#my favorite manga panel is finally here
Text
Full panel under the cut
#THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PANELS#he's always grumpy or shocked or done with life#but here he's so... soft#because he's talking to Billy#because he finally can see Billy acting as his true self#I JUST- LOVE HIM SO MUCH#uu tella#undead unluck#uu spoilers#bust#100th loop#Manga chapter 91
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #6 rambling and screaming crying throwing up about a single page
so right off the bat, i'm adding these panels to the Ms. Hall is Shush conspiracy board - the first suspect in mind for who could train Zach would be Principal Stone, but Ms. Hall is conveniently placed in the "teacher's pet" panel HMM
Damian's history with Zsasz is mentioned again! any further reference to Streets of Gotham ends here once Damian and Zsasz face off, but i'm not complaining when Damian gets to kick his ass again LOL
AAH SUCH A COOL PANEL!! i rambled enough about Cizmesija's impact shots last time, but this is just. SO COOL... DAMIAN'S POSE, the light streak from the eyes, the jittery effect at the point of impact from Zsasz's front to his back - LIKE DAMN, YOU KNOW THIS KID HIT HIM HARD
ok i was gonna shut up about the impact shots but to accompany the Robin panel, THIS SICK BATMAN PANEL!! THE SPEED LINES ALONG HIS WHOLE ARM, the hilarious waves of that hit going through Zsasz's face asdfg, the cowl and cape silhouette in the back - and the KRAK SFX!! it's got a bit of that gritty splatter effect Cizmesija uses so either another smooth choice by letterer Steve Wands or extra kudos to Cizmesija!!
i thought the action would be my favorite aspect of this issue, but it was THE EXPRESSIONS. from Damian's frustration here (his glare and his seriously gritted teeth) to the page that brought me to my knees lol
a breakdown of my breakdown for this page:
DAMIAN'S WIDE EYED EXPRESSION AT BRUCE'S COMPLIMENT, THE SHINE IN HIS EYES!! what gets me about Bruce’s praise is how specific it is, especially pointing out Damian’s storytelling 😭 Bruce already knows Damian’s technical art skills are amazing!! storytelling through comics is a whole different skill and Bruce recognized that!! 😭 no wonder Damian is so touched, Bruce is paying attention 😭
HE LOOKS SO OVERWHELMED BY THE VALIDATION FROM HIS FATHER - THE TENTATIVE SMILE!! BEFORE HE BREAKS OUT INTO A FULL GRIN!! 😭
HOW HE BURSTS ABOUT HIS PROCESS AND THEN THE LIL ASIDE OF “I love those…” HE'S SO CAUGHT UP IN HIS JOY PLEASE I’M COUGHING UP BLOOD THAT'S SO CUTE 😭 happy Damian is my weakness i mean LOOK AT HIM OH MY GOD the wide smile his lil fist and the pointing, he cannot contain himself!! 😭
his art is so fun, i'm glad we get to see more of this!! the shadow of Bruce and Damian over the pages is a neat touch too! Damian expanding from realistic renders to this manga style on top of these amazing comic layouts…Bruce is right his growth is crazy 😭
to add on to Damian's progress from Bruce's eyes - Detective Comics (2016) #1003 was the last time Bruce acknowledged Damian's art!
the return of Flatline!! for this last bit, i'll be referencing Lazarus Planet: The Next Evolution (2023) since that's Nika's last notable appearance!
Nika calling Damian out on not contacting her asdfg she mentions something similar before, and i could only imagine it's been months since then considering that issue came out a whole year ago 😭
besides Nika meeting Bruce, the most important thing that needs to be addressed is if Damian's aware that she resurrected Ra's and finally, what they could have discussed??
ending note, upgrade from earbuds in Batman and Robin (2011) to headphones haha wired earphones only!!
#rambling#i woke up the next day wondering if i was overreacting about that one page from a sleep deprived haze#i looked at it again and wailed bro CIZMESIJA'S EXPRESSIONS FOR EACH DAMIAN IN THAT PAGE MAKES ME INSANE#regarding Nika the 'oh SO not the end' at the end of that Lazarus Planet story had me on the edge of my seat forever LOL#like what do you mean she's now capable of resurrecting people from literal ashes and Ra's wants to work with her or smth#and then we never learn more asdfgh bring her to Alfred's grave hello??#if anyone's curious about Nika i'd recc that Lazarus Planet issue! it's nice to hear a bit more of her voice! and how she likes kpop LOL
113 notes
·
View notes
Text
I’ve got a big mess of thoughts so here we go, analysis time!
First of all may I just say I love the siblings vibes in this entire update?? Wild is so happy Twilight is alive, his little brother energy is positively off the CHARTS here, and their bickering (while Legend looks on awkwardly) is hilarious. Peak sibling behavior.
Moving on!
I find it interesting Legend is grabbing his own scar here (you can just baaaarely see it) after it shows Twilight’s arm injuries. “I would have been done for,” huh? What do you mean by that Legend? How did you get that scar..?
The font change here has me cackling, Wild does NOT believe him a bit. It’s so funny.
“Uh-huh,
Friend”
Another thing to mention though, I’ve seen a lot of people agreeing with Wild on the whole “there’s no way she was just a friend” thing, but Twilight’s relationship with Midna is complicated y’all. It’s not just a broken romance. Twilight is probably hesitant to put a label on it, and Wild is pushing him a bit. Plus he was just thinking of Midna the night before... no wonder he’s cranky.
(I’ll also remind you that lu sticks very much with game canon and NOT manga, so don’t expect anything in the tp manga to be true in the comic y’know)
Warriors, putting on a happy face as he gears himself up to stop what he thinks is yet another fight: is somebody being cranky-wanky
(Also looking pretty fine there Wars 👀)
Makes me wonder what everybody else is doing... arguing? XD (also the little elbow cuff! They’re brothers your honor (Legend does not appreciate this))
This is one of my new favorite panels. Warriors being so stern and still annoyed at the sword thing (give it a rest buddy...) in comparison to Legend slapping his knee and making a truly ridiculous face as he laughs at Wild’s joke, it’s fantastic. I love it.
(Sorry this is basically about Warriors now)
I mentioned this in some tags, but I really like how Warriors calls Ilia by name. He doesn’t just say “your family” or “your girl”, he calls her Ilia, and I think that’s really sweet. It shows he’s been paying attention. (Also Legend’s little nod <3)
THEY’RE SO HAPPY TO HEAR HIM LAUGH look at them smile ooogghgh (And Twilight talking about Ilia! He talks about her a lot like how Time talks about Malon :)
And finally....
He’s laughing even though it hurts. The others, (Warriors especially) cheered him up, even after Twilight admitted himself he was grumpy, and I love that. He’s laughing even though it hurts. Man.
#ok I’m good#linkeduniverse#linked universe#linked universe analysis#lu analysis#lu warriors#lu twilight#lu Wild#lu legend#rambles from the floor#update spoilers#long post#forgot the readmore whoops
347 notes
·
View notes
Text
The best Sherlock Holmes adaptation (that people hardly know)
The stories and adventures of Sherlock Holmes is probably one of the most well-known, most referenced, and most recognizable series out there, as well as one with an insane number of adaptations. Hell, Sherlock Holmes even holds the world record of being the literary character with the most screen adaptations.
This has led to many, many people making ranked lists of their favorite adaptations, and I've looked at a lot of them to see if my favorite one appears. It doesn't. Not here, here, here, here, here, here, or here.
On the Wikipedia page for Sherlock Holmes adaptations, it is listed...in the external links section, at the very bottom of the webpage; it's only visible by expanding the "screen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes" panel
On here, under the three names it's regularly tagged as, there are a collective 13.9k followers (the breakdown is 5.2-1.9-6.8). In comparison, the "bbc sherlock" tag has 47k followers, "sherlock" has 644k, and "john watson" has 13k followers. Pretty underrated, if you ask me.
And so, you're probably wondering what this adaptation is, and why I think it's the best. Wonder no further!
The best Sherlock Holmes adaptation (at least, to me) that is criminally underrated is called Yuukoku no Moriarty, or Moriarty the Patriot. (and before you ask, yes, it's a manga! with its own anime!)
Now, because this post is already long enough, and because there is going to be A LOT OF BIG SPOILER WARNINGS, I'll be defending my claim under the read-more. But with that out of the way, let me begin...
Reason #1: Wait, Moriarty??
Moriarty is well-known to be the arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. He's the big baddie of the original series. So why in the world is this adaptation named after the villain?
Because the plot is focused around Moriarty. As far as I am aware, this could be the ONLY adaptation so far that has done this (please correct me if I'm wrong! I'd love to find more). Furthermore, the "James Moriarty" in question is actually three brothers: Albert, Louis, and William (the "main" Moriarty), and the overarching plot follows their schemes as "the Lord of Crime" to... change 19th century England for the better?
Reason #2: The Premise is INTERESTING as FUCK
Yeah, you heard me! The big baddie in this adaptation is trying to do what they deem as "good"! It's called Moriarty the Patriot because William, Louis, and Albert are trying to make England a better country in their own ways; they view the class system of 19th century England to be, quite frankly, shit, and want to lessen the abuse and dehumanization of the lower class caused by the nobles.
And, well, they do this by killing corrupt nobles. Or, well, more accurately, they help people commit crimes to kill the nobles, and stage it to look like an accident or make it extremely difficult to solve. It's actually really fun and cathartic to watch imo, especially in the early episodes of the anime and the early chapters of the manga. I'll come back to the plot later, but for now, I think it's time to get back to the characters.
Reason #3: The Gang's all Here!
The three Jame Moriarty brothers aren't the only characters: you also have the baker street gang (Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Ms Hudson), the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft, Sebastian Moran from the original series, Lestrade, Irene Adler, Herder (another character from the original series), and interestingly enough, Billy the Kid (in the manga). And these characters aren't just one-dimensional name-drops, but characters with so much personality, backstory, and motives. Take, for example, Sebastian Moran: he's a sniper who works for the Lord of Crime, yeah, but it's because he has a long-earned loyalty to William; both of them have a keepsake from the other, and after William's supposed death during this adaptation's version of "The Final Problem", it's the keepsake he gave to William that saves him from a dark path (there's much more to this story in particular, but you'll have to find out more yourself if you're interested).
Also, there's Moneypenny in the manga. But why the hell is she here?
Reason #4: His name is James. James Bond (and he's trans!)
NAME ONE OTHER FUCKING SHERLOCK HOLMES ADAPTATION THAT HAS JAMES BOND, I'LL WAIT. YOU CANNOT.
But yes, James fucking Bond is in Moriarty the Patriot, and is one of the best characters for many reasons. One of them? We actually meet him as a woman. And who is that woman, you might ask?
Irene Adler.
(note: the version I read calls him James Bond, but from what I've heard, his name is actually spelled "James Bonde" to avoid copywrite issues. However, for this post, I'll use "Bond")
It's...incredible. The entire arc introducing Irene Adler and her arc into becoming James Bond is one of my favorite arcs in Moriarty the Patriot. It takes the original "A Scandal in Bohemia" and sprints with it.
Like, the entire Bohemian-king-wanting-that-photograph with Sherlock and Watson is just a ploy, so Irene can be under the protection of public-hero Sherlock by tricking him into thinking he blew up her house with his smoke-bomb trick. Because she stole ENGLISH GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS SO CLASSIFIED, THE GOVERNMENT WANTS HER DEAD.
It's just the way the series builds off the original works by Doyle in a way that not only stays true to the original, but is also its own thing. Because yeah, we don't see Irene Adler again after her "scandal" is solved; and that's because she fakes her death as Irene, and starts working under the Moriarty brothers as James Bond, now a man.
Additionally, Moriarty the Patriot handles Bond being trans in an amazing way. Him being trans is no joke! The Moriarty group accept him as a man the moment he tells them (except for Sebastian Moran, who's confused about it at first before he warms up to it; in all actuality, it's his confusion and reluctance that's joked about, not Bond's manhood, which is a refreshing thing to see as a queer person myself). Even when reuniting with Sherlock, John Watson, and Ms Hudson, the three are respectful and understanding.
Oh my god wait a minute I just realized I haven't even mentioned Sherlock yet-
Reason #5: Benedict Cumberbatch WHO
Sherlock Holmes in this adaptation is the best Sherlock, hands down. Why? Because he's fun, goddammit!
So many Sherlock adaptations see the genius personality of Sherlock Holmes and see nothing else. They make him cold, uncaring, calculative. A lot of Sherlocks would shoot a man dead for a lead on a case.
But not this Sherlock. Is this the face of a man who's cold and uncaring?
HELL FUCKING NO! And he's literally presented with the opportunity to shoot a man for a lead on a case, and he turns it down! Because he's good!
Yeah, he's prideful. Yeah, he can be a prick. He treats Scotland Yard like a joke. But he's also silly. He's kind to the people he cares about. He wants to help people. He's hilarious with Ms Hudson and Mycroft, and his interactions with William Moriarty is one of the best things to read about in this adaptation, because their cat-and-mouse game matters so, so much in this story.
Reason #6: Cat and mouse; puppet and puppeteer; friend and...friend?
Sherlock has a very interesting role in Moriarty the Patriot as a whole. Sure, he's the detective. But he's so much more.
When he's introduced (in episode 6 of the anime, mind you!) to the story, the overarching plan of William and his brothers shift to include him: William wants him to be the hero of the play they're setting for the country, because in the end, William plans to be defeated as a common enemy of the people.
And so, the game begins. The Lord of Crime starts setting up crimes for Sherlock to solve, so he gains publicity. So he's recognized as the hero. He's the only man smart enough to solve the trail of breadcrumbs Moriarty leaves, after all.
Sherlock starts as just a puppet in the plan of things. Led along on strings from crime-to-crime, slowly piecing things together.
And Sherlock hates it.
But...Sherlock and William meet outside of being a simple detective and criminal. They meet on a ship, and for the first time, William finds his mind not drafting up plans or thinking as the Lord of Crime the first time they speak to each other. And for the first time, Sherlock finds someone with a mind equal to his own. They meet again, on a train, and solve a murder together (one William was NOT behind). And behind this game of cat-and-mouse, behind the puppet and puppeteer, something blooms.
When Sherlock learns that yes, the William James Moriarty he's grown to known is indeed the Lord of Crime, he's not mad. He's...glad.
(note: Sherlock calls William Moriarty "Liam", beginning with their meet on the train; he's the only character in the series who does this. Not even the other Moriarty brothers call their brother "Liam")
He's glad it was William; it couldn't have been anyone else, in his opinion. It wouldn't have been worth it otherwise.
It all comes to head in this series' version of "The Final Problem", where Sherlock finally confronts Moriarty, once and for all. It's where William plans to be defeated by his nemesis, the hero. Because he's the self-proclaimed villain.
"Catch me if you can, Mr Holmes", is what he challenged to Sherlock on the train, after he joked about William being the Lord of Crime.
And Sherlock catches him, in the end. But not as a detective. He catches him, as a companion, after William jumps to his death into the river Thames to set his defeat to Sherlock in stone.
Reason #7: What Comes After
The anime ends after "The Final Problem", but the manga continues. And this is where I really, really think this adaptation shines its brightest, with the aftermath of everything the series has been building to.
The main reason Moriarty chooses his death is because of the bad things he's done his entire life. He never enjoyed killing people, but felt he had to, and felt his death was the proper "punishment" for it. But through Sherlock, he finds that that isn't the answer.
It's obvious that Sherlock would live through the fall into the Thames. But what about William? In most adaptations, he dies. In the original, he died.
But in this? They both live. They both survive.
Some big ideas floating around before "The Final Problem" involved revenge. An eye for an eye, if you will. Judgement, and delivering it.
But afterwards? It's atonement. It's forgiveness, and the lack of it. It's growth, and redemption.
They're saved and taken to America to recover and start new lives. William Moriarty finds ways to atone for his actions without choosing death. Sherlock does too, for his own crimes. They decide, together, to begin anew, find new purposes.
and it's beautiful.
When they return to England, three years after their disappearances, their growth is obvious and amazing to see; the other members of the Moriarty gang have also chosen their own paths of redemption, and seeing it all come together is something I'll always enjoy rereading over and over. And the redemption and reunion with England is just the end of part 1 of the story. There's more to be made with this series.
Reason #8: Made With Love
It's so, so obvious that Moriarty the Patriot was made with love for the original series. The way details of the original stories are kept and built off of to work flawlessly as it's own story is something I will be continously impressed by. There was so much thought, heart, and soul put into this adaptation, and you can tell it by reading and watching it. There are so, so much more I could go into—like the music in the anime, deeper dives into the arcs of the main cast, how well the relationships between characters are formed and established—but I think it'd be better for you to just find out all of these things by yourself.
So please, if you've gotten this far, give Moriarty the Patriot a try. Let it prove to you how good it is. Let it show you that it really is the best Sherlock Holmes adaptation out there.
129 notes
·
View notes
Text
BnHA Volume 35 - A Brief Reaction Journey
hello! so as mentioned in my last post, I’ve started catching up with the BnHA manga again FINALLY after almost two years, and have made it through a fair number of chapters so far! and since I’m not sure how long it will take me to actually post the corresponding liveblogs, I figured I’d make a couple of posts in the meantime to sort of preview my reaction journey thus far with some good old-fashioned OUT-OF-CONTEXT BULLET POINTS taken from my ramblings. originally I was going to make a single post for all 25 chapters I’ve read so far (up to 367), but I quickly realized that was waaaaay too ambitious lol. so for now it’s just this one, and I’ll put up the vol. 36 post probably tomorrow afternoon.
spoiler warning: just fyi, this post will obviously feature spoilers for chapters 342-350*, BUT it will also include some stray spoilers from chapters 362 and 403 as well, so just a heads up for that if you aren’t fully caught up!
*chapters 340 and 341 are not included because I've already posted full reaction posts for each one here and here, respectively.
Chapter 342
Endeavor being taller than Jeanist just feels so WRONG to me regardless of whether or not it is factually accurate. does this mean All Might is also taller than Jeanist?? I don’t want to live in a world where Best Jeanist has secretly been a perfectly normal sized person this entire time. someone please lie to me and tell me that he is tall
many thanks to Kacchan for inserting this small bit of levity into this scene which was otherwise well on its way to sending me into a SPIRAL OF FEELINGS, and in fact still is whenever I look at that panel of Deku with Eri and Kouta, and also that GODDAMN HUG WHERE HE AND INKO ARE BOTH CLEARLY AND PAINFULLY AWARE THAT THEY MIGHT NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, AND IN THAT MOMENT THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO HOLD THE OTHER AS TIGHTLY AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE, AND SHE’S PRAYING TO WHATEVER DEITY IS OUT THERE THAT HE’LL COME BACK SAFE AND WHOLE, AND HE’S PRAYING THAT HIS MOM WILL BE ALL RIGHT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T COME BACK, AND NOT ALLOWING HIMSELF TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH HE ALREADY MISSES HER, BECAUSE HE CAN’T THINK LIKE THAT ANY MORE, BECAUSE THIS BOY IS FULLY GROWN NOW BECAUSE HE HAD TO BE, BECAUSE HE HAD NO CHOICE, AND I’M BOTH SO PROUD AND SO FUCKING SAD ABOUT IT AND I JUST NEED A MINUTE HERE ACTUALLY, OKAY!! OR FIVE MINUTES!!
LMAO WHAT AN AUSPICIOUS AND NOT-AT-ALL OMINOUSLY FOREBODING NAME. “hmmm what should we name our new class 1-A fortress?” “hmm well I was thinking maybe Troy, after the legendary city with the famously impenetrable walls, which to the best of my knowledge were never breached, or at least that’s what I assume since I never finished reading The Iliad! :) :) :) ...wait, why are you all looking at me like that. they didn’t actually breach them, right? guys? what happened to Troy? GUYS?”
I’m actually so proud of Deku because he’s come such a long way from the days when the mere CONCEPT of even TALKING to a girl was enough to floor him lol. but also I’m legit cracking up at he way he tried to segue into random small talk in the middle of the goddamn apocalypse. gotta be smooth about it!! casual!! you can tell how casual they are because both of them are suddenly struck by the inexplicable urge to fuss with their hair!!
Horikoshi really said “FUCK YOUR SQUADS!! ...but if we had a Todosquad this is who would be in it I guess”
my god. between this and the OchaDeku conversation the villains truly do not stand a chance do they? and they don’t even know how screwed they are yet. REDEMPTION IS COMING!! IT’S KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, TRICK OR TREAT, Y’ALL READY FOR THIS
Chapter 343
so we’re opening with everyone’s favorite Guy With An Old Wad Of Chewing Gum For A Face, AFO!
did this son of a bitch kill Nao’s dad and steal his sexy lie-detector quirk??
sob AFO is all “can I have your son’s cell phone number please” and they’re all “SURE”
bonsoir little Yuuga
do. ...do you not actually know. was this meeting not prearranged. “why are you here Aoyama?” “why are you here, Deku?” truly, why are any of us here??
I’m sitting here trying to play the “guess which parts of this dialogue are real vs fake” game and coming up completely stumped on every single sentence
so Yuuga’s all “can you believe that even though the city of Musutafu is basically down to just U.A., a Dollar Tree, a couple of crumbling park benches, and one very determined Starbucks, we somehow still have functioning courts and lawyers?” I actually can’t believe that at all tbh. you’re telling me “it’s the fucking apocalypse” is still not a good enough excuse to get out of jury duty
damn, Aoyama out here with the trash talk and the ON YOUR LEFT?!
MONOMA??!?!?!?!
Chapter 344
“Eraser’s” plan, indeed. you dare say that right to Kaminari’s face
SHINSOU!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?
HEYA YOURSELF YOU HANDSOME KNAVE!! LOOK AT YOU!! fucking loving the costume my dude! pretty please tell us your hero name to go along with it. is it MindCraft. I think your hero name should be MindCraft. don’t look at me like that Shinsou we need more punny hero names in the world
“yes well you see, I couldn’t do it, so I learned how to do it.” great story Shinsou
the way he’s rubbing the back of his neck there. are we gonna get some real Monoma character development at long last. feels like it’s long overdue and I am thrilled. he’s such a great character and I feel like we’ve only barely scratched the surface of who he actually is as a person and as a hero
THE UNEXPECTED VLAD KING MENTORSHIP WITH THE ARM AROUND THE SHOULDERS?? he really needed that support. outwardly he’s always made a big show of wanting his turn in the spotlight and begrudging class A for stealing the scene at every turn. but how much of that is really just an act. some of it? most of it? maybe even close to all of it? because right now he suddenly seems so small and young here and really wishing he wasn’t in this unenviable position of being one of the many World’s Last Hopes who are all way too fucking young
did Mirko’s giant robot hand just grow into an EVEN GIANTER giant robot hand??
long beautiful flowing mermaid hair. sorry what was I saying I kind of spaced out there for a sec
YES, AFO, ALL OF THIS TO SPLIT YOU UP YOU STUPID MUSH HEAD. MAYBE IF YOU EVER ACTUALLY FINISHED A MANGA IN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE YOU’D KNOW HOW A FINAL BATTLE IS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSTRUCTED. YOU MOLDY AVOCADO
Chapter 345
“no you don’t understand, we have so many sixteen-year-olds whose coattails we’re all hanging onto. we have sixteen-year-olds who can take over people’s minds. sixteen-year-olds who can create portals to warp you halfway around the world in an instant. and let’s not forget the sixteen-year-olds who can act their damn asses off. we have the best sixteen-year-olds in the world. our sixteen-year-olds are so much better than yours you fucking losers”
Deku I swear. if I’m about to discover that the reason you weren’t there to stop Kacchan from being literally, actually, canonically murdered is because your distracted ass got yoinked into the void by some no-name villain chucklefuck, I’m gonna...
don’t listen to him Aoyama you were magnificent. you were my favorite in all of the stage plays
BUT IS PHASE TWO SUPPOSED TO INVOLVE DEKU IN ANY WAY THOUGH??? HELLO??? IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME??? I’M FROM THE FUTURE AND THIS IS URGENT, PLEASE
“I fucked up Ochako, I fucked up so bad” omfg Deku
she doesn’t want to hurt you Deku she just wants to shower you in love. in her own special way. by stabbing you a lot
anyway have fun on this... tropical island??? I guess?? Kacchan will just have to hold down the fort in the meantime. which I’m sure will go absolutely fine
Chapter 346
“th-th-this is really bad, right?” yes Tamaki, yes it is. you’re stuck here on the Super Mega Ultra Radical Gnarly Cracked-Out Wonder Stage with Shigaraki Fucking Tomura and at least two of you are about to die and I’M NOT OKAY
so now we’re also getting this hilarious insight into the inner workings of the Mega Ultra Tremendous Stupendous Incredible Sky Coffin and it is truly, truly phenomenal
Horikoshi stop taking my sarcastic jibes and owning them completely challenge!! all the best sixteen-year-olds. all the finest greatest Hyper Ultra Sparkle Glimmer Wonder Battle Stages
this is genuinely one of the boldest lampshading efforts I have ever seen in fiction you guys
“yes, we acknowledge that this does indeed seem impossible to have pulled off, BUT have you considered that, fucking quirks though???? AND THAT THEY ARE, AS THE KIDS SAY, WILD??”
Chapter 347
lmao they’re shouting at Monoma accusingly and he’s all “I’M HAVEN’T BLINKED AT ALL YOU GUYS I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU”
don’t mind him, he’s just out here growing out his hideously malformed hands and fingers endlessly from every part of his body, normally, as one does. nothing quirk-related about it. anyone could do this if they simply exercise and maintain a balanced diet. this 100% is not a quirk y’all it’s just essential oils
SUDDEN MONOMA FEELS DELIVERED TO MY DOORSTEP???
awwww. the way he’s almost panicked, frantically wondering if he somehow fucked the quirk up and desperate for Aizawa to believe him that he’s trying his best. and Aizawa quick to reassure him. this kid is so desperate for approval. and unapologetically careening his way onto my top ten character list, welcome dear boy
so that’s that. see you in two years Deku. his last words spoken out loud to Kacchan were, and I quote, “wha --”
Aizawa is so hopelessly impossibly hot at all times and I don’t know how the universe can handle his existence. he’s even doing it without activating his quirk now. no ponytails or anything. just an eyepatch and a dream
don’t mind me, I’m just out here doing literal algebra to figure out how long it would take Deku to get back here if he traveled at the same speed as All Might did in chapter 90 (30 seconds per 5km, apparently). about 20 minutes, give or take. well shit. hopefully he’s a little faster than Kamino-era All Might was, especially since he can fly and has that Fa Jin shit too. or maybe Rody can fly him lmao. or S&S’s hot fighter pilot boyfriend
“what’d Sensei say, Deku?” “he said no, looks like I gotta uber. can I borrow your credit card, I promise I will venmo you back”
unfortunately for Deku he does not realize he’s accidentally gotten himself caught up in what will undoubtedly end up being the most erotic and bisexual of the various final battles
can’t believe Deku has like 6 love interests and out of all of them, Toga is the first one who actually asks him out. good for you girl. gotta shoot your shot
Chapter 348
FELLAS IS IT GAY TO BREAK OUT INTO TERRIFIED BEN DAY DOTS BECAUSE A GIRL EXPRESSED HER CARNAL INTEREST IN YOU????
anyway so since Deku apparently doesn’t understand how romance works either, he’s trying his best to give an actual response by recontextualizing all of this in terms of the one big thing he does understand: All Might
you’re telling me you never wanted to stab All Might to death and then turn into him?? wow I just can’t believe it
but also... okay lol. so I was thinking about this sarcastically, but was then struck by the very unironic thought that there sorta kinda is someone whom Deku does, both consciously and subconsciously, try to be like, and who he also kinda does apparently share the same heart and mind as. at least if chapter 403 is anything to go by lol. soooooooo. huh
god damn it Toga. absolutely none of what you’ve said or done here has been even the SLIGHTEST BIT reasonable. you can’t just tell someone you want to stab them and be their girlfriend. and if and when they try to let you down easy by responding with the MOST THOUGHTFUL AND GENTLE REJECTION ANYONE COULD EVER POSSIBLY MAKE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, because they’re actually the WORLD’S NICEST MAN, you can’t just respond by doing whatever it is you’re presumably about to do, which I’m guessing is gonna be really violent and unhinged
so Ochako is all “ever since we fought last time I’ve been thinking about you a lot!” and Toga is all “are you serious, YOU broke up with ME bitch” and now she’s standing behind her with a knife
“she’s the least predictable of our opponents” YEAH NO KIDDING LOL
“everyone knows that Toga is actually Ochako’s villain, like ffs Deku you haven’t even interacted with her since the Provisional Exam arc.” Deku they’re 100% right and you’re looking more and more the fool with each passing second
well all right lol. twenty minutes to get back to Musutafu. let’s just hope he doesn’t run into any traffic on the way
Chapter 349
what the fuck is OFA Dos’s quirk exactly and are we ever gonna get to it before I literally die of old age. at this point there’s gotta be a reason why he’s not using it, right?? so what’s the deal there? does he still somehow not know how? is it too dangerous? and I really need to know why II has the Bakugou gauntlets. tell me this isn’t one of the things we’re still waiting on answers for two years down the line because I swear to god I will cry
anyway so Deku’s saying he’s doing his best but he’s still “too slow”. WELL THEN MAYBE IT’S THAT TIME?? DEKU?? WHAT DO YOU SAY
NO FUCKING WAY LOL, CAN IT REALLY BE THAT EASY??!
OH WHAT THE FUCK, FUCK YOU NOT!CCHAN LOL YOU’RE JUST HERE TO COCKBLOCK HIM?
fuck. so has he used it since then?? is he gonna use it finally now that Kacchan’s alive and well again?? oh my god I need to shut up and stop asking questions and just keep reading. fuck
wow so Dabi’s literally just burning the All Might statue while he stalls for time trying to figure out how to beat his OP little brother who was literally engineered to be better than him sob. out of all the villains he’s probably the most screwed right now isn’t he
starting to get an inkling Dabi’s not happy that he doesn’t actually get to fight Endeavor. getting some subtle hints here and there that he might actually be upset about that
apparently wanting to fight Dabi and stop him from helping to destroy the world makes Shouto a pawn. wake up Shouto. stop being such a sheep, Shouto. can’t you see that saving the world is exactly what Endeavor wants you to do???!
this is just going to be seventeen chapters of Dabi talking about nonsense while they both stand around progressively getting hotter both literally and metaphorically isn’t it
Chapter 350
OH SNAP. [SLAMS HAND ON TABLE] HERE WE GO. IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME
well, well, well. to the surprise of absolutely no one. the real one who was responsible for everything this whole time
but I just have to pause real quick before we continue. because it absolutely cannot be a coincidence that AFO just happened to be there once again. just waiting in the shadows to magically swoop in the minute disaster strikes. and so, just like with baby Tenko, this immediately makes me suspect that Touya burning himself alive was not in fact a training accident at all. which is something I did not expect, and which, just. fuck, fuck, FUCK AFO. fuck this guy.
looks like the children's ward of a hospital?? wait, what??
how the fuck is he still so adorable. when exactly did the transition take place between adorable and sexily unhinged. right now Todoroki Touya still looks to be the absolute most adorable child on the planet
I miscalculated. I was not emotionally prepared to handle this chapter right now. I should not have clicked
really love to see that Touya didn’t just cave right away. wouldn’t have felt right, ngl. just doesn’t fit in with what we know about his character
oh shit wait we’re cutting back to Dabi talking to Shouto and he says he did come back home??
fucking why. goddammit what the hell. why is this the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever read. LOVE HIM!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! just love him, please. literally all he has ever wanted!!
JESUS. I HATE THIS. I am so upset right now. out of all of the horrific and traumatic and terrible, awful things that have happened to BnHA characters in their flashbacks, the thing that hits me the most out of all of them is this one image of a sixteen-year-old boy standing before an altar, with his family very much alive and standing RIGHT FUCKING THERE IN THE NEXT ROOM, and yet somehow feeling more alone than he’s ever been. so alone he literally gives up all hope in this one moment. my god I feel all of it and it’s so fucking devastating I keep having to stop typing so I don’t completely break down sobbing
well damn. after a rush of 15 and 13-page chapters, which were all admittedly appreciated by me in my race to catch up to Light Fades to Rain before this coming Friday, Horikoshi finishes up the volume with one hell of a 17 page finale. once again the Tododrama delivers. this was fucking phenomenal
#bnha#boku no hero academia#bnha vol. 35#way too many characters to tag so I am not gonna bother!#bnha spoilers#mha spoilers#bnha manga spoilers#makeste reads bnha#lotta 'calm before the storm' chapters in this one#also I was kinda disappointed by the cover of this volume ngl#but at least monoma and shinsou got their little moment on the back#vol. 36 post should be up tomorrow#vol. 37 post to follow once I finish the rest of those chapters#and then I'll start posting the actual recaps again probably in a couple of weeks or so#once I finish catching up
74 notes
·
View notes
Note
falin for the ask meme? :3c
Falin!
First impression
oh. OH. So this is what people mean when they say a character is "haunting the narrative".
Impression now
Hello, character I relate to a little too much!!
I really, really love Falin. To be honest, there was a point in the story where I got kind of frustrated with how she was portrayed - it got a little TOO 'haunting the narrative' for my taste, if that makes any sense. She was a little too much of an idea instead of like, a Whole Actual Person.
But I came around by the end! I think the finale does really really well by her.
I honestly sometimes am not sure how much of My Take on Falin is actually intended, but I LOVE the idea of her as a person who doesn't know how to take up space of her own. I have to carefully balance my read on her kindness because I don't want to treat it as ALL motivated by like trauma & repression, but I do think that a lot of her character is informed by that. I don't think she's very good at being selfish, or tolerating other people's pain.
That balance of 'very kind, but not always for the right reasons' is a quiet tragedy that is very relatable. I really like to think she can start to heal and move on from some of that in post-canon.
Favorite moment
Teef smile Falin is so so dear to me. Most authentic Falin smile of the whole manga I knew in my heart that she was going to have room to grow and find herself and love herself as soon as I saw this panel v
Idea for a story
I have been noodling on Falin/Rin and I think it could be a REALLY fun dynamic. Both have suffered from similar 'rejected because of magic stigma' traumas. Both repress their feelings, but Falin becomes exceedingly soft and Rin becomes exceedingly hard. Rin doesn't like magic schools and Falin studied at one but also did so in a really unconventional way. There's a lot of fun contrasts to mine here!!
So I'd love some kind of AU that ends up with them stuck together deep in the dungeon having to work together would be very good!! Force them to adventure together and see what happens!!!!
Unpopular opinion
She's not perfect, and not all of the traits people admire in Falin are entirely healthy for her.
(idk how unpopular this really is, but I don't feel like I've seen it talked about much?)
Favorite relationship
Definitely her and Laios. God. The siblings of all time. The way they have supported each other through so much trauma and heartache, but also have been sources of pain for each other. The way they are constantly working to repair the things that have been broken for and between them. Ough.
Favorite headcanon
Not so much headcanon as "extended material canon" but I love that she squints so much because she's nearsighted. Get that girl some glasses T.T
Oh also I'm a soft butch Falin truther. Marcille can't keep us silent forever. We know the truth!!! She is meant to have short fluffy hair and wear big soft cable knit sweaters and embrace women in her big warm arms. #justiceforbutchfalinlooks
41 notes
·
View notes
Text
Nobody Expects The Japanese Jooster: Some Fun Translation Notes
Hey, guys. Are y'all aware that in the Japanese translation of "Bertie Changes His Mind", the line where Jeeves says "I'm fond of Mr. Wooster" is translated as 「私はウースター様が好きでございます」 (or, "watakushi wa Wooster-sama ga suki de gozaimasu")? Because I'm sure not normal about this.
Tl;dr: this line now reads like a love confession. (If an amusingly keigo-ridden love confession, because even in his internal dialogue Jeeves is physically incapable of not sounding aggressively polite.) More under the cut.
Now, please note that I am not fluent in Japanese, so take all my words with a grain of salt. But I have, at the very least studied it for several years, am currently living in Japan, and have listened to a great number of Japanese love songs. And this is how I would like to share that if you "ga suki" a person, this can and very often does mean you are in love with them.
Technically, "suki" just means "like". If you like apples, you'd say "ringo ga suki". If say, tennis is your favorite sport, you'd say "tenisu wa watashi no ichiban suki na supootsu" - with "ichiban suki" literally meaning "number one like". "Daisuki", or "big like", is the one that is often used for love - but boy is just plain "suki" used a hell of a lot.
Take this translation of "Ano Yume o Nazotte" (or "Tracing That Dream"), for example. Here, the translator has written it literally as "I like you", but contextually the song makes it pretty probable that it's a confession of romantic love. Or have a look at the Project Diva translation of "Suki Kirai" ("Like-Dislike" or "Love-Hate"), which makes "suki"'s usage in romantic love quite clear. There's even a whole conversation about the subject of love confession and translation in The Great Ace Attorney - this links to a fan-translated Let's Play so the original Japanese dialogue is visible, but the conversation happens similarly in the official localized version, though it manifests a bit differently. Regardless, both versions discuss "suki" as used to confess feelings of love.
What I'm saying is, wow, holy shit, Tamaki Morimura made a rather strong choice when using "suki". Because no matter the intent, that potential implication is absolutely going to be present in a reader's mind. And if you're wondering why I know this in the first place, it's because this line is used (in very slightly altered form, as "Wooster-sama" is exchanged for "the young master") in the manga, Please, Jeeves, which in large part uses Morimura's translation for its text, and... well. Let's just say our good pal Bun Katsuta seems to rather leaned into that with the expression.
Yeah.
And this goes in tandem with other aspects of the manga, like an added line that, to my knowledge, is not present anywhere in the original text (certainly not in the story that chapter adapts, "Jeeves in the Springtime"), in which Jeeves says that Bertie's shortcomings do not prevent him from being "beloved as a person". Not to mention the other choices the manga makes, such as having Jeeves wink at Bertie incessantly, or occasionally having hearts float around Bertie when he talks about Jeeves, or the panel at the end of "Without the Option where I swear to God it looks like Jeeves is trying to reach for Bertie's hand.
So, between the official translation and the manga adaptation, I'm not saying we have a Spanish Destiel situation on our hands... but I'm certainly implying it.
(My final note is that this is one of the favorite book series of Empress Emeritus Michiko. Which, with this added context, is very funny to me. I wish she had an open email address so I could ask her if she thinks they're in love.)
#jeeves and wooster#please jeeves#reginald jeeves#bertie wooster#jooster#wooves#i need y'all to understand that i flipped out for like two straight hours when i read this line in the manga#and that flipping out was exacerbated by my realizing it was very probably in the original fucking text#AND THEN IT SURE WAS#morimura-san and katsuta-san you absolute madlads#i want to sit down and have a conversation with you about this#but my spoken japanese is absolutely not up to the task#also like i said. i'm not fluent. maybe i'm completely wrong about this. but i just had to put this out there#posted on the translation blog because I haven’t posted here in ages#and because this is my latest project I’m attempting#yes I do mean the whole manga. someone’s got to do it
59 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bloom into You Analysis: Chapter One
Bloom into You tells the story of high school freshman Yuu, as she discovers herself and tries to gain an understanding of "love," which all of her friends seem enamored with. She has never had someone who felt special to her in that way, though she desperately wants to. This all changes when she meets sophomore Nanami, who has also never fallen in love. As they get to know each other, Nanami begins to fall in love with Yuu, though Yuu does not understand why. At the same time, Yuu thinks her chest may be starting to flutter, a feeling that she has longed for but still does not understand...
In this analysis series, I am going to explore Bloom into You chapter by chapter, breaking down what the writing is doing, how what the writing is doing works, and why the series is so popular. But, first, here's my favorite panel from chapter one.
Analysis below the cut
This may be common sense on some level, but the first chapters of most works of fiction typically have the same goals: establish the main character(s) (including their personality and flaws), the setting, the story, and the antagonist(s), as well as any thematic through-lines that will be present in the story. These goals, however, are especially important for a series that is released weekly; when you're reading a novel or a collection of chapters in a manga volume, the writer has a lot more room -- and as a result, leeway -- to take their time laying the groundwork for their story. But, when something is released chapter by chapter on a week-to-week basis, like Bloom into You, it is imperative that the writer does their best to give you, the reader, a reason to come back next week, and the week after that, and so on. The constraints of the weekly release schedule are something to keep in mind as we proceed with this analysis, not just for this chapter, but for all chapters. The constant stress to keep audience engagement high likely had an impact on the writing decisions Nakatani Nio made as she developed this story, for better and worse. With that being said, let's dive in on page one:
Full disclosure: I really love this page. It utilizes a combination of visual storytelling, internal monologue, and the manga itself as a framing device to perfectly establish the protagonist, Yuu, in a single page. Visually, Yuu is laying on her bed listening to music, (presumably) a light novel spread across her lap. The "camera," which serves as the audience's POV, is above her, so she is staring at us as she stares at the ceiling. Laying next to her are a couple of romance mangas, another book, her music player (an mp3 player of some kind), and an open CD case. Even without the inner monologue, you can immediately tell that Yuu is interested in romance. Nakatani then uses Yuu's inner monologue to take the audience's initial impression of Yuu and twist it. She is not interested in love in the same way the average teenage girl is; she is not particularly boy crazy, nor is she very experienced in the ways of love. Instead, she is interested in love precisely because she has never experienced it. She even thinks it herself: "I don't need a dictionary to understand the meaning... But I've never felt them for myself" (v. 1, Ch. 1, page 4; emphasis original). This not only works to make Yuu more complex as a character, but it is also a way to draw the audience in. It leads them to wonder, "Why hasn't she experienced love? Has she been hurt in the past? Or, is something else going on?" And then, finally, in what I genuinely think is brilliant, Nakatani turns the manga itself into a framing device by allowing the title of the chapter to interact with Yuu's inner monologue. The first box of Yuu's inner monologue reads, "The words in shoujo manga and love songs... They're always sparkling brightly" (ch. 1, page 4; emphasis original). She then laments that she knows what the words mean, but she's never felt them for herself. In comparison, the title of the chapter is "I cannot reach the stars." Thanks to the use of bold text for emphasis, Nakatani is drawing a straight line from the monologue to the chapter title. In other words, the stars that Yuu cannot reach are the feelings in the manga and love songs she is lamenting about. This gives the audience incredible insight into Yuu's character, because it tells us right away that not only does she yearn to feel the love that comics and songs talk about, but she also blames herself for her inability to feel romantic feelings, a thought that is going to become a driving force of the plot right away.
The next four pages work to set up the story. In summary, Yuu is not sure what club she wants to join, and one of her teachers recommends the student council, offering for her to sit in on one of their meetings. Yuu agrees because it sounds interesting, but on her way to the student council building, she gets lost. Instead, she stumbles upon a boy asking a girl out, which leads to:
This is our introduction to Nanami, the somewhat deuteragonist, and, more importantly, Yuu's main love interest. As the above image implies, Nanami turns this guy down. Then, she spots Yuu, who admits she is lost, and together they go to the student council building, where Nanami reveals she is a member of the student council. As the chapter progresses, Yuu, and by extension the audience, learns a lot about Nanami, mainly through dialogue. She is a sophomore, ten people (including by some girls) have confessed their love to her since she started high school, and she has turned everyone down largely because she was not interested, but also because "none of their confessions made [Nanami's] heart pound" (ch. 1, page 22; emphasis original). This information is given briskly, and as it happens we watch as Yuu becomes more and more interested in Nanami. At first, it is explicitly because she saw Nanami turn down a confession; her inner monologue in the next scene reveals that Yuu was confessed to at her middle school graduation and has not answered yet. Then, she hangs out with Nanami and Sayaka (Nanami's best friend and fellow student council member and sophomore) the next day, and begins to realize that Nanami is a cool and interesting person. Then, when Nanami reveals she has never felt love, Yuu's interest in her increases exponentially. The pacing and speed at which we are given information really works here, as Nakatani employs Yuu's increasing interest in Nanami to keep the reader engaged while also only highlighting the key aspects of Nanami's personality. She provides the audience enough information to keep us interested, but not so much information we have the full picture. This series of scenes culminates in the final scene of the chapter, when Yuu asks Nanami for advice in the student council room the next day.
On the third day after Yuu meets Nanami, she finds herself exactly as she hoped: alone with Nanami in the student council room. She explains that she has been confessed to and that the boy in question is expecting a response. As she relays this information, Nanami mistakes her intentions and says that she is not the right person to give out advice on this subject. Yuu responds that she's already decided to turn him down. During this conversation, the audience is shown a flashback of the confession, and when the flashback is over, Yuu does just that: she turns the boy down. When she is done and has had a moment to relax, Nanami takes her hand and asks Yuu in clear terms if there has ever been anyone special to her, if she has ever had romantic feelings for anyone. Yuu says no, and this leads to the page that my favorite panel is from:
There is excellent storytelling happening here. At first, Yuu and Nanami are holding hands and standing acorss from each other, then, with a turn of the page, Nanami is pulling Yuu closer. In the next panel, the camera cuts wide, showing us how empty the room is and just how close our lead girls are standing. The perspective shifts here are meant to put the audience on edge and add pressure to the tension that has building all chapter. Then, on the last panel, right as the tension is at its highest, the plot twists, letting the tension release like a stretched rubber band. It's a twist for Yuu too; the confusion on her face is painfully clear, as she begins to realize she has misread Nanami. Then, Nanami voices the realization Yuu is having out loud, informing her that they are not the same, they are different...
...because Nanami is falling in love with Yuu. Just like that, with the flip of a page, the rest of the story is set up. Yuu, the girl who cannot fall in love, has made likely the most popular girl in school fall for her, seemingly because of the explicit fact that she has never fallen in love before. This twist takes the hook that was already in the audience's mouth and sets it into the flesh of their cheek; they're hooked now, and there is no telling where the story will go from here. Not all is perfect, though. In this scene, Nanami actually comes on a little too strongly for my taste, particularly dropping the L word so early. This is likely an effect of the weekly release schedule that I mentioned earlier; Nakatani likely wanted to end the chapter on the strongest note possible, leading to such a powerful confession. Additionally, it is hard to tell how valid this complaint is, as I am dealing with an admitted constraint: I do not read or write Japanese. This inherently limits my understanding of the scene, because I am perpetually an additional step away from understanding Nakatani's true meaning; not only am I reading the line through my own cultural values and life experiences, but the line itself has been translated from the Japanese, and since translation is itself an art, the translator's own cultural values and life experiences likely affects how they translate it. With that being said, assuming this is not a translator error and the original Japanese does say "love," then there is a moment later in the story that is the ideal place for Nanami to say "love" for the first time (in my opinion at least) that I will point out when we get there.
And, with Nanami's confession, the chapter ends. In the pages of this chapter, we can already see the emergence of the story's main theme: what is love? But, as the characters progress, this story is also going to grapple with questions of bodily autonomy, friendship, and what it means to find your way in the world. This story is, in my view, ultimately a coming-of-age story for Yuu. Not just romantically, but developmentally. She has to find her way in the world when everyone around her seemingly already knows their way. And, it is that journey that makes this story so special.
I hope you enjoyed this analysis! Sorry it was so long. Honestly, there was a lot more I wanted to say, but I ended up summarizing a lot to keep it as brief as I could. Chapter two is fewer pages so it'll be shorter (I hope). Speaking of, chapter 2 will go up on Wednesday, January 10th. Hope to see you then! ^-^
p.s. if you can fluently read Japanese and are interested in helping me on this project, please DM me!
p.p.s here's a cute bonus image from the end of the chapter!
35 notes
·
View notes
Text
I'm so mad right now and I need to rant. I know I should get over it, but I literally can't. It's so annoying to meet hxh fans in real life.
I'm buying bit by bit the volumes of yu yu hakusho and hunter x hunter (level e is not available in my country), and reading them (again). I got volume 28 and took some photos of some panels that I liked and shared them as a collage in my story. It looked nice, I liked it and I am really happy that I finally got it. The thing is that a friend I haven't properly talked to for I don't know how long saw my story and realized that I liked hxh. We started talking, but damn, I don't regret sharing what I bought, but why are people like this? This is the second time it happens to me (third time if I include a non-fan but knows hxh): everytime someone hears that I like togashi's work, they start complaining about the popular hiatus (as if he's the only mangaka who does that). I so prefer to meet the guys who act all surprised everytime I go to buy a hxh volume in the comic book store. At least they try to make a conversation about the story and just ask me about my favorite character.
My conversation with this guy started with him just complaining about how togashi doesn't continue the story and he should leave it to someone else but he's too proud and blablabla. I tried to be sympathetic since he seems to be a fan of his work from years ago, but I did defend togashi a whole lot (he said I should stop defending him but never in my life I would do such a thing). I find it awful how some fans still put so much pressure on togashi to continue hxh when we know about his condition. And to just leave the story to someone else? It's clear that those people haven't done anything close to a story to say that.
I literally already made peace with the fact that I don't need an ending. As a fan, of course I want to know how it ends. But also as a fan, I don't want him to sell his soul to the devil only to know the ending.
And something I said to this guy was that he should make his own ending, I have mine and I will throw it away when hxh ends. It was literally a joke to lighten up the situation and it wasn't even something to focus on because in between I was saying other things. And he literally focused on that and said "don't let it be fujoshi" (used as an insult) and I'm here like: are we back into the 2000s and nobody told me?
1. What is the problem?
2. Why do you care?
3. We didn't even speak about any kind of ships, what are you trying to say?
4. Are you sure you know what type of story you're reading?
And this question is for me: How am I meeting dude bros in real life? Why are they in the WILD? AND HOW THE HELL DID I BEFRIEND ONE YEARS AGO WITHOUT ME KNOWING? I want a friend who also likes hxh and togashi's work to talk, but not like this </3
I'm so tired of these kind of people. While living my life outside of the Internet and just being in my corner of the fandom living the great life, I tend to forget that they still exist and there are people who still act like this. What annoys me the most is that literally, they don't know what type of story they're reading. They like to say they like hxh because they know it's good and it gives you some kind of "status" within the anime community because togashi is a really good mangaka and someone who influenced a lot of people within the manga community. Without him, shonen as a genre wouldn't be the same. But then, they also choose to ignore what they don't like about his work, like the queer elements. It's highly known that togashi loves to play with gender and sexuality, but that's only a fact for them when they find it convenient. If you don't like it, don't watch/read it, but it's ignorant and blatant stupid to just act as if it's not there and talk shit about other people only because it's uncomfortable to you. And I'm not even saying that everyone should analyze the story, some people just like to enjoy it and move on with their lives and some others don't know how to analize it, but one thing is that and another thing is just to close off to the possibility when it's clearly there. But of course, the others are sick, not them who are clearly homophobic and don't want to admit it. They should ask themselves why do they get so mad about the possibility of two kids being together romantically and just work on themselves. What's worst is that this guy even said to me he likes NANA and I don’t want to know what kind of interpretation he has because DAMN
To be honest, sometimes I'm a bit surprised about how well togashi seems to know the anime community, but of course he does, he's being a fan for how long now and he's being a mangaka for how long. And I so hope he keeps trolling because DAMN these people are annoying
The worst part is that these fans wouldn't even be friends with togashi or wouldn't like him as a fan because togashi really does look like the type of fan they would hate. Togashi likes BL, mpreg, obscure stories, horror (body horror even) and science fiction (both genres who allow and are known for queerness), he used to make doujinshis (even in an era that was even more bad looked upon than now), he likes to draw bishonen characters (even in a time which was more common to see buff characters in shonen), he drew gender-bender designs of kurama and hiei, he included a homoerotic art of kurama and karasu (a friend made it for him i think) in his doujinshi, he wanted to make a shonen with gay characters and crossdressing and the list goes on and on. He likes so many things that these others fans are disgusted by and it really looks like they don't know who they are admiring. The reason why ending D got so much negative attention when it came out is because it doesn't sound believable that a mangaka like togashi himself, the same person who made level e and is constantly worried of making an interesting story, would make such a bland and heteronormative ending in a story like hxh no less.
They should just shut up and go do their homework instead, they look ridiculous.
And no, I didn't answer this guy again and I don’t think I will, though I really want to troll him.
#hxh#togashi#justxtalking#rant is over#I've been trying to study korean but couldn't focus so i came here#me correcting the typos after i posted it#and by the way he doesn't like killua but loves gon#who hurt him so much
33 notes
·
View notes
Text
Lawbin Dressrosa Analysis 1: Dating while handing over Caesar team
Finally, I finished re-reading dressrosa! It's probably one of my favorite arcs. Maybe top 3 haha The other two are probably Wano and Enies Lobby. The pacing in manga is definitely way better, so I actually enjoyed this arc more. I might missed something because I was too immersed into the story and sometimes I forgot to jot down notes lol But anyways, let's start!
As usual, things highlighted in purple are my delulus.
Warning: It's my personal blog so don't read it if you don't like lawbin, include lots of delulu :D
~LAWBIN ALLIANCE PHASE~
why can't I choose yellow on tumblr anymore?! :(
Chapter 700: Law hates bread
Robin weird thoughts always live in my head rent free. I also like how most of the crew are complaining or interrupting Law but Robin (and Zoro) just listen to his plan. Of course it's also because their personality is similar (they mostly won't say anything unless something it's wrong), and I think they just trust Luffy hence they trust Law.
I love the fact that Robin's favorite food is sandwich but Law hates bread!! It's gonna be a funny debate between them about bread!! >< I also find Robin and Zoro just follow their captain and ignore Law's plan are so funny. (Remember this, it's changing in the upcoming plot *wink*)
Chapter 701: Adventure in the land of love, passion and toys
[This is the actual title of this chapter]
That's kinda obvious is it? That's where all the love starts *smirk*
Every time they are together is such a beautiful panel, (maybe I shouldn't said that people will say I ship them just for their aesthetic haha it's like that's a problem) The *aggressive* *calm* *calm* *aggressive* combo is also really interesting and entertaining, I can understand why Oda will choose Robin and Usopp to be Law's companion. Or maybe Law chose Robin himself to spend more time with her?! It didn't say how they assign the team but in any way, I'm sure Robin and Law realize they have similar personality. Robin even found Law's plan fun haha. Their mind just sync a lot and I think Law will appreciate to have Robin here because she's the only one that follow his plan without a complain lol. And from this point, Law & Robin started become a "I want to scare Usopp just for fun" team. (and also Caeser but I don't think they give a fk about him lol)
Chapter 705 ~ 711: Let's go to Greenbit
Again, the aesthetic is just ~amazing~. I'm gonna compliment it regardless, they look good together and that's a part of why they have good chemistry to me. I'm not gonna deny it! And I like it so much that Robin and Law are sitting across each other, they can see each other clearly!
They really look like they are on a secret date together! >< (minus Usopp and Caesar I'm sorry) I saw a newspaper poster (made by a one piece theme park in Japan, but it's closed now) and this "news" was saying they found out Law and Robin secretly meeting? (I'm just guessing) Literally create my vision of them getting caught dating haha And I like how they share a lot of common knowledge - they know how dangerous CP0 is and recognize them is right away. At least I think most of the straw hats won't recognize and realize who they are.
The small bickering they have are so cute, Robin isn't scared and she's super calm but she has her little complain that she expected fish to look like a fish (maybe that's the only complaint she has haha) and Law was like "Looks like a fish to me". It’s like she hates gum because she expects food can be swallowed.
I'm always wondering who's Law talking to here haha because Robin & Usopp are the ones who fight the fish after but from where he's pointing, isn't look like he's talking to Caesar either. So maybe he's telling Robin don't need to worry? If that’s true, that means Law cared about her haha I feel like the whole time, he just want to talk to her and teasing Usopp only
~LAWBIN FRIENDS PHASE~
From this point, I think Law and Robin started to trust each other more and treated each other as friends. At least you can see their interactions are more friendlier. I will explain a little bit more later.
They even sit together on the Caesar hot air balloon!! In my mind, it's probably Usopp scared to sit in the middle because he might fall and Law being a gentleman so he volunteered to sit in the center (less safe). If you think about it, this could be their date lol Going to a cafe, fight some fishes and sitting on a hot air balloon. Law planned the whole thing and Robin was like *I have fun with this* the whole time haha. Robin likes to explore and Law's hobby is wandering around. They just seem to get along so well together!
I think I already explained a few times that how they both get so investigative once they arrived at Greenbit they are so similary in lots of ways!! They both will analyze the situation and environment they are in.
Robin can see through him so easily. She probably can figure out how he did it anyways And see how Robin changed her attitude so much?! From distrusting him and observing him a lot in Punk Hazard, and now she's teasing him. If she didn't get close with someone, she probably won't say anything and just observe. That's definitely a sign that she got closer with him and a friendly behavior.
I like how Law already knew what each Straw Hat specialized with and ask them for help. And again, only Robin listened to Law. She looks like she enjoyed the adventure so much and I'm actually surprised Robin just followed Law here. I guess after Punk Hazard, she found he isn't a bad person so she just followed his plan. But also mainly because Luffy trust Law.
The first thing Robin woke up is to think about how to contact with Law (and also care about Usopp of course) When I was reading the Greenbit part, I actually thought Robin is gonna tell Law where she is and he can use his ability to transfer him and Caesar to underground, so Doflamingo couldn't find them there haha. But my delulu didn't come true ;'(
I also saw a person said the reason why they ship lawbin it's because Law treat Robin differently than others. And here is one of the evidences, when he was talking to other straw hats, he usually just order them around lol and for Robin, he's like *help me using your intelligence skills* *ok I understand* it's just seems he is so much calmer in front of her, like they can actually communicate without arguing. I wouldn't say he cared about her but at least he is nice enough to say good luck to her too. Robin actually treat him differently than others too. She said "Good luck" to him, something I rarely seen Robin did to other people outside of straw hats and Robin worried about him a lot in this arc (again I'll elaborate later on, there is so much to talk in this arc omg ><!)
When the whole Greenbit shaking, Robin worried about Law's fighting. Their relationship really change drastically here. Robin seems to care about Law a lot more. To be fair, I think the whole crew started to care about Law's safety in this arc a lot and of course it's natural to care someone that's an ally of you. But also if I really compare, Robin seems like she cared the most about Law maybe after Luffy.
I actually think Law is so similar to Robin here. He really gave me the Enies Lobby Robin vibe here. In my perspective, I don't think he really meant to use straw hats at this point (definitely yes before tho), I think he told Doflamingo he is using them to try to protect them. So Doflamingo will think it's useless even he threaten Law he is going to kidnap the rest of the straw hats because Law said he won't care about them. (the mind games). Law and pre-time skip Robin are so alike, they always try to take all the responsibility to themselves or sacrifice themselves in order to protect others. Law didn't even bring heart pirates to here is just like when Robin pretend to be betray the straw hats in Enies Lobby sigh :(
If Law is really using the straw hats, he is gonna betray them once Doflamingo is defeated, but he kept his promise to defeat Kaido. That's one of the reasons why Law is one of my favorite characters, even he looks so unbothered and sometimes mean on the outside, his actions always tell the opposite >///<
And it’s cute that during Dressrosa, Robin is the one who cares about Law a lot and once they get into Wano the situation switched haha the feelings are mutual!!!!
That's it for today! Thank you for reading! <3 I think I have talked too much again lol I will probably start writing about the rest of the arc soon! Hopefully I can finish writing the whole arc under 2 parts! (probably not) I actually have something to write about my thoughts on other ships during dressrosa, uhm maybe I will briefly talk about it next one.
40 notes
·
View notes
Note
finally someone who actually understands inuokko and doesn't mischaracterize as an alpha sigma male and Toge as an uwu boy! bestie you don't know how happy I am that you came up on my fyp.
omg hi anon !! 🥺🫶
i love analyzing characters way before any shipping, i could actually read nothing but found family fics because i just feel like they always catch the perfect dynamic. with yuuta and toge specifically, i do feel like you can appreciate aspects of how their dynamic is on an appearance level or how they fit certain popular tropes, but i don’t think it’s the driving force behind what makes them so good together.
i do acknowledge that if we default to the stereotypical gay men tropes without tangible reason, it’s more indicative of getting used to knowing how to write LGBT+ relationships and tending to default to what we might be used to in straight relationships. i say that without any offense intended, it’s just a part of the writing process. especially with toge as a character, who has so much of his characterization sprinkled outside of the manga and anime. a lot of his backstory and characteristics are derived from the fun facts, light novel, and now even the unreleased game has given us so much more content. but i also think that’s why he’s so popular, there’s so much freedom in exploring him, especially if you haven’t discovered the existing content. taking that with yuuta who is honestly a fan favorite of the chad dude straight bros and gets a little too much ‘alpha male’ treatment from them, it can be a little confusing. (it kills me a little to see some one say he’s an alpha male with a bad attitude and smoking guns when manga panels will literally have him looking like this (・・?) 😭)
i do have preferences in how both yuuta and toge are portrayed, but that’s just because i care about them so much as individual characters.
for me, toge is soft and kind, but he was also born as a weapon and has spent his life sacrificing himself over and over. you can still have that softness and kindness, even more so when experiencing certain things, but there’s also a degree of hardening from trauma. i do characterize him to be less overtly an instigator lol, but that’s personal preference in how i see him combined with canon material. i find a lot of his trolling to be slipped in and more of a double take than full on gremlin, but that’s less mischaracterization and more preference. i find his relationship with living and death so, so interesting, especially in how he tries to shield the first-years and yuuta from having any kind of blood on their hands. it implicates him to have done that very thing, and he spends his life silencing himself because of it. i do believe his language barrier is almost a relief, because it acts almost as a self-imposed wall. but despite that wall, he still reaches out because while he himself is okay being alone, the thought of someone like yuuta, someone he sees as exactly like him, suffering by himself is painful to him.
for yuuta, i am a big advocate for the continued acknowledgment of his anxiety, depression, and low key craziness. he had a normal childhood, but that somehow makes the transition to everything with rika so much worse. because he had that normalcy and it was shattered completely. he’s hurt, maimed, and killed people both unintentionally and intentionally. but he sees it as necessary in protecting the people he cares about the most. in a lot of ways, i think his dubious morality and how far he’s willing to go is an expression of his love. for example, killing getou in his eyes is the ultimate act of service to gojo, so he himself would not have to kill him. his character is such a juxtaposition compared to everyone we’ve been introduced to. here you have these child soldiers, ready and willing to sacrifice themselves, where death and suffering is more feasible than ever living their life to entirely. then they give us yuuta, who wants to live so badly in happiness that he’s willing to inflict and do everything for and against their society. it’s almost an unhealthy relationship to a degree, but it’s the only kind of relationship any of them know how to have.
together they work so well, because like i’ve said before, they defy each other’s expectations in what they ever believed they could have or deserve. despite their rough edges, the blood on their hands, the years they’ve lost to fighting battles they never started, they treat each other so gently. as if they are the better half, yet simultaneously knowing exactly how much they have done. yuuta who sees violence almost as a love letter, who absorbs toge’s curse as if it’s something to admire and adore. toge who sees himself as unforgivable in his crimes, who self-enforces isolation and barriers yet took a step out just to comfort yuuta from a mild spell of anxiety, because he couldn’t stand to see him suffer even in a minor degree.
i have so many feelings about them so i’m so glad that they come across the way i want them to !! i love all content, and i’m always willing to share my thoughts, but ty so much for the validation bestie, i’m sure i’m eating up your content as well !! 🥺
33 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Trailer 2 Screaming!!
Warning: I’m a manga reader so there will be spoilers!!!
Starting off strong with Fukuchi’s speech, seriously he looks so cool here
We’re gonna go so far this season, if we’re gonna get this far then we’re gonna get Tecchou vs Kenji fight
Not much to say here, I just think he looks really good in this panel
Sigma, I choose you!!
But seriously, we’re gonna get the prison break game!! Tho the season will probably end as it starts (to be fair the game isn’t even over yet in the manga)
Tachihara vs Fukuchi let’s go!!!! I can’t wait for this fight, it’s one of my favorites!!
Bram!!! Bram!!!!! Heck yeah Bram!!!!
The sword’s freaking purple!!!! I thought they said it was blue. But it could also be because of the lighting (BSD really likes their sunsets, and honestly I can’t blame them)
Jouno’s Ability looks so cool animated!!!! Thwy took “afterglow” a bit literally lol, but I guess all Abilities glow.
But oh my god they cut his hair (I’m sure it’s fine but still)
Sobbing
ADA Family reunion!!!!
Final thoughts: best way to start off Pride Month
99 notes
·
View notes
Text
🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #5 rambling and a conspiracy theory lol
tbh this is the most exciting issue for me since…the first one 💀 i’m going to talk about the story and art separately because Nikola Cizmesija’s one of my favorite action focused comic artists so this issue’s a treat 😭
Alfred used to mediate during a lot of Bruce and Damian’s early relationship, so it’s refreshing to see Bruce take more initiative involving himself in Damian’s life even if it’s for a case lol
a couple instances of Alfred’s fatherly support on behalf of Bruce and Damian from Batman and Robin (2011) #2, 4, 39 and Teen Titans (2016) #1
Damian seems to take Bruce's involvement more as a sign he’s not reliable rather than Bruce finally just. being around to help him. which is fair 😭
this is complementary to Cizmesija’s art, but i love this half of the page so bad 😭 the negative space and the shaded foreground with Damian mid-run gives this feeling of time kinda stopping for us to really feel the impact of Damian’s entrance AND the effect it has on Bruce, like!! that wide eyed expression in the below panel!! 😭
Bruce’s quiet “you can do it, son” to A FULL BODY CHEER OF “GO, DAMIAN!” Bruce witnessing Damian be great outside of Robin, and on top of that it’s just another mundane moment that Bruce has wanted with Damian 😭
this is such a goofy bully line sdfgh though the whole “broken” bit might be a callback to Batman and Robin (2011) #1, in that Bruce is really trying to do his job as a father here or i'm likely reading way too into it
SO the “shocking ending” of Zach being Zsasz’s kid was definitely a surprise but then got me wondering what is up with Williamson doing reveals of new kids for villains lol otherwise, the hints in the issue were neat!
the tally marks!! at least tallying blocks is pretty innocent compared to kills 😭
and Damian would recognize how Zsasz moves, since he’s personally fought him before in Streets of Gotham (2009)!! very much not in a sport, but uh maybe it was to Zsasz
the art!! first a shoutout to the colorist Rex Lokus for giving Damian his green eyes and maybe melanin (it didn’t look consistent throughout so i say maybe)!! 😭 also a Talia by Cizmesija!! even though this panel calls her a “not great” teacher…💀
SUCH A FUN PAGE 😭 i’ve been into montage scenes lately lol and i love how quickly Cizmesija establishes Damian’s routine - Tues, Wed, and Fri are the funniest for me!! Damian grumpily getting lectured by his teacher in the foreground while his classmate’s still visibly steaming from the hit he took LOL, DAMIAN’S BUG EYED STARE WITH HIS SUNGLASSES UP, and then Damian looming. stealthily. in a tree. while some kid is blatantly pointing him out HAHA 😭
Cizmesija’s use of motion lines and effects when conveying movement is so cool!! the shonen manga vibes jumps out!! the smoke/dust trails following the movements; the limbs and soccer ball having a sort of blur effect with the motion lines. V COOL.
which leads to my favorite part of Cizmesija’s work - HIS IMPACT SHOTS!!
more motion lines and effects!! the splatter effects!! the arcs!! the jolting impacts!! GRRAAHH!! the setup to that impact shot of Zach's block is so great, and then following with Damian's reaction!! i almost wish that "???" wasn't there, just because that expression of stunned silence already feels so loud!!
last thoughts about Cizmesija's art is that i'm really hoping for a showdown between Damian and Zach next issue because i need to see a Damian fight scene in Nikola Cizmesija-fashion 😭 we get a taste of it with Orca and soccer but i NEED MORE LOL for now, dropping the moment when Damian overpowers Zsasz, in Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 since it was such an epic moment
okay SLAPPING MY CONSPIRACY BOARD!! so on another note Principal Stone being Shush is starting to feel like a red herring and Ms. Heather Hall could actually be Shush. Shush’s main point about Damian as his instructor was emphasizing how much potential he has, but the “wrong” influence could affect that
Stone and Hall have made the same observation about Damian’s potential, but the difference is how they address that - one wants Bruce to be more involved while the other wants Bruce to back off
Stone acknowledged Damian can take care of himself but still wants Bruce to step up in Damian’s life; Hall says it’s okay to be a helicopter parent BUT implies giving Damian space (which we already know Bruce has given so much of after Alfred’s death to the point of neglect 😭)
Hall even suggests moving Damian on to college, which would estrange Damian further. also idk how Damian kicking his teammates/bullies asses at soccer is really “making friends” lol
and of all the subjects she’s teaching, it’s AP Biology - according to the current case Batman and Robin are working on, which is centered around DNA-sequencing, it makes Hall the perfect accomplice to Langstrom
this is where my brain started reaching because i laughed at first at how specific that comparison is, but then it just made me think of how Shush’s first introduction was sniping Bruce LOL anyway, Bruce’s reaction is me 😭
one more Cizmesija appreciation panel - the lil running effects behind Damian :)
#rambling#CONTINUING CONSPIRACY THOUGHTS adding an anomaly like Zach to the soccer team would justify Damian joining them#otherwise he’d join and then he would find nothing but soccer if Stone really isn’t Shush#if im wrong then WHOOPS LOL i do find Ms. Hall's support for Damian sweet so i wouldnt mind tho Damian being wrong would suck asdfg#now that i think about it Damian going to college would be a neat development. let him study to be a veterinarian or artist or smth lol#the other action focused artist i would LOVE to see give Damian a fight scene is Daniele Di Nicuolo 😭#I EAT HIS ART UPPP#where Cizmesija is heavily shonen manga influenced Nicuolo is heavily shonen anime influenced esp like Trigger studio artists YUM
56 notes
·
View notes
Text
reijean v-day 💝⚔️
see vee's prompt graphic for this. i tag anyone in any fandom, i want to hear about your OTP!!
💝 favorite canon scene:
these panels in the 57th scouting expedition right here.
in the anime the only internal monologue we get is from jearmin, which is a big rewatch tell of oh shit! why are reiner's thoughts private (armored hehe). but the ONE time, ONE time we get reiner's thoughts in this arc in the manga... it's about jean. and it's not like he takes over narration like armin did when he encounters annie alone, or like jean does once these three meet up. it's just one stray 💭 of "jean really... is different."
sure, other characters note jean's maturity since joining the corps, but recognition from reiner stands out here as a vote of confidence from marcel!reiner, AND four years later: when he still describes jean as "an irresponsible jerk who only ever thought of himself," even though reiner knows first hand that jean grew so, so much after trost. and it's his fault.
💝 a song that reminds you of them:
i previously posted SASAMI's I Was a Window, but another one that screams reijean to me is Till Death by Japanese Breakfast. briefly, it's about marriage, but she wrote a whole book about the context that this song and her relationship come from, which i highly recommend.
so many images in it are so post-rumbling to me: "get these days to go by like the swaying of a ship," (the studio recording starts with ocean sounds); "sing me to sleep, soothe this insomnia"; "your embrace healing my wounds / teach me to breathe, teach me to move." the beginning of verse 2, "steering on hostile waves of panic, like fighting a wheel that pulls to the right" makes me think of a later jbrekkie song, Slide Tackle, which IS reiner.
youtube
💝 favorite official picture/graphic:
back to back on the vol. 32 alliance cover baby!!
💝 favorite fanfic:
i have to say two:
vermin by @oxygenbefore1775: delicious cadet days, delicious fucked up time in reiner POV, delicious, smart tangling with the technological/material/cultural gaps between the walls and the rest of the world. how much of RBA's deep cover is culture shock? the total lack of guile jean has while running roughshod over the land mines in reiner's head with just "bunny." god.
from shiganshina with love by @fromriches-tosin: this is really the one that lured me in. it feels like a locked room, three-hander play, when even being in the wide open air (well, not reiner) is claustrophobic because two characters are intertwined and dug into one another. and as someone who has inhaled shelves' worth of eruri fic and doujinshi, vee's levi is one of my favorites.
💝 favorite fanart:
oh, this and everything by @mikibagels. one thing about reijean that goes so hard is jean's growth spurt, cadet and post-rumbling reijean both have height difference. similar vein, @valmendy illustrating reiner's flirting from never let me go: "i feel like i missed out on my little brother growing up." hello???
💝 why i ship:
i binged the anime so late, just in time for season 4, and when the finale came out i could hardly think of anything other than "we're scouts, we don't know when to quit."
back in my day (i'm turning 27 this month), one dude beating up another in shounen launched a ship, a fleet of ships, and kept it afloat for years, but yams gave us their more obvious, huge interactions in the last... fifteen chapters. but there's so much history between them that screams to be noticed on initial reread and rewatch: the reijearmin (horrendous throuple name) date that was the female titan arc, that jean keeps his cool when the 104th hop on the armored as reibert and ymir try to flee, the whole return to shiganshina, the echo i come back to of "the jean kirchstein i know only thinks of himself."
with jean's OVA, they're the characters whose moms we see the most of besides carla jaeger??? the difference between karina and jean's mother is vast, yet their sons turned out so similar, despite it all. so caring, so haunted by that care. jean takes his leadership in the post-time skip survey corps so seriously, he agonizes over his field leadership in trost, while reiner feels like he killed marcel and bertolt and doomed annie, and in his lowest, lowest moments still manages to protect and worry for falco and gabi.
also, another big why: you people. this is such a cozy pontoon. 😘 happy valentine's day!!!
18 notes
·
View notes
Note
What are your top 10 favorite scenes in Clear Card manga? (Not counting the anime because it hasn't been finished yet)
Aaaahhh nice question! 🤭
Thank you so much for sending me this ask, since now that the main story is over, with a cool mind, it gave me the opportunity to think about the scenes I loved the most.
It is actually quite hard for me to choose, because there are so many good scenes, and it somehow feels also "unfair" to make a ranking, but I will try to answer with my CURRENT top 10, which is highly depending on my current inclinations and preferences. 😊
(under the cut, with explanations and analysis for each scene)
10. Chapter 1, "We'll be together forever"
I'm not placing this here because it's my least favorite, not at all, but because after more than 7 years, its power to evoke emotions in me has been supplanted by other scenes. 😅
I dunno how to explain it but, while it stays one of the most important and nostalgic scenes in this series, so much more happened in this arc that I feel "in a stronger way" than this scene. Still, it's in my top 10 because I was highly emotional when I've seen it in chapter 1.
9. Chapter 22, "Same goes for you, Syaoran-kun"
Ooooh, this was such a satisfactory moment, I still remember it.
Till that moment, Sakura never gave out any hint that she had started to notice that Syaoran had been hiding something from her.
This was portrayed differently in the anime, because Sakura confides her doubt with Meiling way before this scene happened in episode 21, but in the manga it was such a "wow" moment for me, because we had been screaming in our heads "how is it possible that Sakura is so oblivious that she doesn't notice anything", but no, she actually had already noticed, it's just that she wanted to take all of us by surprise, Syaoran included! And she was waiting patiently for him to talk to her.
I also liked the way she phrased this, because it might be interpreted as slightly slightly calling him out while telling him "please open up to me" with love.
Which is exactly what also will happen with another couple later on.
8. Chapter 33, Sakura hugs Syaoran with a resolute face
Another moment that made me scream "QUEEN!!" was this one.
Oooh, how much I loved Sakura in this specific panel.
Syaoran is prevented from warning her about Kaito and what he knows about him, so he desperately tries to convey to her with that crushing hug that no matter what happens, he's going to protect her.
But since Sakura had just found out the truth about the Clear Cards and felt the frustration of not having understood it earlier, causing her loved one to put himself into a dangerous position, her resolute face here always conveyed to me her desire to be more "in touch" with herself, finally "waking up" and do her part to protect Syaoran in turn. That little hand gripping Syaoran's shirt tightly is everything to me. It's so rare to see Sakura depicted with such strong and complex feelings.
7. Chapter 41/42, Syaoran and Kaito's fight
One of my favorite scenes, no doubt. You have no idea how much I'm anticipating to see this scene in the anime.
It's not only because my two favorite boys are basically arguing over who's more "I'll save/protect my most important person no matter what" (even if one of them hasn't figured it out yet), but it's also because we have a pretty violent Syaoran here...he attacked Kaito behind his back with a freaking lightning, without notice or anything else, and that made me go "wow Syaoran, you must be quite mad if you're not caring about fair play in this confrontation" 😂
And it's also pretty uncharacteristic of Kaito to be taken by suprise by someone....but this is just because Nadeshiko had distracted him with a topic that really dug deep in his core.
6. Chapter 31, "I'm also mad at you, Syaoran-kun"
And of course, this is another main scene that I can't wait to see animated and that really left an impact on me.
I realize that my favorite scenes are those where the characters do something you wouldn't expect from them basing on what's been portrayed of them till that moment.
And I think hearing Sakura say "I'm also mad at you, Syaoran-kun" had a major impact on me. And felt very satisfactory. Of course I knew that Sakura would've never lashed out at Syaoran when she would've found out about the Sakura Cards, about lying and omitting things to her...Sakura knows that her Syaoran would never reach such lengths if it weren't for her safety. But still, he didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions, which could've been so much worse than what we've seen, and I think in that moment Sakura fully realized all of that, and it's inevitable that the pain turned also into anger because "how can you be so blind to not realize that you would've killed me if something happened to you?". Sakura's calm and composed anger and pain is very much in character for her, but also something we yet had to see till that moment, so it felt really refreshing. I also remember her next sentence, "Even if it would've made you uncomfortable, I would've cried and cried forever". It's as if she was telling him "in front of something of such gravity, I need to take notice of my own feelings and express them. I WILL react in this way, even if I know that I will make you feel bad about it." It's claiming the right to be angry when your loved one messes up big time with you.
(lord, the parallels!)
And Syaoran's hug to her head, not even allowing himself to hug her body, felt very humble and respectful from his part, in my opinion. He absolutely felt the need to apologize and comfort her, but not invading her space and comfortable zone too much.
5. Chapter 52, "But you look like you're in pain"
Chapter 52 was a "parallels fest" beginning to end, and more than a scene, I'd daresay I place the entire chapter in this position of the ranking.
It was very nice to see, for once, a parallelism between Akiho and Syaoran, rather than the usual Akiho and Sakura.
I think CLAMP took care in depicting this scene because they wanted to make sure that the readers understood that, despite being under a "synchronization", the feelings Sakura and Akiho have for their loved ones are absolutely genuine, unique and personal to eachother. In short, Akiho doesn't act in a certain way towards Kaito because she's "mimicking" what Sakura does with Syaoran. If there's one thing in CLAMP manga that always eluded hitsuzen, plotting, scheming, even premonitions, are the feelings the characters have for their important people, and it's not something specific to CCS. Not even magic can change the feelings someone got for someone else, just as magic alone cannot make someone fall in love with someone else. It's always coming from the heart.
And so, in this scene we see two kids deeply worried for their loved ones, who look in pain, and CLAMP have shown to us how their situations, although paralleling, had two very different outcomes, not because the feelings at the base were different, but because their circumstances were different.
In the Akiho/Kaito half, I was absolutely heartbroken by Kaito's reaction, dictated by fear and isolation. But I was also in awe at Akiho's strength of mind, the way she kept insisting for Kaito to open up to her because she just could feel that something wasn't right, it hadn't been for a while at this point, and the fear to lose him made her stronger and more incisive than ever. Alas, Kaito's stubborness at this point of the story is basically playing a tug of war with her (a game Akiho has no intention to lose), so he had that reaction of running away and shutting the door in her face, another thing I found extremely uncharacteristic of him, because he had always been so respectful and diligent in his "role of the butler". With the progression of the story, this reaction became so much more clear and coherent with his state of mind. To this day, this chapter is so dear to me because of the strong and complex emotions depicted in it (even though at the time it hurt so much).
4. Chapter 80, "Cristaux. That's my true name"
Well yes, it might be because it's just fresh in my mind, or because it was, in a way, the end of the tribulations for me to see this guy finally realizing what Akiho is to him, but I feel this scene in my core.
The choice to reveal his true name to her, what it means in a CLAMP manga, the intimacy of the scene without actually depicting anything that any reader (who doesn't know CLAMP well) would consider "regular" for a romantic scene (so much that a good amount of people didn't understand what happened here), makes it so precious and special to me.
When I've talked about this scene in the stories of my IG account, I used "Delicate" by Taylor Swift as a background song, because I really feel like CLAMP depicted Kaito's intentions in a very delicate way. Which is how it is supposed to be, how their relationship will develop and transform along the way. They need so much sensitivity, gentleness, time, tenderness, because they both have lots of scars they need to heal from.
And just like in the song, Kaito is starting to acknowledge many things and he's moving a tiny step ahead in that direction, with this gesture that means so much (and Akiho is perfectly aware of what it entails). It's like "starting again" for them, this time from a foundation of honesty and trust. Slowly, slowly healing and building their bond back up. It's the evidence that when your heart is in the right place, there's always a second chance and Kaito showed here that he doesn't want to waste it.
3. Chapter 78, Akiho and Kaito's reunion
Well. OF COURSE this would be in my top 3! I cried so much!! 🥲
The emotional tension, Akiho's anger, Kaito's silence that suggested how stunned he was, finally realizing things that we waited for the whole manga for him to see...
I think the one aspect that struck me the hardest in this scene was imagining to be in Akiho's shoes in that moment, and feeling all that love and anger pouring out of her, without even fully understanding where those feelings came from, because she still didn't remember anything about him. Like, you have someone in front of you, your heart knows it's the person you love, and yet you can't remember anything about them, not even their name. But you still feel this storm of feelings pouring out of you. So powerful.
As powerful was Akiho's assertiveness when she rebuked Kaito not only for deciding her happiness on her behalf, without asking her absolutely anything, but most importantly because he dared to remove himself from her life, thinking "she doesn't need me to be happy, after all", when he was so so so wrong. And in doing that, he committed another horrible thing, he literally threw himself away in the process, like something of no value. I think more than anything else, this was what hurt Akiho the most. And we always go back to that parallelism of chapter 31, how these boys, in their fever of protecting their most important person, completely forget/don't see how fundamental THEY are to that person's happiness.
Out of this whole reunion, another scene I love is when Akiho kinda "pulls" Kaito back to her, pressuring him to go along with Sakura's plan to revert him back to his true appearance (from that of a dragon).
You can see that his self-loathing makes him hesitate, and resist that plan till the last second, but when he exchanges that long stare with Akiho, he finally caves in. Her hard stare, which shows already the irritation and pain that will overflow afterwards, makes him feel "wanted", necessary to someone. Just for being himself, not because of his powers, like it had been till he met her. That's another moment of this scene that I love deeply.
2. Chapter 48, "The moon is beautiful"
Yeah I'm sorry, I've been debating whether this scene would go to n. 1 or not, then decided otherwise, but I can't lie to myself: the scene that impacted me the most in this entire manga, the one that changed me, is this one. Akiho's covert love confession under the full moon. And until someone explained to me what Akiho actually meant with that "because the moon is really beautiful", I had considered this just a very sweet and cute scene, but nothing more.
When someone gave me the correct "reading key" (and it's absolutely intentional because Akiho's speech is placed between quote marks), something changed inside of me towards these two.
I already liked them, Akiho in particular, but this scene confirmed to me that Akiho was serious in wanting to grasp her life tightly and change it. From a shy, insecure girl needing validation at every sentence, crushed by the trauma of the past, to someone who actually made the first, concrete steps in conveying her thoughts and feelings to the person most important to her. From stillness, to action. The first steps towards finding her voice, and letting it be heard, louder and louder, throughout the story. This is a very important turning point, as you can literally see her changing, after this scene.
Even in this metaphorical way, it must have required for Akiho to muster all of her courage to confess her feelings.
Did Kaito understand what she meant, here? To this day, I don't think he did. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a foolish thing like "I didn't think you needed me to be happy" in ch. 78.
But he still wanted to spend time with her, he was visibly glad to receive that "invitation" from her, even though he never let that transpire from his words, his reply is a line carefully built in Japanese to address what Akiho wanted, not what he wanted. Cause he couldn't allow himself to want anything, aside from that one wish, knowing very well how this would've ended.
Chapter 48 and 49 were giving us everything we needed to know to determine not only Akiho's feelings towards Kaito, but also his own feelings for her. It's very clear by the way they look at eachother in their scenes of these two chapters. And yet, the smell of "doom" was looming over them (so much that at the time I thought this would be their last conversation before everything went down the drain; fortunately it wasn't), so this "duality" created the perfect mix to get me definitively invested in these two.
1. Chapter 79, "I can't be on everyone's side"
I chose this scene for the 1st position because I absolutely adored the revolutionary and strong message that Sakura passed in the very culmination of the climax.
I felt we really needed it.
More than once I had feared, throughout the serialization, that CLAMP would've shown Sakura trying to "befriend" or "compromise" with the Squids & Association, when the "moment of the truth" would've come. Because of the apparent "dogma" that "Sakura is everyone's friend, no one is evil in Sakura's world, Sakura is such a good girl".
But what they had already shown about Akiho's clan and the Association ABSOLUTELY couldn't be justified or compromised with.
CLAMP had already shown too much cruelty from them, there couldn't be any "redeeming arc" or anything like that, that wouldn't result in being offensive to the sensitivity and intelligence of the readers.
Sometimes it happens that you just can't compromise with cruel people guided only by greed. You shouldn't. Especially if they abused other people ever since they were so little.
In this specific scene, CLAMP have put Sakura in front of a choice, but not only that: they also made her question her own morality.
How I adored that!
Sakura does realize that what she's about to do might not be good from a moral standpoint, forcing people to forget about something without their consent. Exactly what Kaito did before.
But she doesn't care. This is something different, and the difference lies in the intentions. While Kaito acted out of love, those other people were clearly trying to harm her friends.
Because of this, she spells out clearly that she can't be on everyone's side. Because at some point a choice needs to be made, and she chose Akiho and Kaito.
This scene right here is, perhaps, the one that answers the question that I know many people made themselves throughout the story, and after it was over: did we need Akiho and Kaito in Cardcaptor Sakura?
Yes, we did.
Because they brought Sakura to this moment, and they pushed her to make this decision. The decision to choose her loved ones' happiness over anything else, even her own morality, particularly when cruel intentions were involved towards people with a background much less happier and ideal than hers'.
The decision to go on along with them, rather than trying to go back to how things were before.
The decision to do whatever in her power to protect them.
A series of decisions that brought her an enormous character development.
This thematic of "going on" rather than "going back" was so strong in Tsubasa too, and it's not a coincidence that everyone could feel a strong connection to that other CLAMP work, in the final 2 chapters (and not only because of the cameos).
I think this scene defined and changed CCS forever (for the better, in my opinion).
I feel like the essence of Clear Card is all here.
This feeling of "everything we went through was for this moment" is so strong that made me designate it as my n. 1 scene!✨
#reply#cardcaptor sakura#clear card arc#card captor sakura#syaosaku#yunaaki#akiho shinomoto#yuna d. kaito#sakura kinomoto#syaoran li#lol I didn't think this ask would take me so long to reply#but I had some 'accidents' along the way#anyway this is basically just me rambling again about my favorite scenes under the cut
20 notes
·
View notes
Note
for the ask game
kidd and doffy
Here's for Kidd:
I like that goofy goober hahah, probably my 5th favorite supernova after Luffy, Law, Zoro and Bege. Maybe it has to do with his voice actor being Namikawa Daisuke who has insane vocal range (Oikawa. that you??) I have so much respect for NamiDai for his amazing performance as Kidd and hope his efforts will pay off.
The fandom takes Kidd slanders too far, especially whenever they compare him to Law 🫠 He's literally stuck at SH's next destination, he has a higher chance of having redemptive screentime before Law.
The final arc in OP would be a full fledged war, it's not like being defeated means one's possible relevancy drops to zero. I think Oda still hasn't explored his earlier plans with Kidd yet, so I have high hopes.
As for Doffy.. well I'm a Doffy trash too.
M4rkim's Doflamingo rap might be my favorite One Piece video on the internet.
youtube
I was bummed to see him ranked 20th in the last official poll. IMHO you can't write a Shonen manga character better than this.
Take Cora and Law for example, 5th and 13th, I think their arcs would fall bland if you remove Doffy from their stories. But Doffy would STILL be intriguing and amazing as a character if you remove Law and Cora from his story, he's just that good.
Everyone has their own interpretation of Doffy and there's room for debate, there's still more about him to learn, he has never wasted a single panel he's in. What I like about Doffy most is probably how deeply he hates, especially Law, I don't think Oda has shown petty outburst better in any other character.
I hope he makes it out of Impel Down. No matter how terrible as a person he is, he deserves to see the fall of Celestial Dragons just as much as their other victims. Better if he gets to play a role. Even better if he shares that role with Law.
#sorry for the delay ahh#ask game#donquixote doflamingo#eustass captain kidd#trafalgar law#donquixote rosinante#egghead arc#one piece meta#kinda?#one piece#mine
14 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
advisory365
Business Advisor, Modelling – Advisory365
ryuxen
random reviews
thescarybugman
robyn :3
utdrloveletterzine
Love Letter: Ode to the UTDR EXPerience
rr-sheep
Sheep (R.R)