Yuu’s surprisingly likable best friends, to Hakozaki-sensei and her girlfriend Miyako, to even Dojima. Everyone matters. Everyone gets their own little storyline. I’m tempted to be reminded of Kimi ni Todoke and the brilliant way it handled its side characters here. Although Bloom Into You is much shorter than KnT, and therefore has a lot less time to develop those side characters and relationships, it still provides them with their own layers, their own problems, their own mini-spotlights. And it makes me care about every single one. Riko and Miyako’s cute ass and wholesome adult love story, Akari’s dumb doomed crush on basketball senpai, Koyomi’s dreams of becoming an author and her infatuation with a certain idol of hers, Maki’s experiences as a contented bystander. I adore and welcome it.

Let’s talk about Touko Nanami before this gets any longer than it needs to be. To be honest, I have a type when it comes to characters, and it’s the ones that are suicidal and hate themselves, probably because I relate to that stuff more than anything (though I also relate to Yuu’s apathetic brand of depression). This character. This character. One of the things I love most about her is how consistently the reader is lured into thinking they know her, and then consistently proven wrong. (I think we share this experience with Yuu.) It takes episodes, chapters, volumes to slowly chip away at the layers and layers of personality we’re given before we finally arrive at the truly heartbreaking core, which is a girl with a fractured identity and deep, deep self-loathing that defies all logic. And it’s because it defies all logic that it’s so scary. Because that kind of self-hatred doesn’t just go away. You can’t just fix it. It’s there to stay, and it’s not just your friendly neighborhood self-hatred--painful, but an otherwise harmless roommate. It’s actually dangerous, and it has the power to destroy Touko’s relationships with others and even destroy herself. (The scene in the anime where she stands in front of the railroad tracks and almost takes a step forward, thus nearly giving me a heart attack, comes to mind.) It defies logic, so there’s no logical way to beat it, either. And it’s not just the self-loathing that gets me and makes my heart hurt for her; it’s the loss of oneself, the lack of one’s identity as an individual. The loss of on’s own sense of self, especially at such a young and vulnerable age, is debilitating. Touko is really good at wearing that super serene smile, but when the chips are down, nothing is going to stand in the way of her and what essentially amounts to obliterating herself from existence. Not even Yuu. And then we come to her crippling fear of being loved by anyone, which is an aspect of self-hatred that probably doesn’t get enough acknowledgment. She hates herself to the point that the thought of someone loving her, which should make her happy, actually hurts. How fucked is that.

But I never gave Touko enough credit. To be honest, in chapter 34 when Yuu (finally) confesses, I was expecting her reaction to be really bad. Like, really bad. I was expecting a shitshow, a blowout of their relationship (temporarily of course). I was expecting basically what Yuu thinks that she got. And for that one page, I swear I felt my heart forcibly ripped from my chest. But then I read the next page and was surprised to see just how much she’s changed over the course of the series, how unexpectedly maturely she took the confession and examined her own feelings afterwards, how quickly (and once again, maturely) she deduced that she’d been making Yuu suffer. It makes me appreciate their relationship even more than I did before, and it makes me want to root for them. (Not that I wasn’t already.) The chapters just keep getting better and better from here on, I swear.

Sayaka deserves her own post, but the queen has her own novel series at least. Sayaka could SO EASILY have been that bitch. Nakatani could have created this rival love interest who treated Yuu like shit and was a possessive asshole and just stopped there. But instead, we got Sayaka, who ends up being one of the best and most well-developed characters. And in the many many times where I was calling Yuu and Touko “you dumb bitch,” Sayaka was there, the smartest and most honest of the three by far, which was refreshing. Her backstory is utterly heartbreaking, her love for Touko touching as hell, and her rise from the ashes, so to speak, is inspiring. Fuck that senpai. Sayaka isn’t even that mean to Yuu, on top of it all. I mean, she can be kind of snippy. And understandably so. But they actually end up surprisingly getting along? I am shook to my core. Sayaka’s growth is one of the greatest sights to behold in this series. Her friendship with Touko isn’t sidelined in favor of Touko’s relationship with Yuu--far from it. Sayaka provides her own unique support and sparks Touko’s development in a way that Yuu never could. Their friendship is crucial. By the time Sayaka FINALLY confesses, I was so god damn proud of her and her bravery, I swear I could have cried. While Yuu was busy being in practiced denial for 40 chapters, Sayaka was OUT THERE learning to be completely up front and honest with herself and others about her feelings. (Not to knock on Yuu, because she has her own arc to go through to get there.) That whole fucking scene where they’re both just sobbing about shit afterwards Got Me.

Ugh. It’s been an emotional few days. I’m really glad I decided to start watching that first episode, because this entire series has been a series of pleasant surprises. This is a good anime, ya’ll. It’s a good character study. It’s a good love story. It’s a good gay love story. It’s all of those things. You could literally talk forever about all the nuances of this story and characters and all the things that make it as good as it is. This long ass post just brushes the surface. For now, I’m anxiously (ANXIOUSLY) awaiting chapter 40. If you know, you know.

#bloom into you #yagate kimi ni naru #yagakimi #spoilers #im fucking screaming over this whole series and how it destroyed my emotions

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aishiteru-kenshin · 2 years

Audio

Legend of Casshan | Michiru Ōshima | Love Theme

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monochrome-typewriter · 6 years

Text

This has been in the works for a long time, and I think I’m finally satisfied. Here’s my current top 50 favorite anime ost tracks. The numbers could probably be moved around a bit, but this is good enough for now. My only rules were the track had to actually play in an anime, and it couldn’t be the primary op or ed. I also kept it to one track per anime for simplicity (not counting alternate adaptations and such).

Because I can’t number things backwards on here, I’m gonna list it as a count-up instead of a countdown. So number 1 is my least favorite on the list, and number 50 is my most favorite.

the legend Kajiura Yuki (Fate/Zero)

Unmei no Yoru -UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS- Kawai Kenji (Fate/stay night UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS)

M08b Kajiura Yuki (Gekijouban Kara no Kyoukai "Fukan Fuukei")

Requiem Hiiragi Nao (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia)

Katyusha Matvej Isaakovich Blanter (GIRLS und PANZER)

fuuin Kajiura Yuki (Elemental Gelade)

only i am missing Kajiura Yuki (Boku dake ga Inai Machi)

Kyoukan Soshite Wakare Katou Tatsuya (Mirai Nikki)

Main Theme Ooshima Michiru (Nabari no Ou)

Plus Ultra Hayashi Yuuki (Boku no Hero Academia)

ship of fools Kajiura Yuki (Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)

DéJà VU DAVID ROGERS (Initial D)

Unmei to Koigokoro Wada Kaoru (Inuyasha)

happiness of marionette dai (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)

Unmei no Yoru Kawai Kenji (Fate/stay night)

The World of Midnight Minako “mooki” Obata (BLACK LAGOON)

Monochrome ~ version de l'apprivoiser Kousaki Satoru (STAR DRIVER Kagayaki no Takuto)

Kyrie II Hirano Yoshihisa (Death Note)

Wondering Sakaue Masumi (Haibane Renmei)

My Song Maeda Jun (Angel Beats)

Kyuuketsuki Dobashi Akio (Dance In The Vampire Bund)

The Reluctant Heroes Sawano Hiroyuki (Attack on Titan)

IiMuRoYa-$.feat 3rd-Mov.:HEiW@→KiZUN@ Sawano Hiroyuki (Blue Exorcist)

Villkiss ~Kakusei~ Shikata Akiko (Cross Ange)

It’s only the fairy tale Kajiura Yuki (MY-HiME)

Le chant de Roma (For the Oppressed) Iwasaki Taku (Akame ga Kill!)

Fellow Citizens Ike Yoshihiro (Ergo Proxy)

a stray child Kajiura Yuki (.hack//SIGN)

Dragon Force Takanashi Yasuharu (FAIRY TAIL)

Main Theme Kawai Kenji (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)

Carrying You (Chorus Version) Hisaishi Joe (Laputa: Castle in the Sky)

Noi! Kajiura Yuki (Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica The Movie: Rebellion)

Hoshi ga Kanaderu Monogatari Kajiura Yuki (My-Otome)

Sound Life ~LEM Akima Tsuneo (Trigun)

lit(var) ushio kensuke (Koe no Katachi)

Ake ni Somaru Takanashi Yasuharu (Jigoku Shoujo)

In Regards to Love ~Agape~ Umebayashi Tarou (YURI!!! on ICE)

Sho’s Song (Instrumental Version) Cécile Corbel (Karigurashi no Arrietty)

Parade Hirasawa Susumu (Paprika)

Sis puella magica! Kajiura Yuki (Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica)

Blumenkranz Sawano Hiroyuki (KILL la KILL)

Senya Takanashi Yasuharu (Naruto Shippuuden)

Hanezeve Caradhina Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss)

hanna Kanno Youko (Zankyou no Terror)

Country Road (Violin Version) Nomi Yuuji (Mimi wa Sumaseba)

Sparkle (Movie Version) RADWIMPS (Your Name.)

The Girl’s Fantasy Togoshi Magome (CLANNAD)

Continued Story Kuroishi Hitomi (CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2)

Brat’ja Ooshima Michiru (FullMetal Alchemist)

Forces Hirasawa Susumu (BERSERK) [shout out to Forces II for also being awesome]

As a bonus, I’ll throw in my favorite character themes (as in their theme tracks, not character songs) since a good chunk of them are on my favorites list, while others had to be left off due to the “one per anime” rule.

Kyoukan Soshite Wakare Katou - Uryuu Minene’s Theme

ship of fools - Wei Fong Reed’s Theme

Dante - Dante’s Theme (FMA ‘03)

happiness of marionette - Eva Beatrice’s Theme

Natsu’s Theme - Natsu Dragneel’s Theme

L’s Theme - (Death Note)

Decretum - Miki Sayaka’s Theme

Nagisa - Furukawa Nagisa’s Theme

Sho’s Song/Arrietty’s Song - Sho/Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty)*

Blumenkranz - Kiryuuin Ragyo’s Theme

Senya - Uchiha Itachi’s Theme

Gats - Guts’ Theme (BERSERK)

*(I couldn’t pick one over the other. They tie)

#about me #pointless but it was fun to put together

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